They didn’t tell the H vs H vs H contestants about it until it happened, why would they tell these guys?
I was sort of surprised Donathon didn’t go home because they seemed to be talking to him a bit on the big rock which is sometimes a sign that the player will be getting the boot 
. I love Laurel, but she hasn’t made moves. That said though, she really hasn’t pissed anyone off. I’d like to see Wendell win it, but I think it belongs to Dom, which wouldn’t piss me off. One more thought, I think it was Dom that said everyone loved Kellyn and what a joy she was around camp or something. Am I the only one who didn’t see that? She seemed to like talking about her divorce. After that comment I thought it must’ve all been edited out.
Help me out, I’m stupid… what’s the Yanni/Laurel joke?
I typed a response but the hamsters ate it, it’s really easier to just say Google ‘Laural/Yanny’ and you’ll get it.
There’s a recording going around that some people hear as saying ‘Laurel’ and some people hear as ‘Yanni’. Like the black & blue / white & gold dress.
Recording:
SDMB discussion:
https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=854895
Ok, first thanks for the link. Second - whoa, mind blown. I hadn’t seen the other thread. So when I played the clip it was Laurel clear as a bell and I could not even begin to make myself hear otherwise. I was about to laugh it off as stupid when my wife pipes in, “yep, yammy”. Huh!?
It’s Laurel!!!
Angela is a terrible player. “Diarrhea of the mouth”, as Dom said.
When Wendell heard about the plot against Dom, I wondered if he might just throw his vote to Dom as well.
Starting TC at the 30 minute mark. Double elimination episode? But that still seems like not quite enough time.
Sea Bass goes out looking like a tool. He didn’t even use his extra vote, and the vote he did cast was the only vote against the only ally that might have given him a chance.
Meanwhile, once again it was all talk and no action for Yanny. Fuck it, I’m done waiting for one of these chumps to make a move. I’ll just root for Wendell to beat Dom and ignore the rest of them.
Oh, wait: this is the finale? I thought that was always on a Sunday.
Wendell definitely needs to play that idol on some dead weight like Angela, either to curry her favor if she ends up on the jury, or to give her a greater chance of being one of his opponents at FTC, since she’s not a threat.
I changed my mind: I’m rooting for Angela in the firemaking challenge, because I don’t like to see superstition rewarded.
From the faces of some of the jury, I’m rethinking my position that everyone out there is just playing up the “curse” stuff for television theatrics. Some of them looked genuinely shocked that Angela didn’t care which table she had.
As soon as Probst said “I’m reading the votes” I called a tie. There’s absolutely no other reason they’d ever read the final votes AT Final Tribal.
Except in S1. Which I still prefer.
Anyone else notice they have continued to erode the reunion? At one time, they talked at least briefly to every contestant, even pre-jury boots. This time it was maybe ten minutes total after deducting commercials, that random CBS show promo, and the preview of next season. So lame! Can’t they have a real reunion for web only, like Ponderosa?
Well, the edit for this season certainly makes a lot of sense now. The two titans both made the final, and they also had to show us what factored into the FTC goat’s deciding vote. Like Dom, as soon as Jeff said “I’ll read the votes now” I knew Wendell had won the tie vote… there was no way Laurel was gonna vote for Dom.
Ever since they mentioned the tiebreaking procedure at the Game Changers reunion, I wondered if we’d see a tie soon. And a season like this with two strong players certainly made sense. But, GC aired before they filmed this season so… just good timing I suppose. (I kinda wish they’d go back to final 2, odd jury members, but that’s just me. The third person has never gotten more than one vote)
The maze was cool, but, ending it with another puzzle ultimately makes it just a more impressive looking “obstacle course then puzzle” challenge. And the challenge at 5 just seemed uninspired. At least the final one at 4 was good for some tension.
Angela is indeed a terrible player. I was looking forward to seeing how good Dom’s backstab radar was, but Angela just handed him the info on a silver platter. He still made one helluva good bluff though with his two idols… I thought he was taking a crazy risk, but, on the other hand, if you only need to fool Sebastian, it’s probably a risk worth taking. Surprised everyone was so butthurt over it… I side with Michael, it was the play to make and that was the only way to make it work. Sebastian’s “we were bros, I mean yeah I was gonna vote you out, but…” c’mon dude. Also, that TC (final 6) was the last time he could use his extra vote? PUT DOWN THE BONG AND USE THE EXTRA VOTE, MORON.
Going into the FTC, I was really split between Dom and Wendell, maybe a slight lean towards Dom. After it ended I was more solidly in Dom’s camp, since it seemed like he did more of the socializing, and made the bigger moves when needed (such as defusing Sebastian’s turn, and winning the final 4 immunity). Wendell played a great game of course, but didn’t have a signature moment.
I’m just surprised she happily gave up the table. I mean, I’m not superstitious either, but if my opponent is, I’d rather it bug him even a tiny amount.
Part of me is wondering if maybe having superfans on the show is a bad thing because everyone is so happy to be there and they’re so nice to each other. I mean, I don’t want too many mean-spirited people (I greatly prefer people like Michael and Chris who can play the game hard, but then afterwards realize it’s just a game and take it in stride) but I also get tired of seeing people leave tribal saying “oh I had so much fun! good luck!” I want more people saying “GODDAMNIT I WOULD’VE WON IF IT WASN’T FOR YOU MEDDLING KIDS!”
My first thought was that a lot of these people were uninteresting and I don’t care about them. But… we just had a tie vote, I really would’ve liked to see what some of the jury members were thinking. Especially Chelsea, Libby, Jenna, Angela. And to lose that to Kevin Hart bullshit instead?
(People on reddit pointed out that of the jurors, the first five voted out voted for Dom, and the last five voted out were for Wendell. So seems like maybe there was a divide between the earlier boots (who got to see all the strategy unfold and knew Dom/Wendell more as opponents) vs later boots (who had more of a social connection to the two, which points to Wendell being better socially).
Did you reverse the “earlier” and “later” boots there? The way you described it doesn’t make sense to me.
Doubly glad Wendell won because it meant that Dom did not. But… I’ll bet you guys a nickel that we see Dom, Don and maybe even Laurel again on the next retread show!
Dom’s Sea Bass bluff was brilliant and deserved much more credit. It was literally the only thing that would have kept him in the game. And it was a great use of the fake idol. Sebastian was just a bitter chickenshit, he should have manned up and gave Dom his props.
I hated the ending. Not that Wendell isnt deserving, he is. But you traditionally bring the worst player to tribal and to hand that person the power to award the win is ridiculous. Especially her reasoning - “We bonded”. She couldn’t even be assed to award it to who she thought played a better game. Again, not so much upset that W won, just the shitty way it went down. Why not have a fire making challenge?
And I don’t buy Jeff’s whole “she becomes part of the jury” bit either. Real members of the jury have the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of each player with each other and sway or be swayed.
Disagree with the Dom part, I think he was a great player and deserved to win. But totally agree with the retread part. The only thing that might keep Dom from returning is his family.
Highly disappointing reunion, but I am glad Wendell won.
Overall a decent season (but certainly not great), and a solid winner (although I think Dom played a slightly better game).
I really think that the season and particularly the final few episodes were just crippled by the number of legitimately bad players left in the game. I would include Angela (couldn’t be told anything, was almost always on the wrong side of the vote, and was actually surprisingly weak in challenges), Laurel (couldn’t make a move, didn’t seem to realize that helping your path to a finale you can’t win isn’t meaningful better than creating a harder path to a finale you can win), Donathan (actually had a few good moments, and I think was hamstrung by being stuck with Angela and Laurel as potentially allys - but he should have sussed out that Laurel was never going to flip much sooner than he did), and Sebastian (didn’t use an advantage when there was no upside in not playing it, got bluffed into making a move that made no sense even if the bluff wasn’t a bluff, and the fact that his bitterness gave the win to Wendell is pretty annoying).