Written by Mike Mueller
PLAYING ON ANOTHER LEVEL
While Survivor usually does a good job of “spreading the love” between tribes receiving airtime, this episode focused pretty exclusively around the dwindling Ua tribe. In the beginning of the episode, we see Genie, Ricard, and Shan looking for the Beware Advantage. Genie finds it and, instead of keeping it for herself, she lets Shan and Ricard know that she found it. Shan convinces the tribe that they’re better off not opening it at this moment, since it is only an advantage if the other tribes found their portion of the idol. We know Yase has theirs, but Luvu has yet to find it, or even go looking for it, apparently.
Shan and Ricard are much more apt for this game, so when Genie gets out of sight, they go back and Shan opens the advantage. This, coupled with her extra vote that she swindled from JD, gives Shan enormous power in the game…if the rest of the shared idol is found. If not, Shan is without a vote until all portions of the idol are found. Again, being the smart players that they are, Shan gives Ricard her extra vote on the off chance that the idol is useless, and so they have all of their bases covered. Shan and Ricard are playing on a whole other level, while poor Genie is just being strung along for the ride.
TRUST ISSUES
Sometimes, when things are going too well, you have to create your own drama, and that’s what is happening with the other two tribes this week.
Over on Luvu, Danny and Deshawn are still on board with throwing the challenge in the hopes of getting out Erika. Ten days on survivor and not going to tribal council does seem like you’re not getting the full experience, but c’mon guys, you NEVER THROW A CHALLENGE! Fortunately for the tribe (and Erika especially), Naseer is not on board with this plan and Danny and Deshawn wisely back off. Crisis averted, for the moment.
Yase is not without their own troubles, too. The women have formed a tight 3-person alliance, with Xander squarely on the outs. However, Evvie has been keeping a good relationship with Xander in order to keep getting important information for the girls. She convinces Xander to share the fact that he has the Beware Advantage with Tiffany. Unfortunately for Xander, he’s the worst liar on the island, and the story that he tries to spin to Tiffany about “just finding the advantage this morning” doesn’t line up with reality. Tiffany calls him out on it and he comes clean. Because Tiffany is the most overly paranoid player in the game, she’s more convinced than ever that Evvie and Xander are really looking out for each other, and Tiffany and Liana are on the outs. This isn’t even close to the truth, but good luck trying to convince Tiffany of that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBSC9R39bDY
NO TIME FOR SUBTLETY
As the tribes come into the immunity challenge, Jeff talks to the contestants, once again giving them the opportunity to say their part of the “secret phrase.” Shan and Xander say their phrases pretty smoothly, and it appears that Luvu has missed the boat again, but Naseer, quite literally out of nowhere and without any pretense, says his portion of the secret phrase, and now Naseer, Shan, and Xander all have working immunity idols.
The Immunity Challenge is once again pretty basic. Tribes must climb up and over a rope net, untangle a rope knot, release some coconuts, and use those coconuts to knock over targets via a huge slingshot. The tribes are even throughout the first portion of the challenge, but once they get to the slingshot portion, Yase and Luvu pull away, making quick work of their targets and sending Ua back to tribal council for the fourth time in five challenges.
Like in episodes past, the winning tribe gets to send one member of the losing tribe on a journey along with someone from one of the two winning tribes. As the winning team, Yase decides to send Shan from Ua and Liana from their own tribe on the journey.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Shan and Liana bond quickly on their journey up the mountain. We learn about Shan’s struggles with her birth mother and her rough upbringing that led her to join a gang as a youth. Survivor continues to spotlight all of these players and give the audience time to emotionally connect to every single one of them.
When they reach their destination, Shan lets Liana know she will not be risking her vote so Liana should risk hers in order to get the advantage. This is a very smart move. It allows Shan to build trust and relationships with people on other tribes, and, speaking honestly, if Shan gets any more advantages, even her allies would be stupid to keep her around. She wisely spreads the love and Liana gets the advantage.
This advantage is way more powerful than just some extra vote; it is the “Knowledge is Power” advantage, and it allows Liana to ask a tribe member if they have an advantage or an idol, and that contestant must tell the truth. If they answer “yes” to Liana’s question, she gets to take that advantage/idol on the spot and it becomes Liana’s to use whenever she wants.
Using this properly does require insider information, but Liana already has plenty of that. She knows who has all of the idols thanks to the secret phrase, so she will be able to use this successfully whenever she wants. This is, without a doubt, the single most powerful advantage in the game and has made Liana go from a “middle of the road” player to a potential winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11X-qq2CERU
TAKE YOUR SHOT
With Shan off on her journey, Ricard and Genie talk about their distrust of Shan and the idea that perhaps they’re better off getting rid of her tonight. Of course, this is all a ruse as both Survivors plan on writing each other’s names down, and Shan once again will be the deciding factor.
When Shan returns, she has individual conversations with Genie and Ricard, and the plan for Ricard and Shan seems to be in place. However, Shan makes a critical strategic error when she asks Ricard to give her back her extra vote before tribal. This is exactly what she did to JD right before they voted JD off, allowing Shan to continue in the game with his advantage. Ricard is a much smarter player than JD and does not give Shan her extra vote back, saying he’ll give it to her tomorrow morning. In other words, “you only get this back if you keep me around.” It is a powerful insurance policy, to say the least.
At tribal council, the three contestants talk with Jeff about their genuine affection for each other, and all that other sentimental malarkey that people on the show say right before they betray somebody. However, looming over their heads is still the “Shot in the Dark”, the new twist this season that allows a player to sacrifice their vote for a one-in-six chance at immunity. Genie, having a very strong feeling she was on the bottom, appears to be considering using her Shot in the Dark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GzZ4txxovY
Whether Shan was on Genie’s side or not, there was absolutely no reason for Genie NOT to use her “Shot in the Dark”, and here’s why:
-If Shan is lying and votes out Genie, it will be 2-1 against Genie, and she goes home. If Genie takes the shot in the dark and misses, she gets voted out 2-0 instead of 2-1; no real difference there.
-If Shan was telling the truth and writes Ricard’s name down, the vote would be 1 for Ricard, 1 for Genie. If her Shot in the Dark is successful, Ricard goes home on a 1-0 vote. If her Shot in the Dark is unsuccessful, it is a 1-1 tie for Genie and Ricard, with Shan being the lone tiebreaker vote. If she voted against Ricard the first time, she would surely do it again since Ricard would no longer trust her moving forward.
This was Genie’s golden opportunity to take fate into her own hands in the safest way possible. However, as discussed at the beginning of this article, Genie is not the same caliber of player as Ricard and Shan. Genie does not use her shot in the dark and goes home on a 2-1 vote, leaving Shan and Ricard as the last two members of Ua.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxH9vbpKEX0
OVERALL THOUGHTS on Survivor Season 41 Episode 5 :
-With all the power and advantages that Shan has, many people now consider to be the favorite. In reality, she will have such a huge target on her back. A time will come when Ricard will need to tell Shan’s secrets to other players in order to curry favor with new tribemates. She has a great backstory, has made huge moves, and has advantages and idols as far as the eye can see. She is the #1 threat come merge time, and if she makes it to the final three, it’ll be a miracle.
-Liana is the person whose position has improved most significantly in this episode. Knowing where all three idols are guarantees that she will come into possession of an idol at her next tribal council. Even if she has to use it on the same night she acquires it, that is a huge “Survivor Move” and bolsters her resume significantly if she makes it to the end.
-Deshawn’s eagerness to throw a challenge and get to tribal council will ultimately be his undoing. If you’re that desperate for drama and a blindside, you’re usually the one that ultimately gets played.
-There HAS to be some sort of tribe swap or merge in the next episode. We are down to twelve players, and going this long without a swap or merge is very unlike the current Survivor format.
Survivor 41 Episode 5 is now streaming on Paramount+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0JI-PFbSt0
