Because life is too short to watch all the clips CBS posts each week, I’m here to let you know which ones are worth your time (because apparently, my life is not too short). In addition, I’ll offer analysis of what these extra insights might mean for the game.

As you’d expect in a two show night, lots of videos to get through this week (in fact, I’ll confess: I may have skipped a Rodney or Dan video or two). Which ones actually imparted information that may be useful? Read on…

Birthday I Won’t Forget

Will is touched that his tribemates remembered and celebrated his birthday.

Analysis: Watch this video and remember it later when you’re asking why Will refuses to flip on Jenn/Hali/Joe at a later stage of the game. Dude is choked up. Obviously, a lot of that is how emotions run high when you’re out there, especially in relation to things outside of the game. But as long as they don’t try and flip on him at any point before final four, it’s pretty clear that their thoughtfulness has completely solidified Will as an alliance-partner whereas he may not have been otherwise. This is basically the polar opposite of what the blue collar tribe did with Sierra.

Secret Scene: Annoying Shirin

Jenn goes off on Shirin in a confessional (again). She needs her to stop existing for awhile.

Analysis: If you thought the Survivor editors oversold the “Max and Shirin are annoying meme”, it’s only because there was so much footage to work with. This was theme of about 8-10 different bonus scenes this week. Last week, we posited on the podcast that the problem with Shirin’s monkey sex story was its audience, and that Jenn and Hali would’ve been far more interested. This video shows that we didn’t know what the fuck we were talking about. Apparently, graphic tales of animal fornication just aren’t as big of bonding tools for near strangers as you’d think they might be. Note: the other secret scene this week was also about a tribe talking about things about Shirin that annoy them.

They Became the Enemy

Hali shares her opinions on Shirin and Max and their behaviour around camp.

Analysis: Just in case you thought that was just another example of Jenn being (an awesomely) terrible person, here’s Hali talking about how odd and poorly integrated Max and Shirin are. This thing was never close folks. Both Kelly and Carolyn flocked over to Jenn, Hali, and Will. Of note, Hali remarks on the genius of Max and Shirin’s strategy sessions in the middle of camp. Like, when everyone was there watching.

They’re Going to be Shocked

Kelly details her thinking going into Tribal Council. She seems to feel pretty good about her decision.

Analysis: You know what? Maybe it’s not Max and Shirin’s fault. Maybe it’s Carolyn’s. And Joaquin’s. And Tyler’s. And Jenn’s. And Hali’s. Let’s see what Kelly has to say: “I guess our vote tonight is about who is the most annoying at this certain time of the game”. Alrighty then. (Oh, and if you’re wondering, yes there is a video where Will talks about being annoyed by them too).

Carolyn Feels Strongly

Tyler details how Carolyn wants to vote out Max first.

Analysis: A big question coming out of the episode is why did the tribe choose to vote out Max over Shirin? I think this pre-swap scene offers some potential answers to that one. Carolyn wanted Max gone more than she wanted Shirin gone. In fact, she might even blame Max for Shirin’s bad behaviour. So it’s possible that the in the coin toss that was “which of these annoying weirdos do we vote out”, they ended up going the way Carolyn wanted them to go.

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Andy is glad that his citizenship prevents him from ever having to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to discussing Survivor. Instead, he’ll just wonder why his glass walls keep shattering around the house. You can follow him on twitter @andy_sayers in order to follow all the back chatter between he and the main Purple Rock twitter account usually run by John.