Big move-itis, noun: The (often incorrect) feeling in Survivor that you need to make big moves in order to win the game; said big moves must be made at the first possible opportunity; making a move for the sake of making a move.
Big move-itis has felled more than its share of Survivor castaways and it added another to its total tonight in Des. She (likely correctly) deduced she was on the bottom of the remaining Naviti and wanted to take her chance to make a move against the bigger threats of Kellyn, Dom, and Wendell. That by itself wasn’t a bad idea. But she went about it all wrong. Before talking to anyone else, she brought up the plan too bluntly and to too many people. Now I get it. She was probably frustrated with her place in the game, saw an opening, and took it. I commend her for trying to keep her finger on the pulse of the game. She just got over-eager and it ended up being a fatal mistake. But enough with the analysis for now, onto the episode.
The Des conversation kicked off the episode so we’ll skip straight to the reward challenge, which was again solid, if not great. The interesting wrinkle was it was a 5v5 challenge, meaning one person would not compete, and therefore had no chance at the reward. In the school yard pick, Donathan was the unlucky loser, which was probably a surprise to nobody. Two teammates row a boat to three different platforms, each with another teammate locked in a cage. They must unlock each person and then tie their boat on the shore so they can unlock giant puzzle pieces. The challenge did have one fun little twist, however. There were extra pieces included, but the players were not aware of that going in.
Orange got off to an early lead and kept it throughout. Their lead going in to the puzzle proved too much to overcome, winning the challenge fairly easily. Their reward? A helicopter ride to a mountain bluff overlooking the Fijian islands where they get to enjoy a fully stocked picnic. For Ghost Island, we yet again go to rocks and Angela draws the white rock.
Is it just me or is there something so incredibly boring and anticlimactic about going to the rock draw every single time? There has to be something else the Survivor producers could do to add a little spice to the process. One thought I have: If the team can’t come to a unanimous decisions, they go to rocks and one of them has to go to Ghost Island, forfeiting their reward. I’m sure there are flaws I’m not seeing, but that’s just one idea that came to mind.
We get some gorgeous views during the helicopter quote and an equally enjoyable Sea Bass quote: “You don’t need to eat when you get highs like that.” At this point I can’t tell if he’s playing into it, or if he’s legitimately television gold. The number of stoner and drug references this season have just been too good. They would be reason enough for me to want Sea Bass to stay in the game longer.
We don’t get anything too exciting at the reward. Michael puts himself out there as a loyal vote, now that he’s essentially powerless. The classic move from the threat at the bottom of the totem pole. Everyone simply politely nods and that’s as exciting as the picnic got.
At Ghost Island, Angela gets to play a game. She has to pick one of three bamboo chute, 2 hold an advantage. She picks wrong and loses her vote. No big, emotional moment for Angela. If you believe in the Winner’s Edit, not a great look for Angela to have such a blah Ghost Island experience. Though to be fair, her chances of winning aren’t great right now anyway. But still.
Back at Lavita, Laurel and Donathan are debating sticking with Wendell and Dom versus going with Des’s plan. Laurel feels safer with her current alliance and goes to Dom to spill the beans about what Des has been cooking up behind his back. Dom then passes this on to Kellyn, who refuses to believe that Chelsea and Des would turn on her.
Michael goes idol-hunting with Donathan, as he should. Donathan finds Scot Pollard’s immunity idol from Survivor: Kaoh Rong. But there’s a twist. This is just one half to an idol. It has no power until paired with Tai’s half of the idol, which is hidden under the middle of the shelter. After some stressful attempts, he is finally able to retrieve the second part of the idol. The good part for Donathan: He has an immunity idol. The bad: Too many people already know he has one, as Michael, Laurel, and Jenna all helped him get that second piece. It’s no secret that the “hidden” factor of a hidden immunity idol makes it that much more dangerous. We’ll see how that plays out going forward.
One thing about Survivor that I think is under appreciated by the masses is how beautifully it’s shot. My guy Dalton Ross is all over this, though, so you can always count on him to grab screen shots/videos of the best examples of this. He captures one again this week with this awesome transition into the immunity challenge.
We get another variation of a Survivor classic for this week’s immunity challenge. Each castaway balances a ball on a disc attached to two ropes. They will be moving their hands farther down the ropes at regular intervals. Wendell drops his ball in about two seconds and we’re quickly down to a final three of Chelsea, Kellyn, and Sea Bass. Kellyn falls and Sea Bass follows shortly after, giving Chelsea the win, marking the third straight woman to win immunity this season. Maybe it means something, maybe it means nothing, maybe it’s just a fun little fact to point out about this season.
In the closing confessional after the challenge, Dom discusses the need to at least consider changing their plan to vote out Michael. He wants to get ahead of the “goat alliance” before they start coming after his alliance.
Back at camp, the fun really begins. Kellyn tells Des that Dom revealed Des’s supposed (to Kellyn, at least) plan to target her. Des of course denies and, to her credit, does a good job of keeping it together. That wouldn’t last long. Des tries to throw it all back on Laurel, who is getting visibly frustrated the more Des sticks to her story, and rightfully so.
Jenna confirms Laurel’s story of Des to Kellyn and Kellyn talks to Des again who doubles down that Laurel is lying. Kellyn has a heated discussion with Dom and insists they keep the vote on Michael. This wasn’t Kellyn’s best episode. She had multiple people confirming Laurel’s side of the story while not one single person came to Des’s defense. And yet she still wasn’t convinced that Des was the one who was lying. She got aggressive with Dom, insisting that the vote stay on Michael at Tribal. Clearly something changed between then and the vote, as it was revealed Kellyn’s vote indeed went against Des, as did everyone’s except for Des (obviously) and Chelsea’s. Come on, Chelsea. You need to get it together and figure out what’s happening in the game.
Watching Des double down…and triple down…and quadruple down on her story was a definite highlight but there were also two other great moments to note before I leave you. Kellyn gave an all-time quote, saying “I’ve been trying to be Sherlock Holmes all day, and I’ve been feeling like Helen Keller.” I would have been all in for “I’ve been feeling like Helen Keller” episode title, but somehow I don’t think that would have gone over too well.
And the other? Well, if you missed it, just take a look at Sea Bass’s glorious vote. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was just having a little bit of fun, but would you really believe that? Didn’t think so. This man is a Survivor treasure.
Oh, and two people will be voted out next week. Should hopefully make for a fun and crazy episode.
