Bull in a China Shop (S43: Episode 7)

Did Dwight have the idol?! Could he have given it back to Jeanine?! What happened - how did it get that crazy right before tribal?!?! ...somehow it always does! Let's jump into this week's episode!

I'm still scratching my head over production's decision to have the tribe choose their own pairs for the immunity challenge. Did they think someone was going to jump up and say, "I'm calling dibs on ____"? This felt very silly because I seriously cannot imagine a season where a tribe wouldn't draw rocks/come up with a way to randomize the teams. This "twist" was all filler no killer.

The challenge on the other hand I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a long one, but it felt like we even got some nice storytelling out of it: Noelle's leg getting trapped in the net and then the whole tribe getting up and untangling her, the drama with Karla falling/Ryan dropping a plank at the lat minute and then some of Cody's and Gabler's backstories. (Also, how exciting that both Cody and Gabler obliterated this previous challenge's record time!) After an impressive Gabler immunity win, we headed back to camp and watched the scrambling begin.

I personally believe that Dwight showed his cards/super-fandom a bit too early. The fact he knew that James' advantage would be "The Knowledge is Power" advantage had to have raised some red flags. But because of this, the strategy of switching around the advantages to prevent James from asking his "Knowledge is Power" correctly was a pretty brilliant (yet very risky) move.

Ok, but Jeanine! I understand she passed her idol to gain some trust in someone else. But whyyyy? That was your one lifeline! Props to the Survivor editing team because although we see Dwight being handed the idol, I still wasn't sure if he in fact was in possession of Jeanine's idol as he was being voted out. But thanks to this enlightening exit interview with Dalton Ross, it is confirmed Dwight was holding Jeanine's idol.

So then as the votes are being read, and they're coming his way why didn't he just pass the idol back to Jeanine? Well in that same Dalton Ross interview, Dwight also thinks that moment was a bit of clever editing. Jeanine didn't actually reach back and ask for the idol because according to the rules of Survivor Jeff Probst says:

"Once the reading of the votes begins, that's it. That's why I say, 'If anyone has an idol or an advantage and you want to play it, now would be the time to do so.' That's your window. After that, you are basically handcuffed from doing anything other than hoping it's not you. Once you're voted out, you're out of the game and any advantage or idols in your possession lose all their power. You must turn all unplayed idols or advantages over to us. You are not allowed to even sneak an advantage to a player so they could try to bluff with it."

And there you have it: Dwight is out and Jeanine's idol is gone.

VUKELULU: WE MADE THE MERGE!

(well, everyone except Maggie L "...sorry for you" due to her disadvantage).

Now that the castaways have all made the merge, they will be receiving +10 points for every week of survival moving forward! Gabler earned big this week (+25 points) thanks to his emotional (and kinda hilarious) individual immunity win, Owen was this week's episode namer (his second this season), James found an advantage, Noelle cried, and Cody and Jeanine earned for risking their safety by pawning off their idols. Because Dwight was in possession of Jeanine's idol, he earned 15 points for being voted out with a possession of an active advantage. Dwight's vote off caused no one in the league to lose their Sole Survivor.

The league's top earner this week was Leigh, scoring a massive 76 points, pushing her into first place! Leigh is also one of only 5 tribe members with all five castaways still in the game (the others being Rachael, Emma, Peach, and Tribemaster Brian). Also shoutout to Elissa, Gracie and Cristina for making huge moves this week!

It's still anyone's game! (Well....maybe not everyone.)

Sorry we were a bit late this week! Enjoy tonight's episode!

- Tribemasters Liv + Brian