HOLLYWOOD—Alas, the merge has finally arrived, and it feels like this boring season of “Survivor” has finally kicked into gear and it was a longtime coming. After seven episodes, the merge is finally upon us in ‘Blood Will be Drawn’ that witnessed Sage, Jawan and Steven realizing the move they made will have repercussions, but how far that takes them in this next phase of the game will be interesting to see.
Jawan is ready to take out targets on the Uli tribe, I suspect he’s looking at Savannah and Rizo. Yes, Nate you were in serious danger if you went to Tribal Council. So glad MC has the Beware Advantage, and I’m hoping she gets her idol and vote back. So everyone is coming to the new Kele tribe. I cannot wait to see Savannah and Rizo’s reaction to Shannon being voted out. Don’t be nervous you made a move, that’s how I would look at it.
All 11 players on one camp, there is plenty of hugging, laughing and celebrating, but that all changed when Jawan, Sage and Steven greeted the others. Nate was not pleased to see Shannon missing and realized the numbers may not be on his side. The trio concocted a tale to explain to everyone what Shannon did that led to her being voted out. The story was not great if you ask me, simply put they should have just said Steven played an idol and Shannon was booted as a result.
Savannah made it clear she wanted to work with Sage, but Sage spotted Savannah’s BS immediately. Gosh, Sage is like the only person I’m rooting for this entire season. So, another boat has arrived, this time, a treasure chest that contains an advantage. Keys on the island, but only 1 will unlock the chest and everyone sprinted. I hate when “Survivor” does advantages where everyone knows who has it.
When it was all said and done, Sage won the advantage in the upcoming Immunity Challenge. Rizo, Jawan and Nate were speaking about targeting Hina as expected with Sophie being the target. Sophie is not a threat; the person you should be looking to target is MC or Steven? Sophi, from the original Kele wanted to chat with Alex to see what is best for their game. Both are right, they are in the middle. Sophi was pushing to stay loyal to Uli, whereas Alex wanted to play both sides.
We are actually seeing strategy this episode, and I’m so giddy about it. Savannah wanting to kill the chickens got under Sage’s skin. Sage warned Sophie that she is in serious danger. This is the most we’ve seen of Sophie the entire season, but its long overdue. It was difficult to believe we are only on Day 14, and we’re still doing team challenges, which means 1 person is sitting out.
One thing is the contestants didn’t have to earn the merge, but not all will participate in the merge meal. The second challenge will lead to the INDIVIDUAL IMMUNITY CHALLENGE. Ok, I like that, but I would prefer everyone have the chance to compete for safety. Well Jeff Probst confirmed, whoever is voted out tonight will be the first member of the jury and why are we talking about spots on “Survivor 50.”
So, Sage’s advantage allows her to immediately move to the second part of the challenge. She earns the ‘merge meal.’ Yeah, that’s an advantage people. So, our two teams: Nate, Steven, Sophi, Rizo and Sophie, the other team Jawan, Alex, Kristina, Savannah and MC. The Blue Team was first to start working on the puzzle, with Kristina and Jawan working, while the yellow team had Nate and Sophie. Yellow figured out the phrase immediately and they were working at rocket speed. That was so close, but Yellow edged out the win.
So, this is that classic challenge of holding that ball on a disk while moving down steep intervals. Rizo was first to be out, with everyone else advancing to the second stage. Sage dropped, soon followed by Nate, leaving Sophi, Steven and Sophie. I’m hoping Sophie from original Hina wins putting a kaput in Uli’s plans. Sophi dropped leaving Steven and Sophie battling for safety. Steven dropped and Sophie who knew she was in danger thanks to Sage is SAFE! Let the scrambling begin.
With MC not having a vote, will she locate her idol? Cause her vote is going to be crucial. Back at camp, Nate, Rizo, Sophi, Sophie and Sage feasted so this war between Uli and Hina is intensifying. OMG, can we please stop with the feel sorry for Savannah party? I am so over it, like I am over it. Nate was scrambling between Steven, MC and Kristina. It was so interesting witnessing no one wanting to talk game, Sage was ready to pounce and go against her original tribe.
Yeah, MC realized that she was in a difficult spot having to look for this advantage considering everything at the camp could know what she is up to. She located the treasure chest under the boat, and she had to locate the idol before Tribal Council or she can’t vote. MC was honest with Savannah, as it was apparent Savannah was realizing MC was up to no good. I’m sorry, Savannah is not likeable, and MC called her nemesis out on her antics, as they fought for the key. MC got it first, but Savannah was risky.
Savannah tried her best to sway MC, but MC truly was not falling for it at all. Yeah, I think people are catching onto Savannah’s game tactics. MC got her idol and vote back. We know Sophie and MC are safe, which means it looks like Kristina or Steven could be in trouble from Hina, but is there anyone else in danger? Rizo is also safe because he has an idol, so Kristina and Sophie deciphered that maybe they should strike for Nate. Sage didn’t like that Nate was a potential target, as Sophi learned from Savannah that MC has an idol. Damn, I forgot Sophi had the Knowledge is Power advantage.
Steven is looking like the target, and Jawan agreed to go after him because of MC’s idol. Rizo didn’t want to play the idol, and Jawan was considering a move against Rizo, and alerted Steven of that potential move. This is the type of gameplay that might redeem this season because its chaos on chaos and I love it. I seriously have NO CLUE who could be going home tonight, this might be the first Tribal Council all season I am eager to see unfold.
Jeff kicked things off where lines between tribes being up for grabs because there have been so many swaps this season. I love Sage; she’s so honest and perhaps the most perceptive out of everyone in this cast. Rizo you were not the talk of the town; and publicly expressing your idol to the TC is not breaking news. Rizo was bluffing in a good way and that was fun to see, who is going home, will advantages and idols be played? The tension is palpable people.
MC was not risking it and played her idol as expected. What will Rizo do? He did not play it. Steven and Nate are initial targets with tied votes up to this point, but it was Nate who found himself blindsided, as well as Savannah, Rizo and Sophi. I loved that move from Jawan and Sage. Savannah had so much egg on her face, girl just got a massive reality check.
Next week, looks intriguing as Savannah and Rizo realize the numbers are not on their side and revenge is on their mind. Now the game is seriously underway “Survivor” fanatics!
