The tribe is led in and Jeff immediately asks Brad what he thinks is going on with the tribe. Why can’t they win? Brad naturally calls out Ciera for her failings in 2 puzzle challenges. Ciera actually owns up to the fact that she’s no Ozzy on the puzzles, but she’s also not ready to throw in the towel.
Jeff then mentions all the crap that Brad gets at Redemption Island . Brad brings up the same thing he said last week about this season, that when dirty laundry is aired, even the other tribe hears it. So when Jeff asks if it’s better to vote someone out who doesn’t have a loved one left (clearly a barb thrown at Caleb) Brad does what Brad does best. He spills…
“Yeah.”
Ouch. Caleb takes that as a direct attack on him so he goes on the offensive. He’s annoyed that Brad “campaigned” against him with the girls when he didn’t join the other guys “getting water;” so rather than being the sacrificial lamb at Tribal, Caleb informs the girls that he’s writing Brad’s name down and hopes they will too. The guys (Hayden, Brad and Vytas) can do whatever they want.
And once again, it’s on like Donkey Kong! Katie is dumbfounded, Hayden is confused, Brad is annoyed, and Caleb seems amused at this scenario he’s just devised. Methinks he’s seen this show before! And while Brad tries one last effort to assuage Caleb,
“I’m not writing your name down, Caleb.”
Caleb counters with:
“That’s fine.”
Excellent retort by Caleb. So now even Jeff is excited to see what happens. How often does that happen?!
We go to vote and as expected, Caleb votes Brad, Brad votes Ciera, and so it’s up to the other 4 Tadhana…
And this is when I begin to wonder, “Where the heck is the hidden immunity idol?” John gave Brad a clue, he said it was by the waterfall. Who knows how much else he told him, isn’t anyone even searching for it?
Of course, no idol is played and the vote goes 3 for Ciera and 3 for Brad. With the two of them sitting out the second round of voting, the other 4 can only vote for either of them. While we know how Caleb and Katie are voting, it seems to hinge on Hayden. He’s shown starting to write down Ciera, and then scratching it out and musing over his decision…
Jeff tallies the votes. And we see that Hayden’s scratched out “Ciera” vote was re-written as Ciera, so we’re going to get another tie, right?
NO! Vytas switched his vote (obviously) and Brad is voted off. And while he makes quick amends with this tribe (especially Caleb, “I’m not mad. ”) he does appear to be the bigger guy and takes his medicine like a man. Good for him. He knows it’s just a game.
Jeff informs him that he’ll have a chance to get back in the game, to which he replies…
“That’ll be fun,” clearly knowing he’s in for an uncomfortable arrival at Redemption Island .
Yes, that’ll be fun for us next week, as we see him battle against Brooke Shields and Chris Atkins. Let’s just hope he can make it through the first night at Redemption Island …
Jeff then congratulates the tribe for making one of the biggest power shift moves EVER on Survivor. How often do you hear him say that? So let’s see if this power play can actually help this tribe? I’ve been saying all along that you need to keep your tribe strong in the early stages of the game, and voting out Brad (did I mention he played in the NFL?) is clearly not the way to keep your tribe strong. But let’s see how this’ll work out for them as the season progresses…
I particularly feel bad for Hayden and Vytas, who went from a power alliance of 5 guys, to 4 guys, to a possible alliance of 3 guys, or maybe it’s just the two of them against “the girls.” No offense, Caleb…
In the tease for next week, we see there’s a chance Monica may switch with Brad at the challenge, which raises a few questions. If they switch and Brad goes to Galang, will he be accepted? Will he be understood? Would he align with Laura Boneham? Could Monica win against Brooke and Chris? Will Brad tell Monica what she’s going to do for the next 29 days? And then we’re presented with the moment we’ve been waiting for all night: Brad’s arrival at Redemption Island . Awkward…
Can’t wait to see what happens next week!
Until then, do what I do and watch too much TV this week: X Factor, Revolution, Amazing Race, and (hallelujah!) The Walking Dead is back on Sunday. I think my DVR is about to blow up…
Thanks for reading, enjoy your week.
Fish
bryan.fish.fischer@gmail.com
Nice Recap!! I’m really starting to like your writing style 🙂 Wish you would do Amazing Race too!!
Thanks Mom! (I’m kidding, you’re not my mom). But thank you for the support. I truly appreciate it. I’m trying to be funny, it’s just tough sometimes when it’s late and you can’t find a good one-liner. They may say “there’s truth in wine” but let’s hope they start saying “there’s humor in vodka!” Hope someone starts doing some crazy s**t on the show so I can start ripping someone new… Fish