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
Kilby Does Damage Control
Gia: Kilby may have won the battle that was last week’s tribal council, but he still has a war to plan for in the coming weeks. Currently, that war means he has to do damage control with his tribemates, especially Eric. His former ally denounced him after tribal council, and Kilby did his best to salvage any possible goodwill he could find. He was lucky enough to avoid a vote this round, but there’s no telling how big his target will be now that the merge has arrived. Then again, Cristian has also been considering a flip over to the other side since losing Linnea… so perhaps Savu has bigger problems ahead.
Tethered Idol
Christine: This week, we saw another return to the format of the New Era, the Journey, except we’ve decided we’re calling it a Summit now. Kristin, Sharonda, and Ori were faced with a choice: two could leave with food, and one could stay at Exile to earn a power they could all share. Kristin, who was able to go on the journey thanks to Thien An’s insistence, took one for the team and stayed on Exile to receive a new kind of idol called a Tethered Idol, which she can only play on Sharonda or Ori. After they left Kristin alone at exile, though, she learned an important additional detail: if Sharonda and Ori both get voted out, then Kristin’s idol can be played on anyone, including herself.
Savu is Down to Two
Gia: After voting out both Jenna and Alexis, only the Helicopter Alliance remained on Savu 2.0. The trio was having the time of their life on their own little tribe, a complete 180 from the dynamics on Dina and Toka. Unfortunately for them, the good times were not meant to last. Savu blew their lead in the immunity challenge at the puzzle and had to go to tribal one more time. The Helicopter Alliance had to cannibalize itself, and Ori was voted out after his Shot in the Dark failed. Now Jelly and Devin are entering the merge as a pair, and they will likely be looking to their old Savu tribe members as allies. The real question is whether or not Sharonda will stay loyal to the Helicopter Alliance now that Ori, who she started the game with, is out of the picture.
Tribe Breakdown
Dina
Gia: Despite their explosive vote last round, Dina had a pretty quiet episode this week. We had Kilby trying to make amends, Cristian considering a change in loyalties, and Sharonda going on the advantage journey… and that is pretty much it. Granted, only five of them are left, and they didn’t vote anyone out this episode, so I understand them not being in the spotlight. That being said, I have a sneaking suspicion that this tribe’s falling out will be a major plot point in the merge. There’s unfinished business on both sides, and I’m certain they will be itching to settle it once and for all.
Toka
Gia: Dina may be aggressively at war with each other, but Toka is taking a more passive-aggressive approach. Even though only one of them (Kristin) isn’t from their original tribe, things are far from sunshine on the yellow team. Thien An continues to set her sights on Mike, who is apparently rubbing his tribemates the wrong way. Carter has an idol no one knows about, Kristin has a tethered idol that Sharonda knows about, and Brady is at odds with Maggie over how she used the extra vote they found together. Sometimes too much of a good thing can lead to disaster, and it looks like Toka has gotten sick of one another. Perhaps the merge will bring new faces… and fresh blindsides.
Savu
Christine: Savu lost again and went down from three to two. There really isn’t much to say here; Devin and Jelly stuck together, and Ori’s showmance wasn’t enough to get Jelly to side with him. We know the merge is coming up, so Jelly and Devin are spared from going full Ulong. Historically, the survivors of a disaster tribe tend to go pretty far into the merge, so Jelly and Devin should be in a good spot for at least the first few votes, especially since Toka 2.0 never went to tribal and has a lot of issues to work out.
Top 3 Contestants
Jelly
Christine: This swap has been rough for Jelly, to say the least. She had to cut a valuable ally in Ori and leaves this tribe with fewer connections than she started with. Devin now knows about her idol because she disclosed it during the lead-up to tribal, but at least she still has it in her pocket and didn’t waste it. Jelly’s not dead in the water, but she’ll really need to hope her ally Devin doesn’t snake her and tell more people about her idol once the merge hits. Her best strategy for these first couple merge votes is to lay low, observe where the lines will be drawn in this merge, and get on the right side of the first vote or two.
Kristin
Christine: Kristin is safe from tribal once again and now has an idol (with limitations, for now) in her possession. Her trip to Exile Island was more like a vacation, and these days, she’s just generally thriving on Survivor 51. Her name came up quite a bit on Toka during this swap, so she really benefited from avoiding tribal these past few weeks. She’s not in a bad position going into this merge, but this change of scenery is much-needed for her. On her OG tribe, Kristin made the most of being able to blend in more in a larger group without standing out as a huge threat, and hopefully the merge will allow her to do the same. I have to imagine she’ll have some eyes on her for going on the journey and being at exile. Still, I think her best bet is hoping a first merge vote is directed at one of her fellow Toka 2.0 members over her, and hopefully she can fly a little more under the radar for a bit after that.
Cristian
Gia: We rarely get players as purpled as Cristian; I was starting to worry that production forgot about him. Now we are finally getting to see some of his personality, and I am loving every moment we have had of him. Turns out he’s been a bit of a chaos demon. He contemplated flipping to Lewis and Kilby’s side one moment, then sabotaged their Shot in the Dark draw the next moment so that Sharonda would be picked instead. Perhaps he’s been the dark horse in the competition, sneaking right under our noses. Either way, I am liking what I’m seeing from him thus far.
Fallen Comrades
Ori
Christine: You can’t deny Ori played well this season. He had a great social game, built valuable relationships that protected him on both his OG and swap tribe, and seemed well positioned at the merge. His one problem was being stuck on the swap disaster tribe that started down a player. Ori just didn’t have much room to play here, especially with Jelly having an idol and Devin having an extra vote. In retrospect, Ori should’ve prioritized keeping Alexis around as a number and breaking up Devin and Jelly when he had the chance, but making a move like that too early would’ve had its risks, too. In another life, we never did this swap to three tribes, and Ori at least makes it to jury.
Gia: If you told me before the episode that a man would finally be voted out, I would have been delighted. Of course, all wishes come with a price. I didn’t realize that losing a man would mean losing Ori right before the merge, and boy, I am devastated to see him go. He was a bright light of positivity, always happy to help out his teammates and have a few words of encouragement at the ready. His desire to help out his family in tough times was equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking. I often joke about campaigning for premergers I’d like to see added to the Second Chances 2 cast, but this time is no joke: Ori for Second Chances 2!
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