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Castaways spend the next day picking up the pieces after the double-elimination twist.Supplied
For the 50th season of the long-running reality competition show, TV critics Amber Dowling and J. Kelly Nestruck will convene their own two-person tribal council after each episode to discuss gameplay and drama.
Too long didn’t watch (TLDW) summary: In the aftermath of last week’s twist double elimination, the Manulevu tribe’s main emotional reaction was anger, mostly directed at Rick Devens for causing chaos through his (faked) discovery of a (fake) immunity idol at tribal council.
Blindsided Jonathan Young and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick expressed outright rage at Rick for that flashy move, but even Aubry Bracco, who may have been saved by the gambit, was up in arms about his “sloppy showmanship.”
This week’s immunity challenge was a classic where players have to keep a bucket a quarter of their pre-show weight in the air. The anniversary-season surprise was that Survivor host Jeff Probst played as well as part of a side bet. Jonathan, Joe Hunter, Ozzy Lusth and Tiffany Ervin outlasted Probst to win rice for the tribe – and Joe ended up with individual immunity.
Through a rock/paper/scissors competition, Christian Hubicki was selected to go on a solo journey to a floating pontoon where he had to race against time to complete a puzzle. His punishment for losing, devised by the late-night host Jimmy Fallon, was that he would have to write his own name down at tribal council.
Hubicki also had to tell the rest of his tribe he was voting for himself – and his tribe mates decided to follow suit. The professor’s tenure as a player on season 50 came to an end.
Power player of the week:
Amber’s pick: Cirie Fields. This woman came to play. Every week, she proves her social game is top-notch, and with several alliances going on, she’s in a position to win this thing.
Kelly’s pick: Jeff Probst. Cirie’s absolutely calling the shots, but I have to give props to 64-year-old Probst for outlasting four of 11 contestants this week with nothing on the line but his pride.
Whose torch is in danger of being snuffed next:
Amber’s pick: Rick. The others are still annoyed by his boisterous fake-idol performance, so his clock is ticking.
Kelly’s pick: Stephenie. Cirie, Ozzy and Rizo Velovic need to take down the trio of Joe, Jonathan and Stephenie soon – and I think Steph may be the easiest out.
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This week’s immunity challenge had players keep a bucket a quarter of their pre-show weight in the air.Supplied
The episode breakdown
Amber: Now that the original alliances are breaking down, it’s hilarious to see so many big egos come out. Rick’s fake idol obviously threw everyone for a loop, but why not respect it instead of getting mad at it? I’d expect game to recognize game, but on Survivor 50 the paranoia has everyone scrambling. Jonathan and Ozzy are perfect examples of players happy to blindside others but are way too offended when their names come up.
Kelly: Absolutely. I was surprised the most entertaining tribal of the season was so enraging for so many of the players there in person. Steph would get a visit from the cops if she said what she said outside of a reality-TV confessional: “I’m going to babyface them to death and then I’m going to slit all their throats.”
I prefer watching players enjoy themselves (as Rick and Cirie always do), so I was glad Jeff got to participate in a challenge for the “first time in Survivor history” and lighten the mood. The Probst-style razzing from the other players as he crossed that off his bucket list was both comical and cathartic. “I deserve all of this after 25 years of trash talking,” the host said – and he sure did.
Amber: I agree it was really fun seeing Jeff participate, especially since it was in a way that made sense. The rice bribe hasn’t worked for a few seasons now, so for him to bet his own skills against the players was a nice change – and a humbling moment. A lot of us at home still think we could breeze through those challenges but actually doing them is harder than the edits make it seem. Add in that montage of Jeff’s smack talk, and those are the Survivor 50 moments I want more of.
The Jimmy Fallon challenge on Christian’s journey, though? That was just brutal. Making a person vote for themselves with a million bucks on the line feels unfair, especially in a season already so full of chance.
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Jeff Probst participated in a challenge for the ‘first time in Survivor history.’Supplied
Kelly: I know it’s the twilight of network TV and all, but how did the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show end up playing a key role in an anniversary season of one of CBS’s flagship shows? The powers that be at parent company Paramount Skydance must truly hate Stephen Colbert.
Fallon’s twist felt a bit like industrial sabotage, nevertheless. As much as the editors tried to convince viewers there was some suspense, it was essentially Christian’s death sentence.
I’m now girding myself for MrBeast’s appearance next week. Cirie’s who-now? face in the preview of that upcoming episode was just perfect. MrBeast, a YouTube personality, has his own reality competition series – and it isn’t very good.
Amber: I have mixed feelings on the MrBeast of it all, as my kids are pretty pumped. My fear is that the episode will focus more on him than the contestants and game, much like a certain country star who shall no longer be named. I’m not a fan of anything that takes us too far off the island. Survivor is more enjoyable when we don’t see how the sausage is made, and that’s been the series’ biggest mistake for 50.
Kelly: Truly. I would like to see this final 10 play out without too much interference because the showdown between the very different trios of Steph, Jonathan, and Joe and Cirie, Ozzy, and Rizo has the potential to be spicy. I’m starting to get excited about Aubry’s promised “big moves” as well. The self-described “psycho” is well positioned to fly under the radar, then come up the middle.
Amber: If you’d told me at the beginning of this season that it was Aubrey who would save it, I wouldn’t believe you. Now, I’m hoping you’re right because these alliances could use a little shaking up heading into next week.
Kelly: DIG DEEP, Amber, and fill up on rice. We’ve got four more episodes to go.
Next episode of Survivor: April 29 on CBS and Global.
