S34.E10: A Line Drawn In Concrete

[backformore]

1 hour ago, ShadowSixx said:

During the rewards challenge notice how Debbie crawled on the balance beam. Where is this gymnastics thing she talked about? I haven't seen her put it to use at all. Don't gymnasts usually use balance beams?

I remember she talked about "being in gymnastics" and that cracked me up.   I was "in ballet"  for several years, but I don't brag about it.  (and I'm' not a ballerina, since I stopped classes by age 10)  I figure she, like most  people, was enrolled in some classes as a kid.   But only Debbie uses that as qualifications to do anything.

[piequinn35]

Bye bye Debbie, hope to see you never! 

Shit, she's in the jury. 

Loved Aubry FUs and Michaela's munching in tc :))

[vb68]

9 minutes ago, backformore said:

During the rewards challenge notice how Debbie crawled on the balance beam. Where is this gymnastics thing she talked about? I haven't seen her put it to use at all. Don't gymnasts usually use balance beams?

Somehow I'm sure it's still all Hali's fault. ;)

[Superpole2000]

I can see why a lot of us like Michaela because she is entertaining. Nevertheless, I think she would be absolutely miserable to live with in this setting for however many days they've been going now. I understand why many of the contestants are fed up with her childish behaviour. Her snarkiness is cool and all, but you have to soften it somehow or it just comes across as being an ass. I don't see anyone on the show looking at her eating at tribal council and laughing about it. That's quite revealing.

I love Sarah's move tonight. If her goal is to win the game then she had to do something like this to be noticed. She may not even make it to the final six, but at least now she has a shot at the million. Zeke wanted to do the same thing last week, but he didn't have a bunch of desperate outsiders looking to him to save them. Big difference.

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, Superpole2000 said:

I can see why a lot of us like Michaela because she is entertaining. Nevertheless, I think she would be absolutely miserable to live with in this setting for however many days they've been going now. I understand why many of the contestants are fed up with her childish behaviour. Her snarkiness is cool and all, but you have to soften it somehow or it just comes across as being an ass. I don't see anyone on the show looking at her eating at tribal council and laughing about it. That's quite revealing.

I love Sarah's move tonight. If her goal is to win the game then she had to do something like this to be noticed. She may not even make it to the final six, but at least now she has a shot at the million. Zeke wanted to do the same thing last week, but he didn't have a bunch of desperate outsiders looking to him to save them. Big difference.

I'm curious how Michaela would have acted if she lasted longer on MvsGX.  Would she have been the same tea drinking, popcorn munching, TC delight we have here?  She certainly was outspoken.  I can see why she rubs people the wrong way, and if she's looking to actually win the game, she's going the complete wrong way about it.  However, she may have picked up early on that these people don't like her (and I don't think there's any love lost on her end, either), so she might be saying piss on it.  From the beginning of the season, though, it seemed like people had an issue with her.  The two allies she seemed to have were Sandra and Cirie, but that's it.  People also don't seem crazy about Zeke, and we know Probst compared his return to that of Russell Hantz.  So did Probst make a comparison to Michaela and that's where the resentment is coming from?

I wish she'd be given a chance in the challenges, though.  They don't know what they're missing

[candall]

Oh, Debbie probably crawled on the beam because the ocean was bouncing around the platform and as a trained gymnast, she recognized she would automatically overcorrect for the instability, or some such nonsense.

Debbie's particular style of grating doesn't trigger my irritation, for some reason, but I had to watch tribal council three times because the editors bled in her smug expressions and air of superiority so artfully.  "Jeff, there was dialogue and respect and everyone had a voice and we all spoke in turn."  (Sarah, earlier:  "Wow, it never even occurred to anyone to ask me what I thought. Red flag!")  Debbie's ouster was tasty fare.

Have to give her credit for being a graceful loser, though.  She wasn't pissy during her departure and she was forthright about being blindsided.  Sarah was right--Cocky Debbie is trouble.  Humble Debbie is a much better look.  Well, ha, which is true for anyone.

Edited April 27, 2017 by candall

[KimberStormer]

Survivor really has hired the Project Runway editing team, haven't they?  "Make the person who goes home look as bad as possible that episode so everyone cheers (no matter how good they actually are)" is their entire game on PR, and here it is this season over and over.  Just like with JT, I had no fear that anyone else than Debbie would be going home.

...but who cares I fucking loved it!  Manipulate me, when it's so fun!  Debbie was so obnoxious and I was gagging for her to go despite her entire alliance except Tai and maaayyyyybe Brad doing their best to defeat her for Asshole of the Week.  It doesn't take much pushing for me to despise Debbie and Sierra, so go for it, I say.  Push their "smug" edit to MAXIMUM POWER.  Make me cheer for Aubry (a very unusual event) when she doesn't take Debbie's bullshit.  Show me the underdogs being awesome.  Give me my blindside and make me happy.  To me this episode was the real Debbie-as-Coach bit they've been wanting for so long, and Tocantins Coach, when he was an unbelievable jackass.

And make Sarah into a hero?  I am absolutely here for that, as the kids say.  Huge episode for her, and I was always kind of on the Sarah tribe (I was going to suggest you could go back and check my work on the Cagayan board...but now I see that was at the tail end of TWOP, so nope).  I can see both sides of the Reward Challenge Debacle (charitably, I want to believe Probst was trying to help Cirie feel better, since she's been struggling emotionally with feelings of failure and inadequacy this season) but I'm almost inclined to believe it was included more for the Sarah content than anything else--going back to help Cirie, then giving (in my mind anyway) exactly the right speech, "sure I went back to help but that was Cirie who did that."  Then finding the advantage, and playing tribal so well -- speaking out of both sides of her mouth, avoiding idol plays while also secretly telling her new group to be strong together...good stuff!  BUT I am afraid, despite how satisfying it was, she probably moved too early.  While I don't think Debbie was right that she's flipping to a worse position (since Andrea and Zeke, whichever of them Sarah goes with, are presumably not going to keep the hatchet buried for long, so she'll be better than 6th for sure) it's still certain she's not going to be on top.  And there's so many people left, and Sierra might have been infuriating but she wasn't necessarily wrong that the 5 not in her alliance were fractured and split--it could be total chaos out there, and the strong 4 of Brad, Sierra, Tai, and Troyzan could easily maneuver through it all.  Especially since, as we know (though Sarah does not) they have three idols and one Secret Advantage among them...bah.

But I am cheerful.  I am optimistic.  After my bad feeling pre-merge every minute of Cirie and Andrea on my TV feels like a gift.  They were both in super form tonight.  Andrea of course with the challenge badassery, but also seeing exactly why Zeke did what he did, and being willing to work with him despite that and him being so mystifyingly a jerk this episode.  Cirie with some of that amazing Cirie persuasion magic.  And we can't forget Michaela, who is on TV, making hilarious theater out of whatever comes her way.  This was the first episode I really liked this season, so LET'S GO MID-MERGE!

[millennium]

This season has provided three of the most gratifying tribal councils in recent memory:

Tony.

Varner.

Debbie.

I don't even care who wins now.   We're only halfway through the movie but already it's been worth the price of admission. 

[cooksdelight]

I totally forgot that Troyzan won immunity.

[Nalan]

2 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

And make Sarah into a hero?  I am absolutely here for that, as the kids say.  Huge episode for her, and I was always kind of on the Sarah tribe (I was going to suggest you could go back and check my work on the Cagayan board...but now I see that was at the tail end of TWOP, so nope).  I can see both sides of the Reward Challenge Debacle (charitably, I want to believe Probst was trying to help Cirie feel better, since she's been struggling emotionally with feelings of failure and inadequacy this season) but I'm almost inclined to believe it was included more for the Sarah content than anything else--going back to help Cirie, then giving (in my mind anyway) exactly the right speech, "sure I went back to help but that was Cirie who did that."  Then finding the advantage, and playing tribal so well -- speaking out of both sides of her mouth, avoiding idol plays while also secretly telling her new group to be strong together...good stuff!

I loved Sarah's content in this episode.  From being the very first person to help Cirie finish the challenge to finding the advantage that Michaela somehow missed to being willing to listen to Cirie's pitch to get her to flip to actually doing so later on by getting Andrea and Zeke to at least temporarily mend fences, she played this week amazingly well.  And I think she can probably flip back and forth between the alliances relatively easily now that she's done it.  And yes, I appreciate the hero edit they gave her.  It was well-deserved, as she got rid of a villain, or a flunky of one, with some great gameplay.  At this point, I am more than happy to see more from her!

[Bryce Lynch]

5 hours ago, millennium said:

This season has provided three of the most gratifying tribal councils in recent memory:

Tony.

Varner.

Debbie.

I don't even care who wins now.   We're only halfway through the movie but already it's been worth the price of admission. 

Varner getting eliminated was just, as he got at least part of what he deserved, I wouldn't call that TC "gratifying".  To me, it started out ugly, transitioned in to awkward and then boring.

I would add JT's elimination, with Michaela sipping her tea, to the gratifying list.

Things could start to get interesting now.  The SierraPepper alliance is down 6-4, but the 6 don't seem that solid.

I could see Tai, Troy, Michaela, Zeke, Aubry and Sarah joining together to pick off the power couples in each alliance  (Sierra/Brad, Cirie/Andrea).

We also could see the Andrea/Cirie 6 target Brad or Sierra but be thwarted when Taii pulls out an idol or 2.  I don't think that would be a great use for Tai's idols, though, either for his survival or for building his résumé for the jury.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Bryce Lynch

[millennium]

11 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Varner getting eliminated was just, as he got at least part of what he deserved, I wouldn't call that TC "gratifying".  To me, it started out ugly, transitioned in to awkward and then boring.

When you despise Varner as much as I did, trust me, it was gratifying. 

[ByaNose]

6 hours ago, enlightenedbum said:

Not a GIF, but Andrea herself retweeted this:

 

And yeah, it's pretty funny.

It's funny I was looking more at Brad during Tribal Council. Wearing his red pants and his legs crossed. It looked so funny coming from a big burly guy like Brad. He might have been doing his nails, too. LOL!!! That is a funny and cocky picture of Andrea. It feels to be good on top whereas last week she wasn't. You have to take it when you can. That said, I still think they should have take Brad or Sierra out. I'm guessing Sarah said she would only do it if it was Debbie. She might be trying to keep SIerra and her "Final 3" deal. Why else would they get rid of someone like Debbie when they could have gotten rid of Brad?

Edited April 27, 2017 by ByaNose

[sigmaforce86]

Michaela is intolerable.  At times I actively hate her for petty actions like when she wasn't chosen for the challenge.  That wasn't disappointment over missing the reward, that was an all out temper tantrum worthy of a 4 year old.  The only thing she missed was throwing her belongings into the ocean.  Even Jeff at one point just looked at her and turned back to the rest with a face like "I got nothing".  And call it karma for her actions or irony or whatever but that little snit caused her to miss that advantage - she still might have missed it but if she hadn't been so focused on being first angry then trying to look "cool" about it lounging on the bench and had paid attention to her surroundings she'd at least have had a chance.  But other times like at tribal I start to wonder about her - maybe overanalyze her a bit - when she took out the coconut it was more like she was putting on an affected false front of "I don't care", then I start thinking what's wrong with her or her past that she needs this shell to pretend she's not worried or hurt by what's going on (like I said over-psycho-analyzing).  But if I had to live with that at camp she would drive me crazy (maybe that's what she wants, who knows).

What was the face Ozzy made when he walked into tribal?  Surprise or irritation that Troyzan had immunity?  He reacted to something.

Someone out there with great computer editing skills needs to make one long video of all of Debbie's talking heads where she named one of her many professions or hobbies.  I think I've lost count of her "achievements" by now but that would be fun to watch.

[sadiegirl1999]

Quote

Blame the auto correct - it's a bitch ;)

It's usually a birch for me.

[Lamima]

Debbie and Michaela would have been ideal to take to a F3. Maybe that's why they got rid of Debbie. Aubrey was always smart about that on her last season. And maybe Sarah realized she was one of those goats too and need to make a move to be not a goat.

[sadiegirl1999]

WRT the Cirie moment, Probst has said it's his "favorite moment in 34 seasons of Survivor".

Never change, Jeff, never change.

[Haleth]

4 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

it could be total chaos out there, and the strong 4 of Brad, Sierra, Tai, and Troyzan could easily maneuver through it all.  Especially since, as we know (though Sarah does not) they have three idols and one Secret Advantage among them...bah.

Too many gimmicks.  Do we know what Sierra's advantage is?  It was so long ago I forget if it was shown.  Can you all imagine how crazy TC would be if the Gang of 4 all pull out idols/advantage to save themselves?

I would have been happy with either Sierra or Debbie going since both of them were so insufferably smug.  If voting Debbie was what it took to get Sarah to jump, then so be it.  Plus it knocks Sierra down a few pegs.  

Did Tai speak at all in this episode?  The editing made it seem as if he's laying low just like Brad.

[vibeology]

41 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

It's funny I was looking more at Brad during Tribal Council. Wearing his red pants and his legs crossed. It looked so funny coming from a big burly guy like Brad. He might have been doing his nails, too. LOL!!! That is a funny and cocky picture of Andrea. It feels to be good on top whereas last week she wasn't. You have to take it when you can. That said, I still think they should have take Brad or Sierra out. I'm guessing Sarah said she would only do it if it was Debbie. She might be trying to keep SIerra and her "Final 3" deal. Why else would they get rid of someone like Debbie when they could have gotten rid of Brad?

I'm sure that would have been the smarter move, but for my own sake I'm so glad it was Debbie. I don't think I could have watched another week of her going around acting like, well, Debbie. Plus, I still think poorly of her for her water test tampering crimes. The editors weren't subtle about what was going to happen but it was so satisfying that I didn't care.

As for Michaela, this is really the first time I thought she acted the way people on the tribe have been describing her. Or more likely, the first time the editing let us see it. And I get why that would be frustrating and annoying for the people around her. No one is going to like someone who gets pissy over a reward challenge. I get Michaela's frustration but she ignored Cirie's good advice from only a few days ago. She should have been picked for a reward challenge but getting that upset isn't going to help her cause. Now Cirie might have done that to create the appearance of distance between them, but it still sucks. That being said, her antics while sitting out were not a good look. I don't think that caused her to miss the clue; where it was located made it hard for the person sitting out to spot. I didn't mind the coconut popcorn because playing to the jury is a part of the game and it was crystal clear to me the moment she pulled it out that she was on the right side of the vote and knew it. That's not a bad message to send to the jury.

[mojoween]

Sarah said she was going to make up her mind which way to go once she got to TC.  I wonder if that's true.

If she was still waffling, I imagine Debbie saying that everyone made the decision among the six when Sarah wasn't even there for the first part of the discussion helped to make up her mind.

[millennium]

49 minutes ago, sigmaforce86 said:

Michaela is intolerable.  At times I actively hate her for petty actions like when she wasn't chosen for the challenge.  That wasn't disappointment over missing the reward, that was an all out temper tantrum worthy of a 4 year old.  The only thing she missed was throwing her belongings into the ocean.  Even Jeff at one point just looked at her and turned back to the rest with a face like "I got nothing".  And call it karma for her actions or irony or whatever but that little snit caused her to miss that advantage - she still might have missed it but if she hadn't been so focused on being first angry then trying to look "cool" about it lounging on the bench and had paid attention to her surroundings she'd at least have had a chance.  But other times like at tribal I start to wonder about her - maybe overanalyze her a bit - when she took out the coconut it was more like she was putting on an affected false front of "I don't care", then I start thinking what's wrong with her or her past that she needs this shell to pretend she's not worried or hurt by what's going on (like I said over-psycho-analyzing).  But if I had to live with that at camp she would drive me crazy (maybe that's what she wants, who knows).

What was the face Ozzy made when he walked into tribal?  Surprise or irritation that Troyzan had immunity?  He reacted to something.

Someone out there with great computer editing skills needs to make one long video of all of Debbie's talking heads where she named one of her many professions or hobbies.  I think I've lost count of her "achievements" by now but that would be fun to watch.

I don't get the Michaela hate.  I think I've read more posts critical of Michaela than that harridan Debbie, despite that in terms of obnoxious behavior nothing Michaela has done can hold a candle to Debbie's "SHE COST US PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY!!!!" rant.

I don't blame Michaela for being disgusted at the schoolyard pic.   The cost of putting alliance ahead of ability was plainly shown in Cirie's failure.   And they keep using Michaela as fodder for tribal council.  Of course she feels bitter and devalued.

[Eolivet]

At least before Debbie left, she and Brad Culpepper, of all people, proved there is a way to say one doesn't like Michaela -- without using coded language:

"She's annoying," "she's irritating," "she gets on my nerves."

What a concept, Sierra.
 

5 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I'm curious how Michaela would have acted if she lasted longer on MvsGX.  Would she have been the same tea drinking, popcorn munching, TC delight we have here?

Michaela went to a total of 2 tribal councils on mvgx -- one where she was on the right side of the vote (the Mari vote) and one where she was voted out. (meaning that I don't think they edited around how Michaela was at tribal council -- the sample size was just too small).

Post-game interviews seem to indicate Michaela wasn't easy to get along with for the first few days (they showed a little of that with the Figgy thing) but that she did become part of the group. I'd have been curious to see if she'd have rubbed Gen X-ers like David and Jessica the wrong way or if these Game Changers are just particularly touchy. We saw absolutely nothing of how she interacted with Bret and Sunday on Ikabula.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Eolivet

[violet and green]

4 minutes ago, millennium said:

I don't blame Michaela for being disgusted at the schoolyard pic

Disgusted is Michaela's default expression!

[ProfCrash]

Bye Bye Debbie. I am thrilled because Debbie is gone and I really dislike players like Debbie.

That said, it should have been Brad or Sierra. Debbie is not the head of that alliance, Sierra and Brad are. Debbie is loud, annoying and a pain to live with but she is a minion to be manipulated. And a goat. A giant freaking goat. Fabio is not playing this season and sucked as a winner and he could be dropped in at the final tribal council and win against Debbie. His argument would be "I will blow the money on weed and that would still be better then Debbie winning because she is that freaking annoying and delusional." Hell, Russell could win against Debbie.

On the other hand, I would not want to live with Debbie for 24 hours never mind 39 days so I kind of get it.

Michaela makes me laugh but I think it is clear that she annoys the heck out of a good number of people. Rob and Stephen said that they think that Michaela is like Abi, that the glares and negative attitude in camp is simply awful to live with and that is why she is disliked. I can see that. The situation is miserable, food is limited, your sleep is crap and there is a ton of pressure because you are trying to win a million dollars and now you are living with someone who is completely negative. The glares, comments and body language has to be tiring. Michaela's attitude sucks and she cannot hide it. She was pouting and bitching worse then my 4 year old when I tell him he cannot watch Trolls at 8 PM because it is bed time and to get his ass to bed otherwise I will make Trolls go away forever and ever. (And I really want him to pout and complain more because I HATE Trolls.Hate it. Moana rocks, Trolls is awful. Debbie levels of awful.) I can see where she would annoy folks.

But her kind of antics at tribal make me laugh. The props are great. I don't hate character like I do Abi but I can easily see why she annoys the people she is playing with. Cirie tried to council her on her behavior and Michaela managed to ignore Cirie's words of wisdom.

I thought Sarah did great tonight. She is playing that middle person so much better this season then she did in her first season. She is talking and listening to others. She is not tied into a specific course of action. She made a good choice in flipping. I even get her targeting Debbie. Debbie is talking about not trusting Sarah and excludes Sarah from strategy discussion. Brad and Sierra at least seem to include Sarah and do not seem to be targeting Sarah. I can understand targeting the person who is targeting you.

Sarah is not in a bad place, she has connections with Troyzan that she developed when he was the odd man out. She is doing a nice job with Zeke. She has been kind and helpful to people. She is willing to listen and work with different folks. I think Sarah is in a good position.

[BusyOctober]

My only explanation for Cirie leaving Michaela on the bench was to hide their alliance.  Makes NO sense otherwise IMO.  I'm sad Michaela didn't find the advantage, but she is a woman who wears every.single.emotion. on her face and in her attitude.  She is an athletic competitor & she was so mad about being left out, she just sat there and stewed instead of looking around.  I love her "zero fucks" attitude on this show!  I hope she can keep it in check a little longer to outlast Sierra and Brad at least.  I despise Sierra and her smugness, and Brad is just meh, but I want them out before Michaela.  Of course neither one of those a-holes would give Michaela a vote if she makes it to the finals.

There's still a lot of game left, so flipping and flopping is bound to happen.  But I would love for the the rest of the "tightly allied, lines drawn in concrete" pack to be Pagong-ed as they were planning to do to the other side.  Please let Sierra be the next one gone!  I'd like her to be gone before she can use the dumb legacy advantage she nabbed on the first day.

[JustCrazy]

Ohhh, the irony.  Debbie, "Michaela is really annoying."   So glad to see that dillusional know it all gone.  For 12 long, agonizing years I worked with someone exactly like Debbie.

 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Michaela!  I was so glad to see her back.  I kept saying that Debbie was out of her gourd, or the editors were being very stealthy in not showing how Michaela was being annoying.  Now, if Michaela would only turn that beautiful gaze towards Jeff everytime he says something annoying.

[Gweilo]

I feel like it's an unpopular opinion, but I don't find Sierra and Brad....all that bad?

I find Michaela quite obnoxious.

Debbie, Debbie, Debbie. You kept referring to the "airplane" you were on. Firstly, it was a seaplane. Secondly, all the military aviation people I know refer to them as "aircraft" (while "airplane" might be technically correct in some cases, if Debbie was really in the air patrol thingy she'd probably use "aircraft"). For all we know, Debbie was thinking of the bands air supply and snow patrol, and got the words mixed up when she filled out her occupation.

Also Probst and "Troyzan is so malnourished his pants are falling off." For god's sake, they are eating so well that nobody could even fake enthusiasm at the prospect of another reward feast.

[ProfCrash]

Brad has been fine this season. Sierra does not bother me. They are both pretty boring this season. Sierra was boring in her first season, so I am not exactly surprised that she is boring this season. Brad is showing some good common sense, he is thinking and does not appear to be acting like a pig this season. This is a vast improvement over his first season.

10 minutes ago, Gweilo said:

Also Probst and "Troyzan is so malnourished his pants are falling off." For god's sake, they are eating so well that nobody could even fake enthusiasm at the prospect of another reward feast.

Debbie lost a 1 1/2 pounds so they are not losing a ton of weight. I don't remember being all that impressed with the weight that Hali or Ozzy had lost either. Debbie's lack of weight lose could partially be that she is an older woman so losing weight is a bit harder but she has been eating just fine. Ozzy said in his interviews that he was fishing a lot and I got the feeling he was bringing in a large amount of fish so that the tribes he was on were eating pretty well.

[fishcakes]

I don't know if it was Cirie who didn't pick Michaela. In the past when they've shown the schoolyard picks, sometimes the captain chooses everyone and sometimes the captain only chooses the second person. Then the second person chooses the third and so on. I think the latter is probably how they did it this time because Michaela was mad at everyone. If it had been just captains choosing everyone, I don't think she would have been angry; she knows Cirie is hiding their alliance and she knows Brad wouldn't pick her.

As annoying as Debbie is, I would have rather seen Sierra go. Debbie was ridiculously condescending to Aubry, but Sierra talking to Sarah was equally condescending, just in a more subtle way. Sierra's attitude in that talk was like she was the wise elder proud of Sarah for finally learning to play the game, which is pretty rich coming from someone who, in her first season, did nothing more than clamp on to Rodney and Dan Foley and let them carry her to the end, and in this season is doing a lot of bragging about herself running the game, yet doing what Brad or Debbie wants.

Sarah is playing a much better game than she did in her first season, and I think I might be rooting for her, which I never thought I'd say, but she also might be a little too impressed with herself. Her thing about noticing expired tags was a little cringeworthy seeing as how it is her job, after all; it's analogous to a gardener saying, "most people don't mow other people's lawns, but I guarantee you [raises finger in air], I DO."

[IgnoranceisBLISS]

8 hours ago, enlightenedbum said:

Sierra is also a potential first pick because she's an idiot savant with her one skill being tossing a grappling hook and similar carnival games. 

Dead. LMAO

[illini1959]

12 hours ago, Trick Question said:

Hali and Ozzy's "wait, we have to spend the next three days with Debbie?" faces FTW

lol that's what we said!! 

[Bryce Lynch]

1 hour ago, millennium said:

I don't get the Michaela hate.  I think I've read more posts critical of Michaela than that harridan Debbie, despite that in terms of obnoxious behavior nothing Michaela has done can hold a candle to Debbie's "SHE COST US PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY!!!!" rant.

I don't blame Michaela for being disgusted at the schoolyard pic.   The cost of putting alliance ahead of ability was plainly shown in Cirie's failure.   And they keep using Michaela as fodder for tribal council.  Of course she feels bitter and devalued.

I love Michaela and her behavior doesn't bother me, but I think it is very, bad for her game.  

[IgnoranceisBLISS]

54 minutes ago, BusyOctober said:

My only explanation for Cirie leaving Michaela on the bench was to hide their alliance.  Makes NO sense otherwise IMO.  I'm sad Michaela didn't find the advantage, but she is a woman who wears every.single.emotion. on her face and in her attitude.  She is an athletic competitor & she was so mad about being left out, she just sat there and stewed instead of looking around.  I love her "zero fucks" attitude on this show!  I hope she can keep it in check a little longer to outlast Sierra and Brad at least.  I despise Sierra and her smugness, and Brad is just meh, but I want them out before Michaela.  Of course neither one of those a-holes would give Michaela a vote if she makes it to the finals.

So much this!

[ShadowSixx]

Michaela is in a lose-lose situation. She'll forever have a target on her back because of her performances in challenges and not being well liked in camp. If she tried to start an alliance she'll be voted out because word will spread fast and more than likely will never see herself in a swing vote position. Best thing she can do is stay in the middle or under the radar which is hard for her. I see why she isn't getting close to anyone, they always talk about her behind her back when she walks away from the group. 

While Debbie's elimination was one of the best things ever, they all had an opportunity to take out Sierra and didn't. Sometimes it's stupid of them to vote for someone they can't live with and who's annoying them. That's the best person to keep around because they have no shot at winning ever. Get rid of people who think they run the game or who has the numbers. They know this and still didn't pull the trigger. Now that both alliances have equal numbers, votes can go either way now and they may start voting that way but I highly doubt it.

[Hpmec]

I'm getting the rather uncomfortable vibe that this show is becoming more and more scripted. Debbie's over the top TC comments about her rock solid alliance might as well have ended with "So of course I'm about to be blindsided because Sarah promised she'd make up her mind at TC and I've given her every reason to vote me out."  Cirie is the least athletic player, so naturally she's made a team captain who leaves Michaela sitting on the bench while she competes in the challenge in the anchor position, guaranteeing a loss for her team but creating an inspirational moment that Probst can wax philosophic over as her teammates help her over the finish line. Michaela fails to see the well marked secret advantage at her feet, but it is conveniently spotted by Sarah, who stuffs it in her shoe while, apparently, every other player remains oblivious. This follows the outing of Zeke two weeks ago which came on the heels of the use of the word "metamorphosis" at the challenge. It all makes for very compelling tv but feels more like the players are actors who've been given roles to play and situations to act out and are following orders to the hilt. It strikes me as very inauthentic and a little like a great white shark is circling the waters and Survivor is actively jumping it. 

[Rachel RSL]

2 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

What was the face Ozzy made when he walked into tribal?  Surprise or irritation that Troyzan had immunity?  He reacted to something.

I noticed that too and it immediately reminded me of Joey Tribbiani's "smell the fart" acting. I just assumed he was probably squinting at the lights or looking at something random and they just edited it to make it seem like he was giving them some sort of look.

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Too many gimmicks.  Do we know what Sierra's advantage is?  

Sorry, I didn't notice if someone answered this or not yet but Sierra has a Legacy Advantage, same as what Jessica/Ken had last season.

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

Fabio is not playing this season and sucked as a winner

Disagree! I loved Fabio!

25 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Her thing about noticing expired tags was a little cringeworthy seeing as how it is her job, after all; it's analogous to a gardener saying, "most people don't mow other people's lawns, but I guarantee you [raises finger in air], I DO."

Ha! I don't even care about the dorkiness of that analogy, I thought she was adorable in that confessional.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Rachel RSL

[DonitsYum]

Her lounging was amusing. The munching on coconut was hilarious.
They should have picked her for the challenge - she swims well and could probably scamper across that beam like a cat.
I need to go watch Ponderosa now and see how fantastically awkward the Debbie - Ozzy reunion was.....

[TaraS1]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

Michaela makes me laugh but I think it is clear that she annoys the heck out of a good number of people. Rob and Stephen said that they think that Michaela is like Abi, that the glares and negative attitude in camp is simply awful to live with and that is why she is disliked. I can see that. The situation is miserable, food is limited, your sleep is crap and there is a ton of pressure because you are trying to win a million dollars and now you are living with someone who is completely negative. The glares, comments and body language has to be tiring. Michaela's attitude sucks and she cannot hide it. 

I don't mind Michaela, and Abi is probably my most hated Survivor contestant of all time, so while I can understand Rob & Stephen comparing them in terms of negative attitudes at camp, I think Michaela is actually a nice person inside, whereas Abi is the devil.  No one will ever convince me that she was just playing a part or edited badly.  She took joy in being unkind and making other people miserable.  I don't see that same kind of vitriolic intent in Michaela.

[nooshie]

Am I the only one who misses getting to see the (oft-mentioned) "school-yard picks"? If Michaela is the one left out, I want to see who was chosen ahead of her and why. In the early seasons they showed every single pick, and it was a great insight into the alliances and strategies at the time. The second- or third-last person to be chosen is also quite interesting. Narrowing it down just makes it less fun.

[Lindsarella]

It seemed pretty obvious to me that Jeff asked Cirie if she wanted to finish and encouraged that whole situation because he wanted to extend Michaela's time on the bench/raft. The longer she's there, the more of a chance she had to find it. Also, let's park the boat right by there, so everyone has to go right by it, too. I see you, Jeff.

[Wings]

13 hours ago, sadiegirl1999 said:

I am not diminishing what she did b/c I, too, would suck at every challenge.

But Probst acted like this was sooooooooo amazing. He *asked* her if she wanted to finish. She didn't say..."Jeff, will you let me finish this?"

I'll let myself out.

I agree, that was very odd. 

We will learn at some point why Michaela wasn't chosen, even more peculiar that helping Cirie to the finish line.  My guess is Tai and Brad were team captains because they began the challenge first so one of them had the choice of Cirie and Michaela; they had to be the last 2 standing.  This is also odd and insane.  

10 minutes ago, Lindsarella said:

It seemed pretty obvious to me that Jeff asked Cirie if she wanted to finish and encouraged that whole situation because he wanted to extend Michaela's time on the bench/raft. The longer she's there, the more of a chance she had to find it. Also, let's park the boat right by there, so everyone has to go right by it, too. I see you, Jeff.

Good point.

Edited April 27, 2017 by wings707

[peachmangosteen]

13 hours ago, SourK said:

And it comes down to the thing where they all got super invested in having this embarrassing moment with Cirie and Michaela looked away and didn't engage very much. I would have been really uncomfortable if I were there, and I probably would have wanted to react the same way, but one of the things I've learned as I get older,is that sometimes part of what you have to do to support other people is let them pull you into their embarrassing circle of vulnerability and share that moment with them even if it's really awkward. 

See now if I was in Cirie's position I would absolutely hate everyone coming over to me. I would've appreciated that Michaela didn't join in on that embarrassing display. I get what the other tribe members were trying to do and they did seem sincere with it, and Cirie seemed to appreciate it, but I would've been even more mortified if that happened to me and my whole tribe came over to huddle over me.

13 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

I wonder who keeps giving her the awesome braids?

I'm pretty sure it's Sierra. I think I remember her giving all the women braids on WA. 

12 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

How did nobody notice Sarah taking the Advantage?

Right! That whole sequence was very suspect to me.

10 hours ago, Gajic said:

That's because you're a police officer and you're trained to look at it ... That's your job. 

This lol. I was rolling over her saying that. I literally said out loud to the tv, "That's your job, idiot!" Sarah's confessionals give me so much second-hand embarrassment.

4 hours ago, ByaNose said:

 I'm guessing Sarah said she would only do it if it was Debbie. She might be trying to keep SIerra and her "Final 3" deal. Why else would they get rid of someone like Debbie when they could have gotten rid of Brad?

Yea, I think the fact that Aubry brought up the possibility of getting rid of Debbie is what ultimately made Sarah switch. Getting rid of Debbie allows Sarah to still be able to work a F3 possibility with Sierra. It lets her not have to fully break from the big alliance just yet. Plus, Debbie was lying about Sarah and Sarah really hates that and she is kinda petty, so really it all just worked out great for Sarah. So thank goodness for Aubry's play there because otherwise I'm not so sure Debbie would be gone now. It probably would've been Andrea or Michaela. 

2 hours ago, Gweilo said:

I feel like it's an unpopular opinion, but I don't find Sierra and Brad....all that bad?

Me either. I really don't think Sierra is coming of as smug or arrogant as most others do. I mean she is running the game, I can hardly blame her for knowing it. I'm actually interested to see what she does now. I actually found her reaction to Debbie being blindsided interesting. She didn't seem pissed or even surprised. She was smiling from ear to ear.

1 hour ago, Hpmec said:

I'm getting the rather uncomfortable vibe that this show is becoming more and more scripted.

Yea, this season is really making it clear just how much this game is a TV show first and foremost. 

Edited April 27, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[vb68]

Quote

5 HOURS AGO, SIGMAFORCE86 SAID:

What was the face Ozzy made when he walked into tribal?  Surprise or irritation that Troyzan had immunity?  He reacted to something.

Ozzy gives good stink face. I thought he was really to throw down.  LOL.  Or maybe he was mad that he saw that they still had some food with Michaela's props!

4 hours ago, millennium said:

I don't blame Michaela for being disgusted at the schoolyard pic.   The cost of putting alliance ahead of ability was plainly shown in Cirie's failure.   And they keep using Michaela as fodder for tribal council.  Of course she feels bitter and devalued.

As irritated as she was, I noticed Michaela was still very careful not to badmouth Cirie.  I think she understands Cirie is trying to hide their closeness. She's basically said that on prior occasions.

Edited April 27, 2017 by vb68

[peachmangosteen]

I forgot to mention that my fave thing about this classically awesome ep was how it showed so many different people playing the social/strategic game beautifully. Sarah and Cirie's talk along with Cirie's "Officer Sarah" at TC just showed how good Cirie still is (and I normally think Cirie is overrated). Aubry's reaction to Debbie and then her subsequently letting everyone know about it, particularly how she framed it to Sarah, was great. Pretty much everything Andrea did was awesome and Sarah had a few great moments as well. I loved watching all these women just kill it!

[Jobiska]

Ha, Ozzy looked to me like he was suppressing a burp most of the time.  I wondered if the ceviche he made at Ponderosa was backing up on him!  (I presume their foodstuffs there are not a spoiler--except maybe of his digestion).  

Sarah's definitely growing on me, which I never thought would happen.   Sierra still hasn't endeared herself to me.  It's not that I think she's smug or whatever--I said before the season she's the only one I felt profoundly "meh" about, and she hasn't un-meh'ed herself to me.  Plus, eyebrows.  But I don't remember her being as tall as she is.  Were her first season castmates taller on average than this season?  

I have not been able to pull myself out of a pool since I was a child.   I felt for Cirie!   

I kept asking my son "they couldn't be broadcasting this much hubris [e.g. line in concrete] and not have there be a downfall, could they?"  

We went from Debbie and Tai intentionally baring their butts (and everything else in Tai's case) last week to Troyzan doing it unintentionally, but repeatedly! 

[MostlyContent]

32 minutes ago, wings707 said:

My guess is Tai and Brad were team captains because they began the challenge first so one of them had the choice of Cirie and Michaela; they had to be the last 2 standing.  This is also odd and insane.

Brad and Cirie were the team captains.  I'm sure Cirie was horrified.  That meant she had to play/participate in a swimming challenge.  

Edited April 27, 2017 by MostlyContent

[enoughcats]

The finale is May 24, two hours. 

So I was expecting two to go last night.  How do you reduce ten to three (or two) in three weeks? Two per week for the merry, merry month of May?

[humbleopinion]

I'm waiting for one of the winners of the reward challenge to say to Jeff....Ima gonna sit out this feast because I've been putting on too much weight and need to look good for the cameras*flexing*

[fishcakes]

3 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I forgot to mention that my fave thing about this classically awesome ep was how it showed so many different people playing the social/strategic game beautifully. Sarah and Cirie's talk along with Cirie's "Officer Sarah" at TC just showed how good Cirie still is (and I normally think Cirie is overrated). Aubry's reaction to Debbie and then her subsequently letting everyone know about it, particularly how she framed it to Sarah, was great. Pretty much everything Andrea did was awesome and Sarah had a few great moments as well. I loved watching all these women just kill it!

I was just thinking this morning about how well they've showcased the women players this season. With the exception of the focus on Zeke a couple of episodes ago, which they couldn't have avoided given what happened, the men players have really been pushed into the background. Overall, I think the women have been stronger than the men this season, and I especially love that there's no women's alliance that the men could use to excuse why they're down in numbers. Just everybody playing in their own best interests, and the women dominating. I still think Sierra is a barnacle and a follower, but the rest of the remaining women are impressing me more every week.

[NeverLate]

2 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I love Michaela and her behavior doesn't bother me, but I think it is very, bad for her game.  

I agree, its horrible for her game, she's perfect to take to the end though.

1 hour ago, DonitsYum said:

Her lounging was amusing. The munching on coconut was hilarious.
They should have picked her for the challenge - she swims well and could probably scamper across that beam like a cat.
I need to go watch Ponderosa now and see how fantastically awkward the Debbie - Ozzy reunion was.....

It wasn't that bad. Hali seems very gullible , and in awe of Ozzy and Debbie