Here are a few notes from my Episode 3 rewatch.

During the Immunity Challenge, we saw Andy take a spotlight role, doing the solo run on the water obstacle course. He had trouble crossing the balance beam. First, he fell off when he went too fast just as one of the Gata women yelled “Take your time!” When he surfaced, we can see and hear Rachel yelling “It’s ok Andy, you got this!” On his next try he went slower and made it halfway across. But then, we heard someone yell “Run!” nine times (Nine times Mrs. Bueller). In the background, we can see Gata members Rachel, Sierra, Sam and Anika. It’s hard to tell, but I didn’t see any of their mouths moving. Sierra isn’t even looking at Andy. If I’m right about this, it means someone on Lavo or Tuku yelled at Andy to run. Andy picked up his pace and slipped off the beam. His foot went into the water, and he had to start again. The voice sounded like Anika’s, but I can’t be sure. Either way, someone sabotaged Andy, who listened, sped up, and fell, slowing Gata down even more.

I listened back to it several times. It sounds like a female voice. Caroline and Tiyana were waiting to run their leg for Tuku, but they were furthest away from Andy and might not have even been able to see him. Gabe and Sue were in the water swimming towards the crates. Sol and Teeny were waiting on Lavo’s starting platform. Kishan and Aysha were climbing up the net ladder when Andy fell the 2nd time. They could see Andy from where they were, but Aysha was having trouble climbing up the net. Kyle and Rome had finished their legs and weren’t looking at Andy’s progress. However, Kishan has a high voice too. It could have been him.

Gata recovered from Andy’s slow start. They pulled into 2nd place when Aysha struggled on the beam. Gata rallied to finish in 1st place thanks in part to Rachel’s lightning -fast puzzle skills. Rachel has turned out to be quite the efficient puzzle master. That’s great for now but could be a reason to remove her in a few votes, or if she falls on the wrong side of a swap.

On another note, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the reason Teeny and Kishan chose not to tell Aysha and Sol about Rome’s Steal-A-Vote Advantage. They were both already out on Aysha. They chose to tell her about Rome’s Idol. But when that revelation didn’t convince Aysha to be open to their idea of booting Sol, there was no reason to fill her in about Rome’s newest Advantage. Teeny and Kishan followed my advice. They kept the vote they have a chance of influencing (Rome), and removed the vote they couldn’t influence (Aysha).

Aysha slammed the door on Teeny and Kishan. While there were several justifiable reasons for Aysha to keep pushing to vote for Genevieve, she still violated a rule of basic Survivor strategy: If someone pitches an idea to you, you should say “yes.” If Aysha had said “yes,” even if she didn’t mean it, that might have stopped Teeny and Kishan from flipping the vote back to her. But saying “no” meant Teeny and Kishan had no choice but to formulate a plan that didn’t include Aysha. If Aysha had appeared to be more cooperative, she might have been able to massage the vote a different way. At a minimum, she’d be in the game instead of Sol. Being in the game is better than the alternative. Kishan and Teeny expressed this perfectly after they spoke to Aysha - Kishan: “She was not budging.” Teeny: “She was not hearing us.” You should never want your alliance partners to say that about you.

So, this means three straight players have talked their way out of the game so far. Jon did it by trying to save obvious first boot Andy, which turned Sam against him. TK did it with every word he spoke to Tiyana, Gabe and Sue, which turned them all against him. And Aysha did it by refusing to vote for anyone but Genevieve, which turned Teeny and Kishan against her. All three of them turned someone who wanted to work with them into someone who realized they couldn’t. Who’ll be next to shoot a verbal bullet into their foot? Rome and Anika are clear favorites here for Lavo and Gata. My money is on Sue for Tuku. She’s got “inflexible” written all over her face. Let’s see how it plays out.

And away we go ...

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In the “previously on” recap, we see Teeny voted for Sol because she didn’t want to write Aysha’s name down. She voted for Sol instead. Will there be blowback from Sol? Should she have thrown her vote away on Kishan instead?

As soon as they get back to camp, Teeny addresses Sol publicly. I think it might have been better to pull him aside and come clean because now everyone knows Sol could be pissed off at Teeny. But her damage control worked. It looks like Sol will still work with her.

Rome is sounding so cocky. I wouldn’t be surprised if he threw the Immunity Challenge just so he can steal Sol’s vote.

Sam isn’t a good rapper, but he’s better than Chris Noble from Ghost Island. He’s better than Rome, too.

In confessional, Sierra says she’s not gonna let the possibility that the other tribes think she and Sam are dating get into her head. But when she’s around Sam and Andy, she’s showing it’s in her head.

So, the Gata women are calling themselves "The Breadwinners alliance?" That’s a little cocky. Earlier this season in confessional, Sam said “I love Anika taking the leadership role mainly because I don’t want it. I want to be the 'Glue guy.' Every sports team knows what a 'Glue guy' is. They’re not the best or worst on the team. They find their way somewhere in the middle, but somehow the team just doesn’t function the same without them.” It sounds to me like Sam’s game plan is working.

Rachel is all in with the women, but she should also be taking advantage of the fact that Andy trusts her.

Sue: “I’m here for the journey and the thrill of it.” There have been a ton of “just there for the adventure” players. They usually don’t win. Last season, Liz lied to everyone and claimed she was a millionaire. Everyone believed her lie, which kept her in the game for a long time. They thought she was there for the adventure. But I also think it caused several to write her off as not having a chance to win. Sue should be wary of how she presents this to others.

Sue finds a Beware Advantage, but she doesn’t have to jump through as many hoops as Gabe, Rome and Sam did. Take note, future Survivor players. The first Idol isn’t worth the work needed to get it, but every subsequent Idol might be. Stay with the group and form those bonds first.

Oops, I spoke too soon. Sue could literally get caught red handed since the Idol is covered in red paint. Drea in Survivor 42 had a similar dilemma when she found a Knowledge Is Power Advantage. She got caught.

And right on cue, Sue gets caught with red paint on her face and hair. She should have gone straight to the ocean to clean up. Maybe then Tiyana and Caroline might suspect one of the guys was responsible for all the red blotches around the Well.

Everyone on Lavo is Idol hunting. Isn’t it interesting that if someone goes Idol hunting on day 1, everyone else uses that info to put a target on that person. But once they suspect a new Idol has been hidden, it’s no-shame open season. Nobody is worried about the Idol hunter anymore.

I’m absolutely loving watching Sol call Rome on his BS every time. Why does Rome think he can fool Sol? Does he really think he can convince Sol not to look for an Idol at all?

Sol: “Can I have a minute alone?” Rome: “No, I don’t have to.” I’ll say it for Sol. Rome is an asshole. Teeny knows it too. He’s losing points with everyone in his own alliance in the process.

Genevieve put it perfectly: “Rome has ruffled all these feathers. I can only make the case for Rome so many times before it ends up being a case against me.” We saw this a little last season when Maria kept protecting Q. In fact, even Russell Hantz was able to recognize why he couldn’t protect the annoying and racist Ben in Samoa. Russell cut him loose before the merge.

Sam: “As long as Andy is coming back to me with information, he can stay around in my book.” That sounds like something Sam will regret when Andy spontaneously blurts out something that hurts Sam’s game.

Sierra: Andy is such a sloppy player. Do I really want to work with him, but I’m still up in the air, and it’s driving me nuts.” That’s why you should have kept Jon around instead.

Sierra tells Andy about the “Breadwinners” nickname. I want to pull out a stopwatch to see how quickly Andy lets that slip to others.

Andy to Sam: “They’re calling themselves ‘The Breadwinners.” 17 seconds. I counted that in my head. I don’t really have a stopwatch handy.

And just like that, some of the trust between Sam and Sierra has been eroded. That’s just another reason why Andy isn’t a good long-term alliance partner. He’s not a good short-term partner either.

Cool, an Immunity Challenge with completely new elements. This window frame thing is a first-timer in U.S. Survivor. Probst says the fire puzzle is new too, but I think we’ve seen it before. Cochran solved a fire puzzle for Immunity in Caramoan. John Cody and Laura Morett solved one in Blood vs Water. Jaclyn and Brad Culpepper solved one for Final 4 Immunity in San Juan Del Sur and Game Changers, respectively. There was also one in Island of the Idols in a Reward Challenge. I told you I was unreasonably obsessed with Survivor, didn’t I?

Once again, Lavo is in the middle, and can look at the other tribe’s puzzles for tips. Why does Survivor always put the same tribe in the middle? Is it that hard to rotate them from challenge to challenge?

Lavo had the right idea by putting one person (Teeny) on the side. They can steer their cube straighter that way.

Sol, Kyle and Sam take the spotlight roles. They have to assemble their frames. Climbing up the cube wasn’t as big a role because Rome, Kyle and Anika didn’t have to untie knots, they just had to unclip their bags.

Genevieve started digging before Probst said Lavo could begin.

We’ve got four of the same people working the spotlight puzzle role as last week: Caroline & Gabe for Tuku, and Anika and Rachel for Gata. Rome and Genevieve work their first puzzle together for Lavo.

Rome is looking comically bad on the puzzle. This makes me think he’s throwing the challenge. Sol: “That not the right piece, Rome.”

Sol: “I’ve never seen this on Survivor.” You haven’t been paying attention my man. There have been a lot of thrown challenges. If I’m Sol, I just shout it out to everyone that Rome is throwing the challenge. Rome is clearly sabotaging you, so why not get some instant payback?

Cue Rome’s gloating confessional about how well “I fooled Sol” in 3 ... 2 ...

Oh wait, we have a Journey now. Probst confirms it has to be someone who hasn’t already gone on one. Has this always been a rule? Is this just the first time we’ve seen Probst acknowledge it on the broadcast?

Gata sends Andy, which is the worst decision for Anika, unless he loses his vote. Teeny and Caroline also go, and Teeny doesn’t look happy about it.

I wonder if Kishan, Sol and Genevieve could be so fed up with Rome they vote him out? If those three people are together, it won’t matter if Rome steals Sol’s vote.

Genevieve gets the post-challenge confessional. I guess I was wrong about seeing Rome gloat. I’m not disappointed.

Sam and Sierra disagree on killing a chicken. This reminds me of the Jenn vs Joey Amazing battle over chickens from Worlds Apart. Jenn got pissed off, wandered off and found an Idol. She also started losing trust in Joe. Could the same happen this season?

Kishan suggests to Rome that they serve up Genevieve as a decoy vote to fool Sol. The next step would be to leak to Genevieve that it was Rome’s suggestion. That’s a great way to get Genevieve angry at Rome, if that’s what Kishan wants to happen. But Rome would rather straight up threaten Sol. Good lord, Rome is a dick. Props to Kishan for encouraging Rome to keep killing his own game.

Kishan: “Rome thinks its his show, and I’m starting to get sick of it. I can trust him now, can I trust him in the future?” NO! Get rid of him! I don’t think you can trust him now! If he’s so eager and willing to threaten Sol, he’ll do the exact same thing to anyone else. Don’t make the mistake of thinking “He won’t do that to me.” Rome has made it so blatantly obvious he thinks everyone else is there to work FOR him instead of WITH him, you almost have no choice. Again, keep the vote you can manipulate (Sol), and remove the vote you can’t (Rome).

And that’s exactly what Kishan pitches to Genevieve and Sol. He even thought through the possibility of Teeny losing her vote. I’m really starting to like Kishan now.

What if Teeny picks up a Knowledge Is Power Advantage, and takes Rome’s Steal-A-Vote? That would be extra sweet.

I expected Andy to blab information about Gata on the Journey, but why is Caroline so eager to do it too?

Dammit! A forced Journey followed by a forced vote loss for at least one player, and with an hourglass too??? As Mike White would say, “This is not fun to watch.”

And all they get is a powerless Amulet??? So, if Teeny gets voted out, Andy and Caroline get nothing??? And even if they’re all activated, only one person gets protected??? This sucks more than the Edge of Extinction, with a Turn Back Time Hourglass AND a Do or Die dice!

Ok, after hearing Teeny read the entire note, it’s a little different. It’s not completely powerless, but still, only one person can benefit from it. So, this is a forced risk and a forced alliance with only one person getting a Reward. They all have to lie to their tribes too. I think I hate this twist more than I hate Rome at this moment. Caroline and Andy come clean to their tribes about their ability to form a new alliance? Why would they do that?

Genevieve didn’t even consider that Rome could be lying about Kishan suggesting she be the decoy vote. That’s a bad sign, even if he was telling the truth. She should know how much he loves to lie.

Genevieve warns Rome. She just killed my anticipatory celebration. Does she really think she can convince Sol to work with Rome now? Genevieve pissed me off with this one, but I understand why she did it. It’s too bad she doesn’t realize she’s choosing to work FOR Rome instead of for someone else.

I have no idea who is leaving tonight, and that means this is a good episode, even though it pissed me off on multiple levels.

Probst is questioning Rome like he suspects Rome threw the challenge too.

Rome: “Everyone that knows me in real life ...” In my experience, anytime I hear that phrase, I think I’m about to hear some bullshit. Even if he’s being truthful, this is NOT how he’s being while playing Survivor. His statement is meaningless.

Rome steals Kishan’s vote. Whoever gets voted out (Kishan or Sol) doesn’t really matter here because there’s no way the other one will ever stick with Rome at a swap or merge. Rome has also given Teeny huge incentive to cut ties to him too because he clearly cut her out of this plan. Rome really is bad at this game. Genevieve didn’t really do herself any favors either. She’s probably lost any long-term options with Teeny and whoever survives this vote too. The next vote is a 2-2 crapshoot unless someone finds an Idol.

This really sucks for Kishan. It sucks for Teeny too because since she was forced to go on a Journey, she was completely powerless. I have the same question for the Producers.

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Recap

In my preseason preview, I speculated that Rome would be playing to the cameras as opposed to playing to win. There’s zero doubt in my mind about that now. He wants to be invited to play again. He doesn’t care about winning this season. He’s looking to build a brand for himself. I’m sure of it. Nobody who wants to win Survivor is so willing to burn bridges and mistreat people as effortlessly as Rome is doing. Rome is the type who’ll after-the -fact claim he was playing a character all season long once he realizes how much the audience dislikes him. I call that the Abi-Maria syndrome.

Phillip did the same thing when he played in Redemption Island to great success. He got invited to play again. He wrote a spy book and changed the release date to coincide with the premiere of his second season in Caramoan. I’m sure Rome has something similar planned. Redemption Island is almost unwatchable because of Phillip and Boston Rob’s “amazing luck” that carried him to a win. I hope this season doesn’t go that route.

Ok, end of rant.

I thought Kishan had the makings of an elite-level Survivor player, but he got burned with the first move he made. He misread Genevieve and paid the price. At least he had a good attitude about it. Genevieve didn’t play this very well either. While she knows Rome is a great smoke screen, she’s also fully aware of how much he can hurt her game by remaining connected to him. It makes no sense that she’d leave Teeny out of the loop. Why should Teeny trust her any further? Why should Sol? At least Teeny has another option with these Amulets. What does Genevieve do if her connection to Rome blows up? Now she’s facing a 2-2 vote if Lavo loses again.

On a lesser level, Andy threatens to do the same thing on Gata. The decision to keep him over Jon has already caused some damage. I’m not sure if the Amulet will help or hurt him, but Teeny and Caroline already know how unstable and volatile he can be. The Amulet twist doesn’t figure to pay off either because Caroline and Andy chose to be honest about it. I’m sure the Producers were hoping to create a secret alliance when the three players started protecting each other. But when two tribes know what’s up, doesn’t that reduce the potential for an entertaining resolution?

What do you think? Are you as convinced as I am that Rome threw the challenge? Is Rome playing to build himself as a brand like Phillip was? Or does Rome think he’s coming off as lovable to the audience like Abi-Maria did? What’s Teeny’s best option now? How should Tiyana play it with her suspicion about Sue? Is the Sam/Sierra connection doomed to blow up now? Have you had enough of Rome already? Let me know in the comments.