It’s hard to judge a season of Survivor off of four pre-merge episodes. But let’s go for it anyway. This season just hasn’t clicked yet. There are some fun characters for sure (Devens is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites), but all in all, it just feels lackluster. To be fair though, a large part of that has to do with the fact that the same tribe, Manu, keeps losing. It forces the show to spend much more time with their tribe, as they are always the ones going to Tribal Council. We haven’t really gotten to know anyone outside of Manu yet.
But tonight we have a tribe swap! So that’s going to change, right? While you would think so, it goes against all odds and only one single person ends up with a new group of people. As Wardog so helpfully informed us, there was a less than 1% chance of that happening. Thanks Wardog! Before we get to the swap, let’s quick check in at…
Extinction Island
Reem welcomes Chris with unopen arms. Keith talks about his mind being his best friend and worst enemy, as he contemplates raising the “I Quit” mast. Chris actually has some real human moments, as he takes stock of current emotional and mental state. And that’s about it. Extinction Island still isn’t quite doing it for me, but it feels like it’s going to start having some more payoff as more people are sent there. Let’s just hope it has a chance to peak before the island’s time in the game is over.
The Switch
And emphasis on “little bit.” As I mentioned, only one person ends with new tribemates, Wendy.
Manu/Blue
Aubry, Victoria, Gavin, Wendy, Eric
Kama/Yellow
Joe, Julie, Julia, Ron, Aurora
Lesu/Green
David, Kelley, Lauren, Wardog, Rick
With three tribes (four if you count Extinction Island) there’s not a lot of exciting moments camp. But let’s check in quickly with each one, starting with…
Kama
Joe feels safe with Aurora but tries to strengthen his relationship with Ron, to give himself a solid threesome. Ron plays the part, but only as a diversion to give Julia a chance to go through Joe’s bag, looking to see if he has an idol. In another bit of clever editing, Ron tells us about this in a confessional, followed by us seeing his and Julia’s conversation.
Rick realizes the newly formed Lesu is in a good/bad situation. They all trust and like each other, which is obviously great for camp life and tribe cohesion. But on the flip side, if they lose, he knows they’re going to fracture. There is no obvious vote within this group.
Manu
Wendy continues to play one of the worst games I’ve ever seen. She sets the chickens free. She says she would rather go to Tribal Council than see the chickens killed and eaten. Before the swap, back at old Manu, Wendy was talking to David about the chickens again. David had an all-time great response, saying “You do want to win, don’t you?” Wendy said yes, but you have to wonder, does she?
Nothing she has done so far gives any indication that her head is in this game at all. Yes, she says in a confessional that since she’s still here, something must be working. And that’s a classic line of someone who has no idea what’s going on. Even though she knows she’s annoying everyone with all this chicken nonsense! She’s becoming very frustrating to watch. Every season has bad players, it’s unavoidable, it’s part of the game. But usually the bad players are still playing the game, or at least trying to. But not Wendy. Not from what we’ve seen so far. I’m very curious to see where her story takes her.
Immunity Challenge
The tribes race over A-frames carrying rope, then use that rope to pull crate full of puzzle pieces. They finish of course by solving the puzzle. This would have been a fairly standard challenge if not for one additional factor: the rain. The rain makes the A-frames even tougher to climb up (and I’d have to imagine it’s no picnic even in perfect conditions). It was a fun – and unintentional – twist that added just enough difficulty to make them really work for it.
All three tribes arrive a the puzzle pretty close together. But even without a deficit, Lesu/old Manu loses, sending Wentworth, Lauren, David, Rick, and Wardog back to Tribal Council yet agin.
Pre-Tribal
David and Rick want to target Lauren because she is sick (aka weak) and they don’t suspect she has an idol (she does). As much as David wants to vote out Kelley, he is “100% convinced” she has an idol (she doesn’t). Kelley and Lauren want to vote out Rick. Their reasoning is they believe him to be the most likely to switch to another alliance at the merge. This leaves Wardog as the de facto deciding vote. But he’s been Team Wentworth all season long, so there isn’t much doubt as to where his vote is going.
Quick sidebar. We get a quote from Kelley about how bad the tribe is at challenges: “We’re like the Cleveland Browns of tribes.”
Granted, this season filmed before the 2018 NFL season, where the Browns went 7-8-1, upping their win total buy 7x from the previous two seasons combined. But still, the reference did not age well. This is especially true as the episode aired just one day after the Browns traded for Odell Beckham Jr, a key addition to what should be one of the most electric offenses next season.
The funny thing is, Kelley could still turn out to be right, just not in the way she intended. Yes, the Browns had season finishes of 0-16 and 1-15, but that was followed last season by a 7-8-1 finish. Not great, but a significant improvement. If Lesu starts winning some challenges, the analogy might actually fit.
Okay, sorry about that to all non-NFL fans. I suppose it’s time to head to…
Tribal Council
Is Wardog an Always Sunny fan? I hope so. That would make his “game of games” comment so much better. There are 144 episodes, and “Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games” is one of the best and funniest of the lot.
Slightly NSFW
Okay, back to the show you actually came here to read about. Rick is voted out 3-2, because of course Wardog voted with Kelley. No surprise there. Rick leaves, but not before giving Wardog a nice kiss on the head. Without hesitation, Rick picks up the torch and heads to Extinction Island.
Rick Devens is a national treasure. He is hilarious, seems like a genuinely nice guy, and tweets things like this after being voted out of a nationally televised game show.
To me this was easily the weakest episode so far. But that’s not necessarily surprising. You have an anti-climactic tribe swap plus there are now three tribes PLUS Extinction Island to get to. Add in the challenge and there’s not a lot of time left to spend with the camp life. And next week, will we see a return to two challenges? That could make for an even more cramped episode. A good post-merge run can make up for a lot, so all hope is not lost yet. But it hasn’t been a promising start.
