S37.E08: You Get What You Give

[mikewho]

I watched the episode once yesterday, so I may be wrong.

But in John's final words, didn't he say something like 'I thought it would be blah blah blah. But it was me. Son of a Bitch!'

I hope I'm right, because that was my favorite line of the night.

[MisterBluxom]

12 minutes ago, mikewho said:

I watched the episode once yesterday, so I may be wrong.

But in John's final words, didn't he say something like 'I thought it would be blah blah blah. But it was me. Son of a Bitch!'

I hope I'm right, because that was my favorite line of the night.

TTBOMR, he said words to the effect, "I predicted it would be a Brochachos Blindside. But I figured it would be Christian - not me! Jesus Ch$*@%!"

Edited November 16, 2018 by MissBluxom

[jumper sage]

8 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

While I think Christian is really smart and nice, I don't know if I think he is very Survivor Savvy.  I think the split vote plan was developed by Davey and Nick in that they seem to have been thinking strategically throughout the season; more so than Christian.  Christian brushed off Mike's concerns about Gabby rather than dealing with them and in return Mike started doubting the strength of their secret alliance.  Really, all Christian had to do was talk with Gabby and have her tell Mike that she was reacting that way so that nobody would realize there was a secret alliance (whether true or not).  Done.  Nick, on the other hand, found out about the Christian vote and remained calm while working through the various advantages that they held with Carl and Davey.  It would appear that they developed a plan and then brought in Christian and, maybe, Gabby.  There is nothing to support my next statement-I think that Davey and Nick may have weighed all the various outcomes and decided to use the idol this TC and then Nick's steal a vote would be the push to get them the majority at the next TC.  I may (and probably am) be absolutely wrong about that, but it makes sense to me.

It makes sense to me too.

I rewatched the pizza scene and it looks like they got personal size pizzas.

This is such a great season even my bf sits down for tribal council and has me tell what the plan is and then sees it go another way.  Awesome!

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, allirish47 said:

I've been wondering about Alec's motive in tipping Nick off about Christian's being the target (jury management? friendship?).

I think it was simply to keep the possibility of still working with Nick after he went with Goliath this time. Alec seems to want to have as many options as possible at all times.

[violet and green]

10 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Nah, people still don't just come out and say "I hate old women." They try to mask it so people won't see they're sexist lol.

But they are more upfront about their reasons, even if they veil them to themselves - it's clear in the language used, and the contempt for their subject's bodies/faces/wrinkles/general annoying/dumb 'oldness' at age 44, 49, 52, or whatever.

I think cultural or unconscious misogyny is there in many comments about women, young or more "mature", but there is a definite flavor of gloves off, free to outright hate, in some seasons with older women cast members.

Attributes of their particular (offensive) signs of aging are laughed at openly, hilarious "memes" are created, and it is extremely hard to dissuade anyone from the idea they are just validly criticising or disliking the contestant's gameplay, or they just reasonably don't like so-and-so's despicable character.

The deep and cultural fear of aging, the cultural misogyny inherent in rejecting a woman who no  longer presents well in a bikini (hahaha, did you see these delusional photos of Debbie?) - I don't think people, including women, are conscious of this in themselves. I also think a certain amount of again unconscious and disowned, and then projected, "mother issues" may be involved. But ye older Survivor lady occasionally brings it out in spades, and then it is fine to spill the bile, and there's a frenzy to it.

All of this is so deeply woven into the culture it usually only becomes apparent later in one's life, so it is unfair really to blame people for it, especially other younger women, or to expect them to be aware of it in themselves - even if they feel themselves to be staunch feminists. 

Even Jeff is much criticized for his attempts to look and sound young, and hence 'relevant'; I have noticed he's gone down a few shades in the hair dye this season, to tone his look down. Whatever he does, he can't win, in this regard. 'Old' people really are just young people with more mileage. They're not a separate species.

[knitorpurl]

What a lot of twists and turns this episode took! Loved all the planning that had to go on and how many of these players seem to be able to control their mouths and not tell about their idols or try brag less than cryptically about where their vote is going. Well played. Bye John; we were as blindsided as you.

I was distracted though several times by Christian's eyes. I was wondering if he had some sort of eye infection but finally decided he's just incredibly sensitive to the sun. Every shot in the full sun looked painful.

Speaking of eyes... coming back from one of the commercials I was admiring, as often do during Survivor, the beautiful arial shot of the island and then there was a close-up of a dead fish on the beach, sans eyes. Yikes. More crabs, birds and snakes with eyes please.

I'd much rather watch the stick tricks of Davey on the rocks. That was funny. Way to keep your cool and create a distraction at the same time. 

[peachmangosteen]

10 hours ago, knitorpurl said:

I was distracted though several times by Christian's eyes. I was wondering if he had some sort of eye infection but finally decided he's just incredibly sensitive to the sun.

This reminded me that John looked like he had pink eye in this ep and in some of his Ponderosa ep.

[Heathrowe]

Great episode. I hope they give us more backstory in the next episode as to who came up with the idea to split the votes. Because that was masterful. As someone upthread said-wizardry! 

Curious if the plan was hatched by Christian, Davey, or Nick. It was A GREAT PLAN. 

Why is Christian a target. He is smart and likable-remains to be seen whether he's a genius mastermind, but that's the perception. He also (to me) seems to be playing the game with some integrity. He's not a flipper or a gossiper like Angelina or Alec or Mike. Maybe that's because the David's haven't been in a situation where there has been a reason to turn. But really-I don't know why Alec and Angelina keep blabbing to the Davids. (I suspect because they are both actually pretty dumb?) 

Another thing with Christian-someone voluntarily - without being called out and begged in plain sight - gave up their immunity idol for him. So he has some kind of charisma to make that happen. Pretty sure if I were the target, the whole tribe would just be like "Ohhh, we love you, byeeee!" as my torch was snuffed.

Davey. I love him. I hope he and Christian are final two and it would be hard for me to pick the winner. But honestly-I think the person who devised the split vote should take it all in the end. 

Mike would be my target next week. 

Angelina...I'm a woman. I totally agreed with what she said about how a woman will put forth an idea, it's dismissed and then five minutes later a man says the same thing and it's a deal! Totally been there. But I think what she doesn't realize is that on Survivor-that could be used to her benefit. She wants credit for being a game playing strategy mastermind-but she shouldn't be looking for it from her fellow players. Save it for the audience. Relish that these guys are doing your bidding without you getting the target on your back as a big player.

Which brings me to Kara. Strong in the challenges, Apparently never moves or speaks otherwise other than to make doe eyes at the idiot guy. Is Survivor super-sexist in that this is the smartest way for women to play this game? (Answer-probably.)

The idiot-guy who gave up his immunity idol for Angelina. I keep forgetting his name. But, oy. It's lucky he has more idols than he knows what to do with...

Nick-I am liking more and more, he seems to have lost his early game jitters and now he's really getting it. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by Heathrowe

[MrsR]

Yeah I've been in Angelina's position where an idea of mine was dismissed and then the man steps in and YIKES what a great idea! 

But in This Survivior situation Angelina could use that to her advantage by telling a/the man the idea so that he can present it the group and then her plan comes to fruition. She's just got to swallow her pride and take manipulation to a new level.

[peachmangosteen]

20 hours ago, Heathrowe said:

[Christian] also (to me) seems to be playing the game with some integrity. He's not a flipper or a gossiper like Angelina or Alec or Mike.

I'm not sure I agree with this since he was happy to thrown Gabby utb early on with Nick and he just booted his fellow Brochacho. I feel pretty sure Christian would vote out anyone, no matter how close he is to them. 

18 hours ago, MrsR said:

But in This Survivior situation Angelina could use that to her advantage by telling a/the man the idea so that he can present it the group and then her plan comes to fruition. She's just got to swallow her pride and take manipulation to a new level.

The only problem with this is trying to get the jury to believe you really were silently controlling things, which is likely virtually impossible for a woman unless the people you take to the end are super unlikable/useless.

Edited November 19, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[ProfCrash]

Except that Angelina’s idea was not taken by a man. She tried to force people into voting Christian out at the last tribal council. At least four people thought this was a bad idea for different reasons. Alison, Mike and Alec were in an alliance with Christian and wanted to protect him. Dan liked Christian and wanted Elizabeth out because Elizabeth wanted to vote for Dan. In those four peoples mind, voting Christian out was a bad idea.

Flash forward three days and no Mike is willing to vote out Christian, I am still nto sure why, and Alison seems to be less invested in keeping Christian. Elizabeth is gone, so Dan no longer has an objection. 

Meaning that while Angelina had suggested the same target three days prior, the value of that target had changed making Chrisitan a viable target. 

The problem for Angelina and company was that Alec still didn’t like the idea and told Nick, who told Christian, Davey and Carl. The David’s were able to counter the plan and John went home. 

So it was not the same plan for anyone other then Angelina. 

The soical, political situation changes with each tribal council. What was once not a target can become a target. This wasn’t a man stealing a target, but a man being an idiot and paranoing himself out of a perfetly good alliance and slitting his own throat in the game. Mike royally screwed up. if Mike had not flipped, the vote would not have been for Christian. 

[All That Jazz]

Finally, a thoughtful analysis of the difference between the previous week's strategy and the current week's strategy. I am so tired of a woman whining "sexism" when her strategy was simply a week behind the curve.

[princelina]

On 11/15/2018 at 10:43 PM, lids said:

This video explains more of Davie’s thinking before the vote. At least we know it was decided before the vote which David would vote for which Goliath and why they chose John. But the video still doesn’t tell us who put the split plan together.

Davie’s Confessional

I really don't like when people are accused of being racist/sexist/etc due to posters' perceptions rather than their actual words/behavior,  and since that has happened during this ep (with regard to Mike sarcastically dismissing Davie and Carl as people to lead an insurrection) - I noticed in this confessional that Davie talked about how he could have saved his idol while all Davids were decimated - "until it was just me and Carl" - Davie also knew that he and Carl were the low-key, under-the-radar players!  It was a real thing, not someone else's bigotry :)

On 11/16/2018 at 11:48 AM, JudyObscure said:

Well, there was one young macho dude who said to the camera, "We're voting out the sixty year old woman -- because she's a sixty year old woman."  Naturally, I don't remember the season, the guy's name, or the woman's name, but I really think it happened.

 

On 11/16/2018 at 8:13 PM, violet and green said:

But they are more upfront about their reasons, even if they veil them to themselves - it's clear in the language used, and the contempt for their subject's bodies/faces/wrinkles/general annoying/dumb 'oldness' at age 44, 49, 52, or whatever.

I think cultural or unconscious misogyny is there in many comments about women, young or more "mature", but there is a definite flavor of gloves off, free to outright hate, in some seasons with older women cast members.

Attributes of their particular (offensive) signs of aging are laughed at openly, hilarious "memes" are created, and it is extremely hard to dissuade anyone from the idea they are just validly criticising or disliking the contestant's gameplay, or they just reasonably don't like so-and-so's despicable character.

The deep and cultural fear of aging, the cultural misogyny inherent in rejecting a woman who no  longer presents well in a bikini (hahaha, did you see these delusional photos of Debbie?) - I don't think people, including women, are conscious of this in themselves. I also think a certain amount of again unconscious and disowned, and then projected, "mother issues" may be involved. But ye older Survivor lady occasionally brings it out in spades, and then it is fine to spill the bile, and there's a frenzy to it.

All of this is so deeply woven into the culture it usually only becomes apparent later in one's life, so it is unfair really to blame people for it, especially other younger women, or to expect them to be aware of it in themselves - even if they feel themselves to be staunch feminists. 

Even Jeff is much criticized for his attempts to look and sound young, and hence 'relevant'; I have noticed he's gone down a few shades in the hair dye this season, to tone his look down. Whatever he does, he can't win, in this regard. 'Old' people really are just young people with more mileage. They're not a separate species.

I don't know why it is "hate" to vote off older women first in this game.  I'm a 50 year old woman, and if I were to go on Survivor, I would show up with the understanding that I need to be quiet and agreeable and hope that someone else on the tribe does something egregious to get him/herself voted off before me, or that the tribe would for some reason want to start voting strong people off early (as they have done one the past).  Every season I watch the challenges and try to imagine myself doing them, and I can see why I would be (at the beginning especially) a detriment to my team.  In the real world there's nothing wrong with me, because the jobs I go for wouldn't involve digging trenches in the sand under poles, climbing over walls, running across wiggly balance beams in the ocean, etc.  On Survivor I can totally understand why the old lady is the first voted out, and am mystified as to why others think it's only "hate" or "misogyny"

[KimberStormer]

Things do change vote to vote, but not always to the same degree.  I don't personally see any context for Angelina that has dramatically changed such that Christian was not a viable target last time but is now.  The Goliaths have the same sort of minor numbers advantage they had last week.  The reward challenge didn't cause any ruckus.  Nobody has revealed an idol or anything.  What's the big change?  I mean we know, it's Mike deciding to throw away a good thing he had going, but she doesn't know that.

We happen to know the reason Alec wanted to change the vote -- his Strike Force plan -- but Angelina doesn't know it.  She also doesn't realize, it seems, how aggravated she made people by trying to command the vote last week.  She possibly does realize that half of the reason why people changed their minds was just to contradict her, to the detriment of their own games as may be (and, it seems, very much was that) and she might, as I do, find that incredibly stupid and quite possibly sexist.  She might know, as we do, that Dan was also offended by Elizabeth putting a target on him, and if she does she probably also knows, as we do, that that is because Dan is a fucking moron and doesn't understand that he made himself a target over and over.  So the reasons, as far as Angelina knows, for them to have changed the vote last week are just stupid, and indeed proven to be stupid by this week's events -- Christian (who is indeed a huge jury threat) could be gone right now, and it seems very unlikely Elizabeth would be the beneficiary of such a scheme as Davie put in motion, especially since Davie seems to deeply dislike her.

And none of which changes the fact that Mike was presenting Christian as a target as though it was a revelation: GUYS!  I JUST REALIZED CHRISTIAN IS A HUGE THREAT!!! as though he'd never heard this before, which means, at best, he was competely ignoring her last time.  That is exactly what men do, in meetings at work etc, act as though they don't even hear women, and then by some coincidence say the same thing the women said, as though it is a totally new idea, one which, this time, by some coincidence, becomes important and smart.  I don't think, in any case, she was "whining" sexism, but I do think she was quite justified in being annoyed, even if she is a hilariously bad Survivor player.

[simplyme]

52 minutes ago, All That Jazz said:

Finally, a thoughtful analysis of the difference between the previous week's strategy and the current week's strategy. I am so tired of a woman whining "sexism" when her strategy was simply a week behind the curve.

Technically, Angelina was a week (well, 3 days) ahead of the curve. She also had absolutely no way of knowing that Mike, Alison, and Alec were in a secret alliance with Christian and would want to keep him.

Mike was one of the three people who COULD have killed off that alliance and chosen to go for Christian. Anyone else might have hit the same roadblocks (minus Dan).

So to Angelina, who lacked the knowledge viewers had and who has probably faced the same things most women do in having certain guys ignore her input due to different chromosomes, it wasn't exactly illogical to reach that conclusion. It wasn't necessarily accurate, but it wasn't illogical.

ETA: Er, I see @KimberStormer addressed this while I was typing and more thoroughly. Oops.

Edited November 19, 2018 by simplyme

[ProfCrash]

5 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

nd none of which changes the fact that Mike was presenting Christian as a target as though it was a revelation: GUYS!  I JUST REALIZED CHRISTIAN IS A HUGE THREAT!!! as though he'd never heard this before, which means, at best, he was competely ignoring her last time.  That is exactly what men do, in meetings at work etc, act as though they don't even hear women, and then by some coincidence say the same thing the women said, as though it is a totally new idea, one which, this time, by some coincidence, becomes important and smart.  I don't think, in any case, she was "whining" sexism, but I do think she was quite justified in being annoyed, even if she is a hilariously bad Survivor player.

Or it means that Mike is an idiot. Or it means that Angelina has been that annoying around camp that people tune her out. Or a combination of both or many things. 

I can see where Angelina is coming from and why she would say what she said. That doesn’t mean that I agree with her. Three days ago, Christian wasn’t a threat to Mike because Christian was an ally. So Angelina’s argument landed on deaf ears because Mike was not going to see Christian in that light. 

She is welcome to be annoyed for whatever reason she wants but I don’t see the inherent sexism in this case.

Her approach to this game has been awful and has failed her miserably. She wanted a jacket and to vote out Lyrsa. Natalie went home and she didn’t get Natalie’s jacket. She didn’t complain the following week that voting out Lyrsa was an example of sexism, even though it was Mike who switched things up. She wanted Elizabth’s vote at final tribal so she told Elizabeth about the vote. That blew up on her. She wanted Christian gone and used logic that other people found fault with and her attempts at persuasion were problematic, she really knows nothing of military strategy. 

Angelina keeps pointing to a number of reasons for why she is struggling out there and missing the more obvious one, she is awful at this game. Humerously awful. 

Angelina’s problem is that she thinks she can manipulate people into giving her what she wants and that is not working on Survivor. She comes across as an entitled individual who is, for the first time in her life, being told no and she doesn’t understand that no. 

[violet and green]

21 hours ago, princelina said:

I don't know why it is "hate" to vote off older women first in this game.  I'm a 50 year old woman, and if I were to go on Survivor, I would show up with the understanding that I need to be quiet and agreeable and hope that someone else on the tribe does something egregious to get him/herself voted off before me, or that the tribe would for some reason want to start voting strong people off early (as they have done one the past).  Every season I watch the challenges and try to imagine myself doing them, and I can see why I would be (at the beginning especially) a detriment to my team.  In the real world there's nothing wrong with me, because the jobs I go for wouldn't involve digging trenches in the sand under poles, climbing over walls, running across wiggly balance beams in the ocean, etc.  On Survivor I can totally understand why the old lady is the first voted out, and am mystified as to why others think it's only "hate" or "misogyny"

I wasn't talking about voting older women off first - though I always find that upsetting and annoying. I was talking about viewers' comments. I thought that was clear from my post.

Edited November 20, 2018 by violet and green
apostrophe

[Kenzie]

23 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Or it means that Mike is an idiot. Or it means that Angelina has been that annoying around camp that people tune her out. Or a combination of both or many things. 

I can see where Angelina is coming from and why she would say what she said. That doesn’t mean that I agree with her. Three days ago, Christian wasn’t a threat to Mike because Christian was an ally. So Angelina’s argument landed on deaf ears because Mike was not going to see Christian in that light. 

She is welcome to be annoyed for whatever reason she wants but I don’t see the inherent sexism in this case.

Her approach to this game has been awful and has failed her miserably. She wanted a jacket and to vote out Lyrsa. Natalie went home and she didn’t get Natalie’s jacket. She didn’t complain the following week that voting out Lyrsa was an example of sexism, even though it was Mike who switched things up. She wanted Elizabth’s vote at final tribal so she told Elizabeth about the vote. That blew up on her. She wanted Christian gone and used logic that other people found fault with and her attempts at persuasion were problematic, she really knows nothing of military strategy. 

Angelina keeps pointing to a number of reasons for why she is struggling out there and missing the more obvious one, she is awful at this game. Humerously awful. 

Angelina’s problem is that she thinks she can manipulate people into giving her what she wants and that is not working on Survivor. She comes across as an entitled individual who is, for the first time in her life, being told no and she doesn’t understand that no. 

I agree. Her manipulative tactics have probably worked well in the past on strangers, coworkers and acquaintances but anyone who is spending all day at camp with her would soon figure out how mercenary and self involved she is.

[MisterBluxom]

9 hours ago, Kenzie said:

I agree. Her manipulative tactics have probably worked well in the past on strangers, coworkers and acquaintances but anyone who is spending all day at camp with her would soon figure out how mercenary and self involved she is.

It must be comparatively easy to speculate what I would do or would not do if I ever got to play this game. My guess is that the real life situation would feel very different from sitting on my couch and speculating. But, if I was ever lucky enough to play this game, I would hope that I'd realize it was almost certainly a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity and I'd do just about anything if I thought it might help me win. This includes demeaning myself. Lying, cheating and stealing? I'm not sure.  OTOH, I might think that would damage my image - whatever that image could be  -  both with myself and with others. But OTOH, I might just crumble under the pressure and go "begging" at the drop of a hat (just so long as it was not Natalie's hat).

But the one thing I would hope I would be able to resist was to go begging when that really wouldn't be of any help to my avoiding going home. I get the feeling that Angelina didn't stop for a second to consider whether begging is something that would help her or harm her.  Hell! I'm sitting on my couch and I still can't figure out whether it is helping her or harming her. I just hope that I would be able to give it some thought before I just dove into "begging mode".  But the truth must surely be that I have no clue what I'd do under the same circumstance. I'm a very weak person.

P.S. Isn't it nice the same acronym is used for both "On The One Hand" as well as "On The Other Hand"?   I enjoy discovering stuff like that.  Oh my! Just about 24 hours to go until the next episode.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 11/19/2018 at 12:01 AM, KimberStormer said:

So the reasons, as far as Angelina knows, for them to have changed the vote last week are just stupid, and indeed proven to be stupid by this week's events -- Christian (who is indeed a huge jury threat) could be gone right now, and it seems very unlikely Elizabeth would be the beneficiary of such a scheme as Davie put in motion, especially since Davie seems to deeply dislike her.

And none of which changes the fact that Mike was presenting Christian as a target as though it was a revelation: GUYS!  I JUST REALIZED CHRISTIAN IS A HUGE THREAT!!! as though he'd never heard this before, which means, at best, he was competely ignoring her last time.  That is exactly what men do, in meetings at work etc, act as though they don't even hear women, and then by some coincidence say the same thing the women said, as though it is a totally new idea, one which, this time, by some coincidence, becomes important and smart.  I don't think, in any case, she was "whining" sexism, but I do think she was quite justified in being annoyed, even if she is a hilariously bad Survivor player.

I just have to throw in there, it happens to me the most often with jokes.  I say a joke, and a guy standing next to me repeats it louder, and the entire crowd laughs at what he says.  That guy never has ANY PROBLEM taking credit for my joke.  My brother has done this a few times, and I felt comfortable enough to say to him "I just said that."  And he has acknowledged and apologized.  But god, do I hate it, and more than anything, I hate how natural it is for some men to do this.  (I have a pretty loud voice, so I honestly think some men just don't hear/tune it out when a woman speaks.  For example, in mixed company, women are often laughing uproariously at what I say but the men are silent.  They have no problem repeating what I just said for their own laughs, though.)  Note this is some men, not every man.

I don't know if Davie deeply dislikes Elizabeth.  I'll agree that Carl very likely does.  But Davie, I am not sure.  But I totally get your point, that Davie wasn't willing to make a huge move to save her.  Although, I still wish I could have heard more about Carl and Davie's thinking on all of this.  Poor Elizabeth.  She just couldn't make it work with that tribe (or those logs).

Edited November 20, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[30 Helens]

On 11/16/2018 at 7:55 AM, seacliffsal said:

Edited to add that the reason I don't think Christian is necessarily Survivor Savvy is that as John was leaving, Christian kind of made his exit all about himself when he asked if he could still be the comptroller of Slamtown.  It seemed to kind of rub in that the "Mayor" was leaving while the comptroller was still there.  I know many will probably disagree with me, but I just felt changing the focus from John to himself while John was leaving was a bit too self-serving.    

 

It was jury management. Making a joke to remind John that they are still pals.  And a week later, I’m still in awe of John and how gracefully he made his exit. His expression when the votes were read, he looked more delighted than anyone. That’s a man who really appreciates good gamesmanship.

On 11/16/2018 at 8:24 AM, Maximona said:

For the win, I'm thinking Nick, Davey or Allison.  I love Christian, but I think he'll be out at fifth place if not sooner.  I also love Alex, but alas!  We know how that one goes down.  

Spoiler

I assume Alec doesn’t make it to the final three based on the fact that he was barred from the reunion, but what if he was final three? I wonder if they would bar him anyway?

I predict Alec or Mike as the next target. Alec for blabbing, Mike for general dumbassery.

I wasn’t excited about this cast at first, but that has totally turned around. I can’t remember when I’ve ever so looked forward to a next episode that wasn’t a finale.

Edited November 21, 2018 by 30 Helens

[Special K]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

 And a week later, I’m still in awe of John and how gracefully he made his exit. His expression when the votes were read, he looked more delighted than anyone. That’s a man who really appreciates good gamesmanship.

John is a total class act.  I think professional athletes on Survivor often are the best losers -- they have perspective on the game, don't take things too personally, and are usually really good sports.

[KimberStormer]

1 hour ago, SVNBob said:

Secret Scene from this episode takes place back at camp right after the previous TC.  This could have been in the episode instead of the Davey TH, as it appears to have been shot at about the same time (and contains his "we all know it's a game" speech to everyone).  In it, we learn that Gabby was not actually part of the plan.  Or at least, she wasn't told exactly what would be going down.  But it does confirm that Christian was in on the plan and deliberately trying to draw the votes ever since Alec informed Nick about the Goliath strategy.

This answers my question:

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 10:35 AM, KimberStormer said:

 How could they know they'd split their votes?  When, in the history of the show, has the minority alliance split their vote?  I can't think of a one before tonight. 

And the answer is never.  It also answers the question of who's the extremely clever player who came up with that split, and the answer is Nick!  Which confirms to me that he is playing the best game out there.

[Ms Blue Jay]

This episode was a Survivor orgasm.

On 11/14/2018 at 9:06 PM, OutOfTheQuestion said:

Mike White, showing the same keen attention to detail that made The Emoji Movie's script such a winner, says "it's not like Carl and Davie will lead an insurrection."

Breathtakingly beautiful.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 11/15/2018 at 3:49 PM, Special K said:

I personally think all the Davids were fully in on the plan.  I went back and watched JP reading the votes, and the way they were reacting/celebrating (yes, even Gabby) said a lot.

Carl's face laughing throughout that whole thing.  Hahhahah.  So beautiful.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 11/21/2018 at 10:36 AM, Special K said:

John is a total class act.  I think professional athletes on Survivor often are the best losers -- they have perspective on the game, don't take things too personally, and are usually really good sports.

I'll be honest, at first I just think he was in complete and utter shock.  Although, he did then quickly turn incredibly gracious when Christian asked about comptrolling.  LOL.  John never had a negative moment, although I was a little sad he wanted to vote Christian out.