Welcome to Give Me Five! Each week, Brent Sullivan will look at the top five moments from the latest episode that could impact the rest of the season.
Big double episode this week. There was a lot going on and a lot to talk about, so let’s get right to it:
1. Reward challenge bonding. Lauren wins her second straight challenge. This time being a reward challenge. She gets the always difficult choice of choosing who gets to go with her on the reward. Without too much hesitation, she picks Devon, then Ben, and Ashley last. Ryan seems to be okay with her decision, but we find out quickly that this is an entirely strategic move because she doesn’t want to wait for the Round Table alliance to get down to seven. Lauren and the other three make a final four pact sealed with beer and letters from home. They all seem on board with this new group of four, and it just comes down to who they want to send home. Ultimately, they leave Ryan and Chrissy in the game which is surprising based on how smart they both are, but then again, maybe JP was just the easiest vote. Now will they really be the final four (seems unlikely to me) or will one of them jump back to the other side again? I am curious to see how this all plays out and it should be fun to watch either way.
2. Ben finds an idol. This two-hour block of episodes was sure good to Ben. Here we see him just relaxing while reading his letters from home and he stumbles upon an idol clue without even really looking for one at that moment. He is able to figure out where it is and gets it down from the tree without being seen. Up to this point in the game, pretty much every secret that anyone’s had has been told to someone else. Ben appears to be the one to break this streak and getting this close to the end, that will be a wise choice if that is the route that he chooses to take. At the point during this week’s episode when he finds the idol, there was one other active idol in the game which also could have been a potential moment, that didn’t happen, but I will explain below.
3. Ben becomes a spy. This was a huge moment for Ben. Not only does he get to gather intel to help his current alliance and stay in the good graces with Ryan and Chrissy for the time being, but he also gets to continue to look really good in the eyes of the jury. He came off in both of those tribal councils as if he was really on the bottom. But, the absolute best part of this plan was that it wasn’t even his idea. So, he gets to do all of the above activities, and have his current alliance of four be okay with all of it. I can’t help to think that this is also building him up a nice resume if he continues to pull this off for another vote. Once again, I may be reading too much into this, but this has been a pattern with Ben for a while now, where no matter what goes on in the game, he keeps coming out looking like a fantastic guy to be sitting at the end.
4. Ashley and Lauren consider voting out Ben. I know that this is a direct contradiction to point number one, but since either one may make an impact, then I feel like I need to mention this one too. As strong as the new alliance of four seemed to be, here we are just a few days later and Ashley and Lauren starts throwing out Ben’s name and even Devon appears to be considering it. The crazy part about this is that this probably isn’t a half bad idea. Based on what they have been showing and what I have been writing about over the last few weeks, Ben has an excellent shot at winning this. They end up keeping him, but I wonder if they will regret it if he decides to turn the tables back on them?
5. Ryan plays his idol. This ended up not being a real dramatic moment, but it is definitely impactful since Ryan no longer has his idol and he is now vulnerable at the next tribal council. Also, with seven people left in the game, will this idol be re-hidden? This may also have a different effect too. Without his idol, Ryan shouldn’t feel as safe, and this may cause him to rally some troops to flip things back on his side. We are getting close to the end, and any of these moves can be huge!
There you go. What moments from this week’s double episode do you think made an impact?
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1. I think voting out JP was an idiot move. As I was seeing the votes for JP I kept repeating idiots.
2. Agreed
3. In the second tribal Ben was one of the votes for Joe.
4. I think they will try but he’ll idol up
5.I think Ryan will manage to stay for a few votes
Ben’s position in this game seems really hesitant. I can’t see him getting to the end, purely because I doubt either side would take him. Ryan and Chrissy now know Ben played them, and both of them are smart enough not to take him to the end, while Ashley, Lauren and Devon have already some level of distrust towards Ben, and those three seem tigheter, so he probably sits 4th with them. I could see him surviving the next vote, purely because both sides will need him, and then using his idol to get to 5. Past that, he would probably need immunity to get to the end.