Go for the Gusto (S42: Episode 3)

Wheeeeewwww another doozy!!! Episode 3, Go for the Gusto, had its fair share of surprises… Let’s take a look.

• Over at the TAKU tribe, everyone seems content with the Marya vote out. But are they too comfortable? Maryanne tells the rest of the tribe about her extra vote, and then she finds the idol while they’re all idol hunting together. Her advantages alone might be enough to put a target on her back if the tribe loses immunity soon.

• *Maryanne also declares that she’s seen every episode of Survivor with the exception of 6 episodes of Tocantins. Does Maryanne hate Tocantins????!!!*

• Daniel reaalllyyy starts to show his true paranoid colors in this episode starting with a scene of him begging Mike to give him his idol so he can read the fine print. Mike seems put off by this and it’s exacerbated when Daniel drops the idol in the jungle and has to retrace his steps to search for it. (Between this and Mike misplacing it in the last episode, I’m not convinced this idol doesn’t have legs.)

• Then we arrive at the immunity challenge! Maryanne says the secret phrase on her immunity idol, but Mike decides to not say his (Curious to see if there’s some sort of penalty for him not saying anything if the instructions state that he must say the secret phrase at the next immunity challenge).

• The challenge begins and we can see from the start that the water is rough and the current is strong. Jonathan goes FULL. BLOWN. AQUAMAN BEAST MODE. and legitimately carries his tribemates through the water portion of the challenge. (Anyone else rewind the slow mo of him carrying the ladder like six times? Just me? Got it.) It’s easily one of the greatest physical moments we’ve seen in a Survivor challenge in a very long time (confirmed by Jeff Probst himself), and the TAKU tribe wins immunity by a landslide.

• What happens next is…. unprecedented… a Survivor FIRST. Jeff essentially cancels the water portion of the challenge, and has the IKA and VATI move onto land to finish the last leg of the challenge. What did ya’ll think of this move? I understand prioritizing safety, but I’ve heard some old school Survivor players lamenting that Jeff would never have done this back in the day. I’m not entirely opposed to his decision - It did look like it was going nowhere, that ocean is no joke, and I think it can’t be ignored that this particular cast does not seem to be physically strong by any means. Where I think they messed up though was in going about the reward/immunity situation as normal afterwards. I think they either should have extra rewarded the TAKU tribe for actually finishing the challenge or they should have penalized the other tribe for only winning with the varied challenge. Maybe IKA’s reward could have gone to TAKU or they could have won immunity, but not been given their reward. I don’t know. Soommmethinggg to acknowledge that one tribe (even if entirely because of just one person) was able to complete the challenge properly.

• TAKU sends Chanelle and Omar on the journey to the summit. They talk about wanting to do whatever they can to not screw each other over and Chanelle emphasizes that she absolutely cannot risk her vote. She then proceeds to… RISK HER VOTE!!!! Chanelle… why?!?!?! This was horrible game play… You can’t essentially give Omar the green light to risk his vote, and then go ahead and also risk yours!!! I can sympathize with her desire to play big and take risks in that instance, but it was just so clearly the wrong move, and it seemed like she knew it the second after she did it. And her losing that vote is possibly one of the first key moments in this game because of what it leads to.

• The rest of the episode is a whirlwind for the VATI tribe. Chanelle gets back to camp and is pretty certain she’s lost her vote so she scrambles to coordinate a plan to split votes in an effort to keep Jenny in the game. Hai immediately picks up on her anxious energy, and is on high alert.

• We land at tribal council where all hell breaks loose…

  • To start, Daniel throws himself under the bus by saying he’s always paranoid and that Chanelle and Mike keep him calm. Chanelle then proceeds to mouth “Lydia” to Daniel and based on the editing, it seems like Hai sees this happening. His intuition is confirmed.

  • The tribe votes and it’s a 50/50 tie between Lydia and Jenny. They vote again, but this time with only Hai and Daniel casting votes. Hai is completely flabbergasted when Jeff only reads two votes (I hope this guy doesn’t plan on playing poker anytime soon cause you can read his face like a book).

• Because it’s a tie again, Jeff explains that Hai and Daniel either make a unanimous decision or they go to rocks, which leads us to the worst negotiation we’ve maybe ever seen in Survivor history… Are we sure this guy is a lawyer? He starts off with the immediate disclaimer that he refuses to go to rocks. I probably would refuse rocks at this point too, BUT WHY are you making that your starting argument?! You’re giving your opposition full power at that point, and you lose any leverage or threat level. He then doubles down by blaming Chanelle for voting for Lydia which burns the only bridge he’d maybe have left after this negotiation. I need to know if this was some attempt at strategy or if it was just full blown panic/brain fart. He proceeds to ask Hai and Lydia if they’ll “hold this against him”, and OF COURSE they say no like anyone would in this situation, ultimately leading to Jenny being voted out in an effort to avoid going to rocks.

• All around, this episode was a reaaaallll rough showing for Daniel. If he can bounce back from all of this, it will be quite impressive. I could see Hai and Lydia keeping him around with the idea that he “owes them” one. But I won’t hold my breath.

So how’d we do in the league?!

The points from this episode really switched up our rankings from last week! JT jumps from 20th place to 1st place with a total of 88 points. Brendan remains at the top of the pack in 2nd place with 84 points, and in a stunning moment for our resident underdog Petra, she takes 3rd place with 83 points. Amanda F. and Jenna are bringing up the rear with 50 points each. People with Omar on their tribe brought in a hefty 22 points this episode thanks to his tribe winning reward and immunity, his journey up to the summit with Chanelle, and him having the line that named the episode.

15 people had Jenny on their tribe and 11 people (Alex, Allie B, Allie T, Amanda F, Cristina, Gracie, Jenna, Jill, Joyce, Survivor Pete, Tribemaster Brian) had her as their sole survivor, leading to one of the biggest upsets in Vukelelu history. This season’s favorite to win was one of the earliest departures. Hope to see you back for a Second Chances season, Jenny!

The Blessed Jenny Kim

See you next time!

Tribemasters Liv + Brian