Survivor Season 50, Episode 11
"Everyone Will Be Shooketh!"
Host: Jeff Probst
Cast: Aubry Bracco, Cirie Fields, Emily Flippen, Joe Hunter, Jonathan Young, Ozzy Lusth, Rick Devens, Rizo Velovic, Tiffany Ervin
I often wonder whether Survivor tells you more about who you are or whether it’s so detached from real life that it can’t possibly be a reflection of oneself. While I think it’d be hard for Emily to not look at the way she shared the secrets given to her in the game and wonder whether she might be culpable of the same in real life (no shade to her, I also can’t keep a secret), but when it comes to Ozzy, I do believe he’s grown and evolved over the season. I just think the one thing he hasn’t really been able to figure out is how to play a perfect game of Survivor.
Coming off the MrBeast extravaganza at the last Tribal Council, several players find themselves pleased with the doubling of the prize pot, but also that it was Rick Devens who took the risk to get them the increased money. The target is still planted across his chest, though he does have an idol to show for it. While it seems likely that it was never going to stay in his pocket long, it’s a tad bit surprising that his idol was only good until the Final 7 instead of the typical Final 5.
Meanwhile, Jonathan is thankful that it was Stephenie who got taken out as a result of Devens’ unveiling of all the information last night as he had been the one targeting Ozzy. Regardless, he remains in the game and thinks he has some work to do to grab the two million dollars now on offer.
Joe might be outlining the best case for being a zero vote finalist as he goes on a tirade about Devens antics. Cirie correctly says that they were going to vote him out, so it’s not as if his play was unwarranted. Regardless, Joe is frustrated by the theatrics of a show who has memorable moments such as someone claiming their grandmom died and someone calling the two finalists rats and snakes. I think you can probably pencil in Joe as making it to the end but not receiving any votes.
Meanwhile, Cirie has found herself in a bit of a dilemma. She has two close allies, but they both have hidden immunity idols. While Tiff seems determined to get them both voted out, Cirie wants to try and wrangle a craftier play: let them play their idols but stay in the game. Having PTSD from Survivor: Game Changers where she was the only one not safe due to an advantage, she does not want to be caught in that position again. Surely it shouldn’t be too hard to get your allies to play an idol for themselves!
In what might be a highlight of the season so far, we get a conversation between Ozzy and Rick. The former talks about his strained relationship with his dad, who was named Oscar. While they lived apart, his dad was a social butterfly. It’s the skillset Ozzy is hoping he’s learned this time around, and after airing out his dirty laundry on national TV all those years ago, he feels bad. Rick, who is a father himself, tells Ozzy that his dad would be proud of him. By the end of the conversation, Ozzy, Rick and myself are all in tears.
The tribe heads for the individual immunity challenge and learn the winner will not only be safe, but will earn an advantage for what’s set to be a surprising Tribal Council. The challenge involves balancing on a floating platform and while it initially seemed like Tiffany was going to win, she didn’t actually lift her foot up in time. That means Jonathan is safe instead. The advantage? The remaining players are being split up into two groups of four and each group will vote someone out. Jonathan gets to attend both Tribal Councils and votes twice. It’s an extremely powerful twist this far into the game.
The two groups end up being:
Cirie, Emily, Tiffany and Rick.
Ozzy, Rizo, Joe and Aubry.
We get flashes of the strategy at the first group. I am devastated that we’re going to lose any of these players, but the lines seem pretty firmly drawn between Tiff & Cirie against Emily & Rick. There are two factors at play: which side will Jonathan work with and will Rick play his idol. It seems clear that Jonathan wants to stay tight with Tiffany, but also that he’d like to see Rick voted out. However, if Rick plays the idol for himself, then Emily is the back-up plan. Emily begins to try and find a way to maneuver, suggesting that she can convince Rick to play the idol for her instead. That plan is a front, as she tells Rick to play the idol for himself, hoping they’ve piled all the votes on him instead of her, letting them idol out Cirie. That plan would be perfect except for the fact that Cirie has an Extra Vote and can play it, allowing the three players to split their four total votes on Rick & Emily, nullifying any idol play.
Cirie is so damn good at this game that she basically has her ducks in a row, but her biggest issue is actually the fact that she can't figure out how to keep Ozzy in the game. Jonathan and Tiffany both want Ozzy blindsided from the other group. Normally, Cirie would just tell Ozzy he’s vulnerable, have him play his idol and voila!, they’d all be safe. But she’s stuck apart from him. So instead, she has to play through Jonathan, hoping he tells Rizo about the plan, then Rizo tells Ozzy.
Joe takes some convincing to eliminate Ozzy instead of Aubry, and this is where Rizo comes into play. They don’t need his vote tonight, but Joe realizes that it might be foolish to leave Rizo out of the vote. So Joe approaches Rizo, who then has a decision about whether to tell Ozzy or not. While it’s risky, knowing that Cirie would go to the end with Rizo & Ozzy, the Survivor 49 returnee needs to show that some moves are his and not Cirie’s. I think this is his opportunity to do so, as sad as it is for me to see Ozzy be the victim of the move.
At the first Tribal Council, Cirie’s plan goes off without a hitch. While Rick plays the idol for himself, Cirie’s extra votes means they don’t have the numbers to pull off an idol play anyway. Emily is voted out 4-2 on the re-vote.
In what I found to be a genuinely sad blindside, the rest of the tribe votes out Ozzy unanimously. What I think is so great about this is that the older versions of Ozzy did play differently. Because they weren’t able to build social bonds as easily, they had to resort to challenge strength to stay in the game. There was an ego to his game that meant he didn’t play his idol in Micronesia. This time around, he also got voted out with an idol in his pocket. So how did that happen again? Well, this time, he built such good social bonds with the other players that he genuinely trusted they wouldn’t betray him. It wasn’t ego, it was vulnerability.
And so, Cirie gets a piece of her armor taken out, all while she wasn’t at Tribal to stop it from happening. It does still feel like she’s playing the best game out there, which is why it feels like she can’t possibly win. That means someone else would have to. Could it be Tiffany, waiting under Cirie’s wings to claim the throne? Or Aubry, avoiding elimination this week and continuing to get through based on her ability to play the middle? Or maybe even Jonathan, who seems to be able to rebound and plan the course ahead more than you might expect.
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