S38.E10: Blood of a Blindside

[bunnyface]

I've had enough of standing and balancing challenges.  You know what I'd like to see?  A good old fashioned, run through the jungle for a million miles, get one little scrap of information, run another million miles for another scrap of information, try to remember both of those scraps of information until you get back to your designated spot, forget one, and then do it all again.  Those are fun.  (For me.  Who's not doing it.  Who would drop dead at the mere mention.)  But still fun.

[Steph Sometimes]

2 hours ago, Lamima said:

Someone once told someone (and I think it was 2 ladies) that they were gifting them their advantage when they got voted out and that person voted them out. I want to say it was Sarah who did the voting out for the advantage. It was someone I didn't like.

I want to say it was blonde Sierra, aka the future Mrs. Amazing, giving it to Sarah.

I'm just straight up completely rooting for Aurora now.

[ForeverAlone]

I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. I figured we were getting two easily forgettable boots, like Aurora, and... I wasn't sure about the second. I thought maybe Wardog or Gavin. But nope, it was the two remaining returning players. I didn't think Wardog had it in him. As much as he irks me with his aggressive salesmanship, I think he usually has a good read on people and the game and is making good moves. Now, I still don't think he's going to win, but who the hell knows at this point? I would have screamed if Lesu 3 made it further. Not because I have a real problem with them, but only because it would have been stupid to let a tight threesome deeper in the game, when it would have become near impossible to dislodge them. I was surprised that Kelly didn't play her idol. She looked like she was going to pull it out, but I guess she felt confident enough in Wardog and her new alliance. 

It will be interesting to see how everything shakes up from here. I'm curious how Lauren will play without her protector, Kelly. Yes, she is pretty good in challenges, but she seems to consistently take her guidance from Kelly at tribal. The editors have played up the fact that she has looked over to Kelly for clues on if she should play her idol (or the editors really want to paint that picture for the viewers). Since Wardog took out her closest ally, I imagine she is a free agent and maybe even looking for some payback. I wish Julie would stop playing so emotionally, but I think it's too late for that one. At this point in the game, it would be almost stupid to vote out Aurora, because she is not likely to get any votes in the end. I can see why the goats would want to vote her out, because it frees up a slot for them, but Julie is ostensibly in an alliance with Ron (though who knows after this vote), and yet she just wants to vote out Aurora for some weird reason. Even if Aurora was the one who started the chaos at the previous tribal, Julie is still responsible for her own emotional meltdown. 

Sooooo...of the people left in the game, I wouldn't mind seeing Rick or Victoria win (though Victoria has gone quiet in recent weeks, even though she has been voting in the majority). As for the rest of them left in the game (not counting EoE)...nah. 

[green]

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

I went back and watched the ending because I was curious who voted for who.  I thought Gavin was a Wentworth vote, but he voted Aurora.  So it’s interesting tonight in that it was the outcasts (Rick and Aurora), Wardog, and then Ron and Victoria. 

I think I’m more curious what led Victoria to flip, unless it was to break up the trio, which is what she’s wanted to do.  But where does everyone go from here?  I can see this working one of two ways for Wardog.  He gets voted out for being unpredictable and disloyal.  Or, he goes to the end, and loses for being a flip flopper.

Victoria said in her confessional she was on the outs.  She could see that the Wardog plan (first half hour) of his three plus teacher guy & emotional woman pair plus Gavin had made a "solid six" alliance and left her out.

[KimberStormer]

And this season gets even more inexplicable and boring.  I have a headache, I have been having a hard month or two, I don't really have anything to say here.  Cramming these two votes into one episode means there's nothing to talk about and felt like nothing happened.

It is crazy how they've moved people back to being totally invisible, Gavin and Lauren etc.  The only person left to like is Victoria, and they're suddenly burying her.  Rick looking extremely winnery, which would be the death of Survivor for me.  You can't get voted out and win.  Especially if I hate you almost as much as I hate Adam Klein and Terry Dietz.  Fuck this season.

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

I think I’m more curious what led Victoria to flip, unless it was to break up the trio, which is what she’s wanted to do.  

Victoria didn't flip.  She wasn't ever with Kelley or this supposed 6.

5 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

And that’s why I don’t like Kelly, never have. She plays dirty.

Do you have literally any other example?  I can't think of any.  I myself am totally, totally down for playing dirty as possible, but as far as I can remember Kelley never did anything like that.  Including telling people about Lauren's idol -- it will almost certainly be expired by the time whoever it is comes back.

[cooksdelight]

1 hour ago, KimberStormer said:

Do you have literally any other example?

The way she targets the weak, and seems to gloat about it. And things I’ve been told privately by someone who knows her that I can’t share. Just trust me on this one.

[SVNBob]

7 hours ago, wallflower75 said:

I wonder how fast Lauren will go looking for the idol that has now been nullified by Kelley getting blindsided from the game with an idol in her bag. 

Pocket Idols don't get replaced.  Lauren now has the only valid idol left in the game.

[azshadowwalker]

I didn't realize how much I like David and how little I like almost everyone else until I was desperately hoping he would win immunity.y

My rooting interest is now Aurora because there's no one else I can really stand. Want Warthog out so badly, and have for a while. Like the entire season. 

Edited April 18, 2019 by azshadowwalker

[violet and green]

Joe, looking like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz at tribal. What is he using to style his curls?

[DEL901]

7 hours ago, TVFan1 said:

Lauren, please use your idol wisely. Don't know why Kelley told the people on EOE about that.

Sour grapes.  

[sigmaforce86]

6 hours ago, bunnyface said:

I've had enough of standing and balancing challenges.  You know what I'd like to see?  A good old fashioned, run through the jungle for a million miles, get one little scrap of information, run another million miles for another scrap of information, try to remember both of those scraps of information until you get back to your designated spot, forget one, and then do it all again.  Those are fun.  (For me.  Who's not doing it.  Who would drop dead at the mere mention.)  But still fun.

This memory is really vague, but they did it in one maybe two seasons where they had to run into the jungle find a station that had, not sure a riddle or a clue and remember it.  Then go back then run to find the next station.  That's not very specific I know, I can almost picture it but like I said vague memory.  Anyway point is they did do that one maybe two times and you're right it would be a great challenge to bring back even if they update it a little.  The stand and endure challenges are good within limits, too many of them make for a boring season.  On the other hand I'm glad they seem to have done away with the "do you know your tribe mates" trivia challenge, that was always a boring one.

My favorite challenge is the billiard balls in the metal roller coaster like contraption where they have to catch it at the bottom and put it back in, one handed, while adding more balls at certain points.  No real reason I just find that one interesting.  Also it plays into Jeff's love of saying "balls" multiple times in a challenge and all the double meanings he and we get from that.

I'm missing something in the alliances or interactions - I can not get why they don't like and are focusing on Deven's - he won some immunity but he's not the most physical, he can talk but he's not the most cunning.  Does he have a "resume" for winning if he makes F3?  There must be something that makes him a threat and I'm just not seeing it.  On the other hand just when Wardog looks like he'll last more than 30 seconds in any challenge even the insects are like nope, sorry, not for you.

Edited April 18, 2019 by sigmaforce86

[EllipticalAddicted]

I believe that after the merge, the challenges tend to be designed so that winning is not dependent on brute strength.    They are designed so that whatever typical strengths of either gender is nullified so that either has a chance of winning.   Hope that makes sense.

This season is so boring.    

Regarding Joe and his ever amazing jury hair, I wonder who will have better hair for his wedding, Joe or the bride?   Will they each have their own hair stylist??

Edited April 18, 2019 by EllipticalAddicted

[JudyObscure]

So happy to see Wentworth go.  I don't think she told about Lauren's idol in a forgetful moment because she seems to be focused angrily on strategy every second of the game.  Every time she didn't play her idol this season, I wasn't thinking "nerves of steel," but "smug over-confidence." sure that she knew exactly what was going on.  If she comes back and wins, my face will be just as thin lipped and tight jawed as hers has been all season.

At this point I think Rick, Wardog or Victoria probably deserve to be the final three, or  Reem who has suffered the most deprivation this season -- but Aurora just fascinates me. She is such a tough loner I would like to see her win, too. 

What did Aurora say to David during the challenge?  My husband said something just then, yet he knows he isn't allowed to speak during Survivor.

[Whimsy]

There has been some questions about whether Kelly telling the group at Extinction Island that Lauren had the idol falls under the preview rule.  I just re-watched the end.  This is how it went down: 

1. Kelley was voted out, she walked to the signs,
2. She grabbed the torch and walked towards EOE Island
3. Credits rolled and Jeff said "stay tuned for previews for next week". 
4. Previews for next week were shown
5. They showed who voted for who
6. THEN Kelley said that Lauren had the idol. 

People who don't watch previews would've missed it- HOWEVER, it's NOT a preview.  That scene is not a "teaser" for something that will be shown next week.   

[Haleth]

9 hours ago, TVFan1 said:

Lauren, please use your idol wisely. Don't know why Kelley told the people on EOE about that.

Without Kelly there to provide a cue, will Lauren know what to do?  She checks with Kelly before every vote.

At this point the remaining players are all so unlikable I hope whoever comes back from EoE island beats them.  What a crappy season!  We're coming to the end and only 2 people have left?  I wonder if Keith and Wendy are kicking themselves about giving up.

[Eolivet]

Kelley frustrated me, because of how she hitched her wagon to Wardog. At least David knew he was fighting for his life. Kelley saw or observed how the Kamas turned on first Aubry, then Joe, then David and yet she thought ... what? That she was different than all the other returnees? That Wardog was protecting her?

I'm most frustrated with the fact that she and David couldn't work together. Unless she wanted to play Parvati to Wardog's Russell (in a season without a Sandra), they should've gotten rid of Wardog on Lesu. She and David could've formed an uneasy truce, each with their ride-or-die buddy. But they could never work together, and a lot of it seemed to be blocked by Wardog.

I don't love Kelley, but I wish she'd have read Wardog for what he is: a sleazy, slimy poker player using her as a shield. He absolutely sunk her game, and she has no one to blame but herself.

[Bryce Lynch]

11 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Really surprised Kelley got voted out with the idol in her pocket. I expect that kind of mistake from Aubry but not Kelley. Really surprised she felt that comfortable considering she herself knew how unpredictable Wardog was, back when they were still in Lesu.

And she admitted to getting a weird vibe. But kudos to Wardog. He's annoying but dude is playing, that's for sure. And honestly, I'm just happy the three got broken up because to be honest, while David was obviously just fighting to stay in, his argument of how dangerous it was to keep a tight group of three in the game, did make a lot of sense.

People break up duos, why in the hell would you let a group of three get by, who were always voting together? But luckily for them, Wardog is playing a very Tony game so he's loyal to no one. 

eta: Also, I hope Aurora knows she's not getting that advantage back from Ron. 

I was really surprised the The Warthog was able to float his Kelley plan without it getting back to her or her at least getting suspicious and playing the idol.  Well done. 

Still, I thought this was another boring episode, despite 2 TCs.  Of course, nobody except Lil Wendy and Keith have actually been eliminated, so the game really hasn't started, 10 episodes in.

They really need to make EOE far more challenging if they want to use it.  Only the weakling and the flake, who never really wanted to play to win, dropped out, so it can't be THAT brutal.  

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

And things I’ve been told privately by someone who knows her that I can’t share. Just trust me on this one.

Nah, you gotta bring the receipts!

It's kind of fun and interesting that no one is really aligned and that it's kinda unpredictable what will happen because of that, but all the players are awful, boring, or both and there's no one to root for so it kinda takes the fun out of it.

Victoria is probably playing the best game, but she doesn't do anything, is boring, and irritates the hell outta me for some unknown reason. I still can't figure out why I hate her. She's precisely my type of player.

Lauren continues to do literally nothing lol. I can't wait to see what she does now that Kelley's gone. I hope she becomes a real force because I need someone to root for.

I guess right now I'm rooting for Aurora because she's kind of a fun bitch and because she's the underdog, but it's sort of a passive rooting. I don't really give a shit if she goes.

I couldn't believe Kelley told the EoE people that Lauren has an idol. It probably won't end up mattering at all, but still, what a stupid and/or rude thing to do lol.

Edited April 18, 2019 by peachmangosteen

[Special K]

It's really hard to take satisfaction or have despair over anyone getting voted out since they just basically move to another island. 

Seriously, when Wentworth was voted out, I was like "Yay!" for a second, and then all "Ugh, another body at EoE."  When will they end EoE for good, for god's sake?  It's really undercutting the drama of people actually getting voted out, IMO.

Edited April 18, 2019 by Special K

[blackwing]

27 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I was really surprised the The Warthog was able to float his Kelley plan without it getting back to her or her at least getting suspicious and playing the idol.  Well done. 

Yes, I was utterly shocked that not one person ran to her and said anything.  I guess The Warthog picked his people well, but still.  Ron and Julie were a duo.  Julie vehemently wanted Aurora out.  Why?  Still holding a grudge because Aurora talked to Victoria when Lauren had fainted?  It seems Ron decided to break from Julie and not tell her.

What I was really hoping would happen was that somebody like Ron or Victoria discuss how easily The Warthog flipped on his #1 ally Kelley.  And decide that The Warthog has no loyalty and is too dangerous and should be voted out immediately.  Alas.

I continue to be amazed at how physically inept The Warthog is in EVERY SINGLE PHYSICAL CHALLENGE.  His pot fell off within 30 seconds.  He will blame the butterfly, but whatever.  Then during the second immunity challenge, during which Jeffy gets to say one of his most favourite Survivor sayings in his overly excited manner ("his BALLS drop!!!"), I noted that I did not hear The Warthog's name even once.  If Jeffy mentioned him, I must have not heard it.  From this I assume that The Warthog was not even able to land one ball in position.  Hah.  I just don't get it.  He looks like he should be in decent physical shape, but he is just so bad at everything.

Aurora is the only person left in the game proper that I can half-heartedly root for.  Everyone else is just a non-entity or downright sucks.

[mythoughtis]

I’ve decided to root for Aurora until/unless Aubrey is back in this season.   Why- well, not because of Aurora herself, other than she is the least unlikeable person there. I’m going to root for her as a representative of foster children.  So the rest of them know that good things can happen to them even if it’s not today. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Suddenly I find Aurora beautiful.  I mean, she was hidden from us for most of the game so no surprise that there's an air of intrigue and mystery surrounding her.  And yes, now we believe there's an Aurora on the show.

The scene of Wardog going to Aurora and saying "Kelley" and her responding "Okay" was really cool and mobstery.  Loved the editing.

54 minutes ago, Special K said:

It's really hard to take satisfaction or have despair over anyone getting voted out since they just basically move to another island. 

Seriously, when Wentworth was voted out, I was like "Yay!" for a second, and then all "Ugh, another body at EoE."  When will they end EoE for good, for god's sake?  It's really undercutting the drama of people actually getting voted out, IMO.

100%.  It was hysterical for me for the first couple of tribals, Keith, Reem, because I kept forgetting about EoE until the end.  But there's no forgetting it now.  Voting out people just comes with a sense of dread and erases the good ol' excitement from yesteryear (a.k.a. any season but this one and the Pearl Islands one.)

Edited April 18, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[Special K]

7 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

 Voting out people just comes with a sense of dread and erases the good ol' excitement from yesteryear (a.k.a. any season but this one and the Pearl Islands one.)

So much of the pleasure of watching Survivor is like watching a morality play, if you know what I mean.  Celebrating when the good guys come out on top, enjoying when someone gets their comeuppance, rooting for the underdog, etc.  EoE is muting that pleasure to no small degree.

[preeya]

I absolutely hate this season's format and the players even more. Ten weeks in and there is no one to root for. When will they be trimming down the EoE residents or are they all going to the final jury? The jury right now has more people than the game does.

[Steph Sometimes]

Quote

3 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

I've had enough of standing and balancing challenges.  You know what I'd like to see?  A good old fashioned, run through the jungle for a million miles, get one little scrap of information, run another million miles for another scrap of information, try to remember both of those scraps of information until you get back to your designated spot, forget one, and then do it all again.  Those are fun.  (For me.  Who's not doing it.  Who would drop dead at the mere mention.)  But still fun.

The challenge I miss the most is the "I'm going to say something terrible about one of your tribemates and you guess who I'm talking about and then knock down their whatevers and show them what's what. Ok who am I talking about when I say 'Which tribemate sucks the most?' Write it down and show everyone!"

You know what else I'm missing with this season? Ponderosa videos.

I'm hoping the Aurora-Rick-Victoria of Green Gables group (pseudo-alliance? alliance-ish?) can pull in Lauren for a number.

[fishcakes]

I guess Wardog deserves to win, but only in comparison to everyone else. I mean, here's a guy who's in a six-person alliance in a tribe of nine, a three-person alliance within that six-person alliance, and he decides to trade all that in for no alliance and a reputation as an unreliable backstabber. And yet, everyone else still in the game is somehow a worse player than him. Maybe Devens is better, but no one wants to work with him for more than one vote, so I think he's doomed.

I was trying to decide if Wardog taking out Kelley was a good or bad move and finally I decided it doesn't matter. He and Devens are the only ones playing now. Ron thinks he's playing but is incredibly ineffectual. Aurora is detested by everyone, has no chance to win, and yet is still somehow a target, which just shows that people are not understanding the point of the game. Gavin, Victoria, and Lauren are non-entities, waiting to be told what to do. Julie is there because psychotherapy is expensive.

Pizza always looks terrible on this show, but piling all the slices up in a big congealed mound was straight trolling. It wasn't as bad as the napkin of spaghetti, but it was close.

[laurakaye]

3 minutes ago, preeya said:

I absolutely hate this season's format and the players even more. Ten weeks in and there is no one to root for. When will they be trimming down the EoE residents or are they all going to the final jury? The jury right now has more people than the game does.

I have never, ever been 10 episodes into any Survivor season and have (1) no one that I am really rooting for (2) no clear concept on who is with who, making the TC's a jumble of nonsense and (3) so irritated by basically everyone except that gorgeous, awesome butterfly that hopefully single-handedly derailed WarDog's chance at $1,000,000.

Also not loving the special fancy camerawork this season.  While watching David's confessional on EOE island, I was so distracted by the full-face/profile/full face camera shots that I wasn't listening to what he was saying.  I think that happened again with the other guy (Eric?  Chris?  I can't tell them apart).  I don't need to see every pore on someone's face in extreme close up.

And I'm not sure why Joe had to pass out a clue-in-a-bottle for every person on EOE?  Didn't all the clues say the same thing?  

Do we know when/if anyone on EOE is coming back into the game?  What happens to the rest, do they stay on EOE as jury members until the end of the game or will they eventually get to go to Ponderosa?

Bring back simple Survivor, PLEASE.

[Special K]

4 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

And I'm not sure why Joe had to pass out a clue-in-a-bottle for every person on EOE?  Didn't all the clues say the same thing?  

Pretty soon he's going to need a wheelbarrow to deliver all the identical clues.

Dumb.

[blackwing]

4 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

And I'm not sure why Joe had to pass out a clue-in-a-bottle for every person on EOE?  Didn't all the clues say the same thing?  

I don't get the bottles either.  All of the clues say the same thing.  It would be so much more interesting if the clues were different, some get a better clue than the others, you only get half a clue so have to work with someone to get the other half, some contain nothing at all.  Why have individual bottles if they all say the same thing?

[Special K]

Just now, blackwing said:

I don't get the bottles either.  All of the clues say the same thing.  It would be so much more interesting if the clues were different, some get a better clue than the others, you only get half a clue so have to work with someone to get the other half, some contain nothing at all.  Why have individual bottles if they all say the same thing?

They're trying to be cutesy.  "Message in a bottle" and all that.

[Kaiju Ballet]

I'm really starting to root for Aurora. She's fighting back hard, and she's been surviving multiple times now that the target was blatantly placed on her. I wish that we were given a little bit more explanation as to why she gave her advantage to Ron. I'm guessing that Devins was already an ally, "Judgmental Julie" is a sworn enemy, WW is obviously the new target--and the "Lesu three" aren't budging. So it's either Victoria or Ron, and unforch, Ron was the only one that had any leverage--safe enough to eat disgusting pizza, IIRC. But then why like that, where his immediate thought was to use it against her?

Maybe the good it did do was create the beginnings of the fissure in that six, where he was able to turn on Judgmental Julie, in which case Aurora has serious guts. Because Ron is slimy.

I'm also wondering if Julie's animosity towards Aurora is based on envy? Maybe Aurora doesn't have any alliances in the game, but she doesn't have haters on the jury either. At this point, Julie's looking like the possible goat if she does make it to the end.

ETA: Oops I forgot about Gavin. Well, shows what I think about him.

Edited April 18, 2019 by Kaiju Ballet
Forgot someone forgettable.

[SVNBob]

7 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

The way she targets the weak, and seems to gloat about it. And things I’ve been told privately by someone who knows her that I can’t share. Just trust me on this one.

Considering I remember one person I know you know who would know Kelley, I'm very curious as to what things that person has told you.  Care to share in a PM?

[HappyDancex2]

Dear Probst,

This format sucks.  Appreciate you guys trying new things but you can burn this one in the fire.  I’m going to have to snuff ya out.

The tribe has spoken.

[Special K]

Can we just marvel at how good a job David did fighting for his life, what a good case he made and without being nasty or taking things too personally.  And what a good sport he was after getting voted out?

I love him.

[blackwing]

24 minutes ago, Special K said:

Can we just marvel at how good a job David did fighting for his life, what a good case he made and without being nasty or taking things too personally.  And what a good sport he was after getting voted out?

I love him.

Yes.  He made a good case for himself without being insulting.  And then of course, that was immediately followed by The Warthog with his crazy serial killer eyes and flaring nostrils angrily intoning something about how "you're slimy and slippery and you just go around squirming and desperate and that's why I think you have to go".  So tactless and hostile.  I hope the jury members viewed this and thought "wow, that Warthog is a supreme dick.  I don't care how good he is playing, I won't vote for a dick to win the game."

[Artymouse]

This is my first season watching Survivor (except for a couple of episodes in first season), and I'm watching this season because I'm a journalist, and one of the players is from our market, So I'm a little lost among all the talk of strategy and previous seasons etc. However, I'm also intrigued enough that I'm going to watch some previous seasons on Hulu. Never expected to find this show interesting, but now I'm worried that I'm going to become a Survivor obsessive!

I dislike Wardog, Ron and Gavin, and Aurora's toughness is starting to grow on me. It was really cool to see her determination at the immunity challenge. Overall, I don't think she's going to win, but she's proving to have more guts that I gave her credit for.

David has also grown on me, and I was bummed to see him banished last night, but hopefully he will make EoE a little more interesting, and maybe they'll show us a bit more of what's going on there.

When the previews said that two players would be voted out last night, I expected one tribal council with them voting for two people. Then, with all the talk of blindsides, I thought maybe Jeff was going to blindside the players and tell them they had to vote out two people at the one tribal council, even though they were only expecting one vote. So my question is -- has that ever happened?  

And for the love of God, are they ever going to give these people something to wear besides their undies??

Edited April 18, 2019 by Artymouse
Edited because I mistakenly said I dislike Rick, when it's Ron who makes me want to throw things at my TV every time I see him.

[preeya]

7 minutes ago, blackwing said:

"wow, that Warthog is a supreme dick.  I don't care how good he is playing, I won't vote for a dick to win the game."

ITA, and besides that, I get the biggest laughs watching him in challenges. He is about the most inept player (in challenges) EVER.

[Lamb18]

6 hours ago, violet and green said:

Joe, looking like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz at tribal. What is he using to style his curls?

6 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Sour grapes.  

I thought this was the response to the question above it and not TVfan's question.

[green]

7 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

This memory is really vague, but they did it in one maybe two seasons where they had to run into the jungle find a station that had, not sure a riddle or a clue and remember it.  Then go back then run to find the next station.  That's not very specific I know, I can almost picture it but like I said vague memory. 

You are probably remembering Season 1 and one of the most classic, iconic segments of Survivor ever as Rudy ran around to all those riddles clues and kept saying "Don't know."

6 hours ago, Haleth said:

At this point the remaining players are all so unlikable I hope whoever comes back from EoE island beats them.  What a crappy season!

Amen!!!  If David can't win then Reem for the win to put the nail on the coffin of this horrible season.

3 hours ago, Special K said:

Can we just marvel at how good a job David did fighting for his life, what a good case he made and without being nasty or taking things too personally.  And what a good sport he was after getting voted out?

I love him.

Now that David is out I have no one to root for in this season.  It is just become fluff to watch before The Amazing Race comes on now.  And I mean What. A. Contrast. last night from this horrible episode to the high energy, fun and entertaining premier of The Amazing Race.

2 hours ago, Artymouse said:

This is my first season watching Survivor (except for a couple of episodes in first season), and I'm watching this season because I'm a journalist, and one of the players is from our market, So I'm a little lost among all the talk of strategy and previous seasons etc. However, I'm also intrigued enough that I'm going to watch some previous seasons on Hulu. Never expected to find this show interesting, but now I'm worried that I'm going to become a Survivor obsessive!

Yeah when I first got hooked it felt at first as if it was my secret, dirty little pleasure and I didn't want to tell most of my friends who would look down on "reality TV" back then.  I now happily wallow in the show.  Join us and be "assimilated."  It is only one step down from The Amazing Race after all.  (Well about a half dozen steps down from the early seasons -- TAR seasons 1-5 omitting season 4 which was about as terrible as this season of Survivor though for different reasons).

Sorry your first full season of Survivor is one of the worst (and dullest) ones in Survivor history though.  If you want to start looking at past seasons just start out easy with last season which was one of the best ones ever is my suggestion.  Good way to get your feet wet with more current seasons.

Edited April 18, 2019 by green

[bunnyface]

You know what else we're missing this season?  Blindfolded people running into things.  I wouldn't mind seeing Warthog running his 'nads into some fenceposts.  Just me?

[PaperTree]

13 hours ago, GaT said:

Even though I've only known she existed for 3 weeks, she's gotten on my nerves like I've been watching her for 10. Please eliminate Aurora.

I've been rooting for Aurora since she was on the outs with the Kama6 from the beginning.

Must be an underdog thing 🙂

[RedbirdNelly]

3 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

I've been rooting for Aurora since she was on the outs with the Kama6 from the beginning.

Must be an underdog thing 🙂

I root for underdogs too and I'm gently rooting for her for that reason--but would like to see better game play to really be in her corner. She seems likeable enough. But if she wins, it won't be because of great game play (at least until now). Kudos on the challenges. Generally she's been completely out of the loop on things.

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, Artymouse said:

This is my first season watching Survivor (except for a couple of episodes in first season), and I'm watching this season because I'm a journalist, and one of the players is from our market, So I'm a little lost among all the talk of strategy and previous seasons etc. However, I'm also intrigued enough that I'm going to watch some previous seasons on Hulu. Never expected to find this show interesting, but now I'm worried that I'm going to become a Survivor obsessive!

You should be.  I lost my mind and a summer watching like 20 seasons in a row.  It was incredibly awesome, but yes I was obsessed.  Don't ever research a season on Wikipedia before you watch it though; I've spoiled myself with the winner many times.  

2 hours ago, Artymouse said:

When the previews said that two players would be voted out last night, I expected one tribal council with them voting for two people. Then, with all the talk of blindsides, I thought maybe Jeff was going to blindside the players and tell them they had to vote out two people at the one tribal council, even though they were only expecting one vote. So my question is -- has that ever happened?  

Yes.

[HurricaneVal]

43 minutes ago, bunnyface said:

You know what else we're missing this season?  Blindfolded people running into things.  I wouldn't mind seeing Warthog running his 'nads into some fenceposts.  Just me?

I co-sign that.  I also co-sign the "tired of all the balance in a torturous position to see who can do it the longest while preventing a ball/jug/bucket/whatever from falling comps" movement I sense is getting a groundswell here.

Now that I know that Aurora came out of the foster care system, I've taken another look at her continuing to negotiate a deal while Lauren was lying there getting worked on by medical.  Initially I thought she was pretty heartless, crass, and tacky to be doing that, but now that I know her history, that's the sort of thing foster kids have to learn to do--ignore the crap going on around them and continue your personal fight for survival.  She was doing the only thing she knows how to do, and now that I understand that, she does have my sympathy, and I just might be rooting for her now.  She still can't read a room to save her life though.  As soon as she figured out her ill-timed deal-making wasn't being received well by either the other party or the benches because of the timing, she should have shut up and tried again later.  Since that is another survival skill that would have done her well in the system, I'm kind of surprised she wasn't more aware than she was.   Exhaustion and hunger can dull finely honed personal emotional survival skills, so I guess maybe that was happening.

And I am Tribe Butterfly now, all the way!

[Haleth]

2 hours ago, Artymouse said:

This is my first season watching Survivor (except for a couple of episodes in first season), and I'm watching this season because I'm a journalist, and one of the players is from our market, So I'm a little lost among all the talk of strategy and previous seasons etc. However, I'm also intrigued enough that I'm going to watch some previous seasons on Hulu. Never expected to find this show interesting, but now I'm worried that I'm going to become a Survivor obsessive!

Unfortunately this is turning out to be a less than stellar season. Season 37, right before this one was much better. 

[princelina]

5 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Victoria is probably playing the best game, but she doesn't do anything, is boring, and irritates the hell outta me for some unknown reason. I still can't figure out why I hate her. She's precisely my type of player.

It's The Hat!!!

[EllenB]

My dislike of this season is partly because of the stupidity of Exile Island.  Does anyone remember the movie "Truly, Madly, Deeply," in which Alan Rickman dies, but because of the love of his partner, he's allowed to come back into her life?  But he just stays in her flat.  With the blinds closed.  With a lot of his new friends.  And they are all the most boring, annoying people ever.  And what seemed like the most wonderful idea ever becomes a JUST DIE FOR REAL ALREADY experience.  That's this season.  And there aren't even any good villains to root AGAINST, giving me a default person like Big Mike to cheer FOR (not someone I'd ordinarily like, but the Nastiest Alliance Ever had him as their target, which was good enough for me).  These people are just boring and/or annoying and/or whiny and/or ineffective.  I guess at this point, Aurora Lou Who is my pick.

Edited April 18, 2019 by EllenB

[jhummerbird]

It's interesting to me how much Devens' and Julie's emotions have had an impact on this game -- Devens' with his declaration that he will never ever side with the Lesu 3, and Julie's hatred of Aurora. I also wondered why Victoria and Aurora didn't go running to Kelly with their info. But even if Victoria/Aurora/Lauren/Kelly had voted together, they needed to pull in a fifth, and obviously Devens and Julia weren't going to be an option. It seems like they could have pulled in Gavin...actually the more I think about it, the more V/A/L/K/Gavin sounds like a group of five that would be in everyone's best interests -- especially seeing after the vote that Gavin was excluded from the Kelly plan. But before the vote it was unclear to me just how deeply Gavin was embedded in the group of six, and I guess maybe it was unclear to Victoria and Aurora as well. 

[ratgirlagogo]

5 hours ago, SVNBob said:

13 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

The way she targets the weak, and seems to gloat about it. And things I’ve been told privately by someone who knows her that I can’t share. Just trust me on this one.

Considering I remember one person I know you know who would know Kelley, I'm very curious as to what things that person has told you.  Care to share in a PM?

cooksdelight, if your opinion is based on information  from an inside source you cannot disclose, IMO you shouldn't be making comments based on it in a public thread.  Anybody can say that they don't like Kelly W. for any reason and that is fine, but you are asking us to "trust" that she is nasty for reasons that we can't vet for ourselves.

Edited April 18, 2019 by ratgirlagogo

[lasu]

2 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Now that I know that Aurora came out of the foster care system, I've taken another look at her continuing to negotiate a deal while Lauren was lying there getting worked on by medical.  Initially I thought she was pretty heartless, crass, and tacky to be doing that, but now that I know her history, that's the sort of thing foster kids have to learn to do--ignore the crap going on around them and continue your personal fight for survival.  She was doing the only thing she knows how to do, and now that I understand that, she does have my sympathy, and I just might be rooting for her now.  She still can't read a room to save her life though.  As soon as she figured out her ill-timed deal-making wasn't being received well by either the other party or the benches because of the timing, she should have shut up and tried again later.  Since that is another survival skill that would have done her well in the system, I'm kind of surprised she wasn't more aware than she was.   Exhaustion and hunger can dull finely honed personal emotional survival skills, so I guess maybe that was happening.

I completely agree. I think that’s also why she was having trouble understanding why everyone was viewing her negatively. Most of us have had the luxury of growing up in a less cut throat environment where it’s a norm to take a legitimate time out when something major happens. Most of us know we can hit the pause button and pick up where we left off without having lost any ground. In a dog eat dog environment, you have to always be willing to grab the advantage when the opportunity presents itself or someone else will grab it first. It shows an understandable lack of trust of society that most of us function with unthinkingly. Most of us grow up with one set of rules, but having grown up in the foster system, Aurora like grew up with a different set of rules, and likely found it confusing and frustrating when rules she doesn’t understand are forced on her. 

Not going to miss Wentworth and her patented SmirkSquint. Especially since she’s not even actually off the show or out of the game.