Survivor 47 Episode 11: Will They, Won't They?
Will a challenge beast finally be vanquished?
Survivor 47 episode 11 presents itself with old-fashioned gameplay. Much like seasons prior to the “new era,” the Survivor 47 castaways were focused on those who were physically imposing in challenges. The biggest question seems to be, will they get rid of that biggest challenge threat or will they choose to vote someone else out?
Survivor 47 Episode 11: Old-School Thinking
Sue has wanted Kyle out of the game since he wrote her name down way back in episode 2. Her hatred toward him is always on full display every chance she has to talk about Kyle, which seems to hyperfocus her game in a way that might not let her see any kind of bigger picture. Yes, Kyle is a threat to win immunity challenges, but the group collectively chose to vote out Sol when Kyle didn’t win immunity.
If Kyle was such a massive threat, wouldn’t they have taken the first opportunity to vote him out? It’s an interesting question to wonder if he’s seen as a strategic or social threat, especially when Kyle talks down about his own capabilities at tribal council. No, Kyle did not win immunity. Yes, the individual immunity challenge was great to watch.
The alternative option to voting out Kyle was Genevieve. She seems to have a very forward-thinking strategic mind and her threat level increased tenfold after the Sol vote-out. Although she wasn’t voted out this episode – and Kyle was voted out by the majority of the group – it should be asked, should they have voted out Genevieve, who appears to be the bigger threat overall?
Survivor 47: Interesting or Not
Clearly, getting to the vote-out so soon in this writeup indicates that there were more interesting things happening in the episode. The individual immunity challenge is a classic one that truly seems difficult. Players have to balance a platform with a rope from a distance, while navigating closer to it (still holding the rope), and continuing to keep the platform level. As they go back and forth, the castaways have to balance blocks on top of each other. Not only that, but each block also has a letter, and they have to spell out I-M-M-U-N-I-T-Y.
Kyle was close in this challenge, as was Genevieve. Teeny had a slow and steady to win the race type of attitude, but the stack ultimately collapsed before finishing. Rachel was able to put the last block onto the stack and her slow trek back to the start (to win immunity) took a long time. It was long enough for Kyle to almost catch back up. Rachel did win the challenge, which was the second advantage she earned in Survivor 47 episode 11.
Earlier, her, Kyle, and Genevieve drew rocks to see who would go on a journey. Everyone else didn’t want to go, so whoever drew the purple rock would leave on a boat and be taken to a dock in the middle of the ocean. Rachel drew the purple rock, and even though she didn’t necessarily want to go, she did want to make sure Kyle and Genevieve didn’t win an advantage.
On the dock out in the open waters, Rachel had to organize colored balls, almost similarly sized to bocce or duckpin bowling balls. What could be so tricky about that? Well, she has to maneuver them in and out of already stacked columns and there’s a timer that will indicate whether she wins a “block a vote” or she loses her vote. Oh, the timer happens to be Rachel pushing in one of three or four anchors that are attached to a large stretch of rope.
Once the rope runs out for one anchor, it pulls in another anchor until it eventually pulls in the very table Rachel is trying to match these colored balls into their own columns. It was an intense sequence as she was able to coordinate the colors accordingly, and then grab the advantage just before the table was dragged into the ocean.
Besides the exciting challenges, the guarantee of losing one’s vote seems to be a staple in the new era of Survivor and it seems to take some of the air out of each episode it happens. On top of that, Sue’s consistent badmouthing of Kyle is similar to Katurah’s hatred of Bruce back in Survivor 45. It definitely feels more like an old-school mentality where players lose their vantage point in the game to get out one player.
In tonight’s episode, Sue was finally able to get rid of her nemesis, but at what cost to the other castaways as they now have to navigate a final seven vote in the next episode.
