Review: Survivor, "Everyone Will Be Shooketh!" | Season 50, Episode 11

When the Manulevu tribe wakes up after the chaos of last week, Rick is obviously floating on air: not only did he increase the final prize to $2 million and earn himself safety at last week’s tribal, but he also won an immunity idol. Sure, he learns that it’s only good until the Final 7, but that doesn’t change his mood. He gets to play in a way that’s fun, and it works out for him strategically? That’s everything Rick has ever wanted.

Joe, meanwhile, is down in the dumps. His nemesis in the game had a big win, and he was forced to vote out his own ally. Rick represents everything he despises about Survivor, and somehow playing and watching his own season did nothing to abuse him of the notion that “lying” has no place in the game. He calls Rick both “inappropriate” and “disgusting” the morning after the big win, and while he’s self-aware to know he should be excited, he can’t help it. He just hates Rick so, so much.

What struck me in these early scenes was how over-produced Rick’s segment was. The camera finds Rick lying on the beach when he suddenly opens his eyes and leaps to his feet, bounding down the trains and kicking his heels. We then see him frolicking on the beach, flinging water in the air at the water hole, and just generally celebrating his triumph. It’s one of the most clearly “acted” moments I can remember seeing on Survivor, but it makes sense. Rick’s whole appeal is his ability to play into the game, as his broadcast skills translate well to the needs of the cameras in front of them.

It was such a stark contrast with Joe, though, who was in no way playing a part when he went on his Rick Devens Hate Tour. He’s never doing something for show. He has no instincts for playing the game of Survivor on any level: not as strategy, and not as entertainment. He’s just there to sit on his moral high horse. It’s truly unpleasant to watch, and I’m tired of dealing with his presence.

Unfortunately for me, Survivor wanted to make sure that this vote was designed to keep a player like Joe in the game. Don’t get me wrong: if the tribes had simply gone to a tribal of nine, there would have been an appetite for a big move, from Tiff, Jonathan, or anyone else. The idol that everyone knows Ozzy has is creating too much heat. But in a group of nine, there was so much room for that plan to fizzle under the logic of “could we wait another week?” Just look at how Joe questions the decision of whether this is the right time to play a move after a twist that is basically a giant neon sign informing them that this is the time to make a move. And no one, other than perhaps Joe, would ever look at that sign and say you should vote out someone who everyone is kind of tired of dealing with but poses no direct threat.