Survivor 48 | Ep. 6
CIVA - Night 11
Once again, Cedrek saves Sai, and she CANNOT HANDLE IT. She doesn’t have control. She wasn’t on the right side of the votes. She is PISSED! Cedrek has managed to find himself in a unique position where he is defending his vote, which bounced Bianca from the game, to Sai despite his actions saved Sai, AGAIN!!!
DROP YOUR BUFFS - Day 12
I love that the message to “drop your buffs” still ignites total euphoria for everyone. They lose their minds. Kyle reflects on his successes thus far - finding idol, playing idol successfully, outwitting others, and making new allies, Sai makes it all about herself, Chrissy doesn’t get why Cedrek can’t cut ties with Sai (I can’t either), and David is happy to not be the lone guy.
ADVANTAGE HUNT - Day 12
Charity is about to claim her…
NOPE!
Guess who swoops in and snatches an advantage in the merge challenge?
Sai, or should we put it “say it ain’t so”. Well, on the one hand, Sai is the most dominating personality and when that person finds an advantage it fuels the viewers’ and other players’ frustration. But, I think Survivor fans collectively yearn for someone to play HARD and be the villain, and Sai is living up to that billing. On the other hand, was Charity. To this point we haven’t gotten much from her and this advantage could’ve springboarded her Survivor story into the headlines.
Instead, we are reading more about Sai. She is the vacuum sucking up all the headlines and all the attention, just like she likes. At this point, as the viewer we are used to Sai being the main character and getting the most air time.
Having said that, I was ready for a change.
MERGE BEACH - Day 12
A gallon of whole milk a day??? Disgusting. I mean come on. I haven’t had a gallon of whole milk in the last 20 years let alone each day.
Milk aside, Joe is not just bonding with David but he is able to reconnect with Eva and learn about Star giving her the idol. The plan is to get the physical threats together and play the game straight up, no backstabbing. The “meat shields” are finally joining together and turning the crosshairs back on everyone else. I love this angle because it feels fresh and very straight forward.
But…..
You have to get people on board and FULLY commit. Kyle yet again finds himself in good shape being part of the physical threat alliance but also having his alliance with Kamilla which has already proved it’s true strength in the game.
The old CIVA is ready to get the band back together led by Charity’s news dump that Eva has the idol and that she wants to separate Joe and Eva. In other words, we have the drama folks and we have the possible targets of the merge vote, aka the vote where someone comes just short of earning that next phase and buff in the game. I have grown to like the merge challenge and earning it in the new era, but it still remains absolutely BRUTAL!
MERGE CHALLENGE - Day 13
CHALLENGE 1 - Two Teams of 6 Compete
REWARD - Merge Feast for Winning 6
ADVANTAGE - Sai, Sai, Sai. It’s unbelievable folks. She gets to skip the first challenge, earns the merge feast, and gets to compete in the individual challenge. Wow, pretty powerful advantage. So powerful in fact that she can’t help but outwardly expresses her happiness which someone might say wasn’t “gracious” enough, OH WAIT, THAT WAS WHAT SAI SAID LAST WEEK AND NOW SHE IS DOING THE SAME THING!!! CRAZY!!!!
ORANGE - Mitch, Eva, Joe, Shauhin, Cedrek, Charity
PURPLE - Mary, Chrissy, Star, Kyle, David, Kamilla
The mud is back and thicker than ever! However, the most impressive challenge feat thus far is Mary gliding on her back like she is sliding on ice through the mud. I had to rewind and watch it three times. Go rewatch it, it was unbelievable!
These challenges are tremendous. They are at a blistering pace and the adrenaline is pumping from the couch. Add in the mud and the wood chips and we got ourselves a heartrate bump on a Wednesday folks! One thing that made my heart skip a beat was Chrissy trying to get up the ramp to the cargo net. I know Kyle and David are strong and ultimately pulled her up safely, but for a millisecond I thought the grip was going to slip and Chrissy was going down on what would be a catastrophic fall. Did you catch it? I mean she EASILY could have fallen back and it would have been REALLY, REALLY BAD.
Phew.
Ultimately, this challenge is decided by Kyle and David’s strength to pull PURPLE up being lightyears greater than Cedrek’s haha. Despite Shauhin and Mitch’s puzzle skills, David and Kamilla are able to put the half circle puzzle together and earn the merge meal for PURPLE (Mary, Chrissy, Star, Kyle, David, Kamilla) AND a chance to compete against Sai, and each other, for immunity and a merge buff.
CHALLENGE 2 - Individual Immunity Challenge
I love that only one person earns the merge and that they do it by winning individual immunity. THE DRAMA!!! The balance challenges are hard enough on their own but it’s hard to imagine how much harder it would be with your entire body and clothing completely covered in mud and wood chips. It’s uncomfortable to simply think about it, I got to believe it’s ten times more challenging in person.
By the 5th pole extension, we’ve only lost Chrissy and Kamilla. Mary has her head and neck at a 90 degree angle and David isn’t even looking up. And just as I finish typing that sentence, Mary changes her head position and drops.
At the 6th pole extension transition, Sai drops, and David, Kyle, and Star remain. The pole is easily 12 feet long at this point and doing its best Leaning Tower of Piza.
David drops. Kyle vs. Star.
The final two doesn’t last long and Kyle is victorious! Not even the Survivor mud and crustiness can stop Kyle from smiling ear to ear as Jeff pops on that Immunity Necklace and the lone merge buff!!!
REWARD - Day 13
Though there are obvious rewards at the merge feast, once again, the true reward is INFORMATION! Information comes in the form of who’s got advantages, who’s got idols, and who people are willing to throw under the bus. Shockingly, or maybe not so much, is Star’s zero hesitation to throw Charity’s name out there on the block. I think with her new found trust in Eva and her experience at new CIVA with Charity, it made it easy for Star to target Charity’s aggressive gameplay. Similarly, Sai is a beneficiary of the information dump at the merge feast and a contributor in the throw a name out there sweepstakes, and she chose Eva. Ultimately, Eva has a unique bond with Joe, aka they are a pair, and pairs are a problem in the game. Throw in an idol for her, and it makes sense that her name is making its way to the chopping block or should I say the charcuterie board.
BACK AT CAMP - Day 13
The major takeaway from this group is the individual game has really begun. Cedrek’s nothing burger at the Immunity Challenge has him feeling like he let everyone down, and rightfully so. He was awful and he knows it and now he is worried that it will make him vulnerable at Tribal. Second, some people haven’t even been to Tribal Council - Eva, Star, David, and Charity - which is CRAZY! It’s halfway through the game and they haven’t even gotten a torch yet, which serves them well because they’re still alive, but more importantly it doesn’t serve them because they have no scars, they have no experience, and they have less concrete information.
In the end, Sai and Charity’s names get brought up once again, this time Shauhin brings up Charity because she is “playing loudly”. Interesting way to put it but like we’ve said many times over the past 8 seasons of the new era, any reason is enough of a reason to vote someone out. Looking like there won’t be any charity at this upcoming 13 player Tribal. Similarly, Sai’s name gets brought up because she is playing even louder. Sai can say she wants to lay low, but she can’t. She has to throw a name out, she can’t go with the easy vote, and she can’t keep her mouth shut about the merge feast. I give her credit for playing hard and playing her game on her terms, but you have to adjust.
MERGE BEACH - Day 13
“Most people here share a common enemy. I don’t think Charity has a lot of friends. I don’t think Sai has a lot of friends. Why go to war just yet? That war is going to come, it’s sizzling, it’s ready to boil over, but for now we’ve got a lot of targets.” - David
This just about sums it up. The choice heading into Tribal Council that we are led to believe is between Charity and Sai. Both players have been playing a “loud” and aggressive game, both players have not been making friends, and both players are rubbing people the wrong way.
Personally I think Mary’s assessment is most accurate in the way she described Charity as a turtle and Sai as a snake. In Survivor, you can’t trust the snake (see season 1 Richard Hatch). Remember, even Cedrek, who is a quasi ally of Sai, has VOTED FOR HER TWICE to go home.
PREDICTION: Say goodbye Sai. It’s your time to go.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - Night 13
I like Shauhin’s analogy of the 13 player merge beach game as a house party versus the quaint dinner party (small 5 or 6 person tribe). Jeff’s ability to tie a narrative of the game and Tribal back to the house party this house party is to get invited back again.
Charity is exposing her insecurities about people not talking to her. Sai is exposing her thoughts about the dysfunction of this “family”. Plus, you have people like Eva who can’t read social cues and hasn’t been to Tribal. There are a lot of elements of a dysfunctional family on the table and this Tribal will set everyone straight.
VOTES
Charity - 7
Sai - 5
Cedrek - 1
I’m not surprised by the Charity vote, whatsoever. First off, Sai voted for Cedrek which is easy to connect the dots on. She is bitter and was willing to be voted out just so she could vote who she wanted to vote for. She knew Charity was a target and ignored it. Mitch, David, Eva, Shauhin and Charity voted for Sai. Maybe a little “stay original CIVA strong” combined with Sai throwing Eva’s name out there was reason for the votes to go there, but they weren’t enough because everyone else put down Charity’s name. The sense we got was that Charity was the “easy vote” because nobody, except Mitch, built a bond with her.
My theory is this, when you don’t go to Tribal Council until night 13 aka you haven’t lost an Immunity Challenge, you’ve never had to scramble, and you’ve not gotten your hands dirty, the most important thing you’ve lost out on is forming bonds with other people. For better or worse, the remaining old VULA of Mary, Sai, and Cedrek have been through several tribals together and emerged from it with a stronger bond. They had to trust each other. They had to have difficult conversations. They had to face some tough realities. Charity never did and now she never will.
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