“Survivor 45” Recap: ‘How Am I The Mobster?’

HOLLYWOOD—Is this the week that a member of the Reba four gets a taste of their own medicine on season 45 of “Survivor?” Time would tell with this week’s episode, ‘How Am I The Mobster’ witnessed a clash of clashes between Jake and Drew. Drew has been quite arrogant as of late and it reared its ugly head this week. Reba seems stronger than ever, as Julie started to feel a bit of remorse about the people she is voting out.

Bruce, Emily and Katurah realized they have to strike at the core. Yes, Emily is realizing she has to make a move, but is concerned when she has such unreliable players like Bruce, Katurah and Jake who have never worked well together.  Bruce’s play to lie about giving his idol to Kellie who was voted out was just stupid. It worked to a degree, until he told Katurah it was all a lie, but Jake seems like he bought what was being sold.

The Reward Challenge was a solo one between Emily and Austin in a maze that required plenty of finesse for both players with Emily nabbing the prize and it brought her to tears. Oh, I was so happy with Emily to take that win people. Here is the fun part; she gets to choose some players to come along with her for a feast and an opportunity to sleep comfortable for a night and they get the opportunity to read letters from home as well.

Oh, this is about to change things, as Julie was picked first soon followed by Katurah which really shocked Katurah. It brought her to tears, I think Emily is totally playing strategy, as she got the opportunity to pick one more person, and she choose Dee. I didn’t expect that, but it seems all the ladies are headed to the Sanctuary.

This is great bonding for the ladies, especially Emily. Katurah spilled Bruce’s lie, which I think was darn stupid, so Katurah is playing with the notion that Jake could be a possible backup and it feels way too obvious for Jake and Bruce to be targets, but Julie didn’t really spill much. This bro scene is just laughable as hell. Bruce wanted to go after Dee, but Jake realized she’s not a threat. Jake wanted to separate from Bruce, and he spilled to Drew, Bruce’s lie and Drew bought it hook, line and sinker.

OMG, Jake, Bruce is playing you like a fiddle, but I don’t know what is worse, the fact that Drew and Austin believe it, or Jake who is an attorney believes it! The ladies returned back to camp and now the strategy is back on. Drew spilled to Emily’s lie, damn, Emily you could have used that lie as a victory for you. Emily decided to make a move and let Jake know that if Bruce plays his idol he’s in trouble. Jake tossed the idea of voting out Drew, but Emily was not willing to do that, which was not smart at all. Not smart. Drew started to spiral with the thought he could be a target in the game. I loved seeing Drew up in rambles and Jake calling him out on his BS.

So this Immunity Challenge is about holding up your body strength on a slide. If you let go you fall into the water. This actually feels like a tough challenge, with Emily dropping first, soon followed by Kauthrah who was petrified about falling into the water, and eventually fell out of the challenge. Oh, the handholds get smaller each time, didn’t realize that. So all the women were out of this challenge, leaving Jake, Drew, Bruce and Austin fighting to survive, but Drew dropped. Jake was struggling heavily and soon dropped.

So it turned into a battle between Austin and Bruce, with Bruce dropping and Austin winning immunity. So Bruce plays his idol which means Jake is likely going home. Would Austin use one of his idols on one of the Reba members? So let the scrambling start, but Julie get over Jake. It is a stupid move. Splitting votes is not smart. Katurah tossed the notion of voting out Julie. Oh, I didn’t expect that one, but it’s a bold move. Emily started to play and warned Bruce that Julie is after him and it looks like a massive move is about to be made.

Emily what are you doing? You need to get one of Reba out of the game to strengthen your chances to get farther in the game. Jake is scrambling as he is uncertain about who he can trust and he broke down in tears realizing he’s at the bottom of the totem pole. Katurah had a chat with Jake to reassure him, and Bruce soon gave a pep talk to Jake too to help him rebuild that confidence in himself and not give up on himself.

This is going to be an interesting Tribal Council as Jeff kicked things off noting the energy is different this time around. Bruce was well aware he was a major target. Jake was being quite honest about his insecurities and it was nice to see. Jeff stop placing a target on people by calling out Julie, who was getting emotional about her move to take out Kendra, and Kendra was none too pleased to look to Julie. Oh, I’m so over Drew trying to be the narrative of the season. Emily talking about making a move was a ‘hint’ or was it not. I like the theatrics and subtlety of things taking place, and Austin was asked about idols, and the funny thing is the person playing that idol is NOT going to be Julie or Austin; it is likely Bruce pulling out that idol and playing it.

I will admit I love this music. Bruce not playing his idol is beyond stupid, but the votes started coming in for Bruce and Julie but ultimately Bruce went out because he refused to play his idol. How stupid, when he could have been safe. That was just a bonehead move, but with Bruce’s idol out, there is likely an idol being thrown back into the game now. Not a good move for Emily or Katurah. The Reba four are still tight as ever and guess what, they have the numbers moving forward! I swear if one of the Reba four doesn’t go home next week this season is totally over, until next week “Survivor” fanatics!