If they hadn’t played both their advantages, Dan’s idol would have kept him in the game and Christian would have gone home. By using both the steal a vote and the nullifier, they ensured Dan was going home.
I think that Alec, Christian and David are playing great games. This is a good season.
I don’t think that’s right. If they knew they had those Goliaths’ votes, they could have saved at least the steal-a-vote. But I think it was smart to play it safe.
The goliaths changed their votes once they heard about the steal-a-vote and realized they were voting as a minority. Had the steal-a-vote not been played, the goliaths would have voted Christian out 6-5 and Dan would still have his idol.
The steal-a-vote scrambled the goliath votes and the nullifier nullified Dan’s idol, which he did play. Both were required in order to ensure the outcome they got. (Vote out Dan and his idol.)
However, they also could have achieved the same effect by only playing Christian’s idol for Christian, saving the steal-a-vote and nullifier for another time. The risk there is if the goliaths plan to split votes with Dan playing his idol, which would have crushed a single idol played by Christian. In the end, they played the two advantages they played at very close to maximum effectiveness.
How do you know they changed their votes?
Some of the Goliaths said that if the Davids voted out Elizibeth, they’d break with the Goliaths, and there’d be no more “Goliath Strong”. Of course they lied.
Did Dan tell anyone about his second HII? I know his first one was common knowledge but I thought he managed to keep his second one safe. At least, the Davids didn’t know for sure - they only figured it out because (according to Nick), Dan didn’t want to search for the green tribe idol, and they figured he’d only play an idol for Angelina if he had another for himself.
I feel a little bad for Dan since an Idol Nullifier feels like a completely unknowable, BS advantage, but the producers did a good job making Dan look kinda cocky so it feels like he deserved it.
Dan told Kara at the merge episode that he found a 2nd idol, and Kara told the tribe in Wednesday episode.
Dan’s Ponderosa video makes him much more likeable. He lost 26 lbs and he doesn’t appear to be bitter at all. The middle part is the typical “self realization” sappy stuff.
The ending segment in Dan’s Ponderosa video is quite funny. “How to be a Brochacho” about 6:15 mark.
For anyone looking for a lot of good info about what went on in and leading up to the past two Tribal Councils, I’d suggest this interview with Nick in The Hollywood Reporter.
That was very enlightening! Thanks for the link
BTW…Two hour episode this Wednesday.
It wasn’t until they announced the steal a vote that the Goliaths crumbled. They started talking about splitting their votes at tribal once the vote got stolen. I went back and watched it again because I loved that tribal.
You’re quite welcome! Josh’s THR interviews have been really great this season since CBS is allowing them for players still in the game – but that was definitely the best so far!
Yep, it should be interesting. My prediction is a Pagonging of a couple Goliaths. I was just glad the two-hour show didn’t happen the night before Thanksgiving, like it has a few times in the past!
David, I too really loved that interview—thanks!
I only just realized, looking at your sig, that you are part of RHAP. Wow, cool! I used to listen to that, but as much as I love Survivor, it felt like drinking from a firehose. I should go back, though, with this very entertaining season full of deep-thinking players.
This is a really good season. What I find so compelling is that even though the Davids have been down in numbers and are not physical threats, they are pretty much dominating the game since the merge. They’ve done it by sharing information with each other, which is interesting and not the norm. It will be interesting when the Davids start playing individual games and turn on each other.
The last few seasons of Survivor have been notably good, and this season has been (so far) an even better cherry on top of the resurgence. I was disappointed to read in TV Guide that ratings are down half a million people compared to last season’s Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers. (Something like 8.0 million then, 7.4 million now.)
Elsewhere in that same TV Guide, they had an article about how Dick Wolf’s Chicago trilogy has been great for NBC and is crushing it on Wednesday nights. NBC’s Wednesday ratings are up 30% compared to last season, while Wednesdays for all other broadcast networks are down 20% compared to last season.
In light of that, maybe Davids vs Goliaths is actually doing well? Instead of dropping 20% compared to last year like everything else on Wednesday night network TV that isn’t a Dick Wolf Chicago show, Survivor has only dropped 8%?
I really like Christian (which means he’ll be booted tonight). He has an interesting way of interacting, which I’ve noticed in some people IRL. He’ll say something, and then put a certain expression on his face as if he is searching intently for a reaction. Like ‘Did you understand what I just said?’ or ‘I’m ready for you in case you try to contradict me,’ or that sort of thing. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll know it if you see it. Anyway, it’s mildly amusing and I like watching him do it.
Interesting about the Chicago shows. I have no interest in them, but as I have never watched a single second of any of them, I may be missing out. (Survivvor is the only show I watch live, which actually led me to become an old-school “lead-in” viewer of “Seal Team”, a show I never would have sought out but actually found pretty engrossing.)
This has been quite entertaining, but once again proves the general rule that the real fun doesn’t start until the merge happens. I hadn’t really paid much attention to Alec previously, but he’s playing quite a good game. Christian is, I fear, toast in the not too distant future. The Goliaths have been slacking in the idol/advantage hunting contest. I was a bit surprised no one was shown looking for an something at the Burger Bar. Usually there is some Easter Egg at those reward sites. But maybe they looked and it got edited out.
You definitely should – especially mine! 
I used to run Reality News Online. If memory serves, that was one of the things that caused my original fade-out from SDMB, because it took so much time. I literally went from writing the most SDStaff reports one year to writing none the next. But that ran its course after a number of years, in part because of the amount of time it was taking. I went on yatus for a while (inside joke for any Big Brother watchers) and then four years ago yesterday, I made a post on Facebook about the Blood vs. Water II season and Rob (who I’ve known since the end of his season – he read my articles to prepare) invited me onto a podcast. I appeared a couple times and then rebooted my main article series into a weekly podcast.
I forget who linked that interview with Mike White, but thank you, whoever you are. I left the tab open for a few days and just read it. Still love that guy, even if he broke my heart by betraying Christian! Fascinating that he helped convince Probst and the other PTB to get rid of “Redemption Island. Good call.
Also interesting that he strenuously insists that “Survivor” (and “Amazing Race”) are games with integrity, largely free of the kind of producer manipulation cynics always insist is endemic in all reality competition shows. I don’t think White would be so emphatic about this if he didn’t really believe it.
ETA for David B: Wow! That’s impressive. I did resubscribe to RHAP and it is indeed rather firehosey. Which ones are yours? Is there a way to pick them out of the gushing stream of RHAP content?
I agree that the past couple of seasons have been good, mostly because they didn’t have returning players. There’s a point where Ozzie coming back for another try is kind of pathetic.