Hiding in Plain Sight (S43: Episode 11)

Another week! Another recap before tonight's episode. ...Shall we??

Whenever contestants make bold statements like Gabler does that he’s “hiding in plain sight..” (…also the clever title of the episode, which we will get to in a minute), it’s usually production roasting the player on how socially unaware they are to the game that is being played. But in Gabler’s situation, I’m kinda buying it. For someone who was so on the outs towards the beginning of the season, he’s been able to pitch himself as a loyal voter. Will this win him the game? Not necessarily. I think he needs to have at least one power move, but he’s at least positioning himself to be able to make the kind of move we’re looking for!

Now back to hiding in plain sight… We’re 43 seasons deep and you can tell production is DESPERATE for players to find/use/be burned by advantages. And it’s almost hilarious that the more they throw into the game, the less they are played. We are 21 days into the game, and not one idol has been played, in fact the only ADVANTAGE that’s been played all season was Noelle’s Steal-A-Vote, which wasn’t even really used. (It was used as a decoy to prevent another advantage from actually being played).

This may sound controversial, but I didn’t hate this advantage being hidden “in plain sight.” (certainly better than what they’ve been doing the past few seasons where the contestants need to solve a word scramble to earn a massive advantage in one of the final immunity challenges). However, the way in which the advantage was awarded felt odd. Especially in this new “you gotta earn everything every step of the way” format, it kinda felt as if this was handed to Cody(?) Why was there no risk involved? The advantage worked well for Cody as he “bet” on Owen to win.

And the challenge! The Last Gasp!! One of my all time, old school favorites. This challenge has not been played since season 26 (which is crazy to me). I personally would never want to play this challenge if I was cast, but in terms of watching at home on my couch, it’s one of the best! And I say this because it’s truly an even playing field- there’s no real skill involved other than are you able to stay calm under pressure. My biggest gripe with how it was handled last Wednesday was that it ended in a tie?!? Come on, Jeff! I get that the tide had past, but that water was cold!! Those finders/toes looked pruny! There was lots of seaweed/critters in the water!! And then of course the mental game of “how long do I need to hang on vs my competition?!” Fellow league member, Amanda said it’s probably because the shorter 26-day format allows for no wiggle room! AKA bring back 39 days!!! Still, congrats to Karla and Owen for an incredible showing and Cody for betting properly. Three immunities🙄

Sami I think did what he could in the scramble. He was playing a bit too wild and was in the middle for a bit too long. Writing down his number one ally, Karla, at the last tribal felt like the nail in his coffin. So naturally, he played his Shot in the Dark. And we watched, for the 6th time in 3 seasons, it fail. Retire it, CBS.

What happened this week, tribe?

Rachael once again took home a massive number of points (88), but we do have Emma and Emily hot on her tail, each earning 78 points this week. But with the Sami boot, Rachael will be heading into Episode 12 as the only tribe with 4 players remaining. Paul was this week's biggest gainer, bumping up 9 spots and earning a respectable 71 points.

However, Paul (and Elissa) both lost their Sole Survivor this week, and “sorry for you..” Jill, Coach Juju and Seth, but the tribe has spoken as you now are down to a tribe of zero!

We got two episodes left this season! Who’s going to win it all!? - Tribemasters Liv + Brian