Welcome to Give Me Five! Each week, Brent Sullivan will look at the top five moments from the latest episode that could influence the rest of the season.
1. I will save the obvious one for last since it was such a big move… This week I want to start with the conversation immediately after the vote. Chris and Bret were both clearly upset at how the vote turned out last week, and rightfully so. The reason that I thought that this moment was so great was that it was almost exactly like the conversation between Hannah, Zeke, and Adam the week before. Even though it didn’t start that way, I think that the Gen X tribe was better able to talk their way through what happened. Chris and Bret could have blown up at the ladies and told them off, but I think that they both knew that they all still needed each other…at least at that moment. We saw how that alliance of five ended up, but neither of the guys’ names ever came up for a possible vote out.
2. Let’s talk about the reward challenge for a bit. Both sides clearly wanted it, and both sides played very hard. Now, let’s try to analyze what sort of lasting impact this could make going forward. Will the castaways that played their hearts out be seen as individual threats come merge time? I can easily see Chris, Michaela, and Ken being targeted in the individual game. They all make such a huge impact at the tribal challenges that people could see them as likely individual immunity challenge winners. I will be curious to see how this shakes out come merge, especially if all of the “strong” players are all still around.
3. Adam. He has quietly been coming on as a real contender to go far in this game. Not only did he find a hidden idol which will most likely make some sort of impact, but we also got that highly emotional scene of him crying and telling the sad story of his mother. It is definitely a heartbreaking story, but we were shown that for a reason. What sort of Adam storyline are we starting to see? He is making his case to be hanging around awhile.
4. Bad gameplay. Man where to start. There was David’s move (see number 5 below), there was Lucy trying to boss people around, there was Ken not being able to set aside his emotions and running to Jessica about Lucy, then there was Jessica immediately running back to Lucy to tell her everything about Ken! No one was thinking very far ahead in the game. Lucy should have calmed down a bit and saw that her five needed at least one or two more votes together. There was no need to get rid of Jessica that quick. Ken should have been happy with his place in the vote. He finally wasn’t on the bottom, neither his nor David’s name was even coming up. Then, when Ken went to Jessica and she didn’t believe him (not sure I blame her), Ken should have brought in David at least to validate his remarks. Finally, when Jeff was asking Lucy about things during tribal, she all but admitted to talking to Ken about it. Lucy’s decisions made an immediate impact on her game, but what effects will all of these other moves cost. That alliance is no more, so we may have a bunch of free agents if a swap happens soon.
5. David playing his idol on Jessica. Still not sure what to think of this one. Was it a bad move? Maybe. We will need to hear David’s explanation to know exactly what he was thinking. Did it make an impact? It most definitely did! This move made an immediate impact. Keeping Jessica and getting rid of Lucy. The group that was voting for Jessica took a hit. David might have bought some loyalty from Jessica, at least in the short term and David no longer has the idol which may take some of the pressure off of him. The problem is, there are still 16 people left in the game, and this was extremely early to use an idol – and to use it on someone else! The question is, did David play it because he was paranoid and it was burning a hole in his pocket or is he making some mastermind move to secure his place in the game? Does it now secure him a majority with Jessica, CeCe, and Ken? Will that even matter with a swap approaching? Either way I think that we can all thank the Survivor Gods for David Wright!
There you go. What moments from this week do you think made an impact?
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