Didn't get to watch until tonight. Poor girls are clueless. Kim just owns this thing. If she doesn't win, I'll be amazed and disappointed, though a good chunk of me really wants to see Troyzan win one more immunity, then work his magic at F7 and oust her. Is he too cocky/douchey? Sure...but I like what he's doing, and I think he's a good player. Big, big fan.

+1 to everything in this post. I love Kim, but much like Cirie in HvsV, I found myself rooting for her to get blindsided. I find myself openly rooting for Troyzan even though I like Kim more than him. Yes, that is me having a passion for the strategic game more than anything else, but it's still pretty interesting.

Cestahninoh tho

I don't think this was mentioned, but forgive me if it has been...

In this episode, one HUGE HUGE HUGE strategic mistake was made. It's one of the most unforgivable mistakes I've ever seen on the show, and it's something that should set off fire alarms in any reasonably intelligent person's thread. I realize I'm being pretty vague about this, so here's the hint: three people were involved in it, and Kim was one of them...but it was a smart move for her to make. It was, however, a horrific blunder for the other two people, and it has nothing to do with the vote itself. If anyone picked up on this, you would gain a ton of respect from me, and that's obviously worth more than anything else on earth. Anyone?

Tarzan and Leif wearing makeup?

Also, I was right there with you hoping for the Kim blindside. And when she kept the idol in her pocket? Had high hopes, but alas, Christina and Alicia are clueless. The game is afoot!

Nobody ran over and swiped her towel when she went to buy the chocolate and peanut butter? Clearly an error though not sure that's what you're referring to lol.

Two good answers, but no, I'm looking for an actual strategic blunder. God knows we all wanted Kim's towel to fall off, though.

Haha, definitely!

What about - Kat and Chelsea defending/scrambling up a tribal saying Christina and Alicia weren't at the bottom of the chicks alliance?

secret scenes:

kim confesses to troy: posted ITT. Kim tells Troy Jay outed his idol within moments of Troy telling him he had it. Troy is flabbergasted that 'Mr. Christian Guy' ran right to Kim and told her about Troy's plan to blindside her. I assume that means Troy sees himself as the metaphorical God and Kim as the metaphorical Satan (which is probably apt, but Jay didn't know that). I mean, Jay thought he was in an alliance with Troy AND Kim. What is Mr. Christian Guy supposed to do when one alliance member is telling him he is going to target another alliance member? Meanwhile, that other alliance member is telling him they are targeting someone NOT in their alliance. Poor Jay didn't know who was telling him the truth.

it could be me tonight (kim): Kim very afraid of Troy. He's a very convincing guy. She can see the end, but here's Troyzan. He's all over her case and she doesn't know why, but he's right and it's frustrating. She goes thru all the scenarios of what could go wrong and end up in her being sent home. (Appears she was more concerned than she showed at TC.)

i probably should have waited (Sab): Sabrina regrets jumping the gun on the food because she wanted her letter...then the clue. (Personally, I think Troy would have probably made it through without the challenge help.) Sab doesn't really care for Christina, but she was glad she was trying to outbid him for the challenge advantage. Also, no sympathy for Troy feeling all alone.

i needed this (troy): He had food envy, but saved his money for the challenge advantage. Was annoyed Christina bid him up. Was annoyed other people encouraged Christina to bid him up. Was not smart enough to insta-bid $500 to make sure he got the clue. (Also, probably didn't need the advantage. He IS competitive after all.)

I'm mad about that (Kim): It sucks that Troy had the advantage today. She agrees with me that Troy probably would have won the challenge anyway. (Albert definitely would have needed to skip the knots though.) She is totally in favor of the post challenge drama which ensued. Common nemesis and all. "It's us against Troyzan" Kim is amused by it all. Troy is acting crazy, she doesn't blame him...she thinks it might be part of his game, but it's possible he just lost his mind.

a piece of home (Alicia): Alicia's favorite thing is a wallet full of money. Homegirl can spend some money. She planned on NOT spending her money (she was mentally spending it back at home). Then, she lost her mind and snap bid $500 for her letters. She didn't regret it. She's not the same person that jumped off the truck in the beginning of the game. She wants to be the best person she can be. Loves her family. These letters can take her to the end. Teary eyed. Feels badly about bidding so much that other people couldn't afford their letters, but glad she got her piece of home.

a lot in common (Alicia): Alicia and Tarzan are both tough skinned, they don't wear their emotions on their sleeves...they are cold as ice when it comes to showing their emotions. Both planned not to spend their money, then broke down and bought their letters. (She forgot to mention how tactless they both are.)

letter from my soul mate (Tarzan): Planned on starving and buying some shocks with his $500. Was thinking how stupid these people were for paying $400 for peanut butter. Then, Jeff brought out the letters and Alicia snap bid $500 and Tarzan thought he had missed his chance. He broke down while Alicia was reading her letter, and was surprised when Jeff decided to offer the rest of the letters for $500 each. He jumped at it with no remorse. He and his wife are always together. He chose to read his letter in private out of respect for his wife, Tweety.

$400 for chips (Sab): Never would have believed she would have paid $400 for chips and guac.

why I didn't outbid Troyzan (Christina): She didn't want to get Troy upset at her, also the clue is not a guaranteed win. blah blah

she could have made a big move (kat): Christina could have made a big move. Does Kat thinks she's an idiot? She's thought she was an idiot since day one. (Pretty sure if she watched Christina's secret scene she would think she was an idiot. But at least Christina didn't attempt to bid $30.) "What a jerk! She could definitely have pulled something out for the tribe right there." Kat thinks it was Christina's duty to light $500 on fire. Kat would have done it, but she had paid like $200 for some donuts or some $#!%.

secret scene leif 1: Leif losing his mind about not getting his letter once they got back to camp. Trying to get people to give him money so he can afford to buy his letter. Sabrina giving him the crazy eyes and telling him the auction is over.

made out like a bandit (kim): Regretted the $240 peanut butter. She only got a couple bites before she started feeling sick. Slightly remorseful about the challenge advantage and the letters, but...whatever.

one crazy night (troy): Troy still insisting this is his island. He is trying to instill fear in their hearts. He's still having a ball.

tarzan meets the rhino beetle:

proud of myself (tarzan): Proud of himself for doing well in the challenge. Had we (the coalition) won that, Troy would have been going home. He (Tarzan) is one of the ones who isn't in the nucleus of the four. Tonight he will be at the mercy of the others...how they see him and if they want to keep him a bit longer.

leif the day after: This was one of the most number one experiences of his entire life. (Crimeny.) This was really...something else...that is so hard to explain with words (touche). We should cherish every moment on this earth and so forth. Oh...I hope he doesn't hurt himself trying to think about what he could have done differently. He thinks if he voted for Tarzan and forced a tie, he might have gotten Troy's vote on a revote and still have been in the game--as if the others are still going to split their vote on the revote. Bless his heart. Very sweet. He had no chance.

Ponderosa:

Tearful on the way out. His wife and baby will be very proud of him. He gave it his all. Dr. Liza (the Survivor psychologist) is patting his back in the car as he sobs. Leif lost 15 lbs. He is shocked he made it this far...to the jury. "I guess all those girls really lied to me."

Mike says 'come to papa,' picks Leif up and gives him a bear hug...then hands him to Jay. LOL. (I'm crying over here.)

Jay: The ladies are mean. I came into this game not trustin' em. I left the game not trustin' em. Hopefully somebody else can figure it out before it's too late.

Jonas: As usual, Tarzan has no clue what he's doing and he just screws it up for everyone else.

Mike: The girls have control of the game. Pretty soon they will have to start eating each other. It's going to be fun to watch. Tribal's fun. I like watching Troy squirm a little bit. He was my arch enemy out there, but now he has nothing left. He has to win every immunity.

(Not surprisingly, they are having to fill up Leif's Ponderosa with scenes from the other players.)

They gave Jonas a fish. He's making sushi. They are having to fight flies for their fish. I'm taken aback.

Jonas is taking over Simon's kitchen. Jonas playing guitar. He seems to have all the skills. Jonas is killing ponderosa.

Troy temperature seems a little chillier than I expected. Not sure if it's because they are all resigned to the women dominating and they don't want to entertain futile hopes. Perhaps they have 'still in the game' envy. Perhaps they blame Troy for their own demise.

The Leif footage is super awkward.

Rob's a great player, but he didn't crush all-stars. First, he didn't win, and he didn't win for a lot of the same reasons Russell lost to Natalie. Nothing new here. Whether one agrees or not, everyone remembers.

However, here's what everyone forgets. Remember, he only gets to the end because Lex inexplicably spares Amber. Otherwise he gets pagonged. That was like a top 10 dumbest move of all time kind of thing -- right up there with Erik giving away immunity, James going home with 2 idols, Colby taking Tina, etc. When you're the beneficiary of that kind of luck, it's hard to say you "crushed"
************************************************** ***

Anyway, back to this season. Kim is crushing this season, but I find it hard to give her full credit. I know every season has dumb contestants, and one shouldn't penalize the alpha for this, but this season really takes the cake. The number of people on this season literally incapable of basic strategic thought is mind boggling. Even if Kim wins in the manner everyone expects her to, I'm going to leave with the feeling that even though this was a very dominant performance, I'm not sure if she really is top 10 ever material.

Todd

Mods, insta-ban for speaking ill of the precious Kat please.

We're just barely halfway through the season and already kim is in your top 5 of all time?? Seriously though, lol @ this, brob is #1 and i honestly don't even think it's close.

chuch

Nowhere near as charismatic and as much a charmer as b.rob though...people seem to focus way too much on the RI lovefest he got from the noobs and forget how quickly he had sandra and courtney (two very hard nuts to crack) in his pocket and coach in love with him in H v V.

Also, thank you jmill for saying everything I wanted to say.

Last thing, for all the dolts that still peg Yul lower because of his particular brand of idol, go check out the podcast he had with Rob C. If after that you still leave thinking that Yul is below other survivors then idk, you're probably just too dumb to get it.

Tom Westman commands more respect than Rob (Ian literally stepped down and let him have the victory). Has many of the same positives. I don't think he needs to sit next to a goat as much. I would have liked to see an FTC between Ian and Tom. I suspect he's a bit too rigid, but he inspires a lot of loyalty.

Heidik needs to sit next to a goat even more so than Rob. He barely eeked out a 4-3 win over one of the biggest goats of all time. But he was great at maneuvering through the game (Thailand cast was a big fail strategy-wise--as usual. Bigger fail than usual from a like-ability angle.). I'd expect him to make FTC a very high percentage of time. I'd expect him to get there dragging a goat. This is all provided the season was blind...if people know him going in, I doubt he does as well. Great player...it galls me to say it. I wish him ill. It also galls me to say that. I can't help it.

JT has camp skills and challenge skills. I doubt he's as valuable as Rob in either case. But JT 1.0 had some sort of magical ability to make people fall in love with him and want to work with him. I still think he needed Stephen to help him think and negotiate his way through the game, but he also swept Stephen which I thought was pretty impressive. Definitely doesn't need to sit next to a goat.

Yul also commands a lot of respect and loyalty. Beat Ozzy at FTC after Ozzy had beasted the seasons challenges. Definitely doesn't need to sit next to a goat. Win tarnished by the too powerful immunity idol, but the guy was very good at reading people and dealing with them on their level.

Guys like Todd and Rob C are not as valuable for camp life and challenges, but also aren't nearly as threatening in their appearance. They aren't blazing targets like the others. They are more flexible and have more options. They play a lower key, sneakier-type game. I prefer them. (The good women players go the sneaky route.) They are all good at reading people and subtly manipulating people to do the things they want.

Sigh, I told myself I'd stop reading/responding itt because far too many things just tilt me too hard but alas just couldn't help myself.

Ok, whatever, I'll concede that he didn't win. But exactly wtf is your definition of "crushing" a season if you don't view what BRob did in ASS as crushing?!?! He arrives on the beach and immediately assumes the head position of Chapera. First vote he immediately gets rid of one of the few people on the island who could rival him on a strategic level. Sets up their camp and bosses the challenges for Chapera. Keeps his tribe strong and together all the way through the game and calls the shot as to who is going home at EVERY stage of the game. Takes himself AND his gf to the end.

You must be straight up retarded for trying to compare Lex's move with what Erick, James, etc. did. It was a calculated risk that simply didn't work out for him, sometimes such risks work out on survivor sometimes they don't (Erick and James' moves weren't calculated risks, they were flat out idiocy). I also love how you just naturally have it as a fact that Big Tom would have immediately jumped on over with Lex and their plan would have been to pagong Chapera and they would have successfully accomplished that all the way down to Rob. As has been said by almost every single intelligent Survivor who has won or done well, situational luck is a MAJOR part of survivor, and while you obv cannot control everything, you have to put yourself in good positions constantly so that when things fall your way you can make the most of them (kind of like a tournament in poker). Give me any survivor who in your definition "crushed" and I'll be happy to rattle off several instances of situational luck that enabled them to do well (actually I probably won't because I don't want to waste my time but you get the gist).

I won't even bother addressing the last paragraph.

I don't think I've ever seen Yul take any heat for only beating Ozzy by one vote, considering how highly and lowly regarded their respective social games are generally considered.

Awesome clip. Such a great play to secure Troyzan's vote by showing him respect even though he's next to go. So incredibly strong. My support for Parv as GOAT woman is now officially wavering

Also she played the TC perfectly. She let the other women alienate Troyzan (a very likely loud voice at Ponderosa) and irritate the jury by playing the bully. She and then just threw out a single quiet/non-cocky observation to make the bottom of the alliance think twice about flipping. She is like a freaking cyborg.

I also think she might be doing something on the sly with Tarzan. Am I mistaken, or has he voted with Kim every TC since the merge?

She still has to fade a bitter jury. Particularly Jay, Mike, and possibly Alicia have the look/feel of butthurt, but I do think she's probably good with Troyzan and Jonas.

Troyzan obviously made a mistake being cocky after winning the II, but I actually think he did a pretty good job of trying to cause a flip. Although it was a huge mistake to target Kim directly at the TC, giving her a chance to play an idol.

Pretty good episode for basically what was a pagonging. Troyzan was great casting IMO.

Alicia is going to have a cringe-inducing FTC question, ainec.