Spencer does beat Russell in a final tribal. Both probably lose to Shambo...

Awesome season. Really happy that Jeremy won.

Kelley had nice season too.

People are actually discussing what the correct number to pick is??

It doesn't matter. It's just Wiggles doing a callout to Greg Buis who asked her and Richard the same question. The answer doesn't matter because in this case (as it was in Season 1) the correct answer was whatever number Jeremy picked.

Kelly's mistake was giving the fake idol to Keith and letting him run with it. There's nothing subtle about Keith's acting at all. She should've took charge on the whole play.

It's fine to discuss correct strategy and to put ourselves in Tasha/Spencer and Jeremy's shoes at that time. They wouldn't know what was on Kelly's mind and if she would actually follow through on it. The discussion is interesting, or would you rather us here discuss more important topics like how good looking Spencer is?

I liked when Shane at Panama FTC asked both finalists to pick a number between 1 and 1,000,000 and Aras looked right at him and answered "four". One of the GOAT "**** you" moments.

Can we discuss at what day did Wentworth reach her perfect Island skinny weight. I thought at the end she was a little too skinny. I'm thinking about the merge. Maybe day 20?? Need pics.

Soncy can postulate if Jeremy is the hottest male Survivor ever or just in the top 5.

Shocking that people would discuss a little meaningless game theory in a Survivor thread on a poker forum. I would never expect that from this crowd.

100% agree. Would've been so much fun to see how it plays out if Kelley makes the fake idol, doesn't tell Keith about it, and at the beginning of tribal gives Keith the idol and tells everyone "Keith isn't going home tonight, figure out who is."

I think the problem with Spencer is that his pet project to better connect with people was doomed from the start. It seems that the way his mind works he deduced that better connecting with people was a strategy he needed to improve upon. But, this is a bit like discovering that you are not sincere, and then deciding that you will address it by "acting" more sincere.

At a subconscious level you can feel like you are actually making some progress, but there comes a point where you recognize that the attempt is really just an act, and that your heart is not into it.

I think we can all agree that the people in our lives that are the most caring and compassionate don't need to work on it, nor did they ever need to "work on it." They were either wired that way or became conditioned to care at an early age.

I don't think Spencer is unlikeable at all. But, I suspect if I had encounters with him I would have come to respect his normal persona, as opposed to the one he was trying to adapt to for strategic reasons.

We all have personality flaws. Spencer's arrogance and need to control, etc would be easier to take without the addition of insincerity.

We all saw enough of Spencer's real personality come through to know that the "new me" or "work in progress" was never going to sell with his fellow survivors.

I think Kass had a more genuine approach. She committed to trying to play differently (for a while, anyway..lol..), but I got the sense that she was self-aware enough to know she could only play different, not be different.

The problem is that experienced players are pretty wise to this ploy. If you're going to play an idol just wait until after the votes are cast and then YOU decide who goes home. Any smart players are just voting Keith knowing that this is probably a ruse.

The pre-vote idol threat/con has been tried enough times that people know how to play it and aren't generally fooled by it. In a heavy recruit/young player new season it might have a small chance of working.

Enjoyed the season and was happy that Jeremy won.

I may be in the minority here, but I wasn't a fan of Kelly Wentworth and was glad she didn't make FTC. My big issue with her was al the faces she would make towards the jury in every tribal council. Found it super annoying and would think that there are rules against it.

In watching Keith's ponderosa video, Ciera said that after Keith's vote out, Kelly mouthed to her that Keith didn't use a hidden immunity idol. Ciera of course shared that with the rest of the jury. As much as I disliked Kelly making faces to the jury at every tribal council, mouthing stuff to them is much worse.

Yeah, while that would have been good for TV, and certainly Keith would have believed it as it was happening, realistically the other three (particularly Spencer and Tasha) would likely instantly dismiss it as a real threat. Still, would have been fun to watch.

Saying they would instantly dismiss it might be a stretch. Spencer himself fell for it in Cagayan when Tony claimed his idol was eligible to used one vote longer than it could, after he wore it around his neck all day at camp + tribal. Not the exact same scenario, but some similarities. It would also be less effective if there was an obvious plan B after Keith, but there isn't.

Spencer and Tasha might figure it out but Jeremy knows he'd be the likely target, and paranoia has to set in even if he suspects it might be fake. I think you guys are underestimating the chances of this play working - it's obv far from a lock, but pretty easily greater than 0.

But what's the play exactly? Go to Jeremy, show him the idol, and say what?

Maybe if you have some dum-dum like Erik or Jason from FvF on the other side, you can go to him in secret and confuse/bully him into a f3 deal. But with those three, you can't even put Jeremy and Spencer into a fake prisoner's dilemma type situation.

Pull the idol. Say Keith I'm playing this for you, and you vote spencer, and I'm voting Jeremy. Sit back down. Actually vote spencer as well, and hope jeremy falls for it.

It would not work with 5 left, when there is no reason to do the drama move like that instead of simply choosing you you would vote out (if it was real). I am not even sure it would work if the 3 on the other side were Kimmi, Keith and Wigglesworth.

Stick to the plan!

Better play is to leave the fake idol in Keith's bag and conveniently leave it open "accidentally". Then tell Keith, "trust me Keith I got a plan. We will not talk to anyone and both of us will take a nap on the hammock till tribal tonight"

What if Kelley pulls out the idol at the F5 tribal saying:
Here Keith, this is for you if you vote for Spencer. I'm going to vote for Jeremy. Then she will let the jury see that even in that tight 3 they will have to pick, so then (no need to spell out that spencer should vote jeremy and vice versa (if they believe the idol is real) they 'make' tasha show who she prefers.

The upside to this is that Keith will fully go along with it believing it's a real idol, so no need for 'acting' on his side needed.
Another upside is that if it fails it can still be seen as a huge move for when she makes FTC. And with the paranoia that jeremy has I'm pretty sure there is a good chance he will actually vote spencer. Then she can switch her vote to spencer and it will be 3 spencer even if spencer and tasha don't believe it's a real idol.

Seems definitely worth a shot and better than just giving keith that idol and having him 'act'.


edit: guess I should've read all the posts before posting.

On another note, it's amazing that we ended up with a final 5 consisting of players from only two seasons. Actually, only from two original tribes from those seasons - Brains from Cagayan, and Hunahpu from San Juan del Sur.

Hate to spoil these awesome psychoanalysis posts about Spencer, but it's all BS. After he and I both got home from season 28, we both were in a very dark place. And his empathy, compassion, and a bunch of other traits some of you accuse him of lacking played a huge role in me moving the f*** on with my life. His is a great person and a loyal friend. All this talk of "growth" in his confessionals was likely something production force fed him, and he tried to use it to his advantage at FTC.

When you have a personality like Spencer or I, when you work really hard at something, really want it, and it doesn't come to fruition, it hurts really bad. It's why for a long time after my season Survivor played no role in my life and why to this day I keep a safe distance from it.

Gonna take a guess you're a Donald Trump backer all the way. What I love about Survivor, as opposed to BB, is minorities actually have a half-way decent shot of winning. Saving your post to show my son when he returns home on break. Classic "CODE".

if you're correct, how do you reconcile all the people who played with him, but felt differently? he got zero votes, despite winning a decent number of immunities and showing quality strategy.

Jeremy is clearly a very, very likable guy. I also suspect his age and life experiences made him a natural choice for most of the jury. People may prefer to vote for a firefighter over someone who works in Wall Street. I guess the pregnant wife thing didn't hurt either.