Episode 5 Review: This season is getting better. This is an inspiring, eventful and unforgettable episode, a way better one than last week.
First, Yanu redeemed themselves. The purple tribe won the Immunity Challenge for the first time. Q brought his tribe to victory. He was going head-to-head against Tim on Siga.
Both men were attempting to hit the last target with a sandbag. Q found the right timing, and it connected.
Second, Nami continued to dominate. The winning streak of the orange tribe never ended even with Randen’s medevac and only Tevin, Venus and Hunter played the Immunity Challenge.
Hunter received longer airtime as he went to The Journey and chose to play the challenge. This was the most amazing Journey Challenge of the new era.
However, Hunter failed to arrange the 20 Survivor Logos in correct order. Going home with nothing, Hunter could still be lucky for securing a new layer of shield with Tim and Q when merge comes.
Back at camp, there was a pressure boiling between Hunter and Venus as Hunter understood he was a big threat coming to the merge. He found a clue to the idol but there was no key yet to open the box.
Third, Siga went to Tribal Council for the first time. There were six of them talking to Jeff Probst and it sounded like the plan was to get rid of Ben, the most charismatic member of the tribe.
It turned out the narration went the other way due to Tim’s suspicion of Jem’s lying to him.
This made a fracture to the tribe; therefore, instead of gunning for Ben, the votes went blindsiding my early-favorite Jem who went home with an idol inside her pocket. 5 stars of 5, STUPENDOUS.
Lesson Learned: “Anytime you suffer is another opportunity to learn the depths of your mind.” – BEN
Episode 4 Review: This is a fun-filled episode packed with Bhanu’s emotional outbursts and with a predictable straight-forward ending.
First, the Reward Challenge was separated from Immunity Challenge. I miss a format like this in more than an hour-long show. Watching it felt like the show was coming home to its roots.
Second was Hunter. This dude could ace any physical challenge thrown at him. When Hunter plays, it means Nami would win. No further questions asked.
In camp life, however, I could not help but wonder why Hunter was edited as the quiet one. He rarely talks.
In Siga (Green Tribe), an early favorite of mine Jem was a stand-out. She was playing the social part of the game with a level of enthusiasm that was rarely found on others.
Maria was likeable but was too hard for herself, which was understandable.
I saw her pre-season interview and I observed how competitive she was outside the game.
This was also the first time I got to see how competitive Tim was. During the Immunity Challenge, he was the one who brought his tribe to victory.
Yanu (Purple Tribe) once again stole the rest of the show by being the loser. Q did everything he could to shoot those balls on floating basketball hoops. Still, it was not enough.
When Jeff Probst met the remaining Yanu at the Tribal Council, he correctly assumed Q, Tiffay and Kenzie were targeting Bhanu.
After an emotional sharing of his personal life, Bhanu was automatically eliminated due to his inability to vote nor play his Shot In The Dark. 3 stars of 5, SO-SO.
Lesson Learned: “In Survivor, your job is to play as hard as you can, but it’s okay to have fun while doing it.” – JEM
Episode 3 Review: This predictable episode makes a detour that can either be good or bad for one tribe.
Bhanu was too emotional. He had no alliance, and he had no strategy to fight for another day. He was only waiting for Q, Tiffany and Kenzie to vote him out.
On Nami, Hunter led his team to another victory not only in Reward-Immunity Challenge but also in camp life. He emerged as the provider of the tribe.
The one problem was Randen. When everything fell on the right places for Nami, Randen experienced a life-threatening situation that made his one side of the body numb.
For this, after an exciting water challenge in which Hunter led his team to victory followed by Siga (Green Tribe), Yanu (Purple tribe) lost again, but was declared safe from Tribal Council after Jeff Probst decided to remove Randen from the game – which means I am down to 3 of 4 Early Favorites.
Bhanu felt emotional about hearing the news. He stayed even after his lost during The Journey with Liz and Ben. The question was, for how long? 3 stars of 5 So-So.
Lessons Learned: “This is a game of emotions.” – BEN
This is not a review. It is more like a moment of reflection of the things I have learned after binge-watching the American edition of The Traitors (Season 2).
The Show
Peter Weber was one of the 22 contestants who participated in The Traitors, which is an elevated reality-competition show that is similar to Big Brother.
The only difference was Peter and his co-stars would not stay inside a house. They stayed inside a castle for which the goal was to guess who Alan Cumming’s Traitors were among the Faithfuls.
Peter was formerly The Bachelor coming into this show. He was popular and exceedingly strategic to the surprise of the many.
Peter began the show by creating an alliance with Kevin. They planned to stir a staged chaos during the Round Table.
Their aim was to observe who were potentially the Traitors.
This drama only caused a little stir as the group failed to guess the Traitor four consecutive times since the first night of the Round Table.
When Dan was almost banished in Episode 5, Peter realized he was an inch closer to banishing a real Traitor.
Due to his superb analytical skills, he suspected Dan and Parvati all along.
However, in order to make his goal happen, he needed more numbers and formed his Peter Pals with Kevin, Bergie, John and Trishelle.
These five swore with each other that they would stay faithful until they caught the real Traitor was.
Peter emerged as the ringleader of the Peter Pals.
During the group challenge the next day, Bergie and Trishelle won The Shield to protect themselves from being murdered by the Traitors.
Peter came up with a strategy not to reveal the Shield Winners to anyone. His plan was to confess to Dan and Parvati that he was the one who won The Shield.
Peter’s intention was to make these “suspected” Traitors murder Bergie that night.
The experimental drama worked successfully!
Dan was out of his control during his Turret meet with Parvati and Phaedra. These Traitors signed, sealed and delivered the parchment to formally murder Bergie.
However, the next morning at the Breakfast, Bergie made a surprising return that shocked the many including Peter’s suspected Traitors.
Peter confirmed his truthful analysis to his Peter Pals.
This Faithful alliance revealed more evidences during the Round Table to persuade the group to banish Dan.
Dan was left with no options but to banish one of his own Traitors. He voted for Phaedra even if he knew she would be safe.
Phaedra was safe. Dan was banished. The Faithfuls got it right for the first time in the season.
He knew it would be harder to banish Parvati as she was seducible and influential too.
Peter and Parvati were on massive collision after Dan’s banishment.
Parvati correctly calculated the right potential name to banish during the Turret meet, but she instead went with Dan’s Bergie Plan, which was a total failure.
Upon another meeting with Phaedra, they were given a choice to murder someone out the game or recruit a Faithful to be a new member of the Traitors.
Parvati took the risk to recruit a new Traitor in Peter. Her analysis was Peter became a bigger influencer than her.
Peter could save her once he convinced his alliance to banish all the Faithful under his leadership.
Surprisingly, Peter stood by his morals. He declined the devious offer.
His empathy inside him was stronger than the temptation. He knew it was not all about money.
He was aware the game was more about banishing the Traitors with all the Faithfuls he could have.
The next day, Parvati was quite successful in transferring the Traitor spotlight to Peter. She and Phaedra murdered Bergie to disarm Peter.
Parvati’s last resort was also to plant a seed of confusion to the remaining Faithfuls.
Peter was unstoppable. He and his Peter Pals banished Parvati during the Round Table in Episode 8.
Parvati confessed she was a Traitor. The Faithfuls celebrated again!
Phaedra was the sole remaining Traitor and recruited Kate. Kate approved and both women revenged and murdered Kevin.
Peter showed a reduced amount of power and influence in Episode 10.
The original plan to banish Phaedra was all set, but during the heated Round Table between Peter and Phaedra, the deciding vote to save Peter went to saving Phaedra instead.
It was the end of the line for Peter. He admitted to the group he was a Faithful.
Lessons Learned
The journey of Peter Weber inside the castle is courageous enough to make me realize all the wrong moves I had in life.
His game style is strategic, smart and the one I want to do, even if I am well-aware that the real-life functions beyond who is a Faithful or who is a Traitor.
In truth, I keep traveling this life with a high level of faithfulness (like Peter) expecting that other people will be faithful to me too.
Unluckily, as I grow old, I seem to realize my level of faithfulness is different from others.
The Judas Best Friend I Once Had already murdered me figuratively – before I allowed myself to turn into a traitor for a while to banish the memory and the pain I went through.
Many say I have to forgive and forget. I have. I am healed from the trauma. However, it does not mean that there will be a point of communication again.
He started the story of betraying me. Therefore, as the betrayed one, I am going to end the best friendship without a single chance of reconciliation even if I remain friendless for the rest of my life.
I do not care anymore if this makes me a Wounded Faithful or an Apathetic Traitor.
Another moment in my life that I do not care about is the gossip that was conceived after my dad died in 2021.
They are soulless. They have no ability to understand someone the right way, so why I would I care still?
Also, facts say I had not signed any contract to stick with these people who consider me as their family but keep making delusional stories about me when I did not do anything to harm their emotions.
Perhaps, real-life is the middle ground between the faithful and the traitor.
The problem with myself is I show too much concern to the wrong people (traitors). I am a faithful to them, but these are the exact people who misinterpret and gaslight my true intentions.
For in the end, whether I will win against those Traitors or lost like Peter, I can stick to my morals as a Faithful. I know that I need and I want to ignore those Traitors of my life, before they can betray me again.
To ignore those Traitors until the end of time means I am playing like Peter Weber. His game is not enough to win the show. In real life, his game is enough to constantly protect myself with The Shield.
Episode 2 Review: This episode is a lot better than the pilot. The storytelling elevates to new heights. I get to see moments of raw vulnerability in Kenzie, Ben and Venus.
Tension began when Randen found a clue to a hidden immunity idol. At first, he didn’t know who to trust with. Later on the episode, he observed the Lonewolf of the tribe then decided to deal with Venus – the one he had a little conflict with during the pilot.
In Siga (Green Tribe), Charlie and Ben had a fun moment mentioning the songs of Taylor Swift and Metallica, respectively. They were die-hard fans, therefore; the songs they enumerated clocked to 107 each. Charlie won by one point though.
The Immunity-Reward Challenge was a fun one too. It was a simple challenge that requires them to complete an arching puzzle that spelled the word “PERSISTENCE.”
Nami (Orange Tribe) completed the puzzle first and won a set of fishing gear. Siga came second and took home a smaller set of fishing gear.
Yanu lost again. Tiffany lost her cool when they arrived at their camp. Bhanu thought it was either him or Jess were going home.
Jeff Probst waited form them in Tribal Council. Bhanu was outspoken. Without him knowing, his insights made Tiffany and Q uncomfortable.
He felt paranoid too and asked Kenzie who to vote for.
Before the votes were tallied, Jess played an idol but confirmed fake. Q, Tiffany and Kenzie betrayed her.
Jess simply laughed and exited the game with the majority voted against her. 5 stars of 5 | STUPENDOUS!
Lesson Learned: “I have to figure out the best one for my game, and I have to figure out quick.” – Q | More Lessons:Episode 1
I AM SURVIVORDEAN 