The fifth episode of “Survivor 48” is a roller coaster of emotion. There are plenty of ups, downs and twists that are hard to see coming. Trust is broken, while new alliances are formed as this game heads toward the merge.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
“Survivor 48” Episode 5 Recap + Castaway Betting Odds
Episode Recap
The Reward Challenge
Episode 5 of “Survivor 48” kicks off with a reward challenge. The three tribes compete for a trip to The Sanctuary, “where good things happen,” as Jeff Probst likes to say. At The Sanctuary, the winning tribe will enjoy pastries and croissant sandwiches. The second-place tribe still earns the food, just in smaller portions, back at their camp.
Since Vula only has four tribe members, Charity sits out for Lagi, while Sai sits out for Civa. Sai explains that she needs a break after competing in every challenge thus far.
Lagi dominates and earns the trip to The Sanctuary, with Vula earning second place. Mary expressed excitement after winning the challenge. Sai publicly criticizes what she perceives as Mary gloating. These two are still at each other’s throats even when they’re not on the same tribe!
Lagi Livin’ Large
After winning the reward challenge, Mary is unapologetic for expressing herself after a much-desired win. Having been on the dreadful, original Vula tribe, Mary has not had much to truly celebrate in “Survivor 48” to this point.
Charity gets emotional in front of her tribe. She explains how grateful she is to be with this group of people at The Sanctuary. During this moment of vulnerability, we see Eva disassociate from the group. In a confessional to the viewers, Eva sheds light on her struggle with social cues. However, despite her struggle, she is firm in her belief that Charity cannot be trusted and comes across as “fake.”
Civa Split on Strategy
Following the reward challenge, there is tension at Civa’s camp. Sai immediately helped herself to some fruit that the tribe won in a previous challenge. Since she did not compete in this episode’s reward challenge, her quickness to eat comes across as annoying to others. Chrissy reminds Sai that she, too, has competed in every challenge of “Survivor 48.”
Chrissy and Mitch, of the original Civa tribe, talk strategy in private. After learning that Thomas was previously voted out, they agree that voting out Bianca is not as pressing. Bianca, the only original Lagi on this new Civa tribe, was an easy vote out to weaken the Lagi tribe as a whole before a full tribe merge if faced with a decision. Mitch and Chrissy seem to set their sights on Sai.
Meanwhile, Sai is bothered by Chrissy’s overbearing approach to keeping track of how much fruit Sai eats. Sai checks in with Cedrek about voting Chrissy out. They both agree they could pull in Bianca to do so. Little do they know that Bianca does not have a vote at her next tribal council.
Vula Vows Victory
Perhaps not to the viewers, but to the castaways of “Survivor 48,” voting out Thomas has been the biggest blindside thus far. At the beginning of this episode, we see Vula back at camp immediately after voting out Thomas. Kyle explains he was willing to vote with Shauhin and Joe but felt uneasy after someone seemingly went through his bag looking for an idol. He only even knows this occurred because Kamilla tipped him off. He and Kamilla continue to downplay how aligned they really are. Joe recognizes they are now in a 2-2 lock of original Lagi and Civa on this tribe.
Despite a shocking and ugly tribal council, the Vula tribe vows to go on a winning streak and avoid having to vote anyone else out. They start off strong with a second-place finish in the reward challenge. After sharing a meal back at camp, viewers get insight into the unique bond that brings these four castaways together. They all realize how relatively easy it is to be a part of “Survivor 48” in comparison to what some of their parents went through in life.
Joe explains that his parents, an interracial couple, began dating while Jim Crow laws were still in effect in the U.S. Kamilla shares that her parents fled Sri Lanka just prior to a civil war. Shauhin recalls a time when his father was a helicopter pilot during the Iranian Revolution and was even captured after going down near the Iraq border.
Having found clarity with full stomachs and story-telling, Joe, Shauhin, Kyle and Kamilla appear unified. They realize they can run this game as a core group of four at the merge. Especially after a difficult tribal council together, the other tribes may incorrectly perceive this group of four as divided.
The Immunity Challenge
The immunity challenge in this episode of “Survivor 48” requires each tribe to swim ashore while tied to a large boat. In this boat is a heavy chest. Once ashore, the four tribe members must lift the chest onto a platform. When there, they must unbraid three entangled ropes to retrieve a key at the end of one of the ropes. That key unlocks the chest with four balls inside. The tribe must then dig through sand and slide under a log. Once all tribe members are through, they must each navigate one of the four balls through a zig-zag table top.
Vula lands all four of their balls before Lagi lands any, and Civa has just one. It is then a tight race between the final two tribes before Lagi pulls ahead. Eva is the last member of Lagi who needs to land a ball. She becomes visibly frustrated, and all hope to complete the challenge seems lost.
Eva Overcomes Obstacles
Eva is able to push through and land the final ball for Lagi before Sai can do so for Civa. Overcome with emotion, Eva appears unable to calm down. Though she succeeded and avoided tribal council, she still appears upset as she continues to yell and cry following her big win. Jeff Probst permits Joe, now of Vula but originally of Lagi, to give Eva a hug. Joe spends time hugging Eva and squeezing her hands. This is something she requested he do if he notices her having a tough time during what she calls an “episode” in relation to Autism.
Eva is able to come out of her episode. She reveals to the rest of the “Survivor 48” castaways that she has Autism. Jeff Probst becomes visibly emotional thinking about how inspiring Eva’s efforts in the challenge and the game of “Survivor” will be for anyone with Autism watching her compete. Despite the intense moments and fierce competition through 48 seasons of this show, moments like this remind you that there are much more important moments and lessons found along the way that are much bigger than the game.
Later at camp, Star reveals to the tribe that she found the Beware Advantage but has had trouble solving the puzzle to retrieve the idol. The tribe works together to gather the letters needed to solve the puzzle. After some time, Eva solves the puzzle and retrieves the idol for Star. In an attempt to gain an ally in Eva, Star publicly gives Eva the idol in front of the rest of the tribe.
Pre-Tribal Council
“Survivor” is still a game. To keep the game moving, someone has to be voted out. Civa is heading to tribal council, and the tribe seems to be deciding between Chrissy and Sai. The main focus here is how Bianca, the lone original Lagi member without a vote, navigates the middle.
She reveals her plan in a confessional to the viewers to pin Cedrek/Sai of original Vula and Chrissy/Mitch of original Civa against each other. In doing so, there should be two votes on Sai and two votes on Chrissy. In the event of a tie, the four that can vote will re-vote. Bianca hopes in this scenario that Cedrek will flip on Sai, having known he has done so before.
Just before tribal council, however, Bianca shares with Cedrek that she does not have a vote. Bianca was back-and-forth on whether or not she wanted to reveal this information to anyone. She hopes sharing with Cedrek will earn his trust, and he will just vote out Sai with Chrissy and Mitch.
Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t
Leading up to the vote at tribal council, there is discussion about how a simple gesture, like a glance or head nod, can change a person’s perception of what another person is thinking or how to vote. While the castaways are voting, the viewers get a brilliant shot of Cedrek looking at Chrissy and giving her a quick head nod. Jeff Probst reads the votes as follows: Sai, Chrissy, Bianca, Bianca. It’s a 2-1-1 vote that eliminates Bianca from “Survivor 48.”
Bianca is crushed. Cedrek used the knowledge that she did not have a vote against her. This is especially interesting because Cedrek chose to vote out Justin a few tribal councils prior after he chose not to tell Cedrek about not having a vote.
Bravo to the production and editing team of “Survivor 48.” They did not show a moment between Cedrek and Chrissy in which he must have revealed to her that Bianca did not have a vote. They ultimately team up to vote out Bianca, leaving Sai and Mitch in the dark. This elimination weakens the original Lagi tribe that much more. This leaves Civa as the only original tribe with all six of its original members still in the game.
RELATED: “Survivor 48” Premiere Recap + Castaway Betting Odds
“Survivor 48” Castaway Betting Odds + Power Rankings
Every week, I’ll have the remaining Season 48 castaways ranked and paired with odds to win the game. Just like any other set of rankings, these are fluid based on new information from each episode.
After the fifth episode of “Survivor 48,” these power rankings are how things shake out heading into the merge. As quickly as advantages appeared in this game, there aren’t many out there as of now. That boosts the value of alliances among the remaining 13 castaways.
- Joe (+500)
- Kyle (+500)
- Kamilla (+500)
- Shauhin (+500)
- Eva (+600)
- Mitch (+700)
- David (+800)
- Chrissy (+900)
- Cedrek (+900)
- Mary (+1000)
- Sai (+1200)
- Charity (+1500)
- Star (+2000)
Power Rankings Analysis
The Favorites
A newly formed alliance of Joe, Kyle, Kamilla, and Shauhin sit evenly atop the “Survivor 48” power rankings heading into the merge. Given her connection with Joe, I foresee this group pulling in Eva once merged. Since Eva has an immunity idol, it’s hard to imagine anyone from the top five getting voted out any time soon.
The Mid-Range
Mitch is on the outside of the top five looking in as he continues to prove himself in challenges. He also has a Block-A-Vote advantage. This is currently the only other power in the game aside from Eva’s idol. David is the most obvious physical threat in the game, which gives him an edge over Chrissy and Cedrek. After a successful run with the new Lagi tribe of all women, David also seems to have stronger bonds than Chrissy or Cedrek, heading into the merge.
The Longshots
After giving her the Lagi immunity idol, Star did seem to gain an ally in Eva. If the top five castaways of these current “Survivor 48” power rankings, including Eva, work together, then Star could join them as a voting block. It’s just hard to imagine Star standing out amongst this group as a favorite to win the game.
While the original six Civa members are still in the game, Charity seemed to be the consensus vote out if they were ever faced with a decision to do so. After a quick glimpse of Eva’s perception of Charity in this episode, she could be an easy vote immediately after the merge. Mary and Sai are both such strong personalities, but it’s hard to envision them overcoming their tension to put themselves in a position of power in this game.
Thanks for reading my “Survivor 48″ Episode 5 Recap + Castaway Betting Odds.” For more entertainment content, check out our other blogs here at In-Between Media (IBT). And be sure to follow me @Colin_McT for more Survivor content.
