The cast of 'Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance' AP Images
Season 31 of the CBS reality show features returning castmembers who were chosen by viewers.
Parvati Shallow is a 'Survivor' champ and three-time competitor on the show. Find her on Twitter @parvatishallow.
A merge with 13 people makes for an exciting strategic episode of Survivor: Second Chance! We've never seen a merge with numbers this high in the history of the game. Our contestants now have to switch up their strategy and work with a new group of players yet again. This is Survivor on steroids, and these second-chancers are all having to beef up their gameplay to keep up.
With the merge comes individual immunity challenges — my favorite! Many of the players left in the game are either massive physical threats or brainiacs, so these individual challenges are going to be fun to watch. Of course, no one stands a chance with beautiful Joe still in the ranks. I'm not sure why more people haven't been targeting Joe. He's the only person in the game that could dominate every single challenge from this day forward. I wouldn't be surprised if Joe just takes the immunity necklace all the way to the final tribal council and wins the game on sheer physical prowess alone. Seriously, though, could he be more perfect?
Ok, enough gushing about Joe and his perfection, let’s get to strategizing! After Joe scoops up immunity, Kass fires out of the gates, making bold declarations of deceit. Until now, she was laying low, playing nice and making friendship bracelets. Now that we've merged, Kass is running her old "Chaos Kass" program. She tries making nice with Tasha and reads right through Tasha's lies. Seeing that Tasha is not interested in working with her, Kass realizes that she must do something to create a crack in the old Bayon alliance. So, in front of the whole tribe, Kass takes the opportunity to expose Tasha as a "liar." Kass tells everyone that Tasha sold out Bayon and said that Bayon is over. Tasha gets defensive and claims she never said that. Then, Ciera seizes the moment and adds a sprinkle of even more insanity to the mix. Ciera outs Savage for wanting to turn on Jeremy. Savage gets pissed. And it's all downhill for Ciera and Kass from here.
As a viewer, it appears to me that Kass' outburst causes her to paint a target on her own back that may have been avoided if she could have kept her mouth shut. I question her motives with the move. Did she not realize that the majority of these people want to play a slower, more old-school game? It looks like these people want to keep the peace, and Kass showing her deceptive side makes her look dangerous. She's a strategic threat, and she's a strong leader, and Jeremy and Savage can't have her causing trouble in their perfect setup.
So, Kass is target number one. Of course Savage feels hurt by Ciera and wants her out, but he's overruled and must go with the majority. Spencer and Joe are in the swing spots and now become serious power players. It makes sense for Joe to go with the alphas — Jeremy and Savage, but Spencer may be better off with Kass. After all, Savage did just try to blindside Spencer in the last episode.
Where's Wigglesworth? I think I saw her in this episode, but...yeah, she's still not talking.
Now all the lines in the sand are scribbled up, and even Spencer's sand diagram doesn't help me understand who stands with whom. Maybe tribal council will give us more clarity.
Thirteen people sit down on their individual stumps, making this the largest tribal council ever. And Jeff Probst handles it all seamlessly. The women who are being targeted for this vote are sitting front and center — Ciera, Kass and Tasha. Kass tries to stir up some chaos, again aiming at Tasha. Tasha throws it right back, refusing to take any of it. And then Ciera gets into the game, telling people to "just play!" It's pretty wild to watch. As I'm taking it all in, I'm thinking Ciera is encouraging people to vote her out. It looks like her campaign may sway Savage to write her name down, and if this happens, then Ciera will have effectively voted herself out of the game. You have to know when to speak up and when to back off, and it looks to me like Ciera desperation to play with more intensity may backfire on her.
But, I’m wrong. Savage votes for Kass, and Chaos Kass' second chance comes to an end. She sounds sad as she says goodbye, and I am surprised that I feel a little sad to be losing her. She was really fun to watch this time, and the game will feel her loss.
Until next week, my friends! If you still haven't gotten your Survivor fix, check out my video recaps here.
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