Next Time On… Survivor is a little blog I’m doing here on Inside Survivor, predicting the events of the next episode based on hints from the previous one as well as the preview trailers and commercials.
100-percent spoiler free speculation! Let’s do it!
Part 1: Previously on… Survivor
Okay; you cannot judge me for getting some of this stuff wrong!
1. Ciera and Kelley are going to start working more closely, and Stephen is going to try to work with them.
It appears that Abi is also a part of this little mayhem alliance, but we all know Ciera and Kelley are far closer and strategic. I’ll give myself a B because I think this was all relatively obvious from the previews.
2. Savage and Joe are going to campaign to take out Stephen in retaliation to his push to take out Joe.
Man, I would have never guessed that Jeremy could so easily talk an entire group out of targeting his ally. The man is smooth, and he completely saved Stephen’s ass. They still looked into it, so I’ll give myself a D+, but there is no excuse for number three.
3. Stephen will be voted out and become the second member of the jury. If not Stephen, Ciera or Abi will be in trouble for their attempts at taking out Tasha last week.
HA. Nope. F. Good job, Jacob.
Part 2: The Advantage
Every moment of the preview material we have for the next week is focused on the inevitable camp-wide treasure hunt for a hidden immunity idol. And some potential “advantage in the game” available to the player most quickly willing to abandon an endurance-based immunity challenge and touch a buoy floating just a few strokes in front of them.
Though the entire YouTube video preview is just twenty seconds of idol hunting, I feel a need to differentiate between the hidden immunity idol and whatever advantage is potentially available to them during the immunity challenge. To be honest, I don’t think the advantage has anything to do with the idol. If that were the case, why would Probst’s narration be as follows in the next episode preview…
“Everyone is looking for an advantage in the game… but what they don’t know is that it’s right in front of them.”
What would be so revealing about just saying, “Everyone is looking for a hidden immunity idol?” What difference would it make? The audience knows that is exactly what everyone is after. That simple change in language leads me to believe that this is the re-do of the second vote that Dan Foley wasted in season 30.
I believe this is validated by an image we see in the YouTube preview. It’s quick, but I think it’s worth speculating about. If you watch the “Witches Coven” preview on YouTube and pause at the 0:05 marker, you see our lovable Captain Ahab, Stephen, grasping a brownish, tube-looking object. In the same series of shots, we see him and the rest of the tribe shivering in the cold, clearly drenched by the rain. The only time we see the castaways directly in the rain throughout the preview material is the immunity challenge clips where each player is standing on those stair-platforms floating in the water.
I think it is a reasonable inference that when Probst cuts that rope during the “next episode preview” and tells everyone that the first person to touch their buoy gets an advantage, that Stephen leaps for it knowing that he can’t outlast his competition in the challenge. The reason he is so closely grasping it is because he needs to warm up and stay out of the rain for a little while with the rest of his soaking tribe before he goes off to find out what his advantage is.
Part 3: The Idol
During the pre-season, Probst made a big deal about how each hidden immunity idol would look different, with some looking less “authentic” than expected, possibly making some players believe they were in possession of a fake idol. There are a few ways a fake-looking idol could affect gameplay, but we certainly have not seen it yet.
But there is one thing I just can’t help thinking of. The damn water well.
I feel like every time players are talking by the well or searching around it, the lid is emphasized. There’s this emblem looking thing attached to it and man; I really think it’s an idol. It would be unexpected to some players, unbelievable to others and completely silly to some. Some people might notice the missing piece; others wouldn’t even give it a second thought. I don’t know if anyone is going to find a hidden immunity idol this week. The previews seem to imply someone will, but I think we have learned that the previews cannot always be trusted!
Way back at the beginning of the season I predicted that Stephen would find one because he was the only one shown actively searching on original Bayon, but that was a long time ago. If that was long-form foreshadowing for an idol find in episode nine, then awesome. I’ll make it one of my official predictions for good measure, but I’m doubtful.
Mini Part 4: Witches Coven
There really isn’t much to say about this, but I’m certain that the “witches coven” is a title given to the Ciera-Abi-Kelley alliance. I think they will be able to orchestrate, in tangent with some other players who feel vulnerable, a move to take out a “bigger threat.” Regardless, Kelley’s idol play certainly struck fear into all the other players, so expect a lot more caution from our second chancers when it comes to the next vote.
Part 5: Wrap-Up!
Brace yourself for failure, Jacob!
1. Stephen will receive the advantage, whatever it is, at the immunity challenge. I personally believe it’s a second vote. Joe will probably win said immunity challenge.
2. The hidden immunity idol is the well decal and Stephen will figure this out.
3. Abi, Kelley, and Ciera will be in the middle of a play to take out either Tasha or Jeremy. If it is the latter, he will probably use his idol.
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Well, it would be great if we got a replay of last week’s tribal council. This could occur if Joe, Keith and Spencer flip alliances and join the witches coven to vote out Jeremy (with a 6-5 advantage). Jeremy could then play the idol and whomever his side targets – Joe, if he doesn’t win immunity, or Ciera – will get voted out. We would then have a 5-5 alliance split going into the next episode, which would be awesome.