Survivor 50 B&B Ep 12 Recap w/ Lauren O’Connell

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[00:02:19] Watch The Four Seasons May 28th. For quality, service, and select locations only. Mike and the Anna gather playing some games. You better pray to your mama that then... If that all sounds cool, I can tell you the name. H-A-P-B-M-B. Mike and the Anna gather playing some games. You better pray to your mama that then...

[00:02:47] If that all sounds cool, I can tell you the name. Hi, everybody, and welcome to the RHAP-B&B for Episode 12 of Survivor 50. My name is Mike Bloom. No Liana with me, unfortunately.

[00:03:09] I like to think that she is still heavily in mourning for losing two heavy hitters from this past. The last multi-boot episode, and it was quite devastating. One, devastating, if you will. You look up at the stars, whether they be in feature or otherwise. But you don't even need to crane your neck. We got to see a couple of stars get snuffed out over the course of this episode in Rick and Sari. We're going to break it all down.

[00:03:39] An episode called Inconceivable, which makes sense, given that I think a la the Princess Bride from the fandom is feeling mostly dead by the end of this. But I feel so full of life getting to talk with this person. Someone who got to watch Rick Devins get his fortune up before it was cool. From Survivor, Edge of Extinction. A fantastic Survivor player, character alike, Lauren O'Connell. I'm so excited to be here.

[00:04:05] It did feel like a very Edge of Extinction heavy episode almost. I almost was getting kind of PTSD when Jonathan was following Rick around the island. I was like, oh my God, I've been on that island. I've been walking behind him in that exact same spot while he's looking for an idol. So it was such a fun episode. Sad episode. I thought honestly it was one of my favorite episodes of the season so far. Interesting. Tell me more.

[00:04:28] I think any episode that weaves in the human aspect of like the people. And I feel like the reason that we love Survivor 50 so much. And I was talking to my dad about this because I'm at my parents' house. I'm in like some makeshift thing right here because my sister is graduating high school this weekend. So I came to California to visit. But my dad and I were talking. He's like, I love that episode. It was so great. And he's like, I love season 50 because it's action, action, action. But it's all the people we love. It's all the people that we grew up.

[00:04:57] I mean, I grew up Survivor super fan. So it's like I grew up on Sari. I grew up on Ozzy. I grew up on these people that we love. So getting to see kind of their story play out in a way that I felt like was devastating to see Sari go home. But she got to say, you know, the tribe has spoken. It felt like it did them justice in a way. Like it felt like a very kind of Rick Devins send off. It felt like a very sad Sari send off. But it's like, for example, the Rick Devins vote, right?

[00:05:26] People were going to Sari like she was the godfather. They were like, okay, so Sari, this is what we're thinking. What are you thinking? And she's like, so it's going to be Rick. Everyone's like, right. It's going to be Rick. It's going to be Rick. Like little things like that. I just felt like it was a very fun episode to watch. I felt like it was the first time personally that I thought we saw everyone as a character. Like I love hearing Tiff in confessionals. I love Tiff. Like obviously I'm like I'm team Aubrey all day. That's my girl. Love her down. But I freaking love Tiff.

[00:05:55] And it has been a travesty not getting enough content from her. I was literally telling my dad this five minutes ago. Like Tiff is so funny. Tiff is so smart. And so getting to kind of see her in the character that she is was so fun. I don't know. I felt like we just got more content from people. And I know it's because there's less people in the game, but it felt like I was getting to see the people as people this episode. I think that's a really good way to put it.

[00:06:21] It was celebrational in a manner of speaking, even though I think none of us were necessarily celebrating perhaps the fact that Rick and Sari were voted out here. I think that they did take the time to allow these people to kind of take their victory lap here, even if it's not the last time they'll be going around the track. And maybe that comes from the fact as well that I would say these were two of the bigger movers and shakers or at least two of the bigger presences on the season, which sets up a very interesting finale from that perspective.

[00:06:51] And also the fact that, you know, yes, it was another double boot episode, but this was maybe one of the more digestible structures that people have enjoyed, which is, yeah, the back to back rounds. Of course, Lauren, you had one of these in your season as well. Probably much more amenable than then throwing in some sort of twist for two people go home at once. And I would also say, you know, this these were probably despite losing these big characters,

[00:07:18] these were two of the rounds that also felt kind of the most straightforward, like once Rizzo and Aubrey were on board with voting out Sari, that was then open and shut case no matter what that if you had to cram two of these votes in the post merge into one episode, it would make sense to be these two. Absolutely. I did feel like it was it. It felt poetic that they were the two people that were voted up together for some reason. I do think it was like her.

[00:07:45] I think it was like you had Rick who really didn't have any allies, yet he was amazing TV. Like you cannot like watching Rick Deffens play Survivor is fantastic TV. And what he does so well is speak to the jury. And I think he said it a lot in interviews, like the jury is begging for entertainment. I think that's why the jury loves him and the audience loves him. And then you have Sari, who I think was running the game from an from what I've seen in the edit. It's like she genuinely had people come to her.

[00:08:14] Jonathan's like, I'm gonna go ask what Sari thinks. I'm like, how are we not voting out Sari? Like the fact that Tiff was the vote and I'm not saying Tiff wasn't a threat, but the fact that they're like, yep, it's going to be Tiff. I'm like, so does that is that everyone knows Sari still in the game? Yeah, because they don't think she's going to win an immunity. I don't know. But I'm like the fact that Sari was kind of a backup. It's like it just shows her strategic prowess and how powerful she is in the game. So it felt like, OK, are two? I don't know.

[00:08:44] They almost felt like two sides to the survivor coin. Yeah, that's a really good way to put it in that, you know, Rick was being looked at as this big threat, not necessarily from like a social strategic perspective, but more so like look at this this resume, you know, look at the jury threat. Look at the persona he's been able to build at Tribal Council and like his narrative as well being the underdog up to this point, whereas Sari is more so the top dog.

[00:09:10] I'm trying to think if Rick voted correctly in a single tribal and I but I say that to compliment the fact that he is a jury threat. And I feel like I have seen it when when was our season in 2018, I guess is when we played what I didn't. I was so young. I was so I was such a baby when I played the first time. I had no idea how to make good TV because I and I say this a lot, which sounds silly now because of how prominent Survivor is. But I didn't know anybody else other than my family that watched Survivor. So I didn't think of Survivor as a TV show.

[00:09:40] And I think watching Rick speak to the jury and play to the jury, that is his superpower. I mean, the jury loves him. And so I think that is at the end of the day, the jury gets to vote for whoever the hell they want to vote for. And if they want to vote for the person that entertained them the most, even if he never voted correctly once and didn't have any allies like he's going to win. And so I think he's he's such a threat in that way.

[00:10:06] And then you have Sari, like you said, who is just from what I saw in the edit, just a strategic powerhouse. Yeah, I think that what's also interesting with Rick is that he is entertaining two very different types of juries across his two seasons, two very different types of captive audiences, I would say, where, you know, the people, the denizens of the edge of extinction, I think, were starved, not only for sustenance, but like for any sort of form of like, all right, let's see what's going on in this game. Any sort of perspective, anything to liven up the trip they make all the way out from

[00:10:35] this demented, deserted aisle before they have to go back again once more. And I think with season 50, you know, as we start getting into the finale, I do think that by and large, like a general sense of criteria the jury wants to vote on is, OK, like this is season 50. We want to of the people who are available at the end, like pick someone who would best represent what this season is in the grand spectrum of 25 plus years of the show. And so you could tell that like they were living for it, not just because it was popcorn

[00:11:05] entertainment, but it's like, yeah, this is what Survivor should be. Optimally is this idea of, yeah, flip a coin, change your fate, throw people under the bus, make things happen. Right. Make good TV, make good TV. And he is he's phenomenal at it. I mean, he really is. I I think it's almost like he gets himself into situations and then he finds such interesting ways to get himself out. And it's fun to watch. It's fun to watch.

[00:11:35] And what you said about the jury trying to decide who would best represent them reminds me of something that Aubrey said in the episode. And I think we got really interesting confessionals from Aubrey. And obviously, I'm biased because that's my girl. I love her. I've been team Aubrey since the beginning. And I make it very clear. I know nothing. I know no spoilers. I know nothing because I want to be able to say things on podcasts like this. Like I'm team Aubrey and I think she's going to win. And people know I have no idea what's going to happen.

[00:12:01] But she was talking a lot about her endgame and she said something along the lines of like, I don't know if people are going to want to give two million dollars to the kid that annoys them. Talking about Rizzo. Thought it was such an interesting read and such a smart read on her part when she was kind of comparing Devin to Rizzo. It's like. Yes, because when you look at Devin's, he might not be a social threat. You might be able to out talk him game wise, but the jury likes him. The jury likes him. And at the end of the day, people are going to vote for who they like.

[00:12:30] I don't care what anyone says. You're not giving two million dollars to someone you don't like. You're not. Yeah. I mean, not to mention the fact that Rick also had Christian and Emily and seemingly more people sitting on the jury who were more, you know, more pleased by those antics. I was really surprised that that comment made the idea just because I feel like usually Survivor doesn't like to show their hand a bit by being like, hey, if this person gets to the final three, there's a chance they're probably not going to win.

[00:12:59] And so I think I and a good amount of people out there had made the assumption of like, listen, depending on how Rizzo is perceived, maybe if he gets to the end, he's not necessarily going to be looked at as someone that people are eager to vote for. But yeah, it outright got confirmed here. And I think as much as we have seen many, many people completely misestimate what the jury is looking at in terms of the final three, final four configurations, I don't know.

[00:13:28] And interviewing some of these jury members, I do not think Aubrey is off the mark at all, considering, you know, whether it be due to Rizzo's purposeful lack of worth ethic, whether it's, you know, the health that he's been in up to this point. Like, I will say the health thing boy was playing back to back. I cannot even imagine. And he's more cooked than that rotisserie chicken. He barely ate at the auction. I was like, you guys, but honestly, I get it because we did kind of have a thing on our

[00:13:56] season where Chris was like eating the chicken that we were cooking and people were pissed and we voted him off that night. So, you know, it worked out for him, obviously, but people get touchy about chickens on Survivor. I'm like, stay away from chickens. I think, I don't know, but I, I thought it was just as, I thought it was a great window into, like you said, Rizzo, maybe not winning, but I also thought it was a great, I guess, window into what Aubrey is thinking in game.

[00:14:26] And I think so much of her edit this episode was trying to show us that if she does get to the end, that the two people she is sitting by were purposeful. And I think that that's kind of how, I don't know. I have so many thoughts about the edit this season. Yeah. It's very interesting to me. I think people have, as a whole, and I'm honestly not really on social, I don't hear a ton of it. I don't know anything about the edgic, I think is what it's called.

[00:14:55] But I feel like people are maybe disappointed in the final five or they feel like, oh, these aren't really the people that I want in the final five or it's not as interesting. And I find it really interesting that the show we're watching is the reality that the editors have created. No matter what, the episode we see is reality, but it's reality through the lens of the editors. They've chosen how we perceive each character. Yeah, it is not the capital T truth whatsoever.

[00:15:25] It is the smallest lowercase t you could ascertain. Absolutely. Unfortunately, it is, it is the, it is the truth is a strong, is a strong word to use there, but perception is reality. And they've created the perception of these characters through their edit. And so I find it really interesting that we have these people in the final five that as a whole, I think you could argue have been under edited because the editors have the power to make us so invent.

[00:15:52] I think if they wanted to, I mean, no one can tell me that Tiff was not giving interesting confessionals. Sorry, you can't like, I've talked to Tiff for five minutes. I'm like, you're the funniest person I've ever met. Like, you can't tell me that. So I'm, I'm, it's so interesting to me and I'm so excited to see how it plays out because why would, why would they create a final five that people aren't super invested in? Yeah. It's such a good question. Maybe it's this idea again of being a celebrational season that they really wanted to dedicate

[00:16:21] a lot of time to these OGs that have, you know, put in their days and then some, or with people like Rick, right. Who's sort of like becoming characters when you go to travel a lot, when you're making a lot happen at tribal proper, but they sort of get the lion's share of the airtime. But yeah, it does come at the cost. And not to say that, like, we're looking at a very purple final five, but there was a really good post on social. I'm trying to remember on Twitter.

[00:16:51] I think that's like, you know, Survivor 50 feels like a really good group of episodes, but it's tough to see sort of like a through line. You know, like I think if, I think if people like Rick and Sari had made the finale, there might be, okay, I see this sort of thing they're trying to write out in a manner of speaking from episode one through the finale. I think the closest would be Aubrey, right? Especially throughout this post-merc when we keep getting these confessionals about like, all right, we're playing chess.

[00:17:20] I've got to make my move eventually. And like you said, talking about, okay, I have to be tactful in the threats I take out when I do. It was just more so this episode. I think we kind of low key finally saw that come to fruition rather than it being a lot of tell no show. Absolutely. No, I think the fact that A, what, there's 24 people in 26 days. I mean, in general, people are just going to be under edited. It just is what it is.

[00:17:46] But also you have these OGs that honestly, I don't have a problem with them paying tribute to them. I don't have a problem with all of a sudden the music that they're starting to play when they're reading the votes for Sari is like completely different. And maybe that's just me, but like completely different than any other music I've ever heard when we're reading votes. And I'm like, you know what? Yeah, sure. Do it. Like I, I, maybe, maybe this is Sia putting her thumb on the scale for the fan vote and be like, I wrote a special song for Sari. Praise God. Everybody knows Sari.

[00:18:12] Um, but I don't mind that, but I do think in general, I always, I tend to say that survivor editors are telling the story of why someone won or why someone lost for my season. I think the argument was why Rick lost. Yeah. And they had to kind of showcase, like build him up, build him up. And then they had to really validate Chris's win. And like, I was an integral part in that, like in that kind of buildup of why Chris deserved to win. Right.

[00:18:42] And so I, it's interesting in this season. I don't know what that's going to be. Like I talk to my family who are very, I would say unbiased. Like I'm very biased. I'm like team Aubrey, baby team. I love Joe. Like I, I know these people. Um, and so if I know them and they've been kind to me and I'm friends with them, I'm like, yeah, I'm training for them. I don't care what the edit says I'm training for them. My family is just like, yeah, well, we feel like honestly, maybe Jonathan is going to win based on the edit. Yeah. I think Jonathan does have a story.

[00:19:11] If I'm talking about again, what is a cogent narrative? We have gotten from the beginning, Jonathan saying, you know, listen, I know I'm both gay yet, but now I'm actually going to be three dimensional in my gameplay. And for what it's worth in a season that has been full of people coming in, claiming like last time I was this, but this time I'm most definitely going to be this and failing to break their way out of that box. Jonathan has a fittingly for a man as strong as him busted out of that box.

[00:19:37] And I think he has largely succeeded in at least again, from a confessional perspective, being able to vocalize more of a strategic game. Absolutely. The question, who do you attribute the Aussie vote to? Oh, this is fun. You know, because from what we have been told and again, like you said, big speak on what we have seen in the episode. I mean, I'm thinking literally to the scene where Aubrey and Jonathan are talking and they're

[00:20:05] like, and Aubrey says, I bet you we're both thinking of the same person right now. So why don't we just say it? So I don't want to like be a fancy fencer and be like, can they share partial credit? Because I do think that, you know, I'm sure that Jonathan was able to easily get Joe on board. I don't know what nudged Rizzo in the direction of getting rid of Aussie. Maybe it was Aubrey telling him everything that he told her.

[00:20:32] So and considering how pivotal Rizzo was and specifically not telling Aussie to play his idol, I guess I would give the nudge to Aubrey there. If like the thing that got it over the top rope was bringing Rizzo in specifically. But that's the fun about this as well. Right. Like if Jonathan and Aubrey sit in the final three, they're going to have to fight over this. Yes, exactly. It's such an interesting point because I think it's Aubrey as the catalyst.

[00:21:02] I think Jonathan was a tool that Aubrey used personally. And then I think that Rizzo plays a bigger role than I think people are giving him credit for, because at the end of the day, he had full power to say yes or no. He had all the information. Yeah. He could have told him to play the idol and Aubrey might have gone home. So I think that Rizzo played a huge role. But I think it's interesting that the edit doesn't give a clear cut. This was an Aubrey play. This was a Jonathan play.

[00:21:31] It is a little bit ambiguous. Like, oh, well, I think it was both of them together. So then where what do you attribute it to? Because if that's Aubrey's kind of big first big move, not first, but big move that she might speak to. Does that mean that Jonathan speaks to that, too? Or I don't know. Well, it also comes from, I think, how you tie this into your narrative. Now, when we talk about Rick having an underdog story, Aubrey has two to a certain extent. You know, he's been on the chopping block since the beginning. Yeah.

[00:22:00] And so I think if you look at the move, it makes sense for Aubrey's story of, OK, I was on the bottom. I was a dead woman walking. And look what I was able to do over the course of an afternoon. Like that gets me a little bit enthralled from a storytelling perspective, more than Jonathan being like, well, I was safe that day and I had all the information. I walked back and forth between these two camps that I knew what I wanted to do. Again, like there's a reason why we support the underdogs.

[00:22:28] I think there is again, if Aubrey gets to the end, that's an easy narrative that she can vocalize. And not to say that like Jonathan can certainly vocalize that as well. Him being like, I had two of my closest allies and coach and Stephanie get taken out from under my nose and I had to pivot. But if you're using that as a feather in your cap to like, you know, it's one thing to call out the move. It's another one to seamlessly tie into the essentially the pitch you're trying to make it. The pitch you're trying to make is like, hey, listen, I was marked public enemy number

[00:22:57] one from the beginning. I had an idol given to me because they thought I was SOL and I climbed my way from the bottom. Now I'm here. This is a very easy thing you could state from that perspective. Absolutely. And I honestly think that Aubrey has a fantastic narrative that we just haven't seen her articulate yet because we haven't seen a confessional like that. But I think that Aubrey superpower is that she knows where every single piece on the chess board is. I think that she knows exactly where everybody lies.

[00:23:27] She's been playing a middle position of underdog position for so long, which is a very, very difficult position to be in consistently because at some point people will feel like they're like you need to choose. I think it's like, okay, I'm in the middle. I'm in the middle. Okay. I'm going here. Okay. Then are you here? And then what happens? Cause now you're on the bottom. Okay. Can you shift? I think her ability to adapt this entire game is incredible to watch.

[00:23:53] And I do think that she has this, it's almost like she's, she's a, she's a, she's a slow burn. That's what I'm going to call it. Right. Cause she's sitting there and she's really analyzing where everybody sits. And I think now she is an end game player because she knows, okay, I have watched every piece on this chess board, this entire game, because I have been in the middle and I've jumped here. I've jumped there. So I know who is connected to who and where people lie and what their next move is going to be.

[00:24:22] So does that move benefit me? Or do I need to cut them out at the knees, cut them off at the knees before they can do that. And so I think that that's why, again, I know I'm biased, but I really am saying this trying to be as unbiased as possible. I do think that she has the best narrative when she gets to the end of this is where I was every single point, analyzing each player and making decisions based on the knowledge that people were, Ozzy walked up to her and said, Hey, this is my entire game.

[00:24:51] Hey, me and Sari were besties till the end. See you on the jury. Give me your vote. That's crazy. It's crazy. And then she takes that information and distributes it in a way that benefits her. And I think that that's something that people don't always do very well on Survivor. People are giving information and then do you fumble that information? How do you use it? And I think her ability to know where every piece on the chess board is, use information

[00:25:17] accurately and effectively is a great story to tell at the end. I would be intrigued to hear from you. What situation from the past do you think has been weighing on Aubrey's mind more heavily this season? Losing to Michelle in Co-Rong or getting blindsided by Victoria in Edge of Extinction? I don't ever want to speak for on Aubrey's behalf because I actually didn't know the answer to that.

[00:25:46] If I was Aubrey, I think here's, here's the thing about the blind side on such an interesting question. But the blind side, the blind side on Aubrey, I didn't find it that shocking because we were playing with like, listen, Kelly was my girl. I'm like, Kelly's my girl. Keep her till the end. And that it was very clear that that's not how the other players viewed the returner,

[00:26:15] the returners. So to me, Aubrey was always on the bottom. And I think that it was not shocking or really that brilliant of a play to blindside her as I think maybe the edit made it out to be obviously bias, right? Like I am biased. It is what it is. But so I don't think that she, if I was her again, I actually do not know the answer to this.

[00:26:41] If I was her, I would not feel that bad about that because you're the only returner player on a tribe of people that felt very desperate to prove that they were not going to be besties with the returners. And then there's me over here, like in Kelly for life. Um, so that I don't really look at that as like Aubrey downfall. There was, she got, she got swap screwed.

[00:27:03] Honestly, I think it's less about if I was her less about losing to Michelle and maybe the aftermath of like, okay, this is what I thought my reality was. And having to understand that the lens you were looking through was not the lens that everybody

[00:27:30] was looking through and therefore adapting to this new reality that was very, uh, I think vocal on social. Um, and so then when she gets to this new situation where we hear her say, I'm careful who I'm sitting at the end with, I think it is less of a, Oh, I'm so if PTSD from losing to Michelle, I think it has nothing to do with Michelle. And I love Michelle. Aubrey loves Michelle.

[00:27:59] Like it has nothing to do with Michelle. It has to do with, am I reading these people and the way that they are perceived by the jury correctly? And I think that's why I brought up her confessional about Rizzo versus Devens, because that's exactly what she was doing. She was looking at it through not just her lens of like, yeah, I think I can out talk Devens, but the jury is going to look at Rizzo this way.

[00:28:26] And because the jury is who I need to get votes from, who do I sit next to that way? We're all looking through the same lens. I think that's, that's such a good way to put it. And yeah, I mean, it's so interesting to hear her outright call Tiffany, like Michelle part two here. And I wonder if it's again, maybe less so about losing to Michelle and more so about like not taking the opportunity when she did to go for Michelle. This idea of like, I think it was maybe something like final six.

[00:28:56] And listen, we could donate to really the gate is a season that was a decade ago. Michelle could have been dead to rise. The final five of Joe Del Campo didn't eat too much meat. Maybe this is a PTSD that Aubrey should have been like Rizzo. Do not eat that chicken. Put the chicken down. Put the chicken down. Don't want to get you medevaced, buddy. And that's what gets him into this whole situation in the first place. But I think it's this idea. And I think maybe one of the reasons why she's so laser focused on someone like Tiffany is like Tiffany has won three individual immunities so far. Would have been four. She would have tied her record if, you know.

[00:29:25] Actually devastating. We were at the New York. We were watching the New York watch, watch party together. Yeah. And she wins. I'm texting her. I'm like, hell yeah, that's my girl. Go off. I didn't know what happened. Like you. Yes. Quit. Literally, I'm sitting there and they take it back. I go, I'm so sorry. That's crazy. Oh, my God. That's on me. Like, to be fair, you got to really immerse her back in the emotional. I know. I said to her this and I go, inconceivable, baby. Go off. Like, I love it. But speaking on that really quick.

[00:29:55] Just yes. No side note. I literally took a picture. Not even a joke of the, because people were blaming Jonathan and Joe on social about their, like, things being spelled wrong. And so I zoomed in, took a picture. I'm like, guys, it was spelled correctly facing them. Yeah. Like, I literally, I don't know if you can even see this, but like, I literally took a picture of like, it's spelled correctly facing them. Now, did they know how to spell it originally? No. Thanks a bunch, Aubrey.

[00:30:22] But I was like, when I saw kind of the clips, because I watched it after it came out, I was like, guys, what are we doing? But it was, it was right facing them. But the fact that Tiff got it on the first run, because I'm going to be honest, I was looking at those letters like, ain't no chance, no chance. So I love seeing her win. I love, I chose her in all, in all aspects, but I do think you're so right in that maybe

[00:30:46] that's why Sari is not as big of a threat in Aubrey's mind, because she hasn't proven that she's going to win an immunity. And therefore, she is available to be voted out later on in the game. That's, I think, exactly the reason. Oh, not to mention, not to obfuscate as well, like the relationships that Sari has. I mean, hell, she was still able to get Jonathan and Joe twisted around, despite the fact that, again, this vote made the most sense in the world.

[00:31:13] But yeah, I mean, I agree with you that as much fun as it is to see Joe Hunter go over to in spelling challenges. This was the, this is the fun twist of this challenge is that like, there's multiple eyes. There's no please. I'm not, I'm not even a lie. This is so embarrassing to say, but I was watching the episode of my cousin and she had to explain, cause I'm like, I don't understand. Like, how are you supposed to get it to spell? Like what? And she's like, well, because one E wouldn't go there. A different E would go on the other side.

[00:31:43] So this is why I never won an immunity challenge. Okay. Right, right, right. I literally was like, like, it didn't even make, I didn't understand why it was spelled. Like I couldn't figure it out. So yeah, listen, I, I have some sympathy for him. Okay. Well, listen, uh, again, as we've seen throughout the season as well, Joe and spelling maybe do not necessarily mix. Uh, they're like fire and water perhaps. So they're tired and spelling is hard. He was able to spell immunity. Come on. And as we saw from one particular shot, Sari wasn't able to do that. I was like, no, I know.

[00:32:13] Rodney, my cousin's on my chest. She, oh wait, my earphones. Um, she drops it. She goes, don't worry, girl. You had the wrong block anyway. She had like the eye or whatever. I mean, that would be so cruel that like Sari's like, I finally have won in 20 years. My first immunity challenge is like, Sari, you misspelled immunity. It better than it just dropped. It better, it was better than it just dropped. Save yourself the embarrassment. But yeah, I mean, watching Tiff do that was so much fun. It's actually very fun coming full circle from, you know, a bit of the controversy.

[00:32:40] One of the few talking points that happened in the Survivor 46 finale, where if you remember, uh, Liz actually like colluded with Kenzie to win immunity to block out Maria from winning. And there was a lot of talk afterwards. I think Jeff even said as much on the podcast of like, we're going to prevent people from doing that. And here, Tiffany was able to show that like, maybe given the level of competition or like the challenges that are involved, you are able to overcome that handicap to a certain What are your thoughts on that?

[00:33:07] On him limiting the amount you're able to collude together? I mean, it's always going to be very loosey goosey in terms of the rules and what's allowed. Like, I know people have been jockeying for years about like, why are they allowed to look at other people's puzzles? You know, isn't that cheating? But like, if it's airbud style, like if it's not against the rules, then you certainly are allowed to do it. And I think that it sucks to be that person who feels like, okay, now it's two, three,

[00:33:36] in this case, like arguably six hours, five against one. But that's when, you know, the going gets tough and you try to push through and then maybe try to enlist help from other people as well. This is where the social and strategic components of the game are able to happen. And not to say again, that this is not an unfair concept, but there are so many unfair concepts. The path of a survivor, Lauren, as you can very much attest to, is laid with iniquities and unfairness.

[00:34:05] That's the thing is I was going to say, like, I feel like the concept of fairness is not applicable in the survivor reality. I just don't. I think it being fair in the real world, it's like, get over it. It's like what Aubrey and Wardog have both said. It's like, the theme is not on trial. It's like, if you. I just I just think there are things in this game where it's like, yeah, that sucks.

[00:34:34] Get over it. I don't know what to tell you. Like, you're telling me that, like, people are getting there's so much luck in this game. There's so much luck in this game. And I think if we start like nitpicking little things, do I think it's great for people to be working together to get somebody out? No, but it ended up fine, you know, for Tiff. And also looks like you're the biggest threat. You know, I don't know. I feel I lean towards the side of. Sucks for you.

[00:35:02] In a way, like, I don't think there's I don't think there's a way to start almost like gerrymandering what is fair and what's not fair, because there is the line. It's like we keep begging production to stop changing the game in a way that like so drastically impacts the players. When do we where do we draw that line and how do we do it? Well, I think as well, it goes back to what I would imagine is one of the main credos of

[00:35:29] not only survivor production, but a lot of reality TV production in general, which is the rule of cool, which is like, hey, if it makes good TV, we'll let it fly. Like if you institute a rule that's OK, if you're working on a puzzle, it is only you. You cannot talk to anyone next to you. Then like if you get into a pre-merge situation where two tribes are like, hey, let's work together to box out this other tribe, which I think is really interesting television, that's no longer allowed. And so it really is a balancing act of like, OK, you can make this more equitable for everyone

[00:35:58] involved. But it does come at the cost sometimes of, again, what ends up being a really interesting narrative here, which is even outside of this challenge, it was basically everyone against Tiffany. And she was able to put her entire game on her back here and be able to spell her way to success, at least without from what we saw in the edit without even really knowing that it was her on the line. Oh, my God. I love that scene when her and Tiffany are talking or everyone. And her and Sari are talking and Sari is like, I think I'm in danger.

[00:36:28] Tiffany's like, what are you talking about? It's crazy. And she's like, no, girl, it's going to be you. I was like, I thought that was so funny. And it speaks to how good Sari is and how she just had everyone kind of wrapped around her fingers like she knew everything. She's like, yeah, no, girl, I was going to be you. It's going to be you. And she's like, well, that's not me. Crazy. Absolutely crazy. Yeah. This episode is brought to you by Redfin.

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[00:39:47] I do want to ask, because I've been thinking about this, not to, you know, poke a little bit of a scab of yours, but like, I feel like we have been kind of missing out with one very obvious exception on like, fake idols and other shenanigans around them. Like, that's so interesting to me. If you think about it, Lauren, we've had four idols this entire season.

[00:40:14] That is such a long cry from your era of Survivor, which felt like there was an idol hidden under every single rock. Every single rock, literally. And it was like, it had Rick Devin's name on it. And that's so interesting because again, I feel like there has certainly been commentary about how this season has felt, like just tossed asunder each and every week with all of these twists. But it comes at the cost of like, not actually bringing in a lot like what we also had.

[00:40:42] We had an extra vote and we had a vote steal. But there also haven't been like any big other types of advantages that we've seen in seasons past. It's something that we don't necessarily think about when we say, oh, this is a twisty season. That may not be twisty in the ways you expect when you use the label. Right. No, absolutely. I think it is. It is interesting. The lack of idols that have been implemented in a way that I feel like have truly impacted the game.

[00:41:12] Because what Aubrey just plays hers. Yep. And then Ozzy walks out with his. Yep. And Rizzo has his. Rizzo has his. Rick played one. Rick played one. Like you could argue it saved him, but like they knew he was he was going to play it anyway. I know that we had that intrigue. It's like, well, Emily convinced him to do it. But like that they knew he was safe no matter what. That maybe would have saved him around. But that's basically it. From my experience in tribals in which Rick Devins has an idol or doesn't have an idol.

[00:41:43] 99.9% of the time, exactly what happened was planned prior to anything he did at tribal. I know it makes great TV, but from what I've experienced, like every. We were going to do what we were going to do anyway. And whatever he did at tribal. I can think about the Aurora vote specifically for my season. It's like that was already planned. And then, you know, but the thing is, that's why I say he's so good at speaking to the jury.

[00:42:10] And he's such a jury threat because the jury doesn't see what's happening at camp. They only see what's at tribal. And it's why he's such a threat. But yeah, I wonder, because what, what, oh, Ozzy's idol would have been back in play. And I guess Rick's too, right? Yeah. And like Rick was certainly looking for it. So yeah, I do wonder, like, if one got hidden, like, I have to imagine that production wants people to find and play these others. But I feel like, honestly, they knew. Go ahead.

[00:42:37] That they didn't throw a bunch of idols back in the game on the off chance that everybody has an idol and Sari gets idled out. But the thing is that they love that moment. Like Jeff has spoken so much about how much he enjoyed that. It would feel counterintuitive to their entire nature. From our perspective, certainly, yes, you do not want to play with fire. But I just find it so interesting because I even look back, like, across every season that began with the four, essentially. And we kind of have largely operated by this logic.

[00:43:07] I'm trying to think of, like, has there been a season where there has been, like, more than four idols that have ever shown up at any point in time? And again, that seems a far cry from your season and the one that came afterwards that felt like half the cast had an idol at that point. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I'm trying to think. I mean, it was me. It was me, Kelly and Rick that had idols. And obviously, Aubrey at one point. And then you had the half idol situation. Oh, my God. Sorry. How could I forget?

[00:43:38] I'm really just all the scabs right now. Like, who else had an idol? Oh, right. Chris. Yeah. No, you're so right. You're so right. There were there were a lot of idols. And I think another thing was that the idols, because Rick kept playing, never had an alliance and we were just voting him out because, you know, he wasn't he didn't wasn't involved in the strategy of it. It's like he kept playing his idol. So it kept getting back in play.

[00:44:06] And so it kind of felt like, OK, here it goes again. And here it goes again. It was like this almost like hamster wheel of idol and idol. And I think that it's I wrote it down, like in my little notes from the episode of it's really interesting to watch and why I kind of felt like it was a very Rick Devens closeout episode of like what happens when Rick can't find an idol?

[00:44:29] Because I mean, it really did feel so reminiscent of my season of like he didn't have any alliances. He wasn't involved in the strategy. He had been voting incorrectly in these challenges or in these tribal councils. But he kept fighting an idol. And that's the game of survivor. You find an idol. You stay in like good on him. But what happens when he can't? And so it kind of felt like book it like a book into this chapter of like there's no idol for you to find it. Maybe there was an idol and he just didn't find it.

[00:44:57] But I will say I find him to be extremely resilient in that regard. And if there was an idol that could have been found, I feel like he probably would have found it. Yeah, it's a really good point that it kind of feels like he he was going down the Rick Devens decision tree of like, OK, I'm on the bottom. Look for an idol. OK, no. Well, I could win an immunity challenge. I won four. No. All right. Well, I'm screwed. Last time this happened, I got voted out. So everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:45:26] And yeah, exactly. It felt like I think that's what I what I meant at the beginning of this when we started talking of like it felt like a Rick Devens and off like very much. So this has been my game. I am unable to kind of pull a rabbit out of a hat this time. And so I'm going to say goodbye. And I honestly I thought his goodbye was beautiful. I thought it was like he's such good TV. He's such good TV.

[00:45:56] And this is the thing is that, you know, as we'll get into it a little bit with my predictions, you know, maybe I didn't have the the warmest prospects for Rick because every time when I was out there talking with the cast, they kept saying like, oh, my God, he's so cheesy. He's playing things up. Emily's like he he, you know, dramatically pulls out pictures of his family to look when everyone else is around. And when I kept thinking is like, no, that is Rick. Like Rick is a ham and we love it. But like that's also him to his core and leave it to him to like go on to this entire

[00:46:25] chalingua at the end being like when I look up at the stars, I see the ghosts of those that who have left me. I've seen the present of those who are wishing me well of those who don't even know me. The ghost of Christmas yet to come. They're all looking down upon me and smiling. Like, yeah, it's a little hokey, but it's coming from a place of sincerity at the end of the day. You think so? I think so. Like, I think I don't think he is that inauthentic to be like I'm putting on a complete facade.

[00:46:54] I think especially after, you know, you can speak to this certainly as well. Like after 20 something days, I think you're just bodies that like, all right, time to play the part. It's like, no, just please. I need to I need to sleep. I need to eat something for sure. Yeah, I don't know Rick well enough as a person to speak to whether or not his actions are authentic or not. I think he is innately aware of when a camera is on him or when eyes are on him.

[00:47:22] And I think he plays that part better than than most. But, you know, I I thought his send off was beautiful. And like I said, what we see in the edit is reality. So that's the thing is, like, I'm not I'm not saying that he's he's changing the size of the font. I think when a camera is in front of him, I don't think he's changing the font. Yeah, no, no. And I think that's a totally fair assessment.

[00:47:47] I yeah, I don't know him well enough to know whether or not, you know, pulling out pictures of his family are in front of people and is authentic or not. I think that when you have a large but it sounds like the jury loved him, you know, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I truly do not know Rick as a person other than what I experienced on my season. And so I I think I just come. I always go back to he is phenomenal television.

[00:48:14] Well, I want to talk about a moment of phenomenal television that he had because I really want to get your thoughts on this. Mr. B's tribal council, because at the time people were saying this is the greatest. You know, Jeff in the moment was like, this is the most live tribal council I've ever seen. And I said, how's the passengers would like to have a word? That is still my would like to have a word. That is still my favorite live tribal of all time. It took up an entire two thirds of an episode. I mean, it was the longest tribal council ever. Yeah.

[00:48:40] Well, so what do you think in terms of like, do you see any connective tissue between everything that happened that night versus probably a night you prefer to forget. And during that course of the Julia vote, honestly, Julia vote was great for me. I thought it was fabulous. I mean, it was I thought it was great. I think I'm trying to honestly remember because so much of what I experienced there, like, I feel like I kind of forget. And then you watch it back on TV and then that kind of becomes your new reality.

[00:49:07] Unless it was like something that I remember very viscerally. I'm trying to remember how it kind of started from what we were told, I think, was like, it was going to be David. David and Rick were kind of told it was going to be Kelly. And mind you, and just something I'm just going to say off the bat, because I heard someone say something about the like the less you tribe and how we didn't want to work together. Kelly and I wanted to work with David and Rick. The second Rick got back in that game, we wanted to work with them and they told us no. And I just want that on the record.

[00:49:37] I'm on the record. I want someone to roll the tapes. OK, I want someone to roll the tapes of us jumping up. Absolutely elated. So excited. And Rick is like, screw you guys. I'm not working with you. I was going to say, watch that uncut confessional of Kelly saying, oh, my God, for the real evidence. Watch the uncut confessional. And I'm like, heck, yeah, I've been wearing your sweater, babe. Welcome back to the tribe. And he goes, screw you guys. You voted me out. I'm like, yeah, on day 11. You're right. It was so long ago. Nice to see you again.

[00:50:06] But I'm like, we were so excited. And then they were like, screw you. And we're like, well, OK, then yeah, bye. So I just want that on the record. Just, you know, as a little formality. And then we were going to vote him out. But from what I remember that I had already started a relationship with Julie. And then Wardog and Julie had had conversations. I don't remember what the catalyst would have been other than the fact that like. I think Julie freaked out. What started?

[00:50:35] Like what? When we watched the edit back, what started that? I'm trying to remember. I mean, all I remember is her jumping ship and sitting in someone's lap. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, totally. So she's sitting right next to me. And what you don't see in the edit and that I do remember is she's looking at me like freaking out. And we had been talking the whole time because like me and Julie had gotten with. I love Julie. I think she's phenomenal. We were very close. And she's kind of talking to me, blah, blah, blah. And then it all kind of blows up. And she goes, I'm jumping ship. Ah.

[00:51:01] But the thing that I think that people did not credit her for is I don't think Julia was very nice to her. I think that a lot of the people like were not very nice to her. And that's why that started. But I digress. The point is the chaos of that. I don't know that it necessarily relates directly to the Mr. Beast tribal. However, Rick Devins is involved. And so you always know that it's going to be a crazy tribal.

[00:51:30] And someone asked me, were you surprised that Rick, you know, went to flip the coin? I was like, not for a single second. What are you talking about? But that that's like what do you mean? Rick Devins gets to go and be the center of attention. Absolutely. He gets to maybe make it two million dollars. Absolutely. Like, I think what's so fun and draws people in with Rick is that he is always on the bottom. And so he never has anything to lose. And it's an amazing.

[00:51:58] It's such a like almost freeing place to be. And I think that's why we get to see him like do these crazy things, because he doesn't have anything to lose. He doesn't like once Christian, I guess, was voted out. He didn't have any allies. So it's like he can do whatever he wants. And it's such good TV. And I mean, yeah, someone's going to win two million dollars because of him. And I loved like, listen, I loved his exit tidbit thing where he's like, you better take me out to a good dinner. Do you do you think? I mean, it depends if Joe wins. Maybe that's not going to be the case.

[00:52:28] I think honestly, I've I. Oh, yeah. I was like, let's be for. I heard they're good. They're good. And I listen, I love Joe. Joe has been nothing but kind to me. Oh, yeah. And that's kind of my bar when I talk about people. It's like they have been so kind, so sweet to me. And so I cheer for them. Yeah, I know. Yeah. For what it's worth. Yes. Rick has expressed in interviews with me as well as online multiple times, like him and Joe are really good on a personal level.

[00:52:54] It was just, I think, fundamental disagreements as to how to play the game, though. Rick has also established after the fact he's like, God, I did not realize that you dislikes me that much out there. I think that from my read on Joe is like Joe, especially after playing with Eva and like in that kind of, I think, game style, I think Rick is his worst nightmare because the chaos and the unpredictability, he's like, what the hell is going on? Like, what are you doing? This is not how we play. This is not how I play.

[00:53:24] And I think after and he did play so recently, it's like you live in this reality of like, OK, well, this is how Survivor is. And I don't know that there's been like a ton of time for him to be like, oh, wait, there are different not there are different ways in which people are now evolving in the game first. And I think I don't know who said it, but someone said it recently and they said they love season 50 because everybody kind of brings their era of Survivor to this season.

[00:53:53] It's like, how did that era play? And have you been able to adjust? And I think Sari brought it up in a confessional early on, too, of like, you know, I think she has adjusted to the new era very well, obviously. But it has been fun to watch how these people bring their seasons into this season. Yeah, I think for Joe, if I'm trying to put myself in his headspace, I think he'll probably do a much better job explaining it than me next week when he gets the chance to speak for it from his own terms.

[00:54:19] But I feel like for Joe, not only does he end up, you know, finishing second runner up despite the fact that he felt like he had a very good chance going in, but he just watched back his season where he finds out like how much Kyle and Camilla were undermining him. He said that Kyle gave him a wedgie and Camilla pantsed him on national television. And so I think he feels incredibly hesitant to try to put his full trust in somebody.

[00:54:47] And so like he has to commit to a person. And so when you bring in somebody who says like, yeah, I'm going to lie to you, it's Survivor. I think that is, as you mentioned, the worst possible thing you could tell him because like, listen, dude, I already was struggling with people who I didn't think were lying. Now you tell me that you're going to lie to me. I have no idea how to deal with that. Absolutely. And I also think one aspect of exactly what you're saying is that the reunion, they did

[00:55:16] it right after the vote. And I think that that is such a disservice to both the players and the Survivor community in general, because I think so much of what happens at the reunion was because you have had not only time to digest what has happened, but time to watch it back and see what people were actually saying. And I think you're so right in that he lived in this one reality of, OK, wait, Kyle and Camilla, like, I guess we're friends. And then all of a sudden, oh, wait, hold on. I have been completely blindsided.

[00:55:45] And now there's this person who quite literally could do absolutely anything at any time. And I have no idea what's going to happen. It would be his worst nightmare. Yeah. Well, let's continue on the path of talking about Joe's worst nightmare here. Let's stay on the Rick Devins train, shall we? Much like a stage of extinction edit here. Truly an edge of extinction podcast in so many ways. Let's get into our preseason predictions. Now, of course, Liana is in absentia, dearly missed here.

[00:56:13] But she has recorded her preseason predictions for Rick and for Sari. So I do have them. I will play them here. And I will offer my own perspective. I'll start here on Rick just to to make sure that I'm not putting my thumb on the scale compared to Leon. I'll put my guess out first because I did have Rick going out prejury. You did. Yeah. I mean, Dalton Rawls and I did a draft out there like on location when we were interviewing the players.

[00:56:42] And Rick was the last person picked because I cannot tell you, like, how many people were like, don't want anything to do with this guy, both in the way he's presenting himself now and like what he is known for. He's the idol guy. He's the tribal council shenanigans wildcard guy. So I sort of did you hear when he because I know he recently said that, like the whole jury told him that they wanted him to win. I would be really interested to hear from the jury. Yeah.

[00:57:08] Not to be like, because I mean, it would be weird if he said that and they didn't say that. So I believe him. But I would I would love to hear why they said that if their initial. I guess. Perception of him was this specific way. Yeah. I mean, I think it also goes to show and this happened to Rizzo as well with a certain extent of just like you can paint a picture for somebody.

[00:57:35] But like once that 2D image becomes 3D, it's like, OK, I think I maybe might have judged you the wrong way or my preconceived notions. Now, granted, again, a lot of it is gut reactions as well. And some of these play into relationships more than you might think. But in this case, it did seem like Rick was able. I'd also help that he was on a tribe with Emily and Christian who were like two people. I mean, I don't think he could have been on a first tribe that would have been better for him. It was ideal situation. Well, preseason me disagrees.

[00:58:04] Apparently, let's see what I had to write about Rick here. I said, Rick sticks to his preseason promise in the early game, vowing to sit on his hands. But idle hands are the survivor devil's play thing. And soon enough, we got trouble right here in a seal of city. Even when Rick authentically opens himself up emotionally talking about his family, people assume the worst, perceiving him as inauthentic. As the days wait on, the only person actually in his corner is Christian.

[00:58:29] And with Rick becoming more of an outsider, his number of allies turns from one to zero. Facing the vote yet again, Rick finds himself cornered, which is exactly where he wants to be. He'll spend the entire afternoon running around the island three or four times, ultimately coming up short in his idle hunting. Despite not being flushed with idle cash, Rick dials up his other trademark move, tribal council fireworks. As soon as his butt hits the stump, he immediately gets up, pulling out a fake idol and insisting

[00:58:58] they fight among themselves. While this does raise some eyebrows among the Joes and Aussies of the world, Emily Flippen throws a big old bucket of water on the fire he's trying to make, calling his bluff. A frustrated Rick takes one last shot in the dark, literally, but it's for naught as he gets taken off the air early on in the season. His closest ally was Christian and his enemy was Emily.

[00:59:23] I mean, you kind of nailed it other than the whole Emily being his his enemy, but you nailed it. I mean, listen, it might pale in comparison to what Liana is in God. So I will not put the cart before the horse. Let's see what she had to say. OK, here's my prediction for Devons. I had Devons making the jury. I said that Devons forms early connections with Christian, linking up with Ozzy and Sari to form a solid group in the pre-merge and early merge.

[00:59:51] At the merge, Devons thrives in the chaos, helping Christian orchestrate several key blindsides, including the takedowns of Genevieve and Mike White. However, while Christian is viewed as the mastermind, Devons quietly becomes the public face of the operations thanks to his outspokenness at Tribal and constantly hunting for idols. After Christian is finally taken out, Devons suddenly has nowhere to hide, with the remaining players realizing they cannot let him get anywhere near the endgame.

[01:00:20] The most notable Devons shenanigan this season was when he played a fake idol on Tiffany, only to vote her out that night. His ally was Christian and his enemy was the loyal to the soil alliance. All right. Thank you, Liana. Coming to you live, I guess, from like a waterfall considering all that background noise. You guys, I mean, you both kind of nailed it. I was going to say, Liana, not to promote my competition too much, feels inherently against the spirit of it all.

[01:00:49] But like she does now that he made the jury, does nail that Christian gets taken out and he runs out of options shortly after that. So I will take it back to myself. I did say that he would play a shot in the dark. You did. And you also really nailed the whole tribal council and playing a fake idol and all that. And I do wonder how much the big idol actually shifted that tribal council. But yeah, I mean, Rick, it's good.

[01:01:16] It's tough because Rick will what he told me was basically like, I feel like I was in danger. They'll tell you that I wasn't. But like, I don't take what they say for fact, considering it could all be a lot of revisionist history. Okay, Rick. What do you mean? Like, I'm not. Sorry. Yeah. Okay. You're going to say that I. Right. Like, that's the whole point is you felt a certain way, but everybody else is telling you they weren't going to vote for you.

[01:01:47] So whatever. But that's kind of my point is I wonder because that was my experience with him is like he would go into tribal and he would do all these shenanigans and it really never shifted anything that had already happened. But it makes great TV. Yeah. All right. So you are the judge during here, Lauren. You get to figure out who had the more accurate prediction on your boy, Rick Evans. Oh, no. Oh, my God. We did not make this easy. Okay.

[01:02:16] So it is easier because she's not here. And if she was here, it'd be a lot harder because it was so good. And she did say make the jury. But I'm going to go with you because you're here. Oh, listen, I'm happy that my attendance, my perfect attendance record is finally. It's half the battle. Half the battle. No, I do think I think. Yeah, you just I think you nailed like the main plot, regardless of if it's like before or after jury. It's like everything's like Christian and then he has no allies and he's going to spend the afternoon. You just yeah, you know that.

[01:02:46] So I'm sorry. No, it's listen. And it is mandatory. Now you realize that Liana. All right. Well, let's go back beneath the falls to hear Liana's take on a Sari Liana and avowed Sari fan. So I'm very intrigued to see if she picks Sari to win if she was really trying to manifest this finally happening or if she forecast to get another tragic fall or one of the most iconic players in Survivor history. OK, that's Devins.

[01:03:15] Now, let me scroll to Sari. Sari. Hmm. I had Sari as the winner. Sari enters season 50 with the impossible task of being Sari Fields on Survivor for the fifth. And then in parentheses, I wrote sixth time and somehow still convinces people to not vote her out immediately. Early on, Sari settles into the center of the Sela tribe, building strong relationships with Ozzy, Christian and Devins while subtly influencing the direction of the game.

[01:03:44] Unlike players such as Christian and Genevieve, Sari never overextends herself, always flashing her charming smile while ensuring there is someone louder, scarier or more obviously threatening sitting in front of her. By the finale, Sari's social game is so undeniable. She somehow convinces Joe of all people to take her to the final three, appealing to his loyalty and desire to either beat or lose to the best. At final tribal, Sari finally gets the ending Survivor fans have begged for.

[01:04:14] For nearly two decades, winning season 50 in a near unanimous vote and cementing herself as the greatest player to ever play. Her ally was everyone and her enemy was no one because she's amazing. And please just let me have this. It's what I it's what I wanted. Anyway, have fun with the rest of the BNBK. Bye. Oh, my God. I don't know if that was a message to you, Lord, and their survivor community of let me have this. I think it's to everyone. I know. I think it's to everyone.

[01:04:41] Um, yeah, that was I think it was it's a good it's a good it's a good it's a good read. I'm excited to hear yours. All right. Well, I was not terribly far behind. I did have Sari making the finale, but buckle up. Let's get a crack into what this is. Despite establishing herself as the weak link of her tribe in the early challenges, you wouldn't know it looking at the other 22 hours of the day. Astoundingly, yet again, she'll be close to the center of all the action seen as the

[01:05:11] mover, shaker and ultimate decision maker of her tribe. What certainly helps Sari's position is she almost immediately links up with Ozzy, making Micronesia a microscopic part of their relationship. As Ozzy will even excitedly say in a confessional, I'm ready to be a black widow. Jungleman isn't the only tree she's barking up. However, indeed, at the swap, Sari is able to reconnect with Aubrey, picking right back up from where they left off in Game Changers.

[01:05:38] And with all her biggest preseason ops taken care of in the premerge, she's able to get in good with an alarming amount of people. Sari gets gifted a golden opportunity when Tiffany lends her a steal a vote to hold on to, fearing a knowledge's power. After checking the legalese off camera, she finally succeeds in her decade-long mission to use someone's own advantage against him, with many at the time calling it her most impressive move to date.

[01:06:06] We'll get a full circle moment during the surprise loved ones visit this season. Talk about manifestation. Wish that happened. As HB comes out once more. Grateful to not be put to work at camp this time, he instead vocalized to Jeff how much the show has changed his family forever. After Aubrey is taken out in a chaotic vote at the final six, Sari now finds herself in the same position her bespectacled ally was the last time they played.

[01:06:32] Seen as outnumbered and a presence that looms too large to let near the end, even to fire making, Sari gets voted out unanimously by a majority for the first time. Her final tribal council is all about celebrating her impact on Survivor and vice versa. Her torch snuff earns a standing ovation from the players, the jury, and even the crew. Eat your heart out, Kan.

[01:06:57] Knowing this is truly Sari's last time around the Survivor Sun, the show just so happens to introduce a postseason fan favorite award in the vein of America's tribal council. You knew they wouldn't leave the season without putting one last thing in the hands of the fans. Her ally was America, assumingly not America Lopez, and her enemy was her legacy, but more corporeally speaking, Rizzo. Interest?

[01:07:26] I mean, I feel bad not picking Lana on this next one. I mean, Rizzo was her downfall there. I think, well, not really, but kind of. He was maybe like the nail in the coffin. I don't think he would have forced the 3-3 tie to keep her in the game. I don't think so. I don't think he can, but I... Yeah. Wait, did... He still had his idol. He still had his idol. That's true. So, I mean, he could have played his idol if he wanted. I mean, I wouldn't...

[01:07:56] Like, that's the thing. I actually think Rizzo played the Aussie vote and the Ceri vote well. I mean, I think that you can't, like... His strategy behind making sure that he was the number one to Ceri after Aussie, I thought was smart. And then, you know, you can't sit by Ceri. But I digress. The point is... Oh... I mean, it has to go to you, too. Oh, no! Well, Jake, listen. Default. The two best words of the English language. No, I wasn't... The Ceri one was not default.

[01:08:26] And honestly, the Devons wasn't defaulting there. It just made it easier to pick yours. Well, thank you very much. But, Liana, right on the money, as per usual. I'm so sad that your winner pick went out. But you did a lot better than my winner pick of Coach. So, she wins that battle. Coach was your winner pick? Coach was my winner pick. Yeah, again, he was one of those people that... What Jonathan was able to do, Coach Kadan, I'm like, wow, he really has changed. He's not going to sit in a hammock making up haikus and singing his own theme song. He's not going to give nicknames to others.

[01:08:55] I think he's really got it this time. I think he's got it this time, yes. I just saw a clip of Tyson, who is genuinely one of my favorite people to watch on Survivor ever. Like, ever. I'm like, you kind of terrified me. I think you would be mean to me in person, but I don't care. You're so funny. And it's him just, like, telling Coach, like, stop doing this. They make fun of you. Don't tell... I'm like, God, bring back Tyson. I love Tyson. But yeah, love Coach. Aubrey was my winner pick, so we'll see what happens. There we go.

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[01:12:43] With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer. What are you anticipating from next week's finale? Are you excited to see the reunion back? I mean, you were one of the last live reunions that was done. Yeah, literally. I say to this day that finale week was one of the most fun weeks of my life. Like we had such a good time. It was so fun. The reunion was so fun.

[01:13:12] And I'm so excited for them to have a live finale. I think it's really, really important for this group of people for it to be a live finale. And for them to have this amount of time to kind of digest the season. And to come to terms with it. And to watch it back. Yeah, I don't think this... I think it's such a... It's also a fan service too. Like I love a live finale. One of my absolute favorite things in the entire world growing up. And I think about it to this day is the Micronesia finale. Of where you see Parvati and Amanda. And they're sitting there at the final tribal.

[01:13:42] And then all of a sudden it cuts to them. Like looking hot and gorgeous in LA. And you're like, ah, love you guys. Love you so much. That's the thing. If anything, if you just want to see the looks that'll be turned. To watch everyone get glammed up. Instead of having to sit in their like island rags in the African. After everything is just... Like there's just no way to even process that. Yeah, no. Though I will say the worst happy medium was... I don't know if you remember this. But in, I think it might have been Africa. They were trying to create this like seamless, like a single shot.

[01:14:11] You know, to make it look like they're still in Africa. So they had poor Ethan and Kim Johnson still dressed up. Like they were on day 39 in Africa. But it's months later. And one of them is about to win a million dollars. Totally crazy. Crazy. But I kind of like, like I love that. I like watching Jeff like walk through like the jungle. And then it comes out and everyone's like, ah! Like that's like, that's OG survivor to me. So I'm excited for a live finale. I'm excited. I'm going to be down there to cheer on my people. But what do I think is going to happen?

[01:14:42] Yes. I think Tiff is the next to go, unfortunately. Unless she wins immunity. Just because I think it's so clear that Rizzo and Jonathan and Joe are in an alliance that we like haven't seen very much of. Because I think that Rizzo thinks he can beat them. And I don't know really what the dynamic is. But I do think that they're going to vote out Tiff. I think honestly, Aubrey's best play is to vote out Tiff too. I think that she can't sit next to Tiff at the end. No.

[01:15:12] And that's the only opportunity she has to vote for Tiffany. Assuming that there's final four fire making. Which again, is still up in the air. We don't know yet. Yeah. I will say, I kind of hope that Aubrey wins fire. I think. You don't want her to know. So if there's fire making, you don't want her to win immunity? You want her to win fire? Oh my God. This is such a point of contention. I literally hate the conversation around, do you keep your necklace? And I have a point about this.

[01:15:39] And because I think my season was the season that changed the trajectory of that. I was going to say, Chris Underwood is the one that you have to thank for the entire district around this. For the larger survivor community, yes. However, it is War Dog that came up with the idea. I'm going to credit him for that. And I will even back it up further. And it is Ghost Island. That is the catalyst. Right. Dom. Yeah.

[01:16:04] Because my season was sitting in Ponderosa and we watched the finale of Ghost Island. Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know that you got the chance to see the finale of it. Before we were marooned, we watched the finale of Ghost Island. I'm telling you, had we not watched the finale of Ghost Island, I do not think that that would have been a conversation that War Dog had with Chris. I stand by it. And I think I'm pretty sure that War Dog and I have talked about it and said, I mean, yeah, it was like top of mind because it was this kind of like, oh, does Dom get like,

[01:16:33] like, what do they do? You know, does Dom move up? Does he go to Wendell? So it was just like a top of mind conversation because it was literally the last thing that we watched before we were marooned the next morning. And so then Chris, you know, whatever my take is that I do not think juries value immunity challenges. I don't think they care. I think you could never win a single immunity challenge and you would still win the game. I think you could win every single immunity challenge and they could not care less.

[01:17:00] And so I think that unfortunately, because they don't see the final four or the final five final four immunity challenge, they only see the fire making. The fire making has become the final four immunity challenge. And I think the only way to fix that is for the final four immunity challenge to be in front of the jury. Yeah. Because the whole point is that you have one safety.

[01:17:28] Then you get into the conversation of, okay, well, if your game has, you know, if your game has been so good, you don't need it. You don't need to win fire. It's like, right. But because there's been a precedent set, because this is a conversation every single year of, oh, I can win. I can give it up and I can go into fire. It's like, it's top of mind for the jury. And it's the last thing they see. It's the last thing they see before the final final tribal.

[01:17:56] It is such a big deal. And it drives me insane in a way. I don't even explain because it started off. It's not really talking about why it started off, but it started off as this way to like to save yourself. And so the idea was like, hey, I will. Obviously, this isn't it. They're probably a big threat, blah, blah, blah. But the idea is like, okay, so I didn't make it to final tribal or I haven't made it to final tribal. I haven't had a good enough alliance. I didn't win the muni challenge. Like this is my last chance.

[01:18:26] Like I'm so desperate that this is the last chance I have to make it to final tribal. And now it's shifted into this power play of I'm so good. I can win fire. And do I think that everyone should know how to make fire? Absolutely. Right. But it's just this like ongoing conversation that drives me mad. It drives me mad because I'm like, there is no winning. There's no winning because I think that people will be like, well, Aubrey has to give up her necklace. Like she just won a challenge. I'm not saying she wins. I have no idea. But let's say that she did.

[01:18:55] So, yeah, I think that there's going to be conversation of, oh, you should have to give up your idol and go to fire. Maybe. Maybe. I think a lot of where that argument comes from, though, is dependent on the situation where there is like one very clear front runner in the final four. That's again what Chris did. That's what you know, it wasn't Cassidy putting herself into fire, but it was like whoever defeats Jesse and fire making 43 wins.

[01:19:20] And to perhaps your earlier point about the perception of this final five, I don't necessarily know if right now, at least from our perspective, let on the juries, if there is that person, if there is that one dragon. And so I know. Yes. I don't argue. If there is a issue, then how do you differentiate yourself? Yeah. That might be the only way to differentiate yourself because it's like, yeah, because it's I guess my if you're saying like they're all kind of on even playing ground, the fire making challenge is the last thing they see. It's very true.

[01:19:50] But I guess if you're also thinking about like, OK, let's put yourself in this situation where Aubrey does win final four immunity. And again, if the narrative she's going to be putting forward here is I was the underdog. I had my back against the wall. I clawed myself in every time. I don't know if her being like I was safe and then I put myself with a literal line of fire and one wouldn't necessarily jive with that narrative more so than just, yeah, I won the immunity challenge. I protected myself. Totally. I mean, I wouldn't I say this all the time. I would never give up my necklace. I'm not doing that.

[01:20:18] I don't know when when on my season, the wind was so crazy. They had to go up to the voting voting circle or whatever. Like we didn't even see it. We didn't see it. We heard it. And so that must be wild, by the way, like sitting 10 feet away and just hearing Jeff's commentary being like we had no idea what was happening. Must be very interesting. Yeah, we were like they were up in kind of I don't even know what the turret. I don't know. I think you said you use that term, Lauren, or in a survivor pocket. I'm like, I don't know. But it's like up in like a little voting.

[01:20:48] Yeah, voting booth, I guess. And so we never saw it. So it's like so much can happen. So much can happen. And my argument is I already won. I already won the challenge. I already won the challenge. This is just another step. I'm not doing it. I won. And it's frustrating that it's become a conversation. But so if I I think if Aubrey wins, I don't think she gives up the necklace. I don't. I think that she is intelligent and eloquent enough in her arguments that I don't think that she's going to feel like she needs to.

[01:21:18] Yeah. Yeah. Well, as we stay on the subject of the finale, what's to come in mere days, Lauren? I have a game for you right now. Now, as you said, we've had a bevy of survivor finales in the past live or not. In fact, we've had 49 of them. But we've also had a huge pantheon, many, many more seasons of fantastic series finales of acclaimed TV shows. This game is called What's in a Name?

[01:21:48] And how this is going to work is that I'm going to give you two names of episodes. One is the episode name of a survivor finale. The other is the name of an episode of an iconic TV series finale. Oh, my God. This is my worst nightmare. OK, I'm ready. So to make this a little better, I have sort of stripped out any of the either more generic titles or ones that would give it away.

[01:22:17] For instance, Lauren, I don't know if you remember the title of the finale for your season at all. Sure don't. Yeah. No. My guess would be you haven't seen him since episode three, but he's back. I mean, that would be a fantastic spoiler, but unfortunately, not the case. It is. I see the million dollars, which is sort of along the lines of, again, these types of titles that I discounted anything that said the final four, anything about a million dollars. I didn't want to make it. You took out all the easy ones. Nice. Great.

[01:22:46] The layups are not necessarily a pleasure right now. You really got to shoot from the from the crease here. So, again, I'm going to read you two names. I've got quite a few of these for you. One of them. We'll have you pick the survivor episode. I will make it easy. So one of them survivor title. Again, the other is a title of a series finale of a TV show. OK, here we go. Yeah. Slip through your fingers or everyone's waiting.

[01:23:17] Slip through your fingers. That is correct. You are right off the ball. Did you remember it or did you just feel like? No, but I'm assuming that it's a final four challenge where you're like it's either the balls are falling or you have like a rope. Yeah. I mean, you're not necessarily correct on the object, but you are on the accuracy of it. This is the finale of Survivor Thailand, where the final three immunity challenge might be the most painful challenge in Survivor history, where they had to stand in a squatting position, holding coins in their fingers. No.

[01:23:44] I mean, it was very symbolic of, I guess, the entire viewing experience of Thailand in terms of how torturous it was. But yes, that is correct. In fact, everyone's waiting is the series finale of Six Feet Under. Actually, I've never seen that show. You should very much recommend it. All right. Next one is the last one or thunderstorms and sacrifice. My God, when I think thunderstorms and sacrifice, I think of like it was probably like something

[01:24:14] with coach like South Pacific or something. I could have been to a jeans. You know, I'm going to go thunderstorms and sacrifice. That is correct. Yes, but you're a little off the mark when it comes to the person involved. This is the Guatemala finale. Oh, listen. Yeah, that was wild though. Yeah, that was a lot of time. It's a sacrifice involved because again, more chicken drama, Lauren, if you remember. No, but as a rule, stay away from chickens on Survivor. Like I, it's the, it's never goes well.

[01:24:42] Certainly in this case, because the Maya people were so gracious to come in and like perform a ceremony where they sacrifice a chicken and then everyone was so starving. That they ate the sacrificial chicken. There may be a couple of reasons why Survivor doesn't go to various locations anymore. So listen, OG Survivor was something else, man. It's a precursor to like Logan Paul going to Japan was, uh, was the Guatemala folks eating the sacrificial chicken. Survivor started it all. That's hilarious. All right.

[01:25:13] Next up. Oh, and by the way, the last one is the, uh, finale of Friends. Oh, oh. The last one. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, next up. No good deed goes unpunished or one for the road. No good. I wish I could sing. I was going to say. I wish I could sing. I'm like so toned up. I should add a third category of wicked songs. Oh my God. Now you're speaking my language. Like, do you want them in chronological order? Do you want them in length?

[01:25:43] Do you want them in like difficulty to sing? Like what do you want? Um, do you want them in best choreography? Okay. Let me think. No good deed goes unpunished. And then what was the second one? One for the road. One for the yellow brick road, perhaps. I mean, I, I'm hesitant to say, uh, no good deed goes unpunished, but I'm going to go with one for the road. That is incorrect. Uh, one for the road is the series finale of Cheers, but no cheers. We're emerging from your answer. What was the no good deed?

[01:26:12] That no good deed goes unpunished is the season finale of Survivor Game Changers. Oh, that's a good, that's a good title. Yeah. That's why I tried to go again for the more like generic ones. No, that's a good one. Yeah. I don't even know. I've now I'm sort of thinking back to like, who said that? And why did they say it? Totally. Was it coach that said he has like the most episode titles of anyone? I would. That's something that I would not like put him to a lie detector test to tell. Like I would not be completely surprised by that whatsoever. I know. I'm like, I believe you.

[01:26:42] All right. Next up, we've got Mama. Look at me now or with open eyes. I'm going to go Mama. Look at me now. That is correct. Maybe it's that top of mind for you because Mama. Look at me now is the season finale of the season that came right after yours. Island of the idols. It is a detective Dean quote. And with open eyes is the finale of succession.

[01:27:11] Another season that dealt with perhaps less than savory individuals. That's so funny that you just put those together. Oh, my God. You're so right. It's hilarious. Yeah. Succession is great show. Very good show. All right. Next up. Whenever you're ready. Or what about me? Like whenever you're ready sounds like a Jeff quote to me.

[01:27:40] And I keep thinking of like Colby being like, let's go. And Jeff being like, I'm ready, buddy. Bring back mean Jeff. And then what was the second one? It is. What about me? OK, I think I have to go with what about me? That is correct. What about me? I was asking like, because I'm the right answer. That's why you should pick me. What about me is the season finale of Survivor Nicaragua.

[01:28:05] And whenever you're ready, while not a Jeff Probst quote, I believe is a quote from Ted Danson's character in The Good Place. Oh, yeah. That's good. Yeah. Two Ted Danson shows back to back or no. Two out of three. All right. Next up here. I promise no more Ted Danson shows. Oh, no. I'm not. All right. Into that good night or a slippery little sucker. A slippery little sucker. That is correct. You are. Did you remember this title?

[01:28:33] No, but like I, I, I can. I don't know what it's from, but I can. I remember it being said. And I feel like into that good night. For some reason, I, I remember the show. I don't. What show is that from? That's from Roseanne. I don't know if you're a big Roseanne fan. Oh, no, I'm not. No, I mean, that's definitely nowadays. But yeah, no, no. But no, that was the infamous serious finale where it's like, oh, John Goodman's character was actually dead the whole time and they never won the lottery. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:29:03] What was the survivor? A slippery little sucker was the season finale of Survivor China. Okay. Such a good season. No. So good. I love Survivor China. Join the throng. Yes, I could not agree more. That's a little bit of a slippery little sucker when it comes to bringing back return needs from that season, though, unfortunately. Yeah. Did you see us, Sari, being so ecstatic with the idea of Amanda Kimmel coming onto the season, even though it did not end up happening?

[01:29:31] I didn't see her, what she said, but I'm like, yeah, I mean, everyone wants to see Amanda Kimmel back for sure. She's like, she's Amanda Kimmel. Yeah. To be fair, Amanda did, was the person that prevented Sari from actually making it to the finale of to the finals for her entire Survivor career. Totally. Totally. What was Sari's reaction to it? She was ecstatic. She's like, oh, my God. Yes, absolutely. I would love Amanda. She said that there would be a new Black Widow Brigade with her, Amanda and Tiffany. Oh, love, love. Yeah.

[01:30:01] All right. Next up. Nice While It Lasted versus Perception Is Not Always Reality. Perception Is Not Always Reality. That is correct. That is the season finale of Survivor One World. Yeah. That tracks. That tracks. Yeah. It feels like, I mean, when you quoted it before, I'm like, should I strike this question? Like, it feels like a very Survivor. It's such a, yeah, it's such a Survivor statement. I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent.

[01:30:28] Well, Nice While It Lasted is the season, series finale, I should say, of Bojack Horseman. They lived in one world, but it was full of talking animals. All right. Next up here. Not Fade Away or With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility. Oh, my God. I think I'm going to go with Great Power Comes Great Responsibility. You got trapped in my web, fittingly. No, I know it's not.

[01:30:57] It's so, it's a Spider-Man quote, but I'm like, I was like, that sounds like something that like someone would say on Survivor, but then I'm like, you're so right. They probably couldn't use it. Oh, wait. You said that was a Survivor title? That's correct. Yeah. It is? Oh, okay. I pulled the reverse on you there. Yes, that is correct. Makes sense because we do have quite the nerd-filled cast lovingly so of Survivor David versus Goliath, which is the finale of that season.

[01:31:24] 100% that's exactly who I kind of, who said that, I wonder. It's got to be Davey, no? Oh, maybe, yeah. I feel like he's probably in his wheelhouse. Yeah, 100%, yeah. I could see. That could be a Mike White thing. Yeah. Maybe. Not Fade Away is the series finale of Angel. Oh, I've never seen that. God, all these shows I've never seen. Now I'm recommending. Yeah, I know, because I'm. Backwards recommendations to you of like, hey, here's the title of the series finale. You should probably check it out.

[01:31:54] No, I love it. I love, I need new TV shows anyway. All right. Next up, Snap Some Necks and Cash Some Checks or The Promise. That's hilarious. That's it. I mean, yeah, we'll go with that. Snap Some Necks and Cash Some Checks. You got to go with the more entertaining option, and it is the correct one. Yeah. I'm killing this.

[01:32:22] You are doing so well here. Season finale of Survivor 43. Oh. Who was this? That was the gay blur. We just were speaking about Jesse going out on fire. Yeah. Okay. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yeah. It's interesting. I feel like maybe that should low key be the new Survivor motto if they ever move on from out without play. Alas, Snap Some Necks, Cash Some Checks. Perfect. On the back of a t-shirt all day. And The Promise is the series finale of the show Justified. You were very justified not to pick it.

[01:32:52] All right. Just a few left here, but listen, you are on a- Only this one right now. Knock on wood. All right. Well, let's see if we can break the streak right now. We've got Person to Person or I Trust You, But I Trust Me More. That one. I Trust You, But I Trust Me More. Yeah. You keep on roll here. That is correct. That is the season finale of Token Chains. Surprisingly, I think that's a JT quote, maybe. That sounds like a JT quote. Yeah, I can see that.

[01:33:20] Or Stephen Fishback. Well, Stephen Fishback was a madman at the end of that final Tribal Council. And the other option was the series finale of Mad Men. Yeah. Oh, good. Good show. Good show. Very good show. All right. Lie, cheat, and steal. Or goodbye, farewell, and amen. Lie, cheat, and steal. That is correct. Correct.

[01:33:48] Season finale of Survivor Second Chance versus the season finale of MASH, the most watched episode of television ever. Survivor Borneo finale got close, but not nearly as close as the MASH finale. All right. Well, Survivor Second Chance, love, love, love, love, love. If I had gotten that one wrong, I would have been embarrassed. All right. Last. Oh, listen, you have crushed this game, but. I'm like shocked. I'm as shocked as you are. I'm going to get my lottery ticket. We'll finish on a high note here. Hopefully. I hope so.

[01:34:17] Reverse the Curse or Made in America. Oh, dear God. We're waiting on this one? Okay. Well, I'm going to go reverse the curse. There's a reason why I ended on it because it contains the episode title of the season finale of Survivor 50, which is reverse the curse. That is correct. This one is not cursed for you, Lauren. Oh, my God. Made in America would be a crazy survivor. Like. I mean, technically, it's true.

[01:34:46] I guess it's technically made in Fiji now. No, totally. But I'm thinking like they always use the title of something that someone has said in the episode. And I'm like, what? Who's going to be like made in America? That feels like a Joe Hunter quote, though. Yeah. Totally. But like in what context? And like, why? You know what I mean? Like, okay. We're in Fiji, though. We're in Fiji. Exactly. Well, congratulations. My God. Am I the best that's ever done? Do you do this? Have you done this game before? This is the first time I've done this game. Okay. Well, you can do this game so you can tell people how good I am at it.

[01:35:15] I'm going to call this the Lauren O'Connell Presents. What's in a Name? Do. You need your own Mr. Beast Super Beware Advantage, Billie Eilish Boomerang, Idle. You need to put your name behind a B&B game. I have not offered this genuinely to any other guests this season. I'd be happy to extend the offer and have you be the first. I would love nothing more. Please do. All right. Officially branded. Write some Sharpie on my screen. We'll make do. But thank you. I guess we really actually can only do this a couple times because there's only 49 options. 50 options. I know.

[01:35:45] Eventually it'll have to be a million dollars versus the end. What is it? You can start doing first episodes. We'll figure it out. Premieres would actually be a very good idea. Oh my God. Listen, you're just taking this game idea and running with it. I'm excited. Well, it's my game. It's your game now. You take full ownership of it. Listen. I'm down. Well, as we talk about all good things coming to an end, unfortunately, this must as well. But of course, we've got to close out the podcast every week we do on the B&B,

[01:36:11] which is to give our guests an opportunity to highlight a charity or cause that is important to them. So Laura, I will keep the spotlight shined on you. What would you like to highlight for the listeners out there? I would love to highlight the Buying Time Fund. It's actually a foundation that one of my very best friend's family started when her dad's brother passed away from cancer. And it's an incredible foundation that helps really bring doctors around the world that

[01:36:38] have, you know, game changing treatments to people that are going through cancer treatment. And it's really the way like if your family is struggling to find a doctor or is going through something like that, then this foundation helps connect you with doctors and treatments and just, you know, support while your family member, you are going through that. So it's a fantastic, fantastic cause. And the Butler family is so, so close to me. So I love them. And yeah, it's called Buying Time. Well, beautifully said.

[01:37:06] Well, this was such an incredible time. Lauren, thank you. Thank you. This is so fun. Yeah. I mean, you offer so many wonderful perspectives to look at not only this episode, but everything that is to come in just a matter of a few days when we'll see who might be able to reverse said curse. But this is truly a blessing to be able to have you on. Reverse the curse is the title. Oh, Aubrey's winning. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Aubrey's winning. I just want everybody to know that I've always said that and I am not spoiled.

[01:37:36] I do not know what happens. I have not known anything all season. I've said this from the beginning. And to be honest with you, I was going to wear my team Aubrey tank top, but I flew in to California today and I forgot to pack it and I'm actually crushed. I might make a new one before Wednesday. Get that Sharpie out. You can buy my Sharpie. I honestly will. I will. I will. Before. Yeah, I'm going to need to. But I'm telling you, reverse the curse. Aubrey's winning. Oh, or could they just accidentally re-air the finale of Ghost Island? And that's the actual ending of the season. And we're done. No, Kelly. Who else is? I guess Joe might.

[01:38:06] Whatever. I mean, like, yeah, technically, you know, Rizzo and Jonathan both went out in fire. Joe made it to the end, but didn't win. There's some curses still left. All right. Fine. Whatever. If you want to take it that way. Well, regardless of what curse is affiliated with next episode, this was an absolute blessing. Lauren, I had such a great time getting to chat with you. Anything else you want to bring up about this season? Anything you'd like to plug for listeners out there as to where people can check you out? Yeah. I mean, you can find me on Instagram.

[01:38:34] I always hate this question because my Instagram is, like, spelled incorrectly, but it's Lauren with two A's dot Alexandra and TikTok. We'll be getting back on my TikTok game, Lolly Alexandra. But no, I'm just so excited. This has been, it's been so fun watching. I think just, like, the greater Survivor community come out and, like, the marketing around Survivor and, like, meeting people that, like, love Survivor so much because Survivor is so special to me. And I feel like this has just been so fun to watch the people that I grew up watching and,

[01:39:02] like, fell in love with get to play and get to know them. And I don't know. I just, I love Survivor so much. It's given me so much in my life. And I've only played once. And, you know, it's like, it's so far. It's just that, oh, but it's the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I'm just, I love getting to do stuff like this and talk to people that love it as much as I do. Yeah. I mean, that is so wonderfully expressed. And I think that this episode, while incredibly devastating as, again, to lose such two massive spirits and not only this season, but the Survivor franchise as a whole, like, again,

[01:39:31] the way they were personified in this episode, they really call back to this aspect from the very beginning of the season, which is like a celebration of what Survivor is to see these people not only have their lives changed by the show, but able to also change the show subsequently and express, despite, again, not necessarily being blindsided, just like how much this experience meant to them. It was a very, to go back to the, one of the very first things that you said in this entire podcast, a very human episode. It was, it was, yeah, you just, you can't help but just feel how much Rick loves Survivor.

[01:40:01] And it's contagious. It's like so beautiful to watch. It makes you want to root for him. And Sari, it's like, she's on the Mount Rushmore of Survivor. And to see her have the wherewithal to have just been voted out and just be able to articulate how much Survivor means to her. It's why she's one of the greats and always will be. So it was, it was a really fun episode to get to talk to talk about. Thank you so much for inviting me. Oh my God. Of course, the pleasure was all mine, but we've got one more, hopefully very fun episode coming up. And it's a big one.

[01:40:29] The three hour finale of Survivor 50. Apparently things are going to be done a little differently. It sounds like Jeff is on the record saying that might be a little bit of like a finale reunion mixed together where they might do some segments in the middle of the episode. So things might be looking a little unusual, perhaps over the course of a Wednesday night, but still it's going to be incredibly exciting. As you mentioned, it's been a while since we've been back in this live environment.

[01:40:55] There's nothing that really beats like having a big crowd there to react to the finale. As you mentioned, also having all the players together glammed up to the nines, getting to watch the experience, getting to talk about it. It's going to be certainly an unforgettable night and I cannot wait to break it all down. But Lauren, thank you so much for making this an unforgettable podcast for walking away with a whole ass game. Listen, came conquered. I feel great about it. Exactly. You won the game. In my opinion, Survivor is a game.

[01:41:23] This was the game to win and you got it. Exactly. It's named after me. That's all I could ever ask for. Well, listen, we've got one more trip here on the BNB, but if you have any suggestions, we have one more game to play. Feel free to email it. RHAPBNB at gmail.com or feel free to reach out to us using the hashtag RHAPBNB on social media. Also, do not malign yourself for your Instagram handle. My very first screen name was Bloomingdale's Yo. And I spelled it B-L-U-M. I misspelled my own name.

[01:41:51] There are five letters in my last name, Lauren. Two of them are the same. I misspelled 25% of my own last name in my very first screen name. That's not wrong. If anyone, I mean, that's amazing. You win. But if anyone knows how to change your Instagram name and don't, nobody come for me and be like, you just go to, no, they won't let me. You guys, I've tried all things. I'm like, you guys, I would like to change my Instagram name. Like I would like for the first two letters to not be the same. Like at least put the A at the end, like whatever. And no one will let me change it. So it is.

[01:42:20] Well, let's, let's, let's communicate this up the ladder folks. Okay. Let's get meta on the horn. Don't they know who they're talking to? Let's make sure if we can fix this. Let's reverse the curse. Reverse the curse. Of Lauren's curse handle. I'm now a B&B game owner named after like who they think they are. All right. Well, thank you all as always so much for listening. And special thanks again to everyone behind the scenes at RJP for packaging this podcast

[01:42:44] for your eyes and your ears and Wolf of America for his fantastic theme song, which maybe even is able to trump the fantastic unusual music that sent Sari off. It will be sending you all off into this good night. But Lauren, thank you again so much for such a sublime podcast. Liana and I will be back next weekend covering the finale and reunion of Survivor 50. Until then, everybody, we'll check you out at your next day.

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