Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 50 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
Double Duos
Gia: A new twist has entered the US Survivor universe, but fans of Survivor South Africa are more than familiar with this format change. Known as Tied Destinies on the international version, Double Duos forces the castaways to pair up for one round. The pairs compete in immunity together, play advantages together, and receive votes together at tribal council. While it was certainly a risk to introduce such a twist to this landmark season, I must admit I enjoyed this round much more than I liked the repetitiveness of the split tribal councils. Plus, as the only player not placed in a pair, Cirie was safe from elimination, automatically guaranteeing her at least 11th place (but we’re still hoping that she survives for much longer).
Cirie is exiled
Gia: As I stated above, Cirie was automatically given immunity this episode due to being the only person not in a pair for Double Duos. She was sent to exile island before the immunity challenge as a result, but unbeknownst to her she would be given a chance to return to camp and participate in the vote. In order to make that happen, she had to find the coconut with a phoenix symbol on it out of the hundreds that were scattered throughout the island. She was successful and won the right to return to camp. From here on, she immediately went to work, pushing the target off of Rick and Aubry and onto Coach and Chrissy.
Rick “finds” an idol
Christine: Rick and Christian’s fake idol at tribal council finally paid off this week, even if it didn’t change the outcome of the vote. At tribal, Rick dramatically got up after claiming to have found an idol clue and ripped the fake idol out of its hiding spot. This dramatic reveal led to a live tribal and lots of whispering, but didn’t seem to change the course of the vote at all. Rick was able to get out of trying to play the idol right away by claiming it had to be “snuck out” to be activated, but sooner rather than later, people will start to ask a lot of questions about this mysterious fake idol.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Christine: Rizo and Ozzy’s idols were on the backburner this week, and now Rick’s fake idol is in the spotlight. Rick’s fake idol is a very nice distraction for Rizo and Ozzy: just as their idols are likely to become a focus, Rick throws himself into the spotlight with an even more public idol that isn’t even real.
Extra Vote
Christine: Cirie held onto her Extra Vote, which wasn’t needed this week thanks to the Chrissy/Coach consensus vote that she steered upon returning from her coconut exile journey. Cirie/Rizo/Ozzy hold three out of the four real advantages left on the season.
Shot in the Dark
Gia: Coach decided to play his Shot in the Dark this round, and with good reason. Due to the Double Duos twist, this shot also applied to Chrissy. Unfortunately for both of them, the shot was unsuccessful, and the pair was voted out in a 10-1-1 split.
Steal-a-Vote
Gia: Stephenie still has her Steal-a-Vote advantage and appeared not to even consider using it this round. We’ll see if her mindset changes now that she’s been left on the outs of the vote.
Top 3 Contestants
Cirie
Christine: This episode really hammered home Cirie’s ability to seamlessly rally people and direct a vote. As soon as she returned from exile, we watched the entire conversation around the vote shift to Chrissy and Coach because that was what Cirie wanted to happen. Few people are able to make Survivor look as easy and effortless as Cirie does. Thank GOD she found that coconut on exile so we got to see her play a part in this vote. Cirie is in a great spot moving forward and seems unlikely to be targeted in the next couple of votes, but she’s likely to be in danger as we approach the endgame, where she’s going to really need to rely on her allies Rizo and Ozzy to keep her safe once she becomes the obvious biggest threat left.
Rick
Christine: Rick had a big flashy moment with the fake idol this week, but I feel like this was a bad play for him in the long run. The charade just fed into is reputation as an idol hound, and it didn’t even give him an actual idol that could protect him. Plus, he and Aubry didn’t even really need the idol this week, so the immediate shock of the fake idol find didn’t pay off as well as it could’ve if he was actually the vote. I’m looking forward to seeing how Rick plays this off in the next episode – it’s clear from people’s reactions that they’re already skeptical of whether or not the idol is real or not, and how Rick responds to those questions will be crucial.
Tiffany
Gia: Tiffany Nicole Ervin, the woman that you are! After losing her closest ally in Dee, one would think that her options would remain limited, if they exist at all. This proved not to be the case for Tiffany, who used this unprecedented twist as an opportunity to gain allies and join forces to take out her biggest adversaries. She gambled big when she paired up with Joe this round, and it paid off in a big way when they won immunity and reward, potentially solidifying their bond for the future of the game. Perhaps her biggest win came when she was able to successfully vote out her biggest adversary in Coach, keeping her promise that she would continue voting for him until he was out for good. Now, let’s hope that this momentum for her continues to escalate.
Fallen Comrades
Chrissy
Christine: It’s a shame I have so little to say about Chrissy’s time on Survivor 50. We just didn’t see much from her and what we did was pretty unremarkable. Chrissy seemed firmly locked in with her alliance, and she went down with the ship when Coach made himself too big of a problem for everyone else and she got tethered to him in the twist. I wish we had seen more of her in the edit so we could better judge her game, but from what we did see, I can’t say she was particularly robbed by this twist.
Gia: Chrissy was by far one of my most highly anticipated returns for 50, so to see her lose out on the million due to an unprecedented twist again is both ironic and heartbreaking. The Chrissy we saw on this season was unapologetically herself, but a little more vulnerable and a lot more willing to speak out about the gender bias that has shown itself in this season’s edit. I am sorry to see that her return to the game was less than ideal, but I choose to remain hopeful that we will see her on our screens again in the future.
Coach
Christine: Oh, Coach. He truly went out at exactly the perfect point in the season. We had plenty of time to watch and laugh at his antics before they became too suffocating, and he got a fun and satisfying downfall. Love him or hate him, Coach always delivers as a huge character and this season was no different. From his haikus and singing to his vow of silence, Coach took us on a rollercoaster these past few episodes. If he had laid low last week and this week, it’s possible he and Chrissy could’ve survived here. But he was too loud, too obvious with his allegiances, and too annoying for his tribemates to let him get any further in the game. I know not everyone was pleased to see Coach back this season, but he made me laugh so I’m glad we got to see him play one more time and go out in such a fun episode!
Gia: I can’t say I’m devastated to see Coach go, but it cannot be denied that he made his mark on the season. Week by week, he kept people talking about his antics and outbursts, constantly referring to a moral code that he believed everyone but himself should abide by. While some players were determined to show that they’ve improved their strategic games, Coach seemed content to stick to the same antics that made him a star the first time around. He’s one of the biggest characters to ever come out of the show, and on this front he more than delivered. However, I’m more excited to see the focus finally shift to other players.
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