Welcome to Give Me Five! Each week, Brent Sullivan will look at the top five impactful moments from the latest episode that could influence the rest of the season.
Merge baby!!! The merge episode is always so good. In fact, it is the best episode of the season many times. David vs. Goliath has been really strong from the start, so it had a pretty high bar to hit. The season continued to bring a high level of entertainment with this 37th edition of the merge. The merge itself won’t be one of my impactful points just because I would just have one big article this week instead of my usual five points. A lot of the events that took place this week are directly related to the merge anyway. So, we have new (and clean) blue buffs and a snazzy new tribe name and we are ready to discuss what else went down:
1. Was there a clue hidden at the feast? The Survivor producers have really stepped up their game this season with how they are revealing things like idols and clues. So, when Gabby was talking about looking for a clue during the merge feast, but not actually finding anything, it made me wonder. Was there something there? Did Gabby (or someone else) find something, but it won’t be shown until the next few episodes? Or perhaps the sign that said “Everything that you need…” is, in fact, an idol itself, very similar to the big square idols that they had on Survivor: China. With such a jammed packed merge episode and so much to show, why show Gabby talking about something at the merge feast if it wasn’t important?
2. Dan’s idol(s) are the talk. Dan’s idols were quite the topic of conversation this week. Nick and Christian (or do I need to start calling them Mason-Dixon again?) finally get a chance to talk for the first time since the swap and Nick tells Christian about Dan’s idol, at least the one that he knows about. Christian seems absolutely surprised by that fact. He and Dan have been getting along well when they were on Tiva together, but he obviously didn’t tell him about his idol. We also see Dan and Kara get back together and Dan immediately tells her about his second idol. That is such a poor move. He has no clue what has been going on over on the other two tribes and he should have at least kept that one to himself. Every week, Dan is becoming a bigger and bigger threat, and at some point, he will either get voted out with idols in his pockets or he is going to have to start playing them. At this point, almost everyone knows that he has one, so something is bound to happen soon.
3. The Strike Force. Another alliance, another alliance name. Alec, Alison, Nick, Mike, Christian, and Gabby seem like they have a good plan. They are going to take out a couple of Davids to not arouse suspicion among the Goliaths, then start picking off everyone else in the game. This seems like a really good idea, and after one vote, they have stuck to the plan. However, there are still 12 players left in the game and keeping six people together at this point will be tricky. Everyone always wants to make moves and shake things up, and this is a long time to stick together until the end. Not only do two players still have idols to play, but the Goliaths are going to have a huge numbers advantage, and that may be too attractive to turn away from. I personally like the team of six, but it would be tough for them to stay loyal for the long haul. Let’s see if they can even make it one more vote!
4. Dan’s attitude. Just a quick little note on this one. I found it extremely interesting the way that Dan was acting during this episode. The dude knows that he is in a game, but doesn’t seem to react well when he hears his name put out there. Look, I get it. I wouldn’t like it either, no one should, but he is in the best spot of anyone in the entire game. He has two idols, and as far as he knows, he is in the majority alliance. Kara explained it best after he walked away from her. Basically, he needs to chill out. Why are we seeing this side of Dan? Is he getting set-up for a big blindside next week? Will Carl play the idol nullifier on his idol and have him get eliminated? I have a feeling that we will find out soon.
5. Angelina is at it again. I am not sure what Angelina was trying to do here. She said that it was a human moment when she told Elizabeth that she was next to go, but from what we have seen, those two weren’t exactly that close. I don’t think that she was pandering for a jury vote, at least not at this point. Did she even know for sure that the next vote-off would be on the jury? I think it just came down to her being pissed at her alliance for changing the vote from Christian to Elizabeth. No matter her reason for doing it, it completely backfired on her and made her look extremely bad during tribal council. I don’t think that she will be voted off next, but I think that we can all safely assume that she most likely ruined her chances of winning.
There you go. What moments from this week’s episode do you think made an impact?
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