*This post contains spoilers from episode 13 of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers*
Well that was disappointing. No, not the episode. This was a strong episode. What was disappointing was the collectively terrible decision making by Ashley, Chrissy, Devon, Dr. Mike, and Ryan. Ben is Public Enemy #1. All five of them are 100% on board with voting him out at the next Tribal. They know he no longer has an idol. Based on the simple fact that he played an idol already, they know he is more than capable of finding another one. And they know he knows he’s the main target. Which means he of course is going idol hunting. And what do they do about it? NOTHING. Well, I guess not exactly nothing. They talk about him looking for an idol. They talk some more about him looking for an idol. And they have a particularly riveting debate about what kind of bagels are best. It could just be the edit, but according to what we saw, the other five spent exactly zero minutes shadowing or following or monitoring Ben in any way. Even Ben himself commented how crazy they were to leave him completely alone! All they did was talk about how they hoped he wouldn’t find the idol, that they were confident he would not. Dr. Mike was so certain of this fact because he himself and gone looking and couldn’t find it. I guess that’s all the assurance he needed. Sure, he may have found the clue and been able to retrieve the idol anyway. But they have to be kicking themselves for not doing one single thing to try to prevent it from happening.
But on to the rest of the episode. We get to the reward challenge and it’s a 2v2v2 challenge. Each pair is tied together to a rope and have to maneuver their way through an obstacle course. When they get to the end they have to toss five rings onto a target. The teams are Ben and Ashley, Chrissy and Devon, Ryan and Mike. It’s a solid, if unspectacular challenge, with Chrissy and Devon ending up the victors. Their reward? Food, and lots of it, of course, which they would enjoy on a private island. The reaction of the players is always something that gets me. I get that the thought of all this food that you’ve been deprived of would sound amazing. But the facial expressions and body reactions are often sooooo over the top. I’m sure the producers encourage them to react like that; it makes for more interesting TV. But still. Chrissy and Devon are allowed to pick one person to accompany them, and after discussing it they decide on Ryan. Ashley is devastated by this, and she lets it show. Clearly she’s disappointed in Devon for not picking her, or at least not fighting harder for her to be chosen. Obviously I can’t relate, having never been on the show. But I’m often surprised at how upset some contestants get over these decisions. There’s almost never a perfect scenario that plays out. That’s clearly the point, the show wants drama. But you would think other players would realize this. Or at least make more of an effort to hide their reaction.
The immunity challenge is another obstacle course with a cog puzzle at the end. The reasonable thought was that Chrissy would have the advantage with the puzzle; it seemed right up her alley. The only question was if she would be able to get their with enough time to complete. The end part of the challenge was actually pretty even. Each of the six got to the puzzle at roughly the same time, and Chrissy did indeed end up winning.
Chrissy curiously wants to vote out Ashley instead of Ben. Dr. Mike tries to be the voice of reason, saying they should take the chance when they have it. You never know what might happen in the final two immunity challenges. Obviously it was all a moot point in the end, with Ben playing his idol…before the votes are even cast. This was a curious move. If he waits, some or all of the other five could still vote for him, thinking he wouldn’t play the idol. This could have given him some more control over who was voted out. But I do love when seemingly set-in-stone plans get crushed at the very last minute, forcing everyone else to scramble. That likely would have happened anyway even if Ben had held his idol until after the votes were cast.
So what do they do but vote out Ashley, the weakest player left in the game. From a viewer standpoint, this is great. She was the least dynamic and least interesting player left. But from a game standpoint, that’s exactly the type of person you want to keep around. Ashley is probably the only person you could be guaranteed to beat in the end. Everyone else has their strengths and weaknesses, but she didn’t really do anything game-wise to be considered much of a threat. But at least it should make for a fun and exciting season finale next week.
Speaking of the finale, Ben and Devon would seem to be the two likeliest winners. If Ben manages to find a way to the end, he wins, no matter who the other two players are. But if he gets voted out, Devon would have the edge. Though if Ryan is in the Final 3, I could easily see him talking his way into a million dollars. But we have a whole new week to wait it out.
