S35.E12: Not Going to Roll Over and Die

[mojoween]

That Reward Challenge was SO lame that I wonder if one of the loved ones was unable to compete in something physical.  Either one of the ones we saw or one of the ones who would have been there if a different contestant had made that point in the game.

I mean, draw marbles?  Fuck on outta here with that.

[NeverLate]

10 minutes ago, nutty1 said:

I actually am going to skip this episode after reading about it. I’m in no mood to be aggravated. 

No, it's good. Its what people who are hungry. sleep deprived,  sad, happy with a loved one, all rolled into one, do/play like

Imagine pulling a marble from a sack to see if you can be with your loved one a few hours? Chrissy won, and the bitch was never going to choose Ben, who was shaking , badly..you will enjoy it! I liked Lauren..but she was going to vote off Ben, along with Ashley and Devon..

Edited December 7, 2017 by NeverLate

[mythoughtis]

I think the reason Ben told Chrissy not to mother him is because she basically asked him to ‘ explain what that was all about’.  Similar to how we ( as Moms) would ask our teenage son when we caught him doing something wrong.  

Both Ben and Chrissy are taking this game and everyone’s actions way too personally. They both have fallen into the Survivor hole of thinking people on their alliance are always going to be in their alliance. Thus when a player betrays them, the betrayed one demands an explanation as if they are owed one. As if the other player was supposed to sacrifice their game to save them. 

Edited December 7, 2017 by mythoughtis

[ByaNose]

So, the marble challenge was thought of in advance??? They’re kidding, right? Something must have happened. At least, that’s what I’m hoping because that was the worst challenge ever!!!!!!! ,

[Wandering Snark]

5 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

So, the marble challenge was thought of in advance??? They’re kidding, right? Something must have happened. At least, that’s what I’m hoping because that was the worst challenge ever!!!!!!! ,

I can hear it now... all of our fans LOVE it when they are forced to pick rocks so this will be just like that... but BETTER!!

*eye roll*

[Silver Raven]

Hey, Chrissy, it's a game.  Don't talk about how people play the game as inhumane.

Mike's wife is pretty.

I'm shocked that Ben was out of the immunity challenge so quickly.

Chrissy needs to learn how to be sociable.

What a bunch of freaking idiots.  All of them.

Asshole Ben is going to win this whole thing, isn't he?

[ByaNose]

5 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Hey, Chrissy, it's a game.  Don't talk about how people play the game as inhumane.

Mike's wife is pretty.

I'm shocked that Ben was out of the immunity challenge so quickly.

Chrissy needs to learn how to be sociable.

What a bunch of freaking idiots.  All of them.

Asshole Ben is going to win this whole thing, isn't he?

I think Chrissy is missing the sociable gene. She just doesn’t have it and can’t fake it. I’m beginning to think that Roark, Ali, Jessica & Desi were right in their assessment of Chrissy. I think they saw the real Chrissy first hand. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

Loving this season

Me too!  Ha.  I like all these players, and I thought this ep was brilliant.  The loved ones, the stone picking (ok, maybe not that), the crazy tribal and Lauren going from Queen Bee to out.  

I saw original recipe Bruce Jenner, too.

Ryan in that immunity challenge reminded me of the old Jesus-on-the-cross statues.  

I think Jeremy and Kelley were groaning at how easy retrieving that idol piece at the challenge was.

Lauren's first mistake was yelling, "Hey, come here, I found it!", when she found the idol.  

[princelina]

44 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

I think the reason Ben told Chrissy not to mother him is because she basically asked him to ‘ explain what that was all about’.  Similar to how we ( as Moms) would ask our teenage son when we caught him doing something wrong.  

Both Ben and Chrissy are taking this game and everyone’s actions way too personally. They both have fallen into the Survivor hole of thinking people on their alliance are always going to be in their alliance. Thus when a player betrays them, the betrayed one demands an explanation as if they are owed one. As if the other player was supposed to sacrifice their game to save them. 

I don't see that so much in Ben - he overheard them talking about him, so went to make a new plan.  I thought he was kind of doing a "Joe" - get everyone pissed so they would vote for him and then play an idol.  That's why I was hoping his only vote would be for Chrissy!  That's where he lost me :)

[blackwing]

I have disliked Ben since the beginning.  He is a grade A dick.  Such an arrogant bully.  He was an ass to Chrissy and then later he asks her about what Devin said and when she's all "why would I tell you after the way you've treated me" he's all "whoa, way to be nasty".  He is always the aggressor but he also always views himself as the victim.  So tired of him.

I can't believe he is making me root for Chrissy. I want anyone but Ben to win.  My hope is that even if he makes it to the end that he has alienated everybody.

Mike is a tool.  I'm sure one of the reasons why he threw the idol in the fire is because he wants to be remembered as "He threw the idol in the fire!!!" just like "She voted out her mom!!!" Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.   He is a horrible player.  After Ben came to him with a plan to vote out Lauren, Mike is all "never underestimate Dr. Mike".   What a loser.  1) he needs to stop talking about himself in the third person and 2) he only survived through the grace of others, it had nothing to do with him.

Ironic that in the first episode Ben said he didn't think of himself as a hero, being a marine was just his job.  And now I could see him pulling out the marine card if he gets to the end.

[jbrecken]

The reward challenge was so stupid that until Ben and his wife matched, I assumed that the bags were rigged so that no one would match, and Probst would say, "You think we'd have a challenge this dumb?  Fooled you guys - what you're really doing this week is digging up a treasure buried somewhere on this beach. The inside of your bag has half a clue written on it!"

Edited December 11, 2017 by jbrecken

[Sepalma23]

I just don't quite get the hate a lot of viewers have for Ben. He correctly snifffed out that his 3 alliance mates were gunning for him so what is he supposed to do??  I've really liked Ben this season and I also really liked Lauren. Hated to see her go. I was hoping that those 2 had stuck together to the end. It seemed like Lauren was really close to Ben. I think either one of them had a great shot to win. I also really like Devon. Seems like such a nice guy!!  A Ben or Devon win would make for a great season for me!!

[LanceM]

35 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Me too!  Ha.  I like all these players, and I thought this ep was brilliant.  The loved ones, the stone picking (ok, maybe not that), the crazy tribal and Lauren going from Queen Bee to out.  

I saw original recipe Bruce Jenner, too.

Ryan in that immunity challenge reminded me of the old Jesus-on-the-cross statues.  

I think Jeremy and Kelley were groaning at how easy retrieving that idol piece at the challenge was.

Lauren's first mistake was yelling, "Hey, come here, I found it!", when she found the idol.  

Me three.  This season has been great, especially the post merge where for awhile there it was looking like a simple pagonging. 

[TVFan1]

Lauren going home is very disappointing to me. Ugh, I can't stand Ben AT ALL. He's such a smug arrogant jerk. If he makes final 3, I hope nobody votes for him.

That reward challenge was ridiculous. Seriously, luck of pulling the same marble as your loved one? Come on, I definitely didn't see a challenge that boring on the horizon.

I wish Lauren had brought her advantage and voted Ben for one and Chrissy for the other. At least there would have been a revote. Lauren needs to be another player that deserves a second chance to play again.

Out of everyone left, I'm rooting for Ashley to win it all. It's far fetched, but I hope it happens. It would be totally unexpected.

[blackwing]

9 minutes ago, Sepalma23 said:

I just don't quite get the hate a lot of viewers have for Ben. He correctly snifffed out that his 3 alliance mates were gunning for him so what is he supposed to do??  

I'm not going to speak for "a lot of viewers", but the reason why I dislike him is because he has been an arrogant ass all season long.  He said that Chrissy was taking things on a personal level, when he himself has been doing that all season.  He hated Cole (and told us so) for his eating habits and the decision to target Cole seemed personal.  He hated Joe (and told us so) and the decision to get Joe out was both personal and strategic.  He actually did a huge fist pump when Joe got voted out.  Who does that?  He hated Chrissy and the decision to target her was clearly personal.  

I dislike Ben because he has no introspection.  All he sees is people being mean to him but he fails to see that he's doing the same thing to others.

Enough with the idols already.  How ridiculous that it's gotten to the point where all you have to do is look around for a painted symbol.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Lauren ASSumed that her alliance against Ben was solid. That’s your first mistake.

I guess I'm not following you.  Her alliance against Ben was solid.  Even people who weren't in her alliance were solid against Ben.  Every single person voted for Ben.

Her assumption was that Ben wouldn't have an idol, or I guess, that working with Dr. Mike would be a good thing for her.

I like Ben too.  I don't think he's taking the game too personally.  He figured out his allies were working against him so he did the right thing by trying to make a majority to stay in the game.  I did not see him get angry or raise his voice once, unlike Chrissy.  Chrissy took things extremely personally.  I'm not 'blaming' her because I'm not in that situation so it's hard for me to judge, but how the heck did Ben take things personally?  What was he supposed to do?  Laugh it up at the backstabbing, and high-five the people who betrayed him, all the way to the jury?  He quietly thought about his next move and then made it and then played his idol and saved himself.  LOL

Edited December 7, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[Rowan]

I don't hold it against Chrissy for not choosing Ben and his wife to continue their visit. He was pretty damn dismissive to her after the tribal. Is she annoying? Sure, but there is a social element to the game that he chose to ignore with her. They're all sleeping in the beds they've made for themselves. 

God, Mike gets on my last nerve. "Look at me, Jeff! I'm doing something BIG! It's stupid as hell, but just look at ME doing it!"

I wonder how many votes Ben is going to get at Final if he makes it. 

Lauren screwed up bigly. Why, for the love of God, did she give that shell to Mike's dumbass? I was rooting for you, lady. 

Edited December 7, 2017 by Rowan

[piequinn35]

Why the fuck did Lauren give the shell to Mike, she could have used it for herself, Ben used his idol, revote, Chrissy gone, boom! 

[Sentient Meat]

I don't get why Lauren didn't grab a pole and golf her half of the idol out of the fire.  I don't know of any rule that prevents that, especially considering its unprecedented nature.

I don't want him to win, but if Ben can squirm his way to final three, he deserves it at this point.

[ByaNose]

I will say it’s amazing how Ben can hide behind a tree and no one sees or hears him. He seems to come up at just the right times, too. It was like he was standing there by the well the whole time either. Lauren, Devon & Ashley we’re walking to it and there was no sight of Ben. I guess he figured they were away too long and went searching for them he correctly guessed (and, they had horrible poker faces) they were throwing his name out there. I don’t totally hate him but he’s not my personable favorite either. I was on the Lauren train because she was so different. I think the least two offensive players left are Devon & Ashley. They are brilliant strategist but they are working well together.  

[Bouffe]

Let me add to the chorus of "WTH Lauren!" She seriously screwed herself over by not bringing her advantage with her at TC and especially by giving half her idol to Dr Mike. Why in the wold she decided to do that, I have no idea. I am sorry to see her go, she was playing a good game up until now.

As much as I enjoyed most players last week, this week, not so much. I don't think there was ever a Survivor season like this before for me. I find myself liking a castaway one week, only to not like them so much anymore the following week. I've liked Ben since the beginning, but he annoyed the heck out of me this week. Same with Chrissy... Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Speaking of Chrissy and Ben... They are secretly aligned, yeah?

[pfk505]

The Survivor family visit is, for me, the most cringe-inducing segment in all of TV. I guess I'm just a heartless prick but not seeing my wife for 2 weeks would not send me into convulsive sobbing and hysterics. It always makes my eyes roll right out the back of my head.

In other news, Lauren turned out to be dumb. She was the last worthy winner left..

[NeverLate]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

Hey, Chrissy, it's a game.  Don't talk about how people play the game as inhumane.

Mike's wife is pretty.

I'm shocked that Ben was out of the immunity challenge so quickly.

Chrissy needs to learn how to be sociable.

What a bunch of freaking idiots.  All of them.

Asshole Ben is going to win this whole thing, isn't he?

I do hope Ben wins, I've liked him since the start.

20 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I guess I'm not following you.  Her alliance against Ben was solid.  Even people who weren't in her alliance were solid against Ben.  Every single person voted for Ben.

Her assumption was that Ben wouldn't have an idol, or I guess, that working with Dr. Mike would be a good thing for her.

I like Ben too.  I don't think he's taking the game too personally.  He figured out his allies were working against him so he did the right thing by trying to make a majority to stay in the game.  I did not see him get angry or raise his voice once, unlike Chrissy.  Chrissy took things extremely personally.  I'm not 'blaming' her because I'm not in that situation so it's hard for me to judge, but how the heck did Ben take things personally?  What was he supposed to do?  Laugh it up at the backstabbing, and high-five the people who betrayed him, all the way to the jury?  He quietly thought about his next move and then made it and then played his idol and saved himself.  LOL

Ooh, good post. What I like about Ben, is with all good players, they think ahead. They don't go around like Dr Mike and say, I'll play plan B, when he didnt come up with a plan A! 

[NeverLate]

Quote

Ironic that in the first episode Ben said he didn't think of himself as a hero, being a marine was just his job.  And now I could see him pulling out the marine card if he gets to the end.

If I was playing for one million dollars, I'd be playing every card I had! 

[Star Aristille]

29 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I like Ben too.  I don't think he's taking the game too personally.

I feel bad for you, then, because he clearly is.

[Etta Place]

Well, on the bright side: once you've given someone else half your idol and they threw it into the fire, no one is going to vote for you at the end, so it's best to just be put out of your misery.

[Star Aristille]

1 hour ago, NeverLate said:

I do hope Ben wins, I've liked him since the start.

There's nothing to like about him.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Star Aristille

[green]

19 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

What a crazy TC!  I hate when everyone starts walking around and talking, they shouldn’t be able to do that. ...

And that is my most FAVORITE part in Survivor ever.  Happened a season or two ago for the first time. Loved that finally there were tribal councils where the result was NOT a forgone conclusion and people were scrambling for real.

19 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Everyone and their brother is going to be wondering if those bags of marbles were reloaded, with Chrissy having two balls of the same color, and her husband the same, to turn things upside down.

Each bag seemed to have a ton of marbles in them.  Thing weren't rigged at all.  And why would they rig it if they could anyway?  Production didn't care who won.  Just that the choosing of the other Survivors sharing in the reward would cause some drama.

19 hours ago, Michichick said:

What the fuck? Mike is a fucking idiot. Throw out Lauren's idol and then vote against Ben like Lauren wanted? It doesn't make any damn sense. He just wanted to have a Survivor moment. Fuck that guy.

Having said that, Lauren blew it big time by handing half the idol to Mike.

Well if Ben didn't have that idol then Mike would be lauded as a genius for his move for he would have gotten one major threat voted out (Ben) at the same time he stripped another (Lauren) of her major advantage and power in the game. 

But like was said the one advantage that was kept entirely secret was the one that worked.  Alas.  Because I can't stand Ben and his endless, arrogant, alpha male aggression at all and liked Lauren.  Though I still remain rooting for Ryan and Chrissy as I always have from the beginning (Ryan) and episode 2 onward (Chrissy).  Good episode for them both.

Edited December 7, 2017 by green

[NeverLate]

18 minutes ago, Star Aristille said:

Good for you, @NeverLate.  There's nothing to like about him, but good for you.

I like the way he plays the game, especially compared to high and mighty ,horse faced turd, Chrissy! :)

[Star Aristille]

1 minute ago, NeverLate said:

I like the way he plays the game, especially compared to high and mighty ,horse faced turd, Chrissy! :)

He's literally a male version of her, though!  Hence why I fail to see what's all that likable about him!

[NeverLate]

Quote

 

What a crazy TC!  I hate when everyone starts walking around and talking, they shouldn’t be able to do that. ...

And that is my most FAVORITE part in Survivor ever.  Happened a season or two ago for the first time. Loved that finally there were tribal councils where the result was a forgone conclusion and people were scrambling for real.

 

I love a messy TC, where everyone over thinks.. LOL and we know these TC are over and hour or two long! 

Just now, Star Aristille said:

He's literally a male version of her, though!  Hence why I fail to see what's all that likable about him!

No, he'll come down to earth now and then, she and her snippy snarky ways, is what she is like all the time. I think Ben gives all that a break now and then. Not phoney boobs,they don't move or sag..lol

[Star Aristille]

3 minutes ago, NeverLate said:

No, he'll come down to earth now and then

For a short time, and then it's back to the same old, same old.  Not seeing it, and never will.

[NeverLate]

2 minutes ago, Star Aristille said:

For a short time, and then it's back to the same old, same old.  Not seeing it, and never will.

Well, we all like someone different. Lauren screwed up, gotta cheer for someone. Turns out she wasn't as good a player as I thought. See ya next week Star Aristille..

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, pfk505 said:

The Survivor family visit is, for me, the most cringe-inducing segment in all of TV. I guess I'm just a heartless prick but not seeing my wife for 2 weeks would not send me into convulsive sobbing and hysterics. It always makes my eyes roll right out the back of my head.

In other news, Lauren turned out to be dumb. She was the last worthy winner left..

It’s more like 5-6 weeks and they haven’t even spoken.  And the whole social situation is nothing like we ever experience.   

[loki567]

I'm starting to imagine a crazy ass universe where Dr. Mike wins this thing because the jury hates Ben. Seriously. The edit is surprisingly kind to Dr. Mike and tries to make his moves look like understandable strategy, instead of s****** flailing. 

Ben might be a dick but I find him way more interesting as a character than the role he was originally cast as i.e. loyal soldier guy. I always appreciate balls to the wall gameplay instead of paralyzed indecision. 

[GaT]

Is Mike brain damaged? He's used an idol for absolutely no reason, & now he's throwing them in the fire? WTF is wrong with him? 

Lauren is just stupid, what was the point of not playing her advantage & giving away half an idol?

Why didn't Ben vote Chrissy off?

[KimberStormer]

Everyone on this season is so bad at the game that they sort of even each other out.  Ben is playing the best, still.  But it's like a 3 out of 10 and everyone else is a 2.  He may have saved himself this time, but literally everyone voted against him, so his work will be cut out for him now.  Chrissy is a great villain, but like so many top dogs laid low, she's not very good at playing from the bottom.  She actually knows what to do, in a sort of abstract sense -- Ashley was a good choice to try to find a crack in the alliance, for example -- but she's so bad at the social game.  Ryan is an ineffectual non-factor -- he couldn't even persuade Dr. Mike to vote out Lauren, which would have been good for them because at the next tribal, Ben would need them, whereas Lauren with her extra vote would not and just Pagong the trio of losers.  Ashley knows she's got no case to win, but can't manage to successfully put a case together.  Devon got too comfortable, and is a bad liar, as well as being again, bad at the social game of being gracious and friendly with the enemy alliance.

Dr. Mike is on a very short list of my least favorite Survivors of all time, with Terry Dietz, Adam Klein, perhaps someone I'm forgetting.  Dawn Meehan at least ran Caramoan like a boss, so I could respect her while hating her.  Think of how you feel about Russell, Philip, Coach, whoever you hate the most, and don't enjoy hating, but hate to hate -- that's me and Dr. Mike.

5 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

This pack of morons have ruined this season.  I skipped the previous 2 episodes, after never missing an episode for years,  and I wish I skipped this one.

Oh but the previous double episode was the only good episode of the season!

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Lauren ASSumed that her alliance against Ben was solid. That’s your first mistake.

Well, the thing is that Lauren was right about everything.  She didn't need her idol, she didn't need her advantage, literally everyone voted with her.  Now that may be mostly because Dr. Mike is a fucking moron (since Chrissy and Ryan both wanted to vote Lauren, from what we saw), but in any case, she did get the votes, which is what she wanted to do and what the game requires.  No shame in being idoled out, I always say.

1 hour ago, Bouffe said:

Speaking of Chrissy and Ben... They are secretly aligned, yeah?

Chrissy voted for Ben, so....  I believe he persuaded her to vote with him, but that's not a secret alliance, just an alliance of necessity.

I do think, looking at the players now, it's going to be Devon and Ashley out next, and then I guess it's the stupid fucking final 4 thing so all strategy goes out the window and some combination of Ben, Chrissy, Ryan, or Dr. Mike will go to FTC.  And I think if Ben gets there he has to win because he's the only one who has been in on every vote so far; the other three will not really have much of a case.  I guarantee, though, that whichever idiot goes out at that F4 bullshit will go out smug as can be, saying if they'd got to the end they would have won, and that makes me irrationally angry in anticipation.

[Kaiju Ballet]

1 hour ago, loki567 said:

Ben might be a dick but I find him way more interesting as a character than the role he was originally cast as i.e. loyal soldier guy. I always appreciate balls to the wall gameplay instead of paralyzed indecision. 

ITA. He's still preferable (to me) than Chrissy. I also admire how he completely controlled the result of that Tribal--although I thought for sure that Devon knew he had an HII from that scene where he was making a fake one.

1 hour ago, GaT said:

Is Mike brain damaged? He's used an idol for absolutely no reason, & now he's throwing them in the fire? WTF is wrong with him? 

Lauren is just stupid, what was the point of not playing her advantage & giving away half an idol?

Why didn't Ben vote Chrissy off?

1 hour ago, loki567 said:

I'm starting to imagine a crazy ass universe where Dr. Mike wins this thing because the jury hates Ben. Seriously. The edit is surprisingly kind to Dr. Mike and tries to make his moves look like understandable strategy, instead of s****** flailing. 

 

The moment Lauren handed her shell to Mike, I almost expected cartoon music to come up. It was surreal, I was hoping she was giving him a fake necklace bit, anything other than her essentially ending her game right then and there. She was the person I was rooting for to take it all.

Depending on whether Mike survives to FTC, it's definitely a move he made that influenced the game and casts a more favorable light on his earlier wack-ass moves. So far he has a better resume than Ashley.

At this point it was the correct move for Ben to vote Lauren with her advantage off over Chrissy. Lauren is arguably the bigger threat/ vote getter at FTC than Chrissy.

[mertensia]

Gah. I hate Chrissy.

 

I hate family week. Have reward be a meal and let everyone visit. .....I am not cut out for this game.

[violet and green]

"Oof. I'm done."

Gotta love that attitude. Oh man, why didn't they just stick with we're getting Chrissy out next...

[niklj]

#wow was right.

[millennium]

4 hours ago, pfk505 said:

The Survivor family visit is, for me, the most cringe-inducing segment in all of TV. I guess I'm just a heartless prick but not seeing my wife for 2 weeks would not send me into convulsive sobbing and hysterics. It always makes my eyes roll right out the back of my head.

 

Me too.   I don't get it.  There are people whose "loved ones" (hate that phrase now) get sent off to prison or war or wherever and when they finally reunite after three or six months it's nothing like the spectacle of a Survivor loved ones episode.

I hate -- HATE -- the way Jeff Probst uses the word "love."  He says it the same smarmy way he says "spaghetti and meatballs" in the reward challenges.

[amazingracefan]

Started crap with Probst's 'what are you feeling?' , the winner being 'in  control of lurv' and the 'once in a lifetime experience' of being with their loved one.  Plus worst reward challenge ever, at least make them choose which colour than just make it chance, though it still would have been weak.  Then the rather weak, 'there'll be shell in from of you and it's part of the idol'.  It's great actually that an idol that easy to get counted for nothing.

While I haven't been a Ben fan you have to give him credit, he played that perfectly when it really looked like they would be targeting Lauren.  The perfect Survivor vote, all votes blank except that from the person playing the idol.  What started the worst episode in the season redeemed itself more by the end.

The whole fake idol thing wasn't that necessary at that point and I certainly don't know why Ben told them about it.  I think it just made more of them think that he's a big gameplayer.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

Lauren may just have surpassed Erik with that series of dumbass moves.  I respected her play until tonight.  What a time to have a brain cramp.

Devon and his mom were too cute.  ALMOST as cute as Cirie and her son.  

I finally know everyone's name--right in time for the last 9 days.  Heh.  Talk about a ho-hum season.

[plurie]

So much stupid:

Lauren: Broadcasts that she found the idol, leaves her extra vote at camp, gives half her idol to Dr. Mike.

Chrissy: Brings EVERYONE in her alliance with her on the reward, leaving NO ONE at camp to spy on/try to flip the others. It was probably smart to bring Ashley, but she should have left Ryan at camp and taken Lauren, too.

Mike: Throws Lauren's half-idol in the fire.

Devon, Lauren and Ashley: Not lying to Ben about what they were talking about at the well. It would have been SO easy to say "Dr. Mike wants to vote you out, and we pretended to go along with it, but we are lying to him."

Everyone who isn't Ben: Not considering the possibility that he has an idol.

The only smart moves were Mike turning everyone against Ben and Ben playing his idol (after NOT telling anyone else about it).

This could have gone Lauren's way if she hadn't done any of the above and used her advantage to target someone else and player her idol. Whoever she targeted would have been out!

[Kelda Feegle]

I hate the whole 'resume' BS, to me if you make it to the end that's enough and well done to you.

[ProfCrash]

7 hours ago, blackwing said:

Mike is a tool.  I'm sure one of the reasons why he threw the idol in the fire is because he wants to be remembered as "He threw the idol in the fire!!!" just like "She voted out her mom!!!" Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.   He is a horrible player.  After Ben came to him with a plan to vote out Lauren, Mike is all "never underestimate Dr. Mike".   What a loser.  1) he needs to stop talking about himself in the third person and 2) he only survived through the grace of others, it had nothing to do with him.

I saw Mike's throw differently. Yes, he was doing it for the camera time and because he thought it was cute. That said, he was not tossing away an idol. He was throwing away one part of an idol that he could not use. By doing that, he prevented Lauren from using the idol at a later tribal council. He didn't give up immunity, he prevented Lauren from gaining immunity. In a showy way because he is a Survivor nerd and wanted to do something like that.

[cooksdelight]

6 hours ago, piequinn35 said:

Why the fuck did Lauren give the shell to Mike, she could have used it for herself, Ben used his idol, revote, Chrissy gone, boom! 

If only. 

But, she reminded me so much of Erik giving away immunity, then getting voted out, which I didn’t expect from her.

[blackwing]

Are idols still in play at Final 6?  Will they rehide one?  If so, it seems like a foregone conclusion that Ben will find it.  

If Ben really wanted someone to find the fake idol, I don't understand why he didn't bury it where Lauren found her half.  And not tell anyone.

[JudyObscure]

7 hours ago, blackwing said:

I have disliked Ben since the beginning.  He is a grade A dick.  Such an arrogant bully.  He was an ass to Chrissy and then later he asks her about what Devin said and when she's all "why would I tell you after the way you've treated me" he's all "whoa, way to be nasty".  He is always the aggressor but he also always views himself as the victim.  So tired of him

Totally true.  I can't stand Ben or Chrissy, they both foreshadowed their true colors on episode one when Ben said some sort of humblebrag like "I don't call myself a hero even though  I put my life on the line for others every day," and Chrissy was all," Oh yes, I'm a hero! I have children and a job!"

Chrissy just can't help being herself.  I laughed when she was hugging her husband and telling Jeff how these last few years she had been all caught up in her career .. pause for a tear for her co-workers...  but Survivor had taught her that her family was all that mattered, by golly, and it's going to be all about them from now on.  One second later, Jeff said he had never seen her smile so big, and there was instant change to, "Except yesterday!  I WON IMMUNITY yesterday!" she was literally jumping up and down. Oh yeah Chrissy's changed, it's not going to be all about her anymore, no sir.

Lauren's downfall was breath taking.  Her one weakness in the game, clear back to Patrick, was that she cannot suffer fools gladly.  Mike was getting on her nerves so much that she just handed him half her idol in a moment that was simply, "Alright already! Take this and shut up!"  Lack of food and sleep and a tendency to lose my temper would be my downfall, too.  Dang.