[Dean Kowalski]

Hope that you've gotten acclimated to this new environment. If it's anything to look forward to, you're almost to the half-way point now in terms of the number of players remaining! Let's get to the questions.

1. What the fuck. I think that's safe to say that was a wild tribal council you Cretans had. Four different people had their name written down at least once, an idol was played negating Stephanie's votes, Jessica and Taylor got exposed for IM'ing each other when it still wasn't time to do so, it ended in a tie vote and James gets sent packing on the revote. With that synposis out of the way, walk us through it. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Did you play any part in the vote or not? Was this something that you wanted to see happen? What are your overall feelings after tribal council?
2. You can now see all 40 people on the memory wall, including people who have been eliminated, past and present. 2 people went home tonight on the Crete and Rhodes tribes. How do you react to these people leaving? How much will that affect your game moving forward? (You can also tell who went by seeing the "loser" role)
3. Tomorrow, 2 tribes are going to tribal council and an additional 2 people will leave. Are you planning to help your tribe win the challenge tomorrow, or are you not against throwing it? Do you have a game plan for the vote is in case you do lose the challenge?
4. Because you've now had a little bit of time to adjust to your new tribemates, how about some new trust rankings? Where do you see everyone at now? Feel free to give trust rankings to just your tribe, or to the full cast of all 3 tribes if you want!

[Taylor]

Q: What the fuck. I think that's safe to say that was a wild tribal council you Cretans had. Four different people had their name written down at least once, an idol was played negating Stephanie's votes, Jessica and Taylor got exposed for IM'ing each other when it still wasn't time to do so, it ended in a tie vote and James gets sent packing on the revote. With that synposis out of the way, walk us through it. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Did you play any part in the vote or not? Was this something that you wanted to see happen? What are your overall feelings after tribal council?

What a wild DAY really. I'm still in shock that the tables were completely flipped. Ngl, I got home from a few post work drinks and I was a little tipsy. I start chatting and these people weren't even hiding the fact that it was either me or Jess on the line. James says it's basically me going, so I give him my pitch that I'm at the very least good for challenges on the tribe (yes, scary thing to admit, but it's back to a tribal game and winning means no tribal), but he returns with "the plan is already in motion", a very kind go fuck yourself and I really do respect that. I'd rather get that than nothing at all in return. At this point, it looks like all is lost. No one is talking to me, writing is on the wall and my only option is to vote for Jess and hope more go on her.

THEN, God of the Idols, Mr. Wendell drops an IDOL in Jay's inbox for this tribal and that's when Jay and I go to work... and everyone else around us. Jay and I are debating how to play this idol and who to take out with it. Then James drops into my IM asking if I'm willing to make a big move - which I just assumed was going to be Jay and it turns out to be... STEPHANIE!? WHAT!!!!????? Meanwhile, Jay and I are sharing any and all info. James claims to have Morgan, Bradley, Jay, Jess and I for a solid 6 votes. So naturally, Jay and I weigh all our options. We could go with this plan and hope that Bret is pissed off and its 4 v 3 after. We could use the idol on Steph and split - 3 x Steph, we put 3 on James and the other 2 on Jess/Me. OR we could leak the plan to Stephanie and completely break up this alliance.  We decide minutes before tribal to leak the vote, Jay is closer to Steph and takes the bullet.  EASY pitch to Steph, your allies are flipping the vote on you and we have a chance to take out a big threat. We split the vote on James and Morgan, done.  I have about a minute or 2 to loop in Jess on the vote, she HATES Steph, so that fell flat... but hey, at least she wasn't blindsided by my vote.

At Tribal, Jay plays his idol for Stephanie, and if you told that was going to happen when we got the idol in the first place, I'd laugh in your face.

Vote is tied and in the revote it was very clearly James going home, the leader of the pact.

From what we believed was a solid 5 person alliance vs. 3 person ended in only 1 vote getting cast on Jess (none on Jay or I). And that alliance completely in tatters. Abso-fucking-mazing!!!

As the tribe saw, Jess was LOSING it when she saw the idol played and started to frantically message me. I really shouldn't have responded, that's totally my fault, but the pings were coming in hot. But she was pissed that not only did Jay (and I) not tell her about the idol, but that it would also be used to save the 1 person she despises. Post Tribal, when it was ok to do so, I walked her through the decision and I although I know she's not a fan of it, I think she understands that this is better for our game. Or at least gives us a chance at success, where Stephanie going home left a solid 3 still in the game. And a solid 3 not named Jay, Jess and Tay.

Yes, that was a long story, but there was a lot that happened.

At the end of the day, James wasn't going home and he provided us with an opportunity to expose his game and turn the tables. Wendell's idol was also a gamechanger in giving us the tools to pull off a split vote.

As much as I really enjoyed talking to James and I feel like I would have worked with him had we met earlier, he had clear control over 2 other votes. I feel like I did enough work to build some trust with him, or he wouldn't have considered turning on his own ally.  In the end, I just felt like Morgan would be easier to work with moving forward than James. James was going to return a hot mess and that could be a scary thought.

James, I heard you played an incredible game and I really feel bad that you have that 23 next to your name, because you're at least a 12 in my books <3

LET'S GO!!!! TAY HAS BEEN GIVEN A LIFELINE!

[Taylor]

Q: You can now see all 40 people on the memory wall, including people who have been eliminated, past and present. 2 people went home tonight on the Crete and Rhodes tribes. How do you react to these people leaving? How much will that affect your game moving forward? (You can also tell who went by seeing the "loser" role)

A: Can you stop reminding me that we doubled the cast without our consent?!

It's really weird to know that there are currently 12 people in this game that I've never met and 11 of them I haven't even competed against. Like that blows my mind because I feel like I've played half of a game already (oh wait, I have...). This game just feels like it has restarted, but with players that I already know and some that I can't stand. So it's going to get interesting. How do I react to these people leaving? James leaving makes me stoked, it gives me new life. JD leaving is just a person gone, like we have no connection at all, he's just a picture on the memory wall and it's one step closer to the next swap and merge.

[Taylor]

Q: Tomorrow, 2 tribes are going to tribal council and an additional 2 people will leave. Are you planning to help your tribe win the challenge tomorrow, or are you not against throwing it? Do you have a game plan for the vote is in case you do lose the challenge?

A: Toughie, because being a challenge threat is coming into play already, when it really shouldn't. But yeah, I would love to win, guarantee Top 20 and get the night off.  But if we go to tribal council, as it stands RIGHT NOW I'm caught in the middle of 2 alliance options and as good as that is, it's won't be good after the vote.

On one hand Jess is starting to understand the game and is working Morgan and Bradley to vote out Bret and on the other side Jay, Steph and Bret want to team up to take out one of the others.  So yeah, people are talking, I need to find my place here and do so without taking the target.

[Taylor]

Q: Because you've now had a little bit of time to adjust to your new tribemates, how about some new trust rankings? Where do you see everyone at now? Feel free to give trust rankings to just your tribe, or to the full cast of all 3 tribes if you want!

A: Trust is a fickle bitch and my allies are starting to distrust eachother, which is going to make this hard to maneuver. I'm a social player, so now my balancing act begins.  Here is my trust ranking as of now:



1. JAY - he's my ride or die, we talk everything through. However, I'm not a fan of who he wants to align with. Steph and Bret are not my cup of tea, they're not as open or fun to talk to. But, they're also meat shields that could help me take targets away from me. But Jay's judgement on these people has me questioning and I'm not ashamed to admit that I've started to think of when would be a good time to cut him. Not yet though, he knows he has my vote and if he thinks I'm his follower, I'll let him think that for now.

2. JESS - Ugh, I honestly love this person so much. In the back of my mind, I'm always afraid of getting played like a fiddle. Either way, I love this character so much and I want to do anything and everything for her. The only reason Jess is #2 is because she's a wildcard, I feel for her and I really will do anything I can to help her in this game. There could be a time that she will need to be cut and I know this will break her completely, but our games may not completely align... I can see Jay losing patience, and I really don't want to make a call between these 2, this "early".

3. JACOB / 4. WENDELL - Wendell sending that idol was absolute clutch, it took out one of their nemesis and it was a huge gesture in trust. The only way we were getting that idol is if they were feeling comfortable on the new Gyaros tribe, so this is good news I hope.

5. MORGAN - I really like Morgan, she's super fun to talk to. We talked after tribal, she feels completely lost and I could relate, I felt that hours before and I explained my vote, I was given a lifeline and needed to take it and she completely understood (albeit, to my face, I know she'll never truly forget). But, she's in need of a lifeline herself right now and I'm down to give that to her. She no longer has James and I'd be down with being 'New James'.

6. BRET - He's high because the others are somehow getting a few more knocks in my world. We were on a tribe together for a week, then swapped and just last night he asked what I like to do. Like... we were aligned on the previous tribe and he's only asking NOW. Get a social game dude, lol.  But yeah, I cannot trust this guy at all and I'm shocked that Jay is so willing to trust him. I'd much rather team up with Jess, Morgan and Brad and just dispose of this guy.

7. STEPHANIE - She's kinda fun, she's super sassy which is fun, but I'm really over the jokes about the time I voted her out... like girl, almost everyone on our tribe has voted for you once! Is this your personality now? Because if it is, I don't want it.

8. RACHEL - I feel like I've forgotten who she is or what she does haha.

9. BRADLEY - He's this low because we've talked the least. There's definitely a route in this game where we could be working together and probably after ONE good convo, he'll move above Rachel at least.

[Taylor]

Really?! arbresculpteamatala

REALLY!?

[Taylor]

Dang, I realllllly liked Morgan in this game, but we connected far too late in this game. And they turn on JESS!? Poor Jess is just getting a beating this game.  I did give her a heads up before the vote that I was voting Morgan, sucks that the 2 other people she trusted turned on her. But respectful attempt.

Good game Morgan!