‘Survivor’ 44 Recap: Shortened Format Has Finally Hit Its Stride

Under the Wing of a Dragon

Season 44 • Episode 9

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 44 Episode 9, “Under the Wing of a Dragon.”]

In Survivor Season 44 Episode 9’s tribal council, Yam Yam said they’re “back to who we are.” While he was talking about the Survivor 44 cast, a return to form is the best way to describe this season’s place in the show’s long history.

Episode 9 marked a massive shift in the game for fan-favorite Carolyn. She’s been struggling to connect with the Va Va members, but she was treated to a long day of connection on the beach, sharing stories of her 13-year sobriety. Longtime Survivor fans must feel good, too, as Season 44 has delivered its fourth straight episode packed with player-driven scenes.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Survivor contestants to spend 14 days of would-be gameplay in quarantine, leaving just 26 days in the competition instead of the usual 39. The frequent plot twists (the hourglass game-changer and other new advantages) were seemingly added to compensate for the lost days. But Season 44 is proving that if you keep the cameras on the players as they connect and strategize, the rest is Survivor gold.

Differences of opinion on how best to play the game make for better, natural drama than any new advantage can provide. Of course, collecting some idols along the way is always good. Episode 9 started with no real idol in play, though Jaime still believed hers was real. Brandon’s was flushed in last week’s episode, and it was a race to find the new one that came back into play as a result. Though Danny looked the longest, Heidi found it. And with her second individual immunity challenge win, Frannie was the only other player with real protection going into tribal (which got nearly 15 full minutes of episode air time this week).

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Everyone else was playing a game of trust. It started with the immunity challenge. Va Va was allowed to sit players out in exchange for rice. Danny didn’t want anyone to risk their chance at immunity, wanting to “be the season” where no one opts out when this deal came along. Carson, on the other hand, wanted to be a person with a full stomach. Fair enough. The full tribe was set to participate in the challenge until heavy rains washed away their resolve.

Carson, Lauren, Kane, and Heidi volunteered to sit out of the challenge — which required contestants to stand on a small block while wedging a ball between their wooden handles and a beam — in exchange for rice for the tribe. Danny, Carolyn, and Carson promised they wouldn’t vote for those who sat out, and Frannie beat Danny for individual immunity in the end (no animosity here — Danny protected Frannie with his idol last week in a rarely hitch-free blindside).

Once they all had food in their bellies, promises made were things of the past. As Kane — the Dungeons & Dragons lover who’s yet to vote someone out — told the cameras, “These peoples’ word means literally nothing to me,” later adding, “This is the debut of Kane Fritz as a strategist because I have not voted someone off this island yet. And if I wanna win this damn game, I’ve gotta start voting people out.”

Kane was determined to be on the right side of the vote, but all his alliance eggs were in his one Ratu basket. With Brandon’s elimination cutting down their numbers, Ratu was no longer running things — and everyone on Tika and Soka were keen to keep this pattern going. With no strong alliances outside of his former tribe, no one told Kane that his name was on the chopping block.

Danny took a back seat this week’s deliberations, opting to lay low after orchestrating the Brandon blindside. When Heidi and Carson suggested to him and Carolyn that they vote Kane out, they remained silent. Notably, they promised they wouldn’t vote for anyone who sat out in the challenge, including Kane. Carson made the same promise, but the bets were off as mentioned.

Robert Voets/CBS

The logic behind getting Kane out was his “gamer” strategy and physical strength. But the real reason was simply that he was on Ratu, Lauren had made a better impression outside of party lines, and they all thought Jaime had an idol (again, it’s a fake — her chyron confirmed it). The former members of Tika, Soka, and Ratu each displayed different strategies for the night’s elimination.

Tika, “the three stooges,” were playing the middle. Yam Yam wanted Kane out in his quest to eliminate everyone who had voted for him. Notably, he’s three for three on this front. Josh, Matt, and Brandon — the last three players voted out — all previously voted for Yam Yam. And now, he has his sights set on Kane. Carolyn didn’t see the logic in voting out Kane; she wanted Danny out instead. Ever since Brandon and Danny iced her out at their feast, she’s been gunning for their removal, as well as anyone else who sides with the “muscle bros.” “I’m sick of him! That’s why I’m voting him out, OK?” she told the cameras. As for Carson, he wanted to flush out Jaime’s (fake) idol but could be convinced to change his plan.

On the Ratu side, Lauren wanted Heidi out. With the support of Kane, she gave her extra vote to Jaime to use on Heidi. Jaime gave Kane her “idol” in case a Knowledge is Power advantage was played. And as for Soka, Danny was riding the majority vote wave, his vote seemingly being determined by the vibe at tribal. Frannie was the first to note Tika’s comfortable spot playing in the middle, saying they needed to be split up before everyone else ended up in the jury. She pitched a split-vote plan to vote Yam Yam out, but Danny told her, “Tika is no threat right now. Ratu has an extra vote advantage and an idol. Going after Tika right now is illogical.”

“It feels like Frannie’s taking sides against the family,” he added in confessional.

Another trait that sets this cast apart: their honesty. Nothing really sneaky is happening between these players. Sure, they all go off for private chats, but other than revealing who they’re voting for, this cast is pretty blunt in tribal council.

Host Jeff Probst and the players were aware that their season was exciting. Kane said he’d choose a “chaotic” season over a tame one any day, and Danny agreed. When you make it onto Survivor, you don’t want it to be a walk in the park. Frannie said the feeling at the beach was “electric,” and after Yam Yam brought the laughs again in the group talk, Jaime said this vote is “gonna be good.” And good it was.

Robert Voets/CBS

Kane admitted to Jeff that he didn’t think the promises made in the challenge would be kept. As Jeff said, “I did hear Danny say ‘scout’s honor,’” Danny replied, “Yeah, I’m not a scout, Jeff.” Lauren called out Heidi for lying to her in the past, no one really held back their feelings when it was their time to talk, and in an always exciting turn, players started whispering questions to each other, descending tribal into chaos.

Even the editing team got in on the fun. When Kane started whispering to Frannie, causing Carolyn to panic mildly, Jeff asked Yam Yam if the side chats were concerning. “Yes, I want some subtitles to see what’s going on,” he said. The editors obliged, having Yam Yam’s words scrawl across the screen as he said them.

More subtitles revealed that Kane didn’t know what the plan was. Carolyn said the plan was Danny. And then everyone scattered to get in on the talks. Among the madness, Yam Yam said, “I wanted to do this all my life.”

“I have the best seat,” Jeff said. “I get to see it all.” He took the words right out of our mouths.

With no obvious consensus, the vote was a pure guessing game for viewers (and honestly, isn’t that more fun?). Kane looked confused as the first vote went to him. The lack of agreement became clearer when the second vote went to Heidi, and the third to Jaime. Another vote went to Kane, and Danny was shocked when a vote came for him. With three votes for Heidi and five for Kane, Kane became the third member of the jury.

“Enjoy your rice, you bitches,” he quipped on his way out.

In Season 44, it’s just as much fun to watch the players enjoy themselves as it is to watch the drama play out. After a couple of seasons of format experimentation, it seems Survivor has finally hit its shortened-season stride.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS

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