Time To Meet the Jury! - Survivor 47 - Ep. 8

Survivor 47 is staying hot! We’ve got a lot to talk about so let’s not waste any time! :)

So we start with Rachel back at camp after she waltzed right out after the sneaky safety without power advantage. I always wonder how dark it actually is at the camp. The lights from the cameras can’t be much of really anything. Doing any basic task in the dark like that has to be much more difficult than we think. Then on another point, I’d also hate being there “alone” too. 

I thought Rachel had the right reaction to the aftermath of that tribal council. Like she has every right to be excited and relieved that she escaped that lopsided tribal council! She pulled off an epic move that will be remembered for the rest of this game. However, she was also nervous about having that spotlight and possibly pissing some people off. Yes, that might be true, but I don’t think they have a right to be pissed off at her. That’s because the advantage was given to her, she didn’t find it herself. She didn’t purposely intend to screw over anyone’s plans. She even mentioned how she was given this advantage just before going to the tribal council! 

If anyone were to get annoyed at her for that… it’s silly. If anyone they should feel screwed over by, it’s probably Sol! However, nobody knows that. ;)

Just like I mentioned last week, I am starting to really like Sol as a character and a player. He’s also built like an ox. He’s pulling off the “goofy guy who actually is super strategic/ knows what he’s doing” gameplay extremely well. So with saying that, I liked that he only told Rachel about this move. It’s a real opportunity to possibly solidify a number one person where he hasn’t had one all game. If anything, Rachel and Sol seem to be forming a nice relationship. I am a fan of that duo!

Oh and did anyone see how Sol opened up that coconut like an absolute beast?! I thought he nearly chopped his thumb off but he instead looked so cool slicing it open. 

The next morning we were treated to the Survivor Auction easter egg search where they were looking for the capsules of money. It’s a throwback to Survivor 45 where they did this same exact format. Here’s what I will say… I like the easter egg hunt because it’s simply just fun to watch. However, I do not like the twist of losing your vote if you have the most money remaining at the auction. That’s because in an auction the strategy is to be smart with your money and how you can bid with the other contestants. With this format, players just go all in and spend their money. They don’t like the aspect of losing their vote (arguably the most powerful thing in the game). So they say screw it and take whatever it is they get! That’s just not an auction. 

As we know Sam was that unfortunate person who lost their vote. I don’t blame him though, it’s more so just bad luck.

Going back to the search for the money capsules, I saw some similarities to the Survivor 45 search as well! You had one person who ended up with a lot of money and clearly in front of the back. Dee in Survivor 45 and Sierra here in Survivor 47. Then you had one person who ended up with little to nothing and had really no shot in the auction. Bruce in Survivor 45 and Andy here in Survivor 47. Then the rest were about average in the middle. 

I won’t lie, I was legit yelling at my TV when Andy couldn’t find one. He was seriously walking right by some of the capsules and was visibly struggling. I think once he started to panic and get in his head… it was over for him. He just continued to spiral and I don’t think there was much he could do to help himself. I’ll cut him some slack by saying that it can’t be easy looking for a little tube in the middle of a jungle/forest. I wouldn’t know where I am supposed to look at all. It’s probably much easier for us to find the capsules from our couch when they are being highlighted on the screen for us. 

With all that being said, Andy pulled off the greatest unintentional strategic move. With no money, he can’t lose his vote. You can’t say he’s not trying haha!

I was very happy with all the items in the auction! If I was there in the moment, I seriously would go for any of the items out of pure enjoyment. Besides the grubs or fish eyes of course. If I think about it strategically, the burger is definitely the way to go. It’s got the protein to strengthen your body and a great mix of carbs. French fries can be a nice fulfilled craving too. If there was a second-place reward, it would probably be the breakfast platter. It had a great array of everything. Although, was it worth it to eat the grubs?! Third place can go to the Burrito. 

Though, now I know If I am ever on Survivor… DO NOT DRINK THE MARGARITA! It’s been the sip of death recently. Whoever drinks from that cup has gotten to boot that same episode. This is me taking notes for later.

Props to Caroline for just sending it and taking a bite of the fish eyes. I wasn’t sure if she would be too squeamish. Instead, she showed a really fun side of her.

You could tell Jeff was having a lot of fun with this auction as well. He was pulling out the accents and everything. Even if it might have been a little cringy, it was fun to see him having fun. 

Then I would be a fool not to mention the hidden advantage clue in the fries of Rachel’s reward. I’m confident enough to say that it is one of my favorite places they’ve hidden an advantage/ clue. It’s so clever and it just shows again how the game is adapting in new ways! The way they made the paper just look like another fry was so cool. I don’t think anybody noticed it besides Rachel!

What a change of events for Rachel. Things have completely turned things around in her favor. It’s now two episodes in a row when she has had a handle on the idols/advantages. Things are looking up for her and I’m starting to understand more why Genevieve/Caroline saw her as a threat. 

The fact that Rachel was even able to grab the idol with everyone else there at the camp was super impressive. It feels like sometimes it’s the moment you least expect something to go down… is the best time for something to go down. While everyone else was chatting and not speculating anything, Rachel saw it as an opportunity. By remaining so calm and casual about it… I don’t believe anyone knew she claimed the idol. 

I feel like Genevieve does a great job of knowing when it’s her turn to go along with the vote or when to speak up about her opinions. Basically, she just knows when and how to talk! Again in this episode, she helped initiate (along with Andy flipping sides) that it should be a Gata blindside. She’s had a hand in a good chunk of vote-outs now and it looks great for her resume. 

Moving on to the Immunity Challenge, I liked how they had a woman and man immunity winner. I don’t know if there is a science behind it where this competition would be harder for a woman or a man. However, I enjoyed watching two people win.

I can hear Charlie Davis telling us how important grip strength is. I better start working on that.

Again, I would not have pictured Sam and Genevieve to be the first people out. That caught me off guard. I would have thought they would last until the end.

Props to Sue because she was seriously a beast. She pretty much didn’t even move. Seriously, she is just different in these challenges. 

I won’t lie, I was rooting for Andy to win so hard. I felt like this could have gone well for his game and sparked confidence/motivation. Especially after the embarrassing moments at the auction with not finding any money. 

But instead, props to Kyle again! It’s the third straight time. While it’s a cool thing he won, I would almost argue that it hurt his game to win it. He’s going to be a clear target for multiple episodes to come now.

As we move onto the strategizing portion of the episode, I believe that Sam/Sierra only have themselves to blame! Here’s why: 

1. They were easily complacent in the idea that Gata and Lavo were going to work together to take down the other Tuku members. Teeny was the only Lavo member who would continuously talk about doing that with them. Not Sol or Genevieve!

2. They totally made Andy feel expendable! Sierra even mentioned that they were just dragging him along as a number for them. They didn’t see him as a threat. 

   1. While that is fine… you made that very clear to him by the way they spoke and acted around him. He could tell that Sam/Sierra didn’t see himself as a threat… so he made himself a threat by flipping.

For example, Sam/Rachel forgot about Andy when it came to them talking about the Gata/Lavo alliance. Sierra said she wasn’t worried about him. Sierra unnecessarily calls him out about looking for an idol. Maybe it was just calling him clumsy or poking fun at him. They had this preconceived notions of who Andy was based on episode 1 and they never let that go. 

You can never count out anyone in this game! Underdog stories are possible. 

Andy played this situation very similarly to how Rachel voted out Kishan! She noticed Kishan saw her as expendable… so she got him out and made herself a threat! Andy did exactly that too.

Which led to a hilarious moment of Andy whipping off the sunglasses and letting his hair go. It was time for him to be the cool kid and show everyone what he was made of. I love this confidence and I’m all for it! 

People online keep saying he is the Emily Flippen (from Survivor 45) and I see it. Both of them had rough starts in their own ways. They buried themselves into holes and very easily could have been eliminated. However, they both picked themselves off the ground and got themselves far into the game with some great strategic moves. The public perceptions of them both changed from meh to… I like rooting for this person!

Now you have the targets being Rachel, Sam, and Sierra. Everyone has these differing opinions and truly I had no idea who it would end up being. This strategizing session before tribal helped me in no way get an idea of who was going home haha. They are all viable options and threats in the game. 

It feels special to say that as we entered this Tribal council, we were looking at the group who will be holding a stake in the game with the jury! So, I can’t even imagine how these players feel. Every one of them should feel so proud for making it to this point! However, they can be proud for a moment, but then they have to get right back into the game and focus. Tribal Council is a rude awakening for that celebration. That dream of being the sole Survivor was about to be brutally cut short for one of them.

I want to note that I think we are at a point in the season where anyone going home is a threat to win the game. But the question is: will they be the biggest threat on that specific episode?

It was mentioned during Tribal Council by Sierra/Sam, but the early stages of the merge might be the hardest strategizing portions of the game. You have so many people you are trying to rally together and keep track of. It’s not just 4 or 5 people anymore. You have upwards of 10 people voting! My brain hurts just thinking of that. It makes sense why production puts in twists to make the Tribal Councils fewer people. It’s easier to follow along with for us fans and for the players too. 

So, as we went to vote, I was for sure confident that Rachel was pulling out her idol to play on herself! You can imagine my shock when it was the shot in the dark instead. It’s truly something we have never seen before and it’s super smart. My take on it is that she used it not necessarily to be “safe”, but more so as a temperature check. She wanted to read the room and how everyone reacted. To see whether or not she should use her immunity idol!

She also avoids having to vote for one of her allies and possibly creating bad blood. 

I have been back and forth all week on whether they should have voted out Sam or Sierra. I think out of those two, Sierra was the right choice. She has shown more to me socially and that she could win over a jury. 

It’s always sad to see someone like Sierra get voted off, but I get it! I am curious as to how she takes on this role of the first juror and queen of Ponderosa! I can’t wait to see who joins her next week. Talk to you then!!