Stephen Fishbach
@stephenfishbach
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2x Survivor loser. Pushcart Prize and Story Foundation Prize-winning writer. Host of the Paraphrase podcast. Your retweets of me are endorsements.
Washington DC
Joined February 2009
I played Dynamite by BTS so much during my wife's third trimester that it's now one of the best ways to soothe our baby.
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maryanne's best #survivor move was her amazing final tribal council performance, truly up there with the all-time best final tribals ever.
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#Survivor. Unbelievable to watch Tony win this season. He was the one guy nobody thought could do it, and then he played one of the best games ever against the best cast ever. He started off by trying to control himself, and then ended up controlling the game. What a ride.
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what I miss about the old-school #survivor reunion format .a) seeing everyone in their fancy clothes.b) hearing how people are integrating their experience into their real lives.c) weird moments. I don't need to hear yet again how to pull off a blindside or how much they the show.
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One of the most surprising things about moving to DC is how passionately the people here love Walgreens.
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No matter what happens from here (and I assume he wins), Jesse is playing one of the top #survivor games of all time.
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#survivor . 100% support @SandraDTwine's decision. Makes zero sense for her to suffer and wreck her body for a month only to lose a challenge against some of show’s best competitors. Who cares about optics – she has nothing to prove to anyone!.
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#survivor finale prediction - sue vs Rachel in fire making. Sue scrapes the soot from her face she’s been saving all season, whoosh her fire ignites. Soot-faced Sue sweeps to victory with the most out of the box big move in survivor history.
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Last 10 minutes of tonight's #Survivor episode should have been a montage of Sandra sipping mai tai's by herself at luxury resorts throughout the South Pacific.
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The frustrating thing about #survivor mergeatory is that Venus was totally right, she shouldn't just gratefully go along with the vote while the self-annointed power players generously spare her until next week. In a pre-41 season that would be bad gameplay, and she'd have the.
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Devastated to hear about Keith Nale passing. Hard to think of a purer spirit on Survivor. He was always a delight, had great humor, told hilarious stories and found so much joy in life. We were never once aligned but he couldn’t have been nicer. He taught me to pluck a chicken.
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This is the funniest scene in modern #survivor. “What do you mean people like us,” Carolyn fully ascending to legend status.
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#survivor.the way maryanne presented her unplayed idol was far more impactful than any actual 'move' - she gave it dramatic significance and made it powerful in the jury's eyes.
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#Survivor. Tony doesn't really answer the jury's questions. He just sets up his funny stories of all his wacky strategic antics. Kind of a brilliant FTC strategy.
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My controversial #survivor opinion is that hot people make the best players. Hot people are more willing to take risks (for good or ill), they're more confident (for good or ill) are often more socially astute & physically fit. We need to go back to hot person Survivor!
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Assuming Maryanne wins #survivor, she’ll have one of my favorite winner edits ever - complex, showing her worst and best qualities, not just highlighting her as a flawless strategic god.
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absolutely unhinged that #survivor wasn't even nominated for the outstanding reality competition Emmy, and in fact has NEVER won, despite airing two breathtakingly beautiful, meticulously-crafted seasons every year of 20 humans baring their souls in the world's greatest game.
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If you count the legal votes, I easily won Survivor. If you count the illegal votes, then JT won. I won massive victories with Sandy, Spencer, Sydney, and Carolina. If you count the votes that came in late - Brendan, Tyson, Sierra, Taj, Debbie, Coach and Erinn - then JT won.
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Serious kudos to the #survivor production team for turning what looked like a runaway into a tense battle. I still think Rachel wins but that tribal council felt CLOSE.
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By not voting at all, rachel gets to .- not betray her ally Sierra (first juror, a decisive role).- not betray her ally Sam (still in game).- not be on wrong side of votes and alienate potential new ally Gabe (still in game). Very elegant . #survivor.
Do we think Rachel knew where the votes were going and played the shot to avoid voting? (I think that) And also to get a read on the other players to see if they were sweatin’ . She’s a very smart player. #survivor.
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facebook message I got from a 12-year old fan right after the #survivor tocantins finale. i think the only three people rooting for me were this guy and my parents. wherever you are now, whatever ladders life's forced you to climb, i'm so grateful for this.
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Say what you will about #Survivor, but NO other show on television has the audacity to spend 10 minutes of its premiere talking about how great it is!.
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#survivor. Only 3 women have won in the last 15 seasons. All 3 of them were in the final 4 last night. Their relative placement was the order in which they played.
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THE signature challenge of #Survivor is - how do you vote someone out in such a way that they'll vote for you to win. Chris never had to deal with that.
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"If you want to talk about classic #Survivor, then it's surviving 39 days. It's not getting voted out on day 8 and coming back on day 35." . My guy @gavin_whitson bringing the fire!.
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The #survivor loved ones visit is a reminder that no matter how tough the contestants look on screen, they’re really all a bunch of loser crybabies.
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100% chance there’s a #survivor confessional next week from Q claiming this was all strategy. Whether we believe him is a different question….
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This is somehow back and it’s only been like a month. i hope to some day meet my doppeldancer so we can have an epic dance off ending with the absolute collapse of the cartilage in my knees.
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"I didn't want to use me winning rice for the tribe as any sort of currency - however I will do this at literally every opportunity." #survivor.
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finally watching the #survivor finale - if liz went back and counted Kenzie's puzzle holes that would be one thing, but when she physically picks up the puzzle plank, and Jeff lets it fly, that is some bulls---.
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Jackson, everyone watching #survivor was so touched by your story. You were out there for only 2 days but made such an enduring impact. Thanks for sharing your vulnerability with all of us.
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is Cirie the most universally loved reality TV contestant ever? Who else even is in competition? incredible to be so good at deceiving lying and backstabbing and still be so beloved.
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cannot understand how that #survivor final 5 vote happened. zero coordination between anybody? Everyone left in the game was like "last vote of the game but eff it, you do you?".
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Okay I'm 80% on Rachel winning #survivor but is It TOO obvious? Like she's already been declared victor if she gets to the final 3 AND supposedly the best fire maker. Is next episode a coronation? Where's the drama from an edit POV? Is there 20% Sam chance to win?.
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There’s something that rubs me slightly the wrong way about the #survivor fake idol being something that production made. There should be some way for contestants to be able to see through it. Removes strategy/ agency from the players - why wouldn’t they believe it’s real?.
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This anti-mask movement is really the next level in societal idiocy. I thought anti-vaxxers were moronic but there IS something mysterious about injecting a strange substance into your child's body. Masks are literally putting a thin piece of fabric on your face.
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Do we think Rachel knew where the votes were going and played the shot to avoid voting? (I think that) And also to get a read on the other players to see if they were sweatin’ . She’s a very smart player. #survivor.
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why do you literally force me to repost this?
But would you quit survivor?Just kidding I know you’re not a quitter! You just get very emotional! Poor baby! ….
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When I was on Tocantins, #survivor was simple. We stuck with our allies. Splitting a vote seemed wildly complex . The Reba 4, the most-successful new era group, dominated by sticking w their allies and not splitting votes. Players have galaxy brained their way into bad strategy.
I think we have to collectively acknowledge that the #survivor player in new era player has a higher baseline skill level than the players in the old era. I mean from an ability to study and prepare alone.
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my unspoiled #survivor prediction for boot order, tell me why I'm wrong:.- Jaime tonight.- Lauren (first finale boot hence her invisibility) .- Carson (fire loss, we all know it's coming).- Heidi (0 votes?).- Carolyn (under appreciated goddess).- YamYam, icon legend winner.
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Hilarious that we exhausted ourselves trying to deduce Q’s hidden strategy and in his first confessional he’s like “yeah I was trying to quit.”. #survivor.
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I'm sure it's been said before but it's truly remarkable that in all 5 of @BostonRob's times playing #Survivor he managed to get every single different possible placement: .- Pre-merge (S20).- Merge but not jury (S4).- Juror (S40).- Runner up (S8).- Winner (S22).
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I think they introduced fire to save contestants like Gabler from being voted out at the final 4 by contestants like Jesse. #survivor.
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This from @TonyVlachos73 is a fantastic tweak that would help balance against the traitors being infinitely replaced as the game progresses.
Totally cosign this from Tony when it comes to the current #TheTraitorsUS game mechanic not forcing people to guess who they REALLY think is a Traitor. Full interview at the link:
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Honestly Jon Lovett was so good I can see #survivor bringing him back as a dark horse on season 50, and those contestants (having been exposed a bit to the media circus) will have the good sense to suck up to him.
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Potentially unpopular #survivor opinion - they should give people medical care, keep them on game-state food, and let them return to the game if/when they’re ok. Especially given that Randen didn’t have a spinal injury - they could have given him an MRI and brought him right back.
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can we talk about the sublime hilarity of Aysha getting saved a spot in the dominant Red alliance bc she podcasts on RHAP but people targeting Jon Lovett? #survivor.
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For what it's worth, this seems like a #survivor challenge that a 6'4 goliath with incredible wingspan could have been really useful for.
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wild that this guy is only 24. so mature, thoughtful and generous. #survivor.
Sam reacting to Teeny’s takedowns. Imagine being this classy while talking to a guy wearing a Jankie World t-shirt. Full @Sam_Phalen interview at the link:
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I’ve been waiting for someone to pull this move off since i was on the show. Can’t believe we were so close to finally seeing it.
I’m not a millionaire. I said that to minimize my threat level and to make folks take me less seriously. It worked until it didn’t. I’m actually a single mom supporting three households on just my income. That’s one of the bombs I was planning on dropping at FTC.
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"mike played a more obviously strategic game but he didn't explain it in exactly the terms I wanted" is a pretty frustrating thing to tell a guy who just lost a million bucks #survivor.
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Upon reflection I think Andy's choice to explain to Rachel his #survivor game was actually smart and, short of her idol, potentially game-winning. He knows the jury doesn't respect him, but you can't just show up on day 26, make a bunch of big claims and expect them to buy it.
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I don't know who needs to hear this, but trying to steal a vote can end disastrously for you.
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did we discount Gabler bc he was GABLER? The kooky older guy in camo? If it was a younger, handsomer person would more people have been attuned to him?. On the other hand, I still can't get over him waking up his tribe to forcibly cover them in palm fronds. #survivor.
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Interesting that even though Teeny literally ~never~ gets their way, they're still consistently shown as being strategic, empathetic, and a big player. #survivor.
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I think we may be in the 'handsome bro' era of #Survivor. Austin, Kaleb are playing the game better than anyone. There's no premium on nerds anymore. No nerd edge. What are the nerds even bringing to the table other than anxiety and meta-analysis?.
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Two weeks ago, Danny played an idol for Frannie. The following week, he leaves her out of the vote. Now he's trying to vote her out. Great use of an idol. A+. #survivor.
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#survivor.Chanelle 5 minutes ago: "I absolutely cannot lose my vote. I'm in a split tribe where one of my allies already has lost his vote. My vote is crucial to this moment.".Chanelle RN: "Eh, f*ck it.".
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My summary of this #Survivor season. "Joe, Aubry, Kelley, David."."Devens." ."Devens Devens."."Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens Devens".“Chris!”.
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What's interesting about the "nobody cheers when I chop coconuts" thing is - Jon Lovett confirmed Andy was correct. Everybody else was vibing. He was on the outside. It sounds ridiculous when you say it aloud, but he correctly discerned his position by a small behavior #survivor.
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Great way to make a predictable boot absolutely emotionally fraught. Awesome job #survivor, what a misdirect.
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FOUR. #survivor.
@Theshanepowers If i'm a producer, and I see three people get blindsided back-to-back with idols in their pockets, i'm definitely thinking - why not four?.
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This was rob’s smart observation in our podcast - that gabler won by arguing he was everybody’s sidekick and lil buddy, whereas Cassidy’s argument rested on her agency which threatened the jury’s self-perception.
@stephenfishbach The more I digest and read I think that jury felt a little bitter/bro-y/eager to assert their importance on a game they think they’d have won. I think a minimum of 4 believed they could’ve won vs. anyone and were salty that they were no longer the main character.
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Kane seems like a different degree of nerd than Carson. Kane’s the kind of nerd who plays tabletop war games. Carson’s the kind of nerd who’s seen all the Marvel movies. #survivor.
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#survivor.These bracelet shenanigans are truly phenomenal. The stakes of the whole episode riding on this silly little thing. It involves every tribe member's personality. It's a perfect character moment/ strategy moment/ advantage moment. Give whoever thought of it a raise!.
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Who could have imagined that electing a race-baiting real estate scam artist president would have less than optimal results?.
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Her name is Kelley. She’s a really good person and actually playing a pretty good game so far, so let’s at least respect her enough to call her by her name when you’re fishing for votes.
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So many of the most miserable hours of my life were spent fretting between 2008 and 2015 about whether I would get to return to #Survivor, watching my girlfriend and best friends go off to Heroes vs Villains (I was generously allowed to blog),.
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Honestly that was the most shocking #Survivor boot of the season. Would have wagered a lot that [eliminated player] was in the final 3.
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Wait really? That’s idiotic. Who is saying that. If anybody “took out Jesse” it was Cassidy by winning immunity and sending in a silent assassin to slay him in fire. Gabler was the agent, not the decision maker.
Based on exit press, it's pretty clear that whoever won the fire challenge was going to win "Survivor 43.".
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#survivor. I LOATHE this advantage.“The player cannot lie”????.Do you even know what show this is???.
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#thetraitors. Dan in confessional: “I know the heat is on me but I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve that are going to blow all their minds”. Dan at the round table: “guys I’m not a traitor I’m a faithful”.
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Except for Carolyn. To her my blessing is that she start 3d printing some puzzles.
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“Which is worse, balls separating or balls clanging together? Both give you that uncomfortable feeling. ” . Most impressive part is that Jeff can deliver these lines with a straight face. #survivor.
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