Tag Archives: alliances

Season 41, Episode 12 –

best rebus puzzle yet imo – challenging, yet solvable/makes sense 👍🏻

Favorite Quote (of this episode):

“In NFL terms, it would’ve been the equivalent of knocking down the old Tom Brady dynasty + for some reason, we decided to play kickball instead.” – Danny 👏🏻 (talking about how he wished they had voted Ricard out last tribal > Lianna.)

Least Favorite Quote:

“…and it just turned into this very fruitful fruit..” – DeShawn (talking about how he was trying to “plant a seed” in Erika’s mind about going/not going to the end w/ Heather.) k.

Reward Challenge:

knew yellow would win right away b/c DeShawn is good at making baskets + blue was bound to get held back by Heather (sorry, just being honest!)… my favorite part of all this btw was 100% Jeff commenting “confusing strategy by blue” LOL when they only had Danny retrieving the ball in the water since Heather was pretty exhausted.

they also were able to choose between chicken + veggies or cake + cookies. v smart to choose the protein option 💯 lol Xander called the chicken + veggies “Xander candy” 😂

“There was just something about his vibe that shifted and that scares me.” – Ricard once again being observant af. Danny had walked off looking for an idol + didn’t even think to carry sticks or something useful when he returned as a cover… and Heather definitely announced at camp her observation of him missing.

Immunity Challenge:

Wasn’t surprised when Ricard is way out in front w/ the word puzzle portion of the challenge, but did get nervous that DeShawn might execute more quickly after glancing over at Ricard’s puzzle several times. aaand Ricard pulls through first! He is just so, sooo intelligent – really impressive. It’s even more amazing when you remember he didn’t even win the food reward that day. His mind is just IN IT TO MF WIN IT BAYBEEEEE!

Strategy:

Xander says to Heather they should keep Danny around to try to beat Ricard in an upcoming immunity challenge + Heather says DeShawn would beat him before Danny…. have to agree w/ Heather on this one, although not for the same reason. Her reasoning was that DeShawn was only a few letters off from winning the immunity puzzle, but he was cheating off of Ricard on that. My reasoning would link back to the reward challenge (and many other similar challenges this season) – DeShawn’s strength is shooting baskets/really any kind of throwing/aiming challenge.

Tribal Council:

Deshawn says something like “this is where the rubber meets the road and see where all your coins land” and now he gets the same comment I previously made about Erika – can he ONLY talk in clichés??!? Sheesh…and just spits cliches in order to attack Erika at tribal + basically just blow up his entire game… i mean, he thinks was most likely going home anyway, but… #weirdflexbutok 🤨

Xander (to the voting booth cam/holding up a ‘DeShawn’ vote) – “your truth bomb was a little more of a truth kamikaze, my friend.” WORDDD. that’s my boi. always quotable. 😂

side note: thought it was really cute how Danny + Ricard were giggling at each other right after Jeff asks if anyone wants to play an idol + before votes were read. loved just this v pure, v Survivor moment ♥️✨

also thought it was smart they chose to split votes between Danny + DeShawn just in case Danny did find an idol, but to not let that fear of an idol change their strategy.

*Final Twist:

Now the final 5 players in the game are being sent to a new island to “start over” + in the next few days will have 2 immunity challenges, 2 tribals + 1 fire-making tiebreaker = 1 winner.

(*as far as we know, final…..👀)

BTW….. yes, Danny…. GO COWBOYS!!!!!! #myteam 🤠⭐️

Season 41, Episode 11 –

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Opening –

“DeShawn’s game is confusing to me – he’s very emotional and all over the place.” – laughed out loud at this Ricard commentary. 😂

Deshawn’s mad Shan called him a “snake” on his way out + told Ricard he has her vote for a million dollars…..which doesn’t make sense to me, b/c on the surface it may sound like only an insult to Deshawn’s game, but telling Ricard she’ll vote for him is actually a much worse hit – if anyone’s still awake in this game/strategizing at all, they’d realize Ricard is the bigger threat as he is the only player w/ a guaranteed vote for him in the end. 👁

Survivor ‘Do or Die’ Twist –

The first person out of the challenge will have to participate in a second separate challenge at tribal council – if you don’t complete it, you’re out of the game. You could also choose whether or not to participate at all. I don’t know yet how I feel about this twist, but initially I do like that this forces each player to strategize + think about a lot of different factors in the game (i.e. who else is going to either participate/not, their own personal risk level of going home, how likely they are to be able to at least outlast past the first fail/drop in this particular immunity challenge, how confident they are that they can complete this mystery challenge, etc.).

Xander – Ricard – Danny (final 3 challenge showdown) *Xander/Ricard drop within .5 second of each other*

Tribal Council –

Very disappointed that the overhyped ‘Do or Die’ challenge turns out to just be “pick 1 of 3 boxes”…… REALLY, SURVIVOR? 🙄😩 Literally just leaves it up to chance – only 33% it goes in your favor.

I actually think that voting out Liana was a great move, because having watched many, many seasons of Survivor, she may seem like a non-physical threat that you can easily take out of the game later, but much too often this person you’re not worried about ends up going on a challenge winning streak and/or gets lucky just enough times to end up making it to the end. Plus, you know Xander’s my mf boyyy … so it’s a smart strategy to keep a bigger threat in the game as a shield.

Season 41, Episode 9 –

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Immunity Challenge –

LOVE this endurance challenge because it’s more of a mental game than anything. I would absolutely LOVE to try + see how long I could endure being perched on a very narrow wooden bar w/ my arms up behind my head. Jeff described it as “pain management.”

Xander looks almost comfortable up there. just chillin.’ XANDER FTW!!!! SO impressed w/ him AGAIN. week after week, this kid finds new ways to blow us out of the mf water. he is making the entire season 41. awwww WE LOVE TO SEE IT (another Superfan winning on the show) “i’ve dreamed of this challenge, since this aired, like so many nights – this is made for me.”

He’s just so adorable lolol sue me – “I’m the prom king.” Rocking the immunity necklace like a mf champ. 💪🏻 and telling Jeff that he “completely undersold” the stew (food reward) hahaha – the only likable personality on this show FR.

Strategizing –

Would be freaking siiiick if Xander was able to take out Lianna. ESP after she’s been obsessed w/ + hating on him this ENTIRE game, even during the immunity challenge w/ blatant disrespect “i hate his face.”

then she has the AUDACITY to ask Xander to give her his idol to hold onto during Tribal. LOL girlwhaaaaat?! 😂

Erika/Heather then also have the audacity to ask Naseer if he’d play his idol for Heather….. are you f*%^% kidding me?!!?! what in the world are these players thinking…

I’m liking DeShawn much more now that he’s willing to go against his alliance + make a big move to take out Lianna….but I’m not sure if I fully buy it… betting things change by the time to vote.

Convinced Ricard is the only one w/ a working brain trying to take out Naseer w/ an idol > everyone else trying to take out Heather who has no advantage + no alliance other than Erika/one person. Unfortunately Shan is so preoccupied w/ what “vibes” she’s getting from people + making her voting decisions (Heather) based solely on that.

Tribal Council –

Naseer – pretty lame use of an extra vote advantage imo, but oh well. at least they made a move + took someone out who had an idol vs. a complete non-threat.

Evvie – I think Xander was smart to not use his idol for Evvie because she hasn’t really helped him that much in the game imo. and i think he kinda distrusted her from when it came out that she had told DeShawn about his idol way back earlier in the game. i think this was a good move for him to save his idol for himself bc he’s going to need it. using it on Evvie wouldn’t guarantee him anything. this way it at least buys him one more day in the game whenever he needs it.

Also, Evvie said at the final confessional “honestly not sure who flipped on me”… how ?! how does she not know about the shan/danny/deshawn/liana alliance…. interesting. 🤔

Season 41, Episode 7 –

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dumbest rebus puzzle so far… no, not “pocket idol” or “hidden idol,” it’s “IDOL IN POCKET” – sheesh, TF

Hourglass twist –

Erika decides to smash the hourglass, rewinding time + changing the history of the game, which means the 6 people who were safe have to compete against each other in an immunity challenge.

I thought for SURE Sydney had it in the mf BAGGG. Betting she does yoga. Great balance, strong core + she was focused + taking her time. Ricard snuck up on her + Eevie (who had been in the lead from the start) to win it.

I kinda hate this challenge though… especially if I had thought I was safe + then had to do THIS mf challenge to try + stay in the game…. just sayin’… i’d be PISSED. I think it should’ve been an endurance challenge, but I could see production wanting to save those for when we get closer to the end of the game. The real nail-biters.

Strategy –

Ricard throws out “Eevie” right away upon returning to camp + Shan/Danny/Deshon/Sydney agree to vote that way.

Xander says he’ll play his idol for Eevie + luckily Tiffany spills the beans about Lianna’s ‘Knowledge Is Power’ advantage because Lianna’s dead-set on using it against Xander to steal his idol. So now that they KNOW, the smartest thing to do is for Xander to give his idol to Tiffany to hold onto during tribal council b/c the small print regarding stealing is “must be in their possession at the time.”

FAVORITE MOVE OF THE SEASON SO FAR –

Xander telling Lianna at tribal when she attempts to steal his idol “no, but you can have this fake.” AYYYYYYY, LFGGGGGG!!!!! THIS is what I’ve been waiting all season for. + I kept thinking for like 15-20 mins. of the episode ‘why TF does Lianna think she’s gonna pull this off????’ hahahaha. awesome.

Tribal Council –

HUGE MAD SCRAMBLE forever…. sorry I’m not a fan of this bc it makes y’all look like amateurs imo…. they can’t even pull together a backup plan in a reasonable amount of time. old school players would literally think out every single possible outcome + have backup plan on backup plan on back- you get the point…

Sydney plays her shot in the dark + sacrifices her vote for a 1 in 6 chance at immunity . Xander tells Tiffany not to play his idol for eevie bc he thinks if they thought eevie had idol they wouldn’t vote for her… he was 1/2 right on this – they split votes between eevie + sydney.

final votes: 4 ev | 3 deshon | 5 sydney

so even if Sydney had kept her vote, she still would’ve gone home b/c there only would’ve been 4 for Deshon, butttt he had also used his extra vote advantage for eevie, so if Syd voted + Deshon didn’t use his extra, could’ve ended up at a 3-way tie of 4/4/4.

Other thoughts/opinions –

Where yellow lacked physical strength/abilitiy to succeed in challenges, they make up for in loyalty + social game.

Overall I feel like this cast is lacking in personality – most obviously Lianna + Erika… but honestly just in general, I feel that a lot of these tribe members are v forgettable.

Xander’s my fav – truly showed his Survivor prowess this episode. that boi’s SHININ’.

“I think part of my problem is that I’m so self-obsessed – like of course everyone’s gonna gun for me.”
– Sydney

(this may be the single MOST relatable AF thing that’s ever been said on the show🙋🏼‍♀️)

Season 41, Episode 6 –

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New ‘Earn Your Way Into the Merge’ Twist –

begins w/ drawing rocks – this will split everyone into 2 teams, however, 2 people will pull gray rocks. those 2 people will not participate in the challenge on either team. their fate will be decided by the winning team. the winning team will also receive their first proper meal in 12 days, a special Merge buff + don’t have to participate in the immunity challenge (automatically safe at Tribal Council)

aka HUUUUGE STAKES. (esp. since in previous seasons, usually everyone who makes the merge gets to partake in the feast.)

Challenge Rundown –

1st part – digging a massive boulder out of the sand

2nd – rolling the ball to each key station + one person has to climb it to grab the keys

3rd/final – climbing up the platform + solving a word puzzle

Blue – Ricard, Danny, Evvie, Deshon, Sydney

Yellow – Xander, Lianna, Tiffany, Heather, Shan

blue team had a clear physical advantage from the start yet still almost fumbled the mf bag – yellow team actually solved the word puzzle first, but due to blue’s time lead, they were still able to slide the letters more quickly + secure the win.

blue then chose which person to bring w/ them for the feast – Naseer or Erika. Danny tries to say they did rock/paper/scissors to decide, but Erika knows its a cover + understands she’s at the bottom + now has to spend 2 days/2 nights alone. “i didn’t expect to have moments where i was perfectly safe and felt so powerless.”

Danny later admits at the feast that it’s “important to keep the men’s number up” – commenting that he noticed other tribes kicking out the men, so that’s the real reason they chose Naseer.

Naseer is so cute + happy + loves his new Merge buff haha – “it smells really good + i love the color” 🥰

Shan spills the beans about Lianna’s advantage to Tiffany… now yellow is imploding. Tiffany doesn’t trust Lianna, Lianna thinks Tiffany is a ticking time bomb. Evvie isn’t even in the conversation atm + Lianna still wants Xander out.

Other thoughts –

finding myself like ‘is this a 2-hour episode?? feels long AF. usually the episode’s over before i know it/much too soon, but this one never ends….. #boringgggg’

not a fan of Evvie/others saying this is the hardest season ever…. it’s literally half the mf # of days of every other season….. soooo NO.

is Jeff gonna just pull a donkey kong right now, suddenly appearing on exile island + just hand Erika an idol?! (lol, glad i was wrong about that) 😂

F that cliffhanger ending!!! WE WANNA SEE SOMEONE GO HOME NOWWWWW!!! GTFO.

New Hourglass Twist – power to change the results of the merge challenge… the 6 who are safe would now have to compete against each other for immunity, while Erika + the other 6 would now be safe at tribal. (no real commentary just yet, TBD. let’s see how it goes. pretty sure Erika’s royally screwed either way, but you never know what’s going to happen in this game – it’s not over ’til it’s over!)