Want to check out pt 1 of the discussion? Do so here.

This double tribal is gonna take a long time to eat and even longer to digest. Let’s tuck in now, one bite at a time.

The Pu Hits the Fan

Kylie’s suspicious idol activity sends The Pu into strategy overdrive, and what a clusterfug that is to behold.

Firstly, Flick quite reasonably starts thinking about a backup plan if they can’t vote Kylie out, and not surprisingly her thoughts turn to Conner. She shares this with Matt, who up until this moment we all assumed was a ‘super-fan’. What sort of super-fan hasn’t thought about the pecking order of his alliance? Regardless, because he hasn’t thought about it, he tells Flick so, which I liked. Matt comes across very human in these moments and not strategic at all. Which to me shows that he’s trustworthy and honest. My perception must be off though as Flick doesn’t see it that way at all, and runs off to Brooke to tell her that she has changed her mind and wants Matt off as he can’t be trusted. That’s right, a Flick-flip. Meanwhile Matt tells Sam what Flick has told him, at which point I’m thinking, why is The Pu freaking out, they’re not even going to tribal yet? Anyway, Sam is somehow even more shocked than Matt that somebody is actually thinking of backup plans. In my mind these two have just slipped from being the Batman and Spider-Man of the game to being Bill & Ted.

‘Con-Air(head)?’ or ‘He ain’t no Con-ner’ (yeah, I might be running out of puns hey?)

As we’ve seen before with the Bianca vote, Conner tries to start some shit. It seems that he and Matt are actually quite tight and he does not want to lose the magic. I’m not sure if this is the right move for Conner, I’ll need to think about it some more. On the one hand, if he has Sam and Matt, and it seems like Kylie, then that’s a four that could easily take out Brooke or Flick (hereafter referred to as ‘Brick’). That’s a big IF he has Sam and Matt, and it seems like he does at this stage. On the other hand, if Sam really is slick to stick with Brick and pick Mick, I mean Matt (sorry my fingers were on auto then (insert masturbation joke here)), then  I think it would be best for Conner to just ride that one out. So, for Conner it really comes down to what Sam wants to do, which the audience doesn’t see until the votes are read. By which time Conner has really screwed the pooch and it seems like his ridiculous tribal display has forced Matt to reconsider his vote, which ultimately leads to his Saanaboot-off.

Where’s Your Head Matt?

Did Matt go into tribal thinking he would vote for Flick? If so, arguably that would have been a better move than switching to Conner, given that Sam votes for Flick. I went into this episode thinking that Sam and Matt were as tight as Bill and Ted, but if Matt doesn’t know what Sam’s doing then that’s clearly not the case.

…if I’m not mistaken this is the first time in Survivor history where a tribal re-vote has resulted again in a tie even though two voters changed their vote…

This has really left me confused about where Matt is at. I can see why he voted for Conner initially, the dude was just too unstable and volatile, revealing strategies and alliances left and right, I understand why anyone would want to get rid of him. But, unless you’re sure you have the numbers to do so, now is not the time to try and do that. If Matt had decided on the spot to vote for Conner, but wasn’t sure what Sam was thinking, then he did have the opportunity after he cast his vote and while Conner was voting to tell Sam that Conner was a go. Who knows whether or not this would have worked though. And given that he flipped to Flick on the re-vote, he can’t be sure that he is in with Brick any longer. Next episode will be a really interesting one for Matt, I can’t wait to see how he recovers. Incidentally, if I’m not mistaken this is the first time in Survivor history where a tribal re-vote has resulted again in a tie even though two voters changed their vote. Happy to be corrected on that.

Kylie’s Got to be Certain (see what I did there?)

Once it was announced no-one was going home tonight there was no way Kylie was going to play her idol. Which made the showing it in tribal all the more misguided. Am I right in thinking that voting Kylie out was no longer Plan A since Brickgate went down? If that’s the case, then Kylie just does not have her finger on the pulse at all, so, unless you’re Jim Morrison or Lenny Kravitz, don’t come to tribal with your idol hangin’ out. Instead come to tribal, assess the situation and then make a decision whether you need to a) reveal the idol and/or b) play the idol. Not smart play from her. Where to from here for Kylie? Well now two tribes know she has an idol. I honestly don’t know what her play here is. She’s got Nick and Tegan to deal with now as well. A lot to manage. Unless she can find a smart way to use the idol that I don’t see, she’s going to have to use it when she next goes to tribal to secure another 3 days and hope that an opportunity at alliance presents itself in the future. Do you have any thoughts on what her play could be because I’m stumped?

Thick as a Brick

Brick now have a struggle on their hands. Not only does Sam no longer trust them, and Kylie has an idol, but they’ve got to deal with Nick and Tegan. The Pu really is a shitfight at the moment and I think it’s going to be incredibly interesting to see what gameplay develops from everyone. For Brick, they need to scramble fast. I don’t think it is outside the realms of their capability to win Matt back given how appallingly Conner behaved and without Sam around. It’s tough but do-able. They need to do something about Kylie and her idol but I’m fugged if I know what that is going to be. Nick and Tegan are the unknowns and it certainly seemed like from Flick’s reaction when Tegan joined that Flick has her eyes set on pulling her into the fold. I don’t know much about Tegan’s game at the moment other than that she is aligned with Nick. If Brick can get Nick and Teegs then that’s a win right there, they still have the numbers even if Kylie does use her idol to get one of those four out. I just don’t know if they can, and in fact I’m wondering if it’s about time Brooke stepped out of Flick’s shadow and started playing her own game. If Brooke can align with, well anyone else, Flick is an easy vote off and I don’t get the feeling that Brooke’s reputation is damaged as much as Flick’s is by what went down tonight. Food for thought.

Not So Mellow Yellow

OK we’ve discussed the original Pu, but what happened and how do things now fare in camp Vavau I hear you ask?

Having a Barry

First I need to get this off my chest, Barry. So, so disappointing. Another one to take one of the precious few Survivor spots and not actually play the game. It’s not out-wit if you choose not to use your wits at all. I almost think he doesn’t even know what the game is. When he saw his name appearing on parchment it looked like he was thinking “that’s my name, what does that mean?”. That’s all I’ll say about that for now.

Nefarious Nick the Puckish Poet

In fact I’ll make my first ever prediction and say with 95% confidence that Nick will not win this game.

Nick suffered a classic case of over-playing from day one. From taking the lead while telling everyone that he didn’t want to be the leader, to the way he scrambled when his poem backfired. He just came off as a crafty fox to watch out for. There’s no denying that he’s an intelligent guy, but his strategies did not take into account what the other members of his tribe actually wanted. How he’s going to recover from this I don’t know, with at least five people back in old Vavau (six if you count Kate) who want him out, it’s going to be an incredible uphill climb. In fact I’ll make my first ever prediction and say with 95% confidence that Nick will not win this game. For him to go further the best he can hope for is that he bonds with Kylie, Sam, and Teegs, plays a more social game and they get him through a couple more tribals and hope that he can find something else to cling on to before they ditch him. As mentioned above we’re yet to see any gameplay emerge from Tegan. Watch this space(-cadet) I suppose.

The Four – Andrew, Craig, Sue, Jennah-Louise

I’m really interested to see what will happen with these guys now. The smart thing to do would be to stay a strong four, and pull in Kate and methodically take out Barry, Sam, and Conner (if they get that many chances). I suspect that is not the way that things will play out though. Having Conner there is like having a little Jack Russell Terrier at camp always wanting to start some shit, and given his track record and the fact that he will feel as though he really needs to scramble to save himself, I don’t think it will be long before his constant yapping starts forming cracks in the eardrums of The Four. Where could these cracks occur? Well it’s possible that Craig has taken Nick’s spot on the tribe as the mover and shaker? Craig will really need to go easy to ensure he doesn’t come across this way. One would assume Andrew is going to continue to play it cool and let others make stupid moves until it’s time for him to start being proactive, and that’s exactly the way for him to play his game. I’m sure that’s precisely what he’ll do. Time will tell just what game Sue and Jennah-Lousie are playing. I think that we’re really going to start seeing strategies emerge in Vavau now. I can’t wait.

I couldn’t finish the post without acknowledging just how beautiful this friendship is. Tai would be proud.

That’s the end for another week, unless of course Channel Ten have decided that I don’t need sleep and go ahead and air a few more episodes just for the hell of it. It has been a week full of surprises that have left me feeling very uncertain about where many of these guys and gals are going to go from here. Would love to know your thoughts, give me a shout out in the comments below. Until Sunday night, I got nothing for you, head back to camp.

– Russell Feathers

Episode 6 analysis here!