BITCH STOLE MY LEGACY ADVANTAGE! Well, kinda. Craig I’Anson from Australian Survivor joins me for a Q&A this week and Brissy super fan (what’s with all the Queenslanders on my blog?!), Kyle West joins me with his thoughts on Episode 12!
Day 30-32
The ol’ Brad, Sierra and Tai alliance are confused as hell at what just happened. Zeke is gone and they were all played. Tai must be wondering why they threw him under the bus, this gives him more incentive to bring out one of his idols soon!
Sierra definitely feels like she’s on the bottom right now and confides in her best friend on the island, Sarah. Ahhhh, she knows Sarah burned her, but still goes ALL IN on this relationship. No deal, Sierra, NO DEAL!! Sierra trusts Sarah so much that she tells her about the Legacy Advantage… and that it’s another idol… and that if she goes home she’ll will it to her. ARGHHHH it just gets worse. At first Sarah confesses that she wants to keep Sierra for sharing this info… but we all know that doesn’t last.
REWARD CHALLENGE
Not only is it a reward challenge it’s a reward to spend time with their loved ones!! Tears. Are. Imminent. Automatically, Sarah breaks down in tears and even I think it’s a little bit TOO dramatic. But still, her hubby Wyatt comes out of the bushes and OMG he is HOT! Not only does Sierra think he’s sexy, but Tai wants in too 😉
Andrea’s mum Linda comes out next and she talks about how Andrea’s late sister helped her get on the show to begin with, and it’s a touching moment. STOP IT, GUYS!!!
Aubry’s sister runs out and you can totes see why they’re sisters. AWW. Soooo cute. Sierra’s dad appears just like he did in Worlds Apart. Then, omg Michaela’s mum. AHHHH so so so cute!!! Hi, Candy! She almost looks Fijian, no?
Troyzan’s bro Pete is welcomed, and also Tai’s love of his life, Mark. NOT the chicken guys, jeez.
NAWWWW.
Side note: Eliza Orlins tweeted about this during the episode, but it’s so great seeing Tai and Mark’s relationship on screen, as back in Vanuatu they didn’t show the kisses between Ami Cusack and Scout Cloud Lee’s partners. How times have changed for LGBT+ on TV.
Cue the Culpepper show… Monica runs out to hug her big hunk o’ man! Pretty sure the producers ENSURED Brad made family visits just to have Monica back on, ha!
Now, I know so many people wanted HB back on as Cirie’s loved one, but it was so adorable having her son Jared there, especially for the scene to come.
Teams are drawn and it’s Brad, Andrea, Aubry VS Michaela, Sarah, Tai VS Cirie, Troyzan, Sierra. Team Culpepper get ahead with the sand digging, while Michaela just drags her team mates through the sand.
In the end it’s a pretty landslide win with Brad, Andrea and Aubry being able to enjoy a BBQ lunch with their loved ones.
Michaela ain’t happy!!
And neither is Candy!
Probst tells the winning team they can choose one other person to join reward; they choose Cirie. Definitely and Andrea and Aubry choice. Probst says pick ONE more… They choose Sarah. Interesting!! Andrea confesses that they’ll give Michaela a day to get over the loss… Yeah right!
BBQ Reward. Jared can’t believe he’s hanging out on an island with his ma!
Back to the Culpepper show, Brad calls his wife a Survivor stud player… Umm. I’m not even going to go there. Vom. Also, hilarious that Monica is barbecuing. I wanna see banter between the Bracco sisters!!
Maku Maku. Michaela makes her move!! She starts to bond with Tai, who also feels on the outs since the last tribal, and Michaela does well to secure an alliance with the little guy. Sierra and Troyzan join the two in the water and decide to move forward together as a foursome. Michaela is happy to flip where necessary, not that she was real loyal to anyone to begin with. I wouldn’t disregard Michaela to make finals right now… I’m just not convinced she could win over a jury! Time will tell.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
A new, but kinda boring challenge. And one that’s set up to end within half an hour at best. Balance a buoy between to rods while standing on a narrow perch. Poor Aubs drops in the first 20 seconds! Fast forward and I don’t know what Monica told him, but I do believe it’s what helped him win immunity, and his first! Congrats Brad!
Maku Maku. Andrea’s posse wants Sierra out, and I love how Aubry’s like, yeah there’s no point even talking about it; just vote fucking Sierra! Michaela and Tai are also in on this convo and are like, nah uh!! They go back to Sierra and let her know about her head being on the chopping block. They turn their heads to voting for the ‘strategy queen’ Andrea. I LOOOOVE how they are ignoring Cirie right now… mwahaha!
Sarah has now done a 180 and with the knowledge of how everyone wants to vote Sierra, she’s like hmm, OK! Not all bad, because she’s going to get the Legacy Advantage! And to ensure this, she puts on a lovely Emmy performance of sucking up to Sierra to promise her the Advantage.
What show am I watching again?
Sarah then tells Michaela about Sierra’s Legacy, which I’m not too sure about, but I guess it’s not all too bad. Sarah knows Michaela can be a little wishy-washy and by telling her about Sierra’s Legacy it’s more incentive for her to vote out Sierra and flush it out. Little does she know Sarah will get it!
TRIBAL COUNCIL
I must say, I do love Aubry, but she hasn’t really been getting much of a ‘winners’ edit per sei, or as strong an edit as others like Sarah, or even Cirie. Aubry is always there in broad conversation though, so maybe I shouldn’t give up hope! I loved the discussions and counter arguments between Andrea and Sierra about staying in the game and how they aren’t the biggest threats. They both raised valid points, and agreed they probably have had the same conversations with the same people… Who can you trust?! Who will be part of the WE and who ends up being the ME?!
The ME ends up being Sierra Dawn Thomas… The fan favourite goes home in a 6-3 vote and becomes the 5th jury member. Sarah puts on her Emmy face again pretending she’s shocked… HAAA. We all know you voted for her, girl. Sierra wills her Legacy to her besty, Sarah. The difference between this situation and Jessica Lewis telling Ken in MxGX is that Jess knew Ken was actually a loyal person!!
Watch Sierra’s Ponderosa here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oLmDvS0ItY&w=560&h=315]
KING KYLE’S THOUGHTS
Follow Kyle on Twitter
Once again we see a clear winners edit from Officer Sarah. I’m loving it! From power-hungry President in Cagayan to agile faux-alliance Assassin in Game Changers – her change has really been incredible. However the audience is always taken out of the game a bit by the tear-jerking loved ones visit. We see the castaways becoming overwhelmed as usual by the thought of spending some much loved time with their family members. Finally it’s a chance for Monica to actually tell Brad what she would do! (#WWMD) Also lets not overlook how cute Cirie was with her son! What a Queen.
Faced with an obviously tough decision after their challenge win, Andrea Brad and Aubry struggle with who to take with them and who to leave on the beach. As we’ve seen in previous seasons; who you leave on the beach can make or break your game. They decide to bring Cirie and Sarah, but we don’t know if this is solely strategic or if the duo just tugged on their heartstrings enough to warrant the decision. Hmm…
Either way, sassy Michaela B will need to sip her tea away from her loved one at camp, in the company of Tai, Sierra and Troyzan. This setting provides the perfect opportunity for Michaela to do a Kimmi Kappenberg and “swoop in to make her dreams happen”. The question is: does Michaela have the strategic prowess to execute a move and recover from it? I’m not convinced so far from what we’ve seen.
The foursome sit alone on the beach with Andrea being thrust into the spotlight as the potential target due to her physical ability in challenges as well as her fantastic strategic game. Michaela is now faced with a tough decision: make a move and vote out Andrea and risk being on the bottom or stick with her alliance where she is capable of progressing further in the game. It’s a choice Michaela ponders deeply in her confessionals!
Flash forward to Sierra becoming aware that she is obviously a potential target after having been out of the loop on the Zeke vote as well as being in the minority. She tries to get something going with Officer Sarah and you just have to commend her. Sierra has proven herself to be a strong, smart strategist this season which is a welcome change to the sluggish and slow performance she gave in World’s Apart.
Again, Officer Sarah shows just how great she is by ensuring Sierra she will be okay and that she will vote with her because she knows about the legacy advantage. This is a smart play from Sarah: take out a target, keep the alliance happy and hopefully have the legacy advantage willed to you. The plan works for Sarah. Her criminal mindset delivers her the legacy advantage – she manages to convince Michaela to stay on-side with the majority and the alliance of five stays intact yet again.
Well done to Queen Cirie for suggesting splitting up the power duo and for Sarah for managing to get the job done once again!
I have to say, let’s not write off Sassy Michaela B – I think there is more hair flipping and tea sipping goodness to come. For now though, Miss Sarah Lacina continues to lead the charge toward the title of Sole Survivor, showing these Game Changers how it’s done!
Episode 12 Q&A w/ CRAIG I’ANSON
ASFFPGCCI. That’s “Australian Survivor’s Fan Favourite Potential Game Changer Craig I’Anson” for those playing at home! It’s unbelievable that Craig, who quickly became a favourite for viewers, came 15th in this returning Survivor season, but he gave hilarious confessionals which will always be remembered. His relatively seamless game came to a halt after the first tribe swap, losing his ally Jennah-Louise and his hidden idol he couldn’t find, thanks to Phoebe! This ultimately resulted in Phoebe playing the said idol, sending Craig home in a huge blindside.
LyndzO: Hey Craig, welcome to Reality Ramblings where you can ramble as little or as much as you like! Thanks for joining me on this week’s recap!
Firstly, how’s life since that biatch Phoebe stole your idol? Are you still bitter or sweet as?
CraigI: Sweet As. I love that Bitch, a lot. Weird right? Considering she played a big part in destroying my childhood dream. But hey I also did my best to destroy hers. So even Stevens. Initially, life was rough, emotional, internal and lonely. There was a brilliant scene a few episodes ago on Game Changers where for the first time ever they discussed openly how life is when you return home and how you change and people notice the change. I’m glad my friends and family got to see that for a bit of understanding.
But now it’s great. I have been travelling around the world which I LOVE. Keep getting these amazing opportunities to do some out of this world stuff that I never would have before. A few months ago some fellow Survivors and I did the 19km Rottnest Island swim, which was another amazing challenge and accomplishment for us and Just this weekend We got to participate in the Australian Make a Wish Foundation Gold Coast – Amazing Race for Wishes. That was Awesome. SO SO SO Much fun, and we worked our way up the pack and took out the win. PS I beat that Phe-O-be just to prove to everyone that I do have what it takes to beat her.
And the journey hasn’t stopped, there are more possibilities in the pipeline that I am hoping to take full advantage off.
LO: And how much are you loving/hating Survivor Game Changers right now?
CI: I am loving Game Changers. To be honest I feel that it has been one of the best pre-merge seasons, some big targets were taken out, but they really played some good game to not go down without a fight. After the merge I think there has been a bit of a Lull, maybe it’s just me? Maybe a little bit more expected in the way off moves? I dunno, there has also not been really any “Game Changers” since the merge feast. However, with the 3 idols and 2 advantages in play, there is going to be a crazy finish.
LO: Who were you rooting for from the start of Game Changers and is there anyone who impressed you (who is still in the game or has left)?
CI: OMG. My Queen Cirie. As soon as I saw she was playing I was all YES GAGA YEEESSSSS. I Just love her. I absolutely just love her skill and pro-ability to plant seeds and get other people to action her desires. I have noticed a lot more this season some off her tactics and I think she is just brilliant. She deserves the Crown, hands down. I believe she is getting a good edit, but that is either for the final three and possible win, or because she gets amazingly taken out in a blaze of glory. I just really hope that she doesn’t finish in 4th or 3rd, that would be a kick in the guts.
I have actually been very impressed with Culpepper. From Blood vs Water he was a typical arrogant cocky little bitch. I hate that character in Survivor. Game Changers, he has learned a lot and played a good game. Most would think he would be viewed as a physical threat but he hasn’t really, it’s been his alliance with Sierra Dawn Thomas that has drawn the attention. He played very well pre-merge, and has blended into the background from the beginning of the merge, leaving SDT to run around madly and draw more of a target to her erratic self.
Also Sarah. Her game speaks for itself. She is killing it out there. Enough said, if people don’t know what I am talking about, you haven’t been watching.
LO: Sooo, we begin the episode with the post Zeke vote, should Tai have been more worried than he was? He was just thrown under the bus! How would you have reacted?
CI: Tai had no reason to be worried. That whole tribal “Zeke’s Demise” was perfectly executed. PERFECT. Andrea and Cirie did not only get out who they wanted, they played the bottom into voting one off their own, thus splitting them even more. There is a possibility that Tai should have picked up on clues before tribal, with the wishy-washy convos, but maybe he simply didn’t talk to enough people. Tai was thrown under the bus. It’s just funny to watch, knowing he has two idols, and these players throwing him about and losing the possibilities of him helping them with the idols. Now, he is in the position to help Michaela, Cirie, Andrea, Aubry and Sarah with his idols and use them against Culpepper and Troyzan.
I would most likely have reacted the same way Andrea did with the whole Zeke betrayal situation, however, I know that’s not the right way to go about it. So I probs would have just Bitched in my confessionals, smiled and been like “Ow I know, ow it’s the game, Yes yes you were in a corner” and then join the others to slit their throats and give them a wave on the way out.
LO: Sierra tells Sarah about her Legacy Advantage and says that she will give it to her if she’s voted out of the game… Ultimately, was this Sierra’s downfall to being voted out?
CI: OMG YES, What an idiot move by Sierra Dawn Thomas. Yes, tell Sarah that you have an advantage, BUT MAKE SOMETHING UP! Don’t tell her the exact bloody thing, HONESTLY. She should have said something like, steal a vote, extra vote, or you can block someone from voting. This is something that Sarah then has to take into consideration and work her votes around, thus possibly requiring SDT to be with them so as not to use it against her posy. But to tell her what it is, Sarah did the obvious thing, TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE ADVANTAGE. Brilliant game play. So she breaks up the alliance of Culpepper and Sierra Dawn Thomas, and now has 2 advantages in her possession, that NOBODY knows about. She is a machine. True, people know the legacy advantage is “was” in the game, but probably don’t know that it can be passed on as they would not have seen that from Mill Y vs Gen X. To have 8 left. 3 idols. 2 advantages. And 2 weeks left. It’s going to be BOOM BABY.
LO: On to the Reward Challenge/Loved Ones visit. Did anyone make you cry? Did they bring the loved ones in just so they could get Monica Culpepper back on the show?! Are loved ones visits a waste of TV space or do you love them?
CI: I ALWAYS cry with loved ones visits. You can’t not feel the emotion. It’s so strong and raw. No way are they a waste of TV space. You see that other side of the players. The players see that other side. They also see a bit of each other that possibly has not been bought up before in the game so can effect players connection, thoughts, image of each other. Thus affecting the game and the votes. But FFS Monica Culpepper, eeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, her cheer leader style, that look on her face like “Naturally Brad won”, THEN Cooking the BBQ? God grab as much screen time as you can bitch. OW WAIT QUICK now let’s talk some game, ’cause I’m a pro you know, I made the finals in BvW, don’t worry that I was a completely paranoid mess the entire time and pretty much only made play to take out KAT pre-merge, ow and won some immunities did you know? I won immunities, but hey I’M THE AMAZING MONICA CULPEPPER.’ Bye Felicia, NEXT!!!!
LO: LOL. WWMD (What Would Monica Do?). What do you think Monica whispered to Brad to try and help him make the Final 3?
CI: God, who cares. Probably something along the lines of “Throw them all under the bus” or “I won 3 individual immunities! How many have you won? Pick up your act or don’t think about coming home” thus causing Brad to win individual immunity.
LO: What did you think of Michaela’s little tanty after losing the Reward Challenge? #SPICY and OMG her mum! So cute.
CI: HER MUM OMG Luv. Tanty was typical Michaela. What is misjudged by the other players is that when Michaela gets fired up, she makes her moves as we saw with Tai. She is building some numbers now. Michaela, Cirie and Tai. I personally luv her tanties and they would be VERY hard to keep held in out there. I mean the amount of times I almost lost it and had to bite my tongue. That reward challenge for chocolate where Saanapu tried to palm off the Chickens… I had to go to my special place to not TIRADE and spit acid hahahahahahahahaha, bloody (Nick) Iadanza!
LO: Andrea, Aubry and Brad choose Cirie and Sarah to go with them on reward… Sierra sits out again! Was this a strategic move or made from the heart? I saw a tweet from Corrine Kaplan saying you should ALWAYS choose those in your alliance. Thoughts?
CI: This is a hard one. I honestly don’t know if there is a proper way to do this situation, as there has been A LOT and different strategies played all with different outcomes. I think the person that Culpepper should have picked or focused on was Tai. He needed to repair that. I believe that move caused Tai to understand that he was definitely out of their alliance causing him to look elsewhere. Brad always has SDT, so to leave her out is not a bad move for him. It allows her to remain erratic and go crazy and let that target be bigger maintaining focus away from himself.
I completely understand Corrine’s tweet though. But you have to weigh up numbers. If you individually win the reward and have to pick people, yes, pick from your alliance and maybe the one random number person that could be swayed without your presence back at camp. But in a team winning reward, its so much harder. Andrea and Aubry pretty much did choose their alliance, but maybe go with Michaela? Both Tai and Michaela where the random number players in this pick.
LO: Michaela makes a move back at camp, or does she? What do you think of the sassy chick’s game so far? Do you think she has a shot to make it to the end, and with Tai?
CI: Michaela DID make a move. She pulled in Tai. No, they stuck with the SDT vote in the end, but she got a number on HER team with Tai. She already “has” Cirie, and now she has little Idol holder Tai. Sarah made the vote go to SDT. So far in the game I believe she has just been a bit of a floater. She has had her bonding sessions with Cirie, and been a expected powerhouse in challenges. But I believe she is heading in the direction of a Goat. Nobody would vote for her at the end and I believe everyone knows this. So I believe she has a shot to the end, with Cirie, and I believe she will get there with the help of her new alliance Tai’s Idols.
LO: Getting to the pointy end, Sierra calls Sarah one of her besties out there and lets her know people are gunning for Andrea. How well do you think Sarah is playing the ‘middle man’, and are you impressed with the way she was able to gain so much trust in Sierra that she was willed the Legacy Advantage?
CI: Besties? Maybe that was left on the cutting room floor. I can’t remember really seeing any bonding between the two or any mention of it. So when SDT stated the whole, take you to the end, we are besties, blah blah blah, I was like umm… What? I think Sarah is doing well as the middle man, however, her own alliance know the position she is in, the rapport she is getting, resume and they are smart enough to know she is in a good position to win, I mean HELLO she is with Andrea and Cirie, so Sarah needs to get ready for some votes coming her way sooner or later because they will be. I believe she simply played Sierra Dawn Thomas, who was scrambling and desperate enough to cling onto anything that came her way, so in buttering up Sarah she thought she was good, but simply gave to much away.
FINAL QUESTIONS:
LO: Are you legit sad that Fan Favourite Game Changer Sierra Dawn Thomas is out of the game?
CI: Ow look I liked watching SDT, because at times she was entertaining and delusional. I’m glad she is out though.
LO: Do you think Andrea, who is now considered the strategic queen, really is the biggest threat left out there?
CI: Pppfffttttt, Strategy queen? Um when you have a puppet master controlling your strings are you really the Strategy Queen? The biggest threat out there is Cirie, who has people making her moves, Andrea, for her and not being the target. But with twists, Tai and Sarah obviously.
LO: Like me, did you also forget that Troyzan is still in the show? #PurpleEdit
CI: God, why is he there? Troyzan is a goat, will be a goat and will be seen as a goat. He has done nothing since his idol find. However, I foreshadow next week, the target is Brad, who then wins immunity again, they target Troyzan, who uses his Idol and they take out Andrea. You heard it here first Bitches.
LO: And speaking of edits, do you think Australian Survivor’s edit of you was a true portrayal of what you were like/how you played on the island?
CI: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Absolutely. Due to Vavau’s 12 days of Bliss in the beginning, viewers did miss out on A LOT of our game play and setting everything up. So you missed that part of my game. But personality-wise everything else, you saw. OW except my interactions with the Vavau chicken Apricot. We had a love-hate relationship and she was obsessed with me, but you didn’t get to see really any off it due to my constant swearing hahahahaha I swore a lot. I also burped and farted A LOT. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I was very happy with my edit. Obviously you didn’t see everything, but I think everyone got a good enough taste that they want the whole glass…
LO: OK Craig, two weeks left, who is going to make the Final 3?
CI: Cirie, Tai and Michaela.
LO: And finally, who do you want to win?
CI: Cirie. If not Cirie, Sarah simply because her metamorphosis, from her previous season has been the biggest by a long shot. Can you imagine if she was like this in Cagayan?
LO: Thank you so much for your time, Craig! Any final words? 🙂
CI: THANK YOU LYNDA. Luv it. Shout out to AUS SEASON 2 that is underway, feeling for them and can’t wait for them to meet the family. I love Survivor and always will, and as we all know, Second Chances do happen… NAMASTE BITCHES.
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Blog by Lynda Olson
ALL IMAGES USED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE COPYRIGHT CBS AND CHANNEL TEN. THIS IS A PERSONAL BLOG AND ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN.
