S43.E05: Stop with All the Niceness

[Whimsy]

Quote

Two castaways get caught by another tribemate while opening a Beware Advantage. Also, one person from each tribe must take a journey together where they can risk their vote or play it safe.

Original airdate 10/19/22

[LadyChatts]

Such a satisfying boot.  Hope throwing that challenge was worth it.  I would have rather Ryan gone, but Geo was the smart choice and I’m not complaining.  Karla got a powerful advantage out of the game that could have impacted her down the road, and a man finally left.  As for the challenge, I loved seeing the Vesi men help Noelle during the challenge.  I’m glad they aren’t treating her like a liability.

I wish we had gotten a bigger picture of Lindsay’s breakdown last week, because now it makes sense why her alliance turned on her.  Telling your tribe you’ll hunt them down if they turn on you?  Probably not the best way to make your alliance feel like they can count on you down the road.

Karla is really one of the few people who seems to be playing a good game.  Sami, begrudgingly, I admit he’s also playing a decent game, although not sure how in the loop he really is.  I guess it will depend if Owen sticks with the guys (he probably will) or if Gabler annoys Sami to the point where he sides with the girls and votes him off (also possible).  I have to think that getting the beads to get an idol wasn’t the challenge TPTB were expecting.

This season is starting to look up!

Edited October 20, 2022 by LadyChatts

[Carey]

Is [a boot with that advantage] worse than getting booted with an idol (or 2)? I'd say no, but man. One can't even put up that "advantage" in an auction!

As mentioned, finally a dude goes home!

[Kitty Redstone]

I'm just loving Karla and James.  Ryan has to be wondering how badly he screwed up by throwing the challenge.

[LadyChatts]

1 minute ago, Kitty Redstone said:

I'm just loving Karla and James.  Ryan has to be wondering how badly he screwed up by throwing the challenge.

If Geo hadn't shown Karla his advantage, I think Ryan would have been going home.  Karla was smart to get that out of the game, since she has an idol.  

[GenerationX]

SO much bad acting...Geo during and after the journey, Ryan before and during tribal.  Really, the Razzie could have gone to either one.

[tvfanatic13]

Why didn’t they vote out Ryan? I don’t understand the Geo vote. I really don’t like Ryan. 

[LadyChatts]

22 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

SO much bad acting...Geo during and after the journey, Ryan before and during tribal.  Really, the Razzie could have gone to either one.

I loved how they weren't fooling anybody.  Geo especially could have said 'I got a vote at the last tribal and I was out of the loop' which isn't entirely untrue.  He voted for Cassidy, even though he knew Lindsay was going home, but he could have lied and said that he didn't know that was the plan.  He didn't have to play it up so thick.  He should have stuck with the vote at the last tribal as the angle.  It might not have worked, but would have been better than trying to act like a weakling.

And now that I think about it, Ryan telling Geo to vote for Cassidy just in case really put a bigger target on those two.  

[knitorpurl]

Those eye rolls from Cassidy during tribal were huge! As a fellow eye roller; she better get those under control once the merge happens. A little hard to be cagey when your feelings are that obvious.

And Karla needs to be careful with the big, dramatic pauses. Keep your tribal council answers simple and light. "Anything can happen in Survivor, Jeff"

[Carey]

1 minute ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Why didn’t they vote out Ryan? I don’t understand the Geo vote. I really don’t like Ryan. 

Because Geo had an advantage.  Yeah, Ryan isn't so popular, but Geo isn't much better.  You gotta boot the guy that might be a bigger threat toward your success on Survivor

[vb68]

Geo was a complete idiot. And Ryan was not far behind.  Bad players and awful strategery.  

3 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Why didn’t they vote out Ryan? I don’t understand the Geo vote.

I really think it was his advantage. Karla, playing correctly, wasn't having that in the game.

[North of Eden]

Yes indeed...how stupid was it to tell Sammi about the beads...and with nary an explanation as to their thinking? Sloppy editing? Maybe.

Wow did the Boston Rob knock off (damn I forgot his name...Cody?) not have a single speaking line tonight? It was great. I forgot he was even on the show.

Bet Ryan went to bed that night with one prayer on his lips...."Please merge or I'm dead in the water."

Can't believe there was any consideration at all about whether to send Geo home...of course you want to flush the advantage. There's something shady about Carla that she was even considering anyone but.

Ryan...throwing a comp just to get rid of someone he doesn't like? Worst strategy ever!

Edited October 20, 2022 by North of Eden

[Meowwww]

No idea who these people are.   So annoying. 

[vb68]

It is rather humorous that all three players on the trip risked their vote, and it turns out all three would had been better off playing it safe and not risking anything.

They all overthought it.

Edited October 20, 2022 by vb68

[Steph Sometimes]

2 hours ago, knitorpurl said:

And Karla needs to be careful with the big, dramatic pauses.

I seriously thought she had fallen asleep. That would've been something. 

Add me to those who are happy a man went home.

I don't like Sami.

[GaT]

That was a satisfying elimination, I never liked Geo.

[TVFan1]

Finally, a man goes home. That was a satisfying boot. I don't know why Ryan and Geo thought that Cassidy was such a threat that they were targeting her. Glad that Cassidy survived the vote tonight. Too bad Ryan didn't go, but the smart choice was Geo because of his advantage. Karla is playing this game smart. Bye, Geo.

What made this episode even better was not even one Cody talking head. Hope this continues. 

[Guest]

I get why James and Karla were having deja vu with Cassidy, but I would have been royally peeved with them if they had followed through with their "what if we voted for Cassidy?" talk. This was not the same situation as Lindsay. Lindsay's paranoia seemed to come from nowhere, and she was worried about her own allies voting her out. Cassidy was understandably (and correctly) worried that Geo and Ryan would target her, and was concerned that Geo would get an advantage that could screw up the vote and send her home, which is why she wanted to vote for Ryan instead. It's easy for James and Karla to be chuckling and all "here we go again!" when they weren't the ones who had just gotten votes and likely to get votes again. I'm glad they all worked that out.

Kind of weird for the red team to get a non-speaking cameo role when they've been so present up till now.

Sami. Ugh. In Joe's Primetimer recap, he notes that Sami seems incredibly angry in all his confessionals, and I agree. I'd add a level of smugness that is not pleasant to watch. Yeah, he seems to have the upper hand on Elie and Jeanine but he's just so...ugh about it.

[Lady Calypso]

Lots of dumb plays this go around. But I guess, when the show stops focusing on Vesi and more on Coco, that's what's going to happen. 

Karla, once again, is probably the best positioned player in the entire season. It's gonna be a shame if she does end up going sooner rather than later, because she's the only one I truly enjoy and am rooting for. She played so well this week. Being the middle woman allowed her to get that info from Geo, him trusting her the most with it, and then using it to ensure he went. Knowing what his advantage was allowed her to make the correct decision and reassure her allies that, no, they didn't need to vote Ryan in fear of Geo's advantage. There was 0% chance that he'd guess right or even use it, so they could comfortably vote Geo. But even if Geo HAD used the KIP correctly, they would have just voted Ryan since KIP is played before the vote (or it has been, to my recollection, the last two seasons). 

Jeanine risks her vote, which....I guess, in her mind, she has a solid ally in Sami, except Sami seems to hate working with her and Elie so....maybe not so solid. And I hate it because Gabler's annoying as shit, so is Sami, so I hate seeing their smug faces. 

Jesse risks his vote as well and his entire tribe knows. Jesse does seem to be in a good position, at least.

So tired of the same type of challenges. They just rotate the different portions of the challenge. There's just no originality.

Ryan and Geo are terrible players. Geo left because his ego got the best of him, and Ryan is likely not far behind. His whole "I threw that challenge to get Cassidy out!" was just....honestly, I WISHED he had gone because of that bone-headed move, whether or not he actually threw. 

But at least a man went, although the women are still very much outnumbered. 

[PaperTree]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

So tired of the same type of challenges. They just rotate the different portions of the challenge. There's just no originality

Remember back in the days when they went to different places, they would adjust the challenges based on the local conditions/resources, etc.  Kept it fresh.

Now that they're parked in Fiji, they've gotten lazy just repeating the same old stuff.  Most of the infrastructure is already built so production has a much easier ride.  Sad.

[KeithJ]

After TC, why did Geo still feel he was in charge and had the numbers?  He was just blindsided in the previous vote.

[iMonrey]

Quote

No idea who these people are.   So annoying. 

I know who they are, I have a cheat sheet. But I'm still having trouble connecting with any of them. I honestly don't care who stays and who goes, I have not found a single person to root for yet. I can't remember the last time I felt this disconnected from the cast.

Rowing that boat to the Risk island looked harder than any immunity challenge they've done so far. The ocean looked pretty rough, although I couldn't really tell how far away they were.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, KeithJ said:

After TC, why did Geo still feel he was in charge and had the numbers?  He was just blindsided in the previous vote.

Actually Geo wasn’t blindsided in the previous vote; at the end of last week’s episode (when the individual votes are revealed) I had thought the same as you, but early in this episode Cassidy specifically included Geo in the list of those who had been told the plan to evict Lindsay.  I’m guessing Geo figured his individual vote would be immaterial in the landslide coming Lindsay’s way, so he decided to throw a vote at Cassidy - whether from simple spite or insurance in case Lindsay popped up with a surprise HII I don’t know, but since it’s Geo we’re talking about either could easily apply.

[Skooma]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Rowing that boat to the Risk island looked harder than any immunity challenge they've done so far. The ocean looked pretty rough, although I couldn't really tell how far away they were.

Remember when they had really hard boat rowing in some immunity challenges?  And some challenges didn't even have puzzles as part of them.  These days the challenges aren't much better than Big Brother ones.

I mean this week's Amazing Race had a metal detector roadbock which was super easy for TAR but would have totally been way harder than most Survivor challenges and at the very least, different.  Come on, Jeff.  You have tons of sand to bury "hidden treasure" in after all.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Skooma

[iMonrey]

Quote

These days the challenges aren't much better than Big Brother ones.

They are actually worse than Big Brother-type challenges. I'd kill to see the Survivors swinging from ropes trying to match their comic book characters in the right order. Or getting blasted with purple goo for getting an answer wrong. I'm so sick of untangling ropes and scaling walls and tossing balls and diving for keys and putting puzzle pieces together. 

[knitorpurl]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm so sick of untangling ropes and scaling walls and tossing balls and diving for keys and putting puzzle pieces together. 

But sometimes they untie knots, crawl under barriers and do a slide puzzle!

[pennben]

To me, the challenges are something I fast forward through, so no issues here.

[Fretful]

17 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Sami. Ugh. In Joe's Primetimer recap, he notes that Sami seems incredibly angry in all his confessionals, and I agree. I'd add a level of smugness that is not pleasant to watch. Yeah, he seems to have the upper hand on Elie and Jeanine but he's just so...ugh about it.

Exactly this.  Sami is actually playing a pretty  good game- everyone on his tribe trusts him and  he does well but not outstandingly at the challenges.  He plays the middle well yet still makes moves  But he's just so smug, and arrogant, and seems angry whenever anyone else dares to have a strategy.  I imagine once they get to the merge, he'll be eaten alive.

[SVNBob]

18 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

I get why James and Karla were having deja vu with Cassidy, but I would have been royally peeved with them if they had followed through with their "what if we voted for Cassidy?" talk. This was not the same situation as Lindsay. Lindsay's paranoia seemed to come from nowhere, and she was worried about her own allies voting her out. Cassidy was understandably (and correctly) worried that Geo and Ryan would target her, and was concerned that Geo would get an advantage that could screw up the vote and send her home, which is why she wanted to vote for Ryan instead. It's easy for James and Karla to be chuckling and all "here we go again!" when they weren't the ones who had just gotten votes and likely to get votes again. I'm glad they all worked that out.

In simpler terms:

Lindsey was paranoid despite her name not being part of the conversation, until she forced it in.

Cassidy was paranoid because her name was part of the conversation.  And James knew that it was too, since Ryan told him the "plan".  I'm glad she called James and Karla out on them being complacent about the vote because they weren't the ones on the block if things went sideways.

Speaking of Ryan, I was wondering if he threw the challenge before they showed his TH where he admitted to doing so.  His reaction to knocking all the balls out (snerk) didn't read like he was upset about it.  He was too happy.  So I believe him when he said he did it on purpose.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Fretful said:

Exactly this.  Sami is actually playing a pretty  good game- everyone on his tribe trusts him and  he does well but not outstandingly at the challenges.  He plays the middle well yet still makes moves  But he's just so smug, and arrogant, and seems angry whenever anyone else dares to have a strategy.  I imagine once they get to the merge, he'll be eaten alive.

Yeah, it will be interesting to see Sami having to play with the likes of Karla, James, Cassidy, Cody, etc., and with Owen feeling more free to move about. A lot of strong b.s. detectors in this group.

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, pennben said:

To me, the challenges are something I fast forward through, so no issues here.

I've been fast forwarding through the challenges for years. It's the best way to watch imo.

[Lantern7]

I’m at work . . . just enough time to show Erik’s take on Wednesday's episode.

[LadyChatts]

17 hours ago, Fretful said:

Exactly this.  Sami is actually playing a pretty  good game- everyone on his tribe trusts him and  he does well but not outstandingly at the challenges.  He plays the middle well yet still makes moves  But he's just so smug, and arrogant, and seems angry whenever anyone else dares to have a strategy.  I imagine once they get to the merge, he'll be eaten alive.

I'm glad other people are noticing this.  Sami's face always looks like he's mad at the world.  I can see why he'd rather align with Owen and Gabler over Elie and Jeanine, because the two guys really have nothing going on in terms of strategy.  Gabler thinks he's better at this than he is, imo, but he's always finding things out from other people.  It's funny that Gabler dismisses being in Elie's pocket but doesn't realize he's in Sami's.  Owen I'm not really sure, but I can't see him making a big move all on his own.    

Edited October 21, 2022 by LadyChatts

[Lantern7]

Even with the hindsight that Ryan was throwing the challenge, there's something so sad about him rolling that final ball and knocking the other two off the platform. Seems like something that would happen to me . . . and I probably wouldn't be trying to do that. Last episode, I saw Ryan throw a sandbag between two blocks without nudging either of them. Could that be considered talent?

I think that this is -- at best - going to be a Thursday morning view on DVR for me at 6 a.m. Once again, The Challenge is more compelling for me, which is ironic given the repellent regulars that appear every season. It's not a bad season . . . even with the variety of advantages and challenges (including Gabler, who looks like a challenge all by himself), it feels like lessons were learned from S41-42. Enough people found Probst walking the streets and told him that they don't want him going all Johnny Knoxville on us before challenges. I get the mental exhaustion people would have for Cody and/or Sami, and there's not a Maryann in the mix that you can't help but root for.

Still disappointed no one said, "Geo, dude." Once again . . . "Rocksroy" sounded like a Pokemon. Given that Ryan's tattoo might be inspired by Fullmetal Alchemist and "baka" can be translated from Japanese as "stupid," the anime thoughts are more frequent in my head.

On 10/19/2022 at 10:33 PM, North of Eden said:

Wow did the Boston Rob knock off (damn I forgot his name...Cody?) not have a single speaking line tonight? It was great. I forgot he was even on the show.

Rob never had a mullet. After watching Challenge USA, I think of Dom as "What you get when you order Boston Rob off Wish." Sorry for abusing that joke. Okay, not really.

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I think of Dom as "What you get when you order Boston Rob off Wish." 

Perfect.

[Nashville]

20 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Even with the hindsight that Ryan was throwing the challenge

[violet and green]

That was possibly the dullest episode of Survivor, ever. 

Edited October 22, 2022 by violet and green
typo!

[Kenzie]

On 10/19/2022 at 9:05 PM, Steph Sometimes said:

And Karla needs to be careful with the big, dramatic pauses.

And moving through jungle brush and challenges with that nose ring dangling down. I keep thinking how painful it would be to catch that bull ring on something. It's probably just me but I find it very distracting.

[blackwing]

On 10/20/2022 at 7:07 AM, Lady Calypso said:

Ryan and Geo are terrible players. Geo left because his ego got the best of him, and Ryan is likely not far behind. His whole "I threw that challenge to get Cassidy out!" was just....honestly, I WISHED he had gone because of that bone-headed move, whether or not he actually threw. 

Thoroughly satisfying boot.  I hated Geo, I hated his smugness and the way he thought he was running the game and the way he talked, and I'm glad he went home with an advantage in his pocket.  Ryan is an idiot too, throwing the challenge and then nonstop talking about how he should go home since he lost them.  What?  Who says that?  Does he even realise how dumb that sounds?  I loved how Cassidy didn't believe him at all.  I would have loved to have seen him go home, but I disliked Geo more so I'm fine with saving Ryan for another week.  The look on his face when Geo was evicted was priceless.

I really don't understand why Jeanine proceeded to tell every single person except for Gabler that she found the Beware Advantage.  She should have told Elie, her ally, but why tell Owen and Sami?  Didn't get that at all.  And of course Sami goes right to Gabler and tells him, but only after sitting there and watching Jeanine get the bead from Gabler first.  Why not tell him earlier?  I'm sure Gabler would not have given the bead to her if he knew.

On 10/20/2022 at 5:32 PM, iMonrey said:

They are actually worse than Big Brother-type challenges. I'd kill to see the Survivors swinging from ropes trying to match their comic book characters in the right order. Or getting blasted with purple goo for getting an answer wrong. I'm so sick of untangling ropes and scaling walls and tossing balls and diving for keys and putting puzzle pieces together. 

Or landing bean bags onto a platform.  Or knocking targets off a platform.

The one challenge I never tire of however, is the one with the blindfolded signal caller and the giant puzzle pieces and the posts that are conveniently at testicle level.  Never gets old.  Jeffy takes sadistic glee in announcing when some poor guy has taken a shot to the rocks.

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I really don't understand why Jeanine proceeded to tell every single person except for Gabler that she found the Beware Advantage.  She should have told Elie, her ally, but why tell Owen and Sami?  Didn't get that at all.  And of course Sami goes right to Gabler and tells him, but only after sitting there and watching Jeanine get the bead from Gabler first.  Why not tell him earlier?  I'm sure Gabler would not have given the bead to her if he knew.

Yeah, Gabler really needs to spend some time thinking about why Sami didn't clue him in earlier, or why Sami gave his own bead to Jeanine. The answer, of course, is that Sami has no real plan and just goes with whatever makes him feel important in the moment. "Heh, I get to be in on this plan to trick Gabler about his idol"..."Heh, I get to tell Gabler that the others were going through his stuff"..."Heh, I get to play along with this charade to trick everyone into giving Jeanine their beads"..."Heh, I get to sell Jeanine out to Gabler"..."Heh, they all think I'm 22, I am killing this" and so on.

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, blackwing said:

I really don't understand why Jeanine proceeded to tell every single person except for Gabler that she found the Beware Advantage.  She should have told Elie, her ally, but why tell Owen and Sami?  Didn't get that at all. 

Wasn't it Ellie that told Sami? Jeanine probably knew she was telling him but it is Ellie so she could have easily just done it without even talking to her about it. And with Owen, he pretty obviously caught them so I can kind of see why they thought just coming clean was smarter.