Survivor is a weird game. Genevieve was essentially invisible at the start of the season. Except, apparently, she’s running the Lavo tribe. It’s not something that just popped up out of the blue, either. She’s always been fully in the mix. She’s proving to be a good player, with interesting and insightful confessionals. Even though Lavo did not go to Tribal Council this week, she still got plenty of time to shine once again, and the show seems to have settled in with her as a key focal point for the rest of the time on the show.
Lavo
Fresh off the Kishan blindside, Teeny feels lost and out of place, betrayed and humbled. To make matters worse for her, Rome even confronts her about the plan to vote him out. But Genevieve gives her a glimmer of hope, doing some effective damage control, telling her Sol — and maybe even Rome — are still the bottom two in the tribe. She’s dealing some big-time Survivor b.s. right now, and I’m here for it. She brings Rome and Teeny together to try to bury the hatchet.
But Rome is only playing nice with her. He’s salty that Teeny didn’t come to him after Kishan pitched voting him out. Teeny is in a tough spot with Genevieve and Rome’s conflicting responses to her, so we’ll see where she goes from here.
But Genevieve seems to be sitting pretty. She tells Teeny that she, Genevieve, is somehow still in the middle of the tribe. She ran the last vote! If she can sell that to Teeny, she’s got some serious Survivor skills.
Reward Challenge
Brand new Survivor twist! The three tribes arrive at the challenge, all immediately clocking that there are only two tribe colors represented. They have a random draw to form two teams of seven. The teams will last just for this challenge and subsequent reward.
The teams race under an obstacle, collecting keys and using them to unlock a ladder, which they maneuver through a maze. Once through the maze, they climb the ladder to collect five balls. They must land the balls in five targets.
The winning tribe wins a trip to the Survivor Sanctuary, where a barbecue and corn hole — dubbed the Survivor Social Hour — await. Um, okay? Sure, this is a new setup, but it’s not that big a deal. Excitedly exclaiming this, some brand new, big thing is definitely an overreaction.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love it when the show allows for tribe-mixing pre-merge. It’s always fun to mix things up and get some different relationships and new perspectives. But let’s not act like what they’re doing here is some revolutionary change.
Blue
Anika, Sol, Rome, Gabe, Andy, Sierra, Genevieve
Yellow
Sue, Kyle, Teeny, Sam, Rachel, Tiyana, Caroline
After a hard-fought reward, the Yellow team wins. The Blue team all go back to their original tribe camps.
Reward
Feeling like the merge is approaching, the Blue group knows how valuable this time together could be. Teeny spills about Tribal Council, leaving some breadcrumbs that she could be a free agent if she makes it to the merge.
Sue asks Sam about the feeling they had that he and Sierra are running things over at Gata. Sam downplays it, saying it’s not true. But that is now the second time his relationship with Sierra has taken center stage with other tribes.
Tiyana tells everyone that Gabe has been idol hunting and is someone you have to watch out for. She wants everyone to be on their toes around him come merge. Kyle plays along, but Sue is not a fan, as she is close with Gabe.
Caroline puts in some work with Rachel and Teeny, reaffirming her previous relationship with Teeny and forging a new bond with Rachel. She’s feeling great about her post-merge prospects.
Lavo
Rome is finally having a down day, saying it’s been the hardest day for him yet, both physically and mentally. But he takes the opportunity to talk to Sol and try to turn things against Teeny. He reveals Teeny’s amulet and tells him Genevieve has no desire to work long-term with Sol and wants to keep going with Teeny.
Genevieve speaks with Sol, and the two discuss Rome, who is now very obviously trying to play both sides. Genevieve — correctly — starts to question how much she can trust Rome and how long he will remain a useful ally to her. If Rome is keeping things from her and revealing info to Sol, maybe he has to be the next to go.
Teeny comes back and gets the full download from Genevieve and Sol. Teeny sees a small crack here and just might have a shot at some new life in the game.
Gata
Anika, Andy, and Sierra test out the fishing gear they won, and it’s a hilarious disaster. They catch way more sand and seaweed than fish. Sam and Rachel return from the Survivor Social Hour and rehash the reward, though they conveniently leave out Sue calling them out as the tribe leaders. But he does tell Sierra and explains how he at least attempted to downplay it. But it still remains a concern for both of them.
Tuku
Looking ahead to the merge, Caroline is trying to see how the five Tuku members can stick together. She wants Tiyana to talk to Gabe and tell him what was said at the reward. If she doesn’t, Gabe will find out anyway at the merge. Tiyana talks to Gabe, knowing that if she refuses, the rest of the tribe will lose trust in her.
But she still fudges the truth a bit, saying she only told two people on the reward about his idol play. Gabe’s not buying it, and any chance at a working relationship between the two feels gone. Gabe immediately goes to Sue to confirm Tiyana’s story, which, of course, she can’t because Tiyana lied.
How did Tiyana not realize that’s exactly what would happen? She knows Sue and Gabe are close, of course Sue can and will easily tell Gabe the real truth. A hasty, poor decision on Tiyana’s part.
Immunity Challenge
Gata arrives at the challenge with their chickens. So, of course, Probst dives right in. Sierra proposes a negotiation. The chickens have not been laying eggs, and they want to trade the three chickens for two dozen eggs. Jeff counters with 15, Sam counters the counter with 20, and Probst settles at 18. Honestly surprising.
The tribes drag a heavy net full of coconuts and sandbags through a course. Along the way, they collect more coconuts and sandbags to add to the net. Once they reach the end, they throw the sandbags at a puzzle wall to knock all the pieces off. They reassemble the puzzle to win the challenge.
Tuku takes first place, with Lavo eking out a close second-place finish over Gata. This means that in great irony, Gata loses their flint and, with it, the way to cook the eggs that will be waiting for them back at camp.
Pre-Tribal
Sam is growing more frustrated with Andy, due to his poor challenge performance. At one point, he was even trying to cut the rope with the dull edge of the blade. Anika wants to target Andy for those same reasons: he continues to be a challenge liability.
However, Sam starts to lean towards Anika, citing his lack of trust. He trusts Andy, which is more valuable to him in the long term than Andy’s lack of challenge prowess is a detriment. Andy makes the rounds, offering himself as a number to Anika and Rachel, giving the appearance that he still feels on the outs. But it’s a ruse. And it works, with the two of them bringing him in on a fake plan to blindside Sam.
Sam and Sierra butt heads about the vote, with Sam wanting Anika out and Sierra wanting Andy. They both acknowledge they need to be on the same page here. Plus, Sam has his immunity idol, which is only good for this Tribal.
Sam is considering playing the idol for Andy, but Andy doesn’t know about the idol. Sam’s worried this could hurt Andy’s trust in him. But, and stay with me here. Maybe Andy would be grateful that Sam decided to use the idol to save him, and he’d trust him even more. I know, it seems way out there, but you never know.
I think the bigger issue is if Sam were to play the idol without telling Sierra. If he plays it for Andy, he has to tell Sierra if he truly wants to keep her as his number one.
Tribal Council
Sam chooses not to play his idol. And his argument won out, with Sierra siding with him and voting out Anika over Andy. And Anika is gobsmacked; she simply cannot believe it. And I *love* what she does next when she leaves.
She gets her torch snuffed, looks back at her tribe, says, “Uh uh,” and walks out. When you get voted out, your dream is crushed on national television! You should be pissed off. More players need to leave like this; it can’t all be kumbaya.
What do you know? It’s another strong episode for Survivor 47. It keeps bringing it week after week.
Things I Liked
- Genevieve. She’s really finding her groove. Or perhaps, more accurately, the show is finding its groove with her. She’s been playing a great game, and now we’re finally getting to see a more complete picture of it.
- Sol. He beasted that challenge, at least the sandbag throwing part. Good form, high velocity, you love to see it.
- Survivor Social Hour. One hot dog each, no condiments, no sides — an incredible low-effort from production. I love it.
- “It was three of us, three votes.” Hahahahaha, what an incredible response to Anika asking who it was
- ANIKA. She gets her torch snuffed, looks at the tribe, and says, “Uh uh,” no comments, and leaves. That’s how you do it on Survivor!
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You can catch new episodes of Survivor 47 every Wednesday at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS, and it is also available to stream on Paramount+.
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