S45.E04: Music to My Ears

[jabRI]

5 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Sean thinks we all said "awww" and made hearts with our hands when he said  being with his husband was his true great experience. Hah!  We know you're just hungry, Sean.  Jeff's face was priceless.

Reminds me of a corporate team building exercise we did (when people were actually in the same building!) we had to say what person, living or dead, we'd like to have dinner with.  Sounds easy right?  Couldn't believe the yahoos who said 'I'd have dinner with my kids'.  No imagination!

 

[Sunnykm]

Bruce=theatre kid 😵‍💫. Sifu too.

Wait until Kaleb and Emily see each other at the next IC.  I think this will strengthen their bond.  

[iMonrey]

What did Jeff mean when he said "“For the first time in the new era we are switching tribes"? Huh? I assume the "new era" is the shorter seasons they're doing now but they've been tribe switching every season since. They switched tribes last season. When they kept showing him saying that in the promo spots I expected something completely different like a surprise merge, but no, just the usual tribal mixup. So what the hell was a first here?

There wasn't even much of a switch, after all. Now that Sean's gone, "new" Reba is all former Reba. "New" Lulu is four Belo and Kaleb. 

I wish they would stop with this flint stealing crap. I guess an argument could be made for having to win it, but once you've won it, you shouldn't have to give it up as a "punishment" for losing a challenge. Then again, these idiots really should be practicing how to make fire without a flint. If (in some alternate universe) I was ever cast on Survivor I would spend every moment practicing how to make fire.

[bankerchick]

13 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Jake's joke about being a good swimmer wasn't as funny as he thought

Jake's laugh really creeped me out, but he wasn't wrong.  He was the first swimmer to the cage by a large margin.

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Casting has a big problem and I think it's primarily related to having shorter seasons.

I'm gonna get hate for this, but I think it's primarily related to casting mostly 20-somethings, most of whom have never experienced a moment of discomfort, and almost all of whom are woefully unprepared.  The first girl left after 3 days!  She was hungry and wet and had suffered enough.  Brandon was a mega fan of the show but didn't spend 5 minutes getting ready by losing weight, getting in shape or even practicing puzzles.  He thought his great personality (of which we saw no evidence) could carry him through.  I FF through Sean's tearful story at Tribal (who cares) and stopped just as he said he wanted to leave.  I did enjoy the look on Peachy's face; I thought he was pretty ok with the first girl quitting (he referred to it as getting voted out, which is technically correct but doesn't really explain what happened) but last night he seemed to realize this was not just a one-off.  It makes me wonder if players in future seasons might be more likely to just quit when they suspect they might be on the bottom.

I find Bruce really attractive physically, but that shit would get old pretty fast.

[Colorado David]

11 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I wish they would stop with this flint stealing crap. I guess an argument could be made for having to win it, but once you've won it, you shouldn't have to give it up as a "punishment" for losing a challenge. Then again, these idiots really should be practicing how to make fire without a flint. If (in some alternate universe) I was ever cast on Survivor I would spend every moment practicing how to make fire.

wasn't boiling the water part of the earlier seasons, or am i confusing this with 'naked and afraid'?   i agree the stealing the flint is getting to be an old threat, ya wanna threaten them, say you're taking half their rice or whatever.

dang Kaleb channeling his inner Danny Ainge for hitting those ball shots from downtown, that seemed impressive (tho could be editing, but he had nice outside shot form.) 

i think sean had it figured out he was going one way or other, so just to remain in control of his own destiny he volunteered himself up.

emily still a weird wildcard after the switchup.

sifu if you mention being zen master one more time, i am gonna kick you in the shin. we get it, you are the calm king of being spiritual, no one is disputing you. somehow i think a genuine zen master would never feel the need to brag about it so much.

 

[Nashville]

13 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

wasn't boiling the water part of the earlier seasons, or am i confusing this with 'naked and afraid'?

Boiling water from a local supply was a significant game element back in the early seasons – but I guess as Production came to understand it really cut into the TH camera time for half the contestants to have the screaming E. coli shits, they decided to go with the “well” (which is little more than a water barrel in a rock encasement). 
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to think that as contestants realized they could always depend upon a Production-furnished clean water supply, though, the urgency of knowing how to start a fire without flint would tend to decrease….

…although you’d think the necessity for performing in a fire-making challenge ought to cross somebody’s mind every now and then.

[Nashville]

But then again they’re supplied a flint in the FM challenges - so maybe not.

[30 Helens]

11 hours ago, dancingdreamer said:

As for Sean, I read they can go home as soon as jury starts, at one time they had to wait until the end.

Ah, now what I read on Reality Blurred earlier makes sense:

Quote

By the way, while Sean will go to Ponderosa, Survivor no longer sends its pre-jury cast on vacation for the rest of the filming time; to save money, they just send them all home now. That started with Survivor 41.

I didn’t understand how he could go to Ponderosa AND go home, but if it’s just until jury starts, I get it.

But this makes his decision to quit even more baffling. So he gets to see his husband, what, 2 weeks sooner? Maybe he didn’t know about the Ponderosa part? But to have him quit like that, with no prior indication, and after working so hard to stay, was just weird.

I looked at my husband after that speech and said “I would be so pissed if you did that.” He was even blunter: “Keep your ass on that beach and win me a million dollars, woman!” Guess we just don’t love each other enough.

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, bankerchick said:

Jake's laugh really creeped me out, but he wasn't wrong.  He was the first swimmer to the cage by a large margin.

I'm gonna get hate for this, but I think it's primarily related to casting mostly 20-somethings, most of whom have never experienced a moment of discomfort, and almost all of whom are woefully unprepared.  The first girl left after 3 days!  She was hungry and wet and had suffered enough.  Brandon was a mega fan of the show but didn't spend 5 minutes getting ready by losing weight, getting in shape or even practicing puzzles.  He thought his great personality (of which we saw no evidence) could carry him through.  I FF through Sean's tearful story at Tribal (who cares) and stopped just as he said he wanted to leave.  I did enjoy the look on Peachy's face; I thought he was pretty ok with the first girl quitting (he referred to it as getting voted out, which is technically correct but doesn't really explain what happened) but last night he seemed to realize this was not just a one-off.  It makes me wonder if players in future seasons might be more likely to just quit when they suspect they might be on the bottom.

I find Bruce really attractive physically, but that shit would get old pretty fast.

Jake may be a good swimmer in the challenges or everyday sense.  But is he a good swimmer under the pile of crap he creates for himself if he tries playing too hard?

What I think is funny about the casting is that these are supposed to be so-called super fans of the show.  I am really curious how they will work casting in the future.  As I mentioned earlier, they have no way of knowing whether a person is going to quit or how they will act out there vs how they acted in the audition.  So I don't know what they'll do.  Both Sean and Hannah were in no danger of actually being voted out, and both knew that.  Hannah's reason for leaving is obviously different than Sean's, and I'm still trying to figure him out.  I don't know if it's age or maybe they need to cast less white collar workers and more blue collar types.  

Edited October 19, 2023 by LadyChatts

[RedbirdNelly]

Sean was a real surprise. The show really doesn't work if people start treating it as a roughing it retreat where you have the option to leave whenever you get what you think you need from it.

Re Bruce: I can understand being annoyed but K just seems obsessed and not thinking about who is a risk to her. I don't see Bruce as a real risk--if everyone thinks he's so nice plus physically strong, he becomes a target pretty quickly.

[jabRI]

9 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

As I mentioned earlier, they have no way of knowing whether a person is going to quit or how they will act out there vs how they acted in the audition. 

I see what you are saying, but it seems to me there are psych tests to weed this out in first responder/military interviews, but they'd have to look for this, not just super fans to be villains or heroes.

[Guest]

I think it's too difficult to assign blame or pinpoint overarching demographic/societal reasons why we've had a disproportionate number of people quitting this season when it's really only been this season. So far it's too much of an aberration to draw a conclusion, for me.

[gesundheit]

12 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

Sean was a real surprise. The show really doesn't work if people start treating it as a roughing it retreat where you have the option to leave whenever you get what you think you need from it.

 

That's what really cracked me up -- his build-up narrative to the "vote me out" request framed it like it was some social justice/self-actualization revelation. Hilarious. It'd be one thing if something about this experience & isolation made him realize he was ready to reject the Mormon tenets he was raised with and come out or something, but nope, he just wants to be able to Zoom from Ponderosa with the man he already married. A week or two earlier than he otherwise would've.

[Skooma]

11 hours ago, OutOfTheQuestion said:

Beyond casting, the show itself has to take some blame in this.  They go out of their way to make it harder (fewer clothes, limited flint, limited rice) on the players because CBS is too cheap to pay for a 36-day season anymore.

The Old Survivor made them make fire WITHOUT flint and they had to boil their own water, not get clean water out of a fake "well."  And way WAY less clothing.  Also people back then could lose up to 50 pounds sometimes from lack of food or having huge food rewards, massages, overnight hotel sleep-ins and even more food like New Survivor provides.

7 hours ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

Bruce's cornball Dad jokes are annoying enough in small doses on TV once a week; having to put up with them 24/7 while hungry and with sand in my crotch would do my head in. I'm Team Katurah.

But she and she alone seems unhealthily obsessed with him.  If he is all that she says he is he makes THE perfect shield for her.  Her other tribemates seem to know that and can live with him okay.  And he is hardly the worst teammate in Survivor history to be stuck with.  What the hell is wrong with her?  Totally obsessed AND not playing the game well as a result.  I want her out next.

4 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

Did production have those new buffs placed on the tray by color?  Because, yeah, not a ton of switching happened with that switch.

Yeah it seemed that way.  The first tribe picked from the packages on top of course and that was their own buff color.  Bottom color packages seemed to match the last tribe to pick color.  Lulu picking in the middle got a mix of all three colors.

[HurricaneVal]

I think it was absolutely inevitable that there was going to be a mini-merge/tribe swap thing.  I know in that one season, production allowed that one tribe to go down to one person, but that was a different time.  Sure, more and more players on the other tribes could sit out challenges to make it even, but....  In modern era Survivor, there are elaborate and complicated structures for complicated  challenges that have been meticulously planned for months (if not years) and most of those challenges assume a certain number of players in order to work. 

For instance, there's no way last night's Immunity Challenge would have worked with only three people.  Three people would not have been able to lift that huge heavy bamboo cage out of the water, across the beach, and up over the cleat.   For me, personally, I'd prefer going back to the less complicated challenges with fewer tedious segments.  It's these pre-fab structures that mean the same challenges happen year after year.  Jeff calls them "Survivor Classics" but really they're "Survivor Too Cheap to Build New Stuff Reruns."

I do like new Emily, and I think the bond between her and Kaleb is real.  If they both survive to the merge, that's going to be an interesting and power duo. 

As for Katurah's hate-on for Bruce?  I think as others have speculated, she's got other, less flattering, reasons why she doesn't like him, and is letting his dad "jokes" and "Survivor Comeback Story" bragging become an obsession and an excuse to just outright dislike him.   I also notice, other than some mugging for the camera now and then, she's mostly confining her complaining to her talking head interviews.  Now, if Bruce was truly like that 24/7, I can understand the annoyance, but I doubt he's like that 24/7.  And as Bruce said in one of his talking heads earlier in the season, he's doing a lot of that schtick on purpose to try and get his tribe to do things.  He seemed frustrated right back at them.  Different generations, I guess.

Sean?  Sigh.  Whatevs.

At least now with the mini-merge/tribe swap we can see what all is going on with the rest of the presumably functional people playing the game.  Unless production continues to dwell on the Bruce/Katurah dynamic some more, which is already boring.  Maybe we'll find there's some equally capable of quitting folks on the other tribes who haven't had an opportunity to dramatically quite at TC!

[SuburbanHangSuite]

9 hours ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

 

Bruce's cornball Dad jokes are annoying enough in small doses on TV once a week; having to put up with them 24/7 while hungry and with sand in my crotch would do my head in. I'm Team Katurah.

1000 X this.  Make room for me on the team.

I thought it was very savvy of her to get Kaleb's version of the Risk Your Vote option without Bruce butting in.  Too bad if he felt like she was calling him untrustworthy.

That "crying" on Tika beach?  I can't...

And her face was my face when he acted like he lost that flint.  He can't go fast enough. 

 

 

[meep.meep]

Were we the only ones sad that Sean won't be able to try to break Denise's record of going to all the tribal councils?

Sifu has the best shirts of anyone who has ever played Survivor!   No rumpled  stained T shirts for him.  One is red with long toggle fasteners and the other dark blue with violet tigers.  I'd love to know what they're made out of.

I'm totally with Julie on her assessment of their chances in challenges without him.  "We'd still be in the water trying to drag that cage to shore!"

[Chicago Redshirt]

If my wife honestly thought that she could win us $1 million but chose to quit to get back to me a few weeks sooner than she would if she won, there would be some couch-sleeping in her future. I love my wife, but a million is a million.

If my wife was in the predicament that Sean was where her back was clearly against the wall and she was almost 100 percent to be voted out, and she framed her quitting only at that point as "I need to get back to my husband," I would say, "Sweetie, you can save your lying for the people on that island. Ain't nobody gonna believe that, and you've embarrassed me in front of everyone who knows us."

[violet and green]

11 hours ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

Bruce's cornball Dad jokes are annoying enough in small doses on TV once a week; having to put up with them 24/7 while hungry and with sand in my crotch would do my head in. I'm Team Katurah.

Bruce makes me grit my teeth every time he refers to himself (now generously extending it to the others) as a celebrity for being on Survivor... His jokes would be wearing. He seems to be a bit of a dick. But it's not worth tanking your own game over any of that, in my view.

That level of obsession and irrational hatred of one player is alarming. It also takes her mind off the objective of surviving, and puts it all on getting one player, who is otherwise quite useful as minor muscle, out. She's so busy following and noting Bruce's every transgression, and resenting him, and trying to enlist others against him who don't mind him or see his value, that she does not seem to be making any time to ensure her own social position in the new tribe. 

[iMonrey]

5 hours ago, bankerchick said:

I'm gonna get hate for this, but I think it's primarily related to casting mostly 20-somethings, most of whom have never experienced a moment of discomfort, and almost all of whom are woefully unprepared. 

No hate from me, although Sean was 35. Still, I think the reason the average age is 28.8 is because they know all the challenges are physical and someone in their 50s, 60s or older isn't going to be able to manage them. (Out of 18 people cast this season, 11 are in their 20s, 5 in their 30s, and Bruce and Julie top out the age range at the ripe old ages of 47 and 49, respectively.)

2 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

As for Katurah's hate-on for Bruce?  I think as others have speculated, she's got other, less flattering, reasons why she doesn't like him, and is letting his dad "jokes" and "Survivor Comeback Story" bragging become an obsession and an excuse to just outright dislike him. 

Bear in mind we only see what the editors want us to see. It may be that she isn't "obsessed" with him at all, and has only bitched about him a few times to the camera crew, who thinks it's hysterical. Certainly the editors are having a good time matching her confessionals to montages of Bruce's antics. It may well be the only narrative they've got for Katurah.

[violet and green]

Just now, iMonrey said:

Still, I think the reason the average age is 28.8 is because they know all the challenges are physical and someone in their 50s, 60s or older isn't going to be able to manage them.

The challenges are always largely physical and contestants in their 40s, 50s, and 60s have often done well in them. And as we know, Brandon, at 26, floundered on every level of them.

[mojoween]

I hope before Survivor hangs up the idols for the last time they go back to tribes of nine.  So much more opportunity for scheming when there are more options from the beginning.

With Kaleb’s ease of dropping NBA references into casual confessionals, and his sweet stroke at the Immunity Challenge, methinks there was a Rec League that was missing its point guard while he was off filming.

Sean, a SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, quit, and the editors gave him uplifting music on the way out.  Shut up, everyone.

[DEL901]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

I hope before Survivor hangs up the idols for the last time they go back to tribes of nine.  So much more opportunity for scheming when there are more options from the beginning.

With Kaleb’s ease of dropping NBA references into casual confessionals, and his sweet stroke at the Immunity Challenge, methinks there was a Rec League that was missing its point guard while he was off filming.

Sean, a SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, quit, and the editors gave him uplifting music on the way out.  Shut up, everyone.

They can only do tribes of 8 or 10.  9 would result in an odd amount of men and women.   

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

They can only do tribes of 8 or 10.  9 would result in an odd amount of men and women.   

There have been several seasons with 18 contestants that started with 2 tribes of nine. Most recently with Season 38, Edge of Extinction. One tribe starts with 5 men, 4 women, and the other starts with 4 men, 5 women.

Edited October 20, 2023 by tracyscott76

[KaveDweller]

18 hours ago, Skooma said:

Can you provide a link?  That would be a major change and one that could SPOIL a season immediately so I find it hard to believe. 

Actually remove "could" and change to WOULD spoil a season's results immediately.  Something that could tank ratings so I can't believe they would do that.

Dalton Ross talks about this in his latest recap. I avoid spoilers, so I don't know if it has caused the winner to leak the last few seasons? But it hasn't made it be mainstream news. Of course, Survivor doesn't really make mainstream news like it did at the beginning.

The change started because of Covid, and then they were like, "hey, it saves money too. Let's keep doing it." Kind of like the shorter seasons.

[ICantDoThatDave]

I'm curious as to how Dee handles the fallout from this.  Sure, Sean told Sifu he didn't vote for him, so Sifu is now wondering who did.

But... if Dee is smart, she should play it as if she's just as offended as Sifu is likely to be - as in "we all know Sean voted Sifu of course, so who voted for me?!?" And just tries to discredit Sean as having lied to Sifu to stir up trouble when Sifu inevitably brings it up.

[Nashville]

10 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Ah, now what I read on Reality Blurred earlier makes sense:

Quote

By the way, while Sean will go to Ponderosa, Survivor no longer sends its pre-jury cast on vacation for the rest of the filming time; to save money, they just send them all home now. That started with Survivor 41.

I didn’t understand how he could go to Ponderosa AND go home, but if it’s just until jury starts, I get it.

Thanks for the clarification: I thought I remembered hearing something about the pre-jurors’ post-Ponderosa experience changing sometime around/during COVID, but I couldn’t find a reference.

[Etta Place]

2 hours ago, ICantDoThatDave said:

I'm curious as to how Dee handles the fallout from this.  Sure, Sean told Sifu he didn't vote for him, so Sifu is now wondering who did.

But... if Dee is smart, she should play it as if she's just as offended as Sifu is likely to be - as in "we all know Sean voted Sifu of course, so who voted for me?!?" And just tries to discredit Sean as having lied to Sifu to stir up trouble when Sifu inevitably brings it up.

I think the story should just be that J couldn’t bear to vote for Sean so threw her vote at D, who she knew was in no danger of going. And of course Sean voted for Sifu, and then didn’t want to own it. 

[ChiCricket]

On 10/18/2023 at 8:54 PM, jsm1125 said:

Can the show stop purpling Brando, please? 

What is purpling? I tried Urban Dictionary, and even that didn't help.

[Nashville]

24 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

What is purpling? I tried Urban Dictionary, and even that didn't help.

“Purpling” originally started out as a Survivor reference - specifically, a player getting a “Purple Kelly” edit - but its use has spread since its inception:

https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/45578-survivor-lexicon/?do=findComment&comment=4867425

 

[SVNBob]

On 10/18/2023 at 11:03 PM, Lantern7 said:

I'm surprised that there's a Dee. Looking through the individual threads, I also see a Kendra. Who is she? And there's Kellie and Julie . . . who are they? Does editing favor the guys? Or has Lulu absorbed whatever screen tie they would have gotten?

• Dee is Big Toe Lady on Red.
• Kendra is Astrology Lady on Blue.
• Kellie is Cute Tomboy Lady aka "Bruce's #1" on Yellow (formerly Blue)
• Julie is "Old" Lady on Red.

 

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

What did Jeff mean when he said "“For the first time in the new era we are switching tribes"? Huh? I assume the "new era" is the shorter seasons they're doing now but they've been tribe switching every season since. They switched tribes last season. When they kept showing him saying that in the promo spots I expected something completely different like a surprise merge, but no, just the usual tribal mixup. So what the hell was a first here?

Peachy was correct.  There wasn't a tribe swap in 41-44.  The tribes in those seasons stayed the same until the merge.

So this is the first tribe swap in 4 seasons.  It's not new-new.  But it is new for this era of the game.

16 hours ago, bankerchick said:

Jake's laugh really creeped me out, but he wasn't wrong. 

They held on that laugh for way too long for that scene not to be foreshadowing something.  And I don't just mean his actual aquatic ability.

 

In the second episode of the podcast, where they talked a little about the return of the intro, Peachy mentioned that there's a scene in the intro that's a "clue" about events that will happen in the episode.  In this episode, i saw it.  It was one of those artsy shots where they're playing with the props.  This one was of the three different buffs getting "thrown".  Obviously, this was about the swap.  But we knew that was happening since the intro played after Peachy said "drop your buffs", so it wasn't really a "clue".

That said, the interesting part is where that scene is in the intro.  It's right after a shot of Peachy (is this the first time he's been in the intro?  It's been so long since there's been one I don't remember if he was in one before).  You know it's him, because he's wearing his orange Survivor baseball cap.  So once you see him, the next scene of the intro is the "clue" scene.

[ChiCricket]

7 minutes ago, Nashville said:

“Purpling” originally started out as a Survivor reference - specifically, a player getting a “Purple Kelly” edit - but its use has spread since its inception:

https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/45578-survivor-lexicon/?do=findComment&comment=4867425

 

Thanks. I even tried searching the word purpling on Primetimer,  and only got 2 hits,neither of which was in the Survivor  Lexicon forum. Maybe I should have just typed purple.  😀 

[fishcakes]

3 hours ago, SVNBob said:

That said, the interesting part is where that scene is in the intro.  It's right after a shot of Peachy (is this the first time he's been in the intro? 

I wouldn't swear to it, but I believe it is the first time he's been in the intro only because I was so surprised when I saw him in this one.

[Chicago Redshirt]

11 hours ago, DEL901 said:

They can only do tribes of 8 or 10.  9 would result in an odd amount of men and women.   

Cast nonbinary contestants. Problem solved.

More to the point, I'm not sure having uneven numbers of men and women on each tribe matters so much that you have to design around it.

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

More to the point, I'm not sure having uneven numbers of men and women on each tribe matters so much that you have to design around it.

And again, they've done it several times before with no issue. Guatemala (11), Gabon (17), Redemption Island (22), South Pacific (23), San Juan del Sur (29), and Edge of Extinction (38). All with 18 players, 2 tribes, uneven numbers of men and women on each tribe.

[SnapHappy]

Bruce is such a bad actor.  His entire play is "Look at Me, Look at MEEE!".  And that Soap Opera worthy "breakdown" when he returned to his beach of heartbreak.....

Katurah is just the water to his oil.  And he would annoy the crap out of me too.  Her rants are only partially fueled by her emotions.  Everybody knows that the interviewers for the talking heads hammer people with the questions that will advance the pre-written storyline.  And that's "Katurah Despises Bruce". 

So let it be written, so let it be done.  

And Drew is coming out just like the latest of the tall, skinny geek boys.  He thinks he's the new "Cochran".  None of them will be, but they just can't help thinking they are. 

Emily has definitely grown on me, but I still reserve the right to hate her as we move along.

[SnapHappy]

22 hours ago, jabRI said:

Reminds me of a corporate team building exercise we did (when people were actually in the same building!) we had to say what person, living or dead, we'd like to have dinner with.  Sounds easy right?  Couldn't believe the yahoos who said 'I'd have dinner with my kids'.  No imagination!

I'd have dinner with Dolly Parton.  You know the food would be awesome Southern & you'd get some Tea with the sweet tea!

 

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Cast nonbinary contestants. Problem solved.

More to the point, I'm not sure having uneven numbers of men and women on each tribe matters so much that you have to design around it.

 

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

And again, they've done it several times before with no issue. Guatemala (11), Gabon (17), Redemption Island (22), South Pacific (23), San Juan del Sur (29), and Edge of Extinction (38). All with 18 players, 2 tribes, uneven numbers of men and women on each tribe.

And don’t forget Panama (12), where FOUR tribes were established with divisions drawn along lines of age and sex: older men / older women / younger men / younger women.

[LeDucDiableBleu]

21 hours ago, jabRI said:

I see what you are saying, but it seems to me there are psych tests to weed this out in first responder/military interviews, but they'd have to look for this, not just super fans to be villains or heroes.

"When you were a kid and your parents made you toast, did they scrape off the burnt bits and still give it to you, or throw it out and make a new one?" -possible question to weed out potential players. I swear it seems like some of these people have never had one second of uncomfortableness in their entire lives.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

 

And don’t forget Panama (12), where FOUR tribes were established with divisions drawn along lines of age and sex: older men / older women / younger men / younger women.

Well yes, but the issue under discussion was having uneven numbers of men and women on a 9-member tribe (5-4 split). Panama had even numbers of men and women (2-2 split) so doesn't quite apply.

I feel like I should bring this back to Season 45, but all I've got that I haven't said before (at least not for this episode) is that Kellie continues to be a fox (though her Instagram makes it clear that I'd never be in the running despite my many obvious positive attributes lol). I'm hoping her "lowkey but always in the mix somewhere" edit is a sign of her longevity in the game.

Edited October 20, 2023 by tracyscott76
Moved a quotation mark

[iMonrey]

17 hours ago, violet and green said:

The challenges are always largely physical and contestants in their 40s, 50s, and 60s have often done well in them. And as we know, Brandon, at 26, floundered on every level of them.

The challenges are always physical now, and have been for quite some time. But they weren't in the beginning. They've just gotten lazy about them. And I honestly can't remember the last time they've cast anyone over 50.

7 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Peachy was correct.  There wasn't a tribe swap in 41-44.  The tribes in those seasons stayed the same until the merge.

No they didn't. Just last season they switched. What am I missing? Soka, Tika and Ratu did tribal switches:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_44

Edited October 20, 2023 by iMonrey

[Skooma]

12 hours ago, ICantDoThatDave said:

I'm curious as to how Dee handles the fallout from this.  Sure, Sean told Sifu he didn't vote for him, so Sifu is now wondering who did.

But... if Dee is smart, she should play it as if she's just as offended as Sifu is likely to be - as in "we all know Sean voted Sifu of course, so who voted for me?!?" And just tries to discredit Sean as having lied to Sifu to stir up trouble when Sifu inevitably brings it up.

I think if Dee is smart she just tells the truth and gets it over with.  No way would Sifu believe Sean cast the vote against him.  He was leaving and had absolutely no reason to lie or play the game in any which way at that point. 

And Dee has the numbers on her side anyway so why lie and get caught because, again, no reason on earth for Sean to have lied to Sifu.

So all Dee would get is the reputation as a liar to Sifu when he finds out who did it and in the meantime casting doubt on her two allies being the possible vote so would they trust her after she basically threw them under the bus?

Edited October 20, 2023 by Skooma

[Guest]

1 minute ago, iMonrey said:

And I honestly can't remember the last time they've cast anyone over 50.

The last contestant over 50 was 2 seasons ago: our winner Gabler, 51. The season before that (Maryanne's season), Mike was 58 (he was the one who didn't say his assigned phrase to get the idol and caused endless speculation over whether that meant he forfeited it). There were 3 in the season before that, the first "new era" season. But yes, they've been few and far between lately.

3 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

7 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Peachy was correct.  There wasn't a tribe swap in 41-44.  The tribes in those seasons stayed the same until the merge.

No they didn't. Just last season they switched. What am I missing? Soka, Tika and Ratu did tribal switches:

Jeff (and Bob) might not be counting that one because it was only 3 people who switched. One person from each tribe went on a journey and ended up being moved to a different tribe. It wasn't a cast-wide "drop your buffs" kind of thing. Sort of a semantics issue, but I think that's where they're coming from.

Can you tell it's Friday and I'm not quite focused on work?

[Miss Bones]

On 10/18/2023 at 10:49 PM, Valerie said:

Found out from my mom that Kaleb is her friend's niece's boyfriend. Cool!

Funny, this week, I found out that Bruce is from West Warwick, Rhode Island--my hometown--and went to high school with one of my friends.  

[Tango64]

[Colorado David]

consider this...i have lost my faith in this show  

 

[SnapHappy]

1 hour ago, Miss Bones said:

Funny, this week, I found out that Bruce is from West Warwick, Rhode Island--my hometown--and went to high school with one of my friends.  

Cool, try & get some gossip if you can.  Find out if he was always the loud & posturing braggart he's coming off as. 

To me, that is.  YMMV.

[Miss Bones]

53 minutes ago, SnapHappy said:

Cool, try & get some gossip if you can.  Find out if he was always the loud & posturing braggart he's coming off as. 

To me, that is.  YMMV.

I'll see what I can do!  I'm curious, too.

[ljenkins782]

On 10/19/2023 at 9:19 AM, peachmangosteen said:

I actually don't give a shit if people quit but the manner in which Sean did it was just bizarre. He can't even go home to see his husband anyway so what was he even talking about lol.

Yeah, I didn't have a problem with Hannah saying "I don't want to be here and I don't want someone else who does want to be here to go home." I mean, I'd prefer that everyone there actually want to play since it's hard to get there, but she realized her mistake immediately and left. 

But this feigned epiphany about the very best place on earth being with my husband, I wasn't buying that. And we're how many days in out of a short season where you've already been cold and wet and hungry, wouldn't you like to bring your husband a million dollars upon your return and be happy AND rich after going through all that already?

I feel like between losing his spot as one of the top dogs on Lulu and the tribe shuffle where he drew the worst hand, he did the math and thought this would be the least embarrassing way to be voted out. Like, he was the ONLY new person on a pretty strong tribe and short of Boston Rob brokering a deal for your security, that lone person will most likely be an easy vote.

And if the girls hadn't had that blindside all set, then it would have just been an easy vote and a meh episode. It does kinda make me wonder if that blindside wasn't all that solid and this was just creative editing to mask a foregone conclusion. (And no, I won't take Jeff's word for it unless someone else backs him up because he certainly has skin in the game when it comes to making the show interesting). 

[Chicago Redshirt]

5 hours ago, Skooma said:

I think if Dee is smart she just tells the truth and gets it over with.  No way would Sifu believe Sean cast the vote against him.  He was leaving and had absolutely no reason to lie or play the game in any which way at that point. 

And Dee has the numbers on her side anyway so why lie and get caught because, again, no reason on earth for Sean to have lied to Sifu.

So all Dee would get is the reputation as a liar to Sifu when he finds out who did it and in the meantime casting doubt on her two allies being the possible vote so would they trust her after she basically threw them under the bus?

I dunno... 

Sifu strikes me as dumb enough to swallow whatever lies he might be fed. So there might be a lie to tell him that would advance Dee's game, or at least to be harmless to Dee.

It could be that Dee tries to put the blame on either J. Maya and Julie for voting Sifu, either saying one of them literally wrote his name down or saying that they were advocating his ouster (which happens to be true).

Telling the truth about writing his name down might come back to bite her in the ass down the road, and it could be a short road. Sifu strikes me as the sort to be reflexively: you wrote my name down that once, so I'm going to do everything I can to get you voted out, even if it's objectively worse for me.

It could be that Julie and J. Maya decide at their next Tribal that they'd rather have Sifu with his goofy but strong self around to give them a shot at a challenge win than Dee, and try to vote Dee out.