I do think producers talk to them, but I don’t think they try to influence the game by convincing people to do things or think of things.
Just watched the last (double) episode. Wow, that was a great couple hours of TV!
The Chris blindside was really fun to watch, and it showcased how complex the game has become. Not everyone here seems enamored by the game’s evolution, but I love it. Every season adds another set of circumstances for the next group of players to study, and if you can’t keep up it will cost you.
The second TC may have been the most intense ever. From the “Ken” misdirection (and David falling for it!), to the uncertain re-vote, to the heated stalemate discussion, to the final rock draw – what a nail-biter! I wasn’t rooting for Jess to go, but I’m not sad about it either. Though I do kind of wish it had been somebody on the Bret/Zeke side – preferably Sunday. She is the most annoying and worthless player left.
Jeff explained the logic behind the rock rule quite well, I think. He said something like, “You were unable to take the game in your own hands by deciding who was going home, so now it’s up to fate.” In that way, it makes some sense to keep the voted-for players immune.
The one I’m watching right now is Hannah. Her whole social-anxiety persona is definitely not just an act, don’t get me wrong. But I think she’s self-aware enough and smart enough to use that as a sort of cover to how well she’s playing the game.
I hope they bring back the “shortcut” twist from the first challenge this season. It’s weird to do that once and never again. Maybe they were testing it out for future season.
That was the way it was in the first few seasons. But then rocks were added in not too long after.
It is just plain stupid to allow things to go to rocks. You go from a 0% chance of going home to a 1 in 8. stupidstupidstupid.
The only reason to maybe do so, is that you KNOW you are next anyway.
She had my devoted loyalty ever since she answered Jeff’s question “Are you hungry, Hannah” with “I could eat you, Jeff”
Well, they did have the odds on their side, so it depends on if you’re thinking about it from a “make it to the next vote” perspective or “make it to the end” perspective. Typically I prefer to focus on the next day (which was Zeke’s point with the “I change sides constantly” sidebar to Jess), but in this case I kind of get it.
You had two strictly aligned groups of 5. One of the two would have a pretty clear advantage in the next few votes. And at the rocks stage you had 4 from one side drawing against 2 from the other. Not a bad bet if you think it greatly increases your chances of making it to Final TC.
What I wish we had seen is why Will and Jay are suddenly so strongly aligned with Zeke and Brett. That seemed very sudden, especially when coupled with Jay somehow knowing the first TC vote was directed at Jessica and not him (unless he just guessed correctly, which seems unlikely to me).
The second biggest mistake IMO was Dave playing the idol for Ken. I don’t think that the odds of you guessing correctly and avoiding rocks outweighs the benefits of keeping your idol. And if you’re going to play it you definitely don’t play it on the person that the other side (Sunday) told you they were voting for.
The biggest mistake was Hannah being a terrible liar when talking to Zeke. Good on Zeke for seeing through it, but she certainly made it easy for him.
Really “Team Zeke” just outplayed “Team David” in that episode, so it’s probably appropriate that they came out ahead.
Great episode tonight. Always happy to see somebody leave with legitimate class.
Jessica had a few podcasts this week, and her thought process was that there was virtually no chance to win the game if she flipped her vote to Hannah. She was going to be on the bottom of the Team Zeke alliance with no real “relationship” with anyone on that side. Sunday and Bret were always going to go after her.
By choosing rocks, she had a 83% chance of surviving, and she felt she had a legit shot at winning while staying on Team David, especially if one of Team Zeke drew the wrong rock.
100% chance of staying * 5% chance of winning = 5% chance of winning
83% chance of staying * 20% chances of winning = 16.6% chance of winning.
I can understand the logic.
Will was a big Drama Queen tonight. His indignant confessionals and speeches came off as petulant & whiny. Really unlikeable.
I am not sure what is the right adjective to describe Ken’s behavior. Snobbish, Supercilious, Arrogant, Elitist, Haughty. Not sure. All of the above?
Will did vote for Zeke, so Adam burned his idol for no reason. I really don’t like the Family visits too much. I wanted to see how they rescued Adam after he got stuck under the log. Help me, Help me
Yeah, I agree. And I think this might have been the first time someone made a play for a comeback role in the sign-off!
As I suspected earlier, Ken has so serious social issues. He’s kind of creepy- weird. Will is such a needy kid. I think Jay is the one to beat-- like I said last time, he went form bottom of the barrel to top of the heap. The real players are Adam, Jay and David. All the rest or tag-alongs now that Zeke is out.
Agree that Will came off sorta petulant. “They’re treating me like an 18-year-old high school student.” Uh… that’s because you are?
And yeah, Ken always struck me as weird, though I liked his gameplay up til now. But his move outing Will was just dumb (even if Will eventually did end up voting with him). I suspect he won’t win just because everyone else dislikes him.
My money’s on Jay to win it at this point. But I agree with John Mace that Adam and David are the only other two who could win it.
S34 casting spoilers/guesses:
Next season is an all-returnee season, reportedly with one man and one woman returning from this season. I’ve long suspected Michaela is the woman; and now I think Zeke is the guy.
I think she’s absolutely correct. If she had flipped her vote to avoid the rocks, she would have lasted, at most, one or two more rounds.
He had a good reason—they weren’t sure how Will was going to vote. The Zeke vote was the best move for Will, but he was being very emotional during the TC discussion and emotional people don’t always act rationally. I think using the idol was a smart move; it was insurance against a possible betrayal from Will.
I would have liked to see that, too; since we didn’t see how he got out, I’m guessing the production crew pulled him out. They never show crew members unless it’s a medical emergency, and I guess being stuck under a log didn’t count. 
To be fair, many of the other people leaving were blindsided, whereas Zeke knew he was definitely a target. It sounded like he had been practicing that speech for a bit.
But that’s exactly how many 18 year old high school seniors act. It seemed utterly believable to me.
I was hoping they’d just leave him under there during the whole reward process - Jay’s picking people to go with him, and you just hear Adam’s voice in the background “Help! I’m still stuck! Gimme a hand!”
BTW, since it was mentioned in the OP, CBS just announced that The Amazing Race will return April 21, 2017.
IIRC, every Immunity Challenge since the merge has been some sort of endurance test. Booooooring. They could have easily used the threaded-rope reward challenge as an IC, just for a change of pace.
The 2nd IC in last week’s 2 hour episode wasn’t endurance - they had to do the handle maze they couldn’t see then solve a slide puzzle.
And look at Jay. He was a sure bet to be voted out, and now he’s sitting pretty. You gotta stay in the game to give yourself a chance.
When Probst put on the Immunity Necklace on Adam last night, I noticed it was extremely phallic.
Ken makes it very hard to root for him. I think I still am, but am not sure. As for his weird social awkwardness, clearly not everybody hates him since Jessica willed her advantage to him.
Definitely still backing David, though.
Agreed that Will demonstrated petulant 18-year-old high school student whinyness while complaining about being treated like an 18-year-old high school student, which couldn’t have been more perfect if it had been scripted.
Not me. I’m for Jay. He’s a real Survivor. David’s pretty good, but his neuroses drive me nuts.
I’m sure the writers/editors had a ball with that one!!
Is it just me, or does Will seem like he tries to make his voice sound lower and fuller than it naturally is?
His thought process seemed a little off, but it’s best to err on the aggressive than passive, IMHO. This seems like a lot to throw on a high schooler. I won’t say it’s immaturity, but lack of life experience, that is the cause of what I will call a blunder.
But Ken! Dude! No way should you or will you win now. Does he even watch the show? I loved Adam’s response to him.
I’ve suddenly hopped on the Adam bandwagon and am rooting for him to win. I’ve been jumping from player to player all season, which is the mark of a good season.
Eric