Back at camp, Daniel realizes how poorly (to put it nicely) Tribal Council went for him. Chanelle reveals that Daniel told her about Mike’s idol – something that Mike wasn’t aware of. Hai may have had the vote go his way, but that doesn’t mean he feels any better about his place in the game. So yeah, this entire tribe is a mess. I love it.
Hai and Mike seem to come to an agreement, but it’s still the same night as Tribal when that happens. We’ll see where that goes.
Reward Challenge
First (televised, at least) reward challenge of the season! Three members of each tribe start off tied together to a braided rope. They have to untangle themselves, and then use the rope to hook a sled with balls. They pull the sled in, and then each tribe member has to land one ball in a basket. Only one tribe wins reward, and they’re playing for 10 freshly caught fish.
Taku, almost obviously at that this point, dominates the challenge. After the win, Tori makes a point of singling out Jonathan, even mentioning how Jeff praised him after the last immunity challenge. It’s a nice little nugget for players to file away. I’m not saying the other players haven’t noticed; I’m certain they have. But taking an opportunity to specifically put it out there in front of everybody is a smart idea.
Taku
As happy as they all are about the massive food reward, there’s some backlash against Jonathan. He openly said after the challenge how tight their remaining group of four is. Come swap or merge, they don’t want it to be common knowledge that they’re as close as they actually are. You need to hide some of those relationships, and he messed that up.
Ika
Rocksroy continues to get on people’s nerves. This time it’s focused on Romeo. Rocksroy is “coaching” him on every little thing he does.
Swati talks to Tori about the idea of pulling in Rocksroy to vote out Drea. But Tori also doesn’t really get along with Rocksroy. But when Swati tells Tori that Romeo and Drea had approached her about voting Tori, Tori may not have much choice. So she plays up to Rocksroy, telling him how thankful she is that he’s on the tribe.
When Rocks brings up the idea of an advantage being at play, Tori takes the opportunity to reveal Drea’s extra vote to Rocks. Rocks, who doesn’t necessarily want to get rid of Drea, tells Drea what Tori did. Now everyone knows about Drea’s extra vote, and everyone has reason to vote out either Tori or Rocks. Basically, everything is a mess on this tribe too. And just like Vati, I love it. I love it so much. Give me the messy gameplay. Feed me the slop.
Immunity Challenge
Maryanne says her phrase again. And again, crickets.
Two tribe members are tethered to a boat. Dive ina nd pull boat with other two tribe members, to a tower, in boat climb tower and jump off to grab a key,
Two tribe members are tethered to a boat. They dive in and pull the boat, carrying the other two tribe members. They take the boat to a tower, where the other two players climb up and jump off, grabbing a key. Once they have both keys, they pull the boat to the finishing platform, using the keys to unlock puzzle pieces.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Jonathan absolutely dominates the physical part, giving Taku an early lead. Lydia comes up short on both of her attempts to get the key, putting Vati in a hole. But as Daniel points out, the puzzle is the equalizer. But will it be enough of an equalizer to get them back in it?
Taku finishes first, and it’s a tight race for second. Ika is in the lead, but Swati and Drea each knock some pieces off a couple times. That’s just enough for Vati to sneak in and secure immunity.
Pre-Tribal
No Ship Wheel Island this week! No complaints here, just straight to the strategy.
Rocks thinks Tribal should be a simple vote for Tori.
Romeo talks to Tori in the water, saying he heard Tori wanted her three to be her, Swati, and Rocks. But Romeo is on to Swati’s game. Swati’s separately told Tori, Romeo, and Drea that they’re all her number one, and they’re all discovering that right now.
We (the audience) learn all about this on the fly as well, with a flashback to each conversation as each player reveals it. It’s simple, but a super fun, creative way to show this.
Even with the Swati developments, the tribe – especially Rocks – is still a little uneasy about Tori. Tori earlier said she’s going to have to seriously consider playing her shot in the dark. But were these pre-tribal discoveries enough to calm her to the point where she won’t play it?
Tribal Council
Swati plays her Shot in the Dark, saying, “It’s not that I don’t trust my allies, I just don’t trust Tori.” That doesn’t really make sense, though? Unless I’m missing something here, if you actually trust your allies, one single vote shouldn’t make a difference.
Once again, the SITD fails, and Swati is voted out 4-1, with Rocksroy still voting for Tori. That could seemingly put Rocks on the outs, but it certainly doesn’t seem like Tori is super solid with the rest of the tribe. But hey, it’s Ika. They’ll find some way to blow things up again next week, I’m sure.
