NIU NAI - Night 21
In the wake of the routine Mary vote, Eva fills us in on her feeling solid about the position of her alliance in the game and their ability to pick off the others. In addition, she didn’t use her Safety Without Power Advantage but still holds an idol.
At this point, I don’t think Eva can win. Eva has no individual game to speak. Overcoming her episode had a lot to do with Joe, aka not individual, Star gave her the Immunity Idol which she hasn’t played yet, and the two advantage games she has played has yielded no ripple effects at Tribal Council. Worst of all for her game, she is still thinking only as an alliance which has gotten her this far, and I bet to Final Tribal Council, but likely a zero vote third place finisher. That’s how I see it at this point because to win Survivor, you have to do whatever it takes to make it to the end, but in the end you have to stand out individually to win.
She hasn’t.
NIU NAI - Day 22
As the sunrises on day 22, Kyle again finds himself in the middle of the alliance with Joe, Eva, and Shuahin and making something happen with Kamilla and Mitch. All I can say, again, is the time is now Kyle! Make the move, take your shot, and let the chips fall where they may.
Similarly, Shauhin and Mitch are debating whether or not to make their move. When Shauhin asks if he’s a fool to roll with Joe and Eva to the end? I think the answer is no because Joe’s game is very straightforward. Everyone knows he’s a great guy, he’s played a loyal game, and him and Eva have been a duo the entire game. Joe has also built a strong alliance but there is no diversity of his game aka at a Final Tribal, I feel like he doesn’t have much to add. He will lean into loyalty and being true to his word, but I think that will read as boring to the jury (think Chrissy, Mary, Star) versus Kyle, Kamilla, or Shauhin sharing the layers of their game that nobody on the jury knew about and that will sway people’s votes in the end.
REWARD CHALLENGE - Day 22
REWARD - Sanctuary for burgers, fries, beer, wine, soda, cheesecake, and a night with pillows, blankets and the letters from home.
This challenge is a physical one but more than anything, it feels AWKWARD! The slanted position, the muscles you’re using, the handgrips getting smaller, the storm making the board slicker, and the exit into the ocean as an added slap in the face to your defeat.
Each of the final six make it to the final stage of the challenge when their legs have to extend straight out. Kamilla is immediately out. She is physically the weakest so no surprise there.
Next out is Mitch who had been awkwardly hanging on. Down to 4.
Eva uses her legs to regain leverage. Can’t do it. She’s out. And she is immediately joined by Joe who slides out.
It’s down to Kyle who’s long body has been struggling throughout and Shauhin who’s cyst on his wrist has been bothering him since the jump.
Shauhin WINS!!! His first challenge win is a big one and he’s going to cash in on the love from his mom. Shauhin chooses Joe and Kyle to join him at the sanctuary for burgers and letters from home.
SANCTUARY - Day 22
For Shauhin it’s “Survivor Euphoria”. Joe’s son writes “I believe in you…you’re the greatest Dad ever… and believe in yourself Dad!”. Kyle’s Dad promises “to love him and believe in him for the rest of his life” and he never hears that from his dad. Combined with that, Shauhin and Joe have lost their dads.
We learn that Joe lost his sister to “domestic violence” and that the last conversation he had with her was a fight on the phone. Their phone calls usually ended with I love you, but not this one, and he never heard her voice again. 😭
Hearing these stories of Joe’s family makes the imprint he’s made on Shuahin, Kyle, and this season more understandable. Joe has made himself vulnerable to those guys and now us the viewers even more so than before. When you make yourself vulnerable and have an emotional intelligence at the level that Joe displays, you connect with people at a deep level.
The love and connection at the sanctuary gives way to strategy talk for Shauhin and Joe and Shauhin and Kyle. We relearn that Joe sees the game very straightforwardly with voting out Mitch and Kamilla next. But the game within the game was really in the Shauhin and Kyle conversation. They both know that they have to take a shot to try and win and now is the time to do it.
Then, Shauhin makes his move in telling Kyle that a move against Eva is the way to go but it relies on Kyle’s cooperation and trust in the move. This may be checkmate for Shauhin. Kyle waited just long enough to let Shauhin make the first move and then use it against him and have Joe and Eva indebted to him and Kamilla. The plan is to frame Shauhin and I think it’s going to work.
JOE SPEAKS TO HIS SISTER
He walks down the beach and using his buff to wipe away tears he apologizes to his sister for the final conversation they had, his inability to protect her against “that monster” and that he will keep fighting here for her and that he loves and misses her.
Joe was seeking closure and my feeling is he got it. We got it. We felt it. Joe is an incredible human being. I too am an emotional man and see myself in Joe. I believe that you can play an emotional game in order to build bonds with people, if the right people are on your tribe and your season, like what has happened this season for Joe.
How can you not root for this guy?
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE - Day 23
The pulling yourself on top of the barrel IS CRAZY!!!! SHOUT OUT DONKEY KONG COUNTRY for Super Nintendo haha. That looked incredibly hard regardless how easy Shauhin made it look. Kamilla’s wobble on top of the barrel feels like how I might have looked haha.
The challenge comes down to the navigating the balls and landing them in the pockets of the maze. Joe is first to land a ball and there are many many drops.
Kyle and Eva land their first ball and we got a challenge!
Just as soon as I can type that sentence from Jeff’s mouth, Joe channels the strength from his sister Jojo and crushes the end of the challenge winning his 4th Immunity Challenge and making the final five.
In the wake of Joe’s immunity win, Kamilla foreshadows to us that Shauhin feeding Joe will be reason for him being the target of the vote.
PRE-TRIBAL COUNCIL SCRAMBLE - Day 23
The masterplan of Survivor 48 begins with Kyle approaching Joe to try and frame Shauhin. Kyle tells Joe his tale that Shauhin flipped, wants to take out Eva, and showed an idol to Kamilla.
I love how Shauhin revealing to Kyle at the sanctuary his desire to make a move and needing Kyle’s trust has led to total chaos. This was the move we have all been waiting for the entire season. Now that it’s here, game on! Kamilla is corroborating Kyle’s story and Joe is feeling the heat as he goes into Dad mode and trying to sniff out the story that his kids are telling him. After Joe’s awkward conversation with Shauhin it feels like the plan is going to work and Shauhin is going to get got, and the key to it is Joe withholding from Shauhin the story of showing Kamilla the idol.
Kyle’s secret alliance with Kamilla remains lurking in the shadows of this game and the one question that Joe needs to figure out is whether or not he can tie this Shauhin story back to them. If he does, Joe exposes the secret alliance of Kyle and Kamilla and blows up the move that Kyle orchestrated as a way to oust Shauhin. If he doesn’t, then Kyle and Kamilla remain a secret and they successfully framed Shauhin and pulled off a move far greater than Joe or Eva ever could or have in the game.
Could be game over for everyone but Kyle and Kamilla.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - Night 23
Mitch opens up Tribal telling us and the jury what we already know - the game has not gone the way that he hoped and all he can do at this point is hang on and stay alive. Mitch’s game never got off the ground. His only ally we ever really heard about was Charity and since she was voted out, Mitch has just been along for the ride.
Eva is sticking with her trusting relationships. Nothing new here.
Kamilla is politicking really well. She says all the right things to keep her threat level low.
I love how the editors bring us into the paranoia within Joe’s head when Kyle and Shauhin are talking to Jeff and explaining the trust they’ve felt and played with in the game. The “deer in headlights” feeling the audio editing gave us was perfect. I look forward to hearing about it on the “On Fire” podcast,
VOTES
SHAUHIN - 4
MITCH - 2
Kyle and Kamilla’s plan worked. They were able to frame Shauhin, create paranoia, and get to the outcome they wanted. This was not the outcome that Shauhin wanted, at all. Shauhin left Tribal with his head held high and his trademark “ooh waka” sound effects but his exit interview said it all. With his head in his hands you can tell the disappointment Shauhin feels. He knows that he was capable of winning the game and he let it get away. I think he’s smart enough to track his demise back to his conversation at the sanctuary with Kyle, but we won’t know that until the YouTube interviews and IG posts drop.
In the end, I think that Shauhin was playing an incredible game, one that was very parallel with Kyle’s game. I think Shauhin knew he needed to take a shot at Joe eventually but his mistake was underestimating Kyle. He shared information with Kyle that was immediately used against him and that was enough to get him eliminated. I don’t fault Shauhin for his decision. I think he had to do it, but he got got.
Finally, this episode revealed that the secret alliance of Kyle and Kamilla is a season winning strategy, but only for one of them. The season finale set up the teaser delivered is that the secret alliance has only one seat at Final Tribal Council.
Kyle vs. Kamilla for $1,000,000? Survivor’s ready?
I am.
SURVIVOR 50 VOTING - IDOLS
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