I can enjoy almost any episode of Survivor, but with another tribe swap coming up, I am definitely excited for this one. So let’s make like Ozzy in a water challenge and dive it!

Players at the start of the episode (15)

Mana: Brad Culpepper, Debbie Wanner, Hali Ford, Sierra Thomas, Tai Trang (5)

Nuku: Aubry Bracco, Jeff Varner, Michaela Bradshaw, Sandra Diaz-Twine (4)

Tavua: Andrea Boehlke, Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, Sarah Lacina, Troyzan Robertson, Zeke Smith (6)

Night 13 Nuku

At first, I thought Aubry’s exclusion from the JT vote and pinning her in the minority would prompt her to go after Sandra next. But instead, Aubry just compliments Sandra on how well she is playing and is looking to take some notes from her. Aubry’s a smart person, but even then that’s one of the best ideas she’s come up with.

Night 13 Mana

While everyone else is sleeping, Tai finds the Mana idol. That is his second immunity idol found this season. As we’ll see later on, it won’t be his last.

Day 14 Tribe Swap

Jeff asks Tavua and Mana to give back the immunity idols and says that there won’t be a challenge today, but instead he utters three famous words.

“Drop your buffs”

For the second time this season, there is a tribe swap. This has happened in two of the three other seasons of Survivor that featured full casts of returning players, so that tradition continues here. As the buffs are drawn, Tai notices how the three gay men are all put on the same tribe together. Let’s map out the 3.0 editions of Mana and Nuku

Mana 3.0: Aubry, Cirie, Culpepper, Hali, Michaela, Sierra, Troyzan

You have Aubry, Hali, Michaela, and Troyzan from the original Mana tribe and Culpepper, Cirie, and Sierra from original Nuku. Brad and Sierra have played the whole time together so far, having had some experience with Cirie on Nuku and Hali on Mana. Cirie and Troyzan are the only members of Tavua on this tribe, but Cirie and Troyzan were never aligned. Aubry and Michaela also join this tribe not on the best of terms, so it’s a toss up.

Nuku 3.0: Andrea, Ozzy, Sandra, Sarah, Tai, Varner, Zeke

From the original tribes, Sandra and Varner are outnumbered 5-2. Tai is the only person on this tribe from the previous iteration of Mana, joining Tavua’s quarter of Andrea, Ozzy, Sarah, and Zeke as well as Nuku’s duo of Varner and Sandra. So either way, it’s pretty clear who is on the bottom here.

What about Debbie? Debbie did not receive a buff, so she was sent to Exile Island. She would remain there until after a tribe loses a member at the next Tribal Council. On one hand, she can’t be voted out. On the other hand, she will have no communication with anyone or any idea of what’s going on in the game while she’s away.

Camp life at Mana

We don’t see too much of Mana this episode, which normally means they don’t lose the immunity challenge. But we do see enough strategy talk and dilemmas that give enough doubt to that assumption. Brad Culpepper is one of the many members of this tribe with multiple avenues to work with, and he takes the obvious routes. Him and Sierra continue to be tight, but the former NFL player also drafts Troyzan. Troyzan played with Monica Culpepper, Brad’s wife, in Troyzan’s original season, and Brad and Troyzan are the only male members of Mana. Troyzan still has some PTSD from a large alliance of women taking him out in Survivor: One World, so he automatically hops on board. It’s a questionable decision for Troyzan because with original Mana so down in numbers, I initially felt it would be best for Aubry, Michaela, Hali, and Troyzan to work together, even though I’m not sure Aubry and Michaela would want to do that. For Brad, I think it makes sense to bring in Sierra and Troyzan. As for his 4th ally, which we did not see him approach yet, he could either go with Hali for the Mana bond, Cirie for the Nuku bond, or Aubry since she appears to be the outsider within the remaining Mana members.

Camp life at Nuku

While Varner is nervous about how the tribe is split up, Sandra stays cool, calm, and collected and tries to find an opening. Zeke, however, doesn’t intend on giving her one. Although superfan Zeke was spoiled for choice this season in making his dream team alliance of players he watched on the show before competing on Millennials vs Gen X, he remained focused.

“Everyone who has ever played with Sandra before has lost a million dollars to Sandra Diaz-Twine”-Zeke

The plan is to blindside Sandra by telling Sandra and Varner they are voting out Tai. Andrea sees Tai as the perfect decoy because Tai is known for finding idols and being hard to read. With the plan in motion, Varner and Sandra start to feel a little safer, but Sandra remains wary. Tai, however, is not comfortable so he goes looking for the Nuku idol, assuming that it would be hid in a similar location as Mana’s. Usually assumptions blow up in your face, but for Tai, it paid off as he has now found his third idol and the season isn’t even halfway over! Zeke and Varner bond as Varner admits he is worried because he has played Survivor three times but has yet to even make the jury phase. Although Zeke keeps Varner in the dark about the Sandra blindside plan, he views Varner as a possible ally moving forward.

Debbie’s Exile Voyage

The negatives of Exile quickly became positives when it turns out Debbie would serve her exile on a boat full of food. Debbie might have won the Survivor lottery. Never has Survivor provided an exile this luxurious, not even in Gabon. In Survivor: Gabon, exiled players had the option between food or idol clues. But it wasn’t anything this good. And it only got better as Debbie was paid a surprise visit by two time Survivor player and the winner of Survivor: Caramoan, John Cochran. Cochran served as Debbie’s soundboard as well as mentor to help advise her through the game as it stood so far. Debbie did not seem to be worried at all despite being separated from the other players, only citing her blowup with Brad Culpepper. Cochran suggested that if she ends up on Brad’s tribe, she makes peace with him, as well as to re-enter the game willing to work with anyone and lay low. Cochran’s advice is sound, but Debbie isn’t the most sound player. As a final bonus, Cochran offers Debbie her choice of three advantages: a fake idol kit, a tribal challenge advantage, or an extra vote. Debbie decides on the extra vote, citing it as the advantage that provides the most certainty. I actually agree with Debbie. The extra vote advantage has been used a few times, but it has not been used effectively yet. However, it’s still the most useful advantage of the three, and no one will know Debbie has it.

Day 16 Immunity Challenge

This physically draining challenge (as if simply being on Survivor isn’t physically draining enough) starts as a race in the water. From there, they must retrieve puzzle pieces and haul them using a sled. When they hit the beach, they must pull the sled while using a few logs as leverage given the incline. Once they reach the end of the beach, three members of each tribe will complete the puzzle using those pieces. It was not a blowout for most of the challenge, but Mana seemed to stay one step ahead the whole time and upon quickly completing the puzzle, they won immunity. Nuku will go to Tribal Council, and after the vote, Debbie will join their tribe.

Day 16 Nuku

Sandra’s pitch to the tribe is to vote out Tai because Tai, Aubry, and Debbie all played in Survivor: Kaoh Rong together and if they all make the merge, they are a possible tight alliance. Ozzy and Sarah nearly felt convinced by Sandra’s pitch, but that also reassured them how dangerous Sandra is as a player. Tai senses he is being excluded from some conversations and confirms with Ozzy and Varner that Sandra should be the obvious choice to vote out. This alarms Ozzy because Tai was not supposed to tell Varner about the plan. This also confirms to me Tai’s biggest flaw as a player: he gets too paranoid and he is not the best at keeping secrets. Those traits are very hard to work with in this game. Sandra is smarter in how she maneuvers which is why Sandra has won twice. Tai does have his idols should he feel vulnerable, while Sandra has a haymaker waiting for Tribal Council that she’s certain will deliver the knockout punch to Tai.

Tribal Council

Tai continues to admit his paranoia, and Sandra offers Tai a chance to tell her who he wants out. Tai whispers his target to Sandra’s ear, and subsequently does so to Varner as well. Sandra gestures to the rest of the tribe that Tai targeted Ozzy. Tai then tells the whole tribe why it would make sense to vote out Ozzy. Everyone is shell shocked by this, and Sarah and Tai begin to question whether or not Tai is trustworthy and worth keeping. Then we get to the vote. Sandra casts her vote for Tai, and I’m starting to feel Sandra might pull this off once again. It’s just a question of whether or not Tai plays one of his idols. Tai opts not to, but he made the right choice. The 5-2 majority over Varner and Sandra stood, and Sandra was voted out.

“Sandra, for the first time in 94 days, the tribe has spoken”-Jeff Probst

Sandra left Tribal Council in good spirits, wishing the tribe luck. Varner, Tai, Zeke, Andrea, Ozzy, and Sarah sent her off with a round of applause in respect for the Queen of Survivor.

Dock of Shame: Sandra Diaz-Twine

The queen has left the game, but I believe the queen stays queen. Sandra is such a unique, rootable, and great player. It’s a shame that still after three seasons there is a vocal minority that continues to neglect what she has done in the game of Survivor. Realistically, Sandra was doomed from the start. It was only a matter of time, but at least she went out playing very well. Sandra has come back from bad spots before, but it just wasn’t in the cards this time. As a fan, I’m sad to see Sandra go but it made absolute sense for people to vote her out at this point. Enough was enough, Sandra made enough moves to advance her this far, but to let her get further would have been bad for them. Once again though, props to Sandra for playing well for three seasons and finishing with 94 days and a round of applause from her tribe. She is the best player in Survivor history.

3: The amount of idols Tai has found this season. He is tied with Russell Hantz (3 each on Survivor: Samoa and Survivor: Heroes vs Villains) and Tony Vlachos (Survivor: Cagayan) for most idols found in a single season.

4: The number of male players who were voted out consecutively before Sandra was voted out tonight.

6: The number of players who have played 100 or more days of Survivor. In order of achieving this, Amanda Kimmel (China/Micronesia/Heroes vs Villains), Parvati Shallow (Cook Islands/Micronesia/HvV), Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands/All Stars/HvV/Blood vs Water), Rob Mariano (Marquesas/All Stars/HvV/Redemption Island), Ozzy, and Cirie (which I will get to).

12: The number of Tribal Councils Jeff Varner has attended in his 48 day Survivor: Career, averaging one Tribal every four days. That is a lot for someone who only spent 3 days in the merge phase of a season. 11 of them occurred before the merge and he survived 10 of them. Although he has never made the jury phase of the game, his chances were not helped by the difficult road that being on losing tribes paved for him.

16: The number of days Cirie has made it in this game without going to Tribal Council. Some may see it as a mark against her if she is voted out at her first Tribal Council visits, but to her credit, she has performed well in challenges, particularly in the puzzles.

22: While Cirie has done a good job avoiding Tribal Councils, Michele Fitzgerald and Nick Maiorano went 22 days before attending their first Tribal Council. They would have attended one on Day 19 but Tribal Council was cancelled due to the medical evacuation of Neal Gottlieb. Furthermore, she probably won’t break Joe Anglim’s record of going 29 days in Survivor: Cambodia before being vulnerable for the first time. This feat includes Joe winning the first four individual immunity challenges. Cirie has yet to win individual immunity through her Survivor career.

100 day milestone tracker: Sandra could not quite make it to the 100 day milestone, but 94 days sounds a lot better than 81 which is what people thought was going to be the case. Besides, she won twice so she could probably care less about this stat. This is the third episode in a row we lost someone on this hunt, and 4 of the 6 eligible to reach 100 days have fallen short: Ciera, Malcolm, JT, and now Sandra. However, Cirie did succeed in reaching this milestone and currently sits at 101 days. Congratulations Cirie! Andrea has 86 days of Survivor. 14 more days until day 30 to reach this feat.

Which contestants are standing on today’s Survivor Olympic Podium?

Medal count:

Gold: Sandra (2), Brad, Tai (1)

Silver: Jeff (2), Brad, Sierra (1)

Bronze: Hali (2), Malcolm, Sarah, Troyzan (1)

Current Leader: Sandra (2 golds)

Bronze: Brad Culpepper

He did not have to do as much as he did in previous episode, but he’s done well to set himself up and succeed in this new tribe. He may not have the best relationships with Cirie and Hali, but they could still be working relationships and they do not seem to be targeting him. Additionally, he put in another great challenge performance which was good for two reasons. Not only does he get an extended break from Tribal Council, he avoids having Debbie on his tribe.

Silver: Sarah Lacina

The more we see from Sarah, the more she appears to be in one of the best positions not only on her tribe but in the game. I hope we get to see more of her individual relationships with players in the weeks to come. For now, she is included in almost every major strategic discussion and she is setting herself up well to succeed in the game. Many have questioned whether or not Sarah should’ve been casted for this season, but she is playing well so far.

Gold: Zeke Smith

He hatched the best plan possible given the iteration of Nuku 3.0 to take out Sandra, and despite Tai threatening to derail it, it worked like a charm. What’s most impressive about this is how much Ozzy, Sarah, and Andrea seem to trust Zeke even though they have not had the chance to see him play in Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X. Fear of the unknown is common in Survivor, but Zeke’s ability to form these tights bonds and put these moves into motion show that he is a good player and a contender to win this season. And to top off this move, I think with a bit of damage control (which may not even be necessary) he can still work with Varner in the future.

Next Time on Survivor: Mana is feeling fatigued and worried for some reason, and Nuku implodes and could they turn on Ozzy? With Caleb, Malcolm, and JT history, Ozzy definitely should sleep with one eye open.