Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 50 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
The Auction is Back
Gia: We finally got a classic auction back on Survivor… sort of. For the first time in over a decade, the Survivor auction was back in classic fashion… no losing votes, no running through the jungle for money, no counting down the rounds for the auction to be done. They even had shareable items and the option to share money. Long story short, it was glorious. That said, this doesn’t mean that the auction wasn’t without a twist or two. Items in this particular auction were categorized as “Comfort”, “Chaos”, or a mix of both, and players wouldn’t know which of the three it was until they purchased the item. All in all, this is one of the most inconsequential changes that we’ve seen in the new era of Survivor, and the episode was all the better for it. Then, of course, Mr. Beast showed up at the very end to tease his “Super Beware Advantage” that would be revealed at tribal council (more on that later).
Post-Challenge Scramble
Gia: With the Mr. Beast Beware Advantage up in the air, players had to strategize while also preparing for the unknown. Safe to say, chaos ensued as a result. Rick may have appeared to be the most obvious vote, which meant it was prime time for players to engineer a blindside. Jonathan and Stephenie wanted to target Ozzy, which got back to Cirie, who shifted the vote to Stephenie. Ozzy then told Jonathan about the new target (I assume because he was unsupervised), which led Stephenie to shift the target to Cirie. The only problem with this plan was that two of the votes she was relying on (Rick and Joe) did not want to vote for Cirie. The paranoia was at an all-time high as everyone was scrambling to get the heat off themselves, and we still had no idea who was truly in danger by the time we got to tribal council.
Mr. Beast Super Beware Advantage
Christine: At tribal, a tense vote was interrupted by the return of Mr. Beast, who revealed the contents of his mysterious briefcase: a coin. When flipped by one lucky (or unlucky) player, the prize pot would either double to 2 million dollars, the player would become immune for that tribal AND get an idol, or the player would be instantly eliminated. After some discussion, it was Rick Devens willing to risk it all. The risk paid off, and he won safety, an idol, and a doubled prize pot. I’m not a fan of the introduction of any twist that could result in the instant elimination of a player, but as far as the twists go this season, this was still one of the better-executed ones. It still allowed a compelling vote to play out in a relatively unobtrusive manner and was relatively well-balanced in terms of the risk vs. reward.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Christine: Rizo and Ozzy held onto their idols for another week, and Devens received one as part of the Mr. Beast coin flip. It’s unclear if Devens’ idol will follow the same (bizarre) no-transfer rules as the other idols this season, but I assume it will. With Ozzy’s name being floated this week and last week, we can assume he’ll need to play his idol sooner rather than later, and Devens’ target will also presumably continue to grow after his moment in the spotlight with the coin flip.
Extra Vote
Christine: Cirie kept her extra vote, and she’ll likely need it as Ozzy’s name continues to get floated. Cirie’s survival really hinges on her alliance with Rizo and Ozzy going as far as possible, so that Extra Vote could be used strategically soon if there’s some sort of move against the trio, and perhaps the vote gets split out of fear of an idol play. Still, with this many players left, an extra vote is pretty weak if the vote isn’t split, so Cirie’s best-case scenario is that she’s able to hold onto it for at least one more vote.
Shot in the Dark
Gia: Even after all of the scrambling this round, no players felt compelled to use their Shot in the Dark. With only 9 players left after this most recent vote, their window for using it is dwindling fast.
Steal-a-Vote
Gia: Stephenie finally got to use her Steal-a-Vote this round, and I guess you could say that it was better late than never. After Rick was saved from his successful coin flip, the remaining castaways sprang into a live tribal almost immediately. Stephenie took the uncertainty as a sign to play her advantage, stealing Rick’s vote and using it to vote twice for Aubry. In the end, the extra vote couldn’t save her, as the vote for her was unanimous, with not even Jonathan voting to keep her.
Top 3 Contestants
Cirie
Christine: I feel like a broken record at this point singing Cirie’s praises every week. She’s just THAT good. There was a lot of suboptimal gameplay and chaos at tribal council, but as always, Cirie kept her cool and kept everyone in line to ensure she got her way. This is now two weeks in a row that her alliance with Ozzy and Rizo has been threatened, and they all got out of it in one piece yet again. But I’m not sure how much longer Cirie can keep pulling this off, and she’s the most vulnerable in her trio because she doesn’t have an idol, and none can be played on her.
While it made sense for Cirie to take out Stephenie since she was obviously trying to vote out Ozzy, Stephenie was, at the very least, not actively going after Cirie and seemed pretty blind to the idea that Cirie would work against her. Plus, now that Rick also has an idol, one of the obvious potential boots just became a lot less obvious. Cirie is going to need to keep working her magic these next couple of votes. It’s going to be treacherous waters for her to navigate, but if anyone can navigate them, it’s Cirie Fields.
Rick
Christine: Rick isn’t the best Survivor player, but he’s sure as hell an entertaining one to watch play from the bottom. He’s not afraid to take big swings and throw down in tribal council when he’s under attack, and he’s willing to risk it all for safety. It feels like there’s no way in hell he can make it to the end with his position and ever-growing target due to his fake idol shenanigans and winning a real idol in the coin flip. But we can rest assured he’ll continue to bring the drama and the fun to this season.
Tiffany
Gia: The further we get into the game, the better the odds are looking for Tiffany Nicole Ervin. The sole remaining 46 cast member had a grand showing this episode, securing herself a new personal best after she won immunity on the same day she was voted out the last time. She is also solidifying her social bonds and is better integrated within the group. She is still being underedited, and it’s a shame, because her ability to bounce back after losing Dee should be studied by all future players. Her winning chances seem low based on the edit, but I am still holding out hope that she could be the Dark Horse we never saw coming. She certainly has the skills for it at the very least.
Fallen Comrades
Stephenie
Christine: I can’t say I was impressed with Stephenie’s fourth outing. She’s someone who was obviously cast for legacy reasons due to her iconic run as the last Ulong standing on Palau, but she’s just never been that great at the game of Survivor. The show conveniently erases her more villainous losing finalist run in Guatemala from her legacy, instead remembering her primarily for her first season, where she was undoubtedly a hero and one of the most beloved players of the time. But everything since then has been middling in terms of strategy and social game, and this season was no exception. I wish this old school casting slot had been given to a player who showed a real willingness to adapt their game, but alas, we instead got more of the same from Steph. At least her gameplay this episode helped lead to a fun scramble and fight at tribal, though!
Gia: From the islands of Palau to the beaches of Fiji, Stephenie is one of our most well-versed players in all eras of Survivor. She is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and her showing here proved that she still has that fighting spirit. While Stephenie is certainly one of the most memorable players of the Old School era, it does not mean her game was without flaws. Much like Coach, Stephenie’s greatest flaw is her inability to adapt and recognize where she has room for improvement. Her exit press indicates that she still has not learned this lesson, so perhaps this was the perfect time for her to go. All in all, I enjoyed this episode from beginning to the very end.
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