Still in a bit of disbelief, Jake is stoked to still be in the game. He realizes how lucky he got, and how far out of the loop he was, saying, “I wasn’t even left in the dark. I wasn’t even left in the same dimension.” The guy is TV gold.
Bruce is reeling from losing his closest ally in Kellie, and even more so when he learns Kellie was gunning for him. Dee tells Bruce Kellie thought Bruce was overbearing, and at times it felt like she was under house arrest. This shakes Bruce, but we’ll see if this results in any change to his game.
Kendra is also crushed that Kellie was voted out. But she is able to realize the positive spin. She knows Kellie was a big threat to win, and with Kendra having no blood on her hands in voting out Kellie, it only increases the chances that Kellie would vote for Kendra at the end.
The Reba four set their sights on Bruce (idol), Jake (openly doing whatever he can to find an idol), or Kendra (all but guaranteed to be going after their group now). Conventional wisdom would say the group has to turn on each other at some point. But if they can actually make it to the final four, maybe they don’t. We also see Austin say “We have two idols,” confirming at least these three already knew all about the amulet.
Emily broaches the subject of voting off Dee with Austin and Drew. Austin responds saying Dee is taking a lot of the heat off them right now, remaining a bigger target. He and Drew didn’t do a great job at easing her fears. Austin sees what Emily is doing, and knows she has a point, at least from her perspective. He isn’t completely opposed to voting out Dee, but he doesn’t want to do it just yet.
The tribe receives tree mail, instructing them to divide themselves into three groups. They settle with:
Julie is worried that each group will have to vote someone out, so she talks to Austin about the idol. And he does give her one.
Immunity Challenge
The immunity challenge is run in three stages. In the first stage, each player walks over a balance beam, and then over a second balance beam, balancing a ball on a disc. Once all players in their group are done, they dig up rope rungs. Last place group is out.
In the second stage, they use the rope rungs to build a rope bridge. Once all three cross, they throw three balls to land on three rings. First group advances to the final stage, and the other group is out.
In the final stage, it becomes an individual challenge. The players stand with their arms outstretched, with fingertips pressed against wooden discs. Last one standing wins immunity.
In addition to immunity, they’re also playing for reward. The group that makes it to the final stage all earn a trip to the Survivor Sanctuary. Dumb! Part of the fun of rewards is forcing someone to choose other players to accompany them. It is an easy way to create drama and conflict within the tribe. Maybe they’ll still get to take one or two other players, but it’s still watered down. They can all equally share in the decision vs one player taking all the praise or blame.
But wait! There’s also a really stupid, dumb twist. The first group that’s out, all three lose their vote. They will take a journey where they will have a chance to earn it back. This show’s absurd obsession with players losing their vote is out of control. It’s so stupid and annoying and frustrating.
It also allows the possibility of someone in the power alliance completely screwing over the other two people in their group. I’m thinking of Julie here. She could just straight up sit down and chill, not do anything, and there is not a single thing Bruce or Kendra could do about it. And where would the backlash come from? She’s in the majority, and this would help her group.
Austin, Emily, and Katurah are eliminated first.
Bruce, Julie, and Kendra win the second stage, advancing to the final. Kendra drops, followed by Julie, allowing Bruce to win his second consecutive immunity.
Pre-Tribal/Reward/Journey
Dee and Drew start talking strategy, honing in on Kendra. Of course, they can’t go full on in their planning until they know for sure whose votes they have to work with. They’re also prepping for the reality that they’ll have to play one or both of their idols. Their first thought is to play them on Austin and Dee.
At the Sanctuary, Kendra asks Julie about voting out a Reba member. It’s a bold move just to come out and say this. Like, what are you doing?! Kendra says she’s worried about the Austin/Dee connection. Julie counters and says she wants Jake out next, which Kendra and Bruce both seem open to. But while she does want Jake out, she’s not so sure it’s going to be so simple.
And let’s talk about the “reward” here. They knew they were getting rotisserie chicken; Jeff told them as much. But it’s literally one single chicken. There are no utensils, no sides or other food. One of the all-time worst Survivor rewards. It’s not quite the Ziploc bag of chocolate that (obviously) melted that they had in Survivor New Zealand, but it’s bad.
Yes, a real reward from Survivor New Zealand. Legitimately hilarious.
Austin, Emily, and Katurah arrive at their journey, finding a sign that tells them to go on a trek and pick a path. How exciting. They find a logic math problem to solve. Without changing the order of the numbers, and using three plus (+) signs and one minus (-) sign, they must solve the equation so that it equals 100. They have three minutes to complete it, and get one guess. Austin gets it right, but Katurah and Emily both get it wrong, losing their votes.
Back at camp, Austin tells them that he also lost his vote, keeping their true numbers a secret. With seven people having votes, their group of four should have the easy majority. Dee and Julie talk, and Julie actually wants to stick to the Sanctuary agreement to vote out Jake. What are you doing?
And the Jake train seems to have some momentum. Emily tells Drew that she thinks Jake is the vote, but Drew tells her he, Austin, and Dee had decided on Kendra. Drew wants to keep his relationship with Emily strong, so he starts waffling on which way to go. Dee doesn’t want to switch the vote, as she knows Kendra wants her out. And Julie wants Jake for the same reason.
Tribal Council
In talking through the vote twist, Kendra only just now at Tribal Council realized that the three players may have been lying about losing their vote. Astonishing stuff.
No idols or advantages are played, and Kendra is voted out.
Okay, let’s throw some Thanksgiving stuff here at the at. I am beyond thankful for this cast. This episode could have been – arguably should have been – an awful episode. The lost vote twist was terrible. It easily could have torpedoed the episode. But this group fought against it. It still wasn’t a great episode, but they still managed to make the vote dynamics more interesting and engaging than I would have expected. We did luck out a bit that Kendra was already a target, so we didn’t get screwed by who did and did not have a vote in that sense. But still. Again, not a great episode, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. The best season of the “new era” rages on.
