Survivor Recap: Move Over Probst, There’s a New Host in Town — Plus, Who Didn’t Make the Merge?
Just six weeks into Survivor 47 and it’s time for the kinda-sorta merge, new era-style!
Yes, it’s “mergatory” time, my gentle readers, and while everyone is hungry to make it to the game’s next stage (and well, starving in general), Jeff has some cheeky new changes that should satisfy even the oldest-school of Survivor fans. And what’s this about a new host? Read on for all the goods!
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Following last week’s Anika vote, Rachel finds herself on the bottom and praying that a merge is around the corner. And sometimes, just sometimes, the Survivor Gods are there to answer the call! (Most of the time they let it go to voicemail, but this is proof that luck is a major factor in this game.) The next morning, like clockwork, a boat pulls up and the game takes a turn. All three tribes are a little too pumped because as we know, nothing in this new era is free. Probst voice: “Ya gotta earn the merge!”
It takes literal seconds for anarchy to hit once everyone gathers on Tuku’s beach. Tiyana finds a note that tells them that they’ll compete to decide who makes the merge, but first, there’s an advantage hidden in the jungle, so-drop-what-you’re-doing-and-GO-RIGHT-NOW!
While on the hunt, everyone finds Sue’s red paint and the broken chards of pottery she left behind. Caroline knows exactly what’s up, but says she’s going to keep Sue’s secret… for now. And after Genevieve and Sam deduce that a floating buoy is “nothing,” Genevieve can’t stop thinking about that floating potential treasure. She circles back and snatches it up. It IS the advantage, but deets aren’t revealed until challenge day.
Since it’s Wednesday and we’re watching Survivor, Rome’s predictably up to no good again. After a conversation with Kyle, he tells Tiyana that Kyle said she was a threat. Then he scurries off to tell Sue that Kyle was talking smack about her and Caroline. Sol, however, is more than happy to fact-check things for everyone, and even happier to start digging Rome’s grave. Kyle’s able to clear the air with Tiyana, Andy, Sue, Genevieve and Caroline, but all of Rome’s frantic overplaying has certainly done him no favors.
IMMUNITY IS BACK UP FOR GRABS | Jeff splits the group into two teams, but things are looking a little different this time around. The winning team will earn a merge meal, but they must also compete in a second challenge for individual immunity. The winner of that will be the only person immune from the vote. The other 12? Vulnerable at Tribal Council. Genevieve reveals her advantage, which puts her directly into the second challenge and gets her the food. Yowza!
The first challenge is physically demanding and includes a mud crawl, wood chips, a tall tower climb and a table maze. It’s a nail-biting finish, but Team Yellow — Sam, Kyle, Tiyana, Sue, Caroline and Teeny — win out. In Part 2, players must stand on a narrow beam while balancing a ball on a bow. Sue gives it hell, but she can’t outlast Kyle, who wins the season’s very first individual immunity.
MERGE FEAST | After Sam tries pineapple for the very first time (I still can’t believe that is real) and Teeny gets sloshed (“I’m gonna need, like, a buddy”), the feast winners seem pretty dang OK with writing down Rome’s name. However, Andy is floated as a back-up option, which his ally Sierra doesn’t seem to mind that much. But while seven of the players chow down, Rome continues slandering Sol’s name, citing that Sol has treated him so poorly that it tweaks his self-esteem issues.
I’m sorry, WHAT!?
Rome trying to sell self-esteem issues is rich. Enter the crocodile tears, which Caroline and Tiyana buy right away. (That’s how it’s portrayed in the edit, at least.) Once everyone else returns, Rome wastes no time. The vote is SOL, SOL, SOL, he shouts like Fiji’s very own town crier. Rome has a big ol’ smile plastered all over his face during his interviews, which are interspersed with other players cementing their “Rome” votes to each other. Is the show trolling Rome? Or is it trolling us?
THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN | Rome talks to Jeff about not ruffling feathers (HAHA), while Kyle notes that there was a lot of fact-checking going on around camp. After Rome says the amulet advantage is actually a disadvantage, Jeff gives Rome his hosting seat so he could explain! Rome, a player who desperately craves attention, eats this up, and after, he tells Jeff that he loves hosting and commentating, and that Jeff has his dream job. (Please, oh, please Jeff, don’t quit your day job.)
Rome says the amulet holders are going to burn their advantages tonight so that the heat’s off their back. It’s time to vote and some of the players’ one-liners are SAVAGE. “They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but your game sure was destroyed in one,” Sam says. “Everybody has finally caught up to the way that I feel about you,” reveals Teeny. And while Rome votes, his cockiness continues to be on full display.
Jeff calls for advantages. The amulet holders combine their powers like little Planeteers and use the idol on Teeny. Andy catches two strays, but then the “Romes” start to rain all over Tribal. Even just one single vote elicits the most puzzling look on the guy’s face… and a sweet, sweet smile on Sol’s. Gotta give Rome some credit, though. On his way out, he asks Jeff for a hug and tells everyone it’s “all love.” (Read our Q&A with Rome here.)
So, Survivor fans: Happy to see Rome voted out or will you miss his antics? Go full tilt boogie in that comments section and let us know!
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