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
Return of the Auction!
Gia: It’s been 15 seasons and constant begging on my end, but the Survivor Auction is finally back! They added a few twists this time around to spice things up. Some of these twists I loved, such as no advantages and players starting with different amounts of money. Others were not so great like the person with the most amount of money left losing their vote. Overall, I would hail the return of the auction a success, with some minor suggestions for future iterations.
Rice negotiation with a twist
Christine: I mentioned last season that the forced rice negotiation was providing some diminishing returns. Jeff seemed to hear me loud and clear and decided to spice things up this season with a WEAPON! When our merge tribe couldn’t come up with one last person to sit out, Jeff offered to help make it easier by stabbing the bag of rice with a knife, leaving the players speechless and turning the negotiation into a hostage situation. Katurah finally stepped up to secure the remainder of the rice, and the challenge could finally begin. I don’t think this twist adds much value to the game, and I’d be happy to see it gone, but I’ll allow it to stay if Jeff continues to get more and more unhinged about it.
What the hell, guys?
Christine: Kellie’s name was floated by Drew leading up to Tribal Council, but when Jake made his last-ditch effort to stay by lying about an idol and playing his Shot in the Dark, it seemed like the writing was on the wall for the Boston lawyer, and he knew it. But Jake ended up being just as blindsided as Kellie was when the votes for her kept rolling in, leading to her massive blindside in 10th place. It’s rare we get a vote where both targets are equally blindsided by the outcome, and Kellie had one of the rawest reactions we’ve seen to a vote in years as she realized which allies had betrayed her.
Top 3 Players
Drew
Gia: Drew is running a tight ship with the original Reba alliance, and pulling in Emily might’ve been the best thing he could’ve done for himself. Somehow, despite being in a rock-solid alliance with an advantage, no one has even attempted to throw his name around as a possible vote. It’s impressive, and he’s a clear frontrunner right now for the win. Those on the outside of their alliance need to take him out soon and fast because he’s gaining a lot of power at an alarming rate. At this point, he’s winning it all or will be the victim of the biggest blindside of the season.
Emily
Christine: Emily was in an incredible position this episode, having her choice of a women’s alliance or her ongoing alliance with Austin and Drew. She absolutely made the right call to stick with the latter alliance since they stuck their necks out for her at the merge and are stronger, proven connections for her moving forward. After taking out Brando and Kellie, Emily will probably have an enemy in Kendra moving forward. But she has a great path ahead if she decides to ride out the Reba alliance to the end and capitalize on their inevitable fracture in the endgame.
Bruce
Gia: Bruce being the villain of the season was not on my Survivor 45 bingo card, but make no mistake, I am loving every second of it. He’s a big personality that eats up every second of camera time, and the season is stronger for it. His immunity win secured his safety just when his back was up against the wall, and he still has his idol to boot. I have no idea which direction Bruce’s game will go this week, but I think he’s here to stay for at least another round.
Advantage Watch
Advantage Amulet
Christine: We didn’t hear a ton from Austin this week other than about eating the fish eyes, but with Kellie gone, he became the last Amulet Holder standing and secured himself another idol. I assume the Amulets were why Kellie was so quick to ask Austin if he was behind her blindside as the votes were being read. She should have just taken the sandwich!
Idols
Gia: With Kellie gone (it hurts to even say it), Austin’s half of the advantage amulet is now a full idol, which will complement the idol that he already had. Bruce didn’t have to use his idol due to winning immunity, and if there is an idol at the merge camp, we haven’t seen anyone even close to finding it.
Safety Without Power
Christine: This was the last week Drew could play his Safety Without Power advantage, and it went unplayed. Drew couldn’t afford to leave if he wanted his plan to pan out, so into the Advantage Graveyard this one goes!
Fallen Comrades
Kellie
Christine: Oh, Kellie. I was hoping she would be Sophie Clarke in South Pacific, but instead, she was Sophie Clarke in Winners At War. She played nearly perfectly for so long, which was her biggest problem. Why take out someone like Jake when you could take a shot at someone with real agency and strong allies? While the editors didn’t show us much of Kellie’s personality and backstory, she was clearly a major strategic presence, and her fellow players were right to take her out when she did. There are already a lot of contenders for a hypothetical New Era returnee season, but Kellie is certainly on that list.
Gia: Kellie was a force in the game from the beginning to her untimely end. Her power on the original Belo was unmatched to the point that it carried over with her after the tribe swap. She was many fans’ winner picks, and I could definitely see it happening for her up until the bitter end. Her reaction to her blindside was raw, authentic, heartbreaking, and much-needed for a show like this. I will miss her in this season (even if we still see her as a juror) but hope for her return in the future.
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