A Tutorial on Self-Destruction
Come on in guys! Don’t mind the fresh dirt, the castaway voted out this week just finished digging their own grave. Yes, this week featured a self-inflicted blowup that was oh so easily avoidable. But alas, what good would a Survivor season be without bad players?
We join the Lavita tribe the morning after Tribal, and big moves are a-brewin’. Des senses now might be the right time to flip on the Naviti alliance by utilizing the four Malolos as well as Chelsea and Angela, and plans to target Kellyn immediately, and Domenick and Wendell thereafter. Laurel notes that it is indeed a critical juncture in the game for her, and may have to betray her alliance with Dom and Wendell.
The reward challenge results in a victory for Chelsea, Michael, Jenna, Sebastian, and Kellyn, and a Ghost Island trip for Angela. At the reward, Michael offers his services to whoever may need it, knowing that he is likely still the next target otherwise. Kellyn, however, is not keen to this idea and still plans on getting Michael out ASAP.
At Ghost Island, Angela gets a chance to play and is once again faced with 2/3 odds of getting an advantage. Naturally, she opts to play. Hilariously, she loses her vote. Now look, am I saying it’s funny specifically that she lost her vote? Of course not. But the fact that the odds increased, and she was the first to lose her vote in that specific game type is brilliant. Angela does admit that her no vote could be a detriment should Naviti choose to fracture.
Back at camp, Laurel says to Donathan that she’s not really enthused by Des’ plan, something Donathan admits he’s open to. Laurel makes a potentially game-changing decision by informing Domenick of Des’ plan to target him/Wendell/Kellyn, thus cementing her loyalty to their alliance. Dom completely understands the merit behind the plan, but knows he has to make a counter-move. So, he goes to Kellyn and tells her of the plan. She absolutely refuses to believe this, citing her bond with Des and Chelsea. Something’s up.
The next day, Michael and Donathan decide to go idol hunting since Michael is convinced he’s the next target. However, he’s not thrilled to be searching with Donathan, noting that letting others know you have an idol is a huge risk and often a big mistake. Lo and behold, Donathan ends up finding an idol… sort of. See, it’s Scot Pollard’s idol from Survivor: Kaoh Rong, the one he was voted out with because Tai Trang refused to give Scot his idol in order to form a Super Idol. Scot’s idol is fruitless unless Donathan can retrieve Tai’s idol, which is hidden under the shelter at camp. He goes back to camp and recruits the three other Malolos to serve as a distraction/buffer so he can grab the idol, which they do and he does. Donathan does note he’s willing to use the idol to save a Malolo, meaning this could come into play in a few different chances.
The immunity challenge is won by Chelsea, who is in fact a contestant on this season. (Author’s note: Chelsea has had three confessionals in 10 episodes. That’s utterly disgraceful and nobody deserves that shaft of an edit. I mean come on, they didn’t even give her the post-immunity confessional which is basically a freebie for the immunity winner!) That makes three immunity challenges won by three different women. It will be interesting to see if the meta of strong men being immunity threats shifts after this trend, considering last season seven of the eight immunity challenges were won by women.
Kellyn takes a walk with Chelsea and Des and basically asks what the heck is going on with her name being thrown around. She says Dom is paranoid but she trusts her gut and doesn’t believe him. Des denies, but is seething at Laurel for ruining her plan. In fact, she goes and confronts Laurel in front of the rest of the Malolos, telling her the plan is done. But during that, Wendell walks by, and Des changes the narrative to there was no plan to begin with and Laurel is just lying. The Malolos try to tell Wendell that Des is lying but Wendell doesn’t even try to get involved in the drama.
Laurel then goes on to tell Dom the story, but during that guess who comes barging in? Yup, Des interrupts the conversation to exclaim how Laurel is lying and Des never had the conversation. It leads to a great deadpan moment from Dom after the barrage from Des, as he turns to Laurel and goes, “Hi, how ya doin?” Dom knows Des is doing something, so he decides to get the big targets together. This means talking to target numero uno, Michael. He proposes some unity moving forward, which Michael is all ears for.
Kellyn is getting sandwiched with differing sides of the story by Laurel (and by proxy Jenna), and Des. Regardless, she still wants Michael out, a point she emphatically tries to make to Dom. Dom, who wants Des out, sips coffee and ponders Kellyn’s insistence on voting for Michael now. It truly is something out of The Godfather, as Dom Corleone figures out if his next move is to break up ‘the family.’
At Tribal, Des unsurprisingly continues to rant and rave about not being a liar despite all four Malolos refuting her story. Despite the fact that obviously someone is lying, the rest of the players admit it is difficult to tell who’s the liar. Nevertheless, the votes come in and four votes come in for Des. Then, two votes Michael. Seems like Naviti stayed together but then all of a sudden, the Des votes pour in as she becomes the 3rd member of the jury.
Well folks, that’s how you get yourself voted out of Survivor in only two days. It’s now final 10, and Wednesday’s episode is guaranteed to be a doozy as two players will be voted out in one tribal council. How that will happen remains to be a mystery, but it is sure to leave at least a few fans upset at their faves being robbed by a twist, as is tradition. Until then, may the Survivor Gods smile down upon you.
