Day 27: Off to Redemption arena and after the 3 challengers are brought in, Jeff mentions that Ciera voted for her mom. This is kind of a non-issue, since everyone knows that Ciera voted out Laura. I’m sure Laura could take this opportunity to create some wonderful television “moment,” but much to our chagrin, she tells us she’s proud that Ciera voted that way. Boo! Boring…!
Today’s challenge involves maneuvering blocks out of a rope tunnel and then positioning the blocks so there are no repeating symbols. The puzzle aspect must make Laura confident, so we’ll see if any of her supposed propensities for puzzles presents itself.
At the start, Vytas and Laura take the early lead over Tina. They’re a full block ahead as they finish collecting their blocks. Now’s the hard part as the competitors have to find the right combination of symbols, and with symbols of various colors on all 6 sides, this may take a while.
And then Laura surprises the hell out of me and nails it. Incredibly fast, I might add. Good for her. And even with the lead that Vytas had on Tina, she’s caught up and is even with him.
Then Laura does what I consider a sh*tty move and not only hides her blocks from Vytas she then quietly gives suggestions to Tina on how to place her blocks. With 3 blocks each in their racks, Tina positions the last one literally ONE SECOND before he does. Both are right, but Tina is moving on, thanks to Laura. Vytas is noticeably annoyed with her (who wouldn’t be!?) and wants nothing to do with her congratulations for him. And while it may be better for Laura to be competing against Tina next challenge rather than Vytas, I’m wondering if moves like that are hurting her (or Ciera’s) chances of winning anything this season.
And then, with the grace of a yogi and a few revealing words about how this experience will strengthen his relationship with his brother, we bid a fond adieu to Vytas.
“Namaste, bitches…”
And, of course, for winning the challenge, Laura gets to select someone to receive the clue, and of course it’s Ciera, and of course she burns it because she feels like she doesn’t want a target on her back. I did notice that Katie seemed a bit bummed at her choice, which could be because Katie wanted to either A) try to finagle some info from Ciera about the idol, or B) she thinks it validates the lie that Ciera told her last week about having the idol, so Katie may attempt to use that against her. Not sure either one of these theories holds water, since Katie already knows she’s the back end of the horse costume, and everyone else is the head…
Back at camp, everyone is shocked the “moms” pulled it out. And while that’s huge news, it doesn’t mean squat to Tyson. He’s more interested in the 7 players that are still in the game and how important the next couple votes are. His main goal is to just keep everyone against Katie. Which doesn’t seem like it should be that tough, but he justifies it to some of the others by stating that she already has 3 jury votes (which doesn’t make any sense because no one thinks she’s going to make it to Final Tribal).
But Hayden reveals another possibility: that his 5-person alliance (him, Tyson, Gervase, Caleb and Ciera) could simply vote out Katie (I guess Monica is just “filler”…) but who wants to be the guy who simply goes along with the crowd until he gets blindsided? I’m thinking we’re getting teased with another “let’s get rid of Tyson” plot, but I keep thinking about the hidden idol, so I wonder how all this is going to play out…?
Next scene, Hayden is proposing his plan to Caleb. Essentially, they are just two guys in the middle, and that’s not good enough. With the way that Tyson’s been playing the game – basically running things – he’s pretty much locked in the win unless they can unseat him now. Hayden is down to make the big move, and I guess Caleb’s on board because he utters:
“Uh-huh…”
So whether that plan is a good one or not, Caleb runs to Katie and tell her what’s up. Sure, they are original Tadhana members, but I’m just wondering if THIS MOMENT is the right time to reveal it. I’m thinking let her stew for a day and see where things fall after an Immunity Challenge, but who knows when he ACTUALLY did tell her. It could have been the next day. Those sneaky editors…!
Next, Caleb and Hayden are taking a dip with Ciera and there he goes blurting out “the plan” again. Now, I do agree that the plan makes some sense, but Ciera is having none of it. Yes, she tells them she agrees, but she tells us in her ITM that she is loath to work with new players who are so willing to flip-flop so easily.
My problem with her rationale is that she’s starting to believe she has a chance of winning against Tyson and/or Gervase. I’d go so far and say she’s delusional if she thinks she’s running anything in this game. Just because you made the bold – and stupid – move of voting out your mom, doesn’t mean you’re running anything. It just shows that you’re a lemming for the players who are truly running things. Let’s see how that’s going to work out for you, Teen Mom Lemming…
So she goes running off and telling Tyson the guys’ plan. Which doesn’t even shock him (he HAS played the game twice before…) but what she does that’s revealing is she basically throw herself at Tyson’s feet:
“I promise you this; I am voting however you’re voting from here on out…”
This doesn’t seem like the bold play of someone who has a shot of winning the game. I mean, really, can you think of a past winner who essentially bent over for another player like that? I didn’t think so…
So Tyson realizes he has to put his game in motion one vote sooner than he had hoped to. He now knows he needs to get rid of Hayden and Caleb sooner than later, and who cares in what order everyone else goes home…? Later that night, Tyson and Gervase are having a chat on the beach, and Tyson reveals what Ciera told him earlier. Gervase is shocked that the guys turned on them so quickly, “sneaky bastards…” and agrees that they have to go. Tyson is actually a bit surprised, because he was prepared to go to the final four with them. Unfortunately, Caleb is far too likeable to take to Final Tribal, so he’ll probably have to go first. Gervase hits the nail on the head,
“Tomorrow’s going to be huge…”