This article contains spoilers for Survivor 45‘s sixth episode, which aired on CBS on Nov. 1.
If Survivor 45 is the first season a fan has watched of the CBS flagship series since it implemented its new era of gameplay, they likely weren’t expecting “mergatory.” However, Dianelys “Dee” Valladares and the rest of the castaways were. And Dee explained in a secret scene how crucial it was to the end game.
During episode 6, the remaining 13 players were ordered to drop their buffs and converge onto Reba’s beach, signaling that the three-tribe portion of season 45 was finished.
However, the buffless castaways knew they’d have to earn one from host Jeff Probst. The game had shifted into “mergatory,” the round of play between the tribe and individual phases of Survivor. Nowadays, to officially make the merge, a contestant needs to either win the upcoming Immunity Challenge or survive Tribal Council that night.
There were only 12 spots available on the merged tribe, meaning one of them had to set sail for Ponderosa first.
Survivor uploaded a secret scene on its YouTube page after the episode aired on Nov. 1, and it featured most of the players sitting together on the beach on day 13. Jake O’Kane brought a message from Treemail indicating that the mergatory battle was upon them.
“Today you’ll get your hands dirty and give your all to just push through,” Jake read. “Another gets the snuff tonight, dig deep or it might be you.”
Players from each original tribe were still in the game, including two original Lulus, five Belos, and in Dee’s case, six ex-Rebas. Her core four-person alliance (Drew Basile, Austin Li Coon, and Julie Alley) had just linked back up, and with the addition of Emily, who had joined Drew and Austin in the last vote to oust Brandon “Brando” Meyer, Dee knew solidifying bonds in this phase of the game was paramount.
“Getting Treemail today,” Dee said in a confessional. “Phew, it’s kind of scary because this challenge is going to be the defining factor in peoples’ strategies and in peoples’ alliances. Because if we do get split into six-six, there are going to be people in there that may be in my alliance and maybe there’ll be people who aren’t going to be in my alliance. So, that’s why I feel like I’ve been just trying to talk to everyone because I don’t know what’s going to happen, so I want to make sure that I have a good relationship prior to when we do have to talk strategy.
“I don’t know what the hell’s going to happen today, but I don’t know, I’m kind of excited for it. It’s going to be kind of wild.
During the tribe swap a few episodes back, Dee remained on Reba along with three other former tribemates. And since Lulu’s Sean Edwards was sent packing when they went to Tribal Council on day 9, Dee’s relationships were limited. She hadn’t forged as many bonds as other contestants in the game, so she got to work while also maintaining her core four.
Still, Dee found herself on the firing line after losing the Immunity Challenge alongside her randomly selected team. She had a one-in-six chance of going home, but she ultimately leaned into her advantage-fueled alliance with Drew, Austin, and Julie to get through Tribal.
A perceived threat to Dee’s game ultimately went home at Tribal Council
Dee’s confessional showed that she was thinking several steps ahead of mergatory, and she knew someone who’d likely target her or her allies needed to go. And that was originally Janani “J. Maya” Krishnan-Jha, an original Reba.
The group zeroed in on J. Maya once they reconvened at the start of episode 6. However, ex-Lulu Kaleb Gebrewold’s name was thrown out by several players on the beach. And considering that Dee, Julie, Austin, and Drew didn’t have much of a relationship with the self-professed social and physical threat, they viewed his elimination as a suitable one ahead of the merge.
And even though Emily told her ex-tribemate that the majority of castaways were coming for him, Emily knew it was best for her to stick with the Reba four.
Attempting to switch the target to J. Maya at Tribal Council, Kaleb said Dee, J. Maya, and Julie were a trio and had to be split up. A fired-up Dee defended herself by painting Kaleb as untrustworthy.
It was clear that for Dee’s game, Kaleb needed to leave before J. Maya. But, after the cast unanimously voted him out, Kaleb successfully used his “Shot in the Dark” before Jeff read the votes — nullifying them. In the end, Dee and the rest of the players took out J. Maya in the revote.
Considering the solid ties she has heading into the merge, Dee is rapidly becoming a frontrunner to capture the $1 million grand prize and title of Sole Survivor.