Survivor Ep. 9

Beginning of the episode recaps with Josh’s elimination. The minority feels weakened and threatened, and darkness seems to be at the end of the tunnel. Keith, who has an idol starts thinking strategy, but emotion may be an underlying reason for the brash plan he’s erected. Get them to vote him off, then play the idol, and come out on top. It’s clever enough to potentially work, but typically, when people try to get clever on this show, it generally follows with them being voted off. The group is reeling however, especially with the loss of their leader so this might be the wisest choice on their plate. We have the food challenge; one team wins it and the other loses. Quite uninteresting at this point. The climax occurred when natalie and jeremy gave up their reward to the traitors. If that doesn’t cement their loyalty, I don’t know what will, because on the pyramid of need, food, water, and comfort are the highest priority for motivation, and that’s the level of living that they embody. A full stomach and a good buzz is a huge gift to reciprocate their votes. So the loser team wallows, other than natalie, and wes mentions that if he’s on the chopping block, he’d appreciate a heads up, which is subtle and smart because he’s a good kid. That potentially creates room for strategy. On the other hand, Natalie doesn’t even hide it, she is candid in expressing that her actions granted leverage over the beautiful couple. Unbelievable amount of ego on this women, or thoughtlessness. We’ll see if it works because a short term favor may seem sweet, but compared to the prize, it pales. Reed, without his paramour by his side, has lost the will to play conservatively. He realizes that he’s now on borrowed time due to the inferior group dynamic and he decides to make waves. Not sure how he intends on doing that, but I’m excited to see how effectively he can utilize his rage and resentment to create rifts in the other groups unyielding ties to each other. Ultimately, the ones that need to worry are the bigger group because you don’t want to mess with an animal you’ve backed into a corner, they’re typically the ones that aim for the jugular. The weaker team loses immunity and it seems that they’ve all but lost, unaware to the potential shimmering ray of hope that could descend on them. The handsome guy realizes that Jeremy will be unable to find the idol and assume that he has it, which will lead to Jeremy thinking that he’s a liar and deceiving them. This might prove fatal for someone unexpected because although, they could just play it safe and get the weak team  to dwindle away, long term, that will be a bad strategy, because they will be the black sheep, the betrayer. They need to think critically about the implications and the ramifications of their situation. After all, in survivor, it doesn’t take much for someone to be the target of the mob. Like a deity showing up in the time of need, their miracle arrives and saves the day. Apparently, the fear the handsome guy concocted over his own well being instilled a paranoia of Jeremy’s wrath, and he must have somehow convinced the mom and daughter to abridge their alliance. They didn’t show exactly how their decisions got swayed because that would’ve lessened the drama of the blindside, if I had to speculate, I’d imagine that either they took the numbers into consideration, including people and idols, and decided that Jeremy didn’t have their best interests or opportunity at heart. Who knows is all that Jeremy will be thinking over the course of his jury assignment and it’ll be interesting to see the conclusion.