Review: Survivor, "Double the Fun, Double the Demise" | Season 50, Episode 8
Are any of these players old enough to make Doublemint gum jokes?
I was confused last week when there was talk of a “middle group” existing between two solid alliances, and that confusion extends to the beginning of this week’s episode. I understand that there is an “honor” alliance led by Coach, which also includes Stephenie, Jonathan, Joe, and Chrissy—they think that Ozzy and Cirie are with them, but let’s set them aside for a moment. And early here, they officially define who they see as the “middle”: Rick, Christian, and Emily.
But I don’t understand how the remaining group constitutes an alliance. Dee and Tiffany were definitely paired, but was Aubry reasonably with them? And although we know Rizo has made an alliance with Ozzy and Cirie, no one else seems to know about that, right? It’s created a complicated scenario where the truth is that there’s no “solid” second group to speak of, and where Cirie and Ozzy are the actual fulcrum given their success at playing all sides. The Honor Five think they have a majority, but they might not, and that’s true even before Survivor chooses a twist that brings these allegiances into stark relief.
And look, I don’t associate myself with Probst’s characterization of the people who voted for twists, but I’ve never been against experimentation. We want Survivor to surprise us, but we also don’t want the game to break in the process. I like the idea of twists in the abstract better than I like what this means to Probst and the show’s producers in practice, but ultimately I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to something new. I’m writing this as I watch the episode, and I want to capture the liminality of this moment: I don’t know how I will feel about the Duos twist when the dust settles.
