S41.E13: One Thing Left to Do... Win

[deirdra]

Did Jeff dye his hair for this last episode?

[deirdra]

10 hours ago, Haleth said:

I do think her "little" advantage at the challenge was too much of an advantage.  Maybe a leg up on one of the physical obstacles, but not both.

Especially when the camera person clearly led her to the advantage.

[Whimsy]

Several posts have been removed both dud to subject matter and for arguing with each other within the thread. This is your official warning. If there are more arguments or further discussion on topics that were removed, there will be warnings issued. 

[ArtFossil]

18 hours ago, violet and green said:

I found it a pretty horrible season. Jeff talking to the camera, explaining things we could see happening, telling us things that were going to happen before they happened, basically acting like we were children he was educating. The fact not one tribe managed to make a decent shelter. Extensive focus on annoying personalities (cough, Shan) as if they were charm personified. Her villainous hum being orchestrated. Dumb and overcomplicated 'advantages' like the three-way idol. Vast chunks of the early eps devoted to two people walking up a long steep hill. Etc, etc. If Xander had won, though, I'd be all - this season worked out okay, after all! 

I’m always in the shallow end of the pool but personally I hated Liana’s braids in front of her pupils, Heather’s bad plastic surgery and Erika’s voice. Even more than Xander’s artfully escaping curls. If Xander had won the season would be OK because he really played quite deftly. As it is, this season is on the bottom for me. 

[peachmangosteen]

16 minutes ago, deirdra said:

Especially when the camera person clearly led her to the advantage.

Then they lead everyone to their advantages. Which is probably true lol.

I thought it was pretty clear the jury actually thought every one in the F3 played decently enough while each making some key errors and in the end 7 of them decided Erika was who they felt played the best game. I liked that so many of them noted that she played the game they wanted to and then they voted for her. I feel like a lot of other jurors from past seasons weren't happy when someone in the F3 played the game they wanted to play better than them.

I felt embarrassed for Xander when the jury were being coddling and borderline condescending with him afterwards. He probably didn't even realize it though lol. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Speaking of that fire challenge, I felt bad for Heather. It seemed like the wind whipped her fire around the string (and sometimes away from it), while Deshawn was sitting in a calmer spot, so his fire could hit that same part of the string.

Yes, the fact that they were neck and neck a couple of times just goes to show what a crapshoot it is. It pisses me off, they might as well flip a coin.

Even with wildly different strategies: DeShawn scraping up a pile of magnesium (thanks Jeff) while Heather was just trying to get a spark. One is all the way up while the other is all the way down and then vice versa. Then both are burning brightly and it's basically a matter of wind shear at that point and you're right, the wind was blowing from Heather's left so she was basically blocking DeShawn from it.

[gail56]

8 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Still underestimating Erika in the comments I see!  That's why she won and keeps on winning.

She received NO special treatment!  She was sent to Exile island alone with nothing!  She made fire and grew stronger from that experience.

She is minimized in board rooms and asked to see her parents in airports.

Erika is a survivor every single day of her life!  Every member of the jury but one sees her as a hero and they were there and would know if there was funny business!I

Credit where credit is due.  Erika/Survivor!

I loved Erika ever since she was sent to exile! I liked her confessionals and the way they sent her there, they were so dismissive of her back then. She has been a favorite since then and she did strategize and make moves. I agree she deserved her win. 

[Tippi]

I was satisfied with how the season ended.  Erika's game play was respected by the jury.  Speaking of the jury, I was pleasantly surprised that the questioning was not overly bitter.  I got a kick out of Liana's last question to Xander.  I also enjoyed the aftershow, it seemed genuine and nicely low key.  I have to give props to Xander, even though he got crushed in the voting he managed to get through the rest of the show with a good attitude.

I hope some casting directors were watching.  Danny and Xander would be great in commercials.  Danny for his looks and charm, and Xander is a perfect "dude bro" type.

[CountryGirl]

I did want to add that at least we had an interesting fire-making face-off. I’m still remembering the embarrassment of Becky and Sundra. 

[deirdra]

At tribal councils Erika carefully observed the jurors to gauge their reactions to what others were saying. She's probably been a quiet observer all her life.

I think she may have been playing with Xander's mind pretending she couldn't make fire after he made his choice to keep her.

Edited December 17, 2021 by deirdra

[nlkm9]

I was so freaking distracted by shans huge. Hoop earrings that I couldnt follow most of the show !

[Misty79]

1 hour ago, Tippi said:

I was satisfied with how the season ended.  Erika's game play was respected by the jury.  Speaking of the jury, I was pleasantly surprised that the questioning was not overly bitter.  I got a kick out of Liana's last question to Xander.  I also enjoyed the aftershow, it seemed genuine and nicely low key.  I have to give props to Xander, even though he got crushed in the voting he managed to get through the rest of the show with a good attitude.

I hope some casting directors were watching.  Danny and Xander would be great in commercials.  Danny for his looks and charm, and Xander is a perfect "dude bro" type.

Danny was my favorite this season, I think. I appreciate how respectful he was of players like Heather and Erika, who had different strengths to his. A very eloquent speaker too.

I was happy with the outcome. It was such a relief to see a woman win again. It’s been a dry spell. I am disappointed with the lack of camera time given to Erika pre-merge. She was clearly considered a strategic threat, hence the early target on her back, but we were never really shown any of her pre-merge manoeuvring. This show has a habit of ignoring/minimising the subtle play of women thus inevitably generating the “unworthy winner” talk. 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Misty79

[tvfanatic13]

Why did Zander get to choose one of the final 3? I know they have done that before but why? I would rather a real tribal where someone gets voted out than a pick and a fire making challenge (although that was the best part of the episode). 

[Chicago Redshirt]

23 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Why did Zander get to choose one of the final 3? I know they have done that before but why? I would rather a real tribal where someone gets voted out than a pick and a fire making challenge (although that was the best part of the episode). 

Having a Tribal Council were only 3 of the people are eligible to be voted out is often pretty anticlimactic. Once the winner essentially declares, I'm voting to eliminate Player 2,then Players 3 and 4 can just pile on and eliminate Player 2. There's not too much that Player 2 can do to save themselves, and because Players 1, 3, and 4 are all equally responsible for getting rid of Player 2, it's not even like they can direct much bitterness over it. There's also not much point in misleading people about how you're going to vote.

In this season, probably everyone would have ganged up to vote out Deshawn. By contrast, there is tension and drama as to who can get a better fire going.

That said, I would like to see reform to the setup. 

One way would be to have the final immunity challenge decide all of who makes it to the final three. Last place in the challenge is the final jury member.

Or another way would be that everybody but the winner of the final immunity challenge has to build fire, and the last person standing gets in. 

I think the intrigue of people sucking up to the immunity winner, and the possibility that the immunity winner makes the wrong choice pale compared to the drama from things being decided by outplaying. I would like it that at least on some level everyone earned their way into the finals. 

[SVNBob]

On 12/15/2021 at 10:03 PM, mojoween said:

Actually, Mr. World Record Holder man, there are 41 Survivors.  Not one.

Technically, there are 39.  Or more than 50 if you count the International Survivors.

18 hours ago, KeithJ said:

Why did it look like that Shan was crying (or ready to cry) every single time they panned the camera to her?

Because she was "sad" (read: angry) she wasn't still in game.

18 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

The Ship Wheel advantages: None of the extra votes actually changed a vote. Not a one. They were used but not coordinated well enough to actually affect the game.

It may not have been cast to change a vote, but I still say that the extra vote Shantel cast (not that she earned it) was cast effectively in case a vote did get changed.

Xander's extra vote was also cast for the same reason, but with less hoopla surrounding it.

 

14 hours ago, survivinmt said:

I was a bit surprised that DeShawn got a vote and Xander got none. Which makes DeShawn the first runner up, I guess. But no one votes for 2nd place

Occasionally they do.  Back in SJDS, Reed specifically cast his vote for Jackie, who thus got 2nd place, to make sure that Missy was in 3rd place and didn't get tie for 2nd and get the 2nd place prize.

It is entirely possible that the vote for Deshawn was cast with similar thinking in mind; Deshawn "deserving" a higher placing than Xander/Xander "not deserving" to tie for 2nd.

 

5 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

That said, I would like to see reform to the setup. 

One way would be to have the final immunity challenge decide all of who makes it to the final three. Last place in the challenge is the final jury member.

Or another way would be that everybody but the winner of the final immunity challenge has to build fire, and the last person standing gets in.

I've also been advocating both of these changes, with the FIC in option 1 still being fire-making.

[candall]

I'm confused by Erika.  I could barely stand to listen to her all season because, like, every third word was, like, "like."  Is that how she speaks when she runs those boardroom meetings or was that hesitant vocal tic some sort of gameplay strategy?

I was surprised by her persuasive campaign at FTC so maybe the earlier "like-speak" really was a calculated move to appear uncertain and unassuming.

 

I liked Xander and I liked his game, minus that one fatal miscalculation.  I'm sorry and surprised he didn't net any votes at all.  Maybe people were tired of that one grape cluster of curls on the outside of his bandana. . .

[ProfCrash]

3 hours ago, SVNBob said:

It may not have been cast to change a vote, but I still say that the extra vote Shantel cast (not that she earned it) was cast effectively in case a vote did get changed.

Xander's extra vote was also cast for the same reason, but with less hoopla surrounding it.

 

Occasionally they do.  Back in SJDS, Reed specifically cast his vote for Jackie, who thus got 2nd place, to make sure that Missy was in 3rd place and didn't get tie for 2nd and get the 2nd place prize.

It is entirely possible that the vote for Deshawn was cast with similar thinking in mind; Deshawn "deserving" a higher placing than Xander/Xander "not deserving" to tie for 2nd.

 

I understand why and how they were played, it turned out that they didn’t actually do anything. I think the Producers thought the extra votes would end up being used for some blindside or brilliantly in a play to protect someone and they were not. JDs caused a bit of disruption in camp but that was about it. I just don’t think that the extras votes and stupid idols and the like packed the punch TPTB thought they would. We spent a lot of time on them and the only one that really produced a cool moment was the advantage theft. 

I suspect that Danny and DeShawn had a real bound out there and Danny wanted DeShawn to get the second place money for paying off loans. I saw that vote as more helping a friend then screwing Xander. 

After reading some of the exit interviews it sounds like Xander came off as insincere most of the season. His conversations with many people didn’t feel natural and then his play for rice and to give Erika a shot at reward were too transparent. I think it is more how Xander talks then anything or that he was trying too hard and that can come off as desperate. The tone of the interviews make me think that the cast realizes that he was sincere and they misread it. 

[blackwing]

14 hours ago, deirdra said:

Especially when the camera person clearly led her to the advantage.

I guess the perception of whether a contestant is led to the idol/advantage depends on whether you like the person or not.  Because I'm convinced that production/camera guy found all those idols for Russell Hantz and Ben the Marine (who I hated) but I'd like to believe that Erika found her idol on her own haha.

If Erika was led to the advantage, then the same has to be said for every single advantage or idol ever found in this game.  And I guess it doesn't really explain how Tiffany and Danny were both led to idols and didn't find them, despite the camera guy lingering and focusing his camera on one particular spot.

The clue wasn't very specific, it pretty much talked about trees.  So I guess at some point, you just wander around looking for interesting looking trees.  I guess I'm still not sure how those trees were "dancing".  Because they had branches that were spread out and going straight up?

11 hours ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Why did Zander get to choose one of the final 3? I know they have done that before but why? I would rather a real tribal where someone gets voted out than a pick and a fire making challenge (although that was the best part of the episode). 

When it got down to final four, it used to be that they would have a regular vote.  But according to Jeffy, there would be someone who was clearly a threat and if that person did not win immunity, they were almost always voted out of the game since the other three would all vote him/her out.  I am still convinced that Jeffy invented this concept of fire making on the spot because he wanted to save his beloved Ben the Marine.  At the time it happened I thought it was ridiculous but now that the contestants are aware of it, there's no excuse for not being aware of it and practicing.

I do kind of miss the final immunity challenge when there used to be a two person FTC, which was almost always an endurance challenge and whoever won would make it to the finals and get to pick the person they wanted to sit next to.  But I understand why they have a FTC of three now.

5 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Occasionally they do.  Back in SJDS, Reed specifically cast his vote for Jackie, who thus got 2nd place, to make sure that Missy was in 3rd place and didn't get tie for 2nd and get the 2nd place prize.

It is entirely possible that the vote for Deshawn was cast with similar thinking in mind; Deshawn "deserving" a higher placing than Xander/Xander "not deserving" to tie for 2nd.

Yep, Reed was a small, pissy and petty person.  Missy (and her daughter) really inspired a lot of hate from that jury.  I would assumed that Danny's vote for Deshawn wasn't a vote to ensure that he would beat Xander but simply because Danny and Deshawn were buds from the beginning.

[Lamima]

I do think the Deshawn vote had something to do with keeping Xander 3rd. And easy for Danny to do because Deshawn was his ride or die.

My question is...why did Erika think Danny voted for her? Danny told her he was so why didn't he? In her exit interview she still thought Danny voted for her, why?

[watch2much]

I was shocked Xander didn't win or even get a vote. I suspect his youth played a part.  I don't think they ever took him seriously.  To me, it looked like he was very strategic through out the game.  He was constantly under threat of being voted out but held onto that idol until the end.

what the others may have perceived as lack of social awareness may have just been a generational thing.

boy, Ricard looked really angry at FTC.  I think when he saw Erica he was really mad because he realized she was a big a threat as he was and Xander might as well have taken him.

[Matty]

Nothing new to add to what others have already expressed. Just wanted to add a few random thoughts after the season. I, too, was surprised Xander didn't receive one vote. He got no respect from the jury. I wanted him to win, but am fine with Erika. She proved to be strategic and the others seemed to respect her game play at the end. Danny has been stating in interviews that he doesn't want to come back in future Survivor seasons so that's not happening. I think Danny is one of those fan favorite, non-winner of his season, Survivor types. We'd all like to see him return but, sadly, it probably won't happen.    

Edited December 18, 2021 by Matty

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

After reading some of the exit interviews it sounds like Xander came off as insincere most of the season. His conversations with many people didn’t feel natural and then his play for rice and to give Erika a shot at reward were too transparent. I think it is more how Xander talks then anything or that he was trying too hard and that can come off as desperate. 

He came off so completely fake to me onscreen so I totally understand the other players and suspect it was probably even worse in person. I can't decide yet whether he really is that fake or if he's just one of those people that reads fake even though they aren't.

32 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I guess the perception of whether a contestant is led to the idol/advantage depends on whether you like the person or not.  

Yes lol. Just like how you feel about most twists or the winner or whether the jury is bitter, etc. is pretty much all tied into how you feel about the players. 

[blackwing]

28 minutes ago, watch2much said:

I was shocked Xander didn't win or even get a vote. I suspect his youth played a part.  I don't think they ever took him seriously.  To me, it looked like he was very strategic through out the game.  He was constantly under threat of being voted out but held onto that idol until the end.

what the others may have perceived as lack of social awareness may have just been a generational thing.

 

8 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

He came off so completely fake to me onscreen so I totally understand the other players and suspect it was probably even worse in person. I can't decide yet whether he really is that fake or if he's just one of those people that reads fake even though they aren't.

I am not so sure that his youth was the issue.  I wouldn't have known that Xander was only 20 but for the fact that Jeff brought it up.  I'm sure all the contestants knew he was 20, they have a good chunk of the day to do nothing but sit around and get to know each other.  But onscreen I don't think he came across as 20, I would have thought he was about 25.  He seemed pretty mature for 20.  Adam, Tommy, Chris Underwood and Nick Wilson were all about 25 when they won.

I didn't hate Xander but he always seemed to have this stoned surfer approach to everything, and maybe his interactions with others reflected that.  He also didn't seem particularly diplomatic.  I wouldn't necessarily attribute that to his youth, maybe that is just how he is.  Like when Liana tried to emulate Shan and told him that she would feel more comfortable if he would give her his idol.  She didn't word things well either, but his response was something like "oh that's a possibility.  But not for you."

I have been annoyed by his carefully arranged long curl cascading out of the right side of his buff.  I thought maybe he just puts the buff on his head and that's just how his hair is.  But then I see in the final immunity challenge which really depended on concentration, he had actually re-tied the buff so the hair was completely out of his face.  And that made me even more annoyed at that cascading curl.  Hah.

 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Why did Zander get to choose one of the final 3? I know they have done that before but why? I would rather a real tribal where someone gets voted out than a pick and a fire making challenge (although that was the best part of the episode). 

In Season 35 Jeff announced that the winner of the final IC would also win a special "advantage." Chrissy won, and her "advantage" was that she had to pick one of the other four for a spot in the F3, leaving the other two to battle it out in the fire making challenge.

At the time viewers rightfully declared foul. Far from being an "advantage," it eliminated their ability to vote off who they were targeting: Ben. Chrissy, Ryan and Devon all intended to vote out Ben if he lost the final IC and the show, knowing Ben would be a fan favorite, stepped in and prevented them from doing so.

They have continued this gimmick every season since, but no longer try to sell it as an "advantage." 

Now, Jeff freely admits that winning the final IC is a double-edged sword, because it means the decision you make of who you choose to bring with you to the final 3 is going to be judged by the jury. So, he admits now it is not an advantage. He just admitted he lied when this was first introduced, as an "advantage."

[fishcakes]

So, that was a season, I guess. Good cast, though. There are quite a few people I'd like to see play again. Erika, because all along I felt like she was playing a smart game and we certainly heard from everyone who was targeting her all season about how smart she was, but we only got glimpses of it. If she comes back, it would be nice to see them focus more on her. Deshawn, because he could openly burn people and yet they'd still want to work with him after so he obviously was more charming than they showed. He did play emotionally and made some missteps, but being aware of that, he might be more reserved if he played again. Ricard because he was a great player. Naseer, who wasn't a great player, but I just liked him. Danny, also not a great player, but, well, have you seen Danny? Tiffany because everyone loved her and said she was fun and charismatic, but again they barely showed us that. Evvie because she seems like a good person.

Meh on all the pre-merge people, Liana, Xander, Sydney.

No on Shan and Heather.

[HurricaneVal]

I forgot to mention how much I liked Heather's reaction to being invited along on Erika's steak dinner reward.  She was so genuinely surprised and happy about it, and her smile really lit up the screen.  Likewise Erika's return smile when she realized how happy she'd made Heather. 

That was just such a nice human moment, in a season where all the twists and advantages took up so much of the screen time that we didn't get to see much about camp life.  I really missed that this season.  When we saw people interacting, it was all nearly 100% strategizing game talk, no shooting the breeze around the campfire or bobbing in the waves.  We got to see very little of camp life, no shelter building, not much food gathering, no angry infrared camera footage of resentful glares at a snoring tribemate.  No scenes telling us really how close Erika and Heather were, how that relationship developed.  No scenes showing us if Xander was awkward at camp and why he always seemed to be on the outside.  No scenes of a sweetly smiling Danny just enjoying the view (while we enjoy the view of him enjoying the view).

[ZeeEnnui]

5 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

After reading some of the exit interviews it sounds like Xander came off as insincere most of the season. His conversations with many people didn’t feel natural and then his play for rice and to give Erika a shot at reward were too transparent. I think it is more how Xander talks then anything or that he was trying too hard and that can come off as desperate. The tone of the interviews make me think that the cast realizes that he was sincere and they misread it. 

I think you're onto something here. I'm not sure where Xander is from but I'm born and raised in Southern California, and you tend to have a vocal fry or "dude bro" tone in your voice. I'm a woman but I have a similar way of talking, and throughout my life there have been moments where people think that I'm being insincere or sarcastic when that's not my intention (it always throws me off when people say that). Don't get me wrong, my default setting is sarcasm, but people tend to react to that long, slow drawl negatively. I was Team Xander, but not upset about Erica's win. He played a good game, but was on his own for a lot, and that's how he operated. It doesn't seem like anyone disliked him though...just failed to make a connection. 

[eskimo]

On 12/16/2021 at 6:43 AM, MsMalin said:

I am ok with Erika winning but preferred Xander. 

Really did not like the constant commentary by Jeff. He has gotten too full of himself.

He's almost manic at times.  

[Rick B.]

Odd no one has mentioned that the only reason Erica won was the luck of finding the last hidden advantage, which gave her the last immunity challenge.  Not mentioned at all on the show either. (?)  I think Xander was the best player ever to make the vote and not win.  What I like least about Survivor is that it is like a bureaucracy, where talent is resented, and the mice rise to the top.

[ljenkins782]

On 12/16/2021 at 12:57 AM, Melina22 said:

This was by far my favourite reunion show. Everyone so relaxed and happy, eating pizza and drinking champagne. Vastly more enjoyable to watch than the usual overstuffed 3-ring circus it usually is, with every one uncomfortable in glamorous clothes, giving stilted answers in the second or two allotted to them. 

Since the season is over, and they all keep telling us to be proud of who we are, I'm going to proudly state my apparently wildly UO that I like Jeff as host, always have, and don't ever want to see Survivor without him. Is he perfect? No. Neither is Julie Chen. But I love the stability and continuity of keeping the original host, with all their quirks. It's part of the tradition. 

Yes, I thought this reunion was a vast improvement over the "Probst wanders around and talks to random children and celebs, which 90% of the actual cast doesn't speak" extravaganzas of recent years.

Also agreed on Probst and the continuity and familiarity of his often annoying ass. Same with Seacrest on AI, no matter what channel it's on, who the judges are, or how bad the show is, I need to hear "This...is American Idol" in Seacrest's voice.

Quote

 

Shan voted for Erika. So did Liana. So they didn't buy into voting for Deshawn "for the culture." Whether it was because she didn't buy his account, because she was still bitter about betrayal, wanted a woman to win, saw the writing on the wall that Erika was likely to win, thought Erika had the best game or any number of other possible reasons, she voted against Deshawn. 

Why are you mad that Xander didn't get a single vote? He had little social game, apparently, and his decision to usher Erika into the final 3 was a poor one. His FTC performance wasn't particularly good.

 

DeShawn burned bridges with his alliance as they were on their way out and didn't do enough to rebuild them during FTC.

Xander just blew it entirely. He misread the room (aka jury) with regard to Erika vs DeShawn and then didn't give a good performance at FTC. I guess he thought the jury would be impressed that he didn't drag an obvious goat to FTC, but making DeShawn and Erika do fire would've been a far wiser choice.

Erika had some truly excellent answers and she spoke so calmly and rationally, it was impressive. And the way she rebuilt her relationship with Heather was very organic and genuine. Her response about her social game was very honest and didn't try to rewrite history with regard to the relationships she hadn't formed. 

I loathed the twist-o-rama nature of rule changes, but overall, it was a decent season for me.

[Lantern7]

Erik takes one last shot at S41:

Just realized how similar “Erik” is to “Erika.” Also, I’m thinking this Erika should be wearing a mask. It’s hard to win if you’re passing out from massive foot funk.

[deirdra]

11 hours ago, blackwing said:

I guess the perception of whether a contestant is led to the idol/advantage depends on whether you like the person or not.  Because I'm convinced that production/camera guy found all those idols for Russell Hantz and Ben the Marine (who I hated) but I'd like to believe that Erika found her idol on her own haha.

I like Erika, but couldn't help but notice that the camera was focused on the idol when Erika walked into the shot and "ooohed" to the cameraperson before turning toward & spotting the idol.  So either she was led to it or she had found it already and they were re-enacting the find.

[PaperTree]

11 hours ago, blackwing said:

I guess the perception of whether a contestant is led to the idol/advantage depends on whether you like the person or not.  Because I'm convinced that production/camera guy found all those idols for Russell Hantz and Ben the Marine (who I hated) but I'd like to believe that Erika found her idol on her own haha.

Circle (or X ) gets the square!

[Blissfool]

On 12/16/2021 at 5:51 PM, iMonrey said:

Even with wildly different strategies: DeShawn scraping up a pile of magnesium (thanks Jeff) while Heather was just trying to get a spark. One is all the way up while the other is all the way down and then vice versa. Then both are burning brightly and it's basically a matter of wind shear at that point and you're right, the wind was blowing from Heather's left so she was basically blocking DeShawn from it.

The wind was blowing strongly from Heather's left. I wonder if it's artificial "wind" to keep Jeff cool.

And don't get me started on the fact that they assign them fire-making stations. Heather was getting hurricane winds blowing her fire sideways while Deshawn's fire remained vertical.

18 hours ago, candall said:

ked Xander and I liked his game, minus that one fatal miscalculation.  I'm sorry and surprised he didn't net any votes at all.  Maybe people were tired of that one grape cluster of curls on the outside of his bandana. . .

I know I was tired of it! As was Liana, I'm sure. But Liana can just shut it with her antennae braids hanging in front of her face.

 

UO: I miss the regular reunion show because I like seeing all the contestants in their regular clothes. What a bummer for this season's contestants. They didn't get a free trip to LA for a reunion.

UO #2: I didn't like the pizza at the end. Crew walking to and fro serving pizza! They could have waited 30 minutes to eat.

All that being said, I'm so happy Erika won. She was my favorite and I do believe she earned it.

[millennium]

I started the season groaning at Xander and his forelock, but he earned the win and was, IMO, robbed.   It was insulting that he received not a single vote.

[weaver]

Xander didn't come across as a surfer dude type to me at all.  I found him quite intelligent and tough in challenges.    He was referred to as an "app developer" in his description.   That takes a bit of talent and brains.  He's from Florida and is involved in running.  His father is a doctor.  Maybe he was perceived as entitled and therefore not deserving of the million.  Didn't make sense that he received no votes.  I would have voted for him.  

[peachmangosteen]

10 minutes ago, weaver said:

Maybe [Xander] was perceived as entitled and therefore not deserving of the million.  

He was perceived as fake by a lot of the other players.

A lot of good info coming out of exit interviews, mainly about just how completely under edited Heather was:

Deshawn saw Heather as his "One and a Half." Xander opened up to Heather and she got him to cry. Ricard and Heather aligned and befriended each other early in the merge and Ricard actually said that Heather would have also beaten Xander in the end. Erika was close to Sydney but Heather and Sydney had a rivalry so Eirka turned on Sydney for Heather. 

Heather actually called the casting director to ask about her edit and he told her that they wanted to focus on the idols and advantages premerge.

Also, when Danny and Deshawn wanted to throw the challenge, Erika was actually in on that and the plan was to boot Sydney but they were telling Sydney it was Erika.

[weaver]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

He was perceived as fake by a lot of the other players.

A lot of good info coming out of exit interviews, mainly about just how completely under edited Heather was:

Deshawn saw Heather as his "One and a Half." Xander opened up to Heather and she got him to cry. Ricard and Heather aligned and befriended each other early in the merge and Ricard actually said that Heather would have also beaten Xander in the end. Erika was close to Sydney but Heather and Sydney had a rivalry so Eirka turned on Sydney for Heather. 

Heather actually called the casting director to ask about her edit and he told her that they wanted to focus on the idols and advantages premerge.

Also, when Danny and Deshawn wanted to throw the challenge, Erika was actually in on that and the plan was to boot Sydney but they were telling Sydney it was Erika.

I guess I better watch some of the interviews.   

[Blissfool]

1 hour ago, weaver said:

Xander didn't come across as a surfer dude type to me at all

Me neither! I saw him more granola, a tree-hugger. I always also assumed he was vegan.

It surprised me when I saw people on here describe him as a surfer dude or a dude bro.

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

Ricard actually said that Heather would have also beaten Xander 

I believe it. She would have been seen as the little engine that could. I might have even supported that win. 🤭

[Blissfool]

 

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

Also, when Danny and Deshawn wanted to throw the challenge, Erika was actually in on that and the plan was to boot Sydney but they were telling Sydney it was Erika.

What?! No!

Lol. I find that hard to believe. They wanted to lose so that they could evict Erika because Erika wanted to evict Sydney! 

That episode has one of my all-time favorite Survivor scenes. Naseer trying with all his might to win, while at the same time the two strongest men on the team, Danny and Deshawn are trying to thwart his efforts. The memory of it still makes me laugh out loud.

[weaver]

That scene of Danny and deshawn trying to lose was funny.

Not having yet watched interviews, why did Ricard turn on Xander.  Xander said (the one column I read) that Ricard's face was stone cold when they came into jury and seemed to conclude that Ricard had done a lot of negative talking about him in his short time on Ponderosa.   Ricard didn't really expect Xander to give him his idol, did he?  Before that tribal, Ricard and Xander had that sentimental scene.  Seems like Ricard was the fake.  

[ProfCrash]

Ricard did not seem upset with Xander in the interviews I listened to and read. He seemed to think that Xander had formed a real bond but that his game wasn’t that strong. 

The general feel I got from the interviews is that Xander didn’t seem to be all that sincere and that some of his plays where too intentionally plays for the jury. People knew that he really didn’t have an alliance to speak of and that he was not determining moves but more surviving moves. 

Dude had an immunity idol and no one cared. That really is all that needs to be said. He was not seen as a threat to win the game. I can get why he thought he was in a better place then he was but his perception of his standing in the game was just wrong. He saw himself as Ozzy or Malcolm but he just wasn’t.  

[Blissfool]

5 minutes ago, weaver said:

That scene of Danny and deshawn trying to lose was funny.

Not having yet watched interviews, why did Ricard turn on Xander.  Xander said (the one column I read) that Ricard's face was stone cold when they came into jury and seemed to conclude that Ricard had done a lot of negative talking about him in his short time on Ponderosa.   Ricard didn't really expect Xander to give him his idol, did he?  Before that tribal, Ricard and Xander had that sentimental scene.  Seems like Ricard was the fake.  

We must have read the same article and I also interpreted the same way. I guess Ricard did expect the idol used on him. Who knows! Guess he felt betrayed after the very tender moment on this episode of Survivor. But Ricard should know better. Maybe he should ask Shan, "How should I react when a close confidant in the game of Survivor betrays me?" since he betrayed her.

That being said, I didn't quite understand how emotional Xander got when Ricard told him about expecting a baby back home. I consider myself very sentimental person (You think you can hurt my feelings?! Yes. Yes you can. Easily.), but I didn't think Ricard's baby story warranted a Xander ugly-face cry.

And then, Xander said a few times that he and Ricard were very close. Really? I didn't get that throughout the season. I always felt that Ricard was anti-Xander and trying to flush his idol.

 

[PaperTree]

6 minutes ago, Blissfool said:

That being said, I didn't quite understand how emotional Xander got when Ricard told him about expecting a baby back home. I consider myself very sentimental person (You think you can hurt my feelings?! Yes. Yes you can. Easily.), but I didn't think Ricard's baby story warranted a Xander ugly-face cry.

And then, Xander said a few times that he and Ricard were very close. Really? I didn't get that throughout the season. I always felt that Ricard was anti-Xander and trying to flush his idol.

 

I'm not sentimental much and saw right through Ricard's lame attempt to garner sympathy.  Was Xander faking that ugly-face cry?  Forelock and all, lol.

Most people can't hurt my feelings.  I just consider the source😎

[treeofdreams]

Did I just miss it, or were the final three not given an opportunity to address the jury before the questioning started?  That's when each finalist is able to sum up why they think they should win, and it always is interesting to see how they present that.

[himela]

If everything stays the same for next season we will know the winner by their purple edit.

[peachmangosteen]

What I'm getting is that Xander wasn't hated. The jury wasn't bitter. They just didn't think he played that great of a game and found his obvious fake displays to be, well, obviously fake lol. And they just saw Erika as a better player.

5 hours ago, Blissfool said:

Lol. I find that hard to believe. They wanted to lose so that they could evict Erika because Erika wanted to evict Sydney! 

That episode has one of my all-time favorite Survivor scenes. Naseer trying with all his might to win, while at the same time the two strongest men on the team, Danny and Deshawn are trying to thwart his efforts. The memory of it still makes me laugh out loud.

Finding out that they made that out to be the opposite of what it was is just concrete proof of how they can edit the show to be anything they want and that it doesn't even have to have any basis in reality lol.

[LanceM]

1 hour ago, himela said:

If everything stays the same for next season we will know the winner by their purple edit.

Not sure why you would do that as the only one who got a purple edit this season was Heather and last time I checked she lost.

 

[Jobiska]

On 12/17/2021 at 4:28 PM, ljenkins782 said:

Xander just blew it entirely. He misread the room (aka jury)

Another aspect of this:  I'm glad making final three was meaningful for Xander's personal journey.  I was fine with him describing it (fat kid, tried cross country, began to excel, went on Survivor which he never thought he would do) However, the last straight white male other than Jeff in that whole room, (not to mention being young vs being in his "later years," heh heh Evvie), "put your mind to it and anyone can do anything" was not really reading the room. (I think he said it after the actual vote, during the aftershow, but still, if it came across at all, I can see everyone else sitting there thinking yeah yeah kid, were you not there when DeShawn talked about the additional weight on all his actions, etc.?)  Now when Naseer talked about coming from poverty (Parvati?  Heh Probst) (I loved how everyone was authentically helping with his English) it just seemed more genuine.  

Has anyone sitting on the right ever won the fire challenge?   

The only thing I missed about this style was seeing the pre-jurors, but of course Jeff might have ignored them anyway.  Didn't miss him interviewing random kids in the audience.  

I have eaten at a Pizza Hut in Suva, Fiji (in about 1980). It looked better than that gross stuff which looked like it had burned pepperoni on top?

 

[ZeeEnnui]

5 hours ago, Blissfool said:

We must have read the same article and I also interpreted the same way. I guess Ricard did expect the idol used on him. Who knows! Guess he felt betrayed after the very tender moment on this episode of Survivor. But Ricard should know better. Maybe he should ask Shan, "How should I react when a close confidant in the game of Survivor betrays me?" since he betrayed her.

That being said, I didn't quite understand how emotional Xander got when Ricard told him about expecting a baby back home. I consider myself very sentimental person (You think you can hurt my feelings?! Yes. Yes you can. Easily.), but I didn't think Ricard's baby story warranted a Xander ugly-face cry.

And then, Xander said a few times that he and Ricard were very close. Really? I didn't get that throughout the season. I always felt that Ricard was anti-Xander and trying to flush his idol.

 

I read an interview with Ricard where he said that he bonded with Xander but he couldn't let his friendship with him influence his vote. He didn't feel that Xander played the game as well as Erica. But he was pretty clear that he was close to Xander and considered him a friend. I did feel like there was bitterness about the idol, but Ricard didn't think much of Xander's game. I disagree with that because I thought Xander played a smart game for a guy that was pretty much on his own solo tribe. Erica also mentioned being very close to Xander, so it seemed like he did form some close bonds with people there. I guess this is what happens when you stop focusing your show on the survivors of Survivor, and spend all of your time documenting the dumb twists and turns that Jeff thought up while going stir crazy during quarantine. Smooth move there, CBS. [All the eye rolls].