‘Survivor: Cambodia’ Review: “Like Selling My Soul to the Devil/My Wheels are Spinning”

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Lucy Philips-Roberts ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Contributor
Whenever Survivor cranks out a two hour episode it is generally some of the worst content smushed together to fill a time slot. Or perhaps an hour of “extra footage” which is essentially a recap of what viewers have already seen thus far. Not this time. This time fans got a whole lot for one week of Survivor.


The first hour featured a sample of pissy Joe Anglim; he’s so pissed his buddy Kelly Wiglesworth was voted off, and he’s threatening to strategize. And sure he’d been gunning for Stephen Fishbach for a long time, but now he means business? Maybe? But the narrative of this episode was not so much Joe vs. Stephen, but everyone vs. the rain. In an episode that hearkens back to the days of Survivor: Samoa, the tribe finds themselves not only stuck in the shelter, but also devastated by the inclement weather. This really stirred the contestant’s emotions, which, in turn, pulled at the heartstrings of everyone at home. Stephen had a particularly rough time by experiencing a physical reaction to the stress of the game, as he put it, gastrointestinal distress. It’s these really painstaking episodes where viewers get to see the toll the game has on the castaways.
The reward challenge — a splashy basketball game —gave the survivors a chance to win time away from the rain to dry off and strategize, thus allowing Ciera Eastin to talk people into her agenda once again. This also left the others, including the especially damaged Stephen —dubbed “Poopy Pants” by Abi-Maria Gomes— to brave the rain a touch longer.


 


Once at the immunity challenge, Jeff Probst prompted each player to take a black rock and a white rock from a bag. Almost never a good sign. But Jeff tells the tribe that if five people give up their chance at immunity, a construction crew will build a fancy new shelter that will block the rain. For many, the choice is a no-brainer. Though this twist was interesting, the rain was over by the time they got there. And though, yes the survivors still have fifteen days, many times they have one horrible stretch of rain and that’s it. And for some, they would be helping others win, considering that the majority would end up on the jury. The most important thing in terms of survival is fire. This new shelter guards the fire. Is that really something the players want to guarantee to their opponents? Looks like none of them are pulling out the strategy of Russell Hantz (Survivor: Samoa) to make life hell for everyone else. In the end all but Keith Nale and golden boy, Joe, were the only two who did participate in the challenge. Huzzah…? Joe won. Viewers get it.


They were greeted by a cool shelter. Okay. Cookies? Did Angie Layton from Survivor: Philippines pitch in on this one? And while all of this is great and dandy, it takes away from the actual surviving aspect of Survivor. It brings back awful memories from Survivor: Fiji, which had the polarizing “Haves vs. Have-Nots” twist. If they have food and a great shelter, are they really playing Survivor?
Going into tribal council, Jeremy Collins was gunning for Ciera in order to protect Stephen, and pretty much everyone else was going after Stephen. At tribal, they all harped on the sensation of voting blocks once again, which at this point is pretty repetitive. But what was interesting was a discussion of each person’s decision to give up their shot at immunity, which at that point Tasha Fox threw Joe under the bus as selfish. Cue eye rolls from Joe and a snippy retort about his life in the game. When the votes are cast, Jeremy plays one of his two idols for Stephen, saving him from a whopping five votes, which would have put him out of the game. Probably one of the most pathetic and endearing reactions came from Stephen who was completely unaware that he was in jeopardy, nor that Jeremy had an idol. In the end it was Ciera’s time to go, and with only three votes, she was gone.


Hour two: coming back from a crazy and revealing tribal council, all Stephen can do to repay Jeremy is thank him and make wild promises. Though he is glad to have a second life in the game, Stephen was really blindsided by his own obliviousness. He admitted in a vulnerable moment that he may no longer be the knowing-est “Know-it-All.”
At the reward challenge, Jeff introduces a survivor favorite, Survivor Folklore. Jeff tells the survivors a story about Cambodian culture, and they must run through the forest and answer questions about the story, bringing back a token to add to their collection of five. A very fast- paced challenge and one that dates all the way back to Survivor: Borneo. To top it off, the reward is a big, luxurious meal and trip to a Cambodian resort. Stephen, being the smart guy he is, tricked Abi into taking the wrong answer in the simplest way possible, which was hilarious. This challenge also gave Kelley Wentworth another idol clue, just by the luck of the draw. It came down, once again, to Stephen and Spencer Bledsoe, but Stephen took it home, inviting Tasha and Jeremy on the reward. Nothing is funnier than seeing the disgusting castaways at a fancy resort or in a helicopter.


Back at camp, Kelley was able to somehow get the shelter to herself long enough to retrieve the hidden idol from under the bed. Imagine the stress of having about five seconds to climb under and out and untie the idol in the process. She just barely did it. And the fear was very real.
At the immunity challenge, the overall consensus was just to not let Joe win. This challenge had the survivors stacking blocks in a certain pattern using only their feet. Foot fetishists rejoice! But alas, Joe was unable to beat Spencer, breaking his four win streak. So with Spencer winning immunity, it would seem the Joe would certainly be going home. No question right? That’s where the show is somewhat predictable, viewers know there’s no way it’s that easy. But that’s what’s great about this season — it’s challenging all these preconceptions. In any other season, the challenge threat is voted out ASAP, but in this case he’s a good ally and not a big strategist thus far.


 


But since Kelley has Joe as an ally, she is now inclined to keep him around. Since he is solely a challenge threat, she might as well keep him on her side since he’s probably not going to win the title. But truth be told, the tribe had their sights set on Stephen.
Once again at tribal, Tasha has a vendetta against voting blocks, denying their very importance, instead insisting on the return of trust and alliances. And since, according to an interview post filming, Stephen was concerned that Joe had an idol, he split the votes. Stephen also decided to use his advantage. And with all the drama and excitement with this advantage, like Dan Foley last season, Stephen played the extra vote, and was still ousted from the game.