SURVIVOR INSIGHTS 334: Season 45 | Episodes 3-4 Lesson of The Story

Episode 3 Review: This season gets more predictable. Nothing surprises me big time until the last seconds. This third episode started okay. Lulu (Yellow) finally won the Reward Challenge with a basket full of fruits.

Thanks to Kaleb for being the MVP! Somehow, this was still a forgettable moment until Jeff Probst asked the tribe who they were sending to raid another camp.

Lulu sent Kaleb. This was expected again, but the biggest catch was, he needed to reward an advantage to someone. Kaleb went to Reba (Red) to get the fishing gear. With his great smile and persuasive communication skills, Kaleb connected with the entire tribe like brothers and sisters. Surprisingly, he gave the advantage to Drew.

Reba got stronger with this advantage. With the core alliances of Dee, Julie, Drew and Austin, they also found another hidden immunity idol that Austin could not find in the last episode.

While Reba celebrated power of an idol and two advantages, Lulu suffered another defeat in Immunity Challenge. Sabiyah, who had no votes since, broke her loyalty to Kaleb and made another social pact. Emily felt guilty about the offer and turned it down by confessing to Kaleb about the plan.

True to her word, Emily voted against Sabiyah during the Tribal Council. Kaleb followed her suggestion while Sean sided with Sabiyah to blindside Kaleb.

The one thing left was Sabiyah. She was with an immunity idol, but decided not to use it during the voting. Early-favorite Kaleb was safe by a thread for Sabiyah’s wrong decision. Sabiyah blinded herself. 5 stars of 5 | STUPENDOUS

Lesson Learned: “Survivor is a game with a lot of twists, swaps, advantages so having the strongest core is a great thing because anything can change tomorrow.” – KALEB

Episode 4 Review: The thrill continues to build up coming into this fourth episode. It started with a swap. Lulu (Yellow), Reba (Red) and Belo (Blue) were rebooted into three tribes of five. The last three surviving members of Lulu went separately from each other.

Emily went to the new Belo, Sean moved on with original Reba members and Kaleb stayed with Lulu with Bruce, Katurah, Jake and Kellie.

Alliances were formed here and there. Jake reached out to Kaleb for an alliance while Katurah became Kaleb’s new Sabiyah all of a sudden. Everybody loved Kaleb.

In Reba, Austin and Drew made a connection with Emily for being the sole member of Lulu who can be trusted. Sean easily made friends with Reba.

But it was not long. Lulu aced the Immunity Challenge for the first time. Thanks to Kaleb’s sharp free throws. Austin won a showdown against Sifu. Therefore, Belo won immunity. Reba would go to the Tribal Council.

This was the most unpredictable Tribal Council yet. Dee, J-Maya and Julie made an original plan to vote out one of their own to save Sean. It turned out Sean decided to quit before the voting.

Dee voted against Sifu but J-Maya and Julie changed gears and went against Sean instead. Sean went home by 3-1-1 votes. 5 stars of 5 | STUPENDOUS

Lesson Learned: “Trust is a tricky thing.” – SEAN

More Lessons: Episode 1 | Episode 2

Photo Courtesy of: CBS

SURVIVOR INSIGHTS 333: Season 45 | Episode 2 Lesson of The Story

Episode 2 Review: First off, I am having goosebumps as I am watching the intro. It finally returns after many seasons of its absence, but flow of the story went from an ordinary camp life to a stretch with a predictable ending.

It began with Emily as the Number 1 Public Enemy on Lulu (Yellow). Emily realized she was playing too much. Instead of making connections, she seemed to play like she is still analyzing the stock market.

In Reba (Red), Dee was having a laughing moment with her tribe by having a longer big toe. She connected well with them. In Belo (Blue), alliances were formed. There was a brotherly alliance between Bruce, Brando, Jake with Kellie on the side.

Before the Immunity-Reward Challenge, one survivor in each tribe embarked on a journey for a chance to win an advantage. Brandon and Drew took risks and played the Matching Challenge. Drew won Safety Without Power in which he could use it to exempt himself from being voted-out.

Drew shared this information with his tribe. Austin also shared his advantage with him in exchange. They were like the JT and Stephen of the new era.

Honesty was too valued in Reba and was their secret sweet weapon to finishing first again in Immunity Challenge. Brandon and Sabiyah attempted to complete the tree puzzle for Lulu but lost again.

Back to Tribal Council where Jeff Probst was waiting. Three survivors were allowed only to vote – Kaleb, Sean and Emily. Two votes were casted for Brandon for being the weakling. It was enough. Brandon exited the game, which means I am down to three early favorites. 3 stars of 5 | SO-SO

Lesson Learned: “It is hard for a tiger to change its stripes in some sense.” – EMILY

More Lessons: Episode 1

Photo Courtesy of: CBS