S47.E05: The Scales Be Tippin'

[violet and green]

A few random thoughts:

It was really odd that (at least in the edit) Anika showed no signs of worry that her lack of a vote might impact the way voting played out. That's kind of smug.

I really missed Jeff's parting words/quips last night in particular.

Am I forgetting, or has there been no inserted footage of miscellaneous life tragedies overcome, etc, this season? (Hooray.)

I find yellow tribe extremely boring and hope they all get voted out come merge, leaving only Andy as the sole yellow triber, blundering about.

It isn't such an awful season, after all. It's not as good as Original Survivor (for that we have Australian Survivor), but it has its moments, and is still on.

 

 

[jsm1125]

I feel like the show wanted me to root against Anika from like episode 2, but I never bought the “she’s insufferable and smug” edit.

Um, Sam, if you’re this annoyed at Andy’s challenge performance, maybe voting out Jon wasn’t the best idea? I still don’t know why that vote in episode 1 happened, unless that vote was more personal than anyone wanted to let on. 

 

Edited October 18 by jsm1125

[Skooma]

5 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

I feel like the show wanted me to root against Anika from like episode 2, but I never bought the “she’s insufferable and smug” edit.
 

I did in that if you act that way and they filmed it then what I see is insufferable and smug.

[violet and green]

41 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

I feel like the show wanted me to root against Anika from like episode 2, but I never bought the “she’s insufferable and smug” edit.

Um, Sam, if you’re this annoyed at Andy’s challenge performance, maybe voting out Jon wasn’t the best idea? I still don’t know why that vote in episode 1 happened, unless that vote was more personal than anyone wanted to let on. 

 

My memory is dim. It was obvious, with baby Andy's meltdown at the challenge, laying down and losing his mind, whimpering to Jeff, then standing up and blabbing to the entire cast that he was so mentally far gone he'd been considering voting out his closest ally, Jon, that he might be a good choice to go. The women were in some sort of alliance, and Sierra was also close to Sam, and when Jon tried to save Andy by suggesting one of the women ought to go, eg Anika, she went nuts/pulled one of those spectacular stunned and outraged faces as per last night's tribal on hearing her name and then it was full bore 'we need to get Jon out' to pacify her.

Maybe I made that all up, but that is how it seemed to go.

Also, Andy is a bit of a klutz, but at other times has been strong in challenges.

[Brown44]

21 hours ago, Skooma said:

Yep Anika could go out looking like a spoiled brat.  She thought SHE had engineered a blindside and that would have been just fine with her.  But when the shoe is on the other foot she showed no grace at all. 

That's how it should be. I'd rather see her be salty about getting blindsided than leaving with a coke and a smile "good job guy's". Turn around and be like "who voted for me? Was it you?" Then peace out with no goodbye.

Edited October 18 by Brown44

[HappyDancex2]

For those of you who follow survivor in depth would it not be more advantageous now to have less number of seasons and go back to scouting out a few different locations? Clearly the game has changed because we’ve conceded that Fiji is the studio…so games and challenges are built with that in mind.  Now that we’ve also added less days why not experiment with leaving Fiji?  That would naturally force new twists to what challenges could be built and the creatives would get creative again?

[SummerDreams]

9 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I never saw Jeff look so disgusted with a player when he snuffed their torch as he did with Anika.

I think he was more disgusted and annoyed with the girl who hugged and kissed him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ6H9Qu0ShQ

 

[Chalby]

8 hours ago, dizzyd said:

It has absolutely nothing to do with your age. This is clearly the general consensus among most viewers and is expressed multiple times every season. But what can we do, we’ve expressed it and they don’t care.

It could be my age, lol, since I've watched Survivor from the first time it aired.

I loved the first 3/4 years, but I noticed a gradual shift once the show took off in popularity.

Articles about the players were everywhere, including gossip mags. We even had a survivor lottery (where people drew names of contestants before we saw them in action) My husband was 'Tina' in season 2 or 3, so he won the $$.

Like any other "reality" show, the more years Survivor stays on air, the more we see players sign on for different reasons. I dislike when they go in with a "persona" already imagined. I'm going to be the villain, or den mother, or provider.

And I agree, it's become more touchy- feely, with Jeff's probing questions(heh) "let's discuss and explore" whereas I want to see them gathering wood, fixing their camp, trying to fish... secretly strategizing, etc. But, I did like A's disgusted response to being blindsided by tribe.

[JudyObscure]

Rome seemed to have settled down a little and he and Sol were civil with each other.  I wonder if a producer gave Rome a warning?  If so I'm kind of sorry because it would be interesting to see the reactions if he continued that behavior after the merge.

I'm thinking of really bad behavior in the past and the way the rest of the tribe sort of rallied around the victims.  Sol's little tribe didn't do that for him, but maybe some others would be stronger.  I'll be Kyle, in 15 foster homes, learned a lot about how to handle bullies.

[CountryGirl]

23 hours ago, bankerchick said:

Wiping the smug from from Alex, Mookie and Edgardo's faces remains to this day one of the highlights of this show's entire run.

This will always be my second favorite boot. 

Ozzy, being booted in Micronesia with an idol in his POCKET back at camp, will always be my fave. His initial smuggary, the growing realization something was amiss, Cirie's glee, Parvarti's stone-cold assassin demeanor, then his death glare and Eliza's reaction were all things of beauty.

 

Edited October 18 by CountryGirl
Cirie and Parv convinced him to leave his idol back at camp.

[iMonrey]

21 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I agree that Edgardo's blindside was the greatest ever, but even he took it without a hissy fit. 

Uh, I guess I never watched that season, or else totally forgot it. But from that perspective? I found Edgardo's "blindside" to be completely unremarkable in so far as his reaction went. I guess you had to be there.

[bankerchick]

If you had watched the season, and saw the douchebaggery of Alex, Mookie and, to a lesser extent, Edgardo, the ruthlessness of targeting the one who was clearly part of the alliance, but not walking around pissing in others' cornflakes was priceless.  Especially because Alex spent most of the episode trying to draw the ire of the other players, knowing that he had an idol he could play.

The reaction itself might have been unremarkable in that many blindsided players have the smile wiped off their face, but everything that led up to it is why some of us are still watching all these years later.

Edited October 18 by bankerchick

[JudyObscure]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Uh, I guess I never watched that season, or else totally forgot it. But from that perspective? I found Edgardo's "blindside" to be completely unremarkable in so far as his reaction went. I guess you had to be there.

It's less than I remember, but I whooped and hollered when it happened.  Edgardo had been cocky, smug, and arrogant through every minute of the game.  He was particularly dismissive and superior acting around the women, rolling his eyes and putting a finger gun to his head whenever he had listen to them talk.  You could tell that he had never for one minute considered them a threat.

[Skooma]

16 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

For those of you who follow survivor in depth would it not be more advantageous now to have less number of seasons and go back to scouting out a few different locations? Clearly the game has changed because we’ve conceded that Fiji is the studio…so games and challenges are built with that in mind.  Now that we’ve also added less days why not experiment with leaving Fiji?  That would naturally force new twists to what challenges could be built and the creatives would get creative again?

Probst won't do that.  That would cost big money.  They SAVE money big time staying in one location and shooting a much shorter season.  It is always about the money.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 10/18/2024 at 12:24 AM, HappyDancex2 said:

For those of you who follow survivor in depth would it not be more advantageous now to have less number of seasons and go back to scouting out a few different locations? Clearly the game has changed because we’ve conceded that Fiji is the studio…so games and challenges are built with that in mind.  Now that we’ve also added less days why not experiment with leaving Fiji?  That would naturally force new twists to what challenges could be built and the creatives would get creative again?

I believe part of the problem is that having the CBS Imperial Army descend on your country is not the great experience that CBS might lead us to believe.  Better to have them just redesign and rebuild the beaches in one tropical paradise than go to multiple small countries and go ravaging through without that much economic advantage.  They've worked things out in Fiji and apparently it's all been sufficiently useful for the Fijians.  I'd think that the lack of repeat invitations from other previous locations is an indication that this wasn't always the case.

[KeithJ]

On 10/17/2024 at 2:03 PM, JudyObscure said:

I never saw Jeff look so disgusted with a player when he snuffed their torch as he did with Anika.

I don’t think he was disgusted with her.  I think he was just a little peeved with how long it was taking for her to actually leave.

Personally, I loved her reaction and more people should be leaving that way when lied to and blindsided.  I know it’s a game but getting lied to and betrayed still hurts.  I’m tired of the lovey dovey “oh you got me, great job guys” reactions.  I’m sure I’d have some choice words that would need to be beeped out if it happened to me.

[fishcakes]

On 10/17/2024 at 9:24 PM, HappyDancex2 said:

For those of you who follow survivor in depth would it not be more advantageous now to have less number of seasons and go back to scouting out a few different locations? Clearly the game has changed because we’ve conceded that Fiji is the studio…so games and challenges are built with that in mind.  Now that we’ve also added less days why not experiment with leaving Fiji?  That would naturally force new twists to what challenges could be built and the creatives would get creative again?

I think the show would be greatly improved by having only one season per year rather than two. Casting has always been the most important aspect of the show and with half as many seasons, they could afford to be more selective about who gets chosen rather than having to cast so many clods and/or nonentities. When I think of seasons that I thought were particularly bad, it's always because they had unlikable or forgettable casts.

Location matters less, I think. Season one's Colleen Haskell and Jenna Lewis in bikinis pretty much set in stone that the show would always be in a warm weather location, and one beach is not that different from another. And as others have noted, staying in Fiji keeps production costs down and the local government is on board. It does detract a little that there aren't challenges or rewards that draw from the local culture of whatever country they're in, but they were a small part of the game and it's also probably not a good idea to count on Mark Burnett for accuracy or sensitivity in this regard.

I would like to see them bring back some of the earlier, simpler challenges. There used to be less complexity (which I doubt people care about that much), but a lot more variety. Things like filling a bucket with a hole in it with water to raise a flag, Jeff tells a story and then gives a quiz, the coconut chop, even people just standing for hours on a pole and trying to make deals and trash talk each other. The current multi-part obstacle/crawl/dig/climb/puzzle challenges in every episode are stale.

Edited October 19 by fishcakes

[Diana Berry]

Andy and his beautiful teeth live to see another day 

[JudyObscure]

7 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

Andy and his beautiful teeth live to see another day 

They could make some great commercials with Andy.  I'd like a montage of his many head-over-tails tumbles as a voiceover says, "It's not whether you win or lose" followed by Andy's big smiling face as it says, "It's how you play the game."

[Diana Berry]

7 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

They could make some great commercials with Andy.  I'd like a montage of his many head-over-tails tumbles as a voiceover says, "It's not whether you win or lose" followed by Andy's big smiling face as it says, "It's how you play the game."

forgot to mention his gorgeous hair perfect for shampoo.

[ByaNose]

On 10/17/2024 at 7:13 PM, dizzyd said:

I especially love watching Earl ( the OG king of Fiji). smiling behind Edgardo. Aah, the good ole days!

I miss the old Tribal Council voting music. It was so epic. You knew something was going down and it was serious business. Good memories.

[AntFTW]

The most exciting thing about this episode for me was that they traded chickens for eggs, but they lost the challenge, and therefore their flint, so they couldn't cook the eggs. It was downhill from there, with a slight pickup made by Anika being a brat after being blindsided.

I like a little sprinkle of petty every now and then. 😬

[Chicago Redshirt]

10 hours ago, AntFTW said:

The most exciting thing about this episode for me was that they traded chickens for eggs, but they lost the challenge, and therefore their flint, so they couldn't cook the eggs.

The Survivor equivalent of an O. Henry story like The Gift of the Magi. :)

[blackwing]

On 10/16/2024 at 11:41 PM, Skooma said:

Yep Anika could go out looking like a spoiled brat.  She thought SHE had engineered a blindside and that would have been just fine with her.  But when the shoe is on the other foot she showed no grace at all. 

I prefer some good sportsmanship in any game that is played but she showed none.  But then she thought she was the big cheese since episode 1.  She was more deluded than Andy who, of all people, actually "played" her.

Agree completely.  I couldn't stand Annika.  Once it was clear that either her or Andy were going home, I was happy since I don't like either.  She thought she was running the show and when things didn't go her way she was STUNNED.

Also, whatever happened to "the person voted out must leave the tribal area immediately".  You don't get to stand there speechless and make stunned faces and question others.  "Leave immediately" should mean you don't even get to talk to them other than "goodbye good luck" after your torch is snuffed.  Then she sobbed during her walk of shame and was still crying during her confessional.

As you say, she has no issues ruining someone else's dream and trying to blindside them, but when it happens to her, these people are the most evil people ever.

Andy sucks in every way possible.  Why does his tribe allow him to take such a critical role?  I'm sure it was "how badly can someone screw up at using a saw" so they let him "step up".  Well, he failed.  Again.  I wish there was a way that both Andy and Annika could have been voted out.

[Katrina Kate]

Anika can cry on Kat’s shoulder:

Survivor: One World - Kat Blindsided

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkmxwSVynMI&ab_channel=SurvivorFan

 

[astrohip]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

Also, whatever happened to "the person voted out must leave the tribal area immediately".  You don't get to stand there speechless and make stunned faces and question others.  "Leave immediately" should mean you don't even get to talk to them other than "goodbye good luck" after your torch is snuffed.  Then she sobbed during her walk of shame and was still crying during her confessional.

I had forgotten about that line. But now that you mention it, I don't think we've heard it since New Era. I guess in this touchy-feely climate, Jeff wants you to "air it all out" before you disappear.

[TVFan1]

3 hours ago, astrohip said:

I had forgotten about that line. But now that you mention it, I don't think we've heard it since New Era. I guess in this touchy-feely climate, Jeff wants you to "air it all out" before you disappear.

I think "the person voted out must leave the tribal council area immediately" wasn't said since "David VS. Goilath". It's when "Edge of Exinction" was when he stopped saying all of that. I miss hearing that and him naming the jurors as they walked in to tribal.  

[Lantern7]

Erik returns from a brief hiatus to give us this:

 

Edited October 22 by Lantern7

[Nashville]

13 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Erik returns from a brief hiatus to give us this:

 

Purely love the egg falling out of the bottom of the nest. 😆

[HurricaneVal]

I must say this "new Survivor" is softer.  Or maybe the people they're casting are softer, or less able then those cast in the OG seasons.  The bamboo for their shelters is precut for them, they don't have to boil their water to make it safe.  If they don't have flint, nobody is bothering to try to make a fire the old fashioned way.

There also seems to be little initiative.  They won the fishing gear, but waited until they got bored to try it, then desultorily waved the gill net around for a few minutes before they gave up and heaped it into a pile?  The tribe with the chickens just kept them caged up and didn't build an enclosure for them and then wondered why they didn't lay eggs?  Jeff is soft too.  He should have said "no give backs, figure it out."

Remember when Sandra was all in on killing the baby goat?  Or they all had to drink fresh cow blood?  Or eat live grubs?

Yeah.  Kids these days.  Get offa my lawn.  😆

 

That said, Sam is my #1 target now.  It started as Andy, then moved to Gabe, but I'm so done with the entitled male figure who arrogantly runs the tribe, or assumes he runs the tribe, and they all let him.  If Sierra had thrown in with the girls alliance, her gameplay would have been respected, and she could have been seen as the leader.  Now, regardless of what she does, she'll just be Sam's consort. 

I'm still cracking up at the outrage--the outrage--from Sam and Sierra when their "secret" partnership was being discussed.  I mean they were so careful to keep it all on the down low with special handshakes and coded signals and spycraft like that.  When in reality they're constantly hanging together, and looking at each other when in a larger group, and their body language is screaming they're working together.  Now, whether or not it is a showmance, I don't care.  I hope it isn't.  But they are obviously a power couple in the game.

[Katrina Kate]

On 10/21/2024 at 7:31 PM, TVFan1 said:

I think "the person voted out must leave the tribal council area immediately" wasn't said since "David VS. Goilath".

IMO, that was said so that Natalie Cole could quickly escape the pleadings of Angelina Keeley to leave her coat behind because it was so cold back at camp. 😉

Natalie had already helped Angelina to vote out Lyrsa Torres with the hope to gain her Members Only jacket on the way out.

Neither ploy worked.

[dkb]

On 10/17/2024 at 2:12 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Seems like I post to the YouTube link of the Edgardo blindside once a season or so, because schadenfreude is a thing.

No time like the present!

 

Never ever gets old. I said it in last week's thread but, how many years later, I still remember this (and other moments from "old" Survivor), remember having a huge smile on my face as it played out - but if you asked me about last season I have a vague recollection of things that happened. It's just not the same and I don't think it's too do with age at all. 

@JudyObscure me and my sister both cheered so hard when it happened as well.

^This vote was so brilliant with the nice guys double blindsiding the 3 hombres and Dreamz. Just strategy on another level that we would never see today. 

 

On 10/17/2024 at 3:13 PM, Skooma said:

I for one don't feel one iota of "nostalgia" for old school Survivor.  I feel that old school Survivor objectively was a better show.

Hard agree!

I love all the takes about Anika. I didn't see the smugness at all, but I agree that she was on Sam's shit list since she undermined him about the shelter in Episode 1 and have no idea where the animosity from Andy towards her comes from?!

Andy is the smug one in that tribe - I swear I hear clown music over his confessionals.

Yeah I don't see this ending well for Sierra at all. Rachel the only yellow tribe member I like now.

Genevieve, it's been like 1 day and your already regretting the Rome vs. Kishan thing 🤦‍♀️. I do not understand how anyone keeps their cool around Rome on that tribe.

 

Gabe vs Tiyana - yikes. But Sue is the one that annoys me on that tribe.

[Chalby]

On 10/21/2024 at 10:26 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

The Survivor equivalent of an O. Henry story like The Gift of the Magi. :)

Wow, I LOVE O Henry! (So it's refreshing to even hear him mentioned, nevermind in a Survivor forum.) Thank you.

[Chalby]

On 10/22/2024 at 4:41 PM, HurricaneVal said:

If they don't have flint, nobody is bothering to try to make a fire the old fashioned way.

There also seems to be little initiative.  They won the fishing gear, but waited until they got bored to try it,

This, here! You are so right! 

I was confused when the group was lying (laying?) around complaining about having food but no way to cook it. Yet NO ONE attempted to make a bow drill (sp?).

Neither is anyone trying to appear indispensable by providing for the tribe through hunting or gathering.

And I'm still annoyed at the one group's apathetic fishing, using the net they won.

Edited October 27 by Chalby