The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 ofSurvivorSeason 43.Every season, the contestants onSurvivorare surprised to learn how quickly they form bonds with their tribemates, only to come face to face with that harsh reality when they’re forced to go to Tribal Council and vote one of their own out. Season 43 has already reached the point where the players are having to make really tough calls about which of their fellow tribe members need to be the next to go, no matter their personal feelings about that particular individual.
They’re also using those close bonds to their advantage when they need to, whether it’s to gain an advantage or simply to have the trust of their teammates, enough so that no one suspects them of lying. The players this season are pretty savvy when it comes to their personal connections, and they’ve been able to, for the most part, properly assess the tribal lines and figure out which alliances are going to move them forwards. Sometimes, it’s not about which players feel like family, but which players are going to get you tothat million-dollar prize.
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The episode starts out with both Jesse and Dwight coming to the realization that their “island marriage” is on some shaky foundation afterthe last Tribal Council, as they were on opposite sides of the vote. They still have a tentative alliance, but they are definitely wary of each other and aware that they’re working towards different goals. But who knows, a lot of marriages go through rough patches and come out even stronger on the other side, so only time will tell if these two will be able to work out their issues, or if a conscious uncoupling will be in the works.
Meanwhile, in the Baka tribe, the trust between the tribemates starts to deteriorate as fast as Gabler’s body is. He’s still not feeling a hundred percent and is getting worse by the day, and the girls think that it would be best for the tribe strength to get rid of him. They just need to find out whether or not he knows that his idol is still good forone more Tribal. They have a plan to ask him in a low-key way, which Sami immediately derails by just telling Gabler everything. There’s a weird metaphorical game of chess that happens where Gabler fools Elie into thinking he knows less than he actually does while she thinks she has the upper hand in the conversation. The tribe is still divided into gender lines as far as alliances go, though Owen might still be slightly in the middle.
Over at Coco, Karla manages to escape from camp while everyone is busy and goes to look for an advantage. She findsthe beware advantagealmost right away, but is hesitant to take it knowing that she could lose a vote. In the end, she decides she would rather take the risk and play the game to the fullest, so she accepts it and finds that it’s the same advantage mission that Cody had in the previous episode, involving obtaining beads from all of her tribe members.
This is still one of the better advantage ideas in a long time, as it forces players to flex their social skills and get creative, and it really shows off their slightly different play styles. While Cody was able to get beads basically just by asking (and confiding in some of his alliance members), Karla gets her beads through bartering. She gets what she wants by giving the others things that they want, which is actually asmart way to playthe wider game as a whole as it keeps people happy and on your side. In the end, she gets everyone’s beads and therefore has a functional immunity idol for the next time Coco shows up at Tribal.
Of course, nomodernSurvivorepisodewould be complete without its share of heartfelt personal stories from the players, and this episode is no exception. Nneka reveals that her motivation for winning the million dollars is so that she can use the money to give back to the mission team she’s a part of that works out of Nigeria to help struggling families. Noelle also shares her experience of becoming an amputee at the age of 19, which was difficult for her as an athlete. However, she pushed through and continued her athletic pursuits, leading to her becoming a Paralympian.
At the Immunity Challenge, Vesi loses once again, mostly due to a failure at the puzzle stage of things, and they’re once again struggling to decide who they need to cut from the tribe. Nneka might be an obvious choice as she’s more of a hindrance than a help during challenges, but Jesse is hesitant to vote for her because she reminds him of his mom, who has passed away, and he can’t bear the idea of voting his “mom” out. Apparently, Sierra from theBlood vs. Waterseason (Season 27) didn’t get that same memo (as she becameinfamous amongSurvivorfansfor voting out her own mother from the game).
The tribe even discusses this struggle at Tribal, which is a common one that players from past seasons have brought up. A viewer at home might think it’s dramatic for these people to be so upset about voting off a person they met only a few days ago, buttheSurvivorexperiencereally is a bonding one, and it’s clear how quickly these connections develop when these people are put into this kind of high-pressure situation. In the end, the tribe’s strength wins out over their connection and Nneka is voted out. This episode did a good job of setting up some more of the tribe dynamics, but was the least exciting of the season so far. It felt like the equivalent of a filler episode on this show, but that doesn’t mean it was completely boring. There was still a lot of interesting advantage strategizing, and the audience at least got to know some of the players just a bit better.
