Survivor S39: Island of the Idols

Yup, I feel like half of the people competing this season are, to this point, being Roark-ed. Remember her from a few years ago? We got NO (literally none) screen time and then all of a sudden she’s throwing a hissy fit at the tribal council that sent her out of the game.

I want Noura to get further in the game because she’s super entertaining. But I want to see the fallout from her saying she HAD to be in the caller position in order to reveal the game. I’m sure they will all assume she just didn’t get the immunity idol and move on, and she may be one of those outcasts that gets lucky with a swap anyways.

Since so many of the women this time around are strong-headed and want to be in charge, I’m guessing we will see them all turn on each other sometime very soon and pave the way for someone like Aaron to make it all the way to the end.
 
This is actually the most interesting cast we have had in awhile. I am surprised and impressed. I totally thought this was a throwaway season with All Winners coming up.
 
So who currently has an Idol besides Kellee? I didn't even remember Chelsea had an Idol. I don't even remember how she found it. Was it a fluke, or was she searching hard?
 
excessmotion said:
How many idols were put on each island this year?
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To be determined. So 2 still active. And in theory each week at the Idols Island - another one could be added.
And will Chelsea's be rehidden?

amusing that in 4 boots - 2 people had idols in their pockets.
Erik will be happy as it is becoming a common occurance. Poor guy that they show his clip again. hee hee
(But I can't laugh about James and his 2 idols getting voted out - as he a beautiful man)

And yes - great cast - lots of people playing.
 
smurfy said:
To be determined. So 2 still active. And in theory each week at the Idols Island - another one could be added.
And will Chelsea's be rehidden?

amusing that in 4 boots - 2 people had idols in their pockets.
Erik will be happy as it is becoming a common occurance. Poor guy that they show his clip again. hee hee
(But I can't laugh about James and his 2 idols getting voted out - as he a beautiful man)

And yes - great cast - lots of people playing.
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Thanks so much. The season theme has been a bit embarassing so far with people misplaying their idols.
 
Noura's a riot and a nutjob, but I did think it a bit mean to knock her out at the challenge like that, when thanks to her they all got a day to practice, which seemed to benefit them during the first part of the challenge.

Last week I wondered why everyone seemed to be shunning Karishma, but I'm starting to get it now - the poor me act is wearing really thin.

I like this cast, mostly because it feels like they are real people who want to play.
 
Boston Rob’s comment about that tribe never winning another challenge due to that blindside may be very true.
 
Noura comes away unscathed from her blunder, as there was no need to read all of the votes.

No Island of the Idols this time and they still found plenty to fill out the broadcast.

Karishma, if she is pulled to the merge, will probably be there until the final three (a la Victoria from BB a few years ago) because she's just going to do what everyone else wants to advance their own games. No one is going to care about her weaknesses once it becomes an individual game.

People are there to play the game this year, but I still think the main focus is on very few of them while we don't know much about many others. Aaron continues to get a lot of screen time and I don't know if that means his story arc ends soon or if he's going all the way.
 
Nothing game related - just that water was so pretty - all turquoisy.

And do they still have riblets at Applebee's? That's what I used to get. I haven't been there in decades.
 
Lot going on in this episode.

Dean - so odd in the beginning of the episode - trying to learn what happened - but being an ass to people that almost voted him out Maybe be a little nicer.
Missy has to watch it - hope she doesn't get cockier - as I do like her.

Karishna - is so annoying and sharing about her parents shaming her until she accepted an arranged marriage and they are basically roommates. Doesn't she have kids? Way too much to share in this situation (this is not the bachelor).
And Applebees is her fav - you need to get out girl. (Reminded me of the bachelor years ago - one of the girls said she loved Italian food and Olive Garden was her favorite). People need to expand their horizons.
If Karishna makes the merge - she will dragged to the end. Ugghh.

New tribe that won immunity - lots of good folks there - wish Kellee was with them. And Kellee's II is only good for a limited time - if I remember right.
Noura - did well in the challenge - dragging Karishna - but back to strange in the TC.
Not liking: Karishna, Dean, Jamal
 
I had the sense that all of them gushing over Applebee's was about getting camera time. I think it was Parvati on one of the all-star seasons when they had some fancy new phone (to watch family videos?) and she gushed "look at all the apps!!" Or maybe they just coach them in advance - get excited about our promotional partners, be sure to say at least one thing that demonstrates how much you love the brand on camera, etc.

As for Karishma I thought the same thing - she's going to have a lot of explaining to do with her family if they're watching this. I mean I want to like her, but she just comes across as so poor-me, and I'm guessing that she's even more so outside of the edited clips because nobody seems to sympathetic about it all (including them all ignoring her when she cut her hand). She also made a big speech an ep or two ago about how they should keep her because she can do so much in challenges that they haven't even seen yet. Really?

I don't mind Dean, seems like a smart player, and I did like that rather than trying to find out who got rid of his showmance, he was all business wanting to know who had the power to turn everyone around like that.
 
Jenny said:
I had the sense that all of them gushing over Applebee's was about getting camera time. I think it was Parvati on one of the all-star seasons when they had some fancy new phone (to watch family videos?) and she gushed "look at all the apps!!" Or maybe they just coach them in advance - get excited about our promotional partners, be sure to say at least one thing that demonstrates how much you love the brand on camera, etc.
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I thought it had to be that, too. I mean, she's odd and all but she is a lawyer and you'd think she experienced life past Applebees. But they probably needed that one sound byte and she did the work for them ;)

ETA- if there is any coaching/retakes with the interviews, the team does an infinitely better job than the Big Brother staff does. Whenever BB does one of the challenges where the houseguests win a private viewing of an upcoming movie or TV show, you can tell they were forced to say the most ridiculous things. In that same diary room tone that we hear all season, year after year.

She also made a big speech an ep or two ago about how they should keep her because she can do so much in challenges that they haven't even seen yet. Really?
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Reminds me of the young guy last season (one of the two that didn't stick around till the end) who whined about being voted out as a strong player after he had just completely tanked the immunity challenge.
 
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Susan1 said:
Nothing game related - just that water was so pretty - all turquoisy.

And do they still have riblets at Applebee's? That's what I used to get. I haven't been there in decades.
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AFAIK, no. I can’t stand Applebee’s but at one point my son loved them. Until we went there and there were no riblets. Can’t say I was sad. :lol:
 
smurfy said:
New tribe that won immunity - lots of good folks there - wish Kellee was with them. And Kellee's II is only good for a limited time - if I remember right.
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I believe it is good for one more tribal council. It was originally good for 3, and she has now been to 2.
 
'Suck it up, buttercup' is right. I don't know what Vokai was thinking with Aaron still joining up with them after the advantage was revealed. Aaron could either join a side that likely has him at the very bottom and probably gets rid of him immediately when they merge because of his strength (while still keeping their old numbers), or he can stick with his old tribe, have the numbers they need now to get through to the merge, and even start losing on purpose (creatively) if they really wanted to, so that the numbers become more balanced going into the merge.

This was a no-brainer to me, and I know Aaron is going to have a target now, but it shouldn't matter if he keeps going with his own group until the merge. Maybe they won't trust him, but after the vote tonight I wouldn't ever trust any of the other three to work with them.

Surprised they went with Jason, as he seemed like the least likely target. I would've for sure gone for Tommy or maybe Dan.

I think it's funny that Sandra was shunning other players for being so impulsive in their decision-making, but she was all about Elaine going for it so quick this week.
 
I think Jason came off as cocky or smug at TC (an editor play to explain the vote?), and I think Aaron and Missy have some 'splaining to do (I swear Elizabeth saw her mouthing Elaine to someone, plus from the reactions of Tommy and Lauren, they obviously thought they had at least one of the others with them, and E/E know it's not either of them). But whatever, anyone who knows anything about this game (and looks like they all do) has to know that loyalty is a very fluid concept. Probably why they continue to do the tribe switches so early in the season, so that the tribes don't get a chance to get too tight.

I was glad to see Elaine going for it, including making the decision to tell Elizabeth everything, and then the rest of her former tribe too, then even jumping the gun and cancelling Jason's vote long before she Jeff said it was time to vote. Probably would have been better to wait until the last second so there was no time for the others to regroup, but then again, there could be so much we're missing here.

Agree @Tony Wheeler that one of the bigger guys might have been a better target - but at the same time the fear of losing more challenges might be keeping them. Then, to me it's Aaron that has to go first chance any tribe gets given his performance on challenges, no?
 
Jenny said:
Agree @Tony Wheeler that one of the bigger guys might have been a better target - but at the same time the fear of losing more challenges might be keeping them. Then, to me it's Aaron that has to go first chance any tribe gets given his performance on challenges, no?
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Assuming he doesn’t have any chance in flipping over now that he screwed the three Vokai once, I think he should just be used as a Lairo number as long as they can use him and then if the numbers shift in their favor, they can get rid of him the first chance he doesn’t win individual immunity.

Seeing how tight this group does seem to be with their original alliances, it might actually be better for the new Lairo members on Vokai to try and lose the next two challenges. It should then be even numbers going into the merge, and the wildcard would then probably be Karishma who wanted to jump ship already anyways.

ETA- Survivor never goes down like this obviously, because people won’t want to play for 6th or 7th place within a tribe. And we have to factor in idols and lost/blocked votes and whatever else they will throw at us this year. But I don’t see any real benefit at this point to the old Lairo on Vokai trying to win immunity for the group. They have the numbers within the group but not overall, and there’s an obvious split.
 
But surely if the old Lairo throw challenges then they are the ones who will go, now that it's 4 to 3 from the old tribes? I would think that it's in their interest to try as hard as possible to win, so they get to the merge and see if they can pick up with their old tribe.

As for playing for 6th or 7th, I'm remembering way back in Brazil, the season JT won, when his tribe was down to maybe 3 people while the other tribe was winning everything and still had 7 or more. One of the stronger tribe immediately jumped to the weaker tribe at merge, saying she'd rather be closer to the top of a short totem pole than at the bottom of a taller one. She lasted a lot long than she would have with that strategy.
 
Jenny said:
But surely if the old Lairo throw challenges then they are the ones who will go, now that it's 4 to 3 from the old tribes? I would think that it's in their interest to try as hard as possible to win, so they get to the merge and see if they can pick up with their old tribe.
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The old Lairo (now on Vokai) has a 4-3 advantage right now within the tribe, but overall they are still down 8-6. If they lose the next two challenges, and in the process get rid of someone like Tommy especially, the go into the merge tied and praying Karishma and/or Aaron don’t jump.
 
Thought it was interesting in Jason's post-vote interview that Elaine wasn't even the original target. They had hoped that either Aaron or Missy would flip, voting Elaine, while all 4 Vokai voted for Aaron. So if Elaine hadn't gotten the advantage, Aaron might have been voted out due to his own disloyalty.
 
GREAT episode but the 20 minutes for tribal council- I thought it was going to be something bigger. It’s an important topic and all, but I can’t help but wonder how much of Jamal’s true self is actually showing versus how he wants to be portrayed post-show. He’s arrogant in little campsite talks but when he knows footage will be shown, he’s very philosophical and seemingly trying hard to be on this ‘journey’ of growing as a person. I can’t see any other reason why Jamal would give Noura the idol when he sensed he was really in danger.

I also think producers are setting him up for some major event in the next few weeks because they are definitely showing all of the hypocritical things that he does versus what he says in important moments.

I’m loving Noura even more now after she played the part so well at council. She immediately questioned why Dean wouldn’t have played an idol last week, yet she was the one, not Kellee, who voted with him. It’ll be interesting to see if Kellee gets away with it and Noura owns up to the move but I have a feeling those three will secretly be tight moving into the merge.

Kellee also thought everything out as she should have, but we will see if it hurts her. Since she was brought up as the target in the preview, I doubt she will be in trouble next week.

Women are up 8 to 5 right now and really could run away with the game if they wanted to, but we know that won’t happen.

Here’s to Karishma being around forever.
 
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That was a pile of fun :)

Really smart to make it look like Dean had the idol on his own, rather than the big dramatic I'm giving this to moment that players would normally go for. Even more brilliant to vote for him, thus keeping her options open with the others. And so fun that they caught her thought process on camera (although the cynic in me is really hoping that wasn't some suggestive questioning by the field producer, or let me do that again and make it better thing).

However, not getting why Jamal gave his idol to Noura. He found his, so isn't it good until near the end? Why give it up now? The editing made it look like he was a more likely target than her. Was it just some big play for tv to tell us how sensitive he is? Was that a career move in case he doesn't win and has to go back to his job?

And did Noura know? I didn't think asking Dean why he didn't use it at the last TC was a big deal, because he can easily say he just found it.

One thing that could be fun next season is if the winner of this season went right through and played. No one would know him/her, which as I recall made Russell's second run at it interesting because viewers knew exactly what his game was about already. At the same time, a target on the newbie's back given that all the other winners likely know each other, have for years. Anyone heard who's part of that season?
 
Jenny said:
And did Noura know? I didn't think asking Dean why he didn't use it at the last TC was a big deal, because he can easily say he just found it.

One thing that could be fun next season is if the winner of this season went right through and played. No one would know him/her, which as I recall made Russell's second run at it interesting because viewers knew exactly what his game was about already. At the same time, a target on the newbie's back given that all the other winners likely know each other, have for years. Anyone heard who's part of that season?
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I have a feeling Noura knew and just played the part a lot better than anyone will give her credit for, which is fine. I like her kooky ways.

I don’t believe the winner this time around is playing, but of course they could’ve covered it with a decoy until this season finishes.
 
I like Noura too :)

Just found a list of all 20 allegedly doing the show, so yeah if this season's winner is playing either they are going to 21 (3 tribes of 7?) or one of them isn't actually going to play. If that's the case, my bet is on
Amber, because if she and Rob both play then surely the first thing that's going to happen is everyone else will want to split them up, and clearly it's Rob who would play every season if he could, so she bows out. Makes sense too since Rob is involved in the production of this one, that they'd offer to do that.

It would be fun if the winners season went back to basics - no idols, no tribe switch, just straight game play. OTOH, I think perhaps it's more likely that they will pull out some crazy shit to make sure they don't all treat this like a vacation with their pals at Club Med.
 
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I wouldn’t mind Amber not playing again to be honest. She was the one I was extremely baffled about in the first All-Stars casting, seeing how she wasn’t that memorable on a season that had PLENTY of stand-out castaways.

I agree though, there will be a bit target on both of them but I’m sure friendships between other winners have been strong for years and they probably all more or less have spent time together.
That’s what I don’t really like about returning casts- they all have (had) time to scheme prior to playing and a lot of it will have nothing to do with the actual game. So yeah, I expect a million twists to try to offset that.
 
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