After last week’s massive Mike White blindside, the hapless Vatu tribe returns to camp to deal with the mess of it all. Angelina lost her number one, but Ozzy’s somehow the most pissed person at camp. Is it the absolute tantrum Christian says it is? Not really. He’s just frustrated, probably because this is just Cochran flipping in South Pacific all over again, and his new strategic gameplay style isn’t panning out. But he’s willing to give credit where it’s due: if they told him the plan, he would’ve blown it up. But now that he’s been burned, Christian’s his number one target.
But once the sun comes up, Ozzy meditates on it and realizes he was overreacting and needs to calm the chaos within to approach the game with a better attitude. Apologizing to Christian for his bitterness, he puts some old Survivor trauma to rest and vows to move forward as the New Ozzy once more. Still, the betrayal happened, and he’s not forgetting about it. But he isn’t mad at Stephenie, who’s now his number one on this tribe. They’re both old schoolers, they both know about Ozzy’s idol, and they can be swing votes between Angelina and the Christian/Emily duo.
Over on Cila, the Kalo four are in control on paper, but without a Tribal to test those lines, the future is murky. Jonathan lays out the logic here: Cirie and Rizo are threats for various reasons, and Rick Devens can be a number for the majority. And it’s Rick who protects Cirie and throws Rizo under the bus further as the unknown entity. But Dee sees the writing on the wall: Jonathan and Charlie are running the tribe, and she’s not cool with it. She’d rather work with Rizo as a shield and pull in Cirie and Kamilla to overthrow the bros, and her choice pays off when Rizo informs her about the Boomerang idol twist.
While Rizo gets new allies, Charlie is dead set on getting his new rival out of this game ASAP. And he’s kind of being annoying about it, waking Rizo up at dawn and badgering him for info about who he’s told about the idol. Because, well, Charlie apparently told Jonathan. Oops. So now begins Operation Bad Blood in honor of Charlie’s favorite artist, all for the goal of making his blindside sting that much worse. Dee’s down for a Bad Blood blindside, Cirie’s got a free spot in the majority and will surely take it, and Kamilla can be roped in as a fourth later.
On Kalo, Coach is flexing his new social game. He’s more gentle and socially aware, putting him at the center of the tribe working with almost everyone here. No more is he just The Dragonslayer, for he is now The Tidewalker, embodying his more fluid game. And to bring his allies even closer, he gives his Honor and Integrity crew their own nicknames: Joe the Stone Bell and Colby the Oakbound Warrior. Meanwhile Aubry and Tiffany are on the outs, but Aubry’s down to work for new allies for an impending war against Genevieve. Namely… Coach, the leader of the tribe. Offering her loyalty to Coach, he accepts her as an ally (no nickname though).
Immunity comes with an expected twist this week: only one tribe can win, meaning it’s double elimination time, baby! Not sure how it took this long when at least a couple more pre-merge doubles would’ve been better for pacing, but whatever. Despite falling behind early with Colby injured on the bench, Kalo is saved from elimination by Tiffany, Coach, and Joe, clutching the back half of the challenge, dooming Vatu and Cila to Tribal.
At Cila, Rizo’s happy with the loss because now he can make a move. Dee and Cirie are locked in, so now it’s time to get Kamilla onboard. So to solidify a bond, he lies about Kyle begging him to work with her as he was evacuated and informs her about the Billie Eilish of it all. Whatever it takes. Kamilla isn’t sure about this, but she’ll tell Rizo what he wants to hear.
All the while, Charlie is comfortable with the lack of strategy on the beach because he assumes he’s got the numbers, and just to make things even more solid, he pulls Kamilla aside and spoils the idol twist too. But he’s too late to the party. Rizo beat him to the punch, and that’s the key to managing her swing vote here. And Rizo isn’t done spilling secrets just yet. He tells Cirie about the idol too, and to repay that trust, she tells him about her extra vote from Ozzy in return.
The RizGod wants to be the greatest of all time, and what better way to prove it than work with the best and then beat them? But all of Rizo’s bragging has put a target on his back. All the stories about his idol bluffing and a deep run are already bad enough, but the RizGod thing is just a step too far, so Kamilla’s still weighing her options.
On Vatu, Angelina is the obvious vote. She’s on the bottom and has no reason to be loyal to anyone here, so just keep it simple, tell Angelina it’s Steph going home, and blindside her 4-1. But Ozzy’s still feeling some hunger for revenge, basically. Christian might not be totally safe here, but just to build a little trust and take some stress off his shoulders, Ozzy asks Christian for his Shot in the Dark (yes, this thing still exists) as a token of loyalty for the night. And that’s a red flag. What if Ozzy is just disarming him for a blindside? Wouldn’t be the wildest idea.
As Christian simmers about Ozzy’s attitude, Ozzy hits up Emily and pitches a Christian blindside, hoping he can bring the three women in as loyal allies. But in true Emily fashion, she immediately leaks the plan to Christian and blows up Ozzy’s game. Never change, Emily. So fearing the worst, Christian relents and gives Ozzy his Shot in the Dark, raising the question of whether Ozzy will actually make the evil move here and snipe a defenseless Christian out with no defenses or not. The choice is all his.
With Vatu’s Tribal, Ozzy sticks with the original plan and sends Angelina packing, but not before she gives the tribe her jacket on the way out in a full circle moment (and dare I say the only memorable moment she’s really had this season, sadly). Maybe one of the most disappointing returns of all time? Angelina went from one of the most entertaining characters of the past decade to being a ghost on this season. Few big moments, few memorable lines, hardly any screentime.
So what gives? Did she just mature past her old self and failed to prove herself as a player because of a bad tribe draw? I’d assume that before calling her a shell of her former self. It just didn’t pan out for her in any sense, but it’s always going to be wild to get so little payoff from one of the most hyped returns on the cast.
Likewise, Cila’s Tribal sees Charlie blindsided in a 4-3 vote. From one of the most respected runner-ups to a cartoonish pre-merge boot obsessed with the RizGod, this is a fall from grace if I’ve ever seen one. You had Dee calling him one of the stupidest Survivors ever, Rizo awkwardly quoting Swift lyrics as he votes him out, and Charlie himself leaving in shame as his nightmares came true. Not even a last second Taylor Swift quote during his torch snuffing can lighten the mood, because this was rough. I didn’t expect too many sunken legacies this season, but… man, I think we found our first one unfortunately.
But that’s the season’s first official double boot in the books, and it served to clear out two clear supporting characters. And the twist onslaught isn’t done yet. Because next week sure looks like a convoluted mess of a 17 PERSON MERGE for some reason?! How about we not do that and just do more doubles? You know, like what we should’ve been doing in half the rounds so far to clear out this bloated cast and make room for a more balanced edit?
Complaints aside, the episode was still really good though (low bar after the Zac Brown Variety Hour, I know), and who knows, maybe the game changing twist next week won’t tank what’s been a really fun season! We can only hope!
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