Last time on Survivor, we got a whole lot of talk and not a lot of action. Sophie was blindsided by a unanimous vote; no advantages were played; and now we go into the final six with two factions ready for a final showdown for control of the endgame. Savannah, Rizo with an idol he says expires at six as a ploy to have implicit immunity, and Sophi with her Knowledge is Power and the temptation to flip. On the other side, Steven with his Vote Blocker, Sage, and Kristina.
The next day, Sophi reflects yet again on her position. She can’t beat Savannah and Rizo at the end and doesn’t want a measly third-place finish, so she needs to start planting seeds against them and harvest a flip. None of the others wanted to take the shot last time with Sophie being such a tempting target, but with Savannah back in the firing line, now could be the chance actually to put herself on the map.
But there’s a lot of game between now and Tribal, starting with a reward challenge for a Mexican feast and a night at the Sanctuary featuring letters from home. Savannah takes the win after a close challenge and takes Rizo and Sophi with her. Obvious choices, so obvious that Sophi’s worried they might be leaving the other three to plot together overnight. And oh boy, she’s right.
Sage immediately regrets not voting Savannah out when she had the chance, Kristina reveals Sophi’s desire to flip but worries the reward will deter her from making that move (it does), and Steven reveals his Vote Blocker to the other two to solidify some trust. Meanwhile, Sophi tells her own allies about her Knowledge is Power to build trust on their side, unaware that Steven’s advantage is impossible to steal at this point. But with spirits high, the trio dub themselves the Tres Leches alliance and pledge a final three deal.
As the winners share their letters from home and enjoy a night in paradise, the losers get to enjoy a rat-infested camp, which makes it really awkward when Savannah has to come home to her worst enemies and not even brag about how great the reward she denied them was. Her name is 100% going on that parchment if she doesn’t win immunity, but lo and behold, Savannah dominates to take a third immunity win even with Sage giving it her all to take her down in a battle of endurance. So that’s one big name off the board, and with Rizo’s idol still acting as a strong deterrent, all that back-at-camp plotting is out the window.
The scrambling starts, and Steven and Sophi are the targets here. It should be three against three, but Sage isn’t sure Sophi is the best choice to leave here. She’s actually beatable at the end. Steven? Less so. So if they have to take Steven out and risk it all on Sophi flipping at five, so be it. Kristina won’t do it, though, not against her number one and fellow Hina, who could stop Savannah from winning every challenge to the end.
However, Kristina’s retelling of the story to Steven’s face backfires and makes her look sloppy and suspicious, not like a true ally. So that side is just a big mess. But the other half of the tribe isn’t doing much better, because Steven blocks Savannah’s vote before Tribal, rendering Sophi’s advantage useless unless her last-second idea to take Rizo’s idol to save herself amounts to anything.
Well, if you expected Sophi’s advantage to have any serious impact after over half a season of her hedging all her bets on it winning the game for her, you’re probably leaving disappointed. Because she predictably decides to steal Steven’s advantage, which he doesn’t even have anymore, leaving her entire plan in the dust and her jaw on the floor. I’m enjoying it, though, as a certified Knowledge is Power hater. Let this god awful, broken advantage keep flopping time after time, please. Or just stop trying to make it a thing already. That works too.
So with Plan A going horribly awry, Rizo leaps into action to salvage the situation with his idol. With Savannah’s vote blocked, he has to choose between himself and Sophi… and then doesn’t play it yet again. Broken record, anyone? But after so much talk about the two sides going to war and making this round a showdown to decide it all, Sage and Kristina casually flip on Steven to send him home unanimously.
It’s boring as hell, but I can’t deny it’s probably the right move here. They can likely only win against Sophi (and even that might be a stretch), so voting her out and leaving Steven in as their third number basically does nothing but get them to second and third place. Might be good enough for some, but if they want the million, the seemingly dumb choice on paper makes sense long-term. But at this point, Sophi’s lockstep with her alliance, so good luck getting her to flip at five.
Next week is the finale (aka a hopefully epic Season 50 trailer with three hours of the most mid-tier Survivor season attached to the front of it). It’s probably ending as predictably as you’d expect, but maybe we’ll have one last surprise in store for us. Savannah’s the player to beat by a mile, Rizo’s finally due to play his idol and see if his showmanship can win him the game, Sophi has one last chance to flip for the sake of her entire game after teasing big moves for half the season and failing to deliver. Then Sage and Kristina are hanging on for dear life, with little chance of winning beyond a miracle.
But as mediocre as the season can get… we know what’s around the corner. Now we just hope what comes after 50 can actually shake things up for when returnees can’t jump in to spark interest in a stale format.
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