Survivor: David vs. Goliath

There's Gonna Be Tears Shed

By Kim Hollis and David Mumpower

November 13, 2018

Happy trails.

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Previously on Survivor, we were at Walt Disney World visiting Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and couldn’t have cared less about what happened on Survivor. Thanks so much to the Deputy Mayor of Slamtown, Jim Van Nest, for filling in!

Anyway, on the last episode, Mike and Nick voted for Lyrsa and sent her packing. They’re now left with a small, three-person tribe, which means it’s time for a merge. And it probably couldn’t be better timing for people like Mike.

With that said, several Davids probably face a tough road ahead. Other than Christian and Nick, none of them have done a particularly great job of blending in well with the Goliaths, who were mostly close-knit prior to the tribal swap. Alec might be the outlier, since he got on Kara’s wrong side and she’s got an alliance with hot cop.

John is delighted to see the feast, because Survivor conditions have meant that he’s not able to keep up with his macros. He has been losing his gains! On the strategy side, John wants to stay Goliath strong, even though he has grown close to Christian.

Gabby is acutely aware that there ought to be an Immunity Idol hidden somewhere amongst the feast, and she targets the napkin rings as a potential location. She doesn’t find anything, though.

Even though John is hoping to keep the Goliaths together, the quick reveal that Alec turned on Natalia to vote her out has a lot of his potential allies giving him the stink eye. Angelina, who understands math, comprehends the potential problem with Alec’s defection. The other issue, of course, is that Mike also has a potential tie to a David, as he got close to Nick during their time together, bonding over a shared dislike of Natalie.

Also, note to Survivor casting directors: Try not to cast people named Natalia and Natalie in the same season, okay? Thanks so much!

Elizabeth, who drives Carl crazy, comes up with the name Kalo Kalo for the tribe. Most everyone digs it, but he looks at her like she has snakes growing out of her head. He tells hot cop Dan that Elizabeth is annoying, and Dan responds by saying that she should be an easy next vote, then.

By the way, Dan is snuggling with Angelina. What happened to Kara?

Christian and Nick reunite, reminding us that they had the stupid duo nickname Mason & Dixon. When Christian digs for info, Nick tells his counterpart that he believes Dan has an Immunity Idol.

Oh, wait. Dan’s hugging Kara now. Reunited and it feels so good! He tells her that he has TWO idols, not just one. He had planned on keeping that second one a secret for just himself, but he’s just so doggone excited to see Kara, he can’t help himself!

The Goliaths all come together to discuss which David should be voted out first. Alec sort of walks in after a bunch of hugs are exchanged, and it’s a little awkward. Everyone knows his part in eliminating their cohort, Natalia.

There’s also some discussion of taking out Christian, who is perceived as the biggest threat amongst the Davids. John initially defends him, but backs off quickly when he sees which way the wind is blowing. Best not to commit to friendship with any David at this point. It’s smart gameplay.

After this conversation, Alec monologues that he thinks his Goliath alliance is silly to presume that their bond would stand after the merge. He’s someone who ought to tread lightly, though. He’s already on the radar.

Immediately, Alec goes straight over to Christian to form a new alliance. Obviously, Christian is smart enough to tell anyone who wants to join forces that he’s on board. I suspect that if John suggested that the vote should go Alec’s way, that would be Christian’s preferred direction. John is clearly a gamer.

Elizabeth might be Dan’s target, but her spidey-senses are up enough to realize that he should be hers. Alternately, she figures that Kara/Dan have to be split up one way or another.




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Mike confirms that he’s hoping to work with some of the Davids and then stick with a couple of the Goliaths – specifically, Alison and Alec. The three of them decide that they can form a group of six with Nick, Christian, and Gabby. Alec confirms the plan with Gabby and Nick.

This group quickly decides that Elizabeth is a good target (which might be the Davids working against their own self-interest, but we’ll see). More and more with the way this episode is being edited, it looks like Alec will be going home tonight. He’s pushing too hard and making moves too quickly.

Nick and Gabby are happy to be included (especially Gabby, who has consistently experienced self-esteem issues). Christian views it more strategically, allowing Alec to stick his neck out in this case. He calls the group a “strike force,” saying that they can deploy to take out a Goliath when the time is right.

Of course, Elizabeth has to play the game too. She takes her Dan suggestion to Alec, perceiving him as the possible “flip” player. He strings her along, but knows it’s way too soon. He goes straight to Dan and Kara to let them know of Elizabeth’s plan.

Dan freaks out. He doesn’t know why anyone would target him over John (that’s fair). Of course, he’s forgetting that at least half the people here know he has an Immunity Idol, so it needs to be flushed. Also, the fact that he’s part of a perceived “couple” makes him dangerous, too.

In confessional, Kara basically says, “Suck it up, you big baby.” We’re starting to think this attraction is one-sided.

Day 20 brings an Immunity Challenge and a Probst sighting. Obviously, it’s all about individual immunity now. Today’s challenge requires contestants to swing a rope with some sort of weight. They have to keep it swinging and can’t lose out. They also can’t knock down their statue.

Early on, most of the Davids fall out of the challenge. Elizabeth remains, along with John, Alison, and Dan. John steps off his platform, followed by Dan knocking his statue off.

It’s Alison versus Elizabeth in a battle of ladies whose name starts with a vowel! Elizabeth loses momentum in a bit of a lapse, giving Alison immunity. She hugs everyone, including Probst.

After the challenge, Angelina immediately brings up the fact that Christian needs to be the target. Elizabeth isn’t a big threat, in her opinion. She thinks she’s really in charge here, but the looks on Alec, Mike, and Dan’s faces tell the story. They want to choose Elizabeth.

Because no one has reassured her for the past 20 minutes, Gabby starts freaking out. She figures they’re on the outside looking in and she has no idea whether she and her fellow Davids are actually on the chopping block.

Alec is worried about keeping his little group of Davids onboard with him, so he has no desire to vote out Christian (who is Angelina’s preferred choice due to the fact that he can, you know, play the game). Alec talks to his other Goliath friends (besides Angelina), and they all agree that Elizabeth is the proper choice. Mayor of Slamtown John says he’ll talk to Angelina and smooth things over.

Unfortunately, rather than just going along with the wants and needs of the rest of the alliance, she starts pitching a fit. While she is absolutely right that Christian is a huge threat, she needs to work with her group until the numbers are more in her favor. John and Alison both listen to her and let her vent, but she isn’t done.

Angelina goes to Elizabeth and tells her what the Goliaths are planning. Hoo boy. Naturally, Elizabeth is pretty upset, but Gabby (now realizing for sure that she’s not on the chopping block) stays composed and suggests that they should go tell the Goliaths that Angelina came to them and revealed the Elizabeth plan. We go to commercial with Angelina saying, “I got this.”

We do not believe she has this.

At Tribal Council, Christian informs us that there are currently 144 possible configurations of conversations and people you could potentially be working with. Thanks, Christian!

After Angelina talks about the fact that Goliath is playing a conservative game. Elizabeth chooses this moment to come out and say that Angelina told her she would be the vote tonight. Angelina’s Goliath teammates very quickly deduce that she’s likely trying to curry favor with jury members.

Angelina lies and says that she had no such conversation with Elizabeth. Her alliance pretty quickly figures out that she’s making things up. While Gabby cries, Angelina argues, and Elizabeth finger wags, the Goliaths get up and have some conversations about who to vote for.

When she votes, Angelina calls Elizabeth’s outing of her “poor form.” Angelina had a REALLY bad day.

Nonetheless, Elizabeth is the person voted out tonight. We guess kudos go to the Goliaths for sticking to their guns, but they’ve got a snake in their midst. We’ll see if they stomp on her neck in the coming days.


     


 
 

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