Cheat Work Thursday

"IT'S LIKE THE PERFECT CRIME" This feels like the peak weird episode for Laurel. It's great that she's in an alliance, but how is being in an alliance with two people who are way more powerful than her is her only option? Or at the very least, how does ratting out Desiree look good on her or -- I hate to say this -- not make her look like merely Wendell's minion? The episode starts with Desiree's visibility spike. She approaches the original Malolos with a plan to vote out Kellyn, Wendell and Domenick because she didn't come to Fiji to be told what to do. She came to Fiji to make big moves. So far so good. Especially when she realizes that she's on the bottom of the Naviti alliance. But we're pausing that for a bit to get to the reward challenge: a paddling and puzzle challenge (the former usually comes with quality drama eg. Kat and Colton on Blood vs Water). It was a schoolyard pick for two teams of five, which means one person doesn...

"THE SEA SLUG SLUGGER" We start the episode on the night of the Chris vote, with Domenick realizing that he needs to take a step back to avoid painting a target on his back. And the next morning, we witness *gasps* Wendell's winner's edit as he builds a kitchen for the camp. So, things seem to be going well for Wendell, so well that he confesses to Laurel about Domenick's and his own idol. Laurel isn't exactly thrilled to learn that her supposed allies, who seem to have a lot of power in the game, also have two idols between them, and she's only told about it now. So she promises us she'll make a big move, or something. Then it's time for the reward challenge. In a schoolyard pick, two teams race to hit slingshot targets for an afternoon at Survivor's taco hut. And the team of Angela, Chelsea, Donathan, Laurel, Libby and Wendell, which collectively looks to have less muscle compared to the other team, wins. The other team draws rocks, and ...

"FEAR KEEPS YOU SHARP" So it's the merge. They eat, make a toast, make new bonds and reconnect with old friends. One person also raps, and Chris finds a clue stuck in his buff for an idol that has to be retrieved at Ghost Island that night. But they also reconnect with old enemies. Wendell tries to play mediator, hosting a peace talk between Chris and Domenick, hoping that they can start over and work together. But Chris isn't so keen on the plan because why would he at least pretend to be interested for a chance not to be targeted? To be fair, "we can kill each other later" isn't really comforting. But honestly, Chris thinks that he got this. He thinks the majority of people want to work with him, and if he can't be friends with someone, it's only his responsibility to let them know. That night, he manages to sneak out of the camp unnoticed and get the idol from the Ghost Island, which was JT's from Game Changers. So that's alw...

"GOTTA RISK IT FOR THE BISCUIT" The episode starts with Michael finding an idol: the half-burnt Micronesia "f-ing stick" that, apparently, after being incubated for 10 years, has gained some sort of power and transformed into a real idol. Lol seriously, somebody, make this stop. Then we get to the reward challenge to see Malolo lose again, the other two tribes winning steak and chicken kebab, and Bradley barking orders at Donathan. So instead of the usual rocks, Kellyn is picked by Naviti to go to the Ghost Island. And in a rare moment where Chelsea is allowed to speak, she fights her constant need to fall asleep and explains that they want to keep the island's mystery under wraps *rolling my eyes so hard right now*, thus the decision of sending the person who's already been there. This time, Kellyn chooses to play at Ghost Island, winning her an advantage: an extra vote. At Naviti, Bradley is snapping out orders again, wanting the lunch table to...