S29.E07: Million Dollar Decision

[Bryce Lynch]

I

 

I also did laugh over Jeremy's whinging about being the first one out of the challenge. That was pretty embarrassing. Of course he had to be that guy and harp on how he gotten beaten by an old guy and a mom. 

 

 

I enjoyed Jeremy mocking himself for losing to the old guy, Mom, etc.  It made him a bit more likable.  Doing so poorly in the immunity challenge could actually help him, as other might see him of less of a threat than they originally thought and not look to vote him out so quickly. 

[Daisy]

Yea really. And again, I don't give a shit if people quit, but Probst usually tries to shame people into believing they're monsters who belong in Hell when they quit, and yet Julie got none of that. If Probst's crush on Rocker wasn't obvious before ..

 

And someone needs to put together a highlight reel of Probst's prior reactions to people quitting the show. In my recollection, he always showed disdain for quitting even when people were in really bad shape mentally. Nothing like the way he treated her. 

 

 

To be fair - and this is really hard because I hate  Probst (hehe) - he's been really gentle on quitters for a while now. The last time he lambasted a quitter was actually the last time they were in Nicaragua. And to me I think 1/2 the reason why he exploded was that two people quit, with what? 6-9 days left to play in the game - NaOnka still had her idol, if I remember properly, and it was very much "oh i made it this far, and I'm on the jury so now i don't have to do anything else." that was what got his goat.

 

Since then, other people who have quit (again the girl who had the flu in Penner's third season), Lindsay (the dreads girl), and others who have quit, called Probst, sat down and Probst went all  Dr. Phill on them and let them go. (then explained it to the tribe all nice and sweetly). so this isn't a Rocker crush thing, this is the new Jeff Probst thing - but it went from this:

Osten: "screw you dude, go home"

Janu (people still debate if Jeff pushed this to allow Stephanie to stay 3 more days)

to this big drop to the last few drop offs where it's "I get this game is really tough, AND they get time at the reunion." 

 

I wonder too if it's indicative to who applied vs. who was recruited. If you applied, Jeff roasts you, if you were recruited it's more of 'sorry, my bad." 

[mojoween]

When Missy was doing one of her interviews it appeared that she was wearing her bikin and cowboy boots, which is an odd enough sartorial choice but didn't distract me from seeing how absolutely gross her knees are with the scabs and scratches. That is why I could never do Survivor. Well, also that I am not a good swimmer, hate seafood and would never eat a bug. Otherwise I would do great!

I thought I heard Julie say that people were making comments about her boobs, and if so, I kind of don't blame her. I mean, that's just fricking rude to do to someone's face, or even behind their back loud enough for them to hear you.

I don't mind that they didn't to go TC. Why should someone else have to get bounced because she couldn't hack it?

Edited November 6, 2014 by mojoween

[peachmangosteen]

Ah, you're right, Daisy. He has been pretty easy on quitters since Naonka/Purple Kelly. Still, this one felt different to me because we know Probst himself wanted Rocker on.

 

If his reaction does indeed have to do with recruits vs. applicants, I kinda agree with him. Which makes me sick! I still don't care if applicants quit (do we know if any of the quitters were fans?), but when recruits do it bothers me even less. Especially in Julie's case.

 

Which reminds me, the one thing about Jon that I do like is that he seems to be quite a fan. He was mocking Kat's "Who wants to date someone who doesn't even make the merge," quote in this ep and I think he's brought up some other funny quotes/moments before. It's cute.

Edited November 6, 2014 by peachmangosteen

[iMonrey]

 

While I hate it when someone quits, at the same time I wish Jeff would take this as a wake up call to STOP casting this show with people recruited to play specific roles. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people out there who'd love to play this game, but their video submissions are a waste of time. Every single person on this show is recruited to play a role.

 

What a difference it makes when a recruited contestant quits, because Jeff does not usually shy away from shaming them in front of the rest of the cast. In this case, though, he can't very well say "Don't you know there are millions of people out there who would kill for this opportunity?" when he knows damn well they ignored every one of those millions and went out and recruited a celebrity and his girlfriend, and this is what they got for their trouble. I thought Julie was disproportionally glad-handled versus some past quitters who were forced to go to tribal council and quit in front of everyone else and shamed for it.

 

There was something odd about the editing in this one, probably because they had a hard time stringing together any kind of narrative that would fill an essentially irrelevant episode. Josh's pitch seemed to be (according to his TH) that there were eight couples and four singles and the simplest thing to do would be for the eight couples to vote together until they're down to that eight. That gives them four tribals before they have to make any tough choices. Yet, his pitch to Jaclyn and Jon was "Jeremy is a fire fighter, if he makes it to the end he will win. Me and Reed are the safer choice, nobody will give us a million dollars."

 

Then after the IC, Wes sort of threw the same pitch out there, suggesting all eight couples vote as an alliance, and the editing made it seem like this was Jon's epiphany that made him go to Jaclyn and say he wanted to switch sides. Only - they weren't doing the eight couple thing. Missy and Baylor were still with Jeremy, and Josh and Reed had Alec, a single. So I'm not sure what the actual reasoning was here.

[fishcakes]

From Julie's CBS cast bio:

 

Reason for Being on SURVIVOR: The experience and for the possibilities of future Survivor shows. I would love to compete more than once.

 

Or, you know, less than once.

 

I don't care if people quit either, and hoarding trail mix is something I absolutely would have done myself, particularly around all those rice-grubbing animals, but she really lost me with the, "they hate me because I'm beautiful" speech, not to mention her constant need to refer to "my boyfriend John." Every time she said it, I'd hear Elaine Benes in my head saying, "maybe the dingo ate your boyfriend John."

 

So far, I'm mostly indifferent to everyone in the cast until they say or do something that makes me actively hate them. With Josh, it was his genuine confusion that Baylor doesn't appreciate him saving her, which (a) he never did, and (b) even if he had, it would have been because it was good for his own game not because of her. I can't stand it when people are egotistical enough to believe their own press. Then there's stupid trashy Missy and her, "Baylor had to watch me make mistakes in life." See, but no. Baylor had to live with your mistakes and suffer the consequences. She wasn't some uninvolved third party. Jon and Jaclyn are currently working my last nerve with their belief in their own power-couple status; Jon has obviously watched the game before and yet doesn't understand that the swing vote is always fodder. And Alec is Alec.

 

Just because he gets no airtime whatsoever, I think I might be rooting for Wes and his squashy looking head.

Edited November 6, 2014 by fishcakes

[Guest]

I would like it if the quitters had to pay back the cost of the show flying them out there.  I know the show drills into them exactly how hard it is and they swear they can hack it, in order to be picked over the next hopeful.  

 

I do think actual superfans would value the experience more, quit less and go in more prepared.  Would they be as cute as Julie or as controversial as John R?  No.

 

Quitters screw up the game.  That's probably why they named this 'million dollar decision'.  Julie wouldn't have won it regardless but her decision screwed her alliance and screwed up the ones who wanted Jeremy out this week.  

 

Tribal councils aren't the most exciting end to an episode but they beat watching a whiner quit.  

 

If I was going to hoard food, I'd hoard it in my belly, not my bag.  

 

And boo to DirecTV for the episode description that gave away the ending.  

Edited November 6, 2014 by Guest

[terxav]

I did not understand the Julie hoarding trail mix, there was the feast, then people took food for later and then all the leftovers were eaten and then someone remembered "hey there was some trail mix" .  And proceeded to search all the bags, what is Keith had left the idol in a bag, I hate when tribe members search through other peoples's bags.

 

If that is allowed then why not let the contestants search each other whenever they feel like it?  "Turn your pockets inside out, take off your socks, hey are your hiding something in your bra?"

 

If the tribe decided to gather food for later, then should there be a ration portion?  I mean if Julie did not eat any other left over food, then the trial mix would be her portion.   If there were vegetarians in the group and everyone was eating steaks, to have people come back an want to eat the leftover veggies after munching down the steak.

 

The way the whole tribe just ate the trail mix at the same time, was everyone starving?  Or did they feel like consuming "all the food".  But there should still be rice, so where is the urgency?

 

Alex is an idiot, "i am just telling the truth"  - the truth is you are stupid and so is your brother.

[Bryce Lynch]

I did not understand the Julie hoarding trail mix, there was the feast, then people took food for later and then all the leftovers were eaten and then someone remembered "hey there was some trail mix" .  And proceeded to search all the bags, what is Keith had left the idol in a bag, I hate when tribe members search through other peoples's bags.

 

If that is allowed then why not let the contestants search each other whenever they feel like it?  "Turn your pockets inside out, take off your socks, hey are your hiding something in your bra?"

 

If the tribe decided to gather food for later, then should there be a ration portion?  I mean if Julie did not eat any other left over food, then the trial mix would be her portion.   If there were vegetarians in the group and everyone was eating steaks, to have people come back an want to eat the leftover veggies after munching down the steak.

 

The way the whole tribe just ate the trail mix at the same time, was everyone starving?  Or did they feel like consuming "all the food".  But there should still be rice, so where is the urgency?

 

Alex is an idiot, "i am just telling the truth"  - the truth is you are stupid and so is your brother.

 

Great point about the bag search.  What if they had found an immunity idol in her bag?  Would that be fair game to steal?  Even if they couldn't steal it, she would have lost the element of surprise with it, which is a huge part of the value of a HII. 

 

Couldn't they have waited until she returned, confronted her and demand to see the contents of her bag?  If she refused, they would know she was probably hoarding the trail mix.

 

As I said before, I really wish we had more information about whether she was really "hoarding" or "stealing" food, or if she had wisely saved some of her fair share, rather than scarfing it down like hogs, like the rest of the tribe. 

Edited November 6, 2014 by GenL

[Daisy]

Peachmangosteen: I know, right? Seriously, defending Jeff -or worse - seeing his point of view makes me feel dirty. lol. 

 

I think something that Julie could have/should have used in her defense - is that she saved it because she was on the tribe that had zero food. Period. 1/2 the merged team has everyone who thinks having huge bowls of rice is okay on a show where food is scarce. that alone, would make me want to make sure when there was food given and there was no rule that you couldn't save any -that i saved some. 

And i think this  is what is bothering me. Everyone kept saying that Julie was hoarding/stealing food. 

 

Why? how was she 'hoarding' food. How is this different from people finding coconuts and having them on the fly? Or finding a fruit tree and sneaking out?  This wasn't Kel and the Beef Jerky, this wasn't Amazon and the Granola Bar - Julie didn't bring this outside of the game to eat. They were all eating the food - and again, this part is escaping me so i'll def. have to re-watch this, but unless people stated "we should save this food and have it ALL for later - therefore, it is still everyone's, and Julie then decided to take several handfuls and keep it for herself? then sure, that's wrong. (it still doesn't gives them the right to go through their bags -and I don't get why this is still allowed). 

But if they were all eating, and Julie didn't eat a lot, or portioned it for herself to have for later - then that's just thinking smart. Just because big loud mouth jerk (who was that? it was ... Alex? Drew's brother?) wanted trail mix, and had it in his head that someone (rightly) took some -doesn't justify everyone taking it from her bag and eating it. And that's probably why I'd never be on that show, because I would have channeled my inner Alicia and waved fingers in people's faces. Instead of confronting Julie and saying "what's up?" or saying that we should ALL eat this  together. Not - find it, decide to eat huge handfuls of it, then be so freaking passive aggressive about it, instead of bringing it up. 

[peachmangosteen]

Great point about the bag search.  What if they had found an immunity idol in her bag?  Would that be fair game to steal?  Even if they couldn't steal it, she would have lost the element of surprise with it, which is a huge part of the value of a HII. 

 

It seems to be within the rules to go through people's bags. One time, I forget what season, some people went through someone's bag and find the idol. Oh and Lisa Welchel was going through Malcom's stuff once and found the idol. Now, they were not allowed to take it from the bag. Which made me think that going through bags is OK, but taking something from a bag is not. But they took the trail mix out of Julie's bag, so I guess there aren't any rules or the rules are loose.

 

I hope we get the full story on the trail mix. The editing made it very hard understand. I do know that someone saw Julie put trail mix in her bag at the merge feast, so at least one person knew it was Julie who had it, so I don't know why they were all acting like it was some mystery. Also, it seemed like, from what Julie was saying, they all took some food for themselves and she just decided to keep some trail mix back and not eat everything right away, which apparently everyone else did. But then them all acting like she's a selfish devil makes no sense. 

Edited November 6, 2014 by peachmangosteen

[SHOgirl]

I just feel so bad for Julie. She's struggled all of her life because she's beautiful and takes care of herself. I'm not sure how I can watch the show without hearing her say boyfriend continually.

I found it interesting that her "take care of herself" comment was while she was speaking about her breasts. You take care of you breasts by getting mammograms and doing self-exams, not by mutilating yourself for attention, vanity or due to a lack of self-esteem or for whatever reason women voluntarily go under the knife. You want to take care of yourself? Go for a walk and eat some broccoli.

[Nashville]

I'm not sure 'The Millers' qualifies as comedy.

With you on that.  The only thing which triggers a quicker reflex of the finger on my remote's mute button are those dumbass Sonic ads.

[Daisy]

It seems to be within the rules to go through people's bags. One time, I forget what season, some people went through someone's bag and find the idol. Oh and Liza Welchel was going through Malcom's stuff once and found the idol. Now, they were not allowed to take it from the bag. Which made me think that going through bags is OK, but taking something from a bag is not. But they took the trail mix out of Julie's bag, so I guess there aren't any rules or the rules are loose.

 

I hope we get the full story on the trail mix. The editing made it very hard understand. I do know that someone saw Julie put trail mix in her bag at the merge feast, so at least one person knew it was Julie who had it, so I don't know why they were all acting like it was some mystery. Also, it seemed like, from what Julie was saying, they all took some food for themselves and she just decided to keep some trail mix back and not eat everything right away, which apparently everyone else did. But then them all acting like she's a selfish devil makes no sense. 

 

Liza was doing Malcolm's laundry and the idol was in his pocket. 

but yeah. everyone (pretty much since Tina/Jerri) has been searching through bags and clothing to search what they want to get. 

 

I'm assuming since it's food - it's moot. like it doesn't 'impact the game' but you can't steal the idol, which has been stated from the first. 

[Nashville]

Keith deserved better.   What a waste of an episode, to go through an hour of game play and have someone quit.  TPTB still should have found a way to boot someone.  Heck, I could think of four people they could have booted that night and I wouldn't have batted an eyelash.

 

That one actually surprised me somewhat. DORs don't normally result in skipping TC, do they? I'm certain I recall a couple of doubleheader evictions on that account....

As someone said above,  there had to be a better way than to roast those crabs alive like that,

They have a pot, they have water, and they have a fire. Hello...?

[peachmangosteen]

I'm assuming since it's food - it's moot. like it doesn't 'impact the game' but you can't steal the idol, which has been stated from the first. 

 

I wonder if they'd be allowed to steal someone's clothes from their bag? I would think not, but then they let Russell burn socks, so who knows. I'm gonna go with 'the rules are loose and we get to do whatever we want based on what we think will make the show interesting.'

[Guest]

People have been hiding their idols out in the wilderness.  I think bags have always been open season.  Though I'm pretty sure they can't steal idols.  Though apparently based on last season(?) they can steal clues to idols from others' belongings.  

 

I didn't think Julie was talking about her boobs with "I take care of myself", just her physique overall.  As in extreme thinness, really.  But the boobs were point 2.   

[peachmangosteen]

I'd like to know if anyone really was making comments about Julie's boobs like she said. Because that really says way more about whomever was doing that than it does about her. And honestly I can easily see Drew and Alec being assholes like that.

[Bryce Lynch]

 

That one actually surprised me somewhat. DORs don't normally result in skipping TC, do they? I'm certain I recall a couple of doubleheader evictions on that account....

They have a pot, they have water, and they have a fire. Hello...?

I thought in the past they would have a TC even after a quitter left.  Could have something to do with the TV schedule.  Maybe, based upon how they scheduled the episodes,  they would be short an episode if they had 2 eliminations this week?

[Turtle]

Jon is really annoying.  He makes so many loud, unfunny comments, that he thinks are funny, can't seem to choose a side, and rambles on about them being a "power couple".  Being a "power couple" or "deciding vote" after a merge doesn't mean you are anything special.  It means that, so far, you haven't played the game well enough to form any solid alliances.​

 

 

And Jon seems to have no idea that being seen as a "power" anything also makes you a target - they'll use you to get out a couple of folks, and then turn on you.  Especially with the way it seems that J&J are bouncing back and forth, which has the potential to piss everyone off.  

[Guest]

I'd like to know if anyone really was making comments about Julie's boobs like she said. Because that really says way more about whomever was doing that than it does about her. And honestly I can easily see Drew and Alec being assholes like that.

I can, too.  And if she annoyed people overall by acting superior, which she kind of seemed to, I can see Baylor and Missy and really anyone "going there".  And I don't think it's right but I do think when you pay to have a body shaped like a Xbox character, you have to expect a lot of that.  

I thought in the past they would have a TC even after a quitter left.  Could have something to do with the TV schedule.  Maybe, based upon how they scheduled the episodes,  they would be short an episode if they had 2 eliminations this week?

 

I think there are seasons where they started with like 22 people, to help them not have their schedule so screwed by quitters.  But this season only had 18, so I don't think they built in any cushion for it here and had to make her the only one leaving this week.  

[Daisy]

I wonder if they'd be allowed to steal someone's clothes from their bag? I would think not, but then they let Russell burn socks, so who knows. I'm gonna go with 'the rules are loose and we get to do whatever we want based on what we think will make the show interesting.'

This is true. I'm pretty sure going in there is the Big Three:

1: You can't conspire to share/split the money. (which severely got bent when Rob/Amber got married -but i think that was totally unexpected and what?  10+ years later, and 4 kids, and 2 mill between the two of them that was a big poo pooh)

 

2: You can't hit anyone

3: You can not steal the idol/it has to be 'registered' so to speak. (ie: you can't just 'sneaky pass it over, you have to like declare on camera i'm giving it to you, and then hand it off, I don't even think you can say "I hid it here, you go get it)

anything else is up for grabs depending on how it spills. (one thing I remember from a Survivor DVD, Jeff said if it isn't in their packet, and Jeff doesn't say it -don't ask. Because then production/Jeff has to make a decision, and it will more than likely not go the way you want it to go). 

. 

People have been hiding their idols out in the wilderness.  I think bags have always been open season.  Though I'm pretty sure they can't steal idols.  Though apparently based on last season(?) they can steal clues to idols from others' belongings.  

 

I didn't think Julie was talking about her boobs with "I take care of myself", just her physique overall.  As in extreme thinness, really.  But the boobs were point 2.   

 

Yeah - I think people have been doing that because it's hard to hide an idol on your person because it's open season. But the thing we haven't seen yet -  someone finding a 'claimed' HII. (please let this happen soon). 

 

 

I'd like to know if anyone really was making comments about Julie's boobs like she said. Because that really says way more about whomever was doing that than it does about her. And honestly I can easily see Drew and Alec being assholes like that.

 

yeup. Drew and Alec seem like the type. 

[truthaboutluv]

Liza was doing Malcolm's laundry and the idol was in his pocket.

 

 

No, she decided on her own to do everyone's laundry and went through his bags for anything he needed washed and found the idol. And then she proceeded to out him at Tribal Council after getting all teary and apologetic when she found it and telling him she didn't mean to see it. 

Edited November 6, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[leighdear]

Does Keith get to keep his immunity for next TC, if his team loses?  I missed that part.  Actually, I should know the answer, but I don't. 

[Nashville]

I think the reason that little pile of trail mix meant so much is that they all brought bits of food back, pooled it for everyone and ate it together.  If she took part in that and didn't contribute her own stuff then that's just wrong.  Not that anyone needed Reed's mean-girl remarks to get it.  Josh can do better, pretty eyes or not.

That's the big question, isn't it - whether any such pooling occurred?  It may have happened, but I missed it if it made it through the edit.  And IIRC Julie made a specific statement earlier in that part of the episode (before she left camp and they found her stash) about other people having also brought back food, but had already gobbled down what they brought and were scrounging for more.

 

I know, a definite "consider the source" is in play here; if this were a specific bone of contention, however - and this episode certainly played it up as such - then shouldn't the edit have revealed which story was the truth?

• Julie's contention - other people were also hoarding, and played a phony self-righteous card after depleting their own stores to justify raiding hers.
• Other tribe members - Julie was the only one doing the hoarding.

 

We were definitely shown multiple people grabbing every scrap of food they could carry before leaving the merge banquet, so the only question remaining is - did they share? 

 

Production definitely fell down on the job in terms of their edit on this episode.

[fishcakes]

Does Keith get to keep his immunity for next TC, if his team loses?  I missed that part.  Actually, I should know the answer, but I don't.

 

They didn't say. I hope he gets to keep his immunity and sit out the next challenge and maybe get to eat a burger while everyone else is competing. In related news, I don't understand why I have a soft spot for Keith. He's as boring as the rest of them.

Edited November 6, 2014 by fishcakes

[Guest]

 

 

Yeah - I think people have been doing that because it's hard to hide an idol on your person because it's open season. But the thing we haven't seen yet -  someone finding a 'claimed' HII. (please let this happen soon). 

 

 

 

I agree that's why they hide them.  I don't think we'll see anyone finding a hidden one, though.  I think if it does happen, the player is instructed to leave it and the owner to re-hide it.  I'm guessing but I think that'd make the most sense.  

[meep.meep]

While I hate it when someone quits, at the same time I wish Jeff would take this as a wake up call to STOP casting this show with people recruited to play specific roles. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people out there who'd love to play this game, but their video submissions are a waste of time. Every single person on this show is recruited to play a role. Rocker was brought in to stir the pot and cause controversy, yet he's gone in the third episode with an idol on his pocket. I want to see every day people who have years of video submissions to prove that they've been trying to get on since the first season aired. I personally know someone who had a very nice professional video made and he's still waiting after 12 years of trying.

But true fan players have quit.  There's no guarantee.  This was the most calculated quit I've ever seen.  She wan't sick, she had had one bad night.  Why not ask to be voted out?

 

Cooking the crab - you don't kill them before you boil them either.  Sorry.  The tender hearted sometimes put them in the freezer first.  Not an option here.

[Bryce Lynch]

Does Keith get to keep his immunity for next TC, if his team loses?  I missed that part.  Actually, I should know the answer, but I don't. 

Good question, though there are no teams anymore.  You could argue that he deserves a TC with immunity for winning the challenge.  It could also be argued that he didn't face elimination and Julie is now gone and he doesn't get to keep it.

 

If they do let him keep it, would they do an immunity challenge and have Keith and the winner BOTH have immunity?  That could be fun and really shake things up.  Keith also has a HII, right?  He could really pull a power play at the next TC if one his allies wins and he controls 2 immunity idols himself. 

[truthaboutluv]

I doubt Keith will get automatic immunity next week and I don't think he should. His winning immunity only guaranteed him not getting voted off at Tribal Council. Therefore Julie leaving or not leaving was never going to affect Keith because he was not going to get voted off period. So he didn't get to go to Tribal and see someone else voted off, how does that diminish his immunity win exactly? The point is someone did go home, she just went willingly as opposed to being voted out. if anything I imagine Keith didn't care one way or the other about the whole thing because again, he was the one person who knew no matter what, he wasn't going to get voted off.

Edited November 6, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[Guest]

Since even Julie questioned the ethics of her hoarding, I'm thinking her tribe had reason to believe the saved food was gone and that they'd shared it all.  

[ElleryAnne]

This was the most calculated quit I've ever seen.  She wan't sick, she had had one bad night.  Why not ask to be voted out?

 

 

Asking to be voted out would be weaker.  It's like saying, "I don't want to be here, but I'm putting my fate in your hands to help me leave."   At least by quitting, she chose the more active/less passive way out.

[Jobiska]

I wish I knew which of the women it was who, upon approaching the folks painting "#HUYOPA" on the merge flag, said something like "you aren't seriously putting a hashtag on it?"  I thought it sounded like Baylor, and if it was, that makes me like her even more.

As far as Keith's immunity necklace, I don't think he was cheated--he got the exact same outcome from Julie's quitting that he would have gotten if he had gone to TC--he was safe, and/or anyone he might have given it to (Wes) to keep them safe was also safe without his intervention.  And he still has the glory of having won the first individual immunity/having the first one chalked up in the event of an immunity run (not likely, but who knows?).   

This is the second episode in which a man has said as if it were almost too obvious to worth noting that a woman was in the wrong to eat as large a serving as a man (this time, I think Wes said it, and it was said about Julie). "The smallest woman here blah blah blah."  Now, sure, on average a larger person and a more muscular person needs more daily calories to maintain whatever they want to maintain (weight, energy).  But you never know--individual metabolisms can vary, someone may be putting out more effort and therefore more calories in camp tasks, etc.  To me the only fair way to figure out food at camp would be that each person gets an equal portion of whatever it is, and if they don't want it all then their extra can be apportioned to the rest.  I'd be irate if I were on Survivor and someone told me "you're a woman, so therefore of course you get a smaller portion."  I know this isn't in the official rules, but to me it should be in most tribes' ethical rules.  It bugs me more because last week a different man implied it about a different woman (I'm almost certain--it could have been in an exit interview or something, but I think it was broadcast).

Along the same lines, I am guessing that even if nothing was spoken, the assumption was that everything scavenged from the merge feast and brought back to camp was communal food that was to be divided in the same manner as the rice, the crabs and snails, etc.  Nobody's catching snails on the sly and putting them in their bag!  Not that that excuses the bag search, but I think that Julie went against an assumed group mindset--this merge food is here for all of us, the leftovers are for all of us communally, even if I'm carrying the pot, you're carrying the trail mix, she's carrying the bread.  

Wes, I feel ya...I took my octogenarian parents on a 9 day road trip of their preference, slept on sofabeds, and drove home on my birthday even though I had tried to arrange the dates differently...and my mom forgot until she pulled out her calendar to check something else!  At least she didn't then offer me a crab wiggling on a stick.

[Wandering Snark]

IMHO Keith "gained immunity from being voted out at the next tribal council" (approx.) and that tribal council hasn't happened yet, thus he should still be immune at the next TC however they want to work it. There are no teams to be slighted or need to come up with a new "losing" tribe to go to tribal. That means there is no reason to find another immune person for next week either. Make the immunity comp into a reward comp and all is good.

[Adeejay]

I can’t believe Julie lasted as long as she did, because she was clearly not into the game.  I am sure it was Rocker’s idea to do the show, and he asked (probably begged) her to be his partner.  What I find interesting is that Jeremy and Natalie, the two people that were probably responsible for Rocker’s ouster seem to be in a trouble now that she is gone.  Karma!

[truthaboutluv]

There are no teams to be slighted or need to come up with a new "losing" tribe to go to tribal. That means there is no reason to find another immune person for next week either.

 

 

There may not be any tribes left but there are still individuals to slight by just letting someone else have immunity because they won a previous challenge and someone else chose to go home. I disagree that simply because they didn't go to Tribal Council, Keith's immunity automatically stands. He won a challenge that allowed him to be safe from the vote. The vote didn't happen because someone quit however his being safe still remained, vote or no vote. So Julie's choosing to leave is supposed to accommodate Keith because he lost the oh so important moment of sitting in Tribal Council and watching someone else go home, yet it's fine for her leaving to screw someone else over which is basically what would happen if Keith is just automatically given immunity while others aren't. If Keith is to be immune next week, in my opinion he needs to win that week's challenge. Unless the argument is that he should be immune along with whoever wins the challenge which I still don't agree with. He won immunity and he didn't get voted off. It just didn't happen at Tribal - there are worse things to go through on this show. 

[Nashville]

Yeah - I think people have been doing that because it's hard to hide an idol on your person because it's open season. But the thing we haven't seen yet -  someone finding a 'claimed' HII. (please let this happen soon).

If you...

 

1. Find a HII,
2. Hide it somewhere out in the woods where it's no longer under your observation and control, and
3. Hide it so poorly that someone else can stumble across it,

 

...then what are your grounds for reclaiming it? 

"Sorry, didn't mean to be that stupid, but I'd already found that one and hid it where you found it.  Give it back, please."

Seriously...?

[Pattycake2]

3: You can not steal the idol/it has to be 'registered' so to speak. (ie: you can't just 'sneaky pass it over, you have to like declare on camera i'm giving it to you, and then hand it off, I don't even think you can say "I hid it here, you go get it)

 

This must have been added at some point because I distinctly remember an idol being stolen from someone's pocket.  It was the season with the elderly asian man, perhaps?

 

If you are going to put a crab in a fry pan, you stab it through with a knife right behind the eyes just before cooking.  Like lobsters, you can't eat one that's already dead.  

[mojoween]

Asking to be voted out would be weaker. It's like saying, "I don't want to be here, but I'm putting my fate in your hands to help me leave." At least by quitting, she chose the more active/less passive way out.

Her way was the better way for her. If she asked to get voted out, that doesn't mean she would be because her alliance could keep her for numbers or spite.

[tvfanatic13]

Her way was the better way for her. If she asked to get voted out, that doesn't mean she would be because her alliance could keep her for numbers or spite.

 

Yes mojoween, and if that happened she would have been on the jury and would not have been able to rejoin Rocker until the end of the game. Her quit was calculated to ensure she would not make the jury. Probst says as much on EW.

[Whimsy]

Like I've had to say recently in The Amazing Race board, talking about religion never leads to happy places when there is such a wide array of opinions. Let's please move on from this topic.  Some posts have been hidden.  I will delete the stuff about religion.  If you had more to your post than that, I will edit that part out.

 

Also, as a reminder, we have a great feature called "ignore".  If you really can't deal with someone please feel free to use it.

 

Thanks and happy posting.

[leighdear]

OK, now I understand about Keith not having immunity next week, and it makes perfect sense.  Thanks for the explanations!

 

I think because I don't actively loathe him on every imaginable level, I wanted to understand if he was being treated fairly or shafted.  :) 

[blackwing]

Julie sucks.  As far as the leftovers, it seems pretty clear to me that the leftovers should have belonged collectively to the group.  It's not like whoever grabbed the extra food owned it because they carried it back, while others did heavier work like bringing back the fire pit thing.  She was wrong to consider all of it hers.  I don't understand why people didn't just ASK her if she had the trail mix, everyone but her is sitting around at camp, then they just decide to look in her bag.  When she came back and got a weird vibe, why wouldn't someone just confront her?  They all looked like third graders.  And is she that dense that she didn't go to her bag at some point and notice that it was all gone?

 

Her exit interview was bad.  "People have always hated me because I take care of myself.  People are going to hate me for this decision and judge me but nobody but me knows how hard it was out here."  All I heard was "blah blah blah blah my boyfriend John blah blah blah people are jus' jealous of my enormous fake breastesses!".  One good thing with her gone is that I never have to hear "my boyfriend John" ever again.

 

Actually I believe what he was saying is that Jon and Jacqueline had a better shot sticking with him and Reed rather than Jeremy because they could beat him and Reed easier at the end than Jeremy. His point about him and Reed being successful Broadway stars that no one would vote for is that it would make Jon and Jacqueline's case stronger versus if they go up against Jeremy who is a fireman with two kids and could argue for needing the money more than Jon and Jacqueline, a young couple with no kids and major responsibilities.

Yes, he was saying that either Jon and Jacqueline would lose a final vote against a firefighter with two kids and that they had a better chance against "two successful Broadway guys".  I don't buy it.  It's been a long time since I heard people complaining about how rich others are.  I recall on Survivor Classic that Gretchen voted out Joel because he didn't need the money.  He was a personal trainer, so I'd say he was hardly rolling in dough like a millionaire.  And the season with porn star Brian Heidik, people whined about the grand piano in his video from home.  Seems like in recent seasons, people are voting for who played the best game (cf Tyson and Tony) even if they were responsible for their ouster.  No one complained that Monica Culpepper was married to a professional football player who had money, they complained that she did nothing in the game on her own.

 

Can't stand Josh.  He's such a hypocrite, he whines about people making strategic moves and their gameplay, but he is the biggest snake there.  I also can't stand Reed's voice.  

 

Jeff Probst needs a huge helping of STFU.  During the immunity challenge, he's blustering and blabbering about how "it takes all your concentration, one false move and you're out, you need to fight, etc".  If they need concentration maybe he could be quiet, but we know he never will be.

 

Is this the first season where men have complained about women actually eating?  Drew whined at length about how a 100 pound girl got the same portion of rice that big strong he-hunk (snort) like him did.  Were there similar complaints this episode or am I making it up?  Julie was wrong for hoarding the trail mix but I thought I heard complaints along the lines of how she's a woman and doesn't deserve to eat as much.  What about Natalie?  Natalie is physically strong, she's probably stronger than Josh.  Does she deserve more food than he does?  Makes no sense.

 

I distinctly remember an idol being stolen from someone's pocket.  It was the season with the elderly asian man, perhaps?

The only "elderly asian man" I recall is Yau-Man.  I don't think an idol was stolen in that season.  Yau-Man did find an idol but he used it to save himself.  That was the same season where there was an obnoxious alliance that played the idol for the wrong member.  Watching Edgardo's face as he gets votes is one of my favourite Survivor moments.

[GaT]

I'm hoping that Keith's immunity is still good next week & that they let someone else win immunity too so that 2 people are safe. That would make the scrambling more interesting.

[Guest]

This must have been added at some point because I distinctly remember an idol being stolen from someone's pocket.  It was the season with the elderly asian man, perhaps?

 

This says you've never been allowed to steal them.

http://survivor.wikia.com/wiki/Hidden_Immunity_Idol

 

That makes the most sense to me because this is for $1M and these people have a lot of free time-- if all idols are up for grabs all the time, people would just search constantly, through each other's stuff, around the camp, etc.

 

I even suspect that when a player finds an idol, the cameraman holds on to it.  Then if they want footage of the player reclaiming the idol before a tribal, they fake a little retrieval from a hiding place.  

 

I also suspect that all food is by the rules shared equally communally.  Otherwise, we'd see people with a strategy to starve others out, or a free-for-all at communal feasts.  

[Special K]

 

I was starting to like Julie, and then she had to go all "I can't function without my bigot boyfriend" and I lost all interest.

 

Seriously, she's a grown woman -- she can't be away from her boyfriend of (only) three years?!  How does she live her life?  And why did she ever go on Survivor?   Didn't she realize they'd more than likely be apart for a good portion of it?  

 

Like Mister Boffo, she seems to have been unclear on the concept:

 

1. you will starve

2. you will be outdoors

3. you will have to get along with objectionable people

4. you will be away from your loved ones

 

And I can't even with the "they hate me because I take care of myself." 

 

Although Missy's faux-concern face was ridiculously lame.  

 

The fact that they could not have any kind of adult conversation about trailmix-gate (even an argument) says a lot about the maturity of ALL of these people.  I can't believe that Julie didn't 'fess up and that no one asked her about it directly.  How do these people function in the real world?

[fishcakes]

This must have been added at some point because I distinctly remember an idol being stolen from someone's pocket.  It was the season with the elderly asian man, perhaps?

 

It wasn't stolen from Yau Man, but Mookie and someone else (Edgardo, I think) went through his bag and found it, then hilariously tried to blackmail him by saying that if he didn't do what they wanted, they'd tell everyone he had the idol, to which he calmly replied that they should go ahead and tell.

 

I didn't hear anyone say that Julie should get less food because she's a woman, but then I wasn't paying that much attention. I think Jon suggested that her hoarding was somehow worse because she was so lazy, implying that her laziness meant she needed less food, but that  seems equally stupid to me considering the food was basically a gift to the tribe. If she had hidden food that others had worked hard to get, then I could understand that argument, but since they all just seem to lie around waiting for hapless crabs to crawl into camp, I can only have so much sympathy.

Edited November 6, 2014 by fishcakes

[LanceM]

So basically Josh's argument is that Jon should leave his alliance with the fireman because he can't him and therefore should join his alliance which includes 2 firemen.

[Rick Kitchen]

I was surprised there was no clue to an HII in all of the swag they got after the merge.  There usually is.

[SunshineOnMe]

This says you've never been allowed to steal them.

http://survivor.wikia.com/wiki/Hidden_Immunity_Idol

 

That makes the most sense to me because this is for $1M and these people have a lot of free time-- if all idols are up for grabs all the time, people would just search constantly, through each other's stuff, around the camp, etc.

 

I even suspect that when a player finds an idol, the cameraman holds on to it.  Then if they want footage of the player reclaiming the idol before a tribal, they fake a little retrieval from a hiding place.  

 

I also suspect that all food is by the rules shared equally communally.  Otherwise, we'd see people with a strategy to starve others out, or a free-for-all at communal feasts.  

I don't know how to just quote part of a post, but what I want to respond to is if they keep their idols. Wasn't there a Survivor who found two idols and kept them both in his bag? I thought someone rummaged through his bag and found them.