Idol Speculation: “Survivor 44” Episode 3: We Have Wormsign!

One of the common criticisms lobbied at new-era “Survivor” is that it’s “Too nice”.  Sometimes related to the lack of drama, sometimes in relation to the backstory segments being too touchy-feely.  This is a criticism that I personally don’t agree with, but after tonight, I think I can see where people are coming from.  Even by my standards, people were a bit too nice.  

Before we delve into the love-fest, though, it’s time for another edition off…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

Being honest, I nearly didn’t include this one, since I did touch on the event itself, and this is more of a missed joke opportunity than me neglecting part of the episode.  But I did love the joke, so I’m throwing it in a week late, timing be damned!  Long story short, while I discussed Danny opening the birdcage and getting his idol, and discussed the strategy related to it, I neglected to discuss Danny’s reaction to finding said idol.  The show really IS loosening up in references to past seasons, as Danny gives us the Mike Holloway trademark “Happy Dance” from “Survivor World’s Apart”.  Not that I strongly want that season in particular referenced, but hey, you do you, Danny.  

For all my snark earlier on, “Happiness” is probably too strong a word to describe Tika coming back from Tribal Council.  Yes, Yam Yam and Carolyn do celebrate, but they have the decency to wait until they’re in private, so I won’t hold that against them.  Publicly, they simply call for tribe unity, and state that the vote was not meant to exclude anyone in particular.  The sentiment is publicly echoed, but Sarah, being the person explicitly left out of that last vote, is not buying it.  Since Sarah possesses common sense, she rightly blames Carson, the swing vote, for her position.  Paradoxically, she states she trusts Carson the most, though she mainly uses this as evidence for how good he is at the game, and why she needs to watch out for him.  All conclusions I have to agree with on her end.  

Keeping the happy train going, we cut over to Ratu.  Here, we see that happiness and bad gameplay go hand-in-hand, as Kane, already on the outs, decides to dig himself deeper by singing “O Canada” for his tribe.  Not that he’s a bad singer or his tribe hates it or anything.  No, the problem is that in doing so, Kane outs himself as a Canadian.  This is a problem because, at the time this was filmed, the most two recent winners (that these players saw) were Canadian, meaning being Canadian now makes you a target.  And if you don’t believe players would be so petty as to target someone based on something like nationality, I refer you to the fear that remains to this day of women’s alliances that sprung to great prominence after only ONE successful one.  Unless you’ve got an accent, the only way one would be outed as a Canadian is if there happened to be a spelling challenge, which with the way challenges are being designed these days, seems unlikely.  Might as well minimize your threat level, and say you’re from Wisconsin or something.  

Kane is not just Canadian, though.  No, Kane is a Canadian NERD!  Because that demographic DEFINITELY doesn’t also get targeted on “Survivor”.  In this case, Kane’s nerddom tends towards the “Dungeons and Dragons” side of things, meaning he is very happy to have the sword part of the Immunity Aegislash.  Kane talks about wanting to be the hero of the game, and how it related to the sword.  He does a bit of play-fighting with it in front of the tribe.  Knowing a good opportunity when it drops in their laps, the editing team wisely cues up sound effects in keeping with the motions Kane makes.  I would mock this, but if I’m going to be honest, I would do the exact same thing were I in Kane’s shoes, so no faulting him there.  

Even switching the focus to Brandon does not get us off the happy train.  Brandon goes fishing, and while he’s not getting Rupert Boneham (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) amounts of fish, any food is good food.  He also uses the time to discuss how he doesn’t want to be seen as just a football player, and describes himself as a “Renaissance man”.  While I would dispute some of the things he uses as examples of why he is this way (while using different skill-sets, things like snowboarding and scuba diving are enough in the athletic realm that I would say they do not a Renaissance man make), I cannot deny that cooking and playing piano are pretty far out of the realm of what one would expect the skill set of a professional football player to do, so yeah, he’s got a fair point on this one.  

Soka is probably our least happy tribe out of the three, but I think that’s mostly because Frannie and Matt are monopolizing the happiness for themselves.  We see them going off and flirting with one another yet again.  We don’t dwell on it too long, though, as we instead cut back to camp, where the remaining four are having the obvious conversation of “Hey, shouldn’t we team up against the obvious pair who will never vote for each other?”  Claire in particular is gung-ho on this.  She’s the most pointed in how bad a strategy it is, and dismisses them talking about “Nerd Stuff” like “Star Wars” instead of playing the game.  Ok, I agree it’s bad strategy, but the nerd bashing is low.  In particular, it’s low coming from Claire, who mentioned in her bio that she listens to audiobooks of “The Hunger Games” to go to sleep, which I would say definitely falls into the category of “Nerdy”.  Pot.  Kettle.  Black.  

Danny, however, is going a step farther in the strategizing.  He has taken out the fake coin from the birdcage, presumably replacing it with rocks or something since it still looked full in the shots we saw.  He has wrapped the coin in paper and green string, the paper stating the traditional “Congratulations, you have found a Hidden Immunity Idol” message.  The latter seems odd to me, since from the messages we heard read aloud the ones this season DESCRIBE what the idol looks like, but I’m guessing they included a fake message in there to allow for plays such as this.  All this he has hidden in the roots of a significant-looking tree, because Danny has watched a season of “Survivor” that aired in the past 5 years.  

To top all this off, Danny then eats the part of the note detailing the coin is fake.  A bit over-the-top as a disposal method, and normally I’d say this is at least a foolproof way to prevent someone figuring out your scheme.  However, Carolyn is on this season, and we know from last episode that she’s willing to search that shit.  Danny better hope it passes through quickly.  And to those who ask how it might not pass through that quickly, I would remind you that it took Gervase two weeks on “Survivor Borneo” to have one bowel movement.  Fiber is not high in the diet of these people.  Stuff passes slowly.  

Speaking of stuff passing through, it seems Brandon’s fishing skills are not enough, as they have all collectively decided to eat worms.  Ok, so it’s presented more as a “Get the most out of your experience” event rather than “nourishment”, but still.  Jaime is the main instigator here, but pretty much everyone eats one.  Matthew is the only exception (that we see; he might have eaten one offscreen), making him instantly go up in my estimation.  

This, then segues into Jaime talking about the fun she’s trying to have here.  The earthworm eating is one thing, but it goes further than that.  She gives us what she calls the first “‘Survivor’ Houseplant” by putting some sand and a sapling in a half coconut shell.  Seems kind of pointless, but hey, it is clever and functional, and I suppose you need to do something to pass the time out there.  Props for giving us something we haven’t seen before.  

All this is very much in Jaime’s wheelhouse.  She’s the Plant Mommy, you see.  She even has a necklace to prove her bona fides in this area.  And, despite not eating a worm that we saw, it seems she even has a kinship with Matthew, owing to both of them loving the experience so much, talking with wonder about what they’re looking at as they hike together (Matthew’s arm wisely back in the sling.).  Even if he won’t partake of the worm himself, Matthew will help out Jaime in her worm-eating endeavors.  He points out a muddy patch by the water well where it seems like there might be some good worms.  But it is not worms Jaime finds, but a hidden immunity idol, specifically the one Brandon played in episode 1!  The pair agree to keep this between them, and Jaime talks about how strong this makes their bond, putting both of them in a good position.  

Good scene overall, but I want to give particular props to the producers on this one.  I rag out of love, but it HAS been getting annoying how predictable the “Significant Looking Tree” hiding place has been lately.  While not unheard-of, the water well is at least a variation, so kudos to them for…

KNOCK!  KNOCK!  KNOCK!

(Matt answers door)

MATT: Oh hey, Matthew.  I was wondering when you’d show up.  

MATTHEW: You knew I’d be coming?  

MATT: Eh, sooner or later, some contestant always improbably shows up at my house.  Given that we live in the same metropolitan area, you seemed most likely if I were a betting man.  No airfare to pay.  

MATTHEW: Ah, good deductive skills!  

MATT: So, what specifically brings you here?

MATTHEW: Well, I heard you giving production some credit for the idol hiding spot, so I just wanted to make sure it went where it was due.  

MATT: Meaning?

MATTHEW: That idol’s a fake.  I planted it myself, to help build a bond with Jaime.  I found the real one in…

MATT: Let me guess, a tree?

MATTHEW: Yup.  

MATT: Figures.  When the superfans are more creative than the production team…

MATTHEW: No doubt.  

MATT: Speaking of creative, any chance I could have a go on that backyard plywood snake maze?

MATTHEW: Sure thing, man!

(Several Hours Later)

Ok, well, this blog’s going to be late.  Talking a little more about Matthew’s move here, it is pretty standard in plan, but masterful in execution.  Dude realized there were similar looking beads on the tribe torches, and so chopped some off to use as the fake.  Given that he has the real note, he was able to use that as well.  His misdirection of Jaime seemed very natural, and he mainly used it as a way to secure an ally without giving that ally real power.  A bit cruel to lead her on?  Perhaps, but that’s the game, and given how much of a nice guy Matthew is, it’s nice to know that he CAN be cutthroat when he needs to be.  Certainly makes him go up as a game player in my estimation.  

For as impressive as Matthew’s move was, though, it pales in comparison to the editor’s here.  Based on what we saw, all this plotting and planning of Matthew’s was something that happened some time last episode.  Possibly it happened after the Tika Tribal Council from last episode, but we have no way of knowing for certain.  Either way, it would have been all too easy for them to play this exactly the same way they did Danny’s: Show us all this happening to make a payoff for later.  Now, while I’m the first to complain about the show not adequately foreshadowing stuff, here I’m ok with it.  Unlike the decision as to who gets voted off, this is not something we NEED to hear about ahead of time.  It wasn’t relevant until now, so it wasn’t shown until now.  On top of that, we get emotionally invested, since we were fooled right along with Jaime.  We need SOME foreshadowing for who gets the boot each episode, but for things like idol finds, more of the fooling of the audience, please!

Danny is having less luck with his fake idol.  Soka is doing a big group search for the thing, but no one is looking.  Danny even has to suggest that they check in the roots of significant looking trees, as opposed to just giving them a visual once-over.  I’m with him 100% when he complains about how these people don’t know how to look for idols.  They still aren’t even using sticks!  

Eventually, Matt finds the coin, and falls for it hook, line, and sinker.  He’s more subtle about hiding it than Brandon was in episode 1, but since Danny saw him nearby, he still figures it out.  Danny then proceeds to out Matt in front of everyone, because you know, the target just wasn’t big enough on Matt’s back.  He does use it to bond with Matt, which I can support.  His plan may have backfired, however.  Matt was a target already, as we saw, but with him having what most believe to be an idol, he’s now less safe to vote for.  The majority have enough votes to do a split, it’s true, but then the whole endeavor is largely pointless unless you go for Frannie on the re-vote.  Moreover, it might make people reconsider their allegiances.  Josh (yes, I’m sure there’s a Josh on this season) says that with Matt no longer being a safe vote, he might have to work with him instead of against him.  Brilliant play, Danny!  Take the target off of someone who wasn’t yourself, and leave it to an open field that includes yourself!

Also, can we just take a minute to be sorry for Matt?  Poor guy is on the outs of his tribe due to playing with his heart more than his head, loses his first two votes of the season (partially not his fault, as well), then gets his first piece of good luck in finding an idol, only for that idol to be a fake.  I know Spencer Bledsoe (“Survivor Cagayan”) is the show’s go-to Charlie Brown character, but I think Matt surpasses him as of this episode.  Unfortunately, unlike Spencer where it was kind of cathartic for him to get repeatedly denied given how arrogant he was at the start, I just feel back for Matt.  He did little to deserve this (the second vote loss was all him, though, and the pairing off with Frannie is 100% on him), and seems like a pretty nice, humble guy.  Just overall much less satisfying to see him get repeatedly screwed like this.  

I did say this was the happy episode, right?  Tika is here to bring us back to that vibe.  The tribe as a whole gets along, everyone says so!  When Yam Yam brings up a fear that his snoring will lead to him getting voted out, everyone (particularly Carolyn) emphatically denies this will happen.  Pretty much everyone gets a confessional about how well they gel; even Sarah gets in on the action.  She’s the only one who even mildly harshes the vibe, though.  She notes she’s still on the bottom, and while she is still trying to find an “in”, most of her hope rests on the tribe winning immunity.  A tall order, she tells us, unless the challenge is tailor-made for their tribe.  

Luckily for Sarah, this challenge ends in a puzzle, which seems to be Tika’s specialty.  Four tribe members start in the water, pushing a large hollow crate to the underside of two poles, where one tribe member releases a key from a spring by climbing on top of such a box.  Once ashore, they dig under a log and unlock a platform.  There, they must stack boxes with colored sides so that no side has a duplicate color.  The first teams to do so win immunity, varying amounts of fruit and tools (depending on if they get first or second place), and in the case of Tika, flint.   Losers have Tribal Council and the loss of flint awaiting them.  For all that this is the generic “Obstacle course followed by puzzle” we’ve come to know and loathe, this one at least has a cool new element in rolling the crate through the water.  It’s something we’ve not seen in a challenge on US “Survivor” at least (it may have come up on an international version; I don’t know), and helps make the challenge more memorable than your average outing.  

For all that I’ve praised Matthew this episode, I do have to ask: WHY ARE YOU THE ONE CLIMBING ON TOP OF THE CRATE?  Sitting out Lauren rather than yourself I get.  The shoulder seems to be healing, and Lauren has proven to be not so good in the water, which makes a significant portion of this challenge.  But what do you bring to crate climbing?  This is not a particularly skill-based part of the challenge.  All you need is height, where both Kane and Brandon have you beat.  Jaime may be shorter, but she’s also lighter, and therefore less likely to GRIEVOUSLY INJURE HERSELF IF SHE FALLS, UNLIKE YOU!  I’m willing to cut you some slack since your shoulder seems mostly better and you’re keeping it in the sling outside challenges (though you’ll note it does hurt again during the digging portion, though), but maybe DON’T do the riskiest portion of the challenge where you bring nothing particularly special to the table?  

Eh, I shouldn’t be worried, though.  There’s decent mystery as to who will lose between Soka and Tika, but Ratu has had basically no strategy talk outside the one scene between Matthew and Jaime.  Even that didn’t touch on targets, so it’s hard to count that.  And yep, Ratu comes in first place.  The race between Soka and Tika is tighter.  Soka, unsurprisingly given their challenge prowess, takes an early lead, helped by Tika’s box going off-course.  All are in it on the puzzle, though, and that’s where Tika shines.  When Ratu finishes first, both sides unabashedly go over to look.  This, combined with Tika’s general puzzle prowess, leads to them getting second place.  Probably the most obvious outcome (between Sarah’s comment about needing a miracle, and Soka having by far the most strategizing this episode, they were probably favored to lose), but also the most intriguing.  It’s always nice when there isn’t one dominant tribe and we get to see dynamics in all three.  Nicely reminiscent of “Survivor 42”, and given that I maintain at this point it’s the best season to come along since “Survivor David vs. Goliath”, I’m not going to complain.  

Having conspired to make Matt as big a target as possible, once they’re all back at camp, Danny sets about targeting… Claire, for sitting out every challenge so far, heavily implying that she’s the weakest tribe member they have.  Not that I don’t see the logic, but then what was the point of going so hard against Matt?  By making it look like he has an idol (since only Danny knows it’s a fake, and revealing it as such to everyone else would put suspicion on him), you now throw out an alternate target possibility, which means you are potentially another possibility!  Sure enough, Frannie is not 100% on board with this plan, and informs Claire that she’s being targeted.  And who does Claire get mad at for this?  Danny and Josh.  True, the alternate target ultimately settles on Josh rather than Danny, but this could EASILY have backfired.  Don’t get me wrong, he pulled the move itself off masterfully, but to what end?  Maybe he can turn this around to a long-term gain, but for now, it seems pointless at best.  

Why is Josh being targeted, you ask?  According to Heidi, our swing vote for tonight, he’s “shifty”.  Not that we’ve seen evidence of that, but again, there’s barely any evidence of Josh on this season.  More logically, Heidi notes that she’s closer with Claire than Josh, but Clair is more of a challenge hinderance.  With Danny saying he’ll go with whatever Heidi wants, Heidi now has the power.  Yes, someone we BARELY remember more than Josh, and that’s mostly because she’s the one who first started fire for the tribe.  

I kid, I kid.  Heidi is in a good position here.  Not targeted at all, and no matter the outcome, has the twosome of Matt and Frannie she can target with whatever three are left.  On the whole, I would say it’s slightly smarter for her to keep Claire around, since she says she’s closer with her, as opposed to being the third with Danny and Josh.  Gives her more decision-making power.  Not to mention, I don’t buy the idea of “addition by subtraction”, wherein a tribe gets better in challenges by losing someone.  Particularly in this case, where the tribe will still be able to sit one person out, given that Tika is down to 4 people.  Wouldn’t fault either move, though.  

Not content with asking the players for metaphors, Probst is now supplying the metaphors himself!  He compares the game to the gargoyle above the “Walk of Shame”, in what may be the most forced metaphor this show has ever seen.  Probst, drop the metaphors overall, but ESPECIALLY drop your own.  

For all my snark, this is actually a pretty good Tribal Council.  Discussion is, for once, centered on the dynamics of the tribe, and in particular challenge strength vs. loyalty.  I will also give Claire credit that she argues effectively for why she should stay, noting that “Tribe Strength” doesn’t just mean challenge strength, but loyalty.  How she has this over Josh, I don’t know, but it’s about the most effective argument she can make.  Also, kudos to Heidi’s poker face.  When Claire asks her is she’s changed her mind from earlier that day, Heidi stone-cold says she hasn’t, despite the fact that she’s going to vote for Claire momentarily.  None of this is the stuff of legend, but its all well-done and engaging, which I’ll take.  

Claire plays her shot in the dark despite Heidi’s poker face, and I really can’t fault Claire here.  Since Matt can’t vote, it’s up to Frannie, Heidi, and Danny who will go home.  If they vote the way Claire wants, her vote doesn’t matter.  If they don’t, this is her only chance of survival.  More justified than Jaime’s play in episode 1, but also less successful.  Claire is not safe, and then voted out unanimously.  I am really sorry to see her go.  A pre-season winner pick leaving is never easy, and nerd-bashing aside, I did really like Claire.  She had good strategy for the most part, and it hurts to only participate in one challenge (and an abbreviated reward challenge at that) before leaving.  About the only good thing about this is that Josh gets more screen time hopefully, since it would have been a low blow for him to leave without us really getting to know him.  

While perhaps not reaching the heights of the first two episodes, this one still holds up.  A bit touchy-feely maybe, but fun nonetheless, with clear dynamics and good strategy.  So far, liking the season!

The spice must flow.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.