It’s the final seven, and Kyle is finally gone. Sue’s over the moon celebrating the end of her one-sided rivalry, but not everyone’s so excited. Sam sees the writing on the wall. He and Genevieve are the big threats, and there’s a group of five ready to knock them out one after the other.
While Sam talks a big game, Genevieve is out there trying to address the flaws in her approach. She wanted to be the big bad wolf gobbling up the little pigs, but now the pigs vastly outnumber her, and she’s got to shift her strategy to playing opossum. Minimize her game, find a way to hide, and let others take the bullets meant for her. She apologizes to Andy for underestimating him, which goes well, but not all rifts will be mended so easily.
When it comes to Teeny, Genevieve just can’t help but strike a nerve. In an attempt to push Rachel as the biggest threat, she says her vote will probably go to Rachel over Teeny if they’re at the end together. A solid argument for sure, but Teeny takes it personally, feeling underestimated and a little threatened too. Frustrated at the perceived slight, Teeny hikes back to the shelter and vents about how they can’t stand Genevieve and Sam’s wallowing routine, which makes Rachel happier. If all eyes remain on the now powerless top dogs, she can be queen of the underdogs, locked and loaded with advantages and sturdy relationships galore.
Up for grabs in the reward challenge is an overnight trip to the Sanctuary for an Italian feast with letters from home as a nice bonus. Sam beats out Rachel to take the win, and while it’s a tough choice to decide who joins him, he takes Andy to fulfill a promise made a while ago despite their game differences. And obviously, he has to take his number one ally, Genevieve, too.
Once the winning group departs, a frustrated Teeny freely speaks their mind. Sam and Genevieve pandered and begged for their vote all morning, and then Sam leaves them back at camp so Andy can chow down instead? Bad move, Sam, because now Teeny knows exactly what alliance they want to work with, and the four losers are going to bond over their shared annoyance.
At the Sanctuary, Sam apologizes to Andy for all the trouble they’ve been through because of their strained relationship. At the same time, Genevieve opens up about the struggles of playing an unemotional game. And it’s made even harder when the letter from her father says she’s probably made so many friends out there… because she really hasn’t. Just enemies. Letting people in will be hard and uncomfortable, but Genevieve knows she has to, not just for the sake of her game, but for her soul to heal after playing so ruthlessly. It’s a beautiful moment of self-realization that shows real growth and honest humanity in a game that often doesn’t reward it.
If you thought Teeny would cool down by the time they all got back to camp, you’d be wrong. Dead wrong. Because they’ve gone from passive-aggressively venting to nearly melting down about Sam in a way that makes Sue’s hatred of Kyle look like true love. It’s nowhere near as insane as Liz’s bourbon burger blowup from last season, but it’s just as random and bizarre. If there’s anything Sam does, Teeny hates it. They hate his face, his smile, his posture, his everything. They hate the essence of Sam, even though he’s been nothing but chill and respectful so far.
As far as Teeny is concerned, Sam’s reward picks are the equivalent of him quitting the game. It’s over for him. He’s not going to win. It’s his last supper, and Genevieve and Andy will be collateral damage in his downfall because he made a terrible choice. The other players there don’t care that much, but hey, if Teeny’s newfound spite can forge a four person alliance to the end? Well, then, the women will go along with it.
Back with the winners, Andy spills the beans about the underdog alliance and pitches a strategy that allows the three of them to take control. Dubbed Operation: Italy on account of the feast that made their plan possible, it would force the majority to split their votes so Andy can flip, creating a 3-2-2 vote against Rachel and paving the way for one of Andy, Sam, or Genevieve to rise to victory.
Once back at camp, the trio each have their own parts to play. Sam puts on his actor face and plays the sad sack bottom feeder role so nobody suspects anything’s cooking behind the scenes. Meanwhile, Genevieve uses Sam’s dead Gata idol and some spare beads to craft a fake Beka idol. And to tie it all together, Andy goes to the underdog alliance, says he was strong-armed on the reward, has zero interest in breaking rank, and implies Genevieve might have an idol. All their stories line up, nothing’s out of place, and Rachel has no idea what’s coming.
But like with all great heist stories, it’s not a true thriller unless something goes horribly wrong to shake up the plan. In the ultimate middle finger to Operation: Italy, Rachel steamrolls the immunity challenge to win her second necklace in a row, forcing the trio to pick a new target if the plan can still be salvaged. The next best name is Caroline, whose elimination will break up her strong duo with Sue and cut her short of becoming a true threat as she’s slowly rising up the list of threats.
There are still obstacles to this plan’s success, though. The underdogs have to split the votes just right, putting Andy in the majority so he can decide where that crucial deciding vote actually goes. But Teeny is fiercely in favor of piling on their nemesis Sam and letting Genevieve think she’s the target, so any idol will be wasted. Andy continues pushing for the split vote to whoever will listen, and Genevieve shows Teeny her fake idol as an added incentive to get the votes in the perfect configuration.
But there are still so many ways the plan can be derailed. Rachel could block someone’s vote, and Andy has to be firm about wanting her to save it for the final six. The votes might be split in a way that gives Andy no power, even after all the work the trio did to get things in order. And then there’s the doomsday scenario of everything going fine… except for Andy deciding to bail on the plan at the last minute and ruining everything. He wanted Rachel out, but is Caroline a juicy enough target for his big move? It’s a narrow window for victory, but it’s the only chance Sam and Genevieve have to survive, so all they can do is hope the stars align, bet on Andy’s ever-shaky loyalty, and just… see what happens.
What happens is magical. Genevieve pretends to fall on her sword and accept whatever outcome awaits her, ensuring the underdogs are not spooked into playing any advantages. Rachel holds onto her Vote Blocker, and Sue doesn’t play her idol on Caroline. The votes are split perfectly so Andy can make his move, and as the grand climax of a 90-minute heist movie episode, Caroline is blindsided 3-2-2. Operation: Italy is a success, the underdog alliance takes a massive loss, and the big threats survive to see the finale… or part one of the finale… or just the penultimate episode as we always called it for 46 seasons prior.
We’re now down to six, and it’s shaping up to be a battle of top dogs, underdogs, and those who play in the middle. Genevieve and Sam are playing to simply survive to the end and reap their rewards. Rachel is fighting to stay hidden until it’s too late to get her out, even with the target slowly forming on her back. Sue and Teeny have been scorned by betrayals all season long, and this endgame is going to be about looking for revenge. And then there’s Andy, the professional flipper who just made the move of the season and might’ve shattered the perception that he’s a mere goat being herded to a no votes finish.
I have to be honest here: the middle of this post-merge wasn’t that exciting. Votes lacked impact, big threats were predictably going home, the drama wasn’t as interesting as last season’s hot mess buffet, and the season just didn’t have the pure hype factor a chaotic game full of power shifts really should. But this was the best episode of the season hands down, a cinematic masterpiece of an episode with all the setup, buildup, and payoff you could ever want. We had actual tension between the players, and it felt raw and personal. Character arcs paid off after weeks of planting seeds.
Going into the last two episodes, there are still so many people who feel fleshed out with the potential to win. All these final episodes need to do now is be like Operation: Italy and go off without a hitch to deliver a satisfying home stretch.
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