Welcome to another week of Australian Survivor. We are now down to the Final 6 and I am so happy about the final 6 we have. Janine is the Godmother, she played a very strong dominant game so far, but not her fortunes have changed. Pia the smiling assassin has managed to get herself deep into the game whilst being not a great challenge player who had a top social game. Luke, the only returnee should have been voted out early but his social game is so strong he is now in a 4 he can turn back on if he so wishes. Baden is another weak physical player who is well liked and a good strategic thinker. Harry. Abbey made a huge move last week to stop herself being the goat in a Champion women final 3, but I fear it will mean she now won’t make it there. Let’s see how this likeable Final 6 play this End Game.

Episode 21:

• It’s Mothers Day on Survivor Australia. Pia misses her kids and her husband. I’m guessing that means we get a family visit here. Another reminder that Janine is a grandmother. The pair of mothers are in trouble. CORRECTION: It was Pia’s birthday. I got very confused there.
• We are treated to a truly beautiful set of shots of Luke, Pia and Abbey going snorkle fishing. Luke tells us about his social game and he is ready to be the winner. We are reminded he left a 6 week old baby with cystic fibrosis as well as his two autistic boys. He needs to money, probably more than any other contestant. Not that Harry the Ice Cream man wouldn’t need it, or PhD student Baden. But a bloke like Luke, who has 3 kids, all with special needs and who works in mining, the money would change his life.
• Harry and Baden discuss the idea of the pair of them voting with Janine and Pia to vote out Luke. Baden has to do the work because Dirty Harry isn’t trusted by Janine.
• It’s interesting that Janine trusts Pia enough to send her out to do the social thing with Luke and Abbey and work on them without her.
• Baden uses this time to work on Janine about Luke being a challenge threat and shedding him at the next vote. Janine throws out a business analogy about capital and something. Whoever had “business analogy” on their bingo card, take a drink.
• Immunity Challenge: involves loads of ropes and stuff. This is a decent one for Pia as she’s proper tiny. Harry really is an anti challenge beast. I was wrong about this being good for Pia. Luke wins immunity. And I am honestly so bloody happy. I love Luke Toki. I want him to win so badly. The idea of him getting blindsided by Harry was abhorrent to me.
• Janine has a plan B and it’s pretty obviously Abbey. Harry would rather just take out Janine. He says it would be a huge feather in his cap but here is the thing. I don’t think the jury would see it as his move, more Luke and Abbey’s move to flip first on Simon then on Janine. Baden and Harry tell Abbey that Janine brought up Abbey’s name but Abbey knows that they were in on it as much as Janine and Pia were.
• Abbey goes straight to Luke and lets him know that Baden and Harry were gunning from him. Luke and Abbey have to decide which two to go with. Harry and Baden or Pia and Janine.
• Pia and Janine talk to Luke and Abbey about taking out a contender instead. Luke wants their word they won’t jump and vote with Harry after they vote out Baden here.
• It’s really interesting here, because it truly could go either way as we head to tribal.
• At Tribal Harry talks about how he will be fighting to make sure a Contender wins, which isn’t the best answer if you feel that you are trying to get either pair to vote one of the others out, not just you. Harry says if a Champion feels they are worried they could be the next one blindsided they can jump and vote with them.  Baden asks “what will the Champs do when it’s just Champs?” but the answer is “2-2 fire making” or pick up the last Contender and vote out one of the other pair.
• Luke describes it as the pointy end, who do people want to sit with etc. He says sometimes picking the safest option is the safest option. Harry doesn’t feel safe.
• We see Janine vote for Baden and Harry vote for Janine. I wonder how long it took Harry to think up “you may be the Godmother but I’m the God killer” as a line?
• The vote come in: Baden, Baden, Janine, Janine, God Mother, Janine. Janine is voted out. She laughs about it, because she really is a good sort.
• I don’t really love this move and not just because I am not a fan of Harry. I look at the Contenders on the jury and I would bet you they would vote for whichever contender makes the end game. If it’s Harry and Baden then Baden gets those votes for me. You would need all the Champs to vote for you to win and I don’t think they would if it were Abbey sitting there. Now for Luke it’s a decent move, but I also think that Luke at any final 3 or 2 combo will win.

Episode 22

• The most important new is that yesterday Janine offered $5.50 smoothies to everyone in Australia except Baden, Harry, Luke and Abbey. I stan a hilariously petty queen. And if Janine knows anything it is business. This is good and funny business.
• Abbey’s to do list is to get rid of Pia and win the game. I don’t know if she’ll do either. The Pia winners edit is strong. But this is Australian Survivor where Kristy can Kristy so who knows?
• Harry is coming for Luke, as he is the unstoppable runaway train. He’s not wrong. I disagree that after Luke Harry has the best resume, I’d put Abbey and Pia above him on actual gameplay.
• This isn’t a newsflash but Pia is a very beautiful woman.
• We get a lovely sequence of everyone looking for idols as Luke narrates needing and idol. Then Luke finds a clue that says safety is in a marked coconut in a clearing on the eastern edge of the beach. Luke then takes the machete in front of everyone as they stare suspiciously at him. This isn’t King of the Jungle stuff honestly.
• What he has is Power in the Game. He can choose someone to leave tribal and go back to camp. It then becomes a 4 person vote and the person he removes is safe. If he wins immunity or finds and idol he could send an ally or send himself and not have sway over the vote but be safe.
• Immunity Challenge: it’s trip dominoes: Luke wins. This was a very exciting challenge. I pumped my fist at the result. Look I’m 100% an unashamed Luke stan.
  
• Here is thing kids, if you take out a player like Simon who was strategically inert, for being a challenge threat you open the field for someone else to be a challenge beast.
• Harry, Baden and Abbey are in on Pia. They pinky swear as Pia and Luke stand at camp eating coconut staring at them.
• Luke tells Pia he has something that will move them forward, but he does it very close to camp.
• At Tribal Luke plays the advantage and sends Baden back to camp. I don’t fully get the logic, if he wants it to be Abbey going all he has to do is send Pia and Harry and Baden will jump and vote Abbey off. Although I guess a 2-2 tie not at final 4 would result in rocks not fire making, leading to Harry going home if he doesn’t jump onto Abbey at a revote. (someone please check my maths).
• Luke almost immediately begins whispering in Pia’s ear about the plan. Then in the course of Abbey being asked about how it makes her feel, Luke walks around the seating area and whispers in her ear.
• Luke played this so beautifully. I fully get why he sent Baden not Pia as this is a huge spectacle for the jury. It is flashy as fuck. He played Abbey and Harry against each other beautifully and Abbey flipped, sealing her fate in a 2-1-1 vote. This is catagorically Luke’s move, it makes Harry look clueless, makes Pia look like a follower and leaves Baden out of the loop. Pia must be dreaming of an immunity win because I would really like to go to the end vs Baden or Harry or Baden and Harry. There are 3 contenders votes on the jury and 4 champs now. I don’t see any of those 4 currently there voting for Baden or Harry over Luke or Pia.
• Oh Abbey, what can you say to eulogise her. I will quote Radiohead “You do it to yourself, you do. And that’s what really hurts
  Is that you do it to yourself, just you, You and no one else, you do it to yourself”. This is all on Abbey. Yes she could not have expected Luke’s power, but an idol would have taken her out too. She was a final 3 lock had she not flipped on Simon. Yes, it’s boring, no she couldn’t have won but as Luke said last episode “sometimes the safest route is the safest”.
• We are left with 3 people I would enjoy as a winner and Harry.

Thoughts?

Kemper Boyd

Kemper Boyd became a fan of Survivor after watching Cook Islands because of all the press about the theme, she managed to watch every season by the start of Fiji and has been watching and rewatching ever since.

Favourite seasons: HvV, Pearl Islands, Cook Islands, Micronesia and SJDS.

Favourite players: Sandra, Kim, Nat Anderson, Cirie, Parvarti and because she needs to pick a man, Yul.