Warning: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 2 OF SURVIVOR 44.
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Welcome to Survivor Vibe Check! Each Thursday this season, Blake Schuster and Bryan Kalbrosky will chat about last night’s episode to see who is thriving and who is straight up not having a good time on the islands of Fiji. Season 44 got off to an absolutely chaotic start. In Episode 2 the game seemed to slow down a bit as players settled into their strategies. Let’s dig into it.
Blake: Before we get into the episode, you went to Claire’s watch party in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Set the scene for us.
Bryan: Claire was a delightful host. She was in a particularly great mood the entire night. Earlier in the day, she had just gotten verified on Instagram (huge win, Claire!) and she got a new tattoo that may or may not allude to the title of the next episode of S44. She laid two ground rules for the night: No phones and cheer whenever she is on the screen. She clearly has the best facial expressions of anyone on the season, so we got a lot of wonderful reaction shots to hoot and holler about. It’s iconic that she has simply not participated in these tribal challenges so far because that’s truly what I would do, too.
Bench queen X Godfather pic.twitter.com/z0yvyoqtnq
— Jason Cheal (@KeyAndCheal) March 9, 2023
One takeaway: Josh (who should be shown on screen more often!) may or may not have initially lied about his profession to his tribe. But as he finished the challenge during this episode, it was clear that he moved his fingers with the surgical precision of his actual profession: a surgeon.
Blake: I would expect absolutely nothing less from Claire. I get the sense that she might be hiding her strength in these early challenges by sitting out, but it’s certainly a huge risk if she’s forced to go to tribal council. So far it’s paid off. Claire has spent the first five days sizing up everyone on her tribe without coming off as a threat.
Bryan: Speaking of which, we got an answer to one of my burning questions from last week: How long can Helen go without revealing that she’s actually wicked smart? It turns out: Not very long! It was a bummer to see her eliminated so early, but like you said, it’s not a bad idea to hide whatever your strengths may be or you could end up in a similar fate.
Blake: Meanwhile, the other big thinker on the Tika tribe, Carson, has put himself in the center of things by aligning with both factions. I can totally see why having Carolyn and Yam Yam in his pocket is a good thing in this moment, but he’s playing with fire there (pun intended) if they ever find out his scheme. The vibe I get from Carson is a much more socially aware version of the game Spencer tried to play in Cagayan.
Side note: Hey Carson, do us all a favor and make those 3D Printed Survivor puzzles free to download online please!
Bryan: I really didn’t like the gameplay I saw from Carson in this episode. I think it’s setting himself up for disaster a bit too early in the season on such a small tribe. He was going to come out looking like a liar no matter who he voted for and that’s not great. I think he’s getting a lot of comparisons to Christian from David vs. Goliath, but he definitely reads more like Spencer to me as well.
The 3D Printed Survivor Puzzles would be fun to have around the house, that’s for sure. That being said, Matthew taking his sling off so he could do the challenge he built at his home was a … choice.
Blake: Matthew just cannot contain himself whether it’s needlessly climbing rocks or revealing way too much about his background. I love his excitement, but my guy, save that for the confessionals when no one can hear you!
Bryan: I think Carolyn was the most fascinating player of the episode, and I’m glad that unlike Brandon, she was able to keep her immunity idol a secret — even if it was challenging.
Blake: Do her and Yam Yam secretly control the game on Tika? That look they gave each other as they left tribal was very telling.
Bryan: They certainly have the majority after that latest vote, so if Carson keeps riding their coattails, they’ve got the power.
Who's absolutely thriving?
- Not only did Danny find the key to the birdcage at the Soka camp, he successfully claimed the idol (and fake idol) without anyone noticing. He gets bonus points for being the only castaway so far to do so (sorry, Carolyn and Brandon)
- The adorkable duo of Frannie and Matt are having an absolute blast — and are a joy to watch — even as they and their tribe-mates understand their flirting could come back to haunt them.
- The Ratu tribe had an incredible comeback to win the immunity/reward challenge, which is even more important as they get their flint back. That should help tamp down the paranoia around camp for at least two days.
Who's straight up not having a good time?
- Aw, Helen. We hardy knew ya, but it’s easy to think under different circumstances you could’ve run this game.
- Kane had to do some big time scrambling following the first tribal council once Brandon knew he placed a (nullified) vote against him. Fortunes change fast in this game, so at least there’s that.
- Carolyn got the idol out of the birdcage and avoided getting bit by a snake! But she also made it a little too obvious that someone found the key and that could easily put a target on her back.
