For the second time in Survivor 49, the remaining players were forced to switch tribes in episode 6, "The Devil's Shoes." It was so brutal and shocking one player, Kristina Mills, basically fainted right in the middle of the tribe swap.
Ultimately, the latest tribe swap worked out pretty well for all but one player, Shannon Fairweather, who was voted out during the episode. She was blindsided by her former allies, Jawan Pitts and Sage Ahrens-Nichols. It was the first big blindside of the season, and the ramifications will be massive.
And, Jeff Probst has another big twist on the way in episode 7, "Blood Will be Drawn," on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
The merge is happening in Survivor 49 episode 7
In the Next Time on Preview for episode 7, we learned mergatory has arrived. It's time to earn the merge or whatever they call it these days, and that means the game is changing again in another big way.
Here's the synopsis of the new episode, via CBS:
"A boat arrives delivering a very important message to the overjoyed castaways. Old alliance members reconvene to talk strategy, as the game has shifted since they last saw each other. Then, the game intensifies when a two-part challenge leads to the season’s first individual immunity win, on SURVIVOR..."
Doing the math on this, once the next episode hits, we're going to have three tribe swaps, basically, in less than a week of gameplay in Survivor 49. If that's not putting the dice back in the Yahtzee cup and rolling again and again, I don't know what is.
Literally, they went back to three tribes for one vote? I don't get it, but it's forcing players to make big decisions.
Survivor 49 is about to get wild
Survivor 49 is one of the most unique seasons of Survivor we've had in a long time. We've never really seen a tribe get decimated like the Kele tribe to start the game. It's different recent seasons, too. Survivor 48 had a similar start with one tribe struggling, but that tribe swap unlocked more gameplay immediately. Kyle Fraser had to play an idol to stay in the game, and he used that reshuffled deck of cards to change his fortune in the game.
That didn't really happen in Survivor 49, not so far anyway. And, that's pretty much only because of how the tribe swap happened. The former Uli players used their majority on new Hina to take out two Hina players and take control of the game. While one former Uli player finally got voted out in episode 6, the Uli alliance plus Sophi Balerdi, which is coming back together at the merge, is still in control because there's not that core of other players. Most of the Hina players have never voted together! MC Chukwujekwu, Kristina Mills, and Sophie Segreti still haven't even been to Tribal Council yet.
Those players have never had to prove their loyalty to each other yet, and that's going to be a big problem when they're surrounded by other players who have been really playing the game, and playing well enough to make sure their targets don't use their Shot in the Dark.
Anyway, because those players haven't had to prove their loyalty outside that Uli alliance, things are going to get really interesting quickly. Is anyone actually locked in to an alliance outside Rizo Velovic, Nate Moore, Savannah Louie, and Sophi Balerdi? How will they react to Shannon getting voted out by Jawan, who was part of that Uli alliance recently? Sage was already kind of on the outs, and she revealed that Rizo had an immunity idol to everyone, and he knows that now.
The game is about to start moving very quickly. A few wrong decisions could hand power over to an alliance that might not relinquish it this season. It's going to be really fun to watch.
We have so many unused advantages and idols in the game
Because the gameplay has been so straightforward outside of the Shannon vote, these players have their votes, and they have advantages to use! That could make the difference as we head into the merge.
I have a feeling Rizo is going to use that idol soon to take that target off his back. Sophi just found the Knowledge is Power advantage, which can be used to basically steal an advantage or idol. That's huge! MC also has an idol, too.
I really hope these players utilize those tools correctly and give us some fireworks in the second act of the season.
Watch Survivor 49 episodes on Wednesdays on CBS and Paramount+.