With one more week to go, there were only two episodes of Australian Survivor for its penultimate week. With only a few people left in the game, we’re getting closer and closer to seeing the winner being declared.
Favorite Challenge
Similar to previous next-to-last-week recaps, I’m going to keep this short. So for this week, I’m not going to include overall thoughts or pick a standout contestant (if I had to, it would be David). So I’m going to be talking about my favorite challenge, the two people voted off and evaluate the final three.
Of the two challenges this week, I liked the immunity challenge in Episode 23- which was a huge obstacle course. In the challenge, contestants had to do the following
-Place a ball on a downward track. While the ball is moving, the contestants would have to go over and under hurdles and catch up to the ball.
-Throw the ball into a small hoop
-Throw coconuts at two tiles
-Building a ladder on an inclined wall
-Getting three balls through a vertical maze filled with holes
In the end, David won the challenge- with Brooke close behind.
Voted Off
In Episode 22, Mark “Tarzan” Herlaar became the 19th person voted off and the seventh member of the jury so he’s probably off to have some fun at a casino. With Brooke having won immunity, the new Mokuta alliance were forced to vote out one of their own. Sharn and Moana did consider taking out David given that David was not immune- although he did he another idol. Despite wanting to blindside David, the alliance figured that David would have better shot at beating Brooke in an immunity challenge than Tarzan. With that, Tarzan was eliminated.
In Episode 23, Brooke Jowett became the 20th person voted off and the eighth member of the jury. Brooke was the last of the new Vakama alliance and a threat to win the final immunity challenge if she was kept. Moana was pretty close to Brooke and considered having a tied vote. In the end, the new Mokuta alliance decided to stick together and vote out Brooke.
The Final Three
David
Coming off of the fourth season, David was one of the savviest players the game has ever seen. The self-proclaimed Golden God has played a solid game. Starting out on Vakama, he originally aligned with the majority alliance. However, David branched out to Mat- forming a secret alliance with him. With the help of Phoebe, Daisy was blindsided- giving the upper side to the other side. When the tribes swapped, David moved over to Mokuta with Tarzan, Moana, Phoebe and Jacqui. With Mokuta not having to go to Tribal Council so much, David remained in the game. During this time, his alliance with Moana strengthened while his alliance with Phoebe weakened. Come the merge, the new Mokutas had the numbers. Even though the Exile Beach twist switched things up a bit, David’s alliance remained dominant for the most part.
Chances of winning: It’s very likely that David will win the season. While he stayed true to his alliance, David was willing to work with other people and build connections. David’s game isn’t perfect though. Still, there were a few people he didn’t treat nicely in the game. If David were to end up in the final two with Moana, there’s a small chance of David losing to her. If that were to happen, it would come down to which game the jury respects the most. Of the three remaining, David probably has the best shot at winning.
Moana
Despite her early exit in Season 3, Moana has been able to make it further this time around. Similar to David, she started out on Vakama. However unlike David, she wasn’t on the right side of the numbers at first- given her association with Mat. Come the tribe swap, she strengthened her bonds with the members of her tribe- including her new Mokuta tribemates. For someone who didn’t start on the right side of the numbers, Moana has played a decent game.
Chances of winning: One of the things working against Moana is that she hasn’t gotten a whole lot of confessionals- especially earlier in the game. It’s a weird situation here: even though Moana was in the game longer this time around- I find myself liking her story arc more in her first season. This might have something to do with that her story ended there. Similar to Tarzan, perhaps these characters were better off as one season wonders. As far as her shots at winning, it’s safe to say she’d win against Sharn. Considering her edit, I doubt we’ll see that happen.
Sharn
Now in the final three, Sharn has managed to work her way into another finale. Sharn started out on Mokuta, where she had a good connection with Lee- in that they were the two runner ups in the game. With Mokuta not having to go to Tribal Council that often, Sharn has been able to stick in the game for a long time. Having the numbers on both versions of Mokuta and during the merge. Come the merge, Sharn would end up severing ties with longtime allies and making promises she never ended up keeping.
Chances of winning: From what’s been shown, it’s very unlikely that Sharn will win. Should she end up in a final two with either David or Moana, she would lose easily.
Final Thoughts
While this hasn’t been the best season of AU, I’m looking forward to seeing how this season wraps up.
See you all next week!
next: Australian Survivor All Stars Recap Week 9
I'm a writer/journalist with a passion for music and pop culture. Having graduated from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 2014, I've been looking for a platform in which I can share my passions. Since 2009, I've been posting to my own blog- The Walrus' Music Blog- via Blogger. I'm also the author of two self-published books, "The Camp: Stories from the Summer" and "The College: Stories from King's." Together, the two books cover the story of my life from 2004 to 2014. I've been lucky enough to interview several of my favorite musicians over the years and go to concerts from time to time. I'm also very devoted to the CBS reality TV show Survivor, which I started watching in 2002 when its fourth season started. I currently live in New Jersey.