Brains v Brawn II is shaping up to be an insane season, and we’re only two episodes in. From chaotic players to downright awful gameplay and so-called strategies, Survivor fans are truly being fed. This season also demonstrates how addicting Survivor can get, as no one knows what will happen next, including the players themselves.
Let’s start at the Brains camp, where Kaelan enjoys himself with his coconut bar, and Kent continues to run amok with the machete as he, once again, tells the audience that he’s a multi-millionaire and that Survivor is the only thing left on his bucket list. Dude, we get it! Kent declares he has Myles’ head on his imaginary chopping block, as Myles has been playing the game too hard for Kent’s liking. Wasn’t Kent the one who threw a fit and then literally threw another guy’s hat into the fire for no apparent reason? Something doesn’t quite add up here.
Funnily enough, the next scene is of Myles and AJ conversing, with Kent menacingly lurking in the background. It does feel like Myles’ life (in the game?) is hanging on by a thin-ass thread, but thankfully others do notice Kent’s psychotic behaviour. Here’s hoping they act upon it before Kent goes full praying mantis mode on Myles.
For their part, the Coven alliance (Indy, Laura D, Karin, Logan, and Zara) further unite and Laura and Logan consider bringing Rich into their group as a “puppet.” For his part, Rich mentions that it would be a great idea for his game to be part of a cross-gender alliance, nicknaming the trio the Victoria Bitters. Still, Rich also makes a side deal with Max to ride the Coven’s coattails to target them later.
In the meantime, Nash remains oblivious at the Brawn camp and keeps up with his Phillip Shepard-esque antics, including having a vendetta with ally turned traitor Zen, as Zen voted for Nash at the previous tribal council. When the pair talk about the votes, Zen first pretends he didn’t flip but eventually admits he wanted to flush out the idol. They later shake hands and agree to let each other know what they’re going to do, with Zen saying in confessional that he will appeal to Nash’s ego for now.
During the reward challenge, there are several highlights, including JLP inquiring after Max’s hat, the Brain tribe’s outrage by Candy’s elimination as her outfit was fabulous, and then mockingly noticing Nash didn’t have his idol around his neck anymore. There’s a lot of tumbling and wedgies as the castaways plummet down a massive slide for the first part of the challenge, and then Nash again steps up for the Brawn tribe and fails miserably. The Brains tribe ultimately win and opts for the long-term reward of fishing gear over a huge tuna fish.
At the Brains beach, the women want to improve the tribe’s ramshackle shelter, although Rich complains about needing a day off. Karin reveals Rich is getting on her nerves as he doesn’t help; she adds that Myles is the hardest-working man in the Brains tribe even though he’s also the smallest. The Coven decides they’ll target Rich if they lose the immunity challenge, as Rich is the glue holding the guys together. The Coven also declares they don’t need to win immunity as the first vote is solidified, and true to form, they get their wish granted as the Brawn tribe ends up snatching immunity.
After the immunity challenge, the Brains tribe starts targeting each other. Kent wants Myles out and tells the other guys to vote his way, with Rich being the Coven’s main target. Kent then goes off into the woods, but not to search for idol, no, for an afternoon nap, declaring he wants nothing to do with the pre-tribal scrambling. WHAT?! Between Nash the Rash and Kent Krueger here, we’re definitely seeing some new and unexpected “strategies,” for sure.
Kaelan warns Myles about the latter being in the crosshairs, and Myles sets out to initiate the “playing it cool” strategy, where he pretends to enjoy life while not drawing any attention to himself. While Laura wants to keep Rich as a puppet, the rest of the Coven ready their brooms for the vote. However, Indy previously felt left out of the decision and concludes she was only included in the Coven for being a woman and as an extra number. Pulling off a Caryn Groedel, Indy goes to Rich and Max and reveals to them the all-women’s alliance and their plan to vote out Rich, but not before also warning them she will come for them if they betray her. This is precisely why Caryn, and Indy, suck.
Rich and Max don’t believe Indy and wonder if their target should be her instead. Just as Laura tells the Coven to keep Rich and go for Myles, Rich approaches them and tells them about Indi’s betrayal, much to their utter shock. The Coven, Rich, Myles, and Max ultimately decide to target Indy for creating too much chaos. A reawoken and still cranky Kent is told about the Indy drama after his nap. Yet, he’s still focused on Myles despite everything that’s transpired.
At tribal council, after apparently drinking a truth serum, Kent goes off on Myles, reveals he was the one who burned Max’s hat, and confesses he wanted to pin his crime on Myles. The rest of the tribe, amidst giggles and shocked faces, say Kent’s plan was nasty and unnecessary. The Coven then confronts Indy about her betrayal, going back and forth on what was said and why. Ultimately, the vote goes 10-2 between Indy and Miles, with a devastated Indy leaving the game without acknowledging her part in her own demise.
Just as JLP said, it was just the first vote for the Brains tribe, and more chaos seems to be brewing in both tribes. I, for one, can’t wait to see who will go coconuts next!
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