Survivor Edge of Extinction episode 13: Reward/Immunity Challenges

Yesterday’s episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction featured probably the last Reward Challenge of the season and a competitive fight for Individual Immunity.

Warning: This article will include spoilers from episode 13 of Survivor: Edge of Extinction.

With our final 60 minute episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction in the books, it looks like the finale will be forced to do the heavy lifting. As a result, production will have to squeeze three Immunity Challenges, one Edge of Extinction challenge, and a fire-making challenge into one episode. Before we go on discussing the finale, let’s take a look at yesterday’s action.

Reward Challenge

The castaways are tasked with tossing a buoy sized ball on a slanted trap above them. If they land it correctly, the ball will roll ahead of them. The goal is to land the ball, move through an obstacle of strings, and catch the ball at the end before it touches the ground.

Once a player has both of their balls (I’m starting to sound like Probst now), they will then dig under a beam, which looks super easy. They will then have to land both balls on an overhead perch. The first player to land both wins a helicopter tour that ends at a luxury hotel where they will enjoy a feast of chicken, pasta, seafood and more. You can have another look at this challenge below.

Gavin and Aurora caught their first balls right out of the gate. Victoria made a remarkable diving catch, and then Devens wasn’t too far behind. Aurora caught her second fairly quickly, which gave her a decent head start on the final phase.

Devens, Victoria, and Gavin caught their second ball around the same time, while Lauren and Julie were finding it hard just to land the ball on the trap. It came down to Gavin, Aurora and Victoria, and it was Gavin who successfully landed both of his balls on the perch.

Gavin decided to bring Victoria and then surprisingly chose Lauren over Aurora. I guess now that decision isn’t as controversial! Overall, the new concept for the first half of this challenge is brilliant stuff, while the second half is typical, overdone fluff.

Reward Challenge Rankings

Creativity: 2.5/5

Difficulty: 2.5/5

Entertainment Value: 3/5

Immunity Challenge

This involved the castaways sliding blocks of letters, shuffleboard style, across a board into a target. They will then use two handles to squeeze the letter tiles together while making their way across two balance beams. Once they have all of their blocks across, they can work on solving a six-word phrase.

Although the general idea of this challenge has been used in Worlds Apart, Kaoh Rong, and Millennials vs. Gen X, the way the blocks were transported and the final phase are quite different. You can rewatch this challenge here.

All six players finished the shuffleboard stage fairly quickly, while balancing the tiles across the beams took more of a learning curve. Devens reached the puzzle solving phase first, with Aurora and Lauren not too far behind.

Probst gave away the last word of the phrase in a not so subtle clue, which helped Rick win his third Immunity Necklace! As soon as Jeff began explaining this challenge, Aurora started shaking her head. In the end, it proved to be her undoing.

Immunity Challenge Rankings

Creativity: 2.5/5

Difficulty: 3/5

Entertainment Value: 3/5

Challenge Takeaways

No one has been as clutch as Rick Devens this season. He does just enough to either win Immunity or find an idol. At this point, as long as there isn’t another painful endurance challenge like Chimney Sweep, Rick has a great shot of winning a fourth necklace.

Of course, if someone like Joe, Chris or Eric return, then Rick has some serious competition. With Aurora gone, Victoria and Lauren seem the most capable to win a balance or endurance type of challenge.