SPOILER ALERTS: Recapping Episode 7 of Surviving Barstool and Looking Ahead to Episode 8

WARNING: THIS IS A FULL RECAP OF SURVIVING BARSTOOL SEASON 5 EPISODE 7. SPOILERS ARE INCLUDED THROUGHOUT, SO DO NOT KEEP READING UNLESS YOU’VE WATCHED EPISODE 7.

If you want to watch a recap show for Episode 6, check out the Breakdown Boys (featuring Ohio's Tate)!

Nine players remain as we enter Episode 7, and we didn't have to wait long for shit to get weird. The lights suddenly go out throughout Barstool HQ, Jeff D. Lowe walks into the bunks carrying a lantern and hands everyone a scroll with a pretty ominous message: “The Game Has Changed.”

The scroll announces The Ring of Fire, which immediately brings back memories of The Pink Wedding from Season 4. Everyone grabs their torches, heads into the challenge area and finds out the tribes are officially DONE. It's an individual game from here on out, everyone is now part of the Viva Tribe, and three people are going home tonight!

Time to get nasty.

Majority Rules

The first challenge is called Majority Rules, where players shuffle pucks into different colored zones. Green is automatically safe, but otherwise you want your puck to land in the color where the majority of players finish. Three misses and you're out, with the last person remaining earning immunity.

Jeff keeps trying to get everyone to strategize and go for each other's throats, but this cast doesn't really seem interested in playing that way. They mostly want to play their own game, and after Tommy Smokes is the first one eliminated from the challenge, it eventually comes down to Dana and Tate with one life remaining.

Dana wins, giving him the first individual immunity necklace of the season.

Here's where The Ring of Fire gets really interesting: nobody can leave to have private conversations. Every bit of strategy has to happen inside the circle where everyone else can see what's happening, which makes people scared as hell to talk at first.

It starts feeling REALLY bad for Tate. His name is everywhere and he has absolutely nothing to save himself, but Dana assures him they're voting Pat.

And holy shit, Dana actually delivers!

Just when I thought Tate was toast, Pat becomes the 10th person eliminated and fourth member of the jury. Tommy, Brandon and Pat all voted Tate, but Dana and the others had enough votes to save him.

Tate immediately goes back to work and starts campaigning for Brandon to be the next target. Tommy accidentally gives him some useful information by mentioning that Glenny doesn't like Brandon, and Glenny confirms to Tate that he would absolutely be willing to write Brandon's name down.

In The Bag

The second challenge is called In The Bag, which is basically a bag toss with different levels worth different points. The big wrinkle is the green ring at the top, otherwise known as the Kill Shot.

Hitting a Kill Shot doesn't eliminate somebody from Surviving Barstool, but it does allow you to remove someone from the rest of the challenge. If two people hit one in the same round, they have 30 seconds to unanimously agree on who sits out. If they can't agree, they're both eliminated from the challenge instead.

Rone immediately hits a Kill Shot and chooses Tate, which is obviously not ideal for my boy Tate. Marty later hits one and takes out Nicky Smokes, while Brandon hits his and removes Glenny. Maybe that hostility between Brandon and Glenny really is reallllll!

Then Rone and Dana hit Kill Shots together and agree to take Marty out despite him having a big lead. Marty isn't exactly thrilled about two people he trusts making that decision. Rone keeps dominating from there, taking Dana out with another Kill Shot and then eliminating Brandon from the challenge before eventually beating Tommy to win immunity.

Rone is safe again.

During the next 10 minutes of Ring of Fire deliberations, Tate is fighting for his fucking life. He tries convincing Dana that he could use his idol to save Tate if necessary, allowing them to potentially take a shot at somebody like Marty or Tommy. Whatever you think about Tate's position in the game, the guy is campaigning his ass off trying to stay alive.

Unfortunately, it isn't enough.

Tate is eliminated, becoming the 11th person eliminated and fifth member of the jury. And on his way out, he delivers what might be the line of the season after Dana backstabs him and writes his name down.

“I said it from the beginning, I’ll never write Dana Beers’ name down on that paper.”

HEAT!!!!

Dana might have helped himself get further in the game, but if he makes the final three, that sure as hell sounds like one jury vote he won't be getting.

One More Person Has To Go

With Tate gone, Nicky Smokes knows he's in trouble and starts advocating to Rone about making a big move against Dana. Honestly, I like it! Dana has an idol and plenty of relationships left in the game, so Smokes wants to either send a major player home with an idol in his pocket or at least force him to burn it. Even Brandon seems interested in potentially working with Smokes.

The final Ring of Fire challenge is called Drop Your Bluff, a bluffing game involving eight symbols. Players secretly receive a symbol and are matched against another player, then have to either tell the truth or lie about what they have while their opponent decides whether to believe them. Lose enough chips and you're out, with the last person standing earning the third and final immunity of the night.

Dana is the first one eliminated from the challenge, followed by Brandon. Eventually we're down to Rone, Tommy and Nicky Smokes before Nicky drops out, leaving Rone and Tommy as the final two.

Tommy Smokes wins and is safe!

Now the conversation is all over the damn place. Do they finally flip on Dana? Do they take the easier vote in Nicky Smokes? Could Brandon somehow be the one sent home? Nobody seems completely sold on anything, and Dana decides not to use his idol before Jeff starts reading the votes.

Ultimately, Nicky Smokes becomes the sixth member of the jury.

I've gotta give Smokes some credit for the game he played. He was a deciding vote multiple times earlier in the season and, even with his back against the wall here, he was trying to convince people to take a real shot at Dana instead of accepting his fate. It didn't work, and now Brandon Walker is the ONLY Chicago person left in the game!

My Thoughts On Episode 7

This was easily my favorite episode of the season so far. I loved The Pink Wedding last season and the absolute chaos of everyone running around scared for their lives, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about production forcing everyone to stay inside the Ring of Fire this time. But I thought it worked! It made every conversation awkward because you couldn't disappear into another room without everyone immediately knowing something was happening.

I thought the challenges were pretty solid too despite them being relatively simple. I probably would've liked to see the Kill Shot used a little differently during In The Bag, but that's really nitpicking I feel like because of how awesome the Pink Wedding was last season. Three challenges, three immunity winners and three people getting sent to the jury made for a damn good episode.

We are also finally reaching the point where these alliances have to stop meaning so much. Everyone remaining has worked with somebody else who's still in the game, and there aren't many easy names left to write down.

I really don't have some gigantic question heading into Episode 8.

It's just time to stop playing buddy-buddy and start voting your friends out.

ABOUT DAMN TIME!

Winner of Episode 7

WINNER: Tommy Smokes — The dude knows how to play the game. Not once during any of the tribals did his name get brought tonight did his name get brought up. He knows about pretty much all the idols and even won himself a challenge.