We’ve got merge buffs, merge flag, merge dinner and an official Survivor season 35 merge tribe name revealed in the official press photos.
Warning: The following piece will show off new buffs and the merge name for the rest of Survivor season 35, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, competition.
It feels like just yesterday that Survivor season 35, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, got started up. With a lack of a lengthy episode to establish these characters, the first half of the season has felt like a blur. Next week is the merge, too, with CBS giving us just 60 minutes to understand where everyone sits in their voting lines, what the pecking order is and who’s a threat to go home.
One thing to look forward to, as always, is what these talented individuals will do to create a brand new identity for the Final 13 competition. That’s right, a merge name and merge flag are among the top priorities to establish in this week’s press photos, with CBS releasing promotional pictures ahead of next week’s episode, “Get to Gettin’.”
In terms of artistry, there’s a fair bit of depth to the Survivor season 35 merge flag for Solewa. It combines the names Soko, Levu and Yawa and creates a new name, but does so with SoLe letters from opposite tribe colors and the Red tribe’s Yawa. Someone clearly messed up here, although the layered coloring of the tribe’s name with two colors for each combined tribe name is a nice touch.
It also includes a mauve-ish purple as a backing, befitting the new tribe buffs for the merge tribe. Who knew that the season’s logo was giving us a hint all along?
Sandra Diaz-Twine should be jealous of the merge tribe, as they get to go to her favorite restaurant, Outback Steakhouse, for a merge feast. Remember that this reward has been featured on Survivor before, with Parvati Shallow getting an important Hidden Immunity Idol clue hidden at the table!
What’s important about this photo is that Chrissy and Ben didn’t originally set up this way at the merge feast. Another photo showed Joe sitting where Chrissy is. This could be an indication about the two of them trying to reconnect ahead of the Immunity Challenge, where it becomes crucial about who you can trust.
Related Story: Survivor Game Changers: Ranking All 33 Previous Seasons
What’s interesting about this Survivor season 35 merge hangout is that everyone but Dr. Mike and Cole Medders is here in the shot (that’s Ashley Nolan beside Jessica Johnston). We knew that Cole was on the outs in the last episode, and Dr. Mike was at the bottom of the Healers tribe. Could those two be early targets at the merge?
To CBS’ credit, we haven’t seen that many opportunities for potential spoilers based on who’s hanging out with who. However, Devon, Mike, Cole and Ryan seem to be talking about something more important than what the best time of the tide is for fishing.
The other one shows Ryan right in the middle of things once more, this time siding up with his most trusted partner, Chrissy, alongside Desi and Mike. He seems to be in the middle of everything, and that’s already come back to bite him earlier in this game. Could it happen again at the merge Tribal Council?
Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking All 33 Sole Survivors By Season
We’ll have to wait until Survivor season 35 episode 7, “Get to Gettin’,” airs on November 8 at 8 p.m. ET.