First a few notes from my episode 1 rewatch. In the Alex vs Rizo challenge, Alex’s obvious mistake was not destroying his puzzle so Rizo couldn’t look at it for tips. But he made another mistake. When he started digging on his knees, he pulled handfuls of sand towards his legs instead of tossing sand further away from his hole. A lot of sand simply fell back into his hole, making his job harder. That might be why he was too tired to dig deep enough to get his ship’s wheel.

On the Kele tribe, while Alex was doing his inefficient digging, Sophi B. asked Jake to be her #1, and Jake responded with “Me and Alex, we have a bromance going on already, and we haven’t even talked.” That was equal to Jake saying, “Sorry, I already have a #1 that you can’t replace. Go find your own #1.” That’s exactly what Sophi B. did when she pitched Jeremiah. Jake created a reason for Sophi B. to eventually split up Jake and Alex.

In the Reward Challenge, the Uli tribe took a lead in the boat portion. Savannah held on to the boat while pulling on the rope attached to the side. That was very smart of her. Neither one of the other tribes figured that out. Uli had a nice lead at that point. During Jawan’s confessional in which he discussed who he wanted as a 4th in his alliance. We saw this exchange with Jawan and Sage: Jawan: “Do you play video games?” Sage: “I like____.” I listened to it over and over and couldn’t tell if she said “Robots” or “Road Blocks.” Either way, Sage is just plain out there in the most entertaining way. Last week, we saw vomit, one player spitting in another’s face and the best reference to poop since Tarzan in S24 One World. What bodily functions are in store for us tonight?

And away we go ...

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Wait, we go straight to Day 4? No return from Tribal Council? I want to know how they placated Annie? Did anyone call Jeremiah out for putting his foot in his mouth and exposing the alliance of four?

Jeremiah found some worms. For a second there, I thought he found an Idol or a Beware Advantage.

Annie: “I don’t care if we go to Tribal Council again. Let’s ship another person out and get this game moving along.” She’s gonna regret those words.

Annie: “I’m the puppetmaster.” See previous sentence.

What’s with the Pirate ship? Is Cochran making another guest appearance like he did in S34: Game Changers? Oh, wait it’s this season’s opening sequence. Nevermind.

Savannah catches a crab and Shannon (aka Flower Child) wants to hold a ceremony to respect it. How funny would it be if that crab escaped during her prayer? This reminded me of when a similar Flower Child (Courtney Marit in S12: Panama - Exile Island) insisted on holding a funeral for a dead turtle instead of building a shelter.

Nate is doing a good job of making his tribemates believe he’s speaking the same language they are. Like I always say, if you’re on a tribe full of nutjobs, you’d better learn to speak nutjob. If you expect them to speak your language, they’ll be writing your name down soon.

And Nate’s efforts pay off with an alliance with Rizo, Savannah and Flower Child.

I knew it! Savannah is giving Rick Devens-style Action News confessionals. But notice the scars on her face that she had when he caught the crab have healed. This confessional was recorded long after Day 4.

I didn’t figure Kristina would be embraced into an alliance, and Matt wants to include MC, but Matt keeps calling her “our fourth.” Bad move, and MC knows it.

So MC blows up the alliance and exposes it to Sophie S. MC’s role on this tribe is the same as Sophi B.’s on Kele. She’s right in the middle and connecting with those on the outside.

What? No Kenny Loggins music to accompany the bromance segment this time?

Annie is getting bossy, and Jeremiah is “yes”-ing her to death. All this talk of Annie digging her own grave is threatening to make this episode anti-climactic. After Jeremiah’s Tribal Council word vomiting, how can she NOT know she’s on the bottom?

Jake: “I’m always one step ahead of Annie.” Uhh, no. Sophie B. was one step ahead of Annie. You were one step behind until Sophi B. clued you in.

Jake’s master plan to get revenge on Annie is to hide her shoe? Yeah, that’ll teach her. Jake isn’t much better at this game than Annie is.

Sage’s eccentricities remind me of Kendra from S45. The things she says are so random and make little sense but are always entertaining.

How did Savannah get so many cuts on her face? Is she emulating Jeanine from S43? Her face looked like a checkerboard at one point?

Jawan took Savannah’s bag by mistake while out Idol hunting? He’s not very good at this game either.

Get on the boat, lose your vote. Only Matt, MC, Jake and Jawan want to go. Some people are slow learners. These guys are no-learners.

Hmm, Savannah’s forehead is covered by a bandana in this confessional. Are they trying to hide the scar over her eye?

Oh, so the Journey challenge losers aren’t forced to lose their vote this time? Is Probst actually listening to the audience for a change?

This three-person challenge sucks. Jake’s net is in the middle, and his net is closest to the pile of coconuts. It’s instantly easier to shoot at his net. Also, he has slightly further to run to shoot at Matt or Jawan’s net. Why not three separate piles? Jake is at a huge disadvantage.

Jawan gets the choice of stealing either Matt or Jake’s vote or handicapping an entire tribe at the next Immunity Challenge. How are either of these an Advantage for Jawan? Either he pisses off one player, or he pisses off an entire tribe. I don’t see how he could lie about this either way, too.

Matt and Jake have to deal with the scrutiny from their tribe. Will they believe their votes weren’t put at risk? But winner Jawan is screwed. If he gives a disadvantage to another tribe, he could be losing five or six potential post-merge allies.

Jawan takes the Tribe Advantage, and thinks he earned some favor, which is what Savannah says in confessional, but I still see the bigger blowback coming his way. Maybe Sage gets voted out before he does? But I still see Jawan making enemies.

Sophie B. is doing a good job of placating Annie, but why is Sophi B. still calling Jake “My #1?” when he already told her he wants Alex as his #1?

In pregame press, Alex swore he wouldn’t tell anyone if he found an Idol or Beware Advantage. It took him two seconds to tell Jake he’d found one.

Don’t open it unless you want to lose your vote. I don’t care that the Journey had different rules this time.

The Immunity Challenge disadvantage (carrying a bag of coconuts) is devastating. Having all the extra keys makes it worse. Now everybody on Hina is gonna hate Jawan. It would have been better for Jawan if he didn’t know what the penalty was before he assigned it. Like I said, “Don’t get on the boat.”

Sophie S.: “I think it’s more a ‘Let’s take a shot at Hina’.” Yeah, they’re not gonna want to work with Jawan if he makes it to a swap or merge.

Hina probably regrets doing all that chanting now that they’ve got the disadvantage.

Sage sits out for Uli? Someone might have to carry Savannah across that wide bridge. The smaller players (Sophi B.) are gonna need help because their legs aren’t long enough.

Alex and Sophi B. take the spotlight role on the puzzle. Alex killed it on the puzzle against Rizo. He should have an edge here, especially with such a big lead.

The first thing Savannah said to Nate as they started on the puzzle was “Get your glasses.”

Annie keeps yelling for Alex and Sophi B. to move a piece that doesn’t move. Yeah, Annie’s a goner.

Jason is emerging as this season’s puzzle master. This one was a blowout for Hina, even with the disadvantage.

Sophi B.’s legs are more cut up in confessional than they are in the Immunity Challenge. I wonder how much later in the game she recorded this confessional?

Yeah, Annie is a goner. I thought she’d leave 1st from her tribe. I was close. Alex: “Annie is throwing out Sophi’s name after going after Jake.” Annie did it to herself.

The first Idol is NOT worth the effort to find it. Sophi B. finds the box and makes the right call and doesn’t tell Alex and Jake. She’s correctly playing for herself as much as she can.

Alex gets an Idol that everyone knows about, and it wasn’t worth the effort required to find it. Everyone knows he’s closest to Jake. He’s very unlikely to use it for anyone else. If I’m Sophi B. and Jeremiah, I might try to blindside Alex tonight. Why would he use his Idol tonight? Remember what this Idol looks like in case it returns later.

It's weird. Sophi B. thinks Jake is closer to Alex, and Alex thinks Jake is closer to Sophi B. Does this mean Jake is the best social player on this tribe?

Alex makes it worse for himself by telling Annie about his Idol. Now if she sticks around, she might ask him to use it for her.

I’d hate to see Sophi B. leave, especially as badly as Annie has been playing, but it could be a smart move for Alex if he can placate Jake.

Annie isn’t speaking much at all so far. That makes me think Sophi B. is a goner now.

If Sophi B. is leaving, it might mean Alex has to play his Idol for Annie. She might still be getting three votes.

The chanting music playing while Annie goes up to vote is almost a direct copy of a Santana song (“Jingo”). My band played that song a lot.

Alex holds on to his Idol, which probably means Annie is gone.

Jeremiah has no poker face. He was smiling when the second vote for Annie came up.

Bye Annie. I’m glad I resisted the temptation to quote Michael Jackson and say “Annie, are you ok?” I knew she wouldn’t be.

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Recap

As Annie left, Alex told her “I had no choice.” He was probably right. If he blindsides Sophi B., he alienates everyone else on his tribe and probably has to hope for a swap. This way, he still has everyone’s trust.

Yeah, this episode was pretty predictable. As soon as Annie said she didn’t care if she went to Tribal Council again, I knew she was a goner.

Annie made a partnership with Alex on day 1, but we didn’t see her trying to get a majority. Recruiting Jeremiah was an afterthought to her. Annie was pretty bad at this game.

What do you think? Did Sophi B. have any realistic shot at getting that Idol for herself? Could it have worked for Alex if he removed Sophi B.? Is Jake actually his tribe’s best player? Did MC make the right move in exposing the alliance to Sophie S? What is Sophie S.’s best move now? Who is playing well, and who has already set up their demise? Let me know in the comments.