Survivor 43 recap: Sami makes a super risky move

How did he do that? No, I'm not talking about how James once again appeared to be in possession of some sort of remote-controlled vocal effect changing device that makes his voice sound positively crazy whenever he shows up at Tribal Council. Nor am I talking about how Cody has not been voted out by his tribe mates even though he apparently urinates all over the campsite, which would seem to be something of a deal breaker.

Who am I talking about then? I'm talking about Sami, the last guy you ever want to see if you have a pet you love, and now the last guy you would ever want to see out on the island. Look, I'm not gonna sit here and front. What Sami did this week on Survivor 43 was downright reckless, and I was ready to drop the hammer when it inevitably all went south. But it didn't, and he may have just pulled off the move of the season.

CBS Noelle Lambert, Karla Cruz Godoy, and Sami Layadi on 'Survivor 43'

Let me set the table before we go any further. The tribe had been separated into two groups for the challenge, and each group had to vote somebody out. Sami, Karla, James, Noelle, and Owen were at the old Vesi camp trying their best to avoid the smell of Cody's urine, and while Noelle was joining everyone else in talking about voting Owen out, she actually had another idea — to use her steal-a-vote advantage to take Owen's vote. That way James would be convinced she was with him and would not steal the advantage with his Knowledge is Power.

However, Noelle would use that extra vote from Owen to join Sami in taking out James in a 3-2 vote — sending James out of the game, and stripping power away from Karla. It was a brilliant plan to both flip the script and neuter the power trio of James, Karla, and Cassidy. All they had to do was stay quiet. But Sami didn't.

Instead, Sami went to Karla and basically told her that the vote was going against James. On the surface, this seemed like pure lunacy. All she had to do was tell James and he could potentially steal the steal-a-vote and flip everything back. Why would Sami risk everything by telling Karla? In the notes I write while watching the episode, I actually jotted down "WHY????????" with 8 question marks, because apparently seven was not deemed sufficient enough. What was he thinking? Oh, I'm sorry, I mean… What was he thinking???????? Ah, impetuous youth! Struck down by inexperience yet again!

Yet somehow, some way, Sami actually convinced Karla to vote against her biggest ally. I don't know how he did it. I don't know if he promised Karla a custom-made chakram. I don't know if he performed on-island LARPing as a vengeful Callisto returning from the Labryrinth of ruins in "A Necessary Evil." I don't know if he arranged a private audience for her with Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor. But however he did it, he did it. And now, that wily teenager has managed to not only switch sides in taking out a huge threat, but he did so without burning what would have been a massive, pissed-off bridge.

Now, Sami can sit back as Karla/Cassidy and Cody/Jesse battle it out for tribal supremacy with nobody taking shots at the kid. Exit interviews with Elie and Jeanine have made it clear that voted out players had no idea what a stealthy, savvy game Sami was playing until it was too late. If the current contestants are similarly clueless, they may find themselves on the jury sooner rather than later. Okay, we should probably hit on a few other things from episode 9 of Survivor 43, but before we do, a question: Anyone want a papaya?

CBS The cast of "Survivor 43'

Divide and Conquer

From a viewer's perspective, there was both good and bad in this week's immunity challenge. The bad was that the challenge itself — holding on to a handle clamping a ball that would fall if you lowered the handle — was not super exciting. Give me an endurance challenge that is an epic battle of wills; one that goes on so long that people are passing out and Christian Hubicki is rambling on and on about God knows what, not one in which 60 percent of the contestants are already out after just a few minutes. That just doesn't pay dramatic dividends for me.

On the good side, however, was the decision to once again, as in seasons past, break the players up into two groups. That way we would get new tribe dynamics. People that might be safe in a full tribe were all of a sudden in danger. And what happens in smaller groups (and in separate Tribal Councils) would then have ramifications once everyone remerged back together as one. And we certainly saw all of that this week.

Anyway, I would probably retire this particular challenge, in which Karla (with a busted finger!) and Cody (who from the very start of the contest was clearly the only one out there truly livin' 2 be radical) emerged victorious. And I would replace it with my underwater puzzle idea (a challenge in which players have to complete a puzzle while completely submerged and then raise it up to show Jeff Probst when they were done). But seeing as how I have been advocating for that for years and it has never come to pass that means it is either… A) From a production standpoint more difficult to pull off than I imagine, or… B) It was a terrible idea to begin with. Possibly both.

CBS

The Spice is Nice

For a few weeks now, I have been complaining about how everyone has been playing way too friendly at Tribal Councils this season. The Tribals lacked sizzle. They lacked spark. They lacked aggressiveness. Again, I'm not talking about idol plays and live Tribals and all that. I'm talking about nobody coming after anybody in the forum where ostensibly all the dirty laundry is supposed to be shared. But nobody has been sharing.

That changed this week when Owen and James continued their feud into Tribal. It was a theme all episode as the duo argued about which was worse — voting against someone, or lying to someone about the upcoming vote. Honestly, neither sound great. But also, neither sound terrible. People lie. That's the game. Anyway, James thought Owen was a snake and Owen thought James was acting like The Godfather… which I guess might at least explain why James always sounds so weird at Tribal Council. (Was he trying out Marlon Brando's famous Don Corleone mouthpiece?)

Unfortunately, just as the going was starting to get good again at Tribal Council, Noelle slammed the door shut. "Okay, we're done. Too much testosterone. I'm done with it," she announced. First off, too much testosterone sounds like a tattoo Cody would get on his other ass cheek after a few too many Kona Longboard Lagers, but more important than that is we finally had some petty annoyance rearing its head at a Tribal Council and Noelle had to go shut it down. BOOOOOOOOO!!!! Can't we all just not get along?

As for James, his downfall in the game was assured once he picked up the Knowledge is Power advantage — a cursed item if ever there was one. Four people have now possessed it and no one has yet to use it successfully. The only thing that could have made James' chances of winning even slimmer is if the Survivor Gods had combined curses and also gave him a brand new car — complete with Colby Donaldson and his mother sleeping in the back.

By the way, I double checked with Probst as to whether James could have used the Knowledge Is Power to take Noelle's steal-a-vote once she announced she had something she wanted to play. Not that he would have, because he didn't realize she was using it to vote him out, but could he have — especially if Karla had clued him in? I have an article about it with Probst's full answer (as well as another article where the host takes us inside the Survivor casting process), but the succinct version is… no, he could not have. Once someone announces they have something at Tribal and displays it, it can't be taken away.

CBS Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez on 'Survivor 43'

The Dynamic (and Dangerous) Duo

I know it looks like this may change next week judging by the preview, but let's all pretend for a second we did not watch that and allow me to ask: Why is nobody worried about the closest duo in the game: Cody and Jesse? I know Ryan didn't like Cassidy and Cassidy didn't like Ryan, but could they not see the common threat in front of them and the chance to take out the biggest competition in the game? Instead, they kept their pre-merge vendetta intact and Ryan ended up on the losing side of the vote. Many a Survivor player has left with an idol or advantage in their pocket; Ryan may be the first to leave with a half dozen fish in his. He thought being the provider would be his route to the end, and he could not have been more wrong.

Personally, it seemed like Cassidy was the smarter play to oust, especially after James was knocked out. I'm not sure what the rationale was for taking out a guy in Ryan who was not respected strategically or socially and had not won a single individual challenge, but, then again, I'm not sure about a lot of things. I do know that next week's action is when we will see the true beauty of the episode's split into two groups — because the split exposed the power Cody and Jesse had in determining who went home. Had James survived, it would have been fascinating to see how the Coco trio and Vesi duo would have reintegrated next week. Even with James now covering his face with his buff over on the jury, it should still be pretty damned good.

And we got the goods for you. I mentioned I had a chat with the Hostmaster General about the Knowledge is Power, and I also spoke to the host about the Survivor casting process. Interested in getting on the show? Well, then go read it! And go check out the exclusive deleted scene waiting for you at the top of the recap once again showcasing Sami's social skills. We also have not one but two exit interviews for you so check out my chats with James Jones and Ryan Medrano, so come see what those guys have to say. You can also follow me on Twitter @DaltonRoss for updates on all my Survivor stuff, and I've also gone and set up shop over on Mastodon just in case Twitter all burns down to the ground… which does not seem unlikely in the least. But hopefully not before a return with a Thanksgiving sized scoop of the crispy!

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