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Survivor host Jeff Probst reveals what we didn't see at the merge
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let's start off with you telling us everything you saw at this big reveal when you brought out the Edge of Extinction folks. What did you sense from the players still in the game when they learned what was happening? And then take us through the reactions of the Extinction folks when they didn't make it back in, and then were told that they could indeed head back to Extinction Island for another shot. Give us your on-the-scene report!
JEFF PROBST: Well, the first reaction was from the players in the game: absolute shock. They did not expect it at all. It's so hard to pull off any kind of a twist this long into the show, I think they enjoyed it. For the players returning from Edge of Extinction, the stakes were very high. They were extremely focused, with a very clear intention of getting back in the game. None of them had any idea there would be another shot, so this felt very do-or-die to each of them.
JEFF PROBST: Well, the first reaction was from the players in the game: absolute shock. They did not expect it at all. It's so hard to pull off any kind of a twist this long into the show, I think they enjoyed it. For the players returning from Edge of Extinction, the stakes were very high. They were extremely focused, with a very clear intention of getting back in the game. None of them had any idea there would be another shot, so this felt very do-or-die to each of them.
I was also pleasantly surprised at how welcoming the current players were to the idea of one of them getting back into the game. We didn't have time to include it in the episode, but I actually asked the question, "Who feels this is an unfair twist and they should not get a second shot?" To a person, they all liked the idea and felt that "If they've been surviving like we have, then more power to them." Another sign of the modern-day Survivor player. They know they can vote them straight out again if they want, and I think on some level, the idea of a second chance is appealing to all players. Everybody wants to play. And would we even remember Reem if not for Extinction?! Now she's a star!
When the challenge ended, you had one very happy player in Rick Devens and you had a group of absolutely devastated players who felt their time in the game was over.. After enduring a vote out and then days on Extinction, you could see the energy leaving their body as they came to terms with the idea that the game was finally over. That moment was very emotional. It's frustrating to be limited in time with our episodes because we had to cut so much beautiful emotion from each of them.
Then… the reveal that Extinction would begin again. Wow.. That moment was even more powerful than the previous moment. They lost their minds. I have to share that it was very satisfying from a producing standpoint because we always believed that the kind of people who want to be on Survivor would readily embrace something as daunting as Extinction. But until you see it play out, you never know. It confirmed for me that Survivor fans and players are truly seeking a giant adventure where they can be tested in ways you can't replicate in a normal day-to-day existence.
We talked right as the season started about whether anyone would quit at Edge of Extinction, and your hope was that they would not. Yet after having a chance to continue there after not getting back in at the merge, Keith and Wendy both raised the sail and left the game. Did that surprise or disappoint you that they chose to quit?
It didn't surprise me, but only because we could sense that Keith was struggling during his first stay at Extinction. He's very young, and I was impressed that he stayed the duration of the first round. When offered the chance to go back, I think he got caught up in the emotion of the other players. But once he returned, both he and Wendy began to debate the likelihood of lasting the rest of the game and their odds of getting back into game at all. It's a little of that idea "If I had known how bad it was gonna be, I wouldn't have done it." Well, now they knew how bad it was gonna be, and it just didn't seem as appealing a second time. But they can both say they went to Extinction and they did it, and hopefully that's something that will stay with them for a long time.
It didn't surprise me, but only because we could sense that Keith was struggling during his first stay at Extinction. He's very young, and I was impressed that he stayed the duration of the first round. When offered the chance to go back, I think he got caught up in the emotion of the other players. But once he returned, both he and Wendy began to debate the likelihood of lasting the rest of the game and their odds of getting back into game at all. It's a little of that idea "If I had known how bad it was gonna be, I wouldn't have done it." Well, now they knew how bad it was gonna be, and it just didn't seem as appealing a second time. But they can both say they went to Extinction and they did it, and hopefully that's something that will stay with them for a long time.
You all do not pull off any big format change lightly, always talking through all the pros and cons. Take us through the discussions you all had about having everyone — as long as they don't quit — be a part of the jury, no matter when they got voted out. Were you all concerned about having someone like Reem (who was voted out on day 3) voting on the million-dollar winner even though she has been out of tribe beach action for so long? Also, do you even have enough jury seating?!
The idea for Edge of Extinction came in a bit of a flurry. It presented itself incredibly fast and arrived pretty much fully formed. All the elements — the desolation of Extinction, the secret nature of it, the two shots to get back in, and the possibility of everyone being on the jury — was just part of the package that the creative winds sent our way. We tend to look at these kind of ideas as gifts rather than risks.
The idea for Edge of Extinction came in a bit of a flurry. It presented itself incredibly fast and arrived pretty much fully formed. All the elements — the desolation of Extinction, the secret nature of it, the two shots to get back in, and the possibility of everyone being on the jury — was just part of the package that the creative winds sent our way. We tend to look at these kind of ideas as gifts rather than risks.
Of course, we have a healthy awareness that fear is always looming. The fear that we're wrong, that we'll destroy the franchise, and that this will be the season the fans stop watching. But you can't be inspired by creative and equally afraid of that creative. I've said it to you many times, we would rather burn out than fade away. Extinction was very exciting to every department of our team because it challenged us in so many new ways. It was an entirely new world to figure out creatively, aesthetically, and from a cinematic point of view. But it's also a completely separate game happening with another tribe living on another beach, and that involves every single department of our 400-plus crew. We all just went for it!
And now for the short answer to your question… no, we weren't concerned about the jury! As for the jury seating… we have this little team called the Survivor art department, and they can literally do anything. And we have more big ideas in store!
Fascinating that all three returning players still in the game were main targets of the first post-merge vote. What does that say about their spot in the game at this point, and what do you think about Kama taking out one of their own in Joe?
It's a great question, and I have no idea. Returning players always seem to be in trouble, and yet they often find a way to hang in there. I do think there is a sense this season that the new players feel "This is our time. Those returnees have already had their time." And if that's the case, then it doesn't bode well for any of the returning players. As for Joe, I can't help but feel for him. He is such a good-hearted guy and so dominant in so many ways… and those qualities make him a giant threat. Which is yet another reason the Extinction twist is so appealing. Second chance stories are exciting. Especially when it's a fan favorite!
It's a great question, and I have no idea. Returning players always seem to be in trouble, and yet they often find a way to hang in there. I do think there is a sense this season that the new players feel "This is our time. Those returnees have already had their time." And if that's the case, then it doesn't bode well for any of the returning players. As for Joe, I can't help but feel for him. He is such a good-hearted guy and so dominant in so many ways… and those qualities make him a giant threat. Which is yet another reason the Extinction twist is so appealing. Second chance stories are exciting. Especially when it's a fan favorite!
Okay, strong merge episode here, sir. What can you tell us about the follow-up next week?
Tribal. Epic.
Tribal. Epic.
The Edge of Quitting
We already got into Keith and Wendy's decision to leave, so we don't need to do another deep dive or anything. I do think Chris' description of "buyer's remorse when they got back there" is pretty apt. But I do find the nice glossy bow producers put on their choice to quit a bit curious. Keith gives us some quasi-introspective quote about how if he leaves now he's gotten more than he ever came with. I mean, wouldn't that have been true five minutes into day 1? And couldn't he get even more by staying longer?
We already got into Keith and Wendy's decision to leave, so we don't need to do another deep dive or anything. I do think Chris' description of "buyer's remorse when they got back there" is pretty apt. But I do find the nice glossy bow producers put on their choice to quit a bit curious. Keith gives us some quasi-introspective quote about how if he leaves now he's gotten more than he ever came with. I mean, wouldn't that have been true five minutes into day 1? And couldn't he get even more by staying longer?
I swear I'm not trying to hammer the guy. Keith is a young dude who has overcome amazing obstacles to become the first person in his family to go to college. I have mad respect for that. I just don't understand his quote or his justification for leaving. And the fact that it was presented as some sort of uplifting moment to remember only confuses me further.
Same thing with Big Wendy. She tells us that "At the end of the day I feel so proud of myself" as she steps onto the boat to leave. Which is great! I'd much rather have someone feel good about herself than bad. But wouldn't you be even prouder if you didn't quit? Again, I don't want these people to be miserable. But I would have much rather heard how Extinction Island made them miserable. Why did they change their mind and leave? We're never really told. I wish their final words had told me about the brutality that caused them to give up rather than how they are both totally hunky dory. What we were hearing and what we were seeing just didn't match up.
Cannibals Lecture
That section heading was a pun of Hannibal Lecter, but I worried nobody would get it so now I have ruined it even further by overexplaining. Dammit, if only Brett and Carter would return my DeLorean I could go back in time to undo that terrible joke, but now I suppose I need to just live with it. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that the original down-in-numbers Manuians are ready to eat their own. Hence Hannibal Lecter. And Cannibals Lecture. DAMMIT! I'M DOING IT AGAIN!
That section heading was a pun of Hannibal Lecter, but I worried nobody would get it so now I have ruined it even further by overexplaining. Dammit, if only Brett and Carter would return my DeLorean I could go back in time to undo that terrible joke, but now I suppose I need to just live with it. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that the original down-in-numbers Manuians are ready to eat their own. Hence Hannibal Lecter. And Cannibals Lecture. DAMMIT! I'M DOING IT AGAIN!
Knowing there is no time to waste (something, incidentally, I have never known while writing these extended dance-club remix recaps), Wentworth gets to work. She first tries to convince Joe that the law-firm of David & Devens are after him. Then she pulls together all the six women left in the game in the hopes of forming some sort of Girl Power alliance, but the Kama ladies are too smart for that. Kelley and Lauren use Shane Powers' old Survivor Blackberry to order up a charter bus, which they then throw Rick and David under while ordering the bus to run over them repeatedly until the bus runs out of gas.
The ease in which they want to send Devens right back to Extinction Island shocks Julie "from a moral standpoint," which I don't really understand. But the point is that the Kama women seem more inclined to take out Kelley than D&D — which is to say David and Devens, although I am guessing none of the women here have any real interest or history in playing actual D&D either. I'm guessing most of them don't even know what D&D is, meaning they are far less geeky than yours truly.
But Rick has an ace up his sleeve — which is, to say, a package in his bag. It's a mysterious package. He has no idea how it got there, but it seems he not only won re-entry into the game by putting the ball through the hole (eww, gross) but he also won two halves of an immunity idol. He must give one half of it to someone else and if they are both in the game after the next Tribal Council, it will become a full idol with full (non-Tyler Perry) powers. Hmmm… interesting. What I like most about this is that there do not seem to be any clear rules about who has jurisdiction and ownership of said idol once it becomes complete. That has the potential to lead to disagreements about who should give their half to whom. Not sure that will happen here with Rick and David (who gets the second half), but it could. A nice wrinkle in the game.
All We Are is Gusts in the Wind
See, for this section title I played off the lyrics "All we are is dust in the wind," but I changed the word "dust" to "gusts" because there were lots of wind gusts during the first individual immunity challenge and dust and gusts rhyme. Personally, I don't know if that is better or worse than "Cannibal Lecture" but I imagine that in the grand scheme of things neither was very good to begin with and certainly were not helped by me inadvertently pointing out how labored they were. Also, paraphrasing lyrics from the band Kansas is inherently a dicey proposition. So, moving on…
See, for this section title I played off the lyrics "All we are is dust in the wind," but I changed the word "dust" to "gusts" because there were lots of wind gusts during the first individual immunity challenge and dust and gusts rhyme. Personally, I don't know if that is better or worse than "Cannibal Lecture" but I imagine that in the grand scheme of things neither was very good to begin with and certainly were not helped by me inadvertently pointing out how labored they were. Also, paraphrasing lyrics from the band Kansas is inherently a dicey proposition. So, moving on…
Yes, it's our first individual immunity challenge of the season. So exciting! And everyone will be playing for a super dope-ass immunity necklace that Billy Porter will no doubt be wearing on his next red carpet assignment. The challenge itself is one we've seen before, as players must stand on a narrow beam while balancing a statue on a pole. At regular intervals, they must move down the beam where it gets narrower. I like this challenge. It's simple. It's endurance-based. And the crazy wind only adds to the drama. As does everyone hitting on Julie during the course of the competition.
Lauren: "Julie, you're hot."
David: "Julie has some guns."
Eric: "Yeah, she's buff."
As a fellow fortysomething, it's always nice to see the "old" people do well and not be made to feel like they are hideous, and when Julie then wins and cries about having wanted to be on this show for 18 years and how her kids and husband will be so proud of her, well, that's cool too. This was no pushover challenge. It involved strength, endurance, concentration. Hell, I'm with the others: Julie is a badass. And no matter how she does in the rest of the game and no matter how times she pees on herself, Julie will always have the memory of Jeff Probst putting that necklace around her.
Eeeny Meeny Miney Moe, Which Returning Player Should Go
While Kelley and Lauren tried to sell the Kama women on a female alliance, Julie is not buying. She now wants Kelley gone so she hatches a plan with Victoria to tell the two Manu ladies to split their vote between David and Rick, while they go and bring David and Rick to get rid of Kelley. Sneaky!
While Kelley and Lauren tried to sell the Kama women on a female alliance, Julie is not buying. She now wants Kelley gone so she hatches a plan with Victoria to tell the two Manu ladies to split their vote between David and Rick, while they go and bring David and Rick to get rid of Kelley. Sneaky!
But Matthew Perry… I mean, Ron Clark, has a different idea. I guess he doesn't like the way Joe is painting the flag or something because he then hatches his own plan to oust Joey Amazing. Ron wants Joe out. Victoria and Julie want Kelley out. Who will win this battle of wills? Let's head to Tribal Council to find out.
JuryXL
Before Jeff can start Tribal Council, he has to bring the jury in. Wait, what?!? The jury always starts at or after the merge. So what jury? It turns out that the folks at Edge of Extinction are also members of the jury. As long as they do not raise the mast and quit like Keith and Big Wendy, they will vote on who wins the million-dollar prize. That means we could potentially have a jury of 13 people, and it would have been 15 had the others not quit. So, what do we think? The obvious initial reaction is to wonder how Reem — who was voted out on day 3 — could possibly have any insight at all into who has played well in this game and is deserving of her vote considering she has spent all her time berating Chris and handing Keith advantages. How can she possibly be well-informed enough to cast a meaningful vote?
Before Jeff can start Tribal Council, he has to bring the jury in. Wait, what?!? The jury always starts at or after the merge. So what jury? It turns out that the folks at Edge of Extinction are also members of the jury. As long as they do not raise the mast and quit like Keith and Big Wendy, they will vote on who wins the million-dollar prize. That means we could potentially have a jury of 13 people, and it would have been 15 had the others not quit. So, what do we think? The obvious initial reaction is to wonder how Reem — who was voted out on day 3 — could possibly have any insight at all into who has played well in this game and is deserving of her vote considering she has spent all her time berating Chris and handing Keith advantages. How can she possibly be well-informed enough to cast a meaningful vote?
But look at it another way. Let's take Joe. He made the merge. He's on the jury, but let's say David, Rick, and Lauren make the final three. Joe spent hardly any time playing with any of them, so how is his vote that much more informed than Reem's? I have no problem whatsoever with early boots having a vote for the million dollars. I do, however, have another issue with these Edge of Extinction people voting, and it is the same one I had with post-merge Redemption Island folks voting.
Contrary to some of the fireworks we saw this season at EOE, normally the place where voted-off people go — whether it is Ponderosa, Redemption Island, or Edge of Extinction — is a spot where folks put aside their differences and bond together in unity against the people that voted them out. We saw this before in Redemption Island seasons where folks bonded over their new common enemy. That's fine. It's human nature. (You screwed me over and I screwed you over, but those other people screwed us BOTH over, so screw them!)
However, what happens when you give those people a vote for a million dollars? Let's say Chris spends almost the entire time at Edge of Extinction and then makes it back into the game at the last minute and now he has all these friends on the jury that like him because he DIDN'T have to backstab or lie or strategize behind people's backs because he was not in the game. Now those folks he hung out with in a non-game setting get to vote for a winner, and guess whom they're likely going to vote for: Chris. Is that fair in the least?
This is actually why Ozzy volunteered to go to Redemption Island in Survivor: South Pacific — to win potential future jury votes. I put the idea of voluntarily going there for that exact reason into his head during a pregame interview the day before and he immediately latched onto it — and then actually did it! And had he not frozen in that final puzzle, it would have worked and he would have won. We very well may see a similar scenario here. And the question is: How do we feel about that? Is that a legitimate victory? Are you cool with someone winning the game who may have only played around 10 days in it? Something to think about as the season moves on.
Edge of Confusion
It is a Tribal Council filled with twisted facial expressions by Ron (clearly coming for Eliza's exaggerated reaction crown), and when it is all done, there are several other confused expressions, including one that I am shocked made it past CBS censors involving an inadvertent dirty gesture made by the unfortunate placement of The Wardog's mouth and fingers. David and Devens thought Kelley was going home. Kelley, Lauren, and The Wardog thought David was going home. Joe and Aurora thought Rick was going home. They were all wrong. Because it is Joe that actually gets voted out by the Kama 6, showing that Ron won his internal alliance battle against Julie and Victoria. (Note: the folks that insist on specific targets often win the battle but lose the war).
It is a Tribal Council filled with twisted facial expressions by Ron (clearly coming for Eliza's exaggerated reaction crown), and when it is all done, there are several other confused expressions, including one that I am shocked made it past CBS censors involving an inadvertent dirty gesture made by the unfortunate placement of The Wardog's mouth and fingers. David and Devens thought Kelley was going home. Kelley, Lauren, and The Wardog thought David was going home. Joe and Aurora thought Rick was going home. They were all wrong. Because it is Joe that actually gets voted out by the Kama 6, showing that Ron won his internal alliance battle against Julie and Victoria. (Note: the folks that insist on specific targets often win the battle but lose the war).
On his way out, Joe mumbles about it being "the worst thing they could have done," and he may be right. How many times have we seen an alliance with a heavy majority start picking off their own only to see the minority alliance climb back and gain control? The answer: often. The Kama folks need to be careful. Ron keeps talking about how strong the Kama six is, but you don't need to be a Chrissy Hofbeck level actuary to do the math and realize that five Manuians + on-the-outs Aurora = six. Kama would have been better served by going with Julie and Victoria in getting rid of Kelley and then taking a shot at Joe later. We'll see if the decision comes back to haunt them and if Ron becomes a target for pushing through his plan.
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Posted by: SHARON <ceegee2006@yahoo.com>
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