S41.E12: Truth Kamikaze

[Whimsy]

Quote

Castaways need to alter their plans after the winner of the immunity challenge throws a wrench in their next big move.

Original airdate 12/821

[Melina22]

I actually expected DeShawn to leave tonight, based on his edit. Danny was so likeable, I'm sad to see him leave. 

I'm liking Heather better as a person as the game progresses but can't figure out why she's still there, unless it's her total lack of resume. 

I loathed Ricard early in the game, but he's growing on me somewhat. If nothing else, tonight I thought he was good - looking, despite the dirt and sweat. If he wins, I'll feel like he earned it. 

Xander has the weirdest arc of anyone on Survivor. He started out looking like he'd be really popular, instead spent several episodes as a downtrodden underdog on the verge of getting voted out, and now.. I don't even know. Why is no one targeting him? 

I really admire Erika. She's tough and unflappable. Even the Truth Bomb didn't seem to phase her. 

No clue why they're starting again on a new island. I laughed at DeShawn pulling his buff over his face. I'd strangle myself with it. 

Looking forward to Danny's Ponderosa... 

[Haleth]

Ricard is one cool customer. He is unflappable. Deshawn is the opposite, running on emotion. They’d be interesting up against each other in the end. (And I’m assuming Heather is being dragged along by everyone as the voteless goat.)

Edited December 9, 2021 by Haleth

[Guest]

Has Ricard always been voting with that nice cursive calligraphy? Points to him for that.

Also points to him and Danny for the exchanged grins when Danny didn't play an idol at tribal. It was a nice little ending to the mini-storyline they had this episode.

[LanceM]

Wow.  Actually a great episode tonight. If the jury's reaction of not liking that Danny left tells me that it was absolutely the correct decision tonight.  DeShawn on the other hand is starting to get some goat vibes in my opinion. His "truth bomb" quickly backfired.  Erika owns her game I will give her that, some thing that most juries seem to like. She didn't back away about her comments and she got to explain exactly why she voted Liana out.  Problem is she along with everyone else can't beat Ricard. They need to get him out asap.  

Did people forget Xander has an idol? lol

[Maggie Mae]

Just wondering why DeShawn and Danny didn't get together and vote for one of the others. It would have been a three way tie, right?

[ProfCrash]

Xander is a number in the vote and that is all. He is a goat with an idol. He seems to think that he is in a better place then he is. I think he has an easy shot to the final tribal because he is a goat. Evvie and Tiffany are not going to vote for him, first you have the womans alliance thing and then you have Xander’s refusal to work with them at the merge. He is not going to get votes from Liana because she just doesn’t like him, which means he won’t get Shan’s vote. I doubt Danny would vote for Xander since he sees the Ricard vote as an awful game move. I mean, Xander has and idol and has not been a target since the Tiffany vote.

Ricard wins, and he should win, if he makes it to the final tribal. And he should. He has won individual immunity, made alliances, and navigated from the bottom to the top. Dude has played a solid game. And I don’t think Shan is even pissed that Ricard voted her out. I mean, she is but I think she gets it.

Heather is another goat. Useless at challenges and not very close to many people out there. 

DeShawn gets some votes but I don’t think he wins. His game has been a bit more chaotic and desperate and people have noticed. Tonights truth bomb is just another example of that.

Erika is in a good place. She has been a quiet player but has orchestrated some nice moves. And she has moved herself from the bottom of the blue tribe to the top position. I think she sees that DeShawn is less likely to get votes at final tribal then Danny and that he is less dangerous then Danny.

So we know that Xander is safe next week, it is his last week to use the idol, not that he is going to need to use it. Ricard goes if he loses immunity. If Ricard wins then DeShawn goes. Ricard has to win out to make it to the finals or be really good at making fire. 

[choclatechip45]

I'll be happy with anyone, but Xander winning. He gets on my last nerve. 

[susannot]

I hoped that I was wrong but I knew that one of the two black guys left would go, no matter how the show tried to spin it.  Happy that they both seemed to be pleased with their time in the game.

 

It is impressive that Erica has gone from the bottom of her tribe to one of the last left.  She is a playa.  I expect her to challenge Ricard for the win, but I am Team Ricard all the way.

[willco]

I knew as soon as the show started that Ricard was going to win immunity all due to stupid Comcast's episode description in their guide-- it said something to the effect that " the tribe is scrambling after a player wins immunity and ruins their plans ". It did say it better than that, I can't remember exactly, but as soon as they all were agreeing Ricard needed to go at the next tribal, it was obvious he would win. Serves me right, I suppose, for reading the ep guide, but I don't recall ever having it be so obvious-- they could have just said who won and eliminated the suspense ! 

 

And speaking of Ricard, I'm betting right now he's going to win and I'll be disappointed in the finale once again. He is a good player, very good in fact, but he just bugs the heck out of me. 

 

I really thought Deshawn sealed his fate when he dropped his " truth bomb " at tribal, I thought on the re-vote it would be all his name. I wonder why they decided on Danny ? And did Danny say, in his exit speech, that he saw ' burlap and weeds " or something like that in the jungle, but no idol ? I'll have to go back & watch that again, but it sounds like he saw the idol in it's hiding place, but didn't realize it was one ? Has he not seen one wrapped in burlap before ? If I heard him right, that really puzzles me !

[bunnyface]

As soon as I saw the challenge was about spinning, I figured Ricard had it because of his dancing background.  On the other hand, I don't actually know if having a dancing background helps with spinning.  But he nailed it.  So...I still don't know.  

 

[Melina22]

6 minutes ago, bunnyface said:

I figured Ricard had it because of his dancing background 

I saw how beautifully Ricard was able to balance but I didn't realize he had a dancing background. 

[North of Eden]

The beginning spent so much time on the aftermath of the previous tribal council I was getting antsy and was thinking, let's get on with this.

As for the ending...I have no idea what that was. I don't know if it was something Deshawn and Erica orchestrated...I simply have no idea.

Now the in between the beginning and the end well...any seasoned viewer knows that if they spend the entire episode building up how Ricard is going to be the vote at  tribal...you can bet a million dollars that anyone BUT Ricard is going to be going home sure enough.

Part of me can't help but wonder if the producers made a move to save Ricard like the time they rescued Ben by a convienent new challenge. I think they purposly trotted out a balance challenge because who better to win it that a Flight Attendant who deals with turbulence every day of his life and is probably and expert at balancing as he walks from the First Class back to where the rest of us unwashed peasants sit.

Wow...Lianna looks sour still...she's never going to get over this and has Russel Hantz level bitterness.

Edited to add:  Heather is the poster girl with one of the greatest flaws of this came....year after year a complete non-entity...a virutal nobody is dragged to the end simply to serve as a goat. Let's see three truly worthy players at the end for once!

Edited December 9, 2021 by North of Eden

[PaperTree]

FYI.  I just checked the listings and it's a 3 hour marathon finale next week.

[Tiggertoo]

Did Deshawn think he was getting voted out?  Trying to understand the reason for the truth bomb, after it seemed like Erika was a potential final 3 with him.  I like him but I really don’t get him sometimes.  He really is all over the place.

[Cotypubby]

1 hour ago, Maggie Mae said:

Just wondering why DeShawn and Danny didn't get together and vote for one of the others. It would have been a three way tie, right?

It wouldn’t have mattered. During the revote the other four would still choose DeShawn or Danny. 

[Tango64]

Just look at their clothes at tribal council. They look like clean, freshly laundered shirts.  

[Hera]

15 hours ago, Melina22 said:

Xander has the weirdest arc of anyone on Survivor. He started out looking like he'd be really popular, instead spent several episodes as a downtrodden underdog on the verge of getting voted out, and now.. I don't even know. Why is no one targeting him? 

I agree that Xander's arc has been unexpected. I think that people must have decided that he's not a threat to anyone's game. Thinking about the jury, it's hard to see where his votes would come from. Possibly Evvie and Tiffany (and I think they're long-shots), and that's it. I don't think Shan votes for him, and I don't think any of the original Luvus will vote for him either.

15 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

Just wondering why DeShawn and Danny didn't get together and vote for one of the others. It would have been a three way tie, right?

Yeah, this would have made sense, although it would have just delayed the inevitable. I'm curious about how the show would handle a three way tie. In normal ties, the two people who were voted for aren't allowed to vote because their votes would cancel each other out. But that wouldn't be true in a three-way tie.

Danny and Deshawn's discussion with each other about how dumb the Liana vote showed me that that neither one of them is very good at strategy. Voting out Liana instead of Ricard was bad for their games, but for everyone else, it made perfect sense. Erika/Heather/Xander/Ricard knew that Deshawn/Danny/Liana were a tight three. If Erika/Heather/Xander had joined with the Black Alliance to vote out Ricard, they would have been faced with a 3-3 split at this Tribal Council. I fully believe that Erika/Heather/Xander would have voted for Ricard this time if he hadn't won immunity, because that would still leave them up in numbers against Danny and Deshawn. The fact that neither one could understand the move might explain why they haven't been able to control a vote. If you can't understand other people's motivations, then you can't convince them to do what you want.

I thought Erika handled Deshawn's "truth kamikaze" (Xander might not be a strong player, but his is a quote machine) fairly well, and I'm confident she'll be able to smooth it over with Heather anyway. All she needs to say is that she was blowing smoke up Deshawn's ass and of course it's Erika, Heather, and Xander for the final three. Though this tribal council might have solidified Deshawn as Erika's goat. If she ends up with him at the end, she can point out that he's only there because she saved him. Ricard wanted Deshawn out and Erika managed to switch the target to the person she didn't have an alliance with. This also demonstrates the weakness in Ricard's game: Ricard sees the right move for himself, but can't always get the people he needs on board to execute it. This is what made Shan such a good ally for him. I would have loved to have seen Shan and Erika go head-to-head in arguing the case for voting out Deshawn vs. voting out Danny. I don't know who would have won.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Hera
Added a missing word.

[knitorpurl]

1 hour ago, Melina22 said:

 

I really admire Erika. She's tough and unflappable. Even the Truth Bomb didn't seem to phase her. 

 

I've liked Erika from the first episode we finally got to hear her speak.  I haven't always believed she would make it to the end, but looks like she could possibly get there.  This is the second tribal council where we've seen her explain her position so the jury gets a clue to how she has been part of moves. 

[Lantern7]

At least it's almost over. Just three more hours of manufactured gimmicks and Probst jacking it, and we'll be done with the show. Well, at least until S42. You think Probst or anyone else running the show would take lessons about how less is more?

Yeah . . . me neither.

[TVFan1]

I knew at the beginning of the episode that Ricard was going to win the immunity challenge because everyone was talking about voting out Ricard next tribal council. I don't hate Ricard as much as I did, but if he makes it to the end, he deserves to win. Impressive. 

I don't understand Deshawn telling everyone about his talk with Erika by the well. Anyway, Erika is still playing the game and is in a good position. The "truth bomb" didn't seem to rattle her at all, and I suspect her to explain everything to Heather to have her believe her.

Surprised Danny didn't find the idol. I expected him to. He was a good player.

[knitorpurl]

During the challenge what was Heather thinking getting out of the water and just sitting there? And why didn't Danny and Ricard tell beer to get back in? That was so odd.

[Chicago Redshirt]

42 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

It wouldn’t have mattered. During the revote the other four would still choose DeShawn or Danny. 

It depends. If it was a 2-2-2 vote, Deshawn, Danny and Person X would not be able to vote. It could be that the three voters would line up behind either Deshawn or Danny, or it could be that they would vote for Person X. Or they could be stuck with a 1-1-1 tie on revote and get stuck with rocks. I don't know how much they let them talk before a revote, but that would have been interesting.

In any case, Danny and Deshawn had nothing to lose. 

[30 Helens]

1 hour ago, willco said:

I knew as soon as the show started that Ricard was going to win immunity all due to stupid Comcast's episode description in their guide-- it said something to the effect that " the tribe is scrambling after a player wins immunity and ruins their plans ". It did say it better than that, I can't remember exactly, but as soon as they all were agreeing Ricard needed to go at the next tribal, it was obvious he would win. Serves me right, I suppose, for reading the ep guide, but I don't recall ever having it be so obvious-- they could have just said who won and eliminated the suspense!

That same description is at the top of this episode thread… oops! LOL. As soon as I saw that I thought, good thing I didn’t look here before watching or the episode would have been spoiled 5 minutes in.

Not that I had any doubt Ricard was staying, anyway. The editors couldn’t have telegraphed a Doomed Plan any harder if they had used flashing lights, arrows, and maybe an inflatable flapping tube man or two.

1 hour ago, bunnyface said:

As soon as I saw the challenge was about spinning, I figured Ricard had it because of his dancing background.  On the other hand, I don't actually know if having a dancing background helps with spinning.  But he nailed it.  So...I still don't know.  

I assumed it was because he’s a flight attendant. They have to be good at managing their equilibrium through all kinds of motion and pressure changes.

[Chicago Redshirt]

8 hours ago, Hera said:

Danny and Deshawn's discussion with each other about how dumb the Liana vote showed me that that neither one of them is very good at strategy. Voting out Liana instead of Ricard was bad for their games, but for everyone else, it made perfect sense. Erika/Heather/Xander/Ricard knew that Deshawn/Danny/Liana were a tight three. If Erika/Heather/Xander had joined with the Black Alliance to vote out Ricard, they would have been faced with a 3-3 at this Tribal Council. I fully believe that Erika/Heather/Xander would have voted for Ricard this time if he hadn't won immunity, because that would still leave them up in numbers against Danny and Deshawn. The fact that neither one could understand the move might explain why they haven't been able to control a vote. If you can't understand other people's motivations, then you can't convince them to do what you want.

But having Ricard around is probably terrible for Erika/Heather/Xander in the long run. If Ricard gets to the end, none of them can beat him. Like zero percent. It might be that Ricard gets a full-blown jury sweep against any combination of two of the three of them. 

Ricard's current Survivor Resume

3 Individual Immunity Wins

Led the backstabbing of Shan and still got her to publicly declare that she'll be voting for him

Blindsided Naseer w/ Shan

Came into the merge with just one ally in Shan and still outlasted most of the 6 person tribe.

Xander's current Survivor Resume

Outmaneuvered Liana into misplaying her Knowledge Is Power advantage

Found a HII and didn't give in to the temptation to play it prematurely

1 Individual Immunity Win

Erika's current Survivor Resume

Turned Back Time

Also helped backstab Shan

1 Individual Immunity Win (2nd place)

Survived to the Merge as part of a 6 person tribe

Heather's current Survivor Resume

Survived to the Merge.

Or to look at things another way, how about likely jury votes for versus votes against?

Ricard for sure has Shan's vote. He probably will have Liana, Danny and Deshawn's vote too if Deshawn is booted and possibly even if Deshawn makes it to FTC. I don't know if there is anyone that so resents him that they will not vote for him.

Xander has no one that seems likely to vote for him. He definitely will not have Liana's vote, and it's probable that the other AA jurors would follow suit. 

Erika might pull in some "it would be nice if a woman won" votes, perhaps from Tiffany and Evvie. But there's no way that she will get votes from Deshawn and Danny.

Survivor 101 says get out the biggest threats when you can, and there may never be a better time to get Ricard out than last week.  Ricard is best positioned to go on an individual immunity run, making it so they can't hope to just beat him and then vote him out. Not to mention that assuming there's a HII idol, he's among the most likely to be able to find it. 

If they had voted Ricard out, worst case scenario for HEX is that they have a 3-3 battle with an alliance that might stick together or might not. Deshawn and Danny already had a fracture with Liana, and as this episode showed, despite their bond, Deshawn and Danny were perfectly willing to turn on each other. 

If Ricard makes it to the end and wins, HEX should kick themselves because they had the power to stop it. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Chicago Redshirt

[driver18]

As a former flight attendant, and having a mother who was a dancer, I can say that being a dancer is what helped Ricard with his balance. During the spinning, I kept thinking, man, all they have to do is spot and they'll be fine. It's a dance technique when spinning quickly, each time you turn you keep your eyes fixed on one spot to keep from getting dizzy. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by driver18

[Kenz]

I'm going to miss Danny's smile and everything else about him!

[Primetimer]

Just posted: Primetimer's Joe Reid weighs in on Deshawn's Tribal truth bombs and who among the final five is poised to go all the way:

https://www.primetimer.com/features/survivors-last-pre-finale-episode-has-us-wondering-who-can-win-this-season

[Tdoc72]

2 hours ago, knitorpurl said:

During the challenge what was Heather thinking getting out of the water and just sitting there? And why didn't Danny and Ricard tell beer to get back in? That was so odd.

It was odd. But she had trouble climbing the ladder before they were tossing the balls and she seemed to be clinging to the ladder when she went in to retrieve the balls. I think maybe she was so exhausted, she couldn’t even tread water and it was safer to get out. 

[rr2911]

A few observations on yesterday's episode.

*  I woud've preferred Deshawn to go, but eliminating Danny is good.  One down and one to go!

*  Deshawn's truth bomb just made me dislike him more.  I know Ricard should be voted out ASAP, but I wouldn't mind seeing Deshawn go before Ricard.

*  Danny couldn't understand why the others didn't vote Ricard out instead of Liana.  Well, the "black alliance" put a huge target on their backs with their speeches.

*  My eyes are still rolling for the first 10 minutes of the diverse/race issue.  

*  Survivor has always had diverse contestants on the show.  They just never made a huge deal about it.

*  The only person that can beat Ricard is Deshawn.  Why?  I think the answer should be obvious.

*   If Ricard gets voted out I hope a suggestion is made to Probst for him to to yell out "Come on in guys!"

 

Until next time...

[millennium]

Ricard for the win.   He's all game, no drama.   What's his greatest transgression?  The papaya? 

Xander and Deshawn cancel each other out by being equally flagrant bullshit artists who'll say anything to further themselves.

Erica's all over the place and Heather is clueless.

Sorry to see Danny go.  He seems like a sincere and classy guy.

[Tiggertoo]

In the recap, it refers to Danny with his brother story last week.  I think it was (dead) father story, right? I would have liked to see Danny win, so sorry to see him go.

Also, referring to Prost as ‘the most cheerfully aggressive human being you've ever seen’ is bang on.

Ricard is definitely a great player, but I’ve just never warmed up him personality wise.  He comes across as a bit of a cypher.  At this point, I’m rooting for Erika.  C’mon, Canada!

[violet and green]

Gosh, Danny has a beautiful voice... I don't why I didn't notice that until this ep. Beautiful.

Would have preferred Deshawn to go, but curly Xander was safe again, so that's a bonus!

Liana doing excellent sulk-face...

I could not believe how shithouse their shelter was, after all this time.

Go, Xander! I believe in you!

[Haleth]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

But having Ricard around is probably terrible for Erika/Heather/Xander in the long run. If Ricard gets to the end, none of them can beat him. Like zero percent. It might be that Ricard gets a full-blown jury sweep against any combination of two of the three of them. 

I'm sure they know this and want to get him out ASAP.  Before the Liana vote they were willing to take the chance that Ricard would not go on an immunity run for the rest of the game.  Good luck with that.

In the first episode I called Ricard a "whiny little jerk."  Now I want him to win, I think he's played the best game by far.  I'm guessing he'll have calm, reasonable answers for the jury members if he makes it to the final TC.

[SnideAsides]

About time someone criticised how boring the rewards have gotten on the show.

[ProfCrash]

25 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

About time someone criticised how boring the rewards have gotten on the show.

They couldn’t do trips and excursions because of COVID. Fiji had some of the stricter restrictions at the time. They were lucky to even film the season. So anything that involved extra people and different modes of travel to get there was out. The village visit and the like would have been a total no go. And the family visit was 100% not happening because of travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.  

56 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I'm sure they know this and want to get him out ASAP.  Before the Liana vote they were willing to take the chance that Ricard would not go on an immunity run for the rest of the game.  Good luck with that.

In the first episode I called Ricard a "whiny little jerk."  Now I want him to win, I think he's played the best game by far.  I'm guessing he'll have calm, reasonable answers for the jury members if he makes it to the final TC.

Xander and Erika have both won immunity. Xander has been close a bunch of times. DeShawn was close last time. I would be surprised if Ricard wins all the remaining challenges but who knows, it is possible. 

[Haleth]

3 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Xander and Erika have both won immunity. Xander has been close a bunch of times. Danny was close last time. I would be surprised if Ricard wins all the remaining challenges but who knows, it is possible. 

I meant it as a karma kind of thing.  The old "we can always get him out later" strategy backfiring on them.

Hey, what about the commercial for TAR?  Happy dance!

[weaver]

I would have loved a conversation among the castmates about Xander and why they wouldn't flush out his idol.  And why xander himself was so confident that he didn't have to use it.  It would just clarify things for me.  The camera was hardly on him in the immunity challenge.  

I like Xander.   I thought he did win an immunity idol earlier in the season.  He has laid low, used his extra vote to get out Liana.  He's got my vote, but objectively, Ricard deserves to win. 

 

[seacliffsal]

For whatever reason I think they are trying to give Heather a "redemption arc" in her "I had no idea...Survivor has changed my life" scenes.  Maybe to try to justify that she isn't a goat and deserves to be in the final three (speculation only-not a spoiler)?  

Danny and DeShawn can just stop with the "why did you vote out Liana when Ricard is the bigger threat" questions.  You know why.  You knew you were targeting everyone else when you made your alliance with Shan and Liana.  It always bothers me when the previous dominant alliances start with this argument when they are no longer the dominant alliance.

I'm surprised that they kept DeShawn over Danny in that many past contestants have stated that they don't like chaotic players because one can never predict their actions (therefore preferring predictable players) and DeShawn seems very chaotic in his gameplay.  But, I do think people preferred Danny and his calm friendly manner which made Danny more dangerous to everyone's end game.

Too much focus on Shan in the jury for me.  She's out-doesn't matter how much production loved her, she's out.  And, yes, I anticipate they will bring her back in a future season (if Survivor lasts that long due to this season's dwindling numbers [which will probably only inspire Jeff to add every MORE twists and turns in the future]).

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Hey, what about the commercial for TAR?  Happy dance!

Wait, what?! I fast forward the commercials so I missed this. Is it coming back? I'll be shocked if it is.

Pretty boring ep really. I don't even remember what happened outside of DeShawn making a fool of himself at TC.

[Lamb18]

2 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Wait, what?! I fast forward the commercials so I missed this. Is it coming back? I'll be shocked if it is.

Pretty boring ep really. I don't even remember what happened outside of DeShawn making a fool of himself at TC.

The commercial went by fast, but yes, TAR is back on Jan 5.

[Cheyanne11]

7 hours ago, rr2911 said:

Danny couldn't understand why the others didn't vote Ricard out instead of Liana.  Well, the "black alliance" put a huge target on their backs with their speeches.

That he kept going on and on about how the others had blown it and it made no sense to get rid of Liana made me think he's not very strategic or he thought, for some unknown reason, that it wasn't obvious that he, Deshawn and Liana were in a tight alliance that needed to be broken up.  

 

7 hours ago, millennium said:

Xander and Deshawn cancel each other out by being equally flagrant bullshit artists who'll say anything to further themselves.

Isn't that the game, though?

[CountryGirl]

13 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Has Ricard always been voting with that nice cursive calligraphy? Points to him for that.

Also points to him and Danny for the exchanged grins when Danny didn't play an idol at tribal. It was a nice little ending to the mini-storyline they had this episode.

That has been one of my favorite moments of not only the season, but the show, period, where they are just appreciating each other playing the game. And Ricard appreciating Danny's attempt of "maybe I found the idol" is another reason why he has grown on me this season.

I am sorry to see Danny go. Not just the eye candy factor but he seems so genuinely nice and despite his years in the NFL limelight is still so humble.

[CountryGirl]

11 hours ago, Tiggertoo said:

Did Deshawn think he was getting voted out?  Trying to understand the reason for the truth bomb, after it seemed like Erika was a potential final 3 with him.  I like him but I really don’t get him sometimes.  He really is all over the place.

I *think* he was trying to stir up chaos, to come off as more unlikeable/shady than the extremely likeable Danny and thus live to see another day at camp.

[blackwing]

I'm sorry to see Danny go.  My ideal final three would have been Danny, Erika and anyone else, with Danny winning and Erika finishing second.  I was sure he had found the idol and they just didn't show it to us at the time.  But then he confirmed he didn't find anything.  The rest of them clearly decided to split the vote for D&D and if it went to tiebreaker, all decided that Danny would go home.

Deshawn clearly thought he was going home.  I see no reason for his "truth bomb" other than just trying to damage Erika's game out of spite.  It's the adult equivalent of a kid on his way to losing the board game or chess game so he gets up mid-game and just upends the whole table and storms off.  What a baby.  I wish they would have voted him out just because of that.  And if he gets to the end, I hope the jury holds him accountable for playing like a spoiled baby in that moment.

I am liking Erika more and more each week.  She is smart and strategic and didn't even let Deshawn's "truth bomb" faze her.  I don't think she has anything to worry about at all if she and Heather are both in the finals.  Heather clearly has done nothing in this game while Erika has won immunity, changed the game with the Cher song, and greatly contributed to the ousters of Shan and Liana.

Everyone keeps saying Ricard has played a great game.  I think he played a good game with Shan at the beginning, and he is good at challenges, but at this point, I don't see him as playing a good game.  He is at the bottom and at this point he is just a vote.  He's not dictating or controlling anything, he's just hoping they don't pick him.  He's moved from determining who goes home to just being content to be at the bottom of the Xander/Erika/Heather alliance and hoping something keeps him there.

12 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Heather is the poster girl with one of the greatest flaws of this came....year after year a complete non-entity...a virutal nobody is dragged to the end simply to serve as a goat. Let's see three truly worthy players at the end for once!

There's always the useless player who gets in the final three that will get zero votes and I always find it hilarious listening to them try to justify why they should win the million.  People like Gervase in Blood vs. Water, Tai in Brains/Brawn/Beauty, Hannah in Adam Klein's season, the infamous Angelina Keeley, and more recently and most hilariously, Julie Rosenberg in Chris Underwood's season and Noura in Tommy Sheehan's season.  Heather is going to join their ranks if she makes it to the end.  I'd love to hear what she thinks she did.  She probably thinks in her mind that she was an equal partner with Erika, which clearly isn't how Erika sees it.

12 hours ago, Tiggertoo said:

Did Deshawn think he was getting voted out?  Trying to understand the reason for the truth bomb, after it seemed like Erika was a potential final 3 with him.  I like him but I really don’t get him sometimes.  He really is all over the place.

Really showed his disloyalty, I have no idea why Erika would have kept him.  He is way more strategic than Danny and a lot sneakier and more untrustworthy.  Now Erika knows.  I think he just blew his game right there.  It will be a hard decision next round whether to get rid of Ricard or Deshawn, both are dangerous.

8 hours ago, rr2911 said:

*  My eyes are still rolling for the first 10 minutes of the diverse/race issue.  

*  Survivor has always had diverse contestants on the show.  They just never made a huge deal about it.

Yes, I timed it, we had 7 additional minutes of Deshawn talking about race, 7 minutes that could have been better spent.  I'm still wondering if the tribe has ever looked for more papayas.

I think there have always been diverse contestants, but for years and years it was like there was a formula.  One black male, one black female, one "other" (usually female).  I agree with you that nobody has really talked about race before, if they did I don't think we saw as much discussion as we have this season, but maybe because it never affected gameplay.  As Deshawn said, there never were really enough minority players to make a difference where they could band together on the basis of shared culture.  Except for Cook Islands and Earl's season that followed which had the exact same racial makeup but they didn't want to call it "Race Wars 2" or whatever the first season was known as. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by blackwing

[CountryGirl]

I disagree that Xander is a goat.

Xander came into the game as an immediate target of his tribe, given Evvie wanted a women's alliance which Liana and Tiffany were happy to go along with, most notably by voting out Abraham and Voce.  

He has been playing this game by himself for most of the season. I'm not following where he refused to work with Evvie and Tiffany at the merge when it was Xander who saved Evvie's bacon at the first post-merge TC by giving his idol to Tiffany to ensure 100% foiling of Liana's plan to take his idol. The same TC where Evvie showed she had zero loyalty to him (or her then-tribe for that matter) from the beginning because she immediately blabbed to Danny, as outed by DeShawn, that Xander had an idol. Yet knowing this, Xander still saved her. After all of that, he would have been a fool to save her again as that would have been a waste of his idol and the others would have immediately turned around and voted him out the next TC unless he had immunity.

He's won individual immunity and come close to winning it several times. He's managed to take his place on the bottom and use that to his advantage where he can tout his free agency and being a vote for whatever alliance is in charge on a given night. And all while still keeping his idol in his pocket. In fact, I'd say his masterful move against Liana as well as playing it cool and not playing the idol for Evvie the night she was ousted showed the others that he ain't fucking around. 

While Ricard has the strongest resume, he doesn't have the same underdog story that Xander has, as Ricard has never truly been in danger. The biggest danger to him was Shan and he knew, with that Machiavellian mind of his, that Shan's biggest danger to herself was Shan and that he being her Achilles' heel would be the one to take her out first. I am fine with him making it the F3 and winning but I'm not counting out Xander yet. Erika has also stepped it up as of late and kudos to her for getting some intel to the jury about her gameplay this episode. But I still see Xander and Ricard as more impressive in terms of gameplay. I still don't care how she (and Naseer) was catering to her original tribe and voting with them, knowing she was on the bottom, when she had an earlier opportunity to do something different and shake the game up.

It's true that sour grapes could be unseasonably present during the finale and if Ricard is not in the F3 and Xander is, he could get burned that way. Which would be unfortunate.

I wanted a F3 with Xander, Ricard, and Danny, but I'm fine with one that includes Xander, Ricard, and Erika. 

[iMonrey]

You guys, I'm calling it now: Deshawn is going to win this season. This entire episode seemed to revolve around him. That either means he's being voted out, which didn't happen, or he's the winner. The first 15 minutes were devoted to his poignant tribal council speech last week. Now, maybe the show is just trying really hard to prove how profound it is. (Which it isn't. It's no more profound than Wheel of Fortune, especially now that it's been reduced to basically a game of chance.) But you can forget about resumes. If Deshawn is in the final three, he will turn on the waterworks again, and everyone will vote for him. That's my prediction.

e.t.a. Joe Reid agrees with me.

Quote

And did Danny say, in his exit speech, that he saw ' burlap and weeds " or something like that in the jungle, but no idol ? 

I think he said "bamboo," not burlap. But it's interesting that he didn't find the idol, because the cameraman did. I tend to be suspicious of how these people seem to find idols, because I think sometimes the cameramen give it away, deliberately or not.

Edited December 9, 2021 by iMonrey

[Vikitty]

I was shocked that Danny didn't find the idol -- the lingering camera shot and sudden cut away just seemed like that kind of an edit.

I still don't like Ricard. Basically at this point I'm rooting for anyone but Ricard. First choice would be Erika or Xander.

This episode seemed a bit... boring after the last two blindsides.

[ProfCrash]

20 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

I disagree that Xander is a goat.

Xander came into the game as an immediate target of his tribe, given Evvie wanted a women's alliance which Liana and Tiffany were happy to go along with, most notably by voting out Abraham and Voce.  

He has been playing this game by himself for most of the season. I'm not following where he refused to work with Evvie and Tiffany at the merge when it was Xander who saved Evvie's bacon at the first post-merge TC by giving his idol to Tiffany to ensure 100% foiling of Liana's plan to take his idol. The same TC where Evvie showed she had zero loyalty to him (or her then-tribe for that matter) from the beginning because she immediately blabbed to Danny, as outed by DeShawn, that Xander had an idol. Yet knowing this, Xander still saved her. After all of that, he would have been a fool to save her again as that would have been a waste of his idol and the others would have immediately turned around and voted him out the next TC unless he had immunity.

He's won individual immunity and come close to winning it several times. He's managed to take his place on the bottom and use that to his advantage where he can tout his free agency and being a vote for whatever alliance is in charge on a given night. And all while still keeping his idol in his pocket. In fact, I'd say his masterful move against Liana as well as playing it cool and not playing the idol for Evvie the night she was ousted showed the others that he ain't fucking around. 

While Ricard has the strongest resume, he doesn't have the same underdog story that Xander has, as Ricard has never truly been in danger. The biggest danger to him was Shan and he knew, with that Machiavellian mind of his, that Shan's biggest danger to herself was Shan and that he being her Achilles' heel would be the one to take her out first. I am fine with him making it the F3 and winning but I'm not counting out Xander yet. Erika has also stepped it up as of late and kudos to her for getting some intel to the jury about her gameplay this episode. But I still see Xander and Ricard as more impressive in terms of gameplay. I still don't care how she (and Naseer) was catering to her original tribe and voting with them, knowing she was on the bottom, when she had an earlier opportunity to do something different and shake the game up.

It's true that sour grapes could be unseasonably present during the finale and if Ricard is not in the F3 and Xander is, he could get burned that way. Which would be unfortunate.

I wanted a F3 with Xander, Ricard, and Danny, but I'm fine with one that includes Xander, Ricard, and Erika. 

Xander pulled off that Liana fake out with the help of Tiffany and Evvie and did his damndest to sabotage it by telling Danny about Liana's advantage. Liana should never have used the advantage because she knew that Xander know about it. Instead, the three other yellow worked as a group to convince Liana that Xander would have the idol on him so that Liana would burn her advantage. Not playing the idol on Evvie was a ballsy move that paid off, I'll give him that, but that play only comes together because Evvie and Tiffany worked with Xander. Tiffany went so far as to not play the idol because Xander didn't want it played.

He followed that up by refusing to even talk to Evvie and Tiffany, the only two people who would have worked with him at that time. Even after Tiffany did not play his idol and returned that to him. I have no clue how much more Tiffany needed to do to demonstrate that she was loyal to Xander and wanted to work with him. Even if he had no intention of saving either of them, not talking to them at all was an awful social move that hurt Xander. He was in a position to work with them and try and find a way to flip the game and instead he alienated the two of them and kept himself on the bottom. I am not saying it would have been easy but it was something to try.

After that he seems to have become such a non-entity in the game that no one has even discussed flushing his idol. He has been used as a vote but not really participated in the decision making process.

[himela]

If Xander, Erika and Heather are final 3 (two goats who were not even shown until after merge) and Xander wins it will be the right choice but it will still mean that there's got to be a way to solve the goat problem. It's becoming ridiculous. One strong player and two goats. I cannot.