S46.E01: This Is Where the Legends Are Made

[gesundheit]

16 hours ago, North of Eden said:

 

*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.

In my experience people in their 70s and 80s with sprawling body art look completely badass.

16 hours ago, GenerationX said:

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

I needed someone to press her on that. What in the world does that mean? Who just says that without elaborating?

16 hours ago, princelina said:

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.

This show is doing a great job casting social media archetypes. Last season we had "that one social media friend who makes absolutely everything about astrology" and this time we have "that one social media friend who makes absolutely everything about her adult ADHD diagnosis." That said, I liked Astrology Woman (I forget her name) by the end of last season, and I already liked ADHD Woman by the end of last night's episode. There's my personal lesson is reducing people to their one annoying quirk!

14 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. 

 

It looks like next week is 2 hours again, though. Hopefully we go back to 90 minutes. 2 hours is too much! Do we know?

8 hours ago, Haleth said:

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

I feel like there has to be some behind-the-scenes arrangement for that sort of thing.

7 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I don't know what show Jelinsky actually thought he was on.  Smashing the timer because they only had 2 3/4 hours left? 

That had my jaw on the floor. And why was he parsing the several/seven thing so much anyway? If the timer is 4 hours, then you have 4 hours. It's not some trick that proves it impossible.

[Rodney]

3 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

That said, I liked Astrology Woman (I forget her name) by the end of last season

Her name was Kendra.

[Brown44]

If it was me the 1st thing I would have asked after finding out the buckets have holes is is it against the rules to use sand? If not I would packed the holes with the sand. It still would've leaked but not as much.

Edited February 29 by Brown44

[Chalby]

17 hours 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?

This comment times a thousand.

Maybe it's because I'm older, but I'll never understand all these food allergies. How can one be allergic to poultry, vegetables, and fruit? Are we talking serious allergies like she swells up and can't breathe? Why on earth is she even on this island?

As for Jess bringing up her ADHD every second moment, girl welcome to the population, you are not alone.

[jaigurudeva]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

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.

The last thing I want to be is the devil's advocate for Jelinsky (who also folded immediately in the cards challenge and seems physically incapable of owning up to his decisions), and I know that Survivor allegedly (maybe is even legally obligated to?) tested these challenges to ensure they're doable, but it just didn't seem possible within the timeframe of the challenge. Even without the holes in the buckets, they looked like one gallon buckets, to fill about 40 gallon barrels. At around 10 minutes per trip back-and-forth (unless it was a shorter distance than that, but it looked a bit of a walk), that's 400 minutes or 6 hours (so, close to several seven!). And that's with no breaks and without losing any water due to the holes in the bucket! I wonder if there wasn't some kind of "trick" they missed to the challenge, like if they dug around there'd be a bag of corks or something?

2 hours ago, princelina said:

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! 😄

I think Jeff only spoke up because they were more likely to break an element of the challenge (either tear the gecko straps or crush the structure) trying to just pull the head down over it. I think he mentioned the lizard was 500 lbs, and adding another 200+ lbs. with multiple contestants yanking/dangling on the head with all their bodyweight definitely wasn't going to get it anywhere! I can forgive it if they were two weeks into being starved and sleep deprived, but it seems too early in the game for them to be failing this hard at critical thinking.

I can't even remember all their names right now (it takes me at least 5 episodes and a thinner herd), but I do have favorites in Soda, Q, Maria, and Charlie, and there's a soft spot for Jess and friendless glasses girl. They might being struggling socially right now (being neurodivergent and/or just awkward), but I hope they can still turn it around and go far like Emily did last season. It looks like an overall interesting cast of characters without too many awful or over-the-top people.

[Chalby]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Also, ten points off Maria for being a "parent coach." 

We should be giving Maria 10 points for pulling the Mom card on Jalensky. When she said "If you are lying to me I will go back and tell the tribe..." And he folded immediately like all four of my kids do.

[HurricaneVal]

46 minutes ago, SummerDreams said:

There is a separate thread for spoilers

I just couldn't find it.  😆  I scrolled and scrolled, and couldn't find it.

Then @LadyChatts bumped it today and it is right there.  Whew!

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, gesundheit said:

It looks like next week is 2 hours again, though. Hopefully we go back to 90 minutes. 2 hours is too much! Do we know?

Ugh, I didn't realize it was 2 hours again next week. I really hope that's not gonna last. That really is WAY too much.

1 hour ago, Chalby said:

We should be giving Maria 10 points for pulling the Mom card on Jalensky. When she said "If you are lying to me I will go back and tell the tribe..." And he folded immediately like all four of my kids do.

This was actually why I didn't particularly care for Maria. Don't say you don't wanna be anyone's mom and then proceed to act like someone's mom. It's annoying and is very likely to really hurt you if you make it to the end.

Also, why put a Maria and a Moriah on the same tribe. Come on!

[watch2much]

I didn't really understand the big threat of telling her tribe he lied.  duh, they are all playing survivor and lie.  so what?  but he was also an idiot for considering what would benefit him in the merge on the very first day.  you have to get there first. I was amazed in the water challenge that they didn't even try using their hands to cover the holes.  Jess was actually making progress on the puzzle but she was doing it alone.  so I'm glad they kept her.  but the puzzle peole weren't the only ones making mistakes.  anyone trying to pull the head of the gecko over was wasting time and energy.  I just hope they don't become like the tribe last season that kept losing and was decimated by merge.

[LadyChatts]

2 hours ago, gesundheit said:

It looks like next week is 2 hours again, though. Hopefully we go back to 90 minutes. 2 hours is too much! Do we know?

It’s 2 hours next week but the rest of the season (minus the finale) will be 90 minutes.

[eel2178]

20 hours ago, North of Eden said:

*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.

I was admitting a patient for surgery who was still in his early 30s, and he was mortified by the tattoo that he had on his upper arm. He called it "a drunken mistake" and was profusely apologetic for how obscene it was. It looked as though it would have taken 6-8 hours to complete, so I really had to wonder, how drunk was he?

[Rodney]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

This was actually why I didn't particularly care for Maria. Don't say you don't wanna be anyone's mom and then proceed to act like someone's mom. It's annoying and is very likely to really hurt you if you make it to the end.

It impressed the tribe when she told them about it, so I don't think that it'll hurt her.  And honestly, who cares how she approached that challenge as long as she got what she needed from it?

2 hours ago, watch2much said:

I didn't really understand the big threat of telling her tribe he lied.  duh, they are all playing survivor and lie.  so what?

It all came down to Jelinsky being afraid of being seen as untrustworthy much too soon.  Never mind that he took care of that all by himself in other ways throughout the episode.

Edited March 1 by Rodney

[Duke Silver]

I preface this by saying, yes, I know...sometimes I can be an asshole, but Soda is gonna get on my last nerve if she keeps up with the sing-along stuff.  Seriously.

It's gonna take me a while to find someone to back in this, only my second season of watching this show.

[SummerDreams]

Wait, is this a cast that has no ex NFL player and no female model? I was wondering why I liked all this cast and suddenly I figured it out. No meathead, no blonde bimbo. 😉

[Rodney]

17 minutes ago, SummerDreams said:

Wait, is this a cast that has no ex NFL player and no female model? I was wondering why I liked all this cast and suddenly I figured it out. No meathead, no blonde bimbo. 😉

No ex-NFL player, but Q is a football player.

[SummerDreams]

1 hour ago, Rodney said:

No ex-NFL player, but Q is a football player.

In his bio I see he is a real estate agent. I think he said he used to play football. Not your typical ex nfl player with the arrogant, know-it-all attitude we see on Survivor.

[peachmangosteen]

14 hours ago, Rodney said:

It impressed the tribe when she told them about it, so I don't think that it'll hurt her.  And honestly, who cares how she approached that challenge as long as she got what she needed from it?

If she continues to play mom it's most likely going to lead to resentment or the feeling that she can't be beat because everyone will vote for 'mom.' Taking on the 'mom' role is not the best strategy tbh. Which I suspect she knows since she said she wasn't going to be anyone's mom. But then she went and did it so she probably can't help herself.

Edited March 1 by peachmangosteen

[Nashville]

A few thoughts:

• Did Production just set a new record for most IT people cast in a single season?
• I was down for Jellyroll to go the moment he sat down in the bucket challenge; I can’t abide someone who expends more energy coming up with reasons why they should quit a task than they ever put into it in the first place.  A significant part of it was editing, to be sure - but outside of the first few laps in the challenge, virtually every shot of Jellboy was of him sitting on his ass.  And if toting a leaky bucket of water is the hardest physical labor you’ve ever done in your life, then geddafuckouttahere.
• I started out wanting to like Jessica, honestly, but I suspect her near-absolute lack of self-awareness in how she comes across to people does not bode well for her future.  Jess’s TC came across like a one-woman show of See What A Shitty Ally I Would Be.
• Likewise Kenzie; I wanted to like her as well - but anybody declaring themselves “Queen Of The Tribe” on Day One is already ringing the dinner bell.
• Bhanu’s energy is both engaging and exhausting at the same time.  Wonder which side will win out.
• If Venus is going to reference her progenitor for game metaphors, then she needs to bone up on her Roman mythology first.  Mars was the god of war (not “wrath”), and Venus was never married to him - she was married to Vulcan, and screwed around with Mars on the side.

20 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

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!"

IMHO that might be a possibility, for one reason: I was surprised at the unanimity of the vote.  I was fully expecting a 3-2 vote, with Bhangra being the swing.

 

15 hours ago, watch2much said:

I was amazed in the water challenge that they didn't even try using their hands to cover the holes. 
 

Shortly after the start, Q was plugging the holes with his fingers; I don’t think Jellylicious did, for the simple reason he hardly carried any water to begin with.

 

15 hours ago, watch2much said:

Jess was actually making progress on the puzzle but she was doing it alone.  

THAT was what made me feel bad for Jess initially; just like Q and the bucket challenge, Jello quit on Jess early and left her no option except to work the puzzle solo.  Did JelFoam do ANYTHING other than simply hand Jess puzzle pieces…?

[SummerDreams]

Regarding Jelinsky quitting the sweat challenge, I don't find it that horrible. To quit a challenge you are really sure you will fail is smart in my eyes. He said that the big barrels seemed they had the same water as half an hour ago and there was no chance to finish in time. I think it was smart to admit defeat and not exhaust themselves anymore. And I truly think that Jelinsky should have sold this better to his tribe, he should have said that he made the choice to not finish the challenge so they are strong for the challenge. And I also think that the audience didn't like Jelinski and that's why they didn't like his quitting; if this was a player like Boston Rob or Tony or Parvati, I bet they would say it was a smart strategic move.

In general in my life I'm not a person who never quits or never wants people to quit and I think this way of thinking is a problem in our society; it creates psychological problems to young people who are pushed to do things either at school, in sports, other hobbies. I mean, if you are planning to compete in the olympics or you are a champion etc yeah ok, don't quit. But a normal person in my opinion should have quitting as an option when they see going on is something that does damage or they will fail either way.

[iMonrey]

8 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

In his bio I see he is a real estate agent. I think he said he used to play football. Not your typical ex nfl player with the arrogant, know-it-all attitude we see on Survivor.

Oh, I don't know. I got a strong whiff of arrogance off Q. I understand how pissed off he was at Jalinsky, so we'll see how he is going forward now that J is gone.

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

If Venus is going to reference her progenitor for game metaphors, then she needs to bone up on her Roman mythology first.  Mars was the god of war (not “wrath”), and Venus was never married to him - she was married to Vulcan, and screwed around with Mars on the side.

Thank you. I knew she wasn't getting that quite right.

[slasherboy]

On 2/28/2024 at 11:06 PM, 30 Helens said:

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

Maybe she has a sister named Several.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I was concerned that Jelinsky was somehow going to be a long-term contestant given that he got the last-name treatment of such Peachy pets as Cochran and Penner.

Thankfully, his subpar performance got him the dishonor of being the first boot.

On the water challenge, I would have lined the bucket with my shirt and rung it out at each stop.

So far, no one has super-annoyed me. The one guy who was like "Let's go after a woman!" seems a little paranoid. It continues to seems strange to me that alliances along gender lines happen almost immediately but almost never on racial, sexual orientation or other lines.

[Taeolas]

As for the Sweat challenge, I think it is intended to be quit and then it is up to the challengers to sell it to their tribe. Jelinski not only failed to sell it to the tribe, he didn't even sell it to his partner on the challenge. 

It probably IS doable if you take a few moments to plan and figure out ways to plug the buckets. Using shirts (I know they didn't have any on at that point)/buffs and/or leaves would be the obvious solutions to stem the water loss would be the obvious solution. (Sand would not work, since I suspect they couldn't let any/many foreign objects into the big containers and Sand would just pour in with the water).

 

For the card challenge, I think I would play it by making a show of NOT looking at the card (maybe flashing it to the camera man over my shoulder but with my head turned). That way I could bluff and honestly say I don't know, through it back on the Torch card holder to decide if they believe me/want to take the risk. Of course if I had the torch card then when no one else showed, then I'd have to show. And if we all bluffed that way, then someone would have to look. (The rules probably technically say you have to look, since the torch holder has to reveal, but if one contestant decided to bluff that way, I suspect they would allow it)

[srhall79]

I can get wanting to stop a challenge if, rather than understanding the instructions as "You will have to work hard for most of the 4 hours" you hear as "We are giving you 4 hours to complete a task we estimate as needing 7 hours." I just don't know how you get to that age thinking several means seven.

Now we're hiding attending Harvard because people will view you as a threat. I'm going to say last season didn't go far enough, we need a season of 18 lawyers, who all believe they're the only one.

As Jess was losing all her possessions, I kinda wanted a prankster to have the next interview, holding up her stuff. "Yeah, Jess 'lost' her water bottle and her socks and ..."

Liz looks and sounds like my wife's hairdresser of the same name (although said hairdresser's ink situation is closer to Kenzie's, so unless there's some major cover up...). The hairdresser even was out for surgery for 2 months, so maybe she could have sneaked off to Fiji. But, obviously, different jobs, as others have said, Liz's sounds like a scam.

In the challenges, so often it seems the physical part doesn't really matter. This team gets up, gets their puzzle started, and there's the other team, just 3 pieces behind. Not this time, yellow had a solid lead.

My wife was ready to tap out if Jelinsky stayed. Seldom has there been a player so lacking in awareness.

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

Regarding Jelinsky quitting the sweat challenge, I don't find it that horrible. To quit a challenge you are really sure you will fail is smart in my eyes. He said that the big barrels seemed they had the same water as half an hour ago and there was no chance to finish in time. I think it was smart to admit defeat and not exhaust themselves anymore. And I truly think that Jelinsky should have sold this better to his tribe, he should have said that he made the choice to not finish the challenge so they are strong for the challenge. And I also think that the audience didn't like Jelinski and that's why they didn't like his quitting; if this was a player like Boston Rob or Tony or Parvati, I bet they would say it was a smart strategic move.

In general in my life I'm not a person who never quits or never wants people to quit and I think this way of thinking is a problem in our society; it creates psychological problems to young people who are pushed to do things either at school, in sports, other hobbies. I mean, if you are planning to compete in the olympics or you are a champion etc yeah ok, don't quit. But a normal person in my opinion should have quitting as an option when they see going on is something that does damage or they will fail either way.

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, Taeolas said:

As for the Sweat challenge, I think it is intended to be quit and then it is up to the challengers to sell it to their tribe. Jelinski not only failed to sell it to the tribe, he didn't even sell it to his partner on the challenge. 

It probably IS doable if you take a few moments to plan and figure out ways to plug the buckets. Using shirts (I know they didn't have any on at that point)/buffs and/or leaves would be the obvious solutions to stem the water loss would be the obvious solution. (Sand would not work, since I suspect they couldn't let any/many foreign objects into the big containers and Sand would just pour in with the water).

 

For the card challenge, I think I would play it by making a show of NOT looking at the card (maybe flashing it to the camera man over my shoulder but with my head turned). That way I could bluff and honestly say I don't know, through it back on the Torch card holder to decide if they believe me/want to take the risk. Of course if I had the torch card then when no one else showed, then I'd have to show. And if we all bluffed that way, then someone would have to look. (The rules probably technically say you have to look, since the torch holder has to reveal, but if one contestant decided to bluff that way, I suspect they would allow it)

I am pretty sure both Q and J came to the challenge with shirts on and took them off at some point because it was hot work. They definitely could have used shirts to slow the leaking or, if need be, pulled a Richard Hatch and gone nude to do it. Another possibility: Use the two buckets together, lined up so that the holes from each are covered.

I think that everyone had to look to determine if they had the torch. Even if you could get away with not looking, I'm not sure it would be optimal. Who would seem more convincing in a vacuum: the guy who says, "I definitely looked and I have the vote" or the guy who says, "I didn't look, so I may or may not have the vote, and that other guy is probably lying?" I think most people would choose the guy who looked over the one who didn't in such a scenario in a vacuum. It was an interesting little challenge, undermined by J being so bad at it. Getting to assess how good someone is at lying about something basic is an interesting skill. I don't think you needed to be Phil Hellmuth to catch that J was bluffing, though. 

 

[HurricaneVal]

3 hours ago, Taeolas said:

For the card challenge, I think I would play it by making a show of NOT looking at the card (maybe flashing it to the camera man over my shoulder but with my head turned). That way I could bluff and honestly say I don't know, through it back on the Torch card holder to decide if they believe me/want to take the risk.

This?  Is brilliant.  Especially if you have zero confidence in your bluffing or acting ability.  You could honestly just say "Maybe I have it.  Maybe I don't.  Do you feel lucky?  Well, do you?"

[iMonrey]

4 hours ago, Taeolas said:

For the card challenge, I think I would play it by making a show of NOT looking at the card (maybe flashing it to the camera man over my shoulder but with my head turned). That way I could bluff and honestly say I don't know, through it back on the Torch card holder to decide if they believe me/want to take the risk.

Except the instructions explicitly said it was their job to convince the torch holder that they had the vote card, not say "I don't know." That's why I didn't get this angst over "Oh I don't want to make them mad by lying." You were just following the instructions you were given, there was nothing personal or even strategic about it.

Even if you decided to throw it by being a very obviously bad liar, it could still leave the other two wondering if maybe you are deliberately leading them to believe you are a bad liar so they will trust you down the road. 

There's really no "good" way to get out of this. It's clearly set up to make someone look bad and stir up trouble, much like all the other gimmicks this show has added to the "game." 

[Katrina Kate]

23 hours ago, eel2178 said:

I was admitting a patient for surgery who was still in his early 30s, and he was mortified by the tattoo that he had on his upper arm. He called it "a drunken mistake" and was profusely apologetic for how obscene it was. It looked as though it would have taken 6-8 hours to complete, so I really had to wonder, how drunk was he?

Blackout drunk?

[Taeolas]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Except the instructions explicitly said it was their job to convince the torch holder that they had the vote card, not say "I don't know." That's why I didn't get this angst over "Oh I don't want to make them mad by lying." You were just following the instructions you were given, there was nothing personal or even strategic about it.

Even if you decided to throw it by being a very obviously bad liar, it could still leave the other two wondering if maybe you are deliberately leading them to believe you are a bad liar so they will trust you down the road. 

There's really no "good" way to get out of this. It's clearly set up to make someone look bad and stir up trouble, much like all the other gimmicks this show has added to the "game." 

 

There are Instructions, and then there are rules. I suspect that as long as the Torch card is revealed and a trade is eventually done, the producers are fine with whatever the players do to decide things, as long as it is reasonably fast and they get some good footage out of it. 

Technically speaking Jelinsky  admitting he didn't have the vote broke that 'rule' since he was no longer trying to convince them to make the trade. But the spirit of the challenge (as a way to provide some inter-tribe links early on and to provide some seeds for drama both between the tribes and within the tribes) happened so it was good as far as production was concerned. 

 

Similarly, if I was there and I could make a show of NOT looking at my card (but letting the camera guys 'look' so Production can reveal it) and then I play a bluff of "I may or may not have it. Neither of us know. So do you trust the third person? They're the only one who knows for sure. So how lucky are you feeling? How much do you TRUST that other person after knowing them for an hour or so at best?" 

Of course I wouldn't breathe a word of my plans until after the game is on, and hopefully my co-players don't have similar ideas. :) 

 

[Lady Calypso]

22 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

Regarding Jelinsky quitting the sweat challenge, I don't find it that horrible. To quit a challenge you are really sure you will fail is smart in my eyes. He said that the big barrels seemed they had the same water as half an hour ago and there was no chance to finish in time. I think it was smart to admit defeat and not exhaust themselves anymore. And I truly think that Jelinsky should have sold this better to his tribe, he should have said that he made the choice to not finish the challenge so they are strong for the challenge. And I also think that the audience didn't like Jelinski and that's why they didn't like his quitting; if this was a player like Boston Rob or Tony or Parvati, I bet they would say it was a smart strategic move.

In general in my life I'm not a person who never quits or never wants people to quit and I think this way of thinking is a problem in our society; it creates psychological problems to young people who are pushed to do things either at school, in sports, other hobbies. I mean, if you are planning to compete in the olympics or you are a champion etc yeah ok, don't quit. But a normal person in my opinion should have quitting as an option when they see going on is something that does damage or they will fail either way.

Honestly, after thought about it, I got Jelinsky's decision and I agree that it's better to recognize if a task is outright impossible (which it seemed like it was with the holes in the bucket; it would have been just as challenging without the holes). I don't blame him for deciding to opt out. 

But the edit didn't do him any favours, and him smashing the hourglass (unless production told him to) was annoying. Like, buddy, someone has to now clean that glass up and it's not going to be you. 

Jelinsky annoyed me in other areas but I did like him personally. I just think he wasn't a very good player, overall. I still think his worse blunder was telling his tribe about what happened on the journey. 

[iMonrey]

16 hours ago, Taeolas said:

There are Instructions, and then there are rules. I suspect that as long as the Torch card is revealed and a trade is eventually done, the producers are fine with whatever the players do to decide things, as long as it is reasonably fast and they get some good footage out of it. 

Technically speaking Jelinsky  admitting he didn't have the vote broke that 'rule' since he was no longer trying to convince them to make the trade. But the spirit of the challenge (as a way to provide some inter-tribe links early on and to provide some seeds for drama both between the tribes and within the tribes) happened so it was good as far as production was concerned. 

I get that, but my point is that Jalinsky needn't have worried about what lying in this instance would do to his game. He was specifically told to lie. Maria's "threat" to hold the lie against whoever was telling it was an empty one. They were told to lie. There was no reason to fold, other than stupidity. 

And yeah, I agree the producers probably didn't care as long as they got what they wanted out of it, which was somebody getting screwed over. Because that seems to be the sole purpose of this show anymore. Make these people think they're playing a legitimate game then find some way to screw them over at every turn.

[Kenzie]

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I don't blame him for deciding to opt out. 

I think he could have made a small save by suggesting to his partner that they at least use the remaining time to collect firewood or coconuts so that they didn't arrive back at camp empty-handed.

But that would never occur to him. He was just a sore loser - smashing the timer proved that.

[dizzyd]

I forgot to mention this in the live chat thread because there’s so much going on in episode 1 and it’s usually spent working out who’s who but did anyone else think Tiff’s idol looked like crap? I mean we’ve seen fake idols look better. They made her work her ass off to find that piece of junk, so not ok imo. Looks like most of the budget went into gigantic geckos, wtf!

[millennium]

Is there a rule requiring players to refrain from wiping the mud and sand from their faces after a challenge?   To walk around with it caked on your cheeks, forehead and eyelids for hours after?   I would be livid if I got that sand in my eyes because production dictated that it can't be washed off.

I have a technical question.   I subscribe to Paramount Plus through Amazon Prime.   When I went to watch this episode two nights after it aired, Paramount Plus had it locked with Buy only access.   This has happened with The Amazing Race in the past, too.   As a PP subscriber, shouldn't I have immediate access to shows like Survivor and TAR without paying extra?

Hoping Bhanu and Tevin are voted off next because I think in their own ways they're both a couple of phonies.

Very happy that Monica Jalinsky (because he blew it) is gone.  

[crashdown]

I found this change.org petition urging changing the meaning of the word "several" to "seven." 161 people signed it. Human beings never cease to amaze me!

This reddit thread also takes up the question "why doesn't several mean seven?" My favorite response is this:

Quote

Same reason "big ass blue whale dick" and "ass flavoured chocolate chip cookies" don't mean the same thing. They are different words.

 

Edited March 3 by crashdown

[Meowwww]

Ugh idiot Jelinski should never have been cast.  Jess also giggling like she’s cute over her adhd.  This is not what you want in a team.  Also Probst yelling over and over that you can’t pull the gecko over by the head, and the one player just hangs there pulling ad infinitum.  

Edited March 3 by Meowwww

[Lantern7]

New season, new cartoons from Erik Reichenbach!

[Duke Silver]

Jelinsky might be the sweetest guy in the world, with an awful edit.  However, all I'm able to see is delusions of grandeur.  What exactly is he good at other than convincing himself he's a legend in the making?  I'm just glad I don't have to think about it going forward.

[JH Lipton]

On 2/29/2024 at 6:53 AM, 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.

Tim said "I believe in female empowerment -- my mom, granny and wife are female and 'some of my best friends are female' but we have to ice some bitches."  Maybe not those exact words but close enough!

@peachmangosteen, I applaud your optimism!  Unfortunately, you're probably right!

On 2/29/2024 at 8:23 AM, iMonrey said:

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.

The two guys seem to have found all the numbers pretty quickly, and it's a pretty common thing in word search puzzles for the unused letters to spell a phrase.  If the had thought of that, I think they had enough time let to solve the puzzle.

On 2/29/2024 at 1:25 PM, Chalby said:

 I'll never understand all these food allergies. How can one be allergic to poultry, vegetables, and fruit? Are we talking serious allergies like she swells up and can't breathe? Why on earth is she even on this island?

There's an allergy called FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols) which severely limit what you can eat (think of it as Celiac diease to the 10th power).  It causes an extremely severe reaction, too.  Definite not something you want to go on Survivor with!

[jsm1125]

Jelinsky was a mess, but I don’t think either individual decision that he made was terrible in a vacuum. How on earth were he and Q ever completing that sweat challenge? It seemed silly to continue to expend energy and calories for something that was virtually impossible to finish. The smashing of the hourglass, though? Someone is going to have clean that up, which I didn’t appreciate.

The game with Maria and Tevin? Thanks to production, someone was going to lose their vote either way, so why not fold if you’re Jelinsky in that position? What I would have done though is tell my tribe that Maria correctly guessed I had the skull card, and she had a 50-50 shot of getting it right. 

Edited March 4 by jsm1125

[iMonrey]

26 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

The game with Maria and Tevin? Thanks to production, someone was going to lose their vote either way, so why not fold if you’re Jelinsky in that position? What I would have done though is tell my tribe that Maria correctly guessed I had the skull card, and she had a 50-50 shot of getting it right. 

Except eventually someone from the other two tribes would have told them he folded. His best option was to lie like the instructions told him to. She was going to guess correctly anyway. Then he could go back to his tribe and tell them he followed the instructions but she correctly guessed Tevin had the vote card.

I really despise these gimmicky twists they keep doing, where one person is pulled from each tribe to go on a little day trip and compete in some sort of challenge that is specifically designed to screw at least one of them over. Were I ever dumb enough to go on this show I would avoid being picked to go on one of these trips, given you're just as likely to come back having lost something as having won something.

Edited March 3 by iMonrey

[Nashville]

On 3/1/2024 at 5:44 PM, Katrina Kate said:

Blackout drunk?

Tattooing the unconscious is generally frowned-upon….  

 

20 hours ago, millennium said:

Is there a rule requiring players to refrain from wiping the mud and sand from their faces after a challenge?   To walk around with it caked on your cheeks, forehead and eyelids for hours after?   I would be livid if I got that sand in my eyes because production dictated that it can't be washed off.

The mud actually provides a very simple and practical service which is reason enough not to immediately wash it off - insect repellent - until it dries and cracks off, at least.

[ljenkins782]

On 3/1/2024 at 9:45 AM, peachmangosteen said:

If she continues to play mom it's most likely going to lead to resentment or the feeling that she can't be beat because everyone will vote for 'mom.' Taking on the 'mom' role is not the best strategy tbh. Which I suspect she knows since she said she wasn't going to be anyone's mom. But then she went and did it so she probably can't help herself.

I don't put what she did into the same category as playing the mom to the tribe. Playing the mom like "Mama Julie" did last season, that was a nurturing sort of thing. What Maria did was much more in the manipulation department, she saw a young stupid kid and she played on that, successfully.

That was a special kind of clueless right up to the end with his speech about blindsides and "getting comfortable, that's when they get you." Um, it was vote 1, and there was zero evidence that you had any sort of alliance or secure place in your tribe. 

Just an okay opener for me, no one stood out too much in a positive way. But it does seem like we're heading for another season of one dodo tribe who sucks up all the oxygen for the first few weeks and some other lucky tribe where you don't even learn anyone's name til the merge because they're never at tribal. 

[Rodney]

1 hour ago, ljenkins782 said:

Um, it was vote 1, and there was zero evidence that you had any sort of alliance or secure place in your tribe.

In a talk led by Tiffany, she, Jelinsky, Kenzie, and Q locked in their foursome at one point.  That was probably Jelinsky's evidence that he was secure.

[paul4295]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I really despise these gimmicky twists they keep doing, where one person is pulled from each tribe to go on a little day trip and compete in some sort of challenge that is specifically designed to screw at least one of them over. Were I ever dumb enough to go on this show I would avoid being picked to go on one of these trips, given you're just as likely to come back having lost something as having won something.

I agree.  If I ever made it onto the show, I would not sacrifice my game just to give the producers more drama to make a potentially more entertaining show.  (Or, maybe I should, because they're just going to keep throwing random twists in so that whatever strategy I'm trying to use won't matter anyway.)

[Johannah]

I sincerely doubt they were allowed to plug the holes.  I just wish they showed us that they were told that.  Because I believe that, I agree that quitting was probably okay, but I was bothered that the other guy didn't seem to clarify that he only quit because J was quitting and he'd have to do the entire thing himself.  Even at tribal, he said "we quit".  That wasn't my impression given what we were shown.

It also seemed to be awhile before someone said that J letting the other 2 get additional votes only helped HIM garner potential allies, not the tribe.  At first they just seemed upset that he lost his own vote.

 

[blackwing]

I tend to dislike the self-appointed "call me by my last name" contestants instantly.  I have to wonder if people address him as Jelinsky in real life or if he uses his actual first name David.  Q wrote "DJ" on the vote so maybe he actually calls himself DJ?

On 2/29/2024 at 2:27 AM, CoyoteBlue said:

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.

I do wonder if there were restrictions against trying to plug the holes.  I would have used my shirt.  If there was a restriction, then I wish the camera people could have prompted them to say something to the effect.  "This challenge is difficult.  We're not allowed to plug the holes with our shirts or rocks , so there's no way to stop the water from leaking."  Without them saying anything like this, it makes them look like they didn't try hard enough to think outside the box.

On 3/1/2024 at 9:35 AM, SummerDreams said:

Regarding Jelinsky quitting the sweat challenge, I don't find it that horrible. To quit a challenge you are really sure you will fail is smart in my eyes. He said that the big barrels seemed they had the same water as half an hour ago and there was no chance to finish in time. I think it was smart to admit defeat and not exhaust themselves anymore. And I truly think that Jelinsky should have sold this better to his tribe, he should have said that he made the choice to not finish the challenge so they are strong for the challenge. And I also think that the audience didn't like Jelinski and that's why they didn't like his quitting; if this was a player like Boston Rob or Tony or Parvati, I bet they would say it was a smart strategic move.

I don't agree, because I would think that the game designers wouldn't purposely design a challenge that is impossible.  There could have been other ways to get it done.  Was there a restriction against placing one bucket inside the other?  How about finding seaweed or long leaves to line the bucket (if they couldn't use their shirts)?  Those urns were enormous and even without the holes, they would have taken a long time to fill.

They had 2 hours and 45 minutes left.  They could have contemplated better ways to do it.  That's a lot of time to give up.

I hated that he destroyed the hourglass.  Why?  That hourglass could have been reused in future seasons.  Now someone has to buy or make a new one.  Last season there was one contestant that accidentally broke one element of the challenge and he was instantly disqualified from the challenge.  Too bad Jeff didn't apply a penalty to Jelinsky.  I think a good penalty would have been that he would have to stay on that beach picking up all the pieces and be isolated and not able to talk to anyone until the immunity challenge.

 

 

On 2/29/2024 at 12:17 AM, 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. 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.

I'm thrilled that we don't have to hear Jeffy saying "Jelinsky" all the time.  I agree with you that Jeffy loves to fantasize about this type of guy on the show and he particularly loves the "last name" guys like Culpepper.

As far as Soda and Q, I rhink perhaps maybe Soda's parents could be originally from another country, her name is something longer and she has abbreviated it to something easier to say?  I assume that Q has an actual first name like Quentin or Quincy and he prefers to be called Q.  I probably would too.

On 2/29/2024 at 8:03 AM, seacliffsal said:

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 don't understand why Q talked first at Tribal and said that "we" quit the challenge.  It was Jelinsky's idea, during the challenge, Q expressed skepticism and said he didn't want to quit, then we see Jelinsky breaking the hourglass.  Somehow when they get to tribal, Q seemed to willingly share responsibility?  Hell no, I would have described Jelinsky impulsively breaking the hourglass.

I think there must have been more said at tribal and Jelinsky wrote his own ticket home.  Before tribal, the red haired girl and Tiffany were adamant in  keeping Jelinsky and their four person alliance.  Even during tribal, Red hair said they needed his strength for the future.  Then somehow it became a unanimous vote.  He must have had more diarrhea of the mouth and that convinced the two women to change their minds.

He volunteered for the journey and he volunteered for both puzzles.  Why?  He wasn't that great at the first puzzle and then he did it again?  I couldn't believe the tribe was blaming Jess for her puzzle performance in the immunity challenge or that he was lumping her in with him as failing.  They didn't lose the immunity because of the puzzle.  They lost because they couldn't get the gecko over quickly enough.  From what I saw, Jess did all the work on the puzzle, I was surprised she didn't advocate for herself more.  Even Jeff commented that Jelinsky was just looking at Jess and handing her a piece.

I was annoyed at Jess and was convinced she was going home.  Why can't Survivor cast actual competent Asian females?  Sometimes we get good ones like Erica who won a few seasons ago.  But too often, we get these cannon fodder early boots.  Why?  Why would the casting department cast someone who can't stop talking about her ADHD and openly admits at tribal that she is so tired she can't speak and think?  It seems for sure she is going to be the next boot from that tribe.

[iMonrey]

42 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I don't agree, because I would think that the game designers wouldn't purposely design a challenge that is impossible. 

Are you new to the show? I suppose technically either Savvy or Sweat could have been completed if you figured out the trick to it, but it seemed extremely unlikely in both cases and I don't think that's due to a failing on the part of the participants. I definitely think the show wants them to fail at this and they deliberately design things that they will almost certainly fail at. That's really the whole point. Because both tribes have to choose the two people they think will be most likely to succeed and when they don't those people will get the blame. It causes the friction and tension the show seems to think they need to manufacture rather than just letting it happen on its own. 

[blackwing]

5 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Are you new to the show? I suppose technically either Savvy or Sweat could have been completed if you figured out the trick to it, but it seemed extremely unlikely in both cases and I don't think that's due to a failing on the part of the participants. I definitely think the show wants them to fail at this and they deliberately design things that they will almost certainly fail at. That's really the whole point. Because both tribes have to choose the two people they think will be most likely to succeed and when they don't those people will get the blame. It causes the friction and tension the show seems to think they need to manufacture rather than just letting it happen on its own. 

The previous few seasons had the choices between the muscle task and the brain task for the two losing tribes to earn their flint.  The only difference this time was that both challenges would be used because only one tribe could do each.  I don't recall any tribes ever failing the muscle task.  There's definitely been times when both tribes picked the brain task. 

The brain task has never been this hard but I guess I do a lot of word searches and GAMES Magazine has taught me that there is frequently a hidden phrase formed by the leftover letters.  I'm curious as to how much time they had to solve that puzzle because I didn't think it was that hard.

The two guys were stupid for just randomly trying numbers that appeared in the puzzle, with no rhyme or reason as to order.  One guy is a Harvard lawyer, you'd think he'd try and figure out if there was some other component to it, because no way would "try random numbers" be the solution.