We pick up right where we left off in episode five with captain Matty McLean deciding who from team faves is joining team fans.
Ultimately he picks Alex King to pack her bags and we begin to see that McLean may have the killer instinct after all. King is clearly gutted, but was it the right move from McLean? Considering Oakley doesn’t mince his words around King, probably not right for her.
King sobs and it’s honestly hard to watch as she declares, “was I a problem, was I doing something wrong?” It’s bloody sad and for the first time in this game, we might not agree with our bestie McLean.
And King really doesn’t want to move to her new team - like she simply does not budge. The poor girl has basically been given a job that she really didn’t want, with terrible pay and colleagues who listen to awful music all day and have a mood board on the wall. We wouldn’t want to move either.
It’s then revealed that when King was nominated to move on, Devoy asked son Josh Oakley to “Look after her.” You can tell Oakley feels a bit like his mum just reminded him to pack a jumper, but when Devoy asks, she gets.
Back at camp fans, it turns out King is an epic fire lighter and bean soaker, proving herself valuable to camp.
“I don’t think Wardie knows how to start a fire,” she laughs and she’s not wrong.
Anna Thomas takes a moment to call Jane Yee out for sharing with the other team that not everyone voted for her. “I really didn’t like that, at all. We are totally divided now,” she says. This team is crumbling faster than a Nature Valley bar.
Then Devoy questions why she wasn’t sent to camp fans instead of King and captain McLean says it’s because he loves having her around, but Devoy decides he’s “the baby-faced assassin” and suddenly we want this title for ourselves.
Next it’s charity challenge time with team fave playing for money for their charities. It’s a hands and feet tied slip N slide and all bets and shirts, are off.
McLean isn’t getting far but a cute little push from Lance Savali helps build momentum. Searle takes heat one, Lavali takes heat 2 and Joe Cotton’s left breast pops out.
It’s finale time and Savali takes the win despite Green “wriggling as wriggly as I can wriggle.”
Then it’s team faceoff time and King still visibly isn’t happy with her new bandmates. Savali tells the camera King is being a “crybaby” and suggests “we’re not here to tuck you in at night.” It’s a little mean, but also a little accurate.
During the challenge, which is largely a glorified scrum, with the aim to push the other team backwards past a line, Wardie decides the best tactic is to use his neck to hold the weight of Savali, Green and Josh Kronfeld. It obviously all goes terribly from there but Adam O’Brien’s commentary remains on point.
You can do it, put your neck in to it.
Team faves win all four rounds thanks to Devoy’s encouragement and competitive drive, beating her own son and pulling McLean out of the pits of despair. If anyone needed any reassurance about what team she was playing for, that was it.
The faves win toasted sandwiches and McLean retains the power to choose who goes up for elimination.
He picks Oakley from team fans like we knew he would and again puts up Kronfeld from team faves. Kronfeld is furious after what he says was a false promise from McLean who swore he wouldn’t do it for a second time.
But then it’s revealed that Devoy named son Josh Oakley after All-Black great Josh Kronfeld as the pair are about to faceoff. So will it be the namesake or the legend who wins the Josh-off?
The hook and hoop game begins and Oakley crushes it, but then gets mad and tosses a brick and the game has to be reset. Ultimately the game doesn’t go Kronfeld’s way, namesake Oakley takes the win for team fans and it’s a massive loss for team faves with one of the best players in the game going home.
“Nice play of the game Matty, you’re good at it,” says the eliminated Kronfeld who in three seasons of Treasure Island has been voted off the island for the first time.
But he’s not leaving without a final message for hard-done-by King, who he suggests should watch her back as McLean might in fact not have her best interests at heart.
It’s a sad goodbye, but Green sums up our feelings nicely when he shares some parting words for Kronfeld: “The thing I’ll miss the most about Josh, is that I won’t get to see the beautiful tramp stamp around camp every day.”
How Kronfeld will live on in our memories.
Long live the tramp stamp.
Treasure Island Fans v Faves airs 7.30pm on TVNZ 2 Monday-Wednesday and on TVNZ+
