Ah, the Survivor merge episode. I’m sure I’ve noted this in other season recaps, but the merge episode is always highly anticipated, for several reasons. It signals a change in the game, shifting the focus to individual versus tribes. It’s a chance at new life for those on the outs, and a chance for big players to solidify their hold on the game. New relationships are tested, while old ones have the chance to rekindle. There’s nothing like it.
Marisha notices something up in a tree, but can’t get it on her own. She brings in Renier to help, and they’re able to retrieve what turns out to be an idol. Even though Marisha found it, Renier ends up with it in his possession. Let’s see if that comes back up at any point down the road. Renier decides to reveal the idol to the rest of his alliance. Not a bad thing to happen right before the merge, wouldn’t you say?
Merge!
Osindile is the merged tribe name, meaning, effectively, “Survivor.” The name works, of course, but I don’t like that the name was decided for them. It’s obviously quite small, but it’s a bit of a rite of passage for the players to choose their new name. This isn’t something I’m going to dwell on. But it bears mentioning as it’s so unusual. Unless I’m forgetting something, maybe early on in the U.S. Survivor run, I can’t think of any season where the merge tribe name was decided for them.
Something the merge feast is known for, and what any level of fan would be thinking about, is some sort of idol or advantage or at least a clue to one. And Chappies has zero chill. He’s lifting up plates, looking under glasses, checking the food on the table, all in clear, wide open view of everyone else. Santoni and Renier even jokingly call him out on it. Even still, you never want to be openly outed as the one person looking for idols and clues. The ironic thing, of course, is that there was something hidden beneath one of the tables. But nobody found it.
Osindile
While the players were at the feast, their camp was upgraded, including a chicken coop and more rice. Anesu, a vegan and self-proclaimed animal lover, isn’t the biggest fan of the chicken coop. It may not turn into anything, but since production decided to show us that confessional, it might be something to file away for later. There have been major dustups over food and chickens before.
Anela has held onto several clues he’s gathered over the course of the game, and plans to plant them around camp. As he’s telling Shaun his plan, Chappies walks up on them. Not wanting to *clue* him in on their plan (I know, I’m sorry) Shaun tells Chappies he just found a clue, “The shelter will show the way.” Chappies takes the bait hook, line, and sinker and immediately goes on the search, even with everyone else still at camp.
Everyone is taking note of Chappies’ actions, which could cause trouble for him. He hasn’t exactly been laying low during the game so far. But still, you never want to do anything to bring extra attention to what you’re doing, if what you’re doing is openly and constantly searching for idols and advantages.
Anesu and Marisha take the chickens out of the coop, tying them up instead, to allow them a bit more freedom. Unfortunately, the string doesn’t hold and two chickens are freed. Marisha then throws Anesu under the bus to the rest of the tribe. Nobody seems to be too openly upset about it. But it’s still food. We’ll see how they feel a week from now, or two weeks, when that hunger sets back in. Anesu and Marisha had been working together, but the fact that Marisha was so willing to immediately blame Anesu for this sounds some alarm bells for Anesu.
This was a fantastic first half of the episode. We got to see tons of different tribe dynamics and relationships, both new and old and renewed. Going into the immunity challenge, there are several possible targets, though Chappies and Marisha appear to be the top two names.
Immunity Challenge
The first individual immunity challenge is a Survivor classic. Climb up a pole and stay up there as long as you can. The winner also sends one person to Immunity Island, with Nico noting they cannot send themselves. After 3.5 hours, Kiran outlasts Anesu, winning the coveted first individual immunity. Kiran sends Tyson to Immunity Island.
Immunity Island could be very interesting now that we’re post-merge. Do you send an ally to protect them, even though that would cost your alliance a vote? They can also come back with their vote and an idol to use. Do you send someone from the opposing alliance, potentially granting them safety but weakening their numbers? The worry there is they don’t stay and play and come back with an idol at their disposal. If I had to make a firm guess, I would assume most players will send an ally and that person will return. But this is a strange game, Survivor. I can’t wait to see how this part of the game plays out from here.
Immunity Island
As expected, Tyson decides to leave Immunity Island. As tempting as it may be to secure your own safety, you risk destroying the trust and relationships within your alliance, as Tyson correctly points out. Like I said, I think we’ll see a lot of this. This adds an extra layer to Tribal Council, as there will always, or least more often, be an idol in play. The fact that everyone then knows about it could add paranoia and create lots of second guessing as alliances try to plan around the idol.
Pre-Tribal
Chappies has found himself a little spy shack of sorts by the water well, which he quickly becomes obsessed with. It’s too far away to hear full conversations, but he says he can make out “key words.” It’s a bit risky to base decisions off a few sporadic words and phrases, but hey, you work with what you got.
Chappies remains the favorite target, though Tyson’s return from Immunity Island adds some extra uncertainty around camp. Lots of talk surrounding idols and who would play it and for whom, putting plans on a little bit shakier ground.
Tribal Council
Tyson passes the Immunity Island to Wardah. Nico makes him play it before voting. HATE that. Let it play out like a regular idol. It takes all the suspense out of the idol play. Doing it this makes it much easier to put a Plan B into effect. After this, Anela plays his Tribal Insurance advantage, taking Chappies’ vote.
Tyson gives his idol to Chappies to play, followed by Renier giving his idol to Nicole. Chappies is saved, as he would have been voted out. Zero votes were cast for Nicole, so I’m going to need someone to explain that decision to me, and Marisha is voted out, becoming the first member of the jury.
What. A. Move. So beautiful to watch this evolve and come together. High degree of difficulty and they played it to perfection. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that this group of five is still part of an 11 person tribe. How does this move affect things going forward? They did have some cross-relationships going into this Tribal, so where those stand now will be huge for Tyson, Kiran, Santoni, Wardah, and Chappies’ in the next few days and next couple votes (at least). If you assume there’s a hard split between the two groups, they’re only down one, so they’re very much alive. It will be fascinating to see how things play out from here. But for the time being, let’s just bask in the greatness of the season’s best move.
And with that, we close out a terrific merge episode. I’m beyond excited to see where the rest of the season goes. I hope I can say the same for you all.
