Don't Get Comfortable - Survivor 47 - Ep. 2

Episode 3 of Survivor is right around the corner… but we can’t forget about all the drama that went down in episode 2. We saw tensions arise, fierce competition, and strategies brewing. Let’s get into it with my Episode 2 thoughts and recap. :)

We opened up the episode with Lavo tribe and let’s just say the drama picked right back where it left off! Starting with Rome, based on what we have seen, he seems so hyper-focused on the box/idol. Which, I get. It’s the second most important power in this game besides immunity. It just seems with this beware advantage, he’s sort of putting the social/tribe aspect to the side at the moment. 

Though, in a way, he did attempt to focus more on that part by sharing your idol with someone like Teeny. I did like this on his part. It’s a way to try to build trust and loyalty. However, I think he could have built trust with her slowly instead of just jumping right into showing the box/idol. Get to know her first, talk game, compete in more challenges together, live life around camp, and then reveal this game-changing twist! Granted I am sure there is plenty of things going on behind the scenes that we do not see. There’s a good chance he’s been doing just that and we haven’t seen it due to the edit.

I just don’t think someone flashing an advantage at another person should correlate to them meaning they have to work together. 

It’s probably a misstep on Rome’s part because Teeny made it known that she doesn’t really want to work with him! He’s the clear-cut target for the Lavo tribe right now. Everyone but Rome can see that. Rome would say he’s just a confident, outgoing person… everyone else would say that he’s a boastful, cocky person who should get voted out the first go around. 

That seems like it could have been pretty easy… had it not been for Teeny’s major mistake.

Within the first two episodes, It just seems like these players haven’t been careful! They aren’t being cautious, or looking over their shoulders to see if people are around them. It’s just sloppy. My advice for all the players on this season would be: 

DON’T GET COMFORTABLE! The game of Survivor is being played at all moments.

I think you know what moment I am hinting at. If not, it’s when Teeny opened the beware advantage box with Kishan, and Rome caught them in a matter of seconds lol. This not only gives Rome ammo to see Teeny as a threat but it forces him to take the idol that is good for the first tribal. Which, he will probably use on himself. Teeny is good enough socially to get herself out of this sticky situation, but one of her allies might not be.

Moving to the Tuku tribe, we saw them form the trio alliance of TK, Kyle, and Tiyana (with a plus one of Gabe). If you watched the episode, you know what happened. However, I will say that they could have been a force to reckon with. They had the numbers in their tribe, they were physically strong, and they were open to talking strategy with each other. Though, we saw how they shot themselves in the foot with a lack of social awareness. We will get to it later in this blog when talking about tribal council. 

While I am happy that Gabe is choosing to align closer to Sue and Caroline, I found his reasoning for that to be a little flawed. It seems like he wants to work with the so-called “bottom of the tribe” players or less threatening people to almost control them to do what he wants. It feels like a Russell Hantz move by aligning with the so-called “dumb blonde”. Gabe thinks that if he’s at the end with these girls he would clearly win. However, Sue and Caroline are not to be underestimated. They are much more strategic and intelligent than he thinks.

For example, in an attempt to align with Caroline, Gabe flashes his idol at her. Similarly to what I said before… this doesn’t mean they have to be aligned in any way. Caroline and Sue choose to be cautious and skeptical of Gabe.

Then finally, I want to talk about the Gata tribe! My M.V.P. Of the episode goes to Sam. Here’s why: 

1. He was a great leader in the tribal immunity challenge. Which we will talk more about in a short bit.

2. He had an excellent social game in this episode. 

   1. Establishing a number one in Sierra

   2. Pulling in Andy as a number and possible person that he can bring along in the game. With Andy being on the bottom, he could be seen as an easy target. However, Sam wants to use Andy as a person who will feed information to him and turn it into a number for votes. 

   3. Kept relationships good with the other girls as well

3. Finding the beware advantage! While most everyone knows on his tribe, he did a good job letting people in his alliance know. Therefore, he won’t burn any bridges with people. 

As for Andy, I thought he bounced back well! He had some moments of panic or stress… but for the most part, he’s taking the right steps to get back into this game. He strategized more, established relationships more, and fought hard in the challenge. 

He even received a bunch of cheers from his tribe mates throughout the episode. I wonder if that encouragement is real or if it’s a little disingenuous. That will be something I watch for in the next couple of episodes.

Now what I might say might be an unpopular opinion to most people… I don’t mind Andy not taking the Beware advantage. I can see the pros and cons of taking it. Yeah, he could have made a big move and saved himself. I think you could also look at it as something that could further his stress or make him a bigger target to be voted out. 

What I wish happened was this… Andy doesn’t take the beware advantage but then he goes back to Sam and they find it together. We now know that it didn’t play out like that, but I think it would have built solid loyalty between the two of them. 

Granted, I liked that Andy did eventually tell him that he initially found the advantage but that it was gone now. It helped Sam realize that he could trust in him.

Finally, we reached the Tribal immunity challenge and it was quite a fun one! This brought us the classic fishing kit reward… a staple in the survivor world. By the way, I love it when they show us the players actually using this fishing gear. It does feel like they have gone away from that in the past seasons. I won’t dwell on it too much considering I know there is a lot of content to fit into a short episode. 

Starting at the beginning of the challenge, I noticed so many of them had their sneakers on when they jumped into the water. That always catches my eye for some reason. Maybe they want to get a better grip on the ocean floor? Would those shoes bog people down and make them go slower? Is it because the ocean floor is coral reef/seaweed and it would be uncomfortable for the players? 

Maybe someone smarter than me knows better!

Continuing in the challenge, you have to note that Andy does give his all in these challenges! Just look at how he murdered that rice bag and furiously ripped it open with that knife. I was worried he might stab himself in the hand!

Sol is a beast and built like a rhino too. He is carrying that Lavo tribe physically. 

The team portion at the end where they had to maneuver the ball through the snake puzzle definitely revealed some things! It showed who could step up as a leader, who crumbles under pressure, who blames others, who panics, etc. We were able to at least see one instance of that through this short section of the challenge. I know it’s just heat-of-the-moment reactions, but it’s something to keep note of for future reference.

Gata, who led from the beginning, was able to take the win when it was all said and done. Everyone executed their part! Whether it was Rachel opening the gate, Andy quickly opening the rice bag, and Sam guiding the group through the ball maze! It has to be a great pick-me-up after going to the first tribal council. Especially for Andy to know he is safe for another week. 

Sam saying, “Who wants fish tonight”, as they completed the challenge was a cool way to end it too. 

I am also fully on board with the Survivor fanbase who thinks Rachel should have been able to keep the rice she cleverly snuck into her pocket. There was never a rule stating where that was not allowed! She was outwitting, and outplaying the rest of them haha. Which is what Survivor is all about. Maybe the producers and game runners thought it was an unfair advantage.

Tuku’s reaction to losing was quite an interesting one. Despite them smiling… I think they were just putting on a face where deep down they were very frustrated. TK might have taken it a little too far with his comments. I feel like a huge part of the game is knowing when to say something and when to bite your tongue. Those comments definitely won’t come back to hurt him at all. 

With that point in mind…I think it’s fair to say TK’s demise came at this own expense. He lacked emotional intelligence when it came to his reaction to losing the challenge, commanded people around at camp, and told people how they should be feeling. Overall, he was talking at people and not with them. He was telling them what they should be feeling, doing, acting, etc. That right there is enough to turn people away. 

For example, during the tribal council when talking about the bromance starting in the Tuku tribe… TK basically said Sue was the problem for that happening. He then took it further by telling her what she should have done. That she should have initiated the conversation more to keep the bromance from happening. I found the lack of self-awareness and his confidence baffling, to be honest. He must have truly believed he was staying. 

I think Tiyana was taking all of this in during the tribal council, and she made a split-second decision to vote off TK instead of Sue.

Major props to Sue and Caroline for doing their part to get the votes together against TK!

As for Gabe and the usage of the idol, I can’t lie I was pretty perplexed as to why he used it! I thought he might try and save Sue to ensure TK goes home. That wasn’t the case. However, when I think about it more… I think he might have been convinced that the votes would be tied, then drawing rocks, and that he wanted to ensure his safety. Maybe he didn’t want to risk it at all. I felt like you could maybe see his annoyance after TK was voted out and it didn’t go to that. It’s possible that Tiyana switching her vote might have been the reason he wasted the idol on himself.

Poor Kyle was shocked and his jaw was on the floor. His so-called “ride or die” was kicked off the island in a heartbeat. Time for him to regroup, and I think he will with how kind/sociable he’s been so far. 

I am excited to see how this Tuku tribe regroups after losing its physically strongest member! It will be fun to watch on next week’s episode of Survivor 47. Feel free to reach out about your thoughts or predictions for upcoming episodes. Episode 3 is right around the corner, talk to you soon!