Season 50, Episode 6: "Tonight is about picking a side." --Jonathan

This episode is especially fun and not because of the BLOOD MOON AKA THE BIGGEST TWIST IN SURVIVOR HISTORY. Or because Jeff Probst spends twenty minutes describing--with absolute gusto--every Applebee's menu item in great detail.

(Fun fact: Jeff talked me into going to Applebee's for my bday dinner. I mean, he didn't like personally talk me into it, it's just that he sold it so hard. I wanted that shark drink! And while I wasn't going to be eating any burgers or steaks--being a vegetarian and all--I was convinced I could be down for some mozzarella sticks and nachos. Anyway, Applebees--I'm sorry to say--is not good. The shark drink is tasty, but the food? No. Sorry, Applebees. Although I'm certain if I were starving and had only coconut for like 10 days, I would think it was the best food on earth. I do have to wonder just how many people Jeff sent to Applebees after 25 years of not going to Applebees. Now, what do we think about Chilis?)

It's fun because it's a (sort of) 17 person merge and when everyone gets together, people scramble and gush and there's so much activity, particularly around who has what. Ozzy, thinking he was being strategic and in an effort to solidify alliances, had told Emily and Christian about his boomerang idol before they got on the boat, but later comes to learn that everyone knows. And Aubry is faced with Genevieve having spread the word about her idol once she learns about it from Cirie. People are trying to secure allies. But others (Rizo) are just really happy to be be among all the legends. Christian and Devens are elated to be together again. Coach, Joe, and Jonathan are all salivating all over each other. Meanwhile, Genevieve is doing quick work on trying to get people to want to go for Aubry by sharing about her idol. Everyone is scrambling, trying to connect, trying to solidify trust, and trying to get names out that aren't theirs.

Also, everyone seems to know that 17 people is too many people so there is some expectation that something big will happen.

"No one knows what to expect. It's so mysterious." --Jonathan

Hello, Blood Moon Twist, where three tribal councils will happen and three players will be voted out. Are you afraid? Are you thrilled? Are you sad that we are going to lose three players? Me too.

So what we get is a break up into three groups of five (as Ozzy and Rizo are sent off to Exile Island thanks to an "advantage" Ozzy finds), with one person from each group able to win immunity as well as the overall winner able to secure Applebees's for their group. Christian, Dee, and Stephenie each win individual immunity, but it's Stephenie who holds out the longest (in the painful looking foothold challenge) and earns some mozzarella sticks and mushroom burgers for her little gang.

It has to be hard to feel safe in the little groups of five, but Genevieve in particular, has to feel like a dead woman walking. Because who does she have in her group? Aubry. And Aubry has better connections with Devens and Christian. And Joe, well, I suppose he sees that it doesn't really matter what he thinks. He's just lucky it's not his neck on the line (despite Devens telling us that he really wouldn't miss Joe). I would miss Joe. And I Genevieve! Darnit, 50, I don't want anyone to go!

Jonathan felt in danger before the merge because he didn't know Charlie was the vote, so he isn't sure that Dee and Kamilla don't see him as next. He appears to be very thoughtful about his game and trying to make the best moves. We see him having a couple of conversations with Dee trying to see where they stand and she seems to reassure him that she not only wants to work with him, but go far with him. Does he believe it? Dee isn't in his little group, but Kamilla is. Along with Tiffany, Chrissy, and Stephenie.

Coach and Colby both end up in the same group. Colby is still injured and hobbling when he walks. He tries his best to gain trust and allies and we see that Dee and Emily consider Coach partly because they figure Colby will be medavaced sooner than later (so why not get two for one) and partly because they think Coach might be more of a threat, but Cirie doesn't agree. She thinks Colby should be the plan because she sees him as more dangerous (something about the head of a snake instead of the tail. I'm not clear that Colby is the head of any snake.) and she doesn't think they should assume that Colby will be out any time soon due to his injury.

So, Cirie seems to get her way, and ultimately Colby goes. And it's fucking emotional. Seeing Colby, Cirie, and Coach sitting in a little group is a lot to absorb. The history!

In her group, Chrissy knows she's the name for Kamilla and Tiffany and she tells them that she's at peace with going home, which is lovely of her. But she does have another plan and that's one that involves a voting block of Stephenie and Jonathan--people she shares are "cut from the same cloth" as her. Which, I'm guessing either means old fashioned in their game play (although I am not certain that's true, but they seem to think so) or, perhaps, yes, more conservative in their approach to life and the world. Hard to say. But we will go with gameplay and game philosophy. So Jonathan potentially sees a new path for himself. He was blindsided by the Charlie vote and can't fully trust Kamilla and Dee (understandably). "Those girls are totally using you," Chrissy tells Jonathan. And she's probably not wrong.

Which hints at one of the things I love about this game. There are moves you make because of who you are aligned with or who you want to be aligned with, because you want to take out threats, or because it's the easiest way to go. But a good player has to be constantly thinking of the social impact, of egos, and of how people will react based on feelings. Leaving someone out of a vote risks making them feel excluded. How will they respond? Lying to one person who will then not trust you--is that going to blow up in your face in a way you can manage down the line (if Tiffany sees you as untrustworthy will she be able to pull votes against you). Will Kamilla. Will Stephenie be more likely to agree to cut you if you don't side with her? And when the groups come together again, will the numbers be on your side if you break trust? There's so much to maneuver.

The trickiest parts of Survivor, for players, as I've noted before, is navigating the short term gain vs. long term gain. You can't see exactly how things will play out or how the dominoes might fall, you can also guess based on the information you have, which includes what you know about people (based on information they give you, their current behaviors, and their past behaviors) and what you suspect they might do in reaction. There's probably a boxing metaphor to be used here. Knowing your opponents and the games they play as well as their psychology and then anticipating their reactions to your moves. And can you survive those reactions? It's fascinating. Levels and layers, right?

"One of the ways I wanted to play a different game is, I wanted to have the right relationships for these twists. For this moment. I'm not a liar, but you have to be completely fluid until you get evicted. Because a lot of people that just have honor and integrity? They make it to the final three, they get maybe one vote. So, you have to do more. You have to make some sort of moves in this game to win." --Jonathan, in one of his confessionals.

It seems obvious which way Jonathan wants to go (old school), but he is rightly worried that making a move against Kamilla--the way Chrissy wants--will put a target on him. So, which way offers more reward than risk? It's so poignant that during the tribal council, Tiffany announces that what happens will have ripple effects. It's a warning, but it's a truth.

Meanwhile, Rizo and Ozzy solidify trust during their time on exile island. Both sharing about their idols but otherwise sleeping (Rizo) and swimming and fishing (Ozzy). What a funny pair they make.

So, under haunted light of the Blood Moon, we lose Genevieve (who gives Aubry her jacket and tells her to treasure it), Colby (who gets the most emotional send off of all time), and Kamilla (who tells everyone to "drag that boy through the mud"--she's talking about Jonathan) but later confesses she had fun being lied to. We love Kamilla!

And now "lines are drawn in the sand" and we shall see what the fallout becomes.