Episode 14: Immunity vs. idols

Published: December 26, 2017

Jeff looks back on the competing gameplay styles in the Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers final Tribal Council showdown, the poorly handled twist that led to it, and the historic idol and immunity totals the season produced.

Pre-Episode 14: Jury jeopardy - HvHvH

Published: December 18, 2017

The True Dork Times writers (Ben Martell, Dan Otsuki, Pat Ferrucci, and Jeff Pitman) combine their predictive powers to forecast the voting preferences of the Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers jurors, with an eye to predicting the winner. And, of course, beating Inside Survivor, A Tribe of One, Purple Rock Podcast, and the RHAP bloggers at the same game.

Episode 13: What do juries want?

Published: December 19, 2017

Jeff explores the potential Final Tribal Council arguments each of the five remaining players could put forth, with past precedents of winning games, as we enter the season finale of Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers.

Episode 12: Good play vs. good TV

Published: December 11, 2017

Jeff contrasts the competing interests of predictable, rational strategic play and surprising, watchable television moments. Followed by an in-depth examination of Lauren's and Ben's idols and vote-changing idol plays throughout Survivor history.

Episodes 10-11: The state of the final eight... er, seven

Published: December 5, 2017

With just three episodes of Heroes v Healers v Hustlers left and a number of plausible winner candidates, Jeff re-evaluates each remaining contender's chances of winning the game, based on their current résumés.

Episode 9: Fall o' the leaders

Published: November 27, 2017

Jeff takes a critical eye to the emerging pattern of how seeming dominant at the merge of a three-tribe Survivor season can come at a huge cost, plus a look at Mike's idol play, Joe's game, Cole's challenge dominance, and some potential foreshadowing.

Episode 8: The spaghetti saga

Published: November 20, 2017

An appreciation of the superbly executed combination of twists that led to the sequential discovery and hiding of the immunity idol clue, and then the idol itself. Also a discussion of the changing narrators, the changing perspective of Devon, and the changing definition of an idol.

Episode 7: The downside of goats

Published: November 13, 2017

After a power-establishing Tribal Council capped off the pre-jury phase, Jeff looks at who's in charge, who made the right moves, asks how long the idol whisperer can last, and shows the merge wasn't early. With graphs. And vidcaps.

Episode 6: Tepid for now, heating later?

Published: November 6, 2017

Jeff takes stock of the state of the season through the pre-merge, and questions the naysayers who find it dull, especially in light of the potential conflagration looming after the tribes merge. Which may resemble less the three tribe names of the title, and more another hero-containing past one.

Episode 5: The mom and pop show

Published: October 30, 2017

A look at Ben's unexpectedly important moment, Chrissy's unexpectedly manipulative power plays, and where Roark's exit from her first Tribal Council falls on the leaderboard of late early boots. Plus a vidcap gallery!

Episode 4: Resetting the table

Published: October 25, 2017

Jeff breaks down a highly successful swap episode, looking at couples broken and united, Advantagegeddon redux, Joe's big idol playing game, and Mike's big game-playing streak.

Episode 3: Three is the tragic number

Published: October 16, 2017

In an attempt to diagnose the season's underwhelming start, Jeff zeroes in on three problems endemic to the three-tribe format, and offers tweaks to fix them. Also a defense of Patrick, a preview of the swap, and a fashionable vidcap gallery.

Episode 2: Signs point to the big three (or four)

Published: October 9, 2017

After just two episodes, Jeff takes a mostly over-extrapolated look at the contenders for winning Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers. Plus a vidcap gallery also about the number two.

Episode 1: Cramped, rushed, maybe some vomiting

Published: October 2, 2017

Jeff looks back at the premiere of Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers, and finds it mostly solid, albeit with an outsized focus on a twist that went nowhere, and a glaring deficit in focus on the booted player. To make up for that: A vidcap gallery.

Pre-season: TDT Survivor: HHH contestant draft

Published: September 22, 2017

Ben Martell, Dan Otsuki, Pat Ferrucci, and Jeff Pitman come together to rank and draft fantasy teams of the contestants from Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers. Who will reign supreme?

Pre-season: Survivor: HHH cast projections

Published: September 18, 2017

Jeff Pitman's semi-annual inaccurate forecasting of each Survivor contestant's game-winning potential. This time: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers.

Pre-season: The Ivy Lead - S35 edition

Published: August 30, 2017

Jeff Pitman continues compiling and graphing the appearances of Ivy League alumni on Survivor. Pretty much solely because of tradition.

Pre-season: How old is too old to win Survivor?

Published: August 16, 2017

Jeff Pitman looks at the relative paucity of older contestants in Seasons 35 & 36, and asks whether, historically, there is an age beyond which contestants have little chance of winning. Spoiler alert: The answer is yes.