Jeff Pitman

Oh, I forgot MC's first name is Michelle. Now I wish I'd made the title "Post-merge swap-screwed: From Michelle Yi to Michelle C" or something like that.

New trailer for The Traitors US season 4, premiering Jan. 8 on Peacock. #TheTraitors #TheTraitorsUS

How to flip a vote without getting your (producer's) hands dirty - Jeff Pitman's Survivor 49, Episode 8 recap/ analysis Episode 8 of Survivor 49 gave the audience a feel-good, playing-from-the-bottom narrative, or at least it might have if the path to that outcome didn't feel like it had the heavy hand of production on...

#Survivor49 My Ep8 recap, which looks at some of the more subtle ways production choices for the central twist drove the outcome of the episode. Not necessarily intentional, but still impactful: www.truedorktimes.com/s49/recaps/e...

Survivor on CBS SURVIVOR returns as castaways are stranded on the islands of Fiji competing for the title of Sole Survivor and the $1 million prize.

I'm not sure if it's visible outside the US, but it's all there on the CBS.com/survivor site, next row below the buffs. (I don't think it's on the Paramount+ site, at least not obviously, but I still haven't figured out why they have two separate sites, and whatever that reason is may explain it.)

Credit to CBS for not trying to sell a $50 bag of rocks so that fans can create their own tiny teams at home, I guess. #Survivor

Assorted Survivor merch from CBS.com, including a Soviet propagada-style cartoon Jeff Probst with a stern, arms-folded pose, framed by the words OUTWIT (left side), OUTPLAY (top), and OUTLAST (right), available on an olive drab (non-hoody) sweatshirt, a grim gray T-shirt, or on a dark gray background on a mug. OR a slightly different Probst cartoon, staring into the right upper distance, again in Soviet propaganda poster style, on a candle, with the words "PROBST'S PASSION" across the top. Everyone is happy, comrade! So are you!

#Survivor production: "I don't know what the fans are complaining about. They get tiny tribes at every Tribal Council, even in the individual phase of the game, AND they can buy a Soviet propaganda-style "Probst's Passion" candle. What more could they possibly want?"

Obviously, the easiest fix is: Don't split into split squads in the post-merge. We've been doing it since S36: Ghost Island. It's okay to take a break from that. I promise not a single player or audience member will miss it! #Survivor49

I think this was an attempt to fix the janky situation from 47, where Kyle received a necklace for finishing 3rd overall, but there were no necklaces for Teeny and Genevieve, who actually won. But here, the fix was just as awkward as the original problem. #Survivor49

You know, #Survivor50 will be the first US season to have a whopping 23 contestants who did not win. Is it too late to switch to Roman numerals, so it can be Survivor L?

The losing team showing up at Uli sans torches, because of course, nobody brings their torch to a challenge.

Heading to Tribal from Uli camp: Everyone has their torch now, except Savannah.

#Survivor49 The lack of torch is made weirder by: None of the people on the losing IC team had their torches when they arrived at Uli camp. Production brought their torches there later. But they didn't bring Savannah's! It's not like they didn't know she was also going!

Them also being dwarfed by the "Chimney Sweeps" structure - which Probst is also much larger than - really helps sell it.

A massive-appearing Jeff Probst addresses miniscule contestants before the RC/IC

#Survivor49 I think we may have a new contender for the most hilarious "giant Probst, tiny contestants" camera positioning.

Savannah got 13 confessionals this week. She is only the 14th player in #Survivor history to get 13+ confessionals in one of the first 8 episodes. #Fact

Foolproof #Survivor49 boot predictions based on The Pattern:
- Ep7: MCU
- Ep8: MC
...
- Ep9: M (possibly C)

I will accept gifts in lieu of praise when Alex M or Kristina M is the next one out.

(Neither seems likely at the moment, unless Sophi's KiP finally gets used.)

"Classic Sophi" and "New Sophie" is perfect!

Agree on all that, but also want to point out: There was an actual schoolyard pick for the teams last episode, and it wasn't shown because there's no room in 90-minute episodes for that, but we have seen every second of every rock draw.

Wait until sundown, dammit! | Screaming at the Screen - Damnbueno's Survivor 49, Episode 8 recap/ analysis Damnbueno revisits the history of playing up from the bottom after being left out of the new era merge vote, then recaps the odd split-team reward/immunity challenge, Savannah's advantage, and the shi...

#Survivor49 Here's Damnbueno on playing from the bottom in the new era and (mostly) the optimal timing for flipping a plan around before Tribal, as (mostly not) seen in Episode 8: www.truedorktimes.com/s49/damnbuen...

Maybe the first part was a power move by treemail to get back on the show, after being purpled. (Sadly, the boats still got more screentime, though.) #Survivor49

Savannah necklacing herself ... at treemail.

The six (now five) Tribal attendees walking out, with Savannah leading the way, torchless.

#Survivor49 Two bizarre new firsts made by Savannah this episode, for no obvious reason:
- First person to have to put the immunity necklace on herself, not at the site of the IC.
- First person to walk out of Tribal (still in the game) without a torch, after being eligible to vote.

#Survivor49 "YoU HaVe tO EarN iT!" - Kristina and Alex get immunity and food for 10th and 9th place in a 10-person individual challenge. Makes sense to me!

I'm now thinking it's just a straight individual (RC/) IC, and the winner just gets a ton of stuff, and gets to share some of it (food) with their team that they didn't pick, and also their teammates are punished by not being able to vote, but also rewarded by being immune.

Congrats to #Survivor for making everything as confusing as possible. I didn't realize this was a puzzle box show where nothing is supposed to make sense.

It's both a team RC and an individual challenge at the same time. But I'm guessing if all five blue team members had dropped out first, there's not much incentive to endure pain just for an unknown advantage, so it probably would have been a negotiated win, which makes it much more team RC-like?

#Survivor49 The RC/IC is very challenging to score. Is it a simple team RC for food? It kind of is? It's different from past split challenges, because nobody on the losing team won anything.

#Survivor49 Well, they found a new way to hide the boot. Congrats?

#Survivor49 I never liked Live Tribals all that much to begin with, but not subtitling anything is just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

#Survivor49 Did the decision to send the losing team to Uli camp vs. Hina camp affect how people aligned with each other? Two original Hina (Sophie, MC), two Uli-strong people (Savannah, Rizo), and two have voted with both (Jawan, Sage). Did being at their old camp change the latter pair's thinking?

(Okay, fine, I guess Rizo's plan for Tribal fits, but that had not yet occurred in the episode when Jawan said this.) #Survivor49

#Survivor49 Jawan: "Her (Sophie) and Rizo are sharks."
...
...
Rizo? What has he done that's shark-like? Find an idol in the water after you dug up the clue for him?

#Survivor49 This advantage is kind of like John K getting to visit Yasur in Vanuatu, except instead of awarding individual immunity, Savannah gets a super-complicated (possible) vote. I guess if it had just been the Vanuatu version, that would have been dumb (Rizo gets immunity). But why here?

How did they get so much blue into the Cagayan logo? It should be red-orange-green.