That was a rough episode, and a challenging one for me in terms of looking at the edit. For me, way too much of this episode was dedicated to Zac Brown. The reward was cool, but maybe just one song? Or cut down his confessional/montage sequence. I don’t know, it’s just a lot of time that was spent on him rather than the players, so I didn’t love that.
Lots of goose eggs handed out, a lot of fluff content for players that did actually get screen time, but maybe paid off with a really interesting pre-Tribal Council scramble and outcome. This episode has me re-considering where the players really stand.
At this point almost half of the remaining cast have received a zero confessional episode. I don’t think it’s great for any of them. Especially Tiffany who received her second zero confessional episode. Normally I would immediately rule all of these players out. However, after this episode I think I have to remain open to the possibility that the winner could have a zero confessional episode due to the sheer size of the cast. We have also seen Christian, Emily, and Ozzy, specifically, go to every tribal council so far, and Christian in particular has really dominated the edit of Survivor 50. Anyway, I’m basically just in a bit of a “wait and see” period right now. A lot of my rankings haven’t moved, but they are feeling loosely held. On to our next fallen soldier.
Mike White! Bummed that he didn't last longer because he was really fun to have on the season. I thought that the David vs. Goliath history and dynamics were portrayed really well here, and made for a compelling back half of the episode. Mike goes hard on Operation: Save Angelina. So hard that he pushes the wrong emotional button for Christian, and Christian seemingly risks his game to send him packing. So how are the rest of the players stacking up?
Primary Contenders
Christian - Very emotionally and strategically complex episode for Christian. He feels very overexposed and could be heading for a flameout, but he is by far the most fleshed out character on the season. The thing with Christian though is that it’s hard to tell if he is getting all of this content because he’s the winner, because he’s just been to every Tribal Council so far, or because he’s Christian. Gameplay and mood has looked a little unstable in the past couple of episodes in a way in which viewers might become worried for him, but he has never really been in true danger of going home. That might change with the next episode, but for now remains top of the pack.
Colby - Pretty UTR episode for Colby again but he continues to receive positivity. During the reward, he said something that could go either way. A statement about how he could go home after this reward and be happy, but followed it up by saying that he doesn’t intend to go home and that the reward has given him the juice to take on the rest of the game “full tilt.” Could go either way, but at this point I think it’s probably a good thing.
Genevieve - Feud with Aubry is ongoing. It has been feeling over the past couple of episodes that perhaps Aubry pulls one over on Genevieve. However, Genevieve continues to get the more complex and strategic content regarding their relationship and her gameplay where Aubry mostly comes off as emotionally volatile and immature. Logically, I’m really not sure how Genevieve is going to get out of this one unless her tribe just never goes to Tribal Council, which is possible, but she is still getting one of the best overall edits of the season so far.
Got Nothing For Ya
Everyone on the reward… Just kidding… Except maybe?
For now no one truly drops into this category this week.
Other Episode Winners
Dee - Really great episode for Dee. After losing the reward she gets a really excellent winners quote. She might have been crying over the lost Zac Brown Band reward, but I think she came out on the other end of this episode with a lot of upside. Logically, I’m not sure how she could, but Dee has consistently gotten good, solid content and seems to be on the rise.
Episode Losers
Ozzy - This episode portrayed pretty classic Ozzy. He pretty much said it himself: “I’m Ozzy, and I have skills too.” Such great fishing skills that he is not part of the pre-Tribal Council scramble and is left out of the vote. When he does participate, he’s stubborn about what he wants. For the second time, the person Ozzy wants to go home stays. He may have longevity in the game at this point, but his edit isn’t looking great for his winning chances.
Devens, Cirie, Jonathan - Zero confessional episodes for these three, but Devens and Cirie remain in soft contention for me for now. Cirie, in particular, wasn’t invisible despite not getting a confessional. She was pretty heavily featured as one of the judges of the New Cila talent show and cheering on her tribe during the challenge.
Two tribes are going to Tribal Council next week. The time has come for players to start dropping like flies to get to the merge. Let’s hope that all the lost time with the players from this episode is made up for in the next.