The Winners & Losers Of 'Survivor Australia: Brains Vs. Brawn' Week 7
Friends. Besties. Allies. We are on the home stretch. After six weeks of immunity idols, gatherings by the well and Wai’s quokka shirt, we’ve hit week seven – the real pointy end of the game.
And, you’d think after all the challenges, tribal councils and “play your own game” barbs, people on Australian Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn would be pulling their heads out of the Cloncurry dust and making some big moves. I mean, they’ve got like a week left of being able to do so.
Yet, it remains that a few big wigs are still the ones calling the shots and I’m left screaming at the TV “DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!” while bits of pasta fly out of my mouth. Living alone has its perks.
So, for the penultimate time this year, let’s get into these winners and losers, folks.
winner: king george and the duchess of double bay
Like a pesky, little variant that currently plagues the entire world, George and Cara just will never go away as much as you might want them to. The most unbreakable duo in all of Australian Survivor have survived tribe swaps, almost-vote-outs and every other player seeking to shove a wedge in between their bizarre friendship, and now make up almost 50% of the remaining players.
Hard to imagine that a ruthless rule over the Fire Tribe is being led by a 31-year-old man who is proud of himself for cleaning his clothes without the help of his mother – his words.
But, literally every hand that has been raised against this duo have fallen, and this is in part thanks to the fact that George and Cara are actually trustworthy to one another – in their own twisted way.
Take the reward win on Sunday night, for example. Dani, Flick, Wai and Cara go off to enjoy some much-needed wine – me too, tbh – and immediately “Operation Get George Out” dominates conversation, led by Dani and Flick who are in the minority.
Wai agrees, as she does to everyone, but Cara stays strong – she has no interest in getting George out. And frankly, why would she? Since the second week, almost everyone has wanted Cara to get the boot except for George. The entire tribe went to vote her out last week, and George saved her. Even if George is a threat – which he certainly is – Cara flipping on the one person that has been loyal to her makes absolutely zero sense.
Then there’s George – and no one is even trying to convince him to get Cara out. But, when his back is against the wall he’s going to transform into the cockroach he is and get straight to work. If you’ve ever had a cockroach crawl on you, firstly I’m impressed you didn’t just end it all there out of fear it would happen again. But, secondly, you know it’s the most unsettling experience and it’s all you think about for hours. That’s what I imagine hearing George tell you information is like – it prickles in your ear but plays on your brain. It’d be a hard vortex to resist, and Wai just couldn’t – falling for the lie that Andrew was ready to give Wai the boot despite the two being allies from the very start.
It was terrible to see Wai be manipulated by a falsehood like that, but let’s be honest...it was for the best ❤️
loser: dani
Dani had a bloody good innings. She wasn’t as threatening as George and Hayley, but she truly gave it a red hot crack and fought from the bottom for a long time. But, like every winner of the car reward challenge before her, she got what was coming.
Unlike many people this season, Dani recognised the importance of making big moves pretty early on. She didn’t pull them off as recklessly as George, or as stealthily as Hayley, but she did do them.
Her blindside of Big Bad Simmo way back when is arguably the biggest blindside of the season so far. Not only did she send her partner-in-crime home as he carried two idols in his backpack, she orchestrated the entire thing – something Simon probably didn’t know until the episode in question aired. Ruthless.
From the onset of the merge, Dani mostly played from the bottom. In fact, the only times she didn’t vote within a minority were the failed votes on Hayley and Cara, and when she cast the only vote for Baden. Every other time, her plan was foiled. But she managed to hang in there despite being the biggest threat within that minority.
Unfortunately, Tuesday night saw her demise as the alliance of George, Cara, Hayley and Wai finally sent her to the jury. I’m already QUAKING at the thought of the deadpan, no bullshit questions she’s gonna fire at the final two. Make them sweat.
winner: wai
Look, I said every single episode this week that it was Wai’s time to go. She wasn’t bringing much (see: anything) as far as gameplay goes, almost accidentally finding herself in the all-too-powerful swing vote. And while I still think it’s probably her time to go…
SEEING HER COME FROM DEAD LAST IN TUESDAY NIGHT’S IMMUNITY CHALLENGE TO END UP TAKING OUT THE WHOLE THING WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THIS SEASON.
EVERYONE WAS HAPPY FOR HER. THE COUNTRY FOR A SPLIT SECOND PUT ASIDE THE WEIRD STATE RIVALRY AND UNITED IN HAPPINESS FOR WAI.
SHE CRIED. I CRIED.
She’s still gone next week though.
loser: “brawn strong”
winner: hayley, who inexplicably has returned to the most powerful position in the tribe after the same tribe voted her out for being the game’s biggest threat
At this point, is it Hayley’s skill that has kept her in the game, or everyone else’s lack of?
Catch you back here next week, where we find out who will win Australian Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn. Come back the week after to see if I’ve found another series to save me from actually losing it in lockdown.
This is an opinion piece written by Jackson Langford, senior music and culture writer at MTV Australia. Hot takes at @jacksonlangford and hotter pics at @jacksonlangford.
Survivor Australia airs on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 play. Catch up on the episodes you missed here.
Editor’s note: Network 10 and MTV are both subsidiaries of ViacomCBS.
