169 Comments

  1. Strapping myself in. Have to admit I’m a Survivor virgin. I’ve never watched a complete series. I’ve not even watched every episode of this series.So I freely admit I don’t understand the nuances of past game play.

    But for what its worth – my 2 cents worth:

    Brian is just… well . no easy way of saying it… he is just a grub. Watching him over the last couple of episodes in his testimonials – he’s thinking about who he can take to the final 2 and win against – Sorry Brian – that ship sailed long ago. I just can’t see the jury voting for him against the others.

    So I think it boils down to who are the last two clinging to the poles tonight.

    Sharn and Brian – Sharn will win.
    Shane and Brian – Shane will win.

    Shane and Sharn ?? Well that would at least be interesting.

  2. As an aside – watching over the last few weeks – game play, as judged by the viewers, but ultimately by the jury, seems to be a delicate balance between arrogance, lying and deception while maintaining likeability and respect.

    From the viewer perspective – Brian appears arrogant and somewhat deluded.
    Shonee came across as too deceptive.
    Sharn ? I’m not sure…
    Shane – freely admits to lying and deception – but does it in a way that that somehow you just don’t care and you admire her for it.

  3. I can’t watch. I so much want Shane to be in finale and I don’t think she’s going to be. The anticipated injustice of it all.

    • I love that Shane is in the last 3 standing. She’s the token older woman that we see in so many reality TV formats – they are always eliminated very early. But Shane has defied the odds and shes still there. I would love to see her win.

      • Shane was definately more than just the token older women. As the weeks went by, she appeared to get younger too

  4. That challenge suits a smaller person – I’d rather see Brian win the challenge rather than Sharm whose had an alliance all the way through. She rubs me up the wrong way – not a fan of hers

    • Is that my “not affected by daylight savings” cue to stop reading messages in this thread ? In Qld the show has not yet started. I’ll check back here later – in the meantime I’m soooo sooooo hoping your comment means that Brian is gone – can’t say how much I dislike the grub !!

    • Thanks Bolders – I’m a shocker and can’t deal with suspense. I checked hoping for a little nugget like that but I’m going to stop reading now. (And that’ll last all of 2 minutes).

  5. Ok – it’s just starting here in Queensland. I’m really hoping Boulders comment means grubby Brian lost the challenge, and Shane and Sharn are the top 2. If I had to pick – I’d like the winner to be Shane – but I won’t be devastated if it’s Sharn – dear god don’t let it be Brian…

    See you in an hour…

      • I really liked seeing Brian with his wife and kids, I thought it gave him a bit more context as a person, you know, seeing a part of his life outside the narrow confines of “outwit outplay outlast”.

          • At least we were never in any danger of hearing him banging on about his integrity ( which I wouldn’t object to from anyone who got through the game without lying or knifing an alliance member).

  6. I so didn’t want a champion to win & especially not Sharn. Brian stuffed it for himself when he caused Finella to go home – what a stupid choice that was !

  7. Yes !!! Nasty Brian is done and dusted !!!!!!!!!
    So happy – as for his last deluded words to Sharn – daring her to take him to the final 2 – implying that taking Shane was the easy option – how deluded can you get ???

    Sharn and Shane – anyone’s game.
    Sharn and Brian ?? Easy win for Sharn.

    I’m happy for either of these two to win (but hope it’s Shane)

    Either way – I’m glad they stuck together and didn’t betray each other.

    • My thoughts exactly Julie. Brian’s arrogance dismissing Shane as a nothing player when taking him was a definite win for Sharn but I think she’s got it anyway. Fingers crossed for Shane.

  8. How come Russell Hantz isn’t at the reunion? I would have thought he’d be contractually obliged to be there.

    Edited to add: here comes the explanation…

  9. Australian Survivor taking the piss out of Probst and his super dramatic deliveries of the urn to the final vote reveal at the studio back in the early years.
    Loved JLP’s driving the urn in from the outback on a Jeep with a muscle tee and dark sunglasses on – at night!

  10. Jeez, Sharn is taking a hell of a lot of credit for making moves that I don’t think she was really responsible for.

    • For a barrister who’s used to addressing a jury, she did very well with her opening address but kept stumbling when she was questioned further and put on the spot.

      • Yes, thinking on her feet is clearly not one of her better skills. SHe actually really gave me the shits in her answers. At least Shane didn’t get all whiny and beg.

        • Shane’s statement that she played with dignity rings so true. She never seemed to panic even when she knew she was in a precarious position.

        • Yes, Jayblossom, but she didn’t even prepare very well. As a barrister, she should have prepared an answer for that question. She should have predicted a question like that.

          • Sharn responded to that in the reunion. Something along the lines of – it’s a very different type of jury she deals with on a daily basis and that they tend to be more objective.

            Which is all true but she should have allowed for it knowing how this game is played. Some of those egos are always going to be bitter. Especially Mat.

    • Not checking in because he has more willpower than us I imagine. We’ll probably hear from him once the winner is announced here in Qld.

      • I saw Adelaide’s Nick and Matt from season – in the audience. Nick does a great podcast for Rob Cesternino’s show. And there’s AK – and Zen Hen!

        • I loved seeing Zen Hen (and his long, flowing, luxurious locks) again.

          Jericho was there, from last year, and I’m sure I spotted Locky at one point.

          • Still love Jericho and happy he won last year. I heard he brought Luke and his family to Disneyland just recently.

            On another note, how many times did the camera land on Osher and his partner? Guess Channel 10’s trying to drum up some interest for Ali’s season (which is bound to be underwhelming in so many ways).

    • I was surprised Sharn did not do the “yeah I was onChampions but I am not an elite sport person like the rest of you”.

    • I thought Shane was totally muffing it for the first half. All she could say was “loyalty..integrity” over and over. I was so disappointed in her inability to be specfiic about what she had done. Even with Benji trying to lead her by the hand, she still wouldn’t lay down her exact moves. Until Brian dropped his bombshell question, I though Shane had lost it for herself. She still didn’t say after that, so really Sharn lost it instead by being unable to spin Mat’s elimination.

    • Yup! What a worthy winner.

      TG the reunion show is finally over. Way past my bedtime. JLP did a much better job than Probst getting answers.

  11. When this season started I really wanted Damien to win – and I was unbelievably annoyed when he was voted out. I hated that some-one with his back story was voted out so quickly. But in hindsight, he deserved to be treated just like every other competitor. Putting him up on some untouchable pedestal is ultimately an insult to him.

  12. Yeah, I’m from QLD, and I spoiled myself accidentally, last night. When it comes to finales (particularly “Survivor”), I take no chances. I switched my internet off and didn’t take any chances until Jonathon read out the final votes.

    Phew. We got there.

    I think Sharn’s half-a-million mistake was taking Shane with her to the end. It was so close anyway, and there’s no way anyone would’ve voted for Brian. But then her gameplay was hinged on loyalty, so I suppose she was in an impossible place and just couldn’t knife Shane, even if she wanted to.

    I was disappointed by Sharn’s gameplay, right at the end, and I don’t think I was the only one. She spent the whole season telling us how great she was in front of juries, but — while she delivered a great opening summation — she really fell apart, the longer it went on. Her apology to Mat (for not trying harder to save him) came across as grovelling and over-the-top. Her appeals to the jury were contrived and forced, and she really sounded desperate when she was begging them to vote for her. The thing that struck me was that she kept telling the jury how they should be thinking, and no Sharn, that’s for the jury to figure out. If I’d been there, that would’ve turned me off.

    Still, at the end of the day, hats off to Shane for a good game. Old age and treachery over youth and inexperience. She was sneaky. I liked that.

    As for Brian, I totally think he looked so much better once he’d had a shave and a good clean. I liked that he took a “cut the bullshit” approach to the final two tribal councils. He saw straight through Sharn, twice.

    The reunion was nice, too. We got to hear from a lot of people (and we even got to relive the nachos moment. Yay) although I would’ve liked to hear more from Heath, and particularly Paige (she was the poor contender who everybody hated for no reason). When Zach started talking, I just hit ‘mute’, and I feel great about that.

    Let me check … nope, still in love with Robbie. It was a good season. Although I still wish a contender had won.

    • I thought Brian pulled off the perfect Parthian Shot tonight – it was the only moment I’ve admired him. His question from the jury asking Sharn about her loyalty to Matt was the moment she began to unravel.

      • I didn’t think much of that at the time, either, but you’re right. Sharn mustn’t have thought about that much, as well, because it really did throw her for a loop that she didn’t recover from.

      • I think Sharn was so focused on the great and powerful crown prosecutor addressing the jury of Oz that she forgot this jury could question her back.

        Even then I did not think her opening speech was great. She laid out a good case, but it was almost the same good case as Shane. And clearly she had not realised how vulnerable she was on the Mat question.

        Old joke. A lawyer who represents themself has a fool for a client.

          • Alan and Dave. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
            If I’m looking for a good criminal layer it won’t be one who blubbered like a kid caught with her hand in a cookie jar.How did she get to last two?

  13. Not peeking who won, but Shane lost me at the speeches when she said, “I played with integrity”. It always annoys me when people on Survivor play the blindspot high horse card. She had only just finished saying how she threw her alliance of Jackie and Brian under the bus when she saw they were on the bottom of the Champs alliance. Then she bragged about duping Lydia. So how is that more honourable than anyone else’s lies. But the high-horsers of Survivor have blinkers on their own behaviour.
    If Shane had said, “I lied like everyone else”, I would have had more respect for her.

      • Not sure. I thought Shane whipped out the integrity card first as her trump card and main reason, whereas Sharn only added it to stay even with Shane

        .

        • Shane certainly spoke first and raised integrity first but her speech was carefully crafted to answer Sharn’s. Shane helped lay the trap that Brian sprang, although my guess is that she expected Mat, not Brian, to ask the question.

          The contrast between the two speeches was dramatic. Shane said what she needed to say and nothing more. Sharn didn’t say everything she needed to say, she said things that she did not need to say, and then ended up on that awful whining note.

          • Throwing herself on the mercy of the court (Mat) and begging for forgiveness was not her finest hour (I hope). Nor, as Judge Judy would say, “Is it why her parents paid for law school”.

          • It was embarrassing watching Sharn’s argument dissolving into that pathetic mess where she was almost begging for their votes.

  14. Now Sharn’s doing the, “I played with integrity” bullsirt.
    I have seen someone, the white-haired fireman on US Survivor play with integrity in win, but he did go on about his own integrity. In fact he didn’t mention his own integrity once.

    • That was Tom.

      The biggest, hugest, most badass player in the history of the game. It’s a big call, but I stand by it.

      • We need a hottest player poll. Voting on irrelevancies like player with most integrity would be dull.

        I want to see Survivor: Treacherous Old Ladies now. Shane! Tina from Survivor: Africa! Shambo! Denise!

          • Apparently Russell is deeply grubby. And Fabio, who won Nicaragua, disgraced himself like the fifth graders in South Park.

          • Aww, I liked Fabio. What did he do?

            Since we’re talking crushable players, I always loved John K from Vanuatu. Reasonably useless, as a player, but so pretty he made me want to cry.

            I’d still lean towards Robbie as hottest player ever, but I remember one American season, there was a blond frat-boy type guy (who wass built like a Greek deity) playing alongside a really good-looking Asian guy. I can’t remember their names or what season it was, but they left a lasting impression, put it that way.

  15. 😂😂😂😂 So “the one blight” on Sharn’s otherwise impecible loyalty was not giving King Mat information that his name was being mentioned. He we go again, Mat the sacred cow who is supposed to be above having his name written down.
    Then Shane slams Sharn’s loyalty when Sharn could have taken an easy vote Brian with her. She stayed loyal to Shane.
    I would rather see Brian get up there and say, “I tricked and lied and connived my way to the final 2.

    BTW, I wouldn’t hire “Bder, bder” Sharne to represent me in court. That was pathetic. There was more reason to vote Sharne but she fell in a hole. I still haven’t seen who won, but neither of them gave a great argument for their case.

  16. And once again Mat casts a spiteful vote. I hope we never see that whinger on a future Survivor.
    I do hope we see Lydia, Benji and, for Windsongs sake, Robbie.

    At the reunion, ‘loyal Shane’ was squirming uncomfortably when Jonathon quizzed Lydia about Shane knifing her. Hey, she won on her integrity. Don’t mention knifing Lydia.

    • Still don’t understand why Mat is so bitter about Sharn being played to use the idol
      on herself when he had one in his bloody pocket!

      • AND chose not to tell anyone about it…one that also literally fell into his lap and he never had to expend one drop of sweat finding.

        • Ah hah. You are right, CL. Mat wasn’t so loyal to his alliance as to mention his idol or be prepared to use it to save any of them. Hypocrites are so annoying, especially self righteous ones.

      • He did explain that because Benji said they were “splitting the vote” (which they weren’t), he quickly calculated that they would still have more votes on Brian. Otherwise he would have played his own idol. I don’t believe he should have blamed Sharn for her flustered reaction, as it was Benji’s deception, but as Benji wasn’t in the final…

        I believe that if Sharn had given a better answer about that TC and spun it in a different way, she still might have got Mat’s vote.

        • He was blaming her for getting wind his name was up, but not telling him, not for blundering her idol play. That was the disloyalty. And the reality was, she was still hedging her bets by playing with Benji as well as her original alliance at that point. Foolish play.

          • I was answering Peski’s question about Mat being bitter…not using his idol. I don’t necessarily agree with his reasoning or actions, I was just explaining what he said about the incident.

    • Okay, someone has to say this even if it risks Windsong’s wrath. Robbie and Steve cast identical votes for identically stupid reasons. All they talked about was physical gameplay. Survivor is so much more than that and Sharn was very lucky the design of the final challenge let her stretch out while Brian was bent double.

      • So with you on that one.

        Survivor has evolved so much since the first few seasons that these days, the physical aspect of the game means nothing. It’s all about being on the right side of the numbers and that comes from being strategic and social.

        Had Richard Hatch not won the first season doing what he did, I doubt very much that the franchise would still be going strong 18 years later.

        • I know I’m inherently biased, but I don’t take issue with juries voting down the lines of physical capabilities. They gotta vote for somebody, and maybe they just didn’t care for Shane much? Besides, there *is* a physical fitness component to all this, it’ll be silly to argue otherwise. I’m a skinny nerd, I’d have trouble making merge. But plenty of players have gone on immunity rampages to make it right the way through the game.

          And let’s not discredit Sharn or Shane, either. Sure, neither of them was bench-pressing a 4WD, but put Shane in the water and it was game over. And Sharn certainly had to be physically fit enough to stand those endurance challenges (which she won more than a few of). All I’m saying.

          • I hear what you’re saying although I freely admit I’m biased on the other end.

            I think people like Cirie, Earl, Yul and Kim played games that I admired (even though Cirie never won), and it wasn’t from a physical advantage.

          • Steve and Robbie did not say that physical gameplay matters, they said it’s all there is. I was also a bit startled by Sam and Benji inventing ‘active gameplay’.

            Sharn was about as active as a tree sloth on valium. Her active gameplay was listening to Benji and voting out Mat by mistake, and making a series of intense speeches to Benji, Brian and Monika, none of which had any effect, although Sharn actively believed her speeches had every effect.

            Sharn did, with Shane, manage to achieve a majority in 2 tribal councils after Shonee broke with Brian and approached them. Even Sharn , with the active support of 2 of the 3 other players, could not quite manage to lose a tribal council vote.

            Perhaps Sam and Benji were thinking of Benji’s active gameplay of telling unnecessary and, in one case impossible, lies to persuade himself that he was running the game.

          • I agree that physicality is an important part of the game (but not all) and not only because of winning challenges. In a more subtle way, the perception of strength or lack of it plays a big part in the decision-making processes of everyone at TC.

            So many players are called Big Threats purely because they have muscles and upper body strength. Even Zach was considered a threat for a (very) short amount of time.

            Survivor is a complex game, and all aspects of a person are judged, assessed, discussed and decisions are made on those bases. Physicality is very important. See how quickly unfit people are voted out of tribes wanting to win challenges.

  17. Brian pretty much fucked over sharn with that question it was her total undoing…she never recovered…i actually felt her opening summation was very flat…she lacked sincerity in her total performance and i guess thats what happens when you in court..you dont know the jury.
    shane was a real surprise in the final jury, her bringing up the way she treated shonee and fenella was a ripper….she really showed compassion and honesty.
    So disappointed in both steve and mat tonight, sore losers much! When will they ever realise that the game was not about them?

  18. Mat bitching about Sharn not warning him about his name being mentioned; she did on the other hand step up to play her idol for him…..until Benji stepped up.

  19. Steve, the noisiest jury member at every tribal council..and when given the chance to grill the finalists doesn’t say a word.

    I think there have been better questions and certainly better answers in past Aus seasons but overall this was a more entertaining season. I echo what others have said about Shane and Sharn at the deciding tribal council. Well done to Brian for asking the most undoing of qns, not just why do you deserve to win (which majority asked in different phrasings). I think both really needed to give more specific examples of how they played. Simply saying how you voted (or worse, just listing the order of people’s departures as if you were responsible) doesn’t really show any mechanics behind the moves. Shane overall had better gameplay so good on her for winning. I wouldn’t class her as weak physically as some said. She outlasted many in challenges.

    I think if the final two were Sam and maybe Brian we would have been in for a good show with speeches.

    I also think it wouldn’t hurt to switch up the final immunity challenge a bit. They are very heavily weighted in the smaller person’s favour. If it must be endurance at least change the length of each pole so when everyone stands up straight the idol comes to the same position at head height or shoulder (Brian was bent over the whole time while Sharn was well positioned).

    • You’re spot on there. Sam and Brian would have brought the energy to that TC had they been the finalists. As it is, Sam pretty much had to explain Shane and Sharn’s game plays to the jury.

    • Agreed CL. The final challenge should be a combo. That way producers can’t (dare I say) choose the winner. I thought they might make it a swim.

    • I agree Calorie Loader – Shane was a pretty close 2nd in many challenges – I don’t think for a second she was weak!

      And as soon as I saw the challenge I said ‘Sharn has this in the bag’. It is a gift for a lighter player – like a strong woman.

  20. It’s so true about weak challenge design. Every challenge should be tested for men and women of different sizes. Pearl Islands had a challenge where you had to reach down a tube. No man had hands small enough to do it. Ditto some women.

    • Or they could have saved that fire-making challenge (in which Brian, Shonee and Monika didn’t even get a look in) for the final immunity.

      That would have been much more fair because it’s not so much about strength or speed but basic survival skill..

    • Maybe it could be a multi step challenge, in an attempt to equalise the chances. For example, finish the first step ahead, and get your choice of three different poles.

      • The other thing about the poles is the more you weigh, the more the pole is going to sway in the wind. To be fair they don’t know who will be in the final challenge when they build the poles. They’d have to make them the day before.

    • Yep, Peski. That’s annoying. In its very early days, Survivor could be about heroes, but now the real heroes like lydia (who’s idea to vote her out…oh yeah, Shane), are quickly voted out. It’s much more about Conniving, lying and strategizing now. You don’t even want to be winning immunities until the end, or seem to popular.
      Shane spotted a hero and quickly said to Mat, Let’s get rid of her. So much for heroes.

  21. Fucking brilliant outcome! There were other players I’d really hoped would make it further than they did, but of the five or so we had left, Shane was my favourite. So glad she got that second wind and pulled that final round of answers out of the hat and turned the girls over to vote for her, and won against annoying Sharn. Shane outplayed her in every way, other than winning challenges; she was sly, crafty, and subtle. So pleased she won. I really never imagined Sharn would take her to the jury like that, as it was such a bad move.

  22. I thought Shane’s performance at the last TC was quite poor. I expected her to win, but if it was judged solely on the pitches, she would have only won by default because Sharn wasn’t well enough prepared. The jury (especially Benji and Sam) kept trying to give Shane openings to explain specific actions. You could see the frustration with the jury, that the only answer coming was “I was loyal and played with integrity”. Well, no, she didn’t really, but did it so well that those who were being done over still thought she was being loving. That’s a huge resume, and it was so annoying to see her refusing to tell about all she had done.

    Sharn’s big error was not the TC where Mat was blindsided, but not bringing the incident up in her final speech and spinning it into a positive. She could have said “I knew when we got to TC that I was going to play my idol for you, so I knew you were safe. But the less people who knew about it the better, because if the word got out, we would have all been doomed. That is why I didn’t tell you my hunch. But it was only a hunch, I had no proof, so when Benji reacted so badly, I panicked, thinking I had totally misread the situation. I never wanted you to leave, I never considered voting for you, for goodness sake I was willing to give up my idol for you. How much more loyal could I be?”
    She needed to be pro-active about it, but because she didn’t raise it, it looked like she wanted to pretend it didn’t happen. And that opened the door for Brian to finally get the revenge on her that he had been unsuccessful in getting in the ten previous TCs.

    Well done to Shane, but it is a pity that the final TC didn’t highlight everything she did. Hopefully, seeing the show will have enlightened all those who had no idea that she was scheming behind their backs.

    • If Sharn had tried the pitch you suggest she would have revealed herself as an obvious liar and lost the votes of Active Players™️ Sam and Benji who both knew the contrary. She would, in fact, have adopted exactly the same strategy for which you criticise Shane.

      • Nice trademark – very apt. We have to bear in mind, also, that they film those tribal councils for hours and they are heavily edited down.

        • They must have had some difficulty with thew edit because even at that final tribal, there were really only 2 or 3 people playing Survivor.

    • I can’t believe no one reminded him she was going to give her idol to him WHEN HE HAD HIS OWN IDOL!!!! He was going to let her use her idol on him even though he already had one. She should be pissed off about that.

  23. One thing proven last night: that “The Commando” was a complete fabrication of the Biggest Loser writers. In some ways I feel sorry for him, because everyone (including the contestants) expected The Commando to be on the beach, but it was just normal Steve. And when normal Steve turned out to be quite introverted and not devious, everyone condemned him for not being the “Commando” character we have all bought into in the past.

    Quite funny, though, that we all waited with bated breath for the Commando to show his true colours (and start playing the game) and it never happened.

    • I never watched the Biggest Loser, so I don’t really know the depths of his Commando persona, but he spent years being this tough-as-nails personal trainer, so all I really expected was him to be a badass, physically-threatening competitor … and he wasn’t even that.

      • Coattailing on a very strong, outgoing player is often an effective strategy, but it just didn’t work for him. I don’t know if he was even trying that, or just being part of the group (like most of the champs) but either way, there came a point where he needed to act independently, and just didn’t.

        • Coat-tailing can and can’t be an effective strategy. It might help you get to the end but it won’t help you to win these days.

          Unless you’re Michele Fitzgerald and the jury is so bitter against Aubrey that they crown you Sole Survivor by default.

          • Oh yes, that was the worst, worst Survivor finale evah. I was still a newbie then, and couldn’t believe that a player who had done nothing throughout the whole show, could be given the win by the jury. Now I get scared every time that it could happen again.

        • Steve needed a personality. If he has one, we didn’t see it. The eye rolls were fun, but too little, too late.

    • I might have preferred Steve in a different alliance, but then there is a reason the two alf alfa sprout sought each other out.

  24. We (the Aus version) nail the Reunion show! Jeff should be looking to see how it should be done. Love Jon’s “you can’t (go into the what ifs), but I can because I am in charge!”. So beautifully mocking the pretentiousness of the US version.

    Only gripe is that it should be longer – talk to everyone a bit, ask Jenna about her ankle, get Paige’s take on why she became Public Enemy No 1 for no apparent reason, find out about Tegan and Heath’s friendship, tell us exactly what happened at Exile and whether there were idols there to be found etc. Show more of the footage that linked certain incidents together. Less, though, of Brian washing himself – once was too much, don’t show us twice, please.

    • Taking her time to really consider whether she wanted to be part of Survivor was the same way she played the game itself in the end. She stepped back, considered options, tested the waters and went with her best offer. Certainly worked to her favour.

      And ummm, has anyone else noticed that her makeup at the reunion show made her look quite masculine?

    • Yeah, patting yourself on the back is always a good look. 😂😂😂😂😂

      Some of the Champs would have given themselves a Nobel Peace Prize for their integrity.

      • Are you saying they don’t deserve Nobel prizes? Steve wasn’t after a Nobel. Waiting he was for Yoda out of the bushes to leap and the ways of the Force to teach.

  25. How hilarious was it that it was Brian’s wife that pointed out he took his hand off the idol. Some people think he did it on purpose to save face rather than just giving up.
    Was happy Shane won, but boy it was close.

    • I wondered that also. The edit made it look like JLap was waiting for Brian to make a quip about throwing in the towel but it never came

    • I thought that was funny too. When no one said anything I started thinking I had misunderstood the rules! It seemed a long time for them to realise he had shot himself in the foot.

      • I wondered too, but in hindsight I think they just made the edit more drawn out than real life. And I am sure Jonathan knew what he had done before the wife commented. It is even possible that they showed the two parts switched around to make it look like Jon hadn’t seen it.

      • Some commentators are suggesting that Brian did that on purpose because he knew he couldn’t win that challenge (which was geared towards a smaller and lighter person anyway).

        I’m in two minds about that considering Brian came across as a pretty fierce competitor physically and leaving that last immunity and the choice of who to take to the end would be pretty dicey.

  26. No matter whether you wanted them to win or not, after all my years/decades of watching Survivor, I think they were the two lamest appeals to Jury I have ever heard. I might be wrong. How about it Alan? “Worst ever appeals to jury and cross examinations”?

    • I don’t think the presentations were so bad. Sharn’s problem wasn’t presentation, it is that her only claim to fame was an equal immunity run with Brian.

      Shane made no mistakes. She said what she had to say. She didn’t say anything she didn’t have to say. She could have handled the Active Players™ better, but that’s about it.

      Sharn’s social game was not warning Lydia and Mat they were on the block, getting bumrushed into believing Benji the Unbelievable, and thinking that Benji, Brian and Monika were all deeply and profoundly moved by her zero impact speeches. ‘I tied myself down to the tracks and the train ran over me’ would have been an accurate description of her social game.

      • OK, their mine. Do you have a worst ever jury appeal?
        Also I’ll add young Ozzie to the hot guys, but only when he was scruffy and climbing coconut trees. Not clean cut Ozzie.

        • Stephen Fischbach comes close at Tocantins. Same problem as Sharn although he had played well, JT had played so much better. Stephen got 0 votes.

          The real train wreck among jury appeals was Sash in Nicaragua, who got 0 votes after explaining how he had controlled the game from the outset until Fabio had gone on an immunity run.

          Russell’s disastrous appearances before juries were not so much train wrecks as the inevitable result of how little he understood the game.

          • Poor Stephen. He was the brains behind getting himself and JT to the end, and then collapsed at the FTC. JT needed him every step of the way. Witness his other 2 showings on subsequent seasons without Fishbach there.

          • I think JT and Stephen were a team and it was not all Stephen’s strategising. JT became famous for giving Russell an idol and that gets mentioned among the stupidest moves ever, but the heroes just hadn’t worked out what Russell was doing. Parvati said later she had no idea how toxic people thought Russell was and she would never have aligned with him if she had understood that, so JT wasn’t the only vet that Russell bamboozled.

        • I really like Ozzie, especially the first time around but not the last few times he’s played. Especially when he was in that showmance with Amanda and gave a cringe-worthy address in that FTC.

          Also, to be fair, Ozzie was up against Yul in Cook Islands, probably one of the most intelligent players who ever played the game, not to mention being articulate and charming too.

  27. To all the ttvers, I would like to say it is so good how we are able to like or dislike different ones without getting mad at each other for it. I hear they lose their nuts over that on fb. You like bananas. I hate bananas. It’s been good that we can all be different.
    Now I’ll be loving the US Survivor and our discussions.

    • I stay away from social media when it comes to Survivor (or pretty much everything else really). Most of the comments aren’t worth reading, let alone responding to. Same with Reddit.

      I’ve really enjoyed the considered viewpoints in here, as well as the laughs. So glad I found this place again as there’s really nowhere else to discuss Survivor, except for maybe RHAP every so often.

        • “Quite the opposite.” as Elizabeth Bennet said from under her bonnet.

          Remind me Daisy, where the original forum was before Juz created this one… Was it Reality Ravings?

          • Yes. It was Reality Ravings. We had a lot of laughs there, and had developed good bonds so when RR came to an end, thankfully Juz stepped in with ttv. I miss some of the old crew from RR who may not have discovered ttv. There were some very funny posters.

          • That was a great place to go and get lots of different perspectives in the early days of Masterchef. But was there another one before that too? I seem to remember maybe there was, but that’s just my shocking memory.

        • i avoid social media like the plague, particularly with Survivor, because its all people with torches chasing contestants up the hill and onto the windmill. This is the only forum I know that works. Somehow we manage to disagree without getting too hot under the collar about it.

          This was a weird season. Im happy with the ultimate winner. How a jury divided between bitterness and silliness managed to reach that conclusion is a bit of a mystery.

          I have no idea how to do it, but I would prefer to see the Lydias not voted off as often as they are.

          • Maybe we need a Survivor of all strong, intelligent, athletic beasts. That way they don’t need to pick on the strong.

          • Hah, very apt description right there. And they all post so fast and furiously. It’s almost like their fingers are faster than their brains. Who has time to sift through that minefield of thoughtlessness?

      • I like twitter & read the tweets people write. Some are quite hilarious, especially during MasterChef & not too nasty.

    • I have to say here, that you, Daisy, are a big part of why this forum is so nice and respectful. You and I have had some shows where we disagreed about certain contestants (including this one!) but your comments are always so gracious, and we end up agreeing to disagree. And the occasional reminders that this is a safe online place are well-timed. Between you and Juz, none of the rest of us have any desire to misbehave!

  28. I actually really enjoy coming here to talk about “Survivor” too. Facebook is full of loud people who’s default setting seems to be ‘attack’, and now I’m an hour behind, it’s even harder to have, y’know, conversations about stuff. But having a bunch of friends you can sit and chat with and watch the show with together, it makes the whole experience more enjoyable and more funny, and just more pleasant overall.

  29. If any of you do want more Survivor chat with fellow fans, Ryan Brink has created the Australian Survivor Superfan Community on Facebook. He does lots of great podcasts also, doing deep dives with Aus contestants. And he also follows the US season.
    Glad you are all enjoying TTV. I haven’t been able to do recaps for ages due to family and work commitments but I do love seeing you all commenting.

  30. I think the key is that we discuss the show, and don’t attack the commenter. To use a sporting phrase – “playing the ball, not the man”. It is a great place to be.

  31. Has anyone listened to Nick’s podcast on the finale? He’s joined by Shannon Gaitz and Mike Bloom, and they really pull apart some of the strategy throughout the season which led to that result.

    One of my main takeaways from that podcast is that Shane going first with her opening address and framing the entire season into “Integrity, Loyalty and Dignity” instead of “Outwit, Outplay and Outlast” was the beginning of the end for Sharn and she was never going to recover.

    Shane also never argued defensively. When Shonee put her on the spot and asked her if she knew where she lived, she answered calmly and correctly. She also doubled down on that by then turning to Shonee and Fenella and claiming credit for looking after them both after the merge (substantiated by Mat), and stroked Fenella’s ego by saying that she was a threat that Shane needed to get rid of to get further.

    A lot was made of Sharn being a top barrister used to addressing juries but in the Final 2 position, all those skills came to nought because she was actually in the Defendant’s hot seat and was the one cross examined so it wasn’t a surprise that she fell apart so thoroughly.

    What a great podcast between the three of them. Highly recommend it if you have the time and still interested in knowing more about this season. Nick’s also doing a few deep dives after this and I can’t wait.

    • Hmmm. I am not a lawyer….(except maybe when crossexamining a guilty child), but I would have thought a very good, or an excellent barrister would be able to put themself in the shoes of a defandant, in order to be a better prosecutor and vv.

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