They were not ready and we were definitely not ready. The vote out, this time around, came a little too soon. And while I am glad that they didn’t send Meen Kumari home, I’m not sure if I was ready to let go of our underdog Rabin yet. Not that he was doing anything that helped him shine. Turns out simply securing a soft spot in everyone’s hearts doesn’t take you far, not when the show, in Deeya’s words, is all about ‘survival of the fittest’.

The Wild Wild West season of Himalaya Roadies has finally found its top five, and Meen—the initially feeble, weak young lady who had to leave the show before it even started—has made it to the top, thanks to her ‘wild card’ entry. I couldn’t be prouder.,but the road ahead will only get tougher. This last episode spoke volumes about the strength Meen is going to need to compete against the remaining four men. Let’s just take a moment and be thankful for the ever-motivating Laure, shall we?

Having failed to contribute much to the bank account, I doubt the men are going to save the lone woman standing in the next vote-out. But perhaps they will. She is no threat, not when the game ahead is about securing yourself safe standing and finding a contender that can’t beat you easily. Aayush and Anish have had their eyes on the prize since the beginning. They are both extremely focussed and ridiculously determined to win. We all know they’re the most promising contenders and honestly, I’ll be shocked if one of them has to leave the show before they reach top three.

I’ve been placing my bets on them, since forever. But I can’t help feeling that one of them will be voted out—as part of a collective strategy. Priveer has quieted down, a lot; I am just as amazed as you are. There is no drama, whatsoever, on his end. It’s seems like he has embraced being focussed and has let go of all destructive emotions. He may not be the best performer but he’s surely giving the best he can. And whether we like it or not, we have started to empathise with him.

But Tejas, oh boy, let’s talk about the new star of the show (whom we have come to hate to love)—he completely stole the show, didn’t he? Even Raymon was worried that this guy was going to disappoint everyone, again, like he does more often than not. Raymon, almost annoyingly, kept emphasising how Tejas can’t afford to fail at this task. Good thing our boy took the hint and went on to give a performance that was better than the best—better than our Cutie’s. What are we to make of this?

Is this season going to establish that the ‘slow and steady win the race’? Is the game going to change unimaginably? What if Tejas finally puts his physique to use and only gets better from here on? What if he wins the title? What if Meen rises from the ashes to leave everyone’s jaws dropping? What if Priveer quietly sneaks into the top three? Who knows what will happen next? All we can do is try to predict who will get voted out, and prepare ourselves for more surprises—good and bad.