After a very, very, very long premiere, we ended on a downer note with Kyle’s evacuation, and now Vatu has to deal with the ripple effect it’s bound to cause. The tribe lost their emotional heart, but the emotions of the evacuation clear Q’s head for the coming days. They have a core four, but Colby and Q don’t have votes, so now they need a backup plan to replace Kyle in the lineup. And number one on the draft board? Rizo of all people, who’s toned down his hyperactivity in the last couple of days, and inched his way into the numbers with a couple of solid connections. So for now, the majority is still the majority, lost votes be damned.
Meanwhile, on Cila, Christian has an “unexpected evacuation” of his own when he craps his pants. Good to know. So glad we got to watch that instead of an epic opening title sequence that might not even exist this season, for all we know. Unfortunately for Christian, clean pants are not up for grabs at the reward challenge, but Coach’s reputation sure is because he goes off on Ozzy for besmirching his integrity over their hero challenge debacle. Fighting words are shared, Coach swears he’s playing as honorably as usual, and Ozzy agrees… Coach is just as phony as he was in South Pacific. Ultimately, though, it’s Cila and Kalo who ring toss their way to victory, taking home camp improvement kits.
Going home with nothing, Vatu has a sour-coconut-tasting party while Aubry goes nuts trying to make sense of this tribe of hers. Wouldn’t be the first time, though. She had a big crash out the first time she played and made some questionable choices, but now she’s playing more chill and managing her emotions better. But she should be managing her bag better, too, because Genevieve suspects she might have a Boomerang Idol and orchestrates a full-on bag search. Q and Colby are the lookouts, Steph is the distraction keeping Aubry chatting on the beach, and Gen’s digging through that bag like a criminal with Rizo over her shoulder. No idol, though, so Aubry remains defenseless on the bottom.
Over on Kalo, Jonathan’s the tribe’s fisherman, but he’s not all about being the provider. He wants the rest of these players to assume he’s not thinking about the game; meanwhile, he’s plotting behind the scenes with his allies, like Coach, who gets a massive cramp on a fishing trip and needs safety swimmers to ferry him back to shore. Everyone gets in on the Coach roast session, calling him old, malfunctioning, and full of holes.
Even Coach himself admits his body isn’t what it used to be, and without Jonathan, he could’ve been in serious danger. But despite his Coach-y antics, he’s not the pariah on this tribe when Chrissy is rubbing everyone the wrong way with her over-the-top mothering. Even Charlie, who loves working with older women, doesn’t want to put his game on the line for her if she’s digging her own grave this soon.
Back on Cila, Savannah is still lying about her Vote Blocker. She played super loyal last time and wants to run that back on 50, but she doesn’t trust anyone in this tribe enough yet. There’s a discussion of Ozzy, Savannah, and Rick as a trio, but Rick ain’t buying it when he already has an alliance of nerds ready to go. Ozzy’s squarely on the bottom, but if Joe’s going to keep playing the same boring honor and integrity game a second time and grill people like a mob boss when they have casual chats, Rick and Christian might change the narrative of this tribe and take him out for the sake of playing more freely. And if he does stay, why not just leave him out of the vote? Come up with a “Joe Schedule” and Buddy System the guy promoting the Buddy System in the first place?
But voting options are on the back burner for now, because Christian finds Cila’s Boomerang Idol and has to give it away. It would be hilarious if he gave it to Angelina for the memes? Maybe he gives it to someone as a token of trust? Or he could use it to mark someone for elimination? Well, he’s going to use it to add another nerd to his geek squad, and into Aubry’s hands it goes. If only Genevieve searched Aubry’s bag a day later, huh? But Aubry might have a grace period, with an old-fashioned work ethic taking center stage on Vatu. Steph, Colby, and Q are natural-born workhorses, but the likes of Rizo and Angelina aren’t here for the camping experience as much as they are for the gameplay. And in a tribe with a heavy old-school mentality, they might as well just put their own names down at Tribal because animosity is brewing between the eras.
With immunity on the line, Vatu goes into overdrive to make up for Kyle’s absence, taking first place as Cila and Kalo struggle to communicate. But once again, Cila drops the ball (literally) and flops back to Tribal Council for back-to-back votes, and Ozzy’s prepared to whip out his advantages to stay alive if they come for him and Cirie again.
There’s no consensus this time, though. Ozzy, Savannah, and Joe all have valid reasons to head home, but Cirie is taking Ozzy’s name off that board ASAP. With just one chat, she spins Emily, Christian, and Rick against Savannah. She’s not pushing anything per se. She’s just providing information. It just so happens that they ultimately choose what’s best for Cirie’s game. And with his name safe for now, Ozzy thanks Cirie for all her hard work by passing him his extra vote, the first advantage she’s ever had in five seasons. Cool, now give her an idol too so she can’t get Advantage-geddon’d a second time.
But even with Savannah on the block, she’s sharing the hot seat with Joe, who’s still paranoid and bickering with Rick a day later. The Kyle/Kamilla baggage is weighing him down, and he’s spiraling at the thought of secret alliances, which just makes Rick spiral in turn when he’s once again accused of working with Savannah! But Joe knows he has to be the bigger person to stay, so he puts the emotions aside and tries getting back with the majority… only for Christian to get fed up with the Joe Hunter experience too and question whether it’s worth keeping him around at all. If they have to keep treating Joe with kid gloves and giving him island therapy every time they strategize without him, why not just send him packing and make things easier?
Even Cirie starts jumping on the Joe train, pitching the vote as a means to protect Rick down the line if Joe goes rogue. Savannah sees her move for what it is, though: protecting Ozzy. Emily sees it too, and she’s still down to send Ozzy home even if the numbers aren’t quite there yet. So even after all that scrambling, none of the targets are totally safe. Do you vote for Savannah and remove the devil you don’t know? Do you vote Ozzy and remove one of Cirie’s key numbers? Do you vote Joe and let everyone actually play Survivor 50 and not Survivor 5? And apart from all the vote drama, Christian reveals the Boomerang Idol to Rick, who plots a scheme to plant the Boomerang Idol parchment at Tribal for later down the line.
When the pen hits the parchment, though, it’s tearful Savannah who takes the fall, following Kyle out the door as the second winner eliminated back-to-back. I still think casting 49ers this season was a bad call, especially Savannah, who had no real shot of surviving as an unknown winner with no time to pre-game. And to put her on a tribe with some solid alliances already in place? Oh, she was screwed from the jump without some serious luck on her side. Give her a chance on a New Era All Stars, and she probably performs a lot better, but here she was just a dead woman walking and got shut out without a real chance to play. But at least she survived one vote, which is more than I think a lot of us expected her to going in.
And if you were excited to hopefully see what the other tribes would do if they faced a loss, well, we’re swapping, so keep dreaming! Three tribes of seven, and probably some double eliminations incoming to trim down this cast fast because good lord, we are six days in and still have twenty-one people left. But it’s twenty-one people I’m usually enjoying on my screen, even the picks I wasn’t excited for going in. Like, this episode got me to appreciate Rick Devens. You have no idea how monumental that is.
But the season is bringing drama on and off the show, surreal fan fiction level interactions, long running storylines with fun new arcs, genuinely funny moments that make the episodes highly rewatchable… So yeah, this is a legit great start. So good I often forget this is still a cheap New Era season in the end. Keep it up, Survivor 50, and please please please don’t go off the rails Winners at War style with bad twists and a dumpster fire boot order. I beg of you.
Written by