I’m just going to get right down to it… James! To some of you, the move James, Libby, Laurel, and Donathan pulled off at Naviti didn’t make sense, and so I want to explain why it was a great move. First, I’ll start off by saying that if I remember correctly, James applied for The Amazing Race and was recruited to play Survivor instead. He binge-watched the series before going out to play so overall I didn’t have huge hopes that he would be much of a gameplayer.
After the episode, some fans thought that voting out Morgan was a terrible idea, and honestly, I didn’t understand why the Malolo 4 voted for her at first either. But when you think about it, voting out Morgan will now cause Naviti to split into a 4-2-2 alliance with Malolo in the majority. You have the Malolo 4, Dom/Wendell, and then Chris/Angela. I’d like to direct all of you readers to James’s secret scene from Episode 3. James has a feeling Dom has the idol, so he didn’t want to risk Dom turning the tables and playing an idol for Angela to send a Malolo home instead. I don’t think he wanted to vote for Dom either in case he played the idol for himself, so the choice came down to Wendell and Morgan. Then when you watch the episode, you hear that they wanted to keep Wendell for his strength in challenges. Which brings us to Morgan….
James also noted that Libby was hesitant to vote for Morgan since they grew close, so I feel like that might have also played a part to keep Libby’s trust with Malolo and not have her split off with Morgan and Naviti later down the line.
Idol-Mania
So Dom finds an idol, tells Chris he doesn’t have an idol, then tells Chris he actually did find an idol (but shows him a fake idol), then tells the tribe that the idol was fake and that he doesn’t have a real idol. And now next week we have Dom telling Laurel that he really does have an idol. Confusing? I know.
If Dom makes it to the Final 3, his strategy is going to take up an entire column on this blog. Dom is becoming an extremely unpredictable player and I personally wouldn’t want to play with him. The ‘Next Time On…’ clips showed Dom telling Laurel about his idol, and when we look at the YouTube preview, we see Laurel walking with Donathan in the jungle. I suspect Laurel is telling Donathan about Dom’s idol and it probably won’t take long before the Malolo 4 all find out. I don’t think Dom is going to tell her about the Legacy Advantage though so he is finally *hopefully,* doing something right!
On Malolo Beach…
It looks like we get a lot of action from new Malolo this week. In the small clips of the challenge from the preview, at 00:08 seconds, we see Laurel approaching the purple pole to score a point for Naviti and then at 00:10 seconds, we see Chris completely open swimming to score a possible second point for Naviti. From what I’m seeing in the press photos, this may be the reward challenge and I predict Naviti to win.
We don’t get to see any action in the previews from the immunity challenge, but I’m led to believe Malolo attends tribal council this episode based on other events in the preview. At 00:02 seconds in the commercial, we see Bradley talking to Stephanie alone. If Bradley had good news or wanted to help her, I don’t think we would see Stephanie crying later, so I guess Bradley tried to tell her that she was the vote for tribal. Honestly, it would fit Bradley’s edit he is getting so far. At the end of the ‘Next Time’ preview, Michael reveals to Jenna and Stephanie that he found an idol and he wants to “make something happen.” Stephanie looks relieved, so it wouldn’t make a lot of sense if Stephanie was crying and Michael said he wanted to make a move if they weren’t even going to tribal.
Ghost Island
If Malolo does lose the challenge this week, looking at the preview where Michael is talking about making a move, I predict this is a scene just before tribal. We see Michael, Stephanie, Jenna, and Brendan, so the person picked to go to Ghost Island had to have been an old Naviti member.
Predictions
Some of the early gameplay is pretty confusing this season, take Jacob and Dom for example, but there have also been some clever moves in these first three episodes. Overall, I’m excited to see what else this season has to offer.
Will an idol or advantage be found?
I think since the last two people to visit Ghost island didn’t have any luck with being given an idol or advantage, there will be one found this time.
Who’s going to tribal and is on the chopping block?
I’m pretty sure Malolo is headed to tribal this week. As for the Naviti 5, I think they are going after Stephanie because she just happens to be a female who isn’t as strong as someone like Brendan or Michael. As for the other 4 OG Malolo members, I think they will go after Bradley since he was complaining so much. Bradley has been getting a rough edit, and it definitely sucks since he was my #1 draft pick. Ouch!
Will an idol get played?
I think no doubt Michael will play his idol for Stephanie, or whoever ends up being the actual target.
Who will go home?
Stephanie has been given a great edit so far. If we remember last season, Ben had a small downfall emotional-type episode when it came to him discussing his PTSD. I think this could be Stephanie’s downfall emotional-type episode and next week we will see her on top again. I think it’s definitely an old Naviti who goes home and I’m going to go with Bradley. If somehow Bradley goes to Ghost Island, then I will go with Chelsea since she is invisible.
Side-note: I had to refer back to my previous Next Time for Episode 3 to figure out who the fifth Naviti member was on Malolo because I literally couldn’t remember.
Winner Pick After Episode 3
Am I allowed to have a tie? I don’t want to flip around with winner picks, but I fell in love with James this past episode. So I’m going to have a tie between James and Brendan, and I’ll be back next week to put someone on top. Let’s see how Brendan does going to tribal being in the minority this week.
Thanks for reading and following along. If I happen to be wrong and Naviti goes to tribal, I apologize for wasting your time! If you have contradictions or other predictions, post them in the comments so I can check them out!
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This is where you and I differ. I learned to loathe James as far as the show is concerned last week. If he wins it all, I will be done. He would be the least likable winner probably ever.
“Bradley has been getting a rough edit, and it definitely sucks since he was my #1 draft pick. Ouch!”
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I also think a Malolo goes home. It’s not going to be Stephanie. I’m guessing it’s Jenna as the “inconspicuous blonde.” Michael isn’t going to play his idol on her.
I think everyone who liked Morgan will think james is the least likable winner. but if you check out reddit and twitter, he got a TON of love last week. He even had to announce that it wasn’t just him, he was all 4 old malolo members who pulled it off. I think people would like james as a winner but again- we’re only on episode 4 this week so we still have a lot to see
I think you’re right about Malolo 2.0 losing the immunity challenge but if you’re also right that it is one of the original Naviti tribe mates being sent to Ghost Island, this would leave a 4-4 split heading to tribal council and this would make it hard to believe (indeed, impossible to believe) that Bradley would tell Stephanie she is the target. At most, he would tell her someone else – and only if he was trying to get her to flip, or perhaps to threaten her with a potential rock draw scenario. (But even then, he wouldn’t have to reveal who the Naviti four’s target is, only that it isn’t her.)
In order for Michael’s immunity idol to work to their benefit, the Malolo four are going to have to play it correctly. Although I guess that even if they don’t we could see a 4-4 voting split leading to a possible rock draw. (As long as do end up with four Naviti and four Malolo at tribal council.) Certainly based on the edit, Bradley seems the likeliest blindside at this point. Hope this is correct.
I actually completely forgot about that for a moment. Yeah it’d be the 4-4 so i dont see bradley telling stephanie anymore but shes definitely upset over something and i think it’s because she is a target. Im looking at the 4 og malolo members and based on their edits, I just dont see one of them going this week, so that’s why Im pushing the idea that Michael plays his idol correctly.
I definitely think Malolo will lose, but what I think will happen will depend on who goes to Ghost Island.
If there is a 4-4 split, I think Malolo will remain tight, and someone like Bradley or Kellyn, who look like actual fans, will flip to avoid rocks. According to Morgan there was a distinct 5-5 split on the original Naviti, so I doubt this 5 are unbreakable since we know Domenick/Morgan/Wendell and Chris/Angela were the compositions of the New Naviti-Naviti.
If Naviti have a 5-3 majority, then I think it will rely heavily on who is there. If Jenna or Steph goes to Ghost Island, the other girl is the obvious target, and the Idol plan may work. If Brendan goes to Ghost Island, it wholly depends on the luck of who they vote. I can’t see them instantly going Stephanie over Jenna, neither girl seems weak, but neither really stands out. Then we have possibly the worst situation, with Michal ending up on Ghost Island…and if that occurs…Malolo are probably screwed, with Jenna or Steph gone.
Did anyone notice that Donathan was in the picture of the challenge, yet he never competed??? Like wtf??? When did that match happen?
They often do five rounds during most challenges like this, but they only air certain ones to create the best tension.
[…] between Brendan and Bradley, and I ended up losing my winner pick in Brendan. When it came down to my predictions for Episode 4, I felt like I had won that immunity challenge myself, having predicted almost everything except […]