Bruce continues to be the cockroach that the other seven can’t get rid of. He’s won two immunities and he has the idol. They *need* him to lose the next immunity challenge, as they believe he would surely play his idol. They can vote for someone else, leaving him vulnerable the next time. If they can work the numbers, they could potentially vote split, on the chance Bruce didn’t play his idol, though that could prove too risky to attempt.
Julie seems close to breaking down. She had a real connection to both Kellie and Kendra, and she’s been very affected by having to vote them out. Now she might have to do the same with the other three Reba members. I don’t get the sense that she will be able to, or at least not able to do it effectively enough to have their support at a Final Tribal.
Emily is in the most interesting place in the game. She’s technically still with the Reba 4, but she knows she’s fifth in that group. But her alternative is working with Bruce, Jake, and Katurah, who have no chemistry working together. Further, she gets the sense that Bruce wouldn’t play his idol for anyone but himself. The chance to pull off a move with them feels low.
Bruce, oh Bruce. He tests out a lie on Katurah. He tells her he gave his idol to Kellie, to guard against someone having the Knowledge is Power. He then comes clean, but Katurah doesn’t think it has any chance of working. Next he tells Jake, without revealing the truth, on the assumption that Jake will tell the Rebas about Bruce “losing” his idol. Even with Jake presumable believing the lie, I’m still inclined to side with Katurah at this point.
But even still, why not give it a shot?! Her best chance in the game is working with Bruce, Jake, and Emily. But she’s so blinded at her desire to get him out, she just can’t see that.
Reward Challenge
For this reward challenge, they race through a series of obstacles, collecting a ball along the way. They then crawl under a net to get to the final ball maze.
Playing for a reward of a trip to – where else? – the Survivor Sanctuary, where the winner will get dinner and will spend the night. I don’t know about you, but I am getting sick of the Sanctuary. Let them do cool things again! The Sanctuary isn’t a negative on the show, but it more often than not doesn’t add anything to the show. Think of the iconic rewards in Survivor’s history. So many great moments have come from these, and having all rewards now be so similar just makes that less likely to happen.
Emily wins. Before choosing one person to join her, Jeff reveals one last part of the reward: letters from home. She chooses Julie. Emily gets to choose two more, and picks Katurah and then Dee.
Reward/Camp
While at Reward, Bruce’s idol comes up. Katurah wastes no time telling them about Bruce’s plan. Once again, Katurah’s view of the game is short-sighted. The girls agree flushing Bruce’s idol is the key thing, but they also discuss splitting the vote on Bruce and Jake.
It cuts back to the guys and they’re talking about farting, you know, classic guy stuff. Then maybe the greatest needle drop in Survivor history, as Kenny Loggins’ “Playing with the Boys” starts playing over a montage of the guys just hanging out, “Guys being dudes” as Jake says. (To be fair, this might be the only needle drop? Maybe the first time they’ve even used licensed music? Whatever, it ruled).
Just as Bruce wanted, Jake tells Drew Bruce’s idol left the game with Kellie. Drew of course immediately tells Austin, and they seem to believe it. I’m surprised they were so gung-ho about it. I can see cautiously believing it, but they seem to buy all the way in right away. Hopefully the girls will clue them in when they’re reunited.
As soon as the girls come back, Drew tells Emily about Bruce’s idol, and Emily corrects him right away. Emily knows Jake would be collateral damage if and when Bruce does play his idol. She goes to Jake, wanting to at least seem like she was trying to work with him, trying to gain his favor as a jury member. Jake pitches Drew as a potential second target, but isn’t getting any traction.
Drew, maybe in a misguided move, confronts Jake about this. Drew sees himself as the main reason Jake has survived the last two votes, but Jake believes he also has other people looking out for him. Drew better hope his alliance is as strong as it seems, because this was not a smart move; it was emotional and reactive and ill-advised. It could be all it takes to have his alliance flip on him.
Immunity Challenge
The players lie on a steep ramp suspended over water, holding onto handles, moving to smaller handles at regular intervals. It comes down to Austin vs – who else? – Bruce. But Bruce drops, ending his streak at two.
Pre-Tribal
Bruce fully intends to play his idol, and he would be an idiot not to. Just like clockwork, Jake becomes the default secondary vote. But Katurah has other plans. She talks to Emily about flipping the vote to Julie. They call her “Mama J” for a reason. Someone that beloved cannot go to the end. Emily tells Bruce that Julie is not with her, and that she’s the vote. She tries to present the plan in a way that might leave an opening for Bruce to not play the idol. She doesn’t think it’s going to work, but why not go for it if it’s not going to mess up the agreed upon plan?
She also knows if they go for Julie and miss, her game is done. The Bruce/Jake plan is the safe, easy move, and that can be tempting, and doesn’t inherently make it the wrong move. But if she can get Julie out, or convince Bruce to mistakenly not play his idol? Both huge moves, for different reasons. If Julie goes, that could flip the game, finally breaking apart the Reba 4. And if it’s Bruce, it’s a masterclass in manipulation.
Bruce and Jake talk, and Bruce comes clean about the idol. It’s a rough hit to Jake. He comes off as so goofy and fun loving, but he’s been playing defense from the beginning. From a gameplay standpoint, he’s had a tough go of it.
Tribal Council
Bruce does not play his idol, and it proves fatal. He goes out in a 4-3-1 vote, with Jake, Emily, Katurah, and Julie voting Bruce.
And now with the Reba 4 holding a distinct 4-3 advantage, the game is theirs to take if they want. But as we see in the preview for next week, things might not be so simple. And for the sake of the show, especially after such a good episode here, let’s hope things are anything but simple from here on out.
