Welcome to Season 45’s Next Time On Survivor weekly feature on the Inside Survivor site! If you’re new around here, I’m Steph from sunny, tropical, humid Singapore. This is a tiny space where I give my best attempts at understanding preview trailers and make my predictions for the show’s next episodes.
The NTOS trailer opens on the red Reba tribe, with Dee commenting, “It felt like a boyfriend was cheating on me, and I caught him cheating. It’s game on.” This confessional was paired with visuals showing Drew digging around for an advantage. Last we saw of Reba, Austin had shared his Beware Advantage clue with Drew, tipping them off to dig at a palm tree for the idol. The trailer scene probably shows Dee figuring out that Drew had withheld information from her, even though Dee, Drew, Austin, and Julie are supposedly in an alliance.
This isn’t surprising, as we saw Austin and Drew further connecting in Episode 2, the latter likening their relationship to JT and Stephen from Survivor: Tocantins. Despite this comparison, my prediction is that this pair won’t be as successful. Rather, I feel that Julie was presented in a more positive light negotiating the alliance of four together. I think that we’ll see this group follow through for a couple of episodes, but Drew and Austin will be outplayed by Dee and Julie down the line.
On Lulu, Sabiyah tells Emily, “It’s gotta be Kaleb.” Like Emily’s reaction in the NTOS trailer, this is rather shocking as the trio of Sabiyah, Sean, and Kaleb were just put forth to us as the majority alliance on the tribe, choosing to save Emily at the last tribal council over Brandon. Sabiyah suggesting Kaleb here feels like a preemptive move, but I can’t help but see it as a misplay. In Episode 2, Emily’s relationship with Kaleb was highlighted, more so than other relationships on Lulu. I predict Emily’s connection to Kaleb is stronger, and this suggestion may spiral into some distrust towards Sabiyah instead.
The NTOS trailer also gives us a peek into the realities of the game. Jake is seen falling forward into the smoke at Belo’s camp, a reminder of the survival aspects and real dangers of playing Survivor. I do think the trailer is playing this scene up for the dramatics, and I hope that nothing serious happens to Jake!
Broadly speculating, I think that Belo will win immunity again and be safe from voting in the upcoming episode. They just seem like a strong, solid force in the challenges so far, and we haven’t seen that many trailer scenes hinting at them going to tribal council.
If Lulu loses again, I can see Emily making inroads with Kaleb, voting Sabiyah out instead. And if Reba goes to tribal council, I think the alliance of four will stick together and vote out either J. Maya or Sifu. I’m leaning towards keeping Sifu because of challenge strength, which is so important in a fast-paced season to guarantee tribal immunity.
Let us also acknowledge the other preview trailer that featured Taylor Swift’s “Mastermind” from her Midnights album. The Survivor 45 marketing team hustles hard.
What do you think is going to happen in Episode 3? Leave your predictions in the comments!
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