Heading into the sixth episode of Survivor 51, two players had just been voted out in back-to-back Tribal Councils, leaving Savu with only three players and Dina reeling from what Jeff Probst called a “historic” vote. Dina tribe underdogs Lewis Kelly and Danny Kilby leveraged Maggie Nestor’s gift of two Extra Votes to force a tie and, ultimately, bet that that Sharonda Cox, Eric Macksoud, and Cristian Chavez would want to avoid rocks at all costs. They were right and Sharonda, Eric, and Cristian said goodbye to Linnea Capobianco.
Tonight, while Eric nurses the personal wound inflicted by Kilby’s betrayal, all three tribes receive Tree Mail inviting one player to a Summit where a new Tethered Idol advantage binds them together in an unexpected way.
Read on for our recap of all the important moments from Episode 6 of Survivor 51, titled “I Love Crying,” which aired Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. PT on CBS. And then see what Jeff has to say about the “strong” and “formidable” women still in the game.
The tribe breakdowns at the start of the episode are:
SAVU: Ori Jean-Charles, Angelica “Jelly” Loblack, Devin Way
TOKA: Brady Booker, Kristin Flickinger, Carter Krull, Maggie Nestor, Thien An Nguyen, Mike Pinsky
DINA: Cristian Chavez, Sharonda Cox, Lewis Kelly, Danny Kilby, Eric Macksoud
After Tribal
Following Kilby’s move at Tribal Council, Eric is caught between understanding the move on a strategic level but not on a personal one. From his perspective, Kilby chose working with Lewis over Eric and Kilby “overestimated how close” the two of them were as new friends. While Sharonda is interested in bringing an emotional Eric back into the fold of their original Savu alliance, Cristian sees the move from Kilby and Lewis as an opportunity for him to start thinking what’s best for him instead of what’s best for the Savu “we.” With that in mind, Cristian spends the afternoon building bonds with Kilby and Lewis and telling them that he’s open to working with them in the future.
At Savu, Ori, Jelly and Devin realize that being down to just the three of them is “terrifying” and creates a must-win scenario for them at the next challenge. Because Jelly and Devin have been working together on the same tribe since day one, they understand that they are perceived as a strong twosome and they realize they would benefit from eventually separating to last long-term. Still, splitting up the close trio in the Helicopter Alliance is not a road any of them want to go down.
Despite not going to Tribal Council, things are no less tense at Toka. Mike feels the vibe around camp that he’s at the bottom and that even his bossy ally Brady is ready to oust him when given the chance. In order to pad his position in the tribe, Mike makes a move to bring Kristin in as a twosome, but she is wary of what Mike can even offer her from a strategic standpoint. Mike’s precarious spot is alleviated later when Brady’s annoyances with Maggie resurface and he considers her just as viable a vote as Mike.
The Summit
When Tree Mail arrives inviting one member of each tribe to attend a “Summit,” many players are interested in an opportunity that could put an advantage in their pockets and so lots are drawn among the volunteers. At Dina, Cristian holds the rag during the draw and cunningly holds the shots for Lewis and Kilby, preferring that they stay behind so he can connect with them; Sharonda is drawn instead. Ori’s name is drawn among the Savu three while at Toka everyone wants Kristin to serve as their representative, forcing a majority decision to send her instead of allowing Mike to be an option in a draw.
On the Summit, Ori, Kristin and Sharonda are elated to see other “Savu OGs” and immediately swap information about their tribes. As part of their objective, they must decide to send two of them back to their camps with a ribs and corn lunch while the third spends the night on Exile Island with a new “Tethered Idol” in their possession. Kristin volunteers to take the idol to Exile, which Ori and Sharonda are not only OK with, but actually relieved to hear. Specifics on the new idol are that Kristin is the only player who can use it, but must use it on either Ori or Sharonda, up until the final five. When she gets to Exile, Kristin learns the second aspect of the idol, which is that if she’s still in the game at a point when Ori and Sharonda are not, then it becomes a regular idol that she can use on herself.
Immunity Challenge
For the Day 12 challenge, Jeff Probst relieves the players of some stress by offering immunity to the first two tribes to finish the course. To earn safety, three players from each tribe race to untangle themselves from braided ropes, knock puzzle piece blocks over with sandbags, and then finish a puzzle. Luckily there are no rewards on the line because both Toka and Dina finish the race within seconds of one another, leaving Savu in the dust and sending them back to Tribal Council for the third consecutive week.
Tribal Council
With their worst case scenario coming to pass, the three friends at Savu are faced with the foregone conclusion that they will not all enter the merge together. Because of the close kinship between Devin and Jelly, Ori knows that it’s up to him to persuade one of them to go against the other. He begins with Jelly, who has already declared that she has a hidden idol and would be prepared to use it, but she tells him straight-up that she won’t be voting Devin out even if it would be the smarter move in the long run. When Ori goes to Devin, he basically communicates the same about his allegiance to Jelly, despite any of the good points Ori makes.
At Tribal Council, there’s a candid discussion about the writing being on the wall for Ori and that his best chance to remain in the game is the 1-in-6 odds that he’ll pull the right Shot in the Dark. Unfortunately he does not and so he is sent home in a 2-0 vote, leaving Savu with two, the once powerful Helicopter Alliance with three, and Kristin with one less player to take out in order to untether herself from the Tethered Idol.
Jeff’s Field Notes
Following the episode, the Survivor host shared his thoughts on the value that the “strong women” are bringing to Season 51.
On Maggie: “She has already made one of the biggest early season moves we’ve ever seen, giving two extra votes to Kilby and Lewis. Then this week she takes a hammock and uses it as a net to try and catch fish for her tribe.”
On Sharonda: “When it came to the decision of who would go to Exile Island, Sharonda’s social strategy was on full display. Sharonda did not want to go … but instead of offering up that information, she used what she had already learned about Kristin (that Kristin liked to be in charge) and let Kristin speak first. When Kristin shared that she wanted to go to Exile, it gave Sharonda the opportunity to appear to be gracious and agree to let Kristin go to Exile and … take the idol, without ever revealing her true intention. A tiny moment, but indicative of a very smooth player.”
On Kristin: “I meet people all the time who tell me they’ve been applying for years. … Kristin is a great example of why you can never give up … 25 years … and now here she is in the thick of it, with a broken foot and a powerful advantage — and while we’re still early in the season, she is already a very clear fan favorite.”
“These examples of Maggie, Sharonda, and Kristin give a clear sense of just how formidable the women are this season,” Probst continued. “This is what makes Survivor so hard to win. The very qualities that could get you to the end are the exact same qualities that make you a player that must be voted out.”
