First-ever tribe swap
In a twist that has remained a constant in current Survivor seasons, viewers were shocked when the first-ever tribal swap was introduced in season three. How it played out was each tribe received tree mail asking them to pick three members to go on a quest.
Boran selected Kelly, Lex, and Tom while Samburu went with Frank, Silas, and T-Bird. When the six unsuspecting players arrived at their destination, Jeff Probst handed the Samburu members gold buffs and the Boran members red buffs, telling them that they’d now be members of the opposing tribe.
All six players looked shocked with Silas even uttering “smokes” in true surprise fashion. The twist seems so simple now. Players were getting too comfortable in their current situations (and some were handling their power in the game quite poorly), so production threw everyone for a loop by shaking up the tribes.
The swap gave Frank and Teresa new life in the game, and they joined the Boran members to vote off Silas at their first Tribal Council as a new tribe. Had this switch not happened, Silas probably goes pretty far in the game.
When Kelly, Lex, and Tom headed to Samburu, the three younger members on that team were fearful that their former alliance member was now likely dead meat. While they all avoided the first Tribal Council, they went to the next one, and Lindsey’s previous votes came back to haunt her. Like Silas, if this switch doesn’t occur, Lindsey is probably someone who makes it quite far in the game.
To this day, the tribal swap is something that tends to happen every season. It’s even occurred multiple times in a few seasons. It’s a twist that, despite how long it’s been utilized for, is still an effective way to shake up the game.
To sum up, Survivor: Africa doesn’t get much love, but it was a pretty enjoyable season, to be honest, and much better than I remembered being. While these listed moments were the most memorable, the show still provided us with some little moments.
From the feather in Big Tom’s butt during the S.O.S. challenge to the Clarence and Diane bean drama to “He’s a Jew! He won’t eat the ham!” and even Bryant Gumbel calling Amber “the dumb one” at the reunion show (who was laughing two years later, Bryant?), this is a season that gets a lot of unnecessary backlash for whatever reason.