Survivor 45 | Ep. 11
DAKUWAQA - NIGHT 19
The post Bruce elimination reaction is over the top outrageous. Like, right now Bruce is home with his kids and his wife. He’s begrudgingly even watching the episode because he is out. So his family and him sit down and the episode begins with his tribe celebrating like it’s New Year’s Rocking Eve because Bruce isn’t there.
Damn. (Still got love for you Uncle Bruce, even if nobody on the tribe did.)
Now, as for the players still in the game. After the confetti settles back at camp, Emily opens up her mouth and makes the first mistake in her game in quite some time. She spills the beans on how she played Bruce and got him not to play his idol. Feels like she should have sat on that nugget of information. Feels like a major mistake and put the target on herself. She could have chalked it up to Bruce’s arrogance and saved it for Final Tribal. Oh well.
On night 19, the REBA Mafia is discussing their hit list and how they are in position to pull a Tagi from season 1 and Pagong the rest. Will it happen? Hmmm….I don’t think so. Can’t be that easy.
Now onto the showmance of 45 in Austin and Dee. First off, any reason to have a mention of Boston Rob and Amber’s season 8 All-Stars montage moment is always warranted. Love that. Thank you Austin for bringing it up. Austin and Dee are feeling each other despite their instincts steering them away from that very idea, making dinner plans once they get back to real life, and promising each other final 3. For their sake, I’m hoping that Meat Loaf was wrong when he said “2 out of 3 ain’t bad”.
OPENING CREDITS EASTER EGG
Ladies and gentlemen, Survivor fans near and far, are we about to go to rocks?!?!?!?! It’s on every Survivor fan’s list of things to say, things they say they would do if on the show, and I think we are ready for a new era edition of the rock draw. It’s actually an exciting event, if it happens, and the anxiety of thinking about it has already begun.
I hope it will last.
I don’t get the whole Austin gave Julie an idol and now it’s a storyline. Does that mean that Austin hasn’t asked for it back? Does that mean that he feels awkward to ask for it back? I need answers to this because it seems to be a budding story line!!!
DAKUWAQA - DAY 20
We meet up with Jake who’s sadness/confusion is juxtaposed to the breathtaking sunrise. Jake is the very definition of the bottom of this game and Katurah saying she’s down to work with Jake the next 3 votes sounds pretty insulting. Add in her playing it up that she appreciates him being a lawyer (despite being a lawyer herself).
Segue from here to Katurah telling her story involving her parents joining a “religious cult”, taking her out of school to work, and that Katurah was selected to be the “leader’s wife”. At 14 she rejoins school. 14! Then realizes “she was black, she was poor, she’s a woman, she’s gay”.
Katurah dropping 💣s on Day 20 to Jake, Julie, and us the viewer. I’m trying to keep up.
Then, she takes all of these challenges that life has thrown at her and says she’s going to become a lawyer and fight for black people as she lives her life’s greatest fantasies in reality. Wow! Obviously, anyone reading this and who’s watched this story be told in this episode must have enormous respect for Katurah and what she has become despite her beginnings. However, I must say, my brain is trying to compute it all and I’m struggling. I guess we only knew her to be a lawyer who didn’t tell anyone she was a lawyer and that she didn’t like Bruce and his shenanigans. Now this, wow, totally different.
BOAT PULLS UP
The boat pulls up and a journey is at stake. Whoever draws the green rock gets to go if multiple people want to. Who pulls it? Emily. Hot off the Bruce elimination, Emily draws the green rock with an opportunity to gain another advantage.
How can Emily not be the target of the next elimination? Her resume includes the Bruce move, which is big, but she also has friends on the jury (Kaleb for sure), and the most compelling story from beginning to end. She literally started the game hot, calling Bruce out, and has seen herself make the greatest transformation through 20 days. Julie sees it, but Drew isn’t so hot on it.
Julie sees it, but does all of REBA? I don’t think Drew wants to.
JOURNEY
Emily understands the moment she’s in. Emily understands that the move she just made at the previous Tribal was a threat elevator. Emily understands where her game started and Hannah’s quit saved her. Emily understands the transformation this game has made and how it will carry on with her beyond it.
Now, onto the puzzle.
HUGE STAKES!!!
Love that she can succeed and be safe at next Tribal Council. Love that she could fail and lose her vote. Love that she can do it and it’s all on her. Love that she can dump it, turn around, and balk at the opportunity (because that would be outrageous.)
WOW, she says NO!!!! 🤯
She’s going with the I’m going to tell the truth to these people and my vote is everything in this game. Boring decision on TV, sure. The right decision for her? Seems that way. Are people going to buy it? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! Ultimately, feels like a missed chance to earn safety at a time when she may need it most. I can speak for my friend Jeff Probst (we are best friends clearly) and say that he would not be a fan of this decision and would say something like “you’ve got to be willing to adapt and not be afraid to play if you’re going to win.”
I agree Jeff, I agree.
REBA HAS SOME CRACKS
Back at camp, the REBA four may have it’s first crack. Drew approached Julie about having fun with Austin’s idol and she wasn’t about that. Drew approaches Katurah and Jake about blindsiding Julie and he’s ready to make moves. Katurah approaches Austin about it too. Drew is the clear loose cannon and is ready to make a move to sacrifice one of his own.
Again, I don’t understand how Austin is struggling with the “I gave Julie my idol” thing. I get that he doesn’t want to ask for it back because that’s awkward and could raise her spidey sense to the potential plan, but why not ask for it back immediately after she didn’t need it? or after the Bruce vote and the euphoria of that moment. Now, he is going to “flush his own idol”? Huh??? If anyone else has some other ideas, I’m open to hearing them because this one kind of stumps me.
I love the drama of the potential Julie blindside. First, it’s foolish because it would keep Emily in the game. Next, it seems that Dee would be blindsided too because she would never go for this idea. Thus, blindsiding Julie would put the whole Dee and Austin showmance and dinner date plans all out of whack. Then, you have to think if the timing is right given how many people are left in the game and the advantage REBA has. Lastly, is it a big enough move? or is it better for Drew to target Austin or Dee?
POST JOURNEY - EMILY RETURNS TO CAMP
“I wasn’t confident in my ability to solve it and I wanted my vote.” - Emily
Open, honest, and transparent is Emily’s strategy, but does it work? Well, it works when Drew is ready to make a move on Julie. Julie does want to take out Emily and Emily is desperate to lower her threat level, so this idea to vote Julie sounds like a plan, but it requires Emily to put her faith in the alliances she’s made with Drew, Austin and others.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Challenge
Players are attached to a rope and need to untangle it and decide how much rope they need to complete the entire challenge with.
Take the rope over 4 hurdles down your lane in the challenge and untie sandbags.
Use sandbags to knock over blocks with sandbags.
Take blocks and spell out “RESOURCEFULLNESS” in an arch shaped word puzzle.
REWARD - Do it yourself BBQ
Drew is pathetic at tossing sandbags. I guess he’s more used to swinging around Minecraft swords. Jake isn’t much better because he didn’t have enough rope to get all the sandbags he couldn’t reach after his abismal tosses.
Despite the pathetic throws, Drew’s gentle tosses were enough to get him to the puzzle blocks and a huge lead over his buddy Austin who is the only other sandbag tosser at this point. Dee, Julie, Katurah, Emily, Jake all suffered on the rope management and are way behind.
Drew isn’t able to put all 16 letters together in the arch the first two times leaving the door open for Austin but the puzzle has to be the same on both sides - the one they see and behind it! Austin can’t figure it out and the door opens up for Drew again and he walks through to an Immunity Challenge win!
Drew is guaranteed a spot in the final 6, a sigh of relief in his ability to execute a big move at Tribal, and the do it yourself BBQ for not 1, not 2, but 3! Drew decides to dial up Kenny Loggins for “Playing with the Boys” part 2. No surprise that he picked his boy Austin, but semi-shocked that he picked Jake given their bit of feuding in the past, but the boys night part 2 seems like an easy sell given Emily chose all the girls last time.
DAKUWAQA - DAY 21
I love that the girls party 2.0 is plagued with fake small talk about their buff and voting out Jake. I love how awkward it is. It’s so telling. You know that in these kind of moments when there’s nothing to talk about and everyone is acting unfamiliarly, that means something is up, something is wrong, or something is about to go down. I don’t know if it would make for good television, probably not, but I would love to simmer in those awkward moments and let the tension and discomfort come to life. It feels like in those moments you become strangers again or maybe more accurately, you become mean girls who can’t say it to your face when they are about to backstab you.
Boys party 2.0 has a BBQ that looks absolutely fantastic. Sometimes reward food doesn’t read, but the BBQ reads for me. What’s interesting is that Jake’s vote is now something that Austin and Drew need. Plus, we learn that Jake is also an actor??!?!?! He gives us the analogy of being an extra and now moving to a supporting role. Personally, I’m hoping Jake just blows it all up and watches the chaos.
The final piece of the puzzle is Austin’s decision - to tell Dee or not tell Dee, that is the question. They walk off together and the look on Austin’s face is one of true dilemma. Lead with his heart and tell Dee or lead with his head and blindside Dee. He is leading with his heart and choosing his words carrrreeefulllly. He’s softening the blow as he tells Dee that the vote is Julie whether they vote her or not.
What’s interesting is that Dee is finally facing adversity. She has literally not faced any adversity to this point. Everyone else wants to vote Julie with or without them voting her. If Dee tells Julie, she isolates herself going forward and puts herself and possibly her game going forward on the line. So, Dee tells Julie the news and that she needs an Oscar winning scene at Tribal.
Dee tell Julie what the deal is via Austin letting the blindside out of the bag. Dee is clever though. She finds a way to protect her trusted ally (using Austin’s idol) and tells her that with all the votes heading her way, she is going to vote Emily out. Brilliant plan right?
Now all hell is breaking loose. This is the end of REBA before our very eyes.
Drew had a plan to blindside Julie and tells Austin. If Austin goes with the plan he blindsides Julie. If Austin blindsides Julie, he blindsides Dee. Austin loves Dee. Dee loves Austin and Julie. Austin thinks with his heart over his head and tells Dee the plan to blindside Julie. Dee feels vulnerable for the first time and tells Julie the plan that she’s getting blindsided.
Julie is paranoid. Julie goes to Emily and Jake asking for a name. Julie throws out Austin’s name. Emily and Jake report to Drew that Julie threw out Austin’s name. Drew knows Julie knows. Dee approaches Julie about playing the idol and voting for Emily. Dee wants Emily out. Dee wants Austin safe.
Julie has a look in her eye that she’s ready to kill.
Julie is ready. Angry Julie is here and angry Julie has a plan. The plan involves everyone writing her name down, INCLUDING DEE, who is telling her the plan, but the plan is based on trust. First and foremost, this entire plan that Dee and Austin to some degree have hatched is dependant on trust. Trust that Dee is truly with Julie and truthful. Trust that Julie will play Austin’s idol. Trust that Julie will vote out Emily.
Trust is everything in Survivor because it is near impossible to come by. We are about to find out how much trust there is between Julie and Dee.
PREDICTION: All hell breaks loose at Tribal, idol gets played and…Julie goes with Dee’s plan and Emily wishes she did the SAVVY journey challenge to gain safety.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - NIGHT 21
Drew says paradoxically, it feels like it’s getting easier to vote people out in the game and Julie agrees. Drew has the Immunity Necklace and Julie has the eye of the tiger. It’s an interesting concept to think about on night 21 in a 26 day game. I love what Julie said about “giving yourself permission to play the game” after the difficult and emotional vote outs of the previous Tribal Councils.
The vibe of Tribal is that we are at a major turning point in Survivor 45. Everyone here has turned their sights on the endgame. Who can you work with, who is the best people to keep around, who can win, and who’s a goat? Where are the idols and advantages? All this adds up to a vote that feels like the end of REBA and the true turn of the game toward the final 3.
VOTES
They show us all the votes being cast on Julie and keep her vote a secret. Her one vote will be the deciding factor. The drama is at an all time high because they’ve let us in on the votes. All of them, except 1. The one that is going to matter - Julie’s!
JULIE PLAYS THE IDOL
VOTES
Julie - 6
Emily - 1
Austin’s idol and Julie’s one vote was all it took to end Emily’s game and her chance at the million dollars that she would have won if in the final 3. Bet Emily wishes she played the SAVVY game now. This vote eliminates the last member of the original LULUloser tribe. This vote puts a nice talking point on Julie’s final Tribal resume. This vote will also set off a chain reaction back at camp that will end the REBA alliance, challenge Julie to find a next move with this level of target on her back, and end with Austin guaranteed final 5 because his amulet aka idol is only good through final 6.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE WEEK!?!?!?!!
WINNER’S WATCHLIST
DEE | She has been in control the entire game. The 1-0 vote out of Emily by Julie via Austin’s idol has Dee’s finger prints all over it.
JULIE | We know that Emily is going to vote for her in the end if she is sitting at Final 3. I think others will too.
FINAL THOUGHTS - EMILY
Regardless of who wins and how the rest of Survivor 45 plays out I think the consolation winner for greatest transformation in the new era thus far goes to Emily. Emily was a dynamic character this season and we never thought she would be. If Hannah doesn’t quit at the first Tribal, Emily is likely voted out and this transformation we’ve watched and enjoyed for 11 episodes never happens. One of the greatest what ifs in Survivor history.
People watch Survivor for many reasons but Emily’s transformation combined with the game she played - calling out Bruce 15 seconds in, surviving LULU’s early failures, winning a challenge, reflecting on her abruptness/abrasiveness, coming to terms with her love for her boyfriend and discovering the desire to marry him and spend their lives together, convincing Bruce not to play his idol, and then being voted out by a single vote is a pretty amazing Survivor journey. Simply put, Emily is one of the stars of this season and made a bumpy beginning of a season into a great season.
I have a feeling Sia may be giving Emily a call. Should come in handy to pay for the wedding.
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