Non-US Survivor |OT| Even Maryland Has One

UberTag · Jan 30, 2024

Apparently Eden plans on gracing us with movie quotes for momentous challenge victories as well. How wonderful!

It never ceases to amaze me that someone like Jess can delude themselves into thinking they've made any sort of meaningful social traction in a reality game like Survivor when their approach is destined for failure every single time. Imagine telling people whose votes you need at tribal that you were directly responsible for their ally getting ousted just 3 days prior.

I appreciated that we had an immunity challenge this week where it wasn't immediately clear heading into it as to who would emerge victorious. Especially with the likes of Kelli and Raymond being pitched as lay-up targets for the Rebels to purge were they to lose. Made for a suspenseful outcome. We don't get those too often in the pre-merge of Aussie Survivor so I always welcome them when they occur.

Love the ongoing tradition of including idol clues hidden amongst food-based rewards. Never look a gift banana in the mouth.

One more episode to go before premiere week is through. Let's see whether the Rebels can make it a clean sweep.

Here's the full Titans V Rebels opening that made its debut to kick off Episode 2...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTsaPfDKuq4

UberTag · Jan 31, 2024

Eden's movie reference this episode = The Godfather (to follow up on Terminator 2 and Gladiator in the prevous two episodes)

In many ways, the Rebels first tribal council felt like a mirror image of the Titans from the premiere. Although I seriously have to question the rationale in Peta's vote split when she already had her tribe's idol in her possession. This isn't Survivor US, where a veritable bounty of idols and hidden advantages gets doled out from Minute 1. There has almost always been one single idol per tribe beach in the pre-merge since Day 1... had the Rebels won that food basket reward challenge, odds are quite high that a clue to that well idol would've been snuck into a can of pears. (Clearly this is something that is done as the banana clue was specific to the idol found on Titans beach.)

Calibrating around a potential 2nd one is almost as foolish as not playing the idol you do have when every comment during tribal council is telegraphing that you should. Was honestly surprised that it was Faras almost giving up the impending blindside as opposed to Kelli or Raymond getting sloppy, but he just couldn't help himself.

Kirby definitely feels like this season's designated mastermind player we should treat seriously... although time will tell whether that portends to a winning path or not. Really happy to see Alex take a hit to his inflated ego after him and the rest of the Cuddle Club blatantly threw that challenge.

Fun fact... the first three boots from premiere week were all 33 years of age. Also, kinda hoping that Sarah-Tobias connection doesn't blossom into a full-fledged showmance as it would be a mite icky given the 17-year age gap.

UberTag · Feb 4, 2024

Still a ghost town in this thread, eh? Well, more conversations to myself then...

No movie reference from Eden this episode... unless his woeful performance in that immunity challenge was a subtle callback to Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

What a delightful conundrum this Rebels tribe is turning out to be. Feras and Garrick trying to steer the ship in one direction. Aileen trying to assert her authority. Everyone on edge about Kirby and Rianna's loyalties. Cuddle Club (and a showmance) fully imploded not 4 days removed from intentionally throwing a challenge. Two immunity idols burned. And Kelli actively playing up her daffiness like a sleeper agent while actively conspiring to curate Alex into a long-term game alliance whom she's been irritating since Day 1. Well, he owes her his life in the game for now at least... so we'll have to wait and see where that gets her. She's already got Raymond locked up, too... so this could actually manifest itself into a powerful alliance that is outright dismissed until it's too late.

Someone named Scott is apparently in this tribe, too. Let me know if you see him.

9wilds · Feb 4, 2024

I promise to read these one day.

UberTag · Feb 5, 2024

Always surprised when the tribes never seem to anticipate the early game "vote a player out to the other tribe" twist that's been a staple of Aussie Survivor for a while now.

Kirby got a little too hungry this episode after eating all of those birthday party sweets and almost had to say goodbye to her dear friend Waddle Riri. She was spared this fate thanks to Hurricane Kelli. Now we'll get to behold what kind of chaos Kelli will unleash upon the Titans. Somehow I'm thinking she WON'T be successful in her saboteur operation. In fact, it would behoove her greatly not to be.

Also, I did not have an Untitled Goose Game shoutout on my Survivor bingo card.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2HkRxgyfAI

GarudaSmiles · Feb 7, 2024

Another good week of episodes. Kelly voluntarily sitting out of the challenge and then tribe losing anyway was funny as hell. I was thinking they would have her sit out before they even picked her to send over just because she's bad at challenges, but I didn't expect her to volunteer like that. The Faras v Kirby war is going to be fun for as long as it lasts. I expect Mark to crash and burn at some point. He's playing a strong game, but I think he may become too obvious of a target. I think the 2 Vs are going to do very well. They remind me of Shonee and Liz from last season.

selfawarekeyboard · Feb 11, 2024

Finally caught up, AU is always great fun. Really get invested with the people and characters given the ep lengths. Agree the two V's are doing well. Mark will make too many moves and expose himself fairly soon.
Had the sad realization that if I were on a tribe I would be part of the older crowd :(
Also how does anyone get that ripped and have a normal job, Mr Maths teacher!

UberTag · Feb 11, 2024

In true Aussie Survivor fashion, things did not slow down and get dull and predictable post-tribe shuffle. Glad to see Caroline get the first strike in on Mark. She's proving to be quite the character this season. Slick of Jaden to play dumb with Mark despite tagging along for the blindside.

Poor Alex... he hasn't been on side with any vote this season aside from the unanimous call to send Kelli on her saboteur journey.

Very much looking forward to the wrath of Valeria playing out now that her cohort in crime has been sent to the sidelines.

UberTag · Feb 12, 2024

Sarah was completely out of her depth in this game from moment 1 when Tobias went home... but even moreso tonight.

Mark completely blew up his game for nothing... with the added bonus of misplaying his idol after his pointless revenge gambit with people he had not built proper game/social capital with was clearly unraveling.

If you're ever uncertain of any vote, just look where Alex is voting and go the other way. Although, the way this season is going with all of the power players taking shots at one another and their minions, we could see the likes of Alex, Kelli, Winna, Charles, Aileen, Scott, Jaden and Raymond at the end all just wondering how they got there. Hopefully Valeria is there, too... she's been my winner pick since the premiere so hopefully that continues to play out.

Props to Riri for smelling an opportunity tonight and taking it. Players like Mark and Sarah are more likely to sink your game by aligning with them than help it.

And we had yet another movie reference from Eden this episode... albeit a less than subtle Star Wars shoutout.

UberTag · Feb 13, 2024

I liked Raymond's quick little doodle of Nintendo's Kirby on his vote. Really curious to see what Scott could come up with if he ever votes for her given his artistic background.

Fun episode tonight... even if it did play out just as expected. One more week left of pre-merge to go. I always love how we get the equivalent of an entire season's worth of US Survivor by the time we hit the Aussie Survivor midpoint.

Mcfrank · Feb 13, 2024

UberTag said:
Sarah was completely out of her depth in this game from moment 1 when Tobias went home... but even moreso tonight.

Mark completely blew up his game for nothing... with the added bonus of misplaying his idol after his pointless revenge gambit with people he had not built proper game/social capital with was clearly unraveling.

If you're ever uncertain of any vote, just look where Alex is voting and go the other way. Although, the way this season is going with all of the power players taking shots at one another and their minions, we could see the likes of Alex, Kelli, Winna, Charles, Aileen, Scott, Jaden and Raymond at the end all just wondering how they got there. Hopefully Valeria is there, too... she's been my winner pick since the premiere so hopefully that continues to play out.

Props to Riri for smelling an opportunity tonight and taking it. Players like Mark and Sarah are more likely to sink your game by aligning with them than help it.

And we had yet another movie reference from Eden this episode... albeit a less than subtle Star Wars shoutout.

Yeah

Mark

is speedrunning destroying their game. They were my early winner pick but not any more (I have not watched ep 9 yet)

UberTag · Feb 18, 2024

I was expecting the twist at tribal given this episode's runtime... but was not expecting a new one with significant vote ramifications. And I appreciate it given that once you've seen one firemaking challenge, you've seen them all.

Faras pulled a trick out of his hat tonight that would've made even King George proud. Astutely reading how he could suss out and recalibrate against an 11th hour idol play was super slick... effectively allowing him and Aileen to split their votes strategically with a common goal. I wouldn't even call Winna playing his idol a bad call. It's just that by splitting their votes was a surefire guarantee of sending either Charles or Winna home no matter who it was played against or whether it wasn't played at all.

The only question one might pose is whether Faras keyed in to the biggest threat from that trio... when my deep run winner pick in Valeria was sitting right there.

UberTag · Feb 20, 2024

Not much to talk about from these past two episodes as we're in the "calm before the storm" portion of the game prior to the merge.

Don't think I've ever seen Alex happier. An idol literally fell into his lap thanks to Faras. He was on the winning side of the vote for once. And he got to send his nemesis in Kelli home. Dude must be over the moon.

UberTag · Feb 21, 2024

View: https://youtu.be/Axb5oc0YRnM

KyleP29 · Feb 22, 2024

UberTag said:
View: https://youtu.be/Axb5oc0YRnM

I mostly agree with these rankings... but their heavy focus on the edits seems like such a boring way to look at the game compared to how the contestants are actually playing. Not that its wrong or doesn't lend insights into potential winners, but it always just boils down to confessional counts and how involved the player appears to be.

That said I disagree with their take on Mark

I dont think he has been shown to be a good game player. Post swap, he was left out of the vote and blindsided by his own alliance. Failed his own blindside where he was shown that he was unable to build trust with the minority and still moved forward with the attempt despite the minority alliance spilling his plans, twice. Then he was absolutely clueless on what should have been his blindside if Caroline and that alliance had any ability organize what was a simple split vote.That said, i agree he is up there mainly because I also think V wins it based on how I see the alliances shaking out after merge

That said I have really enjoyed this season so far. I was worried we would lose all the big players before merge and get stuck with a blood vs water type post merge where noone was willing to make any moves. So naturally I was pretty happy with how this this weeks set of episodes played out heading to the merge.

Crazymoogle · Feb 22, 2024

My thoughts so far on Australian Survivor:

Mark I would agree is kinda dead in the water. His biggest selling point is simply that his closest remaining ally is V, who is a dead ringer for last season's winner and also pretty pissed about losing Viola. The merge in theory should shake up the Caroline supremacy, and buy him some time, but the man just could not hold it in against Caroline. Looking at the edges of the edit, it sounds like Mark is simply pretty good at talking to everybody on the tribe without making serious enemies, so maybe that gives him a bit more staying power.

Kirby/Feras is kinda crazy. They've been firing ammunition at each other for so long, and yet if I remember the episode correctly, it all started because Alex just went to both sides and instigated it himself? Anyway, Feras is clearly George Jr. Maybe a bit too reliant on idols but I'm mostly just flummoxed by how he treats Challenge Master Aileen as a free agent rather than a key ally. (Then again, Kirby was just happy to write her off for any perceived slight). Kirby has the ruthlessness to survive, but I think her continued survival depends entirely on ensuring she surrounds herself with goats like Scott and Riri. I really didn't understand why she would gun for Raymond, but maybe that's why.

As mentioned, Aileen is a challenge monster and nobody really realizes it yet. Will be interesting to see if she can swing herself into the right alliance.

Finally, props to Jayden for being the modern day Rupert. I don't think Jayden is aware he's playing Survivor, but he's having a great time???

UberTag · Feb 22, 2024

KyleP29 said:
That said I disagree with their take on Mark

I dont think he has been shown to be a good game player. Post swap, he was left out of the vote and blindsided by his own alliance. Failed his own blindside where he was shown that he was unable to build trust with the minority and still moved forward with the attempt despite the minority alliance spilling his plans, twice. Then he was absolutely clueless on what should have been his blindside if Caroline and that alliance had any ability organize what was a simple split vote.That said, i agree he is up there mainly because I also think V wins it based on how I see the alliances shaking out after merge

I'm with you on Mark. If anything, I disagreed with BLM's takes even more than you did.

He has two things going for him heading into merge... he's going to be able to reconnect with Valeria and will undoubtedly be useful as a shield for her and he's clearly better equipped than most in any water-based challenges.

He really did need to be clipped before the merge but the Rebels kept winning challenges and the only instance after he set fire to his game they had to send anyone packing was a twist tribal where they booted Alex back to the Titans so that was never going to be a good option for them, either.

KyleP29 · Feb 22, 2024

UberTag said:
I'm with you on Mark. If anything, I disagreed with BLM's takes even more than you did.

He has two things going for him heading into merge... he's going to be able to reconnect with Valeria and will undoubtedly be useful as a shield for her and he's clearly better equipped than most in any water-based challenges.

He really did need to be clipped before the merge but the Rebels kept winning challenges and the only instance after he set fire to his game they had to send anyone packing was a twist tribal where they booted Alex back to the Titans so that was never going to be a good option for them, either.

Totally agree that he has a few things going for him. Mainly his alliance as I expect him, V, Winna, possibly Jaden since he seems close with Winna, Kirby, Scott, and Rianna end up forming the dominant alliance. Kirby and Mark will be the shields and the winner coming from the remaining group... mainly V because she is playing a much better game then Winna, Jaden, Scott, or Rhianna have so far

UberTag · Feb 25, 2024

Can't say I can recall a merge episode with such inclement weather before. I'm sure there's been one but it felt kind of appropriate given the uncertainty and turmoil in the game that Mother Nature would be reflecting such chaos via the elements.

I know there's always been this candor among the Survivor fan community to vocally denigrate anyone that "quits" from the game and lambast them for taking a spot from someone "more deserving". This mentality has been fuelled by the likes of Probst since as far back as the Osten quit in Pearl Islands... dropping his torch in the dirt when the guy bowed out of the game with a bloody staph infection.

Honestly, unless it's someone bowing out in the first couple days - the blame of which should still fall on casting - I've come around to the idea that we shouldn't be treating all Survivor quits alike or to not take them with the proper context. Scotty clearly came to Samoa to play this game and he played it hard for 27 days... longer than an entire modern Survivor US season. He went all out in both individual challenges in tonight's episode... almost winning the "Set for Life" reward vs. Valeria. I think it's pretty upstanding for someone to have the self-awareness to go "I've gotten what I wanted out of this experience and I'm done now" and to recognize they're not in the headspace to tackle the next chapter of the game.

Mental health isn't something we should ever be scoffing at or brushing off lightly irrespective of the circumstances. And while I would have issue with someone bowing out of the game and still having a say in its outcome - Scott shouldn't be allowed a jury seat or a vote - I think he made the best possible decision for both himself and the game going forward by checking out when he did and not after he'd unduly shaped the direction of this season's back half. I'm not sure tipping Kitty off to an impending blindside vote will change much in the grand scheme of things apart from fuelling the Titans implosion while Kirby and Feras lick their lips to pick up the piece and Valeria looks to ride that momentum to the sole survivor throne.

I think the fun part about all of this is that we get to prolong this anxious/tense portion of the early merge to keep things further clouded on where the initial lines will be drawn due to no votes being cast tonight.

UberTag · Feb 26, 2024

By far, one of the most fascinating merge tribals I can ever recall...

Thank you Scotty... by quitting last night you made all of this possible.

The burgeoning Titans civil war between Mark / Valeria vs. Caroline / Kitty boiling over with the deeper subtext sideplots of Kirby and Rianna having divided loyalties on who to back for their respective games and the underlying distrust of "never votes with the majority unless it's a Kelli vote" Alex potentially leading to a 6-6-1 deadlock with Alex effectively framed with a bogus vote on Valeria (who swears vengeance upon all those who wrong her) deciding the outcome.

But it was ultimately Kirby's inability to influence Rianna's game that led to her falling into the "fake vote for Mark" trap that sent cocky Winna to the losers' buffet line (it's not even clear he makes jury) and may well trigger his best bro Jaden to actually start playing the game for a change instead of floating to the numbers as he has up until now.

Between Scotty's quit and Rianna's orphan vote tonight, Kirby's influence in the game has been outright shattered since merge. And I can think of no one more delighted by this news than Feras.

I'm very curious to see where Valeria's game goes from here. She may have had an unmistakable winners' edit up until now... but the edit has masked one very clear liability to her game. One that almost every Survivor winner does NOT have... especially in Australia (unless your name is Mark). And that is her utter inflexibility in terms of game script. She's got an impressive social game but she's going to need to get over this vengeance streak and be open to working with her perceived enemies for a vote or two if nothing else... especially as we enter the jury phase. I think you can be inflexible if you're holding indomitable sway over large swathes of the tribe AND winning immunities to go along with it. But her only challenge skillset thus far has been balance. Endurance, puzzles, strength, swimming, pain management... those are skillsets that she has not demonstrated thus far.

Mcfrank · Feb 26, 2024

UberTag said:
Can't say I can recall a merge episode with such inclement weather before. I'm sure there's been one but it felt kind of appropriate given the uncertainty and turmoil in the game that Mother Nature would be reflecting such chaos via the elements.

I know there's always been this candor among the Survivor fan community to vocally denigrate anyone that "quits" from the game and lambast them for taking a spot from someone "more deserving". This mentality has been fuelled by the likes of Probst since as far back as the Osten quit in Pearl Islands... dropping his torch in the dirt when the guy bowed out of the game with a bloody staph infection.

Honestly, unless it's someone bowing out in the first couple days - the blame of which should still fall on casting - I've come around to the idea that we shouldn't be treating all Survivor quits alike or to not take them with the proper context. Scotty clearly came to Samoa to play this game and he played it hard for 27 days... longer than an entire modern Survivor US season. He went all out in both individual challenges in tonight's episode... almost winning the "Set for Life" reward vs. Valeria. I think it's pretty upstanding for someone to have the self-awareness to go "I've gotten what I wanted out of this experience and I'm done now" and to recognize they're not in the headspace to tackle the next chapter of the game.

Mental health isn't something we should ever be scoffing at or brushing off lightly irrespective of the circumstances. And while I would have issue with someone bowing out of the game and still having a say in its outcome - Scott shouldn't be allowed a jury seat or a vote - I think he made the best possible decision for both himself and the game going forward by checking out when he did and not after he'd unduly shaped the direction of this season's back half. I'm not sure tipping Kitty off to an impending blindside vote will change much in the grand scheme of things apart from fuelling the Titans implosion while Kirby and Feras lick their lips to pick up the piece and Valeria looks to ride that momentum to the sole survivor throne.

I think the fun part about all of this is that we get to prolong this anxious/tense portion of the early merge to keep things further clouded on where the initial lines will be drawn due to no votes being cast tonight.

I think how long he was out there is important. This was someone taking their health seriously and not giving up because they couldnt take being uncomfortable for a few days.

UberTag · Feb 27, 2024

Hot damn!

the-king-protecting-his-castle-love-these-four-so-much-v0-tovzfmv6v5lc1.jpeg

Dr. Frankenstein was taken out by his monster in a vote I did not see coming. Jaden really did start to play the game beyond simply girding himself up for challenges and upping his physical threat status. I was totally expecting a 9-person rock draw there. Was even thrown by the camera shots over to Val to make us think she was the rogue Titan defector. But no, it was affable Jaden who wasn't even at risk of getting rocked out of the game who pulled the trigger to avenge Winna on the re-vote.

Jaden was even clever enough to doctor his handwriting style on the fly to disguise his betrayal...

Let the dysfunctional/distrusting remaining Titans - one episode removed from being at war with one another - accuse each other of who turned. He may well have just imploded that entire tribe.

Man, this post-merge portion of the game just continues to deliver in all the best ways.

This post over on Australian Survivor Reddit encapsulates what's made this season so great...

Meanwhile Probst is out there conducting interviews about how villains have no place in the modern Survivor game.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bGhSsQRi3g

UberTag · Mar 3, 2024

The Ray Reversal advantage has been unleashed. Kitty is about to sink her claws in on Caroline. Kirby is back in the driver's seat after inhaling Aileen at the last tribal council. Another Survivor Auction goes off without a hitch with no wacky US workaround to forego cash hoarding (helps when you include the one advantage hidden inside the very first item up for bid and you don't even have to leave it covered). Everyone's #1 pick to win the game at merge in Valeria has gone invisible in her edit - apart from the scathing negative "this person doesn't deserve to be here" indictments at tribal which won't help her win a jury vote.

Just another typical day in Titans V Rebels.

Honestly, the biggest story coming out of Aussie Survivor right now isn't even taking place in the game. Mild-mannered Jaden of all people is currently warring it out with Shannon Gaitz from Rob Has a Podcast and Talking Tribal over social media and it's gotten personal.

Refer to the video I included in my last post for the comment that set him off.

UberTag · Mar 4, 2024

Val maintains her invisible edit (even on an episode where she was almost sent packing and was spared due to happenstance).

Ray deciding now is the time to start getting frisky... somehow I expect that will inevitably blow up in his face next episode and send him packing. Telling Feras about his unique advantage one tribal before betraying him was probably not the greatest move.

I'm kind of expecting Alex to wind up a Final 3 loser at this point.

Rianna remains a challenge beast... incidentally, I loved tonight's new immunity endurance challenge and hope it's not a one-off as it was riveting to watch.

Uncertain who I'm rooting for to win the most but I can envision scenarios where I'd be all about any of Kirby, Caroline or Feras taking this entire season home. Not sure I could really respect a Val win at this point... although, in her defense, she's still had a better week than Feras has.

He had an entire sub-alliance within the Rebels crumble between Aileen getting snuffed out and Alex/Ray going rogue. He's effectively a partner-in-crime to Kirby now, been on the wrong end of the numbers two straight votes and even if he's able to patch things up with Ray and wield the Reversal to blamelessly take out someone like Rianna, he's actively diminished the Rebel numbers to provide an opening to let the Titans back in the game. In many ways, this week feels like a juxtaposition of Week 1 of the post-merge where the Titans were imploding. Now the Rebels are doing the same bringing everyone back to even terms.

UberTag · Mar 5, 2024

Raymond successfully pulled off the Ray Reversal... which is honestly kind of impressive given that Feras does have a semi-public idol to his name and could've easily employed the same tactics even absent the popcorn advantage to get out someone of both his and Ray's choosing. I understand Kirby's decision to give Rianna her idol to appease her concerns (Kirby never fails to consider all available options) but the subtle way she went about it really should've raised someone's flag if only to question the rationale for a vote that was such a foregone conclusion.

That said, I appreciated the acting performances from all of the Rebels (minus Alex) here.

We're now down to our Final 8 in what has been an exhilarating post-merge... and an all-around excellent season at that. Things feel pretty open with two weeks left in our season. Hard to believe that the just starting Survivor US season will already be talking merge by the time things wrap up here. That's just how things work in the new era.

As for Valeria, she's got a pretty nice Cash for Life reward waiting for her so I don't imagine she's too disappointed.

KyleP29 · Mar 9, 2024

I am having a blast with this season. I did not expect the post merge to swing so much from vote to vote given how hard the pre-merge went.

That said I am completely at a loss for who will win this game after the last 2 weeks of episodes.
I'm ruling Mark out due to the car curse
Rhianna is out because she seems like the biggest challenge threat left
Kirby & Feras just seem like to big of players for anyone to let them reach the end
Raymond never really had a chance. And while i do like that he doesnt just want to be dragged to the end and is looking to play the game that advantage just seems like a deal breaker for maintaining a relationship with future jury members.
Alex seems like a goat who has never really fit in with a tribe and is always on the wrong side of the vote
So i guess that leaves Kitty and Caroline who I just never liked since they went after Viola. They havent done much post merge either, although they have seemingly shaken the targets they had on them at the start or merge

I'm rooting for Feras and Kirby. I am hoping they both can make it to the final 4 which should result in 1 of them making the final and provide a great winner for whats been a really good season. Neither of them have played perfect games, but they have both excelled in specific areas and really do seem to be operating at a different level then everone else. Kirby with her ability to foster relationships, and Feras who reads the game really well (with a few big misses Garrick/Aileen) and seems to be very good at adapting his strategy even when things are not going his way.

... and i guess a Caroline win even though I dislike her the most, but will give her credit for playing a solid enough game.

UberTag · Mar 10, 2024

Oh Alex, Alex, Alex... you just weren't cut out for this game. But hey, not too many people literally jump into jury mode to directly question people's gameplay before they've even had their torch snuffed. So props for giving us a fun finale preview 9 days ahead of time... even if you blew up your entire game to do it.

oatmeal · Mar 10, 2024

UberTag said:
Oh Alex, Alex, Alex... you just weren't cut out for this game. But hey, not too many people literally jump into jury mode to directly question people's gameplay before they've even had their torch snuffed. So props for giving us a fun finale preview 9 days ahead of time... even if you blew up your entire game to do it.

that was so fucking stupid, and it's also stupid of everyone else to not get rid of Kirby now. Alex is right - the game is hers. Feras has to know that. Not sure what he's thinking - and now he's saying she's next? He doesn't have the numbers. He's likely out next and won't use his idol because he's saving it for whonknows what.

But Kirby is my least favorite player. Has Sandra's holier than thou energy.

UberTag · Mar 12, 2024

Been a quiet week, honestly... without much to talk about. Not that it's been a bad week by any measure... we've still got most of our heavy hitters in play as we head into finale week.

That last tribal council played out super predictably. I'm guessing the hunger/fatigue aspect had short-circuited Caroline's thought process. Or she was simply blinded by the goody she stumbled across in the jungle. There was absolutely no way to play that idol correctly to get Feras out. And she should have known this because he had his own idol. And if you guessed right on his target, he's obviously going to counter your idol play with his own for self-preservation purposes and then what? Even if Mark plays along with you (instead of voting for Kitty as he did) - and even if EVERYONE else goes along with the Mark vote as they inferred - then all the votes get cancelled out... and then either she or Kitty goes in the revote. She became hyper-fixated with this solo resume move... and forgot Rule 1 of capable Survivor play to trust your allies and coordinate scenarios with them. Even Ray did that when he had his Ray Reversal perk from the popcorn bowl.

It's a bummer 'cause I actually do like Caroline as a player. But you can't slip up for a second when you're playing a lengthy game with capable players. Survivor US? Yeah, you can get away with sloppy play against bad players and have it work out in your favour. But no one left in this group is a slouch at the game. Even someone like Ray is playing it to the best of his strength - even if a compelling jury argument still seems difficult to discern; I'm not putting it past him. A Ray win would just be uncharacteristic given his current edit (based on Aussie Survivor precedent). Once again, if this was Survivor US, a Ray win would be more likely because they're more willing to camouflage a player's potential win equity as a gotcha for viewers.

oatmeal · Mar 12, 2024

Great episode.

Great season.

UberTag · Mar 12, 2024

TRIBAL COUNCIL RECORDS HEADING INTO FINALE WEEK

Raymond
11-2 Overall (.846 - was left out of the Garrick vote pre-merge)
7-1 Post-Merge (.875 - was left out of the Aileen vote)
(correct boot 5 straight tribal councils)

Feras
10-4 Overall (.714)
5-3 Post-Merge (.625 - was left out of the Jaden vote; intentionally voted for Raymond to activate his advantage)

Caroline
10-4 Overall (.714 - was left out of the Jessica vote pre-merge)
5-3 Post-Merge (.625 - was left out of Eden, Valeria and Kitty votes post-merge)

Kirby & Mark
7-7 Overall (.500)
4-4 Post-Merge (.500)

This might be surprising... but the numbers don't lie. Incidentally, Raymond, in addition to being popular with the Rebels, can directly lay claim to having sent two of the more athletic Titans in Valeria and Jaden out of the game via his direct votes while not facing much in the way of blowback for doing so. I think he's got a winning argument - especially if he's the one that takes Feras out.

UberTag · Mar 17, 2024

View: https://twitter.com/EBTheOriginal1/status/1504835152131801127

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bummed by this turn of events.

Mark, for all intents and purposes, blew up his game during the back-half of the pre-merge and shouldn't have managed to maneuver his way this deep into the endgame to make a legit run for the win. People were too content to take shots at minions without much in the way of game agency instead of the big players for far too long. I give Eden a ton of credit for getting all of the Titans (minus Jaden) back on the same page immediately prior to his ouster. That Mark-Caroline rift (and moreso that Valeria-Caroline rift) seemed irreparable and somehow they managed to get aligned and Mark was able to mask his immunity threat level just enough for them to think players like Kitty and Alex had to get taken out first.

This feels very much like a Mark victory unless Ray has a compelling winning argument to make. I'm also still hoping for a Final 2 versus a Final 3 like we've had the past two seasons. The fact that we're already down to 4, the promo set are expectations that the next challenge is for immunity (as opposed to the juror elimination we got last year) AND it's not the crucial endurance comp that Aussie Survivor likes to cap things off with makes me optimistic... at least on that front.

I generally prefer Final 2 vs. Final 3 but I can see why folks would prefer the latter given that Caroline seems unlikely to get bounced before the jury pitch at this point and she's probably a 1-vote finalist at best. I do think Feras looked past the possibility of a Final 2 when weighing his decision tonight while Kirby seemed to forego the likelihood of a Final 3 at every opportunity. I think both could've done more to leverage the possibility of both scenarios in how they appreoached the back half of this game.

selfawarekeyboard · Mar 17, 2024

UberTag said:
Oh Alex, Alex, Alex... you just weren't cut out for this game. But hey, not too many people literally jump into jury mode to directly question people's gameplay before they've even had their torch snuffed. So props for giving us a fun finale preview 9 days ahead of time... even if you blew up your entire game to do it.

Poor Alex, I have watched the okay just out in the open method at tribal never stands a chance. Ironically saving alex and getting Kirby would have been a smart play from Feras - but maybe he still wants a shield. Also Alex's chest hair grows bloody fast!

UberTag · Mar 18, 2024

Man, Feras was taking bodyblow after bodyblow during tonight's tribal council courtesy of both Mark AND Caroline. So much so that I think Caroline now handily beats him, too... and will have the opportunity to make her case against him with a female-dominant jury and a bunch of spurned guys (other than Raymond) who don't want to see Feras win.

If anything, the Mark vs. Caroline showdown might well actually prove closer in terms of the final vote... although I still think Mark remains the easy front-runner there. He will likely need to win that final immunity challenge to get that showdown, however... although I think there's a genuine question as to who Caroline will take to Final 2 so she'd easily make for the most compelling final immunity winner. My gut tells me she'd still take Mark out of loyalty even though Feras would be the easier win in my view. But we'll see.

Feras will be regretting not playing that idol of his to save Kirby for quite a long while I think. Props to the Titans for gaslighting him into not playing it for her an episode ago - saying the jury would deem them all foolish for not getting rid of her when given the opportunity - and then spurning hm for not remaining loyal tonight. They completely snookered him and he had no answer for it.

UberTag · Mar 19, 2024

Legit shocked and thrilled to see Feras steamroll this vote decisively with a 9-0 vote. He completely owned that closing pitch at final tribal council. Once you saw all of those smiles wind up on the jury's faces and he properly contextualized his late-game strategy when there was little room for maneuverability, you knew he had the win on lock.

Congrats Australian Survivor on another excellent season!

SoleSurvivor · Mar 19, 2024

I really appreciate everyone in this thread spoiler tagging all of the discussions. I've seen up through episode 20, and I'm loving every minute. Australian Survivor does not miss.

My wife graciously lets us watch one episode a night (most nights) so I'm getting close to the end. I think barring a few people who are left, I'm pretty much guaranteed a winner I'll be happy with. Either way, this show has always been about the journey. And what a journey it's been.

KyleP29 · Mar 20, 2024

What a fantastic season. Probably one of the best Survivor seasons from start to finish.

I was disappointed to see Kirby go. Thought it was a bit of a misplay from Feras to give Mark and Caroline control at that point in the game since it was clear with Kirby out that Mark wouldn't have much competition in immunity challenges. It seemed like he would have had a much easier path to the finale by keeping Kirby, but who knows if he would have gotten another shot to get her out. I'm also not convinced she takes Feras to final 2 in a hypothetical scenario where she wins out so maybe its hard to fault him to much.

Very surprised at Feras winning that final immunity challenge, I thought Caroline was a shoe in win for that challenge once i saw what it was.

A tad disappointed at a return to a final 2 tribal. I know many prefer final 2, but it puts so much emphasis on requiring a final immunity challenge win to win the game that it feels like it devalues good game play to get to that point when the common strategy is to bring goats along to the end. Thankfully I don't think any of this final 3 were goats... but i a possible Mark vs. Caroline finale seemed like such a bleak ending to a great season.

I'm sure much of it was due to editing, but Mark seemed abysmal outside the first and last week of episodes. And outside of the Viola move and managing to shake her threat level post merge, Caroline comitted blunder after blunder when trying to make moves.

I know the final tribal was heavily edited... but I had to roll my eyes at Valeria for her comment about Feras and Caroline not being genuine with their answers after she had asked such a nothing question of how many votes they thought they had secured. Though, based on the edit, Feras made the right call on bringing Caroline as it seemed like Mark would have easily sold his game better thsn either of them despite in my view having the weakest of the 3.

Such a shame that we only get 1 season a year, these seasons just go by so fast.

SoleSurvivor · Mar 27, 2024

Finally finished the season. Wow. I'm in awe of how much better Australian Survivor is than what the US is putting out. So happy with the Winna, but even more happy with the journey.

Mike Bloom called this Australia's Cagayan in a finale podcast, and it's hard to disagree with him. AU2017 has long been the gold standard, but I think this may have dethroned it. And globally, it's definitely in my top 10 now. If I made a list, I wouldn't be surprised if it fell into my top 5.

natjjohn · Apr 13, 2024

Was way behind and just saw Australian finale. Great winner of course and well deserved. I thought that was maybe one of if not the best seasons of survivor ever…

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