Survivor 49 | Ep. 2
KELE - DAY 4
The vibe at KELE is desperate. They’ve lost every challenge, have no supplies, and have resorted to eating worms. We quickly get a greater sense of Annie’s desperate attempt to have CONTROL over the vote and she is doing this by pitching Jake. Personally, I like Annie’s strategy of targeting Jake, the big guy, but it’s going to be a tough sell to her ally Alex who is bonding with Jake and the rest of the tribe, especially coming off of the first vote which was based on keeping the tribe strong.
ULI - DAY 4
The vibe at ULI is phony/fake because anyone that states that “the vibes are immaculate” are not actually aware of the vibe. First, you have Shannon wanting to do a blessing of a crab that Savannah found before they boil and eat it. Then, we see ULI through the perspective of Nate, aka the old guy, who is hearing people his children’s age using the words “vibe”, “fire”, “riz" (aka charisma) to describe everything. I love this. As a 37 year old middle school teacher, I can relate. I feel Nate’s pain and discomfort with navigating his tribe who values “creating space for everyone” and using language that he will never use. It’s a great lesson for me as a prospective player. I could EASILY be on a tribe like this and need to adapt to the “vibe” of meditating and appreciating crabs as well as being open to people who are just younger than I am.
Next, Nate, Savannah, Shannon, and Rizo are laying the groundwork for a foursome in the game. They are giving early REBA 4 indicators and I’m actually rooting for them to go to Tribal so we can test the strength of this new alliance.
Lastly, we get from Savannah a window into her life as a reporter as she recaps her Survivor experience so far including aqua dumps, finding the crabs, and joining the majority alliance. Early exit polls are saying that she will be in Survivor 50.
HINA - DAY 4
The vibe at HINA is cautious positivity. They have had nothing but success in challenges, they have fire and Matt to make it, they have supplies, but they also have their guards up. Matt, Steven, and Kristina kick off the alliances and Matt wants to bring MC in but she is raising the red flag on being the fourth immediately. This is the introduction of knowledge is power in Survivor 49. MC is using this info to build a bond with Sophie. Good move.
KELE - DAY 4
A great strategy reveal by Jeremiah playing into Annie’s ego. I love anytime people are aware and people are aware of how unaware other people are. This kind of awareness by Jeremiah has me thinking he has some legs in this game.
The shoe bandit schtick is back and I don’t get it. As a viewer I understand it is part of Jake’s personality, his fun/playful side, but it makes me wonder if he is actually doing it to have control over something, in this case, some chaos. Annie wants to storm around, bark orders, and try to throw Jake’s name out, he wants to bark back because he thinks of himself as an alpha, but he’s smart enough to hold back and steal a shoe instead. I’m just out on the shoe bandit. It feels cheap.
ULI - DAY 4
Sage and Jawan. At this point I think we know who Sage is. She’s quirky, she’s honest, and she’s the court jester of the ULI tribe. Jawan on the other hand, is having a very different start to the game. His mistake of taking Savannah’s bag instead of his own to collect sticks feels like a GIANT BLUNDER. The awkward exchange has me wanting to fast forward. Was it an honest mistake, probably, but can it be a fireable offense, you bet your fanny it is. It’s not looking good Jawan and it may not even be his fault.
JOURNEY
HINA - Matt
ULI - Jawan
KELE - Jake
First, I like that we got right to it. We went from the decisions on who’s going to the challenge in the same segment. I like the unpredictability of removing the “LOSE YOUR VOTE” piece that we’ve come to expect. The challenge itself was fine. I think I would have done well against Matt, Jake, and Jawan.
Next, Jawan outlasts Jake and Matt and wins a choice to HELP YOURSELF or HELP YOUR TRIBE. So much for not having a LOSE YOUR VOTE, so congratulations to the game designers again for reworking the lose your vote piece of the new era.
Now, it’s decision time for Jawan. Help himself by taking someone’s vote or help his tribe at the immunity challenge by putting the other tribes at a disadvantage. To my surprise, Jawan chose to help ULI instead of helping only himself. His decision helps his standing at ULI but hurts his standing with the other 11 people in the game. His decision gives his tribe an advantage and a greater chance at avoiding Tribal Council but it puts the other tribes at a greater chance of going to Tribal and he is to blame. I would have struggled because having 2 votes in a tribe of 6 people is huge but it also feels really early in the game to lie to your tribe of 6 or risk getting caught in a lie.
KELE - DAY 4
Enter the first Beware Advantage. Alex finds it and has to wait until after KELE loses an Immunity Challenge to find the next clue at the tree mail. Alex also has Jake with him when he finds the Beware Advantage cementing their alliance in the game to this point. I think going through these experiences together on the Survivor bucket list carries a lot of weight.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE - DAY 5
REWARD - Large Fishing Kit, Small Fishing Kit
JAWAN’S “TRIBE DISADVANTAGE” - 20lbs of coconuts on each player’s and 10 keys to unlock lock. Jawan is now hated by HINA who isn’t singing their little chant into a challenge anymore.
To start, the elevated net is awkward for everyone but isn’t a terrible disadvantage for HINA carrying the coconuts. Next up is the log bridge which is a much bigger disadvantage for HINA. Carrying extra weight and that weight moving around makes leaping the gaps that much more difficult, however, all three tribes are even in the challenge.
ULI falls behind at the digging up the ladder and retrieving the key, despite HINA carrying extra weight, but they do catch up to HINA because of the second disadvantage of having 10 keys to unlock the lock.
KELE gets to the puzzle first thanks to their physical strength advantage but it’s not much. ULI’s length and HINA’s athleticism helps bring this challenge to a 3-way dead heat at the puzzle, but not for long. Jason is great at the puzzles and the HINA tribe isn’t effected much at all by the coconut and key disadvantage.
The real disadvantage is KELE’s lack of communication and puzzle makers. HINA clearly has an advantage with Jason and Sophie and ULI is able to easily defeat KELE and send them back to Tribal.
Another failure for KELE. Fifth straight challenge loss and they are demoralized. They suck at puzzles and it’s killing them. At this point we can officially declare KELE the 49 version of YANU (46). Nothing is going their way, they know, we know it and even getting a break from Jawan wasn’t enough to save them.
KELE PRE-TRIBE SCRAMBLE - DAY 5
I understand completely when Survivor fans, myself included, feel frustrated when their is this level of imbalance in the winning and losing. As viewers we feel like we keep losing because we spend more time with the losing tribe since they are headed to Tribal. I get it. I also feel myself wanting to spend time with the winning tribes and getting to know them.
“Tonight’s Tribal is Annie’s funeral.” - Jake
According to Jake, Annie is just oblivious to writing on the wall and she will be easily disposed of at Tribal. But, it’s never that simple. The game never moves so linear especially for the tribe that keeps failing. So, cue up the alliance of Alex and Jake going to tree mail, finding the clue, literally attached to a ball and chain, and following the map to the idol location.
But it’s never that simple.
Along this journey to earn Alex his vote back and a Hidden Immunity Idol, Sophi gets brought in on the idol hunt. She even finds the box first and hopes to keep it a secret for herself, which I loved hearing!
But it’s never that simple.
They have been gone for too long and Jeremiah gets brought in on the action. He now knows about Alex’s idol hunt, but with that, realizes he is the fourth to know, again. So, Jeremiah is thinking this alliance of four isn’t working for him.
But it’s never that simple.
Alex finds the box, unlocks it, the “alliance” of four celebrates and Alex finishes the celebration by immediately bringing the information to Annie! I love this move because Alex acknowledged that Annie is the simple move, the obvious play, but instead Sophi is the move to make and he has found in Annie a partner willing to play the game that Alex wants to play.
Alex sees a more complex game. He wanted to play with someone like Annie. He has no problem kissing up to people and making them feel good. That’s what he has been doing for Jake and Sophi. But in Annie, he’s found his real partner in crime to make the big moves, to take chances, and to play the game by coloring outside the lines. Voting Sophi makes Jake more loyal to him. Without Sophi, who is Jake going to turn to?
Alex.
PREDICTION: Sophi gets got and KELE gets a shock wave sent through it.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - NIGHT 5
This tribe is depleted. Sophi can’t think straight. Jeremiah can’t remember people’s names. Jake is looking to have a core four to win challenges and put food in their bellies. The straight line of the game he’s playing feels like it’s about to get pretty crooked.
Annie is out on trust in Survivor meaning she is aware of the game that she’s playing, the zero sum game aspect of Survivor, and her trust lying in her gut above all.
Alex doesn’t play his idol.
VOTES
ANNIE - 4
SOPHI - 1
And after all that build up and all the desire we had to see Alex make a big move and take out Sophi, he didn’t. Alex kept it simple and went with the “core four” just like Jake described. In the end, Alex wasn’t convinced that the timing was right to go against Jake and Jeremiah to blindside Sophi and hitch his wagon to Annie. Well, for now.
For now, Alex has allied with Jake, Sophi, and Jeremiah, but the major takeaway from the Annie vote is that the power in numbers and the simplistic straight line game is taking hold at KELE. My guess is when you are losing literally every challenge and journey, you have no food, and you have no foothold in the game, you find control in an easy straightforward vote that keeps the tribe strong and on a path toward winning a challenge, getting fed, and saving your idol for yourself.
