Hey, it’s Cho and I’m back with another Survivor 39 Recap! We’re back from the tribal council where Noura blew everyone’s game up. Tommy is happy that Dean gave him a heads up about the plot to take him out, but upset that Noura chose to keep it a secret. Noura hates Dean as much as I do and chooses to hide his prized shoes. You need to go back and read the last recap if you haven’t already.
Elaine Makes A Play
After Elaine played her idol, it’s obvious that now’s the time to search for a new one. Dean and Elaine go searching together while Janet and Tommy search elsewhere. Janet ends up finding her second idol in the game! She cries imagining herself winning the game with the idol. However, she makes the mistake of telling Tommy about her idol. Worse off, Dean & Elaine literally see Janet showing Tommy the idol. Dean plans on using this information against them. He’s a snake!
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Elaine says that she’s going to win the game if she gets to the end, so she’s trying to make moves to prevent that. She tells Lauren that Tommy will go on a winning streak to the end. She plants the seed that Lauren will be targeted at the final 4 if all the boys get together. This paranoia causes a tense conversation where Tommy calls Lauren a “jealous girlfriend”. Tommy lies to her, but reveals that Lauren is the best player in the game and he can’t take her to the end. He then proves Elaine right but promising final 3 to Dean and Dan. What a gross fucking finale that would be, right?
Taking A Chance for the Jury
Dean is picked to go on what is possibly the last time we’ll see the island of the idols. We see Rob fishing and reveling in how natural it is for him to be back on the island living on his own. Dean arrives, and play pretends like he doesn’t know Rob & Sandra are there to meet him. He compares them to Michael Jordan and Serena Williams. Dean admits that the reason he betrayed Noura/Karishma/Elaine is because of his [fake] legacy advantage. He’s such an idiot. He toys around with the idea of asking the others to vote against him so that he can use his advantage. Sandra and Rob are utterly shocked by Dean in their confessionals.
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Dean’s test this episode is jury management. They give him a lesson on why this is important. If he wins his test, he will be able to choose an extra vote, idol nullifier or an immunity Idol that can’t be played for himself. What is the test ? A coin flip. Wow this is ridiculous and isn’t worth risking his vote in the F7. Rob snows him into taking the deal. In dramatic fashion, he wins the idol nullifier which he plans to use against Janet. This entire visit was stupid.
Not Looking Good For Elaine
Dean gets back and is nervous about how to craft his story time that he’s going to tell everyone. This late in the game, I find it to be really ridiculous that people are still telling fake stories. He lies to everyone about his results, but then pulls Tommy, Lauren and Dan aside to tell them the truth. Remember how Dean had the fucking nerve to call Karishma and Noura goats when he’s a goat himself?! Well, my opinion was confirmed by Tommy who calls Dean a total goat. But Tommy is reconsidering dragging Dean to the end after he sees how shady Dean can play the game. Elaine unfortunately loses the immunity challenge to Dean, and I roll my eyes. Dean is still very hot. He probably uses corn to wash his pretty face.
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Elaine is upset that sheisty Dean has won the latest immunity challenge, but she’s depending on her relationship with Lauren to hopefully make a move. Tommy says that Plan A is Elaine but Noura is a plan B in case an idol is played. Dan is supposedly the only one voting for Noura, but Lauren talks to Elaine about possibilities. She says tonight is the last chance for her to take control of a vote. She toys with the idea of teaming up with Janet to take Noura out. They’re worried about Noura being dragged to the end in place of them.
An Emotional Tribal Council
Tribal Council starts, and when Karishma walks in on the jury OMG BITCH! SHE BROUGHT GLAM TO FIJI! Reward your TV now and watch Karishma again. She did that! Okay, back to the drama. There is lots of discussion about flipping the game and the end being in sight. Elaine makes the case that because she’s a target, it helps other threats in the game stick around. She says if Noura remains in the game, that spot could push out people like Janet and Lauren. They both openly admit that Elaine is bringing up good points that have them reconsidering things.
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Elaine cries about how in real life, she feels like she’s always had rotten luck. She’s happy to have been brought into this game to learn about herself and have an adventure. Her mom only passed away 3 months ago, and she’s trying to not get lost in her thoughts. She doesn’t care about the money but just wants more time. Everyone hugs Elaine. Elaine says nothing should be taken for granted, and she’s learned that in the game. She’s probably going home, which makes me sad. Janet cries too as she gives Elaine a pep talk.
A SHOCKING CONCLUSION!
Jeff reads the votes: Elaine, Noura, Elaine, Noura, Elaine and Elaine is voted out 5-2. Lauren cries as she says sorry & goodbye. Jeff gives Elaine a hug. Sia better give her the money! What the fuck is going on, the episode is not over, and Jeff is walking to the beach!! He shares Dan Spilo has been removed from the game completely and will not be on the jury! “Dan was removed from the game after a report of ANOTHER incident, which happened off-camera and did not involve a player.” I thought this was behind us. I have SO many questions and need answers!! Comment down below…! If you like what I do here on the site, be sure to support me in my other ventures elsewhere on the internet!
P.S. Jeff Probst announced that due to the high pressure situation the reunion will not be live next week. It will be taped before a live audience four hours before it airs.
I love this show. Dan ruined it for me this season. Kelle’s tears on day 6 should’ve been enough. It was too much for me to handle. Now day 36, CBS does the right thing? At least my boycott is over with the sexual predator gone. Interested in how they’ll clean this up.
This is just sad on so many levels!
Oh. My. Gawd. Legit one of the best episodes ever! So much to unpack. An emotional roller coaster packed into one hour. I’ve literally been checking back waiting for this to be posted. Thank you Cho & TT for encouraging me to watch this season.
So much screen time of Rob and Sandra. Savored every scene with Rob. At least they’ll still be quietly chiming in at tribals.
Dean managed to make me dislike him even more. I finally latched onto a favorite in Elaine. Dean is a dumbass dbag. I was brought to tears with Elaine’s speech. Noura is batshit yet entertaining, yet she needs to go. “Tommy and his mommy”… Tommy is gonna screw Janet over. Karishma’s look was everything. I was sad but resigned at vote. Now I’m rethinking everything and have no favorite to pull for.
Then, BAM! Never a good thing when Jeff shows up at camp. The vanity card explaining what happened was pure gold. But now, like you, Cho, I have so many more questions! TT, purple pen update makes it even more dramatic. Has there ever been a finale taped and not live? Just WOW. SO MANY WOWs!
Still trying to process all of it.
Oh, and CBS can still eat shit and go fuck themselves. It’s bringing it all back for me. This is not Bravo and a stupid HW show. It’s a microcosm of our society and they’ve had enough practice with predators within their own executives to know that they should have taken it more seriously in the beginning. Hope the other networks are watching & scared too because it’s everywhere. Smh
Jeff says there will be ONE MORE TRIP TO THE ISLAND on the finale. I can’t wait.
More Rob?! Thank you for this! Made my day! Hubba hubba ? Now we just need Ozzy to show up and I will die happy! Lol!
Thank you for your comments! I’m thinking about doing an additional post with information about what is going on in the media after this latest episode. It’s a lot to wrap my head around.
Please do! I’m trying to figure it all out too…I’m disgusted with CBS.
Sorry for yet another comment, but do they still have AFP on Survivor, or am I confusing it with BB? It’s been a while and my memory not what it used to be. If so, how is that going to work with a taped finale?
There is no AFP on Survivor. HOWEVER SIA (the rich singer, SIA) often gives HER favorite player lots of money. I forget how much. Perhaps she will help Elaine out.
I just was commenting at same time lol. I had to google it and hope she gets it!
I don’t think she does it every season. She started it one year when there was this adorable Cambodian guy who would not let anyone eat Mark, the chicken. The guy and Mark went everywhere together. SIA is a big animal activist.
That is so great! Now I’m wanting to go back and watch the seasons I missed! I forgot how much I love this show.
There’s another person here in our community who has been going back and rewatching the older seasons. It would be great to see both of your reactions and compare and contrast!
Dan is a creepy pig. At the very least several women let producers/camera crew know in the first couple days. He should have been gone then. It will be interest to see how this affects future seasons.
It’s truly a disgusting display for multiple parties involved…
Oh, and Elaine should be brought back since Dan went.
I was wondering about that too because now there is a potential for a tie in the jury vote. I doubt that will happen though, BUT we are in unchartered territory here so who knows?
There was a tie between Dominic and Wendell in which they have the 3rd placer make the deciding vote.
But even MORE interesting about this situation is that Dan allegedly harassed a producer BEFORE tribal council. So there is cause for people being upset that they chose to expel him AFTER Elaine was voted out instead of ejecting him before and there being no tribal council.
I feel like they should as well. If not that, then the jurors should compete to get back into the game.
Look for Sia to reward Elaine!!
Elaine is about to get that Sia coin for sure!!
I had to google what the Sia thing is. Lol. But I’m with y’all. Fingers crossed! She really showed how a genuine person with grace behaves. She’s rare and I think she is a smarter than any of them gave her credit for. I found her extremely endearing.
Why does it take so much evidence before something is done with people like Dan?
My boss came to my hotel room during an out of town trip. drunk at 2 AM and I had to call security and this Fortune 50 company I work for did nothing except tell me that my boss would not be at the same location when we traveled.
I quit and he stayed until others came forward about his actions and he quit two years later. I so empathize with Kellee because you never win.
Can one of y’all post a link to her tweet for us old folks who don’t have social media? ? don’t hate me because I’m old lol
Sorry landed in wrong place! Ignore me, Hannah. It was for Cho!
https://twitter.com/kellee_kim/status/1204949876464742400/photo/1
Wow. Thanks or posting this.
I am so sorry that you’ve had experiences like this Hannah. 🙁
I hope that you’ve found an environment that is safe and respectful of you. I feel so bad for Kellee this season.
Why it it that the victim (which is normally a woman) is the one who gets fired or has to quit? I had HR come to me about my boss and 8 others in the department who he harassed in some form (age, race and sex). Mine was one of the worse. Did he get fired…NO. He found out what I said and waited almost 2 years to get rid of me all under a guise (layoff). I couldn’t even sue under a wrongful termination cause too much time went by. After 9 months I still looking for another job. Yes I am very bitter and angry. I am tired of this bs.
I’m absolutely horrified. I might do an additional post with updates on the fall out from this episode, including the issue surrounding the non-live finale. Kellee made a long tweet that I think is worth mentioning.
My reply Re: posting a link was supposed to go here not above. Sorry because, old, technologically challenged and excited.
I hate this season but I keep watching. I just knew there was more stuff on Dan. He was creepy from the beginning or at least CBS edited the show to make their case for ejecting him.
People magazine has an update on what Dan allegedly did to get ejected.
So here’s my question. Didn’t everyone know that Dan was gone already? I mean he wasn’t voted out at tribal and he wasn’t at camp. Didn’t they wonder where he went before Jeff visited the tribe??
The get pulled all the time to do those confessional interviews. They probably didn’t think much of it.
Ah yes. Forgot about the confessionals.
I wonder if they will even address this in the taped reunion since I’m sure Dan is ready to file suit for his damaged reputation. If they do it will be a quick mention in the intro and that’s it. I just have a feeling survivor will be settling this if it ever goes this far based on this guys client list and lost of potential income. I’m applaud at how the victims were essentially used for a ratings grab and that Dan may just win out from this. This issue should have been dealt with early on in the game and as many years as this show has been on isn’t there anything in their contracts about inappropriate touching grounds for immediate dismissal? This to me is a season of failures, no one to route for. Although I have enjoyed Noura’s crazy game play. The trio of Lauren, Tommy and Dean, yuk and most likely one of them will win. If CBS was trying to restore themselves buy making an example out of Dan, I feel as though they are just as culpable in this situation, by allowing him to stay in the game as long as they did. They had numerous on camera shots, and Kellee’s thoughts on this, why wasn’t this enough to begin with. Vet you’re contestants better Survivor. They are on a show to win money not by any means necessary!
This topic will consume most of the the reunion.
I can really only stomach a Janet or Lauren win at this point. And Lauren only if Janet can’t win. How about we just call it quits on this season. Dan leaving in this way just feels… worse than him remaining in the game. You know what I mean?
What happened to TT’s post about the “lawn boy”?
I deleted it because the comments were stressing me out. Everything is great with Lawn Kid. He got his first delivery of treats yesterday.
Good to hear!!!
YAY! All is good in the hood! ?❤️
PEOPLE has spoken to multiple people involved with the show’s production, who confirmed that the incident in question — which involved a member of the show’s production team — happened after an immunity challenge as Spilo and other contestants were getting into a boat to transport them back to the camp.
The incident was not caught on camera, but at least one other contestant witnessed it.
So they could not resolve the issued BEFORE tribal council? Even it if had to be delayed?
And another WOW. So basically they didn’t do anything until it affected one of their employees? Because you know that the contestants probably sign everything known to man to cover CBS’s ass. They suck. GRRRRRR ?
And even still they hesitated. Ugh.
Elaine should have stayed as far as I’m concerned!
Same! And you know they’re going to edit the shit out of a TAPED reunion.
The women should have voted out Dan or Tommy. Also, I don’t think CBS is taping the reunion because of the “high pressure situation,” but rather to be able to control the narrative and delete whatever they don’t want the viewers to hear regarding how the whole Dan thing was handled.
I definitely think they want to control the narrative utterly and completely, which I think is bullshit. They aren’t concerned with “the safety and comfort” of their contestants. If that were true, Dan would have been ejected from the game when they heard the FIRST woman complain about him, not the SIXTH!
I’m a tad bit incensed all over again!
I really don’t understand why it had to take a second person and who was apart of productions for them to finally do something. This could of all been avoided had they taken Kellee’s word. I hope the production member sues the hell out of CBS, they definitely have a case.
Cho- Great recap! I was sad to see Elaine go. She seemed very genuine. I guess I’m now rooting for Janet. I’m not sure if she has the ruthlessness to make big moves but I’m hoping she can. What bothers me the most about the entire Dan situation is that his young son was brought on the show. How will Dan explain his reason for leaving to his son and what kind of social backlash is going to fall on that kids shoulders?
If Dan’s life wasn’t ruined before, it’s definitely ruined now. I expect lawsuits. His poor innocent kid.
Janet definitely isn’t a “good player” in the traditional sense, but I’m 100% rooting for her. I think Lauren “deserves it” the most though. She has outplayed them all the most consistently. Tommy rode her coattails.
Which makes Dan twice as terrible. Someone close to me used to arrest people for soliciting minors on the internet. He arrested teachers, coaches, clergy, executives, military, all were trying to hook up with young boys and girls. Most of them were too arrogant to think they would ever be caught. Some of them were on suicide watch after their arrests. I am sick about the victims in this show, and in this time, in national television, they were still not heard. Taking him out would have not only changed the game but would have kept another person from being assaulted.
I was surprised Janet told Tommy about finding the idol, dammit Janet!! Super sad that Elaine (Elaine! Elaine!) got voted out, however I wish she didn’t have such an Eeyore attitude.
That was the worst thing she could do. I imagine her idol will be nullified by shady snake Dean.
I think Elaine’s attitude is simply a product of her circumstance in life. I don’t know her life story, but she does seem like an inspiration. She should use that energy to thrive instead of having self pity. But who am I to judge.
saw what you did there, Liz!
Yes! U get me
Production should of gotten rid of Dan the first week. I don’t like how they are handling this situation for the cast and the viewers.
I feel sorry for Dan’s son as well, I hope he will be okay. Since Dan was a problem from the beginning, production never should of allowed for his son to visit.
Dan tainted this season. It feels icky to watch or think about.
I wish Kellee and the other women on the show well. They shouldn’t of had to put up with Dan from the beginning.
I also feel sorry for the men because they didn’t witness whatever happened and will be aligned with Dan forever.
The entire cast (besides Dan) was there to play Survivor, what they weren’t there for is to be #metoo victims. It really is disgusting how all of this was handled.
Really gross. I have few words to describe how I feel. There are sadly no winners this season no matter the outcome.
I agree about calling it quits with this season. Glad there is only the finale left. Secretly, I don’t want a woman to win this slimy season. I think the only one who could handle winning is Janet b’c she seems to handle high stress situations. And Noura being Noura could handle it.
This is all too much and the cast didn’t sign up for this. I actually feel bad for the winner who will be known as the winner of the Creepy Dan incident. I will never go back and watch this season ever!! I need to erase it from my mind.
And, I wasn’t sure if it was true b’c production didn’t remove him!! I am so mad at production to do this to Kellee.
The loser in all of this is Dan’s son who got to come to the island and then…
I just feel badly for everyone who dreamed of being on Survivor and now no matter who wins… this what their season is known for…
It’s going to be Dean, Tommy and probably Noura as the usual female Goat in the final three. I wish it was not true and the women would bond together.. but that will not happen. The past three or for seasons it is 2 guys and some female they think they can beat.
I wasn’t really a fan of Elaine’s until tonight. I was hoping that Nora was going instead. I still do not think it was fair that she left even though Dan got kicked off. She should be brought back. I do think they (the powers that be) should of waited until after tribal council to get rid of Dan.
I’d have to rewatch prior episode, but didnt the other women, except kellee, leave janet hanging when she tried to confront the Dan situation.? That was very lame.
Dean absolutely a weasel.
Thank you Cho and TT. What a season. Certainly not boring since episode one through apparently the end.
I have no idea how this will end. (I never do, lol)
I really liked Sandra and Rob, and how the players really played hard. A lot of serious decisions made at tribal council.
You know it doesn’t really help that this guy is a Hollywood producer that looks a lot like Weinstein and also apparently represents young women.
So supposedly the off camera incident was witnessed by at least one of the contestants in the boat back to camp from the immunity challenge according to People Magazine article. This information seems vaguely familiar from the vanity card that was shown but I can’t remember because I was so stunned when I watched it. This is going to factor into the game play if true. I’m dying to know who it was and how the contestants react to the information. This also reinforces why CBS is not doing a live finale. Major damage control. As TT said, uncharted territory indeed! I want to re-watch it to see if it actually said that but alas, my fucking cable is out AGAIN.
The vanity card is quoted in the recap. No mention of a player seeing the incident. The news came from one of People’s sources.
Thanks for clarifying. Sorry if I broke rules by mentioning the article. I have about 3 brain cells left. Taking a break from commenting until I can recharge because I have no business putting anything in a public forum. Apologies.