• S49 Ep07 Spoilers and Comments (11/5/2025)

    From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Wed Nov 5 17:44:38 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Wed Nov 5 20:01:47 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any
    crazy moves from Rizo.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding Savannah's
    side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner
    than Savannah.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with "Yellow Sophie"?
    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side note, Sophi looked really different with her hair straight down. Also, did you notice how bitten
    up her forehead was from bug bites? Sophie winning II was surprising. Is
    she all of a sudden going to become a big player?

    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with Rizo
    and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage backstabbed them?

    Sophi is in a great spot. She's got a good advantage and seems to be in
    good with everyone.

    I thought Nate would go deeper into the game than he did. I wasn't
    surprised when the old Hina took him out.

    Next Episode

    Looks like Savannah is going to go after Sage.
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Zeppo@reg@telus.invalid to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 14:05:18 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On Nov 5, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10eh32s$rcdt$1@dont-email.me>):

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...
    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any
    crazy moves from Rizo.

    No, but he had a more prominent place in the edit compared to
    previous episodes.


    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half.

    Yes, she knew how to deal with the chicken unlike those two dipshits
    in E05. I think that SavannahrCOs quick work with the machete put to
    rest any speculation that a member of the crew told the dipshits to
    strangle the poor creature.
    I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.

    I was. That was classic Savannah all the way. It reminded me a
    little of the Amanda/Danielle tussle in H.vs.V. rCLGet off me ya big
    freakrCY :-)
    MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    I disagree. What else was MC Hammer supposed to do?
    She had to find the amulet by dusk or she would continue
    to have no vote, so a certain degree of risk was necessary.
    As for playing the amulet, MC should have known that,
    even If she had received votes from the remaining members
    of the original Red Tribe, she would not be going to
    Ponderosa. So I agree that she did not show a great deal
    of game smarts at TC.


    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding Savannah's side.

    I agree. ItrCOs odd how, at the beginning of the season, SagerCOs
    edit made her appear to be a weirdo. But now it turns out
    that she might have the best head for the game out of all the
    players who are left.
    I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner
    than Savannah.

    The edit has made it appear that Savannah saved all of her vitriol
    for confessionals, but kept it clean around camp. SagerCOs comment
    about her in E07 may suggest that this was not actually the case.


    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working together. She's a bit of a mean girl.

    How so? The only mean thing that I can recall her doing was dissing
    Uncle JrCOs food reward. And I enjoyed that.:-)

    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being referenced is insulting.

    The distinction between the Sofias was not made with the home viewers
    in mind, but was introduced as a way of making communication with the
    merged tribe a little bit clearer. Uncle J did not want Sophi and Sophie
    to yell out, rCLwhich one?rCY every time he said their name.
    Sophie winning II was surprising. Is
    she all of a sudden going to become a big player?

    She is certainly not athletic, but perhaps balancing/concentration challenges are her thing.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with Rizo
    and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage backstabbed them?

    Ooooh yeah! Jawan is going to have a lot of explaining to do
    in E08. I was very disappointed that the original Yellow Tribe +
    the Red Tribe defectors + Alex were not able to take out either
    Ratso or Savannah. They had 7 votes, and even if they had split
    them 4-3, an amulet play by Ratso could have sent Steven to
    Ponderosa. It would have been a long shot, but possible. Getting
    rid of Nate at least reduced the former Red Tribe to only Ratso
    and Savannah. However, due to the fact that we know that
    those two played S50, they must have done something
    spectacular to extract themselves from the mess they found
    themselves in at F10.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 16:10:43 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 3:05 PM, Zeppo wrote:
    On Nov 5, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10eh32s$rcdt$1@dont-email.me>):

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...
    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into the
    current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any
    crazy moves from Rizo.

    No, but he had a more prominent place in the edit compared to
    previous episodes.

    He did, but still not as prominent as some of the others. His idol play
    at TC was one of the first signs he's willing to take risks as far as
    I'm concerned.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half.

    Yes, she knew how to deal with the chicken unlike those two dipshits
    in E05. I think that SavannahrCOs quick work with the machete put to
    rest any speculation that a member of the crew told the dipshits to
    strangle the poor creature.

    Savannah clearly did her homework before flying out to play. If she ends
    up in fire at F4 I won't be surprised if she wins.

    I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.

    I was. That was classic Savannah all the way. It reminded me a
    little of the Amanda/Danielle tussle in H.vs.V. rCLGet off me ya big
    freakrCY :-)

    That was classic! Savannah's dive happened so fast that I was a bit
    taken aback. She came to play which is great to see.

    MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    I disagree. What else was MC Hammer supposed to do?
    She had to find the amulet by dusk or she would continue
    to have no vote, so a certain degree of risk was necessary.
    As for playing the amulet, MC should have known that,
    even If she had received votes from the remaining members
    of the original Red Tribe, she would not be going to
    Ponderosa. So I agree that she did not show a great deal
    of game smarts at TC.

    Having the note in her mouth while looking and not paying better
    attention to what was going on around her is what I considered to be sloppy.
    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding Savannah's
    side.

    I agree. ItrCOs odd how, at the beginning of the season, SagerCOs
    edit made her appear to be a weirdo. But now it turns out
    that she might have the best head for the game out of all the
    players who are left.

    We did get to see her announce she was going to "toot" and then let out
    a fart. So the weird is still there. I wonder if her weird behavior is a
    cover so the others don't realize she's so strategic?

    I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner
    than Savannah.

    The edit has made it appear that Savannah saved all of her vitriol
    for confessionals, but kept it clean around camp. SagerCOs comment
    about her in E07 may suggest that this was not actually the case.

    If that's the case, maybe Savannah will turn out to be a villain. The
    preview kind of points in that direction.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl.

    How so? The only mean thing that I can recall her doing was dissing
    Uncle JrCOs food reward. And I enjoyed that.:-)

    I was referring to her nixing "Yellow Sophie" and "Blue Sophi" for her
    being "Sophie" and Sophi being "Soph."
    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being
    referenced is insulting.

    The distinction between the Sofias was not made with the home viewers
    in mind, but was introduced as a way of making communication with the
    merged tribe a little bit clearer. Uncle J did not want Sophi and Sophie
    to yell out, rCLwhich one?rCY every time he said their name.

    Wouldn't context take of that?

    Sophie winning II was surprising. Is
    she all of a sudden going to become a big player?

    She is certainly not athletic, but perhaps balancing/concentration challenges are her thing.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with Rizo
    and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage backstabbed them?

    Ooooh yeah! Jawan is going to have a lot of explaining to do
    in E08. I was very disappointed that the original Yellow Tribe +
    the Red Tribe defectors + Alex were not able to take out either
    Ratso or Savannah. They had 7 votes, and even if they had split
    them 4-3, an amulet play by Ratso could have sent Steven to
    Ponderosa. It would have been a long shot, but possible. Getting
    rid of Nate at least reduced the former Red Tribe to only Ratso
    and Savannah. However, due to the fact that we know that
    those two played S50, they must have done something
    spectacular to extract themselves from the mess they found
    themselves in at F10.

    The vote showed that Sophi stayed with them so it's not like Riz and
    Savannah are alone. I think they also have MC. They also have some
    power. Too bad MC played her idol. They could have done some serious damage.

    To me, it looks like Bird Woman Kristina convinced them to play it safe
    and take out Nate. It was a good move in that Savannah's side did not
    seem to have even factored it into their decision making. I thought for
    sure Nate would last a lot longer. The stupid tribe shuffle at F12 was
    not kind to his game.
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 19:14:58 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any
    crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's S50
    talk really had that big an impact in the game. After all, their first
    goal is to win S49. S50 is just a possibility for the future that one
    or two players might qualify for. The main goal is to win the season
    you're playing. Is someone really going to alter their strategy for
    winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected for S50? It
    really makes no sense. If a player starts getting aggressive and trying
    big moves, you have to assume it's more to win S49 than to possibly
    qualify for the next season. I have to think Jeff goading the players
    to play differently because of the slim chance they might get chosen for
    S50 is really just Jeff trying to hype S50.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have? She had to look for
    the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening, she
    had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol. At
    that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in her
    mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be the target.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak. The real question might be what did she think would happen if she grabbed the keys? Would the show actually allow her to
    steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore her vote?
    I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the keys and just
    hid them away or even just turned around and thrown them into the sea?
    > Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding Savannah's side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner than Savannah.

    Remember that Sage was pretty much at the bottom of the original Uli
    pecking order, which is a big part of why she turned against them. As
    for Savannah's meanness or lack thereof, the way she really dove for
    those keys shows a definite edge to her.

    Although Sage is definitely showing some strategic chops, I don't get
    the sense that anyone really likes her all that much. After all, this
    is the girl who saves blackheads, is obsessed with body functions and
    who makes funny faces to the camera and probably other players. I think
    she probably comes across as a bit neurodivergent. Steven and Jawan are aligned with her more out of convenience than anything else.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with "Yellow Sophie"?
    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side note, Sophi looked really different with her hair straight down. Also, did you notice how bitten
    up her forehead was from bug bites? Sophie winning II was surprising. Is
    she all of a sudden going to become a big player?


    I don't see Sophie as a mean girl. I think she is just playing the game.

    The reason Jeff doesn't want her to be known as Yellow Sophie is that
    the original tribes are now gone, and I think he wants to let the
    players decide the extent to which they want to continue their
    identifications with Yellow Tribe, Blue Tribe etc. Continuing to call
    her Yellow Sophie would force a continuing identification with her being ex-Hina, and he doesn't want production to influence the game like that.
    I actually thought they would go with initials - Sophie B and Sophie
    S., but the solution Jeff came up with it seemed ok to everyone.
    Personally, I would have been okay if they had decided to call her
    Purple Sophie, which was how I was thinking of her.

    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with Rizo
    and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage backstabbed them?


    That is the question of the hour, and it will be fun to see what
    happens. Savannah and Riz-boy

    Sophi is in a great spot. She's got a good advantage and seems to be in
    good with everyone.

    I thought Nate would go deeper into the game than he did. I wasn't
    surprised when the old Hina took him out.

    Next Episode

    Looks like Savannah is going to go after Sage.


    Overall, this was a pretty good episode, as the merge boot often is, and
    I was glad they decided not to do the mergatory nonsense. My biggest
    problem is that because of the spoilers about who got chosen for S50, we
    knew those two players were likely safe, which limited the number of
    players that were really vulnerable last night. In effect, the two
    players chosen for S50 really have the equivalent of plot armor at this
    point.

    The biggest uncertainty for me was whether Jawan would stay aligned with
    Sage or go back to his original tribe, but I suppose ultimately it
    didn't matter. Sage was clearly on the side of Hina which along with
    Alex gave them the six votes they needed even without Jawan. So it was inevitable that an Uli would go home, and Nate was pretty much the only
    likely choice at that point.

    By the way, is this the first time we have ever seen a Merge TC where
    there were players who had never been to a previous TC? Even in Season
    10 when Tom's tribe won all the pre-merge challenges, there was still
    one episode where both tribes went to TC (Tom's tribe voted out the Ed
    Bradley lookalike whose name I don't recall right now). Offhand, I
    can't recall a prior season where a player's first TC visit was post-merge.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 19:29:41 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 5:05 PM, Zeppo wrote:
    On Nov 5, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10eh32s$rcdt$1@dont-email.me>):

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...
    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into the
    current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any
    crazy moves from Rizo.

    No, but he had a more prominent place in the edit compared to
    previous episodes.


    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half.

    Yes, she knew how to deal with the chicken unlike those two dipshits
    in E05. I think that SavannahrCOs quick work with the machete put to
    rest any speculation that a member of the crew told the dipshits to
    strangle the poor creature.

    We technically don't know that for sure since we don't know how the
    scene was edited. I'm pretty sure we didn't hear the exact moment the
    chicken was killed.

    I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.

    I was. That was classic Savannah all the way. It reminded me a
    little of the Amanda/Danielle tussle in H.vs.V. rCLGet off me ya big
    freakrCY :-)
    MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    I disagree. What else was MC Hammer supposed to do?
    She had to find the amulet by dusk or she would continue
    to have no vote, so a certain degree of risk was necessary.
    As for playing the amulet, MC should have known that,
    even If she had received votes from the remaining members
    of the original Red Tribe, she would not be going to
    Ponderosa. So I agree that she did not show a great deal
    of game smarts at TC.


    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding Savannah's
    side.

    I agree. ItrCOs odd how, at the beginning of the season, SagerCOs
    edit made her appear to be a weirdo. But now it turns out
    that she might have the best head for the game out of all the
    players who are left.

    As I mentioned in another post, I do think she comes across as a weirdo,
    so even though she is playing a strategic game, I don't think she is
    getting a winner type edit.

    I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner
    than Savannah.

    The edit has made it appear that Savannah saved all of her vitriol
    for confessionals, but kept it clean around camp. SagerCOs comment
    about her in E07 may suggest that this was not actually the case.



    I agree with that.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl.

    How so? The only mean thing that I can recall her doing was dissing
    Uncle JrCOs food reward. And I enjoyed that.:-)

    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being
    referenced is insulting.

    The distinction between the Sofias was not made with the home viewers
    in mind, but was introduced as a way of making communication with the
    merged tribe a little bit clearer. Uncle J did not want Sophi and Sophie
    to yell out, rCLwhich one?rCY every time he said their name.
    Sophie winning II was surprising. Is
    she all of a sudden going to become a big player?

    She is certainly not athletic, but perhaps balancing/concentration challenges are her thing.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with Rizo
    and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage backstabbed them?

    Ooooh yeah! Jawan is going to have a lot of explaining to do
    in E08. I was very disappointed that the original Yellow Tribe +
    the Red Tribe defectors + Alex were not able to take out either
    Ratso or Savannah. They had 7 votes, and even if they had split
    them 4-3, an amulet play by Ratso could have sent Steven to
    Ponderosa. It would have been a long shot, but possible. Getting
    rid of Nate at least reduced the former Red Tribe to only Ratso
    and Savannah. However, due to the fact that we know that
    those two played S50, they must have done something
    spectacular to extract themselves from the mess they found
    themselves in at F10.



    Agree. That's part of what makes this season interesting, though I
    still regret that those spoilers came out.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 20:01:10 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 6:10 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 3:05 PM, Zeppo wrote:
    On Nov 5, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10eh32s$rcdt$1@dont-email.me>):

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...
    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into the
    current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any
    crazy moves from Rizo.

    No, but he had a more prominent place in the edit compared to
    previous episodes.

    He did, but still not as prominent as some of the others. His idol play
    at TC was one of the first signs he's willing to take risks as far as
    I'm concerned.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half.

    Yes, she knew how to deal with the chicken unlike those two dipshits
    in E05. I think that SavannahrCOs quick work with the machete put to
    rest any speculation that a member of the crew told the dipshits to
    strangle the poor creature.

    Savannah clearly did her homework before flying out to play. If she ends
    up in fire at F4 I won't be surprised if she wins.

    I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.

    I was. That was classic Savannah all the way. It reminded me a
    little of the Amanda/Danielle tussle in H.vs.V. rCLGet off me ya big
    freakrCY :-)

    That was classic! Savannah's dive happened so fast that I was a bit
    taken aback. She came to play which is great to see.

    MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    I disagree. What else was MC Hammer supposed to do?
    She had to find the amulet by dusk or she would continue
    to have no vote, so a certain degree of risk was necessary.
    As for playing the amulet, MC should have known that,
    even If she had received votes from the remaining members
    of the original Red Tribe, she would not be going to
    Ponderosa. So I agree that she did not show a great deal
    of game smarts at TC.

    Having the note in her mouth while looking and not paying better
    attention to what was going on around her is what I considered to be
    sloppy.
    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding Savannah's >>> side.

    I agree. ItrCOs odd how, at the beginning of the season, SagerCOs
    edit made her appear to be a weirdo. But now it turns out
    that she might have the best head for the game out of all the
    players who are left.

    We did get to see her announce she was going to "toot" and then let out
    a fart. So the weird is still there. I wonder if her weird behavior is a cover so the others don't realize she's so strategic?


    I seriously doubt that, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. She
    certainly isn't being edited as a winner or close runner-up. If she
    ends up playing a great strategic game and earning her way into the
    finals (as opposed to be dragged as a small-letter goat), I think they
    would edit out a lot of the gross stuff.

    I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner
    than Savannah.

    The edit has made it appear that Savannah saved all of her vitriol
    for confessionals, but kept it clean around camp. SagerCOs comment
    about her in E07 may suggest that this was not actually the case.

    If that's the case, maybe Savannah will turn out to be a villain. The preview kind of points in that direction.


    That would be pretty wild, since there really aren't many (or any)
    out-and-out "villains" in the S50 cast. Closest might be Coach or Q,
    maybe, but I wouldn't call either of them villains, really.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl.

    How so? The only mean thing that I can recall her doing was dissing
    Uncle JrCOs food reward. And I enjoyed that.:-)

    I was referring to her nixing "Yellow Sophie" and "Blue Sophi" for her
    being "Sophie" and Sophi being "Soph."
    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being
    referenced is insulting.

    The distinction between the Sofias was not made with the home viewers
    in mind, but was introduced as a way of making communication with the
    merged tribe a little bit clearer. Uncle J did not want Sophi and Sophie
    to yell out, rCLwhich one?rCY every time he said their name.

    Wouldn't context take of that?

    No, not during Jeff's play-by-play at challenges - especially if they
    happen to be near one another during a challenge.

    Also, at TC when another player makes a reference to "Sophie", it
    wouldn't necessarily be obvious whom they're tlking abut.



    Sophie winning II was surprising. Is
    she all of a sudden going to become a big player?

    She is certainly not athletic, but perhaps balancing/concentration
    challenges
    are her thing.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with Rizo >>> and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage backstabbed
    them?

    Ooooh yeah! Jawan is going to have a lot of explaining to do
    in E08. I was very disappointed that the original Yellow Tribe +
    the Red Tribe defectors + Alex were not able to take out either
    Ratso or Savannah. They had 7 votes, and even if they had split
    them 4-3, an amulet play by Ratso could have sent Steven to
    Ponderosa. It would have been a long shot, but possible. Getting
    rid of Nate at least reduced the former Red Tribe to only Ratso
    and Savannah. However, due to the fact that we know that
    those two played S50, they must have done something
    spectacular to extract themselves from the mess they found
    themselves in at F10.

    The vote showed that Sophi stayed with them so it's not like Riz and Savannah are alone. I think they also have MC. They also have some
    power. Too bad MC played her idol. They could have done some serious
    damage.

    To me, it looks like Bird Woman Kristina convinced them to play it safe
    and take out Nate. It was a good move in that Savannah's side did not
    seem to have even factored it into their decision making. I thought for
    sure Nate would last a lot longer. The stupid tribe shuffle at F12 was
    not kind to his game.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Zeppo@reg@telus.invalid to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 17:22:54 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On Nov 6, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10ej9u3$1fmit$1@dont-email.me>):

    We did get to see her announce she was going to "toot" and then let out
    a fart.

    Yikes!!! IrCOm so glad that I missed that magic moment. I will have
    to take great care when reviewing scenes from E07.


    If that's the case, maybe Savannah will turn out to be a villain.

    You actually made that call before the season had started. I, on the
    other hand, thought that she seemed rCLnicerCY. :-)

    I was referring to her nixing "Yellow Sophie" and "Blue Sophi" for her
    being "Sophie" and Sophi being "Soph.rCY

    I agreed with Sophie.


    Wouldn't context take of that?

    Uncle J. didnrCOt seem to think so.


    The vote showed that Sophi stayed with them so it's not like Riz and
    Savannah are alone.

    As of the end of the F11 TC, they are down 7-3. IrCOm having a hard time imagining any one of the 7 changing sides. But stranger things have
    happened in Survivor.
    I think they also have MC

    MC? She hates Savannah, doesnrCOt trust her, thinks she is evil. She said all of that in voice over. But, who knows, maybe she has a soft spot for Ratso. :-)


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 19:18:12 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into
    the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in
    any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's S50
    talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all, their first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the future that one
    or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is to win the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter their strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected for S50?-a It
    really makes no sense.-a If a player starts getting aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's more to win S49 than to possibly
    qualify for the next season.-a I have to think Jeff goading the players
    to play differently because of the slim chance they might get chosen for
    S50 is really just Jeff trying to hype S50.

    I can see a number of them thinking they have little chance of winning
    S49 so why not try to standout and hope to get chosen for S50. For
    example, I just don't see someone such as Steven winning S49. He has no
    path to the end barring a complete collapse from about half the
    remaining players.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look for
    the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening, she
    had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol.-a At
    that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in her
    mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be the
    target.

    I don't see why she would think she would be the target over Steven when
    they knew she had an idol.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow her to
    steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore her vote?
    I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the keys and just
    hid them away or even just turned around and thrown them into the sea?

    I would love to know what would have happened if Savannah got the keys.
    If she hid or threw the keys into the ocean, I'm pretty sure MC would
    have lost her vote for that TC. I'll have to check and see if Jeff was
    asked about this.

    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though.
    Sage is meaner than Savannah.

    Remember that Sage was pretty much at the bottom of the original Uli
    pecking order, which is a big part of why she turned against them.-a As
    for Savannah's meanness or lack thereof, the way she really dove for
    those keys shows a definite edge to her.

    Savannah's playing like she wants back-to-back wins. If she pulled that
    off she would go down as one of the best ever.

    Although Sage is definitely showing some strategic chops, I don't get
    the sense that anyone really likes her all that much.-a After all, this
    is the girl who saves blackheads, is obsessed with body functions and
    who makes funny faces to the camera and probably other players. I think
    she probably comes across as a bit neurodivergent.-a Steven and Jawan are aligned with her more out of convenience than anything else.

    It looks like Sophie wants to work with her. Sophie needs to start
    building up her resume just in case she makes F3.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with "Yellow
    Sophie"? And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi
    is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side note, Sophi
    looked really different with her hair straight down. Also, did you
    notice how bitten up her forehead was from bug bites? Sophie winning
    II was surprising. Is she all of a sudden going to become a big player?


    I don't see Sophie as a mean girl.-a I think she is just playing the game.

    Don't forget "Screw the other Sophi" from last episode.

    The reason Jeff doesn't want her to be known as Yellow Sophie is that
    the original tribes are now gone, and I think he wants to let the
    players decide the extent to which they want to continue their identifications with Yellow Tribe, Blue Tribe etc.-a Continuing to call
    her Yellow Sophie would force a continuing identification with her being ex-Hina, and he doesn't want production to influence the game like that.
    -aI actually thought they would go with initials - Sophie B and Sophie
    S., but the solution Jeff came up with it seemed ok to everyone.
    Personally, I would have been okay if they had decided to call her
    Purple Sophie, which was how I was thinking of her.

    Jeff didn't come up with the solution. It was Sophie.

    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with
    Rizo and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage
    backstabbed them?


    That is the question of the hour, and it will be fun to see what
    happens.-a Savannah and Riz-boy

    Early on, I thought Jawan would be gone before the first tribe shuffle.
    Now I'm sensing he's going to go deep into the game. To survive
    Savannah, he's either going o have to win some IIs or throw Sage UTB.

    Sophi is in a great spot. She's got a good advantage and seems to be
    in good with everyone.

    I thought Nate would go deeper into the game than he did. I wasn't
    surprised when the old Hina took him out.

    Next Episode

    Looks like Savannah is going to go after Sage.


    Overall, this was a pretty good episode, as the merge boot often is, and
    I was glad they decided not to do the mergatory nonsense.-a My biggest problem is that because of the spoilers about who got chosen for S50, we knew those two players were likely safe, which limited the number of
    players that were really vulnerable last night.-a In effect, the two
    players chosen for S50 really have the equivalent of plot armor at this point.

    You're not the only glad they skipped the mergatory BS. We still had the
    teams shit which is so unfair once the merge has begun, so the situation wasn't perfect.

    The biggest uncertainty for me was whether Jawan would stay aligned with Sage or go back to his original tribe, but I suppose ultimately it
    didn't matter.-a Sage was clearly on the side of Hina which along with
    Alex gave them the six votes they needed even without Jawan.-a So it was inevitable that an Uli would go home, and Nate was pretty much the only likely choice at that point.

    They've shown us enough to make it clear that Jawan is against Riz and Savannah. What they failed to explain is why does Jawan have an issue/obsession with Savannah. Steven's reaction to hearing about it a
    few (?) episodes ago makes me think it will resurface at some point.

    By the way, is this the first time we have ever seen a Merge TC where
    there were players who had never been to a previous TC?-a Even in Season
    10 when Tom's tribe won all the pre-merge challenges, there was still
    one episode where both tribes went to TC (Tom's tribe voted out the Ed Bradley lookalike whose name I don't recall right now).-a Offhand, I
    can't recall a prior season where a player's first TC visit was post-merge.

    IIRC, Nick and Michele in S32 didn't go to their first TC until the merge.
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 19:42:31 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 6:01 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 6:10 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 3:05 PM, Zeppo wrote:
    On Nov 5, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10eh32s$rcdt$1@dont-email.me>):

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they >>>>> will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a >>>>> S50 spot?

    More later ...
    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into the >>>> current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any >>>> crazy moves from Rizo.

    No, but he had a more prominent place in the edit compared to
    previous episodes.

    He did, but still not as prominent as some of the others. His idol
    play at TC was one of the first signs he's willing to take risks as
    far as I'm concerned.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half.

    Yes, she knew how to deal with the chicken unlike those two dipshits
    in E05. I think that SavannahrCOs quick work with the machete put to
    rest any speculation that a member of the crew told the dipshits to
    strangle the poor creature.

    Savannah clearly did her homework before flying out to play. If she
    ends up in fire at F4 I won't be surprised if she wins.

    I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.

    I was. That was classic Savannah all the way. It reminded me a
    little of the Amanda/Danielle tussle in H.vs.V. rCLGet off me ya big
    freakrCY :-)

    That was classic! Savannah's dive happened so fast that I was a bit
    taken aback. She came to play which is great to see.

    MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    I disagree. What else was MC Hammer supposed to do?
    She had to find the amulet by dusk or she would continue
    to have no vote, so a certain degree of risk was necessary.
    As for playing the amulet, MC should have known that,
    even If she had received votes from the remaining members
    of the original Red Tribe, she would not be going to
    Ponderosa. So I agree that she did not show a great deal
    of game smarts at TC.

    Having the note in her mouth while looking and not paying better
    attention to what was going on around her is what I considered to be
    sloppy.
    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's
    side.

    I agree. ItrCOs odd how, at the beginning of the season, SagerCOs
    edit made her appear to be a weirdo. But now it turns out
    that she might have the best head for the game out of all the
    players who are left.

    We did get to see her announce she was going to "toot" and then let
    out a fart. So the weird is still there. I wonder if her weird
    behavior is a cover so the others don't realize she's so strategic?


    I seriously doubt that, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.-a She certainly isn't being edited as a winner or close runner-up.-a If she
    ends up playing a great strategic game and earning her way into the
    finals (as opposed to be dragged as a small-letter goat), I think they
    would edit out a lot of the gross stuff.

    It's hard to say. They're showing us more and more stuff we've never
    been shown before. If Sage makes F3 Jeff could use that to say "anyone
    can win Survivor!"

    I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner
    than Savannah.

    The edit has made it appear that Savannah saved all of her vitriol
    for confessionals, but kept it clean around camp. SagerCOs comment
    about her in E07 may suggest that this was not actually the case.

    If that's the case, maybe Savannah will turn out to be a villain. The
    preview kind of points in that direction.


    That would be pretty wild, since there really aren't many (or any) out- and-out "villains" in the S50 cast.-a Closest might be Coach or Q, maybe, but I wouldn't call either of them villains, really.

    Q's definitely not a villain. Kamilla's a villain. Gen could easily play
    a villain.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl.

    How so? The only mean thing that I can recall her doing was dissing
    Uncle JrCOs food reward. And I enjoyed that.:-)

    I was referring to her nixing "Yellow Sophie" and "Blue Sophi" for her
    being "Sophie" and Sophi being "Soph."
    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being >>>> referenced is insulting.

    The distinction between the Sofias was not made with the home viewers
    in mind, but was introduced as a way of making communication with the
    merged tribe a little bit clearer. Uncle J did not want Sophi and Sophie >>> to yell out, rCLwhich one?rCY every time he said their name.

    Wouldn't context take of that?

    No, not during Jeff's play-by-play at challenges - especially if they
    happen to be near one another during a challenge.

    Might be a good reason for Jeff to let the action describe itself. lol

    Sophi should have said to Sophie, "Okay, you can be 'Sophie.' Jeff, I
    want to be called 'Balerdi.'"

    Also, at TC when another player makes a reference to "Sophie", it
    wouldn't necessarily be obvious whom they're tlking abut.I hope that wouldn't be the case. Their games have been totally different.
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 19:54:57 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 6:22 PM, Zeppo wrote:
    On Nov 6, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10ej9u3$1fmit$1@dont-email.me>):

    We did get to see her announce she was going to "toot" and then let out
    a fart.

    Yikes!!! IrCOm so glad that I missed that magic moment. I will have
    to take great care when reviewing scenes from E07.

    IIRC, it was at the food reward after the IC.

    If that's the case, maybe Savannah will turn out to be a villain.

    You actually made that call before the season had started. I, on the
    other hand, thought that she seemed rCLnicerCY. :-)

    I was referring to her nixing "Yellow Sophie" and "Blue Sophi" for her
    being "Sophie" and Sophi being "Soph.rCY

    I agreed with Sophie.


    Wouldn't context take of that?

    Uncle J. didnrCOt seem to think so.

    The vote showed that Sophi stayed with them so it's not like Riz and
    Savannah are alone.

    As of the end of the F11 TC, they are down 7-3. IrCOm having a hard time imagining any one of the 7 changing sides. But stranger things have
    happened in Survivor.
    I think they also have MC

    MC? She hates Savannah, doesnrCOt trust her, thinks she is evil. She said all of that in voice over. But, who knows, maybe she has a soft spot for Ratso. :-)

    After the keys incident she probably does hate Savannah. On the other
    hand, she seems to realize that Savannah is the most strategic player in
    the game. Also, can she trust Jawan and Sage? If they can turn on Riz
    and Savannah, they could easily turn on her or throw her UTB to save
    their asses. Bird Woman Kristina's not going to drag her to the end. MC
    needs to put her hate aside and ride with the person who's been playing
    the best game.
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 20:16:52 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into
    the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in
    any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's S50
    talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all, their first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the future that one
    or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is to win the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter their strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected for S50?-a It
    really makes no sense.-a If a player starts getting aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's more to win S49 than to possibly
    qualify for the next season.-a I have to think Jeff goading the players
    to play differently because of the slim chance they might get chosen for
    S50 is really just Jeff trying to hype S50.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look for
    the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening, she
    had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol.-a At
    that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in her
    mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be the
    target.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow her to
    steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore her vote?
    I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the keys and just
    hid them away or even just turned around and thrown them into the sea?

    Savannah tweeted about the keys incident tonight. Pretty interesting
    what she had to say.

    I came to PLAY. If I see someone going after an idol, IrCOm going after it
    too until itrCOs officially theirs. Was it the best gameplay? NO lmao. But
    I didnrCOt come to Survivor to watch from the sidelines and cheer on my competitor. I came to be the main character #Survivor49

    Source: https://x.com/savannahlouieTV/status/1986595071391903896
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 22:17:13 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 9:18 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab
    a S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into
    the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted
    in any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's S50
    talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all, their
    first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the future
    that one or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is to win
    the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter their
    strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected
    for S50?-a It really makes no sense.-a If a player starts getting
    aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's more to win
    S49 than to possibly qualify for the next season.-a I have to think
    Jeff goading the players to play differently because of the slim
    chance they might get chosen for S50 is really just Jeff trying to
    hype S50.

    I can see a number of them thinking they have little chance of winning
    S49 so why not try to standout and hope to get chosen for S50. For
    example, I just don't see someone such as Steven winning S49. He has no
    path to the end barring a complete collapse from about half the
    remaining players.


    How would anyone know at this point they have no chance to win this
    season? It's way too early for that kind of assessment. We can make
    that assessment because we see everything that goes on, but I doubt the players think that way. Frankly, I think if a player has concluded
    things aren't going well in the current season, they are likely to throw
    a hail Mary to at least have a shot at winning the current season. I seriously doubt such a move from a losing player will get them into an all-star season like S50.


    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to see
    her dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was
    sloppy looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look for
    the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening, she
    had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol.-a At
    that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in her
    mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be the
    target.

    I don't see why she would think she would be the target over Steven when they knew she had an idol.


    But clearly she did play it, so at least she perceived she was a target.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think
    would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow
    her to steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore
    her vote? I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the
    keys and just hid them away or even just turned around and thrown them
    into the sea?

    I would love to know what would have happened if Savannah got the keys.
    If she hid or threw the keys into the ocean, I'm pretty sure MC would
    have lost her vote for that TC. I'll have to check and see if Jeff was
    asked about this.

    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though.
    Sage is meaner than Savannah.

    Remember that Sage was pretty much at the bottom of the original Uli
    pecking order, which is a big part of why she turned against them.-a As
    for Savannah's meanness or lack thereof, the way she really dove for
    those keys shows a definite edge to her.

    Savannah's playing like she wants back-to-back wins. If she pulled that
    off she would go down as one of the best ever.


    I could be wrong about this, but I think Russell and Amanda may be the
    only players to even make the finals in back-to-back seasons, and they
    didn't win at all. To actually win back-to-back seasons seems almost impossible. In the event Savannah does actually win S49, I wonder what
    she will tell the other players in S50? One of the reasons people think
    she may have won was because she is on a different starting tribe in s50
    from Dee and Kyle. If other players notice that, I can see them all
    over her trying to figure out if she won as well.

    Although Sage is definitely showing some strategic chops, I don't get
    the sense that anyone really likes her all that much.-a After all, this
    is the girl who saves blackheads, is obsessed with body functions and
    who makes funny faces to the camera and probably other players. I
    think she probably comes across as a bit neurodivergent.-a Steven and
    Jawan are aligned with her more out of convenience than anything else.

    It looks like Sophie wants to work with her. Sophie needs to start
    building up her resume just in case she makes F3.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with "Yellow
    Sophie"? And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which
    Sophie/Sophi is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side
    note, Sophi looked really different with her hair straight down.
    Also, did you notice how bitten up her forehead was from bug bites?
    Sophie winning II was surprising. Is she all of a sudden going to
    become a big player?


    I don't see Sophie as a mean girl.-a I think she is just playing the game.

    Don't forget "Screw the other Sophi" from last episode.

    I think that was more funny than mean. She was laughing when she said
    it, and I think her wording was kind of meant as a joke



    The reason Jeff doesn't want her to be known as Yellow Sophie is that
    the original tribes are now gone, and I think he wants to let the
    players decide the extent to which they want to continue their
    identifications with Yellow Tribe, Blue Tribe etc.-a Continuing to call
    her Yellow Sophie would force a continuing identification with her
    being ex-Hina, and he doesn't want production to influence the game
    like that. -a-aI actually thought they would go with initials - Sophie B
    and Sophie S., but the solution Jeff came up with it seemed ok to
    everyone. Personally, I would have been okay if they had decided to
    call her Purple Sophie, which was how I was thinking of her.

    Jeff didn't come up with the solution. It was Sophie.

    Right, but the point is it was the suggestion he selected over the
    yellow and blue choices. I was trying to remember how they handled this
    issue in the past, and I can only remember the Wiglesworth and Wentworth situation, where he seemed to address them by last names. I guess that
    would have also been an option. The original Purple Kelly was called
    that because she had a purple streak in her hair, but I don't recall if
    Jeff called her that.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with
    Rizo and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage
    backstabbed them?


    That is the question of the hour, and it will be fun to see what
    happens.-a Savannah and Riz-boy

    Early on, I thought Jawan would be gone before the first tribe shuffle.
    Now I'm sensing he's going to go deep into the game. To survive
    Savannah, he's either going o have to win some IIs or throw Sage UTB.

    I think the latter is what he will do.


    Sophi is in a great spot. She's got a good advantage and seems to be
    in good with everyone.

    I thought Nate would go deeper into the game than he did. I wasn't
    surprised when the old Hina took him out.

    Next Episode

    Looks like Savannah is going to go after Sage.


    Overall, this was a pretty good episode, as the merge boot often is,
    and I was glad they decided not to do the mergatory nonsense.-a My
    biggest problem is that because of the spoilers about who got chosen
    for S50, we knew those two players were likely safe, which limited the
    number of players that were really vulnerable last night.-a In effect,
    the two players chosen for S50 really have the equivalent of plot
    armor at this point.

    You're not the only glad they skipped the mergatory BS. We still had the teams shit which is so unfair once the merge has begun, so the situation wasn't perfect.


    I guess I wasn't overly bothered by that since the teams were reduced
    back to individuals competing for individual immunity. Agree it wasn't perfect.


    The biggest uncertainty for me was whether Jawan would stay aligned
    with Sage or go back to his original tribe, but I suppose ultimately
    it didn't matter.-a Sage was clearly on the side of Hina which along
    with Alex gave them the six votes they needed even without Jawan.-a So
    it was inevitable that an Uli would go home, and Nate was pretty much
    the only likely choice at that point.

    They've shown us enough to make it clear that Jawan is against Riz and Savannah. What they failed to explain is why does Jawan have an issue/obsession with Savannah. Steven's reaction to hearing about it a
    few (?) episodes ago makes me think it will resurface at some point.

    I think it's a personality thing that goes back to the way Savannah came
    down on him for taking her bag by mistake, etc. I think Juwan just
    doesn't mix well with her very aggressive personality


    By the way, is this the first time we have ever seen a Merge TC where
    there were players who had never been to a previous TC?-a Even in
    Season 10 when Tom's tribe won all the pre-merge challenges, there was
    still one episode where both tribes went to TC (Tom's tribe voted out
    the Ed Bradley lookalike whose name I don't recall right now).
    Offhand, I can't recall a prior season where a player's first TC visit
    was post-merge.

    IIRC, Nick and Michele in S32 didn't go to their first TC until the merge.


    That's a good catch -- I completely forgot about that. I do remember
    that now about Michele, but I honestly don't remember Nick at all.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 22:29:54 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 9:42 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 6:01 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 6:10 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 3:05 PM, Zeppo wrote:
    On Nov 5, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10eh32s$rcdt$1@dont-email.me>):

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they >>>>>> will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a >>>>>> S50 spot?

    More later ...
    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only >>>>> that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into >>>>> the
    current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in any >>>>> crazy moves from Rizo.

    No, but he had a more prominent place in the edit compared to
    previous episodes.

    He did, but still not as prominent as some of the others. His idol
    play at TC was one of the first signs he's willing to take risks as
    far as I'm concerned.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show >>>>> her chopping that chicken in half.

    Yes, she knew how to deal with the chicken unlike those two dipshits
    in E05. I think that SavannahrCOs quick work with the machete put to
    rest any speculation that a member of the crew told the dipshits to
    strangle the poor creature.

    Savannah clearly did her homework before flying out to play. If she
    ends up in fire at F4 I won't be surprised if she wins.

    I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.

    I was. That was classic Savannah all the way. It reminded me a
    little of the Amanda/Danielle tussle in H.vs.V. rCLGet off me ya big
    freakrCY :-)

    That was classic! Savannah's dive happened so fast that I was a bit
    taken aback. She came to play which is great to see.

    MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    I disagree. What else was MC Hammer supposed to do?
    She had to find the amulet by dusk or she would continue
    to have no vote, so a certain degree of risk was necessary.
    As for playing the amulet, MC should have known that,
    even If she had received votes from the remaining members
    of the original Red Tribe, she would not be going to
    Ponderosa. So I agree that she did not show a great deal
    of game smarts at TC.

    Having the note in her mouth while looking and not paying better
    attention to what was going on around her is what I considered to be
    sloppy.
    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's
    side.

    I agree. ItrCOs odd how, at the beginning of the season, SagerCOs
    edit made her appear to be a weirdo. But now it turns out
    that she might have the best head for the game out of all the
    players who are left.

    We did get to see her announce she was going to "toot" and then let
    out a fart. So the weird is still there. I wonder if her weird
    behavior is a cover so the others don't realize she's so strategic?


    I seriously doubt that, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.-a She
    certainly isn't being edited as a winner or close runner-up.-a If she
    ends up playing a great strategic game and earning her way into the
    finals (as opposed to be dragged as a small-letter goat), I think they
    would edit out a lot of the gross stuff.

    It's hard to say. They're showing us more and more stuff we've never
    been shown before. If Sage makes F3 Jeff could use that to say "anyone
    can win Survivor!"


    Hmmm, that would be pretty mean-spirited, especially if it does turn out
    she has some neuro-divergence. I agree they are showing more things
    than they used to, but I think winners tend to get a lot of the negative things they do edited out.

    I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner
    than Savannah.

    The edit has made it appear that Savannah saved all of her vitriol
    for confessionals, but kept it clean around camp. SagerCOs comment
    about her in E07 may suggest that this was not actually the case.

    If that's the case, maybe Savannah will turn out to be a villain. The
    preview kind of points in that direction.


    That would be pretty wild, since there really aren't many (or any)
    out- and-out "villains" in the S50 cast.-a Closest might be Coach or Q,
    maybe, but I wouldn't call either of them villains, really.

    Q's definitely not a villain. Kamilla's a villain. Gen could easily play
    a villain.


    I've never thought of Kamilla as a villain, and I don't think she was
    ever portrayed that way. To me, villains are people like Richard Hatch, Russel Hantz, Jonny Fairplay, Boston Rob, Brian Heidik, even Abi-Maria -
    and there's no one quite like that in the cast.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working >>>>> together. She's a bit of a mean girl.

    How so? The only mean thing that I can recall her doing was dissing
    Uncle JrCOs food reward. And I enjoyed that.:-)

    I was referring to her nixing "Yellow Sophie" and "Blue Sophi" for
    her being "Sophie" and Sophi being "Soph."
    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is being >>>>> referenced is insulting.

    The distinction between the Sofias was not made with the home viewers
    in mind, but was introduced as a way of making communication with the
    merged tribe a little bit clearer. Uncle J did not want Sophi and
    Sophie
    to yell out, rCLwhich one?rCY every time he said their name.

    Wouldn't context take of that?

    No, not during Jeff's play-by-play at challenges - especially if they
    happen to be near one another during a challenge.

    Might be a good reason for Jeff to let the action describe itself. lol


    I think the play-by-play has become such an intrinsic part of the game
    now that it would seem really strange if he didn't do it.

    Sophi should have said to Sophie, "Okay, you can be 'Sophie.' Jeff, I
    want to be called 'Balerdi.'"


    There was a season of Hell's Kitchen with two contestants named
    Kimberly, and one either agreed to or got selected to be called by her
    last name, which was Ryan. She ended up winning that season, and to
    this day, many fans actually think her first name is Ryan.



    Also, at TC when another player makes a reference to "Sophie", it
    wouldn't necessarily be obvious whom they're tlking abut.I hope that
    wouldn't be the case. Their games have been totally different.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 22:39:26 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 10:16 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab
    a S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into
    the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted
    in any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's S50
    talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all, their
    first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the future
    that one or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is to win
    the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter their
    strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected
    for S50?-a It really makes no sense.-a If a player starts getting
    aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's more to win
    S49 than to possibly qualify for the next season.-a I have to think
    Jeff goading the players to play differently because of the slim
    chance they might get chosen for S50 is really just Jeff trying to
    hype S50.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to see
    her dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was
    sloppy looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look for
    the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening, she
    had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol.-a At
    that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in her
    mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be the
    target.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think
    would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow
    her to steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore
    her vote? I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the
    keys and just hid them away or even just turned around and thrown them
    into the sea?

    Savannah tweeted about the keys incident tonight. Pretty interesting
    what she had to say.

    I came to PLAY. If I see someone going after an idol, IrCOm going after it too until itrCOs officially theirs. Was it the best gameplay? NO lmao. But
    I didnrCOt come to Survivor to watch from the sidelines and cheer on my competitor. I came to be the main character #Survivor49

    Source: https://x.com/savannahlouieTV/status/1986595071391903896


    She definitely achieved her objective on that. I wonder if her previous
    TV experience and being used to cameras, and telling stories, and having obvious self-awareness about how she comes across on camera, etc., may
    have contributed to the way she is dominating the other players and the
    game itself this season? We have had other players with TV experience
    before (hello Rick Devans), but somehow Savannah seems to have a natural camera presence we don't often see.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 21:45:07 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 8:17 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 9:18 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that
    they will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to >>>>> grab a S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not
    only that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly
    talking about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future
    season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has
    not resulted in any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's
    S50 talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all, their
    first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the future
    that one or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is to win
    the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter their
    strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected
    for S50?-a It really makes no sense.-a If a player starts getting
    aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's more to win
    S49 than to possibly qualify for the next season.-a I have to think
    Jeff goading the players to play differently because of the slim
    chance they might get chosen for S50 is really just Jeff trying to
    hype S50.

    I can see a number of them thinking they have little chance of winning
    S49 so why not try to standout and hope to get chosen for S50. For
    example, I just don't see someone such as Steven winning S49. He has
    no path to the end barring a complete collapse from about half the
    remaining players.


    How would anyone know at this point they have no chance to win this season?-a It's way too early for that kind of assessment.-a-a We can make that assessment because we see everything that goes on, but I doubt the players think that way.-a Frankly,-a I think if a player has concluded things aren't going well in the current season, they are likely to throw
    a hail Mary to at least have a shot at winning the current season.-a I seriously doubt such a move from a losing player will get them into an all-star season like S50.

    By this point players probably have a good idea of whether or not they
    can win. Being a memorable player is what will get you invited back. For example, did Emily ever a good shot of winning S45? I don't think she
    did, but she was a memorable player and well-liked.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to
    show her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to
    see her dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was
    sloppy looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look
    for the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening,
    she had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol.
    At that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in
    her mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be
    the target.

    I don't see why she would think she would be the target over Steven
    when they knew she had an idol.


    But clearly she did play it, so at least she perceived she was a target.

    IIRC, when she handed Jeff her idol she said something like she wanted
    to ensure she was still there tomorrow. She played it safe which I guess
    is okay as she's still in the game.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think
    would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow
    her to steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore
    her vote? I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the
    keys and just hid them away or even just turned around and thrown
    them into the sea?

    I would love to know what would have happened if Savannah got the
    keys. If she hid or threw the keys into the ocean, I'm pretty sure MC
    would have lost her vote for that TC. I'll have to check and see if
    Jeff was asked about this.

    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though.
    Sage is meaner than Savannah.

    Remember that Sage was pretty much at the bottom of the original Uli
    pecking order, which is a big part of why she turned against them.
    As for Savannah's meanness or lack thereof, the way she really dove
    for those keys shows a definite edge to her.

    Savannah's playing like she wants back-to-back wins. If she pulled
    that off she would go down as one of the best ever.


    I could be wrong about this, but I think Russell and Amanda may be the
    only players to even make the finals in back-to-back seasons, and they didn't win at all.-a To actually win back-to-back seasons seems almost impossible.-a In the event Savannah does actually win S49, I wonder what
    she will tell the other players in S50?-a One of the reasons people think she may have won was because she is on a different starting tribe in s50 from Dee and Kyle.-a If other players notice that, I can see them all
    over her trying to figure out if she won as well.

    What tribe is Rizo on? If I was Savannah, I'd be more worried about what
    Rizo will tell people.

    Although Sage is definitely showing some strategic chops, I don't get
    the sense that anyone really likes her all that much.-a After all,
    this is the girl who saves blackheads, is obsessed with body
    functions and who makes funny faces to the camera and probably other
    players. I think she probably comes across as a bit neurodivergent.
    Steven and Jawan are aligned with her more out of convenience than
    anything else.

    It looks like Sophie wants to work with her. Sophie needs to start
    building up her resume just in case she makes F3.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with "Yellow
    Sophie"? And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/
    Sophi is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side note,
    Sophi looked really different with her hair straight down. Also, did
    you notice how bitten up her forehead was from bug bites? Sophie
    winning II was surprising. Is she all of a sudden going to become a
    big player?


    I don't see Sophie as a mean girl.-a I think she is just playing the
    game.

    Don't forget "Screw the other Sophi" from last episode.

    I think that was more funny than mean.-a She was laughing when she said
    it, and I think her wording was kind of meant as a joke



    The reason Jeff doesn't want her to be known as Yellow Sophie is that
    the original tribes are now gone, and I think he wants to let the
    players decide the extent to which they want to continue their
    identifications with Yellow Tribe, Blue Tribe etc.-a Continuing to
    call her Yellow Sophie would force a continuing identification with
    her being ex-Hina, and he doesn't want production to influence the
    game like that. -a-aI actually thought they would go with initials -
    Sophie B and Sophie S., but the solution Jeff came up with it seemed
    ok to everyone. Personally, I would have been okay if they had
    decided to call her Purple Sophie, which was how I was thinking of her.

    Jeff didn't come up with the solution. It was Sophie.

    Right, but the point is it was the suggestion he selected over the
    yellow and blue choices.-a I was trying to remember how they handled this issue in the past, and I can only remember the Wiglesworth and Wentworth situation, where he seemed to address them by last names.-a I guess that would have also been an option.-a The original Purple Kelly was called
    that because she had a purple streak in her hair, but I don't recall if
    Jeff called her that.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with
    Rizo and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage
    backstabbed them?


    That is the question of the hour, and it will be fun to see what
    happens.-a Savannah and Riz-boy

    Early on, I thought Jawan would be gone before the first tribe
    shuffle. Now I'm sensing he's going to go deep into the game. To
    survive Savannah, he's either going o have to win some IIs or throw
    Sage UTB.

    I think the latter is what he will do.

    I agree.

    Sophi is in a great spot. She's got a good advantage and seems to be
    in good with everyone.

    I thought Nate would go deeper into the game than he did. I wasn't
    surprised when the old Hina took him out.

    Next Episode

    Looks like Savannah is going to go after Sage.


    Overall, this was a pretty good episode, as the merge boot often is,
    and I was glad they decided not to do the mergatory nonsense.-a My
    biggest problem is that because of the spoilers about who got chosen
    for S50, we knew those two players were likely safe, which limited
    the number of players that were really vulnerable last night.-a In
    effect, the two players chosen for S50 really have the equivalent of
    plot armor at this point.

    You're not the only glad they skipped the mergatory BS. We still had
    the teams shit which is so unfair once the merge has begun, so the
    situation wasn't perfect.


    I guess I wasn't overly bothered by that since the teams were reduced
    back to individuals competing for individual immunity.-a Agree it wasn't perfect.


    The biggest uncertainty for me was whether Jawan would stay aligned
    with Sage or go back to his original tribe, but I suppose ultimately
    it didn't matter.-a Sage was clearly on the side of Hina which along
    with Alex gave them the six votes they needed even without Jawan.-a So
    it was inevitable that an Uli would go home, and Nate was pretty much
    the only likely choice at that point.

    They've shown us enough to make it clear that Jawan is against Riz and
    Savannah. What they failed to explain is why does Jawan have an issue/
    obsession with Savannah. Steven's reaction to hearing about it a few
    (?) episodes ago makes me think it will resurface at some point.

    I think it's a personality thing that goes back to the way Savannah came down on him for taking her bag by mistake, etc.-a I think Juwan just
    doesn't mix well with her very aggressive personality

    But he's taken her bag multiple times and only her bag. I think he's
    been trying to screw with her from the start.

    By the way, is this the first time we have ever seen a Merge TC where
    there were players who had never been to a previous TC?-a Even in
    Season 10 when Tom's tribe won all the pre-merge challenges, there
    was still one episode where both tribes went to TC (Tom's tribe voted
    out the Ed Bradley lookalike whose name I don't recall right now).
    Offhand, I can't recall a prior season where a player's first TC
    visit was post-merge.

    IIRC, Nick and Michele in S32 didn't go to their first TC until the
    merge.


    That's a good catch -- I completely forgot about that.-a I do remember
    that now about Michele, but I honestly don't remember Nick at all.
    I remember because I'm a big Michele fan.
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 21:52:19 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 8:29 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 9:42 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 6:01 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 6:10 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 3:05 PM, Zeppo wrote:
    On Nov 5, 2025, Brian Smith wrote
    (in article <10eh32s$rcdt$1@dont-email.me>):

    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they >>>>>>> will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to
    grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...
    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only >>>>>> that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking >>>>>> about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season
    into the
    current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in >>>>>> any
    crazy moves from Rizo.

    No, but he had a more prominent place in the edit compared to
    previous episodes.

    He did, but still not as prominent as some of the others. His idol
    play at TC was one of the first signs he's willing to take risks as
    far as I'm concerned.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show >>>>>> her chopping that chicken in half.

    Yes, she knew how to deal with the chicken unlike those two dipshits >>>>> in E05. I think that SavannahrCOs quick work with the machete put to >>>>> rest any speculation that a member of the crew told the dipshits to
    strangle the poor creature.

    Savannah clearly did her homework before flying out to play. If she
    ends up in fire at F4 I won't be surprised if she wins.

    I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.

    I was. That was classic Savannah all the way. It reminded me a
    little of the Amanda/Danielle tussle in H.vs.V. rCLGet off me ya big >>>>> freakrCY :-)

    That was classic! Savannah's dive happened so fast that I was a bit
    taken aback. She came to play which is great to see.

    MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    I disagree. What else was MC Hammer supposed to do?
    She had to find the amulet by dusk or she would continue
    to have no vote, so a certain degree of risk was necessary.
    As for playing the amulet, MC should have known that,
    even If she had received votes from the remaining members
    of the original Red Tribe, she would not be going to
    Ponderosa. So I agree that she did not show a great deal
    of game smarts at TC.

    Having the note in her mouth while looking and not paying better
    attention to what was going on around her is what I considered to be
    sloppy.
    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's
    side.

    I agree. ItrCOs odd how, at the beginning of the season, SagerCOs
    edit made her appear to be a weirdo. But now it turns out
    that she might have the best head for the game out of all the
    players who are left.

    We did get to see her announce she was going to "toot" and then let
    out a fart. So the weird is still there. I wonder if her weird
    behavior is a cover so the others don't realize she's so strategic?


    I seriously doubt that, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.-a She
    certainly isn't being edited as a winner or close runner-up.-a If she
    ends up playing a great strategic game and earning her way into the
    finals (as opposed to be dragged as a small-letter goat), I think
    they would edit out a lot of the gross stuff.

    It's hard to say. They're showing us more and more stuff we've never
    been shown before. If Sage makes F3 Jeff could use that to say "anyone
    can win Survivor!"


    Hmmm, that would be pretty mean-spirited, especially if it does turn out
    she has some neuro-divergence.-a I agree they are showing more things
    than they used to, but I think winners tend to get a lot of the negative things they do edited out.

    I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though. Sage is meaner >>>>>> than Savannah.

    The edit has made it appear that Savannah saved all of her vitriol
    for confessionals, but kept it clean around camp. SagerCOs comment
    about her in E07 may suggest that this was not actually the case.

    If that's the case, maybe Savannah will turn out to be a villain.
    The preview kind of points in that direction.


    That would be pretty wild, since there really aren't many (or any)
    out- and-out "villains" in the S50 cast.-a Closest might be Coach or
    Q, maybe, but I wouldn't call either of them villains, really.

    Q's definitely not a villain. Kamilla's a villain. Gen could easily
    play a villain.


    I've never thought of Kamilla as a villain, and I don't think she was
    ever portrayed that way.-a To me, villains are people like Richard Hatch, Russel Hantz, Jonny Fairplay, Boston Rob, Brian Heidik, even Abi-Maria -
    and there's no one quite like that in the cast.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working >>>>>> together. She's a bit of a mean girl.

    How so? The only mean thing that I can recall her doing was dissing
    Uncle JrCOs food reward. And I enjoyed that.:-)

    I was referring to her nixing "Yellow Sophie" and "Blue Sophi" for
    her being "Sophie" and Sophi being "Soph."
    And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi is
    being
    referenced is insulting.

    The distinction between the Sofias was not made with the home viewers >>>>> in mind, but was introduced as a way of making communication with the >>>>> merged tribe a little bit clearer. Uncle J did not want Sophi and
    Sophie
    to yell out, rCLwhich one?rCY every time he said their name.

    Wouldn't context take of that?

    No, not during Jeff's play-by-play at challenges - especially if they
    happen to be near one another during a challenge.

    Might be a good reason for Jeff to let the action describe itself. lol


    I think the play-by-play has become such an intrinsic part of the game
    now that it would seem really strange if he didn't do it.

    Sophi should have said to Sophie, "Okay, you can be 'Sophie.' Jeff, I
    want to be called 'Balerdi.'"


    There was a season of Hell's Kitchen with two contestants named
    Kimberly, and one either agreed to or got selected to be called by her
    last name, which was Ryan.-a She ended up winning that season, and to
    this day, many fans actually think her first name is Ryan.

    That's funny!
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 22:10:16 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 8:39 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 10:16 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that
    they will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to >>>>> grab a S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not
    only that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly
    talking about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future
    season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has
    not resulted in any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's
    S50 talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all, their
    first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the future
    that one or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is to win
    the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter their
    strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected
    for S50?-a It really makes no sense.-a If a player starts getting
    aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's more to win
    S49 than to possibly qualify for the next season.-a I have to think
    Jeff goading the players to play differently because of the slim
    chance they might get chosen for S50 is really just Jeff trying to
    hype S50.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to
    show her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to
    see her dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was
    sloppy looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look
    for the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening,
    she had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol.
    At that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in
    her mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be
    the target.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think
    would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow
    her to steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore
    her vote? I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the
    keys and just hid them away or even just turned around and thrown
    them into the sea?

    Savannah tweeted about the keys incident tonight. Pretty interesting
    what she had to say.

    I came to PLAY. If I see someone going after an idol, IrCOm going after
    it too until itrCOs officially theirs. Was it the best gameplay? NO
    lmao. But I didnrCOt come to Survivor to watch from the sidelines and
    cheer on my competitor. I came to be the main character #Survivor49

    Source: https://x.com/savannahlouieTV/status/1986595071391903896


    She definitely achieved her objective on that.-a I wonder if her previous
    TV experience and being used to cameras, and telling stories, and having obvious self-awareness about how she comes across on camera, etc., may
    have contributed to the way she is dominating the other players and the
    game itself this season?-a We have had other players with TV experience before (hello Rick Devans), but somehow Savannah seems to have a natural camera presence we don't often see.

    She's definitely very comfortable doing confessionals. Maybe being used
    to cameras does help a player in the game. Wasn't Danni a sports
    reporter? Mike White has done acting, etc. and Devans is similar to
    Savannah. I wonder if Devans and Savannah will be aware of each other?
    If Devans knows who she is that might force her to change her game on
    the fly.
    --
    Brian
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Fri Nov 7 00:42:08 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 11:45 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 8:17 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 9:18 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that
    they will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves
    to grab a S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not
    only that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly
    talking about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future
    season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has
    not resulted in any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's
    S50 talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all,
    their first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the
    future that one or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is
    to win the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter
    their strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get
    selected for S50?-a It really makes no sense.-a If a player starts
    getting aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's
    more to win S49 than to possibly qualify for the next season.-a I
    have to think Jeff goading the players to play differently because
    of the slim chance they might get chosen for S50 is really just Jeff
    trying to hype S50.

    I can see a number of them thinking they have little chance of
    winning S49 so why not try to standout and hope to get chosen for
    S50. For example, I just don't see someone such as Steven winning
    S49. He has no path to the end barring a complete collapse from about
    half the remaining players.


    How would anyone know at this point they have no chance to win this
    season?-a It's way too early for that kind of assessment.-a-a We can make >> that assessment because we see everything that goes on, but I doubt
    the players think that way.-a Frankly,-a I think if a player has
    concluded things aren't going well in the current season, they are
    likely to throw a hail Mary to at least have a shot at winning the
    current season.-a I seriously doubt such a move from a losing player
    will get them into an all-star season like S50.

    By this point players probably have a good idea of whether or not they
    can win. Being a memorable player is what will get you invited back. For example, did Emily ever a good shot of winning S45? I don't think she
    did, but she was a memorable player and well-liked.

    I think Emily effectively earned her spot in S50 with her opening
    comments to Jeff at the beginning of S45 where she threw that returning
    player under the bus. I think Jeff liked her openness and honesty, and
    I think the force of her personality and her general attitude toward the
    game are what brought her back. I don't think it had that much to do
    with any "big moves" or flashy game-play.


    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to
    show her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to >>>>> see her dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC
    was sloppy looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC. >>>>
    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look
    for the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was
    happening, she had to believe she might be a target just to flush
    out her idol. At that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the
    numbers, so in her mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly
    thought she would be the target.

    I don't see why she would think she would be the target over Steven
    when they knew she had an idol.


    But clearly she did play it, so at least she perceived she was a target.

    IIRC, when she handed Jeff her idol she said something like she wanted
    to ensure she was still there tomorrow. She played it safe which I guess
    is okay as she's still in the game.


    I think after that season a couple back where all those players went
    home in a row with idols in hand, many players have taken the view that
    it's better to play an idol incorrectly than to go home with one in your pocket. To that point, I have to admire Rizo's gameplay in making a
    point of displaying his idol and then showing the courage to not play it.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think
    would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow >>>> her to steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore
    her vote? I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the
    keys and just hid them away or even just turned around and thrown
    them into the sea?

    I would love to know what would have happened if Savannah got the
    keys. If she hid or threw the keys into the ocean, I'm pretty sure MC
    would have lost her vote for that TC. I'll have to check and see if
    Jeff was asked about this.

    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean
    though. Sage is meaner than Savannah.

    Remember that Sage was pretty much at the bottom of the original Uli
    pecking order, which is a big part of why she turned against them.
    As for Savannah's meanness or lack thereof, the way she really dove
    for those keys shows a definite edge to her.

    Savannah's playing like she wants back-to-back wins. If she pulled
    that off she would go down as one of the best ever.


    I could be wrong about this, but I think Russell and Amanda may be the
    only players to even make the finals in back-to-back seasons, and they
    didn't win at all.-a To actually win back-to-back seasons seems almost
    impossible.-a In the event Savannah does actually win S49, I wonder
    what she will tell the other players in S50?-a One of the reasons
    people think she may have won was because she is on a different
    starting tribe in s50 from Dee and Kyle.-a If other players notice
    that, I can see them all over her trying to figure out if she won as
    well.

    What tribe is Rizo on? If I was Savannah, I'd be more worried about what Rizo will tell people.

    Riz is on the tribe with Dee. The fact that the only officially
    announced previous winners - Kyle and Dee -- are on separate tribes from
    one another, and Savannah is on the third tribe with no previous winners
    with her, is why people think she won S49 and Riz did not.

    Depending on what happens the rest of the way on S49, I think Savannah
    and Riz will likely have a pre-alliance going into S50. They will have
    an enormous disadvantage in that no one will really know them, whereas
    all the other players will at least know of one another and will have
    had chances to collude pre-game.

    Here are the unofficial breakdowns:

    https://insidesurvivor.com/survivor-50-tribe-divisions-60167



    Although Sage is definitely showing some strategic chops, I don't
    get the sense that anyone really likes her all that much.-a After
    all, this is the girl who saves blackheads, is obsessed with body
    functions and who makes funny faces to the camera and probably other
    players. I think she probably comes across as a bit neurodivergent.
    Steven and Jawan are aligned with her more out of convenience than
    anything else.

    It looks like Sophie wants to work with her. Sophie needs to start
    building up her resume just in case she makes F3.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage
    working together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with
    "Yellow Sophie"? And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which
    Sophie/ Sophi is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side
    note, Sophi looked really different with her hair straight down.
    Also, did you notice how bitten up her forehead was from bug bites? >>>>> Sophie winning II was surprising. Is she all of a sudden going to
    become a big player?


    I don't see Sophie as a mean girl.-a I think she is just playing the
    game.

    Don't forget "Screw the other Sophi" from last episode.

    I think that was more funny than mean.-a She was laughing when she said
    it, and I think her wording was kind of meant as a joke



    The reason Jeff doesn't want her to be known as Yellow Sophie is
    that the original tribes are now gone, and I think he wants to let
    the players decide the extent to which they want to continue their
    identifications with Yellow Tribe, Blue Tribe etc.-a Continuing to
    call her Yellow Sophie would force a continuing identification with
    her being ex-Hina, and he doesn't want production to influence the
    game like that. -a-aI actually thought they would go with initials -
    Sophie B and Sophie S., but the solution Jeff came up with it seemed
    ok to everyone. Personally, I would have been okay if they had
    decided to call her Purple Sophie, which was how I was thinking of her. >>>
    Jeff didn't come up with the solution. It was Sophie.

    Right, but the point is it was the suggestion he selected over the
    yellow and blue choices.-a I was trying to remember how they handled
    this issue in the past, and I can only remember the Wiglesworth and
    Wentworth situation, where he seemed to address them by last names.-a I
    guess that would have also been an option.-a The original Purple Kelly
    was called that because she had a purple streak in her hair, but I
    don't recall if Jeff called her that.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal with >>>>> Rizo and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and Sage
    backstabbed them?


    That is the question of the hour, and it will be fun to see what
    happens.-a Savannah and Riz-boy

    Early on, I thought Jawan would be gone before the first tribe
    shuffle. Now I'm sensing he's going to go deep into the game. To
    survive Savannah, he's either going o have to win some IIs or throw
    Sage UTB.

    I think the latter is what he will do.

    I agree.

    Sophi is in a great spot. She's got a good advantage and seems to
    be in good with everyone.

    I thought Nate would go deeper into the game than he did. I wasn't
    surprised when the old Hina took him out.

    Next Episode

    Looks like Savannah is going to go after Sage.


    Overall, this was a pretty good episode, as the merge boot often is,
    and I was glad they decided not to do the mergatory nonsense.-a My
    biggest problem is that because of the spoilers about who got chosen
    for S50, we knew those two players were likely safe, which limited
    the number of players that were really vulnerable last night.-a In
    effect, the two players chosen for S50 really have the equivalent of
    plot armor at this point.

    You're not the only glad they skipped the mergatory BS. We still had
    the teams shit which is so unfair once the merge has begun, so the
    situation wasn't perfect.


    I guess I wasn't overly bothered by that since the teams were reduced
    back to individuals competing for individual immunity.-a Agree it
    wasn't perfect.


    The biggest uncertainty for me was whether Jawan would stay aligned
    with Sage or go back to his original tribe, but I suppose ultimately
    it didn't matter.-a Sage was clearly on the side of Hina which along
    with Alex gave them the six votes they needed even without Jawan.
    So it was inevitable that an Uli would go home, and Nate was pretty
    much the only likely choice at that point.

    They've shown us enough to make it clear that Jawan is against Riz
    and Savannah. What they failed to explain is why does Jawan have an
    issue/ obsession with Savannah. Steven's reaction to hearing about it
    a few (?) episodes ago makes me think it will resurface at some point.

    I think it's a personality thing that goes back to the way Savannah
    came down on him for taking her bag by mistake, etc.-a I think Juwan
    just doesn't mix well with her very aggressive personality

    But he's taken her bag multiple times and only her bag. I think he's
    been trying to screw with her from the start.


    But if that were the case, don't you think he would have admitted that
    to the camera? I'm not sure what value he thinks there would be in deliberately messing with her. I actually think he just got brain fog
    and took her bag repeatedly by mistake.

    By the way, is this the first time we have ever seen a Merge TC
    where there were players who had never been to a previous TC?-a Even
    in Season 10 when Tom's tribe won all the pre-merge challenges,
    there was still one episode where both tribes went to TC (Tom's
    tribe voted out the Ed Bradley lookalike whose name I don't recall
    right now). Offhand, I can't recall a prior season where a player's
    first TC visit was post-merge.

    IIRC, Nick and Michele in S32 didn't go to their first TC until the
    merge.


    That's a good catch -- I completely forgot about that.-a I do remember
    that now about Michele, but I honestly don't remember Nick at all.
    I remember because I'm a big Michele fan.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rick@Rick@nospam.net to alt.tv.survivor on Fri Nov 7 00:45:43 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/7/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 8:39 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 10:16 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that
    they will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves
    to grab a S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not
    only that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly
    talking about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future
    season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has
    not resulted in any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's
    S50 talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all,
    their first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the
    future that one or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is
    to win the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter
    their strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get
    selected for S50?-a It really makes no sense.-a If a player starts
    getting aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's
    more to win S49 than to possibly qualify for the next season.-a I
    have to think Jeff goading the players to play differently because
    of the slim chance they might get chosen for S50 is really just Jeff
    trying to hype S50.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to
    show her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to >>>>> see her dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC
    was sloppy looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC. >>>>
    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look
    for the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was
    happening, she had to believe she might be a target just to flush
    out her idol. At that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the
    numbers, so in her mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly
    thought she would be the target.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think
    would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow >>>> her to steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore
    her vote? I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the
    keys and just hid them away or even just turned around and thrown
    them into the sea?

    Savannah tweeted about the keys incident tonight. Pretty interesting
    what she had to say.

    I came to PLAY. If I see someone going after an idol, IrCOm going after >>> it too until itrCOs officially theirs. Was it the best gameplay? NO
    lmao. But I didnrCOt come to Survivor to watch from the sidelines and
    cheer on my competitor. I came to be the main character #Survivor49

    Source: https://x.com/savannahlouieTV/status/1986595071391903896


    She definitely achieved her objective on that.-a I wonder if her
    previous TV experience and being used to cameras, and telling stories,
    and having obvious self-awareness about how she comes across on
    camera, etc., may have contributed to the way she is dominating the
    other players and the game itself this season?-a We have had other
    players with TV experience before (hello Rick Devans), but somehow
    Savannah seems to have a natural camera presence we don't often see.

    She's definitely very comfortable doing confessionals. Maybe being used
    to cameras does help a player in the game. Wasn't Danni a sports
    reporter? Mike White has done acting, etc. and Devans is similar to Savannah. I wonder if Devans and Savannah will be aware of each other?
    If Devans knows who she is that might force her to change her game on
    the fly.


    Yes, Danni was a sports reporter, but I don't recall if that was on-air
    or strictly in-print.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Thu Nov 6 23:29:12 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 10:42 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 11:45 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 8:17 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 9:18 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that >>>>>>> they will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves >>>>>>> to grab a S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not
    only that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly
    talking about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future
    season into the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has >>>>>> not resulted in any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's
    S50 talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all,
    their first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the >>>>> future that one or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is >>>>> to win the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter >>>>> their strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get
    selected for S50?-a It really makes no sense.-a If a player starts
    getting aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's
    more to win S49 than to possibly qualify for the next season.-a I
    have to think Jeff goading the players to play differently because
    of the slim chance they might get chosen for S50 is really just
    Jeff trying to hype S50.

    I can see a number of them thinking they have little chance of
    winning S49 so why not try to standout and hope to get chosen for
    S50. For example, I just don't see someone such as Steven winning
    S49. He has no path to the end barring a complete collapse from
    about half the remaining players.


    How would anyone know at this point they have no chance to win this
    season?-a It's way too early for that kind of assessment.-a-a We can
    make that assessment because we see everything that goes on, but I
    doubt the players think that way.-a Frankly,-a I think if a player has
    concluded things aren't going well in the current season, they are
    likely to throw a hail Mary to at least have a shot at winning the
    current season.-a I seriously doubt such a move from a losing player
    will get them into an all-star season like S50.

    By this point players probably have a good idea of whether or not they
    can win. Being a memorable player is what will get you invited back.
    For example, did Emily ever a good shot of winning S45? I don't think
    she did, but she was a memorable player and well-liked.

    I think Emily effectively earned her spot in S50 with her opening
    comments to Jeff at the beginning of S45 where she threw that returning player under the bus.-a I think Jeff liked her openness and honesty, and
    I think the force of her personality and her general attitude toward the game are what brought her back.-a I don't think it had that much to do
    with any "big moves" or flashy game-play.

    I thought her redemption after throwing Bruce UTB was probably what her
    cast on S50. The bond she and Kaleb (?) formed as he helped her to
    refocus was very well-liked by fans from what I remember.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to
    show her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting
    to see her dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC.
    MC was sloppy looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII >>>>>> at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look >>>>> for the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was
    happening, she had to believe she might be a target just to flush
    out her idol. At that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the
    numbers, so in her mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly
    thought she would be the target.

    I don't see why she would think she would be the target over Steven
    when they knew she had an idol.


    But clearly she did play it, so at least she perceived she was a target.

    IIRC, when she handed Jeff her idol she said something like she wanted
    to ensure she was still there tomorrow. She played it safe which I
    guess is okay as she's still in the game.


    I think after that season a couple back where all those players went
    home in a row with idols in hand, many players have taken the view that
    it's better to play an idol incorrectly than to go home with one in your pocket.-a To that point, I have to admire Rizo's gameplay in making a
    point of displaying his idol and then showing the courage to not play it.

    Good point about the idols not being played season. Rizo's idol play at
    TC was probably his first real game move.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think >>>>> would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually
    allow her to steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to
    restore her vote? I wonder what would have happened if she had
    grabbed the keys and just hid them away or even just turned around
    and thrown them into the sea?

    I would love to know what would have happened if Savannah got the
    keys. If she hid or threw the keys into the ocean, I'm pretty sure
    MC would have lost her vote for that TC. I'll have to check and see
    if Jeff was asked about this.

    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean
    though. Sage is meaner than Savannah.

    Remember that Sage was pretty much at the bottom of the original
    Uli pecking order, which is a big part of why she turned against
    them. As for Savannah's meanness or lack thereof, the way she
    really dove for those keys shows a definite edge to her.

    Savannah's playing like she wants back-to-back wins. If she pulled
    that off she would go down as one of the best ever.


    I could be wrong about this, but I think Russell and Amanda may be
    the only players to even make the finals in back-to-back seasons, and
    they didn't win at all.-a To actually win back-to-back seasons seems
    almost impossible.-a In the event Savannah does actually win S49, I
    wonder what she will tell the other players in S50?-a One of the
    reasons people think she may have won was because she is on a
    different starting tribe in s50 from Dee and Kyle.-a If other players
    notice that, I can see them all over her trying to figure out if she
    won as well.

    What tribe is Rizo on? If I was Savannah, I'd be more worried about
    what Rizo will tell people.

    Riz is on the tribe with Dee.-a The fact that the only officially
    announced previous winners - Kyle and Dee -- are on separate tribes from
    one another, and Savannah is on the third tribe with no previous winners with her, is why people think she won S49 and Riz did not.

    So far, at least to me, Savannah's getting a winners edit. To make it
    fair, they should have put Rizo and Savannah on the same tribe in S50 so
    the others wouldn't know which one won. If I was them, I would lie and
    say neither of them won.

    Depending on what happens the rest of the way on S49, I think Savannah
    and Riz will likely have a pre-alliance going into S50.-a They will have
    an enormous disadvantage in that no one will really know them, whereas
    all the other players will at least know of one another and will have
    had chances to collude pre-game.

    Don't be surprised if we find out that they pregamed before S49. They
    all knew S50 was being shot right after S49. I could see Savannah
    reaching out to players she thought might get cast for S50 asking for
    advice on how to play the game. This happens with BB players all the
    time. It's easy to contact past players and most of them seem to love
    giving advice. I don't see why Survivor would be any different.

    Here are the unofficial breakdowns:

    https://insidesurvivor.com/survivor-50-tribe-divisions-60167



    Although Sage is definitely showing some strategic chops, I don't
    get the sense that anyone really likes her all that much.-a After
    all, this is the girl who saves blackheads, is obsessed with body
    functions and who makes funny faces to the camera and probably
    other players. I think she probably comes across as a bit
    neurodivergent. Steven and Jawan are aligned with her more out of
    convenience than anything else.

    It looks like Sophie wants to work with her. Sophie needs to start
    building up her resume just in case she makes F3.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage
    working together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with
    "Yellow Sophie"? And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which >>>>>> Sophie/ Sophi is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side >>>>>> note, Sophi looked really different with her hair straight down.
    Also, did you notice how bitten up her forehead was from bug
    bites? Sophie winning II was surprising. Is she all of a sudden
    going to become a big player?


    I don't see Sophie as a mean girl.-a I think she is just playing the >>>>> game.

    Don't forget "Screw the other Sophi" from last episode.

    I think that was more funny than mean.-a She was laughing when she
    said it, and I think her wording was kind of meant as a joke



    The reason Jeff doesn't want her to be known as Yellow Sophie is
    that the original tribes are now gone, and I think he wants to let
    the players decide the extent to which they want to continue their
    identifications with Yellow Tribe, Blue Tribe etc.-a Continuing to
    call her Yellow Sophie would force a continuing identification with >>>>> her being ex-Hina, and he doesn't want production to influence the
    game like that. -a-aI actually thought they would go with initials - >>>>> Sophie B and Sophie S., but the solution Jeff came up with it
    seemed ok to everyone. Personally, I would have been okay if they
    had decided to call her Purple Sophie, which was how I was thinking >>>>> of her.

    Jeff didn't come up with the solution. It was Sophie.

    Right, but the point is it was the suggestion he selected over the
    yellow and blue choices.-a I was trying to remember how they handled
    this issue in the past, and I can only remember the Wiglesworth and
    Wentworth situation, where he seemed to address them by last names.
    I guess that would have also been an option.-a The original Purple
    Kelly was called that because she had a purple streak in her hair,
    but I don't recall if Jeff called her that.


    Jawan's a pretty cutthroat player, but will he be able to deal
    with Rizo and Savannah who will quickly figure out that he and
    Sage backstabbed them?


    That is the question of the hour, and it will be fun to see what
    happens.-a Savannah and Riz-boy

    Early on, I thought Jawan would be gone before the first tribe
    shuffle. Now I'm sensing he's going to go deep into the game. To
    survive Savannah, he's either going o have to win some IIs or throw
    Sage UTB.

    I think the latter is what he will do.

    I agree.

    Sophi is in a great spot. She's got a good advantage and seems to >>>>>> be in good with everyone.

    I thought Nate would go deeper into the game than he did. I wasn't >>>>>> surprised when the old Hina took him out.

    Next Episode

    Looks like Savannah is going to go after Sage.


    Overall, this was a pretty good episode, as the merge boot often
    is, and I was glad they decided not to do the mergatory nonsense.
    My biggest problem is that because of the spoilers about who got
    chosen for S50, we knew those two players were likely safe, which
    limited the number of players that were really vulnerable last
    night.-a In effect, the two players chosen for S50 really have the
    equivalent of plot armor at this point.

    You're not the only glad they skipped the mergatory BS. We still had
    the teams shit which is so unfair once the merge has begun, so the
    situation wasn't perfect.


    I guess I wasn't overly bothered by that since the teams were reduced
    back to individuals competing for individual immunity.-a Agree it
    wasn't perfect.


    The biggest uncertainty for me was whether Jawan would stay aligned >>>>> with Sage or go back to his original tribe, but I suppose
    ultimately it didn't matter.-a Sage was clearly on the side of Hina >>>>> which along with Alex gave them the six votes they needed even
    without Jawan. So it was inevitable that an Uli would go home, and
    Nate was pretty much the only likely choice at that point.

    They've shown us enough to make it clear that Jawan is against Riz
    and Savannah. What they failed to explain is why does Jawan have an
    issue/ obsession with Savannah. Steven's reaction to hearing about
    it a few (?) episodes ago makes me think it will resurface at some
    point.

    I think it's a personality thing that goes back to the way Savannah
    came down on him for taking her bag by mistake, etc.-a I think Juwan
    just doesn't mix well with her very aggressive personality

    But he's taken her bag multiple times and only her bag. I think he's
    been trying to screw with her from the start.


    But if that were the case, don't you think he would have admitted that
    to the camera?-a I'm not sure what value he thinks there would be in deliberately messing with her.-a I actually think he just got brain fog
    and took her bag repeatedly by mistake.

    Why only her bag? When Steven found out about this there were other
    players there that confirmed it was only her bag he was taking. Unless a producer asked him about it, I don't think he would say anything. We'll probably have to rely on RHAP to get an answer for us.
    --
    Brian
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  • From Brian Smith@dcg_brian@hotmail.com to alt.tv.survivor on Fri Nov 7 14:29:57 2025
    From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

    On 11/6/2025 5:14 PM, Rick wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 10:01 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    On 11/5/2025 5:44 PM, Brian Smith wrote:
    Tonight's episode is titled "Blood Will Be Drawn." We know that they
    will merge. Will we also see them start to make crazy moves to grab a
    S50 spot?

    More later ...

    Holy crap! They actually showed Jeff telling them about S50. Not only
    that, they showed Sophi referencing S50 and Savannah openly talking
    about it at TC. So weird to see them introduce a future season into
    the current season's gameplay. So far the S50 talk has not resulted in
    any crazy moves from Rizo.


    The more I think about this, the more I have to question if Jeff's S50
    talk really had that big an impact in the game.-a After all, their first goal is to win S49.-a S50 is just a possibility for the future that one
    or two players might qualify for.-a The main goal is to win the season you're playing.-a Is someone really going to alter their strategy for winning S49 because of a chance they MIGHT get selected for S50?-a It
    really makes no sense.-a If a player starts getting aggressive and trying big moves, you have to assume it's more to win S49 than to possibly
    qualify for the next season.-a I have to think Jeff goading the players
    to play differently because of the slim chance they might get chosen for
    S50 is really just Jeff trying to hype S50.

    Savannah is hardcore. For a second, I thought they were going to show
    her chopping that chicken in half. I also was not expecting to see her
    dive in an attempt to steal the ring of keys from MC. MC was sloppy
    looking for them and then needlessly wasted the HII at TC.

    Yeah, but realistically, what choice did MC have?-a She had to look for
    the idol and once she knew that Savannah knew what was happening, she
    had to believe she might be a target just to flush out her idol.-a At
    that point, MC had reason to believe Uli had the numbers, so in her
    mind, I can see why she may have mistakenly thought she would be the
    target.

    Savannah diving for the keys was bizarre and really showed her
    competitive streak.-a The real question might be what did she think would happen if she grabbed the keys?-a Would the show actually allow her to
    steal the idol from the player who needed the idol to restore her vote?
    I wonder what would have happened if she had grabbed the keys and just
    hid them away or even just turned around and thrown them into the sea?
    Sage is way more tuned into the game than the edit has led us to
    believe. I think she deserves a lot of credit for blindsiding
    Savannah's side. I don't get why she thinks Savannah is mean though.
    Sage is meaner than Savannah.

    Remember that Sage was pretty much at the bottom of the original Uli
    pecking order, which is a big part of why she turned against them.-a As
    for Savannah's meanness or lack thereof, the way she really dove for
    those keys shows a definite edge to her.

    Although Sage is definitely showing some strategic chops, I don't get
    the sense that anyone really likes her all that much.-a After all, this
    is the girl who saves blackheads, is obsessed with body functions and
    who makes funny faces to the camera and probably other players. I think
    she probably comes across as a bit neurodivergent.-a Steven and Jawan are aligned with her more out of convenience than anything else.

    Sophie came to life this episode. I did not see her and Sage working
    together. She's a bit of a mean girl. What's wrong with "Yellow
    Sophie"? And Jeff thinking we're too stupid to know which Sophie/Sophi
    is being referenced is insulting. On a bit of a side note, Sophi
    looked really different with her hair straight down. Also, did you
    notice how bitten up her forehead was from bug bites? Sophie winning
    II was surprising. Is she all of a sudden going to become a big player?


    I don't see Sophie as a mean girl.-a I think she is just playing the game.

    The reason Jeff doesn't want her to be known as Yellow Sophie is that
    the original tribes are now gone, and I think he wants to let the
    players decide the extent to which they want to continue their identifications with Yellow Tribe, Blue Tribe etc.-a Continuing to call
    her Yellow Sophie would force a continuing identification with her being ex-Hina, and he doesn't want production to influence the game like that.
    -aI actually thought they would go with initials - Sophie B and Sophie
    S., but the solution Jeff came up with it seemed ok to everyone.
    Personally, I would have been okay if they had decided to call her
    Purple Sophie, which was how I was thinking of her.

    Tweet from Kristina concerning the name debate.

    We werenrCOt fans of Sophie and Soph either yrCOall haha! To this day, theyrCOre Yellow Sophie and Blue Sophi! EfAcEfAO#Survivor49 #MillsSpills

    Source: https://x.com/KMillsSpills/status/1986295621582795070
    --
    Brian
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