How the Mighty Have Fallen - Survivor 47 - Ep. 11

I am truly at a point in the season where I have no idea how this is going to end up. I usually have a good grasp this far into any given season of Survivor. However, at the current moment, I have no clue who will win. We are eleven episodes in and the dynamics just continue to change. I am not complaining or making excuses, I think it’s awesome to watch. In fact, the unpredictability that this show brings is one of the main reasons why it is so polarizing. So, this latest episode of Survivor 47 was no different.

While I do say that, I won’t lie, I found this episode to be a little quieter compared to the previous ones and there’s a little bit less to talk about. Nothing wrong with that at all. Sometimes you just need one of those filler episodes that bridges us into the latter half of the game! This doesn’t mean there weren’t any stand-out moments because I still have a handful of thoughts to share with you all. So let’s get to it!

Going into this episode, I was feeling a little nervous about Kyle’s chances. The previews for episode 11 gave a lot of emphasis on Kyle! Which hadn’t been the case so far. In those previews, we were shown how he is struggling to trust people and how he has to tap into the manipulative/deceiving gameplay. It just led me to conclude that, while he has been a challenge beast, he would not win the individual immunity in this episode. Which, therefore, he would be a clear target to be voted off. 

Spoiler… that’s exactly what happened. 

I mean we even saw it from the first scene of this episode during the aftermath of the Gabe vote out at the Beka camp. He was immediately skeptical of everyone else and put his guard up. It really felt like he had nobody he could trust. I wonder if his mindset was to legit try and win every single challenge. 

Moving on, I was also skeptical about Sue’s and Caroline’s relationship after the latest tribal council. We know now that Caroline voted off Sue’s number one ally (Gabe) and broke her trust. So, I was wondering if their relationship would be damaged because of that. So, when they woke up the next morning after the tribal and it was eerily raining on them… I thought it was an omen of their relationship being on the rocks. 

However, I couldn’t be more wrong! I need to give major props to Caroline for standing her ground and explaining the situation so well to Sue. She wanted to make decisions for her own game and didn’t want to just follow along others! She wants to play a game she can be proud of. That’s good enough reasoning for me. I also want to give props to Sue for not holding a grudge there and sticking with her. It would be really easy to walk away from Caroline here, but I think it’s smarter to keep a close ally in Caroline. Rather than going to search for new ones. 

The next major moment of this episode came with the emergence of the underdog alliance. That includes Rachel, Andy, Teeny, Sue, and Caroline. I found the name of the Underdogs Alliance to be ironic too because they just aren’t underdogs. They hold all the voting power over the others and have a clear advantage. 

But is it actually an alliance? I find it more to simply be a voting block with the sole purpose of eliminating Kyle, Genevieve, and maybe Sam. We know it worked in getting out Kyle this week, but I am skeptical if it will continue to work in the following weeks. I could see someone possibly flipping. Like Andy or even Rachel.

Speaking of Rachel, she is undoubtedly the M.V.P. of this episode and it’s not even close. Here’s why: 

1. She volunteered for the journey so threats like Sam/Genevieve couldn’t go and get their hands on an advantage.

2. Then she got to go on the journey where she pulled out a victory and gained another advantage. She now has a block a vote and a hidden immunity idol. The power she holds is so much greater than the others.

   1. Not to mention, she had an advantage played on her by Sol earlier in the season too. 

3. Finally, she won an extremely difficult individual immunity challenge and took down Kyle!

I also can’t just gloss over that journey, so let’s talk about it. While I don’t love how late in the game this journey is in this season of Survivor… it seriously might be my favorite journey to date. The scenery in the middle of the ocean on the raft was incredible and different than anything we had seen before. The super fun, but simple challenge made for great entertainment. Then the added element of the weight that you throw into the ocean as a timer had my heart pumping. It’s just an excellent job by the producers and showrunners.

It’s so interesting to see how Genevieve went from being not a threat to now being one of the clear targets for others. A huge part of Survivor is managing your threat level and unfortunately, Genevieve didn’t do an amazing job of that when it came to unexpectedly going after Sol. Even when she tries to put plans out there (like going after the people who shepherded like Sue or Andy) it’s brushed off and turned against her. 

Luckily, as we know, she was able to survive this vote out once again haha. Will she be able to do it again? 

I am curious if Rachel can manage her threat level better or if she will turn into another Genevieve situation. 

By the way, I wonder if any of the players watching back this season now are feeling like they underestimated Andy’s game. It doesn’t feel like he’s being respected fully by the others or the jury. However, the edit is making him out to be an active player and strategist in this game.

Regarding the Individual Immunity challenge, I would have sucked at this challenge. It looks so difficult and I am curious how long it took to complete it. Everyone was dropping their stacks and it seemed like anyone’s game. Sam, Kyle, Teeny, Sue, and Genevieve all dropped theirs with like one or two letters left. Eventually, as we mentioned, Rachel took the win and the writing was on the wall for Kyle. 

So clearly the “easy” vote was Kyle… the question was is that actually going to happen? Is this a chance for a big game move? 

Nope!

However, I didn’t hate Andy’s idea to go after Genevieve. You have to ask yourself what is more threatening! Is it a person who is one-dimensional and only wins challenges or a person who can sway/manipulate others (like a jury)? Personally, I find Genevieve to be a lot scarier than Kyle. She has proven to be cutthroat and willing to win no matter the cost. 

I just wish Andy was able to articulate his argument a little better to the group. His reasoning of Kyle having a 6.25% winning out in immunity challenges was actually….not wrong. In fact, he was kind of spot on. In this post below (from Survivor legend, Christian Hubicki) you can see the math and logic explained even more. Caroline kind of scoffed at this logic but I think she didn’t want to break Sue’s trust again by not going for Kyle. 

So I found it funny that so many Andy haters were revived after this last episode lol. Even Rachel seemed to agree with Andy that Genevieve was the more threatening player!

Regarding Kyle’s unfortunate but kind of inevitable departure, I was sad to see him go. He was a joy to watch because he brought a ton of positivity! Also, he is the closest thing we have had in the new era of Survivor to a challenge beast. He was one win away from tying the record for most individual immunity challenge wins and I was definitely rooting for him. I think whether it ended up being him or Genevieve who got voted off, It would have made sense. I wish him nothing but the best and I think he will bring an interesting perspective to the jury! 

That’s all I’ve got for this episode! I am looking forward to how this episode sets up the rest of this season. We have another episode coming right around the corner and I am looking forward to talking about this great show once again. I will say it once more, I have no idea who will take the title of sole survivor! Who is your vote to win it all?