Survivor 44 Recap: Rice to Know Ya — Jeff Offers a Deal the Tribe Can’t Refuse
A “scout’s honor” in the game of Survivor means absolutely nothing, especially if the person making it (Danny) isn’t even a scout to begin with! And while Kane was smart enough to realize that the promise made to him was a smoke screen, his savvy street smarts just weren’t enough to save his life in the game.
On Wednesday’s episode, Jeff gives the Va Va tribe a chance to negotiate for some much needed rice. The deal: If four people agree to sit out of the immunity challenge, they’ll win a big ol’ vat of carbs for the entire group. At first, no one wants to step up. A shot at immunity is a big deal, so it was a decision that no one takes lightly. However, after seeing what the challenge was — balancing one foot on a tiny perch while balancing a ball on an overhanging piece of wood — Carson, Kane, Heidi and Lauren agree to be the sit-outs, as Danny and others promise they won’t vote for someone who agrees to make that sacrifice. But just like in the Big Brother house, checks can be bounced in the game of Survivor, and Danny ultimately goes back on his “scout’s honor” (LOL) and kicks Kane to the curb. (Frannie defeats Danny in the challenge, by the way, in another epic showdown. She’s unpredictably become quite the challenge beast!)
Let’s review some other highlights of the week, shall we?
TIKA IN THE MIDDLE | Tika is still doing a fab job at playing the middle, but (and it’s a big “but”) Frannie and others are on to their play. Fran suggests to Danny that they team up with Ratu to nip Yam Yam this time around, but it falls on deaf ears. Quite honestly, it does seem a little preemptive, but it goes to show that Tika clearly isn’t hiding in plain sight like they think they are.
Speaking of Tika, Carolyn opens up about being 13 years sober and her struggle with addiction. She lets the tribe (and us) in on how much she enjoys her life and sobriety, and being someone who lost a close family member to addiction, I loved hearing how she turned her life around. I hope she inspires someone out there who may be struggling now, so kudos to producers for letting her share her story. As for her continued gameplay, extra brownie points for still keeping her idol a secret — it’s something not many “new era” players have pulled off, and hopefully it gets her out of a Yam jam somewhere down the road.
THE WAR RAGES ON | Ratu may have suffered a direct hit last week with the Brandon vote, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given up just yet. With Frannie immune, the Ratus set their sights on Danny for possible elimination, but the real question comes down to who has what idol or advantage, and where the Tika votes will fall. Despite the fact that there are three members left from all three of the former tribes, eyes are still on Soka and Ratu… but who’s going to win the next battle?
Ahead of the vote, Ratu makes a backup plan to counter a possible Knowledge Is Power advantage. Lauren gives her extra vote to Jaime, while Jaime gives her (fake) idol to Kane. But there is no Knowledge Is Power this time around, so joke’s on them! (OK, fine. It was smart of them to think ahead.)
THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN | Probst calls Danny out on his scout’s honor, to which he responds: “Yeah, I’m not a scout, Jeff.” Hey, at least he’s owning the lie! But Kane doesn’t seem remorseful of his decision. He saw the challenge ahead of him and didn’t think it was going to happen for him. The tribe talks about the multitude of different plans in play and how no one really knows what’s going to happen until Jeff reads the votes. It seems like it’s pure chaos, which is only confirmed moments later when a series of whispering and side convos breaks out among them. (I’ve already made it known how I feel about that — and 75 percent of TVLine poll respondents agreed that whispering should be banned already.)
Jeff calls for advantages and no one utters a peep. (Jaime does use Lauren’s extra vote on Heidi, however.) When all is said and done, Ratu takes another hit and Kane (plus Jamie’s fake idol) is sent walking down that dusty trail. (Read our Q&A with Kane here.)
Did Kane ever stand a chance? Should he have competed in the challenge after all? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
Next week should be fun! And yeah….NO MORE WHISPERING IN TRIBAL! Who thinks Danny or the new challenge beast Frannie will be on the chopping block? I thought for sure Carolyn was going since they showed her story. Will Ponderosa tell Kane that Jaime’s idol was fake? Are the only 2 idols with Carolyn and Heidi?
Ugh. Another recycled challenge. Can we get a new location already so we can get new challenges that are exciting to watch?
The new location is probably never going to happen
BTW, I’d be shocked if Caroyln doesn’t win based on the winner’s cut she got in tonite’s epsiode, .
Jaime did a move? Did Jaime just traded her fake idol for an extra vote? Oh my, if Jaime can used the extra vote and if she used it right. Meaning get someone out with it by one vote
She becthe front runner for an change.
She used the extra vote at tribal. She voted for Heidi twice.
Thank you, Will. I didn’t see the last paragraph somehow. Make sense though . I shocked she played it at all. But hay at lest she won the trade. Fake idol for a real extra vote. Even if she didn’t change the outcome with it. So at lest she on the board.
Danny gets called out for ‘no scout’s honour’, yet 7 of the 9 players all voted for someone who sat out to secure rice for the tribe! Smartly, no one wrote down Yam Yam’s name, because that’s the quickest way to voted out next week:)