Taako From Teevhii shares the best bonus scenes from the previous episode of Survivor: Game Changers.
This Week In Secret Scenes
“It’s A Very Scary Spot”
Officer Sarah wanted to not tell anyone about her advantage, keep Zeke in the game, and ride her new alliance to Final 6. We knew these to be her goals, and this Secret Scene reinforces those notions. Well, whoops, nope, ain’t gonna happen.
A very instinctual read of this scene would be that Sarah isn’t in control, as evidenced by the self-sabotage of her primary objectives in the episode. But Sarah is actively making these choices, and it looks more and more like neither alliance can move forward without bringing Sarah in as one of their numbers. It’s a scary spot but an enviable spot. Tonally, this scene sets up Sarah as an overcomer of obstacles. Textually, it centers on what it takes to be a Game Changer™. And if that wasn’t enough, we have Sarah emphatically stating at the end that she is a game changer. Altogether, this is a strong showing for Sarah, and it provides a positive outlook for her future prospects.
Also, Sarah knows that people would doubt she’d be a Game Changer.
This Week In Confessionals
“We Each Wanna Be The First To Take The Other Out”
In order, Zeke wanted to boot Sierra, Andrea, and Tai. His reason for booting Sierra was to so that he could pick up Brad as an ally, which we saw plenty of evidence for in the episode. His reason for booting Andrea is their bad blood and his awareness that Andrea will be targeting him. His reason for booting Tai is Tai’s sneakiness and ability to find advantages.
Zeke’s plan is summarized as follows:
Now it comes down to a question of timing. I think the logical vote is Sierra first, though I could see voting Tai first. I’m actually fine either way. I think it makes more sense to take Sierra out just so I can get, ya know, Brad. And then I think with Andrea, you have to strike first. I don’t think Andrea will see it coming. But if she does see it coming, I don’t think it will matter because by 9, I will have the numbers. I will have five, and that’s all you need.
This clip looks like it takes place before the immunity challenge, though if it takes place after, it makes sense that Zeke knows he can’t target Andrea this tribal. But it’s fascinating that Zeke did not consider that Andrea would target him at this vote, especially considering that he says the two of them are in a race to eliminate the other. And with that same thought in mind, why wouldn’t Andrea see Zeke coming for her? This reads very much like Zeke thinking three steps ahead and missing the obvious move that Andrea would take this very turn.
“I’m The Only One Who Can Find The Cotton-Candy Coconuts”
With Ozzy gone, Culpepper is the only one fishing/crabbing/snailing/coconutting. And he’s barely fishing. It’s been mentioned before that the tribe is out of rice and relying only on coconuts. This week in particular, a lot of players mention the effect of their starvation and how much they wanted to win the Reward Challenge. Brad won and described it as one of the best days of his life (assumedly among his wedding and the birth of his three children).
The food situation has Culpepper in a decent spot. Ozzy was a provider but also a challenge threat, and thus he was voted out shortly after the merge. Culpepper is the last provider the tribe has, does not seem to be a challenge threat, and states that as a multimillionaire, he’s not likely to get votes at Final Tribal. The Alliance of 6 may want to vote out some of the players in the minority, but it does not seem like they would be quick to vote out Culpepper. Especially Zeke, who is named a team captain at the Reward Challenge and immediately picks Culpepper.
“I’ve Been Waiting This Entire Game To Play”
There was a lot of strategy that we seemed to miss this episode. We missed the New Black Widow Brigade (please last longer than this episode) plant the seeds of voting out Tai among Sierra, Culpepper, and Troy. We were shown Michaela and Sarah (but mostly Sarah) debating whether they should vote out Zeke or vote out Sierra. Yet we apparently missed that even Aubry was torn on voting out Zeke.
However, it seems that Aubry is inclined to vote Zeke as she wants to make a big move. Aubry says that Zeke always seems like he has something in the works and that he needs to go before he can build up his forces to make that big move. That’s a process that involves Zeke recruiting Culpepper, and as Aubry notes, there’s a reason Zeke chose Culpepper for the reward. A lot of people noticed Zeke picking Culpepper and how quickly he did it, which raises more red flags around Zeke. This, combined with Culpepper’s role as a provider, may shed some more light on why Zeke was targeted instead of Brad at this vote.
“There Goes That Plan”
Up top, Cirie says that it’s scary when Andrea wins immunity. When Andrea wins immunity, the four in the minority can’t target her at tribal, and an idol is more likely to take out Cirie or Michaela or someone else. It’s certainly interesting that Cirie might see Andrea as less of an ally and more of a shield. This might be further reason to vote out Zeke at this Tribal. Cirie sees Zeke as untrustworthy, but moreover, voting for Culpepper (or any of the minority) would allow him and his allies to dictate the vote with a single idol. By process of elimination, Zeke is the only one Cirie can go after. If Andrea wasn’t immune, there’s a chance Cirie would have targeted Culpepper instead.
“We Could Have A Fun Little Blindside On Our Hands”
Andrea seems emboldened by being safe, and this may be the factor that pushes her to target Zeke at this tribal. If Zeke catches wind of her plans, then at the very least, Andrea won’t be vulnerable to a counterattack with Immunity around her neck. Both Andrea and Cirie have their reasons for floating Zeke as a target, and Aubry, Sarah, and Michaela have their reasons to follow along.
Some interesting things said in passing by Andrea are that she and Cirie seem to always be on the same page and that Officer Sarah is always the last to get on board with any plan. Both could have consequences on if/how Andrea moves forward with either Cirie or Sarah in the future.
This Week In Bonus Bonus Content
I’m not going to embed these clips because there’s not a lot here, but it tickles me that this happened. Debbie was so confident that she was safe that she left her stuff at camp. Michaela recounts how gobsmacked Debbie was (YouTube and International), and while it’s been almost two weeks, it’s still satisfying to hear about the blindside of Debbie. And Michaela feels good about her spot in the game and other stuff.
And since she left her stuff at camp, Sierra took Debbie’s blue leopard swimsuit (YouTube and International). That was a choice. Sierra also talks about moving forward in the game, yada yada, whatever; more importantly, it took 28 days to get her first chipped nail. I cannot understand how.
This Week In Ponderosa
“The Super-Adventure Of A Lifetime”
Straight up, I don’t know if this Ponderosa is worth watching unless you’re a huge fan of Zeke or unless you like watching Debbie try to liquor people up with Jack-spiked maple syrup. But I am compelled to include it here because, like, it’s Ponderosa.
This Week In Gifable Moments
When the reward challenge is marketing part of a balanced breakfast
Brad (formerly known as Taako from Teevhii) has watched every season live but was too young to remember the first ten seasons (and is only saying that to make you all feel bad). He treats Wednesday nights like a religious observance and wonders if he can finagle that into a tax benefit.
Favorite Seasons: Winners At War, Heroes vs. Villains, Cagayan, Cambodia, Micronesia
Favorite Players: Kelley Wentworth, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Kim Spradlin, Denise Stapley, Todd Herzog, Courtney Yates, Yul Kwon, Charlie Herschel