Survivor 44 Recap: Carolyn Gets Cautious (2023)

There's something you should know about Carolyn. I almost don't want to tell you in person. I can't do the story justice. You really need to hear this directly from her, sotake a look herefor the scoop straight from the source. And when I use the word "scoop"...well, let's just say there's a reason Carolyn orders chocolate ice cream.

So this rumor shared by Carolyn at this link is quite remarkable. I don't think I have a single story from my entire life that can compete with that. But here's the thing: I bet Carolyn has amillionsShe dispenses other stories like this one with frightening regularity. That would be the best story everMeinLife, for Carolyn, felt like a normal weekday. And it's not a particularly noteworthy day of the week, either. It was like a Tuesday when it comes to Carolyn stories. And her story about digging through her son's poopthree days longFinding a swallowed tooth is probably a Thursday at best. The hits keep coming!

I mention all of this because a reality TV hoax almost played out on our TV screens this week. Apparently sometime during the pandemicsurvivorwent into his top secret lab, combined the DNA of Wendy Shirk, Kathy Sleckman and Noura Salman - and the result was Carolyn Wiger. They premiered this little slice of reality TV perfection last week and, in the most horrific twist in franchise history, nearly snatched it away from us just a week later.

For a minute it looked like Carolyn was going to be knocked out on the 5th with an idol in her pocket and more tears than a ripe coconut. But somewhere deep in the Fijian jungle, thesurvivorAll the gods said, "Yes, no. That's not going to happen. Let's totally control Sarah here for a second to get her to vote for Helen, even though she hasn't indicated in five days that she would even consider doing anything.

To that we say… THANK YOUSURVIVORGODS! What would we have done without Carolyn's walking Supercut Montage? I mean, I think I've started to focus more on Frannie's incessant huffing, but the point is, we need more! I know, I know, they say a little Carolyn goes a long way, but you know what? Many of Carolyn's go even further!

How amazing is Carolyn? So amazing that a guy named Yam Yam whodoes bearded drag like Stormand happy to poop in the ocean isn't even the most interesting person in this tribe. (Would Carolyn comb out his poop too?) It's really amazing that the producers spent so much time with the other tribes, knowing that Carolyn and Yam Yam are on the Tika. Hell, if I was a producer, on day two I would have said, “You know what? Fuck everything. Place all three bird cages on Tika. And move all the camera crews while you're at it. And on the next three-person trip, we better be Yam Yam, Carolyn and that charismatic nerd with the 3D printer, or YOU'RE FIRE!"

Fortunately, Carolyn is alive to play another day. And she still has her idol. Unbelievable. Looks like it's time to celebrate with a big bowl of chocolate ice cream! But while we're at it, let's also catch up on some of the other great moments from Episode 2 ofsurvivor 44

shoot your shot

While Jaime seemed super paranoid and unnecessary with his long shot,Maddy revealed this in her exit interviewthat Jaime was actually the target at one point before going out of his way to change it to Brandon, which at least explains why Jaime was so nervous.

Matthew using his shot seemed to make a little more sense as I assumed he did it because he knew Brandon was hot and that he could be a split-vote backup option and leave if Brandon played his idol. But Matthew didn't tell us that this week. Instead, he told us he knew he was safe but didn't want to vote because then people wouldn't know where his true loyalty lay. That's an interesting angle, and in some ways quite clever.

But is it worth burning your only chance in the dark on the 3rd? Superficially it does not appear to be so. But then again, longshot is only a 1 in 6 chance of safety anyway, so I don't hate the strategy of throwing all that out the window and instead using your shot as a tool of the game in a different way. . At the very least it's an interesting and unique take on a game element that hasn't made an impact since its introduction in Season 41.

showmance city

I cannot stress enough the terrible job Frannie and Matt do to hide their budding talent. The funny thing is theyknowledgeThey shouldn't be spending so much time together snorting and laughing at exotic insects, but they can't help it! And as a result, all the people who sent Christian and Gabby backDavid against Goliathcan wait again.

i have to say that sheThey arevery cute together, but if I were in their tribe I wouldn't roll my eyes at Claire (who I can only imagine spends most of her time as "Boss Sloth Czar" trying to figure out how to get them to participate in challenges). I would dissolve this power couple and dissolve themno time. Very dangerous no matter how friendly they are. Time will tell if this gets them in trouble, though I think it worked out for Boston Rob and Amber. Problem is, I don't see any Lexes this season.

cage game

Two more cage keys were found this week, and both players who found them (Danny in Soka and Carolyn in Tika) were much smarter than Brandon in how they handled them. Both grabbed the idol, but played other aspects differently. Danny put the fake trinket (in his case, a silver coin amulet) back in the bag's cage while Carolyn put away her trinket (a string of pearls) and put the empty bag back.

Unfortunately she forgot to close her purse and didn't take it with hermy suggestion last week to weigh in with stones, which means that the others at Tika realized that someone had opened the cage and taken the idol. But surprisingly, they all suspected each other andnoCarolyn - although she was the one who wasn't with all of them when she got him.

The big question is, what did they do with the keys? In Danny's case, there's no reason to put the trinket back unless you hide the key again. But even that is risky. If I were a gambler and I found the key, opened the cage and the bag, and found this silver coin with no banknote, I would suspect that someone else had obtained the idol. I'd rather take both, the idolEGadget, throw away the key and stash that bauble in your back pocket for use later in the game. But unlike Carolyn, I would have filled and closed the bag.

Anyway, it's interesting that we have three different strategies for the three bird cages. It's also good to know that the Tika tribe are absolutely terrible when it comes to reading body language.

A nova Sandra?

Well that was interesting. Perhaps even more interesting than the immunity challenge itself. After that, Jeff Probst gave playersvery detailed instructionsIn a challenge with around 8,749 items and stages, he asked who would seat Soka, as they had an extra limb. Claire, who also sat out last week, announced that she would stay. Probst looked a little taken aback and asked if she had volunteered or if it was a tribal decision and when Claire replied "both", Probst just looked at her and said "hunh". Just it. Not less. Just "Hmm".

Probst is at his best when he's acting as the public's eyes and ears, saying what's on our minds at the moment, and Claire's offer to sit out the first two immunity challenges was definitely a "hunh" moment. Maybe she has two left feet, I don't know. But at least Claravisualas if she was quite athletic. And I can't think of anything worse than going to Fiji to playsurvivorand then voluntarily sit out the first two immunity challenges.

That doesn't mean that Claire — my pick in Episode 1 to win it all, by the way — wasn't smart to stay on the sidelines. Her whole tribe looks athletic and when she's sitting outside you can't blame her for not putting in the effort or screwing up when her tribe lost and had to go to tribal council. Also, your tribenolose. They were granted immunity both times, proving their decision to sit out may have been the right one. Still, it was a "humh" moment, and if Claire sits out again next week, we'll be fast approaching "double hunh" territory. but heyTHIS IS SHOWBIZ, BABY!

Soka was on course to reclaim the top spot this week, until Matthew basically just I-see-you-Carson-and-his-puzzle-3D-prints-you-with-a-giant-snake-home-grown-replica -maze-built-of-plywood-in-my-backyard-because-I-am-a-perfect-badass-and-just-to-prove-how-badass-I-get-whip-off-that -noose-and-rule-your-idiots-with-an-injured-shoulder.

Matthew's performance was super impressive and when I say his "performance" yes I am still talking about his beard which on day 5 is still spectacular. However, her grand return to Ratu meant Soka had to settle for second place and Tika ended up in the losers' circle... as much as losers can be, with Carolyn and Yam Yam in her tribe.

All of Helen's Crashes Lose

I still don't understand exactly how or why Helen got kicked out of the game. It seemed that the power trio alliance of Carson, Sarah and Helen was all focused and charged on Carolyn, with Helen commenting to the drug counselor that "it's hard to work with someone who's always going to tell the truth about something".

However, the tide began to turn when Yam Yam announced, "Carolyn and I are old freaks, but we're here to play". years come. Jeez, talk about geriatric geriatrics! Get those two veterans their AARP cards and slats now.

Yam Yam and Carolyn's alliance is the best thing that could happensurvivorsince the invention of knee-high socks, but could they really transfer voices to someone else? That didn't seem likely when Carson showed up and Carolyn started to lie down…on the floor? And then… get up soon? I actually have no idea what happened here. She's up, she's down. Hell, for all I knew, she was going to climb a tree again and forge an alliance with the snakes. But no, it looks like she actually forged an alliance with Carson. Yes, the same Carson who doesn't seem to know how to replicate tons for tonssurvivorJigsaw puzzles on a 3D printerit worked for David WrightOnebrink of extinction. (Ornoworks, it seems.)

All meAgainknow is that Helen is gone. The woman was a puzzle genius. She nailed both the Savvy test and the first immunity challenge. This is someone I would have tried to keep with me. Not at Carolyn's expense, of course, but still a shame to see her go so soon. And you could tell how upset she was about being dumped.

Speaking of letting go, you're probably ready to wrap up with the synopsis, but a few quick programming notes before you like Lindsey Ogle and say goodbye from here. We have a fun scene exclusive to the episode where Soka loses his machete. We also have Hostmaster General Jeff Probst providing some serious information.secret benefits never found. Also, don't forget about our exit interview with Helen, which will take place on Thursday morning and we hope you've already become familiar with her."arrogant fart."Enjoy all these goodies - plus a special surprise arriving soon from the land below - and I'll be back with another spoonful of crunchies next week!

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