Top 5 moments of ‘Survivor 43’ episode 2: Rainstorms, hidden idols and Cody’s charming ways
The second episode of “Survivor 43” aired on Wednesday night and concluded with host Jeff Probst snuffing out the torch of Justine Brennan. The 29-year old from Marina Del Ray, California was the second castaway sent home after being voted out by the Vesi tribe on Day 5. Did the tribe make the right decision by voting out Justine? And what were the dumbest, most shocking and most exciting moments of the last episode?
SEE Justine Brennan (‘Survivor 43’ exit interview): ‘I got completely hoodwinked by Jesse’
Below, read our “Survivor 43” Episode 2 Top 5 moments. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite castaways on CBS’s reality TV show, who annoys you the most and who you think will ultimately join the “Survivor” winners list and take home the $1 million grand prize.
SEE ‘Survivor 43’ tribe designations and colors: Who’s on Baka, Coco, Vesi tribes?
Top 5 Moments of Episode 2:
1. Tribe Bonding-ish: Upon returning to camp, the Baka tribe seemingly became a united front. Owen Knight saved face and apologized, extending the olive branch for peace. Mother Nature saw this and said “Not on my watch will such a wholesome event occur!” Cue the rain and the rebuilding of a roof in addition to the physical issues of Mike Gabler. At Vesi, Cody Assenmacher and Justine Brennan had vastly different experiences. One was jumping off rocks while the other appeared terrified of the wildlife. Noelle Lambert and Cody also seemed to be bonding as well. Cody’s backstory makes his gung-ho attitude make sense now. Karla Cruz Godoy has the tribe dynamic down, most likely since she is more astute than most of her tribemates. We also learned a lot about almond trees courtesy of Geo Bustamante. He actually might be on the fast track to becoming the fan favorite this season based solely on social media reaction.
2. Immunity Challenge Time: At twenty-nine minutes into the 90-minute episode, tribes gathered for the immunity/reward challenge. I for one am all for this pacing! This challenge looked oddly fun, which is something I say fully knowing I would collapse from exhaustion midway through the swimming part. As they dragged the wet stuffed animal from Hell over the gates, I was glad I was not there. Naturally, Jeff revels in all of this and that excitement is only doubled once the tribes got to the puzzle. Vesi was piloting the struggle bus for a good portion of time but bounced back, which was great to see, only to slow down yet again. Coco is great at puzzles. Not sure how they prepped for this season but they are puzzle solving machines. Baka won immunity and more importantly received their flint back. Coco was close behind receiving immunity as well. Meanwhile, Vesi finally exited slow motion mode only when the challenge was over. Yikes!
3. “Hunt or Be Hunted”: These words uttered by Cody might just be the best way to describe what went down at camp when Vesi returned. Nneka Ejere became the prey of said hunters (deservedly so) but she was very much aware of her increasingly unstable position in the tribe. As noted in her individual article, she did say she wanted to rely on social game predominantly so this was the time to really turn that gear up to eleven. Justine was also named as a potential vote out by Cody and Jesse Lopez. Either way, they lose dead weight. Justine, to her credit, knew better than to just assume and asked Jesse what was up since he was the swing vote in all of this scheming. Meanwhile, Cody did some hunting of his own finding an immunity idol bracelet, which is only activated by collecting beads from fellow willing contestants. Speaking of hunting, Baka’s Mike Gabler is not a great fisherman and he is the name on the tips of everyone’s tongues since they really want him gone. Cue the scavenging through his bag to find out how long his immunity lasts. Jeanine Zheng and Owen were severely disappointed to learn that voting him out would entail him not playing his idol. Basically, it’s not going to happen and someone else will have to go before him (much to their chagrin and my joy).
4. Social Game 101: Cody has a social magnetism much like Matthew McConaughey and was well on his way to getting all the beads necessary, evoking the easy going nature within him that is oddly reminiscent of the Oscar winner. He only needed two more and that’s where Noelle suddenly became an interesting challenge. More importantly, we had the closest thing to a fashion challenge on this show we will ever get so that felt like a “Project Runway” challenge. Make it work!
5. Tribal Time: Cody sold the malarkey behind the “lovely” hat to Jeff. I want a whole tribe full of weaved Margaritaville hats, so fingers crossed. Discussion about advantages with shots of Cody’s reactions were brilliant. One of those camera operators knows what we want. This might be the calmest tribal in recent memory, which was nice to see as well. Nothing too weird or nasty was said and everyone was happy. Let’s see how long that trend lasts. The vote was once close, with someone even writing Cody’s name down! In the end, Justine was voted out and was pretty quiet about it. Dwight looked pretty annoyed. What he does after this is up to him, but something tells me he is not the type to take things like this in stride.
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