Committing to the Bit (S48: Episode 3)

Vula. Vula. Vula. Now that we’ve seen 7.5 pre-merge seasons in the new era, we can all confidently say we've seen this story play out before. There’s always one tribe that gets absolutely decimated before the merge or a swap. It’s a bummer because I actually think a lot of these players would have been fun to watch—but here we are.

The episode kicks off with a classic idol scramble, and honestly, my expectations for this Vula tribe continues to get lower and lower. lol

Now, babysitting isn’t my favorite Survivor strategy—in fact, I find it pretty annoying. But I guess that’s the whole point. What made this one a real treat, though, was Mary playing into the bit and doing this stop-and-go sprint. It was hilarious—just aimlessly running nowhere to get away from Sai, with no real proof she was actually searching for the idol? A+ television. That said, I read that the editors left out a key detail: Mary apparently found a leaf that looked like a piece of parchment, rolled it up in her pants to make it seem like she was hiding something, and then Sai actually grabbed Mary and stuck her hand in Mary’s pants pocket. Look, I’m already not the biggest fan of bag-searching, but reaching into someone’s pants? Too far. Why was this left out of the edit? Are they trying to make Sai more likable or give her more favorable screentime?

Also where was Star during the bonfire? I'm getting mean girls vibes from this tribe :(

As expected, our Vula faves lost immunity again, while Lagi dominated (again) and got to choose a member from both Civa and Vula to go on a journey. Bianca volunteered, and the tribe picked Kamilla and Justin (seemingly because of his pizza shirt) to round out the group. Now, before I slam this part of the episode, I want to say: I love 50/50 mini-games and elements of risk. I think luck is a huge part of Survivor. But I hated that players like Kamilla and (especially) Justin had no choice in their risk/fate.

And for someone like Justin, whose tribe has now lost three times and is down to just four people, his vote is everything. He didn’t even choose to go on the journey that ended up costing him his vote! This felt less like strategic gameplay and more like a production twist gone wrong. Which is a shame because the idea of using Yahtzee dice to win an advantage is fun… just not for someone in a position where they can’t afford to take that kind of a risk.

Post-journey, we see the castaways share their experiences in very different ways:

• Kamilla, the only one who actually won an advantage, felt obligated to “share” her extra vote with her tribe (mostly because of how open Kyle was with his advantage last episode). I guess ultimately a smart move for building trust.

• Bianca flat-out lied, telling her tribe she didn’t even play the challenge—only to later confess to her closest ally, Thomas, that she had lost her vote. His reaction? Interesting. He’s really leaning into the villain role this season.

• But the best performance, IMHO, goes to Justin. Despite losing his vote, he cooked up an elaborate lie about rolling the Yahtzee dice for food, shelter, or nothing—claiming they wouldn’t find out the results until after tribal. And the tribe bought it, including Cedrick, who Justin hadn’t lied to yet and has been his number one ally.

Mary masterfully playing her mind games

All of this led to one of the most legendary and bonkers tribal councils ever. I still can’t believe it. Let’s break it down:

• A four-person tribal where one player lost his vote (Justin) and another (Mary) sacrificed hers for a Shot in the Dark—leaving only two votes in the urn.

• Mary’s Shot in the Dark was actually SAFE (only the third time that’s happened!), nullifying both votes against her and forcing a revote.

• The revote revealed Justin still didn’t have a vote, leaving a 1-1 tie between Justin and Sai.

• With the tie holding, Cedrick had the sole deciding vote for who from Vula would go home.

I was so bummed Justin didn’t fight harder—he could have made a strong case for staying over Sai. (But according to his exit interview with RHAP there was so much of his argument that was cut out - I think we're getting a real favorable Sai edit tbh). But instead, Cedrick made Mary and Sai promise they’d work together before making his decision. (Seriously?? Wasn’t he just against the babysitting strategy earlier this episode?)

And, fun fact: Cedrick actually made history by becoming the first contestant ever to cast a vote for every single tribe member in a single tribal council.

Sadly, we said goodbye to Justin—who had so much potential but just didn’t seem to have the fight. On the bright side, fellow Vukelulu League member Jenna D. visited him at his pizzeria in Boston last week and said the pizza was amazing (plus, he brought out canolis and got a fun pen from him)! So, road trip to Boston for some pizza, anyone? (Yes, I know this sounds sacrilegious coming from a born-bred, proud New Yorker):

But how is the Vukelulu League doing in our second week of scoring?:

To no one's surprise, Mary was the biggest earner this episode (33 points!!) thanks largely in part to her shocking SAFE Shot in the Dark play! Kamilla and Bianca also scored big with their tribal wins and respective journeys. David also got some bonus crying points for his backstory. (I still think he's a bit too cocky for me - jury is still out on him as a player).

Mama Joyce made one of the biggest jumps in Vukelulu history, soaring from 54th place to 1st and earning her tribe an impressive 79 points! Gabe also made a remarkable leap, securing 74 points for his tribe. Lisa was the only league member to lose a Sole Survivor this episode, while Rebecca and Bradley faced back-to-back losses, bringing their tribes down to just two members each...sorry for you!

With plenty of season left, (and a tribe swap!?!?!?) it's still anyone's game!

Enjoy tonight's episode!!!

-Tribemasters Liv + Brian