This time on Survivor… Come on in, guys! It’s time to DROP YOUR BUFFS! And now I have to use the actual tribe names and colors. So! The new Levu (Blue) tribe: Ashley, Alan, Devon, Desi, and Joe; the new Soko (Yellow) tribe: Ryan, Roark, JP, Ali, and Chrissy; the new Yawa (Red) tribe: Ben, Jessica, Cole, Mike, and Lauren. Everyone is trying to stay positive and calm, but Ben and Roark confess to us that they are nervous; Ben is especially scared being among three Healers with only Lauren to add to his own number. Without further ado, though, it’s time for a Reward challenge. Up for grabs? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, enough to keep them eating the stuff for a few days at least, and an individual bag of chips for each. Only the tribe to finish first wins. There is no reward for second place. In this challenge, three tribe members will be attached to braided ropes and must untangle themselves, and untangle the ropes from wooden hurdles, then use a rope with a metal circle to snag a sled containing puzzle pieces, and pull the sled to the puzzle station where the remaining two tribe members will solve the upright puzzle. Survivors ready? GO! A few minutes into the challenge and Yawa has taken the early lead with Soko struggling to keep up with Levu, but before you know it, Soko makes up some time and JP begins launching the rope to snag the sled. Of course, though, everyone catches up and Ben from Yawa is first to snag the sled and Jessica and Dr. Mike get to work on the puzzle. JP is next to snag the sled for Soko, but really… Jessica and Dr. Mike have a BIG lead and are very close to finishing the puzzle aaand… Yawa wins Reward.
At the Yawa camp, Ben is feeling a little better knowing that his new tribe works well together, but he knows he’s the number one target if they “win” that dreaded date with Jeff later. While everyone is getting to know each other over PB&J, Jessica opens her chip bag and sees a note with “Secret Advantage” written on it. After realizing she’s been staring at her chip bag too long, she seals it back up to inspect later when she has private time. Jessica finds that time while everyone is enjoying time in the water. Her advantage? She can block one person from voting at the next Tribal Council and the person she gives it too won’t know what it is until they open it in front of Jeff. If her tribe doesn’t attend the next Tribal Council, she must send the advantage to someone on the losing tribe. Very happy to be the one who picked the bag of lucky chips, Jessica shares the information with her fellow Healers, Cole and Dr. Mike. Instead of maintaining the trust that Jessica gave to him upon his telling her of Joe’s Idol, Cole decides the information of Jessica’s advantage could be used to garner him some trust with other people. YOU IDIOT! She’s not gonna trust you very much longer if you go blabbing around HER secret. The dunderhead Cole thinks that people will think he’s trustworthy if he shares Jessica’s secret… ::EYEROLL:: The first person he tells is Ben and then he tells Lauren; Lauren is suspicious of the secret, though and plans to use it to her advantage.
At the new Soco, Roark is nervous about being the sole Healer on the tribe, but Ryan is feeling really great that Chrissy is with him since he’s the one that bestowed up on her the gift of his unusable Secret Advantage at the beginning of the game. While the two walk to the well together, Ryan tells her about the advantage he found on the first day and Chrissy is quick to understand why he’s telling her this. She confesses how loved it made her feel and she says she’ll do what she can to, not pay him back, exactly, but – Ryan understands what she means so no more words need to be spoken. Chrissy doesn’t know what it was about her that first day that Ryan found deserving of having the advantage, but she is VERY happy to have another person she can trust to help push her further in the game. Over at the new Levu, Devon is viewed as the swing vote, instead of the target, by everyone, and despite their past at the Hero camp, Ashely and Alan agree to set aside their differences and do their best to play together now. While alone with Desi and Devon, Joe is determined to pull Devon to their side; even though he has an Idol, he would rather not use it yet. Sooo, Joe pulls a bonehead move and tells Devon that Ashley and Alan approached him with the idea to vote out Devon, which is a total lie. Yeah, it’s a game of deceit, but dude, Joe, you have to be suave and stealthy about your manipulations! You can’t just throw around a bunch of lies your first day with a new tribe, especially when there’s a swing vote involved! ::EYEROLL:: for the second time this episode.
Back at Yawa, Lauren has noticed how close Cole and Jessica are and as they drag their tribe raft out into the ocean to fish, she takes the opportunity to try to pull Dr. Mike over to her and Ben’s side by asking if he knew about an advantage found in a chip bag. Dr. Mike plays dumb and excuses himself to meet up with Jessica in the water and let her know that Lauren knows about her advantage; he doesn’t tell her that he KNOWS it was Cole who opened his mouth. I guess he’s hoping Jessica will see his shock that Lauren knows and put the pieces together herself. With Dr. Mike gone, Jessica talks to Cole; he lies and says he didn’t tell Lauren, buuut, he says that he mentioned it to Ben. Jessica is devastated and blames herself. Cole couldn’t even keep the secret for a day and it’s her fault for trusting him too much. Jessica always blames herself when she gets hurt by others because she allowed herself to form the relationships with the people that have hurt her. I feel bad for the girl, but she should have known from Cole’s previous actions, telling Roark about Joe’s Idol, that Cole couldn’t keep a secret. She shouldn’t blame herself, though. Cole’s secret was his to tell, this secret was not. If she’s smart, she’ll vote him out before he has the chance to further damage her game.
Come on in, guys! It’s time for Immunity! In this challenge, tribes will have to maneuver a very heavy crate containing large wooden puzzle pieces through a table maze and under a tight net to the puzzle station. At the puzzle station, they must then unlock the remaining puzzle pieces; there are two locks and a lot of keys. After unlocking the second back of puzzle pieces, they have to solve the puzzle; they must interlock the wooden beams, but the colors have to match where the pieces intersect. It looks tough, both physically and mentally, this puzzle. Survivors ready? GO! While everyone struggles to move the heavy crate around, Levu is through first with Yawa right behind them, but Soko is quick to even things up and it’s onto the nets. Both Levu and Yawa are progressing well and begin untying the puzzle pieces as Soko finally shoves themselves and the crate through the net. Yawa is first to start working on the puzzle, then Soko, but Ashley is struggling with the locks for Levu while the other two tribes are making good progress on the puzzle. Yawa is first to finish so it’s down to Levu and Soko, but Soko has progressed much faster and they win second place Immunity sending Levu to Tribal Council. And Jessica plans on stirring things up on the Levu tribe with her advantage and she is hoping to keep her fellow Healers safe.
At the Levu camp, spirits are low and Devon attributes the loss to their inability to work together; everyone was on their own page during the challenge. Everyone knows that Devon is the swing vote and Ashley finds herself some time to speak to him to let him know that he’s not the odd one out just because he’s the sole Hustler on the new tribe. Devon takes this opportunity to let Ashley know that Joe told him that the Heroes wanted to get rid of him. Ashley confirms that Devon’s suspicions of that not be a legit statement; Devon felt like a car salesman was talking to him when Joe pitched him the lie. (See, Joe? Not smart to so blatantly lie this early in the game). So Devon is for sure aligning himself with the Heroes now; he trusts Ashley, Alan seems like a stand-up guy, but Joe is a snake and he doesn’t like having snakes around. Unfortunately, Desi saw Ashley and Devon conversing, and the hug they shared at the end of it, and she reports to Joe her discovery. Joe knows he has to use his Idol, which means he needs to be sure the votes Ashley, Alan, and Devon cast are placed upon him sooo… Later, Joe stirs the pot by asking if this is the part where they act like nothing is happening or – or what, Alan wants to know. It has been determined that someone is going home, there’s nothing they can do to ignore that. Sooo… blah blah blah, Joe announces that his vote is going to be for Ashley to keep the tribe strong. Ashley doesn’t like this at all, she doesn’t think she’s the weakest link and she doesn’t know what Joe’s plan is by riling up the rest of the tribe. Desi is devastated because it seems that Joe has blown up both of their games. He later he reveals to her that he has the Idol, but that doesn’t make her feel better; she thinks he just put the target on her back because his confidence level might just have the others believing that he does have an Idol. In the water, Ashley, Alan, and Devon suspect that either could have the Idol and everything is up in the air. Before Tribal, though, Devon finds a note in his bag: Jessica has given him the note that is not be opened until Tribal Council – it’s labeled to be an advantage, but it’s not…
And awaaay we go to Tribal Council! After Joe and Desi light their torches, Jeff commences with the questioning. Alan is the first to be addressed, but the look on his face tells Jeff that there’s juicy bits to discuss so he tosses away his obligatory “how does it feel being on this new tribe blah blah blah” spiel. Alan says it’s been a long day so Jeff asks what happened after- Joe raises his hand to speak. He initiated conversation about how things would go down at Tribal and admits that he threw Ashley’s name on the block. Ashley says that she has never been considered the weakest link in anything, but she realizes she was Joe’s best option for a target because he’s not going to go after someone he’s been aligned with prior to the tribe switch. Desi admits she was surprised by Joe’s actions, it put a target on her back. Alan mentions that there was chatter about someone having an Idol and says that his vote will for either Joe or Desi. Jeff is quick to bring up that Devon is in the middle, Devon admits knowing that he’s the swing vote and his vote will be based on who he thinks he can work with moving forward in the game. Joe says something about the strong bond of the Heroes, but Alan points out that the Healers won every challenge. Why would anyone want to keep their numbers safe and have a solid group of six to contend with later in the game. Devon again states that he will be doing what’s best for his game, and after Jeff says it’s time to vote, Devon brings out his “secret advantage”. Upon reading the note, though, Devon realizes that his vote is being blocked; the advantage is being used against him. After establishing that Devon will not be voting, the votes are cast, Jeff asks if anyone wants to play an Idol and Joe pulls out his Idol and plays it for himself. The votes are read: Joe, Joe, Alan, and Alan… Joe taunts Ashley saying he read her face and thanks her.
Next time on Survivor! We’re in for a grueling challenge, Roark proposes an all-girl alliance, which isn’t well received by JP, and Ashley and Devon have agreed to stick together. As always, if you like my blogs, check out what else Reality Recaps has to offer, including Survivor recap videos. Eric still has Big Brother 19 stuff for everyone to enjoy along with his coverage of Bravo shows, and more! If you want to help support everything we do you can become a Patreon and if you’re buying something on Amazon, use this link to further help support the site – it doesn’t cost you more and it gives a little to us so we can keep providing free content for everyone. Thanks for reading! See you next time…
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