The Survivor G-Spot. It’s not nearly as salacious and risqué as it sounds. Many Survivors are quick to vote out the players who are the biggest jury threats, but many forget that the G-spot, the designated Final Two spot for the goat, is just as threatening. At this stage of the game, the prospect of winning the $500,000 is all too real, and the contestants are starting to think about who they can and can’t beat at the end. This episode we finally get an insight into the castaways’ endgame plans which sparks a heated battle between winning with honour and winning with ease.
Upon arriving back at camp, the contestants are coming to terms with a dramatic tribal council that saw Tara flip on her closest ally in the game in Locky and subsequently send Ziggy home. As the final five celebrates their achievements, Locky is loitering around camp with a glum and whiny expression on his face. “I know you’se are all gunning for me and it’s just the way I like it,” Locky says to the rest of his tribe. Michelle can’t resist the opportunity to challenge Locky’s ego and tells him that everyone that is left has been targeted, so it’s nothing special at this point of the game. Tara then likens Locky’s behaviour to her sulking four-year-old child and says to us that he is acting out because he isn’t used to not getting his way.
Fake News
The next morning, Peter, Michelle, and Jericho continue to reaffirm their intent to vote out Locky if he doesn’t win immunity. Peter says that Locky will be most likely targeting Jericho or himself as they are both the biggest challenge threats for Locky moving into the final four. Afterwards, Locky and Tara repair their relationship after having a conversation inside the shelter. After a nice warm embrace and an exchange of kind words, Tara lets Locky know that she isn’t breaking up with him and that they are still best friends. What she tells us in her confessional though is a different story. She lets us know that she IS breaking up with Locky but despite feeling sad about the prospect of voting him out, is excited to do what’s best for her game.
However, in order to grab Tara back onto his side, Locky pulls a trick out of his sleeve that he has kept hidden the entire game. A fake hidden immunity idol. Well, that’s what Locky calls it, but it’s actually only the clue. Well, it’s not even that. It’s actually the congratulatory parchment that you receive along with the hidden immunity idol. According to Locky, Anneliese dropped both the parchment along with the pouch the immunity idol was found in when she was voted out. He grabbed both of them without anybody noticing and kept it for a rainy day. Lucky for him because it’s pouring bucket loads now that he is public enemy number one.
Locky confides in Tara, flashes her the parchment and tells her that he found the hidden immunity idol back at the merge feast and had it buried in the dirt this entire time. Tara immediately reports back to Jericho, Peter, and Michelle and tells them that Locky has an immunity idol, but the boys are dubious of the sudden news and question Tara on whether he showed her the actual immunity idol or not. Peter is the most vocal person against Locky and insists that there is no way that he could have an idol. Nevertheless, Tara says she is absolutely convinced that Locky has it because she saw the clue with her very own eyes – no need to see the idol itself.
Immunity Challenge
There is a twist to the immunity challenge this episode. The winner not only guarantees themselves a spot in the Final Four but they also win a brand-new car! A brand spanking new Holden Trailblazer to be exact. Yes, the legendary car reward has made its way to Australian Survivor. To win this challenge, the contestants must make their way through a trip obstacle to reach a beam where they must place a line of dominos. The first player who can knock off all of their dominos so that the last domino falls onto a gong wins immunity and reward.
After an abundance of close calls and failed attempts, it’s Michelle who manages to keep composed enough to take out her first individual immunity win and the brand new car. Then Jonathan LaPaglia gives Michelle a tough decision to make. She has to take one person with her to take her new car for a spin and enjoy a special jungle picnic. She picks Jericho, saying that it’s because of his encouragement that she ultimately decided to knock her dominos over. Right after, JLP drops the bombshell that she gets to choose one more person for the picnic reward. Interestingly, Michelle decides to pick Tara over her ally Peter leaving the two enemies alone at camp together. Locky and Peter are left standing on the mat as they watch the rest of the tribe drive off into the bushes in Michelle’s brand-new car.
At the picnic reward, we start to see some doubt creep in the mind of Tara about Locky’s fake immunity idol. She says that Locky was acting way too disappointed after losing the challenge for someone who has an immunity idol in their pocket. However, Michelle is still worried that he has one and says that if he is guaranteed a place in the Final Four, then she will want to make sure she is in his good graces in case he regains power. Nevertheless, the three of them agree that the plan has not changed and that they will vote Locky out at tribal council.
Two Steps Ahead of the Game
Michelle is contemplating keeping Locky in the game so that if he does save himself at tribal council, she will be able to maintain a working relationship with him open and available. But before we get into that, Locky and Jericho have a private conversation where they stroke each other’s egos and massage their masculinity by agreeing that they should take each other to the end because they are worthy winners. Jericho lets Locky know that he wants to take Locky to the end because he wants to win against the strongest players and not simply drag a goat to the end. They both agree that Peter is the weakest and doesn’t deserve to stay. We end the conversation with Jericho letting us know that he thinks he can beat anybody at the end and his decision will simply come down to whether or not he wants to take a goat or a threat to the end.
When Locky walks off into the bushes, the entire tribe thinks he is digging up the immunity idol that he claims he has. Michelle volunteers to follow him to see if he is able to dig anything up. As she tiptoes her way towards several trees to hide behind, Locky lets her know that he can see her. They have a conversation about voting Peter out with Locky saying that he only wants to take the best to the end. Despite the fact that Michelle knows that she can beat Peter, she lets Locky know that she will vote him out anyway. In her confessional, Michelle lets us know that she promised to vote Peter out so that she can prove to Locky that she was loyal to him in the event that he does play an idol to save himself.
In this instance, we begin to see how strategically strong Michelle’s game has been this whole season. Even though she knows that the majority of the votes are going towards Locky, she will vote for Peter regardless so that she will hopefully secure safety if Locky survives the vote – she’ll probably even secure a jury vote as well. She is taking into account every potential outcome that may arise and will make the move that will leave her with the most options available at the end. As the contestants walk to tribal council with their torches in hand, Locky says that after convincing Michelle to vote Peter out, he now has four votes to eliminate him and hopes that the odds are in his favour.
Tribal Council
At tribal council, the battle between Peter and Locky heats up when the dreaded G word gets thrown Peter’s way. Locky makes the case that he should be taken further in the game because it would be the honourable thing to do since nobody wants to win against an easy opponent. He throws out the old cliché that to be the best you have to beat the best and says that Peter should be voted out because he is a goat who hasn’t played his own game. The music reaches the peak of its crescendo as we see Tara cover he mouth in disbelief over Locky’s audacity to tell Peter he is a goat to his face. Peter doesn’t believe he is a goat and proceeds to explain that his game consisted of moves that were subtle and hidden. He also says that he is a fighter who has had to navigate through the game on his own because has had his allies voted out one by one.
The comments by Peter are met with looks of confusion and bewilderment by Henry who scrunches up and raises his eyebrows. His Samatau alliance of Jarrad, Tessa, and Anneliese nod their heads in approval over his ability to stand up for himself against Locky. However, Tara doesn’t seem to understand this whole concept of a ‘goat.’ She doesn’t believe that it is an accurate comparison and instead suggests that the term should be ‘sheep’ – because sheep don’t wander on their own unless led by a shepherd.
Regardless, before the contestants go off to vote, Peter tries to point out the flaws in Locky’s fake idol strategy in front of the jury. He tells JLP that he doesn’t believe Locky has an idol at all and says that it is “silly gameplay” to come up with a fake idol and not even show people that he has it. Locky retaliates and says that it is only a “big move” if he tells everybody about it and doesn’t show it because that way people will still have doubts and throw votes his way – thus allowing him to play the idol successfully. Locky tries reinforcing the argument that he should be saved because it would be the honorable way to win the game. But in the end, everybody finds out that Locky did not have a hidden immunity idol, and he is voted off by a vote of 3-2. Michelle was the only other person to vote for Peter, keeping her word to Locky.
Final Thoughts
Personal bias aside, Locky has proven himself to be a more than decent player this season. Even though his strategic gameplay was only mediocre at best, his social game was quite exceptional (the scene with Jericho in the water this episode is the perfect example). When Locky isn’t pretending to be smoother than butter and sweeter than ice cream, he knows how to play to people’s egos and make them feel comfortable. When Locky is in control, his ability to take leadership of a group and make them feel special makes him a dangerous front-runner. He is an adventure guide after all; it’s his job to make people feel secure enough to risk their lives doing crazy adrenaline rushing activities.
However, the moment Locky loses power and is on the bottom it turns him into a self-righteous and entitled douchebag which unfortunately makes it difficult to validate his positive attributes. Aside from his massive ego and obnoxious amounts of bravado, Locky played his role perfectly as the heroic figure of the season that you love to hate. He may have preached winning with honour, and he may have been delusional enough to think that he had never flipped on anyone in the game, but Locky was a competitor who made the season interesting.
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I felt so bad for Peter tonight, like he is totally not a goat. Tbh I think Tara and Jericho were both bigger goats than Peter (though neither are at all weak players, just happened to be very much the lesser player in a strong duo). His game has all been about survivability, plus is clearly a very strategically sound and aware player, even if he isn’t making massive moves. Glad to see Locky go though, the mentality of taking the best to the end to win is idiotic, there are so many examples of it just costing someone the win. I don’t understand how it is to prove you can beat the best, as aren’t you proving you can beat them by just surviving longer in the game than them. In terms of going forward I definitely see either Jericho or Peter coming 4th, probs Peter, then Michelle missing out in third due to losing immunity, followed by a Jericho win over Tara. To be honest though any of the 4 winning would seem fine, none have played awful games, and all seem like interesting, nice people.
Thanks for the recap, great assessment of locky’s game play (especially the last paragraph), he was not someone whom I could fully support to win
I found that I liked Locky well more than most of the “jock” archetype – he was an incredibly complex character and easily one of the most polarizing presences this season. When he had power after the last swap and during the early merge, he was a lovable underdog turning the tables, but when Cocky Jocky Locky came out, he turned into the worst of Ozzy combined with a bit of Hantz. This made him impeccable casting It’s amazing how he was so self-aware and socially thorough at some times, but a selfish, immature brat the moment he didn’t get his way. I too leave the season having strongly mixed feelings toward him, but this makes him a prime candidate for a return ticket for an All-Stars or FvF.
However, Tara’s comments toward Locky made me despise her all the more. Y’know, Tara… Locky isn’t the first to throw a hissy fit when he didn’t get his way in the game. Who was the one who threw a tantrum when Aimee left instead of A.K., hm? I would hate it if Tara won this, but I’d be fine with any of the rest of them. Rooting for Jericho the most though!