Survivor Season 50, Episode 7
"That's Not How I Play Survivor"
Host: Jeff Probst
Cast: Aubry Bracco, Coach Wade, Chrissy Hofbeck, Christian Hubicki, Cirie Fields, Dee Valladares, Emily Flippen, Joe Hunter, Jonathan Young, Ozzy Lusth, Rick Devens, Rizo Velovic, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Tiffany Ervin
The Blood Moon has waned and we’re basically back to normal on Survivor, though this version of normal includes Coach spewing haikus.
Back at camp, Tiffany is livid that Jonathan lied to her face. She’s ready to dance on all their graves. The next group comes in and Aubry tries to claim she “forgot” to play her idol. Whoopsies. That line spreads quickly, so now it feels like she has no choice but to play it next time. Honestly, she probably should have just said she wanted to keep it, but the bad lie might accidentally work. It takes some of the edge off her as a threat since no one believes her, but she still gets to play it at the next Tribal. It’s not that dissimilar to what Rizo did last season. Finally, the Colby group returns and confirms he was voted out. Coach is upset that a Four Horseman is gone, but says he now sees it’s war. He’s ready.
Dee wakes up reeling from Jonathan’s betrayal, especially after finding out he also lied to Tiffany. She approaches him to talk, but Coach inserts himself immediately. He tells Jonathan that Dee has been dragging his name through the mud. Jonathan backs him up, questions Dee’s honesty, and throws the Charlie vote in her face. The whole thing is gold, mostly because Dee and Jonathan are going at it while Coach lounges in the hammock, right in the middle of it.
Coach then declares that no one is winning this game without honor. Sure. Emily calls out the hypocrisy. Coach responds by reciting more haikus.
Ozzy and Rizo return from Exile Island and learn they’ve survived three Tribals. They’ve also made the jury. Rizo gets pulled into the Four Horseman alliance with Jonathan and Joe, which is fine until they tell him he’s basically replacing Colby. It makes him feel like an afterthought, and he clocks that immediately.
Rizo then debriefs Exile with Cirie, locking in their alliance (Cirie’s Rizard of Oz). When Emily joins them, she tells Rizo straight up that she knows he has the idol, and that Dee was the one who told her. That instantly puts Rizo on guard about Dee. Dee realizes she screwed up the moment it’s out there.
One player is chosen to go on a journey. The risk is losing your vote, the reward is an advantage. Chrissy points out you’re also out of the loop while you’re gone. Stephenie is picked. She plays a solo endurance game which is to hold your arm up to avoid the water bucket dumping on you. Last an hour, you get a Steal-A-Vote. She does it, even using her non-dominant arm due to her past shoulder injury she obtained in Survivor: Heroes vs Villains, and wins the advantage. Back at camp, she lies and says she only lasted 30 minutes and just kept her vote. Cirie immediately knows she’s lying.
Stephenie thinks Cirie will keep it quiet. She doesn’t. Cirie goes straight to Rizo and tells him. For whatever reason, people just keep trusting Rizo. He asks Cirie if it’s time to cut Dee. She says it might be. I am loving Cirie’s strategy this season, by the way. I think she’s paired herself with two people she can beat in the end (in Rizo and Ozzy) and I think at least one of them (see: Ozzy) will for sure take her to the end.
I assumed that all 14 players left might not be a Tribal Council together, but that’s not the case. All 14 players head to the challenge, though it starts with two teams. Winners get reward and a shot at individual immunity. After the obstacle course and puzzle, Christian, Dee, Emily, Joe, Ozzy, Rick, and Stephenie win Chinese takeout. Ozzy also wins immunity by balancing a pole over his head.
The losing group starts throwing out names. Dee and Aubry are the leading candidates. Tiffany argues Dee is a useful shield and not worth cutting yet, but Jonathan and Coach are pushing hard, and that momentum is tough to stop.
Aubry realizes her “forgot the idol” move has made her the easy vote, so she decides she’s playing it. No games. Just survive.
The majority debates the split. If Aubry plays her idol, they don’t want to waste votes. They consider putting backup votes on Tiffany in case Dee plays her Shot in the Dark. Issues pop up. Some players want to be in on the Dee vote. Coach doesn’t like that “middle” players are being looped into the Tiffany votes. He sees it as a loss of control. He’s not wrong, but the way he reacts makes it a blunder, in my opinion. He doesn’t want anyone to have room to flip things. He says the Dragon Slayer has returned. Unfortunately for him, in every season the Dragon Slayer has appeared, it’s he who is slayed.
Things seem to be shaking out as follows: Coach, Jonathan, Joe, Stephenie, and Chrissy are a core; Cirie, Rizo, and Ozzy are tight; Rick, Christian, and Emily are a trio; Tiffany and Dee are a pair; Aubry floats between groups. The core five have control, and everyone else is waiting for the right moment to take a shot without becoming the next target.
Emily starts pushing that maybe that shot should be tonight and to take out Coach. It gains just enough traction that even Chrissy and Stephenie get nervous. But it doesn’t happen.
At Tribal, Dee plays her Shot in the Dark and isn’t safe. Tiffany throws a lone vote on Coach. The rest split between Dee and Tiffany. Dee goes out with eight votes.
The “honor and integrity” alliance is running things for now, but that won’t hold. With Coach at the center, it’s a matter of when, not if. it collapses. The timing of that first strike is what will shape everything.
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