Episode 5 of Surviving Barstool and Looking Ahead to Episode 6

WARNING: THIS IS A FULL RECAP OF SURVIVING BARSTOOL SEASON 5 EPISODE 5. SPOILERS ARE INCLUDED THROUGHOUT, SO DO NOT KEEP READING UNLESS YOU’VE WATCHED EPISODE 5.

If you want to watch a recap show for Episode 5, check out the Breakdown Boys!

Episode 5 opens with Nicky Smokes talking about how much stress he had over voting Dani Jackel out, but we find out pretty quickly that it wasn't exactly a last-second decision. Smokes, Dana, Glenny, Marty and Tate all had an agreement to vote Dani, so Smokes wasn't necessarily going rogue like it may have looked at the end of Episode 4.

We also get an answer pretty quickly to one of our biggest questions from the last episode: What the hell is Rone going to do now that he's surrounded by five former Roach Tribe members?

Feits tells Rone that he, Tommy Smokes, Brandon and Pat have had a pretty steady alliance, so Rone realizes he needs to find a way to get Dante below him on the totem pole. Dante seems to know something could be up too, asking Tommy what he should do if they lose the next challenge. Tommy basically tells him to stay calm and trust him.

Meanwhile, Tate is starting to get a little worried about his own situation. He thinks Marty and Dana might have the numbers to eventually come after him and is concerned they're going to keep Glenny around instead of following through with the original plan of getting him out. Tate also knows Dana owes him after Tate helped save him a few Tribals ago, but right on cue, Glenny starts going around telling Marty and Dana that Tate needs to go.

The most surprising part of all of this might have been seeing Rone legitimately freaking out about potentially going home. He's usually one of the calmer people on these shows, but he's spazzing out to Tommy about his name potentially getting written down. Rone has been holding onto an idol for a few episodes now, but obviously the goal is to get through another Tribal without having to use it.

Beam Ball

Before the challenge, we get a flashback to the jousting challenge from Season 4, which was fucking hilarious. Rico flexing on Dave might still belong in the Barstool clips Hall of Fame. #RydersForever

The Episode 5 challenge is called Beam Ball. One player uses a slingshot to send balls toward teammates standing on balance beams, and once someone catches one, they have to shoot it into a constantly rotating basket. Everyone on the beam has to catch a ball and make a shot before the tribe can win, which sounds pretty damn difficult when you're also trying not to fall off.

Worm has to sit somebody out, and that becomes a little complicated with Pat dealing with a knee injury and Brandon Walker apparently being too fragile to stand on a balance beam.

Tommy Smokes ultimately chooses to sit, leaving Pat on the slingshot with Brandon, Rone, Dante and Feits on the beams. Pigeon has Glenny operating the slingshot with Tate, Dana, Marty and Nicky Smokes trying to make the shots.

Tate gets Pigeon off to a good start by making the first basket, but shortly after that we get what looks like a pretty serious injury. Marty falls backward off the beam going for a catch and brings Dana down with him. Dana lands awkwardly on his shoulder and also comes down on Marty's ankle, leaving Marty in a ton of pain and forcing production to stop the challenge so the medics can come out.

And then we get one hell of a plot twist because Marty's injury is completely fucking fake!

A few hours before the challenge, Glenny had found a mission called The Faker. Someone on his tribe had to fake an injury serious enough to cause a 10-minute stoppage during the challenge, and if they pulled it off, Glenny would earn an immunity idol. He worries that he wouldn't be good at faking the injury. Marty volunteered to be the guy (and will be the one who earns the idol if he completes it), and he sold the hell out of it.

Tommy Smokes was with Glenny when he found the mission and knew exactly what was happening. Glenny also told Rone about it, meaning two people on Worm knew Marty was faking the injury while Marty's own teammates Tate and Nicky Smokes had no clue.

It also makes you wonder if Tommy knowing about the mission played any role in him volunteering to sit out?

Marty gets through the required 10 minutes, which means Marty has earned himself an idol, and then Pigeon proceeds to kick Worm's ass once the challenge starts again. Dana makes his shot, Marty makes a "miraculous" recovery and knocks his down, and Nicky Smokes finishes it off to give Pigeon a 4-0 sweep.

That's a huge sigh of relief for Tate and Smokes because neither has to worry about Tribal for another episode. Tate is still a little suspicious of Marty's injury, though, and starts wondering if it had something to do with one of the missions floating around the game. Pretty good instincts considering he's exactly right.

Rone Goes To Work

Worm is heading to Tribal, and Pat comes up with a plan to use Dante as the decoy. He wants to tell Rone that everyone is voting Dante while Pat, Dante and Feits actually put their votes on Rone. There's just one problem: Brandon has already said he doesn't want to vote Rone out, and Tommy is clearly working with Rone on some level after sharing the information about Marty's fake injury.

Brandon doesn't believe this is the time to get Rone, and then Feits starts leaning toward voting Dante too. That sends Pat into a bit of a panic because the numbers he thought he had are disappearing. Feits eventually confronts Rone about some of the lying going on and says he wants the New York people to make it to the merge, but he's clearly torn about which way he wants to vote.

And I gotta say, this felt like the time to get Rone out. The guy has relationships on both tribes, has an immunity idol sitting in his pocket (which obviously nobody knows about) and has already shown multiple times that he can talk his way out of trouble. You have a chance to get him out right now and potentially do it without him even realizing he needs to play the idol. TAKE THE SHOT!

Rone knows he's in trouble, but he continues working everyone because he desperately wants to keep that idol in his back pocket. Worm finally gets to Tribal Council, Rone takes the risk and decides not to play it. Once again, he reads the room correctly because Dante gets the votes and becomes the second member of the jury!

Dante's exit might be worth remembering later, too! He goes around shaking hands with Pat, Rone and Brandon telling them all good game, but noticeably doesn't shake hands with Tommy Smokes or Feits.

Normally I wouldn't care that much about who shakes whose hand on the way out, but Dante is now sitting on a jury that will eventually help decide who wins $250,000. Maybe that moment means nothing, but I wouldn't completely forget about it either.

For as good as Feits has been in the challenges over the last couple episodes, I think he completely screwed the pooch here. Like how fucking stupid can you be, man? You had Rone sitting there vulnerable and instead helped him survive while he STILL gets to keep his idol. You knew he was lying his ass off, and you still fell for it all.

Does Feits really think Rone is going to show that same loyalty when the situation is reversed? I highly fucking doubt it.

GOSH! But that's why Surviving Barstool is the best.

Questions Heading Into Episode 6

1. What the hell does Rone do next? This guy entered the episode looking like the clear last man on the totem pole and somehow talked his way into surviving without even having to use his idol. Pat and Feits basically just helped keep a guy alive who has connections all over this game, and whether they realize it or not, Rone suddenly has a ton of power. Unreal work by him.

2. Is Tate ever going to find an idol? We need this man to keep busting his ass looking for a mission because I'm starting to get worried his time could be running out. Glenny, Marty and Dana seem pretty set together, Glenny now has an idol, and Tate has already been suspicious enough to realize something was off with Marty's injury. If Pigeon loses soon, Tate might need some protection more than anybody.

Winner of Episode 5

WINNER: Marty Mush — It's wild that he was able to hold off anyone noticing his fake injury and had to do it for 10 minutes. That's impressive and certainly saved himself at least one more tribal by not having to worry about anything and gaining an idol. I thought people would be quick to get rid of him after Ria winning Season 4, but here he is just scooting along... Interesting! (Not everyone can be a winner, but for this episode, I could see why people choose Rone as their winner with the Houdini act he pulled)