This was a great episode! It kind of had a bit of everything that makes this show fun. Character moments. Strategy. Natural conflict. Silliness. Moments of triumph, failure, delusion. It was just good. I laughed out lout multiple times, which I don’t know if I’ve done much of during Survivor 48 and Survivor 49.
I’m not going to go in depth with every player right now. Maybe I will for the merge episode(s). For now, I’m going to focus on my top five contenders, other characters I found notable, and any players that either drop into or crawl their way out of the “Got Nothing For Ya” tier.
Before that though, let’s touch down on Savannah really quickly. Kind of a quiet episode for her despite it being her exit. Something she mentions though is that on Survivor 49 she played a loyal game, but was having trouble doing so on Survivor 50. Savannah didn’t trust anyone so she became more socially isolated and she didn’t have a lot of room to move. It feels like Savannah was in a tough spot where she wasn’t able to play the type of game that she excelled at, she couldn’t adapt adequately, and got voted out. Only one winner left!
So how did the remaining contestants stack up?
Player Ratings
Top Contenders
Overall Rankings
Contenders
Christian - The ultimate question right now is whether a winner can sh*t themselves and still win. The answer is TBD but I think if a winner is going to sh*t their pants, they had better do it like Christian; with a bit of humor. It was certainly memorable. Christian had multiple great moments this episode. Rocking Joe in the hammock. Falling on his way out of Tribal Council to cause a distraction for Devens to plant the fake idol. It was just so good. We continued to get a lot from him strategically, especially in breaking down the rest of Cila’s dynamics with Joe, and his decision making regarding the Boomerang Idol. He remains the frontrunner.
Devens - Mixed episode for Devens, but it’s not enough for me to adjust his ranking for now. There’s a lot of movement below the top contenders, but for the most part the players at the top maintained their positions, including Devens. He continues to be heavily featured getting character moments like coming up with a creative fake idol play, and strategic content, both good and bad. Devens gets into an argument with Joe. His gameplay is pretty sloppy through this sequence, but he is able to acknowledge that he made a mistake. Devens may get to a point where he’s flying too close to the sun and gets burnt, but for now he keeps his spot.
Genevieve - Does Genevieve get points for being right about Aubry having a Boomerang Idol but on the wrong day? I mean, she basically predicted the future so maybe she deserves extra points! I’m not really sure, but she’s obviously smart. They’re a little heavier on her personal and emotional content this episode rather than strategic, but I still think that she is in a great position. Certainly one of the most well-rounded female edits on the season so far.
Ozzy - Ozzy seemingly switches places with Cirie this episode, landing in the hot seat and now it’s up to Cirie to save him. He’s a little more MOR this episode, but he had a huge premiere, so a bit of a cooldown while still being an important character makes a lot of sense. We see him struggling with his social game, but expressing appreciation for the skills of his #1 ally that plays such a different game than he does. Ozzy was very “my way or the highway,” Oscar is looking for a complementary ally. This new layer to his game pays off because Cirie successfully keeps the target off of him. His rivalry with Coach continues to be highlighted, so hopefully that means that we will see both of them in this game long enough for them to live on the same beach.
Colby - Not too much Colby this episode, but his one confessional does show an evolution in how he’s playing the game. Obviously he still cares about loyalty and work ethic, that is quite evident based on his other dealings around camp. However, endorsing the decision to go through Aubry’s bag with the rest of his alliance seems to be a layer of flexibility that he’s adding to his game. Good thematically for Colby.
Other Episode Big Winners
Cirie - “If you give her an inch, she’ll take a mile” - Jenna Lewis-Dougherty, Survivor 50 Episode 1. After a mixed premiere, Cirie gets a pretty great episode 2. I feel like they did a really great job of actually showing how she works her magic. I found it interesting that Cirie and Ozzy pretty much flipped roles within their duo. This episode, Cirie was in the driver’s seat pulling the strings to ensure Ozzy’s safety. She ultimately gets her way in the vote. Ozzy praises Cirie’s social and strategic prowess, gives her his Extra Vote, and we have now heard both of them call each other their #1. Emily and Savannah clock Cirie toward the end of the episode, but Cirie is the one that gets her way. Additionally, she is not even a target this round, which further supports that she had manufactured pre-merge danger during the premiere. Another player goes out of Survivor 50 with her name in their mouth. Overall great episode for Cirie. If they flesh out her story on this season specifically a bit more, she might actually be cooking.
Jonathan - Another quietly solid episode for Jonathan. He continues to explain his game of appearing pretty similar on the outside, while thinking about being more strategic behind the scenes. Jonathan might be showing off just the right amount of adaptability. Unfortunately, the Kalo Tribe has had absolutely nothing to do thus far so we don’t really know if this is backed up by anything in particular yet. Coach is his #1, which may not end well for him, especially since I don’t think Coach has said anything of the like about Jonathan. Despite that though, Jonathan is in better shape in terms of win equity than most of his other tribe mates.
Q - Pretty good episode for Q. He continues to be thinking up fanciful ideas and plans, but in the absence of Kyle, he did step up to make sure that the majority alliance on the Vatu Tribe remained intact by pulling in Rizo. I’m hoping that he continues on this trajectory of being a more dynamic character throughout the season rather than just a funny talking head.
Aubry - Clawing her way out of Got Nothing For Ya, it’s Aubry! I still don’t think she has much hope, and part of her rise was due to a lot of people tumbling down the ladder. However, she was given a bit of depth and story this episode, and while she still got negativity, she got some positivity and hopefulness via the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol courtesy of Christian, one of the obvious protagonists of the season. We’ll see if her arc ends soon or has legs.
Episode Losers
Coach - Lots of negativity for Coach this episode. This wasn’t a great episode for honor and integrity in general. He got a bit of positivity from Jonathan, but it was quickly followed up by him needing to get plucked out of the water by production due to leg cramps and other players like Dee and Mike clowning on him. Thematically, it feels like Coach is being himself. He’s playing his usual game, which can obviously be good but it’s shown in a way where he comes off stubborn and inflexible. His own tribe was laughing at him when he blew up at Ozzy before the challenge, and both Cila and Vatu seemed annoyed with him. I think we’re in for the same old Coach on Survivor 50, which is great for entertainment but not for his chances of winning.
Joe - Honor and integrity took a major tumble this episode and a lot of it had to do with Joe. He came out of his argument with Devens in bad shape. It seemed like no one on Cila took Joe’s side even though Devens was objectively weird and nonsensical toward Joe. He has done well to discuss his baggage and his attempts to be flexible, but at the end of the day, Joe is who he is and he seems to be having trouble going with the flow and is coming off extremely paranoid. He’s lucky that there’s a swap coming up is all I can say.
Notable Edits
Rizo - Super interesting episode for Rizo. Ultimately his position in my rankings is unchanged, but I felt like there was a lot of meat on the bone here. This episode may be setting Rizo up to be one of the villains or a “dragon” of the season. The music playing under his confessional after being officially pulled into the majority alliance on Vatu was highly menacing. It was interesting that he noticed that people had seemed to come around on him after a couple of days, which was true at the time, but throughout the episode he actually rubs his tribe the wrong way again. A tribe swap seems to be coming down the pipe just in time for Rizo to get integrated with a different group of people, so him suggesting he might be in it for the long haul may have some merit.
Got Nothing For Ya
Joining Angelina and Charlie in this category are Stephenie, Chrissy, Tiffany, and Kamilla. A lot of goose eggs handed out this episode. One went to all four of these players. I’m not ruling any of them out as people who could still be sticking around, but none of them are winning. Maybe Stephenie makes it to Final Four Fire Making and loses. I can’t remember any fire content associated with her, but I’m just not sure why else she would get so much shine in the premiere. Tiffany and Kamilla barely seem like they’re on the show after two episodes, which just isn’t great. If they had gotten more of a “re-introduction” similar to Q, they would still be in the running but that didn’t happen. Between Chrissy’s continued negativity and lack of confessional this episode, it seems like she’s just going to be a villain of some sort whether that be a mini boss pre-merge or someone bigger to slay later down the line.
Next episode is going to be interesting. It looks like there’s a tribe swap coming up and seeing which tribes stay complex is going to be revealing about who the true