Survivor: Week 5

New Picks

I received a second round of picks, which count twice as much as the first round. So, in the first set of picks, you lose one point for every place off your pick was. In this set, you lose two points for every place. Bonuses are still only +5 for a spot-on pick. To help keep everyone's scores above zero, everyone will receive 200 additional points. Here are everyone's new picks:

Matt's Picks (Second Set)

13th: Dan
12th: Ace
11th: Susie
10th: Sugar
9th: Marcus
8th: Matty
7th: Randy
6th: Bob
5th: Ken
4th: Charlie
3rd: Crystal
2nd: Kelly
1st: Corinne


Jen's Picks (Second Set)

13th: Kelly
12th: Susie
11th: Crystal
10th: Corinne
9th: Ken
8th: Randy
7th: Bob
6th: Dan
5th: Marcus
4th: Ace
3rd: Sugar
2nd: Matty
1st: Charlie


Dawn's Picks (Second Set)

13th: Kelly
12th: Susie
11th: Crystal
10th: Ken
9th: Bob
8th: Sugar
7th: Ace
6th: Corinne
5th: Dan
4th: Randy
3rd: Matty
2nd: Charlie
1st: Marcus


Mike's Picks (Second Set)

13th: Susie
12th: Jessica
11th: Ace
10th: Kelly
9th: Marcus
8th: Corinne
7th: Randy
6th: Bob
5th: Crystal
4th: Charlie
3rd: Ken
2nd: Matty
1st: Dan


Carl's Picks (Second Set)

13th: Kelly
12th: Susie
11th: Ace
10th: Dan
9th: Crystal
8th: Matty
7th: Ken
6th: Sugar
5th: Randy
4th: Bob
3rd: Corinne
2nd: Charlie
1st: Marcus


Paul's Picks (Second Set)

13th: Randy
12th: Susie
11th: Marcus
10th: Kelly
9th: Matty
8th: Ken
7th: Sugar
6th: Crystal
5th: Bob
4th: Charlie
3rd: Corinne
2nd: Ace
1st: Dan


Kim's Picks (Second Set)

13th: Kelly
12th: Susie
11th: Matty
10th: Dan
9th: Crystal
8th: Corinne
7th: Randy
6th: Ken
5th: Bob
4th: Sugar
3rd: Ace
2nd: Charlie
1st: Marcus

The Episode

Reward Challenge: I thought this was the best episode for challenges, by far. This reward challenge is very similar to one we've seen a couple times before, and it's always interesting. Each team had to carry a large, heavy "snake" in circles around a track. The team that caught up with the other team won reward, which was a bunch of breakfast foods. Any individual could quit the course at any time, but this left more weight for the remaining team members to carry.

Fang began shedding team members pretty quickly. Every time someone dropped out, they would put on a spurt of speed, and then another person would start dragging. Kota seemed to have a more consistent pace, which is smart, considering how this challenge has gone in other seasons. The team that sprints needs to win right away, or else they get so exhausted that they quickly lose any ground they've gained, and then some. Fang lost everyone but Crystal, Matty, and Ace, and then Crystal dropped out. Kota had no problems catching up with the two struggling men, and they took home the breakfast foods.


Kota tribal relations:
Both of the teams have really struggled with rationing their food this season, and I don't know whether it's because hunting/gathering is less practical in Africa than in the traditional ocean setting, or whether the producers have reduced the amount of rice the teams get. Whatever the case, I've enjoyed seeing the teams stress out over wanting to eat more, but having to be smart through strict rationing. It's brought out a lot of character in the individuals, and it makes the food rewards seem much more critical to the teams.

At Kota, this natural tension manifested in everyone being secretly aghast at how much food Dan has been eating. He appears to have been chowing down at every opportunity, to the extent that at least three people told the camera how terrible it makes Dan. But since we haven't actually seen anyone even hinting to Dan that he should show some restraint, I'm not sure that it's fair to beat him up over it. And this is on the tribe that's won all of the extra food. I can imagine how dire the situation is over at Fang.

Randy also declared his goal of distancing himself from Dan and Susie in the hopes of weaseling into the Kota foursome.

Immunity Challenge: Another great challenge, that was all the more interesting because it turned out to be a real nail-biter, with heroes and slow-pokes on each team. The basic idea was that pairs of contestants from each team had to run through an obstacle course while tethered to each other and retrieve a portion of a flagpole. The obstacle course got longer for each of the three stages of the challenge, so it made sense to send out your weakest pair first and your strongest pair last.

In the end, the teams wound up in a neck-and-neck race to assemble the flagpole (due largely to heroic scrambling by Ace and Ken), which Fang lost miserably, possibly because Ace couldn't work with others and just started jamming incorrect pieces together.

Fang Tribal Relations: Well, it seems like the Fang tribe is officially a hopeless cause. The two-person minority of Ace and Sugar successfully convinced Matty to hook up with them, on the condition that Ken wouldn't be voted out. I guess the theory is that this foursome would be able to possibly pick up some extra members from Kota post-merge. Crystal was rightfully suspicious of Matty's new pals, and lobbied for an Ace ouster, but she couldn't make a convincing argument to Matty, Ken, and Kelly, as she should have done. Instead, they all took the path of least resistance and voted out the friendless Kelly. That leaves Crystal, and then probably Ken, in jeopardy for the next couple of votes. This season has been a great example of the fact that good strategy can sometimes overcome a numbers disadvantage. Ace and Sugar have insinuated themselves into the heart of the power structure, and are now calling the shots.








The Pool

The second set of picks gave everyone a second chance at this thing, and Jen, Dawn, Carl and Kim took full advantage by correctly predicting that Kelly would go tonight. I took the biggest tumble (from 3rd to 7th) by predicting that Kelly would finish in second place. Paul and Mike maintained their place at the top of the pool while Dawn crept up to a virtual tie for last.


1st: Paul 106 (-1 +3) + 194 (-6) = 300
2nd: Mike 95 (-1 +3) + 194 (-6) = 289
3rd: Jen 78 (-10 +3) + 205 (+5) = 283
4th: Carl 75 (-10 +3) + 205 (+5) = 280
5th: Mom 65 (-10 +0) + TBD = TBD
6th: Kim 70 (-8 +3) + 205 (+5) = 275
7th: Matt 86 (-3 +3) + 178 (-22) = 264
8th: Dawn 58 (-11 +3) + 205 (+5) = 263

Mom is out of town, and I'm still waiting on her second set of picks.

Good luck, everyone!