The show wastes no time in resolving last week’s cliffhanger, as we see Keith arriving at Extinction Island, reuniting with Reem. We again don’t spend a ton of time here, but we do see the two receive a nice little (emphasis on little) surprise in the form of a map to their rice rations. But obviously this is no easy journey. They have to trek through the jungle to find a huge set of stairs, leading them to a (very) meager portion of rice. And it appears they will have to do this every single day. At least they will if they want to eat.
The other interesting point here is that both Reem and Keith are struggling. Granted, that’s not surprising, but my guess is neither of them makes it too deep into the Extinction Island experience.
Reward Challenge
This is our first episode with separate reward and immunity challenges, so we skip any beach time and head right to the reward challenge. Each tribe assembles wheelbarrow and wheels it through an obstacle course. Along the way they untie knots to collect two sets of sand bags. Finally, they take apart the wheelbarrow and build a sling shot, used to shoot the sand bags to hit four targets.
Chris dominates the sling shot, giving Manu their first challenge win of the season. They have a choice of choosing between comfort items and chickens. They wisely choose the chickens. I love when contestants are forced to make choices on the show, largely because it makes for great TV when poor choices are made. But I don’t know why anyone would choose the comfort items over food. I get it, it might be tempting, but Manu made the smart choice. Take the food when you can get it.
But it’s not all good news for Manu, as Wendy leaves the challenge worse for wear after a piece of the wheel barrow falls on her ankle.
Immunity Challenge
(We’ll get to beach life shortly).
For this challenge, three tribe members are in a boat, while the other four are tethered to said boat. The four swim together, pulling the boat to a tower. Those in the boat climb up, leap off, and grab a key. The keys unlock a chest of puzzle pieces, which are used to solve a ship’s wheel. Spin the wheel to raise the tribe flag, and immunity is yours.
Kama crushes the puzzle while Manu – even with David – puts forth a horrible puzzle showing, sending Manu back to tribal yet again.
Kama Beach
Once again Kama gets short shrift this week (that’s what happens when you go 3/3 on the immunity challenges. But we do get a fun (or awkward, depending what side you’re on) interaction between Victoria and Ron and Joe. The Kama tribe has been very open about their desire to vote out returning players Joe and Aubry. So open in fact, that Victoria and Ron have this exact conversation with Joe only mere feet away. These scenarios are some of the gems of Survivor, largely because everyone watching at home can relate to it to some degree. You’re having a conversation about someone and that person happens to walk up to you mid-conversation. One of life’s most awkward situations. So watching other people go through it on TV is just delicious.
Oh boy. Wendy made some, shall we say, interesting, decisions this week. She has now been a vegetarian for 8 whole days. Which means she makes it her responsibility to advocate for the chickens’ lives. She openly states her desire to let the chickens live. Fine. Great. But realize the circumstances you’re in. Everyone on the tribe knows you eat meat outside of the game. Wardog even gets into an argument with her over this. Unnecessary, yes, but the point still stands.
She then talks about wanting to release the chickens? If there is one thing that can guarantee you get voted out immediately, it is intentionally preventing others from eating. You don’t want to eat the chickens? Fine. You want them to live? Great, say your piece and then let it be. Now, she ultimately does not set the chickens free (this week – next week’s preview spoils that she goes through with it later), she does take the flint to make it harder to make fire to cook a chicken. It’s like she’s passive-aggressively asking to be voted out. I would never ask someone to betray their values, especially in a game. But when those values are literally 8 days old, maybe take a step back and rethink those decisions.
And another fun piece of this Wendy saga: what is she going to do on later food rewards? As annoying as I found her behavior this episode, I am praying for a reward that includes Wendy and Wardog where Wendy eats meat. What I’m picturing in my head is amazing, and what would actually happen would probably even top it.
Pre-Tribal/Tribal Council
Okay, getting right to it, Chris is blindsided at Tribal. Chris, when all along it seemed to be between Wendy – the obvious, easy choice – and Wentworth – the big threat. So what happened that resulted in a complete shift in the vote? Let’s break it down.
David and Devens want to vote out Wentworth. They already have Wendy on board. They know they can’t go to Lauren or Wardog on this one, so they approach Chris, their last hope. David and Devens tell Chris that he should, under no circumstances, tell Wardog about their plan, as they can tell how close Wardog and Kelley are. But, Chris feels closer to Wardog than to either David or Devens, so what does he do? He tells Wardog. Wardog is not pleased. And as he feels his relationship with Kelley is stronger than his with Chris, he wants to turn the tables and vote out the person targeting his stronger ally. And that’s where Chris messed up.
I take no issue with Chris feeling the need to loop Wardog in. I do, however, have a problem with how he did so. When Chris approached Wardog, he presented the Wentworth plan as his plan. Whether he intended to or not is irrelevant. That’s how it came across. As far as we saw, Chris never even mentioned David or Devens. Tell Wardog the two of them approached you to gauge his reaction. If Wardog seems agreeable, you can maybe push it some more. If he immediately objects, you have a barrier between you and the plan in David and Devens. Use them as a shield to any blowback.
But that can be a tricky spot to navigate through. There was nothing outwardly confrontational about Chris’ approach. He didn’t frame it as “I want to change the plan and take out Wentworth tonight.” But he left enough wiggle room in his conversation that Wardog then perceived him as an immediate threat. And as I’ve said before – and I’m sure as I’ll say again – in Survivor, perception is reality. And this time it got Chris voted out.
But his time in the game is not done just yet. He wastes no time in choosing to take his shot at a second chance, joining Reem and Keith on Extinction Island. I’m excited to see how Extinction Island as more and more players go there. How will the “tribe” dynamics work? How long can they last on so little food? Who will be the first to raise the white flag? Only time will tell, and I’m betting on sooner rather than later.
