Back at the Yanu camp, Tiffany, Q, and Kenzie collect themselves after finally voting out Bhanu (or, not voting him out as Jeff ruined that part, but I digress). Tiffany is probably sitting best within this three. She’s closer to Kenzie than Q is, and is closer to Q than Kenzie. If they lose Immunity again, she should be in the position of power to decide which way the vote goes.
Ten days in and Yanu is losing it. Even Q is saying how tempting it is to quit. He clarifies that he’s not going to, but he’s playing it up a little bit to hopefully keep Kenzie more comfortable.
Siga
Moriah is becoming worried about where Charlie’s allegiances lie. She, Maria, and Jem had gotten to Charlie early, but now he’s spending a lot of time with Ben. If and when they finally go to Tribal, Charlie would likely be the key vote.
We go back to the Beware Advantage. Moriah and Maria are still convinced that Tim – or Ben – has the Beware Advantage or idol. Everyone is talking about how they know someone found it and moved it. Ben even says how it would be such a dick move for someone to move it just to watch the rest of them dig for nothing for days on end.
Tim is catching on to Jem. He believes it’s her, and even lightly confronts her about it. She of course denies it, but Tim remains unconvinced.
Nami
Nami also has idol fever, especially as they feel the merge getting closer. Randen was medevaced with the Beware Advantage, and I don’t believe we’ve been shown confirmation that it was rehidden after he left, though I would be surprised if they didn’t.
Everyone is open about looking, especially Hunter. But when Venus catches up to him in the jungle and starts following him like a little puppy dog, he gives up. She’s the last person he wants to know he has the idol. Eventually she leaves, and Hunter gets back to it. And he soon finds it. Cool, we get to see this again (again).
Immunity Challenge
One at a time, the players race through a three level obstacle course, collecting keys along the way. Once everyone is through, one person uses the keys to unlock a long hook, which they use to release sand bags. The sand bags are fired at a series of targets. Every player must hit one target each.
The first tribe to finish wins a large spread of pastries and fruit. Second place wins a smaller spread of the same.
Before the challenge starts, Jeff reveals Yanu now holds the record for most consecutive days without their flint, and if they lose this challenge, will have the most losses in the new era without a win. Huh, it’s almost like there’s a correlation between not having fire and losing challenges? This point has been beaten to death, but there is no benefit from a television product standpoint to deny tribes their flint for so long. Just go back to the old rules; nobody will care that all tribes eventually get their flint – and won’t have it taken away. In fact, fans will be happier! It’s much more interesting watching (relatively) even-strength tribes competing against each other.
Nami wins, and it comes down to Tim vs Q for the second immunity. And thank God, Q hits the last target, finally saving Yanu from Tribal Council.
As the first place tribe, Nami gets to choose who gets to go on the journey. Hunter goes from Nami, with Tim and Q for Siga and Yanu.
Journey
Hunter, Q, and Tim discuss teaming up at the merge. They are likely going to be seen as the biggest physical threats, so they see some value in all working together. They talk about the idea of each bringing in one person they trust, forming a strong group of six.
The three of them have to decide on one of the three to test their “Survivor Knowledge.” Get it right, earn an advantage. Lose, and lose your vote. Only one?! As dumb as the journeys are, at least give everyone the chance to compete.
They let Hunter compete, and he has to arrange 20 Survivor logos in chronological order. He misses a bunch, losing his vote.
Pre-Tribal
In order to save her vote – and secure her idol – Jem gets to work on the Beware Advantage. Luckily for her, she is able to find the key and get the idol without anyone seeing her. So now she has her idol, Ben has no vote, and Maria has an extra vote.
With the worry that Tim has an idol, the girls want to split the vote on Ben and Tim, using Maria’s extra vote. But Charlie isn’t sold.
Jem approaches both Ben and Tim separately, but comes on a little too strong to both. It immediately draws Ben’s concerns, thinking – correctly – she’s coming after him. Ben pitches Charlie and Maria on going after Jem, with Tim and Maria’s extra vote. Charlie wants to keep Ben, but Maria is leaning towards keeping Jem, believing her to be a more trustworthy long-term ally.
Tribal Council
Jem does not play her idol, and she gets voted out 4-2, with Moriah voting with her against Ben. Maria used her extra vote, even though she mathematically didn’t have to. Moriah would seemingly be firmly on the outs, but we see the merge coming next week, which couldn’t be coming at a better time for her.
