After the snoozefest of episode 4, Survivor 51 is back with another great episode. We saw Lewis attempt to make a new advantage, Maggie make one of the boldest moves of all time, an amazing tribal council, and so much more! Despite how great this season has been, it is impossible to ignore the pattern that we have seen throughout this season. That is, now six women being voted out of the game, with Rob being the only man eliminated, and that was by a quick! While not intentional by anyone on the cast, it is still a concerning pattern that is taking away enjoyment of the season.
Mike, Kristen, or Maggie?
Everyone is getting along great at the new Toka tribe. They’ve built a makeshift basketball hoop, have Kristin as a built in Survivor encyclopedia, and are overall enjoying the Survivor life. The game is still hanging in the back of all of their heads, though. Thien An feels great about everyone on the tribe, except for Mike, who she still calls a bottom-feeder. She even feels great about Kristin, the only original Savu member on this tribe and someone that could be an easy consensus boot. It’s looking less likely that will be the case though, as everyone just seems to love her. Not Maggie, though, who has felt threatened by both Kristin and Linnea since day 1. She confides in Brady, who she thinks is her closest ally, that she thinks Kristin is too dangerous because of how much she knows about the game, but everyone else just seems to love her. Brady reassures her and tells her that she thinks they’ll all stay Toka strong. In confessional, though, he expresses how he’s annoyed by her paranoia and thinks that she does too much. He loves her, but she just needs to chill out, and he regrets giving her the extra vote. With three people in danger on Toka, you should not count anyone out just yet.
A New Advantage
After losing the immunity challenge, both Dina and Savu will have to vote someone out. Dina is by far the more interesting of the two losing tribes this episode, with so many interesting dynamics and advantages coming into effect. The first of many amazing moments from Dina this episode comes from Lewis, who knows he’s in danger of going home. Kilby has made much stronger connections with the old Savu members than he has, so he needs to do something to save himself. He makes an admirable attempt, using an Irish wedding ring that he brought from home and lying about it being an advantage. He comes up with the Blood Idol/Ring. The idea is simple, but terrifying. Whoever he gives the blood idol to will be forced to keep it and if he goes home, they’ll go home with him. He shows this to Sharonda, who believes him, and tells all of her allies. unfortunately for Lewis, Christian knows that he’s lying. That is because earlier on, Lewis had shown to ring to him and told him the story behind it. He tells his allies that it’s a fake advantage and it seems like the plan to vote Lewis out is back on.
Maggie Tears Dina Apart
It wouldn’t be the open era without some kind of double tribal twist. After winning immunity and reward, the Toka tribe receive a mysterious letter telling them to send one of their tribe members to another tribe’s camp. Multiple people volunteer, and after a random draw, Maggie is selected to go. She chooses Dina, since two of her former allies are on that tribe and could need help. She also receives an extra vote that she can give to anyone who she’d like. This also means she now has two extra votes, with the one that Brady gave her still in her pocket.
At Toka, Maggie has one-on-one conversations with everyone just trying to figure out if there’s any chance the four original Savu members turn against each other. She decides that Lewis and Kilby don’t stand a chance, pulling them both aside and making one of the boldest plays I’ve seen in Survivor. She tells Lewis and Kilby that the original Savu members are staying “Savu strong,” so she reveals to them that she has two extra votes and she’s going to give one to each of them. She also tells them that she wants them to target Linnea, who she sees as one of the most dangerous players in the game. After Maggie leaves, Lewis tells us that he doesn’t want to necessarily target Linnea, but he feels like he has to because Maggie just did this huge favor for him. Kilby, on the other hand, immediately tells the original Savu members that Maggie gave him an extra vote. He doesn’t tell them about Lewis’ extra vote, but him telling them this so quickly places doubt on whether he’ll actually try to save Lewis or not. Well he stick by Lewis and try to force a 4-4 tie, or will he take the safe option of just voting Lewis out and keeping the extra vote for himself?
Jelly’s Dilemma
The result was never really in question for the Savu Tribe. With three helicopter alliance members and one Alexis, it was obvious she never stood a chance. Devin and Ori both lie to her about the vote, with Devin being messy in telling her about his extra vote. The main intrigue comes from Jelly, who points out that there have been only women voted out so far. She’d hate to continue contributing to that by voting Alexis out. However, Devin and Ori are quite literally her two closest allies, and as a black women, she cares just as much, if not more, about not voting out another black person unless absolutely necessary. It’s no surprise when Alexis is voted out in a 3-1 vote in the first tribal council of the night.
Alexis Levine: Under-edited and Swap Screwed
Poor Alexis, being horribly swap screwed and never really standing a chance. Alexis and Jenna’s exits just exemplify why switching to three tribes was such a horrible idea. Two capable players who had so much left to prove leaving in a whimper. It is such a shame, but that’s the name of the game. Although I was never particularly rooting for Alexis, she was a nice presence and her moments in episodes 2 and 5 were probably my favorite moments from her.
Kilby Picks a Side
I knew this was going to be a great second tribal as soon as I saw there were still 20 minutes left in the episode. Kilby has the original Savu members completely fooled. Christian, Eric, Linnea, and Sharonda all think that he is with them all the way. Obviously, he has that close bond with Eric, but he also has a day 1 connection with Linnea. That is why, when 4 votes come for Linnea, they are all completely blindsided. They realize that Kilby has just flipped on them. On the revote, Kilby does not budge, meaning everyone must be able to come to a unanimous decision on who to send home or they will draw rocks. The original Savu members all start berating Kilby, which is not at all what they should do if they want him to back down. He straight up tells them that he’s not budging on this no matter what, which is music to Lewis’ ears. They try to tell him that he was safe and now he’s just screwed himself, which only makes him more resolved in not changing his mind. With that, Jeff asks them all if they have reached a decision. Kilby tells Jeff he’s sticking by his vote, leaving Christian, Eric, and Sharonda all scrambling. Sharonda and Eric tell each other that they don’t want to go to rocks, while Linnea is right in front of them. The odds wouldn’t be in their favor, with there only being a 25% chance Kilby would go home and a 75% chance of the three of them would go home. By refusing to back down, Kilby has forced the alliance of four that was once so strong to sacrifice one of their allies and allow both Lewis and Kilby to live another day. They all relent, allowing Linnea to go home.
Linnea Capobianco: Sacrificed for an All Time Tribal
It was such a good tribal, I just wish that it hadn’t been Linnea who went home. Not just because it means a sixth woman is now out of the game, but also because Linnea had so much potential. It feels like so much had to go wrong for her to be the boot, it all starting with Carter leaving his bag unattended during the mutiny. There is a strong case to be made that she might be one of the most screwed over players in Survivor history. Why couldn’t it be Christian or something? Why did it have to be her. Because, no offense, but I would much rather Linnea still be in the game than Christian, who the show has not given us any reason to care about. This boot order sucks, but the episodes have been so good.
Conclusion:
I’m still loving this season so far, but the boot order just makes it so hard for me to fully support it. It exemplifies a very real, although unintentional trend, of women being voted out early way more than men in Survivor. It feels like we’re right back in the brutal days of Survivor 43 and 44. Women being outnumbered 9-5 after only five episodes feels so, so wrong. I’m really hoping that the five remaining women make a deep run, because it is not looking good at all. Let’s get rid of Mike and Christian please, not another heavy hitter!
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