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As entertainment critic Roger
Ebert once said, "If you disagree with something I write, tell me so, argue
with me, correct me--but don't tell me to shut up. That's not the American way."
I wish I had more time to develop these ideas but here is a glimpse of how I see the story up to now and the direction I see it going.
Lian’s Story:
In E6, Lian had this to say: “I think amongst the women there is a solid form of trust so much so that we are putting on this facade to keep Xander in his place, but in the back of my mind I still think that Xander, in my tribe, is still a huge threat, he has all of these advantages in the game, but Xander is over confident, he feels so comfortable with me that he doesn’t see me as a threat. I’m just like chomping at the bit to flip the narrative...See Xander innocently packing up to go
After the merger: “Shan immediately in front of Tiffany talks about the advantage. I didn’t plan on sharing this with anybody. That sucks because there is no way of getting out of that pickle... Tiff gets a moment with me as we are walking down to the water and says, well what is the advantage? Tiff says don’t worry I wouldn’t have told Evvie, won’t tell Xander....she has like this intensity about her, she’s playing so hard yet she’s this really funny, charismatic person that everybody loves to be around but that to me is kind of like poison, and especially with you like knowing about this now and how I’ve seen you operate, you just think I’m a major threat...”
After talking to Danni and Deshauwn, Lian tells us: “As people of color, you have this shared experience, you immediately have this bond... like oh, you are the only one in the classroom that looks like you? Me too. So you have this bond and this connection immediately right off the bat and we do want to uplift each other in this game and that would be a really beautiful thing.”
After a rather slow start, Lian used this pivotal episode to come into her own but we have to remember that her first few episodes were mostly ignored by the editors. She has a big role to play down the line but I don’t see it leading to her victory.
Xander’s Story:
E6 – “It sounds like it’s going to be a merge! Everything right now is set up perfect for that we’ve gotten to be a really close four and we are locked solid! I get so excited, maybe this could be my story, that this little ragtag group of people could totally shake up the post merge game....
After losing the challenge: “With that challenge I am covered from head to toe in bruises and bumps and scrapes and I felt like I looked; just completely disheveled, downtrodden. I haven’t even made it to the merge yet, I mean this is like, mergetory...see Heather bossing him around, can you get that....I have to ensure that I get there, so it’s possible that playing my idol now, or winning immunity is the only thing that is going to keep me in this game. ..When the red buffers came back to camp it was all fun and games we are having a great time getting to know each other but in everybody's mind, we all know that it’s not going to last very long... It’s bad! Being the only guy eligible to be voted out. They could decide, you know what? this is our best chance to take out Xander. I do have the extra vote and also an immunity idol, so I’m not entirely powerless.”
The young man has an endearing story but he has often been shown to be clueless about what his tribe was planning which isn’t a good way to develop a future winner so we’ll consider him a long shot.
Tiffany’s Story:
E6 – “I’m sort of on the outs over here. Liana went on a journey with Shan, so they have a connection....Heather sort of connected with the 5 people who have already won and I am sitting here, like what is happening? I’m just going with everybody at the moment.
Lian is continuing to hold this emotional tie to wanting to get Xander out. And, she is gunning for one of our own. That’s a problem. And, here’s another problem...she did tell me right away what it was, and it’s some sort of an advantage but all I could think was we were a tight three coming in here and you already have something to hide from us, and now we are in a big group....if she can do that within the game like this? She’s going to flip on us in 2 seconds. So, I’m not so sure I’m going to have her back like I did before....”
Is it me or is she always complaining about something? She says she’s happy to be there but it doesn’t look that way. If this is the way to develop a winner’s story then I’ve become too old for this!
Evvie’ Story:
E6 - I’m a huge fan of Survivor and there has never been anything like this! Only the winners of the challenge officially make the merge and get a merge feast. Losing the challenge and not getting the feast, that’s got to be heart breaking, absolutely heart breaking. Winning this challenge is huge! It means I officially made the merge, and I have immunity at the first TC, and most importantly it means I get to eat! I’ve seen every season of Survivor and I really, really feel this is one of the hardest seasons ever. It cannot be over stated what not having rice means. Like there are many days where I literally ate like 0 calories...
So going back to camp, I expected it to be awkward because we just had a feast and the others had just been sitting there, but actually they were so excited to see us, everyone put on their best merge making new friends’ face.”
There’s been great care given to Evvie’ story: Right from the start she gave us a glimpse of her life story and how it relates to this experience right from the start when she told us: “I am getting a PhD in Human evolution at Harvard. I think that will make me a big target. I’ve been studying what survives and what doesn’t survive my whole life so I am really excited to play the ultimate Survivor game.” But mostly her confessionals have presented her as a narrator of the story developing around her which is a sure sign of longevity but it rarely signals the winning story.
Deshawn’s Story
E6 - Keeping this tribe Luvu 6 is damn near impossible, are there cracks? The tribe is shattered. Luvu 6 is dissipating; I’m just trying to keep the pieces together for just one vote. But, if I can’t, we’re going to be screwed....
Recently I made some new friends and allies in Shan and Liana. I’m going to be honest, I’m a guy from San Bernadino, I’m used to being around a lot of African American people, but I thought I would not get to play with a lot of black people in this game, but that’s not the case. ....this season the beauty with having a diverse cast is they kind of bust your possibilities wide open, well, everybody is bringing something to the table, we’ve got an arsenal over here you know, we would be foolish not to work together...
Deshawn has a role to play in the African Americans' alliance so he is there and he is playing the game but has there been any memorable moments associated with his journey? I don’t remember one which means he will exit as quietly as he entered the game.
Danny's Story:
E6- I do feel bad that we sent Erika to be out there 2 days alone, but we didn’t want to send Naseer. The situation is that alot of the men were voted out but nobody wanted to explain why we really chose Naseer, so the first thing that popped into my head from previous S seasons was paper, rock, scissors. I thought it was pretty obvious that the women were knocking the men out on the other tribe so....(he tells the table that’s what he thought and Evvie assured him that’s not what was happening)...it was really really important to us to keep the men’s numbers up so we needed to keep Naseer safe. The truth is a woman absolutely has to go home and I think Erika makes the most sense.
Next: "The Luvu tribe, we’re all over the place but with Erika getting sent to exile it’s kind of obvious that she is at the bottom and I don’t want her to come back with a grievance and try to flip and get one of us out.
We’ve regularly followed Danny’s story. Being a former NFL player had to be revealed but it brought in a contradiction: At first he absolutely didn’t want to throw a challenge equating it to a sin but during the very next episode he was the one pushing it to Naseer. Such contradictions rarely go with a future winner’s story. Anyway, like Evvie, Danny is a narrator most of the time.
Naseer's story:
E6 –
His lone confessional: “...I feel like individual immunity is around my neck, for the first challenge. So, it smells very good and I love the color! I have a hidden immunity idol in my pocket so I feel like I am doing really well in this game now. First TC, I’m not going home anymore”
Is it because of his accent that isn’t very TV friendly but we’ve not heard often from Naseer. His strategy has been very erratic, first targeting the guys in his tribe then falling in step with their plans. Such inconsistencies doesn’t spell winner.
Erika:
E6: “I had suspicions that I was at the bottom, when the choice was between me and Naseer I didn’t expect to win it. Rock paper scissors was a good cover.....Hearing I was going to be alone on an island was honestly a night mare. My first 12 days on Survivor is not what I expected to happen. I didn’t expect to have moments where I was perfectly safe and feel so powerless. I didn’t expect to be exiled for 2 days, but, like, as long as I get it done and I do it, that’s what matters... Not only have Jeff created this new historical decision, but little old me gets to make it! The little girl from Canada who is much smaller than anyone else sent to exile gets to make this decision ...OMG. What makes it complicated is that the 6 who won are the majority of my original tribe so this could burn bridges with people that I do have some sort of trust with. No matter what I do I am probably going to lay awake for the next few nights wondering, did I do the right thing? They’ll talk about this for a long time and it’s a lot of pressure.”
Of course, circumstances dictated Erika’s large part in this episode and they’ve even created a cliff hanger around her decision when there’s absolutely no doubt she has to “go back in time” and reverse the outcome of the challenge. Before this episode, Erika was rarely the focus of the story so we have to think she’s a very long shot to win.
Ricard’s Story:
E6: “So, the extra vote. It’s kind of become a complicated little thing between Shan and myself. Shan opened the idol and lost her vote, she gave me her extra vote to vote out Genie. Then, she got nervous and asked for it back right before Tribal. Ever since Shan got that extra vote she’s felt very attached to it and we’re supposed to be a team. She already got the hidden immunity idol that was Genie’s. So, now she has two advantages in this game. Next morning he gives us this: Shan asked me again if she could have the extra vote back. For her to have an active idol, plus an extra vote, plus her paranoia, it’s just too much. Like with everything in this game with Shan, I’m just going to drop it and move on, but...from here on out I have to do what’s best for me.”
We didn’t hear from Ricard after the merger which isn’t a good sign. His whole story is wrapped around Shan. He’ll go as far as she takes him.
The NEXT BOOT? Sydney’s Story
E6:
She had one confessional: “This is an absolute no brainer. Erika is a very smart person and an incredibly intelligent player and if she has some sort of an advantage that makes her very dangerous.
The irony of this confessional is that Erika’s twist practically kills Sydney’s chances in the game. The 4 guys that won the challenge with her want to eliminate a woman to close gap between genders and they also want to show that Luvu isn’t monolithic.
The Winner’s Story:
Shan’s story E6 – “Coming back from tribal is not a good feeling. It obviously did come down to Genie and Ricard. Genie calls me back to who I am in real life, you know? I’m a pastor, my heart is already wide open for people but I need a Ricard to pull me to the gamer side of things, the strategic side of things. But, at the same time I am worried about Ricard. A part of me feels like I can’t completely trust him with his word. Ricard’s been my number one since day one, if you feel like you are with me, you should feel safe, right? You know you gave me your word about something and then you went against it, it just doesn’t sit well with me... moving forward with Ricard...I trust him a bit....”
After the merger: “I’m super excited to work with Liana moving forward, Liana and I really bonded on the journey and I kind of just trust her with everything, and she’s kinda I got your back and I know I’ve got hers and that’s how I genuinely feel...So Ricard and I are the only two from Ua, so if everyone’s pitching Erika, I’m okay with all of that and I’ll rock with all of that. But, if she comes back with an advantage, it might not be that easy. I’m nervous and the only person that seems reliable is Liana. Liana and I really bonded on the journey and excursion so I feel like I can really trust her and then I do really like Danny and Deshawn. More than any other season that I have watched on S, I think season 41 has been the most diverse like in who is representative of America.”
If there has been a consistent story, it has been Shan’s. After falling down to 2 people in her tribe, now we know that she is in a four person alliance with Liana, Danny and Deshawn. The two guys have also made a connection with Ricard so they should find a way to control the number after a vote or two. We’ve heard her personal story and how it conflicts with playing Survivor but how she will still use it to make friends and eliminate them all while humming her little tune. The fact that production has adopted her tune a couple of times to accompany her moves is a huge signal for me. This is HER story and it could very well carry her to victory.
PS. Special thanks to FP for collecting the confessionals because they are the ones that tell us what the editors are thinking when it comes to developing this story.
So excited that you put your two cents in here, michel! Thank you! I loved your thoughts on it all and you are so good at this stuff. I eliminated every player with you, but I see Shan as a villain and I just can't see the villain winning the game. Ugh! So this means I'm eliminating everyone.
At this point I feel that all I can add is that I think the integral players of the game include Tiffany, Xander, Evvie, Deshawn and maybe Shan. I think Shan had a big part in the story because her tribe has lost so many times and she did indeed work her treacherous magic on all of boots from Ua, humming her song along the way. So, I guess it's not a stretch to think she could do the same with the remaining cast. Hmmmm?
I also want to add that this season is somewhat annoying. All of the different advantages, and some that let you steal others advantages, and then winning immunity that someone will have the power to reverse. I always really thought the core value of Survivor was fighting, earning, winning your way to the end with of course some luck thrown in, but I feel that they are taking it to a level that I don't particularly like. I do like new twists but this is way overboard, imo....bring back the premise of the old school, please. And, I also prefer a snarky Jiffy. This rooting for the losers at challenges is really too much.
Totally agree with you about the cornucopia of advantages. It's Jiffy's way of putting his imprint on the season. HE HAS to be the STAR. To think we used to say Burnett was an evil pr*ck...that was better than having a Desperate Attention Whore at the command.
I see Shan as a cunning strategist and yes, her story was quite involved with all the Tribal Councils appearances but they didn't have to show her alliance with Danny and Deshawn. Also, I feel they went out of their way to make Ricard look slimy which, if she was to fall before him, wouldn't have been necessary. Take the "I make all the decisions and she gets the credit" confessional and the talks he had about voting her out when she was out of camp = Slimy.
No question about Ricard looking slimey, lol! But, they showed how hypocritical Shan was when she tried the same swan song with Ricard that she did with Brad and JD. Demanding the advantage to hold, BS. She just seemed so illogical and unreasonable.
Then, when she blurted out to Liana in front of Tiffany about what her advantage was...and we then hear Liana in a confessional about how much she trusts her....ugh. I just don't understand these players at all this season.
Loved your comments on the narcissistic DAW that Jiffy has become, lol. Jiffy needs to start getting over himself. For real.
Chez 775 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Fitness Correspondent"
11-04-21, 01:03 PM (EST)
4. "RE: The Characters and Their Stories"
Hi Michel
I am very glad to see you here with your character analysis. It is so much fun to read your thoughts. I agree with your conclusions for the most part. I do think Shan is being played up so much that she could become a loser at the very end. The error when she revealed Lian's advantage in front of Tiffany was a big one. I also think Ricard might stick around to the end. He is definitely slimy but I could see him prevailing. I am also not ready to rule out Tiffany.
Funny that Heather is much under the radar that she does not appear in your analysis!
Thank you so much. And I agree the number of advantages is over the top. Tribal Council has turned into a gigantic puzzle for the players to engage in while they try to figure out who has what advantage.
Now that we are well passed the merger, let's revisit this and see what we've learned. Left are the following players:
Erika Heather Xander Danny Deshawn Liana Ricard Shan
We know that there is a strong allaince of 5 that contains the 4 African Americans and Ricard. We also know that Xander has an advantage and an idol and, unless I'm mistaken, the only other idol in play is in Shan's possession. So who will carry this to the end?
I think that, over the years, winners have been edited to have these three commune states:
- They had a personal story - They exposed their strategies to the viewers - There was doubt cast on their chances often by their own allies.
So if we take the players left, we have the following observations:
Heather: The viewer knows she's a good person but we have rarely spent time on her story. Her only strategic move was when she suddenly rose at TC and tried to switch the vote to Nasseer. That was later explained to be a mistake, leaving her quite alone. Of course there is doubt on her chances but this isn't manufactured doubt. She is probably one of the next two to go.
Erika: The same can be said of Erika. We've heard that she is quite intelligent and playing the game but, as viewers, we haven't been given occasions to see that. Yes, her stay on Exile Island was nicely presented but that is about all we have for her. If Heather isn't next then it will be Erika.
Xander: Here is a difficult character to analyse. He has the personal story of being the youngest and long time fan. We've heard about his plans and there certainly has been danger on his path up to now and going forward. However, Xander feels more like the valiant underdog that comes up just short (Ozzy, Malcolm, Spencer, Wentworth, the list is very long)
Danny: Ok, we know he's a ex-NFL Football player and, strategically, he's hidden that fact from everyone wiothout resorting to extremes like Gary "Hawkins" or John "Rocker-Wetteland". However, given his relative fame, we've hardly gotten to know him as a person. And, besides hiding his identity, his only strategic decisions have been to first refuse to throw a challenge then being ready to do so in the next episode. As for doubts, we don,t even hear that, as the most athetic person on the island, he could go on an immunity run. Danny will be in the Final 4 or 5 but will be discarded when the real game begins.
Deshauwn: Without the Pro-athlete angle, the same comments could be used for Deshauwn. Yes, he targets Shan and wants to be heard but that is more her story than his.
Liana: In small amounts, Liana has some of the important traits we are looking for but she is clearly seen as Shan's sheep so it would be hard to see her getting rewarded for just tagging along.
Ricard: Before last night, Ricard was clearly lacking a personal story but now we know that he has a handicap which is quite hurtful in a game that depends so much on communication. We even had the editors blurring the sounds to place us in his shoes. Despite that handicap, Ricard has flourished in the game and as to be considered a top contender. Early on, he felt slimy but his handicap can even explain his confrontations with Shan as mostly misunderstandings. The reason I don't put him as the top contender is that the only doubts cast on his chances come from Shan and he immediately throws it back on her making it more her story than his.
Shan: The killer pastor has nicely made her way to Final 8. One can see that getting "Matsinged" is a good opportunity in a season that has a three tribe format. Like Malcolm and Denise, the two last remnants of the original tribe, seized the opportunity to form new alliances. The biggest tribe will always be targeted while a duo can be useful to any geometry of players. Shan has received doubts about her chances from numerous sources and we certainly see the events through her eyes so, for me, Shan is the most probable Sole Survivor.
Ahhhh michel, I have never wanted you to be more wrong. As always, great job. But, I just cannot see Shan being edited as the winner. She seems like such a horrible person, that takes advantage of her social skills not only on the unsuspecting daws in the show, but on her parishnors as well, all the while humming her stupid lying song. She's extremely rigid and self serving, and so much of a whiner, especially when she doesn't get reward or her way. If this is the new face of Survivor, I think I may be in big trouble.
I still see Ricard as the strategist and Shan as the soldier that carries out the mission. I could see Heather making it all the way to final 3 as the goat that gets dragged there. I still think Xander has a chance. It will certainly be a long shot and against all odds. But, like those Yase turtles that got split up, perhaps one will survive.
I feel like Xander found things and took risks that benefited his game. He opted to tell the truth to his tribe, and he trusted them. If his only fault is trusting in who he perceives are his allies, then....He outlasted practically every person on his tribe, let's see if he can outlast the rest.
Always love your insight and takes on the episodes, you are so good at this stuff. I hope you will keep posting!
The way you describe Shan would almost fit word for word with Hatch (if he had been a pastor of course but, in a sense, he was very pastoral, guiding his sheep around) so I wouldn't see her portrayal as the new face of Survivor. Tony wasn't much nicer...
Of course, they usually try to hide from viewers how cut throat some women winners have been. It started with Tina who, despite organizing one backstab after another, was somehow presented as the nice mom. If you remember, posters here back then saw through the smoke screen and were calling her Benedict Tina.
Like I wrote, Ricard took a big jump in my eyes and he could very well be the one that comes out on top but his first half season was all wrong.
Finally, Xander has all the editing ingredients to be the winner but he is in such a bad position that I cannot see him pulling it out. Yes, I know, I should only go by the edit but the game situation has to be considered also. (Of course, if this season is fixed like many of the recent ones then he would certainly be production's darling.)
His edit was always very strong but, game-wise, he didn't seem to have a chance. Now that the alliance started cannibalizing itself, he can certainly coast to the end.
If nmot him then it will be Erika. Why do we keep hearing that she is intelligent? Before tonight we had hardly heard from her but Shan was obsessed with her for some reason.
"If nmot him then it will be Erika. Why do we keep hearing that she is intelligent? Before tonight we had hardly heard from her but Shan was obsessed with her for some reason."
Erika was my #2 pick for Winner pre-season just behind my #1 Deshawn.
Ever since Erika went to Exile Island and they had this helicopter shot of Erika on top of a mountain I thought Erika might be our winner.
Reminded me so much of Earl Cole's helicopter mountaintop video on Fiji or Chris Underwood's helicopter video of him reading his letter on a rock way out in the middle of the bay.
Chez 775 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Fitness Correspondent"
12-01-21, 04:59 PM (EST)
10. "RE: Edit"
Hi Sheldor- Yes I had that same thought when that shot was first seen. Back then it seemed Erika was a very unlikely winner, but now I could see the trio of Erika, Xander and Heather making it all the way to the end. But would she beat out Xander at that point?
Maybe if Xander wins F4 Immunity and choose to drag along Heather and forces Ricard/Danny/Deshawn to make Fire against Erika and Erika makes Fire. We know Deshawn can't make Fire. Can't remember if Ricard or Danny can make Fire. We saw Erika make Fire on Exile Island.
Erika is a definite candidate for Sole Survivor - how may times have we heard from other contestants that she is sneaky, intelligent, dangerous, etc.? And she was the one showing to have planted the seeds for the Shan boot last week, even though it was clear others also made the move (i.e. Richard).
It's shaping up to be another typical underwhelming female winner edit on Survivor.
Chez 775 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Fitness Correspondent"
12-02-21, 05:27 PM (EST)
12. "RE: Edit"
Wasn't there discussion at some point about how good Erika was at making fire? It would be very interesting if it comes to Final 4 and she has to go up against a strong male (possibly Ricard or Xander) in the fire challenge.
Deshawn was shown getting frustrated trying to make Fire and saying to Erika if you want someone to beat at Final 4 fire making choose me! Erika tries to comfort Deshawn. And later Erika makes Fire on Exile Island and keeps it going for 2 days.
Well, here we are, just a few days before the season's Finale and picking the Sole Survivor is still very much up in the air. So let's look at each remaining contestant and try to identify the season's story from their perspective:
- Heather Aldret: Would there even be an underlying story if Heather were to win? Well, this season doesn't have a title so maybe it doesn't have a story either! The only time she stepped up to get involved in the decisions was during that TC were she stood and tried to direct the vote to Deshawn. That quickly fizzled and we haven't heard from her since except to tell us that she is proud to be part of this season. That implies that she is proud to WITNESS this season, not to win it. Who would vote for this goat? Probably no one so that's why it's easy to see her being carried to the end. Eliminating her would be a wasted vote.
-Xander Hastings: If Xander is the Sole Survivor then the good guy would have won. It would also mean that relying on twists, idols and advantages is the way to go. Maybe that's what Probst wants us to remember of this «season with more twists than ever». That idol in his pocket can help him one more time and maybe that will be all he needs to make it to the end. But who would vote for a player who really didn't take part in the voting strategy? I don't think he could get enough votes (maybe he can hope for a F2 with Heather! but we know it won't happen.) If memory serves, he was the one who made fire first in the season's premiere. Can anyone confirm this, please?
-Ricard Foyé: Contrary to Heather and Xander, Ricard has been front and center for most of the moves and during the challenges. Here we have a very cautious, suspicious player who navigated his way to the end despite a series of losses during the Tribal portion of the season. If he makes it to the end, he can certainly bank on many votes. We saw him as being part of Shan's story but since he outlasted her, then can we say it was HIS story all along? It's very possible. His problem is being seen as enemy #1 but one more challenge win and, with the F4 Fire Challenge, he won't be voted out. How are his fire skills? I don't remember him lighting a fire.
-Erika Casupanan: Her story began in earnest when she had the «misfortune» of going on exile. Since then, her story of resilience has been well presented and we keep hearing from others that she is smart and a dangerous player. It also seems that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is relying on her to get to the end. She's benefitted from that powerful position, always sitting on the right side of the vote at least since Shan's eviction. Erika's victory would mean that keeping your head down, not making too many waves, certainly not delivering «Truth Bombs» and sticking to the plan can win this game. We know she can make fire so she appears destined for the F3.
-Deshawn Radden Survivor South Pacific, which I call «So Pathetic», was a horrible season with a less than stellar winner's story. I remember writing early on that the saeson could be all about «Sophie's Choice». However, that story line quickly fizzled out when Sophie bowed to Brandon and Coach in eliminating Mikayla. After that, we kept seeing her and Albert on the beach, greeting players who wanted to talk about future votes. While Albert listened and empathized, we always saw that Sophie was more interested in her pedicure and manicure than what the others had to say. In fact, all of Sophie's story was contained in that one TC when Ozzy confronted her as being self-centered. That made Sophie cry and she finally opened up to the others who saw that there was a real person in there somewhere. That was more than enough to earn their votes against the hated Coach and Albert.
Why bring all this? We had a player who really opened up during a TC this time also. Deshawn, who already had a story being a big part of the strong Luvu Tribe and then joining the African American Alliance after the merger, really wrote this season's story when he tearfully explained the great dilemma of playing with people of his own race while also playing for himself.
After Cook Islands, Nate got a lot of flak for sticking with the Caucasians, Parvati in particular, to the detriment of his Black «sisters». What hurt him was the editing not showing the viewers that a post-merger cross-tribal interracial alliance had been discussed during his tranfer to the other tribe. That's why, when the choice of mutiny was made, Nate fully expected SUNDRA to join Candice in the cross-over, not Jonathan. After that, what choice did he have but to stick with Adam, Candice and Parvati?
Here again that ties in with Deshawn turning his back on Shan and Liana. Letting us hear his inner-turmoil, his determination to play the game was done to explain the votes against HIS «sisters». Why use so much care for a player who will come short? OK, it did make good TV Talk Show material which could be all what Probst wanted but it feels a little more than that. Like, maybe, Deshawn will be our Sole Survivor?
-Xander Hastings: "If memory serves, he was the one who made fire first in the season's premiere. Can anyone confirm this, please?"
Xander's YASE tribe is the tribe that couldn't find their oar and came in last place. UA tribe finished first and got Flint and JD was the first person shown making fire.
Note: There was a Deleted/Secret Scene from Episode 1 of Tiffany making Fire and Xander help blow it into a flame but Tiffany was given all the credit. Also, this video was removed from CBS social media sites.
During the “Survivor” Season 41 premiere, the Ua tribe won fire-making supplies right out of the gate and had no trouble building a fire, thanks mostly to Jairus “JD” Robinson. The other two tribes, Yase and Luvu, were punished and had to earn their tools by nominating two members each to carry ocean water back and forth to fill two large barrels. Yase chose Xander Hastings and David Voce, while Luvu went with Danny McCray and Deshawn Radden. What viewers didn’t see at home was just how hard Yase struggled to make fire, even after they earned their flint. Watch the “Survivor 41” deleted scene video above.
Xander and Tiffany Seely tried their hardest to make fire by repeatedly hitting the flint with their dull machete. “It’s just going to take some time,” Tiffany surmised. “That’s okay.” The video then hilariously cut to a shot of the moon at night, as the Yase tribe was still hard at work trying to light a flame.
“I am a little worried,” Xander told the camera after hours of failing. “I mean, we couldn’t get fire, so reality comes crashing back down. I was absolutely devastated. We look like a bunch of schlumps.”
When the sun came up on Day 2, the Yase tribe went at it again, and this time they found success. Tiffany hit the flint and Xander blew onto a tiny spark, which caught fire. Tiffany let out a Tom Hanks-in-“Cast Away”-style scream of delight. “I have made fire for our tribe,” she declared. “That was crazy. That’s like a ‘Survivor’ moment. I am a fire-starter. Fire is life. I gave them life. I brought them into this world. And I will take them out.”
Xander couldn't make fire and needed Tiffany's help
Deshawn couldn't make fire and told Erika that he would be a good person to force into the Fire Making Challenge (though he could have been faking it) while Erika comforted Deshawn for failing.
Ricard and Heather make fire together while Danny was looking for an Idol
Erika make Fire on Exile Island and keep it burning for 2 days through a rain storm the second night and Jeff ask her about her making Fire and keeping it going when he arrives with the hour glass.
I just have this feeling that Erika is going to beat someone in the Fire Making Challenge. Maybe even doing the same as Chris Underwood winning Final 4 Immunity and saving Deshawn/Xander to make Fire against Ricard and beat him.
I can see a story to the end for Erika, Deshawn, and Xander. But I don't think it will be Ricard or Heather. Heather was all but absent through most of the game. Ricard could and would be a great winner, from my point of view, but unless he pulls a Mike Holloway to the end, he's most likely toast.
I do have a hard time seeing an Erika win, she was the one completely dismissed by her own tribe, (underdog, underestimated) she was seen multiple times as making decisions that were wrong. We saw it just this past week, when she trusted Deshawn, only to have it come back and bite her in TC, when he truth bombed her. We saw it at the beginning of her story when she went to Deshawn and said she wanted to get Sydney out. Yes, she has a story, but she is there strictly through luck. It's not like she led the way to the end. Her Survivor savvy is just deficient, imo. She engineered her own safety with the Shan vote, she did NOT engineer the Shan vote, that was Ricard. Multiple times we have heard others negatively comment on her, she's an idiot, she's got the same game as Heather, she's sneaky, etc. I will be surprised if she is winner. The big if is that there are alot of women on the jury and will they award and fight for Erika to win? The voted out castaways one word associations with the remaining players is a bit enlightening? Also had the king of the mountain shot like the winner of Fiji did.
Deshawn has been seen as an emotional roller coaster. We saw that he had tantrums or serious difficulty with going with others plans, re. Shan. He really seemed to act like Danny's little brother. It always appeared to me that Danny directed the path that those two would follow. But, he was cantankerous, yet he prided himself on his social game. How many times did he shout out his social ability as his strength? Yet, he called out alot about his fellow players that now sit on the jury....Evvie, Shan, Liana, Erika, Heather, Ricard?....However, I do think he could win, especially this season where the cultural difficulties have become the theme of the season?
Xander has an underdog story, he went headstrong into decisions that may not have been the best for him. We saw how Voce didn't want to do the water in the bucket portion, but Xander volunteered quickly. He also found advantages and took risks that worked out for him. We saw that the Yase women plotted against him, and he seemed young and naive with them....He offered to use his idol and advantage on behalf of the tribe. Belonged to the tribe with the little turtles that could edit, he's the only Yase turtle left. Found out he was betrayed by Evvie, his closest ally, by Deshawn. Despite labeling the ones with idols and advantages as "the biggest threats", he managed to stay safe to the end. Used his advantage to help Ricard. Explains his rationale in confessionals....Ricard was his shield. Right now Xander is a kid, the youngest, will the older castmates vote for the one remaining white, "privileged" man to win? They reportedly don't respect his game play with the idol, and don't consider him threatening at the end. However, if Xander can take control of the end game and lead the way, he could still possibly end up on top.
Also wanted to add that I could see Ricard going to fire making and losing. How many times did Genie say that Shan and Ricard were totally inept at fire and camp skills. Wouldn't it be hysterical if he lost to the likes of Heather, LOL! Most likely it would be Erika. In order for that scenario to happen, I could see Deshawn winning the F4 challenge and choosing Xander perhaps to go to F3 with him leaving Ricard/Erika to fire it up? Harder for me to see Xander choosing Deshawn to go to F4?
I like the fact that we aren't sure about the winner but that most do have fairly well developped personalities. I don't rate thius seasion as uigh as the first 12 but itm has been better than most of the recent ones, especially all those with the returning players.
I don't see Erika as being dismissed by her tribe. We've seen many contestants talk about how Erika was sneaky, intelligent (Danny, Deshawn) and the mastermind (Shan).
Yes Ricard came up with the plan to oust Shan along with Erika, but who got the credit for it on TV? Erika.
Every single one of the final five have warts and all. I just think there is huge foreshadowing as they played up how Erika was able to build fire and keep it going the whole time she was separated from her tribe for two days with uneven weather, then we saw how Ricard was saying he had trouble with fire.
I rewatched the first three episodes to see if I had missed anything. Ericka was mostly absent from the story in those episodes. We mostly heard from her complaining about Danny and Deshawn looking for an idol instead of compoleting their day 1 task. She complained a bit more about Nasseer but nothing more than that.
There could have been two subtle clues in episode 1:
During the initial boat ride we hear danny talking about his background and his strategy. It ends ion a voice over where we see him in close up telling us he'll be observing his competition. As he says thsat, we dio see him looking from left to right where the other Luvus sit BUT we also see Ericka stanmding right behind him not only out of Danny's sight but also in prime position to back stab him which she sort of did later on.
Also, when Luvu win the first immunity challenge we hear Probst yelling: ``Ericka for the win!!``
Should that have been enough to clue us in? There have been so many visuals and hints in prior seasons that these went unnoticed.
One thing we can almost certainly count on with the editing -- if a female is going to win, she's more than likely going to have an underwhelming edit. That was definitely true this season with Erika's invisible edit before the merge, though she did get displayed much more prominently after then.
Looking back at Survivor history, there's been, if I counted correctly, sixteen female winners in 41 seasons.
Tina Vecepia Jenna Sandra Lamber Danni Parvati Natalie White Sandra again Sophie Kim Denise Natalie Anderson Michele Sarah Erika
Of these, only Kim Spradlin could be said to have a completely dominating winner edit with Sarah Lacina just behind her. The rest all got average, underwhelming or non-factor edits. By comparison, at least half of the male winners got huge or winner-worthy edits.
tl:dr ... don't expect too much from female winner edits on Survivor. As with most female winners, once you get to look back, you can see where she gradually built her resume as a winner; it's the opposite for many male winners as you can see it coming.
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