‘Survivor 49’ Recap: Jeff Probst Compares Player to Parvati Shallow

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 49 Episode 9, “If You’re Loyal to All, You’re Loyal to None.”]

“That’s what I get for playing both sides.” Those were the parting words from the eliminated castaway in Survivor 49 Episode 9, which should give you a hint about who got the boot this week. The alliances have been pretty clearly drawn all season long, with few people truly trying to work both sides. Getting that player out became more of a priority than flushing out Rizo Velovic’s idol. The question is, was Rizo pulling the strings, or do the rest of the players just not really see him as a threat, so they’re fine to let his idol stay in the game so long as it’s in plain sight? Jeff Probst reacted to this episode in the On Fire aftershow podcast, revealing who he thinks exhibited some Parvati Shallow-style playing in this installment.

In last week’s Tribal Council, Rizo successfully flipped the vote from him to MC Chukwujekwu, resulting in her elimination. Everyone’s aware of Rizo’s immunity idol at this point. MC, Jawan Pitts, Sophie Segreti, and Sage Ahrens-Nichols wanted to flush it out. They also considered voting out Sophie. After Savannah Louie arrived with her extra vote, courtesy of her advantage, Rizo campaigned for MC’s removal, and it worked. The other players who were safe from elimination — Alex Moore, Sophi Balderi, Kristina Mills, and Steven Ramm — were shocked by the vote at the beginning of Episode 9, but Rizo was still able to curate his desired outcome in this Tribal Council. He convinced everyone that it was time to send Alex home, as he’d been playing both sides and playing them well throughout the merge.

It wasn’t Rizo’s campaigning that Probst compared to Parvati on On Fire. It was Savannah’s defiant attitude throughout the episode. She’s felt insecure about people not wanting to work with her ever since Nate Moore’s blindside in Episode 7. In Episode 9’s immunity challenge, which allowed one man and one woman to win, Savannah tried to intimidate Sophie into a loss. The challenge made them sit with their legs extended in front of them, their feet holding a large, wooden circle against a small beam. Steven won the men’s necklace. After around 40 minutes, Savannah and Sophie were still going.

Savannah kept on repeating that she wasn’t dropping and that she had energy left to keep going. Sophie was starting to shake, but was visibly annoyed by Savannah’s pressure. A few minutes later, Sophie’s legs gave out, and Savannah won. In Tribal Council, Savannah gloated about her immunity.

“I’m just going to take a little credit here,” she said. “I’m happy to be the catalyst of some of this [cross-pollination] that we’re seeing tonight, because I know that originally the plan was to put my name out there. I’m glad to have disrupted this game a little bit and encourage organic conversations. I think it’s really great of me that I could do that … I’m happy to take one for the team any day, Jeff.”

In On Fire, Probst compared Savannah to Parvati when revealing his “Mount Rushmore” of Survivor players and discussing villains. Probst said that “Boston” Rob Mariano, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tony Vlachos, and Parvati are on his personal Survivor Mount Rushmore (a.k.a. his picks for the show’s four greatest players of all time). He noted that all of them were considered villains in their respective seasons (Rob, Sandra, and Parvati were all placed on the villains tribe on Heroes vs. Villains).

The topic came up in response to Matt Rogers dedicating an “I Don’t Think So, Honey” on Las Culturistas to Probst, saying that the host was wrong to say that Parvati wasn’t a two-time Survivor winner after her recent victory on Survivor: Australia vs. the World. There was also a piece in Vulture that said Survivor needs to bring back villains that Probst seems to be referencing. In On Fire, Probst responded to Rogers, saying that it was his cohost, Jeremy Collins, who called Parvati a “1.5-time winner of Survivor.” Probst said in the latest episode that he has no opinion on that Australian series because he’s never watched it. He also said he’d love to have more villains on his show.

Survivor 49 Episode 9 immunity challenge (Robert Voets / CBS)

Probst explained what makes Parvati so great: “One of the most dominant to ever play,” he said. “Incredibly charming, mischievous, devious, duplicitous, all the things that Tony is and Robbie is and Sandra.”

“People keep saying, ‘Probst doesn’t want villains,’” Probst added. “Oh, let me be clear. If you know a Rob, a Sandra, a Tony, or a Parvati waiting to play Survivor, please give them my personal number because we will put them on the show immediately. But if what you’re talking about in the kind of villains you want is sort of that throwback, and we’ve had some that are just sort of mean-spirited, they’re not fun. It’s ugly. Yeah, those people, no, we don’t want them. They can apply to other shows, but the idea of villains is still very much alive. I think in Survivor 49, you could argue Savannah’s making a case to be a villain — kind of in the mold of Parvati, a little bit actually.”

“That’s why Survivor‘s fun. It is a sport. I like these opinions. I get tons thrown at me all the time. I don’t mind it, except if I didn’t say it, then I mind it,” Probst teased.

Savannah and Rizo have certainly been dominating the game in the last couple of episodes, but some of the players, such as Sophie, admitted that they were testing their risk tolerance with Rizo’s idol. By going with Rizo’s idea to vote Alex out, it seems like they felt it was more prudent to keep the devil they know (Rizo’s idol) in the game so they know what they’re working with. That, or they’re ignorant of how much they’re letting Rizo run the show.

Listen to the full episode of On Fire below, and stay tuned for our exit interview with Alex tomorrow.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS