This season just keeps flying along with six players already gone from the game. It also feels like every player is getting their chance to shine so far this time around. It may have a lot to do with that all three tribes have been to tribal council, but it appears to me we are getting lots of camp life spread out evenly between Ika, Taku, and Vati.

I have really enjoyed this season and the character and even though I came close to losing my winner pick this week (Chanelle), no one person really stands out. They are a remarkably diverse and unique set of castaways for sure. Also, a lot of interesting gameplay so far and we have not been overrun with advantages so far either which is nice. So, what other good stuff went down on Survivor 42’s fifth episode? Let’s find out on this week with “Top Five Baby!”

1. Tori is going to jump ship

I mean at this point are any of the tribes a big happy family? If you don’t know, then just keep reading down below to see some of my other points about Taku and Vati as well. But Ika may be in the worst spot of any of them. Not only are they not a tight four, but Tori also flat out said that she would be jumping ship as soon as possible. That will leave Rocksroy, Romeo, and Drea in a tough spot. Tori hasn’t necessarily made a bunch of friends on the other tribes, but she has several options.

The other thing that is happening on Ika is that Rocksroy says he feels betrayed by what happened at the last vote when Swati got voted out. Not that he is going to leave Ika and work with another tribe, I don’t think he is built that way, but that is definitely something for us to look out for.

Finally, the thing I want to mention about Ika is that Drea and Romeo appear to be a tight group now. They were looking for an idol together and seem to be working together in all aspects of the game. The players on the Ika tribe are definitely going to look different here soon when the “merge” happens.

2. Not-so-happy Taku

For weeks now it has seemed like Taku was the tribe who were doing the best when it came to tribe togetherness and how close they were. Early on, there were a few rumblings about Maryanne, but for the most part everyone got along great. Well, I’m not sure what happened, maybe it was the rain and them being trapped in the shelter, but Jonathan is clearly annoyed by the constant talking between Lindsay and Maryanne. Then later he and Maryanne got into an argument about something.

Omar is not too happy about how things are going either. He is worried that a little fight now can cause some issues later on down the road. For the most part they still get along together, but when you hang around the same people day-in and day-out while not eating or sleeping, it’s only a matter of time before little fights break out. Now, the big question is, can they keep it quiet and still work together against the other tribes when the time comes?

3. Three active idols

Finally, someone on Ika found their Beware advantage. Finally, all three tribes said their magic phrases at the immunity challenge. So, as of right now … Mike, Drea, and Maryanne all officially have a hidden immunity idol. That also means all three of them can start voting again as well.

There is now a whole other world of possibilities for this season with three idols entering the game at the same time. The downside of this is that a lot of people know where all the idols are going to be. It seemed like all of Vati knew about the phrases to unlock the advantages, both Romeo and Drea on Ika knew about them, and of course Maryanne on Taku knows, we haven’t seen her tell anyone, so I am going to assume that she didn’t tell anyone.

So, the first question is, who is in a spot where they may likely use the idol first … or at least feel like they must use it? I can see Maryanne’s idol burning a hole in her pocket and her using it when it is not needed. Mike thinks he is in a good spot, so he most likely won’t be using his for a while. Drea, I think has the best chance of using her successfully along with her other goodies. So right in time for a merge? Next week, we will have three active idols and 12 people scrambling to not be the merge vote.

4. Chanelle's in a tough spot

It wasn’t looking great for either Chanelle or Daniel this week and we all knew it was going to be one of them two going home next if Vati went to tribal. It played out exactly like we knew it would and everyone told Daniel that Chanelle was going home and everyone told Chanelle that Daniel was going home.

So Chanelle came out on top of that vote out with Daniel being voted out, but you have to wonder what sort of spot she will be in when coming back to the game after receiving votes at tribal. She knew that she was the second choice, and she probably would have gone home if Daniel had successfully played his shot in the dark. So, yes, she is still in the game, but she had gone against Hai and Lydia in the tribal already, so now they don’t fully trust her. She is going to have a tough road ahead to get some luck on her side to try and salvage a decent finish this year.

5. 4 vs. 4 vs. 4

This should be a really fun merge time this season. For the first time, we will have four players from each of the original three tribes all making it to the merge.

The beauty of this is going to be how the votes break down on the first vote. I really don’t think they will vote across straight tribal lines. So, we if think about the current lineups. Drea, Romeo, and Rocksroy are likely to vote together. Mike, Hai, and Lydia are probably staying together for a few votes, then Omar, Jonathan, and Lindsay are a group. I don’t think Maryanne is going to break away from Taku that fast. She will probably break away at some point, but for this first vote, I think Taku will have to stay strong.

So, then who will Tori and Chanelle side with? Personally, I think it would be great if they both teamed up with Taku, then Vati and Ika teamed up and we end up with a 6-6 tie vote! The monkey-wrench in my plan though is we don’t know exactly who will be voting in that first vote after the “merge” and how many people will be voting.

Either way, it should be a lot of fun and I cannot wait to see how it comes out.

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So, there you have it for this week’s episode. Lots of exciting stuff is in the works and it looks like a merge of some sort is happening next. Do you think it will copy last season’s format? Which group of four will stay together? 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,