Welcome back to our Survivor coverage at the Book Squad Goals blog! Last week saw the rise of Kellee, the master manipulator, as she managed to get Jack voted out without casting a single vote. Will her masterminding of this vote come back to haunt her? Can she trust Noura and Dean? And what will happen if/when the tribes merge? The only way (to find) out is through (this blog)!

Mary: I just want to start off by saying that since we get a mature themes warning at the beginning of the episode, I’m going to give one now. The mature themes being discussed in this very special episode deal with sexual assault and harassment, so if that’s not something you’re comfortable reading about (in light detail), be aware it’s coming up in this post.

That being said, I think we should address up front that the elephant in the room this episode (or the elephant on the island?) is Dan Spilo, who has been notably gropey throughout the season. In the first few episodes of Island of the Idols, Kellee confronted Dan about his behavior, telling him that it makes her uncomfortable to be constantly touched without her consent. Dan seemed to take this information well--listening and responding apologetically. That encounter set the stage for what happened this episode, where the Dan business bubbles to the surface of the game, becoming a strategy for some and an ethical mission for others. Personally, I felt exhausted by this double episode. How do you feel, Todd?

Todd: Honestly? Also exhausted and very sad. As many, many people have pointed out already on the internet, it is rare that a season of Survivor so quickly goes from one full of people I am rooting for to one where I don’t really want anyone to win (except for Janet, our Queen!). The entire incident makes basically everyone involved (except, again, Janet, Kellee, and Jamal) look awful. This is not a scenario like Jeff Varner outing Zeke where the entire cast turns on him and votes him out immediately, or one like the sad saga of Brandon Hantz slowly demonstrating how unfit he is to be on the island and being summarily voted out at a challenge while Jeff physically holds him back. No, this was messy and complicated and very few people come out looking great after this, most especially Missy and Elizabeth.

Look, to compare this to another instance that is strikingly similar in many regards, when Richard Hatch assaulted Sue Hawk in Survivor: All-Stars, he was immediately voted out, Sue quit the next episode, and the rest of the cast spends basically the entire episode calling Sue variations on “crazy.” It was not a good look and was upsetting enough to make us stop watching the season during our summer of Rob and Sandra. In my recollection, after the episode where Sue quits, the incident doesn’t really come up again (until the reunion), but with Dan staying in the game, and the potential still lurking for him to continue to sexually harass the remaining contestants, this is an entirely different scenario, and I suspect it will continue to haunt the season as long as Dan remains a player in the game. We know for certain that Jeff will not “let it go,” certainly.

Obviously, Dan’s behavior throughout the episode is reprehensible and he seems at times (in the 2nd tribal council) repentant and at times defiant, certain he did nothing wrong, but he is not the only person at fault here. What did you make of the response of other players, especially Missy and Elizabeth? Did Aaron somehow sink even lower in your estimation after this episode?

Mary: Yes, he definitely did. I didn’t look into all the apologies that the contestants issued after the episode aired (so maybe you could speak more to that if you want), but you mentioned that Aaron seemed pretty sincere? The Aaron that we have seen in the game so far is not particularly likable (not that they all have to be). He’s constantly tried to maneuver in ways that seem devious to me, like considering betraying his own alliance more than once. If he actually betrays anyone or not is kind of moot to me. He’s thought about it a lot and would definitely do it. The internet in general seems to have come to the consensus that there’s not really anyone left to root for but Janet. And I think we know Janet isn’t going to win, as much as it pains me to say it and as much as I hope she does. I think if she made it to the end people would definitely vote for her, but making it that far is the question. Look, my heart is guarded after CHRIS of all people won last season. 

Todd: This is truly a gut punch, especially after Edge of Extinction. I think many people saw Survivor in a resurgent phase after David vs. Goliath, which had a pretty great cast and an interesting merge and winner, unlike Ghost Island, where Wendell and Dominic dominated everything or HHH, where it really felt like production was trying to manufacture a win for Ben. It hurts all the more because this cast had really stood out and seemed to be made up of smart, good people and now, even with all their heartfelt (and seemingly sincere) apologies, truly I am not sure I can be made to care who wins this season, except for Janet or maybe someone like Karishma and Noura, who at least didn’t vote for Kellee.

Also, Dean sucks. Kellee saved him last week and he can’t even have the decency to tell her the vote is going her way? GET OUTTA HERE!

Mary: YES, Dean sucks so much! Kellee not only saved him, but they bonded over someone they both knew and Dean acted like that was a BIG DEAL. I guess it’s not. 

Todd: Apparently. I will talk briefly about the apologies, as honestly I don’t know that anything in the episode feels as important as Dan’s unwanted touching of Kellee and the fallout from it.

A caveat: it is entirely possible that the cast wants to say more and is being blocked from doing so by some sort of NDA or gag order from CBS.

Mary: I will note that as of now, Dan hasn’t said a word. And all his social media seems to be private. I can’t say for sure if his accounts were private prior to the airing of this episode or not (because do you think I was following Dan?), but here we are. 

Todd: Right. To quickly run things down: Kellee and Janet offered up tweets/Insta-posts during or right after the airing of the episode in which they thanked everyone for their support and asked people not to lash out at other contestants. Kellee also had a *fire* tweet calling out The Hollywood Reporter for calling what Kellee said “allegations” even though there was VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE UNWANTED TOUCHING. I’m sorry, but if someone robs a bank on camera, there is nothing alleged about their theft. They did it. End of story.

Mary: YES! I’m absolutely baffled by everyone acting like nothing happened, because at the minimum there is video of Dan touching the girls in unwanted ways. 

Todd: A day later, Missy and Elizabeth expressed their apologies to Kellee, Janet, and the people they had let down. Aaron also released a video in which he offered an apology for his “I know a woman so I am definitely not at fault here!” stance at tribal, in which he completely owns up to his behavior. All of these apologies seem sincere, and Tommy and Lauren also apologized for their behavior, acknowledging that if they had had all the information they had after watching the episode, they might have acted differently.

Here’s the thing though: everyone at camp seemed to know that Dan made people uncomfortable. Earlier in the season, Elizabeth and Lauren made a joke about Dan groping people, and Missy commented on it as well. This was an “open secret” on the island, and the truth of the matter is that going farther in the game was more important to most of these players than the safety and security of the other female players. And that sucks.

Mary: It definitely seems like an ethical fault of the producers, at bare minimum, for not stepping in and doing something about it. I highly question what kind of “formal warning” Dan was given, or if it was specific enough for him to understand the gravity of the situation. An article for Vanity Fair discusses something I also made a connection to after watching this episode. The entire situation reminds me of what happened between Corinne and DeMario on The Bachelor (in PARADIIIISE), where they were both incredibly drunk and ended up hooking up. We don’t know all the details of what happened there because the footage didn’t air, and I presume a lot of it was handled off camera. BUT we did get a weird talk from Chris Harrison, ABC trying to cover their behinds. It seems like both reality shows are trying to cover themselves legally, but legality isn’t the same as respecting people. Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean it’s right. Reality show producers want people on their shows to get upset, to yell, to encounter problems. I watch enough of the Real Housewives franchise to confirm this without a doubt. I don’t think the Survivor producers wanted this all to happen, but I can’t imagine they were mad about it entirely. After all, Survivor has been appearing online and in the news in a way it really hasn’t in years, and any press is good press, I guess? 

Todd: That is depressing to think about, but certainly true. And this episode will probably be the main thing people remember about season 39, unfortunately.

Mary: A comment directly to Dan Spilo, in the unlikely event you’re reading this: I’m never going to let it go! 

Todd: And we shouldn’t! Let’s jump into that 2nd tribal, which was wild. Should Kellee have been allowed to talk? Obviously, that would have affected the course of “the game,” but in a scenario like this, aren’t the real world consequences more important?

Mary: YES. I kept waiting for Kellee to say something. She looked like she wanted to. I’m not sure if the producers forbade her from speaking, though I know that traditionally the jury doesn’t talk during tribal (side note: we have a jury already?!). Considering that this was a personal issue that potentially affected several tribe members, I do think that Kellee should have been allowed to talk and sort everything out. They should have gone through all the facts right there. Sexual assault is not something to be used as a game tactic, and Kellee’s silencing (because let’s be real, Jeff could have directly addressed her at any time--he runs this show) is proof that for someone who works on Survivor, it is. 

Todd: Mmhmm. The tribal spends a lot of time talking around what happens, and at various points Aaron makes an ass of himself (“I have a mother and 2 sisters who are women”), as does Dan (“Since I guess you won’t let this go”), while Janet almost quits out of desperation and feeling like everyone hates her! Jamal directly contradicts Aaron’s sexist viewpoint, stating that they are not owed knowledge of everything that happens because they are men or because they have power, and Jeff directly confronts Dan while still not doing as much as he could have, as the main force on the show (see also: earlier discussions of having someone leave the game without voting).

Mary: Also, everyone saying No, no Janet, we love you, then VOTING FOR HER IN SOME CAPACITY is such trash. 

Todd: It truly is.

Mary: I’m having a hard time piecing through where we go from here. There’s not a single other thing that happened on this episode that was more important than the harassment stuff. Honestly, several days later I’m still floored by how poorly it was handled in some regards. Slapping a disclaimer on an episode does not make it okay! So what do we talk about now? 

Todd: I mean, certainly Jamal got hosed, in the most ridiculous way possible. What “lesson” is he supposed to take away from getting his vote taken and being given the dumbest “advantage” possible? There is a zero percent chance that Dean uses the “legacy” advantage that Jamal wrote and on top of everything else, Jamal gets sent home right after Kellee, leaving us with one less person to root for in the game.

It would have been nice to see what Rob and Sandra think of the entire situation, rather than just have them barely be in the episode. It also feels like the edit is directly implicating Dan, Missy, and Elizabeth in everything that happened and subtly implicating Aaron and Elaine, making it less likely, in my estimation, that any of them win the money. Paradoxically it might also be MORE LIKELY that Dan makes it to the final tribal after this episode, because who is going to give the money to Dan? Especially when the jury is going to be, I assume, led by Kellee, who will have 17 days to build a case against whoever ends up in the final 3.

Oh yeah, also Kellee found two idols in these episodes and didn’t use them, but, like, that pales in comparison to the behavior of the other contestants. Is it nice to imagine a world in which Kellee uses one of her idols to vote out Dan in this episode and then rallies troops behind her in the next to get out a threat like Missy or Elizabeth? Yes, yes, it is. However, that is not the world we live in, as this episode and the last several years have made plainly clear.

Mary: I wish it was the world we lived in, though. I felt so bad about it. Ugh. I hate it! That’s pretty much how I feel about this whole episode, and I know I keep saying it over and over, but...I don’t remember any of the challenges, or what happened outside of what we’ve discussed. I’m absolutely confused and disgusted by Missy and Elizabeth using Kellee’s feelings as a game tactic, and I’m even more angry that Dan has remained silent on this issue on social media as the episode aired. It’s just a lot. 

Considering I completely stopped watching All-Stars (as you mentioned) for similar, but contextually different reasons, it’s going to be hard for me to keep watching this season. And I hate that. It’s been so good. But I feel like I can’t in good conscience hope any of these people (except Janet) win. 

Todd: Yep. I agree. This is a sad introduction to a form of Survivor fandom, in which you hate everyone that’s left and are basically just watching to bide your time until the next season starts. 

Mary: Well, considering I love hate-watching a lot of other shows, maybe I’ll make it through. I guess I have to make it through because I am obligated to the blog. *sigh* Darn my love of the squad. 

Todd: Also, and I don’t want to get our hopes up too much, anything could still happen. And a scenario in which Janet survives the next few weeks and makes it farther into the game, rallying against the remaining contestants who hate her is still possible. The previews for next week make it seem like Janet is on the chopping block, which means there is also a high likelihood that she won’t be going home. Here’s hoping!

Mary: This week, OBVIOUSLY JANET IS THE FAVORITE FOR BOTH OF US.

Todd: And everyone else can suck eggs!

A LIST OF OTHER DUMB THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS EPISODE, BESIDES THE MAIN DUMB THINGS:

• At the merge feast, Dan said, “Let’s get lit! What! What!” and it was not the worst thing he did this episode by a long shot.

• At the 2nd tribal council, Missy said “Trust is dope sometimes” and it immediately became apparent to me that Missy may not know what “dope” means.

• Karishma also found the clue that led Jamal to Island of the Idols and was mad at him for taking it, though I’m guessing she’s not mad anymore.

• After the first tribal, Janet SLEPT IN THE SAND because everyone was so rude to her, and the next morning she saw Aaron and Missy walk by with a shovel on their way to find an idol. She followed them, lost them, and then found the idol herself. GO JANET! (To be clear, it was dumb of Aaron and Missy to so blatantly walk around WITH A SHOVEL, and not dumb of Janet because Janet is great.)

• Noura immediately told Lairo that Kellee had told her to vote out Jack. Thanks, Noura.

• There was a challenge with balls. (Jeff loves saying the word “balls.” And we love him for it.)

• The merge tribe’s name is Lumuwaku but we never hear them discuss that. 

• Karishma almost loses a pan while washing it in the ocean.
  

Here is a breakdown of further articles or thoughts on the episode:

Reality Blurred’s breakdown of reactions to the episode, including apologies from Aaron, Lauren, Missy, and Elizabeth: https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2019/11/survivor-island-of-the-idols-merge-apologies-responses/

The Ringer on the ep: https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/11/15/20966069/survivor-dan-kellee-sexual-harassment-episode-8

AVClub’s essay on the ep:

https://tv.avclub.com/survivor-s-metoo-moment-protected-the-game-instead-o-1839874098

Zeke’s tweet on allyship:

https://twitter.com/zekerchief/status/1195057089120362496

If you or someone you know needs it: Resources for sexual assault can be found here, and the National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 1-800-656-4673

See you all next week!