Bill Needle

I wish he and Sandra hadn't been used last season. Island of the Idols was a dumb concept to begin with and it would have made his inclusion in this season feel more fresh. Sandra too for that matter.

Double_Oh_7

Ooooh, the Robfather is going to be piiiiiiisssssssed.

Double_Oh_7

Sandra's kind of a hypocrite. She's hurt that Rob never told her he was coming back; did SHE tell HIM?

Double_Oh_7

How dumb are these other players for not getting rid of Rob? They know the longer he stays in the game the more dangerous he gets. Vote him out first and be done with him

DWilson

And you could say the same of Sandra (and she's not of any help in challenges, unless it's a "throwing shade" competition). And, of course, she has an idol now.

Shannon Nutt

I'd keep Rob around. I'd vote Sandra every single tribal council. She's far more of a "back stabber" than Rob has been.

mwbmis

Over my years of watching Survivor, I've always found myself rooting for the more analytical players over the "hustlers". I think that is one of the reasons why I was glad to see Yul back as he is one of the more analytical minds to ever play Survivor. In case anyone is interested he broke down his episode one strategy. I did notice that the thing with Kim at the end, and I wondered if that is what it was.

https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sr55eu

mwbmis

I liked Danni in Guatemala, but it was pretty clear in these two episodes that she never really got her bearings in this game. I don't why they didn't just vote out Parvati though; they had the votes to do it.

Shannon Nutt

If Survivor has taught us anything, it's that the tribe is more likely to vote out someone that drives the majority of them crazy than someone they should strategically get rid of...especially this early in the game.

Cardsfan111

Really surprised at Danni's panic in last night's episode. And the mistake she made bringing up the old school/new school approach in front of Ben.

DWilson

Danni was both Jeff Probst and EW's resident superfan Dalton Ross's pre-game pick to win the season. Of course, she still could … but I really don't see this bunch going with someone from Redemption Island.

Bill Needle

Yeah Danni pretty much talked her way straight to EoE.

Oh, and yay! for more trinkets being dropped into laps - a mere five this episode. Two weeks in and about a third of the contestants already have at least one bauble dangling from their key chain.

mwbmis

It's strange because Danni handled being on the down side of the numbers masterfully her first time. It was one of the best comeback wins in Survivor history. This time things are so fluid that I'm not even sure she was ever on the downside of the numbers until she talked her way there. We only see the edit, but she just seemed overwhelmed.

brainee

When week one had an immunity idol “purchased” with the help of Extinction Island I thought that was good. That the show got rid of the idol hunting aspect of the game, making both relationships with players voted off and game play on EI more important. The episode 2 brought me back to earth and now 6 players have part or all of a HII

Im finding myself pulling more for the “old school” players over the “new school”. I don’t know if it’s me, the players, or the show, but those “old school” seasons are much stronger in my memory. Even though I’ve watched pretty much every season (I only intentionally skipped the one they invited the repulsive Colton back), many newer seasons have made little lasting impressions.

davidh777

Yep, I had her in the game here, and it was an epic run. And I agree that this time she seemed OK until suddenly she wasn’t.

I commented in the game thread that I was a lot more invested in the earlier seasons. I’ve still been watching, but I barely remember some of the newer winners.

Joe Schmoe

Why aren't the other players targeting Rob and Sandra? They know they're both good players, and the fact that Sandra's the only player who's won twice should be enough for them to vote her out right away.

dstrauss

She's a good person to take into the merge. I would assume they don't target her before that.

Joe Schmoe

Was that the strategy her opponents used the second time she ended up winning? I don't remember how it all went down.

Jeremy517

She got dragged to the end by Russell and everyone hated Russell.

dvdjunkie32

Didn't he do the same thing in Redemption Island? He's a master at making everyone want to be his friend and then destroying that friendship to get ahead. Most notably was Grant who considered him a bro so much that he gave his reward to Rob and then the guy wouldn't even speak to Rob at the reunion. Yet Rob still won. I have a sick feeling that Rob will end up winning this thing, and Probst will be all giddy.

mwbmis

Different scenarios. In All-Stars he played on real-life friendships he had outside of the game. In Redemption Island, he learned his lesson about giving people another option and brought players no one would ever vote for to the final (in fairness to Natalie, she was just super young and naive). That way it doesn't matter how mad people are at you, you're still the best choice. This strategy was brilliantly executed by Brian Heidik in Season 5. Heidik...a great player who will never ever return.

mwbmis

I don't understand. If you want to put Adam in his place and weaken Rob, then you could just....I don't know...vote out Rob. Ethan was a nothing target just happy to be there.

Shannon Nutt

Sandra seems to sit out every challenge (when a player needs to sit out). Yet she's considered one of the "greats."

mwbmis

There was an article on this a couple weeks ago. She's closing in on the sit out record, but she's still second to the Bitchy Baby Doll. To be fair, Courtney only played twice, and this is Sandra's fourth time.

brainee

That was the recurring theme (at least pre-merge) of the Heroes vs Villains season. When Jeff asks who's sitting out the challenge:

Isn't there the rule where the same person can't sit out back-to-back challenges? Did Sandra sit out the last challenge too?

I hope the other tribe goes to tribal council next time. The last two episodes have been too heavy on Adam scheming for my liking.