Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 5 (part 1) review: An epic blindside

Tonight, Survivor: Edge of Extinction started off with another challenge — one that (shocker) the weaker Lesu tribe lost. They are the masters of dysfunction in this game, which is interesting given that Kelley and David are otherwise good players and Wardog has shown himself to be reasonably solid so far.

If they can survive, they’re actually so battle-tested that they could make some noise a little bit down the road. Entering tonight’s episode, David had a priority — he had to find an immunity idol at all costs. He kicked off a search around the Lesu camp (a feverish one), but it wasn’t one that he found right away. The problem is that unless he finds it, he’s in some serious Survivor doodoo … or is he? That’s when Wardog came up with the plan to get rid of Lauren, a move that could strengthen the two of them moving forward … let alone eliminate someone who’s been a little weak physically in the game.

So what went down on the other tribe? Let’s start over at Kama, where the conversation seems to be all about (possibly) extracting Joey Amazing from the game. Makes sense, though the idea of them suddenly losing isn’t altogether appealing. (We weren’t worried though — other than intentionally throwing this, how do you lose to the Lesu tribe at this point?)

Over at Manu, we saw Victoria pitch to Aubry the idea of taking out one of the two bros — an intriguing plan, if she actually meant it! It was pretty tough to determine whether or not she was being genuine, or just doing what she could in order to placate her and build something that could benefit her a little bit down the line. Still, good on her for keeping her options open, something that some other players often struggle with.

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At the Edge of Extinction…

Tonight, the four returning cast members got themselves quite a surprise — a map! It’s one that held a clue in regards to their future of the game potentially, and they originally made an agreement to all go together. That’s when Keith decided that he was go rogue and search for it himself — which (shocker) did not go over all that well. Also not great for Keith? He didn’t even end up making it to the tree before Chris! He got an opportunity to practice for something (maybe an eventual challenge), whereas Rick got a chance to hand down an extra vote to someone remaining in the game.

Here’s the crazy thing — Rick gave the extra vote to Aubry. Why do that? We feel like he just wanted to randomly to hand it so that it wouldn’t come back on him.

Is this the best immunity challenge win ever?

It’s gotta be in the top five, for sure. Seeing how far Lesu was behind early made the come-from-behind second-place victory all the more awe-inspiring. We don’t know if we’ve ever seen a tribe deserve something as much as they deserved to stick around in the game. It all comes down the classic equalizer in the puzzle — Manu figured it out too late, despite all of that extra time, and Lesu was able to squeeze something together. Even if this is just a one-challenge winning streak, it’s better to have this than to slide down to three. (Also, it gives David time to find an idol!)

Now, things change

For the first time, the majority of the Manu tribe (basically, everyone sans Wendy) is heading to Council for the first time. Wendy and Aubry are the obvious targets, but getting rid of a bro makes some sense when you’ve got the majority — if you feel like they’re not going to work with you, it’s better to cut one down when given the opportunity.

So what did this tribe decide: Getting rid of the obvious person in Wendy (who is completely clueless at Tribal Council), or make the big swing and try to get rid of Eric. As it turns out, they chose door #3: Getting rid of Aubry. By far, this was the biggest move of the whole season and the editors did a GREAT job at it. Aubry’s of course sticking around and heading to the Edge of Extinction, where she’ll have a chance at redemption.

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What do you think about tonight’s Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 4, part 1? Share now in the comments. (Photo: CBS.)