S36.E13: Always Be Moving

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, phlebas said:

 

ProfCrash is likely suffering from the same Royal Wedding Oversaturation Weekend Recovery Syndrome I've got, where every woman is Meghan Markle and they are all evaluated according to their similarities with Princess Diana. 

The condition fades. I hope :)

My Husband is trying to figure out what will happen first, the sump pump in our basement stops running or I stop watching wedding coverage. He fears he knows the answer but keeps hoping he is wrong.

Did you see the offical pics that were released? The kids were simply adorable....

And Morgan was just that memorable....

[Ellee]

Lol ... Morgan ... Meghan ...  

:D :D :D

[ratgirlagogo]

6 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I notice a lot of people saying they fast-forward the show because it's boring because they don't know who the people are, who the tribes are, etc.  I want to say, "If you watched it, you'd probably know."  

I'm not fast-forwarding - I have watched, I've been watching since the first season, and I plan to continue watching until the show finally goes off the air.  But as for this season my main problem is that  I don't know how you or anyone else including Probst is keeping the tribal alliances straight, since they kept switching all the tribes around.    I got totally confused around episode three and even I am not obsessed enough to start making up spreadsheets to remind me who was on what tribe when.  

Edited May 21, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Jean-Beth said:

I will NOT be surprised if Laurel picks Wendell over Donathan or Domenick because she seems to be playing with her emotions rather than her smarts.  Now, if she would only play with her GUT...

Yea, I think there's a strong possibility Laurel could choose Wendell if she wins F4 immunity. That would be hilarious.

Edited May 21, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Jean-Beth said:

I will NOT be surprised if Laurel picks Wendell over Donathan or Domenick because she seems to be playing with her emotions rather than her smarts.  Now, if she would only play with her GUT...

Yea, I think there's a strong possibility Laurel could choose Wendell if she win F4 immunity. That would be hilarious.

[TVFan1]

I can imagine Laurel winning final 4 immunity and talk about how she can't win against Dom or Wendell again, and then picks Dom or Wendell to come along with her.

[phlebas]

16 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Yea, I think there's a strong possibility Laurel could choose Wendell if she win F4 immunity. That would be hilarious.

It seemed in this last episode that Laurel was thinking if she went to the finale with BOTH Dom and Wendell, they would split the Naviti vote and she could win with just the Malolos. I GUESS I could see that working, but I never got the impression "Malolo Strong" was a thing.

Edited May 22, 2018 by phlebas
whups typo

[Special K]

She might also be worried about the Donathan-needs-the-money factor.  He does have a sob story...

[Bryce Lynch]

16 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Yea, I think there's a strong possibility Laurel could choose Wendell if she wins F4 immunity. That would be hilarious.

She might choose him over Domenick, as both are big threats, but I can't see her choosing Wendell or Domenick over anyone else, if she has that power.   

1 minute ago, Special K said:

She might also be worried about the Donathan-needs-the-money factor.  He does have a sob story...

Fair point, but have sob stories ever won the game?  I think juries usually either vote for the best player or out of bitterness.  

[laurakaye]

On 5/17/2018 at 5:43 PM, Oscirus said:

Vote 1- Laurel Dom Wendell-Kellyn  Angie Laurel Sebastian- Donathon Don- Dom. 

Vote 2- Angie -don everybody else Kellyn

Can someone explain why Angela doesn't seem to be in the loop with anyone this season?  This season has been confusing for me as it is, but during the second vote Angela turned to Wendell looking for direction and he shrugged his shoulders.  Why wouldn't anyone WANT Angela's vote?  Is she invisible?  Is there really an Angela?

 

On 5/17/2018 at 10:17 PM, LanceM said:

They picked three captains for the reward challenge and each of them got to pick their teammate.  Angela was not a captain.

It irks me to no end that Survivor no longer shows captains choosing their teams.  I know they can't show everything but IMO, at least in seasons past, this has been a strong indicator of alliances (both secret and not).  So to not show it at all anymore might be contributing to a lot of the confusion of this season.

 

On 5/17/2018 at 10:19 PM, sigmaforce86 said:

Donathan had me fooled, for a good five minutes I thought he actually planned his verbal rampage to put the focus and votes on him.  Then he plays his idol and uses his vote to boot Dom or Wendell.  Could have been a plan but turns out he just lost his mind that day.  No idea what he was doing, being bitchy for the sake of it, foggy hunger brain, long term plan?    No idea at all.  Was it fun to watch?  Sure.  Was it confusing?  Absolutely. 

The bolded sentence perfectly sums up my feelings regarding Season 36. 

 

On 5/18/2018 at 7:31 AM, sigmaforce86 said:

Oh and forgot to add in my first post - if I were on Survivor I'd never ever tell the other players this but I completely suck at slide puzzles.  I love puzzles, I do all sorts but slides just stump me and they're the only type of puzzle I truly hate.  I'd fake it and stand there moving stuff around and I'd probably at least try to figure it out but I know I'd have no chance of solving that sucker.  Still good for Wendell for realizing you do always have to call out that you're done and for not getting too angry when he lost.  

Slide puzzles are and will always be the devil.  I would totally be like Spazzoid Tony, rushing up to the puzzle and frantically sliding pieces in a dazed frenzy, hoping that I would magically land on the perfect combination.  I remember Spencer in that same challenge walking up to the slide puzzle, perusing it for a few seconds, and then moving those pieces as easily as if he'd been studying the puzzle for hours and winning the challenge.  I remain amazed that he was able to do that.

 

On 5/18/2018 at 1:54 PM, NutMeg said:

 I'm still waiting for the day when a hapless doofus will explain at FTC that it was their plan all along to be edited as such, while they are x, y or z crazy intelligent.

Fabio burned me on that deal but good (but I still really want to see this happen and soon).

 

17 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

  I got totally confused around episode three and even I am not obsessed enough to start making up spreadsheets to remind me who was on what tribe when.  

 

I can't remember who it was on RHAP, but Rob had a previous Survivor player on as a guest who did exactly that in order to keep it straight.  Glad I am not the only one.

Edited May 22, 2018 by laurakaye

[phlebas]

9 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Fair point, but have sob stories ever won the game?  I think juries usually either vote for the best player or out of bitterness.  

I think that's an interesting question, maybe one we can dive into deeper during the off-season.  The obvious recent example is Adam Klein, whose mom died of cancer like two hours after he got back from playing Survivor. But I don't think he was in real danger of losing to either Hannah or Ken (?) even without that story coming out.

10 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Fabio burned me on that deal but good (but I still really want to see this happen and soon).

I'm still waiting for Phillip to bring the thunder against Boston Rob.  He PROMISED.

[ProfCrash]

I am not certain how much Adams reveal of his Mom's illness influenced his victory. If I am remembering correctly, Adam's reveal was at the final tribal. Jay was the only one who knew before that. I tend to think that most people have decided their vote before the final tribal takes place so I am not sure that too many people were swayed by the reveal.

Ben played a solid game but I am sure there are some folks who would say his backstory helped him win, Marine with PTSD. Ben won enough individual immunity and the fire making trial to get into the finals that he didn't need the back story but he had a good back story.

[Special K]

45 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Slide puzzles are and will always be the devil.  I would totally be like Spazzoid Tony, rushing up to the puzzle and frantically sliding pieces in a dazed frenzy, hoping that I would magically land on the perfect combination.  I remember Spencer in that same challenge walking up to the slide puzzle, perusing it for a few seconds, and then moving those pieces as easily as if he'd been studying the puzzle for hours and winning the challenge.  I remain amazed that he was able to do that.

There's a system you can learn that makes them SO much easier. It's not rocket science or anything, but if you don't know it, you'll be like Tony.  A lot of the other puzzles they have on the show require you to have a certain way of looking at things, but not so much with slide puzzles.

That would be one of the rules to getting on Survivor -- learn how to solve slide puzzles.

[Special K]

1 minute ago, ProfCrash said:

I am not certain how much Adams reveal of his Mom's illness influenced his victory. If I am remembering correctly, Adam's reveal was at the final tribal. Jay was the only one who knew before that. I tend to think that most people have decided their vote before the final tribal takes place so I am not sure that too many people were swayed by the reveal.

Ben played a solid game but I am sure there are some folks who would say his backstory helped him win, Marine with PTSD. Ben won enough individual immunity and the fire making trial to get into the finals that he didn't need the back story but he had a good back story.

I agree with this that financial need or lack of need is rarely a factor in who wins.  Yet we frequently see contestants taking perceived financial status into account when making decision about whom to take to the end.  Wasn't Jane considered a bad bet since she had financial struggles (and was involved in the Sash Mortgage-gate).  And it also works the other way -- if you seem rich they think no one will want to give you the money.

I do think that Ben's win was bolstered by being a PTSD-suffering vet (or at least that's what the producers wanted us to believe).  That annoyed me frankly.  

I also think that Jeremy had already won when he revealed that Val was pregnant.  I'm undecided on Adam but still I feel bad about wishing he hadn't won.

[Guest]

I think Val's pregnancy and Adam's mother's cancer probably helped them both, to some extent.  I do think most jurors know who they want to vote for going into FTC,  but I also think a little extra info that makes them feel even better about their vote can't hurt.  Or it could sway someone truly on the fence.  

I think a player can overestimate how much it can help them, too.  Remember Jaclyn whose only argument for votes was her infertility?  

[Bryce Lynch]

49 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think Val's pregnancy and Adam's mother's cancer probably helped them both, to some extent.  I do think most jurors know who they want to vote for going into FTC,  but I also think a little extra info that makes them feel even better about their vote can't hurt.  Or it could sway someone truly on the fence.  

I think a player can overestimate how much it can help them, too.  Remember Jaclyn whose only argument for votes was her infertility?  

I think Adam and Jeremy were sure to win anyway.  If it had been closer, their sob stories might have helped, but who knows.

If I were Laurel I would be much more concerned about Dom and Wendell's great play in the game than Donathan's sob story.  Now, if she was in a position to go to FTC with 2 of the 3 of Angela, Sebastian and Donathan, it might make sense to keep Donathan out of the Final 3.  Since, none of them (including Laurel) have really distinguished themselves as great players, it could be close between them with the jury, and the sob story could be a factor.

I still want a reality show called "Sob Story" where contestants tell their sob stories and a jury awards a large, cash prize to the most pathetic.  It would be sort of like George Costanza vs. the Andrea Doria  survivor.  

Edited May 22, 2018 by Bryce Lynch

[Nashville]

3 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Can someone explain why Angela doesn't seem to be in the loop with anyone this season?  This season has been confusing for me as it is, but during the second vote Angela turned to Wendell looking for direction and he shrugged his shoulders.  Why wouldn't anyone WANT Angela's vote?  Is she invisible?  Is there really an Angela?

Angela isolated herself; she apparently decided circa Day One that Chris was her ride-or-die and (according to the edit, anyway) put no effort into cultivating relationships besides Chris, other than parroting the NStrong party line.  

When Chris got eliminated on Day 22, Angela had zero alternate relationships upon which she could fall back - and at that advanced point in the game, everybody else’s relationships were solidified to the point nobody had much interest in working with her.

[KimberStormer]

59 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I still want a reality show called "Sob Story" where contestants tell their sob stories and a jury awards a large, cash prize to the most pathetic.  It would be sort of like George Costanza vs. the Andrea Doria  survivor.  

Sounds like you've never seen/heard Queen for a Day.  It was the worst thing ever.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Can someone explain why Angela doesn't seem to be in the loop with anyone this season?  This season has been confusing for me as it is, but during the second vote Angela turned to Wendell looking for direction and he shrugged his shoulders.  Why wouldn't anyone WANT Angela's vote?

My impression was she is in loops, which is why she wanted direction on the re-vote.  But Wendell either wasn't super clear which way the re-vote was going or was and knew it didn't matter which way Angela voted so didn't bother filling her in.  Sometimes it's better to just clam up in tribal, I think.  If Kellyn heard Wendell telling others that she was the re-vote target, she could hold him to blame.  And probably should.  

[Nashville]

31 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

My impression was she is in loops, which is why she wanted direction on the re-vote.  But Wendell either wasn't super clear which way the re-vote was going or was and knew it didn't matter which way Angela voted so didn't bother filling her in.  Sometimes it's better to just clam up in tribal, I think.  If Kellyn heard Wendell telling others that she was the re-vote target, she could hold him to blame.  And probably should.  

My impression was not so much Angela being in-the-loop as part of a team, but rather Angela threshing about wildly for a clue how everybody else was voting - so she didn’t vote against the grain, and put an even bigger target on her own back in the process. 

Angela didn’t have a single notion of how the revote was going, or (from her perspective) should go to avoid ruffling feathers.

And Wendell leaving Angela hanging out to dry was telling as fuck-all.

[green]

8 hours ago, phlebas said:

It seemed in this last episode that Laurel was thinking if she went to the finale with BOTH Dom and Wendell, they would split the Naviti vote and she could win with just the Malolos. I GUESS I could see that working, but I never got the impression "Malolo Strong" was a thing.

No no no she wasn't. hinking that at all.  Ever.

We saw her tell Wendell and Dom that at the reward to "explain" why she was remaining loyal to them.  To pacify them so they wouldn't take her out because they were growing more and more suspicious of her as Wendell had related.

But during that segment we heard her voice over from a confessional where she stated clearly that she did NOT believe that in the least.  

She went on to explain that she would probably have to stick with them and not turn at the coming tribal because she couldn't trust the other side or she would be a target of them sooner than if she stuck with Dom/Wendell but she FULLY realized she couldn't beat them in the final three and still hoped to get them out before the final three.

[phlebas]

4 hours ago, green said:

No no no she wasn't. hinking that at all.  Ever.

We saw her tell Wendell and Dom that at the reward to "explain" why she was remaining loyal to them.  To pacify them so they wouldn't take her out because they were growing more and more suspicious of her as Wendell had related.

But during that segment we heard her voice over from a confessional where she stated clearly that she did NOT believe that in the least.  

She went on to explain that she would probably have to stick with them and not turn at the coming tribal because she couldn't trust the other side or she would be a target of them sooner than if she stuck with Dom/Wendell but she FULLY realized she couldn't beat them in the final three and still hoped to get them out before the final three.

Maybe. The episode was full enough that I'm not going to rewatch, but she definitely said something in a confessional about them applying the votes and her getting the remainder.

I don't think it'll play out like that, and she would have been much better off proactively getting rid of them when she could.

[simplyme]

On 5/17/2018 at 10:19 PM, sigmaforce86 said:

Dom & Wendell were not being strategic at all in that challenge (IMHO).  First if it's two winners don't team up.  Granted it was likely they'd get to pick one, maybe two more to go with them but leaving your rivals to plan and even stew about how they didn't get anything? While neither of them are there to eavesdrop or diffuse any plans for blindsides?  Bad idea. And then to chose Sebastian for Ghost Island?  guess it's better than picking the girls but to basically give away an advantage to anyone on even the fringe of their alliance was another bad move when you combine it with pissing off someone actually in said alliance.

I guess I see it differently. Everyone already knows that Dom and Wendell are a twosome. The one thing you REALLY don't want to do is irk your ride-or-die, so if you have a choice, you play together and either win or lose the reward together. The captains were Kellyn, Wendell, and Donathan. We don't know the order they picked their second, of course.

And once they won, I thought their choices were pretty strategic. They can only choose one person to go with them. Obviously they need to pick someone from Donathan/Laurel or risk losing that entire alliance, and they both know that Laurel is the leader in that twosome. She's also more athletic and a bigger threat than Donathan if she flips, so she's the one they cement.

Now, they're also playing Sebastian as part of a boys alliance. If they don't send him to Ghost Island, he'll feel betrayed and very well might turn on them, and he's worked with Kellyn and Angela before. Then they'd just need to swing either Laurel or Donathan and that's the majority. But if they screw over Donathan... Well, they sort of see him as a lesser threat. Donathan can be told they took Laurel (his alliance mate) and needed to leave someone they trusted. Also, Laurel can probably reign him back in. And if she can't (like she couldn't), the truth is that no one sees Donathan as a threat. He's seen as a nice guy, maybe, but bad at challenges and with loose lips. IMO, Sebastian is treated as an alpha male. Donathan isn't.

And that's also why I would say Donathan has a snowball's chance of winning this thing. The way I predict the winner is to ask myself for each jury member, "Who would I least mind losing to?" As much as I like Donathan, I can't see this jury will voting for him over anyone other than maybe Angela (our token older woman).

That's also why I'd also expect Sebastian to be targeted next by Dom and Wendell if they don't go after each other. He hasn't done anything, but I think they trust him less than lickspittle Laurel, see him as a challenge threat because he's male (despite that not actually meaning jack), and he's better socially than Angela or Donathan. 

And no, I don't read spoilers. This is all based off of what *I* would do.

 

11 minutes ago, phlebas said:

Maybe. The episode was full enough that I'm not going to rewatch, but she definitely said something in a confessional about them applying the votes and her getting the remainder.

Dom and Wendell chose Laurel for the reward feast with the locals. While sitting there eating, with Laurel between the two men, the subject of the final three came up. Laurel said out loud to Dom and Wendell (and various locals) that her best chance was to go to the end with the two of them and then hope that they split the vote. Then in a voice-over confessional, Laurel admitted that wasn't actually what she thought, but it was what she wanted them to believe. She still hoped to take them out before F3.

I promise, it was in there. :) Judging by comments, @green and @Nashville heard it too. Easy to overlook in the sea of Survivor blah blah blah though...

One other thing... Someone asked why no one is scooping up Angela. I think people (except Donathan) are being very careful at this point to appear very loyal. If you start trying to pick up Angela and it gets noticed, you just made people doubt you. So it works better to let Angela just hang out and be a goat, only tell her a plan when your alliance needs her, and not get "caught" talking too much to an unaffiliated vote by people who are now really hungry and probably paranoid.

[phlebas]

9 hours ago, simplyme said:

While sitting there eating, with Laurel between the two men, the subject of the final three came up. Laurel said out loud to Dom and Wendell (and various locals) that her best chance was to go to the end with the two of them and then hope that they split the vote. Then in a voice-over confessional, Laurel admitted that wasn't actually what she thought, but it was what she wanted them to believe. She still hoped to take them out before F3.

ok all that is ringing a bell.  I might have missed some of it because I was screaming into a pillow :)  

I wonder how trustworthy Laurel's actual confessionals are.  Pointless to lie, but she knows they have idols and she knows how many chances there are to vote them out.  She seems level-headed enough, but there seems to be a disconnect. 

So maybe those two splitting the Naviti vote really is her best chance, whether that's her plan or not? 

Either way -- tomorrow I can finally redirect my attention to ABC and Becca Kufrin.