This week on Survivor… Andrew is not at all happy about Woo’s departure from the game. He thought he was better at reading people but THOSE people are professional and eff them pieces of shi- whoa, Savage… So much hate! In the shelter, Kass lets him know that it wasn’t personal – there were red flags. Moving forward, Savage lets them know that he’s loyal, he just wants to make the merge and they can use him however they need to. Savage doesn’t like being the non-leader, but to stay in the game, he’ll do it. Spencer wants reassurance that Savage won’t be coming after him again and with a handshake, Savage says he won’t. Spencer also knows why he’s still there – He has changed his ways, built up relationships and the fact that he’s relying on Kass right now proves that he adjusted his strategy and is playing a good game. At both camps, tree mail arrives; Bayon is instructed to walk down to a spot on the beach and Ta Keo is asked to pack up everything they want and take the walk to their new home – It’s Merge Time! Both tribes are both excited and nervous about this, but Savage is all smiles now – He’ll be back with his Bayon boys and life on the island is good again.
So everyone is a little shocked that they are merging with thirteen people still left in the game, but it makes perfect sense to me that they would merge a little earlier. Merging early gives everyone even more of a second chance to stay in the game instead of being on the wrong side of the numbers in smaller tribes; or maybe they just wanted to make sure Savage made the Merge… 😉 At the Merge feast, everyone wants to hear about Woo and Kimmi is surprised that Kass didn’t write down Spencer’s name. And Kass is glad that she has that to use in the future because she saved him. Kelley is happy to have made the merge this time; that was her goal last time, but we all know how that worked out. And Stephen knows that as soon as this feast is over, the game is on again because in new school Survivor you have to hit the ground running. To have the majority, you have to have a group of seven to control the first vote. Andrew is the happiest man alive right now; he’s alone with Jeremy in the jungle and he expresses his concerns about the Ta Keo group. Going over the names they think they have, they still only have six; the two of them, Tasha, Stephen, Kimmi, and Savage thinks Borneo Kelly will be loyal to him. They just need one more and Savage hopes it will be Joe…
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island, Kass and Kelly are talking about who else they can pull to be in their group. Kass says that Abi is good because she knows she can’t win and they have Ciera, Keith, definitely Spencer, and as long as Joe is going to honor the Final Five deal they made before the tribe’s switched again, they have their seven. Kelley wants to talk to Spencer and Joe, though, because they are the wild cards in this round – they have all the power and control as far as this week’s vote is concerned. Later, at the Orkun camp, which is the merged tribe name – where that name came from is beyond me – Savage spots Joe alone on the beach and saunters up to talk game with him. Joe is keeping his options open, but isn’t open about that with Savage. He thinks he can trust Savage, buuut… He’s gonna spend time talking with everyone. Elsewhere, at another time, maybe, Kelley and Spencer are lounging in a hammock and Kelley is running her play on Spencer, going over who she knows is in her group. He’s not sure about Keith, but Kelley assures him, Keith is all good. Spencer is also keeping his options open, though.
Finally, later, Spencer and Joe sit down on the beach to talk about their positions in the game. Spencer’s alliances change by the day and Joe hasn’t even had to go to Tribal yet. Using #JoeLanguage, Spencer draws up the “field” and places everyone into their positions. There are solid groups of five on either side with Joe and Spencer in the middle. They both agree that they need to watch each other’s backs and I LOVE this pairing! Before the challenge, the tribe is stuck in the shelter because of a downpour; Kass feels like she’s stuck in her grandma’s sewing room and has to be quiet and Stephen takes this opportunity to recite some poetry he’s memorized – he’s got 18 ready to go. Everyone enjoys this then we hear from Kass. She knows there is a Bayon bro-down going on, but she has a lot of connections and she thinks she can pull the numbers she needs to keep her alliance intact. Lounging in the shelter, Kass begins a conversation with Tasha and Tasha just knows that she’s fishing for information; she decides to give her a bogus story about how strong Bayon is not. Tasha is not going to let Kass be the reason she is voted out this time, no way! Buuut… Kass picks up on the lack of sincerity in Tasha’s voice and she doesn’t like it. No way is she letting anyone get in the way of her second chance. Tasha just unleashed the beast in Kass.
The next day, Chaos ensues. Kass pulls Tasha to the beach to confront her about the comment that Bayon is no more to which Tasha responds with the question of why she would say that when that’s all she’s working with? Tasha also tells Kass that she’s not going to give up information to her because she doesn’t trust her. And yada yada yada, the line in the sand has been drawn between Kass and Tasha. They return to the shelter and Tasha begins to explain that she had a conversation with Kass, Kass jumps in to let everyone know that Tasha said Bayon was no more. Tasha says that Kass shouldn’t believe what comes out of her mouth then Ciera jumps in on the action so she can use this chaos to her advantage to break up the Bayons. She mentions how close Savage and Woo were, that they were planning to target old Bayon members; Savage denies this and can’t believe that Ciera is spouting this stuff. There is now a two-headed dragon at their lovely camp and one of those heads is going to roll this week.
Come on in, guys! It’s time for the first individual Immunity challenge and this week is a throwback to Cagayan. Each player must balance a ball on a disc while also balancing on a slanted, narrow beam. After each 10 minute round, they will have to move down a section on the beam, which gets narrower as the challenge progresses, as well as the pole attached to their discs. And it’s on! Stephen is the first one out after only a few seconds and Keith joins him after nine minutes followed swiftly by Ciera and Kimmi. The second round begins and Abi is out immediately, followed by Kass, Borneo Kelly, and the other Kelley, which leaves Tasha as the only woman left in the challenge – and she won it last time she played it. The third round begins and Joe is clearly the smartest person playing this round because he has chosen to face the other direction putting his feet on the incline instead of the decline of the beam. Savage is the first one out and both Jeremy and Tasha have some great saves, but they soon join the rest of the tribe on the bench leaving Joe and Spencer to battle it out for the necklace. Spencer’s ball starts to roll around, though, and after two BRILLIANT recoveries, the third time is not the charm; JOE wins Immunity.
Back at camp, Savage is really disappointed he didn’t win Immunity; he wants to show those young bucks a thing or two, but he’s not really nervous about being snuffed. Kass and Ciera are on his chopping block and Savage is leaning more towards Ciera because she really good at telling believable lies – about him! Around the well with Stephen, Joe, and Borneo Kelly, Savage voices his opinion, but Stephen and Kelly are more threatened by Kass. Joe is just gonna go wherever the majority of the votes go because that’s the smart move for him right now. On the beach, Jeremy and Spencer have a little chat – Kass is definitely the target, but Jeremy wants to know if she has an Idol. Spencer is pretty sure she doesn’t, but as Jeremy says – It’s always good to split votes. Later on the beach, a group of eight as assembled: Savage, Tasha, Stephen, Borneo Kelly, Kimmi, Jeremy, Joe, Spencer, and KEITH! And Keith is totally cool with letting Kass go; if that’s what the majority wants to do – better her than him. And they are having this conversation of splitting the votes within eye sight of Kass, Ciera, the other Kelley, and Abi, who are definitely not happy about this. The ladies aren’t stupid; they know the others are going to split the vote and because of the big blow out earlier in the day, Ciera knows it could be her going home. Kass has a plan to flip the script, though. All they need is five votes for Tasha and if they can pull Spencer to their side, Kass and Ciera can be saved. Kass and Spencer have a little chat and Spencer isn’t sure what he’s going to do. Ciera and Kass had his back, but he considers Tasha to be a friend. All the power is in his hands and Spencer feels pretty good; he’s never been in such a position to influence the game. His luck has finally turned around.
To Tribal Council we go! After Keith and Joe take up their torches and get some fire – Have we ever gotten to a merge with people still torchless? I don’t think so… Anyway, Jeff pulls out his big spoon and starts stirring the pot. So, Ciera… Things are a little chaotic at camp, eh? You were pretty quick to let me know that it was before the challenge. Uh,yeah, Jeff, that’s putting it mildly. Well that should be just fine for you right, Chaos Kass? She disagrees – from her perspective she’s not playing the chaos card this year and Tasha’s head turn so quickly that you’d think someone had just said “Joe’s getting greased up again!”. Head shakes and eye rolls fill the faces of Tasha and Savage. Kass says that Tasha is actually in the center of the chaos this time and OMG… Tasha is having NONE of that and chaos ensues again because Kass brings up Bye Bye Bayon, which Tasha still defends as something that never came out of her mouth. Ciera jumps in now to point out that some of the things Kass is saying are true and you know… lol Tasha, you did imply, albeit falsely, that Bayon wasn’t a thing anymore and Ciera… You say you know it’s never good to be involved with chaos, but, uh, sweetheart, you kinda totally threw yourself into the center of it…
SO! Joe is put in the spotlight next; it’s the first vote after the merge, people are afraid to jump on one side or the other so the easy votes tonight are between the three women – Ciera, Kass, and Tasha. Ciera doesn’t think the vote should be easy – they should all want to be making big moves right now and actually play the game. They should all be playing to win, they should be playing for first place, not sixth like she did last time. Spencer points out that different people play different ways; today someone plays one way and tomorrow could be totally different. This really intrigues Jeff because typically there is always a tight group, but Spencer is saying that everything could be different tomorrow no matter who goes home tonight. Stephen thinks the game is evolving because the main targets tonight are three small women when usually it’s the big, strong guys that have Jeff’s snuffer dangling over their fires. So, Spencer, are alliances even a thing anymore or is it just voting blocks that change from week to week? After the last three days, Spencer wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how the game progressed from this point forward. This isn’t the game play, exactly, that Ciera is looking for because you do have to trust people, but you need your one, two three four, not the five six seven eight and there are definitely some five six seven eights in the group. And with that – Let’s get to the vote because this paragraph is long enough. The votes: Kass, Ciera, Tasha, Kass, Ciera, Tasha, Kass, Ciera… SAVAGE??? Wtf??? Kass, Ciera, Kass and the first member of the Jury is: Kass.
So Ciera threw a vote to Savage… I guess that’s her way of “playing” by not sticking with the voting block she agreed to be a part of in order to keep herself that much safer in the game… Kinda weird if you ask me! And I was busy with a customer during the scenes from the next episode so I have NO idea what to expect on the next episode, but I do know that it will probably be another crazy ride and hopefully another Tribal Council full of great expressions from our Survivors! As always…Be sure to check out Jon and Eric’s Survivor videos. 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… And HELLO! to the guy I gave a YRR business card to today at the liquor store. If you’re reading, THANKS! Tell your friend Brandon from Survivor: Guatemala to check ’em out and bring him into the store sometime so I can check off another name on my “Survivors I’ve Met” List. 😉
