10 Thoughts On… Survivor: San Juan del Sur – Episode 10 Review

10 Thoughts, Features, Reviews, Top Story

1. The most insane episode of the season and one of the best episodes of all-time. For everyone who said that this season wasn’t the best, this one episode might have saved the entire thing.

2. Jon owes his entire Survivor life to Natalie. I genuinely don’t think he would have used the idol if she didn’t tip him off. Now the question becomes whether or not that was her best move. On one hand, she managed to flush out both Jon and Keith’s idols while still keeping hers. On the other, she kept the strongest physical player still in the game along with his girlfriend. I honestly believe that this move will come back to haunt Natalie. Jon proved that he has no qualms with turning on allies when he voted Jeremy off last week and I believe that he will soon recognize that Natalie is his biggest threat.

3. I really respect the fact that Wes told his dad to use the idol and didn’t allow him to sacrifice it for him. Wes was right when he said that Keith found it and should use it.

4. Speaking of Wes, they didn’t show him at all on Exile Island. That must be a first right?

5. Let’s talk about Reed. While the New Yorker hasn’t gotten a lot of screentime, it’s clear that he was always a silent and sitting assassin, capable of striking at anytime. While we may have thought that he was boring when Survivor San Juan del Sur started, now we can all clearly see what he was doing. Reed was simply biding his time. While Josh took many of the bullets, Reed knew that his moment would arrive and it definitely did in Episode 10. While you might question why I am giving him credit when his brilliant scheme to eliminate Jon didn’t work, that isn’t the point. Keith’s idiocy to openly say ‘stick to the plan’ at tribal council showed the male alliance’s hand and that wasn’t Reed’s fault. If Keith had kept quiet, Jon would be sitting on the jury and Reed would basically have complete control of the game. You must give credit where credit is due.

6. On social media, many were questioning why Reed chose to sacrifice his reward for Missy when the strategy didn’t work for Jeremy last week. There is a marked difference between the two scenarios. While Jeremy and Natalie sacrificed their reward for Jon and Jaclyn last week, it was because they simply wanted to be nice to their alliance members. Reed’s decision was far more calculated. He knew that he needed to pitch Keith on the plan to oust Jon and he used his opportunity perfectly. Another great decision on an episode that Reed owned from beginning to end.

7. Natalie was all kinds of hilarious in this episode. Ordering Jeff to bring her what she wanted to eat to step off in the immunity challenge. The spitting incident. Telling Baylor to forget about the damn water and that they were going to look for the idol clue (using Baylor’s own clue!) Spectacular.

8. We can pretty much see how things will play out now. Next week’s episode is two hours and I am quite sure that two of Reed/Alec/Keith will be dumped.

9. While I have maintained that Jon will win this season from the first episode, the editing was so great tonight that even I started to question my own call. I don’t know who is editing this season of Survivor, but I want whoever it is to edit every reality show that I watch.

10. I have goosebumps. This is why we watch reality tv.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.