Another episode of Survivor is in the books! People eat a lot of food, and Andy gets back at his former tribemates. Let’s dive in!
Another Survivor Auction — Was it Good?
It was a big deal when Survivor 45 brought a show staple back — the auction. After so many years, the first iteration of the auction felt refreshing, as it was generally low stakes fun and enjoyable watch, with the less fun twist of making someone lose a vote if they left the auction with the most money. I think the nostalgia and novelty of this New Era version of the Survivor auction faded a bit with the second version. The “lose your vote” aspect of the auction needs to be removed from here on out, as it sucked the actual auctioning out of the affair and turned it into a game of “pray that I can spend all my money before Jeff tells me I can’t”. I mean, they basically skipped through the final third of the auction because it was taking too long and they needed to get to the ending to strip Sam of his vote. I was ready to move on by the time the auction was over.
It’s also worth mentioning that production found a way to sneak an advantage back into the auction. It wasn’t auctioned off like in the past, but instead one lucky castaway got a clue hidden in their food. (Though if we want to get conspiratorial, given that the auction format makes it very easy to predict who will get each food item, Survivor production could sneak whatever advantage they wanted to whoever they wanted…). Rachel’s eventful game of Survivor continues as she was the one to bid on the food item with a clue. After succeeding in her stealth mission to cut open the tarp, Rachel now has possession of a hidden immunity idol. It will be up to her to change her fate with correct use of the idol.
The Tribal Tug-of-War for Power
For a second, it looked like we were beginning to watch the tribal lines crack and see individuals branch out to create new alliances. This episode saw people retreat back to the tribal cliques and figure out which two tribes would combine to get out the third. This isn’t to say that there is nothing going on behind the scenes. One such divergent player is Sol, who’s putting together the SSA (Sol’s Secret Agents) to take some power in the game. He parlayed his advantage from last week into a new, strong alliance with Rachel, and he has charmed the simple country vegan Kyle with his impeccable wit. Could Sol’s new allies be key for taking control of the game later on? Perhaps… but for now with so many people left, it is easier to take advantage of the existing relationships to make it another day further.
Lavo castaways were the ones finding themselves in high demand. I think this is due to this tribe being the least bonded to each other. That may sound counterintuitive, but I think the fact that Sol, Genevieve, and Teeny are choosing to go play their own games and start relationships with other castaways rather than group-strategize as a Lavo voting block, yet will still gather together and synergize votes, has given them the upper hand over the other tribes. We entered this tribal council with Gata and Tuku both looking to vote each other out by linking up with Lavo.
He’s All That it Took for Sam and Sierra’s Game to be Ruined
Lavo had the power to go whichever way they wanted, but an offer from one castaway made their decision easy. Andy made his play this week to oppose his own Gata tribemates and align with Lavo swung the vote unanimously against Sam and Sierra, both caught with their pants down.
Sam, Sierra, and Rachel believed that they had Andy in their pocket and proceeded accordingly by setting up what they believed was an alliance with former Lavo to vote out Gabe and weaken Tuku. It was hilarious how emphatically Sam and Sierra had distanced themselves from Andy, preferring the tribemate they formerly blindsided in Rachel. Andy was well aware that he had been discarded and approached Tuku, Sol, basically anyone who would listen, that he wanted to betray his former tribe. Lavo and Tuku were more than happy to oblige. They split the vote on Sam and Sierra to avoid any idol hijinks, and chose to vote out Sierra on the revote.
It can be easy to laugh at Sam and Sierra for how they’ve mismanaged their alliance with Andy, but I imagine that a week and a half of seeing Andy being a goof meant for them that their alliance with him was always going to look like this. Let’s not forget Andy’s horrible first impression involving a challenge meltdown and demanding forced cheers after chopping a coconut. Their assumption that Andy wouldn’t look to be a proactive and aggressive player by changing allegiances turned out to be dead wrong. Andy is not looking to be dragged to the end.
This has to especially hurt for Sierra, not just because she was voted out, but also because she was the one that ultimately chose Andy for her post-merge alliance over Anika. Sure, a lot of that decision was based around appeasing Sam, who pushed hard to save Andy and spurn Anika. In retrospect, Sierra needed to stand her ground in the moment and maintain what would have been a stronger alliance for her in the long run, instead of what kept her ally Sam comfortable in the moment. Like Tiyana, Sierra is another Survivor 47 whose early season decision came back to haunt her later on.
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Best Eating Challenge: Grubs
One of the positives of the auction this season was reintroducing the iconic Survivor grub, offering it in an eating mini challenge for a breakfast reward. The grub will stay iconic from its Season 1 introduction because of how intimidating it is to eat. I don’t think I could do it myself… I would crumble like a cookie. Though I will say, it does make me miss the fact that Survivor doesn’t do full-fledged eating challenges anymore, instead opting to do the same eight to ten balance and endurance immunities every season. I would welcome the return of an eating immunity challenge.
The Jeff Probst “Jeff Probst Moment” Moment of the Episode: Jeff Probst Attempting to Be Funny by Using a British Accent
Jeff probably should try to stay on script more often, as he decided off the cuff to try out an awful British accent while working the auction. It was a certifiably atrocious accent, and he clearly did it because he was trying to make the auction fun and entertaining, like an old uncle trying to relate to the younger generation.
Most Fraudulent Winning Streak: Kyle
Shout out to Kyle for winning individual immunity three times in a row. As we move forward, the possibility of Kyle breaking the individual immunity record may become a talking point. But I have to rain on the parade a bit. While he has won three individual immunities, he has yet to win an immunity where he has had to beat the entire tribe straight up. Count them up:
- Merge episode — team challenge eliminates half the cast, Kyle beats six castaways for immunity
- Tribe is split for next immunity, Kyle wins against the five other in his group for the necklace but is beat by castaways in the other group
- This episode Kyle wins the necklace and while he was the last one standing, he only had to beat all the guys for immunity… who knows if Sue digs deep and beats him in a traditional challenge
Because the New Era feels like it has to play with the format all the time, Kyle has won three individual immunities despite not having a traditional challenge format. We may have to put an asterisk next to his challenge streak if it extends any further.
MVP of the Episode: Rachel
While Andy’s big play was admirable, I think long term Rachel’s new alliance with Sol and finding the hidden immunity idol has more juice for her game down the line.
Goat of the Episode: Vegans
Kyle was faced with a moral dilemma when the auction item he bid on was a plate of wings. There were no cauliflower wings waiting in the back to instead lend to Kyle, and the chicken was too much of a temptation for the vegetarian to pass up when you are starving.
Side note, while wings would taste SUPER good if you didn’t eat for two weeks, I hope the sauce was mild, not hot. I worry for the digestive process if those were hot wings.
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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
BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE
10. Sam
He’s on an island strategically right now, and he needs chaos to reign so that the rest of the tribe does not send him home as the easy vote.
IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION
9. Kyle
The Tuku men were in the mouths of a lot of players this week. Kyle’s immunity streak makes him a target… best-case scenario is he becomes a shield for a blindside of someone else when he is vulnerable, worst-case scenario is that his likability gets the words “jury threat” thrown in his direction and he is quickly sent out the door at the soonest possible moment.
8. Gabe
If not Kyle, then Gabe. He’s next on the list for people targeting the Tuku alliance.
7. Rachel
Unlike her Gata friend Sam, there are some lifelines for Rachel to grasp onto, mainly an alliance with Sol. She needs things to turn against Tuku so she can hold onto her idol and use it at a key moment later in the game.
IN A GOOD SPOT FOR NOW
6. Teeny
5. Sue
We are at the point in the game where I’m starting to consider who has a chance to win and who doesn’t. Amongst the safer castaways, Teeny and Sue stand out to me as people who can make the end, but probably won’t win. Teeny is an interesting case as someone who’s tried to make an impact on the game but has failed so far. Early on, Teeny let Rome’s advantages dictate strategy, and it led to Teeny abandoning a more desirable alliance with Aysha for Rome, who was quickly discarded at the merge. This episode, Teeny really wanted an alliance with Gata but caved on the plan when people pushed for Gata’s elimination. This is starting to look like a theme for Teeny’s game that could end in a distant third place finish, at best.
Sue is a less interesting case. She hasn’t factored at all into the season these past few episodes, relegated to following Caroline and Gabe. I also don’t think she is a savvy enough player to pull off any big moves on her own. But hey, she is a badass pilot. Who else can say that?
4. Andy
His game feels a LOT like Gabler’s in Survivor 43. He’s the castaway dismissed by some of his original tribemates for poor behavior and gameplay early on, who makes a big successful push at the merge to blindside the tribemates who doubted him. That’s basically Gabler in the first half of his season.
Gabler in the second half of the season was fully under the radar, doing almost nothing, until making it to the final three against two underwhelming finalists and winning the final vote. Andy’s game will certainly NOT look like that. He has made it very clear that he wants to play Survivor very hard. His game could go anywhere: he may be taken seriously, he may be completely dismissed, he may play himself out of the game, he may play along with others.
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
3. Caroline
She’s a great social player, but she hasn’t been challenged yet and I worry she is playing too safe. This episode, she was quick to defer and piggyback on Genevieve’s plan to vote out Rachel (and by proxy Gata, which is how the vote ended up going down). She went as far as to celebrate in the confessional that Genevieve is willing to take the reins on this plan. Maybe I’m overreading this but if things flip against Tuku and her butt is on the line, I just don’t know if she could scramble her way out of it.
2. Sol
1. Genevieve
These two Lavo castaways are the only ones highlighted with strong, cross-tribe alliances and both of their stock continues to rise as the episodes go by. If I had to bet who makes the biggest move of the season, I’m banking on one of these two.
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The Gata purge has begun — will Sam and Rachel be able to shake up the game? Find out next week!