Any thoughts on last night's episode? I'm not upset about who got voted off (still trying to learn everyone's names). The couple who started kissing in the shelter should have known better. Honestly, there's not much that will make the rest of the tribe suspicious faster than two people acting like a couple, even if it's only casual. The only thing that arouses suspicion faster is looking for an idol, or seeming to look for an idol. Interesting that the "scaredy-cat" guy found an idol. Yes, he needs it. But he was monumentally stupid to tell anyone about it, at least not without negotiating some assurances. "I promise I won't say a word" isn't much of an assurance in this game. The guy who had to have the doctor check him out seemed pretty chipper by the time the immunity challenge came around.
I was kinda upset, since Mari was on my fantasy team. But at the same time, absolutely brilliant play by Michelle. I'm thinking Ken is the winner though.
I feel bad for Hannah. That was a really weird way to get somebody (supposedly in your alliance) to switch votes.
I wonder how long it actually took her to make her decision. Did Jeff really go back there to see what the holdup was (the camera seemed to cut away rather abruptly)? I realize that tribal council sometimes takes much longer, and what we see on TV is just the carefully-edited highlights. Hannah must have taken an extra-long time.
^I heard somewhere it was about 10 minutes. Jeff said it was definitely the longest anyone's ever taken to vote. Of course, Michelle didn't technically need Hannah to flip. Mari was going home regardless.
So the point of that "summit" was what, again? Just a little mingling with the enemy tribe and a chance to forge some alliances for after the merge? O-kay... Well, Paul's gone, thank goodness.
The thing about Mari is that she kept going on with the meta-talk about the game. I can't imagine how it's not obvious to everyone that David is going to flip to the other tribe immediately. How does his entire tribe not get a Rob Cesternino vibe from this guy? He even looks a little like him. And Paul had a Rodger vibe and the exact same thing happened to him. I'm noticing a lot of parallels between this season and season 6. I guess that means David will take a game-deaf woman and a socially inept guy to the final three. So final three, David/Figgy/Ken with Figgy winning? Ken is the obvious Matthew but hard to tell who the Jenna is.
I only have vague memories of the people you mention from Season 6. It doesn't need a past season equivalent to tell that David will join the other tribe as soon as possible. He's basically universally disliked by everyone in his current tribe (I should think that Ken at least would see him as someone to be used, rather than supported).
I mean, he reminds me of Rob because he'll obviously switch, not the other way around. But they see him as the weaky nerdy, not the obvious flopper.
What's your opinion of David now? Playing that idol for Jess, presumably without letting anyone know he was thinking of doing it, was a satisfying thing to watch. The woman who got booted out never saw it coming, and apparently she never learned one of the basic lessons of Survivor: Nobody likes the arrogant players, and unless they've got some other compelling reason to keep them around, they tend to get voted off.
I'm surprised David actually did it. Typically this early in the game they have not built close enough bonds/alliances to be willing to use the idol on others. In this case, David and Jess were barely even aligned, I don't think we've even seen them have a conversation with just the two of them. That was a big risk for David to take, but it could pay off if it swings Jess and possibly Sunday over to his/Ken's side.
Actually, it was a rather gutsy move, and not at all a dumb one (unless Jess turns out to be an ungrateful person who doesn't understand that she now owes David her allegiance for at least one vote). He simultaneously removed the target from his own back (so the ones suspicious of him won't target him to flush the idol), got rid of an arrogant woman who tried to bully everyone, and showed himself capable of making game-changing moves without telegraphing them. Now if he could just work a little on his self-confidence and find a few people to bond with other than Ken, he should last at least until the merge. The flip side, of course, is that he's now earned the enmity of the ones who wanted Jess gone.
I'm not at all surprised that CeCe was voted off; she's been targeted from the beginning. David needs to consider that he won't always find idols, and there's no guarantee that any generosity toward other players will be rewarded. Did Jess say anything to him about him playing his idol for her, other than a quick "thanks"?
I think this was a good vote tonight - one half of a showmance couple and the person who failed to give good directions to her team. Opinions?
I was hoping Taylor would go over Figgy, because I kinda viewed Taylor as a millstone around her neck and was curious to see how she'd play without him. Ah well. Figgy made other mistakes, other than attaching herself to an idiot.
Yeah, I'm not sad to see her go. So far this year I've been satisfied with who has gone home, except for maybe Mari, she had potential. I think that the other tribes will be surprised when they see that Figgy is gone. Michaela in particular seemed sure that the 3 millennials would work together to vote out a gen X. I think that my favorites at this point are Ken, Zeke, Will, and Adam. David gets an honorable mention. The potential David/Zeke partnership in next week's preview clip looked interesting, but who knows, sometimes they try to fake us out with the previews. I have a feeling Sunday is going to make it far in this game, because they've hardly shown her at all so far. Usually that means they are saving her "story" for the end of the season. That or she's just incredibly boring and will leave without much fanfare.
There's no clear front runner yet. David is the only one with firmly established gameplay. A lot of players seem like solid players but none seem dominant.
It feels like everyone besides David is waiting until the merge to kick it into high gear. That's usually a smart strategy, assuming you actually make it to the merge. In other seasons we have a handful of people who play too hard too fast, but not many at all this time.
Everyone else is playing a socially oriented game, trying to build connections, establish numbers and lay groundworks. But nobody has declared for any alliance yet.