On Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at 10:54:34 PM UTC-8, Brian Smith wrote:

> I thought tonight’s episode was pretty good except for one segment which, IMHO, will go down as the biggest WTF moment in Survivor history. We saw a fair number of emotional breakdowns tonight, some >of which seemed to come out of nowhere.

IMO, E10 might be viewed as the best argument supporting a return to 60 minute episodes. When I saw the players lining up for the reward challenge at the ten minute mark, I suspected that the
editors didn't have much to show us, so they were going to fill the time with two stretched out challenges and a lot of emotional crap. Sadly, it turned out to be even worse than I had imagined.
I probably fast forwarded, or turned the sound off, for 20-30 minutes. Some sequences were, IMO, unwatchable.

> This was easily the best reward all season.

Yes. What a change from the reward in E09 in which Kendra, Julie, and Bruce were expected to tear apart a chicken with their bare hands.

>Emily said a woman is going to win this season. Did they include that to foreshadow how the season will play out?

I wouldn't read too much into that comment. Whenever a group of players are enjoying a reward, somebody always seems to say something like that.

> It should be noted that Katurah told the girls about Bruce’s plan to make people think he had given his HII to Kellie over fear that Knowledge is Power might be played. He thought people would vote for him, >he’d play the idol and then someone else would end up going home. Bruce told Katurah this before the RC and he also told Jake.

And Emily told Drew.
> The segment with the guys back at camp was beyond cringe. Fart talk, Kenny Loggins music, and Austin catching fish. The music videoish stuff was a huge waste of time.

Totally unwatchable. I realize that Probst made excuses for this sequence in his interview with Dalton Ross, but, IMO, it represented a new low for the franchise.
> The IC looked new to me.

It was, but it was also unfair. As soon as I learned what the players were expected to do, I thought, "Oh, so the person with the most upper body strength should win.
I wonder who that might be?" :-)
> The focus of this segment was Katurah. She had a panic attack over the water.

Another unwatchable segment IMO. CBS gave SEG an extra 30 minutes per episode to show us nonsense like this?

>I’m sure they showed all of this for a reason, but I doubt it’s to foreshadow a Katurah win.

No, the editors included it because they had to show us something in order to fill up the time. Why not stretch out the sequence in which
one of the players is afraid of the water in a show that is filmed on a tropical island?

> Two key things happened after the IC as far as I’m concerned. Katurah said to Emily that they need to target Julie because no one will beat her if she gets to the end. Emily agreed but her real target was >Bruce. Emily set out to convince Bruce that the real target was Julie and to make him feel so safe that he would not play his idol. She told us that this would be seen as a huge move.

Katurah's idea to blindside Julie was actually a good one, but, as I said in another thread, there was no way that the remaining former Belo and Emily were going to be able
to work together to pull off such a move. What they should have done is put all four of their votes on either Stick Insect, Dee, or Julie, and then have Bruce play his idol. If
they'd had the intelligence (and cojones) to make that play, the game would have been totally turned around. The F7 would be made up of 3 former Reba, 3 former Belo, and
one former Lulu who would hold an incredible amount of power. Austin would still be a problem with two immunity advantages, but, if Dee had been the choice for removal
in E10, his influence would be reduced.

> For me, this was Emily’s best episode by far. She made a huge strategic move, showed she’s capable of winning challenges, and her social game is getting very good. Bruce complimented her on X tonight for >her work which is a good sign.

But to what end? I still don't see the Reba 4 breaking ranks this late in the game. In fact, in confessional, Julie said that she wasn't looking forward to the hard
decisions that she might have to make at F4. They really have no reason to "rock the boat" at this point as none of them really stands out as being the leader
of the group which means that each of them should have a reasonable chance of picking up jury votes if they can present their case coherently.

On Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 2:46:04 PM UTC-8, Brian Smith wrote:

> The problem is that Jeff and company keep trying out these weird editing techniques that don't fit Survivor. I'd like to know how much they had to pay to get the rights to the music. Pisses me off they have >money for that but not for Ponderosa which isn't that expensive as most of it is done by interns and people just starting out.

I rarely watched the "This is my Ponderosa" videos, but it was always nice to know that they were out there in case I wanted to check on something.

> If the emotional stuff becomes relevant to the game later on, I'll be okay with what happened. Who knows, maybe the challenge where they're in the water under a grate will lead to Katurah's ouster because >she refuses to participate.

And to be fair, the weepy scene between Drew and Julie revealed information about the closeness of their relationship that I had not been aware of.

> Didn't they use music in an episode a few years ago? I'm sure they did and the fan reaction was very negative.

I, fortunately, don't remember that. However, the use of slow motion during some of the challenges that has been experimented with from time to time is
another irritant.

> I think the letter from her mom screwed with her brain.

I skipped the entire Sanctuary visit, except to check on whether all the food and drink that Probst had gushed over at the challenge was actually there.
When I saw the turkey sitting on its own at the centre of the table, I was momentarily concerned until it was clear that there was other food available. :-)

> On a bit of a sidenote, why was Drew wearing his glasses during that challenge? If they had come off when he went into the water, he might have been screwed.

I had mentioned the same thing after an earlier episode which included a challenge that required swimming. I couldn't believe that the
big nerd was wearing his glasses in the water.

>Taking out Bruce eliminated a wildcard player and brought her closer to the Reba player. What happened to Kellie probably played a role in taking out Bruce.

Given that Jake and Katurah were going to be voting with the ex-Reba members, Emily had no choice but to play ball. However, tricking Bruce into not
playing his idol was a sweet move that will appeal to the jury.

> We saw Julie a number of episodes ago pointing out that Austin and Dee are bf/gf.

If those two were romantically involved during the game, why haven't we seen more evidence of it? In previous seasons when players have been attracted
to teach other, those relationships have become central parts of their game stories. Why has the alleged romance involving Dee and Austin been kept
hidden by the editors?

> We also know she's playing her own game. She's not stupid and must realize if she goes to F4 with the other Reba members that she'll be out if she doesn't win immunity or fire.

Yes, I was thinking much the same thing. Probably her best chance to turn the game around will be at F7 with Emily and Drew being obvious allies. However, they would need
a reliable fourth person. Jake is a head case and should not be considered, which leaves Katurah. If Austin doesn't win immunity, he might play one of his idols anyways which
would mean that the votes would need to be put on Dee. I like that scenario a lot, but will Julie have the guts to turn on her closest ally?

>The edit has made it appear that Drew is the strategic one and is seen that way by the other players.

I'm not so sure about that. In E10, Bruce and Katurah asked Emily if it was Dee who was driving the Reba 4 votes.

>Austin is seen as a challenge beast despite winning just one challenge. Drew needs Austin gone soon, and Emily can help him with that.

But, as stated above, Austin has two immunity items, one that is good till F6 and one that is good till F5. If he wins either of the next three
immunity challenges, he is in the F4, and probably out of Drew and Emily's reach.

One last point about Emily: IMO, if she is in the F3, she will win the game for the following reasons no matter who is sitting beside her:
-her redemption story (if not for that nut case Hannah, Emily might have been booted in E01).
-her ability to stay in the middle between ex-Reba and ex-Belo, and retain everybody's trust
-she is very well liked as was demonstrated by the reaction of all her tribe mates after winning the E10 reward challenge
-her role in tricking Bruce into not playing his idol at the F8 TC, which was a Grade A Survivor move

On Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 6:52:46 PM UTC-8, Brian Smith wrote:

> This Sanctuary visit was worth watching.

I took your advice. The early part was okay because they were talking game. But I could not stomach the letter reading portion. Not to be too cynical,
but I couldn't help pondering the fact that each package of letters (allegedly written from "home") was on matching stationary.

> Has he done every challenge wearing glasses?

Technically, yes. But in the two challenges that involved swimming, he was either the "puzzle solver" or on the "sit out bench".

> What do you mean by Jake and Katurah were going to be voting with ex-Reba members? The reason they ended up doing so is because of Emily. Emily was in charge of her own destiny.

I see it differently. In E10, we saw Emily doing a confessional on Day 18 in which she expressed concern about the Reba 4, and said she was "questioning her alliances".
She mentioned Drew and Austin by name. We saw another scene, also from Day 18, in which Emily, Katurah, and Bruce were discussing the possibility of putting all of their
votes on an ex-Reba member. That conversation must not have gone well, because, in confessional, Emily expressed skepticism concerning the chances of working with
the Belo 3 to turn the game around. Later on in the episode, we saw the four women talking about the upcoming TC while eating in The Sanctuary. Katurah pitched a vote
for Bruce which the other women, including Emily, agreed on. For the rest of the episode, Emily appeared to be "all in" on the Bruce vote.
So, here's what I got from those scenes: Emily's preference, on the morning of Day 18, was to pull enough votes together to boot one of the ex-Rebas. When she concluded
that this was not possible, she jumped on board the "Bruce train" because she knew that he was the preferred target, at least among the other women. Later on, we saw a
scene from Day 19, in which Emily, Dee, Julie, and Drew were planning how to split the votes between Bruce and Jake. We didn't see who told Katurah and Jake who to vote
for, but I'm betting that was Emily's job.
To Emily's credit, given the hand that she was dealt, she did much more than was expected by tricking Bruce into not playing his idol at the F8 TC.. However, that may end up
being a problem for her down the road.
Finally, FWIW, in the three tribal councils since the merge, Jake and Katurah voted for an ex-Belo member each time they had a vote. Bruce bucked the trend by voting for
an ex-Reba member at F8. Emily, no doubt, was aware of the former Belo tribe mates' tendency to turn on each other rather than confront a common enemy. This certainly
would not have improved her perception of their reliability as alliance partners.

> We have seen evidence, and it hasn't been hidden.

Compared to Frannie/Matt, Matt/Andrea, Whitney/Keith, Jennifer F./Taylor, Jessica/Cole, Sea Bass/Jenna, the alleged Dee/Austin romance has not been apparent in the edit.
I would never advocate Survivor returning to the distasteful voyeurism that accompanied the Rob/Amber and Ozzy/Amanda hook ups, but, IMO, hiding Dee and Austin's romance
(if that's what their relationship actually is) from the viewers seems odd.

>IIRC, the other Reba people know he has those two powers so they could us that knowledge against him.

Theoretically, that would make it a better end game for the viewers. However, I continue to have the nagging sense that the Reba 4 will end up being the F4.

On Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 7:10:59 PM UTC-8, Brian Smith wrote:

> Is he the first player to wear glasses the entire game?

My answer to that question is going to be in tribute to Emily who, when asked if Dee was calling the shots when the Reba 4 caucused, slyly responded
with ...."I don't know". :-)

> We agree on pretty well everything other than when Emily realized she had to settle to take out Bruce instead of a Reba member. To me, it's pretty clear she knew that when she gave her confessional at the start of the episode.

The only problem with using that confessional as evidence is that it was likely shot after the conversation that we saw involving Emily, Bruce, and Katurah. The editors cut
back and forth between the two scenes which made it difficult for the viewers to get a sense of the Day 18 morning time line. Of course, I could be wrong about this, and
the confessional was actually shot before the conversation between Emily and the Belo 3. If that was the case, I would have to look at Emily's Day 18 decision making in
a different light.

> They're more like bf/gf. They're getting closer and flirtier. If their relationship starts to have game implications, we'll get a storyline about it..

That sounds reasonable. The other possibility is that either Austin or Dee get booted in E11, making it completing justifiable for the edit not to
have included anything overtly romantic between the two of them.
FWIW, in one of the earlier episodes (I'm not going to look it up) Austin said, in confessional, that he liked having Dee around and that he was not
ready for her to go home yet. That doesn't sound to me like the guy was exactly smitten with her, but you never know. :-)

> If that's the case I can see Dee winning.

If the F3 ends up being some combination of Austin, Dee, Drew, or Julie, I really don't know who would have the advantage. Given
how tight the ex-Rebas have been since the very early stages of the game, I think whoever is able to provide examples of what they did
as an individual, separate from their alliance partners, to improve their chances of continuing to advance further will probably win the
most jury votes. In such a scenario, I like Drew's chances of making a really good case for himself.