Survivor Wk 5 – Mon and Tues

Mon Australian Survivor All Stars chat.

Flick is out so AK is now nicely positioned to be the swing vote for the pairs of Locky/Brooke or Shonee/Harry.

I just want to see him make merge and team up with Nick, but I fear Nick is on the way out. Surely Mo and Dave will want him gone?



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  1. We will have a non-tribal probably tonight, as the advantage is played, so maybe one more tribal tomorrow, then merge on Wednesday? So, for Nick he just needs to get through Tuesday, either by tribe immunity or not being the target. I agree, though – I think if his tribe go on Tues, then he is in danger. He might also be the target tonight but get saved by the advantage.

    The promos are really ramping up the hype, claiming huge moves from now on.

    • I know – you wouldn’t want to be in a bikini with the rest of the tribe looking up at ya!
      Try some shorts girls –

    • Yeah but I think he prefers the coconut ones where he can say Nut and Sack repeatedly.
      So sad with the result tonight but the numbers just did not go his way. Nick is going to cop it from his students so much tomorrow

  2. Well, that was just disappointing on multiple levels.

    1. Nick’s the only person who realises how much power David has, and was the only person willing to do something about it.

    2. They’re merging tomorrow night, which means Nick won’t even make the jury.

    3. I’m so disappointed in Harry for listening to Locky. I was shouting, at the TV, “GIVE NICK THE ADVANTAGE!” Thre was no reason not to. After tonight, the damn thing is worthless, and Harry didn’t need to use it, so why not hand it over to his ally? Both Shonee and Brooke practically spelled it out that Nick was in trouble. And even if he wasn’t, why take the chance?

    4. I was also disappointed in the editors. The second Harry said that not giving Nick the advantage might come back to bite him in the arse, later on? I mean, that was so ominous, they might as well have just screened Nick’s goodbye speech immediately afterwards.

    5. Also disappointed in Sharn’s crocodile tears. Maybe it’s her background as a lawyer, but she seems to think she’s great at faking emotion. She isn’t.

    6. With the merge, and a clear numbers advantage (7 to 5), I’m disappointed that the green team is probably going to immediately start whittling down the yellow team. They’ve got a chance if Sharn and Lee jump ship, but are Sharn and Lee that smart?

    7. I’m also disappointed we’re not going to have the awesome immunity sword, anymore. I wonder who gets to keep that?

    I’m not angry with you, Harry. I’m just disappointed.

    • Sharn’s not that smart. Lee, I’m not sure he’s even ALIVE. Still, I voted for Lee in the TTV Poll and glad to have a dog still in this fight.

      • I figure that tonight It was Sharn’s turn for the single brain cell she shares with Locky.

        Sharn, don’t sound like you’re about to flip at Tribal. Don’t even think about betraying David and Mo the third time running. And don’t cry when someone David and Mo are gunning for goes home.

        Locky, try and make sure it’s your turn with the brain cell next time you have to decide what to do with an advantage.

        And Clean Harry, what on earth were you thinking? Go into the merge with one more ally? Or hold back the advantage and go into merge with one less ally? What on earth was the possible downside?

        • Maybe it’s hormones, but I still like Locky slightly more than Sharn. His comment, last night (that there’s no way they’d pick him to join them for the BLT reward, because they don’t want him fed and happy) shows that he possesses at least a tiny amount of game savviness.

          Sharn, OTOH, has been little more than dead weight since we started. I’ve been saying they should voting her out for weeks, now. She’s hopeless in challenges and she seems to have no long-term strategy beyond, “say ‘yes’ to anybody who asks me anything”, a strategy that fell apart the second Nick (stupidly) played his advantage and her double-dealing with exposed.

    • Two weeks in a row that Harry gets told to put it away, and does. It doesn’t make him look like a leader.

    • I wasn’t a huge Nick fan, but thought he played a good game. He played way better this season than last, but I don’t think got as far?
      I really enjoy Nick the commentator, but don’t share the Nick as player love, even though he played way better this year. He should legit be cranky at Harry – what was he thinking? Locky is clearly motivated to remove people (i.e. Nick) who will vote against him come merge. Yes it leaves one extra person in play, but ONE of those people is your ally, This way they still have numbers AND you have lost. how does that work for you?
      I do feel bad for Nick the superfan not to be on jury.
      GG and minions should definitely target Brooke. Or Sharn. Remember Sharn made it to 2nd and got loads of respect. Usually there are challenges that favour people exactly like Brooke – small men like Baden or women. So take your shot when you can.

      • Sharn’s actively annoying them. I want them to eliminate her next, just because she’s really irritating.

        Of course, at this point, that makes her a brilliant goat. It doesn’t seem like many of other castaways like her that much either.

    • You fail to understand the brilliance of Locky’s and Harry’s strategy. They are committed to getting rid of the weaker players. The rules make that difficult because they are not allowed to actually vote themselves off, so they they have to resort to more subtle approaches like throwing away advantages.

      • It was hilarious that their strategy last night (“let’s get rid of all the physically-capable players!”) was underlined in all it’s hideous stupidity during the reward challenge. Locky did great, and the other two fell apart and they lost a substantial advantage and it wasn’t even a fight. Yeah, not every challenge requires physically-strong players, but a lot of them *do*.

        • Brain cell jokes aside, you can sort of see a Locky strategy. He’s focused on challenges and thinks if he can make the merge he can survive by winning them. Numbers and the other members of his alliance don’t matter so much to him because they can’t help him win immunity challenges. It’s not a winning strategy, but it is a strategy of sorts.

          I can’t see anything similar for Clean Harry.

          I think Dave should get ready to play some idols because there is a very good chance Sharn and Lee will jump ship at the first chance. And Dave really, really needs to focus on finding the clue at the merge feast.

  3. I don’t really care that Nick is gone. He was too convinced of his own slithery abilities that proved not to be slithery enough. Was a bit cringey that he just sat head in hands not wanting to slither away at tribal, and still talking up his snakey snakiness that didn’t save him in the end.
    Although I guess he must have been considered somewhat of a threat as his ‘ally’ Harry didn’t give him a free pass. But with merge on the horizon Harry has only done what is needed – shift mindset to every man for himself.
    As above, it will be interesting to see how Sharn plays and whether Lee begins to participate.

    • It’s Day 28. The last time Nick cast a successful vote was Day 12. He was just booted 7-1. He was booted because everyone on his tribe knew he would jump to the other side as soon as the merge happened.

      He turned on Henry (an ally) because Henry was being too hyper.

      Nick needs to work on his slithering skills and next time, if there is a next time, take a few chill pills with him to the island. He said at the start he knew he had to play a softer game, but the sound of hissing has been deafening since he booted Henry.

      • I agree Alan – I think Nick played way better this game, but surely booting Henry was a silly move that signalled his end? Henry was going to take himself out without Nick’s help!
        It was exactly the right play to ditch Nick as making to merge was a dangerous game. He is very good at puzzles (although I did notice GG was just at good and even JLAP said something like “David puts a piece on singlehandedly”!) and as a smaller, lighter man has a good advantage going into merge when challenges always seem to favour that type of build. Definitely a target – and so they 100% should have taken him out.

      • Yeah, I tend to agree with you re: Nick. He’s a great personality as a fan, but I don’t think he’s as brilliant a player as he thinks he is.

        I mean, he basically accomplished nothing worthwhile (other than the decision to oust Henry) and was little more than a minor speed-bump for the rest of his tribe.

        And yes, Harry should’ve saved him but chose not to, so maybe there was just an island-wide deficit of brain-cells, last night.

        • Thanks for writing should’ve instead of the incorrect but common “should of”. Made my day. That and the sunshine. 😂

    • “But with merge on the horizon Harry has only done what is needed – shift mindset to every man for himself.”

      But he didn’t need to. The advantage was worthless after tonight. There was nothing strategic or clever about Harry with-holding the advantage (that would’ve saved one of his key allies), he basically just threw it in the rubbish bin. It was a waste, and a waste for no reason.

      I don’t get it. I like Harry as a player, but he’s starting to lose me.

  4. So I am trying to work it out. These were the tribes:
    Yellow; Harry, Shonee, AK, Brooke, Locky
    Green: Sharn, Lee, Mo, Jacqui, Tarzan, Zach, Dave, Nick
    And if Harry gave Nick the power to bring him to their side yellow would still be in the minority come merge. Bearing in mind they can only suspect when merge is coming not know for sure

    • I get that calculation also – but my point is that if Harry had given Nick the advantage yes, they are still in the minority, BUT you have a number there. Your ally was going to get booed and is lost to you AND you are still in the minority. So give your ally a shot to last another day and see what happens?

      If Nick had made it to merge/another game the balance may have shifted – e.g. Sharn & Lee were clearly going with the numbers and if Nick had survived they might have gone to the yellow (as Windsong posited they may still do) it could have changed everything.

    • Why didn’t the producers give Harry the chance to send the advantage to Nick secretly? It was disappointing seeing him forced to make the decision in the open, in front of both tribes, without thought. He should have been able to send it over, with Nick just finding it in his bag.

      Now we are seeing no advantages and no idols, which is reducing the interest at tribal.

  5. Shonee’s commentary on Moana was hilarious.
    I don’t mind her – she isn’t guarded when she gives her to camera commentary which makes for fun TV.

    • I love Moana’s snake eyes. She doesn’t brag all over the place. She’s a still, patient spider.

      • Remember the start of the season, when everyone was whingeing “why did they bring back Moana?”. The interesting thing will be watching her turn on David. Soon after merge would be best, as he will win challenges and if spooked she knows he has one idol (not the second)

        • I think Moana and Dave are stuck with each other for the moment. If they don’t vote together they are vulnerable to the yellow alliance and to Sharn and Lee switching sides.

          • In her first season she was one of the few Champs we saw doing proper strat.
            Loved her tribal quiet smackdown of Locky tonight

        • That’s true, but she did have the advantage of Phoebe spending way too much time with Nick and suffering a terminal brain fart as a result.

      • I think the edit is trying hard to make Moana look evil/smug. We are treated to an endless parade of grim facial expressions, but I just don’t believe that is her in general. She is playing the game (thank goodness someone is relying on more than a girly “social game” (looking at you, Shonee) ) and there is a touch of revenge there, but it doesn’t seem nasty. With her upbringing and current family situation, she seems to be able to separate a game from real life.

        • Mo doesn’t make the edit much because she is not a “run around and forge fake alliances with people” type person. She has her crew and everyone knows it. And she has Dave to do the social stuff for her. So she is not great entertainment TV as such but fascinating to watch when she does make the edit. And she is a lot calmer than her mate Mat

  6. Tonight, on Australian Survivor … Harry manages to fashion a working gun, out of a coconut and some charcoal, and succeeds in not only figuratively shooting himself in the foot, but actually literally, too.

  7. Loved the surprised look on Jono’s face when Shonee won. The hold the orb challenge was fun but when they went to one hand it disadvantaged women, whose hands are generally smaller. They should have gone to one foot

    • Okay the Deep Undercover thing actually worked, largely because Locky and Clean Harry were too excited about escaping certain doom to think about why they should trust Dave and Zach. I still think it was far too complicated and unnecessary, although I guess you could argue it saved Dave an idol and solidified the G7 alliance.

      And just quietly it’s another case where Clean Harry failed to read the game in the way he claims he can.

      • Watching the Jury Villa video, and it’s actually painful watching Locky there, deep in concentration, trying to figure out who betrayed him.

        IT’S OBVIOUS WHO BETRAYED YOU, DING-A-LING.

    • This is the second time that an elaborate plan relied heavily on a large number of people NOT giving any hint away. And the second time it went to plan. Maybe the Makuta seven are better actors than we thought. I think it helped that the plan was well-specified and clear, and every person knew the script. It would have been easy to lose your nerve if you heard David getting so chummy, but because they all knew exactly what he was going to say, they were able to keep faith. And it will take a brave person to cross David and Moana, because they will need a very good secondary plan for the next night.

  8. This was a really tedious episode – about 40 minutes seemed to be about discussions with David always leading the major portion of the interviews. I could almost hear the direction of the producers to the contestants re “say alot without saying anything and whatever you say, remain uncertain about everything including your own name” . This is when I switch channels and avoid the repetition of the tribal council and just go back for the reading of the votes. And surprise surprise, no surprise even though the editing tried to make it seem as though anything could happen.
    This is why I don’t get the criticism of the US show – that they dont show enough strategising. Look at the Australian show, there is too much which seems artificial and overblown when people are merely repeating themselves ad nauseum.

    • I agree a bit, but not completely. I found the tribal council amusing because the big move Locky was demanding was exactly what he got.

      King Croesos of Lydia asked the Delphic Apollo what would happen if he attacked the Persian empire. The god answered a great kingdom would be destroyed, but, sadly for Croesos, Apollo meant Lydia, not Persia. And that’s what happened to Locky.

      • I liked the tribabl because it did seem pretty obvious that Locky was going to get taken out. And he was getting a lot of footage so looked like he would be going. . . As I said previously, I thought Brooke would be a better bet as I could see her going on immunity run.
        Mind you, for the GG devotees he goes into merge with two idols. That’s got to be promising.

        • *And* there’s still a solid chance that he could wind up with more of the damn things.

          To be honest, Moana versus David is a mouth-watering proposition, for the rest of the season, and once the green-seven have knocked out the yellow-fives, I see that being a battle.

          • I’m down for that. The only problem is Mo and Sharn uniting to blindside Dave while he is too cocky to play an idol. But I imagine they will want AK and Harry out first

  9. I actually recorded the episode (and watched it this morning) because I wanted to see the rail travel documentary on SBS, the dude was travelling from Cairns to Townsville last night.

    Anyway. I’m kinda bummed, because I did like Locky. I thought he was an inherently-likable guy, and I’m sad that he got knifed. But the yellow-five were idiots for immediately trusting David. Harry was around, for David’s season, wasn’t he? He — more than the other three — should’ve known better.

    Still, there were a few interesting moments from last night.

    David’s undercover Trojan Horse plan worked … but it was a one-night trick. It’s obvious that he and Zach betrayed them, so he can’t pull it again. I suppose it’s a moot point, now, because of the 7/4 split, but nobody’s going to trust him (including all the people who are going to wind up on the jury).

    At any rate, for the next few episodes, this is the period of the show when it gets predictable and trite, when one tribe just whittles the other tribe down to nothing. Tonight, I imagine it’ll be AK or Harry, and then next week, Brooke and Shonee (and, at that point, the green-seven can do whatever they like). Which is a shame, because I’m still rooting for Harry.

    Maybe Zach was lying, just to mess with the yellow-five, but I feel like he’s got a point. Sharn is dangerous. She made it to top two, just on her social game. That’s something they need to be worried about. Also, that he rescues and rehabilitates birds? I like that we’re getting a little more context for him, as a human being (and he seems much less obnoxious than his last season).

    Making David their secret weapon was a good plan … but I see it back-firing, because David is already absurdly-powerful. Giving him even more power? I see that ending badly for his allies.

    Mad props to Shonee for taking out the immunity challenge. She never looked like losing. While Jonathon was clearly shocked, I liked how every single one of the castaways was similarly baffled that she nailed that in minimal time.

    Although, that Locky is on the jury means that there will be a jury of 10, with two final survivors … or, a jury of nine, and we’re going top 3. I always wonder, what if they get a 3/3/3 split?

    • I agree Locky is very likeable but he got outwitted. If David survives to the final I can see Locky voting for him.

      David’s trust level among the greens (although, really, who knows the way they have been playing) has to be lower than zero, but thats not necessarily true among the yellows.

      I can see a move to flush the idol fairly soon, although it would cause chaos among the yellows.

      • Lockie was likeable but he ended up with quote a lot of tribal egg on his face. It was a good consolation prize; the Bach gig I mean. I have already used up my post Survivor/Bach jokes so I will leave them for someone else.

    • I reckon Shonee could easily sneak her way into a new alliance. Many still don’t see her as a threat

  10. Meanwhile, I hear filming of US TAR had been halted due to Coronavirus. “This is a non-elimination round. We will now have a pit stop on this infected cruise ship for 14 days …”

    • I heard that today. I was thinking, “are all the teams just stuck in an airport somewhere in Africa or South America?” but apparently the producers put everybody on planes back to the US, and told them to just wait it out, and fly back to where they were, when they start filming again.

    • Q : How are Australians protecting themselves from the Coronavirus?

      A : Wrapping themselves in toilet paper.

  11. The second Harry stepped away from the immunity challenge, I switched off, and went to watch the Jury Villa video at Tenplay, because I knew what was going to happen.

    Dave really sounds unwell, though. Just his voice makes me think his body is not in great shape, so maybe he gets a medical evacuation, at some point? I know I’m being petty, but that would be just desserts, frankly.

    The next three episodes will be AK, Brooke and then Shonee. I don’t think there’s much question to that.

  12. Why are Australian Survivor challenges so much more torturous than US ones? JLP is going hard with the burns this season: “Sharn, looking like a hot mess.”

    • Yes. It reminds me of scenes of Calvary. Next immunity challenge; how long can you last on the crucifixion.

  13. Dave did not sound good and he was very subdued AKA acting like a normal person.
    Is the shock teased for next week a medical evacuation?

  14. Much as I want Shonee and Brooke gone, I think they were right to say that last night was the prime time for Lee and Zach to flip. If they try to do it now, they will have to pull another person with them, or the numbers won’t work.

    There was a tantalising snippet that suggested that Tarzan might start waking up to play now too. But, as Moana said at TC, the winner should be judged as the best over the whole time, not just what they do since merge.

    Liked David referencing Jenine Ellis in his revenge plan. I wonder what he is thinking now that he has done all his revenge targets? We might see a shift in tactics now, and the big money question is when will he and Mo turn on each other, and who will do it first. My guess is Mo, because she has no illusions about his ruthlessness.

    • Shonee has to jump ship. There are three factions in the Mokuta G7, Moana+Tarzan+Jacquie, Dave+Zach, Sharn+Lee. The Moanalings won’t have her because she knifed Mat. Dave would probably have her. Sharn would say yes and then change her mind 5 minutes later.

      • I would rather AK jumped, and leave the other two to be easy votes. He is dangerous, but that might be a reason for both Dave and Moana to keep him close in an alliance. He would have to be very convincing that his gratitude would make him super-loyal.

        • The only survival strategy for the remaking yellows is to be the first to jump. It could be AK, but I think he is closer to Brooke and less devious than Shonee. He’s got less baggage than Shonee and that would point the other way. It’s also possible the G7 would reject any of them.

  15. The vote must have been influenced by the production team last night. Putting 2 votes on AK made no sense other than to have the contrived suspense of it being a 5-4 elimination for Harry rather than a 7-4 boring unanimous decision. Someone said we will put 2 on AK in case Harry has an idol – which would be pointless as one of their majority would have been eliminated regardless based on their 4 opposing votes.

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