Survivor 50 Episode 8 "Double the Fun, Double the Demise" with Ian from SLAY!!!

We're matching the biggest twist in Survivor history with the biggest twist in Missed the Boat history: an extra special guest host! This week, Survivor newbie Lucas is joined by Ian Allred from SLAY!!! A Queer Buffy Podcast. Ian steps into the expert role and shares his insights and reactions to Survivor 50 so far, including this week's Double Duo twist.

With Coach and Chrissy's fates intertwining, Tiffany's game taking a turn, and Cirie embarking on an Exile adventure, there is a lot to get into this week!

You can find Ian's Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewatch podcast on Instagram and listen wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Missed the Boat on Instagram!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Mist the Boat, a Survivor First Watch podcast. I'm Lucas, a survivor newbie experiencing the show for the first time. This week, Survivor 50 episode 8, double the fun, double the demise. And to discuss this episode, I am joined by an extra special guest host, Ian Alred from Slay, a queer buffy podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

Whoa, did you hear that?

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Yay!

SPEAKER_03 0:28

That's how you know it's early.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Yay!

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Well, Ian, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining us this week. Thank you for having me. I would love, I mean, I'm sure the people listening already know, but um, I would love to know about your background with Survivor. You are stepping in as the Survivor expert of the week. Um, tell me more about yeah, where you discovered the show.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Yeah, I actually don't know if anyone knows this. Uh, so obviously the reason that uh Lucas asked if I could help co-host this week is because I have a tendency to talk about Survivor a lot on my podcast, but I don't know that I've ever actually talked about my history with the show. So I got into Survivor uh beginning of 2020 before the pandemic. I was on a like regional tour of Romeo and Juliet, and one of my castmates loved Survivor, and that was the 20th anniversary. So this is the 25th, that was the 20th. Um, and so he was like, we should all watch it every week together. So the first season I ever saw was season 40, the 20th anniversary season. I don't recommend that being your first season because it is all winners, and so it retroactively spoiled 20 seasons of the show for me. Yeah. So I then knew who 20 of the 38 previous winners were. So that was a little frustrating. But I had a really good time watching season 40 live. Uh, the first half happened before shutdown, and the second half happened during shutdown, and I continued to watch it. Oh, and I moved back in with my parents, and I continued to watch it at my parents' house. And then I was just bored and looking for something to do, and so I just started binge watching Survivor, and I'm not kidding. I was watching a season every three days, I was watching like two and a half seasons a week. Like I was blowing through it. I started uh so season 40 ended in May, and I so I probably started like retroactively watching in May, and then I had watched every season, but I think like two or three of them by September. Like I was going crazy. Uh, I have since watched every season except for Thailand. I've never seen Thailand because I've heard it so bad and so boring that I just don't bother. But I've seen every season since from season 41 on. I have watched live, and then like I listen to R Hap every week. Like I listened to The Pod Has Spoken, I listen to Drop Your Buffs, like I'm out in the weeds, I'm on the Survivor Reddit. Like I was watching before this season, I was watching everyone's like pre-season interviews. Like I was following the casting rumors. I remember when it was highly rumored that Amanda Kimmel was gonna be on the season, that name means nothing to you. And then I remember when they were like, Amanda Kimmel is no longer on the season, and I was devastated. I I am very, very into it now.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

So you're in it. You're in it. I feel like that is the time though to have started. And I wonder how many people started with season 40, and then lockdown happened, and everyone was like, Well, now I am Yeah, that's when Kiki Palmer started. Nothing else to do.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Oh my gosh. And you've met so there were, yeah, I remember a story. You've met some survivors, some winners, right? Like at your birthday.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Yeah, so my birthday was the day prior. My birthday's always finale week. So it's always like depending. So if my birthday's on a Wednesday, it'll be like that's the finale this year. My birthday's on a Friday, so the finale will be like two days before, I'm pretty sure. But season 44, my birthday was the day before the finale. And I went to Marie's Crisis, which is a bar in New York in the West Village. I went to Marie's Crisis with a few friends, and we were at the bar chatting. And this is a name you'll know because you're a big trader's head. We're at the bar chatting, and someone is like, excuse me, because you're going to the bathroom. And then my friend went, I think that was jam jam. And I went, What? And turned around and went, Was that jam jam? And the man walking to the bathroom overhears us, turns around, waves, and then walks into the bathroom, and we were like, and then jam jam is done. He's in the bathroom. He comes out and we're like, oh my gosh, jam jam, hello. We love you on the season. We're so excited for the finale tomorrow. And he's like, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Uh oh my gosh, what are all their names? I feel so rude because they were so kind to me. He was like, Jamie and Heidi, and maybe a fourth person. He's like, Jamie and Heidi are also here and points, and we look over, and in the corner it's just like a gaggle of survivors from Survivor 44. So they had all come to New York for the finale. They were like all gonna go to like a watch party together. And the night before, Jam Jam and Heidi and Jamie, and maybe someone else that I'm forgetting, and if so, sorry, all were at Marie's crisis with us, and they were so I, you know, I expected just to be like, oh my gosh, Jam Jam, it was so nice to meet you. And like maybe we could get a picture, but if not, that was fine. No, like he invited us over. We hung out with him for like two hours, and Jam Jam, much love, was so drunk, as he should be. It was a bar, and it was the night before he was about to win a million dollars. Um, he so he knew yes, like he didn't tell us anything, he did not break any NDAs, like no one said anything.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Of course, we would never disparage after that night.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

I was like, he was having such a good time, he's certainly gonna win tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

It's like he was in such a good mood.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

But it was great. He likes because Maurice Crisis is a piano bar, he sang loathing with my sister-in-law. Um, I have pictures with all of them. I like Jamie was really awesome. I talked to Jamie for like 45 minutes, just asking her, like, and because she kept being like, No, I'm a fan. She's like, I am you. I just happen to get on the show, but like I like to talk about this stuff. And so she was telling us all these questions about like, how do you brush your teeth? And like, how do they get the shots during challenges? And what's the thing we would be most surprised to know about like how production goes down on the island? Like, it was really, really interesting and very exciting.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

I have you saying that just reminded me I have some questions about production in this episode. I also saw a really funny meme about some of the camera operators, and so um we might get into some of I'm curious if you have any. We'll see if I can answer it. Yeah, I'll get her on the phone. Insights for that. With that in mind, so you were following all of the casting rumors and stuff. Who were you rooting for before season 50 actually started? Like, I just your relationship with any of these players. Is there any like a clear winner pick for you from prior to episode one?

SPEAKER_03 7:34

I mean, I um I like had some feelings about casting when it was first announced. I have since come around and I'm very excited about the cast. And Sari Fields is my favorite survivor player literally of all time, Bar None. When it was first announced that she was on the cast, I was like, I love Sari so much, but this will be her fifth time. And like there are people that I'd love to see a second time. Like, do we really need a person on for the fifth time? And then after about a month of the cast being announced, I was like, okay, I've come to peace with it, and I want Suri Fields to win. And I am still there, and I still, even though this episode, I'm like, and here's how Sari will win. Like, I want her to win so bad. I love Suri Fields.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

I have been going back and forth on Suri this season, but this is a I'm glad to have you on for this episode because this is a big Suri episode, and this is the one that won me over as well.

SPEAKER_03 8:32

Oh, that's so exciting! And Suri, Suri's like fame, her infamy, I guess, with Survivor is that she is consistently screwed over by production by like some bull twist that makes her lose the game. And so I thought this episode was so wonderful because it was like the first time ever that a bullshit twist actually worked in her favor and let her skip around instead of get her set home.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Oh no, I really I'm excited to get into Suri in this episode. But let's um get into it then. We'll kind of talk through Okay. There's a lot that happened, lots of new twists.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

They keep, I don't know how many of the biggest twists of the show we can have because every episode is a new Jeff says that I actually think this episode, I was like, okay, this maybe is one of the biggest twists we've ever had. When he said that bullshit for the blood moon, I was like, it's just it's just a tribe swap. Like we're pretending like this is some big new thing. Just a tribe swap, babe. We've seen this a million times.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

This is not really a merge, they're still in new tribes.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

Like, I was obsessed when he said this is the biggest reward in the history of the show, and it was Zach Brown catching fish for them. I remember people on Twitter afterwards were like, they used to have rewards where they would like walk the Great Wall of China. Like Colby got to go visit the Great Barrier Reef, and you're telling me that this is the biggest reward in survivor history.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

That's so funny. Because with no context, I was kind of into the Zach Brown of it all, even though I didn't expect to be, but um, that that is helpful context in terms of the history of reward. So post tribal, D is now out. I don't know if this is I she was the last winner, so I've kind of made peace with like, okay, it's now gonna at least be somebody who's never won before. Jonathan is very satisfied with himself. He's turning a corner for me this season. I was like, I've kind of been on Jonathan's side, and he had some I loved his gameplay, eliminating D. Like, he did a good job, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

So now you're turning, you don't like him anymore?

SPEAKER_01 10:43

A little bit. I think it's just interesting. He just aligned himself a little too closely with Coach for my liking as as time went on. But we then have Tiffany being like who voted for me. There were four people who wrote my name, and she's ready to unleash hell, but she's gonna stay calm. And yeah, I enjoy her little subplot this episode of like some people admitting that they voted for her. Her, she's on like a detective mission now to find four who have written her name down with then coach and Jonathan. They're debriefing, and coach is like, Well, I had to take control, somebody had to take control. It was chaos, and he's like, Do you think I should back off? And Jonathan, I think very respectfully, is like, yeah, maybe just like settling down a little bit, laying low might be helpful. And coach is the one who asked him, and then is mad at Jonathan for being like, Yeah, you probably should, but coach I just doesn't seem to take a direction well. He I was mostly upset, I think last episode, that they didn't take the opportunity to get coach out, but at least we have where this episode ends up.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

What has your experience as a someone who's never been exposed to Benjamin Coach Wade before? How has it been now that he is spoiler alert?

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Now that he's had his swan song, yeah, he is somebody that like I just found a little ridiculous in the first portion. And there's an episode where they I realized they talk about him and Colby maybe being on heroes and villains, and I was like, oh, was Coach in the villains team? Like why? And after last week, I was like, oh, this is why Coach is in the villains. And he did yeah, he just needed to go after this episode, but also frustrating because and a lot of players this season, I think, are talking about this is my 2.0 game, my 3.0 game. Like, I'm a new person, I'm a new me. Coach has talked a lot about that, and he's like, I'm Zen now, I'm chill. And then over the last couple of episodes, he's now been backsliding, and I'm like, I don't feel good watching this. He's like celebrating. He's like, coach is back, and I'm like, I'm watching somebody regress in front of me. Like, this is not something to be celebrating. So yeah, he's he's an interesting one. He like almost is deceptively like he just seems a little buffoony, and then you're like, oh no, I don't like you. Like, you're not just something to laugh at, you're also there's like a a more and Mirjana too was talking about this last week. There's a more sinister, kind of like misogynistic underbelly to some of this too, where I'm like, oh, I want to just be able to laugh at you, but actually no, I just want you to leave.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

I have an interesting relationship with coach. If coach ever won a season, it would put an extremely bad taste in my mouth. I it I would not be happy about it. Coach, the the level of um contentment I have with coach being on a season is 100% related to how much his teammates are buying into his shtick. There are some seasons like South Pacific, which is the one that he was on with Ozzy, which they talk about a lot, where his teammates like really buy into it and are really like, Coach, you are so honorable, like you are so truthful and honest. And that was a really hard watch for me. I really did not like that season. Yeah. This season personally, I have been having a good time on the coach ride because I feel like I feel like no one takes him seriously. Everyone thinks he's a heel, everyone thinks he's stupid, and even his allies, I don't think that they believe him and that they think he is upstanding. I think that they recognize that they need his vote and that he is such a loose canon that it's like we kind of have to, we have to, you know, pad his ego if we want him to not burn everything to the ground. Like seeing this beginning of this episode, where like you said, Jonathan talks to Coach, and Jonathan is like, oh my gosh, Coach, you're so right. Meanwhile, Jonathan is secretly meeting with Chrissy and Stephanie and talking about like we have to babysit Coach. He's gonna blow up the entire game for us. Yes. Um, so I don't know. I I take uh Survivor a lot with like I just divorce these people from who they are in the real world because I'm like, I don't know them and I don't know what their lives are. And I'm seeing like a very edited version of them at their hungriest and most desperate. And I have found coach this season for me personally to be very fun television. Good television. Just to see the people who are against him, like the Emily Flippins of the world, be so openly like, this guy's a moron. Like, what is going on? And then seeing his allies be like, Oh, yep, coach, you got it. Like, there was a clip maybe last week, the week before, where coach is like, Well, yeah, and the the knights of our theory and legend used to do this, this, and this, and the camera pans him and Joe. And it's just Joe in the hammock, like, what on earth are you talking about? Like, I just watching people either openly have distaste for him or be like coddling his ego at all times has been really fun for me as a viewer, personally.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Which you saying that reminds me of, I feel like what we saw with what was it, carousel of therapy with Joe, where people were like, we need to just like keep an eye on Joe and take turns babysitting him and and rocking his hammock. And I feel like the coach's allies are like metaphorically rocking his hammock to like keep him.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Well, and that was part of the reason that was part of the reason during the blood moon that uh Sari was like, We gotta have to go for Colby over Coach. Is she's like, Colby, people actually look up to and actually respect. He is the head of the snake. If we vote out coach, like the alliance loses a vote, but it doesn't lose any power because no one takes him seriously.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

He doesn't have like real power in the group. That yeah, that makes sense. And as you mentioned, Jonathan and Steph and Chrissy are like fed up. I was like, okay, y'all, you need to turn. I think you're right that they are they're trying to keep him in just as a vote, but so they've they've not yet crossed the threshold of like okay, time to cut cut him off. But they I I found this really interesting. They think that Cree and Ozzy are part of their alliance, and they don't count Rizzo. So they they they haven't clocked the Cerie Rizzo Alliance or the Ceres Rizzard of Oz, as they've been dubbed. But um there's also a lot of interesting Rajana too and I were talking about this last week, debate between who's the middle and what the actual groups are, and yeah, where the where the lines are actually being drawn. I mean, it's yeah, it's very interesting to me that they think of Suri and Ozzie. I'm wondering, are they from like similar eras of the game? Yeah, so a lot of this is being drawn across like old school, new era.

SPEAKER_03 18:16

So Suri has previously played with Coach and Stephanie and Ozzie. Um, but she's also previously played with Aubrey, so I don't know. But specifically, Suri and Stephanie have known each other for like 15 years, they've had a friendship for years. Suri and Stephanie have been on multiple reality shows together, they were on Snake in the Grass together and they were on Trader Season One together.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Oh, see, I'm I have no I'm a trader's elitist. I only watch the UK version. So oh, so when I said jam jam, you went, I don't know who the f that is. I I I smiled respectively. I was like, yeah, uh-huh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:57

How is UK traders elitist? Because they started at the same time, babe. No, the UK had it first. No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

It was like, that's a good idea. No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

They they air at different times, it's the same production company and they film it relatively back to back.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Well, and and yes, I just was living in the UK when it came out, and so that makes sense, okay. Because it's and it is such a cultural phenomenon in the UK, it is like such it's a it's a bastion of monoculture. Yes, yes, there's something that everybody is watching and we are all rooting for. And the UK has been from the beginning normal people, and I'm just a big believer that like to me the game is. I say this having not seen the US traders, which is why I feel like elitist about it, is I'm like, this is completely irrational and ignorant because I've not actually watched the US version, but I like that it's normal people in the UK and not reality TV stars. So all of that to say, I would love, oh we'll probably get into traders at some point on this vote, but I don't have context even for the survivor players in traitors, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

Because that's US.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Well, Sari and Stephanie were on traitors together. Hey, okay, interesting. And Sari did she won traitors, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Okay, so if you already know that for traitors, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

Stephanie was a faithful, Sari was a traitor, and Sari was kind of keeping Stephanie in the game, was like protecting her in the game because she was like basically like she'll do my bidding. So Stephanie makes it. I think Stephanie maybe makes it to the finale. Like she makes it really far before ultimately Sari's like, okay, you're cut. Um but yeah, so I think largely the reason that that group thinks that Suri is with them is because Stephanie is like, Well, we're such good friends. Um, but this is the genius of Suri's game, is that Sari is able to make stuff happen without putting her face on it. She's able to talk to anyone, as she says in this season, and get them to believe that her idea is their idea. And then when, you know, the nerdherd, the Christian Emily Devons group gets a win, even though it was Suri's idea, she can be like, Well, that was Christian Devins and Emily. Like, I had nothing to do with that, and still stay in line with the Stephanie Chrissy Coach Alliance. Uh, so yes, I agree that Suri is actually the middle, and that the nerd herd is one side, and that the honor and integrity, quote unquote, is the other side. But because Suri's playing such a genius game, they can't see that and they think she's with them and the nerd herd's in the middle.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Yeah, I love it. And so the nerd herd are now in the firing line for this group, yeah. The Steph Chrissy um honor and integrity group. And then we have Ozzy checking in with Tiff and being like, I'm pretending that I'm close with coach, but I want to serve his head up on a silver platter, which Tiff was in a tough spot at the start of this episode. Obviously, like she and Dee were so close, and she had her. Four votes. I really like this alliance between Ozzie and Tiff, and I like where Tiff's game is this episode. Great. Pulled it out for having the cards stacked against her. I was like, okay, this could be her saving grace. And things kind of just keep getting better for Tiff this episode.

SPEAKER_03 22:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

Then a boat arrives. And so we've got again one of the biggest twists in survivor history divide into six pairs. And they pair off into this. I thought was really interesting. Jonathan and Christian, Ozzie, Steph, Joe, Tiff, Emily, Rizzo. And then we have Chrissy and Coach and Aubrey and Devons. These pairs are mostly kind of made across alliances, which I like and actually serves the twist really well in the end. But um Siree is again the fact that they draw shots in the dark to decide who's gonna be the one person left out, and she gets pulled, is she is so lucky. And then we have though, I feel like because Coach and Chrissy and Aubrey and Devons are the two pairs of people kind of within their own alliances, yeah. They then become the targets as we go. Before they go to the challenge, though, Coach tries to patch things up with Tiff.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

That what was this?

SPEAKER_03 23:35

That was crazy to me. So Chrissy tells Coach, like, hey, go to Tiff and just lie and say that you were not putting Dee's name out there, you were not putting Tiff's name out there, someone else was, and you were just following orders. And so he goes and does that with no backstory of who the person was who told him to vote that way. No. And this is why I think coach is great TV. Because that moment of Tiff being like, okay, then who told you to do that? And then he just sits there in silence, and then Tiff goes, great talk, and walks away. Like that was one of the funniest moments of the entire episode. I Lena, my co-host, uh our friend, my co-host Asleigh, we were talking about this yesterday. There are heels in Survivor who are so difficult to watch, but like the joy of the heel is that it gives us, it gives kind of like legendary status to the person who reacts to the heel. Like Tiffany has that amazing moment because Coach is so stupid and such a bad liar. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

And there she has a foil to exactly.

SPEAKER_03 24:51

And you need these foils to give you your heroes that you are rooting for, who are like seeing through the person's bull crap and being like, this person's a moron. Why is everyone buying into their thing?

SPEAKER_01 25:04

And for coach to be, this is the thing about him. I don't think I articulated it well earlier. He's just so hypocritical for him to be the honor and integrity like person, for that to be his brand. We've seen him try to lie to D and be like, Well, you know, Emily was throwing your name out there, and D is another person who clocks him and is like, Why didn't you tell me that earlier? He's he's he's like, Oh, I put my foot in my mouth, and then he he does this with Tif, like, and she sees through it as well. He is out here blatantly lying, yeah, and then throwing D under the bus for being a quote unquote liar, like it Joe at least, and him and Devons earlier in the season. I I was a little frustrated with their TIFF, not the player, and um they but at least Joe is like genuine, yeah. And it's like I may disagree with you, but at least you're authentic and you're genuine. Coach is like such a hypocrite.

SPEAKER_03 26:08

See, I like I kind of prefer the coaches on the show to the Joes. Um, in real life, for entertainment, yes. If I were to like have to spend a day with one of these men, I would much rather spend a day with Joe Hunter. But like Joe's season, um, he really was trying to do like honor and integrity and we shouldn't lie. And he really kind of convinced a lot of the cast to do that, and it was so frustrating because I did think it was hypocritical, and I do think it's it's stupid to go into what is literally a game that everyone has agreed is a game and act like it's ethically wrong to play the game a certain way. It is like it was really frustrating to me. Um, and it was specifically frustrating because people were buying into Joe's thing. Whereas Coach is so out there and such a clown that yes, he is probably a bigger hypocrite than Joe is, but I'm like, no one's buying into it. Like everyone can see through it. And so that I kind of would rather have that on my screen of people like rolling their eyes and being exasperated as opposed to like Joe Hunter, although I've liked Joe a lot more on season 50 than on his original season, than like Joe Hunter successfully convincing players to stop playing the game and just like fall on their swords for each other.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Well, and I think this all goes back to something I've been thinking about. I don't watch a lot of reality television, it's Traitor's UK and Drag Race, that's why those are my two references, and now this season of Survivor. But aside actually from those shows, like good people don't always make good TV.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

And that is like in fact, I would say on reality TV, if the entire cast is like very well-behaved people, that's so massively boring. I don't want to watch that. Yeah, no, like I don't want the more I don't like the quote unquote bad people to win, but the season is fun because there is an enemy, because there is someone that we're trying to rise up against.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Yes, you need conflict for a story to be to happen. And so, yes, there's the inherent scarcity of the game, and you're losing your spots. But for for anything actually compelling to happen, you need people to be behaving a little bit poorly, yeah. Yeah, um, so we then go to the challenge and we learn what's happening with all of these pairs, double duo. So win or lose as a pair, get eliminated as a pair. And again, I said this earlier, because they're now voting off a pair, Aubrey and Devons and Coj and Chrissy are kind of screwed. Like they're the only two that you can vote out without having to sacrifice somebody from a different kind of alliance. Yeah. Um and Sari gets, like you said, she is so lucky, she gets to avoid the vote. She's going off to exile. I did say I was like, I'm not sure that Sari's gonna have the same level of enjoyment of a night on exile as like Ozzy. He's just skipped chilling out in the ocean. I'm like, I I I just haven't seen a lot of Sari's survival skills. She's very much a social player, but um, luckily she doesn't actually have to worry about it too long.

SPEAKER_03 29:40

Um, there is a moment. So, Sari, as I said, she is like infamous for being screwed over by twists. Literally, the most egregious one is she gets eliminated by default. No one votes for her at a tribal council, but because there's so many advantages played at once, she gets eliminated by default. Yes, yes, but like that just kind of plagues her. It's just something out of her control happens. She in American Survivor has never ever been voted out by a majority. It's always some like weird something happens and she gets kicked out. So there's a moment where Jeff says that twist and he's like, and you're all you're gonna play as pairs and you're gonna be eliminated as pairs. And Sari, since you're not in a pair, and she has a look come over her face that I felt like was herping, like, I'm getting sent home, like it's happening again. He's about to kick me out, and he goes, You're going to exile and you're immune tonight. And she suddenly her entire demeanor changes, and she's like, Oh my god, a new leaf.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Yes, she's like, Wait, good news? Like, what? I've never had this happen before. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

Yeah. I also like you were saying, it kind of puts the target on Devons and Aubrey and Chrissy and Coach because they're the only two pairs that are in um that are all in the same alliance. And I feel like obviously when they made the pairs, they weren't aware that they're eliminated together. I think it was just the assumption was like, we'll probably both win immunity if we win, but that's it. And I, in my my headcanon, is Chrissy, I think, said she would go with coach because she was like, Don't worry, you guys, I'll keep him in line. Like, I can babysit him. For sure. I can make sure he doesn't blow up our alliance. And so she paired herself with him just to be like, I'm gonna be his mom for the day. And then the minute that Jeff says you'll be eliminated with your partner, Chrissy literally falls forward, puts her hands on her knees, and I'm like, that that is a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Yes, like she has just realized the bed that she has made for herself. And the entire rest of the episode, I feel like every time that you see Chrissy, she obviously is like being positive and smiling and working with everyone, but I feel like there is it like it is a mask that you see slipping, and you can see in her eyes she is like about to cry or about to puke, is having an anxiety attack, being like, I have hitched my horse to the worst wagon on the entire beach. What am I gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Behind her eyes is just Cynthia Arrivo's no good deed playing. She's like just happened, she's she's in her no good deed era. I'm like, I cannot believe this. Is and Chrissy is the one who I've just recently been like, if there's a player I relate the most to on this beach, it's probably Chrissy. She's my kind of winner pick. I would love to see her make it through to the end. And so I was right there with her. I was like, Are you kidding me? She's got screwed. She's with coach.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

Yeah, another famous always gets screwed over by production twist, Chrissy Hoffbeck.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

And speaking of just like screaming, crying, throwing up, Jeff was outlining this challenge. And I think an overarching question for me throughout this season is, would I go on Survivor? Like, would I ever apply? And I was like, I would just cry if I was on Survivor. Like, if if Jeff was explaining this challenge to me, I was watching the I think it's called like the dream team as they do the examples.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

I was like, I would simply just start crying as Jeff was like explaining the rules of these challenges. I have a lot of respect for these people, and they get it done, but some of these things just look so needlessly difficult as they I think it was specifically the ledges that they have to go between and transfer the balls on the paddle, and then you have the getting the ball out of the cage with the paddle, like all of it just is so and then they have to toss it from the paddle into the basket. Like, I'm just I would it. I don't know, I don't think I could do it. I just simply do not have the strength of character.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

I don't know the constitution.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

Uh I was really rooting for Aubrey and Devons in this moment. Like, they are the ones I'm following throughout the challenge, being like, This is your last chance. Like, you've got and they have a really good lead. Christian and Jonathan have some tension during the puzzle bridge as they're like fighting for last spot, say, for to round two. And the sparks were flying between yeah, and not the good kind. I was like, Yeah, not the good sexual tension kind.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

Yeah, and it was on both ends. Uh-huh. It was on like Jonathan getting really frustrated that Christian described it wrong, and then Christian being like, I know I'm doing my best. Like they were. It was it was tense.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

And Jonathan's like louder, and so Christian is like, small, little, medium. Like they but they're lucky almost to be so like diametrically opposed in their alliances and stuff, where the pair is what's protecting them for this.

SPEAKER_03 35:08

And they're they're both like load-bearing alliance members, too. Yeah. So both people are like, well, we can't lose that member.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Gosh, yeah. So they were fun to watch, but I they're probably gonna be at each other's throats once they get back to individual. So here we have these two round challenges. There was another one, yeah, maybe last episode where they were after Steph had her journey and they had to hold up the thing on the balance beam. This episode, I felt bad for, for example, Tiff and Joe have such a strong lead winning round one, and then that's just reset, and it's like, nope, okay, time to like the people who are fighting for third place, like now have an equal shot at winning immunity. That I I get it, but it did make me feel bad. And luckily, Tiff and Joe make it through round two and and win. But I would be pissed if you make a great point.

SPEAKER_03 36:17

Like because the last one that they did, the second half was an endurance challenge, so it makes sense to reset because actually, if you finish first and then had to start first, you have a disadvantage. But this one, since it is a speed challenge, I didn't even think about that. I'd be pissed too. Yeah, like what the heck I blew through that first half, and now the person who barely made it is starting on the same level as me.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

I'm standing here like checking my watch, waiting for Christian and Aubrey to finish their bridges, and then Aubrey makes it into the third spot and has the same chance as I do now to do round. Yeah, that would, and luckily it's not a problem this episode, but imagine losing, like not winning immunity, and then being like, Well, what was the point of round one? Like, why am I doing so well in round one just to to lose it? But I was really I said actually in round two, because Aubrey and Rick Devons make it into the second half of the challenge. I was like, winning immunity is your only chance to survive tonight. Like, you need to win this. And in some ways, I think I was still right, even though they don't um win. But actually, and this is where Tiff and Joe lose their entire lead in the cage portion of round two. So the maze run, this is super nerdy thing that I was just thinking about as they were getting the balls through, is very Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild coded. It's very much a mini game.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, moving the switch around. Yeah, you go into like one of the little temples, and absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 37:52

I thought I hope Tiff enjoys this, and then she she killed it. And I said, I knew Tiff's Zelda skills were gonna come in handy.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

Of course. I heard that blood moon name drop a few weeks ago. Yep, heck, yeah, Tiffany.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

And it was her first time winning immunity. So good for her.

SPEAKER_03 38:11

You're so right because they came to that maze last and they blew through the maze. Genuinely, her love of Legend of Zelda probably helped her. Yeah, that probably is one of the reasons that they sped through it so quickly.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

I I genuinely am like, this is so I love Tiff. This is my girl, and I was like, I see a Breath of the Wild skill when I know a Breath of the Wild skill when I see one. So they have the individual immunity, but Jeff also says idols protect pairs. So if anybody chooses to play their idol tonight, um it protects the both of them. Very interesting as we get into what happens at tribal, but um before that we go to exile.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

And Sari says as she approaches, there was no beach, it was just coconuts.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

2,000 coconuts on the beach. This though is really where I'm now a Sari stand. Like this is she's now my winner, and she has to search through 2,000 coconuts to find the one with the Phoenix on it. And a couple of things I thought were interesting, just from like a technical level, she assumes that you have to turn them over to find the Phoenix. Yeah, as opposed to just like running around the beach and looking for because according to these establishing shots, it is sitting face up to be found. These establishing shots are where I'm curious if any of your insight into production comes into this. Yeah. Because I saw a very funny meme about the fact that like there's a cameraman is getting this really nice rack focus on this one coconut as Sariya's searching in the background. And it's like, are you not paying attention to the fact that there's a camera, yeah, multiple shots? They're like, don't mind us, we're just getting some nice B-roll of this one coconut as you're searching the whole beach.

SPEAKER_03 40:16

I wonder if there was like a GoPro kind of smaller camera that was less obvious. I don't know. I wonder if they were just like they were doing a lot of um red herring shots to like throw her off. Right. I do know what Jamie told me, and Sari is kind of out of focus in that shot. What Jamie told me, and this is this is a conversation that we had like three years ago, so maybe I'm misremembering. But what I was told is that during challenges, the camera is like up on the contestants, but then you will see this huge wide shot of the entire challenge, and you don't see production anywhere. And Jamie was like, when they do those wide shots, that's not us. Like they have stand-ins who are our relative sizes who are standing in for us who come in and reenact stuff so they can get the wide cinematic shots. So that's why I'm saying maybe because Sari's out of focus, maybe that isn't Sari and it's a stand-in who's just like walking around.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

That makes some sense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:21

Because I know they also like production in the past has done a like um sometimes players get so thin that like their clothes won't stay on, and it's like, well, this is on network television, like we can't be blurring everything. And so production will give them their shorts in a smaller size, but production will distress the shorts before giving it to them so that they look as messy as the ones that they're replacing, so that you can't tell. So I wonder they're you know, they're doing sneaky stuff like that to not break the illusion. Yeah. So it could have been a GoPro, but maybe tinfoil hat that was a Sarie stand-in, and they got that shot later.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

I I can believe it. I I like that theory. That's interesting. The I always think about that with the dream team. Like, I wonder if that's if it's the same people or if they do as part of casting, they have to be like, okay, now we need to find the the the dream team equivalent of this person. Yeah, the Suri, the like Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, like such a random reference, but where they make the alternate versions of themselves. Oh my word. Like the that's my that why is that my doppelganger reference that comes to mind? I don't know, but the cyber chase version of the Suri to certain that's who we saw. But dang, bending over, that is what is like as somebody who's had some recent back issues, I was like, I could not do this. And to bend over in the hot sun and try and check 2000 coconuts is torture. I I don't know, I'd be like on my hands and knees so that I didn't have to keep bending up and down. Um this is where we get the montage though of some of Sarie's past experiences, and she says nothing on Survivor is impossible. Girl, I'm like getting emotional saying it now. Like that, I'm literally, why am I tearing up? I was so moved by the montage of her like coming through some feats in the past, and in this moment, her being like, she she has to take a break and stop, and she's crying, and then she keeps looking and she finds it. And how much of this is production regima roll, I don't even care. I was like, it is really empowering to see her be like, nothing on Survivor is impossible. They are not putting anything forward for me that I can't do with the right like determination. And even going back to being watching the challenge set up and being like, I would just sit here and cry, I couldn't. This. I was like, that this is really, it feels like this is what the show is all about is like yeah, pushing yourself to those limits and seeing what you can do. And it seems like that's why these players are also coming back so many times because of what it reveals about themselves and their their capabilities. Uh, but dang, I'm literally crying about it now. Like I love you, Siri, and now I'm I'm fully on your side.

SPEAKER_03 44:26

These little uh retrospectives have been some of my favorite parts of the season. I have personally liked them having one contestant kind of go off on their own and do a challenge specifically because I like taking a moment to celebrate that player and like a greatest hits of their time on Survivor and how they've changed since they started. We got it with Stephanie last week, we got it with Sarie this week. I think those moments are really special. And on a season like 50, that is supposed to be a celebration of everything the show has been. I don't, I know you liked it. I don't care about Zach Brown. I don't need to know about how he feels about Survivor. I need to know how this show has changed Sari Fields' life and what she has learned in her time on it. Like, that is so much more exciting to me as a viewer than like, did you know this celebrity also watches the show?

SPEAKER_01 45:18

Right. And he's got a new song coming out, and he's playing it for oh, so she gets to come back to the beach. She's like immune, and I love the seeing the beach pre-Suri's arrival, and they're all talking about like who to target. Rizzo and Ozzy are like, our leader's not here. What what do we think? What would Suri do? WWC F D. Um, and they're like, she would want to vote out Aubrey and Death. And which is what everybody thinks um right now is like it's of obviously we we have our two targets. This is where I'm like, poor Chrissy. I was rooting for you, girl. And this is such a monkey's paw of um yes, we got rid of coach, but at what cost? Um Aubrey is like choking up, getting emotional, thinking about giving up her idol the night before, and now being target number one, which yeah, poor girl, bad timing.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

I do, I think it was a dumb move for her to give up her idol. She knew she wasn't gonna get a single vote. Just keep it one more tribal. And I think the reason that it went so over so badly with the Blood Moon is that she said she was gonna play it, then she didn't, and then she lied and said she forgot.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

Yes, exactly. That's it. Just own up to it.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

I think to be like, yeah, I realized I wasn't gonna get a single vote, and I was right, I didn't get a single vote, so I still have it. Like, yeah, game recognized game. Okay, good for you.

SPEAKER_01 47:02

Genevieve missed her shot in the dark. I held up my idol.

SPEAKER_03 47:05

Like, exactly. And then you still have it for tonight when your name is actually being brought up, and then you can play it and save you in devons.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

Yes, it's it's it's one of those almost to your point of like falling on your sword for the sake of like honor and integrity and being like, sorry, everyone. I I said I was gonna play it and I didn't. So for for the sake of sportsmanship, I'm gonna give it up now. And it's like, actually, you're like, who cares? Hold on to it. Yeah, you're gonna vote people out anyway. Exactly. We we go to Sanctuary briefly, and Joe and Tiff again, Tiff is just collecting all of these alliances, and I'm happy for her. They are feeling really bonded after the challenge. They're also targeting Devons and Aubrey, so it is not looking good for those two. We then get Chrissy trying to damage control her she her ball and chain. I feel like she's got one of those um dang, all of these random references coming to mind today. Are they called chomp chomps in Mario?

SPEAKER_03 48:11

In Mario, I think so, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

And I feel like she's literally got a chomp chomp chain to her leg, and she's like, Coach, calm down. And she tells him, Don't sing, don't haiku. And he does not like being told by somebody, specifically a woman, telling him what to do.

SPEAKER_03 48:27

And so this is a beautiful moment of karmic justice because in like episode three or four, coach pulled Chrissy aside and was like, Hey, so if we had gone to tribal, it would have been you. You talk too much, you need to stop talking. Yes, and now Chrissy is like, Coach, everyone on the beach cannot stand you. You have to stop singing to yourself, you have to stop dancing, you have to stop doing haikus. I, this I mean, sucks because she got voted out, but like this was the moment of vindication for Chrissy Hofbeck. This is her being like, You think you were the one who needed to tell me what to do? Uh-huh. Other way around, man. Other way around.

SPEAKER_01 49:10

Yes. Tables have turned. And I just want to say, I called Rizzo the Dragon Slayer Whisperer last week. And Chrissy now takes the title for herself, but I'll let her take it. I I just we were we were aligned. I'm this is what I'm saying. Chrissy was my girl. We're on the same wavelength. And very interesting that she's trying to target Emily and Rizzo instead of Aubrey and Devons. And I think it would be fun to see Rizzo get blindsided.

SPEAKER_03 49:42

Yeah, it doesn't happen, but I think Chrissy just has a severe distaste of Rizzo. I think she also, I think I think she also doesn't like Emily very well, very much, pardon me. But I think she just really does not gel with Rizzo and wants him out of there.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

I think she's smart too. Obviously, Suri is keeping him in as maybe like a goat to bring to the end, but I think he's unfortunately going to he could stay under the radar for so long that it ends up like working in his benefit in a way that I would prefer he not. Like well, so I think Chrissy's right to target him, but I didn't.

SPEAKER_03 50:25

I have my own thoughts about why I think Suri's working with Rizzo. But for Chrissy, I think she also recognizes that Coach really likes Rizzo and wants to work with Rizzo. And it's like, oh, that's someone who's gonna usurp my place in the alliance. Like, Coach, especially because Coach doesn't have a history of working very closely with women, yeah. Then it's like, oh, another man joins the alliance, he now is gonna become number three or four, and Stephanie and I get knocked down another peg. I need to make sure he goes home so that we can keep our standing.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

That's a really good point, yes, because last week Rizzo was the one to like take Coach away and try and calm him down.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Yeah. So I think that freaked her out. I think the reason that Sari is working with Rizzo is because Sari, her the biggest flaw in her game is she cannot get to Final Tribal. She is she has never ever in any of her seasons won immunity. And so kind of everyone knows, like, we can just vote Sari out whenever because she's not gonna have immunity. And so always when it gets down to like six, five, four people left, they just vote her out. So Suri, if she wants to get to the end, she has to keep people around who want to take her to the end, who are not going to like turn on her at the last second. So it's actually in her best interest not necessarily to align herself with the best players, but to align herself with the people who love her so much that they will be blind to their own games. And so I think part of the reason that her two closest allies are Ozzy and Rizzo is less because they're so good at the game and more because they are so obsessed with her that feasibly they would be willing to take her to the end, not realizing that she will get more votes than them and beat them. Like Rizzo has so much reverence for these old school players that I could see Rizzo being like, I just want to be remembered as the guy who took Cree Fields to the end and kind of care more about that than care about getting to the end with people he knows he can beat.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

That yes, that makes sense in terms of that it's interesting that she's never made it to a final tribal before. So I can see prioritizing, like I need to get I I could win if I could get to the end. So yeah, how's how's she gonna make that happen? The the just a quick note on coach going crazy in his hammock, he is not doing well in solitary confinement, and then Suri is back, and speaking of Suri, she's like, What are you all thinking? Now is the time to go for the mom and dad of the Honor and Integrity Alliance. Um, and so there goes Chrissy's chance of doing anything. Like it was a nice idea to try and get Rizzo out, but as soon as Suri has set her eyes on you, like it's it's just a ticking clock at this point. This is where I'm like, oh, Suri is running the island. Like she comes back, and everybody is like, Suri, what do we do? What do we do? And because Chrissy didn't know about the Rizzo Alliance, she tells Suri that that's her target and immediately is also like coach was obviously a target. Chrissy has now shot herself in the foot. She's got on Suri's bad side. And now, just a quick note on Joe, as you said, he's maybe kind of a boring player because he's so honor and integrity. He's not down for the plan. Rizzo's like, we can't we can't blindside Joe because that'll cause bigger issues down the line. But Joe will he says later in the episode that he will never write down Coach's name. Well, we'll we'll see. Um Nerd herder trying to take out the Heart of the Death Star, as Christian puts it, which I'm like, oh funny, I love my nerds. Meanwhile, I've made Zelda, Mario, and Scooby Doo references in this episode. So uh throwing stones from a glass house. Yeah. While um okay, just before we get to tribal, I like the pre-tribal montages. I like when they get the cameras up close in their faces and they tighten up their buff uh bows in their hair and and start walking. But to have coach singing over this montage and for production to have added music, I was like We do not see eye to eye on this.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

I loved this so much. I was like, the production team needs an Emmy for this to put a full orchestration behind the song he's writing himself. I really I like I think with coach, you just have to be aware that production is in on the joke. Like, production is in his very first season, there was a recurring production bit where they kept putting it like makes me laugh to think about they kept putting an eagle screech behind him like every time he spoke. So he would like be talking and then he'd like hit a Tai Chi move, and then you'd be like, like that kind of stuff. And it is, it's just the editors being like, This guy is so ridiculous. Yes, I I find that stuff it really tickles me. I think it's very funny. And to put that as like the hardcore background music to them, Greater Tribal, especially because I kind of, you know, coaches, this is his fourth time playing the game. It and he's been asked more than four times. I think production just really likes having him on the show because they know that he will always deliver. Like, no matter what, if coach is on a season, he's going to do something extremely memorable. And he always provides comedic bits for them to work with. Yes. And so I felt like this was kind of they know that this is the last they have to work with him for the season. So this was their like celebration. Let's get everything we can out of him. This is his big send-off. We'll give him a musical number. He can write off into the sunset.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

I thought it was fun. This is thinking about it, knowing that it's his final tribal and he is leaving. Like, I can understand them being like, We're milking this for all it's worth. This is the last chance we have. If he had survived this tribal, I would have even less patience for it. But because this is also his literal swan song, I will I can allow it. Um we get to tribal, and let me, I love D, let me just say. And she looks so good. It is this is gorgeous surreal for me because aside from Jeff, who's standing there in like Bermuda shorts and a T button-up shirt, like this is the first time we're seeing these players showered and like dressed to the nines. This is like traitors round table vibes. Like, they are, and she looks so good. Loved it.

SPEAKER_03 57:52

I love when someone shows up to their first tribal on the jury in like a revenge dress. Uh-huh. When they're like, I'm gonna show you how hot I am. That's exactly rubber in all your faces, yeah. Like, I'm well fed and well rested and showered, and you're out there starving still.

SPEAKER_01 58:12

100%. And they are giving her reaction shots, the whole tribal. I obviously I don't know how the jury works or what's really happening here. She's like the live audience. They it seemed like she wasn't really allowed to like speak very much.

SPEAKER_03 58:29

She's you're not supposed to talk at all if you're on the jury.

SPEAKER_01 58:32

She's she's making a couple little comments. I was like, but I was like, is she not allowed to talk? But she's saying a lot with her face. I also just note we had the buff bows, the mini mouse bows this season. I also really like they're all in their colored bands to delineate the duos. I like how they're all styling them as like ties and headbands and um any little scrap of clothing that they can get their hands on.

SPEAKER_03 59:02

I love the they love to accessorize.

SPEAKER_01 59:04

Yes. And the fake idol, we've had Chekhov's fake idol early in the season comes into play. This is I don't know. Because we know that it's fake and we've seen this from the beginning. To me, it seemed quite obvious. He was like, Oh, I have a clue that says to look, and I know exactly where it is. What did you think of just his performance?

SPEAKER_03 59:36

Um, I thought, I mean, kind of it only needed to be good enough to dissuade enough votes that he wasn't gonna get the majority votes. I don't know how set in stone Coach and Chrissy were as the vote. I kind of had the feeling that it that it was gonna be Coach and Chrissy regardless. But then listening to exit interviews, Chrissy seems to be under the impression that like that's that changed a lot of votes. Um so I don't know. But it only needed to be good enough to cast a little bit of doubt. There have in the past, like Rick Devons on his original season found maybe four idols, like found a lot of idols.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:20

It's like his shtick, is he's the idol guy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:23

And then lest we forget that on this season, everyone thinks that he found the idol that Christian found. So everyone's like, oh, he finds idols all the time. And there have been past seasons where you find a clue and it's like the idol is in the challenge at this spot. And during the challenge, you have to like secretly grab it. So I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility to be like the idol is at tribal council on the fire pit. Find a time to secretly find it.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:51

That okay, and that is kind of my question there is like how would this happen in the game? Like, is to the other players, is this something that they would believe? And so that is helpful context to know that similar clues have happened before.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:07

Yeah, I think it's believable. I think Devin's saying to Aubrey when he doesn't play it, oh, I have to sneak it out before it gets activated. That's when I'm like, okay, so that's bull crap. I don't believe that.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:18

Um yes, and what where are you getting that information, supposedly? Like the original clue tells you all of that because you haven't opened up the idol to read anything about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:28

Like because there have been idols in the past where you find a clue, and the clue is like you have to, there is a key that is on a chain that's on a tree, and you have to get the key off the chain, and then under your flagpole, there is a box, and you have to dig up the box, and you have to open the box, and then in the box is an idol. Like, there have been clues where it's like you have to do this task, this task, this task, and then you're rewarded with the idol. So I think he's trying to do that of like I have to get the idol and get it out. Like, I can't play it same night, which I guess isn't a terrible lie. I don't know. I just remember Stephanie being like, okay, if it's an idol, show us the clue, and him being like, uh, uh, and that I feel like it was effective that enough people believed it enough to not vote for him, but I don't think that he has convinced everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:23

Well, and that's interesting because the votes are we'll get into that. The the tension here though, I thought was great. Like my heart was pounding as Jeff was retrieving the votes. I was really into it. And I was very surprised that coach decided to play his shot in the dark because it was a level of self-awareness that I have not seen from him all season.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:49

So Chrissy in her exit press has said that Stephanie told them to do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:54

And she's basically during maybe the live tribal, do you think?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:57

Yes. Chrissy said that she truly thought that they were safe. And then when Devons pulled out the fake idol and the live tribal started, is when it was suddenly like they were in free fall, and it was like, what happens now? And essentially, Stephanie was talking to people getting a read of the room, and then came over and was like, You need to play your shot in the dark.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:20

Interesting. And he listened, and he did, also.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:24

He listened to a woman.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:25

Yeah. Growth for Goach. Dang, he's going out on a high. And I understand, I'd love to know from a production standpoint, like where the chance of the shot in the dark comes into play, because we've now seen three played. None of them have hit. But yeah, it's a one-in-six chance on the individual player. Not necessarily that, like, across a season, if you saw six people play their shot in the dark, one of them is gonna be so I'm I'm just curious if we're gonna see any of them hit.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:00

Yeah, the shot in the dark was introduced in 41, and it has only hit three times in nine seasons.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:08

Wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:10

So it is really like it is highly, and one of those times the person misplayed it, it was Jamie who I met from 44. Much love. She played it and didn't receive a single vote. Like she just like misplayed it. Um, the other two times it did end up saving someone. So it is truly a shot in the dark. It is truly like this might work. I am this desperate, so I'm just gonna take a stab at it and see if it works.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:36

Gotcha. It'll yeah, it'll be interesting to see how if if it comes into play at all, yeah, or hits at any point in the rest of this season. But um The tribe has spoken. They eliminate coach and Chrissy, and first of all, I was shocked, but very pleasantly surprised. So sad for Chrissy. I can't say it enough. Like, poor girl. She she she got dragged down by coach, but goodbye and good riddance to the dragon slayer. Like, coach called this a healing experience, which might be the craziest thing he said all season. Like, it is the exact opposite, I feel like, of what I've observed from his decline.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

I don't know if he still feels this way, having it be aired, but coach he went on to his first season being like, I am a superhero, I am such, I have so much integrity, I'm such an amazing man. And the viewer reaction was like, You're the worst person who's ever lived. And he got, and this is why I say, like, I view these people as characters on a TV show, and I don't think of them. As real people, because do I find Coach on this show like really annoying and would I not want to spend a day with him? Yes. Do I think that this man should, you know, do harm to himself? No. Right. And he was like getting messages from viewers telling him to, you know, yeah, fill in the blank. Like it was just kind of constant. And um, you know, I have my own feelings about Coach, but I don't think any person should have to go through that. And it was extremely hard for him. And so he came back for 50, and he now is like written into the legacy of the show, has been a fixture on the show for like 15 years. And a ton of these new players who were kind of kids when he played the first time really like him. Like Rizzo says, You changed my life.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:53

But like he came onto the season, and all of these players were like, I'm such a fan, you're one of my favorite players ever. And I think that genuinely was healing for him. To be around people where it's like, I watched you play, and whereas so many people at the time like absolutely detested you. Like, I have watched you play, and it was so much fun to watch you play. You are one of my favorites, and I'm so excited to get to play with you now. And I think that did, you know, kind of help him find a little light in himself again.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:24

That that makes sense. I yeah, I think I feel like I've just been watching somebody backslide, but I do hope that, yeah, those interpersonal relationships with and Rizzo is actually somebody who comes to mind when I would be really interested when you just talk about like the public reaction. He is so high on his own supply and in this season is has not yet seen his 49 air. And I'm really curious how, and I actually don't really know what the public reaction is to Rizzo, I just know what my reaction is to Rizzo. Um, but I'd be very interested to see like how he would be changed by having being a public figure and not just a fan. Because really, both of these seasons he gets to just come in and be a fan of the show, a fan of the other players. Um maybe similar to Coach in that first season of like, oh, I feel like I'm the best of heaven does not make it a secret that he thinks he's the best of all time. Um and so I'd be interested to see what fan reaction is actually like and and just what becoming a public figure to your point, and people do not deserve the like vitriol that comes from the internet as it exists today. But um it'd be interesting to see there how his gameplay might change if he came back for another season.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:51

Yeah, Rizzo, I do think is pretty unflappable. I see stuff he posts on social media, he tends to still be high on his own supply.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:59

Oh, and good for him. I'm sure he's good for him like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:03

Confidence is a very healthy thing, so good for him.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:07

That's the key to a happy life, really. The the other thing about just the votes here, I'm also very curious where things would have gone without Devin's. Yes, I am too.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:22

I'm very curious.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:24

There's there's obviously really no way to know, but everybody except for Jonathan votes for Coach and Chrissy.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:33

Like does Stephanie vote for Coach and Chrissy too?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:37

She did. Because I I I made a note on on I watched them hold up their papers. Jonathan was the only one who stuck to Aubrey and Devons because I think he didn't believe the idol play. Yeah. But Stephanie and Joe, Mr. I would never write coach's name down, both throw them under the bus.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:57

I'm actually impressed by that. I don't think that Stephanie has very good social reads. I am impressed that she would be cognizant enough to recognize like this is a sinking ship. And as much as I would rather they stayed in the game, it is smarter for me to jump ship and join the majority than to make enemies for no reason because they're going home regardless.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:19

Right. And it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:20

So problems too. I didn't I didn't know that she had that on her.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:24

Yeah, it's Jonathan's the only one who didn't jump ship. Yeah. So be interesting to see how that plays out next next episode as well. Overall, though, I thought this was a great episode. I I want to find my um initial thoughts of Coach and Chrissy. I I made my notes on just their press pictures. Um you know what? I stand by the sweat coach. I wrote that um I've heard the name Coach before, and something about his photo felt sinister. And I said that might just be my inherent distrust of men, but I think I I stand by that. There is also something specifically about um about coach that just didn't sit right from with me from from day one. So I'm I'm proud of that. And Chrissy, I said, I like this girl. She looks like she's gonna go far. And I wish she had gone farther, but I did. I I liked Chrissy a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:26

I am a Chrissy Hofbeck defender. I like Chrissy. Um, some parts of the fandom are not Chrissy. Like, speaking of coaches for season, Chrissy has deactivated her social media and only did one exit interview, which that is maybe unrelated. Maybe she just like was really busy. I don't know. But usually when you're voted out, you do like four or five exit interviews. Chrissy only did one. I just think that her reaction on this season has not been very positive from the fandom, and that has been very hard for her. That is fully conjecture, that is me making assumptions, and that makes me sad. I personally like Chrissy Hofbeck. Um, you know, I think it's she got a short end of the stick by kind of falling into an alliance with the likes of Coach. Yes, and that's a bummer, and I would have liked to have seen her go farther.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:23

Yeah, I I really liked Chrissy. I'm sad to hear that she doesn't have like public favor because yeah, she was a little bit mothering early on in the season, and people told her to chill out a little bit, but she is she and I were on the same wavelength. I I'm a Chrissy Stan. Stan is a strong word. Chrissy fan. I'm a Chrissy fan. Yeah. Um, so sad to see her go.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:51

Yeah. So I wanted to talk quickly about um how Chrissy uh has a history of of getting a short end of the stick from production. So obviously, this week I think that Chrissy went home not because people wanted her to go home, but because they wanted Coach to go home. And she was just the casualty of coach going home, which sucks completely out of her hands. Basically, that there was a surprise twist, and the person she's partnered with is now gonna sink her ship. On Chrissy's original season, so I know that Mirjana to has talked to you about this. How at Final Four, traditionally, uh two people are moving on to finals, and then the other two people who are left are gonna make fire against each other. Yes, which I'm hoping is not gonna happen this season. We will see because it's one of the things we voted on, and I voted for no fire. Anyways, I don't like that aspect of the game, but whatever. It's something we can talk about.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:46

Do you feel like you voted with the majority so far, like on the things that they've announced?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:51

No. Um, I voted for the tribe colors that got picked, and I voted for a tribe swaps. But I voted for rice and they got no rice. And I did not vote for I the twist one had like three options. It was like no twists, and then it was like low impact twists, and then it was dynamic twists, and I said low impact twists, I'm pretty sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:16

But the one that I the two that I care most about, one is confirmed, which is do you want a live finale? And I said yes, and that has been confirmed there is a live finale, so I'm thrilled about that. And then fire is the other one that I care deeply about. I don't want them to go to fire. Uh so we'll see. I don't think we'll find out until the finale if that is happening. But Chrissy on her original season, that was not the case. For the first like 30 odd seasons of the show, the final four was just a regular vote. You got a regular vote, and whoever got the majority of the votes went home. And if it tied, if it was two versus two, you went to fire, but besides it was a regular vote. So Chrissy's on her season, she's doing well, she's in the majority alliance, and there's this guy named Ben who is like the one to beat who they are trying to get out, but Ben keeps winning immunity or finding idols, and they just cannot get him out. And then it gets to Final Four, and Ben loses immunity, and there's no idols at Final Four. So Chrissy is like, oh my gosh, this is when we get Ben out. Like we have the majority, our alliance of three has the majority. We vote out Ben, the three of us go to Final Tri, and I have a very good shot of winning Final Tribal. I've been like kind of the head of this alliance, I've won all these immunities, like I've been making a ton of moves. And then they get to tribal council, and Jeff is like, surprise for the first time ever, we're actually not gonna vote. Instead, two people are gonna go to fire, and the winner goes to final tribal. And so they just like threw, they were not told ahead of time, they could not plan for it. It was just thrown at her. And basically, what it was was, in my opinion, Jeff wanted Ben to win. And Jeff knew that Ben was going to get voted out. And I say Jeff, and by Jeff I mean just production as a whole. Production. And so production was like, okay, let's change the game so that Ben has a fighting chance because we know that they're going to vote him out. So they just threw this surprise, like, oh, now the loser of the vote still has a chance to stay in the game. They're gonna go to fire. Ben wins fire, he gets to final tribal, he wins final tribal.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:28

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:32

So Chrissy, two times, has had a surprise twist that she could have in no way planned for that then ruined her game.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:39

Oh my gosh. Poor girl. She deserves so much more. That is, and that is again similar maybe to what you were saying about Cree, just to have like not the merit of your game to be the reason that you lose is difficult to be like, oh, this is completely out of my hands. This was production, and like you said, a twist I couldn't have prepared for, and now I'm going home because of it is yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:13

And there's like I've made peace with fire making, and there's fire makings that I've really liked, and there's players that have made it to finals because of fire making that wouldn't have otherwise that I was happy they made it to finals. But I think it was dirty, dirty, dirty in that season to tell them day of so that because otherwise she would have like really worked to get Ben out earlier. But there was the knowledge of like we know we can get him out at four, and then it was surprise we're doing something at four that we've never done before.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:41

Dang, dang, crazy. Well, rest in peace, Miss Chrissy. Rooting for you, excited to see you on the jury, showered and beclot.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:54

Yes, and gorgeous in a revenge dress.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:57

I can't wait for her revenge dress next next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:01

So who's your winner pick now? Are you are you saying Suri? Are you locking out of it?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:04

I think I'm I'm hopping onto the Suri train. Yeah, okay. This episode really, really sold me.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:10

And who's who's your number one op now that coach is gone?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:14

Now that is a question. I I want to say Jonathan. I don't hold that with a ton of conviction, but I think like he could spell the most trouble for the players that I like the most. Yeah, yeah. I really like the nerd herd. And Joe, because he's now paired up with Tiff, like I really like Tiff, and I think um Jonathan, because he's the only one who didn't vote for Coach and Chrissy, I think he's gonna try and make another big stink about it next week. And um yeah, I'm I'm saying that he's probably the one I need to keep my eye on.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:56

Okay, I uh see your perspective there.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:01

Who's your number one op then?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:03

If you're I that's why I said that, because I'm like, maybe Jonathan too. And the thing is, I don't like dislike Jonathan, but for all the reasons that you stated, I'm like the people that he is targeting are my faves. So he the enemy, I mean, the enemy of my friend is my enemy. That's not the saying. The saying is the enemy of the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but yeah, I I have to root against him simply because he's against the people I'm rooting for.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:30

Yes, it's the transitive property of exactly like exactly. It's it's not not for my choosing. I don't want to be rooting against Jonathan necessarily, but I think just where he's chosen to ally and draw those lines in the sand. Chrissy was my favorite of that like old school honor and integrity tribe. I don't have a lot of love for the rest of them. And so just for for where the where the chips have fallen, I think Jonathan, I would like to be the next one to go home.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:00

Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. I also I don't know. I have not been like loving Aubrey on this season. I just feel like she is she just seems like her mind is somewhere else.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:15

For sure. She's not she's just not playing a very good game.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:19

Like, yeah, and so when it's a cast full of people who are like Tiffany is like fighting for her life, and it would be such a shame. And honestly, I think after this episode, I think Tiffany is actually kind of set. I know, I yeah, but like I'm happy for it. It'd be such a shame to see like Tiffany go, who is working so hard and wants it so bad, and then see Aubrey, who I personally feel like just kind of doesn't really care about being there. See Aubrey then continue forward. Like that does make me a little that bumps me out a bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:50

I like her as a vote for the for the nerd herd, yeah. Nerd herd, but I am not necessarily rooting for her. She is she's number four on my list for the nerd herd. Like it is, I think Emily is probably my favorite there. You have such good taste.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:07

I love Emily.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:10

I love Emily. People in my watch group, someone was talking about how um when Emily said that like coach is so annoying that she wouldn't care if it got her voted out telling him he was annoying as long as she got to tell him. And someone in my watch group was like, Okay, I forgive Emily for everything she's done because that was so great. And I was like, forgive her for what? She's been incredible the entire season. Her, the like, she is so messy with secrets. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:38

That's what I want to see. She is good television without being a bad person, like she's just being so messy.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:45

I literally am so obsessed with Emily Flippin. If she won the season, I would be thrilled.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:52

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:52

I yeah, and the way that she can burn not even burn every bridge, she can betray everyone's trust and yet keep the relationship like constantly set fire to every alliance, and then they're like, Well, that's just Emily. It's so iconic to me. Her rolling her eyes when Rizzo tells Coach that he changed his life. Like, I am a big fan of the Financial Analyst. I love you, Emily Flippin. I'm so happy you're on this season. No, I I hope you take it all away.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:25

She is my like winner of the nerd herd. Siri's kind of playing her own game. And like I said, Chrissy was my old school winner. So, but Tiff and Tiff is my other, those are like my three, probably. Tiff, Sari, Emily are like the three I would like to see win.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:43

Yeah. I'm very interested to see where Tiffany lands because she and D were kind of doing their own thing with Emily, but like she wasn't part of the nerd herd. But now that she is getting tied up with Joe, I just am interested looking forward to see where where alliance uh lines are drawn. Anyways, I'm now just going off on anything. So I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:10

No, this is perfect. I cannot thank you enough, Ian, for jumping in as a special guest host this episode. It has been so fun to catch up with you and just get your takes on the season as a whole, this episode specifically. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:26

Of course, I always want to talk about Survivor. Anytime I'm around someone who I know is watching, I literally be like, So who do we think's winning? I just I want to talk about it 24-7.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:38

It's like the mean girls, like, I'm thinking about Survivor all the time.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:42

And when we're not talking about Survivor, all I want to do is I can feel the people around me getting annoyed by how much I'm bringing up Survivor, and yet I can't stop it. Like 100%. It is exactly like that. I love this show. It I think it is the best designed reality competition show in history, and I've been having a great time. So I am very honored that you asked me to co-host, and I'm very glad I could be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:03

Oh, well, share with the world. I'm sure, like I said, the people already know uh the amazing work you're doing over at Slay, a queer buffy podcast. Yeah, where can people find you? Where can they listen to your amazing takes?

SPEAKER_03 1:24:18

Slay is streaming wherever you get podcasts. It is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewatch podcast. We are currently on season three. Lucas, longtime fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:27

One of my favorite seasons, and probably my favorite season.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:29

I you and Sarah Michelle Gallery, it's a good one. Uh, so you can find that wherever you get podcasts. You can follow us on Instagram at uh RG Presents underscore podcast. And then if uh you want to follow me, I guess you can find me at I J A L L R E D 95 on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:49

Hey. Amazing. Yes, I am a huge Buffy fan. Y'all also did glee, of course. That's where we met. And I am so I'm sending anybody who has not yet discovered Ian and Lena's amazing podcast. Um, please go check them out for all of the glee, all of the buffy, all of the survivor as well. And I meant to say this at the top and I didn't, but I've I mentioned y'all in like the first episode of Miss the Boat. Everything I knew about Survivor, I learned from your podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:19

We used to talk about when we were talking about Glee, we did like how the new directions do on Survivor, and mapped out like this person would get voted out here, this person would get voted out here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:29

That's the first time I heard about the merge. I think maybe correct me if I'm wrong. The only thing I remember now is that you said Santana would be like she'd make it post-merge, but would probably be voted out like once they got the individual.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:45

I felt like Santana, I felt like, and this is I felt like Santana and Finn were gonna be the like D and coach, where I feel like when you get to the merge, it's always like these are the two figureheads of the alliance who are now crashing, and one of them is usually kind of the first casualty of the merge. So I felt like either Santana or Finn was going to be the first out on the merge in like that war between dueling alliances.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:12

And Santana would rock D's Revenge Dress from exactly as the first member of the jury, as the mayor of the jury.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:21

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:23

Oh my gosh. Well, yes, thank you so much. I can't wait to see where the rest of this season goes. Very excited. I swear, if a man wins, this may be the last season of Survivor I watched, but we will we will cross that big bridge with there.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:40

The first season I watched with my parents. There was a player that my parents said if that player wins, I'm never watching the show again. And that player won, and they watch every week. So hey.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:50

Oh my gosh. Great. Well, we will be back next week. See you next time on Mist the Boat.