Title:
Head of the Snake
Next time on Survivor a merge has two alliances fighting for power, but it's one tribe member who holds all the cards.

Teases:
* It’s every castaway for themselves, as two tribes become one in this season’s merge.
* One castaway’s thirst for power could (won't) earn them a spot on the jury.
* Jaws drop as the blindside streak continues.

JP hype:
One of the most enjoyable aspects of this season is it’s absolute unpredictability.
People who are in control on day one of an episode are often on the outs by day three, and if they survive tribal they can be back on top ten hours later.
The merge episode is fantastic. Huge moments.
The immunity challenge will have you on the edge of your seat.
Tribal... good luck figuring out who is going home.
The game is that unpredictable. This season is going to continue to be a fun ride.

RC:
Treemail reads:
You may want to tidy up camp a bit and make
some room. You'll be having guests from the
Solana tribe arriving shortly and some of them
might be staying here for the next 22 days.
Therefore... No RC. This is the merge episode.

Onto the Individual IC:


(Notice the wide stances)
Not much to go on so...
This challenge, speculatively, is a replay of the F8 challenge in Caramoan. (Andrea wins/Reynold is booted) and a major update to the F3 IC in Pearl Islands. (Lil wins/Jonny is booted.)

The castaways would stand barefoot on wooden slats on an a-frame that was floating out in the water and try to remain balanced on top of the a-frame. After 15 minutes, the castaways would move up to a second set of slats making balancing more difficult. After another 15 minutes, the castaways would move to the top of the a-frame where they would have to balance until the end of the challenge. The last castaway remaining on the a-frame would win immunity...
Regardless of how the challenge is actually played (or if the speculation is even remotely similar) the thing we're all looking for is this...

The Individual Immunity Necklace

TC Strategies:
Everyone is aware of the 6/5 split along tribal lines.

LJ: It's six against five and we could be in trouble.

So it now becomes Spencer's job to corral all of the Nu-Aparri together.

Spencer: When those five get here, it's us against them. And I'm not going to let anyone forget that.

And for Nu-Solana it's going to be about trying to find defectors.
Fortunately for them, Sarah has placed herself in the center of 2 camps of 5. The brains + beauties VS the brawns + beauties.

Sarah (camera confessional): There's a solid five, a solid five and me. I will decide the fate of this game.

We see Tony talking numbers with Sarah.

Tony (talking to Sarah): You come in with us, we'll make it happen.

We also see Trish making a deal with Kass.

and Kass confesses: "Maybe I want to switch allegiance."

and possibly some game talk between Trish and Sarah.

Do Kass and Sarah defect and vote for Jeremiah/Spencer. Or does just one of them defect?
Or do they stay with Nu-Aparri and vote for Tony? LJ?

All this leading to...

TC:

Before we get into whom is in real danger of being booted this week, let's take a gander or two at some of the Tribal Council Vid-Caps.

The Walk-in...

Leading us off and going from right to left;
Morgan leads. She has her bag with her.
Following her are Tasha, Kass, Sarah, Jefra and Trish. I see bags with all of them. (The guys must be behind Trish as there is no discernable shadow in front of Morgan.)

The ladies are sitting in the front row (just as they walked in) During TC...
(I took the various shots, aligned them, super-imposing the areas blocked by the lettering, merged 'em together, lightened the whole thing and enlarged it a smidge. Aside from being apparent some of my techniques could certainly be polished up a bit...)

IMO, Morgan is definitely in possession of the Immunity Necklace. (Why she brings her bag is beyond me.)

Behind the ladies we have (farthest right to left) Spencer ~ Tony ~ LJ ~ (is this an empty seat?) ~ Woo/Jeremiah?
(I can't tell. The ladies are definitely all there. I definitely see Spencer and Tony and am just reading the body size of the next castaway as an LJ versus a Woo or a Jeremiah. But I could be wrong.) PLUS, this could be during the vote which would explain an empty seat.

Survivors In Danger for Ep6:
For one, we can remove the power thirsty player from contention. Because of this, at this moment in the editing it looks like Tony and Trish are the power thirsty, they are therefore safe. They are the only two seen possibly striking a deal with members of the opposing 'alliance'. But because of this, both Sarah and Kass could be in some danger.

Jeremiah ~ Kass ~ LJ ~ Sarah ~ Spencer ~ Tony

Things ABSOLUTELY change for the merge episode.
Those whom were invaluable strengths before become prime targets now. No one wants to go up against a challenge whore.
No one wants to include the 'untrustworthy' either.
Plus, the age-old questions of 'will old alliance members reconnect' and 'who of all of them is likely to flip sides' are certain factors.

Tony: As stated earlier, the power thirsty will survive. So I'm removing Tony from danger. I truly believe he is the one JP is refering to when he said: People who are in control on day one of an episode are often on the outs by day three, and if they survive tribal they can be back on top ten hours later. He could survive tribal through the use of his idol, but I believe he will just rely on the switching of Sarah (and Kass).

Notice his 2 fingers. That's 2 votes in addition to the 5 of his left hand? (and are those 2 fingers representative of Jefra and LJ or Kass and Sarah?)

Kass: I'm also removing Kass just because the deal with Trish sounded dependant upon how she voted at the upcoming TC. They need her vote this round.

Spencer: Truthfully, he is the puzzle piece that kinda fits in everywhere. Dangerous in challenges, semi-apparent leader of the brains, least likely to switch alliances, would qualify as a blindside since the majority alliance would have to crumble for it to come true. HOWEVER. He has recently tweeted that he is aware of the Tyler Perry Idol and is upset that the rules for it's use were not fully explained. If nothing else, he lasts until the TPI is revealed. (IOW, Safe for Ep6.) Conversely, he could just be opinionated as a juror.

Sarah: A couple of things stick out as reasons for her to last through this TC. Allied with Tony, seen deal-making with Tony. Seen with Trish, possibly discussing deal. IOW, could easily fit right back into the brawns. Giving Nu-Solana an advantage.
However, her stance as the go-between is often the hint (along with the falling out of the hammock caps) that Sarah could be bounced out for floating. It has happened before. Does she stay with them? Does she go with us? Who can tell?

LJ: LJ is, without a doubt, not only a challenge threat but a social threat and indicative of someone who will be harder and harder to vote out the longer he stays.
So a target is already forming on him. BUT, he has an idol. (Although he has shown that he doesn't want to dump it if he gets a good read at TC.)
BUT. This is a blindside. It would be unexpected for him to go home with an idol in his pocket. Specially if he thought Tony was going to be the target. This would also require the tribes to stay in previous allegiances.

Jeremiah: Jeremiah was already targeted by Tony. Jeremiah seems to have had a burnt bridge between all of his previous allies, so he should absolutely stick with the brains. Sadly, the brains don't trust him either. Can he prove he's really on their side? Booting him would be a blindside only because it would require 1 or more of the Nu-Aparri to defect to Nu-Solana. Which is what we're being shown.

My Vote:

RC: Merge
IC: Morgan

While it could be Tony and it could be Spencer or even Sarah...
Bootee: A Beauty
Jeremiah (or LJ)

I strive to be right but am often wrong and if you have a different read, please join in.