Review: Survivor, “If You’re Loyal to All, You’re Loyal to None” | Season 49, Episode 9

Let’s talk episode titles, shall we? When it comes to naming an installment of Survivor these days, production typically opts for a catchy phrase spoken in dialogue or a confessional, often but not always thematically relevant. It’s often kind of random: “Lovable Losers” was Alex’s phrase to describe the Kele tribe at their nadir; “Go Kick Rocks, Bro” came from Nate’s words while voting out Matt; “Hot Grim Reaper” was how Savannah referred to herself last week when joining the vulnerable tribe after winning immunity. Usually, you can’t read too much into a name.

This week’s episode title, though, gives a serious clue into how the 90 minutes will conclude. If you happened to see it before tuning in, your ears probably perked up when Rizo said the titular sentence in confessional, referring to Alex’s playing-the-middle strategy. As soon as I heard that, it seemed obvious that this would be the main focus of the episode: Rizo’s orchestration of Alex’s downfall. No need to worry about Rizo or Savannah or Sophi or even Rizo’s idol; they’d be safe another few days, no problem, once Rizo had the time to throw Alex under the bus.

I applaud him for pulling it off, to be sure. Alex’s elimination is a satisfying end result in that he has barely been a character on this show since the early Kele days—and, you know, because he’s an uninteresting-at-best screen personality. It’s never bad to lose someone whose presence is extraneous, to leave us with a better-on-average cast of main characters. It also remains fun-ish to watch Rizo cook up schemes to keep himself and Savannah out of the limelight, if only because this season is low on strategic gameplay otherwise.