By: Josh Wigler
Catching Your Fish & Eating It Too: There are still players in this game that I’ve barely even mentioned in previous SURVIVOR recaps, if I’ve mentioned them at all. (Just one more reason why I hate when this show has too many contestants.) But something tells me I’m going to be talking about Jane a lot more from here on out. Crazy old Jane, the fish monger of Nicaragua who feeds herself first and provides for the tribe second. I love that! SURVIVOR is a selfish game, no doubt, but it’s rare that people make moves like feeding themselves over others without paying the price. That’s what happened to Tyrone a few weeks back, and Jane could easily suffer a similar fate if caught.
But the way the scene was edited, I view Jane’s private fish meal as less of an ongoing thing and more of a moment where she chose to personally reward herself. Good on her. Too rare do the people playing SURVIVOR actually get to stop, smell the roses and just enjoy themselves. Jane is already sitting pretty with the majority alliance over at La Flor, so she doesn’t have too much strategy to worry about just yet. Might as well enjoy the day, as long as nobody walks in on her feasting.
Besides, the folks at La Flor are total numbskulls. If you’re going to be doing all the food gathering around camp, might as well catch your own fish and eat it, too.
Idol Games: Kudos to Sash for stealing Marty’s idol. Because that’s really what he did — he convinced Marty that it would be okay for him to steal his rightfully discovered safety net. Marty, being the brilliant strategist that he is, gladly forked the idol over, seeing it as a sign of good faith on his part that could pay off down the line. Or perhaps Sash could just boot him later that night. It worked out in his favor, but it very easily could have been Marty’s last move.
Marty isn’t the first fool to fumble with the idol. Erik on FANS VS. FAVORITES made a similarly stupid and fatal move, while J.T. did the same thing with Russell Hantz last year on HEROES VS. VILLAINS. Hey, it happens — it’s a tough game out there and it’s often difficult to see the forest for the trees. Seasoned players and strategic masterminds typically won’t fall for that garbage, of course, but Marty is neither of those things. He dodged a bullet at tribal council this time around, but his days are most assuredly numbered now that the idol is out of his hands.
Sash is the man who pulled the trigger on securing the idol, but big props go to Brenda for putting the plan together. I didn’t give her nearly enough credit when the season began, but Brenda is shaping up to be quite the player. Let’s see how the rest of the season shakes out before we start calling her the new Parvati, but for now, she’s playing the game quite well.
Sash’s Slip: Whether or not you believe in the Freudian slip, it’s hard not to wince when Sash makes a verbal blunder like the one he blurted out at tribal council. There’s a big difference between saying “when I stop trusting them” and saying “when they stop trusting me.” That kind of mixup is a huge deal for the gang out in Nicaragua. This is a man armed with an idol, he’s an intelligent player and he could pose a physical threat as well. If you’re on La Flor and your name isn’t Sash, you suddenly have a very easy name to write down at the next tribal council.
Make no mistake, Sash may not have meant to say what he said, but he definitely meant it nonetheless. As he’s admitted in confessionals, Sash is the kind of player that absolutely views the idol as his, not his alliance’s. He might use it for his alliance’s benefit, sure, but only if that’s the move that benefits him as well. Sash is a solid player that just so happened to have a bad slip of the tongue that Probst rightfully exploited. There are cases when such a slip could be fatal, but given the collective intelligence of the La Flor tribe — which, for the folks keeping track at home, is not particularly high — I don’t think his teammates are smart enough to vote him out.
Not yet, at least.
Jill Came Tumbling After: Call it; Doctor Jill’s torch died on the operating table after seven episodes in surgery. Nothing negative to say about her beyond her choice in allies, really; Jill was a strong player that just so happened to fall on the wrong side of the numbers. Although Marty will likely become a vengeful juror because he was tricked out of his idol, Jill had a better shot at endearing herself towards the members of Espada she’s yet to meet. At this stage of the game, letting her go was La Flor’s best move.
Next Time on SURVIVOR: The tribes are merging, and NaOnka is seeing red. No, that’s not just the color of the tribe’s new buff; she’s ready to start working overtime to tear everybody apart.
Josh is an entertainment reporter based out of New York City. He is commanded with ruthless efficiency by his office manager, Pardo the cat, and writes regularly for MTV News, Comic Book Resources, Spinoff Online and more. He’s a SURVIVOR fanatic and always shares the fish he catches, except for the first one. And the second one. And the third one. Okay, he doesn’t really share his fish with anybody. Follow him on Twitter: @roundhoward.