Survivor AU: Redemption Episode 9 Recap w/ Laura Darras

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2:04in an exclusive six episode docu-series. I wanted to give something to the fans that they didn't expect. The only thing left is to close the book. The end of an era, and don't miss Taylor Swift, the era's tour, the final show, featuring for the first time the torture poets to format. On December 12th, only on Disney Plus. Hi, everybody, and welcome back to R.H.A.P.'s coverage of Australian Survivor Redemption.

3:13My name is Mike Bloom, and I'm here concluding week three, a very fiery way to end the week literally as the Tez arc has finally come to an end, but definitely not in the fashion that we would expect as quite a lot was thrown at us, at the players, and there's a lot that we are going to throw out there in terms of what is to come following a vote that didn't happen, but certainly will have some repercussions down the line of, of course, I'm joined by quite the fiery personality herself. She's coming in here like a breeze. I'm not holding up a tarp any time soon to shield myself from this wonderful person. From Australian Survivor Brains vs. Braun II, it's the one the only lower deris. Hello, thank you so much for having me. It's an honor and a privilege, and I cannot think of a better week to chat about, because this is just blazing. It's crazy. Well, let's, I guess, get your temperature checked to keep going with the fire analogies here on this season, so far, because we're past, assuming the one third mark, we don't

4:17know if it's 24 episodes at this point. We're all flying a little blind right now, but certainly we have, we have cut a significant swath into the season. And I'm always interested in asking people who technically A U vs. The World was your like first season after playing, but this felt more so like, you know, your first all newbie or mostly newbie season since playing. So what is it like now sort of on the other side as an alum watching this season? It's pretty cool. I mean, having them as a sister season, I was kind of scared that they would be a pang of jealousy or envy, but I'm really enjoying watching it. I think that there are some really cool characters. I'm loving seeing David as the new host. I think maybe that separates it a little bit. I don't feel as kind of connected because I don't know what David's going to do or what he's going to be like, but I'm loving him so far. And I'm really enjoying meeting some new characters. I don't think that any of them are as amazing as me, but I am really loving it. Really, really loving it. And then I thought I would. I was told that, you know, they would be jealousy or whatever, but I'm really curious.

5:22I'm really intrigued. I'm enjoying it. Yeah. And there is a lot of intrigue here. There's a lot to really unpack every single episode. And this one is no different, but I would say maybe in a different way than the others. I don't just have a bone to pick with the show, Laura, for this episode. I have a whole freaking skeleton because we've got, we've got, we've got a lot to hash out here. And I want to start with something that actually doesn't have to deal with this episode, but it is significant nonetheless, especially those that have been following us in the Survivor AU Streets for the past week. I can confirm, Laura, that idle gate, the confusion around these swap idols has finally been resolved. It's been a real gap in the edit and something that I think really could have been a great opportunity for both Linda and Brooke, for whatever reason, the idols in play out of play. They didn't get to keep them. They got to keep them. And for so many reasons, I think it could have been right, but it's been such a gap in

6:23the edit, hasn't it? Well, yes. So let's sort of chart our way through the journey here. Let's take ourselves to the timeline because to your point, it has been, I'll just a lot of vacillating opinions about, oh, so and so might be lying. Oh, wait, maybe this thing is true. So basically, we saw Brooke play the idle, maybe a bit haphazardly in episode six and people were saying, what are, what are you doing? Why are you doing that? She then, you know, plaster's all over social media immediately following. I knew this was coming. I had to play it because the idle was supposed to expire at the swap and so it was basically use it or lose it. If I did not play the idle, they would have taken it away from me. This is not like the clothes of the deceased castaways that she could just wear it around her neck. We'll get into that. But then as we get into the swap, we see Lindel, and specifically in her lower third, she's got that little idle symbol in the idle words. She's saying, I wish I had played that idle and so a lot of us were assuming, well, then clearly she had it. So it's not the mistaken. I can't confirm in this to tease a little bit the upcoming exit interview podcast that

7:23I did. I talked with Lindel, and she said that they did take away her idle at the swap. Damn it. Damn it. Because my question would have been, okay, let's say it doesn't work from now onwards, no matter what, no matter what, try and be get swapped back onto. Can I just keep it to pretend that I have it? Can I just keep it to use it as a bluff? Let's, we'll sell side of the camera. You know, it doesn't work anymore, but let me keep it because having a fake idle was better than having no idle, right? I completely agree. I feel like this is an incredibly misguided decision on all ends. I do agree that like, even just taking the idle from them, I mean, think about like if we've had two idols, one fake, one real in play, like that's been out of the Dama Bate playbook. That would have been a lot of fun. I mean, Survivor A loves their fake idle storylines, whether you believe in fake or not. And I think for me, what it comes down to, and I certainly know that I'm trying to channel

8:26Shannon's rage. She has told me she's quite sarcastic about this, specifically the storytelling around, because my sort of philosophy, especially around Australian survivor storytelling, which you could attest to, can sometimes, you know, tend to to blow the things, you know, expand the details a little bit. I think the motto should be exaggerate, don't fabricate. Yes, I like that. I think you, I think if there are, it tells us like, okay, this relationship was really overblown, or like, oh, nobody, you didn't highlight this relationship, but actually this was the key that made me go home. That's all sort of above board. But this lied to us, essentially, it told us like, no, Lindel has this idle. And I can think of no reason, Laura, why they would do this outside of low-key making brick and Lindel looks stupid, you know, say like, oh, Brooke misplayed her idle. And Lindel got voted out with one, look at what they were able to do when, no, both of them, one of them got it confiscated and one of them played it before it got confiscated.

9:31Yes, I'm sure there were moments where Brooke was talking to a camera and said, I have to use this tonight, no matter what it ends tomorrow, what should I do. I'm sure that both of them had that opportunity. And then when Lindel was taken away, but we were, you know, lied to or they, you know, the icons down there for whatever reason, Mark was still under the impression that Lindel had it. So they hadn't spoken to each other, they, the communication wasn't clear. Maybe Lindel was lying to other people saying that she still had it, which I mean is a good play on its own. My question is around the players. Let's say, let's say they were told it's going to go, if I'm Lindel, if I'm Brooke, I'm going to do something with it, right? I have an idle. It's about to explode. It's a ticking time bomb. Let's do something. Brooke cares about Caleb, Faith and Killia coming for Caleb. Maybe I'll vote Faith and Killia out with this idle that I know is going to expire tomorrow. I don't know why neither of them actually used it as an opportunity to make a move. Yeah.

10:31I mean, what's interesting is Lindel speaks to exactly that and it's really interesting wording that she has in her final words of like, I wish I had done something with the idle or impression as the edit, let us believe was, oh, she wishes she could have played it at this tribal council, but she was actually speaking about it. I'm not going to give away, you know, too much of what she got into with me. It was a really fantastic conversation, but she was talking about how she wanted to play it on Harry at that episode five vote and she did it. So she was going down your path for a brief portion of time. That would have been brilliant. That would have been so good. You lose it anyway. I mean, it's going to blow up anyway. I'd probably want to get rid of it pre-swap anyway if I was Lindel and I knew Mark knew on the other side that I had it. So it's a really missed opportunity from both the players and the storytellers. Completely agree. It just feels unnecessary. You know, if you're creating this detail, just throw it in there. You can frank and bite whatever you want to from whatever days to make sure we know. Otherwise, I do feel bad that, you know, we low key lambdas that I think both of them

11:36for details that obviously we were not aware of. But getting the story straight, that is what happened with the idols. They are done and dusted. Lindel certainly is as well. So we have to move on. Yes. I mean, I feel bad for Lindel. Up until when she got voted out, I was sure she'd been voted out with an idol in a pocket. I was thinking of the statistics of pre-swap people getting voted out with idols in their pockets. David, Simon, Max from my season, they're all around a very similar time. So I was under the impression she still had it. So that's really unfortunate for her. All right, well, let's move into the actual events of this episode. And there's still more production stuff to talk about here. Let's talk about what went down with the choices made in this episode. And we start with the challenge. Of course, this is something that has been done a couple of times in Australia. I actually did not happen in your season, ironically enough. But we've seen it a good amount of times. Both tribes are going to tribal council. But this is a bit of a different take on individual immunity in that it is paired immunity.

12:42Give me your take on this. I really enjoyed the paired immunity. I thought it was an amazing opportunity for cross-tribe chats. It was brilliant for Tez that Lodi and Asha were sitting kind of right next to him. It's such an interesting stroke of fate that they were both the ones to sit out as well. I think it's a really great opportunity knowing that both tribes are going to tribal council. I think if you are going to have those pairs that are chatting to each other, it would have been very interesting if everyone got a vote, if every single person they got to vote. Because I think it would have allowed for some cross-tribal chats. Those chats specifically at the challenge would have maybe come to fruition a little bit. It kind of seemed almost pointless that information was crossed and then there's no need to use it anymore. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing is I, listen, I'm always looking for opportunities to mix it up. I always love the opportunities for tribes to just sit down together, hash it out.

13:43Obviously, we'll get into that little bit of tribal council just even having people like Jackson and Caleb kind of talk for the first time after they've been eyeballing each other from across the mat and certainly garnering opinions on one another is very fun. I love people tipping each other off about the actual dynamics, how that's going to inform whether they stay in the challenge, the moves are going to make at tribal council. So the problem I had with the challenge is specifically the fact that Laudian Asha had to sit out, especially by random draw, because I get it on the surface, right? You want to have one from each tribe, it's theoretically a double tribal council at least in the moment. You want to have each one of them safe. You want people from different sides to work together, but now I can't help but look back at the end of the episode and be like, well, if you could just pass the necklace off to anyone on any tribe, why can't you have two people immune from the same tribe? And I think it also just, we're going back to storytelling. I think it just robs the opportunity to have Asha, Laudian, whomever really get the

14:45chance to save themselves for their fate to lie in their own hands. Like I get that there's fun in having them sit out and talk with Tez, but it sometimes does feel a little unfair to me that like theoretically everyone I think should have a chance at individual immunity, if they can, unless they personally opt out of it. And so it just didn't necessarily sit right with me, of course, didn't help that Asha we know was on the chopping block, but I just found it kind of unnecessary and I more so felt bad for the two of them that they were just excluded to begin with. Yes. Well, I felt bad for someone like Richard who clearly felt like he needed it and we, of course, know that he ends up getting it, but he was begging Simon to drop, begging, begging Simon to drop. And I'm very confused during this challenge of, you know, save Brook, save Richard, where is there? I thought Richard was on the bottom of their tribe. Has he, his name not come out of the earn every single bounty tribal council when, you know, was bounty 1.0? I'm very confused of this sudden kind of love and I mean, Richard's an amazing man, but

15:50I'm very curious as to how that's come about. He was on the bottom and now they're all putting up, you know, he's giving his individual immunity over his begging Simon to drop. It's a really interesting dynamic that I think is also a miss in the storytelling that we get to see for the first time in that challenge. Yeah. I mean, I talked about this in a previous recap, like maybe there's this Simon rich relationship is specifically that we're not necessarily keyed into. Like the one thing that keeps reverberating in my head is when Simon is told Paula sus on you and he pulls Richard side specifically and he's like, tell him what you told me. So maybe there's a dynamic there personally, but yeah, it is odd that what we saw going to the swap was that, okay, you had Richard laws, Lindel, maybe Jackson to a certain extent on the bottom. Yes. So maybe you think to a certain extent, like we don't necessarily need a Richard, but maybe it was also that up to this point, at least bounty was so down in numbers, the OG bounty that they're like, we need as much as we can get.

16:51I don't know. But the wavering feelings on Richard tend to just, it cash flows, if you will, between like, leave them to starve to the wolves versus like, we must do anything at all costs. Even this episode, as you mentioned, Richard and Brooke are both begging for their lives to Simon. And this will be a recurring theme of the episode and he'll just be like, Mark says, no, we're fine. You're taking care of him. Yeah. And he wasn't in more ways than one, but get another confusing beat here. Yeah. All right. Well, now let's move into tribal counselor and obviously I think, well, we'll go back and flesh out a lot of the beats as to how we got your, but I have to talk about the choice made for this double, how it was going to work because I think a lot of people, myself included, some of the players included, it has included, as I spoke to him, thought, okay, we know this song, we're just going to vote one person out and those people will compete in fire making the winter stays, the loser goes. Yeah. And they take a page out of what I consider the worst twist on Australia versus the

17:52world, which was a choose your champion, one person from each tribe, essentially competes for like individual slash tribal immunity, where the winter wins it for everything. Now it does create, I guess, this fun concept of both tribes wanting their respective representatives to throw it and obviously an internal battle between the two. But Laura, that's kind of like low key, the problem of it is like you don't want to make a challenge where people are incentivized to throw it and then they're going to be there for another 45 days with these two guys pretending to not be able to start a fire. Yeah. I was so ready to see the worst fire making challenge known to man. I was ready to see Simon and like mark it out like their sticks and start trying to do that one. I was ready for it to be bad. Now if I hear, if I'm tears and I hear, okay, we're going to pick a hero, I'm going to say to my tribe, let me control my own fate. And if I lose fire, then vote me out.

18:52But if I win for us, I get to stay another night. And I cannot believe that he didn't stand up and do that. It is baffling to me as a fan that you don't think I'm going to control my own fate here. I was watching that last night and I said to everyone in the room, I'm the winner. I'm going to tell you right now who's going to do it. It's going to be Simon's going to be Mark. It has to be. It's just they are going to be the two best fire makers. But if I'm also bloody watching that, there's no way Simon's throwing that. There's no way Simon is throwing a fire challenge. Do you know Simon? Have you met Simon? He's not throwing the challenge to save his life. He's the worst person to put up. And as soon as they put up Simon, of course, they're going to put up Mark. That was just very obvious to me. You are right there incentivized to throw. And I think that that I would rather see someone fighting for their life than someone who's going to save their whole tribe. Yes, exactly. I think that that's a very good point. And I think additionally, I don't know the mechanism by which they decided, right?

19:53David had said, if you can't decide, we're going to draw rocks. So like, did it have to be unanimous decision? Is it the first person who spoke up? Is like, it's me? Like, was there any objections to it? Like, if I'm test then and maybe it's a majority thing and nobody wants me to draw to make fire? I would say like, if it has to be unanimous, like, no, let's just draw rocks. Let's just, that's the timing in all stars, right? But not with the double tribal council, but in trial by fire. Remember that little random nugget where Brooke was like, I want to go into fire. And the others are like, no, we're just going to draw rocks for it. I feel like you force people's hand, make that happen. But I guess the decisions involved, maybe one of the reasons why Tez decided to do this is because he felt the die was cast, no matter what. But I agree. I think on paper, stand up, try to at least make an effort to be like, give me a solid right now. You haven't talked to me all day. Let the fire of the clock egg. Yeah, yeah. If I can make fire and save us all, then we can all go home. And if I lose, vote me out. I'm going home anyway. Vote me out. But yeah, it seems like an odd choice.

20:54And now I have questions about, you know, Mark used his blazer and Simon using the tarp is like, is that allowed? I don't think if I'm honest watching that, it didn't look like either of them were attempting to throw. I don't think so. I mean, Mark said that he doesn't want, like, I think that makes sense. Remember that Mark has been to tribal council three times in a row. I think especially considering the makeup of this tribe, I think he will be going to tribal council a lot more in the near future. So I think you tried to avoid any opportunity you can, not to mention that, like, I mean, Mark maybe in the moment thought he had something good with Tez, he's told me that maybe that was not the case. So he, like, would rather keep all of his ducks in a row and maybe sow some seeds of chaos. And yeah, as you mentioned, I don't think Simon is necessarily, especially now, as he said when he was initially holding on to the necklace, like, stranger things have happened. I don't know if he, despite prompting from basically all sides, if it's really within him at this point, to be like, yeah, definitely leave things to chance. Yeah, you're immune. But like, why not? Why not throw the challenge and send things into havoc?

21:55Yes. If we've learned anything from Australian survivor, is if you throw the challenge, you go home. That is just the way it happens. So I don't think either of them are attempting to throw, and I think as soon as Simon found out that he could pass that necklace over, he was going to attempt to win no matter what, so that he could, you know, pass it over to Richard. I think that that was maybe, it was brilliant on his behalf to ask first that something that a returning player would always do. I don't know if any new player would have even considered that, considered to ask to move it. But yeah, I don't think either of them were attempting to throw, they both know better than that. They both have been in opportunities where, you know what, just one more day in the game. The only incentive to throw the fire is a plan, you know, kind of half-baked, going back to trying, going back to camp is dangerous, really dangerous. If you were sure something was going to happen and you don't get the opportunity to do it and then you sleep on it, plans change at night, plans change the next day, things move

22:57so quickly, so it didn't look like either of them were too keen to follow through with that plan, but that's the only reason I would consider throwing a fire-making challenge like that. Ryan Reynolds here for Mid-Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did, and have one of your assistance assistants to switch you to Mid-Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at minemobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra, default terms at minemobile.com. Ever seen a musical so good you didn't want it to end, like you could live inside it forever. Get your one-way ticket to Broadway musical paradise! Have you ever felt trapped at a musical, like you literally couldn't escape? Then you'll hate to miss Schmigadon, because you'll never want to leave, and you can't,

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25:04Some purchase may apply. Well, let's get into what happens after Simon makes the fire because as he mentioned, he had floated out even beforehand, well, I can give this to Mark to Richard, right? And David says, yeah, well, technically speaking, he's sitting at the same tribal as you. You can do it same as any other tribal. I think what people are taking up rich with, though, is the fact that Simon is technically not at the tribal council with Richard as he gives up the necklace. Do you believe me? I've seen some comparisons here to handing off an idol after voted off, something we saw, Kesdew, which caused a lot of controversy. Where do you stand on it? Do you feel like Simon should not have been allowed to give the necklace to Richard after he had won? No, I'm absolutely here for it. Absolutely here for it. I am always a firm believer of an idol in the game is a good idol. I think that it's pointless to have someone voted out with an idol, they're going home anyway. Let's not make them feel worse. I remember when Max got voted out with his idol and I had a little inkling, he and I

26:07were trying to pass something over and it just wasn't going to work out. He got voted out with it, so it instantly became null. But no, I think that if he asked beforehand, they confirmed, I am absolutely all for Simon passing it over. What I'm not all for and what I think was a silly decision was for Faith to so adamantly tell him not to you are in front of everybody playing and you're going to let them all know that you're the leader. Well, I mean, we'll certainly get into it. I'd love to get your opinions on Faith and Keeley because I certainly got some, some coven vibes going on with like, you know, his own developing within, you know, a majority alliance. That was, I mean, Faith continues to astound me with how open she is about basically everything for feelings on people, her trying to, and again, I appreciate trying to catch someone off guard, trying to essentially pull like a Benji in two and a versus contenders, right? And like, like, oh, Simon, you sure you want to do this? Simon, do you want to do this now?

27:08And like, he did give legitimate pause for a second. But as you mentioned, I feel like it's just laying everything on. Now she doesn't know that Tez has now communicated that she is a ringleader. Certainly is not helping the perception if you were trying and also ultimately failing to stop him from doing this. And also like, why, especially this last time, like maybe the first time, you're like, I don't want to cause too much chaos. But when Simon has nothing to lose and he's been given the clearance to do it, what rationale would he have to not give the necklace away at that point? Simon's going, no, it's not used to him now. You're saying, don't do it. Don't do it. You don't need to. That makes me want to do it more. Yeah. That makes me want to do it more. Who else am I going to give it to? I'm not going to give it to you, Faith. It's not like you're saying, don't give it to Rich, give it to that person instead. If you're so sure that Rich is not getting votes, buy and give it to him. He's not going to need it. Yeah. Well, I had. But she was so adamant. And I was just so curious that she did it just in front of everyone, like everyone's listening and everyone goes home from the other truck going, oh, okay, Faith thought

28:09she knows exactly where the vote's going. They haven't even had a tribal council yet because, you know, they didn't know what was going to happen. They didn't know is everyone voting. It's half a fuss voting. So she's sure, without any chats, what's about to happen? She's clearly the ringleader. I just thought it was pointless and just unmasked her power so quickly. Yeah. I mean, not to mention the fact that I imagine the plan was tens, no matter what, right? That's what we saw the head office doing. We're going to split their votes between Tez and Rich. Was the fear that if Rich was immune and Tez has an idol like who are the votes bouncing back on, but Faith is still safe at that point. She has the necklace. So again, I'm not sure why you're making such a fuss about this necklace being given away. If it's not really scuttling your plans at all, like we didn't really see all the whispering we saw came from Tez himself. It seems like everyone else was pretty easy breezy, right? And it just owed out Tez, even if Rich or God take it off the table.

29:11I'd say please give it to Rich. Please go ahead and put it in. It's going to look right on Rich. It won't look good on Tez, please don't put it on Tez. But it'll look good on Rich. Go for it. It was an odd choice to try and put Simon in a corner. And I just think he's the wrong person to try and hash down. Yeah. Going back to the necklace pass, I'm so of a couple minds about it because I do get it again, especially equivocating it to like Kez giving away the idol after she was voted out and brains versus Braun, which I really did not like there is that formality. Maybe that's it. It's the formality of like when you're eliminated from the game, you can't do anything else. As opposed to maybe there's a little bit of a looser line in that like Simon's technically in the game. He's just on his way out of tribal council, you know, is it akin to like someone plays a safety without power leaves tribal and like hands something out on the way out? I also think that producers subscribe to a term from Dungeons and Dragons called the rule of cool, which is ironic considering that it's coming from the Dungeons and Dragons community.

30:11But it's this idea that a dungeon master like you can propose things you want to do to a dungeon master that may fudge the rules a little bit that may push the boundaries a bit as to what's known for normal gameplay. But like if it's something that they consider a very fun thing to do if it's creative and if it's innovative, they're more likely to try it. I think while there are sufficient standards and practices that are put in place to a certain extent for shows like this, I think there is a part of production that was sort of like, oh, that's fun. Yeah, we'll let that happen. Absolutely. Especially because it's probably not going to change the plans. It's more highlighting Richard's relationship to the other tribe, which he has said he doesn't have. So I think it's more propelling that storyline. I mean, I guess I'm coming from a place as a player. I would love and I'd all to be handed to me. So I will let that rule slide. Now, even if they've been voted out, please give me the idol. I think I'm coming more from that point of view where it's fun to try and pass over a secret idol and it's fun to say, well, I have this thing now.

31:12That's more where I'm coming from. But I do see your rule book and I do understand. All right. Well, let's get into really the primary focus in terms of our strategy. Here is going to be on this former or current Baron tribe, even though again, they ironically do not vote much more intrigue around this. We'll certainly talk about Tez and get your thoughts about what's going on on new bounty. But new Baron, they may be sitting on their hands for a while and we see something bubbling under the surface here. And it is so fun that we have Lottie when she believes that Simon is throwing the fire Mickey because he's not doing well at it. She looks over to John to Jackson and fist bumps him and it's that really fun moment where you're like, both of you think that you're ready to go to tribal council because you're doing completely different things as we see the rise of a, get another named Alliance in this season. Laura. Yes. Beauty and the beast. What has been your take about the rise of this quintet in this episode?

32:14I quite like this group. I mean, I like Beauty and the beast. I think that it's better than the Ruby Soho Alliance, which makes no sense. So I kind of like that. I like this group. I am enjoying seeing Brooke kind of get away out of everything. It looks like they want to have a lot of fun. What I will say is an Alliance of five is a huge Alliance. How they all sat at night and there's what three people back in the shelter. How those three people didn't go, where is everyone? What their shelter's empty? Well, five are over there. I don't know how long that's going to stay a secret, but so far, it looks like Lodi and Asher are so, so I'll think that they are in control so much that they don't understand what's happening on the bottom. But no, I'm not mad at this Alliance. I'm really not. I'm just worried about the small kind of factions within it. Yeah. They all look extremely strong and they all seem like a loyalty player is in some kind

33:19of way, which I'm not mad at. Yeah, I think that this is probably going to be a solid group if I'm sort of forecasting around. I'm not a witch, but I'm going to try to do my own sort of predictive forces here because I do think that everyone kind of has mutual incentive to stay together. Obviously, for Brooke and Ben, this is like any poor in the storm, we need anything. I don't know if the clock that Blanche has flipped yet. Our laws in Jackson, this is, hey, we know we were on the bottom of Old Bounty. Why are we sticking with Old Bounty here? And for Simon, it seems like he is legitimately torn. And so this does feel back to like the more cases days of like, okay, everyone has a reason to do this. The most complicated one is Simon who I'm really trying to wrap my head around in this episode. Laura, because what's so intriguing about Simon this season to me is that apparently he has this lights out social game. I've been told by a multitude of players who have exited this season. Like Simon was so good at building these relationships. He was so well liked. And this is in my opinion, the first bit of power he really has in this season.

34:23Otherwise, it was kind of just put your head down, vote how you're told, hope you survive until the next day when you can win a challenge. This is the first time where he has sort of caught in the middle between this new five sum as well as his relationship with Laughty. Yes. And it is just much like faith to a certain extent, so out in the open. Why as soon as they get back to Kim, does he look at Jackson and say, yeah, I think we should go have a chat and then just stammer out an explanation when he's given the third degree about it later. It's just, yeah. Again, it's so weird because I'm almost lucky. He had to like, what I'm going to do with the cheesy here because like, I think he made a very good move in the end of the episode where he wins fire, he gives the necklace to Richard, but it's just so much mess to get to that point that I really can't sift through how this is going to affect him whatsoever. The relationship between Simon and Jackson needs to say a secret, right? Like if Simon's the, you know, the linchpin between these groups, I'm assuming bringing

35:24Brooke in as, you know, the other returning player. And he's walking very fine line between his relationship with them and Lottie, how he didn't think what he was going to say to the other people after publicly going, Jackson and I are going to have a chat to discuss things. The first thing I'd be thinking is crap, what do I say to everyone else now? That was very fast movement from someone that you need to, if you're staying under the radar, then stay under the radar, but he's really poked his head quite high. I do think his social game up into this point has been incredible. Because he's done, stay by the fire. Don't move. Don't be the threat. You kind of don't run around the jungle like I'm kind of known to do, which I'm very happy that he's done to get to this point. But it looks like Simon plays a good game from the bottom. I think he is quite good kind of being able to read from the outside. Now as soon as he's got a little bit of power, he's forgotten his place, which was sift down shut up.

36:25Yeah, I mean, it's a little bit like this episode was him trying to have his cake and eat it too. And not the one that Rich was divvying out, he was trying so much to kind of make everyone happy because he is and I understand that because he is in good theoretically with basically everybody. He's kind of in an alliance low key with every single person in this tribe. So like, for example, he's standing on that perch and Rich and Brook are begging him to throw it. He over at Mark being like, do I throw it? He is asked, do you want to give up the necklace and he looks over the rest of the group? He's like, do you think I should do it? I think he is trying to sort of get this rule by committee so that he is angering the least amount of people. The issue is if he's aiming to anger, no one, he's angering everyone as they see over the course of this fire making challenge where everyone is telling him, you have to throw you have to throw it. And as you mentioned before, as much as they might, that might be misguided based on just who Simon is, it is not a great look when everyone is kind of said, I'll be it from

37:28different factions for different reasons telling you to do something and you don't do it. I do think that he's, yeah, he's walking such a fine, fine, fine line and clearly there's, he's in the majority for both sides, but scaring Lottie is not the right move. Lottie is, as we've seen, is really, and Simon knows that. So why he couldn't just wait to chat to Jackson, I'm not too sure, he would have had an opportunity. So I don't know what he, he told Jackson that needed to be so pertinent to that second because Jackson so clearly wasn't going to speak to Lottie and Asha, he was only ever going to speak to his alliance. So it just, it seems really unnecessary and what information Jackson gave him also wasn't pertinent to the game. Yeah, I think what Simon specifically said to Jackson right was he wanted to debrief on what his conversation with Mark was, which is also on because Simon was also next to Mark. So I imagine he picked up on a little bit of what was happening.

38:30I mean, very fun coincidentally or not that they had Jackson, Mark, Simon, bro, or Simon faith, right? That you had like these two pairs trying to drum something up, being stationed together right there in the middle. But otherwise, the other reason I could think of is like, okay, if Lottie and Asha pull you aside, this is what you have to say. But again, given this nighttime clandestine meeting that Beauty and the Beast had, wouldn't they have already come up with a decoy name ahead of this? Yes, it seems, it seems very, very rash and reactive and that's not the best way that Simon plays. He does play well in these group alliances and you'd think he would know that by now. But I would also think, if I'm Simon, when watching chats, you think, who do I trust? Who do I trust? Who do I trust? I trust you. I trust you. Don't need to go over there. Don't trust you. Don't trust you. I'm entering that chat. But if you trust Jackson, as you should, any trust Mark, as you should, don't enter the chat.

39:30Like you don't need to, Mark will tell you everything. Jackson will tell you everything. Always go to where you don't have the information, but it seemed like everything Jackson said wasn't a surprise. Unless Mark had said to Simon and speak to Jackson, I don't know. But you always follow where you have the least amount of information and that's something that Simon should know. But it scared me because I want the Beauty and the Beast Alliance to say a secret so they can get out of their target and it's Simon scaring me. I mean, I guess the question is, do they need to? I mean, we can look ahead to if New Baron ever goes to tribal council. Maybe finally, Riches Paires will be answered and they'll throw a challenge because now it's in Brooke and Ben's mutual interest to go to tribal council as well. I mean, do we think it would just have been an open and shut, you know, five to four, or I guess it would be, yeah, be five to four, Asha vote and can we expect that would probably be what's going to happen if they go back to tribal at all?

40:32I do think so. I think if they had stayed there, that's what it would have happened. My only fear, my only fear is that someone like Cameron gets wind. If one of the boys tell Cameron, we can see how close Cameron and Asha are, that's my only fear is that someone like Lodi or someone like Cameron gets wind of these things. And as I said, a plan not executed is a plan changed. So that is maybe they move their target from Asha to Lodi, that's what I would do. If we were so sure that it was going to be Asha, I'd go back to Cameron and say, let's do Lodi now, just in case anything happens. I know that, you know, we all trust each other and no one's saying anything, but I would move my target just because that seemed too close of a call. But if they had stayed, yes, I think Asha would have gone home. Which would be interesting considering that what Simon was able to accomplish in this beauty in the Beast of Lides was get off of Lodi's name when he's approached by Jackson, Ryan, he says, oh, Lodi's running everything. He's like, actually, that's a bit of a misconception.

41:34You know, Asha is the one that's actually the head honcho, we should go for her. Which was, I think slick on his part. I don't think anyone necessarily knows. It's interesting. I would say on paper, nobody necessarily knows how close he is with Lodi, Paul and Harry have said that apparently they were kind of thickest thieves from the very beginning. But I think that he did do a good move there and keeping her safe. I think the issue is, as you mentioned, if people are pushing it back at him being like, okay, no, it has to be Lodi. She's the mover and shaker. Now he's in, and even worse pickle than he was in this episode. Yeah. A friend to all is a friend to none. Exactly. You've got to figure that out quick. Can I, can I talk about something that's been annoying me this season? Always. Why do they keep trying to not go for the head of the snake? Go for the head of the snake. Stop trying to weaken people. Weakening people gives them an opportunity to do something against you. Just go for the snake. That's, it's baffling to me that everyone's going for these second number twos.

42:38These may be not in charge. From our perspective, Lodi is the one in charge. They're going for us to weaken her in, that's my opinion. Stop trying to cut off the body of the snake. Just go for the head. It's so frustrating to me to see it because that just gives that person more opportunity to make a move against you. Yeah. It's a really interesting concept that we've obviously seen a number of times and not just with the returning players. You can even say with the Eliza Jackson stuff, now obviously Lindell had some other reasons to vote out Eliza, but there has been this odd mentality of, okay, so-and-so is associated with this person. We've got to get rid of so-and-so. And there's been these dichotomy of reasons, right? From the keely and faith perspective, it was, we want to bring Mark closer to us. From the Harry and Paula perspective, it was, we want to weaken him. Maybe there's this aspect of, okay, if this person has an idol, they're not going to play it on their number two. They would probably play it for themselves because they know they're the target.

43:40But at the same time, I feel like people are taking such big swings this season. It's like diffusing a bomb. Yes, I understand the need to cut the right wire at the right time, especially in such a long game as this. But you showed in the Harry vote, like you can overwhelm with the numbers and the things falling in the right direction, something that can be mounted that, as you mentioned, if this trend continues, it'll get to a point where it'll be all heads at the end of it. Yes, exactly. And then heads will roll. Do you know the worst way to get someone to come closer to you is to vote out their best friend? Why on earth would you vote out their best friend and then expect them to come back and be like, yeah, I love you. Thank you. It's like they're going to get mad. They're going to get angry. They're going to want revenge. Just vote out the head of the snake. It's weird to me that this keeps happening, this mentality keeps happening because, as you said, with Harry, they so clearly can do it. So clearly can make a big swing.

44:41Not so sure why they think that keeping all of the big people in. That makes you a bigger person. That makes you a bigger target. If you keep going for these bodies, soon you're the big one. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I wonder if it is a little bit of that shield concept of just thinking about the post merge where it's like longevity. I want to surround myself by as many threats as possible so that I am not the big person. I will rob my shields of other opportunities to find swords in a manner of speaking. Like, I want you to be my shield. Nobody else's shield. It's in a very tricky line to walk because these shields are not inanimate objects. They have their own motives and especially if it is too weak in returning players. I have to imagine, to a certain extent, they know exactly why this is going on. And they may not be, again, Mark is keen at the moment to go along with Keely and Faith, but he has the long game in mind. And I think as much as their trust is denigrating at him, I would not be surprised if it was vice-versa as well.

45:45Yes. Someone like Brooke, someone like Mark, they know how to get people on their side. I think taking out their number two is going to do absolutely nothing for them. You know why? They've got a number three. They've got a number four. They've got a number five. Get those together. Now you're out. It seems like one step forward, two steps back to take out someone's number two, in my opinion. Jackson Hewitt has a great tax prep deal, $149 or less. Missing out is like ignoring the check engine light in your car. You regret it. Seriously, the price is only $149 or less, no matter how complicated. So don't wait. Like when you go to password expires today alert or you're shopping online and there's only one item left, it's like your taxes are in the cart, just complete the purchase. Hurry, this deal for $149 or less is like your phone at one percent, it's about to power down. Limited time offer for new clients on federal returns, participating locations only, terms of Jackson Hewitt.com slash $149. Well, let's get into what's going on on new bounty because again, not a lot of all the action that they were doing, all the intrigue was done in the first two episodes.

46:47This one was a little bit yada yada, tez was on the bottom, perhaps self-inflicted, perhaps not easy, open and shut vote, but I have to get your opinions on the head office here because it has garnered a lot of opinions over the past couple of episodes. What do you think about them as this majority dysfunctional trio running this tribe? Yes. May I say I think that head office on the other side of the Ruby Soho Alliance is such a good name for an Alliance. I love it. I think it could be one of the best names in Australian survivor history. There are so many puns you can do, you can do your fight, you're hired, I'm bringing you in as a temp, like you're bad at your job, you're getting a raise, there's so many things that you can say in like an office dynamic and I really love that name. I will say that Mark chose Faith and Killie because he said they have survivor in their blood.

47:48They're smart players. I've got good heads on their shoulders. If Mark had thought one step further, he would know that they would come for them because they're so good. That seems almost counter-intuitive, he chose them because they're smart, but they're smart enough to know to get him out at some point. I think it's interesting that he's kind of recreating the Vs as he speaks to and it is interesting that the ghosts of Samoa are speaking to him because his first vote of swap did not go his way exactly the same as last time. I think that Faith and Killie do have a stronger relationship than either of them have with Mark. They're both using him as a shield in my opinion. I am intrigued to see how the three can move forward, especially with Mark acting as a jealous boyfriend. That's really, I don't know if I kind of agree with that. They're saying he's allowed to have relationships when not allowed to have other relationships. You are. Don't. You are allowed to have other relationships, but it doesn't look like Faith and Killie are

48:50trying with Mark and Lindel at the time or Tez or Caleb. Mark's putting in work. He put in the work with those other people. They do with Sally. Sally's number. Mark had everyone else and that wasn't because of luck. That came from trying and it's not like Mark said, you're not allowed to work with anybody else. They're working with Sally. He doesn't like Sally, but he's not, you know, actually drummed up the numbers really to go for Sally. He has voted for her. It just seems like a dysfunctional relationship. It seems like such a weird trio where they really are disagreeing on everything and I think we can slowly see it coming to a head. I mean, it legitimately does feel like a relationship. I was low-key getting like Sam and Mark from Blood vs. Water Vives, which looks even worse in hindsight, given what happened after that season, where it's like they wouldn't like hash it out, but it was clear they would come to these conversations with like mutual respect for one another, but vehemently disagreeing about this target, which again, you can speak

49:55to. I'd love to ask your advice on this because you had a fantastic alliance that was full of a lot of very strong personalities with a lot of strong opinions. How do you handle that give and take as to which battle to fight to go to bat for certain people? That is a great question and although I can't answer it, I don't know if I trust my answer because it didn't really work out for me. But I do think that it's a, in my opinion, you choose one person that you are never going to vote for. Faith and Killie, you're choosing Sally, no, you can't go for Sally. But let's go for other people until it gets down to the wire. I, no alliance will ever agree. It should be a tip for tat. It should be a back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. But if you are starting to grow resentment against the fact that they, you don't agree, it might be time to find a new alliance. And that seems to be Mark's not holding resentment. I mean, maybe his acting as a jealous boyfriend, but it seems like Faith and Killie are holding resentment. And as soon as resentment comes into an alliance, that's when it becomes really dangerous

50:58because you can do brash moves that maybe aren't working out in your kind of best favour. I don't ever think any alliance will ever agree on who to get out. I really, really don't, but there are communication methods that you can use to move forward. And it seems like the Faith, Killie charts, Mark, Faith charts, Killie, Mark charts, those three different groups. They need to actually chat as a three. Yeah. Why are they not chatting as a three? Head office isn't, we're not seeing the three of them talk it out. We're seeing the duos talk it out and miscommunications coming through. Yeah, not to mention the fact that as Tez expresses, it seems like it's not entirely a state secret. I think that's certainly Mark and Faith were perceived as more of the duo from Old Baron, but New Baron, it very much seems like a three person group that is in charge. I mean, it's interesting in that Tez at least described the environment as very stifling. He compared it to Soviet Russia in terms of just how much they wanted to like tamp down

51:59on certain types of conversations. And I am just continually bum puzzled by some of the ways that like Faith and Killie are interacting with other people. I mean, listen, for TV's sake, I love it. They are blunt as all get out. They are incredibly open. They're saying extreme things like I'll vote you out and wear your clothes. If you don't vote your way, I'm going to light you on fire. Yes. Certainly has drawn a lot of iron, not fire, though. I would say from the fan base, some feel like the comments are going a bit too far. I know there's been a lot of discourse about how they felt about the treatment of Tez in particular. What has been your take about how the two of them in particular evaporated this season? Well, I'm all for a girl gang. We know this. I do think the language is a bit harsh and to speak to Tez a bit, you know, dictator-like. I just think that that's not the best way to get people on your side. Keely is saying to Johnson to Richard, we need you.

52:59I need you. And that is the best way to approach Alliance, not threatening them with fire. I do think that the edit is also maybe not in their favour, in the sense, that when they said, you know, Operation Weasel, we haven't seen Tez be a Weasel. No. We've seen him maybe not be graded survivor. We've seen him maybe not have all the friends, but he's not running around the jungle, you know, being cheeky or manipulative or, I mean, up and to that point, I mean, now there's an opportunity. They can edit anything to look like anything. There was an opportunity for them to make Tez look like a Weasel and they didn't. And I think that's because faith in Keely's perception of everybody else is maybe a little bit warped and a little bit, they think they're at the top and they are. But the problem with being at the top is that all the people on the bottom can connect

54:00and I don't know if they've figured that out. I do think that it's a bit harsh and I haven't been out there and having harsh things said to me and me saying harsh things. I will always opt on the side of caution, but I don't think the edit is doing them a favour in the sense that they don't look nice. Like they don't look sweet and they don't look like they're easy to work with. Yeah, I would agree with that. I would even say to a certain extent that I feel like head office is being presented as the villains of the season. Now that's that word's always tough to throw around. It's about even an Australian survivor, but I do think that just the way that the three of them are presented together, the way they're presented to each other, right? Like, I feel like if you include a clip of Mark being compared to a jealous boyfriend that might not stay at a great chance for his winning odds, I feel like they relatively like to paint their winners in a good light, you know, a light that feels satisfying. And look, we still have more than half the season to go assuming maybe there'll be those sort of moments of redemption for lack of a better term, but it does feel like at this

55:03moment they are being set up for a downfall. Now the question will be, will it be from an external source or internally? Because I do think from the whispering and stuff that was being done in this episode, like I could see a world where if to the next three episodes or so, they just proceed to cold down, you know, the intended targets, get rid of Richard, get rid of Asha, get rid of Lottie, Cameron, we could possibly see this super majority of head office plus beauty in the beast form. It's like everyone is like kind of keen to work with each other there, but this could be a matter of just absolute self sabotage on head office as part. I just think the whispering about we need to get Mark out eventually, we need to get Mark out eventually, enough to talk to Sally about it, enough for Sally to talk to Don about it. It's out there now. They have to do something. One of the three in head office have to do something now, whether it's Mark going for the girls or the girls going for Mark, because they've said it so much that if you don't have the balls to back that up, then, you know, kind of that's on you, I do think it's

56:06been interesting, the sprinkling of the faith-bend relationship, there's been a slight kind of, like we heard, faith's really close to Ben, that's where the jealous ex boyfriend came from, and he's on the other side, so I'm very intrigued to see if that ever plays out. If Mark maybe wants to kind of do something before she reunites, I don't know, but it seems really kind of odd that that's the relationship that they're showing faith has and he's on the other side. I want to, before we get to the cheesy, get your thoughts about our most recent boot here in it has, and yeah, he may not be the weasel, but I think he was personified as more of a deer in headlights, especially in this episode, and maybe actually in the more apt animal comparison is like a fish flopping out of water, because it was just sort of like the gasping breath, where he says, all right, I'm on the bottom, but that's how I operate. I'm going to try something, and he even expresses it at a confessional like this is not working

57:07the way I thought, you know, he tells this lie about how he was just confused at travel council when he was actually defying Mark, and then he has to sort of double down on the lie, which makes people even matter at him, which pushes him even more odd in the bottom. I think there's been a lot that's been said about Tez as well, especially since we've seen his gameplay come to the forefront in his position in these past few episodes, parting thoughts on Tez. I just feel awful for him to be honest, because he looks like a scared Chihuahua. That's how I see a shaking kind of scared Chihuahua, where he's like, oh my god, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I don't know what to do. He clearly has the right kind of ideas, but a little bit slow, he goes to Richard Lindell, good idea, follow through, he suggests faith, good idea, follow through, don't tell faith you just threw out a name, don't do that, that's for after, don't do that, he clearly has the pieces of the puzzle, but the picture is not working out for him, and he can't quite figure out why, I just, I feel awful for him if I'm being

58:09totally honest, because it is as a fan, it is really intense being out there, it's really scary, you go, I know the optimum move, I know what the end result should be, but how to get there, I don't know, and I totally identify with that feeling, I just feel kind of, he just looks like so scared, he just looks like a shaking Chihuahua, and I just want to hold him tight and be like, you've got the right ideas, going to Richard, going to Lindell, suggesting faith, he's clearly close-ish with Mark enough for them to want to take him out, he blowing up, you know, Richard said what would George do, blow it up, you're right, if you think you're going home, blow it up, but stand up at tribal council, say let me do the fire, he clearly is just doing these half measures that poor thing, just didn't work out for him, I just feel awful for him. Half-vectors is a good way to put it, and you ask about what are sort of the connectors to lead you to those strategic points, and the connectors are the relationships, the connectors are these social

59:10bonds, it's okay, because I feel good about this person and they feel good with me, we can move into the next phase of the plan, and I think that was ultimately the fatal flaw of Tez's game, was due to either, you know, things done on his behalf, or things being done to him, he just didn't have anybody, you know, he may have been in good with a few people, some of which he got into in my interview with him, but nobody was really willing to go to bat for him, and so at the point where he was, you know, hitting the baseball diamond, there was no one on his team, and he was doomed to strike out. So listen, it's always tough to see, you know, a superfan, especially head out of the game, for what it's worth, he had a really positive mindset about the experience, it does turn out that like basically everything up until swap was hunky-dory for him, he was having a great time, so luckily the misery we only experienced with Tez was segmented to the swap, but still a rough way to go out, and I think definitely one of the most like

1:00:11flagrant examples of, unfortunately, a very flawed game being impacted across multiple episodes in Survivor. Yeah, absolutely poor thing, he had all of the tools just the wrong belt, you know what I mean, he knew, he knew it, I could see that he knew it, but he just didn't have their relationships and the social capital to get anything done. All right, well let's reach into our toolbox and pull out our trusty wrench here in the form of the Chizee, take it away, Jacob Cigarwainstein, and MC Kala. All right, Laura, partially out of the sake of etiquette and partially because I still have no idea what I'm doing with my points, I'm gonna let you go first. I have no idea, oh my gosh, I have no idea, I gotta tell you why we're here as well quickly, when Miles and I were out there, we were like this week, I think I'm getting the Chizee points, and most importantly, I don't

1:01:11know, we were like, well, that was some Chizee points, after we did the PD move, I was like you're gonna get Chizee points Miles, and like we would talk about it all the time. I have no idea, I have no idea because it's such an odd, I think everyone had some really great moments and some people had some really weak moments, it's 321, isn't it? It is. It's 321. Okay, I'm gonna start with, I'm gonna start with two. Okay, let's start with the middle of the sandwich and eat our way out. I'm just gonna do it because this is what I think in the middle, I'm actually gonna give it to Richard. Okay. I'm gonna give it to Richard because he's clearly doing something right, the fact that he was able to be in on the Don move, he was on the bottom seemingly on his tribe, but now everyone's angry that Nino Marx wearing his hat and his jacket, even if it's facetiously, he can get Simon's backing, he got the immunity necklace, I do think

1:02:20he's doing something clearly right, his name's not in the ring, even after two OG Baron people are going home, his name's not next, probably not the one after that too, that's not what it sounds like, so I do think he's doing something right to be swapped into such an awful minority, like that is a tough, tough, tough spot and Lindor who, looking at her, you would assume, should be great at making relationships, I think that Richard's doing a pretty good job. Okay. Okay, oh god. Um, one, let's go one, I'm gonna give it to Killy. Oh, Killy, okay, I love this, going on a little off board here, yeah. Yeah, sorry, I'm this is this way, my baby. I love this. I am gonna give it to Killy, I do think she's sitting in a really good spot in head office. Faith and Marx seem to be the ones that are budding heads, she's the one that could move everyone onto Don when Tez said, you know, in Mark Killy, can I speak to you for a second just before you kind of begging them, which just made me feel my heart just broke. Killy is the one

1:03:22that he spoke to her name's not really being come up as pulling the strings, I'm liking the silent assassin. I don't know if she is a silent assassin, I think everyone knows that she's the leader, but it seems like they like her more than they like Faith. So that's a good thing for her, because you've got Faith to throw out, you've got Mark as the next shield. She seems to be the linchpin between the wise women, like Sally and Faith, Sally and Faith, we see Sally and Killy speak. So I think that Killy is doing a good job. Three, if he can keep it up, I have to give it to Simon. If he can do it, if he can do this double agent thing, I think he can pull it off. He's been able to do a brilliant social game up until this point, being with the leader of Lodi and Asha. Now there's a new power slowly coming up as jumped at the exact right time, perfect time. I don't think that his chat with Jackson was necessary, but although it does spook Lodi, not enough for her to be seriously angry at him, it spooks her, and she's wary of him,

1:04:27but you're wary of everyone in survivor. If she came back and she was like, that's it, it's Simon, then maybe not, but I think he's walking a tight, tight, tight line, and I hope he can pull it off. Okay, this is great because we are going to have such a mixed bag because as you mentioned, like this was either like a very flawed group from a strategic perspective or a very like invisible group from a strategic perspective. So I don't feel great about this, but I will pursue nonetheless here through the fire and the flames. I will give one point to Mark just because I feel like the Tezboot was the brainchild of Faith and Mark. I feel like it was the right decision. I think that Tez, like they sort of had solid that relationship or he had solid that relationship with them, that they were sort of dumb, that they were able to get basically everybody on board. And so Mark, I think is able, even though we do have Faith and Healey talking about the fact that they want to take him out, he is able to, you know, sort of navigate his own tight rope, but seemingly

1:05:29being in good with basically everybody plus he was making, I think, the most shatter with the other tribe as well, which I did appreciate. It does feel like, again, he's trying to make things work with Simon. He's trying to make things work with Jackson. He's trying to make things work with Brooke, which I think is very astute on his point. The only reason why he's this low is because people are starting in clock, but he's doing it again. There were a lot this episode. He didn't need to do a lot. I will give Simon two points. And I was really going between two and one because, again, there was so much that just felt like such an unnecessarily sloppy thing. But again, given the other options and also given the fact that it seems like a either a wash to a net positive that, you know, he was able to maintain this position. Like one of the reasons why I think he didn't throw it is he did not want to go to tribal council. He has a lot to be forced. He wants to live in this box essentially where essentially he's with everybody and he doesn't need to prove

1:06:34loyalty by writing somebody's name down. He's able to maintain this status quo that is great for him. I do fear the fact that Lottie is not very keen on him. Cameron also seems to be a little fed up with him. But hopefully, again, that that all washes away at his group. It'll be a matter of when not if he has to prove his loyalty, but at least once a day kicks that can down the road and was able to make that gesture to Richard. Yeah. I am going to give three points to Jackson. Interesting. I he seemed to be the one shown to us as the architect behind beauty in the beast. Yeah. Okay. Showing to be like, okay, I don't like my spot. I don't want a coast. I want to do I want to be the one to lead the coaster. So he was the one who seemingly sat down with Simon said, let's get something going. He went to laws. He told Simon he went to Brook and said, okay, we're in it with Ben. Again, he didn't do anything when it came to the vote this episode, but I do feel like he was necessary in getting everything set up. And perhaps most importantly, Lottie is

1:07:36clocking what Simon is doing. She's seemingly not clocking anything Jackson is doing. That's true with their fist bump. Which I think which I think is is a really good aside. So it's all speculative because again, nothing actually happened. But I think he had the most like unblemished strategic maneuvers this episode. Yes. I do have a little bone to pick with hypocrisy though. Okay. He's angry at Caleb for just a while. Really Harry. Jackson, did you not vote out dirty Harry? Is that not your plan? It's one of those things where it's like we could do it because he was our friend. You just know him. Was he your friend? Did you not gloriously throw him under the bus? Did you not in one of the most magnificent tribal councils I've ever seen? Publicly click through him under the bus. I don't know why he would be so but hurt that Caleb is dressing and talking like dirty Harry. It's clearly a joke. It's clearly a funny thing. You don't know what Caleb's personality is like. I just thought that was a bit odd. And I'm in

1:08:39treat to see Caleb and Jackson's relationship because Jackson's clearly very emotionally affected by Caleb pretending to be Harry. All he did was have like a little truth big. I do think he's playing extremely well and he's been able to gather numbers multiple times. He's clearly got a good head on his shoulders throwing Harry under the bus starting this alliance. You're right. But I am intrigued if he is going to get a bit blinded by his moral superiority. Yeah. I mean, we even saw it with the Paula vote, right? And one of the reasons why he was steered towards her is because he was told, Oh, no, it was actually Paula who voted to lies out, which is interesting because yeah, he has this very, you know, like heady strategic perspective in this episode. So it's like, well, I'm afraid of what Laudie is going to do. We vote on Ashad. He's like, I don't care. She's going to be on the bottom anyway. But then as you mentioned, he does have this sort of a thing in his crawl about dressing up like Harry above Caleb, essentially being the survivor grave robber. Maybe it's also like Caleb not leaving the great first impression with his try. I could say that this guy waltzes in like the Tasmanian devil that he is. Blathers about like, we got to get rid

1:09:44of returning players, everybody. Come on, everyone follow me. And they're like, dude, we've got our own plan. Don't you worry about that. I think maybe this is a reflection of like Caleb not making the best vibes with people who haven't yet to meet him. I do agree with that. But I also think it was kind of mentioned in one of the last few episodes. I was very curious as to Caleb's brazen opinion. I was like, where is this coming from? He says, I was immune. I knew I was immune. I couldn't be voted for. That's why I did it. And I do like that. He's making the most of his opportunities. I thought it was hilarious. He's letting everyone know where he sits. And I don't think he can have claim at all to the Harry move. But in his mind, I think that that's where he was slowly going with it is trying to claim it back. I do think Caleb's sitting in a really interesting spot. And I'm intrigued to see this relationship of these, these two boys because they clearly are looking at the game from two very different perspectives. Well, listen, much like Caleb,

1:10:45you came out here and made an incredibly entertaining podcast. Thank you so much for coming on and doing this. It was such a delight to not only get the chat with you, I've always ever since the beginning before the season. I've loved you as an idea of a survivor player to a survivor player to now get to talk with you today. Thank you for offering your opinions. Obviously, a lot of really interesting choices made on essentially all sides of the camera in this episode. It was not an easy job. Do you probably the hardest cheesy we've done so far, but you have stepped up and you have delivered Laura. So thank you so much. Any other things you want to say about the season before we bid a do? I'm really loving this season. I am the first to have a negative opinion, but I am really enjoying watching everyone play. I think that everyone is doing their absolute best going full throttle in the words of tears. And I'm so excited to see what's happened. I'm going to have a next because I have no idea. Absolutely not. Well, if you want to check out what you are doing next out there on social media, how can people keep up with what you're doing?

1:11:48Yeah, on Instagram, I'm just Laura Daris posting lots of tarot stuff, lots of kind of witchy information. So it's a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying ramping that up. Yes. And of course, you can check out all the other great stuff we have going on here. I've hyped it up a number of times. Spilled a few secrets, but there's plenty more to be contained in my ex interviews, which will be coming up shortly after this, where I talked with Lindel, where I talked with Tez. And of course, I talked with a Don Roberts last Rogers himself, which is also a very fun chat. So three big characters, three big chats, you will not want to miss it as well. As when all of our coverage starts all over again, next week, we know global survivor.com. Thank you all as always so much for taking this out. Laura, thank you so much for your sterling insights into this really wild episode of this really wild season. So far, we'll be back soon talking about episode 10 of Australian Survivor Redemption. Until then, everybody, take care. Bye bye.