“Survivor”: Season 46, Episode 5, Reviewed

On March 27, “Survivor” released episode five of Season 46. It was a return to form after a pair of lackluster episodes. This one was wonderful — packed with action from the jump.

We start at Siga. Moriah, Maria, and Jem began to worry about Ben’s friendship with Charlie. They see Ben as a social threat, thinking he’s pulling Charlie away from their “Charlie’s Angels” alliance. Ben is now the number one target for the women’s alliance.

However, the members of that alliance are not entirely transparent with each other. Jem did not tell the other two women about her beware advantage. She replanted it in a random spot, causing the rest of the tribe to dig for three days, finding nothing. They knew someone must have re-hidden it, and suspected Tim. Tim, on the other hand, saw through Jem’s lies. He noticed her acting suspiciously around camp and correctly predicted that she had the advantage. However, Tim confronted her about the advantage and whether there was a girl’s alliance which was a risky decision. Consequently, Jem trusted Tim less, though he gained some information from her response.

At Nami, everyone searched for the beware advantage. Venus was the only person who knew that Randen was medically evacuated with it, so she searched especially hard — “Survivor” re-hides advantages if they leave the game. Venus tried to stick around Hunter to see him find it, but Hunter sat down and waited out her patience. She left, and he found it soon after. Just like Jem, he dug for a box under where he found it, learning that he’ll find more information on how to find a key for that box once his tribe loses an immunity challenge. If they don’t lose, he can find it at the merge.

The immunity challenge ended with a personal favorite — the “Survivor” slingshot, where castaways have to knock down three targets using a massive slingshot. Nami won, but Yanu placed second and also avoided tribal council! This was the first immunity challenge Yanu won this season. They also avoided the record for the most immunity losses by a tribe in the “new era,” since “Survivor” season 40.

After the challenge, Nami picked Hunter, Q, and Tim to go on the reward journey. Immediately, they hit it off. They are three of the biggest immunity threats in the game, so they want to work with each other instead of allowing others to take them out. I think this could be a strong alliance moving forward. They then had to choose who would risk their vote for a potential advantage — Hunter volunteered. This was my favorite challenge of the season, and maybe the new era. Hunter had 20 minutes to order 20 “Survivor” logos chronologically. It was simple, but after 12 days of exhaustion and starvation, this was no easy feat for Hunter. He got 8 out of 20 correct, and lost his vote. Not to brag, but even if I had starved for 39 days, I would have successfully completed this challenge in about 30 seconds.

Back at Siga’s camp, Jem had to take measurements with a machete to solve a math equation, which gave her the location of the idol. She found it, gaining both the idol and the vote she lost.

However, Jem was unaware of Maria’s relationship with Charlie. They hold the power in this tribe, and could go with either side of the tribe. Ultimately, Charlie viewed Ben as more of an asset than a threat moving forward — the women’s fears came true as the alliance dissolved. Charlie convinced Maria of Ben’s value, leading to the two, with Maria and Tim, blindsiding Jem with an idol in her pocket.

13 players remain — five on Nami, five on Siga, and three on Yanu. Tune in next Wednesday, April 3, to see how this game continues to evolve when the tribes merge.