Tonight's episode is titled "I'm Felicia." Who's that?!

--
Brian

On Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:00:24 -0700 (PDT), Brian Smith
<dcg_brian@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Tonight's episode is titled "I'm Felicia." Who's that?!

Say ' bye Felicia' .

I get that the producers love the fake idols but I'm kind of over
them.

On Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 6:14:41 PM UTC-6, shawn wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:00:24 -0700 (PDT), Brian Smith
> <dcg_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Tonight's episode is titled "I'm Felicia." Who's that?!
> Say ' bye Felicia' .
>
>
> I get that the producers love the fake idols but I'm kind of over
> them.

Same here. Brutal that they let Sarah leave thinking she messed up by not playing her fake idol.

--
Brian

On Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 6:12:50 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> Same here. Brutal that they let Sarah leave thinking she messed up by not playing her fake idol.

She would likely have felt a lot worse if she had played the fake idol only to have Probst toss it into the fire.
Her fate was sealed when Josh arrived with his immunity bracelet. If Carolyn had played it straight, Sarah
would have gone home with just one vote. Yet again, a promising player's game is ended as the result
of a tribal shuffle. If Production had resisted the urge to mess with the tribes and Purple Tribe had still gone
to TC, Carson likely would have been dumped.

shawn wrote:

>> Tonight's episode is titled "I'm Felicia." Who's that?!
>
> Say ' bye Felicia' .

Didn't know that. See? Survivor is educational, even :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye,_Felicia

> I get that the producers love the fake idols but I'm kind of
> over them.

People have made then in the past just by their own
creativity, the producers should leave it at that IMO ...

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

zeppo wrote:

>> Same here. Brutal that they let Sarah leave thinking she
>> messed up by not playing her fake idol.
>
> She would likely have felt a lot worse if she had played the
> fake idol only to have Probst toss it into the fire.

.... why?

> Her fate was sealed when Josh arrived with his immunity
> bracelet.

Not _her_ fate maybe, but someone's fate and it happened to
be her.

Indeed, getting an idol and being inserted into another tribe
.... it's like asking for what happened to happen, and as it
happened, someone was bound to be screwed by that.

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:41:29 PM UTC-7, Emanuel Berg wrote:

> Not _her_ fate maybe, but someone's fate and it happened to
> be her.
>

In confessional, and in his conversations with Carolyn, Josh identified Sarah
as the most dangerous player on Purple Tribe and said he would be voting
for her. The only chance that Sarah had of surviving TC was to somehow
convince Josh and Carolyn to join her in a vote for Yum Yum.

On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 12:40:09 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 6:12:50 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > Same here. Brutal that they let Sarah leave thinking she messed up by not playing her fake idol.
> She would likely have felt a lot worse if she had played the fake idol only to have Probst toss it into the fire.
> Her fate was sealed when Josh arrived with his immunity bracelet. If Carolyn had played it straight, Sarah
> would have gone home with just one vote. Yet again, a promising player's game is ended as the result
> of a tribal shuffle. If Production had resisted the urge to mess with the tribes and Purple Tribe had still gone
> to TC, Carson likely would have been dumped.

The twists they're doing don't work with tribes of three and especially with just four players. Throw in enough idols and advantages and someone is guaranteed to get screwed out of the game. In earlier seasons it's very likely that both Maddy and Sarah would still be in the game.

I agree with you about Carson. I'm surprised that Yam Yam wasn't taken out after his big screw-up. Carolyn must have a lot of trust in Josh to blindside Yam Yam.

Fun fact: According to Mike Bloom, Tika was the first all LGBTQ+ tribe.

https://twitter.com/AMikeBloomType/status/1638710744651816962

--
Brian

On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 4:38:36 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:41:29 PM UTC-7, Emanuel Berg wrote:
>
> > Not _her_ fate maybe, but someone's fate and it happened to
> > be her.
> >
> In confessional, and in his conversations with Carolyn, Josh identified Sarah
> as the most dangerous player on Purple Tribe and said he would be voting
> for her. The only chance that Sarah had of surviving TC was to somehow
> convince Josh and Carolyn to join her in a vote for Yum Yum.

Based on her exit interview with Mike Bloom that had little chance of happening. She said she was too transparent with Josh and that she and Carolyn were not on good terms. She said "Carolyn just doesn't like me."

https://twitter.com/AMikeBloomType/status/1638973153429823488 (video clip)

--
Brian

zeppo wrote:

> In confessional, and in his conversations with Carolyn, Josh
> identified Sarah as the most dangerous player on Purple
> Tribe and said he would be voting for her. The only chance
> that Sarah had of surviving TC was to somehow convince Josh
> and Carolyn to join her in a vote for Yum Yum.

The way they set up the mechanics - idol to a guy who gets
inserted in a tride will three others - it's very strongly
steering the events into the direction s/he will play the
idol, and boom on some of the other three.

So I see it more like to took the bullet for that, rahter than
something she did or the dynamics in her tribe. But of course,
everything plays a part.

And they could have wone immunity.

This kind of manipulation from the game designers is too
direct IMO.

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 4:18:02 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> The twists they're doing don't work with tribes of three and especially with just four players. Throw in enough idols and advantages and someone is guaranteed to get screwed out of the game. In earlier seasons it's very likely that both Maddy and Sarah would still be in the game.

Maybe not Maddy. She made herself a target by overplaying during the lead-up to TC. However, I think that Helen would still be in the game
if it had started with two tribes of nine.
> Fun fact: According to Mike Bloom, Tika was the first all LGBTQ+ tribe.

Really? Helen? Carson? Carolyn? But, come to think of it, the guys over on "Sucks" have been referring to Carson
as a "twink" since the start of the season.:-)

On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 5:42:10 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 4:18:02 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > The twists they're doing don't work with tribes of three and especially with just four players. Throw in enough idols and advantages and someone is guaranteed to get screwed out of the game. In earlier seasons it's very likely that both Maddy and Sarah would still be in the game.
> Maybe not Maddy. She made herself a target by overplaying during the lead-up to TC. However, I think that Helen would still be in the game
> if it had started with two tribes of nine.

With a tribe of nine I'm pretty confident that Maddy would have survived. She only had one vote cast against her.

> > Fun fact: According to Mike Bloom, Tika was the first all LGBTQ+ tribe.
> Really? Helen? Carson? Carolyn? But, come to think of it, the guys over on "Sucks" have been referring to Carson
> as a "twink" since the start of the season.:-)

I had the same reaction. People have pointed out that Carolyn is married but apparently in an interview last month she said she's bi. Is Sarah bi? Based on her IG she doesn't appear to be gay.

--
Brian

On Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 5:14:41 PM UTC-7, shawn wrote:

> I get that the producers love the fake idols but I'm kind of over
> them.

Yes. IMO, putting a lot of fake idols/necklaces, bracelets into the game just confuses the average
viewer by making it hard to keep track of which items carry immunity and which don't. As of the
end of this season's Ep04, there were five genuine immunity items and three fake items in play, as well
as one more fake medallion in Green Tribe's bird cage bag. That's a lot of information to keep straight
compared to the idols that Yau-Man and Ozzy made that were so obviously fake that all of the viewers
were in on the joke.

On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 6:20:58 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 5:14:41 PM UTC-7, shawn wrote:
>
> > I get that the producers love the fake idols but I'm kind of over
> > them.
> Yes. IMO, putting a lot of fake idols/necklaces, bracelets into the game just confuses the average
> viewer by making it hard to keep track of which items carry immunity and which don't. As of the
> end of this season's Ep04, there were five genuine immunity items and three fake items in play, as well
> as one more fake medallion in Green Tribe's bird cage bag. That's a lot of information to keep straight
> compared to the idols that Yau-Man and Ozzy made that were so obviously fake that all of the viewers
> were in on the joke.

On a positive note, the producers ruined their big Inheritance Advantage which I'm sure they were counting on to cause fireworks later in the season. I hope they don't recycle it this season.

--
Brian

On Thu, 23 Mar 2023 17:20:57 -0700 (PDT), zeppo
<rgibbs%telus.net@gtempaccount.com> wrote:

>On Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 5:14:41?PM UTC-7, shawn wrote:
>
>> I get that the producers love the fake idols but I'm kind of over
>> them.
>
>Yes. IMO, putting a lot of fake idols/necklaces, bracelets into the game just confuses the average
>viewer by making it hard to keep track of which items carry immunity and which don't. As of the
>end of this season's Ep04, there were five genuine immunity items and three fake items in play, as well
>as one more fake medallion in Green Tribe's bird cage bag. That's a lot of information to keep straight
>compared to the idols that Yau-Man and Ozzy made that were so obviously fake that all of the viewers
>were in on the joke.

Agreed. I'm probably not the average viewer and I have trouble knowing
which player has a real idol and which has a fake idol and who has no
idols. So the editors will have to keep putting up labels letting us
know what each player has. That's too much for a viewer to get any
enjoyment out of it.

On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:41:29 PM UTC-7, Emanuel Berg wrote:

> > She would likely have felt a lot worse if she had played the
> > fake idol only to have Probst toss it into the fire.

> ... why?

Because historically it has been a humiliating experience for the player involved. Given that
Carolyn planted the fake bracelet (that Production was nice enough to make for her) and
had a poor relationship with Sarah, it is likely that she might have made a comment, or laughed
at Sarah, as the bracelet made its way into the fire.

Traditionally, there have been two types of players who have played fake items: those who thought
they were the genuine article which had the power to keep them safe at TC, and those who kind of
knew what they had was not a real idol, but played it anyways out of desperation. Historically, the
members of both groups ended up leaving the game feeling pretty stupid. Sarah would have definitely
fallen into the first group.

zeppo wrote:

>> ... why?
>
> Because historically it has been a humiliating experience
> for the player involved. Given that Carolyn planted the fake
> bracelet (that Production was nice enough to make for her)
> and had a poor relationship with Sarah, it is likely that
> she might have made a comment, or laughed at Sarah, as the
> bracelet made its way into the fire.

Okay, point taken, you can see it from that angle, absolutely,
from my angle I would have prefered playing it because then it
would have felt like I at least had understood it was coming
on tribal council, and left all on the battlefield
(literally) ... but absolutely, you can tak it from the other
direction and Sarah, being a woman, quite possibly would ;)

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 1:23:19 PM UTC-7, Emanuel Berg wrote:

I would have prefered playing it because then it
> would have felt like I at least had understood it was coming
> on tribal council, and left all on the battlefield

Yes, I agree that the logical move in that situation would be to play it. She thought
that the bracelet was legitimate, so she had no good reason to hold back. In her
exit interview she said that, due to all the bickering at TC, she thought that Carolyn
might be voting for Yum Yum and didn't want to play the fake idol if she didn't have to.
However, when Josh played his bracelet, she should have realized Yum Yum and her
votes weren't going to count, and that she could be in serious danger. To her credit,
she admits now that she made a poor strategic decision.

On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 3:18:47 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 1:23:19 PM UTC-7, Emanuel Berg wrote:
>
> I would have prefered playing it because then it
> > would have felt like I at least had understood it was coming
> > on tribal council, and left all on the battlefield
> Yes, I agree that the logical move in that situation would be to play it. She thought
> that the bracelet was legitimate, so she had no good reason to hold back. In her
> exit interview she said that, due to all the bickering at TC, she thought that Carolyn
> might be voting for Yum Yum and didn't want to play the fake idol if she didn't have to.
> However, when Josh played his bracelet, she should have realized Yum Yum and her
> votes weren't going to count, and that she could be in serious danger. To her credit,
> she admits now that she made a poor strategic decision.

Has Sarah said anywhere what her relationship with Yum Yum was like? If she thought Carolyn didn't like her as a human that should have been enough for her to believe that Carolyn voted to boot her. Trust is paramount in the game and if someone hates you then you know they'll be gunning to get rid of you.

Zeppo, I've got a question for you. Do you think Carolyn's getting a Gabler edit? To me their edits are pretty similar. The difference this time is that we know they could be making a Carolyn win very obvious from the start. Despite her weirdness she's playing a very good game and doesn't seem to be taken too seriously by the others which is great for her.

--
Brian

Brian Smith wrote:

> Do you think Carolyn's getting a Gabler edit?

Okay, so what characterized that edit?

I thought he got a pretty steady, positive edit episode by
episode but from what I was on the show I still think Cass
was robbed.

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 4:23:07 PM UTC-6, Emanuel Berg wrote:
> Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > Do you think Carolyn's getting a Gabler edit?
> Okay, so what characterized that edit?
>
> I thought he got a pretty steady, positive edit episode by
> episode but from what I was on the show I still think Cass
> was robbed.
> --
> underground experts united
> https://dataswamp.org/~incal

The finale was titled "Hiding in Plain Sight," IIRC. They basically said to us that Gabler's win was obvious from the start. He got a ton of screen time early on and so is Carolyn. She's also playing a better game IMO.

I agree that Cassidy was robbed but at least she wasn't an early boot like Maddy and Sarah. Here's a pic Maddy posted yesterday of the first four girls booted at Ponderosa. She said Bruce was there as well.

https://twitter.com/jeffcanuhearme/status/1638897853832757248

--
Brian

Brian Smith wrote:

>>> Do you think Carolyn's getting a Gabler edit?
>>
>> Okay, so what characterized that edit?
>>
>> I thought he got a pretty steady, positive edit episode by
>> episode but from what I was on the show I still think Cass
>> was robbed.
>
> The finale was titled "Hiding in Plain Sight," IIRC

That's a quote from Gabler himself, he said that he was doing
that somewhere mid-season. And that strategy makes sense! And
worked for him, no doubt.

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 3:13:36 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> Has Sarah said anywhere what her relationship with Yum Yum was like?

I have only read the interview that she did with Dalton Ross, and in it she said that she thought that Yum Yum liked her. So, for what that's worth,
it seems like they were on good terms.

> Zeppo, I've got a question for you. Do you think Carolyn's getting a Gabler edit? To me their edits are pretty similar. The difference this time is that we know they could be making a Carolyn >win very obvious from the start.

IMO, she has been getting a much more well-rounded edit than Gabler was receiving four episodes into S43. Even if she had no game chops whatsoever,
we would still have seen a lot of her because of her personality, and due to the fact that her tribe has had to go to TC so often. The editors could have
given her the "Noura edit" and left it at that. However, she does know how to play, and we are seeing that for ourselves. If she ends up as the winner I
don't believe that Probst and Van Wagenen would want to telegraph that outcome in such an obvious way from so early in the game. But really,
what do I know? I still thought that Gabler was a doofus when he was sitting in the F3 last season.
I think that she is going to be a major character in this season's story, but will not be the winner. I predict that her emotional instability will be her
"achilles heel".

On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 5:39:16 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> Here's a pic Maddy posted yesterday of the first four girls booted at Ponderosa. She said Bruce was there as well.

The pre-merge boots get to stay at Ponderosa now? I thought they were just given a plane ticket home. Do they have
to leave once the jury begins arriving? And what's Bruce doing there? In "game time" this picture was taken just 8 or 9
days after he was pulled due to concussion symptoms. Shouldn't he be in a hospital somewhere?

On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 9:08:49 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Friday, March 24, 2023 at 5:39:16 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > Here's a pic Maddy posted yesterday of the first four girls booted at Ponderosa. She said Bruce was there as well.
> The pre-merge boots get to stay at Ponderosa now? I thought they were just given a plane ticket home. Do they have
> to leave once the jury begins arriving? And what's Bruce doing there? In "game time" this picture was taken just 8 or 9
> days after he was pulled due to concussion symptoms. Shouldn't he be in a hospital somewhere?

Pre-merge boots have always stayed at Ponderosa and when the jury starts to form they are taken on a nice vacation. They don't go home until the game is over to help keep a lid on how everyone did. With the pandemic I'm not sure if they still get taken on a trip.

I thought after Bruce was pulled we heard Jeff tell the players at the next challenge that Bruce was okay? Medical isn't far from Ponderosa so they probably monitored him there. I never read/watched any of his exit interviews but wouldn't be surprised if he talked about this.

--
Brian