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Survivor Recap: Life’s a Gamble

Survivor

Battle Royale
Season 42 Episode 11
Editor’s Rating 4 stars

Survivor

Battle Royale
Season 42 Episode 11
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Photo: Robert Voets/CBS

There’s some brilliant Schadenfreude in watching Survivor’s dumb twists fall flat. It’s like the universe is sending a direct message to Jeff Probst: “Survivor is fine as it is.” Many of these modern-day twists only serve to disrupt the natural flow of the game and, at worst, actively discourage risky gameplay and take away from the drama. That almost happens in this episode as the Do or Die twist makes its unwelcome return; thankfully, the Survivor gods had other plans.

As with last season, the Do or Die twist fails to claim a victim. Lindsay is the unfortunate participant in the deadly game of chance this time around. Besides Jonathan, she is the only other person who chooses to compete in the immunity challenge, knowing that she will be forced to play the Do or Die if she drops first. It’s a decision she instantly regrets the moment she falls from her perch and her toes hit the sand. She wasn’t in danger of going home; there was no reason to play in the challenge. However, as she admits herself, the competitor in her took over. So she heads into tribal council with her fate held in Jeff’s mystery lockboxes.

What’s so terrible about this twist is that it prioritizes the fleeting tension of a game of luck over the more intriguing and impactful social and strategic dynamics. And there are some juicy plans in motion at the Kula Kula camp. Mike begins by floating Romeo as a decoy boot — an easy task as Romeo’s ration-stealing hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the tribe. But Mike’s real target is Drea; she’s a power player with a strong chance of winning the whole season. So if he can make her feel comfortable with the Romeo plan, she won’t see the shot coming.

As always, perpetual pot-stirrer Omar has his own ideas. He believes Mike is becoming overconfident after the Hai vote-out. “Mike’s on a Hai high,” he says (personally, I’d have gone for “Mike’s on his Hai horse”). Omar recognizes that Mike is playing harder than he’s letting on, and that’s dangerous. In an ideal world, Omar would like to strike at Mike now, but he knows it’s too risky with Mike having an idol in his back pocket. If Mike were to play his idol, the whole plan would blow up, and Omar’s carefully managed gameplay would be exposed. But what if there was a way to take that idol away from Mike?

Drea has been holding on to an entire tote bag of advantages for a while at this point. One of those advantages is the Knowledge Is Power, which allows her to ask someone if they have an idol — if they do, they can’t lie and must hand it over. As has become a recurring theme of the season, Drea decides to tell Omar about her power. It’s such an unnecessary and disappointing play because, in the moment, Drea’s gut is right. She senses the tribe is coming for her and could effectively take Mike’s idol at tribal and protect herself. Nobody else needs to know. But the moment she tells Omar, it opens up a whole new slate of possibilities because, as the advantage warns, knowledge is power.

Omar fills Lindsay in on Drea’s power, and the pair discusses the best play for them moving forward. They could let Drea steal Mike’s idol and vote Mike out. Or they could give Mike a heads up, have him pass the idol to Omar for safekeeping, and thereby “neuter” Drea’s advantage (of course, the veterinarian would use the term “neuter”). This would leave Drea open to being voted out. There’s also a third option. Omar could warn Mike, take the idol to negate Drea’s power, but still vote Mike out, thereby fully possessing the idol himself. All scenarios are endlessly compelling — and yet could all be for naught if Lindsay was to go home simply because she picked the wrong box. The fact the show would put itself in that position is utterly perplexing.

Thankfully, Lindsay sidesteps the Monty Hall problem. Shockingly, it plays out the same way it did for Deshawn in Survivor 41. Lindsay makes her choice and sticks with it, despite Jeff offering her the chance to swap. She picks correctly. Not only does this mean a competent player isn’t eliminated in a stupid game of luck, but we also get to see this fascinating vote play out. And the Survivor 41 déjà vu continues as Drea asks Mike if he has an idol only to be hit with an emphatic “no.” This exact situation happened last season with Liana and Xander after a nifty idol transfer before tribal. Here, a flashback reveals that Mike passed his idol to Omar. So that’s two-for-two on failed twists for this episode.

Drea has no choice but to laugh as the votes come in to send her out. Much like Hai last week, she takes her elimination in good spirits. In fact, this might be the most relaxed we’ve seen Drea all season, almost as if a weight had been lifted and she could finally let her guard down. After a playful scuffle with Mike about using her extra vote on him, she gives a rundown of her tribemates. She says that she’s rooting for Lindsay, tells Maryanne to keep being herself, reveals that she was never targeting Jonathan, that Mike will win if he makes it to the end, and that Omar was the only one that knew about her secret power. In a sign of respect for Drea’s great game, Jeff even lets her recite the famous words, “The tribe has spoken.”

It was an excellent tribal council that could have been a complete dud had the Do or Die worked as the producer’s surely intended. Hopefully this is the last we ever see of these twists, especially the Do or Die, which adds absolutely nothing of value to the show. Survivor doesn’t need manufactured drama, not when you have a cast like this bringing the goods each and every week.

Idol Thoughts

• While Lindsay’s choice to play in the challenge was questionable, it was undoubtedly the right decision for Jonathan. He was a strong candidate to go home had he not won immunity, especially with his “hangry” behavior rubbing people the wrong way.

• With all the twists and advantages in play, it might be a good time to give an update on where things currently stand. As of this episode, Maryanne has an idol and an extra vote, Lindsay’s amulet has now become an idol, and Omar has possession of Mike’s idol.

• The line of the week once again goes to Lindsay, this time during the scene where Maryanne revealed she loses her pinky toenail two to three times a year. “That doesn’t happen to most people, and you have an annual count,” Lindsay says.

Survivor Recap: Life’s a Gamble