S33: Zeke Smith

[Michel]

Hi.  I look like the resident oddball by appearance alone.

Could go either way on this one.  But he claims he's like Tony, which could be a good thing or a bad thing.

[dustoffmom]

On pure looks and self bio alone....I like this one!

[kassandra8286]

Me too - I rarely read the bios because they're so full of self-aggrandizing nonsense, but his cracked me up. I like that he doesn't take himself seriously and is a genuine Survivor fan. I'm rooting for you Zeke, don't let me down!

[kakiphony]

Agreed. He's my pre-season favorite just because he seems like he will be legitimately entertaining to watch.

[LanceM]

Pre-game interview with Josh Wigler:

http://parade.com/503182/joshwigler/survivor-millennials-vs-gen-x-zeke-smith/

lol, at him not thinking Probst was that smart prior to meeting him.

 

Pre-game interview with Gordon Holmes:

http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2016/08/30/survivor-millennial-zeke/

Edited August 30, 2016 by LanceM

[LadyChatts]

I find him to be annoying, at least from the pre-show stuff.  If the comedy comes across genuine vs trying too hard to purposely be a ham and make a name for yourself, then I might change my mind.

[azshadowwalker]

He is one of the several try-hards on the millennial tribe, right up there with the girl trying to be the quirky nerd. Both of them are characters instead of people. I am really dreading this guy. 

[LanceM]

Zeke definitely has the potential to be an annoying try hard no doubt about that. I will give him the benefit of doubt for now but we will see how it goes once they hit the island.

[Nashville]

He's either going to be great, or he's going to suck.

or maybe he'll pull off a combination of the two, and suck greatly.

Helifino.  All I know right now is I want some peanut butter.

[Wouldofshouldof]

On 8/31/2016 at 1:24 AM, azshadowwalker said:

Both of them are characters instead of people.

I came here to say just that.  He looks like a character from something like Wet, Hot, American Summer (which I've never seen, just guessing).

 

[Special K]

28 minutes ago, Wouldofshouldof said:

I came here to say just that.  He looks like a character from something like Wet, Hot, American Summer (which I've never seen, just guessing).

 

hahahah! I'm trying to figure our what his persona is.  Hawaiian shirt, hipster 'stache, '90s brush cut...  He definitely has a low-rent, normal-people porn look to me.

[LadyChatts]

I was thinking discount Magnum PI, but that works, too.

[Guest]

I think he's the token gay.  

[simplyme]

7 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I was thinking discount Magnum PI, but that works, too.

Maybe as done by Jim Carrey?

[LadyChatts]

4 hours ago, simplyme said:

Maybe as done by Jim Carrey?

Okay, now I have visions of Zeke being a cross of Magnum meets Ace Ventura.  Reboots and remakes are the thing right now, maybe CBS can make that into a show, starring Zeke.

I'm still a little leery of Zeke turning into a try hard, but I really enjoyed him tonight.  He and Ken definitely wound up on the wrong tribes.  I loved his digs at his millennial tribe mates.  And yay to him for getting fire without flint.  He seemed quite proud of himself.  

[Lamb18]

For folks in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, he looks like the guy in the Second Wind Fitness ads.

[Michel]

Enjoying him so far.  Let's hope he doesn't become that much of a try-hard.

[KimberStormer]

My thoughts on L'affaire Zeke: Hannah was definitely being totally obnoxious, and in any other context I can imagine, Zeke would be totally in the right wanting to be alone and telling her so.  But on Survivor.....I think you gotta suck it up and placate her.  Horrible as that is.  It's a cruel game that way, but you can't feel your feelings on it sometimes.  And, I mean, those were game feelings, if you know what I mean?  He was feeling bad about the game, not about anything real.  So it really demands a game response, i.e., kissing up to your enemy.

On the other hand, I don't think it actually hurt him.  Playing hard-to-get might have made Hannah all the more desperate to get back on his good side.  But as a general rule I think if you're feeling sore after the vote you gotta put on your Survivor Smiley Face and save your agony for the confessional cam.

[Special K]

On 9/21/2016 at 0:28 PM, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think he's the token gay.  

Bret of GenX is also gay.

http://www.newnownext.com/bret-zeke-survivor-gay/09/2016/

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Special K said:

Bret of GenX is also gay.

http://www.newnownext.com/bret-zeke-survivor-gay/09/2016/

Wow, Survivor is getting downright diversified.  Two gay men and two black women!  

[Special K]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Wow, Survivor is getting downright diversified.  Two gay men and two black women!  

And two Asian-American women.

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Wow, Survivor is getting downright diversified.  Two gay men and two black women!  

And 3 Asian women!  Even if two of them were the first to go.  But hey, Asians don't get cast very often on this show as it is.

[Special K]

10 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

And 3 Asian women!  Even if two of them were the first to go.  But hey, Asians don't get cast very often on this show as it is.

My bad!  Three, yes.  Rachel, we hardly knew ye...   Lucy we hardly know you.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Special K

[LanceM]

Not to mention the one Hispanic woman Jessica Figueroa.

[JudyObscure]

18 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

But as a general rule I think if you're feeling sore after the vote you gotta put on your Survivor Smiley Face and save your agony for the confessional cam.

I agree. All the best players make each person feel like he/she is their best friend, totally trusted, ever loved, will be in their wedding after the show. As irritating as Hannah was, Zeke should have taken a moment to reassure her that they were still good, he totally understood the pressure she was under, and they'll be voting together next time.

[Nashville]

4 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I agree. All the best players make each person feel like he/she is their best friend, totally trusted, ever loved, will be in their wedding after the show. As irritating as Hannah was, Zeke should have taken a moment to reassure her that they were still good, he totally understood the pressure she was under, and they'll be voting together next time.

Wouldn't have been enough - and considering the FACT that Adam and Zeke were the ones who got b0rked at TC, not Hannah, I'm not going to fault Zeke too much for not spending the next hour or so at that specific moment reassuring Hannah that everything was rainbows and puppydogs between them.  Hannah's neediness in that precise moment was inappropriate in the extreme.

[KimberStormer]

Yes but that is the game.  Right and wrong got nothin' to do with it.  Morally, sure, nothing wrong with Zeke's behavior (I get upset by bad surprises myself), but it wasn't great gameplay.

[Special K]

Except it looked, from her talking head at least, that Zeke/Adam might be able to use Hannah's guilt for their own benefit.  Didn't she say "They should use me!  Use me, guys!"

They may not be aware of it, but actually the way that Z/A handled it might work out better for them in the long run.

Edited October 7, 2016 by Special K

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, KimberStormer said:

Yes but that is the game.  Right and wrong got nothin' to do with it.  Morally, sure, nothing wrong with Zeke's behavior (I get upset by bad surprises myself), but it wasn't great gameplay.

But the surprises, mistakes, and mistakes-which-turn-out-to-NOT-be-mistakes are what make the game FUN!

If everybody played perfect, it would be boring as hell.  ;)

Also - and this is purely just a vibe I get - if A and Z had played "it's okay, just part of the game" patty-cake with Hannah:

1. It would've come across faker than hell.
2. As soon as Hannah's sniffles died down, she would've recognized the fakeness and known A and Z were playing her.
3. Irritation and/or paranoia at that realization would have had Hannah immediately targeting them.

I'm with @Special K on this one; guilt-trip the hell outta her, then use the guilt.  :)

[Jobiska]

9 hours ago, Nashville said:

, I'm not going to fault Zeke too much for not spending the next hour or so at that specific moment reassuring Hannah that everything was rainbows and puppydogs between them.  

And/or butts, if Mari is to be believed.

[KimberStormer]

Yes, I agree it seemed to work for them despite it all.  You never know!  That is indeed what makes it such a great game!

[KimberStormer]

On ‎10‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 4:31 PM, LanceM said:

Not to mention the one Hispanic woman Jessica Figueroa.

Also Jay is Peruvian-American.  But these don't count, apparently, because they're "cool".  They're white and of a certain age and style parameters, so I hear.

Edited October 8, 2016 by KimberStormer

[simplyme]

8 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Also Jay is Peruvian-American.  But these don't count, apparently, because they're "cool".  They're white and of a certain age and style parameters, so I hear.

Technically, Hispanic is a culture, not race, but I take your point and am properly chastised. :)

Actually, one of the things I like about the Millennial tribe is that aside from the "pretty people" comments (which they seem to have drifted away from the more they've gotten to know each other), they've appeared to be pretty open to working with each other in various combos, and they work well as a team with little to no apparent judgment that we've seen.

The Tri-Force reminds me of the first few weeks of college. There are people you meet and hang with initially because they're there and you have some things in common, but as you get to know others and develop deeper friendships, a lot of those initial friends become much less important.

[CarolMK]

I read on another site that Zeke is a trans man. Made the transition before he started college at Harvard. Apparently the first contestant on Survivor who is trans though I don't believe the CBS has commented on it at all. I wonder if the other contestants know and it just hasn't been shown on tv. 

[simplyme]

My position would be that if Zeke hasn't commented on it, either it isn't true or it isn't our business.

[Jextella]

I'm more intrigued by the fact he went to Harvard.  He is VERY smart.  I agree with Probst that the game is being played at a very high level - and fast.  Between Zeke, David, and Adam, it comes off as a fast-paced chess game. 

I binge-watched Ep1-10 in one night and wasn't bored for a second.

[pamplemousse]

1 hour ago, Jextella said:

I'm more intrigued by the fact he went to Harvard.  He is VERY smart.  I agree with Probst that the game is being played at a very high level - and fast.  Between Zeke, David, and Adam, it comes off as a fast-paced chess game. 

I binge-watched Ep1-10 in one night and wasn't bored for a second.

According to Zeke in his profile, Harvard recruited him because he was one of the top high school debaters in the United States.

I don't know where David went to school, but Adam graduated from Stanford. And Hannah went to Northwestern. So academically speaking, there's quite a few this season with the elite school pedigree.

[Jextella]

5 hours ago, pamplemousse said:

According to Zeke in his profile, Harvard recruited him because he was one of the top high school debaters in the United States.

I don't know where David went to school, but Adam graduated from Stanford. And Hannah went to Northwestern. So academically speaking, there's quite a few this season with the elite school pedigree.

I didn’t know this about Adam and Hannah.  Awesome stuff. It makes a world of difference.

[JaggedLilPill]

Zeke addresses last week's tribal council in this article.

Quote

 

Wigler: It got a little personal at the rock-draw Tribal Council, where you asked David if he’s going to cry… how did it get to that point? Were you actually agitated by David at a certain point?

Zeke: Oh god. That was really terrible. I’m really embarrassed about that. I think the answer is no. I wasn’t actually agitated with David. There’s a playfulness there that does not come across. I remember before I said that, David said, “Would the members of Zeke’s alliance like to raise their hands?” And no one had ever taken shots at each other like that. That Tribal Council was tense. I spent all afternoon trying to hype my army up, and trying to get them emotional enough that they would want to draw rocks. I remember feeling like it was a very stupid comment. But it wasn’t malicious. David and I share a very deprecating sense of humor. We would often kid each other about our shared childhood depression and anxieties, something we both experienced to a great degree. Dave speaks about it, and I don’t, because I’m not comfortable being vulnerable. (Laughs.) But we would joke about crying a lot, or me being fat, or whatever it was. We would kid with each other. You even see it at the loved ones visit. Bret starts to cry and we all shout “LOOSAH!” In the heat and without the context, it comes off a lot worse than it was actually intended.

 

Now that's it been a week, I'm not as upset as I was while watching the episode. I agree with Zeke that it comes off a lot worse than intended, but I'm glad he's expressing regret over it because it may not have been malicious, but definitely an oops, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have said that. I think outside of the game, as showcased in his Ponderosa video, Zeke's a cool guy, but inside the game, he's a player. 

I liked his other two exit interviews as well:

EW

People

Edited December 1, 2016 by JaggedLilPill
because there was only one ponderosa video

[peachmangosteen]

The Zeke in Ponderoda is the Zeke I remember liking at the beginning of the season. He just got a bit arrogant towards the end of his run and it was really off-putting. I really do like him though.

I'm not so sure I really buy his interpretation of that moment in last week's TC though since David responded by saying that was a personal attack and that he wasn't personally attacking anyone.

[Rachel RSL]

I agree. I don't doubt that him and David probably joked around about their neuroses but, in that moment at TC, that was not a lighthearted kidding around comment. Not buying it for a second.

[JaggedLilPill]

21 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

The Zeke in Ponderoda is the Zeke I remember liking at the beginning of the season. He just got a bit arrogant towards the end of his run and it was really off-putting. I really do like him though.

He cracked me up in his Ponderosa video when he described Michelle as one way and then she's all "Wanna do shots?"

I remember why I liked him early on and why I was so upset last week with him because it was not a side of him I expected to see. Early on he came off as sarcastic, but funny, and like him and David, I'm drawn to the humorous self-deprecating types.

Regarding his explanation, it definitely wasn't a good choice of words, and I do suspect there's some damage control going on here.

I imagine having his head so far into the game that Zeke wasn't concerned about how he'd look on TV six months or so later. And now it airs and it came off ugly and he's like, shit, yeah, that was not pretty. 

[Jalyn]

I'm just happy that his reaction is that he knows he was out of line. Too many times the player doubles down that what they said wasn't that bad, or that we didn't understand the context, or that whoever they were talking to deserved to be ill treated and we just don't understand how annoying they were. 

I can understand snapping out something hurtful in the moment and even meaning it to sting. Once emotions have cooled, it's a sign of maturity and not being an awful person if you can recognize and regret it. 

[peachmangosteen]

I completely agree. I said that if Zeke (and Bret) expressed that they were wrong there that I would think of it as just a blip and not indicative of them as people and Zeke did just that.

Spoiler

I read about Zeke being on next season a couple weeks ago when I wasn't really liking him anymore so I was disappointed. But now I'm back to liking him so I'm excited to see him play again.

[pamplemousse]

I think he's backpedaling because supposedly he got a ton of hate on his social media for it.

I still don't think he's a good guy, but he entertained me and I'd certainly watch him play the game again should he come back (and have fun rooting against him).

Edited December 2, 2016 by pamplemousse

[LadyChatts]

I agree that I liked Zeke before last week.  I fully expected to hate him going in, especially after the hype Probst gave him (comparing him to Hatch, Coach, Phillip, and I think a couple of others).  Usually when Probst hypes someone to that extent and says everyone will love them, I hate them.  However, I did love Zeke from the beginning, until he turned into an arrogant ass.  He got ahead of himself in game play, and his arrogance came out full force.  He overestimated his ability to control the game with that many people left, but at least he seemed to recognize that he made his move too quick.  I noticed, when re-watching TC from last night, that he gave Will a look when his name first came up (since Hannah had only gotten 4 votes, so he must have realized Will flipped).  Not that Will flipping would have mattered in the end.  I do believe he would come back maybe more humbled at the experience, and (unlike some Survivor players), learn from his mistakes.  

[Rachel RSL]

I didn't see that as a wry smile. I saw it more as "That's a dick move but I'm gonna shake it off and not stoop to that level".

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I believe Zeke because it would explain David's wry smile at the remark.  To me, David's face said more, "Don't bring in our joking comments to tribal, where we're duking it out.  Our jokes about our anxieties are personal fun and non-game,"  more that than "Ouch, you really hurt me, asshole."  

I never thought of it that way, but with Zeke's comments I could certainly see that being true.

[Jextella]

On ‎12‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 10:53 PM, pamplemousse said:

I think he's backpedaling because supposedly he got a ton of hate on his social media for it.

I still don't think he's a good guy, but he entertained me and I'd certainly watch him play the game again should he come back (and have fun rooting against him).

Zeke is interesting to me.  I think he's smarter than the average bear and has the capacity to out-do many of us in not-so-nice ways.  He has an equal capacity to go the other direction.  What is interesting is that I think he knows this about himself.  He knows he could best most people either way and that he has to choose which of the two ways he'll walk this earth.  Some of us just do what we think is right naturally.  Those with smart calculating minds have to choose.

I've met a few people like Zeke before and this is the best way I know how to explain my experience with them.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Jextella
which of the two ways he'll

[waving feather]

Zeke said in one of the secret scenes confessionals that there are very few things he is not good at and all his life he has been able to do almost everything put in front of him. I actually can see that about him. He seems the type who does well both academically and socially.