At the end of the recap my Brissy friend Julian Groneberg will be analysing and breaking down the episodes with his thoughts!

Takali camp. Day 5 and this tribe still doesn’t have fire. Honestly I am shocked. Then they give Dave the chance to make fire and I am so scared he’s going to chops his hand off, or die from smoke inhalation. And just like Alecia on the Brawns (Kaoh Rong) tribe, this underdog starts a fire!

Not soon after he’s off running to look for the idol. Dave covers his tracks by bringing back giant rocks back to camp, good strategy and the others totally buy it. They are SO impressed by his efforts. On his hunt he finds a coconut with purple markings on it. Going by last week you wouldn’t think he’d be able to crack it open, but he does! Dave has the first hidden immunity idol of the season. Dopey Dave is on the rise.

Vanua camp. Taylor and Figgy are super-flirting and the boy shows us his love-goggles for her. And Figgy herself can’t stop looking at Taylor’s love-goggle eyes. It’s been a while since we’ve seen some jungle make outs, and Michaela is FAR from impressed.

Figgy thinks nobody cares if her and Taylor are a “power couple”, but oh, they do. The term “power couple” is a little premature, Figs! Their TriForce mate Jay is not happy with this news. He talks to his home boy to quit the heart eyes.

#Faylor all love goggled up for each other. [Image credit: CBS]

Takali camp. Ken goes octo-fishing, and what a catch! Great to see him out there providing for his tribe.

Ken likes Dave because he’s socially awkward like him, this is probably why he wasn’t part of the majority alliance that formed in episode 1. We just hadn’t seen enough of him. They plan on trying to break Paul’s Posse. This is one alliance you never saw coming, Team Kave. They pretty much are the same person, but in different bodies. Dave tells Ken about the idol, and this is probably one situation where I think it’s not the worst idea. Ken seems pretty keen on aligning with Dave for the long haul. And I think the longer Dave kept the idol secret, the more likelihood Ken would turn his back on him down the track. But I guess we’ll see!

The new JT and Stephen of Fiji. [Image credit: CBS]

Vanua camp. Hannah is awkwardly banging on a coconut. Mari talks about how the group didn’t think playing Survivor would be so hard… Jesus Christ! What were they thinking it would be like? Michaela is spying on Figgy and Taylor and she’s trying to keep her mouth shut, but she’s really speaking through her eyes. She has great eye reactions and I look forward to more this season. Figgy asks Michaela why she’s being phony and she wants her out.

Takali camp. Paul admittedly breathes control. Ken has a great chat with Cece and they’re on the same wavelength wanting Paul out. But the oldest guy is having trouble breathing. Medical! The words ‘heart attack’ are being thrown around and shit is getting real. Cue Dr Joe and Probst. The doc traces Paul’s heart and there doesn’t seem to be any damage and his body is affected by heat exhaustion and dehydration. Kind of underwhelming for a long scene, right?

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Day 7. Probst advises Rachel is out, and Vanua’s reaction: “Sounds about right”.

One at a time, contestants swim out and climb up a platform to jump and retrieve a key above the water. Use the key to unlock a mask. Dive down to untie 5 rings. Toss rings on the posts. First to land all rings wins immunity. Hannah sits out for the Millenials.

Chris v Michelle first and Chris is so fast out of the gates. Gen X actually are doing ok, until David gets out who struggles! Millenials are unlocking their mask and Figgy jumps in first. Bret unlocks the mask for Gen X and Cece jumps in. Gen X catch up and it’s quickly tied. Ken is killing it for Gen X and after a close race they win immunity!

Vanua camp. Zeke came to vote people out and win a million dollars, so he wants to get this tribal started! Zeke doesn’t trust Figgy and neither does Michaela and Mari. Zeke approaches his unlikely bro Jay, and tells him their plan of wanting Figgy, then Michaela out. Was this a good plan? At the time maybe. Jay is not happy with his buckling TriForce alliance and approaches Michelle about voting out Figgy. Michelle isn’t happy about that at all and wants to target Mari instead. Jay and Michelle get to work!

And the scramble begins. [Image credit: CBS]

Jay takes aside Figgy and Michaela (who are still fighting) and lets them know both their names are on the chopping block. This unexpected turn causes Michaela to side with the TriForce alliance. Crazy how enemies are forced to work together! Michelle works on young Will, who references Parvati and Cochran, in his indecisiveness. So far we’ve seen Will side more with Mari’s clan, but Michelle does a brilliant job in convincing to vote against the gamer.

Mari has no idea what’s coming. [Image credit: CBS]

TRIBAL COUNCIL

Adam thinks tribal council looks amazing and I’m still confused if he’s just a loud talker or if he’s yelling! Mari talks about playing Survivor in real life and how it differs from all the games she plays online. Zeke wants to give his all out here to make his experience the fullest. Michaela brings up how she’s already on the outs, and we see Michelle whisper to Hannah that she’s voting for Mari. This is amazing that Probst is casually talking to the rest of the tribe and Michelle and Hannah are having this side conversation.

Michelle workin’ it at tribal. C’mon Hannah! [Image credit: CBS]

Michaela brings up Cuddle-Shack and tension brews between her and Figs. Probst finally points out the side conversation and it’s fascinating to watch. Hannah is utterly confused, and so is Jeff. And in a move I think Mari will regret, she dismisses Michelle’s manipulation of Hannah for talk of puppies and butts. Voting time and Zeke to Figgy “Darling you are way too dangerous to stay in this game”. Hannah is trying to work out the votes and is taking forever at the booth. Even Jeff peeks his head in what seems to be the longest time to vote in Survivor history! OTT??

Mari goes home in a blindside that neither she or us viewers saw coming so early in the game! Major props to Jay and especially Michelle for working the group to ensure no one from their alliance went home. Mari-7, Figgy-3.

#CHEERY | #SALTY. [Image credit: CBS]

p.s. I had to Google “SALTY” and I’m a Millenial. The shame!!

“NEXT TIME ON… SURVIVOR”: Zeke and Adam feel betrayed by Hannah. And a twist in the game shakes things up. Are producers getting bored of the tribe splits already?! If anything the Gen X tribe need a shake up; not much going on at that camp!

ALL IMAGES USED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE COPYRIGHT CBS. THIS IS A PERSONAL BLOG AND ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN.

SURVIVOR JULIAN’S THOUGHTS

Follow Julian on Twitter | Instagram 

“Wow, who ELSE is SALTY about the result of tonight? Poor Mari, definitely one of my pre-season favourites out early. Sometimes in Survivor things come back around on you if you lock in a plan too early that’s a plan that too many people know about. This just gave the others like Jay time to form a counter plan. Mari was targeted, not because she didn’t fit in like Rachel, but she was seen as more threatening because of her game playing and strategic mindedness.  Still it’s gotta cut to be the first voted out, not only of the game, but also the first time you go to tribal and not even being able to survive a vote.

Not sure exactly what the beef between Figgy and Michaela was – and I’m sure there’s more we didn’t see, but its surprising to say the least that they decided to vote together – kind of a clever move by Jay that paid off – and with that goofy grin, it’s definitely a surprise to admit that he was persuasive enough to convince Michaela her best option was to work with the TriForce and Figgy.

The tribal was a bit of a circus in terms of the giggling and joking, is it just me or are they overplaying into the immature Gen Y stereotype a bit too much? Sounded more like a conversation between teenage girls at the mall about who’s got a crush on who, rather than a serious vote out and the serious business that Survivor is. There was some enjoyment there though and it’s nice to see a lighter tribal once in a while and see their wide eyed enthusiasm to be in the game.

While I believe Hannah definitely didn’t know what to do, did she really need to over play her confusion to the camera while casting her vote. I thought it had shades of Dan Foley banging his head on the voting booth in Worlds Apart. Michaela needs to watch her sass, even though I love watching it, and I’m sure there’s a reason why Figgy partially deserved to be on the receiving end of it to a point, but something that’s definitely going to need to be reigned in.

On the Gen X side – Dave you’ve definitely done me proud this episode starting the fire and finding the idol, and the alliance with Ken warms my heart. I do hope he can be trusted though, cause this is one duo that I’d like to see go far in the game – give me them over Tyler and Figgy any day. Definitely felt like it could be a bit of a duo with similar dynamics like Tai and Caleb from last season. Call me callous, not a fan of Paul and because I’m team David, was half hoping as his face turned purple and he went down on the ground his departure would only help Dave’s game. Still, with his domineeringness, I don’t see him lasting all that much longer in the game before he’s given the flick.

What’s the twist next week? Already a tribe swap? Please no! Let these rivalries between generations brew a bit more – we might be going to get some fireworks. Don’t disintegrate the generations just yet!”