S44.E12: I'm the Bandit

[Whimsy]

Quote

Castaways must get the ball rolling in the right direction at the reward challenge to win a relaxing evening at the sanctuary. Then, with only six castaways left, it is an emotional struggle to decide which castaway will be going home.

Original airdate 5/17/23

[Guest]

Well, with Jaime gone, now I can watch the finale stress-free, because I don't really care who wins out of the other 5. So there's that, I guess. At least I don't hate any of them.

[tvfanatic13]

You got me editors! So happy that it wasn’t Caroline but that was some great misdirection! 

[Carey]

Just now, tracyscott76 said:

Well, with Jaime gone, now I can watch the finale stress-free, because I don't really care who wins out of the other 5. So there's that, I guess. At least I don't hate any of them.

I remember when there was a time where I could watch the finale, not caring who of the 18 would win.  How things have changed.  I think I still like the cast overall like in Season 43, but everyone left winning, including Yam Yam, I'd be okay with

[Lamb18]

I missed the very end when we see who voted for who. Was it Yam-Yam and Jaime votung for Caroline?

[hendersonrocks]

I was legitimately concerned this was Carolyn's night to leave, a sentence I never thought I'd type at the end of the first episode. I also think Yam Yam might live to regret following his heart instead of his head. (God willing, because I want Carolyn to go all the wayyyyyy.)

Bye Jaime! You were hilarious in your continued misreading of just about everything, and I loved your sunny spirit.

Edited May 18, 2023 by hendersonrocks

[Guest]

Just now, Lamb18 said:

I missed the very end when we see who voted for who. Was it Yam-Yam and Jaime votung for Caroline?

It was Jaime and Lauren.

[LadyChatts]

Seeing Big Brother commercials makes me realize it's almost time to lose 3 months of my life, and also that the Survivor finale is coming up.

TC was weird.  That was so edited for Carolyn to go, that I almost feel sorry for Jaime that this was set up like a good-bye tribute to Carolyn.  She really lost her ball of sunshine this ep, because I was expecting her to go out like a Care Bear, shooting rainbows, sunshine, and flowers at everyone.  In all, this episode seemed quick and underwhelming.  The best part of it was Carolyn getting lost in the challenge because Jaime is bad at giving directions.  I like to think that Heidi was getting mad at Carolyn for not helping more, not knowing she was blindly trailing behind them.  

I'm glad Carolyn has finally gotten some respect and is being taken seriously in the game, but I'm sad she's now seen as a threat (and I'm not sure her reactions at TC will help her with the jury, since she seemed super paranoid).  She can't win, and I guess I can't either when it comes to rooting for her.

Sad Heidi wasted her idol for nothing.  When was the last time there was a successful idol play?  I feel like it's been a while, but maybe not as far back as I remembered.  

Yam Yam can go yesterday.  I'd be happy with anyone else winning that's left besides him.  

[Carey]

2 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Sad Heidi wasted her idol for nothing.  When was the last time there was a successful idol play?  I feel like it's been a while, but maybe not as far back as I remembered.  

Well, when you go back a minute or two, while a successful attempt was made it was at the benefit of someone else not holding one, but yeah, Heidi would've been safe for the remainder of the game had she held on.  At least in getting voted out, it would've been a 4th place tie breaking loss at worst

[Tango64]

They have plastic straws for the coconuts??!! Really?  Early Survivor contestants must be so disgusted. 

[dancingdreamer]

26 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

I missed the very end when we see who voted for who. Was it Yam-Yam and Jaime votung for Caroline?

No  yam yam voted Jamie.

I'm good with any of them winning   but I slightly favour Carson, Yam Yam and Carolyn.

[Jodithgrace]

Somebody in the live thread wondered about Carolyn’s nails. What I’m thinking is that she paints them with the paint they have at camp just for TC. It doesn’t last, of course, but it only has to last for one evening. 
 

Carolyn is so quick. You could see from her expressions during TC that she knew that something was up. Luckily, Yam Yam decided not to betray her…this time. 
 

When Carson said that Tika had the majority when it was 3-3, he meant that there were 3 Tika, and the other two tribes had fewer than 3 members each. He was talking about tribe members, not numbers of people. Of course, now Tika does have the majority, in people as well as tribe members. Yam yam would have been an idiot to have thrown that away. 
 

Shame Heidi used her idol when she didn’t need it. But I can understand the paranoia that must have hit them all at TC. I like her, even though I had no idea who she was until recently. 

[North of Eden]

This season has been excruciatingly long, solely due to the presence of Jam Jam and his baby-talking schtick. I was disappointed he was on the winning team for Sanctuary until I realized it was an opportunity to completely fast-forward that segment so I didn't have to listen to him. I am thankful that he was on this season and not next season with the super-sized 90-minute episodes because being forced fed him for an extra 30 minutes would have been a bridge too far.

Those sanctuary rewards! It made me think of the first season where infamously, the reward was either a pizza or a single slice of pizza can't remember which now.

Poor Jamie, during the credits being proud of her idol find, only now knowing it was phonier than a $3 bill.

Heidi toasts her idol for nothing.

And I still don't see how the three women thought they were in the minority in a field of 6 players.

Lauren kind of feels like she just floated to the end...I can't recall one instance where she was pivotal in anything. Maybe I'm forgetting, but I don't think so.

Credit to the editors...they really sold me on what appeared to be a Carolyn boot. Thank goodness it wasn't.

[Skooma]

Well that was interesting.  They voted out somebody I didn't know was even on the show.

[TVFan1]

All 3 members of Tika are still in the game. I won't be surprised if they all make it to the final 3.

Is The Sanctuary the new go to place for future rewards? They can't go and do something else like a helicopter ride around the island and eat while gazing at the beautiful scenery? I miss the old days.

With all of the focus on the possibility of Carolyn being voted out, I knew it was a misdirect that Jaime was going instead. I liked Jaime and all of her positive and bubbly personality.

Can't wait for next week's finale with the final 5 to see who wins.

[Nashville]

40 minutes ago, TVFan1 said:

All 3 members of Tika are still in the game. I won't be surprised if they all make it to the final 3.

Only if they, yaknow, want to win; the only way this jury awards a win to a Tika is if zero non-Tika options exist.

[30 Helens]

Phew!

I was with Yam-Yam, muttering “shut up, shut up” to Carolyn as she drew back the curtain to reveal the actual calculating brain hiding behind the ditsy exterior. Has anyone ever gone from dismissed to feared this quickly?

I’m sorry Heidi wasted her idol. I like her. I’m not sorry Yam-Yam and Carson followed their hearts. It may come back to bite them, but it could also be the only thing that gets them to final 3. 

[DrBriCa]

5 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Sad Heidi wasted her idol for nothing.  When was the last time there was a successful idol play?  I feel like it's been a while, but maybe not as far back as I remembered.  

If I remember correctly, Danny playing his cage idol for Frannie did save her and result in Brandon going home instead.

4 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Lauren kind of feels like she just floated to the end...I can't recall one instance where she was pivotal in anything. Maybe I'm forgetting, but I don't think so.

Yeah, I can't see her winning after getting so few confessionals from the editors all season. (Especially not after the surprise Gabler win last season.) She has 2 immunity wins so far, but other than that, she hasn't been pivotal. She didn't vote in Ratu's first tribal council, and her extra vote was wasted by Jamie when they tried to thwart a potential "Knowledge is Power" advantage. Heidi controlled her vote for the first vote after the tribes joined. The only storyline that really stood out post merge was Danny targeting her early on but then voluntarily pairing with her for the immunity challenge with the twisted net.

[mojoween]

Jamie with her hair down and Jamie with her hair up are two different people.

The level of paranoia Heidi must have had!  Now Tika really has a majority and as said, they would be stupid to squander that next Tribal.  It’s the four-person immunity challenge that they need to be worried about, but I’m sure it’s something Carson has practiced in his garage.

As far as Idol plays I believe it was all the way back in episode one where Brandon played an Idol on himself that saved him.

[weaver]

I loved the way Carson directed the ball in the reward challenge.  For a young kid, he is calm and keeps his wits about him.  He's been my favorite for a while.  

I find this late in the season the only woman I know anything about is Carolyn.  It seems Jaime, Lauren and Heidi meld into one for me.  

I'm rooting for Carson and Carolyn.   Yam Yam can leave; he is on my last nerve with his comments.  If Lauren wins with her two immunity wins and her job as a school teacher, I'm fine.  

Slow season.   Without Carolyn, I think I would have tuned out.  

[Haleth]

28 minutes ago, weaver said:

It seems Jaime, Lauren and Heidi meld into one for me.  

I know!  It was half way through the season before I even knew there was a Heidi.  I truly did not know she was there.

I am glad Carolyn and Carson seem headed for the finale; it would be really dumb for the three Tikis to turn on each other now.  For all YamYam's chatter about how dangerous Carolyn is, he can't really be thinking of breaking their alliance, can he?  That has to be all misdirection.  Still, with the 3 Tikis seemingly headed to the end this hasn't been a terribly interesting season.  The focus on Carolyn and YamYam as wacky characters left little time to find out anything about other players.  Or maybe everyone else was just that uninteresting.

Of the 3, I don't know who would win.  They all seem to be well liked by the other players.  Maybe that's why this has been a kind of boring season - everyone is too nice.

[violet and green]

I am so glad YamYam didn't turn on Carolyn. I felt a bit ill the whole episode, not sure if he would or wouldn't.

So good Heidi's idol is gone! I mean, not for her...

[seacliffsal]

I just wish both Carolyn and Yam Yam would be quiet.  I don't need screaming and blathering throughout an episode.  It would be nice to hear from someone else for a change.  Maybe Jaime will finally find out her idol wasn't real at the reunion...

[Tachi Rocinante]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Jamie with her hair down and Jamie with her hair up are two different people.

It also illustrated how forced the editing is (hair up, hair down, ponytail) within one "conversation".

Anyone but RamJam.

[Carey]

8 hours ago, TVFan1 said:

All 3 members of Tika are still in the game. I won't be surprised if they all make it to the final 3.

Same here.  After all, I mentioned in chat that they basically clinched it with Heidi playing the idol, but not on Jaime (more on that later).  However, if it doesn't happen, one of two things need to happen to defend it.  Carolyn (and Yam Yam) take out Carson as they'll no longer be in a minority.  Or, the final 4 tie-breaker benefits Heidi or Lauren.  I know people aren't a fan of it, but there probably would be no reason to watch without it because the only thing that would deny a Tika Final 3 is a non-member winning the final IC.

I don't share the same joy violet and green might be expressing as it related to Heidi's lost idol, but to be fair, given the mentions of a free pass toward controlling one's own destiny, while it's nice, if the show is going to do that fire-making thing, there should be no hidden immunity idols valid at final five, period.  That actually used to be the case, but TBH, that should be the case today.

BTW, it does suck for Heidi.  It looked like she'd risk it and be a target when Jeff was about to say, "Okay, I'll read the votes."  Only then, Heidi had an 11th hour move.  She was on the fence, sadly, but easier to say that watching from home

Edited May 18, 2023 by Carey

[SummerDreams]

I was really hoping this was the end of Carolyn because I'm sick of her and I can't manage a final tribal council with her screaming.

Yam Yam seemed more serious in this episode and like a normal person.

Jamie, Lauren and Heidi continued to play stupidly. They never considered working together to get rid of Tika with Heidi's idol.

Lauren's voice is like a cartoon. I feel sorry for her poor students who have to listen to her all day.

11 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

When was the last time there was a successful idol play?

Well Danny saved Frannie with an idol play this season.

[Matty]

That was a good episode. The Tika Three made it to the final five. Yam Yam, Carolyn and Carson taught a master class in playing Heidi, Lauren and Jamie like a fiddle. Brilliant! I knew they wouldn't break up. They came this far together. Stick together and they'll be the final three and then they can each make their case to the jury. I'm thinking it will be a great finale.

[violet and green]

6 minutes ago, SummerDreams said:

Jamie, Lauren and Heidi continued to play stupidly. They never considered working together to get rid of Tika with Heidi's idol.

I think Heidi has misplayed every advantage she's had so far.  Jaime and Lauren don't seem to have much game in them.

Really hoping it's a Tika final three.

[Carey]

43 minutes ago, SummerDreams said:

Well Danny saved Frannie with an idol play this season.

At the expense of Brandon who earlier saved himself with an idol that led to a painful exit for Maddy.  A little bit of Karma there FWIW.

BTW, SummerDreams, I know have Charlie Brown & Peanuts on the mind this morning.  I'm guessing Lauren's students don't think it's a big deal.  That might be a good thing.  Now, if a teacher sounds like a cartoon character for High School students, things might get out of hand.

I couldn't agree more about Lauren, Jaime, and Heidi not working together.  That's a shame since they could achieved a tie.  What was unfortunate was that they might've had a chance to previously when Frannie and Danny were in the game.  However, I don't think so.  It didn't help that Carolyn still had an idol and Tika members won immunity.  So I can't blame them.

Even though they probably still take out Jaime with a revote, if they revote, there was no effort this time or before.  Not it's too late

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

I know!  It was half way through the season before I even knew there was a Heidi.  I truly did not know she was there.

I am glad Carolyn and Carson seem headed for the finale; it would be really dumb for the three Tikis to turn on each other now.  For all YamYam's chatter about how dangerous Carolyn is, he can't really be thinking of breaking their alliance, can he?  That has to be all misdirection.  Still, with the 3 Tikis seemingly headed to the end this hasn't been a terribly interesting season.  The focus on Carolyn and YamYam as wacky characters left little time to find out anything about other players.  Or maybe everyone else was just that uninteresting.

I think there is something to be said for one of the Tikis turning on the other two either out of paranoia that they will be the victim of the others' betrayal, or affirmatively thinking either "this is how I distinguish myself from the other two" or "I can't beat X at the FTC."

My sense of is Carolyn walks away with a win in an all Tikka FTC. I do think most of the women jury members and Matt vote Carolyn. I think Carson gets votes from like Brandon and Danny. I'm not sure who Yam Yam's getting votes from in this scenario. I don't think there is enough to differentiate his game and Carson's, and in the face of a lot of likely love for Carolyn, it's more probable IMO that the vote would go like 5-2-2 , 5-3-1 or even 5-4-0 than a scenario that has Carson or Yam Yam winning. I could see Carolyn's brand of wacky fun honesty getting close to all 9 votes. 

Carolyn/Carson/Heidi or Carolyn/Carson/Lauren: I think that Carson actually gets the nod here.

Yam Yam/Carson and either Heidi/Lauren: I think there's a possibility of the non-Tika member winning here. 

Any one Tika member/Lauren/Heidi: I think it comes out in that order too. The Tika member gets the two votes from the other Tika members plus a few others.

[Carey]

3 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

My sense of is Carolyn walks away with a win in an all Tikka FTC. I do think most of the women jury members and Matt vote Carolyn. I think Carson gets votes from like Brandon and Danny. I'm not sure who Yam Yam's getting votes from in this scenario. I don't think there is enough to differentiate his game and Carson's, and in the face of a lot of likely love for Carolyn, it's more probable IMO that the vote would go like 5-2-2 , 5-3-1 or even 5-4-0 than a scenario that has Carson or Yam Yam winning. I could see Carolyn's brand of wacky fun honesty getting close to all 9 votes. 

Unless the game ends with a final 2, there will be only 8 votes.

[Cheyanne11]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I’m not sorry Yam-Yam and Carson followed their hearts.

I found it interesting that Yam-Yam was the one thinking seriously about booting Carolyn, and Carson, who would appear to be the more analytical one, was committed to being loyal to his allegiance with Carolyn.  Will it bite him?  Maybe.  But that made me like him a bit more.  

Can't wait for the finale and already trying to decide who amongst the final five will have the hardest time making fire.

[PaperTree]

If YY and Carson turned on Carolyn, it would be so EZ for the women to get together and whack one of them (they both can't win immunity) next time.

[HurricaneVal]

1 hour ago, SummerDreams said:

Jamie, Lauren and Heidi continued to play stupidly. They never considered working together to get rid of Tika with Heidi's idol.

I know!  It is like they all look at the Tika three and say "Wow, they're tight!" then they look at their three and just shrug and go "whatever..."  It is like they're just ceding the win to the royal court or something:  "All hail, the great Tika!"

I actually think that's a problem caused by the compressed filming schedule these days, where each episode is only one, maybe two, days of filming.   Between  production talking head interviews, idol/advantage searching, transport to and from challenge sites, the challenges themselves, eating, intense strategy sessions prior to Tribal Council, transport to Tribal Council, and the multiple takes needed so production gets the right shot, that doesn't leave a lot of time in the day to socialize and have fun.  All the production rigmarole doesn't leave a lot of time to explore new strategic relationships, send out feelers to see where weaknesses lie, or just find like-minded folks to band together. 

There's always been a Us vs. Them tribal loyalty, but generally after the merge that softens and breaks down as people sort into like-minded social groups.  Now with the compressed schedule, there's no way new alliances can form, so everyone sticks with the one alliance they came with--even if they can't stand each other--because there's no time to build anything else as solid.  I was thinking about this the other day, and I realize that's why there's so many idols and advantages now:  If they weren't there, Tribal Council would be constantly deadlocked as people vote along tribal lines.  (Kind of like Congress...  Hmm....)

If Jamie, Lauren, and Heidi really wanted to, they could have controlled the game last night.  Hell, last week it was 4-non!Tika vs 3-Tika, and they could have started to pick them off one by one--or any week prior to that.  But no.  Everyone stayed voting as a tribe because they're so locked in to thinking there's nothing else, and that's that.

Could we get a shout-out to the lovely ladies at The Sanctuary?  They were the best part of the episode. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

Unless the game ends with a final 2, there will be only 8 votes.

Good call. Math is hard, as Barbie says.

Even though my counting was wrong, I think the rest of the analysis was probably still accurate. Or as accurate as anything can be based on guesswork.

[Nashville]

13 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

When was the last time there was a successful idol play?

Um - Carolyn playing her idol on Carson?  ;)

[Carey]

1 minute ago, Nashville said:

Um - Carolyn playing her idol on Carson?  ;)

To be fair, I think LadyChatts was referring to an idol making a difference.  Danny was done with or without it.  My apologies if I'm missing a joke but it's a toss as there were votes against Carson but nothing against Heidi

[Chicago Redshirt]

18 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

If YY and Carson turned on Carolyn, it would be so EZ for the women to get together and whack one of them (they both can't win immunity) next time.

If they do things like they have been recently, the Final Four go into an immunity showdown where the winner picks someone to go to the FTC and the other two battle in a firemaking contest for the final slot. 

So there is a limit to how much whacking any contestant can do. If Carson wins, he may just bring Yam Yam in and have Lauren and Heidi battle it out, or he may bring one of the women and have YY go against the other. The same essentially goes if YY wins. If one of the women wins, I'd think that their best bet would be to bring YY and have Carson battle the other. I think the main path to a victory for Lauren or Heidi is a massive anti-Tika sentiment pervading the jury or them being way better speechmakers than what we've been shown of them might suggest, and I think that is slim.

[iMonrey]

The editors worked really hard this episode to make us worry Carolyn was getting voted out. Which means they knew they needed to manufacture some suspense because voting out Jamie made the episode a big nothing burger. Does anyone care about Jamie? Clearly the show knows Carolyn is their star. As I have repeatedly reminded everyone, the season opened with a strangely random confessional by Carolyn acting goofy.

So this tribal council was peppered with shots of Carolyn looking worried and making faces and saying "Oh Gosh I'm scared I'm going now! Is this my goodbye speech?" And at one point she even turns to Yam Yam (seemingly) and mouths "What?" while Yam and Carson sit looking straight ahead, stone-faced.

Now clearly that was all misdirect. Yam and Carson did not need to act sketchy like they were about to betray their alliance, or avoid Carolyn's gaze or deliberately fool us into thinking they were about to vote Carolyn out. Because they didn't. It was all smoke and mirrors on the part of the editors. Moreover, the cynic in me suspects they were even prompted to say things during TC to make it sound like they were going to vote out Carolyn. And I hate to think the producers go that far to manufacture drama but it all seems very fishy.

[fishcakes]

The problem for Lauren/Jaime is that they burned their bridges with Heidi. Last week was the second time they voted together against her, and Heidi was pretty adamant that she had no reason to trust them so I'm not surprised that she didn't tell them she has an idol and that the three of them could use it to take out a Tika.

Heidi might still be in a good position, if Carolyn is seriously thinking about voting Carson out (which I kind of doubt, but despite her openness, Carolyn can be hard to read), then she could use Heidi, who trusts her, and Lauren, who has no other options, to vote him out next time, assuming he doesn't win immunity. And if Tika sticks together, I think Lauren goes before Heidi, but I'm just guessing because it seems like Lauren's name has come up more and has been seen as more of a threat.

Nice poncho, De Niro.

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Does anyone care about Jaime?

🙋‍♂️

[Carey]

Me too, tracyscott.  I actually admired everyone in the cast, and everyone left.  That includes Danny, Frannie (of course), and even Yam Yam.  At the beginning, there was nothing to hate someone for.  While that changed (and that's good since a villain is necessary on the show), everyone seemed to come back to form.

Obviously, there are those I admire more (Carolyn, Carson, Heidi), but overall, anyone left that wins? I'll be okay with.  Jaime can't win, and I don't know about Lauren.  It might come down to how she presents herself at a FTC if she makes it.  Which might be the case for everyone else.  Very good cast here

 

Edited to add more of a response to iMonrey's post

Edited May 18, 2023 by Carey

[AncientNewbie]

This was a weird episode for me. It made me think of Jesse and Karla last season, who were main characters until they suddenly weren't there anymore without great fanfare or drama. I don't know that I'm a Carolyn fan, per se, as much as I felt that even if she was overplaying her hand, I wanted something other than a straight up vote at six to edge her out. (Also, I can't remember yesterday, so memories of previous players may be fuzzy.) Yet voting her out would have been a wise move for all involved and the drama was well justified. It just felt...uneven?...in some way that there was still a Tika focus even if Heidi and Jamie had a lot on the line. 

 

[Shermie]

Thinking about editing choices that hint at the winner…

What if Yam Yam wins, and the clues were there along? He has said several times something along the lines that “someone puts my name down, and they end up on the jury”. So is that a backhanded way of the editors saying that the jury puts Yam Yam’s name down again?

Jamie was cheerful to the end, some people are just like that. I’m sure when (if) Jeff addresses her gameplay (that her idol was fake and she wasn’t actually in control) at the reunion show (do they still do that?), she’ll just have a big smile and say that she was just happy to play and make it #6.

I assume at this point, the Tika 3 vote out Heidi or Lauren next, and then it’s an easy ride to the final 2? 3? If Yam Yam votes out Carolyn at that point, does that help get admiration votes from the jury, or do they punish him for turning on his alliance?

[mojoween]

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

Could we get a shout-out to the lovely ladies at The Sanctuary?  They were the best part of the episode. 

They touched those stank-ass feet and for that I give them all the props in the world.

Jamie had some underpit growth, but how come none of the women have visible leg hair?  Pretty sure if I were marooned for three weeks my head hair would be a snarled, tangled mess and I would look like a yeti.

[LadyChatts]

4 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

Well Danny saved Frannie with an idol play this season.

I can't believe I forgot that one, since I liked Frannie and Brandon was such a bone head because he refused to split the votes going into TC.  I guess new era successful idol plays don't impact me like they used to.

Quote

 

Me too, tracyscott.  I actually admired everyone in the cast, and everyone left.  That includes Danny, Frannie (of course), and even Yam Yam.  At the beginning, there was nothing to hate someone for.  While that changed (and that's good since a villain is necessary on the show), everyone seemed to come back to form.

Obviously, there are those I admire more (Carolyn, Carson, Heidi), but overall, anyone left that wins? I'll be okay with.  Jaime can't win, and I don't know about Lauren.  It might come down to how she presents herself at a FTC if she makes it.  Which might be the case for everyone else.  Very good cast here

 

I don't dislike anyone left, though I can't say I care for Yam Yam all that much.  If he won it'd be a meh.  Carson is okay, though his win wouldn't overly excite me, either.  I think I'd probably forgot about those two within a week of winning.  I really would love to see Carolyn or Lauren take it.  I like Heidi so I'd be okay with her winning.  The only person this season I can say I wasn't a fan of was Bearded Matt, and Danny to a lesser extent.  He was just obnoxious but his edit of not being as good of a player as he thought he was made up for that.

Quote

The editors worked really hard this episode to make us worry Carolyn was getting voted out. Which means they knew they needed to manufacture some suspense because voting out Jamie made the episode a big nothing burger. Does anyone care about Jamie? Clearly the show knows Carolyn is their star. As I have repeatedly reminded everyone, the season opened with a strangely random confessional by Carolyn acting goofy.

I said above I felt sorry for Jaime, because they really made it seem like this was Carolyn's swan song.  Judging by the reaction on Twitter there's a ton of 'thank god Carolyn is safe and we don't have to riot' tweets, with practically nothing about Jaime, the Queen of Enthusiasm, demise.  So the editors played the right gamble I guess with making Carolyn seem like the intended boot because she definitely has a lot of fans that would probably be furiously typing mean tweets to Yam Yam and Carson today if they voted her off.

Edited May 18, 2023 by LadyChatts

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I don't dislike anyone left, though I can't say I care for Yam Yam all that much.  If he won it'd be a meh.  Carson is okay, though his win wouldn't overly excite me, either.  I think I'd probably forgot about those two within a week of winning.  I really would love to see Carolyn or Lauren take it.  I like Heidi so I'd be okay with her winning.  The only person this season I can say I wasn't a fan of was Bearded Matt, and Danny to a lesser extent.  He was just obnoxious but his edit of not being as good of a player as he thought he was made up for that.

While I'm not as enamored of (with?) Carolyn as I feel like the show wants me to be, she'd be a fine winner, as any of them would at this point, I think. But I agree that I can't get too excited about a Yam Yam or Carson win. Carson in particular just feels like a character in a Survivor SIM game - everything he says seems like a computer-generated script of what a Survivor player would say. Though I've noticed this with a lot of them this season - just parroting soundbites past players have said - it's particularly evident with Carson. Perhaps this is the inevitable result of the show being around for so long that people have literally grown up with it.

Edited May 18, 2023 by tracyscott76

[LizBug]

Ok ... so we were mislead about YamYam voting for Carolyn.  But, he did enough talking at Tribal Council to have Carolyn worried.  Maybe that will allow her to rethink her loyalty to YamYam.  But, I think she feels loyal/protective of Carson.

 

[Kenzie]

Just when I thought I had got past Carolyn's eyerolls, grimaces and facial contortions she drops the gross "burp in my face" comment. I've tried, but I just can't like this lady. 

[KittyMom4]

15 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

The best part of it was Carolyn getting lost in the challenge because Jaime is bad at giving directions

This was the funniest part of this episode, I replayed it a couple times!  And Jaime proved me right in my thought that she has zero self-awareness regarding her lack importance in this game, no matter how many times she tells us she's the wizard. 

6 hours ago, weaver said:

I loved the way Carson directed the ball in the reward challenge.  For a young kid, he is calm and keeps his wits about him.  He's been my favorite for a while.  

I find this late in the season the only woman I know anything about is Carolyn.  It seems Jaime, Lauren and Heidi meld into one for me.  

I'm rooting for Carson and Carolyn.   Yam Yam can leave; he is on my last nerve with his comments.  If Lauren wins with her two immunity wins and her job as a school teacher, I'm fine.  

Slow season.   Without Carolyn, I think I would have tuned out. 

All of this. Truly, without Carolyn I would be bored even though she gets on my nerves and her moans, groans and yelps make my ears bleed. 

4 hours ago, violet and green said:

I think Heidi has misplayed every advantage she's had so far.  Jaime and Lauren don't seem to have much game in them

My god, so much this!!! Heidi dear, you remind me of playing hide and seek with my 3 year old and she'd hide behind a curtain giggling, YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY STRATEGIZE IN THIS GAME!!!!  Nobody even knew she had it....sheesh.

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Now clearly that was all misdirect. Yam and Carson did not need to act sketchy like they were about to betray their alliance, or avoid Carolyn's gaze or deliberately fool us into thinking they were about to vote Carolyn out. Because they didn't. It was all smoke and mirrors on the part of the editors. Moreover, the cynic in me suspects they were even prompted to say things during TC to make it sound like they were going to vote out Carolyn. And I hate to think the producers go that far to manufacture drama but it all seems very fishy.

THIS. I get so tired of the fake scare tactics the editing provides. Every time Carolyn looked around I reminded myself that the editor gods were cutting and pasting these scenes to amp up the excitement/stress. 

I feel bad that Heidi, Jaime and Lauren were pretty non-existent to me, and again, I remember that the editor gods did that. Too much Carolyn, too much Yam Yam and too much ooey-gooey Fran & Matt. Let us get to know them all and stop trying to control who is the "star". Ugh.