LAST EDITED ON 11-03-23 AT 11:55 PM (EST)

Have you ever realized that the «Previously on Survivor» segment isn't a true recap of the previous episode? What it actually is and has always been, is a reminder of what is important to remember going forward.

From this POS, we have to consider:

1 - Kendra, despite being whacky, is an important character this season.

And, «One Thing Leads to Another»:

2 - The Original Reebok alliance of Austin, Drew, Dee and Julie will be deciding the season.

On night 11 at Bellow, we have «Calm Animals», Basically, the 3 backstabbers are telling Kendra «Don't be Scared» and «No one Has to Cry» even if Brando was «Crucified».

Emily is proud of her move: «Some Stand and Some Fall» she said «but for once I stood up for myself.» She adds that she's happy to see how well Kendra took the vote.

Kendra's confessional shows that there are «Two Different Views» She is pissed that Emily flipped and she wants revenge. That vote was a «Wake up» call for her!

Did you notice that has soon as Kendra said she was coming for them, we cut to the intro which features a fierce Fijian warrior jumping up with his spear ready to strike? This could be the editors' way of telling us that Kendra will succeed in her fight against Emily.

Day 12 at Lululoser starts with «Red Skies»
Kaleb is leading the tribe on an idol search. He'd like to find that idol himself, he would «Treasure it». However, if he doesn't find it he'd like to know who winds up with it.

Bruce is the one that comes up with a parchment. It is a beware advantage which means he can't vote unless he finds the idol. The «Hazards In the Home» as they say: The idol is hidden in the middle of camp! Bruce doesn't care about the warning but he is confident: «I will » find it, his expression as much as his words tell us.

Every Luser knows about Bruce's message except for KantHurrah and Bruce wants to keep it that way. As he digs in the shelter, Kellie serves as his lookout. When KantHurrah gets «Closer» to camp, Bruce has to stop. He doesn't have it yet.

Right then, a boat arrives in each camp and the players are told to drop their buffs. Bellow and Luser have to get on the boat. They have a few minutes to gather their stuff so Bruce goes back to digging. When he finds the idol he call it Sweet Caroline.

Bruce, my man, you are not helping this narration at all. Sweet Caroline isn't a song by The Fixx. You could have called it «Precious Stone», you dumba$$.

One Player who is really happy about the news is Jay! She's so happy in fact that she writes a big WELCOME on the sand.
She will be less excited before long!

OK, so now it's time for «Less Cities, More Moving People»
(You didn't think I'd get that song title in did you?!)

When the two boats «Reach the Beach», «Some People» attract attention more than others.

For Dee, it's Drew and Austin that matter. After their «Secret Separation», she's happy to see them return.

On the other hand Kendra is happy to see that Reebok hasn't eaten all their fish yet. She starts screaming like a contestant on the Price is Right and then invents a dance that looks like what a Wide Receiver does after a Touchdown. It wasn't the «Icky Shuffle», the «Waddle» and much less the «Gritty». I guess it would be called the «Elvis» for her gross pelvic thrusts.

More practically, Kendra wants to know if Bellow are still together: «Are we Ourselves» she asks Bruce, Kellie, KantHurrah and Jake. She's happy to hear that, despite what «Anyone Else» says, Bellow is still together.

The same cannot be said about Reebok. All because of a sandwich! Austin threw Jay under the bus for keeping him away from a sandwich.

Bet you Austin gets a Subway or a Jersey Mike commercial out of this!

Despite being 6, Reebok is really only a core 4 as Julie reminds us. Jay is expendable. Drew is happy because, as they get «Deeper and Deeper» in the game, he likes to be the top dog, the leader.

That's when the Dancing Stick Insect made a cameo appearance. And, I swear, it was dancing to the beat of «Sunshine in the Shade». It was in the shade of the shelter after all.

We have rain on Day 13 and Sifu is the only happy camper.

Having been Matsinged, Kaleb and Emily are still together. Unlike Malcolm of Matsing, Kaleb is soon going to be a target. I know some will talk about the quasi-legendary ADS (the Anti-Darwin-Syndrome) but I see it as the natural second portion of the game. In the tribal segment, it's the old and the weak that get voted out in disproportionate numbers. Then, at the merger, the strong unaligned players get their turn. It's the natural cycles of the game.

Feeling free to play both sides, Kaleb does just that but doesn't go unnoticed. Bruce is the first to notice that no one including Kaleb talks to him. He tells Kendra that he feels like a pariah.
Kendra is confused so she asks: What is a pepperaya?
Bruce had to explain what the word Pariah meant.

After being lectured by Bruce, Kaleb feels like he's being victimized by a cop going after him even if he did nothing wrong.

Informed of the situation, Kellie agrees that Bruce's way of not talking to the enemy is archaic. She considers him a liability.

But then, exactly who will you be voting against, Kellie? Not the Liability.

Then it was time for the challenge. The only things important to know here are the set-up and the stakes.

The Set-Up:

- Two teams of 6 will compete against each other.
- The player left out bets on a team.

The Stakes:

- The Winning 6 make the Merger, get a buff and a feast, are immune from the vote but get to vote at TC.

- The Losing tribe will have one of its members voted out.

- The player left out joins faith with their chosen team.

It was another of those formulaic Obstacle course race-get keys-solve puzzle type of challenge that I fast-forward through until the victors are announced.

Making it to the Merger and the «Shuttered Room» also known as the Sanctuary are Drew, Austin, Bruce, Julie, Kendra and Sifu. Since KantHurrah bet on this team she joined them.

Drew got the narration confessional while Sifu got the strategy talks going. At first it was Jay's name that came out. Bruce was on board with that. But then Kaleb's name got tossed around.

Back at camp, the talk centered also around those two. So, when the 7 got to «Reach the Beach» we were entertained to another Survivor Formula which consists of «Hazards in the Home», «One Thing Leads to Another» and «Two Different Views»

Kaleb got the important last confessional before TC

TC

There were lots of talk; Kaleb conceded that he heard his name but believed that Jay was a bigger strategic threat. That tactic didn't get much traction.

They voted, Jiffy tallied the votes and then Kaleb played his «Shot in the Dark».

When JIffy read that Kaleb was SAFE, we had proof that the Fixx was On!

The «Shot in the Dark» is given to the players before the game starts. It isn't picked on the spot in the voting booth as we originally thought. Casting knows these people before the season starts so it wasn't a surprise that a prototypical merger target that also has a very strong Reality TV Star personnality got to have it.

I was often accused of coming up with conspiracy theories about players I don't like but that was always false. For example, I really liked Yul and Ozzy in Cook Islands yet I say they benefited from a lot of production help including convincing Penner to flip.

This season, Austin, Kaleb and Dee are my favorites followed by Kendra and Drew but I still say that all got favorable Tribal swaps (It was presented as a random swap but I believe that a swap is never random) and now Kaleb was given what is close to an immunity idol. The only difference is that he couldn't vote.

So, naturally, all the votes were cast against Kaleb.

I always wondered what «Saved by Zero» meant well now, I see it applies to Kaleb who got saved because none of the votes cast against him counted.

During the second vote, despite her efforts during the frenzied talks, Jay was voted out.