S48.E13: Only One of Yous Can Win

[Rodney]

The one-million dollars is closer than ever as the remaining castaways enter the final stretch of the game.  A major come-from-behind win earns one person a trip to the sanctuary and a spot in the final four.  Then, a tumultuous fire-making showdown determines the final three.  One castaway will be crowned Sole Survivor and awarded the one-million-dollar prize.  Then, the After Show sees the final three and the jury reunite to discuss the game, followed by a look at the upcoming Survivor 49.

This is the episode's discussion thread for after the episode airs.

[Carey]

Congratulations Kyle!

[Rodney]

Kyle played a good game to get here, but I kept wondering why the hell he kept sparing Joe and Eva.

Now it was clear.  He didn't think that either could sell their games to the jury.  And he was right about Joe, but Eva nearly did manage to do it.

Honestly, I felt no pity for Mitch going out in fifth place.  Like he himself finally admitted, he should've made a move when he had a chance.  He purposely, intentionally chose not to.  He chose to play like a wuss, and he finally paid for it.

Kamilla going out was heartbreaking, especially when you realize that she would've swept the jury had she made it to the F3.  She should be kicking herself for telling Kyle that she was putting him in the fire-making challenge.  Had she urged him to take her instead, then she would've won.

All in all, a dull season.  But Joe and Eva lost, as many of us wanted, so at least that salvaged it.

But Survivor 49 already looks like it's going to be an improvement over this season!

Edited Thursday at 03:15 AM by Rodney

[AntFTW]

Good for Kyle! Deserved.

[LadyChatts]

Well, that's a wrap on another season!  Can't believe we've been here 25 years, 48 seasons and still going!

But yeesh, what a snooze fest of a finale.  Kyle's a deserving winner, though I wasn't as excited about him as I would have been a few weeks ago.  He and Kamilla seemed too cocky, but it was slightly amusing that they torpedoed the very arguments Eva was making (and Eva was unintentionally propping him up).  I think she thought she had it in the bag.  I really didn't think she'd get 2 votes, and wasn't even sure she'd get any until she did most of the talking at TC (that's usually a dead giveaway that whoever does the least talking at FTC is out of the vote).  I do think Eva got coddled more than she realized this season, and lucked out in so many ways.  She really didn't have to do anything and just seemed overconfident that everything was going to go her way at every vote.

I really thought for a minute Joe or Kyle was going to go to fire in place of Eva.

Loved the look on Joe's face when Eva and Kyle revealed what they really do for a living. 

Chrissy was clearly wanting some drama at the FTC and Eva/Joe didn't do enough to throw the other under the bus.  

Can't say I felt sorry for Mitch, he had plenty of opportunities to make moves and didn't take them.  I'm just sad he outlasted Mary and Star.  And because I can't say it enough, #justiceforStar.  Why were they hiding her all season?  I was more entertained by her tonight than I was by anyone else in the cast! 

[dancingdreamer]

I knew Kamilla  would win that first immunity,  she was far behind,  but she's  excellent  at puzzles. She could  have been sitting  with the F3.
The final three. Any of the three could of won. Great plays, very good speeches,  and the jury votes for Kyle!! Congratulations  Kyle, your smile lights up the room, and your  word meant  something. 
Eva, how smart is she, wow! 
Joe is a firefighter,as I said before,  they rush in, as we rush out, he deserved  the win as well. I get so  emotional  at the end. We enjoyed  this season. 

[Samwise979]

Yes!!! So happy with Kyle winning! And loved Kamilla having his back when Eva tried to claim the Shauhin vote was her (and Joe’s) idea. I wish Kamilla had won but so glad it was Kyle if not her!! 

The only thing Kamilla did wrong I think is tell Kyle if she wins final immunity she wouldn’t take Kyle with her. She should have kept that to herself unless she did indeed win. She made it too easy for Kyle to be like, well I’m not going to take you either. 

[LadyChatts]

14 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Kyle played a good game to get here, but I kept wondering why the hell he kept sparing Joe and Eva.

Now it was clear.  He didn't think that either could sell their games to the jury.  And he was right about Joe, but Eva nearly did manage to do it.

I think the edit was deceiving (and I get why) about Joe/Eva, because it seemed obvious they weren't really a threat, and that's why no one had taken a shot at them.  I don't think I would have cared if Joe won, he seems like a nice guy, and frankly the others would have deserved it for not taking him out sooner.  But I'm happy with the outcome and think Kyle is very deserving. 

[Artsda]

Great job by Kyle. So happy he won! He deserved it.  Kamila having his back in jury was awesome. 

The way they kept their alliance a secret was awesome. 

Good season and outcome. I actually would have been ok with any of them, but i prefer Kyle. 

Edited Thursday at 04:01 AM by Artsda

[Chicago Redshirt]

You know how we talked about last episode why people would hide that they are lawyers? Kyle's performance at this FTC is Exhibit A as to why. Yes, I reiterate that not all lawyers are Perry Mason or whatever. But Kyle talked rings around Joe and Eva. I think he needs to tip Kamilla for setting him up to spike the argument. I don't know if they could have undermined Eva and Joe better than they did. 

There was the moment they flashed Eva's face when you could see her coming to the realization she had lost. I may be a bad person, but I want a screenshot of that face. It didn't quite reach Edgardo level but still, I will take what I can get.

I don't know if I should be disappointed that David was super-chill about being voted off after all. I did want to hear him or someone tear into Joe and Eva for talking honor more than a Klingon on their third vat of bloodwine, but backstabbing him and Shauhin. 

The reunion struck me as superweird -- we barely got to hear from/about Kyle, and they got everyone but Chrissy to say something. 

[Cotypubby]

I’m just glad Eva did not win. She didn’t really do anything in the game, I mean she was literally handed the Idol. Her whole pitch to the jury was “Vote for me because I’m autistic.”  🙄

[Samwise979]

Every answer Eva had was, well me and Joe this, me and Joe that. It was clear she didn’t play an individual game at all! I’m surprised she got more votes than Joe. 

[Rodney]

8 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

I’m just glad Eva did not win. She didn’t really do anything in the game, I mean she was literally handed the Idol. Her whole pitch to the jury was “Vote for me because I’m autistic.”  🙄

In fairness, she did explain more about her game besides that.  She explained how she was able to insulate herself within a strong alliance, which did take having a social game to do.

Unfortunately for her, that was her best argument, because what she thought was her actual best argument was what might've cinched Kyle's win instead.

[TVFan1]

Never liked Kyle or Kamilla because they seemed very cocky. Having said that, Kyle is a deserving winner. He took control of FTC and delivered a very good argument about why he should win. Surprised that Eva got  2 votes, and Joe only had one. Not one of my favorite seasons, hoping next season will be better. 

[choclatechip45]

Happy for Kyle. Glad this season is over. Hopefully 49 will be better.

[Steph Sometimes]

Poor Maria catching strays.

I was rooting for Kamilla, but happy with Kyle.

I doubt she'll be returning for Survivor, but please tell me if Star shows up anywhere else. She had one of the weirdest edits, but I do love her so.

[Lantern7]

Kyle wins, the crowd goes "meh." Eva and Joe start prepping for S50. That casting will be announced next week on CBS's morning show. When was the last time the show had anything to do with a CBS news program? I will say that the news of that announcement is probably the highlight of a blah three hours.

Glad that Kyle won. Happy that Eva's breakdowns weren't huge enough to kill Probst by making all of the blood in his body go to his shorts. Glad that Mitch feels like he accomplished something good, even if the diehard fans will blame him for not making big moves. I guess I'm happy Dave got to drink milk . . . though the masculine/feminine thing about holding the glass was pretty extra. And we should all sigh in relief that Cedrek did not fall down and bang his head on the voting stand, rendering him unable to be the only person who voted for Joe. On the bright side, no one is going to remember him or his missteps . . . starting in about three days from now.

Honestly, are the latest seasons that forgettable, or am I lazy for not wanting to devote storage space in my brain for those?

[AntFTW]

Overall, this wasn't the most entertaining season. I like sneaky and underhanded gameplay, that kind that leaves me like 😱 and makes me want to punch someone in the face.... and I don't think we got much of that this season. 

Everyone was too good and too well-behaved. Did people forget they were on a reality show? Did they forget how to do reality?

Edited Thursday at 06:09 AM by AntFTW

[Duke Silver]

Welllllll….I (and I’m sure plenty of others) are eating crow after my premature proclamation about Kyle/Kamilla “blowing it” by not taking Joe out a couple eps. ago.  Look, I’m partially gonna blame the edit here.  It sure as hell seemed like Joe/Eva (especially the former) was the shoo-in.  Let that be a lesson to me, I am reminding myself.

Congrats, Kyle.

[CraftyHazel]

I will stand proudly on my island of one, but…

I really wanted Joe to win.  This made me unhappy.

[Rodney]

Just now, CraftyHazel said:

I will stand proudly on my island of one, but…

It's going to be a very lonely island. . . .

[CraftyHazel]

18 minutes ago, Rodney said:

It's going to be a very lonely island. . . .

I’m aware.  I guess I have wishy-washy Cedric to keep me company.

[Soapy Goddess]

28 minutes ago, CraftyHazel said:

I will stand proudly on my island of one, but…

I really wanted Joe to win.  This made me unhappy.

You are not alone. I'm sure there are others hiding behind the couch 😉

[Nashville]

On a personal level I wanted a Kyle/Kamilla win, but I didn’t realize how much I’d already resigned myself to expect a Joe/Eva win until Jiffy’s vote tally started turning Kyle’s way.

In the end I kinda have to wonder, though, the degree to which Joe and Eva sitting together inflicted upon them the same sort of jury pool dilution (juror confusion, vote splitting, etc.) Kyle and Kamilla were sweating so badly at the prospect of both making F3…. 🤔

[LoveLeigh]

47 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

You are not alone. I'm sure there are others hiding behind the couch 😉

I think Joe deserved to win. 

 

1 hour ago, CraftyHazel said:

I will stand proudly on my island of one, but…

I really wanted Joe to win.  This made me unhappy.

I agree. Joe deserved to win. I am disappointed. 

[violet and green]

1 hour ago, Duke Silver said:

I (and I’m sure plenty of others) are eating crow after my premature proclamation about Kyle/Kamilla “blowing it” by not taking Joe out a couple eps. ago. 

Nup. Kyle might have won (well, he did win!) and silly Kamilla gave him her spot in the final in so many ways, but they (and I include Mary, and Mitch, and Shauhin in here) still played this season like absolute muppets.

I still think it was idiotic for them to not even attempt to break up and get out the noble cojoined twins, the challenge beast and the advantage hoover, at the first chance they got, and the second, and the one after that. It worked out okay in the end - well, for Kyle, not Kamilla - but it was still really dumb to chance that, and deeply annoying to watch.

4 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

There was the moment they flashed Eva's face when you could see her coming to the realization she had lost.

Both she and Joe looked so aghast at hearing how they'd been played by Kyle and Kamilla over Shauhin.

To her credit, Eva recovered from the realization she was not winning. Joe, my god, I thought he was going to implode or spontaneously combust in the reunion.

[30 Helens]

Until very recently, I was hoping that K/K’s stealth alliance would get them to the finals, so I should be happy, right? 

I’m not sure why I was so underwhelmed by this finale. Was it Kamilla declaring, for no good reason, that she wouldn’t take Kyle, thereby giving him a perfect excuse to not take her? (Girllll…) Was it Eva getting picked for YET ANOTHER reward meal for no real reason? Was it Joe’s totally anticlimactic jury speech (“I’m nice. I fight fires. I have kids.”)? Was it Kyle morphing from plucky underdog to cocky strategist in a single episode?

I blame the editing. Who knew Mitch was so beloved that everyone was scared to sit next to him? Who knew nobody considered Eva a real threat? Who knew everyone was just humoring Joe? All season, we’ve been fed this story of Hero Joe and his pseudo-daughter Eva, conquering the elements and overcoming fears, while oh by the way there’s this other story of a secret alliance that will eventually triumph (sort of, at least in part) but let’s not focus on that too much because oh, look, JOE! AND EVA!

I’m mad that Kamilla so easily stepped aside and cleared the way for Kyle to win, especially after the way she beasted through that challenge. (The best part of the episode, by far.) I’m disappointed that Kyle’s win, which should have made me happy, merely left me cold. I’m surprised that I’m actually kind of bummed that Joe didn’t win. 

And I predict I will have forgotten all of these people by morning. To sum up this finale/ season, in a single word: MEH.

[rhygirl720]

I didn't watch the reunion because this cast was simply not interesting enough for me to care. I'm glad Kyle beat Joe/Eva but truthfully was rooting for Kamilla. If any of these people get to play again it should be her. Kyle definitely had his moment at tribal, and it was delicious to watch the reactions. How ironic that Joe wanted a strong alliance built on honesty and loyalty and two of his allies were lying. I can't believe Eva got two votes. Just goes to show you that sympathy can go a long way.

[GenerationX]

This is the extremely rare season where I would have been OK with any of the final four winning.  I have been a fan of the Kamilla/Kyle stealth alliance all season, and last week I made the argument that Kamilla should win.

There were three key points in the finale:

1. Kamilla makes the incredible comeback to win immunity and with a clear shot at Joe, decides it's better to take out Mitch.

2. Kamilla says to the camera that she struggles with her original plan of being 100% strategic and later tells Kyle she won't take him to final 3.  This was her one mistake all season.

3. Kamilla raises her hand to speak at FTC.  There was little Eva could do (other than the Loco-motion) after ceding the floor to Kamilla.  I turned to Mrs. GenX and said "this is where Kyle wins it".  Kyle did not disappoint.  He waited for the maximum impact moment to spring the stealth alliance secret, and he got it.  Well deserved win!

[JudyObscure]

I've liked Kyle and Kamilla from the start so I'm very happy with Kyle winning.

I'm not even unhappy that Kamilla gave Kyle permission to dump her because it fits with my impression of Kamilla as the greatest person on earth!  She's brilliant, she's funny, she's kind, she has adorable smoky eyes!  I'm her super-fan.

I hate the fire challenge.  After struggling all season we have to watch two people hand their fate to the wind.  It's like a slow motion coin toss.

I am glad Cedric voted for Joe. They are both innocents who think the money should go to whoever needs it most.  You could tell Joe was thinking the crowd wouldn't give money to a lawyer or a doctor of scientific engineering who's researching the Navy (whatever she is.)  Not when they could give the money to a simple, humble man who put's my life on the line for others and has children.

Ah well.  I loved this season.  Yall quit complaining or we won't have this anymore and Survivor at it's worst is still better than most of the stuff on TV.  Plus we had those ads with Rick the goat.

 

[Haleth]

8 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I think the edit was deceiving (and I get why) about Joe/Eva, because it seemed obvious they weren't really a threat, and that's why no one had taken a shot at them.  I don't think I would have cared if Joe won, he seems like a nice guy, and frankly the others would have deserved it for not taking him out sooner.  But I'm happy with the outcome and think Kyle is very deserving. 

I agree. At first I was a bit disappointed Joe didn’t win but thinking about it from the jury’s POV they probably felt it was too easy for him. He was never seriously threatened with a boot and never had to do any scrambling. He never had to plan any “big moves” but was manipulated several times into voting out an ally. His only credits were being a challenge monster and a really good guy. Kyle was the more deserving winner for the jury.

I didn’t care enough to watch the reunion show.

4 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Plus we had those ads with Rick the goat.

Best part of the show. 

[LadyChatts]

5 hours ago, CraftyHazel said:

I will stand proudly on my island of one, but…

I really wanted Joe to win.  This made me unhappy.

I would have been fine with Joe winning.   I’m okay with Kyle winning, but this season overall was just bad.  I can’t say I would have hated a Joe win, though, and I guess Kyle lucked out that Kamilla wasn’t sitting next to him in the end (and here I thought she’d have the uphill battle), and that they were cast with people immune to making moves.  But he deserved it, and I’m just glad it wasn’t Eva.

I’ll also add if Probst actually loved this season, I doubt it had anything to do with Kyle winning and more to do with Joe and Eva.  

Edited Thursday at 12:16 PM by LadyChatts

[Chicago Redshirt]

Questions that I wish the jury had asked (or if they asked, wished TPTB had shown):

Eva, can you acknowledge that you got to FTC because people played the game with a lot of unconventional sympathy for you? If you were not gifted an idol and if Joe didn't publicly identify himself as your protector, what would you have done? Did you have a better plan to handle situations in which you were overstimmed than "Hope there's another player who will help me out?" What would you have done if Joe decided to throw you under the bus? Did you ever develop a plan to get rid of Kyle? Knowing now that Kyle and Kamila manipulated you into voting off two of your alliance mates, what's your reaction? What strong bonds did you form other than with Joe, and how did you form them? (Again, this might be editing, but it seemed rare that she talked to anyone other than Joe in a one-on-one setting, or of her own volition.) You realize that your presence in the F3 entirely is owed to Kamila's utter inability to make fire, right? (Seriously, has anyone done worse than Kamila at that?) Do you feel lucky that none of the cast was willing to try to pick on your vulnerabilities and that they generally went out of their way to support you?

Joe, why were you so willing to work with Eva at the potential risk to your own game? Do you realize how lucky you are that people didn't target you when you had not won immunity that one time? Can you reconcile the notion of playing with honor and backstabbing David and Shauhin? Why did you not fact-check with Shauhin the notion that he was flipping on you? Will you acknowledge that it is basically impossible to play this game to the end without some backstabbing and lying? 

Kyle, why did you not take on Joe or Eva earlier? What was your plan if Joe or Eva had confronted Shauhin directly about his supposed flipping? What did you do separate from Kamilla that means that you deserved the million more than her (other than she literally could not make fire)? Were there any moves that you can truly take credit for solo?

[seacliffsal]

IMO this was a horrible season.  Yes, I will watch Survivor until the bitter end, but this season was so disappointing on so many levels.  Basically, the show was so in love with Eva (and Joe) that they totally dominated the episodes and misdirected many viewers (including myself) about what the players really thought about each other.  For example: Mitch as the most beloved?  I didn't know that, because the producers didn't show me that.

I think Joe was heartbroken that his final alliance (Kyle and Eva) had been lying to him the entire time.  IMO he looked broken at the final tribal council.  However, because I am that person, I would love to know what Joe's wife told him after watching the season during which he seemed to care more about Eva than winning the game for his family.  I was dumbfounded that he told Eva he will willing to switch places at fire with her (and would have loved to see him try as I believe it's not his decision-it was Kyle's).  Also, since we all know that I'm that person, I wonder if Eva has learned to a degree that her breakdowns will lead to other people stepping in for her.  She seemed dependent on others calming her rather than her initiating self-soothing practices.  Just a thought.  

At least Shaunin admitted he had a big ego after we all heard him talk about his being the best player all season.

My biggest take-a-way?  That I really hope Jeff begins to realize that Survivor is not his failed talk show and start moving away from trying to have the most bestest and specialist after-school-episode/season of Survivor.

[violet and green]

6 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

IMO this was a horrible season. 

Agreed. It blew chunks.

After the immense frustration of watching these players allowing Joe and Eva to waltz over the top of them to the end, Kamilla basically invited Kyle to walk all over her and was grinning with excitement for him. Nice sentiment, but you are supposed to be playing to win the title of Sole Survivor and 1 million dollars. I wanted to see her fight for her spot on the final tribal, not offer it up to Kyle.

[RandyK]

This mornings cynical bitter I really disliked this seasons observations.  Mostly of last night.  
 

After Kamilla won the 5 to 4 immunity challenge (one of the good moments of the finale) and she has to painstakingly decide who to take “this person is hungry and has been fantasizing about pasta for week I’m taking my girl Eva.”  My daughter immediately blurts out “thank God it’s been nine hours since she ate.”  How Eva didn’t gain 60 lbs this season escapes 
 

Great job murdering your game Kamilla with the whole can’t take you with me Kyle. Just gross game play. 
 

I have the utmost empathy for those that have autism.  I have folks in my life that it personally impacts and it’s amazing what these folks do. That being said and I’m sorry for this but I don’t want it thrown in my face for an entire season of survivor.  The moment of practicing fire last night was brutal to watch.  

I also bailed on the after show and turned on the Knick’s game.  off topic but that was bigger than any choke ever on survivor. IYKYK

[bunnyface]

After handing the final tribal to Kyle, did anyone else kind of think Kamilla flubbed the fire just to make sure she didn't sit in final 3?  She had said many times if they sat next to each other, they would split the vote and the 3rd person would win.  So did she really give her all in the fire-making?  She shouldn't have sacrificed her game for Kyle but once having done that, I think she stuck with the outcome.  She was certainly willing to tee up Kyle for the homerun and I wonder if Kyle could have done that as effectively for her.

I don't ever like the navel gazing part of the show after the winner is announced but at least at a true reunion show, they've seen how they got snookered and outplayed and can respond to that.  In this version, they are all still thinking they are geniuses and it's just more of the same. 

Were we supposed to vote on returning players for season 50?  I got the other votes (no idols!) but I missed that one.

[Cheyanne11]

10 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

 I think he needs to tip Kamilla for setting him up to spike the argument. I don't know if they could have undermined Eva and Joe better than they did. 

I loved Kamila mouthing "I got you" when Eva was going on and on about how the Shauhin vote-out was all due to her and Joe.  Well done that!

[Chicago Redshirt]

40 minutes ago, bunnyface said:

After handing the final tribal to Kyle, did anyone else kind of think Kamilla flubbed the fire just to make sure she didn't sit in final 3?  She had said many times if they sat next to each other, they would split the vote and the 3rd person would win.  So did she really give her all in the fire-making?  She shouldn't have sacrificed her game for Kyle but once having done that, I think she stuck with the outcome.  She was certainly willing to tee up Kyle for the homerun and I wonder if Kyle could have done that as effectively for her.

I don't ever like the navel gazing part of the show after the winner is announced but at least at a true reunion show, they've seen how they got snookered and outplayed and can respond to that.  In this version, they are all still thinking they are geniuses and it's just more of the same. 

Were we supposed to vote on returning players for season 50?  I got the other votes (no idols!) but I missed that one.

You know, it hadn't occurred to me that Kamila might have tanked her firemaking. But that is -- Occam's Razor be damned -- a better explanation than her being historically(?) bad at that task. Or alternatively, she did not see getting to the finals by stepping over Eva in meltdown mode as a positive either for her prospects for winning the million or post-game life. Again, possibly bad person, but I wonder what would have happened if there was a cutthroat player who was willing to twist the knife about Eva's autism and inability to manage certain tasks. 

I do marvel at the notion that people who try out for Survivor at this point have not spent days or even weeks perfecting how to make fire with the materials that the show uses. It has demonstrated for what, 10 years, that to get to the end you are likely going to need to make fire. 

Hell, just for the day-to-day needs of warmth and cooking in the game, it would be good to know how to start and nurture a fire. 

I didn't follow the voting options but I am fairly sure the fans didn't have much if any of a voice in the cast of S50.

[Jodithgrace]

I don’t think Kamilla blew the fire challenge on purpose. She seemed genuinely panicked and was practically begging the flint to behave. She just couldn’t do it under pressure, especially when Eva got flame right away. 
I was pleasantly surprised when Kyle won. I was afraid that “hero” Joe or poor little scientist Eva would win. 
I did see that Mitch was funny and everyone seemed to love him. I think if he had made his halting speech to the jury he might have won the, let’s call it, compassion vote. I can see K&K not wanting to let him into the final. 
I thought the FTC was good. I even laughed at David’s knock knock joke after glaring daggers during  his every jury appearance. 
I agree that this wasn’t the best season, being high jacked by Joe and Eva. But I’m a survivor addict so I guess I’ll be there for season 49. 
They’re not going to bring in Boston Rob for season 50, are they? 

[Steph Sometimes]

I hope Kyle uses some of his money to get that wart looked at!

I may have missed it at the after show (wasn't giving it my full attention), but did Jeff bring up the David standing for Mary thing?

[LadyChatts]

26 minutes ago, Steph Sometimes said:

I hope Kyle uses some of his money to get that wart looked at!

I may have missed it at the after show (wasn't giving it my full attention), but did Jeff bring up the David standing for Mary thing?

 No.  He was too infatuated with asking Eva about her autism and how inspiring she was (seriously that’s all I remember him talking about).  Oh and giving David milk.  
 

 

[fishcakes]

I need to get this out of the way and then never speak of it again: Season 49 will have a player who calls himself, "Rizz God." We are very near the end of civilization.

Back to 48, my hoped-for sole survivor of Anyone But Eva won, so I'm happy enough.

I am glad it was Kyle and of the three he played the best game, but I would have been okay had it been Joe. I felt bad for him when he learned that Eva and Kyle had been lying about their real occupations. He seemed so shook and intimidated by that, even saying during FTC, "I'm just a stupid Fire Captain."

After last night's absolutely stultifying episode and reunion, it seems obvious that what we saw all season was nothing like what was happening out there during those 26 days. From the players' perspectives, Joe and Eva were not huge threats; Mitch was not the outcast he was portrayed to be; Kamilla wasn't just a passive dope. All of those narratives were crafted for the audience. Me slapping my TV: BE LESS MANUFACTURED.

4 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

You realize that your presence in the F3 entirely is owed to Kamila's utter inability to make fire, right? (Seriously, has anyone done worse than Kamila at that?)

Lord, yes:

So inept it took two clips to document it:

 

Edited Thursday at 04:48 PM by fishcakes

[Arkay]

At the beginning I really loved Joe and felt for Eva.

As time went on I got kind of sick of them.

Joe earned his immunity wins,  but he and Eva being an unbreakable duo made me think that Eva was being handed this game on a platter. Figuratively and even literally, when an advantage was tucked into her ASSIGNED seat.

 

Not disregarding Eva’s autism, but to me Mitch was more handicapped in a way. I wish he hadn’t been such a follower and had made some moves.

 

Kyle’s plan to oust  Shauhin was the winning play. We hadn’t seen very much  strategy this season.  Kamilla teed Kyle  up and he crushed it at FTC. 
 

You could see it on Joe and Eva’s faces—-they had NO clue and were outwitted.

[fishcakes]

22 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

 Oh and giving David milk.

And learning how to drink it like a man.

[Nashville]

2 hours ago, RandyK said:

After Kamilla won the 5 to 4 immunity challenge (one of the good moments of the finale) and she has to painstakingly decide who to take “this person is hungry and has been fantasizing about pasta for week I’m taking my girl Eva.”  My daughter immediately blurts out “thank God it’s been nine hours since she ate.”  How Eva didn’t gain 60 lbs this season escapes 
 

Nice to know I wasn’t the only one thinking this; I said basically the same thing to my wife.  😂

[iMonrey]

My main takeaway this season is that the editing has gotten really bad about telegraphing the outcome. I was able to tell who was going home within the first five minutes of almost every episode, just based on who was getting the narration at the top of the hour and through the rest of the episode. Oh, there's a Bianca? And suddenly she seems to be the narrator of this episode? She's going home. There's a Charity? And she's narrating this episode? She's out. Oh look, now Star is actually talking? She's a goner.

This episode was no different. It opened with Kyle bragging about his game-winning move in tricking Joe and Eva to vote out Shauhin. And he got more narration time than anyone else, and always first.

My God, it's like the editors follow some sort of paint-by-numbers format they don't think the audience is wise to. I called Kyle's win within the first five minutes (go back and check the live thread if you don't believe me). Followed by two hours and fifty five minutes watching what I already knew would happen, happen.

On top of that, something has to be done about the challenges. I'm so sick of the endless obstacle course + puzzle challenges, it's the same damn thing every stinking week. This is another area where the show seems to have settled into format, as though there was some sort of focus group or outside consultant telling the show this is what the audience wants. 

And enough with the mud. It's disgusting, it isn't funny or interesting, it makes it hard to tell who's who, and it doesn't make them look all tough and primal like the show thinks it does. If the show really wants the players to look primal they should stop serving them elaborate feasts every other day and go back to making them subsist on rice and, I don't know, fishing for themselves. The way the players ooh and aah and moan and groan every time Jeff describes the latest feast that awaits them defies belief. Does the show think we just tuned in this week? Some of these people are still full from the last meal. It just makes them look like spoiled children.

Finally, I agree that "new era" Survivor is soft. It's soft in terms of gameplay, it's soft in terms of strategy and cutthroat moves, and it's soft in terms of deprivation. I remember when players looked emaciated and filthy by the time final tribal council rolled around. Now they look just as healthy and clean as the first day they arrived. I swear they go through hair, makeup and wardrobe before every tribal council.

This is not the Survivor we got hooked on. This is Survivor Lite. And it's unsatisfying. 

Edited Thursday at 04:51 PM by iMonrey

[blackwing]

Congrats to Kyle.  I admit that I was fooled by the editing, I was sure that bringing Joe and Eva to the final three was a mistake.  It was definitely a risk. 

I felt bad for Kamilla when the cast was polled and she would have been the runaway winner.  But that's what happens when you are in a tight two person alliance.  As Chrissy said, "only one of youse can win".  But she couldn't get it done.  Kudos to her for winning the Final 5 immunity.  Yet why did she pick Eva and feed her?  Especially after she had just complained the day before about Shauhin feeding Joe?  I guess it's because she didn't think Eva was a threat.

I loved the moment in FTC when Eva was taking credit for engineering the Shauhin boot, and Kammy is on the jury bench mouthing "I got you" to Kyle.  That was a beautiful moment.  The sting of losing fire the night before was undoubtedly still fresh in her mind, and yet she unequivocally supported her longtime alliance mate.  You see, Maria Shrime Gonzalez?  That is a true partner.  Kammy had every right to have sour grapes like Maria did and cast a vote against her #1, but she didn't.  

In past seasons, winning lots of challenges definitely counts for a lot in FTC.  Joe's issue was that he was just very inarticulate.  He sat there dumbstruck as Kyle and even Eva ran rings around him.  He did a terrible job of advocating for himself and even admitted "I'm just a dumb fireman".

On the beach on the last day when he was lying down between Eva and Kyle while they revealed how smart they were, he was just flabbergasted and shocked.  I laughed when he said "I'm just a f*cking fire chief!"  His lack of articulation coupled with the fact that he really couldn't point to anything he really did in the game does seem to indicate why Kyle and Kamilla were not concerned about Joe being in the final 3.  Seems like a super nice and great guy, but apparently not a threat at all.

I blame the editors on this one.  For the past several weeks I've been thinking that Kyle kept Joe because of their "I'm Black, you're Black" moment on the beach.  Now we find out it's because Kyle never really considered either Eva or Joe a final three threat.  The threats in his mind were Kamilla, because they played the same game, and Mitch, because everyone likes him and would vote for him because of his stutter.

I did feel a little bad for Joe.  As he said, he's just a fireman and he was trying to win so he can provide for his family.  Kyle and Eva are both younger than him and more educated and more accomplished so have more earnings potential.  But as always, Survivor is not a charity.  If Joe makes it to Season 50 I wonder how he would adjust his gameplay.  He would need to be more strategic and not get involved in an open pairing because I think people would be on to him right away.

13 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

But yeesh, what a snooze fest of a finale.  Kyle's a deserving winner, though I wasn't as excited about him as I would have been a few weeks ago.  He and Kamilla seemed too cocky, but it was slightly amusing that they torpedoed the very arguments Eva was making (and Eva was unintentionally propping him up).  I think she thought she had it in the bag.  I really didn't think she'd get 2 votes, and wasn't even sure she'd get any until she did most of the talking at TC (that's usually a dead giveaway that whoever does the least talking at FTC is out of the vote).  I do think Eva got coddled more than she realized this season, and lucked out in so many ways.  She really didn't have to do anything and just seemed overconfident that everything was going to go her way at every vote.

I really thought for a minute Joe or Kyle was going to go to fire in place of Eva.

Loved the look on Joe's face when Eva and Kyle revealed what they really do for a living. 

Chrissy was clearly wanting some drama at the FTC and Eva/Joe didn't do enough to throw the other under the bus.  

Can't say I felt sorry for Mitch, he had plenty of opportunities to make moves and didn't take them.  I'm just sad he outlasted Mary and Star.  And because I can't say it enough, #justiceforStar.  Why were they hiding her all season?  I was more entertained by her tonight than I was by anyone else in the cast! 

Where was this Eva the entire season?  Eva did step up and was making good arguments for herself, even if at least one of them was "I am autistic and unlike anyone that has played before, vote for me and you will make history".  She tried to advocate for herself and showed that she has a very strategic mind.  Where was all this strategy the entire season?  Why did we see an Eva that just sat on her throne as Prom Queen and waited for others like Shauhin to dictate where the vote was going?

12 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I’m just glad Eva did not win. She didn’t really do anything in the game, I mean she was literally handed the Idol. Her whole pitch to the jury was “Vote for me because I’m autistic.”  🙄

Despite her best efforts in FTC, I feel like this episode really highlighted why she shouldn't win.  Too emotional, too fragile.  I get that it's because of her autism but still.  When she failed at the moving balls challenge, she immediately sat down and broke down and started sobbing.  Granted, the jury wouldn't have seen that.  But at the fire making, she was full blown panicking and practically crying because her fire was diminishing.  Crying because her fire was going out?  That's not a winner.  I hope the jury took note.  Nonetheless, Star and Mary voted for her precisely because "What a woman!  She's autistic and amazing!"

 

10 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Kyle wins, the crowd goes "meh." Eva and Joe start prepping for S50. That casting will be announced next week on CBS's morning show. When was the last time the show had anything to do with a CBS news program? I will say that the news of that announcement is probably the highlight of a blah three hours.

Glad that Kyle won. Happy that Eva's breakdowns weren't huge enough to kill Probst by making all of the blood in his body go to his shorts. Glad that Mitch feels like he accomplished something good, even if the diehard fans will blame him for not making big moves. I guess I'm happy Dave got to drink milk . . . though the masculine/feminine thing about holding the glass was pretty extra. And we should all sigh in relief that Cedrek did not fall down and bang his head on the voting stand, rendering him unable to be the only person who voted for Joe. On the bright side, no one is going to remember him or his missteps . . . starting in about three days from now.

Honestly, are the latest seasons that forgettable, or am I lazy for not wanting to devote storage space in my brain for those?

I really don't think either of Joe and Eva should make Survivor 50.  Joe will get eaten alive by people who know his game.  If he made it, he should be an immediate boot at individual immunity.  I don't know if I can tolerate another season of Very Special Eva and the weekly "teaching moments" by Jeffy.  This isn't Mister Roger's Neighbourhood, Jeffy.  Sit down.

 

3 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Questions that I wish the jury had asked (or if they asked, wished TPTB had shown):

Eva, can you acknowledge that you got to FTC because people played the game with a lot of unconventional sympathy for you? If you were not gifted an idol and if Joe didn't publicly identify himself as your protector, what would you have done? Did you have a better plan to handle situations in which you were overstimmed than "Hope there's another player who will help me out?" What would you have done if Joe decided to throw you under the bus? Did you ever develop a plan to get rid of Kyle? Knowing now that Kyle and Kamila manipulated you into voting off two of your alliance mates, what's your reaction? What strong bonds did you form other than with Joe, and how did you form them? (Again, this might be editing, but it seemed rare that she talked to anyone other than Joe in a one-on-one setting, or of her own volition.) You realize that your presence in the F3 entirely is owed to Kamila's utter inability to make fire, right? (Seriously, has anyone done worse than Kamila at that?) Do you feel lucky that none of the cast was willing to try to pick on your vulnerabilities and that they generally went out of their way to support you?

Joe, why were you so willing to work with Eva at the potential risk to your own game? Do you realize how lucky you are that people didn't target you when you had not won immunity that one time? Can you reconcile the notion of playing with honor and backstabbing David and Shauhin? Why did you not fact-check with Shauhin the notion that he was flipping on you? Will you acknowledge that it is basically impossible to play this game to the end without some backstabbing and lying? 

Kyle, why did you not take on Joe or Eva earlier? What was your plan if Joe or Eva had confronted Shauhin directly about his supposed flipping? What did you do separate from Kamilla that means that you deserved the million more than her (other than she literally could not make fire)? Were there any moves that you can truly take credit for solo?

These are great questions.  I do wonder what kind of game Eva would have played had she not glommed on to Joe fairly quickly, and gotten brought in to David's Strong Five mostly because of her connection to Joe.

I particularly hated how she took credit for all of her advantages, and didn't even acknowledge Star.  That immunity idol that Star gave her must have had a huge role in keeping her safe, everyone knew she had it and also were afraid of being the "mean person" who would be viewed as targeting the autistic woman.

I am dumbfounded as to why Joe didn't flat out ask Shauhin if he had an idol.  Usually on this show, when A goes running to B and says "OMG I heard that C is going to take you out", 95% of the time, B goes right back running to C and says "WTF man, this is what A is saying about you".  Why didn't that happen?  Is it because Joe was too honourable and played the game truthfully and didn't lie?  There was so much made about Joe having this slow-motion lie detector power at that tribal council.  In retrospect, maybe the slow-motion voices just meant to signal utter confusion.

 

2 hours ago, bunnyface said:

After handing the final tribal to Kyle, did anyone else kind of think Kamilla flubbed the fire just to make sure she didn't sit in final 3?  She had said many times if they sat next to each other, they would split the vote and the 3rd person would win.  So did she really give her all in the fire-making?  She shouldn't have sacrificed her game for Kyle but once having done that, I think she stuck with the outcome.  She was certainly willing to tee up Kyle for the homerun and I wonder if Kyle could have done that as effectively for her.

I don't ever like the navel gazing part of the show after the winner is announced but at least at a true reunion show, they've seen how they got snookered and outplayed and can respond to that.  In this version, they are all still thinking they are geniuses and it's just more of the same. 

Were we supposed to vote on returning players for season 50?  I got the other votes (no idols!) but I missed that one.

I very much doubt that Kamilla sacrificed herself on purpose.  She really wanted to make it to the end.  As we saw with the show of hands, she would have won.  Perhaps there is a situation where she and Kyle split votes that would have opened the door for Joe to win, but Joe's terrible FTC performance seems to have shown that wouldn't have happened.  

I don't think we got to vote on who was returning.  I know for Second Chances (Season 31), there was a fan vote.  Carolyn Rivera, who had just lost Worlds Apart to Mike Holloway, seemed to think she was a shoo-in and I cackled when it was obvious that people didn't like her.

From this season, I think I would only bring back Kamilla, because she is amazing and deserves a second shot, and Star, because she is hilarious and got a raw deal.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE no Eva and no Mitch!

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

Oh and giving David milk.  

54 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

And learning how to drink it like a man.

I'm still trying to decide if he was trying to be funny or not.  But apparently women drink beverages like 99% of people do, the normal way.  But "real men" hold the glass with their elbows parallel to the ground?  Huh?  So they can air out their sweaty armpits?  I truly don't get it.  Never seen anyone drink any beverages that way, except for my mind imagining what I think is the stereotypical "I'm trying to be elegant" person at a British high tea.

[SummerDreams]

Phew I'm so relieved that Eva or Joe didn't win. It was ironic seeing misogynistic Eva getting second place being voted by two women.

That's it folks, see most of you on July for BB. 😊

Edited Thursday at 05:22 PM by SummerDreams

[Arkay]

Farewell to Survivor: Kumbaya.

Although I already hate some of the players in the preview for 49.