We trudge forward
Another week, and yes, Georgia Tech alum Eva Erickson’s run on season 48 of Survivor continues! If you missed last week’s recap, you can find that here.
SURVIVOR SEASON 48 EPISODE 10 SPOILERS AHEAD
Last week, we saw the first potentially game shifting vote in awhile last week where the Strong Five removed one of their own in David. In hindsight, that’s looking like a very smart move when considering how undramatic this week’s episode ended up being.
After tribal, Eva does the work of getting with Mary to let her know nothing was personal in that vote she was left out of, also telling Mary that she’ll let her know if she’s the vote.
Experienced Survivor viewers will know that is likely total BS.
For the four not in the now Strong Four alliance, Mitch/Star/Mary/Kamilla, they immediately know if something is going to happen to flip the game, the four of them need to work together to vote on the same person (Joe is the name thrown out), to at least force a 4-4 vote at the next tribal council.
As a viewer, this is the only choice we’re led to believe is possible. In all likelihood, that 4-4 split would hold after a revote, forcing a rock random draw at the voting impasse.
After Kyle wins the reward challenge, he picks Eva to go on the reward first, which comes as a surprise (Kamilla and Shauhin are also selected) to most, but ultimately doesn’t impact much in the gameplay of the moment. With Joe not at the reward, it allows members of the Strong Four to be both at the reward and at camp, which helps prevent the outside four from having time just together.
In a confessional during the reward, Eva says “I feel unconcerned with the next few votes.” That should ring insanely loud alarm bells for any Survivor viewer. Time and time again we’ve seen people say something along those lines only to be the next player voted out. It’s surprising she’s tempting fate that hard by saying something so confident, but the thing is, she’s actually right.
As of now, with four tribals left before Eva can’t use any of her advantages, she has two that will guarantee her safety between an idol and a Safety Without Power advantage. She’s also won an individual immunity challenge, meaning there’s a real chance she could earn her way to safety in another challenge before final five, meaning she could be vulnerable only once, or maybe not at all before final four. It’s an incredibly powerful position to be in with essentially no threats coming at her.
Plus, with Kamilla acting as Kyle’s #1, it ultimately means that it’s in Kamilla’s best interest for Kyle to be safe in the game, which means keeping the Strong Four as strong as possible since it can guarantee a majority if Kamilla votes with them.
In a classic Survivor challenge, A Bit Tipsy, Joe pulls out another immunity win, throwing off the outside four’s plan to put four votes on him.
Normally, one would think that the outside four would just shift the vote to someone else in the Strong Four. Eva is right there and needs to get an idol flushed, Shauhin is vulnerable with only his alliance to protect him. It’s just Kyle who is super protected because Kamilla won’t vote for him.
Problem is, that outside four isn’t really a true alliance, evident when Mitch isn’t able to be completely forward with Star about what he wants to do. For Eva and the rest of her gang, that’s all they need to ensure the discussion is about whether to vote out Mary or Star, and they end up picking Star as she still had a shot in the dark to spend.
So, as of now with seven people left, Eva has an idol and a Safety Without Power advantage. She has to use the Safety Without Power no later than the final seven and the idol no later than final five. Unless her alliance suddenly self combusts next week, it’s likely she won’t have to use the Safety Without Power and it will just become a souvenir. Her alliance in remarkable fashion has shown absolutely no signs of budging, and hasn’t faced any serious fights to their power either.
That part has to end eventually. Four people can’t all win the game. Four people can’t all make it to final tribal council. What’s surprising is how little we’ve seen any of them talk about who they want at final three, and it also seems like none of them feel the need to make a game changing move to get rid of the people who actually have a chance at winning. They like each other so goddamn much that they’re ok with riding it out as long as they can.
What’s so weird is how unconcerned they seem to be with Eva’s advantages. Now, Eva has played the social game so well with her alliance that they trust her to a fault, but eventually having advantages is a leg up in getting to final three. Why everyone else in this game doesn’t seem to want to flush those is beyond me. That’s basic Survivor strategy they aren’t using seemingly because of the perceived power the Strong Four is holding. If their chokehold on the game is truly that intense, that’s some miraculous gameplay in the new era, which has been designed to prevent these kinds of situations.