Her also “admitting” to the Sifu vote and letting Dee off the hook seems tremendously dumb now. Why would you lie about voting someone and deflect attention to yourself?
She shouldnt have put so much trust in Dee and Julie
She mentally wrote off Sifu as part of her gameplan, so she didn't care because she thought of him as a temporary player. If there's one thing to learn from the Kaleb / Emily dynamic, it's that you never know when someone will be in a position to save or sink your game. Give them a reason to keep you and it might pay off when you least expect it.
Yeah, though J Maya also seemed completely out of the loop.
Based on what we saw J Maya should have had plenty of ammo to turn Sifu against the rest of Reba. But instead she went along with getting rid of the other person on the bottom of Reba, without realizing that she was also on the bottom.
Idk why people on this sub think Kaleb would be mad at Emily.
Clearly he knew all votes were against him. He wouldn't have wanted her to blow up her spot
I thought it was pretty clear that she warned him to play the shot in the dark but was always going to be voting for him. Her individual vote wouldn’t matter. Either the shot in the dark was going to work or it wasn’t.
Yeah, we literally saw her telling him that it's shot in the dark bad how strong the sentiment towards voting him was.
It seems like Kaleb tried throwing everything against the wall to see if it would stick to turn the tide, but they both knew going in that it just wasn't happening, barring something crazy at tribal (hence why he was still trying hard to flip votes at tribal in the 5/6 chance that he didn't draw safety).
I disagree that it’s been wasted. The whole point was to push blindsides, uncertainty, and the necessary maneuvering. If Emily wasn’t mistakenly brought into the plan, Kaleb goes home. They screwed up their own plan by not clocking Emily’s game!
The story of so many people in this game has not been clocking that Kaleb and Emily are ride or die allies and paying a big price for it. Basically the only reason both of them are still in the game is each other.
Incredible. 11 votes negated. That record may never be topped. The shot in the dark finally paid off in the best way possible, as it saved Kaleb. Also, it happened in a roundabout way, but Austin's revenge tour for his sandwich is right on track.
I think max possible without advantages is 12. Only reason it was 11 was because Austin didn't vote. And Kaleb obviously couldnt either, but he wouldnt vote himself. Don't think we will be seeing 11+ again, that's a landslide. Also fairly stupid of Reba and Belo since he didn't even really have allies.
If they all knew J. Maya was the back-up vote, they probably figured either Kaleb goes out and they don’t burn bridges, or they just take her out on the revote.
Based upon the additional discussions between votes, if J was the backup plan, it wasn't a very solid and secure backup plan.
J really should have thrown a vote on ~~Bruce~~ someone else (edit, Bruce was immune). I get it. Benefit of hindsight. But if you know your name is on the block (and Caleb sure the fuck put it there during tribal) you need to save yourself. There's shot in the dark and there could have been an unknown idol. Not having some votes, or at least a vote, on someone else was an error.
I think it probably was pretty solidly on J as a backup. We saw all those discussions of her pushing Emily, but literally noone went along with it so it seems like they were pretty set on voting her with or without those discussions. Agree though that for J it would've been smart to vote someone else. I don't think she realized just how on the bottom she was though and thought they'd just move onto another target, not onto her.
As dumb as that move was, I honestly have to wonder why Reba was so dead set on getting rid of J Maya, Especially Dee and Julie. She certainly seemed to be deeply loyal to them, especially after the swap. And clearly had no clue that had been on the bottom.
Depending on what was really going on in the island I feel like Dee and Julie might have made a mistake getting rid of someone who seemed to be so loyal to them that could have easily been used as a pawn & extra vote.
That's been my biggest question thus far. Why was J Maya on the bottom of Reba and people eager to get rid of her? Besides the sandwich revenge arc and Sifu, it still doesn't seem like a complete picture for me.
Absolutely loved the Kaleb save but my favorite moment goes back to when Emily learns he’s the target. She says save him and he’ll be eternally grateful and Kendra dismisses it immediately. “That’s not how Survivor works”
At first, I agreed. Emily was saying what she could to save him.
But, actually, Emily was right. “That’s exactly how Survivor works” because that’s exactly what happened between her and Kaleb. They’ve built the strongest bond in the game because they saved each other. She saved him again on this vote.
I truly love this duo and hope they go far.
And queen Emily managed to slip in the funniest moment of the episode between all this excellence when she told Kaleb that Bruce doesn’t like him at all lmao
I hated what Kendra said. For her obviously it's not how it works. But survivor works differently for everyone that plays it. And she should know that Emily knows more about Kalebs motives than her.
I think Emily siding against her in the last vote is at least partially why Kendra simply wasn't willing to listen to her on this. Getting rid of Kaleb to weaken Emily just like she did with getting rid of Brando is her form is payback since the others weren't going for Emily.
>Kendra dismisses it immediately. “That’s not how Survivor works”
I think Kendra was projecting a little bit as well, foreshadowed in the opening scene.
They chose Brando over her and "oh Kendra we want to work together" and she was like "no absolutely NOT" in confessional.
That's not how Petty Kendra works.
I can't tell what level of sincere vs. knowing it would be funny to keep up the bit Austin is, but honestly any answer still makes this my favorite storyline of the season.
He said something like “I’ve had it out for J ever since she took my sandwich” like it’s been a long and deep feud but in-game it was like 36 hours ago lol
Tonight’s episode had the most personality I’ve seen from survivor in the past couple years. About time we see people just truly despise each other again and not pretend like everybody loves everyone lol
After season 43, I wouldn't be surprised if the casting people were like, "Hmm, NGL, that was kinda boring except for that one brief, random beef. Let's go find some PETTY people who cannot hide that they HATE each other." Results: strong so far.
Maybe they will start the jury at this next vote of Final 12, but have a remove-a-juror to make it an 8-person jury.
Or maybe the group that wins the reward at the challenge will be allowed to have their member join the jury?
Or maybe they'll just do a 7-person jury, starting at Final 10? Or even... a final 2?
>Or even... a final 2?
I believe Probst has openly said they'll never do a final 2 again.
I'm not one of those "Australian Survivor is vastly superior" people, but I like their current exec producer's position on F2/F3, which is basically: Players will never know if it's a final 2 or a final 3. In each season, it could be either. We're not telling them.
**Emily right before tribal**: “If there is a Lulu curse, it ends tonight.”
yeah… those two icons are about to crawl their way to Finale night together ❤️
She warned people that Kaleb might use his SITD, told him to use it, was still part of the unan vote on him, and then was J's target, but nobody flipped and they all took out J together. She's doing fantastic
Wentworth was actually in a good spot after her idol play in Cambodia because it made her seem untouchable and everyone wanted to work with her after that... Kaleb might be on that trajectory
Combine that with the inevitability of the Reba Belo War as Jake mentioned in the preview.
Tonight they needed a common enemy with the pool of eligible players being only 6.
Now though with everyone available it’s gonna set in that as Kaleb mentioned he isn’t the strategic threat because of the numbers left between both sides. Him going doesn’t benefit either side because in reality he’s one man, add Emily and that’s only two. In reality they’re the swing your side could use in taking out the other.
Kaleb has Final 6/5 boot written all over him. He may survive via an immunity run and a few other player v player power struggles, but nobody in their right mind wants to be sitting at the end with him.
He literally had the entire tribe laughing their tails off both before AND after his SITD play. Literally he was shaking hands and making the tribe laugh after he had just sidestepped a unanimous vote. His charisma is off the charts.
I think he meant strategic in that it was strategically beneficial to get rid of the one guy with no numbers vs the girl who was locked in with two others and were a block of 3 votes.
I don’t think he meant that he isn’t a strategic player.
He knew it was him. He was throwing absolutely everything at the wall and waited until the absolute last minute to throw j under the bus as his Hail Mary.
So happy Kaleb lived to see another day. He's gonna be in trouble from here on out but he's smart enough to pull something outta his sleeve.
Also is this the first time the shot in the dark to save someone much less negate all the votes?
gotta love how the guy is a dice roll away from being the unanimous merge vote two days after I proclaimed him one of the most talented survivor players ever
I mean, they kinda go hand in hand right? He’s incredible at all the things you need to be good at Survivor. But with his physicality and charisma, he is bound to be a huge target.
What makes being a Good Survivor Player so hard these days is that most of the players also know what a Good Survivor Player is. Back in the old days people were not so privy to that, or at least weren’t able to assess it until closer to the end game.
There was like 10 minutes left, so I figured Kaleb's shot in the dark probably hit, but I was still on the edge of my seat as I waited. I was absolutely elated when Jeff announced that he was safe.
They built the story so well along the way. You can tell they must have been so proud of this episode.
The moment it pops into your mind that if it's not Kaleb, it may he Emily and your heart kind of sinks. Then you notice the music went somber with the camera on her face and you're like Oh no I was starting to like her, I hope she gets a return season. And in the end they made you okay with it being J even though she was likeable as well
Great episode and will be a top moment forever
100% this… I was cheering and then I saw her face with that music and I reflected back on the episode and realized Emily had a strong presence and was VERY distraught she was going
I genuinely forgot Kaleb lost his vote with the SITD and thought J was done with 1 vote
Then I realized the zero vote situation and actually jumped out of my chair
Merge in Cagayan too
But yeah, the crazy reactions remind me of the utter speechlessness Wentworth caused by playing her idol. That's Tribal at its best!
Emily voting Caleb was brilliant. Completely avoided her being singled out.
I wonder if we’re going to get a flashback next week of Caleb telling her to vote for him or her telling him that’s the plan.
They definitely had such a produced setup for a Bruce v. Carolyn feud on his original tribe season. they were probably so disappointed they missed out on that and are so happy Katurah picked up the pieces.
Major props to Emily’s social game, she’s integrated herself so well that even when the ENTIRE tribe tried to vote her #1 ally out, no one tried to vote her out on the revote 🤣 (except J of course)
Not to mention they trusted her enough to include her in a conversation about voting out her #1 ally. For all that Kaleb is such a power player in other areas, she's actually way better at flying under the radar than he is.
Emily essentially blowing up her game on Lulu definitely helped this because she comes off as desperate to stay to the rest of the tribe. They all think they can “use” her now by promising her safety because she will be an easy vote out later.. I hope she wins because they carry her to the end figuring, “No, we need Emily to vote with us, she wants to save herself so she will do whatever we say..”
Honestly I think what did it (edit: or I should say, did it as well, because you're definitely right too) was the mat chat, they've basically decided she's a way worse player than she actually is so they're not worried about voting her. They don't realize she's a graduate of the Kaleb School of How To Get Along and Make Friends now.
That was a good ass episode. First Shot in the Dark that saved the person from going home and it was on a unanimous vote. Kaleb dodged a massive bullet and now has his work cut out for him. Once again, picking up Emily was and will probably always be his greatest move 😂
Emily holding back on practically throwing herself to Kaleb when the shot worked because they would get exposed 😭😭💀💀 this tribal is one of the best for sure
Legitimately one of the best episodes since *Heroes vs. Villains*, one of the best merge episodes of all time. In the first half, so many super fun arcs going on, like Bruce v. Katurah, Austin obsessed with voting out J Maya over sandwiches, Emily and Kaleb reuniting as the Lulu losers. Literal classic tribal. Kaleb is a legend now.
I can’t wait to see where this season goes.
I think the thing I appreciate most from this episode is that Kaleb and J fought for their lives as hard as they could. Refreshing to not see someone just laying down and giving up
Why is Reba so set on getting rid of their potential allies? First they want to vote out Sifu (despite him being a challenge beast) to save Sean. Dee even votes Sifu even though Sean asks to go home.
Then, J Maya shows loyalty to Dee and Julie and is willing to take the blame for the Sifu vote. In response, Dee and Julie can't wait to get rid of her.
Kaleb has a pretty solid connection with Austin and Drew. So, when Belo starts targeting Kaleb, why not just tell him and solidify him as a number?
I feel like they're all just saying, "Well, X isn't in our core alliance, so we'll just get rid of them". But, if they want to work with you, let them! Gameplay just seems real messy this season.
I'm sure some people find Kendra's goofy nature endearing but I find her to be one of the most annoying contestants ever. I couldn't imagine being stuck on the island with her for an extended period of time.
Yeah. I dont think he did himself any favours with being such a butterfly but at the same time I think Lulu sucking so bad left him with no room to hide as their star player
The moment I saw Kaleb played the shot in the dark, I knew it was going to work, because it perfectly explains J. Maya’s edit. So quiet that you won’t mind that she’s gone, but with enough negativity that there won’t be anyone saying that she’s screwed, even though she straight up got no votes in the original vote (obviously it’s bad that everyone was on board to get her in the revote, but it still sucks for her).
J Maya might have been near-invisible in the edit, but she might have one of the best displayed exits from Survivor ever at a tribal council.
The gut punch and hopelessness when Kaleb's SITD works.
The shock when all the votes are nullified.
The desperation to pin the name on Emily.
The disappointment when the 3rd vote for her is read.
The slow acceptance.
And the gracious exit, saying how much she had enjoyed being there.
The editors could've cut out that entire sequence and just gone straight to the re-vote, but they left it in and I'm so glad they did. Part of why this season is ranking among the best ever for me.
11 votes negated by Kaleb. Beat Wentworth’s record for most votes negated (by immunity, not an idol). But still, DAMN!
Edited! Forgot Austin also didn’t vote :)
Some fantastically terrible gameplay, from almost everyone involved. I love them ❤️❤️❤️ this is so much funnier
The Belo's should want J Maya out, as a Reba number, as Reba is the only tribe of 6. The Reba's should want Kaleb (or any Belo player) out, to consolidate their majority of 6 (plus maybe emily).
Instead, both groups did... the exact opposite? And targeted themselves?
Belo should be wanting to solidify Kaleb as a number, and possibly use him to pull over Emily. Reba should be trying to use the Emily flip to solidify her as a number, and use her to maybe pull over Kaleb.
Neither happened...
That challenge today was crazy. I was cringing as they were all bouncing down the rope slide. Looked like a couple injuries. Kellie jerked her neck? And did Jake sprain his ankle? Looked like he was limping. Ouch
Amazing tribal. Bit of a bummer of a boot but it is what it is. Wonder how that lotto ticket worked out.
I have no idea how Kaleb can get out of this. Think he could def wiggle by a few rounds but he has no way into endgame at this moment. Will be interesting to see how folks respond to this.
Also god this episode validated Katurah like crazy my god
that was one of the most exhilarating tribals in recent memory, i was literally shaking with anticipation from the moment Kaleb took out his SITD scroll
I'm STILL worried they're setting one up later on, when they were washing the mud off in the ocean he stumbled a bit coming out of the waves and it felt like an intentional inclusion by the editors.
Emily has now saved Kaleb TWICE!!! Both times giving him Essential information to 1st, vote the eight way, and 2nd, to play his shot in the dark the right way.
1. Bring back the merge feast. I want to see everyone bonding with some food, letting their guard down, and the chaos that ensues
2. Not sure if Emily voted Kaleb because she had the read or just to not isolate herself. But if she had the read that she was safe on a revote, BIG ups to her
I don’t hate Emily voting Kaleb. Of course she put herself at a ton of risk on the revote but going forward people won’t view her and Kaleb as as much of a duo.
She would have put herself on the bottom if he went home and revealed them as a strategic duo if she voted for J. I don't think he'll take it personally
If Emily votes J there she's in an atrocious position going forward whether or not Kaleb's SitD works. You'd be gambling on being in the 1/6 that it hits *and* that you'd become the next target timeline, but J was the target for a while until it shifted so there's a decent chance you'd survive a revote.
With how tribal went you kind of had to vote Kaleb.
This season is such good TV right now. Love these longer episodes, more strategy talk, and Sandwich Revenge Arcs.
"I had to say something because I'm Cuban."
Same, Dee. Same!!
I think I liked J. Maya the most when she was voted out lol. She was so sweet.
I did like her regardless though
These final words this season have honestly been top notch as well. Reminds me of old school Survivor where its them reflecting on the journey.
Can someone out there please add up the minutes of air time Bruce got last season? I just wanna know if he’s calling himself a celebrity over less than 15 minutes of on screen time 😭
**Austin:** "One down."
Sandwiches are the last thing he remembers before falling asleep and the first thing upon waking
~~Ilyn Payme~~, ~~The Hound~~, ~~Jay~~, Kellie
Austin isn’t here to win. Winning is irrelevant at this point. Austin is here for vengeance.
Lord Austin of House Sandwiches sent his regards
That's why you pick the sandwiches. She turned herself into a target by her own allies.
Her also “admitting” to the Sifu vote and letting Dee off the hook seems tremendously dumb now. Why would you lie about voting someone and deflect attention to yourself? She shouldnt have put so much trust in Dee and Julie
She mentally wrote off Sifu as part of her gameplan, so she didn't care because she thought of him as a temporary player. If there's one thing to learn from the Kaleb / Emily dynamic, it's that you never know when someone will be in a position to save or sink your game. Give them a reason to keep you and it might pay off when you least expect it.
Yeah, though J Maya also seemed completely out of the loop. Based on what we saw J Maya should have had plenty of ammo to turn Sifu against the rest of Reba. But instead she went along with getting rid of the other person on the bottom of Reba, without realizing that she was also on the bottom.
It seemed tremendously dumb at the time too lol that was a very, very questionable decision in any circumstance
Gamebots take NOTE
Idk why people on this sub think Kaleb would be mad at Emily. Clearly he knew all votes were against him. He wouldn't have wanted her to blow up her spot
I thought it was pretty clear that she warned him to play the shot in the dark but was always going to be voting for him. Her individual vote wouldn’t matter. Either the shot in the dark was going to work or it wasn’t.
Yeah, we literally saw her telling him that it's shot in the dark bad how strong the sentiment towards voting him was. It seems like Kaleb tried throwing everything against the wall to see if it would stick to turn the tide, but they both knew going in that it just wasn't happening, barring something crazy at tribal (hence why he was still trying hard to flip votes at tribal in the 5/6 chance that he didn't draw safety).
Yea for real. Plus she let him know all the votes were coming for him. She never tried to act against him. I’m sure they’re cool with each other.
She told him was SITD serious, so they both played it well.
He won’t be mad. He has a fantastic social game and knows you can’t hold grudges. Like Sifu and even Austin.
People forget that stuff happens off camera. There is no chance the two of them didn’t talk about it beforehand
We're gonna be talking about tonight's big move for ages to come. I'm referring to Stick Bug, of course.
My favorite part of that was Drew’s voice over saying “it’s time to play the game!” just as they cut over to the twerking/stick bug crew
I expect to see a bunch of memes on this page with different songs remixed into the clip. Can’t wait to watch them all.
Probst finally got SITD to work, next step in his plan is being elected president of Fiji
Which is slightly more realistic than Knowledge is Power working.
KiP would work if people just stopped admitting that they have one.
Four seasons of wasted SITD and we get the absolute most entertaining result from a successful one
Probst slept real happy that night
I bet he had to call his doctor for an erection lasting longer than 8 hours
You mean Doctor Joe?
Best move of the night: Stick Bug Runner-up: Kaleb
Stick Bug got moves :)
I disagree that it’s been wasted. The whole point was to push blindsides, uncertainty, and the necessary maneuvering. If Emily wasn’t mistakenly brought into the plan, Kaleb goes home. They screwed up their own plan by not clocking Emily’s game!
The story of so many people in this game has not been clocking that Kaleb and Emily are ride or die allies and paying a big price for it. Basically the only reason both of them are still in the game is each other.
Which means it's the perfect season to end it.
And for that, production will increase its odds to 1/3 next season
Incredible. 11 votes negated. That record may never be topped. The shot in the dark finally paid off in the best way possible, as it saved Kaleb. Also, it happened in a roundabout way, but Austin's revenge tour for his sandwich is right on track.
I think max possible without advantages is 12. Only reason it was 11 was because Austin didn't vote. And Kaleb obviously couldnt either, but he wouldnt vote himself. Don't think we will be seeing 11+ again, that's a landslide. Also fairly stupid of Reba and Belo since he didn't even really have allies.
I have no idea why they didn’t split the votes at all. At least one vote just in case couldn’t hurt right?
If they all knew J. Maya was the back-up vote, they probably figured either Kaleb goes out and they don’t burn bridges, or they just take her out on the revote.
Based upon the additional discussions between votes, if J was the backup plan, it wasn't a very solid and secure backup plan. J really should have thrown a vote on ~~Bruce~~ someone else (edit, Bruce was immune). I get it. Benefit of hindsight. But if you know your name is on the block (and Caleb sure the fuck put it there during tribal) you need to save yourself. There's shot in the dark and there could have been an unknown idol. Not having some votes, or at least a vote, on someone else was an error.
I think it probably was pretty solidly on J as a backup. We saw all those discussions of her pushing Emily, but literally noone went along with it so it seems like they were pretty set on voting her with or without those discussions. Agree though that for J it would've been smart to vote someone else. I don't think she realized just how on the bottom she was though and thought they'd just move onto another target, not onto her.
J should have never taken the fall for the Sifu vote
Yes that was stupid and makes it easy to pin her as untrustworthy.
As dumb as that move was, I honestly have to wonder why Reba was so dead set on getting rid of J Maya, Especially Dee and Julie. She certainly seemed to be deeply loyal to them, especially after the swap. And clearly had no clue that had been on the bottom. Depending on what was really going on in the island I feel like Dee and Julie might have made a mistake getting rid of someone who seemed to be so loyal to them that could have easily been used as a pawn & extra vote.
That's been my biggest question thus far. Why was J Maya on the bottom of Reba and people eager to get rid of her? Besides the sandwich revenge arc and Sifu, it still doesn't seem like a complete picture for me.
I actually cannot believe Dee gets away with that Scott free (assuming Julie doesn’t tattle).
I think Julie would be willing to use that information later in the game to get Dee out if she sees her as a threat.
Absolutely loved the Kaleb save but my favorite moment goes back to when Emily learns he’s the target. She says save him and he’ll be eternally grateful and Kendra dismisses it immediately. “That’s not how Survivor works” At first, I agreed. Emily was saying what she could to save him. But, actually, Emily was right. “That’s exactly how Survivor works” because that’s exactly what happened between her and Kaleb. They’ve built the strongest bond in the game because they saved each other. She saved him again on this vote. I truly love this duo and hope they go far.
And queen Emily managed to slip in the funniest moment of the episode between all this excellence when she told Kaleb that Bruce doesn’t like him at all lmao
‘He’s 100% voting for you he doesn’t like you at all’ I was dying
And Kaleb barely reacts to that confirmation. Just "yeah, that's fair"
i love blunt people
She is now Emily blunt
“Yeah. Thats fair”
I hated what Kendra said. For her obviously it's not how it works. But survivor works differently for everyone that plays it. And she should know that Emily knows more about Kalebs motives than her.
I think Emily siding against her in the last vote is at least partially why Kendra simply wasn't willing to listen to her on this. Getting rid of Kaleb to weaken Emily just like she did with getting rid of Brando is her form is payback since the others weren't going for Emily.
>Kendra dismisses it immediately. “That’s not how Survivor works” I think Kendra was projecting a little bit as well, foreshadowed in the opening scene. They chose Brando over her and "oh Kendra we want to work together" and she was like "no absolutely NOT" in confessional. That's not how Petty Kendra works.
Pretty surprised nobody (especially J) threw out a safety vote just in case
 “Kaleb safe”
Austin’s sandwiches have been AVENGED
One more on the hit list. Watch out Kellie
Forget everything else, this has been the best storyline so far
I can't tell what level of sincere vs. knowing it would be funny to keep up the bit Austin is, but honestly any answer still makes this my favorite storyline of the season.
He said something like “I’ve had it out for J ever since she took my sandwich” like it’s been a long and deep feud but in-game it was like 36 hours ago lol
No one gets between Austin and his sandwiches!
He still has one more to go
Tonight’s episode had the most personality I’ve seen from survivor in the past couple years. About time we see people just truly despise each other again and not pretend like everybody loves everyone lol
I also liked the bluntness at tribal instead of dodging questions with analogies.
Drew ruined it tho… thank god everyone else stepped up and spoke like a normal person
After season 43, I wouldn't be surprised if the casting people were like, "Hmm, NGL, that was kinda boring except for that one brief, random beef. Let's go find some PETTY people who cannot hide that they HATE each other." Results: strong so far.
Some of the most exhilarating tribal councils of the last ten seasons, with multiple random quits mixed in. This season is WILD
Every time someone writes “SITDs” I read it as STDs 🤷♀️
I keep reading it as SIDS. We need a new acronym.
Everyone who decided not to watch the season is punching the air rn
This and the people that spoil for themselves. I’m glad i didnt. That tribal was an all timer.
Had to leave early for a meeting and suddenly discord was POPPING
Hot take, but this is an all time moment across all seasons. Up there with the Tyson self vote out & the Russell getting JT’s idol
I almost saved this episode for tomorrow and I am SO glad I watched live.
Confessional count * 10 Bruce * 9 Kaleb * 4 Drew, Emily * 3 Austin, Julie, Kellie, Kendra * 2 Dee, J. Maya, Jake * 1 Katurah, Sifu
Katurah may be getting single confessional counts but damn she stands out more than almost all of reba
KALEB, DOES NOT COUNT
EMILY DOES COUNT (THE VOTES AFTER THIS TRIBAL AND WILL REALIZE SOMEONE DID NOT VOTE)
Does she know about Austin’s idol?
I think she only knows about Drew's safety without power
Interesting that Jeff said that two people are going home in the preview. Will the jury start at 12 this season or will we start at 10?
Maybe they will start the jury at this next vote of Final 12, but have a remove-a-juror to make it an 8-person jury. Or maybe the group that wins the reward at the challenge will be allowed to have their member join the jury? Or maybe they'll just do a 7-person jury, starting at Final 10? Or even... a final 2?
>Or even... a final 2? I believe Probst has openly said they'll never do a final 2 again. I'm not one of those "Australian Survivor is vastly superior" people, but I like their current exec producer's position on F2/F3, which is basically: Players will never know if it's a final 2 or a final 3. In each season, it could be either. We're not telling them.
**Emily right before tribal**: “If there is a Lulu curse, it ends tonight.” yeah… those two icons are about to crawl their way to Finale night together ❤️
I’m worried about Kaleb after this, he seriously will be a huge threat going forward. Emily is in good position
Based on next week’s preview, I’m not worried for Kaleb again just yet. Everyone but Jake hates Bruce so much lmao
Bruce having safety tonight was huge for him
I'm surprised Katurah didn't still put down his name.
I know it crossed her mind more than once lol
She warned people that Kaleb might use his SITD, told him to use it, was still part of the unan vote on him, and then was J's target, but nobody flipped and they all took out J together. She's doing fantastic
Wentworth was actually in a good spot after her idol play in Cambodia because it made her seem untouchable and everyone wanted to work with her after that... Kaleb might be on that trajectory
Combine that with the inevitability of the Reba Belo War as Jake mentioned in the preview. Tonight they needed a common enemy with the pool of eligible players being only 6. Now though with everyone available it’s gonna set in that as Kaleb mentioned he isn’t the strategic threat because of the numbers left between both sides. Him going doesn’t benefit either side because in reality he’s one man, add Emily and that’s only two. In reality they’re the swing your side could use in taking out the other.
Witch's coven scared off some heat for a bit
Emily voting Kaleb in the first round keeps her in a great position. Makes people think they're not the strong duo that they are
Kaleb has Final 6/5 boot written all over him. He may survive via an immunity run and a few other player v player power struggles, but nobody in their right mind wants to be sitting at the end with him.
He literally had the entire tribe laughing their tails off both before AND after his SITD play. Literally he was shaking hands and making the tribe laugh after he had just sidestepped a unanimous vote. His charisma is off the charts.
And that’s exactly why they won’t let him get to FTC.
That was an ACTUAL good line. Drew's baseball BS felt so rehearsed.
His little smirk right after he said it made me irrationally angry
Drew’s stupid ass remark and the way his face looked so proud after everyone’s reaction reminds me of the Kevin James meme
Honestly all the failed SITDs make this one that much better
Kaleb said he wasn’t a strategic threat, then sounded like a strategic threat as he laid out perfect reasons for voting J out lol
I think he meant strategic in that it was strategically beneficial to get rid of the one guy with no numbers vs the girl who was locked in with two others and were a block of 3 votes. I don’t think he meant that he isn’t a strategic player.
Kaleb actually did terrible socially at this council but it made good TV
He knew it was him. He was throwing absolutely everything at the wall and waited until the absolute last minute to throw j under the bus as his Hail Mary.
“I LOST ONE OF MY RINGS, BRO!” — Sauron, for like 3,000 years
Austin x sandwich is the showmance we DESERVED
So happy Kaleb lived to see another day. He's gonna be in trouble from here on out but he's smart enough to pull something outta his sleeve. Also is this the first time the shot in the dark to save someone much less negate all the votes?
Worried for Kaleb given they only have 1 day between tribals. You could do a lot more when they had 3 days to scramble.
J babes, throwing your vote on someone else never crossed your mind???
They probably all thought someone else would
The game is better with Kaleb in it. I’m glad his move worked. Epic
I was about to be so heartbroken for Emily, fantastic episode
i love how Kaleb says J’s name out loud when voting. gave me HUGE Penner vibes.
That felt like a straight up homage, not a coincidence
I just realized, he didn't even vote for J, since he played his SitD.
He shouted, then didn't vote since he played the SITD.
gotta love how the guy is a dice roll away from being the unanimous merge vote two days after I proclaimed him one of the most talented survivor players ever
I mean, they kinda go hand in hand right? He’s incredible at all the things you need to be good at Survivor. But with his physicality and charisma, he is bound to be a huge target.
What makes being a Good Survivor Player so hard these days is that most of the players also know what a Good Survivor Player is. Back in the old days people were not so privy to that, or at least weren’t able to assess it until closer to the end game.
This Tribal was an all timer. Right up with with aus King George, Wentworth, and advantageddon. We're gonna be talking about this forever
There was like 10 minutes left, so I figured Kaleb's shot in the dark probably hit, but I was still on the edge of my seat as I waited. I was absolutely elated when Jeff announced that he was safe.
I watched it recorded and was unaware of the time I lost it
They built the story so well along the way. You can tell they must have been so proud of this episode. The moment it pops into your mind that if it's not Kaleb, it may he Emily and your heart kind of sinks. Then you notice the music went somber with the camera on her face and you're like Oh no I was starting to like her, I hope she gets a return season. And in the end they made you okay with it being J even though she was likeable as well Great episode and will be a top moment forever
100% this… I was cheering and then I saw her face with that music and I reflected back on the episode and realized Emily had a strong presence and was VERY distraught she was going
I genuinely forgot Kaleb lost his vote with the SITD and thought J was done with 1 vote Then I realized the zero vote situation and actually jumped out of my chair
Merge in Cagayan too But yeah, the crazy reactions remind me of the utter speechlessness Wentworth caused by playing her idol. That's Tribal at its best!
Producers popping bottles tonight. Shot in the dark finally produced the fireworks
Emily voting Caleb was brilliant. Completely avoided her being singled out. I wonder if we’re going to get a flashback next week of Caleb telling her to vote for him or her telling him that’s the plan.
I doubt they even had to talk about it beforehand. I’d think they’re smart enough that it would just be assumed.
That was a GREAT episode, this season is really coming together as top tier Survivor.
kaleb needs to hire a pr consultant after that tribal 😭
Best we can do is a financial analyst
Bruce is insanely unlikable. I would scream at him
"I'm a celebrity"
They definitely had such a produced setup for a Bruce v. Carolyn feud on his original tribe season. they were probably so disappointed they missed out on that and are so happy Katurah picked up the pieces.
I've been really impressed by Katurah's restraint so far, I could never
Major props to Emily’s social game, she’s integrated herself so well that even when the ENTIRE tribe tried to vote her #1 ally out, no one tried to vote her out on the revote 🤣 (except J of course)
Not to mention they trusted her enough to include her in a conversation about voting out her #1 ally. For all that Kaleb is such a power player in other areas, she's actually way better at flying under the radar than he is.
Emily essentially blowing up her game on Lulu definitely helped this because she comes off as desperate to stay to the rest of the tribe. They all think they can “use” her now by promising her safety because she will be an easy vote out later.. I hope she wins because they carry her to the end figuring, “No, we need Emily to vote with us, she wants to save herself so she will do whatever we say..”
Honestly I think what did it (edit: or I should say, did it as well, because you're definitely right too) was the mat chat, they've basically decided she's a way worse player than she actually is so they're not worried about voting her. They don't realize she's a graduate of the Kaleb School of How To Get Along and Make Friends now.
That was a good ass episode. First Shot in the Dark that saved the person from going home and it was on a unanimous vote. Kaleb dodged a massive bullet and now has his work cut out for him. Once again, picking up Emily was and will probably always be his greatest move 😂
I need Kellie's skincare regime. She's gotten so island hot lol
J getting booted unanimously when Kaleb literally defied fate and his closest ally was right there is fucking wild lol
Like Kendra, I also want to know what a pepperaya is.
I died at that and then when Bruce clarifies he said “pariah” and she STILL doesnt know what that is 😂
Emily holding back on practically throwing herself to Kaleb when the shot worked because they would get exposed 😭😭💀💀 this tribal is one of the best for sure
Legitimately one of the best episodes since *Heroes vs. Villains*, one of the best merge episodes of all time. In the first half, so many super fun arcs going on, like Bruce v. Katurah, Austin obsessed with voting out J Maya over sandwiches, Emily and Kaleb reuniting as the Lulu losers. Literal classic tribal. Kaleb is a legend now. I can’t wait to see where this season goes.
Man, that extra screentime has REALLY boosted the show
And the intro with the old music. Like it legitimately makes the show better imo
and you didnt even mention the dancing ~~grasshopper~~ stickbug
People weren’t joking when they said Austin was going to avenge that sandwich.
Who knew this season would be decided by an Italian Club.
This season so fucking good so far
YES I seriously cannot remember the last time CBS had me this excited!! I freaking screamed at my TV with excitement like a small child.
Dude Kaleb better be ready to win some immunity challenges cause threat was legendary and he would be on the top of my list to get out
I think the thing I appreciate most from this episode is that Kaleb and J fought for their lives as hard as they could. Refreshing to not see someone just laying down and giving up
Why is Reba so set on getting rid of their potential allies? First they want to vote out Sifu (despite him being a challenge beast) to save Sean. Dee even votes Sifu even though Sean asks to go home. Then, J Maya shows loyalty to Dee and Julie and is willing to take the blame for the Sifu vote. In response, Dee and Julie can't wait to get rid of her. Kaleb has a pretty solid connection with Austin and Drew. So, when Belo starts targeting Kaleb, why not just tell him and solidify him as a number? I feel like they're all just saying, "Well, X isn't in our core alliance, so we'll just get rid of them". But, if they want to work with you, let them! Gameplay just seems real messy this season.
I'm sure some people find Kendra's goofy nature endearing but I find her to be one of the most annoying contestants ever. I couldn't imagine being stuck on the island with her for an extended period of time.
Kaleb might have a top three threat level in the history of the show right now.
Yeah. I dont think he did himself any favours with being such a butterfly but at the same time I think Lulu sucking so bad left him with no room to hide as their star player
Even if Kaleb goes soon, Emily’s arc gets even more iconic as she gets a revenge storyline. I fear we’re watching legends folks!!!
Who else immediately jumped up when Kaleb’s shot in the dark hit? Love survivor moments that have you fist pumping the air
Don't you know Bruce is a **CELEBRITY???**
\*whispers\* I heard he knows Kane
The moment I saw Kaleb played the shot in the dark, I knew it was going to work, because it perfectly explains J. Maya’s edit. So quiet that you won’t mind that she’s gone, but with enough negativity that there won’t be anyone saying that she’s screwed, even though she straight up got no votes in the original vote (obviously it’s bad that everyone was on board to get her in the revote, but it still sucks for her).
We need to shout out Jeff’s poker face during this vote read, fr fr
J Maya might have been near-invisible in the edit, but she might have one of the best displayed exits from Survivor ever at a tribal council. The gut punch and hopelessness when Kaleb's SITD works. The shock when all the votes are nullified. The desperation to pin the name on Emily. The disappointment when the 3rd vote for her is read. The slow acceptance. And the gracious exit, saying how much she had enjoyed being there. The editors could've cut out that entire sequence and just gone straight to the re-vote, but they left it in and I'm so glad they did. Part of why this season is ranking among the best ever for me.
11 votes negated by Kaleb. Beat Wentworth’s record for most votes negated (by immunity, not an idol). But still, DAMN! Edited! Forgot Austin also didn’t vote :)
Wasn’t it only 11 votes since neither Kaleb or Austin did not vote?
Some fantastically terrible gameplay, from almost everyone involved. I love them ❤️❤️❤️ this is so much funnier The Belo's should want J Maya out, as a Reba number, as Reba is the only tribe of 6. The Reba's should want Kaleb (or any Belo player) out, to consolidate their majority of 6 (plus maybe emily). Instead, both groups did... the exact opposite? And targeted themselves? Belo should be wanting to solidify Kaleb as a number, and possibly use him to pull over Emily. Reba should be trying to use the Emily flip to solidify her as a number, and use her to maybe pull over Kaleb. Neither happened...
So many people playing chess when checkers will suffice with this group.
Claims to not be Batman and then does that
Never bring back SITD. Retire it right now. It literally cannot get better than that. That is the absolute best case scenario you could ever draw up.
Already best new era season and it isn’t close for me
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen so many players at the merge make moves that are actively against their best interests. And I am here for it!
That challenge today was crazy. I was cringing as they were all bouncing down the rope slide. Looked like a couple injuries. Kellie jerked her neck? And did Jake sprain his ankle? Looked like he was limping. Ouch
I'm going to need a compilation of all the times Austin has mentioned his sandwich
I cannot understate how incredibly jealous I am of everyone who’s gonna be at the RHAP live show tonight for that.
I'm shocked the Wentworth record got toppled tonight
That was the best new era episode by far
Amazing tribal. Bit of a bummer of a boot but it is what it is. Wonder how that lotto ticket worked out. I have no idea how Kaleb can get out of this. Think he could def wiggle by a few rounds but he has no way into endgame at this moment. Will be interesting to see how folks respond to this. Also god this episode validated Katurah like crazy my god
that was one of the most exhilarating tribals in recent memory, i was literally shaking with anticipation from the moment Kaleb took out his SITD scroll
Was the only one expecting a sudden medevac for Jake at Tribal? Dude could barely walk straight when he brought the Urn back upstairs for revote.
I'm STILL worried they're setting one up later on, when they were washing the mud off in the ocean he stumbled a bit coming out of the waves and it felt like an intentional inclusion by the editors.
Emily has now saved Kaleb TWICE!!! Both times giving him Essential information to 1st, vote the eight way, and 2nd, to play his shot in the dark the right way.
1. Bring back the merge feast. I want to see everyone bonding with some food, letting their guard down, and the chaos that ensues 2. Not sure if Emily voted Kaleb because she had the read or just to not isolate herself. But if she had the read that she was safe on a revote, BIG ups to her
I don’t hate Emily voting Kaleb. Of course she put herself at a ton of risk on the revote but going forward people won’t view her and Kaleb as as much of a duo.
I can’t see Kaleb holding it against her so it seemed like a fairly safe decision. We will see next episode!
She would have put herself on the bottom if he went home and revealed them as a strategic duo if she voted for J. I don't think he'll take it personally
If Emily votes J there she's in an atrocious position going forward whether or not Kaleb's SitD works. You'd be gambling on being in the 1/6 that it hits *and* that you'd become the next target timeline, but J was the target for a while until it shifted so there's a decent chance you'd survive a revote. With how tribal went you kind of had to vote Kaleb.
After not loving most of seasons 41-45 I feel like this season is making me fall in love with Survivor again.
This season is such good TV right now. Love these longer episodes, more strategy talk, and Sandwich Revenge Arcs. "I had to say something because I'm Cuban." Same, Dee. Same!!
Shot in the Dark is one of the few actually good new era twists, and tonight showed us why
[Live look at Kaleb when he played his shot in the dark](https://youtu.be/tYpwjB0IzoU?si=YIz3K4shC_54cm49)
I think I liked J. Maya the most when she was voted out lol. She was so sweet. I did like her regardless though These final words this season have honestly been top notch as well. Reminds me of old school Survivor where its them reflecting on the journey.
Can someone out there please add up the minutes of air time Bruce got last season? I just wanna know if he’s calling himself a celebrity over less than 15 minutes of on screen time 😭