With the post merge portion of the game underway, Australian Survivor continued this week with another two episodes. The previews from last week had host Jonathan LaPaglia teasing the post merge up as the best in the show’s history. After seeing these last two episodes, it seems to be setting up for something huge.
Overall thoughts
As always, the episodes this week were 50 and 70 minutes long. Of the two episodes, I found myself preferring the Tuesday episode. I wonder if there’s a way to make the Monday episodes any longer. Then again, most of the episodes aired on Mondays don’t seem to required more than 50 minutes all of the time.
Episode 15 had some good moments here and there even if the person booted was predictable. Episode 16, in my opinion, is probably one of the best episodes from the season so far. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end. There’s really nothing else to say before I get to the next sections.
Stand Out Contestants
With it being the merge/post merge, there not too many people to pick from. For this week, I’m going to stick with picking one contestant from each of the former tribes.
Fenella (right) enjoying a spa reward with Mat (left)
I’m still loving Fenella. Even though she isn’t a lead character, I tend to like these contestants that play under the radar and provide some humor to the show. Fenella has been doing that for almost the entire season so far. Her friendship with fellow contender Shonee is also adorable. This week, Fenella was surprised when Mat picked her to go on the reward with him and Sharn– citing that he liked Fenella’s sense of humor. While Mat is telling the truth when he says this, Mat admitted in a confessional that he wanted to try and sway Fenella over to his side should the former Champions decide to turn on each other. Fenella said in her confessionals that she was well aware of what Mat was trying to do and she was okay with it. Fenella did enjoy the reward, which was a spa reward. Seeing her going on these rewards makes me smile as she enjoys every part of the rewards. When Jonathan asked Fenella how the reward was, Fenella said that it was the best reward ever. She explained how she got to have champagne, chocolate and cheese- along with remarking that loves anything that begins with “CH.”
Sharn was able to win immunity after receiving an advantage in the challenge.
The aforementioned Sharn was also featured this week, particularly in Episode 15. During the episode, the tribe received tree mail that said they must choose one contestant to make a decision. The tribe almost unanimously said that Sharn should go, which she did. Somewhere on the island away from her tribe, Sharn had to make a decision: she could choose to get a large bag of vegetables for the tribe or she could take an advantage for the next challenge- along with a smaller bag of vegetables for the tribe. It was a tough choice for Sharn but in the end, she chose to go with the advantage and the smaller bag of vegetables. Walking back to camp, Sharn told the tribe that she had to choose between a bag of vegetables or chocolates with one other tribe member. This was incredibly risky for Sharn to do. In taking the that advantage, that meant she’d have to win immunity in case her tribemates caught her bluff. Luckily for her, she was able to win immunity again. More about that challenge later.
While Mat and Shane are all still left, I feel like I should take the time to talk about Brian from the former Champions tribe. Since the season started, Brian has been a wildcard. While he’s been on the outs most of the time, everyone in the game seems to like him. This week in Episode 16, Mat brought back gifts for everyone from the spa reward. Brian’s gift was a bar of soap, given that Brian was very dirty. Almost immediately after getting the soap, Brian proceeded to get naked and wash himself in the ocean in front of his tribemates.
Favorite Challenge
While I’m not too crazy about the challenges this week, I still enjoyed watching them. I think my favorite from this week was the immunity challenge is Episode 15, Keep It Together (pictured above). In this endurance challenge, the contestants must hold a disc with both of their hands. Attached to the disc is a weighted bag, which will start to wear out the contestants as time passes by. Last person standing wins immunity. As part of her advantage, Sharn had a little less weight than everyone else. When it was down to just her and Mat, Mat went ahead and let Sharn win immunity again.
One of the most grueling challenges this season was shown in Episode 16. The challenge, Last Gasp, requires contestants to stay under a steel grate in the ocean. As the tide comes in, contestants must try their best to hang in for as long as they can and find a way to breathe while under the grate. Last one standing wins immunity. This challenge was first seen in the Palau (Season 10) and was used another two times in the US version. This one was difficult for some viewers to watch at home as the contestants remarked how cold the water was. Along with this, the fish in the ocean were biting the contestants.
Robbie sits in on Tribal Council as the first member of the jury
Voted Off
In Episode 15 Robbie Skibicki was voted out of the game- becoming the first member of the jury. In the last episode, he and Benji were the only two remaining that didn’t vote for Lydia. With that, the two were left to scramble. Between the two, Robbie was likely picked as the one to go considering his strength in the challenges. Also, the guy could potentially charm his way to the end if kept in the game for too long. Even Benji voted out his closest ally, seeing him as a jury vote for the end of the game.
Sam pleads his case at Tribal Council. Left: Sharn, Right: Fenella
In Episode 16 Sam Hinton was voted out of the game. This was sad to see as Sam had been one of my favorites from this season. However, it pains me to admit that the guy started to decline the week before. Looking at Sam in these last few episodes, I think the game was getting to him. He was getting a little paranoid about his position, unsure if the Champions were going to stick together. What really seem to seal his fate was when he revealed to Mat that he had warned Lydia about her blindside. Sam tried to defend himself in Tribal Council, where he said he was just giving Lydia a heads up. Sam provided some last minute laughs before he left- giving hugs to his tribe mates and geeking out over getting his torch snuffed. After getting his torch snuffed, Sam talked Jonathan into give him a hug. It was nice to see him exit on his own terms.
Final Thoughts
Next week is being hyped up in the previews as one of the biggest moments of the season. Considering how Sam’s boot had a heavy feel to it, I’m really curious to see what happens next.
See you all next week!
next: PCB Australian Survivor Recap Week 8
I'm a writer/journalist with a passion for music and pop culture. Having graduated from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 2014, I've been looking for a platform in which I can share my passions. Since 2009, I've been posting to my own blog- The Walrus' Music Blog- via Blogger. I'm also the author of two self-published books, "The Camp: Stories from the Summer" and "The College: Stories from King's." Together, the two books cover the story of my life from 2004 to 2014. I've been lucky enough to interview several of my favorite musicians over the years and go to concerts from time to time. I'm also very devoted to the CBS reality TV show Survivor, which I started watching in 2002 when its fourth season started. I currently live in New Jersey.