Season 51, Ep 3: Ope, there goes my boat

Welp, that was a lot. Whew.

I don't even know where to begin.

Rob had a scratch on his foot and decided he'd rather go home than "risk infection." I'm with everyone else. I'm not buying it, Rob. Jeff definitely wasn't buying it. You could see how amused he was during that medical visit. Practically rolling his eyes, that one. Although it was exciting to see Jeff and the doc make their way towards camp, medical box in tow. They looked so serious. Important business to attend to. It was a funny juxtaposition for what was coming which was, well, nothing. A scratch. A "small cut." We all know Rob wanted to go home, but didn't want to officially quit. I guess an "injury" was the next best thing to voting himself out.

Rob is a curiosity. I'd like to have him figured out, but there are contradictions in his behavior that make it hard. He hates losing. But he doesn't mind quitting. The quitting, however, has to not exactly be quitting. He's trying to trick the quitting game. So he wants to lose on his own terms. He clearly set out to play hard, but three days in he was done. What is it that got to him the most? Not having control seems to be extremely difficult for the man. We saw him express frustration with Linnea and Eric for their chosen roles in the challenge ("How much do you weigh, Eric?")--was he more bothered by their challenge actions or by their pushback when confronted? But I have to think there is some amount of instability that existed within him before his island experience. I know it's not right to diagnose him and I don't mean to suggest he's dangerous or even has severe mental.health challenges, but there's something that he must carefully hold or protect that certain conditions seem to easily disrupt. I will just say, I wouldn't send the guy out into battle. I hope we get more info from other players about their experience with him during those 6 days.

Anyway, as soon as it happened, everything and everyone moved on as if he was never there. Except for the idol he gave to Carter on his way out, that is. It appears with Ana gone, Carter is without allies. Carter, you are one lucky bastard. First you get Rob's idol and then you get to go on the little meet and greet to the other tribe, which turns into an opportunity for mutiny, which--for Carter--turns into a sorta accidental mutiny.

Stay tuned for my probably New York Times Bestselling Novel, Accidental Mutiny. I just need to write it. And also come up with a story. I'll get on it. But the title is good, no?

Seriously, what was that? We actually have no idea if Carter was seriously considering the mutiny. He should have been, we do know that. But there's always risk to being immediately at the bottom of a tribe that's been together for 6 days already, even if they are higher in numbers. Still, he was at the bottom of his own tribe (the dirt underneath the totem pole, as he described it), so why not? And he has an idol. But when the boat guy rang the bell, he sure did look like he was planning to go, he just needed to find the oars and get that advantage. But he didn't find the oars (they had already been found and hacked thanks to his left behind bag being rummaged through by Lewis and the gang) and the boat man left him. Oh well. So Carter is on Toka now.

Lewis! My guy really worked hard this episode. "I'm nobody's number one. I'm nobody's number two. I haven't made a clear line of where I stand in this tribe..." he tells us. Later, he's the one who makes the decision to go through Carter's left behind bag. He's rightly suspecting there would be more to the visit than just the visit (and possibly mutiny). Then, he gets Carter to join him in taking command of the game by voting out Patt, after spending his three days observing and rightly assessing who is aligned with who as well as who the power players are.

"Devin poses an existential threat to my control of this game," Kilby tells us. He sees Devin running the show. But when names are discussed, Devin always gets immediately taken off the list. Maggie says she wants to work with Devin. Kilby agrees that he doesn't want to vote him off. Lewis and Carter hint at not wanting to go after such a big target a this point, fearing repercussions of they do. I don't really get it. One theory is that Devin provides more muscle. Another is that going after the boss feels more risky, perhaps. If you make the big play and take out the head honcho, perhaps the concern is that it will make a rebound play more catastrophic. The group of five would be potentially angry and shook by any one of them being the vote. Would losing Devin make their thirst for vengeance more powerful and dangerous than it would be to lose Mike, who was their initial plan? Kilby calls Mike a "plus one" and decides that no one would miss him much nor would it rock the boat. But it's still drawing a line in the sand, to use Survivor-speak. To vote one of the 5 is to telegraph loyalties. I'm wondering if they all just like Devin too much. Even Kilby. If Kilby only knew how much Devin disliked him. Devin tells us that he considers Kilby a "rat" who is also a "farmer" who is "sewing seeds of chaos."

Speaking of Kilby, I'm not sure what his MO is. He clearly wants to rule, but he's struggling to make it happen. It will be interesting to see if– after the Patt vote-off--he ends up seeing himself as the leader, even if it's Lewis ultimately calling the shots. Despite Kilby and Thien A making a play for one of the five, it's Lewis who is able to make it happen.

Kilby is so, so messy. Like telling Patt that playing with Brady is like playing Nintendo with your little brother but his controller isn't plugged in. Kilby tells.us that being negative with other players about other players solidifies bonds--it builds trust, but what he seems to be doing is digging himself a kind of hole. In his moment with Patt--he tells her he feels good with Brady (so they must have been talking about their assessment of other players) and she says, "I one hundred percent trust him.." She's about to say something else but he cuts her off. Which I think is a mistake on his part. Give people space to tell you things, dude. Before you jump in with a criticism or negative remark--assess if they might be open to it. Because what does Patt do? She goes to Brady (and Devin and Jelly) and tells him what was said.

Devin is playing a little messy in his own way. He's bold and out front and believes himself a smart strategist, but it could all easily backfire. He really tries to make the most of his meet and greet with Savu. He quickly decides on no mutiny (he doesn't like their camp, he says, but one would have to think he'd be foolish to leave his tribe where he's got a good thing going numbers-wise, at least he would assume at the time). By all appearances, it seems to go quite well for him. Sharonda smartly asks him about one on one visits and so they have the opportunity to catch up plus go look for the advantage, which they find.

During his time with the purples, Devin calls Jenna "sketchy" and then does everything he can to paint Kilby as the villain of Toka. One has to wonder if any of the Savu members are thinking that maybe he's doing too much work to bring Kilby down. If they see how hard Devin is playing and how willing he is to throw one of his own under the bus. I think, if it were me, I'd have to wonder what Devin might say about me one day. It's a lot. I'd have to think I would clock Devin as the more dangerous player. I do think it's smart of him to share his advantage with Ori, though. I know there area a lot of Survivor fans that believe you should never tell anyone anything about your advantages, alliance or not, but I think it can really go a long way in solidifying trust and when people feel like you trust them, they trust you. Us against the world.

Carter is picked to go to Toka via the bag of Shots in the Dark. But his accidentally mutiny really does end up a positive for him, as he finds a good partner in Lewis. And although he doesn't find the advantage (bafflingly, he thinks the advantage part will be easy so we see him walk right past the boat and oars on his way to greet the tribe) and has his bag rummaged through, he now seems to be in a good position. It was actually quite hilarious to watch Brady try his best to get Carter to give up the secrets he knows he has. I'm surprised Carter doesn't realize what Brady is doing--that he obviously knows there's something he's hiding. If either of them were watching this scene in a movie they'd certainly consider it obvious on both sides: Carter lying and Brady knowing it and advertising what he knows. But I guess Carter didn't catch on. Carter isn't a terrible liar, it's just that Brady already knows the truth. Brady invites Carter to stay and be "ride or die" with him. "I know how to skin a buck," he says, which I guess is one way of saying, "We are cut from the same cloth." Carter is Brady's favorite type of Brody.

Sorry Brady. Carter betrayed you.

After the immunity challenge we learn that Kilby was frustrated with Devin for being told to sit out the immunity challenge. Kilby fancies himself a puzzle god, and maybe he is! Maybe he has a better sense of that than his ability to spot liars. I have sympathy for Kilby here. I, too, do not love steamrollers and would also take umbrage with Devin for telling me (and everyone else) what to do (unless of course that person was correct in their assessment which can be the case, I suppose. Some leaders are great leaders). But I must admit to being confused by Kilby's confronting Devin. "We have the same friends in this game. I like you a lot. But sometimes I feel like you don't like me." I'm not sure what he's trying to do here. Are these genuine feelings? What is he referencing? Or is this about "sowing chaos" as Devin calls it. He tells Devin that others have told him that, "Devin calls you a liar. Devin calls you sneaky." And I honestly don't know if he's telling the truth. Because Devin has called him a sneaky liar! I mean, we can assume. In so many words. Right? Devin has told us--the audience–these things. But who has told Kilby this? When Devin asks him who told him this, Kilby says, "I think multiple people" and then names Patt, Jelly, and Brady.

What is the play here? Is Kilby full on lying? Is he somehow telling a lie that accidentally happens to be a truth? And why? What is the point of saying this to Devin? My theory is that Kilby does know that Devin was talking shit about him, but he doesn't want to give up who did tell him, which could be Lewis, Maggie, or Thien An. I'm guessing Jenna wouldn't be considered because he knows Devin has it out for Jenna so he wouldn't be talking game with her. So he throws out Patt, Jelly, and Brady because he apparently has to give up some names after Devin asks him. But I'm still not clear what kind of outcome Kilby is trying to achieve through this confrontation. I don't know if this is a genuine confrontation/conversation or if it's a move.

But Devin and Kilby don't really matter much this vote. This is Lewis' play. Lewis rightly sees he and Carter in the middle of two factions. While we know that Devin, Brady, Mike, Jelly, and Patt are a group, we aren't clear that Kilby, Maggie, and Jenna know this. Maggie tries to tell Kilby that Dev is Brady's number one but Kilby thinks he's Brady's number one. He thinks Brady might be with them. Maggie doesn't seem to buy it. And just moments before he calls the group Dev's "cult." But he's not so sure, he says, that they are as together as they seem. And Thien A lets Brady know when their vote switches from Mike to Patt, so she clearly thinks Brady is with them. Do they see him as a double agent, but are wrong about his allegiance? Seems to be the case. Carter and Lewis decide they don't want to just be numbers for the big 5. And if they go with the "misfits" as they call them, then they have a better opportunity to wield some control. It's bold, it's risky, but it's smart. Seize the day!

Patt goes home and now the misfits reign. Or, at least, perhaps Lewis does.

Sidenotes:

I still don't get why Eric is referring to himself as a vampire.

Mike: "Hard not to like Carter and his incredible, charming midwest drawl." Carter is from upper Iowa and lives in South Dakota. There's so drawl. If there's a midwest drawl, it might exist a bit in Missouri and Kansas, but not in upper Iowa. Just need to put that out there.

During Devin's visit to Toka he calls Jenna "sketchy." Dude is obsessed.

Love Maggie and all her extra pockets for all the advantages she can get. Go pockets!

Those poor oars. I guess fishing is off the table, now.