With Gabe out of the game and Tuku shattered, his former tribemates must figure out what comes next. Caroline is happy to have stepped out of Gabe’s shadow and played her own game for a change, but Kyle and Sue are feeling the heat for different reasons. Kyle’s move was a success, but he knows what’s coming: the need to win every single challenge to stay in the game. And Sue, the only one left out of the Gabe plan, is feeling a fire under her ass. She got got, but she’s ready to get back up and figure out a path forward without her safety net number one by her side.
Thankfully for her, Caroline is willing to get the girls back together. Taking Sue aside on a dreary rainy morning, she opens up about her motivations to both her ally and the audience. She’s struggled with ADHD throughout her life, and it’s convinced her that she’s a failure because she can’t devote herself to goals like others can. But Survivor is a test of perseverance for all who play it, and with this Gabe move, she’s taken a big leap in proving to herself that her neurodivergence isn’t a hindrance inside the game or out of it.
With their differences settled, Sue and Caroline head out to take control from the bottom. It’s Teeny, Rachel, and Andy who offer safe harbor at the water well. Together, the five realize they’re a majority against the supposed top dogs. Kyle’s a challenge beast, Genevieve is a strategic force, and Sam’s a rogue agent with nothing to lose. Against any of them, the underdogs would have a tough time winning over that jury. So the underdog alliance is born, with Andy framing himself as the king of connections with ties to both sides.
Meanwhile, the top dogs reflect on their games so far. Genevieve tried to connect with people early, but the Kishan blindside broke her heart and forced her to play a cold, cutthroat villain game to minimize the damage she caused herself and others. Sam had all the power in the world as a dedicated liar, and then it vanished in one night, but he’s kept fighting and changed his fate by playing more honestly since Sierra left. And Kyle, despite coming in as an honorable player who believed in the power of being nice, has realized with only a few days left that he’ll need to play dirty, lie and deceive, and cut some throats if he wants to win this season.
With lines drawn, production throws a wrinkle into the fray with another Journey. Sam and Genevieve are desperate to go, but Rachel steps into the ring solely to prevent the top dogs from getting any power. Lo and behold, luck is on her side in the rock draw, and off to Advantage Island she goes. Sorry, I mean the “Advantage Barge” in the middle of the ocean.
An advantage is still up for grabs, though, and to win it, all Rachel has to do is complete a simple color-sorting puzzle within a harsh time limit. But she has no option to compete or not, so her hand is forced. It’s either win some power… or lose her vote. But Rachel succeeds by a hair, and she wins a secret Block-A-Vote that can be used up to the final six. The power’s good, but it’s also potentially perilous. If it puts a big target on her back or she uses it to burn the wrong person, her game could be over.
When Rachel returns to camp, she lies about losing her vote, gradually bringing her underdog alliance in on the truth. Sue’s glad to have an honest ally to replace Gabe, Caroline is happy Rachel is setting herself up as a bigger threat and a late-game shield, Teeny’s finally found a place they feel comfortable with Rachel at their side, and Andy… Well, when Genevieve goes to Rachel and starts pitching him and Sue as targets to clear up space for a goat-free final three, Andy is pissed. He’s playing a much better game in his own head than how he’s actually being perceived by others, so he wants to prove Genevieve wrong for underestimating him. And with Genevieve as her own biggest threat, Rachel’s happy to commit to the plan if that’s where the ship steers.
At a classic block-stacking immunity challenge, Kyle’s going for his record-tying fifth win, and everyone else just wants to stop him. In a perfect metaphor for this season, it’s a constant back and forth as big players take the early lead, fumble their stacks on the verge of victory, and leave the game open for the underdogs, only for those underdogs to rise and fall the same way. Ultimately, it’s a nail-biting showdown between Kyle and Rachel, with the latter’s slow and steady approach winning her immunity and leaving Kyle on the board as a huge threat.
During the evening scramble, Sue and Teeny are dead set on booting Kyle. Genevieve would love to see Kyle stick around as a shield, but if she can only hide behind him one more time, so be it. Sam tries to keep Kyle around for the same reasons, but he can’t get any of the five underdogs to join the top dogs. But what nobody wants to tell Sam is that Genevieve is very much on the block tonight. Rachel would be interested as always, and Andy is out there pitching the stats on Kyle’s immunity wins and claiming his odds of winning out are insanely low despite him smoking them all in most of the challenges so far. Caroline doesn’t want to hear it and says his data is bologna, and Teeny feels if Kyle survives this vote, this whole alliance will be the laughingstock of the season for being so stupid.
So yeah, it’s all down to what the underdog alliance decides. Genevieve and Sam believe it’s Kyle. Kyle has no idea what’s going on. Teeny, Caroline, and Sue want Kyle gone. Rachel and Andy are really hoping to see Genevieve take the walk of shame instead. It’s a battle of arguments with the strongest points winning the night… and Andy’s data was fudged because it’s a near-unanimous Kyle vote with Andy as the only vote for Genevieve as Kyle throws a vote on Teeny.
Genevieve survives another night, the underdogs have taken control, and Kyle leaves with a hero’s exit of hugs and cheers. His story was too threatening; people wanted a shot at the necklace, and he didn’t have the connections to survive, so his torch was snuffed. A lovable guy, for sure, but it’s a real shame to see him leave just as he was opening up to playing a dirtier game.
It was a sentimental episode full of honest reflection and looking forward for this final eight, and now it’s down to seven. We’ve entered the Big Threat Hunting phase of the game, where anyone with a noticeable power level is getting chopped down, typical of the New Era meta. But as the underdogs build their games higher and higher, it just makes them bigger targets. Power comes with peril in this season, and with women’s alliances and fake idols being teased next week, we might have another power shift on the way.
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TELL SUE TO WASH HER NASTY FACE, JUST BECAUSE SHES ON SURVIVOR DOESNT MEAN SHE HAS TO BE DISGUSTINGLY FILTHY