Would there be another blindside in Survivor 47 episode 5? Or, would the Gata tribe come together as a strong alliance of four heading into a different phase of the game in episode 6?
Those were the two scenarios heading into tribal council. And, the Gata tribe -- well, more specifically, Sam Phalen, Sierra Wright, and Andy Rueda -- picked the first option. The Survivor 47 cast loves a blindside, of course!
The trio united to vote out Anika Dhar, who was shocked, stunned, and devastated by their decision to make her the fifth player voted out of Survivor 47.
Immediately after getting voted out, Anika questioned her tribe's decision. She also asked Rachel LaMont if she knew that was the plan. Then, she asked someone to own the move, which Sam did, before Anika grabbed her torch, approached Jeff Probst, and had her torch snuffed.
In her exit interview, which aired on CBS immediately after the preview for episode 6, Anika opened up, through tears, to describe what she was feeling after the blindside.
"I'm not going to lie," Anika said. "I'm pretty devastated. The worst part is how confident I felt. I got played before I could play them. Yeah, it came to an end too quickly for me. I don't know. I'm devastated."
We don't often see Survivor players that emotional in their exit interviews, but it's not outside the norm at all either. We know how these players put their lives on hold, basically, to take this adventure. When it all comes to an end in such a shocking way, that has to be incredibly tough to deal with, especially when it's such a shock like this.
It's interesting because this is the second person to be eliminated in a row who lost their vote. Earlier in the game, Anika lost her vote on a journey. In episode 4, Rome Cooney stole Kishan Patel's vote before voting him out after Genevieve's brilliant idea.
Would Anika have been targeted had she not lost her vote? I don't know if Sam, Sierra, and Andy would have felt as confident as they did if Anika had her vote. There are all sorts of things that can happen in a 3-2 vote compared to a 3-1 vote heading into tribal council.
Anika and Rachel obviously felt they had played Andy earlier in the episode, but there was always the option that Andy played his Shot in the Dark. It feels like the players who are taking that into account aren't waiting for that possibility to happen. Instead, they are going to the person who is the mark, flipping them, and then making a big move. We've seen it at least a few times on Survivor 47. Is this a trend? Is this something that will continue to happen? We'll just have to wait and see!
Everyone voted out of Survivor 47 has basically been blindsided, aside from Jon Lovett who could easily tell the writing was on the wall. I have a hunch the blindsides this season are far, far, far from over.
Stay tuned for more news about Survivor 47!