This week on Survivor… Varner thrilled to still be in the game; he was really afraid that whole debacle after the Immunity challenge would be the bullet he couldn’t dodge, but he did. After returning from Tribal, Varner thanks everyone and reiterates that he’s loyal to Tasha and Savage and that he’s always been loyal to Abi. So yeah, he’s still here, buuut… Now he has to suck up and kiss major butt and he’s not happy about that at all. Elsewhere, Tasha is talking to Woo – They should have voted out Varner, not Peih-Gee. She did NOT like what he pulled at the Immunity challenge, he’s the one causing all the drama, and she assures Woo that he’s safe this week. Abi notices the two of them talking and she confronts Tasha, who offers to go talk in private, but Abi wants to do this in front of everyone – Why is she speaking privately with someone that voted for her? Tasha is quick to point out that she had her back, she didn’t vote for Abi, and she wants to know what the beef is that Abi has with her. Savage knows that aligning with Abi is dangerous because she’s insecure and paranoid, which makes her a wild card. Later, Abi confronts Woo about the vote he cast against her that night, he apologizes, but because it was the second vote he cast against her, she’s beginning to think it’s personal. And OMG!
But Varner is the one causing all the trouble within the tribe. It’s definitely Jeff Varner being all confrontational and stirring up drama whenever the opportunity presents itself. I mean… I just… Come on, Tasha… Right after you say Varner is causing all the drama, Abi starts some with you and Woo. And instead of going off with you to speak privately, she wants to do it right there in front of everyone. It’s amazing how much power Abi has been given in this game. If she were making a conscious effort to cause chaos within her tribe, I would give her props because it would make her a brilliant player, but this is not the case. Abi is playing with and making decisions based upon her emotions and assumptions and the sick part is that on any other season, she would have been gone week two, but in this season… People are using her flip-floppity, insecure, paranoid attitude to benefit their own games and it’ll be awhile before she see’s the business end of Jeff’s snuffer. I’m still wondering where the new Abi is, the one who was going to think logically, strategically, and not stir up so much drama and conflict.
Moving on… Over at Bayon, Jeremy has been waiting to celebrate his ownership of a hidden Immunity idol and today is the day! After his celebration, he’s hanging out with Stephen by the well. Stephen asks if he’s had any luck finding the idol and Jeremy lies lies lies. He doesn’t want anyone to know he has it and he wants Stephen to be the guy that lets him know when the rest of the tribe is thinking about writing Jeremy’s name down at Tribal. He likes Stephen, he wouldn’t mind aligning with him, they could be friends for life – Jeremy is happy to give Stephen second place, but that isn’t good enough for him. lol Back at Angkor, the living conditions are dismal – they have no island resources, no shelter, and the ocean is letting them down too. Tree mail, though, alludes to the next challenge being a food reward is a food reward. All of Angkor is very excited about the prospect of food, but Woo isn’t sure that they have the strength and energy to perform well enough to win. After explaining the challenge, Jeff reveals the food reward – a deluxe Survivor cooking set complete with grill and meats and veggies to prepare on it for first place, and a basic cooking set for second. Third of course, goes back to camp hungry.
So! The challenge… Each tribe selects one member to swim out to a platform to retrieve a small ball that must be catapulted into a net suspended at the top of a tower. The first two people with three bags in the net win reward. Savage is first to raise his hand for Angkor and no one objects. For Bayon, Spencer asks Jeremy if he wants to do it and he says he will, which leaves Ta Keo and their choice is Terry. And I’m like, okaaay… With all the young bucks like Joe, Woo, and Spencer in this game with they go for Savage, Jeremy, and Terry? Really? Oookay! Survivors ready? I dunno, but GO! And it’s FULL STEAM ahead for all three men – uh, dudes… You’ve got to do this three times and jump on a board… You might have considered a more “slow and steady wins the race” type approach. Anyway… Jeremy hits the beach with his first bag first, but Terry gets lucky and is first to land a bag in the net. While Savage and Jeremy struggled, Terry is setting up a good lead. Savage is last to head back out and Terry is first to return, but his next catapult shot is WAY long. Jeremy is back now too and fails his first shot and Terry’s prompts Jeff to say “Dietz is big and long”… Oh yeah, Jeff? How do you know, hmmm??? Like I can walk away from a joke like that. I say “that’s what she said” at every available opportunity.
Anyway! By the time Savage makes it back to the beach, Jeremy and Terry have yet to land their second bag and he lands his on the first try snagging the lead for Angkor. Everyone on Angkor is very excited. Terry and Jeremy quickly land their second bags, in that order, and everyone is back to trudging through the water to their third and final bags. Savage’s lead on Terry starts to widen as quickly as it got shorter then Terry picks up the pace. They arrive at the beach pretty much at the same time, but Terry is first to launch, but he’s waaay off, giving Savage a window to land first place for his tribe aaand… HE DOES! Angkor wins the food! lol Jeremy finally arrives back at the beach as Terry is walking back to the catapult after retrieving his bag, but Jeremy shoots first – and misses. Terry has his shot set up and… It’s good! So Bayon goes home with nothing, and after four days of eating pretty much nothing, Angkor will be eating well tonight. And the food was sooo needed. Savage is happy that he was able to win a major reward for the tribe – and show the other tribes that their little band of ragtag Survivors can play with the big boys.
The next morning, at Ta Keo, pretty much everyone is asleep and Kass is going around camp collecting beads and things while she explains her new strategy – having a better social game. She read self-help books and it applying methods from them by doing her best to be genuine and sincere. While Kass is gathering things, Kelley wakes up and notices – she doesn’t trust Kass and wonders what she’s up to. Kelley wouldn’t be surprised if self-proclaimed “Chaos” Kass was making a fake idol. When Kelley approaches a lone Kass on the beach, Kass waves her away and tells her to go in the other direction. BUT a little while later, Kass presents her with a little gift, a belated birthday present, a little bit of Bayon for her to take home – a beaded bracelet. And it’s all laughs and awwws and good times again at the new Ta Keo. Back at Bayon, Spencer is being questioned about his allegiance to Borneo Kelly by Jeremy and Stephen – there isn’t much love there because he was the next one on the chopping block. Spencer knows he has to do whatever he has to do to stay in the game and if that involves throwing Kelly under the bus, he will. He lets Bromancing the Stone know that Kelly has friends on other tribes that own her vote. Later he tells Monica the same thing, but she’s not buying it. She wants to keep as many ladies in the game as possible so as far as she’s concerned, Spencer is the next to go IF they lose Immunity…
Come on in, guys! It’s time to watch the most brutal blindfold challenge I’ve ever seen on Survivor. There are 16 very large, heavy puzzle pieces on a very big course that includes crossing a small creek on the beach. Look at it! Survivor is not messing around lately when it comes to some of these challenges. Things have gotten massive on Survivor… So.. Our callers for this evening will be Varner, Kass, and Kimmi; Ciera and Monica will be on the sit-out bench. Everyone else is blindfolded, but not bound to each other. And what ensues is a battle of the blocks – people are running into them, into each other and it’s POW! BANG! BOOM! All over the beach like a 1960’s Batman episode. Terry is basically working alone while everyone else has paired off, no one can hear the callers who are losing their voices at an exponential rate as the challenge progresses. It’s a total.. communication breakdown… ::cue Led Zeppelin:: Joe finally goes han-style, Solo Mode, and basically carries, like, several pieces by himself, with very little help from Kass – it’s amazing. I don’t know if he opened up his third eye or used echo location like dolphins do – and some blind people have done, but Joe totally owned this part of the challenge.
But this is a challenge that has the great equalizer so it doesn’t really matter how quickly people retrieve the massive puzzle pieces or who brings them in because once the blindfolds are off, the really tough work begins. I would not be good at these types of 3D puzzles – and slide puzzles, as I have mentioned, I really suck at, but some people are really good with their spatial awareness – Like Joe is. Eventually, though, Joe does team up with Terry and together they bring in the last piece for their tribe. Not long after, though, the other tribes have moved their last pieces and the puzzle begins. And things are not looking good for Angkor – Terry has a piece dropped on his foot, they are physically drained, people are leaning on pieces as if it’s break time at work… Bayon and Ta Keo win Immunity. After the challenge, Jeff asks Savage if they all just gave up while Varner falls to his knees, exhausted. They are so drained, Savage says that it’s scary; playing college football wasn’t this brutal. After they return to camp, everyone is, obviously, bummed. Jeff’s pinky toe is messed up and he’ll be limping for a few days… He’s not a threat at all…
And everyone is worried about Varner talking to Abi, well, Tasha and Savage are worried about it because he’s sooo cunning, which is true, but Tasha is very worried about Abi not siding with them for this vote. And she should be. Abi really wants to vote out Woo – because he voted for her twice and Varner has been nothing, but loyal to her. Sure, Woo is a benefit in challenges and Varner is somewhat injured now, but Woo has voted for her twice. Varner is definitely worried and he confides in Woo; “they” haven’t been talking to him, which raises a huge red flag – he knows it’s either him or Woo that will be snuffed out at Tribal Council. And Varner is sooo glad that HE’S never voted for Abi. Woo tried to talk to Abi, but she loves how comfortable Tasha and Savage make her feel. He warns her not to get too comfortable, she acknowledges, but… She wants to be with people that value HER, and want what SHE can bring to the table. And blah blah blah… Let’s get to Tribal Council…
Because I am SHOCKED that Jeff Varner got voted out. SHOCKED! Like, for real… Abi is diabolical – She’s an idiot savant. She has no idea just how much power she has in this game. If it was all part of her strategy, I would be impressed, but she’s being all Veruca Salt – She wants and Golden Goose and she wants it NOW. Not only is she a proven flip-flopper, but she’s not loyal either. I am really disappointed that we aren’t see the “new Abi” play this game. If she were using her emotions to manipulate people, I would be impressed, but she’s not making a conscious effort to play this game. I don’t know why she voted for Jeff, but it just proves that… UGH! She’s driving me nuts… Anyway… I didn’t snuff Varner’s torch this week because I didn’t feel like and…
NEXT WEEK… On Survivor… Merge maybe? Seems like maybe it’s merge time, but it feels too soon for that… And seriously! Abi! If she was in her confessionals all like, “yeah, I’m still being the old Abi, but I’m doing it on purpose”, I would be all for her, but… UGH… Again… Anyway… Be sure to check out Jon and Eric’s Survivor videos – obviously I am too busy to participate or I would totally be making appearances on them. Hanne is covering the Amazing Race, we have post-season Big Brother coverage, if you love Bravo shows, you’ll love Your Reality Recaps, and there is also Scream Queens & American Horror Story stuff… xoxox
