I think that we got the best possible outcome of this Mr. Beast cameo.
The prize money is doubled. We got a highly entertaining Tribal Council. The coin flip did not end in a WOMP WOMP, the flipper just goes home now situation. Mr. Beast did not seem like an overbearing presence in the edit. I think for something that could have turned out poorly, it ended up going in the right direction at every turn and made for some good television.
There are only three more episodes left in Survivor 50 and there are still nine castaways left. Let’s quickly touch down on Stephenie. There frankly isn’t much to say. Stephenie got such an even-keel, low impact, and inconsequential edit it was a bit shocking considering she had one of the first confessionals, and the first, most clear-cut winner’s quote of the season. The rest of her time on Survivor 50 was portrayed as her being dragged this way and that by her alliance, and not really seeming to fully know what was going on at any given time. Not a player in control. Not a player who was flexible come the merge.
Stephenie ends up getting dunked on for a fourth time by Cirie. Insane stuff. When Stephenie hears that Cirie said her name, she completely loses it, scrambling like a mad woman to try and get the vote back on Rick Devens. Taking a closer look at her allies who put things in a tailspin in the first place never seemed to cross her mind. Overall, I think that Stephenie got an edit that was overall still respectful of her legacy considering her messy end on Survivor 50. Was she the target before Devens flipped the coin? It seems like probably not, as far as I can tell at this point. Did her frantic antics make her a viable choice as a back up? Probably?
Here’s where everyone stacks up going into Episode 11:
Contenders
Cirie - Cirie remains on top right now, but it feels like it’s getting to be pretty neck and neck between her and Ozzy. She’s just a joy to watch on screen, and Jeff feels that way too. He talks to her a lot this episode and she has him wheezing with every quip. That “Cirie Mist” is a powerful thing. It’s a great descriptor too. She’s omnipresent and envelopes everyone in her web. She continues to be shown as the most connected player in the game. Everything goes through her. The name that Cirie drops is the person who goes home, yet again. She clocks that she’s lost Stephenie immediately and Stephenie’s torch was snuffed. We get some pretty great personal, emotional content from her during the Letters From Home, and she talks about bringing this one home. I know a lot of folks are feeling like Cirie would get this edit no matter what, but I don’t know if they would show her with this degree of a stranglehold on the game. Obviously she would be the greatest dragon for the winner to slay, but I could see these last few episodes just being her coronation segment. A big question was posed in this episode, though, especially after Christian was inevitably voted out: would they show the winner throwing up? Maybe. We’ll have to see. It could be redeeming that she went back for more afterward. Again, we’ll have to see.
Ozzy - Good episode for Ozzy. The only small negative was him throwing a mini-tantrum after Tribal Council when Devens didn’t play his idol. Other than that, he gets a lot of shine. Really great SPV from Jonathan about his evolution as a player throughout the season. Extremely thematic and a nod that Jonathan feels like Ozzy is playing a win-worthy game. We continue to see him thinking strategically and working well with his allies. Somewhat generic Letters From Home segment, but he gets shown in an emotional light and he get’s a nice winner’s quote. Ozzy’s content remains so far so good in this last stretch of the season, but his presence doesn’t feel overbearing. I still wonder a bit if his overall tone throughout the season would maybe suggest that Ozzy is receiving the growth edit but at this point he is one of the only players remaining for which a win would feel satisfying. His edit is pretty strong, gotta give credit where credit is due.
Aubry - It pains me to do this, but Aubry has broken up the Polycule in my contender rankings. Started from the bottom now we here? There is no doubt that Aubry’s edit has drastically improved over the last couple of episodes and we have been relatively privy to what she’s been up to all season. We are getting a lot more positive content from her. We understand her strategic thought process. Aubry has been given a more developed, personal, and emotional story going into the end game. This is a good time for your edit to be picking up in a positive way. I just don’t really think there are any reasonable excuses for her pre-merge edit. Fabricated pre-merge danger? Perhaps. I just don’t understand why she then wouldn’t be given even a little more agency in the Genevieve boot. What happened to her relationship with Tiffany, who is still in the game? That was dropped like a hot potato. Aubry has played with both Cirie and Ozzy in the past. She has briefly commented on her thoughts about Cirie if memory serves me. I’m not sure why those relationships aren’t being fleshed out, especially if she bests two of the best players to never win on a monumental season. I just have a lot of questions as to why her pretty consistent screen time has been used in the way it has so far, if she is in fact the winner.
Something else I want to touch upon is her confessional about her loss to Michele Fitzgerald in Kaoh Rong. I’ve seen this interpreted positively for the most part. I think that it is excellent for Aubry thematically. However, I have some reservations. The other two players in the cast who had ~Should Have Won Their Season~ content are eliminated. Aubry’s reflection on her game in Kaoh Rong and the positive qualities of Michele’s game is unique and complex compared to what Coach and Charlie had to say about their losses. I haven’t watched every season of Survivor, so I don’t know if the show would want to so openly and explicitly dog not one, not two, but three of their previous winners. Again, Aubry ends up acknowledging the strengths of Michele’s game, so maybe that’s the key piece here. I still just think it’s kind of weird.
Finally, Aubry starts this episode ready to make a big move with her new unexpected ally Jonathan. The two of them fail to pull this off. Point blank. Period. We don’t really see how this comes about, but they both cede to the name that Cirie threw out there this episode: Stephenie. So despite her improved content, that big move better be incoming or I think she’ll be back out of my contender list as quickly as she came into it.
Rizo - Rizo might have been pretty sick during the end game of Survivor 50. If he wins, obviously, the edit wants to hide that as much as possible. However, the last two episodes in combination feel like a bad period of time in the grand scheme of things to be getting a cooldown. Over the past couple of episodes, Rizo, and for me Emily, feel like they have taken on the role of the peanut gallery commentating on what’s going on with the remaining legendary big players and the beats of the game. Whether he was sick or not, I’m not sure if I understand why the editors wouldn’t just drop in a confessional or two about his alliance and their strategy. It also doesn’t seem great that he was the only member of the Polycule not to receive content surrounding their letter from home. On the whole, Rizo’s edit is still strong, but I still find it hard to believe that the winner would duck under the radar so much when the season is coming to its conclusion. Rizo is also one of the harder players, who does have a good edit, to fit into the themes of the season. Nursing old wounds, learning from past mistakes, playing a different game than before. None of that really applies to Rizo. Of course he has played hard and developed a strong alliance, but it feels like the winner of Survivor 50 is going to need a little more story in those other categories to take the crown. Still well in contention but he may be slipping.
Other Notable Edits
Devens - This was an excellent episode for Devens. I didn’t watch Edge of Extinction but it seems like it was just a perfect episode for Rick Devens to do Rick Devens things. What a hero! He increases the prize pot and saves Jeff Probst, Mr. Beast, and the audience from what could have been the biggest buzzkill in Survivor history. I wondered for a minute or two whether this was a similar moment in the edit to Aubry. Tons of positivity and emotional content. However, I feel like his edit is more unbalanced and quiet compared to Aubry’s. For long stretches of this season he has seemed like the second fiddle to Christian. We only know in depth about his relationships with Emily and Joe. One positive, one negative. In the NTOS it looks like he might be moving in the OTT until he’s out direction. I don’t think he can climb back into the contenders list, but I do want to give him his flowers for making Episode 10 of Survivor 50 a true delight.
Big Episode Losers
Jonathan - Seemingly inexplicably votes out someone who the audience understands Jonathan to be working closely with… Jonathan and Joe must feel pretty confident about their relationship with Cirie because from a strategic perspective, going from “wanting to make a big move” with Aubry to voting out an ally in Stephenie is truly something… Also, didn’t a fly touch him this episode? Anywa… Despite Jonathan losing top allies every other round, he has been relatively shielded when his allies have been voted out. Some may feel like that improves his winning odds, but he just feels like such a zero-vote finalist to me. Just feels like a whole underbelly of the game is going to be revealed to him at some point. The edit may be trying to prop him up as a worthy foe for whoever he faces at Final Tribal Council.