Survivor S43

Kasey

Fan of many, uber of none
Messages
16,343
I watched it yesterday since I worked Wednesday night. A bunch of decent people worth rooting for this time around, I like how we get to know the survivors more these days, their backgrounds and such. Good on the guy who chose not to use his immunity idol, although he didn't do his shot in the dark either after saying that he was going to. And smart of the girls to try to keep strength around this early in the game in how they voted. I doubt that any female alliance is going to last, it seems like they never do.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
Messages
56,063
I watched it yesterday since I worked Wednesday night. A bunch of decent people worth rooting for this time around, I like how we get to know the survivors more these days, their backgrounds and such. Good on the guy who chose not to use his immunity idol, although he didn't do his shot in the dark either after saying that he was going to.
That's because Elie the clinical psychologist worked her wiles on him. She, Ryan, Sami, and Cody really stood out as smart players, although Cody is too out there to last long. I figure since they are being featured this early in the game, none of them will last :p.
And smart of the girls to try to keep strength around this early in the game in how they voted. I doubt that any female alliance is going to last, it seems like they never do.
But the female alliances that have lasted--the Black Widows and One World--are the seasons the show uses as models to teach newbies how to play the game.
 

smurfy

Well-Known Member
Messages
6,086
I enjoyed the episode - and yes lots of interesting folks to root for.
I would love to see another all female alliance - in step 1- it was not messed up first thing!

the challenge when they got to the beach - interesting how they chose based on their perceived strengths - and both accomplished their goal. I was expecting that one tribe would not get it.

Youngest guy - Sammy? he has promise
 

Jenny

From the Bloc
Messages
21,822
Cody was the standout for me, especially when he figured out how to do the challenge with the key. According to Jeff, he actually outsmarted the producers and the challenge team on that one - even they hadn't thought of doing it like that -


In the comments someone says it was Nneka who figured it out, but surely Jeff would know that if so?

Sami sorta rubbed me the wrong way, but we'll see.
 

Kasey

Fan of many, uber of none
Messages
16,343
Sami in the beach challenge was golden, but I think that he thinks he's a little shiny as well. We'll see how he plays as the game goes on.
 

Kasey

Fan of many, uber of none
Messages
16,343
Was late watching this week's episode, but GO NOELLE! She may not be everyone's cup of tea, but she is one of the more badass women to be on this show IMO. I hope she can go far. Good that all of the votes were for Nneka, she seemed like a nice lady, but was over her head.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
Messages
56,063
Was late watching this week's episode, but GO NOELLE! She may not be everyone's cup of tea, but she is one of the more badass women to be on this show IMO. I hope she can go far. Good that all of the votes were for Nneka, she seemed like a nice lady, but was over her head.
I thought it was interesting that Noelle thought her chances of being voted out were pretty high (at least that's more or less what she said at Tribal Council) but she chose to roll the dice and save her advantage anyway. Dwight must have been really sure of Jesse and Cody in spite of the last vote. I thought it was a done deal when Jesse was crying on the beach, but you never know.

Karla's decision to abandon and then use the Beware advantage was interesting and I was impressed at how she went about getting the beads once she decided that was what she was going to do.

Elie and Gabler must have quite the clash at some point, as the edit is really building that up.
 

Jenny

From the Bloc
Messages
21,822
Really enjoying this season so far! I thought red tribe helping out yellow tribe in the immunity challenge was rather brilliant, would have liked to hear them talk about it but I'm assuming they saw the opportunity to make the yellow tribe grateful for saving them, thus setting up a larger alliance for merge because there always seem to be a few players at least who want to stick with their original tribe. Or maybe it's anticipating a switchup or merge to two tribes, so again the lesser numbers of red team have some allies in the yellow team going in.

Also thought the reward challenge was very interesting. If it were me, much as I'd need the protein and food, what are 4 people supposed to do with 10 fresh fish? I guess they could have fashioned some bait with whatever they didn't eat right away, or tried to salt dry it or something? I think I knew you could trade in your reward, and we've seen tribes negotiate with Jeff before, but it was still interesting especially as the blue tribe didn't seem to think of it, assuming they had the fish. And they got totally duped! Cody was supposed to take one thing, no? And he walks off with more than he can carry! The bad news is that the entire blue tribe probably hates him now, which makes me think he was the one behind getting the yellow tribe on side. He continues to impress me with his strategy and gameplay.

The other thing I found interesting last week was the tribe members discussing and then seeking out the fine print on Gabler's idol/advantage. How many times have we all sat at home trying to :COP: figure out what's still valid and under what circumstances?

Also loving that they are now maxing the time with tribes and their strategizing rather than recaps and other time wasters. Even there, it's never enough - would have liked to see red's reaction when Cody came back with all that stuff, and more of what went into helping out yellow. The pre-TC stuff for blue tribe was actually a bit boring, we don't really know them yet, no loss of whoever's going, let's move forward.
 

Kasey

Fan of many, uber of none
Messages
16,343
I loved the red team helping the yellow team win immunity, I think that was really smart of them. Agree, Cody going over to the blue tribe and telling them he was going to take the machete was genius, he got a lot more than he was aiming for. He's a sharp player, for sure. Blue tribe's strategizing really wasn't much of it, once Lindsey had her paranoid breakdown, I figured she was going. Always amusing how people being voted out assume it was because they were a "threat" instead of they were unstable. Yet another nurse who doesn't make it far. Sigh.
 

Jenny

From the Bloc
Messages
21,822
Always amusing how people being voted out assume it was because they were a "threat" instead of they were unstable.

I haven't read any post interviews, but she's probably not going to be happy that she had so little air time, I don't think I even knew she was before this. Same with the woman who went second, seemed to think she was all that, but was totally forgettable.

Survivor (and Big Brother, when I used to watch it) have a long history of getting rid of people who are unstable, game-wise, which of course includes the death phrase of "I'm the swing vote!" It's better to play against people you can trust to think/act a particular way than the ones who change their minds and alliances all the time, IMO.

I did think it was funny during the TC when several of them said something to the effect of "I talked to my people, I'm confident" and watching the others wondering who their people were.

The breakdown had Lindsay voting for Geo, Geo voting for Cassidy, and everyone else voting for Lindsay, so Geo was out of it too.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
Messages
56,063
The breakdown had Lindsay voting for Geo, Geo voting for Cassidy, and everyone else voting for Lindsay, so Geo was out of it too.
Heh at watching Geo's smug smirk fade away as he realized that he wasn't running anything at all.

They are still building up the Elie-Gabler showdown. I would be intrigued, but Jeff promised me a brutal Tribal Council this week and that surely didn't pan out.
 

sk8pics

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,551
Really enjoying this season so far! I thought red tribe helping out yellow tribe in the immunity challenge was rather brilliant, would have liked to hear them talk about it but I'm assuming they saw the opportunity to make the yellow tribe grateful for saving them, thus setting up a larger alliance for merge because there always seem to be a few players at least who want to stick with their original tribe.
I thought it was again their strategy to weaken the blue tribe, which had the most members remaining at that point. It would be bad for the red tribe if the blue tribe continued to keep their numbers intact, and bad for yellow too.
Also thought the reward challenge was very interesting. If it were me, much as I'd need the protein and food, what are 4 people supposed to do with 10 fresh fish?
Eat them? Because they’ve been starving since they didn’t have flint or fish or anything except coconut.
would have liked to see red's reaction when Cody came back with all that stuff, and more of what went into helping out yellow. The pre-TC stuff for blue tribe was actually a bit boring, we don't really know them yet, no loss of whoever's going, let's move forward.
I wanted to see the red tribe’s reaction to Cody’s haul, too. Oh well.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
Messages
56,063
Eat them? Because they’ve been starving since they didn’t have flint or fish or anything except coconut.
But they didn't have flint, so they would have had to have eaten the fish raw. I'm with Noelle on that one.

I also thought it was interesting that Jeff said they could trade their reward for any other reward that had been won to date. I don't think that's ever happened before? I'll bet a lot of future contestants took note of that little tidbit.
I wanted to see the red tribe’s reaction to Cody’s haul, too. Oh well.
Yeah, that would have been interesting.
 

sk8pics

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,551
But they didn't have flint, so they would have had to have eaten the fish raw. I'm with Noelle on that one.
Oh, no, I agree, with no flint they’d have to eat the fish raw. But I thought the original thought was what would they do with 10 fish, meaning so many, as opposed to what would they do with raw fish.
I also thought it was interesting that Jeff said they could trade their reward for any other reward that had been won to date. I don't think that's ever happened before? I'll bet a lot of future contestants took note of that little tidbit.
I don’t think it‘s happened before either.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
Messages
56,063
Ryan should have been voted out just for throwing a challenge like that. Has he not watched this show before? The Survivor gods always strike you down for that. Geo took his exit well, but he's out and Ryan has to stay there with his tribe--although it looks like they merge next week.

I don't really get what happened with this tribe the week before. It looked like Geo was shocked at TV by Lynsey's boot, but apparently not?

Still building up the Gabler clash. It had better be good after all this.

There should be some interesting post-merge developments, given how many people have been able to see people from other tribes up close and personal here and there.
 

Jenny

From the Bloc
Messages
21,822
Trying to remember if Ryan actually told anyone he threw it. Husband wondered if he only told the camera that because he totally blew it and wanted to sound strategic. Doubt that, but what an enormously stupid move.

One thing that interested me was in the challenge, when two teams went up and over the pile of sticks, but red team went under it. Smart move, more thinking outside the box, I'm guessing by Cody but then again some years you get to the end and someone else claims they masterminded everything. Noted that the red tribe got pretty much zero air time this week, so their day is coming.

And definitely post merge will be interesting. These treks they send them on - remember way back they used to do that? Pick one person from each tribe and they'd go off for a day or night? Something interesting usually came of it. There's also Cody's raid of the blue tribe, and the red team helping the yellow team get through a challenge - lots to talk about, potential allies, but also potential enemies.
 

marbri

Hey, Kool-Aid!
Messages
16,354
Trying to remember if Ryan actually told anyone he threw it. Husband wondered if he only told the camera that because he totally blew it and wanted to sound strategic. Doubt that, but what an enormously stupid move.

One thing that interested me was in the challenge, when two teams went up and over the pile of sticks, but red team went under it. Smart move, more thinking outside the box, I'm guessing by Cody but then again some years you get to the end and someone else claims they masterminded everything. Noted that the red tribe got pretty much zero air time this week, so their day is coming.

And definitely post merge will be interesting. These treks they send them on - remember way back they used to do that? Pick one person from each tribe and they'd go off for a day or night? Something interesting usually came of it. There's also Cody's raid of the blue tribe, and the red team helping the yellow team get through a challenge - lots to talk about, potential allies, but also potential enemies.
I thought at the time it might have been the better option for Noelle. She hopped on one leg through the section following so I think there were some limitations to the prosthetic leg she wore for that challenge?
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
Messages
56,063
I thought at the time it might have been the better option for Noelle. She hopped on one leg through the section following so I think there were some limitations to the prosthetic leg she wore for that challenge?
I thought the same and kind of thought she might have told them it would be easier for her to go under than to try and climb through the sticks; she would be able to push herself that way and wouldn't be as likely to get tangled.

I was quite impressed with the red tribe on that whole challenge, as they helped Noelle but not in a "We have to carry her through this" kind of way, but more in a "Every man across the line" kind of way, if that makes sense, and Noelle, as always, was as independent as she could be. They have certainly turned a corner since voting out Nneke.
 

Jenny

From the Bloc
Messages
21,822
Excellent point about it being a better route for Noelle, would have been interesting to hear the strategic talk ahead of the challenge on that one.
 

Kasey

Fan of many, uber of none
Messages
16,343
Very glad that Elie is gone. Although I'm not a fan of Gabler, he was right about her lack of trustworthiness, and she and Janine DID go through his bag, although if I recall, it wasn't her specifically, so she could say she was telling the truth. Interesting merge challenge, so that half of the tribe was safe after the challenge. I think that some of the "alliances" are up in the air at this point, which makes it fun to watch. And Janine shouldn't have looked so shocked that Elie was voted out. She could have played her idol for her BFF and didn't, so there ya go.
 

sk8pics

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,551
I, too, am glad Ellie is gone. I found her obnoxious and a bit over the top in her facial expressions when she was trying to manipulate/lie to others. The way she would open her eyes so wide you could see the white all the way around was one of her habits that I just did not care for. And sour grapes when she was walking over to Jeff, although her confessional afterwards was relatively gracious.

I couldn’t remember if she’d gone through Gabler‘s bag, but I think it’s right that it was Jannine, but Ellie instigated it IIRC.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
Messages
56,063
I am :wideeyes: that Jesse has Jeanine's idol and no one knows. Finally, someone is keeping his mouth shut! But why did Dwight give it to him? I know Jesse said that Dwight was getting paranoid before tribal, but still--if Dwight was paranoid, why didn't he play it?

Jeanine was looking positively skeletal, so at least she will get to be fed at Ponderosa.

I really thought Ryan would go. I liked him at first, but he is clueless and should be aware that no one wants fish enough to keep him to the end.

And a little past Survivor winner news: Nick Wilson was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives.
 

Jenny

From the Bloc
Messages
21,822
I am :wideeyes: that Jesse has Jeanine's idol and no one knows. Finally, someone is keeping his mouth shut! But why did Dwight give it to him? I know Jesse said that Dwight was getting paranoid before tribal, but still--if Dwight was paranoid, why didn't he play it?

Jeanine was looking positively skeletal, so at least she will get to be fed at Ponderosa.

I really thought Ryan would go. I liked him at first, but he is clueless and should be aware that no one wants fish enough to keep him to the end.
Agree with all of the above. With all that switching around before TC the last time and then there being nearly zero discussion this time because none of the idols/advantages seemed to be a factor, I now have no idea who has what and from who and how long they are valid. I really wish they'd offer us more on that front, or that whoever's contributing to the Wiki page would add a chart, but maybe they just want us to pay attention or something.

It does feel like this season is somehow less strategic than some in the past, maybe too many playing under the radar, for now at least. Or maybe there's such a solid alliance that it's going to make it to the end and they're hiding this from us? I was surprised in the aftermath to learn that for the Elie and Dwight votes, it wasn't a split to cover a surprise idol, but rather some people just out of the loop.

One thing that did amuse me this week is that I had the sense for the first time that at this TC, they all knew that everyone there was either going to be sitting there at the end or on the jury, so they are already playing to the jury before it even starts. Thought that was cool.

And yes the edit made it look like Ryan might go, but seeing Jeanine sitting by the fire looking so crumpled, I thought physically and emotionally having (I think) lost her game with previous evictions, yeah she's going. My bet is they're all thinking Ryan is an easy target while Jeanine might have still had some game left in her.

Still enjoying this, quite a few people to root for still.
 

tony

Throwing the (rule)book at them
Messages
17,677
Great and strategic move by Noelle. At first I questioned why she didn't just steal James' vote and seal that deal with Owen alone, but James could've then stolen Karla's immunity idol (as far as I know) and played it on himself. And then she's risking going rogue against Karla and Sami.

Ryan has a sympathy story from his childhood, but he was so annoying and clueless. Constantly on the wrong side of things but was carried through maybe for the fish.

Jesse is sitting so pretty and we were getting a lot of narratives from him earlier in the season. Maybe a showdown between him and Cody in the end? He still has his two idols that will get him to at least 6 as a worst case scenario now, if he feels he's in danger and actually plays them. But this little preview clip of him saying he feels great where he's at...

ETA- Cassidy literally got no airtime for how many episodes? I thought she'd end up similar to Roark from many seasons ago and bust into tribal making a huge scene suddenly.

edited for clarity
 
Last edited:

Jenny

From the Bloc
Messages
21,822
Just when I'm whining this season isn't strategic enough, we get this! Loved Noelle's move, especially since she's been on the edge of this the whole time it seems - so often not part of the votes, scrappy in her play. Very smart to take advantage of Owen's frustration because I'm not sure a lot of players would agree to give up their vote like that. I was also very interested to see the advantage used in a way that it was not intended for - it was supposed to be pretty simple, prevent someone from voting and gain an extra vote yourself. But here's Noelle realizing that she could use it in a much more meaningful way - it prevented James from using his advantage. Brilliant.

Interesting that once again an evictee thinks it's because they were a threat, when we know that many of the players considered Ryan expendable. Not even sure they were keeping him for the fish, maybe more bigger targets/a shield as Cody and Jesse discussed. And did I hear right, that he said he had a bunch of oysters or something in his bag that he's taking with him if he's voted out? Was that a poor attempt at bribery or something? Because obviously he's going to eat in ponderosa, so that's just childish. This was the team that was waiting to see what happened on the first TC, so I do wonder if James had not been sitting there if Cassidy would be the one gone, not Ryan.

For the others, I was happy for a minute there that Gabler seemed to find a home, but then in the preview looks like he's ready to blow that up. Also just starting to like Cassidy, but then when she voted she said it was part of some revenge plan? That's not strategic, that's stupid. Unless we find out later that her revenge plan was in fact a long range win plan, I don't know.

Targets now could be Noelle for showing that she can pull a fast one like that, which also seems to put her in a leadership position with her group. Karla for showing that she can both win a difficult challenge, and betray one of her besties (James was rather obvious during the challenge that he was rooting for her, if everyone didn't know it already). Owen and Gabler because it appears they'll go anywhere, and free agents are only useful to a point.

Jesse because they're going to want to flush out those idols (not sure how much the others know about what he has), and at this point, he seems to want to hang onto them. That's part of the fun of this, the players with the idols feel confident until they get to the point where they become paranoid about whether they need to use it (imagine sitting there when Jeff asks if anyone has one, then goes straight to counting the votes - the stress at that particular moment for the person who played or didn't play it!). Having an idol isn't enough, it's knowing when to play it.

Still thinking Cody is a really astute player. Making a big deal of winning for the first time (which isn't quite true - his tribe won a lot of challenges, with him playing a prominent role) and that he won food for his team, thus playing down his own abilities. Bonus that the other winner was Karla, who no one likely looked at as a challenge threat before this. Wondering if among other reasons he's close to Jesse in the hopes that at least one of the idols will either be played for him, or ala Noelle, played to his advantage.
 

sk8pics

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,551
I liked this last episode a lot too and was glad that James was voted out. And boy, did he look mad about it. Noelle was brilliant. I like Cody too.

I remember someone gave their idol to Jesse for safekeeping when they were worried about James’ advantage. Did that person get voted out subsequently? I’m wondering if they’re still there why they haven’t asked for it back, or told everyone else that it exists and Jesse has it.
 

tony

Throwing the (rule)book at them
Messages
17,677
I liked this last episode a lot too and was glad that James was voted out. And boy, did he look mad about it. Noelle was brilliant. I like Cody too.

I remember someone gave their idol to Jesse for safekeeping when they were worried about James’ advantage. Did that person get voted out subsequently? I’m wondering if they’re still there why they haven’t asked for it back, or told everyone else that it exists and Jesse has it.
Dwight gave it to him, which was originally Jeanine's. No one else knew about it as far as has been shown, and I imagine that there are some people who have wandered off looking for idols but it doesn't make the telecast.

ETA- he has two idols, but the above is the one that, AFAIK, no one remaining in the game knows about.
 

jamesy

delightful
Messages
13,854
I remember someone gave their idol to Jesse for safekeeping when they were worried about James’ advantage. Did that person get voted out subsequently? I’m wondering if they’re still there why they haven’t asked for it back, or told everyone else that it exists and Jesse has it.
Cody gave Jesse his idol and he is still in the game. They haven't shown anything yet about Cody asking for it back, the only thing I can guess is that he was having Jesse hold it until James and his Knowledge is Power advantage was gone and Cody may ask for it back now.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information