Zero to Hero (or villain): Survivor 47 Episode 4 Recap and Power Ranking
Good gameplay? It was certainly shocking to watch a Survivor episode and be surprised by a good strategic move (I’m looking at you, Q). I’ll go out on a limb and even call it great.
The gears started moving across all the tribes in this week’s episode, capped off by a magnificent blindside orchestrated by a player that dared us to forget her. Now, the “type-A” girlboss will be impossible to forget.
The one where Genevieve shows up
While Rome stalked Sol around the jungle, pestering him and preventing him from doing, well, anything at all alone, the Lavo pecking order seemed pretty set in stone. That was until Genevieve made herself known. She got her first real confessional — and can I say, what a stylish jacket — and we learned her first job was as a babysitter.
She certainly took care of the kids tonight.
Her effort to connect with Sol on the beach and her general presence being acknowledged ended up being foreshadowing for one of my favorite pre-merge moves in the new era. I worry that not introducing her until this episode may mean she’s a one-move-wonder, but I have hope for her to make a deeper run. She’s certainly strategic, convincing, and seems like she is liked and trusted by just about everyone.
Mr. and Mrs. Costanza
Trouble in paradise for the not-lovers. Sam and Sierra had a little argument and fray in their trust after “Survivor’s George Costanza” told Sam about ‘The Breadwinners’ alliance Sierra may have with the girls at Gata. On top of that, Sierra doesn’t trust Andy and Sam insists he’s necessary for his game.
I worry for Sam because if Sierra decides to flip to the girls after losing trust in him, he’ll be very vulnerable — even with his idol. I don’t think she will, and I believe they’ll work it out, but there’s a crack there that wasn’t evident before.
Andy is like the child still living with his parents. One wants to kick him out to live on his own, the other wants to keep him around. Wow, it really is the Costanzas.
Freddy Sueger
Sue did her best slasher impression, making her tribemates think she was covered in “blood” that was really just red paint after finding a caught-red-handed idol. Tiyana is suspicious, but they all seem to think she was actually bleeding. Maybe Sue actually got away with it.
We didn’t get much else from Tuku, which I think mostly bodes well for them all as far as making it through the next episode. I can’t get a read on their new dynamic, but I do appreciate Sue getting into character for this Halloween season.
Puzzles are hard
The challenge wasn’t anything groundbreaking. Obstacle race, throw sandbags, solve a puzzle. The new era formula remains tedious. I’ll give it credit on two things though: chicken rewards are back and the cube-thing was a pretty cool element.
Rachel and Anika shined on the puzzle. Lightning quick. Sol continued to be a complete physical beast, and I was impressed with Kyle’s speed and nimbleness prior to the bag throwing.
Most notably, of course, was Lavo (and mostly Rome’s) complete inability to solve a puzzle. They didn’t get a single piece. It was so sad, I thought Rome was throwing just to vote out Sol. Apparently not.
The power of friendship!
The journey yielded an interesting new amulet that required one of the three there to give up their vote before the timer ran out in order to get it. If nobody gave it up, they all lost their vote. Teeny ended up feeling safe enough and conceded theirs, revealing the amulet idol.
The rules: If all the current* holders of the amulet idol agree on a person to play the idol on, they can use it to give someone immunity. But, all the holders must agree.
*If one of the three is voted out, the two remaining must agree. If two of the holders are voted out, it becomes a regular immunity idol.
So, will this end up being a trigger to collaborate, or does it place targets on the people with the amulet idol in order to be the last one standing and have your own precious immunity idol? I’m betting it ends up being a single-person idol by the time it’s played. Maybe two people play after forming an alliance together, but only if it’s late in the game — think final six or less.
Paging Dr. Blindside
Genevieve decided this vote, and this game, was hers. Right when Kishan felt confident in his move and position, she recognized the opportunity. Her bonding with Sol earlier, her alliance with Rome, and her general trust allowed her to blindside who I thought was in one of the strongest positions in any of the tribes.
She executed this vote against the ER doc with surgical precision. Up until Rome decided to steal Kishan’s vote, the threat wasn’t even registering in Kishan or Teeny’s mind. Most impressive, to me, was her ability to get Rome to act as her pawn. She convinced him to play his advantage in the way she wanted, not the way he wanted, voting off the biggest threat and not the person Rome truly seems to dislike.
I didn’t expect it. I certainly didn’t expect it to come from Genevieve who before tonight had (maybe) one confessional. In the end it was a great moment and made for a memorable episode.
Power Ranking
GENEVIEVE
Sierra
Sam
Sue
Rome
Caroline
Andy
Gabe
Rachel
Sol
Tiyana
Teeny
Kyle
Anika
X: Kishan
Big Winners:
Genevieve rockets up the power rankings by completely taking the game in a stanglehold and making it hers. A resume-boosting move that secured a majority, flipped the power in her own alliance, and used the game’s positioning to knock out a strong player that had a shot for a deep run.
Biggest Losers:
Teeny falls hard down the rankings, losing her vote at the journey, which ultimately caused her to lose her number-one ally and end up on the bottom of her tribe in one fell swoop. Kyle and Anika stay low because they both don’t have a vote at the next tribal and aren’t noticeably in a majority.