Did not have a reference to KirK Hinrich on my "Things I'll hear on Survivor" bingo card. Rome spent the season being my villain, and they let him go out in a blaze of glory. I think the producers saw this and said "No way to build drama with this one" so they just piled everything on top of Rome. You can tell Rome is an e-sports commentator because he is just a non stop hype machine with little substance underneath it. Like many people, he has gotten too comfortable saying things in a virtual environment that just wouldn't fly in a real world scenario. He even tried to play the victim role saying how he felt Sol was berating him because of his lack of size. Now Rome didn't really feel like a victim, as he told the cameras he was playing it up to get people on his side, another mastermind move as he's playing the game on a whole nother level.
Then tribal happened. Again he is completely oblivious to what is going on, and Jeff has to know the impending doom that awaits Rome. He allowed Rome to sit in the seat and talk for a bit. That meant a lot to Rome, and it was nice of Jeff to let him do that. Rome was clearly shocked on what should have been an obvious blindside, but he was the exact opposite of last week's victim Anika. He was gracious in exit, and some may say it was fake but it felt pretty authentic to me. He thanked Jeff again for allowing him on the show and for having the opportunity to sit in the seat, even if less than a minute. Rome was entertaining to watch as a victim you love to "hate" (just using the phrase, never hated him), but had a really nice exit moment. I'm not even sure he's cringing as he's watching this back, I think some people just have different personalities, and that's ok.
The merge was pretty interesting. A big sign on the beach that says "There's an advantage, Go!". My initial reaction was to question if I would go look hard for it, worrying about a potential target. But it is really a short term advantage good for only the next event, so no harm in looking. The survivors must have had reservations about it, as Sol said "We looked for a minute and stopped". Genevive dumbly asks Sam "Hey what's that buoy", and Sam replies in an even dumber way "Oh I think those things are just floating all over the place". She finally decides to get wet and get the advantage. And it was a pretty good one, she guaranteed herself a meal and a good shot at immunity. I also liked the short interaction between Sol and Sue. "How old are you?" 45. Sol gives a slight head turn and says "I'm 42, we look good for our age!" Watch out for that lightning strike Sol!
I would have liked to see the schoolyard pick as well, and read
@Pip's Invitation recap but haven't watched the video yet. I think those schoolyard picks are interesting because they reveal a pecking order that may be illuminating to players. Sue was an obvious last pick but I bet Andy was shocked he was a last pick. He shouldn't be based on his challenge performance (which I think he acknowledged last episode that he just sucks at challenges). Poor Andy then realized later in tribal that he was the backup choice, which will be sure to set his paranoia off again.
I thought the blue team had enough of a physical advantage that they would win, but good on yellow for using teamwork to get the players over the obstacles, then Kyle and Sam methodically moved through the puzzle maze. At some points, I thought Rome and Gabe were trying to launch the ball in the air over the puzzle walls to land in the center. I understand that level of rush to make up ground at the end, but they were jerky throughout. We know Rome but I didn't think Gabe handled the pressure well. It was probably annoying to hear Sol's advice, but I think that put separation between those two.
Man Sue is a bad player. The tribes are merging here? Let me go run out to the well and get red paint all over the place again. The other survivors pieced together what her tribe did not, there is a pot and red paint buried everywhere. Her tribemates finally realize "Wait, Sue didn't die from that amount of blood loss and medical never checked on her, perhaps she found an idol covered in red paint!"
Part of Rome's mastermind play was to turn people against Kyle, which is actually a pretty good target because I think Kyle is probably the best all around at challenges there. When word gets back to him, I loved his self assessment "People know that I'm the most honest dummy out here". Yep
I do like Kyle but don't think he'll be around near the end because of the challenge threat and his lack of strategic chops.
I think the amulet trio was smart to get rid of the amulets immediately, although after votes started being read I bet Andy wished they played it on him instead of Teeny. He will probably wonder if the other 2 amulet people knew the plan and didn't tell him, further eroding trust and tuning up Andy's paranoia. Also, seems like Teeny was getting smashed on the reward "I need a friend".
ETA: Oof, I just watched Pip's video, that was awkward but it would have been interesting to watch in the show. Confirms my belief that paranoid Andy will be coming out soon. Although I guess it's not fair to call it paranoia if they really are out to get him
Updated tiers:
- Rooting to win: Sol and Kyle. At this point I think Sol makes it further but not sure either can win.
- Like the players, could root for them someday - Genevieve, Sierra, Gabe, Rachel, Teeny remain here. Gabe on the border of dropping down for me.
- Jury is out or neutral - Caroline, Sam, Andy. I think Andy may go back into distress world, which I will not enjoy and he may move down quickly if that occurs
- Lean towards not liking - Tiyana, there's just something about her game play that I'm not vibing with
- Don't like - Sue
