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It was a quiet night on Survivor so Rob Cesternino and Stephen Fishbach will have to find something, anything to- PSYCH, JUST KIDDING, Brad Culpepper has been voted out and here to break it down are the Survivor Know It Alls!
Culpepper Sacked: Caleb’s Power Play
Tonight saw a big power shift as Caleb seemingly hail mary’d a plan to save himself and vote out Brad Culpepper instead. Rob didn’t see it coming and neither did Stephen, who thought it was most likely that Caleb or Ciera would go home. Stephen says most of this surprise is because the idea of getting rid of Brad wasn’t brought up at camp like it was last week (when of course, it didn’t happen). Rob says tonight’s events seemed to clarify that Ciera was actually the target and Brad was lying to her, and Caleb was not really in any danger of going home. In fact, Jeff’s question to Brad seemed to actually turn on the light bulb in his head about getting rid of Caleb rather than trying to get him to admit that he was planning to get rid of Caleb. Rob says this seemed like Jeff trying to throw Caleb under the bus and asks Stephen if this was a smart long-term move for Caleb’s game. Stephen doesn’t think so – considering Tadhana is such a losing tribe already, he thinks voting out one of their strongest players and keeping the weak Ciera in the game is not going to save them from tribal council in the weeks going forward. Rob says there are similarities between Caleb and John’s game in that both went rogue and created distrust between them and their alliance that could have easily been avoided.
At the re-vote, Vytas was ultimately the one to switch his vote rather than Hayden, and Rob and Stephen debate whether this was smart move to avoid the purple rock, or if they saw a Cochran 1.0 style move tonight. Stephen thinks it was a good move considering getting rid of Brad is not decimating Vytas’s alliance in the way that Cochran was completely screwing over the Savaii tribe – he still has Hayden and Caleb, plus Aras on the other tribe. Stephen notes that he has been impressed with Hayden’s gameplay, but being somewhat unfamiliar with his Big Brother seasons he asks Rob to assess whether Hayden being the odd vote out might hurt him. Rob compares Hayden to Ethan Zohn, who once said that nobody likes the coach but everyone likes the assistant coach. Rob thinks that Hayden is very much able to be a beta male and fly under the radar, and doesn’t believe voting for Ciera will play a major role if he is voted out next week.
Finally, Rob and Stephen write the eulogy for the legend that was Brad Culpepper. Rob says that Brad’s plans on paper seemed good, but he always undercut them by telling everyone that he was constantly lying to the person voted out and planning to screw them over. Earlier in the week, Rob compared Brad to a combination of Boston Rob before he learned how to play Survivor, and Russell Hantz after he lost his mind, and Stephen can’t really argue with this description.
Smart Move to Burn the Idol Clue?
Candice and John Cody decided to give the immunity idol clue John won to Monica Culpepper, and at Brad’s insistence, she burned it immediately. Stephen is considering giving the Fishy to the Culpeppers for this move alone, though Rob thinks maybe just the tail or the eyes is more appropriate. At first glance, Rob thought maybe Monica should have kept it and shared with her alliance in a sort of reverse John Cody move. He and Stephen both agree though that the thought of someone having an idol or a clue in any way makes him or her a target, so it’s best to just not have any drama that comes from a clue in any way. The Know It Alls also realize that Galang is so anti-strategy that it was probably the wrong tribe for a player to try and share a clue with. Rob points out that this also creates problems with who you don’t share the clue with. He initially wondered if it would have been a good idea to give the clue to Brad in order to make him a target, but he understands why the potential for Brad to actually find the idol wasn’t worth that risk.
Brad’s Prospects at Redemption Island
Rob wants to start referring to Redemption Island as “red eye” (“Red-I”?) So who is going home next week at red eye? Rob thinks it will be John Cody because he wants it the least, but Stephen says points out that was the puzzle master on the Tadhana tribe. Stephen is confused as to why Candice is so mad at Brad Culpepper considering they technically never met, and Rob argues that Candice and Marissa became good friends on Redemption Island and Marissa told her about all of the things he did to piss her off. Brad voting out John was the last straw for Candice, and everything sort of fell into place in her mind about him at that point. Stephen once again points out how he hates that bitter losers have such an impact on Redemption Island seasons, similar to how he feels Ponderosa is a flaw in Survivor.
#CoconutBandits
Gervase and Tyson teamed up tonight to become the coconut bandits of the Galang tribe. Rob asks Stephen if Tyson ever stole the coconuts in Tocantins, and now Stephen is starting to wonder. Tyson wasn’t around on the merged tribe long enough for him to notice if it did happen. The Know It Alls point out that with Marissa and Rachel now gone, Gervase and Tyson have sort of become each other’s loved ones. As a result, Rob wonders if maybe Vytas being voted out on Tadhana would be the best thing to happen to Aras. He says that if both make it to the merge, there’s no way Aras and Vytas will both be together very long anyway because they’re such strong players. Stephen questions Rob’s impartiality towards RHAP Mount Rushmore inductee Odd-us, but agrees that he is probably one of the top players in the game right now.
Viewer Questions
Can anybody on Galang take an idol clue now that Monica has set a precedent? Have the #CoconutBandits created a rift in the Arson alliance, or are people just keeping their options open? Has Stephen changed his mind on whether or not there will be a tribe swap soon? And is Tyson taking pages from the Gervase season 1 playbook? The answer to these questions and more on Survivor Know It Alls!
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Special Thanks to Brendan Noel for recapping tonight’s show
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