They say Rome wasn't built in a day - Survivor 47 - Ep. 6

Merge, twists, and blindsides… oh my. What more could you ask for as we jump into episode 6 of Survivor 47? Let’s not delay it any further and get into the action.

Beginning with the Gata aftermath of the Anika vote out. Maybe you can tell by now with my writing and TikToks… I think Andy is awesome. He struggled in the beginning, but he has made quite an awesome comeback and gained some footing in this game. He’s having fun now too! While other people fret at the idea of tribal council… Andy is eager/excited to see what happens! I am not saying he’s perfect in any way, but it’s cool to see how he’s doing now.

It was funny how Rachel also mentioned she was desperately in need of the merge. Well… ask and you shall receive! It’s like she knew that was coming. wink wink

The merge is finally here! I can’t believe it’s already here. This season is flying by so far! This is when the game starts kicking into gear. Where boys become men. Here we will see the difference between just good players and great players. It’s time to fully go for it, and I can’t wait to see what this merge brings. 

So we arrive on the beach and there is a sign waiting for all of them. It reads that tomorrow is the challenge, and hidden somewhere is an advantage for that challenge. Be the first to find it. Exciting right!?! Well, not when they give up after a few minutes to socialize. I get it, you don’t want to paint a target on you that quickly. However, it’s a group-wide thing, not just one person sneaking off. 

Props to Genevieve for finding it too! I was so confused as to why they were just brushing off the one random buoy in the ocean. Specifically Sam. How many random buoys are out there?! I felt like that was a glaring sign but that’s just me. 

Next, I want to talk about Sue. She clearly didn’t do a very good job hiding the aftermath of the beware advantage. Yes, I know that it’s a difficult one to hide. However, everyone was able to uncover pieces and red paint like they were playing clue. It’s just a little bit of sloppy gameplay on her part. 

Luckily, only two people might have a real idea of what is going on here. With Caroline, I don’t worry about it. Tiyana, however, I can see revealing that information to anyone. She has a history of doing so already. Especially if Tiyana is painted a target, I can see her just dropping information in an attempt to save herself. 

Rome was then again on his usual shenanigans haha. His goal was to gather information from Kyle, spread it around the camp to cause chaos, and then point the target to Kyle. Honestly, at first, I said it was a good job by Rome. It looked like a good game plan, and people were buying it. 

Though, my M.V.P. for the episode ended up being Sol. It was a great job by Sol to fact-check Rome and to point out that he likes to talk a lot. He pointed out that Rome has a history of running his mouth. This move/communication was the exact thing that catapulted the idea of voting Rome out. Yes, Kyle had the fire to rally the votes against Rome. However, Sol was the actual mastermind behind it. 

Let’s get into the new style of tribal/individual immunity challenges! Maybe this is a hot take, but I actually really liked this version of the Mergatory! Personally, I like the different kinds of twists that they have brought into the merge. It keeps the players and viewers on their toes! I know the showrunners get a lot of slack about this. However, I think it’s just another layer of fun with these twists at the merge. With this version, I liked how everyone was still on the table and at risk of being voted out. Only one player actually “earns” the merge and the others live with that fear of… am I the one?

In the tribal immunity portion, I was so psyched that they decided to do a schoolyard pick like all of us have been asking for. Then they didn’t even show it. Why hype us up like that to not even show us? 

I saw Andy was last picked for that challenge and that kind of irked me. That’s a conversation for another time.

As for the challenge, it was another fun one! The extremely thick mud, the giant wall, and the ball maze were all very enjoyable. Though, as soon as I saw Gabe and Rome in the ball maze, I lost confidence in them. They are both just very boisterous personalities and it played out with how they performed on the puzzle. They weren’t calm, cool, and collected at all. They were erratic and not smooth. Sol behind them might not have helped either haha. Eventually, Kyle and Sam were able to coast into the win for their side.

It has me thinking if Rome forced himself into that clutch position again. Which doesn’t always play out well for him. 

Also, Gabe was mad mad after losing that one.

Moving into the individual portion, we were brought the classic balance beam and balancing ball. Sam and Sierra being the first two out wasn’t something I expected.

While Genevieve’s twist was a helpful one, she arguably didn’t help her at all with the hardest part. The individual immunity challenge! Which it didn’t take her long to drop out of it. The major positive is that she is automatically a part of the food reward. Which is a major boost to just the well-being and mental state of the players. Overall, there were benefits to that advantage.

I also didn’t expect Sue to be as good as she was in this challenge as well. Her balance and control were awesome. Those are things I definitely would have to work on before getting on the show haha. Eventually, Kyle took the win and the immunity necklace! By the way, that’s not being talked about enough. Kyle was being perceived as a possible target to go home by Rome and he clutched up! Rome’s plan might have fallen apart but we will never truly know.

Also, yes the immunity necklace might look like a Spirit Halloween necklace. Is it still not awesome?! I think it looks so cool.

I found it funny that they didn’t let them wash off at all before heading to the feast. Everyone was just nasty, besides Genevieve of course. Then you had Teeny getting tipsy which was hilarious! One thing I didn’t like… was Sam/Sierra throwing Andy under the bus! Personally, I didn’t get that. Maybe they are just trying to fit in with the crowd who might still see Andy as a loose cannon. I felt like they were giving up on a solid alliance in which they have been building. It throws away what they’ve established and they would lose an important number for voting.

Sam did mention he would rather work with Sol instead of Andy too. Why not work with both?! Just add another into an already established alliance.

Rome pulling out the fake crying was true villain work too. It especially would have been if it did end up working. Maybe it worked for Caroline and Tiyana. However, in the end, it wasn’t enough.

On the other hand, Sol was just eating this all up. I think it’s the most he has smiled throughout the entire season. He knew how to inflate his ego and make him feel comfortable. Just to show him to the door when it was all said and done.  

The edit was doing Rome so dirty. I know they were giggling when putting all of it together. In one clip it would be Rome talking about how he is ruling this game and in the next, it was everyone corralling together to get him out. 

I found one comment from the Tribal Council to be interesting. It came from Gabe when he said that regarding blindsides, It isn’t always important to be the architect and instead know where the votes are going. Making sure you build enough dependable relationships is so important in this game. Just being in the know shows you are doing something right. 

Then to go further, If you’re the one who is consistently the “architect”, you’re going to be perceived as a threat sooner rather than later. I feel like it’s more of an art to pick and choose your battles. Know when it’s time to initiate and when it’s better to just be a part of the votes.

As for Rome sitting in Jeff’s chair, at first, I was a part of the group of fans who were weirded out by it. However, I then remembered that Jeff did offer up that position. Also, Rome does have a history of commentating/hosting events. If he were to sit in the chair and not know what to say… that would have been rough. Instead, he actually did an excellent job explaining why the amulets were considered a disadvantage now. As a watcher, it helped make sense of why the others were just giving up that advantage. 

With that being said and sensing what was coming next, it did kind of feel like a make-a-wish move to give him that opportunity haha.

By the way, the voting confessionals have been incredible this season. Vicious is the word I would use to describe them. Andy was speaking in German, Sam had the puns, and Tiyana was going for Rome’s neck. 

Then as we all saw… except for Rome… he was voted off in a landslide. I have to say it’s bittersweet to see him go. We haven’t had a solid villain like that in the new era like Rome. He stepped into that role so nicely and he was really good television. He was a fun character to watch, but probably not to play with. Also, he took his exit with great sportsmanship which was cool to see in my opinion. 

Arrivederci Roma!

Congrats to all who officially made the merge! I can’t believe we are already this far into the season. It has been flying by and I can’t wait to get into what next week brings. Maybe a Gata breakup!? Is Sol pulling out some new tricks? Is it Wednesday yet?