We knew going into episode six of Survivor 49 that two Tribes were once again going to become three Tribes. What we didn’t know was the cracks that were starting to form on both of the previous two Tribes would widen this week.

The three new Tribes are as follows:

  1. Hina: Rizo, Savannah, Sophi, and MC
  2. Uli: Alex, Kristina, Sophie and Nate
  3. Kele: Steven, Sage, Shannon and Jawan

From the looks of these new Tribes, MC, Nate and Steven would be the three players most likely to go home, except this is Survivor! Backstabs happen!

For their first reward challenge of the season, players had to push a crate with a ladder. One person had to then go up the ladder and use a pole to retrieve two disks. Then, they had to use the disks to knock down pillars.

Hina ends up finishing first, meaning Sophi had her first reward of the season: Grilled cheese, chips, brownies, and ice tea. Uli also won grilled cheese. 

When we check in on the new Tribes back at camp, we see MC knowing she’s on the outs at Hina. She pulls Rizo aside and tells him that Sage told them all back at Kele about his idol. In a confessional, Rizo says he doesn’t care because he wants the target on his back. Meanwhile, Sophi ends up finding the Knowledge Is Power advantage and doesn’t tell a soul! After a rough start with the original Kele, Sophi is now in a great position in the game, in this writer’s opinion.

On the new Uli, Nate tries to tell the rest of the members that Matt was the easy vote, but Jason was not, as he’s aware he’s on the bottom. Alex, Kristina and Sophie talk while Nate is in the water and agree he would be the one to go if they go to tribal. However, when Kristina throws out Sophie’s name as the decoy, Sophie tells Alex she doesn’t trust Kristina, a Kristina who was struggling during the reward challenge with the heat.

Steven see’s the numbers on Kele and knows he’s on the outs, but Shannon begins connecting with him right away. Sage makes sure to tell Steven she can’t stand Shannon, foreshadowing the events to come. 

Before we get to who goes home, we have an immunity challenge where players had to stack sandbags to retrieve a separate bag that contains sticks players must stack to reach a key. That key unlocks a ball that goes on a table maze, and two people had to complete the table maze.

Hina wins first place, and Uli wins second place after an incredible comeback following Kristina’s initial struggle to get the key. Nate and Sophie navigated the table maze better than Jawan and Sage on Kele.

As for who’s going home, it initially looks like the vote is going to go on Steven, but as mentioned above, Shannon makes it very clear to Steven and Sage that she wants Jawan out. Sage has been plotting the Shannon elimination for days, and now that she has her chance, she tells Jawan that Shannon has been throwing her name out to Steven. In confessionals, we see that both Sage and Jawan want to make the move on Shannon, but they are both unsure if that’s the right move because of the ramifications of what old Uli may do at the merge.

Ultimately, they go through with the plan and a very gracious Shannon exits the game after a 3-1 vote, with Shannon voting for Jawan. Even after her elimination, Shannon hugs Jawan and Steven, but when she goes to hug Sage, her former Uli Tribe member tells her she’s going to give her a handshake. She said she will hug her after the game is over, but the hug will not be genuine right now.

Talk about a bombshell to end the episode! Sage played Survivor this week and set up thrilling television for a merge coming next week. With only 11 players left in the game, we may get our first jury member next week. I also think Rizo, Sage, Savannah and Sophi should be the favorites to win the season, with Alex as a wildcard. They are easily getting the most screen time.

There was some scenes with Alex and Rizo catching fish I felt didn’t add anything to the episode, so I can’t give it a higher grade than episode five, but I’m expecting for a ruthless end to this season.

Grade: A-