Survivor 43 recap: Those glorious bastards have done it again
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Sometimes when it comes to Survivor, it's the weird things that excite me. You know I love me an orange hat on Jeff Probst's head. Awkward and over-enthusiastic product placement is always a winner in my book, especially when players are so obsessed with scoring screen time that they go out of their way to lavish praise on subpar Jack Black movies, underwhelming Sprint phones, or mid-level chain restaurants. And the high I feel after watching that one person always left hanging on an unreciprocated high-five after winning a challenge is enough to fuel drug cartel profits for a full calendar year.
But I'm capable, on occasion, of also looking at the big picture. Or at least a bigger picture. So let's talk about the merge. The merge is exciting! It means a whole new phase of the game, a new name (Gaia?), and alliances making and breaking all over the place. But if there has been a weakness in the post-merge portion of the game in recent seasons, it has been in the challenges. Too often they have just lined players up in a row in some sort of balance or endurance competition.
I get why the show does this, and Jeff Probst actually explained it pretty well in an interview I posted earlier today, in which he said, "Once we merge, we shift our focus to creating challenges that are as fair as possible for all players regardless of age or physical abilities." That makes complete sense. And individually, each of these line-up contests are good enough. But once they keep happening week after week, it can't help but feel a bit samey-samey. If only they could break up some of this monotony and get these people on the move from time to time. And if only they could incorporate some of those big builds of the pre-merge portion of the game into the post-merge stage.
Robert Voets/CBS The cast of 'Survivor' 43
Well, Survivor did both of those things this week and in a genius way. Not only that, but it brought back one of the show's endangered species to get it done, resurrecting a relic of yesteryear in a smart new tweak. Let's get our Christopher Nolan on and go Memento style and start at the very end of the challenge and then work backwards to explain.
Four people battled to see who could keep a bucket holding 25% of their pre-game weight the longest. Okay, that essentially sounds exactly like what I was just complaining about — another line-up test of endurance. Ah, but that was merely one stage of a much bigger competition. Probst surprised contestants and viewers alike with a note sent to camp informing them and us that the players would actually be competing in teams of two. Hmmm, that's interesting. And certainly a way to mix things up. But the surprises didn't stop there.
When the players arrived at the challenge and arranged themselves into adorable little sets of two, the host explained that the contest would actually be run in three stages. Only 4 of the 6 teams would advance to stage 2. And only 2 of the 4 teams would make it to the final bucket stage, when they would separate and compete as individuals. Talk about a throwback! Survivor used to run these elimination stage challenges on a pretty regular basis, and I was not a huge fan.
That's because so often the storyline leading up to the competition would be focused on an individual that was clearly in big danger of going home. That meant the drama was centered on whether that person could win immunity to save themselves. But what happens when that person got eliminated in the first or second stage? There would be no drama going into the final stage. However, that's what makes resurrecting the idea right after the merge so brilliant. The game is still wide-open at that point so there was no one individual player that needed to advance to make the final stage pay dramatic dividends. You can just have a kick-ass challenge and let that play out for you.
And boy was it kick-ass, and boy did it play out. The first stage crawl through a muddy twisted net was dirty and diabolical and sneakily difficult. Two players — Jeanine and Noelle — could not even make it out, as if they were stuck in a spider web. Ever the competitor, Noelle even removed her artificial leg to try to get through, with no luck. "This is the first time I've been emotional out here," said the Paralympian through tears. "That sucked!" For her, yes. For us, no. It was amazing TV.
The decision to have players compete as pairs in the first two stages played out to perfection, especially in the second stage as we got a big Karla spill and some disappointed disagreement between Ryan and James after they were eliminated. And then we got to the final endurance stage, which on its own would have been fine, but when joined with the entire competition — one that was so long it even featured a super rare mid-challenge commercial break — formed an epic contest.
Which brings us to the result. Say what you will about Gabler — and many things have been said about his facial hair alone — but what the 51-year-old just pulled off was pretty legit. The mystery wrapped inside an enigma packed deep inside a question mark pulled minute-by-minute inspiration to fuel himself on and on. He took inspiration from former patients, from members of the military, from gutsy tribemates. However, as the minutes piled up, he appeared to be struggling. Not in holding up the bucket, mind you, but it coming up with other inspirations. At one point he even had to resort to taking inspiration from pets and actual, like, states.
Honestly, if there is anything that sucked about this challenge, it is the fact that Cody finally dropped at the 38-minute mark before Gabler got truly desperate and had to resort to taking inspiration from old Mastodon song titles ("This minute is for you, 'Aqua Dementia!'") and famous historical goatees ("This next one's for my main man, French composer Claude Debussy!").
In the end, Gabler shattered the 25-minute record for the competition, lasting 38 minutes when Cody dropped, and who knows how long he could have gone. It's impressive because he's 51. It's impressive because look how weak and sick he has been out there. And it's impressive because Gabler is a big dude! Remember, they were holding 25% of their pre-game weight, which is why challenges like this tend to favor smaller or skinnier contestants with less on their frame. Not this time, though.
Hell, Gabler was so pumped he took us to commercial in a full-in Survivor recruitment video, yelling at us to "Do It!" To make matters even weirder, Probst then showed up and just, like, stared at us silently for a few seconds before finally chiming in that we should apply to be on the show. I cannot express how happy it would have made me if Jeff had never said a single word — the camera just staying right on him as he stared back into its lens without uttering a thing. And then it just went to commercial. Tell me that would not have been the best thing you have ever seen on Survivor. Yes, even better than that time Courtney Yates rolled her eyes at a Buddhist Monk.
As we move on into the season, we're going to no doubt get back to more standard individual challenges, and that's fine. But this week showed that there are still ways to mix things up in interesting new ways to keep both players and viewers on their toes. It's so easy to blast the show when it pulls out a new wrinkle that doesn't work, and lord knows I've done that a million times. But it's also worth celebrating the success stories. Was writing 1,300 words about it a bit much? Perhaps. Maybe I should have made like the show and broken this recap up into stages instead. In fact, let's do that right now as we hit on a few other things from episode 7 of Survivor 43 that have nothing to do with Claude Debussy.
Robert Voets/CBS James Jones on 'Survivor'
What's in a Name?
It's weird in modern day Survivor when a merge happens and all of a sudden a fancy new merge name pops up on screen and we have no idea how it got there and what it means. Now, I want to be Crystal Pepsi clear that I am not advocating they waste precious episode time showing us tribemates brainstorming possible tribe names. In the new era of all-killer, no-filler Survivor, that's usually some dead weight that doesn't need to make the final cut.
But that also doesn't mean I don't want to know where (and whom) the name comes from. Hopefully a secret scene will tell us, much in the same way we learned the meaning of Survivor 42's merge name of Kula (or Kula Kula, as the tribe actually called it) thanks to an EW exclusive deleted scene. Unfortunately, it does appear that none of the names the Survivor 43 cast put out there pre-game as merge name possibilities came through, and I will admit to a measure of disappointment that the current tribe name is not Dangily-Doodily.
Anyway, the new tribe name is Gaia. No idea what it is, who suggested it, or what it signifies. Go scour those secret scenes and let me know!
Swap City
It's probably too early to call the Knowledge is Power advantage cursed, but it certainly hasn't worked out that swell for those that have held it. Both Liana Wallace and Drea Wheeler unsuccessfully tried playing it in their seasons, as their intended victims were alerted to it and handed off their trinkets to others in advance. Poor Geo Bustamante didn't even make it that far. He only held the damn thing for a few hours and was promptly voted out. At least he got a rad souvenir, right? Wrong. Producers immediately took the parchment from him after his torch was snuffed and then put it back in the game. (Mean!)
James found the clue in the water well in front of an audience this week and told everyone he wasn't going to get it before Tribal Council, which was about as believable as when I promised my kids I would not steal all their 3 Musketeers Halloween candy after they went to sleep. Of course he went and got the advantage! The same way I treated myself to a heaping helping of whipped chocolate goodness the second my children's heads hit the pillow, and if they didn't like it they could file that one under the letter T for tough noogies.
The Knowledge is Power is a weird one. As a concept, I don't love it because I think any game mechanic in which a player is "not allowed to lie" is super weird in a game that is almost entirely based on lying. Imagine playing poker and there being some rule that you have to tell someone if you're bluffing. Seems odd. But damn if it has not given us some unbelievable moments over the past three seasons. This week it led to a veritable swap meet, with players handing idols and advantages to each other in a shell game so elaborate that I'm pretty sure at one point Probst himself may have even been packing.
I suppose that is ultimately the sign of a successful twist. Even if it is not used properly — or not used at all — can it impact the game and other players in an interesting way? The Knowledge is Power has certainly been that. The question is, with players unable to keep their yaps shut, will we ever get to see it actually used correctly? Did you see James telling every single person on the island all about it? I haven't seen that dude so excited since Benny the Butcher's last mixtape dropped. Apparently he went from "Tana Talk" to time to talk, and boy, did he talk. The shell game that ensued as a result of all this led to a very curious moment at Tribal Council, so let's head there now.
No Hand Backs
First off, have you noticed something about Tribal Councils this season. No live Tribals!!! Everyone sitting firmly in their seat. I don't know if producers told players this season to knock it off, or if they are just editing them out, or if they are simply not happening, but I'm personally glad to see it. I always found it more interesting to watch how players would have to find a way to communicate thoughts and strategy to some tribemates without alerting others to their true intentions.
The live Tribals — where players could get up, walk over and whisper to whomever they wanted — always felt like a cheap and easy get out of jail free card to me. It also made it more difficult for the audience to follow what was truly happening — which was often driven home during exit interviews when we found out large swaths of the live Tribals that never made the final edit. So I don't miss the live Tribals at all and I want to make sure it is understood that what I am about to say has nothing to do with that.
So with that said, allow me to ask the question: Have Tribal Councils been the least interesting part of this season so far? Again, it's not the lack of live Tribals or lack of idols played. I've rewatched a lot of old seasons that had neither of those elements and they were still often riveting. It just seems like the contestants this season are all getting along too well. No disagreements. No arguments. No tension. No drama. I'm not looking for World War III out there, and I don't want an ugly game, but a little more spice would be nice.
Wisely, the producers have adjusted. They have kept the Tribals pretty quick and clean and given us more time on the beach and challenges instead. We didn't even have a commercial break this Tribal, which seems to have become the norm of late.
Robert Voets/CBS Dwight Moore on 'Survivor 43'
But there certainly was something interesting that went down during this week's Tribal, and it was during the reading of the votes. After Dwight's name came up for a second time, Dwight — who was holding Jeanine's idol — told her "I got you." After another vote was read for Ryan, Jeanine tried to secretly reach her hand back so Dwight could give her the idol back without anyone noticing. Dwight responded with "I see you, I see you." After Dwight's third vote, Jeanine tried again. After Dwight's fifth vote and just before the sixth and final vote was pulled, she tried yet again, but remained empty-handed.
The big question is: Could Dwight have even handed her the idol at this point? Contrary to the Australian version of Survivor, which allowed someone to transfer an idol after being voted out of the game in a recent season, such tactics have thankfully not been allowed in the U.S. version of the show. But what about during the reading of the votes? That would appear to be against the spirt of the game, because if someone saw their name come up repeatedly, they could quickly hand off the idol before the final vote was read.
The same way idols cannot be played once Probst starts reading the votes, it would seem to make sense that they cannot be transferred then as well, but just to make sure, I checked in with the host to get the final word. And the word is… you cannot hand over any idol or advantage once the votes start being read. Which is totally the right call. You can read exactly what Jeff had to say about it in a separate article, but that's the big headline. Now, what the show would have done had Dwight actually handed it to her is another question. My guess is they would have just edited the entire transaction out and made Jeanine hand it back to a producer off camera — which seems the cleanest way to deal with it.
Of course, as we have seen, nothing is ever clean on Survivor, and we'll see how folks like Noelle, Owen, Gabler, and Jeanine react to being left out of the loop on the Dwight vote. We'll have to wait until next week for that, but we've still got some goodies for you. Goodies like my midseason interview with Jeff Probst, which you can read right now. Goodies like an exclusive deleted scene that shows one player using fish as a weapon in the game. And goodies like my exit interview with Dwight. He's interviewed a lot of big shots in his life, but now this big shot is going to interview him! The tables are turned!
Oh, and is anyone still on Twitter? If so, you can follow me there (for now?) @DaltonRoss for lots of Survivor news and views. I'll be back next week with another scoop of the crispy, which will be dedicated to anyone left on the planet that Gabler didn't already dedicate a minute to.
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