Each week Inside Survivor contributor Rob Brodeur will be collecting various Survivor related statistics and information based off the latest episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction.

Tribal Council

Joe was voted out 6-3-2-2. This is the first time he was voted out at the first merged tribal council. He was voted out with a plurality of votes (the percentage of votes against him was less than 50%). This previously happened at the first merge vote in the following seasons: Borneo – Gretchen was voted out 4-1-1-1-1-1-1. Tocantins – Brendan voted out 4-3-2. Cambodia – Kass was voted out 6-4-2-1.



This is the second time Joe was voted out at the first post-merge tribal council in which he wasn’t immune. In Worlds Apart , he won the first two individual immunity challenges and was voted out the first time he didn’t win. In Edge of Extinction, he didn’t win the first individual immunity challenge and was voted out at his first tribal council.

Joe hasn’t correctly voted someone out in the past 53 days of Survivor he’s played. The last person he voted out of Survivor was Kelly Remington in Worlds Apart .

. Joe has only survived one post-merge tribal council that he’s attended. He won the first four individual immunity challenges in Cambodia and survived one tribal council in which he wasn’t immune before being voted out in the next episode.

Aurora is the only remaining Kama member that didn’t vote for Joe at this tribal council.

The four people that had confessionals in the season preview were voted out in a row. Rick, Aubry, Wendy, and Joe were featured in the preview.

Keith, Lauren, and Wardog are the only original Manu players to not vote for Kelley so far this season.

The only remaining players that have votes against them are original Manu members.

The Kama returning players (Aubry & Joe) are the only Kama members to have any votes against them.

Lesu is the only tribe Kelley has been on this season in which she didn’t get any votes at the first tribal council she attended on the tribe. She got votes at the first Manu tribal council. She got votes at the first Vata tribal council.

Lesu is the only post-swap tribe to have every member be currently in the game. Aubry & Wendy were on Manu. Joe was on Kama. Rick was voted out of Lesu, but he returned to the game.

Neither male returning player received any votes pre-merge this season, while both female returning players did receive votes pre-merge.

All four returning players have received votes against them as of this episode.

Wardog is the only original Manu member to not have any votes against him so far this season.

Kelley, Lauren, and Wardog voted together at all six tribal councils they’ve attended so far.

Reem, Chris, and Aubry are the 10th, 11th, & 12th players to be voted out pre-merge, but still be on the jury. The others are as follows: Erin Collins – Thailand. Brad Virata, Rebecca Borman, & Jenny Guzon-Bae in Cook Islands. Rocky Reid and Lisi Linares in Fiji. Marcus Lehman in Gabon. Coach Wade & Courtney Yates in Heroes vs. Villains. You could also include Burton Roberts in Pearl Islands , Matt Elrod in Redemption Island , Ozzy Lusth in South Pacific, and Laura Morett in Blood vs. Water as they were voted out pre-merge but returned to the game and were subsequently voted out and became members of the jury.

This was the first time Aurora, Joe, Julie, Julia, and Ron went to tribal council this season.

Joe is the fifth person to be voted out at the first tribal council they attended after being immune for the entire pre-merge. The others are as follows: R.C. Saint-Amour in Philippines. Nick Maiorano in Kaoh Rong. Jessica Johnston in Heroes v Healers v Hustlers. Chris Noble in Ghost Island.



Merge

Vata means “together” in the Fijian language. Lauren O’Connell suggested the name for the merged tribe.

Vata has the highest percentage of the season’s players with 13 out of 18 players on the tribe, 72.2%.

Every tribe this season has four letters in the name (Manu, Kama, Lesu, Vata). This is the third time every tribe name in a season had the same number of letters. The first was Palau (Ulong & Koror both had 5 letters). The second was Ghost Island (Malolo, Naviti, Yanuya & Lavita all had 6 letters).

This is the first season since Nicaragua to have a red merged tribe.

to have a red merged tribe. The Amazon , Guatemala , Nicaragua and Edge of Extinction started with blue vs. yellow tribes. Marquesas is the only blue vs. yellow starting tribe season where the merged tribe wasn’t red.

, , and started with blue vs. yellow tribes. This is the fourth season with a red merged tribe. Jacare in The Amazon. Xakum in Guatemala. Libertad in Nicaragua. The only seasons to have a red merged tribe are seasons that started with blue vs. yellow tribes.

The symbol on the Vata tribe buff is a phoenix, which signifies rebirth.

The Vata tribe merged on the former Manu beach.

This is the fifth time that three tribes remained until the merge. It happened previously in Millennials vs. Gen X , Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers , Ghost Island, and David vs. Goliath . Ghost Island is the only season to have a two-word title.

, , and . This is the first season with 18 players to merge at 13.

Kama is the second starting tribe to never visit tribal council during the pre-merge. The other is Tandang in Philippines . Coincidentally, both tribes were yellow and had a mix of returning player(s)and new players at the start of the season.

. This is the fifth season where someone previously voted out returns to the game at the merge. The others are as follows: Pearl Islands – Lil Morris and Burton Roberts returned to the game. Redemption Island – Matt Elrod returned to the game. South Pacific – Ozzy Lusth returned to the game. Blood vs. Water – Laura Morett returned to the game. Edge of Extinction – Rick Devens returned to the game.

Kama is the eighth tribe to never attend a pre-merge tribal council. Bayoneta and Viveros in Panama. Puka Puka in Cook Islands. Tandang in Philippines. Tavua in Game Changers. Yanuya in Ghost Island. Tiva in David vs. Goliath. Bayoneta is the only tribe to do this without being a yellow or green tribe.

Lesu is the fourth “expansion” tribe to not be dissolved before the merge. The others are as follows: Ikabula in Millennials vs. Gen X. Yanuya in Ghost Island. Tiva in David vs. Goliath. Angkor in Cambodia and Tavua in Game Changers were dissolved at the second swap.

Joe is the only returning player this season to make it to the merge three times. He’s the fourth 3-time player to do this. The others are as follows: Andrea Boehlke – Redemption Island, Caramoan, Game Changers. Parvati Shallow – Cook Islands, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains. Amanda Kimmel – China, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains. He’s the only male to do this. Ozzy Lusth, Rob Mariano, Cirie Fields and Rupert Boneham played four times and all made it to the merge at least three times.



Hidden Immunity Idol/Advantage

Every hidden immunity idol in the game is currently in possession of someone from the Lesu tribe. Lauren & Kelley found idols. Rick was given a half & half idol in which he had to give one half to another player and not get voted out in order to have it become a full idol. Wardog is the only Lesu member to not possess a hidden immunity idol/part of a hidden immunity idol.



Confessionals

This was the first ever episode (other than premiere episodes) that didn’t have a “Previously on Survivor” segment at the beginning of the episode.

Rick had the most confessionals this episode with 8. Rick and Kelley are tied with the most total confessionals so far with 23.

David, Wardog, Lauren, Eric, Aurora, Joe, and Reem had the least amount of confessionals this episode with 0. This was the first episode where David didn’t get any confessionals. Aurora hasn’t had a confessional since episode 2.

Kelley, Rick, Victoria, Aubry, and Keith are the only players that had a confessional in every episode.

Edge of Extinction

Wendy and Keith left Extinction Island. They are the only two players this season that will not be a part of the jury or final tribal council (unless there’s some sort of twist that removes people from the jury).

Rick is the only player who was voted out pre-merge that wasn’t voted out while on the Manu tribe, and he’s the only player to return to the game so far.

All four of the players that are currently on Extinction Island were voted out in an odd numbered episode. Reem – Episode 1 Chris – Episode 3 Aubry – Episode 5 Joe – Episode 7



Edge of Extinction Challenge – “Back in the Saddle”

This challenge is a combination of the “Jail Break” challenge and the “House of the Holey” challenges that have been seen on previous seasons. Every player that returned to the game at the merge won the Jail Break challenge in their season. Burton & Lil in Pearl Islands. Matt Elrod in Redemption Island. Ozzy Lusth in South Pacific. Laura Morett in Blood vs. Water. Rick Devens in Edge of Extinction.

Aubry has competed in the “House of the Holey” challenge twice and lost both times.

Immunity Challenge – “Audio Slave”

This was the first time in all three seasons he’s played that Joe didn’t win the first individual immunity challenge of a season. He won the first two in Worlds Apart. He won the first four in Cambodia.

David, Kelley, and Joe have competed in this challenge twice before. David and Kelley won once and Joe lost both times.

Julie winning the first individual immunity challenge of the season continues the record breaking streak started by Andrea Boehlke in Game Changers in which a woman won the first individual immunity challenge (the streak is now at 5). Andrea Boehlke in Game Changers. Desi Williams in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. Kellyn Bechtold in Ghost Island. Alison Raybould in David vs. Goliath. Julie Rosenberg in Edge of Extinction.

in which a woman won the first individual immunity challenge (the streak is now at 5). Julie has been immune all season so far.

Ratings

The seventh episode received 7.75 million viewers and 1.6/8 in the Adults 18-49 Rating/Share.

Episode Title

The episode title “There’s Always a Twist” was said by Joe when the Edge of Extinction twist was announced by Jeff. Wardog is the only non-returning player to have an episode title this season so far.



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