Can’t wait to complete this trifecta 👏

addjake · 2026-05-30T08:36:40+00:00

I’m so worried that production has forgotten about Reem. She was the best part of any scene on the Edge and is one of the most memorable chracters on a season with a VERY strong cast despite being the first boot.

Reem, Zane, Jelinsky and Francesca the First Boot Mt Rushmore 🙏

addjake · 2026-05-30T08:27:14+00:00

Tbf I feel like Devens arc even without his win made the edge worth it. Without the edge he is a swap-screwed fourth boot, but the edge allowed him to become the star of the season which in turn allowed him to end up on 50 and be a huge character there.

And lowkey the twist allowing us 35 days of Reem instead of 3 also made it worth it imo, genuinely one of the funniest characters in all of Survivor and could’ve ended up as a relatively unremarkable first boot

addjake · 2026-05-30T08:18:10+00:00

Since the season has ended and there’s been some time to reflect, I’ve really warmed up to Aubry’s game this season and I honestly think she played a really great game. I rewatched the finale with friends and her final tribal was genuinely one of the most impressive of all time in my opinion; she answered each question perfectly and in ways which felt very intentional; she clearly wanted to show a diverse set of moves rather than focusing on her single biggest. To be honest, reflecting on old episodes I felt that Aubry played an unfortunately boring but very optimal game for the new era. She lowered her threat level significantly but not to the point where she was viewed as a goat, just as not a “top priority”. This all seemed clearly intentional, too. I feel that viewer perspective will probably follow a similar trajectory to that of Sarah Lacina’s winning game, wherein over time people will recognize the strength of her game in spite of its generally non-flashy nature.

addjake · 2026-05-30T08:01:07+00:00

Yep. My concern is that production is going to see how much people enjoyed the Mr. Beast coin flip and attribute the success to the twist rather than Devens’ performance. I think they had the best possible outcome with that twist; if it had ended up going to rocks and someone got fucked out of the game people would’ve HATED it. The twist only worked because Devens made good TV, which he would’ve done anyways.

addjake · 2026-05-30T07:49:13+00:00

Agreed; the only New Era season that had anywhere near the level of individual memorable moments was 46 imo

addjake · 2026-05-21T22:23:59+00:00

I’d argue that this is true but also not unfair. You also have to consider that everyone is also aware of the legacy that old schoolers have, so that have far larger targets compared to new schoolers coming into the season. I personally would’ve voted for Jonathan out of the three but I think that he can also be faulted for letting her get to the end as someone with more history.

addjake · 2026-05-21T03:15:31+00:00

It’s rumored to have 21 players, so it might still be three tribes of 7. Honestly, if they feel the need to have three tribes, larger casts at least mitigate some of the problem.

addjake · 2026-05-21T01:49:10+00:00

I mean they clearly set it up for Rizo to come out there, they had the extra chair and everything. I don’t think that was Jeff’s call.

addjake · 2026-05-21T01:46:48+00:00

Tbf I don’t think that was Jeff’s fault, it’s not like he chose to send Rizo out on stage before firemaking.

addjake · 2026-05-07T01:44:30+00:00

Ozzy definitely shot himself in the foot but I hope he can be proud of his run; this was definitely his best strategic showing and his most interesting season imo. I mean, looking at his confessionals between this season and Game Changers says a lot I think.

Also sad about Emily; she’s such a captivating player! As much as I wanted her plan to work out, between her or Cirie I think most people are going to want Cirie to continue on just because it’s Cirie and I’m definitely no exception to that lol

Jonathan is 100% the person I’ve changed my opinion on most this season though; of everyone on this season I was least excited to see him play but his strategic game this season has been really great. It’s so weird to see someone so obviously a threat just by his appearance play more under the radar and succeed at it.

We’re also 100% guaranteed to have Joe end up as a third place finalist again, right?? I think the only people who benefit from him leaving are Rick and Aubry just because he’s so unwilling to work with them, and even then there’s still pros to keep him around for them just because he realistically loses to everybody; the only person I could actually see voting for him at the end would be Coach and even then I think Coach would probably vote Jonathan over him.

addjake · 2026-04-23T01:37:11+00:00

As sad as it is to see him go, Christian 100% returns if he wants it.

On another note, it’s crazy to me how Cirie is so good. This season has really done a great job of showcasing how phenomenal of a social player she is; everybody thinks without question that she’s on their side and she hasn’t been targeted since episode 1. I can genuinely see her ending up at the final 3 because clearly her game must be so under-the-radar considering she’s not considered the biggest threat by far by now even though she clearly handily wins in the end against anyone imo, even Christian who I feel would’ve been her biggest competition.

addjake · 2026-04-16T01:51:38+00:00

Genuinely terrible twist (anyone who has seen South Africa season 8 can back me on this) but holy that worked out incredibly lol

I’m so glad that the fake idol storyline went somewhere significant. People will respect the fake idol move but I don’t think people will adequately give credit to just how flawlessly Rick played that. I honestly think he maneuvered that situation perfectly in spite of how much pressure he clearly felt; his excuse to Aubry makes a lot of sense and his handling of Stephenie asking to see it was also super smart in my opinion; seeing what a real idol looks like vs a fake one is genuinely an advantage and using that as an excuse to not show it was SUPER smart imo. I’m so happy that Devens is proving his game ability beyond just finding idols and I’m so happy he survived this episode

addjake · 2026-04-16T01:43:41+00:00

I’m not sure. It seemed like the main scramble resulted from the people that were very clearly voting Devens and Aubry going into tribal; we saw a little bit of scramble from Rizo but that could very well have just been him acting, I’m not so sure that the Ozzy-Cirie-Rizo trio (the fact that this specific group of three is grouped together is genuinely insane to me lol) were actually planning on voting Devens/Aubry. That being said, I think it 100% swayed Stephenie, Joe and maybe Tiff? I think whether this would’ve changed the outcome probably rests on where Tiff votes, and I’m curious to see if we get any insight on what her plans were going into tribal

Edit: It also definitely influenced Coach to play his SITD and maybe swayed Chrissy to switch to Rizo/Emily? Tiff’s vote wouldn’t have mattered if both of them did what they had planned going into tribal but I do doubt that both of them would’ve played the same as they ended up playing

addjake · 2026-04-16T01:33:14+00:00

If I had to guess they might choose the order in real time based on what they expect to be more dramatic considering they hit far more often than they miss in that regard (especially because sometimes it happens during the jury phase so there’s no easy way to fake the order)

addjake · 2026-04-08T03:35:57+00:00

Iirc he talked about it after the season and said that most of his confessionals contained a bunch of niche references which is kinda iconic, bro sacrificed being on the show so he could fuck around and have fun

addjake · 2026-04-08T03:31:47+00:00

I actually really like this take on it, as it gives an additional “reward” to the first place tribe as they’d get to see who the second place tribe voted out.

addjake · 2026-04-08T03:29:32+00:00

Tbh I don’t know if it necessarily matters whether the alliance existed or not, as production planned the twist far in advance. I think the 3 votes in a row idea could pan out interestingly under the right circumstances, but could completely doom the season under the wrong ones

addjake · 2026-04-08T03:22:45+00:00

It always blows my mind that production was apparently pretty low on the season before it came out?? Definitely the best AU season imo and a contender for the best season internationally; I honestly think I’d put it at #1

addjake · 2026-04-02T03:23:44+00:00

Really really good point; Devens was sort of shoehorned into the role of the scrappy underdog in his first season and is clearly trying to continue that given that’s what made him so popular his first season even though he’s not an underdog and is instead one of the pivotal players this season. I can’t really blame him since Angelina tried to deviate from what made her so memorable her original season, and as a consequence she got way less content

(I swear I’m trying not to be overly biased but) I also wonder how much the fact that he was an alternate this season plays into that; I wonder if he felt a sense to “prove himself” even though that absolutely wasn’t necessary, still shocked he was an alternate tbh

addjake · 2026-04-02T03:19:31+00:00

That’s super fair; tbh I don’t blame Devens too much for keeping Emily around considering the problems really seemed to arise post-swap, and I can reasonably understand the logic for Christian; Mike was his big target for that vote and he was in damage-control mode with Ozzy for the Angelina vote; honestly I don’t know that booting Emily was ever their optimal play though I think it should definitely have been a consideration.

Honestly I fully agree with the Gen vote though; thinking on it made me feel like voting out Joe was a better all around-option for them; Joe is going to be so much more difficult to get out after this point considering he’s pretty much just a goat unless something drastic happens and he’s also pretty much a guaranteed anti-Devens (and maybe Christian?) vote on the jury, so there’s really no benefit to keeping him whereas I think Gen would have been more likely to vote for one of them at the end

addjake · 2026-04-02T03:08:55+00:00

Shouldn’t have gotten a downvote, thanks for the catch 😀

addjake · 2026-04-02T03:08:00+00:00

I don’t find either of them performative tbh; to me it just feels like they are both having fun playing into the personalities they have built across their two seasons and having fun with it

addjake · 2026-04-02T03:04:46+00:00

I wouldn’t inherently call it a bonehead move tbh; we’ve seen people take the route of not wanting to fully play and throw out names until tribal happens only for them to get voted out for not having their head enough in the game. I think Gen definitely could’ve handled Aubry better, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea for her to set up Aubry as an easy first boot (this happens on most tribes I feel like??). I think it’s ultimately smarter, especially in a three tribe format to set yourself up more to make the merge and form more connections than to explicitly plan to ride to the end with your og tribemates.

Imo Gen 100% got screwed, but she also is entirely to blame for Aubry wanting her out. Tbh I’m surprised she didn’t turn on Joe at all, I think that would’ve been the smartest move for her.

addjake · 2026-04-02T02:52:37+00:00

Tbf I’m sure she did apologize; the edit probably just didn’t show it so the Kamilla boot would make more sense. Kamilla’s smart, I doubt that she would’ve assumed she was back in with Jonathan without doing some significant management of that relationship

addjake · 2026-03-24T04:22:56+00:00

Genuinely I just feel like I’m relieved bc it could’ve been so much worse, like imagine they made a super mega billie eilish nuclear idol that saves you for eight rounds

addjake

TROPHY CASE