Purple Pants Podcast | Split The Vote | Survivor 50 Episode 11 Recap | Mothers, Mayhem, Mastery

[00:00:00] We all love Survivor and in my first ever book The Tribe and I have spoken I'll tell you how this little show evolved from that juggernaut first season on the beaches of Borneo all the way into its landmark 50th season. I'm like a storyteller that's what I do. What role did the greatest players, the unforgettable moments, and Jeff Probst himself have in shaping what Survivor has become today? And what contribution did we play in building this worldwide tribe of Survivor fans? Love you bae!

[00:00:28] For you future players, I've also included my Ultimate Survivor Playbook to help you win the million dollars, unlike me. It's fun. You know what, dude? It's fun. This hardcover edition is filled with beautiful Survivor illustrations in every chapter and is an amazing edition for every Survivor collector. I'm a meat collector. Pre-orders are everything for a book launch, so to say thank you to everyone who pre-orders, you'll receive an exclusive digital bonus chapter

[00:00:56] called The Ultimate Rites of Passage, my personal tribute to all the players who have ever competed on the show. All 751. This is huge. I needed this. Pre-order wherever books are sold in hardcover and as an audiobook at robhasabook.com. That's robhasabook.com. Nicely done, Rob.

[00:01:45] It's the Purple Pants. All right. Welcome back to another episode of Split the Vote. I'm your host, Rob, and this is the Ultimate Survivor Podcast, a Purple Pants podcast-powered production. And today he's back. He's back, everybody. We got Tim back in the house.

[00:02:11] I'm excited to be able to talk to one of my best friends about Survivor. So, Tim, welcome back. How are you feeling today? I'm feeling great, Rob. You know, tell a friend and tell a friend that he's back. I'm excited to talk about Survivor 50. I'm excited to be back on the pod. Excited to be podcasting with my bro. So, I'm really looking forward to a great, amazing conversation. Yeah, dude. I think the last time... Let's see. The last time you were on, we were talking about Zac Brown ban.

[00:02:41] So, that's like all the way back to like episode four. So, yeah, we got a chunk to talk about too. Something to go over from the past couple episodes. And a pretty chaotic episode 11 as well. So, definitely excited to dive into it. Hear your thoughts. I mean, I think me and everyone else has been dying and missing Tim. So, you know, I mean, happy to have you back, bro. Thanks, bro. I'm excited to be back. And I have thoughts. I have a lot of thoughts.

[00:03:08] This was a crazy episode, but it's been a wild and crazy season too. Quick highlights for me is like Christian getting voted out. All these twists and advantages. It's like 24 players or actually 25 if you add Zac Brown into the picture. So, it's been a lot of stuff happening in Survivor 50. And this round was not too different for the craziness that is this season. Yeah, dude. It has been super volatile.

[00:03:37] I feel like each week you can see someone get to the top and then completely fall back right to the bottom. Whether it's because of like all the advantages, like the Mr. B super beware advantage. Or even like the doubles twist, right? Like when Coach and Chrissy go home, like there have been so many advantages. What are your thoughts about the number of like advantages that have been in the season? How they've like just impacted the overall flow? Yeah, I think it's a little of a lot, Rob.

[00:04:05] It feels more like Big Brother sometimes than Survivor with like the pair twist. And the Mr. B super beware advantage. And it's changing the form of Survivor. It's different if like, you know, we're putting Survivor in a different context. Like, oh, it's a double tribal council where you vote two people out.

[00:04:32] But pairing two people together or flipping a coin to see if you go home. It's giving do or die levels of what are we doing to the game? But I'm really happy that the game is starting to slow down a little bit with the wildness of the twists and turns. And I'm happy that we're able to see more of the players now that there's less of them.

[00:04:58] And it's really given us the opportunity to see the personality shine that we were so excited to see back on screen. Mm hmm. You know, I really do think I am like a Survivor traditionalist in the sense of like, I don't know if I really wanted or needed all of these like extra advantages that have I don't know. I think they've really impacted the game because it's not just like you're not playing just like the personalities of everyone on the beach.

[00:05:25] Like you're playing to the threat of an advantage, a possible outcome that we have no idea what's going to happen until you get the tribal council like that. It changes the game in terms of like the intensity for sure. And like having three backup plans just heading into every single vote. But there's that like aspect of like the raw form of Survivor that I think this season has been really missing. That's kind of stopping it from being like one of the top seasons, like in all of Survivor history. Right.

[00:05:54] Like when I think of Survivor, it's about like, yo, like you get your your little group of people and you bulldoze your way to the end, flipping on your guys and then like taking those from the bottom, like up to a top position and flipping on them. Like, yeah, like that's the kind of Survivor that I love. Right. And yeah, not that we don't have that in this season, but just like the advantages impact that. But I don't know. Yeah, I guess. Yeah.

[00:06:22] It feels very just different. Honestly, I think it was because you have to change up the game. All of these returning players, you have to make it interesting and excuse me, dynamic for them. But at the same time, what that does is make it drastically different for viewers at the same time. Like I understand why. But just because I understand why doesn't mean I'm going to just love it and enjoy it.

[00:06:48] I would have loved for this season to be more like an all stars where or heroes versus villains, where it's just pretty simple twists, you know, nothing too extravagant, too out of the box. But Survivor felt the need to one up themselves and they have done that for whatever effect that is. And you know what? Like I you part of playing Survivor is taking risks.

[00:07:14] So I think like I do like a production like an applause, like to be like you took a risk by implementing all of these like advantages and different aspects into the game. And it's not like it's completely flopped, too, you know? So and like you said, like now that we're like really getting down into like the fewer amount of people, we're really getting to like feel the personalities and like that aspect of Survivor, because like having 24 people very chaotic to give like everyone screen time and like really feel that like personality of the person like

[00:07:44] coming through the TV. So I think we're now getting like we're cooking back into just like how Survivor should be as we just like get closer to the end of the game. Absolutely. And I'm not gonna lie. Some twists I actually liked. I liked this twist this episode and I'm just going to get right into it. Let's go. Having somebody win immunity and be able to go between two different tribes, I thought was super cool, super dynamic.

[00:08:11] That would be a very interesting twist where this person has so much influence and power and they're the only person that can exchange information across these two tribes. It led to the painful result of Ozzy being voted out in a sense because it wasn't Tiff who could go back and forth. It was Jonathan. And I'm curious to hear what are your thoughts on this twist where one person is immune and

[00:08:40] they could go back and forth between two tribes essentially. Yeah. Have we come up with a name for the advantage? Was it the power broker advantage maybe or something? But that's the only name that I've seen thrown out there. I'm just going to call it the 10,000 steps advantage because it sounds like Jonathan confirmed that he was getting his steps in. And I'm like, you're absolutely right. Walking back and forth. I would also be getting my steps in. So that's what I'll call it. Yeah. Okay. So like the 10,000 steps advantage, right?

[00:09:10] I don't know. I think it does bring a really unique aspect to the game, right? Because as you put it, like you have so much power. You're the only voice communicating between the two sides of the beach. So you really can totally control and manipulate that flow of information. And I think it's really like, I think I would love to be in that control aspect where you're safe. You have full autonomy over this vote and you can totally direct the tide and like say like, yo, like this is what's going on in this group.

[00:09:39] And then like just twist it just to try to like aid whatever perspective you're trying to build. Like Jonathan was really trying to use that to like really like get close to Tiff and then be like, yo, like I think we got to take out Ozzy in this other beach. And yeah, I mean, a whole lot of that whole conversation going back and forth was a lot about Ozzy, unfortunately. And I want to hop in because even with the twist, Rob, to me is like being the mayor of the town. Some people are going to love the mayor.

[00:10:09] Some people are going to absolutely hate the mayor. The mayor can do everything right. And they're still not going to vote for that mayor to be reelected, right? Because Jonathan has so much power to be able to go back and forth. Between each camp. It's like, okay, are you going to come to this event? Are you going to come to that event? It's two birthday parties going on at the same time. You don't want to not go to one birthday party and spend all your time at the second one.

[00:10:36] So it's an interesting, powerful, yet complex position to be in because you don't want to piss off all the other people by not giving them attention. But then, you know, it seems like a lot to balance and a lot to ride on. And you know what, Rob? Whenever Jeff changed his mind or they reviewed the tapes, quote unquote, that it was Jonathan

[00:11:05] and not Tiff who won immunity. In hindsight, I'm like, maybe that was a blessing in disguise for Tiff. Maybe she wasn't meant to win that immunity because people would have been pissed off at her the way I think people are going to be pissed off at Jonathan potentially moving forward. Hmm. That's fair. You know, I think like one aspect of that, I don't know how much like Tiff winning and Jonathan then being vulnerable would have really changed the outcome of this vote, maybe my

[00:11:35] perspective. But yeah, I mean, you have Jonathan who is completely controlling that information. And like you said, if I'm sitting on the beach and I just see him going back and forth, but not checking in with me about plans, like I think votes almost they're probably like a little bit more apparent in terms of like who's really in the know and who's so far out of it just because I'm not having conversations with you, meaning I know the other beach is

[00:12:02] talking about me and the power broker going back and forth between is throwing my name out there. And I have nothing I can do about that. You know, like in my ally could be on the other side of the beach and I can't even help them and they can't help me. So like, yeah, I think lines were almost a little bit more clear, I think, for people who were in trouble. Like, I think we like we saw Emily and Aubrey just like flat on the beginning being like, I'm fucked. I'm screwed.

[00:12:29] So it definitely added a big difference in terms of like how the smaller tribe like dynamic like just controlled its outcome for sure. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that now people are playing so much harder than before, maybe because it's two million dollars on the line. Rob, that's double the money. Mind you, it should have been two million from the jump because it is Survivor 50. But that's just my opinion. But two million dollars is on the line, Rob.

[00:12:58] So when I hear people say, oh, why did Rizzo not tell Ozzy to play his idol? I'm like, because Rizzo wants to win two million dollars, maybe. Or Ozzy is a threat to Rizzo's game. And why would Emily go after Sari? I mean, it's Sari, mind you. And Emily had nothing to lose at that point.

[00:13:21] So in this episode, again, it's just so much craziness and wildness to talk about. I'm curious to hear, like, how did you feel about the Jonathan, Emily, Sari, Devon's and Tiff side of tribal council? Hmm. OK, on that side, I guess. Yeah.

[00:13:48] Looking at it, you have Tiff, who's probably not the target, right? That's working closely with Sari and Devon's was on that side. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Emily, Devon's, Tiff, Jonathan. OK, yeah. Sorry. Reorder it. Got to order them in my mind. Right. But yeah, I mean, Devon's has the idol in his pocket. Right. Which, first of all, when we see him at the beginning of the episode, like give me a little like shimmy and like dancing around on the beach. Like, I'm not going to lie. I kind of loved it.

[00:14:18] I think if I'm like a player on the beach, I think I'd want to be a Rizzo. But I think I have like the mentality of a Rick Devons where I just want to make my mark on such a historic season and being this person that's playing so aggressive and chaotically with all this power and everything is falling right. Like, I don't know. Like, there's something about like his goofy energy that I really love, though. I know some others on the beach, as in like Joe, you know, like have a really big issue

[00:14:46] with the showboatingness and sillies of Rick Devons, for sure. And Aluki relates to Joe. Like at first in his original season, I was team Rick Devons. I'm like, yeah, Rick Devons. Right. He's cool. He's charismatic. He's doing all this crazy stuff. He's going to win. He didn't win. And now on season 50, as I'm watching, I'm like, OK, no, actually, Rick Devons is very

[00:15:13] over the top and very much like a show pony or like a circus lion to me in some ways. And to me, I'm like, I can kind of see where Joe was pissed off because it is very like to put on a show. It's like he's dancing with with he stole Ceres like ruby slippers and is just tap dancing in it. Right.

[00:15:39] If this is a Wizard of Oz out there in the world, he's trying to be the main character of that show. So I can see how people are upset. And I might be joining the club of people who are not Rick Devons haters necessarily, but like not Rick Devons enthusiasts necessarily. Yeah, I don't know. I feel like like when Joe's like looking for validation, like an Aubrey, like from Aubrey and maybe it was Tiff to like, you know, like what Rick Devons was doing was like totally

[00:16:09] like out of the blue, like out of the pocket. Right. And like, I don't know, like it's just like the smart or like the smart that like Sri gave him like, really, like this is what you're upset about. Like Rose just playing the game because he's down and out and needs to make every big advantage possible happen. Like you can't blame a guy who's going to get voted out at the last tribal council to take a big swing and flip the coin from the Mr. Beast super aware advantage. But yeah, I don't know.

[00:16:36] And obviously that had a huge impact going into this episode because split tribes. Right. So numbers are already so small and there's so many idols out there. Not a lot of room to hide this. It is a great time for Rick Devons to burn the idol and on it, like escape getting voted like just like just escape one more round again. Like it really should have been like three rounds ago. He could have been the target after he reached in like into like the rocks at tribal council

[00:17:02] and pulls out that fake idol like bros literally like on his eighth life as a cat right now. And I genuinely can't believe just how skillful he is at this like quick manipulation But yeah, I think it was a great decision for him to outright openly be like, look, I'm playing the idol. I'm safe. I'm moving on to the next round. And everyone else just tried to orient their own games around. Well, Rick Devons is safe. Where am where's my head out?

[00:17:31] How can I be safe going into this tribal council? Yeah. And because he's on his last life is like, why not try to take him out now? Which is exactly what the other side tried to do. But what I find super interesting, Rob, is double agent Emily Flippin, who I was actually really impressed by this episode. Even though she was voted out, it wasn't a bad move.

[00:17:58] It wasn't a bad attempt to make to do something for her game and get Suri out. Right. She's also like Devons on the outskirts or the edge of extinction, if you will, of this split tribal group. And for her to try to pull the wool over Suri and Tiff's eyes to say, hey, we're going to vote out Rick Devons. He's going to play his idol on me and we're all going to see tomorrow.

[00:18:27] And for her to flip the script, no pun intended, and go after Suri again, I thought was brilliant and amazing. I'm watching it. I'm like, Emily? Emily Flippin? Wow. Wow. So, yeah, if only if Suri didn't have that advantage, it would have worked out and I would have had a very different reaction than being proud of her.

[00:18:53] I still would have been proud of her, but I would have been grieving Suri's downfall by her hands. Yeah. At the cost of our queen. I don't know if I could be fully on Emily Flippin's side, but yeah, like truly super. I mean, I think she's gotten a lot of flack this season for how at least production has portrayed her like running her mouth and like sharing the secrets of everyone or tribe. Like she has been portrayed negatively, like by the public and like me too.

[00:19:19] I haven't been like, you know, like the most quiet about like my grievances with like her play style. But this is how she is as a player. She's very strategic and aggressive and she could totally outline and see the dynamics of where do I fall within this tribe? How can other people like how can I get other people on board with a plan that fits the mold of like their personalities and Rick Devins like playing the idol like she really did.

[00:19:47] I really thought she did everything that she could to put herself in that position to just completely make like probably the biggest move of the season to date. And it just fell just a little bit short because that's how good at the game Suri is like you actually can't get anything past Suri at all. And it's amazing to watch. Yeah, Rob, we forgot to mention today is Mother's Day.

[00:20:16] And I want to celebrate the mother of Survivor, Suri herself. She's, I believe, one of the first players, if not the first player to use an extra vote in a way that's significant to keep herself from going home. And as I was watching the episode, I'm watching and I'm thinking in my head, oh, my God, Suri is going to go home. The Suri votes are coming out of nowhere. She said earlier she's not going to play her advantage.

[00:20:44] And just for Jeff to say it's one more vote left to count. And we see the smirks and smile from Devin's and Emily's faces just vanish. In my head, I'm like, Suri is definitely thinking you thought you ate that. Like you really thought you ate that. Like you thought you had me. You almost had me. But think again, you got to be quicker than that. And Suri definitely outmothered them both in that moment. And I was happy. Mm hmm.

[00:21:13] No, I mean, it's just the way that like it all unfolds. It like can't get any happier than that. It's just the game awareness is just unmatchable by everyone. And everyone knows how great of a player she is. This is why you listen to Jenna Lewis in the first week of the game. And you take out Suri because you don't let her get one. And she's going to like you let her get through one vote and she's winning this game. And I remember like at the beginning of this season during our preseason draft,

[00:21:41] you know, I did hastily choose Suri as the first person voted out of this game. But if you remember me saying like, I, I don't want her to be the first person voted out. And if she gets through the first week, she can win this game because she's that good at Survivor. So, yeah, I'm eating my words now. I don't know what my draft is looking like in terms of points and stuff, but it's probably just going to be another 5-0 sweep by you, of course, you know. But we will see. We'll see.

[00:22:11] We'll definitely see something else we'll see or something that the players didn't see. Specifically, Ozzy in this case was a blindside. He did not see that coming, Rob. And in my head, I'm watching. I'm like, Ozzy, why didn't you play the idol? You literally said early in the episode, yeah, I'm going to play my idol. You had not one, Rob.

[00:22:39] Two nightmares about getting voted out with your idol. And then it happened. To me, this whole episode is like the history repeats itself episode because Emily was once again idled out. And Ozzy, or not idled out, but it vanished out or essentially idled out, you could say. Maybe if Devin didn't play his idol, arguably. And then Ozzy went out with an idol in his pocket again.

[00:23:07] So, yeah, it's really tough, Rob. It's really tough. But I do want to ask, Rob, do you have dreams? Do you remember your dreams? Oh, I feel like if it's big enough, I remember my dreams. You know, actually, last night, I had a dream that I was like out at a farm with my friends eating a picnic. And there was just like some like horses grazing in the land. And then I don't remember after that.

[00:23:36] I just remember there was a train after. And then we were riding the train. But that was the last dream. So, like, I feel like I remember like really like odd, chaotic dreams like that. Yeah. But I feel like getting blindsided, sitting on the jury bench with an idol in my pocket, talking to Coach and Chrissy would be memorable enough for me to remember. And then maybe try to get me to play the idol, you know? Yeah. Like, do you know what it means, Rob, when you dream about fish? No, tell me.

[00:24:06] So, we always say it's like a certain thing. And maybe it's like a black thing of like, when you dream about fish, that means somebody's pregnant or somebody is about to have a baby. A new member of the family is coming. Right. So, I'm used to interpreting dreams. I'm used to people taking dreams seriously. And for Ozzy not to take either dream seriously, to me, again, it's just like, Ozzy, what are we doing? Especially a dream super specific like that.

[00:24:36] Normally, my dreams are like fragmented. It's like one second I'm on a boat. The next second I'm like competing against Usain Bolt at the 2012 Olympics. Right. But this very specific, as you said, dream, it couldn't get any more clearer than that. But again, he just didn't follow it. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like there is a lot of like dream analysis like within psychology. Right.

[00:25:03] And like one aspect of it, too, is just like the idea of like the unconscious like thoughts and desires that a person has. And, you know, I guess in this case, it's not so latent because it's so obvious in terms of like what this dream symbolizes within the game of Survivor, which is, hey, you're feeling insecure. You know, you have this target on your back. You should play this idol, Ozzy. And it's just his subconscious running these thoughts, him trying to problem solve real life implications in that dream setting.

[00:25:32] And it sounded like he came to a resolution within those dreams, which is, hey, Ozzy, you got to play the idol. So definitely tough to see. But honestly, I don't know if I fault him for not playing the idol. What I really fault him for is divulging his entire game and Rizzo's game and Ceri's game to Aubrey. Yep. Every detail.

[00:25:59] And we thought Emily Flippen was the one who was loose with information. It looks like she has a new challenger coming into the picture because, yeah, he literally told everything over to Aubrey. I think, again, it was to try to jury manage her, but she doesn't even have a foot out the door yet necessarily. Like, sure, she's at the bottom. But this is, again, Survivor where anything can happen.

[00:26:23] And it came back to bite him because she immediately went to Jonathan and they immediately just confirmed it was going to be him out of the game. And even though today is Mother's Day and Aubrey is a mother now, in that moment, she was gaining her mother momentum, as I'll call it.

[00:26:52] Right. It's like a snowball rolling down a hill is going to turn into like an avalanche at some point. And I think this is the breadcrumb that she needed to continue to gain that momentum that I think could help her get to the very end of the game with taking out Ozzy and surviving when it didn't seem like she had a chance to even survive. See, this is the point of the game that Aubrey flourishes in.

[00:27:20] Right. Like her game is skyrocketing because she's able to use all that information that like it like that's at her disposal to save herself. She isn't the best at like the early stages of the game, like creating those like genuine relationships that turn into alliances. It's like, no, like she understands the game of survivor and knows how to manipulate situations. And like when she clocked that, like, hey, I'm in the worst spot and you just gave me all of this ammunition.

[00:27:49] Like I'm going to gun you down and take you out of this game, Ozzy, because she knows and like she's been she sat there at the end. She's almost won this game. She knows exactly what she needs to do. And not that Ozzy hasn't done that. He obviously got second place as well. And he's honestly probably showed the most growth out of everybody this entire season in terms of evolving his gameplay. But when you give Aubrey just a little bit of momentum with the numbers, get smaller at the end of the game. That's where she's able to flourish.

[00:28:19] And we really saw her like just do everything that she can to put herself in that great of a position to shed light on like, hey, this person who we've deemed to be in a really good spot the last few weeks of this game is. Is feeling so confident that they're going to win. And this is our time to take them out. And it seemed like it was a pretty easy sell to everyone on the beach. Like, yeah, you're right. This is the time to get out Ozzy. And you know why they were able to get out Ozzy this time?

[00:28:48] Because his mommy was on the other side of the beach and Sari couldn't protect them at all. She really couldn't. She really couldn't. I saw someone say that Ozzy's dream was Sari trying to telepathically tell him to play his idol. And something else like you were talking about that I wanted to also discuss to me, Rob. Aubrey is total. Aubrey is total.

[00:29:16] Like, total from the Wizard of Oz, the film. She's total because she got that dog in her. And even though the whole time we thought that Rizzo was on our side, Rizzo was part of the team, part of the game. He's unbeknownst to Ozzy, the wicked Riz of the West, because he didn't tell him to play his idol. He just left him out to die. He's like, you know, sole survivor. My pretty, my pretty.

[00:29:45] Like, I'm going to be the one to have all the power. And I'm interested to see what happens for Rizzo because of this move. Like, is this game actually going to advance? Is Ozzy going to forgive him if Rizzo gets to the final three? You know, what's Sari's going to think after the downfall of Ozzy?

[00:30:14] So it's so much to think about. So many gears turning because it seems like to me he's just lost a bunch of allies in that one move of not telling Ozzy to play his idol. So, yeah. And you know what? Like, he loses that trust with Sari. He loses that potential vote at the end from Ozzy now that he's on the bench because of that lack of communication and distrust that's created.

[00:30:38] But honestly, like, I'm thinking if he tells Ozzy to play the idol, he really has shown his cards and dug himself into, like, a spot where no one will probably want to work with Rizzo because his allegiances have clearly been made.

[00:30:52] And I think honestly, like, make like this move, it opens up his game because it shows that he has the inclination to want to switch up his game and work with Aubrey, work with Jonathan, the Joes of the world who are in this, like, position where they're trying to muck up as much power as possible.

[00:31:11] And I think it was, I think in hindsight, I really do like the move because for his game, like, he had everything spilled and it wasn't even his fault. So I think he really came into a position where he needed to adapt. Had it been his way, like, nah, I think it would be him, Ozzy and Sari, like going into the next round, all like aligned and safe with each other with seven people left in the game.

[00:31:39] Add Tiffin to that, like, alliance, like that's four people. That's an absurd amount of control. And one of those four could totally get to the end and win this game. Right. So. I think it's it. I think it sucks for Rizzo just that that plan was had to be almost thrown out the window. I will. I will love to hear what his conversation with Sari is like, though. How do you think that's going to go? Oh, I don't know. I think Sari is going to be.

[00:32:10] More pissed than Liz will will will will Cox, you know, she's she's going to be very upset because that's Ozzy. She's played a bunch of times with Ozzy. Her and Ozzy are like this. Ozzy's, you know, if Ozzy's the jungle man. Sari is, you know, the jungle queen in a sense. So I don't think she's going to be happy.

[00:32:34] I don't know how she's going to turn this in her favor, but she did just vote with Jonathan. Jonathan is somebody who she may can work with now moving forward. So it might just be a trade off where she loses Rizzo begins. Jonathan, who knows?

[00:32:52] But what I do know, 99 percent is that I feel like she's going to be pissed at Rizzo for, again, not telling Ozzy to play his idol. So I'd be really interested in seeing if like Rizzo like lies to Sari to be like, I told him to play the idol and he didn't. You know, like I think there is a way for Rizzo to try to game Sari. Not that it's really worked out for anybody this season.

[00:33:22] Right. So you may have to just like fold and tell the truth to Sari and be like, bro, like he exposed our entire game in strategy. How are we supposed to maneuver around when we're going to be like down another person going into the next round? And, you know, I think for Rizzo, he still has the idol. He has the extra ounce of insurance.

[00:33:40] So if he sees himself as I can be safe at final seven going into final six, I've created maybe a couple more allies working against these people that I've been working with, like for the entire game. Like I can see why he views that move as a net positive and definitely screws up Sari's game. Nevertheless, and her chances, they're definitely dwindling, which that's so scary to think, because I think I want to say the whole survivor community is like rooting for Sari.

[00:34:10] So maybe you got some Rick Devin stands in there, too, just because of his electric gameplay. But I don't know. I'm a man rooting for Rizzo, though, I might say, you know, I wouldn't be mad at it. You know, we'll have a Gen Z winner. So another Gen Z winner, I'll say. So, hey, I wouldn't be opposed. But I really wish that Tiff's future looked a little bit better. Like Tiff is a friend of the pod.

[00:34:36] Tiff is a player and a character on the show who I just really enjoy and really love. And I wish that her chances, at least right now, looked a little bit better to me. She has been performing really great. She's a challenge threat. She almost won this past challenge, you know, had certain circumstances not happened. Right. Right. So, yeah, I just wish her eyes looked a little bit better.

[00:35:04] And even to comment on that, Rob, because I'm such a Tiff stan, whenever again, they flipped the script and said that Jonathan won. To me, it felt like when you're at a restaurant, you're starving. Jeff is the waiter. He's bringing out the immunity reward on a plate and he's headed straight to your table and he just takes a sharp left. Like, that's what it felt like to me. Like, oh, my God. Like, I thought I was going to eat. I thought Tiff was going to continue eating.

[00:35:31] But, you know, she just had it snatched away from her for Jonathan. Yeah. But again, I am fingers crossed for Tiff's game. I think out of maybe everyone left on the beach, she might be in one of the most safe and best positions heading into the final stretch of the game. Like, I think she quietly has a lot of control because she has shown the ability to work with a lot of people in the game.

[00:35:59] And she can work with people on either side, like the Cerise who she has been working with, but then also go to like the Jonathans and Joes to be like, well, maybe we got to vote out these top dogs so we can have a chance to win. So I think she has a lot of maneuverability and she is well positioned socially to potentially get on board and make moves. She's going to have to find a way to like really like take the bull by the horns and make a move and call it her own.

[00:36:29] Because I think I'm imagining this jury. There's going to be some bitter jurors. I mean, you get a bunch of returners. Everyone's eating for like their second, third, fourth, fifth chance of this game to finally win. And you just took that from them and they're going to be salty. They're going to have that bad taste in the mouth, but they're also going to want someone who really deserves this win that played a game that you want to play a winning game.

[00:36:53] It doesn't have to be the flashiest game possible, but someone who is respected, well liked and played a solid game. And I do think Tiff has those qualities for sure. Absolutely. Now, on the other hand, somebody who I want to see voted out, who I actually don't think is going to be voted out is Joe. No shade. I wasn't a fan of the character Joe on 48. I don't think I'm a fan of the character Joe on season 50 either.

[00:37:24] But yeah, I just don't see a reason for them to vote out Joe at any point because I don't think he's a threat in any form or fashion. Again, it sounds harsh, but that's just my truth of I don't think he's a social threat from what we're seeing. And it doesn't seem like he's a challenge threat either in this season.

[00:37:47] It seems to me like without the sort of foundations of honesty, integrity and that whole sham bag, it doesn't seem like his footing is great this season. In my opinion. Mm hmm.

[00:38:07] And, you know, I went out on a limb to say that, like, I thought Joe was in a very well, the good position to put himself in a spot where he can show an immense amount of growth and manipulate that, like, perceived change of, like, using that, like, honor and integrity kind of figure to his advantage. And we haven't seen him do that at all. He's really regressed into that, like, aspect of, well, either, like, you're working with me and my plans or we're not working together at all.

[00:38:36] And I'm just kind of going to be, like, stubborn about it. And you're right that, like, there isn't a lot of, like, there's not a big reason to vote him out because he's not really a threat to win the game. But that almost makes him then a threat to be sitting there at the final three and he's taking up your spot, you know, like, that's probably the one real threat aspect to Joe that I'd be worried about. So it's either like, OK, great. He is either on my side or if he's not.

[00:39:02] But if he's not on my side, then maybe that is someone I want to get out sooner rather than later before one of those final three spots is totally locked up for him. And with, like, the idea that, like, an idol could be played at the next tribal council and you have the immunity necklace going to be safe, there could be another freaking idol hidden out there that's found, too. Or, like, another advantage. Like, we have no idea. Like, there might not be a ton of options.

[00:39:24] So if I could get my allies together and vote off someone who I know isn't working with me, like, that's another reason and threat to get out Joe because he ain't working with me, I guess, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I really foolish, though. We're going to need some type of miracle to see a Joe win this season. One other player who I'm a little iffy on if they're going to win, Jonathan himself.

[00:39:53] He's done a lot this season compared to what he was able to do in 42. And I think his changes are commendable from what we're seeing, but I don't think he's going to land well with the jury if he is to get at the end. Again, just because it seems like he's voting out a lot of members of the jury and pissing a lot of people off.

[00:40:20] And with D being the queen of Ponderosa and their argument, I don't know how that's going to go if he gets to the end. I think it's possible for him. But we'll see what happens if that does happen. Yeah.

[00:40:37] I mean, it's kind of like he took his hand, dipped it in like a bucket of like red paint and that's how much blood he's got all over his hands, you know, because he really has been making the most like moves that are outright shown to a lot of people like on the jury. Even though, like I would say, sorry, is probably done the most dirty work out of everybody, whether people realize that or not.

[00:40:56] But yeah, I think like Jonathan's Jonathan, though, I will say like has put himself in a spot to get to the end by effectively getting like Emily voted out and Ozzy voted out. Like he set himself up for what he set out to accomplish during this tribal council.

[00:41:16] So in theory, if you are in that power position and you get those two people out, like I would hope that you think that you're in a confident position moving forward to the next round. Right, though, everyone can look at Jonathan and be like, he actually has a pretty good case to be like he's made the most impactful decisions that have altered the course of this game. And maybe that's why he should win.

[00:41:39] And throw out all the social aspect of it, but like he might have one of the bigger resumes of the people like as we get further and deeper into the game, whether or not people are going to want to continue to work with him is, I guess, a different story. But like, I don't know, like I feel like there's been hints that Jonathan has been playing a really slow, quiet up and down game throughout the course of the season.

[00:42:03] And he has escaped the sights of like those who were like aiming their guns down his throat, you know, like at the tribal council where Stephanie gets voted out, like with the Mr. Beast advantage. Like he was the one that came up with the plan to get out Ozzy and starts mouthing off that to everybody. And he escaped it, you know, like by the skin of his teeth. But still, like, I don't know. I don't know what to think about Jonathan in this game because he just doesn't give winter vibes right now.

[00:42:32] Yeah, yeah, I agree. I really agree. Speaking of winter vibes, you know how we do it over here on Split the Vote where every episode Rob and I or the Split the Vote team. Rob gives a award to the player of our choice, respectively. What's the torture wars? You might be wondering, well, the torture wars are happening right now.

[00:43:00] And we're going to start off with some nominations for this episode. Rob, you want to start us off with your nominations for the torture wars? You know, I've had a lot of time to think about exactly who I want to be my nominees for this episode. And I think I want to commend the people who made the biggest aspect strategy wise that really set off this game in motion.

[00:43:26] And I think the three nominees that I'm really looking at there. One is Aubrey for her efforts to save herself and totally flip the game, use all the information that Ozzy came to her with to, yeah, save herself. So got to throw Aubrey's name out there as a consideration. I will also put Emily out there, even though she was voted out.

[00:43:48] I think she did a great job, a job trying to put herself in a good position to save herself, though the execution wasn't there. And for my third nominee, I'm going to give it to Rizzo, too, because I do think that his decision to end up voting out Ozzy could work for him more like just in tenfolds down the line than it could have been for him.

[00:44:12] Had he just been sitting to backseat to Ozzy and Sari, this is a move that I think he can claim in a way. So those are my three nominees, maybe a little bit of a hot take. So, Tim, I want to hear your nominees, too. Interesting, Rob. Very interesting. Well, first, I, too, have to say Emily. Emily is up there for me. I think Emily had a great plan. Emily took big shots at Sari, and it would have worked if it worked.

[00:44:41] So I have to throw Emily's hat into the nomination ring. Secondly, Jonathan. Jonathan, honestly, I never in my life would have thought I would be giving Jonathan any kind of celebration or consideration here. But I think he had a good episode. He won immunity and he voted correctly at both tribal councils. He got who he wanted out almost essentially.

[00:45:10] And last, but certainly not least, I have to go with Sari. Sari having the extra vote, playing it wisely, I thought was a great move and great execution as well. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think those are three very solid nominees. And I think for my nominees, I'm going to give it to Aubrey this week. I think Aubrey earns my Torch Award.

[00:45:40] I was, I'm really looking forward to her endgame and seeing how she's just going to take like this vote and hopefully it works for her in stride. So yeah, might be my first of the season giving it to Aubrey. So yeah, shout out Aubrey. It might be her first Torch Award too, given by anybody. I'm going to go out to check back the footage on that. We'll see. Yeah. Shout out Aubrey. Yeah, congrats to Aubrey for Rob's Torch Award.

[00:46:08] Now me, however, comma, am also giving it to a literal and figurative mother. I got to go with Sari, Rob. How can I not give it to Sari? Like using the extra vote to save herself. Literally, had she not played that extra vote, Rob, donzo, out of here. Donzo, finito. I don't know any more ways to say case closed.

[00:46:36] You know, Sari was the judge, the jury, and the executioner of Emily Flippin's game in this instance. And I think because of that, she gets my Torch Award. Dude, I need to go back and check out every single week's Torch Award winners. Because Sari might have won seven or eight weeks, like a Torch Award in seven or eight straight weeks.

[00:47:04] Every single week, she's gotten one from somebody. Reasonably so. I mean, she's like top dog in the entire season. And I mean, she might be the most decorated Survivor Torch Award winner that we've ever had. So easily. We definitely. I mean, she's gone more than four, which I think was the most before. So was it? Yeah. No. Yeah. I think so. Is she coming for Rizzo and Kyle's spot? I think it's Kyle's spot. She's coming for Kyle's nick. Yeah. Wow. And she's definitely gone more than four.

[00:47:33] So yeah, I mean, that's just the power of the mother right there. Right? Hey, listen, you're not lying. You're not wrong. Mm hmm. All right. Well, I guess as we wrap up this episode, Tim, anything else you want to talk about? Yeah. Honestly, nothing too much. I've just been, you know, super hype to talk about Survivor. I'm happy to be back. Happy to be back for the rest of the season. So I'm excited to talk to you, bro. Excited to keep it up.

[00:48:03] You know, in the meantime, as we're waiting for more Survivor, I'm just going to be watching like HGTV shows and stuff like Design to Last. I'm going to be, you know, reading books like I've been reading Escape, which is really good. So yeah, I'm just excited to talk more about Survivor. Happy to be here. Happy to make even more Purple Pants podcast power productions. Mm hmm. Love to hear that. And you know what? You know what?

[00:48:33] I will be reading. Well, my birthday was the other week and Marissa, my girlfriend, also got me the new Rob Sestranino book, The Tribe and I Have Spoken. So I will be tapped into that. And I would encourage all the Purple Pants podcast listeners to read that as well. You know, I guess that is our grandfather. I don't know how that works within the dynamics of our network.

[00:49:02] But yeah, shout out, Rob. You'll catch me reading that book on the beach for sure. Nice. Nice. Whoa. Rob, shall we? I think we shall. Well, it's been Tim. It's been Rob. It's been Split the Vote. Peace. Hope.

[00:49:39] Who... right back though. It's the purple pants. It's the purple pants.