S36.E03: Trust Your Gut

[willco]

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the girl who went to Ghost Island being a bit afraid of it, but it made her sound a little wimpy to me. I can see not wanting to go because you will miss out on what happens at camp, but you do get some solitude and it seems like some extra food. That's not bad.

[Hera]

21 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

I gained respect for Michael. He tried, just completely miscalculated on playing the idol. And that's the thing about idols. Yes, they can save a person but if played the wrong way, it can all end up being for nothing.

 

20 hours ago, UGAmp said:

Michael is playing HARD and I can’t believe he’s nineteen freaking years old! I thought that was pretty brilliant to say the idol has double power since James was voted out with two idols. Granted the jig was up five minutes later when he played it for one person but still... very smart. I hate that he’s probably next on the chopping block because he’s definitely playing the game and not sitting back and riding on coattails.

 

I agree with all of this (plus the other comments lauding MIchael's idol play). The only thing I fault him and the other three original Malolo for is that no one tried to draw the original Naviti votes. As much as I hate Russell Hantz as a player, this was something he was good at (probably because there was no way he could tone down his true awfulness enough not to be hated by everyone). Then the idol could have remained a secret among the Mololo four until it was played at tribal council. As far as drawing votes, there are two methods they could have tried:

1. Have someone (probably Stephanie, though Brendan could also work) straight-up confront Bradley at camp. Call him out for his constant whining, his controlling of his tribemates, and announce that the Malolo four were all voting for him. My opinion of Bradley is low enough that I think this would cause him to change the target from whomever the tribe originally chose to the person who called him out. The challenge then becomes whether or not Kellyn—who I think does have good instincts and who impressed me with her reasoning at Ghost Island (as well as her way of verbalizing her thoughts)—would have been able to get him to change his mind and stick to his original plan. Of course, if the original plan was still Brendan, then nothing changes, but the Malolo four don't know that.
    
2. Choose someone to blatantly search for the idol, shirking whatever chores they're supposed to do around camp, while the other three look embarrassed and quietly apologize to the Naviti five for the behavior of their loose cannon tribemate. Make sure this tribemate looks as panicked as possible at tribal council so that the Naviti five don't suspect the idol has been found. Make sure this person seems on the outs with the other three, so that the Naviti five can feel comfortable that no idols will be played on his or her behalf. The way this might back-fire is if the designated vote-getter is so annoying that the Naviti five decide to spare him or her because s/he an easy vote for later or even a goat. The person who is a vote-getter has to make the other team sufficiently tense and paranoid without going overboard (or underplaying it to the point that the other tribe don't care), which is a tough line to walk.

But even in those cases, the gambit might fail, and I thought what the Malolo four did try was interesting. I have a ton of respect for Michael for using his idol to shore up his alliance, trying to get people to flip, and—most importantly—for trying to flip the numbers while he still had people left to work with. I'm sure that many will take the fact that it didn't work out for him or his allies as proof that the "hang on to the idol until I personally feel unsafe" strategy is always the superior one. And maybe it actually is, if you look at the odds. But we've watched so many people stand by as their allies are voted out one-by-one, and then when it's their turn, they have no one to work with, and it's hard for me to feel sorry for them. I really like players who make moves for the collective good of their alliance (which helps their own games, by extension), which makes me like both Michael and Kellyn.

I also second everyone who hates Bradley, although I think he's going to be someone I love to hate, like Kass. I enjoyed watching him react to the discovery that the he's not the subtle mastermind that he fancies himself to be. The Malolo four really got to him by pointing out he was in charge, despite all his protests that the Naviti five were all equals. I'm curious how much his allies like him on a personal level, or if they're all counting on him to be their goat.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Hera
Changing "no tried" to "no one tried".

[TVFan1]

Nice speech by Michael, but too bad he didn't mange to flip anybody over to his side. I'm surprised he didn't play his idol for Brendan seeing as how Brendan even mentioned that they were going for him back at camp. Bradley is such a smug prick, and I can't wait to see his torch get snuffed.

Kellyn should have gone for the advantage in Ghost Island. Nothing too interesting there yet. Kellyn can also be gone with Bradley and never seeing or hearing from them again would be great.

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, princelina said:

He was the one last week who wouldn't shut up after the tribal swap about how bad the new camp he went to was compared to his original.  No living room, dirt instead of sand, waaa waaa waaa.  Several people were irritated with him last week.  Now all we got to see of him this week was him comparing himself to BRob/Kim S, and him telling Jeff in front of everyone that he had to babysit his tribe.  I wonder what obnoxious comments we didn't see.  And he has a little mouth - I don't like it.

Translation: "I gotta think long term. If I'm big enough a jackwad, I might get three more tries at the $1 million!"

[OutOfTheQuestion]

2 hours ago, Evenshorter said:

I just said the same thing to my daughter.  I know production decides what clothes they get to wear, but for the love of an idol, can't they at least be given regular bathing suits??

Usually they play the first week or so in the "costumes" that production provides for their "character," and then their regular clothes and swimsuits are handed out.  So in theory, everyone should be getting fresh clothes by next episode.

[threebluestars]

I am glad I'm not the only one who can't identify more than 4 people on these tribes. I wish they hadn't switched so soon, it's thrown me off completely. I also find them, as a whole, pretty boring and homogeneous.

[OutOfTheQuestion]

  Add me to the group that liked Michael's attempt.  He presented Sebastian and Chelsea with a coin flip choice (since his idol allegedly covered two people) in order to flip.  From their perspective, however, there's no point in flipping since when (as Kellyn correctly pointed out) you'd be the clear #5 in the new alliance with the Malolos.

29 minutes ago, Hera said:

• Have someone (probably Stephanie, though Brendan could also work) straight-up confront Bradley at camp. Call him out for his constant whining, his controlling of his tribemates, and announce that the Malolo four were all voting for him. My opinion of Bradley is low enough that I think this would cause him to change the target from whomever the tribe originally chose to the person who called him out. The challenge then becomes whether or not Kellyn—who I think does have good instincts and who impressed me with her reasoning at Ghost Island (as well as her way of verbalizing her thoughts)—would have been able to get him to change his mind and stick to his original plan. Of course, if the original plan was still Brendan, then nothing changes, but the Malolo four don't know that.
   
• Choose someone to blatantly search for the idol, shirking whatever chores they're supposed to do around camp, while the other three look embarrassed and quietly apologize to the Naviti five for the behavior of their loose cannon tribemate. Make sure this tribemate looks as panicked as possible at tribal council so that the Naviti five don't suspect the idol has been found. Make sure this person seems on the outs with the other three, so that the Naviti five can feel comfortable that no idols will be played on his or her behalf. The way this might back-fire is if the designated vote-getter is so annoying that the Naviti five decide to spare him or her because s/he an easy vote for later or even a goat. The person who is a vote-getter has to make the other team sufficiently tense and paranoid without going overboard (or underplaying it to the point that the other tribe don't care), which is a tough line to walk.

 

1. Doubtful that this would work, since I suspect Kellyn (who seems like the real brains behind this alliance) keeps them all in check.  Plus, it didn't seem like the Malolo four were doing a great job of keeping their disdain for Bradley under wraps, so he might not have been fazed if a particular one of them directly called him out.

2. I feel like this would be a pretty transparent ploy.  Just like last week with Domenick, the idea might've been to avoid the "does this person have an idol or not?" debate altogether and just vote for one of the quieter members of the alliance.

[spiderpig]

A week without a puzzle!

[BK1978]

17 minutes ago, threebluestars said:

I am glad I'm not the only one who can't identify more than 4 people on these tribes. I wish they hadn't switched so soon, it's thrown me off completely. I also find them, as a whole, pretty boring and homogeneous.

You are not the only one, right now I just know Donathan, Kellyn, Domenick, James, and Stephanie.  Oh I guess I am one over the five but still I am close to the same boat. 

[Hera]

17 minutes ago, OutOfTheQuestion said:

1. Doubtful that this would work, since I suspect Kellyn (who seems like the real brains behind this alliance) keeps them all in check.  Plus, it didn't seem like the Malolo four were doing a great job of keeping their disdain for Bradley under wraps, so he might not have been fazed if a particular one of them directly called him out.

He may have known that they saw him as a whiner, but he seemed rattled at Tribal Council to find out that they saw him as the group's leader and the person who was running around, controlling his allies. I think he was hoping that his gameplay was subtler than that. I think a direct confrontation about his leadership would have made him feel sufficiently exposed that he'd want to make his confronter the target. He compared himself to Boston Rob, and getting direct challengers to him out as soon as possible is a Boston Rob on Redemption Island move. I agree that Kellyn may have brought him back down to earth, but I don't think that gambit is any riskier than the one they tried.

[calvinshobbes]

I think the original Naviti 5 on Malolo tanked the immunity challenge to go to tribal. That was some pathetic ball shots by Sebastian. I think they edited that out since Probst hates this strategy.

[blackwing]

I like Michael.  He seems smart and articulate, especially for someone so young.  His plan was good, too bad it didn't work.  I am sorry to see Brendan go.  Seemed hard working and an asset in challenges.

Unfortunately, it isn't looking good for Michael right now.

Where did this Bradley come from?   In the prior episode he barely spoke and I just knew him as "guy in the really short and really tight light blue underpants".  Now I find I truly dislike him.  The word "simpering" was made for someone like him.

Dominick is thoroughly useless.  For such a big looking guy he doesn't seem very physically fit.  Chris was fantastic during both challenges.  I wonder if the tribe sees how much more of a physical asset Chris is versus Dominick.  I wonder why Laurel would rather work with Dominick and try and get rid of Chris.  

[loki567]

That was the most boring exciting Tribal Council ever. Said it before, nobody has charisma in front of a camera. Virtually everybody speaks in a monotone. 

Michael had the right idea but then he misread the situation. Playing the idol while reading everybody's faces and getting their reactions was smart but when he said, "I'm playing it for Brendan," Bradley's face completely dropped and should have been a dead giveaway that they were voting Brendan. I don't know why he switched to playing the idol for Lauren. 

[GaT]

Well, that's another wasted idol.

[eskimo]

I actually was happy to see Malolo lose immunity because I knew that would be the only way we'd learn anything about that tribe.  I thought it was going to be like the first two episodes when we didn't know crap about Naviti.  I also knew that someone in the minority had an idol and I'd hoped to see it used to balance the tribe out, but not tonight.  How great would it have been to have both tribes be 4-4!  No such luck.  Goodbye Old/New Malolo.  I understand the Naviti 5 sticking together, they were right when they said that they'd go from 5th one one side to 5th on the other.  So, for no gain they would lose everyone's trust.  Also, Chelsea and Sebastian knew they were not at any risk of going home, so if it played out all wrong for old Naviti, it was Bradley who was going to pay.  So for them, they did the smart thing, really.

Michael was also right when he said that the only reason there were no cracks in old Naviti is because they never had to take shots at each other.  If they'd had to take sides before the switch, surely there would be at least ONE person who felt at odds with the rest.  I don't know if it would be enough to split them, but there would have been a realistic chance.  

BUT!  After tonight, I wish to see old Naviti/New Malolo get creamed.  They seriously became some arrogant, smug twats.  Too good for their new camp in the dirt (which was assigned not picked by old Malolo), whiny ass little bitches last week and then the condescending smirks on all their faces, along with Bradley's condescending attitude turned me completely off.  But I despise them so much that it guarantees they'll be around for a while. 

[KimberStormer]

Well that was some excellent Survivor.  (It's too bad it's all going to come crashing down when the Ghosts come home to roost, and the Just Give Ben The Win Because I Say So twist reminds us all that they're not even playing Survivor this season, but some bullshit house rules version.)  I enjoyed the scrambling and thinking on NuNaviti.  Laurel was the MVP in the reward challenge for sure, and doesn't intend to be a slouch in the game game -- excellent stuff.  I'll be honest that I like having Chris in the game; there's something so old-school Survivor about having that sort of super-athletic, sort of douchey brodude in the game.  It feels homey and comfortable to me, to see That Guy in the challenges.  And, shit, at least he's trying in the game.  But I kind of like everybody on that side.  I find Domenick strangely likeable, Angela just sort of exudes cool, Wendell is my crush this season, Donathan is adorbz, and although we heard nothing from my Survivor Daughter Libby and yesterday's mastermind James, they were great last week so!  NuNaviti!  Good tribe, crazy tribe, looking forward to see what wacky hijinks they are up to next.

However, the best thing about this episode was definitely Michael.  As those who have spent years fighting with me over JT know, I adore a Big Ass Player who makes Big Ass Moves, who really goes for it and leaves it all out there.  I love that he didn't just sit on his idol, or just hope to guess right, but went all-out with it.  It's hardly anything really, it's just an idol, but you can make it as big as you want if you really try.  Using the James story to bluff the double-idol power was a great idea.  I sort of knew nobody would flip, and when he decided to play it for Stephanie that they were doomed, but he has nothing to regret.  I consider that idol as one ghost exorcised.

The rest of that tribe is not very likeable so far.  I guess I have nothing against Desiree or Chelsea, because they're nigh-invisible.  (I did know who Chelsea was because I remembered Probst being like "CHELSEA, REALLY STRUGGLING WITH THAT ROPE!!!!" when she was doing 100% fine with it last week.)  Sebastian, I'm afraid, is just too much of a doofus for me.  Stephanie and Kellyn are battling it out for which is more smug-annoying, with Kellyn taking the prize easily this time, despite Stephanie's best efforts.  It seems like a ton of Survivor media people picked Kellyn as their winner, and I just do not understand it, she is incredibly obnoxious, from last week with her "well you guys are screwed lolz" at the well, to this episode where she was rubbing her self-regard all over everything.  (Stephen and Rob went so far as to say that well scene was a good move for Kellyn last week, because the honesty would win her jury votes -- what jury votes, guys?  It's goddamn day 7.  If she's right and those guys are screwed, they're gone long before the jury, and if not, it's more than a month away, they will 100% forget about this "honesty".)  But of course this seemed like the winningest humility next to Bradley, who is getting an absolutely delicious 'fuck this guy' edit, which I am absolutely revelling in, much as I was Dr. Mike's 'absolute moron who sucks at everything' edit last time.  Please give me all the hateable Bradley moments I can stand, I love it.  I want to soak in them, so when he goes down it will be so, so, so delicious.  Hey Kellyn and Bradley: Kim Spradlin would never in a million years stonewall the rival alliance and tell them they were fucked.  She would have them eating out of the palm of her hand, and every single member convinced they were in her final 3, even on the boat to Ponderosa.

4 hours ago, Eolivet said:

Seriously, there was very little difference between Michael's speech and Dr. Mike's "give me liberty or give me airtime and throw off the tyrant yadda yadda yadda" last season.

Interesting that for a "reverse the curse" season, the cursed items have ostensibly been involved with three of five of the first vote-outs of the season.

There is a huge difference, and not just because Michael's wasn't a "speech", just a regular old attempt to swing votes to his side -- there was some kind of plan, some kernel of an idea, a reasonable and worthwhile move there.  Which is in stark contrast to Dr. Mike's complete and total bullshit nonsense, whose only possible object was to get another invite, which unfortunately it probably succeeded at. 

4 hours ago, jay741982 said:

If he was one of the smartest he would've used his idol for Brendan. He got played lol

This is what I believe they call "results-oriented thinking".  It blows my mind when people say, e.g. Kelley Wentworth's idol was "brilliant" and something like this "stupid", based only on what the votes happened to be.  It could easily have gone the other way, it's pure chance.  Guessing right or wrong is neither smart nor dumb, it's just lucky or unlucky.  (It's also silly IMO to take a cutaway to Bradley that could have been from literally any minute of tribal as being an accurate representation of his face when Michael said he was playing it for Brendan....Bradley is an idiot, but I'm sure he knew enough to put on a poker face for an idol play.)  Trying to make a move, split the opposition, with what you have, that's very smart.  I think he even had a perfectly good answer to the "well then you'd be 5th on their side!" argument.  He did a great job, successful or not.

[30 Helens]

I don’t understand what makes Michael’s plan so brilliant.  All he offered those two was a chance to move from the bottom of one alliance to the bottom of another one.  And since he straight up said who his alliance was voting for, they knew they were in no danger. So why should they risk it? Now, if he had said something like “two of us are safe. All of us are voting for one of you, but we’re not telling which one.  So in order to save yourself, you can try voting for someone else in your own alliance and hope that tilts the balance away from you.” Or something.  All I know is, the offer he made, the way he made it, had almost no chance of succeeding.

[green]

On 3/15/2018 at 1:29 AM, blackwing said:

Dominick is thoroughly useless.  For such a big looking guy he doesn't seem very physically fit.  Chris was fantastic during both challenges.  I wonder if the tribe sees how much more of a physical asset Chris is versus Dominick.  I wonder why Laurel would rather work with Dominick and try and get rid of Chris.  

Oh I don't know.  Maybe because she doesn't love living under a dictatorship?  How people in general don't like some smug, self-indulgent idiot full of himself running their lives?  Because as long as Chris remains and she wants to not have him target her she is forced to act the silent, humble, second class female who "knows her place" like she told us in her confessional? 

On 3/15/2018 at 12:44 AM, spiderpig said:

A week without a puzzle!

Since tribal didn't work out in the end this indeed was the highlight of the episode.  God how I hate the endless puzzles.  Like the whole original mythos of Survivor was castaways on an island but then it came to pass that apparently castaways spend all their time in a situation like that NOT building escape rafts (that would make a good challenge) but playing endless puzzle games which are either totally Big Brother level stuff or indoor activities in a seniors home.

So the edit last week on Bradley the Whiner set him up this week as the new villain.  Bradley, Boston Rob kicks sand in your pathetic face.

So far I'm glad to see my three favorites together in Dom, Wendall and now Donathan.  Met Laurel finally this episode and liked her and she is on the right side too.

Edited March 16, 2018 by green

[Kelda Feegle]

I'd happily sit through a boring puzzle if it meant I wasn't terrified someone was going to get choked/drowned/injured in those water tackle challenges. Seriously the possibility for harm scares me in those.

[KimberStormer]

1 hour ago, 30 Helens said:

I don’t understand what makes Michael’s plan so brilliant.  All he offered those two was a chance to move from the bottom of one alliance to the bottom of another one.  And since he straight up said who his alliance was voting for, they knew they were in no danger. So why should they risk it? Now, if he had said something like “two of us are safe. All of us are voting for one of you, but we’re not telling which one.  So in order to save yourself, you can try voting for someone else in your own alliance and hope that tilts the balance away from you.” Or something.  All I know is, the offer he made, the way he made it, had almost no chance of succeeding.

How could that possibly work?  Voting at random can't possibly help you.  All it does is absolutely guarantee that one of your alliance goes home, idol or no idol.  And if you're the target, you have literally no way to change that and save yourself.  The reason that it would have been a good move for Malcolm and the Three Amigos in Caramoan is that it was already guaranteed that one of the other alliance would go home, and it could have caused rifts and craziness in the majority alliance when people saw that they got votes -- much like what happened with Angela this episode.

It doesn't really matter if you're "on the bottom" of an alliance of 5 (or 6) in a 9 person tribe.  There's no way in hell that tribe is going to tribal that many times.  Even if you lose every challenge, and even if there's no swap (both extremely unlikely propositions), it'll be the merge before then.  But it does matter if you're drawing rocks next time around because you flipped a coin simply to try to save Bradley, who is a) entirely obnoxious b) a threat to go very far c) possibly has you on the bottom of his alliance which will become relevant at the merge.  Especially since, as I mentioned before, there's an entire month left to go.  It's entirely possible for someone who flips this early to get to the end -- almost every season has someone like that in the Final 3.  And Michael emphasized that they weren't any sort of power foursome, just people thrown together by chance.  I think it's silly to say "well you'd be at the bottom" when there's soooooooo much game to go.

It's not a slam dunk by any means, and I don't think Sebastian and Chelsea were stupid not to go along with it.  Honestly I think if I were in their shoes I probably wouldn't have flipped, unless I really vibed with Michael or something, because they'd get another chance to flip next time if they did idol out Bradley and it was a tie game.  But it was a good pitch, honestly as good as one could possibly make.

[violet and green]

Blancmange. I have never encountered such an uninspiring cast. I perked up in the tribal and then Michael played the idol for Stephanie, damn it. Dom won't keep his idol secret from anyone. Sea Bass is showing slight promise... or at least a pulse. He has a very unusual face. Chelsea has burgundy hair. I dislike Kellyn even more after this episode. Excellent boob shot from above as Stephanie voted! They must be falling asleep in the editing booth to have come up with that one. Thank god for the blue bird, looked like a Kingfisher... and the nice overhead shot of the first challenge sandbar circle and the shallows... Jeff is wearing his orange cap a lot - is that to make up for the boring cast? It better pick up.

[Xcptnl]

Some of these people have not even been to tribal until this episode.  I still don't have anyone that I am hoping will win this and usually by now I do.   I don't really like anyone.   

[JudyObscure]

4 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

It seems like a ton of Survivor media people picked Kellyn as their winner, and I just do not understand it, she is incredibly obnoxious, from last week with her "well you guys are screwed lolz" at the well, to this episode where she was rubbing her self-regard all over everything

I heart your writing, Kimber. 

I've been enjoying this season but was missing people to  hate.  Then I was served two delicious ones on a platter. Bradley the whining braggart and Kellyn who seems to think the Universe has aligned itself with only her in mind.  Did Stephen Hawkings know about this?  She really should shut-up about her divorce because every time she mentions it she makes it sound like she looked at him one morning, while his hair was still messed up, and her gut told her Karma had something so much better in store for her.

I love Laurel more every week.  She, Donathan and Wendell are a dream alliance.

[ProfCrash]

10 hours ago, ihartcoffee said:

Pretty boy doesn't realize he could just surprise them with the idol  after the vote,  no show and tell needed.  

Michael was trying to use the idol in a more strategic fashion and cause a crack in the other alliance. He played it brilliantly. First, by showing it he pretty much told them that it was going to be played. More likely then not, the other alliance assumed he would play it for himself. Michael went from a 25% chance of playing it for the right person by playing it blindly to a 33% chance that he would play it correctly because he could be reasonably certain that the opposing alliance would not vote for Michael.

Then Michael bluffs that two people are safe and comes up with a great story to explain why that would be. James left the game with two idols so the James idol protects two people. If they other tribe believes it, then they think that they have less of a chance to get the vote correct.

Playing the idol allows Michael/Brandon/Stephanie/Fourth persons who I don't remember to discuss that the alliance of five has people on the bottom and calls out who they think that is and why. Sebastian is on the bottom because he is too much of a threat. Without knowing it, they played into Sebastian's worry when his tribe decided to target Michael and Brendan because they are physically strong. Michael probably made that call based on knowing the past history of Survivor but it played perfectly into his story. I have no idea why he called out Chelsea because I was not aware that Chelsea was on the show until tonight.

When it gets down to it, Michael was hoping to guess the right person to play the idol on and choose wrong. But it was not bad idol play. He drove doubts into Sebastian and Chelsea's mind and maybe gave the remaining three some wiggle room. He wasn't able to send Bradley home but he was able to scare some folks and maybe give him some room to maneuver.

10 hours ago, ElleryAnne said:

Ugh.  I didn't care much for Brendan one way or another, but it's been awhile since I suddenly wanted someone to get voted out as badly as I did with Bradley after that babysitter comment.

 

My favorite thing about this episode was when I thought Donathan said that Chris and Dom were button-heads.

Bradley has been insufferable the last few weeks. His complaining about the dirt and not sand and the sunrise not being as pretty and the camp not being as nice and the air being a little bit too salty. Just uggghhhh. And he thinks he is playing like Kim or Boston Rob, yeah, just no. You don't get to make that call, people will make that call based on your overall game play. And while Boston Rob was obvious about his pairing and making sure that his group stayed together, he had a certain charisma in how he did it. It was annoying but worked because of Rob's personality. Bradley just comes off as an arrogant fuck who is insecure. And Kim's game had some level of subtlety to it that Bradley has no chance in hell of ever achieving. So a smug, arrogant whiny little shit. Send his ass home.

10 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm just not caring. How did Bradley become despised? I'm not paying attention. Lucky for him that Michael messed up. All that was missing was Probst looking at the idol and drawling, "You have chosen . . . poorly."

Speaking of Probst, I have a question, and I'll understand if you think I'm reading too much into it. A tribe is lagging behind, as their opponents are on the final part. Only two guys are pulling the rope to get the track on the rail. About a second after the lead guy (really don't know names, really don't care) yells for help, Probst hollers, “You can’t do this with two guys!” So the other pitch in, and they get to the final part, and they win in a surprising manner. Does that mean Probst interfered with the game? Once again, I'm not caring, and I'm sure there's eye candy for Probst on both sides . . . but the idea that he'd nudge a tribe forward -- even for the sake of drama -- is a little disconcerting.

Whasherface doesn't go for the Ghost Island idol. Boooooooooo. I know, she probably made the right play with a vote at risk, but I know the producers are itching to rub mistakes in the faces of past contestants. Sadly, I don't think they can work in the letter JT slipped to Russell along with the idol.

Kellyn is annoying and can go home soon. Play the damn game. You are there to play the game. You have a shot at an advantage, so go for it. As a viewer I know that all the advantages from the last season really were not advantages but she does not know that because the season had not aired by the time Kellyn was playing. But the sitting on your hands was chicken shit. You have the numbers, take the risk and help your tribe that way.

Overall a good episode. I like how Wendell and Dom responded to the blindside. They were not pissy. They accepted the other alliances explanation with grace. Chris of course handled it totally wrong and reverted to leadership by plowing through the china shop. Chris has rubbed everyone the wrong way with his "I am boss man and I will tell you who to vote for." Dom comes across as a gamer who at least is not an asshole. I think it is clear he is targeting Chris but he is doing it in a more affable manner.

[Haleth]

I thought it was a clever story to say the idol would work for 2 people, but it may also be what ruined the plot.  Faced with too many possible combinations the group of 5 decided to screw it and stick with their original plan.  (Of course they were probably rock solid anyway.)

Funny, last week I thought the majority 5 were idiots to not stay solidly together but this week I was hoping either Sebastian or Chelsea (who?) would turn on their group.  It would have been interesting if Kellyn (who?) lost her vote on GI and there was a 4-4 tie.  Would anyone flip for fear of rocks?

Kellyn (who?) was obnoxious about going to GI, whining about being all alone-- except for the production staff.  And Bradley (who?) is a whiny baby too.  And smug.  I didn't know someone could do whiny and smug at the same time but he has perfected it.

[EllipticalAddicted]

Likes this week:   Stephanie (props for the put down of whiny Bradley during her vote), Michael (at 18 years old I was an immature, emotional wild teenager who could never have done what he did last night) and Laurel (athletic and darn smart, I had no idea!!)

Dislikes:   Bradley and his teeny tiny mouth, especially when he made a little "Oh" expression with it.

[ProfCrash]

23 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I didn't know someone could do whiny and smug at the same time but he has perfected it.

You don't many toddlers and younger kids, do you?

[ghoulina]

10 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

The editors are doing a weird job this time around.  I appreciate that they didn't want to spoil which team goes to Tribal, but....... honestly who cares who goes to Tribal if we still have no attachments to the players?  Does anyone know if it's a different group of editors each season?

The editors did fool me. I was convinced Naviti was going to TC. I appreciate things not being so obvious. But I also don't think you should show almost NOTHING of the other tribe before leading up to a TC. So many of us had no clue who half of the people were. I also think they did a tribal swap too early, and that affected things. They should have spent more time in the original tribes, lets us get to know most people, then switch. They switched after only ONE episode. 

 

9 hours ago, princelina said:

He was the one last week who wouldn't shut up after the tribal swap about how bad the new camp he went to was compared to his original.  No living room, dirt instead of sand, waaa waaa waaa.  Several people were irritated with him last week.  Now all we got to see of him this week was him comparing himself to BRob/Kim S, and him telling Jeff in front of everyone that he had to babysit his tribe.  I wonder what obnoxious comments we didn't see.  And he has a little mouth - I don't like it.

I remember now that people mentioned it! He still just seemed so inconsequential to me. And then there's big speeches being made about him at TC. I wish we'd seen even just a TINY bit of camp life from Malolo this week. 

[ghoulina]

6 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

This is what I believe they call "results-oriented thinking".  It blows my mind when people say, e.g. Kelley Wentworth's idol was "brilliant" and something like this "stupid", based only on what the votes happened to be.  It could easily have gone the other way, it's pure chance.  Guessing right or wrong is neither smart nor dumb, it's just lucky or unlucky.  (It's also silly IMO to take a cutaway to Bradley that could have been from literally any minute of tribal as being an accurate representation of his face when Michael said he was playing it for Brendan....Bradley is an idiot, but I'm sure he knew enough to put on a poker face for an idol play.)  Trying to make a move, split the opposition, with what you have, that's very smart.  I think he even had a perfectly good answer to the "well then you'd be 5th on their side!" argument.  He did a great job, successful or not.

I totally agree with. Yes, it didn't work. Sure, there were other things he could have tried. But at the end of the day, your fate is still in the other tribe's hands. They're five and you're four. Your backs are up against the wall. 

I thought Michael's idea was super clever, and I always appreciate when someone tries SOMETHING. 

6 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I don’t understand what makes Michael’s plan so brilliant.  All he offered those two was a chance to move from the bottom of one alliance to the bottom of another one.  And since he straight up said who his alliance was voting for, they knew they were in no danger. So why should they risk it? Now, if he had said something like “two of us are safe. All of us are voting for one of you, but we’re not telling which one.  So in order to save yourself, you can try voting for someone else in your own alliance and hope that tilts the balance away from you.” Or something.  All I know is, the offer he made, the way he made it, had almost no chance of succeeding.

Personally, I thought describing Jame's Idol as a double Idol was smart. I don't think the other side was sure whether or not that was true. I think it cast doubt. You make a good point that leaving some ambiguity about WHO Michael and co. were voting for would have been possibly wiser. But it's always easy to sit HERE and think up various strategies and debate their merits. I still think he came up with something unique that really almost worked. 

[ProfCrash]

2 minutes ago, ghoulina said:

Personally, I thought describing Jame's Idol as a double Idol was smart. I don't think the other side was sure whether or not that was true. I think it cast doubt. You make a good point that leaving some ambiguity about WHO Michael and co. were voting for would have been possibly wiser. But it's always easy to sit HERE and think up various strategies and debate their merits. I still think he came up with something unique that really almost worked. 

I thought that telling them it was Bradley was brilliant. It gave the others a target to vote for. Perhaps it would have been better to say to Sebastian and Chelsea, "We are not voting for you because you have not been immature douchebags" Perhaps a different word then douchebags but Kellyn and Bradley have been jerks in the way they have been treated the minority four. Something along the lines of "We want to get to know you and work with you but Bradley and Kellyn have been preventing us from talking. Sebastian, we appreciate how you fish and provide for the tribe. We think that you are a good person to work with. Chelsea, you are amazing at blending in and no one knows who you are so we cannot come up with a  reason why we want to work for you but what the hell, you are on the bottom of your alliance." OK, so my Chelsea pitch needs work...

So make it clear that there are folks you want to work with, there by putting a target on them and solidifying them as bottom of their alliance, but leaving it ambiguous for Bradly, Kellyn and Desiree (that is her name, right?) so that one of them might jump because they are worried.

Overall, I think Michael played it pretty darn well and that it is easier to come up with tweaks well fed on our computers. I am impressed by his strategic game play and how well spoken Michael is. He is going places for a lot of good reasons.

[ghoulina]

35 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I thought that telling them it was Bradley was brilliant. It gave the others a target to vote for. Perhaps it would have been better to say to Sebastian and Chelsea, "We are not voting for you because you have not been immature douchebags" Perhaps a different word then douchebags but Kellyn and Bradley have been jerks in the way they have been treated the minority four. Something along the lines of "We want to get to know you and work with you but Bradley and Kellyn have been preventing us from talking. Sebastian, we appreciate how you fish and provide for the tribe. We think that you are a good person to work with. Chelsea, you are amazing at blending in and no one knows who you are so we cannot come up with a  reason why we want to work for you but what the hell, you are on the bottom of your alliance." OK, so my Chelsea pitch needs work...

LOL! I see merits to both. Telling them it was Bradley does eliminate the need for confusion, a last minute scramble, etc. But, then again, if they know THEY'RE safe, the stakes might not be as high. 

Either way, I did love Michael's plan. I thought it was a great attempt, and I was bummed it didn't work out. 

[Bryce Lynch]

I loved when during the reward challenge, Probst yelled, "Watch the neck!" when one of the ladies was grabbing the other around the throat and almost pulling her under the water.  You mean there are rules to that challenge?  I was wondering what would happen if one player tried to drown an opponent by holding his/her head under the water.  This seemed to come close to happening a few times.  

[peachmangosteen]

12 hours ago, Eolivet said:

Interesting that for a "reverse the curse" season, the cursed items have ostensibly been involved with three of five of the first vote-outs of the season.

I thought about that last night, too. I kinda love it.

Another good ep. I love this season so far. Man, having super low expectations is actually really great lol.

I am kind of obsessed with New Purple. The Dom vs. Chris rivalry is fun. It helps that I both love and hate both of them. I am with you @KimberStormer on Chris being the kind of old-school douche guy that we haven't seen in awhile. It really is kind of comforting! And I go back and forth on Dom, but he was such fun in this ep. I loved his and Wendell's reaction to being blindsided. I am also so very down for a Dom/Wendell/Laurel/Donathan alliance because I find them all adorable and interesting. 

I was very impressed with Michael. And he's only 18! Love it. I'm torn because I want New Yellow to win next week to save Michael, but I really love New Purple and I don't really wanna lose any of the dynamics there yet.

Bradley is the worst, but in a way I really enjoy watching. I like having someone to root against, but not someone that's such an aggressively horrible person like a Russell or just a boring asshole. Bradley is fun to hate imo. Kellyn is less fun to hate because she just bugs. I'm somewhat forced to root for her though because she's on my fantasy team.

Sebastian is very stupid, but his confessionals crack me up.

After the first ep I was saying how this is such an unattractive cast but boy do I take that back. Now that they're all dirty and the men have scruff I'm like hello there!

Edited March 15, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[BusyOctober]

1 hour ago, EllipticalAddicted said:

Dislikes:   Bradley and his teeny tiny mouth, especially when he made a little "Oh" expression with it.

OMG! yes, it so distracting!  Bradley looks like he's one of those face swap apps come to life.  Like someone took a screen grab of a 2 yr old's mouth and put it on Bradley's adult-sized face.  I can't not look at his mouth.

And while I'm swimming in the shallow end of the pool...I think Sebastian's face looks like a little monkey's.  A cross between a Macaque/Capuchin/Marmoset maybe?  His face/head look to small for his body.  He's more wiry than bulky, but still his head looks out of proportion. He's missing some real estate in the jawline/chin area.

Don't know her name, but stripey leggings yoga lady had better not weep about being a single mom "proving" something to her kids every damn week.  I find it irritating when moms or dads go on a reality show to impress or teach a life lesson to their kids.  If your children haven't gained the capacity to love or respect or learn from you during 'x' many years under the same roof, I don't think running around a jungle with complete strangers a thousand miles away is the best parenting choice.

As for the show, I really give Michael credit for his attempt to persuade someone to flip at TC.  His idol story was much more plausible than Dom's fake idol or Seth Rogan's less fortunate looking twin's fake story.

I wish there was a way Chris & Bradley could both be shipped off to Ghost Island.  Then the weight of their combined smugness would crush them both.

[ProfCrash]

34 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Bradley is the worst, but in a way I really enjoy watching. I like having someone to root against, but not someone that's such an aggressively horrible person like a Russell or just a boring asshole. Bradley is fun to hate imo

Agreed. I'll take annoying so I don't like you over asshat, I am going to create a character and demand all the attention on me any day. Bradley is annoying and I want him voted out as oon as possible but I can tolerate him in the game. His breakdown next week should be fun to watch. I mean, he is going to totally melt down. Mister I want to be Kim Spradlin (sp) who looks all aghast at tribal that he is being called out for being a leader and the target because of his craptastic attitude and stupid game play is going to fall apart in a very amusing way. I can just see the conversation when they get back to camp after tribal.

(giggles) 

[watch2much]

I was impressed by Michael.  I can follow his reasoning that he thought the bigger targets would be either him or Brendon and by mentioning both in tribal that would cause them to switch to someone else.   I thought he made a good pitch.  He's in real estate and I thought after watching him, "I bet he sells a lot of houses".

Edited March 15, 2018 by watch2much

[jay741982]

8 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Well that was some excellent Survivor.  (It's too bad it's all going to come crashing down when the Ghosts come home to roost, and the Just Give Ben The Win Because I Say So twist reminds us all that they're not even playing Survivor this season, but some bullshit house rules version.)  I enjoyed the scrambling and thinking on NuNaviti.  Laurel was the MVP in the reward challenge for sure, and doesn't intend to be a slouch in the game game -- excellent stuff.  I'll be honest that I like having Chris in the game; there's something so old-school Survivor about having that sort of super-athletic, sort of douchey brodude in the game.  It feels homey and comfortable to me, to see That Guy in the challenges.  And, shit, at least he's trying in the game.  But I kind of like everybody on that side.  I find Domenick strangely likeable, Angela just sort of exudes cool, Wendell is my crush this season, Donathan is adorbz, and although we heard nothing from my Survivor Daughter Libby and yesterday's mastermind James, they were great last week so!  NuNaviti!  Good tribe, crazy tribe, looking forward to see what wacky hijinks they are up to next.

However, the best thing about this episode was definitely Michael.  As those who have spent years fighting with me over JT know, I adore a Big Ass Player who makes Big Ass Moves, who really goes for it and leaves it all out there.  I love that he didn't just sit on his idol, or just hope to guess right, but went all-out with it.  It's hardly anything really, it's just an idol, but you can make it as big as you want if you really try.  Using the James story to bluff the double-idol power was a great idea.  I sort of knew nobody would flip, and when he decided to play it for Stephanie that they were doomed, but he has nothing to regret.  I consider that idol as one ghost exorcised.

The rest of that tribe is not very likeable so far.  I guess I have nothing against Desiree or Chelsea, because they're nigh-invisible.  (I did know who Chelsea was because I remembered Probst being like "CHELSEA, REALLY STRUGGLING WITH THAT ROPE!!!!" when she was doing 100% fine with it last week.)  Sebastian, I'm afraid, is just too much of a doofus for me.  Stephanie and Kellyn are battling it out for which is more smug-annoying, with Kellyn taking the prize easily this time, despite Stephanie's best efforts.  It seems like a ton of Survivor media people picked Kellyn as their winner, and I just do not understand it, she is incredibly obnoxious, from last week with her "well you guys are screwed lolz" at the well, to this episode where she was rubbing her self-regard all over everything.  (Stephen and Rob went so far as to say that well scene was a good move for Kellyn last week, because the honesty would win her jury votes -- what jury votes, guys?  It's goddamn day 7.  If she's right and those guys are screwed, they're gone long before the jury, and if not, it's more than a month away, they will 100% forget about this "honesty".)  But of course this seemed like the winningest humility next to Bradley, who is getting an absolutely delicious 'fuck this guy' edit, which I am absolutely revelling in, much as I was Dr. Mike's 'absolute moron who sucks at everything' edit last time.  Please give me all the hateable Bradley moments I can stand, I love it.  I want to soak in them, so when he goes down it will be so, so, so delicious.  Hey Kellyn and Bradley: Kim Spradlin would never in a million years stonewall the rival alliance and tell them they were fucked.  She would have them eating out of the palm of her hand, and every single member convinced they were in her final 3, even on the boat to Ponderosa.

There is a huge difference, and not just because Michael's wasn't a "speech", just a regular old attempt to swing votes to his side -- there was some kind of plan, some kernel of an idea, a reasonable and worthwhile move there.  Which is in stark contrast to Dr. Mike's complete and total bullshit nonsense, whose only possible object was to get another invite, which unfortunately it probably succeeded at. 

This is what I believe they call "results-oriented thinking".  It blows my mind when people say, e.g. Kelley Wentworth's idol was "brilliant" and something like this "stupid", based only on what the votes happened to be.  It could easily have gone the other way, it's pure chance.  Guessing right or wrong is neither smart nor dumb, it's just lucky or unlucky.  (It's also silly IMO to take a cutaway to Bradley that could have been from literally any minute of tribal as being an accurate representation of his face when Michael said he was playing it for Brendan....Bradley is an idiot, but I'm sure he knew enough to put on a poker face for an idol play.)  Trying to make a move, split the opposition, with what you have, that's very smart.  I think he even had a perfectly good answer to the "well then you'd be 5th on their side!" argument.  He did a great job, successful or not.

Fair enough. But I don't see what's so great move  about it 

[ByaNose]

2 hours ago, watch2much said:

I was impressed by Michael.  I can follow his reasoning that he thought the bigger targets would be either him or Brendon and by mentioning both in tribal that would cause them to switch to someone else.   I thought he made a good pitch.  He's in real estate and I thought after watching him, "I bet he sells a lot of houses".

 

Brenden said in his exit interview that if Michael had said he was 28 he would have believed it. I know many people wouldn't buy a house from an 18 year old (maybe, 19 now) realtor but Michael isn't your average 18 year old. He's really got the whole package at such a young age. Pretty impressive.

Edited March 15, 2018 by ByaNose

[OFDgal]

13 hours ago, Evenshorter said:

I just said the same thing to my daughter.  I know production decides what clothes they get to wear, but for the love of an idol, can't they at least be given regular bathing suits??

It makes Me uncomfortable just watching them. 

[jumper sage]

12 hours ago, TVFan1 said:

Nice speech by Michael, but too bad he didn't mange to flip anybody over to his side. I'm surprised he didn't play his idol for Brendan seeing as how Brendan even mentioned that they were going for him back at camp. Bradley is such a smug prick, and I can't wait to see his torch get snuffed.

He did say Brendan and then changed.  Always go with your first gut choice.

[meep.meep]

15 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

. Now there's 4 old Malolo sitting on the beach and there is a blonde woman I do not recognize. She is not Kellyn.  I thought I'd figured out who everyone is. This unknown woman is wearing an orange jacket at tribal. 

Who is she?  They only showed her arm at tribal.  Must mean she's set to win it all, if they don't show her at a tribal when she's got a 1/4 chance of being voted off.

I thought Kellyn was saying that picking rocks was her worst Survivor nightmare, not going to Ghost Island.  At the very least, you can sleep there, and eat.

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

13 hours ago, willco said:

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the girl who went to Ghost Island being a bit afraid of it, but it made her sound a little wimpy to me. I can see not wanting to go because you will miss out on what happens at camp, but you do get some solitude and it seems like some extra food. That's not bad.

I was like STFU already, you are scared of Ghost Island ? Weren't you the one that was married for a hot second, divorced your husband, went back to get your GED or something then changed jobs, then moved across country, stopped traffic to let a gaggle of geese across safely, then went on to save 33% using coupons at Dollar General ?  

[marys1000]

15 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

It will be interesting to see what happens if Naviti goes to tribal council because while I believe Donathan and the other girl really do like Wendell and would prefer to side with him and Dominik over Chris, I wonder if Chris' performance in the IC may sway them. Because annoying as he may be, he really was like a one man fighting machine, especially at times when his tribe was useless. Like seriously, Jeff had to tell these idiots that Chris and Wendell alone couldn't pull the track?

Its thinking long term but going with Domenick because he isn't as bossy as Chris is (1) playing emotionally and (2) why wouldn't you want to sit next to super annoying Chris who will get no votes at the end?  I think switching to Domenick's team is a big stupid mistake for Laurel, Donathan and anyone else who keeps Domenick around.  

14 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

Michael seemed promising but he can't read people (guessed the votes were for Steph), and didn't listen to his main ally (Brendan pegged immediately that he was the target).  Probably youthful arrogance.  We'll see if he improves.

Yes, something going on there, I think there may have some behind the scenes talks/deals/manipulation from the other side that steered them toward Stephanie.  Brendan didn't buy it and should have fought Michael harder on why. 

13 hours ago, A1Jackass said:

I was waiting to see if someone else would comment on his deformed baby mouth. Not only is it too small, it’s also pushed to the side of his face. What a freak. Matches his personality, though. 

OMG so I'm not the only one who was recoiling at the mouth.  It looked the perfect mouth for some horror thriller psycho cannibal serial killer.  

12 hours ago, Hera said:

1. Have someone (probably Stephanie, though Brendan could also work) straight-up confront Bradley at camp. Call him out for his constant whining, his controlling of his tribemates, and announce that the Malolo four were all voting for him. My opinion of Bradley is low enough that I think this would cause him to change the target from whomever the tribe originally chose to the person who called him out. The challenge then becomes whether or not Kellyn—who I think does have good instincts and who impressed me with her reasoning at Ghost Island (as well as her way of verbalizing her thoughts)—would have been able to get him to change his mind and stick to his original plan. Of course, if the original plan was still Brendan, then nothing changes, but the Malolo four don't know that.
    
2. Choose someone to blatantly search for the idol, shirking whatever chores they're supposed to do around camp, while the other three look embarrassed and quietly apologize to the Naviti five for the behavior of their loose cannon tribemate. Make sure this tribemate looks as panicked as possible at tribal council so that the Naviti five don't suspect the idol has been found. Make sure this person seems on the outs with the other three, so that the Naviti five can feel comfortable that no idols will be played on his or her behalf. The way this might back-fire is if the designated vote-getter is so annoying that the Naviti five decide to spare him or her because s/he an easy vote for later or even a goat. The person who is a vote-getter has to make the other team sufficiently tense and paranoid without going overboard (or underplaying it to the point that the other tribe don't care), which is a tough line to walk.

 

Interesting idea to funnel their vote to someone by putting on some sort of performance.  

11 hours ago, calvinshobbes said:

I think the original Naviti 5 on Malolo tanked the immunity challenge to go to tribal. That was some pathetic ball shots by Sebastian. I think they edited that out since Probst hates this strategy.

Another interesting idea.  I am going to rewatch this one anyway since I watched in a bar.  I will have to keep this in mind.

11 hours ago, blackwing said:

 Chris was fantastic during both challenges.  I wonder if the tribe sees how much more of a physical asset Chris is versus Dominick.  I wonder why Laurel would rather work with Dominick and try and get rid of Chris.  

Agree.  Chris may be bossy but (1) they are all adults and we haven't seen anyone just hey dude, I'm in it with you to win but you have to dial the bossy back and (2) don't play emotionally, so what if he's bossy, no one will vote for him at he end so use him as a goat.  

Because I haven't ever seen anyone play their guts out in a challenge like Chris every damn time.  Its not just that he's fit or athletic.  He goes off the starting block and doesn't stop like his life is at stake.  

9 hours ago, green said:

Oh I don't know.  Maybe because she doesn't love living under a dictatorship?  How people in general don't like some smug, self-indulgent idiot full of himself running their lives?  Because as long as Chris remains and she wants to not have him target her she is forced to act the silent, humble, second class female who "knows her place" like she told us in her confessional? 

 

Not there to love everyone in your alliance, don't play emotional. 

5 hours ago, violet and green said:

 Dom won't keep his idol secret from anyone. Sea Bass is showing slight promise... or at least a pulse. He has a very unusual face. 

Yes and yes.  Unusual is being kind.  

[CletusMusashi]

I'm out. If they didn't waste time on that stupid Ghost Island schtick every week, I might actually remember who half the players are by now. But, that's not gonna change. Which means that, ultimately, I do not actually care what happens to these people. And that's not gonna change either. See you next season. Maybe.

[HurricaneVal]

Michael impressed me last night.  His story about it being a double idol was juuuust plausible enough to really get some thoughts moving.  It was way better than a lame fake idol, that's for sure.  Michael bugged me on the first episode by being a bit smug and superior about being 18yo and smarter than everyone else, but I see he's backed that arrogance off a bit.  Either that, or he pales when compared to Bradley's tiny-mouthed smug arrogant displays.

As for Probst's yelling during the challenges, I think some of it is "live" and some may be looped in later.  Sometimes he is yelling about things happening that I just don't think he's got a view of.

Interesting that the exile to Ghost Island happened at the Reward Challenge so they come back before the Immunity Challenge and therefore does not have automatic immunity.  This makes it more like a reward, what with the shelter, fire, decor, water, copious amounts of rice, and, oh yeah, the chance to win an advantage...all without missing any of the post IC/ pre TC strategizing back at camp.

Buh-bye Brendan.  Weren't you the PE teacher?  If so, then you are my natural enemy and I rejoice that your torch was snuffed.

[PaperTree]

11 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Buh-bye Brendan.  Weren't you the PE teacher?  If so, then you are my natural enemy and I rejoice that your torch was snuffed.

Yes he is.  They were always the bane of my existence too.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Brenden said in his exit interview that if Michael had said he was 28 he would have believed it. I know many people would buy a house from an 18 year old (maybe, 19 now) realtor but Michael isn't your average 18 year old. He's really got the whole package at such a young age. Pretty impressive.

Nobody really knows the age of their realtor, LOL ;)  It's not something you have to disclose.  I'm sure he doesn't.

6 hours ago, violet and green said:

 Sea Bass is showing slight promise... or at least a pulse. He has a very unusual face. 

It will fascinate me for as long as I have to watch it.  I don't "enjoy" snarking on him because he seems so sweet and harmless, yet I have a strange fascination with it and it haunts my thoughts.  Could it be surgery?

[Gummo]

A good episode but not a great episode. But so far, I'm enjoying this season.

Not stressing over not knowing who most of these people are -- that happens to me every time they start the game with 20 PEOPLE. I mean, c'mon, who can keep track of 20 people? I bet even Probst has a cheat sheet in the early days of the game.

Speaking of ol' Jeff, I've always thought his job is not to be an impartial arbiter, it's to be a goad so as to add even more stress to people who are already tired, hungry, achy, and irritable. His job is to strip these people raw, then sit back and watch the fireworks. So he taunts, annoys, derides, all to -- very intentionally -- get on people's last nerve.

Michael impresses the hell outta me, too. Hope he can survive after his big show at Tribal. 

Had no idea who Bradley was or why everybody hated him 'til Stephanie (?) made that comment about his whining, then I remembered. Yes, what an asshat! 

And again in the reward challenge, James proves that gym muscles aren't good for much of anything.

I have no idea why, but I'm kind of liking Dom. We'll see if that lasts.

[ByaNose]

Brenden said that Bradley was just a big complainer....about.....everything. He said he likes him but better out of the game and they are friends. The editors didn't really show Bradley until the shelter/sand/dirty comment last week. He showed some promise last night and I'm curious to see if this is the Bradley they were talking about in the pre interviews. In genreal, I think he's just one of those guys who is a wise a** and who annoys people. If they don't merge he's in a good spot for now. Also, he looks so different everytime they show him. I guess it's the glasses.

[ElleryAnne]

Quote

 I think he's just one of those guys who is a wise a** 

Less wise, more horse's.