Survivor 48 | Ep. 4
SURVIVOR 48 - Day 8
The vibe at VULA is hot mess. They suck. They have hit rock bottom. They have lost every challenge. They have no fire. They are losing people left and right. They are turning into prunes via rain storms. They are disfunctional. They are DESPERATE!!!
Now, they decide to go on an idol hunt because it’s literally the only thing positive that they are capable of accomplishing. Of course, Mary needs it most coming off her Shot in the Dark success and still being on the bottom of this decimated tribe, but Sai and Cedrek aren’t going to just let her have it. No way. They are just as much a hot mess as Mary in Survivor 48.
I do like that Mary and Sai are talking about how they should work together because going against each other is far too difficult. It’s a GREAT realization that gives me hope of them digging their game out of the hot mess ditch it’s been in for 8 days. Think about it, what benefit is there for them to continue working against each other? They’ve been through the ringer together and to me, it makes the most sense to realize they are better suited to play together than against one another, especially knowing Cedrek ain’t helping any in this game.
DROP YOUR BUFFS - Day 8
The times they are a changing folks and as predicted, two tribes (LAGI and CIVA) are pissed and one tribe (VULA) is thrilled!!! Thomas explains best why the tribe swap sucks, because at LAGI, Thomas knows where the “bodies are buried” and all the information necessary to have structure in the game.
NEW TRIBES
NEW VULA - Joe, Thomas, and Shauhin from LAGI aka the “California Girls”, with Kamilla and Kyle from CIVA
NEW LAGI - Charity and David from CIVA, Star and Eva from LAGI, and Mary from VULA.
NEW CIVA - Chrissy and Mitch from CIVA, Cedrek and Sai from VULA, and Bianca from LAGI
I think the only person who got screwed over in the swap is Eva. Change is not her thing and this swap was a big change. She goes from a winning tribe to a new tribe, she loses her safety blanket Joe, and the only LAGI she has, is Star, the person she connected with least.
LAGI - Day 8
Immediately, Eva finds her new guy in David by connecting through Jet Skis and throwing Star immediately under the bus. Eva SPILLS THE BEANS on everything Star. Even the rest of tribe can’t believe it.
CIVA - Day 8
It’s pretty refreshing for us the viewer to spend time with new tribes and less time with the downtrodden VULA. They were slowly bleeding the viewers out. However, now that Sai has a new lease on life in the game we get to begin to answer how she will play in the next phase of the game. Sure enough, she immediately tells Bianca to feel out Cedrek for herself aka Sai is a free agent folks and the aggressive gameplay 2.0 begins.
VULA - Day 8
I spoke too soon.
We are back at VULA camp and the new VULA takes us under the microscope to reveal how pathetic camp really was, especially compared to the other two camps we just saw such praise for. No tarp, no flint, no food. Plus, there is nobody on the new VULA from the old. The perfect legacy to old VULA.
The real story at new VULA is the secrets.
Kyle - has Immunity Idol (Kamilla knows)
Kamilla - Extra Vote (Kyle knows)
Thomas - Steal a Vote (nobody knows)
This tribe is primed for fireworks. The former LAGI outnumbers the former CIVA 3-2 but Kamilla IMMEDIATELY finds a crack in Thomas’ story via the sit out bench conversation with Star at the last Immunity Challenge. Kamilla’s accusations that Thomas is lying is the true introduction to the game for the former LAGI. The gloves are off, well they probably never even got on, but Kamilla just painted a huge target on herself.
CIVA - Day 8
The old VULA mess continues to play out. Sai and Bianca are blowing smoke up each other and Cedrek and Mitch are bonding over shared speech issues in their life. Chrissy is a bloodhound sniffing out Bianca's truth but seems to be playing a simple game. Calling Bianca the “easy vote” and Cedrek wanting to “break up” old LAGI is indicative of their weak gameplay.
LAGI - Day 8
David is the lone guy at new LAGI. He’s more ok with it than Eva is because he’s the provider and able to not share the alpha male status. The real challenge to him is his former CIVA member Charity. It feels like the they are victims to the disadvantage of winning and never facing Tribal. No lines had to be drawn and now that they’re happy-go-lucky game has been upended, they are scrambling. It’s crazy that losing is a benefit but in the three tribe format, it really is.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE - Day 9
REWARD - Large and small fruit platter.
LAGI wins 1st place and the large fruit platter by edging out CIVA who finished 2nd, earning the small fruit platter and avoiding Tribal. And yes folks, you guessed it, the stink of VULA remains. The new VULA, despite their physical strength and early lead in the challenge, failed at the puzzle and is headed to Tribal Council. The last noteworthy outcome is the old VULA members - Sai, Cedrek, and Mary - all avoid Tribal for the first time.
Thank goodness. Time for the game to start for the rest of them.
VULA PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE - Day 9
There’s a whole lot going on at new VULA before Kyle, Kamilla, Joe, Shauhin, and Thomas all go to Tribal for the first time. First, let’s talk advantages/idols. Kyle has an idol, Kamilla has an Extra Vote, and Thomas has a Steal a Vote. Kyle and Kamilla know the weapons each other have and Thomas has kept his secret from Joe and Shauhin, so if Thomas plays his Steal a Vote, he risks losing trust from his California Girls. My guess is he won’t play it.
So even though Kyle and Kamilla are outnumbered 3-2 in bodies, they are even when it comes to votes, 3-3 because of the extra vote. It feels like Kyle and Kamilla have to take their shot. They have to use the idol and the Extra Vote to try and make it out of Tribal alive because what good is saving any of it when you are outnumbered like they are? Play the idol for yourself Kyle and cast all three votes on Joe because Thomas has been on a journey and in their minds, could have an advantage.
Second, Kyle and Kamilla have played their hand well. Kamilla playing up that she was on the bottom and would happily vote Kyle, and Kyle conveying that he an Kamilla don’t have a strong bond were both great strategies from the minority position in the tribe. I think it threw the California Girls off their scent because they want the easy path, especially since they haven’t been to Tribal yet.
Finally, I’m hoping for some fireworks. I think we’re ready for it and lord knows the season needs it.
PREDICTION: Thomas, aka my preseason winner pick, goes home because of Kyle and Kamilla’s fire power.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - Night 9
Kamilla and Kyle are committed to the narrative of being disconnected in the game. Kyle and Kamilla are even pressed by Jeff to give their “if you are the one going home tonight” speeches and they’re making themselves vulnerable, shedding some tears, and sharing what they are most proud of.
The other side of this Tribal is Jeff putting the ball in the court of the majority 3 to reflect as well on the difficulty of the vote, aka are they setting the old LAGI members up for an absolutely DEVASTATING outcome?
I sure hope so.
VOTES - Kyle plays Immunity Idol for himself
Kyle - 3 (DOES NOT COUNT - Immunity Idol)
Thomas - 2
“I AM SO THANKFUL!” - THOMAS
Parting words from the most dangerous player from old LAGI feels authentic but disappointing. I know that there was much more meat on the bone for Thomas in Survivor 48 but he and the other California Girls were totally outwitted by Kyle and Kamilla. Thomas was intelligent, cunning, and a very strategic player that was able to build relationships with old LAGI and keep secrets unlike most of the new era players. I think if you play a Survivor 48 simulation 1,000 times, Thomas gets to the end and wins more than a handful of times, but this was not to be one of those times.
With Thomas getting voted out, his Steal a Vote becomes a souvenir, Kyle doesn’t join the “getting voted out with an idol in your pocket club” that he referenced 46 to be, and it doesn’t appear that Kyle/Kamilla used the Extra Vote. Tremendous job by Kyle and Kamilla for playing the former LAGI like a fiddle and besting them. I think the best move in Survivor is when the Hidden Immunity Idol comes out and flips a vote on the majority who either overlooked the competition or got totally outplayed. That’s what we have here and THE SEASON NEEDED IT!!!
SURVIVOR 50 VOTING - PART 2
Three hot button topics to vote on here.
First, the final four challenge. I don’t think there is a wrong choice to make here. The final four challenge in 46 that Ben absolutely shredded was GREAT! I loved how they had to ping pong back and forth between flinging the ball up into the giant Survivor Plinko game and putting together the Survivor 46 logo puzzle. Great choice. Likewise, the old school fans rejoice, Simmotion is one of the options and to me, the clear favorite to be the challenge. People love it. It’s a hunk of Survivor raw meat nostalgia that they are tossing to the fans and they are going to pounce on this. I think it will get a supermajority of the vote. Though I am a fan of both, I went with the challenge that at first glance I thought was the one where Liz and Kenzie teamed up to take out Maria in 46 but upon further review it was actually the final four challenge from 47 that Rachel won to seal her spot at FTC. I love the different dimensions of the challenge - endurance, mud, climbing, and a puzzle. I would like them replacing the bat puzzle with something else but nitpicking aside, I think this would be a totally captivating final four challenge that wouldn’t disappoint in nut crunch time in 50.
Next up, is the advantages. I think MINIMAL POWER will get a lot of attention, especially from the Day 1 Survivor fans. I know that there are a lot of people out there that want a season with ZERO advantages, a pure Survivor season if you will, but I don’t think enough fans will opt for this. Likewise, I couldn’t select DYNAMIC POWER because I feared it would get out of control and be too much to keep up with. Plus, I don’t think the Goodwill Advantages or Amulets really do a whole lot to drive the game. So, I landed like baby bear’s porridge, right in the middle with STRATEGIC POWER. I do believe this will be the winner of this vote. It’s the happy medium that the majority will be happy enough with.
Finally, TO SWITCH OR NOT TO SWITCH. Look, I get the switch and in it’s simplicity, it works out great. Maybe in an all returning players season, it’s better to have too. For my money, I landed on the NO TO SWITCH. Season 48 as a whole and maybe this episode in particular swayed my vote on this. VULA stunk and though I believe that production plans everything out ahead of time, I think they looked at how the game was unfolding with VULA losing and losing and said, let’s do the tribe switch. It worked out for the better in 48 but I’m hoping that one tribe won’t get decimated in 50 and tribes will be more balanced in going to Tribal so there’s no need to do the switch.
Excited for more Survivor 50 polls to come out. How would you have voted? Comment below.
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