Pictured from left to right: Ozzy Lusth, Emily Flippen, Jeff Probst and Cirie Fields.Robert Voets/Supplied
For the 50th season of the long-running reality competition show, TV critics Amber Dowling and J. Kelly Nestruck will convene their own two-person tribal council after each episode to discuss gameplay and drama.
Catch up with our recap of Episode 1 here.
Too long didn’t watch (TLDW) summary: After last week’s three-hour premiere, Survivor 50 settled down into a (now) standard 90-minute episode.
The main side plots were a) Christian Hubicki having embarrassing gastro issues (his euphemism was an “unexpected evacuation”); and b) Benjamin (Coach) Wade getting a leg cramp while swimming (a safety crew member took him to shore on a boat).
Tribes Cila and Kalo won the reward challenge for supplies – with Vatu getting nada as team member Aubry Bracco struggled .
At the immunity challenge, however, it was Cila that came up short for the second episode in a row.
Though Joe Hunter and idol-toting Oscar “Ozzy” Lusth – who gave his extra vote to Cirie Fields – were both on the chopping block, it was Season 49 winner Savannah Louie voted out. As a coda, Christian and Rick Devens – a.k.a. Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk – hid a fake idol at tribal council.
Ozzy Lusth is pictured. Castaways are forced to go back to the drawing board and reassess their alliances.Robert Voets/Supplied
Power player of the week:
Amber’s pick: Christian. Give him the Emmy for best pratfall and overall gameplay, despite his crappy situation. Runner-up to Rick for having the idea of planting that fake idol.
Kelly’s pick: Christian. I’m loving his entertaining and savvy shenanigans as well as his erudite narrations. He found the boomerang idol, too, and passed it on to Aubry.
Whose torch is in danger of being snuffed next:
Amber’s pick: Charlie Davis. The kid isn’t getting a lot of screentime and hasn’t seemed to form any stellar alliances. Unless he winds up on a great new tribe, he seems expendable.
Kelly’s pick: Coach. As Survivor 45 winner Dianelys “Dee” Valladares said, and he admitted himself, he’s “old.” He’s pushing too hard physically and his speechifying is backfiring big time.
Rizo Velovic and Genevieve Mushaluk.Robert Voets/Supplied
How many Canadians are left: Two. Genevieve Mushaluk and Kamilla Karthigesu both got the sniffles (about the departure of injured ally Kyle Fraser) this week, but no snuffles (of their torches).
The episode breakdown
Kelly: I, for one, don’t feel sad or bad Savannah got voted out. In the real world, she had a two-week turnaround between winning Season 49 and returning for this one. Just from a caloric input point of view, that doesn’t seem healthy – and she’s got a million Yankee bucks to dry her tears with.
Up to this point, we’ve definitely been seeing the “new era” trend play out where the (starving, flint-less) tribe that first goes to tribal council ends up losing a bunch of players early on. The scenes shown from next week’s episode, however, suggests that the players are going to “drop their buffs” and tribes will be remixed early. All bets are off with so many decisions, per the season’s subtitle, “in the hands of the fans.”
Savannah Louie.Robert Voets/Supplied
Amber: If you haven’t looked up Savannah’s wild workout and diet plan heading into Survivor, please do so immediately. She shared an Instagram post that outlined exactly how she became one of the show’s most winningest women, and she was committed.
From a strategic standpoint, I am sad to see her go. She was the only one to call out Cirie and Ozzy’s secret alliance. I remain floored that no one is bringing up Queen Cirie’s name right now. Then again, that’s Cirie’s superpower.
As for those twists, I love it. Survivor is always at its best when the players are uncomfortable, and in a season of all-stars, changing up your gameplay on zero notice is essential.
'Survivor' host Jeff Probst.Robert Voets/Supplied
Kelly: I have a confession to make: In preparation for my Survivor pool, I did some googling – and found that the betting odds and so-called prediction markets are overwhelmingly favouring one particular player. I didn’t pick that player for my pool but it makes me wonder if there has been a leak from the set – or if there’s some sort of mass psychosis going on. Either way, I’m left wondering how it became legal to gamble on prerecorded television competitions? Might we see a live cast reunion at a congressional hearing?
For the record, I’m backing Genevieve this season – and I felt like that was a good choice this episode, as she once again used her brain to help her tribe nail an immunity challenge and seemed to have a premonition that Aubry would receive an idol.
Amber: I like that pick a lot and want to manifest it. My underdog pick is Emily Flippen. My heart pick is Kamilla and my instinct pick is Cirie, just based on how everyone is playing her. If Christian wins though, I’ll be happy because he and Rick are legends right now.
Players I don’t see making it far after tonight’s episode are Joe Hunter and Rizo Velovic. Joe is too honourable for this group, and Rizo is tone deaf: He thinks he’s breaking into Colby Donaldson’s heart but is really just a Kyle replacement. (Please also look up Kyle on Instagram for an iconic life update postshow.)
Kelly: Rizo and Joe are both “new era” postpandemic players – and I’m getting the feeling both the game design and casting this season are favouring players from the before times.
One thing to remember with Survivor casting in seasons that focus on returning players is that, ultimately, it’s about who’s good on camera. I was perplexed as to why Quintavius “Q” Burdette – an emotional, erratic player – was back until he delivered gold this episode in his testimonials about how lazy he thought other players were.
Likewise, The White Lotus creator Mike White is such a wry narrator – and I love this new subplot about him being, as host Jeff Probst said, “the new and improved and ripped Mike White.”
Amber: Note to Mike White: Start bribing fellow players with visits to The White Lotus gym and characters named in their honour. Here’s hoping he makes it to the merge. I like his self-proclaimed old-man vibes. For now, I’m interested to see how everyone fares with new tribes next week. Especially if Coach and Ozzy somehow end up together.
Next episode of Survivor: March 11 on CBS and Global.