The conditions on Survivor have always been pretty harsh. I mean, it's hard to call a show Survivor if creature comforts like food, clean water, shelter and medical care are super easily obtainable, right? One of the ways that contestants excel on the show is by persevering through some extreme circumstances, even when they'd rather lay down and play dead just so they can get some rest. As you might imagine, handling the many tasks at hand when you get hurt is even worse, and it turns out that Boston Rob's recent injury was more serious than it looked.
Survivor: Winners at War had a nifty little challenge in mind for the Edge of Extinction group in the most recent episode. Each person in the group was tasked with retrieving 20 coconuts from the other side of the island, with the first six to complete this exhausting challenge being granted two precious Fire Tokens each for their trouble. Well, Boston Rob got himself into a pickle when he fell during the task, bloodied his elbow and couldn't quite recover from the injury enough to finish. And, according to what Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly, that injury was actually worse than it looked.
These ‘effort tasks’ as we labeled them, have really illuminated how far Survivor players will go to win this game. That Edge of Extinction challenge was BRUTAL. And yet you saw everybody giving everything they had to finish. Rob getting injured was definitely a surprise. That fall really took a toll on him. It doesn’t look like much, but he banged it pretty hard. Getting injured on Survivor is much worse than getting injured at home. At home, you take some Advil, you ice, you elevate, you eat, you sleep, you call your doctor, you ice some more, you elevate some more, you watch TV, you get physical therapy, the list of ways you can address it are numerous.
Just from watching Rob fall, and even seeing how much of a bleeder his elbow was, it wouldn't seem like he should have had the need to take himself out of the coconut challenge altogether. But, from what Jeff Probst said, Rob actually hurt himself pretty bad, despite how it came off on camera. This might be a case of an injury being worse than it looked, while other, smaller issues like general exhaustion were piled on top to leave the hurt party out of the kind of steam you need to keep going.
Actually, why don't we take a look at it again, and you can see what you think. You can skip ahead to the 3:17 mark to jump right into the unfortunate fall:
Man, that's rough. To be honest, I feel like giving up on life any time I watch Survivor and see how much the contestants have to struggle through severe physical challenges. So, the thought of being in the middle of a task like this and covered in sweat and grime and then also breaking my skin open really just makes me so bone-tired I can barely think. Having said that, though, Rob does just look so tired and sad, especially when he has to tell us about realizing he couldn't keep going, doesn't he?
I feel for him. As Jeff Probst said, if you fall in everyday life and cut yourself up, there are lots of things you can do to take care of the cut and yourself, and no one would expect you to forgo any of those options for making yourself feel better and heal. However, on Survivor that situation is very different, and the person who gets hurt is always going to try to push through the injury because they want to win, meaning that having to stop is painful in quite another way from whatever physical ailment is troubling them.
Probst added getting hurt in a manner that takes you out of challenges, but not so badly that they need to call in the full medical team, adds pressure to an already tense situation.
On Survivor, you do nothing. And on the Edge… oh man…it’s so much worse because you are so completely depleted. There is so little gas in the tank when you wake up and you still have to find a way to get through each day. Then you find out you have to gather 20 coconuts and it seems almost… impossible. Just damn near totally impossible to do. But everybody else starts… so you start. And that is how it goes every day.
Let's hope that Rob doesn't suffer any long-term effects from his injury. Do they amputate for something like a bad elbow bang? Anyway, you can see what other harsh conditions have to be endured when Survivor airs on CBS, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST. For more on what to watch in the coming weeks, check out our 2020 Netflix guide and see what TV will bring this summer!
