I had mixed feelings when Episode 2 ended last week. One part of me was interested in the changing up of the episode’s structure, while another part was slightly peeved that we weren’t getting more information about the Edge of Extinction. In any case, we were left with Keith standing at the crossroads right after he got voted out at Manu’s second tribal council, deliberating between taking up a chance to get back into the game or going home for good.
This ending remained a cliff-hanger for a while, until the description for episode 3 was released, reading, “also, two castaways attempt to get along while trying to survive on the ‘Edge of Extinction’.” So, despite the agonisingly extended segment we saw, we can now safely say that Keith decided to grab the torch and get on the boat to join his ex-tribemate, Reem.
Also at the end of episode 2, we saw a short but emotional clip of Reem on Extinction. She was starting to show doubts about continuing, saying “If no one shows up, I might have to raise the flag” to leave the game. However, with Keith on the way to the island, I don’t believe she’ll be quitting any time soon. What I find more interesting is how Reem will react to Keith’s arrival. Will she be hostile because Keith threw her name out to the rest of the tribe, compounding the reasons to vote her out? Or will she fall back into the mother-role that Keith previously saw her as? Personally, I feel like if this were to play out, the antagonism wouldn’t stretch for that long a time.
After successfully avoiding the last vote, Wendy’s in for another challenge this episode. The preview trailer highlighted that she injured her ankle and was being supported by her tribemates back to camp. There’s definitely the possibility of her being a target for elimination if it hinders her from performing in challenges, especially since Keith just got voted out for being a challenge liability. However, I feel like the impact of her conversations with “Devens” and David during the episode will spill over into this week. I don’t think Wendy will get voted out, either because her tribe doesn’t go to tribal council this week, or because some players on Manu will choose to save her over bigger targets.
That brings us to the ongoing theme of the targeting returning players. On Manu, Wendy is hell-bent on getting rid of Wentworth, while David, Devens, and perhaps even Chris seem somewhat open to blindsiding her, and are simply waiting for the best moment to strike. As days go by and the social relations start firming up amongst the tribemates, I feel like they’ll have even greater reason to get the three-time player out when they realise that their intentions and gameplay mostly align with each other.
On the other side of Manu, Wentworth seems positioned in a leadership role, telling Chris, Wardog and Lauren, “better to stick together,” emphasised by the trailer narrating “you need a pack mentality.” The diction here immediately brings to mind flashbacks of Boston Rob’s strategy on Redemption Island where he mobilised his alliance to stick together as well. I don’t think we’ll see Wentworth exactly adopting this tactic, but I read it as her attempting to explicitly cement a solid alliance.
All in all, for Manu, I feel like we have David, Devens and Wendy on one side, Lauren and Wentworth on the other, and Wardog and Chris in the middle as swing votes.
Over on Kama, we don’t have much information about their individual relationships yet. The preview trailer showed Aubry and Joe walking with Aurora, and cutting to Aubry confessing that “nobody wants to talk to us.” From episode 2, we saw her social game being called out by Victoria, Julia and Ron, with a hilarious montage of her repeating the same lines to various Kama members. Perhaps this is setting Aubry up as the target for the Kama tribal, and explains the shot of her running in the previous trailer, possibly finding an idol to save herself.
To sum up, I predict we’ll see Kama go to tribal for the first time this season in episode 3. I think Aubry is a target; Joe stays safe because people want to keep him for challenges. There’s still Ron’s advantage menu left to be played, and I think we’ll see it this episode as it’ll be the last time he gets to use it.
Leave your predictions for episode 3 in the comments below!
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I think Kama wins again. But it doesn’t matter cause Wendy is medevaced. And Ron uses his advantage to get a clue for an idol which he finds
Ron’s advantage is a choice between Reward Steal, Extra Vote or Individual Immunity.
Is Ron’s advantage now useless? Didn’t it have to be used by the third tribal? He should have used it to steal the reward, then we wouldn’t be having to sit through the stupidity with Wendy and the chickens.
Does anyone believe that Keith or Reem could win a contest to get back on the show? However, I could see Aubry winning a contest if she is the third person voted out.
After watching episode 3, there is absolutely no way that you could have accurately predicted who was actually voted out. There were simply not enough clues given in episode 1/2.