I try not to be too antagonistic on this blog, but sometimes, things just have to be said: CURSE YOU, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA! You and your annoyingly catchy lyrics! Now I cannot here the phrase “push comes to shove”, a fairly common phrase, without your songs getting stuck in my head. And now I’m forced to make them the title of my blog. Again, CURSE YOU!
Rant over, we join the Ika Tribe, fresh off of Tribal Council. As Romeo tells us, there’s damage control that needs to be done with Rocksroy, since his “set in his ways” mentality means he was unwilling to not vote for Tori. Surprisingly, despite numerous slip-ups, Rocksroy actually takes being effectively “left out” fairly well. I won’t say “perfect” because Rocksroy is not good at hiding his emotions. He clearly is irritated by the decision, and mistrustful of the others moving forward. But looking at his reaction on paper, it’s kind of hard for him to have a better one. He talks about how glad he is that Swati is gone, once Romeo explains the whole “everyone is her number one” thing, and even has some good introspection. He notes, both publicly and privately, that his social game needs some work, and if he wants to win, he’ll have to up it, or at least “ride his team’s social coattails” as he says. Good introspection I would not have thought possible for him. Kudos.
Continuing the praise, much as I hate to do it for her, I will admit I got a laugh out of Tori rolling her eyes behind Rockroy’s back after he asks if his social game needs work. That was actually good comedic timing, and I can’t deny that she’s probably right in this scenario. More concerning for Ika is that Tori is not on board the “strong four” train they have going. Granted, she has little reason to. She WAS the alternate target at the first Tribal Council, and was at least talked about for the second. If she’s not on the VERY bottom, she’s clearly not on top either, and so has little reason to stay loyal, barring no better options. Really, I bring this up just to reinforce my point that Tori would have been a better boot. Swati might have been double-dealing you all, but at least she had INCENTIVE to stick around.
Moving on to Taku, all is not well in Jonathan’s paradise. Specifically, his tribe won’t stop talking, particularly Maryanne and Lindsay, who first discuss Mario Kart, then the finer points of the game “Hot/Cold”. There’s only so much the man can stand, but fortunately he has fishing gear to go full Rupert Boneham (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) and get away from it all.
Unfortunately for Jonathan, he goes even further down the Rupert hole than he should, and by that I mean causing a disturbance via camp life. Jonathan is in the process of chopping a log, but in the process, it bounces and hits Maryanne in the foot. Maryanne is naturally upset about this, but Jonathan feels like she’s making too big a deal out of it. Drawing on my deep knowledge obtained via years in the Boy Scouts (probably the first time I’ve done so in a decade), I have to say, while Maryanne may be slightly dramatic, she’s in the right here. While she did enter what’s called the “Blood Circle” (an imaginary circle around a person wielding a sharp object whose radius equals the point of that object held at arm’s length to the corresponding shoulder, into which one is not supposed to enter for safety), it’s also incumbent upon the person IN said blood circle to A) call it out and B) keep an eye and make sure no one enters unawares.
Jonathan tells us he needs to keep his temper, as he’ll come off looking like the jerk in any argument. Valid, and shows good self-knowledge. Instead, he privately vents to Lindsay about how Maryanne would need to go next due to irritation, to which Lindsay agrees… Despite being part of the “annoying” group earlier. Jonathan is not as subtle as he seems, however, since Omar notices him going off, and correctly deduces that Jonathan is complaining about Maryanne. This, as he notes, is a problem, given that it splits the group, and Maryanne has all the advantages. Only time will tell if this bears any fruit.
Not wanting to be left out of the “tribe fracturing” action, we head over to Vati, where Hai is mistrustful of, well, pretty much everyone but Lydia. And we see he has reason to do so, since shockingly, Daniel and Chanelle seem to be mending fences, agreeing to bury the hatchet should the merge come. Granted, with Mike, he and Lydia still make three to Daniel and Chanelle’s two, but it’s a point of concern. Hai decides to break up that possibility by throwing shade at Daniel while the latter is out fishing. Hai notes that Daniel is saying he can’t do challenges, yet can go out fishing. I personally would not be one to question a serious injury, but it’s a valid point, and the others seem to buy it, so I can’t really complain.
Now, we’ve been getting some good strategy this episode, even some bits of social interaction, but viewer, that’s not what you want. No, what you want is STUFF! Idols! Advantages! Long explanations of rules! That’s what brings the viewers in!
This, at least, seems to be the mindset of Romeo, who along with Drea sets out to look for the Ika idol. This segues into him talking about being a pageant coach, and the sacrifices his mother made for his family, and how it inspires him. Not the greatest backstory we’ve ever had, but it does it’s job decently well. The picture of Romeo in Time’s Square is particularly inspiring. That said, I do find it concerning that he frames it as him wanting to help DREA be the best she can be, tying it back to his pageant coach thing. If it’s just to tie into his career, I’ve no issue. But the way it comes across is that he’s here to support someone else’s victory, rather than his own. Not a good look.
With all this talk about the idol, naturally it must be found, so naturally, with the previews spoiling everything, it is found by… Drea.
Ok, ok, time to address the elephant in the room. The preview snookered us, most especially myself. In hindsight, the voice over that played over Tori looking inquisitive is NOT Tori herself, but Maryanne. Yes, Tori was never the one to find the idol at all, and could have gone home no problem. Yes, it is clever on the editor’s part to trick us that way. But no, it is still not a good thing to do. Whether intended or not, it still sucked out a lot of the tension. More to the point, I feel like one should really not include ANYTHING in the season preview that’s after episode 2, in order to avoid such speculation/spoiler. Or, if you MUST, if there’s some draw to the season that cannot be ignored, talk about it in the VAGUEST terms to build intrigue. I can’t believe I’m typing these words, but they should have taken their cue from “Survivor Fiji”, or at least its season preview. The big event of that season was the deal between Yau-Man and Dreamz, and it’s something they couldn’t ignore in the preview, despite happening in the last two episodes. But rather than give us details, they kept it vague, referring to it only as “The most controversial move in ‘Survivor’ History”, over footage of a shark. Gives nothing away, but builds intrigue. The hyperbole could get old, but better than spoiling your season outright, or ruining its intrigue.
Drea gets her idol, and is very pleased with the amount of stuff she now has. Much as I like this season, that amount is starting to get out of hand again. Reading the note, she notes that Maryanne has found an idol, since both Maryanne and her particular phrase are hard to miss. She wonders aloud if anyone on Vati found their idol. This is our cue to cut to Mike, who is STILL insisting he won’t say his phrase. Mike seems to be under the impression that if he just keeps quiet, his vote AND his idol come back at the merge. Now, they may have changed that rule between seasons, but that’s NOT how it worked before. Your vote came back, but the idol went away at the same time. Like I said, possibly they just didn’t tell us about a rule change (in which case, shame on production), but I’m more inclined to think Mike just didn’t read the rules carefully.
Mike will get the chance to put his money where his mouth is, as it’s once again challenge time. The challenge is your standard obstacle course and puzzle, with a slingshot at the end, so not much need to dwell on it. Instead, let’s talk about those idol phrases. Maryanne once again uses her large reactions to sell her “bunny having dinner in the mailbox” line, and Drea has a natural lead-in with talking about food to get in her potato phrase. Mike? Well, he DOES say his phrase, and wisely so, but he doesn’t even TRY to sell it in the moment. Oh, he goes back an tries to tie it into his football coaching, but he REALLY does a poor job of selling it. Give Naseer credit from last season: He might have just blurted out his saying as well, but at least his SOUNDED like something of a rejoinder to the other two.
Given that this challenge only has one small puzzle element, despite all tribes getting good strategic content, Taku is almost guaranteed to win this. After all, they have Jonathan, who’s basically a fully-armed battalion in one person. Yet, surprisingly, this episode does a good job of convincing us this might not be the case. Ika cruises to an easy victory after Tori frankly BEASTS the puzzle, but Omar, on the puzzle, REALLY blows the lead, and Vati gets several shots on the slingshot before Taku gets a chance. Unfortunately, Vati sucks just as bad on the slingshot as Omar did on the puzzle, and Jonathan is able to beast mode Taku to a victory.
But wait! Shipwheel Island returns once again! As winners (getting a larger tarp as well as immunity, while Taku gets a smaller tarp and second immunity), Ika gets to send one person from Vati to Shipwheel Island. They choose Lydia. Unsurprising, given her not-great challenge performance, and a decent move. Then they can choose one person from themselves or Taku to go as well. They wisely choose themselves, which I can’t complain about. Again, keep power and information consolidated into your tribe, rather than the other one. But I must ask… You send ROCKSROY? Granted, they can’t send Drea again, since those who’ve gone before are explicitly banned, and Tori is a bad option since she’s disloyal, but Rocksroy? The guy who’s bad socially, in a situation requiring social smarts, and who may feel burned from the last Tribal Council? THAT’S who you’re sending? Again, better than some choices, but Romeo, who has proven to be very socially smart, and also in the majority, is RIGHT THERE! Why not send him?
While there is mystery as to which of two choices will go at tonight’s Tribal, it’s not a mystery who those choices will be. With Hai and Lydia having done the smart thing, and picked up straggler Mike, it will be Daniel or Chanelle. That said, we’re definitely left in the dark as tho which one the group will go for. Hai seems to favor taking out Chanelle, while Mike is still against Daniel. Both are good options, and there’s not really any downside to eliminating either of them, but on the whole, I say better to keep Daniel. Apart from TECHNICALLY having voted with you once, the dude’s injury makes him less of a threat at the merge, which you now have to assume is nearby given the numbers. And if it’s not? Eh, you can get him at the next Tribal Council anyway. Still, not going to fault them if they decide to keep Chanelle.
Everyone left tries to push the decision onto Lydia, despite them not NEEDING her vote, assuming that Chanelle and Daniel vote against each other. They talk about how they need Lydia’s vote anyway, thereby all but guaranteeing she risks her vote at Shipwheel Island. Speaking of which, we get our requisite backstory on Lydia. It’s decently touching, as she talks about her image issues, but really only stands out for her pink flower hat. That thing is awesome. Vati doesn’t need to worry, though. She and Rocksroy are both suitably cagey, and so both naturally protect their vote, not trusting the other. Reasonable decision, and nice to see another new outcome than either a mix, or the total miss when Chanelle and Omar went, but ultimately, just kind of a waste of time.
What does NOT waste our time is Tribal Council, which brings entertainment in spades. This is mostly due to Daniel, who tries to deflect things back onto Mike when asked a question, and weirdly succeeds. He talks about how he can’t do analogies, only to then give an analogy to Muhammad Ali of all people. He’s neurotic and all over the place and I kind of love it. Unfortunately, this also dispels the tension of Tribal. These are the actions of someone desperate, particularly when he tries to build up what a team they are, not someone confident they’ll stay. Daniel will be going, which is hardly a bad decision. Dude has shown himself to be unreliable.
Daniel DOES go, but it’s a bit trickier. Chanelle, anticipating a possible shot in the dark and unanimous vote on Daniel, throws a vote on Mike to try and save herself in a possible tie should Daniel be safe. I was initially critical of the vote, since it seemed to come from Lydia or Hai and served to antagonize Mike, but from Chanelle, it makes sense. This leads to a 2-2 tie between Daniel and Chanelle (Mike and Daniel voted for Chanelle, Hai and Lydia voted for Daniel), leading to Daniel going on a re-vote. In terms of character, I am sorry to see Daniel go. Chanelle is perfectly fine, but dude brought way more personality. In terms of watching strategic play, however, very much pleased with the outcome. After that first Tribal Council, Daniel was on a train-wreck to failure, and had next to no chance to recover. Chanelle, at least has moves she can make and that will be intriguing going forward.
I will say, this episode sits wrong with me. It’s not the WORST, but I feel like, apart from some Daniel character moments, it’s the weakest of the season. The issue, I think, is that the episode is more focussed on the twists and advantages coming into play, rather than the characters, which most of this season has focussed on. The characters are strong enough to shine through anyway, but it’s a concern, particularly after last season.
What intrigue there will be next episode! An even 4-4-4 split! Omar not having a vote, and possibly not knowing if Chanelle doesn’t tell him! Jonathan now being targeted at every available opportunity! Join us next week, for a rant about the hourglass twist if they don’t get rid of it and/or alter it!
-Matt
Title Credit to Jean Storrs.
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