We start off this week’s Survivor with one of the more touching scenes the show has ever offered. Yul Kwon is chatting with Sarah and Wendell and the topic of Survivor friends and relationships from previous seasons comes up. Yul mentions that Jonathan Penner is the only person from his season he has really kept up with. Not only that, the two are very close friends; Yul is close with the entire Penner family. That of course includes Penner’s wife, Stacy, who is tragically and bravely battling ALS.
Yul has a bit of an emotional moment. That’s not uncommon for the show, but it isn’t something we’re accustomed to see out of the Cook Islands winner. Yul has a confessional talking about using his relationship with the Penner’s as his motivation for playing this season. There’s more to it than that, as he has talked about donating whatever prize money he comes away with to ALS research. Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly published an interview with Yul today that is a must-read for any fan.
Tribe Swap
Onto the rest of the game, this week brought upon the inevitable tribe swap, moving from two tribes to three. When it all shook out, this is what we were left with (original tribe noted in parentheses with either a “D” or “S”):
Sele
Parvati (S), Nick (D), Yul (D), Michele (S), Wendell (D)
Yara (Green)
Rob (S), Ben (S), Adam (S), Sarah (D), Sophie (D)
Dakal
Jeremy (S), Denise (S), Tony (D), Sandra (D), Kim (D)
Sele
The events on Sele beach were perfectly emblematic of a major reason why this season has been so interesting. Unlike any season before, relationships outside the game have played a big part in many events on the season. Up until now, viewers knew there were friendships, maybe even relationships, happening between players outside of the game. But it rarely, if ever, made its way into the final cut of any episodes.
But this season has been different. There are so many connections outside of the game that it would prove nearly impossible to edit together a coherent and entertaining season while also removing all of these references. So the show has done the smart thing and leaned into it. And that brings us to the new Sele tribe.
Wendell and Michele are exes. Let’s just put it out there. They dated for a short while, and apparently it didn’t end on totally amicable terms. And that made for some deliciously awkward television. Feed me this slop all day and all night. I could not get enough of it. While not all interactions will provide quite this level of a guilty pleasure, the criss-crossing of real life and Survivor life should only continue to result in top-level entertainment.
Also, Nick admits to Parvati that she was his high school crush. Poor, poor Nick. Parvati is going to sink her claws into him and ruin him. I can’t wait.
Yara
This was another great tribe, but this time due to the current in-game relationships. Adam, Ben, and Rob haven’t exactly had perfect working relationships so far. So getting them on the same tribe, “technically” giving them a number advantage, is great.
Sarah and Sophie see that the three guys aren’t exactly close allies, so they get to work finding one or two of them to pull in. Later, Sophie finds the idol. It’s another half and half situation, which she splits with Sarah.
Dakal
Not much happened with Dakal this week. Jeremy and Denise start trying to find a workable angle to get back on the right side of the numbers. They see that Tony and Sandra appear to be tight, leaving Kim as their best potential option. Tony, on the other hand, talks to Sandra about putting into play Tyson’s plan (you Tyson, the guy they voted out last week) of keeping shields around. He thinks Kim could be that shield for them. But he also recognizes Kim’s place as the middle piece in their new group of five, and he seems to be treading carefully for now.
Edge of Extinction
Nope! Nothing this week.
Immunity Challenge
Each tribe races through a series of obstacles, then throw sand bags to knock blocks off a ledge. They take the bigger blocks to build a color tower, with no repeating colors.
Sele wins, Dakal finishes second, overcoming a big Yara lead.
Pre-Tribal/Tribal
Rob brings back his classic buddy system, keeping the camp on lockdown. After talking with Adam and Ben at the well, they agree to put the votes on Sarah. And to help ensure nothing funky happens between then and Tribal, Rob gets them to agree to hang around at camp together the rest of the time; nobody leaves.
Unfortunately for the Robfather, it was not enough, as he was unanimously voted out. And perhaps more impressively, Sophie and Sarah managed to do while holding onto their idol and vote steal, respectively. Kudos to them for trusting their guts enough to not play what would have been wasted advantages. As he leaves for the Edge of Extinction, Rob bequeaths both his Fire Tokens to Parvati.
Two things before we go:
1) Back to Yul, there is a page on the CBS Survivor site where you can join the fight and donate to ALS research.
2) Dalton Ross broke the news that Survivor is delaying production on seasons 41 and 42, due to coronavirus concerns. Season 41 is tentatively planned to begin filming on or around May 19th (pushed back from March 24). Assuming no further delays, the airing of both upcoming Survivor seasons would not be affected.
