Tonight's episode is titled "Let's Not Be Cute About It." Apparently, they have to find a key to unlock a new twist.

--
Brian

On Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 5:55:04 PM UTC-6, Brian Smith wrote:
> Tonight's episode is titled "Let's Not Be Cute About It." Apparently, they have to find a key to unlock a new twist.
>
> --
> Brian

I found tonight’s episode frustrating to watch at times and emotional at others. I don’t think things turned out the way production wanted them to. Anyway, here’s my two cents on the episode.

Brandon telling Matt that the birdcage contained a real and a fake idol will probably turn out to be a key moment in the season. Matt was convinced that he had a real idol up to that point but after Brandon broke the news to him, he realized that he had been played by Danny. This then led to Matt pushing to blindside Danny. I think it might have also made Matt too cocky for his own good.

Immunity/Reward Challenge

The tribe arrives at the challenge and Jeff springs a twist on them. They’ll be competing as two teams of five with the person who lasts the longest on each tribe being immune. We’ve seen this before. Then he tells them the person who lasts the longest overall win immunity for their entire team. They’ll go to TC but will only get to watch. The person who drew the gray rock would not compete but would get to choose which tribe they thought would win. Their fate would be tied to that team. So, despite being merged the first jury member would be decided by just five or six people.

Carson drew the gray rock and decided to go with Frannie’s team. Matt was on the other team. It was a balance endurance challenge. Very quickly it was just Frannie vs. four people on the other team. For some reason she kept going even though she had won immunity. Against all odds it became a battle between her and Brandon which she won. Brandon was immune but the rest of his team was not. If Frannie had been thinking she should have stopped after winning immunity for herself to ensure Matt would be safe. She could have tried to convince her team to blindside Danny.

Jeff then threw another twist at them. Instead of going back to camp the losing team would be going to the old Soka camp to figure things out. We then found out that Matt didn’t bother to bring his bag with him so he couldn’t play his SITD. You’d think after 40+ seasons players would know to always be prepared for any type of blindside. Matt knew he was in trouble and tried everything possible to get the target off his back. He pitched taking out Lauren to Brandon and Jaime, but Brandon told him right away he wouldn’t be voting for her. In a bonus clip (https://youtu.be/rX2lGmJ4NHo), Matt tells Jaime all about the birdcage, but she doesn’t believe what he says. It’ll be funny when she finds out that Matthew played her.

There was yet another twist at the winning team’s feast. There was a note that told them to look for keys in the jungle and the first person to find the one that opened the lock would get an advantage. Heidi ended up with the “Control a Vote” advantage which allowed her to control someone’s vote at this TC only. This got Carolyn and Frannie all excited as they thought it would give them a way to save Yam Yam and Matt. And it should have given how the advantage was set up.

Tribal Council

I was shocked Heidi got to use her advantage openly. All she had to do was tell Jaime she had to vote for Lauren or Brandon and if Yam Yam and Matt were smart, they would have voted for the same person. Instead, Heidi told Lauren to vote for Yam Yam. Jeff also clarified that Heidi only controlled one of Lauren’s votes. Matt also voted for Yam Yam and the other three voted for him making Matt the first member of the jury. Heidi’s logic makes no sense to me. Yam Yam, Carolyn, and Frannie are now probably all pissed at her.

It was sad to see Matt go out on twists but he and Frannie both made some huge mistakes tonight. Dalton thinks Frannie winning the IC overall might be a blessing in disguise for her as it could take the target off of her (https://ew.com/tv/recaps/survivor-44-recap-episode-7/). He might be right. If she gets over Matt being out ASAP she can also focus solely on the game.

Next Episode

Carolyn gets entangled in a huge net and Carson dies. Food poisoning? Bit by a poisonous snake or fish?

--
Brian

On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 1:36:52 AM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> For some reason she kept going even though she had won immunity. Against all odds it became a battle between her and Brandon which she won. Brandon was immune but the rest of his team was not. If Frannie had been thinking she should have stopped after winning immunity for herself to ensure Matt would be safe. She could have tried to convince her team to blindside Danny.

She is a fierce competitor who was deeply focused on the task at hand. She would never have considered throwing the challenge to be an option.
> I was shocked Heidi got to use her advantage openly. All she had to do was tell Jaime she had to vote for Lauren or Brandon and if Yam Yam and Matt were smart, they would have voted >for the same person. Instead, Heidi told Lauren to vote for Yam Yam.

Brandon had immunity so, if she had targeted Jaime, she would have had to tell her to vote for Lauren and hope that Yum and Matt both get the message that
they need to vote the same way. But, even if everything went according to plan, Lauren would have used both of her votes on Matt forcing a 3-3 tie. This
probably would have resulted in Yum going to Ponderosa on a re-vote.
IMO, Heidi did the best that she could given the information that she had. Everybody who she talked to felt that Brandon, Lauren, and Jaime, who
were all original Orange Tribe members, would vote together which implied that she might be able to save either Matt or Yum with her advantage.
Given that both Matt and Frannie were her tribemates, she chose to put the vote that she controlled on to Yum. I thought that it was a sensible
decision that just didn't work out the way that she hoped.
This episode was yet another example of Production messing with the game far too much. I get that they want to throw in new wrinkles to keep the show
fresh, but, IMO, Heidi ended up in a really tough spot and a fair number of the viewers were probably left confused as to what was going on. I think that the
episode would have been better if the game had been played straight ie. one immunity challenge and a TC with eleven (or maybe twelve) people voting. It
would have been really interesting to see how the ex-members of Purple Tribe played in a situation in which the members of the former Orange and Green
Tribes had equal numbers.

>Jeff also clarified that Heidi only controlled one of Lauren’s votes. Matt also voted for Yam Yam and the other three voted for him making Matt the first member of the jury. Heidi’s logic >makes no sense to me. Yam Yam, Carolyn, and Frannie are now probably all pissed at her.

Well, maybe not Frannie...but I get your point.

> Dalton thinks Frannie winning the IC overall might be a blessing in disguise for her as it could take the target off of her (https://ew.com/tv/recaps/survivor-44-recap-episode-7/). He might >be right. If she gets over Matt being out ASAP she can also focus solely on the game.

I think that he is right. In confessional Frannie said, "We have to use this advantage to save Matt. Right?" She and Heidi may have agreed on this, but I would wager
that Danny, Carson, Kane, and Carolyn had other priorities in mind. Now that Matt is gone, Frannie will hopefully become more aware of the "big picture".

Some other comments:
-I am becoming increasingly nostalgic for the days when the Survivor editors at least made an effort to mislead the viewers as to the outcomes of votes
and challenges. Both Frannie's IC victory and Matt's boot were telegraphed in a manner that would have been unthinkable during the "old school" seasons.
-I would be willing to put up with any amount of "Godspeak" from Lauren if she would agree to wear her hair down in future challenges. She looked amazing!
-Speaking of Lauren, Danny was probably livid that, even after being forced to vote for Yum, her extra vote was still in play.
-I could have definitely done without Kane telling the viewers that he could feel his gut shaking during the key search. Yet another example of "too much
information" IMO.

On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 5:17:33 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 1:36:52 AM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > For some reason she kept going even though she had won immunity. Against all odds it became a battle between her and Brandon which she won. Brandon was immune but the rest of his team was not. If Frannie had been thinking she should have stopped after winning immunity for herself to ensure Matt would be safe. She could have tried to convince her team to blindside Danny..
> She is a fierce competitor who was deeply focused on the task at hand. She would never have considered throwing the challenge to be an option.

Owen made a very similar point on Twitter. I still think she screwed up. To me, she never threw the challenge. She won immunity for herself which was the most important thing to do. For her game the next most important think was having Matt be safe. He was integral to her game. The four people she was randomly assigned to for a day were not.

> > I was shocked Heidi got to use her advantage openly. All she had to do was tell Jaime she had to vote for Lauren or Brandon and if Yam Yam and Matt were smart, they would have voted >for the same person. Instead, Heidi told Lauren to vote for Yam Yam.
> Brandon had immunity so, if she had targeted Jaime, she would have had to tell her to vote for Lauren and hope that Yum and Matt both get the message that
> they need to vote the same way. But, even if everything went according to plan, Lauren would have used both of her votes on Matt forcing a 3-3 tie. This
> probably would have resulted in Yum going to Ponderosa on a re-vote.
> IMO, Heidi did the best that she could given the information that she had.. Everybody who she talked to felt that Brandon, Lauren, and Jaime, who
> were all original Orange Tribe members, would vote together which implied that she might be able to save either Matt or Yum with her advantage.
> Given that both Matt and Frannie were her tribemates, she chose to put the vote that she controlled on to Yum. I thought that it was a sensible
> decision that just didn't work out the way that she hoped.
> This episode was yet another example of Production messing with the game far too much. I get that they want to throw in new wrinkles to keep the show
> fresh, but, IMO, Heidi ended up in a really tough spot and a fair number of the viewers were probably left confused as to what was going on. I think that the
> episode would have been better if the game had been played straight ie. one immunity challenge and a TC with eleven (or maybe twelve) people voting. It
> would have been really interesting to see how the ex-members of Purple Tribe played in a situation in which the members of the former Orange and Green
> Tribes had equal numbers.

They should have saved this twist for when no one had multiple votes.

Yam Yam and Matt not fully trusting each other is what really killed off any shot of them both being safe. How would have Lauren's extra vote worked in a revote? Would Jaime have stuck with Lauren and Brandon?

A lot of people agree that they should have done a normal TC with all 11 of them. A number of past players such as Adam said they wish production would just let them play the game without all of these crazy twists. Silencing half the players and effectively removing them from the game during TC is crazy. People like Frannie missed out on the chance to ask questions and to fight for what was best for their games.

> >Jeff also clarified that Heidi only controlled one of Lauren’s votes. Matt also voted for Yam Yam and the other three voted for him making Matt the first member of the jury. Heidi’s logic >makes no sense to me. Yam Yam, Carolyn, and Frannie are now probably all pissed at her.
> Well, maybe not Frannie...but I get your point.

Did Heidi really want Yam Yam out over Matt? She's pretty friendly with Lauren and might have known how those three would vote.

> > Dalton thinks Frannie winning the IC overall might be a blessing in disguise for her as it could take the target off of her (https://ew.com/tv/recaps/survivor-44-recap-episode-7/). He might >be right. If she gets over Matt being out ASAP she can also focus solely on the game.
> I think that he is right. In confessional Frannie said, "We have to use this advantage to save Matt. Right?" She and Heidi may have agreed on this, but I would wager
> that Danny, Carson, Kane, and Carolyn had other priorities in mind. Now that Matt is gone, Frannie will hopefully become more aware of the "big picture".

Knowing now that Matt and Frannie are together IRL makes me think that Frannie might not have got her head back in the game.

> Some other comments:
> -I am becoming increasingly nostalgic for the days when the Survivor editors at least made an effort to mislead the viewers as to the outcomes of votes
> and challenges. Both Frannie's IC victory and Matt's boot were telegraphed in a manner that would have been unthinkable during the "old school" seasons.

Her IC victory for sure. I had a glimmer of hope Matt would be safe until Heidi told Lauren to vote for Yam Yam. Other than that, it was obvious from the start Matt was doomed.

> -I would be willing to put up with any amount of "Godspeak" from Lauren if she would agree to wear her hair down in future challenges. She looked amazing!

I didn't even notice. I was concentrating on Frannie the entire time. Sure didn't expect her to do so well.

> -Speaking of Lauren, Danny was probably livid that, even after being forced to vote for Yum, her extra vote was still in play.

Heidi should have been allowed to control all the votes of the chosen person. Did Heidi know how this was going to work going into TC? If so, what she did had zero impact on Lauren.

> -I could have definitely done without Kane telling the viewers that he could feel his gut shaking during the key search. Yet another example of "too much
> information" IMO.

Zeppo, it's called foreshadowing. They're preparing you for Carson's death next episode. And watch Carolyn benefit from it. She's been very lucky so far.

--
Brian

On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 7:11:13 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
> Yam Yam and Matt not fully trusting each other is what really killed off any shot of them both being safe.

The only way that Heidi might have changed the result of that TC would have been to tell Brendon to vote for Jamie. Two votes
would still have gone to Matt, but if Dum Dum and he had followed suit Jamie would have been in deep trouble. Lauren could have
kept her in the game by putting both of her votes on Matt, but I wonder if she would have used her valuable advantage in a situation
in which she was not actually in danger.

> How would have Lauren's extra vote worked in a revote?

I don't know for sure, but I am guessing that Probst would treat her extra vote as a special advantage that, once played, is gone from the game
and cannot be used again.

> Silencing half the players and effectively removing them from the game during TC is crazy.

I totally agree. It was a terrible idea.
> Did Heidi really want Yam Yam out over Matt? She's pretty friendly with Lauren and might have known how those three would vote.

Yes, the prevailing opinion among Heidi's group was that the three members of the former Orange Tribe were going to vote together, so she
understood that going into TC. We didn't get a confessional from Heidi explaining the rationale behind her decision to force Lauren to vote for
Yum, but I am guessing that it was based on her feelings of loyalty towards Matt and Frannie who were on the original Green Tribe with her.

> Her IC victory for sure. I had a glimmer of hope Matt would be safe until Heidi told Lauren to vote for Yam Yam. Other than that, it was obvious from the start Matt was doomed.

I knew that Matt was gone when we were shown the slow motion sepia toned scenes of he and Frannie gamboling through the jungle hand in hand. To be honest,
from that point I fast forwarded through the rest of the episode.

> Heidi should have been allowed to control all the votes of the chosen person. Did Heidi know how this was going to work going into TC?

She was probably hoping that she would be able to control both of Lauren's votes. But it was telling that Lauren asked Probst for
clarification on this matter rather than Heidi.

> Zeppo, it's called foreshadowing. They're preparing you for Carson's death next episode.

I don't watch the previews because I consider them to be spoilers, but thanks for the "heads up". I will begin preparing emotionally
for Carson's demise.:-)

On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 19:11:12 -0700 (PDT), Brian Smith
<dcg_brian@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 5:17:33?PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
>> On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 1:36:52?AM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
>>
>> > For some reason she kept going even though she had won immunity. Against all odds it became a battle between her and Brandon which she won. Brandon was immune but the rest of his team was not. If Frannie had been thinking she should have stopped after winning immunity for herself to ensure Matt would be safe. She could have
tried to convince her team to blindside Danny.
>> She is a fierce competitor who was deeply focused on the task at hand. She would never have considered throwing the challenge to be an option.
>
>Owen made a very similar point on Twitter. I still think she screwed up. To me, she never threw the challenge. She won immunity for herself which was the most important thing to do. For her game the next most important think was having Matt be safe. He was integral to her game. The four people she was randomly assigned to for a
day were not.

There's no doubt that Frannie screwed up. She could have been safe and
kept Matt safe, as well. With the reduced tribe they would have had an
ever increasing power going forward, but she either didn't think about
keeping Matt safe or she got caught up in the desire to win immunity.
Either way she ended up costing Matt his game as he was clearly going
to be on the chopping block along with Yam Yam.

>> > I was shocked Heidi got to use her advantage openly. All she had to do was tell Jaime she had to vote for Lauren or Brandon and if Yam Yam and Matt were smart, they would have voted >for the same person. Instead, Heidi told Lauren to vote for Yam Yam.
>> Brandon had immunity so, if she had targeted Jaime, she would have had to tell her to vote for Lauren and hope that Yum and Matt both get the message that
>> they need to vote the same way. But, even if everything went according to plan, Lauren would have used both of her votes on Matt forcing a 3-3 tie. This
>> probably would have resulted in Yum going to Ponderosa on a re-vote.
>> IMO, Heidi did the best that she could given the information that she had. Everybody who she talked to felt that Brandon, Lauren, and Jaime, who
>> were all original Orange Tribe members, would vote together which implied that she might be able to save either Matt or Yum with her advantage.
>> Given that both Matt and Frannie were her tribemates, she chose to put the vote that she controlled on to Yum. I thought that it was a sensible
>> decision that just didn't work out the way that she hoped.
>> This episode was yet another example of Production messing with the game far too much. I get that they want to throw in new wrinkles to keep the show
>> fresh, but, IMO, Heidi ended up in a really tough spot and a fair number of the viewers were probably left confused as to what was going on. I think that the
>> episode would have been better if the game had been played straight ie. one immunity challenge and a TC with eleven (or maybe twelve) people voting. It
>> would have been really interesting to see how the ex-members of Purple Tribe played in a situation in which the members of the former Orange and Green
>> Tribes had equal numbers.
>
>They should have saved this twist for when no one had multiple votes.
>
>Yam Yam and Matt not fully trusting each other is what really killed off any shot of them both being safe.
>How would have Lauren's extra vote worked in a revote? Would Jaime have stuck with Lauren and Brandon?
>
>A lot of people agree that they should have done a normal TC with all 11 of them. A number of past players
>such as Adam said they wish production would just let them play the game without all of these crazy twists.
>Silencing half the players and effectively removing them from the game during TC is crazy. People like Frannie
>missed out on the chance to ask questions and to fight for what was best for their games.
>

I don't even get the point of having the winning team there at the TC
but not letting them participate. It's fine that they were safe but
their being at the Tribal didn't accomplish anything. They didn't
learn anything they didn't already know and other than Matt asking
about his bag and the playing of the Advantage, their being there did
nothing.

>> >Jeff also clarified that Heidi only controlled one of Lauren’s votes. Matt also voted for Yam Yam and the other three voted for him making Matt the first member of the jury. Heidi’s logic >makes no sense to me. Yam Yam, Carolyn, and Frannie are now probably all pissed at her.
>> Well, maybe not Frannie...but I get your point.
>
>Did Heidi really want Yam Yam out over Matt? She's pretty friendly with Lauren and might have known how those three would vote.

Without some comment from Heidi there's no way to know just what she
was thinking.

>
>> > Dalton thinks Frannie winning the IC overall might be a blessing in disguise for her as it could take the target off of her (https://ew.com/tv/recaps/survivor-44-recap-episode-7/). He might >be right. If she gets over Matt being out ASAP she can also focus solely on the game.
>> I think that he is right. In confessional Frannie said, "We have to use this advantage to save Matt. Right?" She and Heidi may have agreed on this, but I would wager
>> that Danny, Carson, Kane, and Carolyn had other priorities in mind. Now that Matt is gone, Frannie will hopefully become more aware of the "big picture".
>
>Knowing now that Matt and Frannie are together IRL makes me think that Frannie might not have got her head back in the game.
>
>> Some other comments:
>> -I am becoming increasingly nostalgic for the days when the Survivor editors at least made an effort to mislead the viewers as to the outcomes of votes
>> and challenges. Both Frannie's IC victory and Matt's boot were telegraphed in a manner that would have been unthinkable during the "old school" seasons.
>
>Her IC victory for sure. I had a glimmer of hope Matt would be safe until Heidi told Lauren to vote for Yam Yam. Other than that, it was obvious from the start Matt was doomed.

Yes, as soon as they brought up the lack of his bag it was almost a
certainty Matt was gone.

>> -I would be willing to put up with any amount of "Godspeak" from Lauren if she would agree to wear her hair down in future challenges. She looked amazing!
>
>I didn't even notice. I was concentrating on Frannie the entire time. Sure didn't expect her to do so well.
>
>> -Speaking of Lauren, Danny was probably livid that, even after being forced to vote for Yum, her extra vote was still in play.
>
>Heidi should have been allowed to control all the votes of the chosen person. Did Heidi know how this was going to work going into TC? If so, what she did had zero impact on Lauren.
>
>> -I could have definitely done without Kane telling the viewers that he could feel his gut shaking during the key search. Yet another example of "too much
>> information" IMO.
>
>Zeppo, it's called foreshadowing. They're preparing you for Carson's death next episode. And watch Carolyn benefit from it. She's been very lucky so far.

Carolyn for the win. LOL.

On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 11:09:25 PM UTC-7, shawn wrote:

> Carolyn for the win. LOL.

Yeah, I've picked her too.

On Friday, April 14, 2023 at 12:09:25 AM UTC-6, shawn wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 19:11:12 -0700 (PDT), Brian Smith
> <dcg_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 5:17:33?PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> >> On Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 1:36:52?AM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
> >>
> >> > For some reason she kept going even though she had won immunity. Against all odds it became a battle between her and Brandon which she won. Brandon was immune but the rest of his team was not. If Frannie had been thinking she should have stopped after winning immunity for herself to ensure Matt would be safe. She could have
> tried to convince her team to blindside Danny.
> >> She is a fierce competitor who was deeply focused on the task at hand. She would never have considered throwing the challenge to be an option.
> >
> >Owen made a very similar point on Twitter. I still think she screwed up. To me, she never threw the challenge. She won immunity for herself which was the most important thing to do. For her game the next most important think was having Matt be safe. He was integral to her game. The four people she was randomly assigned to for a
> day were not.
> There's no doubt that Frannie screwed up. She could have been safe and
> kept Matt safe, as well. With the reduced tribe they would have had an
> ever increasing power going forward, but she either didn't think about
> keeping Matt safe or she got caught up in the desire to win immunity.
> Either way she ended up costing Matt his game as he was clearly going
> to be on the chopping block along with Yam Yam.

Frannie should have known from the makeup of the other team that Matt was in serious trouble. Not only was it 3 vs. 1 vs. 1, most (all?) of the players knew she and Matt were together and that Yam Yam was perceived to have a suspect social game.

> >> This episode was yet another example of Production messing with the game far too much. I get that they want to throw in new wrinkles to keep the show
> >> fresh, but, IMO, Heidi ended up in a really tough spot and a fair number of the viewers were probably left confused as to what was going on. I think that the
> >> episode would have been better if the game had been played straight ie.. one immunity challenge and a TC with eleven (or maybe twelve) people voting. It
> >> would have been really interesting to see how the ex-members of Purple Tribe played in a situation in which the members of the former Orange and Green
> >> Tribes had equal numbers.
> >
> >They should have saved this twist for when no one had multiple votes.
> >
> >Yam Yam and Matt not fully trusting each other is what really killed off any shot of them both being safe.
> >How would have Lauren's extra vote worked in a revote? Would Jaime have stuck with Lauren and Brandon?
> >
> >A lot of people agree that they should have done a normal TC with all 11 of them. A number of past players
> >such as Adam said they wish production would just let them play the game without all of these crazy twists.
> >Silencing half the players and effectively removing them from the game during TC is crazy. People like Frannie
> >missed out on the chance to ask questions and to fight for what was best for their games.
> >
> I don't even get the point of having the winning team there at the TC
> but not letting them participate. It's fine that they were safe but
> their being at the Tribal didn't accomplish anything. They didn't
> learn anything they didn't already know and other than Matt asking
> about his bag and the playing of the Advantage, their being there did
> nothing.

If this had been done premerge it would have been fine b/c they would have learned something about players they might know nothing about. Like you said, they got nothing from just sitting there.

> >> -I could have definitely done without Kane telling the viewers that he could feel his gut shaking during the key search. Yet another example of "too much
> >> information" IMO.
> >
> >Zeppo, it's called foreshadowing. They're preparing you for Carson's death next episode. And watch Carolyn benefit from it. She's been very lucky so far.
> Carolyn for the win. LOL.

If she doesn't win the season she'll very likely get asked to play again.

--
Brian