If you’re even slightly interested in the behind-the-scenes aspects of the show, here’s an excellent article by Dalton Ross detailing everything. Even if you’re not interested, the pictures are very enlightening as well.
I thought the same thing. I clearly remember the other 3 returning players, but even though Kelly has played multiple times, and I recognized the name, I have no recollection of her previous appearances.
I’m amazed that anyone who has ever seen Survivor would act the way Reem did. I only wish she were gone for good instead of having a chance to get back in. My guess for Extinction Island is that they’ll put the players through a series of hellish solo challenges and place them back in the game if they make it through. If they competed against other voted-out players it would just be Redemption Island again, so why rebrand it?
This article is a pretty good read, from Josh Wigler’s Twitter feed…
Excellent, indeed - thanks for sharing.
A relevant factoid from the article - contestants have to know how to swim. When the pre-med student was flailing in the water in the throw-the-fruit-overboard opening, I was wondering “how the hell can anyone go on this show without knowing how to swim??” And it was answered: he can apparently swim well enough, but was definitely not showing it at that moment.
Given the size of the production crew it’s a miracle that they never accidentally get on camera. There are 34 boats involved in the initial marooning: we only saw the 2 they want us to see.
I’d guess the swim test is in a pool, in a bathing suit - jumping into a choppy ocean with clothes on is a very different proposition.
And I’m not sure I’d call it a miracle. I’m guessing stuff we’re not supposed to see gets on camera pretty frequently, but just gets edited out.
Yeah Survivor continually amazes me in regards to this. I’ve watched ever minute of every episode for 37 seasons and I can probably count on 1 hand the times you see film crews in shots. And for those times it’s because something serious has happened (Skupin falling into the fire, Caleb being evacuated, etc.).
And the attention to detail for the setup of some of their camera shots is first class. Survivor is definitely the the nicest looking reality show around.
MtM
Most shocking thing I read there was that they’ve only done the “jump off a boat” opening 9 times. If you had me guess, I would’ve thought at least 20.
I know it makes sense to only have one combined reward/immunity challenge early on to free up air time for everyone, but, man… one challenge and it’s a re-run. I can’t help but feel a little cheated even if it’s a decently good one with lots of parts. But I suppose after 37 seasons it’s hard to come up with new ideas. 
Victoria sure came off like a tool during that “should we look for the idol?” montage. Thankfully Lauren didn’t have the same mindset.
I thought we were heading for a Wendy vs. Keith vote-out, was a little surprised when everyone decided to start targetting Wentworth. But I definitely appreciate everyone thinking about it (certainly far better than the days of Boston Rob, Cult Leader). I know if I was a rookie on the island I’d be all for voting out the returning players first.
They really went above and beyond in making me dislike Keith… first by him being useless in the challenge (in every phase too, not just the swimming, though that probably drained him) but also his reaction at being voted out and then being unable to make a decision at the end. Chances next episode begins with him choosing to exit?
Does Reem become more or less likely to stay in the game if Keith shows up at Extinction Island?
Yeah, the editors were fucking with him in the final 10 seconds of the broadcast proper. I laughed.
Why would anyone not choose to go to Extinction Island? They’re only a week in – nobody’s facing starvation and exhaustion yet.
I’m always bemused in the Week 2 challenge when the tribes emerge and Jeff reads his standard intro: [Winner Tribe] getting their first look at the new [Loser Tribe]…Reem voted out at Tribal Council." Cut to reaction shot. 100% sure their reaction was: “which one was Reem…?”
Yeah, late in the game I anticipate there might be players who are exhausted and ready to just hang it up. But if you’re one of the first few voted out? The only answer to “a chance to stay in the game” should be “Hell, yeah!!” (Not, “Dang, dang, dang, dang, dang…” :D)
Anyhow, I could see the arguments on both sides for voting Kelley or Keith. But I’m with magnusblitz in that I think it’s in the newbies’ best interest to target the returning players. And, challenge liability aside, Keith seems like a decent guy who may have been of strategic value later on.
Regarding Extinction Island -
(And honestly, I did not go looking for spoilers - this was involuntary) Apparently two of the survivors choose to quit the game. I would not be surprised if Keith is one of them.
Was anybody else distracted during some woman’s confessional when a GIANT TERN dive-bombed straight into the ocean in the background? I love the photography on this show!
Were they really targetting Kelley though? I mean, sure that’s what the edit told us, but only Wendy voted for her. And Keith voted for Wendy. So pretty clearly by tribal he was being told something other than “vote for Kelley”.
I’m suspicious that a bunch of the “vote for Kelley” talk was either way out of context, totally hypothetical, or perhaps even from a different portion of the game. All just to make this episode not super-boring.
A season or two ago, IIRC, somebody was shown fishing, and a sharp-eyed Doper pointed out that they didn’t obtain the fishing gear until a later episode. So clearly not all events are necessarily presented in chronological order. And of course they edit for maximum dramatic impact.
But I do wonder if they would go so far as to air footage of a conversation about an entirely different vote than the one in that episode? No, it wouldn’t affect the outcome of the game, but that would seem… I don’t know, something.
Yes, that was excellent.
I think that was me, last season. But there was no strategy discussed during the possible out of sequence scene, just the tribe eating an octopus.
I think each tribe gets basic fishing gears to start these days. They just don’t point it out. Notice how in the last episode the reward was “Deluxe” fishing gear.
When Jeff revealed the chickens I was thinking “they should take the pillows just because the chickens become a curse more often than not.” Sure enough… Wendy gets weird about it. And in a really hypocritical way, too. If she were a vegan back home, sure, I get it, but… you decide on the island to suddenly care? Sheesh. I wonder if she’ll ever get ‘outed’ on being the one who stole the flint.
And hey, we got both two challenges, and a new challenge to boot!
I wonder how long it took Aubry to find the HII given her rather obvious wardrobe change halfway through the search footage.
Chris really did a great job screwing himself, though of course he just blames being lied to instead of realizing that David told him DON’T TELL WARDOG and what does he do? I wonder if that’s the worst self-inflicted vote-out since Tyson in Heroes vs. Villains. On the other hand, they still could’ve voted out Wentworth 4-3 with Chris/David/Rick/Wendy, so maybe Chris does have some valid anger. But he basically proved himself untrustworthy and paid for it.
Pretty impressive to get yourself voted out over an injured person who pissed off everyone with the chicken thing.
RE: preview for next week’s ep
Tribe swap was predictable, but hey, maybe going to three tribes will let me know who’s on the other tribe besides Aubry and Joe
So did they kill the rooster or not? After all the scenes of Chris deciding he would kill the chicken, them being able to start the fire after Wendy fucked the whole tribe over, and Chris lovingly sharpening the machete, I was really hoping for some roast chicken.
My guess is the third tribe will involve those who are on “Edge of Extinction” Island.
This season there is already a stark divisions between three Survivor types: group 1 is really playing the game and hard; group 2 think they are playing the game, but haven’t a clue, the guy who got voted out last night is in this group; and group 3 are the weirdos who don’t have a chance and have no idea what’s going on, the game is happening to them, the two exiles and Wendy are in that group.