S45.E13: Living the Survivor Dream

[Whimsy]

Quote

The remaining five castaways must stack up a win in the immunity challenge to secure a spot in the final four. Then, one castaway will be crowned Sole Survivor.

Original airdate 12/20/23

[AntFTW]

Congrats to Dee. She deserved it. Out of the final three, she played the hardest.

[TVFan1]

Dee is a very deserving winner of this season. Anyone could tell from watching that she played the best game. I'm glad that she did win, and thankful Austin did not. Not surprised one bit that Jake got 0 votes. He wasn't winning this game. I could care less about Dee and Austin's "showmance" or relationship or whatever they are calling it now. This season was not bad at all, it was pretty good.  

[millennium]

Never fails with this show.  Take the person I like least, that person will win.  Thanks for that, Katurah.

Jake should have made the point that neither Dee nor Austin would have made it to final three without the other.   That he was his own person, while they were just two halves. 

Didn't anybody vote for Jake?  I thought Kaleb or someone did.

[dancingdreamer]

I had hoped Austin and Dee would cancel  one another out. Jake couldn't  get a word in, if had wanted to. Katurah, you'd  of won if you had voted out Dee. I never  connected  to Dee, but congratulations to her..

Julie was great as well.

I guess Sia gave three some money. Katurah  , Jake and Caleb. It wasn't  the best season,  so I'm ready for February. 

[Steph Sometimes]

Very happy with the Dee win, although the final 5 vote and craziness between Jake and Katurah made me nervous. I had been rooting for her for a while and glad she took it over Austin and Jake. I enjoyed watching Jake, but if he had won after that season, I would've been more confused than anything.

I would've loved a proper reunion show after some time had passed. Not so much to hear about Dee and Austin, but Peachy might've given some airtime to Jake to discuss the fainting and get assured that his overall health is good.

My New Era winner rankings if interested: 1) Dee, 2) Maryanne, 3) Yam Yam 4) Erika and 5) Gabler.

[Lantern7]

Looks like my original post is gone.

Meh finale for a meh season. Jake getting no votes was fitting, given how he got put through the wringer all episode. Probst rubbing salt into his fresh wounds didn't help, and neither did beating Katurah in the fire-making challenge. The guy literally broke the finale challenge. If anyone from the cast is going to therapy, it'll be Jake.

There's not much else I can say about the finale. One can hope for improvements in S46, but I'm thinking it'll be more of the same.

[Steph Sometimes]

13 minutes ago, millennium said:

Didn't anybody vote for Jake?  I thought Kaleb or someone did.

No one voted for him. I believe Dee got Kaleb, Julie, Kellie, Katurah and Emily; Austin got Drew, Bruce and Kendra.

[North of Eden]

 

Well, now to have a say…two hours of weepy Jake was a bit much. He’s just such a sad sack. If the wind hadn’t blown out Katura’s first flame he probably would have lost that. He was always destined to be the no vote getting goat. I dub him Bad Luck Schleprock from the Pebbles and Bam Bam (not Yam Yam) cartoon.

I am glad that Katura was at least self aware enough to realize not only did she “fumble the ball” as she feared having no one to blame but herself but also she ensured a Dee victory….all thanks to one incredibly nonsensical poor last minute decision.  The entire outcome of the season pivoted on that moment (and cost Austin a million dollars) Jake was no prize either playing his idol for someone else? Why would you ever take such a risk that close the finish line?!

Probst getting testy about Jake destroying the challenge was a thing of beauty.

SURIVIVOR needs more Emily! Please find a way to bring her back. She was one of the greatest casting coups in the 23 years. (Plus we find out she seems to hate Austin and wants him nowhere near Dee’s prize money!)

Speaking of casting…side eye glance to the casting director for not realizing Austin SHOULD have been a first round draft pick not an alternate who got lucky…but that was a fascinating tid bit to learn.

During the final both he and Dee had moments….at one point it looked like he was talking his way out of her bed when trying to sell himself and then Emily helped expose her lying to him but hey I assume they are still going strong so none of it mattered.

Kendra is, was, and always will be a goon. She was annoying competing with Jake to see who could draw the most attention to themsevles during the reunion show and suck all the air out of the show. (speaking of the reunion there was a weird fascination by the camera crew for close ups on the pizza and champagne)

Lastly…as for next season….a two second clip and I already hate the guy with the guitar.

Edited December 23, 2023 by North of Eden

[Steph Sometimes]

4 minutes ago, Steph Sometimes said:

 

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by Steph Sometimes
double post somehow

[violet and green]

5 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Looks like my original post is gone.

Meh finale for a meh season. Jake getting no votes was fitting, given how he got put through the wringer all episode. Probst rubbing salt into his fresh wounds didn't help, and neither did beating Katurah in the fire-making challenge. The guy literally broke the finale challenge. If anyone from the cast is going to therapy, it'll be Jake.

There's not much else I can say about the finale. One can hope for improvements in S46, but I'm thinking it'll be more of the same.

It was a good post. (Here it is. I had left a browser open on that page.)

****

Great night for the forums to go down! Oy vey.

Dee wins 5-3-0 over Austin and Jake in the closest vote of the "new era:" Jake will probably be in need of therapy based off this episode alone. He had a few breakdowns, fumbled the ball, and he had Probst rub salt in his fresh wounds. Oh, and he broke the final challenge . . . as in, he literally broke it. Yeah, he beat Katurah in fire-making, but he didn't get a vote. Once again, I feel that I know the third-place person (Carolyn last season) better than the winner.

Big fat whatever for this finale. I got more out of TAR's finish last week. Next season will be more of the same, even with the sneak preview at the eager contestants.

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 minutes ago, dancingdreamer said:

I had hoped Austin and Dee would cancel  one another out. Jake couldn't  get a word in, if had wanted to. Katurah, you'd  of won if you had voted out Dee.

Sorry but I don't see Katurah winning as a likely scenario.

Had she voted Dee out, she is still at the mercy of the challenge winner. Based on her performance in reality, there's no way she beats out Jake, Julie and Austin. She was a distant third until Jake DQed himself by breaking the challenge apparatus.

I tend to think that none of the winners bring her in, because they do respect her being able to talk and make connections. Jake's main hope is that Julie and Austin split the Reba vote and leave some room for him to sneak in. I could see Julie/Austin wanting to be the solo Reba member. But they also don't want to give the other an additional line on their resume; fought my way to get here by making fire. 

If she is made to make fire, she probably loses. She had the most pathetic firemaking attempt in my memory.

But let's say she lives in the world where she gets to the end, somehow.

What's her pitch? I got rid of Dee. I faced my fear with the water. Anything else? Is that good enough against any of the others? 

How does she defend her game? She failed to see that Reba was running things, failed to rally Belo to counteract things, failed to make any strong alliances, was basically a toady till the 5 vote. In the hypothetical world where she arranged to vote Dee off, Jake probably gets and deserves more credit for it. 

Where are Katurah's potentially winning votes coming from? If Austin is the only Reba option, one has to assume anyone who voted Austin would vote for him this go around, and that without Dee to vote for, several of those people would also vote Austin. If Austin is not an option, one would think that Julie gets the votes of the Reba 3 on the jury, plus Caleb, plus Emily. I dare say Julie wins a Julie/Katurah/Jake F3 with 6+ votes, and possibly she wins a unanimous vote. 

[Lantern7]

14 minutes ago, violet and green said:

It was a good post. (Here it is. I had left a browser open on that page.)

I really, really, REALLY appreciate that.

Great night for the forums to go down! Oy vey.

Dee wins 5-3-0 over Austin and Jake in the closest vote of the "new era:" Jake will probably be in need of therapy based off this episode alone. He had a few breakdowns, fumbled the ball, and he had Probst rub salt in his fresh wounds. Oh, and he broke the final challenge . . . as in, he literally broke it. Yeah, he beat Katurah in fire-making, but he didn't get a vote. Once again, I feel that I know the third-place person (Carolyn last season) better than the winner.

Big fat whatever for this finale. I got more out of TAR's finish last week. Next season will be more of the same, even with the sneak preview at the eager contestants.

PS: It's a pity the "live"  thread seems to be gone . . . though it does erase me referring to Jake as "Ken" in a few posts. I don't remember why that happened.

[LadyChatts]

Dee is a very deserving winner, so I can't complain about the outcome.  I was hoping for a more bitter jury, but whatever.  I didn't expect the vote to be so close, and I'm sad for Jake that he didn't get one vote.  I think he deserved that much.  And it would have been pretty cool for it to be a tie and for him to get the chance to cast the deciding vote (he said in interviews he would have voted for Dee, so if he's being honest then it wouldn't have changed the outcome).  But for a guy who tried to get everything to go right in the game and for everything to go wrong, it would have been nice to have him go out as casting the second tie-breaking FTC vote in history.

I also loved Emily's confessional when casting her vote for Dee.  Given how coy Dee and Austin are about their relationship I'm wondering if they really have something going on anymore or not.  I was getting nauseous listening to Probst refer to them as "the two lovebirds in the middle" during the after-show.  He couldn't make it anymore obvious that Survivor is desperate to get showmances back.  Also, does Survivor have as good of a success rate with relationships as Big Brother?  If anything I'd say both shows are even.

Overall, this was probably my favorite season of the new era!  Great cast, unexpected moments, people actually wanting to play the game, and a close FTC.  The things I don't like (multiple TC where half the tribe is immune, too many idols and advantages, etc.) I know are here to stay for now so I'll take the wins where I can get them.  I saw on IG that CBS threw a cast party for everyone, including some other Survivor and Big Brother alumni that showed up  Have they done that for any other new era season?  I know they didn't for S43 because Owen said he was jealous.  Makes me think that they might have liked this season.  I also read somewhere that it was the highest streamed episode on Paramount+, and that the ratings were pretty decent (for what cable ratings are nowadays anyway).

Edited December 23, 2023 by LadyChatts

[Chicago Redshirt]

I've been trying with no success to try to understand what Katurah was trying to accomplish by switching her vote from Dee to Julie. I'm not having any luck other than two: Katurah is a dummy (which I'm pretty sure she's not) or Katurah tanked the vote at the behest of the Survivor PTB who wanted to avoid a Dee elimination and to have their Rob/Amber 2.0 (which I'm perhaps naive about but tend to doubt that the producers would manipulate things like that). 

Assuming Jake is untrustworthy, and is voting for someone else other than Dee, how does her voting Julie change things in her favor?

[Nashville]

Just a few notes:

• As I said earlier, I considered Dee one of the least likeable players of this season - but Dee was my pick to win simply because she was pretty much the only player actually putting in the work to truly play the game effectively.
• Austin came moderately close - as he did in the final vote - but in reality, Austin was simply too nice of a guy to win; he lacked that killer instinct you frequently need to get the W.
• I felt bad for Jake, but let’s face it:  in terms of effective strategies, the most impressive thing about Jake’s performance was the truly ginormous string of goose eggs he laid all season.  Jake had lotsa GREAT plans - but in terms of making them actually work…?  Not so much.

 

[AntFTW]

19 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I've been trying with no success to try to understand what Katurah was trying to accomplish by switching her vote from Dee to Julie

I think, if I'm recalling correctly, that she thought Julie was catching some votes so she hopped on that vote. I think Katurah ultimately thought the vote would come down between Julie and herself. Katurah didn't trust that Jake would ultimately follow through with voting for Dee, so she thought Dee wasn't going home even if she voted for Dee because she thought the vote would come down between Julie and herself.

Also, one thing that I thought was incredibly stupid (but maybe she was really just trying to talk her way out of the revelation that she was plotting against Dee) was Katurah saying that Jake should have told her that he planned on playing the idol for her. However, that's stupid because everyone clearly knows none of these people have been working with Jake the entire time. None of these people have trusted Jake with a plan for the entire post-merge game. Jake would tell Katurah that he's playing the idol for Katurah just so that Jake can become an easy vote? So that Katurah can go blab to the entire tribe that Jake won't protect himself? Be for real.

19 hours ago, Nashville said:

I felt bad for Jake, but let’s face it:  in terms of effective strategies, the most impressive thing about Jake’s performance was the truly ginormous string of goose eggs he laid all season.  Jake had lotsa GREAT plans - but in terms of making them actually work…?  Not so much.

I don't know how to describe Jake's game.

On one end, I feel like it's not Jake's fault that no one was willing to play with him. Jake never had the chance to build a resume and make big moves because someone has to be willing to play with him in order for him to build that resume. Someone has to work with him to make the moves.

But maybe it's his own fault that people wouldn't play with him... but I don't really know why people weren't open to him. It doesn't seem like he was ever really given a chance.

Edited December 24, 2023 by AntFTW

[choclatechip45]

Dee is the best winner in the new era of survivor. 

[millennium]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

I dub him Bad Luck Schleprock from the Pebbles and Bam Bam (not Yam Yam) cartoon.

Wowzie wowzie woo woo.

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

I was hoping for a more bitter jury, but whatever. 

Bitter juries seem to be a thing of the distant past.  The testiest moments now are questions like "Tell us how you've grown as an individual."

2 hours ago, Steph Sometimes said:

No one voted for him. I believe Dee got Kaleb, Julie, Kellie, Katurah and Emily; Austin got Drew, Bruce and Kendra.

I guess.   what then was the point of Kaleb shouting "Jake" as he went into vote?

I thought it a little suspicious that Katurah's hessian rope or whatever wouldn't catch.   It was like those birthday candles you can't blow out, but in reverse.

[violet and green]

12 minutes ago, millennium said:

I thought it a little suspicious that Katurah's hessian rope or whatever wouldn't catch.   It was like those birthday candles you can't blow out, but in reverse.

She kept crowding it in and smothering it.

[JudyObscure]

Well I never bought into Emily's great growth arc, I just thought Kaleb had taught her how to fake it better. So we got her last minute hateful dig at Austin, for what? We don't know, probably for being a "boy." I wasn't surprised at Dee's win either. The jury always awards the best bragger and Dee was really good at it. Most men would be embarrassed to call themselves a giver and claim credit for all sorts of things that were either luck or part of the group effort.

[Guiaoshi]

Best card to have going into a final tribal (more than a secret immunnity challenge, a sob story): having one of your closes allies with you, thinking he rulled your allience while you have key cards kept from him to expose at the from of the jury once he starts to brags about his game play. Dee even told at a Interview that she was waiting Austin to talk about the Julie fiasco from his point of view so she could follow with and: ok kiddo, now let me tell you what really happened. Really, after that, Dee Just didnt win with all the votes because Drew is Austin partner/probably still bitter that Dee outplayed both, Bruce is Bruce/sexism and Kendra probably vibed more with Austin zodiac sign. Anyway, great finale, well deserving Winner, nice to see Jake going from Hero to Zero multiple times in one episode and Emily MVP for sure.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Guiaoshi

[Haleth]

It was not a surprise that Dee won.  She deserved it and all but it was a boring result.  Meh.  I feel like she played a lazy game but since it worked for her, hats off and congrats.  She's lucky that the rest of her gang were too dumb to see what was happening.

I didn't even bother to watch the reunion.  These people were all boring.  The only thing that amused me was the exclamation:  YOU MADE ME SWEAR ON NANA! 

It's clear to me that Austin would have won if Katurah had helped boot Dee.  The jury liked Austin and would have been angry at Katurah.  Julie would have beaten them too.  Katurah and Jake were never going to win, regardless of who was sitting next to them  

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by Haleth

[Guiaoshi]

PS: Im glad for the mess at final 5 tribal. It took away what should be a predictable tribal, I dont think Kathura should be the only one to blame as she told Jake multiple times how much unsure she was on trust him. And instead of give her the security by talking about his Idol Just for her/saying his plan, he decided to spill to Austin that would tell everyone, with mean that people could vote for Kathura and Jake never mentioned he would save her because, according to him, he wanted surprise her aswell at the tribal (and thats why people didnt want to work with him,a lose cannon so desperated to have a move of his own). She voted Julie because she knew for sure that were more chances for Austin to vote Julie again and since Jake first plan was to vote Julie, If she didnt felt confident on him voting Dee, than his other choice would be Julie. He was so focused on make a big move, with Tony impersonation etc that he blew It/made a mess of It. And glad It happened otherwise It would be between Mama J or Austin and Dee carried them/was far superior winner.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Guiaoshi

[Cheyanne11]

Meh, not a Dee fan (too mean girl vibes for me), so my biggest takeaway from the finale is it gave one of the best quotes ever: "you made me swear on nana."

[KeithJ]

During the jury questions it sounded like Jake figured out Katurah was an attorney.  Too bad that was pretty much the only awareness he showed during the entire season.

As soon as Austin picked Jake for the final reward I was practically screaming "don't tell him about your idol!".  First chance Jake got, he told Austin.  If he just kept his mouth shut, I'm pretty sure everyone would have voted for him and he would have had his pick to send home.

Wasn't Katurah the one that came up with the vote Dee plan and pitched it to Jake?  Seemed odd that she flipped her vote.  Then she got mad that Jake didn't tell her beforehand that he was going to use his idol on her.  For all Jake knew, she would have just gone and blabbed to everyone that Jake wasn't planning on using the idol on himself.

Edited December 23, 2023 by KeithJ

[peachmangosteen]

8 hours ago, North of Eden said:

I am glad that Katura was at least self aware enough to realize not only did she “fumble the ball” as she feared having no one to blame but herself but also she ensured a Dee victory….all thanks to one incredibly nonsensical poor last minute decision.  The entire outcome of the season pivoted on that moment (and cost Austin a million dollars) ...

And for that, I thank Katurah lol.

Best part of the finale was Emily telling Dee not to waste any of her money on 'that boy.' Iconic.

[Haleth]

13 minutes ago, KeithJ said:

As soon as Austin picked Jake for the final reward I was practically screaming "don't tell him about your idol!".  First chance Jake got, he told Austin.  If he just kept his mouth shut, I'm pretty sure everyone would have voted for him and he would have had his pick to send home.

Yes!  It makes me crazy when contestants can’t keep their damn mouths shut!  It would have been entertaining for viewers to see him have his pick of who to boot, but it ultimately would not have earned him any votes. Has there ever been a contestant who fumbled his way to the finale like he did?

[Carey]

It was annoying I'll admit that Katurah was pretty much a human version of immunity for Dee, with the climax being that 7-figure flip.  However, as mentioned, I'll take that over Austin winning since Dee deserved to win more than anybody else.

Plus, Julie was on the positive side during Emily's last episode, someone that might've beaten Austin

[Chicago Redshirt]

6 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I think, if I'm recalling correctly, that she thought Julie was catching some votes so she hopped on that vote. I think Katurah ultimately thought the vote would come down between Julie and herself. Katurah didn't trust that Jake would ultimately follow through with voting for Dee, so she thought Dee wasn't going home even if she voted for Dee because she thought the vote would come down between Julie and herself.

Also, one thing that I thought was incredibly stupid (but maybe she was really just trying to talk her way out of the revelation that she was plotting against Dee) was Katurah saying that Jake should have told her that he planned on playing the idol for her. However, that's stupid because everyone clearly knows none of these people have been working with Jake the entire time. None of these people have trusted Jake with a plan for the entire post-merge game. Jake would tell Katurah that he's playing the idol for Katurah just so that Jake can become an easy vote? So that Katurah can go blab to the entire tribe that Jake won't protect himself? Be for real.

Voting Julie doesn't help any of Katurah's primary goals: staying alive and getting Dee out. If there are already going to be enough votes on Julie to get her out, piling on doesn't help. If Katurah's the target of all Belo or two of the Belo votes instead of Jake and Jake plays the idol on himself, Katurah likely still goes home by switching. She either straight up loses with 3/2 votes to 1 for Julie and 1 for Dee (if Jake's swearing on Nana is to be trusted and she has foolishly split the minority vote). By staying on Dee, there is at least a chance of a 2-2 tie, and someone flipping to get Dee out. 

I guess if her thought process is "come at the queen, best not miss...and this is likely to miss." that sort of makes sense. Only, there are really no more opportunities to come at the queen after this tribal and a limit to what the queen could possibly do to you for writing her name down that wouldn't happen anyway.

2 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Well I never bought into Emily's great growth arc, I just thought Kaleb had taught her how to fake it better. So we got her last minute hateful dig at Austin, for what? We don't know, probably for being a "boy." I wasn't surprised at Dee's win either. The jury always awards the best bragger and Dee was really good at it. Most men would be embarrassed to call themselves a giver and claim credit for all sorts of things that were either luck or part of the group effort.

I know that Emily sounded harsh, but I didn't see what she was saying as a dig at Austin. I saw it more as a sign that Dee had heart eyes as big as Austin's, and Emily thought Dee needed a reality check that if she won the million, she shouldn't act like it was community property (unless or until he puts a ring on it.) 

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

It was not a surprise that Dee won.  She deserved it and all but it was a boring result.  Meh.  I feel like she played a lazy game but since it worked for her, hats off and congrats.  She's lucky that the rest of her gang were too dumb to see what was happening.

I think "lazy" is the wrong word here because I don't see what else she needed to do that she didn't do. Yes, this season was largely her playing on easy mode.

But It's not her fault things lined up so nicely for her, by being part of a dominant alliance with none of her allies even considering as far as we saw stabbing her in the back or perceiving that she'd engaged in a little light-backstabbing.  I would like to see Dee come back and compete against a better cast to see how she fares then.

1 hour ago, Guiaoshi said:

PS: Im glad for the mess at final 5 tribal. It took away what should be a predictable tribal, I dont think Kathura should be the only one to blame as she told Jake multiple times how much unsure she was on trust him. And instead of give her the security by talking about his Idol Just for her/saying his plan, he decided to spill to Austin that would tell everyone, with mean that people could vote for Kathura and Jake never mentioned he would save her because, according to him, he wanted surprise her aswell at the tribal (and thats why people didnt want to work with him,a lose cannon so desperated to have a move of his own). She voted Julie because she knew for sure that were more chances for Austin to vote Julie again and since Jake first plan was to vote Julie, If she didnt felt confident on him voting Dee, than his other choice would be Julie. He was so focused on make a big move, with Tony impersonation etc that he blew It/made a mess of It. And glad It happened otherwise It would be between Mama J or Austin and Dee carried them/was far superior winner.

But a) she could have always brought up him playing the idol for her if she was so concerned that she was going to be the target b) if she fundamentally didn't trust Jake to vote Dee after making him swear on his nana, how is him promising that he would give up his idol going to do any good? How can she trust him to make a move that might result in him getting booted if the Reba 3 vote entirely for him? c) Switching her vote to Julie doesn't seem helpful to her game in either the long or short term. 

[BigRedCheese]

Quote

Bitter juries seem to be a thing of the distant past

I always enjoyed them too, but for me, it was just fun tv, after the show was over, other than commenting on it in forums like these, I never gave it a second thought. These days, with social media, people try their best to ruin people's lives, or at the  very least, make life difficult for them, they almost treat it like a job or something. I think production tries to steer the show away from bitter juries for that reason, who would want to go on the show if your life might be in danger because of something you said on a gameshow? That's my guess anyway.

I have to hand it to Jake, he knew he was drawing dead, but he kept trying to turn it around, as a viewer, that's what I want to see. If he had just shrugged his shoulders, and went along for the ride, he would look less silly, but he gave it his all anyway, so props to him for that.

[fishcakes]

8 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Given how coy Dee and Austin are about their relationship I'm wondering if they really have something going on anymore or not.

I'm pretty sure it's over or, probably more accurately, never even got started. In their exit interviews, when Dalton Ross asked Dee if they were still together, she said, "you won't like my answer" then spouted some nonsense about how they were keeping it "low-key." When he asked Austin, Austin essentially said he wanted to keep it private and didn't want to answer questions. If they were together, I would think at least one of them would have said, "we're together, but we want to keep it just between us right now" or something to that effect. Also during FTC when Dee was asked if it was real or a showmance, I noticed that she was already talking about it in the past tense. Her whole vibe was that she made it to FTC so she was done with him.

I thought Kaleb yelled out "Jake" before voting too (and then thought it was cruel since he didn't actually vote for him), but according to social media, he was yelling out "J" as a callback to when he voted for J Maya and she went out because his SITD cancelled out 10 votes against himself. As a joke, it doesn't make much sense without J being on the jury to hear it, but you can't get on reality TV unless you crave attention. I like Kaleb a lot, but that was sad.

Katurah has been a terrible player all along, so her vote switch away from Dee at F5 is perfectly in keeping with that. And then to try to justify it by saying Jake should have told her he was playing the idol for her? What good what it have done if he had? If she already didn't believe him when he said he was voting for Dee, I don't see why she would believe him if he also said he was playing his idol for her.

Argh, I was rooting for Jake, but he did try to make too big a move with his idol. If he had kept it a secret, used it for himself, and idoled out either Julie (his original target) or Dee, I don't think it would have changed anything in terms of jury votes, but as it played out, it presented as another swing and a miss for him. Although his furious, "why did you make me swear on my nana?" was a bright spot.

[Lady Calypso]

So, a pretty predictable ending to a mostly ok season. I think Dee winning was the right call. I've mentioned this before, but what I love about Dee is how dominant she was all season. We see men time and time again dominate the game. We don't often get to see the women take that role because either they're seen as threats the moment they start vocalizing what they want and are taken out, or they don't get in the right alliances and are taken out. We've seen it even in the new era; the moment even two women pair up, they're seen as immediate threats that need to be split up, so they never get the chance to dominate since the men get to often slide by. 

So it was nice to see Dee dominate, and have her close alliance with Julie and not seen as a threat that needed to be split up. Julie was even seen as a threat but couldn't be taken out until F5. It's just a nice change from what typically happens on Survivor. 

I know Dee wasn't the most interesting player and she definitely made some blunders in this FTC (her initial answers were really weak and Austin did a slightly better job answering questions), but it was nice to see a dominant woman get rewarded and her moves not being credited to Austin or anything. Of course, it was on Dee to explain that, and good thing she managed to do that by the end. Austin still got the three votes from Bruce (no surprise), Drew (no surprise) and Kendra (no surprise). 

Shame that Jake was a zero vote finalist, but I think he lost the game a couple of episodes ago once he couldn't make a move to split up Reba before they became the majority. 

I know Katurah made a HUGE mistake in switching her vote from Dee to Julie at the end but I think I understand why. It boils down to the simple fact that, in the end, she couldn't trust Jake to follow through with voting Dee. Had she trusted him, she would have kept her vote on Dee. But if Jake had gone with voting Julie out, she'd be the odd one out on voting Dee, which puts a target immediately on her back and then she's targeted. Now, it happened anyway, but at the time of her vote switch, I saw her thought process. Either way, Jake/Katurah were in a losing battle the moment they allowed Reba to take control of the game. 

Overall, a decent season, maybe filled with not so great gameplay BUT it has the most players I've liked in a long time. I came out loving Kaleb, Emily, Jake, Kellie and Julie, and really enjoying Dee, Austin (sort of), Katurah, Sabiyah and even Kendra. I wish there was better gameplay, but it was an entertaining enough season, and the 90 minute episodes worked WAY better than I expected. The only thing they need to absolutely get rid of is the constant split tribes in merge. We don't need to see people lose their votes or the players being split up for two separate votes. That made the season worse since it halted actual gameplay at times.

[Lady Calypso]

4 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Her whole vibe was that she made it to FTC so she was done with him.

For me, how I interpreted their relationship was that it always was a fun thing for both of them, but the fact of the matter is that they only knew each other for 26 days by FTC. They likely did try something after the season but realized it was nothing more than a fun flirting thing between them. And, as it happens all the time in real life, that's ok. It doesn't mean either were pretending to like each other or were playing it each other; more that they got to know each other and realized it wasn't serious for them. 

Personally, I was annoyed that Jeff kept hammering in the showmance stuff over and over again. Regardless if it was something that benefitted Dee/Austin, it became such a vocal point in the reunion. Similarly how he took jabs at Jake the entire finale for no good reason, other to rub it in that Jake sucked at the game. Jeff needs to be more unbiased and objective instead of trying to insert himself as a Survivor player. He asks leading questions all the time and it's annoying. 

[iMonrey]

The outcome I wanted the least out of those left. There was just something about Dee that rubbed me the wrong way from the very start. It’s too bad nobody even threw one pity vote at Jake, but he seemed to take it rather well. I thought sentiment might shift his way once Dee and Austin started squabbling in front of the jury. I’m just not nearly as moved by the showmance as the show seems to be.

Two notes of interest: at the final five tribal council, everyone except Austin had something to say. And he was the one wearing the immunity necklace. That’s the second time that’s happened. It’s how I knew he wasn’t going to win. Also, they never showed Bruce asking a question during the jury questions. He piped up a couple times in response to other people’s questions but we were never shown one of his own. Which is strange considering how invested the show seemed to be in him. Maybe his question was just too bitter or something.

So, that happened. I can’t even remember the last time I was satisfied with the winner. And it’s sad, because I think they’ve done a pretty good job with casting these last few seasons. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t trust its cast to make the show interesting enough just by playing, competing, strategizing and scheming. Instead it’s all about these twists and gimmicks and idols and secret advantages and how the players navigate through them. 

I guarantee, if this cast had been split into two tribes of nine, and just played a straight forward game without hidden idols, twists and secret advantages, like the first few seasons, we would have had a completely different outcome. Which is why I find it so hard to invest nowadays. It doesn’t feel like a game anymore, it feels like a reality show that’s playing the players.

[Straycat80]

Mediocre players and mediocre season. I don’t like this new Survivor. But I guess I better get used to it because they aren’t going to ever bring old school Survivor  back. No idols, no advantages.

That said, predictable Dee won, I figured she would after Katurah screwed up and basically handed her the win. 
And please fix this board, the pop ups and ads are really messing up posting here. It’s taken me ten minutes to write this! 

[Carey]

8 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

Dee is the best winner in the new era of survivor. 

Couldn't agree more, but that's based on the eventual winner of a particular season since the hiatus ended.

It does help that the cast from each of the past 2 seasons decided to choose someone other than the best winner.  Maybe I'm bitter since the second letter of their first names are more awesome than anything else.  But that is a big factor since neither Cassidy nor Carolyn blew it in a big enough way IMHO.

We'll never know what the outcome would've been had Lindsay and/or Jonathan finished in the top 3.  The argument of Maryanne winning would've been fair, especially if they both made it.

Anyway, Dee is definitely the best winner out of the five.  Erika IDK if I'd put her second, but I'm glad that the person most deserving was the eventual winner.  Not only that, but despite a meaningless third place finisher, at least it wasn't a throw away vote to wreck a perfect outcome.  There was actually support for Austin, but it's still a definitive Dee victory

[Duke Silver]

I'm new to Survivor, so there's currently zero depth to my thinking of how this game works.  With that said, IMO, while I don't like/vibe with Dee, she deserved the win because she played the damn game.  She won challenges; she manipulated; she lied; she was cold-hearted when it mattered.

Austin lacked the sack to do what it takes, so he most definitely did not deserve it, IMO.  What exactly did he gain with all those immunity idols (again, I am a Survivor novice, so my game understanding is lacking)?

Jake and Katurah were not contenders as far as I was concerned.  Trying is important, but ultimately, neither could move the needle, beyond Katurah's inexplicable (to me) decision to not oust Dee when she had the chance.

I was glad to see that players actually wanted to, you know, stick around and play after the first several episodes of people not being able to withstand, what?, 5 whole days away from their families/couches/etc.

I'm intrigued enough to give S46 a chance especially since it debuts in February, a month that is typically a social & entertainment desert for me.

[ljenkins782]

3 hours ago, Guiaoshi said:

PS: Im glad for the mess at final 5 tribal. It took away what should be a predictable tribal, I dont think Kathura should be the only one to blame as she told Jake multiple times how much unsure she was on trust him. And instead of give her the security by talking about his Idol Just for her/saying his plan, he decided to spill to Austin that would tell everyone, with mean that people could vote for Kathura and Jake never mentioned he would save her because, according to him, he wanted surprise her aswell at the tribal (and thats why people didnt want to work with him,a lose cannon so desperated to have a move of his own). She voted Julie because she knew for sure that were more chances for Austin to vote Julie again and since Jake first plan was to vote Julie, If she didnt felt confident on him voting Dee, than his other choice would be Julie. He was so focused on make a big move, with Tony impersonation etc that he blew It/made a mess of It. And glad It happened otherwise It would be between Mama J or Austin and Dee carried them/was far superior winner.

Agreed, Austin was never gonna write Dee's name down, Jake had an idol that she couldn't be sure he was going to play for her, so writing Jake's name was a gamble. That left Julie's name. So her reasoning wasn't that terrible, it was just unfortunate for the others that the plan actually would have worked and would have changed the outcome entirely.

Jake just couldn't orchestrate a play on his own, he made all the wrong moves and talked too much. He should never have told Austin about the idol and I can't quite follow his logic in doing so. A surprise idol play works much better when it's, you know, a surprise...

Overall I enjoyed the season and think Dee deserved the win. She did have a ton of luck, which she open acknowledged, but she also played well when she needed to and kept her head in the game when it came down to choosing whether to tell Austin or keep her mouth shut and use that opportunity to take out a threat and put an item on her resume. 

They all truly seemed to be having a blast at the reunion and whether it's love goggle or what, Austin took it remarkably well that he missed out on a million dollars by a single vote.

[Silver-hyren]

I was rooting for Jake to win simply because he has to be the worst Survivor player ever.  Every move he tried to make blew up spectacularly in his face, he was everyone's target to vote out, and he made a bunch of boneheaded mistakes in the final challenges.  Yet despite it all, he made it to F3.  Would have loved it if the jury voted for him for the sheer audacity of him getting to the end in spite of himself.  Jeff would have been angrier about that outcome than he was when Jake broke his toy at the final IC.

[Carey]

12 minutes ago, Silver-hyren said:

I was rooting for Jake to win simply because he has to be the worst Survivor player ever.  Every move he tried to make blew up spectacularly in his face, he was everyone's target to vote out, and he made a bunch of boneheaded mistakes in the final challenges.  Yet despite it all, he made it to F3.  Would have loved it if the jury voted for him for the sheer audacity of him getting to the end in spite of himself.  Jeff would have been angrier about that outcome than he was when Jake broke his toy at the final IC.

That would've been awesome!  However Missy Payne is making people hold her keg when it comes to that category.  It's still amazing (not really to be realistic) that most third place finishers had a worse outcome, and as that trend continues, all or most of those players will not have a pretty much guaranteed vote that finished in the top five.

Outcome aside, I'll still put Jake at second worst, but Jeff would've been drinking more than Cassidy had he won the game

[Grizzly]

5 hours ago, Haleth said:

 The only thing that amused me was the exclamation:  YOU MADE ME SWEAR ON NANA! 

 

Should have been the episode title.

[ljenkins782]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

Quote

 The only thing that amused me was the exclamation:  YOU MADE ME SWEAR ON NANA!

 

Should have been the episode title.

Jake's accent made that moment so hilarious, "you made me swear on my nan-uh, what the hell, dude?" Seth McFarlane's description of Peter Griffin at roughly 1:10  is Jake in a nutshell.

[bankerchick]

I'm not sure what type of lawyer Katurah is, but I would never want her representing me.  Imagine being charged with a crime and in her final summation, your lawyer senses the jury is leaning the other way, so she suddenly decides to go with the flow and announces that she thinks you should be convicted.

[Chicago Redshirt]

34 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Argh, I was rooting for Jake, but he did try to make too big a move with his idol. If he had kept it a secret, used it for himself, and idoled out either Julie (his original target) or Dee, I don't think it would have changed anything in terms of jury votes, but as it played out, it presented as another swing and a miss for him. Although his furious, "why did you make me swear on my nana?" was a bright spot.

In a world where Jake kept his idol a secret to all and played it on himself (as he should have, and as someone who is apparently a superfan should have known he should -- I think it's crazy that he chose to use as a mnemonic previous Survivor winners' seasons), he probably would have had his choice of Julie or Dee out, as everyone but Austin would have likely voted Jake. If he got Dee out then it might have opened the door a crack. Jurors might have been impressed with his getting Dee out. Probably in that alternate universe, Austin takes Katurah or Jake and leaves Julie to try to make fire. I think in an Austin/Katurah/Jake F3, Austin still wins, but Jake is likeable enough and with One Big Move on his resume, maybe it's good enough, though I doubt it. 

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I know Katurah made a HUGE mistake in switching her vote from Dee to Julie at the end but I think I understand why. It boils down to the simple fact that, in the end, she couldn't trust Jake to follow through with voting Dee. Had she trusted him, she would have kept her vote on Dee. But if Jake had gone with voting Julie out, she'd be the odd one out on voting Dee, which puts a target immediately on her back and then she's targeted. Now, it happened anyway, but at the time of her vote switch, I saw her thought process. Either way, Jake/Katurah were in a losing battle the moment they allowed Reba to take control of the game. 

But if Jake votes Julie or Katurah (his only non-Dee options), Katurah's voting Julie doesn't really help Katurah, and her voting Dee doesn't really harm her.

If Jake votes Katurah, chances are it's because Katurah's toast at that tribal. At least one, if not multiple of the Reba 3 are voting Katurah. As played, they had been shown pretty much that Jake had an idol that he could only play at this tribal council. He literally showed Austin the idol rather than brag about it. (Why the Reba 3 didn't then switch at least some of the votes to Katurah suggests bad game play to me....did they think Jake's idol was a fake, or that he just wouldn't play it, or what?)

If Jake flips to vote Julie, and that results in Julie going, it's not like Dee can do anything to Katurah at this point. If this was a F6 vote, I could see Dee campaigning to get rid of katurah at the subsequent F5 vote in retaliation for trying to get her out. But at F4, there are no more votes and writing or not writing Dee's name down then is immaterial. If Dee is in a position to shape the final tribal, she's going to put Katurah in (or not) as it suits her. 

 

[violet and green]

I am so bummed by this inevitable outcome, especially when it looked as if there was a snowball's chance in hell of Jake turning it around - until old mate Katurah stuffed things again and handed Dee the win on a silver platter, while curtseying - but I will always remember the courage of weeping Jake saying, "I wish I was a bigger snowball".

[jsm1125]

Thrilled to see Dee win.

But I do feel a bit badly for Jake. If you’re him, and nobody wants to work with you for practically the entire game, what do you even do other than just hang on for dear life to get that 3rd place prize money? I think Owen suffered the same fate in season 43, and I don’t know how the two of them are ever supposed to have a shot. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

7 hours ago, bankerchick said:

I'm not sure what type of lawyer Katurah is, but I would never want her representing me.  Imagine being charged with a crime and in her final summation, your lawyer senses the jury is leaning the other way, so she suddenly decides to go with the flow and announces that she thinks you should be convicted.

Katurah works/worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. So she basically advocates policy changes rather than does trial work.

For instance, here is her testifying for the repeal of a NY law that she believes will hide info about police officers' allegations of misconduct. 

Jake is the only trial attorney of the three that were cast this season. Interestingly enough, he pretended he was a public defender but it turns out that he is really a prosecutor. 

There are stereotypes (or maybe it's just my experience) that go with prosecutors and public defenders that may not be as common among non-lawyers.

Prosecutors tend to be more conservative, more stick-in-the-mud, more black-and-white, more entitled, more religious, and public defenders tend to be more liberal, more flexible, more willing to see gray, more creative, more cynical. 

It makes way more sense to me that Jake is a prosecutor in reality. 

I would think that Katurah and Jake probably had some interesting discussions about their views of the criminal justice system when they both outed themselves. 

Oh, and in an exit interview, Katurah said she spent a lot of time trying to get Jake off of voting Julie -- like hours. But that makes her decision to switch more baffling to me, not less. 

 

Edited December 24, 2023 by Chicago Redshirt

[princelina]

17 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

How does she defend her game? She failed to see that Reba was running things, failed to rally Belo to counteract things, failed to make any strong alliances, was basically a toady till the 5 vote. In the hypothetical world where she arranged to vote Dee off, Jake probably gets and deserves more credit for it. 

Yeah I thought she pretty much sucked the whole game - she must have done a lot of talking off-camera for them to tell her she ought to be a lawyer 😄. I'm sure she just switched her vote off of Dee in case Jake didn't and she didn't want Dee mad at her - I never saw any deeper thoughts from her in any part of the game.  And it was too bad because Keturah was my great-grandmother's name and has become a family name so I was hoping to root for her!

8 hours ago, BigRedCheese said:

 I think production tries to steer the show away from bitter juries for that reason, who would want to go on the show if your life might be in danger because of something you said on a gameshow? That's my guess anyway.

They may not be bitter publicly, but I'm still crediting Gabler's win to a bitter jury!

[Lady Calypso]

20 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

But if Jake votes Julie or Katurah (his only non-Dee options), Katurah's voting Julie doesn't really help Katurah, and her voting Dee doesn't really harm her.

Like I said, it didn't REALLY matter that much in the end since the result still was Dee targeting Katurah, but had Katurah been the only one to write Dee's name down, her plan fails and now Dee/Austin have their eyes set on her for trying to take Dee out. Again, in hindsight, before everything else the next day played out, I could see Katurah's worry that Jake wouldn't vote Dee and her hoping that she could push Jake ahead of her as a target once Julie's gone and maybe she could convince Dee to take her to F3, or Austin could.

We know now the result would have been somewhat the same in Dee targeting Katurah no matter what and, actually, she WOULD have gotten Dee out, leaving her in a much better spot going into F4, but at the time, Katurah's mistrust in Jake caused her to think "well, if he writes Julie's name down instead, Dee's still here and Dee/Austin are better at comps than I am and I will 100% be thrown up." She got too paranoid, sure, but I don't think it was ever something that was dumb of her to do, just way too risky. Had Jake told her that he was going to use his idol on her, I wonder if that really would have changed things. Maybe, maybe not. We don't know.