Woo, always gotta love a HII play, especially a successful one. I had been rooting for Wentworth for awhile, and while playing her HII this early means she’s likely doomed, I still appreciate it.
SUZ MAC last time said Ciera apparently had quite a dislike for Savage and it was on full display here (even if they didn’t show the reasons for it). And so he falls victim to the HII play. And is probably regretting ‘going with the flow’ since he wanted to vote out Fishbach instead.
I wonder how much Ciera had been trying to pull over Wigglesworth, Kimmi, Spencer, Fishbach, etc. They showed the girls getting mad at Joe originally proposing a Fishbach blindside and then getting mad when he relented, but Joe’s not on the bottom (though his challenge aptitude certainly makes him a candidate for his alliance turning on him at any moment). The other ones are, and I’m wondering if they’re really trying to talk with them and the producers just aren’t showing it, or what. Especially since the cameras have barely shown anything with Wigglesworth or Kimmi. Fishbach is not in the top 4, he’s just being kept around because everyone wants to take him to the end.
Kinda disappointed we got another ball balancing challenge right after the last one, even if it was amusing to hear Probst yelling about Joe’s balls moving.
Although I liked Savage during the Pearl Islands season (back when he was called Andrew), I was delighted to see him go. He’s a sanctimonious, insufferable jerk. His self-righteous indignation that his beloved Joe was being targeted was the last straw.
The HII play was beautifully executed. Judging from the stunned expressions when Wentworth pulled out her idol, clearly nobody (other than Ciera and Abi) had the slightest suspicion that she had one.
You’d think so. Too cocky, I guess. And Savage flipping off the remaining folks was just petty. He deserved to go. But Ciera now has a huge target on her back. Good luck next week! Not sure why she was’t the target this week…
Man I hated Savage, what a pompous douche. I don’t remember him from his season, but maybe I didn’t watch that one. I called it that he was going to save Joe and get voted out himself to my wife.
And I love Abi’s “at least you made it to the jury!”
True, but it wasn’t really necessary to rub it in to him with the “at least you made the jury!” remark. That was pretty petty too (but it’s Abi, so what do you expect).
Kelly seemed to understand that she has to work with at least some of the folks remaining if she wants to make it past the next TC, but Ciera seems well past that.
I also strongly suspect that Joe tipped her off about where the vote was going. He has to realize that his only hope of making it past the first TC he doesn’t have immunity is making a pact with the “outsiders” of Kelly, Abi, and Ciera. If they can add Spencer (who seems to be kinda tight with Joe) and maybe a Keith (who hasn’t shown much ability to really play, but who knows…).
I understand Ciera obviously had it out for Savage, but I think voting out Jeremy would have been an even stronger play.
I really don’t understand not splitting the vote when they did it at the previous TC. I wonder if any of the interviews or discussions explain that… maybe they didn’t trust Joe or Stephen? Or maybe they figured that if the targets didn’t play the idol last week they wouldn’t play it this week? But if so, why target the one person you didn’t target last week? Just stick with Ciera.
Great TC, but I’m kind of surprised no one went after Jeremy. He’s the one who steered everyone clear of the Fishbach blindside, and Ciera called him out as one of the four in charge.
I agree they should’ve split the vote but I guess you have to tip your cap to Wentworth. They didn’t split the vote because no one thought she had an idol.
I didn’t like Kass before, but after last night, I absolutely loathe her. Flipping off Savage when she walked in was low class and bratty. Also, I didn’t think that was allowed? No communication of any kind with the remaining players and the jury?
I’m curious how they handle these TC surprises. I mean, clearly they stack the votes for the maximum impact but that changes when an Idol is played.
So in this case, with 9 for Wentworth and 3 for Savage the ‘normal’ reveal would go:
Wentworth, Savage, Wentworth, Savage (“That’s two each for Wentworth and Savage”), Wentworth, Savage (“Tied again at three votes each Wentworth and Savage”), Wentworth, Wentworth, Wentworth, ("And the Xth person voted out ") Wentworth (“That’s seven and that’s enough.”)
But then Wentworth played her Idol – and all of a sudden that order would waste the ‘tension’ as we wait to see who the surprise victim will be. So… do they call a pause while Jeff goes restack the votes?
I’m pretty sure I’ve read that Jeff isn’t automatically told who has an Idol – though with them being collected right at Challenges he likely knows this time – and I can’t imagine it’s a rule that players tell the producers in advance of TC that they will be playing/not playing an Idol. There have been times when someone has clearly only made up their mind at the last minute.
Also – I’ve got no quarrel with them targeting Savage, though Jeremy would be an equally good target – but in this case Jeremy also has an Idol and didn’t play it. So if they’d ousted him, instead, would the producers hide ONE or Two Idols?
It’s been suggested by people who know some of the players this season that Savage is really about 10x as much of an asshole in person as he’s been on camera. That said, I REALLY want to see the video of him arriving at Ponderosa and Kass’s greeting…
I’ve read that once the votes are in and the opportunity for idols to be played has passed, Jeff and the production team huddle away from the contestants to order the vote reveal in the most dramatic fashion; it is a television show, after all. Jeff doesn’t make a secret of this, I’ve seen him mention it in interviews.
I couldn’t stand Savage ever since he told the story about how hot his wife is and how it made him cry because she’s so hot.
Just watched Dalton Ross’s post show interview with Savage. He said they didn’t split the votes because:
They didn’t think there were any idols in play.
Splitting can be risky - if one or two people in the majority decide to peel off with the outcasts, they can take out anyone they want. Having all 9 vote the same way eliminates that risk.
It’s “exhausting” to plan out a split vote - exactly matching who votes for which target. They didn’t want to go through that effort.
He also said that at TC, after Kass gave him the finger, she mouthed “No f’ing votes for you” while pointing at him, then ran a finger across her throat.
It wasn’t shown on the episode - Savage specifically mentioned that in the interview.
And whatever the rules say - I’m not sure how the production team could prevent the jury members from doing whatever they want. There’s always been plenty of eye rolls, shocked reactions, high fives, etc from the jury during the TC - though I’ve never seen any of them actually speak to the remaining players.
My guess was going to be #2 - they don’t trust the hanger-ons enough to split the vote. You all vote as 8, one or two people jumping ship doesn’t matter. Split a vote, suddenly one person can completely swing it.
Interesting to think about #1 though. Jeremy obviously knows how they work since he has one. With it being on the Ta Keo beach, though, I suppose there’s a larger chance that whoever had it got voted out - the remaining original Ta Keos are Spencer, Abi, Wentworth and Wigglesworth. And I’d personally doubt that Abi or Wiggles would have an HII, especially without telling anyone. One thing that made the HII play so great is Wentworth never told anyone she had it (and I like that Jeremy hasn’t either). So many times we see it get ruined because they tell their allies they have it.
