Survivor 48 Pre-Game Day 4: Lagi Tribe

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[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00] Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Seller, Pastorino, back! And we've got the first of three Survivor 48 Tribe previews here today as we talk about what's going on with the Loggi Tribe. And now, here's a man who's never groggy. Here he is. He went to Fiji and he's ready to talk with us. It's Mike Bloom!

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01] Yes, thank you Rob. Of course, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Survivor this year with a throwback. Take the Toggy, drop the T, but hopefully don't keep the L. Hopefully this Tribe is not taking many L's in the pre-merge here because Rob, what a group of personalities we are about to get into.

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00] A lot of personalities and so far we have dropped six cast previews from Survivor 48. Mike's interviews that he went to Fiji, went all the way to Fiji so you can learn a little bit more about these Survivor contestants. And we've posted them. We've been dropping them to a day. They're on our YouTube channel if you want to watch the video. Also, as a podcast, we've been dropping them to every weekday.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00] And so we have dropped six of those and now we're going to do this two more times. We are now going to talk about the Tribe as a whole. We'll touch on each of these six players and talk a little bit about how we think they might get along here. And so very excited to do it this way. I think this is a fun way to do it. We have some big personalities to talk about. But, Mike, how are you?

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_01] Oh, I'm doing fantastic. I had, you know, the great pleasure of getting to talk with these people about six plus months ago at this point. And it's always fun to kind of be able to sit on this information and lie in wait to see what people end up thinking about the people that you had. You know, the great distinction of getting to talk to out on the island. And again, I said before during our kickoff special that I had a lot of fun talking with these people.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_01] And it was very apparent from you listening and watching along, especially that I was doing a lot of laughing behind the camera, Rob. And I think for good reason. I think this is a very funny cast.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00] Well, they were receiving you incredibly well. Maybe nobody better than Joe, who just thought you were the next Oprah or Bryant Gumbel.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_01] I mean, I'd rather take one over the other. Pretty sure Oprah wasn't talking about young women.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00] But how many Survivor finales did Oprah host?

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_01] Yet. As of yet, Rob, that might be the way to bring back the Survivor finale is if we get like a Sia-esque benefactor in the form of Oprah to say that she's going to host it on her own dime.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00] Oh, OK. Maybe one of these days. OK, so six players that we are going to talk about. And in the order that they that I watch them, that's Bianca, Eva. We've got Shaheen, Joe, Star and Thomas. That's who we're talking about here today. And thank goodness I watched all the right videos and we will do that as well.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00] And yeah, Mike, these were extended interviews that you got to do with everybody. Some of these I think maybe the longest might have been Shaheen around like what, 30 plus minutes.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. And that's around the longest interview that I got. There will be a couple to challenge that. But also it makes sense given a his career and be the fact that this was a little bit of a dream deferred for him, that he would have a lot to say.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00] And I'm very grateful to catch up on.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01] Exactly. And I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to allow for that freedom in space as well, because as I talked about in the kickoff, this is an opportunity for them to sort of uncork the bottle in the pregame. They have been doing nothing but sitting there, you know, making base judgments of each other, trying to plan for this game. And I'm one of the first open faces they get to speak to for about a week or so. And so I was happy to just let them speak their minds about everything they're thinking in the moment, everything they're thinking about the game. And there's a lot that's on their minds.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00] OK, and of course, still 12 more survivors to preview, two more tribes to preview. You can make sure you don't miss any of it when you are subscribed. We know survivor dot com for all of that. All right, Mike. So let's just go through the six people and just some quick thoughts that we've got to. You know, I'm sure you've been able to think even more about this, but you haven't really been able to talk at all about these people since your interviews with them. Let's start with Bianca.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01] Yes. Yes. So Bianca. And this is also fun as well, Rob, because I'm also kind of responding to the response to them, if that makes sense. And I don't even clock this in the moment or even the months afterwards. But I got a good amount of people saying that simultaneously, Bianca was giving them Michelle vibes, but also Aubrey vibes at the same time, which is a very fun co-wrong dichotomy.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00] If Michelle and Aubrey had a baby, I thought it would be tie.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_01] Why? Well, if that's the case, I'm not entirely sure how that familial dynamic ends up working out. But yeah, I mean, I think the Michelle comparison is certainly there. I mean, that Jersey girl, you know, the ability to speak her mind. And I think as well, from a celebrity perspective, her loved one that she wants to bring to the island was Jenny Slate. And I got a lot of comparisons there as well in terms of personality, which does make sense to me.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00] Okay. Biggest headline of the we've never heard this about erotic dreams of a former castmate, Boston Rob. Yes. Who would have thought that her and her and her and her.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01] Oh, no, I'm taking who would have thought her and Dylan Efron have the same fantasies.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00] Hey, Bianca, keep dreaming. All right. Smotting up. Yeah. Wow.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. And this was again, this is why I'm very grateful for these types of interviews, because I think as well. Listen, there's only so much that can be expressed with the written word through the bios to the one minute video. Sometimes you need the unfiltered, unfettered responses from someone like Bianca, who will say unprompted that she has had erotic dreams about Boston Rob.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00] Putting the freak in Survivor Freak 815 for sure.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_01] Absolutely. Which is just an incredible first screen name. Just so presumptuous. I mean, that is truly a representation of like the early 2000s Internet to think like you sweet summer child that you could give yourself a nickname like that. And I think be relatively fine in the early days of the Internet. Nowadays, listen, that's a whole different kettle of fish of which you should not eat.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah, don't eat the raw fish. Also very hot take. So, yeah, for the catch up queen, she was giving to me, if I was going to say an alumni that she reminds me of, I feel like that she is a next version of Maddie Pamia. What do you think of that?

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01] I definitely think that makes a lot of sense. Someone who has, again, that very fiery personality, but someone who I think does have a background that could preclude some very interpersonal skills. Of course, as Bianca says many times over the course of my interview, she works in PR.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01] So she has spent a decade essentially from a day to day perspective, cultivating relationships, convincing brands and journalists to, you know, be able to take on their clients, to be able to spin a headline, to favor their clients. Like all of these directly carry over to the point where she says in her one minute video, like everyone who works in PR, get the F out here because this is a game that is meant for you.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah. But Mike, you and I have dealt with a lot of PR people in our lines of work. And I think there's really like two like kinds of PR people. There's like the one that's like, OK, they never say like anything negative that, you know, everything is like rose colored glasses. And then there are like the Bianca roses colored glasses. But then there are like the ultimate like straight shooters of like that. They are just going to like tell you like it is like very plainly.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00] And I feel like that Bianca is a little more in that camp.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01] A little bit. I mean, she does say in my interview that one of her superpowers is her positivity. Right. But I wonder if that's more so from like a motivational perspective rather than a to your point trying to, you know, paint a turd and be like, oh, well, actually, this is good. At the end of the day, I think it's more so about the idea of leading through that positivity, which helps basically out on the island in this sense of deprivation of like, no, no, we can do this. Don't worry. Don't worry. You're my brand. You're my clients.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_01] And I'm here to represent us and make sure we get good PR on S.U.R. V.I.V.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00] PR on on Loggie. OK. All right. Let's say a little bit about Eva. Eva and Eva, you know, seems like a breath of fresh air in Survivor in that. And she talks about this, you know, as a blessing and a curse. Of course, we know that she is the first survivor to come out and be or, you know, reveal that they have autism.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_00] And she talks about this as something that's going to help her, but also could potentially hurt her in that she may not be able to read on social cues. Whereas I always feel like it's such a strength for a survivor player to be able to adapt to whatever their circumstances are and be a bit of a chameleon and be able to change who you are based on the situation. She's not going to do that.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. So breath of fresh air, much like the ones those seals take that she's studying. Right. I still am not completely sure what she's studying, but it sounds really freaking cool with the seals and the vibration with the.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah.

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_01] If I again, I'm going to be butchering. I think it's like she's studying how fluids interact with like the sensitivity of seal whiskers and hopefully use that for like motion sensing technology for like the naval reserves.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00] She's also studying how fluids interact with the human body when you play survivor drinking games and then have to blow a breathalyzer.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. What do you think we should get? People are all up in arms about final four fire making. Rob, should we do final four breathalyzer instead? Yeah.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_00] Like Eva's friends did. Yes, I think so. And then you have to basically there's no actual device. You just they have a torch and whoever like can blow their breath and make the biggest fireball. Exactly. Fireball.

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01] It's, you know, self-made fire making in a very different way. Like you'd be your own Flint that you want to see in the world. But yeah, to your earlier point about Eva, it is really interesting the way that she is able to vocalize it. That, yes, it does come at the cost of like not being able to see the forest for the trees or the seals for the whiskers, not being able to pick up on larger social cues. I mean, she flat out says like, I can't tell when someone is lying to me.

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_01] On the other hand, she talks about how her autism gives her also this sense of authenticity that all the time we say you can only be yourself. I think for Eva, that counts doubly. And that is something that I think could be useful in the realm of the devil, you know, is better than the devil. You don't where if I was looking at the people around me now, great. There are a couple of these people on this tribe. But Eva is someone that I could look at and say, like, I don't know if she would necessarily stab me in the back.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01] If so, it'd be something that I could see coming from a mile away. And so maybe she's someone that I can keep close with me knowing that I'll see the red flags coming.

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_00] Well, I think that even more so, I think she just seems very loyal. I don't think she would ever stab you in the back, let alone like you would see it coming. I think she's the type of person that she's looking for people that are fellow athletes, people who have a sense of team, people that she can work with and sort of like, OK, I'm going to make one alliance in this game and I'm going to stick to it. That's who she's looking to find. So I think it should be maybe easier having somebody like this in the tribe to be able to figure out, like,

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_00] what she might be doing in terms of alliances.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah, I think that and she made this comparison that didn't really get unlocked for me until she mentioned it. But I got a lot of Noel.

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_00] Noel. Yeah.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01] From Eva. And she mentioned as, you know, her favorite moment in Survivor history is when Noel has this incredible comeback and is able to win that reward challenge. And I think that a lot of the pros and cons that Noel had could be foisted onto Eva as well. I think Eva has this incredibly formidable spirit, not only from a physical sense, but obviously from a mental fortitude stance, considering everything that she's had to work with and sometimes against over the course of her life.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01] The fact is that she does have a lot of this academics to her that she is able to keep under wraps. She's able to, you know, spread this lie or at least go with the the the guys that she is this hockey official and that there she's not going to say that she's studying for her Ph.D. because of the stereotypes that can be ascribed to that. I think the downside is going to come with what exactly happened with Noel, which is like, I don't know if Eva just given her competitive background is somebody that can turn down the heat.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01] You know, with somebody that's going to be like, yeah, I'm just going to lay back here in the post merge because I don't want to be seen as too much of a competitive threat. I think she's going to go one hundred and ten percent every single time she's out there in the stands. And I think there's going to come a point where people are going to say, like, no matter what's happening, she is way too much of a presence at this point to keep around.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_00] Let's talk about Shaheen beard guy and Mike. Now, I was thrilled that beard guy finally got into the season, but I was really just excited for the meme. I knew nothing about beard guy, but I watched the interview with beard guy. And now I truly love beard guy. There we go.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01] It's been a love that's been kindling a year in the making, Rob. I think sometimes people say, you know, the fiction defies the reality. But for you, it matches up to it. You love Shaheen outside of the SD and beard guide of it all.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_00] Well, Mike, I feel like that this is like one of like when you watch a TV show and there's sort of like a character and sort of like, OK, it's sort of like a background character. You don't really know a lot about them. And then they get like a standalone episode that tells their backstory. And I was like, that's what I feel like we got with Shaheen. And to me, I feel like and I haven't seen this comparison. Tell me if like this is nothing new. But to me, I feel like Shaheen is new era Max Dawson. Oh, no.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01] Are people saying that? No, absolutely not. Is it just the beard, Rob?

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_00] No, I mean that in a very positive way. And I like Max. And I know that maybe, you know, he, you know, might have like created some conflict while he was in Survivor. But I think the people that have really gotten to know Max feel like, OK, he is a sweet soul. He's introspective. Shaheen likes working with, you know, he's a teacher, like in the same way that Max was a professor.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00] And I think that Max on Survivor was really trying to turn it on and like make TV and was like really like trying to create a persona for the camera, which I don't think Shaheen is doing. I think this is probably closer to a more. He may be a Ponderosa last time.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_01] I was going to say, what did you think about that, by the way, that when he when he went to a bit of an explanation, because obviously for those who follow the preseason last year, this guy was arguably talked about more than some of the people that actually made it. Well, it makes sense.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_00] Like when you hear his explanation of what he was doing of like, hey, I'm an alternate, but yeah, I'm going to make an impression while I'm here. And maybe they say like, hey, let's get this guy in here. He's like, this guy is generating a lot of heat. We need this. Or they like, we got to get this guy back out here. So I think it was a very smart way to play that if I was him.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_01] All right. So future alternates make your faces and facial hair be known. But I also think it's interesting that he was able to take it as a learning experience, not just of like, OK, how am I coming across? But again, for him, it was a bit of a temperature check, right? To be like, oh, too hot, too hot. All right. Let's dial it back a little bit, because he also points out even just who he is as a person, which is very animated, as he says, very performative. That's part of speech and debate in particular.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_01] He knows there is nowhere for him to hide. And, you know, not without spoiling too much. Shaheen continues to be a subject of interest among his cast members in this preseason as well. So even when he has a second chance at it, people are still flagging him both positively and negatively. So I do think that Shaheen, I really hope he stays for a long time in the game because I think he's such a great personality.

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_01] I think the way he and again, this obviously comes from the job, like the way he's able to vocalize a lot of his points is so like thorough yet so grounded at the same time. I don't necessarily ever feel like I'm being lectured to, even though he calls himself a logic bully. You know, him talking about how speech and debate has taught him, especially now more than ever, how important it is to accept the fact that you can change your mind, that your opinion should not be set in stone. I think is so valid and valuable.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_01] All that being said to again, to the point of him not being able to hide, I I cannot imagine, especially in like a post jam jam world, how this guy is going to get to the final three. Like he's going to have to surround himself with some of the biggest threats out there and have things roll exactly in this way, because I just think the way that he comes across in such a big way, it's such a good way. I don't know how these people led him to day 26.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah, but I feel like that jam jam was more of a social butterfly in a way that I think that Shaheen is a big personality, but I don't think that he's necessarily like the life of the party that people gravitate towards. I think he's definitely a big talker, but I don't see him as being the person who, you know, everybody is going to be, you know, flocking to and wanting to, you know, spill the tea like they would with jam jam.

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_01] What I also think is really interesting is, again, to your point about Max, I think you look at Shaheen's profession and you say, OK, yeah, this guy is going to be the brains. This guy is going to be the big strategist. But again, Shaheen, I think, is very self-introspective. Like he has admitted a lot of things of like, yeah, I'm like Penner, you know, warts it all. And that sometimes I can get caught being too much of a leader and not a follower. And he even brings up here like I'm an ideas guy. Maybe we'll talk about this later on in terms of who might be working with whom.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_01] Like I actually need a strategist to bring me along. So maybe he actually is priming himself to be more of that social butterfly role by comparison.

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_00] Let's talk about Joe, who is somebody who I didn't really know what Joe was going to be like. I think I just judged his picture of, OK, well, I think he's going to be coming in and like kind of a hard ass. And that was not what I got from him at all. He seems like just like one of like the sweetest, nicest guys around.

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_00] And it looks like somebody who I feel like is just going to really like open up his heart to people in this game.

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. So this has been something that's been talked about, Rob. And I don't know if you listen to these interviews or watch them. A couple of people have said that. I do both. Oh, good, Rob. Take take it in as many organs.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_00] Audio and video.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_01] Audio. But I had a couple people telling me that to them, Joe has resting Probst voice. Oh, he has a very similar cadence to Jeff Probst.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_00] I did not catch that. I will go back and listen. I thought you were going to reference that his favorite Survivor winner was Diggler. And you were speechless. I was like, wait, who's Diggler?

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. I mean, listen, I certainly had to piece it together on the island. I just thought he was a really big fan of Survivor Thailand.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_00] Mm hmm. Yeah. I thought he said about Chris Underwood.

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_01] No, that's very true as well. There are multiple people that could fit together there. I mean, again, as I mentioned during our kickoff this season, especially there are very different levels of fandom. You have someone like Bianca, whose first screen name was Survivor Freak 815. You're going to have somebody like Star and Thomas who both watched the show like over the past few years.

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_01] And then you have someone like Joe who thinks Survivor 43 was won by a guy named Diggler, who's a surgeon, when it was run by a guy named Gabler, who sells medical devices.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah, look, whatever. I feel like Joe is something. This is too on the nose. I feel like he's going to be like a Mike Turner.

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_01] I could see that. But I think without the duplicitous side to him and maybe Mike sort of caught himself by surprise like that in the final tribal council. But I don't know for me.

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_00] Do you feel like that Mike was super duplicitous?

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_01] I mean, I think a little bit. Whether or not he was like coerced into getting rid of people like high. He was certainly making those moves and was not afraid to to do so. I think that Joe, especially espousing at the end of our interview, like I hope I'm remember for someone who basically built this on island family and takes them to the end of the game. I think it makes a lot of sense given his line of work like he is a fire captain.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_01] He is responsible for getting a bunch of ragtag people together and keeping them all alive. And so I imagine that's going to be very hard to divorce from his day to day. I do think that's going to make it a little tough for him to be able to cut those family members throats if he needs to.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00] I think it's a tough game to win in Survivor 48 to play it that way. But I feel like that he's also somebody that I feel like, OK, I have a good sense of like how he's going to be in the game.

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_01] Yes. Again, much like Eva, I think it's a little bit of a WYSIWYG, right? And like something that might help his image is that people are going to look at him, assuming when he makes post merge, because let's be honest, he is one of the biggest physical assets. I imagine he's going to be like invaluable. I could see him stepping up as well, just given his career and his age as like the leader, the most vocal person on Loggy as well.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_01] And so I don't see even if they go to tribal in the pre-merge, a place where he's going unless something really goes wrong. When it hits the post merge, it can work both ways because he could be seen as like, well, he's not exactly this huge strategic threat. He just wants to keep all the Loggies together. Therefore, we don't need to get rid of him first.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_01] Or it could be. And actually, I got a lot more vibes, Rob, of Kyle from last season of like, all right, here's a really good natured, good hearted family man who like just wants to believe in loyalty and making sure to provide for everybody else. And we saw from Kyle and it could be the same case with Joe. It really becomes a thing where like the reputation precedes them and they get kind of too powerful from a challenge perspective that friend info alike are going to say like, I love you, man.

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_01] But I really can't keep you around for the sake of my game.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_00] Let's talk about Star and Star is, I think, a real wild card in this season. Like, I feel like I could see the world where Star is an early boot and I could see the world where Star ends up maybe being underestimated and really is somebody who's able to, you know, just make a real run at this thing.

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_01] I love talking to Star. I think she's another example of like you read her bio, you could have a certain way about it, but like actually getting to see her and interact with her again. She just has such a unique energy about her that is so, so much fun to that point. It's a very unique energy. And I totally agree.

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_01] I think she is one of these examples of someone who, you know, if things don't work out, could be someone that gets booted pretty early just because like she's sticking out way too much. Or if her tribe gets momentum or she finds herself in good with a couple of allies, she could pull a Carol in. And despite maybe her kookier energetic personality on the surface, that's the exact thing that allows her to be underestimated where before you know it stars in the final three.

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_00] Mike, I have a comparison that I want to make. Okay. Please. So much of the players that are in Survivor, especially in the new era, that everybody is like very polished. It's a lot of people coming from white collar jobs, but I feel like that Star has a little bit of dreams to her. And I think that they both have names of Star and dreams that like sort of like inspire. Don't talk to Bianca about dreams.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah, but that she seems to have like a street smarts of like, hey, like I'm going to figure out what I'm going to tell the boss when I'm late, when I'm on my way to work and it's going to be fine. Like I'm going to figure out a way through it. And I wouldn't be surprised if people like are sleeping on Star and then she's able to, you know, have like this really strong game that people don't see coming.

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah, people are often sleeping when the stars are out. No, I agree with that. I mean, when she talks about getting into sales, it was less so like I was born to do this and more so I like talking. I think I'm pretty good at it. And so I do think I'll sell anything.

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_00] I'll sell a phone. I'll sell a whatever.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. And so I do think she is somebody who's going to be a great conversationalist. And again, I think if she gets in with the right people, it's going to be fantastic. And I think she's going to be someone that much like a Marianne, like she compared herself to is going to be able to cultivate either, you know, a perception or enough social capital to then eventually make a move down the line where she's like, OK, finally, I'm ready for this game to go supernova. At this point, I've got the you know, the right stuff to do it.

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_01] My only sticking point is, again, I love stars energy. The big question is, is the energy going to work in this particular group? You know, like, again, we look back to someone like Carolyn and she got along well with the right people. But there were some people that she did not. Have you seen the trainers? There's exactly there we go. And so, again, I really hope just even for entertainment sake, like watching star have a conversation with some of these people is going to be absolutely electric.

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_01] And I talked about this a little bit before I introduced her or when I think I finished talking about her in my preview in the podcast version that, you know, there are a lot of people that come in here at a 100 and just due to the elements of the game, they are worn down by day 26. Star might be the exception. I don't think she's losing her shine if she makes it a day 26. I think the question is, will that energy be something that people want to spend all their time around 26 days in?

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_00] OK, and then the sixth member of the tribe that we got to meet was Thomas. OK, Thomas, of course, works in the recording industry. Love Sophie. Works in the Viper Pit.

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_01] I will say, Rob, does not name drop on the pod, but I don't know if you saw, but a certain famous individual slid into Thomas's Insta comments when he was announced and being on the cast. Oh, who? I believe that Thomas is at least partially credited with kind of discovering Olivia Rodrigo. OK. Back in the day.

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_00] All right. Well, we'll see if that he is a vampire. I don't know how to get the vampire.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_01] The Star loves vampires, so that'd be great. He could lap up a million dollars and everyone will be saying good for you.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_00] Sure. Sure. OK. Well, look, he's got a lot of people rooting for him. But ultimately for Thomas, super smart guy. Seems like he knows what he's doing. What are your thoughts on Thomas?

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah, I think that Thomas, this is a case, again, much like Bianca, where I think his day to day skills are really going to carry over. Because, again, it's all about relationship management, not only with talent, but within your own team as well. I think when you are working in client-based services specifically, I mean, this gets talked about with the hairstylists that have won as well, too. Right? It is all about not only building relationships in an instant, but also maintaining them to an extent where they want to keep coming back to you.

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_01] And I think that Thomas has – Thomas also has, like, I wouldn't say a reserved personality, but he has this kind of more contemplative personality. Yes. Which I think is also going to help. I kind of have talked about this whenever I've done these interviews. Like, I first noticed it when talking with someone like Jamal out there. To me, there's a little bit of power of, like, having that type of cadence to your voice where it causes people to want to lean in and listen more, you know?

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_01] Because, like, that's going to get them inherently interested in what you have to say. That makes it easier for you to make the pitch. And I feel like Thomas has this, like, really plaintive personality that I think is going to get people on board, but also has the ability to, you know, break these personal bonds if he chooses to do so.

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_01] I think the issue, as he points out, will be, like, is he going to be one of these cautionary tales where you make friends with a bunch of people and then you start cutting them and they are not going to be happy about it?

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_00] Okay, Mike, well, let's start to put all of the pieces together here for this tribe and figure out what this looks like. Now, I feel like, I think I see two pairs in the six. And then I'm having a hard time figuring out where the other two players go, okay? All right. I think one duo that I see forming in this tribe, I think that Eva and Joe, I think that they find each other.

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_00] Eva is looking for people who play sports, is looking for athletes. Joe, he's a dad. He's a great dad. I think he's going to meet.

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_01] Former athlete himself as well. Did UCLA football and track and field.

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_00] Shaheen calls him the rock, okay? I think that Eva, she loves hockey players. I think that she and Joe, I think there's going to be a kinship. And I think that that is going to be a very tight duo in this tribe.

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_01] I would agree with that, especially on philosophy as well. Again, they are definitely two of the players, especially on this tribe, that are the most about, like, again, that team-based mentality of, like, we got to keep ourselves all together. Eva says, you know, compares the pre-merge to the regular season and then the post-merge to sort of, like, the playoffs and the Stanley Cup. And she's like, I just need to get us in the best position in the playoffs as possible. Again, Joe was the person that ended the interview by saying, I want to take my people to the end.

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_01] And so I think it makes sense that they will see eye to eye. I would not be surprised, actually, if they try to sort of strike up their own version of the six from Survivor 46 at the end of the pre-merge, being like, all right, I eye you, David. I eye you, Kevin. I eye you, Kyle. Let's see if we can find some of these other athletes to join up with. So I feel like, even from a philosophical standpoint, I like that these two would work together. I also think you're probably going to lump them in maybe with another person.

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_01] But Shaheen was also, to your point about the Rock nickname, really looking to join in with Joe as well.

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_00] He was very complimentary of Joe. That Joe held the door for him at the bathroom. And so he was very...

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_01] Or that he, like, shut it very gingerly, like he was kissing his daughter goodnight.

[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_00] Yes, yes. Which really tickled you.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. Listen, this man knows how to paint a picture with his words. So I was lapping it up.

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_00] Okay. So then, so I feel like that, I'm going to just keep Shaheen off to the side here for a second. Okay. And then I think that the other duo...

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_01] Much like Survivor 46 did.

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_00] Yes, much like Survivor 46. I am going to also think that I see another pair, potentially, with Bianca and Thomas.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_01] Mmm. You know what? I could see that. It feels like both of them have very similar senses of humor. I think Bianca is probably more of the outspoken compared to, you know, Thomas. But I think, as I pointed out earlier, both of them kind of come from this professional, kind of cutthroat group of, you know, professions. Though Bianca is going to lie about her profession and say that she works in corporate events. They do, I think, have very similar temperaments to the game.

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_01] And so I could see them either really getting along or being each other's worst enemy.

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah, that's true. I tend to think that they're probably more likely to get along. I think they're both going to be able to sort of keep up with this fast pace, both working from a media environment and being used to what comes along with that. And so I think that these two also could be a duo.

[00:33:20] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. And I also, Bianca had said that her kryptonite was that she's really impatient. I believe one of Thomas' kryptonite is that he basically, like, does not suffer fools, that he gets really peeved by any stupid things he sees around him. So I could also see the two of them, like, kind of kicking to each other when they get fed up with somebody and kind of have to go off and stew on their own.

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_00] Okay. So with those two pairs, Shaheen, I think I could see him working with either pair. And I'm not sure where Star goes in this group.

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah, that's really, like you said, kind of the big wild card in Star because she does have this really, you know, she does have an athletic background. She did play basketball semi-professionally. And so maybe that would allow her to kind of fit in with the brawnier duo in the form of Eva and Joe.

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_01] But again, I feel like she has more of, like, a personality and an extroverted idea of, you know, interacting with people that might put her more in the category of sort of the catch-up queens of Thomas and of Bianca. Or it could be something that, like, puts her in a third pair. Sort of like what we got on Gata, right, where it's just, like, three pairs immediately forming where her and Shaheen somehow end up together.

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_00] Now, Mike, Eva talked about that there was somebody who was getting on her nerves. She mentions that there was a black woman who was talking when she wasn't supposed to. Eva didn't like that. Star does seem like maybe somebody who might talk when she's not supposed to.

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah, I had made that assumption as well. It might be incorrect. It might be say. But I could see from the picture she was painting someone like Star, like, not being able to help.

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_00] I haven't gotten to say yet. I don't know what her personality is like.

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_01] But Star is someone that sounds like she would not be able to help herself. Of, like, if someone says bless you and she says excuse me. Like, it's just the natural talker in her. And so that might be something that manifests itself. Or it might be the case of, like, once you actually talk to Star and you say, OK, now I can completely understand why you weren't able to help yourself in Ponderosa. I'm happy you're saying bless you now.

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah. So I don't know if Star is more likely to go with the Bianca and Thomas side.

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_01] I could also see, again, not to cross the streams too much, but I could kind of see maybe an unlikely twosome between Joe and Thomas. Because I'm just thinking to one of the last things Thomas said in my interview, which is, like, one of the impacts of season 45 and season 46. And Thomas had said something that Shaheen actually said, right, which is, like, why is everyone taking each other's number ones out? And Thomas went so far as to say, I want to Parvati and Amanda this.

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_01] Like, I want to go to the end with somebody and sit alongside them. And again, I feel like that attitude does play to someone like Joe, even to Shaheen to a certain extent, where he says, why are we taking out our own number ones? Why don't we go to the end with our number ones and try to out argue them? Now, maybe he's saying that because, you know, his arguing skills are perhaps better than most.

[00:36:23] [SPEAKER_01] But that could also be sort of a rallying philosophy as well, that if it becomes early on less so about we've got to get rid of these big threats and more so about, like, who's not contributing to the unity of this group? I think there could be something brewing with the Loggie boys as well.

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_00] All right. Speaking of the third Loggie boy, Shaheen, where does he go? It's so interesting because I could see him being a person who's able to get along with the Thomases and Biancas of the world, that he likes to work with younger people. So I feel like that there's maybe I'm sure he's going to hear Eva's story and fall in love with her. Also, you know, a Ph.D. candidate.

[00:37:08] [SPEAKER_00] He already is predisposed to like Joe. I think he's going to think that Star is a real character. So I think that he is really going to struggle with or maybe or be blessed with a lot of opportunities.

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_01] Yeah. What's interesting is when he talks about his good vibes and his bad vibes, once we work outside of just the fantastic grotesque imagery of David being the guy that swallowed Tom Cruise. He does say that there was a person that he could not pick up a read on who has black hair. And I was wondering if that was Bianca. And if so, is that going to carry over to the beach?

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_00] He said the smallest person there. I think he was.

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_01] I mean, Bianca is five foot two. I think I think Camilla is technically the smallest. I thought it might have been Camilla. Yeah, it could be. And listen, Camilla, not to get into too much, but is clocking SD for who he is early on as well. So maybe it is quite mutual. But yeah, that that could be something to pick up on, though. But yeah, I do think that Shaquem could find himself surprisingly in the middle early on. Because I think he is someone that, again, professes how he's able to connect with people immediately.

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_01] And he does seem to be enough of a down to earth personality where I think as all of these different people are kind of, you know, being cast to the winds on this beach. He is going to be someone that might be a bit of a go between, but might have to make a tough decision as a result.

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_00] Could Shaheen be a glue guy here? And really, like in the prophecy of the glue guy last season, could he be sort of the go between? Because what is Shaheen looking for in his number one ally? A strategist. Could that be Thomas?

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_01] I think it could be Thomas, because I think that Thomas is also I wouldn't say he's necessarily used to being in a leadership. Position, but I think he is very much as scared as he is to sort of just play authentically as himself. I think he puts a lot into his leadership skills. I think Bianca is someone else who might be able to like as much as maybe some of her answers were a bit on the kookier side lovingly. So I think she is very strategically minded.

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_01] And so I could see Shaheen kind of making his pitch to them being like, all right, here's what we're going to do. Let's let's go. Let's go over here and, you know, do this cockamamie three to one split. And they're like, OK, calm down. We want to use you, but not to that extent.

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_00] So if Shaheen and Thomas are able to hit it off that I do wonder if that freeze potentially puts Bianca into the danger zone of that. You know, could she be somebody like Maddie who plays a little too hard, too fast and then ends up getting identified as somebody who might be a target at an early tribal council?

[00:39:54] [SPEAKER_01] Or maybe someone like an Anika. Like, again, I think that I think that Joe will probably be the most vocal, the most jokel around camp just because of who he is as much. She's saying, like, I don't want to step up as a leader. I just think that's who he is naturally as a person. So, I mean, certainly, you know, some eyebrows are raised when Bianca talks about like, yeah, I can be a little, you know, demanding in terms of, you know, I'll get impatient with people not putting the shelter the right way.

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_01] But it could be a matter of like, especially if Loggie doesn't go to tribal council in the early days. Like if they go in the first couple of episodes, that's where I could see someone like Star probably being in the most danger is if you're going off of like genuine first impressions, like reflexes, who's not fitting in. It might be Star. But if you give them enough time and Star ends up getting settled in, I think then you start turning more so towards the dynamics and alliances and looking ahead.

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_01] And then maybe you're like, well, I don't know if Bianca is somebody that we want to necessarily keep around.

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_00] And it's such a common denominator in the new era where this first tribal council, it's, you know, we have our three men, three women. And this first vote is such an inflection point. We really are at Loggie heads here with this. And you have a person on this tribe in Eva who I think is a woman who values keeping the tribe strong. And maybe I'm going to be wrong about this. Maybe Eva is going to be more of like, hey, this is very important to me.

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_00] We need to keep the women and we need to keep numbers for women in the game. But based off of her interview, I get the sense of she's valuing strength, whether it's in men or in women. And I think that she's not going to, you know, like, oh, we're not intentional. Matt's saying forget about it. Like, I want to go into the merge with numbers, not necessarily, you know, I want to preserve the women in the tribe.

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_01] Right. I mean, people have pointed out online that I believe actually in the new era so far.

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_00] Not to say that only men could be strong. Because like, look, Eva's probably stronger than me.

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_01] Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, as Phil Kogan always said, right, like power to weight ratio. But I do think that people have said that I believe five out of the seven winners in the new era so far came from a tribe that went to tribal council in the first episode. But I don't necessarily think Eva has that on the brain.

[00:42:17] [SPEAKER_01] And I know that there has also been a good amount of discourse as well about, you know, the way Eva has talked about like, oh, my friend said that, oh, you could watch Survivor because in the old days, like these women weren't necessarily cutting it. They were complaining all the time. I think that look in Survivor just as a reflex, we tend to glom onto people who make us feel comfortable. And the fact of the matter is Eva is somebody who surrounds herself with men.

[00:42:45] [SPEAKER_01] She talks about, you know, in both of the schools she's gone to being on her men's club hockey team. And so I think it would make sense if Eva does find herself initially kind of wanting to surround herself with the boys club because that's what she's used to. I don't think that precludes her from working with the women whatsoever, but it could be a really interesting sort of piece of criteria for her to decide among. But I don't know, Rob.

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_01] Rob, I think like this tribe out of the three is the one I have the toughest time putting a finger on just because these are kind of like six very fun, different personalities. And so I really think as we talk through, we could see really any configuration of these people. And I think a lot, again, is going to depend on when they go to tribal council in the pre-merge. And if they don't at all, they could absolutely NAMI this, in my opinion.

[00:43:32] [SPEAKER_00] All right. So this is my prognostications for this tribe. I see one version of this where, you know, if Thomas and Bianca are the stronger relationship here, I think Star could be in trouble. I think Star could be an early boot, especially somebody who doesn't have a lot of physicality, at least from what she spoke about in her interview.

[00:43:53] [SPEAKER_00] I don't know about her athletic prowess, but I think that she could be somebody who doesn't end up, you know, having a number one and then could be the person that they target, the first tribal council. I see a different scenario where Thomas and Shaheen end up hitting it off closer. And then Bianca is available to be the first boot, especially if she is coming in and really strategizing off the bat.

[00:44:17] [SPEAKER_00] She might come across a little too much of a schemer for the Joes and Evas of the world. Oh, schmoes. Yeah. And so and I'll say a third, I think probably longer shot. I think that Thomas could get the John Lovett treatment of somebody who is maybe like a little bit colder to warm up to everybody in the tribe. Maybe not necessarily doesn't doesn't vibe right off the bat and could potentially be the first boot. But I think it's probably Star or Bianca.

[00:44:47] [SPEAKER_01] Who from this tribe do you think will get the farthest in the game?

[00:44:52] [SPEAKER_00] Hmm.

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_01] I think it's going to be Shaheen. I don't know. I still think I could very much visualize him as like the fallen angel, ironically enough, going out in fire making when his hot take was that there should be more fire making in Survivor.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah. I think Thomas is somebody that I have my eye on. I think he could be a very shrewd player. Shaheen, I just wonder, is there too much heat on him? And that we know in the new era, it's very hard to shake that when you end up, you know, and not from Akon, right? That when you sort of like have that target on your back, how much does he have on that already?

[00:45:35] [SPEAKER_00] You know, Shaheen said, like, if I can't beat that, then, you know, what am I doing here? But I just wonder if he is going to be he's a talker. He's already a big figure. Is he ever going to be able to get under the radar?

[00:45:46] [SPEAKER_01] Right. Well, he talks about this as well of like the differences between targets and threats where he basically acknowledges like I'm always going to be a target. But am I a threat? And so I think that's really going to be the biggest dragon that he's going to have to fight in the post merge. But what did you think, by the way, about his suggestion of adding fire making into this like? Yeah, that was very interesting.

[00:46:07] [SPEAKER_00] I thought that that was, you know, some very fun. So I don't know how they would structure the episode where the two people that are like going to be vying ones that ones going pre jury and the other ones, the mayor of Ponderosa. I don't know where they would put that in the episode.

[00:46:21] [SPEAKER_01] I mean, I think it's very Australian survivors to the point where they quite literally did this in a couple of times of like at pre merge double tribal council. They did the votes and then those two people faced off immediately in a fire making.

[00:46:32] [SPEAKER_00] But Mike, just to circle back to where we started with star being the wild card. If star isn't the first person out of the tribe, star is going the furthest in the game. Nice. Star is going to the final tribal council.

[00:46:45] [SPEAKER_01] Which would be absolutely incredible because, you know, like if you're giving her an hour and a half to just talk unprompted about her game, it is going to be absolute magic.

[00:46:57] [SPEAKER_00] You're going for a ride, just like Mike Bloom is taking you on this preseason. Mike, anything else you want to say about Loggie before we wrap up today?

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_01] So I don't know if you saw Rob, but they're they posted on when the cast dropped some like fun facts that each person sent in. Some of these were ones that were obviously elaborated on in my interviews or in their bios. Like Eva talked about what she was studying. But there are some very fun facts from this particular tribe. Bianca, of course, talked about Survivor Freak. Like 815, which like, look, Bryce, not to do your job, but like leading contender.

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_01] And that was even before the 815 give you the heebie jeebies at all, Mike. Well, so here's the thing. She was born on August flight.

[00:47:40] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah.

[00:47:41] [SPEAKER_01] But she then did say like, OK, do not mistake Quincense for fate. I actually am a big lostie as well. And she actually had another screen name called like lost lostie fan.

[00:47:50] [SPEAKER_00] Lost freak 815. Yeah, exactly.

[00:47:53] [SPEAKER_01] It's just the freak cinematic universe. Shaqeen's fun fact. At coffee shops where baristas can't pronounce my name, I often use the name Jeff Probst. Oh, OK. I like I can't wait for the one time when Jeff ends up walking in and like gets his coffee order taken out from under him because of Shaheen trying to claim his identity.

[00:48:15] [SPEAKER_00] Yeah. Yeah, I've got I've got a double espresso for Jeff Probst.

[00:48:22] [SPEAKER_01] And then you can also be a nice litmus test to see how many Survivor fans are in the audience as well, because like how many people will shoot their heads over to the counter awaiting for a chance encounter.

[00:48:32] [SPEAKER_00] And then just like I ordered like 20 minutes ago. Like, sorry, got nothing for you. Sorry for you.

[00:48:37] [SPEAKER_01] All right for you.

[00:48:38] [SPEAKER_00] But I'll take your card. Yeah. All right. So we are going to have. Oh, good.

[00:48:42] [SPEAKER_01] Sorry. One more. Just because we're talking the day after the Grammys when Lady Gaga is back on the scene, Rob. And we have someone who has some history with her. I know I name dropped Olivia Rodrigo, but Thomas is fun. In fact, I met Lady Gaga in a workout class in West Hollywood in 2016. She held my hand. Oh, wow. OK. So Thomas is collecting all of these, you know, pop star name drops. Maybe he'll bring Sia back into the picture.

[00:49:09] [SPEAKER_00] Maybe. OK. Mike is going to have more Survivor 48 preseason interviews for you. Mike, what tribe is coming up next?

[00:49:18] [SPEAKER_01] All right. So we are going green as tomorrow. I start my talks with the Vula tribe, which are actually already out in written form. If you want to have a sneak peek over at parade dot com. So tomorrow will be my interviews with Cedric and Justin. Thursday will be my interviews with Kevin and Mary. Friday will be my interviews with say and Stephanie. Then we're going to take the weekend for everyone to be able to catch up on everything. Yep. And then Monday, Rob, you and I will be back together to get your thoughts on these six

[00:49:47] [SPEAKER_01] tribe members and see how the pieces fit together.

[00:49:50] [SPEAKER_00] Looking forward to that. Thank you all so much for joining us. Of course, make sure you subscribe to get everything we have coming up in the preseason. Of course, into Survivor 48. That's all at we know survivor dot com. Make sure you subscribe on the YouTube channel. We love to read your comments. Mike, what else is coming up for you?

[00:50:06] [SPEAKER_01] Well, again, let me just say I had such a fun time talking with these people. Again, if even the six show, this is a big character filled group. And I had such a great time getting to discuss everything and anything with them. You know, if their confessionals are even like half as good as the interviews they gave me, I think we're in for yet another very funny season. Otherwise, I'm just hitting the beat writing about these people every day.

[00:50:32] [SPEAKER_01] I have now moved on actually to the Siva tribe, which is the third tribe we'll talk about here. So if you want a bit of a sneak peek of the orange tribe, check out everything I'm doing at Prey dot com. And as always, the reality flash. Whenever there's breaking news in the world of reality TV, I will be in your eyes and ears giving you everything you need to know. You can check out everything I'm doing at a Mike Bloom type.

[00:50:51] [SPEAKER_00] All right. Thank you all so much for joining us. We'll be back with another tribe preview coming up after a couple of days. Take care of a good one. Bye.