S37.E01: Appearances are Deceiving

[North of Eden]

Too bad about Pat...he was from one of the suburbs where I live so I was rooting for the "hometown boy" to go far. They should bring him back. With that said I was looking to see how much his beer belly would shrink over three weeks but alas we will not know.

I think I am in love with Gabby. She looked so beautiful in that one shot when she was in the background where blondie was talking about her mom and an abusive boyfriend. She seems vaguely Asian. I see it in her lovely eyes...can anyone confirm if she's biracial. That's my guess. It's early but now she's going to be my favorite.

They are trying wayyyyyy too hard to make Christian the "character' of the season ala Cochran.

Weird editing for Public Defender guy...at first he's played as a down holm folksy guy, then he's made to look like a scheming lazy prick and then in his final turn he's presented as someone with a tragic backstory.

This whole David and Goliath thing seems contrived...anyone remember what season it was that they started doing these "theme" seasons. If you ask me its played out but there most inventive one was "Race Wars" they should bring that back as it was the only way to get a good mix of diversity to the game.

The studly cop and the blonde bombshell....that got me wondering if mankind has always been hardwired so that the most attractive people go for each other...no joke I was actually pondering whether the hottest caveman and the hottest cavewoman were drawn to each other way back in man's early history. 

Didn't like the screenwriter on TAR and I don't like him here either. He can go. So can the bitchy brunette (Natalia?) and why on earth would the older woman of color seemingly go out of her way to target herself because SURVIVOR has a long history of sending out old people or anyone different first...so she had two strikes against her. Maybe she wants to be an early boot so she can use the PR of having been on SURVIVOR to aid in her publishing business.

Edited September 27, 2018 by North of Eden

[LadyChatts]

10 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Too bad about Pat...he was from one of the suburbs where I live so I was rooting for the "hometown boy" to go far. They should bring him back. With that said I was looking to see how much his beer belly would shrink over three weeks but alas we will not know.

I think I am in love with Gabby. She looked so beautiful in that one shot when she was in the background where blondie was talking about her mom and an abusive boyfriend. She seems vaguely Asian. I see it in her lovely eyes...can anyone confirm if she's biracial. That's my guess. It's early but now she's going to be my favorite.

They are trying wayyyyyy too hard to make Christian the "character' of the season ala Cochran.

Weird editing for Christian....at first he's played as a down holm folksy guy, then he's made to look like a scheming lazy prick and then in his final turn he's presented as someone with a tragic backstory.

This whole David and Goliath thing seems contrived...anyone remember what season it was that they started doing these "theme" seasons. If you ask me its played out but there most inventive one was "Race Wars" they should bring that back as it was the only way to get a good mix of diversity to the game.

The studly cop and the blonde bombshell....that got me wondering if mankind has always been hardwired so that the most attractive people go for each other...no joke I was actually pondering whether the hottest caveman and the hottest cavewoman were drawn to each other way back in man's early history. 

Didn't like the screenwriter on TAR and I don't like him here either. He can go. So can the bitchy brunette (Natalia?) and why on earth would the older woman of color seemingly go out of her way to target herself because SURVIVOR has a long history of sending out old people or anyone different first...so she had two strikes against her. Maybe she wants to be an early boot so she can use the PR of having been on SURVIVOR to aid in her publishing business.

Agree with your post but especially these points.  I didn't know what to think of Gabby pre-show but I became a fan tonight.  I especially loved how she said her opinion of Pat changed after his medevac.  I believe she was being very sincere on that.  I enjoyed getting to know the Davids as a whole on that level.  Way too many recent seasons of "whose that?" and not knowing anything about the cast, even the winner.  Goliaths on the other hand can all get lost in the jungle.  Such a cocky, arrogant group, but editing definitely played to the theme tonight.  I'm waiting for a Goliath blow up when a David tries saying that they aren't anything like them and haven't had their struggles or wouldn't be seen with them in public.  

They started doing these theme because they are permantely (for now anyway) in Fiji and can't just call themselves "Survivor Fiji" every season.  And just a re-hash of the themes used before.  I don't know if we've had a theme-less season since Philippines.  And even that season featured 3 medevacs.  Even the AS seasons had themes to them.

In honor of Mike being on Survivor (and waiting for my beloved TAR to start up), I've gone back to watch old TAR seasons and picked the ones he was on.  Wasn't a fan then, and definitely wasn't a fan tonight.  I was stunned he didn't find the idol.  Too obvious too soon?  That said, there's about 5 other people I want gone from Goliath first before him, so that shows how must I detest that tribe.  I'm thinking people like Natalie just can't help it, especially being an older hard working woman with a bunch of youngin's.  She was going to be a target regardless I'm sure.  

Edited September 27, 2018 by LadyChatts

[Wandering Snark]

2 hours ago, dkb said:

this stupid show got me all emotional, with the talk in the shelter between all the David's. That was a great scene on what makes Survivor so good, all these different people bonding and supporting each other.

2 hours ago, Eolivet said:

I was worried when Nick had this squirrely gamebot-y edit, and then was like "and my mom died." I seriously thought, "he ... didn't just make that up, did he? Please tell me we're not making up dead mother stories now."

I was thinking "touching moments there, and I almost even believed the drug overdose mom story!" Call me jaded but I'm glad other peeps felt that might not have been completely truthful. It's a psychological effect where people will confess to what they know is false in a group over-share like that. When looking to have an "in" with a certain group some people crack when not having an impactful story to add. You never want to be the one that doesn't fit in with the line of convo. It prolly was legit to talk about mom's OD but it could have been an exaggeration from being miserable and raw emotionally at the time.

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

That nonstop, relentless rain was brutal. Yikes. So demoralizing to be cold and wet as well as hungry. 

Ya know, this past week I got caught in a downpour wayyyy from my car up at a lake that is a 45min drive home. I was soaked and uncomfortable in my soaked jeans and underwear. Then I saw tonight's eppy and thought: "Imagine if that 45 minutes was just the start AND you had no shelter and no heater to put on or anyhting dry, like, ever again." That struggle is real folks!

3 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

And purple string show?  Really?

Seriously people?? Talk about tied up in a nice little package for someone. Nice effort there.

Also, while this "theme" has turned out to be even more strained than usual it seems like it could be an interesting cast theme be damned... as long as I don't have to hear people talking about "staying David Strong" I think it may be... not super annoying. That's good.

Edited September 27, 2018 by Wandering Snark

[HappyDancex2]

Watching Ned Schneebly on this show was weirding me out.  Considering he’s such a fan of the show his game play quite sucketh.

i enjoyed having a challenge on the boat.  The Goliath who bugged me the most was that first girl on the end who seemed smug and smirky at her superior tribe and only looked a little contrite when she found out that some people really don’t have the same options in life.  She needs to find a can of gratitude and humility.

octopus looked like a nice find until I saw it was chopped up raw with no salt or acid.  Eeeep.

[Silver Raven]

1 minute ago, HappyDancex2 said:

Watching Ned Schneebly on this show was weirding me out

Who?

[willco]

I think Pat's motormouth would have gotten old real fast, but no way do I ever want someone to go out due to injury. And so soon.

 

As soon as they showed Mike, I kept thinking "where do I know that guy from ?" I hadn't read about any of the players,as I usually do, so I didn't know he was going to be on. I probably saw him on TAR, but I knew of him even before that, I either saw him on a late night show, or a doc about show biz writers. I'm glad they told us early in the show who he is, because it would have bugged me until I had time to look it up !

 

A decent start, other than the evac. I hate having wet clothes on, even for a little while, so I feel for them sitting in the rain for days. Very glad it isn't me !

[HappyDancex2]

2 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Who?

You’ve never seen School of Rock?  Cute movie.  Mike White plays the teacher that Jack Black impersonates in the movie. (And that’s his character’s name)

[princelina]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

I wonder if Christian is on the spectrum.

I don't think so.

[threebluestars]

- It was driving me crazy where I knew Mike from so I was happy his tribe recognized him so I could remember lol

- I feel like the bonding the David tribe did really helped me get to know them more, which is a big turn from last season when I couldn't remember any names by the final tribal council lol.

- I still dream of Survivor: Haida Gwaii being a thing. I'm so over Fiji. Part of what I liked about earlier Survivor is the new location they'd go to and the lore they'd use during the season.

- I want there to be a season with no idols, but they don't tell any of the contestants

- Canadians can compete on Survivor now!

[Wandering Snark]

36 minutes ago, threebluestars said:

- I want there to be a season with no idols, but they don't tell any of the contestants

"Damn but if I haven't been out looking for hours on end... and nuthin!!" That would be classic.

[millennium]

4 hours ago, mojoween said:

 

Why the hell was Mike subtitled saying “...hoisted up by my own petard?”  It was clear as fucking day what he said.

 

Probably so the social media generation can google it and learn what it means.

He reminds me a lot of Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson).   The island backdrop strengthens the association.

The "who are you?  where are you from?" segment ran about 5 minutes too long.

Probst seems to have aged a bit since last season. 

[GaT]

3 hours ago, cdnalor said:

The robotics guy (Christian) makes me think he's an actor playing a stereotypical nerd.  The way he talks, his mannerisms and the way he dresses seem fake and too on-the-nose to be real. 

Exactly, he could be a character on "The Big Bang Theory" he's so spot on. Though I have to admit to laughing my ass off when the Davids won the first challenge because Christian used to write sliding puzzle algorithms

I also laughed at the end when everyone was all "we love you Pat" "we don't want you to leave" & crying when at the beginning it was "Pat is so bossy" "I don't like him screaming" "he's pissing a lot of people off". I wonder how he feels now that he's seen the episode & realized there was a good chance he was going home anyway.

[all fall down]

Count me as another one who thought Nick might be pulling a Johnny Fairplay. Just something in his delivery seemed off. But sad for him if it's all true. 

I would love a season with no idol's where they don't tell the contestants! That's a brilliant idea. :) 

1 hour ago, threebluestars said:

- I want there to be a season with no idols, but they don't tell any of the contestants

[HeShallBMySquishy]

4 hours ago, BookThief said:

Just what I came here to ask! The only thing I can think of is that they did not want viewers to hear "petard" and mistake it for another word because somehow they've never heard this phrase.

 

4 hours ago, mojoween said:

Right?!?  I mean, as soon as anyone on earth says the word “hoisted”, 99% of the time it’s followed by “my own petard”.  I thought that was a pretty common expression.

Hoisted by my own petard is definitely a common expression, but it really is no surprise that they felt the need to subtitle that. Especially in a world where an alarmingly-high number of adults don't seem to know the difference between "would have" and "would of," or "lose" and "loose"; a world where "casted" is still thrown around as past-tense to "cast," when it hasn't been used since Old English; a world where a one-syllable four-letter word needed to be dumbed-down even further ("bae"), because I guess four letters is just too much.

So in short, no, I don't think anyone should be surprised that such a common expression needed to be subtitled. Le sigh.

[OutOfTheQuestion]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

They are trying wayyyyyy too hard to make Christian the "character' of the season ala Cochran.

But what I like about Christian is that he himself isn't trying hard.  Cochran was clearly playing up his nerd status and trying to fit as many canned one-liners as he could into his confessionals; Christian just seems to be being himself.

 

Quote

I think we’re supposed to find the wrestler obnoxious but I kind of love him. His list of names was hilarious!

In the pro wrestling world, one of the knocks on John Morrison/Nitro/Impact/Mundo/Ultra is that he has kind of a wooden personality, at least by "bombastic wrestler" standards.  In this episode at least, he came off as funny and likeable.

[alegtostandon]

4 hours ago, Eolivet said:

Someone said that? I missed that. Ha, oh Adam Klein, that is your Survivor legacy.

I was more thinking along the lines of Johnny Fairplay and his dead grandmother, but heh.

My first thought was Fairplay also. I was waiting for his TH to say 'sorry, Mom, had to think of something fast!'.

So sad for Pat, I actually started crying. I'm glad he's ok.

Is this the season where the girl from 'I Was a Teenage Mom' or whatever it's called from MTV stumbles across Survivor while vacationing on Fiji?

Mr Tostandon & I just returned from our every other year trip to Kauai. We were thinking it would be cool to do a Survivor on the Na Pali coast side of the island!

[PhoneCop]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

This whole David and Goliath thing seems contrived...anyone remember what season it was that they started doing these "theme" seasons. If you ask me its played out but there most inventive one was "Race Wars" they should bring that back as it was the only way to get a good mix of diversity to the game.

That's the very thing that crossed my mind watching tonight—Survivor will never be able to manufacture better underdogs than Aitu, who were the Level 6 of their time but even tighter. Yul, Becky, Sundra, first-season Ozzy. I fell in love with those kids. I very much wanted to see the four of them stick together after the show, driving around in a van and solving mysteries.

And therein lies the problem with this theme. I'm automatically predisposed to root for the Davids just because it's human nature to root for the underdogs more often than not. (I say that despite cheering on the dominant Level 6 in the Big Brother house all summer, but the Hive weren't underdogs so much as idiots who self-destructed in the most unlikely and hilarious fashion every week, which wasn't L6's fault.) I mean, obviously our perceptions of each person are going to be skewed by the editing regardless, but at least we usually have the entire season to see people's arcs play out. It's problematic that I have a kneejerk negative reaction to one entire tribe right at the conceptual stage, especially based on a hazy distinction that the producers made. If we get to the end and a Goliath wins, it probably won't have the emotional impact of a David winning unless that person starts getting a more David-ish edit along the way, which...defeats the whole purpose of the idea.

I suppose it's still better than "Game Changers," but not by much.

I'm surprised we haven't seen a geography-based theme yet. Like the Midwest vs. the South vs. the East vs. the West. Probably a bad time to call it Survivor: Civil War, though.

[eel2178]

5 hours ago, dkb said:

Then this stupid show got me all emotional, with the talk in the shelter between all the David's. That was a great scene on what makes Survivor so good, all these different people bonding and supporting each other.

 

I really got the impression they were trying to one-up each other. "I was a Vietnamese boat person," "Well, my mom ODed on heroin.  Can anyone top that?"

[MVFrostsMyPie]

When Natalie so self-assuredly said her people would take a bullet for her, I said out loud to my cat, "but how does she know that? has it been tested? Is that how her employees get raises?" 

Hey, did you guys know the cop guy is surrounded by beautiful women? He didn't mention that enough. Unfortunate editing perhaps, but it made me uncomfortable when he was talking about how he was HII hunting with the two most beautiful women on the island, then pulled them in for a tight hug. 

I wish the show would go back to Australia or Africa. Heck, it could even be right by the ocean if they must get them half naked in the water. It's a weird sentence to actually say/type, but yes, I am sick of Fiji. And tropical islands in general. 

Here's an update on Pat's health from THR: http://survivorfandom.com/survivor-2018-what-happened-to-pat-cusack-321600/ 

Quote

THR also spoke to Pat after the season wrapped and he told them that he spent three days in the hospital but was able to return to Fiji where he spent time at Ponderosa. He also said he was back to exercising within a week following being pulled from the game. Eventually he learned that he had some mild spinal deterioration and the accident may have intensified that, according to THR.

“I’m going through some physical therapy to help strengthen the core and my spine, and to get some muscles rebuilt around my back,” Pat told THR. “There’s some disc deterioration that we’re going to work on. Other than that? I feel great. I’m almost at 125 percent.”

[green]

5 hours ago, cdnalor said:

The robotics guy (Christian) makes me think he's an actor playing a stereotypical nerd.

No way no how.  Christian solved that slide puzzle in like zero seconds.  Some mactor would be working it until sunset and after.

3 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

They started doing these theme because they are permantely (for now anyway) in Fiji and can't just call themselves "Survivor Fiji" every season.

Yeah.  Probst et al found a good economic deal there and a cushy set-up and they have gotten lazy just mailing it in each season now and no longer trying to do something different or adventuresome.

1 hour ago, OutOfTheQuestion said:

But what I like about Christian is that he himself isn't trying hard.  Cochran was clearly playing up his nerd status and trying to fit as many canned one-liners as he could into his confessionals; Christian just seems to be being himself.

In the pro wrestling world, one of the knocks on John Morrison/Nitro/Impact/Mundo/Ultra is that he has kind of a wooden personality, at least by "bombastic wrestler" standards.  In this episode at least, he came off as funny and likeable.

Yeah Christian was totally being natural.  And the one person on the Goliath tribe I like is the wrestler because he doesn't take himself seriously and shows a good sense of self-depreciating humor.

29 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

I really got the impression they were trying to one-up each other. "I was a Vietnamese boat person," "Well, my mom ODed on heroin.  Can anyone top that?"

No.  As a real life David I can tell you that when you meet someone else like that it means a lot to share these stories with each other because the "haves" of the world just think you are making stuff up or look at you in a patronizing, superior way or, at best, with some pity.  They can't really understand and it is so a relief when you find someone who has also gone through a lot of crap in life too and understands you. 

There is a bond born of suffering as deep as the bonds formed by soldiers sharing the same foxhole.  And just like soldiers say only a fellow soldier can really understand what they have gone through, so too Davids.  This stuff was real, every last sentence.  Yes there is a lot of fake stuff on Survivor but those conversations were not in the least fake.

Edited September 27, 2018 by green

[simplyme]

And now I've just realized that there's a Natalie (the older black woman, publishing CEO) and a Natalia (the industrial engineer) on the Goliath tribe. To make things worse, I didn't realize that Natalia and Angelina (financial consultant) were not the same person.

I suppose the silver lining is that for once I had no problems differentiating between the blonde women. 

[EllenB]

2 hours ago, millennium said:

 

Probst seems to have aged a bit since last season. 

Probsht shounded ash ifph he'd had shome bad dental work.  And he alsho sheemed to be hiding under hish hat vishor with hish head tilted down mosht of the time.

[mojoween]

1 hour ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

When Natalie so self-assuredly said her people would take a bullet for her, I said out loud to my cat, "but how does she know that? has it been tested? Is that how her employees get raises?" 

I mean, she said literally.  I could only assume listening to her confessional that  there is an employee of hers out there recovering from a bullet wound.

[KimberStormer]

Well that was not much.  I don't think I've ever seen the conditions so affect the recording quality.  A lot of that looked like it was recorded on someone's celphone.  Before the challenge I thought, "man, they are sure spending a lot of time on camp life."  So the medevac wasn't exactly a surprise, but the way it happened is so crazy -- I would be so upset if I was whatsisface who got hurt.  What a way to go out -- on the boat home from a challenge you lost.  Something that's, like, backstage.  Terrible.

Theme is, as expected, absolutely excruciating.  I say this every season.  But oh my god guys.  At first when Jeff was giving his spiel on the boat he almost made it sound like he wasn't going to explain the theme, and just give them regular tribe names, so I sort of got my hopes up, but oh how they were dashed.  Can I make it 39 days of people saying "As a Goliath, it sure rains a lot in Fiji"?

8 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Not sure if Survivor plays men and women equally, but okay Angelina. 

Well, yeah they do.  It's always 50% male/female.  I seem to remember a season where the women were down two at the beginning (SDJS?) but that was because of a last-minute quit or something.

8 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

What’s with all the crying???  They’ve been on the island for 24 hours and they are already emotionally exhausted??  

I will say it seemed like a whole lot of rain, very very early in.  It's got to be rough.

Can't say I feel strongly about anyone one way or another yet.  I'll worry about it when they actually start playing.  For now, it's late, time for bed.

[Whimsy]

7 hours ago, North of Eden said:

The studly cop and the blonde bombshell....that got me wondering if mankind has always been hardwired so that the most attractive people go for each other...no joke I was actually pondering whether the hottest caveman and the hottest cavewoman were drawn to each other way back in man's early history. 

Actually, yes.  There is scientific evidence to this.  

6 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

I was thinking "touching moments there, and I almost even believed the drug overdose mom story!" Call me jaded but I'm glad other peeps felt that might not have been completely truthful. It's a psychological effect where people will confess to what they know is false in a group over-share like that. When looking to have an "in" with a certain group some people crack when not having an impactful story to add. You never want to be the one that doesn't fit in with the line of convo. It prolly was legit to talk about mom's OD but it could have been an exaggeration from being miserable and raw emotionally at the time.

My guess is that it IS a true story, except maybe he isn't as sad about it as he was trying to make it seem.  Not to sound like a horrible person, but if you have a family member who has been putting you through the ringer for pretty much your entire life due to their addiction, probably leaving you in perilous situations and caring more for the drug than their own children you kind of learn to harden yourself from it and put a wall around your heart against that person so they can't hurt you any more.  When she died it was probably more of a numb feeling for all of her kids and maybe some guilt for not feeling more grief but simply not being able to.  That was my take. 

 

3 hours ago, green said:

No way no how.  Christian solved that slide puzzle in like zero seconds.  Some mactor would be working it until sunset and after.

Yeah.  Probst et al found a good economic deal there and a cushy set-up and they have gotten lazy just mailing it in each season now and no longer trying to do something different or adventuresome.

Yeah Christian was totally being natural.  And the one person on the Goliath tribe I like is the wrestler because he doesn't take himself seriously and shows a good sense of self-depreciating humor.

No.  As a real life David I can tell you that when you meet someone else like that it means a lot to share these stories with each other because the "haves" of the world just think you are making stuff up or look at you in a patronizing, superior way or, at best, with some pity.  They can't really understand and it is so a relief when you find someone who has also gone through a lot of crap in life too and understands you. 

There is a bond born of suffering as deep as the bonds formed by soldiers sharing the same foxhole.  And just like soldiers say only a fellow soldier can really understand what they have gone through, so too Davids.  This stuff was real, every last sentence.  Yes there is a lot of fake stuff on Survivor but those conversations were not in the least fake.

I agree with all of this but I especially want to agree with the bolded section.  I've been there as well.  I find myself almost getting excited to be able to talk about my situations and talking really fast to get it out with a real sense of relief that SOMEONE gets me.  I am a David and my husband is definitely a Goliath so, even though he thinks he gets it, he just doesn't.  I actually stopped talking about my childhood years ago with him because I could tell that he wasn't really believing everything I said or, if he did believe it, he just couldn't empathize because it was so far out of his level of comfort. 

[Kenzie]

Christian's background:

 

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Christian Hubicki is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Florida A&M-Florida State College of Engineering.  His research specializes in bipedal locomotion, specifically optimization methods that apply to both legged robotics and biomechanics. He earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University, with undergraduate minors in Physics and Music.  Dr. Hubicki earned his dual-degree PhD in Robotics and Mechanical Engineering working in Oregon State University’s Dynamic Robotics Laboratory. During his doctoral work, he used optimal control tools to study the behavior of ground-running birds and control compliant legged robots – including the bipedal robot, ATRIAS, a DARPA Robotics Challenge invited demonstration. In 2015, Dr. Hubicki joined the Georgia Institute of Technology's AMBER bipedal robotics laboratory as a Postdoctoral Fellow, where he further developed control methods for legged robots. In 2017, he joined Georgia Tech's CRAB lab to explore the interaction of robotic locomotion and the physics of complex substrates. His work has been featured in numerous media outlets, ranging from the Science Channel's "Outrageous Acts of Science" to CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."
 

[Fake Jan Brady]

9 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Mike White is a very talented writer/director :)  I admire him a lot.

I admired him even more when he flippantly referred to Christian as 'Big Bang Theory'.

This episode seemed way more exhausting than most introductory ones, what with the medivac, shomance, storms, idol hunting/finding and all the crying....

[BusyOctober]

So since the cop was able to "find" the idol so easily with the help of purple string, can I assume the rest of the idols have been coated with glow in the dark paint to make the night time "hunts" just as simple?

[ProfCrash]

Almost a good first episode but the ending was awful.

My initial observations, the Goliath's can go away. They all had that smug look that made me want to smack them. The giggling when the David's arrived on the boat was disgusting. They are the obnoxious jocks of high school who simply need to be slapped around by the world so that they learn some fucking humility. Seriously, they annoyed me to no end.

The David's are a group of folks who might have had one of them cast in a season without this ridiculous theme. About the only reason why I like this theme is that we are getting more non-stereotypical individuals on the show and I am cool with that. That said, I am ready for the theme to go away.

David Impressions:

Pat: I was laughing when they got to camp and Pat was all over the shelter building. The initial response to him was amusing. It was clear that the other people on his tribe had not been around a lot of Pat's. Pat, with all of his comments and his instructions, was not trying to be a dick or acting like a dick. He was acting like a good number of folks who have spent their entire life doing construction type work. The jokes were a little off colored but nothing all that awful. None of them were said with spite. I can see how people who have never been in an environment with many Pat's might be caught off guard but he struck me as harmless and a hard worker. It seems like by the time the shelter was finished and they headed off to the challenge that the rest of the tribe had figured that out. I hated seeing him go out the way he did. I don't understand why they couldn't hold the players at the challenge site if the seas were that rough. It is bad enough to go out with an injury playing, going out because you get slammed on a boat is pretty horrific.

Christian: He is not an actor. He spent how much time droning on and on about building that algorithm in his talking head. I laughed my ass off at how they handled that talking head... When they showed the challenge options, I told my husband that you take the slide puzzle because anyone who does not practice slide puzzles before going to play the game are idiots. And Christian crushed that slide puzzle like nobodies business. And I liked his chat with Gabby. I love that he immediately saw the who coupling thing as a problem. He can be a bit much but I suspect that he is a legit bit much.

Nick: The Kentucky Lawyer is weird. He has a weird vibe to him. I fully believe that his Mom ODed and that it has been a hard bunch of years. I even believe that it is not something he would want to discuss. That said, his stupid attempt to make 9,000 alliances and name them is flat out going to bite him in the ass. His open unwillingness to work is going to hurt him in a tribe that refers to themselves as scrappy and hard workers. I don't seem him lasting all that long. I actually think he is going to struggle more then Christian to fit into his tribe.

Carl: Killed his tribes shot at the Immunity Challenge. He screwed up the sand digging challenge. Not only did he lose it but it took a good amount of time for him to finish it. Christian almost got them the win at the puzzle, they were only a few moves away from completing the puzzle. I don't think Carl was in jeopardy of going home without Pat's injury but I suspect that his name would have been tossed out.

The rest of the David's seemed fine but did not get a ton of air time.

 

The Goliaths. There is no one I like on this tribe right now. There are people I don't like and people I don't know well enough to probably not like.

John: I am kind of indifferent but leaning towards disliking. On the plus side, I love Geology and I wish I had taken more classes on the subject in college. I think it is cool that he has that as his degree and I know that it shows a certain amount of intelligence, especially if he has a Bachelors of Science in Geology. Wrestling is a hard industry to get into and do well in, so that shows hard work. That said, I know that he has been trained to act a certain way and I fear he is going to fall into that wrestling bullshit and that will annoy me to no end. If he actually drops the wrestling persona and plays as John, he should be interesting.

Natalie: Oh my. She barks orders and does no work. I get it, she is 56 and less physically adept then the 20 and 30 years old but her constant instructions with no help offered. She comes off as bossy and lazy at the same time.

Dan and Kara: Yes, they are one entity and they are beyond annoying. I am thrilled he lost a lot of weight. The way he discusses it is awful and he just needs to shut his mouth. The whole Super Girl conversation was ridiculous. The sharing of the hidden immunity idol is flat out dumb. There is nothing I like about these two. But I always dislike the folks who are too impressed with themselves and their beauty.

Alison and the woman she was discussing the immunity idol: I was happy to hear them know the game and the stats and discuss some of the theories on why women find fewer idols. I like that. And yet they both rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know why but they did. Maybe it was the presumption that they were capable of something that others were not. Maybe it is the stupid label and the fact that they both participated in the gawking and chuckling when the David's arrived on the boat. Maybe it was Alison's smug responses to Jeff's questions on the boat.

Seriously, just the body language of this entire tribe predisposes me to disliking all of them. They are so fucking proud of being "Goliath's" that I just want to smack them around. And all of them can point to how awesome their lives have been with absolutely no humility. Look, I find the whole concept of being "woke" a bit overreaching. I understand get saying "Part of why I am here in life is because I had X, Y, and Z advantages. I get that not everyone had those same advantages and that the vast majority of the people who did not have those advantages are good people who can do great things and need to be treated with dignity." I get that. And that means that you don't fucking laugh and giggle and write off an entire group of people who come enter the room. It means that you at least try and avoid stereotyping people. That entire team just made me want to smack them hard.

[ghoulina]

10 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

 

Day 2 and the David tribe is spilling their guts with their stories and crying. Maybe it was because of the depressing weather. 

I think so. Not only can bad weather bring out emotions, but there's little else to do when you're all crammed into a small shelter for hours on end. 

 

10 hours ago, wallflower75 said:

Yeah, I liked the vibe at the David tribe as well.  And as for the showmance, when they started doing the "OMG, we have soooo much in common even though we just met because you like Superman and my name is Kara and she was Supergirl blah blah blah"  bit, I was rolling my eyes so hard they'll be hurting for a week.

And one of them had a dog named Kira or something? Good Lord, who cares? They were already talking about kissing in private. Pump the breaks. 

 

10 hours ago, Eolivet said:

 

I liked the organic sharing of stories with each other on the David tribe. Nary a contrived Ghost Island cry-fest monologue in sight. Though I was worried when Nick had this squirrely gamebot-y edit, and then was like "and my mom died." I seriously thought, "he ... didn't just make that up, did he? Please tell me we're not making up dead mother stories now."

 

Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thought that. He was just talking about how he doesn't show emotions and all that, then he burst out with this story. I was thinking to myself, "He's a sociopath; he just made that all up." But then he kept talking in his one-on-one. So I realized I'd probably just been consuming too much true crime. 

[ghoulina]

6 hours ago, GaT said:

 

I also laughed at the end when everyone was all "we love you Pat" "we don't want you to leave" & crying when at the beginning it was "Pat is so bossy" "I don't like him screaming" "he's pissing a lot of people off". I wonder how he feels now that he's seen the episode & realized there was a good chance he was going home anyway.

I think there could be more to it than that. He WAS rubbing people wrong during the shelter build. But once it was complete, and the rain was cascading down, they seemed very appreciative of his hard work. Contrast that with people starting to become annoyed with Nick's laziness - I think the focus may have been shifting. Pat's rough exterior might be something you can get used to; but people will always be resentful of those who don't pull their weight. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, cousin oliver said:

I admired him even more when he flippantly referred to Christian as 'Big Bang Theory'.

Ha ha hahahaa!  And then Jeff confidently pointed at Christian and said "That's you".  Oh my god.  

[ProfCrash]

4 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Ha ha hahahaa!  And then Jeff confidently pointed at Christian and said "That's you".  Oh my god.  

See, I got the reference and thought that the Goliath's were assholes.

[ghoulina]

Small voice - I generally enjoy the themes. I am liking this one so far. I always find them interesting, even if some of the placements seem like stretches.

I also adore Christian and don't think he's acting or faking anything. I want his bond with Gabby to take them far in this game.

[azshadowwalker]

Loved the premiere. I don't dislike anyone, tbh. I wasn't looking for reasons to dislike them, though. I am just fine with liking everyone in the cast. 

I thought Mike was a bit too anxious for the "experience," which may be his undoing. I don't hate people developing crushes on fellow Survivors, but that's probably a bad idea, game-wise, too. 

The biggest problem I have with the season is that so many people don't understand that "David vs Goliath" isn't "Brawn vs Brains" or "Jocks vs Nerds" or any of those easy explanations. It's more about "Obstacles vs Privileges."

Even though it's not strictly accurate, I view it as closer to "Blue Collar Background vs White Collar Background." Growing up working class and rural, I relate to that. When I went to college as the first person in my family to attend a university, I had challenges that my white collar friends just didn't. Everyone worked hard, but those from my background struggled far more, both financially and socially, which made academic success more difficult. It matters. 

[AZChristian]

8 hours ago, threebluestars said:

- I want there to be a season with no idols, but they don't tell any of the contestants

Was talking about the show with our daughter and son-in-law on Sunday, and we discussed "How could they make Survivor different?"  I said, "They should have a season with no idols, but they shouldn't tell the contestants."  My other idea was that every contestant should be given an idol out in front of the others on the way to the island.  Then let them start bartering them away, and see if anyone will admit to having multiple idols or none as part of the strategy.

[FormerMod-a1]

Pat was in so much pain he could barely talk, was strapped to a backboard and needed iv pain med and yet kept insisting "I can't leave"?  What?  Go get taken care of!  Medical shouldn't have to make that decision for you, although I'm glad they did.  I'm also glad he's OK now.  

[SuburbanHangSuite]

11 hours ago, mojoween said:

If my life depended on completing a slide puzzle...well, nice knowin’ ya.

They could put me in the ground next to you.  I get anxious just seeing those stupid puzzles, especially when it's an individual challenge and there's nowhere to hide. I absolutely would've chosen hauling the sandbags.  I'd be there 'til Christmas trying to solve a puzzle.

I generally dislike the Goliaths with the exception of Mike White.  How did I forget that he's been on the Amazing Race?

The Goliath cop was a cutie but why did he share his idol with those women??!!  

Wrestler Dude is gonna work my last nerve.  He rattled off a dozen wrestling names and I never heard of a single one.  

Natalie.  Le Sigh.  You can't be older, bossy AND lazy.  

Nice almost knowing you, Pat.  They'll bring you back for a future season.  That shelter was all kinds of awesome.

[peachmangosteen]

I liked it. I already love the Davids as a unit so much.

Did the guy with the drug addict mom and the cop think this was Big Brother or something? As soon as there was talk of alliance names and showmances, I thought they must have tried out for BB and got put here instead.

I didn't believe the drug overdose story at first either and then when it turned out it really was real I felt bad lol.

[Babalooie]

9 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

9 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

Watching Ned Schneebly on this show was weirding me out

Who?

That was the name of the character played by Mike on SCHOOL OF ROCK.  Jack Black subbed at a private school pretending to be his friend Ned.  Hilarity ensued.

[Gummo]

Pretty good start to the season. 90 minutes was perfect for an introductory episode, I feel like I have more of a handle on who's who than I usually do after the first eppy. Of course we're supposed to root for the Davids, we've had thousands of years of cultural conditioning to do just that!  That said, I thought the sheer physicality of the "Goliaths" was going to smoke the "Davids" in the first comp and  I was so happy to be wrong. There's nothing worse than a predictable game show.

The theme, though, as usual, is muddled and even Probst couldn't pin it down. So it's not jocks vs. nerds and it's not brawn vs. brains and it's not hard work vs. gliding thru -- so what the heck is it, Jeff? I think our own posters here pinned it down better than Probst did -- it's no-life-advantages vs. some-to-a-lot-of-life-advantages. Or hardscrabble vs. privileged? Whatever, it makes no difference because we all know they're going to mix it up before 4 weeks are gone. There are so many Survivor fans playing this season, they should realize that too.

I give the ex-fatty-now-hunky guy a pass on reveling in the attention of beautiful women, because he wouldn't have had that when he was younger and I guess it's still novel to him. He came off as somewhat immature and I think that's the reason.

I always like seeing Mike Smith but boy, did he let his fan enthusiasm get the better of him. Hopefully, he can recover now that his tribe has a few days to relax and get to know each other.

Love the wrestler's self-deprecating humor. Love Christian and Gabby (I would love there to BE a Christian & Gabby --- we'll see). Natalie, lawyer whose mom OD'd, girl who was crowing on the boat about her privileged life -- they can all go tomorrow.

Filming Survivor during the rainy season -- cruel, but great for us viewers!

[Lamima]

Still not sure if I believe that the drug addict mom story is 100% accurate. We shall see. He seems shady as all hell. He and the bossy CEO older lady are the 2 I am watching as villains so far. I hope the 'woe is me' stuff on the David tribe is not a huge highlight. I watch this show for the outwit, outplay, outlast and not the sob stories. I hate when they throw that stuff out there...as if they deserve to win because of their struggles.

Edited September 27, 2018 by Lamima

[ghoulina]

38 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Did the guy with the drug addict mom and the cop think this was Big Brother or something? As soon as there was talk of alliance names and showmances, I thought they must have tried out for BB and got put here instead.

Well, Jeff did utter the words, "Expect the unexpected". 

[ProfCrash]

6 minutes ago, Lamima said:

Still not sure if I believe that the drug addict mom story is 100% accurate. We shall see. He seems shady as all hell. He and the bossy CEO older lady are the 2 I am watching as villains so far. I hope the 'woe is me' stuff on the David tribe is not a huge highlight. I watch this show for the outwit, outplay, outlast and not the sob stories. I hate when they throw that stuff out there...as if they deserve to win because of their struggles.

I don't think the lawyer, Nick, is real villain material. He is too clueless. He is trying Russell's make alliances with everyone approach and clearly cannot read the room. Honestly, he comes across as a bit dorky and desperate for approval. He is proud of being the first to go to college, and of being a lawyer and of being a Public Defender. I think he is awkward and wants to be something that he is not. He has already made some pretty big missteps, not working in a camp full of workers being the biggest. Natalie I can see being a villain, for as long as she lasts. I cannot see her lasting all that long. She is not bonding well with the others on her tribe, she is bossy and she is older. If she does last, she will totally be a villain, mainly because she is likely to be at the center of an alliance that is pretty cold.

[Angeltoes]

I must have the heart of the Grinch because my eyes rolled at the group all bellowing,"We love you, Pat!" as he was being carted away.  You guys have known each other for 15 minutes, take it down a notch.  I have known most of my coworkers for two years and I wouldn't be professing love to them even if the Grim Reaper was picking them up in the parking lot.

This season's drinking game is a shot for whenever anyone says "like."

Quote

 A young friend of mine is so excited because he just got hired for his dream job at Microsoft

My cousin's son has just done the same.  Maybe they'll meet!  

[Wings]

There is usually more than one slide puzzle so Christian may have alerted them to replace any others that were slated for the future.  It would have been better to share that with his team only.  He is going to be puzzle boy and valuable to keep.  

Edited September 27, 2018 by Wings

[cheewhiz]

8 hours ago, alegtostandon said:

Is this the season where the girl from 'I Was a Teenage Mom' or whatever it's called from MTV stumbles across Survivor while vacationing on Fiji?

I haven't heard anything about this. I assume you mean "Teen Mom" Can you tell me more?

As for the "bonding experience" (read: team cry) with the Davids. I had to fast forward thru that stuff. I don't watch Survivor for the sob stories, it's Survivor people, not Sob Story Island. Geesh. Maybe I'm just cold hearted.

Mike White (!) Loved him in everything I have ever seen him in and on the Amazing Race, School of Rock is my favorite movie of all time!

I'm excited for this season, I think it's gonna be a good one!  Poor Pat, I hope he didn't do any long lasting damage, back pain is a bitch.

[Pondlass1]

I’d really enjoy a NO IDOL season and seeing them dig up half the island empty handed.  We know, but they don’t ? I also would like a change of beachy scenery and new country.

Survivor needs a format shake up... it’s getting stale, although the torrential rain right at the beginning was a little different.  

[AZChristian]

25 minutes ago, Angeltoes said:

I must have the heart of the Grinch because my eyes rolled at the group all bellowing,"We love you, Pat!" as he was being carted away. 

I could see a little private "thought bubble" over every head saying, "Oh, GOOD!  Now I'm safe!!!"

[Sarahsmile416]

I wanted to laugh when Mr Sarahsmile asked me last night where they were.  The same place they’ve been the last eight or so seasons, sweetheart.  So done with Fiji. So friggin done.

I had a bad feeling about this season the second that they got on the boat and there was the banner behind them. ? Then they had the awesome challenge on the boat and I almost forgave them.

We are wrestling fans here and I always loved me some John Morrison so yeah, rooting for him.  And Mike White made me want to hug him.  He’s such an adorable nebbish. 

OTOH, Dan and Kara can go any time now. “Just kiss me in private” made my eyes roll out of my head and actually made me long for the days of Rob and Amber ?‍♀️