‘Survivor 45’: Breaking down what led up to season’s most shocking blindside
The return of the “Survivor” auction. The continuation of the anti-Bruce crusade. Targets shifting before tribal council. Another brutal shocking blindside with a devastated reaction. The latest eighth “Survivor 45” episode, “Following a Dead Horse to Water,” had it all so let’s break down the game mechanics that led up to what was a dramatic exit and see which players are on the rise along with new creative twists to “Survivor” classics.
Before having the “Survivor” auction, all of the players went on a scavenger hunt to retrieve rolls of money on the island; all of them except Bruce Perreault, who took his time and ended up with only one roll of $80, while everyone else had at least $300. Ironically enough, he ended up with the largest amount when the auction was over in a new twist that the person with most money at the end of any round between 6-15 – that only Jeff would know from drawing a rock – would lose their vote at the upcoming tribal council.
SEE ‘Survivor’ winners list: All seasons
As if Bruce wasn’t already a big target, him losing his vote gave everyone a bigger incentive to vote him out, especially the Belo women which included Kendra McQuarrie and of course, Katurah Topps. And even though Kellie Nalbandian knew Bruce considered her his closest ally and decided to keep him last week over Sifu Alsup, he was also on her last nerve. These girls also formed a supposed “woman’s alliance” with Julie Alley, Dee Valladares and Emily Flippen, after realizing they outnumbered the men, but Emily spilled the beans to Drew Basile and neither predicted that the alliance would last long. But all were set on voting Bruce, with the Reba alliance knowing that Katurah would be on board and indulging her on the surface when they offered to vote whoever she wanted – knowing she would say Bruce – after she voted with them to get rid of Kaleb Gebrewold.
That was until Bruce won the immunity challenge, which featured another rice offer in exchange for four players to sit out. But instead of negotiating like in past seasons, Jeff decided to speed up the process and stab the bag with a knife to let the rice fall out, resulting in Dee, Emily, Drew and Katurah quickly offering to not compete. With Bruce outlasting Julie to win immunity, the plan immediately shifted to his other ally Jake O’Kane, who was in hot water for voting Julie at the last tribal council to try and save Kaleb. Despite Emily and Kellie’s attempts to convince him to not play his Shot in the Dark, Jake knew his days would be numbered and went idol searching, which worried Drew. With the possibility that Bruce could also play his idol for Jake, Drew came up with Kellie as another option because of her bond with Bruce and told it to his Reba alliance plus Emily.
SEE ‘Survivor’ deaths: Full list of castaways we’ve lost
At tribal, Jake pleaded his case and played his Shot in the Dark, unsuccessfully. But even though he got three votes from his Belo tribemates, Kellie took the brunt receiving the rest of the votes from the majority alliance, leaving her distraught and in a state of shock. Belo was just as stunned and Jake reacted a bit too loud in the moment, making it one of the most unforgettable eliminations in recent memory, that included Kellie confronting Emily and Austin Li Coon and forgetting her torch.
So what happens next? It looks like the Reba alliance of Drew, Austin, Julie and Dee have taken control of this game with Emily, with the Belo members on the outside, and it is highly unlikely that they will band together to oppose them given the votes for Jake and Bruce’s tension with the women. It seems like every week Bruce gets portrayed as the season’s villain, which is not something viewers would expect from the only returning player, but he still has an idol in his possession, which he may need to use if he doesn’t win immunity again. A fun fact to be aware of is that Bruce and Katurah still have not had the option to vote for each other in this entire game thus far, allowing them to extend their animosity towards each other, and it’s all but certain with Katurah that she will jump at the chance when she is able to write his name down. With Kellie gone, Austin completes the amulet (and his revenge for not getting his sandwich) with another idol, giving him two idols in the game, so he looks to be sitting pretty.
From what is revealed on the “Next Time On Survivor” promo, Emily is straying from Reba, telling Austin she wants to target Dee, something that he is not onboard with (while also looking like he is harboring a little crush on the latter). Additionally, three castaways will lose their vote in a challenge that sees all of them split into three groups, so it will be interesting to see what will happen and how that changes the game with the votes.
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