The final 7 are ecstatic coming back from Tribal Council, especially – duh – Katurah. But was it the right move for Katurah? Nope. She has no one to work with right now. You never know, but she essentially has no chance to win now with the Reba 4 still going strong.
Emily also comes clean about convincing Bruce that Julie was playing him. She owns up to being a huge part of the Bruce move, so she’ll get credit if she makes it to Final Tribal. But as Julie notes, her threat level is now way up, and very public.
There has been lots of allusion to a showmance between Austin and Dee. But from what we’ve seen, it hasn’t been anything more than two close friends. But we get an intimate moment between the two on the beach. They are talking, and each acknowledge how much they like the other. Austin even says one of his favorites things from Survivor was the Boston Rob/Amber relationship from All-Stars (if this was a flirty line, pretty terrible tbh). Dee says her friends were joking with her before she left that maybe she would find her husband.
In a confessional, Dee says one of her biggest self-imposed rules was no showmances, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have a little fun. That could just be a cute moment, but it also could indicate Austin is more involved in this than she is, and she may be more likely to cut him than he her. However, they both affirm with each other that they want to go to the end with each other.
When talking to Jake and Julie, Katurah gives some more insight into her upbringing. Early in her childhood, her parents joined a religious cult. And when she was 13, the “leader” decided she was going to be his next wife. And thankfully at that moment, something changed with her mom and they had to escape in the middle of the night. Even in just a few short minutes, you can grasp a sense of the gravity of that situation. I can only imagine what the full story is.
A boat arrives at camp with a message for the tribe. One person must go on a journey, where they – gasp! – will have a decision to make. They draw rocks and Emily goes. She didn’t necessarily want to go, because she knows there’s risk with this journey.
Drew and Julie talk about Emily’s rising threat level, beginning to fully realize she would be a tough beat at a Final Tribal. He then asks Julie if she wants to do something “tricky” with “her” idol, to which she says no. Very interesting. We hadn’t seen anything about this idol after Austin gave it to her. I think most assumed she would have given it back, but this could make things spicy.
Then talking to Dee, Julie and Dee discuss Drew. They think he might be the one to crack first, but they know if that happens, it could get the ball rolling and they could be voted out one after the other. They want to stay Reba strong all the way to the Final 4.
Journey
Emily arrives at a different beach, where she’s instructed to take a walk, at the end of which she’ll have her decision to make. If she solves the Savvy task, she’s safe at the next Tribal Council. If she fails, she loses her vote. She has to remove a circle of rope attached to a metal structure before a sand timer runs out. She decides not to play, knowing how valuable her vote is, especially at this point in the game.
Dakuwaqa
Drew talks to Katurah and Jake about what their next plans are. Assuming they want to go to the end together, he asks who their third is. They kind of evade the question, and instead say who they *don’t* want to go to the end with. They say Julie as the one they want to vote out next. She’s so well-liked that she would be tough to beat at the end. Katurah approaches Austin, and he seems receptive. Drew and Austin talk, and are on board with the Julie vote. But they know blindsiding Julie also means blindsiding Dee, which would be tough for Austin to do.
Austin also has a conundrum with the idol he gave Julie. He has the Amulet idol, which is only good through the Final 6. He gave Julie the real idol, which of course lasts through the Final 5. Austin is obviously frustrated about this, but he still seems way too casual! My dude, it was your idol! It would have been completely reasonable to ask for it back as soon as she didn’t use it. But it’s his bed, now he has to lie in it.
When Emily gets back, she tells them the complete truth. Dee immediately does not believe her, says it’s the “easy” story to tell. You have to expect some hesitation in believing her, which stinks. But what else can she do?
Drew tells Emily about Julie wanting to come after her, which gets Emily all aboard the “Let’s Blindside Julie” train.
Immunity Challenge
The castaways are attached to a rope, navigating through a series of obstacles. Then they throw sand bags at a stack of block. After knocking them all down, they gather the blocks to solve a word puzzle.
They’re also playing for a reward of a barbecue meal back at camp.
After a back and forth battle with Austin, Drew pulls out the win. He picks Jake to join the reward, and then takes Austin for Guys Night 2.0.
Reward/Pre-Tribal
The girls talk strategy, but everyone knows it’s not serious. Half are plotting against Julie, and the other half against Emily. But what else can you do?
The boys do the same, but seem to have more commonly aligned goals. I love what Jake does here. He’s been the decoy or backup plan for the last several votes, but he doesn’t hold it against Drew and Austin. He knows they probably need him now more than they have before. It’s the exact right mindset to have going into such a crucial vote.
However, Austin is seriously conflicted about the Julie vote. He knows how close she and Dee are, and obviously he is extremely close to Dee. He goes back and forth between how to tell Dee, and even whether or not he should.
He tells Dee there is a strong movement against Julie. Dee still doesn’t want to write her name down. Austin tries to reassure her by saying even if they don’t write her name, Julie will be voted out anyway. Predictably, Dee tells Julie, and tells her she’ll have to play her idol, and they will vote out Emily.
Julie and Dee talk again, and Dee wants Julie to vote Emily, but Julie wants to vote Austin. I get the emotional response from Julie, but she needs to think this through. If she believes she’s catching votes, she’s going to play her idol. If she plays her idol, it’s a clear signal to Austin that she knows she’s on the block. And that’s only going to encourage Austin to play his idol. And he even tells Drew he’s going to play his idol if Julie plays hers.
Tribal Council
Julie plays Austin’s idol, and Austin does not play his. Six votes for Julie (Dee told Julie she was going to vote for her to keep up appearances, even though Dee telling Julie is the only real way Julie would have known about the plan), and her single vote sends Emily to the jury. NOOOOOOOO!!
Emily will be missed, hugely, sorely missed. One of the best single season character arcs we’ve ever seen on any season of Survivor. Whenever the show does its next returnee season, she needs to be one of the first calls.
What could be interesting with Julie’s idol play is if she gets credit from the jury (if, of course, she makes Final Tribal). If it wasn’t for Dee, I don’t think she would have had any inclination to play it. But if she takes ownership of it, and no one corrects her, it could be a huge boon to her argument.
And we still have the Reba 4 full intact, even with the shot taken at Julie. But it sure seems like the dam could break next week. Whatever the case may be, this is the most excited I’ve been at this point in the season in the “new era” of Survivor.
Quick note for next week. Likely no blog recap, and our Talking Llama episode will be out on Friday the 15th.
