After a confusing live Tribal Council, it was Lauren’s Individual Immunity win and social game that moved her forward in Survivor: Island of the Idols.
Last week’s episode of Survivor felt like there was a lot of missed opportunities left on the table. The foursome left at camp after the family visit was positioned to make a game-changing move until Dean and Noura messed up their plans. In the same episode, Elaine found a crucial Hidden Immunity Idol and played it without receiving any votes. One of the few people who seemed to take advantage of their opportunities in this episode was Lauren.
This entire season, Lauren and Tommy have done a fantastic job of working together without people noticing their power. That almost came to an end in episode 12, as Karishma, Dean, and Elaine plotted to break this duo up. Lauren was their ideal target because of her under the radar social game.
There was one thing that Lauren needed to do to ensure her safety, and against all odds, she came through. Although a lot of the physical threats are already sitting on the jury, Lauren was by no means considered as someone who had a good shot at winning challenges. Karishma and Lauren have been viewed as the two weaker challenge performers in the post-merge game, but when she needed it most Lauren came up clutch.
After withstanding fifteen minutes in a painful Immunity Challenge, it came down to Elaine and Lauren. Elaine might not strike viewers as a big challenge threat either, but she does have one Immunity win under her belt and has shown her ability to handle endurance challenges with ease. Lauren showed some real fight and determination, giving off the feeling that she wasn’t going to step down until she won.
Elaine dropped, giving Lauren Individual Immunity, putting to bed any plans of blindsiding her. In addition to winning the necklace, Lauren and Tommy were able to keep their composure despite the craziness at Tribal Council. They still finished the night successfully by taking out Karishma, as well as ridding Elaine of her protection.
There might not have been a clear standout performance in this episode, but Lauren did what she needed to keep her fire alive and possibly even improve her position moving forward. Considering how well she’s been playing, I’ll still be surprised if she doesn’t get taken out before the Final Four, but this was another episode that added to her impressive resume.