TotallyGruntledSurvivor

In a Rewatch of the Game Changers Season, I tracked the Game Changing Moves for each player, and the Production Twists. In the opening statement to the players, Jeff says that by Game Changers, these players have done the following "moves that change the game":     1. Bold Moves (Tony is shown)     2. Quiet Moves (Sierra)     3. Legendary Successful Moves (Malcolm, Cirie)     4. Disasters and got voted out (Ozzy) He then says most moves don't work, but you have the guts to make them. First, I looked at how Production tried to change the game and give them ratings based on how much the game was changed. . Episode 1 1.   Life Ring in the Water Advantage with "Massive" Tool Kit      Ozzy went for this uncontested and gave Nuku an early advantage but really didn't come into play       the rest of the season.  (Rating: 2 out of 5) 2.  Secret (Legacy) Advantage      Found ...

Little different format for the Finale Night 35-Night 36 1. Sarah, Cirie and Tai have it out after the Michaela vote out. 2. Brad Wins Immunity wants Aubry out. has feast reward and takes Troyzan and Sarah. 3. Tai tells Brad and Troyzan that he has two Idols.  Brad wants one of them from Tai to prove allegiance.  Tai feels bullied. 4. At Tribal, 3 votes for Sarah, 2 for Tai, 1 for Aubry, BUT... 5. Tai plays one idol for himself 6. Tai plays one idol for Aubry 7.  Sarah plays Legacy Advantage for Immunity. 8. Troyzan plays his Idol 9. Cirie has nothing to play and is eliminated. 10. Jeff fawns over Cirie and let's her say the mortal words "The Tribe has Spoken". 11. Jeff now Live fawns over Cirie some more. Day/Night 37 1. Brad wins Immunity, wants Aubry out. 2. Aubry tries to convince Sarah and Tai, that only one of them will go to Final unless they vote out Troyzan. 3. Aubry is eliminated 4-1. Day/Night 38 1. Brad wins immunity, wants Tai out. 2. Ta...

Six are left and it appears that three have little chance to win, and three are in the running unless the three who can't win are the three finalists.  To me, the only valid players to win are Sarah, Cirie and Brad.  Cirie is most likely to get a sympathy or anti-Sarah vote, which I expect could happen as this seems to be the trend in Survivor lately.  (Adam with his dying Mom story, Michelle as the anti-Tai/Aubry, Jeremy's Baby).  If one of my top three make it to the end, but none of them win, then Survivor has lost it's purpose to me, especially in a season called "GameChangers." Here's how I rate the six finalists in terms of who should get the jury vote based on the season, knowing full well there is information outside the game that can and probably influence the final outcome.  Note this isn't my final order, as I do not expect Sarah, Cirie and Brad all to make the final three. Let's review what I said pre-game about the finalists: Troyz...

First tribal goes as planned as Andrea is voted out over Brad.  Second Tribal is bedlam and somehow Michaela was voted out without her name ever being discussed the entire episode. MAKU MAKU Night 32-Day 33 Brad mentions to Troyzan that they know how Michaela voted. Aubry, Andrea and Cirie are suspicious of Sarah, Andrea is thinking of taking Sarah out while Cirie wants to take her to the end because she's making enemies of the Jury.   Sarah receives the Legacy Advantage and talks about taking Andrea out. IMMUNITY CHALLENGE Day 33 House of Cards, small edition while balancing the platform.  Aubry is slow and steady, but runs out of cards short of the finish line.  She rebuilds part of her stack and wins Immunity.  Total time is six minutes beating Cochran's record of  seventeen minutes. MAKU MAKU Day 33 After congratulating Aubry, the plan is to vote Brad, although Andrea still wants to vote out Sarah.   Michaela tries to get Brad to take h...

In a highly untouted return of a prior player, (unlike the highly hyped Cochran return to Exile earlier this season).  Monica Culpepper spends some time with her loved one Brad, while Sarah and Michaela again go back and forth on a decision on who to oust at Tribal Council. MAKU MAKU Night 29-Day 30  Brad, Sierra, and Troyzan are confused by the vote when they went for Tai, while Tai is confused on shy they voted for him.  Cirie, Michaela and Sarah talk about bringing in Tai to their side.   Sierra knows she is on the low end of the totem pole and confides to Sarah about the Legacy Advantage, and tells her she will will it to her if she goes. Sarah starts working out a plan to take out Brad instead of Sierra. REWARD Challenge Day 30 Reward is a Barbecue with their loved ones, In teams of three they are tied together and have to race through obstacles while tied together, unwind a braided rope connect to a puzzle to release a key, which opens a box of bean ba...

Only three episodes left, which means either 7 players go into the final 2 hour episode or a couple extra people go in the next couple of weeks. There's no hint of an injury this week, and no double vote planned.   This week, it appears alliances will switch up, but who will have the numbers, will any idols be played and will Sarah play her advantage.   Sierra confides in Sarah about her legacy advantage.  Will Sarah get it if Sierra leaves in the next 3 votes? Andrea, Aubry and Cirie appear to be an alliance, but have no advantages. Brad, Tai and Troyzan could team up with the three idols and do some damage, but they don't really know it. Michaela and Sarah are likely to team up in commiseration on the loss of Zeke and could swing either of the above sides with 9 left. And that leaves Sierra.  Where will she fit in and who will she help?  My guess is her tendency is to stay with Brad, but could switch to show allegiance to Sarah. There is a scene in t...

Leave it to Survivor to promote their take on the game, by using a puzzle answer as the title (even though Zeke, prompted by Jeff of course, actually says it reading the answer, and then in a toast at the reward)  The result was semi-interesting,  And it wasn't a big point in the edit, but the Women are currently in charge. MAKU MAKU Night 26 Brad laments the fact that he is on the wrong side of the numbers.   Sarah admits she flipped and offers to talk to anyone.  Sierra asks why they chose Debbie, and Zeke tells them she seemed like she was the one in charge.  Sarah believes the jury will reward her for the "Game Changing" move if she makes it to the end.  Zeke, Michaela, Andrea and Cirie talk and say that it's advantageous to stay together for a few more votes.  Cirie says you need to watch everything though. REWARD Challenge Day 27 Reward challenge is two teams of five, pulling numbers from three racks attached to poles.  Three members...

It appears that the deck will reshuffle and may become a boys vs. girls with the women still having a 6-4 advantage, but the men have three idols, Sarah can steal a vote and may be the swing votes even with the boys. Already Gone 20. Ciera (14)     14/20 60% 19. Tony (19)      33/39 85% 18. Caleb (15)    48/57 84% 17. Malcolm (2) 50/74 68% 16. J.T. (15)        65/89 73% 15. Sandra (15)  80/105 76% 14. Jeff (12)        92/119 77% 13. Hali (11)       103/132 78% 12. Ozzy (10)      113/144 78% 11. Debbie (5)     119/155 77% Total:  113 10.  Zeke--(11)  Zeke still has the biggest target on his back as he betrayed his alliance, but may be needed for other purposes. 9. Sierra(10)--If Zeke doesn't go then Sierra/Brad are the best bets.  Sierra doesn't have the Legacy for the next 4 votes. 8. Andrea (8)--Andrea will be targeted in the min...

The poignant moment was weak and more manufactured by Jeff's narration.  He also let them the losing team out of  swimming back and brought out a boat to take them back.  This allowed Sarah to find the Secret Advantage that Michaela missed. In the end we FINALLY had a surprise game changing move, although it will probably not help Sarah to the end or with the votes as we all know that flippers never win. MAKU MAKU Night 24 Debbie talks about how easy the vote was, and now that they have Debbie, Sarah, Sierra, Brad, Troyzan, and Tai they will pick off the other five.   Andrea was out of the loop, and talks to Zeke who tells her he didn't think they were going to keep him for much, and decides to stay witht he majority alliance.  He talks to Sarah who wants to work with him. REWARD Day 25 Two teams of five will go over a series of obstacles then use a grappling hook to retrieve five rings.   Reward is a seaplane trip to the Usalla Islands.  Br...

Tonight's Episode:  Zeke is still not trusted by his old alliance,  Sierra/Brad's alliance looks like the ones to beat, as they believe they have brought in Sarah, but Sarah may have other plans. The immunity challenge is from Brains, Brawn and Beauty 2 and involves spelling IMMUNITY correctly backwards, while balancing a platform with a rope. Predictions get harder, but here goes: Already Gone 20. Ciera (14)     14/20 60% 19. Tony (19)      33/39 85% 18. Caleb (15)    48/57 84% 17. Malcolm (2) 50/74 68% 16. J.T. (15)        65/89 73% 15. Sandra (15)  80/105 76% 14. Jeff (12)        92/119 77% 13. Hali (11)       103/132 78% 12. Ozzy (10)      113/144 78% Total:  113 11.  Zeke--(4)  Zeke still has the biggest target on his back as he betrayed his alliance, but may be needed for other purposes. 10. Sierra(3)--If Zeke doesn't go then Si...

This two-hour episode by itself was not interesting but it leaves us with a sense that the next few episodes could be unpredictable.  I'm not holding my breath. Part 1 NUKU Tribe  Short commiseration with Zeke the day following tribal.  Sarah does not forgive Varner.  Ozzy seems uneasy about talking about it. MERGE Tribes come to reward to see feast table and covered table.  Jeff does not mention Varner being gone and lays on the twist that they can have the feast only if one player from each tribe gets one volunteer to sit out the feast.  Otherwise it's cheese and crackers.  Brad on Mana and Tai on Nuku volunteer the others partake.  Zeke wonders about Brad's motivation to sit out.  Cirie is also suspicious. Debbie pretends to be drunk and does shenanigans, and reflects on strategy a little, but otherwise uneventful. MERGED Tribe (MAKU MAKU) Tribe goes back to Nuku beach.  Debbie apologizes to Brad for her outburst.  Z...

After an emotional tribal council, the Nuku tribe merges with Mana and hopefully the game gets interesting after a very ho-hum pre-merge season as far as game play is concerned.  The total vote has been 40-8 for the 7 people eliminated with only the J.T. vote close at 3-2 although 6 votes for Sierra were not counted due to the Idol play by Tai. We also know from the synopsis, that two players won't participate in the merge feast.  Are they Exiled?  Do they get something else?  Do they sit out the first Tribal Council or are they immune? Original Mana has lost 6 people to Original Nuku's 1 so the smart bet would be for Hali, Troyzan, Aubry and Michaela going early and the remaining 9 Nuku battling it out. There could be some surprises though: Women outnumber men 8-5 and could take out Ozzy, Brad, and Troyzan pretty easily leaving Tai and Zeke. Mana 3 has 7 members to Nuku 3's 6. The Tavua tribe is still intact with 6 and would need to pull one person in to...

This weeks episode has created a lot of stir and discussion, and although the Transgender conversation is important, it may or may not detract from the rest of the season, which again is uninteresting.  I'm finding it more and more that the GameChangers theme is not about the players so much as the twists the producers have put in.   They are overtwising.   The cumulative vote has been 40-8 with the other player never receiving more than 2 votes, other than Sierra's 6 which were nullified.  That was a unified vote though because there were two tribes, and not a true vote of a tribe. It seems players are hesitant to make a big move, because those that can or do are now out of the game.  I don't at this point see a clear winner, I see a lot of coasters.

Tonight's episode should have been entitled "Metamorphosis" as the actual title had nothing to do with the episode. It's a simple review of the game play: 1. Nuku wins Reward Challenge of Pizza and Soft Drinks 2. Mana wins Immunity Challenge by figuring out the 13 balls spell M-E-T-A-M-O-R-P-H-O-S-I-S 3. Jeff Varner is booted. This episode had really little to do with Survivor game play and more to do with social consciousness.  As a Survivor episode it will be talked about for years to come, but not for the right reasons. In my pre-season analysis, I said about Varner: "His wishy-washiness will get him in trouble and he will go home somewhere in the middle of the game, close to the merge or just after it."  I was right about the timing, but had no clue he could be that mean or vindictive. Jeff spent 50 days total in three seasons on Survivor, and granted had Skupin not fallen into the fire just before the merge, he probably would have been on the...

Sandra goes home for the first time ever, and my suspicion is this is the last episode before the merge based on Sierra's Legacy Idol being able to be used at 13. There are hints that Ozzy is now a target after Tai brought his name up, but I think Mana will be the one at Tribal.  Troyzan has an Idol, and Tai has two, so things could get interesting if they are not played this time. Varner is the only one left on Nuku from the original Mana, but original Mana has a 4-3 advantage on the 3rd Mana tribe, which is significant if Mana goes to tribal.  Four Men and two women have been booted, so the trend is to take big players out, which makes Ozzy and Brad susceptible to boots. Oh, yeah, the reward is Pizza, and lots of it. Already Gone 20. Ciera (14)     14/20 60% 19. Tony (19)      33/39 85% 18. Caleb (15)    48/57 84% 17. Malcolm (2) 50/74 68% 16. J.T. (15)        65/89 73% 15. Sandra (15)  80/105 76% ...

The Queen is gone!  Long Live the Queen! NUKU Tribe Aubry is shocked and impressed with Sandra's game play.  Sandra explains that J.T. had to go because of the Betrayal. MANA Tribe In the middle of the night, Tai searches for the Idol from the clue he had to wet the boards, and finds the anchor symbol and the Idol. Tribe Switch At the Reward Challenge Brad is visibly upset that J.T. is gone, then they wonder what is happening at the challenge. Jeff tells them to drop their buffs and passes out new ones to two tribes.  Debbie has no buff and is put in the middle.  Varner and Sandra from 2nd Nuku welcome Tai, and Sierra from 2nd Mana, and Andrea, Ozzie and Zeke from Tavua as the new Nuku tribe.   While Hali and Brad are joined by Aubry and Michaela from 2nd Nuku and Troyzan, Cirie and Sarah from Tavua to form the 3rd Nuku Tribe.  Jeff calls out Sandra and Varner being in the minority.   Jeff then tells Debbie that she is heading to Exile Island...

J.T. becomes the first former Nuku member to be voted off after four original Mana.   With a 9-6 advantage how does the tribe split to 7 and 7 play out?  Or is there another twist coming?   Also, Tavua still has 6 to 2nd Mana 5 to 2nd Nuku 4.  Does that play into it at all? And who is the mysterious stranger. This preview doesn't show how any of the split goes, so not knowing who stays with whom, here goes: 20. Ciera (14) 19. Tony (19)  18. Caleb (15) 17. Malcolm (2) 16. J.T. (15) Total:  65 15. Sandra (13)--Sandra is definitely in charge. When do they turn on her or is it already too late. 14. Michaela (10)  Michaela won't keep her mouth shut, and will likely be targeted by those who don't know her. 13. Debbie (6)--Debbie's eccentricities will cost her, especially if she ends up with Brad again. 12. Brad (11) --Even if he's not really being a dictator, perception will kill him.  Old Brad is in the edit now, and I don't think it ...

NUKU Tribe  Aftermath of Tribal Council Upon returning from tribal Sandra started questioning J.T. and what he told Culpepper.  J.T. scrambled with lies but failed to get the target off his back, and the next morning searched and found the Hidden Immunity Idol, located similarly to the one that Tai found at Mana the day before. REWARD CHALLENGE Upon coming to the Reward Challenge, Tavua were surprised to find Mana intact and Nuku missing Malcolm.   Presumably Jeff told them about the twist at some point but it was not shown. The reward challenge had five individual parts, a grappler, a digger, 2 balancers and a puzzle solver. Troyzan sat out (again?!) for Tavua. Roles for Nuku, Mana, Tavua Grappler--Varner, Sierra, Sarah Digger--Michaela, Tai, Cirie Bow Balancer--J.T., Hali, Ozzie Handle Balancer--Aubry, Debbie, Andrea Puzzler--Sandra, Brad, Zeke Reward was for Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Cookies and Milk for the winner, PB&J Sandwiches for...