Survivor 41, Ep. 7: There's Gonna Be Blood
We reached the merge…sort of! The 3 tribes received tree-mail hinting at a merge only to find out that Jeff had more twists up his sleeve. At the merge challenge the blue team consisting of Danny, Deshawn, Sydney, Ricard, and Evvie locked up a win and what they thought was an exemption from the next Immunity Challenge, but drawing rocks strikes again and leaves Erika at Exile Island with a game changing decision. What will Erika do? Will she break the hourglass and change history or let the integrity of the game remain in tact as is?
EXILE ISLAND (Day 13-14)
We open on Exile Island with Erika who before being sent to Exile Island was a member of the always winning Luvu tribe and thus being sidelined from the action of the game of Survivor. No Tribal Councils. No alliances tested. No voting. No blindsides. Nothing. Hell, they never even got their torches. I think Erika even pointed that out in her 17 seconds of air time.
This matters. For starters, getting the experiences like Ua and Yase did to this point of the game has tested those players and as a result, hardened them. Those experiences make their games more informed and from a place of being comfortable with being uncomfortable, which members of Luvu haven’t been able to have.
ERIKA’S DECISION
Now, Erika finds herself faced with a game changing and for all intents and purposes a “let’s create a monumental decision in Survivor 41” decision to make when she hasn’t even gotten a torch yet. Would this decision be as challenging or reaction generating if Shan or Ricard had this unprecedented power? Absolutely not. It would be another piece for Survivor Fact Checkers to point to as a reason to believe that they were the frontrunners to win the million. Instead, this historical moment is in the hands of a castaway who has had a minimal impact on the season as a result of her tribe’s successes at Immunity Challenges.
So, what does she do?
Break the hourglass - change the course of history in the game, reverse the outcome of the merge challenge, give herself safety, give Tiffany, Shan, Liana, Xander, and Heather (remember her?) safety from the vote, and screw over Danny, Deshawn, Sydney, Ricard, Evvie, and Naseer putting them at risk of being voted out 2 days after thinking they were safe?
Leave it alone - putting herself at risk of being voted out, making arguably the stupidest decision in the history of Survivor, to almost certainly become the next person voted out, look like a fool, look like a wuss, make fans everywhere angry for ever being cast on this season, and regretting not making the decision for the rest of her life?
I think you know what she decided…
CBS
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Core strength. Feet coordination. Sydney doing her best MJ sticking her tongue out. Evvie in contention. Sydney looking strong. Ricard cuts it close. Evvie knocks it over. Sydney or Ricard. Who puts it in first? (That’s what she said). Oh my god. OH MY GOD. SOOOO CLOSE….
WINNER - RICARD
CBS
Ricard edges out Sydney in as close an edit as you could have in an Individual Immunity Challenge. Ricard earns immunity and it’s a big one. Coming off his trauma with Ua, Erika’s decision to change history, the fact that only 5 people can be voted out at this Tribal, and having immunity taken from him, it’s a nice win for Ricard. Real nice win.
On the other hand, think about the alternate universe Sydney must feel she’s in. Going back, Sydney draws rocks and gets put on a merge challenge team with Danny, Deshawn, Evvie, Ricard, and Naseer (chosen by Danny). Avoids going to a 2 day stay at Exile Island. Helps pummel the weaker tribe of Tiff, Shan, Liana, Heather, and Xander. As a result, she “wins” immunity from the first individual post-merge Tribal vote. But wait, there’s more. She wins part of the first and only food reward of the season. Earns a window of time to strategize with non Luvu players, and have Erika be an easy target of the vote coming back from exile, all with minimal blood on her virgin Tribal hands.
But instead…
Sydney’s reality is the Exile Island twist gave Erika an irrational amount of power and maybe the easiest decision in the history of Survivor, turning back the clocks, smashing the hourglass, saving herself, and stripping immunity away from Sydney. Then, Sydney has to compete for immunity knowing that a loss could make her one of a limited group eligible to be voted out at Tribal. Finally, when she has the taste of immunity back on her lips, the final gut punch comes from Ricard edging her out by mere centimeters!
Gross.
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE - Day 14 Highlights/Play-by-Play
Liana - “Knowledge is Power Advantage” is brought up.
Danny - pissed about winning feast and immunity, but actually not winning immunity.
CBS
Ricard - wants to vote Evvie, says it to Deshawn, Danny, and Sydney (Ricard making moves from a position of power aka immunity around his neck)
Danny tells Liana the plan of Evvie and everyone’s on board.
Liana isn’t in. Needs to speak with mama bear Shan.
CBS
Liana, Shan - giddy with confidence because of their advantages.
Xander has other plans
Evvie knows her back is against the wall
CBS
Xander is ready to play the idol for Evvie.
Tiff wants Deshawn out, so the former Yase 3 will vote that way.
Tiff told Evvie about Liana’s not so secret advantage.
Evvie tells Xander about Liana’s not at all secret advantage.
What will Xander do with his idol knowing the advantage Liana has and the connection she’s showing outwardly toward Shan? How about set quite a ripple effect.
Danny tells Liana and Sydney that the target of the “Knowledge is Power Advantage” aka Xander, knows everything and is playing the idol for Evvie.
WHY DOES EVERYONE TELL EVERYONE EVERYTHING??? AM I MISSING SOMETHING???
Liana desperately checks with Shan that she’s reading the advantage correctly.
CBS
Liana desperately with her plans totally out in the open tries to sew up her nuclear bombed plan with a needle and thread by going to Xander to ask him about playing his idol so that Yase can stay together. Embarrassing.
Evvie knows Liana’s plan is bogus and she is lying, and not doing a very good job at it.
Liana tells Deshawn about his name being thrown around.
Deshawn sparks conversation to vote Sydney out.
Sydney, despite being “so self obsessed" that she has “got to do for me” and starts to unravel to Xander that she could be f#$*ed.
Liana reassures Sydney that she’s got a plan.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
After 2 weeks in the game (again more than half way through this abridged 26 day sprint version) Luvu FINALLY DIPS THEIR TORCHES IN TO GET FIRE!
Think about that one folks. You’re on Survivor and you probably spend so much time and energy before you go out to Fiji, when the game starts, as the game is going, and everywhere in between only to have the first two weeks “off” from Tribal Council and the actual “playing” of the game. Kind of crazy and again putting Luvu members at a disadvantage from the strategy/experience standpoint. Luvu is like Jordan Love who has been in the NFL a while, but only gets his first start this weekend and looks like a rookie despite being in the league longer than the actual rookies like Mac Jones who have been starting their entire rookie season and look like a seasoned veteran in comparison to Love. in other words, experience in Survivor helps you and the only way to get experience is to lose a damn challenge and go to Tribal Council.
XANDER BREAKS OUT HIS “IMMUNITY IDOL”
We last saw Xander and his idol fake reassuring a very desperate Liana during the pre-tribal scramble. Now, at Tribal Council, with everyone knowing about his butterflies being dead relatives idol, he figures that he can use that as leverage, especially knowing the dirt on Liana’s not so secret at all advantage.
Plus, knowing that Liana would target him, Xander turns up the head games by flashing the “idol” in the open.
Liana takes in this revealing info from Xander and shows who she really trusts in the game, Shan. The two assess the situation and by two I mean Shan. Then, Liana makes her decision to use the “Knowledge is Power Advantage” and asks Xander one burning question.
💥BOOM!💥
Give it up for my man Xander dropping big time moves on people at Tribal Council. He played it beautifully. While Liana read the advantage he was fidgeting and scratching the back of his neck/touching his face aka giving off a “you got me” vibe that you can see causes Liana’s smile to widen as she reads on unknowingly.
Xander spices it up by dropping a “you can have this fake one” to rub salt in the fresh wound. Evvie loves it. Shan hates it. Liana feels about an inch big. And, the viewers at home are LOVING IT!
Then, the producers allow Xander to explain his big time move with a flashback to him giving his idol and extra vote to Tiffany, not the most hunted Evvie, but because the heat is on Evvie, they’d never suspect Tiff to have the goods. Another well executed piece of the plan by Xander and his Yase accomplices.
Then, to put a cherry on top of his big move sundae, he even made a fake idol of his own that he wrapped inside the real clue to further mislead and outwit the rest.
For this move, Xander gets an A+.
LET THE WHISPERING BEGIN
After a very lively and segregated Tribal unfolds we end up with Evvie, Xander, Tiffany, Xander’s idol, and Xander’s extra vote on one side. On the other, is Ricard, Heather, Danny, Deshawn, Shan, Liana, Erika, and Naseer. And on her own in a more dire version of exile than Erika ever faced is Sydney.
Like I said earlier after the turn of events and the way the Immunity Challenge played out, poor Sydney. She turly is living in the alternate 1985 with Biff Tannen’s Pleasure Paradise skyscraping over Hill Valley. In other words, Sydney went from being immune to being as she said to Xander earlier, F_ _ _ ED!
Well, there is one thing she can do…
VOTES
Sydney - 5
Evvie - 4
Deshawn - 3
Deshawn finally gets his extra vote that he earned on the excursion with Evvie earlier in the season.
As for Sydney, she took her Shot in the Dark and missed.
SYDNEY’S EXIT
CBS
Sydney exits the game the only way that Sydney could exit the game.
Dropping F-bombs, not giving a shit, and leaving a void in the season behind. This season was better for having Sydney and I can’t help but be in the camp of thinking we didn’t get enough Sydney as we could have. Maybe 60% of what Sydney’s on screen personality potential could have been. Unfortunately, she was victimized by the success of her tribe at Tribal Council for 6.5 episodes and she never really got to express how great she could have been.
I know, I know. She did express it. She technically did express how great she was over and over again, LOL, but you know what I mean. In the end, Sydney was kind of like the cast member that never was this season. I would rather have seen Sydney’s game on Ua or Yase for 3 or 4 episodes and flame out at her 2nd or 3rd Tribal than 7 episodes on Luvu, 1 Tribal, and screwed over by Erika’s Exile twist decision.
RIP Queen.
AWARDS
Best Move - Xander outwitting Liana. Best move of the season so far.
Best Moment - See above.
Trending Up - Go with my preseason winner pick Ricard, yet again. Wins immunity. On the right side of the numbers. Could see him working with the Yase people and maybe Erika if the right opportunity comes along, but also still has a big move in him either with Shan or against Shan. Hoping against.
Trending Down - I’m still selling stock on Erika. Even though she pulled off a great move, albeit an absolute lay-up decision, to her credit she did change the game, but I don’t see her gaining any favors from anyone. Her only chance is to jump over to the Xander, Tiff, Evvie coalition and try to make some moves with them, otherwise she’s a sitting duck who pissed a lot of people off while also remaining an easy target for a vote in the wake of her one big moment.
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