Survivor has stood out among other reality competition shows by frequently introducing new twists to the game that help keep things exciting. The New Era of Survivor is characterized by plentiful opportunities to earn advantages and Hidden Immunity Idols; but these advantages always come with a caveat. More often than not, that caveat is the risk of losing your vote at the next Tribal Council.
In last week’s episode, Justin Pioppi went on a journey, played a dice game of chance, and ended up losing his vote in the process. When he returned to camp, he opted not to tell his tribemates the truth about what really happened on the excursion – what ensued afterward was history-making Survivor chaos. While it is generally a Survivor rule of thumb to keep your advantages (and disadvantages) a secret from most if not all of your tribe, Episode 3 – titled, “Committing to the Bit” – proved that sometimes it’s simply better to tell the truth.
Justin Lied to His Closest Ally on ‘Survivor 48’
After the Vula tribe – consisting of Justin, Mary Zheng, Cedrek McFadden, and Saiounia “Sai” Hughley – lost their third Immunity Challenge in a row on Survivor 48, Justin was sent on a journey by one of the two winning tribes. As a part of this season’s quickly dwindling hot mess tribe, Justin felt particularly exposed heading into Tribal Council. So, when he returned from his journey, he decided it would be best to craft a story about having the chance to win extra tribe supplies, one that didn’t end in him gaining an advantage or losing his vote. Generally, this may not have been such a bad idea, as Justin was one of just four players who could be voted out, and losing his vote put him at a significant disadvantage. But when Cedrek, Justin’s closest ally, came to him about Sai’s plan to split the votes between Justin and Mary – in the event that an Immunity Idol or Shot in the Dark was played – Justin should’ve opened up about this disadvantage.
Following Justin’s lie about playing to win tribe supplies on the journey, Cedrek immediately pulled Justin aside to tell him about Sai’s plan, proving that his loyalty to Justin superseded his loyalty to Sai. This should’ve queued Justin into the fact that Cedrek could be trusted with the truth. Cedrek even asked Justin directly, away from the rest of the tribe, if his story about what went down on the journey was true, giving Justin the opportunity to tell only Cedrek that he had lost his vote – an opportunity that he should’ve taken. Not only would this have warned Cedrek against the plan to split the vote, but it also would’ve, inevitably, saved Justin from becoming the third person voted out of Survivor 48 that night.
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Why It’s Too Soon To Count Sai Hughley Out on ‘Survivor’ 48
She could grow to be one of the best players this season.
Telling the Truth Would’ve Saved Justin at a Historic ‘Survivor’ Tribal Council
At the most exciting and chaotic Tribal Council of Survivor 48 so far, Mary played her Shot in the Dark and became one of only three players in Survivor history to come up “Safe” because of it. This left Sai and Cedrek with the chance to re-vote against anyone but Mary – as Justin had lost his vote for the night. Instead of taking the easy route and voting with Sai against Justin, Cedrek voted for Sai, leading to a split vote and necessitating a second re-vote. On the second re-vote, Cedrek did the exact same thing, proving his loyalty to his alliance with Justin once again and making Survivor history. Host Jeff Probst explained that, due to the surprising sequence of events, the final vote was left solely up to Cedrek.
Sai pleaded her case to stay while Cedrek explained that his unwavering loyalty to Justin was on behalf of Justin being the first person he gave his word to in the game. It wasn’t until after Sai emphasized to Cedrek that Justin had lied to him about losing his vote that Cedrek ultimately decided to send Justin home. It’s clear that if Justin had been honest with Cedrek, he wouldn’t have been voted out. After an incredibly intense tribal council, the moral of the story is that, while Survivor is often characterized as a game of deceit, sometimes honesty really is the best policy.
Survivor airs Wednesday on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Survivor
- Release Date
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May 31, 2000
- Network
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CBS
- Showrunner
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Jeff Probst
