S33: Michaela Bradshaw

[Michel]

Hi.  Contrasted with CeCe, I was obviously cast to be the "sassy black woman."

She wants to play like Tasha, Kelley, and San Juan Del Sur's Natalie, which I think is too tall of an order to pull off.  Also, she lists one of her hobbies as "cuddling."  Like . . . what?  Don't see much longevity in her future.

[LanceM]

Pre-game interview with Josh Wigler:

http://parade.com/500209/joshwigler/survivor-millennials-vs-gen-x-michaela-bradshaw/

 

Pre-game interview with Gordon Holmes:

http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2016/08/22/survivor-millennial-michaela-no-value-bye/

[LadyChatts]

I like this one.  Pre-show, so far, the cast I'm finding either boring or being a bunch of try hards.  Hope that changes once the season starts, but I'm liking Michaela.  Her bio seemed kind of lengthy compared to the others, and I can see her working some nerves with her talk of religion (although this cast seems more God oriented than previous casts, so maybe around the right people, it won't be an issue).  

I guess it's bad that the only big move I remember Natalie making was blindsiding Jon.  I barely remember her for the first half of SJDS.  

[La Traviata]

I like her alot. I hope she goes far in the game.

[azshadowwalker]

She is my favorite so far. As opposed to Lawyer Jessica, her story of sacrificing to get where she is doesn't sound so judgemental. I don't see her condemning or condescending with the "they just don't take responsibility" attitude; it's just about her. Maybe the difference between a black woman's experience and a white woman's. 

[LadyChatts]

We didn't see much of her last night, which was disappointing.  The look on her face when Paul and CeCe were going off on millennials was hysterical.  Hope she winds up on the right side of alliances on her tribe.  For now, I don't think she'll be a target (if last night is any indication).

[Michel]

Yeah, she seems to be in a good spot on Vanua, and the other Millennials seem to like her.  So that might be a good sign for her early on.

[LanceM]

Michaela thinks any challenge involving puzzles or strategy than the millennials win but if it involves brute strength gen-x wins because they have a huge goliath looking men on their tribe minus that "one itty bitty one". lol. poor Dave

 

[KimberStormer]

Michaela's exit interview with Gordon Holmes is really good.  I thought this was fascinating:

Quote

Holmes: Let’s go back to the Figgy vs. Mari vote. Why did you end up siding with Jay, Taylor, Figgy, and Michelle?
Bradshaw: That alliance started on the second or third day of the game. It was all I had. The first episode, nobody would talk to me. So if we lost the first challenge, I bet I would have went home. I was the outcast in the beginning. I wasn’t the cool kid and I wasn’t the nerd either. I was in the middle, you know, cute and smart. (Laughs) So, Jay and Michelle were the only two people who would actually talk to me. Everybody else kept me at arm’s length. I told them, “I’ll have your back the rest of this game.” That’s where that started. But, they never said they’d have my back the rest of the game, so I knew I could only trust them to some extent.

Makes it more clear why she was especially hurt by Jay backstabbing her like that.  Also good stuff on her plan to get to the end and her relationship with Hannah, etc.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Hmm.  Thank you.

Michaela Bradshaw is such a beautiful name.  It's so TV ready.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Guest]

Her comments about race were interesting, too.

[LadyChatts]

So sad to see her go.  She was definitely a highlight of the season, and because of her back story, made me really root for her.  Great competitor, and I always looked forward to her commentary.  Won't be the same without her.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Yeah very interesting.  Love it.

Quote

Holmes: I think we were all excited when we saw how diverse the casting was on the women’s side. And yet, five of the first seven people out were women of color. What is your take on this outcome? Did something feel off out there or is that just how the cards fell regardless of race?
Bradshaw: It feels like America. You don’t feel it in the moment until you step back and look at it. Then you realize that we’re playing a social game. Part of making alliances is who you feel like you can trust. Part of who you feel like you can trust is who you feel familiar with. Part of who you feel familiar with is who you’re typically around. And part of who you’re around is who people look like. In a social game, what you look like can have an effect on what’s familiar to a person which can impact how quickly they trust you and how long they trust you. And so, maybe that had something to do with the boot order, maybe it was random. But I can say that I noticed.

[JudyObscure]

She sounds so smart and so nice in that interview. Talking about why she didn't say anything about Jay's idol on the way out, " But, I can respect good gameplay. That part of me isn’t going to throw salt on someone’s game."  I just love this girl.  She's one of my all time favorites.
 

[loki567]

That's probably the best quote I've ever read on race in Survivor. 

[LanceM]

It is interesting and surprising to me how she says that the only two that really talked to her in the first few days were Jay and Michelle. It does help explain why she would vote with that alliance to get rid of Mari and not go with the so called misfits since they apparently didn't try to connect with her in any way.

[peachmangosteen]

7 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Makes it more clear why she was especially hurt by Jay backstabbing her like that.

Yes it does and it also lends itself to my thoughts on her reaction to the vote as less angry hostility and more feeling hurt and betrayed.

2 hours ago, loki567 said:

That's probably the best quote I've ever read on race in Survivor. 

It really is. 

Edited November 3, 2016 by peachmangosteen

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, LanceM said:

It is interesting and surprising to me how she says that the only two that really talked to her in the first few days were Jay and Michelle. It does help explain why she would vote with that alliance to get rid of Mari and not go with the so called misfits since they apparently didn't try to connect with her in any way.

It really IS interesting I agree.  Also, she never liked Figgy so maybe this helps explain.

[Guest]

It's always weird to me on this show (or BB) when people say others never even spoke to them.  I feel like if I was isolated with a small group of people in a confined space playing a game that is largely social, where a jury picks the winner, I would really not ignore anyone.  Especially in the early days when you really need to figure these people out and make some choices about alliances.  

[kikaha]

I bet Michaela is a great candidate to come back for a second season some time.  If she does, I'm curious to see if she can correct her mistakes from this season.  A Michaela who plays things closer to the vest could go real real deep in Survivor. 

[waving feather]

Until now I don't really understand her dislike of Figgy. She seems to get along with the others like Jay and Michelle but can't stand Figgy for some unknown reason. She said Figgy is attention seeking. Yes that could be annoying but I've never disliked someone so much just because they are attention seeking, unless they did something bad to me personally. Even Figgy seems perplexed to me about Michaela's hostility towards her. 

[Guest]

Maybe it's because Michaela is also attention seeking so Figgy was the competition, in that respect, or Michaela subconsciously dislikes it about herself so she acted out with anger seeing it in Figgy?  (Not saying Michaela *is* either of those, just that they're possible explanations.)

[waving feather]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Maybe it's because Michaela is also attention seeking so Figgy was the competition, in that respect, or Michaela subconsciously dislikes it about herself so she acted out with anger seeing it in Figgy?  (Not saying Michaela *is* either of those, just that they're possible explanations.)

Perhaps. Because if you are someone who prefers to be low key, you would be glad that someone else is seeking attention, so you are not the "limelight". It just seems irrational of Michaela to dislike Figgy that much. Figgy may be annoying, but someone you could just roll your eyes at and ignore. They are actually more alike than they think. Both wear their hearts on their sleeves and have zero poker face.

[peachmangosteen]

14 hours ago, waving feather said:

I can't really understand why Michaela would reveal all her strategies and plans to Jay, especially those that may not be aligned with his own self interests. That's foolish and she deserved to be voted off for that. Given this new info, she may not have stayed loyal to Jay after the merge as well because she's essentially going to take out his core alliance member.

I suspected that Michaela was not much of a strategist and this just proves it. And it also makes Jay and Will's, "OMG she's just SO intelligent! She's so smart! Wow she's just super intelligent we have to get her out for that reason and that reason only!" a bit funny.

[EvilApplesauce]

On November 4, 2016 at 4:32 AM, waving feather said:

Until now I don't really understand her dislike of Figgy. She seems to get along with the others like Jay and Michelle but can't stand Figgy for some unknown reason. She said Figgy is attention seeking. Yes that could be annoying but I've never disliked someone so much just because they are attention seeking, unless they did something bad to me personally. Even Figgy seems perplexed to me about Michaela's hostility towards her. 

I always wondered if Michaela had a crush on Taylor. IIRC she was first to notice "Figtails" making out in the shelter, then she went off and tattled on them like a little kid, but I got the impression that Michaela was secretly jealous of Figgy getting Tay's attention. To me it makes sense as to why she couldn't pinpoint a reason for disliking Figgy when Figgy confronted her. I would even go so far as guessing that Michaela helped Michelle and Zeke beat Jessica and Figgy in the challenge just because Michaela didn't want Team Figtails to stay in the game together. "Bye Felicia" was a little too much schadenfreude for my tastes!

That said, Michaela was my favorite player in the game and I nearly cried when she was blindsided, lol. 

[EvilApplesauce]

9 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I suspected that Michaela was not much of a strategist and this just proves it. And it also makes Jay and Will's, "OMG she's just SO intelligent! She's so smart! Wow she's just super intelligent we have to get her out for that reason and that reason only!" a bit funny.

Not to butt in, but doesn't this just make Michaela naive? She said that she was playing as if Survivor is a team sport, and I think that she was trying to protect her imagined team members, rather than it being a case of Michaela lacking intelligence. She even said that once they got to the final 4, it was going to be every man for himself. If anything, her greatest error was believing that Jay had her best interests at heart just because he was one of the first and only people to talk to her at camp, and he included her in the Mari vote. She was also naive for thinking that Will wanted to be in the final 4 with her, and also naive for thinking that "Uncle Bret and Mama Sunday" wouldnt write her name down in light of all the ways Michaela contributed at camp and in challenges. But how does that demonstrate a lack of intelligence? I'm a black woman who detected no shade in Jay and Will calling Michaela "intelligent" - though don't get me wrong, I understand the patronizing that can come along with that word and "well-spoken" in reference to black people! But I thought that Jay and Will truly meant Michaela IS intelligent, and it was making them uncomfortable since she also knew that Jay had an idol. Who's to say she wouldn't engineer Jay's blindside at some point and send him home with the idol in his pocket, leaving Will with virtually no allies? It doesn't have to be the case that Jay and Will were being ... "PC", if you will ;)

Edited November 7, 2016 by EvilApplesauce

[KimberStormer]

@EvilApplesauce, I can't say the thought ever crossed my mind, and I don't think I believe it, but I do love a good fan theory like that.  If you're right, she should be very happy that Figgy took that bullet for her, and Taylor should be glad as well.  As harsh as Figgy was on him in her exit interviews, I have to think that a Michaela scorned would be a whole 'nother order of magnitude.

[EvilApplesauce]

39 minutes ago, KimberStormer said:

@EvilApplesauce, I can't say the thought ever crossed my mind, and I don't think I believe it, but I do love a good fan theory like that.  If you're right, she should be very happy that Figgy took that bullet for her, and Taylor should be glad as well.  As harsh as Figgy was on him in her exit interviews, I have to think that a Michaela scorned would be a whole 'nother order of magnitude.

Lol I know it's pretty farfetched! But for some reason I was reminded of Roxy being unnecessarily catty towards (forgive me, I can't remember her name!) after Roxy expressed that she had a little thing for Malcolm. Ugh, my memory is failing me and I can't even remember the name of the season! Not to say that Roxy and Michaela should or did display similar behavior just because they're both black women! But I mean to say that the inexplicably sour attitude / singling-out-just-one-girl-to-hate takes me back to the days of my church youth retreats, for sure!

[laurakaye]

I actually found Michaela's dislike of Figgy very understandable, especially as we came to know Michaela through her confessionals, where she said she's had to work hard for everything she has, and that many of her family members have had bad luck fall upon them just as they were starting to succeed.  Contrast that to Figgy, who was bold and sure enough of her tribe status that she openly flirted and kissed on Taylor and assumed that the rest of her tribe would be fine with it because she's Figgy, and perhaps she's used to getting her way.  When a pair of Survivors becomes a romantic couple and does it openly, it smacks of supreme overconfidence, not to mention it's two people who are very likely to vote the same, and won't vote against each other.

It reminds me of my beloved Ozzy.  When he made a return in Micronesia, I was thrilled, and hoped he'd go far.  Until he openly mushed all over Amanda.  It's not the pairing that bothers me, it's the ego it takes to do it in front of your tribemates and assume that everyone will be okay with it.

[Guest]

I don't understand that.  Why do they need their tribe to be ok with it?  Everyone has friends and allies out there and even the romantic relationships don't always imply total loyalty or even voting as a bloc.  If two players want to get physical, I think that's perfectly normal and their right.  

[Lamb18]

My opinion on why Michaela disliked Figgy: Figgy thought she was adorable and that she and Taylor as a couple were the most adorable thing ever, and that she thought everyone else should think they were adorable and also that they were a power couple, so there! everyone else! I could see that attitude in the little I saw of Figgy, just think of being around it 24/7. It would be hard for someone who has no illusions about her own adorableness to stomach.

[sassykattt]

Michaela disliked figgy because she was so much better in every way than figgy

[hincandenza]

17 hours ago, sassykattt said:

Michaela disliked figgy because she was so much better in every way than figgy

Very arguable; when you're better in every way than someone, you don't hate or dislike them simply because they're not worth it.  It's when you secretly know you're not as good as you think or wish you are- that's when you start guzzling the haterade.  Michaela and Figgy are both young, dumb people.  They'll grow up soon enough, we all were stupid and petty at that age.

[KimberStormer]

 

I just watched this yesterday and, although I knew the "only Jay and Michelle talked to Michaela" bit, I didn't know the answer to the question left hanging in this thread: why Michaela disliked Figgy in particular so much.  But here is the answer: it's because Hannah lied to Michaela that Figgy was bullying her.  Somehow I missed that news.  But I'm glad to know it because her disdain seemed so completely unmotivated before and now I know it was coming from a very admirable place!

[LadyChatts]

Hannah's sneakier than I thought.  I adore Michaela, and while I'm not big on 3-peaters, I hope she is one of them in the future.

Edited September 20, 2017 by LadyChatts