Idol Speculation: “Survivor 41” Episode 10: Mirror Neurons

For those not familiar with psychology terms “Mirror Neurons” refer not to specific neurons themselves, but to the propensity of the brain to fire off in response to external emotional stimuli.  In other words, your brain activates when you see someone conveying a strong emotion.  Monkey see, Monkey feel, to put it crudely.  Interestingly, the effect even works for a simulated emotion, such as from a drawing or, more on the nose for tonight, on your tv screen.  This is something that, as we’ll see, the music uses to great effect.  

We pick up immediately after Tribal, where we see that there are surprisingly few hard feelings about getting out Naseer.  Danny in particular is ok with the whole mess, which makes sense given his earlier vendetta against Naseer.  As we’ll see, Danny has a hard time letting go of his old, earlier targets.  To be fair, Ricard actually does a good job of spinning the whole thing, describing Naseer as a “consensus boot”.  Where I can’t get behind Ricard is in his noting that Shan used her extra vote to do so.  Not only does this reveal to Heather that Shan voted for her, it also reminds everyone that Shan has advantages.  I get what Ricard is trying to do: Reduce the threat level of his ally by noting she has fewer weapons now.  But it also primes everyone to remember “Oh yeah, idols are dangerous.  We should eliminate the people who have them.”  Not good if your number one ally is someone who has one of these.  As we’ll see, though, Shan may not actually be Ricard’s number one ally.  

Sure enough, Erika goes to Deshawn to suggest voting out Shan to get rid of her idol.  Way to go, Ricard.  Shan sure is lucky to have you as an ally.  

You could be forgiven for thinking you accidentally skipped back to last episode when morning comes, but no, we are getting what at first seems a repeat scene.  Deshawn and Shan are making amends, though this time it seems to stick a bit more.  Both are wary of the other for various moves they’ve discussed, but at the end of the day still want to come together, and this time things seem to stick more.  There’s no IMMEDIATE confessional of one of them wanting to target the other, or someone close to the other, at least.  

What there is is an explanation for why they keep coming together in spite of these disagreements.  Things have been hard for the Black community as a whole in North America this past year.  They’re hard in general, but the past year has been particularly hard.  There’s no denying that just by looking at the news.  As such, despite their disagreements, Shan and Deshawn want this alliance to stick together as a “win” for the Black community.  And I can applaud that.  I respect that.  I like to think I understand it, but then again, I’m white, so I’m not sure I truly do, or ever fully can.  And I certainly don’t pretend that I have a right to have my opinion have any weight in this matter.  But that being said, if you want to know my opinion… Eh, I’m largely happy, but not fully.  

Part of me believes that “Survivor” is at its best when the self-interest of everyone comes up against the group dynamic.  Having people play for a greater goal than their own self-interest makes for a heartwarming game, but not necessarily an interesting one.  On the whole, though, I’m very happy with this development.  If “Survivor” is to truly be a “social experiment” as Probst likes to claim, this sort of subject and reasoning is going to come up, and should be embraced, not avoided.  And I also can’t deny that the first 40 seasons could be largely argued to the story of “White people ganging up”.  There are exceptions, of course, but it happens often enough that the show got flak for it, helping lead to the “Minimum 50% BIPOC” mandate in casting now.  Turnabout is fair play, is what I’m saying.  And, if nothing else, it is really heartwarming to see the group come together in this way.  I just wish the strategy lined up as well.  But strategy or not, I can’t deny the truth of what Shan and Deshawn are saying.  

I also can’t deny that this scene is emotionally effective.  The pair genuinely tear up when talking about the hardships of the past year, and it gets those mirror neurons firing full speed.  A genuinely touching moment to help kick off the show.  It would be a shame if something happened later on to undermine this.  

CHALLENGE TIME!  Yeah, been a while since I’ve used all caps to describe a challenge, but this reward challenge makes me happy.  Each individual works their way along a rope their tethered to, only to solve a star puzzle at the end.  The winner goes to “Survivor Sanctuary”, which is thankfully NOT a twist where 8 zillion more advantages get added to the game, but basically just a reward cabin with pizza.  Probst calls it “a break from the game”, but we all know, until that final vote is cast, the game never really “breaks”.  Longtime readers may remember that I find ropes courses overplayed.  While I admit their long absence has made me more tolerant of them, I’m still not the biggest fan.  Why am I so happy, then?  The operative word in that first sentence was “Individual”.  Yes, the show has FINALLY deigned to give us an individual challenge post-merge, as I have BEGGED for, so that we can have the drama of deciding who to take on reward.  

We see this drama on full display, as Ricard wins after a fairly back-and-forth challenge.  His first pick, Shan, is reasonable.  While tight, the two have had rocky moments.  Better to shore up that ally, and Ricard makes a good case, pointing out that Shan hasn’t been on any rewards yet.  His next pick, Heather, is still a little eyebrow-raising, but reasonable.  Heather’s someone you don’t mind strengthening for a challenge, and Ricard can make the excuse that she hasn’t been on a reward yet.  But Xander?  Ricard does a decent job justifying himself, referring to it as payback for him sitting out to get the tribe rice (I notice that didn’t stop you from voting out Naseer last episode, though).  Decent enough justification, but Xander is your main immunity threat competition, and on the outs with pretty much everyone else.  Why strengthen him?  Especially when you could take a non-challenge threat (like Erika), or someone closer to your alliance (like Liana), and still be all right?  

Jury management, according to Danny.  Danny is certain he knows what Ricard’s up to, and it’s making nice with future jury members to ensure that he wins in the end.  Unsurprisingly, this puts Ricard at the top of his and Deshawn’s hit list.  They’re certain Erika and Heather will vote with them, but they need a fifth.  Why they don’t think to go to Xander in this situation is beyond me (admittedly, he’s off on reward, but they could ask when he gets back, yet from what we see, never do).  Still, they talk to Liana, who’s all about loyalty to Shan at this point, but is willing to cut Ricard for the sake of the alliance.  Really, worry about Shan’s reaction is the only thing making the alliance hesitant to turn on Ricard at this point, but Deshawn and Danny both admit that while they want the alliance as a whole to succeed, they don’t want to go against Shan at the end, and so flimsily justify it to themselves.  

They may not need to, however.  Rather than focus on the reward (presumably because “Treasure Island” isn’t playing), we get more clarity on Shan and Ricard’s relationship.  While the two are very close, and are working as a pair, Ricard notes that they never actually made a deal to go to the end together, and each plan to snake the other at some point.  Shan never explicitly confirms this is the deal, but does briefly agree when Ricard brings it up to her face, before suggesting they enjoy the reward.  Shan is thinking it over, as evidenced by her humming her “evil music” once again.  Hilariously, someone other than Shan makes note of it for the first time, with Heather asking her what she’s doing.  

Despite having been all-in on the plan earlier, Liana decides she’s closer to Shan than to Danny and Deshawn, and thus, by extension, closer to Shan’s allies.  She breaks down about how close she feels to Shan after their trip to Prisoner’s Dilemma Island, and spills the beans.  A level of devotion not seen since Brendan wanted JT to win over him on “Survivor Tocantins”.  This scene feels a bit more forced than the emotion we got earlier, but it still gets the old mirror neurons firing just the same.  

Since Shan does not believe it’s time to snake Ricard yet, she lets him know about the plot.  Ricard takes it well, and for once, that’s not sarcasm on my part.  Shan seems dumbfounded at Ricard just wanting to “process the news” rather than make anything happen, but I’d say it’s a perfectly reasonable reaction.  The two do suggest getting rid of Deshawn, since he’s starting to strategize more, though.  

Off to our immunity challenge, which involves balancing a ball on an increasingly long pole while standing on an increasingly thin sloped balance beam.  We’ve seen it a bunch of times before, nothing to write home about.  Given the trends of this season, we know that one of our targets will win immunity, but we have MULTIPLE targets now, with both Deshawn and Ricard being thrown out.  That is, until Deshawn drops, and any tension between our remaining contenders (Ricard and Xander) is gone, as Ricard handily wins immunity.  Honestly, the best thing to come out of this challenge was Erika’s quip about Probst retracting her and Xander’s “Friendship Bracelets”.  

With Ricard out, the plan defaults back to Erika, being considered the best schemer outside the alliance.  Decent plan, though you’d think they’d be more worried about Xander’s idol.  Shan’s solution to this is to not name a target to Xander, in the hopes that he spooks and plays his idol.  Decent plan.  Certainly better than Ricard’s attempt by just telling Xander to play the idol at Tribal with no evidence.  

Ricard, however, has a different plan. While Shan does not believe it’s the right time to get him, he disagrees, and says it’s the right time to get her.  As such, he kills any hope of Xander playing the idol by telling him, Heather, and Erika about the plan.  Of course, this is only four, and with no split vote, they need a fifth.  This comes in the form of Deshawn, who despite earlier wanting Ricard out, is willing to work with him to get Shan out.  Deshawn’s flimsy justification for this is that Shan betrayed the alliance by telling Ricard about the plan.  Certainly a true statement, but that, Deshawn, could be argued to be in response to you breaking the alliance to target her other ally (rather than one of the others on the outs), and given that you’ve said you don’t want her in the end, I’d say you broke the alliance first, at least in spirit.  

Also gee, sure glad that alliance that was so empowering at the beginning of the episode remained tight, and the strategy didn’t retroactively kill that moment.  

What’s interesting about this plan is that it makes sense for pretty much everyone involved… EXCEPT RICARD!  You know, the guy who suggested it in the first place?  Erika, Heather, and Xander should all just be happy it’s not them, while Deshawn takes out a threat without hopefully taking flak for masterminding the plan.  This admittedly means he’ll have to take out the true masterminds to get credit, but he’s got time to do that.  For Ricard, however, it’s too soon.  I won’t deny he needs to take out Shan in order to get credit for making moves on his own, but when someone LITERALLY TELLS ALL ABOUT THE FIRST HINT OF A MOVE AGAINST YOU, YOU MIGHT WANT TO KEEP THEM AROUND!  Plus, while tonight clearly shows that Ricard has more social capital than previously thought, it’s still unclear who he would be tight with moving forward.  Xander perhaps, but I feel like Xander’s enough of a threat that Ricard will want him out soon as well.  

This plan is mana from heaven for those on the bottom, but Erika is not content, rightly noting that if Shan DOES play her idol, then she has full control over who goes.  Given that it’s likely to be Erika, Erika is naturally unwilling to go to this.  A split vote would be ideal with these numbers, but it’s not feasible with five.  Thus, she goes to Danny to make a sixth, which Danny’s initially on board with.  Again, reasonable for him for the same reasons it’s reasonable for Deshawn.  What gets me, however, is Danny saying that formulating this plan makes ERIKA a threat.  Don’t misunderstand, Erika did a great job in approaching Danny, and persuading him to come along with the plan, but the plan itself?  A split vote is pretty simple at this point.  Erika is definitely smart, but this plan does not a strategic mastermind make.  Really, this comes across more like Danny is bringing up his and Deshawn’s grudge from Luvu once again.  

Probst claims that Tribal is one of the best in terms of people giving answers that aren’t really answers, and honestly, I’m kind of inclined to agree.  For once, Probst hyperbole is not present.  Sadly, a cagey Tribal means there’s not a lot to talk about in terms of the Tribal itself.  Thankfully, the music makes up for it.  For all of this episode’s strengths, one drawback is that there’s little mystery.  With all this buildup, there’s no way Shan doesn’t go home.  Her not playing her idol is just the final nail in the coffin.  The music, rather than try to build tension where there is none, instead gives us a sad, haunting, somber piece, for the death of such a great player.  Capping it off is Ricard’s voting confessional after the split vote ties between Shan and Liana, telling her that he respects her, but one of them had to snake the other.  It’s a touching vote that reminds me positively of the vote out of Dan “Fuego” Barry from “Survivor Exile Island”.  Granted, that one was even more touching, since the tribe was so reluctant and unified, but they give off the same vibes of a true player taken out before their time, and the moment just comes together nicely.  

In case it wasn’t clearly, I am IMMENSELY sorry to see Shan go.  A villain, to be sure, but an interesting and likable one, who largely played the season well.  She made some mistakes, but that showed she was human.  She had charm, she had charisma, she even had a fun little jingle!  Shan was a fantastic addition to the show, and I eagerly await her return.  

If this is not the best episode of the season, it’s a close contender.  Yes, there was little tension.  Yes, some of the strategy undermined the earlier emotion.  But it had both the heart and the strategy of some of the best episodes of the show, and for all my complaints, deserves to be talked about among the best of the best!  That said, if the rumors about what’s coming next week are true, like Shan I may soon be singing a very different tune.  

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 41” Episode 9: No More Heroes

Say what you will about this episode.  It has its good points.  It has its bad points. But no one can deny one thing: It was aesthetically pleasing.  From more focus on Evvie’s awesome rainbow shorts to the frankly beautiful merge tribe “Flag”, this was a gorgeous episode to look at.  In a visual medium, that’s hardly nothing.  Granted, the immunity idol is kind of “blah”, but you can’t have everything.

Fortunately, “Survivor” usually delivers more than a generally good aesthetic, and this episode is no exception.  We start off intense, with post-Tribal arguments.  As previewed, the feud between Deshawn and Shan has not cooled down one bit.  Shan, understandably, is upset at the target being changed, and ultimately falling one someone who wasn’t much of a threat, and had no advantages.  Deshawn, meanwhile… Is still unhappy at being told what to do.  Look, a Live Tribal is definitely a stressful situation, but this one was pretty clearly Heather’s fault, not Shan’s.  Yes, Shan did suggest switching the vote as a result, but so did several other people

All this, of course, is happening in front of Evvie, who we see has a terrible poker face, as they cannot keep from grinning at this implosion.  Sadly, their happiness may be short-lived, as Deshawn and Shan seem to make up in the morning.  Deshawn apologizes for going so hard on her about the vote, and Shan agrees to try and listen more.  This then devolves into strategy talk, where Shan suggests Erika be the next to go.  This, for some reason, pisses Deshawn off, and he goes off in confessional again about how Shan doesn’t listen and just wants her way.  Again, I’m not denying that Shan HAS done this sort of thing in the past.  Ricard knows this all too well.  But in this case, it just seemed like normal strategy talk; Shan throwing out a possible name to go next.  A name, I might add, you attempted to THROW A CHALLENGE to get rid of!  Yes, Shan makes dumb moves sometimes.  She makes one here, blatantly calling “The four” to talk, RIGHT IN FRONT OF TARGETS XANDER AND ERIKA!  But how she handles Deshawn here?  Not one of them.  

It’s clear at this point that Deshawn just can’t handle not being in charge of the vote.  Shan wanting to share power is a trigger for him.  To Evvie’s happiness, he goes back to them to rant about it, increasing their chances down the line.  

Ah, but we haven’t had enough negativity yet for the episode!  After all, Deshawn and Shan were not the ONLY ones affected by the last vote.  They weren’t even the people most affected by that vote.  No, that would probably be Naseer, who was targeted in the chaos, and Heather, who initiated the chaos.  Not coincidentally, our scene takes place between Naseer and Heather.  Naseer, ever the diplomat, says that while he’s not happy about the vote, he won’t hold it against Heather.  Heather denies voting for Naseer, which, if you look back at the votes IS true, but even so, initiating a Live Tribal and naming you as the target?  I still wouldn’t trust that person, and neither does Naseer.  The whole thing devolves into an argument, with Naseer now wanting Heather gone yesterday.  

But all this negativity is too much.  Let us get some more heartwarming content.  Ricard gets asked about his deafness in one ear, and goes on to explain how it makes things like his job challenging for him, since there’s a lot of ambient noise in an airplane.  Touching enough, but then the show takes full advantage of the medium it uses, and adjusts the sound so that the conversation becomes blurred.  The content of said conversation doesn’t matter so much, but that little peek into even a loose facsimile of Ricard’s world.  Genius move.  Ricard’s emotional confession about what he’s proving out here is just the cherry on top.  

Challenge time already?  Well, that’s because we’re doing the mini-de-merge, first seen in “Survivor Ghost Island”.  We’ll split into two groups of five, each competing for separate immunity, with the individual lasting the longest winning stew for their group, as well as a higher placement for their boot by going to Tribal Council second.  The challenge itself pulls from San Juan del Sur (man, this season loves to pull from that season for challenges, it seems).  Contestants stand on a narrow perch, holding their hands on two bars behind their head.  Last one standing wins.  You may remember this as the challenge where Natalie Anderson accidentally spat on herself, or, if you’ve just discovered “Survivor David vs. Goliath” on Netflix, the one where Christian talked Probst’s ear off for several hours.  

Much as the challenge is decent, and as much as I longed for a “De-Merge” twist back in the day, I’ve since grown off of it.  Mostly it just serves to try, and fail, to shake up the dynamics, and having to watch two groups strategize separately just ends up taking up more time.  It’s ultimately a failed twist.  

Save in this instance, for a couple of reasons.  First, while previously teams would strategize separately, but at the same camp post merge, this time the teams will be separated after the challenge, the losers going back to the old Ua camp.  While this does make it hard for some strategies (such as convincing an ally on the other team to give you an advantage), it does force more self-reliance, and second-guessing of what the other team will do.  Second, and more important, is that this season continues to buck the previous trend of the person who needs it not getting immunity.  Erika and Xander were our named targets, and when they end up on opposite teams, there’s the chance that both easy targets are immune.  Sure enough, they do, with Xander winning the whole thing for himself, Danny, Deshawn, Liana, and Evvie, thus sending an immune Erika, with Ricard, Shan, Naseer, and Heather back to Ua.  

Xander is rightfully happy at his win, but should be even more happy about his maneuvering this episode.  With Danny, Deshawn, and Liana all aligned at this point, and Xander immune, Evvie is the obvious target.  About all that could be done to save them is for Xander to give up his idol, a prospect that probably does more harm than good, given how big his target is right now, and how tenuous the Evvie relationship is.  Still, they must work together, and agree to try and maneuver against Liana, referring to her as Shan’s “Right Hand Man”.  Liana even tries to invoke this, by first naming Danny and Deshawn as the real threats in a one-on-one with Xander, but then asking to hold his idol as a sign of trust.  Unsurprisingly, this is because Liana is actually with Danny and Deshawn, and just wants to make sure Xander doesn’t play his idol on Evvie.  But unfortunately for Liana, she doesn’t have quite the same charisma or push that Shan does, and even if he were as dumb as his voice makes him sound, Xander is not that dumb.  He plays nice to Liana, since he needs any leads he can get, but makes no bones about not giving her his idol in confessional.  

So we’re back on Evvie, right  Not exactly.  Realizing that Liana’s gambit failed, Danny talks to Xander one on one as well, and the pair discuss going for Liana, especially after hearing their names might have been out there.  Xander pitches it well, selling himself and Evvie as solid votes for Liana that Danny can count on.  Credit where it’s due: Xander has done a great job positioning himself to get all the information, and is manipulating that as best he can to position himself down the road.  Being immune helps, of course, but that still takes some skill.  I’m willing to admit he’s a better strategist than I gave him credit for. 

The team wondering about the other team transitions us to well, the other team.  That was the clearest sentence I ever wrote.  Once again, with the main target immune, they switch to the next target, the one most closely allied with the immune person.  Unlike our first group, however, this alternate target is not a major strategic threat, like Evvie, but instead, Heather, the person who up until last episode was barely known by the show at large.  Naseer, being loosely allied with Shan and Ricard, is fully on board when the pair say they’re too tight to vote another way.  Granted, Naseer was never formally allied with Shan’s four, but he has tended to vote with them, and there’s little reason to stop now.  That said he does go to Erika and Heather and say that tempting as it is to play his idol, he wants to hang onto it.  Um, WHY?  Oh, not “Why does he want to hang onto his idol?”  That’s understandable.  But WHY ARE YOU TELLING THE PEOPLE YOU”RE VOTING AGAINST THIS?  IT CAN ONLY BACKFIRE ON YOU!

Oh look, there goes Ricard channeling the spirit of Tiffany, and wanting to vote out Naseer to flush his idol.  Yes, I know that has nothing to do with Naseer saying he won’t play his idol to Erika and Heather, but still, it feels like karma.  Shan, however, is a harder sell, and this somehow devolves into arguing about who gets to hold what advantage, and who gets to use what advantage.  Reprise of song for the pre-merge for these two at this point.  What is the smarter move?  Get rid of Heather, of course!  While Naseer is a bigger threat overall, he has at least shown a willingness to work with you that Heather has not.  Plus, if you’re Shan who has the MOST idols and advantages at this point (or is at least tied with Xander), you want the people with idols around AS LONG AS POSSIBLE to shield yourself.  Given Shan’s overall popularity with the group, she can easily maneuver that into a longer time in the game than her idoled counterparts.  It just seems like such a no-brainer, and Naseer is totally doomed, isn’t he?  This is why we can’t have nice things!

In an odd twist, our first Tribal tonight will be the more exciting of the two.  Granted, it does have Probst trying to force “This is a new type of gameplay!” on us once again, but it’s made up for with Heather.  Her lack of overall screen time at camp is made up for with lively Tribals, in her case.  From praying for an idol from the sky at the beginning, to a very touching “This is what being on the show means to me” at the end, it’s just a nice sentiment all around.  It also helps to build up that Heather may go, since it’s the same sort of content we got from Voce at his exit.  That said, the editors are probably smart enough not to try the same trick twice.  

Our vote ends up being a tie. Shan using the extra vote to ensure a split.  I was initially confused as to the purpose of this, but the thought then occurred that it helped nullify any power Erika and Heather might have to control the outcome of the vote, should Naseer indicate an idol play to them.  It make more sense that way, but still seems like a needless waste of an advantage.  You could pretty much tell Erika and Heather would vote Naseer, and an extra vote gets more powerful as you go along, due to fewer players.  

A revote sends Naseer home unanimously, and I am disappointed, though not for my usual reasons.  Naseer, while by no means BAD at the game, was not the sort of mastermind I usually gravitate toward.  However, in a season of complex characters, Naseer was one of our few out and out heroes.  Everything about him screamed that he loved being in the game, and even when things didn’t go his way, I never got the sense that he was down on himself, or unhappy.  That speaks volumes about his character, and I loved that vibe on this season.  That is Naseer!

Our second Tribal, while no less sad, is not worth talking about in detail.  Despite his best efforts, Xander’s maneuvering is for not, and the vote predictably goes for Evvie.  Unsurprising, and probably the smartest move the group could make.  Evvie was too big a threat to be kept around.  That said, I am sorry to see them go.  They were a real underdog strategist on this season, which is probably the archetype I like the most.  They take it with good grace, but MAN is it a painful watch.  

This season really just does not want to have purely rootable characters, do they?  Well, apart from the pain of losing two nice people, this episode did it’s job well.  Decent intrigue, great strategy, and a few heartwarming moments sprinkled throughout.  Just another great hour of “Survivor”.  Let’s get villainous next week, folks!  We’ve shooed out the heroes, time for the “All-Villains”!  

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 41” Episode 8: Honey Nut Clusters

I’m sure our contestants probably want some Honey and Nuts right now, but unfortunately, they’re stuck with nothing but rice they have to “negotiate” for.  Clusters, however, are in abundant supply.  “Cluster you know what’s”, as Dolly from “Survivor Vanuatu” would say.  

Before we can get into breakfast, however, we have some leftovers to deal with.  Yes, it’s time once again for another edition of…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

Yes, so concerned was I with discussing the ramifications of Erika’s time-travel twist that I neglected to mention the ACTUAL fallout in the episode.  Specifically, our two different reactions in Danny and Deshawn.  Both are pissed, but Danny just wallows in his misery, while Deshawn states that, while unfair, it’s part of the game and best to move on.  Both valid, and I think we all probably fall closer to Danny’s reaction, but Deshawn is probably playing the better game out of the two, now.  

Getting into the actual episode, we start with some people making peace with Evvie, while others admit they can’t trust her anymore.  It’s just not the people you’d expect.  Liana, who went full-tilt against Evvie last time, is now bonding back with them.  Granted, Evvie says they still don’t trust Liana now, but it’s something.  Meanwhile Xander, who did just about everything short of playing his idol on Evvie last episode, is now saying he doesn’t think he can work with them long-term.  What is this place, Crazy Town?

No, actually, it’s Viakana.  Not to be confused with “Vinaka” from “Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”.  The show’s refusal to travel to a new area, if only to vary up linguistic group, rears its ugly head once again.  

Only Deshawn’s reaction to Evvie seems remotely appropriate to what happened in the previous episode.  While he also plays nice to their face, he admits to the others at the water well that he hasn’t forgotten that they, along with their alliance, wrote his name down, and so won’t be forgiving them any time soon.  Evvie, for their part, recognizes that they’re still on the bottom, for once giving us a clever tie-in to their work.  As Evvie is studying anthropology, they talk about them being at the bottom of the “social diamond”, and needing to test the waters of how well they can integrate back in.  

We then get one annoyance after the other.  First, Probst pots back in again, “Blues Clues” style, to show him hiding an advantage on the sit-out bench, a la “Survivor Game Changers”.  Because that’s DEFINITELY the season you want to be drawing from for quality content.  Admittedly, this Probst interruption is short, and not as bad as some other ones this season, but even now just feels unnecessary.  Worse, however, it leads us into another team challenge post-merge.  Why, if you want to keep doing team challenges, even merge!  It’s an INDIVIDUAL game!  Make the rewards INDIVIDUAL!  At a minimum, it gives us the dilemma of who to take on reward, which can make for good drama.  

Oh, and to add insult to injury, they challenge they’re using?  It’s the same as the immunity challenge that led to Aubry’s elimination on “Survivor Edge of Extinction”.  Sure, show.  Rip open that old wound, and rub in some salt while you’re at it.  

We don’t even get the pleasure of team pickings, as we’re randomly divided once again.  With an odd number, this means one sit-out, and history repeats as Erika drops out once again.  Thankfully for her, Xander has a good heart, and agrees to switch places with her, putting her on the team with Ricard, Deshawn, Danny, and Evvie, up against the team of Naseer, Shan, Liana, Tiffany, and Heather.  As will later be pointed out, pretty much the same breakdown as the “merge” challenge (save for the switching of Naseer and Erika), and with the same outcome.  It’s not nearly as lopsided, though, as the latter team is actually ahead for a time, but Evvie and Erika beast mode the puzzle to win for blue.  And, of course, they have to reference the accursed season by name in noting how they memorized the puzzle solution.  Can we turn “Edge of Extinction” into the “Survivor” version of saying “Macbeth” in theatre?  

But what of Xander, and the advantage the show wants him to have?  After all, Xander showed that he’s not quite the idiot he comes across as last episode.  Perhaps he figured the sit-out might get an advantage?  While we don’t know if he specifically did the sit-out for that purpose, Xander is at least aware of the possibility.  Over and over during the challenge, we see him checking his bench.  The one part he doesn’t check?  The one part with the advantage.  So much worth in seeing Probst hiding the thing there, then.  Tune in at the immunity challenge, when they throw the advantage directly in someone’s face to make sure it gets found!

While our winners go off to feast on grilled cheese sandwiches and chips, our losing team consoles themselves with some papaya that Naseer managed to wrangle up.  All well and good, but another tiff between Ricard and Shan (I mean a fight, not Tiffany herself, don’t get your knickers in a twist) comes up.  Ricard, curious as to how the papaya tastes, grabs a piece to eat.  This, however, sets Shan off, as Ricard got both recent reward feasts, and thus, in her mind, does not have the right to any of the food at camp for the immediate future.  I get being bitter about not eating, particularly given the low supplies this season, but I have to admit, this seems like an overreaction.  Had Ricard taken a full portion of papaya, fine.  He just ate, he doesn’t need a second meal.  But this is trying a piece to see how it tastes.  The tribe won’t starve from one less piece of papaya.  This is no Rob and Amber dividing their reward candy into six piles on “Survivor All-Stars” after their reward.  This is a test for flavor, not really an eating situation.  Let it go.  Still, given how Ricard and Shan have been tense, perhaps this is the straw that will break the camel’s back?

Now we head out to our tribute to Angelina of “Survivor David vs. Goliath”, as it’s time for our Probst negotiation.  Probst initially offers up an individual portion of rice, at the cost of one person sitting out our immunity challenge.  Alternatively, there is a three day bag of rice, but it will cost more sit-outs.  After Probst channels his inner Angelina, and forces the contestants to name their price first, we eventually negotiate down to five sit-outs.  Shan, the head negotiator for the tribe, agrees to sit out, and of course Naseer agrees as well.  Did you really expect anything else at this point?  When no one else steps forward, though, the number gets negotiated down to four, and Xander agrees to step out if someone else will as well.  Ricard eventually becomes number four, and the only person without an idol to do so.  Quite risky, since he and Shan had that fight, and now he’s made himself more of a jury threat.  Time will tell if it matters, though.  

I suppose there was an immunity challenge along with this negotiation.  Forgive me, but this challenge lasted about half as long as the negotiation, in part because it’s that “Hold the block between your head and a frame” challenge originally from “Survivor Cagayan” (so at least we’re drawing from better seasons, now), and these people, frankly, suck at it.  As Probst reminds us, Spencer set the challenge record at over an hour.  These people?  Less than five minutes.  It comes down to a duel between Evvie, the person everyone and their mother has thrown out as a target this episode, and Heather, whom you’d be forgiven for forgetting exists this season.  For once, though, the show gives us the exciting outcome, and Evvie wins!  Good on them!

Naturally, the result of this victory is scrambling back at the camp.  We start off with a simple split-vote plan.  With the Yase Three (minus Liana) on the outs, and Evvie immune, they’ll split the vote between Tiffany and Xander to get one of them out, and flush the idol in the process.  What could go wrong?  Well, Deshawn and Danny get their old “Vote Out Naseer Itis” flaring up again, and decide, for some incomprehensible reason, to instead split the vote between Tiffany and Naseer.  Better than splitting it between two idol holders, but WHY vote out the person who is at least willing to work with you in favor of the person you’ve had next to no interaction with?  Why?

Thankfully, presumably now that she has food in her, Shan is there to NOT be an idiot, and points out how stupid this move would be.  This, for some reason, makes Deshawn feel that he is not listened to.  Look, you can DEFINITELY charge Shan with steamrolling a conversation, but this is one of her less egregious examples, and she does have a valid point here, not just a self-serving one.  To her credit, though, she manages to smooth things over with Deshawn, and all seems good for now.  In order to assist in this matter, she talks to Naseer about volunteering himself as an alternate target.  Naseer, also not being an idiot, says “no”, and the vote split switches to Tiffany and Heather.  Fair enough, except word gets back to Heather that her name is brought up, and now SHE’S running scared, on top of an already informed Xander and Tiffany.  Lots of targets leading into tonight, so no real way to say which individual choice is best.  The general principle of “One of the Yase Three” holds, but there’s debate even within that as to who is best to go.  

Despite this at-camp chaos, it looks like we might have a fairly tame Tribal tonight.  Probst asks the sit outs why they sat out, and discusses the alliance dynamics, before saying they were going to vote.  Then, wouldn’t you know it, Heather gets scared, and out comes the whispering.  Must it be at EVERY Tribal now?  The only thing that comes of this is that Heather becomes the primary target for wanting to get Naseer off.  Someone that chaotic?  Not worth keeping around, even over a minority alliance that is rapidly gaining power.  

It seems there was an island in the sea of chaos, though.  An island named Tiffany, who now becomes the first member of our jury.  Makes strategic sense, so I can’t fault the majority too much.  That said, out of all the targets, the only person who rivaled her in terms of character was Naseer, so I am sorry to see her go.  At least she gets to be on the jury.  

This episode, like many episodes of the past, is “solid”.  Not the greatest, but it gets the job done with decent mystery and entertainment.  That said, this season has a double-edged sword of complex characters, in my opinion.  The only truly two-dimensional hero/villain archetypes I’ve seen (people like Xander, Naseer, and Erika) don’t really have a shot to win, in my opinion.  People like Shan and Deshawn, who do, also have both good and bad aspects to them.  Leaning into the preview for next episode a bit, Deshawn will continue to ride the “Shan bulldozes” train, and it’s not a good look for him.  I like that the show is shying away from straight archetypes, and I think it helps show the strength of the flashbacks to people’s real life, since it helps contrast their game behavior.  That said, it does make it hard to realistically root for anyone this season, at least as someone who hopes for semi-realistic outcomes.  Time will tell if they can make a satisfying conclusion out of this.  

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 41” Episode 7: Doctor CasWHOpanan

Zygon Tribe, getting your first look at the new Dalek Tribe.  Sek voted out at the last Tribal Council.  Now then, let’s get to today’s reward challenge.  For today’s challenge you will swim out into the North Sea, retrieving bags of puzzle pieces.  You will then assemble them into a functional TARDIS.  First person to assemble their TARDIS and travel five minutes into the future wins reward.  Want to know what you’re playing for?  Of course you do.  The winning tribe will FEAST on sweets.  The things your body has been CRAVING since you got out here.  Fish sticks and custard.  Jammy Dodgers.  Jelly Babies.  In addition, for one lucky member of the winning tribe, a clue to the Sonic Immunity Idol.  Worth playing for?  Good, then decide who’s swimming, and we’ll get started.  

Sorry, but this is the world we live in now.  The time stream has been messed with, and we’re stuck with his.  Hopefully a mashup of “Survivor” and “Doctor Who” won’t be as twist heavy as regular “Survivor”, and I can’t even finish typing that sentence without cracking up.  Of COURSE twists will abound in a mashup of these two shows.  

Also, Erika wears a fez now.  Fezzes are cool.  

Getting into the episode proper, we get something we haven’t seen in a while: The “Previously On” segment!  Yes, Probst doesn’t actually narrate the thing, but it keeps the spirit of it.  Unfortunately, that spirit is just as advantage-obsessed as the rest of the show, since reminding us who has what takes up nearly all the time, with the only other bit being the alliance between Shan, Liana, Deshawn, and Danny.  That bit is good, but do you think, if you need a minute-long recap to remember what your advantages are and who has them, you have maybe, I don’t know, TOO MANY ADVANTAGES?

Anyway, we get through that painful but necessary bit, only to come to a painful and unnecessary bit.  Erika talks about finding the strength within herself to keep going after her time on Exile Island, yada, yada, yada.  Look, I like Erika, and I’m glad we’re getting more content from her.  But we got this content just as well last episode, and it worked better there.  It doesn’t help matters that they try and build up Erika’s decision about rewriting history when we all know what she’s going to pick.  Erika may have been relatively invisible up to this point, but she’s not a moron.  We know she’s going to make the smart decision here.  No need to spend 4 minutes building it up.  Honestly, you could cut out the first segment of this episode, and nothing would really be missed.  

I was going to give Probst flak for revealing Erika’s decision to the tribe, but then there wouldn’t really be any way for Erika to hide what she’d done plausibly, so I suppose he’s not cutting off her lying options.  With her and the yellow team now immune, our challenge is now played by Naseer, Deshawn, Danny, Sydney, Ricard, and Evvie.  The challenge itself is a solid one.  Hailing originally from “Survivor San Juan del Sur”, this challenge as people stack blocks three high, then place a flag in the center.  The catch?  You can only use your feet.  Tricky, visually interesting, hard to have an inherent advantage in, and most important, not another bloody endurance challenge?  Yeah, I can get behind this one.  

We find that this is one of the few challenges Naseer CAN’T solo, as we mostly have a four-way-race between Sydney, Evvie, Ricard, and Deshawn.  After a couple of close calls from Evvie and Sydney, Ricard pulls it out, leaving very few singletons left available to vote for.  Unsurprisingly, with Luvu wanting to stick together and everyone else immune, the target quickly falls on Evvie.  Most everyone is on board with this.  Even Deshawn, despite their bond on “Shipwheel Island”, is willing to make the sacrifice.  

The only one who shows any reluctance is Liana.  Understandable, since the pair were aligned, and the old Yase has a strong bond.  Oddly, though, the bond of the new alliance with Danny, Deshawn, and Shan, and in particular her bond with Shan are overpowering, and Liana is willing to sacrifice Evvie for her own game.  Everyone tries to soften the blow by saying she can take vengeance on Xander by stealing his idol to do so.  

But will Xander still have his idol?  In a twist of irony, the “Knowledge is Power” advantage is being undone by too much knowledge of it.  The “Beware Advantage” pretty much had to be made public, but Shan’s slip-up in front of Tiffany has been her undoing.  Tiffany, mad, tells Evvie about the advantage and how it works.  Evvie, in turn, tells Xander, meaning now they can plan to counteract it.  Sure enough, they plan to let someone else hold onto the idol, so that Liana can’t ask the right person to steal it from.  A pretty brilliant plan, and a great way to counteract the advantage.  If only the plan stays under wraps…

And there goes Xander spilling the beans to Danny.  Sigh.  Even when you’re smart, Xander, you’re dumb.  

Fortunately, there’s still hope.  Sure enough, this information gets back to Liana, and she goes to confront her old tribe.  She’s ODDLY INSISTENT on knowing who’s going to be holding the idol, which they assure her will be Xander.  Way to not be obvious, Xander.  Still, alternate targets are needed, and we settle on two.  The old Yase would prefer Deshawn, seeing as he’s a threat.  Meanwhile, the old Luvu would prefer Sydney, since she’s outside the alliance of four highlighted at the beginning.  Never saw that coming.  

And of course the two alternates are the only two people left on my draft team.  Of course they are.

We have a 25 minute Tribal tonight, and I’ll grant that it’s needed, but I’ll also grant that, as we’ll soon see, production really are to blame for the length of this Tribal.  There’s little need to talk about the maneuvering at Tribal, since it’s not really the focus, though I must hold special ire for PROBST, of all people, having the gall to say that the game is still ultimately about relationships.  I mean, it is.  Look at the Shan/Liana connection if you need evidence of that.  But for PROBST, the man who seems to be doing EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER to make the game less about relationships, and more about advantages, is beyond the pale for me.  

But now, we come to the part of Tribal Council that sends everyone scrambling.  At first, Xander seems to have, once again, made a major gaffe, declaring that he has an idol, and therefore Evvie is safe.  Liana, believing him to truly be that stupid, uses her “Knowledge is Power” advantage for his idol.  Unfortunately for her, Xander is not that stupid (or, at a minimum, backed up by and willing to listen to people who aren’t that stupid).  His idol?  Fake.  In another effective use of flashbacks, we see them plan to give Xander’s advantages to Tiffany, since she’s least likely to be advantage’d by Liana.  The plan works, and everyone gets to scrambling, which takes the form of whispering, but only serves to reaffirm that Deshawn and Sydney are the alternate targets.  

Before I get into what I’m about to say, let me preface it by saying this was great tv.  Most of this episode, Tribal Council included, is a long-winded way to get to a pretty simple point, but man, does this Tribal deliver!  Mystery!  Intrigue!  Excitement!  Smart gameplay and dumb gameplay in just the right amounts to provide balance and character!  The makings of a great episode ending!  

And yet… I come back to the point I made during “Survivor Game Changers” about the inherent folly of manufacturing drama with advantages.  It feels hollow.  Yes, this episode was exciting, and yes, the advantages were used effectively by the players to create drama.  But it feels manufactured, rather than organic, and it’s just always going to be inferior to the real thing.  Granted, this is a bit harsh, as things like the fake idol bluff have little to nothing to do with the advantages, but overall, while I did enjoy this part of the episode, it just felt, well, hollow.  Fun, but not an organic fun.  

The whispering in particular really comes to nothing, since again it’s just reiterating what the dynamics at camp showed in particular.  But then, the votes come, and we get a few more surprises.  All throughout the episode, Probst has been reminding us how the “Shot in the Dark” works, not at all subtle foreshadowing for the fact that someone would take the shot.  That someone is Sydney, and understandably so.  She’s the one person targeted who has no sort of other idol or advantage for protection, so worth it to take the shot.  All for naught, as she’s not safe, but still, a worthy move.  

More head-scratching, however, is Xander insisting that Evvie not have an idol played on her, as she’s now safe due to the scrambling.  Evvie, being smarter, is not so sure, and rightly so.  For all the scrambling, it’s still fair to assume that the opposing alliance enacted the “Erik Reichenbach Plan”.  No, not giving up individual immunity to Natalie, the one from “Survivor Caramoan”!  Flushing the idols of the minority alliance by still voting for the initial target.  Evvie, in fact, nearly goes home, and it would all have been due to Xander’s stupidity.  I repeat: Even when you’re smart, Xander, you’re dumb.  

But what of our third target, Mr. Deshawn?  He’s not dumb.  Surely he has a plan to keep himself safe!  He does, in fact.  If you think WAAAY back to Episode 2, you’ll remember Deshawn earned an extra vote.  He just hasn’t got it yet because he’s only now going to Tribal Council.  Deshawn, ever loyal, casts a vote on Evvie, but also throws one on Sydney, in case Evvie plays her idol.  She doesn’t get an idol play, but unfortunately, no one counted on Sydney giving up her vote for the Shot in the Dark.  Thus, between the Yase votes, the rogue votes, and Deshawn, Sydney goes home 5-4-3.  While this does mean my draft team is down to one person, I’m still overall not that sorry to see Sydney go.  She was arrogant, full of herself, and while that’s all fine and good, it’s just not a character type I really like having on my screen for long periods of time.  See also, Hantz, Russell.

I can’t deny the episode was fun.  Definitely one of the better episodes of the season.  And with wanting to show all the twists and turns, I get why they needed two hours on one vote.  Then again, there’s little reason they couldn’t have made a two-hour episode instead (or even an hour and a half, and cut down a bit of the redundant strategizing), or better yet, forego the Time Travel Advantage and simplify things that way.  Again, fun, but manufactured fun.  Fine enough, but I know this season can do better.  

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.