Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 6 – Immunity/Reward Challenge

The creativity behind the challenges continues on Survivor: David vs. Goliath, but that isn’t enough to alter the usual outcome.

Similar to the previous episode, we had a basic Reward Challenge and then an epic Immunity Challenge. The only difference is that in last night’s episode of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, both challenges had unique aspects to them that we haven’t really seen in any other season. First, let’s take a look at the Reward Challenge.

The prize for the winning tribe were knives along with other cooking utensils, herbs and spices, and ten vegetable kebabs. The runner-up would receive only two kebabs. With Jabeni only at four members, Alison sat our for Tiva and Kara for Vuku.

The first part involved one castaway climbing up and down a ladder to retrieve four rings on the other side of a barrier. All the while, tied to a long rope with a bag of coconuts at the end. The other three tribe members were responsible for carrying them and even lifting the heavy bags of coconuts to make sure there was enough slack.

As usual, the purple tribe, Jabeni, got off to a slow start. They arrived last to the obstacle and Lyrsa had a tough time going up and down the ladder. Meanwhile, Alec flew past this portion and Gabby wasn’t too far behind either, as they collected their four rings fairly quickly.

Next, the tribes had to land their four rings on a target. Dan already nailed one ring by the time Jabeni finally finished the first part of the challenge. Alec was throwing for Vuku, but for the first time he wasn’t coming up clutch.

John was able to land one more, and then Dan finished it off by connecting with the last two rings to bring Tiva another victory. Nick was tossing for Jabeni and started to find his rhythm. In a matter of no time, Nick landed his fourth ring to clinch the come from behind win for Jabeni!

The ring toss wasn’t anything new, but it’s entertaining enough for a Reward Challenge. Plus, the idea of having one castaway connected by a rope to a heavy bag of coconuts presented a new angle, especially when having to lift it to ensure there was enough rope to reach the rings.

Reward Challenge Rankings:

Creativity: 3/5

Difficulty: 2/5

Entertainment Value: 3/5

Production has done a great job of taking a classic challenge idea and putting a new spin on it. This week’s Immunity Challenge was no exception.

Each tribe had to fill up a large, heavy saucer with water and then carry it around obstacles and across balance beams to dump it into a well. If they retained enough water, then the tribe will release a bag of puzzle pieces that would be completed on the surface of the saucer. This proved to be an incredibly creative yet difficult challenge. The fact that the puzzle was to be solved on the same saucer was pretty cool!

Elizabeth sat out for Vuku, while Tiva benched Gabby to even out the tribes. As expected, Tiva got out on a quick lead. They filled their saucer up to the brim and carried it through the obstacle course with barely dropping any water. They filled their well and received their bag of puzzle pieces in only one try!

When Vuku, the orange tribe, reached the first obstacle, they lost a ton of water. However, they learned from their mistake and held it together until the well, giving them a solid amount of water. By their second try, they filled their well and moved onto the puzzle.

Jabeni’s first attempt was the total opposite. They spilled almost all of their water once they reached the balance beam section. The longer the challenge went on, the more they struggled. Mike and Angelina got to the point where their hands were bleeding and they literally could not even hold up the saucer, much less balance it. Their attempts despite their visible pain were tough to watch.

Alison and Christian were the puzzle makers for Tiva, and the robotic engineer continued to thrive, leading to yet another dominating victory. Kara and Alec were also gelling on the puzzle and were able to finish it at a solid pace. Their win sent Jabeni to their second Tribal Council in a row.

Top performers and potential threats: Now that the tribes are merging, physical ability will play less of a factor at Tribal Council. The main takeaways will be focused on the big challenge threats and potential players who could go on an Individual Immunity run.

From these two challenges, Dan continued to be a dominant force. Combining immunity wins and two idols in his pocket could make Dan someone who will either go deep in this game, or a victim of a wise blindside. Despite his poor performance during the reward challenge, Alec has been a physical beast and is someone who could string along some clutch Individual Immunity wins.

Christian’s puzzle making skills will surely give him an advantage in those types of challenges, while John’s muscle could help if there are any endurance challenges that depend on physical strength. As for the women, none have really stood out at this point as potential challenge threats, although I could see Alison succeeding and Kara possibly pulling out a victory on a balancing challenge.

Immunity Challenge Rankings:

Creativity: 4.5/5

Difficulty: 4/5

Entertainment Value: 3/5