Interview With Jeff

 

EW: We heard Dan say some pretty harsh things to Shirin this episode even though they were not even in an argument and she had not betrayed him or anything. He professes himself to be a huge super-fan, but why would a super-fan be so blind as to purposefully antagonize someone he may later be asking for a million dollar vote? What was your take on this whole situation and when contestants seem to forget their end game?

JEFF PROBST: It’s interesting how you put this—”being a super-fan…”—because on the surface you’re right, a “super-fan” would know not to pick a fight, especially with a potential jury member. But Survivor is tricky because it strips you of all facade. It ultimately doesn’t matter how you want to come across, or if you’re a massive student of the game. If you last long enough, the truth of who you are will come out. I think Dan is probably going to hear from a few fellow “super-fans” that he is coming across as a bit of a bully. Dan has a very strong personality with lots of opinions. When you are put in this kind of pressure cooker with a million dollar prize, everything is heightened. I would guess that the longer Dan lasts, the more chance for this to happen again.
What did you think of Joe’s move to share the idol clue with Tyler—which eventually gave the idol to Mike? Do you think that was smart to try to build some trust with a potential swing vote, or should he have read that to himself solo and then maybe spoken to Tyler after he found it? 
First of all, can we just take note of the brilliant placement of the note… in a bottle… and the equally impressive coverage by our camera teams to catch the note moving from the bottle to his note. Yes, I know it’s me saying it, but that’s pretty good.  Okay, to your question:  It’s such a tough call to armchair quarterback this one since Joe knew that Tyler saw the note. Those are really gut calls in the moment. Joe was playing the long game, hoping to turn a complicated situation of “I have an idol note but someone knows and could screw it up” into  “Let’s partner up and keep it between the two of us.”  It’s one of the many reasons Survivor continues to work—the game changes in an instant. That scenario could have gone a different way with Tyler and Joe forming a new alliance and that would have changed the game.  You never know what is going to happen—you just have to follow your instinct in the moment.
I know viewers often wonder about what sort of instructions the players are given in terms of a puzzle challenge like this when somebody calls out that they think they have the correct answer. Are they told to immediately stop working? And, if so, are they free to keep studying their puzzles while you look over the alleged winner, even if they cannot physically move anything? 
It varies depending on the particulars of a challenge, but as a general rule, yes, they are told “If you think you have it, yell out and step back on your mat. And everybody else stop working.” In some cases, we have them turn their backs. We did not do that in this case so yes, they could have still been studying their puzzle during the time it took me to see that Dan did not have it. Twice. How much fun was that to watch? Ah, sometimes we just get lucky!!
Okay, give us a tease for next week, sir.
To get to the end, so many things have to go your way. When they don’t, it’s desperate times… desperate measures. Another great episode coming your way!