Review: Survivor, “Go Kick Rocks, Bro” | Season 49, Episode 4

There’s no real surprise that “Go Kick Rocks, Bro” is the best episode of Season 49 so far; in fact, if it wasn’t a step up from the slight drudgery of the last few weeks, I’d have serious concerns about this season’s potential. In seasons with predictable or boring pre-merges, switching up the tribes can bring a necessary shot of energy and conflict. That’s certainly the case here, even if my same general concerns about the cast remain.

Last week, I talked about the same-y feeling of the two dominant tribes, neither of which had to make tough decisions or vote anyone out in their first week on the island. There’s a lot of symmetry between the two new tribes, too, in the matching 4-2-1 splits: New Kele has four old Hinas, two Ulis, and one old Kele, while new Hina has four old Ulis, two old Hinas, and one old Kele.

Unlike last week, though, this equal playing ground puts the two warring factions in an interesting place. Depending on the level of strategy in this cast, some alliances might be incentivized to purposely tank a challenge to pick off an easy number. (For example, Steven, Kristina, MC, and Sophie could throw a challenge next week to take out Sage or Shannon and even the numbers. If they win again, they’re likely to lose Jason, another one of their own.) Of course, for now, almost everyone here is pretty happy to start a new family on their new tribes. But those tensions between old and new are already starting to bear fruit, which bodes well for the next couple weeks even if the potential outcomes are somewhat limited.