I had thought that Russell Hantz was the player that I disliked the most, but he always did his dirty tricks within the context of the game.
Tonight’s tribal council had the most incredibly cruel move that I have ever seen. Varner deserved every bit of shit thrown at him. Being gay himself, he should have known better.
The Reunion show should be interesting.
What got me first was how Varner’s speech up to that one point felt like it could actually convince the others to vote off Ozzy. And then…it was like watching the waves of regret slapping him down over and over. I think by the time for the post-elimination interview he really under the magnitude of his mistake.
Probst basically just kicked Varner off, like, get the fuck out of here.
This. I’m following him throughout that speech, thinking he may just manage to turn them successfully, and he suddenly tosses that turd right in the punch bowl. It was seriously unexpected and shocking that he went there. I felt gut-punched, at least partly in sympathy with Zeke, who just instantly went into a panic shock (you could see it written on his face, plain as actual text).
Yeah, that was different. How did Varner know that fact?
Sean Spicer: man I can’t believe I said that shit about Hitler. No one is gonna say anything dumber this week.
Jeff Varner: hold my beer
So I wonder what would have happened if Varner had an immunity idol?
There had been rumors that this season took a “dark turn” and I’d bet this is the start of that. Probably too much to hope that it’s the end of it.
Hats off to Probst for how he handled that TC, though.
I think this is one thing a lot of people don’t get, is how the actual issues facing different discriminated-against groups differ, and how this can lead to divides between them. The issues white women face are different from minority men are different from women of color are different from gay people are different from trans people. I remember there was a lot of acrimony between the ‘white’ and ‘not-white’ factions of the LGBT groups on my campus, for example. And I think the same thing applies to Varner. He probably sees himself as a trans ally (he mentioned fighting against the North Carolina bathroom bill) but probably doesn’t “get” the differences in being gay vs being trans. For him, he can afford to be “out and loud and proud” in this day and age, but it’s much more difficult to be trans.
I was especially struck by Zeke’s comment about how he’s glad he got to become known as Zeke instead of just “the trans Survivor player.” As much as I’d like to hope that I would make that distinction had I known Zeke was trans from the get-go, I’m not sure I would without the chance of simply seeing him play a whole season as Zeke.
Well, if you still want to hate Russell…
I dunno. Did Jeff sort of egg Varner on? Did he maybe have some idea what Varner was going to say when he encouraged him to go on about “the deception”? Now, I’m not giving Varner a free ride-- this is all on him-- but is it possible that Jeff isn’t the innocent good guy he seemed to be?
Anyway, that was just stunning. I, too, thought Varner had the upper hand, and was going to get Ozzie voted off. Then… holy fucking shit, what did he just say??? What on earth was he thinking!
BTW, I don’t think this is the only time they did a non-vote vote at TC. Seems like at least once or twice before Jeff just cut to the chase.
I’m also left wondering how Zeke could have kept this secret what with the internet and all. Lots of people must know.
Yeah, but Jeff was full of shit at tribal when he said something along the lines that Varner not only outed Zeke to the rest of the tribe but also millions of viewers. No, Varner outed Zeke to the other tribe members and the production crew. Outing Zeke to millions of viewers (weeks after the actual incident) required some help from Probst.
What did Probst have to do with this? Varner popped off with “Why didn’t you tell us you were transgender?” completely out of the blue, and all the other contestants rightfully piled all over him. I rewatched it after hearing the criticism of Probst. He was as shocked as everyone else. Any piling on he did after that was completely deserved by Varner and was mild compared to what the other contestants were saying.
Too bad he missed Ponderosa by one week. He’d have to be stuck there with a new pissed off contestant every couple of days for weeks. Wherever he went. the show had long since ended before anyone there knew about the incident.
I was thinking about this. I wonder if they talk to Zeke at all and came to a mutual decision to air it. I was hoping the the weekly interview with Dalton Ross that it would come up but no such luck. I would hope that there was a discussion about whether to air it or not, and that Zeke was included in the discussion.
That didn’t seem kosher to me. Because, as Mr. Lebodnik asks:
He should have just held a regular vote.
I hope this has all blown over by next week, because I was enjoying this season and I’m already extremely bored by this controversy, and annoyed by how it keeps everyone from talking about any of the other stuff that happened on the show.
You’re probably right, production could have edited the the Tribal Council so that this topic never aired.
But there is a good chance that this is an on-going talking point for the rest of the season.
Varner said (and I’m paraphrasing) that he “had something even bigger to disclose to show how much Zeke was deceiving the tribe” and Probst egged him on to disclose what that was. I just think there is a good chance Jeff had some idea what that “bigger thing” was, and maybe shouldn’t have encourage him to keep going.
Which is what I said. I’m not lessening Varner’s responsibility, just saying that I think that maybe (emphasize maybe) Probst isn’t quite so innocent himself.
Probst didn’t encourage or “egg on” anything. You’re way off base here.
Varner said “and it goes deeper, there’s more…” all Probst said was, “ok, continue…”
If that’s your definition of “encourage” & “egg on” I suggest you consult a dictionary.
And let me add… I’m totally against what Varner did, and think he was a complete ass. But, anyone who has a secret they are trying to keep and then goes on a major reality show TWICE, should fully expect that secret to get out. Sure, it’s nobody’s business, but you can’t put yourself in the limelight and then claim to want privacy.
I’ve no evidence at all for it, but I can’t help wondering if the fact that Zeke was transgender had a lot to do with the production crew bringing him back as one of their game changers. They’ve said many times they cast players that they think will be interesting and will create drama for whatever reason… If so, they might have seen his transgender status as a source of potential drama that hadn’t paid off the first time around, so maybe give it a second chance to detonate?
How will this play out for Zeke’s game? Will it make the others way less willing to vote against him for fear it will be seen as bigotry?
“Metamorphosis” was the puzzle word in the Immunity Challenge. Ironic, considering the relevation at Tribal Council.
And it was an odd word for Survivor to use in a puzzle.
Zele was a pretty strong player, and is an interesting personality (in a good way), so I think he earns a spot on that alone. But you never know what goes thru the producers’ heads, Still, if they were going to go for a trans person, it seems like they would go for someone who was more open to sharing.
It was originally “Caitlyn Jenner”, but they changed it at the last minute.