One of the common complaints about Survivor 49 so far is that the season is too boring. Outside of Jake Latimer's shocking medical evacuation in episode 3, the season has played out pretty much exactly like other seasons that feature one tribe that loses all the challenges.
There's no doubt Survivor 49 has lacked major moves. Even the players on the bottom seem to be comfortably letting the chips fall where they may by not playing their Shot in the Dark. While I think that's actually a sign of some of the good gameplay happening behind the scenes, it doesn't make for great TV.
That's all going to change in Survivor 49 episode 6, "The Devil's Shoes." I can feel it! And, that's because there's another tribe swap happening in episode 6. More on that shortly!
What time is Survivor on tonight?
Survivor 49 returns with a new episode at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. C on CBS and Paramount+. Like usual, fans on the West Coast will have to wait until 8 p.m. PT to watch Survivor 49 episode 6, but that's actually better because the World Series, which features the Los Angeles Dodgers, should be wrapping up around that time for viewers out West.
Unless the World Series game lasts another 18 innings tonight, fans should be able to just cruise right from the World Series into the new episode of Survivor 49.
There's another tribe swap in Survivor 49 episode 6
At the end of episode 5 after Jason Treul was voted out of Survivor 49, we learned these players were headed for another tribe swap in the new episode. Jeff Probst tells players the game is changing again in the Next Time on Survivor preview for the episode, and we learned, based on the trailer and sneak peek, which players end up on the new tribes.
After going to two tribes earlier this season, the 12 players left this season will be split into three tribes of four for at least one or two challenges before mergatory arrives.
CBS revealed the tribe swap in the synopsis for the episode:
"A major shakeup hits the game when two tribes turn to three. New tribe members size each other up, but with only four players on each tribe, there is not much room to hide. Then, heat and exhaustion take a major toll on one castaway, on SURVIVOR..."
Obviously, the tribe swap is the big question mark. We shared the results of that tribe swap based on the preview below:
New Hina: Savannah Louie, Rizo Velovic, Sophi Balerdi, MC Chukwujekwu
New Kele: Sage Ahrens-Nichols, Jawan Pitts, Steven Ramm, Shannon Fairweather
New Uli: Kristina Mills, Alex Moore, Nate Moore, Sophie Segreti
Right off the bat, there are a few players who are in real trouble. Nate Moore is going from a strong majority to the player who should be most worried about getting voted out. He's joining a tribe with an alliance of new Kele players with Kristina, Alex, and Sophie. It's not the strongest alliance, but you never want to just be the easy vote.
The same can be said for Steven and MC. There might be a little wiggle room for Steven because he's close with Sage and Shannon. They might turn on each other before they turn on him, but he's still on a tribe with three original Uli players with Sage, Shannon, and Jawan. If they stick together, it's see you later, Steven.
Overall, I feel the worst for MC because she's walking into the tightest alliance left in the game with three players from that alliance, Savannah, Rizo, and Sophi, on her tribe. If they don't win immunity, there's basically no way MC is going to make it through the next vote without playing her Shot in the Dark. The good news for her is that she's awesome in challenges, and she should be able to carry her team to victory as the single best physical player left in the game.
The synopsis also mentioned that someone is going be dealing with the effects of heat exhaustion and probably dehydration. It will be interesting to see which player that is and how the show handles it. I don't think we're looking at a medical evacuation situation, but anything is possible with that heat out in Fiji.
What to expect in Survivor 49 episode 6
We have two sneak peeks from the sixth episode to watch and learn where we're headed. Overall, we know the big moment of the season is going to be the tribe swap. Then, we're going to see the fallout as these players learn to work with each other or not.
In the first sneak peek, Jawan and the new Hina tribe return from Tribal Council, where they rehash what happened in voting out Jason. The new Hina tribe locks in their five to go to the end of the game. Jawan also speculates about what will happen if they have to go to Tribal Council again, but he already knows that Sophi is the person he wants to vote out.
In the second clip, Rizo channels his inner Ozzy Lusth and tries to catch a fish with the fishing gear, but he's having a little trouble walking down to the water in flippers. It's hilarious, honestly.
I feel like that's the perfect note to end this on. We'll see you after Survivor 49 episode 6 for our recap and reaction to the new episode!