S31.E12: Tiny Little Shanks To The Heart

[plurie]

You know for them wanting an all female alliance, you think Wentworth would choose all females on the reward challenge. I rarely if ever have faith in an all female alliance. They may be able to do it this time around and the men are in trouble so Spencer and Jeremy may have slit their throats unless they can win immunity.

 

Did I miss something with Keith voting for Tasha? Was that a throw away vote on his part?

Like I said after last week's episodes, you NEVER take your closest allies on a reward. You either take people you're trying to flip, or people who would be a threat to flip someone else if you left them behind. If she took all the women, she'd be tipping her hand that there's an all-female alliance forming. Perhaps she trusted Tasha too much, but she had to pick either Tasha or Kimmi to take and leave Jeremy and Spencer (who are already a tight alliance) with the other one. She couldn't leave Abi behind, because Abi is a loose cannon who gets offended at the drop of a hat. And there's no point in "breaking up" Jeremy and Spencer because then they can work on flipping someone when she's not around to watch.

 

I'm pretty sure Keith had no idea what was going on (as usual), but this wasn't a bad vote. He can honestly tell Abi he didn't vote for her, so she won't turn her wrath on him. And he can make a play for Joe's vote if he makes it to FTC by telling him he never wrote his name down.

[Bryce Lynch]

Another boring episode after that brief reprieve last week. The women's alliance is the smartest move, if they can control voting out the men. Jeremy's idol could be an important wrench in the spokes of that plan. It makes the most sense for all of them, with Tasha and Kelly fighting for the third spot. Tasha would be a fool to go with the men, especially since I think they would vote for her even if she helped vote them out. I think of that trio Spencer gets the win, in part because he is a recipient of Probst's "favors." Or was Spencer's "this could be a determining vote" an omen of his demise? I would think he is now the biggest target. Perhaps he should have considered this in voting out Joe? I'm not as sure as they that Joe would be a shoe-in to win. Others can make good arguments at FTC and I imagine Joe would actually not be very effective in making his case. He's never demonstrated much strategic thinking.

If I recall correctly, didn't Keith go on a small IC run at the end of his season to thwart the plans to vote him off? If he can get to the end, I think he just might win this thing. I assumed his vote for Tasha was a way to win Joe's vote and to avoid the wrath of the execrable Abi. Keith appears to have his eye on the prize.

I found Kelly unpleasant this episode as well. I wish they would prohibit the wooing of the jury during TC. That shit was annoying. Didn't this used to be the rule?

I don't get the anger at Kimmi. Just because an all female alliance didn't make sense to her then doesn't mean it's not in the remaining women's best interest at this point to align. Kimmi and Abi are both very healthy goats for all of the remaining players.

I agree that the women's alliance is the smartest move for all 4 remaining women. It gives them each the best chance of reaching FTC and winning at FTC.

I also agree about Joe. Everyone seems to think he would be a sure winner if he reached FTC, but I am not sure that is the case. Nearly everyone wanted him voted out and was frustrated by their inability to do so for so long.

A smart finalist could have played on this

with the jury and said "Joe has no social or strategic game, and most of us wanted him out, but he kept getting bailed out by his physical abilities. Well now is our chance. You are totally in control of his fate and his body can't save him."

I think Jeremy, Spencer, and perhaps a few others could have beaten Joe at FTC.

[ghoulina]

Wait, NOW Kimmi wants to form a female alliance? Somewhere Monica is rolling her eyes. 

 

I know a lot of people don't like the loved ones visits, but I really enjoy them. It's always interesting to see who THAT person is, that shows up for the players. And it really shows you another side of people, that you don't often get to see. Jeremy's love for his wife is just so touching to me. Spencer has apparently been able to get deep with his little sprite of a girlfriend. He has feelings, y'all! Keith and his wife are adorable. LA = Lower Arkansas, Jeff! Joe and his dad....very moving. When Joe's father told him, "I never had a friend like you" I just lost it. Tears everywhere. 

 

Wentworth continues to impress. She really came from behind and rocked that reward challenge! I thought her picks were wise as well, mainly choosing Kimmi. That might have paved the way for getting Kimmi fully on board with her and leaving her previous alliance in the dust. I don't know that the all girl thing will stick, but I think Wentworth made smart moves for herself. 

 

IC - Another fucking balance challenge? Ugh, it's getting real old. I knew going in that it would come down to Joe and Keith. This point in the game, it's getting real hard for me. Because I like Joe, so I didn't necessarily want him to go yet. But I am really rooting for Wentworth, so I want her plans to succeed. Honestly, the only person I WANT to go home at this point is Abi. The game is getting more and more tense! 

 

The thing with Joe was super scary. I actually got all worried from my couch. I'm glad I'm not in the game, because I would have felt like an ass cheering for his failure two seconds before he collapsed. There's no way they could have known, though. 

 

But the aftermath. I don't know who to give the callous award to. Did Propst truly say, "This is what we're here for" in reference to Joe passing out???? I mean, i get that they want people to play hard, but that's a bit excessive. He could have hit his head and seriously injured himself. And then Abi was practically gloating about it. She really is a sick woman.

 

Even when voting him out, she had to mock his hair! His hair is not my thing, but who cares? She's just so immature. I wonder if Wentworth really likes her, or if she's just doing the best job ever at putting up with Abi. 

 

Poor Keith. Evidently no one talked to him before the vote. Tasha? Dafuq???

Edited December 3, 2015 by ghoulina

[sadiegirl1999]

Probst said on RHAP that if a contestant wants something to stay a secret he respects that

 

 

I think Val's pregnancy was also the reason why they didn't have family members participate. I mean, I know they don't ALWAYS have the family do the challenge. But my hunch tells me they didn't this time for that reason. YMMV

 

For some reason to me, Spencer and Jeremy (and Joe) got scary skinny this episode. I was taken aback by it, actually.

[ProfCrash]

Overall a boring episode. There just wasn't anything that happened that drew me in. They probably shouldn't have shown the clips of the injury in the preview because it really did remove most suspense. We knew it was a white guy and the hand didn't look nearly rough enough to be Keith. So it was Spencer or Joe, more likely Joe because I just don't see Spencer playing to the point of collapsing. We all knew if Joe lost immunity that he was going home so the preview was too much info.

 

I am the last person anyone would expect to defend Abi but no one knew what happened when Joe went down. Probst announces that Keith is the winner. Everyone on the bench appears to be celebrating. Then Probst realizes what has happened and calls medical. Jeremy, the active fireman, rushes past everyone to get to Joe. The entire group is coming over to check on Joe. That everyone includes Abi. I don't believe for a second that Abi was happy Joe collapsed.

 

That said, shut up Abi. I don't like her. I don't like her snide comments. At this point the stupid cut you hair comment is simply made so that she can be edited as a villain. She is openly discussed as a goat because she is a goat and no one expects her to win. Since the whole point of being out there is to try and win, Abi has already failed miserably. I just don't like how she plays the game. She does not play to win.

 

I love Kelley. She has been playing a great game. She was on the outs in her original tribe, but not the target. She was at the bottom on her swap tribe and managed to make sure that Terry was the one to go if they went to tribal. She developed a five person alliance. Another tribe swap and Kelley is on the bottom of her new tribe but she has Joe working to keep her in the game. The tribes merge and two of the women in her alliance were not liked by others from Bayon and so Kelley finds herself at the bottom of the merge. She plays an idol to save herself and works with Ciera and Abi to develop enough of a position that they are involved in some big moves. She has another idol and has good connections with different people on the beach. Great stuff.

 

Kimmi has just realized that she is screwed at the end game and managed to make herself a target with her attempt to correct her earlier mistakes. This is what Monica was referencing in her exit interviews. Kimmi seems to have realized that she is not getting info from others and that she is with the wrong people.I wonder if she thought she was now in the minority or if she realized that she had no shot in hell of beating Jeremy and Spencer, both who have made some nice game moves that will earn them votes.

 

Good on Tasha for going back to Jeremy and Spencer. She was honest, let them know what was happening, and I believe she has every intention of sticking with them. I am not sure why she would want to stay with them. I would think that Kimmi and Abi would be great to sit next to at FTC. I would not want to sit next to Jeremy or Spencer. Jeremy, the alliance builder, the decider for his alliance, the idol play or Spencer, the underdog from the originally decimated tribe who knocked out Stephen or Tasha. Yes, Tasha survived a crappy swap but that was handed to her. Abi was not going to stick with her original tribemates. Was there some Abi wrangling? Yes. But if Abi was annoying at camp, it would not have been hard to pull in Peih Gee to vote out Abi. I just don't see her play there as anything all that masterful. She did a good job but it was freaking handed to her. I don't think that will earn her many votes.

 

Abi can't win. Her snide comments at camp and her overall negative persona guarentees that she gets like 0 votes.

 

Keith voted for Tasha. I think that tells you were Keith is in this game. Great lines, great at challenges and no strategy. I mean, they didn't even tell him the plan this time and he voted for Tasha.

[Haleth]

The IC challenge was interesting for a number of reasons, not least watching Jeremy bag it again. The assumption has been that he is a challenge threat who hid behind Joe...but where is the evidence? He's never won an immunity challenge, he doesn't demonstrate endurance or balance, and he sucks at puzzles. He is a player, and good at strategizing, but as a physical threat...he comes up empty.

 

If the challenge involved picking up heavy objects and carrying them distance, he'd win hands down, but obviously there won't be a challenge like that.

 

To me, he was easily the most concerned and empathetic after Joe's collapse.

 

It was probably instinctive to rush to help.  Gotta love a firefighter!

 

If they finally vote out Abi I'd honestly be happy with any of the remaining players winning.  I don't think Kimmi or Keith stand a chance since they haven't done much, and I don't care for Kelley's mean girl act but at least she's trying to win.  My dream F3 (do we know if it's 3 or 2?) would be Jeremy, Spencer, and Tasha.  I can't believe Tasha would jump to #4 of an all girl alliance from being #3 with Jeremy and Spencer.  She's not going to win in either case, but I think she's smart enough to go as far as she can with the right people.

[grumpypanda]

Jeremy made it clear that Val's pregnancy was a secret. Val and Jeremy have two daughters.

Thanks, I didn't realize the pregnancy was a secret. I just thought he didn't want to share the sex of the baby.

[TaraS1]

Abi is a miserable human being and I'll never buy the excuse that she's edited that way.  All season long, the utter glee and satisfaction on her face when she was about to go on the attack said it all.  She's not a villain, she's just one of those small, insecure, nasty people who doesn't feel "good" about themselves until they're trying to make someone else feel small and insecure.  I was really hoping Jeff would stop talking about Joe for two seconds at tribal and actually ask her how it felt to know that not a single person there believes she has a shot in hell of winning it all.

 

And as someone who comes from a very affectionate family, even I really wanted Joe and his dad to stop kissing.

 

I'm also cracking up at the person above who asked if the loved ones had their bras taken away!  When Keith's wife came bounding towards him...yikes LOL

[ghoulina]

now I am even more convinced Tasha and Spencer had a pre-game alliance and they are low key about it and I think it will last even though I doubt they get Jeremy out due to his idol. I had been thinking this for a while but when Spencer's girlfriend said "Hi T" and Tasha got all smiley and waved at her it just reaffirmed it imo.

 

Oh, interesting,  I didn't even notice that. Good catch. 

 

I agree.  At tribal he was diaphoretic several times (whereas no one else seemed to be), he looked shaky, and his eyes were bloodshot like he had a fever.  I'm not surprised.  The medic treated his supposed hypoglycemia by pouring water on Joe, holding an umbrella over his head, and offering him a drink of water.  None of which do a damn thing for your blood sugar.

 

Right? I was like, "Can someone please bring him a glass of orange juice?"

 

I really don’t get all the Kelley hate.  I thought this was a great episode for her.  She won both challenges, cemented her climb from the bottom to the top, made the right choices on who to take on the reward, and got her way in tribal.  Is she not allowed to celebrate or even look happy about all the above?  I guess not when it’s at the expense of a fan favorite.

 

I didn't have a problem with her cheering. It looks a little bad in retrospect, since Joe dropped two seconds later. But she wasn't trying to be intentionally nasty or anything, not like Abi who was later gloating about it. But Kelly wanted Joe out, for good reason, and he has previously won just about all challenges involving balance. If he won this one, they'd have to change their entire plan. So she's watching, waiting, super tense - Joe is wobbling, Keith is wobbling, who's going to drop their stick first???? Oh, look, Joe's went down! Yay!!! She was reacting in the moment, that is all. She wasn't trying to taunt him, and as soon as she saw he was hurt she was instantly concerned. 

 

Jeremy is not excellent at challenges. He appears to be strong, and I'm sure he could excel at the right challenge. But anyone can excel at the right challenge. Kass won an immunity challenge to edge out Spencer at final four, which is something that I doubt anyone including Kass would have predicted. Jeremy has not generally excelled at the post-merge reward and immunity challenges. If anyone goes on an IC run, IMHO, it's likely to be Keith or Spencer who have consistently placed high.

 

I have the worst memory, but didn't Kass have an advantage when she won that challenge? Also, a lot of people (myself included) have been speculating that Jeremy has intentionally been downplaying it a bit in individual challenges. I'm not saying he's a total beast, but I do think he's a lot more competent than we've seen. With the way people have been after Joe for weeks, it would make sense to not want that physical target on your back.

 

I was proud of Spencer realizing he can't treat others like pawns to get him to the end and trying to recreate a connection with Jeremy and Tasha.

 

Totally agree. I think Spencer might just earn "most improved game", but it's still a bit early to say.

[laurakaye]

A few thoughts, and then off to read comments....

 

Spencer: I thought his adorable interaction with his adorable girlfriend was adorable.  I love how surprised she seemed when he told her he loved her.  My heart was a melted puddle of mush on the floor.  With Golden Joey gone, I am Team Spencer all the way.

 

Joe: When I watched the previews for the mysterious collapse, I could tell from the quick shot of the shaking hand that it was a male that went down, and I assumed it was Keith.  Never expected to see Joe go down.  That was scary, and I empathize with the other survivors for briefly cheering that Joe lost, until they realized that something wasn't right.  However, I thought Kelley and Abi's comments after the fact were nasty and they can both seat their asses on the jury ASAP.  I don't even want to see Abi in the Final Three because I don't want to listen to her anymore, ever.

 

Also, Joe's interaction with his dad was all kinds of sweet to me.  As a parent of two teens, it's really interesting when your kids get older and you realize that if you could choose them as a friend, you would.  It's a nice validation that you've raised good human beings, and I completely understood where Joe's dad was coming from.

 

Kimmi: Monica called, she wants a word....  

 

Keith: a sneaky, yet somewhat confused, threat in this game.  He's both good to bring along because he's usually going to stick to whatever plan he hears right before Tribal (still don't know where his Tasha vote came from, though), but he's got some serious challenge stamina.  Also, I LOL'd at his wife's nickname: Big D, was it?  

 

Savage: LOSE THE HIPSTER HAT STAT KTHXBAI

Edited December 3, 2015 by laurakaye

[yamashinaryu]

I have the worst memory, but didn't Kass have an advantage when she won that challenge?.

Kass was way behind the first part of the challenge but powered her way on the puzzle part. No advantage.

Joe looks sick during the family visit. Or may be he was just so emotional that time.

The girls holding each others hand during the immunity challenge then burst in laughter after Joe collapsed. Wow. Unbelievable.

I thought the highlight of the reward challenge would be the Wentworth's but no it was all Joe and his father.

I feel that Tasha will be the swing vote in the coming episodes.

Spencer is super skinny, I was waiting for him to say "My precious" to his girlfriend.

[laurakaye]

Anybody else think the one to watch out for is Keith? He's won or come in second (to Joe, who's gone now) in quite a few ICs. And I don't think he's pissed anybody off. He just might come in and take the whole thing.

I remember on Survivor All-Stars - wasn't it Shii-Ann who, knowing she was going home that night, told everyone to watch out for Amber?  That's how I feel about Keith.  They should be keeping an eye on him.  I think he's a dark-horse threat to win.

[Guest]

That was really scary when Joe went down, it's amazing that his blood sugar could drop that low just from doing the challenge.

They didn't mention it but dehydration is a big cause of fainting.  When you get dehydrated your blood volume decreases and your blood pressure drops and you can easily faint from not getting enough to your brain.  

[Drogo]

With respect, do watch it again, if you can. She moved only when the group moved. Prior to that her eye-rolls and dislike of Joe were evident all during the challenge.

 

I saw this, too.  She jumped off that bench like her defense just picked off the game-tying TD drive. 

 

I really liked Wentworth until halfway through this episode (ex: I thought it was a solid choice to make Joe her last reward pick since she knows he'll be on the jury) so I'd really like to make an excuse for her, like "maybe she didn't realize he was hurt" - but she'd been staring/glaring at him the entire IC and he went to the floor like he'd had a stroke.  It seems like she saw/reacted to his fall and loss and only then realized how callous her reaction was going to seem.  In my experience you can tell the most about someone by their actions when something horrifying has happened; AKA "when shit gets real."  As far as I'm concerned, Kelley showed herself to be an uncaring brat in that moment.  Everyone's going to have a different take, but I'm definitely not a Wentworth fan any more.  I've never liked Abi, not before and not now; she's a real D.  I didn't care too much either way about Joe on his first season but he grew on me here.  Pretty sure he was crying during TC, and I don't blame him. 

 

Side note:  I would love to meet Keith's fifth cousin on his father's side. 

[TaraS1]

I'm not a fan of any of the women except Tasha, but I didn't think the initial celebration over Joe falling was malicious.  Ridiculously over-the-top, but not malicious.  I didn't go back and watch a second time, but it didn't seem like anyone had any idea at first that he had actually blacked out.

[laurakaye]

 

That was really scary when Joe went down, it's amazing that his blood sugar could drop that low just from doing the challenge.

My initial thought was that it had more to do with Joe holding his neck in that position for so long, and then suddenly bringing it forward caused him to get dizzy and faint.  I know that endurance challenges are a big part of Survivor, but this one in particular gave me the willies...it would be far too easy for one of those statutes to land square on someone's head and crack it open.

 

So, to summarize - no more statues on poles, and no more blindfolded-running-though-a-maze-tied-to-another-person type challenges.  Oh, and no more trying to yank someone from a pole.  I think that's it.  I like my Survivor relatively blood and injury free.

[truthaboutluv]

Anybody else think the one to watch out for is Keith? He's won or come in second (to Joe, who's gone now) in quite a few ICs. And I don't think he's pissed anybody off. He just might come in and take the whole thing.

 

Yeah Keith's performances at individual immunity challenges doesn't surprise me. He was really good at them in his original season as well and I think won something like 3. In fact that was partly how he got as far as he did. When they wanted to get him out, they couldn't. 

 

Um, Spencer just won the last IC. And Abi almost beat Joe on the IC the prior week if not for the cramps.

 

This and in the first individual immunity challenge, Spencer held on to the very end again against Joe but like with Abi, his legs just gave out and he lost. So yeah, completely disagree that only Keith has really been trying in the challenges. 

 

Speaking of the challenges, while I didn't get angry every time Joe won, I will say that when I saw it was another balancing immunity challenge this episode, I got frustrated because that's pretty much all they have been, save for last week's foot thing that Spencer won. And while I don't think it was manipulated for Joe, it did make me question how much of a challenge monster he would be, because in anything that wasn't balancing, he didn't win and wasn't even close. The folklore reward challenge and last night's puzzle reward challenge, he wasn't close. But every individual immunity challenge save for last week was balance this, balance that, etc. 

 

I think of that trio Spencer gets the win, in part because he is a recipient of Probst's "favors."

 

Um I'm curious...what exactly are those favors?

 

Joe is the most worthy survivor. He better win a season some time, even if it's in the next life.

 

What makes him so much more worthy than Jeremy or Tasha or Spencer or Wentworth, etc.? Because he's very strong in challenges and is a good provider and a nice guy? The mantra of the game is outwit, outplay and outlast. I feel like the only part of that Joe has ever really done is the outlast in terms of being good at challenges (and even that he didn't perfect because he never outlasted to the end) but he has never indicated any strong ability in outwitting and outplaying anyone. So I'm not sure what makes him so much worthier than others. Hell by that token we could say Keith deserves to win considering he's shown he's pretty impressive in challenges and he's the oldest guy left there, he's a good provider as well and seems like a very nice man by all accounts. 

 

Tasha if you don't want people to get paranoid before a vote then don't tell them of other alliances being formed.

 

This. Tasha usually seems smarter than that so I don't know what she was thinking then. You get Joe out and then after, tell Jeremy and Spencer about the women's alliance which if she decides to go with, it's not like they could do anything about it because of the numbers. But then if one has an idol, as Jeremy does and thwarts the plan, then she can still be in with them because she told them. Instead she almost got them to keep Joe around again, fearing so much about this women's alliance. 

 

It would have been interesting to see how long Joe lasted if almost every immunity challenge didn't involve balancing something.

 

Yup, exactly what I said above. 

 

now I am even more convinced Tasha and Spencer had a pre-game alliance and they are low key about it and I think it will last even though I doubt they get Jeremy out due to his idol. I had been thinking this for a while but when Spencer's girlfriend said "Hi T" and Tasha got all smiley and waved at her it just reaffirmed it imo.

 

I wouldn't be surprised. Despite the crazy mess that was the Brains tribe, I think they all stayed in touch and I know they were all at J'Tia's wedding, save for Garrett. And I thought it was interesting when the merge happened that Tasha said she was happy that her two former Brain tribe members were still there (that was before she and Kass got into it of course) and I felt like that scene of her and Spencer off together alone when she was pushing for the Ciera vote over Stephen, was telling. Also she and Spencer stayed very loyal to each other in their season even when the numbers weren't on their side. Credit to them, they never turned on the other and wrote their name down.

Edited December 3, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[cooksdelight]

The girls holding each others hand during the immunity challenge then burst in laughter after Joe collapsed. Wow. Unbelievable.

What you're seeing is creative editing. No one, not one single person, was happy when Joe went down. They were all very concerned. You cannot trust that production is showing us what really happened. Trust me on this one.

[marys1000]

So Kimmi  wakes up from her coma when she finally realizes that hey - she's not F3. But doesn't follow through by breaking up that F3. 

 

I realize that editing shows us who the tightest 3 is and theoretically it might not be obvious to the players......except really? 

 

Kelley, Abi know they aren't in it.  Joe knows he's not in it.  Keith has probably got some sense he's not in it.  That leaves the 4, who does Kimmi think is 4? 

 

 I think they are all playing a tunnel vision game ala Fishbach by focusing on Joe.  Yes he's a challenge threat but he just passed out!  He's physically and mentally toast!  Spencer and Tasha have done pretty well, Jeremy is no slouch and people should realize he's sandbagging. 

 

I think that F3 is a much bigger threat to one's future than a single guy who just passed out.  You got a tight 3 who are all physical and mental threats vs. one guy who is a fading physical threat - break up that 3 holy cow. 

 

Why no votes for Jeremy?  Or the other F3 F4?  It makes zero sense and seems really dumb to me. 

 

Kelley has been making snarky about  Joe since he rebuffed her efforts to bring him in ages ago.  Lately I've been wondering if its even more personal than that. Like maybe a bit of an unrequited crush, woman scorned thing.   Hurt feelings there are blinding her game I think. 

Abi absolutely plays an emotional I don't like you game.

For the final 3 group it was a good move. 

Kimmi and Keith - should have gotten Kelly and Abi to flip on one of the 3

 

Joe Joe Joe - should have gone after Kimmi with the people on the bottom.    Sure, Abi is a threat to go to F3 as a goat - but that's a good thing? How is that a bad thing?  Because she can't win.  Why would the F3/F4 want to vote her out?  Makes no sense I don't think he was thinking clearly. 

 

Then you got the tunnel vision about the women's alliance.  Hey - Joe wants to stay - try again!  Break up that F3/F4!  I agree with a few of the earlier posters - why would anyone think that Tasha is going to flip?  She's been all about the guys, tight with her original alliances.  Thinking she's going to go women uh uh.  How about Keith?  He's made noise about Jeremy in the past. 

 

IDK, I think the Joe obsession and vote out last night was sort of dumb and other than an idol play or two seems like things are going to be fairly predictable.  Sure sure they'll try to create drama with a possible woman's alliance or blah blah.  It should be more exciting but everyone seems to be playing sort of safe, or what they think is safe. 

 

Edited to add that I too wondered about how Keith was holding his pole. 

Edited December 3, 2015 by marys1000

[Kromm]

Wait, NOW Kimmi wants to form a female alliance? Somewhere Monica is rolling her eyes.

And?

I mean it's really a "so what?" situation. So what if Monica is rolling her eyes. Monica isn't in the last few days--Monica has her ass sitting back at home.

The idea of a female alliance was never the problem. The problem was that Monica got played by a better social player who decided to turn the game against her. Kimmi had no obligation to actually believe what she used against Monica, or stick by it. It was gamesmanship she was spinning at the time about the female alliance thing, not actual belief.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Kromm

[Drogo]

The idea of a female alliance was never the problem. The problem was that Monica got played by a better social player who saw an opportunity to turn the game against another player who decided to turn the game against her. Kimmi had no obligation to actually believe what she used against Monica, or stick by it. It was gamesmanship she was spinning at the time about the female alliance thing, not actual belief.

 

And Monica's timing was way off.  The women (Monica/Kimmy included) were all in their own seemingly-strong alliances at that time. 

 

At this point in the game, though?  A female alliance is manageable and smart- and allows the participating members to feel comfortable for at least the next 3 votes.

♪  ♫ One of these things just doesn't belong here.. Six of these things are kinda the same ♫  ♪

 

 

Abi Maria:  She's her mother's angel. 

[peachmangosteen]

I expected to come here to a lot of praise for how great Kelley is playing. What a shock to me that the majority hate her now!

 

I was doing a lot of "Now you want a women's alliance!" and "Monica is at home going nuts!" when Kimmi was on screen last night, but honestly it doesn't bother me. I'm glad Kimmi finally realized she was fucked and did something about it. I respect that.

 

I'm frankly shocked that people actually think anyone was cheering/gloating/happy that Joe passed out. The editing didn't even try to sell it that way! Sure Kelley was happy that Joe lost, and I don't know how she can be blamed for that, but as soon as everyone realized what was going on, all of them went into concerned mode. 

 

And I'm really at a loss over the offense over Kelley's comments at TC. Can someone explain to me what's wrong with her "He'll pass out to win" comment? I don't get what people think she meant.

 

Joe's relationship with his father was making me uncomfortable tbh. That was a lot of kissing and tickling. And then Joe says his dad wasn't affectionate/didn't say 'I love you' when he was a kid. That whole thing was very weird to me.

 

Tasha telling Spencer/Jeremy about the possible women's alliance was so stupid. I was aghast at how dumb she was there.

 

The response to this ep has me convinced that Kelley won't win and that has me so sad. I haven't been this invested in a player in a long time.

Edited December 3, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[ghoulina]

And?

I mean it's really a "so what?" situation. So what if Monica is rolling her eyes. Monica isn't in the last few days--Monica has her ass sitting back at home.

The idea of a female alliance was never the problem. The problem was that Monica got played by a better social player who decided to turn the game against her. Kimmi had no obligation to actually believe what she used against Monica, or stick by it. It was gamesmanship she was spinning at the time about the female alliance thing, not actual belief.

 

Oh, I don't disagree with you. And I didn't think Monica's idea was a very brilliant one, not back then. I just found it comical the way things turned out, that's all. 

 

Abi Maria:  She's her mother's angel.

 

Oh my gosh, that image is everything. Everyone is smiling and happy and Abi is all, "Why the fuck are you touching me???"

[preeya]

Changing rules in the middle of a contest is totally unfair. I'm referring to the male/female immunity.

 

Also, I can't understand why the men didn't band together to all vote for the same female since they were so concerned about the "female alliance." Keith's vote foe Tasha was wasted. Had they all voted for Abi there would have been a tie and a re-vote.

Edited December 3, 2015 by preeya

[iMonrey]

I guess the main thing these 2nd chancers learned from their first time around is that they have to make Big Moves because everyone seems overly pre-occupied with the concept. I thought it was insane last week when they voted out Stephen instead of Joe but apparently that was Spencer's Big Move. They all seem well aware that if they make it to the end they have to show the jury they made Big Moves and were In Charge Of The Game instead of being dragged there or riding coattails. I really think that's the main impetus for most of the votes this season.  Making Big Moves and Playing The Game.

 

I'm fine with Joe going and as I said I thought he should have gone last week at the first chance they got. I know he's attractive but honestly he has no discernible personality and if you cut off that mane of curly hair he'd just be sort of ordinary looking. Plus I think the man bun is ridiculous. To me, he's always been a poor man's version of Malcolm (s28/29), he of the pretty, pretty eyes. Joe's no Malcolm. He's just an immunity monster who has Jeff Probst's undying love.

 

 

[needschocolate]

 

Ugh, ugh, ugh.  So much hate for Abi right now.  Please tell me I wasn't the only person rolling my eyes when her mother said, "She's my angel."  Well, at least she's an angel to someone, because to everyone else...  I'm amazed she didn't say something similar to what she said to Savage when he was voted out.  (Although I found that hilarious...yes, I will admit to my own hypocrisy there.)

 

I thought Abi's comment to her mother was rather awkward - something like, "You are my mother and my best friend."  Maybe something got lost in the translation, but it was like Abi was introducing her mother, not talking to her, and she seemed to make it with no emotion, even though Abi seems to normally suffer from being too emotional.   

 

Family visits rarely make me cry (I usually just wish they'd skip those), but this time it was rather touching.  Spencer found out he's a real boy, Jeremy found out he's going to have a son, and Keith managed not to get knocked over by his enthusiastic wife.  

 

I was wondering if this was how she greeted him everyday when they got home from work - which would explain how he has such good balance.

 

I'm confused as to why Jeremy didn't want to tell any of the others about his wife's pregnancy. If she's at 20 weeks then it's a fairly safe bet that things will be fine. He seemed to have no issues telling it to the cameras. Why wouldn't he want other contestants to know? Maybe he thought people would think he's too sympathetic to the jury and vote him out. I wonder if he makes final 3 if he will tell everyone and try and get the sentimental vote.

 

My initial thought was that, remembering how emotional he was when Val went to exile island, Jeremy didn't want anyone to know about the pregnancy because he was afraid they would talk about it all the time and it might make it harder for his emotions not to interfere with his gameplay.

 

I personally don't find Kimmi nasty or Kelley a mean girl.  Abi has often behaved like a shrew IMO, for two seasons now.  This tribal, where one person after another told her to her face that she is nothing more than a goat, must have been an eye-opener for her.

 

Probst never seems to ask the questions I want him to ask at the reunion, but I want to know why Abi thinks she is in danger of going home every TC.  Does she think that she is such a threat that everyone wants her out? Does she think it is because many of the others don't like her?  Does she realize she is a goat?  

 

Funniest argument ever was Joe trying to convince people at TC they should vote out Abi because she was the prefect goat whereas if they took him he could win it all.  Yeah he didn't say the second half but everyone else was thinking it.   Pssst, Joe, they are playing for themselves, not you.

 

I don't know if there was anything he could of said that would have saved him, but Joe could have definitely said something better than "Hey, you should vote Abi out because you could beat her." Perhaps he should have tried "Use my vote split up the Jeremy/Spencer alliance - this way you can split the votes" or "if you vote me out then it will be you next, because I won't be here as your shield anymore."

[peachmangosteen]

Does she think that she is such a threat that everyone wants her out? Does she think it is because many of the others don't like her?  Does she realize she is a goat?

Considering it's Abi, I assume it's because she's just paranoid and nuts.

 

Perhaps he should have tried "Use my vote split up the Jeremy/Spencer alliance ...

 

I think Joe probably would've had a better chance at getting Kelley/Abi and maybe even Kimmi with this, but it appears he didn't even try to get them, which is weird to me.

[NutMeg]

Way I understand what Joe was saying, it meant  "As Abi almost has locked her place in FTC, that means only one/two or you will be able to make it there too; get rid of her and your likelihood of making it to F2/F3 automatically increases (as long as you're not Abi)".

 

In other words, exactly the same thinking Cirie had for wanting Courney out in Panama.

 

The idea was good, but the execution would have worked better if he had talked to individuals or small groups separately.

[slowpoked]

 

A name that was started by another woman, while the amigos named themselves. But hey, let's keep pushing this sexism agenda.

 

Yes, another woman called them that, but did the show have to push that narrative heavily on their ads/storyline and even make it an episode title?! The amigos called themselves that and were even rewarded with that player of the week nomination or whatever the heck it was called back then. That's where the sexism agenda comes from.

The show has a lot of material to choose from from thousands and thousands of hours of footage. They could easily make a show as to whatever benefit they want, i.e. easily cut off whatever Kimmi said and focus on something else. But witches make it more interesting, so there's that.

[pricklypear]

I don't think the women -- even Abi -- were celebrating Joe going down. I can see that, in the middle of everything, people didn't realize what had happened right away. Heck, Jeff didn't even realize it right away. To them, it probably looked like Joe was being dramatic about having lost and went down to his knees or something. When they all went back to the bench to wait, someone (Tasha, I think) even said that they didn't want THIS to happen (meaning that they wanted Joe to lose, but not in that way). I saw genuine concern from everyone.

[ljenkins782]

Exactly. It kills me that when Monica floated the idea of an all-women's alliance before, Kimmi took that as her excuse to get Monica voted out because how dare she ruin "Bayon strong", but now she's all for it?

I don't see this as hypocritical of Kimmi, I think she was choosing her time to make a move and back when Monica was there was not it. She rode the "Bayon strong" thing out to get to where she is now and it's now in her best interest to move forward with another group. Kimmi sitting next to Abi and Kelley gives her a shot to win (not sure about Tasha's chances, I know she doesn't have Kass's vote but not sure about her relationship with the others). Abi is the goat of all goats and Kelley was part of the Ciera/Abi trio, whereas Kimmi was in good with most of the jury. 

 

She doesn't get much airtime on the show, but she's actually fairly eloquent in her bonus clips and she might give a decent FTC performance. 

 

I'm pretty sure Keith had no idea what was going on (as usual), but this wasn't a bad vote. He can honestly tell Abi he didn't vote for her, so she won't turn her wrath on him. And he can make a play for Joe's vote if he makes it to FTC by telling him he never wrote his name down.

 

Yeah, I can't ascribe that much strategy to Keith's decision, but it wasn't a completely terrible one. I am curious what made him choose Tasha though. Did anyone talk to him about the potential all-female alliance? 

 

IC - Another fucking balance challenge? Ugh, it's getting real old. I knew going in that it would come down to Joe and Keith. This point in the game, it's getting real hard for me. Because I like Joe, so I didn't necessarily want him to go yet.

 

I got very excited about the RC (the question answering) last week because I thought it might signal a shift in the types of challenges, but no, more balancing. 

 

I would like to see them resurrect the one that Wiglesworth won in Borneo, where they ask the questions about the jury members. Just something different that could open up the contenders for immunity a bit, so it's not always the same couple of people in the running. 

 

I'm confused as to why Jeremy didn't want to tell any of the others about his wife's pregnancy. If she's at 20 weeks then it's a fairly safe bet that things will be fine. He seemed to have no issues telling it to the cameras. Why wouldn't he want other contestants to know? Maybe he thought people would think he's too sympathetic to the jury and vote him out. I wonder if he makes final 3 if he will tell everyone and try and get the sentimental vote.

 

He's been pretty clear that he thinks having a pregnant wife will make his allies wary of taking him to the end because the jury may be swayed by that info. 

 

I'm in the group that was waiting for Jeff to completely blow up the secret when Val was whispering to him, lol. 

 

Funniest argument ever was Joe trying to convince people at TC they should vote out Abi because she was the prefect goat whereas if they took him he could win it all.  Yeah he didn't say the second half but everyone else was thinking it.   Pssst, Joe, they are playing for themselves, not you.

 

That was such a bad argument, I knew he was toast when he started in on that. I can understand his frustration that he's trying so hard and Abi's getting dragged along, but that was just not the statement to make, there was absolutely no upside for the others. 

 

If he really wanted Abi gone, he should have played on the unpredictability of her moves, she has blown up the games of several people who were trying to keep her around and she'll likely do the same to someone again.

[RedheadZombie]

I remain dumbfounded at Keith's vote. He's usually an "anyone but me" voter, so I don't see him refusing to vote for Joe. This leads me to believe he didn't know how everyone else was voting. I'm not surprised he was shut out after his famous "stick to the plan" debacle, but did he seriously go to tribal without talking to anyone? What a flying by the seat of your pants style. I wonder if he would have been a little more proactive if he didn't have immunity.

[sadiegirl1999]

They didn't mention it but dehydration is a big cause of fainting.  When you get dehydrated your blood volume decreases and your blood pressure drops and you can easily faint from not getting enough to your brain.

 

The medic even said something to the effect of..."you brain wasn't getting enough oxygen/blood so your body's response is to get horizontal to remedy that".

 

I know they said it was low BS but Joe had just done the reward with food?

 

As someone who's had a diabetic loved one and even seen them go into a diabetic coma, you are OUT. Joe seeming confused reinforced that.

 

And after an episode of that, you are WIPED OUT. Exhausted. Could sleep for days.

 

I like Joe and didn't want him to go but he needed to. Even at TC, he didn't look good/right.

[ghoulina]

Also, I can't understand why the men didn't band together to all vote for the same female since they were so concerned about the "female alliance." Keith's vote foe Tasha was wasted. Had they all voted for Abi there would have been a tie and a re-vote.

 

I'm guessing the men were more worried about Joe than the women. Time will tell if their choice was wise. The fact that Tasha TOLD them about the female alliance may have led them to believe it wasn't that solid anyhow. 

[kikaha]

One big question this season is why no one seems to target Jeremy.  One reason: because he has not appeared like much of a challenge threat.  If he had done real well in challenges -- winning some and challenging more in others -- he would have painted a bigger target on his back.  So I think there's a reasonable chance he is sandbagging some of these challenges.  It's part of his strategy to keep a low profile.  Sure seems to be working! 

[blackwing]

I don't see anything wrong with Kimmi wanting to form a women's alliance now, and I don't see anything contradictory with her dismissal of Monica's earlier attempt at doing the same.  I don't agree with others here that she is hypocritical.  It is a different point in the game.  At the time Monica proposed her alliance, there was still fairly solid tribal alliances.  But by last night, they were well past the merge.  This is how Survivor has always worked... band with your original tribe and stick together to take out the other tribe(s), and then when it gets to merge, have your sub-alliance that you want to go to the end with.

 

The problem with Monica is that she made her proposal at a time when Bayon was still going strong.  She made her move way too early, and she was looking at the endgame when she really needed to worry about making it 3 more days.  Why would she propose to fracture a strong early alliance?  By last night, there were only 8 people left, and Kimmi realised she needed to make a move.   Abi and Kelley were pretty isolated after Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera was booted, so it was a good time for Kimmi to find people she could align with until the end.

 

As for the reward challenge, I feel like it's a horrible thing for the show to do to allow 5 out of the 8 family members to have a picnic, and shut out the other 3.  Why couldn't they have had a huge barbecue for everyone?  Then the winner's family member gets to spend the night, and perhaps the winner gets an advantage in the immunity challenge.  Just so very cruel to Jeremy, Spencer and Tasha.  I actually wouldn't put it past Jeff to have made that "you get to invite a fifth person" call on his own.  He loooooooovvveeessss Joe almost as much as Dad does and probably wished he was getting some of those on-the-lips kisses.  It just seemed so random to let her have one more after she had already agonised about her third choice.  I'm sure Jeff knew that there was a high probability that Kelley would pick Joe after everyone saw how much it meant to him to be able to be with his dad.

 

I feel like Kelley made a huge mistake in her choice.  First off, she made no secret of the fact that she wanted Joe out of the game.  He had won 4 out of the 5 individual immunities.  So why give him physical and emotional "nourishment" at such a crucial point in the game?  She should have made him dejectedly eat rice.  Then he's weaker both physically and emotionally and loses the immunity that much more easily.  Kelley's other mistake is that she isolated Tasha after the women's alliance had already been proposed.  Kimmi was the one that proposed it to Kelley in the hammock, and Abi is with Kelley.  Then they approached Tasha, who they should have known had a good bond with Jeremy.  Kelley left Tasha alone with Jeremy and Spencer.  

 

I wouldn't mind seeing the Jeremy/Spencer/Tasha final three happen.  I like all of them.  I hope Kelley's decision to not pick Tasha ends up costing the women's alliance the game.

[Jobiska]

We knew it was a white guy and the hand didn't look nearly rough enough to be Keith.

 

 

It's funny because that hand was wider and stumpier than I expected long skinny Joe's to be, and so all week I assumed it was Keith.  And that he got bonked on the head by the statue, especially since Jeff gave that stern warning ahead of time to be careful once your statue fell.  Then toward the end of the challenge when Joe's pole was swaying I thought that actually Joe's idol was going to fall on Keith's head.  Imagine how guilty anyone but Abi would feel if they accidentally conked someone!

 

And I'm really at a loss over the offense over Kelley's comments at TC. Can someone explain to me what's wrong with her "He'll pass out to win" comment? I don't get what people think she meant.

 

 

I can't figure it out either.  It was a huge compliment to his will to win, I thought.

I can't even remember the sequence of events and possible faces and celebrations at the immunity challenge, but I'd cut everyone slack, not just because of editing but because at first if someone collapses it could just be that they were so disappointed that they didn't win--it took a while for everyone to notice that Joe was not moving.

As for the faces at TC, Kelley made plenty, but they seemed to be mostly back and forth at Stephen and almost more "can you believe all these events and twists and turns," appreciation of the game, rather than anything mean.  Sure, whether they should be allowed that much nonverbal communication with the jury is another question, but as they weren't stopped, that question's moot.

[Eolivet]

 when I thought about it deeper this episode -- the jury seems to like and notice Spencer so much better than Jeremy.

 

Wow, really? I feel like I must be watching a different show. As far as I can tell, Kass is always giving her remaining minions the thumbs up, while Savage is glaring at them, Kelly Wigglesworth just looks like she's observing, Ciera is giving a thumbs up to her friends and Stephen was gloating that Joe had no immunity. I think Jeremy and Spencer could've skipped tribal council entirely and this jury would barely have noticed.

 

And if they notice Spencer, maybe it's because he gets approximately 65% of the questions (or at least the ones we see on air).

[JudyObscure]

My sweetie pie, Keith!  I love that guy so much I think I must be his fifth cousin on his daddy's side or something.  Take it from someone who knows lots of over fifty people, just looking up for an hour and twenty minutes would be brutal without having to hold something heavy on a pole.  Keith's neck may never be the same.  I've been rooting for Keith from the first because he was such a good guy in his other season.  It burns me up to think that he is left out of all the strategy because they consider him just too stupid and old to matter. 

 

But if I can't have Keith --- how great must it be to be Val and have someone as handsome and big hearted as Jeremy love you like that? 

[Special K]

Take it from someone who knows lots of over fifty people, just looking up for an hour and twenty minutes would be brutal without having to hold something heavy on a pole.  Keith's neck may never be the same.

 

As someone with degenerative disc disease in my cervical spine, I was having fits watching that IC. 

 

I really hate it when people gang up to openly root against someone during a challenge.  Just seems so mean-spirited to me.  It's partly why I ended up rooting so strongly for Mike in Worlds Apart.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Survivor Delivers Another Knockout Episode
Between a visit from loved ones and a terrifying near-death experience, the Survivors are in for a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

[kikaha]

I really hate it when people gang up to openly root against someone during a challenge.  Just seems so mean-spirited to me.  It's partly why I ended up rooting so strongly for Mike in Worlds Apart.

Did you watch the episode in Philippines, where everyone was going to vote out Penner, and then he came from behind in the last stage of the IC to win?  Man, talk about fallen faces.  They were gracious afterwards, though, and brought it up openly later that night in one of the coolest tribals I ever saw. 

 

I really, really like Philppines, and think it had maybe the best cast in a (mostly) non-returning season. 

[Haleth]

I'm not sure it was a mistake for Tasha to tell Jeremy and Spencer about the proposed women's alliance.  They would be far more suspicious if they heard about it from someone other than Tasha.  Hopefully she assuaged their doubts and is safe.

 

Next week could be crazy if Spencer wins immunity and Jeremy and Wentworth play their idols.  It could end up with no votes in the first round counting.

[slowpoked]

In restrospect, I think Joe would have had a better shot at "protecting" himself if he stayed with the Takeo 5 instead of with the broalliance. When he moved to that alliance, he did open himself as a target like "this strong guy just moved to the men's alliance, we should get him out ASAP!" If he stayed with Kass, Ciera, etc., i think he would have been protected during the times he lost immunity because then those people would instead target the likes of Savage, Jeremy, etc. He would have had a shield for longer.

 

I think Kelley's RC choices are solid. The only one I'm sort of meh on was Keith. It's not like you have to fear him being left at camp and suddenly coming up with this mind-blowing strategy that could change the game. I would have chosen either Tasha or Spencer over Keith. Maybe her choosing Keith was more of a fatherly type thing. But the others are ok. Kimmi just came to her with a new alliance so you need to cater to that new option. Joe, as she has explained, was a matter of keeping her enemies closer. And Abi is Abi, If Wentworth didn't choose Abi, Abi's next confessional would have been "KELLEY WENTWORTH, YOU'RE DEAD TO ME!". Abi is actually more dangerous being left at camp than any other person. Like Ciera said in her exits, you could buy Abi's loyalty with flattery. As she's still a significant vote at this time, it's good to keep her on your good side until it's time to get rid of her. 

[himela]

Joe's Ponderosa for those who can't watch on cbs:

 

[calico]

What you're seeing is creative editing. No one, not one single person, was happy when Joe went down.

 

You keep saying this, but unless you were there and keeping a close watch on everyone on the bench and Joe simultaneously, how can you be so certain?  What I saw was this:

 

he went to the floor like he'd had a stroke

 

IIRC, he was still holding the pole as his legs gave out pretty much the whole way down.  It never looked as though the statue was toppling - it was Joe that was toppling.  I realize things happen in a split second and the girls wanted him gone so bad they probably missed the sequence of events, but there was definite momentary glee there.  If it didn't come from then, what happened prior to Joe collapsing that made them clap and cheer?

[cooksdelight]

Challenges are often reset. The remaining players will have to stop and start over again, if something happens that goofs up the continuity or whatever. That is when we'll see things edited in out of sequence.

[Ms Blue Jay]

When I say the "jury notices and likes Spencer so much more than Jeremy" I'm talking about a hypothetical future jury of the Abi-Kelley-Ciera trifecta.  Who I really do think like Spencer a lot.  I feel like they dislike Jeremy or see him as a non-entity.  But I have no major proof for this, just a feeling.

 

Tasha is a man's woman...she will stick with Jeremy and Spencer.

 

I kind of love this.  I think it's true.  For some reason Tasha has great respect for J&S but none for the so-called Witches' Coven meaning Abi and Kelley.  Is it detrimental to her game, yes probably.  I can't help but keep giving waves of respect to Jeremy for playing a great game of getting either quiet respect from people (Tasha, I guess Spencer, Kimmi, Joe) or just no real consideration at all (Witches Coven, Keith).

 

Which brings me to Keith's vote for Tasha.  I think it's simple -- he didn't want to piss off the men, Jeremy and Spencer, whom he seems to respect.  He didn't care about pissing off Tasha.  Though I like the theory that he didn't want to vote for Joe and he and Tasha argued about it.  Then there's Joe. Another person who didn't try to go after Jeremy and Spencer.  Oh no, he simply respects them too much and wants to bring them to the end.  The Woo Play.  Ha!!!  Everyone says Woo is such an idiot, but Joe was trying to play the same game, just with a lot better Immunity Challenge prowess!  Joe, you can't win like that.  Oh sigh.  Unless he won every single challenge he had zero chance.  

 

I don't get why everyone takes Kelley's comments about Joe so seriously.  "He will pass out to win a challenge".  She was just trying to say the diplomatic whatever thing at Tribal to justify voting out Joe.  Who cares if it makes sense, is insulting, or not?  Make up a party line and say whatever to justify the vote.  Makes Joe happy, looks okay to the jury, doesn't have to make much sense.

 

That was really scary when Joe went down, it's amazing that his blood sugar could drop that low just from doing the challenge.

 

I fainted a few times when I was a teenager.  It would always be if I was standing for too long.  For me, too long was like 10 minutes.  It's more amazing that more people don't pass out in this game, I think.  You have to have iron in your system to withstand this -- I don't even know what these people eat.

 

I couldn't believe my ears when Kimmi was talking at the top of the episode.  Amazing, simply amazing.  I see the "well that was then and this is now" talk has begun already!

 

Yeah, Kimmi is just not a good player.  She's a reactive player instead of a proactive one.  She'll change her so-called beliefs to fit whatever bad situation she's in.  She finds out she's in trouble and then starts to scramble, really obviously, and really badly.  I will continue to say that she's a bad player until the end....  I don't care how far she makes it.  There was that scene at Tribal where she got (1 or 2?) votes against her and then put her hands over her mouth in extreme panic.  That kind of player is so frustrating.

 

Spencer has apparently been able to get deep with his little sprite of a girlfriend.

 

Ew

Edited December 3, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Guest]

As for the reward challenge, I feel like it's a horrible thing for the show to do to allow 5 out of the 8 family members to have a picnic, and shut out the other 3.  Why couldn't they have had a huge barbecue for everyone?  Then the winner's family member gets to spend the night, and perhaps the winner gets an advantage in the immunity challenge.  Just so very cruel to Jeremy, Spencer and Tasha.  

 

They almost always do that, though-- leave some players with just that one minute of hugs.  I too feel sorry for them but I remind myself that the game is over in about  a week so they'll all see their loved ones then, if not sooner. 

[blackwing]

They almost always do that, though-- leave some players with just that one minute of hugs.  I too feel sorry for them but I remind myself that the game is over in about  a week so they'll all see their loved ones then, if not sooner. 

I know that some people often get left out, but it would have been more palatable to me if, say, only 3 people got their loved one barbecue, and 5 had to sit on the sidelines dejectedly eating rice.  When Jeff allowed his obsession to join the barbecue, it tipped the scales so a majority (5 of 8) got the reward, and NO SOUP FOR YOU for the three unfortunate losers.