Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 12: Immunity/Reward Challenge

Yesterday’s episode of Survivor: David vs. Goliath featured two sub-par challenges where the result of the Reward Challenge had a surprisingly large effect on the gameplay.

Last week’s epic, five-and-a-half-hour Immunity Challenge kind of spoiled Survivor fans. It went from one of the most entertaining challenges in Survivor history to a pair of challenges you’ll probably forget about by the time you’re reading this. However, the impact of these challenges are meaningful enough to actually change the dynamics of this season. Here is the video for the first challenge:

The Reward Challenge had the eight castaways pair up to fight for more time with their loved ones. The groups of two were Mike with Davie, Angelina with Nick, Christian paired up with Gabby, and Kara with Alison. How convenient for this episode that Gabby and Christian end up being on the same team!

The pairs are linked together with a rope and have to first make their way through a laughable “obstacle course”, which is simply running out of the water and getting under a crawl-through. Then they have to dig up keys to free two balls, that the pairs have to land on a narrow perch above them.

Mike and Davie built up a decent lead until they got to their lock, but it all came down to who could land their balls on the perch first. After all four pairs were struggling to succeed, Davie finally landed the first ball. However, Nick quickly responded after he connected with one of his balls, and then Angelina clinched the victory to her first reward by landing their last ball.

The one unique element of this challenge was the twist of tossing balls while the castaways were tethered together. This slightly restricted mobility and made it more burdensome for a pair to retrieve a ball because they had to do so together. Other than that, it was a typically bland Reward Challenge.

Reward Challenge Takeaways:

The reward was getting to enjoy a barbecue with the winning players’ loved ones. The biggest impact of this challenge was when Nick and Angelina chose Davie and Mike to join them. This solidified a four-person alliance with Davie secretly having one foot in and one foot out.

It seems like every reward this late in a season always has the castaways forming a Final Four alliance, even though they have no intention of keeping it. This reward was different. Angelina, Mike and Nick clearly reconnected their bond from Jabeni.

This alliance went into effect that same episode, as they made plans for their vote and everyone stuck to it. Davie also stuck to his feeling of being on the outs of this four-person alliance. He secretly informed Christian to use his idol, but still voted with this new alliance. This clever gameplay proved to viewers that if Davie makes Final Tribal, he is also a deserving winner.

Reward Challenge Rankings:

Creativity: 2/5

Difficulty: 1/5

Entertainment Value: 2/5

The next challenge featured a new concept for an Immunity Challenge. The castaways are tasked with balancing a long pole with their palms, holding it against a structure above them that is somehow connected to a bucket of water. If they fall off their shoe-width perch or if they let their pole get too low or too high, the bucket will drop, taking them out of the challenge. You can rewatch this Immunity Challenge below.

As usual, Mike was the first one out as he slightly twitched with his pole. At the 5-minute mark, the castaways had to take a step back on their perch, making it slightly more difficult to stay steady. Gabby dropped as soon as this change happened. Alison and Angelina were the next ones to go a few minutes later.

At the 15-minute mark, the last four players had to move another step back. When Nick’s arm was beginning to get lower and lower, Angelina among others, advised Nick to lift his pole a little higher. Then Christian sort of sarcastically asked the eliminated players if his pole is centered. They responded by saying they didn’t want to mess anyone up.

That advice didn’t really work as Nick’s bucket dropped, and then Christian stepped off not too long after. It was a battle between Kara and Davie… and an annoying fly. Throughout the last minutes of this challenge, there was a fly all over Davie’s face. Eventually, he dropped his bucket, giving Kara her first Individual Immunity of the season.

This is a brand new challenge, but with so many similar types of challenges that require the castaways to just stand still and hold onto something, this one didn’t stand out.

Immunity Challenge Takeaways

Kara finally proved her ability to win the necklace. She is still flying under the radar amongst bigger threats including Christian, Nick and Davie. If she can survive the next few votes, she definitely has the ability to win a string of immunities to get herself into the Final Three.

Other than that, the David men are still proving to be competitive in every challenge. With how big of a threat they are, winning immunity is almost necessary at this point, especially for someone like Christian.

Immunity Challenge Rankings:

Creativity: 2.5/5

Difficulty: 3/5

Entertainment Value: 3/5