Hey Survivor fans!

I had a very busy week so I haven’t been able to post…but I’ve done a combined post prior to this week’s episode! A very exciting last episode with another Malolo leaving the island and the Pagonging continuing. Lots to talk about here, but I’m mainly going to focus on how I like the new tribes and why I’m personally struggling with the decimation of the original Malolos.

The main thing that I LOVED about this episode was how production took the time to individually show what the vibes were at each camp, see where people stood, and what alliances were forming. I think they did a really good job at displaying the bonds that were forming in Naviti and Yanuya, even with the same old S**T happening at Malolo. Each tribe was split with 3 original Navitis and 2 original Malolos, which mathematically I guess makes sense but I was surprised to see it that way as an even split again. Also, I initially said I expected a split resulting in 3 tribes of 5 and then went back on my first thought, so Survivor, you fooled me in the previews *hats off*. I’m going to touch on each tribe in this recap on how they were displayed, from right after the split all the way up to tribal council.

The new tribe, Yanuya, consists of Wendell, Chris, Sea Bass, Jenna, and Laurel. I really like this tribe- they have great physical competitors in Sea Bass and Chris, with the smarts of Wendell and Laurel to keep them going in challenges. In fact, I think there’s absolutely NO WAY these guys lose a challenge. I assume that we’ll see the Sea Bass-Jenna relationship continue to blossom and eventually go into the merge. I hope Laurel and Wendell end up working together moving forward. Chris’s edit has him as the easy target since nobody really trusts him, and he’ll be a physical threat at the merge.

Naviti’s got some characters! And Chelsea. This seemingly volatile tribe is made up of Dom, Donathan, Bradley, Chelsea, and Libby. Dom and Bradley try to get on the same page about gunning for Libby, but then the preview shows animosity between everyone on the beach. Libby has been invisible since the Morgan boot and I can’t see how she can possibly be labeled as such a big threat. Chelsea with go with Bradley. Donathan and Libby can really do whatever they want. This will be a wildly entertaining tribe if they end up at tribal.

As far as Malolo goes, I don’t see the Des, Kellyn, and Angela majority cracking for Michael, who’s proven to be a serious physical and strategic threat, moving forward. Sure they might burn the Malolo flag to cleanse the bad spirits or whatever, but it’s still a dire position since they aren’t the most physically strong tribe. Unless Michael can outrun the Pagonging by somehow gaining Kellyn’s trust, I don’t see anything shifting from the status quo here if Malolo ends up at tribal council.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this last episode and about this season in general and I think this episode was a point of frustration for me. We’ve continued the Pagonging of the original Malolo members and as it stands, it’s 9 original Navitis vs. 5 original Malolos remaining, which obviously does not bode well moving forward. A strong theme throughout the season and very much on display in this episode has been original tribal lines. Are they really that important? Do you really bleed Malolo or Naviti? As of right now, the answer to those two questions is profoundly…YES, and to me that’s unfortunate.

There’s been so much discord among Naviti people across the last few weeks, but Malolo just kept losing and there was no hope for them. The frustrating part for me is that since the premiere we’ve been so exposed to the Malolo people, and we’re seeing them all get booted, which is annoying because now we barely know the remaining players.

Think about it: we got such intensely focused content on the Malolo tribe in the premiere, mainly because they went to tribal twice. Then, with the first tribe swap, we get a little bit more of the Chris-Dom action that started in the premiere and the Morgan blindside. Otherwise, for the past three episodes we’ve seen mainly original Malolos getting really positive edits and screen time, which is what made the Brendan and Stephanie Johnson votes so gut wrenching. James going out is more unfortunate than disappointing because it’s just the continuation of the Pagonging. We got a little bit of emotional content from him but not as much as Brendan and Stephanie. So now, we’ve seen all of these players that we’ve gotten to know so much go out so early, and we have castaways remaining that we’ve got virtually no deeper content from Chelsea, Libby, Jenna, Sea Bass. They’ve all been relatively invisible or really under the radar with people like Michael, Kellyn, Bradley, Dom, Chris, and Donathan getting lots of exposure and Wendell, Angela, Des, and Laurel being right in the middle with no real invigorating knowledge about them. So we’re left with about half a cast that we don’t know anything about. I know that we can’t get a great look at everyone in a 20 person cast, but it will be interesting since we will likely get into a merge with a couple of people that we know virtually nothing about.

Since there was no Ghost Island last week, I’m REALLY hoping that somebody ends up there, gets the opportunity to play a game, and actually plays it. I don’t care if they win the advantage or lose their vote, because either way that’ll make things interesting and be a shake up. I’m thinking that the discord on the Naviti tribe will be really entertaining and play Bradley up even more as the villain of the season. If Yanuya end up losing a challenge I’d be completely SHOOK. Malolo…at this rate I wouldn’t be shocked to see them in trouble, but maybe their burning man bonding session will be a turning point for them. I’m expecting the merge at 12, so we still have two episodes to see how relationships build/break down heading into what will hopefully be a crazy post-merge!

Here are my power rankings going into episode 7:

Wendell – He’s the guy everyone wants to work with on the Yanuya tribe. I don’t see them ever losing a challenge, and if they do, I don’t think Wendell is on the block. Sea Bass – He seems to be in the middle at Yanuya, with Wendell and Jenna definitely looking to work with him. He could also work with Chris but I don’t see that happening. Also, I say again, there’s no way this tribe loses a challenge. Kellyn – She’s got Des and Angela in her pocket, with Michael trying to prove his loyalty by voting out James. She’s in total control on the Malolo tribe. Dom – In the “Next Time on Survivor,” a Dom and Bradley battle seems to heat up with frustrations at camp. If that’s the case, I see no scenario in which Bradley comes out on top, especially with Dom holding an idol and advantage. Donathan – He’ll fall right in the middle of the Naviti tribe, having already been on the tribe with Libby and Dom, and might be a swing vote in any situation where Naviti goes to tribal council. Laurel – She’s another person in a great position on Yanuya because she can work with pretty much anybody there. Des – Kellyn’s second in command isn’t going anywhere unless she does something totally detrimental. Jenna – Her thing with Sea Bass might have put her into a great spot on this tribe since they will likely vote as a block. Chelsea – Still pretty invisible, still don’t see her going anywhere since she’s been pretty invisible. Keep enjoying that coffee girl! Angela – I think she’s clearly the bottom of that majority alliance on Malolo, but don’t think she’ll go before Michael goes if they end up back at tribal. Chris – This boy seems to really be on the outs at Yanuya, and if they do go to tribal I think he’s the obvious vote off. Physical competitor and generally kind of annoying, he’ll be the target going into tribal. Michael – If Malolo go to tribal council again, I see no way Michael escapes the Pagonging, unless he somehow finds another idol. Libby – “Parvati 2.0” (I’m still laughing since we’ve seen nothing from her since episode 3) could be in trouble if Bradley and Dom get their shit together and go Naviti strong to take out the “devil in an angel’s body” (again, still laughing). Bradley – I’m going to say Bradley is least safe since he’s been an abrasive personality and looks to be pissing people off on the Naviti tribe in the preview. Hoping that this week is his week after I had him so high the past few weeks.