‘Survivor: Cagayan’ episode 3 review: Did the Brawn tribe really throw a challenge?

Survivor -Tonight on “Survivor,” we had what has to be one of the most awesome / pathetic hours of television ever. How is it that you ever see a tribe try to throw a challenge, but still somehow manage to win it thanks to one other group being so absolutely horrendous.

That group is the befuddling members of the Brains tribe. This is a group that has won challenge win, and tonight, managed to blow a reward just because J’Tia cannot listen to instructions. We also learned tonight that J’Tia cannot rebound, or dive in deep water. She has really been the worst challenge performer we’ve seen in years. The problem for the Brawn tribe is that you have someone like Cliff Robinson on your tribe, and you’re trying to get rid of him in a challenge that involves basketball. It’s crazy in the first place that the producers decided to have a challenge that one person would clearly be very good at.

So Cliff is bailed out, and the members of Brains tribe headed to tribal for what was a vote that was pretty easy to figure out. After all, it was either Spencer or J’Tia. One thing to think about here is that there is probably a tribe swap coming, so you don’t really need challenge strength as much in this situation as usual. However, you do need someone who can fit in with a tribe and not cause problems, and we feel like that is the real reason why Spencer is still there and J’Tia is not. Kass and Tasha seem like very smart people, and clearly they know that there is no way that keeping J’Tia around benefits them in a social setting in the future. Yes, the rice may have been an isolated incident … but that’s a very big incident you are talking about.

This was a very good episode with all sorts of good stuff in it, whether it be the laziness of the Beauty tribe at camp, the great comedy of watching the Brawn discussing their move, or the Brains continuing to struggle. It also feels like there are some strategies and alliances forming, and with this season so unpredictable, we have no clue what is coming up next. Grade: A-.

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Photo: CBS

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