Last week, we saw Andy have a meltdown in front of every tribe. His word vomiting was painful to watch. Almost every word he said gave someone a reason not to want him as an alliance partner, trust him with information, or ultimately not want him in the game at all. Andy told everyone he felt closest to Jon, which threatened to make Jon want to cut him loose. He complained about feeling like an outsider, which should have made everyone on his tribe suspect he’ll flip at a swap or merge. And if you were on a different tribe, you knew at best, Andy was only good for you until you could get a numbers advantage. But everyone in the game should have immediately realized Andy was not a suitable long-term alliance partner. The game got to him, and he had a meltdown. Rachel commented “In all my Survivor watching, I don’t think that’s ever happened in front of everybody else.” Immediately my mind went to several other Survivor meltdowns that either ended (or should have ended) that player’s game right on the spot. Andy survived the first vote. We’ll find out why they kept him soon enough, but I thought this would be a great time to take a look back at several similar Survivor meltdowns.

My definition of a “meltdown” would be any kind of breakdown that puts an end to that player’s chances of winning the game. It can happen anytime while the game is in progress. It can happen in front of a player’s entire tribe, or all the players in the game. While I don’t rank them, I think the later in the game it happens, the bigger the meltdown because there’s more at stake. With that in mind, the two biggest meltdowns have to belong to Amanda and Coach.

In Survivor: China, Amanda entered the final 4 in the best position to win the game. She hadn’t angered anyone, knew Todd and Courtney were disliked by some jurors. She also knew Denise wasn’t seen as a strong player. On day 38, she promised Denise she wouldn’t vote her out, and hinted she’d force a tie vote with Todd. But that night at Tribal Council in front of the Jury, Denise told everyone about Amanda’s promise. Amanda replied, “I said I had your back a while ago, I didn’t say that today ... uh ... you know what I said.” Jurors Frosti and Peih-Gee looked shocked. James almost spun out of his seat. Probst noted how big the smile on Todd’s face was and asked him about it. Todd replied “It was kind of sly that you said Amanda said she had your back, then her face dropped and it was like Ugh! That’s sharp (Jamie, Jean-Robert, and Frosti laugh). If someone said that to me, I’d be like ‘Ugh,’ so I guess I was reacting for Denise.” Amanda immediately realized her mistake, then made it worse by saying "Yeah, I guess Final Tribal Council has already begun," which all but confirmed Denise was a goner. The damage was done. Amanda cost herself at least 4 votes with that one statement. She followed that up with an even worse meltdown at Final Tribal Council, getting caught in a few lies she told to Jean-Robert. Todd won the game 4-2-1. Todd had an excellent FTC and without a doubt took votes away. But Amanda took a strong position and made it a weak one.

Amanda came back to play in Micronesia and made it to the finals again. But she didn’t learn from her mistake. This could be because she didn’t know the results of the China season before reaching the Micronesia finals. She may have thought she’d pulled out the win. But she should have known not to repeat her mistake. Sadly, for Amanda she didn’t. Amanda, Parvati and Cirie made it to the final 3, only to learn that season had been changed to a final 2. Once again, Amanda’s meltdown came at Tribal Council. Just like in China, Amanda won Immunity. But this time around, she told her jurors her Immunity win was a blessing and a curse. That prompted laughter from jurors Alexis, James and Ozzy. She later started crying when discussing the thought of voting Cirie out. Jurors Natalie and Alexis started laughing at what they later described as “crocodile tears”. Eliza was in eye-rolling overdrive. Ozzy and James exchanged doubtful scowls when Amanda said Parvati made good social connections. In short, nobody was believing a word Amanda was saying, and she was dropping votes into Parvati’s lap left and right. Once again, Amanda’s lack of composure probably cost her 4 jury votes.

Coach’s meltdown in South Pacific was greatly prodded and assisted by Sophie's masterful verbal maneuvering. But it was Coach’s inability to admit something to himself that killed his game. Coach entered Final Tribal Council as the favorite. That season’s “The Jury Speaks” videos confirmed a majority of the Jury were leaning towards Coach. Jurors Ozzy, Keith, Jim, Brandon and Whitney all said some form of “If Coach can admit he lied to control his tribe, I’ll vote for him.”

But Coach believed his own hype and insisted he “played with honor and integrity.” Brandon and Whitney mentioned they disliked how Coach used religion to his advantage, but Coach wouldn’t own up to that either. Sophie picked up on her jurors’ dissatisfaction with Coach’s answers and promptly pointed out more of his lies, specifically his lie about how he found his tribe’s Idol. She dealt him a death blow by comparing him to a young girl who’d normally follow a man. Coach got so flustered he couldn’t recover. Sophie won 6-3-0, flipping 5 votes who were leaning towards Coach.

Those two are the biggest because they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. But there are several others that directly led to someone being voted out.

Billy Garcia (Cook Islands)

Billy got himself into trouble in the first few minutes when he was making jokes about Hispanics paddling TOWARDS an island on day 1. His tribemates – especially Ozzy – didn’t care for it, and immediately targeted him. It got worse when Billy didn’t do well in the challenges. Ozzy convinced his tribe to throw a challenge to rid themselves of Billy. But Billy actually came up with a plan that could have flipped it on Ozzy. Billy had Cecilia and Cristina considering removing Ozzy for being too bossy and controlling. Billy even had Ozzy and J.P taking cheap shots at him at Tribal Council, which the women didn’t appear to appreciate. But then Billy blurted out “My prize isn’t even the million dollars my prize is that I fell in love ... love at first sight. Her name is Candice.” A stunned Probst asked, “Candice from the Raro tribe?” Billy: “We sort of mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to each other.” Probst: “I’ve never heard anything that surprised me more than what you just said. You’re absolutely sincere right now?” Billy: “I’m serious.” The women laughed out loud, then promptly helped boot Billy 4-1. Billy took a fighting chance of staying and turned it into an irreversible removal.

Danielle DiLorenzo (Heroes vs. Villains)

In Heroes vs. Villains, Russell, Danielle and Parvati managed to turn a 6-3 deficit on their tribe into a position of control they rode into the merge. Danielle and Parvati were voting with Russell but made him suspicious of them when they didn’t tell him about an Idol Parvati found. Russell started to think they were gonna flip on him, so he dropped hints he might boot Danielle just to see how she’d react. Danielle took the bait and got upset during Tribal Council. She got so flustered she blurted out “Russell, I’m a lot closer to Parvati than you think I am.” Russell got the confirmation he needed. He had already done the prep work and knew Rupert and Colby were voting for Danielle and he’d already instructed Jerri to vote how he wanted. So, when Danielle had her meltdown, Russell and Jerri voted for her, and she was booted 4-3 over Rupert.

Garrett Adelstein (Cagayan)

In Cagayan, Garrett Adelstein provided one of the most entertaining meltdowns in Survivor history. He got upset on day 1 when David labeled him as the Brains tribe’s “weakest” member, even though he was clearly the most muscular. Garrett took it personally, so when given a choice between a second bag of rice for the tribe or an Idol clue, he took the clue, and eventually found the Idol. David got booted first, but Garrett had not yet begun to self-destruct. After David left, he pitched a final 3 deal with Kass and Spencer, but didn’t notice that Kass wasn’t really with him. Then when they lost Immunity again, he tried to corner Tasha into committing to a vote as the rest of the tribe watched. Tasha wasn’t cool with that, but Garrett wouldn’t let it go. He took a page from the Boston Rob handbook and tried to forbid her from having private conversations with others. He even followed her around camp.

While they were gone, his desired target J’Tia dumped out the tribe’s rice. This prompted Garrett’s partner Spencer to call Garrett “a complete idiot.” Then at Tribal Council, when Kass said she felt like she was an outsider, Garrett lit into her for not believing his pitch to her was sincere. This confirmed to Tasha that SHE was the outsider. Garrett even had Probst calling him out for his boneheaded contradictory statements. Garrett unintentionally brought Kass and Tasha together. Even Spencer realized Garrett was now a liability. Garrett got himself voted out 3-2.

Alexis Maxwell (Cagayan)

Alexis was on the Beauty tribe, and initially clashed with Morgan. Morgan voted for Alexis then tried to apologize, but Alexis rudely rebuffed the attempt. A swap put three Beauties (Alexis, Morgan and Jeremiah) with three Brains and one Brawn, and suddenly Alexis needed Morgan on her side. But Alexis got more upset when she learned Morgan lied about getting an Idol clue. Alexis asked the three Brains to vote for Morgan, adding “My closest person was Jefra, and she’s not with me anymore (Jefra was swapped to the other tribe). The Brains, who were fractured themselves, realized the cracks between the Beauties were bigger and easier to exploit. Their swapped tribe avoided the next Tribal Council, but at the next Reward Challenge, Alexis sunk her ship for good. When she saw Brawn member Cliff had been voted out, she said “I’m happy to see our Beauties (Jefra and L.J.) still standing.” Alexis didn’t realize she’d advertised her loyalty to her original Beauty alliance. The Brains and Sarah voted her out next, knowing there was no chance she’d defect.

Rodney Lavoie (Worlds Apart)

Rodney’s meltdowns didn’t really contribute to his failure to win the game. They didn’t really impede him from sticking around either. He finished 4th, going out in a fire tiebreaker challenge. Rodney’s meltdowns were just more entertaining than most others, probably because they weren’t as tragic or painful. Rodney saw himself as a strategic mastermind. Perhaps that made him so overconfident, he had no problem getting into fights with others. Early on, he clashed with eventual winner Mike over Rodney’s work ethic. So, Rodney made a point of collecting an armful of wood and angrily slamming it down in front of the entire tribe. Rodney wasn’t a bad challenge performer but had a knack for coming up short in the clutch, usually after bragging about how well he was doing. Rodney also had a habit of venting his anger in front of everyone.

Rodney’s biggest meltdown came on day 30, which was his birthday. Rodney hadn’t enjoyed any rewards and thought it would be an automatic that if he didn’t win, he’d be taken along. Carolyn even promised to take him if she won. But it was a team challenge. Mike, Sierra and Carolyn’s team won the Reward, and none of them offered to switch with Rodney, who actually caused his team’s loss. Rodney blew a gasket and yelled “Some people made comments and now are going back on their words. This is some, birthday, it’s my damn birthday. That’s fucked up.” His meltdown continued at camp as he vented “I’m washing dishes on my birthday. I got nothin’ here. I got a bunch of scumbags who claim to be my Survivor family who neglected me on my birthday. Carolyn says she sees me like her son? Now all bets are off. I don’t want to go to the end with Carolyn and Sierra now. It’s all about me now.”

His meltdown continued that night when the reward team returned. Rodney: “I’m done. I want to go home to my real family. Carolyn, you said you felt like a mother to me, but you deserted me.” Mike: “Why should they have given up their reward, especially since you were the one who blew the challenge? I don’t buy your story. You’re just trying to set me up for a blindside. Why don’t you just quit?” Rodney “I’m not a quitter.” After Worlds Apart aired, Rodney no longer had a birthday. He only had a “Damn birthday.”

Jennifer Lanzetti (Kaoh Rong)

Jennifer got herself into a strong position as all 5 of her tribemates indicated they trusted her. Most had agreed their next target was the annoying Alecia. But as Jennifer described herself in confessional “I have this thing called ‘Low Impulse Control.’ I chase shiny objects, so sometimes when I hear an idea I think ‘Oh, that’s a good idea, let’s do that.’ First, she followed her impulse to ask Cydney to blindside Jason so they could carry Alicia’s vote in their pockets. But Cydney didn’t care for Alecia, so she used this information to turn Jason and his partner Scot against Jennifer. Jennifer’s first slipup came when Probst asked her if the women considered voting out one of the guys. Jennifer fell into the trap and said “It was definitely up in the air.” Scot and Jason nearly fell out of their seats. Cydney threw up her arms in frustration.

Incredibly, Jennifer didn’t notice, and kept digging her hole, adding “After you hear a couple of stories from some people, you have to start and think ‘Wow that actually might make sense. Oh damn, this isn’t as solid as I thought.’ So yes, there was definitely some back and forth, what do we do?” Jennifer was still oblivious until Scot said “I didn’t think anything had changed until I heard you just now, right here say back at camp everything was up in the air. You told me at camp this afternoon that the plan was in.” Even Alecia read the room better than Jennifer and piled on, saying “That sounds like they had something locked in, then Jenny said it was up in the air.” Jennifer couldn’t put the shovel down. Every word she spoke made her situation worse. Finally, she stood up on her stool and yelled “Please trust the original alliance we had! Nothing is changed!” But the damage was done. With one sentence, Jennifer took a secure spot and traded it in for an early Ponderosa visit.

Perhaps the most tragic and agonizing meltdown to watch was Jeff Varner’s in Game Changers. Unlike other meltdowns, Varner wasn’t in a strong position when he had his meltdown. He’d fallen on the bad side of a swap and was facing a 5-2 hole. He survived one vote when the majority took out 2-time winner Sandra, but he got desperate when trying to save himself at the next vote. He really wanted to make it to the Jury for the first time in 3 tries after just missing the cut in The Australian Outback and Cambodia. His plan wasn’t bad. He exposed a partnership between Ozzy and Zeke and had Aubry and Sarah wondering if Zeke had been lying to them. At Tribal Council he wanted to confirm Zeke wasn’t trustworthy, so he blurted out “Zeke, why haven’t you told anyone you’re transgender?” The silence was deafening. Nobody could believe Varner would out Zeke on national TV. The reaction was obvious now. Probst didn’t even ask anyone to go up and vote. There was no way they could keep Varner in the game after that. It got worse for Varner after the game. He lost his job after the episode aired. He didn’t help himself when he tried to pimp his book about the experience at that season’s reunion. Varner’s meltdown probably had the longest-lasting repercussions of them all.

There are many more meltdowns of course, but this column is long enough. I’ll just touch on a few more in bullet point form.

• Alan Ball (HHH): Alan suspected J.P had an Idol and questioned him so aggressively in front of the tribe, J.P. stripped to his underwear to provide proof. Alan made it to a swap, but promptly got booted.
• Jacob Derwin (Ghost Island): While his tribe was setting up camp, Jacob asked “Do you think there’s an Idol out there? I’m gonna go exploring,” then walked off. Nobody ever trusted him. Jacob seemed to love the taste of his own foot. Almost everything he said told others to vote him out.
• Jeremy Crawford (David vs Goliath): Jeremy wasn’t a target until his paranoia made him into one. Jeremy only got close to one player (Mike White), but decided everyone else was plotting against him. He called a tribe meeting and tried to forbid everyone from having private conversations. Then his word vomiting revealed he’d searched someone’s bag. Jeremy was the first voted out of his tribe.

Angelina Keely (David vs Goliath)

Angelina didn’t have one big meltdown, she had a series of mini-meltdowns that steadily eroded her credibility and inspired Alison to call her “The goatiest goat that ever was.” Among Angelina’s “lowlights” are 1) Conspiring against Natalie Cole, then getting upset when Natalie wouldn’t give her jacket to Angelina as she was leaving the game, 2) Accusing several of “bum rushing” her when they rejected her plan to go after Christian, 3) Hesitating when Probst asked if she was still loyal to the Goliaths, 4) Accusing some of being sexist when they expressed interest in Mike White’s suggestion to go after Christian after rejecting hers, and 5) Pledging loyalty to Christian after admitting she wanted him gone. Angelina’s consistency in this department led me to name her the “Worst Survivor Player of all-time.”

With all of this in mind, I’m still baffled as to why this season’s cast chose to keep Andy over Jon. Maybe 46 was still fresh in their minds and they didn’t want to risk losing a physically strong player early like the Yanu tribe did when they booted Jelinsky? But after seeing Bhanu’s meltdowns, they should have realized keeping Andy was the bigger risk. Let’s see how soon they regret this.

And away we go ....

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Hmmm ... the “previously on” segment is all about the guys who got themselves into trouble – Gabe, Rome and Andy. I guess that means the women are safe this episode. We go straight to Lavo on Day 4? We don’t get to see the fallout from Gata’s Tribal Council?

Rome thinks he can earn trust by telling someone he’s been hiding something from them? He really doesn’t get it, does he? If I’m Teeny, I’m gonna start planning the blindside on Rome immediately.

Teeny in confessional: “Now I sort of have to work with Rome, but I’m gonna tell Kishan.” These people will never learn. When you tell one person about your Idol/Advantage, you give the power to them. You’re asking them to conspire against you.

Rome: “I don’t know if I can trust Teeny as much as I could yesterday.” In other news, water is wet, dogs chase cats, and Damnbueno says don’t tell anyone about your Idols/Advantages. I should get Rick Devens to say that phrase for me.

Rome could have chosen the first boot if he’d kept his mouth shut. Now it’s out of his hands.

TK confuses me. In confessional, he says he can’t trust Gabe. But then he tells Gabe he’s got to start forming relationships with others.

TK pitches a partnership to Tiyana that includes Kyle. Tiyana does the smart thing and immediately says “yes.” She seems sincere about it, too. But why aren’t any of them realizing they need a 4th?

Andy: “I feel like they’re including me.” Well, yeah, they voted Jon out instead of you. Did I mention water is wet?

Look at the Gata members cheering for Andy’s coconut chopping! They’re being TOTALLY sincere. Yeah, I know, sarcasm doesn’t always translate well in print. Andy is a fool if he buys into this.

Sam gets stuck keeping an eye on Andy. This is part of the reason they should have voted him out instead of Jon. Andy is so high maintenance, the mental drain on anyone who is counting on his vote will be overwhelming. And he may still blurt out something that kills your strategy.

Sam: “I want to be Andy’s buoy in a sea where he feels like drowning.” Didn’t Sam just watch Q trying to fill that role for Bhanu last season? How’d that work out for Q?

Holy cow! Andy finds the Beware Advantage and leaves it alone! I remember Karla did this in 43 ... for about 5 minutes, then ran back to open it. I never figured Andy would be the one to make the smart call here.

Rome: “Did you try to make fire?” Teeny: “I was good at sparking it but wasn’t good at building it up.” Time will tell if Teeny is being truthful here, but that’s an excellent response if she doesn’t want people to know she’s good at making fire.

Rome: “I made a fire every single morning before I came out here. My record is 16 seconds.” And that’s a horrible response. Now people will be expecting you to make the fire regularly. And if you’re good at it, they’ll put a higher priority on removing you before the final 4.

Kishan: “I think the more low-key you are, the better because you skate under the radar.” You’re speaking my language, Kishan. Subtlety is the better way to go.

Then Rome falls on his face at making fire. Rome reminded me of Rodney from Worlds Apart here.

Sol’s reaction perfectly reflects my opinion of Rome’s game so far.

Teeny: “If Rome didn’t have an Idol, he’d be an easy first boot.” Yeah, the most annoying is usually the first to be targeted.

Sam grabs the Beware Advantage and Anika is with him. In this situation, it’s better to be Anika. She’s got all the information but isn’t facing the risk. If I were Sam, I’d either shove it in my pocket hoping she didn’t see me, or I’d leave it and come back later to check it out. Check that, I’d come back later with someone I trusted and let THEM find it so I could be in the Anika position.

And right on cue, Anika fills Rachel in.

Andy: “It would be optimal for me to go and grab this (Beware Advantage). It is a ticking time clock.” Uh, yeah, a lot of clocks tick, but they’re not dangerous. Now ticking time BOMBS are something to worry about.

Andy realizes someone else found the Beware Advantage. I still say he was smart for leaving it alone but maybe he should have kept an eye on that spot so he’d have a chance of knowing who found it. That info would come in handy at a swap or merge.

Andy comes clean to Sam, who does an excellent job of covering his tracks ... sort of. Andy isn’t suspicious, but one of the women could easily spill his secret. But in confessional, Sam says he thinks he can trust Andy??? Don’t do it Sam, don’t do it!

TK, Kyle and Tiyana bring Gabe in and pitch Sue as their first boot. Gabe does the smart thing and gives an immediate “yes.” But Gabe wants to stick with Caroline and Sue. Last week, I wondered how Caroline felt about Gabe. I’m thinking here’s where we find out.

Caroline in confessional: “I’m not an idiot. I don’t believe him for a second.” Well, that was pretty clear.

But Caroline does the absolute wrong thing and tells Gabe she’s not sure about working with him. In pregame, Caroline said she wanted to be blunt like Emily was in 45. Mission accomplished. You’ve just alienated Gabe as well as Emily alienated Bruce on day 1. What does Caroline think she gains by doing this?

So, Gabe shows his Idol to Caroline. These people will never learn. Now Caroline can work on a long-term plan to flush Gabe’s Idol. This is very bad news for Sue. Caroline can earn trust from Tiyana, TK and Kyle by telling them about Gabe’s Idol. Those three will lose trust in Gabe since he didn’t tell them about it. Then they’ll boot Sue first while trying to flush Gabe’s Idol.

This TK motormouth segment reminded me of a similar segment on Cyndi in Guatemala. She couldn’t stop talking about how good her Reward food was. Yeah, I know. I spell her name with a “y” as in “Why didn’t you give four jurors a car?”

Tiyana doesn’t care for TK, but realizes she has to pretend to be cool with him. That’s a smart move.

Sam loops Sierra in on his Idol find, but then tells her he wants to use it to save Andy? Sierra’s reaction says it all.

So far, I’m liking the way Sierra, Rachel, Teeny and Tiyana are playing. They’ve all inspired others to bring information to them which gives them the most options. They all seem to know when to keep their mouths shut about that information too.

We’ve seen every element of this Immunity Challenge before. The spotlight roles would be whoever has to work the maze to get the key, and whoever chops open the bag. Last week in my haste, I failed to notice three people (not two) were working on the puzzle at the end. Three people isn’t as big a risk because it’s easier to hide a mistake if you make one. Three people will be on the puzzle for this one.

Aysha sits this one out. That’s probably smart since she’s already taken two spotlight roles. Sue joins her on the sitout bench.

That bag or rice gets a lot heavier if it gets wet. Lavo is gonna find that out the hard way.

Rome, Caroline and Tiyana take the first spotlight roles. Andy, Sol and Kyle take the second. That’s three so far for Rachel, and two each for Rome, Tiyana and Kyle, and the first for Sol and Andy.

Rachel is pretty slick for sneaking some rice into her pocket.

Sports reporter Sam’s play-by-play style is getting on Anika’s nerves.

Gata wins Immunity, and Sam can’t resist a sports catch phrase. Now all he has to do is catch some fish.

Lavo wins 2nd place, so the question now is who is gonna swing Tuku’s vote? Will Gabe play his Idol for Sue? Will Caroline tell the others about Gabe’s Idol plans and vote Gabe out? This will be interesting.

Probst busts Rachel’s attempt to pocket some rice. Something tells me he didn’t see her but got tipped off. Oddly enough, I don’t think getting busted will hurt Rachel at all. I think everyone will appreciate the attempt.

TK: “I don’t hang with people who are cool with losing.” Even if that’s true, that’s a tremendously dumb statement to make on Survivor. That’s what I think Tiyana is thinking. Did TK just talk himself out of the game? This reminded me of the Domenick vs Chris war in Ghost Island.

TK does the worst thing after losing Immunity and goes off alone. Is he asking people to talk about booting him?

TK: “I feel like I’m the leader on my tribe, and everybody should have the same mindset I have. Now I’m gonna start telling people ‘This is what we’re doing.’”

That’s probably the most backwards statement to make while playing Survivor. The best players are able to make others believe they’re doing the following for a while.

Kyle is doing a good job of being the glue that keeps his alliance together. This is reminding me of how Aras did it in Panama when he kept Shane, Danielle and Courtney from killing each other long enough to keep the numbers at the merge.

TK in confessional: “My game plan is working flawlessly right now ... Gabe will do whatever I need him to do.” I can’t wait to see TK getting shocked, even if it doesn’t happen tonight.

Gabe to Caroline and Sue: “TK buried his own grave.” Boy, this starvation and lack of sleep thing really kills their ability to get their clichés right.

Gabe is pushing for a tie vote? Didn’t he watch Jake try and fail with that plan twice in 45? Why would anyone voluntarily face a rock draw?

Tiyana seems undecided but I’m wondering why she hasn’t approached Caroline to see how she feels.

This is interesting. Caroline doesn’t like Gabe but feels forced to work with him. Tiyana doesn’t like TK but feels forced to work with him too. Who’s gonna crack first?

TK calls Sue out in front of everyone, then tries to educate her on “the right way to play.” TK really doesn’t understand the social game. He’s being so condescending I want to vote him out too.

Five minutes left. I guess there won’t be a tie vote ... unless they extend the episode to next week.

Gabe plays the Idol for himself and not Sue? I don’t get it. I do think people should play in their own interests first, but it was pretty clear nobody was voting for him. Did he just want to burn his Idol because so many people know he has it? Does he not want to be embarrassed like Hunter ... and Tiffany ... and Venus ... and ....

Bye, TK. You talked yourself out of the game. You played too hard too fast and made it easy for them all.

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Recap

I’m really curious to find out why Tiyana changed her mind. She realized she’d be alienating Kyle, so I hope she has some kind of plan for smoothing things over with him.

TK really sunk his own ship in multiple ways. First by volunteering to go on the first Journey he gave everyone else a chance to bond without him while simultaneously discussing removing him. Then he tried to force others to do things his way. He made himself too annoying. I wonder if he got enamored with watching Q play in the first half of 46. TK left for Fiji before seeing Q blow up his own game, but he saw enough to realize Q was pissing some people off. Why copy that train wreck? In pregame, TK said he thought Kaleb in 45 was too passive. I thought Kaleb was too aggressive, and questioned how accurate TK’s reads were going to be. I’ll pull a TK and pat myself on the back for getting this one right. His reads were horrible.

TK totally failed to recognize the value of being (or at least appearing to be) humble on Survivor. TK went full Alpha Male and threw in some Andrew Savage-style condescension too. That’s an obvious recipe for failure. I can’t wait to see it happen to Rome too.

What do you think? Did Tiyana make the right call? How can she mend fences with Kyle now? Are Rachel, Sierra, Teeny and Tiyana playing the best games so far? Will Rachel’s attempted rice theft help or hurt her? Is Andy capable of turning things around for himself? Will we get to see Sol make a complete sentence next week? It’s late, so I don’t want to research this, but when was the last time two men were the first boots? Let me know in the comments.