Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Survivor 47 Episode 3.

In only three episodes, Survivor 47 has already defined what the theme of this season is going to be: messy. And that is an overwhelmingly fantastic thing; this CBSreality show, created by Charlie Parsons, has entertained viewers for decades with its stories of people surviving on a beach and voting one another out for a grand prize of $1,000,000. “New Era” seasons have seen a shift within casts, with players being overly afraid of their perceptions and rarely giving into the riveting, confrontational conflict that audiences have always loved.

Luckily, that’s been decreasing in recent installments — thank you Liz Wilcox and Q Burdette — and it’s basically missing in this current one, as the first two episodes saw people unafraid to speak their genuine, slightly cringe-inducing thoughts. The second episode especially had Terran “TK” Foster speak up about how his tribe’s smiles during a loss annoyed him, rubbing everyone the wrong way and pushing his ally, Tiyanna Hallums, to flip on him during tribal council. This sent the man out in a shockingly enjoyable blindside that made watchers question: will the messiness continue and create even more jaw-dropping scenes all season?

‘Survivor’ Is Built on Blindsides
This episode of Survivor continues immediately after the last one, with Sue Smey and Caroline Vidmar celebrating TK’s elimination while his former ally, Kyle Ostwald, struggles to figure out a path forward. It’s an issue that Gabe Ortis tries to help him with, coming to Ostwald the next day and saying that Caroline and Sue are his pawns and that he should join them in voting out Tiyanna — which Kyle immediately runs and tells the others about. Unfortunately, Sue doesn’t want to hear it, saying that it’s literally too early in the day for this conversation and making it clear in confessionals that she’s gunning for Kyle because he threw a vote on her at the last council. And she’s not the only player with a clear target! A power struggle has Anika Dhar and Sam Phalen from the yellow Gata tribe clashing every day; the man complains about how she wants to control everything and tries to correct his every move (though she is right half of the time). Luckily, he has an idol, one that he intends to use on Andy Rueda (the apparent target) at their next tribal council to get out Anika with the help of his fellow backstabber, Sierra Wright.

There’s a lot of tension in these two tribes, but they pale in comparison to the visceral annoyance that everyone on the red Lavo team seems to be feeling. And it’s all directed towards one person: Rome Cooney. Labeled a showboat since day one, the man’s constant bragging has everyone annoyed with him, with Aysha Welch especially growing aggravated at how he hoards supplies and then complains nobody else is contributing. He’s irking everyone but, to the horror of Teeny Chirichillo, he has an idol in his pocket; she feels that because of this, the only logical strategy is solidifying an alliance with him, Kishan Patel, and Genevieve Mushaluk — even if she finds him immensely irritating. Her annoyance with him is outweighed by the recognition that Rome is an asset, one that may become even more powerful when a boat arrives on their beach, and, along with Anika and Kyle from the other two tribes, Rome leaves on a journey.

Do You Have to Be Likable to Win ‘Survivor’?
Image via CBS

Journeys are a mainstay of modern Survivor, with these forays from camp usually offering players a chance to win some new advantage (or lose some vital aspect of their game). The three contestants unite, and Rome begins lamenting that he is at the bottom of his tribe and that his two main enemies, Aysha and Solomon “Sol” Yi, are running everything — a complete lie that he hopes will paint a target on their backs. Eventually, the trio discovers their task: every person is presented with a bag that contains one Advantage and two Lose Your Votes. Drawing an Advantage immediately grants them the perk, while drawing a Lose Your Vote costs them a say at their next tribal council. They can draw again to try and score the Advantage, but another Lose Your Vote means their time at the task is over, and they can’t vote for TWO tribal councils. It’s a harrowing game of chance that leaves Anika and Kyle without one vote and secures Rome an advantage, powering him up even more and leaving him cocky as the entire cast heads into the immunity challenge.

This ocean-set challenge requires the players to climb up a big floating structure and jump off, swimming and crossing a balance beam while picking up keys to unlock the pieces for their final puzzle. The prize of not only immunity but also some vital supplies makes everyone excited to get started, but the show does something different: it shows each tribe divvying up responsibilites. And while the Gata and Tuku groups easily pick who’s going to do what, fans watch as Sol and Rome clash on Lavo, with both men wanting to go first. They don’t resolve it until Cooney whines that if he isn’t allowed to go first, he’s “going to be really mad,” and pushes the older man to relent at risk of a tantrum. Even with Rome’s starting out, though, the challenge doesn’t save the Lavo tribe from lagging hard in the final puzzle and being sentenced to tribal council later that evening with Jeff Probst.

In ‘Survivor,’ You Don’t Always Get What You Want

While the moments before tribal council on Survivor are usually filled with intense strategy, Lavo’s time before the dreaded elimination ceremony is pretty simple. Rome recognizes that he has all the power in his alliance and points out Sol and Aysha as his targets for the night, with Teeny initially convincing him to focus on Sol and hopefully preserve the relationship she had with the commentator. Unfortunately, Aysha doesn’t take this technical save well; when Teeny and Kishan tell her she’s safe if she votes out Sol, the player pushes back, saying they should focus on Genevieve and refusing to vote out her friend. This has them wondering if she’s reliable, and after a tribal council filled with shady language, loaded stares, and Rome playing an idol, Aysha’s apparent allies decide to go with the aggravating alliance they know rather than the potential of something with her in the future. She is voted out in a tense 3-1-1-1 vote, the woman openly claiming how much it hurts to have been betrayed and looking at them all in betrayal as Probst snuffs out her torch.

It’s a bittersweet ending for a likable player, one filled with an amount of genuine hurt that every eliminated castaway feels but rarely vocalizes. It’s also a level of emotion that has come to — along with pure mess — define the early parts of this season, with each episode offering at least one scene of intense feelings as these players seem to be losing their cool earlier than anybody could have expected. It’s creating a chaotic style of gameplay on their beach, and for the audience at home, a kind of volatile, endlessly entertaining Survivor that reminds long-time fans of the wild early seasons that first made this show so popular. It’s an amazing energy to start with, and if the trailer at the end of the episode is any indication, viewers should only expect more going forward!

Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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