Tonight's episode is titled "Episode Several." Episode is going to start
off with Venus accusing Soda of voting for her at the last TC. It's
really weird that the press site as only released three photos from this
episode. Normally, there's a few dozen.

--
Brian

On 4/10/2024 5:53 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
> Tonight's episode is titled "Episode Several." Episode is going to start
> off with Venus accusing Soda of voting for her at the last TC. It's
> really weird that the press site as only released three photos from this
> episode. Normally, there's a few dozen.
>

The episode started off back at camp after the last TC. Venus accused
Soda of having voted for her which was a mistake as minutes later,
Charlie confessed he was the one who cast the lone vote for her. That
pissed off Q as it could impact his plans. The way Q treated Charlie
pissed Charlie off to the point that Charlie wants him gone. Q
annoyed/pissed off a lot of people in this episode.

Immunity/Reward Challenge

Jeff told them they would be randomly split into two teams, that there
would be an Immunity winner from each team, and the person who lasted
the longest would win a food reward for their team. They would also get
to go to TC second which was huge as the boot from the first TC would
not make jury.

The teams were as follows:

Maria, Charlie, Soda, Tevin, Liz, Venus
Tim, Ben, Hunter, Q, Tiff, Kenz

The challenge was the one where they must stand on a triangular platform
that’s floating in the water. They showed a flashback to S42 where they
did the challenge during a typhoon, and it was over in about three
minutes according to Jeff. This time it was super calm. This is the
order they went out in:
Q Soda (she and Q fell during the first transition, and he claimed in a
confessional that he dropped on purpose)
Ben
(no one fell during both feet on the top of the platform phase)
One foot phase:
Charlie
Tim
Venus
Liz
Hunter
Tiff
Kenz (won immunity)
Tevin
Maria (won immunity and reward for her team)

Maria was solid during this challenge.

Back at Venus’s Camp

It looked like Charlie was screwed as it was essentially him against
four Nami’s. But it was soon apparent that Nami has huge cracks in their
alliance. Venus pitched Soda and appeared to make a huge mistake when
she pitched Tevin to Maria. For me, it was very interesting when Tevin
pitched blindsiding Soda to Liz. Liz was totally on board. We found out
Liz has been waiting for Nami to lose so she could take a shot at her
number one target Soda. Back in Episode 1, I thought Liz would be gone
very early as she seemed to have no game. Now I’m thinking she’s been
very under edited. Her social game is probably way better than the edit
has shown.

Tribal Council 1 (Night 14)

I thought this was pretty good. Charlie clearly knew he was good as he
didn’t bother playing his SITD. Soda was blindsided and I had to laugh
when Soda said to Venus “it was you” and Venus took credit even though
it was Tevin’s plan. The vote was 4–2 with Tevin and Soda voting for
Venus. Soda was cool with her blindside and gave Venus a hug on her way
out. Venus said “I love you so much, babe” which was not what I was
expecting to hear.

Back at Kenzie’s Camp (old Siga camp)

Note: This was shown before the first TC.

This was an interesting segment and proved my take on Tim was correct. Q
wanted to take out Ben to weaken the old Siga tribe and to stay strong
with the 6 alliance. Tim wanted to take out Hunter to help his own game.
He said to Q that neither of them had beaten Hunter in a challenge and
doubted they ever would. Q said he could beat him. Q was mad at Tim and
pitched to Tiff and Kenz that they take him out. They were on board. But
later Q started to waffle which pissed the girls off. He wanted Ben gone
and so did Tiff, but Kenz was not on board after helping Ben deal with a
panic attack in the middle of the night (1:30AM apparently. Do these
guys have a clock at camp?).

Tribal Council 2 (Night 14)

This was a great TC for Kenz. Lots of positive praise including Q going
out of his way to shine a spotlight on her. The rest of the team even
clapped to show their agreement. Tim was blindsided in a 4–2 vote. He
and Ben voted for Hunter. Hunter knew that the Yanu 3 had taken him in
allowing him to save his SITD and HII.

Next Episode

Looks like Hunter tries to outdo Tony! Something crazy must happen at TC
based on a comment Jeff makes and Soda’s reaction.

I think this episode might have given us the first signs of someone
getting a winners edit. Kenzie had an amazing edit. The scene with Ben
would have won her the fan favorite vote if they still did such a thing.
All the praise she got at TC was also amazing. It looks like everyone
loves her. As of right now, the only person I see beating her would be
Tiff who also appears to well loved.

--
Brian

On Apr 11, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>
> Maria (won immunity and reward for her team)

Did you notice that the viewers weren’t shown all of
the challenge? The players were already standing
on level 2 when we heard Probst’s overdubbed voice
saying, "this challenge is on”.

> I thought Liz would be gone
> very early as she seemed to have no game. Now I’m thinking she’s been
> very under edited. Her social game is probably way better than the edit
> has shown.
I agree with that. Given that Purple Tribe was going to TC in virtually
every episode, and there were so many heartwarming Bhanu moments
that needed to be shown, we saw very little of Orange Tribe prior
to the merge. Given these limitations, the editors decided to focus
on the conflict between Venus and Soda during Orange Tribe’s
screen time, and save Liz and Tevin until later.
>
> Tribal Council 1 (Night 14)
>
> I thought this was pretty good. Charlie clearly knew he was good as he
> didn’t bother playing his SITD. Soda was blindsided and I had to laugh
> when Soda said to Venus “it was you” and Venus took credit even though
> it was Tevin’s plan. The vote was 4–2 with Tevin and Soda voting for
> Venus. Soda was cool with her blindside and gave Venus a hug on her way
> out. Venus said “I love you so much, babe” which was not what I was
> expecting to hear.
In the New Era, the person who is booted loves everybody else, especially
the player who just finished cutting their throat. More and more frequently
I find myself thinking nostalgically about Ozzy’s death stare after he was
blindsided in S16. There wasn’t a whole lot of love at that TC.

BTW, why do you think that Tevin voted for Soda? And do you think that
he was annoyed when Venus appeared to take credit for the blindside?

..
>
> This was an interesting segment and proved my take on Tim was correct. Q
> wanted to take out Ben to weaken the old Siga tribe and to stay strong
> with the 6 alliance. Tim wanted to take out Hunter to help his own game.

My impression was that Tim wanted to target Hunter for two reasons:
-there may never be a better chance to do so
-he was concerned that the members of the former Orange Tribe would
develop such a numerical advantage that he would have to resort to working
with dicks like Cue going down the stretch.
OTOH, if he was that concerned about numbers, why did he and Ben vote
for one of their own tribe mates in E06?
>
>
>
> This was a great TC for Kenz. Lots of positive praise including Q going
> out of his way to shine a spotlight on her. The rest of the team even
> clapped to show their agreement.

At which point Probst bellowed, “That’s the way they do it on
Survivor!”

I thought this was actually one of the season’s better episodes, although
that’s probably faint praise given what we had been subjected to
previously. I am also benefiting from being able to recognize the music
that accompanies “Hallmark Survivor moments”, which is my cue to
immediately kill the audio. :-)

On Apr 11, 2024, Zeppo wrote
>
>
> BTW, why do you think that Tevin voted for Soda? And do you think that
> he was annoyed when Venus appeared to take credit for the blindside?
Oops, I meant to ask about Tevin’s vote for VENUS, not Soda.

On 4/11/2024 6:48 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 11, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>>
>> Maria (won immunity and reward for her team)
>
> Did you notice that the viewers weren’t shown all of
> the challenge? The players were already standing
> on level 2 when we heard Probst’s overdubbed voice
> saying, "this challenge is on”.

I forgot to mention that. They also skipped over the bottom "ledge."
Dalton noticed this as well so hopefully he asked Jeff why they skipped
so much.

>> I thought Liz would be gone
>> very early as she seemed to have no game. Now I’m thinking she’s been
>> very under edited. Her social game is probably way better than the edit
>> has shown.
> I agree with that. Given that Purple Tribe was going to TC in virtually
> every episode, and there were so many heartwarming Bhanu moments
> that needed to be shown, we saw very little of Orange Tribe prior
> to the merge. Given these limitations, the editors decided to focus
> on the conflict between Venus and Soda during Orange Tribe’s
> screen time, and save Liz and Tevin until later.

But the editors found time to mislead us into believing Tevin and Soda
were close. That was probably a very short-lived thing. Hunter's also
been under edited.

>> Tribal Council 1 (Night 14)
>>
>> I thought this was pretty good. Charlie clearly knew he was good as he
>> didn’t bother playing his SITD. Soda was blindsided and I had to laugh
>> when Soda said to Venus “it was you” and Venus took credit even though
>> it was Tevin’s plan. The vote was 4–2 with Tevin and Soda voting for
>> Venus. Soda was cool with her blindside and gave Venus a hug on her way
>> out. Venus said “I love you so much, babe” which was not what I was
>> expecting to hear.
> In the New Era, the person who is booted loves everybody else, especially
> the player who just finished cutting their throat. More and more frequently
> I find myself thinking nostalgically about Ozzy’s death stare after he was
> blindsided in S16. There wasn’t a whole lot of love at that TC.

S43 is the exception to the rule for the New Era. That was a pretty
nasty season. I do wish Jeff would realize it's just a game and that
most people don't watch Survivor to be fed social justice narratives.
Give us some villains!

> BTW, why do you think that Tevin voted for Soda? And do you think that
> he was annoyed when Venus appeared to take credit for the blindside?

He was definitely annoyed when Venus took credit for the blindside. The
look on his face and the "No" made that pretty clear. He voted for Venus
not Soda. I think he voted for Venus just in case something weird
happened with the vote and/or people played their SITDs.

>> This was an interesting segment and proved my take on Tim was correct. Q
>> wanted to take out Ben to weaken the old Siga tribe and to stay strong
>> with the 6 alliance. Tim wanted to take out Hunter to help his own game.
>
> My impression was that Tim wanted to target Hunter for two reasons:
> -there may never be a better chance to do so
> -he was concerned that the members of the former Orange Tribe would
> develop such a numerical advantage that he would have to resort to working
> with dicks like Cue going down the stretch.
> OTOH, if he was that concerned about numbers, why did he and Ben vote
> for one of their own tribe mates in E06?

Tim wasn't that smart of a player. Why take out Hunter when you're in a
strong alliance with him? As for working with Q, wasn't he willing to do
that to take out Hunter? Tim was way too transparent with his game
moves. If he wasn't so obvious about wanting to stay Siga strong, I
think Q and the girls would have worked with him.

>> This was a great TC for Kenz. Lots of positive praise including Q going
>> out of his way to shine a spotlight on her. The rest of the team even
>> clapped to show their agreement.
>
> At which point Probst bellowed, “That’s the way they do it on
> Survivor!”

I missed that. Might have been in shock that Q was openly praising
another player to the degree he did.

> I thought this was actually one of the season’s better episodes, although
> that’s probably faint praise given what we had been subjected to
> previously. I am also benefiting from being able to recognize the music
> that accompanies “Hallmark Survivor moments”, which is my cue to
> immediately kill the audio. :-)

It was probably the best and a good episode. We were shown a lot with no
filler. Since Bhanu's boot, the episodes have been a lot better.

As for the Hallmark moments, the scene with Ben and Kenz was really
good. Did you see the black screen at the very end of the show with the
help numbers?

--
Brian

On 4/11/2024 6:54 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 11, 2024, Zeppo wrote
>>
>>
>> BTW, why do you think that Tevin voted for Soda? And do you think that
>> he was annoyed when Venus appeared to take credit for the blindside?
> Oops, I meant to ask about Tevin’s vote for VENUS, not Soda.

I figured that's what you meant. Some people on X are using that to
argue that it was Venus who came up with the blindside plan and not
Tevin. Venus was a great casting choice because she's such a polarizing
player. I'm starting to wonder if she makes F3 and ends up being the one
who gets no votes.

--
Brian

On Apr 11, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>
> Some people on X are using that to
> argue that it was Venus who came up with the blindside plan and not
> Tevin.

Hmm... I’m not so sure about that. My theory is that Tevin was thinking
that
he could get rid of an adversary by letting the other players do the dirty
work
and still get her vote at FTC. Soda’s apparent belief that Venus pulled the
votes together that got her out of the game might actually help Tevin if he
Is able to get to F3.

> Venus was a great casting choice because she's such a polarizing
> player.

I agree. I’m not rooting for her because I don’t really like her as a
person,
and she hasn’t shown any game smarts at all. Despite the outcome, E07
was not a good episode for Venus as she looked even more indecisive
than Cue at times.

> I'm starting to wonder if she makes F3 and ends up being the one
> who gets no votes.

Heh. That’s very possible.

On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 17:48:48 -0700, Zeppo <reg@telus.invalid> wrote:

>On Apr 11, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>>
>> Maria (won immunity and reward for her team)
>
>Did you notice that the viewers weren’t shown all of
>the challenge? The players were already standing
>on level 2 when we heard Probst’s overdubbed voice
>saying, "this challenge is on”.

Yeah, I thought that was strange. Especially in a longer episode.

>> I thought Liz would be gone
>> very early as she seemed to have no game. Now I’m thinking she’s been
>> very under edited. Her social game is probably way better than the edit
>> has shown.
>I agree with that. Given that Purple Tribe was going to TC in virtually
>every episode, and there were so many heartwarming Bhanu moments
>that needed to be shown, we saw very little of Orange Tribe prior
>to the merge. Given these limitations, the editors decided to focus
>on the conflict between Venus and Soda during Orange Tribe’s
>screen time, and save Liz and Tevin until later.
>>
>> Tribal Council 1 (Night 14)
>>
>> I thought this was pretty good. Charlie clearly knew he was good as he
>> didn’t bother playing his SITD. Soda was blindsided and I had to laugh
>> when Soda said to Venus “it was you” and Venus took credit even though
>> it was Tevin’s plan. The vote was 4–2 with Tevin and Soda voting for
>> Venus. Soda was cool with her blindside and gave Venus a hug on her way
>> out. Venus said “I love you so much, babe” which was not what I was
>> expecting to hear.
>In the New Era, the person who is booted loves everybody else, especially
>the player who just finished cutting their throat. More and more frequently
>I find myself thinking nostalgically about Ozzy’s death stare after he was
>blindsided in S16. There wasn’t a whole lot of love at that TC.
>
>BTW, why do you think that Tevin voted for Soda? And do you think that
>he was annoyed when Venus appeared to take credit for the blindside?

Yes, he definitely seemed annoyed by it. Probably worrying about
losing some of his resume credit with the jury even though he
shouldn't.

>.
>>
>> This was an interesting segment and proved my take on Tim was correct. Q
>> wanted to take out Ben to weaken the old Siga tribe and to stay strong
>> with the 6 alliance. Tim wanted to take out Hunter to help his own game.
>
>My impression was that Tim wanted to target Hunter for two reasons:
>-there may never be a better chance to do so
>-he was concerned that the members of the former Orange Tribe would
>develop such a numerical advantage that he would have to resort to working
>with dicks like Cue going down the stretch.
>OTOH, if he was that concerned about numbers, why did he and Ben vote
>for one of their own tribe mates in E06?

Tim didn't seem to have a coherent plan.

>>
>>
>>
>> This was a great TC for Kenz. Lots of positive praise including Q going
>> out of his way to shine a spotlight on her. The rest of the team even
>> clapped to show their agreement.
>
>At which point Probst bellowed, “That’s the way they do it on
>Survivor!”
>
>I thought this was actually one of the season’s better episodes, although
>that’s probably faint praise given what we had been subjected to
>previously. I am also benefiting from being able to recognize the music
>that accompanies “Hallmark Survivor moments”, which is my cue to
>immediately kill the audio. :-)
>

So you are hoping for another memory walk at the end of the season?

On 4/11/2024 8:57 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 11, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>>
>> Some people on X are using that to
>> argue that it was Venus who came up with the blindside plan and not
>> Tevin.
>
> Hmm... I’m not so sure about that. My theory is that Tevin was thinking
> that
> he could get rid of an adversary by letting the other players do the dirty
> work
> and still get her vote at FTC. Soda’s apparent belief that Venus pulled the
> votes together that got her out of the game might actually help Tevin if he
> Is able to get to F3.

That's an interesting theory but the edit doesn't support it. Right
after the scene with Tevin and Liz, they showed a confessional with
Tevin where he says he wants to be the mastermind/architect of the first
big blindside of the season. Doesn't make sense that he wouldn't want to
take credit for the move. If he waits to FTC to say something, Venus
will be easily able to counter him by saying she wanted Soda out long
before this past TC. She was also very open about it. I also think Soda
won't believe him.

>> Venus was a great casting choice because she's such a polarizing
>> player.
>
> I agree. I’m not rooting for her because I don’t really like her as a
> person,
> and she hasn’t shown any game smarts at all. Despite the outcome, E07
> was not a good episode for Venus as she looked even more indecisive
> than Cue at times.

I like that she's at least playing the game. I think being so young is
hurting her. If she got to play again in two or three years she would be
much better at the social aspect of the game. She's way too direct for a
game like Survivor.

>> I'm starting to wonder if she makes F3 and ends up being the one
>> who gets no votes.
>
> Heh. That’s very possible.

Q would be another possibility but the odds of him making F3 are
probably way lower than Venus making it.

--
Brian

"Zeppo" wrote in message
news:0001HW.2BC8BDB90014113A3060C938F@news.easynews.com...
>
>On Apr 11, 2024, Zeppo wrote
>>
>>
>> BTW, why do you think that Tevin voted for Soda? And do you think that
>> he was annoyed when Venus appeared to take credit for the blindside?
>Oops, I meant to ask about Tevin’s vote for VENUS, not Soda.
>

I assumed it was just a hedge against her playing a shot in the dark or
immunity idol. In other words, it was just a vote split.

--

On Apr 11, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
(in article <uva3cf$242bp$1@dont-email.me>):

>
> >
>
> I forgot to mention that. They also skipped over the bottom "ledge."
> Dalton noticed this as well so hopefully he asked Jeff why they skipped
> so much.

I was actually fine with being shown only the latter parts of the challenge
given that nothing happened prior to the players getting to the top of their
“Bermuda Triangles”. As far as I’m concerned, Cue’s stupid alphabet
game
and Tim’s recitation of the names of what seemed to be hundreds of
offspring
could have been omitted from the edit as well.
>
> But the editors found time to mislead us into believing Tevin and Soda
> were close. That was probably a very short-lived thing. Hunter's also
> been under edited.

I was under the impression that Soda felt closer to Tevin than vice versa.
For somebody who was considered to be a dangerous player by, at least,
some of her tribe mates, it surprises me that, over the course of eleven
days, she had not become aware that Tevin had developed a tighter bond
with Hunter than with herself.
>
>
> S43 is the exception to the rule for the New Era. That was a pretty
> nasty season. I do wish Jeff would realize it's just a game and that
> most people don't watch Survivor to be fed social justice narratives.

IIRC, your comment would apply to S42 more than 43.
>
> Give us some villains!

I have been operating under the assumption that Cue and Venus qualify
as New Era villains :-).
>
>
> He was definitely annoyed when Venus took credit for the blindside.

After watching the episode for a second time, I am willing to entertain
the possibility that Venus honestly thought that she had orchestrated
the Soda blindside, and was not consciously “stealing Tevin’s thunder”.
At the end of tribal council, we got a shot of Venus, looking like a
proud mother, with her arms around Charlie and Maria.
I think that she may have thought that she had talked them into voting
with her, and that her “arch nemeses”, Tevin and Soda, had been
foiled in their attempt to get her out of the game. It’s not clear where
Liz would fit into such a scenario, but Venus would have certainly
pitched some sort of vote to her prior to the TC.

>
> Tim wasn't that smart of a player. Why take out Hunter when you're in a
> strong alliance with him? As for working with Q, wasn't he willing to do
> that to take out Hunter?

I think that Tim was right about Hunter, and never took the “+1” alliance
seriously. IMO, if Tim had stayed in the game, we would have seen him
pitching a vote for Cue to his former Green Tribe buddies before too long.
>
>
> As for the Hallmark moments, the scene with Ben and Kenz was really
> good. Did you see the black screen at the very end of the show with the
> help numbers?

No. As soon as the victim of the week disappears down Loser’s Lane
I stop watching in order to avoid the “Next on Survivor” preview which
I consider to be a spoiler.

On Apr 12, 2024, shawn wrote
(in article<0uci1j99gso4dki0q9gt9q5el0fbc21945@4ax.com>):
..
> > I am also benefiting from being able to recognize the music
> > that accompanies “Hallmark Survivor moments”, which is my cue to
> > immediately kill the audio. :-)
>
> So you are hoping for another memory walk at the end of the season?

Given a choice between the return of either the Rites of Passage or
Family Visit segments, I would enthusiastically vote for the former :-).

On 4/13/2024 5:26 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 12, 2024, shawn wrote
> (in article<0uci1j99gso4dki0q9gt9q5el0fbc21945@4ax.com>):
> .
>>> I am also benefiting from being able to recognize the music
>>> that accompanies “Hallmark Survivor moments”, which is my cue to
>>> immediately kill the audio. :-)
>>
>> So you are hoping for another memory walk at the end of the season?
>
> Given a choice between the return of either the Rites of Passage or
> Family Visit segments, I would enthusiastically vote for the former :-).

Loved Ones segments have given us some pretty cringe moments. If Bhanu
had one that probably would have been the worst of all.

--
Brian

On Apr 12, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>
> That's an interesting theory but the edit doesn't support it. Right
> after the scene with Tevin and Liz, they showed a confessional with
> Tevin where he says he wants to be the mastermind/architect of the first
> big blindside of the season. Doesn't make sense that he wouldn't want to
> take credit for the move.

Yes, you’re very likely right, and I was overanalyzing Tevin’s game
play. When I saw that the second Venus vote was from him, I
wondered why, in every scene that we saw of him discussing the
move with Liz, Maria, and Charlie, he never mentioned a vote
split in his pitch. But, it seems likely that any such reference was
kept out of the final edit in order to heighten the degree of
uncertainty in the minds of the viewers as the votes were being
read.
>
> I like that she's at least playing the game. I think being so young is
> hurting her.

She’s actually 24, not 20 as Maria stated, which makes her the same
age as Tevin. However, if I didn’t know that, I would have assumed that
Tevin was much older than Venus based on the way he carries himself
on the show.

>
> Q would be another possibility but the odds of him making F3 are
> probably way lower than Venus making it.

IMO, Cue would be a very dangerous goat at FTC because he is
a good talker who knows how to sell a product. Even though the edit
Is portraying him as not being well liked, I could see him “pulling a
Gabler”
In front of the jury. Up to this point, he has come across as being more
than a little scattered when discussing strategy, but he is capable of
expressing himself in an eloquent and convincing manner when
addressing a group of people eg. the “Kenzie speech” at the E07 tribal
council.

On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
(in article <uvf5fc$38kmq$1@dont-email.me>):

> Loved Ones segments have given us some pretty cringe moments. If Bhanu
> had one that probably would have been the worst of all.

For sure! But, OTOH, I wouldn’t mind seeing his wife just to
satisfy my curiosity about the type of person who could live
with such a dweeb.

On Apr 13, 2024, Zeppo wrote
(in article<0001HW.2BCB587D000B9DC53075B938F@news.easynews.com>):

> On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
> (in article <uvf5fc$38kmq$1@dont-email.me>):
>
> > Loved Ones segments have given us some pretty cringe moments. If Bhanu
> > had one that probably would have been the worst of all.
>
> For sure! But, OTOH, I wouldn’t mind seeing his wife just to
> satisfy my curiosity about the type of person who could live
> with such a dweeb.

Actually, now that I’ve had some time to consider such a reunion,
I can definitely see Bhanu doing his best Kat Edorrson imitation
as his wife bursts out of the jungle. Maybe reinstating the
Family Visit is not such a bad idea after all :-).

On 4/13/2024 5:21 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 11, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
> (in article <uva3cf$242bp$1@dont-email.me>):
>
>>
>>>
>>
>> I forgot to mention that. They also skipped over the bottom "ledge."
>> Dalton noticed this as well so hopefully he asked Jeff why they skipped
>> so much.
>
> I was actually fine with being shown only the latter parts of the challenge
> given that nothing happened prior to the players getting to the top of their
> “Bermuda Triangles”. As far as I’m concerned, Cue’s stupid alphabet
> game
> and Tim’s recitation of the names of what seemed to be hundreds of
> offspring
> could have been omitted from the edit as well.

I agree. Is Q deaf or was he just being extra annoying on purpose? I did
laugh at his black people comments when he was on the sitout bench. Tim
spent too much time learning about people's families and not enough on
who's aligned with who.

>> But the editors found time to mislead us into believing Tevin and Soda
>> were close. That was probably a very short-lived thing. Hunter's also
>> been under edited.
>
> I was under the impression that Soda felt closer to Tevin than vice versa.
> For somebody who was considered to be a dangerous player by, at least,
> some of her tribe mates, it surprises me that, over the course of eleven
> days, she had not become aware that Tevin had developed a tighter bond
> with Hunter than with herself.

You're probably right. Tevin appears to be too high on himself to be
that close to anyone. Soda might have thought they were tight based on
their mutual dislike/distrust of Venus.

>> S43 is the exception to the rule for the New Era. That was a pretty
>> nasty season. I do wish Jeff would realize it's just a game and that
>> most people don't watch Survivor to be fed social justice narratives.
>
> IIRC, your comment would apply to S42 more than 43.

You're right. S43 was more a case of general nastiness. I'm still irked
at how badly Cassidy was treated. For S42, I still can't get over that
Sia gave Drea $100K. Does she actually watch the show?!

>> Give us some villains!
>
> I have been operating under the assumption that Cue and Venus qualify
> as New Era villains :-).

Venus yes, Q no. I could see Liz turning out to be a villain.

>> He was definitely annoyed when Venus took credit for the blindside.
>
> After watching the episode for a second time, I am willing to entertain
> the possibility that Venus honestly thought that she had orchestrated
> the Soda blindside, and was not consciously “stealing Tevin’s thunder”.
> At the end of tribal council, we got a shot of Venus, looking like a
> proud mother, with her arms around Charlie and Maria.
> I think that she may have thought that she had talked them into voting
> with her, and that her “arch nemeses”, Tevin and Soda, had been
> foiled in their attempt to get her out of the game. It’s not clear where
> Liz would fit into such a scenario, but Venus would have certainly
> pitched some sort of vote to her prior to the TC.

That makes perfect sense. There's no way Venus stole credit from Tevin
for getting Soda out.

>> Tim wasn't that smart of a player. Why take out Hunter when you're in a
>> strong alliance with him? As for working with Q, wasn't he willing to do
>> that to take out Hunter?
>
> I think that Tim was right about Hunter, and never took the “+1” alliance
> seriously. IMO, if Tim had stayed in the game, we would have seen him
> pitching a vote for Cue to his former Green Tribe buddies before too long.

I'd say you're right about him not taking the +1 alliance seriously and
that he would have gone after Q. But would Venus's side join them? I
think Tim had a horrible read on who was aligned with who. He seemed to
have forgotten that Tiff and Kenz were with Q and unlikely to go against
him unless they were given a good reason to do so. I don't recall us
being shown Tim pitching to the girls to take out Hunter. He should have
also realized that Hunter is a way better meatshield than Ben.

>> As for the Hallmark moments, the scene with Ben and Kenz was really
>> good. Did you see the black screen at the very end of the show with the
>> help numbers?
>
> No. As soon as the victim of the week disappears down Loser’s Lane
> I stop watching in order to avoid the “Next on Survivor” preview which
> I consider to be a spoiler.

The previews rarely spoil anything. Hopefully the one for next week
lives up to the hype. After 45.5 seasons it's hard to think of something
that has never happened before.

--
Brian

On 4/13/2024 6:15 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 12, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>>
>> That's an interesting theory but the edit doesn't support it. Right
>> after the scene with Tevin and Liz, they showed a confessional with
>> Tevin where he says he wants to be the mastermind/architect of the first
>> big blindside of the season. Doesn't make sense that he wouldn't want to
>> take credit for the move.
>
> Yes, you’re very likely right, and I was overanalyzing Tevin’s game
> play. When I saw that the second Venus vote was from him, I
> wondered why, in every scene that we saw of him discussing the
> move with Liz, Maria, and Charlie, he never mentioned a vote
> split in his pitch. But, it seems likely that any such reference was
> kept out of the final edit in order to heighten the degree of
> uncertainty in the minds of the viewers as the votes were being
> read.

We'll likely find out at the start of the next episode as Venus is
likely to ask/confront him about why he voted for her.

>> I like that she's at least playing the game. I think being so young is
>> hurting her.
>
> She’s actually 24, not 20 as Maria stated, which makes her the same
> age as Tevin. However, if I didn’t know that, I would have assumed that
> Tevin was much older than Venus based on the way he carries himself
> on the show.

I thought 20 sounded wrong and didn't they say early on that Charlie's
the youngest this season. I didn't know Tevin's 24. I thought he was in
his early 30s.

>> Q would be another possibility but the odds of him making F3 are
>> probably way lower than Venus making it.
>
> IMO, Cue would be a very dangerous goat at FTC because he is
> a good talker who knows how to sell a product. Even though the edit
> Is portraying him as not being well liked, I could see him “pulling a
> Gabler”
> In front of the jury. Up to this point, he has come across as being more
> than a little scattered when discussing strategy, but he is capable of
> expressing himself in an eloquent and convincing manner when
> addressing a group of people eg. the “Kenzie speech” at the E07 tribal
> council.

He was convincing when giving the "Kenzie speech" because her actions
and behavior match what he said about her. Will he be able to sell his
game strongly enough to over come annoying so many people? I wouldn't
count him out if he makes F3 but I don't the others letting him get to
the end. For Tiff and Kenz, he's much better on the jury than sitting
beside them.

--
Brian

On 4/13/2024 6:39 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 13, 2024, Zeppo wrote
> (in article<0001HW.2BCB587D000B9DC53075B938F@news.easynews.com>):
>
>> On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>> (in article <uvf5fc$38kmq$1@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>> Loved Ones segments have given us some pretty cringe moments. If Bhanu
>>> had one that probably would have been the worst of all.
>>
>> For sure! But, OTOH, I wouldn’t mind seeing his wife just to
>> satisfy my curiosity about the type of person who could live
>> with such a dweeb.
>
> Actually, now that I’ve had some time to consider such a reunion,
> I can definitely see Bhanu doing his best Kat Edorrson imitation
> as his wife bursts out of the jungle. Maybe reinstating the
> Family Visit is not such a bad idea after all :-).

Kat and her cousin might never be beat.

Bhanu is gay but married. His partner's name is George Rautenberg.

--
Brian

On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
(in article <uvfifg$3eo09$1@dont-email.me>):

>
> Kat and her cousin might never be beat.
>
> Bhanu is gay but married. His partner's name is George Rautenberg.

Thanks for that information. Normally I don’t want to know anything
about the players IRL, but I shouldn’t have made assumptions about
Bhanu’s sexuality based on the fact that he was wearing a wedding ring.

On 4/14/2024 6:16 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
> (in article <uvfifg$3eo09$1@dont-email.me>):
>
>>
>> Kat and her cousin might never be beat.
>>
>> Bhanu is gay but married. His partner's name is George Rautenberg.
>
> Thanks for that information. Normally I don’t want to know anything
> about the players IRL, but I shouldn’t have made assumptions about
> Bhanu’s sexuality based on the fact that he was wearing a wedding ring.

His repeated use of the term "partner" made me think he might be gay
which led to some research. I was not expecting to find what I found.
Now I think he was acting the entire time he was in the game. Bhanu's an
actor!

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14003069/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

--
Brian

"Brian Smith" wrote in message news:uvl9mg$qu3s$2@dont-email.me...
>
>On 4/14/2024 6:16 PM, Zeppo wrote:
>> On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>> (in article <uvfifg$3eo09$1@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>>
>>> Kat and her cousin might never be beat.
>>>
>>> Bhanu is gay but married. His partner's name is George Rautenberg.
>>
>> Thanks for that information. Normally I don’t want to know anything
>> about the players IRL, but I shouldn’t have made assumptions about
>> Bhanu’s sexuality based on the fact that he was wearing a wedding ring.
>
>His repeated use of the term "partner" made me think he might be gay which
>led to some research. I was not expecting to find what I found. Now I think
>he was acting the entire time he was in the game. Bhanu's an actor!
>
>https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14003069/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
>

I also thought Bhanu was doing a certain amount of acting for the camera,
especially when he was begging Tif or someone to keep him in the game. I
remember watching that and thinking I was watching a bad high school acting
performance. It also struck me how he kept talking about how he would "tell
his story" at TC. I initially thought he was showing a monumental lack of
self-awareness over how he was coming across, but when he mentioned getting
to "tell his story" I started thinking he was maybe more self-aware than we
all thought.

BTW, the use of the word "partner" to suggest a person might be gay did not
occur to me because I watch a lot of international reality shows - and in
countries like the UK and Australia, the word is often used to describe a
partner in a straight relationship.

--

On 4/16/2024 7:54 AM, Rick wrote:
> "Brian Smith"  wrote in message news:uvl9mg$qu3s$2@dont-email.me...
>>
>> On 4/14/2024 6:16 PM, Zeppo wrote:
>>> On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>>> (in article <uvfifg$3eo09$1@dont-email.me>):
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Kat and her cousin might never be beat.
>>>>
>>>> Bhanu is gay but married. His partner's name is George Rautenberg.
>>>
>>> Thanks for that information. Normally I don’t want to know anything
>>> about the players IRL, but I shouldn’t have made assumptions about
>>> Bhanu’s sexuality based on the fact that he was wearing a wedding ring.
>>
>> His repeated use of the term "partner" made me think he might be gay
>> which led to some research. I was not expecting to find what I found.
>> Now I think he was acting the entire time he was in the game. Bhanu's
>> an actor!
>>
>> https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14003069/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
>>
>
> I also thought Bhanu was doing a certain amount of acting for the
> camera, especially when he was begging Tif or someone to keep him in the
> game.  I remember watching that and thinking I was watching a bad high
> school acting performance.  It also struck me how he kept talking about
> how he would "tell his story" at TC.  I initially thought he was showing
> a monumental lack of self-awareness over how he was coming across, but
> when he mentioned getting to "tell his story" I started thinking he was
> maybe more self-aware than we all thought.

The whole "I'm not here to win a million dollars, I'm here to win a
million hearts" always made suspicious about him. He was very
calculating and it looks like his real objective was/is to cash in on
other projects.

> BTW, the use of the word "partner" to suggest a person might be gay did
> not occur to me because I watch a lot of international reality shows -
> and in countries like the UK and Australia, the word is often used to
> describe a partner in a straight relationship.

I meant to add in that I doubt they use "partner" to describe a straight
relationship in India.

Knowing now that Bhanu is gay, I'm kind of surprised the show didn't
mention it. Or were they satisfied with focusing on his ethnicity and
background story?

--
Brian

"Brian Smith" wrote in message news:uvmjte$1421b$1@dont-email.me...
>
>On 4/16/2024 7:54 AM, Rick wrote:
>> "Brian Smith" wrote in message news:uvl9mg$qu3s$2@dont-email.me...
>>>
>>> On 4/14/2024 6:16 PM, Zeppo wrote:
>>>> On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>>>> (in article <uvfifg$3eo09$1@dont-email.me>):
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Kat and her cousin might never be beat.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bhanu is gay but married. His partner's name is George Rautenberg.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for that information. Normally I don’t want to know anything
>>>> about the players IRL, but I shouldn’t have made assumptions about
>>>> Bhanu’s sexuality based on the fact that he was wearing a wedding ring.
>>>
>>> His repeated use of the term "partner" made me think he might be gay
>>> which led to some research. I was not expecting to find what I found.
>>> Now I think he was acting the entire time he was in the game. Bhanu's an
>>> actor!
>>>
>>> https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14003069/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
>>>
>>
>> I also thought Bhanu was doing a certain amount of acting for the camera,
>> especially when he was begging Tif or someone to keep him in the game. I
>> remember watching that and thinking I was watching a bad high school
>> acting performance. It also struck me how he kept talking about how he
>> would "tell his story" at TC. I initially thought he was showing a
>> monumental lack of self-awareness over how he was coming across, but when
>> he mentioned getting to "tell his story" I started thinking he was maybe
>> more self-aware than we all thought.
>
>The whole "I'm not here to win a million dollars, I'm here to win a million
>hearts" always made suspicious about him. He was very calculating and it
>looks like his real objective was/is to cash in on other projects.
>
>> BTW, the use of the word "partner" to suggest a person might be gay did
>> not occur to me because I watch a lot of international reality shows -
>> and in countries like the UK and Australia, the word is often used to
>> describe a partner in a straight relationship.
>
>I meant to add in that I doubt they use "partner" to describe a straight
>relationship in India.
>
>Knowing now that Bhanu is gay, I'm kind of surprised the show didn't
>mention it. Or were they satisfied with focusing on his ethnicity and
>background story?
>

There was a famous Mother-Son team on the Amazing Race several years ago,
Margie and Luke, where the fact that Luke was gay was never mentioned once
in either of his appearances on the show. The reason it was never mentioned
is that Luke was also deaf, and the show clearly didn't want to complicate
or confuse that storyline by also mentioning his sexual orientation.

I kind of think the same thing was probably at work here. Bhanu was such a
bigger than life character whose apparent helplessness in the game was such
a major storyline that they probably thought bringing in the fact he is gay
would just confuse the message.

--

On 4/16/2024 3:33 PM, Rick wrote:
> "Brian Smith"  wrote in message news:uvmjte$1421b$1@dont-email.me...
>>
>> On 4/16/2024 7:54 AM, Rick wrote:
>>> "Brian Smith"  wrote in message news:uvl9mg$qu3s$2@dont-email.me...
>>>>
>>>> On 4/14/2024 6:16 PM, Zeppo wrote:
>>>>> On Apr 13, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
>>>>> (in article <uvfifg$3eo09$1@dont-email.me>):
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Kat and her cousin might never be beat.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Bhanu is gay but married. His partner's name is George Rautenberg.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for that information. Normally I don’t want to know anything
>>>>> about the players IRL, but I shouldn’t have made assumptions about
>>>>> Bhanu’s sexuality based on the fact that he was wearing a wedding
>>>>> ring.
>>>>
>>>> His repeated use of the term "partner" made me think he might be gay
>>>> which led to some research. I was not expecting to find what I
>>>> found. Now I think he was acting the entire time he was in the game.
>>>> Bhanu's an actor!
>>>>
>>>> https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14003069/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
>>>>
>>>
>>> I also thought Bhanu was doing a certain amount of acting for the
>>> camera, especially when he was begging Tif or someone to keep him in
>>> the game.  I remember watching that and thinking I was watching a bad
>>> high school acting performance.  It also struck me how he kept
>>> talking about how he would "tell his story" at TC.  I initially
>>> thought he was showing a monumental lack of self-awareness over how
>>> he was coming across, but when he mentioned getting to "tell his
>>> story" I started thinking he was maybe more self-aware than we all
>>> thought.
>>
>> The whole "I'm not here to win a million dollars, I'm here to win a
>> million hearts" always made suspicious about him. He was very
>> calculating and it looks like his real objective was/is to cash in on
>> other projects.
>>
>>> BTW, the use of the word "partner" to suggest a person might be gay
>>> did not occur to me because I watch a lot of international reality
>>> shows - and in countries like the UK and Australia, the word is often
>>> used to describe a partner in a straight relationship.
>>
>> I meant to add in that I doubt they use "partner" to describe a
>> straight relationship in India.
>>
>> Knowing now that Bhanu is gay, I'm kind of surprised the show didn't
>> mention it. Or were they satisfied with focusing on his ethnicity and
>> background story?
>>
>
> There was a famous Mother-Son team on the Amazing Race several years
> ago, Margie and Luke, where the fact that Luke was gay was never
> mentioned once in either of his appearances on the show.  The reason it
> was never mentioned is that Luke was also deaf, and the show clearly
> didn't want to complicate or confuse that storyline by also mentioning
> his sexual orientation.

I actually remember them. IIRC, he was annoying as hell.

> I kind of think the same thing was probably at work here.  Bhanu was
> such a bigger than life character whose apparent helplessness in the
> game was such a major storyline that they probably thought bringing in
> the fact he is gay would just confuse the message.

Yeah, that sounds right. They also seem to be downplaying sexuality
lately. Half the cast last season was gay but you'd never know it if you
didn't follow them on SM.

--
Brian