Episode 08

[Ashley Underwood]

Congratulations, you've made it to the Final 12, and the merge!

Tell me how you're feeling about making it this far, and what your plan is now that all of you are in one big tribe. How are you going to survive this next vote? How are you going to win the game? :)

[Carter]

I had an answer typed out and it didn't save, nooooooo!

I'm pumped about making the merge, now I'm significantly less undateable than I was a few days ago.

In all seriousness, I'm very excited to still be here, I've been formulating a lot of plans for the merge, and it's time to put them in action. I think the biggest thing I'm gonna try to do is turn everyone against the Rai's. We've got some good ammo with Hayden choosing to save Stacey at our last tribal, and if we can get Jeff/Debb/Denise to realize how tight those 4 are, or at least scare them into thinking they're tighter than they are, then we should have a nice little mini-Pagonging on our hands. After that, it's all about jury management, and picking and choosing who and how to vote out, which is the part that I'm still working on. As long as I can make the Rai's the common enemy, I'll be fine for the time being.

How do I win the game? I don't know, bribery, sleep with everyone, kill everyone, I have no clue, this game is so volatile that my plans will probably change twice a day for the duration of the game.

[Carter]

I'm not really surprised to hear my name brought up. Stacey doesn't like me, I'm not on her side, put 2+2 together, it's pretty blatant. At this point, I'm hoping for a tie, and I don't even know how likely that is. I haven't heard from Denise, I'm getting nothing from Jeff and Debb, and apparently the Rai's are buttering up the latter two pretty well. I'm absolutely scared, and I can take a little solace in having at least made the jury, but I damn sure don't want to settle, and I'm gonna fight like hell to make sure I'm still here after the votes are read.

[Jeff Probst]

I'm not really surprised to hear my name brought up. Stacey doesn't like me, I'm not on her side, put 2+2 together, it's pretty blatant. At this point, I'm hoping for a tie, and I don't even know how likely that is. I haven't heard from Denise, I'm getting nothing from Jeff and Debb, and apparently the Rai's are buttering up the latter two pretty well. I'm absolutely scared, and I can take a little solace in having at least made the jury, but I damn sure don't want to settle, and I'm gonna fight like hell to make sure I'm still here after the votes are read.

Do you assume that you are a target in the game? If so, what is your next move? If Stacey ends up staying tonight what does that mean for you and your alliance? Would you ever work with her or is getting her out the best move for your game?

[Carter]

Assume? No. Know? Yep. I've already been targeted once by someone on the opposite alliance, and seeing as how I haven't had any contact with her in the past 6 days, I'm assuming that she still wants me out. And I know I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but I just gotta get people against Rai. My alliance has done that more than I have, so I'm gonna ramp up the efforts right before tribal. I'd also love to get people to vote for someone other than Stacey, because I have this hunch that Rai has an idol that they're going to use on Stacey, but my efforts haven't borne any fruit, so I may just have to run the risk and go all-in on voting for Stacey.

If she stays, it either means that we're dead in the water, or that people will realize that Rai is super close (if someone plays an idol for her) and they'll pick them off, even if it means that I have to fall on the sword for them to do so.

Getting her out is best for me. I think Hayden, Ramona, and Rich would scramble, and I'd be a lot less stressed out and hateful around this place. She hasn't taken the initiative to mend any fences after trying to get me out, and I sure as hell don't trust her as far as I can throw her (approx. 7 yards), so you shouldn't expect some surprise alliance betwixt myself and her anytime soon.

[Jeff Probst]

Why haven't you approached any of the Rai people? Are you potentially alienating 1/3 of the game by purely targeting them or is there the option of working with them in the future?

[Carter]

I approached them, and they just seemed cold and unwilling to respond, and not even about the game, just about life and stuff in general. I haven't really alienated them because I feel like I was already against them, given I knew Stacey was gonna run right back into their arms and turn the target around on myself. Maybe there's an open door down the road, but that's only if there's one desperate member left, and even then, I feel like there will be others that they would turn to for help before me.

Jeff, don't get me wrong, I love that you're giving me attention, but all these questions make me think that it's a foregone conclusion that I'll be at Ponderosa tonight.

[Carter]

God, I hope Stacey goes. It would be such a relief, and it'd definitely give me a second wind in this game. Good lord, I'm scared, and I just hope that we can pull this off...

[Carter]

Someone hold me, I'm scared

[Carter]

Angie is the bestest person ever