Now in its fourth week, the competition on Australian Survivor 2019 is heating up. Last week was all good fun but it wasn’t without its flaws. With Week 4, this might be the season’s strongest week so far as the entertainment value increased with each episode.
Overall thoughts
Shaun is stolen by the Champions tribe
The tribe swap from last week has ended up working pretty well here as far as showing what camp life is like. When it comes to swaps in the US version, they feel rushed and choppy- to the point where we barely know them. AU has managed to balance everything well when it comes to the survival aspects, the social dynamics and the strategy.
In a surprise twist, the Champions were allowed to attend the Tribal Council of the Contenders in Episode 9- where the Champions were told to vote for a member on the Contenders tribe to join them. The tribe unanimously picked Shaun to join the champions, making things more interesting- especially after Shaun found out earlier in the episode that the idol David gave him was fake.
Stand Out Contestants
For the Contenders, Janine has been playing a solid game. She has her alliance of five Champions, in which she has a tight connection with fellow female Champions Abbey and Pia. This week, Janine was been dubbed the “Godmother” and rightfully so: she’s calling the shots on her tribe.
For the Champions, I’m going to pick David. Love him or hate him, this guy has been casting gold. This week, David found himself in trouble as Shaun found him to be an unreliable person. With his former Contender tribe mate, an effort was made to vote out David in Episode 10. However, David played his idol- saving him from elimination. Without anything to protect him now, David and Luke were now on the outs by the end of the episode.
David celebrates his idol find by diving his face into the popcorn.
In Episode 11, the Champions won reward in the form of the videos from home. Similar to the nacho and margarita reward from last year, the tribe found out they would have to decide on an order for the members to go in. One by one, each contestant would get to watch their video from home privately- with access to popcorn and treats to nosh on while watching.
Although David had a huge target on his back, the tribe agreed to let David go first. Surprised, David went ahead- looking all around the mini theater for an idol. He eventually got to the popcorn warmer cabinet and opened it, causing the popcorn to fall on the floor. Reaching into the warmer, David found the idol buried in the popcorn. In celebration, David lapped up the popcorn on the floor. When finished watching his video, David came back to his tribe- trying to pull off an Oscar worthy performance by fake crying over seeing his family. His tribe gave him a group hug, tried to console him and didn’t seem to call anything into question. This whole scene was HILARIOUS to watch. I was cracking up throughout the entire scene and found this wonderfully entertaining.
Favorite Challenge
While I liked all of the challenges this week, I didn’t find them all that special overall. For entertainment value, I liked the reward in Episode 9. In this challenge, contestants go head to head- each tethered to an idol on a platform. The contestant must try to knock the idol of the opposing tribe in order to score a point. The first tribe with five point wins reward, which ended up being the Champions. They won a sandwich making kit and souvenir plates made from home. This was basically the Idol Hands challenge- which was used in Philippines (Season 25) and Cagayan (Season 28). As the challenge name would suggest, the contestants held onto a platform with an idol on one hand while using the other to knock the opposing tribe’s idol off. Instead on holding the idols, the Aussies changed it up here- which I liked. My favorite part of the challenge was seeing John scoring the winning point for the Champions- in which John dove right under Harry‘s legs and knocked off the Contenders’ idol.
Voted Off
Given the twist in Episode 9, only two people were voted out this week- with one coming from each tribe.
In Episode 10, Hannah Pentreath became the ninth person voted out of the game. The 27-year-old police officer was targeted given her strength in the challenges, along with her feeling sick. When David played his idol, it canceled out his three votes- leaving it a tie between Hannah and Shaun with two votes each (Daisy had a vote from Andy, causing the tie). Given Shaun’s psychical strength, Hannah was voted off in the revote.
In Episode 11, Casey Hawkins was voted off- becoming the tenth person voted out of the game. Throughout the game, Casey sat out for a majority of the challenges. When she did compete, she was okay at best. She also tried to get in with the swapped Champions, but she only came off as desperate. It’s also worth mentioning that the swapped Champions threw the immunity challenge in an effort to save Luke and David. While Casey was targeted, Harry was targeted too. His lie about him having a son ended up being revealed in Episode 9 when Ross asked if Harry was making it up. While Harry was untrustworthy, there was also the chance of him having an idol. The votes were split 4-4 between Harry and Casey. Harry ended up playing his idol, which lead to Casey getting her torch snuff.
Final Thoughts
I’m still enjoying this season of AU. I will admit that the season is going by quickly, which is probably because of the three episodes each week. Nevertheless, this season is very entertaining.
I’ll see you all next week!
next: Australian Survivor 2019 Week 5 recap
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.