This week was a tale of two Survivors. The pre-challenge portion left a lot to be desired. We’ll get to it all, but it wasn’t exactly what I would call captivating television. But then we got the challenge in the pouring rain (and that’s probably putting it lightly) and some great post-challenge fireworks. We start at…
David Beach
We pick up after the Jessica blindside, and Gabby has been appointed Public Enemy #1 by, oh I don’t know, everyone. Davie talks about how scary she is as a strategic threat. Gabby was able to switch the vote at the last minute and that kind of power of persuasion is clearly something to watch out for. Bi is feeling betrayed by Gabby, someone she thought she was close with (i.e. had control over). And Nick wants her out because she’s not Christian. Specific to the Gabby/Nick/Christian dynamic, my guy Stephen Fishbach had a great tweet.
In other news, Lyrsa and Elizabeth are in fact still in the game, though you wouldn’t know it from the episode so far.
Goliath Beach
Poor Jeremy. I just don’t think he was able to help himself. The target was firmly on Natalie’s back, but what did Jeremy do? He went and off and helped the tribe slide that target right over on to his own back. Jeremy did a very good thing and a very bad thing. The good? He noticed many of his tribemates were off having private conversations, strategizing he assumes. That’s a good thing to keep track of. You want to know who is doing what and with whom. You hear the phrase “knowledge is power” often in this game. And this is the kind of knowledge that can be of immense help.
But the bad? He called a tribe meeting and asked the rest of the Goliaths to stop having these conversations, to stop talking to each other. He based this request around this desire for so-called “tribe unity.” Yeah, that’s not something you want to do. This is exactly something that will make people wary of you. And then he further compounds the problem by deciding to tell anyone who will listen (everyone) that Dan has an idol. In a vacuum that’s not necessarily a bad move. When someone has an idol, it typically puts you in the tribe’s crosshairs. But not when the person disseminating that info is already being seen as a sneaky player.
All this does is it serves to further that narrative. My dude needs to learn to take a step back and relax now and then. Jeremy wants to play, play, play all the time, and that’s fine. But the how you play is just as important.
Challenge
For this week’s challenge, one member of each tribe has to maneuver through a rope obstacle, followed by three members running a different obstacle course to untangle rope. Then two more have to hook a sled with a rope and pull it back. The final step is of course a puzzle, solved by the final two competing members.
And as is so often the case, the challenge comes down to the puzzle. And Natalie is competing in a challenge for once, having volunteered to work on the puzzle. You should have taken note of this, as we saw the clear shot of Natalie volunteering. It’s usually a clear indication that at least a small amount of drama will ensue when we are shown these types of interactions. Because wouldn’t you know it, but the Goliaths lose the challenge! The Davids get their first immunity win of the season, along with the classic “comfort” reward of blankets, pillows, a hammock, and chairs.
David Beach Post-Challenge
In an unusual move, we actually go back to the David camp after the challenge. It’s just a brief visit and really is only to show us Bi telling the rest of the tribe she sprained her MCL during the challenge. Two things here. After the Immunity Challenge, it’s standard practice to stay with the losing tribe the rest of the way. Second, the show doesn’t often show injuries if they’re not serious. We saw at the end of the challenge that Jeff told Bi they would have Medical look at her knee. And now we get a rare visit to the winning tribe’s beach to give us some further information. Now maybe this was just another small editing change to go along with a few others so far this season. We are in the 37th season, after all, maybe the show is trying to shake things up a bit in a way that doesn’t impact the game itself. Or. Maybe it’s a bit of foreshadowing into Bi’s future in the game. Maybe, maybe not, but it’s something to keep in the back of your mind as the season progresses.
Goliath Beach Post-Challenge
The rest of the episode is essentially the Jeremey-Natalie show. Natalie confronts Jeremy about feeling that she never had his support on the island. Jeremy fires back again that Natalie is severely lacking in the all-important self-awareness. It comes to a head when Natalie asks Jeremy to leave so she can have a private conversation with Kara and John. Jeremy of course refuses. They really get into it over this dispute. Natalie tries to assure Jeremy that the conversation wasn’t going to be about him. But the simple fact that she asked him to leave would obviously lead him to believe that she was about to talk about him, presumably about wanting to vote him out. It might be annoying to Natalie, but she shouldn’t have been surprised that Jeremy wasn’t eager to make her job any easier.
Somewhere in the midst of all this, Angelina puts the idea out there of voting out Jeremy instead. We get another great job of editing by the Survivor team as they show plenty of support on both sides. Natalie is a detriment to camp life and a significant liability in challenges. The general tribe consensus is also that at a merge or swap, Natalie would flip on the Goliaths without a second thought. On the other side, nobody feels threatened by Natalie in the grand scheme of things. Nobody thinks she has a shot at winning the game. Jeremy, on the other hand, is seen as a bigger, legitimate longer-term threat. We head to Tribal Council with the final outcome still very much up in the air (to the viewers at least).
Tribal Council
The Jeremy-Natalie show continues as they go back and forth, monopolizing the discussion. And once again, Jeremy just can’t help himself. He talks and talks and talks and talks. And you start the get the idea that his time in the game is about to come to an end. While Natalie may not be winning any popularity contests on among the Goliaths, it’s becoming clear that Jeremy likely wasn’t exactly easy to live with either.
And with that Jeremy is swiftly voted out 9-1. And to close, we get an all-time voting booth comment from Ms. Natalie Napalm herself.
And there we have it, another overall solid episode that was completely buoyed by being very strong post-challenge. Survivor will look to keep the fun going next week, as we get the first tribe swap of the season. I for one am hoping for a good mix of Davids with Goliaths. I can’t wait to see how these two groups will interact once on the same tribe, having to work together.
