Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 49 as they list their top moments in various important categories. This includes the most essential information, the stand-out castaways, and the key moments from the week.
Here, Christine and Gia break down all the action from the latest episode.
Top 3 Moments
Sage’s Revenge Tour
Gia: Hell hath no fury like a Sage scorned. Suffice to say, Sage did not take Jawan’s blindside well, and it was Yellow Sophie that she felt the most betrayed by. She vowed to get revenge in her friend’s name, but the opportunity to strike came much sooner than expected. Once the primary target, Steven, won an advantage and immunity, the dueling sides were able to come to a compromise with Sophie. When Tribal Council came, Sophie was voted out unanimously, Sage got her revenge, and Jawan got vindication. Sometimes in Survivor, the most exciting votes aren’t strategic; they’re strictly personal.
Steven’s Journey
Christine: Despite everyone worrying about Steven getting an advantage on a Journey, somehow, everyone allowed Steven to go on the Journey and get an advantage. Steven’s task was to go around an island and gather codes needed to unlock a chest and break a pot before the time ran out. Steven triumphantly completed the task, avoided losing his vote, and secured a vote-block advantage. It feels like time and time again in the New Era, players identify someone they DON’T want to go on the Journey, and that person always ends up going. It would be fun to see more aggressive gameplay normalized in these scenarios, where players try more openly to prevent each other from going on a Journey. Normalize fighting about the Journey!!!
A Strong Dislike
Gia: New Era Survivor hardly has a reputation for getting personal at tribal council, so a heated moment between Savannah and Kristina may be as close as we are going to get. When asked about their relationship on the island, they made it no secret that they have never worked together, and haven’t really gotten along either. Neither would say they hate each other, but there is definitely a “strong dislike.” It felt like a PR answer on both ends, meaning there likely won’t be any warm and fuzzy feelings between the two. At the end of the day, some people are just not going to get along, and that’s okay.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Gia: There isn’t much to report on in the way of hidden immunity idols. Rizo didn’t use his idol this round, and with the vote unanimous for Sophie, he didn’t need to. If an idol has been replanted from Kristina playing hers the previous round, no one has found it yet.
Knowledge is Power
Gia: Sophi considered using her Knowledge is Power this round on Steven to obtain the advantage he had won on his Journey, but ultimately decided against it. Personally, I think the better bet would be to eventually use it against Rizo for his idol, but time will tell if she makes the move.
Vote Block
Christine: After a strenuous Journey task, Steven was rewarded with the power to block someone’s vote at tribal council, an advantage that must be played at camp before leaving for tribal. It’s not the most powerful advantage in the world. Still, Steven smartly withheld the nature of his advantage from everyone, letting their imaginations run wild rather than giving them concrete information to work with.
Top 3 Players
Sophi
Christine: Our last Kele standing remains in one of the best strategic positions in the game, locked in with her trio with Rizo and Savannah, while being perceived as unthreatening enough to have options without them moving forward. She was faced with the dilemma of flipping on them this week, and it’s a dilemma I expect will come up again next week. Rizo and Savannah need Sophi more than she needs them, and as the numbers continue to dwindle and their targets get bigger, they’ll need her even more.
Rizo and Savannah remain effective shields for Sophi, but she’s getting to the point in the game where it would be smart to cut at least one of them at F6 to maximize her chances at the end. With her Knowledge is Power, she could also easily steal Rizo’s idol, although I think that would hurt her in the long run, even if it gives her something on her “resume.” Sophi has played a great game to get this far, but she’s getting into real “do or die” territory as we approach the endgame.
Steven
Christine: Steven really needed this immunity win, and while I’m not convinced he’ll survive the next round if he loses immunity, I want to give him some well-deserved props for how he handled his Journey and advantage. He played the whole situation nearly perfectly, giving his tribemates just enough information to get Rizo’s wheels spinning and put him in the position to consider wheeling and dealing with Steven. A vote blocker is far from a powerful advantage, but he leveraged the flow of information to his benefit to derive maximum benefit from his Journey. If he loses immunity next week, his best bet for survival is trying to stir up as much fear and suspicion as possible about what exactly he’s got in his pocket, and hope people play scared enough to allow him to maneuver his way out of trouble.
Rizo
Gia: This episode proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Rizo is not just a showman, but also a cunning strategist. It seemed his alliance was doomed to lose one of its own once Steven won immunity, but he didn’t lose hope that there was a workaround. He used the reward as an opportunity to convince Steven and Kristina that Sophie was the best target for both sides, and they took the bait. It was an incredible feat to achieve, and a testament to Rizo’s capabilities. His Survivor resume is building with every episode, and everyone should be afraid of taking him to the final three.
Fallen Comrades
Sophie
Christine: DIVA DOWN! It’s a real shame Sophie was so hidden for so long, because in the merge, she proved herself to be an entertaining confessionalist and a strong personality in the game. I appreciated that Sophie leaned into some Old School sensibilities, not being afraid to speak her mind and not just forgiving and forgetting after being excluded on OG Hina and becoming the desired target at the split tribal. Unfortunately for Sophie, she was put in a situation where she really needed to win immunity more than once to survive the early merge. Then she became a threat in the mid-merge by winning immunity multiple times. This week was the end of the road for her, but I hope she got to enjoy some great food that wasn’t fruit in Ponderosa!
Gia: Sophie getting a purple edit in the pre-merge is a crime I will never forgive, because she was a fantastic part of the merge. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and fight for her place in the game, even if her choices made her a few enemies along the way. Not all of her decisions were the best for her winning equity, but she didn’t back down from the direction she wanted her game to go. Hindsight is 20/20 in Survivor, and it’s important to be able to hold your own in the game. Sophie was able to do that and was wise enough to admit in her exit press about what she would’ve done differently. I’ll miss her as a contender in 49, but she’ll do great as an equalizer on the current jury.
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