Goddamnit, y’all.

I love this season.

I am aware of all the pitfalls of loving a season after the full on crotch assault that was the finale of HHH, and I am aware that this season could and probably will end just as badly as that. I also know that recently seasons tend to be much better in the pre-merge than the post-merge- and with Dom’s legacy advantage strongly hinting at a thirteen person merge, we can also expect a six person finale and possibly a double boot the week before, meaning we go into the penultimate week with eight people left.

I know the last two seasons have involved them dicking up the endgame so badly it is hard to consider it legitimate as much as legitimately flawed, slowly turning Survivor into a show that is not above, but well descended into the flaws I tend to snob my nose at other Reality TV shows for. (Seriously, when your most recent season is compared to the gong show that happened in RuPaul’s Drag Race Thursday, that’s when you know you’ve given legitimacy a slam out the door- isn’t that show supposed to be a parody?) I also know that we’re getting the firemaking twist again, and more than likely it will suck there as well.

I know all of this… and yet I still love the season and where it’s going.

Isn’t that always how it goes? You know the season can totally knock you on your ass but like a good little dipshit you follow it to the ends on the Earth.

Weirdly, I am in the minority on this. A lot of people are pretty meh on it, and for good reason, as it’s just after HHH put a moratorium on smart people expecting anything of the season. However, as a pretty freaking dumb person, this post-swap has been beyond what I hoped for on a season called Ghost Island with an island dedicated to advantages. I’m not gonna lie and say the editing is great or even good. However, what we have is a set-up dynamic between tribes we haven’t seen in ages- and all starting on the third episode when it usually takes to merge.

You see, the season didn’t start off with any sort of tribal warfare. There was some tribe pride with Jacob saying Malolo would be the best tribe ever, but we were led to understand that as him taunting the other tribe to be sent to Ghost Island. However, come Episode 3, we would see a swap that divided the tribes 5-4 on either side, with the Malolos the minority on each. Coming from this, we have four different old tribe dynamics:

Malolo on Malolo: A plucky group of underdogs we see with heart and ingenuity in an impossible situation.

Naviti on Malolo: A group of cocky, assured overdogs who do things like tell Malolo they’re doomed, and complain about sand and PE teachers.

Naviti on Naviti: The exact combination of the people warring with each other who want to see each other taken down, and Angela who loves her tribe and wants them to succeed.

Malolo on Naviti: A group that should have been the minority but use genuine ingenuity and social bonds to get further ahead without alienating any Malolos.

Because of this, we have a set hero/villain mentality between Malolo and Naviti, with Jacob’s words about Malolo being the best tribe ever echoing in our brains. In many ways the new tribes are a tale of two cities, but within those two cities, two more cities wait.

I’ll start with new Malolo, because it’s simple enough to understand. The Malolos are below the Navitis and it seems like nothing can change that. Sure, we may like the Malolos, and we may despise the Navitis, but five is above four and nothing can change that. Except… maybe an idol.

This got a plan brewing in our heroes’ heads, which they all discussed. In my opinion, we were supposed to feel like we were part of that plan- no less defined by the fact that we spent maybe a minute on the Naviti’s plan (via Chelsea and Des) to put the vote on a strong guy instead of the likely suspect- a weaker woman who will not help at challenges. Granted, Malolo doesn’t really seem to have those, but their logic defies the conventional wisdom of “vote for the Schubert of the alliance”. In my mind, this was actually a really smart move.

However, the edit seemed far more behind what Michael did. When he found the idol, we got a whole backstory about him watching China as a little kid and loving James Clement, and wanting to reverse the curse to pay him respect- a story that was repeated the next episode. This idol and its history meant something to James. That’s the show’s bend on history that I love- how it made someone young enough to watch the show as a baby remember someone they respect and wanting to pay them that respect.

In the group of Malolos, we had snarky Jenna, peppy Stephanie Rae, and comforting, encouraging leader Brendan, all with the proud, confident young Michael Yerger. We saw everything of their counterstrategy that they wanted us to see. We saw Michael reveal he had the idol to his allies, and part of his plan to use it to save them. We got to see everyone’s emotional reactions to it, and reinforce that this plan was a good plan.

Also note that the entire group took less than five picoseconds to decide on a target- that target being Bradley. Bradley played his part impeccably well- both as a villain and as the Lucy that wasn’t. The notorious sandworm reared his head this episode first through the Previously on, which insisted that he was the enemy. Then, in the second half of the episode when Malolo got airtime, Bradley immediately compared himself to Boston Rob and Kim, because he was the dominant alliance leader, and worked to segregate the two sides.

I mean, this is immediate (though very apt in the Boston Rob comparison) to buddy system up the two sides and keep them from interacting. Guy, there’s still a swap to hit, and the merge hasn’t happened yet. Chill out is all I’m saying. Still, we learn a lot after Bradley reveals he is essentially the reason for such a harsh, unfair divide. We learn, for instance, that he’s a punk-ass bitch that’s just as haughty and snide as his pre-game video, and that he hates that Brendan is so encouraging like a P.E. teacher, and I think that he’s allergic to kindness and needs hatred or something. And I love that. I love that he gets to be our villain of the situation.

Knowing Bradley is such a shit, that Michael could idol him, and he could go rather than all of the Malolos is comforting, and what the episode is setting up. Then, to add the cherry on top, we get Michael at Tribal Council bluffing to everyone that since this is James’ idol, he can use it to save two people, which is very smart. Like, make everyone freak out a little that they can protect half of their group and idol you out!

Then, that’s when I started getting worried.

Because Michael then said they were voting out Bradley.

Talk about a momentum killer. I think right there I thought “wait… if Michael says that, can’t Naviti just say “okay, do it”? I mean… if he wanted to get Chelsea or Sebastian to flip, why essentially volunteer to idol out someone else, and then get them to flip? There is legitimately no reason to flip after that. Even Sebastian “Malolos Can Go No Lower Than The Malolo Low” Noel can get that. If he wanted them to flip, it’s as simple as leaving that part out.

But it’s whatever, right? I mean, Bradley has to go… right? He’s mean! And they’re good! Besides, Michael still has the idol he can play right! And then, after teasing us with saying he’ll play it on himself and Brendan (the alpha males Chelsea and Des offered up) then deciding to play it on Steph. When the first Brendan vote came up, my heart sank (well, kinda- I still mixed up Brendan and Bradley’s names, making this the most confusing vote read ever). When Brendan went, part of my soul died.

And to be honest, I kinda love that.

I’ve spoken about it before, especially way back during the Debbie episode in Kaoh Rong, that I love tragedy, especially in Survivor. That’s because I love stakes, and I love investment, especially long term- which is why I love the post-swap so much, and the fact that this isn’t a one-off divide but an episodic plot. Bradley going here is a win for Naviti, and makes everything seem so hopeless.

Malolo could hit a new Malolo Low, as it turns out, because now they’re down to three and they’re down probably one of the warmest, most encouraging castmates they’ve cast in recent seasons in Brendan. This is the role Brendan was born to play- the tragic, fallen leader led to pay the price that Malolo shouldn’t have to play after a drastic misfire from the kid hero.

Yet… Naviti can’t win out, can they? Just before we lost Brendan, we had Stephanie- always giggly, cheerful, and spirited- going to voting confessional and flat out ending Bradley’s existence.

Wow. Keep in mind who Stephanie is. She went into this swap with good spirits, saying “I knew I wasn’t gonna be in power forever.” There’s a secret confessional of her chastising those who called Donathan weak, as she reckons being a gay man in Kentucky while still keeping his spirits up showed him to be the strongest out there. She’s encouraging and kind to others in and out of the game. And she has had gaht. Damn. Enough. Of Bradley bitching and moaning. Fa-fuckin-talaity.

Aside from Bradley the sandworm, the other Naviti Malolos don’t come off well. We have Blonde Meg Quinn Kellyn, with deceptively good personal content, but let’s not forget that last week she told the other Malolos that they essentially had no hope. Chelsea and Des have been underedited, and Sebastian is a flat out dorkus. And yet… they’re active strategically. Bradley is doing a good job at keeping the Malolos together even though I reckon it will backfire massively down the road. Kellyn made a great choice not to gamble her vote for an advantage to keep it at 5-4. Chelsea and Des came together to decide the reverse Edgardoing. They’re sharp cookies. But they’re unquestionably the villains.

Question is, how the hell will the heroes win out now?

On new Naviti, it’s a different story. Rather than it being good underdogs vs an evil majority, it’s a story of smart people managing a group of cutthroat bastards and Angela. Off the bat, Malolo came in down one, but it did not take long to get a foothold as Chris, Domenick, and Domenick’s alliance hit the tribe and were quick to go against each other. They did not give a fuck who Malolo was- as far as they were concerned they were four ballots vaguely taking the form of humans.

Then there’s Angela.

Angela is a tragic case in her own right, and I find myself rooting for her because she deserves better. She immediately bonded with Naviti, in part because of her military background, and in part because (as she says in a secret confessional) that she went through a divorce recently that effectively halved her friend circle, and after being cut off so suddenly, she was happy to make friends. She would have gone to rocks for them. She loved and respected her tribe.

So what does she get?

As soon as she lands she has Chris essentially volunteering her to flip on Dom, when she says herself she doesn’t appreciate how Chris talks to her and gives her marching orders. After Chris is taken to Ghost Island, we have literally all of Dom’s alliance- who she would have gone to rocks for- turn on her on a dime. We also have them belittle her as a naive fool at Tribal Council. When she got the three votes for them, she looked infuriated, and if I were her I would be too. I’m surprised she didn’t gut them at Tribal Council with her teeth- I would have.

When she gets back, it’s the rest of the tribe Dom and Wendell suck up to, aside from a quick brusque apology to Angela about voting for her. Meanwhile, the family she’s made here, her first real friends since the divorce, has made it clear they don’t regard her at all. Upon Chris’ return, she tells him they all stabbed her in the back, and partway through he says “if they’re after you, that means they’re after me” and, correct as he is, galivants off to- alone- make a plan for him and Angela to vote Dom out, revealing Dom’s idol. Not even Angela’s ally gives her the time of day. I know it’s that she didn’t immediately go into game mode, but still.

Poor Angela. She doesn’t deserve that shit, but what can you do?

More than anything, while not focused on nearly as much as the good and evil on Malolo, the disregarding of Angela that cost Domenick and Wendell Morgan is what cements them as villains, and the side we should root against. We saw the show tell us she would go to rocks for them about a scene before Wendell sold her out. Chris may be a comical mansplainer, but we saw at least he somewhat cares for her- though with friends like him, she doesn’t need enemies.

On the Malolo side, we saw all four of them, across two episodes, show ingenuity and grit to work through the hectic deception between Naviti. It started with James, who had just come off the start of the episode gracefully accepting being the secondary target due to his failure on the challenge- as he saw Dom telling everyone about his fake idol and deduced him more dangerous than Angela. However, he also deduced that Dom could have a real idol hiding behind his fake one and didn’t want to run into that if he played it. So he played it as safe as possible- since Wendell was a furniture maker, that left Morgan.

That’s where Libby comes in. Libby I would say reinforced the Malolo side of the bond as a majority. She was friends with Morgan, and Morgan spoke really well of her. When James came to her asking her to cut Morgan, Libby was hesitant at first- but did it. She was more game-focused than Morgan gave her credit for- sure, Morgan made jokes about Libby lying, but I bet she didn’t really take seriously that the cute blonde could ruin her game until she was walking out with a snuffed torch after calling Libby out.

This alley-oops it to Donovan, who really didn’t do too much, but at the same time doesn’t need to. Just by default, everyone loves Donathan. He’s sort of the Malolo-Naviti mascot. He’s sweet, goofy, naive (quite naive), and ultimately not taken too seriously- but that’s like the coffee boy in a meeting of CEOs hearing all their dirty laundry. People tell him stuff because it’s Donathan. He can use that.

Possibly the ally closest to Donathan is Laurel. She hasn’t gotten really any focus until the most recent episode, but she was the one who really vocalized the idea that them splitting the votes between Donathan and Wendell could hit Wendell- and they like Wendell. I wish we saw more of Wendell being likable, but it’s really interesting that he’s nice enough to stop a split for. Because she convinced Donathan that Wendell was too likable to waste easy (and that it was his idea), she talked to Domenick and offered going for Chris. Domenick was apparently so happy about that, he revealed he had the real idol, and that she couldn’t tell anyone (probably since he would get around to telling everyone for her).

Probably due to the divide between the tribe, manipulating Naviti has been like taking candy from a baby. The Domenick vs Chris rivalry has dominated the tribe, and the Malolos have sat in the middle, fully able to just sit back and laugh at their good fortune. However, they’ve made it work for them, not sitting back and just voting off Angela, and taking advantage of playing both sides as they’re so laser focused on each other that if they’ve noticed, they flat out don’t care. It’s a Civil War rather than two opposing armies.

Who will win out? I say Domenick, much as I hate saying it. While people could point to edits and all, the thing that sells me is Dom and Chris’ right hand men. Wendell is so cool that the Malolos want to go out of their way to protect him. Chris is so ignorant that even Angela has voiced that she isn’t really down to do as he tells her. I can see Angela letting Chris go- even as she hates Dom and Wendell for what they did to her- more than I see Wendell not saving Dom directly or indirectly.

This side isn’t as simple as the divide on Malolo, but in other ways, it kind of is. It’s essentially two sides of Naviti turning on each other and Malolo essentially stunting on them. It’s a showcase of who the real players are, and who just heard Probst say big moves a lot (spoiler: that’s Dom’s entire game).

The tribe to root for is Malolo against Naviti, but I am honestly excited to see how it turns out. Even though the future on Naviti leans to be Dom vs Chris, the one on Malolo doesn’t seem like the tidy happy ending we all thought. I love that doubt, and the feeling that good will prevail- but that the bad guys are doing a great job on their own.

-Cam