This season, everyone is going to have a partner and before tomorrow night's first challenge, each player must decide whether or not they would like to BEFRIEND their partner or BACKSTAB their partner.
If you BEFRIEND your partner and you are able to both make it to the Top 10, each player will receive a HALF-IDOL.
However, if you choose to BACKSTAB your partner and are successful in eliminating them by the Top 10, that player will receive a FULL IDOL.
1️⃣6️⃣ Max/mac321 - Navadra - Day 1 (6-1-1)
After losing Pass the Torch, Navadra went to tribal council looking to vote out one of their inactive members. Benjamin, who chose to Backstab his partner Max, pushed for his partner to go in order to receive an idol. He was successful as Max went in a 6-1-1 vote.
1️⃣5️⃣ Chris/Chris1080 - Navadra - Day 2 (4-2-1)
After the first tribal council, Navadra’s core alliance formed between the two returnees BB and Brady and the two most-experienced group gamers on the tribe, Benjamin and Eoin. When they lost again, the tribe looked to target one of their bigger threats in Chris. Their votes were enough to make him the second person voted out.
--- Swap ---
NAVADRA
{Blue Buffs} (6/8 Remaining)
Jive/Jive
Josh/sergeant
Jordan/Jcorbs
Billy/Rocketokid13
Zach/ziggyzaggy4
Benjamin/BENLINUS
QALITO
{Orange Buffs} (8/8 Remaining)
Eoin/Eoin
November/cherishthegirl101
BB/purplebb4
Brady/CoachWade
Birks/Birks4444
Dominique/D882
Jacob/BOBROCKS333
Rhett/Valero7
1️⃣4️⃣ Zach/ziggyzaggy4 - Qalito/Navadra - Day 3 (4-2)
In a two-for-one twist, both tribes would swap and go to tribal council. Returnee pair Jive and Josh targeted tight pair Billy and Zach, leaving former Navadra members Benjamin and Jordan as the swing votes. They eventually sided with the returnees and voted out Zach.
1️⃣3️⃣ November/cherishthegirl101 - Navadra/Qalito - Day 3 (Medically Evacuated)
After self-voting in her second consecutive tribal council, November was medically evacuated from the game.
1️⃣2️⃣ Jordan/Jcorbs - Navadra/Navadra - Day 4 (4-1)
Navadra would lose another challenge, and the decision came between Billy, who lost his partner Zach at the previous tribal council, or Jordan, the most inactive player on the tribe. Benjamin, Jive and Josh favored activity and sent Jordan home.
The tribes merged with 11 players left, giving them one final opportunity to backstab their partner to receive a full idol at the Final 10, which meant any BEFRIEND pairs would receive a half-idol each and any successful BACKSTAB pairs would receive a full idol. JIVE and JOSH, both looking to play with each other, had a change of heart with the deadline approaching. Both players targeted each other and the tribe was forced to decide which returnee to keep. The tribe went with JOSH and sent JIVE to the jury.
1️⃣0️⃣ Birks/Birks4444 - Qalito/Qalito/Monuriki - Day 6 (1-0(4))
The tribe was split into One Day Tribes at the Final 10. Benjamin, Billy, Birks and Josh all agreed to vote out Rhett. However, Rhett had an ace up his sleeve after Jacob willed him his half-idol they received after making it to the Final 10. Rhett played the full idol, negating all four of his votes and sending Birks to Ponderosa.
0️⃣9️⃣ BB/purplebb4 - Navadra/Qalito/Monuriki - Day 6 (3-2)
BB, Brady and Eoin held a 3-2 majority on the Orange Tribe, but Jacob held a Vote Steal that allowed him to steal BB’s vote and send him to Ponderosa.
0️⃣8️⃣ Rhett/Valero7 - Qalito/Qalito/Monuriki - Day 7 (5-3)
After the One Day Tribes, the Final 8 reunited as Monuriki. After Jacob’s used the Vote Steal at the previous tribal council, he became a target for the following vote. However, he won immunity, forcing the tribe to pick a new target. Jacob tried to push votes on Eoin, but the tribe looked to target Rhett instead. He was sent home in a 5-3 vote.
0️⃣7️⃣ Dominique/D882 - Qalito/Qalito/Monuriki - Day 8 (QUIT)
0️⃣6️⃣ Josh/sergeant - Qalito/Navadra/Monuriki - Day 8 (1-0(3)-0(2))
After Jacob won his third consecutive immunity challenge, Dominique became the biggest target. However, she quit the game, meaning it was time for the core alliance to turn on each other. Benjamin and Eoin, once allies, recruited other tribe members to turn on each other. However, both played idols successfully, negating all but 1 vote. The vote read Josh’s name and he was voted out.
0️⃣5️⃣ Benjamin/BENLINUS - Navadra/Navadra/Monuriki - Day 9 (4-1)
After Jacob won his fourth straight immunity, the tribe unanimously agreed to vote out the biggest threat to win the game in Benjamin.
0️⃣4️⃣ Billy/Rocketokid13 - Qalito/Navadra/Monuriki - Day 9 (2-2/Lost FMC)
With Jacob winning a record fifth straight immunity, Brady and Billy received two votes each and completed in the fire-making challenge. Brady won the challenge, making Billy the final member of the jury.
While members of the jury were impressed with Jacob’s ability to win challenges, they were more impressed with Brady’s social game and the ability to keep people happy despite voting them out. He received four of the six votes and won in his second Cutthroat season.
The cast was strong on paper, but left a somewhat underwhelming impression on the season at-large.
The Befriend or Backstab twist was fun to experiment with, but did not leave a lasting impression for me to consider using it again.
There were a couple exciting moments for the season but is often seen as one of the more forgettable Cutthroat seasons.
The One Day Tribes brought the two best tribals of the season but it has never been seen in Cutthroat again up until Gen 2, Season 8. The Final 6 double idol play was also a fun tribal.
If I were a juror, Jacob probably would have gotten my vote for his then-record 5 consecutive immunity wins, but Brady is far from an unworthy winner. This is another example that Survivor is, and will always be, a social game.
Rating: 4.75/10
Ranking: 16/20
Returnees: Brady (Melanesia, Overstepping Champions - Coach), Jacob (Flops vs. Tops), Eoin (Melanesia, Flops vs. Tops), Josh (G2: Sierra Madre), Birks (Valley of Victors)
