Survivor 44, Ep. 9: Under the Wing of a Dragon
🔥 BURNING QUESTION HEADED INTO EPISODE 9 🔥
After his BIG move at Tribal, will the hunter become the hunted?
The easy answer is yes. Danny found the birdcage idol at SOKA and played it perfectly saving Frannie, eliminating Brandon, and leapfrogging into the top spot on most Winner Power Rankings. He has to be #1 at this point. Though his idol play was made at the perfect time, the heat is on. From here on out, his game will be a racecar without breaks - searching for idols, competing to win every challenge, whatever it takes - but the question is will the car run out of gas before getting to Final Tribal and winning? (Think Ricard - 41 or Jesse - 43). I hope not. Would be fun to see that kind of winner.
Onto the episode.
VA VA Night 15
Iconic, big move, went exactly as planned were the ways to describe Danny’s move after Tribal back at camp. We are led to believe that Brandon was the RATU vote leader who didn’t want to split the vote and Yam Yam avoided the blood being on his hands so he went along with voting Frannie despite knowing Danny would play the idol and save her.
We already knew what the feelings would be about Danny’s move, so the other takeaway is Yam Yam reminding us that Josh, Matt, Brandon all wrote his name down and now are out of the game. Yam Yam and TIKA have positioned themselves in the middle of the game and have begun to write their underdog pitch to the jury at Final Tribal.
Heading into this episode I had Carolyn #2 and Yam Yam #4 in my winner watchlist. Looks like Yam Yam may continue to push his way up the rankings this episode.
VA VA Day 16
Last week “On Fire with Jeff Probst,” Survivor’s podcast outlined the editing process on the show. One editor came on and educated you how they use music and editing to tell the story, withhold information, and increase the drama. They even played out the scene from earlier in the season with Carolyn and the birdcage, and played it out from 3 different angles - check it out here.
As the scene at VA VA on day 16 begins Kane lights the fire for idol hunting and the music picks up. You hear the rustling of players walking through the jungle. Danny comes in telling us about his 5 tree and firewood system to throw people off his scent while playing his aggressive game.
The music changes again as Jaime’s fears of Danny looking for the idol comes up and the music fades as she becomes giddy over the idea of finding a second idol. The best secret in the game is her not knowing she doesn’t have even one idol.
The music changes again as we see Kane, Danny, Lauren, Carolyn, Carson all looking ferociously for this idol. The final crescendo is here and the music peaks but Danny isn’t the one to cue the victorious music edit shift, instead, it’s Heidi! Yes, you heard me, Heidi! If we didn’t know her (which we didn’t for 6 episodes), now we do.
We learned a great deal about where the game stands and how people are trying to play. Danny is driving the bus of the game like Sandra Bullock in Speed, keeping it above 50!. I bet Danny knows that reference well. His aggressive move at Tribal has sparked the accelerated gameplay with an emphasis on offense, not defense. He even admits that it’s uncomfortable to play this way, so it’s that way for the other players and us the viewers too. Well, also thanks to editing choices.
VA VA Camp Life
Carolyn’s 13 years sober, not struggling, and has everything she’s ever wanted in life. Carolyn is unapologetically herself and has turned camp life into a therapy group circle. The secret ingredient to this scene, Carolyn’s story, and its connection to her game is that she’s authentically herself and you’re not. In other words she is able to be her most potent self at camp and it simultaneously wins people over while throwing them off her scent. Carolyn’s authenticity is disarming and yet comforting in a totally chaotic game because the other players look at her and like Frannie said “have a lot they can learn from her.”
Don’t forget Carolyn brought up the phony bologna camp life at the merge. She wanted nothing to do with that type of camp life. Fast forward, and her favorite part of Survivor is the time to connect authentically with people at camp. No more phony bologna. No more small talk. At this point, the dust is settling and Carolyn and her story are part of her ultimate strategy to keep her foot on the gas pedal in the best way she can.
TREE MAIL - FOOD ON THE TABLE
The past 3 seasons have brought negotiating your chance at immunity in exchange for much needed food. If enough people give up competing for immunity then the entire tribe earns rice for all.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Stand on small block of wood while balancing a ball on an overhanging piece of wood.
Last person left standing makes Final 8
Probst brings up the negotiations. Will people give up the most important thing in the game - immunity - in order for the tribe to have rice? The answer is NO WAY! I don’t think I would ever not compete.
Lauren and Carson are first to step up and say they will sit out. Kane follows next. Jaime thinks about doing it….but she can’t. Then, Heidi steps up. We know has the idol so it makes her look sketchy, but she gives an unwavering yes to being the 4th sit out to earn the rice.
Competing: Frannie, Jaime, Yam Yam, Danny, Carolyn
The conditions are terrible. The rain drops are visible on the camera lens. Carolyn’s out quick and Jaime’s right behind her. Again, the editing increases the effect of the challenge’s intensity. The shots of their feet squirming in discomfort, the uptempo music, the sound of the rain, the looks on their faces, Probst’s narration, and the lulls in the music add to the drama of this short lived yet crucial Immunity Challenge.
With Yam Yam falling out, the music intensifies again leaving only Danny and defending immunity winner Frannie. Mono y mono up against the elements. The water is dripping from the overhanging wood and whipping off it from the wind and then…
BOOM!
Frannie wins again!!! Necklace number 2. Frannie thought of herself as one of the weakest people and now she’s won back to back challenges defeating Brandon (former pro athlete) and Danny (physical threat).
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE - VA VA Day 17
The rice cookout kickstarts the scramble with SOKA and RATU coming for each other leaving TIKA in the middle. SOKA needs TIKA to vote out someone from RATU. Meanwhile, RATU has advantages (extra vote) or people think they have advantages (Jaime’s fake idol) and they are making plans around possible Knowledge is Power advantages so Jaime gives Kane her idol. Risky.
TIKA members each have their own agenda. Yam Yam wants to boot out Kane to follow his trend of people in the game who voted for him being voted out. Carson seems to take the role of negotiator in groups and seems to be on the same page as Carolyn that Kane is a non-threat and it’s time to take a shot at Danny.
PREDICTION: Danny gets got with Carolyn and Carson voting with RATU.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Sitting out of the challenge has very different meanings to Danny and Kane. Danny is the competitor and sees it from a selfish lens. Kane sees it through the “there’s no way I would win anyway” angle. Carolyn and Yam Yam see it from the angle of rice nourishing everyone back to life and ready to play.
The word that stands out for Tribal at this point is chaotic. Jeff teases out the fact that everyone has a plan and everyone isn’t 100% sure what will happen. Then, the whispering starts. Plans are getting finalized. Frannie is trying to spook Jaime into playing her “idol” and it looks like Danny is on the outs.
VOTES
Kane 5
Heidi 3
Jaime 1
Danny 1
Welp, I was totally wrong. Editing strikes again.
Wow. I’m stunned. Why not vote Danny? They all know that he’s made the biggest move so far and he doesn’t have immunity. Right now, in real time I’m trying to think of an explanation for what happened. I think Yam Yam, led the TIKA charge and they were joined by SOKA.
Now, in this moment I am seeing the votes.
Kane - DANNY
Lauren - HEIDI
Jaime - HEIDI, HEIDI
Frannie - JAIME
Danny, Heidi, Yam Yam, Carolyn, Carson - KANE
Kane isn’t as smart as we were told he was, at least at playing Survivor. I mean the guy didn’t even vote in alignment with his RATU comrades Lauren and Jaime, who even used the extra vote on Heidi. Next, I have no idea why Jaime and Lauren went Heidi. The only logical reason must be them thinking TIKA was in on that vote. These missteps on all fronts leaves RATU in ruins. Lauren’s extra vote has been burned, Jaime thinks her idol went home with Kane - even though it’s fake - and TIKA is running the game.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Exiting this episode I feel like I’m trying to get a grip on what the story arcs are. Chaos is definitely one, especially with the 3, 3, 3 dynamic and Carson being smart enough to run the negotiations. Next, there are those who are players and those who are not. The last two votes have shown that Yam Yam, Carolyn, Carson, Danny, and Heidi are the players, and Lauren, Jaime, and Frannie are not. They may have had other motivations for voting as they did but in the end the votes didn’t go their way and it leaves me thinking they need to revamp their games in a big way or else the best outcome they have is a zero vote 3rd place finish.
Lastly, at Tribal we heard agreement that everyone has their plan but the votes tell who’s plans were the actual plans. In other words, being on the right side of the vote carries weight, has value, and reinforces power and position in the game. Danny, Heidi, and Carolyn were on the right side of the Brandon vote and now the Kane vote, despite the chaotic nature of modern Survivor. Similarly, Yam Yam gives the viewer the perception that he’s in the middle and therefore in control of his vote regardless of being on the wrong side of the Brandon vote and leading the charge on the Kane vote. He and Carson are deliberately playing the middle and one part of that position we may not think about is knowing where the votes are going. In both cases the real players at this point are the ones who can say they were part of the vote when _______ got out because it means you were right, you had power, and you had the right information. In this game, as always, knowledge is power.
Heading into the episode I thought the right information was Danny was the hunter and would now be the hunted. Though there were rumblings of Danny being the target given his major resume boosting idol play, the obvious target was not the target. Instead, players are following the flashlight worth of light they have to guide them through the chaos as they hope to build a winning resume on the foundation of being on the right side of the votes.
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 44. See you next week.
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