Another episode of Survivor is in the books! The heat of the game is rising early in Survivor 47. Let’s dive in!
Sam Puppeteers Himself an Idol
Early episodes of Survivor always seem to be filled with these idol hijinks, and after the messiness of Rome and Gabe’s idol hunts, it was a bit refreshing to see Sam handle his idol searching well. Because he found the beware clue with Anika, he knew he had to make the discovery public knowledge among the three women of the tribe, in order to avoid divisive secret keeping. He then brought in Rachel and Sierra separately to help him secure the idol, and now he stays in a positive spot with all three of the important tribemates in Gata. On top of that, Sam has gotten involved with some strategic lifeline talks with the outcast Andy, whose “toxic clingy boyfriend” behavior keeps him at arm’s length with the rest of his tribe.
Andy once again fumbled the bag this episode, by the way. It turns out that Andy would have gotten an idol… if he actually decided to take it when he found it. Overthinking is a common theme for the man, as he second-guessed his premeditated decision to wait on grabbing a beware advantage, only to discover that someone swooped in to grab it for themselves.
Andy is trying to find a way in the game through Sam, and there could be an incredibly irony soaked tribal council in a few episodes if Sam chooses to use the idol on Andy in a chess move to blindside someone in theatrical fashion. It was interesting that Sam chose to stick with the one-tribal idol, possibly fearing a more difficult task or a publicized search. It may also be a calculated risk for Sam to use the idol in a flashy way rather than become a constant subject of discussion for elimination due to holding onto an idol, and he just has to hope that it doesn’t paint a huge target on his back post-merge.
Pot Stirring Conflict Drama Is Back on the Survivor Menu
I thought it was worth noting that Survivor didn’t hold back for showing conflict within tribemates on all tribes this episode. Rome was universally dissed by his own tribe in a pretty harsh and unflattering way in one of the only storylines to come out of Lavu this week. Anika’s funny but harsh Hinge critique of Andy is just one of many ways the show has chosen to poke fun at the man for his less than stellar start. In Tuku, the bad blood that had formed between Sue and T.K. was a focus of the tribe’s dynamic and tribal council. I haven’t exposed myself to the Twitter/Reddit post episode commentary, but I wonder if any castaways have spoken up about some further beef they have, whether by talking smack against castaways or by airing grievances about how they have been portrayed.
It isn’t lost on me that Survivor 46 was a successful season because of the inter-cast drama and conflict. I wonder if this is a production decision to focus on whatever conflict is arising within the tribes, or if this is a casting trend by the show to bring on more polarizing island personalities. We will see if this kind of island beef we have been served in the first few episodes continues to feel organic, or if it feels more like it is injected to mimic what people liked about the previous season.
T.K. Talks His Way Out of the Game
Gata responds from a poor first challenge to win the second challenge, while Tuku’s deteriorating tribe chemistry sends them to their first tribal council. The tribe had been experiencing a shift in alliances driven by T.K., a very outspoken and strong voice within the tribe. T.K. had rallied an initial majority alliance with Kyle and Tiyana, with Gabe serving as the fourth member. Sue and Caroline had been categorized as the outcasts within the tribe, mainly because T.K.’s determined them unworthy of his time, much to the chagrin of Sue who believes that all men are stinky smelly bastards who are stupid and dumb.
However, our big buffoon Gabe had cultivated a different majority alliance as his early gaming paid off for the tribe’s first vote. While Gabe publicly identified as part of the male alliance, he had gathered up Sue and Caroline as numbers in a day one agreement, and it didn’t take much convincing to get Tiyana on board to send the loud and overconfident T.K. home. He also chose to play his three-tribal idol on himself at tribal council, which made no sense given the narrative of the vote. The only reason I can think of is that it protects him in the event of a stalemate that leads to rocks. I’m sure Survivor will let him explain in the next episode, as they usually do.
T.K. can really only blame himself for going home so early. He had a crappy social game that expected grown adults to bend to his every whim no matter how he decides to act. The post-challenge outburst about smiling that shaded Tiyana was completely unnecessary and was likely the nail in his coffin. While T.K. assumed verbal agreements he initiated would hold, people hadn’t built a stable alliance, or even friendship with him other than Kyle, which made it easy and non-consequential for Tiyana and Gabe to cut bait with a wildcard so early in the game.
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Biggest Main Character Wannabee: Gabe
The way Gabe speaks through confessionals is getting on my nerves a bit. It’s clear that he is trying SO HARD to frame himself as this Survivor mastermind. Calling Caroline and Sue “wounded birds” and propping himself up as their strategic savior is just a wild thing to say. This dude has a giant ego, and I don’t believe his actual wits match the skill he believes he has.
Most Illegally Resourceful: Rachel
Good try Rachel! I’m shocked no one has really tried to bend the rules like this in this new era of starvation Survivor.
Cutest Smile: Andy
T.K. did not approve. He HATES SMILING in his Survivor game. But I say let Andy smile! He deserves to unnaturally cheese at all the castaways who assumed he was dead in the water a few days ago.
MVP of the Episode: Sam
No one has really navigated themselves into a semi-comfortable power position in the game yet other than Sam, who has working relationships with the majority of his tribe. And if someone like Anika turns against him, he has the pathway of an uncanny Sierra-Sam-Andy trio to wiggle out of trouble… not to mention an idol he will have to play next tribal.
Goat of the Episode: Rome
Thankfully Rome’s apparently grating personality sticks to the Fijian beach and stays off the TV. Rome is still a fun wildcard right now. But it has to be mentioned that Rome’s complete disaster class of social savviness and idol handling still takes the cake for me as the worst non-Andy Survivor game so far.
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PLAYER TIER LIST:
OUT OF THE GAME
18. Jon
17. T.K.
BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE
16. Rome
15. Andy
He’s still the easy vote, but there is a chance now that Sam brings Andy along as a pawn to the merge, as long as Andy doesn’t overthink it and ruin his only alliance like he did with Jon.
IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION
14. Kyle
Chalk Survivor dictates Kyle goes home next as the number on ally of T.K. However, I don’t think the numbers in Tuku are totally secure and Kyle’s good vibes and non-threatening social game could make him a better ally than others on his tribe.
13. Gabe
Chalk Survivor dictates Gabe is safe in the majority alliance, but he is idolless and reckless and might act in a way that makes his tribemates want to vote him out as a threat to their games. I haven’t bought the Gabe mastermind edit that Gabe is desperately trying to sell us.
IN A GOOD SPOT FOR NOW
12. Genevieve
11. Sol
10. Aysha
Nothing interesting will happen in Lavu until they lose a challenge and have to deal with the fact that Rome can save himself with an idol. These three castaways basically did nothing in the episode, which isn’t a good sign for long term-prospects.
9. Anika
8. Rachel
Right now I don’t think Anika (and by proxy Rachel) win a battle against Sam and Sierra. Given Anika’s personality, I think she attempts a move against Sam before the merge, which isn’t looking like a smart play for now.
7. Sue
Sue stock went way down in this episode. She apparently contributes little to camp life in the tribe which is a bad combination when contributing little value in challenges, and she didn’t come off as savvy strategically dealing with T.K.
6. Caroline
Caroline is tied to Sue for now, but if she gets spooked by Gabe does she try to forge her own path?
5. Teeny
4. Kishan
The show tried to spin Teeny getting caught spilling Rome’s box to Kishan into a way she’s showing her “Survivor superpower” (puke). This makes me think Teeny is in a spot to go far, despite not being as slick of a player as initially believed. However, her ally Kishan getting the spotlight as an “under the radar” power player is interesting to note.
3. Sierra
She’s tied to Sam, which looks good right now given Sam’s strength, idol, and connections. The fear is that if people are threatened by Sam, she could end up the collateral.
2. Tiyana
Tiyana got the swing vote edit in this episode with the T.K. vote, and given that I don’t think the numbers are set in stone yet for Tuku, I think Tiyana could be set up to swing the next vote. She’s giving reliable player to me which could look more appealing than Gabe or Sue if things go south for the tribe.
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
1. Sam
Not safe, but certainly the one with the most control in his tribe right now.
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The big guys have come out the gates playing hard, but will it come back to bite more of them like it has with T.K.? Find out next week!