S30.E14: It's A Fickle, Fickle Game / S30.E15: Worlds Apart Reunion

[truelovekiss]

One more thing: Rodney is gross. I could barely look at him during the reunion, because he was the physical embodiment of everything that a man could do, physically, to turn me off--greasy, mulleted hair, ill-fitting, ugly suit, frat boy behavior... it was a whole pile of NO.

It was such a Jersey Shore vibe, it was gross. He and Joaquin were definitely planning on going to da club and finding some klassy ladies to go home with.

[truelovekiss]

I think the public would be just as upset if a man spoke to a man, or a woman spoke to a woman in that way. When Corinne made an awful comment to Sugar about crying over her dead father, I was disgusted. People shouldn't speak to or treat each other like that. Calling Shirin soulless (because she isn't Christian) had nothing to do with the game. I'm no prude when it comes to contestants lying, manipulating and backstabbing but insulting someone and their family isn't gameplay. It's being a douchebag.

[truelovekiss]

Wow I was surprised that Carolyn didn't get more votes, based on how Final Tribal went. It looked like she had it sewed up. I was even more amazed that she wasn't voted in for next year's season. I would have been okay if she won last night but I had to root for Mike, even though he's a douche, just because he did outwit, outlast, and outplay.

Shirin smelled the marker at Final Vote, just like Johnny Fairplay. I'm already bored with her for next season.

I want to know how come Mike's voice keeps changing between cartoon bear and cartoon mouse.

I kind of laughed when Shirin smelled the marker. I love the smell of sharpies. Also, when they're in the game they always react to things that smell good/clean, because they all stink so much. It doesn't make as much sense because Shirin was out of the game and clean for awhile, but I feel like if I had spent 30+ days smelling filthy Dan, Will and Rodney, I would have been smelling markers too.

[Bouffe]

I was scared that the only happy ending for a reality show that I watch would be Jordan & Sarah winning The Challenge. Good for Mike. It was like watching Tom Westman make it to the win, if Tom had his back to the wall through half the game. We might have lost a S31 contestant, but we gained a worthy winner.

I said the exact same thing - Mike winning reminded me a lot of Tom. I was glad Mike won - he made mistakes, sure, but he played, hard, and won when it counted the most. He had his tribe against him for a freaking long time (ok, he also had his tribe with him for a while at the beginning) and he still made it. I was really worried Carolyn would win if he brought her to FTC with him - I thought she played a great game. She won some challenges, she orchestrated some power moves, and she was always on the side of the numbers.

[Cousin Larry]

I think the public would be just as upset if a man spoke to a man, or a woman spoke to a woman in that way. When Corinne made an awful comment to Sugar about crying over her dead father, I was disgusted. People shouldn't speak to or treat each other like that. Calling Shirin soulless (because she isn't Christian) had nothing to do with the game. I'm no prude when it comes to contestants lying, manipulating and backstabbing but insulting someone and their family isn't gameplay. It's being a douchebag.

I agree. I think a lot of people here were put off by Lindsay ragging on Mike's "God" earlier in the season, for example. I'm not religious in the slightest, but I was not a fan. Unless we missed something important in context, that kind of insult had nothing to do with the game being played.

[pamplemousse]

Happy Mike won. Smug Carolyn overestimated her own gameplay, glad that most of the jury didn't fall for her hot air. Stay ugly inside and out, Dan. Will, you're a POS and take your POS wife with you. Shirin, I like you generally speaking, but mentioning that you made your first million at 25 just made it painfully clear that companies like Google and Yahoo overpay their execs (*cough*Marissa Mayer*cough*) when they should be spending more of that money on R&D because gmail, google hangouts and chrome, yahoo mail, and the yahoo search engine pretty much suck ass. Rodney, you're a fucking whiney-ass pathetic baby and that's an insult to babies. ETA: Go to hell, Tattling Tyler, you pompous asshole! I cannot believe what he said to Mike about being paranoid and alienating everyone, because yeah, almost everyone was conspiring together against him, that's not paranoia that's the damned truth, you smug twerp.

 

As for Season 31 casting:

Monica who?

Fuck me, I have to watch Abi-Maria and Kass again, and this time on the same season? FML

All I remember of Andrew Savage was that he was a dickhead lawyer who was unnecessarily rude to an older woman on his original season. Now he's considered an old guy, hehe, wanker.

Good lord WTF at Kelly Wigglesworth's face, it looked like melting plastic. Hope she doesn't get anywhere near the fire at camp because her face looks so flammable she'd go up like blowtorch.

Ugh, can't believe Ciera's useless ass got another chance to be useless on another season. She voted off her mom at a time when it no longer even mattered, whoopty doo, big player right there.*eyeroll*

Sucks that Shane and T-bird didn't get cast, so wrong!

Edited May 21, 2015 by pamplemousse

[ProfCrash]

Mike, Carolyn, Rodney, and Will have Red Carpet  interviews up on the CBS. Will's is the shortest at 5 minutes. Malcolm asked him nothing of interest. Will lost 35 pounds and has kept it off.

[grooveshinney]

 

https://instagram.com/p/27LrXOPNi9/

 

Here's a photo from Tyler's instagram of the entire cast before the finale.  Since we only saw about, what, 5 of them during the reunion, it was nice to see everyone together again.  And look at the hair on Joaquin.

The show just ended and already I don't recognize or remember some of the people in this picture. I swear I watched every episode! 

[SHOgirl]

So this season has the accomplishment of making me doubt Survivor's editing more than any other. I'm convinced now that Survivor is a classist and racist show and that Dan and Will are its victims. Both of those individuals were portrayed negatively in light of Shirin (who I mistakenly sympathized with due to the racist and classist editing of the show). Turns out, Shirin is a white person who earned millions in her twenties. She is a Yahoo executive. Nobody seemed to like her while there. Since she's a corporate executive, that's to be expected. She probably is intolerable.

White corporate (millionaire) executive Shirin accused Will, an African-American man, of lying about his bringing back all the food he won as a secret reward (which he had honestly admittedly to receiving and honestly brought back). Will understandably overreacted upon hearing about the rich white executive's accusations that he was stealing from the all-white (except him) tribe. Survivor portrayed Will, the black man, as the evil one. Survivor's editing portraying Shirin as the victim of the black man's aggression. That decision was racist. This is not to say that Will was not a goat or should have won. It is to say that Survivor should be boycotted by anybody that cares about racism.

Then Dan. I felt Dan came across in the reunion as credible. He frankly admitted that his comments about "slapping" Shirin were inappropriate. As he should. Shirin never admitted that a white millionaire falsely accusing a black man of stealing from the all-white tribe was inappropriate. That is to her and Survivor's shame. I can understand how a blue collar man like Dan wouldn't get along with an elitist like Shirin and might be provoked to say extreme things about her. We were not shown how a corporate executive like Shirin managed to annoy every single person on the island to hell. Why is that?

It should be added that it is not exactly controversial that being adopted creates certain trauma and psychological issues. The idea promoted by Survivor that Shirin's alleged witness to domestic violence somehow automatically trumps Dan's status as adoptee is disgusting (and, I can only assume, borne of classism, i.e., favoritism to a Yahoo executive).

Wow. Perception is everything.

My mother and several friends were adopted and all are/were happy, well adjusted and grateful to have been adopted.

[ProfCrash]

The jury clips are up discussing the final three. Check out CBS's page.

[Bouffe]

https://instagram.com/p/27LrXOPNi9/

 

Here's a photo from Tyler's instagram of the entire cast before the finale.  Since we only saw about, what, 5 of them during the reunion, it was nice to see everyone together again.  And look at the hair on Joaquin.

I like that they presented the cast for next season but I really wish they had spent more time with the current cast members. I know I'm in the minority, but I enjoyed this season. Not my favourite, but there were good moments.

 

And let me just say that Shirin looks great in that picture!

[sadiegirl1999]

Even though Mike and his mom were disappointed they didn't get through the maze during practice,  I think it did give him a huge advantage.  He got an idea of the layout and knew that the tables with the medallions were nowhere near the actual maze walls and at certain places you had to strike out into nothingness for several paces.  It took the others a long time to learn that.  There were at least two and possibly several more times when players were in the correct little "corral" for the medallions, but had no idea, because they were hugging the walls.

 

 

Anyone else totally giggling at Mike fanning his arms in the air trying to find stuff?

 

It was great and helped him win, but I was totally LOL watching him do that.

[liqidclark]

It's over and most of the assholes got some comeuppance. Works for me.

 

Next season's cast is whatever, it's cool with me. It's hard to say what any of these people will do, anyway. I would think they'll all be leaning more towards berserker mode because of the second chance theme, but who knows? I mainly just wanted Woo back because he's so pretty.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Liqidclark

[SHOgirl]

He was justified only because someone had to win it. "Powered through" individual immunity challenges? He had no competition! He was up against idiots and lardasses.

And don't disrespect the word "honorable" by applying it to what Mike did at the auction. He did an asshole thing, then chickened out only when he saw it was going to blow up in his face. There's nothing honorable about that.

Why not just say, "I'm happy the flag-waving, Jesus-pimping white guy won!" instead of trying to repackage Mike as something he isn't.

I'm happy the flag-waving Jesus-pimping white guy won!

[millennium]

Well, Mike's the only one who knows his thought process at that moment.  I think he had a change of heart based on ethics.  You think he chickened out.  Maybe Jeff saying "Whoah!" gave him pause or he had some flash of insight that the advantage wouldn't outweigh making everyone mad.

 

In any event, please try to disagree with me without the insult of putting stupid/racist words in my mouth.  Thanks.

 

Hmm, I apologize, it wasn't my intention to imply racism.    My reply came on the heels of my earlier response about how Survivor casting milks racial/societal stereotypes.   Guess my head was still in the previous post.

 

Even so, I didn't perceive the least hint of ethics at play in that moment.   Mike put his foot in a big steaming pile and tried to pull it out in the hopes nothing would stick.  Fail. 

 

Look, the jerk won a million dollars.   Why try to paint him as some kind of moral hero too?   He isn't.   He's the same weasel who sneaked around in the bushes following Joe, lied to the tribe that Joe had found an idol, and swiped the idol for himself.  If I recall, he's also the same person who deceitfully threw a challenge for his team to advance his own interests.    Sure, it's gameplay.   But those aren't the actions of a man who has epiphanies of ethics, IMHO.   

Edited May 21, 2015 by millennium

[Special K]

The good:

 

- Mike winning.  Natch. :)

- Mike's mom.  Sweet and down to earth.  Loved that Mike gave her his clothes to go sit in the water in.  What a considerate son.

- Jenn's FTC speech. I cheered!

- JP's dressing down of Dan.  So happy he didn't neglect to point out his stupid tshirt.

- JP going all mama-bear on Dan, defending his TV show.

- Shirin not automatically taking Will's apology (which rivals Dan's apology to Sierra as the crappiest ever)

- Mike winning.

- No Dan's wife.  Thank you Jesus. I guess she's locked in the basement.

- Will as a dead fish.  Better than our walrus analogy.

- "Thanks for your loyalty, even if you don't like everybody."

 

The bad:

 

- No Survivor since Sue Hawk has been able to pull off the extended-analogy FTC speech (Reed!).  Are these people THAT bad at writing? I love Shirin, but it didn't really hold together.

- Will's apology:  'Yes, I called you, a Muslim women, soulless, and now the public backlash has forced me to apologize to you, so maybe you should accept Jesus's plan for your life by forgiving me."

- Will's wife.  Way to stay classy.  Also nice t-shirt.  Happy you cut the collar off, that's a classy look for national television.

- "Fugazi ass women"

- Jeff cutting in after Rodney's vile "redneck scumbag" exit to try to redeem him with that bit about his dead sister and peace.  Serious eye roll.

 

The shallow:

 

- Joe and his dimples and manbun.

- Whoever said Dan looks the same cleaned up as he did on the island was spot on.

- OMG, the constant shots during the Reunion of Jenn's chest!  She really does have the most beautiful rack (non-enhanced, I believe).  (I'm a chick)

- Sierra in her leopard dress and makeup (gah!) at FTC looked like someone from one of those plastic-surgery-gone-wrong shows. And she started out so pretty!

- I guess it takes a lesbian to show these women how to dress.  BC Kelly (was that her name?) had the most appropriate, least trashy look at the Reunion.

 

The hilarious:

 

- Dan's Tribal Council face!! I am 150,000% behind anything that makes him make that face.

- Rodney looked like a little boy in church who had just graduated out of knee pants.  Hilariously bad.  Then he stood up to show it off!!

- Carolyn is apparently married to someone from the planet Krypton.

- All of you, my clever previously.tv compatriots for making this vile season go down a whole lot easier!

[backformore]

The hilarious:

- Dan's Tribal Council face!! I am 150,000% behind anything that makes him make that face.

 

YES! is this an internet meme yet?  because it has to be -   for no reason other than to piss off Dan.   

[Wings]

Interesting vid on making a fire with a flint.  They were not doing this properly at all.  I think they must have gotten some instruction that we did not see since both got their fires going at the same time. 

 

 

 

It is to say that Survivor should be boycotted by anybody that cares about racism.

 

Ha ha ha ha!  Really?   Unless you have a Neilson box on your TV no one knows what you are watching.  

[gunderda]

Mike, Carolyn, Rodney, and Will have Red Carpet  interviews up on the CBS. Will's is the shortest at 5 minutes. Malcolm asked him nothing of interest. Will lost 35 pounds and has kept it off.

He did actually look really good. Most of the guys plump up a bit when they come back.  Good for him for being able to keep it off.

 

Anyone else totally giggling at Mike fanning his arms in the air trying to find stuff?

 

It was great and helped him win, but I was totally LOL watching him do that.

YESSSS I loved that!! I was laughing so much because of it.  It was great. 

[ShadowSixx]

Ok I had to see why so many wanted Shane in and seeing his face, I remember him. He was annoying, irritating, and very erratic. He blew up at people and he even wanted to quit at one point, no thank you. Since Shane was on the list might as well had put Rocky from S14. Glad Shane didn't get in and Culpepper as well, ugh. 

 

You know who needs a shot Francesca and Francescois according to Phillip, voted out 1st twice, why not make it a trifecta lol. 

[Bouffe]

I have to say that compass maze was one of the prettiest challenge setups I remember.  Also, I liked that they had the black tie-on blindfolds which were then covered by the buffs.   I remember other times in past sesaons were posters were sure X, Y, or Z player was able to peek under their blindfold or buff a little bit.  I don't think that happened here.

Even though Mike and his mom were disappointed they didn't get through the maze during practice,  I think it did give him a huge advantage.  He got an idea of the layout and knew that the tables with the medallions were nowhere near the actual maze walls and at certain places you had to strike out into nothingness for several paces.  It took the others a long time to learn that.  There were at least two and possibly several more times when players were in the correct little "corral" for the medallions, but had no idea, because they were hugging the walls.

 

Aesthetically, that challenge set up was really beautiful. And I agree with you - the fact Mike was able to practice a bit gave him a big advantage. He knew to come back to the direction table, line up with it and go so that he could find the medallions. Same with finding the necklace. I actually really liked that challenge.

[Cousin Larry]

I liked Shane the first time I saw him, when he was called Lex.

[slowpoked]

I didn't watch all seasons of Survivor, so I don't remember if Jeff had gone off on a contestant who blamed the show, but man, he laid it on Dan really thick last night. Good for you Jeffy. But I gotta give this to Dan - when he was talking directly TO Shirin, he apologized without any qualifications. I know he excused his behavior a lot, but when he apologized to the person who he hurt, he made it simple and sincere. 

 

Which is more than what I can say for #deadfish, and #deadfishwife. Way to make it classy, girl, by hollering and heckling in the audience. Yeah, I got that you want to defend your husband. But the words came from his mouth and Shirin was trying to explain why it hurt her so bad and you just went all heckler on her. Nice. Dan has gotten a lot of heat this season, and I'm sure he had family in the audience, but they didn't heckle Jeff or Shirin. Shirin got it right - #deadfish.

[Andromeda]

Thanks for the Shane videos, guys! Now I remember him.

 

I didn’t mind Shirin telling those smug idiots that she earned a million by the time she was 25. Most of them looked down on her for whatever reason, so it was a way for her to show them up — especially the likes of Will and Dan.

 

Dan… I can count the ways I despise Dan.

 

1. He’s a flaming misogynist.

2. He’s terrible at challenges.

3. He makes ridiculous over-the-top facial expressions (especially at tribal council).

4. He’s not very bright — but he thinks he is, the worst kind of stupid.

5. He pontificates as if he knows more than he does (bamboo, lecturing Shirin).

6. He flat-out lies (post-show interviews).

7. He’s extremely judgmental and holds grudges (Mike, auction.)

8. He thinks he’s morally superior.

9. He has gross bodily habits (spitting).

10. He doesn't even look good on TV like some villains.

 

Just a couple of the above would cause me to dislike a contestant -- Dan is the whole package.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Andromeda

[Bouffe]

I'm sure Mike would annoy me in real life, but I did kind of swoon at 1) his challenge prowess 2) his besting of the "6 strong" asshole gang 3) how he stepped up for Shirin. MOST of these people would annoy me in real life--Shirin certainly--but that's fine with me. Being irritating is not a fatal character flaw.

 

I thought that my girl crush for Jenn could not grow any larger, until that jury speech. I laughed with delight. Please bring her back for another season! (And go get Michelle Yi while you're at it, TPTB!)

Mike, like any other human on earth, is not perfect. But he had a strong physical game and a decent strategic game. Yes he was paranoid but for good reasons! I think his major mistake was the auction thing - either don't do it at all, or go for it completely. There is no half way thing with it, IMO (and as we saw).

 

Jenn would be an awesome cast member to hire to interview other cast members or maybe even do a podcast. I love her no bullshit way of telling it like it is, even tho I didn't always agree with her.

[Cousin Larry]

I didn't watch all seasons of Survivor, so I don't remember if Jeff had gone off on a contestant who blamed the show, but man, he laid it on Dan really thick last night. Good for you Jeffy. But I gotta give this to Dan - when he was talking directly TO Shirin, he apologized without any qualifications. I know he excused his behavior a lot, but when he apologized to the person who he hurt, he made it simple and sincere. 

 

 

To me, a sincere apology is when the person in error feels pain for having caused pain to another person. I don't like much about Dan, but in that moment, I think he did feel pain and empathy for Shirin.

[Lamb18]

I'm sure Mike would annoy me in real life, but I did kind of swoon at 1) his challenge prowess 2) his besting of the "6 strong" asshole gang 3) how he stepped up for Shirin. MOST of these people would annoy me in real life--Shirin certainly--but that's fine with me. Being irritating is not a fatal character flaw.

Same for me.  Also, there was that gleam in his eye when he was challenged the most. He really loved playing this game. 

[Special K]

To me, a sincere apology is when the person in error feels pain for having caused pain to another person.

 

Agreed.  And to add: To me, a sincere apology is one done privately, person to person. Not under duress on national TV.  Not on social media.  Not via text.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Special K

[barbedwire]

I so agree Cousin Larry!  I hated Will's "you guys are forcing me to apologize" apology.  When you apologize, you are sorry for what you did/what you said, how it hurt the other person.  To throw in there "now you must forgive me" is SO SO wrong!  That is up to them if they want to forgive or not.  You hurt them and then you lecture them?  Just no!!!!

 

Out of the 3, I am glad it was Mike that won.

 

Glad to see Kelly coming back!  I really think Shirin will be the first one voted out since she has made it known she already has a million, if not more.

 

Best part of the night:  Jenn's yawn during the fire making challenge.  LOL

 

When Dan was talking I was focused on the lady behind him in the really pretty blue and white dress.  Who was that?  I can't remember her name.  I was hoping JP would spend at least 30 seconds talking to all of them.

[JudyObscure]

White corporate (millionaire) executive Shirin accused Will, an African-American man, of lying about his bringing back all the food he won as a secret reward (which he had honestly admittedly to receiving and honestly brought back). Will understandably overreacted upon hearing about the rich white executive's accusations that he was stealing from the all-white (except him) tribe. Survivor portrayed Will, the black man, as the evil one. Survivor's editing portraying Shirin as the victim of the black man's aggression. That decision was racist. This is not to say that Will was not a goat or should have won. It is to say that Survivor should be boycotted by anybody that cares about racism.

 

I care about racism, but my definition of racism is judging people by the color of their skin.  Like saying it's okay to loom over a woman and rant about how she has no soul and all of America hates her, so long as her skin is white.  Racism would be  saying that Shirin was a bad person who deserved that, simply because of the race she was born into.

 

Similarly I would define classism as judging people by the economic group they are in. Like saying everyone who works in a corporation or has earned a certain amount of money is bad. Are you saying that shouting abuse at someone is okay if the shouter has less money than the one being shouted at?  I think it's tacky of Shirin to tell everyone about how much money she has, but I hardly think that means it's okay to treat her badly.  From what we know about her, she grew up in an immigrant family where she endured abuse and misery, but  still managed to focus on her school work enough to go to college, study hard and get a well paying job. That's something she has earned through hard work. She is hardly in the One Percent, she's not one of the Waltons, she's just someone who worked hard for the American dream and, in her area of the country, she's earned and saved enough to buy a small house, I don't see why she deserves to be punished for that. 

 

As for "Survivor's portrayal."  Survivor showed us first that Will had given up his entire reward to the rest of the tribe. That's portraying him as generous.  It showed the others doubting whether or not he had really brought it all forward, portraying them as ungrateful and suspicious.  No one was portrayed as evil.  If Will seemed out of line to some of us,  shouting a personal attack at Shirin, it was because that was what he did, not because of any sort of fictional portrayal.

[Dawn16]

I'm happy the flag-waving Jesus-pimping white guy won!

In a season stacked with arrogant misogynistic a**holes, my preferred ending would have been an impressive female winner.  But I could not have called a Carolyn win impressive, and I can live with a decent, flag-waving Jesus-loving guy who stands up for people who are being verbally assaulted.  Mike isn't perfect.  I live with someone who is overly proud of his work ethic and know how annoying that can get.  And my favorite winners have done a little more outwitting and a little less surviving by defeating incompetent people at physical challenges.  But this was the best possible ending to an otherwise painful season, with the "protector" defeating the bullies. 

[Andromeda]

Shirin isn't white.

 

Actually, the fact that she's Middle Eastern makes me rankle even more at Will's comments. I feel like it was implied that he thinks she has no soul because of religious reasons. Even if I'm wrong about that, he's a nasty, nasty person.

 

Yes, Survivor is totally classist. So classist that they made Mike the blue-collar hero look like a total loser.

LOL, seriously. If anything, this installment extolled the blue-collar working-class as having all the all-American (gag) virtues. For instance, again Probst said the blue collars work harder than anyone else. Some do, some don't. Some check out immediately when the clock hits quitting time, while many white collars put in ridiculous hours and some no-collars run their own businesses and also put in big hours. Granted, many blue collars do physically exhausting labor, but many don't. So, whatever show.

[Wings]

When you require an apology it is never sincere when given.  And why bother trying to get one from an asshole?  Why do you care?  That is the issue here.  Why do you allow your self worth to be tied in with another's opinion of you?   Let it go Shirin, let it all go.  If you cannot, keep it to yourself.  

[slowpoked]

White corporate (millionaire) executive Shirin accused Will, an African-American man, of lying about his bringing back all the food he won as a secret reward (which he had honestly admittedly to receiving and honestly brought back). Will understandably overreacted upon hearing about the rich white executive's accusations that he was stealing from the all-white (except him) tribe. Survivor portrayed Will, the black man, as the evil one. Survivor's editing portraying Shirin as the victim of the black man's aggression. That decision was racist. This is not to say that Will was not a goat or should have won. It is to say that Survivor should be boycotted by anybody that cares about racism.

 

Shirin isn't white - she's Muslim. Another minority. I feel like she's close to getting to talking about her religion because Will has been banging on her about having no soul, but of course, the heckler got there first. I don't think Survivor portrayed it as a white millionaire going against the evil black guy. The words that came out of Will's mouth is his. No editing can make magic on that. 

[Special K]

And it should be said:  Just because Will is African American doesn't mean that he can't be prejudiced.

[barbedwire]

I think there are times you can ask for an apology and it is indeed sincere.  Like when the person didn't realize their remarks hurt you.  That is not the case here, though.

 

I did like how one person from each of the "collars" got to the final.  Interesting how that worked out.

[ProfCrash]

Shirin isn't white - she's Muslim. Another minority. I feel like she's close to getting to talking about her religion because Will has been banging on her about having no soul, but of course, the heckler got there first. I don't think Survivor portrayed it as a white millionaire going against the evil black guy. The words that came out of Will's mouth is his. No editing can make magic on that. 

 Islam is a religion, not an ethnicity or race. Shirin is Persian, a specific ethnicicty. You can be white and Muslim. Shirin herself is not-Muslim, she mentioned this in some interviews, but her family is Muslim.

 

http://survivorsucks.com/topic/116130/What-the-Survivors-are-saying-On-Twitter-and-Facebook?page=282#.VV4cCP6KCSM The tweets during the show and reunion are pretty humorous.

[slowpoked]

When you require an apology it is never sincere when given.  And why bother trying to get one from an asshole?  Why do you care?  That is the issue here.  Why do you allow your self worth to be tied in with another's opinion of you?   Let it go Shirin, let it all go.  If you cannot, keep it to yourself.  

Shirin has given me the impression that she doesn't need it from Will, but people kept asking her if he HAS apologized. To which she has said no. I don't think she's begging for it. She's being asked, and she's telling the truth. 

 

And it should be said:  Just because Will is African American doesn't mean that he can't be prejudiced.

I agree. It looks like he's already prejudiced against Shirin for not being Christian.

[blackwing]

Wow I was surprised that Carolyn didn't get more votes, based on how Final Tribal went.  It looked like she had it sewed up.  I was even more amazed that she wasn't voted in for next year's season.  I would have been okay if she won last night but I had to root for Mike, even though he's a douche, just because he did outwit, outlast, and outplay.

I'm not surprised at either.  The questions seemed very harsh towards Mike, but I think Joe's comment that he was going to vote based on how people performed at FTC was telling.  In particular, the fact that he flat out told Carolyn "you're kind of cold" says that her smugness and superiority and coldness wasn't something that was created by the editors.

 

It was impossible for any of them to deny that Mike dominated the game physically.  They faulted him though for his social game.  To me, two things happened during Tribal that really sewed it up for Mike.  1)  Jenn telling people to vote on who played the best game, and not be bitter and jealous.  2)  After Dan blasted Mike and then sat down without giving him a chance to respond, Mike spoke up and offered a sincere apology.  I think that went a long way.

 

These two things combined I think helped sway people over.  They didn't want to look like bittercakes and it showed that Mike had self-realisation and knew that he wasn't perfect.  Carolyn's "moves" paled in comparison.  The only real move she made was the "lines will be drawn" night when she and Tyler joined the Blue Collars to start the pagonging of the No Collars.  After that, she didn't have to make many moves.  Playing her Idol wasn't really her move.  If not for Mike, she would have been content to keep it in her pocket because she was so convinced she was safe.

 

Not to mention that she was only at the FTC because of Mike.  I understand why he wanted to take her (he thought she was a better person than the Rot) but it could have been a poor move.  I am surprised that 3 people said they would have voted for the Rot in the finals.  I really don't get that.  Jenn talked about how Mike played so well but then in a hypothetical she would have picked Rot over Mike?  Makes no sense.  What it really says is that she intensely disliked Carolyn.

 

As far as her not making the Second Chance vote, I think it's as Joe said.  She comes across as cold.  And she's not villainous enough to be interesting.

Edited May 21, 2015 by blackwing

[ghoulina]

My niece pointed out that it seems as if Rodney's trying to look like Joaquin.  I just thought he looked like a used car salesman until she said that.

 

Me too! A used car salesman who was stuck in the early 80s. 

 

I liked Shirin's speech, even though it was overbaked. Will totally was a dead fish.

 

The best part about it was that when she said that, he had this gaped-mouth expression that totally resembled a dead fish! I laughed and laughed. I was afraid I was going to wake up my kids. 

Edited May 21, 2015 by ghoulina

[ProfCrash]

I think Mike's answer to Tyler and Mike's apology to Dan is what won him the money. He owned up to a real in game weakness and made a sincere apology for an action that pissed off most of the jury. Neither answer felt rehearsed or manufactured and I think that earned him Tyler, Dan, and Sierra's vote.

[slowpoked]

 Islam is a religion, not an ethnicity or race. Shirin is Persian, a specific ethnicicty. You can be white and Muslim. Shirin herself is not-Muslim, she mentioned this in some interviews, but her family is Muslim.

 

http://survivorsucks.com/topic/116130/What-the-Survivors-are-saying-On-Twitter-and-Facebook?page=282#.VV4cCP6KCSM The tweets during the show and reunion are pretty humorous.

Yes, thank you. That's what I meant, but you articulated it much better. :). 

Edited May 21, 2015 by slowpoked

[Guest]

At some point Rodney said, "I swear on my sister's life" which to me was really odd, since unless he has another sister, that's something that's already gone.  

 

I loved Jeff telling Dan that "Slap her and shut her up" is insulting REGARDLESS of if the subject was a previous victim of abuse or not.  I also loved them showing Dan being a liar.  I always wondered how the show enforced a moratorium on "I wasn't bad, my edit was" talk in the aftermath.  I guess now we know they didn't ever need to until now?  

[ProfCrash]

I think others have said something similar but they have not been as loud or specific as Dan. He had very specific instances where what he said was taken out of context that he used in his interviews. Probst went after those.

[blackwing]

I think Mike's answer to Tyler and Mike's apology to Dan is what won him the money. He owned up to a real in game weakness and made a sincere apology for an action that pissed off most of the jury. Neither answer felt rehearsed or manufactured and I think that earned him Tyler, Dan, and Sierra's vote.

Sierra voted for Carolyn.  But I think those answers earned him the votes of Joe, Tyler, Dan and Hali.  Didn't Hali say she was voting for Carolyn during her questions?  Or was that Sierra.

[laurakaye]

The shallow:

 

- Joe and his dimples and manbun.

I applaud your entire post, but especially THIS.

 

If being shallow is wrong, I don't want to be right.  Bring back Joe and his ridiculously gorgeous mane of flowing curly locks every season for the rest of Survivor eternity, I say!

Edited May 21, 2015 by laurakaye

[gunderda]

Aesthetically, that challenge set up was really beautiful. And I agree with you - the fact Mike was able to practice a bit gave him a big advantage. He knew to come back to the direction table, line up with it and go so that he could find the medallions. Same with finding the necklace. I actually really liked that challenge.

I'm pretty sure the rest of the group knew that they could go back to the middle to get their direction. They were all probably allowed to get a general look of the setup and they all began in the middle.  I don't think they would not tell all the rest that there is a directional helper in the middle. 

 

When you require an apology it is never sincere when given.  And why bother trying to get one from an asshole?  Why do you care?  That is the issue here.  Why do you allow your self worth to be tied in with another's opinion of you?   Let it go Shirin, let it all go.  If you cannot, keep it to yourself.  

 

Shirin has given me the impression that she doesn't need it from Will, but people kept asking her if he HAS apologized. To which she has said no. I don't think she's begging for it. She's being asked, and she's telling the truth. 

 

yes to this - I was about to say to say the same thing.  She hasn't said she wanted an apology - probably because she's not going to accept it.  Jeff is the one that kept hammering on about it. 

[CletusMusashi]

Anyone else really creeped out by Rodney Sr.'s lack of affect when Rod Jr. got emotional about his sister's death?

I think by now he's just used to having an overemotional manchild living in his basement.

[ghoulina]

That's kind of a pointless thing to wonder about because he would never act like that toward a man, at least not one that wasn't a lot smaller than him. Even when he did say something to Mike, he made sure to sit down first and from a distance, and what he did insult Mike about was being friends with Shirin, not about the food comments, which is supposedly what set him off anyway. But we know even that was a lie, because during his tirade, he whispered to Jen that he wasn't mad at her for "questioning his honor."

 

Exactly. Not to mention, Dan has behaved in a rather soulless way anyhow. 

 

LOL! I jest. (Sort of) There really is never an excuse to get as personal as Will did. But what I just can't get around is, was Shirin really that offensive? To warrant such a strong reaction? It was like Will had been bottling up all these hateful thoughts about her and saw that as his chance to let loose. I get that she was annoying, to some, but unless there is a ton of lost footage, I just don't see how anything she did could make people dislike her so strongly the point that they're attacking her in that manner. Was she out there killing puppies? Sacrificing tribe members to island gods? What? So she talked too much and was a bit obnoxious. BFD. 

 

Fuck me, I have to watch Abi-Maria and Kass again, and this time on the same season? FML

 

Right??? I could take or leave a lot of the others (don't remember half, with my lousy brain), but Abi and Kass were my "Dear God, NO!!!" votes. Sigh...

[Jersey Guy 87]

WTF Mike, if you want Caroline there, then convince either Will or Rodney to vote for the other one, don’t make her do a fire challenge. And what was up with Sierra’s stripper makeup at tribal?

 

 

Mike had no chance of getting Rodney to vote for Will or Will to vote for Rodney.  His only option was to force a tie and hope his choice (Carolyn) won the fire making.  Rodney had pegged Will as a FTC goat early on (give Rodney credit, he at least recognized that) and Will was going to be loyal to Rodney.  Mike did the best he could in this situation.

 

I have to partly defend Will. While he went way over the top in ripping Shirin, we seem to forget that Shirin started the conflict and was way out of line with him.

He sacrificed HIS reward and shared the food with her and the rest of the tribe, and she had the gaul to falsely accuse him of holding back some of the food (which would have been his right to do anyway).

Perhaps a "victim of domestic violence and verbal assault" should have more empathy for others and should not viciously attack their character, without cause.

Also, Shirin was an unbearably annoying person who seemed to be almost universally despised by the tribe.

Will was wrong to say what he said, but Shirin owed him an apology as much as he owed her one.

With her and "Choas Kass" on the show next season, I don't think I will be tuning in.

 

Others have pointed out but it bears repeating - questioning someone's in-game behavior is part of the game.  Shirin wasn't the main (or only) person to question whether Will shared all of his food.  However, Shirin was his only target and the attacks went from game-related to purely personal.  I can question whether you've hoarded food as part of Survivor, that has no bearing on whether or not I have a soul.

 

I personally found Shirin annoying on the show.  I think she would drive me crazy if I were on an island with her.  She didn't attack Will's character, though, she cast suspicion on his actions as part of the game.  She doesn't owe him an apology any more than he owes her an apology for saying she had voted against Hali.

 

I'm hoping Shirin and Kass both go out early next season, I'm glad Max won't be there as well.

 

Perfectly phrased, millennium.  Bringing this up again coupled with "I made my first million by the age of 25,"  may make her an early boot.  This could be my wishful thinking at play but I am an optimist!   I do not see these veterans putting up with her fragile psyche.  

 

Nobody playing on Season 31 is any more a veteran than Shirin - wasn't it a requirement that you can't have played more than one season to eligible for Season 31?  I have no idea how Shirin's potential wealth will play into the season, but the idea that somehow they're "veterans" and she's not makes zero sense.

 

At least Jeff didn't have to say "we're going to matches" which actually disappointed me.

That was bull on the extra flint though. You break it, too bad.

 

Agreed on the extra flint, and I was rooting for Carolyn to beat Rodney.  You broke the flint? Deal with it.  Of course, since they both wound up breaking their flint I guess it evened out.  And giving them a new flint is better than going to matches, I guess.  Although with these two that might not have been enough.

 

I would have been okay with either Carolyn or Mike winning, not that I was a fan of either.  Mike had an impressive run of challenge victories and I also really liked his threatening to play an idol for Shirin (which revealed that Dan was last in his alliance).  Carolyn made some good moves, including voting out Tyler and keeping her idol secret until she needed to use it.