S44.E03: Sneaky Little Snake

[Whimsy]

Quote

A budding romance could become an easy target for one tribe. Also, one castaway hopes to convince the tribe of their worth to stay another day.

Original airdate 3/15/23

[mojoween]

Bruce went out first (injury, but still).  If Brandon didn’t play his Idol, he would have been second (instead, he voted out a woman).  Helen went third.  Now Claire.  Hmm.  This pattern is unsettling.

I’m confused about Matthew’s injury.  If it was so bad, why did he play, and if it was even worse, why did he do the puzzle?

[LadyChatts]

My head is spinning over all the idols and fake idols in play, plus advantages.  Who has an advantage again?  Sarah, and Lauren?  

I'm not sorry to see Claire go.  I really wanted to like her but she did it to herself.  I'm curious if her exit interviews will shed light on why she opted to sit out so much.  I don't think you can say your contributing to the tribe by sitting out repeatedly, and then when they lose still try to argue it was for the best.  I think it was Frannie who said Claire always comes back to camp clean while everyone else is tired and dirty.  It's good to rotate around and give people a break.  I thought Heidi was being wishy-washy when Claire asked her to vote out Joshua and she said she needed to think about it, but I'm glad Heidi's head is in the game and she wants to win (and isn't doing what the big strong alpha guys are telling her to do).  It was kind of funny how Frannie wanted to keep Claire, despite Claire always ragging about the showmance behind their backs.

As for fake idols: I thought it was smart of Danny to hide the powerless coin, but I think he really overplayed his hand.  He could have easily hid the note from the idol in someone's belongings or just let Matthew find it and let it be.  Him trying to out Matthew and making a big deal about it may come back to bite him if it gets found out Matthew's idol isn't real.  I also think Bearded Matt (who annoys me as much as Carson) is going for deceitful gameplay maybe a bit too early.  Jamie seems to feel she has a genuine bond with him, so this might hurt her if she finds out he was behind this fake idol.  I think Matt is the type who can talk a big game but not deal with the ramifications of getting called out for his play.

And Carson isn't as smart as he thinks he is, either.  If he was he would have been able to figure out the puzzle in the challenge without looking at Ratu's.  I really would love Yam Yam and Carolyn to turn on him and vote him off.  

Edited March 16, 2023 by LadyChatts

[Haleth]

How can someone be “outplayed” when she continually chose not to play?  

[susannot]

Andy Denhart of Reality Blurred picked Claire to win it all.  Too bad!

[choclatechip45]

I've lost track of all the advantages. I also liked Claire. 

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Bruce went out first (injury, but still).  If Brandon didn’t play his Idol, he would have been second (instead, he voted out a woman).  Helen went third.  Now Claire.  Hmm.  This pattern is unsettling.

I’m confused about Matthew’s injury.  If it was so bad, why did he play, and if it was even worse, why did he do the puzzle?

I think Matthew is trying to be the hero and show he’s not weak.  I don’t know if he’d be in any danger of being voted out even with a bad shoulder, unless his tribe was on a losing streak.  Personally, I think he could have gambled and sat this challenge out.  Lauren was probably capable enough to compete in this challenge and they likely still would have won. 

As to women being voted out, I think the 3 tribe format with 6 members each hurts their odds.  But in Claire’s case, I really think it was her own fault by sitting out 3 challenges in a row.  Even if she thought she was helping her tribe by not competing, I don’t think that’s a convincing argument you can make when your tribe finally loses.  They’ve been on a winning streak, and tonight’s challenge came down to who could cheat off of Ratu’s puzzle faster.  I can’t remember who said it back at the Soka camp,  but they said you develop a bond in the challenges.   Then Frannie said Claire always comes back to camp clean.  Maddy’s was just unfortunate by Brandon being clued in to play his idol, plus Jamie not voting (if she had voted for Matt it would have been a tie and he could have gone home on the re-vote).  I still think Helen being voted off made zero sense, other than Carson seemed threatened by her.  I’m still glad the guy isn’t as smart as he likes to think he is.  

Edited March 16, 2023 by LadyChatts

[MerBearHou]

Was this the first time that all votes were for just one person since Matt had no vote and Claire gave up her vote with SITD?

[North of Eden]

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. What is that thing on that girl's neck? Is it she has some kind of controversial tattoo, and they have to cover it up...kind of like the woman who was on Big Brother this summer?

Anyway, "It's a F'king Stick" was the glory days of fake idols. Tonight, however, just left a bad taste in my mouth. I think it's because the 'Planters' were so smug and cocksure as well as self-congratulatory that they came off as well...creeps. My best hope is Danny gets voted out because others think Matt has a real one and is invulnerable, so they choose Danny in a grandiose display of karma.

Claire...cut for sure but her cattiness about the dorks was wearing thin, so I'm not overly disappointed to see her go but Josh would have been fine, too....he's kind of bland so far. But back to Claire...imagine coming all the way out there and passing on the chance to be in any challenges...wasted potential.

Best part of the night was Jeff during the challenge throwing shade, wondering, "Has anyone practiced this?!" I think he realizes its embarrassing that the challenges are so predictable now that people can erect them in their backyard or whip them up on a 3-D printer. It's a bad look, and he must know it!

Hope the Dorky Duo have had their road trip by now or better yet, how about a run on THE AMAZING RACE for the ultimate road trip?

Speaking of which, what are all the LINGO, and spy shows based on a 30-year-old movie...where is TAR?!?

Edited March 16, 2023 by North of Eden

[30 Helens]

Tonight, I finally realized what Jeff has been reminding me of: a leering, weathered gargoyle.

Spot-on impression.

[GenerationX]

Why do the other tribes always gasp when Peachy says, "<bootee> voted out at the last tribal council"?  The other tribes reacted that way again this week, even though they had no idea who Helen was or what their tribe dynamics were/are.

Claire should feel right at home on the permanent sit-out bench.

[jsm1125]

Carson gloating about voting out Helen didn’t sit right with me. Other than him wanting to be the smartest person in a room, I’m still not sure why she was voted out over Sarah, who I have no issues with. 

[TVFan1]

Carson is getting on my last nerve. Gloating about getting Helen out of the game seemed smug to me. Wish Sarah would team up with Yam Yam and Carolyn and boot the jerk. Can't stand bearded Matthew either and I hate how he has the actual idol. Someone else that I would love to be gone from this game. 

I don't really care much about Claire's ouster because she did it to herself by not competing in the challenges. 

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by TVFan1

[mertensia]

Why don't they put up dividers so you can't see the other stacks of cubes?

[dancingdreamer]

I thought  tonight was boring. Claire kept sitting  out, to me, that's a target on your back.

Carson gloated too much.

As for the cubes, I'd of knocked  mine over.

[JudyObscure]

Too much grinning.  Nerd couple, worm eating woman and firefighter all seemed to have had some sort of drug that made them show their teeth till their dimples were hurting me.

6 hours ago, North of Eden said:

My best hope is Danny gets voted out because others think Matt has a real one and is invulnerable, so they choose Danny in a grandiose display of karma.

Oh please, yes.

[violet and green]

16 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Too much grinning. 

Way too much grinning at tribal council by Frannie.

I did grin when Claire got the boot, though... She's been sitting around bitching about Matt and Frannie getting along since the first episode. Sat out three challenges in a row and could see no problem with that. Goodbye!

[mojoween]

Rookie mistake.  When you win a challenge like that, you gotta push over the answer.

All the fake idols made by the producers takes the fun out of people thinking of it on their own.  Also I’m going to be embarrassed for Matt and Super Extra Perky Jaimie when those things get played.

Next season hopefully the producers go back into the wayback machine to pull out old challenges that haven’t been done in a decade.  It’s about time we had that one where you walk in the water with backpacks full of sand.  

[JudyObscure]

28 minutes ago, mojoween said:

 It’s about time we had that one where you walk in the water with backpacks full of sand.  

One of my favorite Survivor moments,  Stephanie was truly awesome.

[Lady Calypso]

I liked Claire, but she definitely made the wrong move with sitting out on all the immunity challenges and then trying to argue that it was the best for her team. I'm not surprised she went, in this case. She played her hand wrong; she needed to prove to her tribe why she's useful and she hadn't. And we don't know what she was doing around camp to compensate for that. And Frannie brought up an excellent point; while the rest of them were coming back to camp, tired and dirty, Claire could come back to camp, well rested and clean.

And I hate that Survivor has basically turned into a Physical Game. It always had that element, sure, but not all the challenges were purely physical. They used to mix it up and do pure mental challenges. Survivor has basically prioritized who's strongest and put that mentality into the players' head so I feel like that's why women tend to go earlier, as the men are usually safer pre-merge because they're needed for the challenges.

But still, Claire had to know she was risking being a target going in and she didn't seem to have a clue. So that's on her.

As for the fake idol plays, I personally don't mind them ONLY because Survivor put them in the game for a reason and they're just being utilized to what the game wants to happen. Now, a huge part of me hopes it fails so Survivor can stop with it. But I can't complain when players are only playing the game.

I liked Danny's move until he made it too complicated and inserted himself directly into his plan. He needed to sit back and let Matt take the fake idol and then maybe only tell one of his allies that he saw Matt slip something into his pocket. It adds a level of paranoia while not putting the spotlight on him. Matt could get upset that Danny called him out, for example. And now everyone knows Matt has an idol, fake or not, and that loses the surprise factor when Matt plays it and it's fake. So Danny overplayed, even though it was still a solid plan.

Matthew making a fake idol and his closest ally finding it? Big yikes to Matthew being PROUD about it. Matthew isn't as good of a player as he thinks he is. Even if the fake idol play is fine, he has to realize that the wrong person found it. 

Carson annoys me still, that's all I have to say about that tribe. Although I do kind of like Sarah a bit more now and also realize she's completely screwed unless she finds an advantage and can get Carson back on her side. Maybe if she pretends she's so stupid that she needs an intelligent man to save her.....

[Haleth]

I too wondered if anyone had practiced the puzzle.  Survivor has used it multiple times.

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Rookie mistake.  When you win a challenge like that, you gotta push over the answer.

Once a team has already won, do they really care if another copies their puzzle?  (I do remember when 2 teams kind of ganged up on the third but that doesn't seem to be the case here.)

13 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

And I hate that Survivor has basically turned into a Physical Game. It always had that element, sure, but not all the challenges were purely physical. They used to mix it up and do pure mental challenges. Survivor has basically prioritized who's strongest and put that mentality into the players' head so I feel like that's why women tend to go earlier, as the men are usually safer pre-merge because they're needed for the challenges.

I feel like the designers have kind of bent over backwards to make sure all challenges are both physical and mental to level the playing field.  Of course repeating puzzles takes some of the need for brains out of challenges.  Yeah, women tend to get voted out first but it's not unheard of for a team to vote out their physically strongest player before the merge.

13 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I liked Danny's move until he made it too complicated and inserted himself directly into his plan.

Exactly.  He was clever last week to make the cage look untouched and to plant the fake, but he's a bit too self congratulatory.  He may dislocate his own shoulder with all the patting himself on the back.  It would be ironic if the tribe was too afraid to go after Matt (since everyone knows he has an idol) and blindsided Danny instead.

[Maya]

I honestly cannot tell some of these people apart yet. There are very similar looking people on the two not-Tika tribes.

(I only know Tika because of Caroline and Jam Jam.  Lol)

Edited March 16, 2023 by Maya

[AncientNewbie]

Claire was in trouble in our nerdy house when she commented a little too meanly about the Dorky Duo being dorks in high school. Just came off as very Mean Girl to us, who are already questioning her on many other points. So troubling in the continuation of voting out women, but not a loss in personality, between the attitude and the poor play of sitting everything out. 

[mojoween]

47 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Once a team has already won, do they really care if another copies their puzzle?  (I do remember when 2 teams kind of ganged up on the third but that doesn't seem to be the case here.)

I would.  Both to wear out the other teams while they search for the answer and also because it would be demoralizing the longer it went on.

[peachmangosteen]

10 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. What is that thing on that girl's neck? 

Pretty sure it's just a birthmark. 

I am already way over wannabe Tony. I am praying his bullshit backfires on him and they end up blindsiding him because they're afraid of Matt's idol.

I also hate Matthew. And Carson.

[Lady Calypso]

47 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I feel like the designers have kind of bent over backwards to make sure all challenges are both physical and mental to level the playing field.  Of course repeating puzzles takes some of the need for brains out of challenges.  Yeah, women tend to get voted out first but it's not unheard of for a team to vote out their physically strongest player before the merge.

Honestly, I think that it's just too much physicality involved because once we get down to the individual immunities, a lot of those turn out to be purely physical, and there's not a whole lot of leeway with the mental challenges.

So they may have a mixture pre-merge, but they lean physical post-merge. And yeah, we've seen many women kick ass (look at last season with Noelle and Cassidy) but I think the challenges have gotten repetitive and predictable and I think having more physical elements (and then throwing in the same types of puzzles) make it easier for certain players to go out earlier than others. 

Hence why I think they need to add some genuine pure mental challenges. And no, not the "focus REALLY hard while balancing something" type of mental challenge. But the ones they used to do years ago, where you don't need to be exerting all your energy for no good reason. Throw in more of the challenges like the Savvy problem solving challenge. 

 

[laurakaye]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

Next season hopefully the producers go back into the wayback machine to pull out old challenges that haven’t been done in a decade.  It’s about time we had that one where you walk in the water with backpacks full of sand.  

Just saw this on Aussie survivor.  US Survivor has 43 seasons to go back on and look for different challenges.  It can't be that hard to not repeat challenges season after season to the point where players are building them in their backyards to practice.

Regarding Claire sitting out three IC's in a row - she said at TC that it was a tribe decision for her to do that, but to what end?  If my tribe is cool with constantly sitting me out, I'd be suspicious.  The fact that she seemed agreeable to this plan is odd to me.  It feels like a set-up to be voted out.

I read the Survivor recaps on the main page of Primetimer and they always include a list of who has what idol/advantage/disadvantage.  Most of the time, I've forgotten who has what but if I have to see a list to remember the plethora of idols, both fake and real, it makes me think that there are far too many.  It's episode 3 and I feel like 50% of the players have something.

Also, Danny's somersault was ridiculous.  I don't even think Tony thought of that.

Edited March 16, 2023 by laurakaye

[peachmangosteen]

14 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Just saw this on Aussie survivor.  US Survivor has 43 seasons to go back on and look for different challenges.  It can't be that hard to not repeat challenges season after season to the point where players are building them in their backyards to practice.

I think it's just laziness/cheapness. They already have all the stuff so they don't have to worry about trying to come up with new ideas and pay to create them.

But, some past challenges like answering questions about their fellow tribemates wouldn't require spending any money at all or having to actually come up with a new idea yet they would feel fresh simply because we haven't seen them in a long time. So, I don't know why they can't just do that. 

[Blissfool]

Every time they do that challenge in which they dig in the sand and then squeeze themselves under a big log, it reminds me of the time Adam got stuck under the log. That "gave me the ick" before I even knew that phrase was going to become a Tiktok trend years later. 

 

 

I agree that it's a birthmark on her neck.

[peachmangosteen]

This. I hate it so much.

[iMonrey]

The fake idol thing is really starting to rub me the wrong way. Look, in the past I've gotten a kick out of players making fake idols and tricking other players into using them just as much as the next guy. But now the show itself is deliberately planting fake idols and that crosses a line I don't think should be crossed. They know we think it's funny but it's one thing for a player to trick another player. It's quite another for the show itself to trick the players just for our amusement. This is no longer a game of strategy, it's a game of dumb luck.

Take Danny. He's not a strategic genius here. It was just luck he found the key. (Yes, he was searching for it but so was everyone else.) And it wasn't a genius move to plant the fake idol, it's exactly what the fake idol was designed for. All of this serves only to make one player look like a dupe through no fault of their own.

Aren't there enough idols, advantages and twists already? Look what happened last season: the Goat won. You wind up with players in the final three who got there by failing upward. You can't strategize and plan your way around all these idols and twists. And now, going forward, when someone finds an idol they'll suspect it might be a fake. Because that's a thing the show does now. For kicks. So idols themselves can no longer be used strategically, it's just a coin toss whether or not you've got a real one.

The game is playing the players. Whoever wins just lucked out, period.

[Tachi Rocinante]

I'm hoping for the 50th they go back to the beginning.  No tribes, no idols, no advantages, nothing. 

40 days, and every person for themselves from day one. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

And Carson isn't as smart as he thinks he is, either. 

What? Didn't you hear him say voting out Helen was very relieving? He's the smartiest.

[watch2much]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Pretty sure it's just a birthmark. 

it looks to me to be a birth mark called cafe au lait.  

An increase in the number of skin cells (melanocytes) that produce the protective pigment that darkens skin (melanin) in the thin outer layer of your skin (epidermis) causes café-au-lait (CAL) spots

they are usually harmless unless you have a bunch of them which can indicate a serious disorder.  my son has one around his heel so isn't as noticeable.

[HurricaneVal]

I'm on the fence about the fake idols.  On the one hand, if they're used cleverly and strategically, I'm going to love it.  But, if production ridicules the holder and user of said fake idols with the editing and herp-a-derp background music, that's going to piss me off, since they engineered that to happen. 

Speaking of background music, I was dying during the "Oh, Canada!" scene.  Kane gave it his all, and the sound editing team was right behind him.  That was a nice moment.  We did get to see some tribe bonding moments last night, and that was nice.

Claire, Claire, Claire.....I wrote your name three times because you sat out three challenges.  That is so absurdly stupid on Survivor that I can't even look at you.  The only person who can sit out multiple challenges on this show and have it work for her is the one and only Queen Sandra.  You are no Sandra.  Even if it was true that your tribe wanted you to sit out, suggested that you sit out, that's not good either.  That means they think you're weak, and that means you're out at the first opportunity. 

[Vikitty]

Frannie and Matt need to CHILL THE FUCK OUT because I love them both so much and I know one will get blindsided because they have NO CHILL.

 

Claire, you could have at least spoken up and expressed any kind of interest in competing in challenges.

[cdnalor]

Maybe introducing fake idols into the game might turn out to be a good thing if players can no longer trust that they have a real one and have to rely more on strategy and gameplay like they used to.  Also, has the show dropped the "beware" advantages?

[Lantern7]

I was kinda hoping Claire would go far. Sure, the show has loopholes that they’re aware about, but Probst gets huffy if a player decides not to actually play. Unless it’s Sandra, then he knows enough to STFU. But yeah, you gotta contribute to the tribe to stay in the game. Make the others figure out another reason to vote you out that’s probably bullshit.

Fake idols . . . maybe there’s an indicator on how fake they are if you look closely. On the live thread, I joked about the coin having an etching of Probst mooning the holder. I dunno . . . maybe they have “FAKE” or “FALSE” written on them that can only be seen in sunlight. Imagine Probst chucking a fake into the fire, but not before explaining the giveaway to its falseness. At least one person would shit a brick from the realization that they have the equivalent to Jason Siska’s fucking stick.

I'm noticing the gargoyles. It’s funny . . . the showrunner for Disney’s Gargoyles is writing a follow-up comic, so that’s been in my head. Now I’m wondering how they’d play the game . For instance, Lexington would probably try to out-Carson Carson. Xanatos (the main adversary of the heroes) would come up with a convoluted scheme to win. I guess Erik is noticing the gargoyles as well.

One good thing about this season . . . Erik has been quick with the cartoons. I don’t care if he’s being fed episodes ahead of time. He does great work.

[JudyObscure]

Am I the only person bothered by the sound track?  Is no one else irritated when the show has to write captions because their own cacophony makes it impossible to hear the cast?  It sounds like a group of wild hogs turning over trash bins, spiked with occasional blood curdling screams.  WTH? 

[bunnyface]

There were at least two people on the show last night I had never seen before.  I swear they sneak people in there to confuse me.  (It can't possibly be my fault...lol.)

Has there been a rule change?  Probst used to always say "remember, the same person cannot sit out two challenges in a row."  Yet Claire somehow managed to sit out three challenges in three episodes and it cost her her game.  

[LadyChatts]

6 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

And I hate that Survivor has basically turned into a Physical Game. It always had that element, sure, but not all the challenges were purely physical. They used to mix it up and do pure mental challenges. Survivor has basically prioritized who's strongest and put that mentality into the players' head so I feel like that's why women tend to go earlier, as the men are usually safer pre-merge because they're needed for the challenges.

Having been watching some older seasons recently, I can't get over the difference in challenge design.  Some of them seem so simple it's ridiculous.  But I'd take them over the repetitive dive for puzzle pieces, dig for a key, unlock a treasure chest for a bunch of balls, set up said puzzle, then knock it down.  Cook Islands had some of my all time favorite challenges.  I remember in the early seasons when they did challenges that had to do with the survival element (like when they had to make a distress signal for a plane to spot).  I think production did away with some challenges because they got lazy, either because they took too long to complete (thinking of the endurance IC in Palau between Tom and Ian) or they were "broke" (the Survivor auction and the coconut chopping challenge).  I wonder if a change in venue would help create new challenges.  They've been in Fiji permanently since S33, so they probably have everything there.  In seasons that were held in other countries, sometimes they made challenges specific to that countries history.  There are rumors that Survivor might be leaving Fiji after the next two seasons film I believe (something about their contract is up and the new government doesn't want to renew it).  So we'll see.

Quote

 

I liked Danny's move until he made it too complicated and inserted himself directly into his plan. He needed to sit back and let Matt take the fake idol and then maybe only tell one of his allies that he saw Matt slip something into his pocket. It adds a level of paranoia while not putting the spotlight on him. Matt could get upset that Danny called him out, for example. And now everyone knows Matt has an idol, fake or not, and that loses the surprise factor when Matt plays it and it's fake. So Danny overplayed, even though it was still a solid plan.

Matthew making a fake idol and his closest ally finding it? Big yikes to Matthew being PROUD about it. Matthew isn't as good of a player as he thinks he is. Even if the fake idol play is fine, he has to realize that the wrong person found it. 

 

I'm on the fence about the fake idols, mostly for the reasons people have said.  There's too much interference with production at this point.  I don't really like seeing people embarrassed, and poor Matthew and Jamie seemed so excited.  Danny could have left it at "I saw Matthew put something in his pocket" but confronting Matthew in front of Joshua wasn't the stroke of genius he thinks it was.  I guess we'll find out, but I still think this could put focus back on Danny if/when Matthew's idol is revealed to be fake.  And I agree about Bearded Matt.  Jamie thinks they have a serious bond, and I think she'll be hurt if she plays it, finds out it's fake, and finds out he's the one who planted it.  If it gets to that point, I feel like Bearded Matt may realize that it'll be a bad idea and tell Jamie the truth (although probably lie and say someone else planted the fake).

There was a lot of chatter last night online about Claire being the 3rd woman in a row to be voted off (with comparisons to last season).  I thought it was kind of comical that Karla from last season chimed in on it.  I want to preface by saying I don't want Survivor to get to a point where people are afraid to vote women off or people of color off because of internet backlash.  However, I saw some other points being made along with it being just 3 tribes that can affect how the vote goes.  The first is that in a 26 day season, there isn't as much time between challenges, TC, and just overall being able to sit back and get to know each other.  In addition, with so many idols and advantages, and only having 6 members, there's no real way to split the vote (especially if someone loses their vote).  In a larger tribe setting, it'd be easier to throw more votes at people.  Lastly, production has fixed the summit so no one has the option to protect their vote.  They have to select something and automatically risk losing their vote.  

Edited March 16, 2023 by LadyChatts

[seacliffsal]

If Jeff hates having someone sit out consecutive challenges then make one simple rule: a contestant can only sit out one challenge, period.  That's it-make the tribes strategize about sitting out survivors.  It would also balance the challenges a bit more as one tribe could not use only their strongest competitors for every challenge (if they have extras that need to sit out).

I was glad that Claire was voted out as she not only sat out the challenges, but I believe she anointed herself the 'Queen of laziness' in an earlier episode when everyone except Danny was sitting around doing nothing while commenting on how Danny was always working around camp.

Carson and bearded Matthew each seem to be pretty full of themselves.

Oh, and perhaps this season of professional fake immunity idols will result in people not using immunity idols at all any more as they will have seen this season and the fact that one cannot tell a real from a fake idol without all of the original paperwork.

[Blissfool]

Claire: "I'll sit this one out, y'all."

Her tribemates: "Uh...ok..."

Claire: "It was a tribe decision, Jeff."

[eel21788]

18 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

 I also think Bearded Matt (who annoys me as much as Carson) is going for deceitful gameplay maybe a bit too early.

They're all being pretty deceitful. I don't think we've ever had this many villains in one season. I have yet to see anyone do anything that I would consider to have been done with even the slightest bit of integrity.

[Tippi]

I don't like how the fake idol thing has come about this season, especially since production left a plausible looking one in with the real one.  Since Survivor loves all their new twists, how about this one--if a player uses a fake idol and is voted out, instead of that person leaving, have the one who created the fake idol leave.

Now, I may be a little bitter here because I have (so far) liked the two players who ended up with the fakes.

 

[dancingdreamer]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

What? Didn't you hear him say voting out Helen was very relieving? He's the smartiest.

Yes, it ain't  rocket science. Oh, wait..

[Nashville]

Two things stood out to me about this episode:

1. When Frannie was laying out her “predictable Matt is preferable to unpredictable Josh” argument to Claire, I thought I was going to get a concussion from getting repeatedly bashed in the head with a +20 Club of Unintended Irony; the argument Frannie made about Josh being unpredictable/undependable in a strategic sense could so easily be directly applied to Claire in a competitive sense, as Claire’s repeated comp sit-outs have given the rest of her tribe exactly 0% of a predictability factor as to how much better/worse Claire would contribute in comps compared to - well, anybody.
2. I finally figured out who Josh was reminding me of: a young (back in the ‘80s) Robert Townsend.

[iMonrey]

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They're all being pretty deceitful. I don't think we've ever had this many villains in one season. I have yet to see anyone do anything that I would consider to have been done with even the slightest bit of integrity.

I don't see them as "villains" so much as victims of what the show has turned into. They are all paranoid because they know there are so many different twists and advantages that it makes it hard to strategize in any meaningful way. Plus they have all learned that in order to win you have to make "big moves" to brag about, assuming you get to the final three. So everyone tries to outdo each other to pad their resumes. Plus they know fan favorites get invited back, again and again, so being a "character" pays dividends even if you don't end up winning.

It just isn't about the game anymore.

[bankerchick]

19 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Hope the Dorky Duo have had their road trip by now or better yet, how about a run on THE AMAZING RACE for the ultimate road trip?

Please, no.

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Matthew making a fake idol and his closest ally finding it? Big yikes to Matthew being PROUD about it. Matthew isn't as good of a player as he thinks he is. Even if the fake idol play is fine, he has to realize that the wrong person found it. 

I thought he basically directed her right to it.  They were looking for worms or something and didn't he tell her to look around there because the ground was damp (or had been moved, or something.)

5 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Speaking of background music, I was dying during the "Oh, Canada!" scene.  Kane gave it his all, and the sound editing team was right behind him.  That was a nice moment.  We did get to see some tribe bonding moments last night, and that was nice.

It would have been a much nicer moment if he had sung the correct lyrics.  I'm not interested in arguing the politics of it, but the lyrics to O Canada are, 'our home and native land.'  Not sacred land.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, bankerchick said:

13 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Matthew making a fake idol and his closest ally finding it? Big yikes to Matthew being PROUD about it. Matthew isn't as good of a player as he thinks he is. Even if the fake idol play is fine, he has to realize that the wrong person found it. 

I thought he basically directed her right to it.  They were looking for worms or something and didn't he tell her to look around there because the ground was damp (or had been moved, or something.)

Yeah, that was 100% choreographed by Matthew. Even if Jaime ended up in the general vicinity of her own accord, he specifically said "how about there? That looks like mud to me!", obviously hoping she'd see it.

Jaime is so pure. I was loving that whole bit with the worms and her little potted plant and so on, until she talked about how Matthew was her bud in these activities. And then it all turned out to be a set up for the fake idol discovery. Bleh.

People finding fake idols (and the show's treatment of same) can be amusing if the planter isn't a dick about it (see: Yau-Man, though I don't think anyone found the one he made) or the finder is kind of a tool in general (see: Jason in FvF), but those qualifications don't really apply here. Poor Jaime :( 

Combine that whole thing with Matthew's apparent arrogance in not only taking part in the challenge, but taking on a lot of the key roles (except the digging! Guys, my shoulder!), and Matthew's on my short list of People Who I Would Like To See Leave Immediately. How short is that list? He's currently the only one on it.