Ah, the Survivor merge. This point is often momentous for a variety of reasons. It’s a watershed moment in each and every season, moving to the individual portion of the game. Even with lots of time left, the finish line starts to become a little clearer as players begin to shift their focus to the end game. And it often serves as one of the season’s better episodes.
Merge
The three tribes arrive at the beach to find out they have reached the merge. And on an Edge of Extinction season that means the Edge inhabitants come out to compete in their challenge to return to the game.
This highlights one major flaw in the way the Fire Tokens are used. Those voted out earlier had more time to earn additional Fire Tokens, thus providing them with the chance to buy an advantage in the return challenge. Yul, who outlasted everyone else on the Edge is punished for staying in the game longer, while those voted out earlier are rewarded for doing so. We’ve seen that Fire Tokens can work, but maybe not in conjunction with the Edge of Extinction or similar twists.
But back to the challenge itself, Rob and Natalie both made interesting decisions with their Fire Tokens. Players had the opportunity to buy up three advantages in the challenge, each costing one Fire Token. Rob and Natalie each had four, so of course they bought all three, right? Right? WRONG. They each bought exactly one advantage. It was truly baffling to see two players as smart and savvy as them not take advantage of the available…advantages.
For the challenge, each contestant races through a series of obstacles, finishing by maneuvering a ball through a snake track. Those who bought an advantage got to skip through digging a bag out of the sand. After some back and forth, it comes down to the wire between Tyson and Rob. Tyson pulls it out just ahead of Rob, winning his way back into the game.
Koru
Nothing all that notable happened at the merge feast, but it’s still always fun to see how the new dynamics shake out. What was interesting, however, was what wasn’t shown. Often at the merge feast, some sort of idol or advantage or clue will be hidden, waiting to be found. And usually we’ll see a confessional or two talking about this point specifically. But we saw nothing about this. Not a peep.
Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean the entire tribe missed something. It could be a fun editing trick. Maybe someone found a clue, or even an actual idol or advantage, but the show is saving its reveal as it didn’t come into play this week. Or maybe there was nothing at this season’s feast, so there was nothing to show. But this is something to at least file away and keep in mind as the season progresses. Speaking honestly, it feels like we saw nothing because there was nothing. But still, I wouldn’t be entirely shocked to see a return to this moment later on.
And there was the traditional talk of why this person or that person should or should not be a target. And of course many names were thrown around. You can’t always put too much stock into these initial conversations, but they still serve as a good entree to the players’ mindsets as the focus shifts from tribal gameplay to individual.
Immunity Challenge
For the first Winners at War individual immunity challenge, Survivor goes back to a classic: Hold onto a pole for as long as you can. In addition, immunity goes to last man and woman holding, with each also earning a Fire Token. This could be a fun and intriguing wrinkle, depending on whether or not a Fire Token goes along with immunity the rest of the way. Now that the players are beginning to understand the true value and power of the Tokens, winning one could put more of a target on their back. This could also increase the likelihood of a blindside, with one ally turning on another, with the hope that the spurned party won’t realize it and will leave their token to Benedict Arnold before making their way to the Edge.
Denise and Jeremy win, securing their safety.
Pre-Tribal
There is lots of back and forth on the vote, starting with it being a toss up between Nick and Wendell. The group seems to want to break those two up. Jeremy trusts Wendell more so he pushes for Nick. The choice sways back and forth between the two. Eventually Adam gets thrown into the mix as well. The rest of the tribe continues to deliberates between the three. Like the merge feast, nothing outrageous or unexpected happened. Just some classic first merge vote fun.
That being said, it certainly feels noteworthy that Tyson never seemed to even be considered a target here. He might seem like an easy, obvious first vote, having just come back from the Edge. But to go completely under the radar like that, he must be doing something right. And, as Tony would astutely point out at Tribal, the social and strategic dynamics instantly change at the merge, and the reasoning for voting Tyson out the first time don’t matter any more, nor do they apply to the current tribe situation.
Tribal Council
Denise receives the honor of anointing this vote as the “defining vote” of the game. It happens every season at this vote. And while it definitely has reached cliche status, it’s still partially true. Going from such smaller numbers to one bigger tribe, it can be hard to tell where everyone stands. This first vote sets a barometer for how things are going to go, at least for the immediate future.
And that immediate future could be marked by one larger coalition with a smaller group on the outside, as Wendell is voted out 9-3. Though it has to be said that a nine person alliance is unlikely to last much longer, especially in a season like this. But could Michele and Nick find themselves the next two targets? Only time will tell, but it looks like they’ve got some definite work to do moving forward.
