Hey! it’s Cho, and if you haven’t read last week’s recap of the premiere episode of Survivor Edge of Extinction, you need to check it out now! Now let’s get right into this current episode! We start off right where we left off last week with Reem on the edge of extinction, and she looks totally dejected as she walks around her barren camp. She finds out that she’s able to quit at any moment in the game. She’s a wrecking ball of emotions as she replays in her mind why she was voted off. She tries to figure out the reason why she left her family at home and vows not to quit.
Resentment Against the Returning Survivors
Wendy Diaz is harboring a lot of resentment towards Kelley Wentworth as the reason why she’s on the bottom. She decides to throw Kelley Wentworth under the bus to David Wright, Keith and Rick. Kelley relates to Wendy being on the bottom and understands why she’s scrambling so hard. She defends her own position in the game by organizing the rest of the tribe to find the idol before Wendy can potentially find it herself. Smart move, Kelley Wentworth!
On Kama, Ron Clark is showing us all of his awesome dance moves, and I am absolutely LIVING for this! Aubry Bracco says she hates “kumbaya Survivor” at the beginning of the game, because you don’t know where people really stand until you lose immunity. She finds it frustrating that she can’t figure out how the others perceive the returning players. Ron Clark says the two returning survivors have had their chance to shine. Victoria exposes Aubry Bracco to others about her overplaying ways. Then, get a SHADY receipt-filled montage of her telling everyone similar stories. I swear to you CBS has the same editors as Bravo this season!!
The Scramble for the Hidden Immunity Idol
Back on Manu, the entire tribe is on their group search for an idol, but David Wright is already worried about Kelley Wentworth going against him. That’s a big mistake in my opinion. for David Wright to go against someone with a big target on their back so early. David makes the case that Wendy’s loyalty to Reem, despite knowing she was leaving, is more valuable than someone like Wentworth. Rick and David solidify an alliance that I think looks to be a long-term one.
On Kama, Gavin wears his obnoxious pineapple shirt and goes looking for the idol with Chris. Meanwhile, others are noticing that the men are off on their own. The women, especially Julie, are frustrated that the men are always looking for idols and the women are not. Despite this realization, we see no scenes of the women searching. So,I lose all hope for the women of this tribe.
The women of Manu are obviously better fit to play this game. Lauren admits that her role models slash Survivor QUEENS growing up were always Kelley Wentworth and Parvati because they were strong players who made huge impacts on the game. We get a montage of Wentworth being awesome in her previous seasons before Lauren ends up finding the hidden immunity idol! She surprises me by vowing that she won’t even tell Wentworth about the idol she found.
Keith Struggles
I feel like this episode has been on forever. Finally, we get to the immunity challenge. It’s a basic grab and go puzzle. The reward gives them a choice between spices or fishing kit. Manu struggles with this challenge, because Keith is absolutely useless. I could make a pun about managing long hard snakes, but I’ll spare you. Just know this challenge looks difficult! Kama wins their second immunity and ends with a Ron Clark cheer! Wardog lets us know that Keith is a liability in challenges, and maybe Wendy can be potentially spared at tonight’s immunity challenge.
Keith is feeling the heat, because Chris had to help him with swimming. Also, he didn’t do well with the ring toss. Until now, he was confident with Wendy leaving, but now he’s nervous.
Cut to others in the tribe like Wardog wanting Keith out instead. Kelley thinks it’s stupid to vote Keith out when Wendy’s a bigger threat. Then, Kelley admits that this is purely a selfish desire, because she knows Wendy is after her! I love when survivors don’t bullshit in confessionals and own their shady behavior towards others! David is just upset that Wardog is targeting Keith instead of Kelly Wentworth. I think David’s focus on Wentworth is not smart long-term. How does he not realize that he needs to keep all the returnees in for as long as possible? Does anyone else agree with this reasoning? This seems almost as crazy as criticizing someone for sending you a condolence letter! Let me know in the comments what you think about David’s obsession with Wentworth.
Manu Jockeys for Allies
Keith makes a pitch to Chris to try to save him, and it’s really heartfelt. So, Chris contemplates making a big move to save him. Chris goes to Rick with the idea to blindside Wentworth. Rick and David explode with excitement! They should have five votes against Kelley. Then, Chris let’s Wardog in on the plan. Wardog doesn’t agree with the direction they’re taking things. He make the case that in a switch situation, Kelley ends up being the biggest threat. Wardog is actually a thinker. He wants to keep the tribe strong as well as keep a shield in the game for him. Wardog and Chris ultimately seem to be the two people making the decision.
Because this isn’t Wentworth’s first rodeo, homegirl is ALREADY smelling the blind side a mile away. She lets us know that the only person she trusts is Lauren, but she’s sensing a major shift in the tribal dynamics. I’m kind of terrified for Wentworth and wish Lauren was stupid enough to burn her idol for her. And let’s just talk about how Wendy is off everyone’s radar in a matter of days! The Survivor gods are good, because I predict Wendy will be amazing to watch!
Tribal Council
As we enter into tribal council, Wendy recognizes that she’s probably on the bottom, and Wentworth acknowledges that she’s in a similar position with her name being thrown around. Wentworth makes the case that she has value as a shield for other people’s protection. Lauren pipes in to support Wentworth in saying that she also keeps the tribe strong. Keith retorts that your longevity in the game doesn’t rely on ring tosses. Well, he’s right but also wrong. Keith’s longevity in the game was cut short from the ring toss fiasco earlier that day. It’s time to vote..
The Real Plot Twist
Jeff Probst reads the votes: Kelly, Keith, Wendy, Keith, Keith, and Keith is voted out of the tribe. He leaves on a bitter note saying: “Y’all think y’all are gonna win challenges?!” Well, they might just win without you there, Keith! He finds the option to get back into the game and starts panic-praying! He’s swaying back and forth, and his body language seems to tell us that he’s actually having a hard time deciding if he wants the chance to continue on!! AND CUT TO BLACK! We get a clip of Reem desperately saying if no one shows up soon, she’s gonna end up raising the white flag. CBS is pulling out all the editing stunts & tricks with yet another cliffhanger. I just want to know what YOU think about this episode? As always, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms to stay in touch with me throughout the entire week: Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Twitch!
Please No Spoilers In Comments
Cho- Great recap! Ron is hilarious! I think Aubrey may “dialogue” herself right out of the game. I want to see more Joe.
I am loving Ron a lot. Aubrey is definitely overplaying right now. I think it’s a part of her nature to want to play hard. She’s lost that magical feeling where new Survivors are not playing like game bots right off the bat.
Keith also was uttering invocations, alternating between Jesus and God. I gathered they were supposed to appear, perhaps in a burning bush, to tell Keith to either seize that torch or take the road less taken and leave the game.
I cannot imagine anyone leaving at that point.
Someone hoisting the white surrender flag, possibly.
It isn’t like Keith was unaware that Survivor involved swimming and some actual strength and stamina, but his lessons apparently only taught him to dog -paddle.
Yeah I think we are supposed to wonder whether Keith will stay in the game or heaven forbid decide to go home. Quite the dramatic editing! I felt for Keith, but he simply isn’t cut out of the game physically, and unfortunately, his team hasn’t won enough challenges to deem him worth keeping around.
Keith is so young and so out of his element, but he is really trying and never gave up. I’ve gotta give him credit for that.
I definitely give him credit. I find a lot of similarities between him and myself, except I know without a doubt that I couldn’t handle the physical aspect of the game. He’s brave and has a lot of spunk!
I am having to watch again because I watched on Demand this morning and I was working as I am now, but I don’t want to miss all the good Ron Clark scenes which I apparently did 13 or so hours ago when I tried to watch the first time CBS doesn’t let me rewind and that drives me batty. I try to rewind my radio in the car, and hate when I can’t do that too. I DON’T HAVE TIME TO FOCUS JUST ON ONE THING! I am still not through my daily load of emails yet!
Oh yeah you definitely need to rewatch for the Ron scenes. He’s so hilarious!
Great re-cap, Cho. Ron makes my 10 year old laugh out loud. I can’t believe Keith couldn’t make the decision. Stay in the game, always stay in the game. I can see how Reem is struggling. She is alone, hungry, and spinning everything in her head over and over….the what-if’s are making her crazy. I am struggling with Survivor bringing back the 4 former players. I can see both pro’s and cons to it. Poor Wendy can’t catch a break. What happened to her foot? It is the same color as her hair in the previews.
Oh my goodness I’m so concerned about Wendy based on the previews! She’s already shaping up to be someone I can root for.
I think we have a few players to look forward to, especially Ron. He just has this magical energy about him. I want him to go deep. I’m sure his students will learn a lot about watching him play the game.
I don’t want Reem to quit. I can imagine it being demoralizing. The key will be rather other voted out Survivors will join her on the beach or if they all go to separate places where they just wait for an eternity. Now that would be crazy… watching them slowly go mad on the island alone. I totally see lots of people quitting in that scenario. Or maybe they all join up together as a tribe similarly to how they did in Pearl Islands with the outcast twist.
Thanks for the recap, Cho! I love Ron Clark. His little cheer & dance was FUN! If Aubrey can’t get onboard with FUN, then git da hell off the island!
Wendy lucked out when Keith messed up the challenge. Keith was sooooooo bad, he didn’t even lift a finger to help with that heavy snake, besides the poor swimming & ring tossing?
(By the way, Cho, loved your comment about a long big stiff snake! LOL).
I like David and thought his idea to get rid of Kelly was a good idea. The only reason War Dog didn’t go with it was because he wants Kelly as a shield, but Kelly will get HIM out, you watch and see. They should have gotten her out. However, Keith was really dragging them down on the challenge. Keith will NOT make it on the Edge of Distinction Island. No Way!
I see Reem has a machete, flint for fire, wood, cloth, coconuts, palm leaves. Make a shelter, build a fire, use your cloth threads/string and catch some fish. Surely there are crabs, too.
Get to Gettin’, woman!
LOL I’m glad you noticed my pun about the snake. Who doesn’t like handling snakes?! I can’t be the only one!
I simply don’t see Keith being able to cut it out on any island. He has heart, but sometimes heart is not enough. I wonder if he’s going to join Reem or if they’ll all be separated. That’s if Keith even CHOOSES to stay in the game! I don’t envy Reem’s position. It must be rough being so alone for so long.
I think everyone loves Ron at this point, and what’s not to love about him?! He’s smart, handsome and full of positive energy!
Hey Cho!
Glad to have you back doing the recaps. They are great and you are always so thoughtful in your analysis!
I am still mourning the loss of Christian from D&G last season. What an amazing season that was to watch.
I am very interested to see what happens with Edge of Extinction island. How many people can be on it at once? If everyone who is booted chooses to go on the island and stay, there will be lots of people on Extinction island. Do they form a new tribe or do they battle it out like on Top Chefs “Last Chance Kitchen?” What are your thoughts?
I’m not too attached to anyone now, although Wendy does makes me smile. I don’t understand how Keith could go on Survivor without learning to swim first, especially since he was a big fan. Also, how hard is it to decide to keep playing….just get on the boat.
Looking forward to next week and your recap!!
Have a great weekend 😊😊
awww Thank you for the warm welcome back. I’m happy to have you on board this season. Last season was definitely very fun to watch. I hope the cast is half as good as last season. So far, I’m not terribly impressed, but I do see a lot of opportunity for a fantastic season depending on how the twist works out. I’m also very interested to see how the twist will truly be structured.
I think Keith did learn how to swim, but the problem is that he’s just not a GOOD swimmer. I would definitely need to go take lessons to improve my own swimming skills.
Hi Cho. I’m with you on David being shortsighted. Maybe he’s not a super fan?
I hate watching anything On Demand. Just hate it, especially the commercials.
Seem lost me with no fire. For Chrissakes lady, you arrived with a TORCH. Smh
I hope Keith chooses home, lol. He misses his Mom.
David is definitely a super fan, so it’s strange to see him wanting Wentworth out so bad. They’re simply going to turn their attention onto him sooner than later once she’s gone.
Yeah, Keith’s hesitation to go on makes me not want him to stay at all. I think his ego has been deflated since being voted off.