Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 48 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 latest episode.
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Top 3 Moments
We’re Starting a Revolution!
Gia: The players outside of the Strong 5 alliance finally had enough and planned to stage a revolution to fight back against their adversaries. Star, Mary, and Kamilla wanted to force a tie between them and the majority alliance. This move would’ve caused the alliance members to flip on each other or put their money where their mouth is and go to rocks. Had it happened, it would’ve been a defining moment of the season. Sadly, this isn’t what ended up happening.
Mitch Pushes Back
Gia: Unfortunately, not all great plans come to fruition on Survivor. While Star, Mary, and Kamilla agreed to move forward with the plan to force the Strong 5 alliance to go to rocks, Mitch became the sole opposition to this plan. Despite clearly not being a member of the dominant alliance, Mitch decided it was not worth the risk when he didn’t trust Mary or Star. Once Joe won immunity, the plan was all but effectively dead, with Mary and Star being forced to turn on one another.
Rice Negotiation Returns
Christine: The Rice Negotation, a feature of the game that I’m sure Jeff would call a “New Era Survivor classic, returned this week, but it was a real “blink and you’ll miss it” moment since no one took the bait to drop out of the challenge for rice. Jeff’s proposal was rejected in record time with no counterproposal offered, leading to just a regular ol’ immunity challenge. Between the 47ers giving up their Shots in the Dark and the 48ers rejecting him outright, I hope Jeff rethinks this boring formality of a twist he keeps doing every single season.
Advantage Watch
Safety Without Power
Gia: The Safety Without Power advantage still lives with Eva, but it doesn’t appear she’ll be using it anytime soon. In fact, it wasn’t even brought up in this past episode. Eva stated that she was not worried about the next few votes, so the chances of her using it at all seem unlikely.
Idols
Christine: Another episode, another week where Eva’s idol goes unplayed. The most idol-related action we got in this episode was Mary asking Eva if she would play her idol on her, to which Eva was like, “Absolutely not.” I still have a strong feeling Eva will get blindsided any day now with her idol in her pocket, but her alliance is still going strong after ousting David.
Top 3 Players
Mary
Christine: After multiple weeks of being completely silenced by the editors, we finally got to hear from Mary about her gameplan now that her ally David is out. She came in strong with a pitch for Kamilla, Star, Mitch, and herself to flip the game by forcing a rock draw. It wasn’t a bad pitch, but unfortunately, Mary lacked the trust of her fellow minority players to pull it off. Yes, Mitch definitely should’ve considered taking the plunge and forcing rocks, but his relationship with Mary (and Star) wasn’t strong enough to convince him the risky move was worth his while. I’m so glad we finally get to see Mary fight from the bottom again like she did in the pre-merge, even if her scheme didn’t work out this week.
Kamilla
Christine: Kamilla continues to occupy a critical position in the game, being an accessory to the strong majority alliance while also being recruited for a potential flip by the outsiders. Her relationship with Kyle remains one of the most significant factors in determining how the rest of this merge will shake out, and this week, she stayed loyal to that relationship in hopes she and Kyle will still be able to flip the game without needing Star. With Eva’s advantages, Kamilla will need to make a move sooner rather than later before she and Kyle lose the numbers to do so. It blows my mind that Eva and Joe aren’t catching on to how dangerous Kamilla is, so she needs to act soon before they realize she needs to be taken out.
Kyle
Gia: At this point in the game, I’d say two players are miles ahead of the others in terms of win equity. One is Joe; the other is Kyle. Between the two, I’d argue that Kyle has gotten a more well-rounded, overwhelmingly positive edit. He’s not on anyone’s radar as a potential target, he’s been maneuvering his way between the two factions seamlessly, and his social game has been impeccable. The players may agree that Joe is the biggest threat in the game, but I’d argue that Kyle is the one who will get the necessary jury votes to win if he’s sitting at the final tribal council.
Fallen Comrades
Star
Christine: One of the most baffling aspects of this season is how inconsistently the editors used Star. She’s a huge character whose personality practically jumps off the screen, yet she was used sparingly until her final episode. At least they gave her a little time to shine on her way out, though! It’s clear that Star never found allies who understood her, but it’s no secret she was beloved by fans. I feel a return for Star is incredibly unlikely, but I would love to see how she navigated the game with a different group of people who may have understood her better.
Gia: To put it simply, I’m devastated that Star has been voted out. Her edit may have been small, but she was a scene-stealer every time she was shown. Her effort to always fight for her place in the game was incredible to watch. Still, her neverending kindness, positivity, and lighthearted humor made her a clear fan favorite amongst even the show’s most cynical fans. While her tribemates on Lagi never gave her a chance to reach her full potential as a player, she didn’t need them to be remembered in all the best ways.
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