All I could think about during the reward challenge was that they were burning more calories than they would get from the reward.
Funny how Dom claimed Donathan was “ruining everyone’s game”. That’s impossible, given the structure of this contest. It’s entirely possible he’s hurting Dom and himself, but in a zero-sum game (almost exactly like a poker “sit and go” or one table tournament), that lost equity has to redound to someone’s benefit, or multiple people’s. Fascinating to watch!
Laurel is a really likable person, but she’s kind of a chump.
If the four who are not Dom or Wendell don’t band together from here out, they are so dumb!
I used to love the Ponderosa videos, but they haven’t been good in years. So what a nice surprise to discover the awesomeness that is the Michael/Jenna joint episode: Watch Survivor: Interviews With Jenna Bowman & Michael Yerger, The Eleventh & Twelfth Castaways To Be Voted Off - Full show on CBS
Be sure to watch to the end! 
I’ve got to say, I really hate the “visit a local village or school and distribute largesse” episodes. Way too “White Man’s Burden” for me.
Do you mean Yanni?
I think when it comes to rating where this season stands overall, it’ll be way towards the bottom.
Okay, maybe someone will do something stunning next week, but the ‘Big Dogs’ were clear from early on, and all the rest have pretty much shrugged and let it go on.
Especially Laurel. She has clearly torpedoed attempts by others to organize upsets the last three weeks…does she really believe that nonsense she spouted about Dom and Wendell splitting the vote and her winning by default??
Agreed on all counts. The bit about splitting the vote is nutty. It doesn’t matter how the vote is split if Laurel doesn’t get any of them (or only gets one or 2 votes).
If Laurel gets to the final 3 with Dom and Wendell, there will be four original Malolo on the Jury (Libby, Jenna, Michael, and Donathan) so it is not unreasonable that she could get at least 3 or 4 of the jury votes.
Remember, this is from her perspective 11 months on the island, and she is not seeing the edited show that we are seeing now. She does not know that she is being edited as a scared lamb unable to make a move.
Still think Domenick is going to try to cut Wendell before the final 4. Not sure if it will be successful, with Wendell having a HII.
Donathan continues to be subtitled, but I have no problem understanding him.
I think tribal affiliations matter very little for jury votes. What matters most is how you play the game. I really like Laurel as a person, and she plays a good physical game. But she pales in comparison to the two guys in terms of overall game-play.
There are a lot of non-native English speakers in the US who might be unfamiliar with that accent and who might have trouble understanding him.
Well, I gave Donathon some props a week or two ago for being perceptive, but he really kinda lost it this episode.
I’m not entirely sure what the game plan is for anybody right now, other than Dom and Wendell. Laurel seems to realize that her “Wendell and Dom split the votes” strategy isn’t actually likely to work, but she is still too scared to make a play? Very odd. You’d think she’d at least be talking to Angela and Sebastian about when to make a move. And totally leaving Donathon out in the cold doesn’t really help here either, unless she really does want to go final 3 with those two guys. Angela and Sebastian are complete non-entities.
Just very unsatisfying at this point…
Laurel does have some chance to pull off a narrow win against those two if the votes split just right. But it’s not her best path.
LOL! Actually, I do hear “Laurel” (and it cannot just be that I’m old: my 18yo son hears the same).
From Kellyn’s EW interview:
So here are the remaining advantages:
- Dom’s idol
- Dom’s Fake Idol
- Wendell’s Idol
- Sebastian’s extra vote
Any I’m forgetting? In the hands of a competent player, an extra vote at 6 or 5 is HUGE. I don’t know if it will actually make a difference in Sea Bass’s hands.
If the final 3 is Angela, Sebastian, and Donathan, I think it might actually knock this one down to one above Thailand for me.
But Sebastian showed signs of life on Ghost Island. And that final 3 would only come about if the sheep overthrow the wolves, which would be impressive.
Yanny really made it clear that she’s out of her depth. That was almost certainly her last chance to make a big move.
That nickname really isnt funny.
Get over yourself.
I thought it was pretty funny! What’s wrong with a little topical snark?
That isnt funny either. 
Does anyone know if the contestants this year know about the fire-making Final 4 TC now? This season was shot before last season aired so they wouldn’t know from watching, but it’s possible the producers told them (and I feel like they should, that’s too big of a twist to not tell in advance IMO).
They have sprung bigger without warning in the past.