I thought so as well. I went into every show after the merge thinking, "is this the week they get rid of Rob?" Yet every week he'd be safe, many weeks without even getting a vote against him.
Survivor
- Thread starter Clark
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I thought so as well. I went into every show after the merge thinking, "is this the week they get rid of Rob?" Yet every week he'd be safe, many weeks without even getting a vote against him.
The idol was a huge thing. During the show, we thought no one knew he at it. No one. I bet thousands of viewers forgot he had it - since the last time I recall the idol being discussed was when he tossed that last clue in the volcano.
It wasn't until the jury vote that we knew both girls knew he had it. They openly admitted that played a giant role in Rob staying at the final 5 vote. I assume they knew before that point which saved him from previous votes as well.
Someone in this thread mentioned Rob played Russell's game - just much better socially. It's so true that I believe it's an undeniable fact. Get a young female or two close to him. Make an ally with a strong guy. Find immunity idols and win challenges. Backstab when need be...proactively vote off threats.
The thing Rob did that Russell couldn't - is have people for the most part still like/respect him through the process.
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One instance that would support this idea is that apparantly, Rob having the hidden idol wasn't a secret yet they never showed him saying anything about it to anyone else.
It was funny - because going into one of the last few shows, my wife and I discussed - "does he still have the idol?" It had not been talked about for so long. I enjoyed how that was edited - as I have no doubt there were plenty of times it was discussed - just didn't make the cut. Deliberately - obviously.
Which, again - is why I'm very confident the other players were not nearly as naive as the show portrayed them to be. This show is edited meticulously for a specific reason.
To me, Rob and Kim Spradlin stand out. both were dominant. Also super impressed with Tommy last season. Never had to use an advantage or win anything. To me a superior social game is by far most impressive. Having to win comps to stay alive shows you have no control.
I love seeing some of the early seasons once in awhile. The game has changed so much. I kind of hope they bring back a few of the things that made this game so entertaining such as making them actually rough it a little more at camp and the eating challenges. I doubt they ever bring back the reward challenge with the car as the prize but that was always a fun twist to the game too. This is a season of all winners with double the prize $ so hope they are pushed to the limits to earn it. Also wouldn't it be funny if there were no hidden immunity idols this season? To watch them all searching for one when none exist would be pretty funny.
Probably my all time favorite winner is Tom Westman from season 10. He and Ben from season 35 I think were 2 of the best players to win. Cochran probably makes the top 5 too and so does Sandra as the only 2 time winner. Season 12 with Aras was a good one too.
Wish they would change locations again too since they have been exclusively in Fiji since season 33 but sounds like it is staying there for good: https://survivingtribal.com/2017/09/14/survivor-staying-fiji-forever-likely-due-fiji-rebates/ I get it from a production standpoint that is a huge savings and makes it easier to be in a familiar location you don't have to move from, but playing in different locations always added new twists I thought with a different environment they were living in. For instance season 11 in Guatemala where they lived in the Mayan ruins was a cool season. Was also a grueling day 1 trek to their camp too
