physical | Courtney C: The Next Sole Survivor

*eating my words about these being too easy* 😬 struggled w/ it until I said it out loud 😂

Strategy –

FINALLY someone says what I’ve been thinking (get Shan tf out!!!! #blindside) + I can’t believe it was Erika who finally said it. I guess Ricard + DeShawn are also smart enough to be aware of her threat level but where they differ is that they trust her to work with them to the end.

Ricard is really showing his strategizing strength once again in his ability to have this emotional bonding moment w/ Shan on the reward challenge + turn his back on her the next day (for extremely valid reasons ofc – just sayin’). Also in his ability to separate logic + emotion as well as think about each day in the game at a time. We can see this here – “I don’t like him [DeShawn], don’t respect him, he annoys me, but I still think he’s the best choice moving forward today, he can go home tomorrow.”

I also like what he said at tribal about how everyone has their own perception of themself and the ways it differs greatly between Erika feeling insecure b/c she really is on the bottom/powerless + then Xander feeling similarly even though he has great power in his pocket (but insecure b/c people know about it).

Reward Challenge –

At first, when I saw the star puzzle, I was surprised they’d do another repeat puzzle after Evvie knew the one last week by heart almost from practicing at home, but then I was like oh yeah…they DEFINITELY plan all this out way, way, WAY in advance 😂 and conveniently for producers, Evvie just* went home last week so I guess they don’t have to worry about any Superfan advantages anymore.

Also, Pizza Under the Stars is (as Jeff said) absolutely the best reward of any season. I must say, I really enjoy the “pick someone to go w/ you” + “pick one more person to go w/ you” decisions that come w/ the win b/c there’s so much strategy involved. Ricard picks Shan first – makes sense, his #1 alliance. Then he picks Heather + Xander. They play a confessional clip of Danny commenting on it as ‘playing the jury,’ which I think is true, but I would’ve liked the chance to think of it myself….this goes along w/ what I’ve said about the whole season. It’s like we’re just being told/shown everything straight up, when what I and a lot of Superfans love most about the show is analyzing + dissecting each player’s strategy behind each move. IDK – maybe I’ve just become too much of an introvert now.

Immunity Challenge –

Not at all surprised it came down to Ricard + Xander. Was hopeful for another Xander win especially knowing he got to go on reward + eat, but wasn’t surprised Ricard pulled that out. He’s shown he’s very strong when it comes to challenges requiring steady balance. Xander I think is a bit more like me – biggest challenge strength lies in our ability to endure/outlast (discomfort/pain/etc.) which I think is the best, (obviously biased), but the reason I say that is b/c it’s a duality – equally a mental + physical skill – and each 1/2 requires the other.

Tribal Council –

Ricard says to the camera in the voting booth “we both gave each other permission to do this when the times comes.” They had split the majority of votes between Shan/Liana + all went Shan upon the revote. AMAZING. FANTASTIC. I TAKE BACK ANY + ALL COMPLAINTS I HAD ABOUT THE SEASON (*until the next episode anyway…) B/C THAT WAS A BIG ASS MOVE + IT MF ROCKED !!!!!! LET’S GOOOOOO RICARD! 🏅

(also really excited for next week b/c of the preview of Xander saying ‘it’s too good to be true!’… hopefully will actually be good fortune for my #1 boi + not a producer trick)

ok… THIS is definitely the easiest rebus puzzle so far. C’MON. you could just guess it. 😒

Reward challenge –

Xander is so smart LFGGGGG. offered to switch spots with Erika who drew the grey rock to sit out. Xander keeps impressing me in this game. he’s THINKIN’, mfs. that boi is on fireeeee. (and not surprised with Erika accepting that offer. lol.) got SO excited watching Xander look all around/under the ‘sit out bench.’ i thought NO WAY he doesn’t get it. ugh.

not loving the whole Jeff talking to us/in the camera though…. i like not knowing if there’s something in the bench or if they just zoomed in on it. now it’s like we’re 5 years old in school + Jeff’s the teacher showing it to us straight up. booooo.

research + prep just might get you the win – survivor –– Eevie saying i knew that puzzle.

Xander double strategy on taking the bench – he said i like to be w/ the losers bc they’re raw/emotional + looking for someone to work w/ + he needs someone to work w/

Shan vs. Ricard b/c he won reward + got food/grilled cheese + Shan hungry + he had 1 bite of papaya. reminds me of the Clarence thing in Africa when he had 2 cherries while everyone else had 1 + he also opened a can of beans i think it was (?) supposedly for a sick tribe member but she + everyone else turned on him for that + never let it go.

Immunity challenge –

LOVE endurance challenges. stand on toes on wooden beam + balance a block vertically on the top of their head between their head and a top wooden beam. (record 1 hour 22 mins. – this time ended in like 3 mf minutes….)

twist – an individual can opt out of challenge for single portion of rice, multiple people can sit out for enough rice for everyone to eat for 3 days

negotiated # of ppl w/ jeff – ended at 5, xander says how bout 4? jeff says yes. Xander, Shan, Ricard, Naseer sit out. – Ricard it’s a GREAT move for him to repair his #1 alliance w/ Shan. 👏🏻

Eevie – unbelievable, shocked she won tbh, no offense lol. was thinking she should’ve looked over at the bench when she won the challenge, b/c she would’ve seen everyone’s faces + she’d know without a doubt she’s still very much on the bottom…. 😬

Xander made up my new favorite word – “betraydar”. LOL he know something’s up when they changed the lie from Naseer to Heather. good for him.

but these ppl really need to work together and take out Shan. she’s bossy, a threat, and obnoxious imo.

Tribal council –

Heather freaks out + tries to change vote to Naseer, then they all say let’s take Heather out + honestly i said hell yeah. she caused such a major issue here – mass confusion. you deserve to GOOOOO. i would’ve been PISSED if they voted Naseer, bc he could’ve won that immunity challenge + he only took a seat on the bench to get rice for Y’ALL ungrateful mf brats… anyway…

Danny gets pissed at Shan for not listening to his opinion. wish he would’ve just said fuck it let’s all vote Shan. didn’t lead to anything, but they showed 2 of these tense moments between them so guessing it’s going to come up again next episode.

& Ricard kept bugging Xander to play his idol – sneaky sneaky.. thank GOD he didn’t buy that + waste it. –– big question in my mind though is does he *GET* that they were trying SO hard to flush his idol???? he thanks them after the votes were read like they ‘saved’ him or something.. hm.

tiffany = voted out first member of jury. lame. what a messy tribal for a result equalling a whole lot of NOTHIN. predictable (again)…