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.
Another good episode this week. It is starting to ramp up now after a little bit of a slow start. So, let’s find out what moments made an impact this time.
1. Ben struggles with PTSD. This is a tough one. This might not make any impact at all; perhaps we were just shown this moment because it was so powerful and it goes beyond the game. PTSD is a serious issue that lots of people struggle with and it was nice to see Ben making a statement about that. At the same time though, this is ultimately a game, and any sort of weakness or heart-tugging story can be a potential reason to vote you out. Or in this case, the edit is leading me to believe that Ben will overcome this and make it far into the game despite his problems. I personally like Ben as a character on the show and hope that I am correct about this assumption.
2. Devon tells Ashley that he’s with her. Last week we didn’t get to see which side Devon was going to pick. The show led us to think it was the original Heroes tribe, but since his vote was blocked, we really didn’t know. This episode we get to see Devon and Ashley talk it out, and it appears that he did indeed pick that side. He even told Ashley that he would be okay with a two-two tie at tribal council and that he trusted her. The big question that comes now is, what will Desi do? Even though she and Joe have been on the same tribe since the game started, and they voted together to get Alan out, that doesn’t mean that she will stay with him. If it is a tie vote and neither Devon nor Ashley is willing to flip to the Healers, I am not sure that Desi is willing to go to rocks for Joe. She has been annoyed at him quite a few times, and I can see her easily going against him if they go to tribal next, especially with a merge looming.
3. Cole’s eating habits. Man, Cole has been such a surprise this season… and not in a good way. It started out with him and Jessica spending way too much time together and people noticing, then it went into him not being able to keep a secret. First, he told everyone about Joe’s idol on the original Healers tribe, then on the new Yawa after the swap, he told everyone about Jessica’s advantage that she found in the reward. Now we are on to a new thing that people don’t like about Cole. Apparently, his eating habits are grossing people out. He is licking spoons, eating a lot, and just being gross. Both Lauren and Ben see it, and I happen to believe that there is a reason that they keep focusing so much on Cole’s behavior. Even Jessica is starting to find other options (see point #4). I think that he can very easily be the next to go if they go to tribal before the merge.
4. Mike (and Jessica) find a hidden immunity idol. Jessica can see the way that Cole is acting and probably the way her tribe is reacting towards him as well. So, she takes this opportunity to branch out and solidify her relationship with Mike. They go down to the well together to get water, and while they are down there, she tells Mike to start digging for the idol. Mike begins searching and Jessica sort of acts like a lookout for him. He finds the hidden immunity idol, and the pair shares a sweet moment where Mike says that it is for them and he even says in confessional that he is okay with her knowing that he has it. There are a couple of things that I would like to talk about here. First, had it been me, I would have been extremely tempted just to pocket that idol and keep digging like I didn’t find it. In the heat of the moment he might have been too excited to think of something like that, so hopefully, that won’t bite him later. Secondly, having Jessica know about the idol, Mike will have to be careful moving forward. If she and Cole continue to stay close, she may end up telling him, and we all know that if Cole knows, the whole tribe will know. Regardless of all of that, Mike currently has the only hidden idol in the game, and I am curious to see how he will use it.
5. Ryan sides with Chrissy over Ali. This is definitely one of the most significant moments to happen on the entire season so far. This has the potential to impact many different people and stories depending on how things shake out from the fallout of this vote. Ryan finds himself in the middle here. He has the choice to go with Chrissy (who is also with JP) or Ali (who is with Roark). His options are 1) someone that he has spent the entire game with and has voted with multiple times or 2) someone that he has a strong bond with, but they haven’t been together that long. In the end, he chooses to go with Chrissy and vote our Roark. How will this impact the game? Well, what will Ali do after this? If Ali and Ryan can get back on the same page and be able to work with Chrissy together, then they can team up with Ben and Devon at the merge and make a potent team. If they cannot work together, then we will have to see who Ali wants to align herself with going forward. Did Ryan make the right move? I personally think that he did, he just should have communicated that with Ali instead of blindsiding her too. Now he has some serious damage control to do. No matter which way it goes, I am super excited to see how it plays out.
There you go. What moments from this week’s episode do you think made an impact?
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I think the Ben thing was more to give us an emotional connection to him. Like Adam or Jays mom.
A point that I thought was interesting more so then number 2 (which I thought was clear in the previous episode) Was that Chrissy did exactly what she bashed Patrick for doing. She even had a similar excuse. “I didn’t hear” While we as the audience clearly saw and heard Roark ready to go. We even see her walking forward.
Yeah Ryan made the right move, but in Survivor that is not enough. You have to make the right move and do it correctly. I have a feeling Ali will go back to Ryan, she is logical enough, and that is why we only saw night time scenes of them fighting, probably because the next day they very quickly sort it out. I do think there trust will never quite be there, and come merge Ali could be the swing vote between the healers and the heroes/hustlers, and screw Ryan over.