Bhanu feels left out after the fake idol play, which Kenzie, Q, and Tiffany kept in the dark about. They claim they didn’t tell him as they were worried he might accidentally leak it to Jess. Even if Bhanu believes them, he is still left feeling uncomfortable with his positioning in the tribe. He feels certain that he would be next go if they lose again. And with how things are going, that definitely seems highly likely.
So Bhanu gets to idol hunting, obviously not knowing Tiffany already has it. He also starts trying to make some inroads with Kenzie. She like Bhanu well enough, but she says his problem is that he’s not playing the game. “He came out here with a good attitude, but that’s not enough.” Not to bash Bhanu, but that is basically the exact issue with Survivor casting right now. The show casts a bunch of positive, well-intentioned players who are massive fans of the game. But they don’t have the edge and killer instinct that the best and – perhaps more importantly, to me at least – entertaining players have.
Siga
The Siga tribe decides to go on a group idol hunt. Okay? It just defeats the purpose of finding the idol. And Charlie feels this, knowing he would keep it a secret if he found it. And just like that, Jem finds the Beware Advantage. The show needs to mix these up. I know it’s easier to make them the same, and it could be an argument towards “fairness” that each tribe has the same tasks and expectations to succeed with the Beware. But it’s such boring TV, watching three people go through the exact same process.
Nami
Hunter decides to make a separate, portable bed for himself. It looks like he’s kind of the old school “survivor” Survivor player. He provides, he fishes, he loves the adventure. He’s not talking a lot of strategy right now. But Liz says he doesn’t really need to, as he’s proven to be so valuable in challenges. I get it, but you have to be talking strategy.
But Venus sets her sights on Hunter, telling Randen she sees Hunter and Tevin as running the tribe together. At least from what we’ve seen, that doesn’t track. I would say Tevin and Soda would be the twosome to be watching out for. Obviously not being out there, that could be way off, but I wish we could see more of what Venus is seeing.
Randen wakes up the next day after a rough night’s sleep. His right hand is completely numb, so he has medical take a look. After an initial inspection, they think it’s a nerve issue, but don’t have an immediate worry, though they will be keeping an eye on him.
Immunity Challenge
The tribes dive into the ocean and swim to a platform, where they climb up and over a stack of crates. Then they swim to a rolling barrel that they must all climb over. Next it’s up a net ramp before getting to the beach to dig up sand bags. They throw the sand bags to land on a series of targets.
The first tribe to finish wins a large tarp and big tool kit. Second place wins smaller versions of both.
After Nami is running in third for most of the challenge, Hunter dominates the sand bags, leading Nami to the win. Siga and Yanu both get four bags, but Charlie lands the fifth bag, sending Yanu back to Tribal Council…again.
For winning the challenge, Nami gets to choose who from each tribe goes on the next Journey. Liz goes, and picks Ben from Siga and Bhanu from Yanu.
Yanu
Q feels bad about not being able to land the last bag, and starts beating himself up over it. I get being disappointed and frustrated, but Tiffany also missed several bags. It’s not just on him. But that doesn’t stop him from telling Kenzie and Tiffany that he should be voted out ahead of Bhanu. But Tiffany basically tells him to f*** off, as she’s not voting for him. She still wants to go full steam ahead with voting Bhanu.
Journey
Ben, Liz, and Bhanu arrive at the beach to find something incredibly stupid. They each draw rocks, with the two blue rocks continuing on to compete for an advantage. If they lose the challenge, they lose their vote at the next Tribal. The third player draws a white rock, and they return to camp, no advantage, but still with their vote.
Before drawing rocks, Bhanu literally tells them EVERYTHING about what is happening at Yanu. Bhanu talks again about how he wears his emotions on his sleeve, that’s just who he is, adding he “didn’t come here to win a million dollars,” he “came here to win a million hearts.” Back to what I said before, great, good for him, but let’s start casting people who want to win a million dollars. IT’S A MILLION DOLLARS! You can want other outcomes from the experience besides just that, but winning the game should be the #1 priority for anyone wanting to play Survivor.
Bhanu and Ben draw the blue rocks, and head off to their challenge. They have 9 blocks they must assemble within a frame to form a cube. Both fail, both losing their vote at the next Tribal.
Siga/Nami
Both Ben and Liz go back to camp, and relay everything Bhanu told them. Ben lies about the challenge, and says he won’t know the results until they go to Tribal Council.
Pre-Tribal
Bhanu tells the other three he drew the white rock. In private, Bhanu tells Q the truth, in that he lost his vote. Q still wants to use Bhanu, even literally telling him they can turn a liability (Bhanu) into an asset. Q wants to work Tiffany to vote out Kenzie instead. He pitches keeping Bhanu as they would be able to control him to their whims, whereas Kenzie is going to keep doing her thing, creating bonds, forming relationships, being a strong player. Tiffany agrees with Q’s points, but she feels close to Kenzie, believes they’re on the same side.
Nami
Sadly, Jeff and the doctor come to Nami to talk to Randen about his arm problems. After consulting with a neurosurgeon, their new concern is that he has a bulging disc in his neck, which would potentially require surgery. If nothing else, Randen needs an MRI to determine what the issue is, meaning they have to pull him from the game. From a game standpoint, Randen leaves with the Beware Advantage, also leaving Venus without an ally.
Jeff visits Yanu to tell them about Randen, meaning they will not be going to Tribal Council. Bhanu lives to play another day. But he’s still without a vote.
This episode was brutal. All of that buildup to not even have a vote? Obviously there’s nothing the show can do about these events playing out the way they did. But from a television and entertainment standpoint? Again, brutal, simply brutal. I’ll leave it at that. On to next week I suppose…
