Survivor David vs. Goliath episode 8 recap: New Radicals

“You Get What You Give” was the only hit from New Radicals in the 90s. It’s also the title of Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 8; a fitting title, indeed.

The first of the 13 Survivor: David vs. Goliath merge players has fallen, and the first stone thrown will have a ripple effect throughout the game. Three former Davids and three former Goliaths have formed a Strike Force alliance and the cover was almost blown when Angelina blew up her Goliath team’s spot. 12 players remain, and Angelina had the biggest target on her back entering Night 20.

Angelina didn’t understand that telling Elizabeth that she was going home was going to backfire on her, and decided to spin a web of lies as soon as everyone headed back to camp. The problem; nobody believed Angelina, and the next few minutes saw players one by one just absolutely lay into her, one by one, about how they didn’t believe her.

This led to Christian and Mike have a meeting of the minds, discussing how everybody in Strike Force seemed to be on the same page…except for Gabby. Mike was a bit concerned that the team wasn’t that much of a concern for Gabby, who seemed like she was more David-oriented than Final Six.

This seemed to be a concern for Christian, who has been working with Gabby since the beginning. He left it lingering as a note to take into consideration later, as Christian continues to keep notes while maintaining social graces. He’s proven to be a strong player early.

Davie and Nick, as part of team underdogs, went looking on the beach for an advantage. Remember when Gabby said there was probably an advantage at the merge? The advantage was the clue in itself; “everything you need for a good merge is right here!”

That clue was ripped off and moved into the woods, with just the image by itself pointing to the sole tree at the edge of the beach. With Davie running interference by doing Tae Bo with a stick on a rock to distract everyone else, Nick and the suddenly-emerging Carl searched the tree to find a Vote Steal. Those three, after Carl shared his Idol Nullifier advantage, were the three who held the most information in the game.

In a whirlwind start to Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 8, this all bled right into the Reward Challenge. An Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders send-up, two teams of six had to hold up eight 10-pound bags of sand above their heads. Every 15 minutes, one player was forced to drop out, meaning fewer players had to balance more sand bags. As soon as one bag dropped, that team lost the challenge.

Gabby’s team consisted of Christian, Alison, John, Alec, and Nick as chosen in a schoolyard pick, while Mike picked Dan, Carl, Davie, Angelina and Dan to compete on his team. Mike was a bit light on his team, but the purple team held on fairly evenly with the orange team. It seemed like a balanced challenge that was separated by hubris, as Dan dropped one bag and his team lost. Angelina noted his cockiness in a post-challenge confessional.

12 pizzas, cheesy bread and soda was waiting at camp for the winners, but with Mike sitting out of the reward, this sent him into a real “think, think, think” moment. He deliberated with Alec about blowing up the Strike Force alliance and voting out Christian immediately, diving deep into meta-commentary about people watching at home wondering, “Why aren’t they taking him out now?”

This is an interesting point from Mike, although it does seem interesting that Survivor is showing us this meta moment on the beach. For all we know, players have this conversation all the time, but now the viewers are seeing that and starting to think the same thing; why haven’t they taken out Christian yet?

This is a bit alarming for Alec and Angelina, for two separate reasons. For one, blowing up the alliance blows up his chances at going with any group other than “Goliath strong,” and although he doesn’t know how Ghost Island ends (this season filmed during that season’s airing), he knows that tune. Angelina was concerned about being the decoy, as one errant idol could unend her game. Plus, you know, she came up with the idea in the first place!

Alison had to give up the Immunity Necklace heading into the second Individual Immunity Challenge, with players balancing on a narrow beam while holding up a buoy with two sticks. It’s a familiar challenge, as it was won in the only time it has been run by Brad Culpepper in Survivor: Game Changers in 23 minutes.

With Dan Rengering noting that Brad Culpepper, the second-place finisher, was his hero, it set the stage for a deep run in this Immunity Challenge. The final three included Angelina, Dan and Nick, with Nick falling off not too quickly afterward. Most everyone dropped but Angelina and Dan almost immediately, as it was a test of body and will for both competitors.

Fortunately for the man who already had two Hidden Immunity Idols, he managed to stay ridiculously safe for another week by outlasting Angelina and winning Individual Immunity. This put Mike’s plan to get Christian out in motion, although it would prove to be a tumultuous, fluid post-challenge camp scene once more.

John noted how hard it was to vote out Christian, but he knew how powerful Christian was in the game, so he was game to stay Goliath strong and vote out his Brochacho in a Brochacho blindside. As Dan, Kara and Angelina discussed the intricacies of Christian using an idol and Dan saying Angelina (or not to use it), Alec had to go against the Goliaths to keep his game in check.

Alec could not foresee how close Nick and Christian were, so when he shared the information about who the vote target was, this put Nick into high gear. He knew that he wasn’t a vote target, but if the plan was to flip on the Davids and knock them out one by one, then he could be the next person voted out. Similarly, if he tries to flip the vote on the Goliaths and it doesn’t work, he emerges out from under the radar, and he could be next.

This led Nick to discuss things with Christian, letting him know to sit on his worries while he worked to find a solution. Approaching Davie, he asked if he was willing to use his Vote Steal advantage to save Christian, which led Davie to have those similar “we game or me game” conversations about using his powers. Nobody knows he has a Hidden Immunity Idol, either!

Once again, the viewers approached Tribal Council with multiple voting possibilities being presented and neither felt like a slam dunk case. Compare this to the “Naviti strong” mentality at the Ghost Island merge, and we’ve seen a wildly different, entertaining game where both sides are willing to cross lines and weigh their options.

Angelina was subtly called out by Jeff Probst at tribal about the fallout of the previous vote, as she came out on the brutal end of a cross-tribe verbal beatdown. As she mentioned, she hoped that it was a bit of a misstep, but that the Goliaths would come together once more to take out the huge threats on the other side.

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Betsided

This led to Jeff probing about Christian, who designated himself as a huge threat off the bat with his episode one performance and being called “Big Bang Theory.” He masterfully barbed back at Angelina, who suggested he had become much more powerful because of his cross-tribe alliances, showing that he can be a bit aggressively sarcastic in his defensive mode.

When John Hennigan argued that in Survivor, you get what you give, it harkened back to his earlier confession about a Brochacho Blindside. What he did not know was that while he was out partying, Davie was studying the blade … of grass hiding the Hidden Immunity Idol. He whipped it out after keeping its secrecy throughout the entire game, and him, Christian and Nick threw their three votes towards John.

The rest of the Davids threw their votes towards Angelina, hoping that Dan wouldn’t play a Hidden Immunity Idol for her like she planned not to do. Unfortunately, Angelina’s “Can I have your jacket”-like stare wore him down, negating the majority of David votes for Angelina. John was sent home in 12th place with a 3-0 vote, as he got karmic justice in a true Brochacho Blindside.

We’re long past the point where it can be debated; Survivor: David vs. Goliath is easily a top 10 season of the show. Can it breach into top 5 territory? That remains to be seen, but it’s well within grasp. With dynamic players willing to risk it all to keep their teams safe, who knows what will happen next?