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S41.E07: There’s Gonna Be Blood


Whimsy
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It’s possible that Evvie and Xander could have been less gracious while Sydney was packing her shit and peacing out, but that would have been very difficult.  Some decorum, kids?

The sores on Sydney and Xander are really grody.

Danny is safe.  That is what matters.

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At least it was interesting, even if I'm liking the overall group less each week. Glad Deshawn didn't go, as I appreciate his general attitude toward everything.

I'm sure a lot of people will be glad to see Sydney gone, but she had a way of cutting through b.s. that I appreciated, and I think will be missed. There's a lot of bloviating and pontificating about what it all means this season, so it was nice to have someone say things like "I'm self-obsessed, so obviously I assume people are gunning for me."

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What fun!  This is the Survivor I remember.  Seriously, it's been a long time since I've had my hands shaking during TC.  I was so worried that all that build up and triumph was just going to end up being an Evvie boot.

Liana had probably the second most powerful advantage on the island, next to Erika's brief moment in history, and yet her advantage fizzled out like a wet blanket.  Evvie and Xander played that so well.  I worry that it exposed just how tight those two and Tiffany are, however.  I would have loved someone from Deshawn's group to go home.  I really don't like anyone on that side, except Naseer.  That's why I wish Xander had kept this whole plan close to his chest and really blindsided everyone, although I guess it worked that he put it out there that he had the idol and was playing it for Evvie, because that obviously made Liana use her advantage.

And not that I'm complaining, but whatever happened to Danny/Deshawn wanting Naseer out and being tight with Sydney?

Edited by LadyChatts
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4 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

And not that I'm complaining, but whatever happened to Danny/Deshawn wanting Naseer out and being tight with Sydney?

Probably a combination of thinking it would be easier to rally people around a Sydney boot than a Naseer boot, and Danny's wanting to vote out a woman so the men wouldn't be as outnumbered.

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I had no problem with Sydney, and honestly wish she hadn’t gone.  But better her than Evvie, at least.

I don’t understand Erika in the slightest.  “The devil you know” seems to be her strategy, because going back (at TC) to the people who exiled her doesn’t seem very bright to me.  Obviously the other group needs numbers, and she’d have been higher up in that group than she is in the all-black alliance + Heather, Naseer, and Erika.  I know they haven’t made their alliance known, but the speed with which Liana eased into that group ought to tell them something.  I understand Naseer sticking around, but I think Heather and Erika would be wise to abandon ship, TBH.

LOL…I totally forgot about Ricard.  Oops.

Edited by CraftyHazel
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Just now, tracyscott76 said:

Probably a combination of thinking it would be easier to rally people around a Sydney boot than a Naseer boot, and Danny's wanting to vote out a woman so the men wouldn't be as outnumbered.

I actually wonder, if it hadn't been for winning immunity, if Ricard would have been voted out instead.  That almost would have been the perfect episode.  

I forgot about Danny worrying about the men's deteriorating numbers.

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1 minute ago, LadyChatts said:

I actually wonder, if it hadn't been for winning immunity, if Ricard would have been voted out instead.  That almost would have been the perfect episode. 

That certainly would have been a better option than any of the three who got votes, in my opinion. Though Ricard barely said anything this episode, so he didn't bother me as much XD

One of the things that's been unreasonably bugging me this season is all the calling out of "Love you!" to the person who just got voted out. It's not new, but it seems especially obvious (and fake) this time. Up until now, the eliminated person has usually turned and acknowledged them, but not Sydney, which is totally on brand. And good for her!

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That was a terrific tribal council to watch even though there was so much whispering.  Just an awesome play Xander.  I love watching smart idol play and that was well done so bravo to all 3 of them - Xander, Evvie & Tiffany for playing well.  And for Xander keeping his idol throughout it all also.  Fun to watch after all this boring trek time & the avalanche of advantages.  

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2 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I forgot about Danny worrying about the men's deteriorating numbers.

That's a good point. I forgot that, too.  

It's ironic that Erika is still in the game over Sydney.

That said, why is Erika still voting with the people she flipped the script on?

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Honestly I only tuned in to see who exactly was going to get screwed by the stupid twists last week. I am very sad to see Sydney go as I fund her to be absolutely hilarious. Her parting words will go down as one of the best i have seen in quite awhile. I enjoy a little bitterness from these castaways.  I just wish she was on the.  Sad we are going to miss out on that.

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Xander’s fake out was SO satisfying. A top survivor moment there, for sure. Unfortunately, the target on his back just continues to grow. 

Liana and Shan definitely need to be knocked down a few pegs (though it started with this tribal council). I’m shocked Danny’s name was never mentioned since he seems to be a Chatty Cathy and blowing up people’s plans (but he’s so earnest at doing so). But I still like him so I’m glad he was never on the chopping block. 

Ricard is my only player left in my fantasy league so I was thrilled he won immunity. Sorry, everyone else! 

Heather continues to have the purpliest edit this show has ever had. I’m not even 100% sure that’s her name, that’s how invisible she is. 

Edited by UGAmp
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1 minute ago, LanceM said:

Honestly I only tuned in to see who exactly was going to get screwed by the stupid twists last week. I am very sad to see Sydney go as I fund her to be absolutely hilarious. Her parting words will go down as one of the best i have seen in quite awhile. I enjoy a little bitterness from these castaways.  I just wish she was on the.  Sad we are going to miss out on that.

Imagine the first Ponderosa video, just nothing but footage of Sydney talking shit about the others and about how awesome she is. It would have been a glorious riot.

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Does anyone else think there may be a little rift between Xander and Evvie now? He seemed genuinely surprised at Deshawn blabbing on her and the hug at the end looked perfunctory. That will be interesting to keep an eye on..

 

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1 minute ago, momlyd said:

Does anyone else think there may be a little rift between Xander and Evvie now? He seemed genuinely surprised at Deshawn blabbing on her and the hug at the end looked perfunctory. That will be interesting to keep an eye on..

 

I had forgotten all of that which was only a few episodes ago. LOL!!! Yeah, Xander seemed genuinely shocked that Evvie to DeShawn about his HII. 

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29 minutes ago, CraftyHazel said:

I had no problem with Sydney, and honestly wish she hadn’t gone.  But better her than Evvie, at least.

I don’t understand Erika in the slightest.  “The devil you know” seems to be her strategy, because going back (at TC) to the people who exiled her doesn’t seem very bright to me.  Obviously the other group needs numbers, and she’d have been higher up in that group than she is in the all-black alliance + Heather, Naseer, and Erika.  I know they haven’t made their alliance known, but the speed with which Liana eased into that group ought to tell them something.  I understand Naseer sticking around, but I think Heather and Erika would be wise to abandon ship, TBH.

The problem is I think Erika believes she’s tight with Deshawn and Danny, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she blamed Sydney for getting sent to Exile.  Heather I don’t think has a game plan, otherwise we’d probably see more of her, so she’s likely going where the numbers are and believing staying loyal will get her somewhere (probably 6th place).  We’ll see if anyone wakes up next week.  I think Erika has game in her, I’m just not sure she’s too smart at getting a read on things.

Edited by LadyChatts
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9 minutes ago, momlyd said:

Does anyone else think there may be a little rift between Xander and Evvie now? He seemed genuinely surprised at Deshawn blabbing on her and the hug at the end looked perfunctory. That will be interesting to keep an eye on..

 

Perhaps that is why he told Tiff not to play the idol for Evie… 

THAT is how a tribal should play out. Great gameplay. 

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6 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I am more than ever convinced the reason for all these extra advantages and twists is to encourage the type of tribal council we saw this week: one as chaotic as possible. It's something that's been happening with increasing frequency, and clearly Probst and the other producers love it. I, for one, do not. I hate it. I'm tired of it. It was fun the first time it happened but now it happens all the time. And it's ruining the game. Everyone is supposed to strategize and make their plan before TC, not during. So playing this game is no longer about strategy, it's about scrambling. Who's best at scrambling at the last minute and who has the best luck. That's what it's come down to now. And I'm sick of looking at Probst's smug-ass face grinning away while everyone runs around like chickens with their heads cut off, even narrating like it's a freaking immunity challenge. 

So much this!

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Well that was fun. This was Jeff’s wet dream. Everyone knows about all the different advantages and are playing them brilliantly. So at least people are thinking about how to use them and planning nicely. 

I also appreciate the attitude most people have to all the craziness. Danny was the only one who seemed really pissed by the change in fortune. DeShawn and the others were not happy but seemed to take it all in stride. Shan handled the Xander twist nicely. She didn’t get upset and simply said you have to play how you need to play. DeShawn was able to admit it was great play. It is kind of the ideal. People playing and not being all that pissy that others are playing. 

Xander, Evvie, and Tiffany played that perfectly. They almost got too cute. I wonder if Evvie remembered that Deshawn had an extra vote because that could have bit them in the ass. From the showing Shan the idol in his possession. To having a premade fake idol. To handing the idol off to Tiffany but keeping the idol note. It was amazing. And it almost failed but still awesome. 

Erika played it nicely. She kept herself safe and then worked with the numbers that she has. I doubt she sees herself as part of the group but at least she is less of a target then Xander, Evvie, and Tiffany. 

And Blue is down one player, which is better for Yellow and Green. At what point in time does Ricard point out to Shan that they need to get more Blue out of the game? And how well is that going to go over?  

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1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I am more than ever convinced the reason for all these extra advantages and twists is to encourage the type of tribal council we saw this week: one as chaotic as possible.

I agree that they like the chaos, but I don't know if that's necessarily the end goal. I think what they want are players who actively try to affect the game rather than ones who go with flow/follow the numbers. Advantages give people the confidence to do that. Chaotic tribal councils are definitely a knock-on effect, but I have to admit that I prefer seeing active play on the part of multiple players even if it leads to more chaotic tribal councils than passive play that leads to an inevitable victory for the player who managed to be in charge of the majority alliance at the merge. I get why some people might not, though.

Edited by Hera
Adding a word.
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I figured that they had to give the idol to Tiff to hold…but good on Xander making that fake idol….just in case.   

Tomorrow there might be some discussion/blowback because Naseer was in the wrong huddle at tribal.   

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8 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I figured that they had to give the idol to Tiff to hold…but good on Xander making that fake idol….just in case.   

Tomorrow there might be some discussion/blowback because Naseer was in the wrong huddle at tribal.   

Much like Erika, poor Naseer doesn't realize how much on the outside he was at his old tribe, and still is now.  Both of them seem smart enough, I just don't know if they are really getting a good read on Deshawn/Danny.  

I do hope that there is some shake-up, because I realized that Evvie/Xander/Tiffany are way down in numbers.  I actually like those 3 the most of everyone left, and I don't want to see some boring Pagonging and Deshawn's group left standing (not just his black alliance, but also Ricard).  Erika is okay I guess, I love Naseer unless he doesn't come to his senses, and Heather is just there as a vote for them right now.  I think that may be one of the reasons why Xander was reluctant to play his idol tonight for Evvie.  He may need it.  He does have his extra vote, but that still only gives them 4 if no one jumps to their side.

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Fantastic episode! I would be 100% surprised if that wasn't their Emmy submission episode for the season. The Time Travel Twist really delivered and made for one of the best episodes in many a year. What's not to love about  an episode where you have no idea who is going home...beats block voting any day of the week. The only way it could have been better was if Prick-ard didn't have the Immunity Necklace and he could have been in the mix to go.

I had no great love for Sydney but she was eye candy  so I had my fingers crossed it would be Evie. Felt bad for Lianne when she got played but at least its a wakeup call not to trust Tiffany when they found out at the end she had the idol. Shan continues to be very manipulative and I hope Lianna is carefull around her.

The most ironic thing about the whole episode was that it was Erica who set it into motion and immediatly faded into the woodwork for the rest of the episode but for the lone call out by Probst.

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1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I am more than ever convinced the reason for all these extra advantages and twists is to encourage the type of tribal council we saw this week: one as chaotic as possible. It's something that's been happening with increasing frequency, and clearly Probst and the other producers love it. I, for one, do not. I hate it. I'm tired of it. It was fun the first time it happened but now it happens all the time. And it's ruining the game. Everyone is supposed to strategize and make their plan before TC, not during. So playing this game is no longer about strategy, it's about scrambling. Who's best at scrambling at the last minute and who has the best luck. That's what it's come down to now. And I'm sick of looking at Probst's smug-ass face grinning away while everyone runs around like chickens with their heads cut off, even narrating like it's a freaking immunity challenge. 

I tend to agree.  This is where Australian Survivor is better, IMO.  They manage to blindside people and surprise the audience, and you never see people scrambling like crazy and having full blown conferences in the middle of tribal.  Plus, you could see who was voting with whom, your alliances are totally outed.  People will remember that Erika ran to the group with Danny and Deshawn, for example, so if she was hoping to forge an alliance with the people she basically saved from tribal or even to play double agent for the group she trusts (still baffled she does not seem to realize she's at the bottom of that group), she can't do it now.  It's stupid.  People should have gone to tribal with a plan A and a plan B, and maybe a plan C.  "First option is all votes on Evvie", if Liana is not successful at stealing the idol, then all votes on X, or we split the vote. Then one person can say "Plan B it is", and those in his/her alliance will now what that means without having to reveal who is allied with whom.

That said, I did enjoy that Liana's advantage fizzled.  I hope Xander was paying attention because when he had the idol everyone in his tribe was basically gunning for him and stabbing him in the back. Evvie in particular, although Evvie did seem to realize how misplaced her trust was when Xander just up and offered to play the idol for her.

I also have to give props to Tiffany (who I haven't really liked that much so far) for following Xander's wishes and stating that the idol was not hers to play.  And, Riccard is growing on me.  I was actually pleased he won the immunity challenge XD

Edited by WearyTraveler
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I still loathe Ricard so I was grumpy that he won immunity. He doesn't need a reason to be even more arrogant.

Xander giving his idol to a third party was smart.

Evvie going from practically crying thinking she was about to be voted off to full-on partying when Syd was voted out was tacky. I still don't like her.

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13 minutes ago, WearyTraveler said:

That said, I did enjoy that Liana's advantage fizzled. 

The way that advantage was so carefully worded made me think from the beginning that it was meant to fail.  It was almost entirely metaphorical small print. 

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2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Sure, it was fun to see Xander ruin Liana's plan. I guess he's not as dumb as he looks. Or maybe Liana isn't as smart as she thinks she is.  But using fake idols has been a thing for awhile now. That's not new. What's new is that there are four or five players with multiple advantages and/or idols, and half the players had immunity and there were only a limited number of people who were even eligible to vote out and everyone has a chance at a Hail Mary pass in the voting booth. The whole game is set up to screw everyone over. I get how that's fun for the audience and makes everything far less predictable but it strikes me as an impossible game to play. I don't blame DeShawn one bit for being pissed off about Erika's twist. It's like, why even bother? You work hard to win a challenge and the stupid producers just pull the rug right out from under you, because surprise! More fun for us and the audience! Scramble, little hamsters, scramble and cross your fingers because everything is just a crapshoot now!

You speak the truth.

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8 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Sure, it was fun to see Xander ruin Liana's plan. I guess he's not as dumb as he looks. Or maybe Liana isn't as smart as she thinks she is.  But using fake idols has been a thing for awhile now. That's not new. What's new is that there are four or five players with multiple advantages and/or idols, and half the players had immunity and there were only a limited number of people who were even eligible to vote out and everyone has a chance at a Hail Mary pass in the voting booth. The whole game is set up to screw everyone over. I get how that's fun for the audience and makes everything far less predictable but it strikes me as an impossible game to play. I don't blame DeShawn one bit for being pissed off about Erika's twist. It's like, why even bother? You work hard to win a challenge and the stupid producers just pull the rug right out from under you, because surprise! More fun for us and the audience! Scramble, little hamsters, scramble and cross your fingers because everything is just a crapshoot now!

No, making a fake idol is not knew. Making one and using it perfectly to make it seem like he had his real idol was brilliant. You can’t always do everything new but you can play smart. He made the fake idol before all this was happening and then played it perfectly.

Seriously, he tells Danny about Shan’s advantage, knowing it would cause chaos. He, Evvie, and Tiffany play Shan perfectly. They managed to act like they believed her and faked her into targeting Xander. It really was brilliant. 

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Seriously, he tells Danny about Shan’s advantage, knowing it would cause chaos. He, Evvie, and Tiffany play Shan perfectly. They managed to act like they believed her and faked her into targeting Xander. It really was brilliant.

It was entertaining, but it almost backfired, because Evvie was almost voted out anyway. They played it as well as they could have, I will acknowledge that. But at the end of the day this outcome was determined more by the producers and these myriad twists than anything the players could have done. As soon as they all start running around and whisper-scrambling it feels like the show has turned them into a bunch of monkeys dancing for our amusement while Jeff Probst sits there with his shit-eating grin. I don't like it.

Edited by iMonrey
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Well, if Sydney had not done the SITD, she would have voted for Evvie, and the votes would have been tied.  Evvie would have been out on the revote.  So ultimately she is responsible for her own demise in the game.

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I still can’t keep track of who has what, and which players are aligned. Such is the focus on advantages over players that I still don’t know who many of these people are, even at the merge stage. It’s astounding to me. I’ve been such a fan of this show for so long that I feel kind of jilted, like my boyfriend of 20+ years suddenly changed and I don’t even recognize him any more.

But I try not to be bitter. I may not be able to follow the show as a continuum, but I can still watch individual episodes and enjoy them if they’re good. This was one of those episodes. 

I never thought Xander was as dumb as he sometimes appears, so I facepalmed when he was spilling all his secrets. Then I was delighted to find out it was all a ruse. He played that so well. As did Evvie. I was really happy that she was safe, until she started cheering before Syd even got her torch snuffed. Not classy, lady.

Have more fun episodes like this and I may forgive you for abandoning me, Survivor. But I’m not giving your ring back. I earned that.

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I was skeptical about all the advantages this season, but I have to admit that this episode was really fun and a great pay-off for last episode. Xander/Evvie/Tiffany managed to get two advantages burned (Liana's Knowledge is Power and Deshawn's extra vote) while preserving both of Xander's. Liana formally burned her bridges with her Yase tribemates (although I notice she wrote down Sydney, rather than Evvie), but seems to have flipped to an alliance that is up in numbers, so we'll see if she manages to outlast them.

55 minutes ago, WearyTraveler said:

I also have to give props to Tiffany (who I haven't really liked that much so far) for following Xander's wishes and stating that the idol was not hers to play.

Same. That was very deft—making it Xander's fault if Evvie goes, but also showing respect for "his idol", which makes her seem trustworthy. I assume this means she'll return it to him after tribal council so we'll be spared the Yase version of Shan and Ricard's "Don't you trust me?"/"Don't you trust me?" double act.

43 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't blame DeShawn one bit for being pissed off about Erika's twist.

That was actually Danny. Deshawn was able to roll with it, basically saying, "We may not have known they were going to do this specific thing to us, but we did know that they were going to do new stuff." He actually went up several notches in my book for that. I also really liked what he had to say about how all the advantages dilute the value of social skills in the game. That's a very fair point and the fact that his comment was aired suggests to me that the producers are at least aware of that downside and the need to try to keep things balanced. Whether or not they're successful is something I'm sure will be hotly debated among fans.

I definitely saw what a social threat Deshawn was during this episode—no wonder the Xander/Evvie/Tiffany alliance wanted to target him. He even managed to cause some friction between Evvie and Xander during the deliberations at Tribal Council (I wondered if Deshawn's revelation was in the back of Xander's mind when told Tiffany not to play the idol for Evvie) and he also seemed to understand that Tiffany cross-pollinates information when it suits her during one of the huddles with his alliance during tribal council. It's going to be fun to watch this play out.

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Is this group the biggest bunch of blabber-mouths ever?  Aside from the stupid-as-hell phrases that tipped off everyone on all tribes about who had idols we had Evvie blab to DeShawn, JD~I guess forgetting to hide his advantage, Genie about the idol, but my personal favorite; Shan to Liana in front of Tiffany, which made tonight's tribal possible.  Then everyone telling everything else.  Am I forgetting anything? 

At least tonight we got rid of Liana's advantage and DeShawn's extra vote, hopefully never to return.  What's left?  Xander's idol and extra vote, Naseer's idol, Shan's idol and extra vote.  Does anybody else have anything? 

 

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Wow, they actually had a previously on Survivor segment. Shocking.

Not too happy that Sydney was voted out. She was eye candy. 

It was a brilliant plan by Xander to make a fake idol and give the real one to Tiffany. It's good that Liana's advantage is now gone and wasted. I hope it never returns. Still want Erika to win it all.

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So we now seem to have a coalition of Survivors of color versus White Survivors. It seemed like there were barely any conversations between White survivors and Survivors of color during the live tribal.

It will be very interesting to see how things play out. Deciding to go against Blue Strong seems like a big mistake. But is it going to just be Shan/DeShawn/Danny/Liana/Erika/Naseer/Rickard voting as a bloc against Tiffany/Evvie/Xander/Heather one by one?

Is there anything that can get the players of color to break off and vote with the White players? My prediction was that because I don't see anyone voting to give Tiffany $1 million, maybe she will GOAT her way to the F3.

My prediction was that people would want to get Erika out ASAP. (i.e. in the next episode or two). But DeShawn made it sound like it was NBD. 

Random question: Danny talked about having played in big arenas before. Do the other players know that he is a former NFL player? Because again, at least putting myself in the shoes of a juror, I'd be reluctant to give someone who is (or should be) a millionaire yet another million. (Googling says his net worth is "only" about $1 million, and that his NFL days had him earn $3.65m).)

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I like Naseer and Erica, but if they don't wise up to the fact that other people have been promoted above them, then I won't be sorry to see them go anymore.  No red flags about how big that 'blue' huddle was?  At the very least it should make them start watching who's hanging out with who. 

It's no fun at all watching everyone hustle during TC.  Either say what you want out loud, or try and communicate on the DL from your seat, with the risk the person you're talking about might see or hear it.  It would have been tons more fun for me to see how everything would have played out if they had to go on only what they planned before TC.  Didn't make contingency plans on the beach?  Tough luck.  I need to go find Jeff on the street so I can tell him this. 

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