Idol Speculation: “Survivor Winners at War” Episode 7: Her Feminine Wiles

Our episode for tonight starts off in a rather unorthodox way, so naturally it is only fitting that this blog start off in a rather unorthodox way. At least, that’s what I’d like to have been the case, but if I’m being honest, this way of starting off the blog is surprisingly common. Yes, it’s time once again for another round of…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

For all my praise of Denise’s blindside of Sandra last episode, I neglected to give it its entire due, and explain why playing her own idol on Jeremy was a good move. You see, if Denise’s goal was to get Sandra out, then she needed to ensure that Sandra didn’t throw a spare vote on someone else (The “Devon Pinto Maneuver”, developed on “Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers”). Naturally, Jeremy would be the logical choice for Sandra to throw a vote on, since she was allied with Tony and closer with Kim. Now, hindsight is 20/20, and clearly Denise wasted an idol. Possibly she gains some loyalty from Jeremy, but I think voting out Sandra alone would have done that. However, there’s no way to Denise to know for certain, and I’m not going to give a player a hard time for playing it safe around Sandra Diaz-Twine.

Getting to our actual unorthodox opening, we start off, not with the fallout of a tribe, but on the Edge of Extinction. Parvati is naturally miffed at her early exit, since it’s her first ever pre-merge. True, she’s never finished worse than Day 36, but this means that her boot here, assuming she doesn’t return from the Edge of Extinction, sinks her average like a brick. She is only slightly mollified by the presence of Sandra, since the two have had a rivalry since the finale of “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”. When questioned how this happened, Sandra tries to claim “playing with her emotions” in not wanting another woman to get voted out. I’m sure that was a factor, but I call “bull” overall. If that were true, Sandra, you wouldn’t have tried to get Denise’s fire tokens off of her. You would have just given her the idol and left it at that. Yeah, it ended up being a bad move for you, but it was a calculated risk. Don’t try and play it off as an affair of the heart.

It seems, however, that we won’t have old Dick Diaz-Twine to kick around anymore. Sandra wastes no time in hoisting the flag, especially after hearing about the difficulties in getting food for everyone. I must admit this one surprised me. I expected at least a couple of the returnees to get out of there, but Sandra was not one of them. Admittedly, Sandra’s reasoning is sound. The “survival” aspect of the show, which is emphasized all the more on Edge of Extinction, is not really her forte. She’s hardly the worst we’ve ever seen, but not in her wheelhouse overall. For the record, Outback Steakhouse is her wheelhouse. Plus, she’s already won twice, so she has nothing to prove, and given her general challenge abilities, is unlikely to get back in the game anyway. All logical, and I can’t really fault her decision on that basis alone. So, why did I think she would stay in? Sheer stubbornness. However remote, I thought Sandra would fight with her dying breath to prevent anyone else winning and becoming another two-time winner. Sandra just didn’t strike me as the type to give up. That said, this DOES mean she’s technically the first person voted out of this season, going by Edge of Extinction eviction order, which does somewhat tarnish her record, but only somewhat. Two wins are two wins, after all.

So, now we check in on Dakal, right? I mean, yeah, Sandra quitting takes priority, but her boot was a firework of a move in and of itself. That’s the thing we ought to focus on, right? Well, no, since it seems there’s not as much fallout from that Tribal Council as we thought. Where there IS fallout is Wendell putting his foot in his mouth in front of Yul. Yul is a smart man, and naturally does not let something like this go unchecked. He tells us he needs to suss out where Wendell stands, and has a one on one talk with him. Wendell plays things fairly poker-faced, but doesn’t fly off the handle. Yul is willing to forgive him for now, but will keep a close eye on him. Contrast this with his conversation with Michele the next morning, where he, to his credit, is the one to ask about feelings afterward. Michele states her hope to work together, and gives him some kind advice on no going off at Tribal Council, similar to Yul’s advice to him. Given their history together, however, Wendell is rather defensive about Michele’s advice, which again, does not go unnoticed by Yul. This hurts Michele in particular, since she had given one of Parvati’s fire tokens to Wendell, as a sign of good faith. Not one to pass up an opportunity when he spots one, Yul talks to Michele about her feelings about talking to Wendell about his feelings, and the pair agree that Wendell is going off about nothing, and may need to go. A miracle for Michele, who needed a break in this threesome in order to have any shot of staying should Sele lose. Not that there’s much chance of that, of course. After all, this tribe is the most stacked physically, has good puzzle solvers, and the least challenge sinks of any tribe. There’s no way they could lose the next challenge, right? Right?

So, NOW we check in on Dakal, right? Sure, the fallout may not be as big as that on Sele, but there must be SOME, right? No? Really? We need ANOTHER Edge of Extinction scene? Goddammit.

Actually, it’s GOOD that we have this first Edge of Extinction scene, since it highlights a big problem of Edge of Extinction as a twist: It doesn’t come across well on tv. As Ethan says, one of the big problems players deal with on Edge of Extinction is boredom. One thing still being in the game has over the Edge is that there’s always something going on. Here, you don’t want to do too much due to lack of resources, and there’s little to do in any case, so you just end up sitting around bored. This is part of why those who have actually been on the Edge talk about how brutal it is, and how great a twist it is that strips you to your core. The flaw with this is that boredom is nearly impossible to convey through television, due simply to lack of time. They can show flashes of people being bored, but it doesn’t make the audience feel or understand that boredom, thus making it seem like our contestants are confused at best, whiny people at worst. Now, perhaps if you livestreamed the Edge of Extinction in real time somehow, that might get the boredom across, but guess what? Watching boredom IS BORING! Do you understand my hatred for this twist now? Do you understand why it fails on a conceptual level as well as an implementation level? DO YOU?!

Ok, ok, sorry, that was my PTSTEOED flaring up again. Yes, my hatred for this twist is such that it has been given a new clinical designation: Post-Traumatic-Stupid-Twist-Edge-Of-Extinction-Disorder. To give this scene fair due, it does have two reasons for existing. First it shows that there is one person Parvati is unequivocally nice to in this game. Ethan, as mentioned, is our narrator for the boredom, and so talks with Parvati about his occasional urges to raise the flag himself, mentioning the all-too-real risk of his cancer flaring up again. This is prime meat for someone like Parvati to play on his insecurities, and get him to raise the flag. After all, less competition, right? And for anyone else, she might have done it. But here, Parvati actually gives Ethan unbiased encouragement, and his second wind in the game. It’s nice to see this side of Parvati, since it doesn’t come out much in a game like “Survivor”, and good to see that Ethan’s charm can tame any savage beast. Proverbially speaking, of course.

The second reason for existing is that there’s fire tokens in them thar hill, and our contestants mean to get ‘em! Rob and Tyson are out the front of the pack, and so naturally swoop up all four of the tokens between them, Tyson getting one with Rob getting the other three. You’d think Ethan and Natalie would be in the mix here as well, but I gather their longer period on Edge of Extinction has taken its toll. To his credit, Rob shows that while his tribe challenge skills may now be lacking, his individual challenge skills remain sharp. He even gets in a good bit of deception, pulling off a good acting job to convince everyone else that he didn’t find any, even getting Tyson to reveal his own in the process.

We FINALLY get to check in with Dakal, who give us… a repeat of a scene we’ve already seen. Ok, that scene was 10 years ago, but asking Tony to run to a palm tree and then mocking him behind his back is eerily reminiscent of challenging Coach to climb a tree on “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”. Tony’s even equally clueless about his status in the game as Coach was at that point. Tony says that he’s still good with Kim and Jeremy, and Denise’s blindside of Sandra makes her a threat. I thought Tony wanted to keep threats around as shields, but ok. Tony even tells Denise as much to her face, and Denise mockingly asks him not to get her voted out. Behind his back, however, the wheels of power are turning against Tony. Jeremy and Kim discuss alliances, and Denise even suggests forming a tight thereesome with Jeremy and Kim to Kim. Kim, for her part, is on board, since she’s bonded with Denise and is tired of playing from the bottom. Any chance to grab some more power, she’s in good for.

Since we haven’t had a scene at Yara yet, we get a scene at Yara. Naturally, since this is an odd-numbered episode, we must have fun at Adam’s expense. Despite starting to seem off in the right, with Adam being rightfully miffed at Ben for asking him questions in a rather condescending manner, then being mocked when he snaps back at Ben, Adam digs himself deeper by insisting that either Ben or Sarah have the Yara idol. Now, before we get into the mockery, it is worth noting that Adam has half a correct conclusion here, since the idol has been found, and his point is that searching for said idol is worthless. However, Adam doesn’t help his case by going ON and ON about how certain he is that this is true, more certain than he’s been about anything in his entire “Survivor” career, all while Sarah and Sophie laugh behind his back. Now, this is the editor’s doing, of course, but it really highlights the “Odd numbered episodes =stupid Adam” pattern this season has going, and Adam DOES make the hypocritical statement of complaining about how loud Ben and Sophie are, when his inability to be quiet in confessionals has reached memetic proportions. Still, Adam has at least SOME half-decent ideas here, so it’s not as bad an odd-numbered episode as some of his previous ones have been.

So, since Edge of Extinction got two scenes, the other tribes now get a second scene to compensate, right? I mean, fair’s fair, plus the tribes our way more exciting, and CHALLENGE TIME! To the show’s credit, they give us an awesome reused challenge to compensate. Tribe members transport water in a giant saucer over a series of obstacles in order to dump said water in a bucket, retrieving puzzle pieces. Then, they must use said pieces to solve a puzzle, with the saucer being the frame. Though the obstacles are small in scale, the giant saucer makes up for it, and I like parts of the challenge that get used in more than one way, like the aforementioned giant saucer. Being reused from “Survivor David vs. Goliath” means it hasn’t been overdone, which means, for an anniversary season like this, it gets the “Idol Speculation Seal of Approval”.

All of our tribes make boneheaded decisions during this challenge. Dakal gets it first and gets off easiest, by putting Kim in the position where she, the tallest woman seen on the show apart from Sierra Dawn-Thomas (“Survivor Worlds Apart”), takes the highest of three balance beams, thereby setting off the balance of the whole thing. Sele follow suit, and gets rattled by Probst pointing out that not only has Nick lost this challenge before, but in a humiliating blowout as well. I’d complain about hyperbole, but… Yeah, kinda have to agree with Probst on this one. With the possible exception of some of Fang’s challenges from “Survivor Gabon” that was one of the worst. Yara starts out well, taking things slow and nearly getting lapped by both tribes, but only needing to make one trip to the other tribe’s two. This gives them a slight lead on the puzzle, which is enough that, despite not putting their best team on the puzzle (Sophie I get, but Ben? Really?), they still easily take first place. Dakal and Sele are neck and neck, which makes sense since they’re the two tribes we’ve seen some strategy from this episode. Dakal, however, put the logical choices of Denise and Jeremy on the puzzle. Two decent puzzle solvers who work well together. Sele, however? They choose Michele and Wendell, and while bot are decent at puzzles IN WHAT WORLD DO THESE TWO WORK WELL TOGETHER? HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY THINK HAVING THEM WORK ON A CHALLENGE TOGETHER WOULD RESULT IN ANYTHING BUT A LOSS? Now, some might argue that perhaps Sele had no other good, or even just average, puzzle solvers to put in instead. To that I say FREAKING YUL THE MATHEMATICIAN IS ON YOUR TRIBE! SUBSTITUTE HIM IN FOR EITHER OF YOUR OTHER PLAYERS, AND YOU’VE GOT A PROBABLE WIN! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? At least we get a seconds-away climax, with Dakal narrowly edging out Sele, both calling at roughly the same time.

Sele is not happy with Wendell when they get back to camp. In addition to his comments at the last Tribal Council, Wendell is considered to have lost the challenge due to some talkback with Probst. Maybe there was more shown, but it didn’t really seem like that was the deciding factor to me. Plus, at least some of it was justified. At least one bit was Wendell calling Probst to watch their puzzle, which after losing out to Laurel for failing to call out his finished puzzle, I can’t really fault him for too much. Still, it’s enough to convince Nick to turn against Wendell, and with Yul wanting him out, plus Michele being willing to do what’s needed to save her neck, it looks like a lock against Wendell tonight.

That said, despite what this and the past episode might try and convince you of, Wendell is not an idiot. As such, he realizes he’s probably in hot water. As such, he tries to make nice with Michele, and suggests voting out Yul as the biggest threat. A logical pitch, but you’ve treated Michele very poorly, so she’s going to be disinclined to go for it, even if Nick was willing, unless Yul gives him some incentive, of course. Yul and Michele discuss fire tokens, which Yul says are increasing in value as the presumed merge approaches. As such, Yul comes up with a cutesy plan to divest Wendell of at least some of his fire tokens prior to Tribal Council. It’s very nebulous, and mostly seems to be said to try and make Michele feel better about the vote, but it also puts Nick’s hackles up. He realizes Yul’s a threat, and discusses targeting Yul as a result. Michele says she’ll go however Nick wants to go, and my jaw drops that, on the tribe that seemed most solid, we actually have a decent mystery as to who goes. My money’s still on Wendell, just for how much it’s been built up, but there’s a solid case to be made for Yul as well. We also have an interesting situation here, as the ideal move for each swing vote in Nick and Michele is different depending on who you’re talking about For Nick, despite his misgivings, the best move is to stick with Yul. Yes, Yul is a threat, but the fact that you recognize him as a threat means others will as well, and thus you can target him later. For now the threesome works in your favor. True, by voting out Wendell you break up that threesome, but presumably Michele or possible Kim can be brought back into the fold this way, and keep the alliance solid without the chaos that is Wendell of late. Michele, however, is not an original member of said threesome, and thus should want to see it broken up. Combine this with her having some relationship with Wendell, however dysfunctional, and now is clearly the time for her to target Yul. Thus, our Tribal Council tonight will show us definitively who amongst Nick and Michele is calling the shots.

Speaking of Tribal Council, it’s time for the “Yul Nerds Out!” show. Yes, despite Yul being one of the better players of the game, and one of the more well-liked winners, he’s not that memorable. Really, his only two moments are his manipulation of Jonathan Penner with his idol, and his “Why elephants can’t run up trees” nerd out at the first individual immunity challenge. We haven’t seem much of the latter, but as soon as fire tokens come up, Yul’s off and running. The specifics fly by so fast that one can’t really recap them and expect to see any justice done, but suffice to say, it’s hilarious! That said, I do disagree with Yul’s assessment, as Probst points out that he’s the last-remaining old-school player left, that old schoolers are at a disadvantage in the game in this era. True, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but by this point in the game, it should be overcome. I would argue that the old schoolers have gone so far due to a simple combination of being the minority on both tribes, and being so legendary as to be threats. Contrary to what we’ll see in a minute, I do not believe the old-schoolers aren’t cut out for the modern game.

Our other Tribal Council story is the Wendell/Michele story. Wendell just couldn’t resist putting his foot in his mouth one more time, “apologizing” to Michele for the way she feels, and having to have it spelled out for him why that’s bad. Still, he gets it right in the end, and it keeps the mystery going as to who’s leaving for the rest of Tribal Council. Wendell also makes an attempt to outdo his Chris Noble voting confessional with a bad pun. “Yul be on the Edge of Extinction tonight.” Not bad, but nothing beats the rap diss. Don’t even try. Wendell’s bravado is not to be discounted, though, as Michele gets her way and Yul goes home. The smart decision for her, but it pains me on the inside. Apart from just being a great player and the last old-schooler left, Yul was just inherently likeable. True, his win would have been broadcast a mile away, but damnit, he deserved it! Give the guy some glory! He at least takes the time to prove to us that fire tokens can be split, willing one to Sarah and one to Sophie. Unsurprising.

Pain at losting Yul aside, this was a fantastic episode. It took what should have been a straightforward, predictable plot and made it engaging and humorous, with a good balance between tribes and a kick-ass challenge to boot. Remove the unnecessary Edge of Extinction bits, and I’d say this episode would be one of the greats!

Speaking of Edge of Extinction, though, next episode is our merge, which most likely means we’ll be getting a returnee from there next episode. As such, I feel I ought to count down who I think is most likely to come back from the Edge. I’ll be doing it as a top three, as any more and I’ll feel like I’m stacking the deck in my favor, given there’s only eight people left on the Edge of Extinction. So, who’re the people most likely to make it back? We start off with none other than…

3. Yul-Before this episode, Ethan would have been in this spot. The guy with the inspirational story they’re playing for (Ethan and overcoming cancer vs. Yul and Stacy Title’s ALS), of couse this person seems like one to come back. However, Ethan’s story can continue to play out on the Edge of Extinction, between overcoming obstacles and whatnot, while Yul’s can’t. Furthermore, Yul has the advantages of having just gotten out of the game and still being relatively well-cared for physically. True, he has no fire tokens now, but fire tokens pale in comparison to not being exhausted. Plus, people tend to forget that Yul is actually quite good at individual challenges, because he was on a season with Challenge Jesus. Yes, between his inspirational story arc, his good physical condition, and Nick talking this episode about “wanting to keep the Sele four together), I’d say Yul’s got a pretty good shot at making it back.

2. Natalie-The numbers favor Natalie on this one. She’s had the most time on Edge of Extinction, and has the most fire tokens out of anybody left on there. She can buy herself idols and challenges advantages at a rate no one else can. True, Boston Rob comes close, but then consider how dominant Natalie has been at the Edge of Extinction overall. True, she’s been shunted sideways as more people have come, but that early dominance cannot be ignored. How appropriate would it be for her to return to the game after that? Really, her sideways shunt is the only thing that makes me not put her as number one? So who is number one?

1. Tyson-Tyson has both story arc and logical reasons why he would come back. Story-wise, we still need resolution on Nick’s thing about working with Tyson after his boot, and he’s been kept on as an Edge of Extinction narrator, much how Rick Devans was on “Survivor Edge of Extinction”, thereby keeping him in our minds. Logically, for all that I mocked the peanut butter, we can presume that Tyson’s been saving it somewhere, and that calorie intake may give him an edge. Add onto that generally solid challenge performance overall, and if I had to bet, I’d bet on Tyson making it back in.

Well, that about wraps it up! See you at the merge!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Winners at War” Episode 6: Get the Girls Some Chocolate and Peanut Butter

Happy though I am with most of the show’s developments tonight, I must express one big disappointment. While I’m not one of those people who thinks only the first 10 seasons or so of “Survivor” were the only good ones, nor would I profess the automatic superiority of “old school” players, I must admit I enjoy watching them play and adapt to a game very different from the one they originally played on, and I always like how it proves they aren’t as “bad” at the game as “new school” fans seem to believe. Thus, it is disappointing to me that, not counting the Edge of Extinction, Yul is the ONLY person left who played prior to season 20. Conversely, Natalie is the only person voted out so far who DIDN’T play prior to season 20. Come on, you all, you can do better than this!

I start off with this drama because it’s more than we’ll get at Yara. With Rob gone, everyone is all happy smiles. I particularly like Adam’s quip asking Sarah, arguably the most famous cop on “Survivor”, not to call the cops. This cheerfulness even leaks into strategy, with Ben talking about how happy he is to have found people that he connects with in Sarah and Sophie. He even speculates about working with them more down the line. Adam, however, is somewhat less optimistic. Since this is an even-numbered episode, we’ve got smart Adam this time around, and as a smart guy, Adam doesn’t fail to notice how chummy Ben is with Sarah and Sophie. Conversely, Ben has been much less chatty with Adam than normal. Adam naturally realizes that he’s in deep bantha poodoo, to put it in nerdspeak, and may be in trouble should we come to Tribal Council. Gee, I wonder which tribe is going to Tribal Council this week?

Over at the Edge of Extinction, Tyson brings over a log, triggering PTSD flashbacks for Natalie, Amber, Danni, and Ethan. Fortunately, this one does not indicate a need to hike up a hill, though Rob will do so anyway. It indicates that a chance for a fire token is hidden under a rock, though it also mentions being in “the right place at the right time”. I must admit, I’m disappointed. So far, the clues have actually been pretty tricky in terms of what happens on the Edge of Extinction (when they aren’t just straight-up physically brutal), but this one was obvious, at least to me. Tides are the only thing that time really affects on an island with no clocks, so clearly whatever it is is hidden under a rock near the tide line. However, only Tyson is smart enough to think on it. Continuing his smartness, Tyson buys himself some alone time by pretending to use the bathroom. He then picks up the idol nullifier, which he can sell at the price of one fire token to anyone still in the game. Since we’re currently in not-idiot Tyson mode, he sells it to Parvati, since she probably has fire tokens to spare, and will be desperate for any advantage, since I’m guessing Rob revealed the new tribe divisions. Granted, no one on Sele HAS an idol, nor any easy way to obtain an idol, so it’s not much use to Parvati at the moment, but neither of them know that, so I can’t fault either of them.

Parvati wisely decides to buy, so Tyson now has himself a fire token. Given that one can reasonably guess that a challenge to re-enter the game is near, Tyson needs to consider how best to spend his token. The sad thing is that not-idiot Tyson and idiot-Tyson change places on a dime. Despite making nothing but smart moves so far in the episode, Tyson, rather than get an advantage in a challenge he already has a leg up in anyway, decides to go for a jar of peanut butter. Why? Because he likes to mess with people, that’s why. Look, humor is subjective, and if you like it, good for you. For me, however, Tyson’s attitude of “I’m smarter than everyone and love to show it off.” just rubs me the wrong way. To pull that attitude off, you really need to indicate a good amount of self-knowledge, and temper it with some self-deprecating humor, neither of which Tyson seems to have in my opinion. Now, to be fair, Tyson DOES make the more logical argument of “having more food, and thus more strength for the challenge.” This is actually quite reasonable, though I then question why Tyson is eating his peanut butter NOW. The challenge is clearly not going to be happening the same day, and your body will get rid of those nutrients quickly. You want to cause mischief? Hide your peanut butter, and save it for when you think the challenge is near. That’ll cause some chaos.

Speaking of challenges, it’s time for our immunity challenge, once Dakal and Sele get their jaws off the floor from Rob’s exit. I’m disappointed that we don’t focus much on Sandra’s reaction here. I can just imagine the look on her face telegraphing “Damn, I didn’t get to write his name down.” For immunity and PB&J (man peanut butter is the unintentional theme of this episode, isn’t it?), tribes must transport three bags of rice from the water to the land, punching them through a small hole in the wall, slice said bags open, then maneuver three balls through a table maze. This mainly mirrors a challenge from “Survivor Kaoh Rong”, though the table maze in this form was first seen on “Survivor South Pacific”. The table maze is a bit standard, but the rice part of the challenge is rarely used, but memorable, particularly with the knife part. I’ll give this one a pass.

Ah, but now for the twist. You see, as Probst mentions, only one tribe gets to win. Two tribes will go to Tribal Council tonight. That means, since the unintentional theme of this season is “Taking a cool possibility and doing the worst possible thing with it.”, that naturally we will have the dumb “Combined Tribal Council” with no inter-tribe strategizing, like from “Survivor Game Changers” and “Survivor Edge of Extinction”. So come on, Probst. Give us the bad news. I’m ready.

PROBST: Two tribes will go to Tribal Council separately, and each vote someone off.

… Excuse me a moment.

SOMEWHERE IN L.A

CRASH!

PROBST: What the…

ME: Hey Probst! Long time, no see! What was it, “Survivor One World”? You crashed into my dorm room to tell me useless facts about Kansas?

PROBST: How did you find me?

ME: All true “Survivor” fans have a Probst-radar. It wasn’t hard. Hey, is this the “Survivor Pearl Islands” snuffer? Cool. Though really, why didn’t you chop a torch in half with the axe end? Would have been cooler.

PROBST: Look, I’ve got the cops on the way, so want to tell me what you’re doing here so you can get your story straight?

ME: Well, players are always breaking into MY house about once a season, but this is the 20th anniversary. Though I’d do something special and shake things up a bit by breaking into someone else’s house instead.

PROBST: But why me, specifically? Here to strangle me with your latest buff because of the continued existence of “Edge of Extinction”?

ME: Actually, no. I’m here to thank you.

PROBST: Thank me?

ME: I’ll rage against bad production decisions time and again. It needs to be done to prevent a relapse, plus it reads as funnier online. But that means I should also acknowledge good decisions along with bad. In an era where you guys seem to zig everywhere you should zag, and had an easy opportunity to do a hated twist here, you did the smart thing and went with the better option. We hadn’t seen it in a while, and it’s fairer for all involved. My kudos to you. Even fire tokens do some good this episode.

PROBST: Glad you think so. I’ll be sure to let the police know not to be TOO harsh when they arrest you for breaking quarantine.

(Matt exits in a hurry).

Really, my only complaint for this challenge is how obvious it is that Yara is going to lose. True, we’re barely past the 15-minute mark at the start of the challenge, so most strategizing was going to happen afterward anyway, but Adam’s little confessional makes it clear. Admittedly, having lost their arguable big gun in Boston Rob, they were likely to lose anyway, but still, a bit of mystery would have been nice. Dakal, having the second most challenge sinks (even though Sandra is sitting this one out), is likely to lose as well, but I honestly don’t mind. With Yul, Wendell, and Nick a firm threesome on Sele, they’re the least interesting tribe in terms of dynamics for voting. Granted, Dakal has an issue where 4 out of 5 people can be immune, but there’s something to be said for the intrigue as to who will and won’t play their various advantages this time around.

Sure enough, when the challenge starts, Sele is in a firm lead, with Dakal and Yara merely going back and forth in vying for second. Yara actually starts out in second on the carrying portion, but loses it to Dakal when it comes to stuffing the bags through the hole. Then Dakal loses it again when trying to carry the bags up to the table, and some wicked slicing by Ben keeps Yara in a tight second. Occasionally a player just has a random skill that makes them wicked good in a challenge, like Brandon cutting ropes with a rock on “Survivor Guatemala”? Yeah, Ben is like that with the bags. I chalk it up to military training.

Amazingly enough, the show gets me. Ben is able to keep Yara relatively even with Sele up to the maze, where brute strength, Sele’s greatest asset at this point, doesn’t really help. With Dakal completely out of it, Yara pulls out a victory, concluding Adam’s story arc with him talking about his relief at not being at risk to go home tonight.

So, now the question becomes how to make the obvious outcome of Sele (the ouster of Parvati), less obvious. The answer, apparently, is not very well. Nick admits that he’s bummed about having to vote out his high school crush, and Michele and Parvati do debate trying to flip him, though Michele admits quickly that it’s a non-starter. As such, she tries to cut her losses and make nice with Wendell, which Wendell sees as threatening for some reason. It’s not quite clear why, but given how fraught their relationship so far has been, I can’t really blame the show too much for this one. Where I can clearly place blame is on Wendell’s next move, where he offers overtures to Parvati regarding selling his vote for Fire Tokens. Before I get into why this is a bad idea, I should say that I’m THRILLED that players still in the game are FINALLY negotiating with their fire tokens. This is the sort of social strategizing and capital manipulation I was hoping for when the twist was announced, so I’m ecstatic that it’s finally come to fruition. Plus, it gives us something we haven’t seen with the fire tokens thus far. Now, as to why it’s a bad idea in this particular instance, bear in mind this is PARVATI Wendell’s trying to swindle. You don’t swindle Parvati. Her BS detector is too good. The best you can hope for is to not get swindled by her, and not give her ammunition for later use against you. Wendell avoids the former, and falls victim to the latter. Parvati, enraged at Wendell’s arrogance, spreads around his attempt at being bribed, causing Nick to question whether Wendell’s in tight with him. Ok, show, valiant effort at misdirection, but I’m just not buying it. We’ve spent most of the season building up how tight Yul, Wendell, and Nick are, and you’re telling me it will be thrown away by one instance of overplaying? Should have stuck with a “Will it be Parvati or Michele?” narrative. True, it’s still likely Parvati in this case, but I could buy a small chance at Michele being voted out over her past with Wendell than Wendell’s alliance turning on him relatively out of the blue.

More interesting is the misdirection at Dakal, though at first it seems this may not be the case. You would think, given last episode, that the mystery was whether or not Kim would stick with Tony and Sandra, or flip with Denise and Jeremy. Kim, however, seems to have made her decision, and is sticking with Tony and Sandra. Having read a lot of strategy online between last episode and this one, I know almost everyone thinks Kim should flip, but I politely disagree. Now, while Kim really has no BAD options here, she does have something going with Yul and Sophie on the down-low, and she’s been with them longer than Denise and Jeremy. Why rock the boat by voting out one of Yul’s allies over a perceived enemy. So no, I’m not going to knock Kim’s move. She made a logical decision, given the game so far.

Thus, Denise and Jeremy must turn on one another, and both do it similarly. In conversations with them, both individually admit that while they don’t WANT to vote out the other, they’re willing to do so if needed. Jeremy talks with all but Denise about the need to keep threats around as shields, not surprising, since he’s the guy who arguably INVENTED that strategy. Denise, meanwhile, talks exclusively with Kim and Sandra, playing “humble” as she calls it, and arguing that she’s more willing to build a coalition than Jeremy is. Not a bad pitch, and Denise does play herself well, but given how strategy usually plays out, I’d say advantage Jeremy.

But where was Tony during the latter conversation, you may ask? Why, his spy shack, of course! Yes, old habits die hard for Tony, and he’s once again built himself what’s actually a decent hiding spot by the water hole. The flaw in this plan, ironically, was pointed out by Tony himself earlier in the season. Old habits get you voted out, and Tony is following old habits. Thus, not only is everyone mad at him, everyone predicts what he’s doing as well. Unlike on “Survivor Cagayan”, where his spy shack was actually useful, everyone knows not to talk around the water hole, with Sandra in particular calling Tony out on it. More to the point, it makes Tony seem like an inconsistent ally, a fact both Kim and Sandra call out in confessional. Sandra in particular wants to keep her options open, and does have an idol she has to use that evening. Now, this moment genuinely shocked me. One thing consistent about Sandra is that she always looks out for Sandra. She can be fiercely loyal to close allies, but at the end of the day, as it should be, she is her number one ally. As such, I would have pegged Sandra as the LAST person to consider using their idol for someone else. Yet, Sandra has gotten work about selling things for fire tokens, and decides to help out Denise. She offers to sell Denise her idol for two fire tokens, leaving Denise to vote out whoever she wants, as Sandra says she’ll have no part in the vote. This is a godsend for Denise. She can hide her own idol, saving it for later, and get all the credit for making a move to save herself. Plus, with Jeremy and Kim presumably at her side to save her for the next Tribal Council afterward, there’s really little downside to Denise buying this. True, she does lose fire tokens this way, but with only Adam likely to will her any more, and not much you can buy otherwise, what’s the point in holding on to them? Yeah, you could use them later, but when you’re in such a dire strait as now, having them later does no good if you’re voted out. Of course, there’s also the argument that Sandra may be giving Denise a fake, and just trying to divest her of her fire tokens, but Denise counters that with a “half up front” proposal which Sandra accepts. In theory, it’s not a bad move on Sandra’s part, since it gets rid of something she wouldn’t have much use for anyway, gets her a desired outcome without much blood on her hands, and more fire tokens to play with later. Still, though, I’d say advantage Denise here.

Our first Tribal Council, the one with Sele, proves that Wendell truly is his own worst enemy. We all know his alliance is likely to stick together. If he can shut up and play it cool, he should make it through. Yet, with only the slightest provocation from Parvati and Michele, he gets into a debate with them, a debate in which he comes off as two-faced and untrustworthy. Not helping himself, when he gets the out of saying his offer to sell his vote is off the table, he says it’s still there, getting even Yul to raise his eyebrows. We culminate with a cut to commercial as our players cast their votes, resulting in a thrilling… anticlimax. Yeah, I can’t blame production too much, since they doubtless didn’t have a lot to work with here, but it was pretty clear Parvati was going. She’s sort of in a similar position to Boston Rob’s exit last week. It’s tough to see a legend go, and I didn’t DISLIKE her, but she wasn’t one of my all-time favorites, and it was going to happen at some point. Better to get it out of the way so we can tackle new storylines. Of course, this means Parvati needs to will her fire token, and she of course gives it to… MICHELE!

That’s not a joke this time. She really gives it to Michele.

Not helping things is our second Tribal Council, which blows the first out of the water. Both the tension and the doublespeak are on point this time. It seems like it’s four against Denise but Denise makes good overtures (with pointed looks at Sandra) about building lasting bonds. Couple that with mystery as to who Denise will eliminate, and you’ve got the makings of a great Tribal Council. Sandra’s confessional about her confidence in Denise’s ability to survive is icing on the cake. Jeremy doesn’t play his advantage, but Denise does. Wisely, since she doubtless suspects Sandra of giving her a fake, plays the idol she bought from Sandra first, and waits to Jeff to confirm it. He does, but then, strangely, Denise plays her Sele idol for Jeremy. This might, at first, seem odd, but all will become clear momentarily. You see, in the great debate of Jeremy vs. Tony, Denise voted for Sandra.

Now, I’m sure a lot of you are expecting me to complain about how this has “Ethan Zohn” downside. After all, we saw not ONE bit of talk as to Sandra going home. Surely this makes her exit unsatisfying, right? Well, no, thanks to a few key differences. First off, unlike Ethan’s boot, which was a majority flip we barely got any hints about, this was a rare unilateral decision on “Survivor”. When the only person you can consult about the vote is yourself, there’s not really a way to indicate that this will be the vote, short of showing a confessional saying “I’m going to vote for Sandra”, which would kind of give the game away. Second, even if we don’t hear it, this vote has much clearer reasoning than the vote for Ethan. While we know that Ethan was voted out to weaken Boston Rob, we got no explicit reasoning why him over Parvati, or why not go for Boston Rob outright. Conversely, even though they aren’t spelled out for us, the reasons to get rid of Sandra are clear without needing to consult outside resources to find out the why of it. As the only two-time winner, Sandra is the biggest fish in the pond, the equivalent of Richard Hatch on “Survivor All-Stars”. Sandra can’t be trusted, as demonstrated by all the precautions Denise took in the deal. Speaking of which, voting out Sandra allows Denise to keep a fire token for herself, putting her in the “Dreamz” position from “Survivor Fiji” of getting the best of a deal without following up on it, but without the whole “looking like scum” thing. Plus, whether a merge is nigh or no, Sandra’s a smart move to eliminate. If the next episode ISN’T a merge, you’ve just gotten rid of your biggest challenge sink. If a merge IS coming, then you need to get rid of Sandra NOW, before she can hide in bigger numbers. Thus, a satisfying boot with little foreshadowing, and a genuinely shocking highlight to end the episode on.

Of course, Sandra still needs to give her fire token to someone, since Denise DID pay half up front. She of course chooses… MICHELE! No, she chooses Yul, which I suppose is reasonable since she voted with him before.

this episode has a lot of high highs, but I feel like it was trying too hard in places. The Adam confessionals and the Sele Tribal Council in particular felt like they were trying to build tension where there was none. That said, the misdirection was otherwise good, and while the episode as a whole may not be legendary, that Sandra boot was, the first truly legendary moment of the season. Let us hope for more.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Winners at War” Episode 5: Again on the Buffoon Tribe

Well, with a unified vote last episode, and a swap imminent, there’s no reason not to get straight to the foreshadowing! Nope, no need to concerns ourselves with vote fallout when there is no vote fallout to be had! Instead, we get Sophie and Nick gushing about how great their position in the game is at this particular moment. Nick in particular is happy, since he’s discovered Tyson willing him his remaining fire token. Nick tells us that this makes him think differently of Tyson, possibly even being willing to work with him down the line. Might this be foreshadowing of the biggest challenge threat currently on the Edge of Extinction getting back in the game? I think so.

Before we get to the swap itself, Yul talks about closeness with people. This time, however, Yul’s not discussing the closeness of others in the game, but the closeness of himself out of the game. He tells us the person he bonded the most with on “Survivor Cook Islands” was Jonathan Penner, which strikes me as odd. True, the pair were clearly friends in the game, but over someone like Becky, whom Yul was CLEARLY bonded with? Strikes me as odd, especially when you consider that Penner was the VILLAIN of “Survivor Cook Islands”. Sure, he’s beloved by the fanbase now, and he wasn’t exactly Jonny Fairplay (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) level of hated even at the time, but he was the bad guy. The mutineer. The snarky jerk who betrayed the Aitu Four, then betrayed his new tribe just to seal the deal. And THIS is the guy beloved Yul bonded with the most overall? I mean, it makes sense if you look at them outside the game, but if you only knew them from the show? This would be right the heck out of nowhere.

Yul, however, is focussing less on Jonathan, and more on Jonathan’s wife, Stacy. Stacy, you see, has rather advanced ALS, to the point of not being able to breathe on her own, and requiring around the clock care. Penner has selflessly and graciously taken up this task, and if by some stupid miracle he happens to be reading this, our thoughts go out to you and your wife, man. Sure, I could talk about how this scene really comes right out of nowhere, and basically hits you over the head with “Yul is going to win this season”, but I don’t care. It was touching! It was a humanizing moment for all involved, while still putting the focus on Stacy (her making the family reward on “Survivor Cook Islands” meant they had footage of her to use, and she and Penner had a call to action to start off the upcoming commercial break). Even the normally stone-faced Yul shed a few tears over it. But I’m not crying, you’re crying! Shut up!

Our swap comes around, which means we need someone complaining about it screwing their game up. Boston Rob is our big winner this time around, which I have to say is out of the ordinary. Despite Rob having played five times at this point (six if you count “Survivor Island of the Idols”), this is only his third swap (fourth if you count the tribe dissolution on “Survivor All-Stars”). A low number, though he might have some reason to complain. After all, while the new Mogo Mogo did have the numbers in his favor on “Survivor All-Stars” it was the swap that cost him the game, since asking for the favor to save Amber soured the jury towards him when he didn’t pay them back. Instead, Rob talks about the swap on “Survivor Marquesas”, pointing out that he lost power as a result, having been in control of Maraamu prior to moving to Rotu. A fair enough point, but Rob, I’d say it was really your tribe’s challenge ability that screwed you. Even if you hadn’t swapped, I’d bet money you lost at least one more pre-merge immunity challenge, meaning you’d in down in numbers anyway, and probably be voted out at the exact same spot. Sure, you were at risk on the new Rotu, but you ultimately didn’t leave until the merge, which like I said, is where you likely would have gone anyway. This is as opposed to, say, Sandra, who actually WAS swap-screwed on “Survivor Game Changers”, but let’s not split too many hairs.

With 15 players left, we of course split into three tribes, leading to the creation of a new tribe, which is green, because of COURSE it’s green. They’re almost always green. Doing anything different would upset the delicate balance that is “Survivor”. We’ll get into the split dynamics in a minute, but the big takeaway is that Sele is SCREWED by this swap. Oh sure, they were lower in numbers, which makes a swap harder to take advantage of, but the fact is that Sele was only down by one member, and so could easily have gotten the advantage on two tribes. However, given both the numbers and who ended up with whom, they effectively have the advantage on NO tribes. This is most obvious, funilly enough, on the new Sele. Parvati and Michele remain, being joined by Yul, Wendell, and Nick. Parvati and Michele have the triple disadvantage of being down in the numbers, not working together prior to this, and being with the tightest group in this game so far. As Nick says, those three couldn’t have put together a better tribe swap. Granted, Yul’s number one, Sophie, is on another tribe, but Wendell and Nick are both tight with him, and bring good challenge strength. To add insult to injury for Michele, she and Wendell used to date, and did not have the nicest breakup. More on that later.

Surprisingly, new Dakal is really the only place where the old Sele have a decent chance of grabbing a little power. They’re down in numbers, with Jeremy and Denise against Kim, Sandra, and Tony, but Jeremy and Denise at least have a tentative alliance, and a possible “In” with Kim, since she never really worked with Sandra and Tony directly. Plus, they both have some form of immunity at this point (Jeremy has “Safety without power”, while Denise has a good old hidden immunity idol), meaning they can guarantee an original Dakal going home if they so choose. Granted, both Kim and Sandra have idols as well, but Tony going is not the worst thing. Oh, and four people immune on a tribe of five with FIFTEEN PEOPLE LEFT IN THE GAME is clearly not an indicator of too many idols and advantages in the game already! No siree!

In a parallel to the new Dakal, our newly-created Yara tribe (which will in no way be difficult to distinguish from the Yawa tribe of “Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers”, no sir) has a numerical advantage, but a fractious one. On paper, Sarah and Sophie are outnumbered by Boston Rob, Ben, and Adam, but then you remember that all three of the men have reason to be mad at each other, meaning that they likely won’t be able to work together. Add onto that them having to build a whole new shelter, and getting little in the way of supplies, and you’ve got the makings for a tribe in trouble. I would say new Dakal is probably the weakest tribe overall, due to having the biggest challenge sink (Sandra), and only one big gun in Jeremy, but given Boston Rob’s overall performance, the energy expended in building a new shelter, and Adam not being the strongest either, I’d say these two tribes may be fairly even early on. Not new Sele, though. New Sele is not going to lose a challenge unless they throw a challenge.

After Denise and Jeremy take time to gush at Wendell’s handiwork on the shelter, the game starts back up. Jeremy, unsurprisingly, is the driving force behind the attempts to work on the tribe, and quickly zeroes in on Kim as the weak link. I’m guessing he worked everybody, and they just showed us the one that worked, but if he did sense that out immediately, kudos to him. Given the public feud between Tony and Sandra on “Survivor Game Changers”, without any knowledge of tribe dynamics, that would have been my first guess as to an exploitable flaw. Not, Jeremy instead floats the idea of working with himself and Denise to Kim, which is further incentivized by her bonding with Denise. Kim admits that while it might be smarter to stick with her original Dakal members, she does have a bond with Denise and Jeremy that she doesn’t have with Tony and Sandra, as well as no real alliance with them, so things are up in the air. We’re left pretty unclear where Kim will go, but it looks to be an intriguing storyline going forward.

Checking in at Sele, Michele again laments being put on a tribe with Wendell, since they have “history”. Unlike with the poker alliance or Stacy from earlier in the episode, we don’t get any outside clips detailing their relationship. Which is a shame, not so much because I want all their dirty laundry aired on national tv, but because I’ve seen the pictures from when they were dating, and they were cute together! I’m really sorry to hear their breakup wasn’t amiable, because they do seem like a nice match on the surface. Bummer.

To distract from this, Parvati sets about bonding with the remaining members of her tribe. She and Yul share an original season, plus his wife really likes Parvati’s game, so she leans on that. With Nick, it turns out she was his crush back in the day, and we get to see “flirt” Parvati come out again a bit. Wendell, however, is a tough nut to crack. He gives very short, nondescript answers to her “Getting to know you” questions, which leads Parvati to call him “cagey”. Wendell argues that he’s just a slow leak, but combined with not really wanting to talk about their past with Michele, it seems like he’s just kind of quiet around them. Odd for a guy who won on the strength of his social game, but I guess that’s what a breakup will do to you. Michele and Parvati complain about this on the beach, noting how smug the guys are. They want Wendell gone, but have no way to do so. As such, they decide to “Give the guys something to look at” (seriously, these two may be the first people to say that in non-scripted reality), and go for a swim. And here, I must complain. Yes, an understanding of the tribe dynamics is necessary, and yes, the tension between Michele and Wendell is a big part of that. I’m not complaining about that so much. What I AM complaining about is the portrayal of Michele on this season. Look, Aubry will always be my girl, but I have a lot of respect for Michele. She’s a solid player of the game, and very likable in her own right. I have no complaints about the fact that she won, and as such want to see more of her on this season. So it bothers me that the ONLY Michele content we’ve gotten has related to three things: Voting out Ethan (which was all of ONE SENTENCE), her relationship troubles, and being a sex object. Yeah, “Survivor”. Way to be progressive in this day and age. All the content we get from one of the women relates to either relationships or looks? Those portrayals aren’t stereotypical at all!

Rant over, we head to Yara, where even before shelter building commences, Rob wants to know what happened to Amber. Sarah and Sophie wisely throw Tyson under the bus, saying that he threw out Amber’s name when he was on the chopping block. At least partially true, it also shifts any blame to someone who can’t defend himself right now, and lets them keep up the pretense of a full united front for the original Dakal. Smooth playing, ladies. Less smooth are the men, who when asked immediately spill their hatred for each other. Way to play, guys. Ok, ok, I suppose there was no way they were going to hide if for long, but a token effort would have been nice! Sophie and Sarah talk with everyone, and are naturally relieved that they have options. Still, they don’t trust the numbers, and so go idol hunting, followed shortly by the men. Rob complains about the difficulties in idol hunting, despite, as Adam points out, having FOUND an idol. To be fair, Rob did have clues, and their new island has many significant looking trees. In the end, the show does something I really like, and keeps the finding of the idol subtle. While Rob rants, we see Sophie grab something out of a tree, later revealed to be the Yara hidden immunity idol. Like other idols this season, she has to split it for it to be useful. Since Sophie is NOT an idiot, she gives it to the one person she’s played with so far, and we move on to our immunity challenge.

As we’ve come to expect this season, this is your standard obstacle course with a puzzle at the end, though two things about this challenge stand out. One is the color. While most challenges have a good amount of color to them, for some reason this challenge really “pops” particularly in aerial shots. Kudos to the art department! The second element is the puzzle. At first, it seems like another rehash. The “Stack four blocks so no color appears twice on any side” puzzle from “Survivor Samoa”. Decently tough, but not much to note, were it not for a design choice I like. Previously, the blocks had to be stacked in a rotating frame. Here, they’re stacked on top of one another on a rotating platform. It’s a small change, but it helps this version stand out, along with the look of the blocks themselves. I’ve complained in the past about “Plastic ‘Survivor’”, where elements look manufactured and fake, as in not part of the environment. Here, these crates are clearly just wood squares nailed together and painted. This could be seen as lazy, but I say it adds to the authenticity. These feel like something someone would develop naturally on an island, or even make at home, and it’s a nice touch to an otherwise just average challenge.

Yara does surprisingly well early on in the challenge, even getting to the puzzle slightly ahead of Sele. Of course, though, the puzzle matters, and despite having the more than competent team of Sophie and Adam on the puzzle, they choke. Our idol mercifully splits apart naturally this season (as all multiple idols should, show), so Sele gets the skull for coming in first, while Dakal’s impressive puzzle performance nets them the crossbones. Though I have to ask, since Yara was right next to Sele, why didn’t they just copy their solution when Sele won? Regardless, Rob leads us out saying that while he hates losing, he feels fairly in control tonight. Gee, I wonder who our boot is?

Despite the earlier tension between the guys, when push comes to shove, they don’t want to go home. At the water well they agree not to vote for each other, and decide on Sarah for bringing less to challenges than Sophie. A bit odd, given that Sarah is a police officer, and therefore presumably quite physically fit, but I guess if you factor in puzzle ability it’s a wash. Given that all have an incentive to get the connected people out at this point, Sarah at least works from that perspective. Rob, however, is still a bit paranoid, and thus implements the “buddy system” from “Survivor Redemption Island”. With only three, though, it rapidly devolves into “Everyone sit in the shelter until Tribal Council”. You know, the strategy that worked SO WELL for Garrett on “Survivor Cagayan”. Geez, Rob, you’re supposed to be better than this. Adam complains about the boredom, thereby making him the most likely to quit on Edge of Extinction. You think this is boring, buddy? Try being out of the game. Or the audience watching the people who are out of the game. Last episode aside, boredom city.

Well, after Ben’s Oreo conversation is exhausted (for the record, I’m in the “Peel apart the cookie and lick out the creme” camp), Sophie and Sarah go off to grouse. They can see the writing on the wall, and confess that they can’t even get a signal or a wink from any of the guys. However, they pool their advantages, and actually do have a plan. Sarah having given Sophie back her half of the idol, they have it available now, but want to save it. Fair enough. Less understandable is Sarah wanting to save her vote steal. Look Sarah, I understand wanting to have it available down the line, but if ever there was a time to play it, this is it! It breaks up a possibly insurmountable threesome, does not require the potential guesswork of playing a hidden immunity idol, and prevents any targeting of you should people find out you have it. Plus, with larger numbers, it can have less of an impact. Play it now, when it’s most useful.

Our Tribal Council is once again mostly a subdued affair, with no one wanting to give away anything. That said, I do want to praise one bit of Sophie’s maneuvering this time around. After giving the usual talk about finding “cracks” and splitting people up, Sophie reframes the conversation brilliantly. Pointing out that such a metaphor, while commonly used, can have negative connotations, Sophie instead says she wants to use this vote as an opportunity to build bonds, and start working WITH people, rather than splitting them up. This is a brilliant bit of politicking on Sophie’s part. It flips the underdog narrative on it’s head, and makes you seem desirable, rather than desperate. It’s delivered well too; calm but still with some force behind it. There’s a reason Sophie’s back here, and it’s not just for snark.

I’d play up the mystery here, but we all know Rob’s going. The narrative has been leaning too heavily in that direction for it to be anyone else. The women don’t even have to play any of their advantages. Like with the Kim thing earlier, I’m guessing there’s just some strategizing between everyone but Rob we didn’t see, and so there was no need to discuss things further post-immunity-challenge. Quite honestly, I’m not too sorry to see Rob go. He’s a legend, don’t get me wrong, but because of that, we all knew this was coming at some point. It’s like the boot of Richard Hatch on “Survivor All-Stars”: You may not like it when it happens, but you know going in it’s inevitable. Better to get it out of the way early so that we can focus on newer storylines. That said, was this a smart move? I’d say not. Even without the knowledge of Sarah’s advantage, she has more connections left in the game than Rob does, making her overall the bigger threat. I get that Rob’s strong-arming gets old, but that continues to make him a target, and therefore worthy to keep around as a shield. Even looking at it from the perspective of who Sophie and Sarah should target, I’d say they made the wrong call. They should have gone for Adam. As we saw this episode, while Ben and Adam may be mad at each other, they CAN still work together. Not so much for Boston Rob and the others, and since Adam has less challenge ability than Ben, I’d say he should have been the target.

For all my complaints so far, this season has more hits than misses, and this episode is definitely one of the hits. True, the hits have not been fantastic hits, and the misses have often been spectacular, but my overall impression of the season still remains positive. True, after the immunity challenge there was zero mystery as to who would go home, but sometimes you don’t need that. We got a clear story on “The Downfall of Boston Rob” which was compelling in its bluntness, and that can be fun to. Add to that a good understanding of the new tribe dynamics after WAITING and establishing the status quo, coupled with some heartwarming moments, and you’ve got yourself an above-average episode. Plus, NO EDGE OF EXTINCTION! YAY! We even got Probst’s final words this episode, saving Boston Rob’s willing of his fire tokens until the credits. He, of course, wills them to… MICHELE! No, with Amber out of the game, he’s clearly giving them to Parvati. What did you expect? Honestly, the only complaint I can really have with this episode is it felt like we were intentionally not given information to try and up the drama in places, which I can’t really complain about since it happens with most episodes. It was just less subtle here.

Oh, and the abundance of idols and advantages. I can complain about that. Admittedly not really a problem in this episode, but it’s already hard to keep track of who has what, and that problem looks to only be getting worse as the season progresses. We may be fine next episode, but if our “Two tribes at Tribal Council” is two tribes voting for one person AGAIN, rather than a proper Double-Tribal, I’m going to be pissed.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Winners at War” Episode 4: Golden Boy

Question for the fandom: Does Adam like “Star Trek”? I mean, he’s certainly a nerd, but not all nerds are “Star Trek” nerds, and inquiring minds want to know. You see, consciously or not, Adam is following the pattern of “Star Trek” movies: The even numbers he’s amazing, the odd numbers he’s awful.

Our episode proper begins on an appropriately somber note with the ouster of Ethan, and everyone, Boston Rob in particular, takes a few seconds to mourn. There’s little time for that, though, as Adam has to deal with his own fallout. Since this is an even-numbered episode, Adam has realized how much of an idiot he was last time, and sets about trying to explain himself to his tribemates. All rightly point out what an idiot he was, though only Ben actually seems pissed off at the whole shebang. Adam begins what he dubs his “apology tour” with fairly sincere-sounding apologies where most people forgive him. Even Ben says that while he no longer trusts Adam, there are bigger threats to be taken care of, so I’d say Adam’s damage control works. That said, I do need to dock him points for poor elocution. I have always heard the word “hubris” pronounced “hew-bris”, and therefore take this as the correct pronunciation. I do not acknowledge “hoo-bris” as an acceptable alternative.

You would think we would get something of substance from Dakal, to balance out our scene at Sele. Instead, it’s just a brief bit from Sophie about a class field trip to a prison to lead us into the comparison to Edge of Extinction, leading us, appropriately enough, to said Edge of Extinction. No time to check in on Ethan! There’s fire tokens in them thar hills, and our contestants mean to get ‘em! And I do mean that about as literally as I can. Rather than selling stuff to the players still in the game, and adding more advantages in the process, this time our players have a mini-challenge. Up at the top of the mountain, via that long, near-vertical staircase, are four stacks of 20 logs, one for each player. These stacks must be transferred down to the fire pit in camp. If transferred before sundown, those players that do so get a fire token. Fairly tough, but nothing too bad, right? Well, that’s where the catch comes in. You see, only one log can be taken at a time, meaning each player must make a total of 20 round trips to earn that fire token. No easy feat, especially considering that climb. While I may scoff at the supposed “harshness” of the Edge of Extinction, that climb is no joke, and needing to make it 20 times in rapid succession (40 if you count each trip up and down separately)? ANYONE’S thighs would be burning after that. I must say, I’m a bit torn on this method of earning fire tokens. On the one hand, it loses the social aspect that I like from the selling of advantages, and I’d prefer a more cutthroat “Only one person can get a fire token this way”’ to add some excitement. On the other hand, this challenge shakes the formula up, means there are fewer advantages going into the game, and overall just serves as a tough challenge with a nice change of pace for the show. I wouldn’t want this sort of thing every week, but this week at least, I’ll take it.

Everyone left on the Edge of Extinction gets their own little story. Amber serves as our narrator, explaining the challenge and how tough it is to us. Danni serves as the comic relief, giving us a tough showing while making comparisons to childbirth. Natalie is, naturally, her usual beast of a self, utterly kicking the butt of this challenge. Really, though, the story of the hour is Ethan. After the inevitable reference to his having survived cancer, Ethan gets taken down a couple pegs when his goal goes from “finish first” to “finish period”. Given how the guy scoffed at how “easy” the show is these days, it’s oddly cathartic to see him taken down a peg, at least at first. Then we see that Ethan is maybe going a bit too far in his efforts to prove that he’s still got it. We see him stumbling more and more as the challenge goes on, with the camera itself seeming to fade in and out, only to have medical come in and look at Ethan. There’s thankfully no medivac for him (that would be a kick in the balls at this point in the season), but the guy is feeling faint with low blood pressure, so it’s by no means nothing. He eventually clears up, and is even allowed to continue the challenge, although he is told to rest if he feels the need. Ethan manages to get the last four logs he had left down the mountain, with the remaining players even making the final trip with him.

My dear readers, we have an “Idol Speculation” first: A scene of Edge of Extinction that doesn’t suck! No, even more than that, a scene on Edge of Extinction that is actively good! I thoroughly enjoyed this scene! I am glad it is in the episode! It has added to the overall experience! And I say this under no duress whatsoever!

Ok, ok, I’ll probably sound a lot more sincere without the overuse of exclamation marks. This scene works for a couple of reasons: There’s few enough people that they all get their own story, and the challenge gives them something of a purpose. More than that, though, the overall best thing about this scene is that, for the first time, it SHOWS us how harsh Edge of Extinction is. Think about it. For all that we’re always told how harsh Edge of Extinction is, there’s no real evidence of it. True, there’s not much to do, and the hike up the mountain is a bit tough, but nothing to really separate it from your usual island living. This, though? For all the gimmicky interface screws the camera has, we SEE how tough this is. We SEE how much these people have to go through. We finally SEE that the show isn’t just blowing smoke up our butts. And to culminate that with Ethan’s kick-ass triumph over adversity, even adding in the touching human element of Amber, Danni, and Natalie hiking up with him in a show of solidarity? There really is no better way to capstone that scene. Now, does this mean I’ve turned around on Edge of Extinction as a whole? Of course not! I still would rather we be without it and spend time getting to know the players actually still in the game. But, if we had to have it, I’m glad some good came out of it this time around.

Guess what? There’s even more tender moments in the next scene! Rather than get into strategizing, our first bit at Sele during the day is just Michele and Boston Rob talking! Sure, it’s Michele again discussing how her win isn’t viewed as “legitimate” by some people, but Boston Rob gives her a good talk about “you won so who cares?” and the two seem to really respect each other. It’s just a nice little scene between players. Of course, the strategizing must begin again, and so we turn once again to Adam. As Jeremy tells us, he’s behaving like he screwed up, becoming a workhorse around camp. Jeremy confides that as long as Adam doesn’t go around overstrategizing again, he’ll keep him around. Naturally, our next shot is Adam talking to Boston Rob and Parvati. However, this is an even-numbered episode, meaning Adam has the good sense to not make the same mistake again, and tells them there’s nothing to talk about. Boston Rob and Parvati, having little to lose, agree that it’s time to throw Adam under the bus. They spin a lie to Jeremy and Michele that Adam is strategizing with them again. They buy it, mostly because it fits with Adam’s MO last episode, and so he’s now number one on their hit list.

Let’s not leave Dakal out of this strategizing, though! After Sarah talks about bonding with Tyson over his humor, Tyson reminds us that humor is not the only aspect to his character. There’s strategy as well, and he’s realized that Yul’s strategy is to pick off all the paired people first. Luckily for him, counting himself and Kim as a pair, there are five “paired” people on the tribe against four “singles”. Ergo, if all the pairs band together they can save themselves from destruction! Tyson therefore rightly points this out to the other pairs, in the hopes of forming an alliance. However, Tyson forgets that one of the members of these “pairs” is Sandra, who is known to hold a bit of a grudge. Tyson’s on her shit list, so she tells us in no uncertain terms that she wants him gone. To be fair, since Sandra’s beef with Tyson is at least partly based on a lie, Tyson has little way of knowing he’s on her shit list, but still, this plot is stopped before it really starts.

Our challenge today fits the mold of “obstacle course then puzzle”, though this time it has more distinct sources. Our obstacles involve four tribe members tugging a boat with the three remaining members to a platform where players must jump to retrieve keys, all coming to us from “Survivor Edge of Extinction”, while our puzzle is Kass’ famous final four comeback puzzle from “Survivor Cagayan”. The boat pulling part is cool, and any challenge that reminds me of Kass’ comeback is a good one in my book. The winners get immunity, and also the “Survivor” staple of chickens and a rooster. Well worth playing for, and this episode bucks the trend from last episode of making it too easy to tell who will win. Granted, I’m still favoring Sele to lose, given how prominent the “Adam” story has been, as well as Dakal having only one named target, but still, there’s some effort.

It turns out, however, that the best misdirection was once again going to come from the challenge itself. You see, Sele does badly. Not much new there, but I mean REALLY bad. Dakal gets all three keys when Sele only has one, with only Adam able to even reach them. Dakal is on the puzzle for a good long while, and yet, still they lose. I mean, this should have been a blowout. I would not have been surprised if Sele hadn’t even made it to the puzzle. I usually knock Probst for his “massive lead” hyperbole, but here it felt justified. And yet, somehow, Dakal just can’t get the puzzle together, while Michele and Boston Rob whips through it, netting Sele a well-earned win. Man alive, that was exciting to watch! Appropriately enough, given the puzzle, it rivals the Kass comeback I mentioned earlier. I still give the edge to Kass, given that she did the comeback all on her own, while Sele had a whole tribe working to come back, but still impressive nonetheless. A close second place in terms of comebacks.

We go to commercial on Adam tearfully telling us how his 8th grade teacher said in a report card that if he set his mind to something, he would accomplish it. Stop it, show! If you give us any more inspiration, we’ll explode!

Tyson kicks the strategizing into high gear following the challenge. Luckily for him, Nick was on the puzzle, and so takes the brunt of the blame for the loss, especially as Probst kept reminding everyone that the puzzle also featured on “Survivor David vs. Goliath”. As such, Tyson talks everyone into a consensus vote of Nick. Everyone seems on board, but of course that’s what they’re going to say. In reality, Yul’s alliance wants Tyson out, and so gets pretty much everyone but Tyson on board to do just that. Surprisingly, of all people, it’s TONY who begins to question this. He says that Tyson works as a shield for the alliance of himself and Sarah, and therefore it might be more beneficial to keep Tyson around. The strange thing here is that Tony is RIGHT, but for the wrong reasons. Tony, I respect the idea of the “shield” strategy, but even when playing low-key, you’re not exactly “invisible”. Look, you’re playing probably your best game out of all your seasons so far, but that doesn’t mean you’re a social chameleon. Michele, you are not. Tony is right, however, in wanting to keep Spencer around. Tony is a part of the last remaining “original season” pair with himself and Sarah, and thus, keeping the precedent of “vote out the pairs” bodes ill for his long-term prospects. Better to weaken the singles while you still have the numbers to do so. Sarah and Kim both agree to go with Tony’s strategy if he can get the numbers, leaving Sandra as the swing vote. And lest we forget, Sandra holds a grudge. She flat-out tells Tony she wants Tyson out, but says in confessional that she’ll do what’s smart, and doesn’t play based on her emotions. Um, Sandra? I respect you and all, but there are some fish in the Pearl Islands that might disagree with that assessment.

Sadly, the fun of Dakal does not translate into the fun of Tribal. I’m convinced that Tyson is going, based on what I know of editing and of Sandra, and there’s little to dissuade me. Apart from Yul blaspheming by denying the gospel of math, no real moment stands out. I will say that at first I thought for certain that they gave the game away by having Tyson call out Sandra during Tribal Council, indicating his demise. I mean, why do that if Nick is the target. Then, during voting, we see Nick got for Kim, which seems odd if he’s in the know and safe, right?

Well, it turns out Nick was just taking a leaf out of the book of Devon Pinto (“Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers”) and throwing a stray vote in case of an idol. He needn’t have bothered. Tyson gets voted out in a 7-1-1 vote, and I am most pleased. Not just because the two main targets were the two players left I was least excited about, but it means Yul’s nerd alliance remains in power, and I am happy. Of course, as established, it was a dumb decision for our swing votes, but still, a good way to cap off a solid episode, marked by truly touching human moments and exciting come-from behind victories. The best since the premiere, right here!

Of course, Tyson still needs to bequeath his fire token to someone, and he naturally chooses… MICHELE! Not really, but his choice is somewhat odd. Rather than give it to one of his pair alliance, particularly since he probably thinks they’ll need it, he gives it to Nick, for a vote well-avoided. Look, I may not be a fan of Tyson’s humor, and I may think he’s overrated by the fandom as a whole as a result, but that was a classy, and respectful move right there, Tyson my man. Kudos.

Join us next week, when stupid Adam returns! Watch him go on an idol hunt, only to repeatedly slam his face into a tree instead!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.