We knew that the first episode after the merge would be interesting as it always is. But boy, did they deliver! Fireworks would be an understatement for this episode. 2 idols that, even though spectacular, were kinda squandered by LJ and Tony. Betrayal by chaos Kass which didn’t really make sense at all from a strategy-point of view. And the spectacular rise and fall of honest cop Sarah. So I’d say enough to talk about so let’s break it down.
‘The best laid plans often end up sprawled out on a murder scene floor’ Prophetic words coming from Kass after the Alexis vote when the Aparri six solidified their alliance. Kass does have a way with words but when it comes to the game of Survivor she still has some work. As a lawyer you would expect her to be rational and know when to keep your mouth shut. Clearly she doesn’t as the very next morning, on a walk at the beach she flat out tells Sarah that she isn’t sure of her loyalty. Sarah, at this point, is the swing vote as she still has connections with her former Brawn tribemates and will play a decisive roll in the upcoming vote. So telling that person that you don’t trust her is a big nono and Kass her first mistake of the episode. 
What follows is the actual merge with a traditional feast, a new tribe with a new name: Solarrion (F for originality…) and a new super powered idol. This new idol will be playable after the votes are read which makes it almost invincible and a bad, if not horrible twist to the game in my mind. It’s like taking away Superman’s weakness to kryptonite. As long as Superman is weak to kryptonite, you have a chance to defeat him. Same way with the idol, as long as it has to be played before the votes are read, there’s a chance to flush out the idol. With this new idol, that’s not longer possible and I hope it will not ruin this, up and till now, great season when the new idol is eventually found.
When all the merge festivities are done, it’s time for strategy and the battle for Sarah’s vote. At this point Sarah is on top of the world and has all the cards in her hand. But as we saw with Garret, Survivor can be a very ironic game, the moment you think you’re controlling this game is the moment you’re in potentially serious danger. After Tony’s made his pitch to sway Sarah back to his side, it’s Aparri’s turn. And here’s where Sarah overplays her hand when she wants to dictate who to vote for. In doing so she’s pushing Kass into the direction that will ultimately be her own demise. This little disagreement between Kass and Sarah escalates into a full on argument between the two in front of Trish. Knowing she has to diffuse the situation, Tash intervenes in the argument and wisely chooses Sarah’s side because as the brains that’s your best bet now. You don’t want to piss off the swing vote. You let Sarah think she’s the queen for one or two vote and give her anything she wants and the moment you don’t need her anymore you send her packing. But that’s not how Kass sees it. Kass has an emotional reaction and feels replaced and rejected by her alliance. The argument doesn’t get diffused but put on the backburner as it’s time for the first individual immunity challenge.
In the first individual immunity challenge, that was short but fairly exiting due to strong wind, Woo wins it. Bad news for the Aparri alliance as this further diminishes their options as LJ and Tony have an idol, leaving only Jefra and Trish as viable targets. Now I feel Woo would have been a good target to please both Kass and Sarah. But with him out of the picture that leaves Jefra as Sarah doesn’t want to vote for Trish. Sarah, on the other hand wants to make a big move and vote off Tony. Now this isn’t a horrible idea to me. Even though Tony has an idol, past seasons have proven us that players with idols try to not play them as long as possible. Realizing they have to cater to Sarah’s whim, the Aparri alliance decides to take the leap and vote for Tony. In doing so they do, however, further agitate Kass, who feels like she’s falling out of the group. Noticing this before, Trish approaches Kass with the proposal to vote for Sarah. And after Tony realizes Sarah is feeding him lies, the Solana alliance decides to vote for Sarah hoping for the swingvote to take a dive.
In a nerve wrecking tribal, Tony once again proves he can play ball and already warranted a chance to play this game more then once in the future by playing his idol. In a move of bluffpoker, Tony reveals his idol to scare the Aparri alliance into switching their vote. Tony then puts the deed to the word by playing his idol to cover LJ’s ass. Thinking the aparri alliance is targeting LJ and Tony, LJ returns the favor and plays his idol for Tony. Sadly for the two gentlemen, they wasted their idols as Jeff pulls out the first jefra vote out of his urn. Seeing the Sarah and Jefra votes come out one by one, it seems inevitable that Jefra will be going home. But to everyone’s surprise, including yours truly, the last vote is for Sarah sending her home. Kass turned on her alliance and by doing so she shot this game wide open.
Of course this was a great episode, even though it was rifled with flawed moves: two idols wasted and a bad emotional decision on Kass’s part. But by doing so it does seem we’re heading towards some very entertaining episodes the coming weeks. Is Kass her switch permanent? Nobody has any idols in their possession but at the same a new superpowered idol is still hidden on the island. As of now, this is everyone’s game and to who will be their in the final three is anybody’s bet.
Check out the day after and ponderosa vid from Sarah as well as Lindsey and Alexis which were missing last week. See you next time!
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