Last Night’s TV: Survivor, Empire, and More (SPOILERS!)

VIEW IN BROWSER THIS ISSUE: Survivor, Empire, Kingdom TOP MOMENT OF THE NIGHT Every blindside, a memory CBS BECAUSE: Has there been an elimination on this Second Chances season of Survivor that wasn't a blindside? Count 'em -- not one, but two! -- two individual blindsides occurred on Wednesday night's double episode, one to the woman who kept insisting that everyone should be making Big Moves, and the other to the self-described Survivor Know-It-All. Oh, Big Moves were made indeed, but it was Ciera and Stephan Fishbach who ended up being out of the know. READ OUR RECAP Survivor CBS WHAT HAPPENED: A double episode this intense deserves some unpacking, and we'll start with EW recapper Dalton Ross making a huge mistake: at the top of the first hour he tweeted that viewers could play a fun little drinking game with their pre-Turkey cocktails where they might, "chug every time someone said the phrase 'voting bloc.'" Hopefully no one did that, because these loosely defined voting blocs proceeded to drive the players mad, almost as much as the never-ceasing rain in Cambodia. The idea -- and it's really more of an idea than a reality -- that there's an all new voting style this season has led Ciera to complain for weeks that nobody is playing the game, while Fishbach has been proclaiming Second Chances the most strategy-filled season ever. Ciera's serial under-estimating convinced her no one else would make the Big Move to vote her Big Moving self out, and Stephen serial over-estimation of the "voting bloc" system earned his ticket home, even after he used his voting advantage. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Or as Fishbach explained it himself on Twitter, he was eliminated because he committed "the most fundamental old school #survivor f--kup there is: I trusted the wrong guy." That guy would be Spencer, who Stephen told about his voting advantage (stealing a person's vote at Tribal) in order to ensure Spencer's allegiance in finally voting out less golden boy, Joe. But Stephen made two other fatal mistakes: he showed his true alliance hand a little too much with his Rewards Challenge picks -- namely, Tasha, Jeremy, and not Spencer -- and he decided to split the vote between Joe and Abi to flush out idols. Considering that Jeremy gave him his idol in the last Tribal, and what had previously happened with Wentworth's unflushed idol ousting Savage, his choices make sense respectively. But I guess that's the problem with this voting bloc strategy -- no one knows what it is, what it means, or how to use it. READ OUR RECAP Empire FOX WHAT HAPPENED: Our first response to Alicia Keys' presence in this episode: a heavenly angel's chorus; and just after that: "W.H.A.T?" Jamal had a similar reaction as he teamed up with Skye Summers to pen a powerful duet, but the big question mark came when he leaned in for a kiss at the end of their jam sesh. If you're wondering aloud, "But isn't he gay?" then what a coincidence, we just spoke in unison. Vivica A. Fox is also back on the guest-star scene, and with the help of Rosie O'Donnell as Cookie's former prison roomie, Candace and Cookie spend the episode searching for their other, not-doing-so-great sister. Good news: They find Carol and she's going home with Cookster. Bad news: She's keeping some sort of ominous secret from Cookie. Worst news: Cookie was dating a guy who was extorting her family for money, he fell in love with her (duh), then Lucious found out, and now Laz is probably joining the Uncle Vernon ranks. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: All anyone can talk about is That Kiss between Jamal and Skye. It was surprise, yes, but of course we know that it's never so simple as, No, no, we were told he likes the men. Vulture puts it simply: "SEXUALITY IS A SPECTRUM, Y'ALL," and TV Line backs that up with some previous context clues, re: Jamal: "Let's remember, while it's easy to shout, 'He's supposed to be the gay one!,' Jamal is also the first of the Lyon brothers to have thought (however erroneously) that he'd fathered a child (with his old fiancee, Raven-Symone's Olivia), so it's not as though Hall & Oates 'I Can't Go for That' is his theme song." No, his new theme song is "Powerful," duet with Skye Summers, and it's worth noting: The Smollett/Keys chemistry was on FIYAH. READ OUR RECAP Kingdom DirecTV WHAT HAPPENED: Wednesday night's episode of Kingdom is all about the full scope of letting go -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. In the latter category would be Christina sleeping with Terry only to walk away with heroine in her purse, ending her sobriety. And then there's Nate's fight; per EW recapper Samantha Highfill, "Here's the thing about sketchy promoters and sketchy fights: They come with sketchy refs, sketchy crowds, and an extremely loose grip on 'rules.'" The fight turns to a brawl and when Alvey calls to inform Lisa that it's likely an end to Nate's career, she tells him their relationship might be nearing an end, as well. But those are the bad letting gos -- there's good too! To quote Jay on helping Keith get rid of his hair: "It's a pleasure. He's f--ing riveting." And the very best moment (that absolutely did not have us in puddles) was when Ryan was able to begin letting go of the guilt he feels for what he did to his father, as the man himself told him how proud he is of the man Ryan's become. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: In the spirit of the Thanksgiving season, Wednesday's episode inspired the A.V. Club to be "grateful for the change of pace," which they felt was considerably lifted this week following a few meandering episodes, thanks to the shift back into focusing on Ryan, who was, "really the protagonist of the first season. Ryan had the most to lose and gain when he first emerged from prison, and had the most significant growth overall." He's lost plenty, but his moving conversation with his father revealed he's gained something even more important moving forward. Dads being hugged extra tight this Thanksgiving can thank Matt Lauria, M.C. Gainey, and their weep-worthy father/son performance. READ OUR RECAP One More Thing... Give Thanks for Post-Turkey TV Hulu, Netflix, Amazon QUALITY (TELEVISION) TIME: In case you need a little break this holiday weekend, or find that the family bedtime is circa 8 p.m., EW is here for you with a list of the best Thanksgiving episodes streaming on Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. And they're not all just Friends -- long live "Blair Waldorf Must Pie!" READ OUR RECAP Also Check Out... Recommended by Copyright © 2015 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved. WANT MORE? To subscribe to any of EW.com's email products, please click here. PRIVACY POLICY Please click here for our privacy policy. For further communication, please click here Your California Privacy Rights Entertainment Weekly Customer Service ATTENTION: CONSUMER AFFAIRS 3000 University Center Drive Tampa, FL 33612-6408 You are receiving this email because you are a friend of Entertainment Weekly. To unsubscribe from these updates, please click here.