Survivor Analysis 5: GC Digs His Own Grave

Week five of Survivor Gabon was one of those unattractive episodes in SURVIVOR history. First, Fang lose back-to-back challenges sending home their perceived weakest member, GC Brown. Second, I couldn't understand why several of these castaways were making obtuse and mindless decisions after seventeen seasons.

This week's episode began with Sugar returning from Exile and was disappointed that her former Kota tribemate, Jacquie, was voted off instead of Kelly. She got the hidden immunity and instead of keeping the secret to other tribemates, her confidence during her stay at Fang Camp revealed otherwise.

Next day, Matty saw a large elephant nearby and he rapidly informed his tribemates about it. Seems like this is the very first time Matty saw an elephant in action and to satisfy his deep curiosity, he joined Ace as they kayak near the scene. Geez, this shot was breathtaking in HD and how I wish I was there too!


In Kota Tribe, Randy was completely satisfied with his new tribe. His strategy was to act like he was the "Hardworker" to avoid eviction. Randy's strategy seems an old-school technique and it might not work for him.

Quite the opposite for Dan. With all the nice and inspiring words he shared with the old Kota members (Marcus, Charlie, Corrinne and Bob) after winning the reward challenge, he was acting like he was in the chopping board.

“He's eager to express his undying complete and total devotion to the new Kota tribe that no one believes it.” Marcus commented.

Like I said in the first few sentences of this article, Fang lose back-to-back challenges and that would basically mean Kota once again won the reward challenge. The reward was a herb garden and a lot of food spices.

Reward Challenge
A tribe member would toss fruit through a hole in a wall to two members of their own tribe. An opposing tribe member would stand in front of the wall and use a club to try to knock away the fruit as it was thrown through the air. Once a piece of fruit is caught by a tribe member, it would have to be thrown through a hole in a second wall defended by a second opposing tribe member. The tribe that catches the most fruit by weight after five minutes would win (Wikipedia).

At first, Ace was great in knocking off Kota's fruits. Fang was nearly in victory but as the game sails on, Dan managed to outplay Ace and got the groove in volleying the fruit on the second wall.

"Fang’s fruit is weighed – 16 pounds. Kota is just under 15 pounds with two pineapples left. And that puts them up to 18. Kota wins! How the heck did that happen? Kota’s heavy-fruit strategy apparently served them well. (David Bloomberg

There's no stand-out characters during this challenge. Dan did good in volleying the fruit but that was not his best game. His best game was seen during the immunity challenge.

Immunity Challenge: One member from each tribe would roll a large ball made of interwoven sticks down a hill. A blindfolded tribe member at the bottom of the hill would attempt to block the opposing tribe's ball with a shield and the aid of a caller. Behind the blocker would be a row of seven goals of varying point values. If a tribe's ball made it past the blocker and into a goal, they would be awarded the specified number of points. The tribe with the most points after five rounds would win (Wikipedia).


Without doubts, Kota won the immunity because of Dan's precise technique in shielding the ball with, of course, the help of the caller (Randy). Unlike Ace and Sugar on Fang, Sugar was not at all good in giving instructions. Ace was determined to shield the ball but how can he do it without the caller?

Fang lose the immunity challenge but at some points, it was also a good thing. If Kota lose this game, the old Kota members would stick together and get rid of Dan.

However, if Fang loses, no one in my I-favorites will be voted out. It's either Ace or GC who would got the boot. GC told his tribe he wants to go home and automatically, his old tribemates granted his wish and GC took the fall.

Seriously, this sounds like a ludicrous decision. Matty, Crystal, Ken and Kelly might still need GC for numbers.

Fang voted off their own tribe member and this spells "FAILURE" in the upcoming merge.


Survivor Philippines Updates:

John Lopez, the Bicolano model/mechanic, was voted out during Jarakay's second Tribal Council despite of his tight alliance with Jace and Vern.

After losing the immunity challenge, John already felt weak. His body was giving up but his mind wanted him to stay.

This event tell us that even the alpha man and the "perceived" threat in the game is not the perfect candidate to outwit, outplay and outlast the game of Survivor.

Photos courtesy of:
www.cbs.com
www.survivor.com/17