Survivor 47 Discussion Thread

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It's that time again! The Survivor preseason is here! Two weeks from today, on September 18th, Survivor 47 premieres. The cast was officially dropped today. There will be lots of press releases as we lead up to the premiere. Check out the cast below!

https://parade.com/tv/survivor-47-cast#gid=ci02e6a5f3e00a2670&pid=survivor-47-cast

There are a couple notable faces. The first is Jon Lovett, who is a decently well-known podcaster. Also, for any RHAP listeners, Aysha Welch is on the season, too.

I'm so excited for Survivor to be back!

 

[DryerLintFan]

I might have to root for Andy based on his love of Minesweeper alone!

 

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Not 47 related, but 39's Elizabeth and Jack are now married. Elizabeth is a two-time Olympic medalist and has commentated on the USA swimming at the past couple Olympics.

 

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Every season I make a male and female winner pick, based on all the preseason coverage I read/listen to. Last season I almost picked Kenzie, but swapped her out for Soda last minute because I thought she was too perfect. As Q would say, "biiiiiig mistake".

Here are my picks:

Male: Andy
Female: Aysha

I think Andy is the most well-rounded man this season. I think Aysha is going to be a very good player, too, and not just because she's an RHAP podcaster. On paper, there's a lot to like. She's social, strategic, and will be decent in challenges, but she's not overwhelmingly in one area or the other. My one reservation is she might be too good or polished.

I also liked Tiyana for the women. She reminds me of Dee, but think there's a chance she plays too hard.

Overall, I don't think there is any player who can't win. It's a very even group.

Overall, I've picked the winner correctly 3 times out of 15 tries. I've picked Adam, Tommy, and Yam Yam. I was also close with Ricard and Jesse in the new era. But my first ever winner pick was Vytas in Cambodia, and he was a first boot. Here's to hoping I pick my 4th winner correctly! I should have had it last season, had I not switched.

 

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As usual, the premiere is always exciting, but never that interesting when it comes to the vote. Some initial thoughts...

- My pick of Andy doesn't look as great now. However, as many people pointed out on Twitter, there have been several players to flame out quickly, then become very good players and front runners in their seasons: Kathy, Holly, Aubry
- Aysha KILLED IT in the premiere! Outside of not getting the key, but whatever. She connected with her tribe, and especially Teeny. I knew from preseason interviews that Teeny knew who Aysha was and was going to try and hook up with her.
- WE GOT A ROB HAS A PODCAST MENTION ON SURVIVOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! My jaw literally dropped, and I felt so proud to be part of the community. I'm so proud of everyone who is involved with RHAP. I became a patron before 46, and I love the community that Rob has built. So proud of him and Aysha.
- The paddling was something.
- I'm sad Jon left. I thought he could be a good player, but he was put on a tribe of all younger people, and he had no chance to connect in the way the others could. His tribe placement was a disservice to him. I thought he was a high variance player... high ceiling, but low floor and potential first boot.
- I really like Sue. She seems to be connecting well with everyone, despite being the clear odd person out.
- Rome is going overboard, as I expected from his preseason interviews.

I'm looking forward to this season! I hope we can ride the Aysha hype train for a long time!

 

[JPPT1974]

Hope that the team with the younger people that booted out Jon will really realize that it could be the beginning of their downfall.

 

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This was a good episode. There was a lot of strategy/relationship talk early in the episode, although it kind of spoiled the blue tribe losing the challenge. Even still, it painted a really clear picture of why TK was voted out.

I thought Rachel trying to steal the rice was hilarious, but I wish Jeff would've let her keep it. Tiyana's eye roll at the challenge was super impressive. I also liked the subtle reaction from Aysha when Rome said he was a podcaster. Sometimes it's the little things.

So many players are playing exactly how I expected. Specifically Rome. I heard a lot of people were high on him in the preseason, but I thought he was going to rub people the wrong was and be "a lot". That's what's happened. He's over the top, and definitely someone I'd be super annoyed with in real life, let alone stranded on an island. He's cocky and a showboat. He's a more extreme version of JD, who is who I compared him to in the preseason.

I also worried TK would be too much about winning challenge and would have an ego to him. That's ultimately what did him in. Do I think it's what's best for Tiyana? I don't know. I still think she could pull Kyle in, because where else does he have to go? But I'm not sold on her being with Sue, Caroline, and Gabe, either. I think her best bet is to pull Kyle in as her #1 and bounce around with him throughout the game.

Also, NEVER consider going to rocks at your FIRST TRIBAL COUNCIL!!!!

Still excited to see where this season goes! Hopefully tonight's level of strategy and gameplay is just the beginning.

 

[dmw]

I am continuously amazed by how many players feel they have to reveal their idol/advantage to someone else. When has this ever worked to their advantage?

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

- WE GOT A ROB HAS A PODCAST MENTION ON SURVIVOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! My jaw literally dropped, and I felt so proud to be part of the community. I'm so proud of everyone who is involved with RHAP. I became a patron before 46, and I love the community that Rob has built. So proud of him and Aysha.

Between their recent high profile interview with Jeff and now this, the podcast must be doing really well.

It was generous to include the on air mention and does speak to the mutual respect the show and podcast have.

Aysha brings that recognized expertise to the show which is already paying off for her, but also puts an obvious target on her back. I can see her doing well but being way too big a threat to get to the end.

Oh, and having binged the first two episodes we're off to a good start overall.

 

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Between their recent high profile interview with Jeff and now this, the podcast must be doing really well.

It was generous to include the on air mention and does speak to the mutual respect the show and podcast have.

Aysha brings that recognized expertise to the show which is already paying off for her, but also puts an obvious target on her back. I can see her doing well but being way too big a threat to get to the end.

Oh, and having binged the first two episodes we're off to a good start overall.

This didn't age well.

 

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So sad to see Aysha go tonight. I don't feel like she did anything wrong. She suffered from Rome getting advantages. Also, I feel like the edit of the first two episodes didn't match what was actually happening.

The first two episodes portrayed Aysha as being a tight duo with Teeny, then they had Kishan and Sol on the side. Tonight we found out the reality is Teeny and Kishan were the tight two, with Aysha and Sol being a tight two. But Teeny and Kishan were more aligned with Rome and Genevieve. It felt so opposite to what was shown in the first two episodes. Part of me wonders if Survivor knew there would be outlash if Aysha wasn't portrayed positively, but I don't know.

Outside of Aysha going home, I'm really not a fan of Rome. He's so cocky and unaware. I wouldn't be able to stand being around him for an hour, let alone live with him on an island. He lies about literally everything, for no reason.

The journey was awful. Don't force players to have a 67% chance of losing their vote! Both Kyle and Annika losing their votes ruins what would have been super exciting votes. It should be an option, but now Annika's alliance has no power. And Kyle has almost no hope of surviving without winning out. All because they were forced to risk their votes. Make them choose. Players making choices is fun. Making them play Sorry is not.

Speaking of Annika, she told Kyle and Rome that Sam and Sierra are running the tribe, but then includes Sierra in the conversation about losing her vote and calls the girls a tight three. You literally just said the opposite on the journey. You have the knowledge that that's not true... I don't get it.

Overall, I think there was a LOT of bad gameplay tonight. I think voting off Aysha works for Rome and Genevieve, but hurts Teeny and Kishan. I think Aysha was going to be super loyal to them. I think Rome will do whatever he wants. And Genevieve... who knows? She's being purpled. But I do think Teeny is a very savvy player. She knows Aysha would turn on her eventually. I just think their interests would have aligned for a long time, as opposed to Rome.

I'm really sad to see Aysha leave, but think this season still has a lot of promise. I have to pick my next favorite now. I'm not quite sure. Maybe Teeny, even though they voted Aysha out. I also like Sue as a character, but question the choices she made tonight. We'll see as we go along.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This didn't age well.

I guess if a podcaster goes home early their consolation prize is an on air plug.

 

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That was one of the best pre-merge episodes of the new era. Maybe the most interesting vote.

All three tribes are in such an interesting spot. I'm so glad they've all lost immunity, and we've gotten to see everybody.

Sue's idol find was really fun. Biting her tongue was a pretty solid lie, since nobody can really fact check her, but on the other hand it's pretty unbelievable.

The bickering on the yellow tribe is really fun. Sam and Annika, and now Sam and Sierra.

I have to say, I dislike Rome more than anyone I've disliked in a while. He likes that, though. Rob Cesternino made a good comparison this week. He's like a Jonny Fairplay. He loves the negative attention. Rome being Sol's shadow was excessive, but I loved how Sol turned around a couple times to make Rome do the same thing. Rome thinks he's so smooth, but he's so transparent. Sol sees through everything he does. I don't think Sol actually believes Rome's apology for the way he treated him, but I'm betting Sol realized he was going to be on the outs regardless of where his vote went. So might as well vote with the majority.

Genevieve came out of the woodwork tonight. She had three confessionals over the first three episodes. I went from making Purple Genevieve jokes to having her as my new favorite player remaining. She pulled off a great move while making Rome look like the big threat with his flashy advantage play. I would have done the same thing had I known Kishan threw my name out.

Kishan definitely schemed and plotted too much, to quote David Bloomberg's rules for Survivor. He did things just to stir the pot, which he admitted on the show. It's fun for him, but it's terrible strategy. He was on a power trip and thought he was the king.

Despite Aysha being voted off early, I'm really liking this season. This episode was fantastic and rivals some of the better post-merge episodes of the new era, too.

I'm wondering what the brand new twist is next week. Will it actually be something major, or will it be a pretty small one like the rice negotiations?

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This was a fascinating vote because of the way it ties into last week and can be analyzed not just in terms of what happened this week, but how last week's decision led to it.

Shannon on RHAP in particular highlighted how possible fear of Rome's power last week led to a scenario where he, as a couple, could control the next vote 3-2 because of the steal a vote.

With hindsight, the question is, was voting out Aysha a mistake?

 

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This was a fascinating vote because of the way it ties into last week and can be analyzed not just in terms of what happened this week, but how last week's decision led to it.

Shannon on RHAP in particular highlighted how possible fear of Rome's power last week led to a scenario where he, as a couple, could control the next vote 3-2 because of the steal a vote.

With hindsight, the question is, was voting out Aysha a mistake?

From Kishan and Teeny's perspective, it definitely was a mistake. Aysha was loyal to them.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

From Kishan and Teeny's perspective, it definitely was a mistake. Aysha was loyal to them.

It's easy to criticize from the couch and with hindsight, but they really made the wrong decision.

Rome is erratic and power hungry. There was always the risk he wouldn't want to be in a 2-2 power split. If he turned against them, and he did, they can no longer expect Sol to side with them.

Of course, Sol seems unlikely to work with Rome long term so he might not have much power once they merge. I can see Sol going back to Teeny and maybe they vote against Rome and slide through for a while as a non power. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

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It's easy to criticize from the couch and with hindsight, but they really made the wrong decision.

Rome is erratic and power hungry. There was always the risk he wouldn't want to be in a 2-2 power split. If he turned against them, and he did, they can no longer expect Sol to side with them.

Of course, Sol seems unlikely to work with Rome long term so he might not have much power once they merge. I can see Sol going back to Teeny and maybe they vote against Rome and slide through for a while as a non power. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I can see Sol feeling close with Genevieve, but he could definitely be a free agent. The more I learn, the more it seems everyone feels/felt close to Genevieve. I haven't finished the exit interview, but Kishan said she was his #2, behind Teeny, but said they were really close.

 

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This was another good episode! The outcome was fun, and the reaction to the blindside was an instantly iconic one. But backing up first...

The reward challenge was exciting, with a lot of fun obstacles. However, the mix up for the reward wasn't that exciting. Maybe it'll have ramifications down the road, but a real swap would have been much more exciting. It worked in season 45, so I don't know why they're so afraid of doing them.

Tiyana is digging herself a hole. She was already the one on the outs in their foursome, so this might promote Kyle ahead of her.

The red tribe is so interesting. There are no truly tight alliances anymore. They could be very fractured come next week, but everyone seems to want to stick with Genevieve. She seems like the "glue guy", holding everyone together. I also loved this quote from her... "The scales be tippin'."

Sam and Sierra were a secret alliance to only Anika and Rachel. Literally everyone else in the game knows they're a duo. It's interesting that Sierra let Sam get his way. I want to know her reasoning behind that. Regardless, I get vibes that Sierra will outlast Sam. Sam will be the bigger target. But I could also see Sierra being a early merge boot to weaken Sam and also being someone people can just go along with.

Anika's vote out reaction was fantastic. Her "Nah" comment was hilarious. I loved everything about it. She had absolutely no idea she was going home. She was so certain she was locked in and was tricking Andy.

I'm excited to see where the merge goes. We haven't had such parity in a long time. Usually there's a small threesome that sneaks around, and the power group of 5 or 6 gets targeted. We don't have that this time. Every tribe has divisions, and I foresee a lot of shifting. But the first vote will probably be similar to the first vote of the season... just make it someone who isn't me.

 

[dmw]

This has to be the most unexpected blindside I have ever seen. Anika was in such a state of shock/denial...

I like the reward challenge with a blend of teams. I think it would add a lot to the strategy to have more of these leading up to the merge. More social gameplay in advance of the merge, in preparation for the merge. It would be interesting to watch that gameplay to see who survives to the merge to take advantage of social moves and perhaps advance alliances.

 

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Another good episode! Tonight was all about telling the story of Rome's fall. There was no mystery to it, which was very fun. Seeing everyone be so open and candid was refreshing, but also seeing how Rome had no idea was also hilarious.

I loved how they esssentially went back to a traditional merge, even though the person voted out can't say they were "merged"... but Rome totally was merged. I've said it for 7 seasons now... the tribes HAVE LITERALLY MERGED!!! JEFF, LOOK UP THE DEFINITION OF MERGE!!!

Anyway, it was refreshing to see it as a traditional merge vote.

I didn't mind what they did with the challenge. Make the first half a reward, then the second half individual immunity. I think that's very fair, but just do away with the "earn the merge" branding. It's not working, and nobody cares.

The hunt for the advantage was fun because nobody cared about it. Having Sam say the buoy wasn't anything was baffling. How many buoys are there floating in the ocean?? Kellyn from Ghost Island said there were literally no buoys floating around in Fiji. How do you not check it??

I also like how this tribe is dismissing certain advantages, like the amulet. Don't fall for Jeff's games. It's a terrible advantage, so just agree to get rid of it. I wish more players would do this, so Jeff would bail on the dumb ideas. Although, the amulet wasn't that terrible, it still represents that players can dismiss what production puts out there.

I wonder how this will go from here. Andy won't like being the decoy boot, especially when he finds out Sam and Sierra knew about it.

I'm excited to see where we go from here!