RHAP: We Know Survivor - Andy Rueda Talks Survivor South Pacific Encore Episode

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Andy Rueda Talks Survivor South Pacific Encore Episode Today, Brandon Donlon is joined by Survivor 47’s Andy Rueda and his girlfriend Shannon Anderson for an engaging encore episode recap! This week, the crew dives into the intensity and unpredictable gameplay that defines this landmark season, focusing on classic Survivor powerhouses like Coach and Ozzy, the role of hidden alliances, and the impact of tribal identity. Get ready to revisit Redemption Island showdowns, fresh strategic takes, and fan-favorite character arcs. The conversation kicks off with Andy and Shannon sharing how Survivor brought them together, then pivots to a full breakdown of the South Pacific endgame. They highlight Ozzy’s dominant challenge streak and the tension around his Redemption Island quest, comparing his near-win to recent Survivor heartbreaks. Coach’s evolving strategy and his reputation for “honor and integrity” lead to questions about growth and whether the newest season’s cast will reward old-school or new-school gameplay. Sophie’s path to victory gets dissected  was she truly underrated, or did her game just bypass traditional edit narratives? The panel also digs into how religion, social strategy, and jury bitterness shaped the South Pacific finale, offering fresh context for the moves and mindsets we might see play out in Survivor 50. – Ozzy’s epic Redemption Island run and its impact on jury sentiment – Coach’s strategic arc and the limits of playing “honorably” – The challenge of winning with a subtle, under-edited game like Sophie’s – Powerful and awkward reunion moments, including Russell Hantz calling out Brandon on stage – The unique role of alliances built around shared values—and whether that works in Survivor 50 Is it better to stick with tried-and-true alliances or adapt to shifting island dynamics? Who stands poised for the kind of comeback Ozzy almost pulled off? Tune in as Brandon, Andy, and Shannon debate the best paths to the million. Chapters: 0:00 Intros 6:53 Ozzy’s Redemption Island Journey Highlighted 13:04 Coach’s Game and Future Hopes 19:04 Spiritual Strategy Changes the Game 25:49 Reunion Show Audience Surprises 33:37 Joey King’s Unexpected Audience Appearance 38:49 Sophie’s Edit and Winning Moment 41:10 Closing With Relationship Reflections Never miss a minute of RHAP’s extensive Survivor coverage! LISTEN: Subscribe to the Survivor podcast feed WATCH:  Watch and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube SUPPORT:  Become a RHAP Patron for bonus content, access to Facebook and Discord groups plus more great perks!

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Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. What is going on, everybody? I'm Brandon Donnellin, and you are right to correctly assume that this is different than the other ones that we've done the past three days. My whole experience can be summed up on survivors. Like, oh, this is a little bit different than I thought it would be. But we'll go with them. We've got seven more of these encore episode recaps left. And we're just going to see what happens.

The hosts are going to change. The guests are going to change. We're going to have fun. It's Rob as a podcast. You never know what you're going to get. Expect the unexpected. I think that's our thing. I think we patent that. We have two great guests that I'm so excited to bring to you. There's somebody that you know and love joined by somebody that they know and that they love.

So without further ado, Survivor 47's Andy Rueita and his girlfriend, Shannon Anderson. Guys, how are you? How's it going? We are so happy to be here. We are not in charge of programming at RHAP whatsoever. Yeah. But we are happy to jump in. I know you guys were expecting. to members of the Upolu tribe. But you got us. We're here. We're here. But I don't want to sell Chan Short anyway. This is my beloved girlfriend, but not for nothing, but also very, very close friends with

Brandon Donlin. Yes. We wouldn't be here in this space without Brandon. We should reintroduce the lore. I've said it a couple of times. I want to hear from your perspective, Brandon. I was going to tee it up, but I'll listen, I'll take it. So intro question.

How did these two lovely people meet? They've been dating for almost now three years. At the Survivor 44 finale, I'm two weeks out of Survivor 45. My whole cast is there. We're hanging in the background. Dan and I go there with my whole group of friends that I arrived there with. I meet Andy that night. Andy was almost on Survivor 45.

So we get the chatting. I'm talking to these two people on different sides of the bar. And I said, hey, why don't you guys, when do you guys just talk to each other? You know, both I knew from Andy from my brief chat that we had that he was from Boston or lived in Boston at the time. not from Boston. You were living in Boston.

I said of my friend Shannon's from Boston. They talked. And three years later, sometimes your best career survivor move happens when you're on U.S. soil, when you're at Berry Park in Brooklyn, New York. Yeah. And just to say,

I know Ball. Me and Brandon became friends because of Survivor. She knows Ball. So I'm not here for more reason. Talk about your origin story with Survivor. How did you get to be in a place where we're chatting online about Survivor?

Yeah, so I love Survivor as a kid. We watched as a family. Like Boston Rob proposing to Ambers of my earliest memories as a kid in watching TV. We fell off for a bit to watch American Idol, your second favorite show. And then randomly, I don't know why. Like, I can't remember why,

but I like rallied my family to watch Survivor again. during Survivor Philippines. So this era of Survivor means a lot to me because I, in the time that we watched Survivor Philippines to Survivor Caramowen, I binge watched all 24 seasons before Philippines. So it was a lot. I was obsessed, like completely obsessed.

Had a Tumblr, you know. A Malcolm Tumblr. Was all in an RHAPE since like 2013. or whatever. And then in the pandemic, we met, so almost six years ago, through a little game called sequester. We'll beep. Nobody has to hear the big thing.

And we were sort of thrown into a friend group of people that were similar ages that also love Survivor and now we're here. Yes. And now we're here. But even before that, December 18th, 2011, on a Wednesday, I'm sure, I think it was Sunday night at the time. The Survivor South Pacific finale airs on CBS. I want to ask both of you, what did you want to happen when you were watching the finale in the real time?

So, you weren't even there. You were behind. I binged it because that was one of that I skipped. But I was a huge Aussie fan. So I was definitely rooting for Ozzy. He was my favorite player. I mean, well, Malcolm was always my favorite. player but when I rewatched all the seasons Ozzy's my favorite player I like something with men

with long hair man buns um that's me I'm I'm Ozzy I'm Malcolm I'm in the same vein as we all know as we all manifested this right here sure so I really wanted Ozzy to win and the finale is is very sad to be Ozzy and to be an Ozzie fan um but yeah yeah well I was a Cochran guy I'm a Cochran guy I want to get into that but I mean he was long gone by the finale but he was definitely my person on South Pacific I did enjoy the finale when I first watched it whether or not I was rooting for Ozzie I just was really enraptured by South Pacific as a season and I don't know if it's like highly ranked by very many people but I it's one of the most like engrossing and satisfying seasons.

Now is a huge part of that. And because it's a really good combination of all these different themes going on with South Pacific in really, really fascinating ways culminating in in code for losing at final travel council. As far as Sophie, she definitely has, as far as winter edits go, it's, it's really down there in terms of visibility. And it's just fascinating to see her winning path because on paper she has a great resume she is the dragon slayer beats Ozzie but it's she's kind of the proto Erica where I feel like the edit goes out of its way to not highlight her pretty much at any stage and she gets a little bit

of a bump in the finale but um but even like barely a bump too I mean barely a little bit yeah it's so funny because leading into this like I'm watching all of these episodes through the lens of like why are they picking this as one of the 10 encore episodes and I initially thought we were building into this, oh, it's going to be the showdown, the coach in Ozzie, they're back again. But watching this episode, like, this is the Ozzy show.

I mean, this is maybe the best 120 minutes of how Ozzy performs on Survivor Net, his four times being there. And I'm so interested in that. I was thinking that, too, that, I mean, if this was Ozzie's last season, it's such a fantastic way to bring Ozzy back for 50

because that would have been just an amazing casting choice because we see this he's this close to winning doesn't get it done and then we never see him again until season 50 and so oh my God he's back

can he do it but no we already saw that yeah there was a whole game changer situation yeah it's interesting that they like he gets a bad rap for not being this like strategist he comes out and does the same thing each time. But again, in this two hours,

like you see a whole different side of Ozzie, where I don't think that, that, you know, his, that's deserved, that reputation. Yeah, I mean, it was peak Ozzy at the end of South Pacific. And I feel like, and they, he states this himself on the show, but it's true. Like, it's kind of Redemption Island is like perfectly built for a player like him to have an avenue to win.

And really, like, honestly, especially rewatching the finale, it is a credit to him. for him to lean into that and to know that. And I do think it's a form of strategy that he had to leverage Redemption Island in a way that was like super interesting and gave him a good shot of winning. And so, yeah, it really was, Ozzie at his peak, which is hard to say because he did so well in Cook Islands. Yeah. But yeah, he is, especially rewatching it now. He is kind of, he's hard to root against.

And I think it's interesting watching it back now because. Now, this is much different games. I don't want to make a one-to-one comparison, but I kind of saw the tenacity that Rachel showed, right, with Ozzy's, like, everyone wants him out, and he keeps winning immunity. And that put a new layer of respect on his South Pacific game for me. Again, not a perfect comparison, but it was, yeah,

it's a good episode for Ozzy, even though he doesn't bring it home. I mean, it's so crushing. You can just see the emotion on his face. He does cry. And I don't know if he cries in any other season. And he beats eight people in a row to get there. Like, how do you lose if you win not only the eight challenges on Redemption Island,

but then the final five immunity, he just couldn't pull it out. But it's such a testament to Sophie for being the one to beat him. Like that just wins her the game completely, I think. when she beats when she does that. I was so shocked revisiting it that even the tribal council, it was so, like the jury was mad at all, like it was so a slam dunk for Ozzie, where even the final five tribal council,

Jeff is saying like somebody's got to be, like Ozzie's going to win. Like Jeff doesn't normally like get behind the curtain or pick by the curtain and say like somebody has to, you know, stay here to beat him. I don't know if there's anybody in Survivor history that's been that close and then lose it. I don't, I mean, like, I guess it,

Desi, maybe. Like, I don't know, but I don't remember how obvious one that was going to win. As far as a slam dunk jury threat, this is really a kind of one of a kind situation. You should see the faces of the Savai jury members when they walk in at the final four. Yeah. And Sophie has a necklace and their smiles just dry.

They're so devastated. And they literally give him a standing ovation as he walks out. I think it was one of these interesting situations where it was so everyone knew it. It was super clear. Ozzie knew it. the jury didn't hide it and everyone in the game knew that he would win if he got to the end because it was such an undeniable sort of narrative that he had. I could like see Jeff cooking up in his brain as the final challenge is ending.

What if we have a fire for a fire making challenge to save him? Yeah, I was so surprised that there is this at the final four, coach and Ozzie are deciding whether to two to tie it so that Albert and Sophie were going to be in the fire making challenge. I didn't remember that detail at all, which is so funny that was something they, they were conscious about. Well, it was super fascinating. And that just brings in coaches game. South Pacific game is... He was just saying it. He wasn't saying shit, but it was fascinating. It really, really was. Just to have this, like, like coach on his three-season arc coming in to South Pacific in many ways plays by far his

best strategic game and has so much going on. And people talk about this a lot, but of course, like many people think, look at South Pacific is the season that coach lost and like, why coach loss and how. And just the, it's almost, it's fascinating how like, naked his denial is in terms of like what his game is and what he's able to admit about his game. It doesn't just start at the final tribal council. It goes into every conversation he has with Ozzy and then with Albert. and Sophie, and I feel like from conversation to conversation,

like I think he puts his whole heart in it and kind of believes what he's saying in the moment. And yeah, just it's, in its own way, it is peak coach, like not in the sense of like the monastic approach from token jeans. Like that's probably his best episode. But it kind of, now I don't know if I felt this way, but after rewatching it, I'm actually really pumped for Coach 4.0. Like this really set the stage.

Maybe CBS was cooking. I don't know. That's what I was saying earlier. Like, this is the last time we've seen coach. It's been 14 years. So, like, has he actually watched this and realize, like, where he went wrong? Like, he did have strategy there. He just, like, wouldn't admit that he was actually playing the game and actually, like,

he doesn't have a bone in his body that wanted to backstep people. He just did it. And then apologize. But people don't like that. So will he bring a. new energy. It's interesting that he now has the opportunity to play with. Like this whole season, he's preaching the honor and integrity.

And he gets to the final trauma council where in some of the jury members, some of the sub-a-e people are like, don't bring it up. Like, we don't want to hear you mention honor or integrity. But now he's going into a season where like a lot of the people that are going to be there. Like that's their whole thing also. So I wonder if you almost, he does all the work to learn how to not be attached to that, but then he's going to be around all these people who are attached to that to begin.

it's so interesting to think about the lessons he did or did not learn from this from his South Pacific game going into 50 my guess is it's really going to be i don't think he'll probably learn the right lessons he probably probably probably really excited to see people who kind of represent the old era and honor integrity and then a lot of these new era players kind of represent that as well i think from his perspective this cast aligns with how he can potentially win a season like Yeah, it is a good cast for him. So if he is going to pull it out. I would love to me now. And Ozzy, too, I feel the same about Ozzie, where I think that he's had now a break. I don't remember anything. And I'd love to hear from you guys.

Do you remember anything particular about his game changers run? Like, I know when he was out, I think he did a lot of what people kind of write off as Ozzie's thing, where he's like, go to the challenges and then he goes early merge. But, like, we don't, I don't think we ever got to see this Aussie play that time. Yeah, I don't really remember. It reminds me of Joe Anglum's, like, Edge of Extinction run, where there was just kind of, it seemed like a lack of adaption.

Yes. He didn't get a major edit in game changes, right? But I think he was just kind of pro-challenge and wanted to beast it out at the merge. But he lost the merge immunity challenge, right? And then people just took it. I believe so. And they kicked him right away. Because he won nine challenges in a row

in this season. And he can do it again. I mean, he's like, he's spry. I want to ask you, like going through the 50 process, did you give any thought to ever having like played with coach or Ozzy? Like, did you have the simulation of what you would do if you encountered those people? I'm going to be so real.

I don't think I got to a stage where I was able to wrap my head around that in a practical sense. Because it's just so absurd. And like the thought of it still was absurd in my head. Yeah. I think the only thought I have is that as a player, I think it benefits you to kind of strip away your preconceived notions about someone, especially from the show and the layer of the edit.

If I were to go into 50, I think I would just, like, I know all the data of like their resumes and stuff, but I would have just kind of thrown it all away and just kind of started from scratch with people. Because I would have hoped that they would do the same for me, right? so um but that's probably easier said than done but um i don't know working with coach or Aussie that's just they were kind of later additions to the rumor mill i don't know how much you want to get into that but yeah i mean what i would love to talk about is just you know speaking of you know all this talk about christians you know um there's a christian on 50 different kind

of christian um but there is a christian that will be there with that um so much religious talk in this episode in a way that i didn't remember at all it's very unique it just feels like when I look back at Survivor seasons, like South Pacific is just so random to me because it's coach leading a Christian cult alliance and then Ozzie just camping by himself beasting all these challenges. It's like two completely separate stories going on

that do not align whatsoever. I look at it in a slightly different way because I think it, oddly, it is one of my favorite parts of the season and what makes it super memorable, the whole, the Christian storyline, because like, I'm almost surprised it doesn't surface more. And maybe it does, but the edit decided to highlight it this season, just in the sense that it really, really took on a life of its own,

which highlights the, social experiment side of Survivor, which you don't get every season. And it was just kind of the right or wrong mix of people for it to become such a dictator of the Apollo tribe, which ended up steamrolling to the end game. I think that, and as someone like, I don't, maybe I would not be predisposed to like a storyline like that, but I think what's really cool about it is, again, the social experiment side of it, but also within the decisions that Survivor makes with a the context of the edit and the finale is a really good example of this. I think it does a really

good job showing all different perspectives when it comes to how someone might feel about religion being a huge part of the strategy. I think narratively, it's, I mean, it's called out at the final travel council as like people are like, you know, calling out the fact that it's being weaponized. and at the end of the day like coach loses and Albert loses and Sophie I think to me regardless of how much to emphasize it like to me she stands out as like

the person in the Apollu tribe who infiltrated like leaning into the fact that this is what's going on and she just kind of took advantage of it even though I mean I don't know Sophie's life but I don't like I get the sense maybe she's you know the least religious of them and so if For her to, like, to infiltrate that and to be the one to win, I think, is a really satisfying payoff to that storyline.

It feels like, in a way that is different than, I think, a lot of the seasons, the two tribes feel like, like, two, like, warring families almost. And I think that's because they both lose the same amount in the prejury where they're, like, neck and neck the entire time. I think they actually, like, flip back and forth, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I think it's one of the only seasons where that is the case. But I do think that Sophie kind of is the one that kind of aligns more with their values. Whereas even in the final tribal council questions, you know, I think it's Jim who asks Albert. He's like, don't lead with a compliment. Like just like answer this bluntly and honestly, like as we all communicate with each other.

And then the edit goes, boy, do you hear that? Yeah, you really, I don't remember this being as tough of the final tribal council performance. but Albert had a tough time. And I don't think that's him. I think that his play style works in a lot of seasons. I think this was just not the communication style, the other tribe wanted from him at that moment. Right.

And I mean, it feeds into, I think the Savaii dominating the jury presents like a really unique dynamic where, I mean, they were just like bloodthirsty hoping that Ozzie would win. And so there, it's kind of like, and this happens sometimes. It happened a lot in the old school,

but it's kind of like a equilaterally bitter jury. Or they're like equally bitter to everybody, which makes it a dynamic final tribal council. Yeah. But just I think that Upolu just left such a bitter taste in all of their mouths that like they were just not inclined to kind of give respect to Albert's game, whether or not like, maybe it would have been on the fence with like a different jury. You know, Mike Bloom said in his interviews talking with with coach, or coach says that he had believed for a long time that Ozzy turned the whole jury against him on the night of

of, you know, day 38 when Ozzy gets back there. Ozzy is the reason that coach doesn't end up winning, which I don't know after seeing this, how much I believe that was the case. But maybe, I mean, maybe it is. I wasn't there, but I'm curious of what you both think about. I mean, he was only there for one night, but he spent every day with those people at Redemption Island.

So they had to have been comparing stories about what was going on on camp, with coach with the alliance and whatnot and he was probably telling them what everyone else had said so they just caught up to all of coaches lies and yeah that's a good point and i think it compares interestingly to boss and rob the season before right like i don't think that the so the jury was like a lot of zapaterra people right um i think they were kind of in a similar mindset maybe like they didn't want to give credit to boss and rob. But it broke the other way just because they couldn't help but respect his domination.

And I think just like if maybe if Ozzy wasn't as big of a factor, it could have broke that way. Even though they were kind of sickened by just three, the three of Polus getting to the end. Maybe they would have seen the game enough. You know, like Jim Rice, he's like a big like gamer, you know. They could, they might have been able to see it through that. lens, if not for Ozzy. So maybe there's merit to that. But at the same time, I think that the finale does an amazing job encapsulating why

coach's loss falls on him, especially with the, not just the answers he gives it, final travel counsel, but like how he truly navigated the end game from a jury management standpoint and what he was able to, what he was willing to own, what he wasn't willing to own. And I think it's interesting, it's really presented that Cochran is his champion on the jury, much like David Murphy was like Foss and Robbs. It didn't work out as well for coach. Maybe because the jury hated Cochran at the time. That's so true.

But talk about Cochran. I love seeing Cochran pop up. I love seeing Cochran. He had, he was a scene seal or even the finale to me, even though he wasn't like the main part of it. But it's really interesting watching this finale and just like kind of revisiting Cochran. again I was really really reading for him when I first saw it

but like caramone hasn't hadn't happened yet right so so when we get to the reunion which we told you not to watch we're going to get to that so you didn't know watch but Jeff really like four times he's like Cochran like you are polarizing some people love you but a ton of people hate you how do you at the reunion he says that yeah yeah oh that's so fine it's not the Jeff and Cochran dynamic that we've come to everyone on the internet hates you

Yeah, it was weird. It was weird. But it's an interesting point of time, like the small period of time post-South Pacific pre his win in Karen Moen. And how people felt about it. Again, I think it stems from like his big flip, obviously, at the merge. But even though he like was long gone, like he was definitely highlighted at certain points in the finale. It's so interesting that he didn't vote for Sophie, even though Sophie was. the one being like, I was the brains behind this operation, these two goons. She freaking calls coach a little girl, which is by far my favorite moment of the finale.

That was great. And Hawking votes for coach, even though he doesn't own his strategy whatsoever. So I found that to be fascinating. Yeah. Is he the only coach vote? I forget who else votes for coach? No, he is three. He stills.

That surprised me. was it Edna and someone else? Oh, it is Edna? I didn't go back and look. But it was confident. We haven't even talked about Rick, who is a guy who I think is one of, I mean, I don't know the confessional counts offhand, but I think he makes it the furthest with getting the least amount of screen time.

He's in maybe the top 10, I would imagine. Because even in this segment, before we go to tribal council and eventually vote out, Rick, Rick gets one confessional. It's like, I might be going home tonight. And that's it. Rick does have one of my other favorite moments of the episode when he tells coach to sit down. When he gets voted out, yeah.

It's so, I wrote in my notes. Like the way that when you were in high school, your teacher would have like an advisor in the room and like what, you know, observing. Like if you're the teacher, you never try something new. You know what I mean? Like you kind of stick to what you know it will work. But it's like how, I can't think offhand. But like, I don't know how many times in Survivor history,

somebody has been denied to get up, especially in front of the jury, who you have to then, like it's just such a, like a move to then have to explain to them, like, oh, this is why this person didn't get up. It's just, it's so funny to try that. Like, when you have, like, you know,

eight pairs of eyes on you, they're about to give you a million dollars. Well, Rick, he's infamous for being, you know how, like, there are a lot of players who are Jeff's kind of teacher's pets and very, like, his favorites. Cochran being one of them, obviously. Rick is infamously, like,

the complete opposite, where for years after, or Jeff would talk crap about Rick. Is this real? I don't remember this at all. You know, like, we have to, I forget the exact context, but he's basically like, like, here's why some people don't get edited because they give complete BS answers, like absolutely nothing answers.

Like that Rick, that cowboy guy from South Pacific, I would throw him softballs and Rick would just be like, I'm good, Jeff. So. Now, Rick was the winner of the Sears contest to get on Survivors. Like you submitted your audition video on the CIS. Sears website. I didn't know that. Yeah. We never get you again. You believe that. Sears, spoiler alert, no more of them. They're all gone. Sears is done. I think he took down Sears with

them. Do you think that's what these, like, maybe I'm not super caught up. When people find these idols around the States, what do they get? It's a sweepstead to go to the finale. You scan a QR code to be entered in a sweepstakes to then be pulled. They're not going to be the cast of Survivor 51. I like that idea so much more. I love the Willy Wonkaification of Survivor casting where you have to find the thing and then you get to go.

I think you get... I think you maybe get some duds in that cast, but I think you get a lot of really fun. I think that's cool. I would be all for it, honestly. They're sick of the super... Oh, no, it is all for super fans. It's like an endurance challenge.

It's really having to go get it. Yeah, yeah. My friend waited in line for five hours. It's an endurance challenge in its own. it is in the cold yeah in the cold great job survivor marketing

like that was a home run yeah really really cool really a good thing I hope they do like the hunger games drawing of who gets to go to the finale I hope they do the names live

if you're watching anybody who works for survival production it's yours it'll be like the second chance you're going I'd love to hear what you prepared I was told earlier in the day

do not watch the reunion show because we have a game. So I would love to hear about the game. Oh, you want to get into this now. Let's get into the game. We were watching the reunion show, and we were just having the best time. Well, because, well, it was a great reunion show.

It was a very above average, because there was a lot going on. If you remember, there was the whole Russell Hance of it, of it all. Do you remember that? Do you remember what that was all about? He says to Brandon, like, we're all really mad at you. He's not like, he's very, like, we're really disappointed in everything that you did.

That was essential. especially Brandon's audition tape to be on Karamoha. Speaking of which, a lot of these South Pacific contestants were slated to like return. So Sophie came back. Coach, of course, has come back. Ozzy the same. Brandon, Cochran, Dawn. And Dawn. And then when it comes to Cambodia, Jim Rice and Michaela were on the ballet. Yeah. And Michaela. I want to say, I voted for Jim Rice. She liked Jim. So did I. I love Jim

I was a Cochard fan. How could I like Jim Rice? I put Jim Rice in there. Michaela Wengel famously, one of the only people from Survivor that I walked by in life, like not at a survivor or sanctioned event. Just at the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlantic City.

How did that go? I didn't engage. Wow, that's Michaela. That's so fun. But I do remember the, you know, Brandon, and this has been said to death, but like Brandon's 19 years old, has this experience very manipulated by the,

and that's the game. That's what you sign up for. gives away the immunity, underreported story. You know, we all remember the one, you know, we all see the one clip. But then goes to the reunion, and I forgot that happened until you just bring it up. But then Russell's like, hey, by the way,

we're all incredibly disappointed with what you did. It's like, it's a hard, it's a hard way to go off. It was a whole Russell spiel. He was definitely like making a meal at the moment. He's like, you know, there's Russell the uncle, and there's Russell the survivor player. Who do you want to hear? from? What does Jeff say?

I want to hear from Russell the survivor player. Russell's like, you tarnish the hands name. Yeah, and Brandon's near tears on stage. Yeah, it's a rough. The whole crowd erupts for him. I would like, I was going to get a moment on 50. It's tough. We get in that audience, we can do it to somebody. What's that? It doesn't look like. Okay, but yes, it was a great, it was a great reunion. reunion and mostly because there were a lot of familiar faces in the audience.

We were excited DiCaprio meming the entire time. We were doing a lot of this. Really? Oh, that's so fun. We want to quiz you. All right. Well, we'll start with this one. This is kind of a... Who is in the audience?

This is really fun. All right. Round one, who are the two Cook Islands cast members in the audience? Presumably to support us. I guess to support us. To support Ozzy, okay, you're Ozzie's friends. Is it, like my instinct is, is,

Ewell and Parvety, but that feels like a layout. That feels too easy. I want it, like, for some reason, I'm being called to Nate Gonzalez. I'm not looking over at you because I don't want to spoil myself. Let me lock in. I don't think it's Yule.

I think Yule at this point is doing other things. I think Parvety and Nate is my final answer. Good guess. You're O for two. You should have trusted your gut It was Ewell And it was Jonathan Benner Legends both

Yes Yule's had such an illustrious career after that I didn't get time to I don't know Sunday night On a work night They were sitting at all three rows behind Yeah So right

It was a cool cameo It was great That tells you everything Wait Wait actually underrated Jonathan Penner moment Jeff makes a joke After the hand segment

And Jeff is like Oh I know the next season. It's going to be Russell on one tribe and Brandon on the other tribe and the crowd kind of laughs and then Jonathan Petter's in the back going. No. No, no. That's the guy that I love. That's the television person that I want.

All right. Round two. This is going to be very inside baseball. Okay. Brandon Donlin. Which one of the producers was right behind Russell Hance? Is it Clark? Is my finalized? Clark, you nailed it.

Clark. You snipe that. That's a guy who I know where he is. If you know, maybe you know the Clark lore. I can't give his biography right now at the top of my head. Clark is somebody on the beach. He does the confessionals, somebody that I really, really enjoyed being around. And he's still with the show.

He's been with the show for apps. He was great. When I think of producer, I think of Clark. I had some good times with him. In the middle of Survivor 47, he got into a surfing accident. And he knocked his head. and he had to leave early, which is unfortunate. And so...

Interesting. But I think he's back at it. He's back at it. And did he try to intervene with... What was his reaction to Russell doing what he was doing? He just had kind of wide eyes, but he was kind of enjoying the moment. It was, yeah. It was good.

He looks like... Oh, interesting. Now I have to watch it. Yeah, yeah. All right, we got two more for you. All right, this is... I'm ready. Okay, what child actor is in the audio?

audience. The current working actor. Prominently. Prominently. I think I know the answer to this. I think is this the Joey King year? Is this where Joey King is in the audience? Dang, ding, ding.

It's Joey King. And what's amazing about this is she was 100% hired for pay to be a paid actor. A kid in the audience. What do you mean? She's not there with her family. She's just a row. She's not just sitting there, right? She gets a whole segment.

Jeff goes up to her. And she gets to ask a question about how amazing Ozzy is. And she, like, delivers the line perfectly. Yeah. And so in hindsight, now that she's famous, it's clear that she was a paid actor. Like, this is a paid gig. Yeah.

She's not a parent in sight. No. There's also two kids sitting behind her that are decked out and buffs that don't get asked the question. She's not wearing anything. But the way, the fact that we do know this is she's sitting next to someone. This is our final question.

Yes, this is the final question. This is the game. She's sitting next to someone. So my thought process here is that we'll give you a hand. Please. No, go ahead. What's your thought process? I think that Adam Scott is also at a lot of these finale.

I think I don't know if he was at this one. I think Tyler Perry also is seen in the reunion at maybe one or two of them. Is it either of those men? No, it's not a selection. So she's sitting next to you, and you have to guess who it is, a survivor, wag or have. So for those I don't know, a wife and girlfriend or husband and boyfriend, she is sitting next to someone in the community. Is it Amber? I have like a vague memory of it being Amber. It is not Amber.

Are you ready for your last hint? Please. This is not just a survivor, wag, or hab. This is a Survivor 45 Wagger hat. What? Is Amanda Proops? Oh, that's so funny. Shout out of Amanda Prope.

That is so funny. Yes. And shout out to all the wags out there. Yes. You're one of them. That is so funny. Is Amanda and her dad, Jeff's brother,

sitting back to Joey King. So that Alba confirms that Joey King was hired to do this. I need to ask Amanda Probst knows the answer She probably doesn't remember Yeah That is so funny I know I have to immediately You know spoiler alert

Austin will be joining us on one of these episodes In the next couple days I'll bring it up that Awesome So how did you do You had a score 01 You got one point He got two points

He got Joey King He got Joe The Clark and Joey King that's all I've ever needed. We didn't talk about the most iconic moment of that. What was it? It's when Sophie drops her pieces and she says, Albert, pick up my damn pieces.

Amazing. Yeah, I don't know if that gives me spoiled at all. Like, I don't think that's, I think that's so funny. Like, that just, to me, that is so, like, played for laughs that it was so weird to me that Ozzie was taking it so serious. Spoiled is a weird word for her.

Brad is a weird word. I don't think that comes across in the edit. but I think that's partially because like she just doesn't get much character content. Yeah. And I think Sophie who's like so, I mean, go back to all of her Rhab podcast, she's like super amazing three-dimensional person like, but got so much character, right? But I think that at that stage of her life, when she got on, I don't know if they knew what to do with her in terms of an edit, especially as a winner.

It's easy to forget. She was 21 years old at this time. So she is very young. And Brandon Hans is too. It does act like a 21 cold. Yeah. Especially,

she had a tough moment at the final five tribal council as well. But all that to say, I'm just so glad that we got to see Sophie back again because for me, this episode was pretty much all about Sophie and Ozzie.

So. And coach. Well, yes, and coach. But not Rick. But I'm going to be a... Not really right. before coaching.

You know. Yeah. You know what I'm saying. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She wins in an interesting spot in Survivor history where you have like Natalie White who wins before her who doesn't get much of an edit either.

And you have your parvety who gets like a completely different kind of edit than they would have ever given Sophie. And they are, I think still it's a work in progress of how to edit this personality type where if you're not like over the top funny and you're not over the top one thing that they do have a harder time. And it's, I mean, you, Andy said, the Erica conundrum. It's a similar thing to that where it's like, we're not sure exactly like what to do with this person. It's also really similar to Erica in the fact where it, it falls upon essentially the super fans to sit through the edit and pull the pieces of their games together to recognize how good those games actually were. So that's true of Erica, right? Also true of Sophie. Like, I think her playbook was amazing, especially for the

meta of Survivor at that time. to jump in with the majority alliance who I think she had to put in some real social effort to like mesh with those people that she was with but she made the best with of it she found a like a strategic partner with Albert who she could like talk strategy with they were in position to make the decision throughout the post merge of whether or not they were going to like let the Savaii in or not they decided not to because they called their shot that coach was beatable at the final travel council um and she won all those challenges along the way the way, including like the most important one to keep Ozzy from winning.

So the edit obviously doesn't celebrate her win as much as it should. I also think it's an underreported story that she is the only woman there in the final six. It's her and five men. So in terms of like survivor edit wise, that's really hard. It's a hard spot to get any content for sure. That would never happen today. Especially with a lot of those guys. Yeah, I mean, you're getting both coach and Ozzy who are dominating the airtime.

You just got rid of Cochran, who's also dominating the airtime. Yeah, it's a very interesting. And I do think that they learned a lot in between her first and second time where it does seem like we got a little bit more of Sophie the person in Winners of War, almost which of like, you know, if 50 was happening and they were casting winners from 3.41, I would have loved to have seen her back out there. I want to close. We have a couple. So it's like, you know, a couple that I matched up, mind you. I think we should end with like a wholesome. Let's just hear your favorite thing about each other.

And we'll start with Andy. Andy, go for it. In the spirit of Valentine's Day coming up. Valentine's Day is coming up. What are we going to do on? We don't have plans yet. Now we're going to Broadway. What do you see?

We are. Who's paying for that? I'll pay for it. We haven't picked the production yet. We haven't picked the show time yet. We're going to the theater. We're going to go to the theater. Okay. I've said this on podcast a lot.

I just have so many favorite things about Shannon, who's been the best thing never happened to me. And she's so, and I said this on pod friends this week, but so much of what I have now in my life is tied into not just Survivor, but like the fact that Survivor was a conduit for to bring us together is just, is just mind-blowing before I even went out to play myself. she's the most supportive person in the entire world

we're so compatible like it's it's really it's really mind blind Brandon you were cooking when you introduced us it just I couldn't think of a better match her being so supportive

throughout this entire all this whole roller coaster that we've been on since we've met has just been super incredible and she's just she's she's amazing and we kind of skipped over like her freaking legacy she's such an amazing gamer and strategist i know that you've been in a lergies and orgies with her right sure she's a killer sure she oh wait this is a fun fact you ready for this fun fact please she was she did an

allergy once this before oh yeah she was aligned with another other than survivor 50 contestant Rizzo. Yeah. In an LRG. I did do an LRG with Rizzo. What's the whole... Back in the day. What was the whole scenario?

So if you're in the tri-state area and you want to find an allergy to do, I highly recommend competitive events posted by my dear friend Johnny Stockton. You can find them on Instagram. But so I ended up in the same game as Rizzo, and we did play together. We were on the swap tribe together, and he voted. with me to thank you Rizzo but I was blindsided by two idols to get me out. My Rizzo? No, he voted with me but.

Oh, sure, sure. There's two people on the outs and they played two idols to get me up. So that is the lore. And we love Rizzo. We see him all the time. So. Yes, we do. But my favorite thing about Andy is he's just my best friend and he's so just caring of me.

loving and takes care of me in ways that I never thought anyone could. And it's just the light of my life makes me smile all day every day. I don't know what I would do without him. He's just so, so sweet, so supportive. Just the best. Wow, sweet. If anybody from the episode of Survivor that we just watched was going to preside over your wedding, who would you want that to be?

You can have any of the 18 because you did watch the reunion. So if you want Papa Bear, he's on the table. Papa Bear would be great. He was a scene stealer in the reunion because you know how like the votes are cast and then that the pre-jury comes out? Papa Bear was like, he was jumping up and down. He was like the life of the party. He really made us remember him for sure. Yeah.

Would it be Papa Bear? We got Shemhar. She'd spit some nice poetry. She would. She would be a heck of an officiant for sure. Yeah, in terms of who you want to do a video. But Stacey, she has a way with words, as we know. It's another guy.

I do think that's the right answer. I think Stacey. If I could recommend anybody, I would recommend Stacey. She's coming with something good. This has been such an amazing time. I'm so glad that you got to listen to this listener. We've got so many more of these coming up. I hope you stay tuned to listen for the other, I guess what?

Now six encore episode recaps. But I will throw it again back to Shannon and Andy. You guys have anything to plug? Anything you want people to be able to check out? This is so much fun. Thank you so much, Brandon, for having us. We had a good time. It was so great to hang out with you.

We had a good time. I hope you did too. The fact that we're following literal Survivor 50 contestants and Rob is a decision we'll all have to live with for the rest of our lives. So much we had a really good evening. I know you guys weren't expecting that, but we had a blast. I had so much fun. And I think that the listeners did also, like how often you get to hear of

like such an organic love story from the thing that we all love. I mean, that's very, very special. And you'll hear from all of the people here throughout season 50 on Rob was a podcast. Rob just released a book. Go pre-order his book. The Tribe and I have spoken. That's important. But until then, we'll see you next time. Thank you, everybody for joining us. Have a great rest of your night. Bye.