S46 Ep. 11 "My Messy, Sweet Little Friend"

[QQQQ]

"1,001... 1,002..." Liz's ex counting his lucky stars that he escaped.

Ben is such a non-entity that when he first appears on screen each episode I think it's a Survivor crew member. The person who demos the competitions has had a bigger presence.

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

ven though Maria seemingly is getting credit for the moves they are making, I think that Charlie is seen as more likeable by the Survivors, and I think that if they are both in the FTC he can outtalk her and win.

It definitely depends on if these players will vote strategically (seeing Maria get to the end while being a huge target, especially if she has Charlie with her, might earn some jurors' respect) or emotionally (which is extremely possible; this cast is emotionally driven). 

I could see it going either way. 

[Cheyanne11]

7 hours ago, rr2911 said:

The next two TC eliminations should include Q and Maria! 

Yep.  If Charlie is smart, and i think he is, he gets Ben, Kenzie, and Liz to vote with him for Q, then they all go for Maria the next week. 

[Apocalypso]

I enjoyed that IC.  I scared the cats off my lap with my gasping and shrieking (more than once).

I like Charlie the best and I like his strategy narratives. But now it will be harder to get out both Maria and Q, which he needs to do.  Time is short and both are capable of winning immunity.

Venus could not keep her trap shut about the idol!  What a terrible flub!  Way worse than not keeping a secret is hinting at one and refusing to tell, it just makes you look shady.  Why they always think they should save it for a "better" occasion when they know their name has come up and they've seen person after person blindsided, just amazes me.

Maria should have just made her decision and owned it, not try to shift the burden onto the other players and torture Liz with hope.   

If Liz is not too proud to beg, she should at least do a good job of it.  Like, nix the poop talk.

[Lady Calypso]

Also, someone elsewhere pointed out a hilarious parallel this season that has to be pointed out here: the only person to play an idol is Jess, and she played a fake idol. Yet, she's proven to have had the right idea. Even if you don't think it's real, PLAY THE DAMN IDOL.

Jess plays a fake idol and gets voted out, four other players don't play their real idols and get voted out.

[Brown44]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

Knowing these guys, if they don't want to vote for Liz, and the options are Liz, Q, and someone else, they'd vote for Soda & Jeff before anyone else after enough votes for the third person for the win are cast

Other than Liz and Venus Q has no enemies in the jury. I think Tiff would vote Q.

[Lady Calypso]

1 minute ago, Brown44 said:

Other than Liz and Venus Q has no enemies in the jury. I think Tiff would vote Q.

Q made an enemy out of Tiff when he told people about her idol. I don't think Tiff would vote Q if there were other options. 

Ben also doesn't seem to like Q either, and he seems like he'll vote personally.

So Q already has a tough time to win.

[Carey]

4 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Also, someone elsewhere pointed out a hilarious parallel this season that has to be pointed out here: the only person to play an idol is Jess, and she played a fake idol. Yet, she's proven to have had the right idea. Even if you don't think it's real, PLAY THE DAMN IDOL.

Jess plays a fake idol and gets voted out, four other players don't play their real idols and get voted out.

Feel like Season 16 all over again.  At least someone on there got it.  That episode had a lot of coincidences

[Brown44]

2 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Q made an enemy out of Tiff when he told people about her idol. I don't think Tiff would vote Q if there were other options. 

Ben also doesn't seem to like Q either, and he seems like he'll vote personally.

So Q already has a tough time to win.

Tiff seems to me she would vote Q bc she would respect the game he played. Q can beat any combo that's left not including Maria, and even with Maria he has a punchers chance.

[HurricaneVal]

Good lord.  Venus couldn't read a room even if she had an audio guide and a cheat sheet.

Charlie needs to get out from under Maria's shadow.  If she wins final immunity, she's going to cut him like she's The Machete.

I don't really see what was wrong with the way Maria chose the pizza eaters.  I mean, other than deliberating too long which seemed mean, but was really just her being indecisive over what would be best for her game.  When everyone else dropped out but Liz and Q, Rock-Paper-Scissors seemed fair to me.  The complaints back at camp were unfounded--other than Liz, they chose to step out.

Speaking of Liz, I'm now in favor of her making it to Final Tribal Council.  Not because I think she deserves it, but because she's so unhinged that I want to hear her FTC campaign speech, and her whiny, defiant answers to the jury's questions.

Unfortunately what I think will happen is that Maria or Q--whichever wins final immunity--will have her make fire with Charlie, and she'll just sit there staring helplessly at her twigs and coconut fluff while Charlie industriously goes about building his fire and popping his flag.

[Carey]

4 minutes ago, Brown44 said:

Tiff seems to me she would vote Q bc she would respect the game he played. Q can beat any combo that's left not including Maria, and even with Maria he has a punchers chance.

It's more doubtful than probable.  However, time has passed, and nobody told her to use the HII as a souvenir.  Even if Tiff goes for Q, I don't see 3 votes for the latter.  And that at best would be to achieve a tie.  A likely 3rd place finisher ain't breaking the tie in his favor.  Especially based on who's left in the game 

[Carey]

5 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Charlie needs to get out from under Maria's shadow.  If she wins final immunity, she's going to cut him like she's The Machete.

She'll have to boot him before then since Charlie is pretty capable of getting to the F3 himself.  Though you're not wrong since he'll have a slim to nothing chance at gaining respect at this point at FTC

[Fake Jan Brady]

5 hours ago, Kenzie said:

[Ben]'s a big non-entity.

I keep wondering what production saw in him that made them choose him over thousands of other applicants.

I've wondered that about most of this season's cast.

[Brown44]

13 minutes ago, Carey said:

It's more doubtful than probable.  However, time has passed, and nobody told her to use the HII as a souvenir.  Even if Tiff goes for Q, I don't see 3 votes for the latter.  And that at best would be to achieve a tie.  A likely 3rd place finisher ain't breaking the tie in his favor.  Especially based on who's left in the game 

Of the jury and the people that's left only Venus and Liz straight up hate Q, Ben is indifferent and Tiff can be talked into voting for Q at the final 3 tribal council. Everyone else don't have that big a problem with Q.

[Straycat80]

Two things:

I wish they would bring Ponderosa back. 
Has anyone attempted to fish? At all? Or are they just not showing it? Seems like all they do is laze around, talking, eating coconuts and complaining. 

[Carey]

5 minutes ago, Straycat80 said:

Two things:

I wish they would bring Ponderosa back. 
Has anyone attempted to fish? At all? Or are they just not showing it? Seems like all they do is laze around, talking, eating coconuts and complaining. 

I'm going to answer the question with "NO" because the show's extension in terms of episode left is a permanent move.  Even if it were a temporary move, it's pretty impossible to edit out people fishing.

Plus, given their recent behavior in valuable things they've hunted this season, they'd probably catch a fish or whatever, and pocket it

[seacliffsal]

I think the producers are trying so hard to cast sob story and underdog contestants that they are forgetting about the elements of the show that have kept it on the air for so long-real strategy, survival aspects (fishing, gathering food, building shelters, etc.), etc.  Instead we get Liz for whom they had to offer an individual rice incentive and gluten free pizza (what happened to last week's 'I eat a burger at Applebees every week" comment without any reference to gluten free [I googled for a few minutes trying to find out if Applebees offers gluten free buns/options]).  And Liz, who while having her own stash of rice continues to whine and beg for others to provide food for her.  It was rich when she complained about Q not doing anything around camp when she even has to tell people to start a fire for her so she can cook her rice.

And, let's not forget all of the other contestants this season who bemoaned their sob stories rather than play the game (looking at you, Bhanu).

And Jeff?  Stop trying to turn Tribal Council into Shakespearean tragedies.  Bringing popcorn and now licorice?  It's only going to encourage future contestants to become even more outrageous and attention-seeking.  

I didn't really get Venus' last words at the end of the episode in that she said she hoped she represented those who aren't seen?  How did she think she did that during the season?  Oh, and Maria could have just told Ben to pick the third person for the reward and then the onus of a bad decision would have been on him.  Have them all pick a number from 1 to 10?  Anything but 'I want to take someone who is suffering physically' and then going to rock, paper, and scissors with the two people who have eaten recently (Q on the previous reward and Liz with her own personal rice stash)?  Make it make sense...

[fishcakes]

Of course the episode begins with Kenzie complaining about how Maria stole her move of voting out Tiffany and now is getting the credit for it. These idiots are obsessed with getting credit in the middle of the game, instead of saving that information for FTC.

I didn't like the way Maria chose who to take on the reward either. Rock, Paper, Scissors was fine, but demanding that they make their case felt a little too much like, "dance, monkeys, dance!" She saw that everyone was fine with her taking Ben because he needed food; once Kenzie and Charlie dropped out and Q and Venus said whatever she decided was fine, the smarter move would be to just take Liz, the drawback being that then she'd have to spend time with Liz.

I have to thank the editors for including the gem of Venus saying she might not have to play the idol at all and that would show what a good social game she has.

40 minutes ago, Brown44 said:

Of the jury and the people that's left only Venus and Liz straight up hate Q, Ben is indifferent and Tiff can be talked into voting for Q at the final 3 tribal council. Everyone else don't have that big a problem with Q.

I also think Q has a fighting chance of winning the whole thing. Tiff said in her exit interviews that Ben hated Q and they fought all the time, but we haven't seen that. Ben did drag Q in confessional after not picking Liz for Applebee's last week, but this episode they seemed pretty friendly with each other and they did work together, so I'm not sure that Tiff wasn't projecting her own feelings for Q. Even so, I could see Tiff voting for Q to win if the alternatives were anyone but Kenzie or Charlie.

8 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

It was rich when she complained about Q not doing anything around camp when she even has to tell people to start a fire for her so she can cook her rice.

Not sure if I heard it right, but didn't she say something about how he always used up all the wood? lol, what does she think he's using the wood for besides starting fires?

[ellekaelin]

Am I the only one noticing on this season these contestants spelling is horrible. Kensey? Venise? I think Liz's ex-husband really dodged a bullet. 

Charlie is the only one left that I actually like and he is really good at putting things the right way to not be overly suspicious. I think that he has a good shot if he plays smart. 

[Carey]

3 minutes ago, ellekaelin said:

Am I the only one noticing on this season these contestants spelling is horrible. Kensey? Venise? I think Liz's ex-husband really dodged a bullet. 

It's awful, ellekaelin.  I'm unsurprised that they can't even spell Q's name right

[ellekaelin]

3 minutes ago, Carey said:

It's awful, ellekaelin.  I'm unsurprised that they can't even spell Q's name right

Lol I'm expecting Que to come out soon. Liss. Marya. Charlee. To come soon. 

[Gummo]

These contestants are so dumb.

Well, I guess we can look at it this way: some folks have been  clamoring for a return to "Classic Survivor' for years. With no immunity idols being played, it's Classic Survivor! Like the last 40 seasons or so never happened! 

I like Charlie and Kenzie and Ben. Can't stand Maria, Q or Liz. So of course, one of them will win.

*sigh*

 

[KeithJ]

At this point I'm thinking it's going to be Liz and Ben in the finals along with one of the other four.  They all have to realize that nobody is going to vote for Liz or Ben.  Q, Liz, and Ben in the final would be hilarious.

Edited May 9 by KeithJ

[iMonrey]

This season will inevitably wind up with a final three that are all insufferable. There is something just so smug about Maria, I've seen it since Day 1. It reminds me how smarmy Dee was last season, which probably means Maria will win. And these idiots have let Q, the king of all smugness, get to the end with a real chance to win because clearly everyone on the jury is an idiot.

Jeff is an ass, which is nothing new, but pulling out popcorn and licorice at tribal and then giving them a tiny bite of it is a new low. I'm sure he (and maybe a lot of the audience) thinks it's hilarious, but to me, it's just a really dick move.

Honestly, the only reason I'm still watching is to post with all my forum buddies, since we all seem to be on the same page. Because I feel like this season is destined for a winner I can't stand.

 

[Carey]

Speaking of Jeff: I had to LMAO at the "chance" of the following taking place in 2 years:

The cast for Season 50 is the same as this season's cast.  Jeff being Jeff would say that it's returning people, and sure he's not wrong.  But I would not be surprised with a dick move.

The reaction from everyone would be higher than the highest level.  Top level and not in a positive way, that I couldn't even get mad myself

[fishcakes]

12 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Separately, I've always been under the impression that there were tribe idols and there was a merge idol. I always thought once the merge idol was found and used or voted out, the merge idol was rehidden but once the tribe idols were used those don't get rehidden at the merge camp.

This is how I understand it as well. Each separate tribe has an idol and then if they all get used before the merge, a new idol is hidden at the merge camp. If they're not all used, then they don't hide a merge idol until the last tribe idol is played. So after Hunter went out with his idol, since Tiff's idol was still in play, they didn't rehide Hunter's. Once Tiff was out, they rehid hers. I can't remember a time they ever hid more than one idol in the same camp, but I'm not certain they haven't.

But they change things up all the time and the other wrinkle with HIIs was that only idols that were played would get rehidden. If someone went out with a pocket idol, production wouldn't hide a new one. That seemed to be true earlier in this season, when Jem left with her idol and, as far as we know, they didn't hide a new idol at Siga (although if they had, who would believe it after Jem's fake out with the clue). But Tiff didn't play her idol and yet they still put a new idol in play, probably because they really like it when people play idols successfully, and they never anticipated that four idiots would go out with pocket idols.

Anyway, I don't think another idol is out there that could be considered Hunter's, but I assume they'll replant Venus's and it will only be good for the next two TCs.

[Gummo]

Are we really trying to make sense of "new" Survivor's idol rules?

I thought it went like this:

Production meeting:

"Well, the last couple of days have been kind of dull."

"And one of our favorites is in trouble."

"So  time to plant an idol?"

"Absolutely. Hide it in the palm of his hand so he's sure to find it."

"No problem!"

[PaperTree]

53 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Jeff is an ass, which is nothing new, but pulling out popcorn and licorice at tribal and then giving them a tiny bite of it is a new low. I'm sure he (and maybe a lot of the audience) thinks it's hilarious, but to me, it's just a really dick move.

Total dick move.

At least give them half a stick if not a whole one.  It's still not much.

[Carey]

17 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

Total dick move.

At least give them half a stick if not a whole one.  It's still not much.

Just wait until RC losers will be forced to sit and watch Jeff Probst & the RC Winners eat a decent meal

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, seacliffsal said:

I didn't really get Venus' last words at the end of the episode in that she said she hoped she represented those who aren't seen? 

Yes, I was so touched by that.  Venus playing for all the tall, slender,  beautiful girls who get overlooked and never asked to dance.

It just occurred to me that the reason Kenzie and Charlie were so mad at Maria is that the only reason they opted out of the reward was  so Liz could go, not so Q could have 21 slices of pizza. ( Did that really happen?)

[marybennet]

Venus is Iranian, and the slogan she used in her last interview (“Woman. Life.  Freedom”) is the motto of the Kurds in Iran. Maybe also used by the recent women’s movement in Iran?  So there is a real politics to what she’s saying about being a visible Iranian woman, presumably something she cares about in the real, not-Survivor world. 
 

[Tango64]

At this point, they should just put out a bowl of immunity idols at the entrance to tribal council, like the keychains or pens at a convention booth. Everybody can have one, 'cause it's not like anyone's going to use it anyway.

[Carey]

For real, Tango. 

FWIW, people want classic Survivor with no immunity idols?  Well, in a way, we're currently getting that

[dancingdreamer]

21 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

Rooting for Charlie or Ben. Everyone else annoys me. Although I kind of want Q to hang around, only b/c I think at some point Liz might murder him. 

I'm rooting for Charlie, I don't  think any of them have a great resume to present to the jury. I guess we'll see. If Q lasts to the F3, I can see him getting  votes.

Edited May 10 by dancingdreamer
Wrong name posted.

[ljenkins782]

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I didn't really get Venus' last words at the end of the episode in that she said she hoped she represented those who aren't seen?  How did she think she did that during the season?  Oh, and Maria could have just told Ben to pick the third person for the reward and then the onus of a bad decision would have been on him.  Have them all pick a number from 1 to 10?  Anything but 'I want to take someone who is suffering physically' and then going to rock, paper, and scissors with the two people who have eaten recently (Q on the previous reward and Liz with her own personal rice stash)?  Make it make sense...

Yeah, that had me scratching my head too. A voice for the voiceless...what exactly was she saying for them? As irritating as Bhanu was, at least his final words about wanting to show people living in poverty that they could one day rise to his level and have an opportunity to annoy people on TV matched his words all season, but Venus never specified a particular cause she was championing.

And Maria's choice making was pretty interesting and not a great look. But it definitely makes it clear that everyone really loathes Liz on a deep level. Like, how bad do you have to be that twice in a row, people have an opportunity to provide food to a starving person and they find ways not to do it. In this case, with Charlie and Kenzie stepping aside and Q having just been on a feast, taking Liz would be an easy way out once Venus took the path of not asking directly. I don't think anyone would have read any game implications into that.

I seriously cannot believe that 3 people in a row have made the exact same blunder of going home with the idol. Given how far into the game they are, it was particularly stupid for Venus to gamble on not playing it.

Quote

I have to thank the editors for including the gem of Venus saying she might not have to play the idol at all and that would show what a good social game she has.

Yeah, that was a gem. Venus had a decent read on the people in the tribe, but had a huge blind spot when it came to herself. She was the star of her own show and didn't realize that other people weren't tuned into that show.

I'm rooting for Charlie and maybe Kenzie, though her pity party over Tiff's blindside being HER IDEA was annoying. Being left out of that vote could give her Tiff's vote and depending on how much chatter goes on among the jury, that could be valuable.

Charlie just seems like a good guy and enjoyable to be around. No one seems to dislike him and he seems to ride the waves of different groups pretty seamlessly. Depending on the makeup of the final 3 and jury, likability can be enough.

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I didn't really get Venus' last words at the end of the episode in that she said she hoped she represented those who aren't seen?  How did she think she did that during the season?  Oh, and Maria could have just told Ben to pick the third person for the reward and then the onus of a bad decision would have been on him.  Have them all pick a number from 1 to 10?  Anything but 'I want to take someone who is suffering physically' and then going to rock, paper, and scissors with the two people who have eaten recently (Q on the previous reward and Liz with her own personal rice stash)?  Make it make sense...

Yeah, that had me scratching my head too. A voice for the voiceless...what exactly was she saying for them? As irritating as Bhanu was, at least his final words about wanting to show people living in poverty that they could one day rise to his level and have an opportunity to annoy people on TV matched his words all season, but Venus never specified a particular cause she was championing.

And Maria's choice making was pretty interesting and not a great look. But it definitely makes it clear that everyone really loathes Liz on a deep level. Like, how bad do you have to be that twice in a row, people have an opportunity to provide food to a starving person and they find ways not to do it. In this case, with Charlie and Kenzie stepping aside and Q having just been on a feast, taking Liz would be an easy way out once Venus took the path of not asking directly. I don't think anyone would have read any game implications into that.

I seriously cannot believe that 3 people in a row have made the exact same blunder of going home with the idol. Given how far into the game they are, it was particularly stupid for Venus to gamble on not playing it.

Quote

I have to thank the editors for including the gem of Venus saying she might not have to play the idol at all and that would show what a good social game she has.

Yeah, that was a gem. Venus had a decent read on the people in the tribe, but had a huge blind spot when it came to herself. She was the star of her own show and didn't realize that other people weren't tuned into that show.

I'm rooting for Charlie and maybe Kenzie, though her pity party over Tiff's blindside being HER IDEA was annoying. Being left out of that vote could give her Tiff's vote and depending on how much chatter goes on among the jury, that could be valuable.

Charlie just seems like a good guy and enjoyable to be around. No one seems to dislike him and he seems to ride the waves of different groups pretty seamlessly. Depending on the makeup of the final 3 and jury, likability can be enough.

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I didn't really get Venus' last words at the end of the episode in that she said she hoped she represented those who aren't seen?  How did she think she did that during the season?  Oh, and Maria could have just told Ben to pick the third person for the reward and then the onus of a bad decision would have been on him.  Have them all pick a number from 1 to 10?  Anything but 'I want to take someone who is suffering physically' and then going to rock, paper, and scissors with the two people who have eaten recently (Q on the previous reward and Liz with her own personal rice stash)?  Make it make sense...

Yeah, that had me scratching my head too. A voice for the voiceless...what exactly was she saying for them? As irritating as Bhanu was, at least his final words about wanting to show people living in poverty that they could one day rise to his level and have an opportunity to annoy people on TV matched his words all season, but Venus never specified a particular cause she was championing.

And Maria's choice making was pretty interesting and not a great look. But it definitely makes it clear that everyone really loathes Liz on a deep level. Like, how bad do you have to be that twice in a row, people have an opportunity to provide food to a starving person and they find ways not to do it. In this case, with Charlie and Kenzie stepping aside and Q having just been on a feast, taking Liz would be an easy way out once Venus took the path of not asking directly. I don't think anyone would have read any game implications into that.

I seriously cannot believe that 3 people in a row have made the exact same blunder of going home with the idol. Given how far into the game they are, it was particularly stupid for Venus to gamble on not playing it.

Quote

I have to thank the editors for including the gem of Venus saying she might not have to play the idol at all and that would show what a good social game she has.

Yeah, that was a gem. Venus had a decent read on the people in the tribe, but had a huge blind spot when it came to herself. She was the star of her own show and didn't realize that other people weren't tuned into that show.

I'm rooting for Charlie and maybe Kenzie, though her pity party over Tiff's blindside being HER IDEA was annoying. Being left out of that vote could give her Tiff's vote and depending on how much chatter goes on among the jury, that could be valuable.

Charlie just seems like a good guy and enjoyable to be around. No one seems to dislike him and he seems to ride the waves of different groups pretty seamlessly. Depending on the makeup of the final 3 and jury, likability can be enough.

[WatcherUp2]

Every time the camera shows Ben, I have a "Who's that?" moment. He started out as the high energy party dude with a big personality, but he's spent the season doing a slo-mo version of Homer Simpson-backing-into-the-shrubbery until he's all but invisible, except for an occasional whimper. I've gone back and forth on Q. His good moments have been very good, especially pre-merge, but his bad moments have been pretty dreadful. I don't think he's a bad person, but he keeps doing things that make him look bad instead of just being dumb lapses of judgment.  I'm impressed with Maria's game but I find it hard to like her. I want to (older woman kicking ass, yay!), but she's making it so hard!  It's the "You MUST do what I say!" approach that's such a turn-off, as it also is with Q. Charlie is a good player but I fear his skills might be hidden behind his affable personality. If he's smart enough to oust Maria, he could win. Kenzie seems liked by everyone, but she's always a step behind or sideways on moves. I can't see any way she could win, because she'd have needed both Liz and Venus in a final three to do it.  Then there's Liz. Bwahahahaha! I don't know if I'd rather be entertained by her whiny pleading of her case in the final three, or by hearing her clueless bitter juror ranting.

Edited May 9 by WatcherUp2

[realitytvfan1017]

21 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Quote

"A massive hunt for the last hidden immunity idol of the season; castaways begin to question whether their resumes are enough are enough to win the title of Sole Survivor; in a test of precision, castaways compete for immunity and a spot in the final six"

Another episode of Who Wants to go Home with an Idol? In all seriousness, I may have been surprised about Hunter and Tiff not using their idols but Venus not using hers and hinting she had it isn’t a surprise. It’s so disappointing that many of these players are terrible and Q could be our winner. I think Maria is tanking her game by peacocking and the stupid way she picked the last person for the reward. I hope Charlie wins.

What’s up with Jeffy giving out a snack at TC? Very lame. 

[realitytvfan1017]

19 hours ago, Heathrowe said:

Well, all the idols and advantages had gotten confusing and tedious so I guess I can’t complain if people aren’t using them. I liked Venus. I can transfer my affection to Charlie. Maria is coming off very, very smug.

I’m over Maria but I always loved Charlie .

19 hours ago, KeithJ said:

Well, it took until the final six this season for me to stop caring who wins.  If I had to now pick a favorite I guess it would be Kenzi?

On another note, has Ben done anything at all in this game?

Sadly Kenzie has done nothing too and Ben is wallpaper.

[realitytvfan1017]

17 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

If Venus played her idol, then all the votes for her would have been nullified and whoever she picked would have gone home. This is what happened last season when Julie nullified every vote against her and sent Emily packing. By throwing a vote Kenzie's way, it prevents the possibility of Venus singlehandedly getting rid of any of the non-Maria Survivors. Of course, if Kenzie and Venus had been able to work together, the two of them could have foiled this plan.

On another note, I'm surprised that no one said "Hey, we got to get rid of Charlie or Ben to prevent there from being a Siga 3+Q running the show going forward." It doesn't even seem like people have thought about voting off either of them. 

Charlie has won two individual immunities (as has Maria) and has been a part of every move Maria has made, and has been on the right side of every vote. He has not made any enemies, and IIRC his name has not been written down or even talked about as a target. Of the players currently left in the game, the only person who can legitimately boast as good a combo of physical, mental and social game is Maria.

I think Q is the only other person who could lay a claim to votes if either Charlie or Maria make it to the F3. As much as he may have alienated people with his my-way-or-the-highway attitude and/or his quasi-quitting, I think he's a decent talker and he can spin a tale where he grew and adapted, and despite everyone at one point gunning for him, he made it to the F3. I could see Hunter, Soda and Tevin all voting for him, and even though Tiffany had said that he lost her vote, I could see Q sweet-talking her back into his camp, and I could see Kenzie voting for him as well. 

What has Kenzie done since the merge? Been nice to Ben that one time. I guess you could add getting second in that one immunity challenge. Still, I could see both Tiffany and Q voting for her, and some of the other jurors might be maybes. 

What has Ben done since the merge that does not involve saying something does or does not rock and/or have some rock reference, having a panic attack and following the lead of the other Siga members? As much as he might be a nice guy, I just don't think his game is impressive, that he has the chops to give a FTC speech to sway people to his side, or that he would get anything more than a pity vote or two. 

What has Liz done besides complain about not being able to eat, complain about not getting credit for getting Soda and Tevin out, complain about Q overshadowing her great moves, complain about Q's denying her the Applebee's that is her divine birthright, laze around camp, and make weird and/or loud noises? I could be projecting, but between her allegedly already being a millionaire and her being unlikeable, I don't see her getting any votes. 

Agree 💯 

[realitytvfan1017]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Damn, four people who had idols and didn't play said idol. 

This season's lesson? As Dee put it last season, "PLAY YOUR DAMN IDOL."

I'm glad Venus did get some great material finally. I know why she was on the ous, fully see that she did it to herself, but she has been extremely entertaining. She also wasn't forced down out throats week after week, which helps. I know Venus wasn't everyone's cup of tea but what I liked about her was her obliviousness to her position and she was hilarious whenever she believed she was in control when she wasn't. It wasn't overplayed onscreen, she just kind of showed up when needed, had her segment, and then disappeared into the background. I've said it multiple times this season: Venus' strategic game was on point and she had good enough perception, but her social game was crap and had her unable to read a room at any point during the season. 

Look at how fast she hinted to Charlie about her idol when she said she'd keep quiet. She couldn't even last a full day. Had she actually kept her mouth shut, maybe she would have stayed.

I like Q as a villain and he's a fantastic Survivor character but this is the episode where I got to the point of wanting him gone. He's been shoved down our throats, overused and I think his smugness got to me. And what worries me is, if he gets to the end with people like Liz and even Ben, he might actually now have a shot to win, because he can say he made moves and nobody took him out. He may be a player who annoys people and up until this episode, I thought he had zero shot. But I really worry he may now HAVE  a shot if he takes the exact right people. I don't think he can win by a landslide, but I think he can get a few votes and if the votes become split for whatever reason, there's a chance Q can pull something out.

But I think that's fear talking.

It does suck that everyone just defaulted to voting Venus out. Whatever happened there, it was a bad decision. Venus was harmless, she had really no shot to win and it was clear nobody trusted her. So Charlie probably made a million dollar mistake. He's now left Q and Maria in the game to take out Venus, someone who wasn't a threat to his game. Even Kenzie has said it, Charlie has not made a single move on his own and it's been all Maria. Charlie needed this move to be taken seriously and he chose wrong.

Liz just keeps saying that she's looking to speak up for the first time. Liz, you've done this three times now.

There's very few options for a good winner now. Most of everyone is kind of floating and making personal decisions, rather than strategic ones. The only few who have been thinking strategically are Charlie (who made a huge mistake in voting out Venus over Q), Maria (who really made a bad play not just working with Q, but making it obvious she was working with Q) and maybe Kenzie (who has been blindsided and has no sole creditation to her resume). I guess Q falls under this, but I also don't want him to win. Though, if he did, it would be hilarious.

It's really hard to say who's going to win because it's either going to be an emotional vote because there's nobody strategic left in the game to vote for or there's going to be a split vote because these people won't have a clue on who to vote for.

Yet, still a fun season to watch, I'm having a blast still with these people (except for Q, who has finally gotten on my nerves).

With the right F3, Q could definitely win. I’m prepared for that and it would serve some of these players right. 

[Skooma]

8 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

It just occurred to me that the reason Kenzie and Charlie were so mad at Maria is that the only reason they opted out of the reward was  so Liz could go, not so Q could have 21 slices of pizza. ( Did that really happen?)

Not Charlie.  I think Charlie was just letting Maria know he knew she had to pick other people so as not to give away how close he was to Maria so he was giving her the okay to do what she might need to do. 

And he wants to not be in the line of fire when the others come gunning for her.  Total game move.

And he wasn't mad at her at all.  Not in the least.  He didn't rant away in any private interview about not picking Liz.

It was the others, not him, who were ranting away in group sheep think.  He just was burrowing in and hiding with them is all.  Agreeing just to distance the target from his back. 

I doubt if he cares a fig about Liz and probably dislikes her self-righteous little 4-year old tamper tantrums.  He seems far too smart to buy into her selfish entitlement.

I could think him seeing it might not have been a good game move for Maria.   But be upset over Liz's declaration she is starving to death because she has lots of rice now but MUST HAVE PIZZA or she will die.  Oh the humanity crap?  No way.

Edited May 10 by Skooma

[iMonrey]

Liz is a pill, for sure. But I do like her glasses.

[Carey]

22 minutes ago, realitytvfan1017 said:

With the right F3, Q could definitely win. I’m prepared for that and it would serve some of these players right. 

Q could also win if people (like Liz & Venus) voted with the thought of voting someone out of the Final 3 instead of voting for a winner

[LadyChatts]

2 hours ago, realitytvfan1017 said:

Another episode of Who Wants to go Home with an Idol? In all seriousness, I may have been surprised about Hunter and Tiff not using their idols but Venus not using hers and hinting she had it isn’t a surprise. It’s so disappointing that many of these players are terrible and Q could be our winner. I think Maria is tanking her game by peacocking and the stupid way she picked the last person for the reward. I hope Charlie wins.

What’s up with Jeffy giving out a snack at TC? Very lame. 

There was a point where Jeff would say in interviews he didn’t like talking or getting involved at TC because he wanted to just let all the drama play out.  All he’s doing is encouraging future players to do something like Q and Jelinsky.  

Charlie is my favorite to win too, followed by Kenzie.  Ben and Liz would only be my picks because they aren’t named Q and Maria.

If Q wins he might actually be the smartest player out there.  He practically begged everyone to vote him off and they didn’t when they had the chance, and then it seemed like he was a lost soul until Maria got big move-itis and decided to bring him in as a number.  I would find it kind of hilarious if he ended up beating her in the final 3, because she probably assumes he’d have no chance.  It’s funny how everyone kind of has their own perceptions on the game and each other as competitors.  

Edited May 9 by LadyChatts

[violet and green]

22 hours ago, KeithJ said:

On another note, has Ben done anything at all in this game?

He's nice, he's quite sensitive, and he's a decent guy. That counts for something, for me. And he's not wafting about the place with a smug smirk on his face, or talking about himself in the third person!

I would love to see him in the final tribal, getting some final tribal money.

[WatcherUp2]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Liz is a pill, for sure. But I do like her glasses.

I almost got those frames last year, and I am SO glad I went with a different pair and I'm not matching her in any way!

[surfgirl]

I found Venus insufferable and as such was thrilled she went home. As soon as she found the Idol and crowed about not telling anyone about it I knew she's spill to someone because she is so full of herself. A not so smart person who thinks way too highly of herself. When she alluded to having something to Charlie but refused to elaborate I knew she was a goner!

Watching Liz continue to melt down is interesting. I wonder what she'll think of herself after watching this play out on TV.

Ben is boring AF. He's literally done nothing this entire game. At this point I'm rooting for Charlie or Q, and Q only because he's like a phoenix, rising from Arizona!

So since Venus did not come right out and tell anyone she had an idol, and Charlie can only guess, I wonder if anyone will look for the idol because nobody knows she had it.

[Carey]

It's possible.  We're in the late stages of the game so people will go for broke to try to have maximum control around Final Five.

Or, they'll try to find an idol for other reasons.  To be specific, capping off this season by getting voted out with the HII in the last Tribal Council where someone can use it

[Arkay]

1 hour ago, violet and green said:

He's nice, he's quite sensitive, and he's a decent guy. That counts for something, for me. And he's not wafting about the place with a smug smirk on his face, or talking about himself in the third person!

I would love to see him in the final tribal, getting some final tribal money.

This DOES rock!

 

I know he hasn’t done much, but I like him.

[srhall79]

"RIP to everyone killed by the gods for their hubris but I'm different. And better. Maybe even better than the gods." -- Venus, probably.

I liked her, but she was just on the wrong wavelength, too little understanding of others. 

I did agree with her that Maria's way of choosing was shitty. I fully support the winner's right to choose who goes on reward, but don't try to dress it up, especially when you turn go against it. Ben hasn't been out, sure, feed him. Q took you last time, if you want to pay him back okay. But don't place his body breaking down with can't-eat-anything Liz, or Venus, whose skeleton you can study.

Maria grinning while talking about her tough choice at tribal didn't win her any points with me.