Tonight's episode is titled "I’m Not Worthy." There's a preview clip of the start of the episode showing that Carolyn's not at all happy having been left out of the loop on the last vote. Yam Yam is trying to do damage control. Sounds like the IC is the one where they have to keep their heads above water.

--
Brian

On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 3:01:30 PM UTC-6, Brian Smith wrote:
> Tonight's episode is titled "I’m Not Worthy." There's a preview clip of the start of the episode showing that Carolyn's not at all happy having been left out of the loop on the last vote. Yam Yam is trying to do damage control. Sounds like the IC is the one where they have to keep their heads above water.
>
> --
> Brian

I thought this was a pretty good episode. Probably the best of the season. This is what stood out for me in the episode:

--Heidi did a great job convincing Danny that she didn't vote for him. She's not a flashy player but she's effective.

--The IC did not go as I expected. Yam Yam and Heidi at the end with Yam Yam winning was a big surprise. I imagine a lot of viewers feel the same way. They put in impressive performances. When Carson said he practiced the challenge in his bathtub I thought he was going to win. I laughed when Jeff replied to him "Really?"

--After being left out of the loop on the last vote by Yam Yam and Carson, I was surprised that Carolyn told Carson about her immunity idol. She must really like/trust him.

--Jeff directing a shot at Carolyn during TC has Twitter in an uproar. Did Jeff cross the line with his remark? Carolyn was not in a good mood the entire TC.

--WTF was Carolyn doing when she voted? Was she measuring something with her fingers? And why in the hell didn't she take a new piece of parchment to write down her vote? If Lauren knows that was her handwriting she could use that to target her at the next TC.

--Why was Carolyn considering voting for Lauren after begging Yam Yam to stick with her and Carson and vote for Danny? Does she suspect Heidi has an idol?

--Why did Lauren and Jaime vote for Heidi? I feel like we're missing out on some key info when it comes to those two.

--With Danny gone I think the odds of Hedi winning went way up. If she can get Carson out before F3 I believe she has the strongest case to win the game and can best present her case.

--
Brian

On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 9:30:49 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> --The IC did not go as I expected. Yam Yam and Heidi at the end with Yam Yam winning was a big surprise. I imagine a lot of viewers feel the same way. They put in impressive >performances.

I would prefer it if Production did not use the same challenges in back-to-back seasons, and "Last Gasp" was run (and badly f---ed up) in S43. My other problem is
that this challenge provides too much of an opportunity for Probst to chatter incessantly, which he more than took advantage of. So, first I turned off the sound, but
eventually just fast forwarded to the end.
>After being left out of the loop on the last vote by Yam Yam and Carson, I was surprised that Carolyn told Carson about her immunity idol. She must really like/trust him.

She has liked him from the first episode of the season, but it seemed pretty clear, during her conversation with Yammy, that her subsequent immunity pendant play was
strategic. It appeared that she greatly feared the prospect of the ex-Tika players being reduced to just two.

> --Jeff directing a shot at Carolyn during TC has Twitter in an uproar. Did Jeff cross the line with his remark?

Which remark? The one about whether she was mad at him, or the one about her getting more sleep?

> --WTF was Carolyn doing when she voted? Was she measuring something with her fingers?

It looked like she was counting, probably trying to figure out future game outcomes based on different vote results.

>--And why in the hell didn't she take a new piece of parchment to write down her vote?

Assuming that the final vote that Probst showed was Carolyn's, it was a damned cheeky message that she was sending to everybody's least
favourite "camera whore". Earlier in the episode, we saw Danny tell Carolyn that "the plan" involved the two of them voting for Lauren while
Carson and Mr. Yum Yum vote for Jaime. Carolyn clearly didn't believe that Danny was telling her the truth. So, by crossing out Lauren's name
and printing Danny's instead, she was essentially saying, "Got you mother----er".

>--If Lauren knows that was her handwriting she could use that to target her at the next TC.

I'm sure that Carolyn will gladly explain herself to Lauren, and there will be no hard feelings whatsoever.

> --Why did Lauren and Jaime vote for Heidi? I feel like we're missing out on some key info when it comes to those two.

We saw Carson pitching a Heidi/Danny split vote to Lauren and Jaime, and the two women discussing it afterwards. Carson
told Yammy that he thought that Lauren and Jaime would follow through, and he was right.

> --With Danny gone I think the odds of Heidi winning went way up. If she can get Carson out before F3 I believe she has the strongest case to win the game and can best present her case.

What would she say to the jury? She hasn't done anything in the game except find an immunity bracelet. She hasn't won any challenges, and was badly on the wrong sides
of the F8 and F7 votes. How will she answer the inevitable question concerning her biggest move in the game? "Well, I made sure I alligned myself with the the most
prominent alpha male and camera whore on my original tribe". However, with that said, given the weakness of the competition, she might look pretty good to the jury if she ends
up sitting between Lauren and Jaime. Strange though it may sound, I have a feeling that Carson, Carolyn, and Yammy might all be able to beat her if FTC were held next Wednesday.
Heidi needs to do something memorable going down the stretch.

One more point:
-I'm not going to fault Carolyn for playing her immunity pendant on a player who was safe . She couldn't have known that Jaime and Lauren would stick to their word
and help execute the 3-2 split, and she did the right thing given the information that she had available to her. But, the jury would have been much more impressed if
she had made the same play, only for Frannie, at F8. That would have been a real game changer, both for her and the composition of the F7.

On Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 2:15:12 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 9:30:49 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > --The IC did not go as I expected. Yam Yam and Heidi at the end with Yam Yam winning was a big surprise. I imagine a lot of viewers feel the same way. They put in impressive >performances.
> I would prefer it if Production did not use the same challenges in back-to-back seasons, and "Last Gasp" was run (and badly f---ed up) in S43. My other problem is
> that this challenge provides too much of an opportunity for Probst to chatter incessantly, which he more than took advantage of. So, first I turned off the sound, but
> eventually just fast forwarded to the end.

What happened in S43 is why they did that challenge again this season. They want viewers to know that last season's miscalculation screw up was just that and not incompetence on their part. Surprisingly, Jeff didn't yap too much during the challenge. If you had the volume off you missed Lauren mock him on the sitout bench. Jeff must be learning from Julie that it's good to acknowledge fan "feedback." You might also have missed that Yam Yam was so focused that he didn't hear Jeff say he won. Danny ended up jumping into the water to let him know he won.

> >After being left out of the loop on the last vote by Yam Yam and Carson, I was surprised that Carolyn told Carson about her immunity idol. She must really like/trust him.
> She has liked him from the first episode of the season, but it seemed pretty clear, during her conversation with Yammy, that her subsequent immunity pendant play was
> strategic. It appeared that she greatly feared the prospect of the ex-Tika players being reduced to just two.

She has good reason to be afraid. She's rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. If Lauren and Jaime are gone before the end, Carolyn would be good to take to F3. I just don't see her convincing a plurality of the jury to vote for her.

> > --Jeff directing a shot at Carolyn during TC has Twitter in an uproar. Did Jeff cross the line with his remark?
> Which remark? The one about whether she was mad at him, or the one about her getting more sleep?

The one about getting more sleep.

> > --WTF was Carolyn doing when she voted? Was she measuring something with her fingers?
> It looked like she was counting, probably trying to figure out future game outcomes based on different vote results.

Pretty sure she wasn't counting unless she has a weird way of doing so.

> >--And why in the hell didn't she take a new piece of parchment to write down her vote?
>
> Assuming that the final vote that Probst showed was Carolyn's, it was a damned cheeky message that she was sending to everybody's least
> favourite "camera whore". Earlier in the episode, we saw Danny tell Carolyn that "the plan" involved the two of them voting for Lauren while
> Carson and Mr. Yum Yum vote for Jaime. Carolyn clearly didn't believe that Danny was telling her the truth. So, by crossing out Lauren's name
> and printing Danny's instead, she was essentially saying, "Got you mother----er".

If that's what happened I'm impressed. I still think she messed up.

> >--If Lauren knows that was her handwriting she could use that to target her at the next TC.
>
> I'm sure that Carolyn will gladly explain herself to Lauren, and there will be no hard feelings whatsoever.

LOL! Lauren will use that to target her.

> > --Why did Lauren and Jaime vote for Heidi? I feel like we're missing out on some key info when it comes to those two.
> We saw Carson pitching a Heidi/Danny split vote to Lauren and Jaime, and the two women discussing it afterwards. Carson
> told Yammy that he thought that Lauren and Jaime would follow through, and he was right.

Yes, I realized that after I posted. Major brainfart on my part.

> > --With Danny gone I think the odds of Heidi winning went way up. If she can get Carson out before F3 I believe she has the strongest case to win the game and can best present her case.
>
> What would she say to the jury? She hasn't done anything in the game except find an immunity bracelet. She hasn't won any challenges, and was badly on the wrong sides
> of the F8 and F7 votes. How will she answer the inevitable question concerning her biggest move in the game? "Well, I made sure I alligned myself with the the most
> prominent alpha male and camera whore on my original tribe". However, with that said, given the weakness of the competition, she might look pretty good to the jury if she ends
> up sitting between Lauren and Jaime. Strange though it may sound, I have a feeling that Carson, Carolyn, and Yammy might all be able to beat her if FTC were held next Wednesday.
> Heidi needs to do something memorable going down the stretch.

Tika members have been out of the loop as well. I would say that overall, Heidi's been pretty tuned into what's going on and her social game is better than Carolyn's and Yam Yam's. She needs Carson gone to win.

> One more point:
> -I'm not going to fault Carolyn for playing her immunity pendant on a player who was safe . She couldn't have known that Jaime and Lauren would stick to their word
> and help execute the 3-2 split, and she did the right thing given the information that she had available to her. But, the jury would have been much more impressed if
> she had made the same play, only for Frannie, at F8. That would have been a real game changer, both for her and the composition of the F7.

I agree that you can't fault her for playing her idol. Yes, if she had saved Frannie at F8 the game would be very different. I doubt Danny would have gone last night. More than likely it would have been Carson depending on who found the idol.

Speaking of powers, other than SITDs, is Heidi the only person left with one?

--
Brian

> Pretty sure she wasn't counting unless she has a weird way of doing so.

It looked like she was using her fingers to help visualize possible voting clusters that might form as the result of certain players leaving the game at F7.

>I would say that overall, Heidi's been pretty tuned into what's going on and her social game is better than Carolyn's and Yam Yam's.

Everybody on the jury, and those still in the game, love Yammy. If he makes it to F3, IMO, he has a legitimate chance of pulling off a "Gabler style" upset against
any combination of players that do not include Carson.

>Yes, if she had saved Frannie at F8 the game would be very different. I doubt Danny would have gone last night.

If Carolyn had played her pendant for Frannie at F8, I would have expected the two of them to vote out Danny at that time, leaving a
F7 of Carolyn, Frannie, Lauren, Jaime, Yam, Carson, and Heidi. If such a scenario had transpired, I would have expected the Tika 3 plus
Frannie to go after Heidi who would have probably "idoled out" either Carson or Frannie (assuming Yammy had still won immunity).

> Speaking of powers, other than SITDs, is Heidi the only person left with one?

Yes. But given that immunity items can be used up until F5, I expect Carolyn's pendant to be re-hidden. I would love to see her
find it again. :-)
Re. SITD's, Danny said that the last time they could be used was a the F7 TC.