Week 5 Summary: Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts 15-18 August 18:00 on M-Net

Like the Ouroboros – the snake from Greek and Egyptian mythology that is permanently stuck in a loop of consuming itself and being reborn – the ‘No BS’ alliance cannibalised itself this week on Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts and emerged in a new, Felix-less form, with an uneasy peace between remaining members, Phil and Dino.

A possible reason for this is that alliance member Phil has won five challenges after Merge – two Reward Challenges and three Individual Immunity Challenges, of which two were consecutive, putting him in a position of power – but also placing a large target on his back. He played an Idol for Dino at Thursday’s Tribal Council because he had promised to – but wasn’t amused when Dino had doubted that he would.

At the end of this week, Dino, Killarney, Marian, Phil, and Shane are the Castaways in with a chance of winning the title of Sole Survivor – and the R2 million prize – as we head into the final week of Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts. The Jury can smell blood – and the Castaways know it.

Snuffed 

After a challenge cliffhanger on Monday, the Castaways headed to Tribal Council in Tuesday’s episode with Felix and Tejan both believing they’d be heading to Ponderosa. Phil took the opportunity to collect the Hidden Immunity Idol in the voting booth, after finding a clue back at camp. Having summoned the ‘Survivor gods’ with his self-styled ‘Staff of Power’ at the challenge, Tejan only succeeded in summoning votes against him, marking him as the fifth Castaway to relocate to Ponderosa.

  • For Felix: Dino, Marian.
  • For Tejan: Shane, Phil, Killarney, Shane and Felix.

With Phil’s Hidden Immunity Idol in play, Marian had floated the idea of playing a fake ‘Idol Nullifier’ at Tribal Council on Thursday’s episode – which had the desired effect of spooking him. He played his Idol for Dino – with Dino subsequently attracting no votes – leaving a three-three tie between Felix and Killarney. Dino’s extra vote – for one-time alliance mate Felix – carried over in the revote and Felix went on to become the sixth member of the Jury. This infuriated Juror Dante, who gestured to the Castaways that Shane, Marian and Killarney should band together to cut Dino and Phil’s throats.

First Vote

  • For Shane: Felix.
  • For Killarney: Shane, Marian and Dino.
  • For Felix: Killarney, Phil and Dino.

Revote

  • For Felix: Shane, Dino, Phil and Marian

Challenged  

On Monday’s episode, Felix had been hoping for a ‘loved one reward’ when it came to challenge time – which turned out to be true. This was particularly significant for Killarney, who shared the heart-breaking personal story with viewers, of how she lost her mother and her partner, Lance, in quick succession just two months before returning to the game – and kept it secret from the other Castaways.

Fighting for the reward of a chicken schnitzel meal, an advantage in the next Immunity Challenge, and a video call from home, the Castaways got emotional and vowed to fight even harder. When the dust settled, Phil scooped another win – but faced a massive dilemma: he could invite some of his home-sick tribemates along for video calls from their loved ones, but only if he forfeited the food and the advantage. After grappling with the decision – and receiving encouragement from the other members of Salan – Phil chose to enjoy the reward himself. Tejan still had the Reward Send Token that Meryl bribed him with and played it, to go along with Phil and share in the spoils.

There was still time for an endurance challenge for Individual Immunity – but the Castaways fell, one by one, leaving Felix and Phil battling for the necklace, with Phil and Tejan having benefitted from a start time five minutes after the others as their advantage from the Reward Challenge. Following the previous episode’s cliffhanger, Phil beat Felix at the challenge during Tuesday’s episode and won the Individual Immunity Necklace for the second time.

On Wednesday, the Castaways received treemail again, informing them that they would be competing in teams for the reward of a spa day. Shane & Killarney, Dino & Marian, and Phil & Felix squared off – and Phil’s charmed run continued with the latter duo winning the reward. While the guys did some gentle strategising while enjoying their spa treatment and feast, the Castaways back at camp raided Phil’s bag and unearthed the Hidden Immunity Idol from Tribal Council and the parchment explaining its provenance and power.

On Thursday’s episode, the Castaways headed into the Immunity Challenge hoping to break the Phil & Felix stronghold – but their worst fears were realised as Phil pipped Dino at the post to take the Individual Immunity Necklace back to camp for the second time in a row.

Tools 

Using his ‘Save the Date’ advantage to visit The Outpost on Day 32, Dino won a luxurious boat cruise holiday on the Zambezi River, a powerful extra vote, which could carry over in a revote – and a fruit basket to take back to camp. 

 All other tools are now invalid, for the final week.  

 Played 

  • Outsurance Reward Send Token – Tejan 
  • Save the Date (Day 32) – Dino 

Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts is broadcast Monday-Thursday on DStv’s M-Net Channel 101 each week until the Finale on 25 August, where South Africa’s richest-ever Survivor prize will be awarded. There’s also an omnibus broadcast on M-Net on Saturdays 15:30-19:30 and, of course, every episode is available on DStv CatchUp.

For more about Survivor South Africa, visit the official M-Net Website and join the conversation on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using #SurvivorSA and #MNet101.

Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts is produced by Afrokaans and proudly sponsored by Lottostar. Lottostar is a fixed-odds online betting platform that offers South Africans the chance to bet and win big on the world’s biggest Lotteries, Live Games, Instant Play Games, ScratchCards & Sports Betting – with over R2,4 Billion in winnings paid out in just the last 3 years. Lottostar is licensed by the Mpumalanga Economic Regulator. No u18s. National Responsible Gambling Programme 0800 006 008. You are not playing directly in these lotteries but rather betting on the outcome or result of such lotteries.