Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 45 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.
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Top 3 Moments
Reba Gets Raided
Gia: Good news: We finally got a reward challenge. Great news: We also got a camp raid. Greatest news: We finally saw Lulu get a win under their belt. Reba finally got to meet Kaleb (who was selected to do the camp raid), and he was exactly what they expected him to be: a razor-sharp player with winning potential. He also gave an advantage to someone on Reba that would cancel a lost vote, which he gave to Drew, who gave it to Austin. Now that the tribes are about to swap, I’m sure this advantage will be more valuable than ever.
Jake’s Health Scare
Gia: The previews from episode 2 had me worried for Jake’s wellbeing, and while I’m still concerned for him, it does look like he’s out of the woods from anything too troubling. Jake had a moment of spacing out while tending to the fire with Kendra (whether it was dehydration or something more serious was not revealed), and he fell awfully close to the fire as a result. This led to a closer bond with Kendra, but in the future, I’d prefer no more medical scares this season.
Sabiyah Grills (Featuring Sean)
Christine: After Sabiyah found the candle idol last week, a big question lingered: what would happen if she tried to melt the wax using the fire at Tribal Council? This week, we got our answer when she casually pulled up a chair and barbecued the candle throughout Tribal, making sure to rotate it in between her answers so it cooked evenly. She even had an assistant, Sean, to douse it in water once the deed was done. Although the idol didn’t work out for Sabiyah, she’ll always be remembered for her surreal Tribal Council cooking show.
Tribe Breakdown
Belo
Gia: Belo has the most interesting tribe dynamics while also having the smallest chance of seeing a tribal council anytime soon. While on the surface, it may seem like it’s Men vs. Women, Kellie and Brando’s alliance has complicated matters for both sides. Should they have seen a tribal council in their current form, I think it would’ve been bad news for either Katurah or Bruce, but perhaps this tribe swap is the shakeup they need to get ahead of the game.
Lulu
Gia: Oh, Lulu, what a rollercoaster of a journey you had. Just when things seemed to be looking up with their reward win and subsequent camp raid, they once again came up short with the immunity challenge puzzle. That being said, Lulu has been, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining tribes we have had in the new era, even when very little has gone right for them. I appreciate all six of them for the neverending shenanigans, but I am looking forward to a possible change of fate for Kaleb, Emily, and Sean with the tribe swap.
Reba
Christine: We had a lot of action go down over at Reba this episode. Beyond the camp raid, Austin made his moves to find his idol. He and Drew teamed up to stealthily find it, but their plans were thwarted in a hilarious scene when Julie and Dee stumbled upon them. This was not a great week for Drew, who got caught red-handed looking for the idol and covered it up badly. Although Austin and Drew finally owned up to Dee and Julie and walked back the lie about Sifu looking for the idol, I have to imagine the two Reba women will still be a bit suspicious of them moving forward.
Dee and Julie ultimately helped Austin find his idol, giving him and Drew even more advantage power in the short-term. J. Maya and Sifu, for their part, remain firmly on the outs of the Reba power structure and might very well have their lives saved by this upcoming swap.
Top 3 Contestants
Dee
Gia: From big toe to big shot, Dee’s in a great position on Reba, albeit without advantages. She and Julie are the tight duo one can’t help but root for; they have all the information on Austin and Drew’s advantages without putting a target on themselves. Of course, anything could happen with the upcoming new tribes, but I truly believe Dee has nothing to worry about. Anything can go wrong in Survivor, but Dee has the ability to do well wherever she goes.
Kaleb
Christine: Kaleb had a big week, for better or worse. The upside is that his relationship with Emily already paid off in a major way when she tipped him off about the blindside against him, and he correctly took her word for it. He also had the chance to make some crucial social contact with Reba when he got sent on the camp raid and was able to curry some favor with Austin and Drew by giving Drew the Goodwill Advantage.
But the downside to Kaleb’s gameplay this week is that he made a huge impression on Reba with all his schmoozing and one-on-one chats. He might as well have written “I’m a huge social threat!” on his forehead before coming to camp. With the coming swap, it will be interesting to see how this schmoozing will play out for him if he ends up with some former Rebas, but I can’t imagine it’s going to help his game in the long term when it comes to the inevitable discussions about who the “big threats” are.
Emily
Christine: What a turnaround Emily has had! She clocked Sabiyah losing her vote at the last tribal and used Sabiyah’s attempted Kaleb blindside against her to further solidify her bond with Kaleb and shift the power of this tiny tribe in her favor. With the upcoming swap, I’m unsure of how she’ll be able to “reset” her game and adapt to new players and relationships and dynamics, but she certainly had an impressive showing this week.
Fallen Comrades
Sabiyah
Christine: Sabiyah’s biggest mistake this season was turning on Kaleb so quickly, and her second biggest mistake was underestimating Emily’s ability to use the plan against her. I don’t blame her for making the “wrong” call in the voting booth about her idol. I think most players, even some of the best ones, would have made the same decision if given so little time to think it over. Sabiyah was an incredibly smart and smooth player and, on a better tribe, would have been a shoo-in to make the merge.
But I think the chaos of Lulu made her antsy to strike against Kaleb too early, and her idol find put her in a tough position when it tempted her to give up her vote. In another life, Sabiyah would have been in it for the long haul on Survivor 45, but instead, she joins the ranks of the many hypothetical New Era Second Chances contenders.
Gia: Of all the blindsides I have seen on Survivor, Sabiyah leaving pre-merge may be one of the biggest surprises of all. While not all of her decisions in the game were for the best, I think it’s safe to say that she left us with a very memorable three episodes. She was a leader, a motivator, and an excellent source of entertainment while struggling with the chaos that is Lulu. Her time in the game may have been short, but Sabiyah was a force of nature from beginning to end, and I’m so thankful we got to know her.
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