Push It Uphill Physical Race / Mental

Redemption Island kicks off with a challenge that isn't especially exciting, but I think its overall concept is pretty cool. Very noticeably after Nicaragua, we are jumping into the Pre-Merge with a very physical challenge that involves pushing large segments of a temple across a track in order to form a staircase. Once the staircase is complete, it forms the "base" of the temple, and the players can move on to the second part of the challenge, where one person has to chop some ropes to release a staircase, allowing their tribe to reach the upper part of the temple. There, the tribe works together to complete a 3D block puzzle that, when complete, forms the tip of the temple. So basically, every section of the challenge involves piecing together this giant temple structure in different ways, and that's the part that I think is pretty neat. Tying different components of a "series of obstacles" challenge together in a clever way tends to be a lot more interesting than just having random obstacles placed one after the other with no continuity between them. The most unique part of the challenge is the beginning phase, which is truly just a test of the raw strength of our Redemption Island starting tribes. The staircase segments are extremely heavy and take a lot of force to slide across the track. Gameplay wise, the rope-cutting section is very trivial, taking only about 10 seconds (I think even Courtney Yates could hack it)— but I think the main reason its included is simply that its fun and flashy, and the way the second staircase magically drops after the ropes are slashed is pretty cool. The Zapatera tribe secures a pretty big lead during the physical portion, and while Boston Rob's leadership at the puzzle allows Ometepe to make up a lot of time, they ultimately fail to overtake Zapatera, who win the first challenge of the season.

3/5

Smash, Grab, Smash Physical Race / Skill

The Nicaragua pool is back, everyone. That's right, since this season was filmed in the same location as the previous one, we will see some of last season's trends carry over, like no challenges in the ocean, but challenges involving this big pool they built. Here, they are bringing back Smash and Grab from Cook Islands and Micronesia, where it continues to be intro-bait. (Seriously, 5 of the intro shots this season are people smashing tiles!) This has always been a pretty fun challenge, and it's definitely... interesting to see it adapted for the Survivor pool. If you need a brief reminder, this is the one where one person from each tribe at a time has to swim out, jump off a platform to smash a tile to release a key, bring it back, rinse and repeat 5 times. It's definitely a much shorter swim this season, and they removed the floating lily pad component that Micronesia introduced, which isn't surprising because I think that would take up the entire length of the pool. In previous seasons, the second part of this challenge was something mental, but this time, it's a test of skill. This is actually the exact same obstacle we saw in the second part of last season's Spit It Out challenge, the first part of which will coincidentally appear in this season's next episode: One tribe membres has to toss a heavy ball to break tiles, and the first tribe to shatter all 5 of their tiles wins the challenge. I'll admit, Smash and Grab's appearance in this season is a notable tier below its previous iterations, mostly because the pool just kind of makes it feel like a lesser, miniature version of what was originally felt like a much grander challenge. Nothing particularly exciting happens during the smashing/swimming section, and the tribes remain even throughout the whole thing. The notable storyline comes courtesy of Phillip Sheppard, who insists on being the ball-tosser for this tribe but proceeds to get absolutely destroyed by Ralph on the Zapatera tribe, who actually does a great job. Phillip appears to regain a little spunk when Jeff yells at him "Let's see that animal!" But unfortunately, it's too little too late, and back to Tribal Council for Ometepe it is. 

2/5

Spin Cycle Miscellaneous Challenge / Mental

Survivor: Nicaragua introduced one of the best, most sadistic challenges of all time— Spit It Out. And normally when a really awesome challenge gets introduced to Survivor, we have to wait a few years for it to show up again. But in this Nicaragua filming cycle, we were blessed, because that's right, back-to-back Spit It Out appearances! And this delightful treat comes at what cost?— This is the final time the challenge will ever appear. Gasp. I get it, the producers think it's a little too dangerous, yeah, yeah... But come on, let me be sad about this. The basic rules are the same as they were before— you have 3 people attached to a wheel, and the other tribe members have to spin the wheel dunking their strapped members into the water, which they have to quickly sip and spit into a tube until enough water is collected. They did go ahead and randomly change the name of the challenge, but in addition to that, the second part of the challenge is also different. Like I said, the original second part of this challenge already appeared in last episode's Immunity Challenge. This time, instead of a skill challenge for the last remaining tribe member to take on, we have a mental challenge. Last time, the ball in the tube was used to break tiles, but this time, it has to be guided through a very unique slide puzzle. You see, instead of the usual "create a picture" slide puzzle, this slide puzzle forms a connected track when completed, that the ball is able to roll through to the finish. It's a really neat concept that kind of harkens back to Cook Islands' "Cannonball Run" challenge— the idea of a table maze jigsaw puzzle— except this is a slide puzzle and the "table maze" kind of completes itself in this case. I don't know if this reference means anything to anyone, but if you've played Paper Mario: The Origami King, there is a section where you have to complete a series of puzzles exactly like this, and I'm sure the concept has popped up in other places too. Overall, this challenge remains a 5/5 concept and it really doesn't matter how it plays out with the contestants, I would be giving it a perfect score regardless... But let's talk about how it plays out with the contestants because hoooo wee, this certainly ends being a notable challenge in Survivor history.

If you were following along with the non-challenge storylines at this point in Redemption Island, you would know that good ol' Russell Hantz has become a fairly detested pariah among the majority of his tribe. For the first time in Russell's 3 appearances, his rivals have had the luxury of seeing Russell play a season, and this, incidentally, is horrible news if you are the type of player Russell Hantz has proven to be. Most of the people on his tribe want nothing to do with him in the game, and view him as a "cancer" to their tribe. So toxic, in fact, that they have hatched a plan to throw this Immunity Challenge, even though they are riding a win streak, just to vote out Russell. And the thing is... they actually do it. In what is easily the most memorable challenge-sabotage since Peih-Gee and Jaime's scheme back in Survivor: China, we get to watch the Zapatera tribe intentionally sandbag this challenge, allowing Ometepe to quench their first win. We even get the rare instance of "take a few minutes to strategize" making the air, as Steve tells all his allies strapped to the wheel to intentionally "miss." At this point, there's really nothing Russell can do; the audience knows the idol is in Ralph's pocket, and so unless someone gets medevaced out of the blue, Russell's demise is pretty much inevitable in this episode. It's... disappointing. Listen, I know Russell is a controversial figure amongst Survivor fans, but oh my gosh, the season completely loses its steam after this episode. We're only 3 episodes in, so it's a tad early for a season to lose its steam, but that's the unfortunate reality of Survivor: Redemption Island. I think the producers were probably hoping for this grand battle between Boston Rob and Russell, an epic, season-long Heroes vs Villains rematch essentially taking the form of a proxy war between the two icons, each taking turns swinging at the other side's minions (but of course, both leaders lasting until the finale— the ideal storyline). But instead, we have Russell being taken out in Episode 3, and I'll admit, there is some satisfaction there and I know some people love watching Russell's demise in this season. But to me it's very anticlimactic. I mean, Russell Hantz has basically been the show's main character for the last year and a half. (Granted, we did get a brief Russell break to make way for Nicaragua's goofy cast.) I just think this season would have benefited from a more cinematic downfall for our little Survivor supervillain. But of course, there's always Redemption Island, so Russell still has a chance... Let's see how that goes...

5/5

Toolin' Around Physical Race / Mental

Now it's time to cover one of the least talked about Survivor product placements ever— Survivor X Craftsman. It's as weird as you would expect. Throughout the whole season, the tribes have had access to Craftsman tools that they could use back at camp, but this challenge is going to put their acquired skills to the test with an unusual physical race challenge that requires various hand tools to complete. I'm going to be honest, I think this was a huge missed opportunity to bring back Better Homes and Island Living, but what we get instead is certainly a more... unique Survivor challenge. It sort of plays like a relay race, with 1 or 2 members at a time completing each task before racing back and allowing the next to go. The challenge is actually quite thorough: First, members have to make their way over a balance beam, and use a crowbar to open a crate. Inside the crate is a shovel, which is used to dig in some sand to uncover an axe. The axe is used to chop through a log with a rope inside of it, which releases 2 saws upon completion. Then my favorite part of the challenge— There is this vertical wall 2 people have to use the saws to cut through. Not only does this allow them to pass through, but they actually have to use the planks they sawed out to complete a puzzle bridge, our mental component of the challenge. Once the bridge is complete and the entire tribe crosses over, the final obstacle is to hammer in 3 nails, which shatters 3 tiles. Then, the first tribe to place their Craftsman tool kit on top of the table wins the challenge. And the reward for the winning tribe? A feast provided by Sears! Who could have seen it coming? It ends up being a very close challenge between the 2 tribes, but Ometepe finds themselves just a little behind Zapatera the whole time and is never able to overtake their opponent. Overall, it's not the best challenge in the world, but I think for a sponsored challenge, it's actually surprisingly intricate and fun to watch. There really isn't another challenge in Survivor history quite like this one.

3/5

Smoko Physical Race / Mental

Speaking of the blindfold challenge, it's back once again for Redemption Island. After the very traditional version we saw last season, this version is a bit more unique, but about equally enjoyable in my opinion. This time around, the entire course about which the blindfolded players can traverse is within a small maze. The caller has to guide them through the course to collect 4 bags of puzzle pieces. At first, both callers try and keep their blindfolded members together, holding onto each other's shoulders, but before long, both realize the optimal strategy is to send them off in their own directions to retrieve the bags faster. Also worth noting, each tribe has their own maze, they don't share a maze, so by design, opposing tribes will not be running into each other. Once all 4 bags of puzzle pieces are collected, the caller is responsible for completing the puzzle— a simple word scramble that ends up being "THE SWEET TASTE OF VICTORY." They air some footage of the tribes strategizing before the challenge begins, and we see some players trying to figure out possible words in advance, like someone correctly identifying that the first 3-letter word is more than likely "THE," which I thought was neat to see. Unsurprisingly, Boston Rob is the caller and puzzle-solver for Ometepe, a role in which we've seen him excel time and time again, and no exceptions are made for this challenge as he leads his tribe to victory. Zapatera's caller, Stephanie, does her best and certainly never falls out of it, but communication issues hold her tribe back. I think part of the issue is that most of the Zapatera tribe don't respect Stephanie, and Stephanie doesn't seem to respect her tribe either. She has an especially difficult time communicating to a blindfolded Ralph. During the puzzle, some of her teammates gossip with each other that someone else should have done the puzzle because Stephanie "isn't smart enough." Some of her tribemates try and cheer her on, and Stephenie mouths to herself "shut up!" Nonetheless, it's not surprising that this toxic tribe dynamic didn't yield a victory. Although, at one point it seems like Stephenie might have a chance, because when Boston Rob opens one of the bags, a puzzle piece falls off the table, unbeknownst to him. However, Rob realizes what happened pretty quickly and so it doesn't end up mattering too much. 

2/5

Beach Balls Physical Race / Skill

At this point in a Survivor rewatch, I'm feeling like we're about due to see Wicker Flicker again, and what do we have here? That's right, Wicker Flicker. Impeccable timing! Another challenge last appearing in Survivor: Tocantins, it once again takes its traditional form, with 2 people from each tribe launching balls, and the rest of the players using nets to try and catch them in order to score a point for their tribe. Just like before, the first tribe to 5 points wins the challenge, but very much unlike before, no one loses a tooth this time. The challenge producers once again got a little creative with the location; here, the course is laid out on the shore, with the back end actually extending into the ocean a bit. The closer you get to the people launching the ball, the drier the land is, and presumingly, the easier it is to run on. Just another much appreciated instance of the show doing something interesting with the location as far as challenge design goes.

Alright, let's get into this shall we? I'm about to say something that rarely applies to Survivor: Redemption Island— what happens here is more entertaining than usual. Get ready, because we are about to witness the absolute destruction of the Zapatera tribe— their inability to score even a single point. It is very funny. During the pre-challenge banter, Jeff asks Phillip about the tribe rivalry, and specifically, "which animal are you using today?" Here's when you know things are serious— Phillip replies "Both." Jeff seems to be doing his best to hold back laughter as he gauges the reaction of Zapatera, asking "Steve, are you a little concerned, he's got the gorilla and the lion?" Steve brushes off the threat with a smashing hand gesture, but it turns out, maybe Steve should have taken Phillip's answer a little more seriously, because this is not going to go well for Zapatera. Right out of the gate, Grant scores 2 points for the Ometepe tribe, and the panic begins to set in for Zapatera. Ralph shouts to the callers that he wants them to start aiming the balls in his direction. So, David Murphy follows his command, and in Round 3, fires directly towards Ralph. Unfortunately though, the ball just bounces off Ralph's head as he falls to the ground. This prompts David to get visibly angry, as he thrusts his arms up in frustration. Meanwhile, Zapatera member Mike tries employing a never-before-seen Wicker Flicker strategy: Ripping the shirt off of your opponent. Yes, as he and Grant race to the soaring ball, Mike grabs onto Grant's shirt and starts tearing it apart. The result of this innovative tactic? Grant scores his 3rd point in a row for Ometepe. Heading into Round 4, David, now frustrated, yells to his tribe that they've "got to catch something. Come ON!" Ralph is also getting fed up, as demonstrated by him cartoonishly walking up to a ball on the ground and kicking it for no reason. Round 4 comes and goes: Mike rips more of Grant's shirt off, and Ometepe scores another point. That's some serious deja vu. Before Round 5 begins, Grant just takes his shirt off completely and throws it to Mike, a funny conclusion to this very weird arc. Zapatera is never able to score a point, but Ometepe is able to score the game-winning point during the 6th round. Another thing that's funny to me about this challenge is that while Phillip's tribe does end up winning the challenge, Phillip himself literally doesn't do anything the entire challenge. Natalie Tenerelli launches all of the balls and Phillip just sits back and watches. It's unsurprisingly the former NFL wide receiver who carries most of the weight for the Ometepe tribe.

4/5

Crash Course Physical Race / Skill

Like Spin Cycle from earlier, this is another challenge that comes straight from the previous season but with a different name; before, it was called "TLP O-Course." This was and continues to be a pretty generic obstacle course challenge, though it is slightly different from its Nicaragua counterpart. The beginning is the same though— race through some hay and then stand on each other's shoulders to collect a bag. (In Nicaragua, the teams had to collect keys at these stations, but in this version, they have to collect bags.) The second obstacle is somewhat changed though; before it involved breaking through sticks, but here, the sticks have been replaced with ropes. So it's almost the exact same, but technically different. Then, like before, they have to retrieve another bag, and just like in Nicaragua, the two teams are completely even at this point in the challenge. However, it's Boston Rob who surprisingly loses a lot of time for the Ometepe tribe, because he struggles to unwind the bag, allowing Zapatera to get a head start in the next obstacle, which is also the same as it was before: A net crawl followed by the final bag retrieval. Then, it's on to the most interesting obstacle of the challenge, rushing through the 2 walls of bricks, and in Nicaragua, this was basically the end of the challenge. However, a new section has been added this season: Each team has to open their bags to retrieve balls, and the final task is to land all 6 balls in a small basket that looks to be about 15 feet in the air. This new obstacle actually proves to be quite the game changer, as despite an early lead, Zapatara hits a lull in progress after landing their 5th ball, allowing Ometepe to overtake them at the last moment. It's a pretty exciting ending to an okay challenge overall.

2/5

Roller Ball Endurance

Chimney Sweep was the return of a classic endurance challenge, but now it's time for the birth of a new... classic challenge, I guess... I mean, I kind of hate to admit it, but Roller Ball is objectively a Survivor classic just due to the sheer amount of times it has been used over the years, but my god... This has to be one of the least interesting, least creative challenges of all time, and I wish they would stop using it. The objective is to balance a ball on a plate, and at regular intervals, another ball is added to the plate until there are a maximum of 3 balls on the plate. If at any point you let a ball drop, you're out of the challenge. Alright, listen, I'm sure some people would consider this a "simple but effective" challenge, a term I like to throw around a lot. But in my opinion, this isn't effective, it's just really boring. And even though I try to do my absolute best to view each season's challenges in a vacuum, not letting other seasons influence my opinion on an individual challenge, I'm sure there is some bias in viewing this challenge with the foresight of what's to come. When people criticize modern Survivor for making every Post-Merge challenge feel like the same thing— "standing still, balancing a ball"— this is literally the genesis of that. So you better get used to it, because they will spam this type of challenge relentlessly going forward, especially as we enter the 30s. Sometimes even multiple times in one season, because the show likes to pretend that Roller Ball and other future challenges like "Bow Diddley" or even "Audio Slave" are so different and entertaining that it makes sense to include them all in the same season. But while I hold a grudge against this challenge because of what I know the show will become, even in a bubble, I just think it's a boring challenge. Even if it had only ever appeared this one time, and no future challenges were anything similar to it, I'd like to imagine I would still give it a low score. Really, the only time this challenge is ever interesting is when Jeff starts making inappropriate comments about the balls rolling around on the plate, and unfortunately, Jeff is rather tame in the challenge's debut. I'm confident that if they just kept it at just 1 ball, and let the challenge go on for a couple of hours and really made it feel like a test of willpower, then I would be singing a different tune, but this is a challenge designed to end in less than 10 minutes, costs absolutely nothing to make, and it's very difficult for the audience to tell whose in trouble and who isn't because every elimination happens so suddenly. I don't think these are inherently bad traits— Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers will introduce a challenge will similar qualities that I actually love— but something about Roller Ball just makes me feel so uninspired. But hey, if Roller Ball is your cup of tea, all the power to you!

1/5

Meso Soup Physical Race / Mental

The next challenge is very strange, and probably one of the more forgettable ones of the season. I think this is supposed to be the Survivor Pentathlon. I think. But it's really weird, because like in Micronesia's version of the challenge, Jeff never introduces this as a series of throwbacks to past challenges, and one of the obstacles is literally not from any previous challenge, it's just a random generic thing they have to do. Plus, this is really early to have the Survivor Pentathlon, and despite there being 11 people left in the game, there are only 3 rounds in this elimination-style challenge. That's right, 3. The first round eliminates half of the contestants, and this is the part that is unrelated to any previous challenge. The Survivors have to dig in the sand to retrieve a club, untie a couple knots on it, and then use the club to smash a tile. WHY?! First of all, it's just really boring and uncreative. Second, having some of the phases be throwbacks to past challenges but not all of them doesn't make sense, it defeats the whole point of the Survivor Pentathlon and just feels awkward. This isn't even an Amazon situation where one of the phases is supposed to be a "sneak peak" of an upcoming challenge, it's just a random digging obstacle. You could maybe try and argue its supposed to be a throwback to Toolin' Around, but in that challenge, the whole point was that you were using a shovel, not your bare hands. And the thing you were uncovering was an axe, not a club. I think the next part is supposed to be a weak reference to "Smash, Grab, Smash," which I didn't even realize at first because it's such a... nothing bit. But I digress, this part of the challenge goes by in like 15 seconds and we are left with our final 6. The second phase is a weird throwback to Spit It Out. There is this big tank of water and each player has to fill up their mouth with as much as they can hold, then crawl under the tank and walk a few more feet to spit it into a tube, just like the tube in Spit It Out; they keep repeating the process until the amount of water in the tube reaches a certain height. This phase also ends very quickly and is quite boring. I think it might be the inspiration for a challenge they will use next season that I actually genuinely really like, but this prototype phase is very underwhelming. The first 3 to finish move on to the final phase, which is a throwback to the season's very first challenge, Push It Uphill. Basically, they have to complete a little miniature version of the final puzzle at the end of that challenge, the tip of the temple. Here, Jeff actually does note that this puzzle is from the first challenge, so at least they don't completely ignore what this challenge is trying to be. The puzzle portion also goes by pretty quickly, ending with Grant winning individual Immunity. Listen, you know I normally love the Survivor Pentathlon, but I really dislike the version in this season. It is so short, underwhelming, and just... weird. And what's really annoying is that this actually could have been a great challenge. What they should have done was make it a throwback exclusively to previous Redemption Island Duels, to celebrate the end of the first half of its run. Something like this:

• Phase 1: Use grappling hooks to retrieve 3 bags, first 7 to finish move on.

• Phase 2: Inside the bags are dominos, use them to complete an easier version of Domino Effect (no tripwire), first 4 to finish move on.

• Phase 3: Complete a mini version of the Cube Crisis puzzle, first 3 to finish move on.

• Phase 4: A slightly easier version of Jail Break, and this will decide who wins the challenge.

That would have been really cool in my opinion. But instead it feels like they just slapped a few random things together and if you ask me, it just didn't work. This really feels like a "filler" challenge, that's the best way I can think to describe it.

1/5

Gang Hang Endurance

Between "Push It Uphill," "Toolin' Around," and now "Gang Hang," I have to say, this season has had a very... unique set of challenge titles. At this point I'll be surprised if Nut Bucket/Sack Attack doesn't make an appearance. If you're a hardcore challenge fan though, then you'll know that this challenge wasn't originally called Gang Hang— we're actually looking at the return of Vampire Bats from Survivor: Panama! Kind of an unexpected throwback, but one I certainly welcome. As of now, this is the second and final appearance of this surprisingly underused endurance challenge; it's very simple to set up, you just need a long pole, tell everyone to hold onto it upside down and boom, classic Survivor challenge. In Survivor: Panama, they did this challenge over land, a decision which I specifically noted in my entry as seeming quite dangerous, and strange because you could literally see the ocean in the background. Well, we know there are no ocean challenges in this filming cycle, but we do have that classic Survivor pool, and so yep, this time the challenge is being done above the safety of fall-breaking water. This is one of those challenges where Jeff offers players food if they are willing to sit out of the challenge, which will lead to a particularly fun editing moment; I'm sure many of you already know what I'm talking about. Ultimately, Phillip and Steve are the only ones who sit out, giving us an 8-person showdown in the challenge. After the first couple people fall, Phillip insincerely announces that he's concerned for David, because "his head is starting to turn blue." David sarcastically responds "I'm very, very glad that Phillip's concerned for me." Jeff comments that there is no love lost between David and Phillip, but David says that actually, "I have no problem with Phillip." Phillip replies that he's "got lot's of problems with David." Ahhh, Redemption Island, what a season... Then, we get the best part of the challenge: The camera pans to the players— Elapsed Time: 20 MINUTES. The camera pans to the 2 players sitting out...— Elapsed Burgers: 5. I love it. It's such a random and funny gag, A+ job by the editors. Also at this point, Jeff implements a new rule that didn't exist in Survivor: Panama— the players can no longer use their arms; they must hold themselves up using only their legs. I actually don't mind this little twist, because this isn't really a challenge I would expect to last that long anyway. In fact, I think this version is a little easier than the Panama version simply because the pole everyone is holding onto is thinner, and thus easier to grasp/wrap your legs around. Before long, we get some more Phillip and David banter, as Phillip, sensing a weakening David, notes that he's "making little adjustments guys, he's making little adjustments..." David replies "Yeah, it's called scratching my ass." At this point in the season, we're a foot deep into the most agonizing Pagonging in Survivor history, and David is tonight's target. So, as soon as David falls at around the 45 minute mark, the 3 remaining players, all Ometepe women, agree to let Andrea win and all drop in succession. While not a favorite of mine, I hope we see this challenge again some day; it's very pure and is just a really solid challenge overall.

3/5

Mayan Pizza Mental / Physical Race

Coming up next is another elimination-style challenge, this time taking place in 2 parts. This one isn't that good either, but at least it has a consistent identity. In the first round, our Final 9 have to run around a post in order to spin off a disk, which essentially serves as the base for them to place puzzle pieces. The goal is to do this fast so you can get started on your puzzle as quickly as possible, so of course, this is going to lead to some intense dizziness. As soon as you get your circular base released, you can carry it over to the puzzle table and fill it in with puzzle pieces; it's pretty much just a basic jigsaw puzzle. Only the first 6 people to complete this task move on to the final round. The final round is basically just more of the same; you have to complete a second jigsaw-like puzzle, but the somewhat clever aspect is that the new puzzle is designed to fit around the circular puzzle you completed in the first round. When complete, it forms a picture that I believe is supposed to represent a Mayan calendar. Boston Rob continues to dominate in these types of puzzle-oriented challenges, eking out another victory, albeit only a few seconds ahead of Steve. It's an okay challenge, but I think it's really the Mayan element in an era of the show so otherwise deprived of culture in its challenges that is keeping me from giving it a bottom tier score.

2/5

Log Jam Miscellaneous Challenge

It's time for the final appearance of yet another The Amazon original, the Survivor Log Jam. Awww, we've had a lot of fun with this challenge over the years; let's hope it makes an unexpected reappearance some day. Perhaps even more tragically, this will mark the final appearance of the Survivor pool. That's right, before long, we will permanently be stuck with the lousy old ocean, drat! Like in Gabon, this challenge, which had previously only been used as a team challenge, is being played to crown an individual winner, and I'm still not a huge fan of that. Again, Log Jam just feels more at home as a team challenge, with members from each tribe squaring off to score points. That being said, I'm still glad they decided to use it this season at all, so I'll try not to be too picky here. The implementation as an individual Immunity Challenge is very simple; there are 8 players left in the game, so you can imagine a simple tourney format that has a quarter-final, semi-final, and final round with losers being eliminated from each match-up. Jeff asks Steve if he's ever done anything like this, and Steve jokes that he's in a league that plays every Saturday. Yeah, I don't think there are log rolling champions matching the likes of Bob Crowley on this cast... After a few entertaining match-ups, we end up with our final pair, Grant vs Phillip. This ends up being a great showdown, and Ralph attempts some... taunts, I guess, to try and distract Phillip, and they are very funny. However, Grant ultimately outlasts Ralph, winning his second Immunity Challenge.

3/5

Flashback Mental

3 challenges in one episode! What is this, a Survivor finale?!!! Nope, just a really packed episode of Survivor: Redemption Island. This episode introduces a surprise twist, which basically takes the form of a Big Brother Double Eviction; immediately after the vote at Tribal Council, another Immunity Challenge is played at Tribal Council, followed directly by voting a second person out. This is kind of similar to what they did in Cook Islands with the infamous bottle twist, but much more fair because at least the second person voted out will have had a chance to save themselves by winning Immunity. It's actually kind of nostalgic to see an Immunity Challenge play out at Tribal Council, right in front of the jury. Not since the days of Fallen Comrades, The Amazon's final Immunity Challenge, and Pearl Islands' "Tribal Draft" have we had such a setting. As is typical of challenges at Tribal Council, we have a purely mental challenge in store, and it's actually one we saw as recently as last season, Flashback. It's the simple but effective "repeat the symbols back" memory challenge that's fun to play along with at home. Normally the first set of symbols is pretty easy to remember and they progressively get more difficult, but I think the producers wanted this one to end quickly so they made the first set really long, and we end up with a winner without needing to go through a second set of symbols. I think in this circumstance, that's okay. Boston Rob wins this Immunity Challenge, not that he was in any danger, of course. Nevertheless, I've always really enjoyed this challenge, it works every time.

3/5

Step on Up Mental / Physical Race

In a season that has felt so exceptionally lacking in genuinely difficult challenges, as well as challenges that look like they cost more than $10 and half an hour of time for the producers to create, I think this challenge is going to be a lot of fun to talk about. First of all, it's a really awesome throwback to a challenge that hasn't appeared in 17 seasons— Step on Up from Survivor: Thailand. (Okay, I know Nicaragua also revived a certain challenge that hadn't appeared since Survivor: Thailand, but that was a different situation...) This was the final 5 Immunity Challenge in that season, and is the one where each player has to assemble a giant staircase made from puzzle planks that can only fit in specific spots. And to make things a bit more grueling, players can only transport one plank at a time. Survivor: Redemption Island truly ups the ante though, by making the challenge much larger. Like, this version is definitely at least twice as long and grand in structure than what we saw in Thailand. The result is a genuinely difficult, exhausting challenge, which feels rather appropriate as late into the game as the final 6. Each player's staircase is divided into 3 different sections, with planks that need to be retrieved separately, so at least you have a vague idea of what planks go to which general area of the staircase. During the challenge, Jeff comments that it's 110° outside, but of course, I was suspicious, because as I pointed out in my Tocantins entry, Jeff blatantly lied about the temperature with a number significantly higher than had ever been recorded in Brazil before. So, after doing some research, is it possible that Jeff has fibbed again? The answer is yes. He definitely did. I don't know if he knows he's lying, but Jeff is definitely playing with the facts here... But nonetheless, I don't doubt that it was really hot in San Juan del Sur at the time of this challenge, and it's easy to tell just by looking at the fatigue on everyone's faces. Sweat is pouring down bodies, and Boston Rob is beginning to look especially worn out. Jeff takes notice of this, and proceeds to deliver one of his most iconic (and hysterical) lines of all time. Boston Rob— who is wearing a shirt with a picture of his family— is "LITERALLY CARRYING HIS FAMILY ON HIS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I don't care what people say, even to this day, Jeff Probst is a legendary host. Boston Rob continues to struggle, but manages to maintain his lead over the others; the whole thing is really intense and exciting to watch. Finally, Boston Rob practically crawls his way up the staircase with his final piece, pulling off an epic victory. He then falls backwards and starts cramping, desperately needing some water to cool himself down in a particularly dramatic TV moment; I guess you could say the challenge had gotten the best of him.

4/5 

Bone to Pick Skill / Mental

This next Immunity Challenge is a bit strange, but I think it gets the job done in the sense that it's a decent test of skill and uses a somewhat unique puzzle. Players have to use these windy, fish hook-things to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces and carry them to their puzzle station, which is in the form of a large, hanging fish bone. Hooking the bags is a matter of latching the edge of the hook onto any part of the wicker ball; it really doesn't seem too difficult. Each bag contains a handful of puzzle pieces, which have to be added to the fish before going back out to retrieve the next bag of pieces. It takes 3 bags total to collect all the pieces required to complete the fish. For the puzzle, you essentially have to figure out how to attach additional bones to the fish while ensuring that none of the bones on the structure are making direct contact with each other. It seems like it may actually be harder than it looks, thanks in part to an additional twist in the rules— players have to complete the entire challenge with one arm tied behind their backs. I'm not sure if this was always the plan, or if the Dream Teamers revealed it was way too easy without the handicap (although if that were the case, I'm surprised half of the challenges this season didn't have random handicaps), but I think in this case, it works, and unlike the shackles in Tocantins' "Blind to Reason" challenge, the handicap does seem to make the challenge more difficult. During the challenge, Natalie falls really far behind and Jeff is kind of rude— he tells her that she may as well just sit down and watch. Come on Jeff, where's that "THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER GIVE UP ON SURVIVOR!!!!" energy? The competition is really close between Boston Rob and Ashley, but in the end, it's actually Ashley who claims her first Immunity win of the season. This is the first time I've mentioned Ashley in this entry, right?... Well, way to go Ashley!

2/5

A Numbers Game Physical Race / Mental

I don't know what it is about Redemption Island, but I feel like we keep getting these extremely basic challenges that seem really easy, uncreative, and for lack of a better word, just plain boring. I think it was specifically the duels that suffered from this the most, but some of the Immunity Challenges as well, like this one at the final 4— a spot that has traditionally produced some really awesome, epic challenges— but today, has given us... this. Each player has to walk across a balance beam, and along the way, they have to bend down to grab a bag of numbered tiles attached to the balance beam. Then, they go to the puzzle station, open the bag, and... arrange the tiles in order, starting from 1, then 2, then, 3, et cetera. This is the first time this particular "puzzle" appears, and everytime it does, I can't help but feel like I'm missing something. Like, what is the point of this?! I didn't realize it was possible to make a linear puzzle until this challenge. Like, I guess you could say it tests your reaction time, like if you are able to quickly spot, out of the corner of your eye, the next number that you need to place, but holy cow, this is mundane to watch. And, presumingly, mundane to play! Like, most Survivor challenges that I say are boring TV, I would at least say they look like they'd be fun to try in real life, especially the puzzles. But I wouldn't even want to try this in real life, you are literally just arranging numbers in order! As long as you know how to count, it's completely trivial! Each bag contains more tiles than the last; the first bag contains the first 10 numbers, and then you have to go back across the balance beam to get the second bag, which has the next 20 numbers, and so on and so forth, until you are able to arrange every integer from 1 to 100 on the puzzle board. Listen, I appreciate an individual challenge where you get everyone running around and introduce a new puzzle at the end— but this challenge is simply not good. However, Ashley ends up winning the challenge, so once again, I must say— way to go Ashley!

1/5

Meso Maze Physical Race / Mental

At the beginning of this entry, I said that a disappointing season of Survivor does not necessarily imply that it will have disappointing challenges. And I still stand by that (If you don't believe me, tune in 4 seasons from now and I will change your mind.) But unfortunately, Redemption Island has just been something of an unlucky combination; a disappointing season, with not entirely disappointing challenges, but a lot of them that are dragging down the average quite a bit. But there is still some hope. There is one challenge that has not appeared yet, and in fact, has not appeared since Survivor: Gabon. If it were to appear, it would essentially be a guaranteed boost to the season's overall challenge quality. But I don't know, what are the odds... What are the odds that they would bring back— The Maze? Well ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to announce that, in fact, they did it again— another INCREDIBLE, GINORMOUS MAZE CHALLENGE! Seriously, just look at the size of this thing! Isn't it beautiful? I mean sure, maybe it's not quite the same level of unbelievable perfection that was Guatemala and Gabon's mazes, but this is pretty darn close. It's so awesome, I love it so much when the challenge team really puts in the effort and makes something like this. Here, the maze has a greyish color scheme that, paying homage to Redemption Island itself, which I think is a really awesome touch. Making things even more symbolic, it large temple is actually the same one from the first Immunity Challenge, which is such a brilliant touch that I would love to see more seasons explore. The colorful puzzle stations really pop amidst everything else, and the little temples and big staircase look sooooo cool. The objective of the challenge is to run around the maze, trying to figure out how to reach 4 different stations, collecting a bag of puzzle pieces at each one. Here, you'll notice another awesome, completely unnecessary detail— when a player grabs their colored bag from a station, that causes a flag with their color to raise above the temple they collected it at. It's like magic! I love it! Once all 4 bags are collected, the players can make their way up the staircase to the top of the giant temple, which is where they can open their bags and begin a final word scramble. Which, I know what you're thinking... "another word scramble." But don't worry, this one is actually new and different! It's kind of hard to explain how this works, but the pieces are like traditional word scramble tiles that just have individual letters on them; instead, they are kind of like these strange, origami paper-like things that you can arrange in more ways than a normal letter tile. This makes things a lot more difficult, and makes this challenge itself feel a lot more innovative, as I don't think we ever see this type of word scramble again. My only minor qualm is that this seems like it could be a bit too physical for the Final Immunity Challenge, but because physicality doesn't seem to be a huge factor, I can look past it for the sake of the maze being so freaking cool. The challenge comes down to Boston Rob and Ashley being very neck and neck on the word scramble, and at one point, Boston Rob tries to get Ashley to "work together" with him; both agree to work together, but neither actually follow through with it. Ultimately, it's Boston Rob who figures out the phrase first— "ONLY YOU ARE SAFE," and what follows is one of the most memorable victory celebrations of all time. He shouts and cries and is just absolutely overblown with emotion; this is the reaction of someone who knows they just won a million dollars.

5/5