Sadly, one of the New Era greats went out on Wednesday night.
Oh the irony… “Just vote for me,” didn’t work so well this time around for Q. He seemed to have been playing a little bit of a different game so far this season. Q was a little more subdued, not necessarily barreling into a leadership role, keeping his big personality a bit more in check. However, when he and Stephenie basically got swapped into a minority on the New Kalo tribe, the Q we know and love (to hate?) came out. Q or Stephenie was going home, but Q wasn’t going to go down without a fight and he went out playing hard.
Here are the player ratings and contender rankings for the episode.
Contenders
Devens - This was a relatively quiet but good episode for Devens. Big boost for him and Christian over Cirie since the post-Tribal Council confessionals went to them and their heist. He doesn’t seem to know who Frank Ocean is, but I think that’s okay. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing for him that Christian declared that he should own finding the Boomerang Idol when they told Cirie about it, solidifying their four moving into the swap. His relationship with Cirie is reiterated when they end up on the same New Cila together, and they find themselves on a tribe leaning heavily New Era. I thought this was an overall positive, consistent cooldown for Devens.
Christian - I think this was still overall a good episode for Christian, but this is the first instance where we are seeing some negativity by way of Emily’s distrust of him, and frankly, what feels like some poor gameplay. He’s still entertaining, he’s still giving plot, and in the end, he’s never in danger of being voted out and seemingly smooths things over with Emily. If Christian is the winner of Survivor 50 and he is simply the main character of this entire season, then this will likely seem like water under the bridge in the grand scheme of things. However, perhaps some sprinkling of seeds for his downfall are being sown.
Colby - Not much going on for Colby in this episode, but he continues to come off well and demonstrate his growth as a person and player compared to his previous seasons. Upon swapping tribes, he quickly links up with Coach and Joe and they all seem to be on the same page. No bad blood with Coach post-Heroes vs. Villains. This tribe didn’t go to tribal, so we didn’t get so much of them but we are sure to know where Colby stands amongst this group.
Genevieve - Interesting episode for Genevieve… Her rivalry with Aubry continues as they are swapped onto the same tribe. However, she debuts a “new social game” in this episode where she honestly looks a bit messy and seems to be overplaying her hand. Perhaps it’s not the best game for her to be playing in this moment. The montage of her having the same conversation with everyone on the beach is the first time I have considered that maybe Aubry comes out victorious from their struggle. Tiffany clocks Genevieve’s behavior and seems intent on trying to save Aubry. Right now, Genevieve appears to be in the majority, so I don’t know if she is in true danger but even though she’s with Colby, but Aubry does have an idol. Is this pre-merge danger or ominous foreshadowing?
Cirie - Cirie swaps back onto the Cila tribe and it’s the same story: “I love Cirie and that’s why we have to get her out; we would be stupid not to get take her out” She continues to be clocked as a threat for her prowess and likability rather than for any negative attributes. To top it all off we get some great confessionals and character moments from her at her new camp. It was interesting to see her locking in with Christian, Devens, and Emily prior to the swap when we had mostly seen she and Ozzy proclaiming their allegiance to each other, and we don’t see any of that in this episode. However, she and Devens did stay together in the swap and it seems like perhaps this group’s proximity to the Boomerang Idol that Aubry received from Christian will become important later.
Other Episode Winners
Chrissy - Chrissy received a powerful reintroduction after the tribe swap. On the Original Kalo tribe she was portrayed as overbearing and annoying, while on the New Kalo she is portrayed as sympathetic, and well, a survivor. She’s never going to beat her zero confessional episode, but it seems like Chrissy’s real story on Survivor 50 started in episode three.
Angelina - She was featured in this episode in a meaningful way and she spoke! Huge win for Angelina at this point, but unfortunately it doesn’t improve her odds of winning this season.
Episode Losers
Rizo - I think Rizo came off looking messy and arrogant in this episode. This season may be “In the Hands of the Fans” but I don’t know if being characterized as a super-fan is really a good thing in terms of story for a winner. It’s just a little… cringe? If Cirie’s whole commentary regarding Rizo wasn’t enough, Charlie characterizes him as a snake, untrustworthy, and someone he doesn’t want near the jury. Rizo may end up cementing his legacy within Survivor history this season, but it feels like his odds of winning go down with every minute of screen time he gets.
Ozzy - Not a great episode for Ozzy. Perhaps that’s why his relationship with Cirie wasn’t highlighted at all this episode. They did not end up on the same swapped tribe, but there was no conferring between the two beforehand like we saw with the other main alliance on Original Cila. On the New Vatu he becomes one of the representatives pushing for and feeling more comfortable with voting out Angelina as the tides turned for Q. The one plus for him though is that at some point, Emily decided to do a 180 on him for no apparent reason.
Emily - This felt like a very classic Emily Flippen of Survivor 45 episode. Giving interesting insight, saying smart things, but ultimately flipping and flopping all over the place. First she distrusts Christian, whom she previously said that she trusted implicitly. She decides maybe she should branch out by working with Q and Stephenie, but then she realizes that they’re using her and goes back to Christian. Emily spent two rounds trying to float Ozzy’s name just to decide she actually likes him and aligning with him is good for her game. It’s giving Emily Flippen which is great, but her inconsistency is not great for her winning chances.
Notable Edits
Aubry - Aubry clawed her way out of Got Nothing For Ya last week, and while I still don’t think she’s the winner of Survivor 50, it certainly feels like she is an important character. Perhaps she is one of the polarizing characters of the season, or at least the pre-merge? After receiving the Boomerang Idol from Christian she has been portrayed more mixed than straight negative, and the people who work with her (Christian, Tiffany) have tended to be portrayed positively, while people who target her (Genevieve) seem to come off a little worse. We’ll see.
Got Nothing For Ya
No one new joining this group this week. Oh… Except for Jeff Probst. That rap was terrible. Jury is still out on whether I hate it more or less than the shambolic “fried chicken and waffles” of Survivor 48.