As this incredibly underwhelming pre-merge draws to a close, maybe we’ll finally get a standout episode this season. Or not, and we’ll have another incredibly obvious boot without any all-time great Survivor characters to make up for the mid-gameplay. Not to say this cast is actively bad because at least these seem like solid people with a few fun quirks here and there, but there’s just not much energy, positive or negative, to really get us invested in a rooting interest so far. Even a two-tribe swap didn’t give the season much life, given how clear-cut and lopsided the divisions were.
Speaking of those divisions, Hina just lost its first member in Matt, leaving Jason on the bottom with Uli’s core alliance deciding his fate if this tribe loses again. Given his name already came out of that urn, he’s got work to do. But as Savannah says, Hina started this war when they started cheering their tribe name at challenges as evidence of their kumbaya loyalty, so Uli won’t let off the gas any time soon.
For now, Jason’s plan is to erase tribal lines and clean up that Hina stink, and it starts with nerding out with fellow gamer Jawan about Pokémon. And to Jawan, it’s a nice gesture. Even if Uli is his primary alliance, he wants options, and Jason wanting to play a more open game with his second chance is alluring. But Jawan himself might end up being Jason’s saving grace in another way when he accidentally drinks out of Savannah’s canteen, yet another instance of him messing with her stuff. So if Jason’s amicable and Jawan’s annoying, why not consider taking out Jawan for petty reasons?
Meanwhile, on Kele, Shannon’s on the bottom herself, far away from the rest of her alliance. But she’s still playing hard, proposing a six-person alliance of two members from each original tribe at the merge—herself, Steven, and Alex, and three plus ones. Steven’s not feeling it, though. It’s too early in the morning to be playing so hard. The scheming is so transparent, and she’s dominating so many conversations that Steven and MC immediately plot her demise and convince Kristina to turn on the woman she’s bonded with the most. Major respect for trying to survive, but she can’t let a huge threat sneak by like that.
On the other hand, you have Sage on the bottom too, and she’s taking the opposite approach. Instead of telling everyone what they want to hear and going hard in every conversation and kissing their hands and doing way too much like she’s some new age Parvati, Sage plays the long game, not trying to rush anything and just letting Shannon burn out when the others notice. And it starts early when Steven and Alex compare notes, realizing she’s playing them both and trying to have waaaaay too many “closest allies” out here. Sage jumps in and calls Shannon out as the shark of the cast, and now her fin is above water in plain sight. So, in this Hina vs Uli war, it turns out Sage vs Shannon is the most compelling war to watch.
But to add a wrinkle to these obvious divisions, we have another Journey! MC goes from Kele while Jawan rigs a rock draw to send Nate instead of Jason from Hina. This time, it’s another challenge, but not for an advantage. Together, the two of them have to transport a ton of heavy sandbags across the island before time is up, or they both lose their votes. But in another twist, there’s a wrinkle to this wrinkle: there’s an advantage nearby in the jungle, and whoever finds it keeps their vote and gets to leave. The other person has to finish the sandbag challenge alone to keep their vote.
Nate offers a deal: leave one bag left before they go searching, guaranteeing both of them keep their votes. MC takes the offer, and while Nate doesn’t want a target on his back, he doesn’t want her to have the advantage either. So, eventually, he convinces MC to give up the search and just get the challenge over with, even with plenty of time left—a big missed opportunity for MC, but a deeply personal victory nonetheless.
When MC returns to Kele, Shannon walks off, leaving Sage with the perfect time to throw her under the bus. She throws Rizo under the bus, too, exposing him for having an idol and calling out Shannon for not telling her “closest allies” about it. Shannon doesn’t see Sage coming at all, still believing she has no strategy and is just the peepee poopoo girl who collects pimples and makes weird noises. But as Sage says, she’s not some wounded puppy. She’s a wolf, and she’s hungry for a blindside whenever she has a chance to take that shot.
Back on Hina, Nate shares the good news that MC didn’t win any advantages. But the real news here is more Jawan drama as he lays down and listens in on Savannah’s conversations with Sophi, triggering another annoyed confessional about how obnoxious and hard to work with the guy is. She’s already stressed in the game on a base level, and Jawan existing doesn’t make it any easier. So yeah, Jason might be on the bottom, but at least he’s inoffensive and chill. Sometimes that’s all you need to do to survive when people get petty.
It’s being put to the test immediately because after a back-and-forth immunity challenge on a blistering hot day, Kele wins again, taking home immunity and a cage of chickens that provides a warm dinner and a bit of trauma as they have to kill one first, something only Alex and Steven can stomach. And back to Tribal Hina goes. Will it be Jason as the obvious boot to take another shot at the old Hina and prevent a clear flipper from making the merge? Or will Jawan’s irksome behavior send him to the bottom in an Uli self-sacrifice?
Facing a fifth Tribal in a row, Sophi’s sick of losing and totally out of gas. But she’s still with Uli, and Uli is ready to send Jason packing… except for Savannah, who sees options where others don’t. If they boot Jason, that makes the tribal lines super clear and denies her any shot of working with old Hina if she one day needs their votes. But saving him and sending Jawan home? It might open up the game and give her multiple paths to victory.
Jason is the thread between old Hina and new Hina, a powerful position if he weaponizes it well. But it all depends on Savannah’s influence here, and she’s stepping back to let others like Nate make the call to avoid putting a target on her back. Nate’s down for a blindside, but he’s still 50/50 in the end. And even Savannah sees the benefits and drawbacks of both sides despite her personal investment in Jawan’s downfall.
After a Tribal about the various difficulties of the game and how it inspires paranoia and self-esteem issues in those who play it, it’s exactly what you expected coming into tonight: an easy unanimous vote on Jason. They tried to build up some logic for sending Jawan home, but it never made much sense for anyone else’s game. Jawan might be socially awkward and piss people off by accident, but at least he bleeds Uli red and not Hina yellow, which was always going to be the determining factor here. Not the most interesting outcome (you could say that for every boot so far), but at least the episode had some petty drama to keep it moving.
I’d say that was one of the most mid pre-merges ever, could’ve been an email, skip it on a rewatch… but we’re not done yet! Because it seems production finally wised up and said, “Hey, let’s not do the same Earn the Merge nonsense for the ninth time in a row,” and actually decided on a second swap. Sure, it’s to three tribes again, which is kind of eyeroll-inducing, but at least it’s something fresh that sets this season apart from the others on the New Era assembly line!
Doesn’t mean the actual merge episode won’t have the same Earn the Merge nonsense in a couple of weeks, but a longer pre-merge where we actually couldn’t predict the game format for once? Took them long enough to spice things up! But if the highest praise I can give this season is production making a couple of good tweaks to an already stale format that needs a bigger shakeup, that’s not something to be that proud of.
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this has to be the most boring survivor-there is no there there-I don’t like the imposed spirituality…don’t make waves-be a grownup…I think the taking of things is completely inappropriate especially in a small community and don’t understand the acceptance of a lack of personal boundaries…speak up…you don’t do this..Its about integrity-something I would want in a survivor…not anger…boundaries and integrity…The only person I feel a connection with is Rizzo who just seems like a good kid….but this group just feels lifeless…Uncle Jeff? Really?