S38.E15: Survivor: Edge of Extinction Reunion

[Whimsy]

 

Quote

The castaways reunite to talk about their experiences.

Original airdate 5/15/2019

 

[Rachel RSL]

Ok, screw Sia! We’ve been joking about people trying to win the “Sia Money” all season but now the Sia Award is an actual official show-sanctioned thing? Which means we’ll get season after season of people competing for that instead of trying to win the game? Fucking Sia.

I think Boston Rob is highly entertaining and Queen Sandra is my favourite Survivor player ever but I already think next season’s theme is stupid. On the bright side, it couldn’t possibly be worse than the shit show that was this season.

[SHD]

Stage make-up aged Wentworth, Vic, and Lauren by about 10 years each (though they all looked lovely). 

Only Reem looked younger off the island.

[ByaNose]

A half hour reunion. Pretty much the standard now. Chris had a short interview with no retrospective. He’s a winner with an * next to his name. 

[North of Eden]

Wow...what a cluster#@K of an ending to a miserable season. It's almost appropriate. Chris's win must forever carry an asterisk, won't it...I mean he was there but he only really played 12 days. This casts a pall over the entire season.

Has there ever been a more underwhelming final three....ever?

The Good News: Devens didn't win.

The Bad News: Devens didn't win, so that means Probst and the producers will not let go of him...they will keep bringing him back time and time again until he wins. It makes you want to shudder.

Loved seeing Deven ready to break out bawling when he lost the fire challenge...it almost made up for the misery that was The Devens Show. And of course, Probst had to give him a segment during the show before the live studio audience where he was basically "fluffing" him.

Not sure which was worse...that or the bizarre segment where he brought Joe out (sporting the worse facial hair of all time) and acted like he was hopped up on drugs with his whole Sampson and Delilah shtick about cutting Joe's hair. Even Joe seemed weirded out by it.

First post-Exile Tribal War dog showed up with facial hair that made him look like a villain from a pirate's movie. Someone must have tipped him off how bad that looked because it was gone by the next.

The number of idols (real and fake) has reached a tipping point. Someone at CBS needs to take a step back and realize how much they are damaging this game. Make the next twist...no idols...none!  You might actually have to avoid getting voted out on your OWN MERITS! Imagine that.

So glad this is over.

P.S. If trotting Boston Rob and Sandra out as coaches doesn't go down as when SURVIVOR jumped the shark I don't know what else will.

Edited May 16, 2019 by North of Eden

[SnideAsides]

10 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

Ok, screw Sia! We’ve been joking about people trying to win the “Sia Money” all season but now the Sia Award is an actual official show-sanctioned thing? Which means we’ll get season after season of people competing for that instead of trying to win the game? Fucking Sia.

I think Boston Rob is highly entertaining and Queen Sandra is my favourite Survivor player ever but I already think next season’s theme is stupid. On the bright side, it couldn’t possibly be worse than the shit show that was this season.

There's been a couple of interviews over the years where they've basically said the key rule of challenge design is to avoid cartoonish shit like the Giant Zombie Head one of the early Exile Island challenges featured.

OH LOOK AN EXILE ISLAND WITH *TWO* GIANT ZOMBIE HEADS.

[Lantern7]

Least amount of time spent talking to people. Sia giving another $100K, which partially defeats the point of playing in the first place. And the next season's theme might be slightly less of a clusterfuck compared to EoE.

Rob and Sandra as mentors? Nice idea . . . but I still consider Rob to be the end-all be-all most overrated player in the series' history. Sandra? Always awesome. And they're going to be living together! It's the sitcom we never knew we wanted!! I hope Mr. Twine and Amber signed off on that.

3 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

Chris had a short interview with no retrospective. He’s a winner with an * next to his name. 

Fewer asterisks compared to Jud.

ETA: I still like Cochran. I can take his personality. I'm just waiting for the inevitable death match with Christian.

Edited May 16, 2019 by Lantern7

[ByaNose]

2 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

There's been a couple of interviews over the years where they've basically said the key rule of challenge design is to avoid cartoonish shit like the Giant Zombie Head one of the early Exile Island challenges featured.

OH LOOK AN EXILE ISLAND WITH *TWO* GIANT ZOMBIE HEADS.

I just hope (and, pray) the zombie heads are just for the preview. Please tell me they aren’t going to be there all season?!?

[EllenB]

10 minutes ago, SHD said:

Only Reem looked younger off the island.

That's because she spent her EOE time sucking the blood of the other players.  But she did look great, kind of a Glenn Close vibe.

Edited May 16, 2019 by EllenB
Goddamn illiterate autocorrect.

[ProfCrash]

4 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

I just hope (and, pray) the zombie heads are just for the preview. Please tell me they aren’t going to be there all season?!?

There were clips of them at night and the day. I think they are going to be there. I hope to god that there are Sandra and Rob confessionals mocking those idiotic things. 

[GenerationX]

Badass Reunion Aurora looked like Ronda Rousey.

[TVFan1]

The reunion was about a half hour. Of course, Rick gets $100,000 from Sia. This reunion seemed so uneventful. It's been that way for a long time now.

[EllipticalAddicted]

That was such an odd transition from Probst talking to Gavin to talking about Sia and her cash award.   I thought it was going to Gavin then all of a sudden the focus went to Devens.  

Poor Gavin, he looked so bummed.

[violet and green]

On the plus side, that was short and sweet. I may have missed it if it happened - but no creepy cute kid predicting the winner, hooray.

I was in mourning, throughout. But thank the lord for Sia, right? Devens should get his own syndicated game show or something, after this.

That sucked.

Next season looks like it's gonna totally suck also! 

[hoosiermom]

Thanks to all the posts I saved 3 hours of time tonight by not watching.

[UGAmp]

I picked Chris to win it all in my fantasy league so I’m thrilled. Sure, this season wasn’t the best but Chris didn’t make up the rules. He didn’t decide that everyone voted off would get a second chance. I think that twist was a misstep by producers because maybe they thought more people would quit or not take on the second chance. He did big moves in the time that he had in the game. If he would have lost the fire making challenge, everyone would say he was the dumbest Survivor contestant ever giving up a guaranteed spot in the final three. So I give him props. He played with the cards he had. He provided for folks on EoE and built relationships. He convinced Lauren to give up her idol when it was not necessary. He performed well in challenges and won immunity (which he then gave away and then went on to win the fire making challenge). And he won the whole game with more than a majority of the votes. Good. For. Him. 

I’m sick of Wentworth. She can take a thousands seats. Scolding Chris for asking a question and saying she’s offended. Gavin went on to ask questions of Chris and she said nothing. She’s not that great of a player overall. She just had a good run in the second chance season and was playing from the bottom so the audience rooted for the underdog. She has a meanstreak and is not a positive role model. 

I’m interested to hear why Devens voted for Gavin to win it all beyond the “he never had a single vote against him” logic. If Devens has won the final immunity, he would have never taken Chris to the end. So that seemed like sour grapes in my opinion. I didn’t hate Devens. He kept the game interesting with idol play. and he’ll surely be back in a future season. 

I like Boston Rob but I don’t think this theme is going to do well. My expectations are low for next season. But I’ll be there! 

Edited May 16, 2019 by UGAmp

[Wandering Snark]

45 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

now the Sia Award is an actual official show-sanctioned thing?

Seriously, Survivor?? Seriously?? That was just another pile of manure in the corner stinking up the place.

Kelly looked like she'd recently been reanimated...

So this is the battle of the egos for next season?? What if the actual contestants don't want to bow down to the great Survivor oracles?? Let people play their game and let us watch. Reaching for the next great theme season has really made a farce of this show.

Hopefully the battle of the two giant heads won't cripple the game like EoE crippled this season.

[vb68]

So Rob and Sandra are basically going to be like the coaches on The Voice? They are just there to get their egos stroked and have no stake in the outcome?

Gesh. Not too surprised with Rob. Disappointed a little by Sandra.

[EllipticalAddicted]

Here I am, hours later, still thinking “what the hell just happened here????”.    

[green]

When the final votes were being read there was like 10 people quietly applauding Gavin's name and 20 people quietly applauding Chis.  That sums up the season in a nutshell.

Meanwhile Rick gets a rousing standing O as the only entertaining person this season other than early David.  Good for Rick.  He deserved it.  Can't wait until he comes back to play again and maybe in a situation where he isn't always the target and on the bottom. Guy deserves it.

Of the final three the best player won and absolutely NO asterisk by his name.  He won fair and square just like TAR teams do that finish last in a non-elim leg.  But Rick deserved the win the most in my pov.

[Richness]

The Reunion was... the Reunion, though it really wasn't that bad at all. Granted, I fast forwarded though most of it, so it might have been worse if I had actually watched every second. I didn't watch any of the interviews  during the finale itself, nor did I watch any of the "what I learned about myself" interview.

The worst part was mentioning the Sia money. At least it didn't go to Wendy or whoever that girl was that released the chickens. (She has a great smile, but I just couldn't deal with listening to her segment either.) I thought for sure she would receive it since that's what everyone was talking about back in the episode when she released them. Glad it went to Devins.

Speaking of former players, the one mention of Cockroach Cockran wasn't that painful. At least it was mentioned in the same sentence with a current player, David, for both of them writing for Star Trek. And that was the only mention of other CBS shows and previous players that I heard Jeff make. Given how bad that's been on previous reunion shows, this was a major victory in my book.

Unfortunately, I already hate the next season. Though I had to laugh at the name given all the idols (both real and fake) that showed up in this season's finale. Island of Idols indeed. *barf* I just can't stand Boston Rob, and never want to hear from him again. I suppose I should just be thankful they won't actually be competing, though I suspect there will be some twist that says they will. Like maybe if someone on their team wins, they win as well. Also, those two giant Moai heads are gonna give me nightmares. Please let someone burn them to the ground in the first episode.

[SnideAsides]

For those wondering, without commercials the reunion clocked in at 14 minutes and 35 seconds. And ~20% of that was taken up by the preview for Survivor: Giant Zombie Head Island.

[30 Helens]

So I guess the abbreviated 30-min reunion show means that the producers already recognize that there was very little to celebrate about this season? I hope so.

This year was so boring that they actually thought a full segment devoted to Joe’s hair was a good idea. That was painfully awkward. 

One thing I always like about the reunion episodes is the chance to see what the contestants look like in “real” life. And yet, it’s always surprising to see how much better most of them look on the island! Especially the women. How is it that a shower and makeup manage to age some of them so much?

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

The number of idols (real and fake) has reached a tipping point. Someone at CBS needs to take a step back and realize how much they are damaging this game. Make the next twist...no idols...none!  You might actually have to avoid getting voted out on your OWN MERITS! Imagine that.

Ha! I just made this very same suggestion/plea on the episode thread. I hope somebody from the show reads these boards.

1 hour ago, vb68 said:

So Rob and Sandra are basically going to be like the coaches on The Voice? 

Good analogy. And in true Voice fashion, the black people will be voted out first and a hillbilly will win.

But seriously, what were those Sphinx-like statues? Were they real or computer generated? Because as much as I like both Rob and Sandra, that looked like a joke and I am fearful for next season.

I appreciate the show trying to switch things up and keep the format fresh, but at this point, I think the freshest idea might be getting back to basics and forgoing the gimmicks.

[SnideAsides]

Better shot of the logo for next season. I like the colour scheme, I guess? It's certainly one of the less hideous logos we've had recently.

[millennium]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Wow...what a cluster#@K of an ending to a miserable season. It's almost appropriate. Chris's win must forever carry an asterisk, won't it...I mean he was there but he only really played 12 days. This casts a pall over the entire season.

Has there ever been a more underwhelming final three....ever?

The Good News: Devens didn't win.

The Bad News: Devens didn't win, so that means Probst and the producers will not let go of him...they will keep bringing him back time and time again until he wins. It makes you want to shudder.

Loved seeing Deven ready to break out bawling when he lost the fire challenge...it almost made up for the misery that was The Devens Show. And of course, Probst had to give him a segment during the show before the live studio audience where he was basically "fluffing" him.

Not sure which was worse...that or the bizarre segment where he brought Joe out (sporting the worse facial hair of all time) and acted like he was hopped up on drugs with his whole Sampson and Delilah shtick about cutting Joe's hair. Even Joe seemed weirded out by it.

First post-Exile Tribal War dog showed up with facial hair that made him look like a villain from a pirate's movie. Someone must have tipped him off how bad that looked because it was gone by the next.

The number of idols (real and fake) has reached a tipping point. Someone at CBS needs to take a step back and realize how much they are damaging this game. Make the next twist...no idols...none!  You might actually have to avoid getting voted out on your OWN MERITS! Imagine that.

So glad this is over.

P.S. If trotting Boston Rob and Sandra out as coaches doesn't go down as when SURVIVOR jumped the shark I don't know what else will.

I agree with every single word.   Get outta my head!

[millennium]

2 hours ago, TVFan1 said:

The reunion was about a half hour. Of course, Rick gets $100,000 from Sia. This reunion seemed so uneventful. It's been that way for a long time now.

I didn't watch the reunion.  I never do.   So two losers who got voted off early on win $1,000,000 and $100,000 respectively, while folks like Gavin (whose name was never written down once in the course of regular tribal councils), Julie, Lauren and Victoria, who survived challenges and avoided blindsides almost every day, get squat.

Yeah, I think I'm done.

Edited May 16, 2019 by millennium

[Steph Sometimes]

I just saw the preview for next season.

THE HELL?

[Tdoc72]

2 hours ago, EllipticalAddicted said:

That was such an odd transition from Probst talking to Gavin to talking about Sia and her cash award.   I thought it was going to Gavin then all of a sudden the focus went to Devens.  

Poor Gavin, he looked so bummed.

Me too. Weird segue. 

2 hours ago, UGAmp said:

I picked Chris to win it all in my fantasy league so I’m thrilled. Sure, this season wasn’t the best but Chris didn’t make up the rules. He didn’t decide that everyone voted off would get a second chance. I think that twist was a misstep by producers because maybe they thought more people would quit or not take on the second chance. He did big moves in the time that he had in the game. If he would have lost the fire making challenge, everyone would say he was the dumbest Survivor contestant ever giving up a guaranteed spot in the final three. So I give him props. He played with the cards he had. He provided for folks on EoE and built relationships. He convinced Lauren to give up her idol when it was not necessary. He performed well in challenges and won immunity (which he then gave away and then went on to win the fire making challenge). And he won the whole game with more than a majority of the votes. Good. For. Him. 

I’m interested to hear why Devens voted for Gavin to win it all beyond the “he never had a single vote against him” logic. If Devens has won the final immunity, he would have never taken Chris to the end. So that seemed like sour grapes in my opinion. I didn’t hate Devens. He kept the game interesting with idol play. and he’ll surely be back in a future season. 

No asterisk for Chris from me either. He played by the rules and the jury legit voted for him. But I too would like to know why Devens voted for Gavin. 

[theschnauzers]

After the live show ended tonight, Sia offered Joe $15000 if he would allow his long hair to be cut and donated to a children cancer charity. Joe accepted provided the $15000 also went to that charity. Survivor got an IG live fed going, and one of the hair stylists to perform the honors, and he got a really great looking hair styling out of it. The whole thing runs a half hour. Joe and Sienna has a conversation going the whole time after Sia left with the hair.
Believe it or not, that happened. And you couldn’t love Joe any more than you already do for doing it.

Edited May 16, 2019 by theschnauzers
Typo

[LadyChatts]

27 minutes ago, theschnauzers said:

After the live show ended tonight, Sia offered Joe $15000 if he would allow his long hair to be cut and donated to a children cancer charity. Joe accepted provided the $15000 also went to that charity. Survivor got an IG live fed going, and one of the hair stylists to perform the honors, and he got a really great looking hair styling out of it. The whole thing runs a half hour. Joe and Sienna has a conversation going the whole time after Asia left with the hair.
Believe it or not, that happened. And you couldn’t love Joe any more than you already do for doing it.

Joe has been talking about donating his hair for a long time, so I’m surprised it took this long for him to chop it off.

I will say he looks more like a cowboy now without the long hair, since that seems to be his life now.  

[MsTree]

1 hour ago, theschnauzers said:

After the live show ended tonight, Sia offered Joe $15000 if he would allow his long hair to be cut and donated to a children cancer charity. Joe accepted provided the $15000 also went to that charity. Survivor got an IG live fed going, and one of the hair stylists to perform the honors, and he got a really great looking hair styling out of it. The whole thing runs a half hour. Joe and Sienna has a conversation going the whole time after Asia left with the hair.
Believe it or not, that happened. And you couldn’t love Joe any more than you already do for doing it.

Is there a link to the hair cutting?

[llongori]

At the end of the reunion, Jeff said something about Aurora, and I had a legitimate "Who?" moment.  LOL  So many comments were made about her invisibility over the course of the season and I thought people were being over dramatic about it.  I guess not...

[EllenB]

31 minutes ago, MsTree said:

Is there a link to the hair cutting?

I found two articles by googling.  Looks like Joe did NOT donate the money, but just said something about vague about "Pay it forward."

Aurora also got Sia money.  They need Oprah to narrate the reunion shows: "YOU get a wad of dough, YOU get a wad of dough, YOU get a wad of dough."

[mertensia]

The reunion show reminded me of a school talent show where the first graders refused to sing and the music teacher was desperately trying to fill the time. I can't explain why, but it did.

Boston Rob again. Why? 

[Tdoc72]

1 hour ago, MsTree said:

Is there a link to the hair cutting?

From Twitter:

[green]

That is a horrid look for Joe.  He went from pirate to sleazy looking lounge lizard.

[KimberStormer]

6 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Fewer asterisks compared to Jud.

Jud as in Fabio?  Why on earth should he have an asterisk?  He won fair and square, indeed he ran rings around the two morons he was at the end with.

[violet and green]

43 minutes ago, green said:

That is a horrid look for Joe.  He went from pirate to sleazy looking lounge lizard.

And aged twenty-five years.

[phlebas]

6 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I just hope (and, pray) the zombie heads are just for the preview. Please tell me they aren’t going to be there all season?!?

Not only do I want them there all season, I want Rob and Sandra to be standing inside them with amplified, echoey voices when they drop their wisdom bombs.  Sort of Wizard of Oz-like.

[phlebas]

I didn't appreciate how uninterested I was in seeing Rob again until I saw Rob again.

I guess 2 million dollars doesn't spread all that far across 422 children.

[JudyObscure]

7 hours ago, UGAmp said:

I’m sick of Wentworth. She can take a thousands seats. Scolding Chris for asking a question and saying she’s offended. Gavin went on to ask questions of Chris and she said nothing. She’s not that great of a player overall. She just had a good run in the second chance season and was playing from the bottom so the audience rooted for the underdog. She has a meanstreak and is not a positive role model. 

What exactly happened there?  It went buy too fast for me.  I didn't understand what offended Wentworth and I didn't understand what Chris was saying about some sales trick he used to talk Lauren into giving him his idol.

[ProfCrash]

21 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

What exactly happened there?  It went buy too fast for me.  I didn't understand what offended Wentworth and I didn't understand what Chris was saying about some sales trick he used to talk Lauren into giving him his idol.

Kelly was annoyed that Chris asked a question and Kelly got pissy. That wasn't a surprise because Kelly is always pissy.

The sales explanation is when I knew that Chris was going to win. He had enough time on EoE to think about the various sales tactics he knows and was able to 1) use one of them 2) make it clear that the move with Lauren was his because he was able to explain exactly what he did. Complete with a name out of a text book. That was freaking brilliant.

And the product of hanging out on an island not having to do anything other then fish, nap, and mend old wounds. You have plenty of time to think about how you would talk to the jury in the finale and how you will sell what you did.

[EllipticalAddicted]

Did anyone else notice during the final vote, the camera would be focused straight  at each player as they wrote down a name.......except for Lauren.  Suddenly, there was a camera above her staring straight down her off shoulder dress.   Those who said there were too many suspect camera angles on Lauren were right.

[ProfCrash]

Ponderosa videos are up. I am including my YouTube search on all of them. Not bothering with the Ponderosa topic because, well, there is nothing to discuss that is going to influence the game so I don't think a separate topic is needed. Obviously, my post can be moved if deemed necessary.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ponderosa+survivor+edge+of+extinction

LOL it is amazing how 10 people arriving at once changes the Ponderosa feel. Reem is actually smiling and laughing and hugging people.

I would recommend that you watch the two group ones before the individual ones. There is one from when they lost and then the weigh in. It is fun to watch.

I missed Ponderosa.

Edited May 16, 2019 by ProfCrash

[seacliffsal]

It looks like I'm really in the minority (and it seems to be a minority of 1), but I am so excited about the next season.  I LOVE Rob and Sandra.  During his first season I really did not like Rob but when he came back and interviewed about how he adjusted his game play that season to reflect the majority of his tribe/create an alliance, I got it.  I think he was an amazing player who adapted his game each time he played (yea, he had a miserable show in Heroes and Villains, but so did J.T. and others who had not been given the opportunity to see Hantz play before filming that season).  And, I love Sandra who is also always adjusting her gameplay (to the theme of 'anyone else but me').  What is super interesting to me is that they both have stated that they don't like idols as they are newer elements of the game.  So, I'm really hoping that the only idols in the next season are Rob and Sandra.

And, as mentioned by someone above, it really is the sitcom that I never knew I wanted...

[ProfCrash]

LOL Watching the weight loss video. They are all talking about how much they lost and how they want to keep it off. This is juxtaposed with video of them eating an oreo with peanut butter topped with a chocolate chip cookie sandwich. Then Reem's "I lost 20 pounds and I am going to keep it off. Let's eat."

[Ms Blue Jay]

Why did Sia give Devens $100,000 when she only gave Davie $14,000?  What the fuck is going on here?   I want her to answer to this.  

Chris is so beautiful.

Victoria looked really beautiful off-island.  I'm surprised I'm saying this, because I think red hair and freckles are beautiful, but she looked more adult on the jury and I thought she looked so stunning.

2 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

What exactly happened there?  It went buy too fast for me.  I didn't understand what offended Wentworth and I didn't understand what Chris was saying about some sales trick he used to talk Lauren into giving him his idol.

Chris asked Gavin a question, even though he's on "Trial", not the jury.  Kelley said "Could you let US ask the questions, I'm offended" and Lauren chimed in "Yeah that was really rude".  😂  Uhhhhh.  This isn't actual court and Jeff isn't an actual Supreme Court Judge.

Now your question about the sales trick, I have that too.  It went too fast I agree.  Something about reverse something something.  Negative reverse?  LOL

Edited May 16, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

46 minutes ago, EllipticalAddicted said:

Did anyone else notice during the final vote, the camera would be focused straight  at each player as they wrote down a name.......except for Lauren.  Suddenly, there was a camera above her staring straight down her off shoulder dress.   Those who said there were too many suspect camera angles on Lauren were right.

Someone else mentioned this too, you're not the only one who noticed.  This year was creepy in general.  Way too many people in their underwear at all times.

[blackwing]

I truly hope that this is the last we ever have to see of Joey Amazing.

I truly hope that this is the last we ever have to see of Kelly Wentworth.

Unfortunately, I am sure they will be back AGAIN for their fourth failed attempts.  Joe wants to do it for his fans and Kelly seems to think she has become some sort of feminist icon.  Barf.  They are both horrible players.  Joe is good in challenges but has learned absolutely nothing about how to play a social game in all of the times he has played.  Kelly has now had two dud seasons where she was pretty much a non-entity.  Her only decent season was in Second Chances and that was only because she found two idols and played one memorably.  I can't believe she thinks she is anything worthy of being admired by teenage girls.  

Next season looks awful.  Those creepy giant rock heads of Sandra and Rob?  Nightmare inducing.  And to call it "Island of Idols" after this season with Idols galore?  Ugh.  I am hoping that the "Idols" refer to the two huge heads and that there are in fact zero hidden immunity idols.  Everyone will spend hours looking for something that doesn't exist.

[ChicksDigScars]

9 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

For those wondering, without commercials the reunion clocked in at 14 minutes and 35 seconds. And ~20% of that was taken up by the preview for Survivor: Giant Zombie Head Island.

I believe we have a thread title? "Survivor 39: Zombie Head Island, Spoilers and Speculation."

I saw Rob and Sandra and just about threw the remote at the television. Them? AGAIN? And yes, I think too much credit is given to Boston Rob, especially. His winning season was basically a bunch of sheep doing exactly what he told them to do. No game play. No REAL attempts to blind side the alpha. So, he's the greatest ever because they cast a bunch of submissive yes-persons to follow him blindly?  And you can't tell me that wasn't intentional.