Survivor 50 B&B Ep 9 Recap w/ Pooya

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

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[00:01:43] Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening. Hi, everybody. And welcome to the RHAP: We Know Reality TV for week nine of Survivor 50. My name is Mike Bloom and I've been saying nine to everything that went down in this episode.

[00:02:07] No, Christian, our boy, his game wound up as soiled as his trousers were mere days ago. Who would have thought that would not be the lowest bar that man would hit as that puzzle hit rock bottom at the ocean floor. And unfortunately, so did he. He fell on his sword, if you will. And so we are here to break down everything that happened in this big episode. Of course, I am joined by Liana Boris.

[00:02:36] Liana, do you see the man in the moon or the rabbit eating soup when you look at the sky? Oh, my gosh. Um, I I'm still stuck on the fact that Christian shit himself on TV and I forgot about that. Like this is maybe the best thing that could have happened to Christian, given his situation previously. Uh, but I'm excited to get into into all of it as we talk through, uh, a twist. We definitely saw a twist.

[00:03:05] All right. Well, let me try to introduce our guest today in the style of our reigning celebrity, uh, expert on Survivor episodes past. Uh, you might know him from, uh, traders coverage and 90 day fiance coverage. And of course, uh, I know him covering Australian survivor redemption. Give it up for Pooya. Happy to be here, Mike. You better not fake laugh at anything I say today. Okay. I want authentic laughter like that. I want that. Tussle your beanie. Yeah.

[00:03:35] Well, thank you for having me excited to be here. Sad episode to be here for, but happy to be here with you two all the same. Absolutely. We're happy to have you as well. And listen, even if it is an episode that ends on a downer note, we are here to wallow together, but I want to hear from you Pooja about how much wallowing have you been doing over the course of Survivor 50? If people have not been checking out the pal, which like, what are you doing with your lives? Are you anchored to the bottom of the ocean? Like a wayward jigsaw puzzle? Check it out. It is a weekly fixture here on RHAP.

[00:04:04] But I know that you have been offering some of your thoughts vis-a-vis that podcast over the course of the season. But what have sort of been your cumulative thoughts? And has this week moved the needle one way or the other? I have feelings this season. Not that I don't always have feelings generally, but this season, I feel challenged by my love of the show. And I'll explain that a little further in that I've always been of the mind of any season of Survivor is good. It's fun. No matter what.

[00:04:33] This season has been extraordinary. I think one thing that immediately stood out to me within the first opening minutes of episode one was, yeah, we've needed a returning season for a while. And this is immediately proven that we need to go back to this well more with new people for sure. I think the thing that has been a little bit tough and challenged my feelings is, this is a great cast you've put together. I'll admit that. Let them play. They know what they're doing. We don't need all these bells and whistles for these folks. We really don't.

[00:05:02] And I think the bells and whistles have made me feel a type of way. Some of them have been like, okay, innovative, fun, cool. Then others, I'm just like, but why though? Why did we need to strip them of their vote here? Like that didn't seem like, again, like we're doing this. I don't need that. I feel like, let's look at this episode, for example. I genuinely think Christian was in a bad spot regardless, right? That's my personal.

[00:05:26] Do I really need his end story to be, and you failed the puzzle, and you got to vote for yourself, and you're going home. I don't need that. I don't need all of that. I feel like your vote is the most important thing you carry in the game. And the fact that some players don't even get to have that on them when they get the tribal is tough for me. It's still a tough pill to swallow. And like, I think I've been one of the people that has been more understanding of the journey of the extra bits and bobs we get in the newer era. Not this journey.

[00:05:56] I think recently, Mike, I've been very much on the opposite side of the tracks where I'm like, no, stop this, please. Like, enough is enough. Like, how much more until we just decide this is an experiment that we can just put to bed? That's kind of where I'm at. Can I help you with a two-hour serving of Mr. Beast coming up in several days' time? You know, I will say I'm happy I'm here for this. I don't know how week 10 would have gone for me. So I'm in the right, I'm exactly where I need to be right now.

[00:06:26] I can't wait. I'm so excited. I can't wait. So I think for me, right, to think about the bells and the whistles, to me, it's always about obviously watching the players interact. But also, I don't mind watching them sort of tackle an obstacle, right?

[00:06:44] To see how a player would approach a unique situation, especially on a returning player season, where you've got someone like Christian to see, okay, what's Christian going to come up with when tasked with, you know, whatever, X, Y, Z twist. So I think like what was just extra frustrating, it was two things. One, it was that the reward did not seem to match the punishment, right? So you would want those things, I think, to be relatively equal. At least in my mind, it felt like the extra one, we'll talk about it, but basically those two things were unequal.

[00:07:14] And then the second part was the lack of agency. And I think that that is, I don't know, maybe more where the frustration comes from, which is like, okay, let's say he does have to vote for himself, right? Like, let's say he knew that going before he had to go read it in front of everybody and then have basically nothing to do, which made the rest of the episode just so boring anyway.

[00:07:36] Like, even if it was going to be a straight cut and dry vote, like, oh man, it just took away any, for me, any of the interest or intrigue because it just felt like, oh man, you're just shooting them while he's down, man. And yeah, sure, it hurts that it's Christian, but I think if it was genuinely anyone in that situation, that sucks. Yeah. So the main question that has been coming out of the discourse the past few days, besides my first question is how dare you to Jimmy Fallon, is how screwed was Christian by this?

[00:08:06] You know, they call it Jimmy Fallon's one in the urn. It's more like one in the urn, two in the stink with how much people thought that Christian got effed by this. Well, yeah, do you want to just take this out? What's in the writer's room on that one? Let's just kick Mike out. No, this is the style of Survivor 50, right? You throw out the first idea, maybe you brainstorm it a little bit, but at the end of the day, the first edit's usually going to be the best edit. Yeah, let's do it.

[00:08:29] I think that the big back and forth, right, is as Puyah mentioned, leading into this challenge, the tide was certainly turning against Christian, right? He had apparently invalidated this alliance that he had sworn with Jonathan and Stephanie to a certain extent so much that they can never trust him again. Obviously, he does the biggest faux pas you could do in front of Ceri, which is pitch one of her allies to Ceri's face, which makes her incredibly incredible.

[00:08:58] It is really interesting talking with Christian about it. And again, this man is amazingly self-deprecating. It's one of the many things I love about him. And he admits he pulled an Aubrey. But for realsies, he straight up forgot. He's like, nope, I just did not remember. We talked about it all the way back in the early days, but there was just too much to keep track of. I think the adage I would use when it comes to this twist is that I feel like all those actions had the door closing on Christian's chances of survival.

[00:09:27] And this Jimmy Fallon twist slammed it in his face. And it is very specifically, and I posted about this ariad of times, and I'll continue to talk about it. Why does he have to wear this like a scarlet letter? Why must he make a public declaration about this?

[00:09:46] Every single other one of these cockamamie journeys that you have festooned about over the past nine seasons in Fiji, there has been always a wrinkle that allows for creativity and imagination. Okay, you went to this island. Sucks. You lost your boat. Sucks. You gained this advantage that probably isn't going to do anything. But you can go back and tell people whatever you want.

[00:10:13] It's something that has originated all the way back from, let's talk about Island of the Idols. Let's talk about Ghost Island. Let's go all the way back to like the OG days of Exile Island back before Mike White brought that back in San Juan del Sur, where information asymmetry is a key facet that has kept the economy of survivor thriving for 25 plus years. And essentially, Christian was pickpocketed here. It was, hey, you know what? You could try to come up with something. You could bluff that you have an advantage.

[00:10:42] You could say that you didn't lose your vote. And that could have created a very fun sequence where maybe Christian's like, I know I have to vote for myself. So let me try to tell the right people so I can marshal enough numbers to try to counteract it. What we got instead was Christian basically being wedgied and hoisted up the flagpole, being like, look at this man, publicly shame him. He is an easy target. He is not getting off anytime soon.

[00:11:08] It feels like to me just like a flagrantly bad decision, not only because of the outcome and less than a little bias from that perspective, but more so for like, oh, yeah, I feel like we're leaving money on the table here by not allowing a player to create opportunities for themselves. Rather have that opportunity hoisted upon them. And it's a bad opportunity.

[00:11:32] Well, especially when you again factor in the idea that these are your your picks for what should be your marquee season, right? Number 50. We wanted the best of the best. We brought them here, meaning they all know how to play the game, meaning they all probably have thought about many different scenarios and things they would say in this very situation. If I ever was to come back from a journey and I won something, what am I going to say? If I lose my vote, how am I going to cover that up?

[00:11:59] Lord knows we've seen this happen every season in the new era to know that if you're coming back in this era, you're thinking about what to say in this moment. And especially with your returnees, I feel like you can you can just let them do that. I think that the combination of, OK, now he has to do this in front of everybody, which robs him of any opportunity to lie or even even if he's not good at it. Right. Let's talk about I've played games with Christian. I can tell what he's bad when I'm playing some of these games with him. That's fine. It's still fun to watch him try and like, you know, figure his way out.

[00:12:29] That's the best why we play these games is like test ourselves. He doesn't get to test himself there anyway. And then also. Y'all gave everyone a die at the beginning of the season that in the event that they're in trouble, they get a one in six shot to do something. You're he can't even play that. He can't. That means nothing now. So that means nothing. All his all his ops know that means nothing. All his ops. So he can only vote for himself.

[00:12:53] To be fair, Jonathan apparently did not know considering how much it was letting that tumble over his fingers as he was waiting to vote. He really thought it was Thanos in that moment. But like, I think other than that, I still feel like the minute he announces everyone, hey, I'm voting myself. I don't know what the rest of you want to do, but this is where my vote's going. Just in case anyone wants to join the Christian train here. I think like, OK, fundamentally, what's the goal of Survivor? The goal is to make good television.

[00:13:20] Right. OK, I think collectively, all of us, Jeff Probst included, everyone can agree that the goal is to make entertaining television. So let's play out the three different scenarios that you could have. One, you have somebody who's already dead in the water, right? Like Christian, let's assume already dead in the water. OK, great. Easy vote. No problem. Bye, Christian. Let's say you have somebody who's super safe. OK, super safe, comes back. I have to vote for myself. Then it's just a complete non-factor, right?

[00:13:47] Because it's like, OK, well, here's one vote we can't count on, which maybe if the numbers are close, then OK, it becomes a little bit more dicey. But still, then they're just a non-factor. You go about between your two or three targets who you're going to go for. OK, so also boring. Then you have the middle option, which is maybe arguably... Don't say middle, Liana. Sorry. Oh, my God.

[00:14:05] The middle people, a.k.a. I don't know. Maybe in this particular case, let's say, obviously not Sari would not co-sign this, but let's say like an Aussie or a Rizzo, right? Somebody who didn't end up being in like immediate danger, but could with the addition of an extra vote. Maybe you start to think about piling votes on them.

[00:14:35] Even then, that's not that interesting because then you just have that normal debate that happens that the producers do every single episode. Well, it could be Emily. Well, it could be Christian. Could be Emily. Could be Christian. Then you just sort of have that toss up again. Like, I just don't see in what universe does this play out as entertaining and good television? The punishment piece, right? We're not even talking about the reward piece, which I feel like is also equally boring, except for maybe the bank of O thing, which they didn't talk about on the episode, but we'll get into.

[00:15:02] But like, just to focus on like the punishment piece, I just don't see how the punishment is ever an interesting situation. Yeah, I think that is pretty much what us and a lot of people have been fixating on is does the punishment create good television at the end of the day? And listen, I've certainly seen some scuttlebutt as well of like voting for yourself is not survivor. And like, I understand that.

[00:15:27] I do feel like the definition of a survivor has like wrinkles on our face become more loosey goosey over the course of time marching on. We're like, you know, in survivor, theoretically, if you're voted out, you leave the game. Not the case in a few seasons. Some people would even say if you get votes, then you should leave. An idol being introduced certainly goes against that concept of the game. So like, I don't even have as much of a problem with like, oh, you have to vote for yourself.

[00:15:55] But again, it does feel like handcuffing you a little bit by being like, you have to vote for yourself and you have to let everybody know about it. Now, I'm glad you bring up, Liana, the little extra sprinkle that we were denied in this perhaps questionable ice cream sundae. That was this reward because a couple of people, myself included, were able to spot this upon watching back Christian reading, essentially the terms and conditions for this entire conceit.

[00:16:21] And there is a hopeful little package or a paragraph that was not read out on the show. Now, as a reminder, the reward is presented to us was that it was essentially an extra vote, not only good for this tribal council, but had to be cast right there.

[00:16:36] And yes, also worse. I mean, I think it's it's interesting, at least in that it provides like a notable decision where it's like, OK, if Christian really wanted Aussie out now, he has incentive to go back to camp and be like, OK, even if the votes are going this way, like now my Aussie vote might go to waste. Like, let me try to make the push here. It's negligible, considering that I think if he had an extra vote, he still would probably push it to make his extra vote count.

[00:17:02] I will also say, again, a little tangential. Another reason why it would have been great for Christian to have the option to divulge this information or not. How great would it be at the top of next episode when people are like, why was there one extra Christian vote? What did Christian vote for? Not knowing the idea that someone could vote for themselves because it's completely unprecedented. But basically, OK, so that was the twist at its bare bones. But we have a little bit of musculature underneath that we did not bear witness to in the naked eye.

[00:17:31] So this is an extra form of paragraphs that I took as a screenshot from when Christian read the full passage. So it goes through the entire legalese as to what the one in the earned twist was. But it also adds, that's not all. You then have the power at tonight's tribal council to either cast your regular vote if you think you need it, or you can choose to secretly keep your vote for use at a future tribal council. Good till the final seven. And because there is already a vote in the earned from you, nobody will know.

[00:18:01] That's what I'm talking about. That line. Jimmy Fallon phrase. All right. So thoughts about this. Do you feel like this makes it, for lack of a better term, worth playing for a little more? I mean, it definitely is worth playing for more than what it was before. Right. Which I think I think it's just a tough ask to be like, you get an extra one, but you have to burn it here.

[00:18:26] Because then if you get especially again with with a very big cast of people who are playing for themselves, if you go back and you tell your allies we're voting Ozzy and like absolutely not. That's not where we're going. Your vote now has been burned. It does not matter. I like the added component that you can then bank this vote until final seven. That is something that is more actionable because up until this point, you already pointed it out. It really seemed like, oh, so my advantage is I get to do something just here and then it does not matter.

[00:18:56] So it's mostly you're not even playing for the advantage. You're playing to not get punished at that point, which is a little bit tough. Yeah, I think it's really difficult. I think without being able to discuss with your allies and basically just immediately have to put it in, even if, yes, you do have the ability to bank your vote later. It's like, is that really? Just give him an extra vote, man. Like that's basically a better version of that, which is weird to say, because I feel like extra votes notoriously have not been necessarily that exciting.

[00:19:26] I think like, OK, what would be maybe an equal punishment or even if Christian did have to vote for himself? Like what's a lie he could tell? Like, I just I feel like he could say, oh, I had to if if if someone came back to camp, it was like I had to cast a vote ahead of time and I actually can't vote. I'd be like, wow, you got punished. Yeah, I think that's a very easy thing where it's like, OK, reward is an extra vote. Penalty is you have to cast a vote right now. Yeah, exactly. Like, it's so funny to think that Christian's reward to me is basically a punishment.

[00:19:56] Just a less agree just punishment. Yeah, I mean, it just goes back to the fact that I just I was just not a fan of this. And I think, again, I you can't look at it without thinking about Christian. But even taking Christian out of the equation and just looking at it purely from a twist perspective, regardless of who ends up there, I think it's still not the best idea that survivors had. 100 percent. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah.

[00:20:23] So that was kind of like it was difficult because that really just put a weight over the entire episode. And I do feel like there were so many interesting, exciting and entertaining things that happened in this. Don't don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the first half of this episode. Like, I'm not walking around being like, this is the worst episode of the season, much like the weights that were careening off that platform. I think it's certainly sunk in the latter portion. But two thumbs up, in my opinion, for the first 45 minutes of this. And I did.

[00:20:51] I will admit, did kind of like Jeff doing the challenge, but only because of all the other contestants chastising. Well, that's that's the thing for me that I'm so glad you focus on because I love this. I will say with my full chest that I thought this was so much fun because this to me represents, first off, more of a like casual discourse that Jeff has with the players.

[00:21:17] Now, we're not going back to like the all stars level of things where like he was essentially the substitute teacher. And they're like, we don't have to listen to you. We're more famous than you. Like, there's clearly some respect there. But I think there is something that is really fun about. First off, the stakes, as much as people love rice, are not that high. It's not like you're going to lose your vote if you lose to me. Like this seemed like a fun call it a side bet. Call it a side mini game, whatever you want to do.

[00:21:44] But I also loved it from a perspective of, you know, for all of the the armchair quarterbacks sitting at home, all the armchair Gary Hoga booms. Like, yeah, survivor challenges are tough. Considering that this guy who has his job is watching challenges for 25 plus years. He is an incredibly fit man in his 60s. I have been to his house. He has a notable in home gym. And even he only lasted seven and a half minutes. Like survivor challenges are incredibly hard to do.

[00:22:13] But like you said, Liana, the coup de grace was absolutely everyone bantering with Jeff, everyone getting their licks in. And again, I go back to survivor 50 being a celebration. And I would say, you know, besides the fallen worship of Colby on his way out, which I thought was beautiful. This is one of the most celebratory aspects I've seen on the season.

[00:22:36] Maybe since the beginning, because it felt like, OK, this is like a new fun thing that doesn't shake up the game that much. But brings Jeff down to our level a little bit and allows the players to be able to step into his khakis and be able to exact a little revenge for 25 plus years of shit talking.

[00:22:54] Yeah. And I think that the montage, especially of Jeff, all of Jeff chastising was just such another celebratory moment to kind of tie it all together because it also provided context for an historical context to of like, you know, sassy Jeff. Like I did feel like I was watching a YouTube compilation, which is basically what it was wild.

[00:23:22] No, this was very, very, very fun, you know, for. For a lot of because, you know, we've been around this block a few times, you know, I've heard I was there when when fried chicken and waffles happened. I was there when Jeff was where were you when fried chicken and waffles happened? It's a new Zac Brown song. You guys will love it. Yeah. So we were there when that happened and we were like, oh, what are we doing? This was perfect. This was the exact level of involvement I want Jeff to have.

[00:23:50] It was a it was a celebration moment. I think getting to see all these players be not bold enough. I mean, again, they've known him for long enough to give it back to him and like mess with him. It was fun. I think my personal favorite moment was when Jeff was basically looking for Devin's to be the the replacement host. And then Rizzo drops and Rizzo's doing it.

[00:24:14] And then when Devin drops, he's like, finally, a professional to take the stage with his freaking like knee high Christian school girl look being like, all right, I got this, everybody. What's up, everyone? It's the R.I.Z. H.O.S.T. Riz host, baby. I was like, oh, good. Now we have a professional broadcast. Okay, Shane. But honestly, no, that was so it was so fun. And it was fun to watch Jeff do the Gabler style shout out.

[00:24:45] So as like a weird callback, let's Liana, let's add him to the brain steel of random survivor players that are not in the season that have been referenced. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But but yeah, I think I think especially the like Ozzy was the one who really I think I don't know if we just saw the most from him or he took to it the most. He's been waiting for this moment. Yeah, absolutely feel that way.

[00:25:10] And then, of course, the jungle boy, jungle man interaction, too, was I wonder if I wonder if obviously he said that to us in preseason press, but I wonder if he had mentioned that moniker publicly in the season up to that point. Or if this was the first time you're like, no, jungle man. I didn't want to debut my new name like this. Not like this. Not like this. But yeah, but the oh, the other funny moment.

[00:25:34] And this is why I just I it's such a joy to just watch these players interact and like exist within this fun framework. Like when the box drops. Right. So there's this big box. Right. And there and Ozzy thinks it's food. Right. He's like, I could smell it. I don't know what he was smelling then. I'm worried about his hallucinations. That's withdrawing from something. I think so. So the box drops and they're all just confused. They're like, is someone else coming to play?

[00:26:03] Yeah, you can see just nobody like really knows how to react until Jeff finally explains. He's like, and I'm participating. And then oh, but the box drop was supposed to be this like big moment. And it just fell so flat, flat like the box that fell down, which that was just like that was really enjoyable. I'm glad that they included that awkward reaction into that because, yeah, that was just it was just really it was fun. Right. That was fun. Survivor.

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[00:27:06] I also like that they went to Aubrey at first, who like, I think is still to this day confused on how to react to this. I'm confused on how to react to Aubrey so far in this season because she kind of has like the hold me back edit where she's like, I'm going to fight right now. You better what? You better let me out of it. And then she's like, I'm going to hit you. If you keep going one more episode, I'm going to hit you. It's just like nothing so far.

[00:27:31] Now, maybe this is building to some sort of Operation Italy, Eric Black Widow Brigade level masterclass of a move. But it feels like so much preamble so far. We haven't even gotten to the meat of the Constitution. Yeah, a lot to be seen for me because I feel like I'm not seeing it's in the season. It's been interesting for me in that regard because maybe it's because we haven't had a returning season in so long.

[00:27:57] I forget how returning seasons can look because truly people used to be stars can just follow the wayside and not in like a disrespectful way. Just in a your story is not what's being portrayed here. But even my I can read the story brain is not making sense of this season, which I'm not mad at, Mike, because to me, I feel like I've been decently able to buy this by week nine. Tell you who I think could win and like have like a decent shot of being correct.

[00:28:26] I still don't have any clue how we're going to land this plane. So, I mean, I think it's someone from the Polycule would have to be my guess. Can we see a Ceres Wizard of Oz final three? Oh, I would. I would love that. If that's the case, if Rizzo plays any more scenes of Survivor, he's going to have like 17 day one alliances because that man has one of the best success rates as an ally in Survivor history. Seriously, I mean, poor little wasting away Rizzo.

[00:28:54] There's one shot where they're at camp in this episode and Rizzo's just like curled up in the fetal position hammock. And I'm like, can somebody feed him? He's looking very gaunt. Well, apparently he's been like dying. Like talking with Chrissy, talking with Christian. Like they were all saying that Rizzo was just incredibly unwell for the first part of the individual game, which is why, you know, listen, I don't think he has the arm strength of, you know, wet linguine, but like that's why he's out first.

[00:29:24] That's why he's curled up in the hammock. It's like he's not involved in a lot of strategy. And yeah, as you mentioned, Liana, it may come down to the fact that he is basically playing two months back to back of Survivor. Yeah. Yes. And like, there's always that classic picture of Russell Hance, like before and after, because obviously he played two seasons back to back. But the man was chunky, like he had some fat to lose. So by the end, right, like he still looks. Yes, of course, he looks a little haggard, but like I agree.

[00:29:54] Like I agree. But Spencer, right. There's that other photo of Spencer after because Spencer was was so thin. And so Rizzo also a very slender guy going into this. Not a lot to lose. And so no wonder his body is shutting down. It's like, can you feed me, please? So, yeah, get that boy extra rice, even though if you're Emily, who might. Let's talk about this. Yeah, this was like one of the few gems in the second part of the episode that I absolutely adored.

[00:30:23] Because we got some old school rice drama, baby. As Emily and Sari going back and forth, old school versus new school has made rights for 20 years versus didn't know rice if it was standing right in front of her. Who's making too much? Yeah. I feel like. If Sari Fields tells me this is how we're going to do the rice, this is how we're going to do the rice, because I feel like I'm never going to want to argue with anyone on food stuff because.

[00:30:53] If it goes wrong, I don't want it to fall back on me ever. And even if I'm in the right, I don't want people to resent me for being right. So I would rather just not be involved. But I am also not Emily Flippen. Emily Flippen will always push back on that and will always speak her mind, which I do respect because it couldn't be me. I would I would die with my opinions. I'm just realizing is is push back on that like the opposite of back that up.

[00:31:24] Not quite. You use them in very different context. I'm saying if we're using it in the same context, you know, instead of back that ass up, is it push back on that ass? OK, can you give me a definition? Sure. I got wedged too far into the back of an elevator. Push back on. Yeah. It's the worst song ever. I don't think. No, I'm going to go back on that. Who among us?

[00:31:55] Yeah. Look, they're just different ways to insert yourself into a situation. It's fine. What do you think, Liana? Do you think Emily might have gotten herself into the same hot water that Suri was using to boil nine cups of rice? Look, Emily is going to Emily Flippin. I don't think this is better or worse than basically anything else that she's done. I will say that it didn't seem to be a reason why she was targeted, although these trying to save Christian may have just been the straw that broke the camel's back in this particular situation.

[00:32:24] I love that Emily is just showing up authentically as herself. Right. And like, that's a character that I want to see on television. I can never criticize Emily Flippin for being entertaining. Yep. But yes, it definitely created an awkward social situation with Suri. But that's like, you know, the whole they're starving. There's not enough surviving anymore on Survivor. Like, here's a good example of that. Right. And how how often have we seen in older seasons? Don't cook too much rice.

[00:32:53] You got to ration the rice. You threw out the rice. You did the rice. Right. Like, back up that rice. Back up that rice. So push back on that rice. So much of the conflict comes from something so simple. You didn't need all these bells and whistles. You just needed a bunch of hungry people and a bag of rice. Like, that's as simple as it can be. And I just that to me is so much more interesting. I mean, for what it's worth, I do think Emily is technically correct, which is the best kind

[00:33:22] of correct that like this is an exorbitant amount of rice to make. But I feel like there's a couple of corollaries to this. You mentioned, of course, the social ramifications of like, do not stick your neck out and mention this to the person who's the most socially connected of anyone in the tribe. But there's also just the calendar based perspective of like, there are seven days left after this. Yeah. Eat, drink, be merry, in my opinion. There's also 11 people here. Like, are you really going to convince everyone?

[00:33:51] Like, come on, everyone. Let's ration. Like, no, you're going to be heavily outvoted here. So I think it's practically it made sense. I'm wrong enough. I think Emily was planning for a 39 day game when this is a 26 day game. Yeah, exactly. She's like, guys, no, wait. Yeah, I think like it just also you haven't eaten for so long. Right. You just you just got to go for it. You just got to let people eat. Yeah.

[00:34:20] Were you like me in the first part of this episode that when Rick sat down with Emily in the hammock and said that his idol was a fake? It's like watching a horror movie. Like, don't go in there. Don't talk to her. Don't tell her. Why? You did all of this. Why now? Why do this? And we know how this story goes. You tell Emily Flippin. Yeah. You might be telling a lot more people than just Emily Flippin. So, yeah, not the best call here. But I'm always here for a little bit of spillage.

[00:34:49] So I can't complain too much. I mean, it'll be messy. I think I think the one thing that well, it could spectacularly backfire. But the fact that Christian goes out this episode and in the next time on we see, you know, Emily and Devin's being like, look, we're the two social pariahs. Right. Or like, we're the two on the outs. That could go one of two ways. It could strengthen their bond that together they're going to fight out of this. Or Emily Flippin throws Devin's under the bus. Which, frankly, if I were a betting woman, which I am not, I would not make that side bet.

[00:35:18] But if I were, I would bet on the ladder there knowing that Emily Flippin would probably choose self-preservation. Do you think people will be as pissed at Rick at the beginning of next episode for not playing his idol than they did here for him reaching into the fire and pulling it out? I need him so badly to say I forgot. Like, I can't even tell you how much I want him to say.

[00:35:44] I please, Rick, please, you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing. Please, please do it. And please stay it to Aubrey's face first. The ultimate callback. I forgot. That would be a Rick Devin's thing, too. Like, it's so tug in cheek. You're like, where's your tongue? I don't know what your tongue is doing. It's so in his wheelhouse to do. Come on, be so messy. Be for real. All right. Well, wait, just to go back to the Devin's thing.

[00:36:14] First, and Pui, I don't know if you have any thoughts on this, but the Joe's impression. Oh, my God. The whole situation. That was a hit in our house. We love that. That was phenomenal. The funniest Joe's ever been. No, no. We've been talking about this, right? That Joe has sort of been Walter White style taking on the gestures of other people. Like, he made the firehouse metaphor. He quoted Mike Tyson.

[00:36:44] And then here, he's doing the Jeff impressions. He wasn't even there for the Jeff Tribal Council where he did impressions. He's like, all right, I've got a good Devin's in my back pocket. Whoa. Whoa. What are you doing? I was having a fit. I just. Oh, my gosh. Maybe the funniest. Yeah. Joe's ever been. But then also to top it off, the Joe Devins interaction. I'm so happy this is still happening. Oh, they're so uncomfortable, but in like such a great way. I love it to death. I love Joe. Oh, Joe. Sweet Joe.

[00:37:16] I love it. It makes me so happy that Joe Hunter, who is like one of the sweetest, most good hearted men in the world would probably love 750 out of 751 survivor players. And this is the one person where he just despises Rick Devins to the point where he's in a confessional being like, I'm really proud of myself that I did not just verbally slap this man in the face for out of incredulity. Good for you, buddy. Yeah.

[00:37:46] The awkward hug they had at the end of their conversation. And Devins knows it's all BS. Like, of course he does. But it's also such a weird perspective, though, Pooja, because Joe's like, why didn't you tell me about this fake idol? And Rick's like, can we rewind the tape to like six when we were yelling at each other down on the beach? You really think 10 days later, I'm supposed to now disclose to you what I have after you were going to vote for me? Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[00:38:13] This has been one of the more fascinating things about learning more about Joe and watching him play is the why would you not tell me this? But also, I would absolutely judge the hell out of you for telling me that. So I was like, I'm not going to subtly make that clear. Like, you're not you're going to know I would judge you for that. Yet you should still tell me. It's like, how do you think that's going to play out? Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. Oh, the one other thing that I had.

[00:38:41] This is completely flipping subjects. So I don't know if there's anything else you guys want to say about that. Flip it. Yeah. Emily flip it. Well, that was Ozzy's quote about like Emily flipping all over the place. I am surprised. She's she's. Emily has been in what? Probably like a combined 20 episodes of Survivor at this point. That's the first time it's made the air. What are we doing? People talk about playing with house money. For real. I know I can't imagine it should have been her nickname coming out of the first season.

[00:39:07] But anyway, no, I did feel really bad for Chrissy at Tribal Council where they have everybody like the jury walks in and Chrissy was again such a non fat like I don't know again what she did as she kicked a cameraman or someone or like insulted someone's family. I don't know. They just really don't like her. I get why she's complaining on social media because I would be too if I were her. Yeah, for the uninitiated, the camera inside instead decided to focus right from where

[00:39:37] they left off in coach in his all silver ensemble like he's the manager of a banana ball team doing a twirl on the metaphoric catwalk before taking a seat. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. All right. Well, we shall see who finishes as the silver medalist and who will get the gold when it comes to our preseason predictions on Christian. Christian, Christian, don't call me who Bicky, you Bicky.

[00:40:04] The man, the myth, the roboticist had a lot to play for and a lot to play with coming in. So, Liana, how did that bear out for you? Was his success a zero or a one? Yeah. Well, it's not so binary, Mike. I had Christian making the jury. Okay. I said that Christian enters the game as a known strategic threat, but leans into his charm and humor to keep his target manageable.

[00:40:31] At the merge, he quickly gets to work reconnecting with Mike and pulling in players like Devin's to form a loose cross tribal voting block against the other alliances. You could say the people in the middle, by the way. Christian begins systematically taking out other strategic threats, spearheading the moves against Genevieve and others. While each move makes sense in isolation, together, they paint a very clear picture that Christian is the one pulling the strings.

[00:40:58] Realizing too late that he's become the strategic mastermind, the tribe comes together to get rid of him. The editors once again have a field day with Christian's confessionals and tribal council answers, including one where he compares tribe dynamics to a sorting algorithm that leads Jeff to just stare at him blankly saying, okay. Hey, he did that in this episode. Exactly. His ally was Devin's and his enemy was himself. Okay. Wow. Which he didn't vote for himself. That's true. Damn.

[00:41:28] Wow. I wonder how much he had to talk about that in therapy. Oof. Oh my God. All right. Well, I also had Christian making the jury. Sit down, folks. He and get your knitting needles. Here's the long yarn about how Christian did. Christian will try to lock in on his free game plan to form his own on island Starfleet crew with Rick Devins, only to find his Captain Kirk is more radioactive than the radiation poisoning that kills Spock. Spoiler alert.

[00:41:54] As he votes him out of the game, he gives him the Vulcan salute in the voting booth, telling him to live long and prosper. Luckily, he has an in-house number one in waiting with Emily Flippen. The two end up getting swapped together on the same tribe, voting together at the number of trouble councils they attend in the pre-merge. While Christian will grow increasingly incredulous that some of the unpredictable things Emily says or does, she comes through for him when right before merge, he convinces her to boot D. Not booty.

[00:42:21] Hitting the merge, Christian is reunited with his old pal Mike White. While eager to join the old school alliance, he's not keen on having him be the writer of this season's story. As he'll say in one of his many witting talkie heads, there's only one showrunner on Survivor and he's got a blue shirt, khakis, and a demonstrative amount of Botox. So a couple of votes into the individual game, Christian will flip, joining the new school-minded players and getting some revenge eight years in the making.

[00:42:47] One of the early rewards in the post-merge will be some sort of memento from home, which makes Christian surprisingly verklempt. He opens up to us about the secret he's been harboring regarding his newborn child and uses his opportunity and confessional to send a message to his son, Michael. At the final 10, we get a split tribal twist because there's too many damn people. An individual endurance challenge should be Christian's speciality, and he picks up from where he left off with his filibuster strategy, but he ultimately gets outlasted by Ozzy, showing

[00:43:15] this David didn't have the right stones to go up against Goliath. With his alliance in the majority in this small group of five, Christian talks through a complicated plan of how to blindside Rizzo with an idol in pocket. But that only winds up sending red flags for Sari, who is concerned with his meticulousness and the resume he's building. And so she'll flip on him that night, proving you can't always beat him with this, but you can't always beat him with this. True to his efforts to come in and commit narrative warfare, Christian will receive the third

[00:43:43] most confessionals of the season, despite the fact he finished in 10th place. Hope you keep that robot shirt freshly laundered, buddy, because you're off to Scotland in the next few years. His ally was Emily and his enemy was Sari. Yeah, that's funny. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. That was tough. First of all, can I ask a clarifying question? Always. Ultimately, what was Christian's placement here? 11th. Very close.

[00:44:14] Incredibly close. Mine was implied that actually I it was implied that it was 11th. What what lines am I reading between right now to show that? You might be doing some lines if you think that's between the lines. Here's the thing. I thought Liana was about to win, but Liana, yours was just so safe. Like very safe. His his biggest enemy was himself. Which was accurate. I think his biggest enemy was Jimmy Fallon. Yeah.

[00:44:44] Wasn't meant to be you. We'll talk about that in a second. I think I think Mike's mention of because like the Sari thing is pretty on point. It's just the wrong person. It wasn't Rizzo. It was Ozzy. So that combined with a 10th place shout. I'm not mad. And then also the big a lot of confessionals. Also a good call. So I'm going to go with Mike here. Thank you. Well, let's stay on the Christian boat here as we'll talk about the boat trip that he took.

[00:45:13] So Liana, you just alluded to this, but Christian makes survivor history in more ways than one. As I believe he becomes the first survivor contestant. Obviously, Jeff Probst being the first to show up as a guest on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, which is unbelievable because we also need to remind you all this is on a rival network. Yeah.

[00:45:39] Christian officially crossing the streams here, showing up right after he's eliminated on Jimmy Fallon show. Mm hmm. No, it's interesting. I mean, obviously, like it in in. If you just looked in like a bubble, it's like, oh, yeah, no, that totally makes sense. The crossover event. Right. But then I think with the rival network thing, I think that's like what's the most interesting to me. Although that being said, Jimmy Fallon was talking to was it Quentin Brunson? Quentin Brunson. Yeah. Quentin Brunson, who was like, yeah.

[00:46:08] So like survivor, though. So, you know, I mean, clearly he was he's he's allowed to talk about it. It's like a Super Bowl where you're not allowed to say the name. Right. Yeah. So, you know, it is interesting that that that could happen. But I mean, again, for like from a Jimmy Fallon and numbers perspective. Right. I mean, it makes sense because you're going to get the survivor fans coming in and checking it out and having some cross pollination. So I think it makes sense from a promotional perspective. But yeah, that's it's absolutely nuts.

[00:46:36] It also the what Christian said in the episode about what was it? I wrote it down. No more ideas for you. This is during when he had to vote for himself during the confessional. No more ideas for you. So that was very fun to have that kind of full circle moment all happened within the course of basically 24 hours. And I wondered, Puyall, like, oh, man, why are they letting this show?

[00:46:57] But apparently Jimmy said in his interview that like Jeff had given him the heads up like, hey, we do have a cut of this episode in which Christian like absolutely like absolutely roasts you alive. And Jimmy's like, put it in. I love it. Perfect. It's entertaining. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, we joke about these talk show hosts quite a bit. I've definitely had my thoughts on Fallon, but I think ultimately they're so used to being joked with, messed with, roasted that. Why wouldn't you want that cut on the show?

[00:47:25] It really he's not going to make it. He's not going to Mr. Beast. He's not going to make it on the island. So this will be the only time he's mentioned. Might as well have it be in full force. Not only that. Now we come back around to the rival network aspect of it. How juicy is this that you have one of the stars of your season shitting, for lack of a better term, all over the most prominent late night host of your rival network? How many Survivor fans?

[00:47:53] Yes, tuned into Jimmy Fallon to see what Christian had to say. But how many more are never going to watch anything he does ever again? Out of protest. This was a long con is what you're telling me? This was planned all along? What's that overlap look like, though? All 12 people that fell into that category? More than zero. Stephen Colbert would never. Exactly. Exactly. That's why they had to take him off the air because he was too brave to not put this type of twist in the game.

[00:48:21] I mean, if you haven't seen the interview that Christian does with Jimmy, I very much recommend you check it out. It's on YouTube. It's like six minutes long. And all I'm out of this is Jimmy be like, Christian, I'm so sorry. Wait, was it supposed to be you? And Chris is like, oh, well, it's fine, Jimmy. Yes, I blamed you for the Titanic and the Hindenburg. So once again, I'm saying, editors, why are we leaving unedited Christian Hubecky material on the cutting room floor for a second season in a row? Give us this cut, people.

[00:48:50] Two scenes is now I've been asking. I also have one more thing, Mr. Fallon. Now, we have certainly, listen, embroiled the twist, whether or not he was involved in it. But I will also say, Jimmy Fallon, this was entertaining and this was unique. But do not come for my gig, sir. There is a select few amount of people who can talk to these players when they are eliminated and ask them questions. Okay? You are an ocean.

[00:49:18] I am a puddle of a dweeb of a man. And you have the audacity to say, I'm going to do an exit interview with Christian right here, right now. Obscuring all of our hard work that me and the rest of the press corps are doing. You scooped me, Fallon. You scooped me. And look, maybe we have stolen your idea for a concept of a show that focuses more so on Gabe's. But we are much smaller potatoes, sir. You are laze. And you are lazy. Yes.

[00:49:48] So listen. And. I appreciate the unique aspect, but never again, sir. You are on my hit list. Okay. First of all, we have a beef now, Mike. The B&B has a beef with Jimmy Fallon. Front and center. Put it on the thumbnail. The B&B. That's right. Exactly. Screw you, Jimmy Fallon. Let's do it. Boo. And also, I ripped off. Wait, wait. Don't tell me when we were coming up with the idea for the B&B. It wasn't even based on your stupid show anyway.

[00:50:17] So shut up. There we go. Yeah. Feed the flames. I feel uncomfortable with this. Liana's giving me big let me Adam energy right now. I'm like, Aubrey, let me. I'm just heating up. Let me Adam. All right. One more episode. I'm going to be in control because people underestimate me. Proceeds to do nothing and not even speak at Tribal. Okay. Well, I'm going to let you have them this episode. And by um, I mean our game of the week.

[00:50:47] Now, I will admit this comes from one of our incredible listeners of the B&B who sent this to me. This is from Mayel. And she sent me a very fitting game as we bid adieu to America's favorite robot assist. It's a game called Survivor Capture. Oh, the picture I'm using is the blinking you miss it moment where Rizzo is voting for Christian and he's trying to do the robot, I think. Or maybe he broke his arm during one of his many mountains. Oh, my God.

[00:51:20] He's trying. Oh, he looks so sad. So here's how this is going to work. If you don't know what captcha is, or as John Mulaney colloquially refers to it, the robot test. I'm going to give each of you, we'll go back and forth, a series of nine images. Now, an assortment of these images are checked off. And so you have to figure out essentially what is the thing they have in common.

[00:51:42] So if you were doing a captcha to try to access a website, the prompt would be check all the, you know, the players that are blank or that have blank. And so you have to fill in that blank. The person will get one guess and then I'll give the other person an attempt to steal the answer if they get it. Okay. Okay, perfect. I am notoriously bad at these. And actually, they kind of stress me out because I hate it when it's like identify all the motorcycles. And then there's one where it's like right on the edge and a little bit of the wheel is in the next one.

[00:52:12] And I'm like, well, technically the motorcycle is in that one, but should I check it or not? So I'm, I'm looking forward to this game stressing me out. Let's do it. All right. Nothing good like the stressful stuff. Leanna, we'll start with you. Keep that heart rate high. So here is the first one. And I apologize profusely for those who are listening along to this podcast. I will try to put this up at, uh, we'll say bit.ly slash survivor robot. Because captcha is a little complicated to spell. So you can follow along here.

[00:52:40] So select all the squares with a survivor who blank. And your images are described in for the listeners at home. We have Tony Blackos, Savannah, Louie, Rick Devins, Angelina Keeley, Sari Fields, Rupert Bonham, Brian Heidek, given the middle finger, Jenna and Heidi and Natalie Anderson. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Okay, wait, wait. Hold on. Is it about the players? It could be about the players. Okay.

[00:53:08] I'm going to say that the answer is these are all the things that these have in common are all players on Survivor 50. Damn it. You're off to a good start. That is correct. Okay. All right. I severely misinterpreted, uh, the start of this game and I was like, okay, they're all looking off to the side. Wait, no, multiple people are looking off to the side. Yeah. I would say the visual isn't like the visual can help sometimes, but it's not the end all be all. It's mostly about like their survivor careers. I figured that out now. I thought that would have been embarrassing. Okay, great.

[00:53:39] All right. Off to a rollicking start here. Pooja, let's see if you can match her. Select all the squares with a survivor who blank. We have Aubrey Bracco, the aforementioned Gary Hogan Boom Hawkins. We have Shan Smith, Fabio from Nicaragua. We've got James Clement, Wes Snail, Kelly Wentworth, Russell Hance, Hagrid himself, and Andrea Belke. This isn't fair. Liana got a layup one compared to this. She showed a lot of anxiety around it. I need to quell that.

[00:54:07] Listen, I can also show anxiety if need be. No, that's not it. Oh, I'm annoyed. I'm really annoyed right now. I'm not going to lie to you. They've all had idols. The problem is here's Russell holding one also. So I don't love that. You know, I hate to say this. I genuinely don't know.

[00:54:35] So I'm going to have to just give up on this one. Well, you give a guess anyway. It doesn't hurt you. I don't. Okay. People who use multiple idols. That is incorrect. Liana, you have a chance to steal. Okay. Well, that's what I was thinking too. So I wanted him to rule something out for me. Yes. I don't know either. I'm going to say play. Got voted out with idols. Liana is correct. Yes. Oh yeah. You were so close.

[00:55:05] I nearly said that too, but I just couldn't remember. The one that I couldn't remember was was Wentworth. Yeah. Wentworth and Aubrey both voted out with idols in Edge of Extinction. I remember Aubrey's. I did not remember Wentworth going out with an idol. Well, because I always think of her play in second chances. Right. So I always think of. Yeah. I don't think of. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Because everyone else. I mean, none of us do. All right.

[00:55:32] Liana off to a lead with two, but listen, the game is still young. Oh, you still got time to stretch your legs. Here we go. So at number three, we've got Yao Man, Sean Rector, Chris Doherty, Lydia Morales from Guatemala, Ian Rosenberger, Lex Vandenberg, Terry Dietz, Chet from Survivor Micronesia, and Eliza and Jason. Something about fake idols. Made fake idols. Had fake idols.

[00:56:02] That's your guess? Yes. Unfortunately, that is incorrect. Sean Rector does not know what an idol is. Uh, Pooja, do you have a guess? No. This is a hard game. And so many were. There's only three people that are not. Do you want to work together on this one? Yes. Okay. Talk it out. Okay. So what's interesting is the combination. So this is what got me with the why I just guess fake idols off the bat was because

[00:56:31] the it's an effing stick, right? Like it was very purposefully chosen though. Like both of them. Right. I will say, um, this one refers more so to Eliza than Jason. Oh, so it's just Eliza. Yes. So why is Jason there? What does that change anything for you? Does it? Yeah. Well, yeah. Well, no, because it could, it could imply that it's like, yes, it's Eliza, but it's in this particular moment. You know what I mean? I just know.

[00:56:59] I just know there's a fan screaming right now because I could have killed this game. These two have no idea what's going on. Cause I deal with that every week. It's fine. You get over it. Swap screwed. Is that your final answer? I'll back her on that. Sure. All right. The two of you are writing side style together, or should I say passenger and driver? Because real fans remember back in the days when survivor offered a car as a reward.

[00:57:27] And these are all people who won the car reward. Yao man, Sean, Ian, Terry, and Eliza. I have no memory of Eliza winning a car. Like she wanted in Vanuatu. Zero memory of that. I barely remember what car we have in our garage. Let alone. That was more of a youth problem. Yeah. No, for sure. For sure. All right. Let's, let's really collaborating is, you know, in our form that is lost to time. So let's try to have you two continue to work in unanimity moving forward. Mike said, Puyo needs to be carried.

[00:57:57] Liana, help him. He has no idea what's going on. All right. Next up. We've got, where's Davey? He's our first square. We've got Rizzo and Sophie Belaherty. We've got Rick and Sophie Clark. We've got Sophie Segretti, AKA Yellow Sophie. We've got Anna Kadar. We've got Will Sims II flopping like a fish. We've got Big Tom's big old butt crack in Africa. We've got Don Meeham. And we got, bam, Stacey Powell. May I? Is it just Sophie? There are three Sophie's.

[00:58:28] Oscars of the survivor. Who is Sophie? Yeah. Who Sophie? And you thought this was impossible. Look at this. Well, Mike, I will argue that this would have been Liana's if we did not add the collaboration thing and I would have crashed out. So I'm happy we're a team now. I mean, this does actually feel like one of those captures though, right? I'm like, click on every square. Who is Sophie? Yeah, that I could do. I could do that one. All right. Next up. We've got Coach Benjamin Wade, Joe Hunter.

[00:58:56] We've got Spencer and Stephen Fishback. We've got Colby Donaldson, John Cochran, Sandra Diaz-Twine, JT Thomas, Philip Shepard, and Sierra Reed from Token Sheens. Wait, which one is the is it supposed to be Spencer or Stephen or both? I will say it is Stephen. Stephen. OK. Oh, look at him smiling. Look how happy he looks.

[00:59:20] OK, so men, they're all men, which would be correct, except Philip, I suppose, would be excluded from that. Hashtag not all men. Hashtag not all men. Yes. Let's see. Losing finalists? No, because Cochran has not been a losing finalist. I thought I was going that direction initially, too. Neither has JT for the record. Correct. Yes. Yeah. Let's see.

[00:59:50] Nope. They've only played twice. So it's not that he's only played twice. Yeah. I'm. You want me to give you a hint? Yeah. A hint would be lovely. Think about the connection that the top two squares have on this season. By top two, do you mean Coach and Joe? That's correct. Loyalty and integrity. I think a little bit more opaque. A little bit more abstract. Nicknames. That is correct.

[01:00:18] Everyone on this who got a check has received. Oh, my God. Because Joe gave himself a nickname? Okay. Joe received a nickname. Steven, of course, is the wizard. Colby Doninson, of course, the oakbound warrior. Cochran. I'm trying to remember who what Cochran was, but Cochran definitely got a nickname. JT, of course, the warrior. Everybody else left with bupkis. Mm-hmm. Well, I guess, I don't know if this might be false, because Sierra was technically, like, referred to as the dragon, but I don't know if that's, like, an outright nickname from Cochran.

[01:00:45] Well, I guess Brendan was the dragon, and she was the dragon's maiden, I believe is what he referred to her as. Yeah. Yeah, but that, yeah, I guess that could count. I guess it depends on where you draw the line. I feel like it's, like, a Cochran's alliance members that received a nickname. Yeah. Yeah. All right, next up, we've got Charlie and Maria. We've got our own boy, Rob Sesternino. We've got Parvati. I will say Parvati specifically out of her, Eric, and Natalie. We've got Tyson. We've got Corinne Kaplan.

[01:01:14] We've got Vince Sly, the truth-seeking coconut vendor from Worlds Apart. John Lovett, first boot from Survivor 47. We've got Brandon and Edna from South Pacific. And we have Jamal from Island of the Idols. Okay. I'm focusing in on John, right? Because to me, it's like, we've got the least amount of content from John, right? So what did John do in his one episode that has... All these people have podcasts. All these people have podcasts.

[01:01:42] The only one I'm a little bit lost on is the top rep, but I'm pretty sure Parvati also had a podcast. Yeah, let's do the podcast. Or has a podcast. So I think that's the one. Yeah, I think you nailed it. You disparage yourself, Pooja. But look who is two for two right now. Yeah, it's me. So we obviously have Charlie doing On Fire. The official podcast. May it rest in peace. Rob, duh. Yeah, Parvati, I think she did Nice Girls Don't Win, like the podcast. Tyson, of course, the pod has spoken.

[01:02:10] Corinne, now she did her own podcast as well as... I don't know if you count what she's doing with Brittany Haynes on her Patreon as a podcast. John Lovett, duh. Everyone else, unfortunately, left out in the cold, though. Brandon Hanson, a podcast would be a great one episode of a podcast. Yes, exactly. A pilot, if you will. A pilot before that plane crashes. All right, next up. Ah! We have Johnny Fairplay and Gunner G during the infamous Dead Grandma Lie.

[01:02:39] We have Andy licking a ball. We've got Steven Fishback in Confessional. We've got Joe and Eva passionately embracing during an incredibly vulnerable moment. We have Sage rolling her eyes, hugging Shannon like Rick and Joe were in this episode. We have Coach on Exile. We have Sierra voting out her mom. We have, of course, legendary quitter Hannah from Survivor 45. And we have Samhar from Survivor South Pacific. She just wanted her vape.

[01:03:08] Oh, maybe that's what it should have been. You have to vote out your mom. You can't vote out yourself. You're forced to vote out your family member. We'll invite one of them here and you have to vote them out. Yes. Yes. Okay. So my initial idea is I've got no idea. So I'm open to any and all possible options. Do Steven and Ozzy have any link in any season? No. Correct? That is correct. Yeah. So then that's out the window.

[01:03:37] Oh, you're thinking like people who played with Ozzy? Yeah. Or something of the kind. But I don't think that's the case. Is it like a literature thing? Ish. Like the one does haikus. One does poem. One does stories. Like, is that what we're going for here? I'll go with the ish here. Lean heavily on it because they all graced us with the poetry reading. There we go.

[01:04:07] Even during a rainy day, of course, coaches, poems and haikus. And Samhar, you always remember my man, my boo. One of the things that sent her out of the game. All right. Only a few left here. But listen, hard game. You guys are knocking it out of the park at this point. Next up. We've got Jeff Probst. I think this is when he was rapping. We've got Xander. We've got a picture of the final three from Borneo during Hands on a Heart Idol.

[01:04:36] We've got Jerry Mancy. Zach Brown. Vesepria Tauri. Once again, Parvati Shallow. Tom Hanks from Cast Away with a buff on his arm. And a very tight shot on Saul from season 47. An icon. Is it like, okay, I'm not, this is not an answer for Mike Pouya. This is to you. Okay. For like creating. Is it like, yeah, side chatter. This is side chatter.

[01:05:02] Is it like people on an island who didn't compete in Survivor? Who are not Survivor players? Yes. That's exactly what it has to be. Castaways who weren't castaways. So I've not watched, I've not watched that movie. Is he, is he about to sing in that? Cause then we could go with, cause like that top left looks like Jeff rapping. So yeah.

[01:05:28] I mean, there was actually a big sequence in Robert Zemeckis' film where Tom Hanks, it's pouring down on him. He's at his limit. He just performed a root canal on himself with like a blunt instrument and he performs singing in the rain to Wilson, his beloved volleyball while kicking puddles around. It's an absolute delight. You know, I know what have sufficed Mike, but, but I'll take that. Yeah. I think it's, it's people who have not played Survivor. That is correct.

[01:05:54] Not actually a Survivor player, despite Zach Brown getting confessionals and Jeff Robes competing in a immunity challenge. True. True. Tom Hanks, make it three for three. Just saying. You could sing. All right. We can add Mr. Beast to the list too after next week. That's true. Super beware advantage. All right. Next up. You don't have to super beware this answer. Select all the squares with the Survivor blank. We have Malcolm Freeberg. We got Boston Rob about to toss a clue into a volcano. You know, we've got Shambo, Ozzy's predecessor in the hair department.

[01:06:24] Cass McClellan Grace. We have one of the most iconic Survivor gifs in recent memory with Corinne, Maddie and Sugar reacting to Marcus getting voted out in Gabon. We have Austin from Survivor Pearl Islands. We have Ty Trang with Mark the Chicken. We have Billy Garcia declaring his love to Candace from Roro Tribe in Survivor Cook Islands. And we have Christian shitting his pants. Is it like, okay, this is not, again, this is a tapuja not to Mike. Is this like had an altercation with a bird?

[01:06:54] Like an interaction with a bird in some capacity? Because Shambo had the whole thing with the chickens and then Austin with the pelican. And then obviously Mark the Chicken with Ty. I don't know how to phrase that. Has anyone else got any bird? Bird beef? I don't think so. I don't think there's bird beef there. Just call that chicken. V&B, bird and beef. Yeah, I don't think so. I'm down to run that because I can't think of alternatively what it could be. Just birds. Your answer is birds. Your answer is birds.

[01:07:23] Omer Zaheer woke up from a deep sleep and sweating on his face with the word being mentioned on this podcast. And it was a correct premonition. Had a plot line with a bird. First, we have Austin and Pelican Pete. Ty with Mark the Chicken, that was an easy giveaway. And yeah, people forget about Shambo and the dream she had with the chicken. And also like her storyline of talking with the chickens. Yes. I love that. I love that so much. All right. Final one here.

[01:07:51] You two have done incredibly well, so you can end on a success or end a little bit of a letdown here. Our final category. Tiffany Irvin. Check. Karishma Patel. Check. Lauren Ashley Beck. Check. Kenzie Petty. Check. Q Burdette. Check. Stephanie LaGrosa Kendrick. Check. Tommy Sheehan. Check. Check. Camilla Cartaguesu. Check. And nothing for Liz Wilcox. People who got to experience Applebee's.

[01:08:23] An answer. More easy to swallow than a delicious gummy shark bowl. That is correct. Went on an Applebee's reward. Hey. P-P-L-E-P-E-S. No, O-M cheeseburger. We still have to try it, Buya. You look disgusted every time you see that. I hate that thing. I don't even know what it looks like in person and I never want to see it. Oh, yeah. I brought that into a game. I think it was several weeks back.

[01:08:52] That was the reason I knew it was related to Applebee's because it was the O-M cheeseburger. And you were like, what is this? Because you had Googled like weird Applebee's foods or something like that. All right. Well, congratulations to you both. Listen, if anything has proven that you are the RHAP power couple, it is your fact that you were able to figure out CAPTCHAs together, identify the robots from the real deal. And the two of you are demonstrably the real deal today. We did it, Buya. I will take that. Yeah.

[01:09:21] I challenge any other couple to step up and compete against us. All right. This is a challenge for you. Now, it wouldn't make sense to give this to people after they played the game and know the answers. But find a survivor loving couple, you know, in your life and give this game to them. Again, bit.ly slash survivor robot. Give them the quiz. This is like the newlywed game now. Yeah. This is the true test of compatibility. Yep. Can you work together to solve the CAPTCHAs?

[01:09:49] I will say I saw the little snippet like we're in the call, right? So I see the little snippet underneath of the slideshow you're about to present. And I'd seen Survivor CAPTCHA. I assumed it was going to be a game based on the scribble that Joe put of Christian's name. And I thought you were about to give us like voting, voting cards of seasons past. And we'd have to decipher whose name that is. I think unfortunately things are not like. As undecipherable. You know, we've done a category before that was all the way back in the early days of

[01:10:18] the B&B that was like incorrect vote of voting vote or like Starbucks cup name in terms of misspelling. Wow. Wordy. Yeah. Wordy title. We were still working on titles back then. Yeah. What was it that constantly spelled people's names wrong? Ralph from Ralph was a big one. Sue Hawk was another big one. Yes. We've definitely done the Sue Hawk. Very first Voshi Casabas. I mean, listen. Traitors has made a whole like thing out of this. It's become a plot line for the traitors now.

[01:10:46] So I'd be remiss to ask you, Pooja, going back to my prediction here. Do you think Christian will be on the traitors? Do you want to see Christian on the traitors? The man just went on Fallon. I think Christian will be on our screens in a Scottish castle soon. It's just a matter of how soon. Now we saw, unfortunately, what happened to our lovely Rob Sesternino. Do you feel the anti-gamer bias might come for him as well?

[01:11:14] I feel like in a room of people who don't know him, he'll be very disarming and underestimated, which I think would be great. The problem is he was just on television very prominently. So I think that kind of goes away a little bit. But I think, again, when we've all had interactions with Christian in person, he's so disarming in person. You forget that this is probably one of the most intelligent people you've ever had the chance of speaking to. So also depends on which season. Because I would say that coming into next season,

[01:11:44] I don't think I'd be as worried for the quote-unquote gamers as I would as for four. And then that means I'll probably be for six. Maybe even seasons? You don't want to be a gamer. Odd seasons? Be a gamer. Maybe that's what we're at. Odd seasons is okay to be odd. Pendulum swings. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I would love. I mean, you know, Christian to me is just is very interesting. I know some people maybe got a little bit over the shtick this season, but I think he's just such a fun confessionalist.

[01:12:09] And I personally would be happy to see him back on any reality TV. Well, speaking of exchanging one master of shtick for another, next week, here he comes over the hill. Mr. Beast has arrived. It's a two-hour episode. Now, notably, if we want to go into, I try to do the Christian math on my end. If we want to go into the finale with six people, we still have to do one more episode where multiple people go home. It's a two-hour episode.

[01:12:38] I'd like to hope that they get rid of two people here. If we are truly dedicating an extra 30 minutes of television to Mr. Beast appearing with a briefcase on our screens, there may be a little bit of accusations of losing the plot if we haven't gotten there already. Yeah, especially coming on the heels of the whole Jimmy Fallon thing, right? Like, I think we're now far enough removed from the Zac Brown of it all that at least that we've kind of forgotten about. Let me ask you a question.

[01:13:06] Who's going to end up having more confessionals this season? Zac Brown or Mr. Beast? I don't think, because Zac Brown thinks it was a big experiential thing, right? The only thing I can think of is, and I'm trying to think about, okay, if we're doing extended runtime, could this super beware advantage be like, okay, so-and-so, you know, you got this item. Come with me to the corner of the jungle for a secret special challenge. And maybe that's where we get a little bit of talking head from, but I feel like he's such a public-facing figure, both in real life as well as here,

[01:13:34] that, like, I don't think we're getting as intimate with Mr. Beast as we are with Zac Brown to warrant those confessionals. Yeah, I would imagine that as well. And I think going off of the Beast Games collab that happened, like, it didn't really... Like, it was... Yeah, it was definitely a different energy. It was, like, two leader hosts coming together and, like, operating in a host capacity, whereas Zac Brown clearly felt like almost a loved one. Like, it was, like, a loved one's visit type energy. Not, like...

[01:14:02] Like, he was very clearly a guest instead of more of an... I don't want to say an equal, but, like, certainly, you know, Mr. Beast being the host sort of role. So, yeah, I think it's going to be interesting to see how it goes. I think, given the fact that it is two hours, I'm very curious to see how the breakup is going to... Or what the breakdown of the timing is going to look like. Breakup! Whether or not... I mean, who knows? But, yeah, I'm... Look, I'm intrigued. Yeah. I'm going to watch.

[01:14:32] Am I going to be mad? Who knows? We're going to have stuff to talk about no matter what. And, again, even in episodes where we don't like some stuff that happened, there was still, again, what I thought was a really fun first half of this episode. So, we're going to milk every sense of enjoyment we can from this season, knowing that, you know, it'll be the last time we see these people for a while. It might be the last returning season we see for a while. So, hope you all enjoyed this podcast as we broke down the good and not-so-good things about this episode. Puya, of course, as we finish things off, I leave things in your capable hands to highlight a charity or cause that is important to you

[01:15:02] to give to the listeners this week. In the hands of the me. I... Listen. Mike, you said in the stink this episode. I don't want to see that reaction from you. In the stink of the fans. Okay. You know, some of these twists make me feel that way. Anyway, here's the thing. I'm going with a charity that is looking to provide food and mostly focus on Feeding America. So, that's what we're going to do here. It's feedingamerica.org.

[01:15:31] And, of course, Emily Flippen, do not speak up about if it's too much food that you're giving. Exactly. Okay? No food is too small. No food is too big. Yeah, she would be out there being like, you can't donate that much rice. Shut up, Emily. Oh, my God. Let them eat the rice. Of course, if you have not realized how compatible Puya and Liana are with their tag team effort on this game, check out the Puya and Liana Lounge. A weekly check-in involving these two. Put everything that's going on in their neck of the woods.

[01:16:01] Puya, anything else you'd like to plug from the podcast sphere? Aside from the lounge, I'm talking 90 day. We're about to hit the tell-all season. The season just wrapped up. Myself and Kirsten talked about the last three episodes on this latest podcast. And so, then we'll see where we go from there with the 90 day franchise. All right. Of course, check out my chat with Christian. Very fun time. Of course, went into his own perspective as to how screwed he felt he was. By the twist, his perspective on Emily flipping her gums with spilling his secrets.

[01:16:31] Why he ended up telling Sari he was targeting Ozzy. And so on and so forth over on Parade, as well as a myriad of other things we have going on. Australian Survivor, deep dives are continuing. But of course, if you have any games like the great one that Mayel was able to provide, feel free to reach out to us. RHAPBNB at gmail.com or hashtag RHAPBNB on social media. Special thanks to everyone behind the scenes at RHAP for packaging this podcast for your eyes and ears. And Wolf of America, for his fantastic theme song,

[01:16:59] more melodious than the grunts of Jeff Probst as he drops that bucket. Leanna, I'll be back next week covering this two-hour Mr. Beast extravaganza of Survivor 50. Until then, everybody, we'll check you out at your next day.