After a mostly solid premiere, can this season defy all expectations? Let’s find out!

We start with a new format of previously on Survivor in which there is no narration and it is just flashes of images from the next time promo. I don’t know how to feel about this since the previously on usually gave us clues to the episode but at the same time it gave us some great moments like Jeff roasting Fang in Gabon.

Lairo

We start with the usual post tribal scene of everyone wanting to be unified. Aaron felt left out of the vote and Vince asks why he got votes. Vince could have handled it better because he came off as overtly angry about it. Not Rupert levels of angry but still mad. Missy and Aaron talk about why he was left out and Missy tries to smooth it over. Missy still has no intention of working with him since she is conducting the women’s alliance train. Aaron rightfully says that he trusts no one and they leave the conversastion with a great face by Missy.

Vokai

Here we get the montage of Noura annoying everyone by chastising them for not helping with the fire. It comes off less as motivating them and more as look what I did and give me praise for it. This makes Molly firmly anti Noura and wanting her out first. Jason calms Noura down and tells us that he is happy that she is a bigger target but he owes her for making him aware of his target status. Noura points to Jamal, Molly and Jack as the trio running everything and nicknames them as the King, the Queen and the Jack which would have made a great episode title. I notice that Tommy is not listed as a kingpin and this bodes well for him. I am going to talk about Noura now in this episode. Noura annoyed me because she kept acting like she was ostracized because she is not the pretty popular girl. NO, it’s because you were being abrasive to everyone and put yourself in that position. Noura keep pushing this nerds vs jocks narrative despite the fact that both Jason and herself made mistakes that got them there.

Lairo

The tribe got flint at tribal so they try to make fire. The men fail at it and then Chelsea does it in two minutes. This brings up the question of why didn’t Elizabeth use her IotI experience to help. Tom has a confessional about his ego being broken because a girl started the fire before him. Cue the Lauren eyeroll. This is a great day for Chelsea because she literally stumbles into an idol. Chelsea talks about how the girls are dominating and they don’t need the boys.

Vokai

Noura is leading yoga on the beach. Lauren has a great moment when she sneezes in the middle of the meditating portion. Jack has a confessional where he talks about how Noura was like every yoga instructor and he proceeds to do the motion in the confessional. He also talks about wanting an adventure in life. This bodes well for Jack’s chances in my opinion since we did not need that confessional but we got it. Namaste Y’all! Kellee is summoned to Island of the Idols by a random person in production and is nervous about it.

IotI

Kellee gets there and run into Rob and Sandra. Kellee has a great confessional speculating that Cochran was gonna pop out. She mentions it to Rob and Sandra resulting and Sandra saying how this is better. Cochran got dunked on this episode. The test is to listen to Rob and Sandra’s personal stories then answer questions about it. The single best line from this montage is Rob wondering if chiropractors actually work. I wrote down some details like, Sandra’s dogs Rosie and Papa, Rob and Amber have four kids, Sandra has a husband in the army for 27 year and her daughters are 23 and 21. Kellee is informed of the test with the same offer that Elizabeth got if she gets four right. Kellee is hesitant so Rob sweetens the deal by adding one more tribal to the idol and she has to get one less question right. Kellee takes it and we begin the questions. The questions were so easy compared to Elizabeth’s task. Kellee wins and picks the next person from Lairo to go to the island. Rob speaks well of Kellee and how the contestants should not underestimate her.

Vokai

Kellee gets back and puts on a great performance by crying about the experience. She even offers to strip a la Hali Ford to prove that she has nothing. Kellee pulls a game changing move by hiding the idol in her hair. According to Kellee, she came up with it and Sandra helped secure it in. TSA is quaking!

Challenge

In today’s challenge, a group of six must release a ladder from the ocean then hold it up so a tribe mate can get a bag and finally a group of three rolls three balls into holes to win. The reward is spices and the reactions from the contestants gives us a classic Jeff “Wow”! Lauren sits out and the challenge begins Everyone in Lairo except Elaine, Missy and Karishma are swimming while everyone except Jamal, Kellee and Jason swim for Vokai. Jack and Janet swim down to release the ladder for Vokai while Elizabeth does the same for Lairo. This challenge was a bit of a trainwreck for Vokai since they kept dropping Molly at the bag station. Lairo also screwed up when Chelsea loses the bag for a little. Both teams get to the ball rolling eventually. Jamal almost catches Vokai back up but Lairo wins and Elaine can finally try Cumin. On Lairo, Karishma, Dean, Elizabeth and Elaine all don’t get confessionals. It’s not as bad as Kama in episode 3 last season but it’s close. Tommy gets the end of challenge confessional telling us that it’s Noura or Jason.

Vokai

Noura talks to Jack and Jamal when they get back. Jamal asks why they should keep her and Noura does not sell herself well at all. Jamal tells us that it is a split vote between Jason and Noura in case Jason has an idol. The trio described early meet and Molly still wants Noura out more. They take the afternoon off like idiots. Jamal even takes a nap. Janet, Lauren and Kellee notice this power trio and Lauren devises a plan to get Molly out because she is Parvati 2.0 on the first vote. Every charming, attractive, young woman gets called Parvati 2.0. I think it is better to get Noura out because it is easier to predict Molly and girls plus Tommy still have the numbers without Noura to get Molly out later. Lauren informs Jason who informs Noura and they are excited. Noura starts dancing but Jason restrains her because like Footloose there is no dancing. Tommy is on the fence about it so he talks to Kellee since Tommy has Jack and Jamal in his pocket so he might lose them if he votes Molly.

Tribal

Noura almost lights her hair on fire from the torch. Rob and Sandra enter as Sandra calls it on Twitter, “The Hot Box”. Jason and Noura talk about being on the outs from the beginning and Kellee mentions how they did not feel out the tribe culture. Then, Dan mentions how this game is chess and not checkers. OK Jackson from BB21. Jamal thinks Survivor is a slow burn. Jamal is wrong because Big Brother is a slow burn while Survivor is more of a sprint. Jamal is so confident that he did not bring his bag to tribal. I wish they voted him out after that. We start the votes and we get a voting confessional from Noura about how she is gonna end Molly’s reign as queen. By a vote of 7-2-1…

Molly is voted out. To quote Sandra, “They played her ass”. Molly’s biggest mistake was assuming the vote was gonna be easy. If it seems too easy, it is too easy and you don’t know the true plan. The losers of this vote is Jack and Jamal. Jamal suffers a bit more since Jack has the more direct Tommy connection. The winners of this vote is Lauren since she got her target out and gained 2 votes on her side.

The Purple award goes to Dean, Karishma, Elizabeth, Elaine and Dan. I did not list Janet since she was directly involved with the strategy despite not getting a confessional. Dean and Dan are dead in the water at this point to win while the others still have a shot. I hope that the season does not continue in this direction for air time.

Next Time, someone gets injured, Vince becomes a bro and a Lairo member must sneak into Vokai’s camp.

Grab your stuff and head back to camp!