Episode 34.4

I wonder if anyone on this season will end up serving on their third jury. To date, only Rupert has made the jury three different times. The way things are going, I’m not sure if that will end up happening or not. Malcolm has now joined Ciera and Russell Hantz as three time players who have always gotten a worse placement each time they played. I haven’t checked what my predictions were, but I have the feeling that they are way off now.

Good news, everyone! Survivor is renewed for more seasons. Yay! Well, it is renewed for at least one other season, but I have no idea why they wouldn’t do two seasons at the same time. I do wonder if this show will ever end. You’d think that it would at some point, but I have no idea when that could be.

http://www.tv.com/news/cbs-fall-renewals-2017-14902837700030702/

I know that there has to be alternates for a season like this. I don’t know who was considered for this season that didn’t make the cast yet or not. Well, I know that Natalie from San Juan del Sur was almost in the cast. But I don’t know who else was considered. It was weird not knowing who the alternates for Caramoan were for quite some time. I guess there just wasn’t the information there for it or not. At one point, we knew more alternates for South Pacific than we did for Caramoan.

I’m not sure if there have been many Survivor dreams that I’ve been having lately. I recently dreamt about Erik from Micronesia. It mostly just related to his huge mistake of giving up immunity and the events that lead up to it. I forget if it focused on his time in Caramoan or not. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, we get back to the tribe that lost Malcolm. I can’t keep track of them. Nuku was the tribe. JT wanted Sandra out, which is why he leaked the plans. Instead, another one of his moves backfires. JT finds an idol clue. He then finds the idol. Hopefully, he can use it better than the last time he had an idol.

In the second segment of the show, we get to the next challenge, which is one on a small island. I think that the green tribe loses. Debbie is failing at the challenge, so this may be what causes her outrage. Debbie thinks that it’s Brad’s fault for the loss their tribe has since he dictates the challenge, even though she mentioned having good balance.

In the third segment of the show, Sarah talks to Troyzan. She wants an idol and tells him that. We then get to Debbie getting really upset. For some reason, Debbie thinks that Hali is the one who failed at the challenge. What is going on here? I don’t understand why she’s getting so upset. If this gets rid of Brad somehow, it might work out. But it looks like it could bite her in the ass.

In the fourth segment of the show, coffee is being made on Nuku. This gets JT really irritated because Michaela takes too much of it. Sandra then stirs the pot by eating the rest of the sugar. She does this in front of Jeff Varner. Man, do I love it when Sandra can cause dysfunction like this. Michaela wants to kill JT over this, which is a totally natural response, not. Tai looks for another idol on his tribe. Look in a hole in a tree! He finds a clue, but not an idol just yet. We then get to the immunity challenge. I might have been wrong earlier when I thought that Debbie blew the reward challenge. She gets mad at the challenge, but her tribe still comes in first. It is the Nuku tribe that loses.

In the fifth segment of the show, JT tries to get Michaela out of the game. She realized that this is the type of challenge that got her voted out the first time. Sandra wants to get out JT as vengeance for Malcolm getting the boot in the last episode. Jeff Varner appears to be in the middle of the two sides trying to fight for power. Will he join JT and Aubry or Michaela and Sandra?

At tribal council, the people talk about the last, crazy tribal council. Somehow, this is JT’s most excited tribal council instead of the one where he beat Stephen for the win. JT thinks that they have been babysitting Michaela. I think that JT is being rude. Sandra comes to Michaela’s defense. Everyone thinks that the vote is clear. They vote and nobody plays an idol. Somehow, Michaela has a cup of coffee during this time. Weird. The person voted out is poor JT who failed to use his idol. Man, he is now with Ozzy as the only players to have two idols and not use them right either time.

On the next Survivor, there is another tribe swap, Exile Island is back, and a former Survivor is returning somehow. I’m guessing that they are just visiting, but who and why is unknown. It seems weird to me that such a thing would happen. Surely it wasn’t someone voted out of the game, is it? Man, I’m getting really confused here by this season.

Total confessional count: Sandra- 15, Cirie- 6, Hali- 6, Sarah- 3, Ozzy- 4, Troyzan- 5, Zeke- 3, Sierra- 3, JT- 11, Tai- 7, Jeff Varner- 7, Debbie- 9, Andrea- 3, Aubry- 4, Michaela- 8, Brad- 7.

New confessionals this episode: Brad- 1, Sandra- 3, Cirie- 0, Hali- 1, Sarah- 1, Ozzy- 0, Troyzan- 1, Zeke- 0, Sierra- 0, JT- 5, Tai- 2, Jeff Varner- 2, Debbie- 3, Andrea- 0, Aubry- 1, Michaela- 3.

JT had five confessionals this episode, the highest out of everyone. The next highest are Debbie, Sandra, and Michaela, all with three each. Sierra, Andrea, Cirie, Ozzy, and Zeke all have no confessionals this episode. As for the total count, JT had eleven confessionals. The only person who is higher than him is Queen Sandra with fifteen. The lowest in the total count right now are Andrea, Sarah, Zeke, and Sierra, who all have just three confessionals. I wonder how things could change for them in the future. We’ll see. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Episode 34.3

Well, my sister’s baby was born so hopefully there won’t be any issues with me watching this show because of it. I can’t imagine that she as a Survivor fan would want to mess herself or anyone else up by scheduling events during that time. Besides, she should be busy with Lenten services during this time anyways. But I thought that I would let you know about this in case anything changes.

I don’t know if I should mention the seasons that people played before in this post or not. I have the information in the document where I’m writing this blog, but I don’t think that I will mention much about them. What is interesting is that Troyzan and Brad were both rejected from being in the cast of Cambodia and they both get to play in a season with Jeff Varner and Ciera who actually made the cast of Cambodia. When seasons do get eliminated, I will include Cambodia rejects as a season for when both Brad and Troyzan are out of the game (provided that neither one of them makes the final three). There will be a bit of confusion regarding previous seasons getting eliminated since some contestants played multiple seasons. I guess that if any are eliminated at the same time as another one (which is going to happen), I will mention the older season first. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, Tai discusses voting against Caleb. Hali is glad that she made it past the vote. Debbie thinks that Hali is out of options. We then get to a challenge. Only two players will participate in each tribe. Only men are participating. The blue tribe gets first and the red tribe pulls a come from behind second place victory. The green tribe loses and Cirie blames Troyzan for it, wanting him to be voted off next. Will it happen? I guess we'll see later.

In the second segment of the show, the green tribe gets back after their challenge loss. Ozzy’s cockiness seems to be showing back up again. Andrea is glad that he’s able to catch fish. Sandra still feels in control which she might be. JT wants to get rid of her, prompting another winner’s war.

In the third segment of the show, we instantly get to the immunity challenge. Jeff Probst gets to the main twist where only one of the three tribes win immunity and the two losers both go to tribal council. Andrea is able to win the challenge for the green tribe. It turns out that the two losing tribes are voting out just one member between them. How will they sort that out? And is this really fair since one tribe would just target members of the other tribe? It seems like a cool twist, but I’m not sure it will work out that well.

In the fourth segment of the show, there is an image of an animal using camouflage on itself. I wonder what this means. The blue tribe talks about how they would have the majority to vote out a member of the other tribe. Jeff Varner points at the lack of consensus among the group. The red tribe also tries to come up with a decision on what to do. Hali is considered a wild card. I’m not sure how this tribe knows that JT is a potential vote in their pocket. Tai finds a clue to the idol on his tribe. He finds the idol and tells his tribe about it meaning they have potential power going into the vote.

In the fifth segment of the show, we get to the tribal council. JT was with the other tribe originally. This is so confusing. There are huge risks with potentially flipping as you would then be on the outs on your tribe. The loyalty test could prove Hali or JT a new asset to their tribe. There are so many whispers and confusion over who to vote for. JT and Hali openly give hints to other tribes. Who can be trusted? I have a feeling that this idol might be played. Jeff Probst doesn’t even know what to say about all this.

Man that Hali is a little devil, isn’t she? I’m starting to like her even if she is evil. The votes are cast. Tai decides to give his idol to Sierra and she plays it on herself. I hope they took Hali’s advice. It looks like they did not take her advice. Sierra’s votes are cancelled and Malcolm is on the receiving end of an idol move. Why’d they target him? That seemed to have been lost in the editing. This makes Philippines the first season to be eliminated. JT’s tribe thinks that he did something bad to cause this.

On the next Survivor, JT is in the hot seat and Debbie is getting really mad. I’m going to have to rewatch the tribal council to see what this moment was that they think happened regarding JT. It was JT who revealed who they were voting for. Hali told them to switch, but they didn’t take her advice. Man, while players I love are dropping like flies, I really hope the season continues being this crazy.

Total confessional count: Jeff Varner- 5, Debbie- 6, Andrea- 3, Aubry- 3, Michaela- 5, Brad- 6, Sandra- 12, Cirie- 6, Hali- 5, Malcolm- 9, Sarah- 2, Ozzy- 4, Troyzan- 4, Zeke- 3, Sierra- 3, JT- 6, Tai- 5.

New confessionals this episode: Tai- 1, Jeff Varner- 1, Debbie- 1, Andrea- 1, Aubry- 1, Michaela- 0, Brad- 1, Sandra- 2, Cirie- 1, Hali- 2, Malcolm- 1, Sarah- 0, Ozzy- 1, Troyzan- 0, Zeke- 0, Sierra- 1, JT- 2.

Malcolm had only one confessional this episode, the same number at Brad, Cirie, Tai, Jeff Varner, Ozzy, Debbie, Andrea, Aubry, and Sierra. The people with no confessionals are Sarah, Troyzan, Zeke, and Michaela. The people with two confessionals are Sandra, Hali, and JT. As for total confessionals, Malcolm had nine. The only person to be higher than him is Queen Sandra with twelve. Sarah is scrapping the bottom of the confessional count with only two confessionals. We will see what happens and changes as the season progresses. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Episode 34.2

Interesting fact: both Ciera and her mother Laura have been the first voted out of a tribe. Now I’m not sure if I’ll keep track of all the nominations for my dumbest moves of the season award as the season goes on, but Tony’s weird playing has to be nominated. How did his game go so wrong? Another fun fact about Ciera is that there is only one other person who played the game three times and ranked lower each time. Russell Hantz is no longer alone as he was the only person before her to have this fact about themselves (that I know of at least). But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, we immediately get to the tribe swap. There is now a green tribe in addition to the blue and red tribe. The new red tribe: Hali, Tai, Brad, Caleb, Sierra, and Debbie. The new blue tribe: Malcolm, Michaela, Sandra, Aubry, Jeff Varner, and JT. The new green tribe: Ozzy, Zeke, Sarah, Troyzan, Cirie, and Andrea. Or, I think that I got them all on the right tribe. They never actually said who was on each tribe, though. JT gets his tribe to go out on the sea and then leaves them to try to find the hidden immunity idol. #devious. The people back on the boat get suspicious of him. Sadly, this may have put him more on the outs than he was wanting to. Hopefully this doesn’t get him voted out, but I’m just hoping that he avoids epic fails like the last time he played.

In the second segment of the show, Brad tries to make his new tribe his home now. Hali and Caleb are seemingly at the bottom of their new tribe, but Tai has plans to keep Caleb around. Brad wants to get rid of Caleb while Tai wants to get rid of Debbie. We then get to the Tavua (green) tribe getting to their camp for the first time. Ozzy and Cirie might want to work together. Everyone on their tribe probably wants to get rid of Troyzan. He then goes looking for the idol and he finds a message on a bottle (sending out an SOS). He learns where he can find the idol.

In the third segment of the show, there are goats on the blue tribe. JT wants to get them to help keep himself safe in the game. Remember how Richard the provider was able to keep himself safe? They won’t get rid of the momma goat who apparently has horns. But they think about getting rid of the baby. Will they eat the goat or not? They talk amongst themselves to see what to do so they get rid of the goat and eat chickens instead. I’m not sure why this is in here. I guess that we could see a symbolism in the future of letting the goat get away with people on this tribe.

In the fourth segment of the show, we get to the immunity challenge. We also have rewards and the winner gets a tarp and their choice between comfort and flavoring food. The runner-up gets the rejected choice of the first place tribe. Troyzan feels like he is poorly placed in the challenge in terms of trying to get the idol. I would feel like it would be cool if he got the idol, everyone voted against him, he played the idol, and cast the only vote that mattered. The red tribe loses the challenge and Troyzan manages to get the idol. What’s weird is that idol players are very active in the game. I might have to do a post about them. Debbie thinks that the vote will be easy. But are things ever really that easy on Survivor? It seems that those who think it is get their asses handed to them.

In the fifth segment of the show, Hali feels that she is at the bottom. Debbie feels that relationships from old seasons matter this time around. Tai wonders where his loyalties lie. Is the choice as easy as Hali or Caleb? We then get to tribal council next. Hali thinks that she’s more at the bottom than Caleb is. She tries to save herself, but I don’t know if she’s doing well on that front or not. Why don’t they show many voting confessionals anymore? Are people not giving entertaining ones anymore? Caleb is the one who gets voted out. That seems like a strange pick. Thus, he leaves around the same time he did the first time. Maybe he’s not as good a challenge asset as people thought he was.

On the next Survivor, JT tries to get rid of Sandra and they are finally using the double tribal council twist in a three tribe season. I sure have missed that twist. It hasn’t happened since Nicaragua. And they have a good way of using it by making one of the three tribes immune while the other two have to vote someone out. Maybe people in production do read this blog. (Pick me!) Otherwise, they just finally went with the obvious twist. As for this blog, the readers of it keep coming and I tend to have over a thousand people reading certain posts. I wonder what this crazy moment Jeff Probst was reacting to.

Total confessional count: Malcolm- 8, Sarah- 2, Ozzy- 3, Caleb- 5, Troyzan- 4, Zeke- 3, Sierra- 2, JT- 4, Tai- 4, Jeff Varner- 4, Debbie- 5, Andrea- 2, Aubry- 2, Michaela- 5, Brad- 5, Sandra- 10, Cirie- 5, Hali- 3.

New confessionals this episode: Debbie- 2, Andrea- 1, Aubry- 0, Michaela- 1, Brad- 3, Sandra- 2, Cirie- 1, Hali- 2, Malcolm- 3, Sarah- 0, Ozzy- 2, Caleb- 2, Troyzan- 3, Zeke- 1, Sierra- 1, JT- 3, Tai- 2, Jeff Varner- 2.

Caleb had two confessionals this episode, the same number as Hali, Ozzy, Debbie, Tai, Sandra, and Jeff Varner. The only people higher than them had three confessionals. They were Malcolm, Troyzan, JT, and Brad. At the bottom, with no new confessionals, were Sarah and Aubry. As for total confessionals, Caleb had five, the same number as Debbie, Michaela, Brad, and Cirie. The only people higher than them are Malcolm and Sandra with queen Sandra as the highest with ten. So far, the lowest in total count are Andrea, Sarah, Aubry, and Sierra with only two confessionals a piece. I guess we will see what happens later as time moves on. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Survivor: Game Changers Premiere

Originally, I heard that this season was actually going to be something along the lines of premerge versus merge or something like that. If the cast I have is correct, this is not what they decided to go with. But, this still might be an interesting season idea to do sometime. Of course, I should have already posted my version of a season like that. If not, you should see it some other time.

Now that Caleb, who was medically evacuated in his most recent season, has returned to play the game again this season, I might as well get to new grouping of medically evacuated players that I like to do. This will be similar to how they brought back the three players for Philippines. I will mention groups of three (or just two, if there’s not enough) for how I feel the groups should return in the future. Here are my new groupings: group 1- Joe del Campo (Kaoh Rong), Erik (Caramoan), & Bruce (Panama); group 2- Neal (Kaoh Rong), Joe Dowdle (Tocantins), & Terry (Cambodia); group 3- Shamar (Caramoan), Mike Borassi (Samoa), & Gary (Fiji); and group 4- Kourtney (One World) & Dana (Philippines).

I have another Survivor dream to tell you about. It regarded the Kaoh Rong season of Survivor. In it, it appears Neal was able to make a case to the jury as he rightfully should have. Only I was there to make a case for the winner of the season, Michele. I still don’t know why people hate Michele as a winner as I didn’t like Aubry at all. I guess that we will see this season if Aubry makes a better impression on me. Why did people think that she would win if the edit kept saying things weren’t going her way?

I also had a dream regarding some random Survivor contestant dying, but the dream didn’t say who died or why. It was around the start of the new year when I dreamt it. It must have been prophetic as on the last day of 2016, Dan Kay from Gabon died. I’m not sure that we know what killed him yet, although we hopefully will at some point. Sadly, I don’t remember who he was, but I should get the season again to watch it. Currently, I have Gabon ranked 31^st out of the 33 previous seasons. Maybe a rewatch could improve my thoughts on it. I doubt that I would have Palau ranked as high as it is without a rewatch and Borneo would still be low if I still hadn’t seen it. Meanwhile, I’m wondering if we’ll find out what killed him and why. Maybe we’ll never know. But it seems weird that it appears that the family knows what the cause is but won’t share it with anyone else.

Link with more info: http://www.tv.com/news/survivor-gabons-dan-kay-dead-at-40-14835453870075296/

Survivor Oz never interviewed Dan Kay. I wondered if he appeared in any Survivor podcasts before he died. If he did, I don’t know about it. But, in memory of him, Randy and Ken from Gabon did a special podcast with Rob Cesterino where they talked about him. Here’s a link to the podcast, which was a pretty nice one.

Link to Podcast: http://robhasawebsite.com/dan-kay-survivor-tribute-randy-bailey-ken-hoang-podcast/

I have so many posts that I started working on all at once that it’s not even funny. I have seven blogs to work on constantly and various posts all within a particular blog. It is hard to do and keep track of. I’m just wondering when the official cast of this season will be released so I can do some of my thoughts on it before the season starts. We’ll see what ends up happening. At least I could have lots of the random posts written for whatever hiatus of Survivor we are on.

Different family events run the risk of affecting this blog from time to time. My sister is going to be having a baby really soon. I thought that I would tell you about this, in the event that it affects this blog in any way. If I ever miss a planned episode, you’ll know why. Posts will be on Thursdays until Holy Week happens, in case you wondered why this was a day late.

In case you heard about the death of Richard Hatch, it was an actor who had no association with the Survivor contestant. I’m not sure how I’d deal with a death of a contestant who played multiple seasons just yet on this blog. I guess we’ll see what happens as it happens. I would probably not do a season again right away in the event that I already have it on DVD. I would do it eventually. I know that if it was the Survivor contestant, Richard Hatch, who had died, I would probably only get his second season and after blogging about that would I do his first season again since I already have it. We’ll see what happens in the future. I have two potential past seasons to blog about, but I’d need them on DVD first. Just keep out for potential posts on Sundays or Fridays.

Something that I realize about the contestants from this season is that one is named Ciera and another in named Sierra, that could cause confusion if they weren’t written differently. I won’t tell you their last names, but I will wonder how the show would keep them separate since you’d be hearing their names instead of seeing them.

I seem to have been having some computer issues lately. Hopefully these will be resolved at some point or I can find a new laptop. I still have my first laptop that I believe that I’ve had since around 2009. This probably means that it will need replaced sooner rather than later. I might just have to borrow my mother’s in the meantime, although I would want to get a new one of my own if there are problems. I have no idea how computer issues would affect my many blogs. Meanwhile, I still have my first digital camera (do cameras need replaced after a while?) and I still have my first cell phone. I love my flip phone that was free with rebate. I’ve had it since 2010.

There was a dream that I had that related to Survivor: Caramoan. It somehow he me as the host and I was reading the votes. In this version, Eddie was a finalist and he got four votes, tying for first with some other contestant implied to be maybe Dawn but probably John. The dream might have just made up a person. Also, if you believe that Eddie could have won Caramoan, let me know what potential evidence you have to back this up since I could potentially use this sometime. I tried to resolve the tie that was revealed then and there instead of at the reunion show like it is supposed to be. I started with a riddle that became a murder mystery and warped into a messed up version of Godsford Park. Also, don’t watch that movie. If you make a murder mystery film, then don’t wait until the second half of the film to get to the murder.

Apparently, the idea for this season involves a whole lot of idols being planted and used. I don’t know if I like the idea of things being crazy. I don’t really like idols as they are right now, even though they do lead to a bunch of craziness. But we don’t need too much craziness. We need just the right amount of use. If there are idols that aren’t used, that’s perfectly okay. Sorry if you consider this a spoiler. They’ve also changed how the tie-breakers work now so that’s pretty strange as well. I wonder if the contestants will know this ahead of time. I doubt it. In case you didn’t know that change, they have gotten rid of the revote part of tie-breakers now. They must really want more crazy rock drawings.

Since Lent is going on right now, this means that I will be missing most of the shows that I normally watch on Wednesday. Typically, the only certain thing I can watch on most Wednesdays during Lent would be whatever airs at 9. I was likely Doubt, but they pulled it from the schedule. Hopefully they will burn off the unaired episodes on Saturdays in the summer. Thankfully, I do watch another show at that time: Designated Survivor. I can watch some of the shows at 8 if church gets out at a good time and I leave it immediately. I typically watch SVU at this time. I also watch Modern Family by recording it for later. I do not yet know if I will watch any of The 100 this time around. I haven’t yet and don’t know yet if I will. Also, there are shows that air against Survivor that I’m planning on watching online. I watch Arrow and Blindspot, although I may not continue watching Blindspot as it might be easier for me to not tune into it (not because I don’t like the show anymore).

At this point in time, I have family visiting and will not be able to record the episode as I normally would. I will watch this later online, hopefully on Thursday. If it is later, I apologize to you about it. Hopefully there aren’t any major delays throughout the rest of the season and I can have these blog posts when I intend to have them. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, we get to the introduction. Let’s see who’s covered: Tony is, Malcolm is, Sandra is, Cirie is, Debbie is, Brad, sort of is, and that’s it. Hmm. Jeff talks to the contestants on the boat in a homage to Borneo’s introduction. There is a twist as people try to get a tool kit. Ozzy gets it and no one even tries to go after him to get it as they figure that they would be dead in the water so to speak. It turns out that Caleb is going to compete with him after a while. It appears that a secret advantage was available and I think that Debbie got it, but I couldn’t tell for sure.

In the second segment of the show, has the Mana tribe going down a staircase to their tribe. Tony runs away from his tribe not even hiding the fact that he’s looking for an idol. That wasn’t even what he was going to do at first, but then he did. The Nuku tribe gets to their camp and find goats nearby. I wonder if this could be future symbolism. It turns out that Sierra has gotten a slightly different legacy advantage then the last time around. It was not Debbie as I previously thought. Ozzy wants to get revenge on Cirie. Why are they on the same tribe?

In the third segment of the show, Cirie decides to try to bury the hatchet with Ozzy. I do wonder why he isn’t wearing a shirt. Oh, wait, it’s camouflage. Tai seems to stir up trouble between the two, although I can’t tell if he’s trying to do that or not. Tony wants to build a spy bunker this time around. Troyzan notices this digging and it quickly becomes common knowledge throughout the tribe. Ciera talks about getting rid of Tony or Caleb while Malcolm wants to get rid of her.

In the fourth segment of the show, we get to the first immunity challenge. The immunity idol looks more like underwater headgear. This is when Jeff makes the announcement about the change in the tie vote. I wonder if this is a permanent change or just for this season. Nuku wins the challenge. Ciera talks about losing the same puzzle again and feeling that she could be voted out because of it.

In the fifth segment of the show, Jeff Varner talks about who he thinks should be voted out. Ciera is the person that people want out apparently. But Ciera wants to use the lack of a revote to her advantage. Michaela learns that Ciera is voting for her. This makes people want to target Michaela instead. I don’t fully understand what is going on here. I like the tribal council set. It is interesting to note that this is Caleb’s first ever tribal council. I lot of random things are discussed at tribal council. Ciera is the first person voted out, going the way Vytas did in Cambodia. I wonder if this makes Blood versus Water the first season to have three different people as the first person voted out at tribal council.

We then get back to camp. Tony feels that the vote was too easy. For realz? Tony and Aubry try to talk about who the biggest threats in the game are. Oddly, he wants to form an alliance with them all. He views them as shields to his own, dangerous game. Tai wants to save the chickens again. I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Others are against him keeping a chicken around. Tony works on his spy bunker and thinks that suspicious things are going on. This creates further rifts with him on the tribe.

In the sixth segment of the show, Cirie is concerned about her potential future in the game. She wonders who to work with. Sarah wants to play like a criminal this time around. It seems like a lot of people have reservations about working with Cirie, even those who say they will work with her. Debbie, like Sarah and Zeke, doesn’t really know if they should work together. Since there are a lot of good and strong players this time around, it can be hard to know who to trust and work with. Sandra works on trying to get people to vote out Tony. Jeff Varner works on trying to pick a side in the fight for control of the tribe.

In the seventh segment of the show, the Tony and Sandra fight continues. I wonder who will come out on top. It seems like a lot of the men are siding with Tony. Man, this season is so crazy already and I love it. I hope that this keeps up. We then get to the next immunity challenge. At first, the challenge seems like a blow out for the blue tribe, but they come close to losing. Regardless, the orange tribe goes back to camp and then their next tribal council.

In the eighth segment of the show, Mana gets back to camp after losing the immunity challenge. Sandra wants to get rid of Tony (of course). Somehow, it seems that Jeff’s poor challenge performance is completely ignored. Tony’s side doesn’t have the numbers to get rid of Sandra, or do they? I wonder who will come out on top of this battle. Also, since when is Tony good at challenges?

In the ninth segment of the show, we get to the tribal council. Normally a whole tribal council doesn’t get its own act. Malcolm thinks that they should get rid of the weaker members and Sandra admits that she could be considered a weaker player. I’m confused by Sandra’s vote against Aubry. How did she become a target? Tony is voted out and I don’t understand how Sandra seemed to scathe by without a vote against her. Where did Tony's allies go? Did they abandon him because they didn't have the numbers and didn't want to be picked off one by one?

On the next Survivor, there is a tribe swap coming up, a bunch of crazy things happening, and an adventure some people are sent on in order for someone else to look for an idol. I have no idea what all will be going on this season and hope that it’s good.

Total confessional count: Andrea- 1, Aubry- 2, Michaela- 4, Brad- 2, Sandra- 8, Ciera- 3, Cirie- 4, Hali- 1, Malcolm- 5, Sarah- 2, Ozzy- 1, Caleb- 3, Troyzan- 1, Zeke- 2, Sierra- 1, JT- 1, Tai- 2, Jeff Varner- 2, Tony- 8, Debbie- 3.

Tony had eight confessionals this episode, tying with Sandra for the highest. The second highest is Malcolm with five. Ciera had three confessionals, tied with Debbie and Caleb. Cirie and Michaela have four confessionals. The lowest count as of now are Ozzy, Andrea, Troyzan, Sierra, JT, and Hali, who all have just one confessional. Anyone not mentioned has just two confessionals. Well, I’m not sure what else there is to say at the moment so we’ll find out what happens next week. Remember that posts will be on Thursdays until holy week. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Survivor: Game Changers- Who was Snubbed?

The last post and this current post were originally meant to be one long post together. But I decided to split them up as I wanted to make sure that a post was published at the time that I wanted it to be. This will be the last Wednesday post until holy week happens. You should see my post on the season premiere tomorrow. The posts will be on Thursdays until sometime in April. Now, let’s get to the actual post at hand.

Now that I’ve gone through the cast, I might as well mention who I feel was snubbed from it. I’ll start with the first season and then work my way down to the most recent season. I know that not every game changer can come back or would come back. But I will mention pretty much all of them that I can think of.

From Borneo, Greg was a quirky player who had a more laid back way of playing the game. It is understandable how he isn’t back as he never cared that much about the game. Susan inspired future jury members to express whatever they wanted to about the finalists. I don’t think that she’ll ever play again considering how it ended the second time. Rudy is the oldest player, but he won’t ever play again because of that. Kelly proved to be the first strong player and also had the longest gap between playing seasons. There is also the most notable snub from this upcoming season. HOW COULD YOU NOT INCLUDE RICHARD HATCH? He invented the game! Maybe they got tired of trying to bring him back a third time that they didn’t try to bring him back this time. Or maybe he still can’t leave the country.

From Australia, Michael faced more of a game changing event than changed the game himself. Regardless, he’s in jail now. Where did his life go wrong? Back to the point: Colby proved to be one of one of the strongest players at the time, but I think that he’s done with Survivor. Tina proved that good natured people can win the game.

From Africa, Lindsey might have changed the game, but it was a pretty minor thing, if she did that at all. Teresa stirred up a whole lot of trouble in the game that was uncommon at the time. I wonder if she was even considered for this. Lex really shook up the game with his game play that strangely didn’t get him voted out. I hope that he was considered, but maybe not. Ethan might have even proved to be the nicest hero to have won. Was he considered to return?

From Marquesas, I can’t remember exactly who started the outsiders alliance, but maybe all of them could be considered for the twist. Boston Rob also changed the game a lot with his game play, but I doubt that he would return. Vecepia also changed how people could win.

Did anyone in Thailand change the game? If they did in a notable way, I can’t think of them. From Amazon, Christy is one of the most notable game changers and she has never even been considered to return to play the game again, based on what information I know. How dare they! Whether you loved or hated Jenna, you’d have to admit that she changed the game a lot.

From Pearl Islands, Rupert probably changed the game a whole lot, but it is completely understandable that he’s not here playing again. Burton and Lillian both changed the game, but one wonders if they count since no one else could have gotten voted back into the game. Johnny Fairplay really did change the game, but I doubt that he’ll ever come back.

If anyone changed the game in Vanuatu, it was Chris, the winner of it. One might have thought that the postmerge of that season would have only women as soon as they got rid of all the men. But they never got rid of Chris and he was able to get rid of anyone who could beat him and win the game. Sadly, they haven’t wanted him or any men from his season back.

In Palau, Bobby Jon and Stephenie were both game changers. I can’t believe that they didn’t bring back Stephenie. I think that Coby was a game changer. Ian did a lot to change the game, but Tom was the biggest game changer this season.

Some might wonder if there were game changers in Guatemala. I’m getting more and more annoyed that they haven’t brought back one of the original players from that season yet. There are good ones that fit the theme of game changer. Gary certainly changed the game and Rafe probably did. Even if Judd didn’t, he’s still a good enough pick from this season, even if he is irritating. Danni was rumored to be on this season so even if she wasn’t someone that I liked that much, she would at least finally bring someone back from that season. I hope that someone originally from Guatemala comes back at some point.

I’m not sure if Terry was a game changer from Panama or not. He might have been, but I don’t think that he was enough since I’m not sure what he really did to change it. I still have mixed feelings about him. Shane might be considered a game changer.

From Cook Islands, they clearly ignored a developing pattern. Who played the 13^th, 20^th, and 27^th seasons? The next season in the pattern was this one and the contestant actually fits the theme of this season. Candice, who mutinied on her old tribe is someone that they probably didn’t bring back due to her lack of popularity among fans. Jonathan could have also fit this bill. Anh-Tuan created the well known and often used splitting the vote strategy, but he isn’t coming back. And Yul was one of the most strategic winners in the history of the game.

From Fiji, Slyvia didn’t do too much due to her short time in the game, but she can still be considered a game changer in a way. There are two clear game changers: Yau-Man, who did so much for recent seasons with his fake idol, intelligence, and overall good game play, and Earl, who got every jury vote, something no one else had done before. He is one of the contestant who was rumored to be in this season, but that rumor wasn’t ultimately true.

From China, Amanda is a huge game changer and she isn’t in the cast. She made it to the final tribal council twice, something that no one else had done before her. She was the first contestant to play 100 days. She lasted the longest contestant of any contestant before she was first voted out.

From Micronesia, Natalie is the most notable snub from the cast. I did have a source saying that she might be in this season, but she isn’t. The source might have mentioned people who were considered so I have to wonder if she was considered, but didn’t end up making the cast.

From Gabon, Marcus is the only real game changer that I can think of from that season. He was a dominate force premerge and could have made it farther were it not for weird twists happening all at once. Few other people could have done what he did even if they did make it far.

From Tocantins, I’m not sure if anyone not in the cast was snubbed from it. They did pick the most notable game changer from that season after all. Some people might make the case for Stephen being a game changer, but I’d have to see it to know for sure.

From Samoa, Russell Hantz brought a lot of ruthless game play to the game. It is understandable why he is not in the cast and I hope that we never see him on Survivor or any other TV show again. He overshadowed any other possible game changers that season.

From Nicaragua, a contestant who was apparently considered for this season was Marty. I’m not really sure how he changed the game up that much. I do think that they should have included Jane as she did a whole lot for this game.

While you probably hate him, Phillip changed the game in serious ways. Matt and Mike also changed the game that season. While the cast of Redemption Island gets a lot of hate, it is much better than a lot of people give it credit for.

I’m not sure if there were any game changers from South Pacific. Sophie was considered for the cast, but I can’t really think of anything she contributed to the game. Contestants considered from One World are Monica and Chelsea. While they would both make good returnees, I’m not sure if game changers is the right name for them. Well, I guess that Monica burnt idol clues and no one had done that before. Colton changed the game, but he’s unlikely to be back.

From Philippines, Dana and RC could be considered game changers even if they didn’t do that much in the end. Denise is clearly a game changer from this season as she did something that no one else has done or, possibly, could have, even if it was largely due to misfortunes premerge.

From Caramoan, the only fan that I can think of who was close to being a game changer was Reynold. I’m not sure why there is a lot of hatred for him. But he did things that would have been brand new things to these players who would not have been able to see the last season.

They were good picking people from Blood versus Water to play the upcoming season. Apparently, John had been considered to play this season, but didn’t make the final cast. The only person from this season that I feel would have worked in the cast was Hayden.

From Cagayan, Alexis and L J had apparently been considered for this season. I’m not sure if either of them would have worked as a game changer. I do feel that Kass and Spencer from this season fit the theme of game changer a lot, even though Spencer probably doesn’t want to play again.

From San Juan del Sur, Jon Misch was apparently considered for this season. Natalie was also a last minute cut from this season. Missy sort of changed the game by creating grey area with evacuations that fans got really upset about.

From Worlds Apart, Dan sort of changed the game, but I doubt that he will ever be back a second time. Carolyn and Mike were apparently considered for this season and they seem to fit the theme. I can’t remember anyone else off hand.

From Kaoh Rong, Peter was possibly considered for this season, but I’m not sure how he changed the game. They seemed to do well by casting the people from this season as it has the most players in this upcoming season. I’m not sure who notable snubs are, but Neal and Michele could be considered that. I can’t think of any others.

Now we wind up with the most recent season before this one. Adam changed the game, but it is understandable why he isn’t on this season. Will is also someone who could be considered as changing this game, but I understand why he isn’t on this season. David could be considered a game changer as well. I’m not sure who else was snubbed from the cast.

Well, that’s all for this blog post. I should be back tomorrow with my post on the season premiere of the show. Remember that posts will be on Thursdays until holy week happens. Hopefully no family visits mess up my plans for blog posts, but if I’m warned enough in advance, then it shouldn’t really affect this blog too much. I just hope that I don’t ever wind up with a post a week late or something crazy like what happened with the last season before Thanksgiving. Hopefully all will go well. If not, then I'll do my best to post about every episode at some point. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Survivor: Game Changers- Who Works and Who Doesn’t

This post is basically we wondering who was a good game changer. Did they make the cast of game changers? Were they snubbed? Did people who didn’t work still make the cast? Well, I thought that I would tell you what my opinions on this are. I’ll go through cast members and mention who I think is and isn’t worthy of the title of game changer.

I’m not sure how Jeff Varner changed the game. I know that he was eliminated due to strange tie-breaker rules that were replaced by even worse rules. Maybe he made enough of a difference to be considered a game changer, but I’m not sure how he did that.

Sandra is undoubtedly a game changer. If she wasn’t the first time, she definitely was a second time when she won a second time. Even if someone else manages to win the game twice, it will only be after Queen Sandra already did that.

As good a player as Cirie is, I’m not sure how she was a game changer. I know that she helped convince someone to give up immunity. That was a pretty interesting moment. I’m not sure what else she did to change the game. But if they are going with the best players, then she is worthy of it.

Ozzy probably changed the game. He was voted out a record number of times (4). He won what I believe to be the highest percentage of individual immunity challenges. He used the Redemption Island twist to his advantage by voting himself out in order to get back in the game. That is kind of unfair in a way. Poor Christine was doing so well at Redemption Island and then King Ozzy just has to dethrone her. So there are enough ways that I can see him changing the game.

JT did something that no other contestant before him had done. On the surface, it sounded very simple. Win the game unanimously with no votes against you the whole game. It is something that no one else had done before him. I’m fairly certain that only one other person has done it since him. To play a perfect game like he did is to change the game. And then, he changed it again the next time he played by being the only contestant to give his idol to a member of the other tribe. He did a lot to change the game, for better and for worse.

I’m not entirely sure what Andrea did to change the game. She joined an alliance, got booted by the alliance, won Redemption Island, and was voted out again. I’m not sure if she’s in this because of her being a winner of Redemption Island. She wasn’t that good a player, although there are worse people who are in the cast. I’m not sure how she’s a game changer.

What did Troyzan do to change the game? I’m not entirely sure. I just know that he has been an alternate for other seasons before this so production might have felt that he should play a season again. (I honestly don’t know if he was an alternate for this season as well and replaced someone else they wanted on the cast.) He was kind of annoying, although he’s hardly the most annoying. (Future top ten?) Maybe he changed the game, but I don’t know how.

Malcolm did some serious moves that changed the game. I don’t think that he was the first to make risky moves by revealing his idol to everyone and not playing it. But he really did shake up the game in Caramoan when his move with two idols brought us the greatest tribal council ever. These might not have been originally his moves, but they were all game changing.

Brad might be here due to more of a coattail connection than anything else. That, and production might have wanted him back after fans rejected him for Cambodia. He convinced Monica to burn a clue to the hidden immunity idol. I’m not sure what else he did besides that to get on a game changer list.

Let’s say that you are Ciera. You flip on the only two alliances in the game and cause the second known rock draw, first by actual known choice. And you help vote out your own mother. Can you imagine that? If you weren’t going to call her a game changer, then you don’t know much about her.

Sarah played in Cagayan and I honestly don’t know what she did that changed the game that much. I know that she was the person that season who went the longest without attending tribal council, but she wasn’t the only one who did that.

Tony really changed the game with his overly aggressive game play. He did so many devious things and still got the votes of almost all the jury, including a great speech by the great hero of that season. It is hard to say how he changed the game, but few would say that he didn’t.

I’m honestly not sure if Hali is the person that I’m most bothered by being in this cast. What did she do to change the game? I can’t think of anything notable she did when she played it. She wasn’t even a good player. While hardly the worst person from her original cast, she might be the least worthy of being called a game changer.

Sierra was possibly the most invisible person on her season. This makes me wonder what production saw in her that we didn’t see. I’m not sure how she changed the game. I’m glad that she is back, but we never saw much from her and we don’t really know what she would have done, then to change the game. Can you think of something?

Caleb more had a game changing thing happen to him than him actually changing the game himself. He was evacuated in the middle of a challenge and was unconscious the whole time. I’m not sure how he actually changed the game himself as he didn’t even go to a tribal council yet.

Debbie was a strange player and I’m not sure how she changed the game. She confused the editors who, apparently, kept changing her profession every time she gave a confessional. She was in control of an alliance that turned on her, but she’s hardly the only person that has happened to.

Tai was a mostly good player who didn’t have a good end game strategy. I’m not really sure if he changed the game. I know that there were twists that never happened before that he did in his own way. He was also the first person to effectively use a double vote advantage without being voted out. The main change that he did was being the first gay finalist not to get a jury vote.

I feel that Aubry is only in the cast due to all the ridiculous notions of the idea that she should have won the game her season. She sucked. Winners don’t constantly complain about things not going their way. I just don’t get the love of her. And she didn’t change the game. All she did was make fans complain a lot that the final vote went the way it did.

Michaela may have done something to change the game. She played it way too openly. While Aubry was too closed a player (in that no one knew that she was doing anything), she was too open. At one point, she was helping one tribe win a challenge and openly admitted that if people on her old tribe didn’t know what to do, then they deserved to be voted out. She’s kind of like Susie from Gabon, only I actually like Michaela. I’m ultimately not sure how she changed the game, but I’m glad that she’s coming back as she is entertaining. Hopefully, she can dial back herself a bit.

Zeke may not have done too much to change the game. Like Michaela, I’m glad that he’s coming back as there’s a lot of game left in him. Since he is the last player, I might as well get into how a possible alternate name of the season was Legends. That seems like a more general and acceptable name than game changer does as game changer is really broad?

Well, I’ll actually be back here with a random post sometime this coming Wednesday next week. There is still one more random post that I want to do before the season starts again. I know that Survivor starts next week, but remember that during Lent, my posts on each new episode will be on the Thursday after the episode, since I won’t be able to see it live. I guess that’s it for now and you can look forward to one more random thought about this season before it actually happens. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.