Deep breath. Take it in, let it out. Once more. Deeeep breath. Take it in and let it out. On the rare occasions when we manage to pull one over on the Survivors, this is the ritual I go through immediately following. I just take a moment and let it fill my soul.
This group of Survivors were certain they knew when we were going to merge and they never backed off from their prediction. They kept saying it at tribal council. They’d gloat about it at challenges. "You always merge on the same day, Probst. It’s not hard to predict." I kept my wits about me knowing they were off. Barely off, mind you, but off enough that we knew it was gonna bite them in the ass.
We set it up so it looked like a traditional merge feast. Theybought it hook, line, and sinker. I think the key to it all was the boxthat said, "Open after you have finished the feast." They were certainit contained their merge buffs. They were wrong.
We strategically placed the hidden immunity idol note so that it wasvisible enough that someone would see it but not so visible thateveryone would see it. We obviously had no idea where anyone would sitbut we hoped that maybe someone would be able to sneak it out withoutanyone else noticing. What happened instead was better than we could have ever hoped for! They find the idol…as a group…and then the unthinkable happens.
Marcus convinces the group to get rid of the idol.
He convinced an entire group of million-dollar seeking contestantsto get rid of the one thing that can help them win the money. Amazing.For that single achievement alone, Marcus deserves some kind of specialSurvivor recognition. Some kind of a trophy that says "specialachievement." It’s the kind of recognition you get when you don’t win,but you did "really good." Yes, I know the correct phrase is "reallywell," but in Kansas we say "good."
At this point you can be sure that Marcus, Corinne, Charlie, andRandy, along with Susie and Bob, are certain they have this gamelocked. A merge is next, they have the numbers and it’s over for theremaining Fang members. Screeeeeeeeeech. Not quite.
No merge. Another switch. The good news for Kota is that they stillhave the numbers on both tribes. Things are still looking good forthem. Fang is in trouble. Matty and Sugar are all alone on one tribe.Crystal and Kenny are all alone on the other.
The only chance Fang appears to have at this point is to get someoneto switch over. Susie and Bob seem most likely, only because theyappear to be on the bottom of the totem pole. But getting someone toswitch from a strong alliance is very difficult to do. People oftenforget to play to WIN, and instead they play safe.
Kenny, Crystal, Matty, and Sugar are definitely in a hole.
I love that Corinne and Sugar are on the same tribe. Sweet and souralways makes for a tasty treat. Corinne hates Sugar. Sugar thinksCorinne is evil. This is going to be fantastic.
Another immunity challenge and another absolute disappointment forCrystal. I will give you some insight, a bit of behind the scenes.Whenever we start a challenge in which people must do some certainthing for a long time, I always give them five seconds to getthemselves situated and then I officially begin the challenge. Crystalcould not hold onto those poles for even five seconds. She kept tryingbut was literally unable to hold these extremely light poles for fiveseconds. After a few attempts I finally said, "Crystal, the next timewe do this, the challenge will begin the second I say go and you’re onyour own. I can’t give you any more chances." She lasted less than afew seconds. I feel for Crystal because there is a certain expectationof an Olympic gold medalist, and I’m sure she wants to scream out, "I’ma sprinter! I’m not great at everything." Fair enough. But come on! Imean seriously, come on! My niece Amanda isn’t even 10 years old andshe would have outlasted you! Even my younger niece Abby would havedone better. It’s just unfortunate for her because it’s starting tomake people question the gold medal more than Ace’s accent. I likeCrystal but it’s hard to defend. Anyway, it came down to Bob and Matty,and Matty won.
Side note: Bob starting to grow on you? He is on me. He’s consistentand he stays out of the way. Great strategy. Nobody is thinking aboutBob at all. He’s no dummy. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Go, Maine.I love Maine. It’s getting cold in Maine right about now. Shout out toLes and Judy! What up!
Tribal Council awaits…and in one of the biggest blindsidesyet…Susie turns on her tribe. Marcus is gone. A complete shocker. Thegame has just flipped and Susie is now a major player.
Teaser for next episode…just wait until Corinne gets her firstlook at the new Kota. Marcus voted out at the last tribal council. Sheis gonna blow.
Now check out our exclusive deleted scene from Survivor: Gabon and then read Dalton’s recap.
Comments (1-30) of 176 Add your comment
Ugh!!!!! Marcus was in my top two
He did dig his own grave though. Assuming the ‘not so popular’ players will just lie down and go with what you say always comes back to bite you. Susie is bad casting at its best. There’s just nothing likable about her at all. Still holding out hope for Sugar to go all the way and would you believe (I can’t believe I’m saying it) I’m pulling for Randy too!!!!
Sorry, Jeff, but I won’t be watching next week. I’m one of those Survivor Junkies who has never missed a season. I can still say that with the caveat that one season was watched only half-way through: this one. Yuck! This 3rd tribal switch was too much for me. It’s been hard to lock onto and love ANY of these players, and it’s just impossible when this keeps happening. The weak, boring players have been continually allowed to survive by the switching. I’ve lost interest. Too bad, too sad. Here’s hoping for a better season next time.
Im going to agree with most of what you said CeeCee except I will still watch but seeing Crystal and Susie act as if they are playing this game well is an absolute joke…Survivor is a game of strategy not dumb luck and this year its all about dumb luck.
I loved seeing smug Marcus get blind-sided! Good for Susie for flipping-the rest of old Kota hates you. I am rooting for either Kenny, Matty, Bob to win. As long as it’s not that old bastard Randy, fairy Charles or bitchywitchy Corinne, I’m fine with it. I love your blog, Jeff! You da man!!
Bob is my favorite. I’m rooting for him to go all the way, but I am afraid he’s going home next. His only chance is that a merge comes next episode, or Fang loses yet another challenge. I am glad to see that people are finally starting to play the game in this season!
This has been the most boring of all the suvivor series I have ever watched. There has got to be something more interesting on another channel. Sorry! But you’ve lost one dedicated fan.
Jeff, totally agree that many play it safe & then go “huh” when they’re voted out. I was wondering when Susie was going to realize that she was almost everybody’s pick to go. ALWAYS play to win–why even be there if you’re not? Alliances are an OK thing but looking out for #1 is tantamount to being a million dollar winner. Sigh–too bad I hate bugs…and small animals (more scared of them than hating). The Goddess is a City Girl!
Happy Birthday Jeff! Great episode-full of suprises. I can’t believe how unathletic Crystal is. A sprinter and she couldn’t even make it up the hill in the first episode. She plays well behind the scenes though. Looking forward t next week.
Susie – aka, “San Antonio”
I have watched every episode simce Borneo..Taped them all, and I hate to say it but Gabon truly the worst. I’ve
not seen one person to care about, and for a so-called Olympic athlete Crystal is absolutely useless.
I *love* reading Dalton Ross’ column, but hey, these are Genuine Probst-isms here! Thanks again Jeff! (and sorry, complainers; lackluster Survivor is still way better than 97% of whatever-else-is-on.)
I’m not sure why people aren’t enjoying this one. I have seen every Survivor and this is one of my favorites. Some truly memorable and unique players: Sugar, Ace, Kenny, Randy, Charlie, Crystal, GC… awesome!
I’m sick of good players, interesting people, like Marcus and Ace, lose while terrible players and dull people, specifically Susie and Crystal, stay in the game. The producers are switching the tribes too often which causes the better players to lose the capital and good-will that they have accumulated. It also allows the weaker players to join forces to eliminate them. I love Survivor but I’m not happy with Gabon.
As I am an underdog rooter, I hope whatever Matty and Sugar are thinking over at Fang about how Krystal and Kenny played Sugar that they see the positive in getting Marcus out (and Corrine exploding will help because I imagine a reveal of the plan in order will come spilling out) and that Kenny and Krystal can indicate to Sugar they were serious about them and Matty and Sugar being the final four.
nice move Susie but I hate you.. i disagree with people saying that she is stupid.. definitely not.. she just outwitted one of the “strongest” player… bad for you Matty…
cant wait for his former tribe mates reaction when they see that he is gone…
Crystal may be terrible in the physical challenges but she masterminded two blindsides in the last two votes. That makes her apretty good player after all. Outwit is probably the most important part of Survivor.
I know that you need to keep the players guessing in order to make the show unpredictable, but I think this season has crossed the line. Something has gone very wrong when we’re halfway through the season and players who have literally not won a challenge yet are in control.
Some day when you have a tribe shake-up midway in, I’d love to see each player’s pick be who they want to put on the OTHER tribe. In essence, they are saying “I think you suck and want to stick you with someone else.” I think it would be pretty revealing in a little different way than has been done before.
I’m conflicted cause one side of me thinks you always have to expected the unexpected in survivor, so be ready for anything but I think the second tribe switch up shakes things up too much and lets a weak player like susie gain control and results in players like marcus who has been playing a good strategic game get voted out just like that…but wow that was an awesome blindside and a great job from the editors, i never thought marcus was gunna get the boot last night, i thought he was final 3 material
So in fiction writing, there’s an adage that “if anything can happen, nothing matters” — and if nothing matters, why should anyone care? These kind of mix-ups invalidate (almost) everything that’s already happened in the season and the investment that the audience has made in the show thusfar seems misplaced. Marcus’s machinations and strategy prior to this “mix-up” ended being completely useless through no fault of his own. Kind of damages the validity of Survivor as a game.
Could Crystal be faking it? How could a Gold medal winner be that BAD at physical challenges?
I agree with CeeLee and Jerami. I’m getting sick of seeing these dang tribal switches ruin what survivor is suppose to be about, strong players and strong strategy.
Stupid luck is ruining the season. Why penalize people who are playing a great game?
Go Suzy!!! Go Ken!! And I’ll even say Go Crystal!!! Just when you think you’re number one bam! you’re out. Suzy did the right thing. There was no way she was going to make it even to the top six if she stayed with marcus so good for her. I hope we get to see how cutey Charlie is going to react to losing his “boyfriend”.
I would like to see a couple of variations on the merger fake-out:
1) Play for individual immunity, but remain at separate tribal camps. All players go to Tribal Council.
2) Players live together in one camp, but are divided into new teams at each challenge for team immunity.
These should last for at least a couple of episodes. I’ve never been a fan of the 1-day shake-up.
Marcus was definitely my favorite player, so I was kind of upset that he got voted off last night, but after considering it a bit more, I think I’m satisfied with the result. Marcus made a very big mistake in trusting Crystal so quickly, and ignored her comments about how close she was with Kenny. Marcus’s ties with Suzie were weak at best, and he should have tried to pull Crystal and Kenny into a 2nd power alliance for himself, sacrificing Suzie and Bob before the merge if need be. After the merge, he would been in a powerful place with two strong alliances of Charlie, Corinne, Randy and Bob (depending on the timing), and with Crystal and Kenny. He could have manipulated both to get the idol out of Sugar’s hands and guarantee his spot in the final 4 with whichever group he felt a stronger chance of winning with (Corinne, Kenny and Crystal if you ask me).
I’ve been praying for the day that Marcus gets voted out and my prayer was finally answered. Great move by Crystal for orchestrating that blindside. I love how she had no qualms about voting off her cousin’s best mate because I know Marcus would’ve done the same to her in a heartbeat. And I can’t believe he’s cosmo’s pick for Georgia’s hottest bachelor. And what’s up with Marcus claiming he’s straight when he totally has the hots for Charlie?
HOODBURY: I disagree with your comment. I think Marcus made a strategic error last nite that cost him the game. Instead of trying to get rid of Ken, he should’ve tried to get rid of Susie. He should’ve realized that Ken and Crystal were in an alliance together as he and Bob were in an alliance together. Susie, basically, had no one. Whereas Ken had Crystal to protect him–Susie had no one to protect her. And by Bob saying at TC that if he had known that there wouldn’t be a merge, he would’ve voted the other way at the last TC only confirmed for Susie that she never was really a part of their alliance. I will admit that the 2nd switch-up stunk, but Marcus also dug his own grave. I’m still rooting for Ken, Crystal, Sugar and Matty. The Onion alliance is slowly falling from their pedestal.
Best move ever. How many times have we at home said that should have happened. Instead they stick with the majority and get voted out later..kicking themselves. I was so sick of the Kota tribe and their smug attitude. Just when I thought it would come down to the K6, it changed on them. Part of this game is to outlast. You should be able to outlast regardless. Looks like Marcus couldn’t. The rest deserve to go. So easily lead. The Fang tribe have desperately tried to remain in the game and someone deserves to win. It is called “Survivor”. A strong player doesn’t need to hide behind a pack. Just outlast. I’m rooting for Matty or Sugar.
I agree with others on this board. I am enjoying the blind sides of “strong” players but at the same time I feel something off this season & it could be all the switching going on. (I have Randy as my player in our pool so I am praying that this does not mess up his game since this is the longest I have ever lasted.)The show has been on long enough that players generally know how the game will play out so producers keep introducing new twists to keep it fresh but just end up messing up the true falvour of it. I love DYNAGUY’s suggestion to make the game truly fresh, however I would not have them living together because you want them to be free to scheme away. This way players will never know which players they could be with & will have to be forming alliances all over the place…There will be that many more bitter people they will have to s**** over. And please stop with all the luxury & food rewards…They should be starving like in the first few seasons!!
I felt a tiny bit bad for Marcus, but he blew up his own game. He approached Crystal for NO reason. He had the numbers to vote out Crystal or Kenny – if he had stuck close to Suzie. He let Crystal know Suzie was in lowest position of his alliance and that blew the door open for Crystal to flip Suzie. One of the most important rules of Survivor is to shadow and reassure your weakest link at a merge (or new tribe). Bad decision to keep Suzie over Dan lasst TC. I’ll bet Dan wouldn’t have flipped so easily! I don’t see Suzie getting to Final 3 with Crystal & Kenny though. She’s still bottom of the alliance.