KENDRA: Hi everyone! It’s Kendra! I hope you don’t mind me taking over the blog today, but I just happened to come across the open word document, and thought “This would be a really great platform to talk about a major issue!” So that’s what I’m gonna do! You know when it rains, right, all the worms come up out of the ground and just kind of end up flopping around out there? Well, that means they get stepped on, or run over! And that’s terrible! I mean, worms are a great source of protein we shouldn’t just be letting that go to waste! Oh, but don’t worry if you can’t get one down. Everyone’s eating tastes are different…
ME: What are you doing?
KENDRA: Oh, is this your blog? Sorry, I just happened by, and couldn’t help myself. Had to talk about the very important issue of Global Worming.
ME: You mean “Global Warming”?
KENDRA: What you said is bad too, but I meant what I said. It’s an issue, and I’d like to use your platform to raise awareness.
ME: Inane as that is, I’m actually not mad.
KENDRA: Really?
ME: Yeah. You just happened to wander by and didn’t do structural damage to my house, for once. More than I can say for a lot of past players I’ve met. And even if your issue is… Unusual, at least you’re trying to do a good thing in the world. Use my blog as your soapbox. Say what you need to say.
KENDRA: Great! Then let me talk about aliens, which are definitely real…
ME: Out! Now!
Ah, even with the aliens talk, still happy that I got my seasonal “Contestant breaks into my house” moment on the blog out of the way in a really harmless manner. While I bask in that joy, you all can have another edition of…
MATT’S MESS-UP!
I really don’t know how I managed it, but I actually somehow forgot to talk about my overall thoughts on last episode. It was definitely a step down from some of the previous ones, mostly due to quits often being kind of a wet fart, as I said in episode one, and another Lulu member going just being dull at this point. That said, the misdirection and mystery were still top-notch, and the switch really breathed more life into the season, so overall, still happy.
Less happy is the new Reba. Both Dee and Sifu received votes last time, and while I will give Sifu credit that he tries his best to tone down his reaction (the most he says is “That was a surprise”), his tone and his looks make it clear that, as Dee says, he’s not happy. Though if Sifu’s handling of the whole thing is not idea, Dee’s is even worse. She just leans back and says she doesn’t want to talk about it, which both makes her look guilty (which, admittedly, she is), and prevents her from controlling the narrative. Speaking of narration, she narrates that Tribal Council couldn’t have gone worse. Sean’s effective quit meant that she showed her hand too early in regards to Sifu, while reaping none of the benefit. Can’t say Dee’s analysis is inaccurate here.
Conversation about the vote does eventually start up, despite Dee’s objections. All three women lie and say they voted Sean, claiming Sean himself was the rogue Sifu vote. It’s what they have to do to save their skins, though one of them needed to claim the Dee vote that was shown, which none of them do. Turns out, though, that Sifu doesn’t even need that to call out the lie. Apparently the last thing Sean said on the way out was that the rogue vote wasn’t him. Julie in particular is upset about this, describing it as Sean throwing “a grenade” on his way out, and rescinds some of the comments about his good vibes. I’m sure this will in no way add fuel to the fire of vitriolic online discourse directed at Sean.
Speaking of which, let me get on my own soapbox for a second: I get being mad at Sean. I get being unhappy about his quit. I may have my piece with it, but that doesn’t mean I respect the move. Be mad. Be unhappy. That’s the show getting a reaction out of you. But don’t take it out on the guy personally. Better he be the forgotten person of the season than to be personally attacked in real life. Critique the tv characters all you wan’t, but don’t cross the line into real-world attacks. These people don’t deserve it just because they made moves in a game that you disagree with.
Morning at the new Belo brings talk about how hungry everyone is. Austin in particular is fantasizing about food. Now, I’ve never been one to get on the “These people are wimps; 26 days is nothing!” train. I fully acknowledge that it’s still tough, particular on someone like Austin who is probably very physically active IRL, and thus has a higher caloric intake. When it comes to new era changes, yeah I don’t LIKE the move to 26 days, but there’s bigger fish to fry there, if you catch my drift. But I will say that compared to previous seasons, this level of starvation DOES seem a mite excessive for what they’ve done so far. Not saying they aren’t hungry, not saying they shouldn’t complain about it or fantasize about food, but suck it up a little, you know?
Luckily for them, Kendra spots another likely food source in a worm, one not eaten by a crab this time! Kendra kind of already talked about the worm incident when she took over my blog, so I’ll spare you the play-by-play. My recurring thought during this segment, however, was “Why didn’t you wash the worm?” Look, you want to eat a worm on “Survivor”? Fine, I see the logic. But run a bit of water over it first! I doubt dirt and/or sand has enough nutritional value to merit putting up with the terrible taste. Hell, I’d even go so far as to attribute Kendra’s inability to eat the worm to said lack of washing it off. Clean your worms, kids!
This segways into people talking about Kendra. In contrast to what he said about Emily, Dean notes that Kendra is EXACTLy the kind of “kooky yoga mom” he thought she would be, but is at least happy that she and Brando seem not to work well together. Brando confirms this, noting that he and Kendra were not particularly close on original Belo, but does try to solidifying things with her, in the hope of swaying Emily. Hope that will be difficult to achieve, since Kendra then talks about astrology and aliens. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Emily puts on a brave smile, but you can tell inside she’s thinking “Get me away from her right now!”
Things are a bit more serious over at Little Lulu. Surprising, given that Bruce is continuing his comedy schtick, calling Jake a “lazy ass”. Things take a much more serious turn when Jake, getting up to go help with camp chores, suddenly collapses like he did a couple episodes ago. Kellie, the nurse, takes the time to clarify that this is due to a sudden change in blood pressure. Jake insists he’s ok, and doesn’t want medical, which hey, good for him for toughing it out, though he’s playing a bit risky that way, IMO.
Jake then takes us to a segment where he talks about his former binge eating issues, and losing a bunch of weight, complete with flashback pictures. As I’ve said before, I normally don’t mind these segments, as long as they’re done when they’re a natural tie-in to what’s being talked about in the show. To be fair, this is one of the better-connected flashback segments, so I don’t outright dislike it. That said, I feel like they’re leaning too hard into making this a feel-good story. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Jake achieved the goals he personally wanted for himself, and props to him for putting in the work to get there, but I feel like just him talking about it, without the pictures, might have been more effective. This feels a bit too close to exploitative for my taste.
After commercial, we actually end up staying at Little Lulu once again. Everyone else has gone off looking for supplies to Katurah, realizing that she’s kind of on the outs of the group, decides to go idol hunting just to be safe. I will applaud her skills, as she both knows to look in the significant-looking trees, and is smart enough to poke a stick into holes first. That said, her bluffing skills leave much to be desired. Kaleb spots her and calls out, so she quickly throws away her idol-hunting stick. A bit obvious, and not helped by the fact that when asked what she was doing, she says she was hunting for papaya in the most obvious lying voice I’ve yet heard on the show. Things are looking bad for Katurah. At least she shows us a fun new way to wear buffs. Don’t think I’ve seen anyone use their leg before.
Much better positioned on this tribe is Kaleb, who manages to stay on Katurah’s good side by saying he was calling out to make sure she wasn’t found out by the idol hunters, rather than to alert them. Katurah buys it, and admittedly it may be true. Kaleb is a charmer, and has managed to stay on everyone’s good side, though he notes the one person on new Little Lulu that he hasn’t really connected with deeply is Kellie. Kaleb sets out to change that by telling her about Sabiyah’s idol. Can’t really fault that move. Sharing a secret is a good way to build a bond, and that information doesn’t really hurt Kaleb if it’s out there. If others find out, they might be pissed Kaleb didn’t tell them, but on a tribe with such a strong Katurah/Bruce divide, I see little chance of that happening.
Over at Reba, Sifu is, shock of all shocks, still mad about the rogue vote he received! He’s getting less and less subtle about it, admitting in a confessional that he doesn’t buy the women’s story, and is trying to suss out which of them dared to vote against him. In service of this, he constructs a pretty decent-looking fake idol. It’s never going to be confused for Bob’s work on “Survivor Gabon”, but hey, that’s the gold standard of fake idols we’re talking about here. Sifu’s work is quite good-looking. I don’t think he sells it the best, but given that the women had already primed themselves to believe he had something, how he pitches it really doesn’t matter that much. I’d dock the women some points for not recognizing that Austin finding something (which only J. Maya shouldn’t know about at this point) means Sifu probably doesn’t have anything, but with how many advantages the new era hands out, I really can’t blame them. Dee somehow segways this into talking about the hardships her family had coming over from Cuba. Again, hardly the worst of these flashback segments we’ve gotten over the past couple seasons, but again, a bit forced. Probably would have worked better without the photos.
Nerd is the word over at Belo, as Emily, Brando, and Drew get to discussing Pokemon, in particular shiny hunting. It makes my little Pokemon-loving heart jump for joy. It also reveals Drew as the Antichrist, as he admits to hacking his game. Here, Brando pitches that he’s not as close with Kendra, and is willing to cut her if need be, but also suggests a “Nerd Alliance” for the three.
Drew says no. Drew, I may need to revoke your “Smart Card” for that.
I mean, this is “Survivor” 101: You say yes to every proposed plan! Having more options is always, ALWAYS better than cutting them off! If you really don’t think you can commit, just give a vague statement like “That sounds like a plan” without actually agreeing! It’s simple, basic gameplay! How is this beyond you?
In Brando’s mind, this just reinforces the Reba/Belo split. Luckily for him, despite Austin and Drew seeming to get to Emily first, she seems to be more inclined to work with them now. She says it’s because they seem to have the numbers right now, which I have to tilt my head at a little bit. Original Belo and original Reba both have equal numbers right now. As you’ll put it later, from a qualitative standpoint, they’re equal. This is NOT a reason to want to work with the original Belo.
That said, to save myself some time later, I’ll discuss here why I think going with original Belo would still be the right move for Emily. From her perspective, they’re more obviously fractured than original Reba. Brando, as mentioned, has at least floated the idea of sacrificing Kendra, something neither Drew nor Austin has floated in regards to an original Reba. This implies there would be cracks Emily could use to move herself up in the pecking order, more so than what Drew and Austin are presenting at this time. Further, while she doesn’t know the dynamics of the other tribes, she DOES know that Sean left on a tribe with all original Reba. Granted, he quit, but Emily can’t know that yet, and it reinforces the idea that “Reba Strong” is much more of a thing than “Belo strong”. Add onto that her presumably wanting to continue to work with Kaleb come the merge, and original Belo are literally everyone else he’s with, and there’s a lot of upsides to her for swinging that way.
With all those points, however, it should be noted that Emily really has no bad choice here. She’s the proverbial kingmaker either way, and it’s just her determination of what will set her up better in the long-run. I’d say Belo is overall the better choice, but there’s a strong argument for Reba. That said, it can’t be fully discussed until later, so I’ll hold off on that argument for now.
Bruce’s comedy hour remains ongoing at Little Lulu, but it’s not landing quite as funny as it was at first. Katurah, not one to shirk an opportunity to put down Bruce, describes this as him brining the crazy after a few days of settling in. I’d be inclined to just put this down to Katurah having a chip on her shoulder yet again, but we DO see Bruce doing some objectively annoying things. Notably, he’s a bit rude when Katurah suggests an idea. Maybe that’s just because it was her idea, and she’s made no secret that she wants him out. Then again, he’s also a bit rude to Kaleb when he suggests talking through how to do a camp chore before actually doing it, asking if they’re going to talk about doing it, or actually do it. Hearkens back to the very first episode of “Survivor Borneo”, with Sue shouting at Richard about the corporate world not working out in the bush. A bit less justified in Bruce’s case. The conversation hadn’t even started, and Kaleb was just trying to get consensus. Could take five minutes, tops. Nothing to get so worked up about. Kaleb does seem annoyed by this, so perhaps Katurah is not as out of it as she thought.
The witch hunt of Reba is at an end, as Sifu has made his determination: J. Maya was the vote against him. Completely wrong, but points for trying. J. Maya, to her credit, decides that she’s going to use this, playing up to Sifu that this is what she did so that he’ll think she’s on the outs, and won’t play his idol. Decent plan, if a bit risky. The flaw in said plan is that J. Maya doesn’t realize she was on the bubble with the women pre-swap, who note that if they lose again, it might be easier to just get rid of J. Maya. It makes sense. You keep your challenge strength, plus a high profile target come the merge, while sating the rage of Sifu, and again, I don’t think Drew or Austin are going to be upset about a J. Maya exit. Not so good for J. Maya, though.
First, Reba will have to see how they do in our challenge for the episode, which frankly sucks. You run through an obstacle course to get keys to unlock a pole to get down sandbags to shoot targets. We’ve seen it all before. The trapdoor is slightly cool, but that’s about it. At least each tribe has had good content, so there’s some mystery as to who will win. In addition to immunity, first place gets 10 fish, and second place 5.
Despite new Belo being favored to lose, as this challenge is puzzle-less and their strength is in puzzles. There’s a decent bit of back and forth, but Drew is slow on untangling the rope, so lose they do, with Reba taking first place. But hey, there’s still about half the episode left, so the buildup to Tribal Council must be pretty interesting! Or, you know, it could be another damn journey. Guess which one it is, bearing in mind that one option is interesting interpersonal dynamics, and the other one is a journey.
At least the dynamic of who goes gives us a hilarious misplay. As winners, Reba gets to select who will go, one from each tribe. J. Maya gets randomly selected to go, but also becomes the spokesperson for why, which may not have been the wisest choice. Kellie is selected to go from Little Lulu, with the justification being that she was visibly frustrated due to sitting out the challenge. Fair enough, a plausible explanation that keeps your cards close. No, it’s the selection of Austin from Belo that’s the problem. Most likely he was selected as an original Reba to help get out information of the tribe dynamics there. J. Maya justifies his pick by saying exactly that. You know, the OPPOSITE of keeping your cards close. Way to not seem “Reba strong” there.
Before we get to our journey, Belo decides to try “orderly scrambling” with everyone doing what will later be described as a “speed dating” thing to round-robin with everyone. While Emily and Kendra agree to target Drew (presumably due to smarts but a not-so-great challenge performance today, plus original Reba), Brando takes a play from Emily’s book and offers Drew his shot in the dark in exchange for targeting Kendra instead of him. He doesn’t do it as well. Drew refuses him, and notes that it makes him suspicious of Brando, and tells Emily as much when she comes back. When it’s time for Emily and Brando to talk (Brando and Kendra just re-confirm targeting Drew, and evidently Kendra and Drew had nothing of note to discuss), Brando lies and says Drew brought up targeting Kendra. Emily, at least for the moment, believes this, giving more credence to the going-with-Belo theory.
Off to our journey at last, our threesome climb a mountain, and find a choice at the top. Majority rules by vote: They can either get a sandwich apiece, or they can each get an advantage with a catch: All advantages remaining in the game must be used together. All three just make an extra vote, two make a steal a vote, and last one standing makes an idol. If that’s sounding familiar, it’s because the “Advantage Amulet” has made a return, after being last seen on “Survivor 42”. Like I said there, I’m happy it’s here. I’d have preferred no journey at all, but if we WERE going to have one, this is a good option to have at the end of it. It’s not too overpowered, unless you’re the last one standing without anyone else knowing, and it creates a fun duality where you’re both incentivized to work with these people, lest they spill the beans on what you have, but also wanting to get rid of them to gain more power for yourself. It’s a fun dynamic, and I’m happy to see it back.
Austin, however, is not happy, just wanting to take the food and be done with it. J. Maya is all in on the advantage, however, and while Kellie is waffling, Austin can see that she’s leaning advantage, so relents and agrees. Probably the right decision. You don’t want to rock the boat, and however hungry you are, one sandwich isn’t going to provide that much of an edge, particularly with no challenge imminent.
Don’t think that Austin will forget this, however. He agrees to the partnership same as the others, but privately feels like the advantage is nothing worthwhile, and swears to get the other two off.
Good thing he has something to talk about, as things are not looking good for him and Drew. Between her trying to be nicer, and her conflicted feelings about having so much power, she admits to Drew that she thinks he lied about his conversation with Brando. You know, Emily, there is such a thing as being TOO honest. Luckily for her Drew doesn’t hold a grudge and try to get her out a la what Rob Cesternino did to Christy Smith on “Survivor The Amazon”. Instead, when Austin returns and spins a tale about them needing to haul coconuts up and down a mountain to get something and failing (a plausible lie, assuming J. Maya or Kellie don’t call him on it), he comes clean to Drew about what he has. Sensing he’s potentially in trouble, Drew tells him to tell Emily, which he does. Emily admits this changes her equation slightly, and also admits that while she finds Drew a bit sketch, she does feel really close with Austin.
I said we would talk about the argument for going with Reba, and now we have all the facts, to let’s dive in. From Emily’s perspective, the reason to go with Reba is twofold: Firstly, they’ve offered her more blatant power than Belo has, with them letting her pick the target in the last episode. While Belo has been making it a conversation about who should go, rather than a decree, there’s a difference between that and offering someone that much power. Granted, Belo could easily have made the same offer and we just didn’t see it, but by that same token, Drew and/or Austin could have let her know about the Sifu split, proving to her that Reba is fractious as well, and getting us back to square one. Even the “Kaleb bond” thing evens out, since he presumably told Emily about linking with Drew on his raid in episode 3.
Secondly, Reba has all the advantages, while we’ve never seen Belo find anything. This makes them more threatening, but also makes taking them out with lower number difficult. Austin revealing this advantage in particular is helpful, as it proves to Emily that Austin will have an incentive to cut at least J. Maya, and now she has leverage she can use against him if need be down the line. A more even decision overall, and like I said, there really is no bad choice. I think on the whole I’d still say it’s better to side with Belo, since they have more known quantities for her at this point, but again, won’t fault any decision.
Good thing there’s mystery as to who Emily will choose, because Tribal is a snooze fest! All the worst excesses of the new era are back, even the metaphors! Emily talks about using quantitative versus qualitative reasoning. Not the worst one of these I’ve heard, but I just have an aversion to them on principle at this point just due to their overuse. Other than that, it’s posturing from old Reba and old Belo about who Emily should go with. If I’m looking for something nice to say about it, Emily being literally smack dab in the middle was some nice, if obvious, cinematography.
Like I said, really no bad decision here, though in my view, Emily makes the slightly worse one. Brando goes home, and while the dude seemed nice, and I loved the Pokemon talk, I’m not overly sorry. Dude just didn’t pop on screen, and didn’t seem like that innovative of a strategic force. Then again, apart from Emily (and Austin, a bit), I’m not a huge fan of anyone on this tribe, so I wasn’t going to be upset since neither of them were in real danger. Also, while he and Drew managed to spare most of their advantages, Austin did end up using Kaleb’s goodwill advantage to get his vote back while increasing his idol’s lifespan. Understandable, given how close the vote was.
Despite the tense vote, this episode is the first true “dud” of the season in my view. There’s nothing terrible about it, but most of the tribe dynamics gave us nothing new to look at, and the forced backstories and journey ate up time that could have been spent on just regular camp life. Look, this is hardly a bottom-tier episode, and I’m still loving this season overall, but this is a lull in quality.
Hopefully the “mergeatory” gets us back on track, but since I just had to type out that stupid name for the stupid twist, somehow I doubt it.
-Matt
Title Credit to Jean Storrs.
idolspeculation 