S48.E02 Humble Traits

[Rodney]

A frantic idol hunt could save or ruin one castaway’s game.  A castaway’s quick decision-making must outlast the test of time when three castaways are sent on a journey.  Then, castaways take a leap of faith in their second Immunity Challenge, where they must trust their tribemates to beat out their competition.

This is the episode's discussion thread for after the episode airs.

[Rodney]

Kyle has an idol now, but he's got Kamilla to thank for that.  Interesting that the code for each idol will be slightly different, but use the same six letters.  "Listen" for Sai, "enlist" for Kyle, and what for Lagi?  "Inlets?"  "Silent?"

Vote was surprising.  I was worried for Mary.  But I was okay with her survival, even if it meant Kevin going.  Good luck with winning challenges with him gone, though.  Justin's going to have to carry the tribe now.

Edited Friday at 02:55 AM by Rodney

[mojoween]

Hopefully no live turtles were harmed in the making of that snuffer (has it always been a turtle?  I never noticed.)

If Sai could tone it down several thousand notches that would be aces.

[Carey]

If Sai does the opposite, that would be aces.  At least for TPTB.  A great antagonist makes for great TV

[LadyChatts]

Another meh episode so I hope this season gets better.  I'm sad Kevin went but glad Sai's idol is out of play for now.  I was worried when Kevin mentioned he was a power player, because that is usually the kiss of death for someone.  And even though Sai seemed to be on a power trip her boot almost seemed too obvious.  Glad Mary survived, I hope she can hang in there.  I do like Pizza Guy (I keep wanting to call him Jason but I see his name is Justin).

I think Joe and Cedrek signed up for the wrong show if they are taking things personally when it comes to relationships that they'd be willing to sacrifice their games (that's what it feels like the way they angst).

I'm rooting for Star and Joe on purple tribe.  I didn't really like that Eva seemed to single her out to sit the challenge out, so I can't blame her for going idol hunting.  But what is she thinking telling almost her entire tribe!  Thomas is a weasel for wanting to lose her clue to her Beware Advantage (I don't even know if they could do that).  I will give Thomas credit for keeping his steal-a-vote advantage a secret, but we'll see how long that lasts.  

Didn't need to hear about all the weird body parts on orange.  I guess that's what I get for wanting longer episodes.  

[Straycat80]

Both Kevin and Sai were on power trips so one had to go. Sai had an idol, so bye bye Kevin. If there are physical challenges I don’t see Green Tribe winning them. In the previews it looks like Thomas got a black eye from that poke with the pole. 

[Carey]

As mentioned, Kevin's ouster changes nothing in terms of the IC since they couldn't beat 2 teams with him. Twice

[North of Eden]

Rarely ever do I get moved by a boot but I really felt bad for Kevin. You could see how terribly hurt he was...dreaming all these years about playing only to go home on the second vote. It does explain why the premier was a Kevin-fest though as they knew they weren't going to have him for very long. So that leads me to...

Sai. What nasty player she is. I knew she would throw a hissy when she believed she"won" the right to go to Extra Advantage Island. So predictable. I want to like Cedric so bad but his devotion to Sai really torpedoed the best chance to get rid of her. How the heck are they going to win another challenge when Sai and Mary don't like each other? I doubt they can pull it together.

Okay Star. Easily one of the worst players ever. The way she told everyone was ridiculous and as soon as I she did that, I knew sabotage would immediately be on the table. Personally, I feel these cannister idols are a misfire when so far, the actual finder would still be fiddling with it to this day if they didn't have someone helping them. It feels UNEARNED.

Quick notes:

Jeff was trying to revive the glory of his ill-fated talk show when questioning Mitch.

You can draw a straight line from the 90-minute run time to inane filler like the bizarre body parts segment. I was getting antsy and wondering what am I watching?

Extra Advantage Island feels played out at this point...time to consign it to the dustbin of history along with Exile Island.

Ending on a positive note I noticed for the first time the new vaguely sinister looking shot of Probst in the opening and got a kick out of it.

[bunnyface]

Kevin's "bye guys" exit without looking back was only missing an "I hope you all die horrible jungle deaths."  Which would be MY exit line.  He was a bit too cocky but damn Sai is irritating.  "It's cool.  I don't hold grudges...but you DID say my name...but it's okay."  Sure.  Totally believable.

[TVFan1]

Well, Sai is still unlikable. Getting all angry about not being the one to go on the journey, I've had enough of her. The only good thing was that Mary was saved. I didn't feel any type of way about Kevin, so whatever. All in all a pretty blah episode. 

So, the show can air a tribe discussing body parts, but can't have Jeff say "Once the votes are read.." spiel. I miss that part. 

[dancingdreamer]

I enjoyed tonight's show. I love how it started off with the Civa tribe comparing Humble Traits. It really got them laughing!

And, I loved that Jeff asked Mitch if he wanted others to step in and complete words or sentences or if he wanted finish them himself. I knew what the answer would be but I thought it was very respectful for Jeff to ask. It was also a good way to let everyone else know.

I was hoping Sai would go home. She's very abrasive and vengeful. But now her idol is gone. I was happy to see Mary stay. I wouldn't have been able to do that puzzle either. I was sorry to see Kevin go, I liked him. That tribe has shrunk by 1/3.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

Those flies?  Nasty.  I HATE flies so that would drive me crazy.

The wifi bit.  Boo.  Shane and his Blackberry did it better.

Mary had a whole lotta mouth for someone with no vote.  I want her gone but I LOVED watching the Kevin blindside.   Thought he was running things and now he can wonder what went wrong at Ponderosa. 

I really wish people would keep their advantages a secret.  Mitch running back talking about, "I got us an Advantage!" and "us" couldn't wait to start plotting his departure. 

[OutOfTheQuestion]

5 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

If there are physical challenges I don’t see Green Tribe winning them.

Vula feels like it was set up to fail from the start, since they're so clearly the weakest of the three. 

But, it also feels like the "new era" format has become routine enough that players on weaker tribes can now plan around it.  If you're Cedrek and Justin, you can play both sides in Mary vs. Sai and just vote them both out if you lose the next two rounds, then head into the two-tribe phase as free agents.

[30 Helens]

Lord of the Flies tribe needs to look around for a nearby dead animal. Are we sure Stephanie actually left the island last week?

There should be a rule, if you tell someone you have an idol it gets taken from you. If the puzzles are so hard it takes a team to solve them, they need easier puzzles. Or smarter players. They definitely need people who can keep advantages to themselves.

On that note, I think I’m rooting for Thomas. Just because.

[Rodney]

1 hour ago, OutOfTheQuestion said:

Vula feels like it was set up to fail from the start, since they're so clearly the weakest of the three. 

But, it also feels like the "new era" format has become routine enough that players on weaker tribes can now plan around it.  If you're Cedrek and Justin, you can play both sides in Mary vs. Sai and just vote them both out if you lose the next two rounds, then head into the two-tribe phase as free agents.

There is no two-tribe phase anymore.  The tribes merge straight from three tribes now.

[violet and green]

On the plus side, Mary stayed. On the negative, Cedrek, for god's sake. For starters, he is unfit, and uncoordinated. He is also a surgeon, who being unfit and uncoordinated should not be risking his livelihood doing physical challenges. But more than that, he should not be ruining a perfectly good plan to get out someone with an idol in their pocket, who is also obnoxious and controlling. Poor Kevin.

This is so far a very dull season.

[GenerationX]

The best part of the season so far is the introduction of immunity idol puzzles.  The next immunity idol should be adorned with thin strips of metallic garland and unlocked via "TINSEL".

The worst part of the season so far is that once again the producers have designated a loser tribe (SET NIL).  

[KeithJ]

10 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I'm rooting for Star and Joe on purple tribe.  I didn't really like that Eva seemed to single her out to sit the challenge out, so I can't blame her for going idol hunting.  But what is she thinking telling almost her entire tribe! 

I think that was maybe a combination of things. Eva said "maybe we could sit Star" but then someone immediately asked Star how she was feeling like Star was maybe sick or hurt. But then for Star to go from Eva suggesting she sit out the challenge to "Eva wants me out of the game" seemed to be a bit of a stretch.

 

[violet and green]

10 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I didn't really like that Eva seemed to single her out to sit the challenge out

It was a practical decision, I think, as Star only learnt to swim a week or so before coming onto the show, I've read.

[Chicago Redshirt]

4 hours ago, Rodney said:

There is no two-tribe phase anymore.  The tribes merge straight from three tribes now.

If I could remake Survivor's ground rules even for a season, I think that I would have everybody be on either one tribe from the start or just two. 

In the three tribe scenario, it seems like it's all too common that one tribe is by far the weakest of the three and so starts off on the back foot. 

In a one tribe scenario, they'd all be together and then get randomly assigned to challenge teams where everybody votes but only the losing team is eligible to vote out.

[fishcakes]

Kevin was right in wanting to get Sai out, but he's so full of himself that I wasn't sorry to see him go. Last week, he was saying he was a king because everyone wants to work with him and this week he said he was 100% running things and when Mary stays she'll owe it all to him. Which turned out to be true, but not in a way he enjoyed.

Even so, I wanted Sai to go. She's needlessly mean. She knew Mary wasn't going, but she still had to do the, "let's just be honest" thing and talk about the Core Four just to rub Mary's nose in it. And in a TH before she knew that Kevin was going, she said it would be Mary, but she really wanted Kevin to see his name so he would know she was on to him. She seems more interested in lording her in-group status over people than playing a smart game, and I hope that comes back on her.

Though no one beats in-group/outcast dynamics than the purple tribe. I can't remember someone becoming an outcast faster than Star has. She's trying to work with them but they're just laughing about how dumb she is to trust them. At least Shauhin isn't going along with Thomas's evil plan to lose Star's Beware clue.

I really like everyone on the orange tribe, especially Mitch, who is so joyful about being there and also is playing well. I wish they were a more unified six, instead of the now-standard core four and two expendables, but I think that's more of a problem with starting with six-person tribes. If a player doesn't lock into a majority on day one, the whole game gets harder for them.

Still a pretty meh season for. Honestly starting to hope that 50 is the final one.

 

[JudyObscure]

I'm loving this season1  So far I like all but one or two people and usually it's the other way around.  Even mean ol' Sai is a smart villain, and exciting to watch.

I like the "couples;" Joe and Eva, Mitch and Charity, Kyle and Kamila. They seem to really care  about each other.

What basketball skills!  I'm putting these guys in my March Madness Brackets.

[iMonrey]

14 hours ago, North of Eden said:

You can draw a straight line from the 90-minute run time to inane filler like the bizarre body parts segment. I was getting antsy and wondering what am I watching?

Extra Advantage Island feels played out at this point...time to consign it to the dustbin of history along with Exile Island.

They could go back to being an hour long just by dropping both those things.

3 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

In a one tribe scenario, they'd all be together and then get randomly assigned to challenge teams where everybody votes but only the losing team is eligible to vote out.

I'd vote for that. Unfortunately, the show is married to its tribe format. There's a sports fan mentality baked into the show that assumes (perhaps correctly) the audience wants to root for one team or another. 

Block a Vote and Steal a Vote don't really do much if the majority all vote together. The people who have them basically have to wait until the merge.

I laughed when one of the dudes (David?) jumped head first into a net during the IC and Probst called it a "stud move." WTF. He clearly didn't realize there was a net there and thought he was just diving into water. And that makes him a stud? God Probst is so thirsty for his muscle men.

I think Vulu just overthought the vote. Or underthought it. Weird that no one suspected Mary might have been lying about losing her vote and not winning an advantage. If anyone should have gone home it was Cedrek, he literally lost them the challenge. 

Anyone else think Cedrek kind of looks like RuPaul?

Pizza Guy has a shirt that says "pizza." OK, then can they all wear shirts that say what they do?

 

[MerBearHou]

8 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Anyone else think Cedrek kind of looks like RuPaul?

Pizza Guy has a shirt that says "pizza." OK, then can they all wear shirts that say what they do?

RuPaul — yes!  I can see that.  

That is a funny suggestion about the shirts!  Pizza Guy is a fascinating guy in his non-Survivor life.

Edited Thursday at 05:56 PM by MerBearHou

[violet and green]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I laughed when one of the dudes (David?) jumped head first into a net during the IC and Probst called it a "stud move." WTF. He clearly didn't realize there was a net there and thought he was just diving into water. And that makes him a stud? God Probst is so thirsty for his muscle men.

I think he said 'stunt move' - and David is an actual stunt man, so maybe he did see the net and pull that move. He certainly recovered from the jump as if he had.

[Rodney]

7 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I really like everyone on the orange tribe, especially Mitch, who is so joyful about being there and also is playing well.

I agree except for David.  Something about him seems to give off the air of being full of himself.  Like he thinks he's a better, more hotshot player than he actually might turn out to be.  He's already going on about that in his confessionals like he's hot shit, and I imagine that he's only going to get worse.

[eel2178]

22 hours ago, mojoween said:

Hopefully no live turtles were harmed in the making of that snuffer (has it always been a turtle?  I never noticed.)

No. It changes every season.

[Lantern7]

I had a rough day yesterday. I tried to watch on DVR, but I nodded off from the stress. Took me a few tries to get through the episode.

Honestly, it wasn’t much of an episode. I’m not compelled to memorize names. I don’t know why Kevin was voted off. The idol puzzles still entertain, though I can’t see how they’re supposed to be solved.

Is it wrong that I laughed at that guy taking a pole to the face?

At least we got the return of the blindfold challenge next week. That’s always fun.

[iMonrey]

13 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

The idol puzzles still entertain, though I can’t see how they’re supposed to be solved.

It looks like it's different for each tribe. Star got some sort of key to place over the symbols on the trees, whereas the Civa tribe had letters around camp. The 2nd scenario seemed way easier. 

[Nashville]

On 3/5/2025 at 8:29 PM, mojoween said:

Hopefully no live turtles were harmed in the making of that snuffer (has it always been a turtle?  I never noticed.)

 

15 hours ago, eel2178 said:

No. It changes every season.

There is occasionally (frequently?) a theme tie-in with its design, but I think more often than not Peachy’s snuffer is simply half a coconut shell lashed to a handle

[Steph Sometimes]

On 3/6/2025 at 9:48 AM, iMonrey said:

Pizza Guy has a shirt that says "pizza." OK, then can they all wear shirts that say what they do?

Ha! Now I'm imagining Season 45 with several contestants wearing matching shirts saying, "Not a Lawyer."

[jsm1125]

“Mitch is playing hard.” Since when?? 

I can’t blame Kevin for wanting to get Sai  out with an idol in her pocket. If Mary goes out this week, he’s absolutely at the bottom of that 4 person alliance, 

[MerBearHou]

I’m just now seeing the episode tonight.  What was the rationale behind voting out Kevin?  I saw that Justin thought Kevin was playing “too hard” and was thinking too far ahead.  

[seacliffsal]

10 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I’m just now seeing the episode tonight.  What was the rationale behind voting out Kevin?  I saw that Justin thought Kevin was playing “too hard” and was thinking too far ahead.  

The doctor on the tribe feels more loyalty to Sai than Kevin so warned Sai about being the target and should play her idol.  They then changed the vote to Kevin.

[fishcakes]

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

12 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I’m just now seeing the episode tonight.  What was the rationale behind voting out Kevin?  I saw that Justin thought Kevin was playing “too hard” and was thinking too far ahead.  

The doctor on the tribe feels more loyalty to Sai than Kevin so warned Sai about being the target and should play her idol.  They then changed the vote to Kevin.

The vote still doesn't entirely make sense to me because if Sai knew that Justin and Derek were going to vote for Kevin, then there was no reason for her to play her idol.

She did a TH after Derek told her about Kevin's plan saying she was still voting for Mary but she really wanted Kevin to see his name so he'd know she knew. She also said that Derek's plan for the 3 guys to vote for Sai while Sai plays the idol and votes out Mary benefits Derek but not her because he stays in Kevin's good graces. So maybe she decided to vote Kevin instead and blindside all the guys and not just Kevin. In that case, she needs to play her idol.

Meanwhile Justin and Derek had decided to vote out Kevin. Derek because he's more loyal to Sai and Justin because he wasn't opposed to voting out Sai, but I think he doesn't want Kevin to be the decision maker. Either they didn't tell Sai because they wanted to flush her idol, or they did tell her and she didn't believe them.

So I can't tell if everyone was making smart, covert moves or if they each just randomly did a thing and ended up surprising themselves.

[Rodney]

6 hours ago, fishcakes said:

The vote still doesn't entirely make sense to me because if Sai knew that Justin and Derek were going to vote for Kevin, then there was no reason for her to play her idol.

Derek?  Do you mean Cedrek?

[fishcakes]

24 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Derek?  Do you mean Cedrek?

Whoops. Yes, I meant Cedrek.

[tv echo]

I read somewhere that this cast had all watched Season 46 where a lot of people went home with idols in their pockets (in fact, it set a record for the most people - 5 - voted out with idols in their pockets). So I think that Sai and the other survivors this season will not want to be blindsided and will play their idols.

Edited Sunday at 12:40 PM by tv echo

[iMonrey]

On 3/7/2025 at 9:59 PM, MerBearHou said:

I’m just now seeing the episode tonight.  What was the rationale behind voting out Kevin?  I saw that Justin thought Kevin was playing “too hard” and was thinking too far ahead.  

They just overthought it. Cedrek didn't want to vote out Sai so the obvious choice should have been Mary. I think Justin just wanted to make a power move because by now everyone who comes on this show knows they have to build a resume and show a jury they are making the decisions and not being dragged along. The rationale he gave for Kevin was dumb, it's only been a few days, nobody is looking like a big threat to go all the way yet. Especially Kevin. And it still holds that tribes should be voting out the weakest people when they keep losing physical challenges, not playing final 3 endgame so soon.

[Jobiska]

I didn't mind the body parts bit, but I felt a little bad for Kyle getting laughed at by everybody for saying his rough patch on his hand was a callus when they all pegged it as a wart.    He got rather worked up.

Thing is, I thought I had a wart on one of my toes and it didn't respond to treatment and I finally figured out (I think it was from a Dr. Pimple Popper video!) that it was a myxoid cyst (joint fluid leaks out from a joint and forms a "bubble" but that bubble can have kind of a rough surface).  His seemed to be next to a joint so I wonder if it might be that.  

With Thomas almost losing an eye from that pole (his wound in the previews looks nasty) and David diving straight into a net (could have really hurt his neck i his form had been a little different) that challenge was a lot more risky than I would have expected one like that to be.

I reaaalllly wanted to root for the Philly gal, but she's making it hard.  I did like Cedrek's face when he asked her if she could hide her emotions and she said yes.  

[blackwing]

As expected, Green tribe was completely hapless.  It seemed obvious that Cedrek lost the challenge.  Good that he owned up to it.  I echo the comment above that it's interesting that he can be a surgeon but be so awful with his hands and balance.

I wasn't that invested in Kevin so losing him, oh well.  But I am invested in getting rid of Sai, who was even more insufferable than she was in the first episode.  This tribe is doomed.  They will continue to lose every challenge, one or two of them will make it to the swap if there is one or the merge.

On 3/6/2025 at 7:30 AM, KeithJ said:

I think that was maybe a combination of things. Eva said "maybe we could sit Star" but then someone immediately asked Star how she was feeling like Star was maybe sick or hurt. But then for Star to go from Eva suggesting she sit out the challenge to "Eva wants me out of the game" seemed to be a bit of a stretch.

Star isn't a great player, but I do think she was astute enough to recognise that Eva wants her out.  Eva clearly thinks that Star is the weak link, and Star herself said she wasn't physical so not helpful in the physical challenges or brainy so not helpful with puzzles.

I would have sat Star as well, but I think Eva was particularly aggressive in immediately suggesting that Star sit out.  She could have waited to see if anyone volunteered.

On 3/6/2025 at 11:48 AM, iMonrey said:

I think Vulu just overthought the vote. Or underthought it. Weird that no one suspected Mary might have been lying about losing her vote and not winning an advantage. If anyone should have gone home it was Cedrek, he literally lost them the challenge. 

Anyone else think Cedrek kind of looks like RuPaul?

I dislike the "New Era" where people think that they HAVE to make a move.  Justin is talking about how Kevin is dangerous and won't be good to keep around in the long term.  But he really thought about trying to survive the next challenge.  The vote should clearly have been between Mary and Sai.

The other weird thing is that Cedrek told Sai to play her idol, back when everyone was blindsiding Sai.  But then he never went back to her to update her once Justin decided to take out Kevin.  If he did tell her, then why did she play her idol?

I'm unclear as to why Sai voted for Kevin and not Mary.

I can see the RuPaul resemblance but I really think he looks like Randy Jackson right after Randy had bariatric surgery.  He looked overly gaunt and almost sickly thin.

On 3/7/2025 at 10:05 AM, iMonrey said:

It looks like it's different for each tribe. Star got some sort of key to place over the symbols on the trees, whereas the Civa tribe had letters around camp. The 2nd scenario seemed way easier. 

Star's was definitely the most difficult but still not that hard.  Match up the partial animal and a cutout will reveal a letter.

Orange tribe's would have been slightly more difficult had they already not unwound all the ropes to reveal the letters not knowing what they were.  I think the clue said something about unwinding tails (rope) or something like that.

Star and the Guyana guy were both dumb for involving so many people.  Star literally told every other person except for Eva, who promptly got filled in by someone else.

Why were people freaking out so much about David's four nipples?  He said he had two removed.  I wonder if they were actual full blown nips like his regular two.  Because I thought it is not uncommon for people to have vestigial nipples.  I have a third and fourth myself, they don't look like full nips, mine don't have the pointy parts, they look almost like a mole or a smudge or a scar.  Like a smudgy vaguely oval shape with maybe a dot which would have been the nip.

Edited Monday at 07:45 PM by blackwing

[RedbirdNelly]

making big moves for resume reasons is dumb pre merge (and is often dumb post-merge). You should only make the moves you need to make to preserve your game. Most people on the jury will have no idea about any pre-merge move you made---and have no reason to believe you if part of your speech is the "big, impressive move I made at the 2nd tribal when we were split up into 3 tribes and y'all were on winning tribes."

[Lantern7]

Erik's cartoon for the episode, "Outsourced":