It’s week three of “Survivor,” I’m still getting used to how crazy this show is and this season is honestly giving me a huge enough reason to go back and binge watch the other 32.
Right off the back, we pick up where we left off — Mari has been sent home and Zeke and Adam are left on the bottom and blindsided. It’s safe to say that they’re pissed about it. Rightfully so, as is doesn’t seem like it made much sense for anyone’s game to send Mari home over Figgy (except for Jay, Michelle and Taylor). We get a confessional from Figgy where she takes credit for saving herself (no, girl, it was Michelle) and has the nerve to say “People who write Figgy’s name [down] go home.”
Bye.
That night, Hannah approaches Adam and Zeke to apologize for what happened (if you remember, Hannah votes out Mari after Michelle tells her about the potential blindside) and explain herself. While the move wasn’t the smartest, I do agree staying in the majority in that vote was best for Hannah at the moment. However, Zeke is not having any of it. In fact, he screams at her, telling her he doesn’t want to talk right now. Hannah continues to make it worse, however, by still trying to talk to him. Does this girl not get it? She tells us in her confessional however, that she wants to be utilized in another flip, this time orchestrated by Adam and Zeke.
“USE ME! I don’t like anybody in this damn majority alliance.”
Same (except Michaela, I love her).
Meanwhile, back at the Gen. X-ers’ tribe, David, Cece and Ken are really starting to feel being on the bottom, but want to make a comeback. Ken points out to us that it doesn’t make sense for the other Gen. X-ers to be aligned with Paul when he doesn’t follow through on anything. Cut away to Paul, who after talking about how he feels completely better (he suffered from heat exhaustion last episode), goes to catch fish. AND THEN PROCEEDS TO NOT CATCH ANYTHING. I’ve watched a total of three episodes and I know that you don’t make early game commitments that you can’t follow through on.
The tribes get tree mail, explaining that four members from each tribe get to intermingle with one another at a “social.” The Millennial representatives are Figgy, Taylor, Will and Jay, while the Gen. X reps are David, Cece, Chris and Paul.
Chris’ strategy while he’s at the social (equipped with PB&J) is to keep his eyes open and mouth shut. Paul’s strategy is to woo the Millennials with his personality. Obviously, not leaving the Millennials alone with the people on the bottom of your tribe wasn’t in their strategy, because David and Cece tell Figs and Taylor that Paul is at the top of the tribe, while them and Ken are the outsiders. They discuss coming after Paul if he’s there at the merge. David also is able to get alone time with Taylor, where he tells him he’s willing to cut the Gen. X-ers first if there’s a swap or merge soon. This seems to be paranoia-driven, but I do respect David’s thinking of the end-game. He stands a better chance making it to the end if he throws the Gen X-ers to the wolves if there’s a Millennials’ number advantage.
We go back to the Gen. X tribe, where the Gen. X-ers are discussing the social. They tell Ken that the Millennials call him “Ken doll” for being so perfect. Ken tells us that he doesn’t like this name, but is more focused on his contribution to the Gen. X tribe, which he feels is a large one. We then witness him trying to flip Jessica against Paul. However, Jessica is nervous about going against the six (her, Paul, Chris, Bret, Sunday and Lucy) as she wants to be alive for Day 36 to use her Legacy Advantage.
Meanwhile at the Millennials’ tribe, Michelle, Figgy and Taylor say that Zeke has to be the next to go. Adam, who was also blindsided at the last tribal council, tries to reform the “outcast” majority against the “cool kids.” He makes the great point that as long as Figgy and Taylor are in the game, Michelle and Jay, the better strategists, have four collective votes and a shield with the couple. With this knowledge, the outcasts have to go after Figs and Taylor. My favorite line of the night comes from Michaela, a player who’s been riding the middle, who says:
“Even though I’m in the majority, I still don’t like Figgy.”
Bless. There’s still hope.
The immunity challenge comes next, where each tribe has to carry 40 pounds of sandbags and coconuts across a beam, separate the two items, knock down a puzzle and then put it back together. If you can’t cross the beam quickly enough, you can give someone else the bag to cross, but you still have to cross without it.
During the challenge, the Millennials work together. The Gen. X-ers, however, have some setbacks, with Lucy not moving quickly (and giving her first line of the season: “SHUT UP!”) and Cece taking enough time for three Millennials to pass her. Because of this, the Millennials win their second immunity challenge. We leave the challenge with Sunday, Paul, Chris and Bret thinking that Cece will be going home, but obviously that means she’s not going anywhere.
Defeated, Cece also feels that she’s leaving. However, she, along with David and Ken, decide to try and flip the vote on Paul. Meanwhile, Jessica, Sunday and Lucy are still nervous about the boys in their six. Jessica goes to Paul to ask him about the boys’ loyalty. Paul then stupidly tells her if there ever was an all-boys alliance, he’d let her know that his allegiance to her was over. Bye, Paul.
As you can expect, the girls are upset about this. At tribal council, Paul, Chris and Bret ramble on about how Ken, David and Cece put themselves on the bottom and that they’ll be the next three to leave from their tribe. Then, because irony is amazing, the three outsiders, along with Sunday, Lucy and Jessica, vote Paul off the island, blindsiding the three boys.
Who to look out for: From the Gen X tribe, I was feeling Bret these last two weeks. Seeing how early Paul went home, I don’t know if he can keep himself alive in the game, but I’ll still keep him in this category. We saw little of Lucy so far, but if next week’s trailer shows us anything, it’s that her time is coming. This, along with another meat shield in Chris can allow Bret to hold out until the merge and then realign with some Millennials. Last week, I thought Michelle was riding high, but you can’t stew on one week and get a big head from it. She and the other Young Brahs will be blindsided soon, and when that happens, I think that Michaela has a chance to make it far. She’s not a big threat in anyone’s eyes and she’s riding the middle perfectly (despite her hatred for Figgy).
Dark horse: I still love David. He still has the idol in his hands despite helping put together a blindside. He also has a potential meat shield in Taylor should he be one of the YBs to survive pre-merge. With the Millennials, I’m really liking Adam. He’s the perfect example of what to do when you’ve been blindsided. Sure you might get mad, but channel that into flipping things in your direction again.
Who’s gone next week: I was completely wrong last week and nearly spot on this week. Going off of that, I’m going to guess that the Millennials take the immunity for the third time. Yes, I’ve picked the Millennials each week, but I really think that they work better as a team than the Gen. X-ers do, despite having more drama. If that happens, I think one of Sunday or Lucy goes this week. Going off of Lucy’s bad edit in the trailer isn’t the best stratgey, but I think it makes sense for her edit to go from quiet to crazy and off the island within a period of four episodes. Plus, she’s an easy out for everyone involved in the tribe.
Who will leave and who will survive? You can catch “Survivor” Wednesday, Oct. 12 on CBS at 8 PM!