Overall, I really don't like the random swap into 3 tribes of 5. I see why producers did it, because it creates likely tribes of 2-2-1 situations, which create drama and swing voting and uncertain TC's. As we just saw, and as is the case for 2 of the new tribes.

But 5 is just so small and leaves less room to really play imo. I would have preferred 2 tribes of 7, with a rando on Exile Boat or whatever. At 2 tribes of 7, there's more interplay and more ways it can go imo.

And it allows people to think ahead to the merge more easily and make deals based on that, so that minorities can team up or flip things or exploit majority cracks. That's less likely with 3 tribes of 5, and in fact, often forces less strong allies from their original tribes to band together more strongly, as Ashley and Alan tried to do.

Chrissy is a ****ing beast at puzzles and her social game seems on point. I'd put her as the favorite right now and she's also my favorite on the show I think

I could buy that.

Agreed, and she's getting a great edit. I think her and Ryan go really far together, and do a lot of the string pulling without pissing people off. I also think She'll blindside him before he can but he won't be bitter about it and poison the jury, cause he's a gamer.

Cole is a freakin' idiot. Why would he tell the rest of his tribe about Jess' advantage? "I want them to trust me." Moron.

I'd say Jess was the favorite to win if she hadn't aligned herself with this jackass.

She also has the best ass on the island.

Did Jessica know that Joe had an idol? Cancelling Devon's vote forces Joe to play it.

Yes she knew from the guy who gets off on telling secrets.

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Yea avoiding a potential Pagonging is important, but has to be balanced with giving people time to establish alliances and create drama. Also the current system punishes people who are good at challenges because there is less incentive to keep them around (maybe that's deliberate).

I think maybe a middle ground where you keep 3 tribes until 14, then go to 2x7, and then merge at 9 would be optimal.

Is there any value for Joe in playing his idol for Desi knowing that both of them are safe no matter what happens? She could see it as a huge token of trust, even tho it's not?

I mean I guess Desi could flip her vote on the revote but that would be the most random nonsensical move ever.

That shouldn't be a good thing. Yeah, I know that Cole was FPS'ing and wanted to blindside Joe earlier, but this early, you want your allies to have idols for when the swap to two tribes or the merge comes, in case your side needs it. Jessica and Cole should be partnering with Joe at this point, not trying to burn him.

And even if this was the thinking, it still has a near 50-50 chance of backfiring if Joe guesses wrong. Like if Ashley/Alan/Devon were smarter and voted Desi, or if Joe "read" it wrong and played it for Desi.

I still think Jessica should have blocked Ashley or Alan.

Interesting. I like it.

Co-signed. Could also merge a little earlier, anywhere from 9-11, no biggie.

As mentioned previously, even if the producers wanted to swap at 15 to keep the hustlers from getting decimated, they still could have done 2x7 + 1 on Exile Boat.

Roark should write a book called "How To Get Cast On Survivor."

Sub-title: "If I can be picked for the show, anyone can."

Lol. She needs to read a book on how to get screen time though.

glad the 2 true hustlers survived. hope 1 of them 2 win

Who are you talking about?

Regarding Joe and his "told you", anyone who is totally sure of a situation don't act like they won lotto.

A simple nod would have been 'on point'

In fairness, shouldn't an actuary with social skills always be the favorite on paper?

Lol, true. Basically, he wasn't sure, but he did tell her!

Thinking about it more, Joe is like Tony-lite, but with at least a dash of Rodney from Worlds Apart mixed in.

Agree, Roark is a nothingburger.
(edit: until someone outs her as trans) and her uptick in screentime makes me think she's dead in the water next week.

They clearly like the themes because CBS wants something to promote. You cant have commercials saying, "Here we are Survivor fiji number 7"

And this season, they had the whole cast before they decided on the theme

I dont understand voting out Alan over Ashley. You could be doing 4 person challenges with Alan and Devon

Do they really care though? I doubt these tribes stay for more than 3 votes total, so they can take out Ashley and Devon next