Ah thanks, I totally forgot that 2 people had returned from EoE. Weren’t we theorizing at the time that after Rick Devens had come back, they were just going to let everyone else stay but never let them back into the game?
I’m not sure, but I will say that it is bad news for the show that the best and most interesting players are all over on Exile. I think at most, two of them will return…
I’m hoping for Ethan and Yul, but will accept almost anyone over there making a comeback.
Best I’ll give you, but most interesting? I think you’re forgetting one Tony Vlachos, inventor of the Spy Shack, Spy Shack 2, Spy Bunker, and most recently the Spy Pile of Palm Fronds.
I find it interesting (but maybe not surprising) that looking at the list of contestants by order of seasons they won, I’m now down to hoping one of the Sophie-Kim-Denise trio win, and they’re the “oldest” ones left. I like Jeremy too, but everyone after him (except maybe Sarah) I don’t care for. Michelle and Nick are boring, Wendell and Ben are jerks, and Adam’s whiny. Wonder why that is… just shifting demographics or change in editing.
I adore Michele, so I don’t have that problem and I am beyond thrilled that she escaped having her torch snuffed this week.
Yes (and as I say, with her legendary status and legions of fans, Jeff is playing with fire if he says anything negative about her). But he also said:
“So after 16 years, if Sandra is done, I’m good with that.”
When Rob was saying he was done, Jeff continued to plead with him to play again. Take that for what you will.
Legions of fans? Everyone I know despises her.
Lazy and gets her way by lying.
Well isnt that what the game is all about?
I don’t like her either, but look on Twitter and podcasts, and you will see huge numbers of people lamenting the downfall of “the queen”. Some of the prominent figures in Survivor media warned people not to attack her in their mentions (replies) at the risk of being blocked.
Man, Yul was in a tough spot. It’s one of the nasty side effects of a three-way split going into the marge - super small tribes at these last final TCs. Yul basically had no shot once it became clear that Michelle was never going to vote against Wendell (which I’m not sure I get, but clearly their past history is still a factor). No way is Nick going to force a tie in that situation, since he doesn’t have any real affection for Yul either.
Yul also pointed out the factor that has been overriding in this season (a bit to it’s detriment I think) - existing relationships both inside and outside the game have mattered as much if not more than what has happened during the game. In a “normal” season I think the combination of Wendell’s sketchy TC talk last episode and his trash-talking failure this episode (after already doing the same thing earlier during a challenge) would have been enough to get him snuffed. But because he happened to land with Michelle on a 4-person tribe he’s safe through no real work of his own. You could even say he’s been pretty lousy at keeping Michelle on his side, which based on what we’ve seen and heard from her should be a lay-up.
Throughout this season, Probst has been driving home the idea of how much the game has changed, evolved, sped up, etc.
At first I thought he was definitely overstating this factor. But it’s become clear that the new-school players have been completely dominating the old-school players. For all the talk of the “legendary” status of Rob, Sandra, Parvati, Amber, et al, they’re the ones sitting at EoE (or gone home), while the ones who helped transition the game into the more complex, fast-paced entity it has become play on.
Like them or not, the old folks just haven’t been able to keep up.
You know, I wish they had brought this up again. Because unless there was more that was cut out, I didn’t see him as trash talking. I thought he was just making sure he had Jeff’s attention, because he lost a challenge his season because he forgot to yell for Jeff.
I was a regular on the old Television Without Pity boards, and the TWoP crowd absolutely worshiped Sandra. It was also an article of faith on TWoP that the Sandra strategy (stay in the background and quietly sow discord) was the only “correct” way to play the game. Any time a player tried a big, dramatic move, the TWoPers would loudly condemn it, even if it worked. Personally, I’ve always found Sandra’s anybody-but-me approach to be tedious and one-dimensional.
Her popularity is baffling. I understand why viewers might identify with a player who can win without being athletic, but her egotistical preening is a huge turn-off for me.
You’re probably right. But in the ball maze challenge he definitely said “watch this Probst” and calling out “Hey Jeff, Hey Jeff” before you actually have, ya know, solved the puzzle is a bit brash, especially when you lose by a second or two.
The one he lost it wasn’t like a second or two lapse, as I recall - it was a good handful of seconds just staring at his puzzle without saying anything.
In the end it was totally moot, since Michelle is apparently completely in the palm of his hand (or at least is being edited that way). Hopefully she breaks free at some point.
The problem of all the ousted people is because they came in with the status of a star as far survivor is concerned. None of these folks have any real chances of winning because they would always be the targets.
Now that the stars have been stripped out the real game begins.
Except that one of the stars will be back next week.
I don’t know why you present the power dynamic as going in that direction. She was the one teasing Wendell that she had him sweating for a minute there.
Hmm… I guess I should re-check it. I suppose it’s because we haven’t seen him seem at all worried about her voting against her, while we have seen her talk about how mean is is being. You add in how everything we know about their prior relationship is that he hurt her, and I guess I ended up with the “jilted lover still pining for her man” posture. I think something about his body language around her and the way he keeps negging her (is that even still a thing?) looks to me a lot like a guy that knows a girl still has a thing for him and is using that to keep her on the leash.
But I hope you’re right and she’s playing him just to cut his throat. That would be beautiful. And I saw that as someone that didn’t really mind Wendell his first time (or maybe I just don’t remember him).
True but the problem is that hes coming back way too soon and the alliances are pretty much defined and who wants to go to the finale with one of the people from the island??
Maybe I missed it, but has anyone discussed what really happened with Michelle and Wendell outside the game? At first, I just figured it was a romance that never really caught fire and they both went their separate ways. But, Michelle has said several times that he really hurt her (I’m assuming in a non-physical way). To me, that brings their relationship into the game. Is Michelle the aggrieved party? In their interactions together, he seems to be a bit bossy toward her. What’s up with them?
I’m increasingly convinced that they are playing up the negativity between them to avoid being targeted as a “power couple”. I guess that doesn’t explain the private interview comments, but given that they are obviously experienced players, that might be intended to give the editors something to work with.