What? If Tai can quote “The Lion King” in relation to “Survivor”, why can’t I? Figured I might as well jump on the “Tai Trang Train”. The “Tai Traing”, if you will.
Bad puns aside, let us leap into the episode proper, as we’ve got some heavy subject matter to cover. Or rather, let us leap into the “Previously On..” segment, as it deserves commenting on. Now, don’t get me wrong, this one is largely a good recap, as for once it pretty much confines itself to what happened in the IMMEDIATE episode prior, rather than calling out certain plot points from way back in the season, thereby telling us what to look out for. Had it just confined itself to that, I would have no need to mention the recap, save perhaps to praise it for its humility. But no, it just had to give us some hyperbole about how “This is the toughest season of ‘Survivor’ ever.”, and give us contestant testimony to support this. Once again, I must voice my disagreement on this point. Yes, we’ve had some contestant complaints about the environment this time, but by and large they’ve been sort of the standard stuff you get in the first few episodes of a season. The upcoming challenge is tough, I grant you, but the season as a whole? I have yet to be convinced. Perhaps I’m just stubborn, but I feel like you need to save hyperbole like that for the end of the season, when you accumulate more evidence.
You’d think, with the obvious emphasis on the harshness of the environment and medical evacuations, that this episode might be devoid of strategy, but you’d be wrong. Granted, what we see is largely devoid of strategy, but we do get one interesting nugget early on. As you’d expect, it comes from Chan Loh, where Peter is reeling from the past Tribal Council. Debbie is being self-congratulatory about the whole affair, but not overly so. She admits that she played her part well, and Tribal Council went exactly as she planned. This bragging doesn’t bother me, since it pretty accurately captures what happened, and is done in private, rather than to the tribe. To help her go up in my estimation, she plays off the whole thing to Peter very well. She tells him that she wanted to save him, how he’s needed in the tribe, which is exactly the right way to play it. The major danger now is that Peter defects and blows your whole game up. Making him as comfortable as possible limits that dangerous possibility. Peter, while frustrated, also plays the whole thing off well, openly expressing mainly shock that it was Liz and not him. He does keep his true feelings pretty well under wraps, but it’s still somewhat clear that he’s not fully on board the whole “Chan Loh” thing anymore. He makes this quite clear in his confessional, swearing to take his revenge on the tribe when he can. Like I say, he plays this all well, and I can’t fault him for how he’s playing this. Yes, he’s been burned by the tribe, but rather than go off and rant, he simply decides to no longer trust them and bide his time, while giving a fairly convincing outward appearance of loyalty. What I CAN fault him for is saying that this vote “Weakens our tribe physically and mentally.” Technically he’s right, but then again, you could say that about EVERY vote. You see, losing a member never ADDS strength to your team, and therefore every vote loses you strength. If he’s saying that Liz was a big contributor… I just don’t see it. I could see the vote severely weakening the tribe if it was PETER voted out. I could even see Peter’s point if the other target of the night was Debbie or Joe, as it could be argued that Liz was physically and/or mentally stronger than they were. But Peter, your targets were Neal and Aubry, arguably the two people most equivalent to Liz. This vote was the wrong decision only because it hurts you not because it particularly weakens the tribe more than any other option you had last episode. Get over it.
Wow, reward challenge time already. They must be getting it out of the way early so we have plenty of time to deal with the medical emergencies at the immunity challenge. And yet, that challenge looks very much like the one with the promised emergencies. And that’s because… it is. Yep, I’ll be talking about it more at the end of the blog, but this episode has shot its bolt early, getting all the exciting stuff out of the way early. Not much the producers can do about it, since there’s not enough material there to make up a whole episode, but not the most auspicious way of doing things.
But what is this challenge of challenges, so tough that it takes down three of our competitors? An obstacle course. Yep, just a pretty basic, pretty dull obstacle course. The tribes climb over a few hurdles, dig under a log, dig up three bags of balls, and then try and get those balls into holes via Skee-Ball. Yeah, not exactly an exciting challenge, not helped by the presence of Skee-Ball, which I maintain is an incredibly LAME element in a challenge. Yeah, the streak is broken. This one just sucks.
So, if the challenge itself is not that challenging, what takes our competitors down? The environment. Yep, this challenge is being played in 110 degree heat, the temperature at which everything has evidently been operating for the past few days this season. Not to say that challenges haven’t been played in heat like this before. Notably, the “Court-Ball” challenge from “Survivor Guatemala” was played in similar heat. What makes this one different is the continuousness of it. The “Court-Ball” challenge was run in rounds, giving people a chance to recover and drink some water. And even THEN, people were still beat from the challenge. This challenge runs nonstop. It’s a race, not a points game.
Oh, and duration. Duration plays a big role in this challenge. To Tang gets out to an early lead, followed closely by Gondol, with Chan Loh bringing up the rear. Not that it matters. Digging up the balls proves harder than anyone else expects, and while To Tang is up two bags to the other teams one apiece, that doesn’t stop things from going on for 45 minutes. I don’t think anyone anticipated that those balls would be that hard to find, and it’s definitely a contributing factor to how this challenge turns out.
And then… a breakthrough! Due to stick-to-it-iveness, Chan Loh finds bags two and three in oddly rapid succession, and moves on to (shudder) Skee-Ball. Rather than let one person run that portion of the challenge, they divvy it up so that Aubry, Debbie, and Peter all get some balls in holes, netting them an easy victory. Not too long after, Caleb finds bags two and three for Gondol, and starts doing that Skee-Ball thing. Things look bad for To Tang, especially since they’re so worn out that they’re kicking the sand rather than really digging. Scot and Jason seem to have stopped altogether. Not that Alecia gives up, though, as she keeps encouraging the tribe to keep digging. While I’m no Alecia fan, I do admire her tenacity. Regardless of the situation, she doesn’t just lie down and die, which is not always easy to do on a losing tribe. That said, her manner in going about all this is a bit overdone. Not that she shouldn’t be saying what she’s saying, but she just keeps repeating it, and that combined with the heat makes it all very annoying. And I’m not even out there! Scot, who is out there, gets fed up with her, telling her to dig rather than cheerlead. Frankly, this isn’t a clear-cut “One side is right” thing. Keeping morale up is essential, and Scot effectively killing that morale is not a good thing. But I could see how it would get annoying, so yeah, I feel him. Though his “How many bags have you found?” argument holds no water, as finding them is largely luck-based, not effort-based.
Oh, I’m sorry, did I just ignore Debbie collapsing from heat stroke? Yeah, I did. Sorry about that, I don’t mean to take away from the gravity of the situation. Only, compared to what we’re GOING to see, it looks very minor (though no less serious), and the Alecia stuff matters more in the long-run anyway. But yes, despite her protests, Joe calls for medical, who don’t respond as quickly as they usually do. I guess they’re just not used to coming out while a challenge is still running. They get there quickly, though, and get to work. They put an umbrella over Debbie, hook her up to vital reading machines, and pour cool water on her, the usual treatment for heat stroke. Despite that fact that we know three people collapse but only one gets evacuated, and Debbie’s early collapse makes her likely to stay, it does get a big heart-wrenching. I think it’s because you can’t see her eyes. Maybe it just gives me flashbacks to Russell Swan’s collapse on “Survivor Samoa”, but that makes things seem serious.
Of course, we can’t have the doctor come in without Probst buddying over and talking to him. I’ll admit I probably exaggerate how bad this is, but I would point that the medical evacuations of Mike Skupin (“Survivor The Australian Outback”) and Bruce Kanegai (“Survivor Exile Island”) both had gravitas and were easy to understand, and there was NO NEED for Probst in either case. Just seems like he’s bothering the doctor and pandering to the audience unnecessarily. Oh, but this time is particularly egregious, since he needs to be WATCHING THE CHALLENGE! I know, they’ve got other people there to watch the challenge, but we don’t need Probst bothering the doctor. Time would’ve been better spent watching the challenge.
Speaking of which, after it’s revealed that Debbie’s going to be ok, we turn back to said challenge, which has become something of a cliffhanger. Gondol is having trouble getting their last ball in the hole, most likely due to the fact that they worked front-to-back, rather than back-to-front. Meanwhile To Tang has FINALLY found their bags, and sends Jason on to test his Skee-Ball skills. He does manage to get three balls in, but it’s not enough, as Caleb eventually sinks their last balls to win reward.
The drama is not passed, though, as both Caleb and Cydney are down. Cydney basically can’t move, while Caleb wanders over to the shade, and then flops down on the ground. Thankfully, both having caring tribemates to care for them, but medical is quickly called for both. And while I may have given Probst a lot of flak earlier for bothering the doctor, this is where he really shines. He wastes no time, calling in all available personelle to handle the situation. He even gets Cydney looked at, despite the fact that no one had called out specifically for her. Now, when the situation is really serious, he leaves the doctors alone, and even pitches in wherever he can, mainly talking to Caleb, trying to bring him around. I cannot give Probst high enough praise, as well as the whole “Survivor” crew. they handle everything swiftly, professionally, and most likely saved someone’s life. Because this is bad. Russell Swan bad. Yet their grace under fire needs to be commended. If there was one positive to come out of this horrible, horrible situation, it is getting to see these guys perform really well.
It’s a little more unclear between Caleb and Cydney who’s going to get the axe medically. Both seem semi-conscious, and are convulsing pretty badly. In the end, though, when Caleb stops even nodding, it’s clear he’s going to be taken away. I’ve said before, and I’ll say again, that it’s always sad when someone has to be medically pulled from the game. Everyone deserves a respectful exit, and the right to finish their game on their terms. Even if that person is Colton Cumbie (“Survivor One World”). That not happening is very depressing in and of itself, and anyone going that way would be a loss. And don’t get me wrong, I am sorry to see Caleb go, if only for the death of a beautiful bromance. That’s just it, though. That’s all he brought. Of the three people who get heat stroke this challenge, Caleb ultimately brought the least to the table. Debbie and Cydney are both bigger characters and better strategists than him. I wish no one had to go, but if someone had to go of those three, Caleb is the least of all evils.
Whoo-wee, what an emotional roller-coaster! An action-packed first-half of the episode! Other drama cliches! Still, the game continues, with Tai transitioning us back to the game by pointing out that girl power is still a thing on Gondol, and with Caleb gone, they now have full control. Tai swears he won’t go out with an idol in his pocket, which is exactly how you want to play the game.
Some of you may be asking “Well, what was the reward?” Kitchen supplies, and some coffee. that’s it. All that pain, all that loss, for cookwear. Not worth it. Oh, but it gets worse! All this might have been avoided, but for one simple change in the challenge! You see, I watch those “Challenge Previews” on CBS.com. The ones where the Dream Team runs the challenge to see if it works. In that iteration, there were bamboo chutes placed over where the bags of balls were, so that people could find them faster. From a design perspective, I get why they were removed. The challenge becomes less of a straightforward race without them, and gives us potential for come-from-behind victories, like we got. But that also likely added the 45-minute search part to the challenge, which I’m sure was a contributing factor to the evacuations. Was it worth it? Probably not.
It seems the emotional moments are not quite over, as Debbie gets in some words about what she was feeling while being looked at by medical. It’s nice, but it doesn’t really amount to anything, and after that nice transition back into game mode we had with Tai, I think it might have been better served if we’d gone without.
Here, we get a title card letting us know that Caleb is ok, and wants to play again. It feels like a bit of a weird placement, but it’s good to get that info out of the way quickly, and assure the children watching that no, Caleb isn’t dead. While he wasn’t the most exciting character, I wouldn’t mind seeing him back at some point, if only to let him finish the game properly.
Shifting back to gameplay mode, we get Alecia and Scot arguing again. Oh goodie, we haven’t seen this before! Alecia is, understandably, upset at how Scot treated her during the challenge, and Scot and Jason are once again dismissive of Alecia, outright telling her that she’s going next. Again, like with the challenge, the guy’s treatment isn’t cool, but I understand it. Alecia may be in the right, but she won’t shut up, and can’t argue her case very well. It’s like we’re waiting for her to get voted off.
We might have to wait a while, though, because it’s challenge time! Gee, I wonder who’ll lose this time? I mean, we’ve had SO MUCH strategy talk from Gondol and Chan Loh, it could be either one of them! Who would have guessed?
Still, if the result of the challenge is predictable, the challenge itself is semi-cool. It’s a fairly standard “Run through the jungle and dive in the ocean to retrieve puzzle pieces, then solve the puzzle.” challenge. Not directly copying anything, but it does bear a close resemblance to the first immunity challenge from “Survivor Philippines”, which, as this is not the first immunity challenge, I’m ok with. That puzzle, though, is really cool! It’s your basic snake puzzle, but rather than having traditional puzzle pieces the tribes just have different lengths of rope they have to put in a frame. None of the ropes can cross, though. It’s a tricky puzzle to solve, and a really creative concept. For that, I’ll give this challenge a pass.
When To Tan predictably loses, Alecia tries to salvage the situation by saying “I did my best.” Giving her no quarter, To Tang leaps on her not saying “WE did our best”, since Cydney was working on the puzzle as well. Again, I’m in sympathy with Alecia here, since she’s fighting for her life, but her defenses of herself are just SO ANNOYING, that you can sympathize with To Tang. In fact, they’re so fed up with her that they freely admit that she’s the one leaving, and ask to go to Tribal Council then and there. Probst says it’s ok with him, but Alecia has to agree to it as well. Alecia does the smart thing and says no. While the situation certainly seems hopeless, it’s better to go out bargaining and trying to weasel something up than to just roll over and die. Good for you, Alecia. Also, it just feels right to not do Tribal Council immediately. That needs to be saved for special occasions. As I’ll get into shortly, this is kind of the opposite of a special occasion.
Sad fact: The fact that Alecia opted not to go immediately to Tribal Council makes her smarter than the entire Manono Tribe of “Survivor One World”. Weep for that season my friends.
Killing ANY pretext of misdirection, we cut immediately to Tribal Council, which for the first time this season is completely boring. We know Alecia’s going, everyone there knows Alecia’s going, so the whole thing is just an exercise in futility. Much though I have sympathy for her situation, I’m not sorry to see her go. Alecia really didn’t bring anything new to the table, and this has been building for a while. This was not the sort of grand exit that deserved an impromptu Tribal Council, this is one that needed to be shoved at the back of a two-parter, which this effectively was.
As to the episode as a whole, it’s tough to call. I can’t in good conscience say it’s a BAD episode, but definitely the weakest thus far. It’s not really it’s fault, though. The first half, the half with the medical drama, is great! While it’s never good to see people go down like that, it does make for compelling tv, in a perverse sort of way. I may malign medical evacuations as taking away from the strategy of the season, but used sparingly, they can really enhance things. Plus, what I’m realizing is that, every so often, we need one of those real life-threatening situations to remind us of the gravitas of the game. Would I be happier without them? Yes. I don’t like people coming that close to death, but in a game like this, it’s bound to happen. It showcases the professionalism of the show in general, and Probst in particular, and is quite the eye-catcher. Had that been the whole episode, it would have been fantastic. But it wasn’t. We had to tack on an obvious, telegraphed exit to the whole thing, and that really did the episode no favors. I’m happy we got that exit out of the way, plus having an impromptu double-elimination means that we’re more likely to have a final two at the end, which I enjoy, but the second half of the episode just can’t compete, and that REALLY drags things down. You know how little we care about Alecia? She didn’t even get the final words of the episode. Caleb did.
Before we go, though, there are two points that I feel need to be addressed. First off, this season has REALLY copied “Survivor Cagayan”, and I don’t just mean in terms of twists. The tribes this season are shaking out like they did on that season! Think about it: We’ve got a tribe that is a complete disaster, voting out the strong in the first two votes only to lose their weak player in the third vote (Luzon and To Tang), the tribe that largely wins, but loses one immunity challenge, and seems to be more fractured (Solana and Chan Loh), and the tribe that, while it has alliances, never loses and stays relatively unified (Appari and Gondol). The challenge wins and losses even exactly line up! Admittedly, I feel like these tribes are more deeply divided than the ones on “Survivor Cagayan”, but the similarities in how the three tribes shake out are freaky. Why do I bring this up? Well, mainly because it’s an odd coincidence, but also because something weird happens with it: I don’t mind. Seriously, with how blatantly and closely this season is copying “Survivor Cagayan”, one of the best seasons ever you think it’d be nothing but downward comparisons, but it’s not. True, I still think “Survivor Cagayan” is the better of the two, but we’re only four episodes in! “Survivor Kaoh Rong” could very well usurp that position over the course of the season, and is doing a very good job. Why? Well, they copied the element that worked the best from “Survivor Cagayan” as well: getting a great cast. Again, they’re not to “Survivor Cagayan” goodness levels yet, but we’ve got a lot of great characters, some nice strategy, and often found in the same person. That makes the show good, and makes it not matter how much the show is repeating itself. If the cast is good, then the season can stand on this own.
My second note has to do with some actual speculation. I know, speculation on a blog called “Idol Speculation”, who would have guessed? But, as we saw in the preview, a tribe swap is nigh. I’m sure this was planned for the time, as we’d be down to 14 players, making for a nice, even tribe shrinking, but with Caleb’s unfortunate evacuation, we’re down to 13. How will they make up for this uneven distribution. I don’t know, but here’s a thought: make them a reward. Divide up the tribes so you have two teams of six, rather than seven. Schoolyard pick is probably best for this, but random division could work as well. With no Exile Island this season, what do you do with the seventh person? Make them the reward. Go straight to a challenge, and the prize is not a feast or easier camp life, but a number, an extra number to play around with. Perhaps a bit demeaning to the person being used as reward, but wouldn’t that be exciting? Make it happen, producers!
-Matt
Title Credit to Jean Storrs.
idolspeculation 