Survivor 48 Episode 4 OOO: Diva Down

The moment the new Vula tribe lost the challenge my heart sank. Five of my absolute favorites — and all people who were getting tremendous content — were going to tribal. When the swap first happened, I thought it was impossible for this group to lose. Alas, I was faced with the reality that unless we got a quit or medevac à la Randen, we were losing someone far too soon.

But losing Thomas was the most devastating outcome. There is nobody better for reality TV than a mean gay man. This was a disaster — not even a lip-sync battle?

So I’m left adrift, searching for meaning in what once was (whatever that means). Though, I suppose I shall set aside my woe to award my Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast awards for Episode 4.

Outwit

Yeah, you’re going to be seeing a lot of Kyle and Kamilla here. This one goes to Kamilla. What a perfect plan and execution to immediately sense the situation her and Kyle had themselves stuck in and trigger this “bottom of Civa” ruse. Kyle jumped in perfectly, not being over the top, but selling it subtly by denying Kamilla’s assertions pacifically. But the thought, the execution — the wit — I attribute to Kamilla. She drove it and she conjured the situation needed to make it happen. She was the smartest person on that beach, and it’s not like the four people she was with were dull by any standards.

This strategic thinking has clearly been situated in Kamilla’s repertoire since the beginning. Don’t be surprised if it keeps being brandished. I would not be surprised if she was the most strategic player this season, and I would expect to see her in this category more often.

Outplay

This one is for Kyle. He gets it for three reasons. The gameplay earned by his acting, as mentioned above. Physically playing the idol and extra vote, and doing so correctly. And lastly, hiding the idol in a good enough place that Shauhin didn’t find it when going through his bag.

Kyle has to earn something for how he handled the situation. There’s an argument this should just be a double Outwit award, but I think there’s enough gameplay involved involving advantages that it counts. I mean, who cares, I make the rules anyway.

Outlast

I’m split on this one. On one hand, the entire original Vula tribe survived the disaster tribe. That’s a win. On the other hand, they didn’t actually do much to outlast anyone else. Kyle and Kamilla feel like cop-outs because they just took the other two awards. Shauhin is a candidate because he wasn’t the one chosen to get bounced.

In the end, I’m going Mary, specifically. It might be a shock, but her position going from the bottom to the clear swing vote — and what looks like the pivotal position in a middle three alliance consisting of Eva, David, and herself — was the largest swing of anyone in terms of position in the game. It’s the first time she didn’t go to tribal and the first tribal she or an alliance-mate of hers didn’t get votes or booted. It’s positioned her to outlast, and that’s what’s important to me after a swap.

Predictions

Last week, I said Bianca. I still don’t feel great about her chances, but I think this may be Sai’s boot. I just have a feeling she might be throwing Cedrek under the bus, as we saw, and Bianca will talk to Cedrek and end up liking him. It seems that’s the case with most people. It all seems Cedrek is already allied with Mitch. I believe Bianca will feed this information back to the Cedrek-Mitch coalition to protect herself when she doesn’t have a vote.