One contestant heads to the Edge of Extinction, and another one leaves.
There are a lot of weird things happening in the world today.
There are celebrities that really shouldnt be singing recording themselvessinging John Lennonsongs in weird hats.
People are fighting over 1-ply toilet paper.
My teenagers both hung out with me the other night.
Like I said, weird things.
- She helped double-check Parvati Shallow was not engulfed by flames.
(Admission: I actually meant to write Peace out but had a typo.
However, after careful consideration, Peach out, bitches!
is much better, so I decided to leave it.)
You dont have to convince me, Sandra told her confused island-mates.
I already know this is not for me.
Sorry yall, I cant be here.
Im not good at the challenges.
(Hard to argue that point.)
Im happy to go into retirement and know that I did the best I could with what I had.
At the end of the day, Im still the queen, and Ill always be the queen.
And that is the question we must all debate now, I suppose.
Its become her calling card.
How many times have we heard her say it: The queen stays queen.
But can the queen stay queen after quitting the game?
And make no mistake: This is quitting the game.
Same as Keith and Wendy, who raised the sail back in season 38.
Was she still reeling from the Denise bomb that detonated earlier in the evening at Tribal Council?
Had she taken a night to sleep on it, would she have changed her mind?
Were used to people quitting by now.
It’s a quit, but not all quits are the same.
Yes, having of the faces on theSurvivorMount Rushmore raise the sail is kind of crushing.
And I was momentarily stunned by the decision.
But then I thought a bit more about it.
Sandra is all business.
But Sandra doesnt care about any of that.
Sandra is about the money, baby!!!
Whatever, you get the point.
Sandra wanted the million, and when she found out it wastwomillion, she wanted that even more.
And the thing about it is… shes right!
She was not going to get back in the game.
Now, I want to be crystal clear on something: I don’t likeanyonequitting the game.
So to watch someone throw that opportunity away is a huge bummer.
But Im not Sandra.
Sandra is all business.
Which is kind of the most Sandra thing imaginable.
But also, after further reflection, its not so surprising either.
So back to the question at hand: Does the queen stay queen after quitting?
Thats up to you.
Meaning it is up to everyone to decide for themselves.
Except perhaps this: Its a bad time to be an old-schooler onSurvivor.
That means the longest-tenuredSurvivorplayer still on a tribe is Sophie at season 23!
Thats crazier than my man Joe Exotic!
What gives, you ask?
Is it because the newer players were simply more used to the speed of the current game?
Is it due to the fact that the older, more revered contestants were seen as the bigger targets?
Or were the new schoolers just better at creating pre-game alliances than the OGs?
Yes, its crushing that folks like Parvati, Ethan, and Yul are out already.
But no, it does not mean we need the Edge of Extinction to keep them around.
Thats selling the other winners short.
Kim Spradlin gave the best single-season performance inSurvivorhistory.
You telling me you dont want to watch what she can do post-merge?
Denise Stapley just pulled off one of the most epic moves ever.
Jeremy Collins and Sarah Lacina are straight-up assassins.
Sophie is an immensely underrated player on all three levels social, strategic, and challenge.
Because if they want the winner of winners to feel truly earned, then they need to show it.
Yes, Rob, Tyson, and the others are all great.
But theyre not the only great ones out there.
Oh, I kid cause I love!
Its who I am!
I would join any alliance Nick was a part of, no matter how stupid the name.
Buffs R Us…?
No, sorry, I cant do Buffs R Us.
Thats a step too far.
But pretty much anything else and Im good.
Low Ex-pectations
Ever dated someone you worked with?
It tends not to end well.
Wendells nightmare edit continued unabated this week.
Wendell told Yul how much he appreciated theCook Islandschamp being honest and bringing his concerns to him.
Cut to the next morning, and Wendell apologizing to Michele for making her feel uncomfortable.
It can get messy, and were seeing that messiness right now.
Ive spent enough time with Wendell to know hes a good dude.
And my time withMichele has been nothing but a pure delight.
And now he is paying the price.
Quest for Fire (Tokens)
Guess what?
There was a reward challenge that took place that we never saw.
How do I know this?
But it never made it to air.
That is not unusual.
It has happened before and will happen again.
That way, you get the televised equivalent of a Dalton Ross mix-tape: all killer, no filler.
(First step to a genius mix-tape?
Must be recorded on a 90-minute Maxell XLII.
Get that TDK garbage out of my face.
And dont even come at me with Certron.)
The point is if the crew determined the reward challenge wasnt all that exciting… then it probably wasnt.
Will those tokens prove to be a difference in the game later?
But now Rob is in a pretty good position (along with Natalie) if they do.
Especially seeing as how Adam and the Ants Stand and Deliver remains a staple of Dalton Ross mix-tapes.
(Not as a first song, mind you.
More like, say, track 4.
Song order placement is crucial on any mix-tape or playlist.
yo consider this next time you callously pick the shuffle option.)
A true poet, ladies and gentlemen.
Its wordplay, people!
You cant spell adamant without Adam!
And adamant he was this episode.
Adamant that Ben or Sarah had an idol.
Definitely one of those two.
And definitely not anybody else.
If Im wrong, Ill feel like a real idiot, Adam told us.
But there are few times inSurvivorwhere I feel as confident as I do about this.
(Narrator: It was.)
Waterlogged
I love, love, love when tribes employ completely different strategies in a race.
And if someone happened to wipe out along the way, that was just gravy.
Oh, thanks, Michele!
She totally did not make it all the way across.
She needs to go back to the beginning!
God, I am such a jerk sometimes.)
They meant it came down to Wendell and Michelle for Sele vs. Jeremy and Denise for Dakal.
In the end, it came down to a single second, with Dakal prevailing.
Maybe there was some other trash talk we didnt see.
I have no idea, but saying, Yo, Probst.
I need his attention, hardly qualifies as trash talk to me.
Still, an awesome finish to a very cool challenge.
Seemingly much cooler than the reward one not even exciting enough to make it on the air.
Misdirect
The entire episode made us believe Wendell would be the next to go.
Because of his attitude towards Michele.
Because he came on too strong at the previous Tribal.
Because he allegedly talked smack at the challenge.
So, naturally, it wasnt.
You all know I am a big Yul guy.
you might helpgrow that total by donating right here!)
No, my respect for Yul is all about his mind and strategic game theory.
Which is probably why it was the smart move to get rid of him.
At one point, I actually yelled, Dude, stop talking!
at my TV, making me seem like a crazy person who yells at his TV.
Market economy?!?
Are youaskingto get voted out?
Sometimes one can be best served by dumbing it down a bit to avoid attention.
Leave it to Yul to even consider that option.
What do you make of Sandra quitting?
Think Nick and Michele made the right call?
Upset that the old schoolers are all gone?
Until then… PEACH OUT, BITCHES!
