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
Lewis Joins Toka
Gia: After spending the first round of play on Exile Island, Lewis became an official member of the Toka tribe. He filled his new team members in on everything that happened during his time of isolation, including the fact that he had an opportunity to win an advantage and lost. In classic Survivor fashion, Kilby immediately suspected that there was more to the story. I suspect that Exile Island will be a recurring presence this season, and its visitors will have to answer for themselves each time. Toka was safe this time around, but the chances of us seeing more distrust surrounding Lewis in the next few episodes seem more likely than not.
Thumb War of a Different Kind
Gia: Just because Toka was safe this episode doesn’t mean they are out of disaster tribe territory yet. Within the first 10 minutes, they had a new mishap to address: Brady accidentally cut off a piece of his thumb. Understandably, he was in great pain. Also understandably, he was worried about being medically evacuated. Less understandably, CBS felt the need to show us, the audience, the chopped-off piece of his thumb in all its glory. Personally, I could believe Brady’s story without seeing the evidence, but I digress. Luckily for Brady, he wasn’t evacuated and is still in the game. Unluckily, the visual of the dismembered thumb is still haunting me.
Rob Makes History (Or Tries To)
Christine: During the lead-up to tribal, Rhode Island Rob lets Eric know he has a plan to save him, hinting in his confessional that it would be a historic move. At tribal, Rob pulls Eric aside and tells him to play his Shot in the Dark; if it fails, Rob will idol him. Okay, a little dramatic to say all of this at tribal, but otherwise, so far so good…then Rob gets up to the voting booth to reveal the final step of his plan: voting for himself. Except the rules famously don’t allow that, as an off-camera producer reminds him, and he ultimately votes for Eric, only for Ana to go instead. Chef’s kiss.
Tribe Breakdown
Toka
Gia: Toka avoided tribal council this time around, but that doesn’t mean they were without their share of drama. Brady lost a piece of his thumb, Jelly found an idol, and a new alliance formed as a result. After Jelly told Patt about the idol, the duo decided to form a strong alliance with Devin, Mike, and Brady to secure the numbers moving forward. A good idea for a tribe so large, but forming an alliance and actually working together are two separate things. Will this new fivesome become the ones to watch moving forward, or will this alliance only be strong in theory?
Savu
Christine: Toka was messy last week, and this week it was Savu’s turn to get messy. This week’s vote may have been driven by unfounded paranoia of the crab variety, but Linnea, Alexis, and Sharonda’s plan still succeeded in breaking up a very real three-person alliance of Carter, Rob, and Ana. Despite surviving, Eric remains firmly on the bottom of this group alongside Rob and Carter, but the rest of the power structure is more nebulous. Next week, I’ll watch to see whether the Linnea, Alexis, and Sharonda trio formalizes into an actual alliance, or if it was just a one-off. Cristian and Kristin also both seem to be playing quieter, more under-the-radar games, and each could be well-positioned to play the middle if more formal sides form as a result of this divided vote.
Top 3 Contestants
Rob
Christine: None of it worked, but you can’t deny Rob tried to play hard this week. He’s proven to be phenomenal casting. Give me more players who don’t know the fundamental rules of the game, please. And he was undoubtedly the star of the episode thanks to that insane plan of his. Rob at least didn’t waste his idol, which is good news because his close ally just got voted out, and he’s certainly going to catch some heat due to his whole charade with Eric at tribal. I don’t know how or if he’ll recover, or if he even wants to recover, given that he tried to vote for himself. But I’m seated for whatever mess Rob brings us next!
Sharonda
Christine: Sharonda seems to be playing a very solid, steady game. She was momentarily targeted this episode, but came out on the right side of a divided vote that sent the person targeting her out of the game. This vote saw her work with Linnea and Alexis, and we’ve previously seen her close with Ori and Kristin as well. She’s well-positioned to come out of this week’s divided vote with solid working relationships and very little heat on her, so long as she manages her relationship with Ori. It’s hard for me to imagine her becoming a target on this tribe again anytime soon with Ana gone and so much focus being on Rob and Eric.
Jelly
Gia: Things weren’t looking great for Jelly after last episode, where she was one of the few people that voted to keep Aaliyah. Thankfully for her, the beauty of Survivor is that things can change on a dime, and change they did. Jelly spent the interim building stronger relationships with her tribemates and keeping an eye out for any opportunity to better her position in the game. This led her to find the Toka tribe’s hidden immunity idol. While this is definitely one of the most interesting outcomes that could happen for Toka, I do have one cause for concern: the fact that she told Patt about it. There really was no reason to tell anyone so early in the game, and idol plans have been known to go awry when the wrong person has all the information. For Jelly’s sake, let’s hope I’m just overthinking everything.
Fallen Comrades
Ana
Christine: Ana had a classic flameout this week. What started as a potentially strong episode for her, thanks to her Persian connection with Alexis, quickly took a turn for the worse when she began severely overplaying, throwing out too many names, and getting caught. Ana’s boot shows the risk of playing on a larger starting tribe: it’s easy to get too comfortable and push your luck. On a six-person tribe, you have to play more conservatively because you’re so acutely aware that you could become the vote. On a ten-person tribe, a few solid relationships can make you feel safe, and that safety can lead you to play just a little too hard and turn the numbers against you, just like Ana did. It’s a shame to see her go because she was a fun presence on this season, but I can’t say I’m surprised by the outcome.
Gia: Ana had so much potential to be a force of nature in the game, but she fell into the age-old trap of playing too hard too fast. Sadly for her, her greatest weakness seemed to be her inability to cover her tracks whenever she was caught in a lie, which made it hard for her to build any ironclad alliances. Throwing out the names of more well-insulated players like Linnea and Sharonda so early was a mistake she could not come back from, and suggesting her name as the decoy vote was the final nail in her coffin. It’s unfortunate that Rob’s fruitless shenanigans overshadowed her exit, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles in a game as unforgiving as this one.
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