Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. Survivor is kind of his thing.
Rizo Velovic made a big show on the latest episode of Survivor 49 when he went up to play a hidden immunity idol. But even more nervous than all the players during Rizo’s alleged idol play was the host, who explains why on the latest episode of the On Fire With Jeff Probst podcast.
“Let’s have a little bit of fun here,” began Rizo as he walked over to Jeff Probst at Tribal Council with idol in hand, before asking to say a few words to his tribemates.
“I feel like a lot has happened and I feel like this vote is truly going to show who’s with me or who’s not,” he told the others while standing next to the host. “And I have to do what’s best to protect myself in this game. And for that very reason, I’m playing it for Savannah.”
However, Probst then looked at the idol as it was handed to him and dramatically informed the group, “This is not a hidden immunity idol.”
Although it turns out the host himself was not so sure until the fake idol that Rizo had made was actually in his hands. “Here’s the thing you’ve got to remember,” Probst explains on the podcast. “In that moment, I don’t have any idea what Rizo’s going to do. I don’t know what he’s going to present to me or for whom he might play whatever he presents to me.”
But Probst’s confusion went far beyond that due to the fact that regular idols (which are intentionally very simplistic-looking) and fake ones in the new era look so similar. So similar, in fact, that it is often difficult for the host to differentiate between the two.
“Our idols today are so basic that it is very easy to fake one,” Probst says. “And that’s by design. That’s why we make them basic so that players can create fake ones… So I am slightly panicked going, I wanna see in his hand. I’m looking for a clue. What’s in his hand? Is that the real idol or is this a fake one? Because I don’t know!”
And new era idols are especially difficult to authenticate. “It’s not like there is any clue on the idol. I have to know exactly what the idol looks like. And that’s not quite as easy as you think it should be. But it’s electrifying for me because I am very much alive going, Rizo, can you at least just open your palm a little so I can get a peek at what you got going on in there?”
For his part, former winner and current On Fire cohost Jeremy Collins liked Rizo’s fake idol showmanship… as long as it was for actual strategic purposes.
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“He definitely was showing off,” says Jeremy on the podcast, “which is good. You want to show for the jury. But I just didn’t see it where it would matter unless if Rizo and Savannah talked about this and said, ‘I’m going play the idol, a fake idol, and I want to see if you could see everybody’s reaction.’ So if that’s the case, that’s great strategy, great gamesmanship.”
And as to how the host and producers handled the fact that the eliminated Jawan Pitts accidentally brought Rizo’s torch up to get snuffed, Probst confirms, “We gave Rizo back his torch.”
Whether it gets snuffed a second time remains to be seen.
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