As much as I love Australian Survivor, one of the weakest aspects of any season is inclusion of non-elimination episodes. So when Jeff Probst popped on screen halfway through this week’s episode to inform us there would be no vote, I was less than enthused. The vote-out is the signature moment of each episode, of the show as a whole. So to leave it out of even just one episode feels a little, less than? As always, I’m all for Survivor production trying new things, so I don’t begrudge them that. But non-elims are just so anti-climactic. I hope we don’t see them included each season going forward. But before we arrive at the non-ending ending, we need to “turn back time” (this will not be the last Cher reference in this recap, you’re welcome) and go back to the beginning of the episode.
Ua
Back at camp after the Genie vote, we start to really see some cracks form in the Shan-Ricard relationship. Ricard feels a little shaky after Shan kept pushing him to return the extra vote advantage. And Shan doesn’t love that Ricard is still refusing to give it back. They both handled this poorly. Once Shan gave Ricard the extra vote, she has to assume the risk that he won’t return it. She can trust him all she wants, but that’s just part of the game.
If Ricard truly is her number one (or if she at least wants him to keep thinking that), she should have let it go and stopped pushing so hard. But Ricard should have returned it. He told Shan in exact words that he would return it “tomorrow”, meaning the morning after the vote. Well, tomorrow arrived (as it tends to do) and he was still hesitant to give it back. If Shan can’t trust Ricard to keep his word on this, what can she trust him to keep his word on? He does eventually give it back, but we’ll see if the damage has already been done.
Merge (sort of)
Before the tribes enter, we get another fourth-wall-breaking moment from Probst. And again it’s totally unnecessary. He tells us exactly what is coming…before telling the players what’s coming. To be fair, he does leave out one aspect in his explanation to them – that at the end of the challenge, the player they send away will be given some power in the game. But still, in a show where every minute matters, why waste time repeating information like this?
Jeff announces the players have merged…kind of. They will have to earn their way into the merge. They draw for two teams, with the winning tribe winning a reward feast and their merge buffs, officially welcoming them into the merged tribe. The members of the winning team also earn immunity at the first individual immunity challenge. All 12 will be present at Tribal, and all 12 will still vote, however. I hate hate HATE this.
Maybe I’m still scarred from the various terrible twists in the latest season of Aussie Survivor, but I cannot describe how dumb “half the tribe is immune” twists are. It’s even more magnified with all these twists and advantages in play. With one of six winning immunity, plus the potential of three idols being played, a real bad scenario could be being playing. Of course, that’s worst case, but still. Just the fact that it’s a possibility says a lot.
But to the challenge itself. The teams dig up a massive boulder, which they push through obstacles while retrieving keys along the way. Once they have all keys, they climb a tower to unlock puzzle pieces. Solve a word slide puzzle to win. But there’s one more twist. The two teams will only have five players each. Two players will draw a gray rock. Those players sit out of the challenge, and will have their fate decided by the winning team.
Blue: Danny, Ricard, Sydney, Deshawn, Evvie
Yellow: Xander, Heather, Liana, Tiffany, Shan
Drew gray rocks: Naseer and Erika
Challenge
After squandering a big lead, the Blue team pulls out the win. Their choice is this. They choose either Naseer or Erika to join them, and for that player the result is as good as them being on the winning team from the beginning. The other goes to Exile Island, live alone for two days, two nights. They cover by saying they did “rock, paper, scissors” to decide and Naseer joins them, sending Erika to exile. Naseer screams in excitement, right in front of Erika.
Danny later explains their reasoning as saying they wanted to firm up their numbers to keep the men strong. With 4/6 eliminated players being men, he and Deshawn are worried about the trend it could be setting. But I think they should have flipped their choice. One, if anyone can survive on their own for two days, it’s Naseer. He likely wouldn’t take it personally, and it would also help keep Erika happy. She even says she felt she was on the bottom and this confirmed that. There was a lot more upside to taking Erika than Naseer.
Merge Beach
After such a strong start, maybe Shan was due for a bad episode. She makes another mistake right away at the merge beach. She asks Liana about her advantage…right in front of Tiffany, who Liana had not told about the advantage. Liana is rightfully upset, but it doesn’t seem to be a dealbreaker for working with Shan. Liana and Shan go off and talk, and still appear to be on the same page. They agree Liana needs to get either Naseer or Xander’s idol.
Later, Tiffany asks Liana about her advantage, and Liana has no choice but to tell her about the “Give Me Your Idol” advantage. Liana now wants to consider voting Tiffany out. Likewise, Tiffany is feeling the same about Liana, given that she kept this from her.
After getting the chance to meet and talk, Shan, Liana, Danny, and Deshawn form an alliance. Whether this is a true alliance or just a matter of people saying what the other people want to hear remains to be seen, of course. But it certainly felt real in the moment. And I’m excited for it. This could be a very dangerous group of fun and dynamic players. And yes, some will no doubt point out the fact that it’s four Black players aligning together. And that is notable, though not necessarily for reasons the show should be proud of. I’ll let my man Dalton Ross speak for me here, because he put it just about perfectly. From his recap for this week:
“Whether they are all actually on board remains to be seen, but allow me to say this: If they do all join forces and ride it all the way to the final four, I do not want to hear a single garbage cry of “reverse racism” or any of that absolute nonsense. If you have a problem with four Black contestants aligning after 40 seasons’ worth of all-white alliances, then it is time to turn off your television and take a long hard look in the mirror.”
Exile
Jeff shows up and offers Erika the chance to turn back time. Okay, so maybe he says reverse history or something, but since I hate this, I’m going to have fun with it. This is the Cher Advantage as far as I’m concerned. The advantage boils down to this.
Jeff gives Erika an hour glass, which comes with a decision between two options. One, she does nothing. She leaves the hour glass and the game remains as is. Or two, she can turn back time and reverse history. She would flip the results of the merge challenge. She, along with the yellow team, then receives the automatic bid to the merge and immunity at the first Tribal Council. The blue team, which now includes Naseer, would be relegated to the play-in challenge, with one of those six then being voted out.
Why wouldn’t Erika smash the hourglass and reverse it all? It guarantees her safety in the game. That should be about all the reasoning she needs. Right now she’s vulnerable. If she changes things up, she’s safe, 100% safe through at least one more vote. That’s the name of the game. Non-elimination episodes are one thing, but having them end on such a nothing moment was a real bummer.
With so many idols and other advantages itching to be played, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before another advantage-geddon is upon us. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but now that everything is active and able to be played, the possibility only grows stronger.
And if you want the podcast recap, Jared and I had a blast this week, even though neither of us were big fans of the episode itself. Head here to listen or subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts.
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