10 Thoughts On… Survivor Worlds Apart – Episode 3 Review – “If Tyler Turns On Shirin, I Will Freak”

10 Thoughts, Features, Reviews, Top Story

1. This episode of Survivor Worlds Apart was pretty bland. Nina was an obvious boot after her alliance with Vince and Will disintegrated last week. This week, I was hoping to see more of the power dynamics on the other team, but (aside from one great scene that included Tyler and Joaquin), we really didn’t get much. You don’t have to tell us that Will isn’t great at challenges and that Joe/Jen/Hali are in control at No Collar. We already know it. You don’t have to tell us that Rodney is butting heads with the other guys at Blue Collar. We already know it. You don’t have to tell us that Max is the smartest player this season. We already know it. I want to see more of what we don’t know.

2. I don’t know about you, but I find myself relating to Shirin more and more each week. She genuinely seems excited to be on the show and I loved her discussing the holes in Joaquin’s game.

3. Dan did a nice job this week. After offending Rodney with the comment about his mother, Dan was able to connect with his rival over Rodney’s dislike of Mike. This was an effective play as it likely puts Mike ahead of Dan on the chopping block at Blue Collar. The best Survivor players are the ones who are willing to sacrifice their own allies if it allows them to save themselves and Dan managed to accomplish this in Week 3.

4. Why are we seeing so little of Kelly? She barely had a confessional in this week’s episode and she is clearly being given the Natalie Bolton edit. Is she being hidden because she isn’t giving producers much to work with or because she is going to go far in the game? I am betting on the latter.

5. I didn’t agree with Joe’s decision to send Nina ahead in the immunity challenge. While I know this sounds like a case me being the classic Thursday morning quarterback, I believe that as the designated captain of No Collar, Joe should have been cognizant of the fact that the No Collars are down one guy and need all hands on deck to get the bucket across.

6. While we all suspected it last week, Nina’s dismissal reemphasized Will’s terrible decision to turn on Vince last week. Will basically handed the keys to the kingdom over to Joe and now has no power to do anything. He is a sitting duck unless he is saved by a twist.

7. When Mark Burnett and company put the ‘Collar’ theme into effect, I am not sure if they knew that immunity challenges would be the best place to see the differences between the three tribes, but this is clearly the case. At the challenges, the White Collars usually have a plan in place and while this didn’t work in Episode 1, they have been rolling on all cylinders ever since. The Blue Collars simply use their brute muscle to power through each challenge (although it should be noted that I don’t think the tribal divisions were fair as Blue Collar has the benefit of having three strong guys in every challenge). The No Collars are a ball of chaos, spinning out of control without any sense of cohesion.

8. I am not happy about Tyler potentially turning on Shirin. I was expecting the Max/Shirin/Tyler alliance to dominate but it is starting to look more and more like Tyler’s loyalty is with Joaquin.

9. Can we please give Sierra more airtime?

10. I am very sorry to see Nina go. I knew her before this season started and it is a shame that her tribemates didn’t give her the chance she deserved. I enjoyed the spirit and fight she showed at tribal council. Joe is one who decided to not include Nina in the immunity challenge. It’s for this reason alone that I believe she should have been spared. I am proud to be a card-carrying member of Team Nina.

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.