Gotta admit, producers had me fooled. I really thought JP was going instead of Ali.
I think Chrissy has to be the favorite so far going into the merge. Ryan clearly is a character with potential but I think he’ll rub too many people the wrong way and not win. Ben also seems like a good candidate. Lauren’s my dark horse.
Me, too. And not just editing-- it would have been the smarter thing to do.
I really don’t want Joe to win, but I’m afraid this crew is too stupid to prevent it.
How about that immunity challenge? As soon as I saw the layout I said the cube runner doesn’t have to do anything but walk out to the disk and place the cube. The winning tribe figured that out (after one fumble, right?) and ran away with the challenge. I guess in the heat of the moment and some intense focus paired with a little malnutrition kept the other two tribes from noticing.
Ali came across as smart, intelligent and is (imo) very good looking. I thought she’d go far. I wonder if her emotional display(s) got her voted out.
My speculation as to what happened is that Chrissy never really got over being shaky about trusting Ali, despite what she was telling her, and convinced Ryan to make the 3rd with her and JP. I mean, Ryan’s a (very entertaining) weasel, but I don’t think he’d be THAT blatant about flipping on her after mending fences, so I don’t think it came from him.
That’s what I was thinking too - the other three just need to hold it (equally) TIGHT and the person walking out the cube doesn’t need to hold at all. But for some reason the other tribes kept giving slack and requiring the fourth person to hold as well.
I actually think Ali over JP was the smart move. Certainly for Ryan - he pretty much burnt his bridge with her, so better to take her out now pre-merge/pre-jury instead of having her tell everyone he’s untrustworthy at the merge. And I wouldn’t worry too much about JP’s strength - the individual immunity challenges tend to be more balance and endurance than strength, and someone built like JP won’t do as well.
I don’t really see Joe as having a good chance at winning, I don’t think the others will let him. They already see him as shifty (see Desi’s comments of “I trust him to take me along as long as it’s good for him”). His nose for idols helps but will only get you so far (I don’t see him becoming a challenge threat).
Well, damn.
Though her parting comments weren’t very gracious, I still kind of liked Ali. Plus, I was looking forward to seeing her all cleaned up on the reunion show. Now she’ll be stuck in the back row and won’t get to say anything.
Ah well, that’s about all I’ve got to say about this one. I do hope things start getting more interesting post-merge.
Now that was a good episode!
I pretty much figured the winner of that challenge would be one of the gals, and it doesn’t surprise me that my favorite, Desi, was the one. Crissy needs to keep a lower profile, but it was nice to see loud-mouthed Joe lose his idol and then get blindsided at TC, even if he didn’t get voted out. Cole is pathologically stupid and Jess is a perfect match for him. Let’s hope they don’t breed, though. The world is dumb enough already!
I’m starting to like Ken and Crissy a lot, but again, Crissy needs to lay low and not advertise her intellect. Maybe the editors are playing with us, but she does seem like a good strategist.
Can’t wait to see the idol digging fight next week! 
Very good move all-around by the majority. I thought Jess was a great target since Joe had an HII and Cole is a non-threat (zero strategic game, he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way socially, and his strength won’t help much in the upcoming style of challenges). And from Ben and Lauren’s position, I’d much rather be part of a 7 that seems otherwise split 4-3 between Heroes/Hustlers than as the 5-1-1 tail end of a Healers alliance. Once a few more Healers are out they can always keep Mike around as a vote if they decide to break ranks with the others.
Agree that it looks like Chrissy has let her masterminding become a bit too obvious.
So was there a hidden clue at the new camp or not? If it was in with the nails somebody must have found it. Or did I fall asleep and miss part of the episode? Maybe the cause of the idol fracas next week?
Early “Dark Horse” prediction:
Ashley.
I know everyone’s on the Desi/Chrissy bandwagon right now, but I really think Ashley is playing the perfect game. Flying under the radar, not considered a threat yet still involved with most other players.
If she wins a couple immunity challenges, she could win the whole damn thing.
Yep. And there was a chance that Joe would give his HII to Cole. Probably not much of a chance since he’s a narcissistic a-hole, but still a chance.
No, I saw what looked like a clue, too, and it did not seem anyone saw it.
But I think the producers were doing a little wink, wink to us to show how “clueless” Cole is, in more ways than one! 
Who do we think came up with the idea to vote Jess off? AFAIR, we weren’t shown. I know “Dr Mike” was shown talking about his strategy, but I can’t remember much of what he said. Is he the real brains behind this move, and not Chrissy (or someone else)?
I remember a scene with all 7 sitting on the beach talking about the plan. They mention Joe and the idol, that he might play it for Cole (or Cole may have found one), and that they needed a “Plan C”. I believe it was Chrissy that came up with both the need for Plan C and threw out Jessica’s name, but I could be wrong on that last part.
The fact that they even bothered showing that scene made me suspect it was Jess going home, because otherwise it was a pretty pointless discussion (from the audience’s perspective).
I don’t think Mike had anything to do with it, since he still voted with the healers.
Did Jessica really describe herself as a holy virgin? Then say she’ll go on a date with Cole after Survivor is over?
Jessica had a talking head a few weeks ago telling us that she is still a virgin. Yes, there was some sort of clue, or advantage in the group of nails. Apparently no one found it. The editors even did a little “Highlight” editing for us when the camera zoomed on the nails.
Cole consumes 8000 calories a day? Big Grocery Bill!
The editors didn’t remind us that Dr Mike still has a HII. AFAIK, only Jessica knows that he has an idol.
Ken? Do you mean Ben? or Ryan?
Is anyone else craving Outback Steakhouse™? Seriously, there’s been product placement before, but that had to be the most egregious one yet.
Anyway, I’m glad no one bought into Joe’s game this time. He was clearly trying to put the vote on himself and it failed wonderfully.
The big guy with the cowboy hat. Ben?
I was happy to see her go.
Saw an exit interview with Jessica. She is not a member of the jury. Don’t remember the last time a post-merge boot was not included in the jury.
So there’s now 11 left, right? I wonder if they’re going for a smaller jury to better accommodate the “open forum” format.