Survivor Season 51, Episode 6
“I Love Crying"
Host: Jeff Probst
Cast: Brady Booker, Cristian Chavez, Sharonda Cox, Kristin Flickinger, Ori Jean-Charles, Lewis Kelly, Danny Kilby, Carter Krull, Angelica "Jelly" Loblack, Eric Macksoud, Maggie Nestor, Thien An Nguyen, Mike Pinsky, Devin Way
You know that meme of the horse picture where it's beautiful at first and then becomes an awful drawing? That's this season of Survivor so far.
There’s something deeply ironic about an episode of Survivor titled “I Love Crying,” because watching production force its players into situations where the game stops being interesting isn't exactly my idea of a good time. But congratulations, Survivor! You've got me crying too.
Nevertheless, I think the show squeezed some juice out of the lemon they ended up with. A tribe of three heads to Tribal Council, where there was either an emotional farewell or a major blindside.
What was the fallout from last week's Tribal Council?
Lewis and Kilby are thrilled to have made it out of that Tribal Council alive.
Eric is less than thrilled.
He recognizes that Lewis had his back against the wall, but he feels deeply betrayed by Kilby. The two had developed a close bond. It feels a little extreme to Eric. It does seem as though if he had hyped up Kilby for the move, he could have been brought in moving forward, but he plays with his heart on his sleeve.
To be fair, I'm always asking for fun players rather than great players.
Meanwhile, at Savu Beach, Ori talks about having to sacrifice Alexis so he can make it to the end with Jelly and Devin. They know they can't lose, or else they will have to make a heartbreaking move. The three have a relaxing day, and Devin teaches Ori how to walk the runway like a model. They are in pretty high spirits, all things considered.
Where does Mike fit in the Toka tribe?
Mike gets the sense that the target is being directed towards him. He sees Kristin, the only former Savu on their tribe, as someone he could ally with, knowing very few others want to work with him. Brady and Carter both think Mike is shady, though it's likely their own behavior towards him has made him less keen to report back information and search for idols. Brady confronts him about it. This feels like a tough position for Mike to recover from, but it also feels like a bold choice from the pro wrestler that could backfire down the road.
While Mike wants to work with Kristin, it's not reciprocal. After all, what does Mike have to offer her? He does try to offer her a blank vote at a future Tribal Council. It seems like a good offer on paper, but how different is it from any other Tribal Council vote? Unlike Brady, Kristin doesn't want to burn her bridge with Mike, and consoles him without officially making an offer.
Kilby and Lewis celebrate their victory from the night before. Lewis knows without Kilby he'd be a goner. However, they still don't have the numbers.
While Eric talks about letting all his emotions out, Sharonda realizes she can use that to her advantage. She can keep him close with love and friendship. While Eric wants to keep that group together, Cristian sees Savu as a potential sinking ship. He might need Lewis and Kilby to keep his game alive longer. The previous Tribal seemed to show Cristian what was possible in this game, and he's ready to let his sneaky side out.
He does just that when it comes to picking someone to go to the Summit.
What happened at the Summit?
Each tribe had to send one person to a Summit. Cristian made sure that Lewis and Kilby's names couldn't be picked, so Dina sent Sharonda. Ori got selected via a random draw for Savu and Kristin went for Toka, mostly because Thien An completely blocks Mike from being able to go.
Once there, the three original Savus were given a bit of a dilemma. Two people would bring back ribs and corn for their tribes, while the last player would remain on Exile Island. The catch? They would also get an idol they could play for the two players who got food. Sharonda plays the moment beautifully, staying silent until Kristin offers herself up to stay.
Once at Exile, Kristin learns that the idol has a catch: if Ori and Sharonda are both voted out, her idol becomes a regular idol she can play for herself. While this is great for Kristin, I don't think that Sharonda will believe there isn't another catch. The whole thing feels like the amulet from previous seasons.
What I do like about this is that when Sharonda returns to Dina with the food, the others don't believe she got it by doing nothing. No risking your vote? No challenge? It seems unbelievable. While I don't want Sharonda to be in a worse position, I don't think the journey was particularly amazing or terrible for any player.
While Kristin is away at Exile, Carter builds a swing for fun. Maggie gets annoyed that they are wasting time on that instead of doing camp chores. She takes the hammock and tries to catch some fish. It doesn't work (obviously), and Brady is annoyed that the hammock is now unusable until it dries out. Brady is fed up with Maggie and is ready to get rid of her over Mike.
Who won the immunity challenge?
This week, two tribes would win immunity and avoid Tribal Council. That means we get both the large whale immunity and the smaller, cuter version.
The tribes gathered sandbags to knock off a puzzle, then built it. Lots of people had to sit out because only three players were left on Savu. Savu got an early lead, but couldn't hold it. They got absolutely demolished during the puzzle portion, sending the trio back to Tribal Council where one member of the Helicopter Alliance would be voted out.
Who got voted out from the Savu tribe?
While Ori was away at the Summit, we got a lot of time with Devin and Jelly hanging out alone at their beach. He asks her if she has any feelings for Ori, and she denies it. The two are incredibly close but Devin knows he has to separate himself from her, and she does too.
And so, this becomes the crux of the dilemma for Jelly and Devin. Is it worth them getting rid of one of the other instead of voting out Ori?
Devin initially suggests they all play their Shot in the Dark and let fate decide, but Jelly isn't going to go home that easily. She has a hidden immunity idol and won't go home with one in her pocket.
The intrigue came when Ori made a pitch to both of them in hopes there was a crack there. But it was not to be. It became pretty obvious once we got the positive speeches about Ori before the vote. He played his Shot in the Dark, but he was NOT SAFE. In the end, Jelly kept her idol, and Ori went home.
Again, Survivor gets some credit for making the vote at least somewhat interesting, but when you suffocate the players' ability to play by putting them on such small tribes, it limits what the castaways can do. Fortunately, it seems like next week will be a pretty straightforward merge.
At least one can hope.
Grace Notes
- Pretty awesome to see the footage of Kristin applying to the show for nearly 20 years — so happy to see her killing it now that she's made it
- I always worry when they leave the food out in the sun, and I can't imagine the ribs and corn were ideal after that, not to mention having to spend time on the boat
- The rope swing was a genuinely super cool thing that Carter made — I'm happy to have Carter come over and build me one if he's interested
- Eric does get credit for yelling out "Dina Divas" during the immunity challenge — is he the greatest sit-out support player of all time?
