Survivor 47 | Ep. 9
BEKA - Night 15
We open the episode and things are looking bleak for Sam and Rachel, aka GATA. With Andy now on the other side, Rachel and Sam don’t know which direction is up in their game. Rachel was left out of the Sierra/Sam vote and Sam was full blown fooled. Rachel played her Shot in the Dark to gauge reactions and gather information that she felt she needed (new and innovative strategy) and Sam didn’t have a vote.
Andy now feels on top of the world. Andy now feels himself in the power position over Sam and has the “honor” of doing damage control with Sam. I don’t think Sam respects Andy and in this moment of betrayal the best he can do is nod and say thank you. If I had to guess, I’d say Andy rarely finds himself in this social position, but what’s even more interesting is how aware of his story arc he is. Andy knows where he was and where his game was on day 3 and he is “chef’s kissing” himself in this moment of triumph and glory.
Has Andy earned it? Absolutely. Could it be short lived? 1000%.
Andy better not get too high and keep his head in the game or the pendulum will swing back against him quicker than he can blow his next chef’s kiss.
BEKA - Day 16
The next morning is told through both Andy and Rachel’s perspectives. It was like a relationship where two people could never get on the same page. Andy leaned into his “I’m on the bottom” to blindside Rachel on the Anika vote and then flipped on her for the Sierra vote. Now, Andy is doing damage control and Rachel is left playing nice in the sandbox with him too.
My guess is that they won’t ever work together. As much as they seem to communicate to one another about working together in the game, again it feels like old friends saying “we should get together more often” but never actually do.
Time will tell but at the same time, when people show you who they are, believe them. So, I’m believing they will never get together in the game.
BEKA - Day 16
The Teeny apology to Sam makes me want to throw up. It’s painful. I applaud Sam for taking the moral high ground, seeing the bigger picture, and knowing that he has to go along with it because of his position in the game. I don’t think I would be able to do the same without actually after the conversation due to how phony it was. Like, Teeny thinks that this is a way to do jury damage control because she’s figuring Sam will be out next or soon. Hate it! It’s sooooooo fake.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE - Day 16
In anticipation of the upcoming challenge, players had to break up into pairs of 2. The five pairs were Gabe/Kyle, Sam/Andy, Sue/Genevieve, Teeny/Sol, Caroline/Rachel.
REWARD - Final 4 in challenge win food (BLTs and soft drinks)
TWIST - First 2 pairs out LOSE THEIR VOTE, but will go on a journey with a chance to earn it back.
STAGE 1
Sam has the strategy to push as much sand out of the way as possible to get through the tunnel. Genevieve used the strategy of covering her nose and mouth with her buff as she passed through the tunnel.
Kyle/Gabe were first to advance by a landslide. Sol/Teeny are 2nd because Sam/Andy ripped the bag holding their step. Finally, Genevieve/Sue were the beneficiaries of Sam/Andy’s misfortune and punch their ticket to stage 2. Final thought on stage 1, feels like total BS that the cloth bag ripped and screwed Sam/Andy over. Jeff said it was “on them” in the challenge and I wonder if he’ll have an explanation on the podcast tomorrow. It feels like a kink that the dream team may not have teased out of the challenge. Feels unfair and a crummy way to lose the challenge, lose the reward, and lose their vote.
STAGE 2 - FINAL 6 COMPETE FOR REWARD & CHANCE AT IMMUNITY
Use puzzle steps to build stairs and cross a balance beam.
I love this puzzle. Simple, yet so complex, requiring endurance and communication above all. Sue/Genevieve are first to solve the puzzle stairs and head to the balance beam. Sol/Teeny are 2nd and Kyle/Gabe lagging a few pieces behind.
On the balance beam, Sue lays it all out there as she dives to the end. Teeny quickly scurries across, but Sol falls and sets the pair back leaving the door open for Gabe/Kyle who at this point are finishing their stairs puzzle.
In the end, Kyle and Gabe scurry across and so does Sol before Genevieve’s snail pace across the balance beam eventually ends up being the salt that shrivelled her and Sue’s chances at the food reward and immunity. Sue/Genevieve OUT, Kyle/Gabe and Sol/Teeny win reward and now onto compete for immunity.
STAGE 3 - FINAL FOUR COMPETE FOR IMMUNITY
Heading into the final stage, I noticed that Gabe completed the entire challenge barefoot. I guess this could signal some sort of an advantage.Teeny, weighs the least, that could be helpful. Kyle has won every individual immunity so far, so that could be helpful.
The challenge begins at the second to last foothold. The foothold couldn’t be more than a half an inch. I’d bet it’s actually less. With less than a minute in this phase, Teeny and Sol drop. Kyle and Gabe for all the glory.
The live transition down to the final foothold is BRUTAL. The final foothold has to be a quarter inch AT MOST and just as fast as I can type that sentence, Kyle drops out, and Gabe dethrones the challenge king, wins immunity and the Baltimore native does his non-athlete best Ray Lewis Baltimore Ravens home game entrance celebration.
Whatever, good for you Gabe. Way to seize the moment. I hope you meet Ray Lewis as a result.
POST CHALLENGE
REWARD GROUP - Gabe, Kyle, Teeny, Sol
VOTE, NO REWARD - Genevieve, Sue.
Sue wants to target Kyle and find revenge for him writing her name down once again. Genevieve has revenge on her mind too and puts Sol out there to Sue. Genevieve nudges by saying that Sol is pushing for Gabe to be the vote which would blow up Sue’s game. I like how Genevieve admits to how petty her game is, but I don’t know how well revenge plays long term as a strategy. Revenge feels like an “easier” gameplay strategy than adapting and evolving in the game to make greater moves and target larger threats.
After the reward, Sol shouts it out to Sue, Gabe, Genevieve, Teeny, and Kyle that the vote is for Sam and the four at the food reward decided it. The reactions from others didn’t pass the smell test that this will be what inevitably happens.
Then, Genevieve walks with Gabe and reveals the target in her sights being Sol. Genevieve sees Gabe as the lynchpin in her plan and I think after 8 episodes, she’s right.
NO VOTE, NO REWARD - Sam, Andy, Caroline, Rachel
Three will earn their vote back, one will not. (Hated the idea of four people potentially losing their vote) The game they will play is stacking tiles in triangles and the person who knocks the tower over is out of a vote. Simple game. Feels like Squid Game DNA is all over this game to lose a vote.
Caroline loses her vote and the NO VOTE, NO REWARD group returns to camp. Overall, the penalty and earning your vote back game for this group seems to not be as important as the time they lost with the other 6 members of the tribe. The lost politicking time will make for an interesting last second scramble to sure up votes like cockroaches getting the lights turned on in the basement.
As predicted, the lights get turned on in the basement by Sam (surprisingly) and the light switch being Rachel and the cockroaches go scurrying to every corner of camp. Rachel shows she’s a better person than liar when she reveals to Sam that Sol is the target. Then, Sam blows up Rachel’s spot and tells Sol about the plan being him. From there, the dominoes keep falling and the target of the vote becomes a game of hot potato. It’s Sue, it’s Kyle, it’s Sam. I think the lesson here is that if the vote is said to be 3, 4, 5 different people, then the vote is nobody.
PREDICTION: The easiest vote on the board is Kyle because he is a challenge/physical threat so the uncertainty will land the vote on him.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - Night 16
The word to describe Tribal was the one said most frequently, CHAOS. The whispers create uncertainty and uncertainty creates the chaos.
I like what Genevieve said about the good players being able to take in information and differentiate the news from the noise. No news there, we’ve known Genevieve was a player from the beginning.
VOTES
Sol - 8
Sue - 1
“Holy _____ that actually worked.” - Genevieve
I think this quote is the perfect way to sum up the state of the game in Survivor 47. Genevieve is the one controlling the votes and after the Sol vote, she realizes her power and influence in the game. Continuing the cockroach analogy, Genevieve is the exterminator. She’s the one with the tool to take down the bug she sets her sights on and she’ll deal with the rest after.
When it comes to Sol, he got bulldozed over by Rome in the first phase of the game, literally being threatened by drunk with power Rome and this began our relationship with Sol and our rooting for him. When things flipped in the game for Sol we were happy to see him find the advantage, help save Rachel and have new footing in the game post merge. However, in the end, the original foe, aka Rome’s #1 Genevieve is the one to take him down. Sol never had influence and control of the game. He was always going to be a pawn in someone else’s plan and for that reason, it feels right to welcome him to the jury in seat #2.
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