Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 49 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.
Top 3 Moments
From 2 tribes to 3 (again)
Gia: Nothing is meant to last forever, but don’t you wish that we could’ve had two tribes for a little longer? Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case this time around. Instead of the expected Mergatory round, Jeff announced to the players that they would be doing another swap, this time into three tribes of four. I enjoyed the chance to finally see some of the players from opposing tribes interact, but it definitely made me nervous for MC, Nate, and Steven, who were all on the outs in their latest tribes. Thankfully for us viewers, we got probably the most intriguing outcome when Kele lost immunity. Somehow, someway, Steven didn’t even receive a vote at Tribal Council!
Sophi finds an advantage
Christine: Following their reward win, Sophi, Rizo, and Savannah, on our new Hina tribe, decided to take a look for any idols and advantages that may have been hidden along with their reward. Setting out as a trio to find it before MC got the chance to, it was Sophi who ultimately found the mystery advantage, which turned out to be Knowledge Is Power. This will be the first time this advantage has been active since Survivor 43, and while I can’t say I’m stoked to see it back in action, I’m interested to see how Sophi uses it.
Sage is Victorious
Gia: The Sage vs. Shannon feud has finally reached its conclusion, and it was Sage who came out on top. Sure, Sage may have spent the last few episodes planting the seeds against her, but it was Shannon’s overplaying that really did her in. Rather than push for the presumably obvious choice in Steven to be voted out, Shannon wanted to target her original tribemate, Jawan, instead. She was completely unaware that she needed Jawan’s support far more than he needed hers, and she was voted out unanimously as a result. At least everyone was able to hug it out in the end, well, except for Sage, who instead offered Shannon a handshake as they parted ways.
Tribe Breakdown
Kele
Gia: If there’s one thing Kele is going to do, it’s lose an immunity challenge. This episode proved no different, but at least they kept things interesting this time around. On the surface, it appeared that Steven was screwed, but original Uli had way too much unfinished business for them not to take their chance and settle it before the merge. Now that Sage and Jawan successfully ousted one of the members of Uli’s core four, I’m curious to see how they will view the game once the merge hits.
Hina
Gia: I’m glad Hina didn’t go to tribal council because I fear MC would’ve been all too obvious a vote for Rizo, Sophi, and Savannah. Her Beware Advantage may have saved her, but the Knowledge is Power advantage still stands in her way, even if she managed to find the idol. Not much else happened on this tribe other than Sophi finding this advantage, but Rizo trying to fish was an entertaining camp moment.
Uli
Christine: Our new Uli tribe for this episode was made up of Kristina, Alex, Nate, and Sophie. The big news on this tribe was Kristina wanting to use Sophie as the decoy to make Nate feel safe should they go to Tribal Council. Sophie, of course, was none too pleased about this, since it brought her back to the days of OG Hina, where she knew she was on the bottom. We can be sure that Sophie’s frustrations with her starting tribe will be back with a vengeance once we hit the merge after having so much time to fester throughout the entire premerge.
Top 3 Players
Rizo
Gia: It’s been a while since we’ve gotten any Rizo content, but the smaller tribes allowed us to get a better understanding of him and his game. On a personal level, he’s breaking out of his comfort zone and trying new things like fishing, the success of which is up for debate. Strategy-wise? He is in a tricky predicament. As part of the Uli majority, he has remained relatively safe, receiving only one vote from Jason throughout the pre-merge. However, he also has an idol that everyone knows about, meaning it likely will not be the golden ticket to his Survivor resume that he was hoping for. It will be intriguing to see how he navigates this new information, and I look forward to seeing how he does.
Jawan
Christine: Jawan was in the interesting position this week of being both the target and a power player on this tribe of four, as Shannon’s attempt to cut him in favor of her relationships with Steven and Sage ultimately turned into a blindside against her. While Shannon’s ouster was very much the result of long-brewing one-sided tensions between her and Sage, Jawan’s ability to quickly bond with Steven really helped secure safety here. Jawan has had a lot of ups and downs this season, and he’s not out of the woods yet as he heads into a merge with Savannah, who still has a vendetta against him. But he goes into that merge with a new lease on life and some new trust built with Steven and Sage, which is more than he had on his previous swap tribe.
Sage
Christine: Swapping onto a tribe of four is a scary situation. Swapping onto a tribe of four with someone you know was throwing you under the bus on your last swap tribe is even scarier. Even as Shannon pivoted to being Sage’s best friend and laying it on thick in terms of her loyalty, Sage stuck to her guns and trusted her gut that Shannon was bad news in the long run. Sage could’ve very easily let the vote fall on Jawan or even Steven and let Shannon be taken out later, but I appreciate that Sage made the riskier move of taking Shannon out here. It’s rare in the New Era that we get to see players voting someone out primarily because they just don’t like them personally, and Sage’s decision to vote Shannon out (and also refuse to hug her) was a breath of fresh air in that regard. To me, that is Survivor!
Fallen Comrades
Shannon
Christine: Shannon had the potential to be a major character in her pre-season press, and she delivered on that potential throughout this pre-merge. She proved herself to be a more adept player than I gave her credit for pre-season, establishing herself as a queenpin of sorts on OG Uli. But as the subsequent swaps showed, Shannon’s game really depended on other players never comparing notes and realizing how much of a shark she actually was. Especially at this second swap, Shannon should’ve really been more worried that her previous efforts to throw Sage under the bus could possibly catch up to her here on such a small tribe with nowhere to hide. Shannon was a great casting choice, made for a fantastic pre-merge character, and her elimination gave us a sorely needed interesting vote just before the merge.
Gia: Shannon was many things, but boring wasn’t one of them. Her being cast was reminiscent of the old-school era, which was only amplified by her one-sided feud with Sage. It made for some hilarious moments on screen and was definitely the pick-me-up this pre-merge needed. In the end, it wasn’t Sage’s gameplay that was Shannon’s undoing, but her own overplaying that made it hard for others to trust her. That’s the tricky thing with Survivor; you don’t want to wait too long to start playing the game, but overplaying can be just as, if not more, detrimental.
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