Survivor: Edge Of Extinction Episode 7 Recap - The Game Has Been Changed

(Thumbnail photo of Gavin and Julia by Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment)

There have been times this season where I thought Survivor was jumping the gun a bit. I’m a Survivor traditionalist who doesn’t care for too many twists that impact gameplay. But then you get an episode like last night, and it makes me feel bad for ever doubting the greatest show in the history of television.

Coming into the episode, the lines were drawn like this

Original Kama 7: Ron, Eric, Julie, Julia, Gavin, Victoria, Aurora

Ron and Eric were leading the group, while Aurora felt betrayed after the Joe vote. Ron and Eric were trying to manipulate everyone into staying with the group so they could “just get to the loved ones visit.” That’s all we heard the entire show. “Let’s just get to the loved one’s visit.” It was INFURIATING. The point of Survivor is to win, not to get to the loved ones visit. You don’t even want to win the loved ones visit reward challenge because people hate you when you don’t take them.

I guess I respect the move by Ron and Eric to use it as manipulation, but I don’t know. You have to come up with something better than that. I tweeted about it and actually got a like from Aubry, who I’ve been tough on this season.

I think I have to be Team Aubry now?

Original Manu/Lesu 3: Wardog, Wentworth, Lauren

They were left out in the dust after the Joe vote. They turned on David/Rick.

Floaters: David/Rick

They were included by Kamu in the Joe vote, and left out to dry by the Manu/Lesu 3. This put them in a tough spot. Do you join the majority with Kama, turn your backs to the three who just betrayed you, and hope to find a crack in Kama when it gets down to 9 or 10 left?

Or do you shun the idea of being the two outsiders to a huge alliance, being #8 and #9 on the totem pole? David and Rick could’ve put their bad blood with Manu behind them, joined up with them, and tried to flip Aurora to break up the big Kama alliance.

It’s a tough call. David was more forgiving to Wardog/Wentworth/Lauren and realized it’s just a game. They needed each other. Rick was on the opposite end. He wanted nothing to do with the group that betrayed him twice. He was insulted by Wardog barking orders and telling Rick what’s best for his game.

I’m torn on this. Part of me thought Rick was being a bit whiny and petty. It’s a game. Move on. Focus on what will help you going forward. The other part of me gets where Rick is coming from. At the end of the day, Survivor is a social experiment. Relationships, connections and emotions do matter. Maybe not for everyone, but for some. You can’t discount that. That’s why Wardog’s “game bot” style won’t work in the end. You can’t just tell Rick how he should feel.

Immunity Challenge

Scary moment happened at the challenge when Lauren passed out.

Nobody seemed to be in a rush to help when she said “I’m gonna pass out.” Everyone just waited to make sure it actually happened. Have to love that urgency out of the crew.

As Lauren was passed out and getting medical attention, it was just Aurora and Victoria left. Aurora began begging to Victoria to let her win immunity. Aurora felt blindsided at the last vote and wanted to win so she could feel secure. Everyone was trying to say “Hey not now Aurora, Lauren is maybe dying” but that wasn’t stopping her. I personally don’t care about the disrespect to Lauren. Game never pauses. But I just find it extremely irritating when a castaway begs to win a challenge. Want to win it? Win it. You’re not owed anything.

Aurora ultimately won anyway because Victoria fell. Would’ve been funny if Victoria said “alright fine you can win” as she fell to make it seem like it was on purpose, but she did not do that.

Tribal Council

It seemed like an easy vote. The Kama 7 would use Rick and David to split the vote 5-4 on Wentworth and Lauren in case of an idol (not knowing they both actually have idols).

But some people decided to wake up and actually play the game. We basically have not heard from Julia all season long, but we finally saw some of her gameplay and I was impressed. Her and Gavin realized that Ron and Eric were running the game, using the family visit as a propaganda tactic. Credit to The Wardog for talking to Julia and opening her eyes to this.

Victoria was reluctant to this, thinking it made sense to wait another vote. Ultimately, she got on board though. I think it was the right move for the young Kama 3 of Gavin, Julia, and Victoria. They were passengers in the game that became pilots (shoutout David for this analogy). I do think they could’ve waited another vote, but you never know if the opportunity will still be there.

At tribal, Ron and Eric really shot themselves in the foot. They were spewing the exact bullshit that Wardog and the rest of Manu/Lesu told them they would. Ron/Eric/Julie/Rick split their votes on Wentworth and Lauren. Both wisely held onto their idols. Ron and Eric were absolutely blindsided. The other 8 decided to vote for Eric instead of Ron. This upset me because I like Eric more than Ron, who I find quite annoying, but the move makes sense because Eric is probably a bigger threat.

The game has definitely been flipped. I don’t see the 8 from the past vote sticking together for too long though. I think we’ll very see much “voting blocs” for the rest of the game, with a constant power shift. Should set up to be a fun finish.

ALSO, what the hell is happening with the jury?!?! So I guess Aubry, Chris, and Reem are on the jury since they stayed in the game. (Good riddance to Keith and Wendy, by the way). And anyone else who gets voted off from now on is also on the jury? So Joe and Eric so far. That means that the jury will consist of 13 people if there’s a Final 3. Kind of crazy and that’d be the biggest jury ever, but I guess it makes sense given the Edge of Extinction twist.

Here are my updated power rankings on likely winner, from most likely to least likely. Voted out players are at the bottom.

Eliminated: Wendy, Keith

See you next week