Talk about highs and lows. Hai was looking really good over the last few weeks, and now just like that, he’s sitting on the jury. He was certainly playing a great game, but it just caught up with him this week. Also, I couldn’t believe all the rain they were getting in this episode. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it rain this hard on Survivor. It definitely makes for some interesting gameplay when you are stuck in a shelter with everyone else! So other than Hai and the rain, what else went down on this week’s “Top Five Baby!”

1. Maryanne and an idol update

During last week’s tribal council, two hidden immunity idols were played. Lindsay was right on top of that as she knew there was a possibility of at least one of those being re-hidden. Even though she came extremely close to finding one (I think her hand might have even touched it), she eventually moved on.

Maryanne on the other hand, who wasn’t looking for one, went out to look for firewood and glanced up and saw it by accident. So, less than 24 hours after she played her last idol, she finds a new one. That is huge since she is now in the final seven, this is going to loom large for her in the next couple of weeks.

Other than Maryanne, the only other person with an idol is Mike. That would be huge for him, but there is a great chance of Drea using her Knowledge is Power advantage against him to take it away. If that happens, he will be vulnerable and may go home during the same tribal it is taken away.

Speaking of Drea, other than the ability to take away an idol, she also has an extra vote and the advantage amulet. So, Drea is still holding lots of power even though she used her idol last week too. The other advantage amulet is being held by Lindsay, so I could see either one of them becoming a target by the other one for this reason.

Finally, we come full circle back to Maryanne who on top of her idol also has an extra vote. So, there are still lots of hidden surprises to come out at the next few tribal councils. I can’t wait to see if a few of them all get played at the same time. Hopefully, you kept up with all those ramblings about the current situation in the game.

2. Reward decisions

Lindsay had a really good episode. She won both the reward challenge and the immunity challenge. Hopefully winning back-to-back challenges doesn’t put a target on her back, because sometimes this could be all it takes to switch the vote over to her. Anyway, after the challenge, Lindsay got to pick two people to go with her on the reward. She chose both Omar and Mike.

She followed in the current Survivor trend of picking the people who haven’t had an earlier reward or food of some kind. This is a really easy strategy to follow if you are trying to minimize the damage done by not taking someone to a reward. The second part of this is the fact that both Mike and Omar got to sit down and enjoy some food and warmth away from the rain. Everyone looked absolutely miserable and shivering, so any amount of comfort and warmth may be just what they need to get to the end.

3. Omar and Mike

I just enjoy watching Omar work from week to week. It seems like every episode he is showing us how amazing he is at the social aspect of Survivor. It was like magic watching him work Mike the way he did. The lie about Hai using Mike as a puppet came off so good that not only did Mike believe him, but he said it made complete sense. That sent Mike down a spiral of confessions about he was done with Hai, he wasn’t anyone’s puppet, and he was just going to play his game and not anyone else’s.

Obviously, it worked because Hai ended up going home and Mike trusts Omar even more than he did before. Hopefully, if Omar makes it to the end, he can show a way to prove he was making all these moves that no one saw during the game.

4. Is Jonathan next?

I’m not sure if Jonathan knows how close he was to being voted out this week. He knew that Hai was gunning for him and that his name was being brought up as a possible option, but if Omar had really decided to go with Hai, he could have gotten both Lindsay and Maryanne on board and Jonathan would have gone to Ponderosa. By the way, wouldn’t a Jonathan Ponderosa video be fun? It would just be him eating the entire time!

Anyway, he survived again, but once again he was second in that immunity challenge and people know that he is a threat to win every one he competes in. If he doesn’t win immunity next week, is it a forgone conclusion that he will be voted off? They wouldn’t want to risk him winning the last 2 and making it all the way to the end, would they?

No matter what happens, I have been impressed with his game for making it this far. It’s very unlikely for a big man to make it this far.

5. The Taku four

This is another viable solution if Jonathan isn’t the next to go. Currently, there are seven castaways left in the game. Four of those seven are from the original Taku tribe. Is it possible for Jonathan, Omar, Lindsay, and Maryanne to work together to take out the other three?

Personally, I think it would be fascinating if they could pull that off. The way all three tribes splintered, cracked, and overlapped as soon as the merge hit, I wouldn’t have thought this to even be an option at this point in the game. Romeo has been on the outs for days upon days, Drea has been discussed as a target because of all her weapons, and Mike could be an easy target if his idol is taken away.

A lot would have to line up for them for that to happen, but it’s not far-fetched to see a path where that could happen.

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So, there you have it for this week’s episode. Only seven people left on the island, how did we get to this point so quickly? Do you think that Omar is playing the best game? Is Jonathan the next to go if he’s not immune? I want to hear from you, let me know if I missed any moments or if you think I was correct in my thinking, the interaction is part of what makes this so fun!

Please catch more of me here next week where I will try to bring you more fun top five!

Thanks,