With every returning player's season, there’s a high risk that everyone's emotions will be at their limit by seeing their favourites potentially being eliminated from the game. Survivor 50 has definitely tested this to the max, especially during the latest episode, as we lost two fan favourites who were not only winner contenders but also players anyone would have loved to see go further, for instance, than those like Joe Hunter or Jonathan Young. Harsh statement? Maybe. Is it the truth? It is for me.
But before that unfortunate ending, we have to go back to the beginning of episode 12, called ‘Inconceivable,’ which is true since it is indeed inconceivable to have had such iconic players on the cast and for the Final Five of the season to be… underwhelming, to say the least. Episode 12 begins with the Final Seven, which none can believe have reached almost the season’s endgame.
Cirie Fields is met with the realisation that her closest ally Ozzy Lusth has just been sent to the jury due to the latter’s decision not to play his immunity idol, and she can now only trust Tiffany Ervin and Rizo Velovic. On the other hand, there was Aubry Bracco, who was now emerging from a lackluster edit for the majority of the season, and who was now Fields’s ultimate roadblock to advance further in the game.
A player who was beginning to suffer from 'I have to make a big move otherwise I won't win' was Velovic, as a new era player who has continuously reinforced that strategy outranks absolutely everything else in the game, even if it's at the cost of interpersonal relationships. Young, who has shown slight growth from his original season, has also proven to have tunnel vision when it comes to the game, seeing 'honour and integrity' as identity markers for Survivor but forgetting that the game must go beyond unequivocal loyalty. Hunter was there too.
As per usual, Rick Devens was trying his hardest to find an immunity idol to save himself, but ultimately, he was unsuccessful in finding another one. Devens is notorious for being scrappy and "pulling a Tony Vlachos" from a bag of tricks throughout his Survivor career. But when a player ultimately relies upon advantages too much to stay in the game, there might come a time when their luck will eventually run out.
Devens’ fate was ultimately sealed when he failed to win the immunity challenge, was unable to turn the tide of votes against him, and lastly, when his Shot in the Dark failed as well, promptly sending him to the jury. Devens knew the odds were against him for a while as he continuously lost his allies Emily Flippen and Christian Hubicki, as well as having targeted Fields and her allies at previous Tribal Councils. The fact that he was also seen as a jury threat with enough charisma to charm his way through a Final Tribal Council was too big a risk for everyone else.
At the second immunity challenge of the night, we were met with some very funny (for us) spelling shenanigans, but also embarrassing (for Hunter and Young), as they were unable to spell the aforementioned ‘inconceivable’ word. To everyone’s chagrin (except for Fields’), Ervin was the only one successful at the spelling bee contest.
The target on Fields' back became impossible to ignore at this point, as she was easily the biggest threat left in the game. Bracco wanting to target Fields was completely understandable and the right move to do, as it’s a top-notch on Bracco’s resume and seals the game ‘rivalry’ between them. It was a surprise that Young and Hunter, who had worked alongside and against Fields at various points throughout the season, were also set to vote Fields out, as they also wanted something to brag about if they got in front of the jury.
The only sort of surprise left was Velovic, as he had two paths: either go with Fields and lose against her at the end, or go against Fields, perhaps reach the Final Tribal Council regardless, but ultimately lose to Bracco or Ervin as well. Velovic’s ultimate decision was easier to discern when he previously targeted Lusth instead of protecting him, but it was slightly surprising that he didn’t see that he was placing himself in an apparent lose-lose situation either way.
Ervin, to her credit, remained the only one loyal to Fields, but in a 4-2 vote, Fields became the next eliminated from the game, culminating her sixth Survivor run in sixth place. To say I was personally comatose after this latter move is an understatement.
As the final episode of Survivor 50 approaches, the clear frontrunner to win the season is Bracco, followed by Ervin (whose edit isn't giving me much to hope for), then by Velovic, Young, and Hunter. We’ll see how everything ultimately unfolds, but it is Survivor, after all, and anything can happen yet.
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