The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Survivor Season 41.

Season 41 of Survivor has been a mixed bag so far for a lot of fans, with many starting to lose enthusiasm for the show after the first three episodes. There were too many advantages for some, and others simply found that the season didn't feel enough like Survivor of the past and had deviated too far from the tone and style that made the show great. However, after Episode 4, it seems like the show is getting back on track to finally feeling like classic, fantastic Survivor.

The season so far has been struggling with its updated format a bit, and while new game elements are interesting, the episodes just didn't have that Survivor feeling to them. The gameplay was too focused on the advantages that were seemingly being handed out like candy to the players, but these advantages couldn't even be used in the episodes because of the rules around how they worked. It almost felt like no one was really playing because there was a lot of paranoia around advantages that couldn't even come into play yet. Episode 4 finally took the time to focus on the players and their strategies rather than the advantages, which led to it being the best episode of the season so far.

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Episode 4 - "They Hate Me 'Cause They Ain't Me" - finally figured out how to get the audience attached to the players. They took time to focus on smaller moments at camp and more humorous situations to show the fun sides of the castaways. This focus on the players rather than the advantages started as early as the Reward Challenge, when Luvu comes together to cheer on their tribemate, Heather. There have already been multiple instances this season where a middle-aged "mom figure" on a tribe is struggling at a challenge and is encouraged by the other members of her tribe (it happened in episode 2 with Tiffany as well).

It was a very human moment to see Luvu cheering Heather on despite the fact that she was losing the challenge for them, and to see the other tribes also offer words of encouragement. Survivor loves to show these moments to build the narrative around overcoming adversity and believing in yourself on the show, and it was pretty effective in this instance. It gave Heather some screentime and made her more of a defined character within the context of the show, though perhaps she would have preferred her moment in the sun to not be a moment of weakness in a challenge.

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The episode then cuts to the Yasa tribe enjoying their reward of fish, with Evvie making a joke about how the editing of the show would do a "Previously on..." bit about Yasa's comeback, and the editors actually oblige and create a little montage alongside her quip. Moments like this bring some levity to the show and give more personality to the castaways, and Season 41 has been indulging in a lot of meta elements like this (or having a conversation at Tribal Council about how fans will react to certain moments on the show). It shows the castaways as the superfans of the Survivor that they are, and proves that Survivor is aware of the fan conversations around the show, which is a great way to involve the audience.

Just after this, there is a scene where Yasa watches a horde of baby turtles make their way into the sea. It's a really cool moment, not only because such a unique event was caught on camera, but because the tribe was able to relate it to their own journey on the show, where they struggled at first but were eventually able to make their way to the ocean: which in their case means finally winning challenges. It was fun to see them tell their own narrative in this way - not to mention that the baby turtles were absolutely adorable and the obvious breakout stars of the episode.

Episode 4 also finally gave the audience a peek into the Luvu tribe, who has been relatively absent from the show so far because of their challenge dominance (so they haven't been sent to Tribal Council and had to work out strategies yet). We see the tribe a little divided as some of the players don't trust each other, and they're clearly itching for a Tribal visit. Erika mentions that it doesn't feel like she's gotten to truly play yet, and tribes who don't go to Tribal for a long time tend to be more complicated because they haven't gotten the chance to vote anyone out yet and are starting to have nowhere for their annoyance with their tribemates to be filtered into. Deshawn and Danny ultimately decide that they want to throw the immunity challenge so that Luvu can finally go to Tribal.

It's a great idea...or it would be, if it wasn't for Luvu's apparent challenge beast that is Naseer. Every one of Deshawn or Danny's attempts to sabotage their team's chance at immunity is thwarted by either the inability of Ua or Yasa, or by Naseer's inability to give less than 110% at all times. The way the challenge was edited together was absolutely brilliant, as Deshawn and Danny's confessionals were inserted into the action of the challenge to have them narrate how their plan to throw the challenge was going. Survivor doesn't normally insert confessional clips into challenges, so it was a really unique way to tell the story, and so incredibly effective because it made the whole situation hilarious. Watching Danny and Deshawn laugh about how their master plan fell apart at every turn was so entertaining, and a highlight of the entire season so far.

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Despite all of their attempts, Luvu still gets second in the challenge, which means that they (unfortunately for Danny and Deshawn but perhaps fortunately for Erika) win immunity (with Yasa taking first place). This sends Ua to Tribal Council once again, and back at camp, the four-person tribe needs to figure out how to vote. Shan, who is proving to be a skilled strategist in this game, tricks J.D. into believing that she's paranoid about the way the vote will go and convinces him to give her his advantage as a sign of trust. This whole saga was so interesting to watch, and felt like some of the first really intense strategizing of the season. After a Tribal Council where it seems as though they might get rid of Genie, J.D. is instead promptly voted out by the rest of the tribe after handing Shan his advantage, which is reminiscent to many fans of past Survivor player Erik Reichenbach, who infamously gave up his immunity as a show of trust and was immediately voted out after doing so.

In all, the episode was the best of the season so far because it felt like it went back to Survivor basics and was a reminder of what makes the show so fun to watch in the first place. It was full of humor and showed off the personalities of the castaways more than previous episodes managed to do. There was also a healthy dose of good old-fashioned Survivor gameplay, with great strategizing and big moves being planned by multiple tribes.

The episode was notably devoid of focus on advantages, which is a clear indicator that perhaps the focus on advantages is dragging newer Survivor seasons down. Advantages and new elements in the game aren't automatically a bad thing and are fine in moderation, but Episode 4 proved that there needs to be more substance to make the show good. Hopefully, the rest of the season will stay on a similar track and give the audience more characters and gameplay and less advantage talk.

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