S34: Brad Culpepper

[MissEwa]

1 minute ago, Nalan said:

"They?"  I understand about Brad, but unless Monica kicked your puppy or whatever, I don't get the vitriol toward her.  Not at all.

No puppy kicking - also not that much vitriol. I just didn't like her in either of her seasons and I don't think she's remarkable enough a player to get a third shot.

[BigRedCheese]

When Rob was talking about the All Star season on RHAP, he said they wouldn't up the million, but all the figures up to that were increased. He said that people ended up just playing to place because it was still pretty good money.

I would like to see the top prize go up, but I doubt it will happen, right now, Survivor is a pretty inexpensive show for them to produce, if they up the prize money, they might decide it's not worth it anymore, and just program another NCIS spin off or something, so I'm fine with the million dollar prize if it helps keep the show on the air.

[LadyChatts]

I could care less to see either one on this show again, as I don't like Brad, and Monica just doesn't do it for me.  However, I'm resigned to the fact that Brad will be back, and likely win the next time.  Or just keep coming back until he does. 

[ByaNose]

4 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I could care less to see either one on this show again, as I don't like Brad, and Monica just doesn't do it for me.  However, I'm resigned to the fact that Brad will be back, and likely win the next time.  Or just keep coming back until he does. 

I think Brad said he'd never play again. I'm thinking twice for them was enough. 

[SVNBob]

3 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I'm thinking twice for them was enough. 

Doubly so since they each did more or less exactly the same in both their appearances.  Both lasted until Day 14 their first time, then got to the end on their second attempt, only to take 2nd place behind a winner with 7 votes and ahead of 3rd place finisher with 0.

What would Monica do?, indeed.

[LadyChatts]

I won't be surprised if he changes his mind down the road.  I don't think we'll ever see Monica again, but I believe Brad will be back.  

[ljenkins782]

On 5/27/2017 at 10:15 AM, fishcakes said:

I haven't watched any of the exit interviews, so my speculation is all based on what I saw on the show, but post-show did Andrea say she hated Sarah? I thought she said at the Reunion that she believed she and Sarah were friends and was surprised by Sarah's confessional saying she couldn't stand Andrea. Hali, though, did seem to really dislike Brad, unless she's said something in interviews to indicate otherwise. He was pretty dismissive of her from the beginning, so I'd be surprised if she were to vote for him regardless of who he was up against. In any case, I still think Brad probably wins in a Brad vs. Troy F2; I just don't think it's a landslide. I'd expect it to be close enough to flip to Troy depending on how FTC goes.

I also think Jeff's poll of who would vote for Tai and who would vote for Brad in a Brad/Tai/Troy F3 and how it would result in a tie that demotes Troy to jury status was inaccurate because I think Troy could conceivably pick up a vote or two from people who want to vote against both Tai and Brad.

Andrea did say she hates Sarah, she apparently found out at Ponderosa that Sarah's opinion of her was not what she'd thought out there, hence her comment at FTC about "feeling gross" about voting for Sarah, but admitting that she played the best game. Hali did dislike Brad quite a bit, but wanted to vote for someone based on actual gameplay, so she was just hoping that it didn't end up in a Tai/Troy/ Brad F3 because she didn't want to vote for any of them. But I think if it had, she would have gone for Brad based on her voting criteria. She (and Andrea) didn't want to cast an "anyone but..." vote. 

Those fantasy votes are always flawed, especially since they occur after they've gotten to see the actual footage that they didn't see at FTC, but based on the jury speaks videos that were filmed before they got to see the show, I still think Troy was dead in the water. Cirie and Michaela both said would have voted Tai if it came down to Brad/Tai/Troy, Sierra, Debbie and Ozzy DID vote Brad, and Hali/Andrea were willing to hold their noses and vote for who they thought played the best of the 3 options, which was probably Brad. Sarah being on the jury...I don't know. I can't think of a reason that her vote goes to Troy.

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No puppy kicking - also not that much vitriol. I just didn't like her in either of her seasons and I don't think she's remarkable enough a player to get a third shot.

I have neither any vitriol toward her nor any interest in seeing her play again. She did well to get to a Final 3 one time, but I think her path to the win is blocked by both her personal wealth and by her personality, there's something slightly awkward in a lot her interactions with others that I can't put my finger on. 

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I could care less to see either one on this show again, as I don't like Brad, and Monica just doesn't do it for me.  However, I'm resigned to the fact that Brad will be back, and likely win the next time.  Or just keep coming back until he does. 

Like Monica, I think he did well to get himself a F3 this time, but I don't see him ever winning the game. He'd have a larger target on his back next time after coming in second this time and there's plenty of time to take him out before he can win individual immunities. 

I also don't think he has the fanbase of a Boston Rob/Ozzy/Cirie/Malcolm or even, God help me, a Rupert. I don't think people were clamoring to see him a second time, let alone a third. Probst's interest in him seems to far outweigh the public's interest.

[Jobiska]

20 hours ago, MissEwa said:

proving that professional athletes who come on this show are pretty universally terrible. 

Aw, I kind of liked Gary Hawkins, er, Hogeboom.  But wait, he was actually a landscaper!

I don't know about the previous poster, but I don't have vitriol toward Monica, but I don't find her a very interesting player to watch.

[ozziemom]

Since America did not vote for Brad during Second Chances it seems only Probst wanted him to play again. Hopefully that means we won't see him again or Monica either. Not sure what it is about her, there is definitely something off.

[ByaNose]

I just watched Brad's Red Carpet interview with Rob C and he was actually nice. I don't need to see him play again but he wasn't as awful as I thought he would be. He talked about the game in a thorough manner and explained everything. He said he and Troyzan knew they lost when Zeke spoke first at the open forum.

[ProfCrash]

I think that Brad is capable of putting on a good show for a short period of time and when he is with people he likes. He is not so good when he does not like someone or when he has to interact with people for a longer period of time.

He was a professional athlete which means that he has a certain amount of experience interacting with the media. He knows how to give an interview and to sell himself. And the Survivor reporters, especially Rob C, are Survivor fans first and struggle to be impartial.

[NutMeg]

21 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I think that Brad is capable of putting on a good show for a short period of time and when he is with people he likes. He is not so good when he does not like someone or when he has to interact with people for a longer period of time.

He was a professional athlete which means that he has a certain amount of experience interacting with the media. He knows how to give an interview and to sell himself. And the Survivor reporters, especially Rob C, are Survivor fans first and struggle to be impartial.

The first paragraph could be describing me - maybe that's why I give Brad some slack :) 

As for the second, I know I've seen a number of professional athletes who, despite a certain amount of experience interacting with the media, still didn't know how to give a coherent interview and even less to sell themselves.

[Guest]

I'm surprised they even still get a million on this, given the show's age and that I think most people would still watch and even still play for much less, or even just for bragging rights and exposure.  Aren't there long-running reality shows where there is no cash prize, or it's negligible enough it's not even really mentioned?  DWTS?  The Voice?  

[ProfCrash]

http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2017/05/26/survivor-game-changers-castaway-cirie-sarah-gangsta-cop-suit/

"Holmes: Another big moment was Brad choosing Sarah over Tai. Based on what I’ve seen, which is only an hour of every three days, that seemed like a huge mistake. As someone who was out there, did you appreciate what a big threat Sarah was?
Fields: We did and we should give Brad a pass because Brad still could have won. The night that Aubry went home, we all talked. We knew that Brad would be thinking old-school style. He’s old-school…so am I…but that’s the thing, you have to evolve with the game. But we knew Brad would be thinking, “Everyone’s pissed at Sarah. Troyzan hasn’t really played. They’re going to be too angry to see the forest for the trees so they’re going to give it to me because everyone’s mad.” So, we all planned to give Sarah a dirty look so Brad would take Sarah. And he did, so that was his fatal flaw. This game was not about people’s feelings. It was almost like a professional poker game. You don’t care about how people feel. The only thing you care about is who made the better plays. As a group, that’s what we were looking at."

I am pretty sure this tells you how many people felt about Brad. They knew how he would see the jury and plotted to make sure that Sarah ended up in the final three so she would win and not Brad. So either they really liked Sarah and how she played and wanted to see her rewarded or they really did not like the idea of Brad winning during the game.

[kikaha]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

And he did, so that was his fatal flaw. This game was not about people’s feelings. It was almost like a professional poker game. You don’t care about how people feel. The only thing you care about is who made the better plays. As a group, that’s what we were looking at."

I think (98% sure) that late in the game Cirie said she'd like to go to the end with Sarah, because Sarah had pissed off so many jurors.  i.e. she had the exact same view of Sarah that Brad had. 

If so, that runs 180 degrees opposite to what she said above: far from not caring how people feel, she herself made game-changing decisions based on exactly that. 

Cirie apparently also said she would vote for Tai over Brad, if Tai made FTC.  On the face of it, that just boggles my mind.  It also runs 180 degrees counter to what she said above about game play. 

Sounds like Cirie intensely disliked Brad.  She not only voted against him, not only lobbied other jurors to vote against him, but tried to manipulate him from the jury box to make a fatal game decision at F4.  Real curious to know why she hated him so. 

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, kikaha said:

I think (98% sure) that late in the game Cirie said she'd like to go to the end with Sarah, because Sarah had pissed off so many jurors.  i.e. she had the exact same view of Sarah that Brad had. 

If so, that runs 180 degrees opposite to what she said above: far from not caring how people feel, she herself made game-changing decisions based on exactly that. 

Cirie apparently also said she would vote for Tai over Brad, if Tai made FTC.  On the face of it, that just boggles my mind.  It also runs 180 degrees counter to what she said above about game play. 

Sounds like Cirie intensely disliked Brad.  She not only voted against him, not only lobbied other jurors to vote against him, but tried to manipulate him from the jury box to make a fatal game decision at F4.  Real curious to know why she hated him so. 

I guess she doesn't like the bossy man type. I think she also went by his Blood/Water edit, too.

[ProfCrash]

Agreed that Cirie did not like Brad. If she was able to convince others to do the same then they were either lukewarm towards Brad or did not like him either. It is clear that the tactic worked. Troyzan and Brad have both said that the looks that the jury was giving Sarah made it clear that they were bitter and they did not think they would vote for Sarah. As soon as Zeke said what he did, Troy and Brad knew they were wrong.

[ljenkins782]

1 hour ago, kikaha said:

I think (98% sure) that late in the game Cirie said she'd like to go to the end with Sarah, because Sarah had pissed off so many jurors.  i.e. she had the exact same view of Sarah that Brad had. 

If so, that runs 180 degrees opposite to what she said above: far from not caring how people feel, she herself made game-changing decisions based on exactly that. 

Yeah, I think if she had gotten to the end and taken Sarah, it would 100% have come down to how people feel. For the people who hated Brad but were also mad at Sarah, Cirie would have had a much easier time pulling votes away from them than Troyzan even if Sarah technically played a better game (for the strategy voters) and Brad won more challenges (for the physical prowess voters). 

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Sounds like Cirie intensely disliked Brad.  She not only voted against him, not only lobbied other jurors to vote against him, but tried to manipulate him from the jury box to make a fatal game decision at F4.  Real curious to know why she hated him so

It sounds like there were quite a few people who strongly disliked Brad. Michaela, obviously, but also Hali, Cirie,  and Andrea. It seems like the people who weren't aligned with him got the less charming side of Brad. 

[LadyChatts]

If it had been a Brad/Troy/Tai final 3, any extra votes Brad got would have been more along the lines of "since we have to vote for someone, you're better than the alternative" votes.  Except for Debbie and Sierra, but even Ozzy wouldn't have voted for Brad against Tai.  In the last jury speaks video, Hali said she was really turned off by Brad's behavior to Tai.  That might have been the final nail in his coffin to anyone looking to vote his way.  That's pretty impressive that even on the jury, Cirie was still playing the game and doing her jedi mind tricks.  Though I think without it, Brad still would have assumed that Sarah could be beat at the final 3.  I still believe Brad was getting a better edit in the beginning, or at least really holding back.  When he got control back, the other side of Brad came back out.  

[ProfCrash]

But would Hali have known about Brad's treatment of Tai if Tai had not been voted out? It is possible that Hali's statement reflects their relationship for the entire game but it is equally likely that Hali heard from Tai more about what happened after Tai was voted out.

[LadyChatts]

It was the TC where Tai got voted off, when he tried to defend himself against Brad in front of the jury.  He mentioned how Brad was trying to bully him into giving him one of his idols to gain his trust back.  I think Brad's defense was Tai didn't give him any reason to trust him.  I'm sure there was more to it than we saw.  And though I hate agreeing with Brad, Tai was untrustworthy, but Brad wasn't any better towards him.  Hali might have also heard from Aubry as well about Brad's behavior towards Tai when she got voted off.

[ProfCrash]

Tai is totally untrustworthy. He wanted to play a devious game but he cannot and he ends up all over the place. You could not trust Tai. I get why Brad would be annoyed with Tai. I would be annoyed with Tai. But Brad's behavior was over the top and 100% the wrong way to deal with Tai. Then again, I am not sure that there is a right way to deal with Tai.

[kikaha]

I agree with most of the points the last several posters make, about Tai and Brad.  Brad shot himself in the head at the end of the game, with how he treated Tai; and Tai is a mess in Survivor. 

That said, I don't see how that translates into Cirie voting for Tai if Brad takes him over Sarah, especially given what Cirie said about game play counting the most. 

I wonder if any jury before this has tried to manipulate the final players the way this one did? 

[ljenkins782]

18 minutes ago, kikaha said:

I agree with most of the points the last several posters make, about Tai and Brad.  Brad shot himself in the head at the end of the game, with how he treated Tai; and Tai is a mess in Survivor. 

That said, I don't see how that translates into Cirie voting for Tai if Brad takes him over Sarah, especially given what Cirie said about game play counting the most. 

I think deep down, a vote for Tai would have been at least partially (and probably more than "partially") a vote against Brad. However, the gameplay reasons they were giving were Tai's move to save Sierra, which sent Malcolm home and sort of set the scene for Brad's alliance (of which Tai was a part) to take control.

In one of Sandra's exit interviews, she pointed to the Malcolm vote as the moment that changed the game for a lot of people. Now that it's over, I guess I can see that. Had Sierra gone home, she would have done so with the Legacy Advantage in her pocket, meaning Sarah doesn't find out about it/get it willed to her, saving her butt from certain elimination at the vote that ended up sending Cirie home. 

[MissEwa]

1 hour ago, ljenkins782 said:

In one of Sandra's exit interviews, she pointed to the Malcolm vote as the moment that changed the game for a lot of people. Now that it's over, I guess I can see that. Had Sierra gone home, she would have done so with the Legacy Advantage in her pocket, meaning Sarah doesn't find out about it/get it willed to her, saving her butt from certain elimination at the vote that ended up sending Cirie home. 

As a viewer who thinks that that Malcolm vote was the point at which the season went off-course, it's interesting to hear a player suggest that too, but if Sierra had gone she would still have had to will her LA to someone, and at that point I'm guessing it would have been Brad, so hard to say how that would have played out. 

[KimberStormer]

15 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

 We did and we should give Brad a pass because Brad still could have won. . . So, we all planned to give Sarah a dirty look so Brad would take Sarah. And he did, so that was his fatal flaw.

This is amazing and if most anyone else said it I would have thought "no way" but this is Cirie in a nutshell: creating a move where no move exists to be made.  We've often seen the players play the jury; I don't remember ever seeing the jury play the players.  I sort of agree with her, we should give Brad a bit of a pass because how could he have seen it coming? 

[ljenkins782]

8 hours ago, MissEwa said:

As a viewer who thinks that that Malcolm vote was the point at which the season went off-course, it's interesting to hear a player suggest that too, but if Sierra had gone she would still have had to will her LA to someone, and at that point I'm guessing it would have been Brad, so hard to say how that would have played out. 

Yeah, I was going to say the same, it likely would have gone to Brad, but it was such an early vote that its impossible to guess now things could have been different.

[MissEwa]

3 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Yeah, I was going to say the same, it likely would have gone to Brad, but it was such an early vote that its impossible to guess now things could have been different.

I am a Malcolm fangirl so IMO it almost certainly would have been better, at least in the short term. It would have been interesting to see Brad with the LA. I can't see him keeping it secret.