In the final throes before the merge (and jury), Survivor Ghost Island 6 switched things up in hopes of not Pagonging an entire tribe straight through.
The last episode of Survivor Ghost Island was just a depressing pity party for Stephanie Johnson and the rest of the original Malolo group. Whether it was Stephanie getting a funeral procession (including original vote-out music), Michael Yerger crying, Jenna smelling dudes’ hair or Chris wanting (and earning) those pastries, things looked uncertain for a starting tribe down 9-6 at the Final 15.
Episode 6, “Fate is the Homie,” got right down to what we all expected; the swap! We got to hear from Michael, James and Desiree before tribes switched things up, giving us an inherently Malolo-biased focus. The new tribes are as follows: Bradley, Domenick, Donathan, Chelsea and Libby on Naviti, Angela, Kellyn, James, Michael and Desiree on Malolo and Sebastian, Wendell, Chris, Jenna and Laurel on the new tribe, Yanuya.
The new green tribe, Yanuya, seemed to be emphatically pro-Naviti, even though all three tribes had a 3-2 old Naviti split. Chris, Wendell and Sebastian are three of the strongest men in the game versus Jenna and Laurel, although it became immediately clear that Chris was rubbing everyone the wrong way. It’s the same old song and dance with him on this new tribe; everyone deals with Chris’ self-importance until he heads to Tribal Council (something he hasn’t done yet).
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Next, we head to the Malolo 3.0, where Angela became the question mark once info started getting out. James and Angela spilled the guts at the whole Chris vs. Dom situation, where it became obvious to Michael and James that Angela needs to cross over if they have any chance to be safe. James notes she could feel indebted to him enough to pull it off.
Hilariously enough, the first thing Bradley said when he got back to Naviti was how happy he was he wasn’t over at the “slums” of Malolo beach. Domenick publically stated how safe he feels, although he brings it back by saying how he could get played again. The “never trust the blonde” mentality shone through immediately, as Domenick and Bradley convened to target Libby.
Nothing interesting must have gone on Day 16, as the three tribes entered the Immunity Challenge on Day 17. We got the classic “spotter and blindfolded object retrieval” challenge, with one caller navigating two pairs of players tied together to retrieve three bags. Once they collected all the bags, the spotter would help guide the blindfolded players solve a puzzle
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Desiree called for Malolo, Wendell called for Yanuya and Domenick called for Naviti. Desiree was the loudest yeller in the challenge, while Chelsea and Donathan grabbed and fought over a Malolo bag! Wendell, meanwhile, had a quieter, yet calmer command over his tribe. Still, he had trouble managing both pairs.
Malolo had a strong lead over the other tribes heading into the puzzle segment, as Naviti followed behind collecting the third bag. Players were banging hard into objects all over, as it seemed like everybody could have broken a nose or lost a tooth at any time. Wendell left the third bag at the starting platform, but it seemed like Desiree’s yelling meant Malolo had a hard time at solving the puzzle despite their huge lead.
In the end, Wendell’s calm demeanor helped lead Yanuya to first place in the challenge. Domenick’s slow start guiding his players was overcome by his guidance at the puzzle, leading to their second-place spot. Malolo continued their losing streak even as a 3.0 group, as Desiree was edited as the goat of this challenge (compared to Domenick, who was edited as the “hero” caller).
Desiree really felt the heat as soon as Malolo headed back, although the “Naviti strong” mentality dictated that James would be the player to go home. He knew that Angela was the lynchpin in keeping safe as he told the audience about his struggles coming over to America by himself and making it by himself.
Betsided
Angela, for what it’s worth, was still reeling from the blindside by Naviti. She took this as a chance to further her own game as opposed to supporting Naviti, who tried to get her out earlier. Kellyn, upon speaking with Angela, knew something was up because Angela was not straightforward in her game thoughts.
Although Kellyn really hasn’t been given an opportunity to share who she’s closest with in Survivor Ghost Island, for what it’s worth she’s been playing the strongest social and strategic game so far. She knows that Angela could flip on her and the game’s world could turn “brown,” not split between purple and orange as it has been so far.
Tribal Council started to paint a better picture about Angela’s vote, as Jeff got straight to work on finding out what was going on. The discussion of “who deserves to go home” is one that permeates throughout the Survivor community, as James lamented Desiree’s possible fate as someone who got the second chance to return after a poor performance.
Brute strength vs. long-term trust was a debate discussed at tribal, but really it was a facade for “who can we rely on to get us to the merge?” Michael has been the “tribe strong” voice since episode one, while Kellyn has been beating the “numbers strong” mentality. It all came down to one player, though, and Angela decided to keep Naviti strong for her long game. It was a 4-1 vote, as even Michael voted out James this week. That’s twice he’s put down an original Malolo player’s name.
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Next week’s episode is the penultimate one before the Survivor Ghost Island merge, meaning we’re getting one step closer to the eventual Chris vs. Domenick blowup that’s been built up so far.