Do not be fooled by the lameness of this opening paragraph. This was a fantastic episode, and I intend to do it justice. However, the best way to open talk about this episode involves spoiling who goes to Tribal Council, and while I’m not shy about referencing the outcome of an episode in my blog, I do try and keep it from the opening paragraph, so that those who want spoiler-free blogs can realize their error and look elsewhere. With that said, I shall now start a new paragraph, that shall hopefully be more on-point than this one.
It’s a good thing Chan Loh didn’t vote off the ER Doctor. I think Neal needs to have that eyebrow looked at. It there was ever any proof that the old adage of “If you keep making that face, it’ll freeze like that!” was true, Neal is it. That eyebrow didn’t come down ONCE during Tribal Council, and that can’t be comfortable.
But I’m jumping ahead to the slightly more mockable parts of this episode. Instead I ought to start off, like the episode, over at the To Tang tribe. Newly returned from Tribal Council, they’re not at all sure that voting off Jennifer was the right decision, due to keeping in relative challenge weakness. Scot in particular voices concern, in the process proving his “I don’t have brains.” comment from episode 1 by telling Alecia that he was the second vote for her, out of loyalty to Jennifer. Thankfully, once Alecia walks off, he’s at least smart enough to realize that Alecia now has him at the top of her hit list. He and Jason just shake their heads, showing how much they consider her worth in the game.
Sure enough, Alecia is off bashing Scot to Cydney, in the process bringing up the “He was a pro ball player, so he has plenty of money!” argument. Just when you thought we could avoid THAT old type of scene! Fortunately, though, Cydney is there to provide us with some welcome relief. Yes, Cydeny has finally taken a break from either having terrible bedside manner (episode 1) or just being at best mildly snarky (episode 2), and given us something to actually enjoy watching. Cydney admits that Alecia thinks of her as an ally. How this came about, she’s not sure, but she lets us know that she’s playing Alecia, and intends to stick with the guys. We’ll see this better later on, but Cydney really plays this off very well, such that Alecia doesn’t suspect a thing. Props to you, girl!
We head off to Gondol, so we can conclude our three-part miniseries of “Tai’s Hunt for the Idol”. Somehow, Tai once again sneaks off without the tribe seeming to notice (someone really needs to set a watch on him), and considers the problem of retrieving the key. Rather than bark up the wrong tree again (my resistance lasts only one blog), Tai decides to try the pole-building method indicated in the note. Because nothing can be easy for the man, though, the tool specifically given to help retrieve the idol has gone missing. Taken for firewood and burned, presumably. Undeterred, Tai does the logical thing of stripping down a stick to be thin enough to push the key out of the tube, all while giving an inspirational talk about how much he’s had to overcome in life. If this doesn’t clue you in to his eventual success, the obvious dramatic music should.
Key in hand, Tai retrieves the idol. Funnily enough, it’s in the box conveniently marked “Idol”. Ok, I get that CBS thinks we’re all idiots who need these things labeled for us, but, CBS, the fact is we simply don’t. Plus, having a box marked “Idol” makes it all that much easier for people to cotton onto the fact that someone else has found the idol. Makes it all the more conspicuous, I say. For once, though, the idol itself it not conspicuous, and I quite like it. Just a simple half of a yin-yang symbol with the tribe animal mascot on it (a snake for Gondol, a tiger for To Tang, and a crocodile for Chan Loh). Definitely idol-like, but small enough that it can be feasibly hidden. Excellent work, props department. Props to the props, as it were.
But that yin-yang symbol is more than just for looks, as we find out when Tai reads the rules of the idol. Initially he dismisses them, saying “I know this stuff.”, but must then pause when the new twist to the idol is revealed. Basically, idols this season work as they have since “Survivor Fiji” onward: you play them after the votes are cast, but before they are revealed, and any votes cast for you are nullified. However, because of their shapes, these idols can be combined. When connected, they form one “Super Idol” which works like it did on “Survivor Exile Island” and “Survivor Cook Islands” where it can be played after the vote. This twist has been much publicized before the season, and now I have a chance to talk about my opinion on it. Much like this season, I remain undecided. Unlike past “Super Idols”, this one is a bit less overpowered, as there is an incentive to not playing two idols together. After all, if you’re in a tight spot, they only save you one Tribal Council, whereas separately they could save you two. Additionally, it’s potentially not just rewarding idol hunting but also the social game, as you’ll most likely have to work together with someone to agree to play a “Super Idol” on one person. A tricky prospect, making the “Super Idol” potentially less overpowered. It’s the “potentially” here that worries me. The flaw in the “Super Idol” is that it works well as a twist, assuming no one ever has more than one idol. If someone has two, there’s nothing stopping them from letting everyone know that they can’t be voted out, and then running to the end of the game. Why do you think the “Super Idol” was gotten rid of after “Survivor Cook Islands”? It essentially gave Terry Deitz and Yul Kwan free passes to the end, and arguably gave Yul the win on “Survivor Cook Islands”! It was overpowered as all get out. Still, as long as no one ever has more than one idol, I’m ok.
As an aside, I find the name “Super Idol” to be lame. I think it’s the same problem I had with the name “Medallion of Power” from “Survivor Nicaragua”. It’s descriptive, but it feels very un-“Survivor”. I can’t come up with anything better, though, and it’s still a better moniker than “Tyler Perry Idol”, so I’ll let it slide.
And that was all before our lack of opening titles. Yeah, this episode is one of the good ones.
We continue our story progression at Chan Loh, where Liz and Peter are out in the water discussing how they want things to go, should they go to Tribal Council. After making the obvious point that Joe is far more Brawn than Brain, Peter and Liz agree that they need to keep the goats, in this case Debbie and Joe, around a bit longer. Neal is their main target, due to being “A snake.”, and talking more game than Aubry. Just in case he has an idol, though, the pair plan to split their votes. They’ll tell Debbie and Joe to vote for Neal, which they think the pair will do if only to save their own skins, while they vote for Aubry as a safety measure. Not a bad plan for the pair all things considered. They do a lot of insulting of the other people on their tribe, which rubs me a bit the wrong way, but it’s not too bad. Yet. It’s also interesting to see how the power in this tribe has switched from the beginning of the game. In episode 1, it seemed like Neal and Liz were calling the shots, bringing together the “Young People” alliance. In episode 2, we started to get a bit more independent thought from Peter, and Liz seemed to be getting her finger in multiple pies. Now, we see a complete flip, with three pairs of people squaring off, and it seeming like the relative oddballs of the group are now the safest ones. It’s frankly a fascinating progression, and I’m glad we were shown it so clearly.
Liz, however, seems to have forgotten her “Sound travels well over water.” advice from episode 1, and Debbie hears every word. Realizing this would only make her a pawn in the game, Debbie takes action. Ok, what she SAYS is she’s fed up with Liz’s “self-entitled attitude”, which in my opinion really only showed up this episode, but the point is there. For all the crazy talk, for all the socially unaware moments she’s had, Debbie is not to be underestimated. She is a PLAYER this episode, and quite a good one too! She correctly assesses that, unless an upset of power is enacted, she and Joe will be on the bottom. Since she and Aubry have something of a connection, she turns to her first. Admittedly Debbie keeps the talk somewhat low-key, framing it as an emotional connection between he pair, and making certain that Neal is connected with Aubry, but with how this tribe’s been winning, a slow burn is not necessarily a bad way to play it.
Back over at Gondol, because we haven’t hit the main points of Tai’s personality enough in the first two episodes, we need to yet AGAIN hear about his love for all living things. Gondol feels like chicken tonight, and so one of their two chickens is about to be sacrificed. Tai is upset about this. Look , I like Tai a LOT, the guy’s really grown on me. But after three episodes, the repetition of Tai’s confessionals is getting old. Thankfully, Tai keeps this one low key. He jokes with Caleb about freeing the chickens, and certainly has a good cry about it, but admits that the guys need their protein, and comforts himself by quoting one of the best Disney movies ever! To show his support, he even helps with the killing of the chicken. He cries about it afterward, but it’s not overblown or anything.
Actually, something new does happen in this scene, or rather as a result of this scene. Nick’s true sociopath colors start to shine through. And before anyone cries “Slander!”, Nick’s confessional about needing to only have the appearance of emotions rather than actually feeling those emotions is textbook sociopathy. Plus, he’s wrong. While one certain needs to be able to control their emotions on “Survivor”, one cannot separate them from the game. Like it or not, they’re a part of the game, and must be addressed as such. Nick uses his “appearance of emotion” to bash Tai for his emotion, which does not sit well with Anna, who more and more appears to be emerging as the leader of the women of Gondol. They’ve been needing a fourth for a while, and the debate seems to have finally given us a nominee. She talks with Caleb, who seems to be on board, finding this to be a strong alliance. Specifically, she wants to target Nick, since she correctly sees him as untrustworthy. Tai’s idol suspicion probably hasn’t gone away, but Nick is overall the more pressing threat. Good call on all their parts, except Nick’s.
Speaking of idols, it’s time for To Tang to actually have success on their particular idol hunt. It seems that, despite time spent actively looking, the way for Alecia to find anything is to stumble upon it accidentally. Like with Gondol’s idol, there’s a clue hidden in a knot of a tree, saying to dig at its base. So, Cydney and Alecia start digging. Who then should show up but Jason, out for a leisurely stroll, if he’s to be believed. He ses the pair digging and goes off. Having seeming found nothing, Cydney sends Alecia back to get a hoe to better dig with. Here, though, we see the newfound cunning of Cydney shine through. In actual fact, Cydney had dug up the box and the tool with the clue on it, and simply didn’t want Alecia to know. Once she’s gone, Cydney reads the clue, only then to rebury it so Alecia can’t find it. The pair head back to camp, seemingly in defeat, only for Cydney to spill the beans about the clue as soon as Alecia is out of earshot. Everyone springs into action, with Alecia hot on their trail. The only problem now, though, is that the tool cannot be found again. Cydney had to rebury it, and now it can’t be found. After quite an impressive footrace, Jason has found the key to the box, but can’t seem to get it. He and Scot hit upon the same idea as Tai, and find a stick thin enough to do the job, Jason thanking his lucky stars that he has a tall NBA player on his side in this case. But now they have a new problem. Basically, at this point, whoever gets the key gets the idol. And who should be right there but Alecia, waiting to grab the key as soon as it falls. As if it wants to add to the dramatic tension, the cylinder the key is on teeters for a moment before falling. After a truly epic scuffle, in which I’m amazed no one got hurt, Jason comes up with the idol, and Alecia falls into despair. I have to admit, this was a fun scene to do. While I prefer more strategic play to physical play on “Survivor”, the occasional bit of physical play is welcome, and this was spectacular by those standards. Plus, we got to see more of strategic, deceptive Cydney, and though I kind of brushed over it, she did a really good job hiding her motives, staying good with Alecia by telling her that Jason figured out the key location by watching them, rather than her giving it away. Evidently she really shouldn’t be messed with.
Scot and Jason read about the new “Super Idol” twist, and Scot makes a reference to the “Wonder Twins”. Ok Scot, one point for making a nerd reference, but one demerit because that reference was to the “Wonder Twins”.
Before we come to our challenge, let us once again appreciate what an excellent job of balancing various storylines this episode has done. Every tribe has had something interesting going on, and there’s real mystery as to who’s going to go to Tribal Council this evening. Barring, of course, that you read the second paragraph of this blog, in which case you know that Chan Loh loses, but in the challenge itself, it’s really tense.
And speaking of the challenge itself, chalk another one up to this season! Not only did they come up with a great challenge this time, they actually make it pretty original. Basically, each tribe will carry three sacks of rice through the water to a wall with a tiny hole in it. After stuffing the three bags through, the tribe must then carry them over a balance beam to a table, where they must use a knife to rip open the bags to find three balls. Once all the balls are found, one tribe member at a time must race to get a ball into a notch by maneuvering it through a swiss cheese board. First two tribes to get all three balls though successfully wins immunity. Granted, the swiss cheese part is taken directly from “Survivor Worlds Apart”, but since we therefore haven’t seen it to death, and it’s pretty challenging, I’ll give it a pass. The rest of the challenge is just AWESOME! Simple, but difficult, and very fitting for “Survivor”. They’ve worked with rice and knives before, but very rarely, and never in this way, so it’s cool to watch.
Ah, but the challenge gets even better from there. As you’d expect, reward is also at stake in this challenge, but it’s a bit different this time. Instead of the two winning tribes getting the same reward with various degrees of completeness, the winning tribe gets to choose between camp comfort in the form of pillows and blankets, or their luxury items. Not only is it refreshing to see luxury items on “Survivor” again, but having a choice of reward can often make for some good drama. Remember Russell Sawn overruling logic to “Take care of the ladies.” on “Survivor Samoa”? More of that, please! Also, Jason’s luxury item appears to be a Care Bear. It’s so oxymoronic, and I love it!
If the editing wasn’t enough to make the challenge tense, the actual challenge itself adds to the tension. It’s a very close one overall, with Chan Loh losing only by seconds. Granted, Gondol is ahead pretty much the entire time, so their win is no surprise, but Chan Loh and To Tang stay very close the entire time. To Tang has a slight lead carrying the bags of rice, but fall behind on the ball portion, a fact that Probst gleefully points out. Then, under the guidance of Jason, Cydney comes back to race against Debbie, and ultimately manages to get the ball in the hole mere seconds beforehand. It’s a real heart-ponding race. THAT, my friends, is how you do a challenge! Plus, since Gondol wisely chooses stuff that’s actually helpful to survival rather than luxury items, we will get more of the hilarity that is Jason’s Care Bear, the unofficial 19th contestant on this season.
Heading to the break, Peter makes a comment about how this loss is nothing big, and now he and Liz’s plan can be put into action, getting Neal out. I’m sure this in no way sets up a dramatic downfall for Peter and/or Liz!
Were I a lazy person (which I am), I would say that the scene of Chan Loh preparing for Tribal Council is pretty much exactly the same scene as we had with them earlier in the episode, only amped up. This is true, but I feel compelled to go into more detail about it. In case we didn’t get the message about their split-vote strategy, Peter and Liz yet again talk about their split vote strategy. To make sure no one is sorry for them, we get real intense scenes of them talking about how stupid the other players are compared to them, and how this consolidates their power. Frankly, it works. Even though the outcome is entirely obvious at this point, I really do want to see them get their comeuppance.
When the pair put their plan into action, Debbie puts her plan into action. Being a bit more aggressive this time, she fills in first Aubry and then Neal about Peter and Liz’s plans for the evening, which gets both of them on their side. Aubry criticizes both Peter and Liz for not being very good at emotionally connecting, a fact which is then reinforced by a scene of Peter being condescending towards Aubry, effectively ordering her how to vote.
Now, when I say that the outcome of this episode is predictable, in that it has been HEAVILY foreshadowed that either Peter or Liz will go, I mean it. You would think, then, that there would be no tension left for Tribal Council. Oh, but there is! You see, Aubry does not take Peter’s attitude very well. Up until this point, Liz had been the target, mainly because Debbie and Joe didn’t like her very much. Now, however, Aubry would rather have Peter go. Normally, I’d hate this since it is an emotional argument with regards to “Survivor” strategy. However, I’m ok with it for three reasons. First, it gives us much-needed tension for Tribal Council. Before, it was very clear that Liz would go. Now, there’s question of Peter or Liz. Second, and most important, Aubry DOES have strategic reasoning to back it up, pointing out that Peter would be more likely to flip come the merge. Third, I’m rooting for Aubry, so I’m inclined to support her decision. That said, I think sticking with Liz for the boot is the better choice. Frankly, worries about Peter flipping could just as easily be put on Liz, and in terms of their flip, Liz is more likely to be successful at it. Liz looks non-threatening, and is therefore more likely to be put in an alliance against you. Conversely, Peter looks like a threat to everyone, and so would have a harder time finding safe harbor in which to flip. Plus, assuming there’s no swap anytime soon, Peter is definitely more helpful in challenges.
Thankfully Tribal Council has an air of mystery about it, because for the first two thirds of it, it’s all pretty standard. The trouble is that Chan Loh is actually pretty smart, and plays their cards close to the chest, which does not a stand-out moment make. However, hilarity first ensues that you realize that Neal’s standard answer to every question lobbed at him amounts to “Enigmatic pontificating about the nature of the game with left eyebrow knowingly raised.” Not to say that these aren’t good answers. They get Probst off your case, but keep your cards close to the chest. When you realize he’s saying his answers with the EXACT same inflection and the EXACT same expression on his face, the same-y-ness of it all just makes me crack up! Go back and watch for it again, it’s great. Seriously, Neal, get that thing looked at.
On about the third try, though, Neal’s raising of the eyebrow gets some results. After making a pretty good comment about “Whose plan is going to get stuck to.”, Peter can take it no longer, and openly admits that he’s not sticking to Neal’s plan, pretty obviously telling him that he’s getting voted out. I thought, Peter, that you were supposed to be the smart one. I guess he feels confident enough to reveal his plan out in the open at Tribal Council, but even if you’re SURE things are on lock, that’s never a good idea. It make you seem arrogant, and makes it that much easier for others to turn the plan against you.
Case in point, as you’d expect, the vote goes against Peter and Liz. Which one, though? Even the episode doesn’t seem sure, as it comes down to a tie between those two and Aubry. Is this just going to be a “thing” with this season now? All first votes for a tribe result in a tie? Some would probably argue that this was a way to prevent idol mishaps screwing with the vote, and it may very well be that way. My take, however, is that this really was a case of three twosomes each voting independently. Neal and Aubry really wanted Peter out, but Debbie and Joe wouldn’t go along with it, so they forced a tie to get Neal to cooperate. I may be wrong, but that would be my suspicion, and it shows where the real power is in this tribe, since Liz is ultimately sent home. As a consolation prize, she gets her torch snuffed by… Joe Anglim of “Survivor Worlds Apart”! Or at least his scalp, anyway. Seriously, I’ve been meaning to comment on it for a while, but the snuffer this season has a magnificent man-bun. Clearly, someone as fabulous as Joe had to be scalped to make such a snuffer.
While Liz is definitely the smarter choice, for the reasons I outlined earlier, it is a shame to see her go as a fan. She was overall better at the game and more likable than Peter seems to be. True, this makes her more of a threat, but it also makes her more fun to watch. And while I don’t normally mention final words on this blog, I must take issue with Liz’s “The numbers didn’t lie to me, the people did.” comment. Liz, on “Survivor”, they’re basically the same thing. You got outwitted, just admit it.
Sad exit or no, as I said at the top of this blog, this was a FANTASTIC episode! Once again, we get an awesome challenge, real development on storylines across the board, fun action, and really smart gameplay! What more can you ask for from a season of “Survivor”?
According to the “Next Time On…” preview, you can ask for the much-publicized medical evacuation episode. think I saw a blue buff under the torso shown lying down in the previews. Here’s hoping it’s not Aubry that collapses!
-Matt
Title Credit to Jean Storrs.
idolspeculation 