Preposterous (S43: Episode 8)

This episode starts off with a bang when we learn that Dwight did NOT in fact go home with Jeanine’s idol, but rather, JESSE has her idol!!! And not one person knows about it except for him. In the game of modern Survivor where there are seemingly no real secrets anymore, it’s extremely exciting to have an idol in the game this way. While I would have loved to see more of how the idol exchange itself happened during the previous episode, I appreciate the shock factor this moment provides. It’s also a testament to the solid head Jesse has on his shoulders, and the stealth with which he’s trying to play this game. Well done Jesse, well done.

On the flip side, James and Ryan really begin to crumble during this episode. Their game awareness seems to be declining by the second, and neither of them can keep their egos in check which doesn’t typically bode well in this game. The Immunity Challenge involves a familiar wager with Jeff that we’ve seen the past few seasons where a handful of tribe members can volunteer to sit out of the challenge in exchange for rice for the tribe. James goes out of his way to tell Owen “bro you’re safe tonight” in an effort to convince him to step out of the challenge, but as a viewer, it comes off a tad performative so I imagine Owen wasn’t buying it either. James, Jesse, Sami, Karla, and Cassidy volunteer to sit on the bench leaving only Cody, Gabler, Jeanine, Owen, Noelle, and Ryan to compete for immunity. Luckily for Owen, he doesn’t buy James’s claim and ends up winning individual immunity. The vote itself is mostly uninteresting. Jeanine tries to hustle her way into safety, but she is sent home in what seems to be an overall pretty easy, unified vote out. Despite Cassidy’s efforts to pivot the vote to her nemesis Ryan in order to keep some more women on the tribe, Jeanine receives 9 out of 11 votes. This tells us one of 2 things: these players are really taking the game light and easy, or this is the calm before the storm. Let’s Look at the League!

If anybody has a hidden advantage and you would like to play it, now would be the time to do....

So DMC is swapping tribes with Leigh for this week! CRAZY..and honestly, this isn't the only major shake up in the rankings. Rachael makes her debut to the number 1 spot in the league with a total of 335 points, 93 of those points coming from this week alone! Both Jesse and Owen brought in a whopping 25 points for their tribes which gave a huge boost to anyone that has both of them. Last week's leader, Leigh does make quite a tumble due to DMC playing her advantage, but Leigh is still holding on tight to the top 10. And for the first time in all 5 seasons of fantasy Survivor, both your Tribemasters are in the top 5 (we swear this isn't rigged lol) With quite a few people who still have 4-5 tribe members left in the game, the league really is anyone’s for the taking. (Well not everyone’s but definitely a few possibilities here). Emily F. makes a comeback into the top 10, while Amelia (last week’s 2nd place seed) drops to 19th.

***POINTS UPDATE ALERT: Due to the discovery of Jeanine’s idol being in Jesse’s possession and not Dwight’s, Dwight should not have earned 15 points for his tribes last week. We have subtracted those 15 points this week to correct the mix up. Sorry bout that!

With 10 castaways left in the game, only 3 are women. It’ll be interesting to see if or how this impacts the dynamics moving forward. WEDNESDAY! Signing Off! - Tribemasters Liv + Brian