S46 Ep. 12 "Mamma Bear"

[violet and green]

14 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Winning would rock.

I am praying to the Survivor gods a version of this phrase gets used somehow!

I can only see Kenzie, or Charlie, or Maria winning, but I so want Ben there, too.

[Shermie]

I thought it was pretty rich of Maria to be sobbing and carrying on about not being chosen for the reward when she did the exact same thing to Liz last week.

Not that either of them deserves the reward because of their sob story, but I’d say that starving is a better and more deserving sob story to be chosen for reward than “I have kids”. The only person who deserves the reward is the person who won the challenge.

And I get so tired of the “I have kids so my loved ones are more important than yours” sob story. No. Just no. Yes, parents miss their kids but partners miss their spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend. An adult kid might miss their parent.

Can someone refresh my memory on the origin of the term “goat”? I thought goat meant greatest of all time, or it’s a demonic symbol. How did it become a Survivor term for an unlikable person you intentionally take to the final?

[eel2178]

On 5/15/2024 at 7:29 PM, Rodney said:

Jem, Hunter, Tiffany, Venus, and now Q.  FIVE hidden Immunity Idols go out in the pockets of their holders!  Wow!

I have a question I didn't think of until I saw this episode:

When the Shot in the Dark is still in effect, can someone play that first, then use an idol if the Shot in the Dark didn't make him safe or is it only one advantage to a customer at a time?

[Chicago Redshirt]

6 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

I have a question I didn't think of until I saw this episode:

When the Shot in the Dark is still in effect, can someone play that first, then use an idol if the Shot in the Dark didn't make him safe or is it only one advantage to a customer at a time?

We'd all probably be guessing.

My sense is that hypothetically if someone has multiple advantages they can play them all. See: double idol plays by Malcolm and Parvati. So if someone wanted to take a shot, see if it worked and then play an idol, seems like they could. 

At the same time, I think that it probably would not make sense for someone who had both an idol and a shot in the dark to try to play both. Taking the 17 percent chance at safety in exchange for your vote doesn't make sense if you can opt for 100 percent chance of safety and still vote. 

But then, we've seen a string of pocket-idol havers show that the allure of holding onto advantages can be overpowering of what I in the comfort of my home think of as common sense, so...

[Arkay]

It seems that while searching for an idol is still crucial,  actually PLAYING it at tribal is a non-starter.

Jeff must be seething. 

Edited May 17 by Arkay

[North of Eden]

45 minutes ago, Shermie said:

.

Can someone refresh my memory on the origin of the term “goat”? I thought goat meant greatest of all time, or it’s a demonic symbol. How did it become a Survivor term for an unlikable person you intentionally take to the final?

As far as I am concerned it originates all the way back to the PEANUTS comic strip where Charlie Brown was labelled as goat who has no chance of leading his baseball team to victory in particular and in general not being able to win anything in life over all. That's where I first heard the term goat anyway.

[violet and green]

I think it leads back to Biblical times, when a goat was a sacrifice. Nobody seems sure when it was used for the first time on Survivor, but it's a term that's been around on Survivor seasons for a long, long time.

[Nashville]

3 hours ago, PaperTree said:

And The Cradle Will Rock!  Always liked Van Halen, but not a groupie

"Have you seen junior's grades?"  LOL

I think VH may have been my first concert, but I no longer trust my memory on such things….

[SVNBob]

10 hours ago, Nashville said:

I purely unabashedly despise it whenever anybody tries to drag the D-word into discussions of who should or shouldn’t win a reality show, because “deserve” has NOTHING to do with it.

 

Had a similar conversation during the TAR episode that followed this one, when someone said the D-word in a TH on that show.  Though I think they had a valid usage and context.

 

5 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

We'd all probably be guessing.

My sense is that hypothetically if someone has multiple advantages they can play them all. See: double idol plays by Malcolm and Parvati. So if someone wanted to take a shot, see if it worked and then play an idol, seems like they could. 

At the same time, I think that it probably would not make sense for someone who had both an idol and a shot in the dark to try to play both. Taking the 17 percent chance at safety in exchange for your vote doesn't make sense if you can opt for 100 percent chance of safety and still vote. 

But then, we've seen a string of pocket-idol havers show that the allure of holding onto advantages can be overpowering of what I in the comfort of my home think of as common sense, so...

 

I have a scenario in which it makes sense to play both.  Lone player with totally secret idol versus unbreakable alliance all voting for loner.  Loner plays SITD, fails, then plays idol.  All the votes get nullified.  Time for a revote.  Loner is immune and cannot vote, so the alliance must turn on each other.  Loner has no blood on their hands; but Peachy has a stain in his shorts.

[JudyObscure]

10 hours ago, UncleChuck said:

"Q" has been making the rounds on the podcast interview shows today wearing a t-shirt with "BIG MISTAKE" printed in huge letters.  

I like to dislike "Q" but dammit, he can be very entertaining to listen to.

Hilarious!  That will sell much better than the Q-skirt.

Watching his TH in the last episode, right after he found the idol,  where he was teasing about what might be in his pocket, I was thinking what a good teacher he would be for little kids.  He really is a handsome charmer when he wants to be. 

[laurakaye]

 

On 5/16/2024 at 8:51 AM, seacliffsal said:

I'm also tired of Jeff working hard to get sad stories-'Liz why are you upset?', 'Maria why are you upset?'  We know why Jeff, you don't have to include a segment in which they explain the obvious to us. 

I am having a hard time moving on from my old-school love of snarky Probst to the new funny, caring, popcorn-loving concerned Uncle Jeff of the New Era.  And I keep thinking that these last few seasons have been so meta, as in some of the players seem to be performing for the viewing audience and possible a call-back to the show more than they are playing to win.  That's my take, anyway.

21 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And because of that, I'm no longer 100% certain Maria will win if she makes it to the final three, because that jury is filled with cocky sourpusses with bruised egos. 

 

20 hours ago, blackwing said:

I agree that if they get to the final tribal, no matter how they got there, they are there, and the people on the jury shouldn't be bitter that the finalists are there and the jury members are not.

Regarding the jury, again - old school thinking here - but I feel like this cast in particular seems completely unaware of how they are coming across to the jury.  Bitter or not, they will be the ones to hand the winner a million dollars.  It bugged me how the tribe sauntered in this episode with Ben saying, "have we got a show for you, Jeff!"  That's on Probst - he's the one who pulled out the popcorn and licorice, so he's only encouraging these people to be over the top at TC - but if I'm on the jury, I don't know how funny I am going to find their antics with Jeff.  I am reminded of one long ago TC where Tyson cracked a snarky joke with a smile and looked to the jury for their reactions, and they stared back at him and gave him nothing...dang, I just miss those days.

I think I am bitter that the New Era is likely here to stay, and we are never going to get a season of old school play again  Jeff seems to be enjoying his banter with the players, but I also think they are playing to get those reactions out of him...like a snake eating a rat its own tail.

[blackwing]

10 hours ago, Shermie said:

Can someone refresh my memory on the origin of the term “goat”? I thought goat meant greatest of all time, or it’s a demonic symbol. How did it become a Survivor term for an unlikable person you intentionally take to the final?

10 hours ago, North of Eden said:

As far as I am concerned it originates all the way back to the PEANUTS comic strip where Charlie Brown was labelled as goat who has no chance of leading his baseball team to victory in particular and in general not being able to win anything in life over all. That's where I first heard the term goat anyway.

It's really interesting to me how "goat" without capitals means a loser while "GOAT" with capitals means a winner, Greatest of All Time.  I believe that the all capitals GOAT was used first to refer to Muhammad Ali.  I think LL Cool J also helped to popularise the term when he used it for one of his album titles.

Lowercase "goat" has been around long before Survivor.  It either derives from "scapegoat" or from the so-called "goat curse" on the Chicago Cubs.  The owner of the Billy Goat Tavern wasn't allowed to bring his goat into Wrigley Field and he cursed the Cubs and said they wouldn't ever win the World Series again.

The term "goat" has been connected to sports for a long time, used often to refer to the individual player who blunders and causes his team to lose the game.  I first heard it years ago in the mid-80s when Bill Buckner had a ground ball go through his legs and it cost his team the World Series.

I'm not sure when the term "goat" started being used in Survivor, but it's easy to see how a term used to refer to a useless, hapless, worthless athlete who made a mistake was adopted by fans of this show to refer to a contestant who has done nothing.

5 hours ago, SVNBob said:

I have a scenario in which it makes sense to play both.  Lone player with totally secret idol versus unbreakable alliance all voting for loner.  Loner plays SITD, fails, then plays idol.  All the votes get nullified.  Time for a revote.  Loner is immune and cannot vote, so the alliance must turn on each other.  Loner has no blood on their hands; but Peachy has a stain in his shorts.

That doesn't make much sense to me at all... if lone player knows he is all alone up against the unbreakable alliance, he is absolutely going to play the idol and cast his vote and singlehandedly dictate who goes home.  Why would he also play SITD and give up the power to take out the alliance's strongest player?  It doesn't make sense to me that a player in this situation would allow the alliance to decide who to sacrifice.

Especially in the era of "power moves", a player in this position would absolutely want the jury to know who took out the king or queen of that alliance.  I don't know if he would be concerned about blood on his hands at that point, he would just be worried about surviving.  And the remaining members of that alliance might even be grateful because at some point, the ones on the bottom would have thought about taking out the king or queen.

[iMonrey]

23 hours ago, blackwing said:

Ben especially has done absolutely nothing this season.  

He's done nothing as far as we know. It's all in the editing. 

And yeah, there are always players who get dragged to the end because they are obvious goats and nobody expects the jury to vote for them. But what happens when the goat wins, like Gabler did? It's not always the smartest strategy to drag the goats to the end. And laying low and being considered a goat to make it to the end is in itself a legit strategy. Especially if you can talk a good game, and convince the jury you did stuff behind the scenes, like Gabler did. And hope the jury is pissed off at the other two. Which they sometimes are. So making "big moves" can actually wind up costing you votes from a bitter jury. 

My point remains, neither Maria nor Ben "deserve" to win more than the other. Anyone who makes it to the final three, no matter how they make it there, "deserves" to win based solely on however the jury feels that particular day. This is not a merit based contest, it is a purely emotional and subjective judgment by an odd lot of characters.

[surfgirl]

6 hours ago, laurakaye said:

I am having a hard time moving on from my old-school love of snarky Probst to the new funny, cari

Yeah, Peachy has always exuded this sweat of desperation, that weird thing that aging adults do when they were unpopular as kids and suddenly are given a spot light as an adult. He lost me when he made a BFD over saying "Come in guys!" It's such a common phrase and he made it into a 'Look how woke I am' moment. And since then he hasn't stopped dragging down this show with his idiotic comments - particularly when contestants are in the middle of a difficult challenge. 🙄  I'd just be ignoring his ass if I was on that shoe. Not answering his stupid distracting questions, nope. Giving one word answers in TC. Can you tell that hi is annoying me greatly these days?

And not fir nothing but other than having no rice at the start and it s quite a bit shorter (which IMO ruins the game), how is the NEW ERA all that different from the old era? They were always trying new things, some stuck for a few seasons then were put away, like banishing folks to the island. But its just not radically different to me.

Edited May 17 by surfgirl

[jabRI]

At least this season we don't have that mess of complicated group alliances, where they had to subtitle in all the advantages everyone had in the opening credits, it was ridiculous!

[Gummo]

3 hours ago, surfgirl said:

how is the NEW ERA all that different from the old era?

Cutting nearly TWO WEEKS off of a 5 1/2 week survival game changes everything, I would think. 

Edited May 17 by Gummo

[EllieW]

On 5/15/2024 at 11:33 PM, MerBearHou said:

Well, I think the answer to that is… Liz is full of sh*t.  

Not any more!

[iMonrey]

19 hours ago, Gummo said:

Cutting nearly TWO WEEKS off of a 5 1/2 week survival game changes everything, I would think. 

It changes how emaciated they look by the end of it, but otherwise it's essentially the exact same game. Just shorter.

[astrohip]

On 5/17/2024 at 3:51 PM, Gummo said:

Cutting nearly TWO WEEKS off of a 5 1/2 week survival game changes everything, I would think. 

Listen to the podcast. They directly addressed 26 days vs 39 days this week. In length.

[JudyObscure]

On 5/17/2024 at 1:51 PM, surfgirl said:

Yeah, Peachy has always exuded this sweat of desperation, that weird thing that aging adults do when they were unpopular as kids and suddenly are given a spot light as an adult.

I can't imagine him being unpopular in high school,  good looking, extroverted and the oldest of three boys, it puts him at the top of the sibling placement theory in confidence and leadership. 

He's been in television, both behind and in front of the camera since 1982, in eleven TV shows and directing two movies, so I wouldn't call his success sudden either.

As an aging adult myself with lots of aging friends, I don't think I've ever seen this desperation over whether or not they were popular in high school.  Most of us can't remember high school.

Edited May 19 by JudyObscure

[Rorysmom]

Is this the season with the most people going home with an idol in their pocket?

[iMonrey]

18 hours ago, astrohip said:

Listen to the podcast. They directly addressed 26 days vs 39 days this week. In length.

No thanks. I'm not that interested.

As a casual viewer, there does not appear to be any difference between "New Era" and "Old Era." It's the same show and the same number of episodes. I'm sure there are differences from the perspective of the players, but not so much from my POV watching the thing every week. Same number of contestants, same worn-out obstacle course and puzzle challenges, same old tribal councils. I'd be hard pressed to say what's different about it if I didn't know they're there fewer days now.

[surfgirl]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

No thanks. I'm not that interested.

As a casual viewer, there does not appear to be any difference between "New Era" and "Old Era." It's the same show and the same number of episodes. I'm sure there are differences from the perspective of the players, but not so much from my POV watching the thing every week. Same number of contestants, same worn-out obstacle course and puzzle challenges, same old tribal councils. I'd be hard pressed to say what's different about it if I didn't know they're there fewer days now.

This is my feeling as well. The differences - other than no tribe rice and much shorter time frame - isn't really enough to call it a 'New Era'. Peachy is always trying to sell the show as more than it is. That's his shtick. 

Edited May 19 by surfgirl

[blackwing]

On 5/17/2024 at 12:51 PM, surfgirl said:

Yeah, Peachy has always exuded this sweat of desperation, that weird thing that aging adults do when they were unpopular as kids and suddenly are given a spot light as an adult. He lost me when he made a BFD over saying "Come in guys!" It's such a common phrase and he made it into a 'Look how woke I am' moment. And since then he hasn't stopped dragging down this show with his idiotic comments - particularly when contestants are in the middle of a difficult challenge. 🙄  I'd just be ignoring his ass if I was on that shoe. Not answering his stupid distracting questions, nope. Giving one word answers in TC. Can you tell that hi is annoying me greatly these days?

And not fir nothing but other than having no rice at the start and it s quite a bit shorter (which IMO ruins the game), how is the NEW ERA all that different from the old era? They were always trying new things, some stuck for a few seasons then were put away, like banishing folks to the island. But its just not radically different to me.

22 hours ago, iMonrey said:

No thanks. I'm not that interested.

As a casual viewer, there does not appear to be any difference between "New Era" and "Old Era." It's the same show and the same number of episodes. I'm sure there are differences from the perspective of the players, but not so much from my POV watching the thing every week. Same number of contestants, same worn-out obstacle course and puzzle challenges, same old tribal councils. I'd be hard pressed to say what's different about it if I didn't know they're there fewer days now.

I have loathed Jeffy for YEARS and YEARS.  I've always hated how intrusive he is and I can't understand how he won so many Emmys for reality show host when Phil Keoghan has struck out.  He has this insatiable need to hear his own voice.  I get that he thinks there has to be some talking during an endurance challenge or an obstacle course, but I think viewers would enjoy just watching the competition.  He seems to take particular glee in announcing that someone is "DEAD LAST".

Now as he has visibly aged (which is to be expected since the show has been on the air for 24 years), he does come across to me as someone who is desperately trying to stay relevant.  I'm just so tired of his mannerisms and his stupid catchphrases.  I would love if for the 25th year of the show, we get a fresh new host (as long as it's not Rob Mariano).

And I agree that to a viewer at home, we know that the number of days have been shortened from 39 to 26.  But that just means tribal every second day instead of every third.  It's the same sitting around, the same competitions, the same tribal councils, the same whispering.

The only significant difference to me as a viewer is the lack of rice.  But the reward competitions are more compacted so there are more opportunities to earn food.   I don't understand why Jeffy keeps going on and on about the "New Era" like he personally invented it.

 

[realitytvfan1017]

1 minute ago, blackwing said:

I have loathed Jeffy for YEARS and YEARS.  I've always hated how intrusive he is and I can't understand how he won so many Emmys for reality show host when Phil Keoghan has struck out.  He has this insatiable need to hear his own voice.  I get that he thinks there has to be some talking during an endurance challenge or an obstacle course, but I think viewers would enjoy just watching the competition.  He seems to take particular glee in announcing that someone is "DEAD LAST".

Now as he has visibly aged (which is to be expected since the show has been on the air for 24 years), he does come across to me as someone who is desperately trying to stay relevant.  I'm just so tired of his mannerisms and his stupid catchphrases.  I would love if for the 25th year of the show, we get a fresh new host (as long as it's not Rob Mariano).

And I agree that to a viewer at home, we know that the number of days have been shortened from 39 to 26.  But that just means tribal every second day instead of every third.  It's the same sitting around, the same competitions, the same tribal councils, the same whispering.

The only significant difference to me as a viewer is the lack of rice.  But the reward competitions are more compacted so there are more opportunities to earn food.   I don't understand why Jeffy keeps going on and on about the "New Era" like he personally invented it.

 

Yes Jeffy annoys me at times. I don’t enjoy how he goes on and on during the immunity challenges and he’s so over the top, it comes off as phony. I vote you as Rob Mariano as a new host. This show definitely needs a facelift. 

On 5/19/2024 at 10:31 AM, Rorysmom said:

Is this the season with the most people going home with an idol in their pocket?

That’s what this season will forever be remembered as.

On 5/17/2024 at 4:48 PM, jabRI said:

At least this season we don't have that mess of complicated group alliances, where they had to subtitle in all the advantages everyone had in the opening credits, it was ridiculous!

I’d rather that than this junk. Again we have to blame casting for this miss of a cast. They need to be fired, immediately!!!

[realitytvfan1017]

On 5/17/2024 at 1:08 PM, iMonrey said:

He's done nothing as far as we know. It's all in the editing. 

And yeah, there are always players who get dragged to the end because they are obvious goats and nobody expects the jury to vote for them. But what happens when the goat wins, like Gabler did? It's not always the smartest strategy to drag the goats to the end. And laying low and being considered a goat to make it to the end is in itself a legit strategy. Especially if you can talk a good game, and convince the jury you did stuff behind the scenes, like Gabler did. And hope the jury is pissed off at the other two. Which they sometimes are. So making "big moves" can actually wind up costing you votes from a bitter jury. 

My point remains, neither Maria nor Ben "deserve" to win more than the other. Anyone who makes it to the final three, no matter how they make it there, "deserves" to win based solely on however the jury feels that particular day. This is not a merit based contest, it is a purely emotional and subjective judgment by an odd lot of characters.

Ben is what I call wallpaper. I do believe if Maria is there with Ben she’d definitely deserve to win over Ben but yes to your point, we don’t know how the jury will feel and how they’d approach the criteria of a winner for this season. This jury comes across as possibly being bitter but I don’t know , we will have to see.

For the winners, it comes down nowadays as who can sell themselves best in the FTC. We see that with unlikely winners of Erica, Gabler and Maryanne and Yam Yam. Maybe the one who said we should be worried about salespeople are right, those people do know how to talk and sell themselves. Interesting enough none of those were the winners.

On 5/17/2024 at 1:08 PM, iMonrey said:

He's done nothing as far as we know. It's all in the editing. 

And yeah, there are always players who get dragged to the end because they are obvious goats and nobody expects the jury to vote for them. But what happens when the goat wins, like Gabler did? It's not always the smartest strategy to drag the goats to the end. And laying low and being considered a goat to make it to the end is in itself a legit strategy. Especially if you can talk a good game, and convince the jury you did stuff behind the scenes, like Gabler did. And hope the jury is pissed off at the other two. Which they sometimes are. So making "big moves" can actually wind up costing you votes from a bitter jury. 

My point remains, neither Maria nor Ben "deserve" to win more than the other. Anyone who makes it to the final three, no matter how they make it there, "deserves" to win based solely on however the jury feels that particular day. This is not a merit based contest, it is a purely emotional and subjective judgment by an odd lot of characters.

That is one interesting thing about these type of shows. One never knows what kind of player will win each season. That does make it kind of fun. 

[realitytvfan1017]

On 5/17/2024 at 10:34 AM, blackwing said:

It's really interesting to me how "goat" without capitals means a loser while "GOAT" with capitals means a winner, Greatest of All Time.  I believe that the all capitals GOAT was used first to refer to Muhammad Ali.  I think LL Cool J also helped to popularise the term when he used it for one of his album titles.

Lowercase "goat" has been around long before Survivor.  It either derives from "scapegoat" or from the so-called "goat curse" on the Chicago Cubs.  The owner of the Billy Goat Tavern wasn't allowed to bring his goat into Wrigley Field and he cursed the Cubs and said they wouldn't ever win the World Series again.

The term "goat" has been connected to sports for a long time, used often to refer to the individual player who blunders and causes his team to lose the game.  I first heard it years ago in the mid-80s when Bill Buckner had a ground ball go through his legs and it cost his team the World Series.

I'm not sure when the term "goat" started being used in Survivor, but it's easy to see how a term used to refer to a useless, hapless, worthless athlete who made a mistake was adopted by fans of this show to refer to a contestant who has done nothing.

That doesn't make much sense to me at all... if lone player knows he is all alone up against the unbreakable alliance, he is absolutely going to play the idol and cast his vote and singlehandedly dictate who goes home.  Why would he also play SITD and give up the power to take out the alliance's strongest player?  It doesn't make sense to me that a player in this situation would allow the alliance to decide who to sacrifice.

Especially in the era of "power moves", a player in this position would absolutely want the jury to know who took out the king or queen of that alliance.  I don't know if he would be concerned about blood on his hands at that point, he would just be worried about surviving.  And the remaining members of that alliance might even be grateful because at some point, the ones on the bottom would have thought about taking out the king or queen.

Was it Boston Rob? He’s a big sports fan and especially baseball and I thought I heard it came from him, the use of goat as the person you drag to the end in Survivor.

On 5/17/2024 at 6:55 AM, JudyObscure said:

Hilarious!  That will sell much better than the Q-skirt.

Watching his TH in the last episode, right after he found the idol,  where he was teasing about what might be in his pocket, I was thinking what a good teacher he would be for little kids.  He really is a handsome charmer when he wants to be. 

He’s entertaining to listen to off the show and at times on the show. He’s quite an interesting character.

[rr2911]

If Maria doesn't win the first IC she must be the target to be voted out.  No ifs or buts!  You don't want Maria to make the final 4 because remember what Kenzie said about Maria knowing how to make fire.

I'm rooting for Kenzie to win, even though she doesn't have a good resume.  She wins only if she has Ben and Liz sitting next to her.

I'm hoping that Venus tears into Maria if she is one of the three and asks her why Venus should vote for Maria even though she treated her badly?  I miss the old finales when they would get a bit heated.  They are too nice now. 😒

[iMonrey]

40 minutes ago, rr2911 said:

I miss the old finales when they would get a bit heated.  They are too nice now. 😒

They're all too TV-aware and social media conscious now. That's the difference. They don't want to look bad so they play nice. I think before social media was a huge deal (or existed at all) more of the people who came on the show just wanted to play Survivor and weren't obsessed with how they would play on TV, whether they would be invited back or onto other shows, etc.

[surfgirl]

47 minutes ago, rr2911 said:

I'm hoping that Venus tears into Maria if she is one of the three and asks her why Venus should vote for Maria even though she treated her badly?  I miss the old finales when they would get a bit heated.  They are too nice now.

I'd hope Maria's retort would be something along these lines, "Well Venus, everyone wanted you out from the beginning. You were an erratic, chaotic player that nobody liked." IMO, Venus strikes me as one of those women who has coasted on her looks her entire life, but nobody's every told her she has a very off-putting personality. It seemed like Survivor was the first time she was rebuffed, socially, and she did not know how to handle NOT being in charge and having people listen to her. I literally cheered and high fived my husband when she was voted off, then said, "Well the Loser Lodge crew is probably cringing right now, knowing they have to deal with Venus yet again!"

I agree that Kenzie will win if she goes to the F3 with Liz and Ben. Ben as wallpaper is the perfect analogy. And Kenzie can use her humanistic side of helping Ben with his panic attacks as part of her social game. She's okay on challenges but has she won anything? It doesn't matter though because nobody is giving Liz the money and Ben hasn't done anything to warrant winning. Maria is the key here, is she's in the F3 with Ben and Liz I say she wins too. But can she get anyone to vote out Kenzie at this point? Let's see.

TBH, I'd rather have Charlie win at this point. I think he's managed to play the game well, and has been mostly on the right side of the votes, hasn't he? He is calm, measured, and I so appreciate knowing that he actually prepared for this game. Like nobody thinks to learn how to make fire or what sort of physical strength they should build up before going on this show, but Charlie won some challenges due to his forearm strength because he saw how many challenges required that sort of strength. I say he's more than earned to win this season.

On 5/20/2024 at 7:53 AM, realitytvfan1017 said:

That is one interesting thing about these type of shows. One never knows what kind of player will win each season. That does make it kind of fun. 

I disagree in that it is very annoying, at least to me, when I put in the time to watch an entire season and someone whom I feel is undeserving of the win, is given a million dollars. I feel like I've wasted x hours of my life at that point.

 

On 5/19/2024 at 7:31 AM, Rorysmom said:

Is this the season with the most people going home with an idol in their pocket?

Yes. It's also the season with the largest number of egotistical dummies, who, by extension, have gone home with idols in their pocket because they couldn't read the room and thought they were all that. IMO of course.

Edited May 21 by surfgirl

[SoMuchTV]

On 5/16/2024 at 11:24 PM, eel2178 said:

I have a question I didn't think of until I saw this episode:

When the Shot in the Dark is still in effect, can someone play that first, then use an idol if the Shot in the Dark didn't make him safe or is it only one advantage to a customer at a time?

I’m just now catching up here, and maybe I’m missing something, but don’t you have to play an idol before voting starts? And you can’t do the shot in the dark until you’re in the voting booth? 

[rr2911]

6 hours ago, surfgirl said:

I'd hope Maria's retort would be something along these lines, "Well Venus, everyone wanted you out from the beginning. You were an erratic, chaotic player that nobody liked." IMO, Venus strikes me as one of those women who has coasted on her looks her entire life, but nobody's every told her she has a very off-putting personality. It seemed like Survivor was the first time she was rebuffed, socially, and she did not know how to handle NOT being in charge and having people listen to her. I literally cheered and high fived my husband when she was voted off, then said, "Well the Loser Lodge crew is probably cringing right now, knowing they have to deal with Venus yet again!"I

Yeah, if Venus asks her why she didn't want to work with her, I would expect Maria to respond accordingly.  But in this case Venus as a juror has control.  I might be wrong, but I think she would want to know why she should "write" her name down for 1mil!  Maria responding the way you want her to will not get Venus's vote and possibly not others.  Maria has plenty of time to give Venus a piece of her mind after the show. Just my opinion of course.

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

I’m just now catching up here, and maybe I’m missing something, but don’t you have to play an idol before voting starts? And you can’t do the shot in the dark until you’re in the voting booth? 

You have to play the idol after voting but before Jeff starts reading them.  

[SoMuchTV]

1 minute ago, DEL901 said:

You have to play the idol after voting but before Jeff starts reading them.  

Oh, d’oh, that makes sense. 

[realitytvfan1017]

6 hours ago, surfgirl said:

I'd hope Maria's retort would be something along these lines, "Well Venus, everyone wanted you out from the beginning. You were an erratic, chaotic player that nobody liked." IMO, Venus strikes me as one of those women who has coasted on her looks her entire life, but nobody's every told her she has a very off-putting personality. It seemed like Survivor was the first time she was rebuffed, socially, and she did not know how to handle NOT being in charge and having people listen to her. I literally cheered and high fived my husband when she was voted off, then said, "Well the Loser Lodge crew is probably cringing right now, knowing they have to deal with Venus yet again!"

I agree that Kenzie will win if she goes to the F3 with Liz and Ben. Ben as wallpaper is the perfect analogy. And Kenzie can use her humanistic side of helping Ben with his panic attacks as part of her social game. She's okay on challenges but has she won anything? It doesn't matter though because nobody is giving Liz the money and Ben hasn't done anything to warrant winning. Maria is the key here, is she's in the F3 with Ben and Liz I say she wins too. But can she get anyone to vote out Kenzie at this point? Let's see.

TBH, I'd rather have Charlie win at this point. I think he's managed to play the game well, and has been mostly on the right side of the votes, hasn't he? He is calm, measured, and I so appreciate knowing that he actually prepared for this game. Like nobody thinks to learn how to make fire or what sort of physical strength they should build up before going on this show, but Charlie won some challenges due to his forearm strength because he saw how many challenges required that sort of strength. I say he's more than earned to win this season.

I disagree in that it is very annoying, at least to me, when I put in the time to watch an entire season and someone whom I feel is undeserving of the win, is given a million dollars. I feel like I've wasted x hours of my life at that point.

 

Yes. It's also the season with the largest number of egotistical dummies, who, by extension, have gone home with idols in their pocket because they couldn't read the room and thought they were all that. IMO of course.

I want Charlie to win but could see Kenzie winning too. I wouldn’t be 100% happy with a Maria win but I could understand that. 

I hope Venus realizes whatever shortcomings she has and works on fixing them.,I wonder if she acted like this outside the game.

That’s the risk when watching shows like this. I was not happy when Gabler or Yam Yam won. I didn’t think they deserved it, but I have no control over that. 

[surfgirl]

42 minutes ago, realitytvfan1017 said:

That’s the risk when watching shows like this. I was not happy when Gabler or Yam Yam won. I didn’t think they deserved it, but I have no control over that. 

These are the type of winners that I was referring to but I forgot their names

[iMonrey]

22 hours ago, surfgirl said:

I disagree in that it is very annoying, at least to me, when I put in the time to watch an entire season and someone whom I feel is undeserving of the win, is given a million dollars. I feel like I've wasted x hours of my life at that point.

Lately there have been a string of winners I actively disliked (Dee, Yam Yam, Gabler) or were mildly annoyed with (Maryanne, Erika). I don't know what accounts for that trend. Maybe the game is just designed for a particular personality type that rubs me the wrong way. I honestly can't remember the last time someone I was rooting for actually won. 

And I have a strong sense the unfortunate trend will continue this season. 

[seacliffsal]

47 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Lately there have been a string of winners I actively disliked (Dee, Yam Yam, Gabler) or were mildly annoyed with (Maryanne, Erika). I don't know what accounts for that trend. Maybe the game is just designed for a particular personality type that rubs me the wrong way. I honestly can't remember the last time someone I was rooting for actually won. 

And I have a strong sense the unfortunate trend will continue this season. 

I think it's all a part of the 'new era'...

[Lantern7]

This is "Cut-Throat Kitchen," Erik's take on the penultimate episode:

Edited May 23 by Lantern7

[HappyDancex2]

I hope Liz continues to explore her allergies and autoimmune issues as it relates to her mental state.  She is kind of all over the place with what she thinks she can or can’t eat.  With the gluten thing mentioned but she’s eating Chinese food…sure maybe they brought some tamari over for her, and a special rice flour batter….guess she will have gluten free crusts for pizza and gluten free pasta too?   And what about the Exact Burger?  That bun isnt gluten free.  Nor is the bourbon sauce.  And unless those were homemade Fijian licorice, Twizzlers have wheat flour in them.  
 

I’m still in awe with the pocket ponderosa immunity necklaces this season.  Seems so unlikely to see a string and yet here we are.