Survivor: Game Changers

JT just didn't play well.
Very bad tactical mistake with the double tribal and then not playing the idol.
He just had a bad run for a few days tactics-wise.

 

First off, never leave the idol at camp. That makes no sense. Secondly, if you know the decision appears to be between you and another person, play the damn idol. Thirdly, if you know there are two votes against you in a tribe of five - of which you are not an original member! - play the damn idol.

 

Not bringing your idol to the vote-off is really a bone-head move.
I understand the temptation of saving the idol, but you have to play it if you might need it. If it turns out you didn't need it, it's better to burn the idol than be sent home with it unplayed.
That is always true, but especially, as you say, when one considers the context of that particular council.
Five people and you know you are one of two people on the block. Even if you think it's not you this time, you know you are next in the pecking order.
Play the idol.

 

Classic foreshadowing any time they show a tribe strategizing before a challenge, guaranteed someone - in this case Debbie - will run their mouth about how great they are at one aspect of it and they will fail miserably.

 

I was sad to see both Malcolm and JT go home. Both are among my favorites, though I'm slowly coming to accept that JT simply isn't very good at this game, at least not without a strong, trusting partner like Stephen. JT's just always trying too hard too hard and thinking too big to allow anyone to trust him.

 

There was something funny about the Debbie scene. There was a thread on reddit that was claiming what we saw was out of order, that she had to have been referring to the immunity challenge, not the reward challenge. I think you could see the team immunity idol in their camp when she was going berzerk, which they had not won on the previous go-around, and which, as far as we knew, they had not won yet that day.

That would explain a little of what she was babbling about. I don't like her at all and couldn't stand to be on an island with her, BUT, her actions and words -- and the fact that no one else really corrected her -- simply didn't make sense, even for a crazy narcissist. They still don't make much sense, but at least she

It's a TV show, right? And they run those episodes on a pretty tight formula, and there's not usually time after the immunity challenge for anything other than the losing tribe's politicking, so maybe they bent reality a bit to both include it and not mess up their stanard layout?

 

I think Sandra would win unanimously if anyone takes her to the end. The people working with her now think they're using her as a shield, that as long as she's around, she'll be everyone's main target and they'll be OK. But I think she's pulling the strings a lot more than they realize. The way she played JT and Michaela off against one another when the only sane move is to vote Sandra out was masterful.

I think a player like Varner will plan to take her to 4-5-6, then stab her and step into the finals, but if Sandra can arrange to have another major threat or two in there, she may be able to weasel her way into the final again, which would just be jaw-dropping. I wasn't really a fan coming into this season, but it's amazing she's still around right now, and she's the one who's made that happen.

 

No, the reddit users are wrong. In fact, before the immunity challenge she was obviously still fed up and said she should do the balance beam again. She whined that she took gymnastics for 10 years and it took her 30 seconds to cross the beam in the reward challenge while it took Hali 10 minutes. And during the challenge she complained that they sent Tai to do the balance beam instead of her, the gymnast. Her breakdown definitely happened before the immunity challenge.

 

JT definitely benefited from working with Stephen his first time out, but I also think he just had a bad game this time.
I don't think that means he's not good at the game.
I think Malcolm is a good player, but he's never won. JT has played twice. He won once and had a bad game the second time.

 

Dalton Ross speculated in his EW recap that JT won the first time because he was able to trust the people he was working with, but failed in subsequent games because that experience led him to be too trusting. Thought it was a decent explanation.

Looking at last night's Tribal, I'm amazed at how after 30+ seasons we still get Tribal Councils that are unlike anything we've ever seen before. That was pretty awesome. I give Sandra credit, she did everything she could possibly have done. I think, ultimately, that Andrew, Ozzy, Sarah and Zeke decided before Tribal that no matter what they were not going to change their votes.

 

I'd forgotton that this is JT's third time.

 

That makes some sense on JT. He put a lot of trust in Brad and it backfired this season.

Still, he makes too many big moves. It's like he won once and now feels like he's playing with house money. The move with Brad wasn't a move he had to make. He could have sat tight and let Sierra get voted out. With Malcolm still in they'd have had a much better chance at not losing the next immunity challenge and he'd probably still be in the game today on a new tribe and likely with both Malcolm and Brad still playing, all probably two tribals away from the merge.

He shot for the moon in Heroes vs. Villians, too and it flopped.

Again, he's one of my favorites. I'll eagerly cheer for him next time he's on. But I hope he takes some lessons from his last two appearances before he goes back. He's a charming guy who everyone likes. That helped him dominate the first game. He needs to rely on that instead of trying to pull off big, wild moves.