Hello, all! While time has become even more of an illusion than usual, we need things to anchor us during the week. Maybe you look forward to watching your church service from bed on Sunday mornings, or you are watching Devs (the next Othersode) and you can’t wait for each Thursday, or maybe you are a big fan of Jeff Probst and those wacky castaways, and so each Wednesday you sit down to watch Survivor. Well then welcome, because we are here to recap this episode, which was especially wild, even by Survivor’s standards.

Also, Mary is still winning the fantasy league, but she did lose her first player and it only took *checks notes* 9 episodes!

THE MOMENT OF THE WEEK

Mary: We both picked the same moment of the week because it is truly an insane thing to have happened. Adam was really on one in this episode, constantly thinking of ways he could save himself.

Todd: Truly. Adam, on his best day, is a jittery ball of anxiety and overthinking. But this season? That has been put into overdrive. He has been playing hard (one could say too hard) all season, and it is frankly incredible that he made it as long as he did.

Mary: At one point in the episode, Adam looked at Jeff’s podium and said, “There’s a fleur de lis there.” And that, he said, was the same symbol on the immunity idol. THE PODIUM MUST BE AN IMMUNITY IDOL. This was truly one of those moments when you wonder if Adam is very dumb or whether he has galaxy brain and is thinking on a whole other level. It turns out that he was thinking too much on another level. At the end of tribal council, when Jeff says, “if anyone has an immunity idol to play now is the time to do it,” Adam stands up and begins yanking the fleur de lis from the podium.

Todd: This is a great moment. And regardless of what Jeff says, this already is a historic, iconic, incredible Survivor moment. Next year, when we are all talking about how there was an immunity idol hidden AT TRIBAL, we will come back to this moment and thank Adam for his sacrifice. Now, Adam fails to pull the fleur de lis off the podium, and, dejected, he returns to his seat and says “I thought that was an immunity idol.” To which Jeff replies, “Are you sure it isn’t?”

Now, let it never be said that Jeff Probst is not a showman. This kind of off-the-cuff riffing is one of the areas where Jeffrey excels as a host. Adam eventually splutters out that he wants to play part of Jeff’s voting podium as an immunity idol. Jeff teases him even more, saying that it would be a historic moment, before twisting the knife and telling him that, No, this is not an immunity idol.

After a wild season, and a wild tribal where it seemed like everyone was up and talking, culminating in Adam asking the tribe who to vote for and NO ONE SAYING ANYTHING, it seemed only inevitable that Adam’s torch would be snuffed. As he goes up, he tells Jeff, “I had to try,” and Jeff says, with all the grace he can muster, “Always.” Reader, that is a nice moment, and it demonstrates one of the key rules of Survivor: You never give up until your torch has been snuffed, even if it makes you look more than a little silly.

PLAYER ON THE RISE

Mary: I’m really impressed with how thoroughly Denise has gotten everyone off her back, and I’m hopeful that she’s going to go far in the game. Maybe this is just wishful thinking because Denise is on my fantasy league, but I really do think that she’s become more integral to the tribe after the merge. Maybe it’s because she’s a therapist, but Denise has this very kind way of speaking that I’m hoping keeps her under the radar and on the way to the final tribal.

Todd: This might be a dumb thing to say, because she is still on the Edge, but it was good to see Parvati (and Dani, to a lesser extent) get a win this week. The Edge-ians have to find an advantage this week, and the clue they are given references the last season to feature the Edge. The advantage was hidden in the same spot where Aubry found a clue on the Edge and while this is interesting and fun (and certainly feels like an Easter egg for those of us who slogged through Season 38), it also makes me think that the producers are kind of lazy? Anyway, Parvati and Dani find the advantage, and then, rather than hide that they found it, let Rob and Ethan and Amber know about it as well. (A secret scene reveals that Parvati used the 4[!!!] fire tokens they received from Michele to buy peanut butter, which will henceforth be known as the Apostol maneuver.) It almost seems like the people who have been on the Edge the longest are forming an alliance against the newcomers (Yul, Wendell), so it will be interesting to see if anything comes of that.

PLAYER ON THE EDGE

Todd: Sarah, without a doubt. Look, I know we all want to act like we would be a good and upstanding person when we play Survivor, but more often than not, that just puts a target on your back. This is not the 2nd season anymore; kindness won’t get you that $1 million check. Heck, kindness didn’t work out well for Colby that season either! Basically, Sarah made a dumb move because, she says, she felt bad for Nick. I get that. It’s hard not to feel bad for him, but this is still a game, and to act, even for a moment, like it is not a game, will only put a target on your back.

Mary: I have to concur; Sarah is in hot water here. When Sarah gave her reward to Nick it might have been a genuine sign of goodwill, or all she could think to do for his birthday, but it made her enemy number one for a lot of people. Everything you do in the game is going to be part of the game, even an act of kindness. Sarah didn’t think about that, and now her actions are going to be perceived as a political move to curry favor with the future jury. And honestly? I can’t say that I’m really that sad to see her go. I do not like Cops’r’Us, and I’d like to see Tony more on his own and WILD.

That’s all this week, but make sure you come back next week for more…

SURVIVORS:

WINNER

AT

WAR

Ya better be ready...