S33.E10: Million Dollar Gamble

[SlackerInc]

5 hours ago, simplyme said:

I'll note that Will is Christian (I saw a few news articles where he focused on his faith) and Zeke doesn't appear (so far) to have a problem working with him. So Michelle could have been misquoted, or there was maybe something specific about her faith that was an issue for Zeke, or Zeke used her religion as an excuse to avoid working with her for other reasons.

 

3 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

That's why I compared it to bigotry against Muslims.  Thinking that all Christians hate gays is like thinking that all Muslims are terrorists.  I'm a Christian and my pastor is a lesbian.  Almost all old religions have something in their ancient scriptures against same sex relationships, I know that both the Koran and the Old Testament do -- that doesn't mean that 4000 years later most people haven't been enlightened in that area and practices haven't changed.

Am I the only one that saw Michelle's video where she gushed about how much she loves the Old Testament specifically?  That was a huge turnoff to me, because there's so much stuff in Leviticus and especially Deuteronomy that is straight up hate speech and even straight up calls for genocide.

42 minutes ago, MissEwa said:

But at that point - after a second vote - would that be enough, or does unanimous mean unanimous? After two tied votes, it's a discussion and they need to reach a unanimous decision or go to rocks, so if then, say, Will said 'look, I honestly don't care, Zeke should go', could Bret and Sunday have stood firm and forced rocks? There's speculating that Jessica should have flipped but as I understand it, if she was going to, it should have been before the second vote because after that just HER flipping isn't enough? 

(I'm wondering out loud more than anything - in this case both sides were holding pretty firm but could one player theoretically force rocks even though everyone else had agreed on a vote out?)

Sure.  Unanimous means unanimous.

[waving feather]

I don't think Will would have switched at that point because he has already hitched his bandwagon to Zeke and planned to ride it out. But in the coming episode he seemed to have switch to David again. The person who is playing the most individual game is Will imo but sadly for him, I don't think the jury will respect that because he was never in charge at any point.

[NutMeg]

So, I had a long week, and decided to keep Survivor for Friday evening. I had no idea it was a double episode, and it was a treat.

Random comments, in random order:

David might be insecure inside (i.e. the little voice that tells him he won't be able to do x, y, z), but he had two solid allies, still has one, gained two new allies just this episode (remains to be seen how solid they are) and might occasionally gather one or two opportunistic votes. So, despite his apparent insecurity, David has so far been playing from a position of strength thanks to his strong core. 

Zeke's situation is completely different. Who's voting with Zeke? Two people who were "Chris all the way!" but didn't shed a tear when Chris was voted out, just switched their allegiance to Zeke (who voted for Chris but didn't instigate that vote); one person who seemed happy enough to play with Jay until Jay was at the bottom, and then promptly turned on him - which is fair enough - but also revealed Jay's idol, therefore showing both a lack of loyalty and a lack of intelligence, because it's better to keep some intel secret in this game until it can make a difference in your favour. I'd say Zeke's army is an army of mercenaries :) - all fickle especially now that Hannah and Adam have defected. So, despite all his bombastic showings, Zeke is playing from a position of weakness.

About people who voted with Zeke, I forgot Jay. Not that Jay is forgettable (far from it! more on that later) but because he doesn't seem allied with anyone. I'm curious about how and why we have seen absolutely no one approach him, even though it would surely make sense to try and get him on your side for a few vote, even if you intend to vote him out afterwards.

I find Jay a joy to watch. He doesn't have an ounce of angst, he's happy with life and to be there, he's enjoying what he's observing among others - I think he reads people very well too - and this luxury he finds himself in of being outside or above the fray, sole spectator of a tragicomedy that the others all have skin in. He's not a strategic planner, but he's very good at going with the flow. I've wrote it before in his thread, he reminds me a lot of Parvati. 

Of course Jay is also very confident. I think the only other person really confident left is Ken, although Ken's confidence seems more built on past experiences, while Jay's may come more from a trust in the future.

And because it bears repeating, Ken is a beautiful soul :)

Thinking back, the way Brett lashed out at David and Ken shows pent-up frustration. Here are David, the one "we can always vote later" and that Brett may have wanted out in the first episode (not sure, but a lot of people wanted him out), still there, after the two that looked the strongest by then from Brett's point of view and that he anchored his game faith on have gone; and Ken, that Bret never saw as a part of his core group; and Jessica, the last remaining woman of his tribe that didn't bow down to the wisdom of whoever the leader was at the time. Brett cannot emotionally understand how these three, who don't fit at all with his idea of a leader, have been able to influence so much. So once he's started opening up to Zeke about himself and being true etc., it's like it's opened a valve, and this other pent-up emotions towards David, Ken and Jessica, in that order, come out like the tantrum of a jealous sibling.

The funny thing was that there was no way that would have made David cry. David is touched by unexpected kindness, he cries from the positive emotion of being happily surprised, not from hurt. Not sure I'm expressing myself clearly here, but I have to go, so if I think of a better way to explain this I'll be back later.   

[Wandering Snark]

9 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Telling about idol versus not.  Are there past contestants who didn't tell anyone?

The "best" of not telling anyone was when the idols were actually wooden tiles from near their water (in China was it??) and James went home with TWO of them in his bag. I don't believe he had told anyone he had them.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Hahaha.  Yes, China.  I was such a fan of James in that season.  I have poor memory when it comes to specifics though, so thanks to everyone for all these reminders.  Like I said, Yul is a GREAT example of telling someone about the idol (Becky) being a very good/successful idea (he won) but back in those days, the idol meant you could play it AFTER the votes were read, LOL.  And if people knew about Yul's idol they were probably too scared to vote for him because they didn't really understand what it meant yet.

Russell told everyone about his idols -- I can very clearly remember that weird Texan accent saying, "I got the eye-dull."  And he always made it to the final tribal councils, so I don't think telling anyone about his idols hurt him.  His personality and people better than him at the game hurt him.

I'm not ready to say that telling people about the idols always hurts your game, but you have to be SMART about who you tell.  Jeremy is a great example of not telling people and it being successful.  Jeremy played a beautiful game.  (Did Kim have idols?  She seems like the type who wouldn't tell anyone.)

Again I must reiterate that the editors made Adam so invisible this double episode.  Very weird.  For all of the criticism of his game I read, I think his "craziness" is somehow helping him.  Also, he does not tell people about his idol, he doesn't talk about his family problems to get sympathy (read: JEREMY), and he somehow is able to lay really low these past 6 days (like Jeremy).  He's the one I'm lowkey rooting for, but I really did forget his existence several times this week.

Something that I really don't like about even the seasons I've really loved lately, is the editing around certain players.  The editing made Spencer and Aubrey seem like winners or major players, and yet Spencer received no votes and Michelle ended up winning.  These are the biggest headscratchers ever.  There's bound to be something like that repeating this year.  

Someone said David could be the first beta male to win on his first try.  Majorly disagree.  I'm not sure I see Todd as an alpha male, for instance, and I am 50% on Yul.  Earl and Aras were NOT alpha males.  Something interesting about this season is I at first saw Adam, Zeke, and David as very similar type of people and had a lot of trouble telling Adam and David apart early on.  Maybe the editors feel the same which is why Adam was so nothing this week. It will be interesting to see how they fall once the season ends.

Still liking David. I'm hoping he becomes the first beta male to win the game on his first try. Sorry, Cochrane.

Edited November 26, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Lantern7]

First schmuck guy to win on his first try? I'm thinking of David along the lines of Stephen and Cochrane.

[Lamima]

I re-watched today and when they went on the floating pizza restaurant reward I noticed a couple things that I didn't catch the first viewing. One was when Hannah saw the losing team on the beach and said they should be quiet and Bret (and maybe Zeke a little) was like 'no way, we won, too bad for them'. Easy for him to say when he's been stuffing his face and wooping it up at several rewards, if not all of them.

And worst of all, when they got their letters and Adam started sobbing, and he has very good reason to be so emotional, Bret was like 'whoa, settle down'. Jerk!

Also, on a lighter note, it was cute that Hannah was chomping down on a big ol' piece of lettuce. That's what she went for on that table???? LOL!

Edited November 26, 2016 by Lamima

[jumper sage]

11 hours ago, ghoulina said:

I think there's still time for him to make bigger, more strategic moves. I still credit him a lot with Paul's ouster, as well as Figgy's. He has a way of subtly putting ideas into people's heads, where it seems like said person thought of it on their own. He hasn't been the most impressive player this season, but not the least impressive either. I think he could have easily been an early out on the Gen X team - more fit than the other guys, no really part of the pro back, knows a lot about life around camp. He could have easily been the "threat" that the bro group tried to get out early. But he kept quiet and didn't try to assert himself anywhere and dropped little hints about how annoying Paul was, and avoided that target. Then things got all shook up around camp and he wasn't even on the radar anymore. 

I agree.  Sometimes you let the others pick each other off and lay in wait.  Not jumping into the fray does not mean you are weak.  It take's a strong person to stand down and wait it out.

Zeke - he is dead to me now.  I don't know how even in his alliance he isn't thought of as the idiot he runs around telling everyone everything he knows.  Don't they know he could easily, and has, flip on them too.  I say he has to go due to his own gameplay.  Anyone who will conspire with your is probably conspiring against you at the same time.  He has shown me he is doing this.

[Superpole2000]

The rock draw would have been better television if they drew rocks and revealed them one person at a time. They could pause for 5 minutes between rocks and I'd still want them to drag it out further. It's high drama, so why rush it?

Hannah has so many nervous moves that I am surprised she hasn't yet stuck her hands under her armpits, taken them back out, and then smelled them. Maybe next week.

The maze/puzzle challenge was atrocious for television. We couldn't tell who was winning, and Jeff couldn't narrate. So we just sat there like fools for a couple of minutes watching nothing in particular happen. And of course, navigating that maze was almost pure luck, which isn't a very satisfying way to hand out immunity.

[waving feather]

I find the endurance or balance challenges that we had over the past couple of weeks even worse to watch than the maze one. I know endurance / balance immunity challenges are there to give everyone a shot but it's dull as dish water. I always end up forwarding to see who won. Seeing people stand for minutes is not my kind of entertainment. At least the maze one had them doing something.

[Lantern7]

2 hours ago, Superpole2000 said:

The rock draw would have been better television if they drew rocks and revealed them one person at a time. They could pause for 5 minutes between rocks and I'd still want them to drag it out further. It's high drama, so why rush it?

Hannah has so many nervous moves that I am surprised she hasn't yet stuck her hands under her armpits, taken them back out, and then smelled them. Maybe next week.

1. Kinda like the episode of The Simpsons where the gang at Moe's had to pick eggs to determine who would be the designated driver.

2. Just wait . . . Hannah will make the jury, crashing into the voting stand and breaking the urn, only to pop right back up. "SUPERSTAR!!!"

[SVNBob]

7 hours ago, SlackerInc said:

Unanimous means unanimous.

Except in Survivor, where it sometimes means "everyone except one".  People voted out when everyone else votes for them (a 7 to 1 vote, say) are voted out "unanimously".

5 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

The "best" of not telling anyone was when the idols were actually wooden tiles from near their water (in China was it??) and James went home with TWO of them in his bag. I don't believe he had told anyone he had them.

Well, Todd (and Amanda? Was she there when it happened? Probably...) gave him one and told him how to find the other, so he didn't need to tell him/them.  And some of the others found them in his pants, so they kinda knew without him saying anything.  So I don't know if James really counts for "not telling anyone you have an HII."

[hincandenza]

14 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

Well, Todd (and Amanda? Was she there when it happened? Probably...) gave him one and told him how to find the other, so he didn't need to tell him/them.  And some of the others found them in his pants, so they kinda knew without him saying anything.  So I don't know if James really counts for "not telling anyone you have an HII."

James was a hilarious case, because he was gifted two idols, and went home with both of them (which is more funny because of how earlier that season, Jeff was ripping on I think it was Jaime for playing a fake idol- just in case- because she was such a stoopid gurl, har har).  

However, didn't the original HII appear in Guatemala, and Gary Hogeboom found it in desperation and played it to save himself?  I think that was not only the first HII played, but also the first time someone had an idol and didn't tell anyone... until he pulled it out at TC.  It wasn't until the HII became a recurring element- much less the cornucopia of HIIs we get in each season now- that the idea of sharing it strategically came about.

[Wandering Snark]

3 hours ago, Superpole2000 said:

And of course, navigating that maze was almost pure luck, which isn't a very satisfying way to hand out immunity.

Better than some moistend bint throwing a scimitar at you...

[peachmangosteen]

12 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Something that I really don't like about even the seasons I've really loved lately, is the editing around certain players.  The editing made Spencer and Aubrey seem like winners or major players, and yet Spencer received no votes and Michelle ended up winning.  These are the biggest headscratchers ever.  There's bound to be something like that repeating this year.  

See, I like the new way they've been editing where they make it look like there are several people in contention for the win. It makes the finales more exciting for me when it's not blatantly obvious who will win. Even in Second Chances when I thought fairly early on that it was pretty obvious Jeremy would win, I wasn't 100% sure because the edit made it look like Spencer had a good shot. I didn't want Jeremy to win, so I would've hated that finale if the edit hadn't made it look like multiple players had a chance to win.

Also I've really come to see that the edit is actually really subjective. I thought they did a decent job showing how and why Michelle won and I had her pegged as the winner early on, but many people after the finale were like "how did this useless girl win?" One person's 'winner's edit' is another person's 'coattail rider' apparently!

Edited November 26, 2016 by peachmangosteen

[blackwing]

For those that think Ken isn't playing a great game... I agree he isn't a strategic mastermind.  But he has spent much of this season on the bottom.  From the very start, he was for some reason lumped into the group of "misfits" with David and Ceci that were seemingly always on the chopping block.   He had to do what he could to survive.  Jess was in an alliance with Lucy and Sunday in the group of six with Brett Paul and Chris and when she wanted to oust Paul, Ken latched onto that.  

Ken's game isn't as obvious, but he seems to be able to win people over when he is in trouble and needs to   He tries to talk to people and reason with them without coming across as being too forceful.  I think we have seen this at least a few times   He certainly never sat back and did nothing like Ceci.  

I've been wondering why there doesn't seem to have been any talk of targeting him.  He is physically fit and would be a threat in most challenges.  I guess he did awful on the bamboo pole one, but still.  It must be fairly obvious that he and David are tight, and that Ken is David's #2.   It seemed to me that the only reason why Zeke's alliance targeted Hannah is because Zeke was annoyed with her.  Hannah is useless.  Why wouldn't they have targeted Jess (for her alleged superior strategy skills) or Ken (for his physical skills) from the start?  

[preeya]

Don't have the time to read through all six pages. My question, and I hope it hasn't been discussed ad infinitum, Is Brett really gay? or was he just playing Zeke?

[SlackerInc]

18 hours ago, Lamima said:

I re-watched today and when they went on the floating pizza restaurant reward I noticed a couple things that I didn't catch the first viewing. One was when Hannah saw the losing team on the beach and said they should be quiet and Bret (and maybe Zeke a little) was like 'no way, we won, too bad for them'. Easy for him to say when he's been stuffing his face and wooping it up at several rewards, if not all of them.

And worst of all, when they got their letters and Adam started sobbing, and he has very good reason to be so emotional, Bret was like 'whoa, settle down'. Jerk!

Also, on a lighter note, it was cute that Hannah was chomping down on a big ol' piece of lettuce. That's what she went for on that table???? LOL!

Agree about Bret.  And I noticed that too about Hannah.  I think that's pretty smart, as long as she also made sure to eat plenty of the more calorie-dense stuff.  I would imagine that they get malnourished out there, not just in the sense of having too few calories, but in terms of not getting the kinds of micronutrients you need for optimal health and vigor, that are in fruits and fresh veggies.  So I think it would be a mistake in reward challenges to just scarf pizza or hot dogs if there are also fruits and vegetables available.

[laurakaye]

20 hours ago, NutMeg said:

The funny thing was that there was no way that would have made David cry. David is touched by unexpected kindness, he cries from the positive emotion of being happily surprised, not from hurt. Not sure I'm expressing myself clearly here, but I have to go, so if I think of a better way to explain this I'll be back later.   

Beautifully stated!

 

5 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

We really liked this challenge.  I don't think it was luck.  It was more being able to track in your mind which pathways you'd tried without seeing them.  And also Jay was smart to use his other hand to find the end hole and backtrack along the path with that then use the knob along that path.  Jeff was even telling them they could use both hands on the track.  

And slide puzzles come up often enough that we were discussing that we'd learn to do them before going out there.  Though I always just keep sliding and eventually find the solution, within a few minutes.  But some people can slide randomly for a long time and just get more and more frustrated.  I think that's why the show uses them.  Wasn't there an epic slide puzzle meltdown with the TMZ girls team on TAR a few years ago?  Yeah, they spent almost four hours on one.  Can you even imagine?  

I liked this challenge too.  I wondered if it wasn't sized to the person, because it seemed like Zeke was having trouble stretching his arm towards the bottom of the maze.  I liked watching Jay smartly use both hands to guide the key, and was impressed that he didn't seem to panic while doing the slide puzzle (someone in this thread referred to the slide puzzle as "the devil's instrument" and I could not agree more).  It was interesting to see that there were at least two people who were inches away from solving the maze (Jess and Will) but they kept breaking their concentration by watching Jay.

Also, I can't remember a season with more big food rewards in quite some time...it seems every other reward involves a ton of food.  I noted that Bret tossed a chicken wing off of the boat - I didn't catch what he said, but I think he was being a smart-ass by pretending to toss it to the people on the beach.  If so, that was another nasty move by someone I really used to like.

[hincandenza]

6 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

And slide puzzles come up often enough that we were discussing that we'd learn to do them before going out there.  Though I always just keep sliding and eventually find the solution, within a few minutes.  But some people can slide randomly for a long time and just get more and more frustrated.  I think that's why the show uses them.  Wasn't there an epic slide puzzle meltdown with the TMZ girls team on TAR a few years ago?  Yeah, they spent almost four hours on one.  Can you even imagine?  

Yeah, they do come up often, enough such that it surprises me that Spencer was apparently the only person to ever explicitly practice slide puzzles before coming on the show.  Always a pet peeve of mine, that people don't prepare themselves at all to come on this show- even basics like firestarting, how to make a proper shelter, and how to spear fish (such as the elastic underwear band trick), along with Survivor staples like working on your balance and yes, slide puzzles.

Slide puzzles are actually really easy: you just complete it row by row from the top down, which is done by figuring out which ones are on top, then "snaking" them up to the top row, such as 1-2-3-4 snaking through the puzzle until they go leftward into place in the top row.  Because it's "snaking", you're just following the rule of move a piece aside to move 1, then move 2 into its place, then 3 into the 2 place, etc.

Each row, once set, is now immovable: once you've solved the top row you shouldn't ever have to move those again since you've just reduced your puzzle to a smaller and simpler size.  Once you're down to the final two rows (or even, final 3x2 grid in the corner) it's pretty easy and even random sliding will get you there soon enough.  Even when it's not clear at first what the picture is of, you can still use this method to solve smaller sections fast enough to quickly figure out what the top of your picture is.

[PaperTree]

On 11/25/2016 at 4:07 AM, cooksdelight said:

If I ever got on this show -- which I won't, because I don't like camping in hot, buggy conditions with no food or wine --(Oh yeah!)

You win by being a sneaky, conniving liar. Which, again, I am not.

Richard Hatch; the Original sneaky, conniving liar, drew the blueprint.

[peachmangosteen]

52 minutes ago, hincandenza said:

Slide puzzles are actually really easy: you just complete it row by row from the top down, which is done by figuring out which ones are on top, then "snaking" them up to the top row, such as 1-2-3-4 snaking through the puzzle until they go leftward into place in the top row.  Because it's "snaking", you're just following the rule of move a piece aside to move 1, then move 2 into its place, then 3 into the 2 place, etc.

Each row, once set, is now immovable: once you've solved the top row you shouldn't ever have to move those again since you've just reduced your puzzle to a smaller and simpler size.  Once you're down to the final two rows (or even, final 3x2 grid in the corner) it's pretty easy and even random sliding will get you there soon enough.  Even when it's not clear at first what the picture is of, you can still use this method to solve smaller sections fast enough to quickly figure out what the top of your picture is.

This made slide puzzles make even less sense to me lol. I just can't wrap my head around those things.

Quote

You win by being a sneaky, conniving liar.

Not necessarily. I can think of a few winners right off the bat that weren't particularly conniving, or sneaky, or even big liars. That's what I love about this game. There are so many different ways to win.

[PaperTree]

On 11/25/2016 at 11:29 AM, Rachel RSL said:

 

A couple seasons ago (I forget which), Kelly Wentworth didn't tell anyone about her idol, not even the people in her alliance, so when she whipped it out at Tribal Council, literally *everyone* was shocked. In my opinion, that was probably the best blindside in Survivor history because it blindsided literally every single person. It also resulted in Andrew Savage getting booted which made it all that more glorious.

Excellent memory!  I had totally forgotten.  That was grande.

[Dust Bunny]

On 11/23/2016 at 9:59 PM, PaperTree said:

Now that Sunday has gotten her wish, I hope it bites her in the ass.  She does have great goat potential though, so that may increase her paycheck.  I think I started despising her around the time of her first TH.

I like her on a personal level. She, like me, is a breast cancer survivor. I found out via Twitter that we actually have the same oncology office in Minnesota. 

So I'm a big fan. :)

[charleeeeeeeeene]

3 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Also, I can't remember a season with more big food rewards in quite some time...it seems every other reward involves a ton of food.

Agreed! I thought the food rewards in the pre-merge were odd. And maybe it's because I'm rewatching a lot of old seasons (Palau and Cook Islands most recently), but it seems like these people are never fishing or trying to gather food!

[sassykattt]

So Brett is a closeted loudmouthed drunk bully boy cop.  It's coming cleared and clearer.  Can't wait to see him gone

[Lingo]

11 hours ago, blackwing said:

I've been wondering why there doesn't seem to have been any talk of targeting [Ken].  He is physically fit and would be a threat in most challenges.  I guess he did awful on the bamboo pole one, but still.  It must be fairly obvious that he and David are tight, and that Ken is David's #2.   It seemed to me that the only reason why Zeke's alliance targeted Hannah is because Zeke was annoyed with her.  Hannah is useless.  Why wouldn't they have targeted Jess (for her alleged superior strategy skills) or Ken (for his physical skills) from the start?  

Well, it might have been just Zeke's spite. But part of the strategy is trying to guess who David is least likely to give his idol to. I think that had something to do with it.

[Nysha]

What is the white stuff that Ken is constantly chopping?

[Rachel RSL]

5 hours ago, PaperTree said:

Excellent memory!  I had totally forgotten.  That was grande.

I actually still have it saved on my PVR. It was too glorious to erase.

 

Quote

What is the white stuff that Ken is constantly chopping?

Coconuts.  Freshly chopped 3 times a day at Ken's Topless General Store.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Rachel RSL

[ghoulina]

8 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I don't think he's closeted.  He just doesn't lead with that tidbit.  

Agreed. Which is fine. Do any of the hetero people need to come on the island and tell people their sexuality? I get why he bonded with Zeke over it, but not proclaiming it to the entire island doesn't make him closeted. 

I will agree with "loudmouth", "drunk", and "bully", though. I didn't have an issue with Brett at first. But I think the more comfortable he's becoming in the game, the more his nasty side is starting to show. 

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, ghoulina said:

Do any of the hetero people need to come on the island and tell people their sexuality? I get why he bonded with Zeke over it, but not proclaiming it to the entire island doesn't make him closeted. 

I agree with this, but it seems like Bret is purposefully keeping that from the remaining players for whatever reason and it's not just a 'it didn't come up' type thing, so essentially he is kinda closeted on Survivor.

[SlackerInc]

Didn't he also imply that he was semi-closeted in real life, due to his generation (and, we at home can guess, as a Bawston cahp)?  It's a continuum, when you think about it: the only 100% closeted person is the one who never has any same-sex intimacy, and keeps their feelings inside their own head.  The next step up is furtive encounters in bathrooms (like that Idaho senator), and next up from that is regularly going out to gay bars or even having a significant other but not talking about them or displaying their picture at the workplace.  Of course, once you come out on national TV you're not closeted in any meaningful sense, but do we know he was "out" at work before he went on Survivor?  (An interview conducted before the show aired is not necessarily the same as his status before he played the game several months earlier.)

[iMonrey]

So I see that the editors still lovingly spend time on Taylor even though his ass was booted last week. Which supports the very strong likelihood he'll be back for another season because the show thinks he's just hilarious. That also supports my theory that a lot of the crap he pulled was being egged on by the producers telling him what a great character he was and how much the audience was going to love him. He just seems really proud of every goofy thing he says or does.

[laurakaye]

13 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

Coconuts.  Freshly chopped 3 times a day at Ken's Topless General Store.

++++++++++1. 

 

I finally read the PTV recap, and it suggests that there is a secret alliance between Sunday and Jay.  How did I miss this?  When did this start?  Because I typically feel like Sunday is a floater, but if she's got some kind of Tina/Colby secret alliance thing going on with Jay, I am going to have to re-think everything I thought I knew about her.

And after watching that crazy TC for the 4th time...when David got up to play his idol, Hannah told him to "wait," but didn't follow up with anything.  Why did she say that?  At that point, didn't she think David was going to use the idol on her?  What was the point of her asking him to wait?

Edited November 27, 2016 by laurakaye

[ghoulina]

9 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

I finally read the PTV recap, and it suggests that there is a secret alliance between Sunday and Jay.  How did I miss this?  When did this start?  Because I typically feel like Sunday is a floater, but if she's got some kind of Tina/Colby secret alliance thing going on with Jay, I am going to have to re-think everything I thought I knew about her.

I don't think it's that secret. They were on a tribe together after the original split, and it seemed that everyone got along really well on that tribe. Then after the merge, she was seen talking to him several times, telling him she'd try to save him if she could get votes for Jess, etc. If they're even tighter than they appear on camera, that doesn't really surprise me. 

[laurakaye]

15 minutes ago, ghoulina said:

I don't think it's that secret. They were on a tribe together after the original split, and it seemed that everyone got along really well on that tribe. Then after the merge, she was seen talking to him several times, telling him she'd try to save him if she could get votes for Jess, etc. If they're even tighter than they appear on camera, that doesn't really surprise me. 

Ah...I didn't equate her desperation to get rid of Jess as her having a true alliance with Jay, but it makes sense.  I like it.

[PaperTree]

I think Sunday was just looking for anybody to help her get Jess out.  Jay is desperate for a lifeline.  Not sure how tight they really are.

Does anyone know where I can find the broadcast schedule for the rest of the season?

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, laurakaye said:

And after watching that crazy TC for the 4th time...when David got up to play his idol, Hannah told him to "wait," but didn't follow up with anything.  Why did she say that?  At that point, didn't she think David was going to use the idol on her?  What was the point of her asking him to wait?

I thought that was because she thought he might play it on himself and she knew that wasn't the right play. Or actually maybe she, like Adam, bought Sunday's obvious lie that Ken was the one in danger and was thinking of telling David to use it on him.

[awaken]

Late to chime in; watched part 1 when it aired, but just got to part 2 after a break for the holidays.  Glad to see Chris go; he was a nonentity for me.

That whole conversation between Brett and Zeke <3  <3  <3  

I didn't realize Jay was Peruvian!  Ha, loved David tutoring him on how to spell "Hannah".  "That's how you spell it?"

Really couldn't stand the reward challenge; it seemed designed to make their tops and pants fall down so there'd be lots of blurring and lots of comments about getting naked.  Ugh.  

Ken was all but invisible this ep.

For those who may be closet NKOTB fans, Adam is a poor man's Joey McIntyre, so I can't help but like him!  

Tayls thinks he is so pretty and hot with his stupid hair.  Cannot stand him!

OMG Jessica with the perpetual bug eyes!  That was really a shame.  She was a strong player and didn't deserve that.

Edited November 28, 2016 by awaken

[Knuckles]

The more I see of Brett, and his drinking and his underlying frustrations, the less I like him. The thought of him with a badge and a gun is not reassuring.

[LanceM]

Yeah I am not sure what Bret's drinking beer on a reward or the way he is acted on Survivor has anything to do with his job as a police officer.  A job for which he has been honored by the state of Massachusetts with heroism back in 2014.

[hincandenza]

3 hours ago, LanceM said:

Yeah I am not sure what Bret's drinking beer on a reward or the way he is acted on Survivor has anything to do with his job as a police officer.  A job for which he has been honored by the state of Massachusetts with heroism back in 2014.

Get out of here with your "facts", you!

[himela]

I haven't had the chance to read the whole thread yet so I's sorry if someone has already brought this up; Did anyone notice Zeke telling Jessica at the revote "I realign with people all the time" trying to convince her to change her vote? Shouldn't that give Zeke's allies in Bret, Sunday, Jay and Will a hint that maybe next time or some other time Zeke could realign with other people and sell them out so that they vote him out at that moment?

[laurakaye]

11 hours ago, awaken said:

For those who may be closet NKOTB fans, Adam is a poor man's Joey McIntyre, so I can't help but like him!  

 

I can see that...especially if he had Taylor's pretty blue eyes.:)

[peachmangosteen]

50 minutes ago, himela said:

Did anyone notice Zeke telling Jessica at the revote "I realign with people all the time" trying to convince her to change her vote? Shouldn't that give Zeke's allies in Bret, Sunday, Jay and Will a hint that maybe next time or some other time Zeke could realign with other people and sell them out so that they vote him out at that moment?

Yea. I don't understand why people didn't just change their vote to Zeke. He's not a good ally at all and he's currently probably the biggest threat to win the game. But I guess for Brett, Sunday, and Will they figured that Ken/Jessica/David/Hannah/Adam were unbreakable and they needed to break that up, but I think they were just wrong all around on that. Hannah and Adam have also already flipped around a couple times. Honestly none of these people are really that solid, so I guess maybe it doesn't matter.

Edited November 28, 2016 by peachmangosteen

[waving feather]

6 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Yea. I don't understand why people didn't just change their vote to Zeke. He's not a good ally at all and he's currently probably the biggest threat to win the game. But I guess for Brett, Sunday, and Will they figured that Ken/Jessica/David/Hannah/Adam were unbreakable and they needed to break that up, but I think they were just wrong all around on that. Hannah and Adam have also already flipped around a couple times. Honestly none of these people are really that solid, so I guess maybe it doesn't matter.

Zeke is the biggest threat to go to the end but I don't think he would be the biggest threat to win. Zeke reminds me of past Survivor contestants who are good at getting to the finale but just falls short. I see people giving the title to David much more than Zeke.

I still think right now the two people with the winners edit are Jay and David.

[Rachel RSL]

I noticed that most of Zeke's alliance was sitting on the opposite side of him at TC so they probably didn't hear what he whispered. 

For those who may be closet NKOTB fans, Adam is a poor man's Joey McIntyre, so I can't help but like him!

 

Yes! I've been referring to him as Joey Mac all season.

I've re-watched the episode several times, which I *never* usually do, but it was just so entertaining. That TC was probably the craziest one ever and Jessica ending up as collateral damage was the perfect "tragic" ending. This may just be the season that finally gets them the Emmy.

[BarneySays]

I think that what has made this season so enjoyable is that these are the most irrational of players.  Any other time, one of them would have decided it was wiser to change their vote than to go to rocks.  Of course, Jess regrets her folly now. 

It's so much more interesting to watch since the likelihood of more reactionary, gut play is high and the usual boring march to the guillotine hasn't occurred.  It seems, off the top of my head, that the only rational vote in this entire season was to get rid of figgy.  Producers, keep using whatever personality test has produced this pack.  They're much more fun to watch than most of the usual types.

The Zeke v. David open war tickles me.  It reminded me of two ten year old kids trying to best each other.  This may be quite amusing to watch.  And I found the comment to David about crying funny.  It just seemed like an "anxieties are high" jab.  No big deal.  I know that David's sad sack loser routine would have driven me to much worse. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

 

Quote

For those who may be closet NKOTB fans, Adam is a poor man's Joey McIntyre, so I can't help but like him!

Not a New Kids fan but I see it now that you mention it.

Quote

Yea. I don't understand why people didn't just change their vote to Zeke. He's not a good ally at all and he's currently probably the biggest threat to win the game. But I guess for Brett, Sunday, and Will they figured that Ken/Jessica/David/Hannah/Adam were unbreakable and they needed to break that up, but I think they were just wrong all around on that. Hannah and Adam have also already flipped around a couple times. Honestly none of these people are really that solid, so I guess maybe it doesn't matter.

I tend to agree with the recap that something must have gone down before Tribal Council we didn't see. I think the line was firmly drawn in the sand and neither side wanted to go back to camp as the minority alliance. That's why both sides stubbornly refused to change votes, even if it meant picking rocks. Yeah it might save their necks but if they switch their vote they wind up in the bottom four and will probably get picked off anyhow.

Edited November 28, 2016 by iMonrey
ignore, I can't make the quote box go away or get out of it

[kakiphony]

Jessica's and Chris' interviews are interesting and do shed more light on the situations we've been discussing. Jessica says that she was afraid of changing her vote making her look like a flipper -- and her opinion that flippers were being targeted by both sides. There is also some suggestion that David was aggressive at TC, possibly to try get votes directed at himself so that he could play his idol.

Chris Hammond in Parade

Jessica Lewis in Parade