Don’t Bet on Blondes: Survivor Ghost Island Episode 3 Review

An action packed night of season firsts including swaps, rocks, and #blindsides. Relive the drama in Tristan Kelly’s recap of Survivor Ghost Island Episode 3. Never, ever trust a blonde!

The title for this week’s recap is stolen from a 1935 American rom-com about a sordid love triangle between two duelling punters and a charming blonde actress. It involves a contentious sum of $50,000, some unusual insurance scams, and a last minute wedding switch up… Sound familiar? Well to be honest, I’ve never seen it, and probably never will – but I am a blond… Much like Libby in this week’s episode of Survivor, who becomes the star of the show in a duel between Domenick and Chris that ends in a brutally unexpected blindside. Episode 3 of Survivor Ghost Island is an absolute cracker, so pour yourself a mimosa, find a comfy spot, and take some time out to enjoy the moments that matter!

Catch up on all the action from last week’s episode by checking out our review of Survivor Ghost Island Episode 2: Sleep is for the Weak…

We Are Switching Things Up

As the Malolo gang return from Tribal, James declares that he’s emotionally drained from a “roller coaster” day… Admirably, he holds no disdain towards the allies who penned his name, respecting the notion that he deserved to be their sacrificial lamb. Thankfully, after a few words of renewed support, he then makes a pledge to his friends to “try” not to hate himself anymore. This guy is just an all round nice bloke.

“Being raised in a Korean-American household has taught me to take ownership of my failure but I’m glad I’m still here – I’m ready to fight for another day… ” – James

The concept of honour certainly runs thick through James’ veins, and if he can make it far enough, I think he’ll do a tremendous job of winning over the respect of a jury.

The next morning, Jeff gathers the tribes together for an impromptu chat that is clearly an excuse to enact an obvious hidden agenda… Donathan returns from Ghost Island, Libby jokes about Malolo still growing into their status as Survivor’s greatest tribe, and Bradley gloats about Naviti’s cohesive harmony. The sum of these comments of course makes it the perfect time for Jeff to switch things up. Drop your buffs cobbers, this game is about to get a whole lot more complicated!

On paper, the old Malolo crew seem to have been dealt a massive blow by this swap, ending up outnumbered on both tribes within 4-5 minorities. However, Survivor is never that simple – particularly when you have a duelling Chris and Domenick washing up together on the same tribe… So as the new groups begin to mingle, Angela sheds a few tears over the Naviti family being torn apart, and Kellyn expresses her keenness to open up a few more “treasure boxes of love.” She also reckons it would be totally epic to just knock out the old Malolos “one by one…” I can’t say I agree with her sentiments.

New Kids On The Block

At the new Malolo, the five Naviti interlopers aren’t impressed by their new digs, swiftly tearing the camp to shreds like a pack of spoiled brats. Kellyn even compares the situation to being forced to swoon over another person’s ugly baby. Which is a little bit harsh – although Bradley takes it to the next level by relentlessly pining to Brendan in his monotonic drone about how wonderful life was on the other side. Needless to say, the PE teacher is not amused.

“This is Survivor – it’s supposed to be hard. I don’t quite understand why it’s shocking to these people…” – Brendan

It seems to me that the ex-Navitis are making the classic folly of an overconfident majority… In such a fragile game, why would you annoy potential post merge allies and jury members over something so trivial?

Meanwhile at the new Naviti, the vibe couldn’t be better… The ex-Malolos are thrilled to be given the grand tour of their new ‘two fire pit’ estate, before Donathan sets his eyes upon the “most beautiful view” he’s ever seen. To give Bradley and Kellyn a small amount of credit, the Naviti camp does look a whole lot more impressive than Malolo’s, but in the words of one of my favourite musicians, Frank Turner: “As soon as you’re sleeping, what does it matter what mattress you happen to be sleeping on?” Or in this case, a rather uncomfortable stack of bamboo. Toughen up suckers, this isn’t ‘Escape To The Country’.

Anyway, it doesn’t take long for the old Chris V Domenick feud to resurface – this time in the form of the male model hatching a scheme with Angela to grab the four ex-Malolos to blindside Dom. The plan is fine, but Chris’s delivery leaves a lot to be desired. He basically ends up just ruffling Angela’s feathers by barking down orders along the lines of: ‘If you want to win, you need to do this and you need to do that…’ It’s definitely not the way to get a loyal straight shooter to flip the game. He does, however, earn points for beating Domenick in the race to proposition the ex-Malolos, proceeding to tell them about Dom’s idol before planting a pivotal seed of concern into James’ mind:

“I guarantee you he’s going to try to swoop everybody… You live in New York – you get it. He is a New Yorker – I’ve been onto him since Day One.” – Chris

It always pays to get into bed with the newcomers first. Although Libby isn’t completely sold on Chris yet, explaining to the camera that she’s willing to play the impressionable dumb blonde card to him, but she certainly isn’t prepared to actually be a “dumb blonde.” The game is heating up!

A Cracking Sunrise

Whilst admiring Mother Nature’s artwork at Malolo, Stephanie J decides it’s time to search for a crack in the ex-Naviti majority. Unfortunately, Desiree, Sea Bass, and Chelsea are still being portrayed by the editors as actual ghosts, and Bradley is too preoccupied with complaining about the state of the camp: “Well you guys have like diiiirrrrt… We have saaand everywhere.” This guy is insufferable. Stephanie’s last resort, Kellyn, is also of no use to the original Malolos, shutting down any potential strategy talk with a ‘that’s just the luck of the draw’ spiel:

“None of us are going to flip on purple, so like, it just sucks for you guys to be like, five-four…” – Kellyn

Not to worry though, while the cocky ex-Navitis are lazing around their supposedly dilapidated new camp, gloating about the ease in which they’ll be able to pick off the Malolos, some funky idol searching music kicks in!

“We go on a mad dash – we just run off into the woods!” – Stephanie J

Stripy Steph narrates the scene with tremendous energy as she and Jenna search for a lifeline, but unfortunately the Survivor Gods aren’t willing to part with their bounty until they enlist the help of their allies, Michael and Brendan. Cruelly in the absence of Stripes and Jenna, the 18 year old is the one who’s ultimately rewarded, when he uncovers an eerily familiar square package from the base of a tree. Yeah baby, you guessed it! It’s one of the two idols from James’ pocket that he was famously blindsided with in 2007’s Survivor: China.

This week’s history lesson is an absolute beauty – compounded by the fact that China was the first season that Michael watched when he was just eight years old. What an incredible feeling it would be to have in your hands such an iconic Survivor relic 11 years later! The archive footage looks beautifully aged and takes me back to a time when I was a fresher at college, rocking up to the occasional medicine lecture, of course always hungover… And therein lies the brilliance of the ‘Ghost Island’ theme; it provides a love letter to fans that showcases the extraordinary social impact that Survivor has had on the world over its 18 year continuous run. It remains, and arguably will always remain to be, the greatest social experiment on television screens.

Meanwhile back at Naviti, Morgan is freaking out about Chris’s impending defection, so makes up a scheme with Domenick to reel in the Malolo Four in order to take out one of their own. She approaches Libby and makes a pact to stick together as only two good “catholic girls” should – and all of a sudden Libby has Morgan’s fate in her hands. It’s funny that Wendell later says (after Naviti loses a member to Ghost Island) that he’s not willing to go to rocks by forcing a 4-4 tie – but in a way by choosing to fight for the Malolo vote against Chris, he’s effectively allowing Libby and co to pick a rock for him… There are of course more complex considerations involved surrounding short term risk versus long term reward, but either way, the Naviti crew have forfeited their control of the game to the winds of chance. Anyway, I’ve jumped the gun a bit – we still have to get to the immunity challenge… This episode is packed to the brim!

Immunity & Ghost Rocks

Today’s challenge is an epic physical battle involving jumping over ramped walls, digging up a “very tall” ladder in the sand, retrieving a rope from a high up place, using it to climb up a giant wall, and then scaling a final platform to solve the usual great equalising puzzle. It’s easily the challenge of the season so far, providing an entertaining breather from the intense strategical element of the episode. Naviti lag behind from the early stages thanks to poor old James’ struggle to progress through the ramped walls, but thankfully Donathan quickly bridges the gap by dominating in the rope retrieval component (validating Stephanie’s comment last episode that it would be beneficial to keep a ‘little person’ around to shove into things). As we reach the puzzle, it’s Wendell and Laurel for Naviti, holding a slight advantage over Kellyn and Bradley for Malolo. There’s some great banter between Jeff and Wendell as Naviti begins to choke: “Don’t say that Probst…” “I’m just calling what I see!” However, the damage is already done thanks to Kellyn making light work of the puzzle to bring home the idol for Malolo.

Ghost Island time! Now that the tribes have been mixed up there’s an extra layer of complexity surrounding the decision of who to send to the ghouls… Do you guarantee the safety of an ally? Or do you reduce the voting power of a rival alliance? How does a fragmented group even agree to nominate a single candidate?  As it turns out, Jeff informs the group that if they can’t come to a unanimous decision, the choice will be determined by none other than the Survivor Gods and their infamous bag of rocks! The ex-Navitis swiftly suggest Donathan’s name, however, Stephanie wisely dissents to force a rock draw. I love the suspense!

In the perfect result for prolonged dramatic tension, Chris draws the white rock and is exiled to Ghost Island. The showdown against Domenick will have to wait for yet another episode, and interestingly, the ex-Naviti/Malolo division is now split evenly down the new tribe at 4-4. Anything could happen and Morgan is “FREAKING out!” A complex afternoon of moves and counter moves awaits!

Frankly I’m Spooked

Chris arrives to Ghost Island, lamenting the fact that his plan to blindside Dom will likely fall through without his ongoing input back at camp. Furthermore, the spirits disappoint him by once again refusing to offer a game. Bummer times…

“Day 9 just turned into a nightmare… Frankly I’m spooked about it.” – Chris

One of the many great things about Ghost Island is that it provides a relatively organic opportunity for each character sent there to share a little bit of information about their back story… For Chris, the moment of isolation also allows him to take a short break from the game, and address a few of his internal emotions. He talks about his mum’s battle with MS and how he is drawing upon her strength to remain positive throughout the day to day struggles of Survivor. This reflection ultimately inspires Chris to expel all of the negative energy he’s accumulated over the past 8 days, and basically “reboot” himself for the next phase of the game. In my preseason analysis I was quite critical of Chris as a character, but after three episodes I’ve now decided that I actually really like him. How the tide has turned!

The Next Russel Hantz?

After binge watching multiple past seasons to prepare for his game, the memory of Survivor’s greatest villain is fresh on James’ mind:

“I see Domenick almost as a Russel Hantz 2.0. I truly think that he is capable of lying straight to my face…” – James

To set the scene, Domenick returns from the challenge whinging about not being able to vote Chris out due to his “big head” being safely rested on a “big bed” at Ghost Island. Angela is freaking out about Chris’s treacherous scheme, so divulges everything to Wendell, expressing her desire to stay ‘Navitit’ strong  by placing four votes onto Libby and forcing a rock draw if necessary. However, Wendell is suspicious that she’s still working for Chris so approaches Morgan to hatch a scheme to take Angela out (and in doing so weaken Chris’s position in the game). Morgan is confident that Libby is 100% on board with them (and by association all of the other Malolos), so in theory the Naviti crew have nothing to worry about – voting out one of their own should prove to the Malolo Four that they can be trusted.

However, Domenick perhaps tries to pedal the trust card a little too hard when he comes clean to James and Libby about the fake idol he showed to Chris… James’ spider senses are now tingling! He correctly suggests to Libby that Domenick could be showing them the fake idol to throw them off the scent of having a real one. Libby isn’t worried about that though, and proceeds to throw out one of the most commonly repeated stupid Survivor lines: “I doubt he has a real idol…” To which James makes the perfect response: “You doubt it, but what if he does?”

Concerned that the ex-Navitis could be pulling a swifty on his alliance, James develops a complicated countermove against Morgan to maximise the Malolo Four’s long term security in the game. Libby now has a dilemma though, as she was just starting to form a blossoming partnership with her new catholic buddy, Morgan. James understands this, but stresses to her that whatever route they go down, the four ex-Malolos have no choice but to stick together. Now, in an attempt to unpack and simplify the afternoon’s scheming, here is a colour coded pictorial representation!

So essentially, this vote is still a duel between Domenick and Chris but is complicated by a 4-4 Malolo/Naviti split (due to Chris being on Ghost Island), in addition to the strong bond that is developing between Libby and Morgan. The potential outcomes are as follows:

1. Chris’s scheme (white): The Malolo Four and Angela blindside Domenick… This isn’t going to happen though due to Angela’s hesitation.
2. Angela’s scheme (purple): Naviti stay strong and force a 4-4 tie between Libby and Domenick… Those two would then become immune in a rock draw tiebreaker, giving everyone else a one in six chance of going home. This option doesn’t really benefit anyone in the game long term so seems unlikely.
3. Domenick’s scheme (black/orange)… A unanimous vote for Angela, and then the same for Chris at the next tribal. Domenick wins the duel and then coaxes Libby over to turn on her ex-Malolos.
4. James’ scheme (orange/white)… Assuming that Angela will be voting for Libby, and the Domenick trio will be voting for Angela, the Malolo Four can take control of the game by blindsiding Morgan or Wendell in a 4-3-1 split. Morgan is the primary candidate due to Wendell’s supposed challenge strength. Ultimately, this move weakens Domenick’s position in the game whilst keeping him around as a focus of attention for Chris, and also mobilises Angela to join them at the next vote when she discovers the Naviti betrayal. The Malolo Four can then theoretically maintain a majority for the rest of the pre-merge game. Mad props to James for this idea – after analysing the move it’s actually pretty brilliant!
5. Libby goes against her Malolo allies to join forces with Morgan and votes out Angela in a 4-3-1 split.

Based on what has transpired during the episode, options four or five seem the most likely – so as it turns out, it all comes down to Libby’s decision… Does she betray her original Malolo alliance by voting out Angela? Or does she betray her new ally Morgan by going along with James’ plan? As the episode title suggests, only time will tell.

Stepping Out Of The Kitchen

At long last, it’s time for tribal! At the time I had no idea what was going to happen, and was hoping that Angela would get the boot – partly because she was my number one pick for the week, and partly because Wendell and Morgan are two of my faves! However, after a day to process the result I’m happy with the events that transpired… So in short, there’s a bit of chat about the 4-4 split, everyone talks about ‘getting out of the kitchen’, Angela freaks out about Chris, James remains cooly calculated, and Morgan finishes every sentence with an exclamation mark:

“Right now we can all be sitting here completely lying, or we could be telling the truth! Are we good actors and actresses or are we being real!? Only time will tell!” – Morgan

Jeff probes Libby about her ability to lie, and then it is time to vote! Domenick doesn’t play his idol, James executes his trademark knowing nod, and Libby looks nervous… One vote for Libby, three votes for a shocked Angela, and then four fatal blows for Morgan in the season’s first #blindside. Wow. According to Jeff: “That is how you play Survivor.” I wasn’t convinced at the time but as I mentioned before, the move is brilliant. Eliminating Morgan causes maximum destruction to the old Naviti tribe by breaking up a strong trio in addition to revealing a betrayal to Angela, and keeping the Domenick V Chris duel alive and kicking. In a parting blow to Libby, Morgan warns everyone not to “trust the cute blonde” before willing her cursed legacy advantage to Domenick. The tribe has finally spoken.

Previously/Next Time on TTHS:

In our Preseason Boot List I had Morgan ranked in 14th position as a player who seemed super friendly but potentially outclassed within an extremely strong field… This isn’t too far from the truth, but ultimately I think she just landed unluckily in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ll score myself a B.

You can catch up on all of our preseason predictions by checking out our Survivor Ghost Island First Impressions series.

 Next up, we’ll be presenting our Week 2 edition of The Boot List!
Check back soon for an updated report card on every player’s game to date, along with our predicted rankings from most likely winner to most likely next boot.

In the meantime, you can join the discussion below or chat with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Survivor Ghost Island continues in Australia on 9Go @ 8:30pm Thursday March 15 (available for streaming on 9now from 3pm).

Tristan Kelly is a 29 year old ex-doctor turned writer, based in Perth, Western Australia. During his final year of medical school he famously watched and analysed every available episode of Survivor (all 368 of them at the time), probably making him more qualified as a Survivor commentator than he ever was a doctor. In between writing and editing, he now spends most of his time organising various schemes and fantasising about one day winning the game.