Time for Chaos!? - Survivor 47 - Ep. 9

These vote-outs just keep holding more and more weight. As we arrived back at the Beka beach, it truly is every man for themselves! Everyone is doing what they feel is the best way to further their own games. Even if that means burning some bridges. Andy flipped, Sierra, was blindsided, and some relationships have developed bruises. Were we going to see more of the same!?! I think so.

As we saw, Rachel and Sam were feeling down at the bottom as a result of Sierra's elimination. Reasonably so! However, things change on a dime and it’s never that simple. The next tribal can be someone entirely different on the bottom. Especially if you can shake up or influence what goes down. So, watching Sam/Rachel do just that this past episode was fun to watch.

I also loved how they let Rachel explain her reasoning for the shot-in-the-dark usage! It gives clarity to us viewers but also just shows how smart she is playing this game! The more I watch Rachel, the more I think she has a shot at winning in the end. 

Regarding Andy, I truly love how he has taken ownership of his own game and is attempting to better his situation in the game. Becoming a certified flipper, building relationships with people who can help further his game, and more! Thinking about where he came from after a rough first episode…it’s so nice to see the confident side of him. You can tell from how he is talking in the last couple of episodes that he is having much more fun than before.

I even like how Andy made his amends with a frustrated Sam after the blindside. He led with honesty and transparency about where he was at in the game. Then stating how he fought to keep him in the game over Sierra. So yes he blindsided him, but wanted him to stay no matter what. It still shows some level of loyalty to Sam. It seemed like Sam took all of that well too. He even mentioned later in the episode that he didn’t have hard feelings against Andy and that he got it. 

Are we going to see a Rachel and Andy alliance and is it going to work!? I think it might! It feels like it’s the 4th or 5th time they have tried to initiate this alliance. However, it’s just always seemed to fall apart for some reason. 

For Andy, I was looking at this as a possible great or very damaging move for his game. I could see it going either way. Maybe Rachel is just putting on a facade and faking this alliance. Possibly to use him and get her revenge later? Then on the flip side, I could see them working really well together and putting both their strategic Survivor minds together! They both seem very willing to do just that too. I feel like since they are showing that alliance starting, it has to mean something for the larger scheme of the game. I can see this alliance working in their favor.

I was interested to see who Sam was going to seek revenge against after the previous episode. Which, I agreed with him when he stated the newfound vendetta was actually against the Lavo tribe. You can point it back to when they shared a reward feast with the Lavo members and they talked about working together to get out the Tuku members. However, that plan quickly fell apart and the Lavo members went behind Sam/Sierra’s backs. It shows him that the group is not to be trusted and that they might be the people to seek revenge against.

When it came to pairing up before the Immunity challenge… it didn’t feel like there was as much strategic reasoning to those decisions. It just felt like they were made quickly and they paired off in seconds. It seemed like some people chose someone who they thought they could beat too. However, it’s hard to make that judgment without knowing what the actual challenge is. 

Once we finally made it to the challenge, I legit could not believe that 4 people were about to lose their votes. It just felt so unfair and it couldn’t be the end of the twist, right? Like they couldn’t all lose their vote. They always say on this show that everyone’s vote is their voice and the single most powerful thing in the game. 

We eventually learned that 3 of them would earn it back in the journey. I don’t know, it just felt harsh to phrase that twist like that. I think it should have been said like, “The two last-place pairs will go on a journey where they will have the possibility of losing your vote. So don’t come in last!” 

Moving on, the size and scale of this immunity challenge were so cool. I personally liked the 3 stage immunity challenge. It was a little bit of everything! Puzzles, balance beams, getting the players covered in sand/dirt, endurance competitions, etc. I was glued to my TV and on the edge of my seat for each section. 

I’m starting to think that Andy might be cursed when it comes to some of these challenges. Yes, he’s made some pretty bad mistakes in previous competitions. However, the bag ripping on them and not being able to pull it out of the sand… that’s incredibly unlucky. Something just always seems to go wrong lol!

When it came to stages 2 & 3, everyone was neck and neck! I couldn’t look at one person and say that they were definitely going to win. It was anybody’s competition. 

By the way, balance beams are hard enough already. So when they elevate it to an even greater degree of difficulty… I can only imagine how hard they had to concentrate on it. 

Kyle was looking like he was about to pull off another Immunity victory until Gabe outlasted him by it felt like a second or two. That individual immunity challenge has to be the most painful one. It just cannot feel good to stand on those minuscule footholds. I’m curious as to how long they were holding themselves up there. 

Shoutout Gabe for hitting the Ray Lewis dance. 

Now that Kyle didn’t win, you’re thinking it’s an easy chance to target Kyle now! Right?

As for the Journey, it got my heart racing! Maybe it’s a controversial opinion… I wasn’t a fan of taking people’s votes away, but I did really like watching them play the Jenga stack type of game. 

Caroline, who lost, has also just an incredible attitude about everything. It’s hard not to root for!

I want to make sure I don’t pass over Sam’s emotional moment where he mentioned not wanting to be the person scratching to hang on in this game. I think it’s a pivotal moment in his story! It’s the moment where he can choose to give up or he can pull himself back into the game. Which I think we saw the beginning of his comeback later in this very episode. 

Well, one thing I did not have on my bucket list for this Survivor episode was a burping competition between Sol and Gabe at the reward. Sol was just letting it rip too. I couldn’t believe what I was watching haha. Don’t get me wrong, it was weirdly entertaining and perplexing at the same time.

It felt like that reward group was content with enjoying the reward rather than actually strategizing about a target. They very quickly pinned out Sam with little reasoning behind it. I found it odd. I had a feeling that there was no way it could be that easy. 

Which, it wasn’t! Once again, Genevieve is behind the scenes planting ideas in other people’s heads. This time with Sue. 

Genevieve pointed out to Sue that Sol wanted Gabe out of the game. Which that is a no-go for Sue because Gabe is supposedly her number one and it would ruin her game. That still is interesting to me considering the show has barely pointed out their relationship. Considering the edit, that alliance/relationship must not mean much for the outcome of the game. 

On the other hand for Genevieve, this move to target Sol is pretty wild! She had apparently been holding a grudge ever since Sol went after Rome. I don’t get that because they had been working pretty cooperatively throughout the game and even after Rome was voted off. 

Personally, it just feels like she might have jumped the gun on this one. She probably could have waited another tribal or two in my opinion. Sol is going to be just as much of a threat later than he is at the current moment! It seems to me that she initiating a lot of the vote-outs and people are going to start noticing that. 

Continuing with Genevieve, letting Andy and Rachel in on the plan to vote out Sol isn’t a bad thing. However, they can now specifically point to her being the mastermind/strategist behind this specific move. It’s ammo for them to use against her. I did find it very interesting that Rachel didn’t do a lot of fighting on Sol’s behalf. Especially after what he did for her with the advantage.

Now I want to give major props to Sam for his gameplay move of causing chaos around camp. This is the start of possibly his comeback as I mentioned before. He had great social intelligence to read the room, notice nobody was telling him anything, and then use detective skills to sniff out the real plan from Rachel. Yes, it might blow up his relationship with Rachel. However, he is already at the bottom and what else does he have to lose? In fact, it took his name off the board entirely. 

In direct response to the chaos being stirred, other names got put up. Sue and Kyle. I believe that Sam made the right steps to ensure his safety. Now it will be interesting to see if he continues this into gameplan into the next episode. 

Only once in a blue moon do we see a group struggle to figure out who they should vote out this far into the night. I mean the sun was setting and the questions still had to be answered. You could tell everyone was on edge and people were starting to sweat. Are the original plans getting destroyed? Should an idol be played? Then I am sure all of them are asking, am I the person going home?

Personally, I had no idea who was going home going into it. 

Continuing, Tribal Councils just keep on getting better and better. I mean I won’t complain about a live tribal! It’s incredible as a viewer… I am sure it’s terrible as a player. Due to that, It was so hard to concentrate on what Jeff was asking because conversations were happening all throughout Tribal. Not a bad thing at all, a lot was going on. So much so that I had to go back and rewatch Tribal for things I missed. 

I was a little surprised that it ended up being a wash all on Sol. During the live Tribal Council, Sam and Teeny must have gotten word that it’s most likely Sol going home. So instead of being on the wrong side of the vote, they decided it was best to join the group. Although, it was heartbreaking to watch Teeny be that upset over Sol. 

Well, I definitely wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Sol just yet haha! As soon as I started hyping him up… he went home. I think his biggest mistake was being too likable! He was dealt with a little bit of a rough hand at first being on the Lavo tribe with Rome. It does seem like he has really good relationships with almost everyone else in the game. I truly think that if they let him get to the end, he might be able to sway the jury in his favor. I am sad to see him go but I wish him nothing but the best. 

Next week we enter the final 9 and down to the final stretch. It’s getting more exciting with each week that comes. Who goes home next?! Talk to you all later!