What an odd name for an article, right? What the hell is an Earth Kingdom? It’s an Avatar thingie, right? What does that have to do with Survivor, much less this episode? I swear, this has a point. While we all dry our eyes from this episode and pretend we were too cool to cry, I’ll explain what I mean- and take you on a trip through young Cam’s media awakening.

“The Earth Kingdom Has Fallen” is a reference to the second season finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender that aired in December of 2006. I was twelve at the time and I was in love with the show (and Toph Bei Fong) like no one could imagine. I loved the Gaang, I loved the good vs evil, and I was mystified as fuck at Zuko going through his own journey. I knew him as violent and mean, but I started really feeling like there was a chance he could change allegiances. The buildup was amazing. I was excited.

And that episode broke my little baby heart.

Everything bad happened. The heroes lost. Iroh was captured because Zuko betrayed him (and if you know Iroh you know why that is a big deal, because it’s Iroh). Azula won, had power, and the Gaang was sent on the run. On top of it all, Aang was nearly killed, and it was kind of amazing to my little kid mind that he was lucky enough to be barely conscious. The dethroned Earth King, thrown out due to underhanded play after a mile of manipulation, ended the season with the words:

That has always stuck with me to describe a tragedy in storytelling where hope feels low. I had a hard time seeing where they could win- and that wasn’t helped by the fact that it took nine months to air the new season! Nine months to a twelve year old is basically fifty years. (Then they pulled it again halfway in the third season, so I deduce that they might just hate kids.) Still, it stuck with me to see my heroes in my favorite show on Earth have to go into the unknown with nothing- essentially like what we have here.

Last week I talked about tragedy in Survivor- and how the good versus evil battle between Malolo and Naviti leading to that indicated strength and longevity in the story arc. However, that was from a distance- I knew they were good more than I really felt affected by it. I was glad I was watching good TV and thought that it was good TV- but still something that ceased to have any effect on me outside of debate, conversations, and the article I was going to write.

This week… this week just sucked.

I teared up when it happened. I felt like I’d lost something. I felt angry and hurt and like I wanted to knock the smug smirk off of Bradley’s face with at least both of my fists. And if that seems like a little much to you, then that’s a sorry statement of the type of Survivor we’ve gotten recently. People aren’t objective sometimes- and they should have feelings other than disdain and spite for Survivor because it’s a TV show. I’m just happy to be feeling genuinely emotional and downcast about something over season-ruining rigging and transphobic acts. Yay at lowered standards.

I thought it was transparently clear last week who the heroes and villains were, but this really signified it this week. I don’t think any of it would get this sad, but they really drove it home this week. The sort of intensity is disarming- it’s the type of emotional intensity that Survivor rarely goes to without reason- but honestly I prefer it that way. A big theme this season has been people sharing their personal backstories. What has gotten them to play, what they’re leaving behind, what they come back to. It’s been a good bit heavy handed, true (there’s just blocks of scenes where they reveal their personal backstory and until this week it never factored in) but it’s heavy handed in a way I don’t mind.

Moreover, I don’t mind it because it defines the characters. It’s not just Tony Clone vs Spencer Clone vs Joe Clone. It’s Laurel, who’s an athlete from an Ivy League school. It’s Kellyn, who redefined herself after a divorce and is afraid of being alone. It’s Chris, who uses his mother’s failing health to talk with Donathan about his struggles with the same. Angela is hurt that the others turned on her because her military experience led to her quickly bonding with them. James is humble about losing the challenge because that’s what his parents taught him. Michael wanted to reverse the curse on James Clement’s idol because he watched James as a kid and loved him. These moments both define the game and define the characters in a way we haven’t seen in ages.

I bring this up because a lot of this development was given to Stephanie Rae Johnson. She was shown as a superfan despite the fact that she looked like the exact opposite of a Spencer. We saw her mention that she was a mother and that motivated her. We learned this episode that she’s a former Mormon and when she left the faith, she left her husband- and has been a single mother ever since.

That last one is the most powerful. That’s one of those past stories that defines a lot about her. She posted a before/after photo before she indulged in fitness that showed a powerful transformation- one that timewise is connected to her leaving the faith. It could explain the fact that her kindness and encouragement stops when she thinks someone (like Bradley, or the ghost Stephanie left of him after last TC) isn’t performing as they should or enjoying the experience. It justifies and redefines her thoughts on her kids- presumably the link between her life before and after the faith, and a new kind of meaningful to her after it all.

Personal backstory, since we’re doing that this season:

Another part of bringing up A:TLA earlier is due to my own childhood of being strangled by faith and never knowing how indoctrinated I was until I was exposed to other ideals. I didn’t see the third season live because we moved to the literal middle of nowhere in Idaho. My days were spent running water to trees and my nights were spent doing faith practices and listening to sermons that told me exactly who I needed to be to avoid eternal damnation. Demure, obedient to authority, straight, attentive, worshipful, and only focused on God- none of which I am now.

It took my parents breaking with the faith for me to- and I was about a full year behind until I was exposed to society and all of its flaws and beauty (starting with a very reluctant volunteer attendance to a Night of Noise). I went to college, I came out several times, I found my strength in writing work my faith would burn on the spot (especially the myriad of lesbian fanfiction). I made friends that I never would have before. I was someone. Being a child in a family that made that change made me relate to Stephanie, because my parents made the break she did- despite the consequences- and because that I was able to be my full self.

When I heard that, I felt bonded to Stephanie because of our oddly specific shared experiences. When she talked about her kids, it had meaning, because I had proof that she really loved them- not that I doubt that parents love their kids, it’s just that sometimes I need something tangible to really get something as more of a concept. In a whirlwind, I really got Stephanie- and just like that, she was gone. More than anything, that’s why I feel like I lost something.

On a recapper level, I love that it sucks. I love that it hurt, in a way that was natural, just the way things were. I love that it hurt because they didn’t hide or contort it. They made us face it. It sucks, it was messed up, and it was legitimately tragic, but that’s just how it was. It wasn’t them pulling the wool over our eyes so we didn’t see them punch our gut, and it wasn’t them exposing truly truly awful attitudes (from others on and off show). It was a Pagonging, and the winning side had Bradley, Chelsea, Des, and the tortured food metaphors of Sebastian Noel on it.

It’s funny to say that Bradley and the Invisibles are actually the bad guys not just in circumstance, but in the way they played it to the hilt. The constant changing of targets, the lackadaisical looking through bags to check for idols, and how they let the others beg for their lives with stone faces. I recall Stephanie begging at Tribal Council with her only defense being that she doesn’t want this to end, she applied for years and wants to make her kids proud. Before they vote, Des says that someone that night gave them a reason to vote them out. Then, Stephanie is gone. That’s brutal.

The thing was, Michael and Stephanie’s BFF Jenna voted for her. They had to turn on her because their only way to survive was to kiss the ass of the ruling Navitis. However, this brings up the idea that the whole tribe knew the vote beforehand. The whole begging for your lives thing was ersatz- they made Michael and Jenna beg for nothing, and Stephanie beg even though the decision was already made. That’s extra brutal. That’s unnecessarily brutal.

To really drive home the Ned Stark aspect of the boot, Stephanie was damn near lionized in death. It was sad, everyone was crying (except Bradley who was too busy poisoning orphans to pay attention) she got her own sad music, and she was barely avoiding tears in her final words. This went beyond good guys vs bad guys. I say it all the time, I love stakes, and the stakes keep going up in every episode. And this is something no one is about to forget.

Michael and Jenna are the two left over, and Jenna is the one to watch now. She was shown as Steph’s friend, and she was shown actively saving herself. The three voting possibilities became two as she flirted with Sebastian kind of half heartedly and was deemed by Naviti, Sebastian-first, as harmless and worth keeping. Now that Steph is gone, I wonder where Jenna’s story goes. She’s been shown under the radar as someone funny, snarky, and sick of Naviti. I hope she’s the one to take up the torch of revenge.

Burn them all, I say. Starting with Bradley.

All I am left with is the same childlike mystery and desperation that I had after the Earth Kingdom fell. This can’t be the end, but I can’t see a way out. Sure, (SPOILER ALERT) there’s a swap next week and yadda yadda, and (SUPER SPOILER ALERT) there’s an expansion to three tribes if the Mini-Marianos are to be believed, but the numbers for original tribes are 9-6 in favor of Naviti. They could have three on each tribe. Get three Naviti-Malolos on one tribe, two others plus Angela on a second tribe, and a whole new set of Malolos are ripe for the fucking.

But I’d rather feel emotionally hopeless than feel angry and judgmental. I’d rather know they have no options than yell that they’re not playing the game. I’d rather be sad that this happened to my favorite than a superfan. I’d rather appreciate the villains as assholes than think they’re bad players. This is a TV show true, but that means I should feel subjective if I want.

This is really the problem with swaps on day seven. Before, I was stunned at the idea that bonds could be built in a week, but what I didn’t consider is that it’s in the honeymoon period- soon enough that you’re really sweet on them without being late enough for you to figure out their flaws and negative attributes. The only thing on Naviti was the conflict between Chris and Domenick- and Angela herself was blindsided by how severe it was.

Right now, we’ve got a lot to fear from Naviti towards Malolo. Right now, they have the numbers to do what was done to Mana and Ta Keo in similar seasons. I simply don’t want to think about that, but it’s the reality I’m faced with.

It just can’t be… right? The good guys have to win.

But this is Survivor. They rarely do.

-Cam