Cheat Work Thursday

"BRING THE POPCORN" Last week I laughed out loud at Rodney's impersonation. This week I'm tearing up at Shirin's story. The episode starts by kicking off a chain of disasters for Mike. In a meeting with Carolyn, Tyler and Will; Rodney, with passion, suggests that they blindside Mike next. And this conversation is overheard by Mike. Good line: " Good thought. Pause it and we'll come back and revisit it. " - Lmao. The Audacity of Tyler Fredrickson: A Memoir. Then we move to #traderjeffs for the auction. Before finding out that there were food and drink stashed for Will at camp, I thought the show making him pay $100 just to send him back to the camp five seconds into the auction was just mean. People come to the auction for the fun. Ask Max, it's one of his Survivor goals. Although it might have dented the fun for this season's auction, I guess it could be good for future seasons', keeping players on their toes. A lot of othe...

"LIVIN' ON THE EDGE" I should stop jinxing these people. We start the episode on the night of Hali's vote. A cute furry animal with plenty of swag wanders around the land of Merica just before the players get back. Or this could be footage from another time. Still, great cameo. Good lines: " I don't agree with Dan when he says flippers don't win. Flippers win the game at the right time with proper blindside. " - Rodney. I'm not sure how true that is, but any line of Rodney explaining strategy is a good line to me. Then Dan continues berating Shirin, and Shirin promises to vote for Mike when Mike gets to the end, which can also be read as "You hear that, everyone? Mike's a jury threat now" if you want to. The preview promised that the players would be falling on their faces at this week's reward challenge. What a delicious treat to see starving, no-bed, no-shower people to suffer some more. But the preview doesn...

"KEEP IT REAL" "Rodney's plan", no matter how much you want to dismiss it, may actually work for him, Will, Carolyn and -- now out of nowhere -- Tyler. And if it does, I'm going to lose faith in what is right in the world. I've been taught all my life that kind, selfless, non-misogynistic people are those going to be rewarded in the end. If Rodney makes it to the final four, do I need to relearn life? Ugh, I don't want to! The episode starts on the morning of day 20 in Merica, when several of its citizens argue about rice portion and salami skin, and possibly one unsuspecting tree gets punched a few minutes after. Then, from Rodney's gross comments, the episode moves swimmingly to the reward challenge. Joe wins the challenge and brings Tyler, Will, Carolyn and Shirin for an afternoon of ziplining and pizza lunch. The first of the many good lines said during the reward: " Start braking. (You are) coming in way too fast. " - ...

"THE LINE WILL BE DRAWN TONIGHT" Right after last tribal, Mike, who knows the importance of reeling people back to him, does some damage control exercise with Rodney for leaving Rodney out of Joaquin's vote. Rodney tells Mike he was "just putting on his DeNiro" to the other side. So, is Rodney Tom Brady or DeNiro? We aren't sure. For now, though, Rodney also admits that he's just going to be Mike's bitch. They merge the next day. They stuff their faces with food, gossip about Joaquin and start over with a new shelter at the Escameca beach. And I can't really keep track of the alliances at this point. The most random one, rallied by Rodney, who wants to seek revenge for Joaquin, includes Carolyn, Will and Kelly. I don't care about his reason, but I did pause for a few seconds, processing this combination and the fact that those three didn't seem to dismiss the idea either. Dan gets stung by a jellyfish the next day, and Jenn ask...