game | Courtney C: The Next Sole Survivor

ok… THIS is definitely the easiest rebus puzzle so far. C’MON. you could just guess it. 😒

Reward challenge –

Xander is so smart LFGGGGG. offered to switch spots with Erika who drew the grey rock to sit out. Xander keeps impressing me in this game. he’s THINKIN’, mfs. that boi is on fireeeee. (and not surprised with Erika accepting that offer. lol.) got SO excited watching Xander look all around/under the ‘sit out bench.’ i thought NO WAY he doesn’t get it. ugh.

not loving the whole Jeff talking to us/in the camera though…. i like not knowing if there’s something in the bench or if they just zoomed in on it. now it’s like we’re 5 years old in school + Jeff’s the teacher showing it to us straight up. booooo.

research + prep just might get you the win – survivor –– Eevie saying i knew that puzzle.

Xander double strategy on taking the bench – he said i like to be w/ the losers bc they’re raw/emotional + looking for someone to work w/ + he needs someone to work w/

Shan vs. Ricard b/c he won reward + got food/grilled cheese + Shan hungry + he had 1 bite of papaya. reminds me of the Clarence thing in Africa when he had 2 cherries while everyone else had 1 + he also opened a can of beans i think it was (?) supposedly for a sick tribe member but she + everyone else turned on him for that + never let it go.

Immunity challenge –

LOVE endurance challenges. stand on toes on wooden beam + balance a block vertically on the top of their head between their head and a top wooden beam. (record 1 hour 22 mins. – this time ended in like 3 mf minutes….)

twist – an individual can opt out of challenge for single portion of rice, multiple people can sit out for enough rice for everyone to eat for 3 days

negotiated # of ppl w/ jeff – ended at 5, xander says how bout 4? jeff says yes. Xander, Shan, Ricard, Naseer sit out. – Ricard it’s a GREAT move for him to repair his #1 alliance w/ Shan. 👏🏻

Eevie – unbelievable, shocked she won tbh, no offense lol. was thinking she should’ve looked over at the bench when she won the challenge, b/c she would’ve seen everyone’s faces + she’d know without a doubt she’s still very much on the bottom…. 😬

Xander made up my new favorite word – “betraydar”. LOL he know something’s up when they changed the lie from Naseer to Heather. good for him.

but these ppl really need to work together and take out Shan. she’s bossy, a threat, and obnoxious imo.

Tribal council –

Heather freaks out + tries to change vote to Naseer, then they all say let’s take Heather out + honestly i said hell yeah. she caused such a major issue here – mass confusion. you deserve to GOOOOO. i would’ve been PISSED if they voted Naseer, bc he could’ve won that immunity challenge + he only took a seat on the bench to get rice for Y’ALL ungrateful mf brats… anyway…

Danny gets pissed at Shan for not listening to his opinion. wish he would’ve just said fuck it let’s all vote Shan. didn’t lead to anything, but they showed 2 of these tense moments between them so guessing it’s going to come up again next episode.

& Ricard kept bugging Xander to play his idol – sneaky sneaky.. thank GOD he didn’t buy that + waste it. –– big question in my mind though is does he *GET* that they were trying SO hard to flush his idol???? he thanks them after the votes were read like they ‘saved’ him or something.. hm.

tiffany = voted out first member of jury. lame. what a messy tribal for a result equalling a whole lot of NOTHIN. predictable (again)…

dumbest rebus puzzle so far… no, not “pocket idol” or “hidden idol,” it’s “IDOL IN POCKET” – sheesh, TF

Hourglass twist –

Erika decides to smash the hourglass, rewinding time + changing the history of the game, which means the 6 people who were safe have to compete against each other in an immunity challenge.

I thought for SURE Sydney had it in the mf BAGGG. Betting she does yoga. Great balance, strong core + she was focused + taking her time. Ricard snuck up on her + Eevie (who had been in the lead from the start) to win it.

I kinda hate this challenge though… especially if I had thought I was safe + then had to do THIS mf challenge to try + stay in the game…. just sayin’… i’d be PISSED. I think it should’ve been an endurance challenge, but I could see production wanting to save those for when we get closer to the end of the game. The real nail-biters.

Strategy –

Ricard throws out “Eevie” right away upon returning to camp + Shan/Danny/Deshon/Sydney agree to vote that way.

Xander says he’ll play his idol for Eevie + luckily Tiffany spills the beans about Lianna’s ‘Knowledge Is Power’ advantage because Lianna’s dead-set on using it against Xander to steal his idol. So now that they KNOW, the smartest thing to do is for Xander to give his idol to Tiffany to hold onto during tribal council b/c the small print regarding stealing is “must be in their possession at the time.”

FAVORITE MOVE OF THE SEASON SO FAR –

Xander telling Lianna at tribal when she attempts to steal his idol “no, but you can have this fake.” AYYYYYYY, LFGGGGGG!!!!! THIS is what I’ve been waiting all season for. + I kept thinking for like 15-20 mins. of the episode ‘why TF does Lianna think she’s gonna pull this off????’ hahahaha. awesome.

Tribal Council –

HUGE MAD SCRAMBLE forever…. sorry I’m not a fan of this bc it makes y’all look like amateurs imo…. they can’t even pull together a backup plan in a reasonable amount of time. old school players would literally think out every single possible outcome + have backup plan on backup plan on back- you get the point…

Sydney plays her shot in the dark + sacrifices her vote for a 1 in 6 chance at immunity . Xander tells Tiffany not to play his idol for eevie bc he thinks if they thought eevie had idol they wouldn’t vote for her… he was 1/2 right on this – they split votes between eevie + sydney.

final votes: 4 ev | 3 deshon | 5 sydney

so even if Sydney had kept her vote, she still would’ve gone home b/c there only would’ve been 4 for Deshon, butttt he had also used his extra vote advantage for eevie, so if Syd voted + Deshon didn’t use his extra, could’ve ended up at a 3-way tie of 4/4/4.

Other thoughts/opinions –

Where yellow lacked physical strength/abilitiy to succeed in challenges, they make up for in loyalty + social game.

Overall I feel like this cast is lacking in personality – most obviously Lianna + Erika… but honestly just in general, I feel that a lot of these tribe members are v forgettable.

Xander’s my fav – truly showed his Survivor prowess this episode. that boi’s SHININ’.

“I think part of my problem is that I’m so self-obsessed – like of course everyone’s gonna gun for me.”
– Sydney

(this may be the single MOST relatable AF thing that’s ever been said on the show🙋🏼‍♀️)