S28E04: Our Time To Shine!

Survivor Cagayan episode 4 has come and gone and cost the Brain tribe yet another member in a mainly boring and predictable episode. After four episodes, each tribe has had their internal tactical movements and are settling in in their alliances. Therefore it’s not that surprising that we had 2 less exiting episodes in comparison with the premiere. Small exception is the Brawn tribe , where Tony is kerfuffling his way into a strong position. But first let’s see what this week’s developments will mean for next week’s swap in term of allegiances.

Let’s start with the big winners this episode, who turned their luck after last week's setback: The Beauty tribe. After last week’s episode the situation looked pretty grim for Morgan. She lost her main ally, is ostracized from the group and none of her fellow tribe mates has any reason to flip to her side. But you can’t say Morgan is a quitter, as the same night they return back to camp from voting out Brice, she decides to confront Jeremiah right in the open for everyone to hear. Asking Jeremiah to his reason for going with LJ and the girls instead of her and Brice, Jeremiah kinda stumbles and doesn’t give the most convincing  response that takes away all doubt with his fellow allies. It even raises some doubt with Alexis, putting Jeremiah’s position with the beauty’s on the fence. With this move Morgan confirms that she’s not at all the passive pretty girl who does nothing and tries to ride coattails. When I’m wrong, I’m not afraid to admit it. I had Morgan down as waste of space on this season’s castlist. But she proved she’s by far the stronger girl in her tribe and next to LJ the strongest strategy player left with the Beauty tribe. She might not be the greatest player out there but she’s not going down without a fight and is putting herself out there. Now her situation might seem grim but with a tribe swap on the horizon, she needs to look into some ways to make something happen with another tribe and turn her luck.

For the rest of the episode, not a lot happens for the Beauty tribe.besides winning both challenges this week. After winning the first challenge the tribe collectively finds the idol clue. LJ, very coy, plays dumb because he already found the idol clue last week. Of course you also had the big ‘how do chickens reproduce?’ deal. I kinda found that LJ was a little high-handed towards the girls. If you’re not at home in the farmer's world, it’s not that surprising you don’t know how a chicken reproduces. Anyways I’m curious to see how LJ’s alliance might deal with a possible split up in next week’s swap. That will be LJ’s next challenge to see if he has what it takes to go far this season.

Next is the the Brawn tribe which is turning into the most interesting tribe by far. This is all thanks to Tony who’s playing a really strong game up until now. Will it get him the eventual victory? I’m not that sure because I believe that someone will catch up to him sooner or later.
Last week Tony planted the seed in Sarah’s head that Cliff and Lindsey are gunning for her. This week that seed has grown into a fixation on Cliff as a next target. Sarah pulls in Woo and Trish to solidify the new alliance of four I mentioned last week. Sarah’s targeting of Cliff even went that far to consider throwing the challenge and the question is why? Cliff is your strongest player and will always be a bigger target then you. By voting out Cliff you’re potentially putting yourself on the radar. Luckily for Cliff the immunity challenge this week was…shooting hoops (Seriously Survivor? Seriously?) which wasn’t a real problem for a former NBA star even if you’re tribe is trying to throw the challenge.
This results in a very interesting situation for the Brawn tribe. Lindsey and Cliff are 100% safe in their minds. Yet they’re are being massively blindsided for the moment by the alliance of Tony, Sarah, Woo and Trish. In this alliance Sarah thinks she’s in control and has her fate in her own hands. The actual truth is that her fate is in the hands of Tony who  went from the bottom of the Brawn tribe to being in complete control. Next week the tribe's will most likely be reduced to two tribes and it’ll be interesting to see how the Brawns deal with that. I’m pretty sure Tony will muster threw but as for the rest of the brawns go, I’m not that sure.

This leaves us with the Brain tribe last which the Brains have been for most of their challenges. This Brain tribe is no longer a tribe of brainiacs but more of a tribe consisting of four (now three) Brainy smurfs. They’re drowning in the mess they created themselves, leaving them desperate for a game twist to save their hides.
Just like last week they decided to practice the reward challenge and at first it seemed to do them well. But thanks to J’tia and let’s also not forget Tash, they lose a big lead and once again end up third and last. The loss alone is bad enough but it’s the way they lose that’s especially depressing for the Brain tribe. The most frustrated is of course Spencer because of the situation he’s in. Despite the fact the he’s carrying or more accurate dragging this tribe, an alliance of girls is pushing him towards the exit. In the immunity challenge once again the Brain tribe is putting up an embarrassing performance with only Spencer keeping them somewhat alive in the challenge. But having to face off against a former NBA star in a game of shooting hoops, is no picnic and once again they loose and have to go to tribal.

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The choice is simple: J’tia or Spencer? Do you prefer absolute loyalty but doom yourself to lose even more challenges? Or do you go for the only person that can keep your tribe from not getting decimated? For me the choice is obvious. Choosing J’tia to stay is dooming your fate in this game. It doesn’t matter if she’s 100% loyal, if you’re going into a merge without numbers you’ll end up being a plaything for the other two tribes. Spencer is the only choice that makes sense. By keeping Spencer you’re giving yourself a chance in the challenges. The question of course is, will he stay loyal? As far as I’m concerned there’s not a lot of risk of him flipping because Spencer has no other options. Say he decides to flip to either the Brawn or the Beauty tribe, he only ends up being on the bottom of another alliance.

The decision is in the hands of Tash and Kass but yet again they show indecisiveness. Even at tribal the two of them can’t make a decision and are talking it over while Spencer and J’tia are making their case to Jeff. Luckily in the end common sense prevails and J’tia is voted out in a 3 to 1 vote.

The Brains will probably be over the moon with the tribe swap even though most likely the swap will result for one of them to fend for their own. The tribe switch will also bring forth a new fase in this game where alliances will be split up and tested. I’m very curious to next week which should be an an episode full of fireworks. Check out the ‘day after’ vid for J’tia down below and I’ll see you next time.