S38.E13: Idol or Bust

[meep.meep]

14 hours ago, GaT said:

Finally! Why did it take so long to get rid of Aurora? I can't believe next week is the finale already.

What!  You want it to go longer?  They don't have enough immunity idols to keep Rick in if they don't end soon.

Julie continuously tripping over the ropes in that reward challenge was gold!

[Pixiebomb]

7 hours ago, laurakaye said:

At Tribal Council, I'm wondering if the remaining players could've done an even better job of selling Devin's greatness to the jury.  Maybe they could've painted "Vote for Devins!" on their foreheads or something?  I found it ridiculous how Aurora, Gavin and Victoria all proclaimed quite loudly to the jury how fantastic Devins was playing the game, how hard he was working, how impossible it's been to get him out, etc.  Meanwhile, the jury is staring at Devins, gobsmacked with love and astonishment.  Congrats, Rick.  Here's your check.

This is what I was coming here to say. Glad you already posted it.  As I watched TC I kept thinking that these people truly are idiots.  Congrats to Devins (if he makes it to FTC. )

[enoughcats]

4 hours ago, blackwing said:

A better play for him,now.............is for him to have just pretended to have given up.  He wouldn't have been controlled, he would have just not looked. 

I don't think he wanted to give them ideas of where to look.  He has seen enough survivor to know what sort of spaces (especially what size)  are needed. He's spent enough time looking that he's checked out a whole lot of the area within half a mile of the camp.   I wonder if the crew of three have any reasoning that tells them, based on the history of the game, that somewhere in the ocean is not likely nor is at the top of a palm tree. 

[blackwing]

12 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

I don't think he wanted to give them ideas of where to look.  He has seen enough survivor to know what sort of spaces (especially what size)  are needed. He's spent enough time looking that he's checked out a whole lot of the area within half a mile of the camp.   I wonder if the crew of three have any reasoning that tells them, based on the history of the game, that somewhere in the ocean is not likely nor is at the top of a palm tree. 

Lauren found an idol herself so she absolutely knows where to look.  He claimed that his idol that he used on himself at the previous tribal was gifted to him from Extinction.  She had a confessional where she says she knew he was lying.  She even half-confronted him about lying about it and he still denied that he found it himself.

[BarneySays]

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

And yet so many people disliked Wendy as the disrupter character. I guess being a disrupter who frees chickens and messes with peoples head with erratic behavior from the bottom is ok if you are a guy and find lots of idols.

Yawn.  There are many cogent distinctions between wendy and rick that have absolutely nothing to do with gender.  Wendy was an irrational player, which she freely admitted.  That's a different (and more dangerous) kind of disruption than the behavior rick has exhibited.  I don't think it has anything to do with him being "a guy."

[nlkm9]

8 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Not only that, but the fact that he was doing it at all should have clued in the others to the fact that he probably already had the idol.  Devins clearly knew that everyone wanted him out.  Why would he hide behind tree and play peek-a-boo rather than try to evade everyone else and do some serious searching?  Because he already had the idol and wanted to wear everyone else down. 

My first thought was that they were getting letters from home.  THAT would've been encouraging!  Julia bursting into tears at the thought of reading something she wrote a month ago made me LOL.  Some of the players couldn't even manufacture tears at all.  So lame.

so why was Lauren speaking to him through a clenched jaw? It was SO irritating that last nite I decided I dont care for her.

I never agreed with this but now I see how production can make sure someone finds an idol. It kind of makes me mad, except I like Devins. ridiculous that someone is back in the game after all this time. terrible season and concept!!!I feel so bad for all of them, getting rooked out of ponderosa. I wish I knew how they are surviving out there.

[iMonrey]

I just don't understand the point of keeping all these players around until the very last episode and then letting just one of them back into the game. What a pointless, stupid twist. Mike was let back in - what - on week four or five? If they were going to do this stupid thing shouldn't there have been competitions at regular intervals, like every three weeks or something, or every other week? Instead of one chance after a few weeks then one more chance at the very end?

Stupid. 

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

When did Lauren get adopted into this group so thoroughly anyway?

Who knows. We're only allowed to see and hear from Rick.

[eel21788]

22 hours ago, mojoween said:

.Only one more week?  I has a sad.

I'm going to be out of town next week, and I'm not sure if I will bother to record it. I am so beyond caring anymore. If the final four turns out to be 50% people who have already been voted off, it will be worse than it already is: Two people have voluntarily left the game, no one else has really been voted out.

[eel21788]

22 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

I hate that they are bringing back someone from EOE next week. What if all those EOE people vote for that person, that’s not fair. 

Exactly how does someone who was voted out of the game, then comes back in at the last minute able to outwit anyone?

ETA: Can anyone explain why some of my posts are turning yellow? I'm not a moderator, so I'm confused.

Edited May 9, 2019 by eel21788

[SuburbanHangSuite]

22 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Dude, I can't believe those idiots actually fell for Devens' obvious bluff. I was totally with Aurora when she called them out on falling for that reverse psychology. Hell Devens looked like he couldn't believe they fell for that. I have to tell myself that the vote switched to Aurora before tribal and they just didn't show it for the surprise element.

That for whatever reason, Gavin and Victoria decided the better move was to go for her. Because if that decision really was based on Devens' show at tribal council, then dammit, give the man the million because at this point, he's earned it. 

I've been saying this for the past few weeks.  I couldn't fathom awarding anyone else the title.  What have any of these others done to Outwit or Outplay??

21 hours ago, Marmiarmo said:

I missed seeing David’s girlfriend last time.  Lucky couple then, because I think he’s adorable, too.

 I agree with you on enjoying the Devens show.  Unpopular opinion, but I wouldn’t mind him winning.

It looks like it's not so much of an unpopular opinion anymore.

17 hours ago, green said:

This is Season 38.  Nobody CAN be original any more.

I'll take The Amazing Race most any time less the stupid blind date and internet celeb seasons.  And this season with Racers from all three of CBS's reality shows including Survivor has been great so far.

I don't think it is an unpopular opinion.  Everyone I know is rooting for him too.

And this season that would be bad why?  😉

I agree.  I LOVED the wild idol chase.   Rick is having the fun time of his life and is ENJOYING playing the game despite having to fight for his Survivor life every tribal.   The confessionals are great too and done with a good sense of humor and tongue in cheek.  So refreshing compared to the other serious/sour puss types.

And he is playing the hell out of the game especially given that he was behind the eight ball from the beginning.  He has always had to play as the outsider everyone has in their sites to take down.  And yet he is still there ... and laughing at it as well.   He is like Bugs Bunny surviving a bunch of dummy Elmer Fudds.

Unless you have hard evidence like interviews etc I am not buying it because I noticed there were a LOT if sideways glances going on with Gavin, Lauren and Victoria so yeah I think Rick pushed them over to their Plan B on the spot.

And if you are right then he still gets credit for working Julie to work Lauren to target Aurora instead.  So win-win for him either way.

I love this!  I cannot get over how everyone has spent all their energy plotting on Devens and it hasn't occurred to any of them (except Julie, YAWN) that they might be better off aligned with him.  Staggering, stubborn, stupidity to their own detriment.  

[LanceM]

Just now, SuburbanHangSuite said:

I've been saying this for the past few weeks.  I couldn't fathom awarding anyone else the title.  What have any of these others done to Outwit or Outplay??

It looks like it's not so much of an unpopular opinion anymore.

I love this!  I cannot get over how everyone has spent all their energy plotting on Devens and it hasn't occurred to any of them (except Julie, YAWN) that they might be better off aligned with him.  Staggering, stubborn, stupidity to their own detriment.  

You mean besides voting all 4 returnees and every other threat in the game by controlling almost all the votes including last night? And no Rick didn't fool anyone with that bluff.

[eel21788]

22 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I'm thinking that as well, which means the joke's on Devin's because he made it so they didn't get their hands dirty.  And now they know he has an idol.

He never showed them the actual idol. They still have to consider the possibility that it is just an empty wrapper from his previous idol.

[Tsunami1981]

14 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I think a lot of Devens' cockiness is sort of a playful, faux cockiness.  

I couldn't agree more.

[eel21788]

22 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Now target #2-These endlessly reburied idols HAVE to go! There's so many of them now they've completely corrupted the essence of this game and on top of all that no amount of convincing will not make me believe that a cameraman isn't giving a nudge, nudge, wink wink at the producers behest because conveniently its ALWAYS the person who seems to need it the most who seems to find one in an endless jungle. No tin foil hat here...if it quacks like a duck...

I swear last night it looked as though someone walked through the jungle 10 steps ahead of Rick and dropped an idol on the path.

[peachmangosteen]

27 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

He never showed them the actual idol. They still have to consider the possibility that it is just an empty wrapper from his previous idol.

He did show them the idol. He held it up for all to see.

[eel21788]

2 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

He did show them the idol. He held it up for all to see.

I don't remember that. My TV reception was pretty bad last night (and yet I still don't feel as though I missed anything important).

[Jessa]

I find it funny that this board is so anti-Devens here because another online group is all rooting for him.

I’m mostly rooting for him, but I don’t really care who wins. I haaaated the season with Ben, and hated that he won, but I get different vibes from a Devens. I don’t feel super cocky vibes from him. I just think he feels like since he already lost once, he’s got nothing to lose so he’s just having fun. Like he said, he’s playing with house money. The fact that he’s still in the game is impressive. The recent idols have obviously helped, but he’s also won immunities and I can’t believe that he survived the first couple votes after his return. I also love how he and David had a conscious uncoupling and then buddied up again. I have trouble accepting that this is the “oh yeah” kool aid guy from the first episode. I like to believe someone dared him to do that. 

[green]

2 hours ago, Jessa said:

I find it funny that this board is so anti-Devens here because another online group is all rooting for him.

I’m mostly rooting for him, but I don’t really care who wins. I haaaated the season with Ben, and hated that he won, but I get different vibes from a Devens. I don’t feel super cocky vibes from him. I just think he feels like since he already lost once, he’s got nothing to lose so he’s just having fun. Like he said, he’s playing with house money. The fact that he’s still in the game is impressive. The recent idols have obviously helped, but he’s also won immunities and I can’t believe that he survived the first couple votes after his return. I also love how he and David had a conscious uncoupling and then buddied up again. I have trouble accepting that this is the “oh yeah” kool aid guy from the first episode. I like to believe someone dared him to do that. 

This board is definitely NOT anti-Rick.  Look at the posts.  The lion's shares of thumbs up are in pro-Rick posts.  And I am a proud pro-Rick person as well.

[jay741982]

3 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Exactly how does someone who was voted out of the game, then comes back in at the last minute able to outwit anyone?

ETA: Can anyone explain why some of my posts are turning yellow? I'm not a moderator, so I'm confused.

They dont need to outwit them. Jury just votes for them cause they want to

[jay741982]

3 hours ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

I've been saying this for the past few weeks.  I couldn't fathom awarding anyone else the title.  What have any of these others done to Outwit or Outplay??

It looks like it's not so much of an unpopular opinion anymore.

I love this!  I cannot get over how everyone has spent all their energy plotting on Devens and it hasn't occurred to any of them (except Julie, YAWN) that they might be better off aligned with him.  Staggering, stubborn, stupidity to their own detriment.  

LOL yeah Keep RICK Around willingly so he can beat them In the end! They already see Jury is pulling for him but yeah keep him in, be Morons and let him beat them? 

[jay741982]

2 hours ago, Jessa said:

I find it funny that this board is so anti-Devens here because another online group is all rooting for him.

I’m mostly rooting for him, but I don’t really care who wins. I haaaated the season with Ben, and hated that he won, but I get different vibes from a Devens. I don’t feel super cocky vibes from him. I just think he feels like since he already lost once, he’s got nothing to lose so he’s just having fun. Like he said, he’s playing with house money. The fact that he’s still in the game is impressive. The recent idols have obviously helped, but he’s also won immunities and I can’t believe that he survived the first couple votes after his return. I also love how he and David had a conscious uncoupling and then buddied up again. I have trouble accepting that this is the “oh yeah” kool aid guy from the first episode. I like to believe someone dared him to do that. 

Funny since Devins gets all the Breaks that People bitched and screamed about Ben getting. But but no it's different cause they like this arrogant clown but not Ben. 

[jay741982]

3 hours ago, Ike Mana said:

I couldn't agree more.

His bitch ass saying hes the only one playing when hes not? Yeah teehee that's so playful! SMH. Others are playing they arent putting on theatrics and being a clown 

15 minutes ago, Figster said:

Sooo how many idols are they gonna plant to keep Rick in the game?  How many puzzles will keep showing up in the immunity challenges to make sure he wins?  Sheesh, it's quite blatent Rick is supposed to win.

Wouldnt be surprised if he finds one under where he sleeps 

[dstann]

On 5/9/2019 at 11:33 AM, North of Eden said:

Now target #2-These endlessly reburied idols HAVE to go! There's so many of them now they've completely corrupted the essence of this game and on top of all that no amount of convincing will not make me believe that a cameraman isn't giving a nudge, nudge, wink wink at the producers behest because conveniently its ALWAYS the person who seems to need it the most who seems to find one in an endless jungle. No tin foil hat here...if it quacks like a duck...

I am not totally sold that there is some conspiracy that gifts idols to certain players, but I totally agree with you that the way they rehide the idol right after tribal is ruining the game.  To me the HII should be rare so that when it is pulled out it is a substantial event that can change the course of the game, not a crutch that a players pulls it out tribal after tribal to get them self to the end. 

There is a large element of luck in finding a HII, for something so powerful I think maybe there should be some cost or risk associated with it.

[ImpinAintEasy]

I hate hidden immunity idols. I especially hate when they are put back into play once they are used. They may as well call this show ‘Scavenger Hunt’ instead of ‘Survivor’. So it’s no surprise who I am rooting against.

This is my least favorite season. Reem is the winner this season deserves. 

[SVNBob]

On 5/8/2019 at 8:03 PM, Haleth said:

Glad to see the finale is on Wed not Sun. 

Finale hasn't been on Sunday for several seasons now.

On 5/8/2019 at 8:16 PM, dbell1 said:

I hope the Edge is cliffed after this season. How many people are on the jury? 30?

Unless someone else quits?  13.

On 5/8/2019 at 8:46 PM, Lantern7 said:

At least it's almost over. At least Edge of Exinction will more than likely become extinct. And at least the EoE decisions have pre-empted Probst's "And That's One To Grow On" thoughts after Tribal.

But with EoE ending soon after the start of the episode, "Deep Thoughts by Just Peachy" will be coming back.  Just in time for the finale.

20 hours ago, DallasGypsy said:

I keep wondering about Lauren and her idol.  Has she forgotten that she has one?  

Nope...

9 hours ago, blackwing said:

Lauren found an idol herself so she absolutely knows where to look.  He claimed that his idol that he used on himself at the previous tribal was gifted to him from Extinction.  She had a confessional where she says she knew he was lying.  She even half-confronted him about lying about it and he still denied that he found it himself.

And this is why.  She's the only one still in play that knows for sure that there were idols in play back in the tribal phase of the game.

I know why she was being cagey about how she knew Rick was lying, but she actually had a perfect cover story that is 100% true and would not have revealed her idol.  All she had to say to Rick when telling him she knew he was lying was "Kelley found the idol on Lesu."

[phlebas]

I am not sure if Rick's theater with his idol was a good move or not. I don't see what he gained from it.

It seems obvious Aurora was the target all along -- the vote against her was unanimous and there was no sudden discussion when Rick pulled his idol out. Probst is all about side discussions these days, so I'm sure we'd have seen it if they had done it.

So now everyone knows he has an idol. Might not matter, except that gives the others the chance to decide what to do about it. If he had kept it hidden, he could have pulled it out and might have been the one to decide who goes out next.

Rick seems to be pinning his hopes on automatically being allied with whomever comes back (he must be confident Wentworth won't wander back in). But if the jury is impressed with his performance, why would the returning player want to work with him? He needs things to break just right to even get the chance to make fire -- all because he can't stop himself mugging for the jury.

I loathe the seasons where players just idol themselves to the end. Whether it's Mike Holloway (although that was far from the thing I hated most about S30) or Ben Driebergen. Not making yourself a huge target to be eliminated is as much a part of this game as anything else.

But there may be an angle I'm not seeing,. Maybe Rick really is as awesome a player as he thinks he is. 

[JudyObscure]

I don't hate immunity idols.  They give a bit of hope to people who aren't great at challenges or are due to be voted out.  It's boring to watch an alliance with the greatest number at merge pick off the smaller alliance one by one.  It also makes tribal council much more exciting, without the idols there would be a lot of totally predictable tribals.  

Anyone who thinks this season's idols are planted just for Rick, must also believe that a producer wakes him up at four to go hunting for it, while sprinkling poppy dust over the others to keep them asleep.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

7 hours ago, jay741982 said:

LOL yeah Keep RICK Around willingly so he can beat them In the end! They already see Jury is pulling for him but yeah keep him in, be Morons and let him beat them? 

LOL, no I guess I just didn't complete my thought since I'm so over this season.  I understand that no one wants to sit beside him at F3 but I don't understand why they've been so laser-focused on targeting Rick and only Rick and LETTING HIM KNOW.  I tried to quote another post upthread and my editor didn't grab it but someone made a very good point that the others should at least pretend that they're open to him.  Clearly, Rick is playing the hell out of his, "Me Against the World" storyline and if I were playing this game, I would want to diffuse some of his momentum and motivation.  Dude is thriving off of being the target.

[Haleth]

15 hours ago, OldWiseOne said:

I think after the first bootee won their way back in, they should have had a weekly vote off on EoE as well to keep the jury numbers down, until the next bootee wins their way back in and then everyone left could be on the jury. Would be some good strategising on who you want to compete against to win your way back in.

I wonder if the producers were shocked that only 2 people abandoned EoE island.  I wonder if they weren't counting on have so many people still around for the jury.

If Rick had pretended to give up searching for an idol he would have been pegged immediately as having one.  At least I would have assumed so.  He was better off keeping them guessing.

Even though I don't think Lauren, Aurora, Victoria, or especially Julie have done enough to merit winning, it was nice to see so many women still there this late in the game.

[Jessa]

9 hours ago, green said:

This board is definitely NOT anti-Rick.  Look at the posts.  The lion's shares of thumbs up are in pro-Rick posts.  And I am a proud pro-Rick person as well.

Fair. I think that maybe the anti-Rick posts just jumped out at me more because people use such strong language - loathe him, he’s a cocky arrogant ass - that kind of thing. Especially since the other spot is all “I hope he wins, he’s so great.” I was looking at his twitter and he really does seem like a likeable guy. 

9 hours ago, jay741982 said:

Funny since Devins gets all the Breaks that People bitched and screamed about Ben getting. But but no it's different cause they like this arrogant clown but not Ben. 

Yeah, human nature. People really are all about the double standards when it suits them. The older I get, the less I seem to like people. lol

[nutty1]

I don't mind if Rick wins (I am referring to people saying it is not fair, he was voted off once). It is fair, because those are the rules this season.  He has worked his butt off once he returned to the game. I personally see him as more deserving than some past winners.

[Bryce Lynch]

37 minutes ago, Jessa said:

Fair. I think that maybe the anti-Rick posts just jumped out at me more because people use such strong language - loathe him, he’s a cocky arrogant ass - that kind of thing. Especially since the other spot is all “I hope he wins, he’s so great.” I was looking at his twitter and he really does seem like a likeable guy. 

Yeah, human nature. People really are all about the double standards when it suits them. The older I get, the less I seem to like people. lol

I don't see Devens as truly arrogant.  I think he is having fun and playfully trash talking.  

He referred to himself as "the poop" in one of David's analogies and is often self deprecating. It think a lot of his "boasting" is really self deprecating humor, sort of a parody of some real stud who is full of himself.  

[RedbirdNelly]

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 8:15 PM, EllipticalAddicted said:

i don't think the group voted for Aurora because of Devins' obvious bluff. I think they jumped on board with Lauren's suggestion and voted out the more threatening player instead of Julie.

I agree with the above.

My first thought was "y'all are morons; if he's bluffing, you know he's voting for Aurora and so is Julie so you are not at risk. Just execute your plan." Then I remembered that Lauren wanted Aurora out anyway and honestly Aurora is much more of a threat to them than Julie, so voting Aurora made perfect sense. Of course, we'll be told Devins tricked them into switching to this plan. Not really. I think they saw the opportunity and just went with it. It was perfect for Lauren--she could vote for who she wanted and not even get blamed for turning on her alliance if the vote went for Julie after all.

[ProfCrash]

33 minutes ago, nutty1 said:

I don't mind if Rick wins (I am referring to people saying it is not fair, he was voted off once). It is fair, because those are the rules this season.  He has worked his butt off once he returned to the game. I personally see him as more deserving than some past winners.

The rules of this season say that it is allowed so it is allowed. I get that.

And yet, the fact that he was voted out shows that he is not serving to win because he did not play a good enough game to stay in the game. And his play since he has returned has not been good. He won individual immunity and found a few hidden idols, so good individual hustle, but his lack of a social game is very, very obvious.

Rick had an opportunity to work with Manu and he refused to so vehemently that it appeared to be a tantrum. He refused to work with his closest ally and the one person he trusted, David. Rick choose to work with Ron, who was never honest with him and who was working to vote Rick out.

The only person willing to work with Rick is the goatiest goat to goat in a long while. Julie has done even less then Rick. She is only in this game because she was on Kama and had Joe. Julie is in the game now because no one believes she can win individual immunity or the game.

So, yeah for finding idols but his game should not require that he find idols. Just like Joe's game should require that he win every challenge or find idols. Rick should have a decent social game and should have made far better decisions earlier in the game. But Rick didn't.

And that is not the person I like to see win Survivor. I was not a fan of Ben's win or Mike's win. I won't be happy with a Rick win. I tend not to like the one note players like Ozzy or Joe or Rick.

And I don't like the editing because it focuses so much on the characters, and Rick is this seasons character. I want to see more of Victoria and Lauren. I suspect that they are doing far more then we have been shown. God knows they have both have their screw ups but somehow or another Victoria has been on the right side of every vote. That suggests to me that she is more involved with the decision making then we are seeing. It also suggests that she is a pretty calm player who is willing to listen to other peoples arguments and make a more informed decision.

Lauren managed to work her way into Kama and seems to be out of the line of fire. How did she do that? What has she been saying to people that we have not seen?

But they are not running around like fools or making grand gestures at Tribal. They are not drawing all the attention to themselves. So the editors deem them to be boring and think that we don't want to know what they are doing.

I love the Earl's and Yul's. They are my favorite type of players. I loved the smart play we saw last season. I want to see those meetings and discussions.

So Rick is not my type of player. He has not played well but his willingness to look in every nook and cranny to find an idol is paying off. It is boring. It allows him to skip the important part of the game. And with a stupidly large jury that is likely to be more bitter then most due to their EoE experience, it is more likely that his game will be enough to win.

I would love a change in the idol rules, once it is played it is gone. No reburying. One idol per beach and that is it. Make it clear in the note so that players get that they have to do some other work in order to be able to win.

[Bryce Lynch]

2 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

The rules of this season say that it is allowed so it is allowed. I get that.

And yet, the fact that he was voted out shows that he is not serving to win because he did not play a good enough game to stay in the game. And his play since he has returned has not been good. He won individual immunity and found a few hidden idols, so good individual hustle, but his lack of a social game is very, very obvious.

Rick had an opportunity to work with Manu and he refused to so vehemently that it appeared to be a tantrum. He refused to work with his closest ally and the one person he trusted, David. Rick choose to work with Ron, who was never honest with him and who was working to vote Rick out.

The only person willing to work with Rick is the goatiest goat to goat in a long while. Julie has done even less then Rick. She is only in this game because she was on Kama and had Joe. Julie is in the game now because no one believes she can win individual immunity or the game.

So, yeah for finding idols but his game should not require that he find idols. Just like Joe's game should require that he win every challenge or find idols. Rick should have a decent social game and should have made far better decisions earlier in the game. But Rick didn't.

And that is not the person I like to see win Survivor. I was not a fan of Ben's win or Mike's win. I won't be happy with a Rick win. I tend not to like the one note players like Ozzy or Joe or Rick.

And I don't like the editing because it focuses so much on the characters, and Rick is this seasons character. I want to see more of Victoria and Lauren. I suspect that they are doing far more then we have been shown. God knows they have both have their screw ups but somehow or another Victoria has been on the right side of every vote. That suggests to me that she is more involved with the decision making then we are seeing. It also suggests that she is a pretty calm player who is willing to listen to other peoples arguments and make a more informed decision.

Lauren managed to work her way into Kama and seems to be out of the line of fire. How did she do that? What has she been saying to people that we have not seen?

But they are not running around like fools or making grand gestures at Tribal. They are not drawing all the attention to themselves. So the editors deem them to be boring and think that we don't want to know what they are doing.

I love the Earl's and Yul's. They are my favorite type of players. I loved the smart play we saw last season. I want to see those meetings and discussions.

So Rick is not my type of player. He has not played well but his willingness to look in every nook and cranny to find an idol is paying off. It is boring. It allows him to skip the important part of the game. And with a stupidly large jury that is likely to be more bitter then most due to their EoE experience, it is more likely that his game will be enough to win.

I would love a change in the idol rules, once it is played it is gone. No reburying. One idol per beach and that is it. Make it clear in the note so that players get that they have to do some other work in order to be able to win.

If you get to FTC and convince the most jurors to vote for you, you deserve to win.  

I think the advantages have become a bit too much, and they should scale them back slightly.

But, it really doesn't take amazing strategic or social skill to get into an alliance and stick with it while it votes everyone else off, and then survive a vote or 2 or win an IC or two to make it to FTC, either. 

Finding idols is a skill and using them properly even more so.   

[peachmangosteen]

22 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

So Rick is not my type of player.

That's really what is boils down to. Showboating characters that play/win solely by winning ICs and finding idols just don't really entertain me. In fact, I find them boring. I much prefer watching people play the actual game, making smart moves, big or small. It's why I wish TPTB would have shown even just a smidge more of the game play of Lauren, Victoria, and Gavin. They could still show a shit ton of Rick, since they're up his ass, but maybe like hell only 15% less of him acting a fool so we could have seen how Victoria was able to be on the right side of every vote, or how Lauren was able to ingratiate herself into the majority alliance and never even have to think about playing her idol, or how Gavin became close to both Victoria and Lauren, etc. That's the game I wanna watch and have fun watching. Not just seeing one player all the time.

[plurie]

1 hour ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I agree with the above.

My first thought was "y'all are morons; if he's bluffing, you know he's voting for Aurora and so is Julie so you are not at risk. Just execute your plan." Then I remembered that Lauren wanted Aurora out anyway and honestly Aurora is much more of a threat to them than Julie, so voting Aurora made perfect sense. Of course, we'll be told Devins tricked them into switching to this plan. Not really. I think they saw the opportunity and just went with it. It was perfect for Lauren--she could vote for who she wanted and not even get blamed for turning on her alliance if the vote went for Julie after all.

This is  true, but if they really want to get rid of Rick, they should have kept Aurora around as the only person not on EoE island who has a chance to win individual immunity over Rick. They can't get rid of Rick if he keeps winning immunity. Yes, Julie is the goatiest goat who ever goated, but Aurora has ZERO social game so she's not exactly a threat to win, either.

[RedbirdNelly]

5 minutes ago, plurie said:

This is  true, but if they really want to get rid of Rick, they should have kept Aurora around as the only person not on EoE island who has a chance to win individual immunity over Rick. They can't get rid of Rick if he keeps winning immunity. Yes, Julie is the goatiest goat who ever goated, but Aurora has ZERO social game so she's not exactly a threat to win, either.

I don't disagree--I can just understand that they'd have concerns about Aurora being harder to beat at immunities so Julie is less of a threat. But, you're right Aurora has a better shot at beating Rick.

[violet and green]

Do people honestly believe that there is all this fascinating footage of the listless ones on the cutting room floor, unable to be squeezed in to any episode of the last however many weeks - all the while dull footage of same lifeless, disaffected ones has aired - and it's all Devens' fault!

Deven's fault for 'hogging the camera' and 'sucking up the air time' by actually doing something, or saying something original! Bizarre.

[Ellee]

Good point, @violet and green 

[peachmangosteen]

They leave all kinds of interesting footage out of the show every season. 

TPTB show who they think will make good TV. I don't always (or ever lol) agree with them. But considering many people do indeed love Rick this season (and loved Dom/Ben/Mike/Russell/etc.), they're not wrong with who they pick. They just don't service me personally most of the time lol.

[BarneySays]

9 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

And yet, the fact that he was voted out shows that he is not serving to win because he did not play a good enough game to stay in the game. And

I don’t think this is true.  There is an enormous amount of luck in this game, which means a great player can find herself on the wrong end of fortune.  Also, great players are typically targeted precisely because they are great players.  The logical corollary of your argument is that all winners are great players.  I doubt many would subscribe to that view.

[dstann]

9 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

And I don't like the editing because it focuses so much on the characters, and Rick is this seasons character. I want to see more of Victoria and Lauren. I suspect that they are doing far more then we have been shown. God knows they have both have their screw ups but somehow or another Victoria has been on the right side of every vote. That suggests to me that she is more involved with the decision making then we are seeing.

At the immunity challenge when Victoria said to Jeff, "I'm playing too Jeff", I thought to myself, that is a perfect description of the edit you are getting.

Because she has been on the right side of every vote means she is involved in the decision making is one interpretation of what might be happening.  Others could be:

- she has little influence over the vote but is very perceptive and votes with the majority to try and not be on the outs

- she just votes for whoever the majority tells her to.

Victoria and Lauren could be doing far more than we are seeing, or they could be doing very little which would explain why they have never been on the chopping block because they are not seen as threats.

[LanceM]

12 minutes ago, dstann said:

At the immunity challenge when Victoria said to Jeff, "I'm playing too Jeff", I thought to myself, that is a perfect description of the edit you are getting.

Because she has been on the right side of every vote means she is involved in the decision making is one interpretation of what might be happening.  Others could be:

- she has little influence over the vote but is very perceptive and votes with the majority to try and not be on the outs

- she just votes for whoever the majority tells her to.

Victoria and Lauren could be doing far more than we are seeing, or they could be doing very little which would explain why they have never been on the chopping block because they are not seen as threats.

But we have actually seen her lead the charge on several votes most notably Aubry and Ron. It should be noted that during the Julia boot she led the charge that would have voted out Kelley until Julia herself blew up her own game at tribal council. Has she been influential every single note.  No of course not.  Not may players ever are. 

Last episode we saw Lauren lead the charge to target Aurora.

Yes they are not seen as threats because they have manged their threat level fantastically all season something that Rick failed miserably at.

Edited May 10, 2019 by LanceM

[MissEwa]

I don't know if it's EoE or Survivor fatigue - or both - but I'm very much on team 'this season is terrible'. I was actually shocked at the end of this episode to realise we were at the finale and there were only five players left (in the core game, anyway). It feels like it's been going forever but at the same time it feels like nothing has happened because they're all still there. 

I don't hate Rick. I'm dubious about this edit of 'nobody but Rick is looking for idols' too - it's the same old narrative we always get but I thought it was pretty much confirmed by former players that everyone looks for idols all the time but they only show it if a) something interesting happens or b) they find an idol.

Honestly it's not his fault he's getting all the screentime. He's doing all that ACTING at TC which drives me mad but I get he thinks is necessary for jury management, but the rest of it probably comes down to the fact that he knows how to give nice newsreadery soundbites, he's good at finding idols, and the editors think he's got a good story. Whoever wins, IMO the suckiness of this season is on the editors - if it's Rick, it's been excruciatingly obvious for weeks and there's no suspense, and if it's anyone else, they've completely failed to give that person a coherent edit. 

I think the only two winners I could really stand would be Victoria or Lauren, and Lauren is borderline. If Rick hadn't been voted out already I'd probably be fine with him winning, but he has, so. 

[SVNBob]

7 hours ago, violet and green said:

Do people honestly believe that there is all this fascinating footage of the listless ones on the cutting room floor,

Reportedly, there is a lot of footage of Victoria on the cutting room floor because she spent a lot of time singing.  For them to air that footage, CBS would have to pony up for the rights to the songs.  So it got cut as a money-saving measure.

This is the same thing that supposedly happened with Woo in Cagayan.

[green]

3 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Reportedly, there is a lot of footage of Victoria on the cutting room floor because she spent a lot of time singing.  For them to air that footage, CBS would have to pony up for the rights to the songs.  So it got cut as a money-saving measure.

This is the same thing that supposedly happened with Woo in Cagayan.

Then it is her fault since she should know better than singing anything other than old traditional folk songs that aren't copyrighted.

I don't watch the live feeds of BB but I read comments by people who do and their bane is some idiot starting to sing some pop song and boom, cut away from the live feeds to something like a tank of fishes for minutes on end.   Sounds like Victoria would fit right in with the typical BB house guest in driving live feeders bananas.

[Ms Blue Jay]

9 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Reportedly, there is a lot of footage of Victoria on the cutting room floor because she spent a lot of time singing.  For them to air that footage, CBS would have to pony up for the rights to the songs.  So it got cut as a money-saving measure.

This is the same thing that supposedly happened with Woo in Cagayan.

I always wondered about that.  You never see the contestants having fun singing or dancing (well, let's not say never) and I definitely wondered about this exact thing.

[LanceM]

12 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Reportedly, there is a lot of footage of Victoria on the cutting room floor because she spent a lot of time singing.  For them to air that footage, CBS would have to pony up for the rights to the songs.  So it got cut as a money-saving measure.

This is the same thing that supposedly happened with Woo in Cagayan.

She posted a video online of a song she would sing occasionally on the island and people for some reason morphed this into she was singing all the time and therefore the editors couldn't show anything. Its nonsense really.