LAST EDITED ON 03-01-24 AT 03:49 PM (EST)

The TD Show

The season started with a sermon on the nature of Survivor. At first, we didn't know who was talking. The words could have been taken from Burnett's book on Survivor but Burnett has a distinctive British accent and here we definitely had an inner-city American accent. Before the end of this definition of what makes Survivor, we see that TD was speaking.

We had a season start with Carolyn who didn't even know what to do in confessional and here we have the polar opposite; someone who, we are supposed to consider, knows this game better than anyone else. Considering Carolyn made the Final 3, it seems we should already consider TD as this season's winner! He says he's ready for it.

Next we have our first caricature, I mean clown, hum; character: Nanu who came to America from the planet Ork and is happy with his life, having his American citizenship and, most of all, being on Survivor.
If you want to penalize anyone for embellishment then Nanu would spend most of his time in the penalty box.

Next Jest is practically telling us she should be voted out first.

She should.

Hunted is this season's hillbilly while Swifty is the Harvard nerd who disowns his school and Stiffany is a self taught bad artist who claims to be a Hustler Honey.

This season's Canadian, Venus-Mantrap, gives us an introduction that seems inspired by Gabon's Corinne: She is going to do some serious sh*t and will deal with the repercussions later.
We all remember that Corinne didn't live up to her big words.

This girl Kandie says she is ready to party.
That's another caricature player.

When the boats finally reach Jiffy, we hear from Club-Soda that she is ready to fizz. She wants to be a model for her young students.
Next we hear from Quintessential Burdette who tells us he has been playing football and doing track and Field since he was nine. Quarterback Burdette is ready for the ball.

Jiffy gives a bit of a twist to his lame intro, telling them that all 18 see themselves as eventual winners but that it was simply not true: 17 are wrong. He even adds that someone will go to the end but won't have a chance of getting the votes.

When Jiffy says the words: «Winner of Survivor 46, the camera focuses on TD who is holding his face with both hands and letting out a scream of joy. Expect to see the same thing on a Sunday evening in May when Jiffy solemly says for real that time «The Winner of Survivor 46...» Will TD be sitting to the left of Venus-Mantrap who in that instant looked as if she was containing her emotions? Is she the one that simply can't win? That's where I'm putting my money

Jiffy puts a name on each tribe:
- Purple with Quintillion Burdette, Jest, Stiffany, Nanu, Jello-sky and Kandie is named Janu (It's easy to guess why they called this tribe after one of the worst players ever!)
- Green with Swifty, Gloria Gaynor, Jam, Katman, Mama and Big Tim are called Seaguls.
- Orange with TD, Hunted, RamJam, Club-Soda, Venus-Mantrap and LizLiz (no, not that one) are called Not-Me.

They have their first challenge and, as expected, Not-Me win easily, Seaguls scrapes by while Janu loses. Not-Me get their supplies 3 days before the other two unless they can with either win the «Sweat» or «Savvy» challenges.

After the break, we join Janu where Jello-sky starts talking about being everything that he is about to show he isn't.
This Legend in his own mind has to be considered one of the worst players ever.

Jello volunteers for the «Sweat» task along with Quintessence Burdette. Jello fails miserably and even if there was plenty of sand left in the hourglass, he gives up to Quintuplet's dismay. Jello explains that SeeBS lied to them saying they would have several hours to complete the task which, for him meant seven hours! Dumba$$

In Seaguls, the tribe reads the «Savvy» clue. Katman and Swifty volunteer except, where Katman sees himself as Eddie van Halen, he thinks of Swifty as David Lee Roth who isn't quite Taylor Swift! At least they get the «Dumb-n-Dumber» alliance out of it!

While the two guys fail, we hear Mama Maria bonding with Big Tim since they both have kids.

Under a large rainbow, which can also be seen as a prelude to the pot of gold we join Not-me where TD is talking about watching «Andy Griffith» despite being only 24.

In another display of wisdom, TD tells us that LizLiz forgot that the game doesn't start tomorrow but that it started already.
Club-Soda makes fire and feels good about her tribe.

Despite having to admit their defeat to the other Seaguls, Katman still feels optimistic. He tells his tribe that they are the vibe-tribe. Big Tim tells us he likes Katman. Mama Maria says the same thing while Jam is happy to be Survibing.
Next we get to meet Gloria Gaynor who, in this version, is a geeky-dorky nerd who plays D&D and brews beer. Making connections is a struggle for her but she bonds well with the two other women of the tribe. They form a female alliance.

Nanu shows his tribe how to open coconuts. Quintus is happy but I wonder how Kandie feels when Nanu helps her by pulling on her poney-tail. She then tells us that she got a good feeling with fellow tattoed Jello but she doesn't get much from Jest. Kandie names the Janu alliance: Stiffany, Quintuple, Jello and herself.
Well that lasted a good 2 days!

Back at Not-Me, Club-Soda and TD are signing and dancing to camp songs. While Ramjam and LizLiz joined in, Hunted felt persecuted: Those damn camp songs keep following him around. A least Hunted feels safe around TD. TD tells us that the feeling is shared. They form the «Andy Griffith-alliance.»
We're treated to an image as if seen on a 1950s TV screen with a black & White picture of TD and Hunted.
With this much care given these two, I predict that this alliance will last a lot longer than the Janu alliance. Bad-mouths will point out that it already has lasted longer but I mean end-game length not just one cycle.

In confessional, TD tells us that he is an actor, that this is all a stage and all the players around are actors in this play. He vows that soon they will all know why TD says this is his island.

Back in Seaguls, Charlie reveals that he is a Swifty which makes Big Tim laugh. Looking at the numbers Jam and Gloria realize they need to pull in one of the guys to get majority. It seems that Charlie-Swift will be the 4th «girl»! They envision themselves as «Charlie's Angels». Charlie-Swift tells us he's been bossed around by women his whole life so why would Survivor be different?
The women's actions do not go unnoticed by Big Tim who knows how women operate. When he tells Katman and Charlie-Swift that they have to take out a woman, Swifty realizes that puts him in both groups. He enjoys that even if he realizes that playing both sides can be dangerous.
Not everyone is blind to the dangers of being the pivotal vote. It's not like Big Tom in the first All-Stars who was so happy to let everyone know he was the swing vote until the 4 others swung him out of the game!

In Not-Me, Venus realizes that the others see her as a «Princess». She's not happy about that because it puts her at the bottom «Screw it» she says, she won't go out without a fight. That sends her out on a search for the idol. It's interesting that her confessional included a remark about being in the Finals and telling everyone «Screw you» because that won't earn her many votes. She tries to pull in RamJam but he knows Venus is the number one threat in the tribe.
I guess we're back again to Season 6 where we learned from Jenna and Heidi that being young and beautiful is a handicap.

Ramjam tells Club-Soda about his bad feelings towards Venus-Mantrap. He is not afraid of her but she reminds him of Parvati. Club-Soda

Wanting to alert Club-Soda of the threat posed by Venus Man-trap, Ramjam only manages to warn her about himself. While Club-Soda goes very well in many drinks it doesn't go well with Ramjam. Naturally, Club-Soda tells Venus that Ramjam is after her. Venus sets her trap on Ramjam.

On day 2 we learn that LizLiz is allergic to about every food available on Survivor.
Why did she apply if she can't eat coconut or rice?

A Boat shows up at each camp and Jello once more insists on doing it for Janu. Nanu is pised off but he doesn't say a thing to the Legend.

Since he was designated by luck, TD is happy to be the Not-Me representative.

Mama Maria wins Rock over Scissors for Seagulls, Gloria is happy for her alliance mate but jealous that she isn't the alliance member taking the journey.

Jello tells us he's playing as if he's winning this game! Oh! The marvelous irony, the complete oblivion, the total lack of self-awareness!

The three are playing a game of chicken: Mama Maria, has holder of the «Torch» card, has to reveal it and then the other two have to convince her that they have the «Vote» card and not the «Skull» one. If Maria guesses right, she and the holder of the «Vote» card get an extra vote while the Skull card loses his vote. If Maria guesses wrong than only the holder of the Skull card has their extra vote, the other two losing theirs.
It only takes Maria's warning that she and the other player will tell their tribe mates about the liar's deceit to get Jello to turn to mush. This «Legend» admits he has the «Skull» card because he doesn't want the others to see him as a liar.

On day 2, Jello folded because he was afraid that the others would see him as a liar when it comes to the merger. OK, you have to think a few steps ahead in this game but you also have to think of the present. Players should always see others as potential liars so what does it matter if they think that later on? What about your tribe right now?

Good news: With Probe asking for people to send in casting requests, we're almost certain of having a Survivor 47. I always saw the over/under at 50.5. What do you think?

Of course we follow the Janu boat after the break: We have to see just how badly Jello played his journey. It only takes a quick explanation for Kandie and Stiffany to figure out the huge error Jello made: Who cares if the other two lose their vote? As Kandie said: «They aren't on our tribe so you didn't even fight for us? All you had to do was lie to strangers.»

While showing he was happy for Mama's extra vote, Big Tim is worriend that her extra vote could lead to World dominance by Woman.

We never saw Not-Me's reation to TD's return. Instead we had another confessional from Jest suggesting she may jest pull a «Hannah» and quit on day 3. Now we hear she hasn't slept in 3 days. That should tell the tribe that she will be useless going forward.
While Nanu tries hard to find the idol, it's Stiffany instead that first gets the «Beware» note. She ignores the warning, tells Kandie about her finding and reads the note. The clue sends her back to the discovery spot where a big box with a lock was buried. She will get a clue to the location of the key after the next immunity challenge loss.

Since her tribe had to lose a challenge for Stiffany to get her next clue, how do we know she really gave it her all in that challenge? Lost should never be rewarded but it happens all the time in this game. Hell! You don't have to win tribal challenges, you just have to avoid being last. And after a tribal swap, the ideal strategy could be to lose to vote out a member from the other tribe and keep your estranged allies safe. Often, to get the votes, you don't have to be the best, you just have to stink less than the other two. But Probe is oblivious to these flaws.

Stiffany tells Questionable Burdette about her predicament: She doesn't have a vote unless she finds an idol. Combined with Jello's lost vote, the alliance of 4 doesn't have much weight. Despite this, Stiffany, to her honor, isn't nervous: She'll figure it out she says.

The Immunity Challenge.

Before we get to it, Jiffy wants to know about the challenge results. Seaguls admit their defeat with a smile. Just one loss, they agree.
Janu, on the other hand, sees Jello raising a protest: They were supposed to have several hours to complete the task, they only got 4. He adds: «Last I checked, several means seven.» Jiffy is surprised: «Several means Seven?» Jello insists that it does because it is part of the word. Club-Soda teaches him that several means more than a couple but Jello insists his book is right.

The challenge had to be sponsored by Geico but once again, there wasn't much doubt about the result: Not-Me won with Venus and Soda doing the puzzle. They were followed by Seaguls who were anchored by Gloria and Mama. In a sign that they probably threw the challenge, Jello and Jest tackled the puzzle for the losers.

After the challenge, Nanu has the Kiss-of-death-confessional: He points the finger directly at Jello and Jest.

Jello is confident in his alliance. Stiffany and Kandie want to eliminate Jest but Quintus turns the table and insists on Jello.
Stiffany gets a secret message for the location of the key. She finds it in the rocks at the point. She hauls a$$ back to the hidding spot and finds her reward: A real Idol.

Quirinus wants hard work to be rewarded not Quitters.

Jest isn't comfortable, Stiffany would like Jest first, Jello second. Nanu and Kandie are undecided but TC is fatal for Jello.

As for my long term bet, I've got TD winning by a Touchdown and maybe even with a 2 point conversion for 8 points or rather 8 votes. Venus-Mantrap will be shut-out. Not sure who is the other finalist who would get at most 1 point if Jiffy's initial comments prove prophetic. Hunted is as good a bet as any and better than most except for mama Maria who also has a connection to TD but she would seem a more dangerous finalist.

• E2 - Kill 'em All!,michel2, 05:34 PM, 03-07-24
• Episode 3 - A Seal's Complaint in Fiji,michel2, 05:55 PM, 03-14-24
• E4 - A Bit of Jazz, a Bit of Rock an a whole lot of Bhanu,michel2, 01:33 PM, 03-21-24
• THANKS!,Sheldor, 02:15 PM, 03-26-24
  • RE: THANKS!,michel2, 05:10 PM, 03-27-24
    • RE: THANKS!,sj007, 11:25 PM, 03-27-24
      • RE: THANKS!,michel2, 10:53 PM, 03-28-24
        • RE: THANKS!,sj007, 11:02 PM, 04-16-24
• 19 <101110> - 5 <101>,michel2, 09:52 PM, 03-28-24
  • RE: 19 <101110> - 5 <101>,Sheldor, 07:22 PM, 03-30-24
    • RE: 19 <101110> - 5 <101>,michel2, 09:34 PM, 04-02-24
      • RE: 19 <101110> - 5 <101>,Sheldor, 04:16 PM, 04-03-24

LAST EDITED ON 03-08-24 AT 00:45 AM (EST)

What? If you thought I was going to go with Taylor Swift, you were sadly mistaken.

Shoot me Again.

What should we remember from the first episode?

- Seaguls has a «Charlie's Angels» alliance with Mama Maria, Jam, Gloria Gaynor and Swifty.
- Mama Maria has an extra vote because Jellosky sucks.
- TD is good at working with people.
- Venus Mantrap is a big threat.
- Kandy is working with Stiffany and Quantabulous.
- Stiffany got her idol.
- Jellosky sucked... but we covered that already.

Sad but True

Nanu, our strange visitor from Ork, is praying to «Orson» probably because he can't figure out these humans. He wants to integrate them. «I don't want to «sleepwalk my life away» he says.
Speaking to Kandy about his «Struggle Within», «Am I too far Gone?» he asks.
She tells him that they simply have to win: «Nothing Else Matters.»

To us she reveals that Nanu is «Helpless» at Tribal Council where you have to keep «All your Lies» secret.

Stiffany tells us that Kandy is too sweet with everyone. She is afraid Kandy will «Slither» her way to the end. More importantly, she tells us that they are loser.
(As if we didn't know already!)
Kandy «Escapes» to a hole in the ground to cry and tell us Survivor is tough.
(Well duh!)

Not-Me - Day 4

«We're a Happy Family.»

It's all fun and games at Not-Me where TD is inventing future Survivor challenges.
(I'll have more on that later but maybe Probe will listen to TD's suggestions!)
To us, he says he's solid with Club-Soda and Hunted but he has good rapports with everyone except Venus-Mantrap.
Club-Soda who was Venus's friend, has come to realize that is «The Thing that Should Not Be». Venus could «Damage» her «Case». «Nothing Else Matters» to Club-Soda so she'll throw Venus under the bus to save her case.
Venus realizes that Club-Soda is distancing herself. Venus tells us that Club-Soda could «Cheat on Me». Venus also realizes that even if he is «King Nothing», TD is reigning on top of the tribe and that everyone ignores her. She feels «Helpless».

After the break, we get a bird's eye vue of the Seaguls.

Katman is making fire and he is proud of his accomplishment.
(Remember the good ol' days when they had to use their glasses to make fire?)
Tiny Tim is happy with his tribe but he worries about Mama Maria's extra vote. We hear his «Frustration».
Swifty tells us he has fans on both sides of the tribe. However, he knows he's on the bottom of the «Angels» alliance just because he has a penis. «Don't Thread on Me» he says, ready to make a side-alliance with Mama Maria to decide which guy or girl goes.
(Actually, Swifty seemed to forget he has a penis and phrased it as wanting to have a dance partner but I manned it up a bit for him!)
Swifty and Mama Maria want to become the new «Malcolm and Denise» which is great for Maria but where does that leave Swifty? On the jury, you dumbass!

We take a short flight back to Not-Me where Venus is putting a yellow buff on the idol making it Property of Not-Me.
(Are you color-blind? Yellow isn't Orange)
Since TD is controlling the tribe, Venus Man-Trap wants to find the idol.
She goes on searching but RamJam is faster than her. He ignores the Beware warning.

In Janu, Stiffany tells us that Jest is socially awkward.
(Tell us something we didn't know.)
Jest tells us that her strategy is not to be the «Bad Seed», the person on the outs.
Kandy realizes she in great with Quintessential and Stiffany so why not ruin a good thing? She goes out of camp to plot with Jest and Nanu going as far as saying she'd be ready to vote out Quantization and to picture them three as the Final Three.
(It would have been so easy to warn Quintillion and Stiffany that she was simply placating the two outsiders so that any backlash would have been easy to explain. As far as predicting a Final Three, this one didn't last to the end of this episode!)

In Seagul, we have a new Character, Papaya Papa is now playing the role of Tiny Tim.
The tribe is in a good mood: They are like «Brothers in Arms» (yes Metallica recorded a version of it) and are ready to «Carpe Diem Baby!»
To help his social game, Swifty wanted to do a Taylor-Swift vs Metallica contest against Katman. They bored everyone «Until it Sleeps.» The Sandman Entered well before Taylor Swift's tour was over!
(To think we were happy to see extra camp footage with this new 2 hour format! Maybe they could have cast people with something interesting to say. And dumbass Katman: if he really wanted to win all he had to do was start enumerating songs by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and all the others. These bozos wouldn't have seen the difference.)

In Not-Me, LizLiz is telling everyone why it shouldn't be her that wins the game. She even tells us that she doesn't need to money.
Like us, RamJam is baffled by that strategy. Needing an ally, RamJam approaches the one person he fears the most: Venus Mantrap. He even tells her about his beware advantage.
Venus is both excited and pissed but mostly she's happy to have been given a chance.
(Venus is prettier when she smiles)

The Challenge

Quintessence was NOT happy hearing the laughter and the comments from the other tribes when they found out Jellosky had been voted out. I'm not sure he appreciated Kandy's remark that there were more than several reasons for voting him out...at least more than seven! Questionnable shows he has taken notes from Belichick because he answres: «We'll see if our five is better than their five».
(This brings me back to an old irritant I have with the Survivor formula: Why choose the sit-outs? Either do it by draw or force EVERYONE to take a turn on the «Sandra-bench»)
Club-Soda accepted Questionnable's challenge but added a zinger of her own: «How's the food?» she asked laconically.
Nanu invoked Ghandi's hunger strike to show why that remark didn't affect them.
(Was he comparing himself to Ghandi?)

When Venus points to the Yellow buff that little «Mark Burnett» is wearing, our «Master of Puppets» isn't pleased. In fact he takes out a knife and... no, he didn't attack Venus but simply cut the buff off of the idol. TD did remind Probe that he was wearing an Orange hat!

Despite some set-backs, we again see Not-Me win followed by Seagul leaving Janu as the losers once more.

The challenges are where Survivor Sucks the most: They have become so formulaic I can't stand them. Why put this intricate race when you know it will all come down to that damn puzzle at the end?

Here is what I would have liked to see: They race from one end of the arena to the other pulling that heavy cart all the way but, at the end, they open a crate and find a map: That map indicates the location of the idols AND different locations for the 2 fishing kits. One tribe could be first to each station and claim both reward and immunity but it could also be split: One tribe could win only immunity while the other two each get a reward with one of them also having immunity.
It wouldn't always have to be races: Each tribe could be given two puzzles, one for Immunity and one for Reward. The first two get the prizes. You could even have a tribe going for Reward BEFORE Immunity! Or you could ask half the tribe to unscrabble one puzzle while the other half attacks the second at the same time.

Back to the program and even if Nanu and Stiffeny didn't name names, Jest knows she will be getting a spanking back at camp.
Kandy had the Kiss-of-Death confessional and she gave it squarely to Jest. Even if she realized that Nanu is bad «Under Pressure» (Hey! I had to get one of my favorites in there!) Jest kept dropping all the pieces.
(Jellosky, being over 6 feet tall, would have been much better for this challenge!)

A Rare Interlude

Usually we only go to the losing tribe's camp after Immunity but here, the editors cut a detour to Not-Me's camp. Something important was about to unfold and it was all about Venus Man-Trap.
We heard that the tribe didn't listen to her calls to turn left and they crushed her toe under the cart. We were also given video evidence that, while Jiffy gave the idol to Venus, Club-Soda tried to rip it our of her hands. In fact she did take it away after the first win but Venus held on to it after the second. So, while TD felt like Rupert after winning the fishing gear, I think this was a clear message that TD must fix things with Venus or he will not enjoy Lux Aeterna, he will not be the season's champion. I do have a feeling that Venus will flip on Not-Me at the merger.

In Janu, it was a lot of déjà-vu and while Quintero made a play to fool Jest with a fake idol and tried to rally votes to eliminate Kandy, we witnessed the inevitable: Jest was sent home.

The song «La Complainte du Phoque en Alaska» came to mind when I saw the latest episode of Survivor. A «complainte» is, as you figured, a complaint while a «Phoque» is a seal. The word is pronounced to rhyme with Puck but with a «f» sound at the beginning.

In Fiji, we have a Phoque who is really sad. Phoque-Bu has left all his family, Phoque-U, Phoque-Him, Phoque-'Em-All and even his girlfriend, Phoque-Her, in Alaska to go earn a living in a circus in the States. Bu realizes that it's not worth leaving those whom you love to make balls turn on the tip of your nose.

However, Americans loved his emotions so much that they cast him in the big circus led by Jeff Problem. Since then, Bu's life has been hell.

You see, Bu's heard has to compete against Orange-Utans and green Seaguls to survive. The Orange-utans are very strong and have won everything up to now while the Seaguls have managed to scrape all the left-overs.

Already, Phoque-Jello and Phoque-Jess have fallen victims to the game and Bu is sure he's next. Phoque-Q and Phoque-Tif, the two big black Phoques are allies, every one can see that. (Can we still call them that these days? Maybe I should say the big Phoques with dark pigmentation to be Phoquelitically correct). As for Phoque-Zie, she is the mastermind of the group and tells the other two what to do. At least that's how Bu sees things through the constant flow of his tears.

Bu decides to talk to Zie to know what to do. She tells him that he is charming but that he's an idiot. «You have to have a plan in life» she throws at him. According to her, Bu's emotions are trouble for the Rookery (Isn't that a great name for a pod of seals: They are as dumb as a bunch of rookies). Zie says she likes Bu but «if we lose again we'll have to vote him out.» She says that with the evil smile on her face that we've come to know so well.
(Remember when she said her eyes are bluer after a good cry, well I can say that they are the same after one of her dirty moves. By the way, aren't you lucky that I speak Phoque?)

In tears, Bu goes to Phoque-Q for a bit of compassion. Q sees Bu as a liability but he sees Zie as a threat. « You can play with a liability, even turn it to your advantage but you have to get rid of the threats» says Q. He wants to get rid of Zie and drag Bu along for the ride.
(Q understands the defects of this game: Each advantage turns into a disadvantage.)

The Seaguls travel in time, going back 4 days to the time where Seagul-Jam found the message and the box with the hidden Immunity idol.
(It's rare that the editors tell us that they are showing us a scene out of sequence. Usually they do it without warning. That tells us that the Seaguls are so dull that we see the bare minimum of their interactions.
(Personnally, if I could travel in time I wouldn't choose last Sunday for a destination even if it would allow me to make a killing with all the game results!)

In the Oranges-Utans tribe, Hunted tells us that he is more evolved than Coco, the Gorilla who learned sign language. Hunted has become a teacher in an American school. He doesn't say it but it must not be in one of those high-class private schools but rather in an inner-city public school. Imagine the savings if we had more teachers who were Orange-Utans They would only cost bananas!

Also in Orange, we have Rundown who woke up with a problem. His righ arm is paralyzed. It doesn't take long for Jeff Problem to arrive with a doctor. He tells Rundown that it's probably due to sleeping on his side and pinching a nerve. They will have to keep an eye on his situation
(Keeping an eye on his situation means seeing who could be voted out next and seeing if that animal could be saved by euthanizing this Orange-utan who is certainly not helping with ratings.)

We get to the Circus Game. Jeff Problem is happy to greet the 3 heards to explain the game.

As the first leg consists of traveling over the ocean, the Seaguls are flying over the course while the Phoques are doing very well indeed. It's the Oranges-Utans who are trailing for the first time. They are the last to arrive at the final leg where they have to throw small bags on platforms.

You'd think that the 2 big Phoques would be good at a game that resembles basketball, Phoque-Q having even bee an NCAA-caliber athlete but they are simply horrible. Phoque-Q throws bricks as if he was Sha-Q O'Neil, while the Orange's Hunted looks like Stephen Curry or even better! He's making his shots as if he were Caitlin Clark! 1-2-3-4-5! The Oranges-Utans win again.

The second winner (A little stupid rule isn't it?) will be decided between the Seagul-who-sings-Taylor-Swift-Songs all the time and the tall Q. Despite a good sequence by Q he is beaten by a Swifty.
(What a Shame!)

As the winners, the Oranges get to decide which 3 pets will take their morning walk: The little Orange-Utan named Liz tells Problem that she will go with Seagul-Van-Halen and our little Bu.

Bu wanted to spend time talking strategy to his fellow Phoques but he sees this as a sign from God. He will get a chance of finding an advantage that could save his game.
(Did you know that Orange-Utans are divinities for Phoques? I certainly didn't but since Liz picked Bu and Bu says it was a sign from God then, ipso facto, Liz is a goddess! However, I prefer not to talk about religion: Everyone should be free to believe in what they want.)

Arriving at the Pet-park, Bu doesn't waste a second before talking about all his traumas and the link between the other 3 Phoques. He really wants them to know that Q, Zie and Tiff are in an alliance. Next our three pets have to draw rocks in a bag, one of which is a white one. Picking the white one meant an automatic return to the home-beach. The two with a blue rock will have a chance to compete separately for an advantage. If they fail, they lose a vote. Bu wishes for the white rock to keep his vote safe and to be allowed to play his shot in the dark. Of course, Bu gets a blue rock, Liz has the white one while Van-Halen will give a solo performance to win an advantage.

The Phoque and the Seagul crack under pressure and both fail to complete their cubes.
(Too bad it wasn't a Rubik's cube because people can solve those in as little as 4 seconds now. It has even been determined that all cubes can be solved in 20 twists or less, no matter its starting position.)

Inconsolable, our friend Bu returns to his bob but the camera doesn't stay long on their beach: Instead we follow Jeff Problem and the doctor to the area where the Oranges-Utans live. They are here to talk to Rundown with some bad news. The doctor fears that he has a bulging disc in his neck and would need emergency surgery. An MRI has even been scheduled for the next morning.

OK, looking at the clock, I see it is 9:20PM which is much too late to start a Heard Council. Instead we see Problem walking into the Seagul's nest to tell them they can have a good night's sleep. The heard of Whackadoodles can rejoice because Rundown has been taken out of the game. Bu wants to thank Jiffy, his new Guru. Problem is surprised by the title because he's usually called an «Evil Pr*ck».

Personally, I wouldn't have played it like that:The Phoques lost so they should be down to 3 while the Orange-Utangs shouldn't find themselves with one less member than the Seagulls So, I would have held the Phoque's Bob Council and the player voted out would have been sent to the Orange-Utans. Imagine the reaction when everyone got a glimpse of Zie disguised as an Orange-Utan! She already has the orange hair!

LAST EDITED ON 03-21-24 AT 02:33 PM (EST)

This week the Mid-Evening Special first welcomes the Nami Trio.

With Soda on Vocals, Tevin on «piano» and Liz on «Bass», we are treated to some cool Jazz from Nami. Their song was titled »«In the Mood for Some Food» was upbeat as so was most of the tribe except Hunted who was left backstage where he sulked in silence. You see, he had great renditions of Van Halen's «Jump» and «Diver Down to offer but Nami had to leave time for the headliners in Yanu

At least Hunted got back in the fold sufficiently to earn second place in the Reward.

For those who look for hints in editing, it must be noted that Tevin said: «We love dramatic endings» so I'm betting he gets one at the very end also. Will it be in his favor?
His positive showing up to now suggests it will.

Showing that he is as good with a knife as he is with the imaginary keyboard, Tevin prepares the fish they won for reward.
The tribe is feeling groovy and it looks like nothing can stop them.

As expected, they carried their tunes to victory in the Immunity challenge even with Tevin sitting out.

Our next act is a Rockin' band from Siga.

As soon as they start playing we can feel that they are tight. They've had hits after hits since their first record came out.
After covering songs from Taylor Swift, Metallica and van Halen, they finally feature an original.
This one has Jem as lead vocalist and it tells a story of deception.

« No one Knows I have the treasure
Leading the tribe to discover
A planted note for my pleasure
Keeping Secret all my Power.»

For their next song, a rendition of «Ain't Jumpin' Moriah Flop»

I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead
I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled,
I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread
I was crowned with a spike right through my head
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas
But it's all right, I'm Ain't Jumpin' Moriah Flop
It's a gas, gas, gas

While Siga would lose the reward challenge due to Tim (who got none of the blame even though his lack of balance at the buoy cost them a lot of time) and Maria who couldn't throw her ring off the pole, the tribe fought hard to earn immunity.

Finally it is time for our Headliners: Yanu. In Honor of Bhanu, they will be doing an interpretation of «Lucky Man»

He had Sad Stories
And Fans by the Score
They're Chanting his Name
While he's Wailing by the Shore

Ooh! What a Lucky Man he was
Ooh! What a Lucky man he was...

Palm Fronds and Bamboo
They Made up his Bed
A Tarp Covered Shelter
In Which he was Led

Ooh! What a Lucky Man he was
Ooh! What a Lucky man he was...

He went to fight Challenges
For Safety and Reward
For his Honesty and his Tears
He will Win an Award

Ooh! What a Lucky Man he was
Ooh! What a Lucky man he was...

More Defeats had Found Him
On His Knees as he Cried
Tiff n' Q would not save him
So he got his torch and he died.

Ooh! What a Lucky Man he was
Ooh! What a Lucky man he was...

Michel

These posts are amazing! Just wanted to let you know I'm reading them and appreciate the time and effort you put into writing these posts!

Thank you Sheldor.

Unfortunately, I don't have Thursday off for the next few weeks so I'm not sure when I get back to it. I hope for the merger episode.

Thanks to you Michel and all of the rest of the people who have really put a lot of effort into these posts over the last 20 years. Back in the day I looked forward to watching Survivor and reading the speculation here. Unfortunately Survivor has officially reached the bottom of the barrel. Just like the first reality website survivorsucks.com by which Survivor should be renamed. It officially sucks ##### and unless it gets back to it's roots and does a better job casting with the original 39 day format it needs to retire. They should take a clue from the Amazing Race which did go back to it's roots and got a lot better starting with last season. When Survivor has an idiot like Bhanu as a contestant, who doesn't know how to play the game or what it's about, WTF are they doing? Remember when there used to be quite a few people here posting about the show. It's down to a few dedicated people. What does that tell you?

You are Welcome. SJ!

I must point out though that most posters here left when the site was hacked back in 2014 or 2015 and when all the moderators left. We all lost access and many didn't bother creating a new account probably worried about the hacking.

Didn't know about the hacking and moderators leaving. Thanks but Survivor still sucks now!

LAST EDITED ON 03-28-24 AT 09:52 PM (EST)

25 1 14 21 - 9 19 - 7 5 20 20 9 14 7 - 4 5 19 16 5 18 1 20 5 - Stop

14 1 13 9 - 23 9 14 19 - 9 13 - 13 21 14 9 20 25 - 1 7 1 9 14 - Stop

23 5 8 1 22 5 - 1 - 19 8 15 23 4 15 23 14 - 2 5 10 23 5 5 14 -
20 9 13 - 1 14 4 - 17 - 6 15 18 - <10>14 4 - 16 12 1 3 5 - Stop

17 - 16 21 12 12 19 - 9 20 - 15 21 20 20 15 - 10 5 6 6'19 - 1 14 4 -15 21 18 19 21 18 16 18 9 19 5 - Stop

10 5 13 19 3 18 1 13 2 12 5 19 - 1 14 4 - 6 9 14 4 19 - 8 5 18 -
9 6 15 12 - Stop

3 8 1 18 12 9 5 - 5 14 4 - 13 1 18 9 1 - 17 21 5 19 20 9 15 14 -
20 8 5 9 18 - 22 15 20 5 - Stop

23 9 20 8 - 13 1 18 9 1 - 21 19 9 14 7 - 8 5 18 - 5 24 20 18 1 -
22 15 20 5, - 10 5 13 - 9 19 - 22 15 20 5 4 - 15 21 20 - Stop

«Are you finally finished? I told you to stop often enough but NO, you had to do it your way.»

OK, I see it's time for a break. I'll see you later.

FUN! Sheldor loves cipher codes!

Subject: RE: 19 <101110> - 5 <101>
Subject: S46-E5

25 1 14 21 - 9 19 - 7 5 20 20 9 14 7 - 4 5 19 16 5 18 1 20 5 - Stop
YANU IS GETTING DESPERATE - Stop

14 1 13 9 - 23 9 14 19 - 9 13 - 13 21 14 9 20 25 - 1 7 1 9 14 - Stop
NAMI WINS IMMUNITY AGAIN - Stop

23 5 8 1 22 5 - 1 - 19 8 15 23 4 15 23 14 - 2 5 10<Should be 20> 23 5 5 14
WE HAVE A SHOWDOWN BEJWEEN

20 9 13 - 1 14 4 - 17 - 6 15 18 - <10>14 4 - 16 12 1 3 5 - Stop
TIM AND Q FOR 2ND PLACE - Stop

10 5 13 19 3 18 1 13 2 12 5 19 - 1 14 4 - 6 9 14 4 19 - 8 5 18 - 9 6 15 12 - Stop
Q PULLS IT OUT TO JEFF'S AND OUR SURPRISE - Stop

3 8 1 18 12 9 5 - 5<Should be 1> 14 4 - 13 1 18 9 1 - 17 21 5 19 20 9 15 14 -
CHARLIE END MARIA QUESTION

20 8 5 9 18 - 22 15 20 5 - Stop
THEIR VOTE - Stop

23 9 20 8 - 13 1 18 9 1 - 21 19 9 14 7 - 8 5 18 - 5 24 20 18 1 -
WITH MARIA USING HER EXTRA

22 15 20 5, - 10 5 13 - 9 19 - 22 15 20 5 4 - 15 21 20 - Stop
VOTE, JEM IS VOTED OUT - Stop

I thought you'd get a _._ .. _._. _._ out of it.

I did get a KICK out of it!

Thanks!