TK & Tuku
A cautionary tale.
I would like to start this with a piece of advice to future castaways: do not form a men’s alliance. Even more than that: if you think that you’re the leader of so-called men’s alliance, you will be voted out.
This is the story of a Survivor contestant named TK Foster and how he managed to piss off every single woman on his tribe. (And Gabe).
But first, I want to thank whoever edited this episode for the wonderful and hilarious Gata footage that graced our screens. The pure exhaustion on Anika’s face as the rest of her tribe cheers on Andy for opening coconuts (we all remember his coconut rant last episode, yes?) was, well, it was TV gold. Sam “babysitting” Andy at the shelter was just…the perfect amount of cringe. Last but not least, Andy finding the Beware Advantage and leaving it there, only for Sam to find it later on in the episode…just amazing. A+, gold star, full tilt boogie. The editor deserves a trip to The Sanctuary, where good things happen.
I know the Andy truthers are still out there, but at this point his edit is so clownish that I can’t see him going full-Flippen.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha
We didn’t get a lot of Lavo content this week. Rome is still hilarious and chaotic, and I hope he stays around. Teeny is a little messy this episode, but manages to recover fairly well. I would love to meet Genevieve at some point.
I know nothing about her.
So, as you might guess, Tuku lost the immunity challenge in episode 2. The challenge involved a bag of rice, a knife, and a three-person maneuvering puzzle. Andy absolutely slayed at stabbing the rice bag (he seemed to really enjoy stabbing unsurprisingly).
And then we got an amazing moment where my favorite girl Rachel slipped some of said rice into her pocket. Unfortunately she gets called out by Jeff and forced to empty her pockets, but who cares? Sign this girl up for Game Changers, Part II.
In the after-challenge mat chat, Jeff asks Tiana why she’s smiling (lol) to which Tiana replies that her smile is fake. She’s upset about losing but trying to stay positive. “We gotta stay positive and figure something out…it’s tough,” she says with her arms crossed and a pained look on her face. Tiana obviously took the loss to heart, but instead of expressing frustration and anger towards her tribe, she chose to emphasize how they can move forward. TK took…a different route. When Jeff asks him how he thinks the next step of the game might go he has this to say:
“Honestly I’m genuinely pissed off right now. So it’s hard for me to think that far right now. We got way too many smiles over here for us to lose. I’m just not used to losing. I don’t hang with people who are cool with losing, I don’t even associate myself with that. If I lose I’m not going to be happy about that and, uh, I just want to make sure that I have a tribe that has the same mindset and if we don’t, then that’s a problem.”
Interesting strategy, TK.
Sue clocks Tiana’s annoyance (hard to miss) and sees it as an opportunity to get her vote.
Back at camp TK gets to work, rallying his bros to vote off the weakest member of Tuku: Sue. I genuinely find it hilarious that TK thinks Sue is physically the weakest member of the tribe when just one episode ago we had this glorious moment:
Sue, at 59, is more ripped than I could ever hope to be.
TK obviously took it as a sign of weakness that Sue agreed to sit out of the immunity challenge. He used her age against her, and it wasn’t lost on me that he brought this up to his “bros.” And I say “bros” because TK genuinely said “bro” more times in this episode than I’ve heard it used it my 29 years on this earth.
Unfortunately Survivor castaways tend to lean into a stereotype that “older” women are weak. I put “older” in quotations because the TV perception of age is, in my opinion, very skewed, especially for women. I’d like to point to a few notable challenge beasts in the form of women over 40: Monica Culpepper in Blood vs. Water, Kim Johnson in Survivor: Africa, and, of course, “Mama” Julie Alley in Survivor 45. There’s far more, I know. My point is that TK’s perception of Sue as the “weakest” member of the tribe and someone who “doesn’t contribute” at challenges is completely unfounded and based on sexist and ageist stereotypes.
TK takes it for granted that the other men of Tuku will inherently agree with his reasoning because all men are ageist and sexist, right? He also seems to forget that voting on gender lines leaves Tuku at a 3:3 split. While earlier he might’ve had Tiana on his side, he alienated her after the challenge. Even the hugest of male egos can’t do away with cold, hard numbers.
But can we just take a moment to celebrate one of the heroes of this episode, and winner of the “best hair” award Gabe Ortis? Gabe hears the nonsense that TK is spouting. He isn’t buying it. He sees the writing on the wall: TK is a liability. He can’t keep his mouth shut, he’s controlling as hell, and he overuses the word “bro” to a detrimental extent. He’s already pissed off Tiana with his response to her after the challenge, and he annoys Sue and Caroline with his incessant storytelling on the beach when they’re trying to nap. Gabe is socially savvy. He sees the reactions to TK.
Seriously, look at that hair.
He, Sue, Caroline, and Tiana seem ready to vote for TK, while TK and Kyle plan to vote for Sue. TK thinks Gabe and Tiana are on his side.
I was so relieved at tribal when this worked according to plan. I seriously don’t think I could’ve sat thought another episode of this man. Sue received votes from Kyle and TK, as expected. TK is voted out by Sue, Gabe, Caroline, and Tiana. I thought he didn’t associate himself with losing.
How dare he smile.
I really enjoyed this episode’s story arc as a foil to Gata’s decision to “keep the tribe strong” last episode. Tuku voted out one of the most athletic male castaways of the season in favor of a perceived “weaker” player, Sue. Although if you ask me, throwing a tantrum because you lost a challenge is pretty weak. Gata voted to keep a physically strong, social liability (Andy) over a socially savvy but perceived “weaker” player (Jon). We already started to see the exhaustion of dealing with clingy toxic boyfriend Andy weighing on Gata. I hope we continue to see contrast between these two tribes and how the decisions they’ve made affect them mentally and socially. This may be a turning point in Survivor. “Keeping the tribe strong” could take on a new meaning: perhaps castaways should see strength as social skills, loyalty, and positivity in the face of adversity. A sore loser with a bad attitude is never worth keeping around.
Winner Predictions
Sue Smey (Tuku): This was a great episode for Sue. Not only did her tribe opt to keep her over TK, but we really saw the social bonds she forged in the first episode come into play. Gabe and Caroline immediately showed loyalty to her, and they didn’t seem to have too much of an issue convincing Tiana to vote with them. Sue is one to watch.
Sam Phalen (Gata): Sam is still up there for me. We got some great content for him this week (I think he had the second most confessionals, right after Gabe). We learned about his acting skills and his babysitting skills (or lack thereof). AND HE FOUND THE BEWARE ADVANTAGE THAT ANDY LEFT BEHIND. He absolutely made the right call in telling Anika, Rachel, and Sierra about finding the advantage.
Teeny Chirichillo (Lavo): While we didn’t get much Lavo content this episode, the content we did see focused heavily on Teeny and their ability earn trust amongst their tribemates. Teeny knows about Rome’s advantage and recovered nicely when Rome caught them showing Kishan. They appear to be the kingpin of a solid alliance and, assuming Lavo keeps its numbers, should be well-protected come the merge.