We recap last week’s dramatic events and LJ’s departure, and as the Solarrion tribe returns to camp (Night 25) immediately people want to know what just happened. Jefra wants some answers since LJ was her closest ally. Rather than beating around the bush, Tony just spills it that he and Woo flipped, but JUST THIS ONCE, because he viewed LJ as a huge threat. Trish is okay with that response, she’ll stay tight with Tony, but Spencer knows that while that vote may have benefitted him, Tony could turn on him just as easily.
“The sooner we make a move against Tony, the better,” he tells us, they just need to determine “which stragglers [they’ll] need to take along to make moves with.” As he says this, camera pans to Kass and Jefra, which may be portending events for tonight’s Tribal…
[Day 26] Tony is off to the water well but he’s got other plans in mind. He knows it’s far enough from camp to have private conversations, so everyone goes there to discuss strategy. And Tony being the master of surveillance, he decides to set up a new SpyShack within earshot of the well. He’s either playing a great game, or a really bad one, because he’s coming across (to me, at least) like a lunatic, but he IS still in the game. And while his fans may be supportive of the way he’s playing, it won’t matter if you finish 8th, or 7th, or 6th, etc… The game is played to be won, and he may be burning too many bridges to stake his claim as Sole Survivor.
After throwing some branches between two trees and placing enough vines for concealment, SpyShack #2 is ready to go. Suddenly, Trish and Jefra come to fetch water and are talking about Tony. This is exactly what he had hoped for! Jefra is claiming she doesn’t trust Tony anymore, based on the way he’s been playing, and she doesn’t know where the alliance of 5 (the Tigers) stand. Trish believes the alliance is still strong, but they need to move forward and take out the “Lambs” (Tash, Spencer, Jeremiah). Since Tony’s heard Jefra say that she doesn’t trust him anymore, he knows he’s only got 3 who he trusts now: Woo, Trish, and Kass. So that’s 4 against 4, methinks something might give tonight…
But first is a Reward Challenge to stoke everyone’s fire. A good old-fashioned physical meets mental challenge where players have to row a boat from shore around a buoy and retrieve tied-up paddles on the way back to shore. Then, 2 players must unscramble a phrase out of the letters on the paddles. Sounds like a good one. The random teams are:
Orange
Tony
Woo
Trish
Kass
Purple
Jefra
Jeremiah
Spencer
Tash
(Well, that somehow split down alliance lines…! I wonder if that was totally random…)
In the boat portion, both tribes experience moments of collapse: Jefra can’t get in the boat, Tash can’t untie quickly, Jeremiah smacks Jefra on the head, and Tony FALLS OUT of his boat, what a mess! But both tribes get back to shore relatively together and begin untying the covers on the paddles. As Spencer and Tash work for the Purple tribe, Woo and Kass are doing it for Orange . Both sides entertain a couple Survivor-ish phrases, but it’s Spencer who stumbles on “Worth Playing For” and they’re able to re-arrange the paddles correctly to win the challenge. As we go to a commercial, Tony is the first to comment that it’s 4 against 4…
The losers return to camp, and Trish immediately wants to go get water so Tony, Woo, and Kass are left to strategize. Kass is more tired of losing than anything else, but she knows where she needs to make her bed (the remaining alliance of 5) and assuming he doesn’t win immunity, Spencer needs to go next. As Kass sees it, Tony is annoying but,
“…[you] keep the annoying people and get rid of the threats,” which is why she’s okay with LJ being voted out last time.
While Tony is discussing the game plan to Woo and Kass, Trish returns and hears him strategizing. She’s almost shocked to hear them talking without her, but maybe she’s just tired of playing the game? She’s more interested in the lime or papaya tree she found outside camp. So Tony goes off to strategize by himself and look for the Tyler Perry idol. Trish enlists Woo to help her find the fruit trees, since there may be some climbing involved. And just now I’m remembering last week’s tease where we see Woo falling from a tree. This might get interesting. Trish and Woo find the papaya tree, and while looking up at the giant fruit hanging from the tree top, she makes the comment of the season,
“They look like Morgan’s boobs!”
Her words, not mine. We’re sure she’s not a man, right…?
Woo climbs the tree and intends to shake the papayas off since they’re out of his reach. He successfully gets 7 giant papayas to fall but while trying to climb down, he grabs the wrong branch – snap! – and Woo falls about 15 feet to the ground, landing on his ass. He’s relatively no worse for wear, but on the walk back to camp, he’s rubbing his ass like Richard Hatch after a weekend on Fire Island …
At the reward, Jefra, Jeremiah, Spencer and Tash are led by a Filipino guide through a monstrous cave with water trickling down like rainfall from hanging vines and incredible geological formations. Everyone is awed by this amazing experience, but more excited at the table of food they’re about to enjoy. As they chow down, Spencer broaches the subject of Jefra flipping over to their side, to which Jefra replies that since the move was made against LJ without her, Trish or Kass knowing about it, she doesn’t know where she stands in her former alliance. She’s going to have to think about it… Just as they’re about to dive further into this conversation, the guide returns holding 4 envelopes. The “letters from home” are exactly what the doctor ordered, and as Jefra emotionally reads hers (from her mom) she tells the others her mom said to “not worry about lying, because she knows that’s not who Jefra is.” Jefra is a firm believer in “everything happens for a reason,” so she takes this as a sign and tells them she’ll flip over to their side. She hugs Tash and shakes on it with the guys and says to Jeremiah,
“You shook my hand before, I’m holding you to it this time…” Let’s see how true a Southerner’s handshake is…
The Immunity Challenge is up next and it’s surprisingly simple in its design. Stand on a beam and hold a pole that has a platform on the top. On the platform is a ball that you must balance. At regular intervals, you move down the beam (which gets narrower) and move your hand down the pole. Simple, right? Not sure who would have an advantage in this. Someone with small feet? (Kass or Tash)? Or someone with good balance? (Woo?) I can honestly say I have no idea how this is going to go. As Jeff starts the challenge, on cue the wind picks up…
In the first 10 minute interval, players drop out in the following order:
Jefra
Trish
Tony
Kass
At the first break, the remaining players move to their new positions.
Jeremiah drops out.
After another 10 minutes the remaining 3 move to the narrowest section of the beam and the lowest part of the pole.
Woo is the next to go when he seems to get hypnotized by his ball and falls off the beam. It’s down to Tash and Spencer…again. After a few moments, a gust of wind picks up and Spencer is unable to keeps his ball on the platform. He’s done, and Tash just won back-to-back challenges! How’s that feel, girlfriend!?
Just before we go to a break, Jefra reveals that she still doesn’t trust Tony and it may be time to send him home. With almost half the episode left to play out, I think there may be some crazy Tyler Perry idol scrambling about to happen. Wonder if anyone’s going to find it…?