RHAP: We Know Survivor - Why ___ Lost: Survivor 47 Ep 5

Episode Date: October 21, 2024

Looking all the way back to the Why ___ Lost preview podcast, David Bloomberg and Jessica Lewis worried about ___ trying to be too much of a project manager in Survivor… and there she was. ___ doesn’t think her bossiness sent her home – is she right? Were other factors even more important than the way she treated Sam and others? David and Jessica take a look at both sides of the bickering and strategizing to sort it all out. Because at RHAP, we know Survivor, and we know Why ___ Lost.

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and you're feeling down David and Jessica will turn it around They'll break down the rules and they'll show you how You played yourself and got voted out This is why Blank lost This is why Blank lost Baby, this is why Blank Lost Welcome back to the Survivor Edition of Why Blank Lost. I'm David Bloomberg, and joining me, as always,

is the we for my me, Jessica Lewis. I'm the we for you, me. And you know what? You are the we for my me as well. So this is so lovely to have us here today. Just the two of us. What do you think of that? The first time I realized the first time this season that it's just us two. I know it's a little crazy, right? I know we, we never used to have guests and then we started having guests and then we had more guests and it's lots of fun. I know. We never used to have guests, and then we started having guests, and then we had more guests. And it's lots of fun. I know, because everyone wants to be on Why Blank Lost.

But this week was a much different week because someone's been busy. Yes. Yes, I've been a little bit busy. And, you know, I appreciate the Survivor players helping me out by making things a little easier for me this week in terms of pulling together notes, considering that we had my son's wedding going on in the middle of all this. Yes. So, and when I say they made it easier for me,

what I mean is that what I predicted last week was there has just been so much build-up regarding Sam and Sierra and Andy that it feels like it has to go somewhere. I've been worried that Sierra making more of an effort to stick with Rachel and Annika as a so-called fake alliance could end up leading to her making

her real alliance. But she and sam really do seem solid so i'm going to say they stick together and along with andy line side annika i love that you are reading your own self as a quote yes this is what david bloomberg said in case y'all missed it remember i knew you were going to go there. I was going to give you props too, but of course you're just like, look at me. I was right. Yes, you were right, David Bloomberg.

You were right. You did give me the shirt that I'm wearing. I know. You know, it says, for those of you on audio, it says, I may be wrong, but it's highly unlikely. And I should have just listened, but we all know Jessica is very bad at predictions. So, but at least my other choice was Andy, or at least my choice was Andy.

So who was the other option for the episode? But unfortunately, I, I have a theory and we'll discuss it as we move along as to what is happening with Survivor. Because I do think that there is something of a trend that we see occurring here okay but we'll get there yes yes in the meantime you know I want to say I appreciate seeing Annika's very real reaction oh my word yes you know it's it's great when players can take it all in fun as part of the game but we have to remember how socially involved this game can be and players are losing out on their chance for a million dollars after they were stabbed in the back by people they thought were their friends yes and i i do really enjoy those moments that

are so shocking i mean the look on her face was incredible. She clearly had no idea, which props to everyone who managed to pull off the blind side because it really, truly was a blind side. And I also am appreciating the fact that the people who are being voted out are calling out the people who are still there who have actually voted them out. I really am enjoying that. It's not all this like, oh, them out. I really am enjoying that. It's not all this like, oh, good job. You got me, guys. It's more like a who was that? Who wants to claim? Which I do love the little hand raise.

That was good. Yes, that was very good. Yeah, good stuff. Yeah, yeah. I seem to remember someone else getting emotional when they drew a rock. Well, and before they drew a rock for that matter, but you know, listen, and it was real. I mean, it was all real, you know, that's, that is 100% real emotion because guess what?

I just lost a million dollars because of a damn rock. Yes. I know. I chose to pick a rock. I picked the wrong rock anyway. Let's move on to Anika. Yes, because, you know, of course, no matter how a player reacts, we always follow the same path in this podcast, comparing Anika's game to my rules for winning that I originally wrote way back after season one and have been updating ever since, using all the non-spoiler information available to us from what we saw on TV, interviews, social media, and secret scenes.

The newest version of the rule can, of course, be found on our website by going to robhezwebsite.com slash yxlossfeed and clicking on the link bubble for the Survivor Rules. Now, before we address how Annika did in terms of those rules, we always have some other things to discuss from the episode. I want to focus on one in particular this time. And that would be Rome. My boy, Rome.

Yes. You know, he was obviously upset that he had been a target before Genevieve flipped it on Kishan last week. Now, first, Rome got back from tribal council, was very upset with Tini. And I just don't think that's terribly fair, given that Tini didn't even have a vote.

So looking at it from my perspective, there was no circumstance in which Tini should have stuck their neck out to tell rome that teeny's number one ally had turned on rome i mean you know when when again teeny didn't even have a vote and not to mention he did mention that to him though she reminded him that she didn't have a vote so she's like what what ability do i have to negotiate but but rome still was upset you know and saying things like well you could have told me anyway and yes that's why i think there's no way um you know and not to mention that as we discussed last week teeny kishan and genevieve had talked about going after rome before

so teeny thought everyone was on board. Yeah, but I think that this was a smart move for Tini because you have a player like Rome who is very emotional and is someone who kind of has knee-jerk reactions to things based upon those emotions. And so if she doesn't try to jump in and keep that contained, even if she shouldn't have, I think for her game, that was the smartest move to make with Rome to keep Rome on her good side. Yeah. I'm not saying,

you know, that teeny should have responded any differently to Rome than was done in this episode. I'm saying, you know, Rome was upset saying you should have come to me and told me about kishan's plan and no yeah that was under no circumstance should teeny have come to him ahead of time well and i and i can understand that as well but i also do think and i'm not not necessarily

defending rome because he is my winner pick but i will say that he was my rock winner pick right over here. That again, this is a game of survivor and we just commented how we appreciate the genuine reactions that people have when they get voted out. So I think that there is also a very genuine reaction to when you see your own name and you're like, Oh crap. Like this is real.

And it can be very frustrating. And depending on the circumstances, you might want to react one way. You might want to react another. And you have to kind of read the room. Now, is Rome reading the room? I don't know, because he seems to kind of read his own room all the time. So he's probably missing some things. But at the same time, I can understand him also having an emotional response to learning that he was kind of the other option or the

other plan. So I, I can understand him having that type of reaction to that. Yeah. Yeah. And then unfortunately, uh, you know, I think he went a little further by deciding in that state that he was in to spill every tribal secret to Saul. Oh, listen. You know, and then this caused Saul to be to completely reevaluate what he believed

he knew about the tribe. So he was in the dark. Rome shined a light on him. And, you know, I suppose from that standpoint, Saul was lucky. He found out when Rome told him, rather than finding out by getting blindsided at the tribal council. Sure. And, you know,

but Rome was not so lucky because Saul then immediately turned around and told Genevieve everything. So now she believes Rome turned on her and Rome's closest ally may have just become his enemy. Listen, this is another trend. Trend number two. I haven't even talked about the first one yet. So you're going out of order in your trials. I am going out of order because I have to.

What is happening with everybody telling everybody everything? This entire episode, this entire entire season i'm about to lose my mind like i i don't get it there are no secrets it's like oh there's a new person let me tell the new person everything and then they're like oh there's a new person over there let me tell that person everything and who cares who's sitting near me and who might actually hear me spilling beans about everyone on my tribe. What is happening? Yeah, and you know, I said I wanted to focus on this, but of course that applied to

Tiana being there, you know, Gabe being the only person from their tribe who wasn't there and Tiana just spills, just throws Gabe under the bus. Everything. It's like, I mean, she had to know someone was going to tell him. I'm just, I'm so stunned.

Like, that's, you know, the survivor telephone was mentioned by Annika, but it's not the survivor telephone necessarily. It's what do you expect is going to happen? You are literally throwing your own people under the bus to people that you've known now for five minutes because you got to eat a terrible looking hot dog with them. And then suddenly you're like, oh, let me tell you all the tea.

And they're doing it on every journey. It's the same thing, all the tea. And people are wondering why, like Annika talked about it in her exit interviews where she went on a journey and she was asked about Sam and Sierra. And she's like, maybe I shouldn't have said anything. You think? I mean, it's like, come on. Come on, do it. Do it your official way.

You think? Yeah. So I'm just, I'm shocked. I'm shocked that there is this idea that there will be no ramifications for this honesty that everybody feels like they need to have stop it knock it off it's survivor you're supposed to lie you're supposed to not tell people everything and that's okay like people don't expect you to come with all of the goods give them a little bit if you want but you don't have to give them everything going back to Saul telling everything to Genevieve I do wonder if it was because he was hearing it from Rome they obviously did not have a good relationship before and it was more like I'm just gonna bounce this off of Genevieve and see what her reaction is and I feel like the Saul conversation with Genevieve was different than like the journey conversations

or the, the hot dog reward conversations because Saul is, I think, checking in because Saul has been left out of so much and hasn't been involved in Rome has been a bit of a jerk to him on a lot of occasions. So now all of a sudden Rome wants to come to him and say, Hey, by the way, I'm going to fill you in on everything. I can understand him fact checking that because of the position that he's in. That makes more sense. But a lot of these other things just don't make any sense at all. Like Rome didn't have to go to Saul and tell Saul everything. And like the people at the rewards don't have to tell everybody everything. There is there is a choice that you need to make in regards to what information do you share? Because we've talked about this a lot too.

Like knowledge is power and survivor, right? The more that you know, that can allow you to negotiate. It can allow you to manipulate people. It can allow you to kind of feed little seeds of information and just kind of let things fester and see what happens. just kind of let things fester and see what happens, but to just be throwing up all over everybody with everything, you lose all ability to manage the information that you need to manage and to use it to your benefit because everybody knows it's all, it's all been aired. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, besides that was trend two.

So is trend one going to come in the rules or do you want to talk about it before the rules? I guess I could talk about it now, but. Am I going to get mad at you for jumping into the rules ahead of time? No, I see. Cause I'm not really sure where this necessarily falls and like, I have to be very, because now I'm like, Oh God, maybe it does fit somewhere. I'm, I'm struggling with where it would actually fit.

Okay. Because it goes back to the choices here between Andy and Annika. Probably Appendix A, then. Okay. All right. See? So I went there first. I'll wait.

I will wait. You kept your toe in the water. A shark came up and took a snap at you, and you were like, okay. He was named David Bloomberg. Yes, it's possible. So, yes, I will wait. I will wait for trend one then okay all right well uh there were of course other things going on and i even in the middle of wedding weekend i put some of them up on my youtube shorts at david bloomberg tv um and more will be coming uh but before we get to how anika did we want to how Anika did,

we want to mention that the rules we're about to discuss come in a shorter and much more colorful version. Yes, they do. In poster form, go to robhaswebsite.com slash yxlostfeed. Scroll down to the poster, click on it, order it. Our shipping department will rush it out to you. Yes, they will. You're ruining the illusion again.

Or you could keep scrolling or, and you can keep scrolling and get the poster on a t-shirt or, and the checklist on a t-shirt. Get them all. Get them all. Get the whole, collect the whole set. So again, that's robhaswebsite.com slash yxlostfeed for all your poster and t-shirt needs.

That's right. Well, going back all the way to our preview podcast, we worried about Annika project managering in Survivor. And there she was. Annika, however, told Dalton Ross that she didn't think her bossiness or taking on a leadership role is what sent her home. And that's not why Sam was gunning for her. She right. Were there other factors that were even more important than the way she treated Sam and

others? Let's dig into everything and sort it all out, because at RHAP, we know Survivor, and we know why Hanukkah lost. Right. The first and most important rule is, of course, the scheme and plot, and it definitely seemed like Hanukkah understood this. According to her interviews, in her mind, she had been in a core four alliance with Rachel, Sam, and Sierra since day one. Though she and Rachel, as a duo, also found themselves in the middle between Sam and Sierra

on one side and John and Andy on the other. Now, after Andy had his moment in and after that first immunity challenge, and then John was apparently being too sneaky for them. It pushed them towards the Sam and Sierra side as those two kept reassuring them. Then this continued as she talked about Sierra pushing the women's alliance as well. While Sam spoke openly about how annoying Andy was. All of this combined to make her feel so secure that she said in confessional after they got back from losing this immunity challenge,

that she wasn't worried that she lost her vote because, quote, I know where my alliances lie. And she was sure Andy was going. And that certainly extended into tribal council, where we saw, as we mentioned, her very real and raw reaction to being voted out, which was basically her entire world falling apart out from under her because everything she believed she knew turned out to be wrong. Yes. And this is you have to attribute all of that work to everyone else who was on the tribe.

And I don't want to give as much credit to Andy as Andy wanted to give himself. And this whole. Sorry, I agree. It's like this was Sierra and Sam really working their magic. Mostly, I think, Sierra, because she was the one who was really kind of bouncing between the two the most and having to make a decision. So as as much as Andy wanted to dance on her grave or whatever it was that he said he was going to do, dig her grave. Sorry, Andy. Yeah, that you were not the deciding factor here. I have to admit that entire segment still confuses me a bit.

Like what they were trying to show us, because from what we knew. I mean, unless it was the editors trying to say Andy's a mastermind, which Andy's a very smart guy. Don't get me wrong, but this was all set up without him. Yes. Did it did it make Rachel and Annika feel even more secure yes it did because they believed they had pulled a fast one on Andy right so maybe the whole scene was set up to make Annika's fall that much more dramatic and that's possible.

She thought she was pulling a fast one on Andy, but in fact, Andy and company were pulling a fast one on her. Yeah. But if it was meant to show that Andy was masterminding this whole thing, no, it didn't show that. Not at all.

No, it really didn't. And so I thought it was really quite amusing that it, because this decision really boiled down to so many pieces coming together. And it wasn't just one person that was necessarily making it all happen. The three of us. He wanted some credit. He was like, there's three votes.

Sam's like me. Thank you. Yeah. CR didn't say anything. No. like, me. Thank you. Yeah, Ciara didn't say anything. No. She just sat there. But anyway. Yeah, and I mean, really, most of this is a case of Annika

being out-strategized by Sam and Ciara. Yes. But part of it falls back to Annika herself. Because let's think about this. Players on other tribes were seeing how closely Sam and Sierra were working together from the outside in just a few minutes of interaction. Right. But she and Rachel didn't see it or believe it themselves.

It seemed like a situation where they were like too close to recognize what people on the outside saw. And the fact that she told them about what those other players were saying made Sam and Sierra realize they needed to do more to hide it within the tribe, causing Sierra to really appear to go all in with just the other two women. to really appear to go all in with just the other two women. Yeah, and I'm curious if this is also one of those situations where, and this is something that Annika spoke about in her exit press as well, that she and Rachel wanted to act like they were not as close as they were.

And then she said, watching the show back, she was like, my gosh, it was so apparent. And so it's almost like you don't want to acknowledge the behavior that someone else is doing, because then you would have to acknowledge your own behavior. And so I don't know, Sierra and Sam are fine, because they're not calling Rachel and I out. So we're just going to let it all be and everyone can do their thing. And I'm wondering if that's part of why that ended up happening because if you start saying well Sam and Sierra look at you two they might start saying well look you and Rachel and then you end up having a bit of a power struggle if you will but if nobody acknowledges it it's like no it's not there right and no one says anything yeah and that does take us to the second rule which says

not to scheme and plot too much and keep your scheming secret because we know that there were duos on this tribe you know there was sam and sierra who were told they were being too honest or too obvious and took actions to counter that idea and then there was of course annika and rachel who broke this rule because everybody definitely saw how tight they were and the the fact that Andy was going back and forth between the groups, I think really also shows how well obvious it was really, because he knew who he needed to talk to because he knew who was working with who. Right. Right. And yeah, I mean, like you mentioned, you know,

Annika told Mike Bloom that they tried not to make it so obvious, but she said, it's funny looking back now. Uh, you know, I, I think you mentioned we have the same hairdo and every single challenge, uh, we're doing puzzles together. And so now, you know, she's telling herself, what were you thinking? It's so obvious. Um, but out there they thought they were pulling it off. Yeah. And so, you know, again, I think it comes back to a matter of being out-strategized or outplayed.

Both duos knew what they needed to do. Both duos attempted to do it. One duo succeeded. Right. do it one duo succeeded right you know they were more convincing especially you know especially sierra when it comes to the other two women uh and you know but then annika and rachel were not convincing and you know one thing we heard sam worry about was voting out andy and being the lone guy in a tribe with three women. And even beyond that, it had to be clear to Sierra as well that even though she was a member of the Breadwinners Alliance, she was the third wheel in that alliance.

Yes, yes, very much. And I think for someone like Sierra to recognize that speaks to her strategizing and the gameplay that she has, because you don't want to be the third, you want to be the second. And if she's putting herself in a situation where she believes that she's going to be the third, whereas,

but I, I am curious though, because Sam and Andy, they seem to be very close to, so Sierra might be in a very tough spot. She had to pick, and I totally understand that. I do think that she's closer to Sam than she would have been to either Annika or Rachel.

So that will work to her benefit. But boy, Andy is, he is digging in and Sam is bringing him along. Yes. Yeah, I don't know that Sam is, I would say, close to Andy. I think he's keeping Andy close to him. Yeah, that's what I mean. He's like, oh, yes, Andy.

You definitely, because Andy's a benefit to him. And I don't think he's someone that Sam has to worry about. I really don't think that as long as he keeps Andy happy and content, then Andy will be a vote for him. Yes, I agree. All right. Well, the third rule tells players to be flexible. And we talked about how locked in Anika felt with the other two women plus Sam. So how do you feel she was in terms of this role? I think she it went back and forth a little bit because I do think that she was she tried with John in the very beginning and she wanted to try to have the ability to work with John. She realized very quickly that it was kind of three against one. And so she knew, OK, I can't do that.

So she was making determinations based upon what's going on in the space around her. But I also do think that some of the issues that she might've had was just the, I guess, the managerial component of it all where, you know, she wanted to try to be in charge, even though she had told herself, I shouldn't do that. And I think that that certainly could have affected her ability in the game because she wasn't willing to just kind of set that aside and let that be. And I don't need to be in charge and I don't need to tell people what to do and I don't need to feel like I have to run things. And so I feel like game wise, she was more willing to be flexible with who she was working with and try to make decisions based upon, well, this is where the numbers are. But then at the same time, there's the other component of it where you need to maybe switch some things up about yourself so that way you can maintain those relationships. And some of it got a little bit rocky, even though she says behind the scenes, it wasn't as bad as it appeared on the screen.

Yeah, I'll have some thoughts about that and a couple of rules here um but yeah as far as the you know the game side you know the strategic side like you said yeah i agree you know she had a plan she had a backup plan she had the core four she had the breadwinners then she had rachel as her number one so in a theoretical scenario where things went according to what she thought was going on, they would have voted out Andy. And then she would have been set no matter what happened after that. Right. The problem was that her actions in that regard were a bit too obvious to Sam. You know, like like I mentioned in the second rule, he didn't want to be the lone guy on the tribe and he knew where that was heading.

Sierra, in all likelihood, although we didn't hear her voice it, I think she's definitely smart enough that she felt the same way about being an add on to the Annika and Rachel duo. Mm hmm. Yes. Yeah. Mm hmm. Yes. Yeah. Also, part of this rule is that you need to have your thumb on the pulse of what is going on in the tribe. And clearly that was not the case for Annika here, but it is the case for Sam and Sierra. And so once again, we have this recurring theme. They helped later. Yes. Sorry, Annika. played her yes sorry annika um getting to the fourth rule it tells players not to let their emotions control them now i can't think of any problems that annika had here you know we we've

been talking about her being outplayed but i don't think it was because she did anything from an emotional point of view no No, I think she really did. She was very game oriented and she was very focused on the game. And so I think overall, she kept herself in check until we got to this lovely tribal council. But I totally understand that response. Yeah. All right. Well, then we can quickly skip along to the fifth rule here, which reminds players they need to pretend to be nice and play the social game.

We saw issues with Annika and Sam that you have already mentioned, you know, and it's clear from Annika's interviews that, again, like you mentioned, she viewed them in a very different light. Now, recall that back in our preview podcast, we worried about her, as I said in the intro portion, project managing. And there she was from the very beginning. She thought that experience would help, the experience being a project manager would help her in Survivor

because she's learned how to analyze different personality types and could tailor her communication styles to each one of them. I mean, our preview podcast here, I'm going to quote myself again. I said,

that sounds like something that may work on paper, but not in real life. We'll see. Well, we saw, and I have to say, my shirt says it all. My sign says it all.

I was right. You know, even she even told Mike Bloom in her postgame interview that she knew not to do it. Like you said, she just couldn't stop herself. Yeah. Quote, I told myself coming out here, I've seen so many survivor seasons in which the leader is never really looked as someone who goes far in the game. So I did want to make sure to pull it back a little bit. And I also actively tried. Every single time I had an idea out there, I was also physically doing it. You'll see me moving the bamboo piece. You'll see me tying the clothesline.

I want to be as active a participant or as active as a participant as I am someone who's proposing ideas. I think it's really hard at the end of the day when you're starving out there and when you want to sleep on a nice shelter and you want to feel as good as you can to sit back and say nothing. Now, I understand what she's trying to say in terms of, well, I wasn't, you know, it's not so bad because I wasn't just being bossy. I was getting in there and doing it, too. I was helping. No, that doesn't help a lot.

In reality, it just does not help a lot. Because she worked 20 hours a day that showed that she wasn't just, you know, being a terrible boss by insisting that other people do all this stuff. No, what it says is you need some work-life balance, you know, and, you know, it does not help with your bossiness. It does not help with your argumentativeness. It does not help with your bossiness. It does not help with your argumentativeness. Just to say I'm doing it, too. Well, especially when as you're doing it, you're saying things like cut the clothesline here, here. I'm holding it here. Cut it here. Cut it this way. Yeah. Even though she was right about how to cut it. But, you know, and, you know, so she also said, I think, honestly, I personally would have been disappointed in myself if I just sat back in the moment. I didn't feel that I was being bossy or too controlling. I don't think any of my actions came off as too strong.

And I know, I know we got an edited version, but I'm sorry, Annika. I just think you're wrong. But I'm sorry, Annika, I just think you're wrong. Well, and I do think that, you know, this is something that we've talked about a lot as well, is that sometimes you have to keep parts of yourself in the box, right? You need to determine what parts of yourself are you going to bring into the game and what parts of yourself do you want to keep restrained a little bit. And she was clearly very aware of this part of her personality. But if you don't view it as necessarily being wrong or problematic because, well, I'm doing it too, then you're not fully realizing what's happening around you and how people are going to respond to it. I think one of the most honest conversations you have to have with yourself before going out to play survivor is you need to ask the people around you, what is something that

I do that frustrates you? What is something that I do that gets under your skin a little bit? This is why I can't play survivor. I'd never get out there. People would tell me. It would just go on and on. Listen, these were some very interesting conversations that I that I had with people. And I and I've mentioned it where someone I work with said, you need to keep Jessica in the box a little bit. And I and I heard that and said, OK, because I understand that I can be different depending on where I am. If I'm in court, I might be presenting myself in a particular way. If I'm around my colleagues and we're discussing something, it might be a little bit different. But you have to be able to read the room and shift what you're doing.

And I think Anika wanted to do that, but she thought that she was being helpful and that it was OK that she was giving directives because she was she was being involved it would be one thing if she was sitting back going you should do this and you should do that and then she wasn't doing anything but she thought no no i'm actively involved and it's okay and and i think that her tribe allowed her to do that even if they were frustrated with it because again it takes some of the shine off of them if someone else is the one that's i mean we saw it andy in the back just twirling his hair smiling you know yes like yeah i'm gonna blow on that fire a little bit i'm gonna try to make it bigger and people who play this game that's what they look for they look for those moments where someone is is getting too involved and

someone is getting frustrated with the behavior. And then those are the types of seeds you can plant because then you could be like, oh, did you see what Anika was doing? And you could just talk about it. So I think she definitely tried. And I don't think she was coming from like a place of wanting to be problematic. It was just who she was. But playing survivor, sometimes there are parts of you that you really just need to set problematic. It was just who she was. But playing survivor, sometimes there are parts of you

that you really just need to set aside. Yeah. And, you know, the other thing is, so Annika, so we heard that Annika, you know, felt that she was okay. But what Annika thinks isn't what matters. Yes. You know, and that's what it goes back to. Right.

It's what the other people on her tribe thought in this case, most specifically Sam. Because, you know, she even told Mike Bloom she checked with Rachel and Rachel agreed with her. Oh, you're not overdoing it now. Yeah. It wasn't clear to me if she checked in real time or after the game. I'm going to presume real time. I'm going to presume she's not talking about after the game here. Yeah. But it you know, the thing is, you're talking to your close ally and friend. Right. Yeah. It reminds me of a work colleague I had. She was a little dooloo and a little weird. had she was a little delulu and a little weird delusional yes uh she she was talking we were in this meeting and we were waiting for the boss to come in and the boss was very late so we were just

all chatting and she was talking to someone and was talking about uh her her new baby and it was just the cutest baby ever and um and this person and this person, you know, said, you know, kind of half jokingly, kind of not, well, you know, of course, you know, as the mother, you're not biased about that at all. And this woman responded, oh no, no, no. My mother says so too. As if a grandma is the most objective reader of how cute their grandchild is. The actual baby's grandmother, no less. Yes, yes, exactly. Very objective, very objective.

And so that's how I felt when she was saying, you know, well, Rachel says I'm doing fine. Right. It's not quite as blatant as the example I just gave, but it's. No, but it is a very fair point. You know, it's like the husbands that are always like, Oh no, your hair looks great, honey. Yeah. They just, they're saying it because they know they're like, I'm not, I'm in a good place right now with this person.

So everything is lovely and fine. Yeah. I mean, there, you know, there can be a difference of opinion, even, even from another person who's a close friend compared to the person who feels they're the target. You know, you can't ask someone on your side, Hey, do you think I'm being too harsh on that person over there? No, you got to find out from that person over there's perspective. Yeah. Yeah. And, and I will, I will say too, though, I mean, I do think that that Anika is someone who she seemed to get along with everyone very well. So it's this isn't a this isn't I don't want to sound like we're being really harsh on her with how she was interacting, because I do think that she was trying to develop relationships with everyone and that she really did try to get to know people. And she did say that she was the one who was trying to bring Andy,

you know, Andy, we've got you. You're okay. She was trying to be a positive reinforcement with Andy there. She was very interested in Sam and the components of his eating, which are very interesting to say the least when he doesn't, doesn't eat.

So I do think from a social standpoint, yes, she was trying to get to know people and she was trying to be involved and having discussions and forming some type of a bond with each person. But there's another part of it as well, that it's not just those social relationships, it's just how you are behaving at camp and during the challenges and just in general

throughout the game, that that's another part of this that you have to be mindful of, because regardless of what types of relationships you're developing, you can still be rubbing someone the wrong way for just something that you're doing. And I think that unfortunately, Anika is likely doing that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she thought her relationship with Sam was fine. You know, she said in her interview, she felt like a brother sister situation where they would bicker. But then in her words, level set with each other afterwards. Now, I have to admit, I don't think I've heard that term before. Level set. I don't know if you have, but it,

it must mean something like trying to calm things down between them a bit because, you know, she even said that was part of the discussion to acknowledge they were both angry and, and, you know, she wanted to bring it down.

However, it really seems to me that this was a one-sided situation where she thought things were fine and Sam wisely agreed just as she thought Sam was aligned with her and he wasn't, you know, she also thought Sam was perfectly happy with their relationship and any bickering was minor. Right. And he just, sure. Yeah. Great. Yes. Oh, oh i totally understand you were just upset and i was upset we're a-okay we're perfectly fine you can trust me right of course that's what he's gonna say because he's he's realizing what's happening so yes so right. It will be interesting because, you know, rule five is the one we've spent the longest time on. It may have had the least impact when we're all said and done, but.

Oh, I agree. But I think we still had to set all of that out there just to look at it. Of course, we can move on to the sixth rule rule which warns against being too much of a threat now annika said in her final words that she was upset that they played her before she could play them so it's clear she you know was going to play them i mean if the game is survivor you should be trying to play them uh and that makes her a threat to sam and sierra uh though that threat was theoretically a bit further down the line. Her intent was, of course, to vote out Andy now, then Sam next if they didn't merge and ended up at tribal council again. And then, of course, Sierra would have come after that because of Annika's tight connection to Rachel. But it was Sam who was really pushing to get rid of her.

And we'd heard him talk about how he felt having all three women stay was threatening to him. Now, in retrospect, Anika told Dalton Ross that, you know, the most, the more she got to know Sam, the more she appreciated his intelligence as someone she could work with. But the more he got to know Sam, the more she appreciated his intelligence as someone she could work with. But the more he got to know her, it seemed like he felt more threatened by her. And I think she's right about that last part. But I have to question her statement about appreciating him more as someone to work with.

with unless she's really claiming she was going to throw Sierra aside to keep Sam if they ended up back at tribal council again under her planned world. Yeah. I mean, I think this is an interesting position that she finds herself in as far as being a threat to a particular person. And that really is Sam. And we've discussed that your threat level can be based upon someone fearful that their game will be negatively affected if you stay in the game. And if we really look at where Sam's positioned himself, he has Sierra and he has Andy. And what does Annika want? Annika wants Andy voted out. Sam needs Andy because Andy is a vote for Sam. And then what's happening with Sierra?

Well, she's part of this breadwinners alliance with Annika and Rachel, and Sam's not involved in that alliance. So that's a threat to him. And also Sierra, who is his other third, you know, or is the third in his three, if you will. And so I think in Sam's world, this is all coming back to Annika. This is all coming back to Annika. And so she is definitely a threat to him because he doesn't want his three to be broken up in any way because he's not controlling Annika like he's controlling Andy. He's not necessarily controlling Sierra. I do feel like that's more of a duo and they're both kind of on even playing fields there. But he's got Andy. So Sam is really the most powerful of that three because Andy is his and

Sierra is with him. And so Anika is creeping in over here, wanting to get rid of Andy. Sam's not having it. Right. Right. Exactly. All right.

Well, the seventh rule covers idols and advantages and game mechanics. And, you know, she didn't have anything of her own um but she lost her vote she said in confessional that and i mentioned this earlier she felt her lost vote wasn't an issue because she was confident in her alliances she was half right her lost vote wasn't an issue but that's because the three who voted her out

would have done it anyway, whether she had a vote or not, you know, three, three is bigger than one, but you know what? Three is also bigger than two. It is. But I still hate that this whole lose your vote thing happened because it wasn't, uh, anyway, I won't, I won't kvetch about that again. Yeah. You know, so yeah you know so yeah again you know like i said she was half right well and i do think that it's interesting and we should probably spend just a little bit of time on this the fact that she didn't have a vote and i realized three is more than two regardless it is but the fact that when someone doesn't have a vote they are now becoming almost um feeling like they do not have an ability to negotiate or to be part of the discussions because they don't have a vote, which I think

is fair in a way, because, yeah, I mean, I can't vote for anyone, so I really don't have any pull. But I also don't feel like people should be so quick to just roll over and say, well, I don't have a vote, So what am I supposed to do? I can't. No, I think you still need to be playing that. Was it Omar that was like still kind of, yeah, like creeping through, even though he didn't have a vote. And he was like, I'm still going to control things as much as I can. That, I think, is the better way to play, even if you don't have a vote.

But yes, three is more than two. So it wouldn't have really mattered anyway. Yes. Omar, who will be our guest here, as planned But yes, three is more than two. So it wouldn't have really mattered anyway. Yes. Omer, who will be our guest here as planned in about three weeks, I believe. Yes. So, yeah. Now, you mentioned that some people don't really push as much. I certainly didn't see that with Annika.

I think to her having a vote, not having a vote, she was still project managing. Well, she was project managing yes but it was also she didn't it didn't affect her because she she thought well i'm in a good place so it won't matter anyway right and so it it is interesting that there's this thing that happens when someone doesn't have a vote and then it can affect how they end up talking to the other players or negotiating their space. And if she thinks that she's in a good place, it doesn't matter either way. Right. But this is why I just don't, I don't like that component at all. Yeah. At all. Yeah.

All right. Well, we can move on to appendix A, which is about players keeping their end goals in mind when voting. My trend. Oh, okay. Yes. I was like, what'd I do? say which is about players keeping their end goals in mind when voting my trend your oh okay yes i was like what i do um and we talk about voting out the weak and the strong than the weak and the strong but as we always say the real key is looking at what benefits you in terms of alliances and your end game um and it seems clear that is what Sam and Sierra were looking at here. Sam specifically said that while Andy may be weak in challenges, quote,

long-term, I don't trust Anika. So he was literally looking at his end goals. And I think he was absolutely right not to trust her in that longer timeframe. While he has Andy pretty much locked in right now. Yes. And this is what I think is happening more often in the newer era.

I just feel like there's this need or desire or want to keep players around who are not going to necessarily be a threat to a particular person like there's that there seems to be that third player and i don't want to start naming individuals because i'm not trying to put anyone in this in this spot but it is very interesting to me that there there's this idea that well i can i can control this person or i can manipulate this person or i know that i if i bring this person along with me, I have vote number two. And I can respect that. I'm not saying that that's a bad game move at all.

But there is this concern, and this is something we've talked about, is the longer that that person isn't in the game, the more desirous they become to a lot of people to make it to the final three. And they end up potentially taking a spot away from someone else because all of a sudden everyone is like, oh, well, I would like to sit next to that person too. And that person has gotten there because someone else has been like, this is the person I'm going to help because they're going to help me. But then when it gets to the end, you might be walking out the door because now this person

is getting that spot in that final three area yeah but when it comes down to it at this stage of the game you're sam would you rather bring andy along who seems to be a solid ally slash extra vote essentially or would you rather bring Anika along who is long-term working against you? Oh, I'm not saying that it's a bad choice at all. It's just that this seems to be more of a trend that we're seeing as of late where there is this idea that I'm going to keep the person around who is not necessarily the greatest in challenges or the best strategist or the person around who is not necessarily the greatest in challenges or the best strategist or the person who is.

I mean, my God, the meltdown that Andy had on the mat in I think in years past, an old school survivor, that person is not going to be kept in the game. But new school survivor is this idea that I can use that person. And I'm not saying that that is a bad game move. Sam is doing the right thing for Sam. But what becomes concerning, I think, is the longer that that person is in the game, then you're ticking down the numbers. And all of a sudden they're in the final three because they've been kept along for so long. I mean, and that's just where a lot of people are expecting Andy to get to. Well, and this is what I'm saying. So this is this is the trend.

I was just like, I thought it was quite fascinating that we're seeing this happen again, where it's one of those circumstances where you're like, oh, wow, that person is that person's definitely going home. And then that person doesn't go home. And that person is there at the end. Yeah. I mean, how long did people expect you to go home? You know, yes, right. This is what this is. This is what I'm saying. It's a very interesting thing to see happening on screen for sure. Yeah. Yeah. far as you know getting back to uh you know specifically this situation i think um you know and we've talked a lot about sam but sierra also discussed before the immunity challenge that she was in the middle she could go with the women or the guys

and she had to decide what was the best for her game now unlike, unlike Tiffany Seeley, she went with the guys. More specifically, she went with Sam, which, as I mentioned earlier, was what I had predicted. And I think it really does or really goes back to the fact that she does have such a tight bond specifically with him. Yes, she's in with the women too, but we've talked about this. Annika and Rachel are the tight duo in that group. So she could go with them and be on the outs, or she could go with Sam and Andy and be on the ends.

Yeah. I like that. All right. Well, it is about time to wrap things up. So what are your final thoughts on Anika? Well, Anika, I do think that you came into this game and you had a good plan. You wanted to strategize and we got to see a lot of that. And I think that that was lovely. And you were truly someone who was blindsided. And I do always appreciate a great blindside. But that should allow you some comfort because a great blindside means that you were a great player, really, because they wanted to get you out so badly, but they managed to do so in kind of an incredible fashion and keeping you completely in the dark. Too bad for Rachel because she's right along there with you.

But Annika, you really did an excellent job, I think, playing this game, although there were some parts of you, the managerial components that we discussed that maybe you should have kept in check a little bit. But in the end, I don't think, as David has already indicated, that that necessarily hurt you so much. So you really did get out strategized and outplayed by the people who are on your tribe with you. You were someone that Sam saw as a threat. I think you were someone that Sierra considered a threat as well. And in

looking at the numbers and the permutations and what was better for their games, you unfortunately were not better for their games. So Anika, it was lovely watching you on our screens. Thank you so much, and I wish you all the best. Yeah, I have very similar thoughts here. We saw friction between Annika and Sam since pretty much the beginning of the game. Annika believed it was just brother-sister bickering, and everything was hunky-dory.

Sam apparently did not. But as we've discussed earlier annika you know told dalton ross she didn't think her bossiness or leadership role is what sent her home and that's not why sam was gunning for her overall she's probably right that it wasn't the key reason but it sure didn't help her case it's hard to look ahead and decide you trust and want to work with someone when you don't feel they're treating you very well. Sam already felt that Anika was a potential problem in the long term. She had her tight duo with Rachel and they had the breadwinners alliance of all three women. Even though he trusted Sierra, voting out Andy would have put him in a very difficult situation of a potential 2-2 split if they'd end up back at

tribal council. By taking out Annika now, he eliminated that potential problem. The fact that she rubbed him the wrong way contributed by being a more obvious indicator of the way she felt about him and how she would play the game. But I do think he probably would have come to the same conclusion no matter what. The issue then became one of strategic ability. In rule after rule, we concluded that Annika was simply outplayed and outstrategized. She was unable to hide her opinions when it came to her social game. But every time they had an issue, they talked it out and she left feeling like it was all good. It wasn't.

Sam also talked a lot about Andy in negative ways, convincing Annika that he was good with the plan to vote out Andy. He wasn't. Sierra seemed enthusiastic about the Women's Alliance and Annika thought for sure that she was a solid number there. She wasn't. Annika was confident that she had a full read on exactly where everyone stood in the tribe. She didn't. And it was such a shock for her to find that out that her brain couldn't even digest the situation and make sense of it. that out that her brain couldn't even digest the situation and make sense of it. She was certain everything was going according to the plan.

And it was. The problem was the planning question was Sam and Sierra's, not hers. And that is why Annika lost. Oh, that was very, very fun. Thank you for that, David Bloomberg. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Well, before we get to our predictions for next episode, I want to remind everyone again that the rules we just discussed are available in both poster form. That's right. T-shirt form and T-shirt form again. This time is a checklist. So again, go to robhaswebsite.com slash yxlostfe. Yes, you definitely should. And you should also try to follow us on all of our social media platforms that do exist out there as well. I am at JessicaLewis89 on Twitter. I am also at JessicaLewis6789 on

Instagram. I am not as active as Mr. David Bloomberg over here, but he has so many social media platforms that he has a link tree that lists everything out for you all to see. So David, tell them where they can find you. Well, I am all over the place. There is my Linktree account, as you mentioned, at Linktree slash David Bloomberg with a dot before the E in the URL. But you can also, you know, find me on various podcasts. Now, there's one fewer of those right now, because hopefully everyone who watches Big Brother has also already watched or listened to Why Blank Won and The Others Lost with Big Brother 21 and Ovi Kabir as my co-host. So with that

in the books, I am done doing double duty on the Why Blank Lost podcast for a little while. However, I am still co-hosting the Tradar podcast for the Tr while. However, I am still co-hosting the Tradar podcast for the Traders Canada Season 2 on the Tradar network. So you can find me there. Other accounts besides my link tree, you can find

me directly on Twitter and Blue Sky as David Bloomberg. On Threads as David Bloomberg TV. Of course, I'm on the video platforms YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Also as David Bloomberg TV. Where, you I'm on the video platforms, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram also is at David Bloomberg TV where, you know, until wedding busyness caught up with me, I had been posting three or more videos per day. And, you know, I, I recently last week, I believe surpassed 40,000 subscribers on YouTube. You did? Yes.

Excellent job. So I encourage people to join the fun and subscribe over there. Right now, I'm posting, of course, clips from Survivor, polishing off the Big Brother clips, plus others from shows like The Traitors Canada, The Summit, House of Villains, and The Anonymous. Oh, look at you. Yes. You're so busy.

Well, and now you have so much more time on your hands because you're down one podcast. Yes, yes. And a show that took up a lot, a lot of time, Big Brother. Yes. Oh, my word. It's like it's on all the time. It is. It's literally, you know, 24-7 live feed.

I know. It's on all the time. Yeah it's literally you know 24 7 live feed i know it's on all the time yeah yeah yeah crazy uh so but that's behind us now uh it is and so uh we can look ahead to our predictions and it appears that there will be a merge uh i, I suppose, you know, they could surprise us and like do something crazy, like make it two tribes or something when he says, drop your buffs. Um, but it seems to be about the right timing, I think.

Yeah. So aside from that, it appears room is back to going after Saul, uh, presumably to, I don't know, try and target him at the merge. Uh, beyond that, we don't really get much. Uh, to, I don't know, try and target him at the merge. Beyond that, we don't really

get much. I do think that the fact that players on other tribes have accurately pegged Sam and Sierra as being tight allies who were running things on their tribe will only become more important. Oh, look,

we have a puppy visiting us. You do? You want to say hello, Ellie? That is Ellie. This is Ellie. I wanted everybody to get to meet her. She's our newest addition. This is a beautiful girl.

All the people who are just listening on audio are like, well, I'll have to take your word for it but she's gorgeous yes look at her maybe you could post on twitter yes you know i'm going to i we wanted to make sure that it was all going to work with our other two puppies i think it's official she's definitely she's doing very well but i'm gonna go back upstairs now she was probably resting with all thank you so much for bringing her down. Okay, there we are. Okay, back to predictions. Well, my prediction is that that is a very cute puppy. She is

so cute. She's a sweetheart. Yes. So anyway, the other tribes have figured out that Sam and Sierra are tight allies who were running things on the tribe and that will only become more important when everyone sees the result of the vote we just

discussed like oh yes i mean i'm not suggesting they should have done anything different because they really couldn't but i think people are going to be like oh annika's gone that's very strange i'm sure rachel's going to be like throwing them all under the bus. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So both of them are going to need to protect themselves. But I feel like people will initially want to work with them rather than against them because they're going to be a group of three. And if you're in there with like another small group, you merge those groups together and suddenly you have an almost majority. So, yeah, I think people will go after an apparently easy target instead. Some of the possibilities, Tiana, Teenie, Saul, Rachel, even Andy, possibly. Although, again, he's part of that three. So less likely. What about Kyle?

I think Tiana has kind of overtaken that spot from kyle on that drive that's fair you know i think teeny has the connections needed and i think rachel could easily form them and to me the most likely outcome is that Tiana gets taken out for throwing Gabe under the bus. You know, I was, I was feeling that as well, because I think that that was so much information that she provided. And then the apology,

when she went to apologize to him, he saw right through it and knew that it was kind of just a half-ass apology. Hold on. Let's do this right. When she went to apologize to him, he saw right through it and knew that it was kind of just a half-ass apology. Hold on. Let's do this right. When she went to apologize, big, massive air quotes there.

Yeah. Yeah. And, and so, but I'm also looking at the, so the blue tribe, because we've got Caroline and Sue and Gabe as a three, I am feeling a little bit of something for Kyle though.

I there's, there's something that's bringing me back to Kyle. I feel like a lot of women are. Look at you. He is a sweetheart. I will say. But I'm, but the one thing that I,

I think is interesting with Kyle was the, the conversation he and Sue had where he was so frustrated with Sue because he's like, I was trying to help her. So I could see him drifting and trying to attach himself elsewhere. But I think the difference between he and Tiana is I think that Kyle will likely find that person. He'll probably, I think maybe he and teeny might click a little bit. Just, I feel like she's going to be looking for some people who are on the outs a little bit. I think I have to agree with you because I was thinking Tiana as well,

because I feel like she's put herself in a position where she was very vocal with a bunch of people and they all saw it so it's not going to be a question of these are the things that she's done they've seen her do it and so it'll be an easier ability for them all to kind of wrap their brains around like yeah this is the person that should probably go first so i'm agreeing with you okay Okay. All right. I'm a very long-winded agreeing answer. All right. Well, this has not been a long-winded podcast. This has probably been our shortest in quite some time.

So again, you know, I said it. I did appreciate them giving us a kind of a straightforward one here. I mean, there was still plenty to dive into, but, you know, there weren't as many hoops as usual. But with that said, of course, you know, for the future, everyone should make sure you're subscribed to all the R.H.A.P. Survivor podcasts by going to weknowsurvivor.com. You can, you know, select your podcast service of choice. You'll get all the great Survivor content from R.H.A.P., from the Know It Alls, the B&B, Survivor International, obviously us, plus other shows. I also encourage people to check out the RHAP patron program at robhiswebsite.com slash patron,

because in addition to the podcast I just mentioned, there are special podcasts out there that only the patrons can get. There's so much. It's crazy. It's crazy, the amount of content that is out there that only the patrons can get. There's so much. It's crazy. It's crazy. The amount of content that is out there. RHAP is giving you so many things to watch. Yes. So again, you can support shows like ours

and everything on the network by becoming a patron at robhaswebsite.com slash patron. And we would like to thank everyone at Rob Has a Podcast for all of the incredible work that you do. The editing, Scott St. Pierre, Jessica Sterling. Rob Haslam Podcast for all of the incredible work that you do. The editing, Scott St. Pierre, Jessica Sterling, thank you so much for all of the work, producing, editing, putting all of the content, not just for Why Blank Loss, but all of the incredible content that you just heard David speaking about. We truly appreciate everyone who partakes, who watches and enjoys listening to not just us, but the entirety of the RHAP content that is provided. So thank you everyone for listening.

Thank you, David Bloomberg, for allowing us an opportunity to just, you know, be one-on-one today. This was nice. Yes, yes. The me and the me and the we. That's right. Something like that.

I never did quite follow that whole discussion there, but you know. You. Well, yes. I am the me and you're we. We, we. Good times. Yes. Well, thank you.

As always, Jessica. And, you know, especially this week for your flexibility in recording schedule following that rule that's right that's right and we will be back here normally we say in a week but because we're a little late this time it'll be five days so we will see

everyone very soon bye bye if you lost survivor and you're feeling down David and Jessica will turn it around Bye. Bye. If you lost Survivor and you're feeling down, David and Jessica will turn it around. They'll break down the rules and they'll show you how you played yourself and got voted out. This is why Blank lost.

This is why Blank lost. Baby, this is why blind loves