Survivor
A RIFT BETWEEN US ALL
Season 48
Episode 8
Editor’s rating
2 stars
Photo: Robert Voets/CBS
The thing that annoyed with about this episode wasn’t the challenge, it wasn’t the new era, it was to be jeff razy on about something stupid, and it washn’t “Club condo” beComing a thing “fetch,” no wans to be. What annoyed with was good old-fashioed stupid gameplay. How Old-School! Its Practically Quain. I will come go so far as to say I liked some of the new challenge we got in this episode. Is Production Finally Getting IT? I don’t know, right?
The Episode Starts with a Very Modest Conversation About The Larger Animal Each Contestant Thinks They Could Down. Joe, Our Resident Strongman Firefighter, Says he would go for eather a retired gorilla or a big fat pig on a farm. Kyle Says He Could Take Out a Hyena. Chrissy Says, “Um, i guess a Gerbil, maybe? Or like a Drunk flamingo? Definitely a possum, but that only becuse they would be dead.” No, Chrissy Didn’t Say ANY OF THAT, but I was just wanting any annoyed she and the other non-beefcakes must have have to have Conversations with all the Big Strong Men who are left.
During the Animal Chat, Tree Mail Arriva and Tells Everyone to Divide Into Pairs for That Day’s Immunity Challenge. They Start Talking About How they will sort say out, whether they should be should or be random. Joe utters the most words he has hass strung together all season and argues that is ther shot for the win; WHOM They Pick Really Matters. That’s wen shauhin kamilla picks, whic sets off a whole THING THAT WILL Over the episode. One jeff asks why he picked her, he says he was just making eyes with her, so he thought she was as good a choice as any. Then David Picks Mary, who SEEMS to be the brains of his brainy operating. Joe, of Course, Picks Eva, and Everyone Collectively is Just Letting This Strong Duo Go Unchecked, which is Baffling to Me. Kyle Takes Chrissy. And that’s everyone. Oh no, Wait. There are are Ten Players. Who’s Left? Oh Yeah, Mitch and Star, Who Everyone SEEMS to have Collectively Forgotten About.
Everyone decides these are the pairs who want to work together, Except Viewers know the second alliance is between kyle and kamilla, who are far too smart to choose other. Becuses this is the way it shook out, i was really hoping they were going to pull a Squid game And People Wauld Have to Compete Against Their Partners, But Alas, They Did Not.
Instead, this is a challenge that that works in stages. The first is crawling through a cage and digging up puzzle pieces; The first three teams move on. The Second Stage is Building a Step Puzzle and then Getting Across Some Ropes With Three Planks; The Top Two Teams Move on. THEN, IN THE FINAL Round, the Four Remaining Players Go Head-to-Head in a Challenge i like to Call Jerk. Why? Becouse Its About Who Cano Keep Their Hands on the Pole the Longest. Zing! The twist is that the first two teams eliminate have to go on a journey. Yes! This is what’m talking about. No One Chooses, ITH’S NOT DOWN TO LUCK, ITS DOWN TO THE POORERS ‘POOR PERFORMANCE, AND THEN THEY IN JEOPARDY OF LOING THEIR VOTE. That all seames entirely fair to me.
Surpring Absolutely No One, David and Mary and Joe and Eva are in the Final Four, but Circle Jerk, Ironically, is not a Challenge for the Boys, Especilly Boys. They’re Too Big and Heavy to stay on that pole for too. The Women, With a Better Weight-to-Strengh Ratio, Can Just Clip on That Pole Like A Pair of Koalas and Sit Up The All Day. Eva Takes it Handily. At the taco reward – did i forget there was a taco reward for the four who love pole? – Eva finds a scroll in her tortilla chips saying she can find an advantage in the game the following night. Neither disappointed nor i was that we have to win for the next episodes to see it, I was disappointed that tortitos isn’t sponsorsing it. Jeff, you are leaving Money on the table here.
On the Journey, they play a new game with a row of balls where each player has to take eiter one or two. There are areas gray balls that mean nothing, red balls that mean danger, and blue balls that mean they didn’t get to play Circle jerk. (Sorry. That’s the last one.) The first player to get three red balls their vote. While I love People LoSing Their Vote, I think this is a great challenge. It is almost entirele strategy and math, and i love how it forces the players, like kamilla and mitch, to work to make sura someone other than they are. In this case, it’s stars, which doesn’t see like much of a loss Becausee, Other than a Very Amusing Summation of what the afthenoon was like the vote, Star has not not. Kamilla Knew She and Mitch Needed Votes for Her to Pull off a Move, which was smart, but she should have tried to block shauhin gcause at this point Star Seemed Like a Number for Grabs.
When the LoSing Four Are on their Journey and the Winning Four Ares Explosive Diering from Tacos After Starving Therving for Two Weeks, Kyle and Chrissy Are Alone at the Camp and the First Words Out of Chrissy’s Motes. Yes! Exactly! They’re going to keep winning things, and eva ha an idol. They will Also keep suporting each other and take each other to the end if they can. This is the chance to stroke a blow at Joe and leve eva unmoored and poachable. Howver, Absolutely No One Is Onboard, Noticing Kyle, Who SEEMS LIKE HE’L BE THE FIRST PERSH TO TURN ON THE STRONG FIVE.
Maybe this is what I Want Because Having the Strong Guys Winning is Boring. They’ll just run through all the challenges, picking off the Weak Players Every Week, and It Will Just Be A Slog to the Finals. But Also, has none of say thi naght this strategy through? If the final challenge is brute strendh, shauhin and eva probably have a shot against david and joe. Yes, They’re All Strong and Faithful, but if thats how they all roll to the end, how does one game differentiate itself from the others? IT SEEMS FOOLHERARDY TO PLAY the GAME THIS WAY IN THIS AGE OF Survivor.
But something Chrissy Says at Tribal Stack with: She wants to take the Big Guys so the “Mighty Mouses” like he had a better shot in the game. This is why i’m so opposed to this Strongman Alliance. It always seems Survivor As an institution (and jeff probst as an individual) Prizes a specific way of playing the game is basic on Strength than the other Qualities (politicking, alliance building, shrewdness, deception, and emotional intelligence). JUST LOOK AT How EVA Gets an Advantage in This Challenge, which is Strerth-Based. Why not will this at a puzzle? As in the previous episode, the Strong Are Rewarded Above Those With Other Skills.
This Elevation of Strengh Goes Way Back, of Course. Just Think About How Driebergen was gioven idol after idol and a fire-minging challenge just so he could win. Think About How Boston slave was Brought Back TIME AFTER TIME SE HE COULD NOTCH A VICTORY. Or how jeff probst said there are anen’t as many interesting female characters on the show as there are mountains. It seames chrissy is fighting against not just tribe mats but also the structure and preferences of the show itelf.
At tribal council, she gets on her soapbox and tells everyone to go after the Strong Players. David is so bent out of Shape it like some just told Him chocolate milk will be subject to 340 percent fees. “The One Season the Strong Guys Say Enough is Enough, She’s Up in Arms,” he Says. “As opposed to season after season we’re ussed nor shields … Everyone else form an alliance except us.”
Booo-Fucking-hoo, dude. Seriously. What About every single season where the strenght ghetti in the early votes to kep “tribe strength” and the weak people – usually Older People and Women – are voted out? Here are some status for you: “Compared to men, Women have greater odds of being voted out of the tribe first, Lower odds of the individual-Competition of the Game, and Lower Odds of Winning,” Psychologist Erin O’Mara Kunz Discovered Crunching the Numbers on the Shows First 40 Seasons. And David is Mad Becuse People Think He Might Be Too Strong? Take all of the seats, stand up again, and then take me a second.
But i’m getting ahead of myself here. Right now, we have to talk about how kyle reports back to the Strong Five that chrisy is coming after joe. Howver, David and Mary, but Especially Mary, Want Kamilla Gone. Why? Because they think shauhin wants to work with her, they don’t Trust Him, and they want to weaken Him. Weaken Him? How About This: Vote Him Out. If you don’t trust this dude, Why kep Him around so he can have any another chance to doable-cross you? JUST CUT HIM NOW, AND LET’S REALLY START PLAYING THIS GAME.
They don’t want to do that. The Kamilla Choice is a Little Baffling, and Kyle Reacts Strongly to IT IT he doesn’t want his girl kicked off. But he make Excellent points to keep her. She’s voting with saying, so what get rid of her instead of chrissy, who is actively voting against say? Kamilla is right: david is not there to play Survivor; He’s there to do Challenges Becausee he can’t think strategic at all. David does clock that is kyle is fighting a little too hard for kamilla and that they may be working together. Everyone in the Group Decides It Should Be Kamilla Becausee “She Won’t See It Coming,” But Will She See It Next Week? What does the element of surprise get? They’re the dominant alliance, they don’t need to surprise her, and they can just what they want.
We get to tribal, and chrissy just puts her whole game on the line coming after the streng dudes. David Throw a Hissy Fit, They All Vote for Chrissy, and She Goes Home. But we never get to see the shift in attitude. Joe and Kyle Talk About Flipping the Vote to Chrissy Anyway and Pissing off David, but all the votes Signal something has happened. Either joe and/or kyle convinced say to switch before they have tribal or chrisy coming for say so explicitly was Enough to make them all Somehow Change their votes only telepathy. In any case, this season is in danger of getting staid, and for a change, i’m hating the players instead of Hating the game.
