Why ___ Lost: Survivor 48 Premiere with David Wright

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[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_10] Why Blank Lost

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_08] Welcome back to Why Blank Lost. I'm David Bloomberg and I am firmly grounded here in my podcasting basement where I have no windows and I cannot see the stars or the clouds.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_06] Listen, be kind. All right. Just be kind.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_08] Joining me, of course, whose voice you've already heard is my co-host, the most dangerous person on the planet. If you are a new survivor player, Jessica Lewis.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_06] I'm so sorry, but he's not wrong. That's why I'm rocking this shirt. Not just because, David, you're right about that, but we have another David, you're right reason.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_08] That's right, because video viewers can see that joining us is the man who very much helped Jessica and me end up as podcast co-host and friends. Her former tribe mate, David Wright.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_02] Thanks for having me. Great to be here. My favorite movie is The Goonies. I drive a Toyota and I like my steak well done, which apparently makes me some kind of a psychopath.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_07] Yes. Yes.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_02] And I'm a water sign. Not that that has any bearing on anything.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. And do you like to look at the stars? Because if you do, that's apparently a bit of an issue as well.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. But I mean, as you know, those are the most beautiful stars in the world. Like you are not kidding. Yeah. The Milky Way, you can see it. So it's like, I think like when people watching at home are watching this episode, the premiere, they're like, yeah, whatever. Like in a city, you barely see any stars, but out there you see every single star.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_06] It is absolutely stunning. It truly is. It's so dark. It is just breathtaking. So Stephanie, look at the damn stars. I support you in that I've supported you from the beginning. And I just want to say there are a lot of, yeah.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_08] This is how Jessica supported Stephanie.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, come on. You can't do that to me. No. Okay. Okay.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_08] The viewers, you see this audio, you'll just have to imagine it is Jessica, the curse giver.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_06] It is the curse giver. And I, but I did apologize. I said, listen, I'm sorry to whoever I'm choosing. You will be losing survivor and tada. I'm so sorry. But. Tada. That might help us though, because people tell us all the time, you know, why are your podcasts so long? They don't need to be so long. We don't need to hear all the reasons why somebody lost. Nobody says that. Some people do.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_08] Wow.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_06] They, we, listen, we don't respect that opinion necessarily, but people do say it.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_08] We respect all opinions.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_06] I am here. I am here to just say that this can be a very, very short podcast, right? Because the reason why Stephanie lost is right here. Okay.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_08] I should have sent you the, I should have sent you the why you lost shirt that you sent me.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_06] Oh my God, you should have. So Stephanie, I'm very sorry, but that's it. Thanks for listening, everyone. I'm the reason she lost. She was my winner pick down and done. David. Right. It's been lovely. Thanks for being here.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_02] That was so simple. Thank you. Have a good night.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_06] Oh goodness. So yes. So there's that. All right. Yeah.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_08] Yes. But you know, I do want to get back to something I had, I had said when I was bringing, uh, introducing David here. David, I do want to say thank you for saving Jessica with your idol. Um, so that she could become the curse giver. Uh, but you know, not, not just for the game, but of course, otherwise, who knows if we would have ever met, let alone.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_08] She would have been on this podcast. She would have, when would you, when would she have gone? Like, Oh gosh. What? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, as, as much as we would have been like, wow, we love her. I think your edit might've been a little different. I think so. Yeah. Uh, yeah.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_02] Well, David, the butterfly effect of that, like how everything changes.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. There are so many things about the butterfly effect that have definitely, I think, um, something I can. That's right. Yeah. Attribute a lot of my problems and issues.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_08] I think what happened is by David saving you, he also gave you this, you know, this power.

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_06] Oh goodness. Um, and, and that's one of the best Halloween costumes. I just want you to know this.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_08] Yes. And, um, I, so I, I do think that, you know, he's the one who gave you the ability to curse people as well.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. Well, and, and listen, I just want to say that I had a moment when we were, and I know we're going to talk about Stephanie for sure. But when we were in LA after the live reunion, we were at one of the after parties and your grandmother, David, right. Started talking to me. Your grandmother was there or your mother was your mom or your grandmother. Okay.

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_06] Mom. So your mom was there then. And she, and very, very sweet, very kind, but almost immediately called me out on, you know, David gave you his idol and he saved you. Why didn't you give him the legacy and help save him? And I was like, Oh my God, I'm so sorry.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_02] Don't worry about that. It sounds like my mom, but yeah.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. That's really funny. Um, so I apologized to your mother. I explained to her my reasons. So I was, um, so yes, I'm sorry to David's mom. David.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_02] I appreciate that. Yeah. No. Um, yeah, it's funny. Actually, I just spoke to like a, like a fourth grade class about our season. And, uh, when Jeff introduces the show, um, in the finale, uh, the camera spins around and you see all the audience. You can see my mom and their red sweater in the front there. She passed. So it's kind of meaningful to be able to see her there for me anyway. But yeah, but don't worry about the legacy advantage. It's fine.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_08] We've hopefully moved past her, but I've explained the real reason it's taken, you know, however many years to get him on the podcast. He had to get over that first. Exactly.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Nine years. Yeah.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_06] But you did not need the damn thing anyway. So, I mean, you were, you were just, you were killing it out there, but yeah, I can, you were doing a great job.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_02] It was fun. It was fun. We all had a good time.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_06] We did.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_02] We all had to lose except for one person. So whatever. Right.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. Yes. That is. That is true. Unfortunately, except in fact, you're right about that.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah, that is. Yes. Had to be someone. So David, how have you been doing?

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_02] Doing. I've been doing well. Yeah. You know, I'm getting married in July, which I'm very excited about. That's awesome. There will only be one other survivor there, which is Adam, because he's actually going to be our officiant.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, he's. Oh my gosh. That's so sweet.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Because as you know, I officiated Adam's wedding 10 months ago. And so yeah, so he's going to officiate ours. We're going to, we're going to do it upstate and really excited about that. That's going to be in July. So that's fantastic. Big chapter, big chapter.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_06] That's so incredible. Congrats. I love that. Thank you.

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Very nice. Yeah. This, you know, speaking of, of weddings, my, my son will be getting married in a couple of weeks and his new wife will have about 80% of the name of the person we're talking about today. Because she will be Stephanie Bloomberg instead of Stephanie Berger, who we're talking about.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_08] So, so yeah, I was waiting for them to watch this episode and to hear from them when they realized that her almost namesake got voted out first.

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Yeah. That is crazy. Well, they shouldn't be surprised though. If they listen to the podcast, I'll go, it was Jessica's winner pick. Yeah. It's not really shocking. It's not shocking.

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_02] David. All right. Well, who was your winner pick, David?

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_08] Mine. Well, we'll get to that. Okay.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, he'll brag about it later.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_08] Yes, exactly. It's like Jessica knows me or something.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_06] Oh my gosh. So crazy.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_08] Well, before we continue into the meat of the podcast, I know there are probably some new listeners who, you know, hopefully have made it this far, not realizing what's going on here. But allow me to briefly explain what we do, because it's a bit different than your typical podcast, even putting aside the chat that we just had. Each week, we compare what the player who was voted out did in the game to my rules for winning that I originally wrote way back after season one and have been updating ever since

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_08] using all the non-spoiler information available to us from what we see on TV, interviews, social media, and secret scenes. What we often find is that the basic reasons given on TV or sometimes even by the players themselves may not tell the whole story. And there is, you know, rarely one particular action that caused a player to get voted out other than, you know, being Jessica's winner pick.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_08] But rather, there's a bigger series of actions or events that led to it. Now, the newest published version of the rules can be found at our dedicated page. Rob has a website dot com slash why it's lost feed. And you can click on the bubble for the survivor rules. But also, some of you may have read the article I wrote for this week's RHAP newsletter, the confessional. In it, I briefly discussed the origin of the rules as well as the recent tweaks and additions

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_08] I made to them in anticipation of this season. If you aren't signed up for the confessional or you missed this one, you can go to realitytvnewsletters.com and scroll to the archive of recently published articles and read it there. Excellent. But before we get to how Stephanie did in terms of the rules, we always have some other things to discuss from the episode.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_08] And before I brag about my winner pick, I just want to say I thought this was a good premiere overall. It made it seem like Stephanie was probably going to go, but it left enough suspense that I was on the edge of my seat even after the votes were cast.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_06] I was really hoping. I was really hoping. I was like, come on, do me a solid here. Can I just say so, David, you were you were texting me as David does. And there's so many there's I'm going to do Dave and David. I'm going to try to keep it that way. But David was like, oh, who was your winner pick again? Ha ha ha ha. You know, like during the show when it was becoming very clear that Stephanie was I just

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_07] one that was probably going on this question.

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, really? Was it now? Yeah, I just couldn't remember. So silly.

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_08] Before I posted anything, I wanted to make sure, you know, because like you didn't have

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_06] that photo at the ready. You were like, I didn't, I didn't. I had to search. I had to search. Yeah.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_02] I feel like my parents are fighting.

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_06] That's what it does feel like sometimes when when we're bickering a bit. But I will say that I had it. I had there was a moment because I don't know. You've probably I know you've both heard like all of these like, oh, they give all these clues production like throws clues and like who the winner is. And like sometimes the camera will pause when they say who's going to win a million dollars and like where their name is on and all this stuff.

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_06] So I was watching at the very beginning and it's Jeff talking about how only one will be the winner of a million. And Stephanie's thanks was there. And I was like, it's right there. I just saw it. They had a million dollars. They showed her face. I'm like, I've got the million dollar winner.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_02] Nope. So close. Yes. Yeah.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_06] Can't read into any of this stuff. So I learned my lesson. But that was my theory when you were my response to was I have a theory. And then my theory was completely wrong, as was my winner. So, yeah.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, we did. You know, they showed that both Stephanie and say had their issues that could have caused them to lose and anyone who's who's watching the current season of Australian Survivor would be very familiar with behavior similar to say, though much more extreme than what say did. And, you know, there was the shot in the dark. And if, you know, there was always the possibility if anyone flip.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_08] So I felt there was an you know, it wasn't obvious, obvious.

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_06] Right. Right. Well, I was hoping that there would there would be a flip. Yeah, Dave, I'm sorry.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_02] No, I just I love the editing when it was, you know, say and Stephanie and Stephanie's talking about how she can feel other people's energy. And then it just cuts to say rolling her eyes. Yes. Giving up negative waves and waves of energy and Stephanie not picking up on a single one.

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_07] Oh, we'll get to that. Yeah. But yes, that was. Yes.

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_06] Say has not done a good job controlling her facial expressions.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_08] As she said, I think she's done an amazing job of allowing her facial expression. Yeah. She's great TV. Yeah.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, for sure. I don't think she has the makings of actually making it to the end unless she adapts and dials that back. But I she said it's a flaw of hers. And I think it might be her undoing. But well, not there yet.

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_08] And then Jeff was like, Jeff was like, hey, it's great for me. Yeah, exactly.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_02] Of course. Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't want to poke her face.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_08] Right.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_06] No. And I do think it's interesting. He and I can't remember exactly what it was, but I feel like this was one of the first times he pointed something out in tribal council that like he normally wouldn't, which I thought it was. And now as I sit here, I can't recall and I wish I could. But I would just want to kind of like, oh, he would normally not do that because it was almost like it was almost like calling out one of the players for something about the game. And I now I can't recall, but I'll have to I'll have to go back and watch again. But I thought that was interesting.

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_03] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_06] I'll have to go back and watch because I was like, hmm, that's a weird Jeff thing to do.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_02] But I thought his black shirt was weird. Are we not wearing blue anymore?

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_06] I thought the same thing. When did we switch to black?

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_08] Maybe it's really, really dark blue and then it'll get lighter as it's washed. Oh, that's good.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Yeah. That's the plan. What I wish that we had seen more of, because I do think that this and maybe we didn't see it because it doesn't become significant for this particular player story. But Kevin's injury was apparently much more significant than they even let on. So it almost felt like that he was like complaining when he kept mentioning his shoulder. And I was like, really? Like to me, that was the sense I was getting until afterwards we found out.

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_06] No, it actually was a really bad injury. And then he stopped because of medical.

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. He had dislocated it. They even in the previews for the season, they showed Jeff calling medical for it. Oh, yeah.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_03] And then they don't have it.

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_08] And then they cut it because Jeff said they just it was too much and it didn't apply to the storyline. So, yeah, I have to guess that, you know, I mean, we've seen previously like Daniel Strunk when he dislocated his shoulder. It kept coming back. The issue kept coming back. So I'm guessing the issue does not come up so much, although I will have something to say about it from this challenge.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_08] But yeah, I guess it just doesn't doesn't come up. So but, you know, we do need to talk about something else, someone else. And that would be my winner prediction, Eva.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_03] Oh, here we go.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_08] OK. Who is still in the game and and even seems to have put herself into a pretty good spot for now. I mean, she's the youngest on her tribe, which I have to admit, I didn't think about when we were looking at the pregame stuff, but she appears to fit in well. And in particular, of course, she found her number one in Fireman Joe.

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_08] And if she was going to tell anyone her story about having autism, she picked the right person to talk to.

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_03] Oh, definitely.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_08] You know, I. At first, I was like, why are you telling anyone? But then as she went into it, I think she kind of had to tell someone because she knows she has. I don't know what the right term is, but episodes maybe kind of get like she said, get stuck in the cycle in her head and he can help her out. And so, yeah, it seems like she chose really well with him. His dad instincts seem to kick in. And he told us I've made a decision. She's with me. I got her.

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_08] Even if it hurts my game, I'm not going to let her down. And remember, not only is he a dad, he's playing to honor his late sister. So I truly don't think. He's going to turn on her.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, I agree. I agree. In fact, I think there's going to be a pivotal moment where he saves the day or saves her game in some way.

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_06] That's interesting. Yeah, because that would be that would explain why we did see so much of that and that confessional of his where he was really putting that out there, like even if it's to his own detriment, he's just such a lovely human being. Oh, my word. What just a kind soul. I just very, very much enjoyed him. And he is much larger than I thought he was going to be. I mean, there's some very strong people on this entire cast.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_06] And I was stunned that there are so many like very strong, strong men and women. My gosh, there was like they're just killing it.

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_02] Well, it's kind of annoying. They've added another David. And so it's like not only do we share the same name, but we have the same body. And it's just, you know.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_06] Right. I mean. Same with me. Yes.

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_02] Yes.

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_06] It's like I felt like he was sitting here with us. It's so crazy.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_08] I will. I will say, even though this isn't, you know, the right tribe, I am wearing my David's shirt to honor us, you know, even though it's from the David versus Goliath season, it's still the David's, you know. It counts. It counts. Right. Right. I mean, they named a whole tribe after us.

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_06] They did. That's how that's how important you both are. That's right. It's funny, though.

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_02] I don't really have a winner pick, but I wouldn't have picked Ava, but that would be amazing if she wins. That'd be like what a story that would be.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_07] Yeah.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Mm hmm. So yeah, it will be great. It will be interesting if that tribe has to go to tribal council anytime soon, because yeah, it seems like the guys are in control. But Thomas wants Bianca as the fourth. But he also acknowledged they all like Eva and star appears to be on the outs. So I like to play.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. I like Thomas's chances, by the way, a lot.

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_06] Love that guy, too. I want to go have like a cold. What was what do you call it? The the cold brew in the morning? Like that's like he's all about is his cold brew coffee. And I just want to go gossip with him. He's just. Yeah. But just an incredible. He was my other choice for a winner pick. I just want you all to know. And I'm sorry, Thomas. I shouldn't say that out loud.

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_07] Oh, my gosh.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_06] Hey, I give up.

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_07] Look out, Thomas.

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_05] We're going to go.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_05] We are Teresa and Nemo and now we have to shopify.com.

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[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_06] We should probably, we should probably talk about Stephanie though. Right? Yeah.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_02] I'm sorry. I got a soft topic there.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_08] Oh, no, no, you are fine. We're the ones who are off topic. Trust me. It's not you. Um, but first there are, uh, one other thing. And that is dealing with say, who of course will come up for other reasons throughout the rest of the podcast. Uh, I just wanted to note how she patiently waited to see the results of Stephanie shot in the dark before doing anything with her idol. And I'm sure that if Stephanie had pulled the safe scroll,

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_08] then she would have played her idol, but she was just holding back waiting, you know, and seeing what would happen.

[00:23:26] Question.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_06] And, and I, I'm just trying to, is that, is that fair for her to do so? Is she allowed to do that? Is she allowed to wait?

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_08] As far as we know. Yeah. That's really interesting. Yeah. I mean, that's remember what Rachel did last season. She played her shot in the dark, gauged everyone's reaction and then decided not to play her idol. Wow. Well, right.

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_06] But I feel like in a situation where you have like, he's like, if anyone has, uh, you know, an idol or an advantage, you know, now's the time to play it, that you could wait to see the results of somebody shot in the dark before you play your idol. I just think is, is kind of fascinating.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_02] It does seem a little unfair, but I mean, this isn't, you know, magic.

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_08] The gathering or whatever, where you have interrupts and instance. And well, if you do this and I'm going to stop you from doing this by that. And.

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, but it is because they make advantages like that.

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_08] That's true. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. So.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_08] Uh, so. All right. Well, do either of you have anything or anyone else you want to discuss before we get to the rules?

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_06] I'm good. Okay. Yeah, I'm good too.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_08] Okay. Uh, there are of course, plenty of other things going on. I'll be putting some of it, uh, on my YouTube shorts at David Bloomberg TV. Um, and of course, before we get to how Stephanie did, we do want to mention that the rules we're about to discuss come in poster form.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_06] Yes, they do.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_08] Uh, and so you can go to rob his website.com slash YX lost feed, scroll down to the poster and click on it and order it. And there's David is on there is, is behind standing behind Jessica in rule seven. Oh, that's cool. I mean, you can't really tell which one is you, the, the back people in the background are kind of, uh, uh, um, less, uh, well-defined.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_06] So I'm not sure you might be crying too. I know I'm crying.

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. So, uh, but you can also scroll down and get the poster on a t-shirt or the checklist on a t-shirt. So again, go to rob has a website.com slash YX lost feed for all your rules related needs. I love that. I'm going to get one.

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_06] Oh my God. I'll send you one.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_08] I bet you know someone who might send one.

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_06] I was going to be able to do that. Yes. If I don't have your address, send me your address. Well, really? I would love one. We'll talk to your Goonies poster. Yeah, exactly.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_02] I keep gesturing to the wrong spot.

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_06] I know.

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_08] We do too. And we've been doing this a long time. Yeah. Well, Stephanie talked in advance during the episode about reasons she might lose. She felt like she was getting hit by complications from not playing an aggressive game, not coming in hot and not feeling like she was calling the shots. Did that play a role? We'll be the judge of that. Thank you very much. Because at RHAP, we know survivor and we know, we know, we know, we're going to know why Stephanie lost.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_08] Now, the first and most important rule is to scheme and plot and right away, we're off to the races. Although Stephanie was not. In fact, she did the opposite. As James, a listener on Blue Sky mentioned while I was live posting the episode, it was a classic tortoise and hare situation. Except in this version, the outcome was different than in the fable. And there's a reason for that.

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_08] Because especially in the first few days, there isn't time for the tortoise to rely on a slow and steady pace or expect that the hare is going to take a nap unless you're watching the season of Australian Survivor. But that's a different path. Now, I'm very clear about this in the rule. As I say in rule one, from the very beginning, you have to start making alliances and cementing relationships. And I do mean the very beginning.

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_08] Yes, it can be difficult to know who you can trust after just a couple of days. But either you do it or you're gone. Too many players have come into the game saying once their tribe mates get to know them, all will be great. And but you just don't have time to sit back and wait later in the game. You can rework alliances according to what is necessary to stick around. But early on, you should make use of whatever relationships present themselves. If you don't, you might not have to worry about what happens later in the game because you won't be around.

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_08] What this means is that first you need to seek out alliances as soon as possible. And one thing. So that was all in the rule. One thing Stephanie said to Gordon Holmes was that going to the first tribal council. People were making alliances and you just don't know exactly what you have to work with for the future. Yeah, that's true. But that's why. The rule says what I just quoted. It would be great if you immediately form something that gets you to the end.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_08] But first and foremost, you have to form something that gets you. Today for. Four.

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_03] Mm hmm.

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_02] And was that night three? The tribal? I know normally it would be in the thirty nine day game, but I'm twenty six.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_08] I believe it's still three days for the first tribal.

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. Well, it's so funny because, you know, when I got out there, I was playing at the pace of. Initially, I was playing at the pace of the broadcast rather than the actual game out there, which is obviously slower than the broadcast. And that's why, like, being say successfully do that. It was kind of shocking to me. She just has her put on the gas. But yes, Stephanie was she didn't have her put on the gas at all.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_06] I have a theory here, though. Hear me out, because I do think that. This calls into question the six person tribe, because lots of things call into question.

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_03] A lot of things do.

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_06] But I think in particular this this situation that we see you have now we know that say did not she wasn't too keen on Stephanie and Ponderosa because she talked about that. So that was already there's animosity already. She's not really liking Stephanie. And then so she dismisses her very quickly when Stephanie doesn't immediately jump on board.

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_06] And and then so say moves on to two other people and you have a tribe of six. And so the numbers to gather numbers becomes relatively easy. She's now Stephanie is building bonds with Mary. That's only one person. But when you have a tribe of six, it's like once you get to four, I feel like if we go back and I prefer two tribes of 10 because your options are so much larger because then four doesn't necessarily matter.

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_06] Right. If you pull four people in on the tribe of 10, there's still six other people. And the the permutations of it can be so much more interesting. And I know, again, based on the interviews from Ponderosa. Thomas loved Stephanie and Stephanie was loved Thomas. Now, if they had been on the same tribe together, we would have had a much different situation happening here, I think.

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_06] And so I do think that there is something to be said about the small tribes and the effect that it has on people's ability to scheme and plot. Now, I know Stephanie was going at a slower pace for sure, but it wasn't like she wasn't trying to formulate some type of a relationship with people who she was playing with. Clearly, Mary and then Kevin and Justin. And she was trying to build those bonds.

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_06] But but say really did have her her foot on that gas pedal and was moving very quickly. And so I do think that there's something to be said about just the small tribe size.

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_08] And there definitely is. But the thing is, this is not like a new twist. Stephanie came into the game knowing it and she still chose to play at that speed. Mm hmm. So, I mean, because of this, I have to tell you, you know, I mentioned that I just wrote the article for updating the rules for the RHAP newsletter.

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_08] I already have an addition, actually, to from from Stephanie here for for the next version of the rule. But I understand she didn't want to come in and go balls to the wall, you know, risking that she'd be voted out for doing too much.

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_08] But she overcorrected. She talked about wanting to, you know, you said, Jessica, she was having these conversations and she talked about wanting to have authentic conversations with people to get to know them, which is great. Not so much in the way she did it. Now, some of that I'll I'll discuss when we get to rule five, but. Mostly it was a situation where, as she told Mike Bloom, I think I was on a tribe of folks who really wanted a roadmap to not being the first boot.

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_08] Folks wanted to feel really secure. Well, how do you get people to feel secure? You lock in alliances with them. And we saw say, as you mentioned, talking to Stephanie and Mary and those two weren't giving say what she was looking for. So, boom, she's gone. And she did it so quickly. Say made this decision so quickly that she went to the guys before Kevin was even on the beach. Yeah.

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_08] Lock them into an alliance.

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Yeah, it's fast. It's amazing. But I think it was the right move. And, you know, it's like, yeah, bailing when she did, because it's like she could have found herself in an alliance of three or, you know, or and then not. And maybe she would have gone home. Who knows? But, yeah, I do think it's going to be going forward for a bit of a problem. And, you know, I you know what will happen with a swap or a merge. But but, yeah, in this instance, it was the right thing to do.

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. I mean, yes. You know, next week we may be back here saying up. She's getting applauded too much. But, you know, for now, at least, you know, she made the right move for for this. And and that's just how quickly it can happen. You know, Stephanie told Gordon Holmes she didn't want to directly tell people what to do, but was trying to lead them to come to the conclusion she wanted.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_10] Yeah.

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_08] Generally, you know, we've talked about this generally. I can see that being a good idea. But that's like halfway into the game, not when you just start and you don't know them there. There's not time for that sort of long term gardening of planting the seeds.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. I do think there's a balance, though, because you can't. Yeah. You can't like build a garden that fast. But at the same time to have like a successful, strong alliance, it has to be based on some kind of bonding of relationships and stuff. And I and I think honestly, though Stephanie was seemingly trying to do that, I think she was failing at it with talking about topics that, you know, say was so clearly not wanting to talk about.

[00:34:37] [SPEAKER_08] Mm hmm. Well, I mean, say wanted to talk about how do we align and play this game? Yeah. And yeah. Now, I will give I'm going to jump in.

[00:34:47] [SPEAKER_06] I just want to respond because I think say did say did just the opposite. Right. The relationship. And she doesn't she didn't create relationships with the people that she necessarily formed an alliance with. It was basically like we're doing this right. OK, yep. Yep. And now everyone's like afraid of.

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_08] But the thing is, now she has time if she wants to to create relationships.

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah.

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_08] Stephanie doesn't have time now to create alliances.

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah, I know. No way.

[00:35:15] [SPEAKER_08] So. Yeah, right. Right. Now, I will give credit to Stephanie for understanding something that we mentioned here with some regularity, as she said in every interview I saw that she knows if people are not scheming with you, they're scheming against you.

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_03] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_08] And she could see that people weren't scheming with her even when she tried harder. You know, of course, we know that's because, well, by that point they were already locked in. And why would you risk trying to change things up? You know, they we've all seen what can happen if you try. People have gone from from being perfectly safe. To out of the game. Yeah.

[00:35:58] [SPEAKER_08] In the first tribal council because they didn't like the way that the vote was going and they tried to change things. Mm hmm. And then they ended up as the target instead. Nobody in this group was going to risk that.

[00:36:09] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. And I can I can understand that.

[00:36:12] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. So. All right. We don't have anything else for this rule. We can move on to the second rule and very quickly through it, I believe, because it says not to scheme and plot too much and to keep your scheming secret. I if there's anything she was not doing, it was too much.

[00:36:33] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Too much talking about the stars, I guess. Yeah.

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_06] She is a lovely person, though. I do want to say that.

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_08] Oh, we don't judge loveliness here.

[00:36:46] [SPEAKER_06] I know. But, you know, here's the thing. And I was like, oh, my God, why did I? Why did I pick her as my winner pick? Like I was kicking myself. But then, like, I watched all of her exit interviews and I'm just like, she's just she just has like this thing about her. She's just I thoroughly enjoy her. So, yeah. Anyhow.

[00:37:06] [SPEAKER_02] And I hope she doesn't watch this because it's like, you know what? When we were playing and you go back and you just start looking at all the podcasts and listen to them all. Yeah. And you just want to like punch people through the speaker. And so I hope she takes some time before she actually watches this episode.

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Well, I think she will. I think she she seems to have such a good response to all of this. And she's like, listen, at least I got to be out there. And I was I was one of the chosen that got to play. And so she does seem to be taking it in stride. But still, like she does have, I think, a really great personality. And I can see why they wanted to put her out there. But, yes, I wish she had let her like I'm going to take charge, like fly.

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_06] I really wish she would have done that, because unfortunately, now we don't get to see any of that, Stephanie.

[00:37:54] [SPEAKER_02] And you're right. It all could have changed. She just been on a completely different tribe, you know, say, no. Yeah. She got the card she got.

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Yes. All right. Well, the third rule tells players to be flexible. David, how do you think Stephanie did in terms of this rule?

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_02] Well, I just OK, I can't hope she's not listening. But yeah, I mean, kind of a zero.

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_06] I mean, I gave it a number. He gave it a number.

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER_02] I mean, it's funny because like she knew what her flaw was and said she was going to sit on her hands and maybe perhaps a bit too idle in terms of the gameplay. But so she knew like what would get and get her in trouble. But she just wasn't great at, I think, managing that with the game. But yeah, I don't. Yeah. Yeah. Not great.

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. I mean, I agree. I feel like she tried to be flexible, but kind of got in her own way. Yeah. She like you said, she tried to play the game different from how she was in real life. I just think she swung too much in the wrong direction because, yeah, you don't want to go in and be bossy. But that doesn't mean you have to move so slowly in the alliance department. Yes.

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_06] And there is something to be said about not trying to change yourself too much when you play the game. It is it is always good to be mindful of your faults and your strengths and what people might perceive of you. One hundred percent. You should do that. But if you try to change too much of yourself, then you end up in a situation where you're not being authentic and people are not seeing you and they're not understanding you for what you can actually bring to the table.

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_06] And so I do think that future survivor players should be very aware of that as well, like rein it in a little bit if you have to, but don't put it away entirely because you might need it to actually stick around.

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. I had a little audio issues there. Yeah, you're fine. You're good.

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_08] I will say that from what she described in interviews, she did a good job of trying to talk to everyone in the tribe. So she wasn't limiting herself in that regard. It was just too late. You know, didn't amount to anything.

[00:40:04] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. And she did have a nice she did bond with Mary very well. Yes, that was strong. And so it worked for some people.

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_08] Right. Yeah. Yes. Yes. So the fourth rule tells players not to let their emotions control them. Jessica, what do you think of Stephanie in terms of this rule?

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_06] Well, I think this is an interesting kind of like mixed bag, right? Because she certainly could have really gone after say if she wanted to during that tribal council. I know there was some back and forth and I know that they were kind of really responding to each other. But I think and she also made it very clear in her exit process. She knew that she was the target.

[00:40:50] [SPEAKER_06] She knew that she was going home and she could have she could have really just lost it at that point. But so she kept her emotions in check. But maybe she needed to push a little bit harder at that point. Right. Like maybe at that point, you just kind of be like, well, I got to get in this because I seem to be the one everyone's focusing on. And so perhaps I need to play a little bit more with something, you know, with something other than just trying to form a bond or relationship.

[00:41:19] [SPEAKER_06] So I feel like she was definitely a mixed bag here because she kept it in check. But maybe she shouldn't have kept it in check.

[00:41:27] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Yeah. She needed to inject a little bit more energy into the emotions rather than be so laid back and just kind of letting the game happen around her.

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_06] Yes, exactly. Yeah. Mm hmm.

[00:41:39] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. I don't really have anything to add to that. I mean, she was playing a game based on making emotional connections. But I mean, you guys pretty much summed it up and. Look at us. All right. Well, the fifth rule reminds players they need to pretend to be nice and play the social game. And this is an interesting one for me because I think there were a few things at work here for Stephanie.

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_08] As we know and have discussed, she came into the game purposely downplaying her alpha personality side. She told Mike Bloom in the pregame that people who work with me would certainly say I'm an alpha. I have exactingly high standards. And I know from my own professional experience that I can't just show up that way. And then she joked about how she would be received if she came on day one and told everyone how to do everything and said something we heard from her on the show as well.

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_08] I'm going to literally have to sit on my hands and hold back and allow other people to be in charge. Now, props to her for recognizing that aspect of her personality and how it could rub people the wrong way. And in our preview, I said that for her, the key would be balance. I guess I should have said the key would be not being Jessica's winner. But I said the key would be balanced. Oh, my gosh. So much.

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_06] I know he's having his best evening like he's living his best life right now.

[00:43:07] Yeah.

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_08] And so, yeah, balance, including knowing that she couldn't show up on on day one and tell people what to do. And I concluded if she could maintain that balance, I think she'll be in a good spot. But she couldn't. We just talked about the you know, she swung the pendulum in the wrong direction. And it's not just that it was too far back. It's not like, you know, it went from this side, from this side to this side.

[00:43:35] [SPEAKER_08] It it kind of went off in weird angles, too, because she went from not wanting to be in charge to essentially letting people dictate how social how the social and strategic game would play out. And she was left behind.

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So say anything. So.

[00:43:59] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, no, that it absolutely. Yeah, it's it's funny. I mean, like she was like, I'm chomping at the bit ready to play. And yeah, you do it.

[00:44:11] Yeah.

[00:44:13] [SPEAKER_08] Now, get on your hands. Yeah. Another aspect that may have impacted things, or at least we were certainly led to believe it did was as as has come up a couple times already some of the topics she discussed. Now, part of this rule that we thankfully don't usually have to talk about as much anymore is keeping your controversial beliefs to yourself. And I guess maybe to her all the talk about Reiki and astrology isn't controversial.

[00:44:42] [SPEAKER_08] But let's take our minds all the way back to Marquesas. Wow. When Peter.

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_06] We're going way back.

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_08] Yes. You remember, Peter? Many people probably do not. He was the one who was going on about how to be holy, not H.O.L.Y. H.O.L.E.Y. as in controlling all your bodily holes.

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_06] I do remember this now.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_08] Yes.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_06] That's amazing. And oh, my gosh, that's just like it hit me.

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, he's still mentioned in the rules for that. And I mentioned people thought he was a fruit loop and quickly voted him out. But. We had Stephanie going on about the things that I mentioned and apparently not realizing, at least at first, how say was certainly reacting, which I have to say is similar to the way I would react if I had been in say shoes.

[00:45:37] [SPEAKER_02] Would you would you go up and get up immediately and go fill your water?

[00:45:40] [SPEAKER_08] Probably. Because it would be either that or say something that would, you know, not be good, you know, in the game.

[00:45:49] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. And I don't want to name names, but like our season, this stuff like there's some pretty, I would say, crazy stuff that came up that we largely ignored. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. But yeah, there's no fair.

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_08] No secrets on the podcast.

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER_02] I don't want to throw anybody under the bus. I know, but.

[00:46:07] [SPEAKER_06] No, no, but I know I do think, though, that there is something to be said about we could use a secret scene as kind of.

[00:46:20] But.

[00:46:20] [SPEAKER_06] An analogy to what you were just talking about or something very similar, right, where you have a group of people who are all talking about sports and how much they love sports and the sports that they play in the sports that they did play and when they played them and what they did and how they did. And Bianca hates it. She's like, I don't I didn't play sports as a theater kid. Like, stop talking about sports. And she was like, oh, with the whole conversation. But that's fine. Apparently, everybody can talk about sports.

[00:46:49] [SPEAKER_06] No one's going to give them a hard time talking about sports.

[00:46:51] [SPEAKER_02] I can't talk about sports.

[00:46:52] [SPEAKER_06] Well, I wouldn't. I mean, I've played some. But, you know, like, I'm not I don't know anything about football. You know?

[00:46:59] [SPEAKER_03] Yeah.

[00:46:59] [SPEAKER_06] But it's one of those situations where I feel like this was something that is is significant to Stephanie. And it's not necessarily something that is. I because you said it's not controversial. Like, so she wants to talk about.

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER_08] I said, I don't think she would think it's controversial.

[00:47:19] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. But oh, but but is it? I mean, it's astrology.

[00:47:23] [SPEAKER_08] Well, we're not going to get into asking.

[00:47:28] [SPEAKER_06] Is it something that because. Yes, because that's where I think there's like a fine line where like somebody might think that it's not some things are much more apparent that they are. And then. Right.

[00:47:38] [SPEAKER_08] So it wasn't just astrology. It was Reiki. And I can only imagine how Cedric, the actual surgeon, would have reacted to her talk of using magic to heal people.

[00:47:50] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. And like the way she was talking about it, too. It was as if. Oh, we all know this is true. Right. Right. But it's like, no. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. She was stating.

[00:48:03] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah, exactly. She was stating certain things as facts that are not facts. Yeah. Yes. And so. Yes. And the other thing is, you know, to compare it to Bianca. Now, if say had been on a tribe full of Stephanie's. My advice would be shut your mouth and go along with it.

[00:48:25] [SPEAKER_06] Right. Yeah. Bianca. You know, like, OK, I'm going to deal with this. Yes.

[00:48:29] [SPEAKER_08] And we've seen that before. I'm trying to remember who it was. I have a I have a draft clip like a survivor flashback. I'm trying to remember who it is, but he was on a very religious tribe and he was basically an atheist. And they're all like every meal. And that sounds familiar. Yeah.

[00:48:48] [SPEAKER_02] Was Matt Matt was mad on that season.

[00:48:50] [SPEAKER_08] There might be multiple have been multiple people who have done this. But yeah, in particular, he gave a confessional like I'm not religious. I don't, you know, pray to Jesus after forever.

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_06] I think that was with coach and and the other hands.

[00:49:05] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, that was that happened then, too. But I don't think it was. Yeah. But again, in those situations, you just for the sake of the game, you go along with it. But yes, you need to realize when you're the one that is standing out and. She could Stephanie could not read the room.

[00:49:25] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. And that is 100% fair. Yes.

[00:49:28] [SPEAKER_08] And and so, you know, on. On the recap podcast, Rob had Zach on Zach Wurtenberger, whose mother is Stephanie Wurtenberger, not related to Stephanie Berger. But. But.

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_08] You know, they talked about how if you have someone like a say on your tribe who is just like a force of nature going forward, you need to get close to them, not be their least favorite person.

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:50:01] [SPEAKER_08] But Stephanie didn't do that. She didn't see what was happening. And those conversations just kept going. She took them all the way to tribal council and even a tribal council. We saw Cedric kind of say something as she was mentioning it. And we saw the look on say's face, which I screenshot of and posted and tagged her in in blue sky. And she laughed at that. And, you know, so. Yeah, it's.

[00:50:31] [SPEAKER_08] It's not just that it was a controversial thing to say, it's that she didn't recognize it as such, and she didn't read the room in terms of what other people were saying, like a couple of seasons ago, we had the one player who was talking about, well, the aliens obviously both built the pyramids. Oh, yes. And then you had the one player going, oh, my God, what the heck is going on here?

[00:50:56] [SPEAKER_08] But did their best to not just be there going, no, they didn't, you know. So, yeah, it's just. Yeah.

[00:51:07] [SPEAKER_06] Well, and it's interesting that Stephanie was so aware of her, like the alpha component of her, and she didn't want to take over. And so she wanted to sit on her hands, but was very unaware of the other components of her life that she wanted to express and she wanted to put forth and wanted to talk about ad nauseum.

[00:51:28] [SPEAKER_06] And so I do think that it's, it's interesting that she seemed to be so cognizant of it over here, but then was just like, but this doesn't matter. And I can talk about all of that.

[00:51:41] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. What's really interesting though, but yeah, like, so she's like self-censoring some of herself, but like, yeah, if she just keeps censoring everything about herself, what's left? Well, right.

[00:51:50] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:51:52] [SPEAKER_08] That's true. Um, but yeah, I mean, it is tough. I mean, you know, Jessica has frequently talked about how she was advised to put Jessica in a box and you have to put some of yourself in a box, but yes, you can't hide your whole personality.

[00:52:09] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, no, you did great. You'd be great.

[00:52:13] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. And production hated me for it most of the time. Cause they were like, you got to give us something Jessica. And I was like, I told you I wasn't going to, I'm in a box.

[00:52:23] [SPEAKER_02] You can't, well, you're like, I'm about to lose my eye.

[00:52:26] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah.

[00:52:27] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. There's that. How about my eyeball? Yeah.

[00:52:31] [SPEAKER_08] Um, now one thing Stephanie told Dalton Ross was I had a hard time clicking with almost everybody really having these, what I would describe as fruitless conversations. And she said she spent time with everyone and felt like she was putting in the groundwork to get to know them quote, but I could never make any moves game wise. And of course, a key aspect of this rule that we mentioned is not just being social, but turning it into something for the game.

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_08] And despite what I said about her, not reading the room for some of her talk, I'm sure she was very social. But even if the others weren't put off the same way say was, you know, and maybe Cedric was, we don't know. But there still was the fact that she was too slow in getting around to the game part. And, you know, in her interview, she blamed them knowing about say's idle.

[00:53:28] [SPEAKER_08] She was like, oh, well that was bonding them together. And they were afraid of that. And they're like, I think it goes back to what we already discussed. They were already locked in. They had no reason to budge. If the idol played any role, I think it was just icing on the cake.

[00:53:43] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Yeah. But I, but I do get the feeling the gravity of someone with an idol who you're in an alliance with and wanting to definitely, you're just not going to switch. And they talked about like, oh, we could vote around and then find the idol the next day. But why create that homework for yourself?

[00:53:59] [SPEAKER_08] Right. I mean, when you've already got a solid four, you know? Yeah. So.

[00:54:06] [SPEAKER_06] Well, hopefully she doesn't like take mad control though. Cause it seems like that's what she wants to do. So there could be some head butting.

[00:54:15] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Sure. That's coming. Yeah. There's no way that's not coming. Right. Yeah. I can't wait for the merge. I mean, that's going to be just amazing. That's going to be the, I'll bet that's going to be the best episode of survivor episode is the merge episode of this season.

[00:54:33] [SPEAKER_08] All right. Well, we'll keep it in mind. Yeah. Uh, now we could go to the sixth rule, which warns against being too much of a threat. Now, David, by the end of millennials versus Gen X, you were of course seen as the biggest threat in the game. Winning strategy. You know, do you just people yelling about, you know, not voting you out and stuff like that. Did anything strike you about Stephanie in this regard?

[00:54:57] [SPEAKER_02] Uh, well, she was not a big threat. She was not, she was the exact opposite of that. Yeah. And, and well, okay. But you're probably you're, I think what you're remembering is, yeah, my first, uh, our first episode, uh, I volunteered for the puzzle and I whiffed to the puzzle and the immunity challenge. And, uh, and you know, I, that was the only, the thing is I actually am really good at puzzles, but I'm not good at like team puzzles and the pressure. And I just got in my head.

[00:55:25] [SPEAKER_02] And so I, I, with that puzzle and yeah, same, I made the same speech. I think that Stephanie made it. I'm sure you remember Jessica. I apologize for whipping the puzzle and everybody was very nice about it, but I was sure and certain I was going home. And, uh, and obviously she, she felt the same way because she picked, she did for someone who was not picking up on save vibes. Initially, she was picking up on the vibe that people were not happy with her thing, that puzzle way that she did. But what's funny is she actually didn't do terribly on the puzzle.

[00:55:54] [SPEAKER_02] She actually did quite well. They slowed down a bit, but, uh, then you have the team caught up, but I mean, really it was an honorable, uh, you know, play. I just think that they already didn't like her and the puzzle was probably a bit of an excuse to get rid of her.

[00:56:09] [SPEAKER_07] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:56:11] [SPEAKER_06] And I do think that to, you know, analogize it to David as well, your first few days. Um, I, but I think the big difference, at least from what we saw was you were like, oh shit, I'm in trouble. And we're willing to have those conversations with people about where you were and whether or not you were going to be voted out. I mean, we had a conversation about whether or not you had an idol and I was, and I was telling you to give it to me.

[00:56:39] [SPEAKER_02] You know what I mean? It was like, you were like, that was this morning in my head. I swear to God, like that. I, I can, I can take myself to that conversation like that. And it's today.

[00:56:50] [SPEAKER_06] That's amazing. It was a good time. Yeah, it was great. But, but I do, but you were such an interesting mix in this particular rule because coming into the game, I mean, I've, I've said it multiple times.

[00:57:03] [SPEAKER_06] You're like Kaiser Sose, as far as I'm concerned, like when it comes to the survivor, like just phenomenal in finding your place, but also recognizing your place, but then also taking over and really just doing it in such a beautiful way that you, I don't think we see very many survivor players pull off.

[00:57:20] [SPEAKER_06] So I can see how like Stephanie slow play was similar, but also you were willing to be like, Oh no, I need to, now I have to do something about this and I need to take charge and I need to talk to people and I need to say, I'm sorry. And what can I do to keep myself around? And so I, I think that's what she was definitely missing.

[00:57:41] [SPEAKER_06] And once she knew she was going home, she needed to really like say, okay, what can I do to change this? Is there anything I can do as opposed to just continuing to sit on her hands and let the game play?

[00:57:52] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, you're right. Because like, she just made sort of this global apology, but then that was kind of it. There wasn't a lot of, at least that we saw a lot of like one-on-one people like, Hey, and yeah, and it was too late.

[00:58:03] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. I guess you could say, you know, she was a potential threat in terms of future challenges. Um, I'll have more to say about that in a few minutes, but, um, yeah, other than that, I agree with where you were going originally, David, which was not so much.

[00:58:20] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. So, but you know, it's a tough game. Everybody, you know, right. Yeah. Yeah. If you're listening, Stephanie, we're sorry.

[00:58:32] [SPEAKER_08] Now the seventh rule covers idols and advantages and game mechanics. Um, she didn't know about say his idol and I don't think there's anything she could have done about it anyway. Uh, she did come into the game with the thought about the shot in the dark, which, you know, she had told Mike Bloom beforehand, uh, that the shot in the dark actually has a slightly higher good guy percentage to me. A shot in the dark actually would in the right scenario where there's a lot of players in the game and you're relatively confident their votes are coming at you.

[00:59:02] [SPEAKER_08] Be not a bad idea to use. And she stuck to it, you know, I mean, she knew the votes were coming her way and she played it and she played it properly. It didn't hit, but she was absolutely right to try it. If by, you know, some miracle, the two guys had flipped, you know, which we were led to believe they were thinking of, even though they really weren't, then her vote wouldn't have mattered.

[00:59:31] [SPEAKER_08] Right. Or her loss of a vote wouldn't have mattered. Uh, so yeah, she was right. It was, it was literally her only shot of making it past tribal council at that point.

[00:59:41] [SPEAKER_02] I never said I'd have played it and, and, oh God, I can imagine in that situation here, you're looking at all those scrolls like which one do I grab?

[00:59:49] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Oh, oh, I don't know. I might've been through something like that as did you Dave, except with rocks. Remember? Yeah.

[00:59:56] [SPEAKER_07] Yeah. Which one do we pick? Not that one.

[01:00:01] [SPEAKER_02] Not that one, Jessica. You were like third, second or third pick. So you actually. Oh, I was the first one. You were the first. Okay. So yeah, you got extraordinarily unlikely or bad, bad luck. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Terrible. There was, there was no bad luck for me in the back to ground.

[01:00:17] [SPEAKER_06] No, but you were all good to go, but I went first. The rest of you were like chilling. Like this is great. Yeah. You're welcome. You're welcome, everyone. Adam, you're welcome.

[01:00:29] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah, exactly. Well, we could go to appendix a, which is about the players keeping their end goals in mind. And we talk about voting out the weak than the strong and the weak than the strong. Now, right off the bat, we have the obvious situation that you already mentioned, David of Stephanie volunteering to the puzzle and then losing. And she acknowledged it, you know, saying when you volunteer for the only part of a challenge that everybody else gets to watch, you inherently take on a bunch of extra risk.

[01:00:58] [SPEAKER_08] And yes, and I'm sorry, David, but I'm going to say this. That's why you shouldn't do it. So go back in time and don't do that.

[01:01:07] [SPEAKER_02] Well, yeah, but you have to contribute something. Otherwise, what am I doing there?

[01:01:11] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, to be fair, looking at you compared to like, I don't know, Chris, you know, there people might have thought he seems more likely to be the puzzle guy than Chris. But I think it's better to do what Kevin did here, which is apparently I we didn't really see it.

[01:01:38] [SPEAKER_08] We heard them talk about it afterwards, but apparently someone said, Chris, you should do it. And he said that Chris, Kevin, you should do it.

[01:01:47] [SPEAKER_02] And he said, OK, there's I didn't I didn't like that for him to raise game. I think it ended up working out OK, but I didn't like that for his game because it just for what you were saying earlier, where he's missing the opportunity to forge these relationships in a very tight amount.

[01:02:03] [SPEAKER_08] Oh, no, I'm talking about the puzzle now, not the first time. I agree with you about the first time. Yeah. But the for the puzzle, when someone says. If you feel you're good at puzzles and someone says, how about you do the puzzle? I think it's OK to say yes, then. Yeah. Say something to the effect of. OK, if you want me to or something like that, where you make it clear, this is not my idea.

[01:02:32] [SPEAKER_02] Don't blame me. Yeah, that's I think you're right there. And I think what I did was I think I sold myself as I'm the puzzle wizard. And then I got this. Yeah. Sit down, everybody. It's fine. Yeah.

[01:02:47] [SPEAKER_08] Well, and then, you know, Stephanie, again, we didn't see the exact conversation, but she said it. You know, you know, she said that because say also said Stephanie raised her hand for the puzzle. And if you're going to put yourself to lead, you finish it. And then Cedric added that she panicked and spent too much time looking around instead of putting in pieces. And also said there is a clear reason to vote against her. While say also added that she doesn't listen to people.

[01:03:15] [SPEAKER_08] I think she was talking about during the challenge, but I'm not 100 percent sure about that. The thing is, even before Stephanie brought it up in her interviews, I was thinking about how they were the last tribe to get to the puzzle.

[01:03:33] [SPEAKER_06] And so, yeah, they actually did really bad with the other part with the crate because they had a lot of people pulling instead of pushing.

[01:03:41] [SPEAKER_08] You really only need one person pulling and everyone else pushing. And they had it the other way around almost. And so, you know, and then on top of it, you have one armed Kevin doing the puzzle.

[01:03:54] [SPEAKER_03] Yeah. Yeah.

[01:03:55] [SPEAKER_08] You know, and so he couldn't move as fast. And, you know, but the way people reacted, it was like it was like you said, David, they sped up, they got ahead and then they fell behind. So they kind of forgot that they were behind to begin with. And yeah, remember that at some point they were ahead and then they fell behind. It's momentum.

[01:04:22] [SPEAKER_02] It's momentum. Speed is the theme of this episode, I think. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:04:29] [SPEAKER_08] And now with that said, Jeff Probst seemed to take the side against Stephanie when he talked to Mike Bloom out on Fiji after Tribal Council. He said charity on the other tribe was taking a couple extra seconds to make sure the pieces were solid while Stephanie and Kevin were just slamming pieces in and it looked like it was going to fall over. He said they would say we came back and made it close. And then this is Jeff talking. I would say you came back and blew it again by panicking.

[01:04:57] [SPEAKER_08] It's pretty weird when Jeff is harder on a player than I am. Yeah.

[01:05:02] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. That is weird. Yeah.

[01:05:05] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Maybe it was a bad. He had a bad day. Yes.

[01:05:08] [SPEAKER_06] He did fall during that challenge, though. Yes. You didn't see that clip? No, I missed that. Oh, my gosh. He it looks like he hit it hard, too, because it like he he fell, but he was kind of behind where the crates were. But he bounced right back up and then started running again. But I was like, yes, someone actually caught it. And then they posted it and they were like, did Jeff just like bite it?

[01:05:33] [SPEAKER_06] And like you watch and like he he it looks like he falls like because he's running, but he's watching the player. So he's like running sideways. And then he also he like disappears and then he pops back up and he starts running in the direction.

[01:05:46] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, I know. Fascinating. After this. Yes. You have to go back and watch.

[01:05:49] [SPEAKER_06] It was I think I might. I don't know if I reposted or not, but it's definitely out there where it appears as if he falls, but he gets right back up.

[01:05:59] [SPEAKER_08] That's great. Now, of course, in this appendix, when we talk about voting out the week, we often emphasize that alliances and tribe dynamics take precedence over challenge performance. And in this particular case, there was a big overlap. I think I think, David, you hit on it already earlier. You mentioned, you know, Stephanie was easy to blame because she was already on the outs by that point.

[01:06:23] [SPEAKER_08] So, of course, you point to the person not in your alliance who say also didn't seem to particularly like. And who also volunteered for the puzzle, but didn't pull it off.

[01:06:35] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah.

[01:06:35] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Yeah.

[01:06:36] [SPEAKER_06] That's like a bad combination to like if you know you're on the outs and then to also volunteer for the puzzle, probably a bad combination.

[01:06:42] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, unless you think, OK, I need to be the one to win it so I don't get voted out. You know? Yeah.

[01:06:49] [SPEAKER_02] And to come within three pieces. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[01:06:53] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Brutal. Yeah. Now, in her interviews, Stephanie tried to suggest that she shouldn't have been targeted because she was on the bottom. She told Mike Bloom, I have no power. I have no influence. No one wants to talk to me. And looking at the game for the long term, we have seen that kind of thinking recently. You take the person on the bottom and you scoop them up. But I have been predicting that there would be a shift away from that kind of thinking after seeing recent seasons.

[01:07:20] [SPEAKER_08] And I note a few problems with this in this appendix. And I said recently, too many players have wanted to keep weak players around because they're supposedly easy to get rid of later. The problem is those players often know they're at the bottom and will flip at the first opportunity. And they take away a spot later if they get dragged along. So it's an interesting suggestion. You should have kept me because I was so far on the outs.

[01:07:49] [SPEAKER_08] And it's like the first thing you think of is no, because that's why we keep you. But this has started to ingrain itself in new era thinking, you know, somewhat of, oh, you're the one who's on the outs. So I'll keep you and get rid of someone else.

[01:08:04] [SPEAKER_06] I feel like that's what David did to me. Oh, I distinctly remember a confessional where you were like, do I save the person that no one wants to keep around?

[01:08:16] [SPEAKER_02] I was just, you know, philosophically weighing my options. Of course, of course, just weighing your options.

[01:08:21] [SPEAKER_06] Yes, that's what it was.

[01:08:23] [SPEAKER_08] You couldn't even give him your advantage. I know.

[01:08:28] [SPEAKER_06] I'm a horrible human being. I'm so very sorry. It's fine.

[01:08:32] [SPEAKER_08] It's fine. Now, Stephanie also suggested to Mike Bloom that the tribe was wrong because, quote, the three fields tenets of survivor are that you should never close off social options. The person on the bottom shouldn't know they're on the bottom. Or maybe they can have an inkling, but they're not 100 percent sure and they don't trust themselves. People should feel like they're part of things. And that's how you move forward with a really strong social strategy. Now, that's true in a general sense.

[01:09:00] [SPEAKER_08] But it really only applies in a situation where you are indeed moving forward with them or feel the need to blindside them. Now, for example, and this has already been brought up a little bit, but I hate to do it again. When you were being lied to, Jessica, and David used the idol for you. In this case, in that case, they were telling you, oh, you're with us. You're with us. You're with us.

[01:09:24] [SPEAKER_06] Mm hmm. Yes.

[01:09:25] [SPEAKER_08] Because they wanted to blindside you.

[01:09:28] [SPEAKER_06] Yes, 100 percent. And I was unwilling to listen to people like David Wright and Ken because I had not I didn't I didn't have a relationship with either of them at that point where when they were coming at me with this information, I was like, but you haven't really been like with me up to this point. And I don't know if I can necessarily believe what you're telling me.

[01:09:50] [SPEAKER_06] But then the people that I had formed a really close relationship with who I were like my number one ally at that point was Sunday. And oh, you're good. You're fine. You're fine. And everyone's assuring me that everything is OK. So I went with the people that had been playing with me and they were playing me. So it happens. It definitely happens. I should have listened to you, Dave. So thanks for saving me.

[01:10:17] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, in this case, the difference is the majority for Alliance knew what they were doing. It was happening immediately. There was no need to hide it from her. Yeah. I mean, she's like criticizing the way that they didn't hide it from her as if it was bad for their gameplay. But they voted her out. So what's the difference? They got the numbers. It's bad.

[01:10:37] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. You don't have to hide anything. Although I suppose it's well, they already knew they had an idol, too. It's not going to be two idols at the same time. So, yeah, I would say.

[01:10:46] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah.

[01:10:47] [SPEAKER_02] Sorry, go ahead. I interrupted you.

[01:10:48] [SPEAKER_06] Well, no, no, you're fine. This is where I go back to the 10-person tribe being a little more fun in a situation like this because you have more numbers to play with. You have more people to work with. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:11:00] [SPEAKER_02] Although, obviously, it makes it more uncertain. So it's like scarier. Yes.

[01:11:06] [SPEAKER_08] Maybe that will be something. We didn't even talk about this. Maybe that will be something that the fans can vote on, you know, just like they can vote. To get rid of Final Four fire making. You can.

[01:11:18] [SPEAKER_06] But they've already given it away that it will be three tribes because you voted for the colors.

[01:11:23] [SPEAKER_08] But one could be the merge buff.

[01:11:26] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, that's true.

[01:11:27] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, fancy. We want to get rid of fire making. We want to get rid of that. Yes.

[01:11:32] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, absolutely. Oh, gee. Come on. I like it. You're funny.

[01:11:37] Oh.

[01:11:38] [SPEAKER_06] Oh. No, we don't.

[01:11:41] [SPEAKER_08] Okay. And the worst part is this isn't a simple question. I don't know if you've seen this posted on social media or have gone and voted yourself. It's not a simple question of, do you want to keep it or not? It's like totally a one-sided slanted question. Like, Final Four fire making has given us some of the greatest moments in the show's history. Do you want to get rid of that? You know, you're like.

[01:12:10] [SPEAKER_03] Yeah.

[01:12:11] [SPEAKER_06] It's oozing attitude.

[01:12:14] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah.

[01:12:15] [SPEAKER_06] But you know what?

[01:12:16] [SPEAKER_08] If this happened in the courtroom, Jessica, you'd be like, objection. Yeah.

[01:12:20] [SPEAKER_06] Just a little bit. I do have a theory, though. I will say that because the fire making was introduced. Was it two, three seasons after hours?

[01:12:32] [SPEAKER_08] It was Triple H. It was Healers, Hustlers.

[01:12:36] [SPEAKER_02] 36, right?

[01:12:38] [SPEAKER_06] 35, 36. Sorry. So 36. So that's three. Somewhere in there. So here's the thing. If fire making was around in season 33, the person who would have won our season is on your screen if you're watching. Like, that would have happened.

[01:12:53] [SPEAKER_08] Oh, thank you. Yes.

[01:12:56] [SPEAKER_06] Wrong, David.

[01:12:57] [SPEAKER_08] No.

[01:12:57] [SPEAKER_06] David, you're not right about that. Because for a couple of reasons. I mean, David Wright was the fire guy out there. I mean, you made the fire all the time, and you were constantly keeping the fire going. And you were also the biggest target at that point. And so, I mean, you went out at four. And so I think that if that had been an option, that would have completely changed the result of our season.

[01:13:25] [SPEAKER_08] Well, except all they would have done is what has happened since then. They would have voted him out sooner.

[01:13:30] [SPEAKER_06] Well, but if it had been sneakily introduced, it wasn't 36, right?

[01:13:36] [SPEAKER_03] Yes.

[01:13:36] [SPEAKER_02] And you're right. It was. That was news to them. You're right.

[01:13:39] [SPEAKER_03] Oh, right.

[01:13:39] [SPEAKER_06] They had no idea. So I do think that perhaps the inspiration for fire making is sitting right here.

[01:13:47] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, certainly one of them. I mean, you know, they, they, Jeff, you know, Jeff switched it from final two to final three because people kept going out in third place. He, you know, you know, he made fire making at final four because people kept going out in fourth place. Well, guess what, Jeff? Now they're going out in fifth and sixth. You know, it just pushes it back.

[01:14:08] [SPEAKER_02] I mean, the truth is that you're really just highlighting a mistake I made because I really should have gone to Ken and said, Hey man, can we just send, send me to fire and, and, you know, and let that decide it that way. And that would have had, you know, less for him, his game, less bad blood. Not that whatever I was going to vote Adam. I felt Adam deserved it, but like, um, but that would have been better for Ken's game too, to let me have that chance rather than just, you know, vote me out the way he did. But yeah.

[01:14:35] [SPEAKER_02] Uh, well, and the truth, I, the way I normally think of it these days though, because the way it did happen where I, because I couldn't stack 12 balls, I lost a million dollars.

[01:14:45] [SPEAKER_06] But also, and because I know that we're talking about a different season now, but I'm reminiscing. No, no, no. But I, but I appreciate that this is being brought up because that also highlights Adam's game in that moment, because Adam was only worried about you and was making sure that he had his stack just a little bit higher than yours, but wasn't trying to go, didn't want to keep making it higher to run the risk of it falling. He was only keeping an eye on you, which also highlights how great his game was because

[01:15:15] [SPEAKER_06] he understood it's not about me having to win. I just need to make sure he doesn't. And so I just need to keep my eye on David. And so I think that like that gameplay between both of you was just incredible because everyone knew you got to watch David and Adam knew I got to watch David and, and Adam did the right thing and got you out, which allowed him to win. So it's just, it is fascinating how Survivor plays itself out, but I appreciate it more

[01:15:42] [SPEAKER_06] when it gets to play itself out in that way, as opposed to necessarily fire making. And that's why I have such a hard time with the fire making component, because it should be about the social bonds and the gameplay. And Ken had to make a really big decision and had to go against his number one guy and, and vote you out. And so that was a hard emotional thing to do. So there's something to be said about letting people have to play, you know, with their emotions in that moment, tug on the heartstrings, but make the hard choices and, and try to go for the win.

[01:16:11] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, you're right. You are sort of, uh, robbing an emotional moment on TV with, with that. I mean, I guess you still have the emotion, like who's going to actually be able to do it, but it does. Yeah. I, I hear what you're saying, but I feel like the Survivor is like the constitution. It can, it can evolve and change, you know, it's a living, breathing, uh, show.

[01:16:32] [SPEAKER_08] So yeah, until it goes back in time, you know, a hundred years. Um, talking about Survivor, of course.

[01:16:44] [SPEAKER_06] Uh, yeah.

[01:16:46] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Um, all right. Well, uh, after that, uh, slight tangent into why David lost, um, sorry, sorry. No, no, no, no. It was Jessica. No, no, it was fun.

[01:17:00] [SPEAKER_06] It was worth a mention. Absolutely.

[01:17:03] [SPEAKER_08] Um, we don't have people on here to not talk about them, you know, right.

[01:17:07] [SPEAKER_06] That's true.

[01:17:08] [SPEAKER_08] You know, but, uh, it is time to wrap things up for Stephanie. So David, what are your final thoughts on her?

[01:17:15] [SPEAKER_02] Uh, my final thoughts, Stephanie, uh, I wish you the best. Uh, but yeah, I, I feel that she, her, her, her mistakes and flaws are very obvious. Um, it's a, it's a, her game is actually a, even though it's only an episode long, her game is worth watching for all the lessons that can be taken and gleaned from it. Um, and especially just how important the beginning of that game is and what to do, what not to do.

[01:17:44] [SPEAKER_02] And, uh, and I'm sad for her that she had to be the, an example of that, but she is a great lesson in, in, in, in, how to play the game. Just not in the way she hoped. Yes. That's true.

[01:17:58] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, Stephanie. I'm so very sorry for making you my winner pick because, you know, let's go right here. It's kind of the blame just a little bit. If we are relying, that's right. We're, if we're relying on the stars and all of these things, uh, butterfly effect, she probably believes in that as well. Right. So perhaps that's what it boils down to is the butterfly effect and Jessica are in full force on this particular season.

[01:18:22] [SPEAKER_06] But I will say this, Stephanie, I think that you were a joy personality wise, just the way that you really like, I don't know, there's something really captivating about you and your interviews. And I thought if she can bring that self that she has, that she knows she has and figures out the balance and doesn't necessarily take over, but, but tries to take over just a little bit.

[01:18:47] [SPEAKER_06] She'll probably find herself in a good place because as of late people with bigger personalities who are a little bit different, a little bit quirky have been doing very well in the survivor world because people are a little fascinated and charmed by them. And so I thought maybe that's what she will bring to the table. Unfortunately, she found herself on a tribe with Sai or say, excuse me. And, uh, say was not too keen on Stephanie from the start, even way back in Ponderosa.

[01:19:16] [SPEAKER_06] So I do think that she was kind of in a bad spot to begin with, with the people that were on her tribe because say it was really leading the charge. And unfortunately, Stephanie, you picked the wrong scroll. I picked the wrong rock. She was my winner. It's all just bad. I'm so sorry. It's terrible. It's a bad combination, but kudos for you for having a good response to it, feeling good about it.

[01:19:43] [SPEAKER_06] Despite the fact that you went out first, as you said, somebody had to, and also you did say no one should pick me as my, or as their winner pick. So I faulted there as well.

[01:19:54] [SPEAKER_08] You didn't listen.

[01:19:55] [SPEAKER_06] I didn't listen. I didn't listen.

[01:19:57] [SPEAKER_08] I remember now you mentioning that. Yes, I did.

[01:20:00] [SPEAKER_06] I did. So sorry, Stephanie. I, I might've caused your demise. Yeah.

[01:20:06] [SPEAKER_08] Well, you could say the stars did not align for Stephanie. And I'm sure there are some who would say that. I'm of course not one of them. Earlier, I mentioned the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Say is definitely the hare coming hot out of the gates. Maybe at some point she'll slow down and take a nap such that other people will catch up. But Stephanie didn't have time to play the tortoise game. I always say rule one is rule one because it's the most important.

[01:20:34] [SPEAKER_08] And I quoted part of it earlier that talks about the necessity of playing from the get-go. Say had locked in a majority alliance that included Kevin before Kevin even knew that he was there. And it's, it's not like this is the first time we've seen that happen. Just last season, people were rushing to make alliances both with and without Asia while she was still out there trying to get them supplies. This is the speed of the game.

[01:21:01] [SPEAKER_08] The first three days are not for tortoises. Stephanie recognized that at least somewhat by the time she was voted off, as she said in her final words, could I have hit the beach a little harder? Could I have started forming alliances a little faster? Maybe. And while she didn't fully commit to it, I at least like this better than the people who come off and say, I wouldn't do anything differently. She recognized there were things she could have done differently.

[01:21:31] [SPEAKER_08] It was just too late when she saw it. At Tribal Council, we saw a heated disagreement between Stephanie and Say over whether Stephanie was playing hard enough. As Say said, while Stephanie was looking at the stars, Say was at the well working on relationships. Quote, if you always have your head in the clouds, when do you have time to be in reality? Obviously, Stephanie didn't take that very well and said everyone there was playing with a capital P. And I think in her mind, that was true.

[01:21:59] [SPEAKER_08] The thing is, they were playing very different games. She was playing the long game, but she only had a short time. For his part, Jeff tried to take a neutral position during Tribal Council, as he should. He said, Say has her own opinion. Stephanie has hers. Nobody is right or wrong. That's the point of Survivor. You take a group of people and you force them to figure it out and then vote someone out. But no, one person was right and the other was wrong.

[01:22:26] [SPEAKER_08] One person followed the advice in my rules, especially rule one. One didn't. During the episode, Stephanie said of Say, I see her wanting to get out there and play. And she seems to want to play hard. And time will tell who does have the better strategy. Time told. And that is why Stephanie lost.

[01:22:50] [SPEAKER_06] Goodness, I always appreciate you.

[01:22:55] [SPEAKER_03] Time told. I like that.

[01:22:56] [SPEAKER_06] That was wonderful. Right? I know, he's so good. Time told. That's good.

[01:23:03] [SPEAKER_08] Well, there we are. Yes. Yes. Now, before we move on to our predictions for the next episode.

[01:23:10] [SPEAKER_06] I'm not doing it.

[01:23:11] [SPEAKER_08] Yes, you are. I want to let everyone know that next week, our guest will be RJP's own Jordan Kalish. Now, hopefully he doesn't bring too many trivia questions because we're not really good at that.

[01:23:27] [SPEAKER_06] No, we're terrible at trivia. Yeah.

[01:23:29] [SPEAKER_08] He will bring a lot of fun either way. I also want to remind people that the rules we just discussed are, as mentioned before, available in poster form and T-shirt form and checklist form. Right. And so, yes, you can just go to Rob has a website.com slash YX lost feed to find all of that. Where, Jessica, can people find us other than?

[01:23:58] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, yes. So, I am at Jessica Lewis 89 on Blue Sky. And I will also mention I'm at Jessica Lewis 89 on Twitter. I understand that a lot of people are shifting over to Blue Sky. So, come on over and join us at Blue Sky. I'm also at Jessica Lewis 6789 on Instagram. I haven't really been too active over there. Social media is kind of slipping by the wayside for me as of late. And I apologize.

[01:24:22] [SPEAKER_06] But I do live tweet during the episodes and I do follow up throughout the week for various survivor content commentary. However, I know we have David Wright here who will likely indicate where you can find him. David Bloomberg, I know you can find all over the social media universe because he's everywhere. And then someone has a link tree to let everyone know where you can find him. And I think you actually removed your Twitter from your link tree, if I'm not correct.

[01:24:50] [SPEAKER_03] I did.

[01:24:51] [SPEAKER_06] So, he has a massive link tree. So, you can find him on all of these social media platforms. David, take it away.

[01:24:57] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, I'm mostly. Oh, so you, David, right? Yeah, you go first. I'm mostly on Instagram and Blue Sky. That's about it. So, yeah. Real Dave Wright. I came up with that handle well before I was ever on TV. And now it seems like pretentious and egotistical. But Real Dave Wright. There are many Real Davids. And I'm just one of them.

[01:25:17] [SPEAKER_08] Were there a lot of people pretending to be you before you became well-known?

[01:25:21] [SPEAKER_02] It was just. Well, the problem was it was such a common name. And then there was the Mets player. And it was just hard to find a handle that I could get true without putting like a bunch of weird numbers after it. So, I just came up with real.

[01:25:33] [SPEAKER_08] I think one of my sons did something similar. I think he was trying to come up with something. And I said, well, you can add real to the beginning. And he thought that was funny. So, he did it. Yeah. Okay, good. There you go.

[01:25:42] [SPEAKER_06] You're not alone.

[01:25:43] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. So, yes. As Jessica mentioned, I am on. You can find me at Linktree slash David Bloomberg with a dot before the EE in the URL. Or you could find me at Blue Sky directly as at David Bloomberg. I encourage anyone at any of the other places to come to Blue Sky for all your survivor discussions. It is just a better place.

[01:26:07] [SPEAKER_08] I have been posting on video sites at least four, sometimes more than four, reality TV short videos every day. You can find them on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram where I am at David Bloomberg TV. Right now, they are a mix of, of course, U.S. Survivor, Australian Survivor, including many Y Blank Lost videos on Australian Survivor. But the Traders U.S., Deal or No Deal Island, the new show Extracted.

[01:26:37] [SPEAKER_08] Excuse me. And then occasional ones from other shows. And then, of course, Amazing Race starts next week. So, I'm retired and I don't have time to do all of this. So, now I also posted a couple of podcast flashbacks to, you know, where people were singing our praises to encourage people to listen to this podcast.

[01:26:59] [SPEAKER_06] So, oh, yes. Cassidy, thank you.

[01:27:01] [SPEAKER_08] Cassidy and Dr. Jeremy Faust.

[01:27:04] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, yes. Yes. And he's going to be. Oh, I don't know if I should mention.

[01:27:08] [SPEAKER_08] He's coming up in a few weeks. Yes. Okay.

[01:27:10] [SPEAKER_06] I wasn't sure we were. Yeah. I so love him joining us as well. So, that's lovely.

[01:27:18] [SPEAKER_08] So, yeah. You know, come over there, especially YouTube. I'm trying to get to 50,000 subscribers. So, you know, getting close. Come on over there. Also, in addition, I have been co-hosting the Tradar podcast for the Traders US. And that's T-R-A-I-D-A-R. You can find that wherever you get podcasts or in video form on YouTube.

[01:27:45] [SPEAKER_06] He's everywhere.

[01:27:46] [SPEAKER_08] I am everywhere. I should also have. I was a guest on the Silent Podcasts Australian Survivor podcast. I don't know if that's out yet or not. But with Sarah Carradine. So, I was on that. This week. This is the fifth of five podcasts this week.

[01:28:08] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, my gosh. That's a lot.

[01:28:10] [SPEAKER_08] So.

[01:28:11] [SPEAKER_06] It's a hell of a retirement.

[01:28:13] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. Yeah. Not to mention all the videos, like I said. And the article. And yeah. So.

[01:28:19] [SPEAKER_06] Blot.

[01:28:20] [SPEAKER_08] Yes. So, now it is time. We have, you know, filibustered enough for Jessica. Gosh. It is time for predictions.

[01:28:28] [SPEAKER_06] Well, we know that I'm bad at this. So. I should have stuck with the rocks, right? I did that. Yeah. It didn't work out for me very well either. So.

[01:28:36] [SPEAKER_08] David, do you want to go first or last with your predictions?

[01:28:40] [SPEAKER_06] I'll go last. I'll go last. Oh. Power move. Okay. Well. Why don't we make Jessica go first? Because she's so good at picking things first.

[01:28:48] [SPEAKER_08] I was going to say I'll go before Jessica because I'm such a nice guy.

[01:28:52] [SPEAKER_06] I would love that. Why don't you go first and then I'll try to figure out who I'm going to pick.

[01:28:56] [SPEAKER_08] Okay.

[01:28:57] [SPEAKER_06] I'm looking at my pictures.

[01:28:59] [SPEAKER_08] It's difficult for me to suggest that the Siva tribe will lose a challenge. Anytime soon. If ever. I mean, they have like Captain America on, you know, on their, their tribe. So.

[01:29:10] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. But they didn't do that. Well, I was surprised. Like they did well, but like, they still seem to like struggle a little bit, but maybe they'll bring it around.

[01:29:17] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. So I'm just going to, you know, for now dismiss the idea. So I'm thinking it'll either be Loggie or Vula again. If it's Loggie, the first episode sure seems to have set up that stars on the outs because she was off looking for idols to the point that people were talking about her. And, uh, Shaheen said she didn't seem ready for the social part of the game. And then of course we talked earlier about the three guys being together and looking for a fourth.

[01:29:47] [SPEAKER_08] So it seems to be set up for star to be knocked out. Um, if it's Vula again, sure. Seems like Mary is in trouble, which would make a lot of people on the internet. Very angry. Um, I, that may be, but I don't see a reason if they lose for the solid four to go any other direction unless say does something truly outrageous.

[01:30:13] [SPEAKER_08] Um, so I'm going to predict a Loggie loss just for the sake of variety and hope that we don't have the same tribe losing over and over again situation. Um, I guess it's possible star could be successful in finding an idol and then decoding it and then change things around. But since I have no idea who she would vote against, if she does that, I will just go the

[01:30:42] [SPEAKER_08] obvious route and say that star, uh, will follow the woman who was looking up at the stars.

[01:30:49] [SPEAKER_06] I just want to know who, who decided that this was the way that these tribes would be stacked. That's what I want to know.

[01:30:58] [SPEAKER_08] Jeff claimed that he doesn't look at muscles and stuff like that and didn't even think about it.

[01:31:03] [SPEAKER_06] Uh, maybe you should because, Oh my gosh. I mean, the, it is, it is so like heavy on Siva and Loggie as far as I think there's like, like all-star athletes on Loggie and Siva is like the same, you have marathon runners and people like, like, even though Chrissy is the oldest one, she's a firefighter who carries a 65 pound, uh, you know, equipment on her back when she goes into houses.

[01:31:31] [SPEAKER_06] Like these are like, these are strong, strong people. And not that I want to say people on Vula are not, but it's definitely unfair. I'm just going to throw that out. Like, I just feel like somebody did not look at this and go, Hmm, this makes sense.

[01:31:48] [SPEAKER_02] I mean, three people. Yes.

[01:31:51] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. Right. I mean, so why?

[01:31:54] [SPEAKER_08] It could be worse. And Australian survivor is brains versus brawn too. And two of the challenges, they were reward challenges. They weren't immunity, but two of the challenges so far have been pure brawn things like coming at each other and wrestling them. Yeah. And it was like, I mean, it was like, why do you even put these here? It just, just hand, hand the reward to brawn. And why are we even bothering to watch this? You know?

[01:32:22] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. And I think that's less of an issue with American survivors. Yes. Because it is just all about that puzzle at the end. Right.

[01:32:27] [SPEAKER_06] It really is. Those damn puzzles.

[01:32:30] [SPEAKER_02] Just don't volunteer for it.

[01:32:31] [SPEAKER_06] No, don't volunteer. Don't volunteer. Let someone else volunteer you to do it. And then you can blame them for volunteering you.

[01:32:38] [SPEAKER_07] Yes.

[01:32:41] [SPEAKER_06] So I'm going to just go with Vula because I feel like they're not stacked like the other two tribes are. Although we did see some really nice content. Something's happening on Loggi where people are getting frustrated and angry. But Red Herring, right? They're just wanting to look somewhere else. So Vula and I am going to go out on a limb and say, I do think that Say frustrates people and does something and they do decide, you know what? She has an idol. Let's see if we can make her flush it.

[01:33:09] [SPEAKER_06] Because there also seem to be some discord happening in the what's going to happen next week preview relative to their tribe. So that's my pick. I'm going to go with Vula and it's Say.

[01:33:22] [SPEAKER_08] Say goodbye is what you're saying.

[01:33:24] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. Because she won't know enough to flush the idol because she thinks she's in control and thinks she's running things. So that's my, and I will be wrong. So it's totally fine.

[01:33:36] [SPEAKER_02] Well, I think it will be Vula as well. I think like once you lose a challenge, you can get in that headspace and it becomes even easier to lose it the next time. Having that, that was my experience on Edge of Extinction. Just like we just kept losing and losing and losing until eventually you're just like, I don't think it's even possible to win anymore. It just can't be. And that's how you go into every challenge. So I think that they're in a bad headspace right now.

[01:34:05] [SPEAKER_02] And I do think if they do lose, I believe this is the colder take. I do believe it will be Mary because she just doesn't have a lot of friends left. And I think that, yeah, I, the idols have threatened everything, but I think with the alliance that they have, they're going to want to keep her a little bit longer, knock out Mary, and then they can worry about idol shenanigans. But that's, that's, that's my pick.

[01:34:27] [SPEAKER_08] There we go. Okay. All right. Well, as we wrap up, I want to encourage people to check out the RHAP patron program at robhazwebsite.com slash patron. You can get access to all the special podcasts that are put out just for patrons. There are a lot of them. Uh, plus the Facebook groups and discord. Uh, and of course you get first access to, uh, you know, live show tickets like Boston, uh, which the patrons bought up almost all of.

[01:34:53] [SPEAKER_08] Um, and you can support shows like ours and everything in the network by becoming a patron at robhazwebsite.com slash patron. Also make sure you're subscribed to all of the RHAP survivor podcasts by going to we know survivor.com. You can see all the various survivor podcasts there. You can select your podcast service of choice. There's a whole list of them and you will find a ton of great content. You've got the know-it-alls, the B and B survivor international and more.

[01:35:22] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. And we would like to thank everyone at RHAP, including Scott, Jess, and Doug for all of the incredible work that you do in the entire RHAP team, not just for the content here on YBlank Loss, but all of the incredible content that you make available for all of the reality TV content and shows. And there's just so much stuff out there. It's, it's crazy. So thank you for all the work that you do on that. Thank you, David Bloomberg for another incredible episode. And thank you, David Wright for being here.

[01:35:52] [SPEAKER_06] It's so lovely having you join us. And I can't believe it's been, it's taken us this long to get you here in this space. I can't believe it's, yeah.

[01:35:59] [SPEAKER_02] Thank you so much. No, this was a pleasure. I would come back. So, you know, I'm not sure you choose from, but I would come back.

[01:36:05] [SPEAKER_06] No, listen, I love that because it is, it is something that we're always looking for. And so it's great to have such a happy, happy, enjoyable face to look at.

[01:36:13] [SPEAKER_08] David, you're right.

[01:36:14] [SPEAKER_06] Yes. That's right. That's right. So thank you so much for being here. You were fantastic. And I think the world of you. So thank you.

[01:36:22] [SPEAKER_02] Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure being here. And yeah, this was a blast.

[01:36:26] [SPEAKER_08] Good, good. Yes. Thank both of you. Thank you, you know, Jessica for joining me again on this journey as we begin it here. Thank you, David, for, you know, I messaged you and you're like, yes, yes. So, yeah. So, you know, we will see everyone in a week along with Jordan Kalish. So until then, hopefully talk to you on social media. Bye.

[01:36:52] [SPEAKER_11] Bye. Bye. Bye.

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