This week on Survivor… As the Brawns settle into camp after Tribal, Alecia is grateful to still be in the game and she says she trusts Scot now even though she was a little nervous there for a minute. She doesn’t understand why everyone was talking so much crap on her at Tribal, she noticed a lot of whispering, and swears she heard someone say “I changed my mind”. Alecia is confused about things… And she has a good reason! Jenny thought for a moment or two that the vote was going to switch to Alecia, but it didn’t. Scot and Jason both agree; however, that Alecia is next to go because she’s just not the brightest “embryo” in the fire pit… Which still doesn’t have a flame in it.
The next day at Beauty Beach, Tai is left alone on land while the rest of the tribe is enjoying some swim time and he uses this opportunity to go search for an idol real fast. Since he’s not sure where he stands with the tribe, Tai really wants to find an idol and he’s gonna go back to where he was searching the day before because he really feels like he’s onto something there. And despite some a run in with some red ants… He finds a clue that indicates that the idol is buried at the foot of the tree, BUT! Mwah ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa! The idol is buried in a box and he needs a key to open it and where is that key? Oh, you know, up in a tree just out of his reach, but the Survivor producers are just so nice that they’ve provided a tool that will useful in obtaining this key. Unsure of how long he’s been out there or what the rest of the tribe is up to, Tai, having spied the canister containing the key, decides to give climbing the tree a try, but it’s higher up than he thought. With his feet bleeding, thighs scraped up, his belly skin burning, and his grip on the bark loosening, he wonders how Ozzy climbed trees so well and Tai gives up for the time being. He really should shuffle back to camp…
Popping in on the Brains, Joe is applying kerosene oil very liberally to the materials in the fire pit, which whoosh up with flames when Neal moves a match into the mix. Liz feels good about the Brains tribe and winning the first challenge has elevated them all to cloud nine, but she’s thirsty and it’s time to put some water on the fire… Debbie thinks boiling water is ridiculous. There aren’t any chemicals in the water that need to be eradicated – she would know, right? She’s a chemist and she and Joe have been drinking the water as is and they are okay, but that’s not proof enough for Liz. Debbie agrees that the others may not have the immune system she does; Debbie grew up around all kinds of animals, and blah blah blah. The young bloods on the Brains tribe still aren’t impressed with Debbie despite all her jobs, hobbies, and life experience; so far she’s a Brain without game and Peter’s hoppin’ on the Debbie train because she’s exactly the kind of person he wants to keep around to help him claim the title and prize.
Back to the Beauties where Tai has decided to relax his efforts on obtaining the idol and focus more on letting his charm win over his tribe, but mostly Caleb, whom he finds to be cuddlelicious. Because on the first night, Tai was cold and asked if he could cozy up to Caleb, which Caleb had no issue with at all – why would he? He’s not homophobic, obviously. The boys on BB16 were the most affectionate bunch of straight dudes I’ve ever seen period. Usually the boys find a nice girl to snuggle up to at night, but not on BB16! Nooope! The ladies are just tickled pink by the bromance between Caleb and Tai – the two could not be more different from each other, but they just have this explainable connection. They fight then they kiss and make up just like a married couple, well, almost just like a married couple. When Tai goes in for a little kiss while plucking some fish skin out of Caleb’s teeth, he recoils, but all in good fun! Tai just wanted to mess with Caleb a bit and knew he wouldn’t get all crazy about it – and Tai thinks Caleb might actually like the attention… He says he doesn’t want to get Caleb in trouble with his girlfriend; Caleb says to ask next time he wants a little smooch.
Bouncing back to the Brains, Joe is going on about keeping the fire-making materials covered; it’s all damp. He’s also not happy about the amount of kerosene left and doesn’t know where it all went, buuuuuuuuut – Neal lets us know that Joe dumped about a third of it on the fire previously AND he left it tipped on it’s side, the kerosene ate through the rubber stopper, and most of the fuel is gone now. Joe has also destroyed most of the matches, according to Liz, which is upsetting to her because she’s really hankerin’ for some freshly boiled water. AAAnd… Joe thinks she’s being ridiculous worrying about pathogens in the water and isn’t concerned at all that Liz needs to refuel her body. Liz is upset about this and knowing that she’s just upset and emotional because she needs some physical comfort in the form of fire and water, she sneaks off to spend some time alone floating in the oceans. What we have here, folks, is a classic case of reverse ageism – The older folks aren’t giving the younger folks enough credit, Joe thinks he’s at Kindergarten camp, which is stupid because grandma and grandpa are out-numbered. And why neither Joe nor Debbie can get a fire going for everyone without fuel and matches, despite their survival/military backgrounds, is beyond me. I bet Bear Grylles could get a fire going for the Brains so Liz can drink some freakin’ water, even with damp tinder…
The brutality of Brawny Beach is testing the tribe members; it’s the battle of not being able to boil water for food and drink because no one can get a fire made. Meanwhile, the sun’s heat is literally blistering Jason’s skin, it’s, like, bubbling up and glistening like sweat on his skin. Alecia is determined, though, to prove her worth to her tribe because she and everyone else knows that she is on the bottom so she gives herself the mission of making fire. For five hours Alecia toils away at her task while everyone else naps in the shelter and as soon as she’s all “I’ve got fire! I’ve got fire!” of course, everyone springs forth from the shelter. Jason jumps into action with the flint and machete when the small flame starts to dwindle as Alecia sets down her pile of ignited tinder and awaaaaaaaaaay we go! The Brawns have fire, thanks to Alecia, and in some part to Jason, but mostly Alecia and Jason makes sure that everyone thanks her. Jenny is so happy that Alecia did something so helpful for the tribe because she needed the self-esteem boost and now – they all get to eat chicken and drink clean water and the Brawns are feelin’ great.
Come on in, guys! It’s time for Immunity and Reward. Up for grabs this week is the ultimate Survivor fishing kit complete with a fishing boat delivered to the winner’s camp. The second place finishers get a spool of fishing line and a couple of lures. In this challenge players will race down a shallow river and pick up a VERY heavy log then maneuver the log through obstacles on land and in the water, into the ocean where they must carry it to a cradle, untie a ball and use it to knock down two targets at the end of the course. First two tribes win. Survivors ready? GO! Jeff warns to be wary of the mud in the river, but it doesn’t seem to hinder many in the dash to the logs and everyone starts untying around the same time, but the Brawns are the first to continue on the course. Beauty isn’t far behind the Brawns and the Brains are right behind them. The tribes stay pretty even through the race to the cradles, but Beauty takes the lead after the final ocean obstacle and they are the first to start slingin’ balls, which are attached to a rope for easy retrieval, but Beauty has theirs all tangled up in knots. Scot of the Brawns is first to launch a ball, but his target fails to fall, opening up a chance for Caleb to put the Beauties in the lead again – and he does. Peter from shoots next and he score a point for the Brains then Scot launches again for the Brawns and ties up the score across the board. Peter takes another shot, but misses, giving Caleb the opportunity to slam the final target for the Beauties – and he does. Scot pulls back to win it for the Brawns, but falls short of the target. While the Brawns scramble to pull their ball back, Peter is gearing up for another launch and suddenly, so is Scot, but as he falls backwards into the water, Peter’s final launch is good and the Brawns will be meeting up for another date with Jeff at Tribal Council.
Day six at Brawny Beach is turning out to be a bit of a bummer. Scot feels a little responsible for the Immunity/Reward loss, but Jason tells him that it’s not really his fault his missed the last shot. Jason also lets us know that he, Scot, Jenny, and Cydney are tight and that Alecia is useless – she’s an ostrich – she’s a bird that can’t fly. No offense, of course, Jason is sure she has a good heart and good intentions, but the girl isn’t bright. After Blondie takes her leave of the rest of the tribe in favor a walk away from camp, the boys know she’s going on an Idol hunt, but they are pretty sure she won’t find anything. While she’s away, Scot and Jason do some major Alecia-slamming and Jenny doesn’t like it – she says that’s all Jason does and she’s had enough. Later, Jenny talks with Alecia and she asks Blondie what the best thing she can do in this game is and Alecia says “be honest”. Jenny says “no”. And it’s not winning challenges either – it’s getting out strong players when you can. Alecia pounces on this and points out that the girls will be much better together in a merge situation when everyone wants to vote out strong players just as Cydney makes her way over to the ladies… So! The girls are gonna vote out Jason. The boys see them walk out of the jungle together and Jason is suspicious. Scot tries to ease his mind and talks to Jenny and this puts Jenny in another frame of mind. She likes Scott and blindsiding Jason will be like blindsiding Scot and she makes her thoughts known to Cydney who is totally confused about why Jenny is going back and forth. So! Everything is all up in the air and wibbly wobbly going into Tribal Council.
To Tribal Council! Jeff starts his line of question with Alecia who, of course, is feeling a bit nervous tonight, but hopes that her efforts to contribute will keep her safe. Jeff poses a quandary to Jenny in regards to all the different ways things could go that evening, there are three ladies and it would be easy for them to stick together and send one of the guys packing. Jenny tells Jeff that things were definitely up in the air earlier in the day… AAAAAAAAAnd Jenny just broke rule #2 of Survivor: Don’t be totally honest about your thoughts, feelings, and intentions at Tribal Council. I don’t know what it is about Jeff and Tribal Council that makes people want to just talk talk talk talk talk about what’s on their minds. Because of three little words “up in the air”, Scot and Jason’s loyalty to Jenny burned out faster than her torch when Jeff snuffed it. I mean, Jenny tries to back-peddle, but it was over as soon as she vocalized that she was thinking about flipping. So, remember, Future Survivors, the #1 Rule of Survivor: Don’t get too comfortable/cocky/confident and the #2 Rule of Survivor: Don’t be totally honest about your thoughts, feelings, and intentions at Tribal Council. The unspoken ultimate rule is, of course, LEARN HOW TO MAKE FREAKIN’ FIRE before you go on the show. 😉
Next time on Survivor! Debbie is ready to do some crazy stuff and Idol Madness hits the Brawns. Like what you seen and read? Check out what everyone else at Reality Recaps is doing! We’ve got Amazing Race recaps, Big Brother Canada Coverage Galore, Hell’s Kitchen, Bravo Shows, The Bachelor, video recaps… We do a lot. You should really surf around. 😉
