Survivor 50 episode 7 recap: That’s Not How I Play Survivor

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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.

Too long didn’t watch (TLDW) summary: This episode began with fallout from the Blood Moon triple tribal, which saw a record three players voted out, including both Canadians.

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Aubry Bracco got some heat for not playing her idol as she had promised; she, unconvincingly, said she had forgotten to do so.

But the real fireworks came during a loud confrontation between Jonathan Young (“Are you being honest?”) and Dee Valladares (“Are you saying I’m not being honest?”).

Unfortunately for Dee, Rizo Velovic turned against her after discovering she spilled the beans about his idol to loose-lipped Emily Flippen. The next vote seemed Dee-ordained, barring a twist.

But it was Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick who went on a solo journey and won an advantage (a steal a vote) and Ozzy Lusth who won the immunity challenge and continued to make his own luck.

Though Benjamin “Coach” Wade ruffled feathers in dictating how the vote should go, ultimately everyone stuck with the plan at tribal. Dee’s shot-in-the-dark couldn’t save her. Adiós!

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Power player of the week:

Amber’s pick: Rizo. He’s tight with Cirie Fields and Ozzy; Coach wants him as the Fourth Horseman in his apocalypse alliance with Jonathan and Joe Hunter; and, until Dee spilled about his idol, he was in with the girls, too.

Kelly’s pick: Rizo. He’s got all those alliances and a knack for diplomacy, too. I was impressed he successfully got Coach to cool down without having to quote Taylor Swift (RIP Charlie Davis).

Whose torch is in danger of being snuffed next:

Amber’s pick: Coach, again. As entertaining as his haikus are (to no one but himself), he is obviously rubbing everyone the wrong way.

Kelly’s pick: Aubry. Flushing her own idol did not seem like a power move; it was a sign of insecurity that makes her more a target in my opinion.

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The episode breakdown

Amber: The best part of the Blood Moon turned out to be the aftermath at camp shown this week.

I have to give Jonathan credit: He played Dee and set her up for an epic fail.

I was reading exit interviews with Kamilla Karthigesu and she claims Jonathan and some other players (such as Chrissy Hofbeck and Stephenie) created a pregame alliance. That could be partially why Dee was so upset. Either way, theirs was one of the most open fights of the season so far. Game changing, some might say.

Kelly: All the delayed drama visible this episode definitely made the Blood Moon seem less of a dud twist. I enjoyed Dee letting out her “little Cuban” even if it didn’t help her much. Despite my inherent dislike of Jonathan for his Alabama affectation of calling everyone Mr. or Miss First Name, I agree he’s smartly and successfully modified his gameplay in his second appearance on the show.

What did you think of a 14-person tribal council, the biggest in Survivor history?

Amber: That tribal is what I wanted from last week’s episode. Had three players gone home back-to-back-to-back in the largest tribal council ever, it would have had a bigger impact than the mini tribals we did have.

Kelly: A 17-person tribal would have been amazing – one vote for each syllable in a Coach haiku!

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Amber: Anyhow, the whispering and last-minute bids during this week’s “live tribal,” as Jeff calls it, are one of my favourite things about how the newer players play. Now if only one of them had discovered Rick Devens’s fake idol in the process!

​​I’d like to talk about Emily and her inability to shush. She’s either playing a genius game right now and purposely throwing bombs to keep the attention off herself, or else she really, really can’t be trusted because she’s Sue Who Can’t Keep a Secret in disguise.

Kelly: Nah, I don’t think Emily has any idea what she is doing half the time – as evidenced by her lack of reliable allies at this point.

I’m starting to think Survivor 50 is going to be a villain season, now that so many likeable new-era players have been voted out and Rick and Christian seem on the sidelines.

Coach certainly has been centred in the edit enough:

So unlikeable,

A no-honour hypocrite;

But quite watchable.

Stephenie, a polarizing figure inside and outside the game, was genuinely impressive too this week as she stood with her less dominant arm over her head for an hour in order to win an advantage, at age 45. She compared it to childbirth in terms of pain and endurance!

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Amber: Stephenie is a beast and one of my all-time favourite players. She proved that she’s still a physical force a few times now, and I love her for it. I also love that Cirie immediately called her out about not winning an advantage on that journey.

What I don’t love is the lack of editing that players like her have received up until now. Angelina Keeley has been vocal about that on social media the past few weeks and I can’t wait for Dee’s hot take on the subject.

Kelly: So much of the pleasure of Survivor are those interviews that pop up on social media these days. But I don’t like stumbling upon spoilers, especially the ones that indicate the preseason prediction market bets were right, suggesting someone on the show has looser lips than Emily.

Amber: May the odds be ever in Jeff Probst’s favour.

Kelly: There’s a non-zero chance he’ll be hosting Survivor 100 at age 89.

Next episode of Survivor: April 15 on Global and CBS.