Following Shannon’s dramatic blindside at the hands of her own Uli “allies,” we have eleven left and a merge on the horizon. Five Ulis, four Hinas, and two Keles. Rizo’s got an idol, MC’s has yet to be unlocked until after the first merge immunity challenge, and Sophi has a Knowledge is Power with plenty of knowledge to use her power with. So far, it’s been Uli bullying Hina into the dirt, but with Jawan and Sage becoming double agents of chaos with Steven on their side (aka the Bottoms Up alliance), the power players on Uli might be in danger.
When all three tribes arrive at Kele beach, the Bottoms Up gang hesitate to join the party, and when Shannon’s absence is revealed, alarm bells go off. Nate immediately questions some loyalties, but Storytime with Sage goes decently when they don’t even try to cover up the blindside. Instead of just saying Steven used his Shot in the Dark or something, they say Shannon went mad with paranoia and got herself voted out, and it seems to work. Nate wants to keep Jawan onboard, and Savannah’s fine with new numbers even if they’re not genuine allies, but Sage is back in wolf mode. She doesn’t put up with fakeness as we’ve learned, and Savannah just reeks of it in their chats.
With introductions and reunions complete, a challenge advantage is up for grabs. Race into the jungle, find hidden keys, and open a treasure chest. Simple as can be. Just when she might need a little protection in case her big plans blow up in her face, Sage takes the win. But this game isn’t won with advantages alone, and Rizo knows that, so he goes to work on his social game and plots some strategic maneuvers. His plan is for Uli and Kele to steamroll for the time being, knocking Sophie out of the game.
But Jawan’s ready to blow things up, Sage is already working to get Sophie as a number, and Sophi might be fickle if Alex has better options for the two of them across tribal lines. He’s tight with Hina, she’s tight with Uli, so now it’s a debate with a clear answer: work with Uli because that’s where the numbers are. But Alex sees himself as a middleman here, just like in DC, and he might have to blindside Sophi in the process for his own game plans to pay off.
At what’s clearly the Earn the Merge challenge, which can’t be called that anymore because we’re a person down, we get a couple of big updates. Sophi will now go by Soph to avoid any name issues between her and Sophie (why they didn’t just sort this out on day one, I don’t know). We’re officially merged with buffs for everyone this time, and there are still spots on Survivor 50 available if people can earn them. But there’s still a two-part challenge to get to, one part for the merge feast, another for individual immunity. And Sage’s advantage lets her advance to part two, winning a feast and a shot at immunity without breaking a sweat. Joining her will be Nate, Soph, Sophie, Rizo, and Steven, winning by a couple of seconds, and Sophie locks in to win immunity in a showdown against Steven when she needs it most.
With the obvious target off the board, new plans need to happen. Sage and Jawan have flipped, though, so Uli’s backup might be a pointless endeavor. Steven? Kristina? MC? Either way, there’s no way to talk about it at the merge feast with how mixed the group is. But MC has a plan of her own: find that idol ASAP so she finally gets her vote back. Confronted by Savannah, she owns up to looking for a key and almost gets her keys snatched right out from under her when Savannah tries to play dirty. But with the keys in her hands and Savannah looming over her shoulder, MC has no choice but to spill everything. Savannah’s no fool. This is an actual opportunity to build something between the two of them, even if MC wants literally nothing to do with her strat chats and flimsy promises. Anyways, that’s now two Hinas off the board, so Uli’s job just got a little harder.
Once the two groups reunite, Sophie starts cooking up some plans for Hina’s side. While Savannah and Rizo are the best targets, they can’t be sure Rizo won’t use his idol on either of them, and they can’t split votes here with such tight numbers, so booting Nate’s the safe move even if Sage is still on the Savannah train. Meanwhile, Savannah immediately runs to Soph and tells her all the info about MC’s idol, giving her even more potential to use her advantage. With that Season 50 spot looking enticing, she wants to make a huge move and put herself in the mix.
Together, the Uli alliance decides that MC will be the decoy name, but Steven will be the actual plan. Jawan’s calling BS on this plan, though, and he figures out Rizo probably won’t be playing his idol tonight, so he could be the one to go, flushing the idol and giving Bottoms Up a chance to find it themselves. Steven, MC, Rizo, Nate, Savannah… so many names going around, and so many plans changing.
After a lot of idol talk, MC plays hers just to be safe, but it’s a misfire as the Uli alliance targets Steven as planned. But color them all shocked when it’s Nate who ends up going home instead. Jawan and Sage strike again, turning the tables on Uli in back-to-back Tribals to reduce the alliance’s core down to just Savannah and Rizo with Soph as a third. What looked like an Uli landslide for weeks has turned into a fluid game with Uli slapped down to the bottom by their own defectors, and we might actually have a season on our hands now!
Doesn’t mean quality episodes are guaranteed down the road, but this more old-fashioned merge was a nice, refreshing GOOD episode with a fun outcome. Maybe it’s everyone wanting a spot on 50 and suddenly playing harder than before. Maybe we just didn’t get the right combos of people in the pre-merge to let this cast shine. Either way, I’m actually excited for the next episode for the first time this season. We’ve got a new power structure, fluid dynamics with multiple alliances in play, and a fun villain in Savannah wanting searing hot revenge on Sage for all the backstabbing she’s done.
There’s still no justifying how bad that pre-merge was, but good post-merges have redeemed seemingly bad seasons before, so perhaps this is just one of those situations where the slow burn pays off with a little more patience.
The post Episode 7 Recap – Double Agents of Chaos appeared first on Inside Survivor.
Fonte: Leia a matéria original
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