Despite the fact that the contestants on this season of Survivor are divided by life philosophies that apply to their every day lives, each tribe is experiencing their own consternation. The white collars don’t know what to make of Max and Shirin’s nudity, the blue collars can’t agree on how much work around camp is too much work around camp and the no collars have lost two challenges in a row despite their easygoing attitude. Let’s see if they can solve any of their problems this episode or if things will just get worse.
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After Tribal Council, Hali is happy Nina is gone. Will knows he’s on the outs after Hali tells him they only floated a few votes his way in case Nina played an idol. He doesn’t think it’s likely that he’ll be able to split up the solid alliance of three on his tribe if they lose again.
Things are going a little better on the blue collar tribe. They bond over hunting a snake, so that’s nice.
Reward Challenge
For the first reward challenge of the season (not including joint reward/immunity challenges) the survivors are competing for chickens and a rooster. Second place gets 10 eggs. Not even a dozen, Jeff? Really?
It’s a tried and true Survivor challenge where one caller directs his/her blindfolded teammates through an obstacle course to retrieve items. Then they have to lift the items to the caller on the platform. They need four items and then a flag. The first two tribes to raise their flags win immunity.
The no collars get off to a fast start, surprisingly enough, with Joe as their caller. Jeff has to constantly remind the contestants, especially Will and Dan, not to just let their platforms drop after they’ve raised them. They don’t heed his warnings and Dan lets the platform drop right on top of Kelly’s head.
Jeff stops the challenge because Kelly is bleeding through her buff and down her neck. The medic checks her out, says she’s okay and he can bandage her up so she can finish the challenge. I’m not sure why they couldn’t put Rodney or Mike in in her place (they were sitting out) but Kelly finishes the challenge like a gnarly bad-ass.
The no collars end up coming in first and despite a good effort by Kelly, the white collars finish ahead of the blue collars.
No Collar
Joe suggests slaughtering one of the chickens to celebrate Will’s 42nd birthday. Will gets emotional because he’s never spent a birthday away from his family before.
Jenn gets emotional too but it’s because she doesn’t want to kill the chicken. She’s a vegetarian back home and she doesn’t think there’s a reason to kill the chicken when they could just keep eating the eggs. She goes off to be alone for a while and figures she’ll spend some time looking for the idol. She isn’t confident at first because she doesn’t even have a clue, but after some poking around she manages to find it. I’m not sure where she’s going to hide it in that tiny bikini, but I’m sure she’ll think of something.
Blue Collar
Kelly’s okay but she had to have six stitches in her head. Apparently a head injury is enough for her to gain Mike’s respect, who now thinks Kelly’s someone he can go far in the game with.
Lindsey and Rodney get into it after Rodney tells Lindsey he thinks women should be “held to a higher standard.” I’m not sure if I entirely understand the context of this comment, but Lindsey interprets it as outdated at sexist logic. Rodney’s response is to say in his confessional that Lindsey must have some problems because of her face tattoos. So it’s a mature and productive conversation.
White Collar
Shirin is boiling the eggs they got in the reward. She’s secretly happy they didn’t get the chickens because she knows no one knows how to slaughter a chicken on her tribe. Although she does claim to have learned how to slaughter a bunny. This weirds her tribe out even more, though I think they’re just finding reasons not to like her now.
Max worries that sitting Shirin out at the next challenge will alienate her so he suggests sitting out Carolyn instead. That’s not cool with Carolyn, who claims to be a better athlete than Shirin. When Max and Shirin are off on the beach being naked, she suggests to Tyler and Joaquin that they should cut off the head of the snake at their next Tribal and vote out Max.
First Immunity Challenge
For the immunity challenge, the tribe members are all attached to a rope and one-by-one they have to maneuver themselves through a rope obstacle. When they’re done, they have to stand on a balance beam and maneuver three balls through a rope maze. First two to win get immunity.
Joaquin is crazy fast on the rope maze but poor Will is struggling once again. Shocking. Rodney has a tough time with the rope maze too and looks to his tribe mates to guide him through it.
All three tribes get to the ball maze at about the same time. The no collars have another dominant performance and finish first so they’re safe.
Rodney and Max are the last two working on their mazes. Rodney is close to finishing but he literally drops the ball, which leaves room for Max to win immunity for the white collars. The blue collars will head to their first Tribal Council of the season.
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First Loser Camp
No one’s ready for Tribal, but Mike thinks that it could be good to find out where everyone in the tribe stands.
Dan agrees with Lindsey when she suggests they vote Rodney out. But in his confessional, he’s a condescending jerk. He says there are two ways to listen, like a guy or like a girl. According to him, when you listen like a guy, you find ways to solve problems, but when you listen like a girl simply placate him. He’s being a bigger jerk right now than Rodney, but since it’s behind Lindsey’s back, she won’t even realize it until she watches this.
Rodney, Mike, Dan and Kelly have a pow-wow where they agree they’re a solid four. Rodney runs his mouth some more and says if he were back home he’d “spank Lindsey like a bad baby.” Disgusting. Kelly is clearly irritated with him but she bites her tongue. She and Mike are a solid two and wonder if they should vote out Rodney instead of Lindsey. Either way they’re making an important decision about the future of their games.
Tribal Council
Rodney brings up his feud with Lindsey right away. Lindsey says they have different morals, which is to say that he doesn’t have morals. Sierra says Rodney is demeaning and vulgar and Kelly agrees. Rodney says he’s not sexist because he loves his mom (okay?) but he does believe that women should hold themselves to a higher standard. Jeff wonders if he knows what he’s doing. It is, after all, a social game.
Lindsey makes an impassioned case for herself. She says she loves this tribe and she believes in this tribe and she wants to be here. Jeff seems impressed with her enthusiasm, but her other tribe mates don’t seem to be.
After the vote, it’s a three-way tie between Lindsey, Sierra and Rodney. The votes for Sierra must have been in case of an idol because after the re-vote, Lindsey is sent home. It seems like a mistake to me, but that might just because I think Rodney’s a dumb goon.
At the blue collar camp after Tribal, Sierra wants to know who voted for her. Mike confirms that it was only so they’d have a safety net if Lindsey played an idol. Mike is happy with the decision they made, but doesn’t like how now Sierra’s on the outside.
Adding insult to injury, Dan starts pointing out all of the things Sierra’s done wrong in this game. Rodney jumps in making Sierra feel even more upset.
Drop Your Buffs
It’s time for a tribal switch! Dan, Sierra, Mike, Rodney, Tyler, Joaquin and Joe are on the Escameca tribe (blue) and Will, Hali, Jenn, Max, Carolyn, Shirin and Kelly are on Nagarote (red).
For the second reward challenge of the evening, one person from each tribe will launch a ball onto the beach while their tribe mates try to catch it with a net. For each ball they catch, they score a point and the first to five wins kitchen utensils, spices and sausages.
As far as action goes, this is a pretty uneventful challenge. Escameca clearly has a physical advantage that is only just beginning to show itself. They win the challenge 4-2.
Nagarote
The new Nagarote tribe makes their home at the old no collar beach. Hali knows that she needs the only blue collar (Kelly) to join her, Jenn and Will. But Shirin recognizes the same need to get Kelly on board with her, Max and Carolyn and she gets to Kelly first. Shirin thinks they have a connection, but Kelly says in her confessional she’s still weighing her options.
Shirin already gets on the nerves of her new tribe members by singing the National Anthem and talking a lot at camp. And Max gets stung by a stingray and puts his warty feet in the drinking water pot afterwards. So basically Max and Shirin are going back to their old white collar ways.
Shirin and Max also assume that Carolyn will vote with them just because they came from the same tribe but Carolyn is more than willing to switch alliances. She’s just waiting for the right moment.
Escameca
Mike knows they have the majority with four blue collars but he’s worried about Sierra getting cozy with the new guys. Sierra waits until her old tribe mates leave to tell the new Joe, Tyler and Joaquin how unhappy she was with them. Tyler is glad to hear that there are some cracks in the majority alliance.
Mike grabs Dan and tells him he has to make nice with Sierra after his mean lecture from the other night. Dan makes an ass of himself with a non-apology to Sierra. “I’m sorry but…” is never a good way to apologize to anyone.
Second Immunity Challenge
Two members of each tribe have to place two pots on a sled and drag it through obstacles. Once they have all of their pots, they have to stack them on stands and once tribe member has to use a wrecking ball to smash the pots. Winner gets immunity.
Escameca is way ahead because they have all the brutes on their tribe. Naragote only has two pairs through when Escameca starts smashing pots. Dan doesn’t miss any pots and even manages to hit two at once. Escameca wins immunity by a mile.
Second Loser Camp
Max says he’s happy when they lose because now they’ll get to change the dynamic of their tribe and he’ll finally get a chance “to play the game.” That seems like the kind of comment that comes back to bite you in the butt.
Jenn and Hali want to vote with Will to get Shirin or Max out. Max and Shirin want to vote out Will because he’s useless in challenges. Shirin tells Kelly and Carolyn the plan and assumes they’re both on board and that she’s “in a position of power.”
But Carolyn is not on board. She tells Jenn she is not tight with the other two and would love to vote with them. Jenn is relieved because that makes things so much easier. When Kelly hears Carolyn is voting with the no collars, she thinks her strategy should change so she’d be with the majority alliance.
Now the only issue is, should it be Max or Shirin? Each one is equally annoying to Jenn, who says it’s a photo finish in the race of irritation. I’d think Max would be better to keep around because he would be more of an asset in challenges, but I don’t have to live with them.
Second Tribal Council
Shirin has a weird interaction with Jeff, who she says is looking at her like she’s delusional. Jeff has no idea what she’s talking about but he says he does have Resting Intense Face.
Kelly admits that things have been uncomfortable in the new tribe and Max says that’s because on paper the tribe is a disaster, like the Survivor: One World tribe swap. Jenn thinks it’s crazy/annoying that Max and Shirin know so many random things about the history of this game.
Hali says that this vote is based on strategy, loyalty and quality of life. She thinks that life at camp will be a lot better after tonight.
Before Jeff reads the votes, Max tells him to “hold up bro.” When Jeff holds up, Max tells him to never mind, that was just something he always wanted to say. Which makes it all the more ironic when it’s Max’s name that’s read the most. His stupid joke that fell flat makes him look all the more moronic now. Max is sent home in a blindside and Shirin can’t believe it either. Oh how the Survivor nerds have fallen.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
