Persona Non Grata

Persona Non Grata is the fifth episode of.

Challenges
Reward Challenge: Nut Bucket Two tribe members would each hold on a rope that is holding up large nets above the ground. Members of the rival tribe, one at a time, attempt to toss coconuts into their nets. A winner is determined if the rival tribe has dropped both nets. Reward: Different meats and vegetables, wine, and seasonings. Winner: Bikal

Immunity Challenge: Crate Outdoors Each tribe sends two members at a time out to a field scattered with crates. Once all six crates were returned, they would be used to build a staircase. The whole tribe then had to climb the staircase. Winner: Gota (Bikal forfeited the challenge before it began so Gota won by default; so the challenge was administered at the next episode)

Tribal Council
Tribal Council was held at the location of the Immunity Challenge due to Bikal forfeiting the challenge. Because of the tension between the tribe (mainly Phillip) and Brandon, Jeff Probst told the castaways that they will hold an impromptu Tribal Council, with their votes being cast verbally.

Voting Confessionals
No voting confessionals are made in this episode due to the special format of the Tribal Council.

Behind the Scenes

 * In an interview with Dalton Ross for Entertainment Weekly, Jeff Probst reveals that, during the Immunity Challenge, there was security on standby to ensure the safety of the contestants. The in-game psychologist is also there to debrief Brandon. In the same interview, Jeff states that every contestant undergo psychological tests before they are subjected to the game, and Brandon was deemed stable enough to compete again.

Other

 * The Reward Challenge, Nut Bucket, previously appeared in and.
 * The intended Immunity Challenge, Crate Outdoors, has previously been used in  and.
 * The challenge was reused in the subsequent episode, Operation Thunder Dome, where it became the first challenge to be used twice in the same season.
 * This episode made several records in the Survivor history:
 * This was the first time a tribe has forfeited a challenge before it had started.
 * Under normal circumstances, the Survivor Rulebook bans forfeiting challenges. It is currently unknown whether an exception was made due to Brandon's actions that day.
 * This was the second impromptu Tribal Council ever be held in the series, following, where Ian Rosenberger was voted out verbally by Tom Westman immediately after the final Immunity Challenge due to the challenge ending late at night, and too late to attend Tribal Council.
 * However, it is the first such Tribal Council where more than one vote was verbally cast.
 * This was the first Tribal Council where the rival tribe witnessed the other tribe cast their votes.
 * This was also the first Tribal Council held in daylight.

Episode Title

 * Persona non grata literally means "unwelcomed person".
 * Phillip Sheppard, after getting in an argument with Brandon Hantz, said, "In my book, you're persona non grata".