We’re officially out of two-hour episode purgatory and back to the 90-minute standard, but not without a couple New Era-isms rearing their ugly heads. But the season continues to be messy and emotional in all the best ways, so let’s not waste any more time and get on with the show.
After last week’s fake idol shenanigans, Bhanu demands answers. Kenzie spins the drama as something they did in Bhanu’s best interest. If Bhanu leaked the plan to Jess, which he most likely would’ve given his lack of a filter, then Jess would rely on her Shot in the Dark, and Bhanu could’ve been collateral damage. He buys it for now but sees his fate clear as day: if Yanu loses again, he’s doomed. Not only because he’s in no alliances but because taking him to the merge would mean all their secrets get spilled the second Bhanu panics.
But a new day brings new misery as the Yanus wake up wet, sleep-deprived, and cold under a rock ledge, having abandoned their pitiful shelter during bad weather. At an emotional low, Bhanu goes hunting for idols to no avail, ultimately turning to Kenzie to throw him a lifeline. But with Bhanu unwilling to throw out any names, his pleas go in one ear and out the other.
Kenzie remarks that while Bhanu loves the game, he doesn’t understand it. She’s open to plans, but only with people who can play at her level. But Kenzie’s game might not be as solid as she thinks because Bhanu clocks her on the spot. She presents as a sweet person who can be your friend, but in reality, she’s a shrewd, cutthroat player who will do anything to win. A “mermaid dragon,” as he puts it, and so far, a great complex villain, too.
So Kenzie isn’t on Bhanu’s side. And where Kenzie goes, Tiffany will follow. But there’s one person still willing to throw Bhanu a bone here. That’s Q, who sees the camp clown as an asset for the future, a Phillip to his Boston Rob, if you will. If Bhanu goes home, Q loses a potential ally, hands all the power to the women, and loses someone who has proven to be fiercely loyal to a fault. And for an old-school player like Q, there’s nothing more valuable than a loyal soldier.
Meanwhile… Sorry, I mean four days ago on Siga, the tribe went on a group idol hunt because apparently this tribe is so kumbaya that we have to pull cut premiere content off the editing room floor to give them anything of note. Regardless of the weird editing choices, Jem finds Siga’s Beware Advantage and, therefore, their locked box. Same old story as before; only now we know there are explicit instructions about what to do should your tribe never lose pre-merge. Gee, I wonder if that will be relevant, given one tribe is currently giving last season’s Lulu Tribe a run for their money in challenge flopping.
Back to the present, on Nami, Randen wakes up with what seems to be a pinched nerve in his arm. He can’t grab, he can’t hold, and he can’t compete. The medical team gives him a quick check-up and promises to keep an eye on him, and the game continues as Randen meets up with Venus to decide on their next move. Venus pitches Hunter as their target, viewing him as the actual mastermind hiding behind Tevin and Soda’s bigger personalities.
Hunter has kept the super fan label off his back, posing as a good-natured country boy who builds bamboo beds and catches fish like he’s done it his whole life. Nobody needs to know he builds Survivor puzzles for his students or that he turned down a shot at a medical career. He’s just good ol’ Hunter, at least until he’ll need to show his cards. And with a target on his back, that moment might come sooner than he’d like.
At the immunity challenge, Nami struggles without Randen’s muscle to help them in the physical portion, but Hunter’s challenge hack on the rolling log gets them back in the race, and his bean bag tossing skills net them a come-from-behind first-place sweep. It’s neck and neck between Siga and Yanu, but once again, Siga snags second place by a hair and condemns Yanu to another Tribal visit.
But to spice things up, we have another trip to Advantage Island to attend to. Liz, Ben, and Bhanu are chosen to take the journey, and waiting for them there is… one of the biggest emotional breakdowns yet as Bhanu spills everything. Kenzie’s running things with an iron fist. Tiffany and Q are in her pocket. Bhanu is going home and needs the advantage. He doesn’t want the million dollars as long as he can touch a million hearts. He’s a total mess, and Ben and Liz eat it up like the information feast it is.
As for the actual twist, only two of the trio will compete for an advantage. The third, having drawn the white rock, will return to camp with no risk of losing their vote. Liz gets lucky and doesn’t compete, forcing Ben and Bhanu into a do-or-die puzzle challenge, which both fail. No votes for them, no advantages to be won, and for Bhanu, no miracle to be found from God or the game.
Honestly, this is a terrible twist. Stop forcing players to lose their vote without consenting to the risk first. Leaving everything up to luck isn’t just annoying, but it’s boring to watch. Bhanu going all out to win an advantage and losing his vote and his chance to use Shot in the Dark would be fun… if he chose to put himself in that position in the first place like Jelinsky did. But he didn’t make any choices here.
Now, I assume he would’ve risked his vote anyway, given he was sobbing about needing an idol five minutes earlier, so it’s not that serious. But this lost vote ruins what could’ve been an interesting dynamic on Yanu with Q willing to turn on Kenzie with Bhanu’s help. But with Bhanu vote-less, that’s one super interesting option wiped off the face of the island by production’s bad game design.
As Liz and Ben relay Bhanu’s meltdown to their own tribes and expose Kenzie as the big player of her tribe, Bhanu returns to Yanu with little hope to be found. Q attempts to fall on his sword in Bhanu’s absence, blaming himself for the loss and feeling as though he deserves the boot instead. But Kenzie and Tiff shut that down immediately and snap him out of it.
So, with nothing to lose, Bhanu lies and tells the women he drew the odd rock but pulls Q aside and tells him about the lost vote. A massive setback for Q’s schemes, but he’s got one last option: flipping Tiff to his side to blindside Kenzie.
Tiff hears what Q is laying down. Kenzie is a clear threat to everyone, and there are benefits to blindsiding her early before she can get a foothold at the merge. But Tiff thinks she can trust Kenzie for a long time in this game, and putting all her eggs in Q and Bhanu’s basket would clearly be too risky, given Yanu is probably losing again. Why put herself in a worse position solely to make a big move a week into the game, right?
With Bhanu being the obvious boot, he’ll need a miracle to survive this vote… unless there isn’t a vote at all. It turns out that the medical team is afraid that Randen’s pinched nerve might be a bulging disk, and not wanting to risk life-altering health issues for the guy, they pull him from the game and cancel Tribal, adding yet another tragically early evacuation to the New Era’s mounting list of weird exits.
While Randen is ultimately fine and hopes to play again, this leaves Venus right back where she started: alone on the bottom. But, with the preview suggesting a potential implosion among Nami’s top dogs, perhaps the underdog stands a chance after all.
Love it or hate it, this season has… energy. Emotionally charged and messy, it’s a throwback to the days when people disliking each other and dragging their opponents in confessionals was the norm, which I find refreshing personally. I have actual opinions on most of these people, which go beyond “they’re cool, I guess” and such. Conflict is key in any story, and the story of Survivor needs it to thrive.
While Siga remains painfully kumbaya so far, Nami and Yanu have provided some big stakes and delicious drama despite being on opposite ends of the success spectrum. Now, we just need production to stop stealing votes from people thinking that’s the conflict we want to see, and we’ll be on track to fully capturing the old-school spirit again. It took a while to get here, but slowly and surely, Survivor is healing.
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It’s an ok season, but the Australian season is great. Probst should rethink his “new era”.