Coming into episode 10 of Survivor 50, we knew the Survivor Auction was back, and we knew Mr. Beast -- maybe the most popular YouTuber in the world -- would be involved somehow, and there was a briefcase with the word “beware” on it. We just didn’t know how significantly it would impact the game, and after all the twists this season and involvements from celebrity superfans, it could literally mean anything. 

Before we get to the meat of the episode, let’s examine what happens at camp now that Christian, one of the most dangerous players that played this season, has joined the jury bench. With a member of their alliance gone, Rick and Emily are still joined at the hip and want to cause chaos. Rick comes clean to the entire camp about his fake idol, which causes Joe and Jonathan to raise even more red flags on the newscaster. Meanwhile, Emily FLIPpin tries coming clean to Ozzy about targeting him, but just like with Christian earlier this season, Ozzy isn’t buying Emily’s plea.

For the Survivor 50 auction, there is no chaos of running around camp trying to collect money, as everybody starts with $500. Instead, the players are excited to see the auction setup when they arrive for what they think is an immunity challenge. For this auction, there is no punishment for having the least amount of money at the end. Instead, they keep to keep the money they don’t use. The twist: Each item is either a comfort food or a chaos food. Some items are shared and are both comfort and chaos.

Highlights include fried chicken, a milkshake, grilled cheese, smoothies, chocolate chip cookies and milk, burgers and a charcuterie board, with a mix of disgusting bugs. For the last item everybody puts in $20 to receive their letters from home, but there’s also chaos with this glorious reward. Out of nowhere, here comes the man, the myth, the legend himself, Mr. Beast, who shows the briefcase with the “beware” word written on the back. Jeff Probst immediately says the twist will not be revealed till Tribal Council and that even though the auction was over, he’s not done with the players because they’re immediately jumping into the immunity challenge, which involves balancing a ball on a rolling platform while having players’ feet on a narrow platform.

With the shock of the beware advantage hanging over the player’s heads, Tiffany wins immunity, outlasting Joe and Ozzy. We also see this emotional moment from the Survivor 46 player who says she was voted out on Day 19 of her season, and she refused to let it happen again.

Back at camp, the players read their letters, and everyone is emotional seeing the support from their loved ones. But then, the love stops real quick when Jonathan pitches to Stephanie and Aubry that going after Rick is the easy vote, and that it is time to make a move and take out one of the biggest threats in the game: Ozzy.

Rick shares this information with Emily, who can’t believe her plan before last Tribal Council is now the plan, and Jonathan does the same with Joe, who can’t believe that his nemesis dating back to the first days of this season in Rick is not a target. Meanwhile, Rick also shares the plan with Cirie, and we saw what happens to people who mention Ozzy’s name to Cirie, who is ultra protective of the Cirie’s Rizard of Oz with Ozzy and Rizo. Rick directs the blame of the plan on Stephanie, so Cirie confronts Stephanie about it.

Word then gets back to Stephanie through Rick that the plan is now her. This causes Stephanie and Rick to then have a discussion about voting Cirie, which then Rick relays that information back to Cirie. Discussions then continue about splitting votes between Rizo and Emily and even Aubry’s name gets mentioned. Stephanie floats out using her Steal a Vote to Ozzy and Rick. As you can tell, as this Tribal Council looms, with Mr. Beast lurking in the shadows, nobody really knows what’s going on. Joe asks Emily what the general gameplan is, and Emily answers with, “Joe, I genuinely have no idea.”

Heading into Tribal Council, there is still 45 minutes left in the episode, so you knew something BIG (to honor the great Q from this season) was going down. With nothing to lose, Rick exposes Stephanie and Jonathan’s plan, along with Cirie and Ozzy’s plan. He essentially airs all the dirty laundry of the Tribe out in the open and pitches to Cirie, Ozzy, Emily, Rizo, and Aubry to team with him to take a wide open shot on one of Stephanie, Jonathan, or Joe, also known as the honor and integrity alliance.

But everything changes once Mr. Beast unveils what’s in the briefcase. It is the Super Beware Advantage. Here’s how it works: 

  • One person must flip a coin and call heads or tails. 
  • If they are correct, they are immune from the vote, they get an immunity idol, and the prize money doubles from $1 million to $2 million.
  • If they are incorrect, there is no vote at Tribal Council because that person will join the jury.

Once again with nothing to lose, Rick immediately volunteers for the coin flip. Stephanie says she’s concerned of what it means for her game if he hits, but she lets him flip the coin. He calls heads, and of course, as this episode has Rick’s finger prints all over it, including the Super Beware Advantage, hits. He is safe, the prize money raises from $1 million to $2 million, and he has an idol in his hand. Chaos once again ensues with a live Tribal. At the end of the day, Stephanie uses her Steal a Vote on Rick, so Rick does not vote, but it doesn’t matter in the end, as everybody votes for Stephanie, with her using her two votes on Aubry. Stephanie becomes the fifth member of the jury, a jury that currently only has one New Era player on it (Dee), a player who won her season.

The day after WWE’s WrestleMania, I am giddy. I am on a wrestling high. That’s how I feel about episode 10 of Survivor 50. This was the PERFECT episode of Survivor. Drama, uncertainty, shock, emotion. It had every element of a reality TV show. 

At this point, outside of Rick and Emily, Joe and Jonathan, and Cirie’s Rizard of Oz, I have no idea who’s aligned anymore. Survivor 50 brought 24 of the game’s all-time players to Fuji to play the best game the fans have ever seen, and they have delivered. Survivor 50 continues to up the ante on the greatest season in the history of the show.

My prediction winner is still Cirie, who still got her way even this time with the Stephanie vote. The edit is portraying that whoever Cirie wants out goes home, but at this point, it really is anybody’s ballgame.

Grade: A+