Survivor SA: The Week That Was

Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts
Survivor 101 vs Survivor 2.0

The Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts Castaways are playing the most difficult season of the world’s greatest game harder than ever before – with all eyes on the record R2 million prize.

With the tribes split between pre-merge (Yontau) and post-merge (Masu) players, there was always going to be a difference in the way the two tribes played against each other – with those who hadn’t made it to merge, desperate to make it to the other side and those who had, anxious to ensure their legacy in the game by repeating the feat. In adapting their games, though, the Castaways are playing different types of games within their own tribes – Survivor 101 and Survivor 2.0.

Three Castaways were eliminated again this week, with the first two succumbing to classic Survivor 101 gameplay from their tribes to nullify their strength and the third, a victim of a Survivor 2.0 blindside twist, gone wrong.

Snuffed 

Episode 5 saw Yontau mastermind Tevin blindsided and sent home with an unplayed Hidden Immunity Idol stuffed down the front of his pants after he thought he’d engineered a plot with Killarney, Seamus, and Phil to send Pinty packing.

“I think maybe I played too hard too soon – and I made this mistake before. I clearly haven’t learned from my mistakes,” said Tevin after his torch was snuffed. “I was trying to get to the other side, get to Toni, get to PK as soon as possible, and play with them. So, yeah, my redemption story with the tattoo trio will unfortunately not unfold”.

The Vote:

Voting for Pinty: Tevin, Seamus, Shona, Killarney.
Voting for Tevin: Pinty, Dino, Felix, Thoriso, Phil.

At the end of episode 6, after Masu somehow won the Immunity Challenge, Seamus set about targeting supposed alliance member Dino. He misjudged Dino’s social currency with the tribe and inadvertently gave Dino more power as the entire tribe stood with him, instead.

The Vote:

For Seamus: Killarney, Shona, Dino, Felix, Pinty, Thoriso.
For Dino: Seamus.
For Killarney: Phil.

With a Tribe Swap completed in Episode 7 and Tribal Council postponed to the next day to give Yontau the chance to recover from the trauma of seeing Shona evacuated from the challenge by the Survivor medics, a spooked miscalculation by Phil sent the restored Shona home, rather than booting top dog Dante. Dino and Phil had plotted to use the Hidden Immunity Idol Dino had found to engineer Dante’s departure, with Shona playing the fake idol she’d hidden at Tribal Council. When Shona failed to collect her decoy Idol, Phil switched his vote to her instead of Dante. When the three votes against Dino were nullified by his Idol, that left Dante with two – and Phil’s panicked vote sent Shona home instead.

The Vote:

For Dino: Thoriso, Dante, Shane.
For Shona: Meryl, Phil, Marian.
For Dante: Dino, Shona.

Challenged  

Masu wiped the floor with Yontau in episode 5’s combined Immunity and Reward Challenge, securing immunity, a set of items to make their camp more comfortable, and the ingredients to make ‘victory braaibroodjies’.

In episode 6’s Reward Challenge, Yontau returned the favour and won the chance to spin the Lottostar Reward Wheel for some food. Allowed a second spin, Nico offered them the chance to take two members from Masu to enjoy their reward with them. They chose Tejan and Toni and, when the latter spun the wheel again, they won a macaroni & cheese meal.

During the feast, Toni tells all about her run-in with Dante and how he’s positioned himself as irreplaceable, while Tejan hardly says a word.

At the Reward Challenge, Masu’s lack of communication seemed likely to cripple them once more, but they pulled it together to send Yontau back to Tribal Council.

Episode 7’s post-Tribe Swap Immunity & Reward Challenge was possibly the most brutal in Survivor South Africa history, pitting the tribes against each other in groups of three as they fought to move massive wooden balls across a mud pit and into the opposite goal. The intensity of the game and tricky conditions conspired to send Steffi to watch from the sidelines with an injured knee, while Shona was evacuated by the Survivor medics, crying in agony after Pinty slipped and fell on her. To end the game after an epic battle, Nico releases two balls for each tribe into the mud pit for a sudden death round, which eventually saw Toni scramble free and roll the ball over the Yontau line – and secure a bunny chow feast for Masu in the process.

Tribe Swap 

After being summoned by a cryptic Treemail in Episode 7, the Castaways’ speculation about a Tribe Swap was realised as Nico ordered them to drop their buffs and select opaque vials from a bag, before pouring them into jars of water to determine their new tribe. All the Castaways – bar Shona – have red or blue liquid in their jars, while she has yellow. Nico reveals that that gives her the opportunity to choose which tribe she’d like to join – and she opts to return to the ‘safety’ of Yontau.

The new Masu comprised original members Steffi, Toni, and Palesa and Felix, Thoriso, Pinty, and Killarney from the former Yontau. The new Yontau comprised original members Dino, Phil, and Shona and former Yontau members Dante, Marian, Meryl, Shane, and Palesa. The two new tribes then tackled the immense Immunity & Reward Challenge which saw both Steffi and Shona injured.

Tools 

In the Game 

• Hidden Immunity Idol – Steffi (Masu)
  • It can be played until after Merge, when 6 players remain in the game,
  • Steffi found it while everyone was sleeping after the braaibroodtjie feast.
• Hidden Immunity Idol – Dante (Yontau)
  • It has to be played by someone on the opposite tribe (Masu). Valid until Merge.
  • Dante found the clue to the Idol at the Outpost in his tribe’s rice bag.
• Diplomatic Immunity – Marian (Yontau)
  • Marian found Diplomatic Immunity at Masu in the form of a Yontau buff, in Episode 2. Marian can invoke this power before Merge if her tribe loses an Immunity Challenge. Instead of heading back to camp, she or the person she chooses may leave the tribe and permanently join the other tribe.
• Hidden Immunity Idol clue – Tejan (Masu)
  • Tejan discovered a similar clue to Dante in his tribe’s rice bag at the Outpost but hasn’t found the Idol yet.
• Fake Idols
  • Shona and Seamus have both placed fake Idols at Tribal Council.

Played / Out of the Game 

• Hidden Immunity Idol – Tevin (Yontau)
  • Tevin found a Hidden Immunity Idol at the tribe sign but left without playing it after being sure he’d engineered a move to send Pinty home.
• Hidden Immunity Idol – Dino (Yontau)
  • Dino found salvation in the form of an Idol with Dante gunning for him and set a plan in motion to use it to send Dante home. After Dino played it, Phil’s panicked vote foiled the plan, sending Shona home instead – while Dino now has a major target on his back that Dante can’t wait to hit.

Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts is broadcast Monday-Thursday on DStv’s M-Net Channel 101 each week until the Finale on 25 August, where South Africa’s richest-ever Survivor prize will be awarded. There’s also an omnibus broadcast on M-Net on Saturdays 15:30-19:30 and, of course, every episode is available on DStv CatchUp. For more about Survivor South Africa, visit the official M-Net Website and join the conversation on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using #SurvivorSA and #MNet101.

Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts is produced by Afrokaans and proudly sponsored by Lottostar. Lottostar is a fixed-odds online betting platform that offers South Africans the chance to bet and win big on the world’s biggest Lotteries, Live Games, Instant Play Games, ScratchCards & Sports Betting – with over R2,4 Billion in winnings paid out in just the last 3 years. Lottostar is licensed by the Mpumalanga Economic Regulator. No u18s. National Responsible Gambling Programme 0800 006 008. You are not playing directly in these lotteries but rather betting on the outcome or result of such lotteries.