‘The Anonymous’ Recap: ‘Build. Bluff. Betray.’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THE ANONYMOUS -- "Build. Bluff. Betray." Episode 105 -- Pictured: (-r) Christopher Shulstad, Wayne Nichols, Dillian Frelow, Marcel Cunningham, Xavier Prather -- (Photo by: Rico Torres/USA Network)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘The Anonymous’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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When we last settled in to enjoy and discuss the fascinating new USA Network reality competition series, The Anonymous, it truly seemed as though, the unexpected was going to rule the day. For both the audience and those in the thick of the fight. For just like that, new handles were sent forth to keep everyone guessing regarding the true identities of the many contestants on the show and of course… three new souls were brought into the mix. Giving rise to real surprise across the board and real potential for no alliances or strategies to take place. But as last night’s episode pointed out, that might not be the case.

Simply because the reveal that Victoria was granted the title of The Anonymous, and the fact that she sent Robbi packing in the opening moments of ‘Build. Bluff. Betray.’, because Victoria saw her as an incredible threat… left everyone surprised and left the ladies in the group, gravely concerned about a pattern. In that, four eliminations brought forth the exit of four women. Dwindling down that number and truly tipping the scales of the competition in a supremely gender bias manner. Which left the women in the competition wondering, was it possible to ally and do something about such matters? Which was a fair question… one that took little time to bring forth an answer.

In that, the women in this competition decided, that the one-sided eliminations had to stop, plain and simple. So, they simply banded together and agreed it was high time to shift the chat and the votes for elimination to the men. Which added to one intense chat, one that spoke to everyone becoming more comfortable with the game, and how they understood how best to fire off the right words to elicit some spicy responses, and potentially eek out truth about who was behind what avatar. But what mattered most, is that the alliance 99% worked. Because it put multiple men up for elimination, with one exception via Lilly. Who put up Nina as part of her strategy to be The Anonymous. But she more or less believed that Nina would be okay, and that move was the one that led to the least amount of drama in this tale.

After all, Christopher and Victoria were feeling the vibe between one another and getting hot and heavy in this story, and that brought about surprise for all of us when Victoria threw Christopher under the bus once more by putting him up for elimination. Leaving all of us to wonder if she’s playing him like a fiddle all along, and there was solid tea, courtesy of one hell of a second Face-Off. For Kevin decided during said Face-Off… to really push those around him to see if he could reveal some secrets to keep them from becoming The Anonymous and to see if he could tip the scales in his favor and get the safety box. But instead, his plan backfired, and no answers were given, and he didn’t land immunity in the end. Instead that honor fell to Dillian, who in turn… was forced to make quite the call.

For DANI made it clear this immunity came with a price, wherein Dillian had to trade places with another player and put them at risk, and in keeping with the concern about the gender bias, Dillian chose Jack. Which brough about an intense elimination ceremony, wherein we learned that Kevin and Christopher were the true at-risk contestants, making it clear that next week, the scales will shift. But while we wait to learn which man is going home, we can celebrate one epic competition. One that saw a powerful new strategy emerge and work and saw skill sets that should provide an advantage, fail miserably, along with some fine drama and questions regarding where alliances lie, and of course… all of this leaves us eager to see what lies ahead. For this unique competition continues to enthrall and captivate us, especially now that everyone is comfortable and willing to go hard to mold it to their liking, to win it all. Until next time.

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