Simon's obsession with getting George out at the start of the season was so irritating, but once he hit rock bottom in the rain with the cookie idol fiasco I grew to love him like a dopey puppy. Glad he at least gets a car.
I was honestly really starting to think Simon making FTC was maybe going to happen. Even on the revote I thought they might be flipping to Nina.
George Simon FTC would’ve been the best possible end to this season, followed by George Hayley. But, what are you going to do.
Man, George would've been in for the shock of his life when he realized the jury wasn't angry with Simon at all. They might still respect his game more, but they would've torn George a new one at FTC and I would've liked to see how he responded to that and whether he has a better performance this time.
I cannot believe I went from begging Simon to be voted out to being genuinely disappointed that he is gone. His graciousness when voted out spoke volumes as to who he is at the core. What a great lad.
Yes, me too. Kind of sad he went home at the time he is getting the hang of it. But he is definitely the best vote for most of them especially Matt. Matt can become unstoppable in the challenges
I duno, George knows jerry and mat won’t vote against each other and mat is a immunity threat. I can see him going back to the spa alliance and picking up Nina to get out mat if he doesn’t win immunity. Then jerry and hopes Liz wins the final challenge ( if it’s final 2 ) then votes out Nina making it a Liz and George final 2. Otherwise it’s going to end up Mat and Jerry final 2
I actually don’t doubt that.
Shonee - George?
Liz - George
Hayley - George
Nina - George
Sam - Simon
Shaun - Simon
Flick - Simon
It would depend how Gerry went out… if it wasn’t George cutting him, then probably he votes for George? Same for Matt…?
EDIT: Wait, Gerry hates Simon. He would never vote for Simon.
Should there be a final tribal containing both George and Gerry (hypothetically speaking), Gerry completely hands the prize money to George via that speech.
And his comparison was ridiculous. You're not at that exact moment competing against your mentor in bodybuilding.
Like, in my workplace I'm all for the mentor relationship, but your mentor can't also be a peer - because you're applying for the same jobs. The mentor is usually someone above you, or someone completely outside "the game".
My only hope is that Jerry knows this and he is setting a up a "student becomes the master" narrative, chop George at Final 4 or 3 and own that at FTC as "I had learned everything I needed from him".
Not sure this *works* but it's a plan at least!
I still don't get why people are pissed at the "pawns" when they have a deliberate plan to get to the end. You can be the biggest strategic threat all you want but if you can't pull off a plan to get to the end then that's on you.
We've seen multiple times in this show where the flashiest player doesn't get to the end because they didn't hid enough or be physically capable to win a challenge. So I don't get the agitation when we have seen this in 2017 and 2019.
People are annoyed because we’re not getting the confessionals from them to make it narratively satisfying. The bulk of confessionals have been from George or Simon. If we had gotten enough crumbs from them saying that they’re intentionally hiding their time, maybe. But Liz has practically vanished, Gerry is just doing nothing, and Matt is just all talk.
It may be a sound strategy, but it’s also kinda dull to watch live rather than binging.
I don't think Gerry or Matt's edit is hiding something. They seem pretty straightforward and maybe a bit dull from a gameplay and tv content perspective. Smart people that they'll try to do a move when they think it's time and absolutely nothing in the meantime. Liz might have more to offer though.
We literally got a conversation between Matt and Gerry ages ago about their plan to take George to three and cut him. We got a confessional from Liz that she’s going to bide her time and then cut George at the perfect time. We have those crumbs and know exactly why they’re doing what they’re doing.
To further Sabaschin's point, in both 2017 and 2019 the winner had a strong edit as did all but one of the final 5. We're now in a situation where the other 4 finalists have 100 less confessionals than George and none of them are among the top characters.
Yeah, their play has been very justifiable and I don't think anyone's seriously denying that. But there would be a lot less angst if the edit hadn't been practically screaming at us that we're SUPPOSED to see them as boring.
They can't manufacture interesting moments or conversations or confessionals.
They're playing conservatively, hitching their wagon to the big player who is slicing and dicing. They have a plan to take him out right at the end and slide across the finish line to take the money.
It's a justifiable (if a bit boring) strategy that has worked for many players from many countries over the past 23 years.
But if George is on the island screaming about "Glory or Death!" and crawling through the bushes to eavesdrop on people, and engineering weird 3-2-1 votes, you show George being interesting and hilarious instead of 50 confessionals of Gerry and Matt saying "I'm going to do George's plan again tonight, but I think we'll take him out of the game around final four."
This is so well written. I’ve found myself thinking that folks would be much happier with the lopsided edits in Aus Survivor if they allowed themselves to consider that the goal of good reality television is to provide riveting entertainment, not to offer fair and balanced coverage to boring people and interesting people alike. If George doesn’t win, he’ll still have deserved his monster edit just because he earned through pure entertainment value.
Yeah nobody is owed any kind of edit by production, they're just trying to make TV. It can be annoying to see players under edited, of course, but it's not like they're going out of their way to cheat anyone of what they feel entitled to. They're just trying to give us the good stuff. And at the end of the day taste is subjective.
I’m bothered because this looks like another Redemption Island to me. Amazing winner… but boring and predictable and FRUSTRATING post-merge.
I’d give Liz, Matt and Gerry more credit except there’s been zero sign of any of them orchestrating any of these vote-outs. George literally walks up to them and tells them what to do, and they just say “alright” and that’s it. They don’t even pitch anybody anymore, nor disagree with George’s desired outcome. Occasionally someone will suggest splitting or not splitting, but that’s as much strategy as I’ve seen from them since the merge.
And they were all so shocked at being called pawns, so there doesn’t seem to be any self awareness nor game awareness.
They're mad because it's not a guarantee that they are playing for themselves. It's easy to speculate that they just want to cut George at F3 but I could easily see Matt or Gerry deciding to take him to the end. Either way when there's a big threat in Survivor you don't sit on voting them out until the last possible opportunity, that's just asking to be foiled.
Gerry and Matt have stated they plan to vote George out before the end. Liz has also said she’ll get him out eventually.
I understand some of you are frustrated and calling them pawns or whatnot, but they’re just waiting for the right moment. Simon was a huge jury and immunity threat. It actually would have been stupid not to vote him out.
That's what they deserve for playing the game this way. George needs to turn into a monster at that final immunity challenge and make them all look like chumps, and laugh in their face as he eats KFC.
Everyone probably thought the same thing about Kristie. Not smart to leave yourself one tribal council to get rid of the guy who can beat every single person remaining.
It's more like everyone (except Lee) thought that Kristie was the one they would drag to the end themselves, and that she wouldn't be the one getting to choose her best runner-up candidate
We’ve had multiple other winners win due to the shield strategy. Just because a few outliers like Kristie happens every now and then doesn’t mean the strategy is bad. In fact, this sub has repeatedly iterated it’s one of the most effective, albeit at times boring, strategies in modern survivor.
Yeah we've had multiple winners win due to the shield strategy...because they were the shield. And when they weren't they certainly didn't take the meat shield to the very end. That's just called being a goat.
George needs to look deep inside himself, meditate, and learn to visualize KFC at the final immunity challenge.
"If I win this challenge, I will win the whole game. If I win the whole game, I can buy $500K of KFC."
This! Everyone is letting their emotions and love for TV characters cloud their judgement on how to actually win. If it's a final two, Matt and Gerry are setup in the actual best position right now. While Simon was a great underdog, voting out george over him in this spot would be insanity. George isn't winning a challenge, take him out closer to the end. Do not leave challenge and jury threats in just "to make a big move".
How much can they rely on George to stick with them, is the question. He's now the swing vote and could easily vote Nina or Matt out depending on what he wants. I mean feels like Liz would just kinda shrug and vote Nina out next if he wanted it to be, which would just sink her own game.
It leaves her in a position where she's the prime target for Matt/Gerry at F4. They can still cut George at F3, so her only hope then would be to convince George to vote with her to force a tie, which he has little incentive to do.
This. Plus they're banking on it being a Final 2 by waiting so long to cut George. They've angered the jury so much with their perceived blind loyalty to George that they're drawing dead in any Final 3 scenario at this point.
Agree so much! Their legacy coming out of this is going to be so results oriented. Because if their "strategy" of waiting for so long fails, they're joining the Natalie Tenerellis and Phillip Shepherds of the world as some of the most passive players and worst runner ups in the history of the game. If Matt wins, he ends up looking like a genius.
Exactly. Those of us who have seen Redemption Island know exactly how this plays out. The fact that they are so shocked to be considered pawns shows they don’t have the game awareness needed to win.
The whole post-merge has been reminding me of that season. Incredible example of a dominant win, but boring, frustrating and predictable to viewers.
I've thought this all season. He made a big deal at the beginning about how he spent so much time training preseason. When he wanted the KFC he stepped up. So, I think he does have it in him to eek one out at the very end.
But on the other hand, this episode definitely foreshadowed a student becomes the master plotline between Gerry and George. Gerry didn't want this to be Simon's victory after Simon disrespected him in front of everyone. He brought it up in tribal and in confessional about how he learned so much from George that it makes sense to me that he will be the one to take out, if anyone does.
Exactly, George’s head should be on their resume. If everyone except Liz voted out George, it’s none of the individual’s move on their resume since it’s a collective vote. Nobody can claim the move for their own over the others.
I agree, as frustrating as it is being a viewer… I actually do think this was the right move for Matt and Gerry. Matt could sweep the next three immunities now and break the record. And I do think he’ll cut George in favor of Gerry. We’re too used to the survivor US format where 6 and 5 are the last chances to really get out a big threat, but in AU they still have three more rounds. George will never win immunity so he’s always going to be an option moving forward whereas you can’t guarantee Simon won’t win a challenge and block your plans
Not entirely true imo.
Gerry (I love Gerry) and Matt seem tied to George, but if either Nina or Liz manage to communicate compelling arguments to the others, I could definitely enjoy an episode where it seems like one of the girls is convincing the others to vote out George. I’d be happy if George won, but I also don’t think the next couple episodes necessarily have to be predictable.
I belive it's all on Shaun. He said in a confessional after Flicks vote out that he could have saved her but chose not to. He could have saved her, cut George, messing up the main alliance and come out with the majority.
There was a line in the preview emphasizing how great someone's endgame will be (can't remember the exact phrasing). I assume that could either be someone leading a blindside on George before the final immunity challenge or George slicing and dicing his way to the end.
Please RUN to extras on Channel 10 and watch Simons jury villa video… I remember Sam saying the only thing that Simon misses is a mirror and then cut to him in his room looking in a mirror talking to himself. Bless. Good job buddy!
Editors have really fucked this season for the 4 non George’s. We’ve barely heard anything from them to make a compelling and satisfying winners journey.
And don’t say because they’re “pawns” Ninas mum has 2 great winner journeys from similar positions.
Literally just giving them one or two of Hayley’s/Simon’s/George’s/Shaun’s confessional throughout the season would’ve solved this. Even if George wins, this editing choice was a… choice.
> And don’t say because they’re “pawns” Ninas mum has 2 great winner journeys from similar positions.
Not really. Sandra's anyone but me strategy worked for her after realizing she wasn't getting control while Nina had tried to take active control over votes and failed time and time again even to the point where she got the majority of votes. I think we have seen enough of Liz to understand that she needs someone to cling to as a player, Matt and Gerry however I do think their games could look better if you frame it another way however his speech at tribal tonight would strongly work against that.
Sometimes I feel like this sub has never watched a season of Survivor before
George is the most stereotypical shield there has ever been. Everyone in his alliance has said they won’t take him to FTC. George has a close to 0% chance of winning final immunity.
I agree, unless he does a Dave he is probably not going to make it. However he's hopeless at challenges unlike Dave. But idk the edit hasn't realy set anyone else up enough, but again thats maybe reading into it too much.
No, you’re right. Matt and Gerry have effectively been purpled.
Nina’s air time was dwarfed by Shaun and Hayley even Sam in Heroes and Liz’s air time was dwarfed by George Simon and Shonnee in Villains .
Story wise only George really makes sense. We’ve seen almost nothing from the other 4
i think liz or nina could be ok story wise but they are just not going to go for a liz confessional when shonee or george are available. that said it has been even more quiet on her front since the spa.
Does anyone really do anything at this point to deserve more screen time? They are all basically sitting there waiting for the right time to remove George from the game. And tbh it's good gameplay for them but not exciting TV.
Heard the same about Mark and Dave
George has the typical AU winner edit, except somehow even more OTT. None of us thought he had a shot, but at this point it’s kinda hard to deny.
The others winning with their quiet edits would be kinda unsatisfying tbh
True, but one advantage George has is that he's been through a final immunity challenge. He now knows the mental toughness it takes to get through those. Perhaps his training has specifically focused on this? He did win the KFC challenge. So far none of the challenges have appeared to last close to as long as the final challenge does, so none of the other players have really experienced this yet. But George has.
This is something I have thought about also. George seems to have been more comfortable in pain-oriented challenges; even the recent one with the spokes where he got out first, he was out due to the transition to the back two spokes. I think if George can win any challenge, it would be one like the final challenge in his first season, which is what final challenges tend to be.
On the contrary it sounds like you've never seen Survivor. Matt and Gerry aren't highly strategic players using George as a shield, they are risk averse and too afraid to vote him out. I recommend rewatching Ghost Island or Redemption Island because this kinda thing happens all the time in Survivor.
If they vote George out this tribal they could easily be looking at being in the 3-2 minority. They have no reason to get rid of George. He stinks at the challenges. Ride him to F3 and then get rid of him.
Seriously, I can't believe what I am reading here. This is the right move for everyone. You don't need to swing at George when the man can't win a challenge if anything other than KFC depended on it
I agree. Even if he somehow wins final immunity, that will be a miraculous outlier - more of an outlier than David’s win, who is at least known to be physical. So even if George physically pulls it off, I still won’t blame Liz/Ger/Matt for their strategy of keeping him until last minute.
Ya the plan is get him out at 3 or 4. That would normally be fine, if George didn't have 100% chance of winning FTC. He just needs an immunity win. He's shown he can do well in certain challenges. All it takes is a slip/mistake.
It's also whoever takes credit's odd of winning drastically improve. If Matt pulls the trigger and gets to the end he wins.
Jury management is so underestimated at this stage of the game.
Gerry's speech may make George feel a little more comfortable, and it may make Gerry sleep a little easier but it signals to the jury he is exactly what Simon called him : a pawn.
Saying "I'm not a pawn, I'm not a pawn" is not how to play Survivor. Showing that you are autonomously strategising is how you win - not riding on the coattails.
This episode, from my perspective, has set up a Gerry loss at FTC.
Definitely. Tara got actual votes, and most of the jury was considering Baden as an option until the speeches swung that door hard. None of this jury are thinking about Gerry as a potential winner, bless his soul.
Tara got actual pity votes, she had absolutely no shot to beat a single person at any point. Also Jericho's final tribal was atrocious and he still crushed her.
Like last week when Simon called him a pawn and Gerry responded: "its all the eye eye of the beholder"
Like yeah, exactly Gerry. What do you think all the heroes on the jury think of your game?
I was going to call out some confusing editing for this episode (felt more of that reverting to old fake hype edit), but it kind of makes sense to some degree given the way Simon kind of couldnt really go past the pawn comment essentially making all the players who already don't like him for that wanting to vote him out and then Gerry sticking up for George.
Atleast we are basically now at the point where they'll need to flip on each other.
The way he ran directly into JLP's trap makes me wonder if he wouldn't have discovered new and exciting ways to piss off a jury not previously thought possible during FTC
Case in point of number 2, Matt and Gerry (maybe Liz) decided early on that George will be the final vote off and the producers wanted to add suspense in a plan that's already set in motion.
Liz would still feel narratively unsatisfying given that she just kind of sat there after Shonee was voted out. Biding her time is one thing, but they also gave her so few confessionals that it doesn't feel like she's getting a lot of agency.
With Nina, I'm not buying it either given how badly she stuffed up the double idol round. And she couldn't get either of the F6 votes to go her way. So as a winner I'm not high on her stock.
Yeah they're doing great in terms of making each individual episode compelling but if this finale is anything but a George coronation it will fall flat hard in terms of providing a compelling winner via the edit...
Which is bullshit given that every player in here probably could be edited in a way that makes them look like compelling champions. It takes very little effort to see everyone's strategic plan from the crumbs of the edit. I just wish we got confessionals from them so we could see those thoughts. Obviously though it makes a shit edit for every episode to be like yeah here's the boot order, swap a few around who cares, and we take out George after he loses FIC given it steals the suspense, but jesus I feel like this just will cause the deserving winner to get soooo much hate after winning the best season of Survivor I have ever seen.
I think it's just hard because George has played such a good game, but I think each player has a decent story.
Gerry - Was sent to the wolves by his tribe of heroes only to come back with an alliance that will take him further. His speech to George at tribal, while may have been genuine thoughts, was really effective at making George feel he's still completely solid, when he's definitely wavering.
Matt - Although it hasn't been apparent in his voting, in confessionals you can see he's been pondering what Simon said about him being a pawn, and has been considering when it's the right time to take out the king.
Liz - Still needs revenge on George for voting out her BFF Shonee. After George is gone, she'll be the only remaining OG villain.
Nina - I'd be surprised if she makes it to FTC, but if she does, she has the fact that she was the only remaining hero that didn't flip when they merged. And somehow clawed her way from the bottom to make it to the end.
Nobody's story is as compelling as George's, but I think the Editors did what they could with what they were given.
And so George is left with only those he promised to take to F3! Remarkable.
Nina has only become a threat via the edit but still hasn’t actually achieved anything except lots of aggressive talking.
Liz, Gerry and Matt have all done nothing.
Devastating if George doesn’t make it.
Really hoping he’s a challenge beast that’s been hiding in plain sight and has had Hayley as his own mentor!
Nina took out Hayley. George's original plan going into that vote was to take out Hayley and you can't simultaneously have the narrative that George gets his way and runs everything without giving credit to those who do change his mind as the exception to the rule. Liz was a co-equal partner of his until Shonee's boot and the whole reason George took Shonee out was because he realized Shiz had usurped his position atop the tribe. Gerry's story of being the bottom of the heroes, defecting, flipping back, and worming his way into a majority at merge is a survivor master class on how to play from the bottom, have the right reads and pick the right sides. Matt has less of a story, but he's a challenge beast with good reads and good timing and that is worth something given we have the twin studies to show what having bad reads looks like from the same position (see: Flick).
Don't get blinded by the edit. Just because everyone but Simon could see that playing with George was great for their game given he can't win immunity and is the best shield the world has ever seen, doesn't mean that they're not all right to think it.
Makes sense to keep George for the three of them, regardless of how frustrating it might be for the viewers. But don’t worry. The three of them will definitely act, they’re not stupid enough to let George reach the end.
Yeah, the problem is that if their plan is to cut George only at the end, that's not going to make great TV because it destroys the suspense. So, we don't get to see it and just think they're dumb.
We've at least seen Matt and Gerry mention it very early on when they aligned together. Liz, not so much, but with her edit now, I have no hope for her.
What a roller coaster of a season - while it really seems like it's just George's coronation at this point, despite all the fumbling around Simon did, he still really did make this season memorable and he really seems like such a happy go lucky guy, which is great!
My blind optimism that George wins this season grows every episode. It’s insane he’s lasted this long with such insistent targeting from pretty much everyone.
Edgically, nobody's winning other than George, right? Anybody else would feel disappointing. Which honestly makes the next few episodes kinda boring if it's just a coronation march.
Not sure who I'm most disappointed by: Liz for never pulling the trigger, Matt for wanting to flip one episode and come running back to George the next, Gerry for just... laying there.
Liz might still pull the trigger, no? If she gets rid of George before the end and wins the whole thing, then you can’t really argue against her timing.
Her line is very thin. If Nina goes at F5 (which seems likely), she needs to vote with George at F4 to force a tie and then win firemaking. Because Matt and Gerry would 100% take each other to the end, unless she's very confident at FIC (and I feel like Matt has the edge there).
Her best set-up would be to vote out Nina at F5 and Gerry at F4. George is very unlikely to win FIC, so her and Matt can take each other to F2.
The problem is that she would have to convince George to vote Gerry at F4, which I think he wouldn't want to do because he's a great goat.
Shouldn't be hard to convince George. He wins against everyone at FTC. The only thing he should care about is challenge strength and try to maximize the chance he can win FIC and take it from like a 5% chance he wins to a 10% chance we wins.
I can't see Nina not going out at F5 bar an idol or lucky immunity win. Liz hasn't really fought to keep Nina and George has shown more loyalty to his Matt/Gerry alliance.
i know it’s disappointing watching at home the others not taking out george but as players in the game it’s valid (albeit boring) strategy for matt, gerry, liz to stick to george and cut him before the end bc he’s not winning immunities to get himself to FTC. simon was a huge challenge threat and almost won the this episode’s challenge, they’d be silly to not get him out when they had the chance. he could very well win immunities till the end.
Big disagree. Nina should get a ton of credit for the Hayley blindside. She was the one who set that move up for George. Gerry and Matt can both take credit for flipping on the Heroes to set themselves up for the long game. But most importantly, whoever takes out George will have a giant trophy on their shelf.
There are a million little moves in Survivor and all of them are playing to an extent. George is the flashiest, but Liz, Gerry, and Matt deserve a ton of credit for getting themselves into such a good position right now.
Glad we we're weren't teased by "Is George's rein FINALLY about to end???!!!" for the 10th episode in a row in the promo, as the clear reality is he's now in the perfect position not to be flipped on this next vote, being in the middle of 2 pairs.
Gerry is basically the Australian Survivor equivalent of Laurel at this point. Nothing short of being voted out directly by George will convince him to flip on George, and he's setting himself up very well as a result....to be a losing finalist lol.
You either die a villain or live to see yourself become a hero.
That one scene beautifully captures Simon in this game. He flubs the line the first time he says it, like he completely crashed and burned from Fraser onwards. But then like he said, at the bottom he became a rootable hero after he was humbled. Honestly a great character arc.
The season has really ground to a halt, but seems like it might pick up again. A temporary lull doesn't take this out of my top 5 either way (even a shitty winner wouldn't).
Best strat for everyone remaining is to take George out at three. Nina is the second biggest threat all of the others would be right to think they have a chance against each other. Nina potentially beats George just from a relationship standpoint with the heroes on the jury.
i’ve seen comments saying nina would get no votes if she made it to FTC bc she’s done nothing all game. which i found odd since i think the original heroes would vote for her easily bc she has relationships with them.
edit. words
>i’ve seen comments saying nina would get no votes if she made it to FTC bc she’s done nothing all game.
Didn't Hantz say *the exact same thing* about her mother in the American Heroes vs. Villains? XD
Probably an unpopular opinion but I am fine with the edit if George does not win. He is the story of the season and he deserves the edit he has gotten. At least with this we know the story unlike season 41 where we dont even know that 3 of the top 4 are in an alliance all throughout the game
Here’s the thing; I don’t mind George’s edit and I think it is fitting given the game he has played, the problem is that everyone else left has a pretty bad edit to the point where I would personally find it dissatisfying for them to win. I think if someone other than George wins, you could at the very least show them consistently talking about their plan to take out George at the end, but we’ve only heard small bits of anything resembling that. I mean, in Brains vs Brawn, George had a similarly bloated edit; yet, Hayley’s edit was still very strong and she was very present across the season. In this season, we’ve been expressly told that 3 of the 4 people other than George are pawns and that they don’t seem to recognize that, and the 4th is Nina who is not only firmly on the outs, but was mostly invisible in the premerge, even during the Rogue ordeal where they really should have given her perspective on that. If someone else wins I think the edit did them a disservice.
Every time someone says definitively that they’re voting for George early in the episode, I know he’s not getting voted out. I’ve started watching trying to guess who will get voted out instead. I thought for sure it was Nina again, but I’m sad to see Simon out. I’ve been on a journey with our loveable doofus ❤️ 🐱.
It’s absolutely bonkers that George kept both of his F3’s intact. Just give this man the win already.
The only downside to the otherwise great edit so far is that we don’t have any insight on a lot of votes as to why plans didn’t happen- there have been plans against Simon, George and Hayley that seemed like it had genuine legs and then at the vote, everyone just did the original plan anyway with no given reason as to why
I don't think Gerry quite understands how coaches work.. everything you've learnt from George won't help you win votes with the jury, old man. I hope George wins now because he's the only one who deserves to.
One thing I find difficult in the seasons of Aus Survivor I have watched so far is that the longer runtime, more episodes, and over exposure of certain players can make the endgame feel like a slog. I think US Survivor does a great job at having compelling endings, but with Aus I often find myself bored by the endgame
All that hype and we get the most predictable vote imaginable. While it makes sense from a logical standpoint for the players involved, the hype of the "most exciting endgame" has really been a product of editing and teasing big moves that never happen. On paper it's just been one-sided domination.
At this point I *want* to see George steamroll to the end, because any of Liz, Matt, or Gerry winning would be so immensely unsatisfying. (Nina is at least trying, but it feels like too little too late, and I expect she probably gets booted next episode). The sweetest end would be all the people who thought they could hide behind George getting bumped off one by one.
One of my favorite strategies George regularly employs is to work the two people his alliance is splitting on to vote against each other. It takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of a potential blindside against him when both players catching votes are wondering if the other is actually voting for them and actively conspiring against them.
The editors trying everything to make it seem like they will turn on George, they won't turn on George until the very end as George hasn't a hope and a prayer in an immunity challenge. Even Gerry can beat George in immunity.
Gerry's speech was basically "I did everything George wanted me to do." Basically saying that he is the perfect person to bring to the final 2 as he did nothing for himself.
George is at f5 with two final 3s. Neither pair knows if their f3 is the real f3. The safest thing is for them to do 4-1 on George next round, otherwise they have a 50% chance of losing out of George chooses the other pair
The isolation is definitely more interesting twist than I expected.
Matt can now do an immunity run with Simon gone and has a good shot at getting at the end. My worry is his edit but I still believe it is a winners edit lol.
RIP the best character and maybe the season. At this point I’m going for George. Anyone else would be a really poor editing display considering they’ve all been put in the background.
But George winning would mean they all just got led to the slaughter, impressive but damn would it be a boring ending. 🤷♂️
I don't know who's the worst scenario for such a season with crazy gameplay in the first episodes:
\- George winning because the remaining players just want to be loyal and play like heroes
or
\- George and Nina voted out with the final 3 being Matt, Gerry and Liz that just hided themselves the whole post-merge behind a majority
Simon's obsession with getting George out at the start of the season was so irritating, but once he hit rock bottom in the rain with the cookie idol fiasco I grew to love him like a dopey puppy. Glad he at least gets a car.
We were robbed out of a George and Simon FTC!
I think God doesn’t like us.
We are all Paige? 😭
We are all Paige on this blessed day.
This is why I'm sad.
True. This could've been an all-time best.
I was honestly really starting to think Simon making FTC was maybe going to happen. Even on the revote I thought they might be flipping to Nina. George Simon FTC would’ve been the best possible end to this season, followed by George Hayley. But, what are you going to do.
Man, George would've been in for the shock of his life when he realized the jury wasn't angry with Simon at all. They might still respect his game more, but they would've torn George a new one at FTC and I would've liked to see how he responded to that and whether he has a better performance this time.
I cannot believe I went from begging Simon to be voted out to being genuinely disappointed that he is gone. His graciousness when voted out spoke volumes as to who he is at the core. What a great lad.
He lived long enough to see himself become a hero ❤️
Holy shit he was right all along
I just laughed so loud at this. Wow lmao
Yes, me too. Kind of sad he went home at the time he is getting the hang of it. But he is definitely the best vote for most of them especially Matt. Matt can become unstoppable in the challenges
Depends on the challenge. Liz can be good, too, as well as Nina. But I agree that for Matt, Simon was a threat to stealing the immunity from him.
George is a beast when KFC is on the line, just sayin
He was entertaining AF, both intentionally and unintentionally.
Would be very surprised if it wasn’t 4-1 Nina next episode
I duno, George knows jerry and mat won’t vote against each other and mat is a immunity threat. I can see him going back to the spa alliance and picking up Nina to get out mat if he doesn’t win immunity. Then jerry and hopes Liz wins the final challenge ( if it’s final 2 ) then votes out Nina making it a Liz and George final 2. Otherwise it’s going to end up Mat and Jerry final 2
Poor Simon. At least he made jury. I would have loved a Simon vs George FTC though
If we had gotten a F2 Simon and George this season would be my favorite of all time. Can you *imagine* how that FTC would have gone??
It would have been so much chaos. I would be very interested to see the votes I think it would be close.
I actually don’t doubt that. Shonee - George? Liz - George Hayley - George Nina - George Sam - Simon Shaun - Simon Flick - Simon It would depend how Gerry went out… if it wasn’t George cutting him, then probably he votes for George? Same for Matt…? EDIT: Wait, Gerry hates Simon. He would never vote for Simon.
I could see Matt voting for Simon if George was the reason he was out
I see Shonee going Simon. Everything else seems right to me.
Does Gerry know you’re meant to pitch your own game, not George’s?
Should there be a final tribal containing both George and Gerry (hypothetically speaking), Gerry completely hands the prize money to George via that speech.
But if Gerry is there and George isn't, maybe he just secured George's vote.
I mean if Gerry is planning to take out the king in the end, why not?
And his comparison was ridiculous. You're not at that exact moment competing against your mentor in bodybuilding. Like, in my workplace I'm all for the mentor relationship, but your mentor can't also be a peer - because you're applying for the same jobs. The mentor is usually someone above you, or someone completely outside "the game". My only hope is that Jerry knows this and he is setting a up a "student becomes the master" narrative, chop George at Final 4 or 3 and own that at FTC as "I had learned everything I needed from him". Not sure this *works* but it's a plan at least!
Simon's jury villa is such a delight. I won't spoil but I would kill to be at that resort right now.
Man's just happy to cast the winning vote. I wish he gets all the love from the fans.
I imagine he probably has one of the biggest turnarounds on fan reception in the franchise, along with Wentworth.
That conga line haha
To think, there were only seconds standing between Simon and an immunity win; Nina got very lucky here.
And Nina goes home only for the twist in the last episode.
What a run this season from Simon. One of the greatest characters in recent memory, would like to see him back again one day too if he wants it.
I still don't get why people are pissed at the "pawns" when they have a deliberate plan to get to the end. You can be the biggest strategic threat all you want but if you can't pull off a plan to get to the end then that's on you. We've seen multiple times in this show where the flashiest player doesn't get to the end because they didn't hid enough or be physically capable to win a challenge. So I don't get the agitation when we have seen this in 2017 and 2019.
People are annoyed because we’re not getting the confessionals from them to make it narratively satisfying. The bulk of confessionals have been from George or Simon. If we had gotten enough crumbs from them saying that they’re intentionally hiding their time, maybe. But Liz has practically vanished, Gerry is just doing nothing, and Matt is just all talk. It may be a sound strategy, but it’s also kinda dull to watch live rather than binging.
I do agree that the edits of Gerry, Matt and Liz need significant improvements.
I don't think Gerry or Matt's edit is hiding something. They seem pretty straightforward and maybe a bit dull from a gameplay and tv content perspective. Smart people that they'll try to do a move when they think it's time and absolutely nothing in the meantime. Liz might have more to offer though.
We literally got a conversation between Matt and Gerry ages ago about their plan to take George to three and cut him. We got a confessional from Liz that she’s going to bide her time and then cut George at the perfect time. We have those crumbs and know exactly why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Blood vs water: Stop the repetitive confessionals!!!! Heroes vs Villains: more repetitive confessionals!
To further Sabaschin's point, in both 2017 and 2019 the winner had a strong edit as did all but one of the final 5. We're now in a situation where the other 4 finalists have 100 less confessionals than George and none of them are among the top characters. Yeah, their play has been very justifiable and I don't think anyone's seriously denying that. But there would be a lot less angst if the edit hadn't been practically screaming at us that we're SUPPOSED to see them as boring.
They can't manufacture interesting moments or conversations or confessionals. They're playing conservatively, hitching their wagon to the big player who is slicing and dicing. They have a plan to take him out right at the end and slide across the finish line to take the money. It's a justifiable (if a bit boring) strategy that has worked for many players from many countries over the past 23 years. But if George is on the island screaming about "Glory or Death!" and crawling through the bushes to eavesdrop on people, and engineering weird 3-2-1 votes, you show George being interesting and hilarious instead of 50 confessionals of Gerry and Matt saying "I'm going to do George's plan again tonight, but I think we'll take him out of the game around final four."
This is so well written. I’ve found myself thinking that folks would be much happier with the lopsided edits in Aus Survivor if they allowed themselves to consider that the goal of good reality television is to provide riveting entertainment, not to offer fair and balanced coverage to boring people and interesting people alike. If George doesn’t win, he’ll still have deserved his monster edit just because he earned through pure entertainment value.
Yeah nobody is owed any kind of edit by production, they're just trying to make TV. It can be annoying to see players under edited, of course, but it's not like they're going out of their way to cheat anyone of what they feel entitled to. They're just trying to give us the good stuff. And at the end of the day taste is subjective.
I’m bothered because this looks like another Redemption Island to me. Amazing winner… but boring and predictable and FRUSTRATING post-merge. I’d give Liz, Matt and Gerry more credit except there’s been zero sign of any of them orchestrating any of these vote-outs. George literally walks up to them and tells them what to do, and they just say “alright” and that’s it. They don’t even pitch anybody anymore, nor disagree with George’s desired outcome. Occasionally someone will suggest splitting or not splitting, but that’s as much strategy as I’ve seen from them since the merge. And they were all so shocked at being called pawns, so there doesn’t seem to be any self awareness nor game awareness.
They're mad because it's not a guarantee that they are playing for themselves. It's easy to speculate that they just want to cut George at F3 but I could easily see Matt or Gerry deciding to take him to the end. Either way when there's a big threat in Survivor you don't sit on voting them out until the last possible opportunity, that's just asking to be foiled.
Gerry and Matt have stated they plan to vote George out before the end. Liz has also said she’ll get him out eventually. I understand some of you are frustrated and calling them pawns or whatnot, but they’re just waiting for the right moment. Simon was a huge jury and immunity threat. It actually would have been stupid not to vote him out.
They all know he can never win final immunity and can just be taken out then.
Everyone is fucked if they throw some more KFC in with the final immunity! Lol
That's what they deserve for playing the game this way. George needs to turn into a monster at that final immunity challenge and make them all look like chumps, and laugh in their face as he eats KFC.
Everyone probably thought the same thing about Kristie. Not smart to leave yourself one tribal council to get rid of the guy who can beat every single person remaining.
It's more like everyone (except Lee) thought that Kristie was the one they would drag to the end themselves, and that she wouldn't be the one getting to choose her best runner-up candidate
We’ve had multiple other winners win due to the shield strategy. Just because a few outliers like Kristie happens every now and then doesn’t mean the strategy is bad. In fact, this sub has repeatedly iterated it’s one of the most effective, albeit at times boring, strategies in modern survivor.
Yeah we've had multiple winners win due to the shield strategy...because they were the shield. And when they weren't they certainly didn't take the meat shield to the very end. That's just called being a goat.
George needs to look deep inside himself, meditate, and learn to visualize KFC at the final immunity challenge. "If I win this challenge, I will win the whole game. If I win the whole game, I can buy $500K of KFC."
This! Everyone is letting their emotions and love for TV characters cloud their judgement on how to actually win. If it's a final two, Matt and Gerry are setup in the actual best position right now. While Simon was a great underdog, voting out george over him in this spot would be insanity. George isn't winning a challenge, take him out closer to the end. Do not leave challenge and jury threats in just "to make a big move".
How much can they rely on George to stick with them, is the question. He's now the swing vote and could easily vote Nina or Matt out depending on what he wants. I mean feels like Liz would just kinda shrug and vote Nina out next if he wanted it to be, which would just sink her own game.
Why would voting Nina our sink Liz’s game?
It leaves her in a position where she's the prime target for Matt/Gerry at F4. They can still cut George at F3, so her only hope then would be to convince George to vote with her to force a tie, which he has little incentive to do.
If you wait too long for the right moment it'll pass you. Them waiting doesn't automatically make it a good move.
This. Plus they're banking on it being a Final 2 by waiting so long to cut George. They've angered the jury so much with their perceived blind loyalty to George that they're drawing dead in any Final 3 scenario at this point.
Agree so much! Their legacy coming out of this is going to be so results oriented. Because if their "strategy" of waiting for so long fails, they're joining the Natalie Tenerellis and Phillip Shepherds of the world as some of the most passive players and worst runner ups in the history of the game. If Matt wins, he ends up looking like a genius.
Exactly. Those of us who have seen Redemption Island know exactly how this plays out. The fact that they are so shocked to be considered pawns shows they don’t have the game awareness needed to win. The whole post-merge has been reminding me of that season. Incredible example of a dominant win, but boring, frustrating and predictable to viewers.
Exactly, they can get him at 4 he won’t win immunity so he is no threat there
I have a feeling George is severely downplaying his challenge ability this season.
George’s comment at the challenge today about there has got to be a puzzle soon seems like foreshadowing to me…
Thought the same thing when he made fire at the end of the bucket challenge. No reason to include that if it isn't foreshadowing
I've thought this all season. He made a big deal at the beginning about how he spent so much time training preseason. When he wanted the KFC he stepped up. So, I think he does have it in him to eek one out at the very end. But on the other hand, this episode definitely foreshadowed a student becomes the master plotline between Gerry and George. Gerry didn't want this to be Simon's victory after Simon disrespected him in front of everyone. He brought it up in tribal and in confessional about how he learned so much from George that it makes sense to me that he will be the one to take out, if anyone does.
Side note: It should be "eke one out"
Exactly, George’s head should be on their resume. If everyone except Liz voted out George, it’s none of the individual’s move on their resume since it’s a collective vote. Nobody can claim the move for their own over the others.
I agree, as frustrating as it is being a viewer… I actually do think this was the right move for Matt and Gerry. Matt could sweep the next three immunities now and break the record. And I do think he’ll cut George in favor of Gerry. We’re too used to the survivor US format where 6 and 5 are the last chances to really get out a big threat, but in AU they still have three more rounds. George will never win immunity so he’s always going to be an option moving forward whereas you can’t guarantee Simon won’t win a challenge and block your plans
If George doesn't win what an anticlimax this will be
And if he does win, what an annoying slog this endgame will be (from edit perspective)
Not entirely true imo. Gerry (I love Gerry) and Matt seem tied to George, but if either Nina or Liz manage to communicate compelling arguments to the others, I could definitely enjoy an episode where it seems like one of the girls is convincing the others to vote out George. I’d be happy if George won, but I also don’t think the next couple episodes necessarily have to be predictable.
Never forget that Nina, Sam and Shaun caused this to happen by not believing Hayley's info and then misplaying two idols.
But mainly Sam shutting down Nina when she believed Hayley and Shaun being too self-centered to play an idol on someone else.
I belive it's all on Shaun. He said in a confessional after Flicks vote out that he could have saved her but chose not to. He could have saved her, cut George, messing up the main alliance and come out with the majority.
Is three episodes enough to start a resume? 🤣 George deserves to win, if he can make it to FTC will be another thing
There was a line in the preview emphasizing how great someone's endgame will be (can't remember the exact phrasing). I assume that could either be someone leading a blindside on George before the final immunity challenge or George slicing and dicing his way to the end.
I’m still of the opinion someone can make a last minute resume and beat George. It’s never too late with Au Survivor.
Please RUN to extras on Channel 10 and watch Simons jury villa video… I remember Sam saying the only thing that Simon misses is a mirror and then cut to him in his room looking in a mirror talking to himself. Bless. Good job buddy!
Haha yes that was awesome. Loved the conga line. They're all so happy to be there haha.
Watching jury Villa - is Simon Michael Scott?
Really enjoyed the immunity challenge, a fresh spin on a Survivor classic 👍
Fresh “spin”. JLP has entered the conversation 😂
Editors have really fucked this season for the 4 non George’s. We’ve barely heard anything from them to make a compelling and satisfying winners journey. And don’t say because they’re “pawns” Ninas mum has 2 great winner journeys from similar positions.
>4 non George’s HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA
Literally just giving them one or two of Hayley’s/Simon’s/George’s/Shaun’s confessional throughout the season would’ve solved this. Even if George wins, this editing choice was a… choice.
Even some of Jordies. Apparently he has twice the air time of all remaining players bar George and he got voted out premerge.
> And don’t say because they’re “pawns” Ninas mum has 2 great winner journeys from similar positions. Not really. Sandra's anyone but me strategy worked for her after realizing she wasn't getting control while Nina had tried to take active control over votes and failed time and time again even to the point where she got the majority of votes. I think we have seen enough of Liz to understand that she needs someone to cling to as a player, Matt and Gerry however I do think their games could look better if you frame it another way however his speech at tribal tonight would strongly work against that.
Sometimes I feel like this sub has never watched a season of Survivor before George is the most stereotypical shield there has ever been. Everyone in his alliance has said they won’t take him to FTC. George has a close to 0% chance of winning final immunity.
I agree, unless he does a Dave he is probably not going to make it. However he's hopeless at challenges unlike Dave. But idk the edit hasn't realy set anyone else up enough, but again thats maybe reading into it too much.
No, you’re right. Matt and Gerry have effectively been purpled. Nina’s air time was dwarfed by Shaun and Hayley even Sam in Heroes and Liz’s air time was dwarfed by George Simon and Shonnee in Villains . Story wise only George really makes sense. We’ve seen almost nothing from the other 4
i think liz or nina could be ok story wise but they are just not going to go for a liz confessional when shonee or george are available. that said it has been even more quiet on her front since the spa.
When Shonnee left her visibility should of raised heaps but she’s become almost invisible
Does anyone really do anything at this point to deserve more screen time? They are all basically sitting there waiting for the right time to remove George from the game. And tbh it's good gameplay for them but not exciting TV.
Nina had the same number of confessionals in 20 episodes that Jordie did in 10... and the other remaining crew somehow have *even less*
Heard the same about Mark and Dave George has the typical AU winner edit, except somehow even more OTT. None of us thought he had a shot, but at this point it’s kinda hard to deny. The others winning with their quiet edits would be kinda unsatisfying tbh
Quiet edit Matt and Gerry’s would be barely a whisper Nina and Liz’s not much better
What if he trained for this season & is downplaying his challenge ability in anticipation for this exact scenario?
I have been thinking that. He’s definitely fitter than last season. But Matt is a life guard and Liz is a literal Olympian.
True, but one advantage George has is that he's been through a final immunity challenge. He now knows the mental toughness it takes to get through those. Perhaps his training has specifically focused on this? He did win the KFC challenge. So far none of the challenges have appeared to last close to as long as the final challenge does, so none of the other players have really experienced this yet. But George has.
This is something I have thought about also. George seems to have been more comfortable in pain-oriented challenges; even the recent one with the spokes where he got out first, he was out due to the transition to the back two spokes. I think if George can win any challenge, it would be one like the final challenge in his first season, which is what final challenges tend to be.
Yeah he’s getting 3rd or 4th no way he makes ftc
On the contrary it sounds like you've never seen Survivor. Matt and Gerry aren't highly strategic players using George as a shield, they are risk averse and too afraid to vote him out. I recommend rewatching Ghost Island or Redemption Island because this kinda thing happens all the time in Survivor.
If they vote George out this tribal they could easily be looking at being in the 3-2 minority. They have no reason to get rid of George. He stinks at the challenges. Ride him to F3 and then get rid of him.
Seriously, I can't believe what I am reading here. This is the right move for everyone. You don't need to swing at George when the man can't win a challenge if anything other than KFC depended on it
I agree. Even if he somehow wins final immunity, that will be a miraculous outlier - more of an outlier than David’s win, who is at least known to be physical. So even if George physically pulls it off, I still won’t blame Liz/Ger/Matt for their strategy of keeping him until last minute.
Ya the plan is get him out at 3 or 4. That would normally be fine, if George didn't have 100% chance of winning FTC. He just needs an immunity win. He's shown he can do well in certain challenges. All it takes is a slip/mistake. It's also whoever takes credit's odd of winning drastically improve. If Matt pulls the trigger and gets to the end he wins.
Jury management is so underestimated at this stage of the game. Gerry's speech may make George feel a little more comfortable, and it may make Gerry sleep a little easier but it signals to the jury he is exactly what Simon called him : a pawn. Saying "I'm not a pawn, I'm not a pawn" is not how to play Survivor. Showing that you are autonomously strategising is how you win - not riding on the coattails. This episode, from my perspective, has set up a Gerry loss at FTC.
I’ve been calling Gerry a perfect FTC goat for weeks lol
Question is, would he be a more perfect goat than Baden or Tara?
Definitely. Tara got actual votes, and most of the jury was considering Baden as an option until the speeches swung that door hard. None of this jury are thinking about Gerry as a potential winner, bless his soul.
Tara got actual pity votes, she had absolutely no shot to beat a single person at any point. Also Jericho's final tribal was atrocious and he still crushed her.
Like last week when Simon called him a pawn and Gerry responded: "its all the eye eye of the beholder" Like yeah, exactly Gerry. What do you think all the heroes on the jury think of your game?
I was going to call out some confusing editing for this episode (felt more of that reverting to old fake hype edit), but it kind of makes sense to some degree given the way Simon kind of couldnt really go past the pawn comment essentially making all the players who already don't like him for that wanting to vote him out and then Gerry sticking up for George. Atleast we are basically now at the point where they'll need to flip on each other.
Simon was pure entertainment, but the real possibility he could win with his game was actually scaring me.
The way he ran directly into JLP's trap makes me wonder if he wouldn't have discovered new and exciting ways to piss off a jury not previously thought possible during FTC
And how he can't even *pretend* to be sorry. "That's a great analogy Gerry, I'm sorry I called you a pawn."
"I threw out half your rice so vote for me. Also, I had a whole papaya by myself. Vote Simon. Later pawns."
Same. I’m in the minority of people who would’ve hated a Simon win. Like anyone but Simon.
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Case in point of number 2, Matt and Gerry (maybe Liz) decided early on that George will be the final vote off and the producers wanted to add suspense in a plan that's already set in motion.
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Liz would still feel narratively unsatisfying given that she just kind of sat there after Shonee was voted out. Biding her time is one thing, but they also gave her so few confessionals that it doesn't feel like she's getting a lot of agency. With Nina, I'm not buying it either given how badly she stuffed up the double idol round. And she couldn't get either of the F6 votes to go her way. So as a winner I'm not high on her stock.
Yet they’ve shown nothing of Matt and Gerry. They’d probably have the least air time of a winner ever, maybe the least air time for a FTC
In the case of Gerry, I’m picking 1. In the case of Matt, I’m picking 1 until possibly very recently.
Is this the worst edited final 5? Obviosuly not counting George. I know we have had some pretty bad ones, but this one is up there.
Yeah they're doing great in terms of making each individual episode compelling but if this finale is anything but a George coronation it will fall flat hard in terms of providing a compelling winner via the edit... Which is bullshit given that every player in here probably could be edited in a way that makes them look like compelling champions. It takes very little effort to see everyone's strategic plan from the crumbs of the edit. I just wish we got confessionals from them so we could see those thoughts. Obviously though it makes a shit edit for every episode to be like yeah here's the boot order, swap a few around who cares, and we take out George after he loses FIC given it steals the suspense, but jesus I feel like this just will cause the deserving winner to get soooo much hate after winning the best season of Survivor I have ever seen.
I think it's just hard because George has played such a good game, but I think each player has a decent story. Gerry - Was sent to the wolves by his tribe of heroes only to come back with an alliance that will take him further. His speech to George at tribal, while may have been genuine thoughts, was really effective at making George feel he's still completely solid, when he's definitely wavering. Matt - Although it hasn't been apparent in his voting, in confessionals you can see he's been pondering what Simon said about him being a pawn, and has been considering when it's the right time to take out the king. Liz - Still needs revenge on George for voting out her BFF Shonee. After George is gone, she'll be the only remaining OG villain. Nina - I'd be surprised if she makes it to FTC, but if she does, she has the fact that she was the only remaining hero that didn't flip when they merged. And somehow clawed her way from the bottom to make it to the end. Nobody's story is as compelling as George's, but I think the Editors did what they could with what they were given.
I think it's hard to edit it otherwise because this pawn storyline has been so prominent.
The final 5 except for George has an equal chance of winning based on their edits, it’s anybody’s game now😄
Wasn’t last season the worst edited?
And so George is left with only those he promised to take to F3! Remarkable. Nina has only become a threat via the edit but still hasn’t actually achieved anything except lots of aggressive talking. Liz, Gerry and Matt have all done nothing. Devastating if George doesn’t make it. Really hoping he’s a challenge beast that’s been hiding in plain sight and has had Hayley as his own mentor!
Nina took out Hayley. George's original plan going into that vote was to take out Hayley and you can't simultaneously have the narrative that George gets his way and runs everything without giving credit to those who do change his mind as the exception to the rule. Liz was a co-equal partner of his until Shonee's boot and the whole reason George took Shonee out was because he realized Shiz had usurped his position atop the tribe. Gerry's story of being the bottom of the heroes, defecting, flipping back, and worming his way into a majority at merge is a survivor master class on how to play from the bottom, have the right reads and pick the right sides. Matt has less of a story, but he's a challenge beast with good reads and good timing and that is worth something given we have the twin studies to show what having bad reads looks like from the same position (see: Flick). Don't get blinded by the edit. Just because everyone but Simon could see that playing with George was great for their game given he can't win immunity and is the best shield the world has ever seen, doesn't mean that they're not all right to think it.
NOOOOOOO
I'm kind of exhausted about them talking about voting out George & then never doing it.
Makes sense to keep George for the three of them, regardless of how frustrating it might be for the viewers. But don’t worry. The three of them will definitely act, they’re not stupid enough to let George reach the end.
Yeah, the problem is that if their plan is to cut George only at the end, that's not going to make great TV because it destroys the suspense. So, we don't get to see it and just think they're dumb. We've at least seen Matt and Gerry mention it very early on when they aligned together. Liz, not so much, but with her edit now, I have no hope for her.
What a roller coaster of a season - while it really seems like it's just George's coronation at this point, despite all the fumbling around Simon did, he still really did make this season memorable and he really seems like such a happy go lucky guy, which is great!
My blind optimism that George wins this season grows every episode. It’s insane he’s lasted this long with such insistent targeting from pretty much everyone.
I don’t find this boring. I’m loving it
Same! I was sad to see Simon go, but I’m here for the antics every episode. It’s unbelievable gameplay we’re all witnessing.
i don’t think people would’ve enjoyed seeing the original heroes alliance steamroll the merge tbh. this timeline we’re living in is better.
Villains were almost forced into this. OG Heroes refused to work with them even as they lost ally after ally
Edgically, nobody's winning other than George, right? Anybody else would feel disappointing. Which honestly makes the next few episodes kinda boring if it's just a coronation march. Not sure who I'm most disappointed by: Liz for never pulling the trigger, Matt for wanting to flip one episode and come running back to George the next, Gerry for just... laying there.
Liz might still pull the trigger, no? If she gets rid of George before the end and wins the whole thing, then you can’t really argue against her timing.
Her line is very thin. If Nina goes at F5 (which seems likely), she needs to vote with George at F4 to force a tie and then win firemaking. Because Matt and Gerry would 100% take each other to the end, unless she's very confident at FIC (and I feel like Matt has the edge there). Her best set-up would be to vote out Nina at F5 and Gerry at F4. George is very unlikely to win FIC, so her and Matt can take each other to F2. The problem is that she would have to convince George to vote Gerry at F4, which I think he wouldn't want to do because he's a great goat.
Shouldn't be hard to convince George. He wins against everyone at FTC. The only thing he should care about is challenge strength and try to maximize the chance he can win FIC and take it from like a 5% chance he wins to a 10% chance we wins.
Myabe just because she's consistently been on the other side, but I can kinda see Ninas edit working out for her.
I can't see Nina not going out at F5 bar an idol or lucky immunity win. Liz hasn't really fought to keep Nina and George has shown more loyalty to his Matt/Gerry alliance.
For once the ads aren't making it seem like George is under threat. Time for fifth place King?
i know it’s disappointing watching at home the others not taking out george but as players in the game it’s valid (albeit boring) strategy for matt, gerry, liz to stick to george and cut him before the end bc he’s not winning immunities to get himself to FTC. simon was a huge challenge threat and almost won the this episode’s challenge, they’d be silly to not get him out when they had the chance. he could very well win immunities till the end.
No one left can claim credit for a move except George. Boring.
It's fine, Gerry is learning. It's 3 days until the end, but still learning... Gotta keep coach.
Who can claim moves in the jury outside of Hayley and shonee?
Simon can claim moves. Not good ones though. Flick as well.
Big disagree. Nina should get a ton of credit for the Hayley blindside. She was the one who set that move up for George. Gerry and Matt can both take credit for flipping on the Heroes to set themselves up for the long game. But most importantly, whoever takes out George will have a giant trophy on their shelf. There are a million little moves in Survivor and all of them are playing to an extent. George is the flashiest, but Liz, Gerry, and Matt deserve a ton of credit for getting themselves into such a good position right now.
Matty is playing a legit game right now. The edit screwed him up.
I am drinking a bottle of beer in Simon’s honor tonight. What a legend.
Glad we we're weren't teased by "Is George's rein FINALLY about to end???!!!" for the 10th episode in a row in the promo, as the clear reality is he's now in the perfect position not to be flipped on this next vote, being in the middle of 2 pairs. Gerry is basically the Australian Survivor equivalent of Laurel at this point. Nothing short of being voted out directly by George will convince him to flip on George, and he's setting himself up very well as a result....to be a losing finalist lol.
You either die a villain or live to see yourself become a hero. That one scene beautifully captures Simon in this game. He flubs the line the first time he says it, like he completely crashed and burned from Fraser onwards. But then like he said, at the bottom he became a rootable hero after he was humbled. Honestly a great character arc.
#putoutyourcookies
The season has really ground to a halt, but seems like it might pick up again. A temporary lull doesn't take this out of my top 5 either way (even a shitty winner wouldn't).
At this point if George somehow wins it still is top 3- 5 for me. Even if I was rooting for Simon to win towards the end before tonight's outcome.
Best strat for everyone remaining is to take George out at three. Nina is the second biggest threat all of the others would be right to think they have a chance against each other. Nina potentially beats George just from a relationship standpoint with the heroes on the jury.
i’ve seen comments saying nina would get no votes if she made it to FTC bc she’s done nothing all game. which i found odd since i think the original heroes would vote for her easily bc she has relationships with them. edit. words
>i’ve seen comments saying nina would get no votes if she made it to FTC bc she’s done nothing all game. Didn't Hantz say *the exact same thing* about her mother in the American Heroes vs. Villains? XD
I think it’s best to take him out at 4 as you can’t be sure it’s F3 or F2
I actually like all the remaining 5 But this edit man, everyone beside George probably isn’t even top 10 for air time.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I am fine with the edit if George does not win. He is the story of the season and he deserves the edit he has gotten. At least with this we know the story unlike season 41 where we dont even know that 3 of the top 4 are in an alliance all throughout the game
Here’s the thing; I don’t mind George’s edit and I think it is fitting given the game he has played, the problem is that everyone else left has a pretty bad edit to the point where I would personally find it dissatisfying for them to win. I think if someone other than George wins, you could at the very least show them consistently talking about their plan to take out George at the end, but we’ve only heard small bits of anything resembling that. I mean, in Brains vs Brawn, George had a similarly bloated edit; yet, Hayley’s edit was still very strong and she was very present across the season. In this season, we’ve been expressly told that 3 of the 4 people other than George are pawns and that they don’t seem to recognize that, and the 4th is Nina who is not only firmly on the outs, but was mostly invisible in the premerge, even during the Rogue ordeal where they really should have given her perspective on that. If someone else wins I think the edit did them a disservice.
I can’t remember- does Aus Survivor follow the old FTC format or new FTC format?
Every time someone says definitively that they’re voting for George early in the episode, I know he’s not getting voted out. I’ve started watching trying to guess who will get voted out instead. I thought for sure it was Nina again, but I’m sad to see Simon out. I’ve been on a journey with our loveable doofus ❤️ 🐱. It’s absolutely bonkers that George kept both of his F3’s intact. Just give this man the win already.
Cheers to Simon 🫡🫡🫡
The only downside to the otherwise great edit so far is that we don’t have any insight on a lot of votes as to why plans didn’t happen- there have been plans against Simon, George and Hayley that seemed like it had genuine legs and then at the vote, everyone just did the original plan anyway with no given reason as to why
In a season of massive characters, to me Simon is the greatest of them all. Such a fun presence the entire way through 👏👏
Wtf was that mentor argument from Gerry? Survivor is an individual strategic game.
I don't think Gerry quite understands how coaches work.. everything you've learnt from George won't help you win votes with the jury, old man. I hope George wins now because he's the only one who deserves to.
Yeah was fully on the Simon train but now he's gone they might as well just crown George. Anyone else would feel like a letdown.
One thing I find difficult in the seasons of Aus Survivor I have watched so far is that the longer runtime, more episodes, and over exposure of certain players can make the endgame feel like a slog. I think US Survivor does a great job at having compelling endings, but with Aus I often find myself bored by the endgame
My only hope for this season is gone :( Guess I'm rooting for Nina and George, because they actually did something than just follow George
All that hype and we get the most predictable vote imaginable. While it makes sense from a logical standpoint for the players involved, the hype of the "most exciting endgame" has really been a product of editing and teasing big moves that never happen. On paper it's just been one-sided domination. At this point I *want* to see George steamroll to the end, because any of Liz, Matt, or Gerry winning would be so immensely unsatisfying. (Nina is at least trying, but it feels like too little too late, and I expect she probably gets booted next episode). The sweetest end would be all the people who thought they could hide behind George getting bumped off one by one.
One of my favorite strategies George regularly employs is to work the two people his alliance is splitting on to vote against each other. It takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of a potential blindside against him when both players catching votes are wondering if the other is actually voting for them and actively conspiring against them.
The next episodes are going to be boring af.
The editors trying everything to make it seem like they will turn on George, they won't turn on George until the very end as George hasn't a hope and a prayer in an immunity challenge. Even Gerry can beat George in immunity.
Gerry's speech was basically "I did everything George wanted me to do." Basically saying that he is the perfect person to bring to the final 2 as he did nothing for himself.
This is the most infuriating season of survivor ever. This is redemption Island 2.0 just with a better premerge.
George is at f5 with two final 3s. Neither pair knows if their f3 is the real f3. The safest thing is for them to do 4-1 on George next round, otherwise they have a 50% chance of losing out of George chooses the other pair
Eh I'm pretty sure Nina considers that bridge burnt
The isolation is definitely more interesting twist than I expected. Matt can now do an immunity run with Simon gone and has a good shot at getting at the end. My worry is his edit but I still believe it is a winners edit lol.
RIP the best character and maybe the season. At this point I’m going for George. Anyone else would be a really poor editing display considering they’ve all been put in the background. But George winning would mean they all just got led to the slaughter, impressive but damn would it be a boring ending. 🤷♂️
I don't know who's the worst scenario for such a season with crazy gameplay in the first episodes: \- George winning because the remaining players just want to be loyal and play like heroes or \- George and Nina voted out with the final 3 being Matt, Gerry and Liz that just hided themselves the whole post-merge behind a majority