LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — We've been hearing it all season and this 2-hour episode finally brought to light Dan's inappropriate touching of some of the women castaways this season.
And be warned, this episode is a hard watch, but it is something that needed to be talked about. If the Survivor producers decided to leave this out, it would join previous rumors that make the behind-the-scenes of Survivor almost as complicated as the show.
The Merge
We finally get our merge episode, which is usually the culmination of different alliances jockeying for dominance.
But this merge is all about how uncomfortable Kellee feels when Dan touches her in ways that are definitely not okay. She ends up confiding in Missy about the problem. Missy has also been touched by Dan and feels weird about it, but Missy decides to use it as strategy and get Elizabeth to lie about it.
All that information, facts and fiction and all, makes it way to Janet and she kicks into "Mom mode" and wants to vote out Dan for moral reasons.
Even a day later, the decision to use this incident for strategy does not sit well and it probably won't age well either.
Tribal Councils
That doesn't happen and Kellee goes home with two idols in her pocket! It's a very shocking elimination that is for gameplay reasons and not because she's outspoken about Dan.
But that leaves Janet upset because she thought the whole tribe was voting Dan for moral reasons, not strategy. She confronts Dan, who is under the assumption Missy and Elizabeth are okay with him.
That conversation opens up the idea that Missy and Elizabeth are using this very uncomfortable moment as leverage to get further in the game and Janet is understandably upset.
At the second tribal, Dan becomes defensive and Jeff Probst has to tell him that the tribe will talk about his inappropriate touching until day 39 if they need to. It's an honestly refreshing moment in an otherwise rough episode.
Jamal goes home in a very routine vote and we are now left in this weird funk.
The Fallout
The ramifications of this episode are going to hang over this season like a dark cloud.
It's gonna be a hard watch knowing that Dan is probably the biggest goat of this season. No one will vote for him at final tribal and he's probably gonna be roasted if he makes it there.
But we just want to say thank you to Jamal and Janet, who stood up for Kellee when she didn't have a voice.
Let's just hope next week we get back to a Survivor that doesn't make us dislike everyone.