Survivor 31, Episode 11
"MY WHEELS ARE SPINNING"
The episode starts with Stephen realizing how out of the loop he is.
Then we get to the reward challenge.
The memory challenge and the fact that it's held at night are ok, I guess, but a number of fun things happen during the challenge:
– Abi walking while others are running like mad. (I would have walked, too, by the second question.)
– Kelley getting the idol clue.
– Stephen deceiving Abi of an answer.
In short, Stephen wins again against Spencer in just a mere second. He brings Tasha and Jeremy to the reward, which is a spa trip that they are flown to by a chopper -- Tasha because he wants to mend his relationship with her, and Jeremy because he owes his life in the game to him. Apparently, this decision snaps another button in Spencer's brain as he feels left out. Well, he's already been plotting Stephen's ouster since the previous vote.
While Stephen is telling Tasha and Jeremy about his advantage, people are gossiping about him back at camp. Kimmi seems to be the only one who is defending Stephen's decision. In confessional, Joe talks about Stephen and Jeremy's relationship and says "in a season with no alliance..." in air quotes.
Once Kimmi leaves the shelter, the rest solidify their target on Stephen. The Boardroom Spencer reemerges, explaining to the peasants the reason they should all vote for Stephen: the advantage -- that he too did try to win. Oh Spence, I love that you are playing hard and looking out for yourself, but has anyone ever told you how annoying you can sound sometimes?
On another note, Kelley manages to grab the new idol strapped underneath their shelter, as usual, in a scene edited on steroids because every time she finds an idol, you have to be on the edge of your seat.
Then something phenomenal happens at the immunity challenge: Joe loses immunity to Spencer. This is the time, right? The door is now open for everyone to get rid of the Golden Boy?
So Jeremy, Stephen, Kimmi and Tasha bring up Joe's name to Keith, Kelley and Spencer.
Errmmmaybe not. Let's go the tougher route. Let's keep Joe for a while so he can be in that list of people winning five immunities in one season -- say Keith, Kelley and Spencer's inner monologues.
But at this point, it seems like Keith, Kelley, Spencer, Joe and half of Abi are already solid.
So it's fun to watch Stephen and Joe start playing charades that they are voting for Abi instead of each other.
Abi doesn't like being a decoy, though. These people forget that in the game of thrones, if you F with Abi, you're dead. Kelley and Boardroom Spencer are nervous about this and try to calm Abi down. According to Abi, in confessional, there is still hope for Stephen yet... for 10 seconds.
Stephen's fate is ultimately sealed when he goes to Spencer, telling Spencer about the steal-a-vote advantage and his plan to use it that night.
If a "casual" friend had betrayed you but you still need them in the next vote, it's somewhat understandable that you are open to trying again. You know, maybe for this vote you have to work together towards a common goal. But if you call Spencer a "real life" friend and he betrayed you once, isn't that already a red flag? Why did Stephen let his guard down with this?
(Is this hindsight-is-20-20 talking?)
So it's tribal council time.
Jeff: Abi, what does it (Joe's not scrambling) tell you about what's happening in the game, if anything?
Abi: It tells me that there are alliances, clearly, and it all depends on...
Keith: Trust?
Abi: ... Yeah, which alliance is the one more loyal to you.
Let's skip the usual BS of dodging at tribal.
In short, Stephen uses his advantage, stealing Joe's vote, and votes for Joe and Abi. Thirty seconds after, in a 4-3-2 vote Stephen-Abi-Joe, Stephen is sent out of the game -- blindsiding Jeremy, Kimmi and Tasha as well.
Would it make a difference if he cast both votes for Abi and forced a revote? Most probably not. The revote would most likely end up 4-3 him-Abi.
And that wouldn't even happen because he would cast at least one vote for Joe because his target was Joe, and in his mind everyone was on board with that.
What if he cast both votes for Joe? It still wouldn't end in his favour. The vote would end up 4-3-2 him-Joe-Abi.
To add to that, Stephen's mind has probably been too clouded with his "voting blocs" theory that he didn't think people would strike him twice in a row.
So, Stephen is out. Although he says that there is no bad blood between him and Spencer, he did throw some shade towards Spencer on Twitter, saying that his mistake was trusting his real life friend. I understand it must hurt. If this were me, I'd probably hold grudges for at least 200 years. But Spencer had to do what he had to do. He felt like he was not that important to either Jeremy or Stephen. He needed to move fast.
If Stephen feels betrayed, can he honestly say that he's not thinking about getting rid of Spencer at some point in the remaining 10 days? There is no way, if given the choice, Stephen would want to be in the finals with Spencer.
So this is a matter who gets the other person first.
Regardless,
– it is still a bummer to see Stephen go. He sounds murderous on Twitter since he got back from the island. I still love his podcast and blog, though.
– I wish we would be told what the reunions between Spencer and Vytas and Stephen will look like. I want it to be explosive withcliche yoga quotes, lines about betrayal from Shakespeare and economic game theory.
Image: CBS
The episode starts with Stephen realizing how out of the loop he is.
Then we get to the reward challenge.
The memory challenge and the fact that it's held at night are ok, I guess, but a number of fun things happen during the challenge:
– Abi walking while others are running like mad. (I would have walked, too, by the second question.)
– Kelley getting the idol clue.
– Stephen deceiving Abi of an answer.
In short, Stephen wins again against Spencer in just a mere second. He brings Tasha and Jeremy to the reward, which is a spa trip that they are flown to by a chopper -- Tasha because he wants to mend his relationship with her, and Jeremy because he owes his life in the game to him. Apparently, this decision snaps another button in Spencer's brain as he feels left out. Well, he's already been plotting Stephen's ouster since the previous vote.
While Stephen is telling Tasha and Jeremy about his advantage, people are gossiping about him back at camp. Kimmi seems to be the only one who is defending Stephen's decision. In confessional, Joe talks about Stephen and Jeremy's relationship and says "in a season with no alliance..." in air quotes.
Once Kimmi leaves the shelter, the rest solidify their target on Stephen. The Boardroom Spencer reemerges, explaining to the peasants the reason they should all vote for Stephen: the advantage -- that he too did try to win. Oh Spence, I love that you are playing hard and looking out for yourself, but has anyone ever told you how annoying you can sound sometimes?
On another note, Kelley manages to grab the new idol strapped underneath their shelter, as usual, in a scene edited on steroids because every time she finds an idol, you have to be on the edge of your seat.
Then something phenomenal happens at the immunity challenge: Joe loses immunity to Spencer. This is the time, right? The door is now open for everyone to get rid of the Golden Boy?
So Jeremy, Stephen, Kimmi and Tasha bring up Joe's name to Keith, Kelley and Spencer.
Errmmmaybe not. Let's go the tougher route. Let's keep Joe for a while so he can be in that list of people winning five immunities in one season -- say Keith, Kelley and Spencer's inner monologues.
But at this point, it seems like Keith, Kelley, Spencer, Joe and half of Abi are already solid.
So it's fun to watch Stephen and Joe start playing charades that they are voting for Abi instead of each other.
Abi doesn't like being a decoy, though. These people forget that in the game of thrones, if you F with Abi, you're dead. Kelley and Boardroom Spencer are nervous about this and try to calm Abi down. According to Abi, in confessional, there is still hope for Stephen yet... for 10 seconds.
Stephen's fate is ultimately sealed when he goes to Spencer, telling Spencer about the steal-a-vote advantage and his plan to use it that night.
If a "casual" friend had betrayed you but you still need them in the next vote, it's somewhat understandable that you are open to trying again. You know, maybe for this vote you have to work together towards a common goal. But if you call Spencer a "real life" friend and he betrayed you once, isn't that already a red flag? Why did Stephen let his guard down with this?
(Is this hindsight-is-20-20 talking?)
So it's tribal council time.
Jeff: Abi, what does it (Joe's not scrambling) tell you about what's happening in the game, if anything?
Abi: It tells me that there are alliances, clearly, and it all depends on...
Keith: Trust?
Abi: ... Yeah, which alliance is the one more loyal to you.
Let's skip the usual BS of dodging at tribal.
In short, Stephen uses his advantage, stealing Joe's vote, and votes for Joe and Abi. Thirty seconds after, in a 4-3-2 vote Stephen-Abi-Joe, Stephen is sent out of the game -- blindsiding Jeremy, Kimmi and Tasha as well.
Would it make a difference if he cast both votes for Abi and forced a revote? Most probably not. The revote would most likely end up 4-3 him-Abi.
And that wouldn't even happen because he would cast at least one vote for Joe because his target was Joe, and in his mind everyone was on board with that.
What if he cast both votes for Joe? It still wouldn't end in his favour. The vote would end up 4-3-2 him-Joe-Abi.
To add to that, Stephen's mind has probably been too clouded with his "voting blocs" theory that he didn't think people would strike him twice in a row.
So, Stephen is out. Although he says that there is no bad blood between him and Spencer, he did throw some shade towards Spencer on Twitter, saying that his mistake was trusting his real life friend. I understand it must hurt. If this were me, I'd probably hold grudges for at least 200 years. But Spencer had to do what he had to do. He felt like he was not that important to either Jeremy or Stephen. He needed to move fast.
If Stephen feels betrayed, can he honestly say that he's not thinking about getting rid of Spencer at some point in the remaining 10 days? There is no way, if given the choice, Stephen would want to be in the finals with Spencer.
So this is a matter who gets the other person first.
Regardless,
– it is still a bummer to see Stephen go. He sounds murderous on Twitter since he got back from the island. I still love his podcast and blog, though.
– I wish we would be told what the reunions between Spencer and Vytas and Stephen will look like. I want it to be explosive with
Image: CBS
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