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
Tribe Swap
Christine: With Vula’s numbers dwindling to three, a swap was sorely needed to give them a fighting chance and keep the season interesting for all of us watching at home. And boy, did this swap deliver! On the new Civa, we’ve Bianca in the middle of Sai and Cedrek and Mitch and Chrissy. Bianca doesn’t have her vote, which certainly isn’t ideal for her as the odd one out here, since she would otherwise potentially have a lot of power as the swing vote if they went to tribal. Luckily for her, Sai seems like she might be ready to throw Cedrek under the bus if push came to shove.
On new Lagi, we have two pairs of rivals, Star/Eva and David/Charity, with Mary as a free agent. And on the new Vula, of course, we have the California Girls and Kevin and Kamila, who gave us a shocking and entertaining blindside this episode. Production had us vote on whether we wanted a swap on Survivor 50 or not, and after this week’s swap brought us so many entertaining new dynamics, I can’t imagine why anyone would ever vote no on that question.
Cedrek and Mitch Bond
Gia: A sweet, unexpected moment from the tribe swap was a sentimental exchange between Cedrek and Mitch. As the new Civa tribe was getting to know one another, Mitch formed a connection with Cedrek, who confided in Mitch that he also had a stutter growing up and could relate to some of Mitch’s struggles. This admission and the following exchange seem to hint at a potential alliance between these two, and Chrissy, the other OG Civa member, swapped into this new tribe. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that these three will be the dominant alliance in this new tribe, it was still a heartfelt moment, and I am glad it made the final edit.
Operation Guyana
Gia: Move over, Operation: Italy, Operation: Guyana is the new reigning blindside. When Kyle and Kamilla were swapped onto the new Vula tribe with the California Girls, they knew they had to act quickly. While it didn’t receive the same flashy edit as its predecessor, it was still a multifaceted plan where the underdogs struck back. Kyle and Kamilla pretended they were at odds with the OG Civa tribe, with Kamilla at the bottom of their pecking order.
By subtly pushing the California Girls to vote out Kyle, he was able to successfully use his idol and Kamilla’s extra vote to vote out Thomas and ensure their safety should the California Girls have decided to split the votes. It was a masterclass performance between the two of them, down to their dramatic goodbye speech at tribal council. Their gambit was a success, Thomas was voted out, and Kyle and Kamilla lived to play another day.
Tribe Breakdown
Lagi
Gia: The new Lagi tribe is a fresh start for many and the worst nightmare for others. For Mary, Lagi 2.0 is the chance for her to solidify some new alliances while not being at the bottom. Meanwhile, both duos swapped onto the tribe together (Charity and David / Eva and Star) continue to be at odds with one another as they adjust to the new normal of their games. I’m intrigued to see what will happen with this tribe in particular, should they go to tribal council before mergatory. It will be interesting to see how this swap impacts their games moving forward.
Civa
Christine: On Civa, Bianca could have all the power if she hadn’t lost her vote. Voteless and the odd Lagi out on a tribe of two Vulas and two Civas, she could be an easy target if they go to tribal. But with Sai reeling from Cedrek trying to vote her out at the last tribal, Cedrek making new bonds with Mitch, and Bianca and Sai getting a vibe check on each other, the Civa tribe dynamics could end up being a lot more fluid and less based on original tribes. Poor Chrissy is still woefully underedited, but I hope we’ll see more of her perspective next week.
Vula
Christine: Once again, almost all the action happened on Vula. With Kamilla throwing Thomas under the bus for lying about his Journey, the California Girls getting painfully overconfident about the vote, and Kyle and Kamilla pulling a fast one over them with their masterclass in deception, our green disaster tribe continues to deliver even in its new form. With Thomas (and the advantage he had in his pocket) gone, there’s a 2-2 split on Vula heading into this next episode. Joe and Shauhin have lost a critical alliance member, and Kamilla and Kyle have shown their hands and exposed themselves as a duo. I can’t imagine they’ll go on a losing streak the same way OG Vula did, but I feel confident they would deliver another entertaining vote if they did.
Top 3 Players
Kamilla
Christine: Kamilla has had a strong start to the season, but this episode showed her potential as a player as she laid the critical groundwork for her and Kyle’s plan to go off without a hitch. While their plan required an idol to work, the most critical part of the ruse was convincing the California Girls that she and Kyle weren’t close, so they wouldn’t even suspect that the two of them were working together. Kamilla sold the lie masterfully; as we saw from Shauhin’s confessional thinking it was totally obvious that Kyle and Kamilla disliked each other. Plus, since Kyle was the one who had to idol and save himself, Kamilla gets out of this vote looking less threatening than him, which should hopefully help her manage her threat level later on in the game.
Kyle
Gia: If Kamilla is the one to initiate Operation: Guyana, then it was up to Kyle to be the closer. Sure enough, he executed his end of the mission perfectly. Not only was he able to play off of Kamilla’s ruse at camp, but they did so without ever discussing their plan beforehand. Then, when their tribe was doomed to tribal council, they were able to continue the plan to make Kyle the bigger target, hide his idol, and correctly play the extra vote that Kamilla entrusted him with just in case they had to go to a tie. Their instincts were correct, and Kyle saved not only himself but also his closest ally, Kamilla, with his idol play. These two delivered a master class in playing from the bottom while never giving too much away to their adversaries. I hope we see even more of what these two can achieve down the line.
Eva
Gia: While the tribe swap brought some unexpected, and frankly unwelcome, change to Eva’s game, she went to work immediately to align with David from the original Civa tribe. This isn’t a bad decision to make on its own, but her actions around this decision are uncomfortable to watch. Not only did she state that she does not have any female friends back home, but she wasted no time in throwing Star and her game under the bus when she didn’t need to. Even more egregious, in my opinion, is the fact that production made no effort to show us Star’s perspective throughout the episode, as she has no confessionals despite being painted as the target due to Eva’s actions.
I’m curious to see how her behavior will impact her game and Star’s moving forward. Personally, I am more interested in seeing the perspective of Star and how she tries to rebound from the damage that has been done to her game.
Fallen Comrades
Thomas
Christine: DIVA DOWN!!! In yet another shocking elimination, we lost Thomas, who had the potential to be a major long-term character this season. He brought some good old-fashioned villainy to the season while also proving himself to be a savvy player as he worked himself into the center of the Lagi power structure. He was also smart to conceal his advantage and not tell anyone, a decision we rarely see these days. On top of that, he found himself in a majority position on this new swap tribe.
It’s obviously hard to predict where the idols (and Extra Votes) in the game are, but Thomas, Joe, and Shauhin bought Kamilla and Kyle’s act without considering that they might be getting played. With his Steal-A-Vote, Thomas could have at least given his alliance a better shot at survival to counteract any potential shenanigans on Kamila and Kyle’s part. While I’m sad to see him go, Thomas’ elimination is a fitting downfall for his fun, if short-lived, villainous run on the season.
Gia: While he was only in the game for four episodes, Thomas was such a delight to watch. He was not afraid to play and play hard, even though he was on a tribe that was never going to tribal council. Even when it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Star would be voted out should their tribe go to tribal council, it was Thomas who was scheming with her about taking Eva out instead. Simply put, Thomas was the one who kept the OG Lagi tribe interesting when everyone else in the majority alliance was content to let the chips fall where they may.
On the surface, it appeared he lucked out with the tribe swap as he was put into an immediate majority with the California Girls. Instead, it was his nightmare come true as the alliance completely misread Kyle and Kamilla’s capabilities. I will miss him dearly, but the showing he gave in such a short amount of time was exactly the kind of game you can’t help but enjoy every step of the way.
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