The ’Survivor 50’ Merge Extravaganza! | The Pod Has Spoken

ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА МУЗЫКАЛЬНАЯ ЗАСТАВКА -Сколько back to the podcast have spoken a very, very exciting and special episode. We don't do Monday episodes too often. And unless you're subscribed to our YouTube channel, or wherever you're getting your podcasts from, you're not gonna be notified of this until we post on social media, which sometimes is a little later than it actually gets released. And then you'll be behind, and then your friends will laugh at you, and your lives will probably fall apart. And it's just like the catalyst to everything horrible. So subscribe everywhere you can. Riley is that what you were going to say before I said it? Yeah, you took the words right out of that. Okay, and I know Ashley Grease, she's nodding, so we know she's on board. We have an amazing guest today, part of the Ringer family, someone who knows TV better I've been told than almost anyone else walking in cyclopedia of television. мы have at the ringer, they call her Joe in real life, they call her Joanna Robinson. That's correct, Riley, thank you so much, I presume, for saying those nice things about what I know about television. Thanks for having me, I'm a huge fan of this podcast, so I'm thrilled to be here. Okay, and this is the 20 minutes actually where we do let you just go on and on about how much you love our podcasts. Okay, well, I'm ready, I'm ready. - How long have you watched Survivor? So you cover scripted, you cover some non scripted. I've been seeing a lot of commentary from you about Survivor this season specifically, how deep do your Survivor fandom roots run? - So I watched it originally, like when originally started. I was into the original seasons, and then I fell off for a really long time, and it was actually when I started working at The Ringer, Фондовь, Майло Рубин, Майко-хоуст, очень было меня в "Сервиве". Потому что при этом, я не вернусь в "Сервиве", если не вернусь в "Сервиве", то ты не вернусь в "Сервиве", и я делаю "Массив Дипдайв" и просто watched "All of". Во-первых, Steven Fishback sent me an incredible spreadsheet of what order to watch, what seasons in, and just did a massive, over the last couple of years, immersive "Dipdive". И теперь я делаю "Сервивер-фанатик". And you agree with the list essential here and there most of it a lot of it was great advice Stephen got great advice, but yeah, I so like the last couple of years and and now I'm just like an obsessive and watching it live and listening to your podcast. It's just been a really really great way to get into it. So yeah. Any criticisms you have with the podcast? You should do more episodes. I think I think you guys are doing like yeah you guys are doing like a 2 episode a week, like, why not every day during survive 50? Well, on Monday, this week, we're trying, we're trying, you're doing your part of it. So yeah, what are your thoughts on this season specifically? Are you enjoying the returning season? Are you excited to see all these players back? Are you bummed that new players didn't get their shot? What's going on? Yeah, I mean, there are certainly players that, you know, I would love to have seen on this season, that aren't on this season, but this is my first, you know, since becoming like a survivor fanatic, this is my first like massive returny season, so I never experienced that live before and that's just a different kind of game analysis because there's so much external baggage and drama and different dynamics that is brought to it. So I think this is just, I mean, as they were hoping, we're all just really hooked into survivor 50, but this, this is just like a different level of watching live, can't miss TV sort of experience. И так, я как-то лезет. -Добрый день, и что ты надеюсь на этот season? Кто your favorite character is so far? -Я думаю, конечно, Christian has had the benefit of the edit. I'm going to tribal every week and being such a quirky character. So he's emerging these first few weeks as a real star. I think that's sort of unanimous. I'm getting texts from friends all the time who are just sort of like, he's America's sweetheart right now. сейчас мы love Christian, but like I'm I'm a I'm a long term like I'm a huge three fan obviously, but I'm like an Aubrey fan, so I'm on the lookout for what's going on with Aubrey this season. It's very curious to me. I'm really interested in these how these old schoolers are adapting to a new school environment and yeah, but most of all it's the external juicy drama of like the the exit interviews. You're at your guys' exit interviews have been amazing, but the way in which people are sort of processing their trauma, their past survivor trauma via these exit interviews, the way in which survivor itself is working so hard to make their trauma the text of this season with the flashbacks and you know crafting like Charlie's narrative or the Kochanazi feud or whatever the case may be. The producers really want us to feel all 50 seasons as we're watching it and that's been just like a really fascinating thing to experience. Yeah, that has been fun to see the throwbacks and also like just the like you go in thinking you're gonna play differently and then something triggers your your emotion and you're like nope I've got to be on my guard for it is like you revert back to like even I'm on house of villains I'm watching it and I'm like I have to change up my style here like I yeah I can tell when I'm lying I can tell when I'm trying to manipulate somebody I can like watching it and I'm like two intense I get like crazy eyes and like I just got to be like more chill and not care and not try so hard to win every single moment but I can't because I'm me and I think I can and then I get out there and it's like well whatever this I guess is probably yeah who do you think is the best liar currently on 50 currently playing I mean we haven't maybe I mean I feel like I feel like there's a Ritt Christian I feel like Syrie is Syrie but she hasn't really had to lie she hasn't lied she's just been like accepting it well on this season but in the totality of her reality TV career actually she's so under the radar about it like yeah watching this last week her get the news about she first learns about the idol from Brizzo and then she learns about it from Charlie and her reaction is exactly the same time and I was just like I was stunned because when you watch Christian you know do his like play acting sort of like what is called what the boomerang idol versus Camilla just being like oh interesting fascinating information I was I was stunned by that I thought it was yeah it is we also had the Camilla like when she did oh you know it really when you said the thing about Kyle I was like oh you know two Rizzo and then later in the confessional she was like yeah that part didn't really make sense to me I don't think it's true so I think that's why she mentioned it twice too because she's like I he's you're obviously lying and I know that you're lying and if you look a little bit deeper you'll know that I I can catch on to you but like that's such a beautiful thing for you to say right right yeah I do I think as we get down to it where the line because you have to lie more as you get closer to the end game and everyone kind of feels like they're gonna be in the end game that's when you really have to start like kind of lying and early on like this you really try your best to hold it all together and tell the truth as much as you can because it always comes back to bite you it's always going to come back it's just like are they gonna catch on after the seasons aired and we're good or are they gonna catch on in game and I'm in trouble last week we got a teaser that teased the merge and historically the merge happens at episode 6 in this new era which is what we will be on but I also we're doing this podcast with the belief that the merge is happening but they could be tricking us maybe it's a tribe swap there's 17 people still left but they could get rid of one and split it into two groups of eight or something like that like there's other scenarios Joe is this the merge are we seeing the merge did they tease us or did they trick us are we is this their lie and they're so good at it I think it would be wild if it's not the merge given the way that they cut that promo I think that would be really wild but I don't know what the catch is because I can't imagine we're doing a full merge at 17 so if there's some sort of like mergeatory triple elimination that happens before because you know to get get to call people out and then we're down to like a more reasonable 14 merge tribe than a 17 merge tribe which is absolutely bonkers insane but this is this is the episode you know they they put it in the teaser but this is the episode where I feel like it's the most unpredictable thing could happen because whatever they do whatever games they're playing around this merge I feel like we're gonna see a shuffle that's gonna put a lot of alliances in и, ты знаешь, если есть просто рандом сплит, в 3-3-3, то. two before the merge, which they have done in the past, then all of your carefully laid plans are just, you know, thrown by the wayside and you just have to scramble and figure out what to do. So the luck could really be against someone in this upcoming episode based on if they do something like that, you know? Yeah, we could be getting that actually because the last over the new era, they've splitted in half and only half was eligible, half one immunity. Man, that would be, I actually don't like that. It does screw up your games so much. It can screw up people's games so hard. You have all these plans. You've had the plans and then all of a sudden half the people that are voting can't even be voted for. It's, yeah, it's tricky, right? What do you think? You think we're getting the merge? I think it's the merge. I do think there'll be some weird like split up. Although 17 is a very odd number. You know, it doesn't divide into anything prime number for those mathematicians out there. There you go. Yeah. So it's, yeah, for the mathematicians because nobody else knows or understands what the terminology of a prime number. It's only the most advanced among us. You know, because if you were 16, I'd be like, wait, wait, wait. It's going to be eight feet. For those folks at home, what a prime number is is, you cannot be divisible by any other number. Nice. Thank you, Tyson. There you go. Okay, carry on, Riley. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for very explaining for audience. I had more faith than that in our audience that they would understand that. But you said the mathematicians. So you're either assuming that they're all mathematicians here. I think the audience is the cream of the crop. Yeah, they are. I was told there'd be no math on this podcast, but I'm very roll with it, you know. That's Riley's fault. He's the one that told you no math and then he's the one that brings up the math. My, my hope though, my hope for this is that we get even if it's like half of them are immune or whatever, we still get a 17 person travel council with 17 votes being cast or 16 or whatever you know, Colby doesn't have a vote right now. Three might have two votes. But just I want Jeff like up there for like two minutes reading votes and I'm trying to figure out just scramble ever. The scramble to figure out where all the votes go. You know, there's this idea in the new era where they've leaned towards smaller tribes because it's like, oh, you have nowhere to hide. But I actually think that, you know, it gives these players a better understanding of like where the lines are, who they need to get. Okay, if there's six of us, if I can get four were set, you know, you can walk in a four, 17 people, you got to lock in nine. You probably only need like six, right? Just going to be some weird like, you know, split vote. There's going to be some stray votes. There's going to be some weird stuff happening. Like it's going to be a just an insane scramble. But so that's, that's my hope for this episode. Okay. Well, Joe, let's go back to your idea of multiple people getting eliminated. How would they do that? But the group in two eliminate one from both sides. If it's a triple knockout, which I've heard is happening this season at some point, like what, how does that play out? I don't, I am not a mathematician. So I'm having a hard time figure out how they split it into three. But if they're, you know, they've done weird things in the past where like someone sits out and bets on which team they think are going to make it to the merge. You know, there's just like weird things they've done with odd numbers. And also I have my eye on, you know, Colby has no vote. But also there was that really weird like Colby's foot is injured moment. And I just like, I don't know if we have any more sort of Medevac situations this season. But I feel like they don't make a point of mentioning an injury if it's not going to matter in some way or another going forward. So that's something I might eye on. But I can't make them, I, you know, in the teas, it's like emerged teas. It's also this idea of like a blood moon, plus you see everyone literally like scrambling around into the forest. So I don't, I don't know what's going to happen. Like, you know, they could introduce any kind of like Olivia Rodrigo idle that changes everything. And we don't see it coming. So who knows? Why don't we have Sia? Yeah, it's a great question. It's a great question that she's a lot of money. She's given a lot to the survivor contestant. She's been present for a long time and a known fan. She seems like that would be the first person to call. If you're going to have a celebrity out there spearfishing, like Sia out there fishing in the world is just like, come on. That's that's prime television. But also, what if they just like scrimbel in the forest and it's just Sia in the forest? You just like come upon her in the forest. And she has a gift for she's like galadriel. She's a gift for you from the forest. She just is a tree. Yeah. Is that a Lord of the Rings reference? Listen, that's a Lord of the Rings reference. And I can only do myself, you know? Yeah. I mean, why be anybody different. I did also see some, this is off way off topic. I saw a little Tom Bondadill talk from you, Joe, a little while ago, I think. And that's a men, men, my major gripe with the movies is where the hell is Tom Bondadill? Where the hell is Tom Bondadill? It's the great question of the era, you know? And apparently, Stephen Colbert is going to fix that. Apparently, Stephen Colbert is going to make a Tom Bondadill, Lord of the Rings movie. And I'm like, it's about time. Everyone wants Tom. Who doesn't? Yeah. I don't, do we need a whole movie? I just, I just need him heavily present for like 10 minutes of the movie and then totally gone. Just like the book. Yeah. Do we need any more of this Lord of the Rings stuff? No. Are we going to get it? Yes. So it might as well be Tom Bondadill, you know? Might as well. Okay. So are we all in agreement that the murder, some type of emergency is happening then on Wednesday? Yeah, but with some weird twist. Especially because it's a two hour episode two. Yes, that's right. You can never have too much survivor. Let's get into where we think this episode is going to go like going at the merge is kind of a heartbreaker as a contestant. We have right now. We have Vatu is with just four left, Aussie, Christian, Emily and Stephanie. Seela is Jonathan Camilla, Derek, Rizzo and Syri. And Calo is coach Joe Colby, Tiffany, Aubrey, Genevieve. And I assume Chrissy. We didn't see her last week on TV, but I assume she's. I saw her once during the challenge. Okay. She went. Yeah. And that was okay. Yeah. What is happening here? Who has the upper hand? Is there anybody where you're looking at this list and thinking the merge is going to be fantastic for this person? Serri. Serri has the most connections, I think, with everybody in every single tribe. And I feel like she's just going to be able to sit on a hammock and let people come to her. So I think she's doing amazing. Okay. So who we got? So we got Serri with Seela right now. And she has Rizzo. And who else does she has a have at Seela Camilla? De Camilla. Yeah. And Rick is Rick still with her? Or is he not with her after? I mean, here's how I think did the like shittiest job in the swap, which is the nerd alliance, because like, which is the Emily, Christian, Devon's alliance, because Emily and Christian, like Aussie and Stephanie coming out of that or not trusting them about anything, right? They were not included in any of those votes. Devon's didn't do anything to maintain his relationship with Serri in this swap. He just hopped on over with like Jonathan and Charlie and stuff like that. And so when they come back together, like none of those connections still seem like they're happening. But to build anything exactly. But to Ashley's point, Serri, I think Serri is the only one who knows where every single advantage is, right? She knows where every single idol is. She knows where every single like vote, I should might not know that Colby doesn't have a vote. But other than that, like I think she knows everything. And she's just beautifully positioned as which is where right where I want her beautifully positioned on that hammock, as Ashley said. I love it. Yeah. So who else is she pulling in? So she's, you think Stephanie and Aussie are Aussies going back to Serri? Oh, she's going back to Serri. I think Aubrey possibly because Aubrey is a bit of like a, you know, a loose cannon here alone wolf. And Serri said earlier when when she heard that the idol had gone to Aubrey, she was like, great, Aubrey, I want to work with Aubrey, right? And then Aubrey is the Tiffany connection and Tiffany was with Dean Camilla and their original tribe. So there's a possibility of like Aubrey and Tiffany coming into this like Camilla D. Rizzo Serri alliance possibly. Aubrey's got a bit of the into with coach, you know, from which I think is kind of the other side of this because we know that the coach and Aussie that they are not going to mix. So like those are kind of the two, the other side of this is the honor and integrity folks. Is there a world where Serri? Because I'm looking at this and we're naming Serri who she has around her. None of them are the honor and integrity group. Like is that like a group? Are those two separate and like can they co-exist? Can they not co-exist? Can you pull a Serri into the honor and integrity? I don't understand. Have you talked about the, I don't know how much you guys have talked about like the pre-gaming conversation that we're talking about? We talk pre-gaming as we want, but we just also don't know how much is out there. But pre-gaming we acknowledge exists and we acknowledge has happened extensively. We just don't know who is all connected with who. And I wish that producers that survivor on a returning season day one before the game even starts. Give me all of your pregame. What is happening? What relationships do you have and then we can use that in the show because the rumor that you know people are talking about an exit interview. So I feel like that's kosher to talk about is this idea of like the zoom alliance, which is essentially like the core of the honor integrity alliance, which is coach Colby, Joe, Jonathan, and Stephanie, like that that those people came together before and were like, I see you you see me let's let's hang together. There are a lot of the old schoolers minus like Chrissy who coaches sort of like brought in, but minus serian Aussie very significantly. So I feel like if serian Aussie are like we were left out of this like. You know Jonathan and Joe aren't but like largely like sort of old school classic a list survivor meeting and we were left out like let's make our own thing and I think that's I think that's a narrative they can they can craft which is just sort of like the old schoolers who sort of circled the wagon and then your series who are like, I'm married to Rizzo now like I'm embracing like the new class a bit more and I'm being more adaptive and just playing on the ground. Do you know what I mean I think that's like an interesting sort of versus that they can position but I don't think I think because Seria is with Aussie you know who knows how loyal she is to that but like because she is with Aussie. I don't think Aussie coach is never going to happen so I don't think she's going to be wrapped into that sort of honor and integrity or zoom alliance however you want to you know. So you have three being more fluid or adaptable and you have this honor integrity zoom thing being more rigid. Is there a right way in a wrong way to play I just who's going to go further as these groups I everybody always says like you have to be adaptable that's the number one game and survivor but as I'm looking at this I'm like. You just have to have the bigger group or the big enough group that's going to stick loyal so it doesn't matter like to be adaptable if you get a solid five and they are locked you have to be that adaptable. I think that's interesting I'm just curious what happens that's why I'm so interested in this episode because if you got the honor and if they if they all make it to the merge the honor integrity alliance is is like a scary thing to try to break especially when you have like. Joe and Jonathan who are huge physical threats on their stuff like that you know what I mean like you've got some like immunity capable people on there and all this or stuff like that but like if if things get fractured before. The merge and some of those people are taken out then then what place does that put that alliance but I mean like Tyson you're the best position to answer that what do you think is a better gameplay adaptability or strong historically being adaptable has always been like the pitch to people like be adaptable be willing to shift on a dime be willing to throw your friend under the bus but the thing is is that the more loyalty you show somebody the more loyalty they're going to show you back. And so it's I would almost if I could get to the merge with people believing that I'm filled with honor and integrity and me believing the same of them I feel like that's almost a more powerful position if you have this group that's like built where it's like any amount of mistrust and they're out. So then everybody's on their extreme best behavior to prove their loyalty is to everyone I feel like it's almost more straightforward easier less taxing emotionally could be. I hate to say it could be the play like I maybe I've been thinking about it all wrong this whole time like I don't I really do feel like I know if Joe is telling me that I have his word that he's good like he means it like coach sure but with a grain of salt that you have to understand that sometimes his lines shift a little bit but you can always kind of reel him back in. You always means it just might change. He's never actually lying to you he's like he's like George Cassanza it's like it's not a lie if you believe it you're not believe it. So I do think that that does make the game easier to navigate if you're part of that group and are really integrated there but if that group. So you have like the loyalty of Joe and you have the loyalty of like Rizzo Rizzo is like super duper extremely loyal but he is open to working with like the not well we don't know yet but he doesn't seem like he's going for the integrity and alliance who do you think is going to have the most trouble within like the 17 person merge. Joe who's like all about loyalty all about being honest or Rizzo who doesn't necessarily say that he's all about loyalty and honesty but seems to be like moving in that direction without knowing it. I think Joe is Joe is going to have an easier time I think you get to the merge with somebody who historically has always said that they want to play a trustworthy straightforward loyal game. Then it's easier to like leave that person they're not as threatening and I think that's part of this group is like if you're like oh I always tell the truth then that's not threatening. Then I know that if I come to you or if you tell me something that I can believe it whereas yeah go ahead. Well there is also this narrative that they were they were playing a bit more in the first couple episodes with that like Joe and Devon's confrontation in their original tribe which you know when you had cerebral like oh told a lie on survivor you know what I mean like this very like what are you talking about that's the game. So I think they're very much you know in the edit positioning this these two types of gameplay there's like new school versus old school and then there's like honor integrity versus. You make deals you make friends you move you you you you shake you betray you backstab you outlast you out with like that's what the game is and so you know part of that is crafted in the edit but I think they are. I think the producers are really invested in certain narratives one of which is that old school and new school combination that's why I think Syrian Rizzo is like an absolute dream team for them they just like are loving the Syrian Rizzo combo similarly Jonathan has this whole story that he's been telling and all of his press interviews about how Boston Rob trained him right so that's another sort of like old school new school apprentice sort of narrative. But like you have this sort of rigid honor integrity we don't tell a lie on survivor and then you have hey man that survivor you betray that's what we do that I think I think what they want survivor 50 to be is some sort of big. Referendum on what this game is you know what is this game and how is it evolved but what is it at his core we wanted to find it by who wins it at the end of the day and there's only so much of course that like the producers and the edit can control at the end of the day and all of that but there's something they can do to shape that which I think is really interesting to watch. Yeah I agree I do also think like everybody's the fan base in general maybe maybe not I don't know like they people generally celebrate the lying and the tricking and the deceiving on survivor some people hate it still and this honor integrity thing is like oh no that hasn't worked since season two or season four like now it's a new game but now it's become so. Much of deception and outplaying and tricking and that circling back to this honor integrity thing is like oh it could work if you find the right group of people that are really willing to stick to it. Cuz you get a couple people in there that say they're gonna do it and then don't then the whole thing falls apart so you have to have five people that believe it. I think Rick is going to have a hard time here like you can lie on survivor but if you admit that you're lying and admit that somebody's getting mad at you for lying and I'm sitting there and hearing that conversation like oh you're admitting that you're lying that's enough. Firepower that's enough ammo for me to just get rid of you just like remember when Rick admitted to lying like now lying to us like how do we. It seemed weird it seemed like a weird admission and like seeming to like enjoy it just for like playing sake to like when yeah when Rick got all like pissy about that. I mean it was like dude like Joe caught you in a lie like I know that he probably like Joe probably overreacted to that and that's annoying but like do you expect him just be like. She's like. I actually so I think Devons is a lot of trouble just because of like the he's he's sort of at loose ends a little bit except for you know Christian and Emily but I actually think the person I'm most worried about if we all merged together might be Camilla because Joe has his beef with her that he has stated several times. That he is so resentful of the way that he feels like Kyle and Camilla tricked him and made a fool of him on survivor and if you look at like. lingering beefs. Like, you know, like the David versus Goliath, it's just Christian now, right? And TIFF's the only one left from her season. So like, what are these lingering, you know, and like Charlie's trauma has been excised. And like, you still have the coach and Aussie sort of beef that is that is percolating that will come to a head. I'm sure. But this like Camilla Joe situation, I think, is waiting to explode in a way that like, I think if he's like can get his honor integrity crew to be like, she's a liar. And she, she fooled me all the way to the end. She's dangerous. We need to get her out. I'm, I'm worried for her if she is like merged with them, you know. What a great point. I didn't even think about that because you're so right. This could be a season full of people who are experiencing past trauma and trying to decide whether to get past that or to actually dive deeper into it, like Charlie dove deeper into it ended up becoming his downfall. So with Joe, is he actually going to be able to, I mean, so far for what we've seen with how he reacts to people lying to him, he doesn't seem to be okay with that or like able to get past that. So I think you're totally right. He's going to mention the Camilla thing for sure. And it might, either it's going to be bad for Camilla or it might be a downfall for Joe. And it might turn into something where he just cannot get over it. Yeah, I agree. But let's say Joe does get rid of Camilla. Did that change the way he plays? Is that going to change anything for him? Is that just going to, is that just an easy target for him to paint onto somebody because he has experienced with her like, what is his end goal? I think it's just sort of like a, hey, if you're with me, this is what I need. You know what I mean? Like that, that happens to the survivor, right? You're like, okay, you're my alliance. I really need for you to prove your loyalty to me. We need to get this person who's a problem for me out. And then we will all solidify that we all trust each other with by voting on this person. You have no beef with, but I do. So like do this for me sort of thing. That's right. How I see it. Yeah. And it does like sometimes like if your ally will really want someone gone. And even though it's not even maybe best for your game, you're like, well, to stay with this ally, I do have to give them this right now. And then all adjust because we're actually getting rid of somebody that wasn't horrible for me, but now they're gone. So like there's so many little situations where you're choosing like who your number one is over your number three or even over your number three and number four or are your number three and number four going to be better for you in the end than your number one. Like those that happens all the time all the time. I'm also curious how much you all think that D as a target on her is the only winner still left in the game. The only winner and like the way that she won and the way that she plays too. Like when we were she was a name that came up in my head and we were just saying who is the best liar left on the beach? D we didn't mention, but I think that she's in the conversation is like extremely adept at making people feel like she's with them or whatever. And just I mean for a season she like ripped Austin's heart out and like eat it right at final tribal in front of everybody than one million dollars. Yeah, it is true. And also she did kind of spearhead this Charlie thing. And so like people see that people see that move be like, okay, she was able in a short amount of time to flip it and target and target Charlie. Like that's and make it work. So I do believe that unless there are people who like have it in their head that they're like, oh if I sit next to D they'll never give another million dollars to somebody who won. Which I think would be like that's a way of thinking that I could see a lot of these players adopting but I think would actually be kind of wrong. I feel like I would be worried of like just saying Sandra Harris versus villains. That's all you have to say. Well, but Sandra's out of spite for the two finalists they voted Sandra to win. Right. And part of the he was also a previous winner on Harris versus villains. And Russell was like the most hated person ever. So like that, you know, but yeah, I'd be scared of basically it like, well, you let a winner get to the end. Why should I like not vote for that when correct. If anything, her path was more difficult. It's more impressive. So, you know, I would be on the side of like D is one of the scariest players out here and would definitely have a target on her. Yeah. I'm also curious. Sorry, this is just my chance to ask some of my favorite podcasters. Talk about survivor questions about the season. But like, um, in a game like this, how much does a post merge? Like, let's get these challenge these immunity threats out of the game. How much does that matter at this point is like Jonathan in a lot of trouble is Joe and a lot of trouble. And I don't know who else we consider like Stephanie, like, Ozzy, kind of, but Ozzy's back is hurting a man, you know, and I really, he said, he's been down. I really, really, Colby and Ozzy, I don't know, are not really like they're a little washed. But, but like Joe, Jonathan, Stephanie, like, are these people in trouble because of their physical prowess? You know, um, I think on a returning season, that stuff does not matter as much. Okay. Definitely pre merge. People aren't trying to keep the tribe strong for the most part. Do you still have a faction that is like, we shouldn't be strong for challenges, but mostly it's about loyalty. Like, who can you trust? So it's deeper than that. And then at the merge, it's the same. Like, if I trust Jonathan 100% or 98%, what do I care if he wins the challenge and wins immunity? Like, good, that's better because now I understand that somebody who's not my ally isn't going to have as good a shot at winning these challenges. So I think it doesn't matter as much. And also the challenges, I think we're going to see other people winning these challenges. So you're going to be like, Oh, Jonathan and Joe are beasts. I don't think we're going to see either of those guys win four or five immunity challenges. I think it's always different. Like, it's all like Tony had never won an immunity challenge in his life and then he won four of them on winners of war. Like, that's how survivor goes. So I think we're going to get like, who knows, Aubrey, Sri, maybe they're both going to win four each. And those are the only people that are going to win immunity challenges. It's even four immunity challenges. I remember I do. We're living. We're living. I'll see my head. I'll see my head. Three wins four. The most powerful thing is like, you're like, it could happen. Like, you just don't know. And the challenges are designed for people to win for just like, they're not designed specifically for someone who's got more physical prowess or talent or coordination. Some of them are, but a lot of them aren't. It's a lot of like endurance in these like in the new Arab post merge is a lot of like, how long can you hold in school? How long can you sell? Savannah, how long, how much Pilates have you done? And like, how long can you just be there in that position? You know? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. It's Pilates, it's yoga. Yeah. It's calisthenics like, like, how much can you tolerate hoisting your body weight? So it's not so much like, can you bench 300 pounds? It's, can you bench 70 pounds 400 times? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, that's that's more of it. And so I think, I think that's not going to matter as much going into these returning seasons because they also have relationships outside of this game that are years and years long decades long in some scenarios. So on a new season, you don't have a lot to go on. So you do go into the merger like, we got to get out the the challenge piece. But part of that is just because like, you don't know people well enough for that long to have other reasons that other people can believe to vote these people out on a new season. You're just looking for a divide somewhere. Yeah. It's a, it's a, you know, not to be too cute about it, but it's that tribalism idea, right? Because like in normal seasons, in non-returny seasons, you get this like, oh, we're OG Vatu, or you know, we're OG Vatu strong or whatever, like none of that matters here. Because I was like looking at the original tribe dynamics versus the swap tribe dynamics. And I was trying to figure out like, who's going to, and then I was like, actually, none of that shit matters at all because these are people I'll have their, you know, other ideas of tribalism, like, you know, we're old schoolers or we're honored integrity players, whatever the case mean. This is how we define ourselves. And it's nothing to do with how props and the producers happen to sort us at the beginning of, of this whole game. And that's a really fun part of a returning season, you know, right? We're on a new season. You hit the beach and it's like, okay, guys versus girls, oh, wait, no, let's draw, let's draw a line through party lines like we voted for who for no, now let's, like you pick at whatever division that is kind of clear. And you make it a thing so that you can target the person you want. So like literally it could be like, oh, I want Riley out. Okay, well, it's West Coast versus everyone else. And so we got to get rid of everybody on the West Coast. So Riley's like one of the most Western guys he's all the way on the, on the, yeah, like that's, you just invent something to target somebody where on these returning seasons, they have real reasons that span a lifetime. (crickets chirping) [MUSIC] Should we talk about who hasn't gone to tribal yet at all? Because it's a lot of people who have not been at all yet. We've got Colby, Coach, Genevieve, Aubrey, and Chrissy, and TIFF, right? >> And TIFF and-- >> Yeah, and TIFF is six people, that's six. >> Who haven't been at all, welcome to the Thunderdome guys. >> Welcome to the Thunderdome. >> I think at this point though, because pre-merge, historically, generally speaking, you want to get to a tribal council to see where the lines are drawn if people are telling you the truth, but also, like, if you're on the bottom, like, you want to not be there, you're like, I already understand them on the bottom. I just scramble in to get to the merge so I can jump to the other side. And so I do think that there is that mix of things on Calo, where it's that whole group of people who haven't been to tribal council, I think they're fine. I think this group is so big at 17 that going to the merge, it's not going to-- >> Like, the lines, like-- >> You think that are scary, is Emily? >> Yeah, I think like that's scary, where if you haven't been a tribal council, now you're on a group of 17 people? >> I think it's scary and like, in the moment there, but I think watching it, it's too big of a group. Like, Chaos is just going to ensue, and it's not going to matter that you understand who's with you and who's not, because if you look at it, it's like Coach and Joe and Colby and Chrissy are probably tighter than any four group out there. Besides them, and if they understand that, then there's no worry with them. Maybe Aubrey and maybe Genevieve could have benefited from seeing where the lines were drawn, but Aubrey already understands she's on the outs. And then, Christian and Emily, they'd like, we have each other, that's two out of 17. That's not enough to move anything. So I do think it's just, I think at 17 going to emerge, you just have to understand it's full chaos. Like, anything can happen, just duck. I'm also, I'm also curious if there's anything like in the edit that you guys have seen so far that like makes you think something is coming. The thing that's, you know, Mallory Rubin and I are in a survivor pool together, we're in like, we have put our team together together. And like, when we were putting it all in place, it was only after the first, we watched the first episode and then we had to put our team together. And the thing that really stuck out to us was that Genevieve Aubrey confrontation, which was so weird. And so out of nowhere and so oddly edited that we were like, this has to be, this has to be planting a seed for something that's coming. So that was like, why we put those two players, sort of like, high on our list of like, something's coming with these women at the end of the day. But if there's anything else or like combos we haven't seen yet, like coach and Aussie on the same beach or, or Rizzo meeting coach or like, what, you know, what are the, like, what is, what is ahead of us that we haven't seen yet that we're excited for, you know? If, yeah, is the Aubrey Genevieve thing going to actually play out? Because if it is, I don't think either one of them has the power to shift a 17 person group to target the other one. So I don't think that we're going to see that. If we see it, it's going to be later down the road, like when there's like six or seven people left with Aussie and coach. I can see that materializing pretty quickly. And I feel like coach is going to come out on top of that one again. But maybe not. Maybe like Aussie's the underdog now. Like is that where we're at where in coach versus Aussie, Aussie is the heavy underdog. And yeah, yeah. So I just, the Aubrey and Genevieve thing was weird. And it was also weird. Does it happen so immediate that it was like, did they have confrontation outside the game before this even happened? Like, why are they unwilling to work together? I could dig anything out of like Aubrey's past game, but for Genevieve, I could see a way in which she would see a Rachel inside of Aubrey and just be sort of like triggered by this like, you know, other smart girl on the beach sort of energy, but I couldn't figure out what in Aubrey's past made her just so like immediately I will not work with you with Genevieve. I thought that was really interesting. Yeah. It was, I mean, the vibes were off, like both of them made those vibes, created the vibes to be that off. So it's like, you only have each other to blame for that. I don't know. There's so much. Oh my gosh. 17 people. It's like too hard to predict anything, but with that, Riley, what should we be predicting? Yeah. Let's do some predictions here. Well, because we did some on our last podcast or recap pod that we normally do, but I think that like, because of the blood moon, we kid, which by the way, I saw someone, what is the blood moon? And it's true. What is a blood moon? Isn't it when you get a second full moon, but there's the episode, there's the next episode called blood moon or what? Or is that a blue moon? Second full moon. That's a blue blue moon. That's a blue moon. Yeah. A blood moon, I thought was when there's a lunar eclipse. It's, you know, so yeah, so it gets all red, which, so I saw someone on a, on Twitter or Reddit or somewhere say that there was no blood moon in Fiji on during this homing case. It would have been so cool if there had been a, like, like, oh, there's a lunar eclipse during the season. They actually made a twist based off of it. I've been like, oh, I'm into this. But you mean a solar eclipse? No. Lunar eclipse. Solar eclipse. Okay. Okay. Actually, I'd rather have a solar eclipse where the lights go out in the day for three minutes. Okay. Solar eclipse is very rare. I mean, have you seen a solar eclipse? I have. I drove to Wyoming about 10 years ago and it's the craziest thing I'd ever seen in person. Lights literally, the temperature started dropping like 20 to 30 degrees and then the lights wind out. You can take those glasses off, stare directly at the ring in the sky for about two minutes. Cool. And I should have gone to the last one in Texas a couple years ago. There's one in a year or two in New Zealand, like, once you have seen a full solar eclipse, then part of that is your personality. You're like, I should travel to see more solar eclipses, full-calady though, anything less than full-calady is a waste of time. It's literally the difference between night and day, literally the difference between day. Yes. I am like, so I saw the one in 2017 and was so solar eclipse pill. I spent the next six years trying to convince people to see the one in 2023, which I also saw. And you saw where did you go to see it? Vermont. Okay. Yeah, it's so fun that you can look on the map and track like the trajectory and you're like, should we go to Mexico? Where should we go for the next solar eclipse? Yes. Okay. So there's not going to be one in America for many, many years. There's one in New Zealand in a couple of years. It's cool. I've pod has spoken podcasts from New Zealand for the solar eclipse. I think for real though, if you have any inkling of you, if you'd want to go to New Zealand or something, the solar eclipse, it's unbelievable. It's like, you know, I'm not a very religious or spiritual person, but it felt like a spiritual experience, like unbelievably cool. Yeah. I just think back on olden days where you're like, you used to sacrifice humans and stuff. You're like, yeah, if the lights went out in the middle of the day, you would be like, who do we have to sacrifice? How do we get the sun back? What is happening? Exactly. I was, I was reading, there was like an ancient, I Greek, I believe, like, battle that was happening where then a solar eclipse happened like during the battle. And they basically just dropped their arms and like declared peace during it. Because they're like, the gods have spoken. Yes. Yeah. Wow. I mean, if this happened, you didn't know it was happening. You would literally think of what was happening. Yeah, absolutely. You'd be like, oh my god. And then later we were able, you know, now that we have like such good precision for the way that we measure these bodies, like we could confirm that like literally a solar eclipse did happen, like on that day when this was, you know, this ancient tale of like, oh, this solar eclipse happened at the certain times, like, no, they, yeah, that wasn't, they weren't making it up. It literally did happen. The path's so tall. You passed right over where they probably were fighting, like, yeah, so this is, you know, we got way off top. But do you have lunar eclipse? Do you feel like the blood moon is just like fun, quirky branding? And it's just like basically a blood bath, like a triple elimination, you know what I mean? Like at night. Yeah. Like, that's what it sounds like to me. It's a blood bath at night. A blood moon. Yeah. Sort of thing. Yeah, something like that. They love their branding. Also, did you see that like, okay, we love, we love coach for what he does, but like, did you see that people were like fact checking his sort of like Japanese folklore names and they were like, nothing. We did. Like, none of these exist. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they don't exist on the internet. I am holding out space that, you know, coach just has access to information that's not on the internet. Oh, sure. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. He's got some ancient texts. Yeah. Some stuff. Some people say, like, maybe he came from matching the gathering. Like, maybe that's the source of this. You know, who's to say? But I look, I look, I love a branding moment on, so I'm going to say, I'm going to say, Like, Operation Bad Blood was like an incredibly fun thing. Operation Italy, like whatever you name a thing, something, it's really fun. So I think that's what they're going for Blood Moon. It's just like a fun catchy. Let's just make it spooky. - Omnice, a little spooky, yeah. - Yeah, let's go. Yeah. So do we want to pick, like, if it were a triple elimination? We could each pick like three that we think are gonna go. - If it's a single elimination, pick one. So pick your top one. - Pick your second one and then put your third one. So then we have all bases covered. So all bases covered. Joe, if it's a single elimination, who's going at the merge? - Camilla. - Okay, double elimination, who's next, who's after Camilla? - D. - Okay, and number three, if it's a triple knockout. - Devons, maybe, just 'cause. - Wow. - Easy from Seela. Okay, Camilla D. Devons. Also, do you like, speaking of Devons, people are just bouncing around with his names. Some call him Rick, some call him Devons. I feel more comfortable calling him Rick. - Oh, I was always on team. I always call him Devons. - I always call him Devons before, but then when he's come back and people are calling him Rick, so now I feel, I want to call him Rick. The one that's driving me up to the wall is calling Christian Hubicki. - Oh, yeah. - Like, where did that come from? He's just Christian. - That's a probes move, isn't it? Like, that's a, yeah, that's the sign of affection when he calls you by your last name. So, yeah. - Correct, he never called me by my last name. - Yes. - Um, yes. - Riley, oh, let's do Ashley next, Ashley. - Aw, man, okay. - Oh, are you not here or not? - No, I'm ready, I could do it. - Okay, who's going home next, if it's one? - I'm going to say, I'm going to say D, just because she'd be easy vote. Number two, I'm going to say, Chrissy, because she's also kind of an easy vote, and she's not really deep into any aligns. - She's still on the show, she's still on the show. Are we sure? - She's still on the show. - Yeah, we sure do. - Okay, yeah. - And then I'm going to say it's going to get a little weird, and I think this is going to be really crazy, but I think it might be Coach, if Ozzy and Seri, and everybody get together and properly do it, then I think it might be Coach, because he's like, one of the best players right now. Everyone's connecting with them. - D, Chrissy and Coach, I don't hate that coach pick, because everybody wants to work with them. We keep getting everybody wanting to work with him. It could backfire. He's so well-liked that everybody's just like, we got to get rid of him. Riley, what do you got? - I'm also going to say D, as my first one, just feel like, for our conversation earlier, she should have massive target on her back. - Right. - Then it gets tricky. I might say, Christian actually, because I feel like he's-- - I do think he's in trouble, yeah. - Like I feel, at this point, if I were on this island, I would just have to trouble kind of trusting Christian. Like I feel like he's just been all over the place. And so there's potential where it's like, he becomes a consensus name, because there's not that many people who are like sticking with him. And then the next one, I'm going to read the edit, probably incorrectly. And I'm going to say Tiffany. And just, this is where I know I'm sorry. This is where I just feel like, why is she got nothing? She's got nothing this season. And maybe the answer is that she-- - She flips the hourglass this week. - Well, that could be. But let's hope no hourglasses. But no, I was thinking maybe she's the victim of some bizarre twist, like the Blood Moon. And so in order to make that twist, not feel like such a knife for the audience, you know, you just make that-- - Or maybe the twist is, whoever has the least amount of confessionals up to this point goes home. - Yeah, but they don't control that. They do control that. You mean the producers control that? - The players don't. - Yeah, yeah. As long as my phone, I didn't have any confessionals. I'm, you know, giving you stuff. So, so I don't know. I guess those three. - What do you say, Tyson? - Yeah. - Ooh, I want to go a little bit different than everybody, just so that we hedge our bats here. And the pot has spoken. Somebody gets something right. Yeah. I think I'm looking at Aubrey and Genevieve. I'm thinking about Joe saying like, if this isn't a storyline, then why are we even seeing it? I believe that one of them pushes so hard that they end up actually being the one going home. And I think Genevieve is doing most of the pushing. - I agree with that. - So I think that she could be one. Totally safe, except for that she goes into the merge and tells everyone what a big problem Aubrey is in so much that everybody just is like, let's just get rid of Genevieve because she we don't want to be her next. - If that happens, isn't it kind of, I mean, we feel however we feel about the Billy Eilish Boomerang Idol, but like that Genevieve found two idols and has nothing and Aubrey didn't do anything and Aubrey has one, you know, like that's tough. - Yeah, what's, what's wild too is if it's, if Aubrey plays her idol and then the votes bounce back on Genevieve and she goes home, then the Boomerang Idol is already just a complete bust, right? 'Cause the other two Boomerang idols go to Genevieve if they go out, well now she's out of the game and then the third one has been used. So we just have two regular idols and no more Boomerang idols. - Right. - Sorry, Billy Eilish Boomerang. - Yeah, thank you, please say it. - You have to. - It's probably the best proper given name. - Terminology, yes, it's full given name. So Genevieve, I have going if there's one. I do also think Emily, in the Christian and Emily thing, if Emily keeps being so wishy-washy and going back and forth and spilling all the beans, then that needs to. I think people will address that at some point soon. So Genevieve, then Emily, and then lastly, who, I just think like somebody who's not threatening is gonna just stick there. So I think Chrissy's gonna be fine. I do think Tiffany is gonna be fine. Let's go with Jonathan. I think Jonathan hasn't really built much on Cila and they could also say he's a challenge threat but that not be the real case. The real case is that they need to go after the honor and integrity group a little bit if it's going to get toppled. Another question I had, these are really fun pics from everyone I think. A question I had is the idea of the Boomerang Idol is either Ozzy gets voted out and then Genevieve gets her Idol back or come the merge, you have some good will with whoever you gave that Idol to. Do you think that I don't know that Rizzo is going to be like, thanks so much for the Idol, Genevieve? I don't know that Ozzy will do that for Genevieve either. I think Aubrey because she was so low when she got hers and cried and she was someone's looking out for me. That's perhaps the only one where I could see that fostering a tie after the merge but Genevieve for all of her work, I don't think that's gonna come back to her in a positive way at all, which is really tough the next. Especially if they learn, I think you're right, especially if they learn that it bounces back to because then you're like, are they targeting me? Yeah, you didn't just share it with me because you wanted to work with me. You may have also shared it because you thought you could share it with me and then told 10 people. Right. What is that to? That's the other thing, like if the person, if the giver stayed all the way silent about it and the receiver stayed all the way silent about it, sure. But you can't ever be certain. If I found an Idol that just popped up in my bag and Joe came to me and was like, I gave that to you two weeks ago, I'd be like, did you or did somebody else who's not here with us anymore? Or am I gonna hear it from somebody else? And now I'm gonna have to determine between who? Like I'm taking it with a grain of salt and I'm not like my goal at that moment is to convince Joe to not tell other people, but I also have to assume other people know if she knows. So now I kind of have to target her because that's the easiest way to know that she's not gonna tell other people. Deadly boomerang effect. Maybe that's why Genevieve, maybe that's why Genevieve goes out because you know, two people are like, came in, you know. Oh yeah, maybe two people get together and they're like, Genevieve gave me, get Genevieve gave me one. Now she's gets two, if we go, let's get her. That's what, and then, that's a Rizzo Ozzy alliance then, which I did not have in my books at all. So that would be funny. Could be anything else before we shut this down, Joe. I think so. I think we got to everything that I wanted to get to. This is great. This is so fun for me to get to get to ask you guys questions. Joe, do you have a winner pick? Mal and I picked Aubrey as our number one just because of that like weird moment. We just thought that that would be really interesting. I am winning my pool right now. I did win last season, but we will see how this all shakes. I did not have the on. integrity lines on my radar though. So I don't know what they're going to do to my game at the end of the day. We'll see. We'll see. Well, they got to start getting gone. I think I think once one of them falls, it creates a mistrust in the group a little bit. Right. Five. Yeah. Yeah. What's what's the inner circle of, you know, of the five is there like an inner three, you know, and I mean that. Yeah. I think coach Joe and Jonathan, maybe. Oh, okay. It was, yeah. No, you're probably right. I think Colby's on the outs. Colby is called us. Colby's not on the outs, but I don't think he's in the core build of the honor integrity group. I think coach Joe and Jonathan are the nucleus. That sounds right. What's happening there? But Colby's the oakbound warrior. The friggin lawmaker of the forest. He's the lawmaker of the forest. Do you think that he's like connected? Everyone's connected to him in that alliance. But do you think that he's the one who's going to be able to jump in and out of like the, I think once you jump out and get caught, you're done. What do you think? Sorry. I know you're like, let's wrap this up, but I know. Who do you think has the worst social game? And is it Colby or is it Aussie? Those are my two at the top of my list. I'm like, what game are we playing here? I mean, like Aussie has made it through, but like Aussie, there's this whole like, I'm back and I'm better and I figured out my social game. And I'm like, have you bud? Or are you just sort of like floating along at this point? I'm not sure. But yeah, what do you think? I think Colby's just a nice guy. Yeah, but like, like I think he's just out there. I think that's his social, that's his social play is just being a nice guy that everyone's comfortable being around. So I think that's him. Aussie, I think is, he's having moments where he's like, I'm kind of, I'm trying to be more and then I'm not. And I don't know. I think Emily's social game is also, like she, she ends up winning people over because she's like, I don't know what I'm doing out here, but it's like, yeah, but you just told everything to everybody. And now, like I think that that's also a tricky spot is like divulging way too much information all the time. Like that's a problem. But she's been on the inside of all the votes, whereas like Aussie has it like several tribal councils been like, wait, what happened guys? What, you know, did we talk about this sort of thing? And his reaction, him getting upset after Tribal is just not a very good look towards any of like the alliances on that group. So yeah. Yeah, that could be. Yeah, I worse social game. I mean, also Genevieve with Aubrey, it was, it was very weird socially to like come at it like that. Rick and Joe, both in that argument, also very poor social. So there's a lot, I think there's a lot of blunders. There always is, but like those are some that really stand out across the board. Aussie is definitely worse than Colby. Colby's social game is fine, but I don't think it's in the name of strategy. It's just who he is. I mean, there's a way in which these like legacy players are coasting a lot on their reputation. You know, so like you want you want, if you're new, you kind of like want Aussie still in the game or you want Colby still in the game, because you kind of just like want to have played with them. These like legends and stuff like that. I just think like the way that you guys were talking about Suri Tyson, I think you said this thing about Suri, this idea of like she's dangerous, but she's on my side. So it's fine. Like that that is like her ongoing super power. And then like Rizzo has this interesting super power of like this kid is so annoying. Wait, actually, I kind of like him. Is this sort of like thing that he does. So there's just like that's why it's the Suri and Rizzo combo is the one that I'm like most interested in watching going forward. So dude, I love watching Rizzo just like when people I know Colby's like get this kid out of here. Then he's like, this kid is my son. He's my son. I love yeah, it's like, it's amazing. Which we predicted here on the pot has spoken that Colby would become a father figure to Rizzo. Nice. So yeah, we'll see. We'll see. Somebody's social game will get them in trouble at the merge here if it is a merge. And if it's not, we'll have a merge episode the next time. We'll keep having merge episodes tell the merge actually hits. Yeah. Joe, thank you so much for your time. And for tuning into the pod has spoken. And fingers crossed, you win your your survivor pool. How many people are in it? I think it's like 15 12 to 15 people. So I like that. Yeah. Okay. That would be a big win. Yeah. That'd be almost as impressive as a season 50 survivor win. There's 24 out there. Yeah. And we will be back this week with the merge breakdown followed by exit press. So we don't know who or how or when. Well, we know when Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon. Until then, thanks for tuning in. See you. [BLANK_AUDIO]