Previously on Survivor, at the Kama tribe, all eyes were on the returning players...
Victoria and Julia are shown in the ocean listening to Ron saying: “They’ve had their moment to shine. It’s our chance.” Then we hear Aubry saying that they were under a magnifying glass.
At the Manu tribe another returning player was being targeted...
David and Wendy are seen in the jungle listening to Rick: “We agree that Kelley is a huge threat.” David, in confessional, saying: “I’m all about blindsiding Wentworth.”
Chris wanted to bring in War Dog... but War Dog had his own agenda: “It’s got to be Keith.”
At Tribal Council, Keith was voted out... and had a decision to make.
We’ll eventually see that he went to the Island of Extinction. The episode we were about to watch was almost a copy of this recap: In Kama, the returning players will be in danger and the same will happen to Kelley until War Dog put his foot down and made everyone follow his agenda. And when we weren’t witnessing strategy, we were seemingly listening to Tai v 2.0 in the person of Wendy trying to save the chickens. It was practically Survivor Copy/Paste!
The Reward Challenge
With this questionable formula, a full quarter of the episode will be gone before we get a first look in camp
Strangely, when Jeff said that Keith was the one voted out, the reaction we had was from Julia, the only other African American in this cast and she was laughing at Keith’s elimination. For someone we hardly know, the editors aren’t doing her any favors.
With a nice comeback mostly thanks to Chris, Manu won their first challenge and chose the chicken coop.
Ron didn’t exercise his option to steal the reward. Can you imagine the reaction of Manu if he had?
Wendy had a confessional: “I should be happy about our first win but suddenly my ankle started throbbing when I was leaving the challenge. I just looked down and it seemed really tender and it started looking swollen. Now, I can’t even move it. Can it get any worse?”
Manu Day 7
Chris and Rick carried Wendy back to camp.
Wendy’s interview resumed: “On the second part of the challenge, we had to disassemble the wheel barrel and I took out a pin and lifted up the wheel and it just fell on my ankle but I was just so focused on the challenge that I was just like; I’ll worry about it later. When I walked into camp, like I calmed down or something, it just started throbbing and progressively got worse and worse. I’m worried because I’ve never broken anything. I just don’t want this to be serious.” After everyone gathered around the chicken, we heard more from Wendy: “I have to sit down here in pain listening to what they are going to do with these chickens it’s so upsetting. I’m just like; poor chickens. What did they do to the players? The players signed up for this game, not the chicken so why should they be penalized? Coming into this game, I said if my tribe were to win chickens I’d release the chicken but I would I be able to do it with this busted ankle.”
Ok, so now we know why there was a chicken reward, why Manu won it and why Ron didn’t steal it. It had all been planned when someone in casting heard of Wendy’s plan. I think it’s very possible that she was casted because of this idea much like Fairplay was casted because of his “dead Grandma” idea.
Rick’s interview: “It was probably the most surprising part of my game so far when Wendy asked me to be an accomplice in a jailbreak. She wants to set the chickens free. She is literally willing to sacrifice her entire game of Survivor to save these chickens. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like Wendy. She’s a lovable, emotional nut.”
If only we could say the same but we’ve had Kimmi, Shambo and Tai already so this is a lot like an old joke.
Kama day 7
Victoria gave us an interview: “We lost the reward challenge today which kind of sucks but we haven’t lost an immunity challenge yet. We haven’t had to go to tribal yet and that’s way more important. I have found myself in a group of six: Me, Julie, Julia, Gavin, Ron and Eric which makes a lot of sense because there is a general feeling in the tribe that returning players have played before; they’ve had their shot. This is our first chance so we should get to play before they do. Joe and Aubry are a target and Aurora seems to be the only one who is 1000% with the returning players so, if we were to lose the next immunity and had to go to tribal I think that one of them has got to go.”
That interview is more substantial than your regular narration but it still doesn’t give us much insight into Victoria’s personality. If we remember the lessons of some previous seasons, going to TC early isn’t always bad. For example, after the merger, Galu was no match for the often tested Foa Foa group. Right now the group of 6 seems intent on voting out the returning players but how will they cope with the pressures of a swap and a Tribal Council? Victoria will soon find out. Despite these questions, it’s certainly a good sign that Victoria’s character continues to be pushed to the fore front whenever we’re visiting Kama. It seems she has more importance than the other five.
Victoria went out to the ocean to talk to Ron about Joe and Aubry only to realize that Joe was right behind her. She mostly covered up what was being discussed.
Victoria’s reaction: “Oh! my god! Joe was over there and I had no idea.”
Joe’s interview: “I feel like I just can’t get a read on Victoria and Ron because you ask them what they are thinking and they give you nothing. So, I have a funny feeling that I might be on the chopping block.”
Really Joe, you couldn’t read that body language? I mean it’s quite obvious that if someone gives you nothing it’s because they’re not with you. It’s like when you’re invited to a game of poker and no one tells you who the pigeon is then you should realize that you are the pigeon.
Aubry’s interview: I think Joe is looking for redemption just like I am and we are scared coming into this new group of players. I think that returnees are an easy target so I feel like I do need the idol.”
She dashed off into the woods and soon, (Well not so soon because this scene was spliced together from some footage of another day: At first, Aubry is wearing her blue blouse with black shorts while her hair is tied in a bun and her buff tied all the way around her head then, just a moment later, she’s in a red bra and a yellowish green skirt, her hair is loose and the buff is on tied over the top of her head!)
Aubry’s interview continued: “It’s something I’ve dreamed about my entire Survivor experience. I’ve done nearly everything in Survivor except win and get a hidden immunity idol. I know how hard it is to win and I’m here to win but first I need to check one more thing off my Survivor check list. I want every experience in Survivor and that’s one I haven’t had. So, I keep looking... I find the idol and I break down in tears. I never thought I’d find one. I’ve been through so much in Survivor and this is something I haven’t gotten yet. I’m so proud of myself. It’s worth the struggle and I love this game so much that I’m going to make it work for me.”
That was a nice scene for Aubry but a returning player will always get a good treatment under such circumstances so it doesn’t tell us if Aubry will use her idol successfully.
Manu Day 7
War Dog’s interview: “Wendy is losing her mind... Back home, she eats chicken and pork and meat and all that. She’s like; I know I’m hypocritical and I said you’re absolutely right; you are hypocritical. Even when she is on the losing side of an argument she’s just so stubborn to the point she says she is going to be a vegetarian. Well tell you what Wendy, mark my words, if you are a vegetarian, I will be your friend outside the game but the minute I find out you have one piece of meat in your belly I won’t talk to you again. She lost her rocker.”
War Dog does look menacing but would Wendy really care about your friendship outside the game?!
Kelley’s interview: “If this tribe loses again I would want to target Wendy because Wendy does not want to kill the chickens, she had to be carried in to camp because her ankle is so bad and on top of that, I saw one vote at Tribal for me and that was from Wendy. If you are coming after me then I have to get you before you get me. I mean; it’s kill or be killed. If you come after me, like: Watch out!”
With the scene ending on a last look at a teary-eyed Wendy, who is fast becoming a fan favorite, the editors were asking a question: How can poor little Wendy, all alone and with no allies, overcome such an attack? Well that should have been our first hint that she was going to survive the evening. Her elimination was becoming much too obvious so it wasn’t going to happen. Now, the bigger question becomes: Will she outlast her tormentors? The upcoming swap makes it impossible to guess what will happen next but, editing-wise, a strong connection has been established between Wendy and the audience so maybe she does have a leg up (!) on her competition.
Day 8: The Immunity Challenge
If the end of the last scene wasn’t enough, the challenge scene opened up with a close-up of Wendy’s bad ankle. I wonder if the editors are still sticking it to Jeff who back in Palau quit because of a bad ankle. The following season, Amy also hurt her ankle and the way the cameras kept focusing on it and Amy’s valiant efforts to stay in the game looked a lot like taking shots at Jeff, telling him; see, if only you had manned up like Amy is doing you wouldn’t have quit.
Even though she walked up to Jeff to give him back the idol, Julie didn’t let go and the other tribe noticed.
Julie is better at holding immunity idols than grabbing cameramen’s attention.
During the swimming section of the challenge, Jeff took notice of Wendy’s great form. In fact, Manu reached the puzzle first but there, David, Lauren and Kelley failed miserably. For Kama Julia, Aubry and Ron figured out the puzzle and won a third immunity challenge in a row.
David was chosen to deliver the kiss-of-death post-loss interview: “Losing the immunity challenge was incredibly devastating but I’ve always wanted to target Wentworth and I think people are going to be really focused on Wendy so I have a real opportunity to take out Wentworth. I trust my Survivor instincts, it’s my Survivor spidey-sense and it’s telling me right now: Target Wentworth.”
Fortunately for David, this time the person chosen to give the post-loss interview wasn’t the one on the verge of being blindsided but his idea certainly died quickly.
Wendy’s interview right after returning to camp: “Going into today’s immunity challenge, I was injured and I killed it. I feel like I did the best I could have done. I’m bummed because I know all eyes are on me at the moment and I feel like tonight, I’m going home. If it’s me tonight, they are not eating that chicken... I took their flint!! Being the smarty I am, I thought they can’t cook the chicken without fire and they can’t make a fire without flint.”
David was still exhibiting his one-track mind: “The flint; it’s disappeared and there’s this theory floating around that maybe Wendy took it because she’s really been against us killing a chicken. Everyone is losing their mind about the flint and so they are probably going to want to vote out Wendy because of this chicken debate but I want to take out Wentworth.”
Confronted by David and Rick, Wendy didn’t flinch; she told them that Chris had it last.
David went on with his plan: “Wendy is absolutely the best smoke-screen I’ve ever worked with. She has like delivered on a silver platter this like: vote me out. I don’t want to vote out Wendy, I think Wendy is someone I can use. She’s loyal to me, she’ll vote with me I think every time. What we really want is to send Kelley home. Kelley Wentworth needs to go home and now it’s a matter of pulling over Chris.”
Isn’t David starting to sound a lot like Chris Noble when he was talking about Dominick? I really didn’t like David in his first season because I felt he was acting but now he’s out of things to say and so h is stuck on one note.
David went to Chris with the idea of eliminating Chris. He added a warning: Do not say anything to Lauren or War Dog. Of course, Chris didn’t heed that advice.
Chris in confessional: “Wentworth; she’s too good to keep around. The problem is that I’m in pretty close with War Dog and David wants it to be just us four but back home in my real life, I’m someone who is open with everybody so my biggest fear is that I burn bridges with some of the relationships I’ve built out here.”
After talking to Chris, War Dog had a confessional: “Wendy should be out of here tonight. Wendy’s got a hurt ankle. Wendy doesn’t want anything to do with having the chickens or anybody having a chicken but Chris has approached me for the second time about keeping options open and taking out Wentworth. The problem with that is I trust Wentworth way more than I trust Chris. So I decided that, maybe it’s not Wendy or Wentworth, maybe it’s Chris.”
War Dog is quickly becoming this season’s main strategist. He’s decided the last two votes.
Kelley’s confessional: “So Chris is coming after me now, saying my name and trying to potentially put this plan together to get me out. That’s not going to work for me. If you are coming for me then you have to go. No more Wendy; vote Chris.”
Kelley is using the right strategy but she hasn’t figured out yet that David was the one behind this whole plan. This is the difference between this battle and the Chris Noble versus Dominick fight: One combatant is missing information about his rival. That could be Kelley’s downfall.
Rick in confessional: “Oh! crap! War Dog puts Chris’ name out because Chris is going after Kelley which I’m like (censored) because he doesn’t know I’m going after Kelley. It sucks because now it’s all coming to a head. I’m getting pushed into a corner where I’m going to have to betray someone. I’m a villain now! I’ve been turned into a villain.”
I’d say it’s great in this game to be viewed by the audience as a likeable villain and there’s no doubt that this is what Rick would be if he continues in this “villainous” streak.
David’s interview: “Oh! my God! Now it looks like Wendy isn’t even an option to vote for anymore which was a simple vote. Now, it’s become a vote between Wentworth and Chris. So now, Rick and I find ourselves in the middle. Whatever name Rick and I land on that is should be going home tonight. On one hand it’s good to vote for Wentworth because she’s the person I least trust in this game but, the funny thing is, if I vote Chris out no one in the game would know that I’m the one coming after Wentworth. No matter what, tonight’s Tribal Council is going to be huge: Secrets are going to get exposed, betrayals are going to get exposed and I don’t think anyone is going to look at those betrayals kindly or quietly.”
If anyone thought that this season was going to feature the returning players then they should realize that the titles of all three episodes so far have come from one of the returning players. After we had Joe’s quote for the premiere and Kelley’s in the second, now we have David’s line “Betrayals are going to get exposed”. Production is doing everything to connect these past stars to the audience to the point of seriously neglecting many of the new players which is a shame. There was another problem with airing David’s remark: It told us he and Rick would be voting against Chris. Like David said; no one was going to take this betrayal kindly so had they voted against Kelley they would have had to live with the furious War Dog and Lauren, completely alienating both. Voting against Chris really only leaves Wendy in camp asking questions and she’s certainly not as dangerous!
Tribal Council
Jeff asked Devens (Rick to all of us) to describe this tribe. He called it “Losers”.
War Dog agreed; they were a disaster.
Rick and Kelley both talked that loyalty was now becoming the main criteria for the vote.
David pushed the idea further saying that someone who is a liability in challenge isn’t a target anymore. It was about eliminating the biggest social threat.
As Jeff noted, Kelley really took note of that comment. She said she had to process what David said. He tried to be reassuring but the cat was out of the bag.
Rick pointed out that this could an advantage for them over Kama who hasn’t tasted the strategy of Tribal Council.
It was time to vote.
After Five votes, we had three on Chris and two on Kelley with two votes left and then Jeff killed any remaining suspense by saying: “The third person voted out of Survivor” before we even saw him turning the parchment.
Why the f*ck does he do that? If the votes are tied 3-3 and there’s only one vote left then fine, you’re actually building the suspense by delaying the turn of the parchment but here we KNEW that there would be 2 sure votes on Kelley from Wendy and Chris and 3 on Chris coming from Kelley, War Dog and Lauren. It was the other two that were mysterious but by saying “Third Person voted out” it had to be Chris because a Kelley vote would have given us a 3-3 tie with one vote remaining. I’ve said numerous times that Jeff is dumb but this stupid habit it the worst.
Chris chose to go to IoE with revenge on his mind.
The StoryFigure this out: The tribe lost 3 ICs in a row, their weakest player is hobbled by a bad ankle yet she isn't even in danger. Instead it's 2 of the strongest players in that tribe; Kelley and Chris. Dumb? Actually not really because Survivor has become so formulaic they were probably expecting a tribal swap next. They should make them suffer for 2 or 3 more cycles before swapping.
The Characters The Figurants – These players have no relevance to the story:
Julia: The only things we know for sure about Julia are that she is in with Victoria’s group and that she found it funny that Keith was voted out.
Aurora: Her small role as the returning players’ sidekick could easily lead to her being collateral damage when the votes turn against those old stars.
Julie: We still haven’t learned much about Julie and even less about her intentions in the game.
One-dimensional characters - These players have a role to play in our story but they aren’t well developed:
Eric: His solid first episode still gives him an advantage over the first three and we have to consider that Kama’s winning streak combined with the time spent (wasted) on the Island of Extinction is taking airtime away from Eric. Maybe the swap will bring him to the fore front.
Gavin: The exact same thing can be said about Gavin but he is shown more often than Rick so maybe his importance will grow more.
Joe: He is the main reason Kama hasn’t loss but that’s about all we can say about Joe. The fact that we heard him say he couldn’t read Victoria and Ron when they were evidently plottiong against him doesn’t paint a good picture. The swap to 3 small tribes is ideal for Joe so maybe he’ll start to amaze us once again.
Ron: When players say they have each other’s back, the expression is used figuratively. However, it also has literal significance. When two people are talking out in the open, it’s primordial to be the look-out for your interlocutor. If Ron hadn’t been looking at his feet he could have warned Victoria’s of Joe’s presence. Unfortunately for Ron, the episode didn’t give us anything else but that pathetic scene.
David: His obsession with Kelley is quickly becoming a satire. He should know that everyone in the game is dangerous so why the obsession on a player that hasn’t even targeted him yet? His main advantage was that Kelley didn’t know he was going after her but then his remark at Tribal Council alerted her.
Lauren: She found an idol and she is tight with Kelley and War Dog but what else can we say about her?
The Main Characters – These players are driving the story
Wendy: She is certainly an interesting character but she is mostly used as comic-relief. She has absolutely no game and while she may last a while now that her ankle injury isn’t too serious, she doesn’t stand a chance to be the season’s Sole Survivor.
Kelley: She gained the trust of War Dog and Lauren and that is what saved her for the first three episodes. Will she be able to do the same in her new tribe? It would be a complete reversal of her first season: She started strongly in Hunahpu, being a strong member of Jeremy’s alliance but the tribal swap quickly ended her game. This is now Kelley’s challenge.
Aubry: There wasn’t much to Aubry’s story until she found the idol. That strong effort could reward her nicely but there’s still a difficult road ahead for her.
Victoria: The numbers game tell us that a player from the original Kama has a better chance of winning the game than a member of the disastrous Manu. If that is the case then Victoria is the only player, outside the returning glories, that has been continually developed in that tribe. As such, she has to be considered one of the favorites for the title right now. Of course, there’s another number that is growing this season and that is the numbers of outcast players. If one returns to the game and makes it to the end, that player will have a unfairly huge advantage with the jury: They will have spent a lot of time with the other Outcasts outside of the game.
Rick: He is quickly becoming the likeable villain and that could serve him well if the game’s strategy ramps up at any time. He knows the game of most people, everyone confiding in him. That should be a huge, fair advantage going forward.
Wardog: There is another villain in this game and that is War Dog. He has been able to manipulate his tribe to get what he wanted. Will he be able to do the same in his new group? It could all depend on where Wendy lands!
Off to the Edge of Extinction - Chris: He certainly has a better shot at returning to the game than Reem or Keith but it will be a long road ahead for him
Email this topic to a friend
Printer-friendly version of this topic
Bookmark this topic (Registered users only)
