This episode did a pretty good job in making me think something against the grain might happen but alas…
Mary, the last original Vula, has finally bit the dust. What a ride Mary went on in Survivor 48. From running around on the beach due to her chaotic rivalry with Sai on original Vula, hitting her Shot In The Dark causing a “historic” Tribal Council, spinning around in a paranoia circle with David, and finally, splitting four too many coconuts while telling Joe to his face that she was voting for him; Mary spent the entire season trying to claw her way up from the bottom and she fought hard the entire time. However, sometimes when you’re on the bottom, you’re just on the bottom no matter how hard you play. Especially among this group of castaways… Try to attack the game and fail, she did.
As another one of my favorites on the cast is eliminated, how am I feeling about the remaining players after another ultimately boring episode?
Contenders
Kyle - If Kyle wins this season, I think this is his winner’s episode. We got nuanced strategic content, awareness of the state of the game, emotional and in-game stakes, and the resurgence of his relationship with Kamilla. I think it was good that he reaffirmed his commitment to his true day one over the original Lagi members and Kamilla reciprocated. I think it was good that Kyle and Kamilla pledged for at least one of the two of them to make it to the end. I think it was good that Kamilla received his admission regarding his profession positively to the tune of soaring, heroic music. Obviously it’s not great that this episode seemed to be building toward a Joe vote only to result in a unanimous vote for Mary. This has happened before with the Shauhin vs. Cedrek vote at the merge. I think the saving grace for Kyle in this respect is that he recognizes that this round or next round are the last opportunities to eliminate Joe, this round would be the cleanest, but that timing is important in taking a shot at Joe. It’s pretty clear that the winner of this season is going to have flaws, humble traits, if you will, so for now these flaws are pending on whether it’s fine or if it’s a strike. Some core themes of the season are “attacking the game,” “erratic vs. thoughtful,” and “honor and integrity.” Kyle may be betraying the “honor and integrity” alliance by committing to Kamilla, but he’s honoring his day one relationship. He may not be “attacking the game” right now, but he has in the past, and with his reaffirmed commitment to Kamilla, it seems like they’re gearing up to take another swing. It might not be pretty, but maybe, just maybe he’ll prevail over Joe who has only been making safe moves.
Eva - I felt like this was a pretty MOR episode for Eva. She definitely feels like Joe’s sidekick at this point but she’s also being shielded from some of the more blatant negativity that Joe has been getting over the past couple of episodes. There seems to be a growing distaste for Joe while, for what it’s worth, it does also seem like other players do like her. So it’s possible that if she does find herself at the end, she’s a “lesser of two evils” kind of candidate between the power duo. Sure she’s blunt, but I think people in a way appreciate that because they can just take it for what it is. As she and Joe both said, she’s just honest. Eva is more so here by virtue of other people falling in the ranks and her previous content. Not a ton to add for her this week.
Some Hope (Joe)
I didn’t really think this was a great episode for Joe. Spelled “betrayal” wrong. Got thrown off his rocker when Mary says she’ll vote for him. He got the paranoid label which is a characterization that has only been so far attributed to players like David and Sai thus far. Probably not the comparisons you want. Shauhin essentially called him a brat for acting so weird about his name being written down. David literally had a silent stand off with Joe after Mary was voted out. I don’t know. Not great. However, Joe can’t go a single episode without receiving plenty of positivity as well. More good dad content. Sort of gracious when he loses to Kamilla in the challenge. Joe also obviously has previously discussed content that counts against him, in my opinion. His saving grace is that no one seems to want to vote him out. While there may be a bitter jury, it’s not like Joe has absolutely no chance in that scenario. He is obviously controlling the game and everyone recognizes his threat to win the game. If everyone else continues to not make a move against him, I think he still has some hope of winning.
Unlikely (Shauhin)
I was ready to become a Shauhin truther when he seemingly survived the vote between him and Cedrek. It seemed like the turning point for ascension that Shauhin needed, however, ever since then it feels like it’s been a slow, downward spiral for him. We continue to get strategic content from Shauhin but that strategic content continues to be hubristic and off base. He claims that he’s playing a better game than Joe and is the only one with relationships with everyone on the beach. We have more evidence for the latter, but we don’t have evidence for the former. Joe clearly has a stranglehold on the game. Everyone in his alliance, including Shauhin, goes to Daddy Joe before doing anything and he gets the final word. Everyone else on the beach is saying that Joe is the biggest threat to win the game. Not Shauhin. We also get moments of self-pity and petulance from Shauhin this episode (even if he’s right to feel that way). It just doesn’t really feel like he’s truly set up to win. What I think Shauhin really is, is an audience proxy for the (internet) super fans out there. We get a lot of content from him about what it means to be in the game as a fan of the game. He’s playing the game that I think many of us imagine we’d play. Cool, funny, well-spoken, strategic, in pole position, pulling strings from the shadows, masterfully moving the needle little bit little until it pushes you to the win. Or at least that’s the game he thinks he’s playing. That’s the game a lot of people on the internet think he’s playing. To his credit he gets some things right, but I’ll keep saying it: Shauhin does well with information that he has, but the information he does not have will be his downfall. Shauhin says it best in this episode in reference to his pre-game self: “this game is so much harder than that person would have possibly thought, study it all you want but I had no clue what it actually means to be out here.” However, I think he’s talking to us fans. His story will likely end in disappointment about the things he missed over the course of his journey and truly realize that playing the game for real is so different than actually being out in Fiji.
Got Nothing For Ya (Mitch, Kamilla)
It feels wrong to put Kamilla in this category because I think she had a pretty good episode. She was funny, she was strategic, she was a challenge competitor, she was compelling, she was emotional. I just unfortunately think that her long spells of inactivity throughout the season may be too much to surmount even if she and Kyle end up pulling off a move in the next two episodes. Mitch… I don’t really think there’s anything to say.
The post-merge of this season has felt pretty frustrating from an entertainment standpoint. I personally feel like Vula being a disaster tribe was horrible for this season. I think the cast of this season had potential but due to the boot order and many players getting to stick with their day ones in a small group uninterrupted by tribal council for so long, it led to bonds that social or strategic gameplay does not seem to be able to break.
I’m not sure if anything can top the chicken and waffles song from the previous episode for “Worst Survivor Moment of the New Era” but this episode ended up being such a let down for as much buildup there was for a move against Joe. I think that Survivor would benefit from two things. Well more than that but these are the two that have been on my mind as of late.
No more Survivor as a “family show.” It leads to too much telling rather than showing. Kyle says he’s talked about deep things with Joe and Eva. We’ve only seen that with Joe. Shauhin says he has relationships with everyone. I don’t full see that. I just have to try and take it at face value. It also wastes airtime with over-explaining of game mechanics, challenges, journeys, etc. rather than showing us what’s really going on or the true dynamics between players. It makes Survivor more about The Game Survivor rather than the players playing Survivor. It also waters down personal stories like Kyle’s because they probably don’t want to feel responsible for telling young viewers that ACAB. This wasn’t a “family show” when all of these fans that are now castaways were watching. It doesn’t need to be family friendly for young people to become interested in the show and want to play.
Not every episode needs to be a “blindside,” including a blindside of the audience. I’d much rather just see the true dynamics of what’s going on on the island, so when a true blindside occurs it can feel earned. The “will they, won’t they” every round gets a little old and annoying when the audience sees that a vote was unanimous at the end of the episode. It intentionally obscures what’s going on in a way that feels like a letdown by episode’s end rather than exciting. There have been steamrolls in seasons past. I think the difference is that in those seasons the show took more care in building up more than just a couple of characters, so there was more interest in what other players were doing even if their tribe was being decimated or not going to Tribal Council. The audience is capable of following along in a season without the need to be “blindsided” at every turn.
So yeah, not exactly high on this season’s post-merge but the core theme Jeff talked about at the beginning of the season was “attacking the game.” That means somethings gotta happen eventually… Right?