Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 41 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 eleventh episode.
Top 3 Moments
Danny’s Loss and Big Win
Christine: One thing I’ve appreciated with the editing this season has been the inclusion of footage and photos from the player’s home lives. This week’s segment about Danny coming to terms with losing his father at a young age was a particularly powerful use of that. I was fairly certain this sudden influx of personal backstory meant that Danny was for sure a goner this week, but in the end, he pulled out an emotional and triumphant immunity win and earned himself a spot in the Final Six.
Do or Die (or Die)
Gia: I really didn’t think it could get much worse than Jeff lying to contestants and revoking their Immunity, but along came “Do or Die” to prove me wrong. With “Do or Die”, contestants were given the choice to compete in the Immunity challenge. Of those that chose to compete, the player that came in last had to play in a game of chance to decide whether they were safe or out of the game for good.
It’s a terrible twist, and Deshawn didn’t even get a 50/50 shot at being safe. Luckily he beat the odds and chose the correct box because having one of the more dominant players leave over a game of chance would’ve been a huge detriment to the season.
Tribal Council Gets Real
Gia: Shan’s elimination has weighed heavily on everyone, but especially on her fellow Black contestants. Liana lost her sister in the game, someone that she was willing to lose to if it came down to it, and Deshawn was worried that putting his own interests above the alliance was a betrayal to the culture. It got very emotional, particularly when Liana beautifully explained the struggles of being a Black woman, not just in the game but in life.
This shows the power of a fantastic, diverse cast like what we have been blessed with in Survivor 41—a group that does not need twists and advantages to keep our intrigue. Most importantly, the first cast with the 50% POC quota is continuing to bring untold stories to the screen, something I will forever be thankful for.
Stand-out Castaways
Danny
Gia: If you had told me three months ago that I’d be rooting for the athlete to win, I’d have called you a liar. Of course, now here we are in the final stretch, and I’m doing just that. This was a fantastic episode for Danny. We finally got some personal content from him outside of his football career, he won Immunity, and he seems to be doing a superb job of keeping the target off of his back. Not to mention, he remains the only player to have not received a vote against him. His social game has been top tier all season; now we’ll have to see if it’s enough to secure the win.
Deshawn
Christine: Deshawn made history as the first (and hopefully only, because I really hope this twist won’t be back in the future) Survivor contestant to play Do or Die. He managed to survive Jeff’s twisted little carnival game and score himself safety after his emotional moment during Tribal. But he found himself on the wrong side of the vote when Liana was voted out over Ricard. Deshawn has been a little all over the place this season between his paranoia and changing allegiances, but as these past couple episodes have shown, he’s certainly playing with a lot of heart.
Liana
Christine: Losing Shan and Liana back to back was brutal. Losing Liana after that speech at Tribal was even more brutal. Liana was always going to have a hard time surviving this week after being left out of the vote last round and losing her closest ally in Shan. The Do or Die twist giving a potential target, Deshawn, Immunity, made her odds of survival even slimmer. Liana went out on a high note, though, with her powerful contributions to this week’s important Tribal dialogue.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Christine: Xander has once again survived with his idol in his pocket! At this point, I have to assume that the players left in the game really don’t see Xander as much of a threat to win since they’ve seemingly given up on trying to blindside him or flush his idol after Naseer and Shan were both brutally sniped with their idols in their pocket.
Extra Votes
Gia: In the event that Erika had chosen to flip and take out Ricard, Xander decided to use his extra vote to ensure that Liana was voted out instead. With that, there are no more extra votes in the game. Since there are only six players left, the chances of any more being thrown into the game are unlikely.
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Shot in the Dark
Gia: This was the last time a player could play their Shot in the Dark. Of course, no one did, meaning the only time the new twist was used this season was when Sydney played, which cost her the game. While this wasn’t exactly an impactful twist, chances are we’ll be seeing this again in the future.
Written by
Hi Gia,
First: different that a comment that I remember seeing on the first or second of your and Christine’s post this season, I do believe your posts bring something different from the episodes’ reviews, and I appreciate them :D. (I’m too lazy to write, but I always read them).
Second: it was actually a 50/50 chance with the Do or Die twist. I comprehend that at first it does not look like it, but the production and Jeff always knew that one of the “die” boxes would be discarded, meaning the real choice would be a 50/50 choice. With that in mind, and knowing that they were told in advance, it is not that bad. But ok, let’s agree this one appearance in Survivor is one too many.