Several players made big moves at the merge in Survivor 49, but some of those big moves did not pay off. While Sage Ahrens-Nichols helped orchestrate a brilliant blindside on her former ally, Nate Moore, it was one of Sage's other original Uli tribemates who made a crucial mistake in the episode.
On the latest episode of the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast, Jeremy Collins called out a big mistake he saw immediately after the merge's first immunity challenge. MC Chukwujekwu was searching for keys in the jungle near camp, and Savannah Louie followed her. That wasn't the problem, though; it was when Savannah dove after the key, trying to beat MC rather than offering help.
"“Okay, so Savannah's been playing really well. I think she's been playing an awesome game so far. I don't think this was great strategy," Jeremy said. "So like what I would do is I would try to take that and use it as a bonding tool or a bonding key, for instance. I would say like, 'MC, you unlock it, I'll go out and stay in guard and make sure nobody walks up on you.' And I'm not even saying that Savannah could use it as a bonding tool and be in alliance with her, she could use it and then just to make MC feel good about it.”
Then, Jeff finished Jeremy's sentence and said, "And, use it against her." To which Jeremy replied, "Yes."
I also got some weird vibes from this moment, honestly. The competitor does what Savannah does, but we've seen on recent seasons of Survivor, the winners often have a different level of tact. The players who play this hard often create a lot of enemies.
I don't even blame Savannah for trying to steal the advantage. Like, we're talking about $1 million. I just think she's a more ... savvy ... player than that. She knows, if she steals the keys, it's only going to create drama. There's so much more she can do by keeping MC's secret for a short period of time. Knowing where the idol is, and being the only person to know where the idol is, can be so important in Survivor.
Even if MC doesn't trust Savannah's intentions now, there's a chance they might need each other in the future. That type of limited trust is often enough for players to work together. In this instance, Savannah clearly plays this wrong, and then she tries to make up for it, but MC doesn't buy it because it doesn't feel genuine.
We'll see if this interaction comes back to bite Savannah. Obviously, MC and Savannah are in different alliances, so it's not like a major betrayal happened, but there was a missed opportunity for some sort of olive branch moment to happen.
MC also played the idol that she found because she was nervous, which signals that she might not have been as in on the actual vote as it seemed. But, it will be really interesting to watch what happens next. I don't see Savannah backing down from a fight.
We'll find out next week on Survivor 49!