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
Sophie is on high alert
Gia: MC’s abrupt elimination may have shocked the viewers at home, but no one was more blindsided by this outcome than the other original Hina members, who expected Sophie to be ousted over her. This revelation put a bad taste in Sophie’s mouth, leading her to question her role in her original alliance. Eventually, she decided to flip to the other side, creating a new majority alliance that voted together to take out Alex, who had been caught playing the middle.
Kristina gives up reward
Gia: We got a reward challenge this episode, where castaways were competing in two separate teams. The winning team would be treated to a feast of fried chicken, French fries, and cheesecake. Jawan, who has yet to be on a food reward, came up short again and missed out on another chance to eat. Fortunately for him, Kristina gave up her spot in the reward so that he could finally eat, which led to a touching moment between the two of them.
Alex is caught in the middle
Christine: Going into the merge, Alex and Sophi were both in a prime position to float in the middle when the Uli vs. Hina war broke out. The target finally turned on the OG Kele contingent this episode, but it was Alex who took the fall and Sophi who got off scot-free. Rizo decided to scapegoat Alex for playing the middle, and this narrative certainly helped solidify Alex as the boot, even if he, from a viewer’s perspective, didn’t seem like a very big fish to fry at this phase of the game.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Christine: Another week, another tribal where Rizo held onto his idol. At this point, I have to imagine some of these players are thinking it’s better to let Rizo hold onto it rather than force him to play it and have the idol get rehidden and end up God knows where. But it’s still a risky move to let him get further and further with that idol. Kristina’s still holding onto her idol too, and Steven spilled the beans about it to Sage. Whether or not Kristina’s idol becomes as hot a topic as Rizo’s will be a potential development to watch in the coming episodes.
Knowledge is Power
Gia: Sophi’s Knowledge is Power advantage has not been brought up much since the merge started. She didn’t use it this round; in fact, it wasn’t even a factor in the final decision to boot Alex. My guess is that sooner or later, she will learn about Kristina’s idol and use the advantage against her.
Extra Vote
Gia: Savannah’s extra vote remains untouched, and for good reason. With Jawan, Sage, and Sophie flipping over to her alliance, she was in the clear majority for this vote and was able to vote out Alex without using any advantages.
Top 3 Players
Rizo
Christine: Even if the other players might have good reason not to want Rizo’s idol rehidden, he’s still the big winner every week they let him get through another vote with it. It’s truly impressive that he keeps holding onto it in these scary situations, and it speaks to his willingness to take risks as a player. He’s navigated being on the bottom of this merge tribe incredibly well, pushing the target onto Alex this week while still holding onto his idol on top of it. It’s hard not to wonder if this is another Xander situation, where he’s being allowed to hold onto the idol so long because he’s not seen as a threat to win. But from what we’ve seen, Rizo is playing a very adept and threatening game, and he should have a lot more eyes on him than he currently does.
Jawan
Christine: Jawan might have lost the reward challenge this week, but he still came out as a big winner after he (reluctantly) accepted Kristina’s offer to give him her reward. Beyond his reward, Jawan and Sage have gotten themselves into a very solid spot. They’re constantly being pitched to make just about any plan happen, solidifying themselves as crucial numbers in whatever plan transpires. Unfortunately for Jawan, his ideal target in Savannah was immune this week, but he remains in a good spot. It does feel like just a matter of time before people catch on to him and Sage as the actually dangerous middle players this season, though.
Sophie
Gia: Yellow Sophie (as it seems the viewers and the cast have mutually agreed to ignore the Sophie/Soph of it all) has done a complete turnaround on both her alliance and her screentime. After seeing Hina’s reactions to MC being ousted, she knew she had to completely rethink how she was playing. This revelation led her to join the Uli members and Soph in voting out Alex, leaving Kristina and Steven on the outs. This move might buy her some time ahead of her former tribemates, but will it help her reach the endgame? Or, more importantly, garner her the jury votes needed to win the game? That I’m not so sure.
Fallen Comrades
Alex
Christine: Alex’s story really fizzled out post-swap, and we never really got a clear perspective on where he stood in this merge tribe until Rizo threw him under the bus as a chaotic middle-rider. Comparing him to Sophi, I think he was hurt by not attending some swap tribal councils, as those really allowed her to build concrete, deep relationships with Rizo and Savannah. In contrast, Alex seemed to ultimately be more of a number for his swap tribemates rather than a close ally, which could explain why it was so easy for the tides to turn against him here.
Gia: Alex played such a big role in the pre-merge; it’s hard to believe that he was voted out so swiftly in the early merge. Sadly, that’s the gamble you make when you take part in Survivor, and it appears that Alex got to live out that dream in the most unconventional way possible. He survived being on one of the most disastrous tribes in the history of the show, found an idol, and was on his way to making a deep run in the game before being caught in the middle of the war between Uli and Hina. Now he joins the jury, and I look forward to seeing his perspective on the game once we reach the finale.
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