Survivor 48 is headed for a "historic Tribal Council," according to the CBS synopsis of the third episode of the season, "Committing to the Bit." What happens in this episode will shape the early part of the game.
If the Vula tribe loses another challenge, they'll be three players down three episodes into the season. If they can pull off a win, the pressure eases and shifts to the Lagi or Civa tribe. It also gives those players a taste of the real game, which only happens when the voting begins, as we hear so often on Survivor.
Heading into the third episode, we identified four players to watch. Let's get the list started with Justin Pioppi.
Justin Pioppi
Justin hasn't done all that much in the first two episodes, but that looks to change in the third episode when he becomes a crucial vote. At this point, it doesn't seem like Sai Hughley or Cedrek McFadden will turn on each other, but is Justin with them? Or, is he with Mary Zheng? That's what Justin will likely have to decide in this episode.
Of the six pictures that CBS shared from episode 3 ahead of the episode, Justin is featured twice. Once, he's alone, seemingly, at the Vula shelter. In the other, he's laughing with Mary. Is this foreshadowing a new partnership? Could the historic Tribal Council be a two-two split vote? We'll see, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on Justin in this episode.
Sai Hughley
Speaking of the Vula tribe, Sai Hughley is another important player to watch. Sai is running the show at Vula, but the tribe is losing, so if that continues to happen, I have a feeling the target will shift to the person in charge at some point.
Plus, we've already seen the new clip from episode 3 that shows Sai chasing Mary all over the jungle while Mary speaks in an interview about how much fun it is to play mind games with Sai. So, something has got to give in that relationship, or lack thereof. How Sai acts toward Mary being on the bottom will be very interesting to watch in episode 3. In previous seasons, we've seen players blindsided when they went after someone on the bottom a little bit too hard. Will that happen in episode 3?
Mary Zheng
Speaking of Mary, she is on the bottom, and that's why she's frantically trying to find an idol in Survivor 48 episode 3, but I'm not sure everything is as it seems. Of course, Mary wants to find an idol, but her comments in the clip do not seem like they're coming from someone who believes they are on the bottom. Perhaps, Mary has a bigger plan with Justin to flip this game around.
That's what I'm hoping will happen! I can't take a full episode of Mary running around a beach only to not find the idol and get voted out right after, assuming the Vula tribe loses the immunity challenge, of course.
Thomas Krottinger
Last but not least, Thomas Krottinger is my final player to watch in Survivor 48 episode 3. While most of the Next Time on Survivor preview at the end of episode 2 revolved around the Vula tribe, Thomas is in the middle of the action for the for Lagi tribe, but right now, it's hard to tell what side of things Thomas is really on. It's hard to know where the lines are on the Lagi tribe anyway.
In the clip, Thomas is talking to Star Toomey and Bianca Roses about a plan. He tells Star, "You unlock the idol. We control the votes." But, then, in the next part of the clip, Thomas is laughing in an interview.
I have a feeling that Thomas is just blowing smoke to keep Star comfortable. Even if she finds the idol, it sure seemed like Thomas was planning to vote her out. Things change quickly on Survivor, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but it looks like Thomas might be thinking about blindsiding Joe Hunter or Shauhin Davari, the other players on the California Girls Alliance.
Survivor 48 episode 3 airs on Wednesday, March 12! We'll be watching. Follow along Survivor 48 on Surviving Tribal.