Frankly, I’m not sure whether or not it’s a good thing I had to wait so long to write this blog. On the one hand, that was a hard episode to get through, both on an objective and subjective level, and I’m glad I had time to emotionally process it. On the other hand, having time to emotionally process this episode means my reactions will not be as over-the-top as they would have been fresh off the episode, which may make for a less interesting blog. I guess only the result will tell us true.
Before we get to those results, however, it’s time for another edition of…
MATT’S MESS-UP!
Yes, not only do we need to talk about an episode that is nearly a week old at this point, but we also need to talk about the episode BEFORE that, because it wasn’t confusing enough. There are two points from episode four that I neglected in the blog for that episode, but fortunately, both a fairly short. Firstly, while I mentioned Aubry expressing relief at having Wendy on the team, since it would get someone out before her, I neglected to mention her other reaction: regret. It seems Aubry has a soft spot for Wendy, and hoped to ally with her. Given that Aubry can be kind of “weird” herself, this is not surprising, but worth mentioning.
As to my second point, we must return to the Edge of Extinction, and talk about Chris. Chris, you see, articulates the Edge of Extinction as being a journey for him, realizing that he can’t do everything as well as he thought. In particular, he mentions that his hope for a “perfect game” has been shot. Some might see this as a nice arc from an inoffensive guy. I see it as an arrogant man thinking he can get a perfect game on his first try, and just roll my eyes. Then again, I’m a cynical critic on the internet, so that probably colors my view a bit.
We join Rick on the Edge of Extinction (who had basically no reaction beyond just quickly and quietly taking the torch to the camp), who basically reiterates how much it sucks, especially since people are more pissed at him than even Chris. Given how big a role he had in their exits (in each case, you could argue that he was the swing vote), I can’t blame them too much.
Oh, you thought we might get some fallout from that vote? Silly viewer! That’s from seasons where the people who get voted out actually leave! Instead, given our lack of time, we jump straight to an obstacle course for varying amounts of peanut butter and jelly. Frankly, this challenge is so generic that the individual elements are not worth talking about, save for the first. One tribe member must stand on another’s shoulders to untie a bolo from a high arch. I bring this up because, while Lesu is favored to lose pretty much every single challenge at this point, this is an obstacle that they should do fairly well on. They have Wardog, who’s basically a rock, and David, a skinny guy with good challenge experience, but Wardog keeps dropping, with everyone kvetching at him for his failure. Pretty funny, if sad at the same time.
As Kama was our ultimate victor in this challenge, we start off at their camp. Unsurprisingly, since Joey Amazing is on this tribe, talk centers around Joey Amazing. Specifically, talk centers around getting him off. Julie and Julia in particular are keen to get him off, even quietly suggesting throwing a challenge to spell his elimination. Ron, on the other hand, is less keen, due to Joey Amazing being amazing at camp life, as well as challenges. He fears that with him gone, everyone on Kama will starve. Julie rightly counters that while yes, life will suck more without Joey Amazing, it will also be manageable. And yeah, I kind of agree with her and Julia on this one. Joey Amazing is great in the challenges. Hell, he’s probably the only reason you guys are undefeated at this point. But being undefeated does you no good if you have enemies on your tribe. Given that he overheard your conversation about eliminating him and Aubry, it’s pretty safe to say that Joey Amazing is an enemy at this point. It would be one thing to get rid of him if he was the only enemy on your tribe, but even if you lose the next challenge due to his absence, you also have a nice Aurora ripe for the picking off. No need to worry. Might as well eliminate a threat when you have complete control.
Over on Manu, we see that sadly, my prediction about this episode was correct. Victoria, Eric, and Gavin all meet to discuss their continued Anti-Aubry pact. In fact, they even discuss getting her out before Wendy. That said, they decide they need to concoct a plan to fool Aubry into thinking she’s safe, lest Aubry potentially play an idol. As such, they decide that Victoria will go to Aubry and suggest a women’s alliance. Not a bad plan normally, but guys, need I remind you AGAIN that you were overheard plotting to eliminate Aubry NOT SIX DAYS AGO? What on Earth makes you think that Aubry will buy this?
Perhaps the fact that Aubry’s desperate? Yes, despite now having perpetual target Wendy on her tribe, thus hopefully saving her, Aubry has gotten greedy, and wants more. She hopes to break off a member of the group to use for herself, so Victoria’s offer is music to her ears. She even misses the obvious tell of Victoria being unable to maintain eye contact during the conversation. Again, I cannot get over the fact that this plan WORKS! Not only is it somewhat poorly executed (at this stage), but I’d say it was unnecessary. Aubry would probably buy the “Wendy is annoying and released the chickens, so we’re targeting her” line, and it would be more plausible than Victoria suddenly and drastically changing her opinion on Aubry. Unnecessary, but cool. Think everything Tony Vlachos did on “Survivor Cagayan”.
Speaking of Tony, that’s the comparison we’re about to get at Lesu. After confirming once again that yes, Lauren is still having trouble eating, we see that Wardog’s had about all he can stand of it. He pulls Kelley aside, talks about how buddy-buddy they are, and suggests eliminating Lauren next when they’re almost guaranteed to lose. Not a bad idea in and of itself, but Wardog’s justification here is somewhat lacking. See, Wardog tells Kelley that he wants Lauren gone because if it came down to him, Kelley, and Lauren, he thinks Kelley and Lauren would stick together. With is a great reason for Wardog to want to eliminate Lauren. But what’s the incentive from that pitch for Kelley to eliminate Lauren? None whatsoever. Kelley says as much, and now considers eliminating Wardog for his gall. Surprised it took this long to come up.
What’s that? One scene on Edge of Extinction was enough? Too bad, you get even more of it! Actually, they give the people on Edge of Extinction something to do. Everyone is brought a map with a riddle telling them to follow the stars. As the map has an inconsistent border of stars, they quickly figure out that folding the map to line up the stars points them to two trees, and agree to look at those trees after lunch. Keith, however, is a greedy SOB, and so fakes a bathroom break, only to run off to look for the advantages. Everyone quickly guesses what he’s up to, however, and so race after him. Keith may have a head start, but despite no swimming being involved, Keith still sucks in challenges. Chris beats him to the first advantage, a set of bamboo and rope with the note “Practice”, indicating that our returning challenge will be the “Prison Break” challenge first seen on “Survivor Thailand”. Fitting, given that this was also the challenge that went with the “Outcast” twist on “Survivor Pearl Islands”, which this twist most resembles. Rick finds the second advantage, which is an extra vote he can send to someone going to the next Tribal Council. Interesting enough, and I like that it does give the players on Edge of Extinction a BIT more say in the game, but given that it’s unlikely whoever gets it gets back in the game to reap the social capital they would gain, I’m inclined to say that the first one is the better advantage. Apart from practicing the challenge at all, having an idea of what the challenge is gives you a possibly insurmountable psychological edge.
We come to our best challenge of the evening… and it STILL SUCKS! Basically, teams of four swim to retrieve two clumps of buoys to bring via pulley boat to two other clumps of buoys to attempt to build a pyramid. The diving part of the challenge is nice, but the puzzle’s been done before. Not that you’d know it by how long it takes the teams to figure out, but done before nonetheless. Honestly, watching this back, it seems like the hardest part was unclipping the buoys, which I don’t get. Maybe I didn’t understand the mechanism, but it seemed like it was just a matter of pulling it out of the chains, and shouldn’t have been that tough. Unoriginal, not all that exciting, and yet this is the best we can do. Joy.
I will give credit here that the editors do a good job of fooling us on this one. Lesu falls behind early on, due to the aforementioned trouble with the buoy pulleys. This might seem like a comeback of Kass McQuillen (“Survivor Cagayan”) proportions, and it does end up being so, but by giving Lesu the dodo music here, they cast doubt, making their eventual triumph all the better.
It comes down to the puzzle, which Kama is the first to get. Aurora tries to help out Aubry by telling her to put “Four on the bottom”. Unfortunately, Aubry mishears this as “Four in the back”, and so Manu ends up losing. A great moment for Lesu, but a hard moment for us Aubry fans, as the writing is on the wall at this point.
Don’t believe me? Soon after, everyone tries to get Aubry in on the “Wendy’s annoying, so we should vote her out.” plan. You know, the plan they should have gone with from the start? They sell it well, though I question their decision to let Wendy know, since she’s likely the type to spill the beans to Aubry. You know, basically her only alliance at this point? But then again, maybe not Aubry, trying to decide what to believe, floats the idea of a women’s alliance to Wendy, who remains noncommittal. Here’s the point where I would normally debate whether Aubry should trust in the noncommittal Wendy or stick with Kama, ultimately siding with the idea that since Kama was against her early on, she shouldn’t trust them now, but that would be pointless, because it’s clear at this point that Aubry’s going. No other viable target has been presented, and on a tribe with Wendy, that’s saying something. Now, Aubry does have an idol, and if she bothered to remember what the team was saying about her LESS THAN A WEEK AGO she might play it. But no, she sees this as a new lease on life in the game, and decides to play it safe. Piling on the “royally screwed”, Aubry gets given the extra vote by Rick. Because of course the superfan was going to give the advantage to the returnee.
One point on which I can at least cut Aubry some slack: Catching no signs at Tribal Council. Credit where it’s due, Gavin, Victoria, and Eric play this off VERY well. Even with musical cues and edited footage, I saw no signs that would make me play an idol if I had one. That’s a high caliber of play, and I can’t really blame Aubry for being fooled at this point. Special mention goes to Gavin’s comment talking about Aubry not being seen as a returnee at this point. Just what she wants to hear, and delivered in a believable way. No wonder she was fooled.
Yes, if it wasn’t obvious enough at this point, Aubry goes out. Of course I’m disappointed! Aubry is my favorite player of all time, so of course I want her in the game as long as possible. True, these players did a very skillful snow job on her, and apart from her idol, she had little way to avoid this situation, but it still hurts that she will no longer grace our screens as a main player in this game this season. At least we get a good “shocked” face out of her for it. We can also take solace in the fact that she was voted out for being a threat, not for any particular mistake or bad play.
That said, I think this vote cements for me that this season would have been better without returnees present. True, even without them this still wouldn’t be one of the all time great casts of the show, but here’s the thing. These three players, in particular Victoria, just pulled off a spectacular move. They played things masterfully, particularly at Tribal Council. Yet, we resent them, because they usurped our favorites. Had they pulled this move against another player, they’d be among the greats. Instead, we only see them as usurpers. Plus, there’s the fact that ALL their strategy talk has been centered around returnees, and as such gets repetitive. Just not a good look for what could have been new stars of the show.
Aubry of course, chooses to go to the Edge of Extinction, and laments being voted off in such a “humiliating” way, comparing herself to JT Thomas (“Survivor Tocantins”). Definitely not the most dignified elimination, but I think Aubry sells herself short here. As far as we know, Aubry at least brought her idol to Tribal Council. She at least acknowledged the possibility of elimination. JT did not.
After we see all the remaining returnees shit their pants at Aubry’s elimination, since it spells doom for them in the long run, we cut to our reward challenge. You may remember it as “That challenge where Chris Nobel kicked butt #85” from “Survivor Ghost Island”. Now, it will also be remembered as “Challenge where Wardog sucked #32”. Seriously, the man’s built like a tank, but can’t hurl a sandbag to save his life. Naturally, Lesu loses this one.
Seeing Aubry eliminated has sparked a new drive in Joe, since she was, as he puts it “his only ally”. Aurora somewhere just randomly started crying, and doesn’t know why. Still, Joe decides to try a different tactic: convince everyone to join a threat’s alliance. Now, who on Kama besides Joe would qualify as a threat? No one, but that doesn’t stop Joe from trying to convince them they are. He tries the trick out on Julia, which seems to work. No word on whether it worked on the other members of his tribe or not.
Manu has nothing interesting to do, so we head straight to Lesu, where David is going idol hunting. He comes up empty-handed, so this scene is pointless. Having slightly more of a point is our scene on Edge of Extinction. Yes, really. Another riddle map comes along, this one harder to figure out. Indeed, no one really does, and everyone just starts wandering around. Given that there were holes in the map, I figured you had to hold the map up to the “Welcome to Edge of Extinction” note, and the holes would reveal letters pointing the way to whatever advantage comes next. Instead, Reem just spots something in the shallows, which Keith grabs. It turns out to be extra knots for someone, and Keith lets us know in no uncertain terms that Chris will be getting them, in revenge for voting Keith out.
All is not well on the Edge of Extinction, though. Chris got wind of what Reem did, and lays into her for what he calls “Giving up an advantage”. Reem, who views this as a simple mistake anyone could make, and not exactly good at taking slights at the best of times, lashes out at Chris. This leaves Aubry to do what she does best: comment on the madness. For all that Aubry’s strategic game is lacking so far this season, I will say her confessionals have been up to par. Certainly better than her efforts on “Survivor Game Changers”.
Speaking of which, guess which season we’re emulating? Yep, it’s time for the combined Tribal Council Twist! Because THAT went over so well last time! Let’s take the twist that was only saved from causing the worst episode of the season by Jeff Varner deciding to be complete trash a few episodes later! Great idea, everyone! Is our challenge cool at least? It’s another obstacle course with a puzzle at the end? Joy.
Kama naturally wins, and here’s where I’d usually spend my time talking about the strategies of each tribe, but really, each boils down to “Force a tie and vote for someone you think the other team would be willing to sacrifice”, with one person on each tribe stating they refuse to go for rocks (Victoria and Lauren), so instead, let me talk about this twist. Yes, I hate it, but like the “One World” twist, I don’t think it’s a bad idea, just bad execution. With minor tweaks, it could be a lot of fun. In the case of “One World” you need to keep it around all the time, and trust that we can differentiate tribes without a forced tribe division. In the case of this combined Tribal Council, we REALLY need the tribes to be able to negotiate pre-Tribal Council. This would add intrigue and new drama instead of forced whispering and the loss of anything new that we get with the current formula.
Since there’s really nothing to talk about at this Tribal Council, let’s talk about who ends up targeted. Manu goes for Lauren, which is not bad given her sickness. Lesu, however, correctly guesses that the annoyance of Wendy, coupled with her not being original Kama, leads to her being flipped on and eliminated. Once again, show, you’re eliminating all the fun and interesting people too fast. Of course I’m sorry to see Wendy go. She was truly unique as a character, and made for a lot of fun zingers, even if her strategy wasn’t the best. That said, she does get Probst to call her “Big Wendy” before she goes, which I respect.
Oh, and of course Wendy goes to the Edge of Extinction. I don’t think she even read the whole sign. I think she just went with the option that wasn’t “go home”.
This episode really continues to sink this season lower and lower. All the players we care about go home early, the time management is miserable, and thanks to the returnees, we don’t care too much about the new players. Perhaps more pre-merge episodes can help.
What’s that? You say next episode is the merge? Another merge with 13 players, after a return from the Edge of Extinction? Yay.
-Matt
Title Credit to Jean Storrs.
idolspeculation 
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