The Titans vs. Rebels season is in full swing, and absolutely no one is safe, especially after what we saw go down in the season premiere, with Frankie leaving the Titans tribe faster than she could try to get rid of Jess again. While the Titans are dealing with their first blindside aftermath, the Rebels are on a high after winning two challenges and are enjoying life and being on Survivor; after all, isn’t the latter everyone’s ultimate dream?
Sarah and Tobias’ bond continued to strengthen, and Sarah pointed out she was also connecting with the other showmance in the Rebels tribe, Alex and Peta. Sarah also mentioned Raymond being an outsider, highlighted by Raymond disappearing from camp and being extremely awkward when confronted about his little escapade. Raymond denied having found an idol to the suspicions of everyone around him, making him the odd one out so far.
There were two ends of the spectrum on the Titans camp regarding Frankie’s blindside. There was Nathan, who was in mourning after losing a comrade and for looking dumbstruck about it at tribal council. Then there was Mark and Eden, who were giddy about their plan of separating the brawny trio (Nathan, Frankie, & Jaden) working out.
Anti… micro… bacterial… or something! #SurvivorAU pic.twitter.com/l8liIIlN6Z
— SurvivorAU (@Survivor_AU) January 30, 2024
Mark, the diplomat, and Eden, the movie fanatic, more commonly known as the “Invisible Hand,” decide to let Jess think she planned to vote out Frankie over their former feud so as not to draw unnecessary early attention to them being a power duo.
The tribes later competed for reward, where they faced off in a series of tug-of-war battles to earn fishing gear, bananas, s’mores, tarp, and a hammock. The Titans became the ultimate winners as they earned all but the s’mores with Eden exclaiming at the end of the challenge the iconic Gladiator one-liner, “Are you not entertained?” Yep, it seems we will be getting a film reference for each episode, thanks to Eden. I mean, as long as Eden remains in the game.
As the Titans happily enjoyed their bananas, Winna almost lost a tooth by biting into a clue hidden in one lucky banana. Winna quickly relayed this information to Jaden but, in a shocking turn of events, decided to look for a potential idol later on, as he couldn’t be bothered to do so at that moment. Later that night, Winna miraculously remembered having found a clue the day before, took a leisurely walk in the jungle, and found the idol in an apparent record-breaking time. Honestly, we should all take a page out of Winna’s book at this point.
JLP announced the next immunity challenge, where the castaways raced to get over a high frame, crawl through a twisted net, and then worked together to free coconuts from an overhead shoot to finally land those coconuts into a basket held up by the other tribe. The last tribe to hold out their basket was the Rebels tribe, sending the Titans back to the tribal council for the second time in a row.
Oh Nathan… #SurvivorAU pic.twitter.com/lHppBPXvxU
— SurvivorAU (@Survivor_AU) January 30, 2024
Back on the Titans beach, the Invisible Hand plotted to manipulate Jess into bringing up a name to seemingly vote out that person while still handling the strings backstage. Unknown to them, Nathan pitched Eden as a possibility to Jess for being the mastermind behind the Frankie vote. Jess agreed as she wanted to show agency in her gameplay.
Jess then brought that plan to others, including Mark, the other Invisible Hand member. Mark then went to work to flip the vote on Jess instead, as he thought he had better social bonds with the other Titans. When Eden found out he was on the chopping block, he also made sure to get confirmation from his other tribe members that their vote was going against Jess instead of him.
How long will they last? #SurvivorAU pic.twitter.com/cKFdPGomvb
— SurvivorAU (@Survivor_AU) January 30, 2024
At tribal council, Eden revealed to JLP that he knew he was in danger of leaving the game. Nathan also took the chance to find out more about Frankie being blindsided, ultimately confronting Jess about her role in the plan, with Jess saying she threw Frankie under the bus. Jess went on an honesty rampage as she also told Eden it was her who brought up his name to vote out. When it came the time to read the votes, JLP revealed Jess was the second woman eliminated from the Titans tribe after a 5-4-1 vote, with the Invisible Hand getting their way again.
As the Titans dwindle and the Rebels thrive, everything is up in the air as the first week of Survivor Australia season is coming to an end. This Australian Survivor season is in full force, and I can’t wait to watch how it pans out.
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I think the fact that you mistakenly call the Rebels tribe “Rivals” in the final paragraph is a clear indicator of how forgettable and inconsequential the theme of this season truly is