Today, Mike and Beth Dixon (@AugustaWind11) discuss Season 39: Island of the Idols.[00:00:14] Hi everybody and welcome back to the Survivor 50 Wish List Podcast, an off-season series where we're trying to figure out who could and should come back for Survivor 50. My name is Mike Bloom and we are discussing the final new player season of the quote-unquote
[00:00:34] old era of Survivor, though a little bit with an asterisk considering that it is a new player season, but there are a couple of veterans involved that are not players. We are talking Survivor 39, Island of the Idols and we certainly have a lot to get into
[00:00:53] with regards to the cast and the season overall. Of course, I'm Mike Bloom. I am not alone. I am joined by someone who I would ordinarily say Beth Dixon and her giant head are here,
[00:01:05] but that feels so odd out of context Beth that I don't want to insult you for people who don't remember what the context is of this season. First of all, I know I have a big head anyway because I am a Leo.
[00:01:17] I don't know if you share this with me Mike as a fellow Leo that sometimes we can get a little big headed but and also the other part of me is like, oh, I would love to have a statue head of me somewhere.
[00:01:27] So I guess I am just leaning into that energy. Define somewhere. Would you want it to be like in your personal possession or would you just want it to be like a landmark somewhere? I want it to be a landmark in a place that makes absolutely no sense.
[00:01:38] So people are constantly Googling it. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or like they'll set up like Pokemon Go catch stations there. That's the dream. I want a gym on my face. Okay. I don't know if I thought that through before I said it.
[00:01:58] No, no, it's incredible Beth. I adore you so much and I enjoy any excuse to talk with you including about Survivor. So Island of the Idols. Yes. Some fans might regard this and certainly this was the case back during 2020 when RHAP
[00:02:18] did its fan rankings of the season as one of the least regarded seasons in Survivor history. I think the large reason is of course the sexual harassment incident conducted by Dan Spillo that's spilled over throughout the pre-merge and post-merge made headlines led to you know,
[00:02:36] the only case so far of someone actually being removed from the game to due to a break in the code of conduct inspired mass controversy headlines and an actual change to the HR policies
[00:02:49] behind the scenes when it comes to the contact that can be accorded out on the island moving forward. And so very understandably people are like kill this with fire do not necessarily want to talk about or approach this season again on top of that.
[00:03:04] I think your mileage may vary as to the fact that again you bring in this wild twist of Rob and Sandra living out on an island and occasionally new players will visit them
[00:03:15] and go to like Survivor school for a brief period of time where they're going to teach them how to do something and maybe give them an advantage along the way which then brought
[00:03:24] I believe the most idols into the game in Survivor history so far because we had regular idols you could find at camp. We had idols that you could grab for one, two, three tribal councils, idols that you could go for and eventually lost your vote on.
[00:03:39] So suffice it to say there are a good amount of things that people do not like about this season. The question I have for you Beth is that we have talked throughout this process about
[00:03:51] how looking back at the casting of returning seasons Survivor has sometimes kind of shirked not Wanda but sort of cast a blind eye to a bunch of seasons that maybe they'll bring one or two people back but if production themselves did not have a good experience casting
[00:04:09] from them then it's not necessarily a season that they would revisit in terms of a pool of possible returnees. You look at Thailand, you look at Gabon, you look at the OG Survivor Fiji, hell you even
[00:04:21] look at something like Marquesas which was not an enjoyable season to film from a production perspective but we've only seen Boston Rob and Kathy back. The big question is and especially given the climate today that again really fed into this
[00:04:37] absolute fire that rained down upon the show understandably so back in season 39 if the producers are looking to cast season 50 do we realistically think that this is a cast they will actually look to pick people from or is this a like stove that they do not want
[00:04:54] to necessarily touch at all or acknowledge? I really think that this is a cast where they're going to look at it and say we can it's like The Hunger Games we can reap like one person from this cast.
[00:05:07] I really feel like and I'm going to have an inner battle when I talk about this cast a little bit just to like put it all out there and I think that production is going to be
[00:05:21] having the same issue which is do we want to bring people back because they deserve a second chance given the outside things that happened in the game or in how they reacted to them
[00:05:36] and how they didn't react to them how they played into it or how they didn't play into it and is that a reason enough to bring someone back for 50? On the other side of that coin the other part of me is like that shouldn't be the only reason
[00:05:51] like you should want it and like when you're thinking about tokenism and in a sense when you're talking about diversity equity and inclusion like you don't want to bring someone back because of an incident you want to bring somebody back because they are a worthy player
[00:06:02] they're a character that people want to watch they would make a television and if production is thinking that way this cast is actually really rich with quite a few people that would
[00:06:12] be excellent for this so if they can get past the idea of like hey yeah there's a lot of really disappointing characters that came from this season and there's that surrounded the Dan controversies and issues but there's also a lot of really interesting characters
[00:06:29] in some of them I worry that when they get brought back they could have a completely different narrative that the fans especially probably more casual fans in production may be trying to like face and I would much rather have them come back because of who they are
[00:06:49] and what they can bring to the game so I think that that's just like to put it all out there before we even talk about this cast I think it's important to realize like I don't think production
[00:07:00] is going to come like well we got to give you know Kelly for example a chance to come back because we have to and it's like no no no you don't have to bring Kelly back because of everything
[00:07:12] that happened with her but you should want to bring Kelly back because of how amazing she is as a character and a player that's where I don't know how production will think of it I think they'll
[00:07:24] probably err on the former because that's just what I've come to expect from quite a few productions but that's where I think that it's a little unfair to throw out the baby with the bathwater here and
[00:07:36] I do think especially as we're going to get into you know this group that goes out towards the end game there are some really fun characters there are some really brazen players and I think that
[00:07:48] this could be an opportunity especially given the fact that you know those of us you included Beth who want to see 50 be a second chance this is an opportunity for these kind of people to also
[00:08:00] remind us like hey don't necessarily lump me in with all the stuff that went down in my first season if you try to separate kind of the player from this season there are potentials that you
[00:08:12] could definitely pick out out of this group of 20. Oh for sure I just genuinely feel like when you look at the notes of the season or if you go back to watch it there's some really interesting
[00:08:26] strategic minds there's some characters who really never got a chance to really play the game because they were pigeon-held in certain positions and there's a lot of people from this cast who have
[00:08:38] been very active in the survivor community and the RHAP community and are people that we see faces and see them interacting with survivor in the community now and I honestly think that should
[00:08:52] have something to do with it to be quite frank if you're thinking of production you know you should have people in mind that those who are your most fervent supporters are seeing on social media and
[00:09:03] being active and having commentary there are people who are showing up to events there are people who are good outstanding citizens of the survivor community so to say and I in in addition to all
[00:09:15] the wonderful things they bring in uh to the game and as a television entertainment um character so I do think if you're production and you're trying to think strategically this is not a cast to
[00:09:25] overlook even though of its position within the seasons and the controversies that happen with it all right well you talk about those that are uh affluent members of the survivor community when
[00:09:37] it comes to their social cachet but I mean as we start immediately with our final three maybe that wasn't necessarily the case here so we have our winner in Tommy we have our second place finisher
[00:09:50] in Dean and then this season's zero above finalist the self-proclaimed peacock herself in Nora uh so let's start with Tommy because yeah Tommy was in a group that was full of again all these big colorful characters I think even he would admit was not necessarily on that side
[00:10:10] maybe part of it was again to sanitize the quote-unquote winner edit of it all to make him seem just overall uh just a neutralized character so that he'll be sort of palatable to everybody
[00:10:23] maybe it's because Dan seemingly was one of his closest allies and someone that was in his end game plans and so they kind of wanted to separate him from that narrative as much as
[00:10:31] possible or maybe it was due to the fact that something that I honestly low-key love about Tommy's game is that he had nothing to do with the theme of the season nothing yeah this was a
[00:10:43] season that again had pretty much every episode someone going to an island where Rob and Sandra would teach them a lesson about survivor and most likely give them an idol or an advantage Tommy
[00:10:56] never had an idol never had an advantage never even one individual immunity the first player to win and do that since Natalie White but never even saw Rob and Sandra basically until the end or no
[00:11:11] I don't think because Rob and Sandra had that little moment where they like said goodbye to their place and left it so Tommy never interacted with the two survivor mentors and is one of the
[00:11:19] only people in this season not to do so and there is a part of me that kind of loves that that ironic meta at the end of of this season that threw the most idols into the game that had again was sort
[00:11:31] of captained by these two absolute forces of the show leading people along and trying to see what happens in each and every tribal council that the guy who took it all in the end who sat on the 39th
[00:11:43] throne here is somebody who had nothing to do with that and just played a solid social game the entire time that is what I think is really interesting about this cast is that you have somebody who
[00:11:55] really dominated pretty socially and but it's because they weren't necessarily a strong character in a cast of strong characters it kind of harkens back to me to an old school survivor game this is
[00:12:08] somebody who took advantage of the social bonds that he had and was able to maneuver the game and I argue that a lot of the moves that he made could be replicated with other people you know if
[00:12:24] you're looking at like Lauren for example that we'll get to later I think that he's just an interesting character like you said for the fact that he didn't fit the theme at all and when you
[00:12:32] were talking about all the idols and such I was like maybe that's what they meant by island of the idols was all the idols they threw into it rather than that I mean listen someone who was
[00:12:41] out there like that pretty much was the idea a little bit and it's interesting then also comparing him to somebody like Dean who did sort of represent the theme at its face right who came
[00:12:52] at the final tribal council and had a confessional in the finale being like I have the immunity necklace I have this idol that I don't need to use I have this fake legacy advantage that I
[00:13:02] don't think is fake mama look at me now and again it was an interesting sort of repudiation of what survivor was at that point in that final vote where it's like yeah Dean listen you can rack up all the
[00:13:12] resume points that you want to but at the end of the day Tommy gave the better interview here for sure and I think that this is the thing that when we look back and we're always trying to figure
[00:13:22] out like what makes a survivor winner we you'll have the people who play the game they're like we have to get the physical threats out it's like well how many physical threats have actually
[00:13:31] won the game when they sit down in final tribal council what else are they able to rely on right there are a few you know who have I always think of Mike for example like you know I mean like one
[00:13:42] is way to the end right but for the most part it's so interesting we think about modern survivor with this idea of building a resume when really this season kind of further proved like even with
[00:13:56] all the idols and advantages that you have just because you maneuver the game with what production has in mind doesn't mean that the jury is going to respect that if you can't defend your game in
[00:14:07] any other way so it's it's this Dean kind of showed me and everybody else that it does not matter how many trinkets you get how many things you add to your resume if your resume does not match the job
[00:14:21] which is survivor winner it will not get approved for an interview okay it doesn't mean that it prepares you for the interview itself so what about his interview for detective did he pass
[00:14:32] the detective's exam uh sure yeah well I think that he's somebody who'd like I think people read him like a book and I think that that's what's unfortunate for him I do think that he
[00:14:46] was somebody who was underestimated in the game and I don't think that he was able to overcome that in this and what I mean by that is like I think people saw him as a threat but they didn't see
[00:15:00] him enough as a threat even with all the trinkets and such that he had to want to take him out and someone like Tommy you want you wanted to keep him because he was like the good old American
[00:15:15] teacher with a good personality and brought a little bit of something to everything and Dean seemed to just be like the the guy in head uh in uh show lights right like you're like oh it's Dean
[00:15:28] and then you look at Tommy you're like oh yeah tell me by comparison but Dean but nobody like thought of him as like this strategic threat they saw him as like a physical threat and again I think
[00:15:39] that what he was unable to do was really articulate what he was able to do throughout the game besides grab a whole bunch of advantages and fit the theme and that is something that I think
[00:15:53] you know there's a lot of people who I remember at the time were like Dean should have won and he fit the season and all that kind of stuff and I was like I don't know Tommy gave the better
[00:16:02] interview and you give the job to the person who's the better interview yeah we went kind of from the theme is not on trial and edge of extinction to like the theme doesn't matter in island of the
[00:16:11] idols which again just goes to show depending on the cast that's there at that particular time they might take different things into account somebody they did not take into account when it
[00:16:20] came to their jury votes is Nora sadly I love Nora uh this was clear from the B&Bs that we did during season 39 I am always in love with in particular the kooky women that end up showing up on a
[00:16:35] survivor and Nora had that in spades whether it was the mission that she was given by Robin Amber Robin Sandra I should say to uh force herself into the color position at the challenge and
[00:16:46] then immediately fail that task and have get forced to sit out of the challenge on top of that whether it's uh you know her kind of becoming this big wild card and person to rely on which
[00:16:58] goes to show just how chaotic that post-merge was whether it was like her low-key holding a torch for detective dean in the finale when they go on like their little date together Nora was just an absolute
[00:17:11] force in this game in terms of personality and it's so interesting because Carolyn outright says in her pre-season press that she is inspired by somebody like Nora who went out there was
[00:17:23] unabashedly herself and as she encouraged people to do in the island of the idols finale be the cock you should always be the cock what do you think about that's all your thoughts on Nora
[00:17:41] so what I think is interesting is that I don't think any or I don't think too many people would disagree that I don't think Nora was necessarily any kind of strategic game player um I don't
[00:17:54] I think that if your production and your casting for season 50 and you're looking for interesting characters she is obviously going to be in that interesting character list but I do think that there are other people who probably fit the Nora archetype but are more strategic that are more
[00:18:12] social that are whatever the case might be um she is somebody though that like like I said or like you said just the entertainment oozed from her like no other I found myself like not rooting for
[00:18:27] Nora in the game but rooting for her as a person like yes you awkwardly laugh in the middle of tribal council and ask Jeff what he's looking at you for and like all that stuff right like you do
[00:18:38] the you know the like yeah you you freak out and spook Boston Robb when you're told that there's watermelon at the island of the idols and you know what the fact that Sandra and Robb can sit
[00:18:53] in their little hut in uh the middle of uh tribal council and have them look at each other and go you're like I love Nora and not mean it in a mean way like genuinely like this is somebody who's just
[00:19:05] like we can't teach her but we also if we can't tame her but also look at her go she's still in the game and she's still you know throwing out wrenches left right and center I think if Nora
[00:19:18] were able to come into the final tribal council and tie loose ends to her game and speak strategically for the first time really in the game and have it really reach the jury I really think we could
[00:19:33] have had a very different vote now I'm not saying that she would have won but I do think that there's there's a case in that sense to be made that she is somebody that absolutely should be coming back
[00:19:44] um but she's just she's such a genuine original kind of character um and I don't know I just I think that she's somebody that is kind of that wild card character before we started recording
[00:19:57] I told you about a Brant Steele that um ran over on my weekly meltdown where we did second chances from HHH on and the theme was heroes versus villains versus vigilantes she did not make
[00:20:11] the vigilante cast what was on the short list of it and it was because there were other people that we kind of thought this person is the Nora but they're maybe more strategic this person is the
[00:20:21] blank but there may be like uh and then that's a tough thing we have to get into with this particular era of players is that I think in the old school seasons we'll be more remiss to be like yeah this
[00:20:32] person probably wouldn't get on over this person but you know we have room we can throw them on it's a little tougher yes we have expanded out to five slots but there are more people that are in
[00:20:42] consideration and as well we we have to I think think a bit more about from an archetype the silos that some of these people are living in who's kind of on top of them on the silo and the big one is
[00:20:53] going to be you know I think nine times out of ten barring some unforeseen circumstances you would cast Carolyn on a season over Nora and which is what we did and it's sad to say and I would love
[00:21:04] Carolyn and Nora in the same season just to see what happens when these two Adams smash into each other but it would be beautiful but at the same time yeah there's only so much entropy that and
[00:21:16] then if you throw other chaotic characters on top of it as we'll get into with the new era it may just be too much for production so that I will say is all towards this final three
[00:22:06] online business made for Germany powered by Shopify this feels to me like a very challenge coded final yeah now I do say that because Tommy himself was on the challenge for a brief portion of time uh unfortunately it's actually pretty harrowing
[00:22:35] circumstances like he ends up appearing on spies lies and allies I think it was and then gets a concussion during a challenge and like he goes through the with the rest of it that involves
[00:22:45] like hanging onto a jet ski but like he's so out of it that the torrid rushing waters pull his pants out and so like everyone's kind of laughing at the fact that he's going bare ass in the middle of a
[00:22:54] daily challenge but then like once he actually gets to shore they're like oh shit he got a concussion and he gets pulled from the game oh my gosh and Tommy has since said that he has retired from
[00:23:04] reality television he's gotten married he actually just recently became a father so congrats Tommy yeah so so good for him he's he's doing well his life is fine and I would say Dean and Nora and I
[00:23:16] keep bringing up this circumstance a lot in this era but I feel like if 40 was an all-star season instead of winners at war specifically I think there would be a chance that Nora and especially
[00:23:28] Dean oh going on yeah because like I don't know if you remember Beth but when there was a lot of media stuff going on with season 40 like Dean who worked at Google hosted Jeff Probst who did this
[00:23:38] sort of like Google talk about the show uh Chelsea from this season who still worked at IMDB at the time did like a survivor after show for winners of war Dean was a guest in the first episode like
[00:23:50] it was odd because this dude is so quiet in the first episode maybe the most purple person in the cast but then by the end Dean fever was all about but I wonder if in a season 50 perspective
[00:24:03] in a 2025 perspective if that Dean fever has abated and here's another example of what you're speaking about about okay this like young good-looking guy who's good at challenges and was arguably quote-unquote robbed in some circles of a win are there other people that are more
[00:24:19] recent examples who would probably take a spot and I lean on the yes I think that that's the case I think of Xander I think of people who kind of fit hardly to a certain extent yeah um I I think
[00:24:32] that there are people who are going to fit that archetype a little bit more in the modern season but if they are really looking at we don't want it just to be you know a whole bunch of 41 plus
[00:24:46] people for 50 and they're trying to figure out who is somebody who fits this archetype but we're going to have six people from 42 and that can't work out what like what can we do here or 41 or
[00:24:56] whatever um I I really do think Dean should get a look but I don't I'm not like gonna stump for Dean in the way that I have other people on this cast that I wouldn't be like if I had to say if
[00:25:10] production was like Beth you're a deciding person who which like survivor you're more than welcome to do Jeff listen if you want feel free feel free to ask me I will give you plenty of reasons why
[00:25:23] some of these people but he is not somebody that I would say when I think of top five people from this cast which is so funny because he is somebody that I do think is quite prevalent in the community
[00:25:35] still like you still see him showing up to events and you see him actively engaging um and he's uh I think that he's a great person for production um but even with that said I do believe we got
[00:25:51] to look at the archetypes a little bit and with this cast having so many strong personalities and people who played the game differently in different ways like I don't know the one thing
[00:26:00] I would say is a point in his favor is that the 40s have shown us and I can only assume 50 would be the same way the production really likes people who play within the theme or what the advantages
[00:26:11] and disadvantages are so if they want someone who's going to play ball with whatever they're going to throw at the contestants that's a point in Dean's favor because he was like the epitome of that in
[00:26:21] this season yeah the one thing I would say about Nora that we haven't already is that again I would absolutely love to see her back just because of the character she is my concern would be are there
[00:26:32] other people especially in the new era that would overshadow her the one thing she does have that someone like Carolyn doesn't is physicality I believe she's the person who won the most individual immunities that season including the final individual immunity she is a health coach she is
[00:26:47] a nutritionist so she is someone who knows how to stay healthy and has been staying healthy before and after her time on Survivor so I would say to producers out there if for whatever reason
[00:26:58] god forbid Carolyn does not want to do season 50 have Nora be her understudy and just have her like hey if you can't have Carolyn here's someone that like can fill in some of those cracks and then also
[00:27:09] has a little bit of some challenge beast in her for sure and I think the other thing just to make a note too is like yeah I mean I am not personally unless it's something that absolutely
[00:27:22] affects the game I personally for the for the purposes of this exercise I'm not going to be looking at people's personal politics and that kind of thing and obviously Nora has had some pretty controversial things to say since her season especially during the pandemic and being anti-vaxxed
[00:27:35] and those kind of things which being a health coach is like what are we doing here but all of that said I truly do think that she would be somebody who's really interesting in the same
[00:27:45] way that we had why am I not thinking of her Debbie like she's kind of a Debbie kind of character for me in a way you know where she is kind of inflammatory off the season and in the
[00:27:58] seasons but it's at least entertaining on Survivor to a certain extent but I don't what I worry with Debbie which I also worried with Bonu but I have not worried with Nora is that I kind of wonder if
[00:28:12] sometimes we're taking advantage of somebody's like poor mental health or something while we're watching them I don't think that's the case with Nora because she was just so full of joy and happiness and like positivity in the way that like I think is so enthralling especially in a
[00:28:30] game where you're outside and fighting for immunity and all that fun stuff. All right let's move into our jury here because if I say we have a lot of people to talk about so we will not be talking
[00:28:40] about Dan let's talk about the others here so working our way up we have of course Jack and of course the person above him who will become I believe they're now fiancés in former Olympic swimmer
[00:28:52] Basil. We have of course as you mentioned before and the unfortunate victim of the sexual harassment controversy in this season who gets voted out with two idols in her pocket in Kelly Kim. We have
[00:29:03] someone who unfortunately falls for the old trick of finding a piece of paper hanging from a tree and being given no vote automatically a frequent podcast guest Jamal. We have the two people that
[00:29:15] go in the split tribal council here in Mr. Kids on his socks in Aaron and definitely one of the movers of and the shakers up until she ends up going in Missy. We have the first Indian American
[00:29:27] contestant on Survivor and to this date the person who holds the record for most votes against her in a season with 22 in Karishma. We have of course the can of biscuits herself and one of Sia's fan
[00:29:41] favorites in Elaine. We have someone who is tragically taken out by an idol nullifier in the beginning of the finale and another big fan favorite of the season in Janet Carbon
[00:29:52] and our fallen angel in the one the only Lauren Ashley Beck. Where would you like to start here Beth? We have a lot of places we can go. I feel like if we're talking about this season we have
[00:30:04] to start with Kelly here. Okay well yeah let's let's I wouldn't say get this out of the way because it's something incredibly important yes acknowledge that again Kelly underwent it was a
[00:30:15] wild season for her she gets an idol from the island of the idols she then uses the idol on Dean secretly gives him the idol to play it to save him getting out Jack in the process. She then
[00:30:29] immediately the next day finds an idol at her swap tribe camp then merges and finds another another idol and then due to a lot of the talking camp at the time and a lot of the women being
[00:30:40] understandably creeped out by Dan's actions she believes okay the tribe is on my side we can get rid of him. Sadly that was not the case and Kelly is one of only a couple of people in Survivor
[00:30:52] history to be voted out with two idols in her pocket and Kelly is obviously the center of the reunion which were very odd circumstances themselves I ended up attending it Jeff has
[00:31:03] this one-on-one sit down with Kelly where he outright says we were in the wrong to do things like for example basically say hey if you feel like you're in trouble you can tell us rather
[00:31:15] than the show recognizing and not needing someone who in a game for a million dollars would not necessarily want to jeopardize you know her standing in the game by bringing up a situation
[00:31:26] that is obviously very dangerous and uncomfortable to her so he makes that apology to her and maybe in the moment you could say like all right Kelly is engaging with Survivor maybe if the show were
[00:31:40] to give her a chance as you know extend her another opportunity to a point you mentioned earlier she is somebody that would want to play again and the fans really want to for a lot of reasons
[00:31:50] people felt like she was robbed and her time was cut short under incredibly controversial circumstances I don't want to put words in Kelly's mouth but I have been someone that's been you know
[00:32:01] following her on social media since her season aired and by and large it does seem like you talk about people engaging with the community has largely distanced herself yeah from the show you
[00:32:12] know she is doing fantastic things with her life I believe she's engaged or maybe even married which is fantastic I'm so happy that things are going well with Kelly but my reading between the lines
[00:32:23] and again I am more than happy to add her on if there's information that comes out after the fact that says like no Kelly's really hungry to play again my assumption is sort of what I talked about
[00:32:33] with Zeke during Millennials vs Gen X which is like Kelly did an incredible job in the moment and in the the the aftermath of the show in particular about speaking to the issues at which
[00:32:44] they were the unfortunate center but then once that glow kind of faded she said you know what I I'm done I'm going to move on with my life and I don't want to engage with it again and I think
[00:32:56] that's first of all more than valid obviously um and I and I genuinely think that she knows that the fan base would stub for her so much if she wanted it and I do think that when I was
[00:33:09] talking in the beginning I'm sure everybody could see through it but I was talking about Kelly like if there was one person that production was like we got to give someone a second chance it's Kelly
[00:33:17] but what I don't want is that it's we got to give Kelly a second chance because of what she went through yes that's a strong reason and but it should be because she also was really good at
[00:33:28] finding idols she was a social and strategic threat in this game she was really in my mind until she got voted out and that um she was like oh she's gonna win like I just think that when I think
[00:33:41] of people at the late 30s she is one of the strongest players I think about and I genuinely think that if she wasn't having to deal with factors outside of the game that also made their
[00:33:54] way into the game and had people like Missy and Elizabeth who were like playing it up um a little bit for strategic reasons I genuinely think with two idols in her pocket she doesn't just like go
[00:34:09] along with everybody I think that she's able to think and have her head again in the game a little bit more and I also think that if you had some people who weren't going to use such a horrific
[00:34:21] thing as strategy that also is something so I genuinely think that Kelly to me is one of the strongest people to play but I also had the understanding that I was like I feel like we
[00:34:34] would have seen her be pretty vocal still about how she wants to play or whatever or I would have done this in this situation and comment things on Twitter or whatever like we see some of the other
[00:34:44] people in this cast and other casts do um so while I would love to have Kelly out there I agree with you in the sense that I don't believe that she would want to come back and I can't first of all
[00:35:00] I can't blame her for that for a variety of reasons but the number one outside of the whole safety and like kind of reliving trauma portion outside of that is you right now are like beloved
[00:35:11] in the community for the circumstances for which you went out and everyone's on your side but mostly because we all see you as a robbed goddess there's a real risk of coming back on any show
[00:35:23] and changing that narrative and if you are somebody who is inherent implicit trauma with this show and then are coming back who knows do you act do you orchestrate a vote against somebody
[00:35:39] like I don't know like Carolyn or whatever if Carolyn does come back and people get mad at you or the way that you did that or whatever like you are kind of putting at risk the little bit of
[00:35:49] comfort that you do have within this community anyway so I could absolutely see the argument for her being like outside of everything I just don't I'm kind of happy with how the community
[00:35:59] views me right now and um I'm good yeah so again if people are able to find corroborating evidence that shows that Kelly is someone that would want to come back then that completely changes my tune
[00:36:10] but for now if what I'm assuming is correct I am more than happy for Kelly to protect her peace and you know move on from Survivor I mean you speak about robbed goddesses Beth let's talk about
[00:36:21] the other one that people talk about in this season let's talk about Janet someone who I guess technically was voted out with an idol and that she used it and it was immediately returned to
[00:36:31] sender but Janet is someone who comes in you know the oldest person oldest woman in the season I should say at 59 but immediately proves that she is an asset she starts fire I believe without Flint
[00:36:44] in the premiere and then kind of blazes the trail from there she is of course one of the people that does vociferously defend Kelly turn on Dan who at that point was one of her closest allies
[00:36:55] because of what Kelly was expressing and as a result becomes a pariah basically in that next round it basically has to come to Dan like hat in hand uh and you know has to find this idol
[00:37:07] and play this idol to try to basically save herself but that is to say that Janet is someone who will scrap like nobody's business uh she is somebody who again was was able to eventually make
[00:37:22] her way back into the majority to the point that she wasn't necessarily targeted again in a huge way but still she knew once she got to the final four final five that she was going to be yet
[00:37:33] another odds-on threat to win you know she was an incredible swimmer she was a lifeguard and a lifeguard coach at the time so obviously she had that physicality in spades and as was shown in that
[00:37:45] first episode she can make fire and so she was giddy in the finale because she had an idol she could play at five and then even if she lost the final immunity challenge she basically has an auto
[00:37:55] win at fire and then she'll make the final three and she'll probably win enter the uno reverse card that was the coin flip that determined Janet's ouster here and as a result people were pretty
[00:38:07] damn peeved that they had lost one fan favorite in Kelly at the beginning of the merge and another fan favorite in Janet at the end Janet if she were to return would definitely be one of the older
[00:38:18] people to return from these newer seasons she would be 65 but as she proved Beth from what she was able to do on the island at 59 years old age is just a number for her for sure I mean I think
[00:38:29] that especially when we looked at the 20s and 30s older women in particular were constantly voted pretty early in the game if not like the first vote and because she was able to come in and kind
[00:38:41] of like throw that archetype a little bit on its head and because she was somebody who was quite frankly a vote of morality and reason in there I think people just genuinely felt connected and
[00:38:56] safe with her in a personal way it as well as in a game sense even if they were at odds strategically I think that they knew that Janet was the type of person that they could at least
[00:39:09] align with I think that if you're talking about who the fans would want to come back who deserves a second chance given everything that happened in this season and was a strategic or like kind
[00:39:24] of more of a social and physical threat Janet is definitely it is there she is right now my one of my top people for sure she is somebody that I know is interested in coming back oh yeah
[00:39:40] and has from what I understand is trying to be very social with everybody who plays the game and that kind of thing and I and I do think that she would be somebody that would be a lot of fun
[00:39:52] to come back and watch and I and I think because she is so vocally interested in coming back that is just something I worry about with her is like is everyone just gonna assume that she's just
[00:40:03] connected to everybody on the cast when when they come in and she gets voted out first like is that what's gonna happen but I really but it's Janet and I don't think that's gonna happen I think that
[00:40:13] she's somebody that would make great television she's somebody that I think a lot of viewers at home and people in the cast themselves can see themselves in in some aspect and I just I think
[00:40:28] that she's such a solid person to consider coming back from this from this cast especially as an older woman how many people are we really sitting back and being like oh yes this person over 50 in
[00:40:41] general should come back and play in that kind of thing and the fact that she's somebody that age I'm not even worried she could come back as an 85 year old and I'm like I know she's swimming
[00:40:51] those laps in the morning I know that she's doing you know what I mean I would be totally down to see Janet come back and I think that she would absolutely jump at the chance to do so completely
[00:41:01] agree let's talk about the person that was voted out before her did not leave the game voted out before her in the previous episode let's talk about Elaine uh this is someone else that also
[00:41:10] caught the attention of not only the audience but see uh Elaine is just I mean talk about Laura Norrell bringing light but Elaine is maybe like the sun in that regard you know she's a small
[00:41:21] package but she contains a big personality an absolute cut up uh someone that has that southern drawl but always has a one-liner to follow up with someone who does have again that that ability to
[00:41:34] stick around in the game and be this social force despite the fact that maybe on paper she looks like someone that could get targeted early ordinarily in like the 20s and 30s of Survivor and it gets
[00:41:45] very much reversed to the point where it gets to a certain extent where everyone basically has to turn on her saying we cannot let you get to the end you everybody loves you you love everybody
[00:41:58] you are going to mop the floor with anybody who sits next to you in the final tribal council and so Elaine really can't do much in that moment and they have like a nice little basic like
[00:42:08] funeral for her as she's sitting there at tribal council where she knows that she's going and she ends up getting voted out so I think I would agree that Janet is probably 1A of someone I would
[00:42:20] expect to see come back from this season but Elaine is somebody else that I think has a personality that maybe buoys the rest of the way this season is regarded and could also be a very fun personality
[00:42:33] to see back on Survivor. Elaine is the epitome of unifying power she is somebody that I like I would love to meet the viewer of this show because I'm sure it's only one person who didn't like watching
[00:42:50] Elaine on their television you know what I mean? Even if you didn't like her strategically or as a game player you like her as a person. I think with such a season with such heavy storm clouds around it
[00:43:08] she was the light beams that burst through those clouds she was somebody that when she was on screen if you're watching you're like okay that was really heavy that okay Elaine's back okay
[00:43:20] like you just had moments where as a viewer you were put at ease even with the heaviness of what's going on she's somebody that I genuinely think that if production is like thinking about all the
[00:43:32] different aspects of how to make a cast yes I don't think that Elaine is necessarily the most strategic person out there and I don't think that she is the most physical person out there but boy is she
[00:43:43] social and charming and charismatic and boy can she win hearts. A million hearts? I think she'll definitely win a million hearts I think she already did that so she's she's out she ended up getting something like 50,000 hearts I believe when the Sia money came through
[00:44:00] she got 50,000 hearts Sia hearts but I do think that the one thing I worry about with Elaine is like what more are we going to get like how different will she come back if at all and if
[00:44:13] that is something that is a factor at all in production like do they want a repeat of what people did the first time or they want people who are going to try to take advantage of the game
[00:44:23] because as I'm looking at how production runs season 40 and how Jeff talks about these seasons they clearly are liking when players try to manipulate what they are doing as production and they like when people are taking advantage of the twists and things that are being thrown out
[00:44:41] there is Elaine going to be somebody that can play ball with what production is doing I'm sure she'll have the personality for it but is she actually going to take control of that in a way that they
[00:44:51] want to invite her back that's my question when it comes to Elaine I mean for what it's worth and listen basically idols were raining down from the sky in this season but she does find an idol
[00:45:02] I don't believe it ends up really coming to fruition in a major way she doesn't need to she doesn't necessarily play it to like save herself from a majority vote but she also doesn't
[00:45:13] need to where at that point she is firmly well ensconced so I think she is somebody that would be hungry to play I mean you also talk about what has happened to these people since they played
[00:45:22] last time Elaine has gotten married since the last time out and has I think really solidified her family unit even more than when her then partner ended up visiting her out on the island
[00:45:32] and so maybe there's that also idea of Elaine's now doing it for more than just herself and also she had said in her quarantine questionnaire and something that I spoke to her about out there is
[00:45:40] that she was in a very odd headspace in Island of the Idol she'd actually just lost her mother and so she while maybe it was almost overcompensating the amount of light that she
[00:45:50] was bringing because she was still kind of grieving it at the same time I do think that in Elaine 2.0 would bring maybe a clearer headspace to the game which could be something interesting
[00:46:00] for sure and I when I do say that she's a light of positivity I don't necessarily mean just because she's upbeat and positive I genuinely mean because we saw her struggle we did and even through her
[00:46:14] struggle the ability to be so vulnerable transparent and likable in those moments I know that when I'm having a moment I'm not likable I am I'm a mess I'm sure people open their hearts or whatever but there's something about Elaine that I think
[00:46:34] player and audience member alone can absolutely say that is somebody who is so genuine to who they are in every single moment that it's hard to distrust them so I genuinely think that with a
[00:46:49] clearer headspace coming in combining that with what we already know about her as a person would be a recipe for just demolishing in a way that I don't think people would expect from her so
[00:47:03] that would be really really fun to see I would say I should correct myself Elaine did earn a hundred thousand hearts from as well as Janet and I want to talk about the person who earned 15,000
[00:47:15] let's talk about Jamal yeah Jamal has such an interesting story in Island of the Idols where he gets blindsided in his very first tribal council where the big storyline was that it was
[00:47:25] the king the queen and the jack it was Jamal it was Molly and it was Jack and they blindside Molly because they feel like she's Parvati 17.0 at that point and Jamal is being personified in that vote
[00:47:37] as quite cocky feeling like he's in charge of the tribe he gets humbled very early but then the swap happens and Jamal has this really incredible scene with Jack where he talks about the microaggressive connotations of referring to a buff as a durag and I can't
[00:47:57] imagine how tough that conversation was especially because yes Island of the Idols if you look at it was like a pretty diverse cast and that will obviously become more of the case as the new era
[00:48:07] develops but like I believe Jamal might have been the only black person on his swap tribe so to like have that conversation as well there's a lot that could have possibly you know drawn a light onto him
[00:48:21] in that moment but instead he drew a lot of light and love from the community he was one of these other people who again really supported Kelly in the moment and that sort of leads to unfortunately
[00:48:31] his unceremonious ouster as a result you talk about someone who's in the community I think Jamal is one of the people that's most actively involved in RHAP he has like a near seasonal appearance on
[00:48:42] the podcast and I always love it because I won't exactly always agree with what he says but he has such an interesting way of talking about the game and such an interesting way of expressing it that
[00:48:54] he's just someone that I want to see talk and hopefully play about Survivor until the end of time a thousand percent he is somebody to me that has a high level of emotional intelligence in addition to
[00:49:05] intelligence intelligence he is somebody that I think the best thing that happened to him in the game was getting humbled pretty quickly because it allowed him to kind of take a step back look at
[00:49:18] the larger picture and really start to rely on the things that he does naturally reading people and trying to connect with them and I think that having somebody who has been unafraid to talk about
[00:49:35] something that about microaggressions about race that is so entwined with who he is as a person experiencing life but then if Survivor is a microcosm of society being able to take the time
[00:49:51] to say hey I want to educate you on this from my perspective and from I'm sure a lot of people's perspective but I don't speak for all black people and have that conversation in a way that
[00:50:05] is accessible to those who may not otherwise have heard that before and not feel like they're being told you're an awful racist and that kind of thing not that we should be catering to people
[00:50:19] in that way but it gets heard and he has the ability to do that which is already a tough conversation to have outside of the game having in the game in front of cameras it's going to be
[00:50:29] aired on television and in a game where anything you do or say could be used against you in a court of trial you know tribal council he is somebody that I think has the strategic mindset the
[00:50:44] ability to speak just so emphatically and beautifully that I just think that he is an incredible player when I think of some of the best players socially and strategically from this
[00:51:01] cast he is like I would say like him and Kelly are one and two for me and he was somebody that we cast for our survivor 50 thing for did you cast him as a vigilante I cast him as a hero interest
[00:51:16] I mean I think the way that his game ends and I think the sea of money shows that he has looked back upon as a hero but I before the new era I think really made edits a bit more complicated
[00:51:28] Jamal was a little ahead of his time or it was like his the beginning and end of his pre-merge were completely different from each other I agree and I think that he's somebody that like if he
[00:51:38] played in the 40s he would demolish I think that he's somebody that is not afraid to he has a bravery about him that I don't think a lot of cast members have including myself when I've played
[00:51:49] little games here and there to just say what you're saying but he has a way of doing of saying anything and having people listen they may not agree but they'll respect it and that is a huge
[00:52:06] power to bring into a game like survivor all right well let's jump up to our fallen angel in this season because I want to talk about Lauren Ashley Beck she's somebody who I think in comparison
[00:52:16] to a lot of the characters that we were just speaking about I don't know if necessarily she's like right up neck and neck with them you know Lauren seemed like someone that was incredibly
[00:52:26] pleasant she was someone who at the time I think was a nanny but was obviously trying to break into the entertainment industry so she had those networking skills she had those interpersonal
[00:52:35] skills she was somebody who if I remember her on island of the idols task was that like it was choose your champion basically that she was supposed to pick someone to win immunity and
[00:52:44] she would get an idol and so she ends up picking Nora and like convincing everyone hey if they offer up food at the next challenge I think we should all drop out yeah and she ends up getting
[00:52:54] taken out here uh because she is considered stop we've heard this before Beth the odds on threat to win at the final four and so when she doesn't win individual immunity it's Tommy is able to
[00:53:05] convince Nora basically like listen my fire's not that good so I'm not gonna go against Lauren why don't you put Dean in there and so Lauren falls Lauren as much as I speak about Jamal having the
[00:53:15] biggest presence from an Rhat perspective Lauren by far has the biggest presence from a survivor perspective she is someone that has become almost like synonymous with like the west coast party survivor she obviously is a huge tiktok present she has broken into the hosting industry and maybe
[00:53:34] I'm speaking my out of my ass here I do feel like a lot of events that survivor and even like Bryson when survivor adjacent has done on the west coast has involved her chiefly in some way shape
[00:53:45] or form she is somebody that um there's a group of people in my head um that are survivor alums who are like survivor influencers so to say and she is like the top of that like her someone like her
[00:53:59] or Kelly Wentworth people who are very very prevalent and will take any it's almost like they take a journalistic approach to influencing um in the sense that they'll take okay uh Mike Bloom wrote something let's talk about it you know and like they'll have reactions to things
[00:54:15] and Lauren is somebody who um I think is opinionated but from a pretty neutral place when it comes to survivor it'll show state her opinions but you can tell that she has that hosting background where she's like I'll give you some opinions but they're actually pretty neutral
[00:54:33] opinions out there like they're not pretty inflammatory what she's going to do is pick up the things that are maybe a little bit more divisive and and say what do you all think about
[00:54:41] this and I think that that's something that would aid her super well if she were to ever come back and play the game having that mindset having that ability to appear like you're saying something but
[00:54:53] then when you really think about it afterwards it's like well actually I think it sounds like other people said something and she was just passing along the information and then kind of
[00:54:59] putting the ball in our court boy what a good social strategy to do that not a lot of people have the talent and the innate ability to do she is somebody that I genuinely thought when I mean
[00:55:11] she and Tommy pretty much had similar games right and I genuinely would have voted for Lauren over um Tommy because I felt like she was so much more of a personality in the edit and she was somebody
[00:55:25] that um I often felt like she was the one creating the plans with Tommy but she was the one vocalizing them and he was kind of a yes man and then like would help enact them I kind of see her more as
[00:55:40] like the brain instead of pinky in this situation um and so I think that she's taking over the survivor world social media wise exactly and I just definitely feel like she's taken that brain
[00:55:51] power um and turned it into a survivor empire so to say on on social media she is somebody that if I'm looking from a production standpoint who is somebody who is still recognizable from this cast
[00:56:04] who has a positive influence in the community would be a dynamic player socially and I also think has the ability to pull different tricks out of her um you know her purse or whatever
[00:56:15] throughout the game I think would be a really fascinating character to watch and I definitely hope that they consider bringing her back all right well we fully immersed ourself in this pool and now that I'm wet it's time to talk about Karishma let's talk about this this changes
[00:56:33] everything let's change everything let's talk about Karishma someone who I mean was kind of always the underdog always the outcast throughout there's of course that's really sad but low-key funny scene in the pre-merge where she like cuts her hand and falls at the set and like nobody nobody
[00:56:49] gives her the time of day at that point it just goes to show how people just were not vibing with Karishma the audience certainly was but the one thing that they were vibing with with Karishma
[00:57:00] was voting for Karishma again she gets 22 votes she ends up saving herself with an idol one time where she basically nullifies nearly every vote against her during the Elizabeth tribal council
[00:57:13] but she doesn't really survive out from there it just gets to a point where the majority kind of gets solidified after Elizabeth goes Karishma is on the outs and they decide all right yeah it's
[00:57:24] finally time for you to go I adore Karishma so much Karishma is somebody else that has been very fun in the community uh she was in the survivor sequester game I think Lauren was
[00:57:34] as well Missy and Aaron were in the second one Karishma is someone who uh has also you know for someone who sort of fell back in love with her husband self-admittedly during the loved one's
[00:57:45] visit she now has started a family she has a child and one on the way uh with her husband and so Karishma is maybe one of those people you were talking about earlier where it's like
[00:57:54] if you put her in another season I would be really intrigued to see how she does with a different cast she is somebody so first of all I want to shout out the survivor survivor wiki for how they
[00:58:07] described Karishma as the perennial decoy vote and I love that so much. Before Chu made it cool there was Karishma but it's so funny because you I'm happy you brought up the survivor sequester game because
[00:58:23] I think we have to go back to spring 2020 her season had not even been done a year like it only been a few months so she and so many people in this uh cast were still fresh of mind um they
[00:58:39] were the last new cast of people and she came on that game and ate she left no crumbs she was a strategic force she manipulated people left and right she enacted plans and it was all of a sudden
[00:58:56] like oh whoa now how much of that is you know you're in the comfort of your own home and not in the middle of the island and you're you know now you've come back from the island and you're
[00:59:05] you know re-fallen in love with your husband and all those different aspects of course right but I truly truly think that if she got any sort of attention that was positive from like an alliance standpoint I think she genuinely could have done a little better in this season
[00:59:21] but now I think coming back she would be such a threat and unless people were truly paying attention I don't I think she'd be completely underestimated I think a lot of people who don't
[00:59:32] really know her would sit there and be like why was she cast like I think a lot of people who were on that cast would potentially completely underestimate her and as long as somebody
[00:59:42] was willing to like team up and listen and she was able to form an alliance I think that nobody would underestimate her at the end of that season she is just a joy of a person and she's intelligent
[00:59:59] and she's got a lot of strategy and we didn't see any of that and I do think that again um the elemental aspects of Survivor definitely weighed on her a little bit and I it's you know
[01:00:15] you look at the cast itself and there's quite a few people that you're like okay maybe they had some different morality compasses that I would personally have but she's somebody that I genuinely was like there must be something they're not showing that must have made her on
[01:00:32] the outs and I don't know if it's just like oh she was somebody that was like constantly um homesick or crying or whatever the case might be and we saw some of that but not a lot
[01:00:43] I genuinely think you come back for a second time and you sure you're kind of you're going to experience some of that but you know how to handle it you know what to expect this time
[01:00:53] if she ever came back watch out because I definitely think that it would be such a fun person to have back. I know that she uh took a line from Littlefinger that cast as a ladder but
[01:01:02] maybe she could be the Daenerys Targaryen of the you know exiled queen returning on dragon back I will do it exactly I will do briefly upon uh the remaining four jurors here in Elizabeth
[01:01:17] Missy and Aaron who could have became this like very tight trio only to go out back to back to back in the merge Jack as well who ends up becoming linked up with Elizabeth romantically
[01:01:27] after the show I mean I think everyone that we've talked about so far we're not necessarily at the nucleus of the Dan incident you know I think maybe the closest is Janet who obviously was
[01:01:38] shown in a very positive like going to back for Kelly or maybe someone like Lauren who might have done a little bit of the obfuscating of how they really felt to keep Dan in the game but certainly
[01:01:48] not to the extent that Elizabeth and Missy did great that being said if they wanted to come back I don't think the show would let them come back I think it's it's very much a like if we are going
[01:01:57] to try to step aside people remembering this issue as much as possible we are not bringing back anyone who did the most controversial things besides Dan on top of that Elizabeth has seemed to very much
[01:02:08] move on with her life she was actually uh in Tokyo commentating on Olympic swimming we'll see if she does at this time with Paris Missy was on god it was a CW show that I'm gonna have to look up she
[01:02:20] was on a reality TV show recently but she even said her quarantine questionnaire back in 2020 when asked if she would come back she just kind of glibly said like Paul Brawls are more my speed
[01:02:30] so I think whether it was the social media backlash or what she did out on the island she was ready to move on Jack seems like a sweet guy but he was uh a little bit of a sort of like a
[01:02:42] non-character in comparison to all these other people that I don't think you get a call back Aaron would even admit that he said some very stupid things out on the island uh namely basically
[01:02:53] saying well if any if anybody was really having a problem with Dan I would have known about it he has come forward luckily after the season to admit that like he was absolutely mistaken
[01:03:03] and that he shed a bit more light with me I remember as to like what the talk production gave with them during the merge was all about and how that left him in a confused state where he
[01:03:13] wasn't necessarily informed the extremity of everything that was happening and so I do think that while Aaron does have regrets obviously for his behavior over the course of the season I feel
[01:03:25] like his association on top of the fact that there are people that have come afterwards I sort of feel that again challenge beast even dad challenge beast archetype leaves Aaron off the
[01:03:35] ballot here for sure and if there's one thing I could actually do to give Aaron not credit for like survivor 50 but just in general I actually do think it's really important that we saw somebody
[01:03:45] on the cast who was like if there was a problem I would know about it and have some of those inflammatory remarks and then come back learn and both apologize and grow because Aaron is but one
[01:03:58] of so many people especially men who are more likely to invalidate an experience because they feel like they would know or they feel like something blah blah blah and I do think that in a
[01:04:13] weird awful kind of way it's an important reminder that we need to validate if people say this is how they're feeling or what their circumstances or experiences have been it's not our job to
[01:04:28] invalidate that but how do we show up to validate and support them even in a game like survivor and actually if you can do that in your real life going into survivor and playing playing that
[01:04:42] up strategically oh so that person said that about voting you out oh like not invalidating that but playing along with it it's actually going to help you I'm not saying that as a means of being like
[01:04:52] yes Aaron should come back because I really don't think so I think I agree with you I think there's so many other people that fit his archetype better and I do think that production is going to want to
[01:05:00] stay away from anybody who they felt like made any kind of waves on this season that were negative in nature but I do just also want to say for the record like if you are somebody who has ever
[01:05:10] been called out not just on national television on social media but just in general like if you are somebody who's been called out for saying something inflammatory or inappropriate or had a microaggression or whatever the case is the best thing that you can do is listen learn apologize
[01:05:26] and move on and I think that you know that's an important in a weird way important representation that we got from him on this if you followed him after the season two well I think the last thing
[01:05:38] just to say about Jack and Elizabeth in particular is that there's no way that production is going to want to bring them back after they didn't come they broke the rules for
[01:05:46] the reunion yeah they did not go to the reunion they said long hair don't care about showing up I'll say Missy was on Fight to Survive which was a CW reality show she made it all the way to
[01:05:57] finish as the runner-up and she was alongside Libby and Gonzalez from Ghost Islands oh wow it was a very random show uh well let's move into and I know we're gonna quit it when that
[01:06:10] was around yeah we're running long on time but I think unfortunately this pre-merge group I think just because the jury is so chock full of characters uh you know between Jason Linden our first ever Canadian like advertised Canadian contestant I know that Todd was technically a
[01:06:27] dual citizen but Tom Laidlaw ever since they opened the casting to Canadians was the first one to appear on there we have Chelsea Walker the super fan that worked so hard to get onto the show and
[01:06:37] was blindsided with an idol in her pocket Vince who was such a fun character did the mission where he had to go undercover at the other camp to steal fire to find an idol that he got voted out with
[01:06:49] we have the aforementioned Molly the queen of Vokai that got overthrown and we have the poker player Ronnie who gets blindsided at the first vote Ronnie has said afterwards that actually he was not doing
[01:06:59] well from a medical perspective as well so seemed like he just had a really rough time out there and I don't want to put words in your mouth Beth but I would imagine between again how staffed the jury
[01:07:11] and finalists are and between the fact that maybe some of these players would get again replaced by people that fill their archetype that went further in future seasons who from this cast
[01:07:21] like if you had a blank piece of paper like the one Jamal found would you want to bring back from the pre-merge honestly it's for me it's between Chelsea or Jason I do think that Jason had a
[01:07:33] little bit more agency in the game and was kind of involved with some strategy which was great to see but and I think that Chelsea had I'm trying to remember what she was on the Lairo tribe
[01:07:46] it was that women's alliance that and in reality wasn't actually a women's alliance but we were led to believe that there was one and then Missy all of a sudden just turns everything onto Chelsea
[01:07:55] I really think that if Chelsea played with a different cast I think that she would have a pretty good run but to the exact point that you've said before like I would rather instead
[01:08:07] of seeing a Chelsea I'd rather see you know Lauren from Island of the Idols come back or somebody who fits that archetype and I just don't think that there's anybody from this pre-merge
[01:08:21] that I think I'm going oh robbed goddess in the pre-merge or robbed god like let's do this and there's nobody that I am particularly uh memorable in the sense that oh yeah they're
[01:08:33] going to be on the top of that list for Survivor 50. Yeah I mean Vince is is such a really fun personality he was one of my favorite people to interview out there on the island because he was
[01:08:42] just so unique I think he was the first contestant of Hmong descent as well and so he brought that uniqueness to it again especially in a pre-diversity era initiative but yeah I think unfortunately
[01:08:54] this is a case where we can't be as liberal with our choices of bringing on pre-mergers for this particular season when we have 20 people well 19 technically to choose from and again the top half
[01:09:07] of the cast is just so stacked. Yeah for sure for sure. All right well then Beth on that note of that stacked group we gotta do this here now let's make this let's let's make this uh streamlined
[01:09:19] here because you were super efficient you came in with a ranked list. I did. How about you give your top five I give my top five and then we'll sort of start with the common ground and work from there.
[01:09:30] Okay so um fifth to first I don't know. Oh I love this you're making it a climactic. My fifth person was Karishma. I do think that she would be a lot of fun but I don't think that
[01:09:44] she's as on top of the list for production as other people. My fourth was Lauren Ashley Beck. My third was Jamal. My second was Elaine and my first was Janet. Where's the match game sound
[01:10:04] because those are my five too Beth. Isn't that easy? I know here's the thing if Kelly if Kelly were wanting to come back she would be my number one but I just genuinely have never gotten the
[01:10:17] sense she wanted to come back. Yeah so I agree and again we have the wild cards if people make cases for her or even a case for someone like Dean or Nora who I think would be like a six seven
[01:10:28] I would definitely be up for it but we can only choose five in this podcast and I'm in total agreement for all the reasons we mentioned before so added onto the list today are Lauren Ashley Beck who is 34, Janet Carbon who is 65, Elaine Stott 46, Karishma Patel 42 and Jamal
[01:10:47] Shipman 39. What's interesting is it's basically like the last four people voted out and then Jamal. I love that um and it's and again I mean if Kelly wanted to play or whatever you would have
[01:11:00] like two people who went in the very early jury if that was the case but it is I think it's a fascinating season and that I'm looking at the top three and going I think that there's other people
[01:11:11] but who this I mean the theme of this season was you're too big of a threat to the bring of the end so we're gonna cut you now. Very new era. Very new era this honestly I don't think that people
[01:11:22] think about Island of the Idols a lot like the 40s but I think it really set the tone for the 40s. All right well last but certainly not least Beth and maybe some of these cast members have already
[01:11:31] done our job for us but who from this cast would you want to see on another reality show? I maybe put the cart before the horse when I said that the final three felt very challenge coded and
[01:11:42] maybe uh Nora is a little bit on the older side for a new challenge cast member but I feel like this is a show that is made for her right like you get to get into like
[01:11:52] wild uh arguments with people and do kooky physical challenges that sounds like Nora's wheelhouse. I was just gonna I would like to see Nora on drag race as somebody that you have to
[01:12:01] like make over for a challenge. I think she like what wanders off from the chairs like oh look at this brush. I think it'd be so fun um you had to know that I was going to bring up drag race at some point
[01:12:12] like oh yeah it'd be really great to see like uh Dean in drag and happen like whatever. Now Dean in drag and then he'd have to D-drag. You'd be Dean drag I don't know um no but I when I'm
[01:12:26] thinking about this cast I think you're right when you're saying uh pretty challenge coded um in in that sense but I do think having someone like Elaine in the big brother house would be a
[01:12:37] lot of fun. Oh and it like how many boxes does it check right because they love the southern stereotype and not to say that Elaine is necessarily that but she kind of has the accent where she could
[01:12:48] feed those lines that she'd be able to give of like oh man I feel worse than a biscuit at 400 degrees in the oven after 20 minutes. And on top of that I mean somebody who would be fun to watch
[01:13:01] from a feeds perspective the only thing that I worry about is what didn't we see on the island that we will now see with live feeds as long as they still have live feeds in whatever season.
[01:13:12] I mean as someone who got to witness Elaine in the first few days it's going to be a lot of stories again. When I visited the Lyra camp she was just she was doing stand-up basically like
[01:13:24] the Lyra tribe wasn't doing anything they weren't working they were just all sitting in the shelter and Elaine was just telling a bunch of jokes about what they were going to tell Jeff Probst when they
[01:13:32] saw him for the first time. That's amazing and I stan because that's exactly what I would be like in any situation. It's like Beth we're in the middle of Survivor in the middle of a challenge
[01:13:42] well you better believe I'm going to pull out the Christian Hubicke like let me tell you all everything about Pokemon or whatever and then at camp I'm going to be the one who's like let me
[01:13:50] tell you this stupid story like it but it would be I think that having someone like her makes the feeds fun and so I don't know if she's up for it if she's up for you know near 100 days in a house
[01:14:02] away from her partner and spouse then go for it. All right well tomorrow Beth much like we were doing in the viewing of Survivor 39 at some point we are looking ahead to Survivor Winners at War and
[01:14:15] again it's a returning season so we're doing things a little bit differently instead of adding people to the ballot it's going to be myself and Rob looking at the cast of Survivor Winners at War and look that was a very unique season considering there was one specific piece
[01:14:27] of criteria we had to pull from but I think in particular we're going to look at okay who were they looking at and what was the shakedown of quote-unquote old school versus new school and
[01:14:39] as the last full returning season before Survivor 50 what can we learn from it so it should be a really good time make sure yeah exactly before we before we take our fire token to push them all
[01:14:52] into the new era and we finally move into that but Beth thank you you know we bid adieu to really old school Survivor the old era as people remember it and look ahead to what's to come and
[01:15:03] it was a it was a very high bar here to talk about a season that deals with some incredibly serious circumstances but try to not necessarily come in saying screw them all there's no one to
[01:15:14] bring back from this season and I think you did a really nice job of obviously vocalizing a lot of incredibly important things that happened in this season but also making the case for why there is
[01:15:24] a considerable group of people that could and maybe should be given a second chance at the game for sure and I do think that again if you it's hard to separate the things that happen that are
[01:15:35] controversial because they do impact the game but if you're able to separate people out and kind of look at who they are and how they maneuver the game obviously we won't know what they were like
[01:15:45] from a production standpoint I know that that's probably a consideration that production has that we don't have insights to but I just genuinely think that Island of the Idols and Edge of
[01:15:56] Extinction in particular were kind of at the time very much viewed as a rough ending to the 30s and I genuinely think that for different reasons if you were to look at the cast themselves of who
[01:16:09] was there it would be amazing to see so many of those different people within the context of different returning players. All right well Beth you know you mentioned it before but I believe at
[01:16:21] the time this is being released the finale of Drag Race All-Stars 9 will have aired so what would you like to plug for everybody out there? Yes so I do think that right now we are considering
[01:16:33] it's not a set thing but Amon and I might cover global all-stars together so if you are not currently following the Drag Race feed make sure that you do so because we may surprise you with a
[01:16:47] whole other season three back to back baby let's go but you can also catch me on my weekly meltdown I typically take a little bit of a step back for Big Brother I kind of save all that energy
[01:17:01] for RHAP but they are doing great stuff and we typically do really silly stupid podcasts over there and you can follow me on all my social media at Augusta Wind 11. Well thank you for
[01:17:12] bringing the wind to this podcast it felt like a breeze to do with you Beth. Oh thank you I'm such a fan. All right well tomorrow we'll be getting into a fan favorite season in the form of Survivor
[01:17:25] Winners at War with Rob Sesternino as we make the jump into the new era. Thank you all so much for listening let us know your thoughts on who else from Island of the Idols you want to see back or
[01:17:33] your thoughts on the people we put on the ballot. Until next time everybody take care bye-bye