Blindsides have become exciting and essential aspects of Survivor, but is it really a blindside when it is early on and a contestant has a major deficiency at challenges and is not regarded well at camp?
In the first week, Reem Daly was booted out because she was perceived to be only so-so at challenges and was seen as a nag around camp.
Last week, Keith Sowell seemed to be the obvious choice for eviction before he tried to stir the pot at Manu. The reason for this option is obvious — the man can’t swim!
It held his team back and his skill at challenges, in general, is relatively unproven a couple of days into the competition.
However, as we learned last week, contestants who were voted out have another chance to get back into the game by surviving under very different circumstances. They are sent to an isolated place with no food, no shelter or comforts, and no real company.
It seems like this season took a page from National Geographic’s hit series Alone for this unexpected wrinkle in the game. While Reem is struggling to adapt to her new situation, Keith was inadvertently making powerful enemies and he got the boot.
The funny thing is that he was surprised by this.
Why? He hadn’t forged super strong alliances and he whined a lot around camp. I would have voted him out too, just to get some peace. However, the thought of having a contestant on Survivor not be able to swim at all is a stretch.
https://twitter.com/survivorcbs/status/1101210428397445120
Swimming isn’t everyone’s strong suit, but they usually don’t almost drown the moment they get kicked off the boat.
Like Reem, he has another chance to get back into the game. Perhaps we’ll see if he has the stones to play on at least a little longer.
Maybe this week we will actually see what the contestants need to do to survive the Edge of Extinction?
Meanwhile, some of the returning players are still targeted by the newbies. Kelley Wentwork has a huge target on her back while the other three returning players seem to be integrating into the tribes a bit better.
Joe Anglim is a huge threat. He is a beast with champions and even worse, everyone likes him.
Let’s see what happens tonight.
Survivor: Edge of Reason airs on Wednesdays on CBS at 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT