Survivor 43, Ep. 8: Proposterous
What’s on my mind minutes before episode 8?
In my previous blog I touched on the stand out player thus far aka the person who is making 43 more watchable, enjoyable, etc. That person is Gabler! He’s been the standout and what’s on my mind heading into the episode is two thing:
Will Gabler continue to be the stand out character of 43?
Will someone else emerge?
POST TRIBAL
Our favorite story teller Cody is back to lay out what went down and how Sami jumped on board with Cody and Jesse’s plan.
HOWEVER, the greatest moment of the Post Tribal night vision cam is Jeanine losing her idol in Dwight’s pants! HAHAHAHA.
Sami and Noelle know that this happened and word spreads quickly of what happened to her idol.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!!!!
Just when everyone thinks they know what happened to Jeanine’s idol, Jesse drops the bomb of the season on us and answers my question of whether someone else will emerge this episode when he reveals that Jeanine’s idol didn’t go home in Dwight’s pants because he gave it to Jesse in the Pre-Tribal Scramble.
So what does this mean?
This means that Jesse has Dwight’s idol AND is still holding Cody’s idol. That’s 2 idols folks! That’s a ton of power, but there’s also the reality that they made a move that left Noelle, their VESI tribe member, Jeanine (the tortured one) and Owen, the in his real life, adopted and difficult to fit in guy, all in the dark. The 7 who voted for Dwight doesn’t include Noelle, Jeanine, and Owen and thus leaves Jesse and Cody’s power moves and idols vulnerable.
The other important piece here is the edit. We all were led to believe that Jeanine’s idol went home with Dwight, which was hilarious for us the viewer and absolutely devastating for Jeanine. But, that wasn’t true because Dwight gave Jeanine’s idol to Jesse and only he knows it. Big swing of power BECAUSE IT’S A SECRET!!! Reminds me of Maryanne having the idol last season without anyone knowing and then she used it in her final pitch to win 42. Could this idol be a winning ticket for Jesse???…
We are only 9 minutes in and ALL of this has already happened! Fasten your seat belts folks, we may be in for a 12 round slugfest of an episode, and I think we need it.
MORE DAY 16 CAMPFIRE TIME
Food is starting to take over everyone’s thoughts so Ryan and Gabler (he’s back!) are out catching fish to provide for the hungry. Ryan is taking the page out of Hatch’s Borneo strategy as the provider.
More “emerging” comes in the form of Sami looking to make moves and start winning. He goes to Jeanine and Owen thinking that the 7 is “sitting pretty on a sinking ship” and Sami is ready to launch his torpedo into that ship and make moves. He wants to recruit Noelle and Gabler too because he’ll need them. The question becomes about timing, or as Sami put it - “finding the window”. The moment is now in his mind and I’m ready for it.
Prediction: The STEAL a VOTE plays a factor in this episode and is used against the “7” minus Sami because he is orchestrating the sabotage move.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Balance a ball on a pole and keep adding sections of pole to make it harder.
NOTE: the pole has like a plate at the top that the volleyball with painted tape around it sits on.
RICE TWIST
If 5 players sit out then enough rice for everyone.
James, Sami, Jesse, Cassidy and Karla all sit out for the rice. AKA all members of the “7” except Ryan and Cody.
This is a balance challenge and an endurance challenge, but perhaps most of all a focus and concentration challenge. The final 3 of Ryan, Cody, and Owen each have a different strategy. Ryan had the pole pressed against his face and wasn’t looking up, and that strategy was exactly why he fell out. Cody seems more focused on the poles he’s holding and Owen seems more focused on the ball.
🌬WIND..?..
Cody drops, and OWEN WINS!
The 9 year old superfan cannot believe that he just won and has the Immunity Necklace around his neck. It’s a win for Survivor fans to hear Owen pay homage to some of his favorite players before him that inspired him to be where he is, in the winner circle, safe at Tribal. It won me over too. I find myself rooting for Owen a little more now than previously. Another player emerging???
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE
Ryan’s provider schedule has his try to sure up the vote for Jeanine, but it’s clear that Ryan has control of nothing and is only a number. (Sorry Ryan)
Now, here comes Sami to make moves and he decides to throw out - Ryan. Sami talks to Karla, Karla to James, Sami to Owen and Jeanine, and it seems like the one guy not strategizing is on his way out. Then, Cody and Jesse are not having it. They see the threat of Jeanine’s intelligence. James jumps into that boat also.
The vote seems all over the place, but the final word is given to Cassidy, who we haven’t heard much from this episode or any other for that matter. She reminds us that Ryan had voted for her back at COCO once and that sour taste still lingers for her. Plus, she’s still thinking about the significance of another girl being voted out is a BAD IDEA and she wants to use this as a means of voting Ryan also.
Prediction: Ryan will get voted out with votes from Sami, Jeanine, Owen, Gabler, Cassidy, Noelle and Karla. This will blindside Jesse and Cody who will vote for Jeanine with James. No advantages get played and the weak social game player who’s strategy in the game is being the provider goes home again as the social game requirements uptick.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
The social constructs are where Probst begins the discussion. It’s fun to ask this question because it forces players to choose their words ultra carefully. They don’t want to reveal too much or anything at all, or maybe reveal something to throw some off the scent of the moves they are actually considering.
The conversation turns to how the game is being played and the how fast it changes. Players like Cody are aware of how fragile the game is and the vibe is to “make your moves quietly”, Jeanine is doing her best to build bridges and relationships all day, while Ryan went fishing for hours.
Feels like Sami’s plan to throw a wrinkle into the fray is going to work.
VOTES
Jeanine 9
Ryan 2
Jeanine is the 7th person voted out and the first member of the jury. My prediction for the vote was wrong because Sami didn’t feel his window was open enough to turn on Ryan. Jeanine was the desired target of Cody, Jesse, and James, so it feels like that’s why it went that way. Despite the flirting that Sami and Cassidy did with making a bigger game move, they didn’t tonight, but it feels like the next episode will be when the levy breaks and moves are made.
ANSWERS (What’s on my mind minutes before episode 8?)
My predictions were sub par this episode. No advantages were played and no big move was made. However, coming in I was hoping that others would emerge and Sami and Jesse didn’t disappoint. I think the season is about to have a well made fire lit under its ass, and I think it needs it. Gabler stayed true to his Alli-Gabler persona and sunk back down below the surface this episode.
WINNER RANKINGS WATCHLIST
I know that is’ still suuuuper early to make winner predictions but let’s highlight some people on my watchlist for a potential deep run in this game.
Karla - Lack luster episode. Still has idol. Still seems to have information flowing through her.
Jesse - Has Jeanine’s idol via Dwight and nobody knows he has it. An actual SECRET on this season. HUGE.
Sami - Enters the watchlist this week. Feels like he’s going to play hard and make something significant happen. Could bite him but could reward him. Seems to be a middle/swing vote.
Gabler - The Alli-Gabler had a quiet episode (think he needed it) I hope he continues to lurk in the swamp.
Thanks for reading this week. Appreciate the support. Be sure to outlike, outcomment, and outshare the rest all season long. I will be writing about each episode all the way through to the announcement of the winner of Survivor 43. See you next week.
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