While doing research on all of
the onetime challenges for this blog, I’ve been using a lot from Survivor
fandom and am now worrying a bit about plagiarism. I am crediting the site at
times, but am just not sure how to mention a challenge differently than they
did. I hope that this is okay. I am trying as best as I can to not just do a
copy and paste, but that could make this worse. At least you know and I am
telling you that Survivor fandom is my source on all things relating to
Survivor challenges. That way, I am giving them the credit that they deserve.
As I get to the one time
challenges from the thirteenth season, know that this will be the last batch of
the challenges from past seasons that I will be sharing in this season
regardless of if this is the last post on this season. I’m hoping that I can do
a post on Ponderosa, but that would depend on if I’m able to see that online
legally for free. I will start talking about the one time challenges from the
fourteenth season in the first post of Survivor 42: Life, the Universe, and
Everything.
Never Tear us Apart (reward
challenge from Don’t Cry Over Spilled Octopus): This challenge is very similar
to Shoulder the Load. In it, there are three pairs on a platform and they are
holding weights on a hook. People from the other tribe would add weights every
two minutes until all of them are out of the challenge after dropping the
hooks. This could probably not be done while social distancing.
Depth Charge (immunity
challenge from Mutiny): In this challenge, contestants have to drop a cannon (does
fandom mean cannonball?) into three underwater targets to release buoys that
are arranged to solve a puzzle of some sort. I think that this could be done
while social distancing depending on just how well water can factor into social
distancing challenges.
South Pacific (immunity
challenge from People That You Like Want to See You Suffer): In this challenge,
contestants had to get placards from a floating crate. Each crate is closer.
The players then have to name ten island clusters based on what they had from
treemail using the placards. This could be done while social distancing.
Recollection (immunity challenge
from You’re a Rat): In this challenge, there are two parts. The first part has
people answering questions about the season at hand with numbers as the answer.
They must use that to solve a math problem to untie the right box. One in the
right box, they would have to use a key to open a lock to raise their flag. The
second part has them solving more questions, unlocking a crawl to go through,
and cross pontoons to raise another flag. This could be done while social
distancing.
There were three things that I
was going to get to in the last post but delayed until this post in order to
get it done at all. I decided back in David versus Goliath that I would talk
about some missionaries from time to time, although I didn’t post much about it
outside of that season outside of two of them that appeared in two other
seasons. One was in China’s post and a second in Gabon’s.
Anyways, you might have heard
some about the troubles that Haiti has been going through recently this year,
but not too much as we are too focused on ourselves in this country. There are Haitian
kidnapped missionaries and this remains unresolved as of now with them still
kidnapped. I bookmarked the page on this on Wikipedia so I’ll hopefully be able
to see a resolution to this at some point. I can only pray that this is resolved
in a good way.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58948107
Now for the most important
thing from two episodes ago: The problem from Let’s Make a Deal called The
Monty Hall problem. It has one correct option and two bad options. After you
make your choice, you are shown one of the bad options and then given the
chance to switch. You might think that there is no difference statistically if
you switch or not. But there is. The odds are better if you switch. It does not
seem like that should be the case, but it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem
Still, there are four different
outcomes to this problem. Indeed, if Deshawn had switched, he would have been
eliminated. That’s one of the regrets: having the right choice and changing.
The other regret would be if you were wrong but didn’t change when offered the
choice. The right choice could be sticking with your regular choice. It is
against the odds, but it does work out sometimes like it did for Deshawn. And
then he wouldn’t be kicking himself if he was right and changed it. Of course,
the best bet is to go with the odds and hopefully, the switching works out for
you.
Now when I mentioned certain
challenges, I mentioned the fact that one of them had the name of Slave to the
Grind which is also a song by Skid Row. There’s not too much else to mention
about it. I do like the song which is why I’m sharing it now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3nycoZ-zzw
I’m unsure if I’ll be able to
see any of Ponderosa depending on how it is available. I’m not shelling out money
for Paramount+ and I don’t even remember the last time that I watched it with a
recent season. I just want to know if Shan knew that Ricard betrayed her like
some people think. Also, I might split this into multiple parts so that the
section on the after show which is taking place instead of the reunion show is
its own post. I want this done on Thursday and if I have to stop to finish it
later, then I will. It is a bit weird that they are doing an after show instead
of reunion show which is probably since they did not know what might be
happening with the pandemic. I’m not sure if I like that the winner is going to
be revealed on location either, but I guess that’s fine. But enough of my
ramblings.
In the first segment of the
show, Jeff starts by talking to the audience yet again. The contestants are
starting over again. The after show that he is talking about is a raw event
done right after final tribal council. So it isn’t a reunion show officially
now. Will the whole cast be there for this? What has the premerge boots been
doing this whole time? They probably couldn’t go on a trip like usual, could
they? I guess I’d have to find out what sometime or somewhere.
Everyone gets an obligatory
confessional as they arrive to the island. Erika talks about how she was a
target and how she now knows that she can’t trust Deshawn. Ricard thinks that
Deshawn is too much of the focus, which works well for him. Deshawn does a fake
talk show with a stick pretending to interview Ricard. Erika does talk to Deshawn.
She doesn’t like him now. They got bad blood. They got problems and she doesn’t
think they can solve them.
Treemail comes to all of them
and they all have to unscramble the words in order to figure out a phrase. Despite
being the last one to figure out the phrase, it is Erika who finds the
advantage at this point, a literal advantage in this immunity challenge. She tells
Ricard and Heather while letting Deshawn still look for it in the meantime. She
reveals this at the challenge, much to Deshawn’s surprise. The winner of this
challenge also gets a steak reward for vampires, right? No, wait. That’s stake.
Anyways, Erika wins the challenge and shares the reward with Heather. Xander still
has an idol and is convinced that he can now get rid of Deshawn.
In the second segment of the
show, we get to the reward with both of them wanting to reach the end. Erika and
Heather think that the two of them can control the final five vote. I think that
they are bad at math. The choice is between Ricard and Deshawn. She even says
that she isn’t sure of the vote to Ricard. This type of cockiness would not be
tolerated by someone who doesn’t have immunity, although it is still dumb for
someone with immunity to do.
Erika hates Deshawn, but
thinks that Ricard is the bigger threat to win. Ricard wants to work with
Xander in the meantime. Ricard says that he has a baby due in one week and gets
emotional about it. This seems genuine and not like a Johnny Fairplay lie. Xander
wants to control the vote and play the idol on Ricard. Xander wants to gamble
whether or not he could beat Ricard at the jury. But this could be a big move ™
that could help him with the jury.
In the third segment of the
show, we get to tribal council. Deshawn brings up the idea that Ricard must be
voted out. The seed was already planted in Deshawn’s mind. Xander thinks that
he’s in the middle. He’s losing his mind, just a little. Both Heather and Erika
think that it could be a hard vote. Ricard has been struggling a lot. Jeff
pries for more information. Ricard points out that his baby is due soon or
could already be born. Deshawn is open about his feelings at times too.
Jeff brings up that idols
could be in play as a form of immunity. Xander is upset that Ricard is in
trouble. Ricard thinks that Deshawn could be a threat to win. Jeff points out
that you can be a great Survivor player and not win. Not much about what could
happen with the votes is revealed. Once the votes are cast, Xander decides to
play his idol on himself instead of Ricard. That seems like kind of a dick
move. But Ricard is voted out with Xander not wanting to risk sitting against
him at the final three.
In the fourth segment of the
show, the people talk about being in the final four and how the top three is
now within their grasp. Erika thinks that she can pull it off. There is a
terrible storm that is happening now. Xander feels like a rock star despite the
rain. He is the only one enjoying this. He kind of likes the fact that the
others are suffering. Some were unsure if they would sleep. Deshawn thinks that
he is near the end of the race and could make it to the finish line. He practices
making fire. He doesn’t want to fail at it potentially in the future.
In the fifth segment of the
show, they talk about the rain that happened as they gather for the final
challenge of the game. The final three, that’s where I want to be. Gimme gimme.
Gimme gimme. There in the final three. Xander takes a lead in the challenge and
never falters, winning final immunity. He does seem kind of like Fabio in a
way. But can he win? That remains to be seen. Erika is upset that she can’t
control her own fate now.
In the sixth segment of the
show, Xander talks about his time in the game. Why did they point out that he
missed a piece of the puzzle at the final five? That was him, right? He thinks
that he can now be the man that he wants to be. Deshawn makes his pitch as to
why Erika should face fire. Heather makes the pitch too. He is convinced that Erika
can’t beat him. But she is the only one who I could see winning now if it isn’t
him. Does Deshawn have a case? I know Heather doesn’t.
Xander doesn’t want to give
Erika a good moment in front of the jury so she will be safe and not facing the
fire. Xander wants Heather to be in the end since she seems similar to Erika
and could make Erika look weak. Deshawn thinks that the win is rightfully his
and wants to make fire. Xander sees that Erika can’t actually make fire. He
wants to make a big move. Or she is tricking him. Will she make the right
choice? Will Xander make fire himself? But he was not seen making fire. Only
Heather was. This is all a million dollar decision in the end. Will he try to
do a Chris but end up more like an Erik? This could be how Xander loses,
although I think that he is most likely to win at this point. This could be one
of those moments where the finale isn’t about the winner. There’s been too much
misdirection this season.
In the seventh segment of the
show, tribal council starts and Ricard’s face is awesome. He does not like this
at all. Deshawn wanted to be in a final three with him, Xander, and Heather.
Heather wanted to do fire to prove that she belongs in the game. Jeff says that
this is a game of perceptions. Xander stated that Erika might not be a good
player. Some of the jury thinks that he has a poor read on them. So I think
that he might not win. I’m unsure. The jury can give all sorts of signals. Xander
thinks that Heather is doing a better job than others are. Xander makes his
choice and sticks to his guns to keep Erika safe and have Heather and Deshawn
face off in the end.
In the eighth segment of the
show, we get to the fire making challenge. Deshawn starts out well with his
flame. Light a fire in my soul. Make a flame. Make it whole. Are those the
lyrics? I’m not even sure what song I’m quoting. Anyways, Heather starts to do
well when Deshawn starts to falter with his flame. And it turns out that Heather
is almost close to it much to Xander’s delight. This gives Deshawn an edge and
makes this challenge close. In the end, it is Deshawn that manages to win with
Heather getting a close second too late. I guess in this case, if you aren’t
first, you’re last. Well, fourth. Why does he say that the tribe has spoken for
this elimination? It’s never a vote here anymore.
In the ninth segment of the
show, Xander talks about how this is the hardest season of Survivor ever. I
wouldn’t know about that. Kaoh Rong was pretty brutal. Marquesas had a lot of
toughness. Xander would be the youngest winner of all time if he wins. He wants
to secure the win.
Erika thinks that she has play
a heck of a game and thinks that she can do whatever she can to win. She has
what it takes to win in her mind. Deshawn then talks about how he has thrived
this season. He worked his ass off in order to get to where he was. He thinks
that there are no goats in the final three. But will any of them be considered
the Greatest Of All Time? There are three meanings to goat and two of them are
opposites in the end.
We arrive at the final tribal
council next. They are going to be interrogated and talk about why they end up
deserving to win the game. I wonder if this break Jeff talks about really is to
prepare or just a reason to go to commercial break.
Total confessional count:
Deshawn- 34, Heather- 8, Erika- 26, Ricard- 24, Xander- 34. New confessionals
this episode: Xander- 8, Deshawn- 8, Heather- 3, Erika- 9, Ricard- 3.
In the tenth segment of the
show, Evvie starts with the first statement. After a tough season and the
wonderful diversity, all of them could get votes. Danny reveals to everyone now
that he is a professional athlete. He asks Xander what his game play is. Xander
didn’t want to mimic the games of other players and play his own game. He
wanted his team to have good dynamics. People knew about his advantages in the
game. He decided to go with Ricard as a shield, a gamble that paid off.
Naseer pointed out that Xander
stepped down for rice and swapped rewards with Erika. It seems that Naseer
likes what Xander has done thus far. Deshawn talks about building relationships
for the first part of the game. He thought that he was a big threat, but was
able to avoid this. Ricard interjects during this time. He mentions that
everyone was thrown under the bus at the merge. Deshawn denies saying these
things and now I’ll have to check old blog posts to make sure that was in the
episode. Erika then talks about her time in the game and how she didn’t have to
go to tribal council for a while. She thinks that she made it far because she
had the right alliance.
Ricard said that she lacked a
social game with the rest of the jury. He wants to know more from her about
this. She says that she knows where she stood this time. She wants to be hit up
on facetime. Is that a thing? She worked hard to stick with Heather in the
game. Ricard hopes that she can prove her game to the rest of the jury. Tiffany
wants to know from Xander what more he did in the game and how he wanted to
protect others. Liana wants to know when he had a good read, but takes a while
to think of his social move. He was reading the room at the Tiffany vote.
Evvie asks how he knew not to
play the idol. Xander talks about being paranoid a bit. I honestly think that a
bit of healthy paranoia can be good, but don’t overdo it. Ricard mentions that
while he was taken out, Erika wasn’t. But Ricard wants to know both if his
relationship is real and if Erika wasn’t a threat in the end. Heather thinks
that Erika could have taken his game away from her. While Xander admits that
she has had a good game, he didn’t want to risk her beating someone in fire.
Shan talks next and wants to
know more from Deshawn with what happened with her relationship to him. She feels
that he went through temper tampers and sulked. Deshawn felt that she was like a
sister to him. Well, that isn’t always a good relationship like it should be. Danny
thinks that Erika did amazing in the game. Not everyone might have seen what
she was capable of. She was always running the meeting and on the right side of
the vote. If she made it there, she’d be coming at you like a dark horse. Liana
asks if Xander has an idol as her joke ends this event.
I think that we went over the
two hours that we are supposed to have as usual. I think that San Juan del Sur
was the first season to do this. What was the last season to have a normal,
hour long reunion show? I would like to know.
In the eleventh segment of the
show, the jury goes out to vote for the winner. We do not see who any of the
people voted for. It can’t be unanimous, can it? Jeff announces that they are going
to reveal the vote live and the winner will be announced right away. In the
end, it is Erika that wins that nobody voted for Xander. That is weird. Jeff
says that they are going to keep shooting and do the Survivor after show as
they bring in the cameras and other people. I really hope that the whole cast
is there for this.
While it is possible for me to
finish this post and finish off the finale as I normally do, I’m not going to
do that this time around. It is best for me to write the last part of this on Wednesday
and hopefully do the last post on this season on the last Wednesday of this
season. But it is already possible that the next post will be the last one on
this season. We’ll see what happens. To be continued…
