S34.E11: Reinventing How This Game Is Played

[truthaboutluv]

4 minutes ago, F. M. said:

See I think the opposite, somewhere in their minds, they heard him giving them a clue, or clues. It was subtle, but I'm betting Zeke ( a sharp mind) caught it...

Except Andrea was the one to first suggest re-inventing and when they tried that, it was then the whole thing fell into place for Zeke.

[sadiegirl1999]

Anyone else chuckle that Troyzan suggested a hashtag for "spin and grin"? Just me?

I sooooooo wanted the editors to flash that up there!

[susannot]

Andrea got it first,  It was Re-inventing.  Then Zeke got all the rest as the dominoes fell into place.  There is no question that the first word won it for them.

 Zeke and Andrea targeted each other because they were both too smart.  It was a respect vote.

[simplyme]

3 minutes ago, F. M. said:

See I think the opposite, somewhere in their minds, they heard him giving them a clue, or clues. It was subtle, but I'm betting Zeke ( a sharp mind) caught it...

Technically, I believe it was andrea who turned to zeke and suggested the word reinventing. I wouldn't be surprised if jeff's blathering turned her in the right direction.

As to the idols Courtney Yates mentioned,  @colorbars is right. No one knows about Troy's. They probably suspect Tai has one (not two) but don't know for sure.

Simplymom is gobsmacked that everyone tells Cirie all sorts of stuff. Like 

[NeverLate]

5 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

Except Andrea was the one to first suggest re-inventing and when they tried that, it was then the whole thing fell into place for Zeke.

Okay Andrea's sharp mind. There is more than one. I just find Andrea gave petty reasons to get rid of Zeke, hope she goes next.

[PaperTree]

• Cheesecake.  Oy!  These rewards are out of conteol.  too much.

  Go Mik.  Tied at the puzzle.......culpepper gang must lose.  

  Damn.  I hope this is Brad's last meal 

  I can see this crew plotting to boot Cirie.  

  Cry me a river miss eyebrows.  i despise you, tai

  Aubrey is tuned in. Andrea too.  

  Did cirie move on Sara too soon?  Sara is not very smart and overestimates her ability.

  This Zeke Brad lovefest makes me gag.

  Well done Andrea!.  I hope they whak Eyebrows and Tai wastes an idol

  Groveling Sierra is pathetic.

  Stipid of A and c to go to sara 

  Mik is right.  Too soon for Zeke!  Whack one of the 4. (and they don;t know they have 3 idols!)

  Sara is right to stfu.  scary.

  WHY ARENT THEY GOING AFTER BRAD!!

  No tribal munching for Mik tonite at TC  :(  Sierra prostituting herself.

  How genuine are these relationships, really, what BS

  Idol free.......................

  I'm happy Zeke is gone, but I think it was a bad move  by the ladies.  

• \I would have bagged that Culpepper

• The Clustersuck of Tai,Sierra, Brad, and floaty Troyzan survives.

• Being something of an old, dirty hippie myself, i have a soft spot for Troyzan 

  TBC  :)

  I've been off the grid in Bar Harbor, ME.  Good to be back.

[NeverLate]

1 minute ago, simplyme said:

Technically, I believe it was andrea who turned to zeke and suggested the word reinventing. I wouldn't be surprised if jeff's blathering turned her in the right direction.

As to the idols Courtney Yates mentioned,  @colorbars is right. No one knows about Troy's. They probably suspect Tai has one (not two) but don't know for sure.

Simplymom is gobsmacked that everyone tells Cirie all sorts of stuff. Like 

Sarah might regret that! But I think Brad and Sarah will hook up again.

[truthaboutluv]

10 minutes ago, F. M. said:

Okay Andrea's sharp mind. There is more than one. I just find Andrea gave petty reasons to get rid of Zeke, hope she goes next.

How was Andrea petty for going after Zeke? Zeke and Andrea were a solid pair who had been together from the beginning and he went after her, when there was no reason to, as it would give another alliance numbers over them, all because he didn't like feeling like he wasn't the one controlling all the decisions. He was determined to get her out and she knew it.

So she got him first, which is how the game is played. Hell, in his exit interview he admitted it and fully owned that it was good she came after him because he was going to go after her and try to get her eliminated. Andrea was not being petty, she was being a damn good Survivor player, which yes, is why they likely will come for her as soon as possible. Because she is a dangerous player to let get to the end because she can win it all. She is strong in challenges, smart, strategic and seemingly pretty good at the social game as well.

Quote

Groveling Sierra is pathetic.

And I  thought it was hilarious. My how quickly she fell right back in line to invisible, follow the leader Sierra once she wasn't in the numbers. And that is exactly why the idea that Sierra was ever any great strategic threat or controlling anything, was laughable. 

Edited May 4, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[enlightenedbum]

3 minutes ago, F. M. said:

Okay Andrea's sharp mind. There is more than one. I just find Andrea gave petty reasons to get rid of Zeke, hope she goes next.

The petty reason being "he was gunning for me" which he said in his exit interview.  Which is not petty so much as necessary.

[NeverLate]

Just now, enlightenedbum said:

The petty reason being "he was gunning for me" which he said in his exit interview.  Which is not petty so much as necessary.

She's been whining for the past two episodes. Has she moved on now ( rolling my eyes) . I don't see Sarah whining like that.

15 minutes ago, enlightenedbum said:

They showed Andrea getting the important word ("Reinventing") and from there it was easy to get "game" and "played."

So Jeffs blather worked.LOL. I said it would..( grin)

[truthaboutluv]

1 minute ago, F. M. said:

She's been whining for the past two episodes. Has she moved on now ( rolling my eyes) . I don't see Sarah whining like that.

How was she whinging? She confronted him after the Ozzie vote about his plan to get her out and then later they put their differences aside to work together to get rid of Debbie. And this episode, she made a comment of his bonding with Brad and that it concerned her because at that point she was well aware that he was not trustworthy and would flip in a heartbeat. And sure enough, we saw him wanting to pull Brad and Troyzan in with him and Sarah. Zeke was a dangerous player to Andrea's game and her getting further and so she did what any smart player would do and worked with others to get rid of him. Am I missing something here? Is that not the point of how Survivor is played?

[Eolivet]

I don't understand how it never came up to get rid of Sarah. Once someone has proved they will flip on you, they can't really be trusted. And as others have said, I think she'll flip back.

Oh Zeke, lasted three fewer days than last year. Sort of shocked at Michaela's tears -- I didn't think they were that close, game-wise (that's why returning player seasons are so weird -- all the outside pre-existing relationships that color in-game interactions).

Hey, @Ms Blue Jay -- Cirie lost another puzzle to Zeke. Does it count (honestly asking -- in a Cirie-led puzzle team vs. a Zeke-led puzzle team, does one or the other get credit for the win when we're looking at the winner of Game Changers Puzzle Survivor?)

Edited May 4, 2017 by Eolivet

[Silver Raven]

ack, Tai at the fire in the dark and they were using the night glasses to show us what was doing, he looked like a demon.

Michaela came into that award challenge like she didn't want to be there, and is done.  But then she actually raced to the chair.

Harvard guy Zeke doesn't know how to spell?

They couldn't come up with a name for this episode that wasn't the answer to the puzzle?

I'm surprised ex-football player Culpeper didn't know how to maneuver through those blocks.

Why were they voting for Tai?

Oh, jeez.  The tears from next week.  Ugh.

[enlightenedbum]

8 minutes ago, Eolivet said:

I don't understand how it never came up to get rid of Sarah. Once someone has proved they will flip on you, they can't really be trusted. And as others have said, I think she'll flip back.

Oh Zeke, lasted three fewer days than last year. Sort of shocked at Michaela's tears -- I didn't think they were that close, game-wise (that's why returning player seasons are so weird -- all the outside pre-existing relationships that color in-game interactions).

I wondered this too.  But for now everyone needed her for their more immediate plans.  She's the second most likely flip in the majority (after Zeke) so the minority won't target her.  And because Zeke is a more immediate target for half of the power couple of the majority because he was out to get her, Zeke has to go before they think about Sarah.  And then they need her to keep the 5-4 edge...

Other thought: I bet both Andrea and Cirie reasonably believe they can win, even against the other.  Which makes that partnership strong and means Cirie will stick her nose out for Andrea like she did tonight.  I do think they'd both boot the other at 4 because they're the two most dangerous people out there, but if they had to I think they'd both be comfortable going to the jury with the other.

Edited May 4, 2017 by enlightenedbum

[simplyme]

Argh. Excuse random cutoffs as my tablet freaks out and posts mid-thought.

So, yeah. Sarah telling Cirie about her advantage was stupid. Cirie and Andrea then targetting one of Sarah's allies and telling her was ballsy and could have bitten them bad.

I think Sarah may be making a mistake if she's planning to play the middle for the rest of the game because that's going to alienate just about everyone. Flipping to vote out Debbie because she was 6th in the alliance and was also very close with others not in the alliance? Good, strategic move. Continuing to float back and forth and be directly responsible for putting people on the jury without committing to a side? That's going to leave a lot of people ticked off specifically at her.

[princelina]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

As much as I like the puzzles, maybe the players should get an alternative to trying to draw power out of exhausted brain cells. Or maybe Probst should force teams to swap out puzzle solvers every ten minutes.

I'd like to see more of that - like one of those challenges where they have to remember things about the other players and write them on a tablet?  Maybe when they get down to II challenges...

[Rachel RSL]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

As much as I like the puzzles, maybe the players should get an alternative to trying to draw power out of exhausted brain cells. Or maybe Probst should force teams to swap out puzzle solvers every ten minutes.

Or maybe they should use actual well-known phrases instead of just a random sentence. No wonder it took them forever to figure it out. (Also, nobody has reinvented anything. Stop forcing that damn theme down our throats, Probst!)

WTF with Michaela sobbing? That was so odd and unexpected. If her and Zeke were that close, maybe the editors could have shown us a tiny glimpse of that?  I was amused though that TC went on so long, Ozzy had time to change his hairstyle.

Overall, a pretty boring episode. Most of the entertaining people are gone. Save us, Cirie!

[colorbars]

33 minutes ago, F. M. said:

She's been whining for the past two episodes. Has she moved on now ( rolling my eyes) . I don't see Sarah whining like that.

So Jeffs blather worked.LOL. I said it would..( grin)

What does Sarah have to "whine" about with Zeke? All Zeke did to her was warn Varner about them voting him out. That's not what Andrea's beef is. She didn't even care when he did that (unlike Sarah). It was Zeke turning on her for literally no reason and actively trying to gather people to vote her out when they were supposed to be in a tight duo/trio with Cirie. She put her own feelings aside for the Debbie vote, but once Zeke was acting shady again, her alarm bells went off and she was back to wanting him out ASAP. Which Zeke said himself was the right move, because he WAS going after her.

30 minutes ago, Eolivet said:

Hey, @Ms Blue Jay -- Cirie lost another puzzle to Zeke. Does it count (honestly asking -- in a Cirie-led puzzle team vs. a Zeke-led puzzle team, does one or the other get credit for the win when we're looking at the winner of Game Changers Puzzle Survivor?)

Technically she lost it more to Andrea than to Zeke, but.

[NeverLate]

36 minutes ago, Eolivet said:

I don't understand how it never came up to get rid of Sarah. Once someone has proved they will flip on you, they can't really be trusted. And as others have said, I think she'll flip back.

Oh Zeke, lasted three fewer days than last year. Sort of shocked at Michaela's tears -- I didn't think they were that close, game-wise (that's why returning player seasons are so weird -- all the outside pre-existing relationships that color in-game interactions).

Hey, @Ms Blue Jay -- Cirie lost another puzzle to Zeke. Does it count (honestly asking -- in a Cirie-led puzzle team vs. a Zeke-led puzzle team, does one or the other get credit for the win when we're looking at the winner of Game Changers Puzzle Survivor?)

Cirie doesn't seem very good at anything really, and she's played how many times? Did she say four? ..

[enlightenedbum]

Other than MIND CONTROL.  Which is a pretty good skill to have in this game.

[Daisy]

1 minute ago, enlightenedbum said:

Other than MIND CONTROL.  Which is a pretty good skill to have in this game.

yeup. Cirie's jedi powers is strong. 

[NeverLate]

1 hour ago, colorbars said:

Have either Tai or Troyzan even told anyone about their idols?

These two aren't the brightest bulbs in the box.

2 minutes ago, enlightenedbum said:

Other than MIND CONTROL.  Which is a pretty good skill to have in this game.

LOL, more like goat for F3 this season.

[enlightenedbum]

Cirie would never lose a jury vote to any combination of players and jurors.  She's too smart and too likable and has a good story as far as these things go.  Which is why no one would ever allow her in front of a jury.

[LadyChatts]

Just now, enlightenedbum said:

Cirie would never lose a jury vote to any combination of players and jurors.  She's too smart and too likable and has a good story as far as these things go.  Which is why no one would ever allow her in front of a jury.

Yep.  She is amazing at this game, but no way she will ever make the final three unless she goes on an immunity run.  

[colorbars]

1 minute ago, LadyChatts said:

Yep.  She is amazing at this game, but no way she will ever make the final three unless she goes on an immunity run.  

Which sadly, will never happen. But I've made peace with that, and just enjoy watching her play the game.

[UncleChuck]

Quote

And Andrea won that challenge! 

Still a badass.  And now a strategist.

I enjoy watching Andrea host her post-game Survivor panel discussion each week.  She is pretty skilled at moderating the panel to discuss the highlights and low points of the episode (even her own plays and mistakes) and leading her panel to speculate on who will eventually be Sole Survivor, without giving hints or spoiling the events yet to be aired.

Quote

WTF with Michaela sobbing? That was so odd and unexpected.

I figured she realized that she forgot to bring her tea and snacks with her...

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, Eolivet said:

Hey, @Ms Blue Jay -- Cirie lost another puzzle to Zeke. Does it count (honestly asking -- in a Cirie-led puzzle team vs. a Zeke-led puzzle team, does one or the other get credit for the win when we're looking at the winner of Game Changers Puzzle Survivor?)

Oh of course it counts.  But reading the comments - it seems that it was Andrea who came up with "Re-inventing".   I think Zeke was more a lucky bystander here.  Andrea was the catalyst and then I guess Zeke helped figure the rest out..... Kinda wonder how long Zeke and Cirie would have been standing out there if not for Andrea.....

Tonight I figured that the person having the closest edit to Adam's from Millennials Vs Gen X season is Aubrey.  In that, I keep forgetting she's there.

There's not enough Ozzy on this show.  What an incredibly boring episode.  The only tension I felt was when I was terrified they would vote out Tai, and then really feeling Michaela's breakdown.

I've been on luxury cruises, and these "Survivors" eat as much as I did on them...

Edited May 4, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[Eolivet]

I remember that puzzle fondly from last year, because it was the place where Probst said the stupidest thing he said all season (other than possibly "When you text, do you spell out y-o-u?"). When Michelle, Figgy and Michaela (and others, including Zeke) were counting on their fingers to figure out the words, he claimed they were solving the puzzle "millennial style."

Funny when Michaela counted on her fingers this time, it was just plain old puzzle-solving because it didn't fit the "theme." C'mon, Probst -- this year, counting on one's fingers could've been a "game-changing move."

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, truthaboutluv said:

How was Andrea petty for going after Zeke?

To me it seemed more about emotion, than the game.  Although, Zeke admitted himself, I guess if Andrea targeted Sierra this episode, then next episode Zeke might join with people like Tai and gun for Andrea.  So..... I dunno.

I really believed Sarah and Michaela's speeches about wanting to stick with Zeke.  Sarah only mentioned it like 400 times this episode.  I don't understand why they didn't show how these women got convinced to do Andrea's revenge bidding.  I guess Cirie and Andrea convinced them that Zeke was a huge threat?

46 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

Or maybe they should use actual well-known phrases instead of just a random sentence.

Like "Reinventing the wheel".  I totally agree with you.  It has to be known or a cliche.  Not something that nobody has ever said.  LOL.  These challenges, oh my god.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[NeverLate]

23 minutes ago, UncleChuck said:

I enjoy watching Andrea host her post-game Survivor panel discussion each week.  She is pretty skilled at moderating the panel to discuss the highlights and low points of the episode (even her own plays and mistakes) and leading her panel to speculate on who will eventually be Sole Survivor, without giving hints or spoiling the events yet to be aired.

I figured she realized that she forgot to bring her tea and snacks with her...

The bolded made me crack up. Too funny Ms Blue Jay

[truthaboutluv]

17 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

To me it seemed more about emotion, than the game.  Although, Zeke admitted himself, I guess if Andrea targeted Sierra this episode, then next episode Zeke might join with people like Tai and gun for Andrea.  So..... I dunno.

Yes, Andrea was pissed Zeke came after her some episodes ago because it really made no sense at the time. However, that aside, Zeke has shown he is a smart player who is not above backstabbing anyone. Andrea knew Zeke was coming for her. Should she have just waited until her back was against the wall to do something about it?

How was this not a game move to get rid of a strategic threat who was gunning for her? Especially when he didn't see it coming at all, so no chance to try and flip things. Again, YMMV but that's the whole point of Survivor. Get someone before they get you. 

Edited May 4, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[Nalan]

1 hour ago, simplyme said:

I think Sarah may be making a mistake if she's planning to play the middle for the rest of the game because that's going to alienate just about everyone. Flipping to vote out Debbie because she was 6th in the alliance and was also very close with others not in the alliance? Good, strategic move. Continuing to float back and forth and be directly responsible for putting people on the jury without committing to a side? That's going to leave a lot of people ticked off specifically at her.

I think that may actually work out for her because so far, no one's complained about it.  I think she might have the right idea here since the alliances don't seem that tightly bonded.  If she flips back and forth, no one can get mad since the groups aren't cemented the way past alliances have been.

48 minutes ago, F. M. said:

LOL, more like goat for F3 this season.

Somehow, I don't think you're paying attention to this game.  She would be anything but a goat.

[NeverLate]

11 minutes ago, Nalan said:

I think that may actually work out for her because so far, no one's complained about it.  I think she might have the right idea here since the alliances don't seem that tightly bonded.  If she flips back and forth, no one can get mad since the groups aren't cemented the way past alliances have been.

Somehow, I don't think you're paying attention to this game.  She would be anything but a goat.

I disagree. Her game bores me to tears, Talking of tears, crying at losing the puzzle task, please! You are dazzled by her BS juju

[Nalan]

3 minutes ago, F. M. said:

I disagree. Her game bores me to tears, Talking of tears, crying at losing the puzzle task, please! You are dazzled by her BS juju

Because it's working.  That's why I'm dazzled.  If she got to the end, she could win easily.

[NeverLate]

1 minute ago, Nalan said:

Because it's working.  That's why I'm dazzled.  If she got to the end, she could win easily.

And I strongly disagree. Sarah is playing a much better game!!

[Nalan]

14 minutes ago, F. M. said:

And I strongly disagree.

. . . Good for you, @F. M.  Sarah is playing well, but better than Cirie?  Not seeing it.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Nalan

[areuserious]

Love Andrea - she's smart, great at challenges and at gameplay in general - very deserving if she were to win but although her play this week was necessary I think it puts her in a bad spot going forward, as she's stuck her head above the parapet.  

Also, Tai had balls of steel not playing an idol!

[Rowan]

Andrea had to do this. Zeke basically left her no choice, but she's just rearranging deck chairs on a ship that's going down. Neither Sarah nor Michaela wanted to do this, and I think at least one of them throws in with the minority four next vote. That's bad news for both Cirie and Andrea. Still, it was necessary. She had immunity and, even if people were not receptive to voting Zeke, they couldn't turn on her and vote her. 

Eff off, Debbie. They're  Idiots that beat your sorry ass.

Tai is so going to the final. 

[Nalan]

1 minute ago, Rowan said:

Tai is so going to the final. 

If he gets there, he's the goat, not Cirie.

[NeverLate]

20 minutes ago, Nalan said:

. . . Good for you, @F. M.  Sarah is playing well, but better than Cirie?  Not seeing it.

We all see something, or someone differently. So let's agree to disagree.

3 minutes ago, Nalan said:

If he gets there, he's the goat, not Cirie.

I don't see Tai in the finals, he'll be gone before then. 

[Rowan]

15 minutes ago, Nalan said:

If he gets there, he's the goat, not Cirie.

I totally agree. I mean even if they don't want to take him as just a warm body that nobody will really vote for, he still has two hidden immunity idols to help himself get there. 

Nobody in their right mind would take Cirie. She blows at challenges, but her outwit and outlast is something else. 

Edited May 4, 2017 by Rowan

[NeverLate]

1 minute ago, Rowan said:

I totally agree. I mean even if they don't want to take him as just a warm body that nobody will really vote for, he still had two hidden immunity idols to help himself get there. 

Nobody in there right mind would take Cirie. She blows at challenges, but her outwit and outlast is something else. 

Troyzan would be a much better goat, but I'm not sure he's even playing survivor anymore...?

[GaT]

Did I miss Tai being discussed? I thought he was getting eliminated for a moment, & I was getting ready to strangle him for getting eliminated with 2 HIIs.

I am totally distracted every time Sierra comes on screen, I don't understand how her manicure is still perfect, & I don't understand why anyone would have their eyebrows tattooed to so close together in the middle.

Edited May 4, 2017 by GaT

[LadyChatts]

Tai was never discussed, but I'm assuming since Sierra, Brad, and Troy were assured they weren't going home, they figured everyone would for Tai.

I was surprised he didn't play his idol.  Too bad the alliances didn't push his name more, it might have gotten him to waste one.

Edited May 4, 2017 by LadyChatts

[Wandering Snark]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

During the reward challenge if anyone had been paying attention to Probst's blathering, he was pretty much telling them the answer to the puzzle. Obviously it was just background noise to the players. 

I imagine when you are competing/concentrating Probst's endless drone (that they had to listen to for over an hour!) becomes like when the adults talk in Peanuts... can't blame them for tuning him out.

I can also see Probst in the next production meeting going off on a 'Can you throw me a freakin' bone here people and come up with a phrase that people might come up with without me talking non stop for an hour' rant.

4 hours ago, ShadowSixx said:

They could have gotten Zeke later because he plays too hard anyway. They could have dragged him on for a few more votes.

If they dragged him on even one more vote it could have been them going home. He had his new alliance all formed and ready for the next vote, he told them not to worry about this vote but the next one they would do something big (approx). I'd guess that would have been taking down Andrea.

[Bryce Lynch]

In defense of Probst, if he didn't give them a little hint they might have taken days to finish the puzzle.

[NeverLate]

24 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

In defense of Probst, if he didn't give them a little hint they might have taken days to finish the puzzle.

I agree, 100%. 

[Catronia]

Oh, I just have to say how much I dislike Tai and want to see the last of him. They got my feeble hopes up tonight and then dashed them! He is the ickiest kind of creeping snake I have seen on this show. I am so unhappy that he has two idols, and would have been thrilled to see him go tonight with both tucked away

[NeverLate]

7 minutes ago, Catronia said:

Oh, I just have to say how much I dislike Tai and want to see the last of him. They got my feeble hopes up tonight and then dashed them! He is the ickiest kind of creeping snake I have seen on this show. I am so unhappy that he has two idols, and would have been thrilled to see him go tonight with both tucked away

I liked him the first season, but this season, not so much.:(

[KimberStormer]

This was a lowkey great episode.  Sort of quiet and relaxing yet great Survivor playing by a lot of people.  Just like last week was Sarah's episode, this was Andrea's.  Dominating the challenges, playing the game.  Wonderful to watch.

I will say the challenges were slightly disappointing.  I knew from last season how that reward challenge is a dud because the first part with the swings is awesome but completely irrelevant.  I actually expected Zeke and/or Michaela to tell their team "you know what don't even worry about going fast to get these pieces because the puzzle is all that matters."  I honestly don't understand why they would run that challenge again unmodified when it was such a disappointment last season.  All they have to do is change it to a picture puzzle and boom--great challenge.  But such a long random word puzzle is just impossible.  And with the immunity challenge, just like last week, these people are kind of just too good for it to be as exciting as it has been in the past.  I think it was Julia who won it in Kaoh Rong?  After everyone's pieces fell repeatedly and some people's were spaced too far?  It was such an amazing challenge then because of all the mistakes but this time it was one and done.  Which is because these ladies are awesome badasses, especially Andrea, but still disappointing from a TV standpoint.

But the vote was so excellent.  For Andrea and Cirie the timing was impeccable, absolutely necessary.  We know it wasn't too soon because Zeke was explicitly shown planning to make a move next episode to take out Andrea, and he would have had no trouble doing so.  Sarah was all for it, Michaela would have, and he had Brad and Troy.  But Michaela and Sarah weren't wrong that it was too soon for them to make a move.  They would have been in no trouble next episode.  (I think at this point Aubry's wagon is hitched to Cirie and Andrea, and she too was suspicious of Zeke, so it works for her, although obviously less urgently than for Andrea.)  It came down to who was willing to stick their neck out, and Andrea was willing to do that.

4 hours ago, enlightenedbum said:

I think she was actually in a kind of bad spot here because she and Cirie had to push Sarah and Michaela so hard.  She clearly had to get Zeke because he was going to come after her soon, as he admitted.  But pushing reluctant allies creates bad feelings and could lead to sad times for the two of them.  A necessary tactical victory but strategically it puts them in a tough spot.

They call it political capital, right?  You have to spend it sometimes.  (I hate to give Cochran any credit for game insight but he has talked about how having immunity makes it so much easier to push and play, because you're not going to go home that week, you can afford to try something.  Andrea obviously felt the same way -- she was willing to go along and not make waves til she had that necklace.)  It may indeed come back to bite them, but if they didn't do it they would have lost next episode so they didn't actually lose anything.  I'm not going to mention JT so don't @ me, instead I'll use a negative example, Lisa and Skupin in Philippines.  They had to vote out Denise at F5, but they chickened out because they were so afraid of Malcolm.  If he wins final immunity, they thought, we'll lose.  But by not taking Abi they lost anyway.  If they'd voted out Denise and lost to Malcolm, they might have said to themselves, "Damn if only we'd brought Denise and she'd been able to beat Malcolm at that final immunity..." but it wouldn't have mattered!  They lose regardless.

I don't know why it's scarier to do something which gives you a 1% chance to win instead of doing nothing and having a 0% chance to win, but it is.  It really is.  For some reason doing nothing feels so safe.  So I like people who go for that 1% chance.

4 hours ago, LanceM said:

Also it wouldn't have taken Hali an hour to figure out that puzzle.

Pretty sure it would.  It went the same last season, after all, and there were lots of puzzle people last season.

3 hours ago, Eolivet said:

I don't understand how it never came up to get rid of Sarah. Once someone has proved they will flip on you, they can't really be trusted. And as others have said, I think she'll flip back.

3 hours ago, simplyme said:

I think Sarah may be making a mistake if she's planning to play the middle for the rest of the game because that's going to alienate just about everyone. Flipping to vote out Debbie because she was 6th in the alliance and was also very close with others not in the alliance? Good, strategic move. Continuing to float back and forth and be directly responsible for putting people on the jury without committing to a side? That's going to leave a lot of people ticked off specifically at her.

But I think that's exactly what Sarah is doing well this time.  She's not pushing.  She's not being overt about the middle thing.  She's "in the middle" the same way everyone at every vote is always in the middle -- anyone could at any time decide to vote a different way, right?  She wanted Zeke around, but she didn't make a scene about it.  She discussed the options, and in the end she went with Cirie and Andrea.

Now the thing is, who looks like a flipper here?  Surely not Sarah.  She didn't want to flip.  She didn't plan to flip.  When her alliance decided to flip, she went with it out of loyalty to them.  But now she has plenty of ammo for painting Cirie and Andrea as flippers.  Now it's her who is the solid one, and they the floaty uncommitted.  I don't see how anyone could point to her as the "specific" reason for Zeke going.  Nor do I see any reason or possibility for either Zeke or Andrea to have targeted her for being a "flipper".  She was solid with both sides and a key part of their plans.  She never made any overtures or moves towards the now-bottom Sierra/Brad alliance whatsoever, whereas Andrea and Zeke both did.  It is only in talking heads that "Sarah in the Middle" is even a thing, and it is only Survivor fans' strange hatred for swing votes which would ever make her a target here, as far as I can see.

I thought Michaela's words at tribal about turning off her heart and her tears at losing Zeke were both completely understandable and good game.  If Zeke is going to be mad at anyone he can't be mad at Michaela.  I know he is the sort of person who thinks a) Strategic Moves are all that matter and b) voting him out is obviously the greatest Strategic Move that could possibly be made, but even in that case Michaela's emotions work for getting his vote, because she can say pretty irrefutably "I put aside my feelings for strategic play."

I'm very happy because Cirie/Andrea/Sarah/Aubry/Michaela is an awesome alliance of women which hasn't been called or discussed as a "women's alliance" and they are, at the moment anyway, on top of the game; and any one of them winning would be fine with me -- Aubry would be my last choice of them but why not.  Can we stop with the "WHY OH WHY CAN'T WOMEN WORK TOGETHER" thing plz?