S34.E07: What Happened on Exile, Stays on Exile

[Martinigirl]

Just now, ByaNose said:

Twitter is blaming Probst.

I thought Jeff handled it well. Very well in fact.

[Eolivet]

Wow, I just.....wow.

Bret's conversation with Zeke last season takes on a whole new, deeper meaning. I kept rolling my eyes that the producers kept pushing it so hard as "the scene that summed up the difference between old and new generations," but....wow.

That felt like live television in a way Survivor hasn't since Brandon Hantz was removed. Not sure what to think about that.

[Lovely]

1 minute ago, ByaNose said:

Twitter is blaming Probst.

For what exactly?

[Rachel RSL]

Wow. That was some heavy shit. I can't hate Varner because I know he's a good guy who just made a really REALLY bad decision. And he clearly regrets it. There are assholes and then there are people who get caught up in the game and do things like this. For me, the big difference is how they behave after. If they realize they crossed a line and show genuine remorse, I find it much easier to forgive. Still, damn. 

I'm running out of people to root for. Come back, Malcolm and Sandra!

Edited April 13, 2017 by Rachel RSL
Punctuation matters.

[wallflower75]

1 minute ago, ByaNose said:

Twitter is blaming Probst.

I don't bother with Twitter--mostly because I'm someone who can't make a point in under 140 characters--but why blame Probst?  What was he supposed to do in that moment?  It's not like he knew Varner was going to do that.  Again--much as I wish the editors/producers could've found a way to avoid showing us what happened, I don't know how they could have.

[Etta Place]

There's a game-changer for you: the first time someone has come to tribal council, doused himself in gasoline, and then lit a match.

[Martinigirl]

I was yelling at my TV...get off your asses and give that man a hug!!! 

[PaperTree]

 A quick play by play...

Super Secret Agent Debbie is back on the job!  I don't think her extra vote will save her.

Tai still stupid.  Ozzy wants you gone. Not like Ozzy isn't already an immunity threat.  It's all-stars Tai, they know!

Go Varner. Keep yourself afloat.

New new Nuku.  Ozzy nails the rope twist.  Faster Debbie faster.

Skee ball.  Ozzy kicking.  No not another Culpepper comeback.  Whew!

I'm from Jersey too Cirie, I sooo understand.  I have 20+ pizza places within 10 mins of my patch of suburbia.

"It's gonna make 'em sluggish" ???  No, but it dulled their brains.  Couldn't they have laid out all the letters on the dock first, like Scrabble, and get some ideas? Mix them around? Not seeing all the letters I had no clue.

The Bushy Brows Return!.  Stop whining Mana. Thanks editors. Mikhaela flicking sand while Culpepper whines. Enough of Monica. Don't be fooled Aubrey.  I like you.  He's scum.

Maybe bad strategy Varner. Too soon to go after oz.? Sara? Oz is huge immunity threat, yet also a meat shield.?

Immunity Ozzy in the water.....Pepper flailing lol!.... invisible Andrea appears ....aaand they blow it.

Stunning parrot.

Zeke meat shielding,  Varner counter-attack with the women.  

 If Oz was winning challenges you wouldnt be at Tribal Council.

Varner playing at TC.  Trans bomb!  Wow!  Epic bonehead move and Probst shovels on the guilt, of course.

The idea that Varner could paint Zeke "deceptive" with this was a really bad idea.  But I have convinced myself of some pretty stupid things too.......

I never would have assumed Zeke was trans, but the thing is that truly nobody should care.  He is who he is now and the past is irrelevant.  Our current trans hysteria is really harmful.

I miss Sandra. .

[sigmaforce86]

There is going to be some serious backlash here and a lot of other places over this tribal.  I agree that people having a knee jerk reaction on places like twitter need to be told there's very little chance they aired this without Zeke's approval - they're not dumb enough to step into that minefield.  But they maybe missed their chance to SAY that - having Jeff pop up at the end to make a statement maybe even give a link to LGBT support services would have been a nice gesture.

As for Varner - there's a part of me that believes, or maybe just really wants to believe that he really didn't mean to do what he did they way he did it but had tired, hungry brain that made him not think clearly.  But there's another part that realizes if that were true he wouldn't have used the info. as a reason why Zeke couldn't be trusted, that's calculating a strategy.  

Basically the whole thing is a mess and it even feels rude right now to say well it's good because Ozzy didn't get voted out - somehow Ozzy escaping elimination because of Varner's foot-in-mouth issue doesn't seem like enough of a "win" for what must have been a tough tribal.   

[enlightenedbum]

Thought Probst handled that about as well as could be expected.  Zeke is more forgiving than I am, Varner can fuck off.  I believe that's the second worst thing I've seen on this show, only Hatch in All-Stars is worse.  Ugh.

Other thoughts: Brad's edit is so positive.  Gross.

Hali really is new Eliza.  Stealthily (and sometimes not so stealthily) saving her tribe's ass in puzzles, basically permanently on the outs.

You will not be surprised to learn that I found that Andrea was consistently being a badass in this episode.  Reaction to Varner, gave her tribe (with Ozzy) the lead in the reward, was like "yes I'm mad that Zeke insinuated that you and I are lying to get ahead, but let's discount that and think about strategy."  She's such a gamer which I admire so much.

[colorbars]

That was really hard to watch. I'm so glad we got to see every member on the tribe come for Varner for that, and had Zeke's back.

I don't really buy Varner's remorse at all. He was upset that he realized how badly he's going to come off now, after getting a taste of the tribe's reaction and disgust, but considering he was defending his move for a bit there, he can save his apologies. Not to mention the fact that he was hinting at it long before TC and it was a very calculated move that he thought about long before saying it. He's gonna earn every bit of hate the internet hurls at him.

I can only assume the show talked to Zeke about airing it. It would have been nearly impossibly to edit out.

Edited April 13, 2017 by colorbars

[Martinigirl]

I can't imagine they didn't ask Zeke first before airing the tribal. 

[truthaboutluv]

33 minutes ago, Martinigirl said:

I thought Jeff handled it well. Very well in fact.

I agree. Even if a person thinks Jeff was doing his talk show bit, how is Varner's revealing what he did Jeff's fault? What, do they think Jeff knew that's what he was going to reveal and egged him on? Because I honestly don't think so.

Edited April 13, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[ByaNose]

Just now, Lovely said:

For what exactly?

I guess for airing it. Not that I agree with it but I guess it was "CBS" who outed him by airing...I guess. Crazy! If they hadn't aired it I wouldn't haven't even known. That said, Varner knew they were going to air it. Pretty gross that he did it.

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, Rachel RSL said:

Wow. That was some heavy shit. I can't hate Varner because I know he's a good guy who just made a really REALLY bad decision. And he clearly regrets it. There are assholes and then there are people who get caught up in the game and do things like this. For me, the big difference is how they behave after, if they realize they crossed a line and show genuine remorse, I find it much easier to forgive. Still, damn. 

I'm running out of people to root for. Come back, Malcolm and Sandra!

Me too.  I know Ozzy is probably going to be a goner, because King Brad can't have any other alpha males around to threaten his throne.  I really hope Cirie isn't letting him lure into an alliance.  You're a better player than that Cirie!  Hope she ends up playing him.  This season is just blah.  

I agree about Varner.  I want to see how Zeke responds to this, and him.  We know Probst is going to address this tomorrow, so we'll see if he says anything about having Zeke's permission to air this.

Edited April 13, 2017 by LadyChatts

[WrongReasons]

Varner is dead to me.

 

That was horrendous to watch. Doing that to another person is not worth a million dollars. I am just so disgusted that he would out someone like that ESPECIALLY since he is a gay man and should understand that it's that person's decision if and when to tell the world their story. Holy crap.  Scum.  And to insinuate that Zeke is deceitful because he hasn't shared what genitalia he was born with?? Fuck off Varner.  I just can't believe what I saw. Zeke was very eloquent and really handled that awful situation gracefully. 

 

Aside from that, Cirie is safe another day. I got worried when she received more airtime that she was going to be toast. 

[milner]

My mother used to say "sometimes sorry isn't good enough". It was true tonight. I have known people who do or say whatever they like and then apologize profusely tears and all. It is a way of life for some.  From accidentally telling a persons age, weight or income..to much more serious issues like health or affairs for example. I don't know if this is the case with Varner but nonetheless his behaviour was despicable.

[Dust Bunny]

I deleted the show from my DVR a few days ago, after finding out they really did eat a goat (per a Sandra interview). Zeke's tweet was retweeted a few times, so I had to come here and see what happened.

Looks like I made the right decision.

This show sucks. It's a fucking game. Get a conscience, producers.

[Ms Blue Jay]

6 minutes ago, Marmiarmo said:

It was still despicable, Varner, and I always loved you...so you have quite a ways to go to redemption, sir.

LOL Nah.  He's fucking done.

[BryroseA]

Quote

That was horrendous to watch. Doing that to another person is not worth a million dollars. I am just so disgusted that he would out someone like that ESPECIALLY since he is a gay man and should understand that it's that person's decision if and when to tell the world their story. Holy crap.  Scum.  And to insinuate that Zeke is deceitful because he hasn't shared what genitalia he was born with?? Fuck off Varner.  I just can't believe what I saw. Zeke was very eloquent and really handled that awful situation gracefully. 

And he PLANNED it. He'd hinted that he knew something deceitful about Zeke all day, driving up the intrigue. The wasn't some spur of the moment blurt. 

[wallflower75]

6 minutes ago, sigmaforce86 said:

There is going to be some serious backlash here and a lot of other places over this tribal.  I agree that people having a knee jerk reaction on places like twitter need to be told there's very little chance they aired this without Zeke's approval - they're not dumb enough to step into that minefield.  But they maybe missed their chance to SAY that - having Jeff pop up at the end to make a statement maybe even give a link to LGBT support services would have been a nice gesture.

THIS.  A billion times, this.  And I hope you're right, that they aired this with Zeke's approval.  I mean, Survivor's just a freaking game.  This is Zeke's LIFE.  I know Zeke agreed to come on the show and it's a show where you never know what might happen, and you have little (or no) say in how you're portrayed...but it's one thing to portray how a person acts on the show, and another thing altogether to reveal something that could put his life in danger given the world these days.  Something he clearly didn't want out there or he would've said something himself.

Edited April 13, 2017 by wallflower75
Because I had to prove why I can't be contained by 140 characters.

[Lantern7]

Well. That happened.

I don't think Varner should get punished, because he basically shoved his neck into the guilotine. If he goes off the grid for a few years, I would understand. This was a man who had never made the jury, and he tried to roll Zeke under the bus in the absolute worst way. Jeff. What the fuck?!???!? If he didn't change his e-mail address and social media accounts, he's probably going to get a lot of letters from past contestants who feel they are now off the hook. Hatch, Russell, Naonka, Colton (he might no longer the most despised gay cast member ever), Kyle Jason & Scot Pollard . . . and if he can get online from prison, Mike Skupin. "I murdered a piglet on national television, and I ain't the worst part about The Australian Outback! THANK YOU!!!!"

Seriously, what the fucking fuck, Varner??!? He's gotta go into the cornfield. New name, new job, new everything. As long as we don't have to watch it happen, I'm good. That said, that will take up at least five minutes at the Reunion; three if he doesn't show.

And I like Zeke. He's okay, and I didn't have a problem with him last season. I just liked David Wright more.

Ozzy isn't going anywhere. He's not a monkey that likes the water. He's an amphibious monkey. Awesome in the trees and under the water. If he wins, I wouldn't throw shade on him like I did with Rob. Rob didn't make the jury half the times he played.

"Metamorphosis," and then that happened. If Burnett has Minority Report dudes in his employ, I wouldn't be surprised. And I'm surprised that Probst could stand up to snuff Jeff's torch. Massive drama boner.

How bad did Varner fuck up? He pissed off Tai!!! I didn't think the guy had a boiling point. Also, no captions for him this week. Quite an episode from Mr. Trang.

[JaggedLilPill]

What I don't honestly get is what Varner expected??

Did he think they'd go "Oh, well, thanks for telling us, Jeff! Zeke is a lying liar who lies and therefore, we should vote off his right-hand man Ozzy!"

This is not like going to tribal and saying "So and so has been deceitful because they are actually a multimillionaire when they told you they they had no money."

This is something that is 100% personal to Zeke and Zeke's business - and only Zeke's business  - to disclose. He gets decide to whom and when and where. That's not being devious or deceitful. 

Fuck that line of bullshit noise.

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 minutes ago, milner said:

My mother used to say "sometimes sorry isn't good enough". It was true tonight. I have known people who do or say whatever they like and then apologize profusely tears and all. It is a way of life for some.  From accidentally telling a persons age, weight or income..to much more serious issues like health or affairs for example. I don't know if this is the case with Varner but nonetheless his behaviour was despicable.

Bullies who are caught and play victim?  Yes, I've seen it many times.....  

Edited April 13, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[annewithaneee]

My god, I need to pick my jaw up off the floor.

I....in some ways, I feel sorry for Varner. Outing someone is such a violation, especially on national television, probably as close as you can get to violence without putting physical hands on a person. And that was a fucking despicable thing to do, and the way Varner couldn't simply turn to face Zeke, or Jeff, or anyone other than gazing out towards the cameras made me feel sick, though I suppose that could have been him being in complete shock as it set in that he'd basically assassinated his own character as well as badly hurting someone. But I guess I pity him for fucking up so badly. Someone like Brandon Hantz has probably said and done worse things on this show, but Varner's an intelligent guy who is mentally stable, and he's basically never living that one down. 

Color me shocked that Jeff handled the whole situation with grace. I'm not a fan of his and probably never will be, but as a host he does seem to repeatedly come through in the clutch, like when he helped organize the medic clusterfuck in Tai's first season where several people simultaneously collapsed. And he did the right thing by asking questions and not rushing Zeke to make a statement before he was ready. It was also right, similar to Brandon Hantz's complete meltdown, to dispense with the formalities of the show and the voting process. Having them all sit there quietly while the votes were filmed (a process I'm assuming takes a fairly long time, at least longer than what is aired) and read would have been excruciatingly awkward for all involved.

I knew via the Survivor subreddit from last season that Zeke was trans, and I'm guessing that's how some others knew too (was that also how Varner knew, or did I miss Zeke confiding in him at some point?) prior to the outing. And even giving Varner a tiny sliver of mercy as he was clearly melting down and trying to undig his grave, it really grossed me out that he kept reiterating that he had some trans friends who could vouch for him not being a transphobe and/or monster. If he really was a dedicated friend and advocate for the community, he'd understand and respect the concept of being stealth. I think Zeke articulated it beautifully, but Varner should've known that not all transmen and transwomen are 'out and loud and proud' about their status, for a variety of very legitimate and understandable reasons. Zeke's a man, let him be a man. Not openly self-identifying as trans, whether that be a Survivor strategy or how he's been living his life off-camera as well, is his own goddamn business and I'm sure Varner's friends would echo that.

[mojoween]

Zeke, I may be projecting, but it's not ok, and if you had said it's not ok and brushed Varner off without a good-bye, that WOULD have been ok.  You don't have to say "it's ok" just to be gracious, even though you totally were and absolutely came off the better person in all ways.

[Haleth]

Even if the producers got Zeke's OK to air this, I'm sure he would have preferred to not have his personal business exposed on national television. At that point he didn't have much choice. 

[LadyChatts]

I'm also curious what Varner's motives were.  Did he really think everyone would jump onboard and get rid of Zeke because he's trans?  It just doesn't make sense.  That's the only thing he could think of to go after with him?  He would have been better off trying to target Ozzy's strength (although Tai would have probably used an idol to save him, sending Varner home anyway).  But I just don't get what he was thinking.

[Martinigirl]

Just now, Haleth said:

Even if the producers got Zeke's OK to air this, I'm sure he would have preferred to not have his personal business exposed on national television. At that point he didn't have much choice. 

They could have said Varner decided to leave...there are options. 

[dkb]

4 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Zeke, I may be projecting, but it's not ok, and if you had said it's not ok and brushed Varner off without a good-bye, that WOULD have been ok.  You don't have to say "it's ok" just to be gracious, even though you totally were and absolutely came off the better person in all ways.

I think that may just have been reflex. "It's ok" is always the first thing that comes out of my mouth when something bad happens to me, or if someone says something stupid to me or something like that. It's later when I have time to think that I'm like that was not ok. Zeke was just saying that in the moment .

Edited April 13, 2017 by dkb

[SourK]

I was so shocked at first that I could not believe what I'd just heard. The only bright spot is that everyone else on the tribe immediately realized that that was not a cool thing for Varner to do and supported Zeke in the moment.

It read to me like they had quite a long conversation about it and Zeke eventually came around to saying, "Look, I knew this could come out, and if it inspires other people watching, then so be it" which I took as him basically saying it was okay to air. I was glad that they showed that because, up until that point, I,  too, was a little annoyed that the show included this.

On a different note, I know the format of the show is that the ousted contestant always gives their final confession over the credits while the music is playing, but I'm not sure it was totally appropriate to have Varner cry into his hands and say how sorry was in that exact moment. I do believe he's sorry, and I'm interested to hear what he'll have to say at the reunion show, but holy shit that was an awful thing to do.

[Pepper the Cat]

Wow. Just wow.

Talk about a complete game changer with one question. 

I wasn't really paying attention. Then Varner asked the question and I was like What did he say?! 

Zeke handled it well though.

[LadyChatts]

Here's Varner's twitter response.

[NYGirl]

I actually had tears in my eyes during that TC.  That's a first for me since I've seen every single episode since Season 1 episode 1.

[cooksdelight]

I think producers should have had Jeff go to the other tribe, get them all together and tell them Varner left for personal reasons, and left Zeke's personal business off the show.

I figure Varner's career in real estate is now in the toilet given it's a people-oriented business. Man.... I just don't know what to say.

[ShadowSixx]

Varner shot himself in the foot and completely in the wrong for what he did. If you wanna show deception with Zeke then you expose his gameplay not his personal life. Like Sarah said it's up to the person to come out when they're ready because when others do it, I think it's malicious as well. 

I do believe Varner was genuine in regretting it, but he never should have done it in the first place, don't care if he was desperate. I said in the beginning that Zeke can't be trusted in this game and still believe that.

Also I don't like seeing Debbie happy in ways of watching her enjoying pizza. I was waiting for her to say that she doesn't need the pizza because her body can go for years without eating because she studied biokinesiology and anatomy. More jobs to her resume.

Edited April 13, 2017 by ShadowSixx

[wallflower75]

GLAAD has responded to the episode, and I found the words I wanted to say in my initial post about what Varner did but was just too upset to get them out in any sort of coherent way:

Quote

"Zeke Smith, and transgender people like him, are not deceiving anyone by being their authentic selves."

There's more to their statement, but that sentence is exactly what I thought when Varner said he wanted everyone to know that Zeke was being "deceitful."

[Martinigirl]

Just now, wallflower75 said:

GLAAD has responded to the episode, and I found the words I wanted to say in my initial post about what Varner did but was just too upset to get them out in any sort of coherent way:

There's more to their statement, but that sentence is exactly what I thought when Varner said he wanted everyone to know that Zeke was being "deceitful."

Beautiful!

[Lovely]

Jeff may very well be "sorry" about outing Zeke but as Maya Angelou once said: When people show you who they are believe them...the first time. For Jeff to even think of doing something like that is very telling about his character. Exposing someone as transgender in order to further myself in a game is not something that would have even crossed my mind.

[vb68]

As for the rest of the show, I really did miss Sandra. I thought it was pretty dull without her.

I'm shocked Debbie kept her mouth shut about exile. Seriously didn't think she had that in her.

And boy are they working overtime to make sure Culpepper has a positive edit.

[ByaNose]

Also, this isn't Varner's first time at the rodeo with Survivor. He knew it would be aired. I don't even know what he thought it would gained him especially since he wanted Ozzy voted out. The whole thing is sad and totally crazy!!!!

[Haleth]

I can't believe Varner thought revealing personal, sensitive information about someone would make the others see him as more trustworthy than the person he betrayed.

[wallflower75]

1 minute ago, vb68 said:

As for the rest of the show, I really did miss Sandra. I thought it was pretty dull without her.

I'm shocked Debbie kept her mouth shut about exile. Seriously didn't think she had that in her.

And boy are they working overtime to make sure Culpepper has a positive edit.

During that bonding session at Mana, I thought, "Dang it, editors, stop trying to make me like Culpepper!!"

[annewithaneee]

@LadyChatts thanks for sharing that tweet. The cynic in me says dude consulted with some PR people to craft that apology, and in all honesty he probably did. But that's the right way to apologize for the deeply fucked up thing that he did, vs how he reacted in the moment. Not sorry if he offended Zeke and his loved ones, sorry that he offended, explaining why what he did was so awful, checking his privilege, and saying he'll try to do better in the future. 

I think airing what actually happened was important culturally. I'm hoping we'll hear more from Zeke about production asking his permission to air this so we know the show did what they could to avoid exploiting him for some buzz.

[Lovely]

Regarding Jeff's statement. How can you reveal something people already know. He keeps saying that Zeke was being deceptive but at the same time he(Jeff)  thought everyone knew about Zeke. Does he not realize that he is contradicting himself? Those two things don't make sense and can't both be true. I wish he'd keep his lies straight.

[Drogo]

Varner is garbage.  Khaleesi is very upset.

[picklesprite]

Oh, Varner, how could you "reveal" something "everyone already knew"?

Sara's words were very sweet and Zeke was dignity personified.

[ByaNose]

2 minutes ago, Lovely said:

Regarding Jeff's statement. How can you reveal something people already know. He keeps saying that Zeke was being deceptive but at the same time he(Jeff)  thought everyone knew about Zeke. Does he not realize that he is contradicting himself? Those two things don't make sense and can't both be true. I wish he'd keep his lies straight.

Yeah, that was a oxymoron. Why haven't you told people to I thought everyone knew. WTF???

[simplyme]

It was bad enough that Varner outed Zeke, but then he went the extra mile and made excuses trying to justify why it wasn't that bad. It was dumb. It was unnecessary. It had to have been hurtful. Trying to downplay the impact and weasel out of taking full responsibility pretty much killed any sympathy I may have felt for Varner. (Everybody makes mistakes. It annoys me that Varner tried multiple tactics before realizing that the only one that would be acceptable to people was showing contrition. I don't know that I believe he's sorry he hurt Zeke, though I do believe he's sorry he outted Zeke... though mostly because it went wrong for him.)

Who is this sensitive Brad Culpepper? I'm expecting him to walk on water soon.

Edited April 13, 2017 by simplyme
Forgot to end my parentheses

[LadyChatts]

Maybe he'll address that in his interviews tomorrow.  

BTW show, totally not buying Mr. Nice Guy Culpepper.  I don't care if I am running out of people to root for.  I'm not that desperate.

Edited April 13, 2017 by LadyChatts