S46.E01: This Is Where the Legends Are Made

[Lantern7]

Quote

Eighteen new castaways embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they are left stranded on the islands of Fiji; tribes must be the first to crack a code to earn essential camp supplies; three castaways go on a journey away from their new tribes.

 

[dancingdreamer]

I was yelling, vote out Jelinsky! The guy just gives up. I really like Bhanu( sp) and Q. Actually it looks like a good season, I'm not hating anyone ( yet)
That 500 pound gecko, good grief! I saw Jelinsky was on the puzzle, and poor sleepless Jess, I knew they'd lose.
I like Kenzie( red hair lots of ink) and Marie..and Tevin.
I'm not sure I like the Canadian, Parvati wasn't my favorite player, and she does act like her..

We enjoyed it!

[mertensia]

I want that gecko....

Thank goodness they voted off Jelinsky. Maybe on his flight home someone will give him a dictionary to look up the meaning of "several".

[North of Eden]

Season premiers are always hard to post about because so much is going on and most names of the castaways are unknown but here goes.

Jalinsky... completely self-inflicted gun shot wound. It was nice to see a quitter get their comeuppance right off the bat. And that had to be one of the coldest goodbye ever. Did anyone even say goodbye? He sure didn't...just basically turned his back on them and left.  Man, you could see Q was smoking at tribal when Jalinsky was saying WE quit the challenge when it was all him. I hope they bill him for the smashed hourglass prop.

As for everyone else.

*Please don't cast an actual actor again. Watching Tevan preening for the camera all season is going to get real old real quick.

*Why do people like Jess and the woman who can't eat anything apply for the toughest game show on television?

*every time I see young people with sprawling body art I imagine the mortification they will feel visiting the doctor in their 70's and 80's. When the taut young skin is long gone.

*Well we know CBS still owns the music rights for the ANDY GRIFFITH theme. That was pretty damn funny. Also was the sight of a woman litterly dangling off the nose of the gecko.

Glad Moriah I think her name was didn't get voted out. She seemed so fragile about not being able to make friends if her team had done to tribal and she was put out she would have been devastated.

Lastly, if you are going to do tribal at Grauhman's Chinese theatre at least have the concrete tiles with the hand prints and signatures of superstars like Boston Rob, Pavarti (can't believe we didn't get a flashback with her name-dropping) Ozzie, and other luminaries still remembered across nearly 25 years.

[GenerationX]

Gotta figure the "Marketing Strategist" with 3 or 4 companies who discussed email is just a spammer.

I'm good with Parvati 2.0.

The Andy Griffith Show Alliance, heh.

[princelina]

5 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

*Why do people like Jess and the woman who can't eat anything apply for the toughest game show on television?

In fairness to Jess - she says that at home she falls right to sleep.  I myself cannot do that and have wondered about how I'd ever sleep on Survivor!  I do not need to hear her constant whine about her ADHD however. I was totally hoping for "Jelinsky" to be voted out (when the show started I said to Mr. P, "Who is naming these people? 😄) but Jess was making a good case for voting her out instead at TC.

Thus far, as a chubby special ed teacher myself, Ms. Soda is my favorite player - she and her partner (I forget who) rocked that final puzzle!

[Straycat80]

I didn’t watch any pre-show interviews on SM so this was the first time I saw the Survivors. I’m glad they voted Jelinsky off first, I don’t have to stress about a player I don’t like lasting longer than they should.

So far I’m rooting for Soda, Q ( what’s up with these names?)and Maria. 

Edited February 29 by Straycat80

[TVFan1]

Since it's the premiere, I don't really dislike anyone yet. I thought I would have trouble remembering who is on what tribe, but the 2 hour episode helped with that. Glad Jelenski was voted off instead of Jess. Dude gives up so easily. I worry for Jess if Yanu loses immunity again. She would most definitely be voted off if they go to tribal again. 

[choclatechip45]

So happy Jelinsky was voted out!!

I hope Jess can get it together. 

[Jodithgrace]

Considering the fact that 99% of what the survivors eat is coconut, is this really the show to come on if you are allergic to it? I forget who it was that was allergic to everything including chicken and eggs ( she said eggs give her brain fog) but I can’t see her lasting out there. They might win rice, but that’s iffy. And if they don’t win the fishing equipment, it’s  going to be nothing but fruit. The big food rewards won’t come for days. 

[30 Helens]

I like Jess. She’s a mess, but at least she’s a self-aware mess. Unlike Jalinsky, who actually called himself a “legend” after bailing on a challenge. I thought Jess was going to talk herself off the tribe, though. Reinforcing others’ misgivings about you is not typically a path to victory.

1 hour ago, mertensia said:

Thank goodness they voted off Jelinsky. Maybe on his flight home someone will give him a dictionary to look up the meaning of "several".

SEVeral = SEVen. I mean, it’s so obvious. Bet you didn’t know a Few means Five, either. 

I don’t know Soda’s last name, but I’m hoping it’s Costanza. And that she has a sister named Seven.

[LadyChatts]

Overall it was a pretty good premiere.  I hope CBS keeps the longer format for the fall, even if it’s just the 90 minutes.  I feel like we just get to see so much more going on (and yet I can still feel lost).  While I don’t want to see any one tribe dominate again, I like the Orange tribe so I wouldn’t mind them going all the way.  Soda, Tevin, Maria, Q, Tiffany, and Bhanu are among my favorites so far.  Kenzie seems pretty cool but I didn’t like her as much at the end of the episode as I did at the beginning.  Also not sure what to think about Venus, she seemed to take the princess comment too personally and saying she knows she’s on the bottom makes me think we missed something.  I do hope she manages to outlast Raden for his “Parvati-lite comment”.  I’m glad Soda took that back to her.  Also, I sympathize with Hunter not relating to his Camp Sing-A-Long tribe mates.  But I give him credit for knowing he has to adapt if he wants to stick around.

I seriously thought Moriah and Liz were the same person for a minute.  I guess the difference is Moriah likes board games and was afraid of not making friends, and Liz is allergic to food and talked maybe too much about her personal wealth.  

Tim can be the next one to go.  I mean how dare those women walk off and try to play the game.  I hope the women over there stick together.  I was impressed with Maria playing Jelinsky’s hand beautifully on the journey.

Speaking of Jelinsky, apparently he got the definitions of legend and quitter from the same dictionary that told him several means seven.  He seemed bitter but how could he not see this coming when his tribe basically spelled out how bad he sucked.  

[Steph Sometimes]

30 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I seriously thought Moriah and Liz were the same person for a minute.  

Seriously. Not only do I think they look alike, but they seem similar personality-wise too (at least in this episode). Why cast both of them on one season? Neither of them seem especially dynamic and both have that awkward vibe. There's always the hope that one of them suddenly becomes Aubry (KR Aubry, not EoE Aubry), but as of now, kind of weird.

I like Tiffany, Maria, Q, Tevin, Soda and Bhanu so far. Kenzie seems to be featured a lot so I'm guessing she goes far. 

After seeing her with the idol clue, I bet Tiffany would've killed the Savvy challenge.

[CraftyHazel]

I admit it: when I was about 8-10 years old I did think “several” meant seven and “a few” meant three.  Jelinsky is old enough to know better.  He was also cocky, and not at all good at “Survivor”.  I won’t miss him a bit.

[30 Helens]

46 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

 I hope CBS keeps the longer format for the fall, even if it’s just the 90 minutes.

I think the 90-minute format is here to stay. They even expanded the Amazing Race season that’s about to start. Originally intended to be 60 minutes, it was recut to be 90. I welcome the longer episodes— so much more time for context and getting to know players. It’s the main reason Australian Survivor has been so much better than the US version, IMO. 

 

[Lantern7]

Good start, though I'd probably have a different opinion if Jelinsky was still in the game. He was just a perfect mix of dumb, insufferable and lazy. And that voice. I could feel brain cells deteriorate just listening to him. Thankfully, he lost his vote, he couldn't play Shot In The Dark, and the rest of the tribe booted him. Probst probably was glad to be rid of him as well, and Jelinsky looks like a guy he would fantasize about.

The names are a little too funky for me. Q? Just the one letter? I hear "Soda," I'm thinking of The Outsiders. Also, wouldn't a health-conscious teacher rather be called "Milk"? I was just finished watching a Moriah on The Challenge. Is it not that unique of a name? And then there's Venus.

Bhanu seems sweet, but he's going to wear himself out with the enthusiasm. The bit where he moved his lips in sync with Probst's "fire represents life" spiel was cute. Kenzie has so many tattoos, I thought she was hit by an ink truck. I don't know why Liz is there if she's got so many allergies. I'm thinking they're not serious enough to seriously incapacitate her, but that would be annoying.

Challenges were pretty good. I think the Savvy task was a little too clever for its own good. It does beat two guys trying to game the system by entering numbers at random until the hourglass ran out. The card game was a bit too confusing, and Jelinsky throwing in the towel didn't help. And who doesn't like 500-lb. geckos?

One of the tribes is named Nami. I wonder if there are fans of One Piece on the Dream Team.

Nice job by Tiffany getting the hidden idol. And she didn't use it to save Jelinsky. Seriously, I was prepared to see Jess or Bhanu get voted off because the rest of the tribe was hoping he'd get his shit together and start performing like a guy his size should.

Two-hour episodes are too long. We have one more to endure before the show goes to ninety mnutes.

[PhoneCop]

Gamers can guess from my profile pic that I could barely focus on tonight's premiere, what with the long-awaited release of Final Fantasy Several tomorrow. 

What a fucking doofus. Cheers to Q for leading the charge on getting him out. How dim do you have to be to consider that tribal a blindside?

On names: Jelinsky's first name is David. Soda's full name is Sodasia. Q's full name is Quintavius. 

[Nashville]

Swear to GAWD that TC was frustrating to watch:

• I really wanted Jelly gone - I can’t abide a quitter, especially when they try to spin it into something (ANYTHING) else - but given our long and illustrious history of not being able to have nice things, I fully expected the tribe to vote off Jess over him to maintain physicality in challenges.
• After Jelboy got moderately savaged by Jiffy for trying his hardest not to own his quittiness, though, I thought, “You done dug your own grave, boy” and leaned back in quiet satisfaction…
• …until Jess decided to jump into the conversation by repeatedly demonstrating her inability to compose so much as a single coherent sentence.  I actually turned to my wife and asked, “wtf is she trying to do - snatch defeat from the jaws of victory???”

So yeah, I was glad to see Jelly head down the Path of Shame without so much as a goodbye to his teammates - but damned if I wasn’t exhausted as hell by that point.

[Duke Silver]

Jelinsky....LMFAO.  That is all.

[HurricaneVal]

We did get to see a lot more hanging out at camp, so that was really nice.  I love to see them bobbing around in the water just chatting and soaking the experience in.  It doesn't have to be strategy-strategy-strategy all the time.

Why, for the love of God, why do people immediately share their immunity idol finds and blab them to the whole tribe?  It isn't a community resource.  And why did Ja-quitter-sky immediately own up that he lost his vote?  He could have said he'll find out at their first tribal.  His behavior at the water carrying challenge makes me worried that he's prone to lashing out whenever he gets frustrated.  That's not a good look, Boo.

Bhanu is like a toned down Yam-Yam.  He plays it right, he can go far.  Unfortunately, he's on a losing tribe, sooooo......

Are there no spoilers for this season, or can I even ask that in this thread?

[OutOfTheQuestion]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Good start, though I'd probably have a different opinion if Jelinsky was still in the game. He was just a perfect mix of dumb, insufferable and lazy.

Agreed. If he'd lasted more than an episode, Jelinsky would've really gotten on my nerves.  But as the first one out, he is immediately up there in the Trainwreck First Boot hall of fame.

[LadyChatts]

41 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Are there no spoilers for this season, or can I even ask that in this thread?

There is a spoiler thread for this season and that's where the spoiler talk goes (all the other threads are off limits for spoilers).  

 

[CoyoteBlue]

Will we find out that there were rules that forced the Sweat guys to not do jack shit to effectively plug the holes in the minuscule buckets? Jelly was at least TRYING to plug the holes with his fingers; other guy kept walking off with half the holes just dumping water out.

Line it with your buff! Plug the holes with stick or rocks as you walk back! Something! Of course they weren't going to fill the jars even if they had all day. They'd have had more luck soaking their clothes and wringing them out.

[violet and green]

Jelinsky looked great covered in mud. I thought, oh, he's my favorite! Ha. That did not last long. Outrageous to smash that hourglass - pointless desecration, aside from unilateral decision making when Q was ready to carry on - and so stupid to scatter broken glass all over the sand. So glad they got him and his third person confessionals out.

I really like Jess and Hunter.  Also Bhanu. The green tribe seem cool.

[Haleth]

Wow, have they ever had a more useless, less self aware player than Jelinsky?  He had to be a fake, right?  Quitting every challenge yet thinking (acting) that he would sail through tribal?  He couldn't have been real.

If you are allergic to everything (especially coconut!), why in the world would you apply to be on Survivor?  

I'm liking Bhanu and Soda.  Tiffany is the one who found the idol?  I like her too but I don't know why contestants can't keep quiet about finding idols.

[JudyObscure]

He was just tall, that's all.

Jelinsky and Jess represent my most hated type of player (overly self-confident with tons of excuses for failure) and my favorite type, (humble, kind and human).  I'll really be rooting for her to break through the insomnia and get started playing.

9 hours ago, North of Eden said:

*Please don't cast an actual actor again. Watching Tevan preening for the camera all season is going to get real old real quick.

I'm already worn out.  I thought he was two people at first, the high-pitched funny gay guy, and the deep voiced serious student of the game. Help.

Tiffany is quick and smart. Love Q and his intolerance of fools.

[seacliffsal]

I don't know what show Jelinsky actually thought he was on.  Smashing the timer because they only had 2 3/4 hours left?  All of these challenges are run and timed before the Survivors ever get to the island, so it was possible.  And, we have seen various participants outwit challenges and find ways to finish them that the creators never envisioned.  Jelinsky also tried to drag Q down with him (which infuriated me as I liked Q who understands the concepts of both 'hard' and 'work').  Then, it seemed like Jelinsky took pride in buckling during the 3 person get an advantage journey.

But, what most surprised me was how calm he was prior to tribal council.  Dude, just because you think you made a rock solid alliance on day one doesn't mean they won't change their minds.  He kept referencing himself in the third person (no, just no) and then tried to convince us all that he was going to be a legend.  Well, maybe he succeeded in that-but not in the way he probably envisioned.

I like several (however more than seven) players-but, of course, I may totally change my mind about them as the season progresses.

[Straycat80]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I think the 90-minute format is here to stay. They even expanded the Amazing Race season that’s about to start. Originally intended to be 60 minutes, it was recut to be 90. I welcome the longer episodes— so much more time for context and getting to know players. It’s the main reason Australian Survivor has been so much better than the US version, IMO. 

 

I hear so much about how good Survivor Australia is. Where do you watch it?  

[Mahsati]

First waste of a viable Survivor space on the show has been voted out.   The first few episodes are always hard on me, since there is no play history to draw on.  But this was a big blinking obvious choice.  Now lets see which little whiners just give up and quit. 

[Gummo]

Survivor's back! Can I get a 'YAY!'

Jelinsky told us he wanted to be legendary and he achieved his heart's desire - getting voted off first without even getting to vote at Tribal makes him a Legendary Loser. Which is all he deserves. I wonder if there was production nudging to make sure he got voted out - Probst's disgust & disdain for quitters is well known and Jelinsky was the Quitter's Quitter: when his ass was on the line and he needed to hustle up support before tribal, he even quit trying.

Oh well, he can now boast that in all of Survivor history, only 45 other people have been  voted off first! He's part of an elite team!

Seems like a great array of personalities this season - loving Tiffany, she wasn't kidding about her hustle! That letter-substitution is one of the few kinds of puzzles I'm good at, so I was cheering her on, and she got it so quickly! I just hope her ego doesn't run away with her, it  seems like that's a possibility. 

Random observations:

Liking Q, Bhanu, even Jess (get some sleep, woman!) Looking forward to getting to know the other tribes. Production going for a playful vibe this season (the Andy Griffith Show stuff was amusing) could be fun if they don't go overboard. 

Yeah, going on Survivor with severe, wide-ranging food allergies sure makes it seem like your path forward is impossible. We'll see. 

Not sure about Fizzy Water, I mean, Soda. She may be a bit OTT for the long haul. Really liking the odd-couple alliance of Tevyn and Hunter. 

Just glad our show is back!

[peachmangosteen]

I don't know his name, but I despise the guy who tried the 'the women always band together to get the men out' weird ass, completely fake bullshit.

Also, I will not let the editors trick me into believing the women will actually work together again. It's not happening lol.

[Haleth]

22 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I don't know his name, but I despise the guy who tried the 'the women always band together to get the men out' weird ass, completely fake bullshit.

Also, I will not let the editors trick me into believing the women will actually work together again. It's not happening lol.

Yeah, when he was complaining about that I said “don’t worry, it won’t last long.”

[Cheyanne11]

Is Jess ineffectual?  Maybe.  However, Jellinsky was just a giant sucking albatross for that tribe and needed to go.  Thank god Q stated his case so eloquently and double thank god Jess STOPPED talking before she changed minds and they did write her name down.

Other first impressions: Maria is a beast in the best possible sense of the word and Tiffany, man, her solving that clue was super impressive!  Tim, he of the He-Man Women Haters Club, can go any time.  Bhanu is sweet, but his emotions might hinder his play.  The Andy Griffith Alliance is pretty damned endearing, at least for now.  I like Soda, with her MaryAnne energy, but let's see if that becomes a bad thing.  All in all, a good premiere!

[bunnyface]

Yeah, if "teaching people to make money writing e-mails" is not a scam I need to know exactly what it is.  Because that screams scam to me.

Otherwise....meh?  It didn't grab me.  No cast to love, no cast to hate now that the idiot is gone first.  The challenges were okay.  Meh.  I'm sure I'll get sucked in somewhere along the way.  But not feeling it right now.

[Lady Calypso]

Honestly, I wanted to like the premiere more than I did. I thought it was a step down from last season's. I'm not sure whether it's the cast or the editing choices or what, but although it wasn't terrible, I felt like the episode dragged on and on.

Jelinsky was the right call to get out. He made bad choice after bad choice. He first decided to quit the Sweat challenge just over an hour into it (he said there were 4 hours to complete the challenge and I believe Q said they quit with 2 hours 45 minutes left). He basically gave up 1/4 of the way in. He forced Q to quit with him, because why would Q take on the brunt of the work and not complete it? I get that he believed they couldn't succeed, and maybe they couldn't. Those holes in the bucket made it harder and I think they would have had to both go nonstop to get close to finishing. 

But still, he makes the decision to quit because they definitely can't do it, and then he breaks the hourglass. Ok, that sucks but hey, could just be a moment where he realized conserving energy was better than using it all up and still not finishing. Maybe he thought he was too weak to do it and wanted to save the inevitable from happening. 

But then he volunteers immediately to go on the journey. He joins up with Tevin/Maria and he gets the skull. So now he has to lie to Maria about not having the skull. Maria does a smart thing in giving him and Tevin a chance to be truthful by threatening trust. Jelinsky folds IMMEDIATELY. Ok, fine, he realizes he can't lie his way out and would rather leverage a relationship with these two than anything. But, first off, he should have realized lying off the bat was never going to get him anywhere good. Even if he had made it to merge, Maria and Tevin weren't going to trust him. But then he stupidly runs to tell his tribe the entire truth, INCLUDING his plan to earn Maria and Tevin's trust long-term, give them extra votes, and because he couldn't lie to them or whatever.

So now he's lost the trust in his tribe. But then, during the immunity challenge, he not only decides to do the puzzle when they're super far behind, he decides to just....not do the puzzle at all. He starts stacking the pieces and then has Jess doing the entire thing on her own. No wonder they didn't get close to finishing; Jess was solo'ing the puzzle! 

He made mistake after mistake, but I think how he handled it at Tribal is why he got unanimously voted out. With how he blamed Q for both of them quitting (no, Jelinsky quit and Q had to follow) and how he handled the discussion on the journey, there was no way he could have recovered. And it's not like Jess was good at Tribal either; she was also floundering her answers.

I felt bad for Jess. Being neurodivergent on a show like Survivor is tough. It makes you a target almost immediately because of how much you stand out. I hope Jess can recover from this, once she kind of gets a more normal sleeping pattern. I'm sure the first few days were rough for her, but she has a chance to recover from this because her issues stem from being too overwhelmed in a new environment and her ADHD causing some issues.

My overall impressions other than the above? Maria's fantastic and I can see her doing very, very well. She's likeable, she's athletically capable of doing well in challenges, and she's strategic. I really like Tiffany and loved her beasting through the clue to the immunity idol. She solved that likely within minutes. I really liked Tevin and I liked his alliance with Hunter. Hunter felt very much like how I'd be on the island, and I loved the Andy Griffith connection. Kenzie's great but her edit basically screams her getting taken out before the finale. She's getting too good of an edit too early on. She's likely hitting merge and could get a bit farther in but I don't see her in F3. 

I liked Q a lot and appreciate him fighting to get Jelinsky out over Jess. I liked Jem, Moriah and Maria's alliance. I get why Tim clocked the women's alliance BUT I hate how fast he clocked it and the way he spoke about it. I mean, who says "I have a wife and grandmother, I know what THEY are like"? It really bothers me when men clock women grouping together within hours, but men grouping just fly under the radar for weeks with no mention of needing them out. Even though Tim is right, it's super frustrating the way he voiced his concerns.

Venus is already clocked as a threat. I didn't love the way Randen went about it but I do think he could be correct on Venus being a threat. Or maybe not, she was a bit sloppy already and she seems close to Soda but nobody else yet.

Charlie was fine but could become annoying down the road, Ben was a lot more likeable than I initially thought he'd be, and Liz being allergic to everything is going to be an issue where she's likely to be taken out early.

Challenge was boring, yawn, next. 

Overall, rooting for Maria, Kenzie, Tevin, Q and Tiffany, am lukewarm on most others and am on the fence on Randen, Liz, Tim and Charlie. 

[fishcakes]

Jeff's welcome-to-the-game speech is why I will never hate Jeff. "Right now you think you have a 1 in 18 chance of winning. This is not true. Some of you would not win no matter who you were sitting next to at Final Tribal Council. Some of you suck. Think about that. Think about your terrible personalities. We really only cast you because it's hard to get 18 decent players. Now, who's ready to play the first challenge?"

[ICantDoThatDave]

What a weird collection of made up non-jobs these contestants have.

[iMonrey]

Not to defend Jelinsky but I think he was absolutely right about the barrel filling challenge. Based on how little water they had actually managed to convey versus the time left on the hourglass there was no way they were ever going to finish so why exhaust themselves trying? Neither the "savvy" nor "sweat" challenge really had a decent shot of being won, they were specifically designed to befuddle the players and give us (the audience) a good laugh at their expense.

Of course, Jelinsky did not correctly defend that decision nor play anything right afterwards, and the card thing was just dumb. The rule specifically said it was his job to convince the torch holder he had the vote card so worrying they would be "mad" if he lied was just stupid. So was telling his tribe he admitted it. He definitely deserved to be voted out, although an equal case could be made for Jess, frankly. It was a coin toss.

Regardless, the editing on this show remains obvious, because I immediately knew within the first five minutes which tribe would be going to tribal. Five out of the six Yanu members were introduced before they even got to the beach where Jeff was waiting to welcome them. That's versus three Yani and only one Siga. 

I really hate these stupid challenges they are forced to do right out of the gate on the beach. Covered in mud, head to toe, before they have even seen their campsites. Like there aren't already enough obstacle course/puzzle challenges awaiting them. They need to go back to just scrambling to grab as much crap as they can on the boat before jumping off and rowing to shore.

I'm really not thrilled about Q, he is too full of himself. Doesn't Kenzie look like Reese Witherspoon? What's with all the weird names? Q? Kenzie? Soda? Venus? Tevin? Randen? Jem? And what the hell is an "international brand mentor?" Also, ten points off Maria for being a "parent coach." 

[Gummo]

24 minutes ago, bunnyface said:

Yeah, if "teaching people to make money writing e-mails" is not a scam I need to know exactly what it is.  Because that screams scam to me.

Yeah, she might as well have announced, "You know those Nigerian prince emails? I invented that!"

[AncientNewbie]

Decent opening. 

There are always too many people and too much activity, even in the 2 hours, for me to keep it all straight. There were a couple people I liked, which I won't mention because that's a quick ticket to Ponderosa, and no one I really hated. Even Jelensky, with his glaring flaws only he couldn't see, was an entertaining flop and not a mean villain. 

I did think Bhanu resembles Flula Borg a lot. Even if he gets voted out, let's keep him around for the faces. He can be the new Eliza Orlins reacting to everything. 

[Gummo]

11 minutes ago, AncientNewbie said:

There are always too many people and too much activity, even in the 2 hours, for me to keep it all straight.

I do find 3 teams of 6 easier to keep track of than 2 teams of 9, though.

It always takes me 2-3 episodes to lock down who's who and on what tribe. And even then,  there are still plenty of times I just have to go with the flow.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

Honestly, I wanted to like the premiere more than I did. I thought it was a step down from last season's. I'm not sure whether it's the cast or the editing choices or what, but although it wasn't terrible, I felt like the episode dragged on and on.

 

I agree.  I DVR'd it and it still took me 3 attempts to get through the whole thing.   Either I was REALLY sleepy or they just weren't holding my attention and I think it was Door #2.

Purple Team were idiots attempting to get that gecko over the wall.  I wanted to throw something at the one girl with the braids who was wasting time and energy pulling on the front of that monster when 90% of it was still behind the wall.  I feel like if Jeff hadn't explained how to get the weight over the wall, they'd still be there.  I'm sorry, I can't suffer fools lightly. 

No favs yet.  The actor seems like a lot.

[LadyChatts]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I don't know his name, but I despise the guy who tried the 'the women always band together to get the men out' weird ass, completely fake bullshit.

Also, I will not let the editors trick me into believing the women will actually work together again. It's not happening lol.

That was Tim, who apparently knows so much about women from his wife and grandmother.  I liked him for about 2 seconds until he saw the women walking around together and went there about how they must be plotting to take out the men.  But Tim walking around with a fellow male tribe mate and saying what a threat the women are apparently isn’t the same thing.  And yes, I’m already aware that the women’s alliance won’t last long, because I can’t have nice things on this show.  In that alliance Moriah seems flaky and I don’t know that Jem seemed all that into it.  Just a vibe I got. 
 

It’s why I was happy that Tiffany got an idol, Soda started her tribes fire, and Maria pulled that move on the journey that made Jelinsky crack.

Edited February 29 by LadyChatts

[HurricaneVal]

I think there is hope for Jess.  At the start of Tribal Council, she was practically non-verbal and spacey and unable to follow a train of thought to form a coherent sentence.  I saw the sideways glances at her like "Oh crap, maybe we oughta vote her out now!"  But by the end of TC, she seemed fine and was defending herself and making points quite well.  Was that because she got it together over the course of the discussion?  Or was she faking everyone out at the beginning?  If that is a personal strategy, then it sucks because it clearly puts a target on her back.  However, as I thought about this later, it might have been a strategy worked up to keep Jelinsky thinking the target was Jess, and Jess was just overdoing it.  Maybe those alarmed glances at her from Bhanu and Q were more of an appalled "Cool it, sister!" than "Oh man, we should change our target!"

[tvfanatic13]

Thank you baby Jesus that Jelinsky was voted out. I would not be able to watch this season because of that voice. It hurt my ears...

[princelina]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Doesn't Kenzie look like Reese Witherspoon? 

I can't tell because my eyes immediately go to her horrible tattoos.  I did think that Ben the musician reminded me of a young John Travolta when he smiled.

1 hour ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

Purple Team were idiots attempting to get that gecko over the wall.  I wanted to throw something at the one girl with the braids who was wasting time and energy pulling on the front of that monster when 90% of it was still behind the wall.  I feel like if Jeff hadn't explained how to get the weight over the wall, they'd still be there.  I'm sorry, I can't suffer fools lightly. 

Jeff does not annoy me like he seems to annoy many people here, but I felt he should have kept his mouth shut.  I wanted to see how long it took them to figure it out! 😄

[Rodney]

Although Jess gave a pretty good case of why she should go first . . . Jesus, did Jelinsky provide an even better one!  If Yanu had gone with her over him, then I would've had some problems with them.  He too easily threw in the towel at so many things.  Not something to respect or keep on your tribe.

That said, glad that the show is back.  I already like this cast a lot.  You can tell that they're all here to play.

With Jelinsky gone, I actually don't have anyone on Yanu whom I dislike.  I like Q, Tiffany, Kenzie, Bhanu, and even Jess very much.

I like Charlie, Moriah, Mariah, and Jem on Siga.  Need more time with Ben, but Tim's slowly showing his chauvinist side, which isn't good.

I like Venus, Tevin, Hunter, Soda, and Liz on Nami.  Randen is the only one whom I'm giving the side eye due to how easily he wrote Venus off as another Parvati.

The Reward and Immunity Challenges were dull, for the most part, but I did love the journey challenge.  And I love that the Beware Advantage this season actually makes people work for the idol.  Kudos to Tiffany's hard work to get hers!

Hoping that this season is as good as last season!

[phlebas]

13 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

He was just a perfect mix of dumb, insufferable and lazy. And that voice.

[WatcherUp2]

2 hours ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Thank you baby Jesus that Jelinsky was voted out. I would not be able to watch this season because of that voice. It hurt my ears...

He sounded like the aliens on Stargate, or the disguised voices in bad crime shows, where they lower the voice and double it.

I was going through the writeups on the players in the E-Entertainment article introducing them. One that really puzzled me was Moriah's, which is so contradictory to her Poor Friendless Me personality she showed last night:

"How would your friends describe you? My friends would describe me as a “go-getter” even if it's not always apparent. I’m always the person to organize the trip, plan the party, or really make an event happen. My catchphrase is basically “So I went ahead and made a GSheet for this…” At the same time, they’d describe me as very personable and fiercely loyal. I will do anything to help those I care about — whether that be showing up with wine and a sympathetic ear after a long day or stepping in myself."

That does not sound like the same person at all.

Edited February 29 by WatcherUp2

[SummerDreams]

13 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Are there no spoilers for this season, or can I even ask that in this thread?

There is a separate thread for spoilers

I the episode threads we don't talk about spoilers or previews. ;)