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When we rejoin our hapless Survivors, we get two surprises. The tribes are meeting at the beach in what appears to be some sort of challenge. The second is that Bi is leaving the game.
In the last episode, Bi sprained her knee and being an athlete — she’s a mixed martial arts fighter — she doesn’t want to risk further injury. Everyone is sad, especially Bi.
Adding to the surprises: It’s not a challenge — it’s a tribe mix up. The tribes are split into three, and each one has a Goliath advantage. Carl is left without a tribe. He’s headed to Exile Island and will the join the tribe that votes off a member at the next Tribal Council.
After the big tribe shuffle, here’s where everyone stands:
- Jabeni, in purple buffs, includes two Davids, Nick and Lyrsa, and three Goliaths, Mike, Natalie and Angelina. They will live at the old Goliath camp.
- Vuku, in orange buffs, has two Davids, Davie and Elizabeth, and three Goliaths, Kara, Alec and Natalia. They’ll live at the old David camp.
- Tiva, in green buffs, has two Davids, Christian and Gabby (the Nerd Alliance), with Goliaths John, Dan and Alison. As a brand new tribe, they’re going to have build their own camp.
The Davids on the tribes are all bummed. Davie says they need to do something to make inroads, but unfortunately, he hasn’t made many friends with Caucasians, and he says he’s basically a black nerd. He drives a PT cruiser.
Kara, Elizabeth and Natalia take a walk and Kara and Elizabeth bond over having horses (“I wish I had a horse,” Natalia says). Both are Christians and love God. Natalia, as it turns out, is Muslim.
Natalia tells Kara she feels uncomfortable with her new kinship with Elizabeth, but Kara tells her not to worry. Then Kara tells Alec that Natalia is getting paranoid and maybe can’t be trusted. Oops.
Meanwhile, Carl has arrived on Exile Island, where he has a chance at a secret advantage. A magic stick provides him with clues, and he realizes he has to search the beach for a marked coconut, which is difficult since there are tons of coconuts. But he finds the right one and it contains an advantage we haven’t seen before — a hidden immunity idol nullifier.
To use it, he has to guess whether someone will play an idol before they play it. He writes down their name and then if they play it, it is nullified. Chances of working, not good. But still, cool.
Next we check in at the former Goliaths’ camp where the Goliaths are getting to know the Davids. Well, everyone except Natalie, who doesn’t want them in her camp. She starts doling out orders and instructions. Natalie doesn’t actually do anything herself, but she’s great at telling the others what and how to do everything.
Nick is annoyed, but happy. Natalie is the huge crack in the Goliaths’ alliance that he’s been looking for. He bonds with Mike, and Nick gets to name another alliance: The Rock Stars (insert twangy air guitar music).
On the new Tiva tribe, Christian is grilling John, the professional wrestler known as the Mayor of Slam Town, about what exactly Slam Town is. He learns several things, including that Slam Town is populated with the people John has slammed. Against our will, we’re starting to love Christian.
Awkward, quirky Christian is actually bonding with the Goliath bros, John and Dan, and Gabby is feeling left out. She has a bit of a melt down, but Christian bolsters her up. Gabby, however, still feels like the Goliaths are the cool kids, and she’s waiting for an invitation to sit at the cool table. She’s very uncomfortable around them.
Immunity Challenge
It’s a blindfold challenge. First, two blindfolded players will push a wheelbarrow holding a sighted “caller,” who directs them through a maze, stopping to retrieve a ball along the way. The ball will be used on a tilting table maze operated by two other blindfolded players directed by the same sighted caller.
Winner gets immunity and a bunch of pastries and treats.
Gabby calmly leads her tribe through the maze and puzzle to win the challenge. They don’t call her the Nerd Whisperer for nothing. Gabby did herself a huge favor in leading her team. Everyone loves her now, and she has some self-confidence.
Jabeni comes from way behind to take the second immunity idol, which means Vuku will lose a member at Tribal Council and gain a Carl.
Kara says the vote will be simple — either Davie or Elizabeth. Something tells us that it won’t be that easy.
At Vuku, everyone praises the job Kara did. Elizabeth grabs Davie and races off into the jungle. She says she knows where the hidden immunity idol is — but she doesn’t, because Davie found it earlier.
Davie rats her out to Kara and Natalia, and that seals the deal for Natalia. Elizabeth needs to go. But Elizabeth isn’t going down without a fight. She goes to Alec and gives him the lecture about the need to start building your resume by making bold moves, like voting off a Goliath.
When Alec says he doesn’t think he can do that, Elizabeth says she’d be willing to vote off Davie. But when Alec pitches the idea, Natalia shoots it down. She orders Davie to vote with them or not go far in the game, and then strangely orders him to go to sleep. This does not sit will with Alec; he starts thinking he could vote off a Goliath, Natalia.
Alec knows if he flips and votes off Natalia, when Carl comes to camp, the Davids will have the majority, but Natalia’s paranoia has made Alec think he can’t trust her. It’s down to a last-minute decision at Tribal.
Tribal Council
Host Jeff Probst asks about camp post-challenge, and Natalia repeats that the vote is going to be easy — Elizabeth or Davie. Elizabeth says she was about ready to poop her pants, but is hoping the tribe will throw her a bone because she’s very loyal.
Davie starts tossing Elizabeth under several buses, pointing out that she’s got three children, lot of friends on the other tribes and could win it all.
Alec appears to be struggling with a decision, when he suddenly pops out of his seat to whisper in Elizabeth’s ear. Natalia and Kara don’t like that all. Alec said he was just making sure they are on the same page. When Kara and Natalia keep peppering him with looks and questions, he whispers to Kara, who whispers to Natalia, who whispers somewhat loudly to Alec, asking if he was voting her off. He shakes his head no.
Kara tells her not to worry, but when the votes are counted, Natalia has three (Davie and Elizabeth each get one) and she is angry. “I knew I couldn’t trust you,” she spits out. Alec says “sorry” and she tells him to shut up. Natalia then asks Kara if she knew and she says no, but Alec is grinning and that irritates Natalia even more. Oops.
Next time: Kara is unhappy with Alec, Natalie’s tribe is unhappy with her and Mother Nature is unhappy with everyone.
