Survivor megathread

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Also some sad news today:

https://twitter.com/RedmondSurvivor/status/1516836124286668810?t=f1__hMbMJ1DmtnN...

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I met Jonny Fairplay, Figgy, Taj, and Keith & Whitney at a watch party in Nashville for tonight's episode.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Tonight was surprising for me.  I really thought that the person voted out was going to win!

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Jonathan's dad is currently in last place in the early returns of the GOP primary for Governor of Alabama

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Alright, here are my best guesses of everyone's political leanings, based mostly on what I've seen from the show and picked up on here and on Reddit. I didn't do any personal research on anyone, so these could be wildly inaccurate.

In order from right to left:

• Tori - Oklahoma and apparently a strong Christian. And possibly an anti-vaxxer, although I'm pretty sure all contestants were required to be vaccinated for COVID and other diseases to go to Fiji in the first place.
• Jonathan - Alabama and the son of a Republican politician (wannabe politician, more accurately?). Although he (and Tori) both seem largely fine with LGBT people and minorities, so neither is your stereotypical religious right/"values voter." I doubt they would cast someone who would object to gay or trans people in modern Survivor anyway.
• Daniel - I could see him as a Biden 2020 voter, the type of person that was a Republican until Trump and hopes to return to the party one day.
• Marya - No vibe either way. Not sure what her ethnic background is, but I would put her a couple of tiers down if she is black.
• Mike - Could go either way, but I suspect he's more likely to be Democratic, given his background and eagerness to learn about others' religion.
• Lindsay - Another that think is more likely to be Democratic than not, but wouldn't shock me if she were Republican. I don't remember if she ever said what denomination of Judaism she's a part of.
• Jenny - If you told me there was 1 person on the cast that would surprisingly be a Trump supporter, I'd probably pick her. Not she gave me that vibe, per say, but I wouldn't totally rule it out. Alternatively, it wouldn't surprise me if she is extremely liberal.
• Zach - No real indication, but I just assume Democratic.
• Lydia - No real indication, but I just assume Democratic.
• Rocksroy - I could've believed centrist early on, but he seemed to strongly support the BLM discussion.
• Omar - Although he lives a very conservative lifestyle personally, I would assume he supports Democrats 100%.
• Romeo - I would have put him in the grey tier until I knew for sure that he is gay. Seems to be feminist as well. On the other hand, he also seems to come from a conservative family.
• Jackson - Transman who was previously rejected by his family. Never said anything about politics, but I just can't imagine him being a Republican or Trump supporter.
• Swati - Gives super liberal vibes, but I ranked her here because everyone below her on the list explicitly said so.
• Maryanne - Strong feminist and BLM supporter.
• Drea - Strong feminist and BLM supporter.
• Chanelle - Strong feminist and BLM supporter and also LGBT I believe?
• Hai - Gay ethnic minority who wore a shirt that said "FEMINIST." Was a little harsh in accusing others of misogyny, which no female contestant did (at least not in a comment that aired).

I think you did a decent job, but I'd make a few changes.

-Jonathan and Tori (relative to interactions with non-straight people)- It's possible that they could disagree with homosexuality but treat the individual with respect and love.

-Daniel is definitely a Republican and has worked on a lot of Republican campaigns.  His pregame interview ("signed pocket constitutions") reeks of a sort of intellectual, but somewhat cringy, conservatism.

-Lindsay is highly likely to be a Democrat.  She heavily implied that she was very secular in the religious conversation and seemed to have very liberal views on gender roles.  And, she seemed to heavily push back on Jonathan's views in the racial conversation.

-Omar is Canadian, and I have no idea how devout Muslims in Canada vote.  For what it's worth, I have a friend from college who is a super devout Muslim and seems broadly uncomfortable with both American parties.  It wouldn't surprise me if it's similar for Omar in Canada.

-Rocksroy didn't really give off that political of vibes, even in that one tribal council.

-Mike comes across as a conservative (with his firefighting background) and personality.  That he's interested in having conversations with others doesn't seem to negate that for me.

If I were to make a list from right to left:

1. Jonathan
2. Daniel
3. Tori
4. Mike
5. Marya (really don't know where to put her)
6. Omar
7. Rocksroy
8. Zach
9. Jenny
---------everyone below here is without question generally on the left-------
10. Lindsay (seems way more establishment than a lot below her)
11. Maryanne (is a seminary student, so maybe she's a little less progressive in some areas)
12. Romeo
13-17. Everyone else, except for #18
18. Hai (unquestionably gives off the most left-wing vibe of everyone on this cast)

[100% pro-life no matter what]

On our first full day in the Dominican Republic, our team took a boat cruise to an island off the coast of the DR before the mission trip part of the trip began.  And, while we were on our boat, we saw what was unmistakably (a foreign version of) Survivor filming.  We saw numerous challenge sets (one of which had tons of cameras and had people at the start, as if it was about to be used) and two tribal camps.

It was an incredibly beautiful setting for Survivor, but wouldn't be that remote.  While it is part of a national park, there were boats passing by not far from where it was filming.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Apparently, Survivor 37 winner Nick Wilson (R) ran unopposed for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives this week.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Never did I expect Gabler to win this season, but I think I agree with the jury's decision.  One of the most surprising winners relative to my expectations, for sure!

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I'll accept my accolades on Elie, Cassidy, and Lindsay, all of which could plausibly have been conservative but seemed more likely to be liberal to me. Nneka though, wow, didn't pick up on that.

I'm assuming she still caved and got the COVID vaccine in order to be on the show, right?

Yeah, you have to be vaccinated to be on any CBS show, so that post may be exaggerating her beliefs.

Cassidy had a very pro-Beto post on Twitter right before the election.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Yeah, so I rewatched 'Tocantins' and it definitely grew on me much like "David Vs. Goliath" did when i rewatched it last year. I'm not entirely sure why it didn't stick much with me from when I first watched it in 2009. Sure, I always remembered JT, Stephen, Coach, and Tyson (especially since they were returning players) but nothing else in the season resonated with me at the time.

Upon rewatch I'm surprised that I forgot about Joe being medically evacuated, the proposed Exile Island Alliance, poor Sierra being treated like s*** for reasons that confounded me (at least based on the edit-she didn't come across as dumb to me), and Taj's emotional reaction to her husband's message at the auction. There were truly a lot of memorable moments in this season and I'm actually surprised that Sierra and Taj (or even her husband) never came back in returnee seasons.

I think Taj has been asked back but doesn't want to play again.  It's not like she needs the money, given that her husband is Eddie George.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Let's not let this thread turn into a debate of the legislation Nick voted for, but Survivor is probably not casting any active politicians of either party.  Also, I'm pretty sure it was a relatively party line vote, so it's not shocking at all that Nick would vote for that.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

They've got to change the puzzles up going forward. Maybe Jeff Probst thinks it's cool when someone makes their own versions of the puzzles and knows how to solve it ahead of time, but it really breaks the game.

Agreed wholeheartedly, and it seems like most Survivor watchers have reacted this way to last night's episode.

And f*** Carson, by the way: "just prepare." Yeah, because the average would-be contestant has or can afford a 3D printer.

I agree that lazy challenges are a problem, but I don't remotely blame Carson for knowing to use that to his advantage.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Keith Nale, from Survivor: San Juan Del Sur and Survivor: Cambodia, passed away yesterday at 62

https://fox59.com/news/national-world/survivor-contestant-keith-nale-dies-at-62-family-says

Keith is the 14th former Survivor contestant to pass away.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

As far as the chart goes, I think we might have our first ever clean sweep. None of the 18 contestants strike me as likely to be Republican. Danny is probably the most likely, but given his age, hometown (NYC), and what seemed like an LGBT-positive attitude, I would lean toward Democratic.

If there is a "surprise" Republican, maybe Jamie would be the most likely? (Though I still would heavily lean to the Democratic side for her.) I wouldn't say the same for Heidi, as I believe Puerto Ricans living in the states are pretty Democratic, and she spoke about representing women and Latinas a lot in a way that a Republican probably wouldn't. (And Jamie didn't, for example, at least from what was aired.)

Everyone else seems to have at least 1 solid reason to suspect Democratic:

• Black - Bruce, Claire, Josh, Brandon, Lauren
• Culturally liberal-seeming young person from big city - Maddy, Helen, Claire, Sarah, Josh, Matt, Frannie, Carson
• LGBT - Claire, Matthew, Josh, Frannie (?), Carolyn, Yam-Yam
• Canadian - Kane

Besides Danny, I'd think that the two others who could be Republicans would be Bruce and Carson, though I'd probably lean against it for both of them.  Bruce is an insurance salesperson, which is a fairly conservative-leaning industry.  And, Carson wore a cross for the entire game, so it's possible that he's a religious conservative (although probably a pretty moderate one).  I also don't think we got much of a sense of where Sarah would lean, although I'd demographically suspect she would be a Democrat.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Also for the second straight season, there's no need for a chart, because they all come across as Democrats.

I don't know, Dee is Cuban from Miami. And maybe Julie could be conservative?

Yeah, it's possible that Dee or Julie or someone else could be conservative. With 18 independent probabilities, I'm sure it's better than 50-50 that someone on the cast is and it's not an 18-0 clean sweep. But going person by person, I put all 18 as more likely Democratic than not. I could be wrong, though, since I'm not following anyone on social media or anything, just going by the general vibe.

Julie is in her late 40s, from Tennessee, and clearly culturally Southern.  I'd guess that she's a Republican.  And, Dee might be as a Cuban from Miami.  There are a few others who could be conservative, but Julie and Dee are the only two I'd guess.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Maybe they can bring Jelinsky back for season forty-several in the fall.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Not sure if there are any Amazing Race fans in here too, but CBS showing Bhanu's meltdown and Maya & Rohan's 80-point turn on the same night is...something.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

A couple weeks ago, someone said on Reddit that Bhanu is like if Michael Scott were on Survivor. I couldn't not see if after I read that.

Come to think of it, you're right- and Bhanu and Jelinsky would be good sitcom characters.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I'll proudly raise my hand and say that I would have gotten Hunter's journey challenge correct in like 30 seconds.

I easily would have too

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Lately I've only been tuning into Survivor because The Amazing Race is right after it. I'm on my phone half the time because it's just not as interesting in the New Era. I guess the several jokes are amusing, but when the season's first boot is the most memorable cast member, you've got a problem.

You know, I actually think 46 has been a solid-for-the-new-era season of Survivor, but TAR 36 has been one of the most boring Amazing Race seasons.  It's hurt by having a covid season air after a normal season did in the fall (filmed out of order).

Also, I'm strongly rooting for Boston Rob on Deal or No Deal Island, if anyone's been watching that.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Paging Harry in 3…2…1

I'll say it for him:

PLAY YOUR IDOLS

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I think I disagree with the jury's decision, but I think Kenzie played a really good social game.  I think Charlie's game was just slightly better.  However, even if it had been a tie, I think Ben might have gone with Kenzie (I'm still watching the reunion, so I don't know if it was addressed).