Survivor Island of the Idols episode 5 promo: Red herrings

There is some old footage, misrepresentative conflicts, and a major merge spoiler in the posted Survivor: Island of the Idols episode 5 promo.

This post will show footage from Survivor: Island of the Idols episode 5 both before and after the swap, revealing just one player’s new buff (not from either current tribe).

When Jeff Probst proclaimed that he worked with CBS marketing not to give away any spoilers in future Survivor: Island of the Idols promos, I had hoped that what he was saying was true. Unfortunately, the very first promo after that proclamation originally showed a tuft of hair on Island of the Idols that could only belong to Vince, effectively giving a spoiler ahead of time and immediately after promising no more.

It seems as though CBS has royally screwed up once more, as the Survivor: Island of the Idols episode 5 promo for “Don’t Bite the Hand that Feeds You” does as good a job as they can in not revealing which players swap where. In fact, they use a bunch of footage from before the swap (such as Dean’s lack of trust) and confessionals from different time periods to obfuscate what happens.

We even have a shot of Elizabeth looking on in shock at physical altercation between Missy and Elaine, although a secret scene reveals that it could be cut footage from play fighting old Lairo loves to enjoy. There are also a bunch of players shown without buffs or players potentially hanging out at camp before the swap, as it seems we’re going down the season 35 path of airing out turmoil before dropping buffs.

However, there is one critical, unmitigated disaster of a mistake left in this Survivor: Island of the Idols episode 5 promo. Despite showing Dan with barely a beard dropping his buff, his confessional saying “this is a doomsday scenario” shows him with a much thicker beard and a blue buff. Update: The buff has been photoshopped purple in a re-uploaded video, however … the insignia is neither the Lairo crab nor the Vokai lizard, and the press photos this week show no third tribe set up for the challenge.

It’s clear to confirm at this time Dan Spilo makes the merge in Survivor: Island of the Idols. If you own a fantasy team that has weekly roster changes, you might be safe in slotting him in until at least the merge with this new information locked and loaded.