Previously on...Survivor!

Lairo lost again, and Vince, despite stealing ash from Vokai’s campfire and winning an immunity idol from Sandra and Boston Rob, went home with said idol in his pocket. What will happen this week? Will there be a ridiculous challenge from the Idols? There is only one way to find out...Let’s get to the recap!

EASY, PEASY, DONE.

Mary: After the shocking vote of last week, everyone’s wondering what happened. Tom asks Karishma if she knew, and of course she does! She doesn’t particularly care, though, because she feels insecure about her own spot in the tribe. 

I’m particularly interested in how Aaron suddenly thinks he’s in control of everything and wants to call the shots. He puts the other contestants down, talking about how stupid they are, then proceeds to complain about how Dean and Chelsea are too close. While we were watching this, Todd, you compared their “showmance” to Rob and Amber, and how that only worked out for one of them--Amber, who won. I would like to remind everyone that that “showmance” RESULTED IN A BEAUTIFUL MARRIAGE AND FOUR CHILDREN.

Todd: Duly noted. Rob and Amber worked the showmance so well that basically any other couple that has formed since then--31 season ago(!)--has been destroyed almost on sight, give or take a Russell and Parvati, though that was less a “showmance” and more a “Parvati will put up with you until she no longer needs you”-mance. There have also been strong alliances between dudes, like Stephen and JT or Dom and Wendell, but rarely has a potential “showmance” lasted very long. Look no further than Millennials vs. GenX’s “Figtails”. 

The next morning, we get more of Dean and Chelsea and while Dean seems smitten, it becomes pretty clear early on that Chelsea is not interested in an alliance with Dean for any reason other than body warmth, saying she is “not here for no showmance”.

Mary: Body warmth is very important! 

Todd: It is! Meanwhile, Missy and Aaron are bonding and possibly forming an alliance over their shared status as African-Americans on the Lairo tribe, though they also throw Karishma under the bus. “She’s annoying as hell,” Missy tells us, “but that’s Survivor.” Missy has quickly presented herself as a Godfather-esque figure for the Lairo tribe, and this episode only continues that trend.

Mary: I think what’s more interesting about this episode pre-tribal is what’s happening on Vokai. Everyone has crafted a fishing raft (which honestly seems like a bad idea to me), and is going out on a little adventure. Jason goes for a walk and Jamal decides to HUNT FOR THE IDOL. There’s a huge voiceover from Jamal about how his life has changed a lot recently, and he goes into detail about how he recently got out of a bad relationship. I really wish he would have gone into more detail about this relationship, mostly because when you hear about bad (and I’m reading sort of abusive into this?) relationships, you hear women talking about them, but hey! Men are in bad relationships, too, sometimes. I just wanted more detail, and maybe we’ll get some. This big voiceover, and the dramatic scene of Jamal finding the idol, makes me think the editors are setting him up to be a bigger part of the show. After all, they know who stays to the final three, so they can edit to direct us to those individuals. However, as a side note, I want to say that the editing has been really great about keeping secrets this season. I’ve found it nearly impossible to guess who’s getting voted out each week! 

Todd: I agree! In a normal season, the Jamal stuff we get this week would indicate that he is going further into the season, but with the editors this season, there is no way to know for sure. It was just a few weeks ago that we were congratulating Chelsea on finding her hidden immunity idol and...well, we’ll get to that in a little bit, but FIRST we have to discuss Noura.

Mary: My bit of discussion: I don’t like her.

Todd: Can you say more about that? Because, certainly, if I was on the island, I would not want her anywhere near me, but she is, you know, fun to watch, in a way not unlike the Debbies or the Philips of the past that we have seen.

Mary: Noura has a personal view of herself that is baffling to me. She truly reminds me of Coach, if I have to compare her to someone, because she thinks SO MUCH of herself.

Todd: The best comparison, truly. Who would not want to be compared to the Dragon Slayer himself?

Mary: Except...I think I like Coach a whole lot more than Noura! Noura is just as hippie-dippy as Coach, but she also seems to believe she has built a huge business as an entrepreneur. After consulting Google, I have learned she works in finance (as a CPA I think?) but is trying to “migrate” to the health and wellness industry. To me, that sounds like someone who quit their job without much of a plan, which is FINE I guess, but she shouldn’t act like she’s a health and wellness guru. I don’t think she knows much about what she’s selling to people; for example, she led some whack yoga on the beach that was just truly terrible. 

Todd: Survivor players seem to know as much about teaching yoga as they do about what constitutes a résumé.

Mary: She seems like the type of person who would trap you in a conversation and then just talk about how great she is for hours and hours and you’d never be able to get away.

Todd: As Boston Rob aptly points out, Noura “is definitely perceptive, but the question is whether her perception is reality”. It certainly doesn’t seem to be for her tribe, but let’s back up for a second. When the Island of the Idols boatman arrives, no one’s name is called, and the Vokai tribe has to decide unanimously who is going to the Island of the Idols. It’s a change of pace for how the show has decided who goes to the Island, but I think a smart one, especially after Vince’s trip last week got him sent home. What did you make of everyone’s confessionals about why they don’t want to go?

Mary: It all seemed standard for Survivor. No one wants to spend any time away from camp because that could be the time that everyone chooses to turn on them--simply because they aren’t there. 

Todd: Agreed! We get a lot of fun confessionals from Tommy, Jack, Lauren, and Kellee--who is worried that whoever goes to the Island of the Idols will be able to blow up her spot. Either this person will make her an outcast or be able to grow closer with her. After all of this talk, Noura just says she will go--and honestly, isn’t Noura the last person you would want to find yourself in an alliance with? 

Mary: Me? Yes. On the Island of the Idols, Noura is taught a lesson about negotiation. Rob and Sandra go over different methods of winning your tribe over to your way of thinking, then tell her that as a special challenge she can choose to persuade her tribe to allow her to be the “caller” in the next challenge. Noura IMMEDIATELY accepts this challenge because she’s “a risk taker,” and Rob looks---and correct me if I’m wrong here--not too pleased. He’s been saying that contestants should fight to “sweeten the pot” and negotiate their challenges with him and Sandra (because there are no rules not to and it’s smart), but Noura enthusiastically demands to take the risk even when Sandra tells her she should think on it.

Todd: Oh boy. This was a mess. First of all, she definitely had no idea who Boston Rob and Sandra were, right? She just says she saw “a statue of a man,” which can’t be too exciting for the Survivor producers, who had to whisper in her ear the names of these people she’s about to meet, I’m sure. You are definitely right that Rob seems stricken when Noura agrees so quickly, basically before Rob finishes offering the challenge. Also, unlike other challenges, the reward here is to be able to block someone’s vote, while the castaway could still lose their vote if they lose. With such a dinky reward, why say yes so quickly? NOT ALL ADVANTAGES ARE CREATED EQUAL, NOURA.

Anyway, Rob and Sandra say goodbye to Noura with the saddest looks on their faces, as if they know they have just led a lamb to slaughter. Back on the Lorai beach, Noura really says some words to the rest of her tribe. Where do we begin?

Mary: I don’t even know how to explain this. She tells her tribe that in order to get an advantage they have to unanimously agree on what role she’ll play in the next game. She then tells them what the game is after they’ve agreed she can do whatever. She says the advantage is the knowledge of what the challenge will be. But then, the tribe (smartly) says, hey, we don’t actually have to let her do what she wants because we already have the information. So when it comes time for them to participate in the challenge--which is a classic, everyone is blindfolded and one person calls out directions type of thing--they make her SIT OUT. 

Todd: Honestly, a power move. 

The caller for Vokai is Jason, while Elizabeth calls for Lairo. Jason is expert, having all of Lairo go out at the same time, while Lairo struggles, mostly because Dean and Chelsea, who someone thought it was a good idea to tie together, cannot find their last set of keys. It seems like Vokai is going to run away with the challenge, but Jason and Kellee run into a hitch at the puzzle and it seems like Elizabeth and Aaron are going to win it for Lairo, but at the last moment Vokai pulls through, sending Lairo to tribal council yet again.

Mary: Then the good old scrambling begins. Karishma worries she’s going home again, but everyone else seems kind of worried too. There’s a quick montage of everyone thinking they’re going home/trying to maneuver someone else out of the game, but as I mentioned earlier, the editing does a good job of keeping the viewer in suspense. I still had no clue who would go home by the time the tribe makes it to tribal. 

Todd: Importantly, Dean does say, “I don’t think there’s going to be a blindside tonight” at one point, which made me pretty sure it would be him. Regardless, we go to tribal and I am totally with you here, Mary. I was shocked that we were going to tribal with basically three names floating up in the air and a hint at another: Karishma seems like the easy vote, while either Dean or Chelsea seem like the “next-level” vote, while Missy’s hard playing could mean it ends up being her, though no one mentions voting her out...yet.

At tribal, Karishma says she is praying to the Survivor gods, and while I understand where Karishma is coming from because she feels like an outsider, I also want to shake her and tell her to pull herself together! Elaine says she “stays lost” because so many plans are being thrown out, which leads Sandra to say “This one never knows anything,” and honestly I would maybe watch an entire hour of Sandra’s withering barbs?

Mary: I would definitely watch that. I’ve enjoyed seeing Rob and Sandra have the freedom to say whatever about whoever without having to worry what the other contestants think of them. To further what you said about Elaine, I think she was playing dumb, or at least it seemed that way. Elaine has proved to be pretty in tune with what’s going on. All of the machinations of this episode--with Elizabeth going back and forth between Aaron and Elaine--indicate that Elaine was entirely in the loop, or at least somewhat in the loop. At the very least, she’s not lost! I’m still pulling for Elaine to come out of nowhere after just sort of hanging in for a while. 

Todd: Yeah, I think the Survivor editors have done a good job of setting Elaine up early because I expect she will be hanging around for a while. After this exchange with Elaine, we see Missy compare tonight’s vote to Russian Roulette, which gets Karishma excited. Channeling her inner Lord Baelish, she says, “Chaos is a ladder and I’m going to climb it out of here.” But Missy is quick to stop her in her tracks and say that just because the bullet is random, it doesn’t mean that it can’t land on Karishma. This is a heated exchange and it really shows that the women’s alliance we have been hearing so much about over the course of the season is not nearly as strong as it seems.

The votes are read. 2 for Karishma, and 5 for...Chelsea! This means that we have had players go home with an idol in their pockets 2 weeks in a row. After Kelley Wentworth and Lauren held on to their idols for so long in Edge of Extinction, do you think the players this season are too confident about their place? Why not play your idol?

Mary: It’s always a risk, you know? Survivor contestants have gotten really antsy, for lack of a better word, about anyone not sticking with the status quo. You go to a special island for a day? You might be a target. Play an idol? Now no one can trust you. Go for a walk? You’re obviously scheming. It’s like they all know they’re playing this game to win but no one wants to announce it. The fear of playing an idol too early is probably huge. 

Todd: Yeah, I think that is right. Now, moving on to are favs and not-favs.

My favorite this week is Jamal. He finds an idol, and we learn more about him! Way to go, Jamal. If there truly is a tribe swap next week, that means anything is possible for him and he could get a new lease on his Survivor life. In terms of least favorite, I’m going to be honest: I still don’t really like Dan. No reason, and not really anything he has done recently, but he is not endearing himself either. Also, Noura is really securing herself a place in the Final 3, if this week’s behavior is any indication. If she makes it to the merge, I expect her to go all the way and be taken past the firemaking challenge by someone who knows they can beat her.

Mary: My favorite this week was Elizabeth. I feel like we haven’t seen much of her this season, and she showed that she has great leadership skills in this episode, and that she’s willing to sneak around a little to make big moves. In Survivor-speak, I’d say this episode is a good installment in her resumé. My least favorite on my tribe (because let’s be real Noura would be my least favorite every week if she could be) is Aaron. He seems to think he’s much craftier than he is, and I don’t care for his macho attitude. 

THE MERGE

Todd: On the Island of the Idols, we get a montage of previous people who were gifted in the art of persuasion, which leads us to a shot of Yul! And in my head this is a subtle advertisement for the technically unannounced All Winners Season.

Mary: I’m unfamiliar with a lot of these former winners, so I either have lots of homework to do or I’m just going to have to listen to you on it.

I’ve been wondering how having multiple people go to the Island of the Idols and return would change the dynamic at camp. Would others be willing to keep it a secret as the first people to go did? Kellee is so pleased that Noura lies so badly, and it’s hilarious. I do wonder if we’ll get a scene of them talking about what really went on while they were on the island, though.

Todd: I also found that pretty hilarious. Kellee brings it up as something she is nervous about and then gets to crow about how bad Noura’s lie is! Go Kellee!

Also, surprisingly, Aaron used résumé correctly when discussing Dean’s performance this season! I almost fell out with joy when I heard that.

And that’s all this week for…

SURVIVOR:

ISLAND

OF

THE

IDOLS!