S41E05 Spoilers and Comments (10/20/2021)

[Brian Smith]

There was a lot not to like about this episode as far as I'm concerned along with a few key moments, one of which might have been an old style winner's edit.

* I liked how they blind sided us that Naseer had found the three-way advantage for his tribe. I believe he now has an idol but I'm not positive. Too many advantages with too many conditions floating around along with a million idols.

* Xander made a sloppy mistake and Tiff looked good catching him in a lie. His days are numbered.

* Liana found an advantage clue that allows her to steal an idol or advantage from another player by asking if they have one. If they do, she gets what they have. What happens if they more than one power? She only has on shot to do this. This advantage/power seems like a great way to get a target put on your back.

* I thought Naseer looked great in the IC.

* I was distracted at the time but it sounded like Syd had another unflattering confessional.

* What happened to the turtle scene from the preview last week? CBS tweeted out about a two-minute long clip in the afternoon which I'm positive was not in the episode. If it was, I'm losing it. In the clip, Evvie compared her tribe to the turtles.

* Liana and the Mafia Pastor going on the trek up the mountain was a season -defining moment as far as I'm concerned. Mafia Pastor (MP) got a very positive edit.

* Liana thinking 34 is old made me laugh. Did she think MP is in her 20s because she's in good shape?

* We saw some good strategic game play involving Ricard, Genie, and MP. I thought the editing for these scenes and TC was very good. Any one of the three could have gone. Ricard and MP decided to stay together and voted out Genie. I think they both might have lost a fair amount of the other's trust the way MP asked for her extra vote advantage back and Ricard not giving it to her. In the end, they realized they need each other if they make the merge.

* Next week it's drop your buffs...?

MP is looking great through the first five episodes. Ricard is also looking like a long-term threat. After what he said in TC about being the one coming up with the strategic moves, I think MP needs to take him out before he gets to the end.

--
Brian

[zeppo]

On Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 12:54:51 AM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
> There was a lot not to like about this episode as far as I'm concerned along with a few key moments, one of which might have been an old style winner's edit.
>
> * I liked how they blind sided us that Naseer had found the three-way advantage for his tribe. I believe he now has an idol but I'm not positive.

Yes, Naseer, Xander, and MP all have had their immunity necklaces activated.

>Too many advantages with too many conditions floating around along with a million idols.

There aren't as many as you think. Only four players hold advantages:
-MP and Xander each have an extra vote and an immunity necklace.
-Deshawn has an extra vote.
-Naseer has an immunity necklace.
-Liana has a power that she may be able to parlay into a voting advantage at some point.

> * Xander made a sloppy mistake and Tiff looked good catching him in a lie.

That scene made no sense. Tiffany already knew about Xander's advantages. Evvie told her about
them in E02.

>
> * Liana found an advantage clue that allows her to steal an idol or advantage from another player by asking if they have one. If they do, she gets what they have. What happens if they more than one power?

This was stated on the parchment, but Liana did not read that part aloud. If the player that is questioned has more than one idol or
advantage, it is his/her choice as to which one he/she hands over. The fact that this important information was not revealed to the
viewing audience (with the exception of those who read all parchments over the players' shoulders) suggests to me that this scenario
will not come to pass.

> She only has on shot to do this. This advantage/power seems like a great way to get a target put on your back.

Maybe not. Liana can only ask the question at TC before the votes are cast. If she is smart, she will save this power until she
knows for sure that a certain tribemate has a particular advantage and, once she has taken if from him/her, use it right away.
The fact that so much information concerning the rules and limitations of the power was not revealed to the viewing audience
makes me think that Liana will be voted out before having a chance to use it.

> * I was distracted at the time but it sounded like Syd had another unflattering confessional.

It wasn't so bad. She was just talking about her ability to catch fish.

> * What happened to the turtle scene from the preview last week? CBS tweeted out about a two-minute long clip in the afternoon which I'm positive was not in the episode. If it was, I'm losing it. In the clip, Evvie compared her tribe to the turtles.

The scene with the turtles was from E04. The tweet that you read must have been from last week.

>
> * Liana and the Mafia Pastor going on the trek up the mountain was a season -defining moment as far as I'm concerned. Mafia Pastor (MP) got a very positive edit.

I saw it quite differently. MP's desire to hook up with the only other Black woman in the game, before knowing a thing about her, was a possible
misstep IMO. If Green Tribe had not had to go to TC every week, her edit thus far would have been different. However, with that said, MP's
edit has been better than the one that Ricard has received even though they appear to have been equal partners in developing strategic moves.
If the shuffle leaves MP and Ricard/Liana on opposite tribes, it will be interesting to see how her game holds up without either of them around.

>
> * We saw some good strategic game play involving Ricard, Genie, and MP. I thought the editing for these scenes and TC was very good. Any one of the three could have gone. Ricard and MP decided to stay together and voted out Genie.

Genie's big mistake was revealing to Ricard and MP that she had found the immunity necklace instructions. She essentially did the same thing that JD
did in E04, only this time MP didn't even have to ask her to give up the advantage. On a tribe of three, with two other players who are tight, Genie's single
vote was less important than the ability to protect herself. In her final confessional, she admitted to being desperate enough to consider playing the
"Shot in the Dark", but yet passed up the chance to gain a much stronger advantage.

[Questor]

On Thu, 21 Oct 2021 00:54:50 -0700 (PDT), Brian Smith <dcg_...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>There was a lot not to like about this episode as far as I'm concerned along
>with a few key moments, one of which might have been an old style winner's
>edit.

What nothing episode! The IC/RC was a boring re-hash of so many other
challenges, and you could see the boot of Genie coming a mile away. The
prisoners' dilemma is getting old too, as the players have figured out that
negotiation.

>Next week it's drop your buffs...?

There were hints at some ambiguity about that. I hope it's not some variation
of the "two tribes, one beach" twist we saw in Survivor Thailand (season five).

>MP is looking great through the first five episodes. Ricard is also looking
>like a long-term threat. After what he said in TC about being the one coming
>up with the strategic moves, I think MP needs to take him out before he
>gets to the end.

There are two other tribes that easily outnumber Ricard & Shan. We've seen
minority alliances play bigger groups off of each other and make it to the end,
but it's a tricky path to navigate. The odds against them aren't good.

I think you're giving too much credence to the idea of a "winner's edit." If
anything, we're probably seeing more of Ricard & Shan because they're going to
get voted off soon.

[Brian Smith]

On Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 3:00:03 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 12:54:51 AM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
> > There was a lot not to like about this episode as far as I'm concerned along with a few key moments, one of which might have been an old style winner's edit.
> >
> > * I liked how they blind sided us that Naseer had found the three-way advantage for his tribe. I believe he now has an idol but I'm not positive.
> Yes, Naseer, Xander, and MP all have had their immunity necklaces activated.

Apparently not according to Genie in one of her exit interviews.

TVLINE | Did you know that Shan had opened the advantage? If not, when did you find that out?

(Genie): I just friggin’ found out! [Laughs] When we decided to leave it there, I kept to it, but then Shan came up to me and was like, “I’m just going to say the phrase and pretend to turn on its power,” when actually, the power was not turned on because you had to have it in your possession. I thought it was a great plan. Then the people who have it [from the other tribes] would think it had power when it had none. So that’s what I thought the plan was.

https://tvline.com/2021/10/21/survivor-season-41-genie-chen-eliminated-interview-episode-5/

> >Too many advantages with too many conditions floating around along with a million idols.
> There aren't as many as you think. Only four players hold advantages:
> -MP and Xander each have an extra vote and an immunity necklace.
> -Deshawn has an extra vote.
> -Naseer has an immunity necklace.
> -Liana has a power that she may be able to parlay into a voting advantage at some point.

> > * Xander made a sloppy mistake and Tiff looked good catching him in a lie.
> That scene made no sense. Tiffany already knew about Xander's advantages. Evvie told her about
> them in E02.

Tiff knew he had the advantage but I thought he didn't know that she knew? I think the scene made sense.

> > * Liana found an advantage clue that allows her to steal an idol or advantage from another player by asking if they have one. If they do, she gets what they have. What happens if they more than one power?

> This was stated on the parchment, but Liana did not read that part aloud. If the player that is questioned has more than one idol or
> advantage, it is his/her choice as to which one he/she hands over. The fact that this important information was not revealed to the
> viewing audience (with the exception of those who read all parchments over the players' shoulders) suggests to me that this scenario
> will not come to pass.

There seems to be a lot of important info they're not showing us. Something big is probably going to happen and they want us to be blindsided.

> > She only has on shot to do this. This advantage/power seems like a great way to get a target put on your back.

> Maybe not. Liana can only ask the question at TC before the votes are cast. If she is smart, she will save this power until she
> knows for sure that a certain tribemate has a particular advantage and, once she has taken if from him/her, use it right away.
> The fact that so much information concerning the rules and limitations of the power was not revealed to the viewing audience
> makes me think that Liana will be voted out before having a chance to use it.

That's par for the course for these guys so it's likely what will happen.

> > * I was distracted at the time but it sounded like Syd had another unflattering confessional.
> It wasn't so bad. She was just talking about her ability to catch fish.

I thought maybe she was bragging.

> > * What happened to the turtle scene from the preview last week? CBS tweeted out about a two-minute long clip in the afternoon which I'm positive was not in the episode. If it was, I'm losing it. In the clip, Evvie compared her tribe to the turtles.
> The scene with the turtles was from E04. The tweet that you read must have been from last week.

The tweet was from yesterday afternoon. Wasn't the turtle scene part of the preview last week?

> > * Liana and the Mafia Pastor going on the trek up the mountain was a season -defining moment as far as I'm concerned. Mafia Pastor (MP) got a very positive edit.
> I saw it quite differently. MP's desire to hook up with the only other Black woman in the game, before knowing a thing about her, was a possible
> misstep IMO. If Green Tribe had not had to go to TC every week, her edit thus far would have been different. However, with that said, MP's
> edit has been better than the one that Ricard has received even though they appear to have been equal partners in developing strategic moves.
> If the shuffle leaves MP and Ricard/Liana on opposite tribes, it will be interesting to see how her game holds up without either of them around.

It's possible MP thought she could connect with Liana b/c they're both black. Regardless of who went with her she needed to connect with that person so has a better shot of not getting picked off right after the merge.

> > * We saw some good strategic game play involving Ricard, Genie, and MP. I thought the editing for these scenes and TC was very good. Any one of the three could have gone. Ricard and MP decided to stay together and voted out Genie.
> Genie's big mistake was revealing to Ricard and MP that she had found the immunity necklace instructions. She essentially did the same thing that JD
> did in E04, only this time MP didn't even have to ask her to give up the advantage. On a tribe of three, with two other players who are tight, Genie's single
> vote was less important than the ability to protect herself. In her final confessional, she admitted to being desperate enough to consider playing the
> "Shot in the Dark", but yet passed up the chance to gain a much stronger advantage.

She seemed pretty confident that they would turn on each other. Nice person but not cutthroat enough to play against slimy Ricard and hardcore MP.

--
Brian

[zeppo]

On Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 7:23:47 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> Apparently not according to Genie in one of her exit interviews.
>

> (Genie): Shan came up to me and was like, “I’m just going to say the phrase and pretend to turn on its power,” when actually, the power was not turned on because you had to have it in your possession.

I don't know where she got that idea from. I read all of the instructions and rules that were on Xander's parchment and it said nothing about players needing
to have necklaces in their possession in order for them to be activated. All it said was that once all three sentences were spoken aloud at the same immunity
challenge those three people could use the necklaces for immunity.

>
> Tiff knew he had the advantage but I thought he didn't know that she knew?

You're right! I had forgotten that Xander had approached Tiffany with the offer to show her the advantages that he had found. He thought that,
by doing so, he could build trust with her. However, given that Tiffany (and the viewing audience) already knew about his advantages, I don't
understand why this scene was included in the final edit. There was no new information revealed.

> I thought maybe she was bragging.

She was. But it was quite mild bragging compared to some of the things she had said in previous episodes.

> It's possible MP thought she could connect with Liana b/c they're both black. Regardless of who went with her she needed to connect with that person so has a >better shot of not getting picked off right after the merge.

I went back and watched the end of the immunity challenge again and realized that I had missed something that may be important.
The players on Blue Tribe initially chose MP to go up the hill. MP looked extremely unhappy at that point. As Blue Tribe was
contemplating who else to send, Liana yelled out that she wanted to go. Later, MP's confessional was woven into scenes of the
two women climbing the hill, giving the impression that she had chosen Liana when actually it was the other way around. Liana
only volunteered to go when she realized that MP was going to be her companion.

[Brian Smith]

On Friday, October 22, 2021 at 6:59:18 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 7:23:47 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > Apparently not according to Genie in one of her exit interviews.
> >
> > (Genie): Shan came up to me and was like, “I’m just going to say the phrase and pretend to turn on its power,” when actually, the power was not turned on because you had to have it in your possession.
>
> I don't know where she got that idea from. I read all of the instructions and rules that were on Xander's parchment and it said nothing about players needing
> to have necklaces in their possession in order for them to be activated. All it said was that once all three sentences were spoken aloud at the same immunity
> challenge those three people could use the necklaces for immunity.

In my Twitter Highlights email this morning there was a tweet from MP with an embedded tweet from CBS. If the idols are not all activated there's mass confusion.

https://twitter.com/shantelmsmith/status/1451387719406563356

> > It's possible MP thought she could connect with Liana b/c they're both black. Regardless of who went with her she needed to connect with that person so has a >better shot of not getting picked off right after the merge.
> I went back and watched the end of the immunity challenge again and realized that I had missed something that may be important.
> The players on Blue Tribe initially chose MP to go up the hill. MP looked extremely unhappy at that point. As Blue Tribe was
> contemplating who else to send, Liana yelled out that she wanted to go. Later, MP's confessional was woven into scenes of the
> two women climbing the hill, giving the impression that she had chosen Liana when actually it was the other way around. Liana
> only volunteered to go when she realized that MP was going to be her companion.

Good catch. Now I'm wondering if Liana wants to use MP to take out Evvie at some point. I can't tell how legit their relationship is. Or maybe she wants MP to join them and hopes the Black women connection will make MP choose her over Evvie.

--
Brian