Survivor: David vs. Goliath Bonus Content Roundup – Week 5

Purple Rock Brad

Brad shares the best bonus scenes from the previous episode of Survivor: Bush v. Gore.

This Week In Secret Scenes

“The Brochachos”

I’m including this clip because it’s the Secret Scene. But there’s really nothing new here. Watch it to see the juxtaposition of Christian doing pull-ups and then literally almost get knocked over by a stiff wind.

Stiff winds like these come from increasingly violent ocean storms, which states like Florida and Virginia are very accustomed to. In 2000, George W. Bush won Florida’s electoral votes over Al Gore by a margin of a 1,784 votes, which is equivalent to almost exactly one-tenth of the attendance at an average NBA game in the 2017-18 season. Or if you don’t like sports, equivalent to the audience, cast, and crew of the Broadway premiere of Hamilton in 2015. In 2017, Shelly Simonds tied David Yancey exactly in her bid for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, losing the race after film canisters were picked out a bowl. That random drawing tipped the legislature in the favor of the Republicans, 51-49. What I’m getting at is that your vote matters up and down the ticket, so don’t rationalize your desire to not vote by claiming that your state isn’t purple. It is of the utmost importance that you vote, as well as anyone else who can fit in your car (if you have one) as you drive to your polling place.

This Week In Confessionals

“In Spirit, I Am Voting For Natalie. But On Paper, I Am Voting For Lyrsa”

I literally cannot imagine starting this week’s post with any confessional other than this one. If you were contemporaneously at all aware of this tweet:

then you were probably also aware of this clip a few days ago. But to recap for those who don’t follow the extratextuals, Angelina says that she voted for Lyrsa, despite knowing that she was voting with the losing side, so that she could try to get Natalie’s jacket. And this confessional is evidence that this claim is more than the usual retrospective bluster that comes from players months after the fact.

While Angelina’s vote certainly didn’t help ingratiate her with the rest of the tribe who she voted against and now must move forward in the game with, is her point actually a good one? We all know Survivor is brutal; would another layer to protect against the pouring rain and the chilling temperatures help Angelina take her mental/strategic/social game to the next level? Was the benefit of possibly getting a jacket and all the relief thereafter against the risk losing her tribemates’ trust enough to make this a good vote for Angelina?

Votes are important yet difficult things to cast as there are so many factors to weigh. This is true not only in Survivor but also in America today; to research your ballot and where all of your candidates stand on the issues, visit ballotready.org.

“I Knew There Was Something Going On”

Lyrsa lived in Puerto Rico for 35 years and has toughed out hurricanes and tropical storms before. She thus has experience in how to prep for an evacuation, and it sounds like she was able to give valuable direction to her tribe to maximize what remained of the camp after the storm. Even so, this experience helped her gain perspective and build connections to her home as she was not in Puerto Rico for Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

3000 people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria due to the Trump Administration’s lack of a response to the storm. The irresponsibility of this administration turned a disaster into a tragedy and the third deadliest hurricane in America history. On top of this, tragedies such as the death of Heather Heyer, the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Louisville Kroger shooting, and the domestic terrorism of the MAGA Bomber have become exponentially common as their perpetrators are emboldened by the rhetoric of and (lack of) response from the President. If you want to elect a Congress that could provide a necessary (though not sufficient) check on this President, check to see if your state allows for early voting or mail voting to make sure that your voice as a citizen will be heard.

“My Jaw Hits The Floor”

So when the Orange tribe walks in without Natalia, everyone was shocked, Goliaths and Davids alike. When there is no conversation about what had happened, the first thought for Alison is that an idol was played. But she also sees how Alec and/or Kara could be swayed to break from the Goliaths based on Natalia’s personality. What’s interesting here is that Alison says she respects them if the latter was the case as she would like to make a similar move. Her motto of “Play like you’re playing for your second time” is an interesting one, and it’s a strategy that I think could benefit her or potentially get her booted at the merge because she’s trying to play a step higher than where everyone else is at.

Alison definitely doesn’t want to run an old-school tribe-first playbook, and she wants to try things that other castaways aren’t considering as options. Many voters stick to the conventional option of voting on Election Day, but if your state allows for early voting, check to see where you might be able to early vote today. You’ll skip the lines and guarantee that your ballot has been cast, and that’s the best thing for your own game, not anyone else’s.

“You Can’t Get Too Far Ahead”

Mike isn’t the most fascinating character in this cast, not by a long shot. But I wonder if that’s something that goes in his favor. He’s a low profile player who will step back and let the bigger dogs fight when he can. When he can’t (like when there are only five people on a beach), he’s shown that he’ll step up and cast a vote that will rock the boat a little. And he’s resisted being lumped into larger tribal alliances from the arbitrary divisions at the start of the game. More over, he’s trying to “play the day as it lays.” I really want to resist directly comparing this strategy to Queen Sandra’s “As Long As It Ain’t Me,” but this is more like that strategy than not. So might Mike White be the new David Wright? (In terms of outcomes and narrative, David is still, as of this moment, the better character).

There are just so many minute factors that can change the game on a dime, and that’s why Mike is putting the first things first. Make sure that you put the first things first by not just knowing how you’ll be voting before you step into the booth but by knowing where your booth is located. Find your Election Day polling place here.

This Week In Gifable Moments

When you and your partner are at a party and are having a good time but then you hear the words, “I mean, it doesn’t really matter if I don’t vote.”


When a Republican candidate promises that he’ll keep the insurance protections for pre-existing conditions while he’s currently suing to repeal the exact same protections.


When someone tries to equate yelling at Ted Cruz while he’s eating a plate of spaghetti with shipping pipe bombs through the mail.

When you swap your spooky Halloween subtitle of Survivor: Freddy vs. Jason out for another that’s more in line with the theme of your post and then have to decide what you’ll do with the first subtitle.

When someone tries to play the Powerball odds by purchasing 500,000 distinct combinations.

Thanks to Barbara Anderson and ItAFuckingStick for their efforts on this week’s post!