HOLLYWOOD—I love a great reality competition series, but some shows become so repetitive and predictable it takes all the fun out of the series, well, I must say this 37th installment in the “Survivor” franchise, ‘David vs. Goliath’ has been one of the best in years. I mean it. Week after week, the level of gameplay amplifies, the characters become bigger and this week, not just the contestants, but the audience was delivered the biggest blindside I think the show has seen to date.
“Survivor” totes itself on delivering epic blindsides, but the reality of the situation is a true blindside stuns nearly everyone and that happened this week. I wasn’t even going to write about “Survivor” this week, but this episode was so thrilling I was screaming and yelling at the TV in excitement. Last week fireworks were delivered at Tribal Council where Angelina got caught red-handed going against her case, she pleaded, but not a single person bought anything she was selling.
She admitted in her confessional that she was working on jury management, but she needs to be scared, at this point Angelina is seen as a major GOAT (someone you want to drag at the end because she’ll be easy as hell to defeat). No one in her alliance trusts her and I’m getting utter vibes of Naviti strong. No one likes predictability, so thank God for Alec. The guy is thinking about how to win and he is making moves to put himself in that position.
Davie and Nick stumbled upon a clue, which they knew would lead to an advantage. Guess what? It did, the opportunity to steal a vote during Tribal Council. So I love this notion of the David’s actually working together. Remember there was friction between Davie and Carl from the rest of the group after being blindsided at the first Tribal Council where Jessica was sent packing. Now, we have an interesting trio of Davie, Carl and Nick that I never imagined. After the most recent Tribal Council, it’s no secret the David’s realize they HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER to overthrow the Goliath’s, at least until they gain the numbers. All three know about the vote steal and Carl’s ability to nullify an idol (yes, I cannot wait to see that played because it will be the biggest game changer to date).
Mike was busy ready to make a move, but it was a move that I without a doubt know will cost him dearly moving forward and I’ll explain why later. Mike put into his tribe’s mind that Christian (an ally of his from the Strike Force alliance) was a major threat to win the game. Alec was receptive, but worried it could hurt his game (it will and I’ll talk more about that later as well). The Goliaths heard Mike’s pitch and were on board. At the immunity challenge, Dan edged out a win over Angelina, and man was I so thankful; I did not want to hear this woman gloat.
Alec made a move and alerted Nick that Christian was a likely target, which caused all sorts of turmoil on the David tribe. Nick conveyed the message to Christian, who became worried, neither were aware that Davie had an idol that he has kept mum up till this point. The group contemplated using the vote steal, but in essence it would not help (because it would ultimately lead to a tie, where the Goliath tribe would steal have the numbers and still send a David home). So the thoughts ponder for Davie about rather he should use his idol or not.
At Tribal Council, it became apparent through Angelina’s big mouth that Christian was indeed the target at least for me as a viewer. I questioned if Nick was going to use that vote steal because Davie kept giving him a look, but nope, the contestants go vote and I’m telling myself Davie is NOT playing that idol, but he gets up and plays it, stunning everyone! Christian who knew he was a threat, acted surprised, which led to more fireworks because Angelina begged Dan to play his idol on her, which after much hesitation Dan did.
Angelina is insufferable as a character, she is good TV, but I cannot wait to see her voted off America. She’s so damn annoying. I mean seriously, you asked Dan if he said who he played the idol on. Her downfall will be her paranoia because it’s running rampant. This is where the episode turned into the best blindside I’ve seen in “Survivor” history. The votes are read and Christian receives 7 (that is important), because Christian, Gabby and Nick are well aware now that (Alec, Mike and Alison) were in on the plan to take out Christian. That alliance is over people, the David’s will not trust those three and they will have to stick with the Goliath tribe for the next couple of votes if they want to survive. Can’t wait to see how they reveal their intent to Christian, Gabby and Nick in the next episode.
Angelina is revealed to have 2 votes, so as a viewer we’re all expecting a situation where all the votes are cancelled, um not so quick. The David’s came up with a stellar strategy, they split the votes! Absolute genius America! I did not see that coming from a million miles away. So when John’s name was pulled out the urn I jumped from the couch and screamed, as the Goliath tribe realized they had just been outwitted by their opponents. To see John go was sad, but it was phenomenal gameplay by Nick, Davie and Christian cause no one every expected that. As a viewer it was sensational TV, this is why I love “Survivor” so much because when it’s rolling on cylinders its phenomenal.
At this point, this move set the stage for what is certain to be another epic Tribal Council in the coming week because the vote steal will even the stage, and we could see a Goliath turn on a member or a situation where rocks have to be drawn. We could also see a situation where that idol nullifier is played which (if rumor is true) delivers the most explosive Tribal Council to date in the season. ‘David vs. Goliath’ is reminding me of why I loved “Survivor: Cambodia,” it delivered epic gameplay week after week and this season is doing the exact same thing at a higher caliber, with root-able characters. I just hope the train keeps running all the way to the end. “Survivor: David vs. Goliath” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.