Survivor BBB: Episode 4 Notes

 

Going into the episode, I was disappointed about the tribe swap because I thought it abandoned the concept of Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty. However, I am wrong. Changing up the tribes allows us to see another element of the idea. Instead of having the players only in their group going against the other two characteristics, we get to see the different strengths and weaknesses of each group once they are mixed. The tribe swap is definitely a game changer. Naturally, the tribe that is eliminated is the Brain tribe, Luzon. They were a disaster and really needed the switch up. All the players are regrouped into the former Brawn tribe, Aparri, and the former Beauty tribe, Solana.

Aparri

Due to the swap, Sarah is the only original member of Aparri that stays on the tribe. She is joined by all three members of the Brain tribe (Spencer, Tasha, and Kass) and three members from the Beauty tribe (Morgan, Alexis, and Jeremiah). While she initially assumes she is outnumbered 6 to 1, it is far from the case. In reality, she is the swing vote. As there are 3 members each from the other two tribes, they are in a 3 vs 3 deadlock. Accordingly, it only makes sense for both tribes to recruit Sarah’s vote to eliminate the other three. However, it does not even get that far. The three members of the Beauty tribe completely turn on each other. Morgan was always against Alexis. Moreover, she completely hates Jeremiah after he turned on Brice and her. On the other hand, Alexis does not trust Jeremiah because she knows he talked to Brice and Morgan about potentially turning on the majority Beauty alliance. Naturally, Alexis does not trust Morgan because she was not part of Alexis’s alliance. All three individually turn to the Brain tribe to try to be the fourth member of the Brain alliance. Each of the members of the Beauty tribe gossips about everything that has happened on their tribe. Spencer is completely shocked that the Beauty tribe has so little social skills for a people that are supposed to be beautiful and social. However, I think it shows a flaw of Beauty. They talk too much and have no loyalty to each other. Moreover, they also get a lot of attention in their normal lives. As such, they are overconfident in themselves and have no idea how their actions could be perceived negatively or hurt them in the game.

Ironically, the Brains tribe was possibly the worst tribe of all time but may now be in the strongest position. They have removed all the fractures in their tribe by voting them out. Accordingly, the remaining members are the ones that are loyal to each other. On the other hand, the Beauty tribe has only been to tribal council once and the Brawn tribe never went to tribal council. As a result, they have never had the chance to work out their problems by eliminating players. It shows with how quickly the Beauty tribe is willing to turn on each other. The Brains tribe can now eliminate the Beauty tribe one by one before the tribes merge. If they are smart, they should eliminate Alexis first. She has Jefra and LJ as allies on the other tribe. She is also clearly the most strategic of the Beauty tribe. Next, they should vote out Jeremiah. He is a physical threat and has a relationship with LJ. Morgan can wait. She has no ally in the game. Her credibility is hurt even more when Sarah reveals that the castaways, who were first voted out of their tribes, had an option to take a second bag of rice or get a clue to the hidden immunity idol. Morgan is quickly exposed for searching for the idol because there was not a second bag of rice for her tribe when they arrived. Accordingly, she can be voted out whenever the Brain tribe feels like it or they can recruit her to be part of their alliance. Her loyalty is assured since she has no one else to turn to in the game.

I really like the move Sarah made by using information she knew to expose fractures in the other tribes. They had no idea about the decision made by the first player on each beach because those players never told them. Accordingly, Sarah immediately deflects the target from her. It should be interesting what play she tries to make. The episode concentrates on how each member of the Beauty tribe propositions the Brain tribe to join their alliance. Sarah is clearly intelligent and must have figured out to do the same. She may be the smartest player in the game. If she joins the Brains, they may form the dominant alliance that takes them all the way to the end.

Solana

Jefra and LJ are the only ones that stay on the tribe. Except for Sarah, the entire Brawn tribe (Cliff, Trish, Tony, Lindsey, and Woo) join them. Of course, Jefra and LJ are completely outnumbered and in bad shape. However, Trish gravitates to LJ. She talks about how LJ is handsome. Once she finds out that LJ is also from Boston, she feels an immediate connection. While Lindsey suggests that Trish is trying to get the attention of a 20 year old, I did not feel like Trish is trying to be a cougar and seduce LJ. In her confessional, she admits that LJ is good looking but that she does not view him in a romantic light. I disagree with Lindsey. Trish is an outcast from the rest of the Brawn tribe. She rubs them the wrong way. Accordingly, she is just thrilled that she is finally able to make a personal connection with someone in the game. LJ is savvy enough to realize it and gain her trust.

In the reward challenge, the Solana tribe display how dramatically more physical they are than the Aparri tribe. It only makes sense. Solana has Cliff, Tony, LJ, and Woo as their males. The Aparri tribe only has Spencer and Jeremiah. However, the advantage is not enough in the immunity challenge. As it usually is the case, the challenge comes down to a puzzle. No matter how much strength you may have, it may be pointless if you cannot figure out the end puzzle. As such, the Aparri tribe upsets the Solana tribe. Consequently, Solana is forced to go to tribal council. The Brawn tribe immediately turns its focus on voting out LJ. However, Trish has other ideas and tries to convince her closest ally, Tony, to turn on the Brawn tribe and blindside Cliff. Although I originally thought Tony was over the top and full of himself, he is a pretty sharp player. He knows that LJ is one of the biggest threats in the game. Accordingly, he rightfully objects to Trish’s plan as it is crazy to flip when they clearly have the numbers against LJ and Jefra.

Tribal Council

At Tribal Council, it is clearly between Cliff and LJ. As LJ has the hidden immunity idol, I thought that he would be voted out unless he used it. When he does not use it, I thought he was done. However, Tony decides to go with Trish to turn on the Brawn tribe. Initially, I believed it was a bad move as LJ is a huge threat and they breathed life into his game. After thinking about it, Trish and Tony made the correct move. They are at the bottom of the Brawn alliance. As a result, it makes sense for them to form a four person alliance with LJ and Jefra rather than be numbers 4 and 5 in the Brawn alliance as Cliff, Lindsey, and Woo had a tight alliance. From Tony’s perspective, he also had to make the move because Trish is his closest ally and the rest of the Brawn tribe does not completely trust him anyway. Regardless, the biggest winner in this situation is LJ. He keeps his hidden immunity and has taken control of the tribe again despite starting with the numbers initially against him 5 to 2. In my opinion, LJ has played the best game to date.

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