Swaps Aplenty, Swaps Galore
Come on in guys! Oh, and drop your buffs again because we’ve got another swap! I’m talking immediately at the beginning of the episode too. This can only mean interesting things for the swap results, and they do not disappoint. We find out they’re swapping into three tribes of five, and the kicker? All three tribes are set up as three original Naviti, two original Malolo. Should be easy on paper, but of course nothing ever is. Here’s how the new Survivor tribes shake out:
Naviti: Bradley, Chelsea, Domenick, Donathan, Libby
Malolo: Angela, Desiree, James, Kellyn, Michael
Yanuya: Chris, Jenna, Laurel, Sebastian, Wendell
We head back to the brand-spankin’-new Yanuya tribe (they wear green, if you’re curious). Not only do we have old allies Chris and Sebastian reunited, but Sebastian and his showmance Jenna stay together too. But the real surprise here is Wendell immediately winning Sebastian over by showing him a shell that they had found at the start of the game. Wendell kept the shell for Sebastian for when they inevitably were reunited, and it goes a long way for Sebastian. Big points to Wendell here. Wendell also gets to patch things up with Chris, who was by proxy his enemy since Dom was Wendell’s #1. Wendell finds himself with allies on both sides of the Chris v. Dom fight, and when that hits the fan he’s going to have to duck and cover quick.
Speaking of Chris, there’s nothing better than watching him talk about himself. Which, by the way, he tends to do a lot. So much so, that the editors decided to devote a segment to it. Chris can’t stop talking himself up while saying that models get a bad rap for being conceited, meanwhile everyone else (especially Laurel) in the tribe remarks to themselves about how conceited Chris is! It’s a highlight of the season in terms of humor and just continues to boost Chris’ appeal as a character.
Moving over to Malolo tribe, Desiree feels comfortable in her (perceived) 3-2 numbers advantage, but admits Angela is a question mark due to her long time spent on the same tribe with James. Angela and James recap the tribal where Morgan went home, reiterating that James helped save Angela. This gives hope to James and Michael that they may be able to swing Angela to vote with them if they have to go to Tribal.
Finally, we check out the Naviti tribe. Bradley is ecstatic to be returning home to his original beach, and gets a few more digs in at the Malolo beach. Chelsea starts to tear up at having a drink of coffee, further proving that this swap provided a huge impact on a lot of different players. Domenick proves that as well, as he expresses some serious relief that Chris is finally not on his tribe. However, he’s severely threatened by Libby, and even refers to her as a Parvati 2.0 to Bradley. Bradley’s on board, and feels great about how he’s playing the game up to this point. He even admits that he’s playing better than he thought — well he thought he was fantastic. What a great display of self-aware, played-up arrogance that just makes for fantastic TV.
We head to the immunity challenge, and it’s another classic. The blindfolded, running around into things challenge. Okay, so it’s not called that. But it might as well be! Many a bruise was had this challenge. Malolo got out to a quick early lead, with Naviti catching up and Yanuya in dead last thanks to Wendell forgetting a bag of puzzle pieces. However, he was able to lead Yanuya through the puzzle portion at the end with rapid speed and secured immunity. Domenick helps Naviti squeeze by Malolo to win immunity as well, as Desiree absolutely bombs leading the puzzle portion.
So, despite the new look, Malolo goes back to Tribal again. It’s pretty apparent that Des is on the chopping block for how poorly she performed at immunity, and Michael and James key on her immediately. Des throws James as an option out to Kellyn, who is on board. Angela holds all the power this vote, as she can either side with the allegiances made with her first tribe or her second tribe. Either way, this could spell disaster for whoever remains on the bottom after this vote. We get some great personal content from Des, Angela, and James that once again showcase the desire to keep pushing in the game and reach the end. It’s been a recurring theme this season, moreso than in past seasons, and it’s a strong positive on fully fleshing out the characters thus far.
At tribal, Probst blasts Malolo for being one of the worst challenge-performance tribes ever, and even goes as far to say “you may never win a challenge as a tribe.” (We’ll just ignore the immunity challenge they won in episode 3, right?) The debate arises for who to vote out, and Probst polls the tribe with an interesting question: do they typically lead with their head, or their heart? It’s in that same vein that we find the question I’ve brought up several times in these recaps: do you align with the numbers or with comfort, essentially a head v. heart debate as well. Angela, James, and Des answer head, Michael answers heart. However, Kellyn opts to go full teacher’s pet try-hard and say her gut, which she claims is the perfect combination of the two. While my eyes rolled into the back of my head at her self-proposed third option on a super simple question, it’s frankly not a bad answer. Totally cheating the question, but not a bad answer. In any event, the votes get cast, and we see one vote for James and one vote for Des (as expected). The third vote is for James, and the fourth vote seals his fate. Another blindside, this time because Michael flipped and made the vote a 4-1 unanimous decision.
14 people remain, and next episode likely will be the final one before the merge. Who will be the latest entry in the “robbed premergers” list? I’m frankly terrified to find out. This cast is so good! The star of the episode goes to Wendell for his come-from-behind challenge performance as well as his subtle, yet efficient social play with Sebastian and Chris at the swap. Yanuya and Naviti could be a lot of fun to watch at the next Tribal, though I couldn’t predict who would go. If Malolo heads back again, Michael would foreseeably be on the bottom. But that kid’s got nine lives considering how many times he’s avoided being sent home; I wouldn’t put it past him to do it again if need be. I know one thing: Wednesday can’t come soon enough. Until then, may the Survivor Gods smile down upon you.
Need to catch up on Survivor? Check out my recaps of Survivor: Ghost Island episodes 1 & 2, 3, 4, and 5.
