Blindside of the Season?! - Survivor 47 - Ep. 5

I don’t think I have had a bigger reaction to the tribal council than I did in this previous episode. From the opening seconds of episode 5 to the closing moments… I was hooked. The new twist, the drama, the gameplay, the backstabbing, etc. This episode had it all. 

I was raving over the previous episode being one of the best pre-merge episodes in the new era. I may have spoken too soon. In my opinion, this past episode may have even taken the cake. Seriously, it was that good. 

Also, I am going to plug my TikTok account! Check out RealityTVwithAlec to see even more reality competition show content. This past week I gave my predictions for this past Survivor 47 episode and I won’t lie… it was nearly spot on. 

Okay, let’s jump into this episode starting with the Lavo tribe reaction after the Kishan vote-off. There was quite a difference in reactions between each person in the tribe. Sol was left realizing he actually knew very little in this game! Genevieve is feeling as cool as a cucumber after she pulled off a fantastic move. Her confidence was evident when she mentioned that she could still control who she wanted to work with. 

Then you had Rome who was furious with Teeny. Which I think might be a little irrational. Teeny was just doing what she was told and thought was best. I get Teeny wrote down your name, but you are also going to need allies come merge! Then I totally get Teeny’s panic in regards to feeling on the bottom. Teeny wasn’t told the plan to get Kishan out, so I understand why she might feel like she’s the next target. Although, I think Teeny is strong enough socially that she will be able to regroup and find allies. 

Without further ado, let’s talk about the brand-new twist that was hyped up to us all week! I won’t lie, I predicted this rewards challenge twist to a tee. 

What I thought would happen was this:

1. Everyone would be randomly split into two tribes

2. They would then compete in a challenge against each other

3. I also mentioned that I have accepted the fact that a tribe swap is probably unlikely in this new era of Survivor… With that being said, I think the reward was going to be something really impactful to the game. Not just like a simple meal, but something more than that. Which, I think the Survivor Social Hour at the sanctuary was just that!

Regarding the actual challenge, I thought it was an exciting showdown! The one thing that caught my eye here was the creativity of this competition. We have to give major props to the game runners/creators for constantly coming up with new creative ways to make competitions. In this sense, it was using the ladder initially for the maze portion and then repurposing it again later in the challenge. It’s just cool to see!

As for the Survivor Social Hour, I like this new reward! It’s kind of like a pre-merge party where you can get an exclusive first sneak peek at what the merge could look like. If anything, I was bummed we didn’t get more of it! I felt like it was only on my screen for a good 5-10 minutes. That wasn’t enough in my opinion!

I liked how it was an opportunity to scout out potential threats or allies. It’s a chance to mingle and gather information. Then if nothing else, it’s a chance to grab some food and entertainment too! Even if the food options weren’t the best. Seriously though, give them some mustard or ketchup. Actually, I was happy to see that Kyle had a vegan option there for him. 

One person who benefitted from this reward was Teeny! Props again to her social game, Teeny was able to build a strong relationship with Caroline and Rachel. They were vibing with each other the entire time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them become a secret alliance come merge. Especially considering that Teeny and Caroline already hold an amulet together. 

Then one person who hurt their game in regards to this reward had to be Tiyana. She simply was not thinking when she was airing out all of the Tuku tribe’s dirty laundry. Particularly about Gabe. Remember, the only person from that tribe who didn’t go to this reward was Gabe. It’s fair to say that her degrading words about Gabe could easily get back to him. Which, of course, it did. It seems as if she just forgot she was playing Survivor and wasn’t thinking. It’s going to paint a huge target on her back. 

I am going to predict that it will lead to her being the next person voted out in this Survivor 47 season. Gabe and Sue will lead the charge for this to happen next week.

Then for those who lost this reward challenge, Rome reacted as if they lost the tribal council. I get it sucks to lose that one… however, he reacted in such a drastic measure. He continued to hyper-focus on Teeny, made assumptions for Genevieve, and tried to dictate what should happen next. Which in return just makes him more of a wild card and less likely for people to want to work with him. Genevieve and Sol were almost like… is this guy serious right now? I wouldn’t blame Sol/Genevieve for swapping Rome for Teeny. 

As we get into the Tribal Immunity challenge in this episode, I really liked how the negotiation played out for the Gata tribe. They decided as a tribe that they were uncomfortable with the aspect of eating one of the hens. Then the tribe mentioned that the hens just sucked at laying eggs lol. With that being said..yes, I do think Jeff was generous with them maybe. They did earn the egg-laying hens in the first place, so maybe they deserved the 18 eggs too. 

Getting into the challenge, my takeaways kind of come solely from the Gata tribe. Starting with Andy! You have to give it to him, he gives his all in these challenges. However, sometimes the execution just is a little off. In this case, it was trying to cut the rope with the dull side of the blade. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt, he was trying hard haha. Though, I can see how the others would be frustrated with him.

Then when it came to the puzzle, the communication for Gata was very poor. You could sense the tension building with each other. Rachel was able to make it close on the puzzle but it wasn’t enough to come back. 

Sol was also awesome to watch. Whether it was him falling over the podium or slinging the sandbags like he was prime Randy Johnson. Sol is definitely becoming one of my favorites on the island. 

Personally, I like Rome showing his emotional soft side! We’ve seen kind of being a cunning, brutal player so far in this game. However, this showed that he does have a heart underneath all that abrasiveness!

As we wrap up this episode, I am trying to figure out whether this was the fault of Rachel/Anika for being too complacent with their standing in the game or Andy/Sam for putting this blindside into action! I lean towards the second part of that statement. Sam and Sierra must have been putting on a strong acting performance to show them that Andy was still at the bottom. 

Andy, on the other hand, was able to manipulate what went down beautifully. He knows this game and how to make big splash moves! I still feel he is underrated and not appreciated enough after what went down in the first couple of episodes. In this case, he knew his role in this move! He wants to make it seem like he is on the outs, that he would be loyal to Rachel/Anika, and then in return, they would feed him a fake plan. Which is exactly what happened. I think he takes this epic move and runs with it.

I get Sam not playing his idol too. He didn’t tell Andy and didn’t want to ruin any trust with him. Though, you could have just gotten around that by playing the idol on Andy! I feel like that would skyrocket that loyalty and trust. Well, now that he has a free idol to maybe sneakily deceive someone with. 

The Tribal Council was just another example of Rachel/Anika being way too comfortable. Andy was laying it on thick as if he was on the bottom, so props to him. However, the title of my blog last week was: Don’t Get Too Confident! You never know you are 100% safe until all the votes are read.

So while I never want to see anyone’s Survivor dreams get crushed… it’s a harsh reality that 17 people end up losing this game! There is only one winner in the end. Although, Anika did leave the show with an all-time reaction. It immediately jumps up there with some of the best. When she stared them all down for what seemed like forever or said “Nah” to them on the way out… it was an incredible authentic reaction.

I do slightly get worried come to merge that Rachel might be seeking vengeance and painting Andy/Sam/Sierra as the target! 

Which, the merge is coming next week! I cannot wait for it to create some new social dynamics and new levels of gameplay. I’m giddy just writing this haha. I will leave it for next week, talk to you all then. :)