Survivor 49 Discussion Thread

[PUSH]

That was wild. This may have been the first episode that I thought went fast through every part. Everything was interesting.

Let's hop right into the vote. What were Sage and Savannah thinking?? My guess is Sage realized she can only win if she is sitting next to Kristina and Sophi. Which, that's probably right. But you should have been thinking that much earlier in the season. Kristina is a goat, and I'm not sure why she just took out her #1 ally of the whole game. Just following the numbers?

Sophi failing to use her KIP was so disappointing. I was really hoping she was going to take Rizo's idol and save herself, but I guess she didn't need to. It's still a bad look to the jury. But did she actually know that Sage and Kristina were flipping? I'm assuming not because of how she said it was so embarrassing. It didn't seem like it was just for show.

Rizo saving his idol was a very good move for himself. It may not have earned favor with Sophi, though. Will she now go with Sage and Kristina?

There are so many moving pieces in tonight's vote, and it was really interesting. Tonight really positioned some people in a "contender" category and a slim chance category. Sophi took the biggest hit. I don't think she can win now. She needed that KIP to make a name for herself.

I was also really disappointed in how she told Rizo and Savannah. She got too emotional about the decision on that reward. Kudos to Savannah for picking correctly, but Sophi make a mistake.

Moving forward from here, it looks to be Savannah or Rizo, with a potential dark horse candidate in Sage. She's maybe not made the best strategic decisions, but she's been the decision maker on some key votes.

I do have to say how I grew to dislike Steven in some ways. He was clearly trying to play teacher's pet to Jeff. And when he made the metaphor at Tribal, the jury was shown groaning and rolling their eyes. It makes me wonder if the jury really liked him, and if he would have actually had a chance to win. I think his block a vote made him to cocky and a bit arrogant, as shown by his smugness as Sophi was reading her KIP advantage.

A couple other quick notes... the immunity challenge was really fun with the showdown between Savannah and Sage. The amount of times Jeff mentioned Dee seemed to be intentional, knowing she was coming back for 50. The reward challenge was pretty dull with all the repeated/similar obstacles, but the reward itself was fun to watch. I just wish they went to an actual resort instead of the sanctuary.

Here are my final rankings for who could win if they get to the final three..

The Favorites
1. Savannah (last week: 1)
2. Rizo (last week: 2)

Good Chance
3. Sage (last week: 4)

Off Chance
4. Soph (last week: 3 in The Favorites)

No Chance
5. Kristina (last week: 6)

 

[Jedijax719]

Could someone please explain what happened to Steven's advantage? He used it to block Savannah's vote but then told Soph that he didn't have it!?!?

 

[PUSH]

Could someone please explain what happened to Steven's advantage? He used it to block Savannah's vote but then told Soph that he didn't have it!?!?

Correct. He had to play it before Tribal Council. So once he played it, he no longer had it, so she couldn't steal it.

This was a topic of discussion this past week. Jeff said in an interview with Dalton Ross that that's how it'd work.

 

[dmw]

Could someone please explain what happened to Steven's advantage? He used it to block Savannah's vote but then told Soph that he didn't have it!?!?

once played, he no longer had an advantage.

 

[Jedijax719]

Correct. He had to play it before Tribal Council. So once he played it, he no longer had it, so she couldn't steal it.

This was a topic of discussion this past week. Jeff said in an interview with Dalton Ross that that's how it'd work.

Oh that's weird.

In any case, Kristina and Sage were pretty STUPID for doing what they did tonight. They could have had a 3-2 advantage over Soph and then controlled the game but blew it.

 

[PUSH]

Oh that's weird.

In any case, Kristina and Sage were pretty STUPID for doing what they did tonight. They could have had a 3-2 advantage over Soph and then controlled the game but blew it.

Kristina for sure. Sage I could maybe understand. Steven was the leader of that alliance and would have likely won with Sage and Kristina next to him. As I said, Sage's best bet is probably Kristina and Sophi, as she mentioned in the episode. So this really is probably her best chance to win, rather than be a losing finalist. But I also think she should have been thinking about this much sooner than now.

As I was typing that, I think I figured Sage out. She's good with strategy, not great, but good. But she isn't a long term thinker. She's very in the moment, which can be good or bad in Survivor depending on the situation. But when you get to the end with very few people you can beat, it's pretty hard.

Now watch her end up winning and that criticism being null and void.

 

[dmw]

This was a fun one to watch, for sure.
I was completely surprised to see Steven voted out. I don't think Steven would have been able to beat Sage, if it came down to the two of them and Kristina. Bad decision by Sage. It just cost her any chance at the game. No way she can win against any of the power 3. Kristina... meh, she just plays along.

So... we know Rizzo makes final four. As will Kristina, and whomever wins the immunity idol. So, Sage, Sophi or Savannah. make final four.
If Savannah wins immunity, I think Sophi will be voted out as she has a better resume than Sage.
If Sophy wins immunity, Savannah will be voted out - same reason.
If Sage wins immunity... that will be interesting. If Sage is smart, Savannah is probably the strongest remaining player. That is who Sage should target. Kristina will go along with whatever Sage says. Sage would need to convince either Rizzo or Sophi to vote with her. Would that move be enough to give Sage an edge with the Jury? I still don't think so.

No way to really predict the final four until we see who wins immunity.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This was a fun episode that legitimately had me on the edge of my seat wondering how it would actually play out.

Big moves are fun when they happen, but so are big mistakes. Sophie not taking the idol will probably go down in Survivor history as a bad move people talk about well into the future. Had she done it I suspect Rizzo goes home as a bigger threat than Steven and everything changes.

I feel like Savannah will probably win immunity again, they even included Jeff foreshadowing what it would mean. Rizzo was obnoxiously showy tonight as always but he laid the groundwork that he could play it for himself or Sophie next week, meaning Sage is in the most danger as the safe vote.

This feels like part one of a two part episode where I need to know how it all ends before I can definitively say who made the right or wrong choice this week. That's fun because it might really demonstrate how different choices could play out.

 

[PUSH]

Sophi is very talkative on Twitter and TikTok. Some of it I won't post here, because it feels a little spolierish. It doesn't say anything, but it definitely adjusted my thinking as to what might happen.

However, this isn't a spoiler. Apparently the vote was planned to be unanimous. Kristina told Sophi about Steven's advantage before Tribal, and they had all planned to vote for him. She also said she was the one who came up with the idea for Rizo to claim his idol expired at 6 instead of 5.

 

[Jedijax719]

Now that I think about it, Sage and Kristina may have been banking on Sophi turning on Savannah in the final 5 so they decided to spare her in the final 6. Pretty bold move as they should have stuck with Steven, but maybe that's why they didn't vote out Sophi.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Kristina for sure. Sage I could maybe understand. Steven was the leader of that alliance and would have likely won with Sage and Kristina next to him. As I said, Sage's best bet is probably Kristina and Sophi, as she mentioned in the episode. So this really is probably her best chance to win, rather than be a losing finalist. But I also think she should have been thinking about this much sooner than now.

As I was typing that, I think I figured Sage out. She's good with strategy, not great, but good. But she isn't a long term thinker. She's very in the moment, which can be good or bad in Survivor depending on the situation. But when you get to the end with very few people you can beat, it's pretty hard.

Now watch her end up winning and that criticism being null and void.

Shannon on RHAP made the great point that Sage and Kristina should have voted for Rizzo.

He either goes home or they flush the idol and Steven still goes. It would have been a win-win.

That’s the only way to guarantee being able to take out a big target at 5. Now if either of the key duo wins immunity it’s game over for everyone else.

 

[dmw]

So... season 49 is over. Not a great season to watch, IMHO. And, I don't think I ever saw what Jeff thought was so exciting about the post-merge episodes.

Amazing to see Sophi win the challenge! That part was fun to watch. Even Kristina had the lead at one point.

I was surprised that they decided to vote off Kristina, but good on them for voting off the weakest person and leaving the top four to battle it out. I was wondering if Rizzo would keep his idol as a souvenir. I guess at that point he could not afford to take the chance.

Ugh, I still HATE the making fire challenge! Smart play by Sophi to have her two most challenging adversaries make fire. It improved her odds as I never really thought Sage had a chance. But, the game play required to vote out the 8th member of the jury would have been much more interesting than watching the top 2 making fire.

The vote went as I expected. I think it would have been much closer if Rizzo and Savannah were both in the final.

I don't believe the Jeff hype over season 50. I think he is desperate to get viewers excited as he knows the ratings have not been great. The more he does that, the bigger the let down, and less interest viewers (like me) will have.

 

[PUSH]

I actually really liked that finale. It may have been one of my favorites in a while.

Starting with the final 5 immunity challenge, it felt like a finale if that makes sense. It felt like the stakes were high. Savannah tying the record for most immunities won by a woman was cool.

With that vote, it was in Savannah's best interest, but not Rizo or Sophi's. Savannah knew she could beat anybody, so it makes sense to take out the person who's good at fire, even if a stronger player would remain in the game. For Sophi and Rizo, they needed that weaker player in the game, even if it meant she could win fire. Another point for Savannah.

Sophi is such a fun player. I enjoyed watching her win the final four immunity, along with her commentary throughout the challenge. Hearing how excited she was when she pulled it off was fun. I didn't like the challenge, though. It didn't feel grand enough for a final challenge. It felt like every other challenge they run. I've been an advocate for bringing back Hand on a Hard Idol. But I know they don't have the time to film that in a 26 day season.

I liked how Sophi told everybody not to plead their case, because it wouldn't matter. She didn't want to be influenced. I'm glad we didn't have to watch those scenes. Also, watching players practice fire at every final 4 is so boring. The fire making itself was okay, but nothing special. Sophi made the right choice, but the outcome was wrong for her. She may have won if Rizo had beaten Savannah.

This was a strong final Tribal Council performance for all three players. Sophi nailed the social aspect. Savannah was good. Sage was, too.

I did not like Kristina's question to Savannah. I understand she's trying to convey that Savannah didn't have a super solid social game. But not remembering loved ones' names does not mean she doesn't care about people. I personally am awful at remembering names of other people's loved ones. If I meet them and spend a little time with them, then I can remember. But unless I have that personal experience myself, I struggle. It doesn't mean I don't care.

I also felt for Sage the whole night. The jury was not willing to listen to her. She made some really good points and had good answers, but they had a preconceived idea based on her personality. The disregarded everything she had to say, even when she was right. Jeff also cut her off twice in the finale episode, and it really bugged me. She has been telling you how she has never been someone who is listened to or taken seriously, and then Jeff interrupts her and doesn't let her finish. It felt kind of icky. She clearly has some real trauma with those types of situations. In the end, I come down to Sage being a good player. Not great, but she is strategic.

I really ended up not liking Kristina this season. It seemed like she was only out there to make friends and be at summer camp. She did not like when people actually played the game, and then she went out of her way to try to sway others' opinions for that. She is not someone who I think Survivor should cast. I don't care about people being there for a personal journey. I don't know your personal life. I want to watch the show for the gameplay and interactions between players.

Overall, the right choice was made. Savannah played the best game. She dodged so many bullets and was a massive target for the entire merge portion of the game. Sophi was good socially, but she didn't have to maneuver as Savannah did. Sage didn't, either. I do think on another season, Sophi could have done some real damage. She was just unfortunately merged with only one person from her original tribe remaining and didn't have lots of room to play freely.

As a whole, the season was very "meh". Nothing terrible, but nothing great. The post merge was better, but still didn't pop as Jeff said it would. The cast was good, but not great. Knowing who was on 50 took some mystery out of the season, as I knew Savannah and Rizo wouldn't be voted off probably before the final 6. You could also tell that this was definitely the afterthought by production with 50 coming up. I also think there was a lot of fatigue from the new era. We've had essentially the same format for 9 seasons, with very minor tweaks. It's old and stale. We're tired of seeing it.

As a side note, my preseason winner pick has now won two seasons in a row! That's never happened before! And before you say it, I actually did not remember Savannah was on 50 before I made her my winner pick. I remembered Rizo, but forgot the female. It was only because of her preseason interviews that I picked her. So there's that.

Now for my updated rankings. All of these could change over time, but here's what I gave.

I have Survivor 49 ranked at the 31st best season. Right behind Africa and ahead of One World. Like I said... it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. It was very mundane and non-eventful. Nothing special. Very vanilla.

I put Savannah at the 23rd best winner. Right behind JT and ahead of Kenzie. Good game, but it wasn't one of the best. Her social game clearly lacked. She didn't really make any big moves strategically. She was just really good at outlasting and getting by. It's a very unique winning game.

Some of my player rankings... My high ranked was Savannah at #70 all-time. That's pretty low for a season high ranking. Some other highlights were Rizo at #99, Sophi at #119, Steven at #143, Sophie at #180, and Sage at #189. Nobody else made the top 200.

And now... onto 50.

 

[artvandelay]

Was not a fan of 49. Pre merge was not good. Post merge was better, but meh. Didn’t watch the reunion yet. Anything interesting come up?

I would have rather had Jawan and Sage over Rizo and Savanah for 50.

I’m going to wait until it airs, but I’m concerned with the celebrities that somehow are a part of 50.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Well only 24 hours late watching but I did enjoy it.

No surprise that Sophie's advantage misplay led us to Savannah or Rizzo winning. At least the episode didn't play out exactly how one might have thought.

As tired as fire making is, at least it gave us a dramatic showdown between arguably the tightest alliance in the game.

I really like the final tribal. The questions were good and they let everyone answer. That's how it should always be.

I was a bit amused by making Savannah name relatives. That was old school petty Survivor questioning and I appreciated it from a nostalgic perspective. I too don't remember names well so I don't like it from that angle. I take forever to remember co-workers names, so knowing someone's spouse? Forget about it. Savannah answered it well at least and showed she did pay attention.

Nice upbeat after show for the most part with Sophie taking it in stride.

Celebrities like Mr. Beast (who I barely have any awareness of) in 50? Meh. Kind of feels like desperately trying to connect with the "kids". Survivor is still the gold standard when it comes to reality TV so I feel like they should stand on their own. Having said that, I always wanted them to do an Amazing Race crossover where teams end up in Fiji running a Survivor challenge.

 

[Jedijax719]

I don't even know who Mr. Beast is.

Most of Survivor 50's cast is fine, but man do they look "old". The pre-COVID cast members are okay and I for one don't need to see any of the winners from season 40 again.

As for the post-COVID cast members, some are good choices (Dee, Q, Emily, and others) but some are just puzzling (Kamila, Tiffany). They missed a HUGE opportunity to make this season entertaining by not having obvious choices like Carolyn Wiger, Shan Smith, and Jesse Lopez. To me those three should have been slam dunks. IT's going to be weird not seeing them.

 

[PUSH]

I finally got a chance to make a Survivor 50 thread. Come join us! Thank you for another fun season of discussing the show we all love!

Thread 'Survivor 50 "In the Hands of the Fans" Discussion Thread'

Tuesday at 6:17 PM

It's officially the Survivor 50 preseason, which means it's time to create a new thread!

We've been waiting a while for this one, as I think they announced 50 would be returning players during season 46. There's been lots and lots and discussion and rumors about the potential cast, but it's finally time!

I know we will have lots to talk about, so feel free to discuss all things Survivor here. I'm so excited for a new returnee season! It's been 10 seasons since our last one, which is the longest gap in Survivor history without returnees (if you don't count Bruce in 45). Looking...

• PUSH
• Replies: 6
• Forum: TV Shows, Movies, and Music

•