Two Players On Survivor 50 Repeated History (In A Bad Way)

Drop your buff if you haven't seen "Survivor 50" Episode 11, "Everyone Will Be Shooketh!" Spoilers ahead!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that, if a player returns to Fiji to prove their worth on the reality competition show "Survivor," they'll probably end up repeating mistakes from their past. That's precisely what happened on the 11th episode of the landmark 50th season of "Survivor," which featured a double elimination and sent both Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth and Emily Flippen to the jury.

Relatively early in "Everyone Will Be Shooketh!," we got an announcement from host Jeff Probst, who revealed that there were just nine players left in what's arguably the biggest season of "Survivor" yet. After the immunity challenge, in which Jonathan Young emerged as the victor, Probst told Jonathan that he earned the "Power Broker" advantage. The remaining eight contestants were then split into two groups of four, both of whom voted ... and Jonathan got to vote in both groups.

The radical unfairness of this advantage for Jonathan aside, fans of legendary player Cirie Fields all felt nervous as she ended up separated from Ozzy and their other ally, Rizo "Rizgod" Velovic, and they had a good reason to do so when Emily and Rick Devens started plotting to oust Cirie. Instead, Emily went home, and, remarkably, she did so on the 21st day of gameplay ... which is the exact same day that she went home during her first-ever season.

So, what about Ozzy? His repeat is way more embarrassing. In "Survivor: Micronesia," he was voted out with an Immunity Idol in his pocket that could have protected him had he simply played it during tribal council. Yes, that's right — Ozzy went home, again, while holding an Immunity idol, which is the height of absurdity on "Survivor."

The bottom line for Ozzy is this: obviously, he should have played his idol, but his bigger problem appeared to be that he completely forgot how to play "Survivor" without Cirie Fields, his steadfast ally and a master strategist, informing his every move. Shortly before getting blindsided, Ozzy, in a moment of pure foolishness and hubris, told fellow player Aubry Bracco that he's loyal to Cirie and Cirie only, giving his entire game away and granting Aubry and the other folks in their temporary five-person tribe reason to target him.

This did not go unnoticed on social media. X/Twitter user @jessicalewis89 posted a GIF of Ozzy with the succinct caption, "Confirmed: Ozzy cannot play 'Survivor' without Cirie telling him what to do." @hotlikefireeee agreed: "ozzy out of cirie's sight and he immediately saying unnecessary sh**." Meanwhile, @_BrookeB13 just wanted better for Cirie, writing, "Cirie Fields doing legendary stuff on the other island meanwhile her ally is a dummy. I've seen this film too many times."

For my money, @CohenBrian had the funniest take on the whole thing, posting pictures of Ozzy's ouster from "Micronesia" and his vote-off in "Survivor 50" and writing, "If I had a nickel for every time I was voted out with an idol I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's crazy it happened twice right?" Plus, some sharp-eared viewers, like @new_rxmantics, figured out that the "Survivor" crew used the same musical motif that played when Ozzy got the boot on "Micronesia," which is, unfortunately for him, extremely funny. Sorry, Ozzy! Maybe your fellow ousted player Mike White will let you cameo on "The White Lotus," especially because "Survivor 50" provided the Emmy-winner with some inspiration.

All hail Cirie Fields, the best player to never win "Survivor" who repeated history in her own way ... by outsmarting everyone in her path. Though Cirie's "repeat" wasn't as soul-crushingly specific as Ozzy or Emily's, the fact of the matter is that Cirie, across her previous four stints on "Survivor" and her game-winning turn on Season 1 of the American version of "The Traitors," always understands exactly what's going on. I'll admit that, partway through this episode, I started sweating when Emily Flippen and Rick Devens went for Cirie, and while I desperately hope Cirie ekes out the win she so richly deserves, she's probably going to get voted out between now and the finale. Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to go to a final tribal council with Cirie; you might as well write her a check for $2 million before you even arrive.

Still, watching Cirie work her magic was a major highlight of this chaotic episode. Nobody in her makeshift tribe of five knew that she had an extra vote — gifted to her earlier in the season by, of all people, Ozzy! — and even though Emily tried her damndest to convince Cirie that Devens was going to play his idol on Emily to divert Cirie's vote, Cirie wasn't buying it.

That's how and why Emily got voted off: Cirie used her extra vote, forced a re-vote because of a tie, and was able to effectively punish Emily for trying to get rid of her in the first place. Sorry to Emily, but while she was repeating history in a bad way, Cirie was continuing her tradition of being the smartest woman in the jungle. 

"Survivor 50" airs Wednesdays at 8 P.M. EST on CBS.