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 ninth episode.
Top 3 Moments
Chaos is great for the underdogs
Gia: The ramifications of the previous Tribal Council bled into this episode almost immediately, with Shan and Deshawn rallying their respective troops to vent about each other. Despite neither of them losing an ally in Tiffany, both were unhappy with each other’s communication and made sure to let everyone know it, including the remaining Yase underdogs, Evvie and Xander.
The next day, Naseer confronted Heather about her throwing his name out, also in front of Evvie. Both incidents were hilarious to watch play out, and perhaps if we hadn’t had this Double Tribal twist, Evvie could have done something with all of the mess. Even though things worked out for the majority, it’s more apparent than ever that Deshawn and Shan are very likely not going to be aligned for much longer.
Two Teams, Two Tribals
Christine: We were treated to a Double Tribal this episode when Jeff randomly divided the castaways into two teams to compete for two separate individual immunity necklaces. Both of our immunity winners—Erika and Xander—were obvious targets for the vote on both of their teams, which led to some interesting dynamics on both sides.
The editing on this Double Tribal was particularly fun as we jumped back and forth between the action. We ended up with two contrasting outcomes: the majority sticking with the “obvious” target in Evvie on one side, and the majority eschewing the “obvious” Heather plan to blindside Naseer with the idol in his pocket on the other.
Easy Votes are Never Easy
Gia: With original targets Erika and Xander off the table, both factions had to reevaluate their options. For the blue team, Danny and Deshawn debated whether to vote out Evvie or Liana. They eventually decided on what Danny believed to be the “easy” choice and voted out Evvie, but Deshawn’s position as the middleman briefly complicated matters.
Meanwhile, Ricard was unsatisfied with the decision to take out Heather, someone they could take out at any time. He decided to take matters into his own hands by pushing the target onto Naseer and his idol. Erika and Heather were immediately onboard, and Shan agreed to play her extra vote to secure their safety even more. When it came time to vote, Ricard got his way, and Naseer was blindsided with an idol in his pocket.
Stand-out Castaways
Ricard
Christine: While Ricard’s pre-merge story very much centered around being Shan’s second-in-command, he really came into his own this episode. From hearing his insight about his experience as a hard-of-hearing contestant to his major role in the Naseer blindside, Ricard emerged as a significant player in his own right. It’ll be interesting to see where his story goes from here, particularly as far as his uneasy partnership with Shan is concerned after he pushed her to use the Extra Vote this round.
Naseer
Gia: Naseer stole the audience’s hearts in the premiere, and not much has changed since then. The universal fan favorite stood out as Luvu’s primary provider and was even the sole reason they won an immunity challenge others were trying to throw. Unfortunately, he put too much faith in Shan and Ricard, who saw this as an opportunity to take out a threat over the easy vote. Naseer won’t be remembered for his blindside but rather for his resourcefulness and neverending happy demeanor. That is Naseer.
Evvie
Christine: After cheating death at the past two Tribals, Yase underdog Evvie couldn’t pull it off a third time. I was sad to see Evvie go after they’ve been one of our more consistent narrators this season, and even more so for personal reasons, since seeing them on the show is the most represented I’ve ever felt. Evvie’s team for the immunity challenge was a bad split for them, but there was a glimmer of hope once Xander won immunity, and it seemed like Evvie might get an idol played on them or get Deshawn to flip and save them.
Xander and Evvie ultimately put a little too much trust in Deshawn instead of just using the idol or Extra Vote to take out one of the majority. Evvie’s on-and-off working relationship with Deshawn wasn’t strong enough in the end, as he decided to stick with his allies and vote Evvie out.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Gia: The three idols and their respective storylines have dominated much of Survivor 41. Now, we are finally down one. Naseer was confident that Heather’s time was up, but it ended up being him that left with an idol in his pocket. Both Shan and Xander’s idols remain in the game.
Extra Votes
Christine: JD’s infamous Extra Vote finally got used after being the center of a lot of bickering between Shan and Ricard. Shan played the Extra Vote by casting one vote for Heather and one vote for Naseer, causing a tie. Even though it ended up not being necessary, this was a nice defensive use of the advantage to ensure Shan and Ricard’s safety in case Heather and Erika double-crossed them and voted with Naseer.
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