Survivor Ghost Island episode 5 recap: The rich get richer

After Michael Yerger made a bold (failed) idol play, Survivor Ghost Island episode 5 showed his quest for redemption and Naviti’s ongoing war.

Last week, we saw one of the most inventive plays of an idol since Tony Vlachos in Survivor Cagayan. While it didn’t produce Vlachosian results, it did involve playing into the history of the show using the Ghost Island twist of reversing the curse, lying that the idol now had the power to save two players in the game. Unfortunately, his duping game wasn’t as strong as his perception, as he could not determine Branden was the target en route to his departure.

Back at camp, Bradley found relief that old Naviti stuck to the alliance. He saw what I wrote about earlier this week; Michael is not the bro type of guy that he projected, but a huge threat with a ton of guile. He was certainly edited as positively as can be for a failed play, with players from both sides complimented him.

Right away we got to the Reward Challenge, tossing players together to leap over obstacles, dig through bags for a lever, collecting sandbags as a tribe to throw at three targets, aiming to raise three flags first. The winning tribe got pastries, coffee and tea.

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Both tribes were even until Naviti started throwing at targets. Not only did Chris Noble throw hard, but he threw accurately, knocking down three targets and blanking Malolo 3-0 en route to victory. Sebastian floundered like Patrick Bolton did at throwing last season, as Malolo drew rocks for who went to Ghost Island. Stephanie Johnson was the (un)lucky contestant this week, as we got to see more of her develop as a player to root for.

Stephanie knew that being away from camp for 24 hours was brutal with Malolo on the bottom and hoped that going to Ghost Island would be an excellent chance to win an advantage. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance this week, instead reflecting on her personal strength and proving to her children that she can compete and thrive in this game.

Back on Naviti, the waterworks were pouring, with Donathan and Chris spilling their hearts out for the Survivor audience. First, Donathan talked to Laurel about how hard it was for him to be out there playing the game while his mom and meemaw were back home needing him. Chris saw this as an opportunity to bond with Donathan, sharing his story of his mother in assisted care. These kinds of moments have been absent a bit the past few episodes, so it’s great to see these players be characters first and game-players second.

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For the first time in Survivor Ghost Island, the Immunity Challenge came on the second day (Day 14), not the third day. Players with a boogie board would carry it across a series of buoys, retrieving one of three bags containing combination lock numbers. After retrieving the bag, players would then wheel the boogie board in with the player. After all pieces were retrieved, they would try to find a combo to unlock a slide puzzle, with players needing to spell out “Ghost Island.”

Wendell got a small lead for Naviti, but Libby slowed things down as Desiree caught up. She bumbled the boogie board, but she held on underwater as her tribe dragged her back to shore. Both Wendell and Chelsea retrieved pieces twice, but Chelsea was clearly more tired, falling into the water on her second run and dropping the board while her tribe reeled her in.

Naviti squandered their lead as Bradley and Kellyn worked to spell Ghost Island for Malolo as Domenick and James listened to Chris’ instructions on how to spell the phrase. Chris and Angela were crucial in their guidance, as Kellyn’s puzzle prowess failed for the first time in Survivor Ghost Island. That makes four straight challenges that Naviti has won over Malolo and the second-straight Tribal Council for the orange tribe.

The war drums came blaring out after the commercial, with old Naviti planning to get Jenna out first. To save herself, Jenna abandoned her “resting b— face” mode and tried to bring the flirtatious game out on Sebastian. It worked immediately, as he tried to shift the vote towards Stephanie (under Desiree’s suggestion). Naviti seemed to shift the target everywhere, with it going from Jenna to Stephanie, then later to Bradley, back to ???

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We saw Chelsea give input on who to vote for, we saw Desiree dig through Stephanie’s bag to find no hidden advantage, we saw old Malolo cozy up to Bradley; we even saw Michael cry and talk more about how much he’s fought to be here in this game at just the age of 18. While Malolo losing the numbers advantage early seemed to be a slam dunk, exactly who was to be voted out was a mystery.

At Tribal Council, Jeff prodded into Malolo’s Naviti alliance in order to find out just who was going home. Michael pleaded to keep him as a strong player that can keep them in the game for challenges, but Bradley noted that he’s a strategic and strength threat. Stephanie may not have an advantage in the game, but she’s just as much a strategic threat that can share a deeply personal story about her kids. Jenna was just trying to stand back and not get caught in the crossfire.

Although Desiree was shown receiving a single vote, unfortunately, old Naviti saw Stephanie Johnson as the biggest threat in the game, voting her out in a surreally ominous elimination. Seriously, it felt like a big push for fans to vote for her in a second chances season, even though one hasn’t been announced.

Overall, this episode once again gave focus to Naviti until the last second while making us care about the fates of Malolo’s Stephanie and Michael (with a sprinkle of Jenna). It seemed like Stephanie was given so much of a positive push that she couldn’t possibly go home, once again showing that the editors have crafted a season filled with mystery.

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Next week’s episode of Survivor Ghost Island is titled “Fate is the Homie,” airing on March 28 at 8 p.m. ET.