A trilogy of idols, some poorly timed words, and a battle for goat supremacy; it’s time for Tristan Kelly to recap and review a relatively relaxing episode of Australian Survivor…

In the game of Survivor, words are everything; the content of a player’s speech and their method of delivery will have a huge bearing on whether they can make it to the end with a legitimate chance to win. If a player is perceived to be untrustworthy by a majority, then their true intentions basically become irrelevant. In Episode 13 of Australian Survivor, we see several players struggle in the words department – whether it be by oversharing information, by unnecessarily lying, or by just stuttering at an unfortunate spot in a sentence. In addition, King Luke decides to feed the peasants, Jarrad proves his wisdom, and Tara continues to gloat about the demise of AK. These are the moments that matter…

Post Tribal Wash Up

At Asaga, Tara is ecstatic to have outlasted her nemesis AK, Luke is preparing to “get rid of the witnesses”, and Sarah is keen to have a chat with the outsider, Peter… Tara lavishes herself with praise for supposedly hatching the plan to “blindside” AK – apparently he had “not even seen it coming…” I would argue that AK had a greater understanding of all the potential voting scenarios that you did Tara, so can you please go back to Survivor Kindergarten to learn about what constitutes a proper blindside! With her nemesis gone, she now feels like everyone can walk around happily “without looking over their shoulders” in fear. So I guess that means that no one else on the island is interested in playing a strategic game… Tara just makes it so easy for me to dis her game.

Meanwhile, Luke earns yet another nomination for confessional of the season with his spiel about being the King of Asaga…

“How does the King stop the peasants from rioting? You’ve got to feed them… I should be charging $300 a night, because I’ve got this think unlocked… It’s like a supermarket out here – might as well get a trolley!” – Luke

I’m not sure how much longer Luke’s reign is going to last though, as Sarah is slowly but surely beginning to plot his demise. She quickly mobilises Peter as a number, having recognised that he would be the perfect tool to gain allies on the other side post merge. It’s a mutually beneficial and sensible partnership. However, given that Odette is basically a non-entity, and Tara is Tara, it seems highly unlikely that they’ll be able to take Luke out pre-merge. In order to save Peter at this stage, Sarah may need to convince Luke and Jericho that he would make a more valuable ally than Tara or Odette as they enter the merge. Fingers crossed.

Over at Samatau, Locky, Ziggy, and Henry treat us to an underwater mermaid show, before entering into a blossoming-power-trio-strategy-sesh… The three biggest physical powerhouses in the game make an unofficial deal to go to the end together, but then in a moment of madness, Ziggy reveals to them that she has a hidden immunity idol. For the second night in a row… What are you doing Ziggs!? It seems incredibly foolish to divulge this information for free, as she was the one that was being approached by the two fellas in the first place. Although her intention may have been to showcase her trustworthiness, all she has done is make Henry and Locky fear her as a threat.

“I have no idea about Ziggy at this point… Her lying face and her good face, and her sad face. and her working face are all exactly the same – and it’s a pretty face so you kind of want to believe it…” – Locky.

Henry is quick to throw Ziggy’s name onto the chopping block, but in an impressive display of strategic nous, Locky argues that if they keep her around, she’ll be able to carry them through to the merge, at which point they could choose to execute a blindside. He also points out that Ziggy has no connections on the other side (which isn’t completely accurate since Peter’s still around), and that they should instead focus their energy on forming a primary final three alliance with Anneliese… Out of nowhere, Locky is working himself back into a position of power – I’m impressed. To her credit, Ziggy instantly realises that her spontaneous over-share may have been a mistake, but with the extra advantage of a super idol in her pocket and plenty of other allies, she should be able to adapt her gameplay accordingly to always remain a step ahead of the boys.

Idol Meditation

Anneliese has a couple of hesitations about entering into a Final 3 deal with Henry, so decides to set a little test for him… She quizzes him about having a hidden immunity idol and whether or not he passed a clue to Jericho at the challenge a few episodes ago – Henry vehemently denies both accusations… A massive fail. Thankfully he comes to his senses a few minutes later, when he realises that he desperately needs some new allies in this game… He invites Anneliese to a meditation session and then comes clean about everything – which is exactly what she needed to hear. Anneliese returns the favour by letting him in on the secret of her own idol, and then the pair share the news with a jubilant Locky. In the space of one afternoon, Locky, Henry, and Anneliese have uncovered a trilogy of idols and stamped their authority on the game as a dangerous new power trio.

On the opposite end of the Samatau spectrum is newcomer Michelle, who tells the camera that she’s only out there ‘slumming’ it in Samoa for the money. No! At least’s she’s honest, but in my opinion, the money should only be a secondary consideration behind wanting to play a phenomenal game. If you let the money become a factor, similar to worrying about losing a poker buy-in, it will likely impact your decision making processes for the negative. In saying that, Michelle seems to be using the possibility of winning the elusive prize as a driving force to fight for her survival – so it might not be that bad after all… Recognising her position on the bottom of the tribe, she sets her sights on finding a way to leapfrog Ben at the next vote. Unknowingly, Ben hands her exactly what she needs by spilling the beans about Ziggy’s potential advantage and his desire to take out Locky. This is an unfortunate error of judgement that will almost certainly come back to bite him…

Bagheads

In a poor showing of sportsmanship, Tara marches into the challenge with her hands in the air as JLP announces that AK is no more…

“Wow, that is the biggest shit eating grin I have ever seen, Tara…” – Ben

Couldn’t have said it better myself Ben.

There’s a bit of banter between the tribes, and then Ben reluctantly hands back the immunity idol to JLP: “I like looking at it…” “I’m sure you do…” The pair are finally starting to develop a nice rapport! The challenge is a team endurance/stamina test in which tribe mates must hold sandbags that are tethered to a trough of water above their heads. The last tribe to remain dry wins. Michelle is useless from the outset, quickly passing her bag to Henry and stepping out of the challenge – basically sealing Samatau’s fate in the process. Incredibly, Tara starts cheering for Locky from the opposing tribe at one point, which would normally be enough cause to send someone home if they didn’t appear to have an unlimited supply of lives… Anyway, despite the best efforts from Locky, Henry, and challenge beast Ziggy, Asaga look the winners for the entirety of the challenge and eventually take home the idol in a cake walk. It’s time for a showdown between Ben and Michelle.

Jarrad Speaks The Truth

Things are initially looking great for Ben: no one sees him as a threat, Jarrad thinks of him as a wingman, and Henry wants to take him to the end as a goat…

“A goat in this game is someone that you can drag all the way to the end who has done absolutely nothing apart from basically chew grass… There’s more chance of me winning with someone like him (Ben) at the end…” – Henry

Jarrad assures Ben that as long as he can “keep it cool” for the rest of the day, his safety will be guaranteed, but I don’t think either of them were expecting the fight that Michelle would bring to the ring… She identifies Locky as a powerful influencer so plants the seed in his mind that Ben is trying to rally the numbers to take him down. Locky just wants to go a week “without having his name thrown around” so all Michelle has to do now is sit back and watch the drama unfold. Extremely well played. Jarrad is not keen on the change of plan, arguing that the fact that Michelle could so easily convince them to switch the vote to Ben, is exactly why they should be sending her home as the more dangerous player. I hope we get to see significantly more action from Jarrad now that AK has gone – the man has a strong Survivor brain…

“If Ben wants to make the big strategic move will he be able to pull it off? Probably not – that’s why we should keep him! Michelle has the wits to blindside someone like Locky…” – Jarrad

Jarrad is absolutely correct (plus Michelle has strong connections with the Sesame Street crew at Asaga), but from their re-established position of power, Locky and Anneliese seem determined to follow Michelle’s advice. Ben tries to make some friendly chit-chat with Locky and Anneliese, but instead just hammers the final nails into his own coffin by uttering four simple words: “Samatau strong, most likely.” Oh, Ben – that is not keeping it cool.

A Dangerous Enemy

JLP greets Samatau with a hearty chuckle, Michelle talks about being a loyal new member of the ‘pink’, and Ben bemoans how the latest swap has tarnished his reputation. Poor old Ben is fully aware that his stumbling manner of speech is a detriment to his game, but he makes every effort to convince the rest of the tribe that he can be a loyal ally moving forward. Locky and Anneliese’s not so subtle whisperings indicate that the vote is still very much ‘live’, at which point Michelle skilfully takes the opportunity to rub Ben’s name through the mud. She accuses him of being a flipper, using his own words against him: “you tell the person what they want to hear” and then strikes the knockout blow by letting everyone know that he ratted Ziggy out in terms of her advantage. Ben makes a valid point that Michelle has multiple allies left at Asaga (which she confirms by listing half the tribe), but unfortunately the damage has already been done. Michelle has executed her plan to perfection, and sadly, Ben seems out of his depth.

The whispering continues right up until the vote, but in the end, Ben is sent home in a 5-3 split, after a classic psych-out-pretend-to-have-an-idol-moment. A classy exit from the youngest player of the season who was probably only one Tribal away from making a smooth run to the end. Samatau’s decision to keep Michelle will almost definitely backfire when she runs back to Luke and Jericho in the not too distant future. The moral of this episode is that everyone should pay more attention to Jarrad!

Who would you have sent home – Ben or Michelle? Join the discussion in the comments below, or chat with us on Facebook and Twitter… Next week Michelle takes aim at Henry, and the final merge grows ever closer. With so many big players still out there, this game is almost anyone’s for the taking!

Make sure you check out the progress of our Australian Survivor Power Rankings battle against Season 1 veteran Conner Bethune and don’t forget to follow Jeremy Gorniak’s live twitter feed during every episode @TTHSau.

If you missed any of the action from Sunday night, you can catch up by reading my Review of Episode 12: Highway Robbery. See you later in the week for more Survivor analysis, crab commentary, power rankings, and general banter!

Tristan Kelly is a 28 year old ex-doctor turned writer, based in Perth, Western Australia. During his final year of medical school he famously watched and analysed every available episode of Survivor (all 368 of them at the time), probably making him more qualified as a Survivor commentator than he ever was a doctor. In between writing and editing short films, he now spends most of his time organising various schemes, and fantasising about one day winning the game.

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