After last week’s crazy 2-1-1 blindside on Bianca, resident lord of messiness Cedrek returns to camp to clean up another disaster he’s created. Once again, Sai’s feeling burned by her former Vula ally as Cedrek only had time to inform Chrissy of the plan, leaving Sai and Mitch blindsided. On one hand, yeah, it sucks to be left out of the loop right before the merge. But Sai’s still here, salty as she is, and Cedrek went out of his way to save her again, so the situation has its ups and downs.
But after a night of major downs, it’s all ups from here as the merge has arrived. Vula and Civa head over to Lagi beach, and the stage is set for the next phase of the game. Six Civa, four Lagi, three Vula. Chrissy is ready to unite Civa with Cedrek to form a majority. Sai is hyped to be back with Mary, while Mary would rather start fresh without any of her old tribemates dragging her down. Mitch has a vote blocker, Eva has an idol, and now there’s another advantage in play: an advantage in the next immunity challenge.
Before anyone can bond or strategize or even think, it’s a mad dash through the jungle, culminating in a footrace between Charity and Sai… with Sai emerging as the winner of this advantage Easter egg hunt.
With the advantage out of the way, it’s finally time to see where people go and what connections form. Joe and David bond over their love of milk as both men drink a gallon a day back home, then Joe and Eva reunite and talk game, settling on a big cross-tribal alliance with other strong, honest, loyal threats like Shauhin, David, and Kyle. It might be the New Era, but this is an old-school style cast, and those who value loyalty and trust are ready to knock out the strategists, the nerds, the puzzle solvers, and all the scheming super fans waiting in the wings to play dirty for that million.
Meanwhile, Kyle brings Kamilla into the fold, and they continue their secret alliance under the radar while uniting the six Civas as a solid force. Mitch and Charity are definitely down, and when it comes to targets, Sai might be annoying to live with, but Eva’s public idol makes her the biggest threat, so this round should be about flushing it, taking her out, and knocking Joe down a couple of pegs. But this plan goes awry immediately as Charity tries working with Star, intending to coerce Star into taking her idol back. Star, now Eva’s friend and dedicated ally, runs straight to said target and blows up Charity’s whole plan. So now it’s Charity on the block as the perfect target for this “honor and integrity” alliance, a suitable sacrifice for the merge that could set the tone for the rest of the season.
But before we can address the vote, we have a challenge, and it’s the same format as last season. Two teams of six compete for the merge feast and a shot at individual immunity, and the person who found the challenge advantage (Sai) gets to skip the team stage and compete for the necklace without breaking a sweat. With a near flawless run of the course, the team of David, Chrissy, Kamilla, Kyle, Star, and Mary takes the win and moves on to compete for immunity with Sai. In a battle of dexterity and balance, it’s a showdown between Kyle and Star, but Star literally drops the ball, and Kyle walks out with immunity around his neck and a potential target on his back moving forward.
At the merge feast, Star doesn’t care about laying low and throws Charity’s name out point blank. A tempting target for sure, but Eva and her idol are even more dangerous. And with this being a group with Civa and Sai in the majority, it seems like Eva’s name is the name tonight. But back at camp, Charity’s not feeling the Eva plan anymore. It’s a huge ask for a lot of people; the numbers aren’t really there, and targeting a chaotic player with no real allies like Sai might be an easier call. Meanwhile, the strong, loyal alliance of threats is ready to cut Charity’s head off and prevent a Civa sweep. So that’s three names on the board, all with valid reasons to be the boot.
When the entire tribe comes together after the feast, it’s scramble time. Star cheers Cedrek up after he flopped in yet another challenge and cost his team the merge feast, and Vula comes together to discuss Eva vs. Charity for the vote. Eva’s in a scary position, and she’s happy just to take Sai out because Sai’s throwing her name out more than anyone here (despite Sai ironically claiming she’s laying low and not drawing attention to herself).
Hearing that plan, Mary’s not opposed either. Charity’s not that active of a player all things considered, but Sai’s relentless with her gameplay and has zero filter, as she’s been since day one when she made an alliance that Mary was never included in. Then there’s David summing it up perfectly: Sai and Charity simply have no friends here, so there’s no need to go to war just yet when they have two super easy boots sitting there without safety.
Tribal opens up with a series of terrible analogies from dog parks to Club Condo to bathroom breaks, but once again, David sets the scene for how this is about to go down. This might be Season 48, but the philosophy of the season itself is more like “drop the 8, keep the 4.” It’s a cast that values loyalty and integrity and honesty, and all those old-fashioned, old-school values that dominated the game in its earliest era. True to that philosophy, the vote is between two open schemers that nobody gets along with: Sai and Charity. At first, it seems like a Sai landslide, but a flood of surprise Charity votes takes her out, knocks Civa down to five members, and keeps the season’s biggest wildcard in for another round.
It was just a big split vote this week (with Sai randomly voting for Cedrek because why not I guess), and speaking of splits, next week is bringing back the split Tribal where two necklaces are up for grabs, two people will go home, and we’ll find our first juror. With tribal lines basically dead and the game fluid, it’s a survival of the fittest situation, literally, as the dominant alliance of honorable loyalists has a good chance of taking complete control here unless they fumble this chance hard.
Does it scare me that we might be in for a legitimate steamroll incoming when so many great personalities aren’t in on that alliance? Perhaps. But this cast has a lot of savvy players outside of that group. Honestly, I can’t even blame that alliance for sticking together when social butterflies, brainiacs, and underdogs have consistently taken the New Era winner circle by storm.
Call it boring, but you play to win according to your strengths, and if that means assembling a vaguely self-righteous alliance of self-proclaimed “deserving” players to sweep the season to make sure your strengths serve you well… Well, that’s Survivor for you, love it or hate it.
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Really like 48 so far.. it feels a bit old school with someone muscular and handsome back on Survivor. Thanks for listening CBS