I think in the end, it wasn't the weight that did Hayden in, it was the grip. His hands hurt too much. So changing the grip to alleviate weight probably wouldn't have helped too much.

As @avclub-a1967e6de4ca99fb2635d94b99453928:disqus says, Laura's help is no different than the help that's been going from non-competitors on RI all season.

Former NCAA baseball player Hayden. Should've gripped the bat harder.

I think we should all write Monica off as a potential flipper or a strategic asset. By all indications, she is securely in her alliance. All she's wanted in this game is security. She has that now. She's not flipping.

I thought Ciera was going home at the 22 minute mark. Spent the rest of the episode figuring out A) where the fourth vote was coming from and B) all the shit I was going to take on the podcast tomorrow night.

They did. Aras has come out and said his biggest fault was not doing enough to secure Gervase, due to their (apparently rather significant) friendship outside of the game. If Aras had let Gervase know that Gervase was more important to him than Vytas, then Tyson's insurrection never gets off the ground.

She was put in a position to burn an alliance either way tonight: Hayden and Caleb or Gervase and Tyson. She picked one and stuck to it. If anything, she's not playing the game hard enough (she chose the easier ploy, to draft off of the dominant player and then stick to him to the point where it was obvious to the…

Simplest answer wins!

At the time Ciera made the alliance, she was unconnected as well, and couldn't know for certain that her mom would come back into the game. Moreover, she was at the bottom of her tribe, and thus needed to make connections to survive.

She was the runner-up. More votes than Amanda.

She is indeed an adult woman with a family. But, I'm an adult male with a family, but when I go out to dinner with my dad, I still never pay. So those dynamics are tough to change.

I think that fact that Laura was A) a former player and B) already voted out in this exact game softened the blow. When you've already been voted out and discovered that life doesn't end once you're voted out of Survivor probably allowed them to be more rational about this.
It'll be interesting to see what a BvW season…

I'll be disappointed if he doesn't.

That her mom continues to blow up her spot is only more reason why Ciera had to get rid of her. Just wait until Laura starts telling everyone at RI challenges how she thinks Ciera is now the player to beat.

Yeah. Gervase and Aras are buddies. Tyson and Aras were allies. Big difference.

You can climb aboard. But don't even think of trying to backseat drive me.

Although, obviously that wasn't going to happen tonight.

Whatever the length of time, I think you can safely assume that the clock started the day before she left for the island.

He literally said "as long as it isn't me tonight". He's playing the Sandra game all the way.

Agreed.