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“Survivor: Ghost Island” (CBS)

QUICK NOTE: XFINITY.com is the place to be for all of your bug-eatin’, back-stabbin’, “Survivor” coverage. During the season we’ll have insightful weekly Power Rankings with Roark Luskin, exit interviews, and full episode recaps. Follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute updates.

Last Week: Both tribes became Naviti 5, Malolo 4, Ghost Island was visited by the Noble 1, and Morgan was 86’d.

39 Days, 20 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog

The tribes as they currently stand…

The Naviti Tribe (wearing purple)
Angela, 42 – Army Veteran
Chris, 27 – Male Model
Donathan, 26 – Caretaker
Domenick, 38 – Construction Supervisor
James, 24 – Business Analyst
Libby, 24 – Social Media Strategist
Laurel, 29 – Financial Consultant
Wendell, 33 – Furniture Company Owner

The Malolo Tribe (wearing orange)
Bradley, 26 – Law Student
Brendan, 41 – Physical Education Teacher
Chelsea, 24 – EMT/Professional Cheerleader
Desiree, 21 – Student
Jenna, 23 – Advertising Account Executive
Kellyn, 31 – Career Counselor
Michael, 18 – Real Estate Agent
Sebastian, 22 – Fishing Guide
Stephanie, 34 – Yoga Instructor

Post-Tribal Shenanigans

Domenick and Wendell play things cool after the blindside, but none of the Malolo originals seem interested in talking with them. And, as you’d imagine, Angela is not pleased.

The defeated duo goes for a walk where Domenick admits that he has a real idol. This rejuvenates Wendell and they plot to try to get someone from the dominant alliance to flip.

The next morning, Domenick is psyched to find the legacy advantage left behind by the mOrgan donor. (I’m not proud of that.)

Reward Challenge Time: Two members from each tribe will swim out to retrieve a ring. The first team to wrestle the ring to their post will win a point. The first tribe to three points wins milk and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Result: Naviti wins it 3 to 1 thanks, in part, to Laurel being a machine.

Ghost Island: Naviti doesn’t think they can come to a consensus, so they ask for Malolo draws rocks. Kellyn states that this is her biggest fear and then immediately is revealed as the person who pulled the white rock. Doh…

At Ghost Island

Kellyn tries to stay positive, saying that this is where the “’Survivor’ Gods” wanted her to be.

Kellyn is presented with the option to play a game for an advantage, however, to play she’ll have to wager her vote at the next Tribal. She eventually decides against it, knowing that the next Malolo vote will probably be 5-to-4.

I agree with this move. If the next vote gets screwed up, it could turn her entire alliance against her. Also, how do you know the advantage isn’t something dumb like a free screening of “Jack and Jill?”

At Naviti Beach

Chris correctly reads classic Naviti voting for Angela as a move against him. He then works with the classic Maloloans to devise a plan to split the votes between Wendell and Dom.

He punctuates this by saying, “I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you, and I like myself.”

Chris likes himself? Sorry, that joke is too easy.

Donathan and Laurel don’t love the idea of working with Chris. So, Laurel approaches Dom with the idea of teaming up. Dom understandably jumps at the chance, even admitting to having an idol. He tells Laurel, “Three is still a good number if you have tools to use them with…and I have a tool.”

Too easy!

Immunity Challenge Time: The tribes will swim out to a cage. They’ll climb over the cage and release a chest. They’ll drag the chest back to the beach and across a track. From there, they’ll have to lasso another section of the track to complete the course. Finally, the first team to toss five balls onto a beam will win immunity.

Result: Holy cow! That was the most tense challenge I’ve seen in years. Naviti was waaaaaaay behind, but Sebastian and Brendan couldn’t close the deal. Wendell and Chris were able to catch them and win. Amazing!

Pre-Tribal Politicking

Things are clearly broken down along old Tribal lines with the classic Naviti folk deciding to target Brendan because a stranger named Chelsea thinks the men will be the least likely targets and someone else named Desiree thinks nobody will suspect Brendan.

Bradley is happy to see Brendan go, because he considers him to be “a dad who gives terrible pep talks.” Burn.

Bradley also says the fact that he focuses on every possible detail will make him a fantastic lawyer. Fantastic lawyer? Clearly that’s an oxymoron.

Sea Bass chimes in saying he’s going to go with the flow “because the Malolo can go no further low low than the Malolo low.” Get this guy some Banana Laffy Taffy, he’s losing it.

Michael and Brendan realize that there are no cracks to exploit, so they decide to tell Stephanie and Jenna about the world’s biggest idol.

The plan is to show the idol, tell everyone that they’re all voting for Bradley, and hoping that either Sebastian or Chelsea flip.

Quick Aside: So…what is the motivation for Sebastian or Chelsea to flip if they know they’ll be safe no matter what?

Tribal Time

Classic Malolo immediately puts their plan into place; they start by pointing out that Bradley is in control and Chelsea and Sebastian are on the bottom.

Bradley does his best to defend himself, saying they’re an alliance of equal partners. But Stephanie chips away, congratulating him for making everyone believe that.

Then…Michael reveals his idol and claims that it’s for double immunity and will protect two people. Nobody questions him about this…which I find hard to believe.

Finally, Michael says that they’re all voting for Bradley and it’ll only take one extra vote to change the game.

Sebastian seems slightly swayed, but doesn’t commit either way.

Voting Time: Stephanie votes for Bradley and the rest of the votes are lost to the magic of editing.

During the vote, Michael tells Brendan that he thinks the vote is going toward Stephanie.

J-Pro tallies and returns. He asks if anyone wants to play an idol…and Michael does. He starts by claiming that he’ll play it for himself and Brendan, but rethinks it and plays it for Stephanie.

Alright, we’ve got four votes for Bradley, four votes for Brendan, and the fourth person voted out of “Survivor: Ghost Island” is…Brendan.

As Brendan is leaving, he hilariously gives his buddies a pep talk. Just as Bradley predicted!

Verdict: Wow! That was tense! Great challenge, great strategy, great Tribal. Amazing episode.

	Kellyn – I think she made the right call at Ghost Island. An advantage would have been cool, but losing that vote would have been a trainwreck. Laurel – You got some key information and you’re keeping your options open. Smart, smart, smart.
	Domenic and Wendell – You both kept your cool after a rough Tribal and now you’re back in the game. Michael – You made a move, and you had a 25% shot of it working. Keep your head up, you made some great points at Tribal. Donathan – You’re basically Laurel this week without the challenge domination.
	Chelsea and Sebastian – You both made the right call. You weren’t in any real danger and you’ve still got some fodder to pick off.
	Bradley – Your actions around camp got you in trouble. I think the key is to not act like you’re on top when you’re on top. Stephanie – I’m worried that your Tribal performance put a bigger target on your back.
	Chris – This Angela/Chris/Classic Malolo alliance should be a slam dunk, but people don’t want to work with you. Some self-awareness would do you wonders.
	Libby, Angela, James, Jenna, and Desiree – I can’t give you full credit if you don’t show your work.

Power Rankings Results: Roark had Brendan in spot seventeen, I had him in spot sixteen. The current score is Team Roark 24, Team Gordon 28.

Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes

Tags: survivor, survivor ghost island

This entry was posted on March 14, 2018 at 8:01 pm and is filed under RealityTV, survivor, TV News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.