Survivor 41, Ep. 12: Truth Kamikaze
VIAKANA NIGHT 21
Deshawn relives winning the DO or DIE and the euphoria of it but coupled with the defeat of Liana getting voted out. Danny and Deshawn are looking to knock out “Tom Brady” aka Ricard and don’t understand why Xander didn’t keep his word. To Danny, the mission has been to stay alive. He knows that himself and Deshawn are now outnumbered, but the saving grace should have been or will be to vote out Ricard because in the high school yearbook superlative “most likely to win Survivor”, Ricard’s picture is there with a winning grin on his face. So, Danny is trying to sell the others on voting him out, especially Xander. Finally, Danny can’t understand why the rest of the players wouldn’t see the situation as he does both in the previous vote and moving forward. Let’s go back to Xander. Danny failed to understand because he was likely asking himself the wrong question. The question he needed to ask was…
Is it best for Xander’s game to vote Ricard out or keep Ricard a little longer?
You can argue it either way, but Xander knows that Ricard is the major threat and explains to Danny why he voted Liana and not Ricard last vote, and why now will be the best time for him to vote Ricard out. Ultimately, Ricard is his shield and as long as Ricard is in, it means Xander lives another day in the game and with a significantly less threat level.
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HEATHER FOLLOWS UP
Deshawn explains to Heather the conflict he felt of voting out Liana was bigger than writing her name on the parchment. Deshawn let us into his internal moral conflict at the previous Tribal. There, he shed tears as he grappled with the responsibility he felt to Liana as a member of the black community and his desire to see that they succeed in the game, while at the same time thinking about what is best for his game. Everyone in Survivor may say that there is an easy vote from time to time, but my guess is that it’s always hard. Every vote could be you and thus no vote is ever truly easy. This game can turn on you at any time and a vote can switch based on age, race, religion, gender, challenge success, timing, or saying something stupid at Tribal.
What doesn’t often get said at Tribal were the issues that Liana and Deshawn brought up, nor do reactions to those words like Xander and Heather’s. In that very raw, real, and bigger than the game conversation, Heather was listening, Heather was learning, and Heather connected with Deshawn at a greater level. Deshawn’s challenges in life are not the same as Heather’s, and chances are she doesn’t interact with a “Deshawn” at that level every day, but when it mattered (in that conversation at Tribal), Heather was present and ready and willing to accept the bigger message before her. To her credit, Heather continues the conversation with Deshawn because she thinks it’s important to take the lesson back with her that she learned from Deshawn. She saw the true Deshawn and the conflict he was faced with and she feels that her being in this season, at that Tribal, in that moment, was bigger than herself and the expression on her face and in her heart was pretty cool. You could feel it at home.
“I want this season to make a difference.” - Heather
I think it has and will Heather in part because of your model of how to listen to others, learn from others, and even at 52 be willing to grow. Well done Heather. You went this season from “Where’s Heather?” to Heather’s right here. I tip my buff to you.
ERIKA’S MORAL DILEMMA VOTING LIANA OUT
Heather and Liana weren’t the only women being impacted at the last Tribal. There also was Erika who we didn’t hear from during Tribal. As a woman and person of color, Erika too has some internal moral conflicts swirling as the Liana vote was about to go down.
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Erika felt the guilt of voting out a woman, bringing the number remaining to 2. Why is this a problem for her?, because Erika knows a woman hasn’t won in a while (since s34) and felt she was letting people (women) down by voting a woman out, Liana. She knows that there have been more male winners than female. She knows that a woman hasn’t won in a chunk of time. She knows that this shouldn’t necessarily influence her feelings in the game or who she should/shouldn’t vote for, but she’s also HUMAN. She feels a responsibility to herself and people watching, specifically women, to have a woman win. Nothing new here, but for Erika it’s new. The game sees no gender, race, religion etc., but the players do and they have to grapple with it. It’s part of the process. Again, no vote is an easy vote.
REWARD CHALLENGE
REWARD - Choice of GRILLED CHICKEN AND VEGGIES or CAKE/COOKIES
1st Person
Dive in, swim to ramp, head up ramp, and leap into water,
Dive down, release buoys and get one into basket on platform
2nd and 3rd Person
Repeat without diving down
End of Challenge
Shoot the 3 buoys into floating baskets
YELLOW - Deshawn, Xander, Erika - WINNERS
BLUE - Heather, Danny, Ricard
CBS
Deshawn wins the challenge for the Yellow team and they choose the reward of chicken and veggies. Perhaps the biggest reward is Deshawn being able to strategize with Xander and Erika while eating. They all agree that the target should be Ricard. He has the greatest chance of winning because he has played the best game. They need to get him out and I think Xander’s shield is no longer one he can keep in front of him so he doesn’t get voted out.
Also, let’s not forget that Xander still has the butterflies as dead relatives idol in his pocket from way back in the game. If Ricard goes this vote and Xander can use his idol on the next vote, it could be a relatively easy walk into the final four.
Big picture, these 3 are well aware of Ricard being the big threat and Xander even says that the people at home will be wondering what the hell are you all thinking. Xander knows what he’s doing.
DANNY SEARCHES FOR AN IDOL
FINALLY!!!!!
I have been wondering how nobody has been looking for an idol. Seriously, how has nobody been looking. Especially at the final 6 stage of the game. It was literally DO or DIE time at previous Tribal, so what the hell are you waiting for people?!?!?!
I was rooting for Danny to find it or for someone else to go out looking but all that came of it was Danny missing it like a linebacker missing the read and letting the running back slip away. That wasn’t all. On top of coming up empty handed, Danny also comes back from his hunt with Ricard and Heather on his scent. Especially Ricard. The body language doctor is awfully suspicious of Danny and the look on his face, but Ricard hasn’t been wrong much this season.
ERIKA CONTEMPLATES FINAL 3
Deshawn is playing hard and making as many inroads as he can. At the well Deshawn is selling Erika on the idea of getting Erika to not want Heather in a final 3 because of them having similar stories. They were on the same tribe,
Interesting approach. Wouldn’t have thought about selling Erika on voting out Heather AT ALL, even if they have similar journeys in the game. I think if I was going to try to sell Erika on getting Heather out (which I wouldn’t) I think I would sell her on being the only woman left and the advantage that could be for her. Might have been more palatable than the similar stories in the game angle. If you’re going to get rid of Heather and you choose Erika to help do it, I think the evidence needed to pack a greater punch than the similar story aka easy angle.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Unspool coil of rope, get through obstacles while collecting puzzle pieces, and solve the puzzle.
This challenge is HUGE. By far the most at stake this season. Spot in the final 5 and with Ricard’s game being the strongest strategically and having 2 individual challenge wins he knows that his ass is on the line. He needs a win.
Ricard is first to the puzzle. Xander next, and Erika, Danny, and Deshawn close behind. Heather brings up the rear to solve the 7 word phrase. The puzzle is two sided and each side has to be correct to win. Like Erika says after the challenge, everyone has focused on plan A, voting out Ricard.
Problem is, Ricard just won immunity!
Now what? Let’s break it down…
The Easy Vote - HEATHER
No idol. No advantage. No wins. She has nothing except being part of an alliance. Would be an easy vote, or maybe not.
The BETTER Vote - DESHAWN
Has allies on the jury. Made a huge impression at the previous Tribal Council with winning the DO or DIE and allowing himself to be vulnerable and speak out about the moral conflict he experienced.
The GAME CHANGER - XANDER
Get Xander to play his idol and vote him out anyway.
Danny actually found an idol when he was on the hunt, plays it on Deshawn and they take out Xander with an idol in his pocket.
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE
Danny knows it’s either him or Deshawn.
Ricard confronts Danny about finding an idol or not. Danny didn’t. Come on Danny.
Xander tells Heather to vote out Deshawn because Danny can beat Ricard in an Immunity Challenge. Aka Xander wants someone around to beat Ricard next time so that Ricard doesn’t make it to the end and then win easily and blow up in Xander’s face for not voting him out when they had the chance.
Erika wants to convince Ricard and Heather that Danny is who they should vote out because she wants to keep Deshawn around. Erika is influencing this game more than we think.
Ricard doesn’t know Erika and Heather, but Deshawn knows them. He knows they have known each other the whole game. Survivor is a game rooted in trust and the fact that Ricard has only known them both for such a short period makes him uneasy. Plus, they’ve known each other the whole game which makes Ricard even more uneasy.
Danny tells Deshawn that he played in the NFL, 5 seasons for the Cowboys and 1 season for the Bears. (Big secret revealed!) Did Deshawn really not figure that out/know that? I’d really like to know what Danny told everyone that he did. Accountant? Sales? Chef? I just find it strange that they snuck in that reveal from Danny to Deshawn now without any prior convos about Danny maneuvering around the question.
Deshawn knows that his relationships with Erika and Heather have to pay off for him. He’s banking on his social game to carry him when they both go to cast a vote for someone at Tribal.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Deshawn walks in with a shit eating grin in on his face and Jeff calls him out, but I love how Deshawn takes it all in stride. He has a way with words that makes him likable. He says he’s grateful to be there, he knows the four of them (Ricard, Xander, Erika, Heather) will vote for him, and they are going to talk about Danny having the idol.
CBS
Deshawn and Danny both call out the stupidity of not voting out Ricard the previous vote. What seems obvious to Danny and Deshawn is not the truth for Erika and Heather. Again, like I said earlier in the blog, they may not understand the move, but my hunch is that they don’t like the move more than they don’t understand it.
Danny makes his plea. He laid it all out there in true former professional athlete fashion. He played his heart out and left it all out there just like he did when he put on his football helmet. Deshawn too is happy with the game he played, BUT wants to throw some stuff out there. One last bit of fireworks, which I can understand. He decides to drink some truth serum and let the truth set him free. “Erika will not be taking you to the end Heather because they ‘played identical games’” aka exactly what he told Erika were the reasons she should vote out Heather and not Deshawn.. Deshawn drops a “TRUTH BOMB” on Heather to sway her off of voting him and voting out Erika, but it doesn’t land.
Deshawn and Danny are the ones on the chopping block. Danny owns it and says he still wants to play. Deshawn coming with a truth bomb is trying to be ahead of the vote, but it feels like it backfired on him. The bomb actually blew up in his face. Doesn’t look good for Deshawn.
VOTES
Deshawn 3
Danny 3
RE-VOTE
Danny 4
Deshawn 0
FINAL 5
After Danny is voted out, Jeff lays out how the end of the game is going to go. 3 days, 2 Immunity Challenges, 1 Fire Making Tie-Breaker, and they will do it all on a new island, new camp, and being back at square one. The adventure is only beginning!
PATH TO FINAL 3
RICARD
Ricard comes into the final 5 with the best resume and it’s not close. He survived Ua and was part of voting out 4 people there. He has won 3 individual immunity challenges. He has played the most strategic game and everyone knows it. To get to the final 3, Ricard needs to win the next Immunity Challenge. Plain and simple. He did what he needed at final 6 and he needs to do it again to ensure at least a chance at making fire and getting to a final 3. The only other play he has is finding an idol, and Danny proved they are out there.
ERIKA
She comes into final 5 having withstood Deshawn’s “truth bomb” at Tribal and even did her part to keep him around and vote Danny in the re-vote. Entering final 5 Erika seems like a lock to be in the final 3. Ricard, Xander, and Deshawn would welcome having her in the final 3 with them because I think they would all feel they could beat her. The only way she doesn’t make final 3 is via a loss in fire making at final 4. In the end, I think Erika would have a case to make against Deshawn and Heather, but a tougher go if up against Xander or Ricard or both. Ultimately, I think she will be in final 3.
HEATHER
Like Erika, she has played similar games coming from the early success of Luvu. I think Heather will be in the final 3 as well as Erika. For my money, I don’t see a reason why the remaining 4 players would want her out. She has won zero challenges, had zero advantages, and was the architect of very little in the game. Her edit says so. So what is her path? I think it’s a frictionless one. She doesn’t need to win immunity and I don’t think she’ll have to win at fire because whoever wins the final 4 immunity will take Heather with them to the final 3. Her lack of a threat to win is pretty obvious and the remaining players know it.
XANDER
The path to the final 3 looks pretty promising for Xander. He has done the impossible this season. That is, he has been able to have an idol in his pocket that everyone knows about, yet he hasn’t been threatened enough to use it. Unbelievable. Now, at final 5 he can play it and walk into final 4 and have at least the opportunity to go to fire and compete for a chance to make the final 3. I like his chances to get there and have a real case to win. His only roadblock would be going against Ricard. Time to sack up and win the final 5 immunity and get Ricard out or the path to final 3 and the million dollars gets a whole lot tougher.
DESHAWN
Last but not least is our DO or DIE and Truth Bomb survivor Deshawn. He finds himself the last one standing from his once solid alliance of Shan, Liana, and Danny. They’ve all been voted out and find themselves on the jury. To not end up on the jury himself he’s going to need some help in the form of an immunity win or a win at final 4 fire. If Ricard doesn’t win final 5 immunity, he’ll be voted out thus leaving Deshawn in a good spot at final 4. I think at that point Deshawn will get to final 3 by winning the final 4 immunity or beating Xander/Ricard/Erika at fire. Again this all depends on who wins at final 5. Worst case for Deshawn is Ricard winning final 5 immunity, Xander plays his idol and then Deshawn is the sitting duck. If that scenario doesn’t happen, then Deshawn will have options.
Thanks for reading. Until the next time, be sure to outlike, outcomment, and outshare the rest all season long. If you like the blog be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.
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