Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 4 Immunity Challenge review

The first Immunity Challenge of Survivor: Season 38 with three tribes brings a familiar concept to Joe and Wentworth, along with familiar results.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for episode 4 of Survivor: Edge of Extinction.

Who thought going up A-frames would be that difficult? This challenge has been run twice before, yet the struggle we saw in Survivor: Edge of Extinction is unlike the other two seasons. I’m not a fan of challenges with three tribes, as I find that one of them either dominates, or one of them gets decimated each time. However, I was proved wrong in yesterday’s episode, as all three tribes were competitive, leading to a close finish.

The Immunity Challenge required each tribe to climb up two extremely high and steep A-frames, with the aid of ropes. Then they used those ropes to pull a heavy cart down a track. The cart contains pieces to a vertical puzzle that depicts images of the tribe Immunities. First two tribes to complete the puzzle win Immunity.

Thanks to the rain making the surfaces slippery, climbing up the A-frames looked absolutely brutal. The castaways had to resort to making a painful human ladder, which wasn’t really used in the previous two times this challenge was run. With the edit, it’s difficult to tell how long that part took, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a good fifteen to twenty minutes. Not only was this part entertaining to watch, but the puzzle also came down to the end. You can take another look below.

Immunity Challenge Takeaways:

Both Joe and Wentworth took part in this challenge back in Cambodia. They both had a turn in solving the puzzle, but Wentworth couldn’t really get anything going, while Joe came in halfway and clinched the win for his tribe. Not much has changed.

That being said, Kelley and David did a solid job with their puzzle, they just came up seconds short thanks to falling behind early. The old Manu group always tends to lose the battle in strength, as their inability to pull their cart fast enough set them up poorly for the last stage.

The Kama tribe is a completely different story. Ron continues to showcase his skills at puzzles, and Joe capitalized on his previous experience with this puzzle. The new Kama is a group that can make the merge without facing a Tribal Council.

For the new Manu tribe, Eric once again displayed his physical ability in challenges, getting over the first a-frame relatively quickly. Wendy surprised me by replacing Eric in the puzzle and working well with Aubry to win the first Immunity. However, if someone is going to lose instead of Lesu, it’s going to be this tribe.

Immunity Challenge Rankings:

Creativity: 2/5

Difficulty: 4/5

Entertainment Value: 4/5