This recap is going to be different than every other recap this season will have because this episode was not necessarily about the game. Yes, MC from Hina did find a beware advantage. So did Rizo on Uli. But this episode is about Jake from Kele, who in episode 2 made his name known on the Tribe and was clearly one of the main characters of the season.

While sitting on the beach, Jake gets bitten by a venomous bandit sea krait. He is immediately rushed to the medical facility on site in Fuji, and we get a more behind the scenes look at Survivor than we ever had before.

The looks on the faces of the Hina and Uli Tribes when they receive the news at the immunity challenge said it all, as did their reactions when they sent Kele to Tribal Council once again. Nobody even celebrated receiving tarp and avoiding Tribal Council once again. The grief for Kele was real. It felt like the Blue Tribe this season was attending their own funeral.

Luckily for Alex, he had his immunity idol, so he felt secure. He ends up playing it on himself (though he didn’t need to), and Jeremiah ends up going home via a 2-1 vote, with Jeremiah voting for Alex. 

As we head into episode four (SPOILER ALERT: There will be a Tribe swap), it’ll be interesting to see where Sophi and Alex land, especially if we have two Tribes of seven with only 14 people remaining in the game.

Jake getting medically disqualified from the game absolutely derailed any chance for Kele to make a comeback as an original Tribe this season. He was the Tribe leader and everybody knew it. 

Now that they’re only two players left on Kele, Sophi and Alex may actually have the numbers to make some moves in the game, depending on how the Tribe swap shapes up Uli and Hina. Their games are not dead.

Grade: NA