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
Writing the blog last week was a bit difficult. After analyzing the preview material for a few minutes, it had become relatively clear that Caleb would be medically evacuated from the game. During a shot of the entire crew in the teaser, you can see every member of the Beauty tribe standing or sitting, except for Caleb, who we don’t see at any other time in the previews.
I never like to see players go down like that. Caleb was proving to be a real force of nature, putting his all into every challenge. How much can a guy exert himself for some spices and a wok? Now we know. I’m glad he has fully recovered and expect to see him return in the near future. Consider that my first prediction of season 34, or whatever.
As for my other predictions, I was 50/50.
1. Someone on the Brains, I’m thinking Peter, will begin to figure out how to get the hidden immunity idol.
Grade: F. No indication that anyone on the tribe has found any clues.
2. Nick will say 20 words, tops.
Grade: I don’t deserve it, but I’ll take it. A.
Part 2: A snake in ice cream pants
Last week I made a somewhat random prediction about the hidden immunity idol on the Brains tribe’s camp. It had no basis other than – “Peter should probably go look for that idol really hard right now.”
In this week’s commercial spot, we get a brief glimpse of Neal looking up to the trees. We, the audience, know the key to the idol is attached to a tall tree. This could easily be the producers blatantly misleading us, but I like to believe it’s an indication of the Brains camp idol being found before the swap. And Neal, for whatever reason, has been labeled as a “sneaky” character despite not really being very sneaky. Not that he’s been a bad player or a transparent liar, we just haven’t seen Neal do anything particularly sneaky in the game yet. It could have all be foreshadowing for a stealthy idol grab! Regardless, the prospect of all three idols being found pre-swap is pretty exciting.
Part 3: A swap with a twist
“Drop your buffs.”
These words can fill a castaway’s entire being with feelings of dread or hope. At this point in the game, anyone who has seen Survivor before should expect some sort of swap. But, “swap” is not the word Probst uses in the commercial. He says, “We’re switching things up… just one twist…”
How do you add a twist to a tribe swap? The first thing that comes to mind is shuffling three tribes into two, but that isn’t much of a twist as much as it is a simplification. So, perhaps the twist is not about the tribe make-up, but the process of the switch-up.
My friends, I believe we are doing a schoolyard pick.
There’s a small covered item next to Probst in the previews and it’s likely a bag of rocks to determine the tribe leaders. And I know what you’re thinking: “Jacob, there’s an odd number of players right now! You don’t think they are going to send someone to Exile or something when they don’t get picked do you?”
Well. Yeah. I kind of do. And it’s making me rather nervous.
This season is all about brutality. And while I don’t believe anyone is being sent off to some tree-less deserted island, especially not after what happened to Caleb, I do believe someone will be exiled until the first Tribal, and that said someone will join the tribe who votes someone out. I think this theory is further validated by the description written for the episode: “The castaways drop their buffs and switch things up, and one castaway feels all alone in the game following the tribe switch.”
I guess the bigger question becomes, who will be exiled if this is the case? My prediction is Tai, and only because he doesn’t clearly fit into any plans. I can’t see players from other tribes necessarily wanting him for challenge strength (though he has done quite well thus far) or players from his own tribe needing him for strategic purposes as the Beauty Girls alliance doesn’t really involve him or Nick.
If this is all one big prediction gone wrong and Exile isn’t even in the question, I think it’s still fair to assume an incoming schoolyard pick with a disheartened last-picked castaway.
Part 4: A few things about the Brawn tribe
The conflict between Alecia and the men on her tribe has stirred up some arguments in the fan community. I see a lot of people not just defending but praising Alecia for coping with the bullies on her tribe. On the other hand, a lot of folks understood exactly why Scot and Jason were getting so fed up with Alecia. Where most did not condone their actions, it seems that many were willing to tolerate them.
I will not praise Alecia. She showed an extraordinary lack of social tact and communication ability throughout her time in the game. In 120-degree weather with her entire team melting in the sand, she kicked around the top layer in a uselessly desperate attempt of getting lucky. Pestering your teammates to keep trying, while they have clearly been working their asses off (illustrated best by Cydney), is annoying and unnecessary. Look, bullying is bad, and Jason and Scot are absolutely in the wrong and I will not defend them, but the praising of such a dull source of conflict only comes from the audience’s projection of themselves in any generic victim.
Cydney is the only player from the Brawn tribe who has any chance of winning this game. She listens before she speaks and doesn’t act out because someone is irritating her. Scot and Jason can be charismatic, but they only behave around people who they feel deserve their best. Obviously, you don’t get to pick your competition in Survivor. Scot and Jason are going to find themselves in some rough situations when they have to play with people they don’t like, which will absolutely happen with an eccentric cast like this. Scot in particular for he’s received a worse edit than Jason in terms of emotional confessionals, and Jason has possession of the idol.
Part 5: Wrap-Up
Let’s summarize, folks!
1. Neal will, at the very least, determine the location of the hidden immunity idol.
2. The tribe swap will consist of a schoolyard pick and a leftover castaway joining the tribe who votes off a member. If this is how it goes, Tai will be the leftover player.
3. Cydney will work her way into the majority alliance of whatever tribe she ends up on where Scot will find himself on the minority.
4. I believe someone from the Beauty tribe will be voted out. Their bonds with each other will likely be viewed as tighter than most others. If I had to guess further, I would predict Anna as the next vote-off. She’s not as sly as she thinks she is.
That’s all for this week, but feel free to tweet me @JacobDerwin if you want to tell me how wrong I am. Thanks for reading!
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Cannot believe what you said in section 4. Very unnecessary. You were not there so you do not know what happened. However, the comments that were made to Alecia were unacceptable in any sense while Alecia’s comments can be justified.
Unnecessary is the way fans reacted to Jason the entire season. I understand why people might get upset, and dislike Scot and Jason, but when there’s millions of Survivor fans all placing two guys bad edits on a pedestal of “horrible people” when we have no idea….that’s too far. How Scot treated Alecia was the worst all season, and I actually want him to leave now. Even that’s not enough to slander him like he’s a worthless piece of garbage. Jason on the other hand gets the edit of a “demeaning woman-hater” who lives to cut down pathetic 24 year old blonde girls. Whereas somehow the edit that everyone omits from their overall opinion of Jason, is when he talks about his two daughters, and how one has autism. How he’s doing this for them. Sure he treated her bad sometimes, but he also held back.
Despite the loathing, if we were to compare the two’s lives Jason would be head and shoulders ahead in the spectrum of responsibility…
Oh god…Hope you are wrong with Anna…
Everybody talks about seeing Anna going home next but I just don´t believe it…
I’m not sure what comments about Alecia have to do with next weeks predictions, but so strongly disagree with your comments. Under no circumstances, no matter how much Alecia missed out on “social tact” or poor relations with her tribe, it never merits or makes sexist bullying understandable. Even from day one that were calling her “blondie” and calling her weak.
I agree that the bullying was uncalled for, but I don’t think it was a result of sexism. They just didn’t seem to like her because of her lack of physical strength and something about her being pesky(?). They seemed to respect Jenni an Cydney. But yes, even if Alecia was not a social genius, Jason and Scots behavior towards her was obnoxious!
It was sexism. Just because they treat some women some way, and one another doesn’t preclude sexism. Sexism is frustration at a woman not acting the way they want. Alecia fell into this category. “Blondie” and “cheerleader” are gendered terms, and the desire for Scot to speak to her like a “father” and Scot not wanting his daughter to be like them, is patriarchal control.
If sexism was defined as “frustration at a woman not acting the way one wants”, then sexism isn’t really a bad thing. If I was to be frustrated by observing a woman abusing young children and someone called me sexist because I was frustrated, I wouldn’t mind. There would be nothing wrong with my frustration (or my more probable anger). Sexism however is actually defined as the belief that one gender is superior to another. Note that this goes both ways, you can be sexist against men. While I don’t defend Scot and Jason’s behavior, I don’t think that sexism is what they are guilty of. They did not indicate in any way that they dislike women in general, just Alecia, and they displayed this in an inappropriate manner. Also, implying that one is in fact of a certain gender with names such as “blondie” does not imply that being of a certain gender is a negative attribute. It’s a shame this section has become a debate over such a topic.
I don’t think that many people are claiming that Alecia was an extraordinary Survivor competitor. Except for Jenni’s elimination Alecia played quite poorly. Many Survivor viewers, myself included, have grown fond of Alecia because of her never-give-up attitude. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to appreciate someone’s perseverance despite poor gameplay. I think that out of the entire Brawn tribe only Cidney has played a decent social game, and while Alecia might have been irritating at times, she was never malicious or cruel. Typically I only really like the excellent Survivor players. Personality usually takes second priority, but I really like Alecia. I don’t think people only like Alecia because she was a victim. I don’t see her as a victim and she has stated that she doesn’t either. What I liked about her was that she never let Jason and Scot make a victim of her. One last note: her perseverance did not only show in her coping with Jason and Scot, but also in the five hour long fire-making bit. You’ve got to respect someone who spent that much time and finally managed to make a fire despite the wet conditions.
No. ANNA WILL NOT BE VOTED OFF. I refuse to accept it.
I actually think the 3 beauty girls will end up on a tribe together
I do not believe as well that Anna will be voted out, I think the 5 beautys will remain Strong dont matter where they go, the same thing I know wont happen with the Brawn tribe or with Mike that will go with everyone but the Brains, so if I could guess I think someone for Brains tribe will go home, maybe Aubry or Joe.
I would love for a brain to be voted off
Boom, Anna got voted out.
The prediction became true, AGAIN-
I just wanted to commend you for addressing the Jason, Scott, Alecia mess fairly and appropriately. I’m sure you will continue to get heat for not calling the two guys bullies. They haven’t been bullies. They haven’t been nice, but they haven’t been bullies. This is more of a “ganging up” on someone. These are people playing a brutal game for a million dollars. “Ganging up” on someone is a horrible thing in real life, and in Survivor, it probably isn’t going to win you the game unless you switch your game play up at some point. But whether or not something is horrible behavior in real life or not good Survivor strategy, it is certainly acceptable within the context of the game.
I disagree with you. I think what they were doing was bullying. By definition, bullying is to use strength to harm or intimidate another. While they were unsuccessful in intimidating Alecia, it was still their intent.
PLUS, Jason pushing Alecia so she didn’t get the key to the idol was certainly using his brute strength against a small girl. And it did inflict harm as Alecia confirmed in her exit interviews.
Jason and Scot were definitely being bullies.
Um that Alecia bash by you was totally unnecessary considering you’re trying to predict next week and that happened last week. She was trying and there’s obviously no way her tribe can win a challenge if they all just sit there. She wasn’t even being annoying, and trust me, there are some points where she is. Don’t even know if I’ll continue reading on this site with comments like that.
Agree. I’m so tired of the whole debate already, and I think it was completely unnecessary for Jacob to chime in with his 2 cents. A very good entry in the “Next Time on Survivor” series marred by this pointless digression into the Alecia versus Kyle/Scot debate.
Excellent work, Jacob (expect for the Alecia digression). I was particularly impressed with your analysis of the opening shot of Neal looking up at the trees which is sandwiched between shots of Kyle and Scot, and Tai, retrieving their idols. I had seen the preview before but had not put much thought into it. You’re right that it could be deliberately misleading the viewer, but since we have had no confessionals or scenes of the Brains tribe searching for the idol, and hence have not thought much (or at all) about the idol at the Brains tribe, it’s hard to see why they would include this shot just to mislead us. So I hope you’re right: because it would be awesome for 3 people to enter a tribe swap with an immunity idol. I also think you may be right about Anna, although it’s unclear to me where this prediction is coming from, in terms of recent episodes or trailer.
If Scot ends up in a minority he could be the next one voted off. Don’t Peter and Nick stand a better chance of going to exile?
I just thought I’d do some predictions for certain castaways…
Nick: I think Nick will thrive in the swap, his calculated thought process overall lack of emotions, and his likelihood to betray his fellow Beauty tribe. He could be a dark horse, at the same time his lack of awareness may bite him in the back.
Cydney: I think Cydney will move from the bottom to the top, not only is she a priceless asset for her raw strength, but as the lone Brawn woman she’s more likely to be reeled in by the Beauty girls or Debbie.
Joe: It all depends on how the tribes come out, but I think Joe’s 72 years will have him end up on the bottom faster than Cydney runs track. Maybe the first boot post-swap.
Just a thought….
What if they use the Totang beach as Exile, for the remaining unpicked player.
In the event that Totang becomes no more.
That’s my thinking.
Clever!
Hey. Nice blog. You go, Jacob. I mean I didn’t read it, but ya know. Good on you.
OKAY I’M DONE SEEING THIS PREDICTIONS.
I love them but THEY COMPLETELY SPOIL THE EPISODE FOR ME!
Can’t believe you always guess the one who’s voted out.
Kinda dissapointing Anna gets voted out though. :(((
One of my faves is gone.