Another episode of Survivor is in the books! Sol goes home and that makes me kind of sad. Let’s dive in!
I Need to Vent About Survivor 47
This was a frustrating episode for me, and it has me missing the magic that we had with Survivor 46. In this episode we basically had four immunity challenges — three within the actual challenge and a bonus fourth challenge at the journey. I’ve already mentioned in past reactions that I don’t like episodes that have extra-long challenges because I feel like it doesn’t develop any characters. We also had vote losing hijinks that were pointless to the final result. When Jeff Probst announced that four people would be losing their votes based on the result of part one of a three-part challenge, I audibly groaned. Why can’t we just have a normal challenge where everyone gets to vote anymore? It’s been four episodes since the merge, and we have yet to get that one time. Is it because this is a 26-day show now? Because it’s clear there is no time anymore for real storylines to develop when the show is so condensed, and the cast is being dragged to challenges and tribal councils every day. Does Survivor feel like they have to throw exclusively curveballs at their castaways because they are nervous no one will try to make #BIGMOVEZ? This episode just felt like a full package of everything I dislike about New Era Survivor, and it makes me mad.
The thing is, we know the cramped format can work when the cast is interesting and dynamic. Unfortunately, this might be the most boring cast we’ve had in the New Era. No one is doing anything for me. Andy is objectively the most interesting castaway on the season, and even so much of his character has been whittled down to doing bits for the camera like twirling his hair around and telling us to “Look at how I’m rewriting my Survivor story from day one!” Andy is probably the sixth or seventh most interesting castaway if he was on Survivor 46. All the other castaways in the game are either not charismatic enough to carry the entertainment, all business and no fun, or not important enough to the strategy. Somehow Survivor 47 has me missing the sob stories, because the show has done so little to develop any characters or personalities this season. Like, can you tell me anything that isn’t expository that’s interesting about any of these castaways? Everything has been so game-focused in the presentation around this group of players that I can’t help but feel I’m watching a bunch of gamebots.
This is also just the point in a season of New Era Survivor where the excitement is lacking and the pace drags, and usually the point where I always feel like I’m questioning if I actually like the season I’m watching. This twist heavy second third of current Survivor hasn’t been figured out yet, which is crazy to think about given we are on the seventh season of 26-day Survivor. The tweak I’d make is to eliminate all the cheese and vote-stripping and weird formats and just have a normal merge (with a feast for everyone by the way), with normal individual immunity challenges, and dare I say, slow down the show with normal votes that can let the cast breathe a bit and make room for real character development.
A good ending can change the outlook on a season, but right now I’m pretty disappointed in the step down we’ve gotten in quality from the past two seasons. 60-minute episodes would have served us well for Survivor 47. Hopefully the drama picks up soon and we get a few emotional character moments in the last few episodes.
Genevieve Masterminds an Attack on a Rival
Two castaways stood out to me as possible gamechangers after last week’s episode — Genevieve and Sol. Little did I know, one would decide to decimate the other. The long immunity challenge split up the tribe into three groups and gave Genevieve the space and the time to get into Sue’s ear and get the ball rolling on a blindside of her former tribemate. She brings in the Tuku alliance, Andy, and Rachel to hold the majority in the vote.
The ease of which Genevieve was able to put the pieces in place was impressive. She had done the work to be in this middle position where she could go either with the Lavo-Gata contingent or with the Tuku tribe, and this week she used Tuku to get someone she considered a threat out of the game. Getting Tuku on board was also great for keeping the target off of her, as the sheer size and intimidating presence of the Tuku alliance covered a lot of her machinations. When Sol learned of his impending exit, his reaction was to go after Sue as a key glue girl for Tuku, and the thought that Genevieve actually was the one pushing for his exit did not cross his mind.
Genevieve certainly has the best resume so far amongst the remaining castaways, but questions still remain. First off, was the Sol vote too soon? Will people recognize Genevieve as the mastermind and try to turn the vote against her next time? She made an enemy with this vote by going behind Teeny’s back to get it done, how will that affect her game? Secondly, did Genevieve get rid of a future ally? It’s hard to tell what Genevieve’s connections are within the Tuku tribe that makes her confident enough to turn her back on her original tribemates to jump onto the Tuku alliance as, what looks like on the surface, the fifth of five. I must assume Genevieve thinks that Sue and Caroline prefer her over Kyle, or she plans to flip back against Tuku in the next few days. Lastly, will Genevieve try to even get the proper credit? This vote against Sol doesn’t obviously point back to Genevieve as the source. Will Genevieve try to publicly own the move when the tribe gets back to camp, or will she stay quiet and hope that jury members will give her props at the very end?
Sol Scrambles, But His Fate was Sealed
Genevieve’s plan did not end up being a blindside because things leaked out before the tribe left to go to tribal council. To secure numbers, Genevieve brought Rachel into the vote who, in turn, played this awkward game of “I’m not going to let you in the vote, but trust me” with Sam. But when Sam pressured her, she revealed that Sol was going home. Sam immediately went to Sol to blab, and that kicked off a bunch of scrambling from Sol, Sam, and Teeny.
Tribal council told the whole story about how this vote was going to go down. While a ton of chaos took place in the last couple minutes on the beach and last second plan shifts were teased, the only ones who felt true pressure to make tribal council go live were Sol, Sam and Teeny. As the three of them hopped around the seats to try to get the numbers for a last second blindside of Sue, everyone else sat pat and held true to the original plan. When Sam and Teeny noticed their scheming was going nowhere, they acquiesced to voting out Sol just to hide themselves amongst the unanimous majority.
Was Sol really the big threat Genevieve made him out to be? It doesn’t really matter. Once a narrative gets pushed around then the reality of the situation doesn’t matter so much. Sol was starting to get the pieces together with Rachel and Teeny and Sam, but at this point in the game, to make #BIGMOVEZ Sol needed Genevieve. Genevieve determined she didn’t need Sol. But I am a little sad Sol goes home without really getting a chance to go for the win. He had started to come around as a fun character in Survivor 47 which is surprising given how slow a start he had this season.
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Best Dick Measuring Contest — Gabe and Sol
Casually engaging in a burping one-upping contest at the reward is one of the most guy coded cocky behaviors you can come up with.
Survivor Conspiracy of the Week — Sam and Andy’s Ripped Bag
Just going to float this out there, I think the show didn’t want the optics of having the two guy pairs dominating the women in the physical portion of a challenge that involves losers getting their vote stripped, so there could have been some shenanigans by sabotaging Sam and Andy’s bag. They know the pairs before the challenge starts and they could make sure to put whichever pair they wanted in whatever lane for that challenge.
MVP of the Episode: Genevieve
After getting her way, Genevieve is the clear number one as a major player in the game right now with the best resume.
Goat of the Episode: Sam and Teeny
The scrambling was giving desperate, and the game is going down the toilet for these two castaways. Their over-the-top failed campaign to save Sol might have sealed their fate.
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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
BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE
9. Sam
8. Teeny
These two castaways were left on an island defending Sol against the rest of the tribe, which makes them the logical next targets. They must hope that Sol was a one-time hit and the powers that be turn their sights to a new threat.
IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION
7. Kyle
For different reasons, Kyle and Rachel are threats that can be taken out at any moment. Kyle is a challenge threat, but clearly a non-factor strategically. Kyle thought Genevieve was not a social player as she literally masterminds a blindside of Sol, which tells you all you need to know about Kyle’s read on the game.
(FYI, if Kyle would have won immunity this week, I would have called it fraudulent…. He was in a pair for two-thirds of a challenge and individually only had to beat three people for the immunity necklace).
6. Rachel
Rachel was given a lifeline this week, but she mishandled the information given to her by leaking the Sol blindside to Sam. This cast is pretty forgiving, but I doubt people will forget this misplay when making future plans.
IN A GOOD SPOT FOR NOW
5. Sue
4. Gabe
Sue and Gabe both were mentioned as targets to be voted out by the Lavo-Gata contingent, but with Sol’s exit, the fracturing of the opposition alliance, and Teeny and Sam very much on the outs, these Tuku members are in a safer place.
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
3. Andy
No one’s edit has more momentum right now than Andy, who I feel is quite possibly getting the “winner’s edit” red carpet rolled out for him. His redemption story is all the rage right now, and if he can continue to navigate the social game and get his targets out while keeping his threat level low, it could make for a really compelling narrative for the jury… I’m just saying keep an eye on it.
2. Caroline
Without a vote, Caroline was a non-factor in this episode. She can continue to play safe and ride with her alliance, but I think she needs to do something notable in the game if she wants to have a shot at winning.
1. Genevieve
The most important thing for Genevieve moving forward is to keep the target on other people. There’s high potential she becomes the classic “final five obvious threat” vote a la Ricard, Karla, Maria, etc. if she stays on this path without evolving her game some more.
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Sol’s soldiers have taken a bullet to the heart. Will a new castaway rise up to take his place? Find out next week!