"Survivor 45" Episode 5 Recap - Can Sifu Save Sifu?
Sifu Is Not Pleased That Sifu Doesn't Know Who Voted for Sifu
Every Wednesday after the “Survivor” episode airs you’ll be able to find a full recap along with individual player grades right here. The next day I’ll have an exit interview with the latest castaway on my YouTube Channel. And…get this…every Monday I’ll be squaring off against “Survivor 44” challenge beast Frannie Marin in the “Survivor” Power Rankings! That too is available on my YouTube Channel.
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Last Week: Someone else quit. Sigh…
39 26 Days, 18 Players, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let's take a look at the tribes as they currently stand...
The Belo Tribe (wearing blue)
Austin, 26 - Grad Student
Brando, 23 - Software Developer
Drew, 23 - Grad Student
Emily, 28 - Investment Analyst
Kendra, 31 - Bartender
The Lulu Tribe (wearing yellow)
Bruce, 47 - Insurance Agent
Jake, 26 - Attorney
Kaleb, 29 - Software Sales
Katurah, 35 - Civil Right Attorney
Kellie, 29 - Critical Care Nurse
The Reba Tribe (wearing red)
Dee, 26 - Entrepreneur
J. Maya, 24 - Singer
Julie, 49 - Estate Attorney
Sifu, 30 - Gym Owner
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Post-Tribal Shenanigans
Sifu is not pleased that somebody voted for Sifu. Sifu asks the others if they’d like to discuss what happened, but they aren’t ready to talk about it with Sifu just yet.
Dee admits to us that she was the voter and claims that Sifu has been causing trouble this whole time. Well, that’s good to know.
The tribe eventually discusses the votes with Julie assuming Sean voted for Sifu. But, Sifu knows that Sean didn’t vote for Sifu.
Julie is very annoyed that Sean didn’t jump on the grenade for them considering they were trying to save him before he threw in the towel.
Sifu vows to do some reconnaissance to figure things out…as that worked so well for Sifu in the premiere.
At Belo Beach
Austin claims that day ten is the most difficult day on “Survivor” yet. And that faint noise you hear in the background is classic players around the country yelling at their TVs.
They discuss how hungry they are which eventually leads to Kendra debating eating a worm. She can’t decide because Libras have trouble making up their mind.
And that faint noise you hear is me rolling my eyes in a living room in Pennsylvania.
Quick Aside: I have loud eyes.
She eventually tries to eat it, but promptly pukes it up…on national TV.
Drew tells us that Kendra is quite a character and that “Survivor” brings together people from all walks of life.
Yup! It’s supposed to!
Brando is very nervous having Kendra as his closest ally because they weren’t that tight at classic Belo. So, he uses Pokemon to bond with Drew. Just like Richard Hatch and Rudy Boesch!
Brando also pushes a narrative that nerds become big targets after the merge. Wait, what? Drew doesn’t buy this and shuts it down.
So, Brando makes a move to get Emily on his side. And…she seems into it.
Careful in that swing position, Emily…
At Lulu Beach
Jake is lounging on the beach playing his tummy like a bongo…as one does. Bruce encourages Jake to get up, which almost immediately leads to Jake falling to the ground and suffering from what appears to be slight convulsions.
Kellie thinks he just had a drop in his blood sugar and he should be fine. But Jake is very worried that he’s going to be pulled from the game.
Apparently, Jake has recently gone through a significant weight loss. And we’re treated to a video package that shows his impressive transformation. Also, it might be dusty in a living room in Pennsylvania.
Later on, Katurah gets caught idol hunting by the entire tribe. She says, “I was looking for…papaya.”
Kaleb uses this as a way to get closer with Katurah, because he’s friggin’ good at this game. He later tells us that Kellie has been his blindspot within the tribe and instead of targeting her, uses this as a way to get in good with her. Because he realizes that the tribe goes the way Kellie goes.
He uses the Sabiyah/idol info to bring Kellie closer.
Because Kaleb is friggin’ good at this game.
And in other news, Katurah and Bruce continue to rub each other the wrong way. In this week’s episode, a debate over food has Bruce calling Katurah’s idea to skip eating for a day “stupid.”
Oh my gosh, just kiss already.
At Reba Beach
J. Maya, Julie, and Dee are all livid that not only did Sean quit, but he told Sifu that he didn’t vote for Sifu. J. Maya even calls this the worst possible outcome.
Sifu is desperate to discover the identity of the mystery voter and Sifu has a fake idol to help Sifu out.
J. Maya makes a plan where she’ll confess to voting for Sifu. Then Dee and Julie will pretend like they’re going to vote out J. Maya in the hopes that Sifu doesn’t play Sifu’s idol.
That’s not a bad plan…as long as you trust Dee and Julie.
CUT TO: Dee and Julie considering just voting J. Maya out.
Immunity Challenge Time: One by one, three players from each tribe will race through an obstacle course and retrieve keys. When they’re done, the remaining player will use the keys to get a hook. They’ll use the hook to get a bunch of sandbags. The first tribe to slingshot those sandbags into three targets will win immunity, ten fish, and cooking gear. The second tribe will get immunity and less fish.
Sitting Out: Emily will sit for Belo, Kellie will sit for Lulu.
Results: Reba is the first tribe to release their sandbags. Reba maintains their lead and takes first with Lulu coming in second.
Twist Alert: Jeff has Reba pick a person from each tribe to go on a journey. They choose J. Maya, Kellie, and Austin.
When Probst asks why they chose Austin, J. Maya says it’s so he can give them information.
Doh… Is that gonna sway Emily?
At the Island of Excessive Advantages
Kellie feels like the odd person out as the only non classic Reba player there.
After a long trek, they’re given the choice between food or amulets that come with a twist; the amulets have to all be used at the same time. Three amulets are an extra vote, two amulets are a steal-a-vote, and if there’s only one amulet left in the game, it becomes an idol. The amulets are only good until final six.
The choice is majority rules, and Austin wants himself a sandwich! He also makes the point that it gives them a reason to target each other.
J. Maya wants the amulet and Kellie hates that she’s in the position to make the choice.
Those sandwiches have tomatoes on them, so the choice is obvious to me. They’re garbage.
After a commercial break, Austin realizes that Kellie is leaning toward the amulets and he doesn’t want that to become an issue, so he agrees to work with the other two. J. Maya even pitches a pact where they don’t target each other until final seven.
But, Austin lets us know that he intends to vote them both out in exchange for costing him a sandwich.
Pre-Tribal Politicking
Kendra approaches Emily with the idea of going for Drew. While Brando offers his Shot in the Dark to Drew in the hopes of them targeting Kendra instead.
Later, Brando tells us that this is all a ruse to keep his name off of Drew’s parchment and that he fully intends to work with Kendra.
Buuut…Drew doesn’t think Brando put up enough of a fight and that Brando is definitely cooking something up.
Emily returns and tells Drew everything Kendra just said. And, Drew returns the favor with the Brando info. Buuut…Emily doesn’t believe Drew because she doesn’t think Brando would turn on Kendra.
So, it looks like Emily is ready to partner with classic Belo to take Drew out.
However, she gives Drew another chance to explain himself. Drew is shocked because he told her the truth about Brando’s pitch.
Austin returns with a creative story about having the choice between sandwiches and a challenge. He tells everyone he wanted the sandwiches, but he was outvoted and had to compete in a coconut-carrying challenge. He claims they lost.
When he and Drew are alone, he admits that he gained an amulet. Drew convinces Austin to share this info with Emily to gain her trust.
And all of this is before we even get into Austin’s idol…that has to have a sacrificed vote in order to extend its life and the advantage that lets you gain back a lost vote, and Drew’s ability to just up and leave Tribal all together.
It’s a lot.
Tribal Time
Nothing terribly interesting is said and Probst doesn’t encourage anyone to quit.
Voting Time: Austin sacrifices his vote, then brings his vote back, and no actual votes are shown.
JPro tallies and returns. He asks if anyone wants to play an advantage and…nobody does. We’ve got one vote for Drew, one vote for Brando, one vote for Drew, one vote for Brando, and the fifth person eliminated from “Survivor 45” is…Brando.
Verdict: Hey! Someone tried to keep themselves in the game! That’s a step in the right direction!
Power Rankings Results: Frannie Marin had Brando in spot nine, while I had him in spot six. So, the current score is Team Marin 49, Team Holmes 47.
A: Drew and Austin - What a confusing mess, but they managed to come out of it with a good ally and a halfway powered idol.
A-: Emily - It could have bit her that she didn’t trust Drew right off of the bat. But, it seems like they figured things out.
A-: Dee and Julie - They kept their cool in the middle of a rough situation and ended up with a clever way out of it. They didn’t have to use it, but they got there.
A-: Kaleb and Kellie - Friggin’ rock stars.
B+: J. Maya - Her Sifu strategy could have come back to bite her, but she’s thinking. Love it.
B: Kendra - She didn’t win this week, but she caused less trouble than Brando and managed to hang around.
B-: Katurah - I think Katurah’s gonna win the great war with Bruce. But, I think she could handle it without letting him know that she’s gunning for him.
C: Bruce - I can’t help but ask; where would Bruce be right now if he wasn’t so Bruce?
C-: Sifu - I get being alarmed over a vote, but freaking out over it is rarely the way to go.
Incomplete: Jake - I can’t give you a grade if you don’t show your work.
Welp, that’s it! Check out my exit interview with Brando on YouTube tomorrow. And, this Monday don’t miss the fourth round of the “Survivor” Power Rankings as I square off against Frannie Marin!