The blue merge buffs were much prettier than the fallout of the Survivor: David vs. Goliath merge, as a messy confluence of events set us up for excitement.
The merge is arguably the most important moment of a Survivor season. The biggest first-half movers and shakers are tested to see if they can carry over from the “we” game to the “me” game, while new alliances forming to take down the biggest targets. Do players stand by original tribal lines, or was the dynamic pre-merge swap phase strong enough to shake things up?
It starts out on Day 18 on Tiva beach as the tribe enjoys some coffee in the morning. Suddenly the Jabeni and Vuku tribes start boating in without warning, showing that the merge has begun and the real game starts now. Alison offers the first confessional, while Carl focuses on what he wants to do; take out Elizabeth.
No Outback Steakhouse this time, but thankfully for John Hennigan’s macros, there’s more than enough food, booze and drinks. While Gabby was searching for idols or advantages, Carl was letting the Goliaths know that Alec flipped on Natalia. He also pinned a target on Elizabeth to Daniel, calling her a know-it-all after calling the merge tribe Kalokalo.
With the Mason-Dixon line getting back together, Nick shares the knowledge that Dan has a Hidden Immunity Idol. As he elaborated in a truly awkward confessional, that’s huge information that could sway such a dynamic merge.
As Dan and Kara reunited on the beach, Dan continued to share all the information he has in the game with Kara by stating he has a second Hidden Immunity Idol. The two clearly like each other, but Dan seems to be head-over-heels blind to the fact that they’re all playing a game for a million dollars.
Angelina gets the idea that the merge is a mixture of the “we” game and the “me” game, convincing the Goliath majority that they need to take out Christian before he has the chance to lure Goliath players in and create a powerful alliance. Of course, it’s way too late, as the known turncoat Alec already has plans to work with Christian on the down low and feed him information.
Kara and Dan were whispering sweet nothings to each other for Elizabeth, which was a huge social faux-pas for a player wish as such social prowess as Kara. This bled into Day 19, where Mike, Alison and Alec approached Gabby, Nick and Christian to lead a counterinsurgency group of six that would potentially flip on the Goliath majority at the Final 11.
This presented Alec with a bit of an interesting, tough place, especially with Elizabeth trying to form a David alliance with him to flip on Dan. Alec has a bit stronger of a social game than he thought, knowing that he had to present this to Kara and Dan and play like he’s still Goliath strong while maintaining the secrecy of his six-strong alliance.
What surprised me is that Dan has no idea why everyone’s throwing his name out as a voting target. Like, he knows he has two Hidden Immunity Idols and only one of them is a complete secret to all but him and Kara, so you would think he would be tipped off to the fact that he knows he’s a big target due to his advantages.
Day 20 arrives and we are presented with our first individual Immunity Challenge of the season. Players needed to swing a pendulum around their statue placed between two areas they need to swing the pendulum around. Knock the statue down with harsh clangs or lose momentum and you’re out of the challenge.
It’s such a wieldy, awkward challenge, as it requires not only to keep a swinging momentum, but it’s mildly a combination of balance, dexterity, endurance and a bit of strength. Many players dropped early, and only a few managed to get to the 15-minute hand switchover. Players like John and Dan who looked like the favorites were out shortly after that point, coming down to Alison and Elizabeth.
Unfortunately for then vote target Elizabeth, she came frustratingly short to victory, losing momentum and snagging her pendulum on the stand. This led to Alison winning the first individual Immunity Challenge of the season. We even got to see her cry and reminiss over how much she’s making her parents proud, as it’s always great to see Alison get positive (read: any) content in Survivor: David vs. Goliath.
It seemed like Alison was always going to thrive at the challenge, as she has the precision and expertise of a doctor required to make precision cuts under intense pressure. Dan was primed to excise Elizabeth out of the merge tribe, however, as he was upset that she was throwing out his name as a voting target for the first boot.
The first thing we saw coming after the commercial break was all the Goliaths getting together out in the open. Angelina was once again taking control of everyone and redirecting the target from Elizabeth (no allies, on her own) to take out Christian; the biggest threat of the Davids.
Not only did it hurt the Brochachos to take out one of their own, but Dan was quick to point out that everyone could see through her facade in using military terms. Being told what to do like a military leader while not being one was a bit of an odd spot, and Dan was not having it.
Alec, Alison, John and Dan got together to flip the target back to Elizabeth, with John opting to discuss with Angelina the thought process behind why. This got Angelina super sketched out, as she was upset Alec was back to his flipping ways. However, she was content to vote out Elizabeth to keep Goliath strong, and it seemed like the inevitable was coming.
Of course, this is Survivor: David vs. Goliath; these players can’t leave well enough alone. Not only did Angelina dictate the interests of the Goliath, but she leaked the plans to vote out Elizabeth to Elizabeth while acknowledging she shouldn’t be doing so. This kicked Elizabeth into fifth gear, trying to arrange a last-second coup with Gabby to spread word of Angelina’s sketchiness.
This is where Elizabeth offered up as many winner quotes and hard-fought confessionals as possible, saying she came to win Survivor and not take an elimination lying down without a fight. Once again, it felt like a last-second switch-flip similar to what we saw with the Jessica boot, with her and Gabby organizing a last-second voting effort to pull off a blindside.
This set us up for one of the messier merge Tribal Councils in some time, with the idea of “David vs. Goliath” and pregnant pauses making things messy from minute one. Alec offered a sly wink that there could be more underneath the surface, and it took just one pause from Angelina about whether the vote was Goliath vs. David tribal lines for Elizabeth to open up the door.
She shared the information that Angelina told her she was the vote target with the rest of the Kalokalo tribe, and that got the Goliath majority talking. It seemed like everyone was startled that Angelina was letting the Davids know what was up, as players like Alison took it as a moment to secure a jury vote. This put Angelina on blast, pushing back tears and inquisitive minds asking what she was doing.
Gabby was sticking up for Elizabeth with her patented fight through tears maneuver, which seems more calculated and skillful than what others suggest is a weakness. This started to get everyone whispering to each other, getting up from stools to talk to one another as Elizabeth kept swinging at Angelina, pinning the tail on her. Operation Strike Force is in effect.
Unfortunately, two players were eliminated from the possibility of winning Survivor: David vs. Goliath tonight at the merge. Elizabeth was voted out in a unanimous 12-1 decision, and Angelina secured her status as a third-place, zero-vote-receiving goat at best. This was a fascinating hour of television; way more engaging than what a unanimous vote deserves.
With a unanimous Elizabeth vote in effect, the trap is possibly being set. We’re another vote away from the Strike Force being able to pounce on the Goliath majority, and an already-dynamic season is about to explode once again.