Of courseit’s Frannie’s fault Matt went home this week.
And that was over 20 years ago!
Did I just give aBig Brother 3shout out?
The cast of ‘Survivor 44’.Robert Voets/CBS
Hell yeah, I did!
I see ya, Jason the virgin!
But that’s not what happened.
Carson Garrett and Yam Yam Arocho on ‘Survivor 44’.CBS
Plenty of time for her to drop her ball and keep her island BFF safe.
An abundance of time.
All the time in the world.
Jeff Porbst on ‘Survivor 44’.Robert Voets/CBS
All she had to do was drop that damn ball and Mannie (or is it Fratt?)
would live to play another day.
So why didn’t she?
Matt Blankinship on ‘Survivor 44’.Robert Voets/CBS
First, Jaime dropped.That’s okay.
Surely, she would now intentionally fall off the balance beam, right?
A thousand times no!
Kept trying to beat Brandon.
Were her competitive juices flowing too fast?
Was she blinded by visions of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches dancing in her head?
Did she worry there was an Hourglass out there somewhere that would flip the results completely?
Whatever the reason, Frannie outlasted Brandon, left Matt vulnerable, and he was voted out.
Who knows what would have gone down there if that group was voting someone out.
But let’s get back to Frannie’s decision to go for the win.
At first blush, it seems like just absolutely terrible gameplay.
She had an opportunity to protect her closest ally and island boyfriend, and she botched it.
I somewhat understandwhyshe botched it, though.
You know you should… but you just can’t.
As an illustration, let’s go back to season 3 ofBig Brother.I know, I know!
What in the name of Zingbots is going on with all this randomBig Brother 3talk?
That’s actually not fair.
If his history with Vetoes is any indication, Marcellas would not have used the advantage anyway.
At least not on himself.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING!
They each cast secret votes, and Amy was brought back in by a count of five to two.
She was right, and that decision helped pave the way for her eventual victory.
As long as Matt was in this game, Frannie was a target.
Now, Frannie’s threat level iswaaaaaaaydecreased (even with her impressive performance in the challenge).
Is this why she didn’t intentionally drop the ball?
Oh, hell no.
But it’s the best thing for her game.
Yam Yam suggested Va Va, because va means four in Fijian and they areSurvivor 44.
A decent sounding tribe moniker, if I do say so.
And he was telling the truth too.
This was an actual translation.
The dude has tried his hardest all season long to completely ruin the Birdcage idol twist.
And it was a good, fun twist, too!
But at every turn, there has been Brandon ready to stomp out any potential mischief it may inspire.
(Although I suppose he would have actually needed his bag to do that.)
On a side note, I was wondering when we would have a Danny Bronx sighting.
But the nickname hasn’t really taken hold.
Maybe he messed up by not putting the location first and making it Bronx Danny, like Boston Rob.
Of course, Boston Rob only became Boston Rob because there was another Rob on his season Rob DeCanio.
And Rob DeCanio didn’t even really go by Rob.
He went by “the General.”
Although I’m not sure “Columbus Matthew” has the same ring to it.
My bigger issue is that they did it one week after essentially doing the same thing.
I’m sure the producers have a reason for why they did group immunities back-to-back.
I’m just not smart enough to figure out what it is.
I’m sorry, but mind-controltotallywould have been better.
It just would have.
Just one problem: Lauren hadtwovotes, essentially rendering the Control a Vote somewhat useless.
Tribal thoughts
It’s weird.
Because nobody says anything!
I think it’s just a natural evolution of where we are with contestants these days.
They’re less impulsive.
And they don’t take personal offense as easily.
Nor are they pointing fingers at other folks as much to have a go at save their own hides.
Again, kudos for that.
I would do the exact same thing in their shoes.
It just makes all these Tribals sort of feel very samey-samey without a lot of true fireworks or emotion.
That was good stuff.
And kudos to Probst for astutely calling Yam Yam out for deflecting with humor.
By the end of Tribal, it seemed like everyone was in tears.
But I do have a question, and it’s in regards to Matt’s bag.
For some perplexing reason, Matt did not bring his bag to Tribal Council.
I have no idea why.
Could be for a “journey.”
Could be to Exile Island.
Or, as in this case, it could be to the old Soka camp.
In short, BRING YOUR POSSESSIONS WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES!
But if she had, would she have been allowed to give it to him?
The group with immunity was essentially acting the same way a jury would.
They were sitting in the same spot.
They weren’t allowed to talk (except to play the Control a Vote).
And they were not part of the voting.
So would Frannie have been allowed to walk over and give Matt his bag?
It’s a question I put to Probst, you canread his answer right here!
But while I may be done, you are certainly not.
