Survivor Edge of Extinction episode 7 secret scene: Naming the tribe

Sometimes it’s a narrative talking point; other times it’s glossed over. The Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 7 secret scene reveals tribe name talk.

This post will discuss the events of Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 7, including who was brought back in the Edge of Extinction challenge and the events of the full hour.

It seems like the expectancy of playing Survivor in Fiji has brought players to bone up on their Fijian. When you had no clue where you were going ahead of the season’s start, players had only their own creative vision to come up with a tribe name, and usually the players would be too lazy to come up with anything smarter than merging the pre-merge tribe names together to create a word sandwich of a new name.

However, as we saw when Elizabeth Olson from David vs. Goliath came prepared with the name of kalokalo meaning “star” for the merged tribe, the Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 7 secret scene shows the 13 players (including Rick Devens, who earned his way back into the game) discussing what to name the tribe they will see dwindle week after week.

It seems like Lauren is confirming her status as a superfan in coming prepared for the merge tribe name question, suggesting to call the merged tribe Vata. We did not see this reveal during the episode, as it just kind of appeared as the tribe arrived for their merge feast, as there was way too much content to get through this week.

Lauren suggests that “vata” stands for ever-changing or ever-moving, suggesting the adaptability of both the players and the game of Survivor: Edge of Extinction itself. While that sounds great and all, I’m not sure where she found her Fijian dictionary definition of vata, as an online Fijian – English dictionary source suggests the name means “shelf.”

The same website suggests that kalokalo does mean star, and even Google Translate doesn’t include the Fijian language, so that could be one reason why it wasn’t part of the episode. Another big reason; we spent the first 15 minutes (skipping “Previously on…”) on the Extinction players in a clumsy, messy, overbearing episode. This doesn’t push the game’s story ahead, but it would have given David a confessional. You win some; you lose some.