Well, we just lost two of the messiest players this season, as well as the fun story threads they took with them; the majority alliance didn’t fracture and is close to having total control of the numbers, and we might be in for a steamroll here.
Chrissy apologizes for calling out Joe and David’s honor and integrity approach, but she meant what she said. People will have to turn on each other at some point and play for the win unless we’re somehow allowing five co-winners this season. Meanwhile, Mitch wants to start playing hard after his close shave, Mary’s stoked to be the last Vula member standing, and Shauhin’s feeling confident about his game despite being targeted. But the majority runs into some minor roadblocks as Joe and Shauhin aren’t sure who they should bring into the fold between Joe’s new number Mary and Shauhin’s old swap connection Kamilla.
The next morning, treemail brings another twist: today’s challenge will be played in pairs. No time to paint a tribe flag, no time to chill and socialize, just game game game. It’s the epitome of fast-paced, new era madness (which you can shut down by voting against having so many twists on this week’s Survivor 50 poll, hint hint). While most people are down to go for random draws to decide the teams, Joe speaks up and forces everyone to pick a partner in the spirit of the game. But in reality, Joe just wants to see where everyone’s allegiances lie, such as Shauhin and Kamilla or David and Mary.
Chrissy’s annoyed at Joe picking Eva to make the most athletic duo possible, but the Strong Five, as they’re calling themselves, come together to sell Chrissy out for her actions at the split. She called Shauhin as her choice to go, talked a lot of smack about strong, honorable players, and she’s probably talked her way out of the game. But she’s not the only one playing to overthrow the power structure, as Mitch gets to work recruiting all five Civas to make a move with Mary as their sixth vote. Kamilla is 100% down, David wants to stay Strong Five strong as he sees a path to victory, and Kyle is tempted as he doesn’t want to pick off too many outsiders before he can use them for his own moves.
This immunity challenge is another multi-parter where only two pairs can compete in the final stage for individual immunity. Meanwhile, the first two pairs eliminated have to compete to save their votes on a Journey. Because lost votes haven’t screwed enough people yet, I guess. Joe and Eva dominate as expected, followed by David and Mary, then Chrissy and Kyle. Tough luck for Shauhin, Kamilla, Star, and Mitch. In the second round, it’s Chrissy and Kyle literally taking the fall, going back to camp without a taco feast but also keeping their votes guaranteed. Not the best spot, but it could be worse. And in the final phase, it’s Joe, Eva, David, and Mary competing in Get a Grip for the necklace. Joe and David might be beefy, but their muscle mass is a massive downside in this challenge, leaving Mary and Eva in a showdown where Eva pulls out a win.
Back at camp, Chrissy goes into overdrive and pitches a Joe boot to Kyle. Cut the head off the alliance, leave Eva on her own, and move forward with a more fluid game. Assuming Eva doesn’t just play her idol on Joe, of course. But Kyle still wants Shauhin out first in the alliance, and Joe’s one of his better allies, so he’ll wait to see how the Journey goes before making any calls. And somehow, the Journey actually goes well for the uprising alliance! It’s a game of balls, basic math, and betrayal, and Mitch and Kamilla silently work together to screw Star out of her vote. For now, Mitch’s big Civa move is still a possibility as slim as its chances seem!
Meanwhile, at the taco feast, Eva finds an advantage in her chips but decides to keep it to herself since her idol is already enough of a public target on her back. Strategically, this vote seems like a slam dunk on Chrissy, but David makes a pitch against Kamilla, not just to take out a big threat but to break up this assumed duo of her and the so-called sneaky Shauhin. Mary jumps onboard immediately, and Joe, while he would rather just cut Chrissy here, is willing to let this Kamilla blindside go through for the sake of not ruffling feathers.
But when the players reunite, Joe breaks the tough news to Kyle: David wants Kamilla out, so the vote’s gonna be messy. Kyle’s frustrated at his undercover ally being on the block out of nowhere and blames David for blowing things up, so he strikes back by revealing Chrissy’s been after Joe all afternoon, putting the spotlight back on the obvious vote and hopefully saving his number one.
With that out of the way, he runs to David and starts arguing the Chrissy vs. Kamilla case. David himself is blindsided by Kyle’s sudden panic and doesn’t get why he’s so defensive about taking out someone outside the Strong Five. So Kyle calls off the Civa uprising and tells Kamilla they have to throw Chrissy back under the bus, just to buy Kamilla another night because of David’s bold plans.
So much for the Civa strong vote, and Kamilla’s pissed, calling David the biggest idiot on the beach who should’ve just joined the Olympics instead if he wanted to bro out in challenges for a month. But David does have a point here, even if people don’t see it on the island. Kamilla is way more threatening than Chrissy, and if you want the Five to stay strong where you’d have a shot at the end, you deprive other members of their options before they can use them to jump ship.
The Strong Five (and Mary) come together to talk it all out right before Tribal. Kyle wants to use Joe’s influence to turn the alliance towards the Chrissy plan, but David and Mary keep pitching Kamilla like there’s no tomorrow, and Joe might be down for it after all. But Kyle pushes just a little too hard for his own good, accidentally assuring David that he’s actually trying to swing the votes to protect a close ally here (which, yeah, he definitely is), meaning this Strong Five isn’t so strong in the end and the undercover duo aren’t so hidden anymore. So, no matter what goes down at this boring vote, it could have a ripple effect as Kyle and David lose trust in each other and, in turn, this big alliance of theirs.
Despite the rest of this episode being such a nothing-burger that it honestly could’ve been an email, Tribal is actually interesting! Not because we get a crazy vote, but because Chrissy just cuts the gloves off and calls out the Strong Five for the second round in a row. As she puts it, why is it suddenly no big deal if we have a couple challenge beasts teaming up openly and having a public idol? In past seasons, that would’ve been a death knell, but now you can’t even try to target that power couple without being pushed to the bottom and told no? Is there even room for the less physical players to have a say this season, or should Chrissy have just stayed home and watched this steamroll from the comfort of her couch?
Joe and especially David are in full eye-rolling and trash-talking mode, and Kamilla calls out the bad jury management happening despite defending the Strong Five for sticking together from a strategic point of view. And yeah, there’s nothing wrong with aligning based on strength, just like there’s nothing wrong with aligning based on gender, age, or any other arbitrary reason. It’s a social game, a social experiment if you will, and social dynamics will always have a role to play. If big challenge threats are going to be targeted, why not team up?
The issue, however, is the annoying self-righteousness of some of those in power. All the talk of “deserving” it more than the rest, speaking as though fiercely loyal challenge beasts have never won before and this season can right some long-standing wrong. The hilarious irony of course being how last season was literally won by a record-tying challenge beast who played a largely loyal game from the bottom all season long, but they couldn’t have known that.
But even with all her arguments ringing true for the audience, they seal her fate in the game, and Chrissy takes the fall as the second juror with a unanimous vote against her. She went out absolutely swinging, at least, and she said what everyone at home’s thinking about this fairly stale season right now. Props to her for actually picking fights and turning Tribal into an absolute warzone on the way out. Didn’t do her any favors for staying another day, but it added a touch of life to a season in dire need of energy, so thanks for that!
Next week we might actually get some legit chaos as David and Kyle crash against each other as fallout of this week’s arguments. Will it probably end in a boring vote against one of the outsiders after 90 minutes of red herrings and false hope for a power shift? Perhaps. But at least the majority is actually fighting amongst themselves instead of acting as a five-person hype squad for their milk-fed muscles and old school honor, so the season isn’t Redemption Island levels of hopelessness yet.
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Eve is owing this game.