Wednesday, December 08, 2021

Survivor 41: December 8 Episode Blog Party

 


Good evening. I hope everybody is doing well. Do you realize that tonight's show is the penultimate episode? Yep. The finale is NEXT WEEK, with all three primetime hours being Survivor. So, make sure you have an ample supply of snacks and beverages for it!

But, of course, we have to get through tonight first. I'm not sure who I want to win this season with the castaways we have left. I like Danny and Xander. Ricard is sneaky but is playing a good game. The other three? Eh. I have to keep remembering that someone named Heather is in it this season.

I will be live blogging, updating this entry as the show airs here on the East Coast. Refresh the page to get the latest news. Tomorrow I plan on posting the available Ponderosa clips with the jury members. That will be in a separate post. The real party tonight is in the comments area -- please feel free to join in on the fun!

Lifeguard Laurie has updated the blog pool and here's the latest:

Danny McCray - Cheryl in NC, Nickelpeed, Jennifer
Deshawn Radden - Kelsey NY, PDX Granny, Jlaf
Erika Casupanan - Petals, Pam Arceneaux, Margo
Heather Aldret - Debbie, Joanne Victoria
Ricard Foye - Mikes Girl, GiLLL
Xander Hastings - Donna in FL, April

Jury
Tiffany Seely
Naseer Muttalif
Evvie Jagoda
Shantel Smith
Liana Wallace

Survivor fans ready?

We open on Night 21 as they return from Tribal. Deshawn is still a bit emotional as he lived through the Do or Die and Liana went home. Danny is confused why Xander didn't vote for Ricard to go. Xander is honest with Danny, telling him that he thought Ricard was a shield for himself in the game -- otherwise he (Xander) would be the one who others wanted out the most.

Oh. There's that Heather person. She's talking race with Deshawn. She thinks this season is her time and she needs to be there. Um. Okay. Heather who?

Erika talks with him next, about her guilt in voting out another woman, Liana. Deshawn talks about how things aren't just about color, there is gender and more.

Day 22 has a Reward Challenge. Two teams of three. Dive down, retrieve buoys one by one (three). They can get chicken and vegetables or candy and cake. Deshawn pipes up that it should be time for a visit from home. Nope.

Yellow team: Deshawn, Xander, Erika / Blue team: Ricard, Heather, Danny.

YELLOW WINS REWARD! They choose the chicken and vegetables. Deshawn tells us he wants to work on Erika and Xander to get Ricard out.

The leftovers on the island are more interesting than the ones eating. Danny went off looking for an idol. Ricard thinks he has one. 

Deshawn talks more with Erika. Will they really bond? Deshawn told US that he doesn't trust that Erika and Xander will really work with him. Deshawn and Erika talk about Heather. Who?

Time for the Immunity Challenge. Spin to unspool a coil of rope, over obstacles, untie puzzle pieces, puzzle. The spinning has its "drunk" effect as it should. Ricard starts on the puzzle first. Seven word phrase. Don't Make This Next Vote Be Your Last.

RICARD WINS IMMUNITY ... AGAIN!

Heh. They're all congratulating Ricard but they don't mean it. Danny is ticked that they voted out Liana last week when they could have gotten Ricard out. Ricard mentions to Danny that he thinks he has an idol. Danny tells us he didn't find one but thinks he should take advantage of the fact others think he has one. Erika wants to keep Deshawn for her own purposes although everyone would think he's a bigger threat than is Danny. Ricard thinks Deshawn should go as he gets along well with both women. Deshawn works on his bonds with others as he thinks that is Danny's weak point.

Tribal Council time with 15 minutes left. Jeff wonders why Deshawn is grinning. He thinks he's the target, he or Danny. He thinks the "four" will vote together. Deshawn and Danny talk about how Ricard should have been voted out last week. Erika defends her vote last week as Liana had put her name down and Ricard never did. Heather also says it was for her game.

Deshawn decides he will throw out some information. He tells Heather that Erika won't take her to the end. Woo. As Danny says, that's personal with the Truth Bomb and Deshawn turning on Erika. 

Time to vote. Xander votes Deshawn.

The tally ... Deshawn, Danny, Danny, Deshawn, Deshawn, Danny. Tie, re-vote, can only vote for Danny or Deshawn.

Danny, Danny, Danny ... aw, rats.

The final five will be taken to a new island to start over, minimal supplies and lots of game ahead with little time.

Wednesday, December 01, 2021

Survivor 41: December 1 Episode Blog Party

 


Good evening! Well, as I said in comments before, the folks in the Black alliance on this show were lacking the strong motivation of having the first Black winner as the ones on BB23 had. So, like most other alliances made early in a season, they have already fallen apart targeting not one, but two, of their four members last week. Thus, for those folks all riled up that they had an alliance based on race, it was like any other alliance based on something they had in common -- not unlike male alliances, young alliances, etc. Now, I don't want to be that person who says, "I told you so." But ...

My blog pool pick got the boot last week, so I'm a free agent. Hmm. I'm not sure I have a personal pick this season. I'd like to see Xander do well but he has made a few foolish moves. I kind of like Danny, but he gets all paranoid. I don't care much for Ricard, but he is playing a good cut-throat game. However, I can see him being targeted for his game. I guess we'll see.

The blog pool is updated and here's where we stand:

Danny McCray - Cheryl in NC, Nickelpeed, Jennifer
Deshawn Radden - Kelsey NY, PDX Granny, Jlaf
Erika Casupanan - Petals, Pam Arceneaux, Margo
Heather Aldret - Debbie, Joanne Victoria
Liana Wallace - Terry is a Texan, ChicMC
Ricard Foye - Mikes Girl, GiLLL
Xander Hastings - Donna in FL, April

Jury
Tiffany Seely
Naseer Muttalif
Evvie Jagoda
Shantel Smith

I will update this entry as the show airs here on the East Coast. Refresh the page to get the latest happenings. As always, the real party is in the comments ... I hope to see you there! Survivor fans ready?

We open on Night 19 as they return from Tribal. Liana is ticked -- she was blindsided with votes, no one in her alliance told her what was going on as they followed Ricard's plan to oust Shan. Deshawn is upset that Shan called him a snake on the way out. Not only that, but she told Ricard will have her vote for the million.

Meanwhile, Xander, Ricard, Heather and Erika, the underdogs have the largest alliance. Danny is taking things better than Deshawn. Now Liana is gunning for Deshawn.

Day 20 -- remember they only have 26 days this season. Aw, it's the 25th anniversary of Danny's father's death. He was eight years-old. Notice we're getting a little backstory segment on each of them this season.

Eep ... already to Day 21. New twist afoot! Participating in the Immunity Challenge comes with a deadly risk? Oh my. 

Use handles to balance a ball on a wooden cylinder, additions added as time goes on. First person out must be in Survivor Do or Die, if they win they're safe. If they lose no one is voted out and they are gone. They each get two rocks. Grey means they sit out Do or Die. Red is competing. Heather and Liana sit out, the rest participate.

Deshawn is almost immediately out. He will do the challenge tonight. The rest are now playing strictly for immunity. Erika out. It's Xander, Danny and Ricard playing for immunity. Ricard and Xander out almost simultaneously. DANNY WINS IMMUNITY!

Danny and Deshawn think they need to target Ricard if Deshawn stays. They approach Xander with the plan. Xander wants to keep Ricard but doesn't say that to them! Erika suggests to Xander that they should vote Ricard because he's a big threat to win the game. Xander thinks Liana, also not popular with Erika. He thinks of Ricard as a bit of a shield for him down the line ... a bigger target. Ricard doesn't really trust Erika. Liana is worried about her own safety. Will she use her Shot in the Dark at Tribal? Hmm.

Time for Tribal Council! Jeff tells Liana that the challenge was all about relationships. Heather and Liana both say they would have lost the challenge and it wasn't that they felt safe. Xander says this season you need to gamble a bit. Tonight is the last night they can take the Shot in the Dark. All of this going on is making me dizzy! Oh geez, now Deshawn is crying because he wanted to represent the Black community with integrity and thinks he failed. This leads into a rather intense discussion of race relations.

Deshawn is at his challenge. Three boxes, one has fire symbol (safe), two have a skull. He has to choose one box. Jeff opens a box -- skull. Offers to let Deshawn trade. Deshawn wants to go with his first choice. He got flame! DESHAWN IS SAFE! Ricard looks worried.

Time to vote.

The tally -- no idols played. Ricard, Liana, Ricard, Liana, Ricard, Liana, Liana, Liana.

Bye-bye, Liana!


Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Survivor 41: November 24 Episode Blog Party

 


Good evening! It's the night before Thanksgiving. In the earlier days of the show, this would be the clips night. Not so these days. It's a new episode and it's quite likely it won't be a priority for so many folks. Lots of people will end up streaming it online at a later time. Thus, it will probably be a quiet night here. That's okay with me. I'm in a quiet kind of way tonight.

I will update this post with the major happenings on the show as it airs here on the East Coast. Refresh the page to get the latest happenings. As always, the real party is in the comments area. Please feel free to join in on the fun!

Last week we saw both popular (with the castaways and show fans) Naseer and game-savvy Evvie get the boot. Lifeguard Laurie has updated the blog pool and here is where we stand --

Danny McCray - Cheryl in NC, Nickelpeed, Jennifer
Deshawn Radden - Kelsey NY, PDX Granny, Jlaf
Erika Casupanan - Petals, Pam Arceneaux, Margo
Heather Aldret - Debbie, Joanne Victoria
Liana Wallace - Terry is a Texan, ChicMC
Ricard Foye - Mikes Girl, GiLLL
Shantel Smith- Marthalight, Jackie
Xander Hastings - Donna in FL, April

Jury
Tiffany Seely
Naseer Muttalif
Evvie Jagoda

Survivor fans ready? On with the show ...

It's Night 17 and they return from Tribal. Shan voted with her extra vote thus making her voting moot. She's a target but they worry because she has an idol. Of course, Xander is on their hit list. Shan doesn't trust Deshawn as he walked off with Erika. Could they be talking a blindside? He defends himself to Shan, but to no real avail. 

While they have a bit of a BB Cookout theme going on with their four in Survivor, they are nowhere near as driven. They want to play an individual game much more. Danny cries about the dilemma they face. Oh, well.

Time for a Reward Challenge. Attached to a rope which weaves through articles, solve puzzle. Reward is Survivor Sanctuary, pizza under the stars, overnight with blankets and pillows. RICARD WINS!

He can choose one to join him. He chooses Shan -- she hasn't received a Reward yet and they've been together. Another person -- Heather, no rewards. Another -- Xander, gave up his own game a bit to get them all rice. Uh-oh ... of course, this leaves those not picked a reason to target him. That's okay with me. Ricard does not rock my socks.

Danny thinks this gives him the opportunity to make a big move while the others are out on Reward. He suggests taking out Ricard. They need to do it without Shan knowing it will happen. Liana is not thrilled with the plan as she is close with Shan. However, she thinks it will strengthen her relationships with others.

Now at Day 19. Shan tells Liana she doesn't really trust Deshawn. Liana cries to us. She has love in her heart. She tells Shan the others want to blindside her, targeting Ricard tonight. The two decide they need to blindside Deshawn. Shan goes to Ricard, tells him and says they must get together and vote out Deshawn (with Xander, too).

Immunity Challenge time! Stand on narrow beam balancing a ball on a disk on a pole, moving to more narrow parts of the beam and balancing the ball higher up as time goes on. 

Liana out first. Danny out. Into the second round. Erika out. Heather out. Third round. Shan out. Deshawn out. It's between Ricard and Xander. Xander out. 

RICARD WINS IMMUNITY!

Shan is relieved. Now it makes Deshawn less of a target and Erika is the new target. Ricard is a bit leery about Shan and her four. He decides that tonight is the night that Shan needs to go. Oh my! He goes to Deshawn and rats out Shan telling him that plan. Deshawn denies he ever tried to get them to target Ricard. Now he's leery of Shan.

Danny is so impressed by Erika's super slick plan to vote out Shan that now he's thinking they need to vote out Erika.

Off to Tribal Council and Jeff's Probsting interrogation. Xander is his first target. Heather feels at the bottom. With Erika he hints at a bottom revolution. Lots of discussion about trust, truths and lies. No whispers and it's time to vote.

The tally ... no idols played.

Erika, Erika, Shan, Liana, Shan, Liana, Shan, Liana. Liana and Shan are tied. Revote on just those two.

Shan, Shan, Shan, Shan ... bye-bye, blog pool girl. She calls Deshawn a snake.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Survivor 41: November 17 Episode Blog Party

 


Good evening. I'm a bit off my game this week, so it probably won't be the best of my live blogging. I believe I saw a promo which said two people would get the boot tonight. However, with the way this past week has been, I could be wrong.

Lifeguard Laurie has updated the pool and here are the latest standings:

Danny McCray - Cheryl in NC, Nickelpeed, Jennifer
Deshawn Radden - Kelsey NY, PDX Granny, Jlaf
Erika Casupanan - Petals, Pam Arceneaux, Margo
Evvie Jagoda - Sharon C, bizaro22, Indiana Jane
Heather Aldret - Debbie, Joanne Victoria
Liana Wallace - Terry is a Texan, ChicMC
Naseer Muttalif - CherryPie, Tammy M
Ricard Foye - Mikes Girl, GiLLL
Shantel Smith- Marthalight, Jackie
Xander Hastings - Donna in FL, April

Jury
Tiffany Seely

I will do my best to at least get the major happenings covered here in the blog entry as they air here on the East Coast. My apologies in advance. As always, the real party is in the comments section. Please feel free to join in on the fun and, if you can, perhaps post some of the happenings that I might not be covering tonight. Thank you!

Deshawn is calling Tribal a train wreck and blaming it on Heather. He is also ticked that Shan keeps telling others what to do. Shan knows there are issues and tries to mend fences with Deshawn. Oops. Backfired. This ain't gonna be no Cookout for sure! Naseer thinks Heather voted for him while it was really Xander. Xander is watching their argument.

Liana still wants Xander gone. She also wants Erika out.

Immunity Challenge time. Balance on narrow perch holding onto a handle behind head. Two groups, go to Tribal separately, two people going home. Reward is chicken and beef stew.

Erika, Shan, Ricard, Heather, Naseer - Yellow

Deshawn, Danny, Xander, Liana, Evvie  

Evvie first out. they all come down quickly.

Erika last up for Yellow, safe with Immunity but no stew. Blue is down to Deshawn and Xander. Deshawn down! Xander wins Immunity and Reward for his team.

Since Erika and Xander won Immunity and blew the plans, it looks like Heather and Naseer are in trouble on Yellow. Ricard is pushing for Naseer. Shan tells him she will cast the extra vote. Hmm.

On Blue, Liana is trying to get Xander's idol while Xander is considering giving it to Evvie.

Tribal starts for Yellow. The discussion makes it seem that Heather will go. We'll see. I hope Naseer uses his idol. I think he will need it. Ricard votes Naseer, Naseer votes Heather. No idols played -- Tally - Heather, Naseer, Heather, Heather, Naseer, Naseer. A tie. A re-vote in play. Can only vote for Heather or Naseer. 

Re-tally -- Naseer, Naseer, Naseer. Sigh. I liked that guy, he should have played his idol!

Blue comes in. Liana votes Evvie. Xander votes Liana. No idol played. The tally - Liana, Evvie, Liana, Evvie, Evvie. Another good player down and the third member of the jury.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Survivor 41: November 10 Episode Blog Party

 


Good evening! I hope everyone is doing okay tonight. After all, we're at the merge now. We're talking individual games with all kinds of convoluted twists going on. At least we saw what Shot in the Dark can do ... or, more accurately, what it cannot do. To be honest, I won't be missing Sydney. She was way too full of herself and how much better she was than everyone else. Too bad, so sad.

Lifeguard Laurie has gathered the pool together once again -- at least without tribes, it makes things a bit easier! Here's where we stand:

Danny McCray - Cheryl in NC, Nickelpeed, Jennifer
Deshawn Radden - Kelsey NY, PDX Granny, Jlaf
Erika Casupanan - Petals, Pam Arceneaux, Margo
Evvie Jagoda - Sharon C, bizaro22, Indiana Jane
Heather Aldret - Debbie, Joanne Victoria
Liana Wallace - Terry is a Texan, ChicMC
Naseer Muttalif - CherryPie, Tammy M
Ricard Foye - Mikes Girl, GiLLL
Shantel Smith- Marthalight, Jackie
Tiffany Seely - David, Dr_Celine
Xander Hastings - Donna in FL, April

OUT
Sara Wilson
David Voce
Brad Reese
Jairus Robinson (JD)
Genie Chen 
Sydney Segal

I'll be updating this entry with the major happenings as the show airs here on the East Coast. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As always, the real party is in the comments area -- please feel free to join in on the fun!

We open with night 14 and get a quick replay of Xander handing off the fake idol. Liana tells us her relationship with Evvie is fractured. Evvie knows how close she came to going home. Her eyes have opened and now she feels she needs to rebuild relationships after playing too hard.

Tiffany is working on people. Xander is, too. They're scrambling, the Yase Three. 

We're thrown into a challenge. Jeff tells us there is an advantage hidden at the bench. The castaways come by boat. It's a Reward Challenge, leap off ramp, dive down, puzzle pieces and people in boat, two solve the puzzle. Five on each team, one sits out. Blue/Yellow -- Erika gets the odd rock and sits out, with no chance of Reward. Xander offers to take her spot because she hasn't eaten. The Reward is grill cheese sandwiches. (I would give that up, too. Not a grill cheese fan!)

Blue wins -- Evvie, Ricard, Deshawn, Erika, Danny 

Xander did NOT find the advantage at the bench.

The six not eating are whining. Well, except for Xander who is schmoozing and Naseer who goes off and gets papaya. They are scheming against Evvie because she put the puzzle together in seconds remembering it from a previous season. Ricard ticks off Shan as he came back from reward and wanted to try papaya.

Day 16 brings us the Immunity Challenge. Balance on toes with a block of wood balanced between your head and frame. Last one standing wins. Two options, any player feeling safe enough can opt out for rice or as a group, multiple people can win enough rice for everybody for three days.

Shan suggests five and steps out, Naseer joins her. Xander proposes four and steps forward if one more will. Ricard joins them.

Deshawn, Erika, Tiffany out quickly. Danny out. Liana, Evvie and Heather remain. Liana down. Heather out.

EVVIE wins Immunity ... the shortest the challenge has ever gone -- around four minutes.

Liana is not happy that her oust Evvie plan is busted. She wants to flush out Xander's idol. Hmm ... Naseer trusts Shan and Ricard. Tiffany is the new target? Dehawn and Danny are talking Naseer but Shan is going on about Xander not being a number for them and being a big threat. Of course, she is putting a target on her own back by not listening to them.

Shan tells Xander and company the target is Naseer. Xander hears Naseer, Tiffany and Heather's names as targets. Tiffany is worried. Heather is worried that Shan is putting her out there and trying to run the show. 

They head off to Tribal and it looks like just about anything can happen.

Jeff talks about food being such a big issue this year. He asks Shan why she stepped forward. She said for the group to eat. Xander also talked for the group. Naseer says he has flat feet and chicken legs, would have won the challenge but wanted the group to eat. The rest talk about being a bit nervous heading into this tonight.

Heather gets up and whispers to push the vote to Naseer which gets a group wanting to push it to Heather. Ricard whispers to Xander to please play his idol ... now, Xander's name wasn't in the whispers.

With no idols/advantages played, the tally is: Xander, Xander, Heather, Heather, Naseer, Tiffany, Tiffany, Tiffany, Tiffany, Tiffany ... first member of the jury is Tiffany.