S34.E06: Vote Early, Vote Often

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, How Bout That said:

So, you missed the last two seasons? Where people were practically dropping dead and the castaways had to be evacuated due to a hurricane.

How Bout That, indeed.

It's funny when I read "Clueless" and "Tai" together because one of my favourite movies is Clueless and the third most important character is Tai.

[AlleC17]

8 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

Many people believe it's not humane to kill animals at all since it's unnecessary.

But I believe that when someone is really hungry, they will do anything to survive and I think that is only understandable. After all, would you chose to starve so that you wouldn't have to kill an animal?

Sure, I get that, but these pampered people are NOT starving and the goats should have been safe from them.  I hate that they give them chickens too.  :-( 

[rose711]

On 4/5/2017 at 9:55 PM, susannot said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Hali, for me.  Young, smart female lawyer.  (I'm a female lawyer, not young.)  Criminal defense, so she is doing the work of the Universe above.  Most lawyers cast have been prosecutors.  I have nothing against them but the crim defense bar deserves love.

Eliza is also a public defender. Monica Padilla is a litigator. Brad is a personal injury lawyer. Kass had a general litigation practice I think. Cochran went to HLS but never practiced law. Savage is in house corporate. Chris Hammons does litigation.

Jessica that stupidly got rocked drawn out of the game is the only prosecutor I can think of from the past few seasons. She prosecutes crimes against the elderly.

[meep.meep]

3 hours ago, Jersey Guy 87 said:

I think it was a bad move.  It hasn't worked out for anyone before and there's no way Debbie has the creative smarts to figure out how to make it work for her.

It's typical of Debbie's play that she went that way.  I thought she should have taken the tribe advantage.  She's coming back to a new tribe who have bonded at least a little.  Bring a little value added.  

Maybe if you play it soon, the extra vote could be useful, but those who have had it have held onto it.  If she uses it in one of those situations where they've split the votes, she could push an alternative agenda.

[elizacat]

The advantage Debbie has by choosing the extra vote is no-one knows she has it. 

Both Stephen and Dan's tribes knew they had some sort of advantage thus putting a target on their back.

So sad to see Sandra go.

[violet and green]

Hey ho, the merrio, sing it high, sing it low... Don'tcha know the wicked witch is dead!

So happy with that episode on all counts.

Seeing Cochran being needily embraced by a scrawny weeping woman was marvellous. I love Debbie, and I'm so glad she got a rest, a feed, a luxurious treat/retreat, a human chat with Cockers, and a big hug, safety from tribal, distance from her old tribe, plus her advantage.

[green]

On 4/7/2017 at 4:33 PM, Superpole2000 said:

She was being smug and arrogant, especially during the second episode. The irony of that "The Queen" moniker is that queens and kings usually inherit that crown through no doing of their own. I don't think Sandra was THAT lucky, but I do think giving her a royal nickname is actually rather appropriate given how success in this game is generally separated from skill.

I think there are three levels of players: Good, Average, and Bad. Sandra is certainly in the Good category because she understands what's going on as well as anyone else. But it's like a game of cards, where Good players will beat Bad players over the long-run, yet in a small sample size, anyone can beat anyone based on the cards they get. There have been a few Average players (and perhaps one or two Bad players) who have won seasons. There have been many Good players who failed to reach a jury.

This episode reinforced my belief that Zeke and Andrea are Good players. I used to think Ozzy was an Average player (elite at challenges, poor at everything else), but I'm starting to think he has become a Good player too. The problem with him, though, is that everyone can see his obvious challenge skill, which makes it nearly impossible for him to avoid being targeted. All that said, Zeke, Andrea, Ozzy, and Sarah had the upper hand in this vote only because of a random drop your buffs tribal shuffle. That's not skill. The skill they did exhibit was keeping that advantage in the face of Tai's wildcard gameplay.

Sandra was not being smug. She was playing at being smug.  That's the whole point.  That is where the humor comes in.  Of course explaining the joke takes away the fun of the joke, sigh.  And she didn't inherit a crown.  She won one then she toppled a "king" to win a second one.

OTOH I don't see any of the players you mentioned at being good players.  Maybe they will later in this game but so far they did nothing this season but find matching bandana colors.  Zeke likes to "think" he is a good player but he blew up his own game with his hubris in his season.  Andrea I don't remember so I don't believe she won her season.  Ditto Sarah. 

And Ozzy still is just playing a physical game.  Which means he will be target number one again when the merge happens to prevent ye olde immunity challenge run.  Actually twice over because he has a core of original bandana-color tribe players with him so he will be a threat that way as well.  He and Culpepper will be at the top of the hit list come the merge with his bigger core alliance and "likeability" factor even making him the number one target.

And that is if Ozzy makes the merge.  Since Tai mentioned getting him out at tribal there may be blowback against Tai and Tai has two idols and even he surely won't give away BOTH of them ... maybe.  But right now if he keeps his mouth shut about having them and actually makes himself the easy next boot he could blindside anyone on that tribe.  But that requires, you know, actually keeping that mouth shut so ... maybe not.

And of course they have to lose immunity first which isn't likely now that they have the world's greatest gymnast joining their tribe.

Edited April 9, 2017 by green

[Eolivet]

12 hours ago, green said:

Zeke likes to "think" he is a good player but he blew up his own game with his hubris in his season.

I think Zeke's inferior social game did him in. He had the numbers after the rock draw, but then he lost Will to David (and if you believe post-game press, Adam, too) because Zeke couldn't make a convincing argument to keep Will on his side. His allies were allies of convenience -- and I think the same thing is happening this season. I don't see Ozzy or anyone on FormerTavua with any real loyalty to Zeke. He doesn't either inspire loyalty or give you the impression he'd be loyal to you, which makes him an easy vote-off when the time comes.

On another note, Jeff Probst did say "Exile Island," which irritates me because it was a flat-out lie. I was hoping it would be a clever use of words, but no. It bothers me, because I don't think Survivor has ever flat-out lied to the contestants (like that one season where they all assumed it was a merge, and it wasn't -- the show never said "congratulations, you've made the merge.") Hope it doesn't continue.

[mythoughtis]

Technically he didn't lie. That boat was anchored next to an island. I'm sure Debbie was free to wander over there and attempt to find an idol. 

[MisterBluxom]

On 2017-04-07 at 9:19 AM, cooksdelight said:

When I'm on a game show and I know my immediate needs will be taken care of by medical professionals, if necessary, no.... I wouldn't kill an animal like a goat. Fish, snails, or chickens given to me by production... yes. 

 

See my earlier hashtag for him. Couldn't agree more. Even Tai admitted he's not very smart.

Some of the very smartest people say they are not smart. I'm certain that is some kind of defense mechanism. I think Tai is plenty smart indeed! I may not like him very much. But I def think he is plenty smart.

Edited April 9, 2017 by MissBluxom

[Ms Blue Jay]

Whenever someone says "Smug and arrogant" I think of this scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30QVKsTFPPs

[MisterBluxom]

On 2017-04-07 at 4:11 PM, Jersey Guy 87 said:

I'm not a fan of Sandra's but I recognize she's good at the game.  She manipulates people very well and found a way to win twice.  I would have been on the "vote Sandra off first vote" bus if I were playing this season, there's no way you let her stick around at all - she'll find a way to keep around another vote, another vote and next thing you know she's sitting up there at FTC and deserves to win.  Get her out as early as you can.

I must agree that Sandra is very good at this game. But as for her being some kind of "Queen", just ask yourself how well the talents she has displayed translate to other areas of life. Just how and where is it to someone's advantage to convince people to work against their own self-interests and behave in such a way to promote your self-interest? I think most people would recognize Sandra as "bad news" and they would want to stay as far away from her as possible. I don't see those talents being a recipe for success in the real world. Not at all. I think she would be viewed as a (list of nasty names to follow).

[Guest]

9 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

Just how and where is it to someone's advantage to convince people to work against their own self-interests and behave in such a way to promote your self-interest?

Anything sales related.  And isn't everything, in one way or another?  Most people don't realize when they're being subtly manipulated, and even often welcome it, in my opinion.  They want someone to convince them to buy the $30k car and the $8k carpet and that the best candidate for the job is sitting right there.  

[Hanahope]

10 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

Just how and where is it to someone's advantage to convince people to work against their own self-interests and behave in such a way to promote your self-interest?

Politics.  see, current events.

[laurakaye]

On 4/6/2017 at 8:37 PM, Maggie Mae said:

Couple of observations..Probst never said Exile ISLAND. He only said Exile. Was Debbie allowed to shower on that boat? If yes, wouldn't that be a giveaway when she returned. I couldn't tell if she looked cleaner at Tribal. I was also going to add that if she told her tribe, they wouldn't believe her (but someone beat me to that comment). She is delusional after all. So if she tells, they think she's making up and if she doesn't and someone else goes, she'll be ostracized for not telling.  Tai, I love you but you're a crazy fool. 

I noticed that right away, she did look cleaner and her hair looked like it had been washed.  Seems like the tribe would notice something like that, if for no other reason than that she probably smelled better...as in, they'd be able to smell soap and shampoo on her (not that she reeked, even though she probably did and she basically admitted that to Cochran).

 

On 4/7/2017 at 8:47 AM, Lamb18 said:

I think it would have to stop once there's a jury.  We can hear what people are saying because of the microphones, but the jury wouldn't be able to hear.

I hope so.  Even though Probst loves it, I personally don't.  Although I suppose all the cross-whispering can be seen as an "evolution" of the game, I prefer my Tribal Councils where either someone has to come right out and state what is going on, or they have to try and communicate to each other with body language.

[Special K]

On 4/9/2017 at 9:42 AM, Eolivet said:

 

On another note, Jeff Probst did say "Exile Island," which irritates me because it was a flat-out lie.

I think it's pretty common for Exile Island and Redemption Islands to be "islands" -- as in, they are not necessarily separate islands from the main action of the show but a separate area (though most seasons, technically they would be on an island insofar as the entire show is, as opposed to say, a continental body).

[KimberStormer]

The Tocantins Exile Island was a hill/sand dune in the middle of Brazil!

[AZChristian]

Definitions of "island":

1.  a tract of land completely surrounded by water,and not large enough to be called a continent.

2.  something resembling an island, especially in being isolated or having little or no direct communication with others.

So a boat can be an island.

[Guest]

I am a rock.  I am an iiiiiiiiisland.  

Just me with that going through her head?

I thought Debbie looked showered, too.  Though if that was the one and only use of Exile this season, does it really make sense for her to hide that it had a shower?  

[pamplemousse]

On 4/9/2017 at 8:42 AM, Eolivet said:

I think Zeke's inferior social game did him in. He had the numbers after the rock draw, but then he lost Will to David (and if you believe post-game press, Adam, too) because Zeke couldn't make a convincing argument to keep Will on his side. His allies were allies of convenience -- and I think the same thing is happening this season. I don't see Ozzy or anyone on FormerTavua with any real loyalty to Zeke. He doesn't either inspire loyalty or give you the impression he'd be loyal to you, which makes him an easy vote-off when the time comes.

[emphasis mine in above quote, not op's]

That's why when Zeke talked down to Tai during Tribal about how could he ever be certain whether Tai is loyal because now he's talking about voting off their alliance mate Ozzy, I said "Shut the fuck up, prick" at the tv while my gf said "Shut your damned hipster mouth." (Tai may have been in on it all along and it was amateur theatre night to try and "throw Sandra off the scent" of her impending elimination, but Zeke still came off as grossly condescending.)

Let it never be said that I am a shrinking violet when it comes to expressing my opinion of Zeke. (Also, I bet he'd buy poop from the co-op if you slapped a label saying artisanal on it, he's just that kind of wanker.)

Edited April 11, 2017 by pamplemousse

[HurricaneVal]

On 4/6/2017 at 9:26 PM, MissBluxom said:

Sarah strikes me like there is something about her that she wants to keep secret.

...

But it seems to me she is just keeping an entire compartment about herself hidden.

Considering that we've only seen maybe 30 total seconds of Sarah footage that wasn't challenge related, I'm not sure she's the one keeping the secrets!   For all we know, she's back at camp blathering on and on and on about how cute Tom Cruise is, and wow, did anyone see Scarlett Johansson's Oscar dress, and this one time at Band Camp...

 

On 4/7/2017 at 5:47 AM, fishcakes said:

In Sandra's post-show interviews, she said they let the mother and baby go, and the next day when she was away from camp filming a confessional, the rest of the tribe caught another goat and killed it.

I knew in the next episode I saw them chewing on bones that were way too big to be chicken bones!

Edited April 11, 2017 by HurricaneVal

[Rough Draft]

17 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I knew in the next episode I saw them chewing on bones that were way too big to be chicken bones!

I remember that being mentioned. Nice catch!

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 4/6/2017 at 2:34 PM, laurakaye said:

(the book was better)!!!

 

Sarah explained it best...Sandra is calm, doesn't raise her voice, explains herself well and "grooms" others to do her bidding.  I felt like she was almost talking Ozzie, Andrea and Sarah into a trance.  Girl is GOOD.  She deserved her two wins, and the applause upon leaving.  Even Probst couldn't help smirking at her as she begged him to spare her torch, LOL.  I'll miss her.

Jeff was so sweet to give Sandra that speech and that special moment.  It was pretty emotional.  And then Ozzy led the applause!