Another episode of Survivor is in the books! Kyle keeps himself alive as Genevieve faces the backlash of her actions. Let’s dive in!
Tuku Takes a Hard Look at Themselves
The end of the game is around the corner and this episode signaled a shift in mindset amongst the castaways, most notably amongst the only big alliance of Survivor 47: the Tuku four. Much of the discussion leaving the Sol vote was focused around not just which person goes home next, but which Tuku castaway goes home next. While Genevieve was the cool hipster suggestion for a blindside, the primary names of the top of people’s target lists were Kyle and Gabe, both feared in different ways. Kyle’s immunity challenge streak has become a cause for concern for everyone now, as the castaways fear that his good ol’ boy, doing-it-for-the-kids story will make the jury have a soft spot for him. On the other hand, people have noticed that Gabe is playing a strong game as a key piece of the Tuku alliance and worry that if Kyle gets voted out, then Gabe will take his place as the next immunity beast.
We hear the canary in the coal mine as the strategy progressed throughout the episode: it’s not just the castaways outside of Tuku targeting Kyle and Gabe as threats, but also the castaways within the Tuku alliance. This foursome, together since day one, is ready to tear each other apart. Kyle openly shared his desire to break away from Tuku, which has been a long time coming. Kyle’s dream Tuku alliance consisted of T.K. and Tiyana, not Caroline and Sue, and days of following along out of necessity has served its purpose. The rest of Tuku knows Kyle is a problem for them and is ready to send him home. Sue has been vehemently against Kyle ever since he voted for her in the first week, and also probably she heard Kyle doesn’t believe that women can be badass pilots.
The foundation of this Tuku alliance was built on sand, not rock. This isn’t the Reba four of Survivor 45, who stuck together for as long as they could because of the emotional bonds and strategic synergy. Tuku stuck together at the merge because it was the obvious strategy, and now that the individuals can see the end of the game in the distance, they are more worried about the hierarchy of who’s playing the best game than the numbers they have when unified. And it looks to me that at final nine, their breakup is coming way too soon for future success. It could be a Tuku slaughter in the next few episodes if other players come together in a new alliance to glide to the final five.
Gata Leads Survivor 47’s Outcasts on the Offensive
As Tuku fell, another group needed to rise to take their place, and it turns out that the Gata three of Andy, Rachel, and Sam were just waiting for the freedom to take some power of their own. While Sol was a great asset and ally for the misfits while still in the game, ironically it was his exit that allowed for Survivor 47 to open up for each of the original Gata tribemates. All eyes were focused on Genevieve, Kyle, and Gabe, letting Sam, Rachel, and Andy operate without fear and start putting together their plans for the endgame.
For Sam, it’s balls to the wall to get his vision of the upcoming vote to be a reality. This week it was a success on paper. Sam wanted to assemble an army to take out Gabe, and that’s mostly what happened as he gained Kyle and Teeny as allies this episode. While his intense, hard-style Survivor gameplay may get him in hot water in a few days, for now he has dug out of a deep-looking hole, albeit without his shot-in-the-dark, and can look to make winning moves.
While Rachel didn’t succeed in swaying people to her side to blindside Genevieve this week, she has snuggled herself into the ideal position of the “under the radar” threat. People like Caroline have acknowledged her as a strong social player, but right now she is a low priority to be voted out. If she can keep this reputation it could benefit her greatly in a tribal council situation. Kenzie proved last season that as long as you are well-liked and respected by enough people on the jury, you don’t need to actually lead any successful votes of your own to win the game.
Andy continues to be built up by the show as a puppeteer behind the scenes in Survivor 47. The editors were not slick at all by giving the self-dubbed “Smiling Assassin” a spider’s web overlay as he detailed how he has built up multiple alliances that he bends to his will. To give Andy his flowers, he has done a great job of connecting with people for organic duo alliances. Rachel has overcome her early day jitters to embrace her relationship with Andy, and Andy has gotten his claws into a new alliance with Sue who just went back on the market for a new sugar daddy now that Gabe is out of the game. In a fun turn of events, his god awful first impression back at the first immunity challenge has worked to be a threat-neutralizer as he has better footing in the game as each day goes by. Now Andy is in a great position to bite into the game however he likes and swing a future vote his way without much fear of a blindside, just like he did against Sierra.
Genevieve Sweats, But Gabe Gets the Boot
Because Kyle won immunity, the vote came down squarely to whether it would be Gabe or Genevieve going home. As the tribe gets smaller, the obvious threats get called out and at the moment they are Genevieve, who everyone agreed masterminded the Sol vote, and Gabe, who has been singled out as a strong player within the Tuku alliance.
This was a huge fall from grace for Genevieve, who was riding high immediately after the Sol vote. The fallout was a very hard conversation with Teeny and the abandonment of the tribemates who previously worked with her. She made #BIGMOVEZ too soon, and it resulted in facing this vote completely blind and very nervous that it would be the end of the road for her. This week wasn’t her time to go, but now she has to lay very low and hope new people rise to take a more urgent threat status.
Tonight ended up being Gabe’s night to exit the game, as he was nearly unanimously voted out, with Sue the only one isolated out of the final plan. The death blow for Gabe was losing the support of Kyle and Caroline within the Tuku alliance. Kyle has been in self-preservation mode for a minute now, and distancing himself from Tuku is a possible path to a better alliance that might spare him if/when he loses immunity in the future. Caroline’s betrayal is more layered and more consequential. Caroline was the one who preached unity within Tuku in earlier episodes, but she was feeling the pressure of being the “overlooked” member of her alliance. Without much game merit to her name, Caroline worried that she would lose to Gabe in a FTC situation and expressed interest in going along with the plan to send him home. Because Sue is so close with Gabe, this meant that to sever one alliance required severing another, and yet she chose to go along with the group. Was there an opportunity for Caroline to go to Sue and insist she use her idol to save Gabe? Apparently not… it seems Caroline prefers to go at it alone for the rest of the season and find her way with some ambiguous other ally.
As for Gabe, he just wasn’t that impactful of a character this season to get much of a eulogy, despite his desire to be a villain and a face on the “New Era Survivor Mt. Rushmore”, whatever that is. He can at least have pride that his tribemates thought he was good enough at Survivor to be considered as the Kyle alternative.
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Oddest Manifestation: Gabe Insisting He Will Play Survivor Again
I don’t think Gabe calculated that his artificially snarky villain persona would not be a hit with the fans, which only makes his blatant begging for a second chance to play Survivor under the guise of manifestation even more pitiful.
Most Interesting Rice Negotiation: This One, if it Included Jeff Stabbing the Bag with a Knife
The surrendering of the shot-in-the-dark dice was not as big of a deal as Jeff was trying to make it be, given that it has only come into play once in seven seasons and the cast basically opted into playing Survivor the same way that hundreds of castaways in 40 seasons played Survivor before. But I did find it very interesting that Sam was caught captive of the pressure of the majority, as he reluctantly gave up his dice because he didn’t want to be that guy who denied his tribe food. It was just missing Jeff Probst stabbing the rice bag with a knife for dramatic effect.
Most Polarizing Fit: Sol
The shirtless vest was giving equal parts Paris Fashion Week and Male Stripper. But I can appreciate the confidence of an edgy jury outfit.
MVP of the Episode: The Gata Three
Basically what I said before. The game completely opened up for them to have their way with the rest of the tribe.
Goat of the Episode: Sue
Lost one of her close allies, betrayed by her other close ally. I imagine an expletive laden rant is awaiting her tribe upon their return to camp.
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PLAYER TIER LIST:
OUT OF THE GAME
18. Jon
17. T.K.
16. Aysha
15. Kishan
14. Anika
13. Rome
12. Tiyana
11. Sierra
10. Sol
9. Gabe
BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE
8. Kyle
In my personal record book this was his first individual immunity win of the season. Congrats Kyle! If he loses immunity moving forward I’d say there’s a high chance he goes home. He once again has to hope he can be the shield for someone else’s blindside.
7. Genevieve
I don’t know if she has a real ally remaining. It’s the downside of playing such an emotionless, business-like game of Survivor… when you get in a hole like this you don’t really have anyone looking to help you out of it. Teeny and Sol could have been that for her.
IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION
6. Sue
She has an idol so she can protect herself for an upcoming vote. That’s the only good thing left for her right now. She needs to find a new strong player to cling onto for support, fast.
IN A GOOD SPOT FOR NOW
5. Caroline
While Caroline seemed OK to let Gabe go this episode, I think this might be a sign of the beginning of the end for her chances of winning Survivor 47. Who’s she gonna work with now? Is there a ladies alliance formed in the background somewhere? That has been hinted at in the past but for now nothing has come out of it yet. Simply put, Caroline hasn’t done anything to warrant being seen as either a threat or a candidate to win Survivor, and I’m tired of thinking highly of her as a player.
4. Teeny
Teeny’s story took an emotional turn as the loss of Sol brought up questions of identify and fitting into this tribe without anyone to trust. But hey, a FIRE has been LIT under TEENY’S ASS, just like a FIRE had LIT up TEENY’s BAG and burned a hole in it. And a Tuku downfall plus a new alliance with Sam is a positive turn for Teeny’s game.
3. Sam
Will Sam take credit for this vote? If he does, it could move him right back to the bottom of the totem pole.
2. Rachel
She could be getting a Kenzie winner’s edit… she has already pulled out Kenzie’s signature move of talking about how she wants to send a castaway home without actually succeeding in voting them out. Regardless, Rachel’s in a much stronger social position now than she was before.
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
1. Andy
The biggest thing I’m worried about is that Andy is being built up as a bigger player than he actually is for the sake of star-making, a la Carolyn in Survivor 44 and Xander in Survivor 41. From what I see, he is the one in the best position to take control of the game and go into FTC with the best story and resume.
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Will Kyle be able to continue saving himself with immunity, or will a new person face the pressure of a blindside? Find out next week!