Survivor: Island of the Idols

Episode 5: Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You

By Kim Hollis & David Mumpower

October 24, 2019

O, Canada.

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Previously on Survivor, the second straight owner of a hidden Immunity Idol got voted off. It’s enough to make us wonder what kind of advice they’re getting from Rob and Sandra during their special training sessions. To be fair, Chelsea never actually met them, but Vince has no excuses.

The real loser in this is Dean, whom Chelsea was keeping warm at night. His showmance is now a nomance. Even worse, he looks like Breckin Meyer.

In confessional, Dean wonders who “ordered this hit.” He suspects Elizabeth, Elaine, Missy, and Aaron. He quizzes all of them to determine who was the mastermind behind the vote, saying that the person who made the call is dangerous and needs to be voted out. No one owns up to it, with Aaron being particularly bad at lying. Missy’s overconfident, though, and that’s almost surely going to come back to bite her.

Holy cow it’s Probst time! That can only mean that the producers are flipping off every contestant with a tribal swap. Unless something magnificent happens, the members of Lairo are probably about to be Pagonged.

It doesn’t work out that way, though. The new Vokai is a 4-4 split, with former Vokai including Dan, Jason, Tommy, and Lauren. The new members of Vokai (and former Lairos) are Elizabeth, Missy, Elaine, and Aaron. Dan calls it the Doomsday Scenario, which might be true - the former Lairo who join them are pretty tight with each other.

That means the new Lairo includes five Vokai - Noura, Kellee, Jamal, Jack, and Janet. The Lairos who will be summarily eliminated include Tom, Dean, and Karishma. While Karishma is thrilled about her potential prospects, Dean and Tom are less pleased. Dean was hoping for a better split, but is instead outnumbered.

To spice things up, Jeff says that today’s Reward Challenge will feature their BIGGEST! PRIZE! EVER!

Yes, the contestants are eatin’ good in the neighborhood, because the reward is Applebees. Karishma says it’s her favorite sit-down restaurant, and we think that Karishma needs to get out more.

This challenge is ludicrous, and requires the tribes to relay race through the sand, hands cuffed behind their back so that they have to wiggle like seals through the course. The final two people have to put a puzzle together.

Vokai easily gets through the course, with Jason and Aaron taking chage of the puzzle. Noura and Karishma, meanwhile are stuck and can barely move. They eventually make it to the mat, allowing Jamal and Kellee to start the puzzle. It doesn’t matter, because Vokai gets delicious (?) Applebees. The heartbreak on Karishma’s face is devastating.
“Applebees in Fiji!” Probst shouts. We believe that’s the name of a Warren Zevon song.

Tom blames Karishma, but they were all pretty sucky, honestly. Vokai had reached their puzzle before Karishma’s leg had even started.

Tommy (not Tom) is super excited to drink the “shark bowl,” which Elaine calls the greatest drink she’s ever had. They get beer and other liquor along with their food fixin’s, including brownies.

“We love you, Applebees!” they toast.




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Recognizing that she has to flip to the other alliance, Karishma instantly starts throwing Tom and Dean under the bus with Kellee. Problem is, apparently Dean and Kelle quickly learn that they have a mutual friend. Well, for Dean it’s a little more than a friend - it’s a former girlfriend, but one whom he seems to still be on excellent terms with. They seem to bond pretty quickly, and while Kellee likes him a lot, she knows that Karishma will flip for them.

As for Karishma, she talks to her new tribemates about some of her life struggles, and her cultural difficulties make her previous attitude perhaps make more sense. Jack and Janet bond with her as she talks about her arranged marriage.They genuinely seem to care about her, and she feels better about her situation overall.

Over at the new Vokai tribe, Aaron is once again annoyed that people like Elaine so much. So, he decides that he’s going to try to make his own friends, showing Tommy his socks. Apparently they feature photos of his son’s face, and he gets emotional about it in a confessional. We suppose Tommy buys it, though we know from past comments that Tommy will tell anyone anything. He does say that he and Aaron are bros, though.

Aaron approaches Missy, who agrees that Lairo is dead. They’re not about to draw rocks for the likes of Elaine or Elizabeth! They’re treacherous but at least they’re playing their game, we suppose.

PROBST!!! AGAIN!!! We love the episodes with both Reward and Immunity challenges because they’re quick and easy to recap. For Immunity, the first portion of the challenge involves both teams swimming out on a course and then climbing up a ladder. Obviously, Elizabeth whips everyone easily, but then again, Lairo has Karishma on their team. She’s legit terrible.

The last portion of the challenge requires teams to toss buoys that they collected earlier into a basket. Missy’s taking charge for her team, but misses quite a bit (her name is appropriate ah ha ha!). Her shortfalls allow Lairo to catch up, bringing the score to 2-2 when three will win. Vokai wins, though, so there won’t be any flipping for Aaron and Missy tonight.

Lairo is going to Tribal Council, and we would figure that it’s Karishma’s time. However, there are about 20 minutes still to go, so who knows? Her performances in both the Reward and Immunity challenges were abysmal. Any objective vote has to send her home.

Dean reveals that he was a Division 1 basketball player (at Columbia), so he’s ashamed to have lost to a goofy, gangly, red-haired guy (Tommy). He was really a bench guy, but still. He and Tom both go begging to Jamal for their future presence in the game.

For her part Karishma plays up the social aspect of the game, while Tom argues that Karishma sucks. Janet’s not so sure about the hockey player, believing that he’d go back to his old tribe at the merge. Even though she enjoys hanging out with Dean, Kellee worries about being with HIM at the merge.

Yeah, ha ha. They’re totally voting for Karishma. That segment totally felt manufactured, with no discussion amongst the dominant alliance at all.

“These three have been to so damn many Tribal Councils,” Sandra says as she sees Tom, Dean, and Karishma file in with their new tribemates.

Maybe the worst part of this tribal switch is the fact that Noura is in the majority. Ugh. She starts randomly laughing for some reason and talks about Tom and Dean and their strengths and weaknesses. Karishma isn’t mentioned, but Karishma starts off with her normal sunny disposition, reminding us that she just is… unpleasant.

Dean talks about “marketing” himself to the majority alliance, but Janet argues that he never talked to her, claiming that he only talked to the guys. Honestly, he only seemed to talk to Kellee, but perception is everything.

“Dean is dead,” says Rob.

But he’s not. Instead, they vote for Tom, which reveals to us that Janet is leading the charge with that alliance. She’s the one who liked Tom but was unsure about his potential future at the merge.

The trouble with that way of thinking?

“They’re not gonna win any challenges now,” says Rob, saying what we’re all thinking. Drag along Karishma if you must, but be ready to lose until the merge - which means it could be you next time.


     


 
 

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