Brilliant and Boneheaded 'Survivor' Plays of the Week: A Rat Amongst Us
Warning: Spoilers ahead for this week’s episode of Survivor.
What a difference a day can make on Survivor.
We saw that last week, when Ta Keo’s Old Schoolers went from the bottom to the top after Terry’s kind gesture brought Abi to his side. And we saw it again this week, when the tribe swap rearranged the players and disrupted their comfort, strategy, and alliances.
Tribe swaps always make great episodes, because they give bottom feeders like Spencer a chance to claw their way back to the top. A swap can also pull the rug out from someone like Jeff, who was merrily organizing the former Ta Keo just to his liking.
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Now everybody is on new-ish terrain, and the small cracks and breaks within the old tribes are being exploited by those in weaker positions. In maneuvering that harkens back to her time on Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, Tasha manages to turn her situation from bleak to boss. She and Andrew were the only two Bayon members on the new Angkor tribe, and yet they are now the power brokers. And their first move? Lure in Abi (ohhhh, not-sweet but totally gullible Abi), then vote out Peih-Gee.
Poor Woo — never saw it coming. Again.
Boneheaded Play of the Week: Jeff
After a tribe swap, standard operating procedure is to stick with your former tribemates if they are in the majority. On Angkor, that majority is made up of former Ta Keos: Abi, Jeff, Peih-Gee, and Woo (who begs the others to stick to their alliance).
But it’s clear that this is the tribe in worst shape after the swap. The new Ta Keo (Ciera, Joe, Kass, Keith, KelleyWent, and Terry) is basically a supergroup that won’t lose any challenges. The new Bayon (Jeremy, Kimmy, KellyWig, Monica, Spencer, and Stephen) are not quite as strong, but boast crafty players. And Angkor — well, not only do they have some of the physically weaker players, but they have to totally start from scratch at camp.
Naturally, they lose the immunity challenge. And this is where Jeff goes very, very wrong. After losing, he mouths some message to KelleyWig — ”Kimmy and Monica” looked to be part of it — and Tasha catches him in the act. She declares he’s a “rat” to everybody.
Suddenly, it seems Jeff is on the outs. Nobody trusts him — even Abi! Woo and Peih-Gee recall how he jumped ship to the New Kids to vote out Vytas, only to flip again the following week. Suddenly, the numbers that the former Ta Keos had mean nothing. And into that fissure jumps…
Brilliant Play of the Week: Tasha
If you don’t have the numbers in a tribe, all you can hope to do is exploit some weakness in the majority alliance. Tasha immediately senses there’s something up with Abi and Peih-Gee (wonder if she heard the Affair of the Missing Bracelet?) and starts befriending Abi, even before the challenge.
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Afterward, during scramble time, Jeff is well aware of how badly he messed up. Meanwhile, Tasha and Andrew work hard. They hit up Woo and Peih-Gee, arguing that Jeff is not to be trusted. Then Tasha works on her new BFF Abi. And then Abi does what Abi does — she spurns Woo and Peih-Gee, declares her loyalty to Tasha, and says she’ll vote however the ex-Bayons say. If that’s Jeff, fine. If that’s someone else…
Peih-Gee is incensed. This is the last straw for her. She decides they need to get rid of Abi. Tasha plays along, but now she sees this as a good opportunity to get rid of Peih-Gee. Jeff’s on board, of course, since this saves his skin.
At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst brings up the numbers issue, and Tasha acknowledges that it should be her or Andrew going home that night. But very few alliances are totally unbreakable, and Jeff points out that they now have all the power.
That’s proven when Peih-Gee is eliminated. Abi looks smug, while Woo is shocked (as usual). Jeff seems relieved, since it nearly could’ve been his name written down. What a difference a day makes, huh?
Power rankings:
Ta Keo: KelleyWent
Bayon: Jeremy
Angkor: Tasha
Survivor airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.
