Survivor 48 Power Shift with Tribe Swaps
It's all in the way you play it
Survivor 48 episode 4 starts by highlighting last week’s final tribal council, and the subsequent fallout from Vula. If you need a quick recap: Cedrek voted for Sai twice, but when it came to a tie-breaker, he chose to keep her over Justin. Back to tonight’s episode, Sai doesn’t appreciate Cedrek voting for her and putting her in the position of potentially going home.
Then we see the tribes come together for what should be another challenge, but instead the tribes swap and everyone “drops their buffs.” The two dominant tribes of Lagi and Civa do not like the news, but each player draws a newly wrapped buff from a basket. Once they unwrap their “present,” each castaway moves to the correct tribe according to what color their buff happens to be.
Survivor 48 Episode 4: New Tribes
Lagi (purple): Star, Eva, David, Charity, and Mary
Vula (green): Joe, Shauhin, Thomas, Kyle, and Kamilla
Civa (orange): Mitch, Chrissy, Cedrek, Sai, and Bianca
It’s safe to say after the switch, information exchange was on full display and vital on Survivor tonight. On Lagi, Eva was throwing out Star’s name with her “Beware Advantage.” Charity was stating how David will do whatever she wants, while he talks about how she was actually the planned “first one out.”
As for Civa, Sai was telling Bianca to form her own opinions of Cedrek, because she wasn’t openly offering him as an ally. On the flip side, Cedrek connected with Mitch on the fact he had a stutter at a young age – and they bonded over their shared experiences. Oh, and Chrissy says she never discussed strategy with Mitch in the week they were together previously (for a week); the big question for that happening is “why didn’t they?”
On the new Vula, Kyle and Kamilla were acting like they weren’t close on their original tribe. Kamilla said she was on the bottom, while Kyle confirmed this information. In confessionals, both Kamilla and Kyle are talking about this plan to appear separate, when in fact they are a tight duo. So, when it comes to the immunity challenge as new tribes, it’s important for all of these new conversations to find meaning, in case going to tribal council becomes a reality.
Oh, the Vula players guaranteed the green tribes first victory of the season – before the challenge started. And, well, they started off extremely well. They were onto the final stage, building a pyramid style puzzle, before anyone else. They looked like they were on their way to winning immunity, and they even placed their final puzzle piece when the other tribes were seemingly not close. But, the final piece was wrong, which means they had to start shifting pieces – and before long, Lagi won immunity first.
As the puzzle kept going, the new Civa was catching up. A confident boast of winning quickly turned to “uh oh” as the new Vula tribe watched another team win. Lagi and Civa win immunity; Vula goes back to tribal council. Even though the new Vula tribe consists of three old Lagi, and two old Civa, perhaps voting someone out won’t go as planned, much like their take on winning the immunity challenge.
It’s a Survivor 48 Masterclass in Deception
The seeds were planted early by Kamilla and Kyle; they didn’t talk strategy when they were on Civa. Kamilla was on the bottom. They’re both open to voting the other person out. But, in fact, they are working together. Kyle has a hidden immunity idol. Kamilla has an “extra vote” to play at tribal council. The big task will be producing enough subterfuge to deduce who the three original Lagi are voting for.
If Kyle plays his idol incorrectly, then he or Kamilla will get three votes. Plus, if Kamilla and Kyle play their two votes, plus the extra vote, that’s three votes. If they tie, the extra vote doesn’t come back, which means they’ll have one less vote on a revote. Despite Kamilla talking about her struggles in challenges, Joe and Shauhin believe she is a valuable asset in puzzles. Thomas, however, knows that Kamilla shared insights into the journey he went on earlier in the season.
Thomas told his alliance that he walked away from doing a journey challenge, so he could keep his vote. Actually, each player had to compete, and he won a “steal a vote.” Clearly, he doesn’t want this information to get out to Joe and Shauhin, so he has an interest in getting Kamilla out. Plus, if he shares that he has this advantage, will it make him a target? In the end, the trio (Joe, Shauhin, Thomas) dubbed as the “California Girls” decide to put all of their votes on Kyle.
When Jeff Probst asks if anyone has an advantage, Kyle stands up and hands Jeff his hidden immunity idol. One vote. Two votes. All three votes from the California Girls are nullified, but who did Kyle and Kamilla decide to put their votes on? It was Thomas. He’s voted out, but he handles it exceptionally well.
And that’s how you gain the upper hand when you are in the minority. Kyle and Kamilla: INCREDIBLE Survivor performance!
Personal Note: My wife Meghan and I watch Survivor together, and we both agree that Kamilla and Kyle could not have played that any better. It was perfect. Watching this episode again would be easy to do just to watch them set their plan in motion and then accomplish their task. Wow!
Thank you for reading!