S44.E07: Let's Not Be Cute About It

[Grizzly]

I was intrigued by everyone having their own brown paper bag of PBJ and chips. Did production finally realize a pile of sandwiches out in the open isn't appetizing? Or does someone have an allergy and needed their food separate? I would say no jelly on mine, thanks Jeff. 

[DrBriCa]

8 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Is Shot in the Dark transferable? Can someone play it for someone else the way idols are done?

I doubt it. From its introduction, the SITD has always been something that a player can only use once. Had Matt played someone else's, survived, and not "returned the favor" by giving his own back to the other person after tribal, he could've theoretically then kept his own to then use again. Plus in general, it would've been a dumb decision for the other person to offer up their own SITD given that there's a 5/6 chance that Matt would still not be safe and that he'd leave the game without the opportunity to complete the trade later.

[Lamb18]

19 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

With strategy taking such a backseat in Survivor Probst.0, I think it’s time for the show to adopt a new slogan: Outwit, Outlast, Outluck.

And now he and Frankie can continue to make googly eyes at each other across the Tribal Council stage. 

And they will make the two-handed ❤️ sign to each other.

[watch2much]

I think Frannie made the right move winning the challenge.  If her team mates thought for one minute she threw it on purpose, she'd have all of them gunning for her.  She may have even realized that being part of a duo was a detriment to her game, despite really wanting him to stay.  If it was calculated on her part, then I say good for her.  She's there to win first and foremost.  Matt will still be around at the end.

[blackwing]

I think "May I Offer You This Papaya" should have been the title of the episode.

I'm absolutely thrilled that Matt is gone.  I was so sick of the showmance and the constant attention the show paid to it.  Didn't Matt say he had just broken up with his girlfriend?  He acted like someone who had never had a relationship before and now he came on the show and met this girl and OMG this is what it finally feels like to have a girlfriend.

When they showed the montage of Matt and Frannie's greatest hits, it was obvious he was going home.  I am utterly flabbergasted that two people who may have spent years hoping to get cast on Survivor finally make it onto the show, and then proceed to wreck their game by openly and brazenly announcing to the rest of the contestants that they are a solid and unbreakable pair.  Yeah, that's not going to make people want to target you. 

Threw away his game for a person he's only known for 14 days.  The way he talked and cried about her, you'd think he's known her for 14 years.  I get that things get accelerated in a controlled environment like this where they don't have interaction with anyone but other contestants, but still.

Frannie knew that Matt would be vulnerable on his half of the tribe and yet she proceeded to win the challenge anyways.  Then her trying to convince Heidi to save Matt was obvious, desperate, and annoying.

I don't fully understand why Heidi made Lauren vote for Yam Yam.  She had talked about how she wanted to save both Matt and Yam Yam, but in the end, it seems like she went along with Frannie in trying to save Matt?  I thought it was a poor move.  She could have stolen Jamie's vote and made her vote for Lauren.  Then Matt and Yam Yam could have both voted for Lauren.  Lauren's two votes and Brandon's vote would go on Matt.  But at least then it's a tie.  I'm not sure what would have happened at that point.  At that point, there would be a revote between Lauren and Matt with those two not voting.  Yam Yam still votes for Lauren, Brandon still votes for Matt.  Lauren's regular vote goes on Matt.  But does Lauren get to re-vote her extra vote?  I can't remember what has happened with extra votes on re-votes in the past, or if it has ever happened.  Would Heidi still control Jamie's vote on re-vote?  If Lauren doesn't get to re-vote her extra vote and if Heidi still controls Jamie's vote on re-vote, then Jamie votes for Lauren, and it's still a 2-2 tie?  Then rocks if they can't decide?

On 4/12/2023 at 8:03 PM, tracyscott76 said:

But booooo at the show making Heidi announce to everyone who she wanted Lauren to vote for. I'm not sure if it worked out how she wanted, but it could really have affected how people voted. All the other votes were secret - why should Lauren's be known publicly?

I agree with this, I think it is poor that she is made to announce who the "Control a Vote" vote is going to go on.  This is too much manipulation... it would allow a signal by Heidi to tell Matt and Yam Yam who to vote for.  

On 4/12/2023 at 8:28 PM, North of Eden said:

And God help us but we are stuck with Yam Yam Ham Haming it up indefinitely. He's a man-child in the unpromised land. I am so sick of that overgrown baby.

I really disliked him in the beginning.  I don't know how it happened, but I have grown to love him.  I think he is hilarious, and I loved how he acknowledged Jeff's observation that he deflects with humour.  I find the weird symbiotic relationship he has with Carolyn to be interesting.

On 4/12/2023 at 8:37 PM, tracyscott76 said:

Had to laugh when Heidi opened the cage, turned to Frannie, and went in for a hug...and Frannie just kind of stared at her with her arms down. Frannie needed to practice Joey Tribbiani's "gracious loser" clap.

Yep, that was hilarious.  Frannie obviously didn't want to hug her, and I was glad that Heidi found it instead of Frannie.  Mostly because I didn't want Frannie to win because Frannie's "I have to save Matt" determination and her disappointment and not getting the advantage to save Matt was irritating.

On 4/12/2023 at 10:22 PM, TVFan1 said:

See ya, Matt.

Yep, I feel no sympathy for Matt at all, and glad he got booted. It was his own fault not bringing his bag with him to the challenge. Matt seemed more into Frannie and his "showmance" than he did playing the game. Now, Frannie can play her own game and not get dragged down by Matt. She already proved herself by winning the immunity challenge, outlasting everyone there. 

I don't like the "control someone's vote" advantage. When someone votes, it should always remain that person's vote. Hoping that stupid advantage never arises again. 

I don't think there's much difference between "Control a Vote" and "Steal a Vote".  We've seen "Steal a Vote" many times.  The only difference as I see it is that the user wasn't also voting, and that the vote had to be announced publicly.  But in the end, it's still one person taking another person's vote.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by blackwing

[Lantern7]

I’m not in the best place mentally to critique this episode, save that it was weird not getting The Carolyn Show  I can give you Erik’s take, though.

Yes, I think Probst would misspell “stakes” in his mind.

[KittyMom4]

 

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

'm absolutely thrilled that Matt is gone.  I was so sick of the showmance and the constant attention the show paid to it.  Didn't Matt say he had just broken up with his girlfriend?  He acted like someone who had never had a relationship before and now he came on the show and met this girl and OMG this is what it finally feels like to have a girlfriend.

When they showed the montage of Matt and Frannie's greatest hits, it was obvious he was going home.  I am utterly flabbergasted that two people who may have spent years hoping to get cast on Survivor finally make it onto the show, and then proceed to wreck their game by openly and brazenly announcing to the rest of the contestants that they are a solid and unbreakable pair.  Yeah, that's not going to make people want to target you. 

Threw away his game for a person he's only known for 14 days.  The way he talked and cried about her, you'd think he's known her for 14 years.  I get that things get accelerated in a controlled environment like this where they don't have interaction with anyone but other contestants, but still.

I don't want to be too harsh but I do wonder if his previous gf felt smothered by his constant adoration. That kind of ooey-gooey lovey-dovey googlie-eyed crap would eventually make me want to run far, far away.

 

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

On 4/12/2023 at 9:03 PM, tracyscott76 said:

But booooo at the show making Heidi announce to everyone who she wanted Lauren to vote for. I'm not sure if it worked out how she wanted, but it could really have affected how people voted. All the other votes were secret - why should Lauren's be known publicly?

I agree with this, I think it is poor that she is made to announce who the "Control a Vote" vote is going to go on.  This is too much manipulation... it would allow a signal by Heidi to tell Matt and Yam Yam who to vote for.

I think it should have been kept quiet as well, Lauren should have been told in the voting booth. Announcing it ruined any surprise it held.

[Nashville]

Maybe this was blindingly obvious to everybody else on the planet except me, but finding out the players were individually toting around their respective SITDs took me totally by surprise.  I was under the impression the SITDs lived in the voting booth - and once in the booth any player (who had not already played their SITD) had the choice to do so, OR write down their vote for that TC.  So color me further educated.  😐

[Guest]

Just now, Nashville said:

Maybe this was blindingly obvious to everybody else on the planet except me, but finding out the players were individually toting around their respective SITDs took me totally by surprise.  I was under the impression the SITDs lived in the voting booth - and once in the booth any player (who had not already played their SITD) had the choice to do so, OR write down their vote for that TC.  So color me further educated.  😐

In the first episode when Jaime announced she was playing her SITD at TC, she pulled out the little die during the pre-vote Q&A with Jeff. So it seemed then that she already had it before going to the voting booth. I don't remember any of the previous SITD gamblers pulling out the die ahead of time, but it's possible that they did. Maybe I just noticed it this time because I like Jaime and it ended up being the first successful SITD outcome.

[eel21788]

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

In the first episode when Jaime announced she was playing her SITD at TC, she pulled out the little die during the pre-vote Q&A with Jeff. So it seemed then that she already had it before going to the voting booth. I don't remember any of the previous SITD gamblers pulling out the die ahead of time, but it's possible that they did. Maybe I just noticed it this time because I like Jaime and it ended up being the first successful SITD outcome.

Whatever was the season that Shot in the Dark was introduced, it was explained that each player was given a six-sided die on day 1. They have shown people putting their die in a receptacle then picking their scroll from another receptacle before.

[pennben]

13 hours ago, watch2much said:

I think Frannie made the right move winning the challenge.  If her team mates thought for one minute she threw it on purpose, she'd have all of them gunning for her.  She may have even realized that being part of a duo was a detriment to her game, despite really wanting him to stay.  If it was calculated on her part, then I say good for her.  She's there to win first and foremost.  Matt will still be around at the end.

I tend to agree with you that perhaps she’s better off  untethered. But I do also think, if she was going to throw something, holy hell, this was the one to do it it to keep an ally!!  It was 4v her!  A little wobbles, shaky, especially after Matt dropped, whose the wiser?!

Regardless, still love the win for her…dominated an NFL player. Odds are low an alternate universe means she wins or he wins, so nobody knows. 

I wanna see return Frannie (on winners season or otherwise) because I think she’s been handcuffed to ‘got no vote for two tribals’  Matt, spent lots of time protecting him & I’d like to see how she could maneuver in small tribes without that being a factor. 
 

 

[seacliffsal]

7 hours ago, pennben said:

I tend to agree with you that perhaps she’s better off  untethered. But I do also think, if she was going to throw something, holy hell, this was the one to do it it to keep an ally!!  It was 4v her!  A little wobbles, shaky, especially after Matt dropped, whose the wiser?!

Regardless, still love the win for her…dominated an NFL player. Odds are low an alternate universe means she wins or he wins, so nobody knows. 

I wanna see return Frannie (on winners season or otherwise) because I think she’s been handcuffed to ‘got no vote for two tribals’  Matt, spent lots of time protecting him & I’d like to see how she could maneuver in small tribes without that being a factor. 
 

 

I'm on the opposite side-I think Frannie has shown us her gameplay.  She chose to put her showmance with Matt ahead of other gameplay.  She tethered herself to him and when he said that if he won an individual reward challenge he wouldn't take her as it would expose too much, she basically told him "no."  So, in terms of hoping to see something different from her-I don't care.  I've seen her gameplay this season.  It also kind of bothered me that she could have saved Matt, chose not to, but when Heidi had an advantage that Frannie thought could save Matt she very strongly told Heidi that she had to save Matt.  Um, Frannie, you could have done that yourself but chose not to do so.

[fishcakes]

4 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I'm on the opposite side-I think Frannie has shown us her gameplay.  She chose to put her showmance with Matt ahead of other gameplay. 

I agree. I'm not seeing that Frannie is a great player who was held back by Matt. They're both pretty terrible and their strategy has been: schmoopy schmoopy schmoopy hope no one notices! Whether she and Matt are a couple or not, he was her number one ally, and it was stupid of her not to throw the IC. She had immunity, she could have given her number one immunity, and it would have made Danny, who they already had talked about blindsiding, vulnerable. By hanging on to win the challenge, all she got out of it was a PB&J.

[rr2911]

On 4/12/2023 at 8:28 PM, LadyChatts said:

Somehow I could picture Adam Klein grabbing that papaya and smashing it, then saying "just checking".  

This advantage was yet another bust.  It was stupid and just producer manipulation.  I also thought it was stupid it was made public.  Why not have it in the voting booth-something like 'someone is controlling your vote, you must vote for Yam Yam.'  They really seem like they want to dictate how the season goes.  Was last season so boring for them that they need to make sure stuff happens this season?  I also worry it might put a target on Heidi's back, from Soka for not trying to save Matt, and also from Yam Yam and Carolyn for her picking him as Lauren's vote.  I like Heidi, from what little we've seen of her.  She seems to have a decent concept of the game.  I wish that Frannie hadn't seen her get the advantage, because maybe she could have kept it to herself and not played it at all.  

I liked Matt but good grief I was so sick of his showmance with Frannie.  I am glad he was able to at least expose Danny's idol and him planting the fake idol before he left.  Also, I wasn't aware that everyone's SITD was something that they kept on them.  I thought they just opted to play it and then picked a scroll at TC.  I wonder if Frannie regretted not bringing Matt his bag or if anyone even thought of it.  It seemed unfair that he wasn't allowed to have it sent to him, considering they weren't aware what was going to happen at the challenge.

 

Jeff was asked if Frannie had brought Matt's bag if she would be allowed to give it to Matt and Jeff said "no".  There was to be no interaction between the two groups.  Not even giving a bag to Matt without talking, nothing!    

[pennben]

I don't believe Jeff! If she had brought the bag, they would have found it to be within the rules!  I find it funny, in the Big Brother era of Survivor, that Jeff just stated a rule that will be in place going forward (although any idiot that doesn't bring their bag likely deserves it) rather than allow for maximum drama!

Edited April 16, 2023 by pennben

[Scatterbrained]

I think Heidi picked Yam Yam to curry favor with Frannie.  Frannie now knows the dudes voted out Matt.  Frannie can direct her ire their way.  She has been shown twice at least to be a sore loser.  I sense foreshadowing.  Will she go out in a blaze of rage?  Heidi was the swing vote in her tribes first council.  I suspect she will go far.

[seacliffsal]

Jayme, Brandon, and Yam Yam voted for Matt, so I guess it counts as "dudes plus one" for the vote-out.  But, it made total sense to me that they would vote out Matt as he obviously had strong ties to the 'tribe' that wasn't voting as Heidi 'tried' to save him.

But, did she try to save him or did she purposefully put a target on his back by apparently trying to save him?  Wouldn't it immediately bother those who were voting at TC to have someone from the non-voting group try to save Matt?  I have been mulling over in my mind why she had Lauren vote for Yam Yam versus the other options she had.  By trying to direct a group to vote out Yam Yam it would seem like it would have the opposite effect, which it absolutely did at TC.

[Scatterbrained]

I think Heidi made plans to work with Carolyn going forward and feels that Carolyn can smooth things over with Yam Yam.  I think she will make plans to work with Frannie, now that Frannie has lost her closest ally.  I think she is already working with Lauren as shown in the previous episode, which is part of the reason she used her advantage on Lauren (and also because Lauren could use the extra vote to negate the other vote).  

[SummerDreams]

So I started watching this season last week and I'm once again disappointed by the edit and the time each player gets. It's really frustrating that we don't hear some people talk unless they talk about Carolyn and Yam Yam, obviously Jeff's favorites this season. There were people who were voted out and we never found anything about them. I'm spoiled by Australian Survivor that has almost double the days of the game and almost double episodes and we get to know ALL players really well. I find it really disrespectful for people who went through all the casting, the preparation, left their families, their jobs, were left there starving to create a show for you to make millions out of, and you don't even dedicate 20 seconds to let them talk about their life, what they do, what they feel.

I understand why people like Carolyn, I don't dislike her but, without being her fault, she takes time from other players and I don't like it.

And don't get me started with the real and fake idols.

[Genius]

This show has become a joke. "Welcome to your first individual immunity challenge! Except it's not individual! And even though 11 of you are in the game, only 4 of you will be eligible to be voted out, with only 5 of you voting, and one of those votes will be controlled by another." What a joke. Matt was right, the best person doesn't win Survivor anymore. I think the producers/editors were clearly addressing fan criticism by including Brandon's response of "oh, if you're good enough, there's always a way out." Bullshit. There is no way to strategize in this game anymore. It's all a pathetic crapshoot. If the show keeps throwing these unnecessary and unfair twists into the game, we will keep getting winners like Gabler. No thanks.

[KittyMom4]

1 hour ago, SummerDreams said:

So I started watching this season last week and I'm once again disappointed by the edit and the time each player gets. It's really frustrating that we don't hear some people talk unless they talk about Carolyn and Yam Yam, obviously Jeff's favorites this season. There were people who were voted out and we never found anything about them. I'm spoiled by Australian Survivor that has almost double the days of the game and almost double episodes and we get to know ALL players really well. I find it really disrespectful for people who went through all the casting, the preparation, left their families, their jobs, were left there starving to create a show for you to make millions out of, and you don't even dedicate 20 seconds to let them talk about their life, what they do, what they feel.

I understand why people like Carolyn, I don't dislike her but, without being her fault, she takes time from other players and I don't like it.

And don't get me started with the real and fake idols.

@SummerDreams you are so right on this. The show did used to let us get to know each player but somewhere it changed to being so heavily edited and mostly directed to who Peachy likes rather than allowing the viewers to decide who they like/admire/want to win. This season is half over and I am just now learning that there is a Heidi and a Lauren and I know NOTHING about them. I don't want just the weirdos, models, sneaky or mean players highlighted, I want to see them all. 

[blackwing]

On 4/15/2023 at 7:23 AM, seacliffsal said:

I'm on the opposite side-I think Frannie has shown us her gameplay.  She chose to put her showmance with Matt ahead of other gameplay.  She tethered herself to him and when he said that if he won an individual reward challenge he wouldn't take her as it would expose too much, she basically told him "no."  So, in terms of hoping to see something different from her-I don't care.  I've seen her gameplay this season.  It also kind of bothered me that she could have saved Matt, chose not to, but when Heidi had an advantage that Frannie thought could save Matt she very strongly told Heidi that she had to save Matt.  Um, Frannie, you could have done that yourself but chose not to do so.

 

On 4/15/2023 at 11:37 AM, fishcakes said:

I agree. I'm not seeing that Frannie is a great player who was held back by Matt. They're both pretty terrible and their strategy has been: schmoopy schmoopy schmoopy hope no one notices! Whether she and Matt are a couple or not, he was her number one ally, and it was stupid of her not to throw the IC. She had immunity, she could have given her number one immunity, and it would have made Danny, who they already had talked about blindsiding, vulnerable. By hanging on to win the challenge, all she got out of it was a PB&J.

I agree that I don't think Frannie is a great player.  They were both bad.  Some people may think that now that Matt is gone, her game will blossom, but I disagree.  She's going to be at a huge disadvantage because Matt is already on the jury.  Nobody is going to want to let her get to the end, since her 14-day-old boyfriend is on the jury and will do everything he can to convince everyone on the jury to vote for her as the winner.  She's going to be jettisoned before Final Tribal.

She sunk her game when she made her obvious close connection to Matt known to everyone.  It doesn't matter whether he's in the game or on the jury, either way, her game is done.  I don't think she deserves to be brought back in any future second chance season... she had her chance and stupidly threw it all away for 14-day-old Matt.

[jabRI]

On 4/12/2023 at 9:28 PM, North of Eden said:

Not much to say about the is episode other than it leaves a bad taste in the mouth with all this manipulation with twists. Whatever happened to just merging and letting the chips fall where they fall. Making half the castaways safe was lame.

I can't even watch this season, I just read the recaps out of curiosity.  With all these twists, there are no true alliances forming, no real strategy.  Just picking off one player at a time for no other reason than 'why not' or 'its a good of a time as any' type of mentality.  The whole spirit of the game is lost.

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, jabRI said:

With all these twists, there are no true alliances forming, no real strategy.  

I think there probably are real alliances and strategy. TPTB would just rather show people talk about one of the 10000 advantages and the same challenge 60 times in a row instead.

[jsm1125]

On 4/17/2023 at 12:20 PM, SummerDreams said:

So I started watching this season last week and I'm once again disappointed by the edit and the time each player gets. It's really frustrating that we don't hear some people talk unless they talk about Carolyn and Yam Yam, obviously Jeff's favorites this season. There were people who were voted out and we never found anything about them. I'm spoiled by Australian Survivor that has almost double the days of the game and almost double episodes and we get to know ALL players really well. I find it really disrespectful for people who went through all the casting, the preparation, left their families, their jobs, were left there starving to create a show for you to make millions out of, and you don't even dedicate 20 seconds to let them talk about their life, what they do, what they feel.

I understand why people like Carolyn, I don't dislike her but, without being her fault, she takes time from other players and I don't like it.

And don't get me started with the real and fake idols.

I love Australian Survivor but we don’t get to know all the players really well. They purple the ever living shit out of some of them. Last season, what did we know about David, Fraser, and Sarah? 
 

I do agree about the fake and real idols. Way too heavy-handed by production. 

[HappyDancex2]

I wonder how a Boston Rob would fare on the heavy handed hidden immunity idol fake idols in a cage stealing a vote with a shot in the dark to lose a vote to gain an advantage?  And now you can’t rely on your manipulation….err…social game of your immediate tribe members which tribal councils have come down to luck of a rock in the bag draw.  He’s such a student of the game I would love to see him adapt.  And dodge duck dip dive and dodge.

Survivor Vintage.  Bring them back and throw all of the challenges at them in shovelfulls.  It’s so confusing as it is they might as well go for the full Peachy Experience.

and the Season after that is Survivor Reset.  Just a naked man on a fallen tree chillin waiting for someone to barbecue some rats.

Edited April 19, 2023 by HappyDancex2
Autocorrect is like a shot in the dark too