S36.E15: Live Reunion Show

[valandsend]

1 minute ago, Pepper the Cat said:

I zoned out. Did Jeff go back to that little girl to see who she voted for?

Yes, and her prediction was correct.

Someone needs to tell Jeff, though, that it's not at all suspenseful to have a kid write in a large letters even when the front of the paper is not showing. It was obvious from her motions that she was writing "W ... E ... N ... D ... A ... L ... L".

[NutMeg]

How fucked up is it that the Reunion was mostly about random little girl, another CBS show, previous Survivor players that didn't add anything*, a 30 sec or so preview for next season, Sia and her random donations, and no talk to the contestants from this last season not named Michael. Gee, I wonder if he might be returning...

*I would have given Jeff a pass if he had mentioned Eric's cartoons based on Survivor. I only saw snippets but I'd love to read them, seeing as he went through that whole thing, etc. twice! (Come to think of it, maybe the fact that his cartoons are NOT promoted by CBS is even more reason for me to try and get my hands on them). 

[brilliantbreakfast]

6 hours ago, fishcakes said:

 

It has been bothering me all season that I can't figure out who Angela looks like. I feel like it might be a soap opera actress, but I'll be damned if I know which one.

Cate Blanchett?

[fishcakes]

6 minutes ago, brilliantbreakfast said:

Cate Blanchett?

Oh, she does a bit! But that's still not it. Something about the way she looks all cleaned up and smiling makes me think One Life to Live or some other now defunct soap.

[kassandra8286]

Cleaned up, she kind of reminded me of Mary Beth Evans (Kayla on Days/formerly Katherine on GH). She looked gorgeous.

[seacliffsal]

My heart actually broke a bit for...Jakob (?).  When the pre-jury bootees came out it seemed like he was really trying to make connections with others but was kind of cold shouldared.  One pre-jury bootee (Branden?) did give him a hug, but Jakob just seemed out of place.  He may be a bit socially awkward which would explain some of his play before being voted out.

Dom looked miserable during the Reunion portions before the vote was revealed.  I think that he knew as soon as Laurel got to cast the winning vote that he was going to lose.  It has probably really been eating at him ever since.  I found that both Dom and Wendell got a bit mean in some of their comments and actions.  Both of them got too over-confident the closer they got to the end.

[fishcakes]

15 minutes ago, kassandra8286 said:

Cleaned up, she kind of reminded me of Mary Beth Evans (Kayla on Days/formerly Katherine on GH). She looked gorgeous.

That's close too, but still not it. I don't know why I'm thinking about this so much. Angela was dead boring. Very pretty though.

1 hour ago, NutMeg said:

Even Sebastian looked like he could play a musketeer there at the end

Ha, yes. I could definitely see that guy wearing pantaloons.

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, Pepper the Cat said:

I zoned out. Did Jeff go back to that little girl to see who she voted for?

She revealed it from the audience and she voted for Wendell. 

[princelina]

9 hours ago, candall said:

But I guess if Probst were a skillful interviewer, he'd still have a talk show.

Haha true!  But how hard could it be for this show that he has been doing for ages?  Decide in advance a question for each person - someone could help him.  Or they could have the live audience write down questions during commercial breaks and then let the producers sift through them for the good ones.

3 hours ago, mishap said:

I'm not really one to 'bring back old school Survivor' because I know that things change and evolve.  But it has changed and evolved too much.  

I agree but I still think it would be a great gimmick for a season!  Everything just like season 1!  And it would give them an excuse to show old clips too!

[Pepper the Cat]

2 hours ago, valandsend said:

Yes, and her prediction was correct.

Someone needs to tell Jeff, though, that it's not at all suspenseful to have a kid write in a large letters even when the front of the paper is not showing. It was obvious from her motions that she was writing "W ... E ... N ... D ... A ... L ... L".

Thanks. I didn’t see what she wrote because the cat was playing “look at me Mom, not the TV. “

[iMonrey]

I noticed that all through the season Michael was captioned as "Real Estate Sales" but on the reunion show he was correctly captioned as "Male Model." LOL.

[Rachel RSL]

5 hours ago, mishap said:

I don't want to see people starve, but there it nothing anymore about actual surviving.  Where do they get food?  How do they ration their rice?  I don't know if it's because they are too well fed, and too many reward challenges.  There is a lot, but not everyone goes and it's one meal, every 3 days?  I guess I wish the rewards were more tools and equipment that would make surviving easier and more comfortable.  Not just a few hours of feasting , and then I'm sure they feel awful, after they are done.  

Yes! I miss seeing how the actual surviving part of the show brought out everyone's personalities and you really got to see why people meshed or hated each other. I might be the only one but I really miss seeing things like them making a long trek to get to their camp (who complains, who gets sick, who helps whom) or the dynamics and drama of them trying to build a shelter.  It really showed us more of how relationships formed. Now the shelter is barely even mentioned, if at all.

1 hour ago, princelina said:

I agree but I still think it would be a great gimmick for a season!  Everything just like season 1!  And it would give them an excuse to show old clips too!

This is my dream. Like, if they literally did everything the same from season one. Same amount of rations. Same tools. Same challenges. Same rewards. Even right down to when Probsts would show up at camp and bring them things to practice with for the upcoming challenges.

[LadyChatts]

Quote

This is my dream. Like, if they literally did everything the same from season one. Same amount of rations. Same tools. Same challenges. Same rewards. Even right down to when Probsts would show up at camp and bring them things to practice with for the upcoming challenges.

It'd be my dream because that would mean less Probst.  We only ever heard him at the very beginning during a recap, briefly as he explained the challenge, and at TC.  I miss the days when Probst was as invisible as half of the casts today! 

But I am all for an old school season.  Especially the rewards.  Those guys were going to mutiny over Sean getting to spend a night on a yacht and expected the next reward to be something even better (that was that hastily put together reward where Jeff took Kelly to an island bar that was really productions camp).  The original reward was simply a bottle of beer.  Ah, the days when Mountain Dew, Pontiac, Bud Light, and Doritos were plastered all over the show.  Anyway, imagine the castaways now-going from getting a whole pizza buffet to one slice.

[North of Eden]

Yeah, so now we are at the point that not only are the early bootees ignored at the reunion show but actual jury members at the Final Tribal aren't even allowed to speak?!

As incredible as it may seem Eric, Jame and Keven Hart had more lines of dialogue tonight than 99% of the people on the stage. Hell, even Young Samantha got more camera time.

Probst fawning over Michael was almost embarrassing.

I won't like I was cringing when they brought out James and Eric thinking it was going to be some tie-in on bringing them back with a host of other returnees. Glad to have dodged that bullet.

It's actually a little karmic that Dom lost due to Laurel's vote since there was that moment when he was scheming to get rid of her and plus he didn't have nice things to say about her when he was trying to pick for the fire challenge and I don't care that despite Wendall winning if Dom had given up safety for some macho  move to prove he could build a bigger fire and lost that would truly be the most idiotic move ever in SURVIVOR.

Does Laurel get any money.....she was in such an unprecedented position (There was no way she couldn't choose Wendall after he put that Immunity Necklace around her earlier in the episode) Oh and Donathan voting for Wendall surprised me because he was pretty hostile in that "bro" exchange.

Okay, that's my take for the reunion and finale...off to propose marriage to Laurel!

[Hpmec]

Re: Payday for non-winners. Consensus on the web is that 2nd place gets $100K and 3rd place $85K with decreasing amounts for all of the also rans in the order in which they were booted. 

The reunion show has seen better days. Could be scrapped and no one would miss it. Probst could announce the winner on the island and he/she could appear for five minutes on the CBS morning show the next day. Save the production company the expense of paying the contestants to appear for no apparent reason. It's become a joke. And Probst couldn't muster much enthusiasm for next season. Producers appear to be running on fumes at this point. 

Edited May 25, 2018 by Hpmec

[ByaNose]

BTW! I still hate the Final 3. Is it me or does the person in 3rd never get any votes? I know Probst liked the change from Final 2 to Final 3. Then he wanted it to be Final 4 with a fire challenge. I know we’ll never go back but I can always dream.

2 minutes ago, Hpmec said:

Onsensus on the web is that the runner up gets 100K and 3rd pla e 

I’m sorry but who Onsensus? Is that a Survivor blogger person?

[Hpmec]

See post above. Was in the process of editing when you posted. 

[ByaNose]

2 minutes ago, Hpmec said:

See post above. Was in the process of editing when you posted. 

Too funny! Here I was trying to figure who Onsensus was. That said, I have pretty much heard the same pay scale. I guess 3rd isn’t horrible. For some people that’s 2 years salary. Also, they get $10,000 for the reunion and they also got tickets to Fiji. Not a bad gig. 

[30 Helens]

11 hours ago, Oscirus said:

The new jury format is just silly as its basically just people advocating for who they want to win the full tribal.

I actually like the new jury format, as it seems to bring out more information that would actually be useful in persuading voters.  In past years, there were too many questions that pertained only to the person asking and their hurt feelings, like “I trusted you; why did you vote me out?”  On the other hand, I do miss seeing who would wear the crown of Most Bitter Juror. (“My question is: you suck!”)

 

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I noticed that all through the season Michael was captioned as "Real Estate Sales" but on the reunion show he was correctly captioned as "Male Model." LOL.

I believe that was the caption for Chris.  Although it should have been “Suavay Rapper”.

[violet and green]

13 hours ago, fishcakes said:

As much as I liked Wendell all season, I'm a little disappointed that Dom didn't win it. There's no real reason for that, except maybe that Dom was more interesting to watch. They were equally good at the game, but Dom was better at the show.

Did Peachy even talk to Dom? I could rewatch the reunion show to find out, but where will I find the time?

Sia gave Tai $50,000 because he cares for animals and she gave Donathan $10,000 because he cares for his mother and grandma. I mean, I like animals more than people too so I get it, but that doesn't look right.

It has been bothering me all season that I can't figure out who Angela looks like. I feel like it might be a soap opera actress, but I'll be damned if I know which one.

He did. He asked him if he'd wondered how it would have panned out it he did go against Wendell making fire, etc. Dom talked of going over and over his regrets since the season finished, and he looked like shit.

Also he and Chris Noble have "made up", and Dom went on the MS walk with Chris Noble. Chris got to talk a bit about that cause and what it meant to him, c/- his mum having MS and him being the same age she was when she got it...

I was disappointed in the amount for Donathan, but he looked so goofily pleased, and it took the taint out of him not getting to the final tribal for me.

I still don't understand why he voted for Wendell though.

10 hours ago, hyukx3 said:

In Survivor 2 Australia, I think is the season with Colby. Back then, 40 minutes of the show would be about them surviving the wild.

Yes! We don't see them fishing or hunting, we don't even seeing them arguing tensely about how the rice is to be cooked. I loved that stuff in Survivor 2 about the rice cooking... Now it's just burgers and steaks endlessly, and Peachy doing his weird "Southern' drawl to advertise whatever high fat crap they are going to chow down on in the reward.

14 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Colby was not unhappy to lose. He knew when he chose Tina and not Keith he was going to lose. He made that choice intentionally because he wanted to be honest to himself and not cave into the desire to win money.

Is that so? I have always thought he made the biggest mistake of his life. That he assumed he'd have it in the bag, and give Tina the second place money -- believing that his prowess in all the challenges, etc, would give him the win easily. I remember him in a confessional during the final ep saying bitterly he was not going to bring Keith to the final tribal (out of spite, as he disliked Keith so intensely), even though he knew he could beat him easily. I really believe that he never for a minute factored in how well-liked Tina was, how good her social game apparently was, etc, and that he would actually lose to her. Poor Colby! It still makes me sad...

[loki567]

36 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

I actually like the new jury format, as it seems to bring out more information that would actually be useful in persuading voters.  In past years, there were too many questions that pertained only to the person asking and their hurt feelings, like “I trusted you; why did you vote me out?”  On the other hand, I do miss seeing who would wear the crown of Most Bitter Juror. (“My question is: you suck!”)

 

I agree completely. I prefer the back-and-forth which feels more like a legitimate conversation and not a bunch of bad actors doing a monologue. I wasn't a Laurel fan by any means but I did like the fact that she got to state her case. Definitely felt like we got a more realistic view of the game dynamics out there than this one person is awesome, this one person sucks. 

[ProfCrash]

7 hours ago, violet and green said:

He did. He asked him if he'd wondered how it would have panned out it he did go against Wendell making fire, etc. Dom talked of going over and over his regrets since the season finished, and he looked like shit.

Also he and Chris Noble have "made up", and Dom went on the MS walk with Chris Noble. Chris got to talk a bit about that cause and what it meant to him, c/- his mum having MS and him being the same age she was when she got it...

I was disappointed in the amount for Donathan, but he looked so goofily pleased, and it took the taint out of him not getting to the final tribal for me.

I still don't understand why he voted for Wendell though.

Yes! We don't see them fishing or hunting, we don't even seeing them arguing tensely about how the rice is to be cooked. I loved that stuff in Survivor 2 about the rice cooking... Now it's just burgers and steaks endlessly, and Peachy doing his weird "Southern' drawl to advertise whatever high fat crap they are going to chow down on in the reward.

Is that so? I have always thought he made the biggest mistake of his life. That he assumed he'd have it in the bag, and give Tina the second place money -- believing that his prowess in all the challenges, etc, would give him the win easily. I remember him in a confessional during the final ep saying bitterly he was not going to bring Keith to the final tribal (out of spite, as he disliked Keith so intensely), even though he knew he could beat him easily. I really believe that he never for a minute factored in how well-liked Tina was, how good her social game apparently was, etc, and that he would actually lose to her. Poor Colby! It still makes me sad...

I have never heard him say he was surprised to have lost to Tina and he sure looked like he knew what the outcome was going to be at the final reveal. He made a big deal about picking theperson he thought should be at the finals and not the person he could beat. Kind of like Woo. I have never heard either one of them say that they regret their decision. In my mind, it is only cursed if you take an action and it back fires on you. 

[laurakaye]

8 hours ago, Hpmec said:

The reunion show has seen better days. Could be scrapped and no one would miss it. Probst could announce the winner on the island and he/she could appear for five minutes on the CBS morning show the next day. Save the production company the expense of paying the contestants to appear for no apparent reason. It's become a joke. And Probst couldn't muster much enthusiasm for next season. Producers appear to be running on fumes at this point. 

Based on the past few reunions I agree that it could easily be scrapped, but I used to love watching the reunions when Probst actually tried to talk to as many players as he could.  It seems like of all the things wrong with Survivor, the reunion would be the easiest to fix by making it an actual reunion and not a vehicle to watch Probst fawn over his Hottie Du Jour, or to plug CBS summer shows.

I wonder how the players feel about being flown back to do a live show, only to have to sit silently for the entire hour.  I supposed they get paid to show up and I'm sure the after-parties are fun, but by the time the reunion is filmed they've all gone back to their lives and jobs.

I'm actually still kind of steamed that we didn't hear a word from Chelsea, Angela, Libby or Des during FTC or the reunion (except in response to Kellyn's poll...Kellyn, interestingly enough, was allowed to speak!).  They were practically edited out of the entire season - the majority of the female confessions came from Laurel and Kellyn.  If the powers that be found them so incredibly boring, how did they get cast in the first place?  I swear I don't remember a season where 25% of the cast was ignored like this.

[ProfCrash]

They get $10,000 and a free trip to California to hang out with people who they spent some portion of 39 days experiencing something that very few people will ever understand. I am sure that the reunion show is frustrating but still worth it. Heck, I would go so far as to say that this type of a reunion show is probably less frustrating because everyone was ignored. There was a time were only one or two people were ignored. That had to really suck because it showed that Probst cared about you that little. Or you could be Dan at the reunion and get your ass handed to you because you spent all your exit interview time bitching about your edit. 

[Neveragain]

22 hours ago, Special K said:

Sorry, I haven't watched the reunion -- was there any mention of any of the three couples?

Say what?  Three couples?

[Porkchop]

I wonder who thought it would be entertaining to embarrass Erik and James again. That segment was entirely a waste of time, as well as being cringe-worthy. I felt bad for both of them. I hope they were paid enough to make it worthwhile.

[ProfCrash]

1 minute ago, Neveragain said:

Say what?  Three couples?

Sebastian and Jenna are a known couple. They post all over the place. Bradley and Kellyn are clear on their relationship. Michael and Libby are the only couple in doubt.

[Guest]

On 5/17/2018 at 3:20 AM, Coco88 said:

Based on the spoiler that Dominic, Wendell and Laurel are the final three, I’m trying to guess who the Jury will vote for.

 

On 4/17/2018 at 6:52 PM, anthonyd46 said:

You win !!! (bragging rights)

12th Libby - Guaranteed

...

5th Donathan - Guaranteed

4th Angela - Guaranteed

F3 Dom Laurel Wendell (Doesn't know winner)

These are a couple posts from the spoiler thread.  So much for no spoilers being read here about who was the final three.  I'm sure people will argue that it was obvious they were the final three regardless so it was fine to discuss it weeks ago.  But I think it was only obvious if you read spoilers.  Fire making is pretty random, anyone can fail at that.  

[peachmangosteen]

35 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

These are a couple posts from the spoiler thread.  So much for no spoilers being read here about who was the final three.  I'm sure people will argue that it was obvious they were the final three regardless so it was fine to discuss it weeks ago.  But I think it was only obvious if you read spoilers.  Fire making is pretty random, anyone can fail at that.  

I didn't read spoilers, but I still think the F3 was pretty obvious. Although I do agree that it's disappointing that some here were saying that there weren't spoilers for the F3 when there actually were. Luckily, I PMed someone I know reads spoilers (thanks @LadyChatts!) to confirm this and was told there actually were F3 spoilers so I never ventured into the spoiler thread.

And this kinda brings me to how last season I was told not to post in the spec thread because I was also posting in the spoiler thread when last season there wasn't even a boot list out and yet this season there was a full boot list with a F3 and people who posted in the spoiler thread were still posting in the spec thread. Hmmm!

Edited May 25, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[SuburbanHangSuite]

12 hours ago, North of Eden said:

It's actually a little karmic that Dom lost due to Laurel's vote since there was that moment when he was scheming to get rid of her and plus he didn't have nice things to say about her when he was trying to pick for the fire challenge

I was a fan of Laurel's all season but she completely lost me during that interaction with Dom.  She pretty much whined and almost begged not to go against Wendell.  It was embarrassing to watch.  And when she admitted that she hadn't practiced fire-making?  Done.  I was done!  I thought Dom was pretty generous to her considering what a quitter she turned out to be. 

[Jextella]

Man.  This was a pretty lackluster season AND the worst reunion show in the history of the show for all the reasons everyone has already shared.

Meanwhile, the two things I got out of it are that Dom and Chris made up which I'm thrilled about.  I'm a HUGE Dom.  I also have a soft spot for Chris because he's just not self-aware and honestly doesn't know how poorly he comes off.  I was glad to see Dom see a different side of Chris, and I was glad to see Chris show respect for Dom's gameplay and didn't take things too personally.  All this says a TON about both.

The other thing is that I do think Dom outplayed Wendell but only up to the end. Dom blew it by allowing Laurel to move forward as the 3rd.  He knew Wendell and Laurel are close.  He would have been better off partnering with Donathon, Angie, or Seabass.

2nd place is ok, though, and he'll be able to bring a pot o' money home to his family.

I do like Wendell very much.  He deserved the win but ONLY because of his relationship with Laurel.  That counts, though.

Edited May 26, 2018 by Jextella

[Neveragain]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Sebastian and Jenna are a known couple. They post all over the place. Bradley and Kellyn are clear on their relationship. Michael and Libby are the only couple in doubt.

I just heard about Sebastian and Jenna, that was quite a surprise.  I don't see it, but then again I only know their show characters not their real ones.  And I didn't know about the other two.  Bradley and Kellyn ??  That sounds too high maintenance.  Michael and Libby, now that I can see 

 Wow.  I guess there's a lot of fraternizing outside of the limited interactions we see on the show!

[kassandra8286]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

And this kinda brings me to how last season I was told not to post in the spec thread because I was also posting in the spoiler thread when last season there wasn't even a boot list out and yet this season there was a full boot list with a F3 and people who posted in the spoiler thread were still posting in the spec thread. Hmmm!

I don't think you should have had your hand slapped for that, especially last season (or any of the recent newbie seasons) when the speculation and spoiler threads were virtually identical. The returnee seasons have been spoiled like crazy but this is the first time in a long time there's been an accurate bootlist in a newbie season.  JMO but if someone reads the spoiler thread I think it's OK to post in the speculation thread as long as they're making general comments and not "speculating" about known spoilers. This season there was a boot list (that turned out to be wrong in the order of bootees from merge up to F5), but no spoilers about any other details like idol play, challenge wins, etc, like there have been in seasons past, so I don't see anything wrong with speculating about stuff like that.

But if anyone feels strongly about it, they should PM the mod with a suggestion that they impose a rule that spoiler posters not post in the spec thread at all. That's what they had to do in the GoT forum when the fake "speculating" got out of control by certain book readers. I don't blame anyone for being annoyed by that.

[ProfCrash]

Check out the Ponderosa thread for a reasonably awful Instagram message from Bradley when Kellyn was voted out. Sebastian and Jenna have been posting pictures on Instagram for a good amount of the season. I have seen a few that others have posted in threads. Michael and Libby is the more interesting one in the sense that they are less public about it and not everyone is convinced that it is a thing. 

[Oscirus]

I believe that Dom looked the part of the mastermind, hence all the votes from the outsiders, however,  Wendell was actually seen as the mastermind which is why he got votes from all but two of the players that was in his alliance for more then two minutes.

I think this season and it's outcome ultimately came down to three tribals :

1. Bradley boot- great boot for Chelsea and Dom, it gives Chelsea, Kellyn but more importantly, removes Wendell's other options, so it sticks him with Dom for the rest of the game.

2. Des boot- The ladies have the majority, all they have to do is get rid of Michael and idol or no idol, it's game over for the dynamic duo.  Des gets herself booted and its the beginning of Kellyn's downfall and the dynamics duo's powers is permanently cemented.

3.  Chelsea boot- Looking at the dynamics, Dom allowing the one person in the minor alliance that only he has the connection with was a colossal blunder.   He def should've pushed for a Kellyn boot at that point.

[Nashville]

On 5/23/2018 at 10:51 PM, PaperTree said:

S37: David vs Goliath.  Don't like Team Goliath already and we only saw 2 people.

Looked more like 2/3 of Brains-Brawn-Beauty to me.  :P

 

On 5/23/2018 at 10:32 PM, ByaNose said:

Ring any bells?

Didn’t even notice until I read it here.  Hiding SJ’s absence explains the oddness of the seating arrangement, though.

ETA: Haven’t seen anything firm one way or the other regarding SJ’s absence, but I’d be pretty sure it wasn’t elective on her part - skipping the reunion meant also skipping an additional $10K attendance check, which I doubt a Struggling Single Mother ® would pass up.  

I did run across mentions, though, that SJ had tweeted or IG’ed some comment along the lines of, “Orange is forever cursed” prior to the FTC - and TPTB may have considered that a spoiler on the FTC firemaking challenge.

 

On 5/23/2018 at 11:31 PM, UGAmp said:

I think Dom and Wendell were certainly more than deserving of being the first pair to force a tie. I was pulling for both but ultimately think Dom played the better game so I was a tad disappointed.

I didn’t particularly mind the Wendell win although IMHO (a) Dom played the stronger game, and (b) overly chatty though Michael was, he was absolutely on point when he said Wendell was content to hide behind the Dom meatshield for most of their strategic moves.  Not that that isn’t an absolutely valid strategy; when the meatshield and the hidey-ho are both facing the Jury at FTC, though, I’ll generally give stronger gameplay credit to the meatshield - they’ve usually had to navigate a MUCH more perilous route to last to the end.

 

Quote

And Sebastian had some nerve to act all offend (and Kellyn can take a thousand seats as well) WHEN HE WAS TRYING TO TAKE DOM OUT. 

Carp / Sea Bass / whatever gets my vote for Most Butthurt at this season’s FTC.

 

Quote

Wendell giving Laurel immunity was just a symbolic gesture. Only Donathan voted for her. So he played it nicely to the jury but I don’t think she thinks Wendell saved her. If anything Dom did by taking her to the F3.

Check.  I had Laurel’s tiebreaker vote figured at 70% Wendell / 30% Dom.  My own impression throughout the season was Laurel’s personal connection with Wendell outweighed her strategic connection with Dom - the 30% weight toward Dom given in case Laurel took into consideration (a) Dom was the one who pulled her and Donathan into the Fantastic Four alliance in the first place, and (b) if it weren’t for Dom’s selection of Laurel at the F3 TC, she would have been sitting with the Jury looking at the F3 instead of the other way around.  Wendell would’ve smoked her - literally - at the firemaking challenge.

 

Quote

I thought it was interesting that Wendell said he was “sort of” athletic. Maybe he was downplaying it but the guy was almost mesmerizing in challenges. He was almost always was out in the lead from the start and had good endurance in maintaining the lead. He also had this weird grace about him and he almost always stayed calm and collected.

Except for when Wendell had the 2nd Chance advantage in the Week 11 IC - the advantage he gave up loved-one time with his dad for - and blew his second chance within seconds.  ;)

 

On 5/24/2018 at 1:05 AM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

How did Sea Bass managed to sneak in 39 days worth of pot onto the island, is really my biggest question. Pretty sure marijuana doesn't grow on Fiji.

Some strains of wacky tobaccy absolutely love and thrive on that climate and soil composition - ever hear of Maui Wowie?  Or does that reference date me to the nth degree?  ;>

Edited May 25, 2018 by Nashville
Typo, expansion

[LadyChatts]

2 hours ago, kassandra8286 said:

I don't think you should have had your hand slapped for that, especially last season (or any of the recent newbie seasons) when the speculation and spoiler threads were virtually identical. The returnee seasons have been spoiled like crazy but this is the first time in a long time there's been an accurate bootlist in a newbie season.  JMO but if someone reads the spoiler thread I think it's OK to post in the speculation thread as long as they're making general comments and not "speculating" about known spoilers. This season there was a boot list (that turned out to be wrong in the order of bootees from merge up to F5), but no spoilers about any other details like idol play, challenge wins, etc, like there have been in seasons past, so I don't see anything wrong with speculating about stuff like that.

But if anyone feels strongly about it, they should PM the mod with a suggestion that they impose a rule that spoiler posters not post in the spec thread at all. That's what they had to do in the GoT forum when the fake "speculating" got out of control by certain book readers. I don't blame anyone for being annoyed by that.

I'm wondering if CBS is really going to crack down on spoilers next season.  One contestant already got in hot water for posting on SM the day after the cast got home after being told not to (they posed with another contestant).  A newbie season is never, ever spoiled to the extent this one was so there had to be a leak somewhere in the cast.  My first thought was Jacob since he was bitter about his experience.  But maybe that's why Stephanie wasn't at the reunion and why everyone is ignoring the questions about where she was.  She was the leak!

[UGAmp]

I don’t read spoilers but I think they heavily telegraph those who make it towards the end in most seasons. They have a story to show the audience. Who is the mastermind, the underdog, the nerdy one, the biggest challenge threat,etc. I thought Laurel, Dominick, Wendell, and kellyn were shown the most. Donathan disappeared for a bit in the middle of the session. I thought for sure Kellyn would make it to at least the final three based on editing in the first few episodes.

I do wish the editors would lose the “ironic statement” confessionals ie “There’s no way I’m going home tonight” only to get voted out later on in the episode. I think it was Dalton Ross who said if he was ever on the show as a contestant, in every single talking head he would say “I am 100%, without a doubt, going home tonight”. I think the editors are getting SLIGHTLY better with not showing their hand every time with those kind of statements. When Probst emphasized Donathan being in last place in the maze challenge and Angela being in last place in the pyramid puzzle one, I thought they were setting us up for the come from behind win for both. So I liked that being straightforward as opposed to ironic. 

[Coco88]

I think Wendell played the stronger game because he knew what the the majority of the Jury (I’m considering Laurel part of the Jury) would appreciate better.  Michael and Dom’s other voters obviously preferred Dom’s flashy, dick swinging moves better but the majority of the Jury did not.  

[hyukx3]

1 minute ago, Coco88 said:

I think Wendell played the stronger game because he knew what the the majority of the Jury (I’m considering Laurel part of the Jury) would appreciate better.  Michael and Dom’s other voters obviously preferred Dom’s flashy, dick swinging moves better but the majority of the Jury did not.  

Where did you get that Dom was flashy or dick swinging? I didn't see any of that. Dom was the one talking to most people, doing the work, whilst Wendell just sat back and relied on his alliance. Dom's game was stronger. But Kellyn seemed to has it out for Dom at the final for some reason. She's bitter. Sebastian's bitter. Chelsea has a poker face because of the edits, but in the episodes, Dom was working with her. Dom's was the one warning Kellyn. Dom fooled Sebastian at tribal. Wendell has an antagonistic relationship with Donathan towards the end, Im guessing whether he mistakenly voted the wrong way. Angela...maybe she voted for Wendell because he beat her at the fire challenge and she was in the military so it's like best man win kinda thing. But the girl is clueless about the game. She doesn't know how to play at all. They wanna blindside Dom and she spills the bean? Aren't the underdog supposed to stick together? Especially when they have the numbers for a while but they just wouldn't or couldn't make the move. We never see Wendell working the social game outside of his own alliance post-merge. Based on the edits, Dom's game was stronger.

[Coco88]

You play with the Jury that you get.  People can say that the people who voted for Wendell were bitter all they like.  But determining who is the best at Survivor is subjective.  There is no DNA evidence, just subjective determining of what kind of play you appreciate.  I saw the same show that everyone else did, and I wanted Wendell to win and if I was on that Jury I would have voted for Wendell to win.

Also from the exit interviews that I read, Dom really berated Donathan at the tribal where Sebastian was voted out (wasn’t shown) so that might explain Donathan’s vote.

[Nashville]

49 minutes ago, UGAmp said:

I do wish the editors would lose the “ironic statement” confessionals ie “There’s no way I’m going home tonight” only to get voted out later on in the episode. I think it was Dalton Ross who said if he was ever on the show as a contestant, in every single talking head he would say “I am 100%, without a doubt, going home tonight”.

Don’t worry - they’d edit that out.  :>

[MissEwa]

2 hours ago, Nashville said:

I didn’t particularly mind the Wendell win although IMHO (a) Dom played the stronger game, and (b) overly chatty though Michael was, he was absolutely on point when he said Wendell was content to hide behind the Dom meatshield for most of their strategic moves.  Not that that isn’t an absolutely valid strategy; when the meatshield and the hidey-ho are both facing the Jury at FTC, though, I’ll generally give stronger gameplay credit to the meatshield - they’ve usually had to navigate a MUCH more perilous route to last to the end.

Was Dom the meatshield though? They each won two immunities but Wendell was more athletic and while it's been a long season and I may be misremembering I feel like most of the plans to flip focussed on getting Wendell out, not Dom. I can't remember Dom's name coming up as a target at any point between the Chris showdown and F6 - if it was one of the two of them it was Wendell (which may have been a mistake - I feel like Laurel would have been more likely to be down with a Dom boot than a Wendell boot). 

Strategically, maybe, but it's still pretty close. I think if your definition of 'meatsheild' is 'navigated a more perilous course to F3' then Wendell has the edge, but of course YMMV. 

32 minutes ago, hyukx3 said:

Where did you get that Dom was flashy or dick swinging? I didn't see any of that. Dom was the one talking to most people, doing the work, whilst Wendell just sat back and relied on his alliance. Dom's game was stronger. But Kellyn seemed to has it out for Dom at the final for some reason. She's bitter. Sebastian's bitter. Chelsea has a poker face because of the edits, but in the episodes, Dom was working with her. Dom's was the one warning Kellyn. Dom fooled Sebastian at tribal. Wendell has an antagonistic relationship with Donathan towards the end, Im guessing whether he mistakenly voted the wrong way. Angela...maybe she voted for Wendell because he beat her at the fire challenge and she was in the military so it's like best man win kinda thing. But the girl is clueless about the game. She doesn't know how to play at all. They wanna blindside Dom and she spills the bean? Aren't the underdog supposed to stick together? Especially when they have the numbers for a while but they just wouldn't or couldn't make the move. We never see Wendell working the social game outside of his own alliance post-merge. Based on the edits, Dom's game was stronger.

But...

4 minutes ago, Coco88 said:

You play with the Jury that you get.  People can say that the people who voted for Wendell were bitter all they like.  But determining who is the best at Survivor is subjective.  There is no DNA evidence, just subjective determining of what kind of play you appreciate.  I saw the same show that everyone else did, and I wanted Wendell to win and if I was on that Jury I would have voted for Wendell to win.

Also from the exit interviews that I read, Dom really berated Donathan at the tribal where Sebastian was voted out (wasn’t shown) so that might explain Donathan’s vote.

This this this. The bitter jury argument also never seems to allow for the fact that bitterness/bad voting reasons can go both ways. It's always 'everyone who voted for X did so for legitimate, good game-related reasons, while everyone who voted for Y was bitter/stupid'. Maybe Libby voted for Dom because she blames Wendell for her boot. Maybe Chris voted for Dom because Wendell mocked his rapping to someone during the game and it got back to him at Ponderosa. We should discount Angela's vote because she's 'clueless about the game' but Jenna's is valid? There are a hundred different reasons people have for voting at the end of the game and some seem better or more rational or more acceptable than others but they are ALL valid. 

And I was as surprised by the Donathan vote as anyone but the whole idea that he got the voting instructions wrong is ridiculous and insulting. The show's been going for 36 seasons and he's a fan. Multiple people have confirmed that Dom's display at the TC was much worse than what we saw - and given the voting breakdown at FTC it's possible it ruffled a lot more feathers than we saw. 

[hyukx3]

I looked into the interviews. Seb said Dom called Don names. But I'm second guessing his account. Why would Dom be that stupid? Sometimes, when my dad criticized my mom, mom would say dad scolded her. I'll ask her word for word what did he say. Every time, she exaggerates things. It could be the same with Seb. I can't see Dom being that stupid. But if Seb feels he has a bond with Wendell, then that's fine.

And Don said Wendell was the second in command. And he wanted to play like Wendell. So he voted for Wendell. But there's a fallacy to that kind of thinking. If you're second in command, then you're not the best.

There’s also this angle to look at. At the final, Michael, Chris and Des were like, “what moves you make, own it, I'm not hurt or bitter”. Kellyn has the sour look always. So she’s “feeling”, right? You’ve seen this before the final as well. I was always guessing what that bad look is for pre-final. The people that voted for Dom were championing gameplay. When they questioned Wendell’s gameplay, he spoke poorly.

Kellyn and Sebastian were bitter. Angela has no clue but got beat by Wendell in the fire challenge. Chelsea is a mystery. (Donathan, I am seriously wondering whether he mistakenly voted the wrong way.) this was written before i read the interviews.

All this lends to the perception that Dom played the stronger game.

Edited May 25, 2018 by hyukx3

[LadyChatts]

I don't think Donathan voted the wrong way.  Here's a quote from him from an interview:

Quote

He’s a great social guy, he worked around camp, and you don’t see much of that anymore. Behaviorally, he made sure everyone’s comfortable, and that is a big element of the game that plays right into the social game. I think a lot of people were surprised because I had mentioned on the show previously that, you know, I was gonna vote Domenick, but I never had my mind made up over that. That was just more or less trying to get them to be buttin’ heads, but it never really worked out.

http://ew.com/tv/2018/05/24/survivor-finale-donathan-hurley-ghost-island/

If anything I'd still say they purposely made it a tie before I'd say Donathan voted wrong.  It's possible Dom just robbed Donathan the wrong way in the last few days.  He could still defend him on the jury but vote for Wendell.

[Nashville]

This is the same merry-go-round we ride every season; We the Viewers have nothing to go by except the edited content presented to us, which leaves players free to state anything they want - fact, personal opinion presented as fact, revisionist recall, etc. - and walk it past by saying, “Oh, but all that was left out of the edit.”  

All I can say is as far as Dom and Donathan go, I don’t recall any TCs where Donathan didn’t give at least as good as he got - and IIRC it was usually Donathan giving it first.

[MissEwa]

9 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

If anything I'd still say they purposely made it a tie before I'd say Donathan voted wrong.  It's possible Dom just robbed Donathan the wrong way in the last few days.  He could still defend him on the jury but vote for Wendell.

I love the idea that it was planned but - if the edit is to be believed - it'd be pretty clear Laurel would vote for Wendell so they'd know that's who they were giving it to. 

10 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

He could still defend him on the jury but vote for Wendell.

Yep. I think this is a thing Linda Holmes (MissAlli) wrote about years ago - that from talking to Survivor jurors, absolutely 100% the biggest factor in who they give a million dollars to is just... who they like more. Donathan can feel like Dom's game deserved defending, but still want Wendell to have the million dollars. 

[hyukx3]

20 minutes ago, MissEwa said:

 

 

You didn't really compare Angela and Jenna, you just questioned my judgement. Angela doesn't know how to play because she spilled the beans to Dom. Before that, she was always strung along by other people. I'm surprised the bottoms never voted together, but at least Don and Seb were going after it more than Angela. But Jenna was shut out by everybody, just like Michael. Maybe her social game wasn't strong enough so she finds herself on an island, but at least she wasn't strung along. Actually, you could swap Jenna for Angela but that's hypothetical. But just because Jenna didn't get the chance to play her game doesn't mean her vote is not valid. Angela's vote is for me because she gets to play but didn't.

Wendell was targetted once. After that, Dom was the main target. Because Wendell was winning immunity. But like Laurel said, you don't want your game to depend on winning immunity. So Dom was targetted more times. He still gets fewer votes total because Laurel decides to stick with them, but make no mistake, Dom was in danger, especially that Seb vote and that final immunity challenge. While you don't want your game to depend on immunity, it's still nice to win them. The one that matters most to me would be the final immunity.

So, yea. Dom was really the meat shield for Wendell. Dom was first in command. I think he was the target in that one time but he won immunity so they target Wendell, but I'm not sure. And sure, conversely, when Wendell won, they target Dom. But Wendell was hiding behind Dom's social game so Dom was the meatshield.

[violet and green]

11 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

He made a big deal about picking theperson he thought should be at the finals and not the person he could beat. Kind of like Woo. 

No, he made a big deal about picking the person who was not Keith. That's completely different to Woo. He handled the loss well, at the time, but I have heard he had tremendous regrets afterwards.

[hyukx3]

Obviously, Wendell tried to be the good guy. He'll enthusiastically debate rap music with Des but she doesn't care. But he'll do chores with Seb so Seb gives him the vote. For me, survivor gameplay is mostly black and white. I'll leave the emotions out the door...mostly. I'll reward the best player.....as long as they are not ass. I don't think Dom is an ass. That satisfy my whole criteria. Best player + not ass. That's a win for me. Wendell is second best but nicer. But when I say not ass, that could mean nice as well. Just not as nice as Wendell.

Tony Vlachos was super crazy, was he ass? I find him super entertaining. Especially his llama talk to Kass. I just want you to be the best player and not be ass. If you're nicer to me or wanna discuss rap with me, that's cool. Unless you're total ass, I will leave my emotions out the door when I vote.