S34: Sarah Lacina

[Jabu]

Hi.  I'm from Cagayan (aka Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty).  And I regret sticking too closely to my morals last time and not just playing the game.

I didn't think she had that much game in her last season, to be honest.  Let's see if she does this time.

[KimberStormer]

I remember being somewhat impressed by her politicking to get someone or other out, but not impressed by the fact that she did so because she fell for Tony's lies.  I secretly like a power-swing-vote who pushes her agenda, which flies in the face of all Internet Survivor Wisdom but sometimes works, like if you're Cirie, so I don't blame her too much for that.  If Kass wasn't a self-absorbed ass, who'd rather torpedo her own game than let someone else have the spotlight for a minute (and Trish wasn't so good at seeing the cracks and sweet-talking her), it would have worked and, even if Sarah went home as soon as she wasn't useful anymore, at least we'd have had a non-Vlachos winner in Cagayan.  (Though a Brain winning would possibly have been even worse....ugh that season, garbage, except my adorable Survivor daughter Jefra.)

[LadyChatts]

I didn't really care for Sarah one way or the other during Cagayan, nor is she someone I would have wanted to see return.  However, with the cast that season, I can see why I was neutral on her and don't have a ton of recollection of her game or personality.  She seemed okay.  Next to Hali, I am most intrigued to see her game play.  She's kind of a wild card for me as to how she's going to go.  

[azshadowwalker]

I am going in without any preconceptions about her, since I bailed on that season very early. 

[LadyChatts]

Well, she said she wanted to play like a criminal, but I'd say there really is a new sheriff in town (and her name isn't Sierra).  I was really impressed with Sarah's move tonight.  Mostly because her flip ousted someone from the alliance I hate, but she handled that really well.  She played them wonderfully, and didn't even look like she was wavering.

I wish Michaela had gotten the advantage, but I'm cool with Sarah getting it.  We'll see if it's famous last words when she says she's going to be the first person to use it correctly.

[KimberStormer]

She probably moved too early....but I have to say I am enjoying Officer Sarah this season.  She was really good at tribal, from her warm words about Cirie to her totally selling the blindside to prevent any idol shenanigans.  Also it's amazing she found the advantage instead of Michaela, who could possibly have imagined?

[LadyChatts]

It's hard to say, and we'll see the impact in the next few votes.  She's likely better off with Cirie's alliance, which I don't think is as tight with each other as Brad's was (and where Sarah was no doubt playing for 6th).  I do think she wasn't going to have many chances after this, because numbers wise, it wouldn't have worked unless she stole someone's vote from the opposing alliance.  The problem is, she does that, and they might get paranoid and start bringing the idols out.  Brad's group was not going to break, so she'd have no luck getting anyone to flip there.  So this was probably a good start.  But again, how it effects her in the long run, we'll see.  The biggest issue is the other side has idols.  Sierra's legacy is no good until the final 6 at least.  Zeke doesn't appear to be content unless he's running things, and we've seen how that goes.  At any rate, very impressed with her tonight.  Kind of funny that she went out the first time as the result of a flipper, and now she sent someone home as a result of flip flopping herself.

Edited April 27, 2017 by LadyChatts

[KimberStormer]

It's almost like....the Survivor fan recieved wisdom that the swing vote always loses is total baloney.

[Nalan]

I think she'll be just fine.  Even if Brad and Sierra's alliance hates her for flipping on them, she still has some easy shields in Zeke, Andrea, Cirie, and Michaela, all of whom could take the bullets before her.  I don't think they'd want her gone that soon since she's less threatening than the former three and less annoying than the latter.

Just the same, I liked her a lot in this episode.  Not just from the gameplay perspective, but also from the human perspective when she was the first one to help Cirie finish her part of the Reward Challenge and even made it clear to the viewers that it was ultimately Cirie who still did it.  She understands the human aspect of the game as well as the strategic aspect, and good on her for it.

I couldn't believe how well she played Brad and Sierra's alliance, especially given how smartly they'd been playing up to now.  The fact that she played them so easily bodes well for her, I think.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Nalan

[Wings]

She worked TC beautifully, sticking with the 6.  It was a true blindside.  I am a Sarah fan now!    

[ByaNose]

Sarah was apart of a great blindside. She still has the advantage and she says she is going to use it right. Time will tell.

[cuphead]

I'm so glad Sarah got another chance to play.

She's easily becoming one of my top ten favorite survivors.

[303420]

On 4/27/2017 at 5:14 AM, Nalan said:

Just the same, I liked her a lot in this episode.  Not just from the gameplay perspective, but also from the human perspective when she was the first one to help Cirie finish her part of the Reward Challenge and even made it clear to the viewers that it was ultimately Cirie who still did it.  She understands the human aspect of the game as well as the strategic aspect, and good on her for it.

I couldn't believe how well she played Brad and Sierra's alliance, especially given how smartly they'd been playing up to now.  The fact that she played them so easily bodes well for her, I think.

Yes, this. When my sister and I did our post-ep phone powwow, we both had been impacted by Sarah's behavior (along with the Zeke stuff) and we both concluded that Sarah is a decent human being. Simply a good person. I'm not the biggest fan of cops as a group and I tend to eye all of them with some initial suspicion, but Sarah Lacina seems like someone I'd like to hang out with.

At the same time, she is playing, and playing hard. Her bluffing to Debbie/Sierra/Brad at TC was game. Her comforting Zeke after Varner's outing him at TC is human. Her helping Cirie is human. I appreciate her ability to distinguish what is "game" and what is beyond. I said in the ep thread that her poker face is gold, and her ability to have that blank expression is suiting her pretty well here.

I'm only sorry I can't make a fun portmanteau for being her fan like I did as a FANNAH and a FANDRA. I did however once have a dog named FARAH.

[LadyChatts]

Another impressive showing for Officer Sarah.  Aside from bitter betty Debbie, it didn't seem like anyone in her alliance was mad at her for flipping.  Not that they could afford to be, but they didn't even pull each other aside to vent (that we saw).  I do worry that feeling like she's a constant swing vote and in the middle, determining the outcome, will end up being her undoing.  Much like it was the first time when she felt she had the power.  She better be sure she stays on the right side of numbers, and doesn't overplay her hand.  I do give her credit for not putting up too much of a fight to keep Zeke, knowing it wouldn't be good for her game.  Still, I thought for sure that was leading to her blindsiding Aubry/Michaela/Cirie/Andrea at TC and keeping Zeke around.

I'm surprised she told Cirie about her vote steal.  But that could be a sign of trust with Cirie to keep her on her side.  

[Nalan]

Cirie seemed happy enough to hear about the advantage.  I think she finds it useful enough for her to keep her close.

In any case, no one's been complaining about her flipping all that much, so I don't think that riding the middle is going to hurt her.  At least not for the time being.

[LadyChatts]

Very rarely do people totally turn their game around for the better when they come back a second time, and most times they don't succeed, even if they are playing better.  Still a few votes to go, but Sarah continues to impress me.  Maybe it's the fact that she has a great poker face, which comes with the territory of being a cop.  She totally played Sierra tonight.  I loved how one minute she's telling her that her lips are sealed about the LA, the next she's sitting with Michaela and telling her about it.  Even though Sierra and Michaela are far from close, Sarah had to know that was probably all it would take for Michaela to vote Sierra out, if she was having doubts.  

I actually didn't understand why Sarah was brought back, but I'm loving her.  She's definitely been a highlight this season, and likely turned the second half around for the better.  I'd say she's in the best position possible, and despite her history of flip flopping, no one seems to have her on the radar.

Edited May 11, 2017 by LadyChatts

[ByaNose]

42 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Very rarely do people totally turn their game around for the better when they come back a second time, and most times they don't succeed, even if they are playing better.  Still a few votes to go, but Sarah continues to impress me.  Maybe it's the fact that she has a great poker face, which comes with the territory of being a cop.  She totally played Sierra tonight.  I loved how one minute she's telling her that her lips are sealed about the LA, the next she's sitting with Michaela and telling her about it.  Even though Sierra and Michaela are far from close, Sarah had to know that was probably all it would take for Michaela to vote Sierra out, if she was having doubts.  

I actually didn't understand why Sarah was brought back, but I'm loving her.  She's definitely been a highlight this season, and likely turned the second half around for the better.  I'd say she's in the best position possible, and despite her history of flip flopping, no one seems to have her on the radar.

Sarah is playing the Stephenie LaGrossa game. Although, Steph went further in her first season and became America's darling. At least, she was in my eyes. LOL!!! The second time she played it like a thug, betrayed a lot of people & made it to the Final 2. She only received one vote and lost. Sarah is doing a lot of betraying, too. Of course, she has the vote out and now has Sierra's Legacy Advantage. She will probably make the finals with all of that but can she win, too? I'm not too sure...... 

[enlightenedbum]

Sarah is the John Kerry of Survivor players.  Literally a sleep aid.

[KimberStormer]

This is what I meant about an amazing social game.  It's so hard to show social game on TV; but Sierra has been tight with Brad since day one, spent every day with him, he's stuck with her through thick and thin, helped save her butt in the weird combined tribal, seemed very sincere when he said he couldn't enjoy his immunity win because he couldn't protect her and the rest of their alliance, and who is in desperate need of any help he can get....but she gives the Legacy Advantage to Sarah, who flipped on her, is in the majority, and voted her out!  Amazing.

[enlightenedbum]

On the other hand, Sierra is really stupid.

[LadyChatts]

Sierra posted a comment on one of her IG photos that she had a connection with Sarah that wasn't shown, and trusted her, and that it was her biggest mistake.  I thought for sure the LA was going to either Brad or Tai.  My biggest worry for Sarah is that, despite playing an amazing game and doing flip flopping right (so far-hey, she's still here, and no one is coming after her yet), is that she'll wind up with a bitter jury, if she makes it to the end.  

Heck, Sarah told Cirie about her steal a vote advantage, and Cirie hasn't blabbed that to anyone that we've seen (yet).  Sarah's in a pretty good spot, and both sides might need her.  I'd still rather see Andrea, or Cirie win, but I'd be okay with Sarah getting to the final 3/4.  I would like to see Michaela win, too, but I know that ain't happening with this group.

[KimberStormer]

40 minutes ago, enlightenedbum said:

On the other hand, Sierra is really stupid.

So what?  That doesn't have anything to do with whether she feels closer to Sarah or Brad.

[peachmangosteen]

14 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

She's definitely been a highlight this season, and likely turned the second half around for the better.  

I will be forever grateful to her for this! I was scared all the people I liked were doomed and then Sarah saved the season for me.

I think she's playing a hell of a game. Her social game is seemingly maybe one of the best ever. But for some reason I can't really bring myself to truly like or root for her.

I think she might be fucked at FTC because of her betrayals, but for some reason I think most of these people would respect her game and vote for her. Probably not against Cirie and maybe not against Andrea, but I think Sarah easily beats everyone else. Oh wait, Brad. Brad might beat her. But still, I think she's got a great shot of not only getting to the end but also winning. 

[LadyChatts]

  I think Cirie and Andrea have the best chances so far, but I also find it unlikely that they will get to the end.  I'd say Michaela, Troy, and Tai have zero chance, and Aubry would depend who she's up against.  From what some of the jurors have said, Sarah may get respect for the moves she's made, especially if she can sell it that it was in her best interest, and she made it to the end, which is what the goal is.  So even if people got betrayed and blindsided, it's all about being there in the end.  However, it will also depend how she phrases that.  It's why I wish they still did opening/closing statements. 

I've resigned myself to the fact that Cirie likely is never winning this game, but I still hold out a sliver of hope.  Right now it seems like there's other fish to fry over her, so maybe she'll slip under the radar.  Andrea's biggest mistake is not doing what Sarah's done best, and that is staying under the radar, getting involved in a variety of personal relationships, having the scoop of what's going down, looking at the big picture, and most importantly, not acting like a control freak.  I won't be overly shocked, though, if Sarah does end up getting blindsided, because people might deem her too big of a threat to win.

[ByaNose]

Sarah getting so much air time almost seems too obvious for the win, right? I wonder if she makes the Finals but there is a little bit of jury backlash. They are doing a total 180 from the Koh Rong winner to Games Changers if it is indeed Sarah. That Sarah, has does alot more then Michelle did and also has two advantages to use. It just seems so in your face with her air time and edit that I'm wondering if it's a red herring?! I thought Cirie was getting the winner edit for a while but it's been more consistent with Sarah.

[MissEwa]

I am very curious about how Sarah would go in front of a Jury. She's not a strong speaker - whether it's the accent or her voice or her cadence, she doesn't come across as the brightest bulb in the box, but then again, when she made that nice-but-not-all-that-amazing speech after Zeke's outing everyone seemed kind of enraptured, so there might be something there that doesn't always come across on TV. 

It might sound weird, but the fact that she doesn't sound very smart could be an advantage. She might be able to sell her flipping as more scrappy 'I did what I had to do' gameplay than shrewd, manipulative 'I outsmarted you' strategy and if a jury is prone to bitterness they may respond better to that. 

[ByaNose]

So Sarah has a 99.99% chance of winning, right? It almost seems so obvious but I'm guessing she's going to win. The 3 strongest edits left in the game are Sarah, Brad and Cirie. I can't see Cirie getting to the Final 3 without people just taking her. Which would be dumb on their part. Then it's between Sarah & Brad. Some of the jury could be bitter with Sarah and she could lose that way but Brad is already rich and doesn't need the money. Although, I think everyone liked him. I'm so confused. LOL!!!!

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, ByaNose said:

So Sarah has a 99.99% chance of winning, right?

Pretty much. I think the only way she'd have a problem is if Cirie and/or maybe Aubry are with her in F3. I don't see Cirie making F3. 

[Nalan]

No way Sarah takes Cirie after what she pulled.  She was clearly furious and doesn't trust her anymore.

That said, I think she was right to spare her and get Michaela voted out.  Too much of a challenge threat, and her being gone weakens Cirie, who's now out of allies.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Nalan

[LadyChatts]

The only 2 I believe have zero chance of winning are Tai and Troy.  Sarah, Brad, and Cirie would have the best, based on edit, but Cirie would definitely need to go on an immunity run to get to the final 3.

Edited May 24, 2017 by LadyChatts

[ByaNose]

7 hours ago, Nalan said:

No way Sarah rakes Cirie after what she pulled.  She was clearly furious and doesn't trust her anymore.

That said, I think she was right to spare her and get Michaela voted out.  Too much of a challenge threat, and her being gone weakens Cirie, who's now out of allies.

How dare you saying that Sarah wouldn't rake Cirie. LOL!!! You gotta love autocorrect. That said, I agree I don't think Sarah wants Cirie anywhere near the Final 4 let alone the Final 3. I wouldn't have a problem with it though. I want Cirie to win.

[Nalan]

1 minute ago, ByaNose said:

How dare you saying that Sarah wouldn't rake Cirie. LOL!!! You gotta love autocorrect.

I meant "takes."  Sorry.  No way Sarah takes Cirie to the end after what she pulled.

[LadyChatts]

Her win was well deserved.  I'm still up in the air with the new jury format, but she handled it well, and I think pleaded a very convincing case.  She beat Brad and Troy, but not a winner I'm jumping up and down in excitement for.  I respect how she played the game, and I'm glad she made moves and owned them, and didn't let herself be a number in an alliance that knew she was getting picked off.  She played people beautifully.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

I'm still up in the air with the new jury format

Compared to the facade FTC had become in recent seasons, I'm loving the shit outta the new format.  Only thing I didn't care for about the Q&A format was when some Jurors got so into Issuing Their Pronouncements From On High About Who They Thought Should Win they never got around to asking a single damn question.*  The best vindication of the new process, IHMO?  Hali's comment that she was less sure about her vote now (at the end of the Q&A) than at the beginning of FTC.

 

* Although about three minutes after Debbie was evicted I recall saying Debbie would do exactly that - try to keep "playing the game" post-eviction by manipulating the jury towards her pick to win.  But I digress....  :>

[LadyChatts]

14 minutes ago, Nashville said:

* Although about three minutes after Debbie was evicted I recall saying Debbie would do exactly that - try to keep "playing the game" post-eviction by manipulating the jury towards her pick to win.  But I digress....  :>

Well, Probst did say that this was intended to prevent exactly that, so...mission accomplished?

Though to be real, Sarah was always going to have Zeke, Cirie, and Michaela's votes.  Brad was going to get Debbie and Sierra, though I considered Ozzy a toss up, but clearly he's team challenge beast.  So there's 6 votes already decided.  The real wildcards were going to be Hali, Andrea, Aubry, and Tai (or so I thought).  And I don't believe Hali, Andrea, or Aubry would let themselves get persuaded in anyway.  I also give credit to Tai, who seems like he's pretty smart and aware when he wants to be.

As I put in the episode thread, however, if this cuts down on sob stories and bitter jury speeches then I'm good.  I guess I'll see how it plays out next season with newbies. 

[Daisy]

I will admit. I will miss a good bitter jury speech. 

[MissEwa]

I said this in the episode thread but I would like Sarah a lot more if she didn't bring everything around to being a cop, whether it was nonsensical things like 'I'm a police officer so I hate people lying to me' (I don't think anyone *likes* it...) or justifications like 'Last time I played like a cop and this time I'm playing like a criminal' - good on her for having a moral code and struggling with all the deception, but lots of people have that. I feel like she has a very simplistic, black-and-white view of the world, and part of that is that police officers (herself included) are a level above the rest of us. 

That said, she did play well, outlined her gameplay well at FTC and got people she voted out to campaign for her, so she deserved it. And she beat Brad.   

[JudyObscure]

I didn't get all the police officer references until Sarah said she was an undercover cop and then I think I got  that she was saying that had made her very good at looking people in the eye and lying to them.  Not that she was good at it because she's a liar but because it's her job.  maybe.  I think she does identify with her job more than most people.

Sarah's one of my favorite wins.  I loved that she came in with everyone saying , "Who's she?  Why is she here?" and then methodically played her game without a lot of bragging or posing.  I found nothing "gross" about her game.  Yes she lied, but it was always part of game play.  She was never condescending, rude, or insulting to anyone. Just good intelligent gameplay while respecting everyone else.

[Bouffe]

6 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I didn't get all the police officer references until Sarah said she was an undercover cop and then I think I got  that she was saying that had made her very good at looking people in the eye and lying to them.  Not that she was good at it because she's a liar but because it's her job.  maybe.  I think she does identify with her job more than most people.

And she identifies with her job more than most people do because if she doesn't, she can die doing her job. It is something you have to commit to, 100%, otherwise you literally do not survive in this line of work (undercover cop, I mean).

I was quite happy to see Sarah pull off the win. Although I am not super fond of Brad, I thought he too played a good game and I guess the jury could have gone either way. In the end it's Sarah's social game that tipped the balance. Her social game was much better than Brad's.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Bouffe
because guy and jury are not the same

[peachmangosteen]

39 minutes ago, Bouffe said:

In the end it's Sarah's social game that tipped the balance. 

As it usually does.

Had we ever heard about Sarah being an undercover cop before? I don't remember it ever coming up. I would think they'd mention that all the time, like they did with Derrick on Big Brother. At the very least I would've thought I'd hear about it online somewhere.

Edited May 25, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[ByaNose]

It was pretty obvious Sarah was going to win by the merge, Top 10 & by the edit. It was also obvious to Brad that Sarah was going to win during Final Tribal Council & the start of the Live vote. Brad Culpepper did not look happy at all. Sarah played a great game. A cutthroat game with a smile. I'm sure the $800,000 will come in handy. Because we all know a million isn't a million in Survivor. LOL!!!!

[KimberStormer]

It would be amazing if Sarah doesn't really work undercover and that was just one more brilliant lie to win the jury over.

[peachmangosteen]

 That was actually the impression I got and I was like Damn!

[ByaNose]

Well she is actually a uniformed police office in all her pictures. Maybe, the undercover part was a lie. 

[ljenkins782]

I guess if she WAS undercover before, that life is over now that she's all over the TV.

[MissEwa]

I assumed the undercover thing was a lie. She's been photographed in uniform and talked about being on patrol and pulling people over for expired plates. I can't imagine an undercover cop coming on Survivor at all, nevermind announcing it - based solely on TV, I feel like that could compromise things and/or endanger herself or others, even once the operations are over, but YMMV.

And yeah, even if she was, she hasn't been for a long time. 

I didn't find anything wrong with the way she played, but I could see how the jury might be bitter. I do find it curious though that she's all 'I played so differently to my first time' - she got voted out at the merge in her first season because she tried to flip and got caught. She was just (a lot) better at it this time. 

[fishcakes]

She said she's gone undercover as a drug buyer and a prostitute. That's not uncommon for uniformed officers. I don't think she meant she was undercover full time, like ... 21 Jump Street or Wiseguy or anything. Hmmmm. Possibly, I might need some more recent pop culture police references.

[cooksdelight]

I posted this in the main episode thread, interesting read:

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/exclusive-sarah-lacina-talks-survivor-i-used-brad-culpepper-wedding-ring-as-collateral-for-our-final-3-deal-22076.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[Synth]

10 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

It would be amazing if Sarah doesn't really work undercover and that was just one more brilliant lie to win the jury over.

She certainly won't be doing any undercover work from now on given she's a tv celebrity of sorts and criminals wouldn't have a hard time finding out who she really is. 

[simplyme]

1 minute ago, Synth said:

She certainly won't be doing any undercover work from now on given she's a tv celebrity of sorts and criminals wouldn't have a hard time finding out who she really is. 

If she just does the occasional undercover hooker gig, it might work fine. There are some dumb people out there. I can see it now. "Holy (bleep)! You look just like that chick from Survivor! For an extra $5 can I take your picture while you (bleeeeep)?"