Survivor 35 Discussion Thread 10/18 SPOILERS!!!

We are totally confused about the Secret Advantage!! Hopefully someone can explain it. I wasn't unhappy that Alan got voted out, would have preferred Joe but he used his idol. Glad Devon survived.

Also, did you notice how Jeff was manipulating the giving out the buffs? He had two different trays and offered them to specific people. I don't like that.

Jessica's secret advantage said that she had to use it at the next tribal council. If her tribe did not lose, she would use it to BLOCK the vote of another player on the losing tribe. So yes, she knew she was blocking Devon's vote. She said she would use it to help her fellow Healers and she did...

BUT imho she was lucky that it worked in her favor; it could have just as easily gone the other way if Devon had swung to the Healers' side with Joe and Desi. She knew Joe had the idol, but couldn't know for sure that he would play it or even that he would still be working with Desi since he has shown himself to be a bit of a wild card. I'm sure she hoped that Joe would use the idol if they felt like either of them were in danger and that, by blocking Devon, she could ensure that one of the Hustler's would go home.

And that's exactly how it played out, so kudos to Jessica. Maybe the Healers tribe is more solid than I realized. Which bums me out, I don't really like them. And I think Cole is a tool! So selfish in his game play and not in a smart way!! Jessica needs to cut him loose, despite her attraction; he will hurt her game. I also really dislike Joe and Mike. Desi and Jessica are the only ones I sort of like on that tribe. I don't even remember who the sixth tribe member was. 

First, I was a little surprised that the episode started right off with the reward challenge (or did I miss something at the beginning?). Usually they show them back at camp after the previous TC. Maybe since everyone wanted Patrick gone there was no drama or anything of interest back in Camp. So, I am happy that we’re at the point in the game where they do two challenges—one reward and one immunity. A lot of times after a swap, they just send everyone back to camp. I was glad they had them do a challenge right away.

I was surprised they did three tribes again; I thought for sure it would be two with one going to exile. Now that the tribes are mixed, it’s harder to keep them straight, can’t really use the old names. So hear are the new tribes:

LEVU: Alan and Ashley (former heroes), Desi and Joe (former Healers), and Devon, the lone former Hustler.

YAWA: Jessica, Cole, and Mike from the Healers, Lauren the redhead mistruster from the Hustlers, and Ben from the Healers.

The tribe that appeared to be the powerhouse, Levu, surprisingly did the worst at this challenge and Yawa won the PBJ reward. I have to wonder how long that extra bread would last out there and how they would keep bugs off of it.

Jessica finding the advantage was cute. I love how she talked about thinking it was a chip and almost eating it. Cole opening his big trap and telling others her secret was not so cute. What was he thinking? Cole actually seems like a really sweet guy but he is dumb where this game is concerned. His decisions make no sense and I would not want to be aligned with him. Hearing Jessica talk about it broke my heart a little. She is so darn sweet and a much better thinker in the game.

I love that on Levi tribe, Devon was smart enough to go to Ashley, ask her about Joe’s lie that she was coming after him, and then believe her that she wasn’t. He had a good read on Joe.

On Soko, Ryan bonded with Chrissy because he confessed to sending her the advantage. I was glad about that because I like him a lot, but it was funny how she bought into his reason that he “got a good vibe” from her. Come on Chrissy, it was because you looked weak in the challenge and he wanted to keep the opposing tribe weak. I was surprised she was so gullible.

In the immunity challenge, I was surprised to see Levy do poorly again. And once again, we see someone tiring (Alan), but refusing to let someone else try. Good for Yawa for winning again, thanks in large part to Jessica for figuring out the puzzle.

So now Jessica has to figure who to give her “advantage”. As someone else said, her choice wasn’t a smart one. Common sense would dictate to give it to one of the former Heroes, but it had the effect she wanted. I hated Joe used his idol correctly, but he played savvy. I just can’t stand the guy. One of the other players I disliked went home as a result, but I didn’t like that it put Ashley in a vulnerable position. That’s the second time that girl dodged a bullet. I’m glad to see Cole is sticking with her next week. And I was glad to see that Alan went out as a good sport. Good for you Alan!

I think that if I was Jessica, and I wanted to protect my old tribe, I would have used my advantage on someone in the other tribe rather than on the swing vote.

Though, it is worth noting that with Devon without a vote and Joe playing his idol, both Joe and Desi were protected (provided both pairs voted together and stuck together through a tie). If he had been wrong about where the votes were going, in the case of a tie, the one who had the idol played on them is safe, and the other is safe per the tie break rules (the two who had the tie votes cast against them are not part of the rock draw). I would truly be surprised if it turns out that Jessica thought that all the way through.

Because I read this thread before watching the episode, I watched how Jeff handed out the buffs. The right tray was for guys and the left tray for women. In the past they have had a gender imbalance on shuffles when complete random draws are made, so I don't have a problem with this level of manipulation.

I do think it was completely random that Ryan and Chrissy ended up on the same tribe. I also think it was hysterical that Chrissy didn't connect Ryan saving her at the first TC because she was the likely target after throwing up at the end of the challenge.

So glad, but not surprised, Devon saw through Joe and a bit disappointed Joe used the HII this week. If they lose next week, I predict Desi siding with Devon and Ashley to vote him out.

What can you say about Cole? He says knowledge is power and then proceeds to dilute the power by sharing the knowledge.


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Have we seen much of Desi so far? She seems really interesting and I'd like to learn more about her. For some reason, I thought that Devon was going to get to choose the player to lose their vote, not that he lost his vote. Interesting twist!

What the heck was Cole thinking when he blabbed about the secret advantage? These players need to learn to keep quiet about things. And Joe? I'm not a fan of the players who deliberately stir things up. Life is complicated enough without the drama llamas out there.

Okay, I read Dalton’s recap and as always it was entertaining. A couple years of things in particular that I found interesting and thought I would Sharna. First, I think Dalton might be experiencing what you guys are (those who aren’t loving this season so far). He feels it’s due to the cast



Another interesting thing, apparently Probst and Dave Grohl are buddies so Probst slipped all these Foo Fighter song titles in the immunity challenge last night. So cute!

The last thing was Dalton asked Probst if Joe really “read Ashley’s face” and that was why he used the idol on himself rather than her ( I, like Dalton, felt he was showboating and making that up). Probst said no, he really did read her, absolutely.

Just wanted to add after reading Dalton's Recap-he mentioned Roark (I think that's how it's spelled) in his Recap and how he didn't know who she was and where she came from. I thought the exact same thing when Jeff called out her name. "Roark, who the heck is Roark?" 

Also wanted to ask you all how you feel about these secret advantages that have now popped up twice and yet we are still so early in the game. I really don't like them because 1. if the trend continues that is too frequent and 2. I really hate the fact that you have to use them for the tribal that night. I think Jeff said Survivor producers like to change things up in the game but something like this where you've got idols and frequent secret advantages flying around too often takes away from the pureness of just a classic tribal council. And there was nothing wrong with a classic tribal council. We've seen some amazing ones. Remember the old rule if it ain't broke don't fix it. Personally I think this season's change with frequent secret advantages that you have to use that tribal council were a bad decision. 

    And I agree with you-what a wonderful concept. Especially if they didn't tell any of the players. Those people would be looking and looking for idols that weren't there! What a fantastic season that would be. Do you read Dalton's Recaps? If you do he always asks for our thoughts at the end. You should suggest this since it was your idea. I love it!