Survivor 51, Episode 5 "Not Here to Get a Pedicure" Gameplay Breakdown

 "Homeboy ain't Aquaman."

-Danny Kilby

You know when we get to the Immunity Challenge about fifteen minutes into the episode, something crazy is going to happen.  And when there is still twenty-five minutes left of the episode and we're starting the second Tribal Council, you know we're about to go off the rails.  If you were watching the clock at all, you got to enjoy the building of the tension and that made this episode so much fun to watch.  I love it when I know something insane is going to happen, but I'm not quite sure what it's going to be.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Starting over on the Dina tribe, I'll give Kilby and Lewis credit for trying to break through Savu.  Kilby made some great bonds that would have saved him over Lewis and Lewis tried...something with his Blood Ring idea.  But once Maggie came in with a pair of Extra Votes for them, they kicked it into high gear.  They went for the tie, which I think was the right move for both of them.  Obviously it saved Lewis, but Kilby knew he was 5th on Dina and he can see just how tight the Savu 4 are.  Breaking them up was a good idea.  Now, I think Kilby could have explained himself better.  All he had to do was explain that Lewis saved him the night of the Patt vote and that he needed to return the favor.  The rest of Dina can't really argue with that, where they managed to poke holes in Kilby's logic for the explanation he ended up giving.  Kilby needed to play his Extra Vote to protect himself, just in case he was the target instead of Lewis, and once he had played it, might as well commit.  And Lewis clearly made a good enough social bond with Kilby that Kilby was willing to go to rocks for him.  They aren't out of the woods yet, but I think they played very well.

The mistake Cristian, Sharonda, Eric, and Linnea made was being such an obvious 4.  They openly admitted to Lewis, Kilby, and Maggie just how tight they were, which makes Lewis and Kilby forcing a tie the smartest move.  That said, no one could have predicted that Maggie would have had two Extra Votes.  Such a wild and random series of events had to occur for things to shake out this way.  Voting for Lewis was smart of them, especially after Kilby told them about his Extra Vote.  They couldn't split it anymore.  I will give the group credit for seeing right through Lewis' Blood Ring bluff and Cristian, Eric, and Sharonda absolutely made the right move in flipping on Linnea when they realized Kilby wasn't budging.  They had a 50% chance of losing an ally and a 25% chance of going home vs. a 100% chance of losing an ally and a 0% chance of going home.  I know some people are calling them cowards, I'm calling them intelligent.

Moving over to Savu, voting out Alexis was absolutely the right call.  I think that Helicopter Alliance can do a lot of damage going forward because no one outside of the Alliance knows about it.  Jelly was absolutely right to keep Devin and Ori was right to go with them.

Over on Toka, Kristin is doing a good job of meshing with the tribe.  She's won over Brady, Mike, and Thien An.  That's pretty good considering the poor situation she was swapped into.

Maggie may be annoying Brady with her behavior, but she made an excellent move in giving the Extra Votes to Lewis and Kilby.  She saved her allies and got them to take out someone she considered a big threat.

Who Sucked:

I actually don't have anyone left in the game in this category.  We didn't see enough from Brady, Carter, Mike, or Thien An for me to say either way.

As for Alexis, she was dealt an awful hand with the tribe swap and she had no way of knowing about the Helicopter Alliance.  I don't think there was much else she could have done to save herself.

As for Linnea, like the rest of her alliance, they presented as too united of a front and made it a no-brainer for Lewis and Kilby to force a tie.  And I don't know what she did to catch Maggie's ire on Day 1, but there's a reason Maggie wanted her out.  First impressions matter. 

Verdict:

Since two players were voted out, I'll give out two Best and Worst Players of the Episode.  At least in theory I would.

My Best Players of the Episode are Danny Kilby and Lewis Kelly.  I liked their never say die attitude and when Maggie bestowed them with Extra Votes, they played it really well.  Forcing the tie was the right call on Kilby's part and Lewis deserves credit for the social bond he built with Kilby to make this happen.  I will also give an Honorable Mention to Maggie for giving Lewis and Kilby the Extra Votes.

And since I don't give out Worst Player of the Episode to the eliminated players, I have no Worst Players of the Episode this time around.

I'm so excited for the fallout on the Dina tribe.  Nothing like a forced-consensus vote to stir up some drama.  Will Wario and Waluigi ever be able to repair this rift?