S32.E07: It's Merge Time

[cooksdelight]

I'm glad I didn't delete my recording yet. Debbie was drunk??? I thought they didn't give them alcohol much anymore? Probst said something about that once, that it caused problems. Hell, if she gets drunk and does something really stupid/entertaining, I say pour away!

[Wings]

Neal's tweet-

 

@ldstarr18 when somebody tells you they'd slit your throat the night before you're less likely to give her the family jewels.

 

We are missing some important things in the editing!  

 

 

 

Speaking of families...I wonder if they're going to have the loved ones visit like they normally do?  If I'm a player this season, I would seriously hesitate to have a loved one come out and risk taking an infection back home to the rest of the family.  I'd rather plow through minus a visitor from home.

 

 

Infections are not contagious.  

[peachmangosteen]

I assume the throat slitting comment was a joke and Neal is just being obtuse by using it as his reasoning for keeping the idol.

[ghoulina]

Neal tweeted that the night before the medevac Aubrey said she wanted to slit his throat.

 

Good grief! Between that and Nick getting ready to "slice people up", I'm scared that the next evac will be due to homicide. 

 

Do they have enough people that have been medi-vac'd over the years to have a season of just them?  Maybe if they add the pulled for family emergencies also.

 

 

I don't know. They kind of already did that when Russel (not Hantz), Skupin, and Penner came back, and were put on three different tribes of newbies (season Denise won).  So I don't know that they could use them again, making it a bit harder to round out a full cast of medi-vacs. 

[legaleagle53]

I'm glad I didn't delete my recording yet. Debbie was drunk??? I thought they didn't give them alcohol much anymore? Probst said something about that once, that it caused problems. Hell, if she gets drunk and does something really stupid/entertaining, I say pour away!

 

The problem that Jeff alluded to is that alcohol has a dehydrating effect, which is why it was eventually pretty much banned.  The last thing these people need is compounding of their already dehydrated state.

[laurakaye]

Infections are not contagious.  

Given whatever's out there getting into cuts and scrapes and infecting them, I still wouldn't want to risk it.

[cooksdelight]

Infections are not contagious.

No, but if the loved ones are spending time on the same contaminated beach, get a cut or scrape in a challenge, they are likely to take something back home.

[Maya]

What happened to the unstoppable Beauty girls alliance? I don't think Michelle and Julia have exchanged one word, let alone joined forces again.

[peachmangosteen]

What happened to the unstoppable Beauty girls alliance? I don't think Michelle and Julia have exchanged one word, let alone joined forces again.

 

I am seriously wondering about this, too. I mentioned it in Julia's thread. I do not understand why they didn't show us Julia and Michele meeting back up at merge. And from what we were shown it appeared Michele didn't even think about Julia at all when making her decisions about where to go, which I find very hard to believe. Weird editing.

Edited March 31, 2016 by peachmangosteen

[fishcakes]

The way Neal was talking when the doctor was there cemented for me why I don't like him. The doctor is trying to explain why the knee infection is serious and Neal says, "I believe it will be better in a few days." That kind of hard-headed, I-know-better-than-the-experts ignorance grates on me like nothing else. If Dr. Rupert had given him a twisty pinch on the arm after that, I wouldn't have minded.

 

There was one very brief moment when Nick looked handsome to me last night. He was being filmed from slightly below and his head was at an angle and for a fraction of a second he had kind of a Don Draper thing going on. Then he moved his head and it was gone. My advice to him would be to always be taller than everyone and keep your head at a 23 degree angle.

 

 

And Jason comparing himself to a jock is really laughable. He might be in decent physical shape, but I guarantee he was no jock in high school. With his tattoos and long hair, he would likely be just as much of an outcast as the chess nerds were. I don't really picture him as a quarterback who took the cheerleader to prom.

 

He was the stoner guy who even the other stoners thought was a loser, but he knew where to get acid, so they allowed him to hang out with them.

 

 

As for Debbie and her game-play...imagine you're Tai, and Debbie plops herself right down next to you, stares unblinkingly into your soul, and tells you that she really likes you and wants you on her team and you have to decide RIGHT NOW because everyone else is listening. 

 

That scene reminded me of The Alliance episode of The Office, where Jim said that whenever Dwight asks you if you want to get in on something, you respond, "Absolutely I do!" and then just do whatever you were going to do anyway. That's like, rule one, on Survivor. Just because someone accepts your offer to be in an alliance, it doesn't mean they mean it; it's just that it would be stupid to say no. Everyone who's responded to an alliance offer with some version of "I want to think about it," was not long for that world, pay attention Jonathan Penner. So it was kind of hilarious to see Debbie turn the Manson Lamps onto Tai and demand he ally with her and after his, " ... okay?" smugly be all "NAILED IT!" about him. For a mastermind, she's not really killing it.

Edited March 31, 2016 by fishcakes

[Big Mother]

Staph/Mrsa is highly contagious and can get dangerous quite quickly.

It was a smart call to give aubry abx rather than lance it , bc having it open like neal's would be an easy, straight route to an infection and a medavac. Neal's wound was too open to be safe in that environment, sadly.

as I said on twitter, he was Bested By Beastly Brain Beach Bacteria... Boohoo :(

[Gentian root]

 

 

.

 

 I wonder how she would feel if, in the middle of the goodbyes, Neal had turned to Jeff and said, "WAIT, JEFF.  BEFORE I GO, MAY I GIVE THIS HIDDEN IMMUNITY IDOL TO MY GOOD FRIEND, AUBRY?"  I presume she would be fuming about him putting a huge target on her back.  But what else could he have done?

He could have gathered the whole tribe around and thrown the idol over his shoulder like a bridal bouquet.

[Pepper Mostly]

Second, I just have no use for Probst talking us through how courageous Neal was tonight, how much he wanted to fight, but no, it is not his fault he was pulled from the game, he was a hero felled by an infection.  I just think back to that woman on the season with Penner, who had severe abdominal issues and he made her quit, rather than allow her an honorable out.  How is one infection worthy of praise and another worthy of disdain.  Gahhhh!!!!

I have no use for Probst at the best of times, but tonight, as Neal was weeping with crushing disappointment at being pulled from the game, and Jeff was sitting there grinning like a goddamn chimpanzee, the urge to throat punch him was strong. You could just see the thought bubble "Wow, this is great--oozing sores and an emotional breakdown! That's some great TV!" He is a fucking ghoul.

[himela]

Such a shame, the best episode of a mediocre season is ruined by an exit of a player due to an infection. Why wouldn't they give him some antibiotics to do the tribal council and let us see what would happen and then pull him out of the game? He already had it for 5-6 days he said? Such a waste.....

 

Other than that, I KNEW IT that Scot would sell Tai once he joined with Jason! I had TOLD ya and I'm proud :P He has revealed Tai's idol not only to Jason which would be kind of expected but also to Nick of all people who he had never played with before! I find this a little weird, I feel we have missed something. Why isn't Julia reconnected with Michelle and playing as a couple? Why does Nick call all the shots? I feel I have a huge gap that doesn't make sense. Tai is given a (even fake) alliance and he hesitates. Julia is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Nick (who was the one to go first in beauty tribe) is the leader of their tribe. Suddenly Debbie starts to create alliances all over the place. And suddenly Jason, Scot and Nick are best friends. What am I missing?

[Wings]

No, but if the loved ones are spending time on the same contaminated beach, get a cut or scrape in a challenge, they are likely to take something back home.

 

Yes, of course.  The post I quoted mentioned bringing an infection back home to others. 

[himela]

I'm thinking now, could Neal say "I'm gonna take my bag" and slip his idol into Aubry's bag or something?

[ghoulina]

The way Neal was talking when the doctor was there cemented for me why I don't like him. The doctor is trying to explain why the knee infection is serious and Neal says, "I believe it will be better in a few days." That kind of hard-headed, I-know-better-than-the-experts ignorance grates on me like nothing else. If Dr. Rupert had given him a twisty pinch on the arm after that, I wouldn't have minded.

 

But in the end, when the doctor made the call, he didn't fight it. I think he was just in denial for a minute. I can't imagine how crushing that is - to get pulled out when you FEEL just fine. I have to give him a pass on that one, because I can imagine a lot of people would react the same way. 

[marys1000]

I agree himelea - first we see the people talking the different numbers and things look good for Brains and Beauty - but then it all starts to fall apart with people all over the map.  Who is Julia in an alliance with? 

 

I thought this was the worst episode ever.  First I am so mad at Nick for being the pivot point on saving Brawn.  Thanks to him we get so see those assholes for longer.

Nick  looks ok, not gorgeous like Debbie says but ok, as long as you can see his teeth.  I don't think I've ever seen teeth with a sort of u shaped where the front teeth are shortest?  Am I remembering that right? 

 

Michelle - Neal is right - those guys are going to win challenges, its individual immunity now - take out the strong.  Doesn't do you any good to have a goat if your sitting in Ponderosa and no way are you in the top three of Brawn. 

 

Debbie, love her but have been saying all along her mouth and overconfidence are going to be her downfall.  BUT is really that hard Nick and Aubry to go to her and tell her to STFU?  As opposed to just torpedoing the strength of your numbers by flipping around? That's called team work.   Glad she at least made the jury. 

 

Neal - Ok so I didn't look closely at his knee but it had drained and it looked like it was forming a scab - why no antibiotics for him?  Hand him a bottle of alcohol swabs and pills. Seems like they are all over the map on medical.  Seemed pretty unfair to me.   

 

Cyndy - Doing well.  While I wouldn't mind you getting mad and blindsiding Jason or Scott don't go all NaOnka on us. 

 

The idol - I'm not trying to portray myself as better than anyone else but - that tweet as a reason not to pass over the idol seems really small minded.  I hope its not the real reason.  I would have wanted to give it to someone.  Or as someone said just throw it and have my last impact on the game. I think its dickish of him to leave with it in his pocket. 

 

Tai - I would love on that chicken too.  You rock!

Edited March 31, 2016 by marys1000

[Trace]

 

But Neal ends up getting booted, and he's so stupid that he forgot to give Aubrey his idol.

 

But how could he have slipped it to her with everyone standing around?  Isn't the idol supposed to be secret?

 

Also....Debbie reminds me of a Pterodactyl, both in her looks and her actions.

[laurakaye]

What's the rule for giving away an idol when you're about to be evac'd?  Is it basically the same situation as getting voted out with an idol in your pocket - the voted off player doesn't get to turn around on the way out and say, "Who wants my idol?"  I don't know if a medevac is considered the same thing as a vote-out.  I really wanted to see Neal just reach into his bag and toss Aubry the idol in front of everyone.

[marys1000]

Idols don't have to be secret.  There have public ones.  Didn't someone want to take a public idol and throw it in the ocean once so it wouldn't break up the tribe? 

[Wings]

But how could he have slipped it to her with everyone standing around?  Isn't the idol supposed to be secret?

 

Also....Debbie reminds me of a Pterodactyl, both in her looks and her actions.

 

He didn't give it to her on purpose.  Below is his tweet about this. 

 

@ldstarr18 when somebody tells you they'd slit your throat the night before you're less likely to give her the family jewels

[Special K]

If he wanted to really mess with the game, Neal could have left the idol at camp somewhere, even out in the open-ish.  And see what craziness ensued.  But I also like the bouquet toss!  Too bad but he was too stressed out and emotional to be clever.

[piequinn35]

Wow and we thought another person will be the medevac but it turned out to be Neal

imo, it was unfair, if they could give the others antibiotics then why not him and cover that up and monitor instead of pulling him out of the game?

Debbie and Tai conversation was weird!

Nick vs Bullies, I want to see that in the future, and for now I am rooting for Nick and hope he prevails...

As for Neal's idol, maybe he wanted it as a souvenir, I believe that tweet was a joke.

[Wings]

No, but if the loved ones are spending time on the same contaminated beach, get a cut or scrape in a challenge, they are likely to take something back home.

 

Infections are not contagious.  They cannot take anything home that is related to the infections we saw.  I am getting a lot of quotes on this post!  LOL!   You would have to have a cut that is not attended for several days before infection sets in.  Any family member out there who breaks their skin would clean it, put Bacitracin and a band aide on it when they left camp, just like we do here.   No one is  getting a tropical and contagious disease.  

[Trace]

Thanks guys.  I used to watch Survivor every season at the beginning, but I slacked off on some seasons. Therefore I didn't know all the rules.

[Special K]

Infections are not contagious.  They cannot take anything home that is related to the infections we saw.  I am getting a lot of quotes on this post!  LOL!   You would have to have a cut that is not attended for several days before infection sets in.  Any family member out there who breaks their skin would clean it, put Bacitracin and a band aide on it when they left camp, just like we do here.   No one is  getting a tropical and contagious disease.  

 

I don't know, don't high school wrestlers/football players pass MRSA to each other through skin-to-skin contact?  Or maybe they catch it from the training mats?  One of my nephews got this in a squeaky clean upper middle class high school. 

 

I mean it's not super-likely, but what if the loved one does a challenge in the sand and scrapes their skin and then gives a long lingering hug to their infected loved one?  Or just sits on the beach?

Didn't JP say that the crew was also suffering some of the same afflictions and they presumably have access to better hygiene and wound care.

 

Actually, I just looked it up and both MRSA and Staph can be passed via skin-to-skin contact.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Special K

[candall]

I'll keep watching.  I find this season relatively boring, but it makes me appreciate all the tricky decisions required for a really good season.  Casting is obviously paramount, but challenges have to be increasingly difficult and still do-able, locations threatening but not lethal (and demoralizing but still beautiful,) creative idol manipulation, keeping food allotment and reward advantages marginally equitable.  Making sure players struggle (suffer) while still keeping them safe (alive.)

 

A hundred production choices and then they still have to hope the stars line up for the gameplay beyond their control--or at least figure out how to edit what they have into something buzzworthy.  The production staff probably breaks out in a sweat when they hear the word "Pagonging."

 

Kind of a high wire act on a windy day.  It's impressive more seasons haven't been clunkers. 

[Trace]

MRSA is indeed very nasty and very serious.  My mother survived a long fight with cancer and pneumonia. But it was MRSA that took her down and she was one tough cookie.

[Wings]

Wow and we thought another person will be the medevac but it turned out to be Neal

imo, it was unfair, if they could give the others antibiotics then why not him and cover that up and monitor instead of pulling him out of the game?

Debbie and Tai conversation was weird!

Nick vs Bullies, I want to see that in the future, and for now I am rooting for Nick and hope he prevails...

As for Neal's idol, maybe he wanted it as a souvenir, I believe that tweet was a joke.

 

The infection on his knee was close to his joint and if it were to spread there it would become very serious with life long effects. 

[ellie2205]

Note:  So clearly Alecia COULD have been spared by making Caleb's evac a TC substitute.  And Jeff was just being Captain Crocodile Tears about her ouster.

My understanding is that they have enough cast members to have a planned double elimination for one episode. This is to account for any emergency medevacs. In this season, Caleb was medevac'ed and they went on to have the tribal council. When a second person was medevac'ed (Neal last night), they couldn't eliminate anyone else or they wouldn't have enough material for the rest of the season.

 

EDIT: has Aubrey smiled one time during this entire game?

Yes! It happened last night! I totally noticed because it was shocking! I think it was during the confessional when she was pleased about Neal having an idol. She actually looked much more light-hearted and a lot more likeable (sorry, I don't like her, she's such a Debbie downer to me) (Debbie herself is a downer too, but not in the same way).

 

Infections are not contagious.  They cannot take anything home that is related to the infections we saw.  I am getting a lot of quotes on this post!  LOL!   You would have to have a cut that is not attended for several days before infection sets in.  Any family member out there who breaks their skin would clean it, put Bacitracin and a band aide on it when they left camp, just like we do here. No one is getting a tropical and contagious disease.

Uh, I really don't understand how you are double-downing on this statement. Infections are contagious. That is kind of part of the definition of an infection.

Skin infections, too, are contagious. Yes, the best way for them to take hold is via an open cut for a few days, but it does not have to be an unattended open cut. There are lots of cases of cellulitis (severe skin infection) where there's no obvious point of entry. Hopefully any family member would indeed clean their skin often enough, but that's not a guarantee. Yes, I agree it's very unlikely that a family member would 'bring home' an infection, but to say it's impossible is very misleading.

Also, it's not clear if the skin infections are due to a "tropical" disease. They could just be regular old MRSA. Or Cambodian-style MRSA. Either way, it is contagious.

Using MRSA as an example, WebMD (I know, not a great source, but it's readily available) says: "MRSA is spread by contact. So, you could get MRSA by touching another person who has it on the skin. Or you could get it by touching objects that have the bacteria on them."

Anyway, back to other episode stuff. I agree that Debbie was almost getting tolerable but grew intolerable again during this episode. My couch psycho-analysis is that she gets overexcited with new people. So when she first started the game, she came off as frenetic and hyper, but calmed down a bit. When they swapped tribes, it happened again (with her weirdness with Cydney). And now that it was the merge, she couldn't handle it again and went a bit crazy trying to "get" everyone. Maybe she'll settle down and play well again after.

Nick! What a surprise. After this episode, my opinion is that you are not as dumb as I originally thought. However, you are still as annoying to me as I originally thought. But there was some halfway-decent gameplay.

Originally the three Beauty girls were in a strong alliance. I wish we had seen some more interaction between Julia and Michele. Are they still together? Does Julia want Michele to join up with Scot? Is Julia disgusted that Michele decided Nickbot was worth playing with?? I guess we'll figure it out later.

I'm not a fan of Neal's at all, but of course it sucks that he was pulled from the game. I was really looking forward to tribal also, so that was another downer. I don't blame him at all for keeping the idol. His Twitter comment notwithstanding (which, who knows if we'll ever find out the truth about it), he's done with the game and I don't think he had any strong reasons that Aubry "should" win. They were also apart for quite a while and just got back together so maybe he wasn't feeling as closely allied with her as he might've a week ago. Oh, and I finally looked up his ice cream company and I've had it before, it's very good :)

[piequinn35]

The infection on his knee was close to his joint and if it were to spread there it would become very serious with life long effects. 

I heard that, but still, not fair... :>

[ljenkins782]

Tai is doing that, "Nobody is targeting him/Jeremy" game.  Tai's weapon seems to be that nobody remembers he's a Beauty?  Or even there?  Aubry talked about how she NEEDS Julia and Nick but no mention of Tai.  I think it was Jason talking about getting rid of Brains too.  Nobody talks about getting rid of Tai.

Aubry was referring to Nick and Michelle, not Julia. Apparently, they have all picked up on the fact that Scot successfully pulled both Tai and Julia, so Nick and Michelle are kinda free agents at this point. 

 

As for Dr Rupert being there, and as for their sudden concern, I put theh dots together that with Peter being voted off 3 days earlier and needing to be taken to the states for surgery thanks to his nasty staph/MRSA boils, and the EXACT SAME THING happened to Liz Markham early in the game, Dr. Joe was probably with Peter in the hospital or something and therefore sent Dr. Rupert, specifically to assess the cast as they were starting to get concerned about the rampant staph/mrsa on the brains beach, which could rapidly spread to the rest of the cast if they didn't take care of it right then and there. staph / mrsa/ cellulilitis is very serious.

 

Hmmm, that is an interesting point. I feel like Jenny (bug in ear chick) might have also made reference to a staph infection? What exactly is causing the rampant infections? some of them had a definitive cause, like Tai sliding down a mango tree but a lot of the others didn't seem to have a specific injury. 

 

I feel  sorry for Aubry, first she doesn't make the Beauty tribe, which has to kind a young girl, and then she has to show the whole world her gigantic thigh boil.

 

The weirdest part of the whole episode for me was the public medical exam portion. I realize that they're going to film the doctors and Jeff talking to each person and that makes sense, but it was very odd that they were each being called up in front of the entire tribe to show their gaping wounds, like some kind of grisly show and tell.

 

Agreed with whoever upthread who wondered why medical didn't check them out at the challenge rather than coming back to the camp. 

 

I don't know. They kind of already did that when Russel (not Hantz), Skupin, and Penner came back, and were put on three different tribes of newbies (season Denise won).  So I don't know that they could use them again, making it a bit harder to round out a full cast of medi-vacs.

 

Skupin's on his way to jail anyway, I don't think he'll be returning to Survivor ever again. 

 

As for whether or not they have enough medevacs to make a whole season, well this one's not over yet... ;) 2 medevacs in what, 6 days? They could very well contribute another couple to the medevac pile. 

 

That scene reminded me of The Alliance episode of The Office, where Jim said that whenever Dwight asks you if you want to get in on something, you respond, "Absolutely I do!" and then just do whatever you were going to do anyway. That's like, rule one, on Survivor. Just because someone accepts your offer to be in an alliance, it doesn't mean they mean it; it's just that it would be stupid to say no. Everyone who's responded to an alliance offer with some version of "I want to think about it," was not long for that world, pay attention Jonathan Penner. So it was kind of hilarious to see Debbie turn the Manson Lamps onto Tai and demand he ally with her and after his, " ... okay?" smugly be all "NAILED IT!" about him. For a mastermind, she's not really killing it.

 

Lol, that scene was SO awkward. Poor Tai looked shell-shocked and panicked and could not have been telegraphing his reluctance any more clearly. 

 

Other than that, I KNEW IT that Scot would sell Tai once he joined with Jason! I had TOLD ya and I'm proud :P He has revealed Tai's idol not only to Jason which would be kind of expected but also to Nick of all people who he had never played with before! I find this a little weird, I feel we have missed something. Why isn't Julia reconnected with Michelle and playing as a couple? Why does Nick call all the shots? I feel I have a huge gap that doesn't make sense. Tai is given a (even fake) alliance and he hesitates. Julia is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Nick (who was the one to go first in beauty tribe) is the leader of their tribe. Suddenly Debbie starts to create alliances all over the place. And suddenly Jason, Scot and Nick are best friends. What am I missing?

 

Yeah, there are definitely some missing pieces in the story they're showing. When did Nick replace Cydney in the Brawn alliance? The no-tribal ending of this episode was frustrating because they were setting up so many scenarios and I wanted to see which would actually pan out. 

 

As for Julia, I'm rather impressed with her at this point. She was in a terrible spot returning from Exile and then wound up in a majority alliance even after voting out the person that was most interested in aligning with her (Peter) and was completely safe had that tribe had to go back to TC. 

 

Maybe Anna was the glue of the Beauty girls alliance and these 2 aren't as close? 

 

Did anyone else notice one of the worst ever sound dubbing instances when Nick was talking about Aubry? He was going on about how he liked her, but she had to go, blah blah blah, and when the camera wasn't on his face, they dubbed in this super deep voiced, possibly not even Nick quote of "Aubry's going home..." The voices didn't remotely match. 

Edited March 31, 2016 by ljenkins782

[Wandering Snark]

 

He could have gathered the whole tribe around and thrown the idol over his shoulder like a bridal bouquet.

I thought of this too but then Scot would have grabbed it with his height advantage or Kyle would have bulldozed into the pile like a rhino and grabbed it. Neither would be desirable outcomes.

[Quilt Fairy]

Debbie Job Watch:

waitress

Civil air something something

Chemist

3 tonight!

Civil air patrol captain, I believe. Maybe it was civil air patrol pilot.  I'm in it mostly for the challenges so I FF through a lot of the THs, but when I saw this mentioned in an earlier episode thread, I started slowing down for Debbie's. It's hilarious! Have there been any duplicates, or is each one new? 

 

A couple of things I don't understand about last night's infection-pus-alooza:

 

Wasn't it odd for Jeff to ask specifically about injuries before the IC rather than something more specific to the merge, like realigning of old alliances? And why did he put Tai on the spot to ask about it?

 

Later, they only examined Neal and the others who specifically came forward at the IC?  If 5 of 11 people are admitting to infected sores isn't there a good chance that some of the other 6 people have them as well? It also seemed that aside from Tai's very obvious scrapes from when he climbed the tree, the others all looked like infected bug bites, and you know they've all got bug bites!

 

Lastly, why was Aubrey's the only infection deemed worthy of antibiotics? Why would she get such an advantage? Put them on a even playing field and give all of them antibiotics!

 

I was waiting (in vain) for Jeff to say "Guys, it's Survivor and we want it to be real and to be difficult, but in the end it's a TV show and we don't want you to die." Anybody else or just me?

[Special K]

I think one of Debbie's chyrons should read:

 

Happily Married but Still Wants to Cuddle. Just Once.

Maybe Aubry was put on antibiotics since she was from the original Brains beach -- where it seems the pathogens are the worst. Of the 6 original Brains members, Liz, Peter, Neal, and Aubry all have nasty infections so far.  Joe is probably too cranky for the bacteria to thrive and we all know Debbie has the constitution of a horse.

 

Also, I'm sure they inspected all of them, we just didn't see it all.

 

Of course, only speculation, but they might have been setting Aubry up as a future evac? Not spoiled, just a thought.

[Nashville]

Ugh. I do feel very bad for all those people, but it was still the grossest episode ever.

I understand Aubry's frustration, but still SHUT UP. He didn't have a chance to give you the idol.

Neal's own follow up SM comments notwithstanding, that edit was poisonous to Aubry. Dude just had a 15-year-old life dream dashed on the rocks, honey, so I think you'll have to cut Neal some slack if his first thoughts upon being medevac'ed were NOT "Gee, I wonder how this impacts Aubry's game...?" :P

I was surprised they evacuated Neal. I thought the doctor might recommend it but leave it up to him. It almost seemed like Probst made the decision and Dr. Rupert rubber stamped it.

Oh hell no. Dr. Rupe (pardon the abbreviation, but I can't bring myself to type out the entire proper reference) was spot-on - in fact, I thought he was soft-pedaling it somewhat, possibly to not freak Neal out. More below.

When an infection is closed like that, it can be better to get it under control with antibiotics before doing any surgery to open it. That's especially true in unsanitary conditions like the beach.

Totally agree. Your body's absolute best first defense against opportunistic infection is unbroken skin. It's the same reason doctors say popping blisters should be a very last resort; uncomfortable though they may be, it's best to let them resolve under unbroken skin if at all possible.

The way Neal was talking when the doctor was there cemented for me why I don't like him. The doctor is trying to explain why the knee infection is serious and Neal says, "I believe it will be better in a few days." That kind of hard-headed, I-know-better-than-the-experts ignorance grates on me like nothing else. If Dr. Rupert had given him a twisty pinch on the arm after that, I wouldn't have minded.

My take on this was different, in two respects:

• Neal was fighting to preserve not just his game, but his dream of playing the game. Neal capitulated when Dr. Rupe made it clear his concern was for the entirety of Neal's life after the game.
• I don't think Neal was lying about Mount St. Neal not hurting - but while Neal understandably saw this as an indication his infection wasn't serious enough to require medevac, I suspect this was actually a major red flag to Dr. Rupe.

It's entirely possible much of Dr. Rupe's conversation with Neal ended up on the cutting room floor - which is a shame, because that would have been some good dramatic shit as well as a better explanation about the necessity for medevac - but Dr. Rupe's sole characterization of the damage which would result if the infection got in the joint as "catastrophic" was almost putting it mildly. Some of the potential fallout:

• Destruction of the cartilage and damage to the supporting bone structures. This would likely require total knee replacement - which in a 38-year-old would likely be a life-changer, and not for the good. Even the highest-grade replacement joints eventually wear out, and those in weight-bearing joints (knee and hip) wear out MUCH quicker than others. Neal would effectively be handed a sentence of surgeries and knee re-replacements every 10-15 years for the rest of his life.
• If the infection got into the supporting ligatures and muscles surrounding the joint and was sufficiently severe to cause tissue death and sepsis, amputation might have to be an option on the table.
• If the infection were to migrate into his circulatory system, amputation could become a life-saving measure; the sepsis would have a straight shot at Neal's heart, which could result in cardiac arrest and death.

And while Neal saw his lack of pain as evidence the infection wasn't that bad, I'd be pretty certain Dr. Rupe heard alarm klaxons going off at that statement. A huge gaping hole in his knee, infection, fluid buildup, regular explosive pus eruptions...? That knee should have been hurting like a hot iron motherfucker. Neal's insistence that it WASN'T hurting could have been simple bravado, or Neal's determination to play through the pain - or, if Neal is telling the truth and he actually isn't feeling that much pain, a strong indication that significant nerve damage has already occurred and the infection is MUCH worse than it presents on the surface.

In any case, I don't think Dr. Rupe's medevac call had anything to do with Production manipulation or anything else, as much as it did concern for Neal's health and quality of life.

[bounty] was the stoner guy who even the other stoners thought was a loser, but he knew where to get acid, so they allowed him to hang out with them.

Don't know if this is true - but if it's not, it should be. Edited March 31, 2016 by Nashville

[Lamima]

I had an infection on my hand once and despite being otherwise healthy, I was in the hospital for five days, to get round-the-clock IV antibiotics.  I felt completely fine and healthy, but the doctors were freaking out and eventually after hovering over me for several days while the infection didn't get too much better, the hand surgeons did a surgical drainage.  They said that if the infection took hold in the tendons and bones, I might lose function of my hand or, worse, lose my actual hand! 

 

So the relative grossness of the sore isn't really the issue, but more the location.  Actually when I walked into the ER, having been sent there by my GP, they stamped "URGENT"  on my form and I was hurried in before any of the other people waiting.  So, yeah, these kinds of things can run rampant very quickly.  If the docs knew from Liz and Peter how bad the infections on that beach are, they wouldn't want to take any chances.

I worked in an urgent care facility as a receptionist and a lady came in one day. She got poked on her hand by a dirty fork in her dishwasher as she was loading more dishes in. She showed my this little scabby sore and i thought 'hmmm, you came in for that?'. Then she pulled up her sleeve and had a blue line going up her arm. The docs later told me that's how gangrene sets in and they sent her to the hospital as an urgent case.

[iMonrey]

 

Skupin's on his way to jail anyway, I don't think he'll be returning to Survivor ever again.

 

OMG I hadn't heard about this until just now. Anyway . . .

 

I agree it's becoming increasingly obvious why this season was shelved until the spring. Episode after episode it ends up being a very anti-climactic ending. That said, even if Neal hadn't been med-vacced out, I think the ending would have still been anti-climactic. Brawn plus Beauty was already set on voting out Aubrey, and hoping Neal would use his idol and that's exactly what would have happened in all likelihood. It didn't really seem like Neal and Aubrey had much of a plan with how to use the idol; it's not as if Neal could pass it to her after the votes were read. He'd either have to play it for her, if he felt that's where the wind was blowing, or play it for himself and she'd have been gone anyway. And then Neal would have probably gone home the next TC. 

 

The only possibility here that might have been interesting was Scot mentioning they would split the votes between Neal and Aubrey, which would have theoretically allowed Debbie, Joe, Aubrey and Neal to force a tie. But if Brawn/Beauty had split the votes 4 Neal and 3 Aubrey, and Neal had played the idol, whoever Brains voted for would have gone home. On the other hand if they'd done 3 Neal/4 Aubrey there would have been a re-vote and probably someone on Brains would have flipped and Aubrey would have gone home anyway.

 

Boring season so far.

[ForeverAlone]

In his exit interview with Dalton Ross, Neal said that after he was being told he needed to be evac'd, he basically started hysterically crying and begged to stay 12 more hours . So I think there was much of all of the stuff leading up to his evac that was not shown. 

 

And I have seen stuff in the past that the medical doctors have the ultimate call on whether or not to pull someone from the game. Not Jeff, and certainly not the player who probably wants to stay. If a doctor makes the call, there is no challenging it. 

[Lamima]

I assume the throat slitting comment was a joke and Neal is just being obtuse by using it as his reasoning for keeping the idol.

I am guessing she said something like 'if I'm going to be up on the block, you better use that idol on me or I will be waiting for you at Ponderosa to slit your throat' .

Edited March 31, 2016 by Lamima

[laurakaye]

Well, in 32 seasons of Survivor, we haven't seen a season quite as grisly and concerning as this one.  We've seen some bad things (burned hands, passing out, awful bugbites), but this is the roughest, gnarliest season that I can remember.  People passing out en masse, two evacs so far with possibly more to come (based on the infections they keep getting)...it really doesn't make for pleasant television, but I guess it will be memorable.  Still, when I sit down on Wednesday night with my popcorn and wine, I like to think I can keep it down and not be subjected to wounds that make me literally cringe and slap my hand over my eyes.

 

I'm curious as to how Probst and Burnett feel about this season.  They're probably both thrilled that everyone came out of it alive.

[marys1000]

Why is everyone talking about staph or MRSA?  I believe all they said was "infection".  They didn't culture anything. 

He didn't even have a temperature?

 

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000855.htm

 

Good comment on how other people could have had issues but just kept quiet. 

 

I think that guy falling into the fire was super scary and worse than these boils. 

Edited March 31, 2016 by marys1000

[ghoulina]

Neal - Ok so I didn't look closely at his knee but it had drained and it looked like it was forming a scab - why no antibiotics for him?  Hand him a bottle of alcohol swabs and pills. Seems like they are all over the map on medical.  Seemed pretty unfair to me.

 

I don't think they're all over the place at all. The difference between an infection like Aubry or Scot had vs. Neal's is the location. The latter's was right near the bone, specifically the knee. The other two had wounds in the fleshy part of their legs. Bone infection is the major concern here. The show has pulled others for similar infections near the bone - Penner had one near the knee also, IIRC. And James had an infection on his finger. Both in Micronesia. Both were pulled. 

 

I would have to rewatch, but Neal's wound had "burst", but did not look to be scabbing over to me It looked more like it was open and draining liquid. 

 

Skupin's on his way to jail anyway, I don't think he'll be returning to Survivor ever again.

 

Holy crap, what? Time to hit up Google. 

[Special K]

I think Liz or Peter has said that they had Staph infections upon leaving the game that required surgery and/or hospitalization.

[Tara Ariano]

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

Wounds, Not Tensions, Erupt On Survivor
It's merge time, but the scheming is upstaged by the fact that nearly everyone has some sort of throbbing, pus-filled infection. Presented in thrilling HD!

[Big Mother]

In his exit interview with Dalton Ross, Neal said that after he was being told he needed to be evac'd, he basically started hysterically crying and begged to stay 12 more hours . So I think there was much of all of the stuff leading up to his evac that was not shown. 

 

And I have seen stuff in the past that the medical doctors have the ultimate call on whether or not to pull someone from the game. Not Jeff, and certainly not the player who probably wants to stay. If a doctor makes the call, there is no challenging it. 

Wow, if you think about it, I'm wondering why they couldnt have waited until immediately after tribal council, esp with jeff knowing neal had the idol and he would probably use it. I guess bc they couldn't afford to lose 2 ppl in one night?

Why is everyone talking about staph or MRSA?  I believe all they said was "infection".  They didn't culture anything. 

He didn't even have a temperature?

 

Liz and Peter had to be flown to the states for surgery bc they had similar wounds to Neal's knee wound and they were so bad they had to have pieces of flesh cut out. I'm guessing Dr. Joe and the medical team were really alarmed after it happened to Peter too, and htey realized there was some horrible flesh-eating bacteria on the Brains beach, which is why they paid extra special caution to the brains, Aubrey, Neal, etc.

 

Someone posted on twitter that the likely scenario is that they were all checked out at the immunity challenge, and the medical team immediately realized that neal's knee wound was really bad and he needed to be pulled. Production probably decided to make a show out of it and have everyone's infections checked out again, on camera, to be used for the show, once they realized that this would end up being the storyline of the day, and possibly of the season...

[poppy-]

Wow, if you think about it, I'm wondering why they couldnt have waited until immediately after tribal council, esp with jeff knowing neal had the idol and he would probably use it. I guess bc they couldn't afford to lose 2 ppl in one night?

Liz and Peter had to be flown to the states for surgery bc they had similar wounds to Neal's knee wound and they were so bad they had to have pieces of flesh cut out. I'm guessing Dr. Joe and the medical team were really alarmed after it happened to Peter too, and htey realized there was some horrible flesh-eating bacteria on the Brains beach, which is why they paid extra special caution to the brains, Aubrey, Neal, etc.

 

Someone posted on twitter that the likely scenario is that they were all checked out at the immunity challenge, and the medical team immediately realized that neal's knee wound was really bad and he needed to be pulled. Production probably decided to make a show out of it and have everyone's infections checked out again, on camera, to be used for the show, once they realized that this would end up being the storyline of the day, and possibly of the season...

I think "Doctor's Call is Final" is a smart policy to keep firm on publicly (and so not revealing a "oh hell!" reaction to the would at the challenge makes sense).  Would have been interesting to see the ER doc's reaction to the wounds. Of course, without the knowledge of how serious it was for other players, maybe it's not fair to judge Peter for not being more concerned.

What happened to the unstoppable Beauty girls alliance? I don't think Michelle and Julia have exchanged one word, let alone joined forces again.

OR it's so solid that they're keeping it for later episodes.  Those two players seem to be in it for the long haul no matter what, based on current strategies. Unless they get medivac-ed.

Edited March 31, 2016 by poppy-

[ratgirlagogo]

 

My uncle got some sort of skin disorder he called rot in the South Pacific in World War II, and it plagued him the rest of his life and in fact shortened his years. 

I was thinking of this too.  My dad was a Marine who served in the Pacific also, and he always just DRILLED into us that when you were camping you had to wash Feet, Pits, Parts (meaning armpits and crotch) every day to make sure you'd avoid nasty infections, what he called jungle rot.

 

He could have gathered the whole tribe around and thrown the idol over his shoulder like a bridal bouquet.

I thought of this too but then Scot would have grabbed it with his height advantage or Kyle would have bulldozed into the pile like a rhino and grabbed it. Neither would be desirable outcomes.

I know, too bad.  Otherwise the bridal toss would have been great.  I do wonder though why Neal didn't pass his idol on to SOMEBODY, even if he didn't want to give it to Aubry.  Even if he was pissed off about having to leave the game, he also knows he's the first member of the jury - and here he had a clear chance to give an advantage to somebody.

 

Seems like they are all over the map on medical.

I dont' think they are.  According to Dalton Ross' recap and Jeff Probst's interview at EW, linked by a couple of posters above, the medical team were on the beach checking up on all the players every single day.  The nasty wound reveal was for the benefit of the TV audience.  Once they saw Probst heading in with the doctor on a special launch, they all knew that at least one of them was getting medevacced out.

[bikebrh]

****Agree on the, "Cydney looks great," comments. I mean wow, has she even lost any muscle tone? *****

Survivor has always been great for the looks of bodybuilder types. It rips their "between competition" weight away and makes them look like they are ready to go on stage and pose. I can't be the only one who remembers Alicia's rippling abs from Survivor: Australia.