Survivor 49: A Horrifying Medical Emergency Strikes
We've seen them plenty of times before on Survivor, but never has a contestant gotten this up close and personal with a venomous sea snake.
In Wednesday's episode, the Kele tribe's Jake had an unprecedented encounter with Fiji's black and white-striped sea krait, and in case you didn't know, these snakes are venomous. In fact, they're 10 times more venomous than your average rattlesnake. Although the internet tells me that attacks are rare because these guys are typically pretty chill, bites need to be treated immediately. And as captured by production's cameras, that's exactly what happened after Jake was chomped on by one of those very dangerous l'il suckers.
The actual bite wasn't captured by cameras, but after Jake called Alex and Jeremiah to the water's edge, he quickly found two small bite marks on his foot. A producer quickly stepped in to examine things and after sending a picture back to base camp, they decided to take him to medical. Survivor even let Alex show us the safety guide each tribe has at camp. It's a binder full of things the contestants should try to avoid while out there in the jungle. And yep, Alex discovered that the "black and white-banded sea snake" was very high on that list of no-nos.
At base camp, the crew immediately laid Jake down in a stretcher, and I can't lie, every time he said, "I've got a kid coming," it gave me chills. The doctors deduced that Jake got a "dry bite," which means that zero venom was delivered. A warning nibble, if you will. Jeff rushed to the medical office, where, after he was filled in on the situation, he talked directly to camera, explaining that production wanted to take us inside what was actually happening, so we could see that Jake was 100% being taken care of.
How were the doctors able to confirm that the bite was dry? Was it just Jake's lack of symptoms? I'll definitely be asking him that when we speak. (Read our Q&A with Jake here.) Regardless, Dr. Barry didn't feel comfortable letting him return to the game. Jake was crushed, but with a child on the way, I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to take that risk anyway. (We're told in between commercial breaks via title card that Jake is healthy and that he made it home in time for the birth of his son.)
With that, we briskly headed off to the immunity challenge, where Jeff explained what happened to the other tribes. He said that of all the Fijian crew they have on staff, not one of them ever knew someone who had been bitten by a sea krait before. He assured everyone that production will be in the water (safety scuba divers, camera operators, etc.), and that he wanted everyone to feel safe in the water — and, oh, look! A water challenge! (How's that for timing?) While the other tribes expressed heaps of empathy for Kele, Sophi said they needed to earn this win, and dedicated the challenge to their fallen comrade.
But the Survivor gods weren't as empathetic as the Uli and Hina tribes were. In another brutal turn, Kele lost yet another challenge (it's always about the puzzle!) and were sent directly back to Tribal Council, where they'd have to vote out yet another tribemate. The other tribes didn't even celebrate their win. It was a somber day in Fiji, especially for those named Sophi, Jeremiah, Alex and Jake.
THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN | Sophi's big plan was to make Alex feel comfortable so she and J could vote him out and flush the idol in one fell swoop. But after going all Tony Vlachos and spying on Alex and J's conversation, she wasn't sure what she should do. If Alex played his idol, she knew she could very well be going home. But was that fear enough to get her to turn on her island bestie?
At Tribal Council, Jeff noted that the group seemed to be down a leader (and a puzzle pro, if you ask me). Sophi and Jeremiah both pitched their loyalty to Alex (after J calls him "Jake" a couple times first), while Alex said he was looking for a long-term partner. Someone he could carry far, far down the road with him. So who was going to "walk the plank," as Jeff put it? Alex does, indeed, play his immunity idol, though he didn't need it, after all. Sophi flipped on her boy Jeremiah, and with two votes to his name, J became the fourth person to exit Survivor 49.
Next week: Drop. Your. Buffs!
So, who's afraid of snakes? How'd you hold up during Wednesday's episode? You know what to do — go full tilt boogie in that comments section!