The posts weren't different depths in the original version of the challenge and I remember thinking they should have done that. Glad to know I wasn't the only one!

What was the point of not having the idol just be in the tree? I think they expected it to be more difficult to sneak off and get the idol, but all that did was take away an additional minute of show.

I cannot believe CGI Wiglesworth is getting "she's got good relationships with everybody" from the editors. a) we haven't seen them! b) in the few times she's been allowed to speak, she does a terrible job of humoring Probst and generally seems a little bit sour, so it's not even easy to believe given the scraps of info we have to go on. She's going to get Elysed and it's so stupid because all it really does is send Joe a huge signal that he needs to continue winning immunities.

Shadow @ 18/11/2015 19:51

im so sick of hearing this alliances arent what they are in past seasons bullshit. it hasnt been like that at all

The thing is, even if everyone has a deal with everyone else, some of them are more meaningful than others, and they can be sussed out. On the other end of the spectrum, if nobody has any deals, there are still certain affinities people have for each other, and again, it can be sussed out. The hierarchy will come into play eventually, and you have to prepare for that eventuality. Pretending otherwise is bullshit.

Patrick @ 19/11/2015 6:35

It's a shame Kelly didn't give the producers anything worthwhile to develop a story for her. Last night's episode was still pretty good, but it would have been a lot better if they showed her as a serious social threat to the viewers.

They needed to ask her the right questions. If they saw she was going to be targeted because she was a social threat, then they should have asked her what she's doing to get along with people. She says something like "I'm working hard at camp and sharing my food", then splice that with a clip about how she's excited to make the merge so it comes out something like "I'm excited to make the merge and/I'm working hard at camp and sharing my food/so/people/want to keep/me/around", and paste that into the merge episode. Boom! Not doing at least that much is just shitting in your hat as an editor.

Speaking of which, I think they've been focusing on individual stories so much that they kinda forgot to tell us something important that would have explained why they decided to make a move at F11 instead of later. Let's take a look at the three voting blocs that ultimately made a difference last night:

Coven - Abi, Ciera, Kelley
Jeremy and co. - Jeremy, Spencer, Stephen
The other five - Joe, Keith, Kimmi, Tasha, Wigles

The first and second added together equal six. Six is greater than five but only if they make a move at final 11. If "voting blocs" is a buzzword, then have Stephen - who is good at this kind of thing - explain that it's not just that Joe has Wiglesworth, but that he has a potential voting bloc of 5, and tonight might be the last chance to break that up. Even if that's not 100% accurate, it's close enough, and it explains things coherently while still maintaining the "oh shit everything's changing the game is so chaotic and DIFFERENT" vibe.

Christian @ 19/11/2015 16:54

Curtis @ 19/11/2015 12:39 Ya the producers order them based on dramatic effect ofc. Must be awkward to sit there for awhile while the producers shuffle through and count votes What always bothers me is they way they seat people. They put alliances on opposite sides and often put swing votes or key voters in the very middle. I hate that. Sometimes they even do it with people who no one knew was considering flipping so I feel like it can give shit away So they come into tribal council and there's a seating plan? They don't just sit wherever?

There's always a seating plan. They walk into challenges in a certain order and then stand in that order (usually by height), same principle holds for TC - single file. Unimportant people are usually seated towards the edges - never be that guy.