S43.E06: Mergatory

[Whimsy]

Quote

The game intensifies when the tribes meet each other at the same camp. Also, castaways must scramble and strategize before tribal council to avoid being the sixth person voted out.

Original airdate 10/26/22

[mojoween]

Elie’s words of saying no hard feelings don’t really match her actions of having ALL the hard feelings toward Gabler.

Edited October 27, 2022 by mojoween

[MerBearHou]

3 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Ellie’s words of saying no hard feelings don’t really match her actions of having ALL the hard feelings toward Gabler.

Talk about not self-aware.  Talks out of both sides of her mouth.  

[LadyChatts]

Even though I'm not sorry Elie went, I am sad to lose another woman.  Because most of the men left are doing nothing for me.  I can't even say that I like Cassidy or Jeanine that much but I hope they are able to stick around.  But Elie was playing too hard, too fast.  I will say that I don't think the winning tribe should be allowed to have a vote at this TC, or even strategize with the losing tribe ahead of time.  Might have made a big difference tonight. 

Gabler takes things too personally, and is not as good at this game as he thinks he is.  Really, though, Elie and Jeanine should be mad at Sami and Owen for totally playing them.  They are the ones who revealed all to Gabler, so I'm not sure why they got off the hook so easy.  Also, how does Gabler know they weren't lying to him about the bag search?  He just took their word for it.  And it wasn't even Elie!  

Ryan had me rolling with his "we can be the final 7!" followed by the sound of crickets at the merge feast.  

I also love how Noelle inadvertently gave away that Cody had an idol.  Rooting for her and Karla.  I love how Coco was all excited about the merge, and Karla was the only one who was cautious about what was coming so she didn't let herself get excited.

Edited October 27, 2022 by LadyChatts

[vb68]

This is the story of how Elie dug herself a hole, and she kept digging and digging until she suddenly realized "hey, I'm in a hole."  Oops.  

[vb68]

4 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Gabler takes things too personally, and is not as good at this game as he thinks he is.  Really, though, Elie and Jeanine should be mad at Sami and Owen for totally playing them. 

I'm just amazed at how Sami just skated by scot-free when he was up to his eyeballs in the whole mess. Owen too, but Sami in particular just seems so sloppy. And loud.

[jsm1125]

Glad that the turn back time twist didn’t appear this season and I’ll forever love Danny from S41 for chewing out Probst over it off-air. Lying that someone has immunity for shits and giggles was fucked up on production’s end.

I know Ellie bugged, but I don’t love seeing Gabler get his way. But I guess it serves her right for wanting Morriah out for no reason in the premiere episode.

How was Sami not even considered as an option to vote out tonight? 

Very curious at Karla’s vote for Owen. I assume she wanted to create a bit of chaos, as I don’t buy that she wasn’t in the loop about Ellie being the target.

[LadyChatts]

So is Gabler's idol out of play now?  And what do we have left-Cody, Jeanine, and Karla's idol (which no one knows about), Noelle's steal a vote.  I feel like I'm missing something.

[Skooma]

Gabler is a freaking train wreck and I love him for it.  Thanks for getting Elli the Snake out.  Now throw another monkey wrench into the works and blow something else up please.  He won't win but it is fun seeing him flying in the face of meta Survivor strategy and just going wild and crazy.

[vb68]

40 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

So is Gabler's idol out of play now? 

I don't think it's clear because he was not eligible to go home tonight regardless. Does it only count for TCs where people can write his name down?

[KeithJ]

8 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I don't think it's clear because he was not eligible to go home tonight regardless. Does it only count for TCs where people can write his name down?

I would think it’s no longer good.  He was part of tribal council and he had immunity.  It doesn’t matter if people were able to write his name down or not.

[UGAmp]

Elie was my pick to win it all based on her photo and her name (I have a niece named Ellie). Within the first thirty seconds of her being on camera, I realized she is the doppelgänger of a girl I despise at work (especially the wide open eyes at all times) and I’ve been hoping for her exit ever since. The worst part is two of my coworkers and I are in the same fantasy league and I couldn’t even say that I’ve been rooting for her ousting and the reason why since they know the girl too. I know this is petty but I don’t care. She’s gone! 

Thank goodness for no sand timer this season at the merge. And I gotta say this season is the first in a while that I am reaching for my phone during the show and getting a little bored. There is no one I am really rooting for to win it all. And if it I had to make a guess for #winnersedit it is Karla (I promise I am unspoiled). 

Edited October 27, 2022 by UGAmp

[tvfanatic13]

Well, at least now I won’t keep thinking Eliza is back 🤪

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

Gabler takes things too personally, and is not as good at this game as he thinks he is.  Really, though, Elie and Jeanine should be mad at Sami and Owen for totally playing them.  They are the ones who revealed all to Gabler, so I'm not sure why they got off the hook so easy.  Also, how does Gabler know they weren't lying to him about the bag search?  He just took their word for it.  And it wasn't even Elie!  

Yeah, Ellie and Jeanine were plotting against Gabler for ages, they can't really be mad at him for not wanting to ally with them. But Sami and Owen totally played them and betrayed them. I think more so Sami, because I don't think they totally trusted Owen. So they should be annoyed at Sami more than Gabler.

I thought Jeanine decided not to play her idol for Ellie because she was cutting her losses and wanted to keep it for herself, but then she looked shocked at the vote. So I guess not?

[Jodithgrace]

From what I read in EW’s recap, Gabler’s  idol is no more. Apparently it was for  two tribal councils that he attended, whether he was on the chopping block or not. 
 

Elie’s confessional where she proclaimed herself surprisingly good at Survivor, at least to herself, was the kiss of death. The Survivor gods hear those kind of speeches and laugh and laugh.    
 

Is it Jeannine who scraped her chin so badly? It still looks awful. I hope she isn’t scarred for life. 

[KeithJ]

4 minutes ago, Jodithgrace said:

Elie’s confessional where she proclaimed herself surprisingly good at Survivor, at least to herself, was the kiss of death. The Survivor gods hear those kind of speeches and laugh and laugh.    

Yeah.  As soon as she started saying how good she was there was no suspense later in the episode as to who was going to go home.

[North of Eden]

I have to say whoever the chief editor was of this episode has earned a place in the unemployment line.

It's dumbfounding that the editor would telegraph the boot five minutes into the episode with Elie's "I'm the bestus playa evah!" speech. Inexcusable. Once that clip ran it was just a matter of sitting back and watching that play out.

Look I'm not even a fan of Elie but I guess every island needs a Gilligan screwing things up and in this case we've got Gabler. Everything his tribe was saying is correct...it's stupid not to keep the number up and as said they can deal with Gabler vs Elie later but nope Gabler and his nasty a@$ beard have to be right about everything.

I'm just thankful Jeanine still has  her idol because she may well need it in the near future.

Is Elie juror number one?

Lastly how said is it that we are at the merge and Cassidy is still a complete cypher and to a lesser extend the man I can only call "the guy in the red shirt at tribal" because I don't even know his name. Again this must be an editing issuue.

Edited October 27, 2022 by North of Eden

[LadyChatts]

11 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

I have to say whoever the chief editor was of this episode has earned a place in the unemployment line.

It's dumbfounding that the editor would telegraph the boot five minutes into the episode with Elie's "I'm the bestus playa evah!" speech. Inexcusable. Once that clip ran it was just a matter of sitting back and watching that play out.

Well, I was actually convinced she wasn't going because of how bad her edit was going to be.  I thought it might be Jeanine or Gabler going instead.  So they fooled me.  The editing this season has been interesting.  Like, Lindsay got nothing until her boot episode and we were met with paranoia.  Geo got a cocky edit that vote but didn't go, but went the following week (when he still got a bad edit, but so did Ryan).  So far Karla is the only one who screams winner to me, because everyone else is coming across badly or just non existent.  

Although Erica's edit took time to take off (if I remember right it wasn't until the end she got any sort of content) so maybe we will get a similar outcome this season.

[jsm1125]

39 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

I have to say whoever the chief editor was of this episode has earned a place in the unemployment line.

It's dumbfounding that the editor would telegraph the boot five minutes into the episode with Elie's "I'm the bestus playa evah!" speech. Inexcusable. Once that clip ran it was just a matter of sitting back and watching that play out.

Look I'm not even a fan of Elie but I guess every island needs a Gilligan screwing things up and in this case we've got Gabler. Everything his tribe was saying is correct...it's stupid not to keep the number up and as said they can deal with Gabler vs Elie later but nope Gabler and his nasty a@$ beard have to be right about everything.

I'm just thankful Jeanine still has  her idol because she may well need it in the near future.

Is Elie juror number one?

Lastly how said is it that we are at the merge and Cassidy is still a complete cypher and to a lesser extend the man I can only call "the guy in the red shirt at tribal" because I don't even know his name. Again this must be an editing issuue.

I don’t think Elie is part of the jury. I imagine it will start either next week or the week after. 

[TVFan1]

Another woman voted out. Only one man voted out in the pre-merge phase. Here's hoping the women can come together and somehow get a man out.

Elie played too hard. At least she was eligible to be voted off and no stupid "twist" got her out. I liked Elie, I thought she was going to go farther than she got. Jeanine should have played her idol on Elie, that probably would have gotten James out.

There is really nobody to root for at this point. Karla and Cassidy, I guess. Everybody else is just, meh.

Edited October 27, 2022 by TVFan1

[Skooma]

10 hours ago, TVFan1 said:

Another woman voted out. Only one man voted out in the pre-merge phase. Here's hoping the women can come together and somehow get a man out.

Elie played too hard. At least she was eligible to be voted off and no stupid "twist" got her out. I liked Elie, I thought she was going to go farther than she got. Jeanine should have played her idol on Elie, that probably would have gotten James out.

There is really nobody to root for at this point. Karla and Cassidy, I guess. Everybody else is just, meh.

She wasn't voted out because she was female.  She was voted out because she was a snake that people realized they couldn't trust.  Why does it always have to be females vs males on these shows?  Gender had nothing to do with this vote and I'm glad she is gone. 

I don't give a fig about anybody's gender on Survivor.  I do applaud someone's idiotic plan blowing up in their face however and it doesn't matter to me what gender they are when they bring the stupid with a good helping of hubris to their downfall.

And why should Jeanine have played her idol for another player that everyone wanted out anyway?  She would have stepped into the line of fire for doing that.  She is playing for herself, not to hand the million dollars to Elli.  Had she done that she would become a major target immediately. Besides it looks like she was totally clueless and surprised that Elli's Most Excellent Convoluted Plan of Total Insanity didn't work.

Personally I like Cody, Sammi, Karla, Jesse and James.  (But not Jesse James).  Also Gabler to bring me some nice entertaining chaos.  Karla seems the sharpest and Cody amuses me no end and I like how Sammi totally played Elli from the get go.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Skooma

[PhoneCop]

I still don't care about most of these people but I am enjoying the fun the editors are having with the chyrons this season. That list of who was holding what advantage was certainly handy.

[GaT]

What happened to Jeanine's chin? Somehow I missed it & all of a sudden there were scabs & I never saw anything happen to her.

[HurricaneVal]

So....  Wait.   Did Ellie search Gabler's bag, or did she not?  She was adamant that she did not, but I remember otherwise.  Does anyone remember?  Not to mention, I seem to recall it wasn't a solo effort, so there are at least two other guilty parties involved.

And how did Gabler end up on the inside?  Was it only because he was safe, or is the editing not showing his full game?  

[Skooma]

11 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

So....  Wait.   Did Ellie search Gabler's bag, or did she not?  She was adamant that she did not, but I remember otherwise.  Does anyone remember?  Not to mention, I seem to recall it wasn't a solo effort, so there are at least two other guilty parties involved.

And how did Gabler end up on the inside?  Was it only because he was safe, or is the editing not showing his full game?  

Jeanine searched the bag but I think it was Elli's idea and/or Elli egged Jeanine on to do it at least.  She was also acting as lookout for Jeanine during said act.

Sammi has been working with Gabler all the time and playing the "great Survivor mastermind" Elli like a violin all along.  Elli & Jeanine thought Sammi was with them but they were more his Plan B if Gabler got too out of control and had to go.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Skooma

[OutOfTheQuestion]

3 hours ago, PhoneCop said:

That list of who was holding what advantage was certainly handy.

They should've introduced that graphic 10 seasons ago, when the advantages and idols really got silly

[DrBriCa]

2 hours ago, GaT said:

What happened to Jeanine's chin? Somehow I missed it & all of a sudden there were scabs & I never saw anything happen to her.

I believe she scraped it during one of the first immunity challenges where she had to dig into a sand pit to pull herself under a big log. From what I recall, she was the slowest of the three teams for that segment and really had to squeeze through.

[GaT]

1 minute ago, DrBriCa said:

I believe she scraped it during one of the first immunity challenges where she had to dig into a sand pit to pull herself under a big log. From what I recall, she was the slowest of the three teams for that segment and really had to squeeze through.

I remember the challenge, I just don't remember her losing half her chin. Thanks for the info :-)

[vb68]

I was surprised that we didn't see Jeff call in medical to at least look at Karla's hand. It didn't seem like a minor thing during the challenge.

[violet and green]

I thought her eyeballs were going to pop out of her head and into the fire pit at one point! That was a satisfying boot.

[Haleth]

5 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

So....  Wait.   Did Ellie search Gabler's bag, or did she not?  She was adamant that she did not, but I remember otherwise.  Does anyone remember?  Not to mention, I seem to recall it wasn't a solo effort, so there are at least two other guilty parties involved.

I know, right?  The whole time she was arguing her innocence I was dumbfounded.  Oh, yes you did!  Or at least she was the one who suggested it.

Yep, as soon as she started patting herself on the back for being a great player I knew she was toast.

It finally occurred to me who Elie reminds me of - Gilda Radner.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Skooma said:

7 hours ago, TVFan1 said:

Another woman voted out. Only one man voted out in the pre-merge phase. Here's hoping the women can come together and somehow get a man out.

Elie played too hard. At least she was eligible to be voted off and no stupid "twist" got her out. I liked Elie, I thought she was going to go farther than she got. Jeanine should have played her idol on Elie, that probably would have gotten James out.

There is really nobody to root for at this point. Karla and Cassidy, I guess. Everybody else is just, meh.

She wasn't voted out because she was female.  She was voted out because she was a snake that people realized they couldn't trust.  Why does it always have to be females vs males on these shows?  Gender had nothing to do with this vote and I'm glad she is gone. 

I don't give a fig about anybody's gender on Survivor.  I do applaud someone's idiotic plan blowing up in their face however and it doesn't matter to me what gender they are when they bring the stupid with a good helping of hubris to their downfall.

I think this is a big misreading of the original comment. They never said Elie was voted out because she was female. They were just expressing disappointment that another woman was voted out, I, for one, am also disappointed - not because I think of the show as a female vs. male contest, but because I like having a mix of both and I enjoy the value, perspective, and vibe that women players often bring. They've reached the merge, and only 1 man has been voted out compared to 5 women - 4 of whom were the first 4 people voted out. So now there are twice as many men still playing the game as women. It's disheartening for some people to see that happen, whatever the reason is that it's happening.

Elie did have a certain amount of hubris that led to her downfall, but I don't think she was some heinous idiot that got what she deserved. She misread Sami and Gabler, and that's to her discredit, but I can't get too excited over her leaving because I find Sami and Gabler insufferable. Chaos of the type that Gabler brings can be fun, but not when it's accompanied by self-righteousness. And I still find Sami to be an aggro wannabe-mastermind. He's got plenty of hubris that puts Elie to shame; he's just been on the correct side of things - so far.

[Carey]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

It finally occurred to me who Elie reminds me of - Gilda Radner.

Elie always had a resemblance (to someone).  The Gilda thing is new (for me).  There was someone else, but I went with Pamela Martinez.  At least most people that are familiar know her better or best as Bayley.  Then there's Amy Ecker, but she's done, so I'll probably end up with more links or comparisons to other celebrities going foreward

[Lamb18]

11 hours ago, Skooma said:

Gabler is a freaking train wreck and I love him for it.  Thanks for getting Elli the Snake out.  Now throw another monkey wrench into the works and blow something else up please.  He won't win but it is fun seeing him flying in the face of meta Survivor strategy and just going wild and crazy.

Is Surviver Gabler the new Big Brother Frenchie?

Edited October 27, 2022 by Lamb18

[SummerDreams]

So happy to see unlikeable Ellie go. Thankfully she didn't even make it to jury 😂

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, Jodithgrace said:

Is it Jeannine who scraped her chin so badly? It still looks awful. I hope she isn’t scarred for life. 

I noticed in one of her confessionals that it looked much more healed, which made me wonder if she makes it far.

11 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

So far Karla is the only one who screams winner to me, because everyone else is coming across badly or just non existent.

Yea, Karla is literally the only person with a good edit.

Another woman gone, cool. I can't be too mad since Elie sucked but for fuck's sake, Sami is 10 times worse with none of the hilarity that Elie brought. 

[Lady Calypso]

Well, Elie's gone. On the one hand, great! She wasn't likeable and she was making some really poor moves from her very poor reads.

On the other hand, another woman gone, which leaves only four women at the merge vs still eight men, none of whom seem to be in the most danger. 

Good for Gabler for getting Elie out. This will likely be his best move of the game. Kind of glad he went all out on his move, even if it likely doesn't get him that much farther. He is now seen as a wildcard for Sami/Owen, and Gabler doesn't really have many allies to lean on. 

Elie may not have been wrong about her not going through the bag (that was all Jeanine), but she was wrong in that she witnessed it happening and encouraged it. But Gabler really doesn't realize Jeanine was a part of it? I guess Sami left that out. Though Gabler did seem to get the idea that Jeanine was involved so Jeanine's time in the game may not be for long.

So many advantages in the game so far. I'm glad some know about Cody's idol, and I'm glad more advantages are being figured out. Karla is the only one with a completely hidden advantage. I'm rooting so hard for Karla right now.

[kassandra8286]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

It finally occurred to me who Elie reminds me of - Gilda Radner.

She's a dead ringer for Roseanne Roseannadanna, lol:

[gesundheit]

10 hours ago, Skooma said:

And why should Jeanine have played her idol for another player that everyone wanted out anyway?  She would have stepped into the line of fire for doing that.  She is playing for herself, not to hand the million dollars to Elli.  Had she done that she would become a major target immediately. Besides it looks like she was totally clueless and surprised that Elli's Most Excellent Convoluted Plan of Total Insanity didn't work.

Agreed, playing an idol for Elie would've been a fast backfire on her. Elie was understandably upset about Sami & Owen ratting her out to Gabler, but she handled it by lashing out instead of trying to smooth things over. She found out she was a target and made herself a bigger one in response. Going straight up to people and essentially saying, "You are now on my shitlist, but also you better vote with me now" is never a good move!

[mojoween]

Has there been confirmation if Karla was super out of the loop, or just felt like throwing a random vote at Owen?

Edited October 27, 2022 by mojoween

[iMonrey]

Three teams merge, but then they are randomly split into two teams to play for group immunity; one group wins immunity and merge buffs, the other team is eligible for eviction but everyone gets to vote. But the players still strategize along the lines of their original three tribes.

The only way I could keep track of this was to write it all down. I had my laptop open and when they showed how the players were divided into red and blue I stopped and highlighted those players in red and blue categories. 

So Cassidy and James from Coco were vulnerable; Cody was the only Vesi member up for eviction; and on Baka Sami, Elie and Owen we vulnerable. Numbers-wise it just seemed like voting out someone from Baka was the wisest move.

But honestly - this was all so needlessly confusing. On top of that, now they have to include what advantage each player is holding when they show a chyron of their name. That's when you know even the show realizes it's hard to keep track of them. 

I'm not sure this was really the right time for Gabler to turn on Baka. Between them and Vesi they had the numbers. I get that he doesn't trust Elie but he really needed to shore up another alliance before ditching the only sure thing he had.

Hopefully this will be less confusing now that everyone is officially "merged."

[vb68]

5 hours ago, Haleth said:

It finally occurred to me who Elie reminds me of - Gilda Radner.

For me, she looks and sounds just like Cecily Strong doing a character.

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Has there been confirmation if Karla was super out of the loop, or just felt like throwing a random vote at Owen?

Speculation on one of the recaps I read (can't remember if it was Joe Reid here or Gordon Holmes at xfinity) was it was an attempt at vote-splitting in case Elie had an idol. My brain doesn't care to do the math on how or if that would have worked, but I can't believe Karla wasn't in the loop with her strongest allies James and Cassidy (both of whom voted for Elie) in the line of fire.

[Carey]

Hopefully Karla can read into that and maybe target James and/or Cassidy in case either or both target her first.

This isn't directed at Elie and her ouster, but it's refreshing that she missed the jury.  I think with the cast structure, it would've been pretty much too soon for the jury to start.  Surviving a couple of boots more or less and you're apart of the jury sorta waters down that part of the game

[candall]

I am no Survivor grandmaster--I can barely remember the beginning of the current season, much less Beaters v. Hooptys, 1965.

But there is no Survivor moment more satisfying than "I'm so good, I even surprise myself!" followed by immediate torch snuffage.

[Matteo]

15 minutes ago, candall said:

I am no Survivor grandmaster--I can barely remember the beginning of the current season, much less Beaters v. Hooptys, 1965.

But there is no Survivor moment more satisfying than "I'm so good, I even surprise myself!" followed by immediate torch snuffage.

Yeah, it's always so karmic.  There was a similar player on Big Brother early in this latest season.  She bragged about how easy the game was and how she was controlling things, then got her ass handed to her that very week and got evicted.  Elie reminded me of that.  I had a feeling she was doomed when she gave that confessional early in the episode.  I agree with those who think Karla is getting the best edit now.  Plus, I always respect the players who can actually keep their advantages and idols to themselves for a while.

[eel21788]

15 hours ago, vb68 said:

I don't think it's clear because he was not eligible to go home tonight regardless. Does it only count for TCs where people can write his name down?

He still had the option of using it for someone else. I was a little surprised that he didn't do that, even just picking someone randomly, because it was the last time his idol could have been used. It could have gained him some loyalty points from players he hasn't had a chance to align with yet.

[jabRI]

I'll say it until the madness stops.  Too many idols, advantages, punishments.  Need to bring real strategy back.  That's why these alliances are so fluid, you only need an alliance to flush out an advantage, then move on to the next target.  Really boring, I  think I'm done for a while.

[eel21788]

8 minutes ago, jabRI said:

I'll say it until the madness stops.  Too many idols, advantages, punishments.  Need to bring real strategy back.  That's why these alliances are so fluid, you only need an alliance to flush out an advantage, then move on to the next target.  Really boring, I  think I'm done for a while.

If all the idols had been used last night, there would have only been two people eligible to be voted out from a total of 13 players. That's ridiculous. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

Speculation on one of the recaps I read (can't remember if it was Joe Reid here or Gordon Holmes at xfinity) was it was an attempt at vote-splitting in case Elie had an idol. My brain doesn't care to do the math on how or if that would have worked, but I can't believe Karla wasn't in the loop with her strongest allies James and Cassidy (both of whom voted for Elie) in the line of fire.

1 hour ago, Carey said:

Hopefully Karla can read into that and maybe target James and/or Cassidy in case either or both target her first.

Since this followed directly after my comment (also quoted for context), I'm wondering if it's a response to mine, and if so, I think perhaps my comment was misunderstood? The question was asked if Karla was out of the loop since she voted for Owen, and my response was that I strongly doubted that she was out of the loop. I don't think there are any signs that James and Cassidy are likely to target Karla anytime soon - James in particular has been her number one. I meant that, with her strongest allies in danger, I think Karla absolutely knew that Elie was the target, knew that they were voting for Elie, and cast the vote for Owen for some other reason - whether vote-splitting or chaos, we don't know yet.

So I don't think there's anything for Karla to read into re: James and Cassidy. However, depending on Karla's reasoning for her vote, there might be something for James and Cassidy to read into re: Karla.

Edited October 27, 2022 by tracyscott76