Welcome to Season 51’s Next Time On Survivor weekly feature on the Inside Survivor site! If you’re new around here, I’m Steph from sunny, tropical, humid Singapore. This is a tiny space where I give my best attempts at understanding preview trailers and make my predictions for the show’s next episodes.
First, the sneak peek scene kicks us off with the aftermath of last episode’s tribal council. We follow the Savu tribe as they return to camp at night, some players still reeling from what transpired. We hear a confessional from Eric recounting, “That vote for Ana unified us,” likely referring to the six players—Sharonda, Linnea, Kristin, Alexis, Cristian, and Eric himself—who banded together to vote for Ana. As this scene shows, Eric believes it has solidified a comfortable majority over the three players left on the tribe who voted wrongly: Rob, Ori, and Carter.
On the other hand, Carter shows clear frustration despite saying he’s “not mad.” It’s true that based on the votes, he’s at the bottom of the tribe now, as he laments, “You can take this game whatever direction you want to go.” However, I feel like it’s still very early. Alliances aren’t rock solid yet, and many new events can still happen, especially with the unknown twists that can occur at any time. Carter’s outpouring of emotion here, however, isn’t doing him any favors in reintegrating and improving his position on the Savu tribe.
Over on the Toka tribe, the NTOS trailer gives us a soundbite from Kilby saying, “Dev thinks he’s in control.” I find this a little unexpected because Devin and Jelly were the only ones on the wrong side of the Toka’s tribal council in the premiere episode. They voted for Jenna while the rest of the tribe voted for Aaliyah. I assume Kilby’s responding to Devin’s naturally domineering and rather flashy interactions on the tribe. He’s definitely one of the bigger personalities we’ve seen so far, and that might have rubbed Kilby the wrong way.
However, we see the other side of the story in another preview trailer. Devin says, “I’m starting to smell a rat,” while the matching visual lingers on Kilby, implying that Devin’s onto him and has discovered that Kilby has started strategizing against him and other players. Although I don’t think he’ll win, I think Devin will make it out on top and proceed further in the game than Kilby. Kilby has been clowned on more than portrayed as a strategic player with control over the game; thus, I don’t think this presentation fares well for what’s upcoming for him.
Finally, the trailer hints at a twist—“Choose one person to visit the opposing tribe,” suggesting a mutiny throwback to old-school seasons of Survivor. The most famous example is from Survivor: Cook Islands, when Penner and Candice mutinied from their tribes to join the opposing tribe where their allies were.
This time, however, I’m not sure if anyone will take up the offer. Even though they have all spent time together before the tribes were segregated, it was only a short period compared to the days of living together. I can only see someone really done with their current tribe moving over—perhaps Carter, especially if the twist happens soon after the tribal council and he still feels spurned by the blindside.
What do you think will happen in Episode 3? Leave your predictions in the comments.
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I agree with most of what you said except the last part. I don’t think it has anything to do with a mutiny. I think it like when people used to go to the other tribe to raid it. Or sit in on tribal. And it doesn’t sound like a choice. I think they have to send someone. The question is if both tribes will be sending someone