from TDT
Reward challenge: No RC? Combined RC/IC?
Our guess (see IC discussion below) is that there is a combined Reward/Immunity challenge this week, so no separate RC as such. Of course, our ability to predict these things seems little better than chance. We recommend you read our Crappy recaps, instead. Hmm, on second thought, despite having (allegedly) watched the show, those bear even less resemblance to what aired than what you see here. Never mind.
Exile: Austin?
As we pointed out at MeSS, Austin's fish-gulping expedition looks like it might be on Exile Island (that's really all we have to go on here). As for the alleged benefit of exile this week, we'd have to guess this person will be immune from the boot. This could either be bestowed by Casaya (messing with the losing tribe), or by La Mina (their big decision).
Immunity challenge: Race/puzzle - Casaya wins
We were told a couple of weeks ago by a thus-far reliable source (although that could change quickly) that there would be an early merge in Episode 6. In the post-Ep5 preview, Probst seems to be revealing something at a challenge (to the delight of Sally), while the tribal immunity idol is behind him. A reward of some kind? New buffs? Hard to say, but there are at least two things on the table.
As for the merge, if it does happen in this episode, it can't be here, because the challenge is still (from the web promo) clearly tribal. The web promo also says the winning tribe gets to "mess with the losers." And the CBS press release says: "One tribe learns that having an alliance doesn't always guarantee one's safety when a twist in the game leaves the losing tribe with a big decision and the fate of one castaway left in the hands of another tribe mate." All the remaining Casayas are predicted to make the jury, so Casaya must win. So all the choices seem to be in La Mina's court. What those are, your guess is as good as ours.
BOOT: Dan?
Along with the merge in Ep6 story (and the two prior boots), we were told that Dan would be this week's boot. That doesn't on the surface, make a lot of sense in a merged tribe situation (then again, neither did Casaya's voting in Ep5). So we'll guess that, if there is a merge, it happens after this week's vote.
Sally would seem like Terry's obvious boot of choice here. Meaning Sally will have, again, to try to convince Austin and Nick to keep her, instead targeting either Dan or Terry. That raises the possibility that, with a merge looming, Terry might be forced to use his hidden idol. Or possibly hand it over to his alliance-mate, Dan. That could be one of the big, fate-determining decisions here