Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 5: Five players to watch!

Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 5 is airing on Wednesday, and now more than ever, it’s clear that the original Manu tribe is one step away from being washed out by the tide. They started with nine; now, there’s only five, and four of them are stuck on the same tribe. This is a group that has lost every immunity challenge they’ve taken part in and it’s hard to have all that much confidence in their ability to suddenly be like “oh, there’s actually a way for us to win something now.” Maybe if it’s a trivia contest about Kelley Wentworth and David Wright’s past seasons, but how else do you have confidence? They’re whittled down to just the bare minimum of what they need to get by?

We’re obviously going to focus on some key players on some of these original tribes now, largely because SO much of the story is geared around them, in our weekly feature all about five players to watch. Beyond this article, you can check out the video below for even more analysis! Remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube so you don’t miss out on our weekly Survivor videos, and check out our playlist.

1. David Wright -We have to kick off with David given that he is the person who is chin-deep in the water. The promo really wants to make it seem like Lauren could be the next Lesu target, but David’s the guy on the outside of the numbers. He has no immunity idol, and he hasn’t exactly been good in the one thing we thought he’d be okay in entering this season which are puzzles. A good social game only goes so far when the tribe swap works out in this way. If there is some magical glimmer of hope on this tribe, it’s that there’s an immunity idol presumably out there and he’s got a real nose for sniffing those out.

2. Wardog DaSilva – We’re sticking with Lesu again since Wardog is sort of the group’s Moses only without the epic beard. He parts the sea with David on one side and Kelley/Lauren on the other! He just voted with Kelley and Lauren, but the tricky thing here is that he probably wants to isolate Wentworth so that he can be her #1 ally now. He just doesn’t realize that Lauren’s got an idol. There is a universe where Wardog targets her, she plays the idol, and then Wardog gets voted off instead of David out of revenge. We’d kind-of hate to see it — Wardog’s been a decent player this season — but it’d be that EPIC blindside moment this season desperately needs.

3. Lauren O’Connell – This is the first time Lauren is in ou five people to watch out for feature this season! (We know this because we actually had to look up her last name.) It’s not just because of that aforementioned idol; it’s also because she’s sick and struggling. We don’t think that she’d quit the game, but she could be the contender for the player this season who just accepts defeat and allows herself to be voted out because she just can’t handle it anymore. She could also be the first person to pass up on Edge of Extinction. It’s no indictment on her or her competitive spirit — some people just don’t react all that well to those conditions. Think in terms of very hot days, cold nights, and very little food — it looks like paradise until the bugs decide that they want to eat you alive while you’re also nursing an epic sunburn. This is a very hard game to play!

4. Eric Hafemann – On the new Manu tribe, Eric may find himself in some real danger. This is the customary part of the season where Aubry can try to rope in downtrodden players and make a move, and she may team up with Victoria (someone who previously wanted her out) in order to do it. Can Eric even see this coming? The dude hasn’t even been to Tribal Council yet! He doesn’t know what it’s like to be there with the sweat raining down your face. He could strut around, thinking that Wendy is next, and not knowing what’s around the bend.

5. Julia Carter – The Kama tribe is boring — or, maybe they’re not and the show’s just putting zero effort into them right now. It’s hard when you never go to Tribal and there’s no real incentive for the editors to show people hanging out and having a good time. Julia has had zero confessionals all season. Zero. Seriously. That’s rare for a show this far into the season. It may seem counter-intuitive for us to be so interested in a player CBS obviously doesn’t want us to care about just yet, but we want to get a better reason for the silence. Is there a plan for an explosion of airtime soon, or is she going to rival Purple Kelly Shinn for the remainder of this season?

For some other Survivor scoop…

Feast your eyes on our most-recent episode review now, over at the link here! You can also tell us in the comments what you’re the most excited to see when it comes to this particular episode. (Photo: CBS.)