Once again we skip the “Previously on Survivor” segment and jump right into the game. You have to believe this choice is made to maximize live air-time. With the large merged tribe, plus the events on Extinction Island, there is still a lot of gameplay to cover. And I think the show is better off for it. Through an extensive study a completely unfounded guess, I’d imagine most Survivor fans can recall what happened the previous week. The show’s editors and production team most likely realize (or assume) this, and knows that giving the new episode a little more room to breathe is more valuable than showing the normal recap.
Extinction Island
The Extinctioners get another wine bottle message, alerting them to the existence of an advantage. There is no “kumbaya” moment this time as everyone fends for themself. Aubry manages to find not the advantage, but a key and a clue, which lead her to the advantage. She gets to practice the first phase of the next challenge to get back into the game. She also finds an extra vote to send to someone in the game.
While I like that the Extinction Island inhabitants have something to do, I don’t like them being given advantages (or disadvantages) in the “win your way back in ” challenges. I’ve never liked challenge advantages in the first place, and I especially don’t like it here. Let them find a small portion of food, or a pillow, something that does help them, but does so in only a small way.
Or let them find something that only has value if/when they’re back in the game. Let them pick a side or player in the next reward challenge and if that team or person wins, they also get the food part of the reward (though a lesser amount of course).
Reward Challenge
Speaking of reward challenges, we have a fun one this week. The 12 castaways are split into two teams of six. In pairs of two, they make their way through a series of obstacles in the ocean, collecting two bags of puzzle pieces along the way. To win, the remaining two tribe members solve a plank puzzle.
The team of Eric, Wardog, Aurora, Devens, Julia, Victoria wins their reward of Chinese takeout (why did it have to be specified that it was takeout? I know it’s a small, inconsequential point, but it just seems like a strange distinction to make).
Immunity Challenge
We get another balance challenge this week. Each player stands on a narrow beam with a block wedged between head and frame.
As teased in last week’s preview for this week, we know someone collapses at some point during the challenge. And the show attempted to make it very obvious that it would be Lauren. And indeed it is, as she passes out in a scary moment.
But Dr. Joe and the Survivor medical team rush in and expertly handle the situation, as they always do. Lauren, to her credit, is more pissed off about losing the challenge than she is worried about the fact that she just fainted. So much so, in fact, that her first word upon waking up is “Damnit!”
Now that Lauren is being tended to, there is still an immunity challenge to finish. We’re down to the final two of Aurora and Victoria. Aurora tries to convince Victoria to give her the win because she was the only one left out of the last vote. The rest of the castaways are not having it, and it feels like Aurora might be making herself a target with her little pouty outburst. But luckily for her it’s a non-issue, as Victoria falls, giving Aurora the win.
Vata Beach
This week gives us a fair amount of intriguing strategy. First, let’s talk about decoupling of a once-great alliance: David and Devens. Wentworth, Lauren, and Wardog want to bring David and Devens back into he fold, along with trying to get Aurora on board. David is ready to play ball. But Devens? Not so much. And by not so much, I mean not at all.
Devens and Wardog are talking and Wardog is pitching him on the Lesu 5 plan. Devens isn’t going for it, and is aggressively open about that with Wardog. While it was a great TV moment, I think Devens mishandled the situation. I get it, he doesn’t believe he can trust Wardog, Wentworth, and Lauren. And why would he? But to be so openly antagonistic about it?
Agree to whatever Wardog proposes, keep the peace, assess your options, and then decide. But by shooting him down the way he did, he’s closing that door before it ever fully opens. Yes, he currently feels secure with the Kama alliance, but that is still so new, he can’t be certain it’s the right spot for him.
David and Devens later have a one-on-one conversation about where they want to plant their flag, so to speak. They both stand firm, and it appears we may have seen the last of this greatly entertaining duo. But not only do they go their separate ways, David still has the other half to Devens’ immunity idol. And when Devens asks for it, back, David replies he’s going to hang onto it for a little longer (forever?). And based on the preview for next week, it doesn’t look like we’ve seen the last of the idol discussion – though that shouldn’t be at all surprising.
Ron and Eric continue to exert their force over the Kama power alliance. They use the upcoming family visit as a sort of bribery to keep their underlings in line. They talk about the family ad nauseam. We get it, it’s a milestone moment in each Survivor season. But it’s still just that, a moment. It’s not why you play the game. As Herman Edwards said, “You play to win the game.”
And getting to the family visit is not winning. But it seems to be working, at least at first. But Eric and Ron overplayed their hand. It became too obvious what they were doing.
Pre-Tribal
Eric’s rough week continues. Not only is he still hammering away at the family visit nail, but now he’s pushing a Wentworth-Lauren vote split. It seems so obvious now upon looking back on it, but Eric let his (perceived) power blind him, to the point that he couldn’t see how this plan left him as vulnerable as anyone.
And it doesn’t do Eric any favors that Wardog takes this pre-tribal time to start to put his stamp on the game. He pulls aside Julia and Gavin individually, and tries to convince them that Eric and Ron, at some point, will push the two of them out in favor of David and Devens. Julia takes it to heart and approaches Eric, to test him. She suggests voting out David in order to gauge Eric’s response. He pushes back, at least partially confirming Wardog’s assessment.
Eric’s family visit promise eventually struck Gavin in a threatening way as well. Getting to the family visit isn’t winning the game. Winning the game is winning the game. In trying to keep Gavin submissive, Eric instead gave Gavin just the push he needed to wake up.
So now Gavin and Julia are all about turning the game on its head, but they still need to pull in Victoria. She is much more hesitant to make that kind of move, at least at this stage in the game. And I have to say I agree with her. She knows they need to turn on Eric and Ron at some point, but the numbers are too fragile right now. Waiting another vote or two would be the safe, smart move. But it’s Survivor, so who cares about being safe and smart when you can make #BigMoves?
Also, Aurora finds the extra vote from Aubry. Coming on the heels of her immunity win, Aurora is finally feeling like she’s finding her footing in the game, though I’m not so sure how strong that footing is. At this point she is still at the bottom of the Kama alliance/in the middle of everyone. That can be both a valuable and dangerous spot to be. We’ll see how she plays it going forward.
Tribal Council
Devens is wide open about his switch to the Kama power alliance. This week wasn’t the best for my guy Devens, who had nothing but strong showings in each episode up until now. Could this be the beginning of his ultimate downfall? Or maybe a quick descent before a redemption arc, culminating in being crowned Sole Survivor? Or – and probably more likely – were his actions just TV gold that had to be aired? Yeah, I’m going with the third one.
After Eric YET AGAIN pitches the idea of the Kama alliance wanting to reach the family visit, Wardog calls him out. “Are we playing for a million dollars or just to get to the loved ones visit?” Thank you! And while I believe the vote was decided before Tribal Council, this moment probably helped solidify that decision. And in the end, Gavin and Julia get their wish, as they pull the numbers to vote out Eric in a true blindside, sending him to Extinction Island.
But was it the right decision? As I alluded to before, I don’t think so. If Gavin, Julia, and Victoria had stayed the course for another vote or two before voting out Eric, their position would have been more solidified. That being said, players get so worried about their game résumés, and about missing their chances, it’s hard to blame them for acting on this impulse. Only time will tell if they struck too soon.
But I think a big takeaway from this episode comes from Victoria, as she continues to display some real savvy gameplay. First, she recognizes the fact that Eric and Ron need to be dealt with at some point. She also recognizes that it’s too soon to target one of them when there are still 12 people left in the game. But she also knows when to swallow her pride and go with the numbers, as she did tonight. She has to hope her strategic chops can fly under the radar, or she could might find herself headed to Extinction Island before too long.
