Survivor 48 Discussion Thread

[Wendy Pleakley]

That was a good episode, but holy cow the green tribe is a mess. Sai is unhinged.

Starting at the beginning, I loved seeing the camp life. The body part conversation was something, for sure.

The idol hunt on the purple tribe was actually fun, because it came with strategy and social gameplay. Thomas saying to just lose the paper was crazy, and could make him a target. He's definitely playing too hard, and it'll come back to get him. I like how Shauhin thought through his options, but ultimately decided not to straight up sabotage Star's chances.

Moving over to orange, Kamilla was definitely the partner on the group project who did all the work, and Kyle is the one who did nothing and got an A. But I like Kyle.

Eventually, the cryptogram got boring. That's another downfall of the three tribe format. We see essentially the same thing three times with idols, but production probably likes it because it puts an extra idol in the game.

The challenge wasn't very exciting, but it showed how unbalanced the three tribes are once again. I hate the disaster tribe narrative. Jeff admitted this week that he doesn't really think much about tribe strength, but you know what Jeff??? Maybe you should!!!!

Taking out Kevin was definitely a choice. Cedrek choosing Sai over Kevin was definitely a choice. Kevin seemed loyal to Cedrek and Justin. Sai seems loyal to herself and doesn't care about anybody else. But time will tell.

In fairness, I didn't think that challenge came down to any particular strength. They just weren't learning how to pass that one section.

As much as I hate the disaster tribe outcome happening far too often, they lost the challenge rather than were beaten in it.

I said it last week and I'll say it again. This is airing in tandem with Australian Survivor who are doing two tribes and a traditional tribe swap. It has been great. Small tribes are not as interesting as the producers seem to think.

 

[CynBeth]

Again am not happy they did not vote Sai out.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Well, I didn't get around to this episode until today.

This is exactly why the show wants three tribes and likes the disaster tribe that so often results. This is why they are happy to force people to lose their vote, on a roll of the dice no less.

They want every vote, particularly every pre-merge vote to be this big surprising blindside scenario. I found it both interesting and frustrating, and even a bit confusing, but you just know that Jeff is over the moon.

 

[PUSH]

I watched when it aired, but wasn't able to post after the episode. I'm just now realizing I never posted here.

I thought for a second that Cedrek ended up unintentionally voting himself out. I thought they would have to draw rocks, but he'd be the only one vulnerable. I kind of wish that had happened... it would have been great TV.

Everyone played so poorly. Cedrek voted for Sai twice, then flipped to Justin. Is Sai going to trust him anymore? Then, Justin seemingly didn't attempt to save himself, although he said in his exit interviews that he did. He said Jeff said that was the longest tribal council they've ever had. I wonder if it was so long because they had to make sure they were proceeding with everything correctly, according to the rules.

I'm glad Mary is still there, and Justin seemed pretty boring to be honest. Sai reminds me of Rome. Nobody really likes her, but she is "good TV". Although I don't think she's very entertaining. But I will admit, without her, this green tribe would be an absolute dud. I think Stephanie and Kevin would have provided entertaining, but since they were both voted out, Cedrek and Justin weren't going to carry it. Mary is decent.

I'm glad we're getting a tribe swap next week, but I also wish we had gotten a chance to see purple and orange go to at least one tribal council. Another downfall of the three tribes/disaster tribe narrative.

I also hate seeing players backed into a hole, like Mary, where their only shot is playing their shot in the dark. Imagine if that hadn't hit. This would have been an extremely boring episode.

 

[CynBeth]

Knew Ced was going to keep her but still not happy about the outcome.

 

[PUSH]

This felt like more of an old-school Survivor episode, and unsurprisingly, it's been my favorite of the season so far.

The tribe swap (which for some reason they're branding as the tribe switch now, according to tonight's episode, the Survivor 50 vote, and tonight's On Fire episode???) is a classic and sorely missed part of the show. It's so much fun to see how the tribes get divided and see new interactions. Yes, it creates swap-screwed players, so it creates so much more. Tonight was a perfect mix-up. Nothing too one-sided, and it created some great new relationships.

Vula was so much fun to watch tonight, but I didn't want any of them to go. I really like all five players. Kyle is probably my favorite of the season so far (and he's my winner pick), so I was glad to see his idol work. It was fun to see an idol work in a straight-forward way. There were no shenanigans in play, just good deception by Kyle and Kamilla. It was a social play, not dumb-luck with the idol. I really like this duo.

I was sad to see Thomas go, though. He was looking like he'd be one of the the villains of the season, and we've been missing villains. But I was also glad they didn't go for Shauhin, as I really like him, too. Like I said... I didn't want any of them to go, but it was a really good episode to watch.

Overall, I really like this cast. I'm a little over Sai and Cedrek, and even Mary to an extent, but I think that's just because we've gotten way too much of them in the first three episodes. It's similar to Bhanu, but not to the extreme. Overexposure to anything will taint it at least a little bit. I'm hoping with new tribe dynamics, it'll help a bit.

I'm also excited to see how the other two tribes work out. David seems to be integrating to the women well, and it'll be interesting to see how Eva is able to adapt. Will David become the new "Joe" for her? It's also interesting to see how differently David and Charity view their relationship. Charity looks like someone who is setting herself up for a massive blindside, where everybody sees it coming from a mile away, expect her. But I also really like Charity. This season is going to be so hard... every week I'm likely to lose someone I like.

 

[dmw]

Loved the play by Kamilla and Kyle! And, it appears that Kamilla still has her extra vote advantage, unless I missed something.

The question/vote about tribe switch is unnecessary if they keep the three team approach. The switch has to happen because the teams will get so small.
Now, if they go back to two tribes... then to switch or not is a big deal. In a two tribe format, I am not a fan of tribe switch because alliances instantly become based on prior team assignment, not necessarily based on alliances and game play in the original teams. That is something I dislike about the merge, also. Old alliances are still there, but there is also a new team alliance in play. There is no way to prevent that, but I just don't care for that because it often negates previous alliances and strategies.

And, I think the green team is cursed. Will they ever win a challenge???

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

The idol and social play saved this episode in a way because the small tribes resulted in constrained gameplay generally.

With a 3-2 split it's inevitable there will be a straight starting tribal split. There's no room to take a risk and vote out someone from your starting tribe you'd secretly been gunning for.

Apparently the extra vote was used but not shown. I did wonder why the steal-a-vote wasn't used either given how close it was. Guess the acting really snowed them.

 

[CynBeth]

I am glad Thomas is gone.

 

[JPPT1974]

No matter how many times they come close, the green team as I call them, can't catch a break.

 

[rd805]

Kyle & Kamilla were incredible this past episode; really curious about the promos with Jeff crying / someone overcoming or working through something....they are hyping it up lol

 

[PUSH]

Kyle & Kamilla were incredible this past episode; really curious about the promos with Jeff crying / someone overcoming or working through something....they are hyping it up lol

I'm wondering if Eva is going to go through something, and someone (Joe?) is there to help? I feel like we have had some content leading toward that.

 

[PUSH]

I just got back from Disney at 6pm today, then turned around and watched Survivor an hour later. Needless to say, I'm a bit tired from a long day of travel, so I'm going to keep my thoughts short.

My prediction was right about Eva going through an episode. It was so great that Jeff let Joe go calm her down. As a teacher, I see these types of episodes all the time from students with autism. Every person is different in how best to deal with it, but sometimes they just need that outside person to help calm them down. It reminded me of a student I had my second year who I just needed to ask, "Do you need a hug?" and then I'd hug him for about 30 second to a minute, and it'd calm him down enough so he's able to regulate himself.

I love Star feeling connected to Eva, but she's a reckless player. She just gave her idol to Eva! Ultimately, it might work out since everyone knew about the beware advantage anyway, and this gets the target off her, but still!

Bianca was a fun player, and I was rooting for her. She definitely has a lot of potential, but again got voted off for losing a vote in a game she couldn't opt out of, on a journey she didn't have a choice in going to. She could have been a great player. Ultimately, she chose to trust the wrong person and divulge too much information. She hadn't done anything to gain Cedrek's trust yet, but she just showed Cedrek how she was withholding information from him. But I'm sad to lose Bianca.

We'll see what happens next week at the merge! Hopefully they don't have to "earn" the merge anymore.

 

[dmw]

When has sharing information about an idol, advantage, lost vote ever worked in favor of the survivor? Bianca...

I'm afraid that Eva's revelation and getting the idol from Star is likely going to result in a target on her back. But, I've got to admit... I got teary eyed, too, when Joe stepped into help Eva. I would like to see Joe win it all. Getting to that point, I would not be surprised if Eva plays her idol for him, if there's ever a chance of him being voted out.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

That was a wild episode. Just handing over the idol was crazy.

Bianca seemed to be in the perfect spot in the middle. She basically told Cedric he should vote for Sai but that immediately puts him in a 3-1 situation if the merge doesn't happen. Seemed insane from where I was sitting.

 

[CynBeth]

Too bad they still did not get rid of awful Sai.

 

[PUSH]

This was one of the closer merge votes we've seen in a while. Normally, everybody piles on one person to play it safe with so many people at the merge.

Charity ultimately played too hard. She never made strong allies. She made one, but that's not enough. She stirred the pot unnecessarily. The merge isn't a good spot for flight attendants lately (Tiyana was voted out at this spot last season).

I'm glad that they've gone away from half the tribe being immune. That isn't fun. However, the earn the merge is such awful branding... YOU'VE LITERALLY MERGED!!!!! BY DEFINITION, THIS IS A MERGE!!!!!!!!! Sorry, just had to get my semi-annual rant about that out.

I hope they don't split the tribe again over the next couple votes, like they have in past seasons. Survivor loves to merge the players together, then immediately split them into smaller groups.

Since we've merged, I will start my winner outlook again. This can change drastically as we go along. I had Maryanne in the "no chance" category for a long time in 42, before she skyrocketed at the end of the season. My rankings are mostly based on gameplay and where they stand in the game, but can also be influenced by the edit.

Tier 1: Top Contenders
1. Kamilla
2. Kyle
3. Shauhin
4. Joe

Tier 2: Good Chance
5. Eva
6. Mitch

Tier 3: Possible
7. David
8. Mary

Tier 4: Little to No Chance
9. Sai
10. Cedrek
11. Star
12. Chrissy

 

[CynBeth]

Again she survives. Was fine with Charity going home if it was not her.

 

[PUSH]

This was actually good that they did a split tribal council here. Both votes were pretty boring. There's really not much to say about the votes, honestly. Everyone played it safe. After a crazy premerge, the postmerge has been very boring. Not that I wanted Shauhin to go, but that would've been more interesting. We'll see if it comes back to bite anyone.

The challenge was actually fun with how long it lasted. We don't get long endurance challenges anymore, since it's such a quick turnaround between Tribal Councils in a 26 day game.

Ultimately, not much more to say. Here are my updated rankings... not much has changed.

Tier 1: Top Contenders
1. Kamilla
2. Kyle
3. Shauhin
4. Joe

Tier 2: Good Chance
5. Eva
6. Mitch

Tier 3: Possible
7. David
8. Mary

Tier 4: Little to No Chance
9. Star
10. Chrissy

 

[CynBeth]

Thrilled about first tribal not happy about the second.