S41.E01: A New Era

[Whimsy]

Quote

Castaways are divided into two tribes to compete against each other. The latest season brings back the most successful contestants while shaking things up for the contestants when they find out about some of the game twists.

Original air date 9/22/21

[Straycat80]

Interesting season so far. I like that they’re making it harder. No rice. The challenges are going to be physically harder. The voting options are a bit confusing to me tho. 
I don’t understand the yellow team voting off Abraham, a physically strong player. I do understand green team voting off Sarah. 
So glad this show is back, I missed it last year. 

[willco]

Sarah was the one female that I kind of liked right away, so I figured she'd get voted off ! Happens so often for me.

 

The Survivor brass sure went out of their way to cast a few a-holes in the men's group. There are several of the men that I disliked from the minute they started talking ! A couple of pretty big ego's in the mix. Here's hoping they talk themselves right out of the game.

[Valerie]

My early faves are Brad, Genie, Xander, and JD.

Early annoyances are Ricard and Evvie.

[awaken]

I’m disappointed they didn’t show much of shelter building. I guessed beforehand that Abraham would be an early out due to bossiness with setting up camp but they barely showed it. 

I had made an early pick that JD might win, so I was sorry he was so “out there” and didn’t play it cooler. He’s a cool guy, should lay lower. 

Sydney was less annoying than I expected. 

too many twists and changes!  Keep it to just a few, show!

[Lady Calypso]

Just now, Straycat80 said:

I don’t understand the yellow team voting off Abraham, a physically strong player. I do understand green team voting off Sarah. 

I kind of get it. Abraham was preaching all about tribe unity and all that, but failed to realize that physicality is NOT the only way for a team to stay strong; trust and loyalty matters too. And it seemed like people wanted to keep Tiffany over Abraham due to that. Evvie seemed to fight hard for Tiffany to stay and when you have someone in your corner, fighting for you, that goes a long way. Abraham may be physically stronger than Tiffany, but it doesn't mean he'd stay loyal to them down the road. 

I like what Evvie pointed out, as well, that if it was all about keeping the team strong (aka, physically), what would stop the men from picking off all the women? There DOES need to be something to get rid of the mindset that physicality=strength. It may be important, but it's not THE most important thing. We've seen tribes that may be strong physically, but weak in terms of loyalty and trust. So physicality goes out the window once merge starts. So, depending on how Abraham was appearing to others, it could be as simple as the entire tribe trusted Tiffany more than Abraham down the road. 

Overall, that tribe? Very weak in terms of comps, but we'll see if voting off Abraham strengthens their bond.

I felt bad for Sara, from the little we knew about her. I'm not fond of JD and Brad got on my nerves (it's fine to be honest, but don't say "I want to keep JD. You two women are the only options here" to their faces right off the bat) but with all that whispering about getting Brad out, only to have Sara gone anyway? That team has just ensured that they're going to be a MESS. It might be fun, though. JD's extremely cocky, Ricard has an ego, and Brad thinks he's hot shit, and that's only the beginning of that messy tribe. With Shan betraying Sara during the vote, and Genie being clueless and out of the loop, they may be my favourite tribe to watch this season.

As for the third tribe, I did like the tension set up between Danny and DeShawn vs Naseer. The women on that tribe are kind of forgettable at the moment, so I hope they give them more screentime next week.

As for the different things added, I liked most of them. The prisoner's dilemma was fun. I do think the rolling die aspect to Tribal could either be a success or a huge disaster. I think the thing it'll encourage is more blindsides...which sucks for the players, but could be a reward for us as viewers. Although that'll encourage either MORE whispering or LESS whispering during Tribal. So I'm on the fence. 

And that new....advantage or whatever it is that they said at the beginning? I'd need to hear more about it.

I am all for making the game harder, overall, so whatever it takes, I'm glad for a change!

So far, I like Shan, Danny, Evvie, Genie, and Voce. I'm not fond of JD, Ricard, and Brad. And I'm indifferent to everyone else.

[Maggie Mae]

Can someone explain the Protect/Risk your vote? I know what the 3 chose but not the rules of that game.

[Badlands]

14 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

Can someone explain the Protect/Risk your vote? I know what the 3 chose but not the rules of that game.

All 3 choose "Protect": Nothing happens. They keep their votes.

All 3 choose "Risk": They all lose their votes

Split vote: the one(s) who chose "Risk" get an extra vote. The one(s) who chose "Protect" keep their vote.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Badlands

[North of Eden]

Only six  or sevenreplies after a season premier so far? Wow just wow. The mighty may have fallen.

Anyway where to begin? Oh I know Ri-Kard!

I immediatly started disliking him when he was targeting JD. Later when he didn't believe JD I pegged him as a s@#tstirrer just before the commercial and sure enough  as soon as the show returned he was egging Jeff on because the rallying call of "Come on in guys!" has been a concern....said NO ONE ever.  What a world we live in now that guys is considered offensive on a show that had an actual season called Race Wars.

I was praying when Ri-Kard got two votes he was one his way out but God remained tub-bound.

Abraham...no great loss but he took it like a trooper so props to him but not much of an analyst if he didn't see that coming.

Lots of dead relatives but I will admit getting misty eyed  over the pic of Sarah and her Grandma who would have been so dissapointed to see her first out. Seing how much SURVIVOR meant to JD I would have been sad to see him go out first. I like the kid.

Please don't let the neuro-surgeon whine like George Costantza for the rest of the season.

Brad...WTF...why would you say that out loud. I wanted Ri-Kard out but he kind of would have brought that on himself. What an odd looking gentleman...like Howard Stern and Ted Danson thrown into a blender.

I assume the alternate woman got there because someone came down with COVID at the worst possible moment. That's got to sting.

OMG...the black girl on the yellow team...sorry I don't know her name...what a beauty. Hope she sticks around.

Several non-entities present like the girl who has her father's credit card but hopefully we'll get more next episode.

Some of the behind the scenes stuff is kind of cheesy and takes you out of the game but all will be forgiven if after 20 years they finally man up and show the faces of the staff doing the run through on the challenge as I have never understood why they shy away from that.

Sure I"m forgetting something but I do want say...poor Jeff..between seasons he looks like he's aged another twenty years...and that mullet? No...just no!

Edited September 23, 2021 by North of Eden

[knitorpurl]

So good to have the show back! Hope that can stop telling me that it is Survivor 41 so it's all different, faster, harder. Got the memo.

Surprised neither tribe tried counting the triangles, but sure it would have led to some big disagreements over the right answer and might have splintered things right away if the answer was wrong. Not that didn't happen a little with DeShawn and Danny getting caught looking for idols instead of working on the challenge. 

Didn't have time to know if I'm sad that Abraham is gone, but his "strong equals man, woman equals expendable" line is old. They will miss the muscle if they have to pull anything like those sleds up an incline again though.

I didn't want Sarah to go until they got to tribal council and she was still teary. Then she and Shan stated the whispering.  (No more whispering!) Then I was fine with her exit. Even if Brad, who announces in front of players that they are going, got to stay.

 

[Lantern7]

I recorded this and watched after The Challenge. Given the absurd amount of fun stuff that's going to get broadcasts Wednesday nights, I'm probably not going to watch "live."

I feel that a lot of new stuff is being put out at one time. It isn't really a "throw against the wall" situation. The producers had a year to figure out how to make the game more interesting. Most of it is intriguing, though we're running towards a Tribal Council where everyone will have immunity. I have to wonder what didn't make the cut. "Okay, so we make a player stick a hand into one of four holes. Three of them have bear traps that guarantee maiming. One hole has . . . I dunno . . . the advantage of going on a Reward trip even if the player's tribe didn't win. That's good, right, guys?"

Probst and the "guys" thing?

*sigh*

I'm happy that CBS is making their reality series more diverse. It feels like we're getting a broader selection of players. But then Probst is all, "Does 'guys' turn any of you off?" In my head, "guys" would be gender-neutral. In a group situation, women can be "guys." Women can even be "dudes." But Probst dragging it out with no real debate afterward was painful. And now, he's going to just say "Come on in!" Felt like a waste of airtime.

"Game Within game sounds dumb! Wait . . . okay, so that's a sundae, Subtract the sun, you get 'dae.' 'A two lions'? 'A lions lions'? OH! A-Lions! Plural! 'DAY ONE ALLIANCE'!!!!!" This could be fun.

Probst promising to break the fourth wall? Oy. He really wants Survivor to be relevant again. What did he do between the W@W finale and the start of S41? Also, we get harsher trials for the players. Great in theory, but I kept expecting a few players to keel over during the IC.

I'm not really keeping track of names or tribes. One of the players was born after Survivor initially premiered. Like I wanted a new reason to feel ancient.

[Maggie Mae]

26 minutes ago, Badlands said:

All 3 choose "Protect": Nothing happens. They keep their votes.

All 3 choose "Risk": They all lose their votes

Split vote: the one(s) who chose "Risk" get an extra vote. The one(s) who chose "Protect" keep their vote.

Thanks. It was the split vote part that had me confused.

[TVFan1]

Of course Sara had to be voted off at her first tribal council. That sucks. I wanted to see her go far. 

Were they really debating over getting rid of "Come on in guys"? So, "Come on in" sounds more modern? I don't get it. 

I'm pulling for the blue team all of the way. The other two tribes annoy me.

Edited September 23, 2021 by TVFan1

[LadyChatts]

Aside from Ricard, Sarah, and Shan (I think that was the humming pastor), I actually didn't hate anyone.  I agree that Ricard seems like he's just trying to stir the pot and be in control.  At the end when they showed the votes, I was floored he and Shan voted for Sarah, but he had a smile when doing so.  So clearly that was his plan all along.  Evvie, I think she's going to be a little too super fan for my liking.  Something about her kind of bugs, but I can have sympathy for her just for being on the Yellow tribe.  They are just bad.  I didn't care about losing Abraham.  Tiffany seemed cool so I'm okay she stuck around.  

Absolutely loved Xander and J.D., but feel like I didn't get a good grasp on the women tonight.  Not really sure what I think of some of the changes.  I'll be honest and say I could have done without the contestants talking about their personal stories and showing footage, but I guess I didn't hate it.  I'm also going to miss Probst saying "come on in guys" for the challenges.  Some things are sacred, and that just seemed like a forced change.  Especially because they made a big deal out of bringing it up.  The twist at TC (the thing with the dye and possibly getting safety) and the twist on the island where the 3 guys went confused me.  I've spoken my peace about too many idols and advantages, so I hope this doesn't add to the threshold.  I also didn't care as much for the editing, like with Probst walking around showing us where he hid idols, although it did kind of remind me of the first season when Probst broke the fourth wall.  And since I hated the old-new direction of the game, the "evolution", and the contestants constantly talking about Survivor evolving, it's going to get old real fast seeing everyone say "we're in a new era of Survivor."  Because really, it's the same old game. 

I am glad they are back to basics, I liked the losing tribes having to forfeit their flint, and I also liked two tribes having to go to TC tonight.  I wonder if this is going to be every week, though, because tonight was two hours so that worked out well.  A one hour episode always feels very packed when there's a double boot.

But bottom line, I am so happy this show is back!  

Edited September 23, 2021 by LadyChatts

[hendersonrocks]

JD is a terrible liar, and it will be interesting to see if that's a continuing theme. His attempt at explaining what happened on the island was SO bad.

HELLO, Danny. You are smart and strong and very pretty. Definitely my favorite of the night.

[truthaboutluv]

51 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Only six  or sevenreplies after a season premier so far? Wow just wow. The mighty may have fallen.

There was a live thread while the episode was airing. 

[Michichick]

Probst asking the players to vote about “come on in, guys” felt forced and too “try hard” to me. Since he realized saying guys was incorrect, he can just stop saying it without needing to turn it into a lecture-y very special episode of Survivor. 
 

It is most certainly NOT gender neutral to call a mixed-gender group “guys” so I do agree that it’s best for Jeff not to do that. Try calling a mixed group “gals” and see how that goes over. Male designations shouldn’t be the default when there are truly gender neutral terms one can use.

[EllenB]

8 minutes ago, Michichick said:

Probst asking the players to vote about “come on in, guys” felt forced and too “try hard” to me. Since he realized saying guys was incorrect, he can just stop saying it without needing to turn it into a lecture-y very special episode of Survivor. 
 

It is most certainly NOT gender neutral to call a mixed-gender group “guys” so I do agree that it’s best for Jeff not to do that. Try calling a mixed group “gals” and see how that goes over. Male designations shouldn’t be the default when there are truly gender neutral terms one can use.

Yes, this! 

Come on in, folks!

Come on in, people!

Come on in, players!

I grew up when guys meant males, and only males. The musical isn't "Guys and Guys." 

And can we PLEASE not refer to the female-presenting contestants as "girls," since the male-presenting ones aren't referred to as "boys." 

Edited September 23, 2021 by EllenB

[PaperTree]

That was fun!  Quite the eclectic cast.

I think the funniest part was blue trying to row their boat with the anchor attached.😎

The "guys" thing is silly.  He could use "people", "players", "folks", even "ya'all".  Just do it.  Most people wouldn't notice.

JD had me convinced, but I'm not very good picking up on these things.

I feel bad for Sara.  They should have voted out Graybeard.

Edited September 23, 2021 by PaperTree
Forgot a word.

[azshadowwalker]

Political correctness run wild, guys! 

Anyway, I like a little of the back to basics stuff, but would prefer it be related to idols. At least the "earn your shit" stuff is a little more like old fashioned Survivor. 

Ricard is super annoying. Everyone else, I like well enough. Shan is a little annoying, but not too bad. I really like Danny. I might stick with the whole season. 

[Wandering Snark]

My amazing contribution will be that I was hoping for Probst's hat to blow off so we could see if he indeed had a mullet going, because it looked a LOT like a 'party in the back' going on there.

I always feel that regular threads after Live Chat threads are made a bit irrelevant as we can't know what has already been mentioned/discussed (as I won't read a live thread w/o being in it...) so I'll post more next week. I did like it though and I was happy to have the show back. It made me want to see what happens next week so that's good.

I think we've probably all had varying percentages of Survivor Burn-Out after 40 seasons so maybe the break will revitalize things a bit.

[choclatechip45]

I have skipped the last few seasons and decided to watch this season I thought it was really good. I like the changes they have made. We will see if that lasts though. I also really like the cast. 

Edited September 23, 2021 by choclatechip45

[bunnyface]

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

 

Sure I"m forgetting something but I do want say...poor Jeff..between seasons he looks like he's aged another twenty years...and that mullet? No...just no!

Yes, Jeff is very distracting with his scraggly pandemic hair.  Maybe he's trying to show he's *just like us.*   Which would play better if he hadn't had his face pumped full of fillers and botox and whatever else he had done.  He's definitely looking a little clowny.  

And if they are going to change "come on in, guys," maybe can also not LOOK AT THE GROUND when he says it and actually look the players in the eyes when they come in.  It'll be a whole new game!  (Did the sarcasm come through?)

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by bunnyface
word in the right order make better sense

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, TVFan1 said:

Of course Sarah had to be voted off at her first tribal council. That sucks. I wanted to see her go far. 

Were they really debating over getting rid of "Come on in guys"? So, "Come on in" sounds more modern? I don't get it. 

"Guys" is arguably a gender-specific term that gives undue emphasis to men. Like other posters, I think of "guys" in this context as gender-neutral, but there's the argument that would be my male privilege talking.

Anyway, if he wanted to, he could have just started with "Come on in" or "Come on in, everybody" or any number of things without raising it, and I tend to doubt anyone would have noticed much.

[Cotypubby]

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

sure enough  as soon as the show returned he was egging Jeff on because the rallying call of "Come on in guys!" has been a concern....said NO ONE ever. 

Ugh. That was like the definition of virtue signaling. Of course notice how none of the women were bothered at all by “guys,” and the first person to say it was fine was a woman, but hey then when a man spoke out against it, now it’s offensive. 🙄 

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

Sure I"m forgetting something but I do want say...poor Jeff..between seasons he looks like he's aged another twenty years...and that mullet? No...just no!

What's weird is I thought he looked like a different person at TC.  Like, he looked like the old Jeff, and younger, if possible.  At first I thought they photoshopped him in from what he looked like 20 seasons ago.  But I can't get over how much he's aged in a year.  Either that or they cut his normal make up artist and hairstylist.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Anyway, I missed the show. It seems like this time around they went out of their way to pick contestants who are slobbering over the concept of Survivor even more than the regular crew, and Survivor's PTB are patting themselves on the back with a lot of stuff. 

I kind of like the prisoner's "trilemma" with the vote risk (and am surprised that a lot of people were familiar with the prisoner's dilemma concept.) Any game theory people have a sense of what the optimal play is against two unknown opponents? I go back and forth. Since the game apparently involves gaining an extra vote that can be used for a bunch of tribals vs losing a vote at the next tribal, maybe the risk/reward calculus changes. After all, an individual vote is probably at its lowest value at a first tribal. Chances are high that either you are not going to have your name selected among your tribemates or if you are, your one vote is not particularly likely to save you.

This is the first time I remember them showing Survivors in their natural environment apart from the show. Did the show do that before and I just missed it?

Early favorites are Danny, Shan, and CJ. I assume that Shan has a musical sting means that she is going to be around for a while.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Chicago Redshirt

[ByaNose]

Really? Come on in guys is offensive? I’ve been watching since Day 1 (I’m 56) and it’s part of the show. I guess some people are easily offended. Whatever. Overall, it was great to have the show back and it was beautifully shot. They needed to explain somethings and I’m still not sure of the rules of the Shot in the Dark (I think that was the name) and, the Tribal Councils were fun but I’m still not a fan of live councils. Sit in your god dammed seat. Thank you. The 26 Day didn’t seem any different with 39 Days in this premiere episode. Maybe, as it goes on it might be more noticeable. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

They needed to explain somethings and I’m still not sure of the rules of the Shot in the Dark (I think that was the name) and, the Tribal Councils were fun but I’m still not a fan of live councils. Sit in your god dammed seat. Thank you. The 26 Day didn’t seem any different with 39 Days in this premiere episode. Maybe, as it goes on it might be more noticeable. 

Shot in the Dark seems pretty straightforward, but I suppose I could be misunderstanding something or there could be tweaks in how it's executed/revealed.

If you think you are on the ropes at a Tribal Council, you can forfeit your vote to roll a six-sided die. Five of the faces mean you are still vulnerable to be voted out as normal. One of the faces, though, means that you are safe from being voted out. 

No one knows if you took the Shot in the Dark until Jeff reads the votes. So this way, players not only have to worry that their target might have an immunity idol, but also that they got that 16.7 percent chance of safety through the dice roll. There will certainly be scenarios where it makes complete sense for a player on the outs to take the Shot in the Dark. There will be scenarios where it makes sense for someone to lie about whether they plan to take the Shot in the Dark to get a majority alliance nervous and split their votes or target someone else. Remember, it's entirely possible that everyone in the majority votes for Jane, Jane wins the Shot in the Dark, and then presumably everyone's drawing rocks or something to figure out who gets booted. I guess there's an open question of how late the SITD will go for. Because it's kind of BS if you could ride it to a T4 or T3. 

We've only seen up to Day 3. I assume that by next week, people may well be feeling the grind of not having rice or other food provided for them, having actual punishments instead of just not getting rewards, etc. 

[vb68]

I'm just happy the show is back. That was fun episode, and I hope it's a good season. I appreciate how much though they have obviously put in to all the changes, but I think we need time to see how well they play out. Giving everyone potential immunity could be fun and interesting or just a chaotic mess.

I really like Danny, Xander, and JD. (Heh, JD. Such a "Survivor" name.) I thought it was fascinating  the different routes Xander and JD took with their stories about what happened. I thought it was super easy to tell JD was lying, but it worked out for him so far. I wonder if he would have used his second vote if he still felt like he was in danger at that moment. And from what I saw, looks like Xavier's tribe might have an advantage if they find a way to play his second vote right. Certainly looked like he bought him self some goodwill with it, which was hard to do in that situation. 

I worry how packed the episodes are going to be that aren't two hours long. Challenge and two tribals. Not time for much more.

I was also unsure about the season as a whole was going to feel with it only being 26 days long, but based on this episode it's going to be much more intense to make up for that. So far I don't mind.

And I totally agree that Jeff could have quietly changed guys to everyone among other options without it even being noticed. but the show wanted it noticed.

And I always like when I can't tell from the first episode who wins. That has not always been the case.

Edited September 23, 2021 by vb68

[SVNBob]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

I was praying when Ri-Kard got two votes he was one his way out but God remained tub-bound.

First off, nice old-school shout-out.  Second, Ricard only got one vote.  Brad got one, and Sara was eliminated with 3 votes.  Final vote was not read, but we can assume it was for Sara, since it would have been read if it wasn't.

 

1 minute ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

14 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

They needed to explain somethings and I’m still not sure of the rules of the Shot in the Dark (I think that was the name)

Shot in the Dark seems pretty straightforward, but I suppose I could be misunderstanding something or there could be tweaks in how it's executed/revealed.

If you think you are on the ropes at a Tribal Council, you can forfeit your vote to roll a six-sided die. Five of the faces mean you are still vulnerable to be voted out as normal. One of the faces, though, means that you are safe from being voted out. 

No one knows if you took the Shot in the Dark until Jeff reads the votes. So this way, players not only have to worry that their target might have an immunity idol, but also that they got that 16.7 percent chance of safety through the dice roll.

I don't think they literally roll the die.  I think it's just a token that they put into the dice box to indicate they're using their chance and not voting.  Then they draw one of 6 parchments from the bag also on the voting table, and that says if they're safe (1 out of 6) or not (5 out of 6).  It works generally the same way, but is much clearer for TV.

 

[PaperTree]

IIRC a steady diet of only coconuts tends to give people the runs. I've watched a lot of "Naked & Afraid".  Funny how "the potty" is never mentioned on this show.

[SVNBob]

Just now, PaperTree said:

Funny how "the potty" is never mentioned on this show.

It is.  It's just usually called by it's regular name: "the ocean".

[vb68]

I forgot to mention that the way JD had his buff wrapped around his arm, I kept thinking he was hurt and using it as a bandage.

[Primetimer]

Primetimer's own Joe Reid just posted his recap of Wednesday night's premiere.

here's a taste:

Quote

To best understand the energy that Survivor host and executive producer Jeff Probst put out in the two-hour premiere of the show's 41st season, it helps to imagine that he was cooped up in a bamboo cage on Fiji since the finale of "Winners at War," left with nothing to do but dream up ways he could tinker with, improve, and generally light a stick of dynamite under the show he's been hosting for over 20 years now. What's the heterosexual equivalent of taking a hit of poppers and then charging onto a dance floor? That was Jeff Probst as he welcomed viewers both new and old.

More here:
Jeff Probst's Manic Energy Was All Over the Survivor 41 Premiere

[ByaNose]

40 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Shot in the Dark seems pretty straightforward, but I suppose I could be misunderstanding something or there could be tweaks in how it's executed/revealed.

If you think you are on the ropes at a Tribal Council, you can forfeit your vote to roll a six-sided die. Five of the faces mean you are still vulnerable to be voted out as normal. One of the faces, though, means that you are safe from being voted out. 

No one knows if you took the Shot in the Dark until Jeff reads the votes. So this way, players not only have to worry that their target might have an immunity idol, but also that they got that 16.7 percent chance of safety through the dice roll. There will certainly be scenarios where it makes complete sense for a player on the outs to take the Shot in the Dark. There will be scenarios where it makes sense for someone to lie about whether they plan to take the Shot in the Dark to get a majority alliance nervous and split their votes or target someone else. Remember, it's entirely possible that everyone in the majority votes for Jane, Jane wins the Shot in the Dark, and then presumably everyone's drawing rocks or something to figure out who gets booted. I guess there's an open question of how late the SITD will go for. Because it's kind of BS if you could ride it to a T4 or T3. 

We've only seen up to Day 3. I assume that by next week, people may well be feeling the grind of not having rice or other food provided for them, having actual punishments instead of just not getting rewards, etc. 

Thanks for explaining that to me. It seems way clearer to me now. I guess I wasn’t paying attention very well. Thanks again.

[stcroix]

Thrilled Survivor's back on! The cast is diverse and fairly interesting.  I like the personal stories as long as they're short.  

Changing,''Come on in, Guys!" was silly in my opinion because everyone does it.  It's just an expression.  Back when I went to Disneyland on a family vacation in 1968 as a 14 yr old I encountered for my first time someone calling me a guy.  It was at a food stand and the girl there said,'' Hi Guys, what can I do for you?" My friend and I actually looked behind us! Then realized she was talking to us! lol  We're from Texas and back then no one called a girl a guy in our area.  Nowadays everyone around here in Texas calls everyone guys.  I still dont like it-- especially now I'm an old lady.  To enter a car dealership and have some young whipper snapper come bounding up to my husband and me saying,'' Welcome Guys! What can I do for you?!" still seems odd to me-- and a little rude.  I can't imagine calling my grandmother a guy.  I feel like that old man waving his cane and yelling at the kids to get off his lawn😅

 

[Tdoc72]

2 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Anyway, I missed the show. It seems like this time around they went out of their way to pick contestants who are slobbering over the concept of Survivor even more than the regular crew, and Survivor's PTB are patting themselves on the back with a lot of stuff. 

I kind of like the prisoner's "trilemma" with the vote risk (and am surprised that a lot of people were familiar with the prisoner's dilemma concept.) Any game theory people have a sense of what the optimal play is against two unknown opponents? I go back and forth. Since the game apparently involves gaining an extra vote that can be used for a bunch of tribals vs losing a vote at the next tribal, maybe the risk/reward calculus changes. After all, an individual vote is probably at its lowest value at a first tribal. Chances are high that either you are not going to have your name selected among your tribemates or if you are, your one vote is not particularly likely to save you.

This is the first time I remember them showing Survivors in their natural environment apart from the show. Did the show do that before and I just missed it?

Early favorites are Danny, Shan, and CJ. I assume that Shan has a musical sting means that she is going to be around for a while.

BBM

Is that what it said?  I thought it was a one-time extra vote that can be used up until there are 6 people left. I didn’t thank you could use it more than once. That would be a huge advantage. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

8 minutes ago, Tdoc72 said:

BBM

Is that what it said?  I thought it was a one-time extra vote that can be used up until there are 6 people left. I didn’t thank you could use it more than once. That would be a huge advantage. 

I wasn't clear. You don't get multiple bonus votes. It can be banked and used the one time at any of multiple tribals, as opposed to "You must use it at the first tribal council you come to."

Which still makes the risk worth it, generally speaking. The first tribal is likely not going to have you at risk or have you so far behind the one vote isn't going to make a difference. But if you can save it only to whip it out when it will have the most impact, that could be pretty sweet.

[eskimo]

Can a player use SITD more than one time, or is it one-and-done?  

[ProfCrash]

51 minutes ago, eskimo said:

Can a player use SITD more than one time, or is it one-and-done?  

Pretty sure that the die thing is a one and done, otherwise everyone would use it at every tribal because, why not? If it can be used whenever, all it is a 1 in 6 chance of being safe at tribal, regardless of my level of concern. It would be crazy to not do it. But if it is a one time use thing I have to be more careful in taking the risk.

My question is if it really is a 1 in 6 chance. What if 2 or 3 people use it at a tribal. Is production replacing the paper that was drawn so it stays a 1 in 6 or can it go to a 1 in 5 or 1 in 4?

I can see that they sped the game up with the double eliminations at the beginning of the game, that is smart. So right now the cut to 14 players took 2 or 3 days instead of 5 or 6. They need to shave off 13 days to start so the doubling will help with altering a ton. The Merge normally happens at 12, so if they keep three tribes until the merge they will have cut 9 days without drastic changes.

Still figuring out names and the like but overall happy with the cast so far.

Ricord annoys me. He thinks he is playing a savvy game, I suspect that Brad has something to say about that. But Brad was kind of an idiot to say that Sara was a target infront of Sara. If you are going to do something like that you should expect that your name is going to get tossed out. JD is not nearly as smooth as he thinks he is. I suspect that his story of being bullied is true and that his athletic prowess was partially a way of gaining confidence that never really took hold. He is far more insecure then he wants you to know. 

[JudyObscure]

Abraham and Sara voted out first thing.  It's so Biblical!  Maybe Jeff will make a big deal about the evictions representing our changing times with a new generation of less religious people.  I wouldn't mind if it meant less virtue signaling, but I expect we'll have some of that with every episode this year.   CBS is riding high with their Big Brother, first black winner success and Survivor won't want to come in second when they can claim they started it all with the durag episode.

I don't like change.  I'm not ashamed of it.  There's a reason I've never missed an episode of Survivor and once, when my electricity went out, I drove to a biker's bar and demanded they change the TV from sports to Survivor, but every year they take away some of what I love best, the social game, the shelter building, the camp arguments, and add more of what I don't like, the long challenges and complicated twists. 

I still love the show, even though every time Jeff started in with, "It's been 20 years and we need to change." I felt like he was starting to ask me for a divorce.

 

[Melina22]

5 hours ago, vb68 said:

I forgot to mention that the way JD had his buff wrapped around his arm, I kept thinking he was hurt and using it as a bandage.

I was convinced he had a cast and was surprised no one was referencing it, or why it didn't start falling apart in the ocean. 

[Haleth]

Wow, that was intense!  Right out of the gate (well, second day) a strenuous competition and two people gone.  I didn't understand the new twist with the die.  Deposit it in the box and get a 1:6 chance of being safe?  Is that all there is to it?  Why is it a die if the player doesn't roll it?  What happens if a second person wants to use it?  Can he/she try or does production remove the box, which alerts the rest of the tribe that someone took a chance?  

23 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

My question is if it really is a 1 in 6 chance. What if 2 or 3 people use it at a tribal. Is production replacing the paper that was drawn so it stays a 1 in 6 or can it go to a 1 in 5 or 1 in 4?

Unless the first person already drew the safe parchment, then it's 0 chance for anyone else.

Right now I think JD is a cutie pie but as the season goes on his energy may start to annoy me.  I was enjoying Brad's laconic nature until he told the two small women that they were useless.  Ricard is whiney little jerk.  I couldn't believe Danny and the other guy wasted time and energy looking for an idol when they had a grueling task to complete.  I was surprised they managed to finish in time.  Shan is not terribly self aware, she thinks pretty highly of herself.  As does the doctor.  

Is "come in, guys!" really controversial?  I say "you guys" to men, women, and any combination.  I have more issue with Probst saying "come on in" when they are outside on a beach. 😄

8 hours ago, Badlands said:

Split vote: the one(s) who chose "Risk" get an extra vote. The one(s) who chose "Protect" keep their vote.

Wait.  I thought they all decided to protect.  So JD and Xander chose to risk?  Danny chose to protect?  

[Melina22]

21 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Abraham and Sara voted out first thing.  It's so Biblical! 

Brilliant catch! I love it. 

As for the "guys" thing, I'm old, and I've been saying guys as a gender-neutral expression literally my entire life. It's "Hey, come over here, you guys!"  What am I going to say? "Hey, come over here, people!" "Folks" is out of the question. It's the only thing that works for me and no one is offended. 

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Melina22

[Lady Calypso]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

"Guys" is arguably a gender-specific term that gives undue emphasis to men. Like other posters, I think of "guys" in this context as gender-neutral, but there's the argument that would be my male privilege talking.

Anyway, if he wanted to, he could have just started with "Come on in" or "Come on in, everybody" or any number of things without raising it, and I tend to doubt anyone would have noticed much.

The show definitely wanted the moment noticed, which is why I'm not as bothered by Ricard wanting the term tossed. The show was clearly looking for a player as a scapegoat to say it first so they could have a reason to toss out the word "guys". Ricard just happened to be the person to fall into that trap. Jeff was likely going to get rid of the term, either way, even if that meant him bringing it up again and again and again. Ricard was just the perfect "reason" for the show to pull the trigger. 

Now, I use "guys" a lot, though I've been trying to find other gender-neutral terms as of late. Language changes all the time, and even though guys has been used as a gender-neutral term for a long time, it IS kind of the default and used to be used to put the men in a higher power than women. I mean, if we said "come on in, gals!", that wouldn't be accepted at all because that's not a gender-neutral term and never will be. 

So, personally, I'm ok with the change to something truly gender-neutral. Come on in, folks. Come on in, everyone. Come on in, y'all. Come on in, castaways. Come on in, tribe(s). 

The only issue I had with it is the show blatantly using the players as a scapegoat and to shout to the audience "hey, look what we're doing!" If they did it quietly and didn't make a big deal, I think that would have been a much smarter move, instead of putting it ALL on the players.

[violet and green]

My first sight of the cast favourite was Brad... So was horrified when he played like it was Survivor in 2002, as Sara put it, and thought he might be going home - so that was fun when Genie voted Ricard! and there was only the one Brad vote, and see ya Sara.

Other than Brad, I like Xander. Genie seems interesting.

I found the start with all the changes being announced really worrying; and Jeff looked ancient, and sort of embalmed, at the same time. So that was distracting. At TC, he clearly had gone for a lighter dye on the old hair, but also the eyebrows, and I think that was a mistake. I guess I will get used to it, as well as all the new bits. So glad it is on. I thought, oh, great another ep after this double tribal council and then realised that was the two hours, so it sort of flew by when I wasn't worrying about stuff I didn't quite understand, etc. I really don't want to see any further shots of the crew though - don't break the illusion, guys!

Edited September 23, 2021 by violet and green
so many typos

[Whimsy]

7 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

My amazing contribution will be that I was hoping for Probst's hat to blow off so we could see if he indeed had a mullet going, because it looked a LOT like a 'party in the back' going on there.

I always feel that regular threads after Live Chat threads are made a bit irrelevant as we can't know what has already been mentioned/discussed (as I won't read a live thread w/o being in it...) so I'll post more next week. I did like it though and I was happy to have the show back. It made me want to see what happens next week so that's good.

I think we've probably all had varying percentages of Survivor Burn-Out after 40 seasons so maybe the break will revitalize things a bit.

We have both threads because not everyone can or even want to watch "live".  But, for those that do, it just adds a fun, social aspect to watching the episodes.  After the show airs, anyone, including those that posted in the Live Chat thread, can post their full episode thoughts.  

6 hours ago, vb68 said:

I forgot to mention that the way JD had his buff wrapped around his arm, I kept thinking he was hurt and using it as a bandage.

I thought he had a broken arm at first too, but then realized that it was just the buff pulled all the way up.  It was weird looking. 

I like when contestants prepare for the show.  His exuberance at starting the fire was fun. He just needs to learn when to reel in his overall puppy-dog excitement.  I think (hope) he'll settle.  It's early days. 

15 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

The show definitely wanted the moment noticed, which is why I'm not as bothered by Ricard wanting the term tossed. The show was clearly looking for a player as a scapegoat to say it first so they could have a reason to toss out the word "guys". Ricard just happened to be the person to fall into that trap. Jeff was likely going to get rid of the term, either way, even if that meant him bringing it up again and again and again. Ricard was just the perfect "reason" for the show to pull the trigger. 

Now, I use "guys" a lot, though I've been trying to find other gender-neutral terms as of late. Language changes all the time, and even though guys has been used as a gender-neutral term for a long time, it IS kind of the default and used to be used to put the men in a higher power than women. I mean, if we said "come on in, gals!", that wouldn't be accepted at all because that's not a gender-neutral term and never will be. 

So, personally, I'm ok with the change to something truly gender-neutral. Come on in, folks. Come on in, everyone. Come on in, y'all. Come on in, castaways. Come on in, tribe(s). 

The only issue I had with it is the show blatantly using the players as a scapegoat and to shout to the audience "hey, look what we're doing!" If they did it quietly and didn't make a big deal, I think that would have been a much smarter move, instead of putting it ALL on the players.

I love your entire post.  :)  I agree that the show/Jeff wanted to put on a spotlight on evolving and made a big deal about it.  It would've been more impactful and meaningful if he had just changed it without making a big deal.  I disagree with another poster above who said that no one would've noticed, though. We definitely would've.  It's a staple of Survivor for Jeff to say "Come on in, guys", so I think it would've been noticed and discussed immediately. 

[ProfCrash]

37 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Unless the first person already drew the safe parchment, then it's 0 chance for anyone else.

Are they going to tell the others that the safe paper was drawn or is that a vote reading reveal? If it is a vote reading reveal, then the second and third player have no clue that safe has been drawn. Do they even know if someone else has used their die? The over thinking on this could be entertaining.

[AncientNewbie]

That was somewhat frantic in all that happened over two hours, minus what seemed like a lot of commercial breaks. 

There's something about Genie I like, even if she didn't get as much airtime as I hoped, and JD was a favorite in our house even if he needs to rein it in a little. Danny, too. The change in casting really did give us an interesting collection of people this time out. 

Edited September 23, 2021 by AncientNewbie