Hello all, welcome back to the Edit Bay! This weekly feature takes a dive into the edit of the latest Survivor episode, analyzing the key stories, main characters, and top winner contenders.
For those new to The Edit Bay, it is a condensed version of Edgic, highlighting some of the stand-out story beats from the most recent episode. It also includes my weekly Edgic ratings for each castaway at the end of the article.
I’m going to do something a little different this season, and for each episode, I’ll highlight each player’s best/most substantive confessional and how it ties into their overall character/arc/story.
VULA TRIBE
We have our disaster tribe for the season, following in the footsteps of Lulu and Yanu. The story of this tribe is a lack of cohesion, both at challenges and at camp. A perfect encapsulation of this was the finger drawing to decide who went on the Journey, where even this simple task caused upset as Sai disputed the result.
This episode saw Kevin eliminated after coming on too strong and going after Sai. Despite having him in my third tier of contenders last week, I also pointed out that his premiere sort of tied his story up in a neat little bow. “The concern here would be how Kevin sort of lived an entire season of Survivor in a day. He started off down and out due to his injury, then redeemed himself by winning the supplies, turned his fate around at camp, and landed in the majority. It’s like, where else do you go from there?” I wrote. It turns out where he went was home.
I don’t expect Vula’s fate to change any time soon, as there is nothing in the edit to suggest a turnaround.
SAI
Notable confessional: “I know what I’m doing with my idol at tribal council, so I know I’m coming back to the beach. It’s just a matter of who’s gonna come back to the beach with me. I hold grudges, and that’s what makes me wanna vote Mary out. But voting out Kevin would be explosive. So tonight, you will see a lot of shock and a little bit of fear as well. I don’t know if it’s gonna be fun for them, but it’s definitely gonna be fun for me.”
Shock, fear, and grudges. Those words sum up Sai’s edit so far. She isn’t a player afraid to speak her mind or make a move. She told us repeatedly across the episode she held a grudge against Mary for voting her; however, she was also willing to put that aside to turn the vote on Kevin after she learned he was coming after her.
The question for Sai moving forward is whether this grudge against Mary will continue to fester, and if not taking her out here will come back to bite her. Or, will she and Mary be able to put their grudge aside and get on the same page for the greater good?
MARY
Notable confessional: “I put [Sai’s] name down. Nobody is gonna be like, ‘Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s fine,’ and honestly mean it. I thought we were all gonna vote for Sai. However, I got got. I got got. But I didn’t get as got got as Steph did.”
I think Mary’s first confessional of the episode was a nice summation of her story so far. She got got, but not as got got as she could’ve been. She keeps landing in unfortunate circumstances, from ending up on the outside of the first vote to losing her vote at the Journey. Yet, she manages to find a way to survive, even if it’s due to circumstances out of her control.
There is definitely potential for an underdog arc for Mary. And her rivalry with Sai has the chance to be a defining narrative of the season. Yet, it could just as easily be a short-term story, and the Mary and Sai dynamic will blow up sooner rather than later.
CEDREK
Notable confessional: “I am absolutely putting blame on myself for losing the challenge. You know, my everyday life, I don’t walk around with failures on television. However, Survivor makes you in a position where you may show those weaknesses. It may make you more vulnerable. But I think it’s very clear that people know that regardless of how successful you are, we all have challenges. We all have weaknesses. And I certainly don’t believe that I am perfect, and I hope nobody ever thought that I was. But after the past few days, there’s no question this ain’t perfect.”
In an episode called “Humble Traits,” this was a very humble confessional from Cedrek. He took the brunt of the blame for the challenge loss, showing vulnerability in the process. And his words had an impact, as his tribe showed empathy in return. Despite being partly responsible for the challenge loss, he wasn’t mentioned as a target at all. We also got a good sense of his bond with Sai.
That said, some contradictions in Cedrek’s edit need to be cleared up. He told us he wanted Mary out, and that didn’t end up happening. His spilling the beans to Sai ended up getting Kevin out. But we never heard from Cedrek why he flipped his vote to Kevin. Obviously, this was to keep the suspense at tribal council, but it’s the kind of logic gap that needs filling in the next episode if Cedrek is to be a contender.
JUSTIN
Notable confessional: “At this point, it feels like anything that could go wrong will go wrong. And it’s – it’s – this fly has been following me for three days. I’m not joking. I swear it’s the same one. It’s a mess. We don’t know who to listen to, who’s in charge, who’s running the show yet.”
I thought this was a very ominous confessional for both Justin and the Vula tribe as a whole. The edit went heavy on the fly imagery. It spells death for Vula. Justin described the tribe as a mess, and he contributed to the messiness by pushing the Kevin vote. The fact that Probst also went hard on Justin over his evasive answers at tribal also added to the storm cloud gathering around Justin.
CIVA
If Vula is the disaster tribe, then Civa is the season’s good vibes tribe. This was best encapsulated in the “humble traits” scene, where the tribe discussed their quirks and odd body features. After Dee’s “big toe” scene, Edgic analysts have been looking for these seemingly random, funny pre-merge moments. Last season, we had Rachel and the attempted rice theft mid-challenge. I’m not sure if this was another example, but if so, the field is more open, with Charity, David, Chrissy, and Kyle each getting a “humble trait” focus.
DAVID
Notable confessional: “It is hard to find an advantage on Survivor, but the thrill of it is what I like so much. Like, I need the excitement, man. I need the blood. I need the action. I need to show the world how good I am.”
David started off the episode talking about Civa as a family, and, as I said, we definitely got the good vibes from the orange tribe. However, this confessional shows us that David is itching for action. It continued from last week, with his talk of wanting to be the hero and prove his dominance. It certainly sets the stage for David to make a significant impact down the line.
CHARITY
Notable confessional: “Meeting someone on Survivor and knowing them for, like, three days is the equivalent to, like, three years of friendship. It really is. I mean, when you get deep and embarrassing very quickly, you just stick together so quickly. It’s like glue.”
Much like David’s “we’re a family” confessional, this statement from Charity further added to Civa as the good vibes tribe. Unlike the disastrous Vula tribe and heavy politicking of the Lagi tribe, Civa has mostly been presented as a chill.
However, there are divisions on Civa, and Charity seemingly has no idea she is currently on the outs. We saw Chrissy, David, Kevin, and Kamilla working together, with Charity still at the top of their hit list. David even said nobody trusts Charity. So, this doesn’t speak well to Charity’s chances, at least in a game sense.
On the other hand, we saw her bonding with Mitch, and it’s never a bad thing to have a highlighted duo. Although others in her tribe are aware of how close she is with Mitch, which still puts her in the crosshairs should Civa go to tribal any time soon.
CHRISSY
Notable confessional: “Doesn’t everybody clean their belly button with a Q tip? But I guess not because they don’t have it so deep like me.”
Not much from Chrissy this week. She only had two confessionals, and this was probably the better of the two. If you want to follow the “Dee’s big toe” line of thinking, then you could chalk this up as Chrissy’s equivalent.
Nothing else really changed. We know she’s part of the four-person majority on Civa. But a lot of her goodwill is coming from her premiere edit.
MITCH
Notable confessional: “I’m still in shock. I have what it takes to play this game. And for a really long time, I’ve dreamt about this. It means the world.”
This was a great episode for Mitch in a vacuum. He nailed the Journey challenge, received a ton of positivity from his tribe when he returned, especially from Charity, and then went on to dominate in the immunity challenge. It was just one success after another.
That said, beneath all the celebrations, we see that Mitch is on the outs of his tribe. David said he can’t be trusted and pointed to his closeness to charity. There is also that similar fear I had with Kevin, where Mitch has almost proved his point already, like his story has peaked too soon. So, I do worry he could become an early target should Civa go to tribal.
KYLE
Notable confessional: “When I hear that click, ah, the feeling of relief. Kamilla was able to finally open up this puzzle lock and get the job done and help me get my vote back. She’s somebody that I wanna play this game with and I’m really excited about it. Finding a hidden immunity idol on Survivor feels incredible. I never thought I would find one. It means security. It means I have power in this game, and I’m ready to use it.”
An important thing to look for in the Survivor edit is consistency. Kevin’s edit so far has consistency. Last week, he established a bond with Kamilla, and he told us he wanted her to be his strategic mind. This episode emphasised their bond when Kyle found the beware advantage and asked Kamilla to help him crack the code. He told us once again he wanted to play with Kamilla, and she shared her own trust in Kyle in her confessional.
I would say outside of maybe Joe and Eva, the Kyle and Kamilla duo is the one to watch. They’re in the majority of Civa but don’t seem to have yet been clocked as a tight twosome. And they’ve had a nice mixture of personal and strategy.
KAMILLA
Notable confessional: “Trust is so hard to find out here, and that was, like, an insane display of trust. Kyle trusting me to, like, solve it for him feels like a million dollars itself.”
Kamilla only had the one confessional in this episode. I won’t repeat the entirety of it because the majority was just narrating how she cracked the beware advantage code. The important part was at the start, where she talked about Kyle trusting her and how his letting her solve the puzzle was “like a million dollars itself.”
It’s always notable when someone mentions the million dollars, and Kamilla’s statement here stood out. It felt very much like she was saying, ‘I may not have the idol itself, but trust is what will earn the million.'” It certainly perked my ears up, and made me feel like the Kamilla and Kyle duo could make a deep run this season.
I also found it interesting that Kamilla was the only one of her tribe not to be featured in the humble trait segment. I feel like you could look at that as a positive or a negative. If the editors know now that fans look for these goofy moments, maybe they chose to give Kamilla’s entire tribe a moment except for her, the winner? Or perhaps she just didn’t have a humble trait. Time will tell.
LAGI
For a tribe that hasn’t yet gone to tribal, Lagi has perhaps the most fleshed-out dynamics. We have two duos (Joe/Eva and Thomas/Bianca), we have a three-person alliance (the California Girls), a majority alliance, and one person distinctly on the bottom (Star).
EVA
Notable confessional: “The Lanu tribe is killing it right now. I think the thing that is making us a step above everyone else is we’re not placing our individual goals over the team. We’re all working together and all have this drive and this respect and loyalty to each other.”
I was high on Eva after the premiere, but she fell slightly in my contender rankings after her second episode edit. This confessional is a good example of why. Eva talked up the strength and unity of the tribe, seemingly oblivious to all the scheming and sub-alliances around her. And her asking Star to be the challenge sit-out only added to the fractures forming on Lagi.
That said, Eva told us last week that her autism makes it difficult for her to recognize social cues. So, you could say this fits into her story arc. She also acknowledged that she will need someone like Joe to fill in those gaps for her, which is what happened here, as she learned Star had an advantage from Joe, who promised to protect her.
I started to feel more of a journey edit vibe from Eva this week, but it’s still early days, so we’ll see how things develop from here.
STAR
Notable confessional: “I’ve been hesitant to talk strategy because everyone’s getting along so well. But have other people already had these conversations, and now they’re solid? It makes me wonder, does anybody wanna work with me? My concern is I’m disposable. We’re not gonna get rid of the muscle. That’s Joe, Shauhin, and Eva. We’re not gonna get rid of the brains. That’s Thomas. That’s Bianca. So now I’m like, where do I fall in here? How needed am I? So my goal right now is to make my place in the game more significant.”
This was a lengthy confessional from Star, so I cut it down to the most relevant part. I thought she provided a solid summation of her position on the tribe, recognizing that she is on the bottom and pointing out why she could be seen as disposable. She then went to work to fix that, finding the Beware Advantage.
The problem was that even though Star found the advantage, it didn’t really change her position. She ended up telling the entire tribe sans Eva (who found out anyway via Joe), and they were still plotting up ways to screw her over and send her home.
I see this story going one of two ways for Star. Either she will be royally screwed over by her tribe and booted soon, or, she will stick around long enough to come back and haunt the Lagis who tossed her aside.
JOE
Notable confessional: “What I’m finding out about those emotional connections is it comes with a heavy cross to bear because it’s all wrapped into a game. “
Joe continued to be a centrepiece of his tribe, with people coming to him with information and asking for his help, going back to his “I want to be the one they call” intro confessional. However, it’s the confessional above that I think could become the crux of Joe’s story this season.
Will he be able to balance the emotional side of the game with the strategic? He’s already recognized the struggle. He outright told us he would not let Eva go because he felt a “responsibility” for her. So, there is a dilemma for Joe. Will he put his own game in danger for the sake of the emotional bonds he’s made? Or will he ultimately burn those bonds for the benefit of his own strategy?
BIANCA
Notable confessional: “Star found a beware advantage, and luckily, she spills everything. Everything just got flipped on its head. Now she has a lot of power, and now I have to make sure I stay on her good side.”
Bianca probably had the weakest edit of the episode, especially in comparison to the other Lagi members. This was her one and only confessional, and it wasn’t the most in-depth. However, she at least talked about how Star’s advantage find could affect her game, and told us what she’d do in light of that.
Right now, though, Bianca is very much a secondary character, positioned as Thomas’ number two. There is still a chance she could break out later, but time will tell.
SHAUHIN
Notable confessional: “I talked to Thomas, and he was like, just lose it, which is a level of gameplay that now scares me a little bit about Thomas. That is way too hard a gameplay. I’m not doing that. Not this early. Not when she also trusts me. It’s not worth it. I would rather have her not sus of me and have her comfortable. That’s the way better way to play this game. On top of that, obviously, you can’t keep a secret on a tribe like this.”
Shauhin and Thomas are part of the California Girls alliance, but this episode did a nice job of highlighting their contrasting playstyles. It also set up a potential conflict between the pair, as Shauhin noted how Thomas’ cutthroat gameplay “scared” him. Thomas is someone clearly willing to lie, cheat, and steal, whereas Shauhin showed caution, wanting to play a game where he could earn trust.
I suspect we’ll get an arc centering on which playstyle is best suited for this season, especially after Probst’s “attack” or “hesitate” speech at the start of the game. Will Shauhin’s more relaxed, trust-building approach pay off? Or will Thomas’ cutthroat strategy be what it takes to win Survivor 48?
THOMAS
Notable confessional: “I think having an advantage in Survivor is incredible, but my plan is to not tell a soul. The second someone else knows about your advantage, not only does it cause a target on your back, but you can’t use it as well. Star is a perfect example of telling too many people about what you got. That’s why it has to be kept secret. It has to be kept secret.”
Thomas is certainly getting the gamer edit so far. This confessional continued to show him thinking about self-preservation over all else. He earned an advantage at the Journey, but he lied about it and kept it secret from his tribe, including his duo member Bianca. And his reasons for doing so were justified, as he pointed out, Star telling everyone about her beware advantage had only caused more issues for her at camp.
As I said above, I think Thomas has been set up in opposition to Shauhin in terms of their approach to strategy. I feel like the pair of them will butt heads somewhere down the line, and it’ll be a case of which style of plays wins out in the end.
EARLY CONTENDERS
Top Tier: Joe, Kyle, Kamilla
Second Tier: Thomas, Shauhin
Third Tier: Chrissy, Eva
EDGIC CHART
| Name | EP 1 | EP 2 | EP 3 | EP 4 | EP 5 | EP 6 | EP 7 | EP 8 | EP 9 | EP 10 | EP 11 | EP 12 | EP 13 | EP 14 |
 Bianca |
UTR1 | UTR1 | ||||||||||||
 Cedrek |
UTR2 | MORP3 | ||||||||||||
 Charity |
UTRN2 | OTT2 | ||||||||||||
 Chrissy |
UTR2 | UTR2 | ||||||||||||
 David |
OTT3 | MOR3 | ||||||||||||
 Eva |
CPP4 | MORM2 | ||||||||||||
 Joe |
OTTP3 | CPP3 | ||||||||||||
 Justin |
MOR2 | MOR3 | ||||||||||||
 Kamilla |
CP3 | MOR2 | ||||||||||||
 Kyle |
MORP3 | MOR3 | ||||||||||||
 Mary |
MOR3 | MOR4 | ||||||||||||
 Mitch |
UTRP2 | OTTP3 | ||||||||||||
 Sai |
OTTM5 | OTTN5 | ||||||||||||
 Shauhin |
MOR2 | CP3 | ||||||||||||
 Star |
UTRN1 | CPN3 | ||||||||||||
 Thomas |
CP3 | CPN3 | ||||||||||||
 Kevin |
CPP5 | CP4 | ||||||||||||
 Stephanie |
MOR4 |
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