Having gotten home from the relentless churn of a 24-hour news cycle, all I yearned for was to slip off my shoes, kick my feet up, turn on my favorite show, and ignore our current political climate for just a moment.
But that never matters.
The updates never stop.
Alerts, texts, and breaking news banners about Trump follow me from my desk to my phone — like a ghost who thinks their eternal resting place is 5 feet behind me at all times.
Donald Trump interrupting “Survivor” the first time last December during the season 49 finale sent me screaming in a way only my mother would be proud of.
As a shock to nobody, the second time on Wednesday night was no different.
What bothers me about “Survivor” being interrupted by Trump discussing the military objectives in Iran and rising gas prices — which you can read about somewhere else — is that I already work in journalism. Trust me when I say I know what’s happening; I literally get paid to ensure I know what’s up.
Now he is here, too?
Having already infiltrated my phone, conversations, and social media, how dare he come to my living room?
Read the room, dude.
After his cocky presence appeared on my screen, I paced the length of my living room, switching between heckling him with an expert-level use of expletives for interrupting another part of my day and tuning him out by plugging my ears and singing “LALALA.” For the first 10 minutes at least.
Once I was done releasing my anger like an adult, I let my internal to-do list take over. Makeup? Removed. Face? Washed. Teeth? Brushed. Hair? Braided. Pajamas? Donned.
I was going to try my best not to let him infiltrate every aspect of my day. He can’t come between me and brushing my teeth, right?
“Survivor” is my comfort show. It comes with a sense of nostalgia. Watching the show live Wednesday nights was an integral part of my childhood. Now, tuning in live has become a carefully orchestrated dance I do every week with my calendar, arranging my interviews and workload to be finished by 8/7 Central each week.
It’s my safe space. Each episode has a predictable, yet engaging, format: challenge, strategy, Tribal Council. Even when the gameplay is chaotic, the show’s structure is stable, nurturing, and warm, even.
So once CBS News turned the evening back to “Survivor,” I cheered. I clapped. I celebrated.
I finally got to relax my brain and watch my show that sent home three people this week instead of just one — thankfully.
There were too many damn people on that beach.
And in an attempt to write about something other than the happenings in the world today, this isn’t going to be another story about Trump.
You and I can both take a sigh of relief now.
Spoilers ahead.
I watch “Survivor” — especially a season like this one with a returning, star-studded cast of legends — with a fierce protection over my favorites and a general sense of curiosity on how the other puzzle pieces (players) will arrange themselves over the course of the 26, formerly 39, days.
This season, all I truly care about is seeing R-I-Z-G-O-D RizGodBaby, whose government name is Rizo Velovic, get to that final three this time and take that dub home.
He’s getting a great edit this season, like he did in season 49, so I was happy to see him and Ozzy Lusth — who has previously played on Cook Islands (season 13), Micronesia (season 16), South Pacific (season 23), and Game Changers (season 34) — head to Exile Island (and safety) before the twist that caused three torches to be snuffed.
Once those two left my screen, and I realized they weren’t coming back, I was just excited to see who would go home because I knew my girls, Dee Valladares and Cirie Fields, would be fine.
Valladares — both the dominant winner of “Survivor” 45 and a joy to see on my screen on “The Challenge” season 41 — earned immunity, and Cirie Fields will never be at risk because she’s Cirie Fields. Simple as that. She is loved by all, and she always makes it far because she is loved by all.
She is known as an icon from “Survivor” Panama (season 12), Micronesia (season 16), Heroes vs. Villains (season 20), Game Changers (season 34), and recently “Survivor Australia” Australia v The World (season 13). On top of that, Fields gained the love of new audiences by winning the first season of “The Traitors” as a traitor.
Everyone else is just good TV. It is what it is.
The interconnected web of relationships among the remaining players, spanning more than 25 years of bonds built and bridges burned, weaved through the game’s social landscape, creating intricate, complicated patterns since everyone is connected to everyone somehow, someway.
Information spread, allies stabbed each other in the back, and tears were shed, ultimately leading Genevieve Mushaluk, Kamilla Karthigesu, and Colby Donaldson to leave the game just shy of making it to the jury.
Overall, it was a great night of television — if you forget that a man on the Epstein List was in my living room.