In the whirlwind of the episode, “I’m Felicia”, we see swaps, flops, and mic drops. Which tribe member flops during the challenge? Which tribe members swap and start all over? What shocking event at tribal council leads to a mic drop? All of these mysteries are solved throughout the chaotic episode. 

Starting back at the Tika camp, Sarah finds an “X” shape on the beach early in the episode. Unbeknownst to her, what she would soon discover was that it had been secretly plotted by the infamous Carolyn. As we all know, Carolyn has the real immunity idol, and being the strategic player that she is, she used the paper she received from her real idol stating that she found a hidden immunity idol, then made a fake idol and hid both under the “X” on the beach. We see her devious plan unfold as Sarah finds the fake idol and assumes that she has a real one. 

Following the scene back at the Tika tribe is the reward challenge. Jeff announces another twist in the game. Whichever team won the challenge picked one person from the other two losing tribes and they would be sent on a journey on a separate island. On the Ratu tribe, Mathew was still struggling with his injured shoulder from the first episode, which may have led to his team losing to the Soka tribe. Once the challenge ended, the Soka tribe picked Josh from their tribe, Carson from the Tika tribe, and Jaime from the Ratu tribe to participate in the journey. Going on a journey could be a good thing or a bad thing. These three players were sent on three separate paths leading them to the end of their journey. Each player received an idol that was only eligible until the merge, but they also had to draw from a bag a new tribe. Whichever tribe they drew, they were sent back to that tribe’s camp. 

Always following a reward challenge is the infamous immunity challenge. Who was the flopper during the challenge? None other than Lauren from the Ratu tribe. During this wacky water challenge, players have to jump off of a platform and reach for a key as they fall into the sea. This was not the case for Lauren as she jumped, missed, and flopped into the water. The Ratu tribe was still able to pull out the win thanks to the new addition to the tribe, Carson. The end of the challenge was a puzzle which Carson easily mastered due to his 3D model he had been practicing with at home. The Tika tribe ended up going to tribal council.

Episode four ended with a very thrilling tribal council. Because Josh was their newest tribe member after the swap, the Tika tribe could easily come to the consensus to vote him out since they have yet to form a relationship with him. He was known as the “easy vote”. However, Josh came in wanting to keep his spot in the game and he would do whatever was in his power to do that. It became clear that Josh and Yam Yam did not get along very well which caused Josh to form a relationship with Carolyn. Their plan was to blindside Sarah and go against Yam Yam. That was exactly what happened at Tribal Council; Sarah was blindsided, Josh used his adventure idol to save himself, and Yam Yam was shocked. Josh and Carolyn dropped the mic and stunned their tribemates. 

Episode five was filled with an unwavering amount of attention, mainly focused on the main hectic tribe so far this season, the Tika tribe. Yam Yam expressed his feelings about the Sarah vote and how he was left out and that it would ruin his trust with Carolyn. The three express their concerns regarding the previous vote and, if they could, how they would move forward. 

Shortly after the Tika tribe’s heated conversations, the immunity challenge proved once more that the Tika tribe would be going to tribal council once more. To add onto the terrible tower of bad news, there was another twist involving three new players going on another journey. However, this journey was not like the previous ones which would soon surprise the players that were chosen. Brandon from the Ratu tribe, Danny from the Soka tribe, and Carolyn from the Tika tribe were all chosen to go to a separate island and start their adventure twist. While most of the tribes thought that the chosen three would be possibly gaining or losing advantages, they were actually taken to an island to enjoy a well deserved meal. Food and conversation is always the best way to get information out of people, which was exactly what Carolyn was ready to do. Although, her two companions were more interested in having guy conversations, which annoyed Carolyn to no end. 

Another important player in the episode was Matthew from the Ratu tribe. It is known to many about his injury and how it has affected him in previous episodes, however, this episode he took a turn for the worse. After multiple days in a row of being in constant pain, Matthew left the game– as well as changed the game with his departure. His exit would affect the end of the episode. 

Back at the Tika tribe, the conversations were tense and filled with lies, laughter, and anger. While Carolyn was away on her adventure, Josh and Yam Yam had a heart to heart and decided that it would be best to vote out Carolyn since she was strategic and easily got on everybody’s nerves. The pot was starting to stir, however when Carolyn returned, and Josh’s name was being thrown around to vote out. To try and save himself, Josh used the same paper from his adventure idol and showed it to Yam Yam trying to prove that he had a real idol and he would use it to save himself at tribal council. Both Yam Yam and Carolyn were quick to jump on the fact that his tricks wouldn’t work on them and that his “idol” had beads that he had stolen from tree mail, which proved their point that Josh was showing them a fake idol. In the end, Josh did not have to worry because right before they left to go to tribal council, a boat showed up at their beach with none other than Jeff Probst. He was coming to inform them of Mathew’s departure, and that due to that, there would be no tribal council. The pressure was off of their shoulders and the Tika tribe remained. 

Next week is packed full of showmance scenes, merge celebrations, and tribal controversy. Will departed tribe members reunite with their old allies or will they stick it out with their new tribemates? Have people been catching on to the legendary showmance couple and will they make it or break it? Who will be the first person post-merge to be voted out of the game? All questions are ready to be answered in recaps of episodes to come, so stay tuned.