"Survivor 51" Episodes 7 & 8 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Some merged tribe mates refused to eat in protest

There were 13 players. There was no prior challenge to 'earn the merge,' but there were only ten spots at the merge feast. Kristen was a vegetarian and refused to eat them; she threw hers into the bushes. Cristian tried but couldn't stomach them. Sharonda did eat them, but not fast enough-Kilby managed to eat his a bit faster to win the last seat at the merged feast.

This was an old "Survivor" challenge that goes back to season 1. It was used again on seasons 2, 5, 7, 19, 26 and 36. It was not played in the New Era (seasons 41-49), though season 50 winner, Aubrey, had to eat grubs as a penalty.

Answer: Kristin, Cristian, and Sharonda

At the feast, there was much talking (and feasting). Maggie sat at the opposite end of the table from Brady to escape his gorging. With a group that big, there may have been plenty of talking, but there was no mechanism to strategise, especially when all ten were seated on one side of a very long table.

No such case back at camp, where the three 'losers' could do just that. Kristin, Cristian, and Sharonda are all original Savu, and they are short on numbers. Sharonda summarised the situation: The merge was an 8-5 split in favour of original Toku. However, Sharonda believed she could draw in Jelly and Devlin via the Helicopter Alliance, and she felt they might be able to pull in Mike for numbers, as OG Savu knew Mike failed to get traction at OG Toku, and he burned people with his weak attempts to strategise. Meanwhile, OG Toku made their own plans, and they agreed that Mike was an easy vote.

Answer: She gave Sharonda control over when it would be played

When there were just Kristin, Cristian, and Sharonda back at camp, Kristin fully explained the idol's rules, gave Sharonda the idol and put Sharonda in charge of deciding when it would be used: If Sharonda felt she was in danger, she would be able to give it to Kristen and let Kristin save the day. This strengthened the trust between them and also added resilience to their alliance.

Answer: Mike

The original Toku (Maggie and Brady's) alliance plotted to blindside Kristin but planned on using Eric as a decoy target. Brady wrongly assumed Mike was still firmly under his guidance and was aligned with the plan. However, Mike went behind Brady's back to warn Kristin that she was about to be blindsided. He put forward Brady's name instead. Kristin felt Mike's plan was too aggressive as he had the luxury of immunity and was acting with impunity. She immediately went to Brady to tell him of Mike's betrayal.

Brady challenged Mike directly, telling Mike he had betrayed their Day 1 alliance. When Mike denied flipping, Brady silenced him by saying, "You broke my heart like I was the girl at the prom".

Answer: Brady

The first Tribal Council post-merge is often chaotic, as contestants jockey to find where the power structures lie. This season saw one of the most chaotic of all time, with the meeting having many asides, much whispering and no clear path forward. Several names were discussed throughout the day before Tribal, but the vote shifted during Tribal, and Brady was eliminated in a 9-4 vote over Eric, with Carter, Lewis, Thien An, and Brady being on the wrong side of the vote.

So the first season of the Open Era brought back the old custom of voting out the biggest guy on the smaller alliance.

Answer: Carter, Cristian, Maggie, Kilby, Thien An, Lewis

After the chaotic Tribal Council the night before the mood back at camp was sombre. Both Mike and Eric wanted to talk: Mike to explain why he told Kristin she was on the chopping block; Eric to find out why he had received four votes, but nobody was talking. Awkward. The next morning, Maggie told Mike in blunt terms why the rest of the tribe did not trust him.

Carter felt he was losing his grip on the strategic game he needed to play to stay in the game. Out of frustration with the chaotic, back-and-forth state of the post-merge game to this point, he actively sought others to form an alliance. The reason he wanted to form a group of reliable "salt-of-the-earth" people was to eliminate his perceived threats of Devin, Jelly, Mike, Eric, and Sharonda. The Salt Alliance was Carter, Cristian, Maggie, Kilby, Thien An, and Lewis.

As a sign of good faith, Carter showed Cristian his immunity idol. Idols had played very little part in proceedings to this point. Devin knew about Jelly's idol, but only since the day Ori was voted out. No one else knew nor suspected. No one knew or suspected that Carter had an idol til now. The irony was that some suspected that Kristen and Lewis had an idol or at least an advantage from the time they had both spent on Exile Island. They did not.

Answer: Competing in pairs. Pick your own partner

Tree mail advised you would be competing in pairs at the next challenge. This twist first appeared in "Survivor 50" and choosing pairs was not that successful. Season 51 contestants had figured out you didn't choose your Ride or Die, as you would both be voted out. Carter recognised he needed someone who was good at puzzles, so quickly snaffled Cristian. Mike recognised he needed "someone who doesn't share mutual enemies" with him and paired with Maggie. Sharonda assumes Lewis will pair with her, as she believes she is the "weakest link" (Lewis did pair with her, but for the opposite reason). Kilby and Kristin paired up, leaving Jelly and Devin, the power couple, to pair together, and Eric and Thien An became the last pair.

The challenge was preceded by a Jeff announcement that Brady had gone home to tend to his injured thumb and would not be on the jury. This left 12 jury members, and the possibility of a 6-6 or 4-4-4 way tie at the final tribal council.

The challenge was a series of tasks in different stages, with one couple getting eliminated at every stage. On the fourth and final stage, a tower-building game on a movable beam, Lewis and Sharonda triumph, overtaking Carter and Cristian, who had a big lead. They chose Jelly and Kristen to join them at a spaghetti meal, and they also had to send someone on an unspecified journey; they sent Cristian.

Answer: Cristian. Risked his vote

Cristian was taken to a sandbar where he was offered the opportunity to earn an Extra Vote, but only if he wagered his existing vote. He picked up the gauntlet, turned over the timer and chopped a rope, which released dozens of buoys into the water. They started drifting away. Cristian gathered them up, realised some had letters, kept these to one side and rearranged them to read "Dig under treemail" before the sand in the timer had expired.

He went back to camp, was very forthright about what had transpired, and went away to dig, and he did indeed find his extra vote. The downside was that he was away from his 'pair', Carter, so they could not strategise.

Answer: One immunity idol, two Shots in the Dark

With the pairs challenge, everybody voted as individuals, but everybody had to vote for a pair. A single advantage owned by one player covered both in the pair

Tribal Council was therefore chaotic. Carter's Salt alliance was spread over five pairs, with the only pair not in that alliance being Jelly and Devin. They became the obvious targets, but there was no consideration of whether either of them had an idol, so there was no mention of splitting the vote. Choosing an alternative to vote off would have been difficult, as it would have involved the Salt alliance voting for one of their own. Kristen played her Shot in the Dark (thereby not voting) and was not safe, and by association neither was her partner Kilby. Cristian played his Shot In The Dark and was deemed safe, as was Carter by association. Because Cristian could not vote, he gave his extra vote to Eric, who did not play it (despite knowing it was only good for this Tribal Council).

Carter did not play his idol. Devin did not play his extra vote (he said he used it on the Ori vote-out).

Answer: 1-0

Sharonda and Lewis were safe, as they had immunity. As there were two shots in the Dark played, this reduced the number of votes from 12 to 10.

There were eight votes for Jelly and Devin, but none of them counted. Jelly and Devin had split their votes: One on Cristian and Carter, which did not count, as Cristian and Carter were now safe, and one on Kristen and Kilby, which did count. Therefore, there was only one valid vote cast, and it sent two of this season's biggest players and fan favourites home.

In the after-show interviews available online, Jeff Probst said, "It's a social game. It's about the relationships you form. Double Duo adds another layer of complexity to those relationships by putting your fate partly in somebody else's hands...If you find yourself in a situation where you need help from outside your core group, do you have it?".