The fifth episode of “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water” began with 21 players still left in the game: 11 on the Blue (Water) tribe (after Sophie Cachia switched sides) and 10 on the Red (Blood) tribe. Who became the next person to have their torch snuffed by host Jonathan LaPaglia? Below, read our “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water” Episode 5 recap, which aired February 7, 2022 on Network 10 and 10play on demand. (Also check out our recaps for Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 and Episode 4.)
1. Sophie the lioness.
Sophie wakes up for the first time as a Blue tribe member and is furious with being voted out last night. She’s most upset with Samantha “Sam” Gash, whom she calls one of her closest friends. “Everyone needs to watch themselves,” Sophie warns. “They’ve handed the lioness over to their own family and they’ve made her really angry.” Sophie’s sister, Kate “KJ” Austin, notes how this season is different because of all of the emotion that comes about with playing with family members. Sophie then tells Alanna “Nina” Twine that she doesn’t think her mother, Sandra Diaz-Twine, was the mastermind behind the blindside. But really, she was.
2. Sandra brags.
At the Red camp, Sandra brags about being here for 10 days and orchestrating Sophie’s ouster. “It was like a stab to the gut,” Sandra adds about the twist that kept Sophie on the show. “Here we are trying to get rid of this girl and she’s still in the game.” The Queen then floats the idea of telling their loved ones to get rid of Sophie, should the Blue tribe lose the next immunity challenge. Sam reveals that Sophie was “burning into my soul” when she was eliminated. “She reminds me literally of a lioness,” Sam adds, which confirms Sophie’s own nickname. Sandra gives advice to the “big boys” alliance (Ben Watson, Michael “Croc” Crocker and Jordan Schmidt), telling them they need to make bonds with the weak people.
SEE How to watch ‘Australian Survivor: Blood V Water’
3. Reward challenge.
Sandra sends Nina a “cut her throat” hand gesture, referring to Sophie. Sophie proclaims that she has influence in her new tribe, but no one is buying it. The winner of this sumo wrestling reward challenge will get a very well stocked cheese platter. Alex Frost agrees to sit out because his back is killing him. The first match-up is Jesse Hansen vs. Mark, with Mark winning a point for Blue. Jesse also whispers that Sophie is a “snake” when Mark asks for details. Round 2 is Sam vs. Sophie (Sam wins for Red), Round 3 is Jordan vs. Josh Millgate (Jordan wins for Red), Round 4 is Ben vs. Jordie Hansen (Jordie wins for Blue), and Round 5 is Sandra vs. Nina (Nina wins for Blue). Blue wins the cheese platter but, in a twist, they get to eat it at the Red camp.
4. Reunion time.
In the season’s most touching moment so far, all of the loved ones reunite and share tears and laughter at the Red camp. The Red castaways then have to watch as the Blue contestants eat the cheese platter in front of them. Sophie accuses Jordan of “sleeping with the enemy,” with KJ and Christina “Chrissy” Zaremba watching her like a hawk. Sophie then aggressively confronts Sam about the blindside, with Sam concluding that “Sophie is drama.”
SEE Everything to know about ‘Australian Survivor: Blood V Water’
5. Immunity challenge.
It’s back to tribe vs. tribe as the immunity challenge begins. Alex tells Jonathan his back is still spasming, but that he’s able to compete. This time, the players have to hold onto ropes attached to heavy logs; if someone lets go it increases the weight for their teammates. It’s 43 degrees Celsius (or about 109 degrees Fahrenheit), which adds an extra layer of danger to this competition. Jonathan makes things harder by telling the players they can only hold on with one hand, and the Red team starts losing their grips one by one. Ben is the last one holding on for Red, and miraculously he is able to outlast all of the other Blue players by himself.
6. Tribal council.
The consensus seems to be that Sophie will be going home tonight, but Alex’s back injury could throw a wrench into their plans. KJ doesn’t want to go too hard in saving her sister because it’d put a target on her back, but she does throw out Khanh Ong‘s name because he has an idol. Shayelle “Shay” Lajoie agrees to receive votes in a split situation with Khanh because she’ll just use her idol anyway to get rid of it. At tribal council, Jonathan asks Alex how he’s feeling and he confesses he’s questioning “a lot of things” now after being jolted in the challenge. Khanh admits he dressed up in his pink outfit because he feels paranoid about going home. When it’s time to vote, Alex shocks everyone by proclaiming, “I want to be voted out.” Jonathan asks the group who would be willing to do that, and no hands go up. So Alex makes the decision to quit the game, tossing his Blue buff in the fire. Cue the tears and hugs.
