You Better Be Wearing a Seatbelt (S42: Episode 7)

We’re merged! Which now means everyone's "Merge Bonus" (if they're still in the game) is live! But…ummmm Jeff, I have something I **need** to say: Buckle up! Let’s jump into episode 7, “You Better Be Wearing a Seatbelt!”

• After the Lydia vote out, the majority made it pretty clear that Tori (always on the bottom), Chanelle (apparently she CANNOT be trusted), Romeo (why Drea/Hai doing him dirty?), and Maryanne (…she’s…just a lot) were all on the outs. There was a lot of bad lying as the bottom players asked for answers, Hai was all confused “It was so last minute.”

• The one that still kinda stings is the Drea and Romeo relationship. Drea claims he “changed” and has gotten so paranoid, but doesn’t it seem like a lot of Romeo’s paranoia stems from people (namely Drea) not talking to him and making him feel safe? Even IF Drea is no longer trusting of Romeo, it should be her job to make him feel comfortable and at ease.

• Mike! What an edit this man is getting! We’re really getting a lot of touching “good person” moments from him, which is making me think he’s going to the end. Mike learns about Omar’s faith and asks a lot about his Islam rituals/prayers. And it’s this really nice empathetic moment of television. Was it calculated? Possibly. Either way, nice move, Jersey!

• Treemail is back!! I feel like we haven’t seen this in so long!! I’m here for it!! This is gon’ be another food reward!

• When we get to the challenge, it’s a very familiar sight. It’s the same exact course as the one from Survivor 41 where Xander famously took his seat on the sit out bench and did not find the hidden advantage. Just like 41, players drew rocks and the one with the grey rock would be sit out.

• The teams were:

  • Orange – Drea, Hai, Lindsay, Omar, and Romeo

  • Blue – Chanelle, Jonathan, Mike, Rocksroy, and Tori

  • Maryanne drew the grey rock and would have no chance at reward. However, Drea offers to switch with Maryanne because Drea says, “she doesn’t like peanut butter and jelly.” Maryanne promises to return the favor if the opportunity presents itself.

• THAT SWAN DIVE!!! This man is not human!

• Blue had a bit of a lead on Orange (mostly from Jonathan’s leg of the swim portion), but when it came to sinking baskets, Rocksroy couldn’t do it. At this point Orange had fully caught up, thanks to Omar landing 4/5 baskets in a row. At this point, Drea finds the Beware Advantage and Jonathan switches places with Rocks and miraculously lands all 5 baskets in a row, winning the reward for Blue!

Proud of U, Omar!

• The irony with Drea finding this “Knowledge is Power” advantage is that she already has the knowledge…she’s the one holding (pretty exclusively) all the power!! But I love that these Survivor producers are really leaning into the fake blood this season! Who knew that this is what I’d be craving after 40+ seasons of television!? I hope next season we get some Nickelodeon Slime!! (PS What a terrible lie from Drea when Tori asks about the blood on her hands! SMH)

• I AM EYE-ROLLING SO HARD AT JEFF ONCE AGAIN TRYING TO MAKE THIS “MONSTER” A THING! “Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen, it's NOT going to happen!” But he does intro this challenge just like he did in 41, where he is planning on doing another negotiation with the players. If enough people sit out, then he will let them have a bag of rice enough for four days.

• Ok, Maryanne!! With those **acting tears** The versatility! Also this negotiation? I feel like Jeff was working harder to cut them a deal than the actual players! Angelina who?

• Maryanne, Omar, Lindsay and Drea all opt to sit out in favor of gaining rice for the tribe. It’s a tough challenge where the contestants are holding a buoy up by two sticks, while balancing on a small plank of wood. This challenge moved pretty quickly as Tori became the upset once again, winning immunity.

We're surprised too, girl.

• This win caused a lot of scrambling and paranoia back at camp. With Tori no longer being the easy target, the attention shifted towards Chanelle and Romeo, with the plan ultimately being Chanelle because Mike wants her OUT (because she voted for hime a couple episodes ago and Mike does not forget!!).

• It seemed like it would be a pretty straightforward Chanelle blindside until Drea once again fails Romeo and doesn’t make him feel safe. Romeo begins two wreak havoc and more paranoia and the more he scrambles, the more he’s beginning to look like a target. Even though Chanelle knows she’s on the chopping block, in complete opposite to Romeo, she decides to play it reaaaaalll cool and low-key. Props to her.

• When we get to tribal, the feeling that most of the tribe (this conversation was lead by Jonathan) is that the people who sat out of the challenge and risked their safety in the game are off the chopping block.

• The conversation flips back and forth, both Romeo and Chanelle have a nice tribal performance, but ultimately Mike gets his way and Chanelle becomes the 8th person voted out and the first member of the jury.

• Why did they keep saying “bye Chanelle?” Was that not really odd? They brutally blindsided her and then are giving her warm goodbyes? Chanelle was NOT into it. I don’t blame her.

• Also - it appears to have been confirmed by Chanelle, but they did not film Ponderosa episodes this season. Drop the four-keep-the-one ruined that for us…

HOW DID OUR TRIBE DO?

With the addition of everyone's "Merge Bonus," there were some massive shakeups. The tribes that now have 5 contestants are really starting to command their leads (Joe, Lori, Laura, Vicky, David, Matt R.) It also helps to have Tori on your tribe, as (so far) the highest point earner this season. In fact, in order to be in the top 8 (MySpace) in the league, you must have Tori on your tribe!

Chanelle was a big lose across the board. Brendan, Maggie and JT all lost their Sole Survivor. And Robbie and Mama Joyce's tribes have also now dwindled down to one contestant left.

There's still a lot of game left. And with a double elimination this week, I'm sure we're going to see some big moves (and falls)!

Grab your torch. Goodnight Vukelulu,

Tribemasters Liv + Brian