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[powerpress]Happy Thanksgiving from Rob and Nicole! In lieu of Survivor Know-it-Alls, Rob Cesternino and Nicole Cesternino are here to recap Survivor: Philippines.
Rob has some announcements for RHAPnation: Rob and Jenna Morasca have been recording commentary for Survivor Amazon which will be made available for preorder on Monday, November 26. Rob also announces that this week’s podcast is with Troy Troyzan Robertson of Survivor: One World. Due to large demand, Rob is doubling down and recording a second Survivor podcast with Mount RHAPmore founding member, Tyson Apostol of Survivor: Tocantins.
Rob also announces that there will be no Rob Has a Webshow on Tuesday, and instead there will be Survivor Jeopardy (#survivorjeopardy) at 10 p.m. EST Tuesday night.
Rob gives some history of the 3-3-2 split, notably on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Rob breaks out #RobsCorkboard where he has organized the alliances on index cards. Rob explains that possibly a strategy would be for Mike Skupin and Lisa Whelchel to swing back to work with Abi-Maria Gomes and Pete Yurkowski, and systematically eliminate Malcolm Freburg, Denise Stapley, Jonathan Penner and Carter Williams. However, Rob and Nicole note that this becomes a Dan Gheesling-like situation, where it becomes hard to with in the final 2.
Rob explains the more likely strategy, where Skupin and Lisa, Malcolm and Denise, and Penner and Carter are three threesomes. They will likely eliminate Abi-Maria because she no longer has the idol.
Rob and Nicole criticize Penner for not jumping on board to Skupin and Lisa’s final three deal. They are also unsure what Penner’s plan is going forward. Rob comments that there is no Boston Rob Mariano or Kim Spradlin who has been running the game, so there is no obvious winner right now.
Rob and Nicole discuss that Abi-Maria having cultural illiteracy is confusing because Abi is a citizen of the United States. Nicole believes that Abi-Maria is just not socially aware. Rob agreed with Denise’s point that Abi-Maria’s language barrier is not the problem and that she is just not nice. Rob says that the closest to Abi-Maria that we’ve had in the past is Naonka Mixon of Survivor: Nicaragua.
Rob and Nicole discuss Malcolm’s decision to hold his idol. Rob says that he would have played the idol, but Nicole thinks that additional conversations were probably had and Malcolm knew he was not going home. They also discuss Denise’s confrontation of Abi-Maria and her desire to take strong players to the end. Rob again states that the better strategy is to always take weak players to the end. Rob brings up parallels between this situation and Survivor: Fiji
Alex Forstenhausler calls in to discuss the similarities to the Alex and Mookie vote in Survivor: Fiji. He poses a strategy where Abi and Pete could have stayed three more days. However, Rob mentions that Abi is a huge threat outside of the game.
First-time caller Colin Rose devised a plan to get out Malcolm and get Abi to play her idol. However, Rob says that plans that involve Penner are difficult to execute because Penner is currently floating.
Big Brother 14 Winner Ian Terry again calls in from the kitchen. Ian believes that Denise is trying to position herself in a way that people will want to take her to the final three. He compares this to his elimination of Jenn Arroyo at the final 5 of Big Brother, since she is a threat for someone else to take to the end. He compares it to a Yankee Swap – you never want to have the best prize, you always want to have the second-best prize. Ian also believes that using the hidden immunity idol (or veto) on yourself is not always the best strategic move.
RHAPid Fire: Rob reminds Cesternation that the interview with Pete is next Monday, after Thanksgiving. Rob also breaks down a Skupin, Lisa, Denise final three and says that Denise would win in that scenario. Rob says that Malcolm has not done much to prove that he is a good player. Rob and Nicole think that if all the idols are gone, the producers will probably introduce a new idol. Rob also does not think that Carter has much gameplay and is a floater. Rob and Nicole think that there are both positives and negatives with Malcolm and Denise aligning with Abi-Maria.
Rob explains that he is excited for next week because it is the Final 7, which is the new Final 5 since things can easily be mixed up. Rob reminds everyone to do their Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping on robhasawebsite.com/blackfriday and to watch out for the upcoming podcasts with PeteBo Yurkowski, Troyzan Robertson, Tyson Apostol and Gordon Holmes this week.
Join us live and submit your text and video questions for Rob and Nicole!
