Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 51 as they list their top moments in various important categories. This includes the most essential information, the stand-out castaways, and the key moments from the week.
Here, Christine and Gia break down all the action from the latest episode.
Top 3 Moments
Thumb War
Gia: Picture this: you’ve been chosen (or volunteered) as the tribe representative to determine how the marooning supplies will be divided up. Your tribe’s comfort for the next few weeks depends on you, but you have found yourself at a stalemate with the other tribe rep. The solution… why not a thumb war? At least, that’s the solution that Kristin (Savu’s champion) and Kilby (Toka’s champion) decided on. Kristin won the minor tussle and emerged as the clear winner of the negotiation. That said, Kilby was no slouch; he left with the shelter-building supplies. He also survived tribal council to see Toka receive their pot and machete, so perhaps this misstep isn’t as big a deal as we originally thought.
Exile Island is Back
Gia: One of the first returnees of the Open Era isn’t a player, but an island. Specifically, Exile Island, which Lewis became the first attendee of for 51. He volunteered for a mysterious journey before the tribes were made, and the decision came with pros and cons. Pro: he won’t be the first person voted out of the game. He also had the chance to win an idol, but he was unsuccessful. Con: he is staying on Exile until after the first vote, meaning he is missing out on valuable bonding time with his future tribemates. This could benefit him now that Toka just endured a messy tribal council, but time will tell whether his game is over before it even begins.
Vote for Fire
Christine: An otherwise fun and fresh premiere took a frustrating turn just before the immunity challenge when Jeff polled the castaways (sans Lewis) on whether they wanted Final Four firemaking in the game. If they all voted to remove it, it would be gone, but if just one of them voted to keep it, it would stay. Only five players voted to remove it, to Jeff’s great pleasure, which led him to launch into a diatribe about how much flak he gets from fans about firemaking and how this vote proves firemaking makes the game more interesting for the players. Opinions about this game mechanic aside, this moment was incredibly bizarre coming on the heels of a season titled In the Hands of the Fans. You can’t claim to celebrate the fans and then turn around and say their opinions don’t matter. Making choices independent of fan criticism is something I can respect (you can’t please everyone, after all), but I wish Jeff would stop bringing up the fans at all if that’s his mindset.
Tribe Breakdown
Toka
Gia: Is one episode too early to claim a team as a disaster tribe? Because that’s the vibe I am getting from Toka, who did their very best to keep us thoroughly entertained during this premiere. Devin and Brady may be the tribe’s warring figureheads, but they are far from the only stars we met. Jenna and Aaliyah both proved themselves to be formidable fighters when their backs were against the wall right up until the bitter end. It was sad to say goodbye to Aaliyah so soon, but I am looking forward to seeing the dueling alliances battle it out on the yellow tribe.
Savu
Christine: If Toka has the potential to be the disaster tribe, Savu certainly has the potential to win out until a presumed swap. Rob found the first idol of the season and threw his fellow Rhode Islander Eric under the bus, claiming Eric was the one idol hunting when he was actually out fishing. We didn’t get much of a sense of broader tribe dynamics beyond Kristin and Sharonda being close, Ori and Sharonda being close, and a trio of Rob, Carter, and Ana forming. Eric seems to be the only potential target so far, but on a tribe of ten, he has plenty of room to maneuver if they end up at tribal.
Top 3 Contestants
Kristin
Christine: This was a great premiere for my first draft pick, Kristin. She came out on top in the thumb war negotiation and ended up on the winning tribe, where she seems likely to integrate well socially if they end up going to tribal council. The larger, two-tribe format gives Kristin plenty of room to play, and I would be shocked to see her end up in trouble anytime soon, given that she seems to be making strong connections so far without making herself a target.
Devin
Gia: I think Thien An said it best when she compared Devin to an anime character, because there’s no better term to describe him than “animated.” From immediately forming the Helicopter Alliance to teaching morning exercises on the beach, there was never a dull moment when he was on screen. It’s clear that he’s excited to be there and make his mark on the season, but he came up short this round when he went against Brady and company. Perhaps he was a little too eager to be the tribe leader right off the bat, but I’m hoping he’s in the game for the long run. He is so fun to watch and not afraid to play… even if that play is declaring his vote out in the open during tribal council.
Jenna
Christine: One of my other draft picks, Jenna, had a rougher episode but ultimately came out on top after being spared from becoming the first boot of the Open Era. Jenna didn’t exactly do anything wrong to become a target here, other than coming off as a bit too closed off to her tribemates, which led to a wild conspiracy theory from Devin that she was lying about her profession. Despite this rough start, Jenna looks like she could be in a solid position moving forward after Devin and Jelly ended up on the wrong side of the vote. Jenna will need to continue putting in some work socially, but the larger tribe size should allow her to step out of the spotlight if her tribe goes back to tribal council, especially if she can open up a bit more to her tribemates and garner some sympathy for Devin’s job conspiracy theory.
Fallen Comrades
Aaliyah
Christine: Aaliyah’s less-than-stellar challenge performance sealed her fate this week, but throwing out Brady’s name got her on the chopping block in the first place. Had Jenna remained the sole name on the table, it might’ve been easier for Aaliyah and her allies to get their way with a clean first vote targeting the social outsider. But Aaliyah targeting Brady gave Jenna the ammo she needed to shift the vote off herself and onto Aaliyah by mobilizing Brady for the “vote out Aaliyah” cause.
Already, our larger starting tribes are delivering. On a tribe of six, we never would’ve seen something like this happen, and it’s refreshing to see a truly dynamic opening tribal where the person on the bottom actually has room to save themself instead of just burning their Shot in the Dark. It’s unfortunate for Aaliyah that she was the casualty of this more dynamic tribal. Still, this season is already shaping up to be more compelling than the pre-merges of our most recent newbie seasons.
Gia: RIP Helicopter Alliance, we hardly knew ya… and frankly, the same can be said for Aaliyah. She was a fighter, committed to her alliance, and she seemed to have the makings of a great player. Her fatal flaw came during the challenge where she underperformed, a fact Jenna was all too willing to use to save herself. Doing poorly in a challenge is not necessarily a death sentence for one’s game, especially 51 seasons in. Unfortunately for Aaliyah, she was unable to recover once her name was thrown out onto the chopping block. The first boot always hits hard for me, but I look forward to her TikToks as the season continues. On the bright side, it looks like she’s still great friends with her alliance members!
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