Fresh off a heated merge Tribal Council where Brady met his demise, the Tovutu tribe returns to camp with mixed emotions. Mike’s riding high on his success while Eric openly begs to know where the votes against him came from. And nobody wants to put their neck out, so Eric doesn’t know where he even stands in this group. Then there’s Kilby, still upset that robotic Mike won immunity and saved himself from a surefire vote, all while having no backbone and ratting out plans left and right.
So yeah, Mike is nowhere near crawling out of the hole he’s in, and Thien An and Maggie keep shoving him back down the next morning. They had the numbers for a Kristin blindside, Mike ruined it, and now everything is a mess. But Mike has his defense ready: Brady was saying he was next on Toka, so why wouldn’t he push for an enemy to leave if he thinks Kristin was better for his game? Plus Maggie can be all over the place and messy too, so it’s not like she has any room to talk, right? Regardless, Mike’s actual power is limited, and his jury prospects are looking downright grim when almost the entire tribe has found time to roast him, so his room to speak isn’t much wider either.
Day 15 brings salad courtesy of Devin… and even more dunking on Mike courtesy of Carter, who’s ready to kick off a new alliance of loyal players who don’t abandon plans. Carter, Lewis, Kilby, Cristian, Thien An, and Maggie. The Salt of the Earth Alliance, devoted to sticking to plans and not causing chaos. Lewis doesn’t really vibe with this cheesy Big Brother-style alliance name, but he’s down to take out some big threats like Devin, Jelly, Mike, etc., so they can call it whatever they want. Carter sweetens the deal with Cristian by showing him his idol and convinces him not to bring in more numbers, so the alliance is locked… unless the return of Tied Destinies throws a huge wrench into this plan.
Tasked with pairing up, the final 12 end up as: Carter and Cristian, Mike and Maggie, Kristin and Kilby, Lewis and Sharonda, Devin and Jelly, and Eric and Thien An. Some pairs are obvious number ones, while others are cross-alliance duos designed to protect each other. Like someone in Mike’s shoes can be shielded by a more socially insulated player like Maggie. But on the other hand, imagine being Thien An paired with an annoying pariah like Eric and worrying he might drag you down a la Chrissy and Coach. Not really a sure-fire strategy either way, but it probably lands better than giving everyone a clear duo to take out like in Devin and Jelly’s case.
In other news though, Brady left the jury to get his thumb treated back home, so the jury hasn’t actually started after all, meaning the first two jurors are going home tonight. The rules of the twist are the same as last season: one pair wins immunity and reward, everyone votes individually for another pair to go home, and that pair joins the jury. Idols can protect a whole pair while one player per pair can play the Shot in the Dark to protect both.
Kristin/Kilby and Maggie/Mike drop out in the first round, and Carter/Cristian last the longest to earn an advantage in the second stage. Eric/Thien An fall short of the final round, and Lewis/Sharonda’s strategy of conserving their energy in the early stages pays off with an unexpected immunity win. They also win a spaghetti feast with two tag-alongs and get to exile one person for the afternoon. They select Cristian for exile and take Kristin and the person who’s apparently talked about spaghetti more than anyone… Jelly. To say Eric was distraught about that second choice would be a lie, and you know I’m praying for a Liz Wilcox-level crash-out from the guy once they return to camp.
On the reward, Jelly throws out Cristian and Carter as the obvious boots here. But Lewis calls it as he sees it: Jelly and Devin made a really stupid move pairing up when they were already seen as a duo, so they gotta go while the chance is available. Maggie and Thien An aren’t desirable targets, so Mike and Eric have some sort of implicit immunity. That leaves the two first-choice target duos… and then Kilby and Kristin, who are also big threats but aren’t really in the firing line.
Kilby himself does his best to placate Devin for the night so he can snipe him and Jelly out with the rest of the Salt of the Earth alliance. It’s such an easy vote on paper, but on top of any idols floating around, Cristian being on exile makes things difficult.
Speaking of Cristian, he’s faced with a timed challenge to keep his vote at Tribal tonight (ugh, New Era flashbacks) and earn an extra vote good for this Tribal only. All he’s got to do is find a clue in an ocean of buoys before they’re swept out to sea. Noticing some buoys are marked with letters, he pieces things together and learns he has to dig under treemail back at camp. Unfortunately, Mike once again finds a way to piss off a fellow tribemate by trailing Cristian when he returns. Thankfully Mike ditches him before the extra vote element is revealed, so it could’ve gone worse.
As Jelly’s campaign against Carter and Cristian carries on, Kristin’s definitely in. Still, Maggie isn’t feeling so sure about working with Kristin when she could have some mysterious power from exile. But Sharonda’s still in on the plan, and Devin can play his extra vote if need be, so the numbers are there. But Carter gets wind of the plan from Lewis and runs to Devin and Jelly to throw them off his trail. His fake pitch is that everyone can gun for Kilby and Kristin to avoid taking shots at each other tonight, and the trap is set. Devin and Jelly are the real targets; they have no idea it’s coming, and now they might not use their advantages at all.
But Sharonda’s not about to let her Helicopter Alliance lose any more members. She exposes the smokescreen for what it is, telling Devin and Jelly they don’t actually have the numbers they think they do and will have to scramble in the closing hours of the day. So with moments left before Tribal, paranoia runs wild. Cristian’s worried about a Shot in the Dark saving the obvious boots; Carter might have to play his idol to save them, and Kristin’s hearing her name again and questioning people to their faces, stirring up even more conflict.
And the paranoia doesn’t stop there. As everyone complains about the chaos, Cristian passes his extra vote to Eric at Tribal so he can play his own Shot in the Dark. But Eric pockets it in the voting booth (even though it’s literally only good for this one Tribal and can’t be used as a bluff as long as Cristian is still around to call BS if he suggests otherwise). When it’s time for idols, Jelly uses hers to protect herself and Devin, and Kristin and Cristian play their Shots in the Dark.
Kristin’s misses, but Cristian’s lands, saving himself and Carter from what could’ve been a collateral damage disaster. In the end, every single Devin and Jelly vote is nullified alongside one vote for Cristian and Carter, leaving just one vote for Kristin and Kilby left in the urn that spells doom for two fan favorites, and now our actual first jurors.
So, uh, how do we feel about this twist now? Because I recall most people saying it was an all-timer after it knocked out the unpopular Coach and Chrissy last season, but you can’t judge a twist based on who it takes out, but by how it actually functions as a mechanic. Now that it’s taken out two of the biggest players everyone was rooting for this time and hopefully given a clearer perspective on things, I think the tide is about to turn a little bit.
While this twist isn’t bad in theory, it becomes significantly less interesting when there are so many ways to become immune and turn things into a choice between a couple of pairs without any protection or anyone willing to vouch for them, usually knocking out the consensus targets unless they have an idol to spare.
Now, it’s not like the Shot in the Dark totally breaks the twist, but it just neuters what could be a really dynamic round into a weird hurdle you have to get over in the middle of the season. The obvious solution is to ban Shots in the Dark during this twist. Or they could add more pairs to the equation by doing the twist earlier in the game, such as in the pre-merge during a One World season where everyone should know each other after a few days. Hell, do it after a day of first impressions in the premiere. Or we could just not do the twist that often and have classic double eliminations again without so many complicated layers that ultimately encourage the safest gameplay possible and rely on other twists and advantages to shake things up? That would be fun!
But we aren’t out of the early-merge twist trenches yet, because next week is the return of the Mr. Beast coin flip (with less awful Mr. Beast branding, I’m sure). Will someone be forcefully Do-Or-Die’d out of the game and potentially cause the audience to rebel against that once-praised twist too? I sure hope not, but the bigger question on my mind isn’t about the coin flip, but what lies beyond the top ten.
Is this just an early barrage of merge twists before a cleaner endgame? Or is the time of players being allowed to play on this season coming to an end with a Season 50-style gauntlet of weird mechanics culling the biggest stars before we’re left with the underwhelming survivors of the slaughter having to pick up the pieces and limp to the finish?
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