Survivor Edge of Extinction episode 9 Immunity Challenge

Survivor: Edge of Extinction is back with an old Immunity Challenge idea that prevented one player from being vulnerable at that crazy Tribal Council.

Warning: This article containers spoilers for episode 9 of Survivor: Edge of Extinction.

Although we enjoy watching challenges, this week’s episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction was all about that Tribal Council. The insane confusion behind the vote that sent Julia packing made for another exciting “Live Tribal” edition that we’ve seen become fairly common since Game Changers. As entertaining as that was, there was still a crucial Immunity Challenge that played a big part in these events, so let’s take a deeper look.

Immunity Challenge:

Each castaway is tasked with balancing a ball on a wooden bow while standing on a narrow beam. At regular intervals the castaways will move their feet down the beam, making their platform narrower. The last person to keep their ball on their bow wins immunity.

This isn’t a new idea, and as Jeff mentioned, David has faced this challenge before in Millennials vs. Gen X. Although he didn’t win the necklace that time, he did make it to the final phase. You can take another look at this week’s Immunity Challenge below.

The first person who dropped the ball was none other than Wardog. He has continued to perform miserably in challenges, but that only helps to deflect a target off of his back. Julie didn’t last too long either.

The nine remaining castaways moved onto the final, most narrow phase, which looked easier to handle than the version in Millennials vs. Gen X. After struggling with his balance, Ron dropped the ball, and the same story goes for Aurora and Victoria.

Once again, the editors decided to use Rick’s comments as comedic relief. As soon as Rick finished saying how Lauren is a challenge beast, she lost her ball and was eliminated from the challenge. Her number one ally in Wentworth followed suit.

After looking solid for so long, Julia dropped her ball, leaving Gavin and David to battle it out. Both guys were going back and forth, their balls traveling up and down their bow. Eventually, Gavin won, giving him Individual Immunity.

Immunity Challenge takeaways:

The results of this challenge definitely affected the events of that crazy Tribal Council. When considering how vocal and confident Gavin was about trying to gun for David, there’s a chance that his name could have been thrown out instead of Julia’s when chaos broke out. However, Gavin clutched it out, proving that he is a physical threat to worry about on top of his strategic play.

It also looked like David’s previous experience with this challenge helped him, as he appeared to be pretty solid until the end. The fact that David and Gavin were able to keep the necklace away from Julia was huge, as it allowed them to use her as a scapegoat at Tribal Council.

The playing field continues to open up with Julia out of the way, as she was one of the biggest challenge threats remaining. That opens the door for Lauren, Gavin, Wentworth, and David to step up and have better odds at winning the necklace.

Immunity Challenge rankings:

Creativity: 1/5

Difficulty: 2/5

Entertainment value: 3/5