Reality TV Thoughts

A merge with seventeen people still in the game?! How will production ever manage that? I’ll tell you how. By doing a second tribe swap into three tribes of five. Make sure to also give the players a mere two hours to all be on the same island, send two players to Exile Island, and give individual immunity to one person from each group and you’ve got yourself the Survivor 50 Merge! Axe three players in spots where all three were basically screwed in one episode and tell the fans that this is what they voted for! Even though the vote was obviously worded for more twists to win and did not tell anyone explicitly what the twists would be! You can mess with the show all you want and blame the fans for it! A master plan.

The Merged Tribe: Survivor’s First Polyamorous Showmance!

For the brief time that the tribes were actually merged, we got a lot of interesting content. Firstly, both Aubry’s and Ozzy’s idols have become public knowledge. Cirie tells Genevieve that Aubry got the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol from Devens. An important distinction here is that everyone thinks Devens gave her the idol when it was actually Christian. It feels like we are being reminded of this with the Devens and Christian scene recapping the idols and that it could somehow be important down the road. Cirie and Genevieve tell pretty much everyone about Aubry’s idol. Genevieve has the knowledge about Ozzy’s idol and Rizo’s idol, which no one else knows about. She confirms to Ozzy that she gave him the idol with Rizo’s help and somehow, the information spreads and Ozzy finds out that everyone else knows about his idol. However, Genevieve has kept her giving an idol to Rizo completely secret, even to Rizo himself. Would’ve been smart and interesting gameplay if we ever got to see any of it play out…

Cirie has her close relationships with both Ozzy from original Cila and Rizo from new Cila. She now wants to bring them both together. She reveals to Ozzy that she told Rizo about her extra vote that he gave her. She also tells him that Rizo told her about his idol. She says in confessional that Rizo and Ozzy share the same spot in her heart, like they’re now in a poly relationship. Cirie also gives a very interesting description of the difference between new and old school and that the old schoolers will eventually encounter a problem. Jonathan gets a lot of content about building relationships with different people and trying to adapt to a more strategic game while working with mostly old school players. He totally did not have a pregame alliance with them or anything…

A scramble breaks out to find an advantage for the next round. Everyone is determined to find the advantage, except for Rizo. He seems resolute in the face that he won’t find the advantage, even walking past a scroll at one point. It all works out for him though, because his newfound ally Ozzy finds the advantage! And the huge advantage turns out to be… going to Exile Island with one other person. Yay!!! It is actually a good advantage though, since it allows Ozzy and Rizo, who he chooses to join him for trust building reasons, to completely escape the ensuing bloodbath.

The Immunity Challenge: The Biggest Reward of the Season!

Normally, I wouldn’t go into much detail about the challenges, but this is the exception. It’s the Applebee’s reward, how could I ignore it? Jeff, of course, has a long monologue revealing the Blood Moon twist where three people will be going home in one night. He also goes into great detail about the Applebee’s menu, which was completely necessary. The three groups are decided randomly. Chrissy, Jonathan, Kamilla, Stephenie, and Tiffany are in group A. Aubry, Christian, Genevieve, Joe, and Rick Devens are in group B. And finally, Cirie, Coach, Colby, Dee, and Emily are in group C. The first individual immunity challenge is the fan favorite “Chimney Sweeps” challenge. Most of group C falls off pretty quickly, leaving Coach and Dee to fight it out. Colby in particular has a fall that would be funny without the knowledge of his injured foot. Coach has a flashback to his iconic Tocantins moment in this challenge before dropping out, allowing Dee to win immunity. Dee drops out after winning, and a domino effect ensues. Multiple people from group A fall, and Christian wins immunity before dropping out himself. It’s down to Chrissy, Kamilla, and Stephenie, all in group A, meaning they’ve already won the Applebee’s feast. Kamilla unfortunately drops first, and then Stephenie bests Chrissy for immunity.

Group A: Chrissy’s Awakening

All three of the vote offs for the Blood Moon were predictable and boring, but Group A’s had the most intrigue. Jonathan is portrayed as the swing vote between Kamilla & Tiffany and Chrissy and Stephenie, but we always knew he would side with the latter. The real intrigue comes from Chrissy. Kamilla and Tiffany think they have Jonathan on their side. Chrissy knows that they think they have the numbers against her, so she talks to both of them and pretends that she’s okay with being voted out tonight but that she hopes that they can be friends after this. In confessional though, she reveals that she’s never going to give up like that and is going to do what she needs to survive. She tells both Jonathan and Stephenie that they’re cut from the same cloth and that seems to do the trick for both of them, on the off chance they ever thought about voting her out. At tribal council, Kamilla is unfortunately blindsided in a 3-2 vote. She does give a memorable exit though, telling Tiffany to drag Jonathan through the mud before leaving.

Group B: Genevieve’s Last Hurrah

Genevieve knows that she is on the outs with this group. Christian and Devens are obviously working together and Aubry has an idol that was given to her by them. All she has is Joe and Devens’ rivalry. Christian, Devens, and Aubry quickly form an alliance. Aubry tells them she’s going to play her idol tonight, which she certainly will end up doing. Devens seemingly wants to target Joe over Genevieve because of their rivalry and his fear of Genevieve having an advantage. However, no one else is on board. Genevieve tries to reason with Christian that everyone sees him as a huge threat and that getting rid of Devens will help reduce that threat level. She can see the writing on the wall though, and is forced to play her shot in the dark at tribal council. It does not work though, and Genevieve is voted out in a 4-0 vote. Alongside Genevieve, her rivalry with Aubry goes out with a wimper.

Group C: Half of Your Life

It’s clear from the beginning that the vote for Group C is between Colby and Coach. They are part of the honesty and integrity alliance that Cirie, Dee, and Emily have a chance to weaken with this vote. Emily and Dee quickly link up, having a connection from being on 45 together and a friendship outside the game. They discuss voting out Coach, since Colby will probably get medically evacuated anyways. Funnily enough, they were probably right about that based off Colby’s exit press. However, Cirie talks them into voting out Colby instead. He has a lot more influence than Coach and is a lot more of a reasonable player. Plus, they can’t be too sure that Colby will get med evac’d.

At tribal council, the writing is on the wall. Colby is going home. Despite the obvious vote, this tribal council is one of the most emotionally resonant and best moments of the season so far. This is Colby’s swan song, his last time playing Survivor. And he gives a very emotional speech about finally learning to find the joy in things no matter how hard it gets. Half of his life has transpired since he first played Survivor, and it has allowed him to meet so many friends and people he loves. 50 has been the most fun he’s ever had playing Survivor, because he came into it with a new perspective. Even though he lost his vote and injured his foot, he’s had a blast. Jeff gives his own ode to Colby and all of the other icons of the game. Colby, Cirie, and Coach have paved the way for the new era players and have inspired so many people. None of them thought that when they first applied for the show, it would lead to them inspiring so many people. But they have, and that’s beautiful. Colby gets heroic music as he’s voted off and tells his castmates to find the joy in the rest of the game before leaving.

Kamilla Karthigesu: Purpled Queen

I’m biased for Kamilla. I’ve been a huge fan of her since the Survivor 48 preseason interviews were released. So unlike most, who were frustrated that three people from 48 were on 50, I was excited that Kamilla was getting a second chance after not being able to play the game she wanted to on Survivor: Honesty and Integrity. I was also worried, though. I was worried that she would get purpled on this season and unfortunately, I was correct. I did enjoy the little moments we got to see from her this season, though, and am glad she at least got to commandeer one blindside in the Charlie vote out. And while it’s unlikely now, I would love for her to get a third chance on any season moving forward. I will always be one of the biggest Kamilla supporters.

Genevieve Mushaluk: Most Unlucky Player Ever?

Genevieve, the Twitter favorite, and one of my favorite New Era castaways as well. She faced an uphill battle this season. So many people were against her in the preseason and she was the only 47 cast member on 50. Surpassing expectations though, she was in the majority of the original Vatu tribe and seemingly locked in with Kyle. After a strong start, though, everything went downhill, almost due to nothing she did. Her relationship with Aubry was rocky from the start and never recovered. Kyle was med evac’d on day 4. Colby and Q lost their votes. She found two Billie Eilish Boomerang Idols! On any other season, she would have had two idols and could have saved herself. On 50 though, she had to give both of them away. To make things worse, her rival Aubry received a Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol from Christian! To top things off, she gets put in a group with Aubry and two of her only allies, where she’s a sitting duck. It’s such an unlucky streak, yet she still managed to prove herself as one of the best New Era players in her short time on 50. It is devastating that she’s said she doesn’t want to play again, as she could easily become a modern legend if she wants it.

Colby Donaldson: Find the Joy!

When the cast for 50 was first announced, I was confused by Colby’s inclusion, especially with Jerri Manthey not on the cast. He seemed so miserable on Heroes vs Villains and I had no idea what he could even bring to this season. My mind changed after watching his preseason interview with Mike Bloom, though. He seemed genuinely excited to be here this time and showed that during his time on 50. He was actively playing the game and despite his unfortunate circumstances, still kept a smile on his face. Even as he knew his game was coming to an end, his smile didn’t fade. He left us with one of the most beautiful moments in Survivor history and an important message, for more than just Survivor. No matter the circumstance you’re in or the cards you are dealt, you should always try to find the joy in things. A true legend.

Conclusion: Twists Galore

You could make a solid argument that all three players voted out during the Blood Moon were twist screwed. They were arguably in solid positions, but being put in five-person groups with very little room to maneuver completely ruined their chances. Some will say its part of the game, but it wasn’t fun to watch. five-person votes are inherently boring, so it’s not surprising that none of the votes were interesting from a gameplay perspective. It sucks that all three of these players went out the way they did on what is likely all of their final appearances. I’m worried about all of the other unnecessary twists that production will add under the guise of “the fans wanted it!” But I’m also hopeful, that the remaining fourteen players will deliver an iconic merge and that the Honesty and Integrity zoom alliance will fall.