S31: Spencer Bledsoe

[ProfCrash]

Spencer said he was not coming back in his red carpet interview with Rob C. Rob C and Josh Wiggler are not buying it.

[slowpoked]

When push comes to shove, Spencer couldn't help it but go back to his old self. He just always has to be the smartest guy in the room. He should have shut up during that F6 tribal since he was safe, and let Tasha do the dirty work, so to speak. But being the "smart" guy that he is, he just couldn't help himself. He HAD to be the talker. He HAD to be the narrator. Why even say that you're voting "three strong" and whoever wants to come onboard should do so? Just shut up. You just couldn't help yourself. Both Jeremy and Tasha could even barely get a word in because he just had to do all the talking.

Like someone on another thread said, Jeremy played it well better. He answered what needs to be answered but kept things close to the vest. I'm surprised he didn't go back to Spencer and said "are you threatening me?" when Spencer was blackmailing him, but he just looked at him and didn't say a word. Spencer surely was impressed with his moves and thought the jury would be as well.

Edited December 17, 2015 by slowpoked

[peachmangosteen]

Also, I know that their clothes are picked for them at the reunion ...

 

What?! They don't even let them wear what they want to the reunion? Damn!

[LadyChatts]

Spencer said he was not coming back in his red carpet interview with Rob C. Rob C and Josh Wiggler are not buying it.

 

Me neither.  I think he loves this game too much.  It probably is raw for him, to have made it as far as he can in the game and lose (and be outplayed without even realizing it until that moment).  But give it time, I believe he'll be back.  I expect Joe, Kelley, Abi, Spencer, Keith (even though he probably will decline), maybe even Tasha, Ciera, and Kass to get return invites.

 

What?! They don't even let them wear what they want to the reunion? Damn!

 

 

That's what I've heard.  I think it is ridiculous.  As long as it isn't anything offensive or political, who cares?

Edited December 17, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Miss Scarlet]

 

He may have finally become a real boy, but no one said he was a likeable one.

Which is so interesting to me, because I feel like the narrative we got in the Stephen vs. Spencer episodes was "Spencer is so likable! Spencer is so great!" I wondered why people kept wanting to work with Spencer and not with Stephen and this seemed like this answer. But then it turned out in the end that Spencer's not that likable after all. It's funny that he should have kept Stephen around and worked with him. Stephen's one of the few people Spencer could beat at final tribal.

 

 

I got that feeling too.  It's funny, they gave him such a positive edit, based entirely around the narrative that he was spinning for them (the cameras even more than the jury!) about his growth and making relationships (by the end of that FTC the word "relationships" lost all meaning to me) blah blah.  No doubt to make him seem a credible threat at the end, which I like, because there's nothing worse than an ending where you know for sure who's not winning because they don't have the edit.  But also, now that it's over, it almost feels like...a parting gift?  Like trying to make him happy and not hate them?  But he's just not into it anymore.

I get being disappointed, but he shouldn't be mad at production/editing. They did give him a positive edit both times he played. He may have looked foolish in some ways, but it wasn't as bad a Drew Christy downfall. Which of course is entirely on Drew Christy and not on the editing team, but even so. It could have been worse for Spencer. Based on previous interviews I've heard with him I'm sure he'll understand this and will point to his mistakes. I don't think he'll actually pull a Dan and get mad at the show. 

 

What?! They don't even let them wear what they want to the reunion? Damn!

I thought that the players bring their own clothes and offer various options and the producers pick the outfit they like the most (and that has no logos, etc.)?

[violet and green]

What a sappy jury. I think that was just plain mean to not give Spencer even one vote. Mean and spiteful. I am devastated for Spencer and feel sick every time i think about it. He came a bit unhinged at the very end, I guess because it all meant so much to him, and he just lost his cool. So sad it ended like that - otherwise (plus too much Abi at the start) a spanking good season.

[slowpoked]

What a sappy jury. I think that was just plain mean to not give Spencer even one vote. Mean and spiteful. I am devastated for Spencer and feel sick every time i think about it. He came a bit unhinged at the very end, I guess because it all meant so much to him, and he just lost his cool. So sad it ended like that - otherwise (plus too much Abi at the start) a spanking good season.

Well, he had no one to blame for that but himself. He couldn't just stop at saying "If I'm at the jury, I'll vote for her...". He had to double down by saying "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you lose to her." He lost his cool, big time, while Jeremy was happy to just shut up and let him take more foot in his mouth.

 

I don't blame the jury for not giving one vote to Spencer. He doubled down on the arrogance the last couple of tribal councils, thinking that these moves look cool and super smooth to the jury, but failed to see how the jury may not be able to see it his way. He acted bratty, not strategic. Heck, even Tasha mostly not saying anything was more strategic than him yapping and yapping. He basically said "my way or the highway". He couldn't help himself and he just has to be the smartest guy in the room. Always.

 

I think he may have gotten one vote or two, at least by the F4. But the threats erased all that. And Wentworth said in her exit interviews that Spencer was more arrogant and cocky out there than what was shown, and that his "betrayal" and flipping hurt the most of the jurors more because he made it too personal. In other words, he got too close. If in Cagayan, he was too detached, here he was the complete opposite, I guess. He never got the perfect middle-ground.

 

I thought it was quite telling how the jury reacted with Keith going home. More expressive and clearly more disappointed than with Wentworth going home. I think that cemented for me that he lost the jury.

[Guest]

I can see Spencer being done.  Cambodia looked like it sucked.  Keith said he was done. 

 

If the show provides clothes why put some of them in almost formalwear and then put Spencer in a hoodie and Joe(?) in jeans?  And why did that nobody chick throw a fit about having bought a new dress for the reunion and then having to sit in the audience?  

[LanceM]

My understanding of the clothing issue is that players bring a couple of outfits to wear the reunion and then the producers pick them. 

[violet and green]

Well, he had no one to blame for that but himself. He couldn't just stop at saying "If I'm at the jury, I'll vote for her...". He had to double down by saying "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you lose to her." He lost his cool, big time, while Jeremy was happy to just shut up and let him take more foot in his mouth.

 

Well, yes. As I already said. He became unhinged. He lost his cool. I am certain Spencer is perfectly aware of the errors he made.

 

That said, Jeremy lost his cool re Kimmi - but was able to explain that away in a way the jurors accepted.

 

Personally, I don't think playing under the radar should get all ten votes. 

 

And, mate. I am still sad.

[yamashinaryu]

As I have mentioned before, his speeches will be his downfall. Every time he speaks, he has this aura of Mr. Know It All and it translates to arrogance and being cocky. How I wish he learned after his outburst at Cagayan's FTC. Apparently, not. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I have more faith in the jury then thinking that they'd simply use ad hominem reasons to not vote for a player, and Spencer was arrogant at one tribal council.  i.e. I don't like Tasha!  i.e. Spencer pissed me off once or twice!  I have faith that most of these players, if not all, voted on the basis on who they thought played the best game.  I don't see much convincing evidence to make me think otherwise.  We spend all season being shown what a likeable player Spencer is bouncing back and forth between alliances.  I really don't think anyone is that mad at the guy at all.  I think that would be ridiculous.

 

I was a little shocked to read all of these reactions to Spencer at that council.  I never thought he came off as arrogant.  My reaction was he's talking too much and revealing too much strategy.  I think he just panicked or seemed like somebody who was trying to steer an out-of-control ship.  I didn't find anything offensive.  It's interesting to me to read all these reactions i.e. he was so arrogant, he bullied Jeremy, etc.!  It's all perspective and I'm not sure the entire jury would all see it that way.

 

It's like Spencer can't win with some.  It's like the reaction when Jeremy showed emotion for like the second time in the game by being upset that he wrongly estimated Kimmie.  The guy never shows emotion ever.  And when he finally does and it seems totally justified (to me) I read that it's disgusting.  Meh.  Different strokes.

 

This takes me back to one of my favourite moments, when Spencer temporarily aligned with Abi and had to calm her nerves that she wasn't going home, begging and pleading with her so that they would all vote out Stephen together.  That made me terrified of Spencer as threatening Jeremy's game.  Like wow, this guy is so serious, a serious threat.  And yet, so many posters here predicted he'd go crawling back to Jeremy to the detriment to his game and lo, and behold he did.  It's crazy how that then led to Spencer having "Zero chance of winning this game".

 

I wish more emotion was allowed un-judged in this game. Spencer saying that to Kass has got to me one of the best moments in the history of the game.  Outbursts are entertaining as fuck!  Of course your emotions should be at their highest fucking boiling point!    Now I also have the scene of Spencer being super fake to Kimmie like "Yeah. Splitting the vote?  Yeah.  We're doing that.  Uh-huh."

Edited December 18, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[jjjmoss]

I think it's because I am similar to him, but I want him to come back.

 

Of those who have been T4 twice, only he and Sandra haven't had 3 seasons yet. Though presumably Sandra's being saved for either an outright HvV or All-Stars.

[LadyChatts]

http://www.examiner.com/article/spencer-interview-i-loved-survivor-before-and-i-hope-i-can-love-it-again

 

Here's one of Spencer's interviews.  He said he was worried about his edit, since he knows those who finish 2nd and 3rd often look worse because they have to make the winner endearing to the public.  He also said he knew right after the FTC, when everyone went over to hug Jeremy, that he had lost.  I think he was surprised that relationships and betraying people played a bigger role in his downfall.  Also, I feel like he's playing revisionist history, because in here he said he definitely should have kept people around he could have beat.  But to Tasha and Jeremy, he said that they owed it to the fans not to take goats to the end (not realizing that was the role he and Tasha were filling).  He said he would have voted Jeremy off if he hadn't won that last IC.  Spencer seems to be traumatized a bit but I believe he will bounce back, over time, and consider giving it another go.

 

In regards to Spencer during the finale: I didn't consider him a bullying to Jeremy by trying to strong arm that Kelley vote.  I consider him to be acting like a little 3 year old that thought he was going to impress his friends (in this case, the jury) by taking a stand and holding his ground.  Hey, I got Jeremy to save me by telling him I wouldn't vote for him, so now vote for me, see how impressive that was!  Spencer was fine in that vote.  He obviously couldn't see it, just like he couldn't see that the very person who was the possible difference between him getting the million and second place was the very person he was working with, and waited too long to get out.  

 

MsBlueJay, I'm with you that I don't mind outbursts.  Spencer's outbursts seemed more arrogant to me, and less like something in the heat of the moment.  I believe Jeremy's outburst towards Kimmi was heat of the moment.  I love when someone pulls an idol blindside and cheers, claps, and bumps fists with those on the bottom because, at least for 3 more days, they were on top.  Spencer's outburst just seemed more scripted and unneccesary.  He seemed to either overthink and/or being try to play up what he thought would earn him brownie points with the jury.  

[ByaNose]

He sounded really depressed last night & slightly less so this morning. I think he was more upset that the people on the jury thought he wasn't being genuine. He also said he thought he was friendlier with his previous seasons cast than this one. Granted, he made the Final 3 this time and got no votes thus thinking he was on better terms last time. He really misread Kelley out there but she said today she doesn't have any hard feelings and he needs to move on. I'm assuming the hardest part was just reliving it. He pretty much knew he lost this whole time but re-watching it made it harder. I'm sure in a month he'll be fine. At least, he got $100,000 or so. Although, he and Tasha tied with no votes so I'm not sure what "2nd" for two people get?!

[fishcakes]

I loved how, during the reunion, Spencer twice said that he loved his girlfriend, and both times they cut to her and her friend in the audience giggling and whispering to each other, all "Spencer Bledsoe, he's so dreamy! Eeeeee!"

[LadyChatts]

He sounded really depressed last night & slightly less so this morning. I think he was more upset that the people on the jury thought he wasn't being genuine. He also said he thought he was friendlier with his previous seasons cast than this one. Granted, he made the Final 3 this time and got no votes thus thinking he was on better terms last time. He really misread Kelley out there but she said today she doesn't have any hard feelings and he needs to move on. I'm assuming the hardest part was just reliving it. He pretty much knew he lost this whole time but re-watching it made it harder. I'm sure in a month he'll be fine. At least, he got $100,000 or so. Although, he and Tasha tied with no votes so I'm not sure what "2nd" for two people get?!

 

I would think they both get $100,000 (although maybe they do split it).  I just remember Reed voting for Jaclyn so Missy wouldn't get second, but third place gets $50,000, so what difference would it have made (I don't believe he is the first person to do that, either).  So that's why I'm assuming they each get $100,000.  

 

It seems like the biggest issue is not realizing how well Jeremy was playing until watching it, and where it went wrong for him.  I believe Spencer had a legit chance of winning, more than some others, and of course it is easy in hindsight when you get to watch at home and see the conversations/TH happening you weren't privy to.  But he was the one who went to bat for Tony during Cagayan and said Woo played it horribly by taking him over Kass.  If Spencer had gone second instead of Shirin, he probably would have been one of the ones saying everyone were idiots for not getting rid of Jeremy when they had the chance.  And yet, he was that person.

[Congo]

$50K each, which after taxes is like $30K or something like that? I guess he can pay off his student loans.

[pennben]

As others have mentioned above (or in another thread), I think they take the 2nd place money (100,000) and add it to the 3rd place money (75K or 85K, I don't recall) and divide it by 2 for the second and third place winners to split.

Edited December 18, 2015 by pennben

[fishcakes]

That's how they did it after Caramoans. Dawn and Sherri split 2nd and 3rd (it's 85K) place money and each got $92,500.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I just remember Reed voting for Jaclyn so Missy wouldn't get second

 

Hahahaha  this is amazing

[peachmangosteen]

I have to laugh at this....

 

http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2015/12/17/survivor-castaways-keith-and-kimmi-werent-fans-of-spencer-and-tasha/

 

Nale: To me he was pretty convincing. I don’t think you throw something out there to get sympathy votes. Looking at them, Jeremy was going to get my vote whether she was pregnant or not.

Kappenberg: Exactly. Tasha out there…she was another one. You could’ve put anyone next to Tasha and Spencer and they would’ve won. You could put Abi out there and it would’ve been a tough call.

Nale: Yeah.

Kappenberg: Abi had been mentally abused out there. Her feelings were hurt.

Nale: She was a time bomb.

Kappenberg: But she would’ve gotten my vote over Tasha and Spencer. That’s how anti-Tasha and Spencer I am. There were different things you didn’t see, like in the food challenge where she’s eating the balut and she’s pounding her chest and saying, “I’m doing this out of hate! I’m doing this out of hate!” It’s like, “Who the heck are you? What are you doing?” The audience didn’t get to see that. Why are Tasha and Spencer so protected? Even during the loved-one visit, they showed us for a little bit, but it still managed to be about Spencer. Ooo…he’s got a little girlfriend. Oooo…he said, “I love you.” And he didn’t even win the damn reward.

Holmes: Keith, who are you voting for in a Spencer, Abi, Tasha final three?

Nale: That’d be a close call right there. I don’t know…I might have to give it to Spencer. Just because Abi and Tasha…it’d be a close call. Close call. Not Tasha. I look at it like, “Did they really play this game?” Spencer won some challenges. He made it further than me.

 

Damn. So I guess Spencer got the best edit this season then. It seems he was pretty disliked out there and yet you would literally never it from the edit. In fact, the edit presented it like he was a changed man that was so likable and really forging real bonds, yada yada yada.

Edited December 18, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[ByaNose]

Although, the Spencer "he's a changed man" mostly came from Spencer himself in his confessionals. You really never heard anyone say it or mention it to anyone else. The miracle of a one sided edit. I thought by the edits it would come down between Spencer, Jeremy & Kelley. So, I had two out of three right. The editors are sneaky sneaky. LOL!!

[LadyChatts]

Why does Tasha get such a good edit?  I don't get it.  Was there only room this season for one villain?  If people are going to vote for Abi over you...yeah.   I remember someone else said that about Tasha (maybe Kass?)  I think Tasha's got issues.  I wonder if some of her Kass hate is all a figment of her imagination.  Has anyone back up her claims that Kass said something racist to her?

 

Also, I loved Kimmi's reaction to Spencer's girlfriend visiting.  I think they are all sorts of adorable together, but that was funny.  Jeff's reaction was the best: "Spencer's got a girlfriend".

[violet and green]

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:  Yeah, I don’t know. I think I could’ve phrased it better. I probably shouldn’t have said it in a way like I had such influence over the jury, because obviously I wouldn’t have had such influence over the jury. I probably should’ve just stuck to “I will 100 percent vote for her.” Probably just a more reserved way of saying a similar thing. But as far as morally, it was always just gameplay. So it ruffled feathers on the jury. I was just hoping it would be gameplay. I probably just got a little too emphatic with it.

 

We spoke to Kelley Wentworth earlier and she said you were much more arrogant in general than what we saw on TV and alienated people and burned a lot of bridges. What do you make of those comments?

SPENCER: [Clearly surprised] Huh. Yeah. I think I didn’t feel that way, to be honest. One thing wasn’t on TV, which I don’t know if she mentioned, is Kelley and I did bond quite a bit. We talked quite a bit about some personal things, so that betrayal was especially rough. I actually felt worse about betraying Kelley than betraying anyone else. But you’d have to talk to her more. I definitely never was trying to alienate people. I can’t think of anything where I was pushing people away. I was definitely trying to have the best situation I could with everyone.

 

It’s so interesting because we heard constantly from you about working hard to make personal connections to improve your game, but that may have ultimately been your downfall because like we saw with Coach on South Pacific, when you make personal connections and then betray them, people are much more hurt than if you just did it clinically and at a distance.

Yeah, how smart am I? I didn’t realize that if you get close to people and betray them, they’ll be mad. You’re right, I did. I focused on relationships, and the downside of that is people don’t feel happy with you. That doesn’t explain every vote. You don’t lose just because you betrayed people. There were absolutely jurors sitting there who looked at it objectively and thought Jeremy played the better game. With Kelley, with a couple other people, I guess I was able — and I was doing it genuinely, I wasn’t feeling it in this evil calculated way — I was able to broker with them, but I wasn’t able to overcome.

 

It's a nice interview. Worth reading. http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/17/survivor-cambodia-second-chance-spencer-bledsoe

[Skeeter22]

Spencer is really lucky he was popular before this season. He seems to have gotten a very favorable edit. I'm disappointed we didn't get to see Tasha's insane "Fueled by HATE!!" rant. It sounds hilarious and would have been useful in setting up her showdown with Kass. Instead the show acted like Chaos!Kass just randomly appeared. I wish we'd seen the real Spencer and Tasha instead of a lot of posturing about other players being goats they had to get rid of "for the fans."

[Ms Blue Jay]

I really don't give a sh*t what Kelley says ....  Kelley played a great game and vastly improved over SJDS but I don't need to take her word as gospel.   I've seen 1,000 Spencer confessionals if you add up Cagayan and this season.  I never liked Spencer's atittude towards Woo, but I don't find him so arrogant.  I get that there is an edit involved, but I've not been offended by his demeanor.   It's clear to me that Spencer never means to come off that way and is actively trying not to.  That goes along way for me.  

 

Also, so what if Tasha is fueled by hate?  LOL.  A lot of people are. 

Edited December 18, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[willpwr]

It's not about taking someone's word as gospel. Sometimes we form opinions based on what we see and Spencer, imo, came off as very arrogant. Obviously mmv and there is no right or wrong way of viewing someone but what may be clear to you may not necessarily be how someone else sees things.

[DancingD]

On a shallow note, with some weight on his face Spencer is quite handsome. 

[LanceM]

I really don't give a sh*t what Kelley says ....  Kelley played a great game and vastly improved over SJDS but I don't need to take her word as gospel.   I've seen 1,000 Spencer confessionals if you add up Cagayan and this season.  I never liked Spencer's atittude towards Woo, but I don't find him so arrogant.  I get that there is an edit involved, but I've not been offended by his demeanor.   It's clear to me that Spencer never means to come off that way and is actively trying not to.  That goes along way for me.  

 

Also, so what if Tasha is fueled by hate?  LOL.  A lot of people are. 

 

Well no offense but you weren't there. And it is not just Kelley saying this it is others as well. When a jury member says that she would have voted for Abi over you than there might be a problem.

[Ms Blue Jay]

So the viewers are not allowed to form opinions on the players?   I'm fine with feeling whatever I want about the players without letting other competitors influence my opinion on them.

 

Some people (me) couldn't care less about the gossip that the players spew about one another.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Zuleikha]

I definitely never was trying to alienate people. I can’t think of anything where I was pushing people away. I was definitely trying to have the best situation I could with everyone.

This is right in line with what I think is Spencer's Survivor weakness... he doesn't know how to read a room. I just think of things like his confessional about talking strategy with Joe and putting it into Joe speech or something like that. I'm sure he had no intention of being condescending, but what he said boiled down to "I had to dumb things down so Joe could follow me." People pick up on stuff like that. They know when you don't respect them as your equal.

[yamashinaryu]

But I thought I saw a clip of that balut eating contest and I heard Tasha said, "I'm fueled by hate, Jeff" . Funny but it was a showdown between Tasha and Kass right?    

[Guest]

We did hear her "fueled by hate" thing or at least one line of it.  She kind of howled it like a madman, iirc, so maybe people didn't notice the words, or somehow I remember it that way.  I think other players said it went on longer than we saw.

 

I don't understand Kimmi's beef with Spencer.  She's upset with Spencer that the show showed him saying I love you to his girlfriend?  Why?  

[LadyChatts]

I have a feeling it is more than that.  Obviously Spencer started slipping into "zero chance of getting one vote let alone winning" at that first TC last night, when he insisted they were going to rocks if everyone couldn't come up with a solution and that Tasha was not being voted off.  Given what we've seen some of the castaways say about Spencer/Tasha's edit, I think there might be general frustration that other, unflattering things might have happened and yet they came out smelling like a rose because we didn't see it.  The girlfriend thing (which I still say is cute) may have been an example she had of him getting this growth, mushy, sentimental moment to go along with this edit of looking good and his 'story'.  Maybe she thought they just played it up too thick.

Edited December 18, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Guest]

It's a nice interview. Worth reading. http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/17/survivor-cambodia-second-chance-spencer-bledsoe

 

It is.  But it bugs me when publications like EW and People have typos.  Though this one was pretty funny--

 

How did you feel about your chances after Jermey’s mic-drop revelation about the unborn baby boy?

[violet and green]

I saw that, too. Ha. Maybe they snuck it in, as a nod to Keith's voting spelling?

[Zuleikha]

She's upset with Spencer that the show showed him saying I love you to his girlfriend?  Why?

It was a stand-in for general frustrations about the way that Spencer was given a very flattering edit while other players' who made it far weren't shown much of their game. And it's true. We saw so many Spencer confessionals, which let us see Spencer's perception of the game and his role in it. But Spencer's perception was badly off. Meanwhile, we saw very little of Kimmi and Tasha (which in Tasha's case may have been to her benefit).

[truthaboutluv]

He sounded really depressed last night & slightly less so this morning. I think he was more upset that the people on the jury thought he wasn't being genuine.

 

Yes that's what really bummed me out about the end of the season. I like Jeremy and I'm really happy for him. Yeah it shouldn't be all about sappiness but sue me, I'm happy that the guy with two kids and one on the way won the million (of course I'm not sure what Spencer's student loans may be. He did attend one of the top universities in the country) and Jeremy is clearly a really nice guy. So I don't take anything from Jeremy's win but I didn't realize how much I liked Spencer until I saw the beating he got at tribal council and then his not getting one single vote. 

 

But even that I could have just shrugged off and thought, "oh well, it happens." But then I was sad to see how clearly sad HE was at the reunion show, even admitting that he stopped watching the season because he just couldn't. As I said in the episode thread, that was VASTLY different to the Cagayan reunion where he was so upbeat and happy about everything. He admitted in interviews after then that he probably could have played better but he had a positive feeling about the season and seemed very okay with how things turned out. 

 

That was definitely not the case this time and I really think it was the whole this being a second chance, a chance to fix all the mistakes and do it better and while he thought he was doing that, apparently not. Instead, the people in this season seemed to hate him in a way the players in Cagayan didn't. Spencer was not disliked by his Cagayan cast members unless I missed it. Morgan, Jeremiah (who by the way sent him a sweet tweet after this season ended), Sarah, Trish, etc. all really liked Spencer and he's clearly stayed close to Tasha. 

 

So I imagine that's what really gutted him. He once again was at the bottom like in Cagayan, crawled to try to get to the end and thinking he's doing that by playing a better social game. And yeah he makes a few strategic moves like booting Stephen but he's probably thinking well these are second chance players so I have to make moves or else I'll get to the end and no one will respect my game. And then instead he gets to the end and people pretty much tell him he's arrogant and a bully and he doesn't get a single vote because he clearly completely missed the obvious of Jeremy as a serious threat. 

 

I don't disagree that Spencer really dug his grave at that Final 4 tribal council and believe me, I full on face palmed and went, "stop talking, stop talking..." because I could tell how aggressive he was coming across and how that would not be perceived as appealing by the jury. But honestly, I don't think it really mattered at that point. Jeremy clearly already had that win sewn up. Still as I said in the episode thread, I like Spencer and I continue to. I think he seems like a well raised, intelligent and decent young man (geez I sound like I'm 50 or that much older than him, lol).

 

Is he a little arrogant sure, but I don't think that makes him a bad person and I too hope he's able to get past the season which I'm sure he will. As for him playing again, I can believe he wouldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if he did but I can see him deciding not to, especially as he's working now. I know for the Cagayan season he had to give up a really great internship at a prestigious financial company to do it but he got another one when he got back. But taking time off when you're in college is easier than when you have a full time professional career. 

[ProfCrash]

Spencer is a good person who is very analytical and it is clear how his mind works. He is someone who comes across as arrogant because of how he discusses things. I saw him as Pinocchio this entire season. The wooden boy trying to discover his feelings and how to be a man. Thing is, I don't really think that Spencer doesn't know how to feel just that he expresses his feelings differently and that he is very guarded and calculated.

 

Kimmi's interview with Gordon Holmes paints a different picture then what we saw where Spencer was much less flexible then we were shown. She called him a bully based on how he spoke and how he demanded certain moves be made.

 

I think Spencer is a young man who is learning and growing. But he is always going to be calculating and clinical and that is never going to come across in a manner that isn't labeled as arrogant or nerdy.

[Eolivet]

I think Spencer could play this game 20 times and never win once. For two seasons, he's seemed to lack the innate quality that I believe all winners need: People must trust you. Every winner seemingly has that one person they can trust -- and can successfully beat. For whatever reason, people do not trust Spencer -- not on his first season and not on this one. We got many confessionals saying "I don't trust what Spencer is saying," from a variety of people this season. I also think a winner needs the ability to manipulate the game without being seen, and I just don't think Spencer has that personality. Other socially awkward winners from Cochran to Tyson (I recall) were able to give off the aura of being non-threatening, but still held the puppet strings. But I think Spencer is in that odd position where he's not forceful enough to be thought of as a leader, but too forceful to be overlooked. I don't think that's youth -- I think that's personality.

 

Plus, he made a big giant deal about how much he'd changed from his original season. What's his hook a third time? I feel like it'd be one long season of "Pay no attention to those two seasons behind the curtain!"

[truthaboutluv]

I disagree that people don't trust Spencer and never have on both of his seasons. Spencer's alliance in Cagayan absolutely trusted him save for Kass who actually was more distrustful of Tasha and really didn't like Sarah, which is why she flipped. Jeremiah, Tasha, Morgan and Sarah all trusted Spencer just fine and he did stay loyal to them even if the numbers were against them. And his game started falling apart at the start of this season not because no one trusted him, but because Varner saw him as a threat he wanted to eliminate and got enough support to almost make it happen.

 

When he got to his first swap, Jeremy seemed to like him just fine (of course Jeremy was adamant Kimmi wasn't going to flip when it was so clear she was) and based on Stephen's Ponderosa video, he didn't seem to realize Spencer was the one behind wanting to boot him and the blindside. And he seemed very shocked by that, so he clearly must have trusted him. We saw the scene when all Spencer said was, "but what exactly is the plan..." and Stephen gladly gave away what his advantage in the game was, to Spencer. 

 

And Tasha stated in the final tribal council that her true alliance was really Spencer and yet we saw Spencer throwing her name to blindside with Kelley and Keith. Now he didn't do it and maybe he was just playing Kelley and Keith but I thought he sure seemed serious. He just realized Abi was more of a loose cannon. So if he had blindsided Tasha, she clearly would not have seen it coming. So I don't agree that no one ever trusts him in the game. 

Edited December 18, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[peachmangosteen]

This is interesting: Spencer claims that Stephen and Kass were telling everyone that he was rich.

 

Bledsoe: Kass and Stephen were going around telling people that I was extremely rich. That my mom had won this huge lawsuit divorce settlement. That’s just completely untrue. I used the money from the first time I played “Survivor” to help my dad get out of credit card debt. This time I’m using the money to give a loan to my sister. I have a thousand dollars in my bank account now. So, I don’t know how that got started. But there was this perception that I was a spoiled, bratty, super rich kid which was unfortunate.

 

This was Stephen's response on twitter:

 

Yikes. I definitely argued for voting for the firefighter over the young wealthy banker.

But not sure why Spencer thinks I was talking about the state of his parents' finances or divorce proceedings, which i know nothing about.

Apparently it's my own fault, he misinterpreted something I'd told him. Totally my bad. Can't wait for us all to be out of this echo chamber

ETA: Just saw that Stephen had more to say on this on reddit:

 

Just to dispel this meme before it becomes a thing. Basically in every season of Survivor, all the jurors discuss the potential financial/life status of every finalist. Not that it has to play a major role, but it's something you talk about, in the way that you talk about everything. So at Ponderosa, everyone had the idea that Spencer came from wealth - he disagrees with that assessment but that was our working understanding of him, and I think compared to Jeremy, I'd still argue he has a more privileged background. This information wasn't like some smear campaign, it was based on things he had told people in the game - myself NOT included. So Kass had said something from Cagayan, and Kimmi had mentioned something Spencer had mentioned to her. I'll leave out the specific things because they're not really relevant. I think the reason my name is included in this is because I'm the one who told Spencer about it. He and I were sitting in our dressing room, and he was speculating that he would get zero votes, and as a zero vote getter myself, I was commiserating and trying to comfort him, and I expressed to him that he played an amazing strategic game and that regardless of the votes he got, he could walk away proud. And as part of that, I said that the perception of him as wealthy probably contributed to the lack of votes - and I admitted that of course I contributed to that discourse. Because everyone did. (But I really have zero clue where that divorce stuff comes from so maybe someone else mentioned the issue to him as well with different specifics.) I probably didn't express my thought as lucidly as all that, though, and so maybe that's where he got the assumption that I was spreading rumors about him.

As to the more general problem of jurors discussing this stuff at Ponderosa: I'm VERY much against the fact that the jury influences each other, but the fact is that they do. I felt that if it's going to happen anyway, I would be remiss not to advocate for my guy. I can see different people debating the ethics of that decision, but I wasn't like making up lies about Spencer. I'd love to figure out a way to solve this, and I'm sure production would too, so if you guys have suggestions short of individual sequester which is technically infeasible, you know, hit me.

Edited December 18, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[Guest]

I believe Spencer can be arrogant.  I don't put a lot of stock in Kimmi though because her example was basically that convo we SAW with Jeremy in the hammock, where Spencer wasn't being bossy or arrogant and also- he was right!  Kimmi was flipping.  

 

I'm glad he did get a good edit overall, though.  He wants to work in investment banking and I think those employers would want him so I think he'll be well-served by Survivor in the end.  

[slowpoked]

I wonder if Spencer ever thought of blindsiding Jeremy to get rid of him, and make his chances for winning better. He said he had no plans of taking Jeremy to the F4 if he had won the final IC. But why not blindside him at F5? Why let it go to the F4, down with one potential vote, and the game out of your hands if you don't win the final IC? Wentworth won immunity, and there's an obvious vote in Keith. He didn't even need to talk to Tasha at that point. He just needed to talk to Wentworth and Keith. I wonder if he tried, but maybe by that time the the relationship between them was completely irrepairable, and the two wouldn't trust him. He said in his exits he completely misread Wentworth and out of all the people he "betrayed", he felt the worst about it with her.

[truthaboutluv]

Yikes. I definitely argued for voting for the firefighter over the young wealthy banker.

 

 

I read Stephen's longer explanation of what happened, which to be fair didn't really contradict what Spencer said in the interview. But the bolded part of Stephen's tweet really confused me. How would Spencer, someone who just graduated college last year and is really only starting his professional career be a wealthy banker already? That makes no sense. 

 

Now if the jury argued that as a young, 23-year old, Spencer has no responsibilities like Jeremy because he has no wife, children, mortgage since like most 20-somethings he likely lives in an apartment, I'd understand that. But selling the wealthy argument for a guy who just graduated college and is only really just starting his career? That makes no sense but seems it was the result of some tales from Kimmi and Kass. Guess Kimmi really didn't like Spencer did she?

[Guest]

Yeah, Stephen sounded like an ass with that.  Then he backpedaled.  

[nutty1]

I remain a Spencer fan. He isn't perfect, but then who is.

[truthaboutluv]

I loved how, during the reunion, Spencer twice said that he loved his girlfriend, and both times they cut to her and her friend in the audience giggling and whispering to each other, all "Spencer Bledsoe, he's so dreamy! Eeeeee!"

 

 

She definitely seems like the very cutesy and giggly type - very All-American. And yeah for all the Joe salivating by Jeff and everyone else, Spencer actually surprisingly (or not, depending on your opinion) has quite a little female following that started from Cagayan. And his twitter feed was filled with a lot of "you should have won, I still love you, etc."

 

So yeah I'm sure it sucked for him having to relive the season and it feeling so raw again having to go through the reunion show with the votes working out the way it did but I'm sure in a a little while he'll be more than fine. Guy is in a good place in his life as he noted with his career on track, his very happy and smiley girlfriend and his family.

[LadyChatts]

So I'm guessing the conversation with Stephen might have been part of why Spencer seemed down at the finale.  You're already losing a game your a super fan to in a clean sweep, but to hear that right before hand has to sting a little.  I understand why finances and lifestyles might sway people's votes, why some people may choose to keep that stuff secret, and why some people don't mesh because they are at different points of their lives.  But I would hope, if someone played the best game, even if they were richer than Mark Burnett himself, they would still get the vote.  I don't believe Spencer had any chance of winning, regardless of financial (or lack of) status.

 

This season's aftermath reminds me of middle school.