We fly into the Immunity Challenge and it looks to be every part of the “most difficult puzzle challenge ever on Survivor.” Here’s an overview. The tribes must race under a low structure with an intersection, and then untie 3 bags hanging from a post overhead. One player then uses a ball on a rope to hook it between 2 metal bars. Once all members use the rope to scale the first section of the wall, 3 pegs are used to scale the next section. After everyone’s up, the final section needs to be scaled by all and then the puzzle awaits.
The teams race through the first part and Coyopa gets their 3 bags down first. Rocker takes the “ball on a rope” thing and hooks it rather quickly. Hunahpu is having trouble and has to switch throwers. Eventually, Drew is able to hook the ball, but not until the entire Coyopa tribe is already up section one. While Hunahpu is scaling section one, Coyopa gets up section two and they continue that lead up section three to begin working on their puzzle. It proves to be a bit more difficult than expected (curse you, John Kirhoffer!) and Hunahpu catches up. As everyone scrambles to figure out what 1 or 2 pieces are out of place, Hunahpu makes a couple corrections and solves it! Hunahpu wins immunity!
As Jeff questions a few of the Hunahpuans if they’re concerned about their loved ones being at risk, everyone seems to know the drill. Yeah, they’re at risk, but they’re strong. Blah blah blah… And as Jeff informs Coyopa that “one of them will be going home tonight,” the camera cuts to Wes. And once again, I’m wondering if there’s an editorial conspiracy that reveals who is going to be voted off. I thought we cleared this up last season…?
The victorious Hunahpu tribes returns to camp and is emotions are high. Everyone’s feeling good about the win but Keith needs to find something out first. Everyone’s name… After introductions, he gets his moment to chat with Jeremy who tells Keith that he owes him for taking care of Val at Exile. And while Keith tells us that he’s solid with Jeremy because they’re both firefighters, he doesn’t appear to mention that to Jeremy, and it doesn’t seem like he’s too friendly with Jeremy. Maybe that’s just my perception, but I’m reading that he doesn’t like his “brother.”
The losers return to their camp, and Josh gives Val the lay of the land. Pretty much it’s:
“There’s the beach. There’s the freshwater lake.”
Val is more interested in looking for the hidden immunity idol than seeing what else camp has to offer, so she instantly takes off for the well, where the clue told her to look. While she’s away, Dale is chatting with Nadiya about the similarities between Survivor and TAR, and then tells the other guys (Drew, Wes and Josh) they should either target Val, since she’s only been around for a couple hours, or Nadiya, since he knows she can be a back-stabber (based on what he’s seen on TAR). Plus, he feels that Val should be given a chance to earn her way into the tribe, to which the guys agree.
Josh has a conversation with Nadiya who tells him she’s got his back and she knows that her sister has Reed’s back. She then says that she considers him “one of the girls,” which is evidently something this queen does not like. (Truthfully, I don’t think it’s appropriate to refer to homosexual men as feminine in any way, unless you’re trying to make a joke.) Regardless, Josh is happy that he has options, and likes that people are coming to “him”… (sorry)
Next, all the women are together and Val is leading a “let’s get an all-girl alliance together,” however they’ll need to recruit one guy. Nadiya says that Josh is on board with her, so she’ll be able to pull him into the “fold.” (sorry) So who should they vote out? Dale. Because he’s an old sack of shit that can’t do anything other than start fire. Sure, that sounds like a plan… And it looks like Val hasn’t found any hidden idols yet.
Baylor is kind of sour on the all-girl alliance and wants to speak with Josh about it. He wants to know what the options are and it appears it’s either Dale or Nadiya. He feels that he’s the swing vote tonight, which could either be very powerful or very perilous, depending on which way he chooses. Looks like he’s going to wait until tribal to make his decision.
The players enter Tribal Council and Jeff instructs them to get fire. He asks Rocker about whether they’re surprised they’re there, and he insinuates that tonight’s vote is not easy, since there’s no obvious choice. Jeff asks Nadiya what’s the vibe of the tribe and she takes the opportunity to talk herself up rather than answer Jeff’s question. He then becomes the next person to ask her to compare Survivor to TAR and right about now I’m getting sick of these questions. They’re totally different shows! What?? Do you think that because you’re on one reality show that qualifies you to be on another reality show! (Oh, wait, shit. That’s what all those stupid Casting people do, right…?)
After a few more questions for the tribe it’s established that some of the guys (John, Wes, Alec) are sticking together, Dale is an outsider because of his age, and Josh is a “go-between” because he’s gay (not my opinion). Nadiya seemingly places her flip-flop in her mouth by stating OUT LOUD that she almost considers Josh “a girl”… Damn, is Rocker’s old personality being channeled into Nadiya’s mouth…?
And with that, it’s time to vote…
A few votes back and forth between Nadiya and Dale (and one for Baylor? Huh?) and it looks like Dale is ready to pack it in. But a couple more for Nadiya and she’s the one sent packing. And it just goes to show that any former reality “stars” will only benefit your promos. They simply pack too much baggage for the other players to trust them…
In the tease for next week, rather than finding out about next week’s episode, we’re given highlights of the season. There’s too much to discuss every clip, but let’s just say that Rocker’s going to get pissed a chick, someone’s going to quit the game, and Keith is going to do something stupid. Can’t wait for next week.
Have a wonderful week, everyone, and please help me promote this column as much as possible. Every Favorite, Retweet, or comment is answered, and for those of you that have supported me, I truly appreciate it. You guys mean the world to me since I’m not writing this for me…! Props to those of you who have remained faithful these past few seasons, and I hope to continue putting a smile (or a smirk) on your face. Since the Dodgers clinched the NL West, that puts a smile on my face. Looking forward to a #freewayseries this October against the Angels.
And regarding Bryan’s Ranking of All Survivor Players, I tweeted out the places a few days ago, but I’ll include the stats next week. I didn’t want this column to be too long. There’s always a lot to go over for the premiere episode.
Stay fishy…
Fish
Email: bryan.fish.fischer@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BF_TheFish
AIM: bryan.fish.fischer@gmail.com or Bryan Fischer
Loved the “into the fold” comment. Gross! I lauded out loud. So glad your column is back. It just gets better and better. A few random thoughts…
1)Did you Notice how fat the twinnies have become? Yikes!
2)Living in the ATL suburbs, I think its hilarious Rocker is on. Though I have to say, he seems dumb not to bring Wes “into the fold.” Why not have a younger ally who will look up to you?
3)I think Josh wrote Baylor’s name down so that neither side of his tribe got mad at him. My guess is he’ll tell her he did it, thinking she’ll understand and not mind….
4)Did you watch Big Brother? What did you think about the season?
I’ll probably come up with some more comments but this is your starting point. 🙂
Edit…I laughed out loud!
Yours is the first recap I read (and mostly the only) every week. Thanks for the snark; it really makes the recap readable and funny. Agree with your take on including a few heroes with the villains to make the show better, but I’m sadly going to disagree with you about Coach. He was watchable T.V., but probably one of the bigger doofuses, IMO. Thanks for being back this season!
Kate! Thanks for the support/comment. Glad you’re hanging out with me for another season.
-Ya know, the “fold” thing just came out of nowhere. It’s not like I refer to that part of the anatomy as a fold…ever. But when guilty of a TWI (typing while intoxicated) some stuff just pops in my head.
-Um, I don’t like to make disparaging comments about women’s weight. Ok, screw that, yeah, what’s up with the extra poundage? Maybe they were anticipating losing a bunch on the season? Not sure how old they are but that does tend to happen to some folks…
-Yeah, kinda dumb for Rocker not to align with him. It’s not like his identity will remain secret all season, and if he’s lucky, that one ally could be 4 after a merge. Gotta think he’s just not that smart…
-I think Josh is guilty of playing lukewarm. He didn’t want to vote against either side since he knew he kinda has Baylor in his pocket. Whether or not he comes clean to her is TBD. I think he should have done something else…
-Nope. No Big Brother. Hate it. Never watched it. Hate Julie Chen. Think she’s kept the job only because she’s married to Les Moonves. She’s terrible but no one wants to say that out loud…
(realitythis) Thank you so much for checking me out. I’m humbled by anyone’s support of my recaps. I know there are so many other recaps out there so I appreciate anyone checking mine out…especially first! 🙂
-I get what you’re saying about Coach, but I think that at the core, he’s a great guy with a very colorful story. He made for great TV and based on what I see on Twitter, he’s still a great guy. You gotta play things up on the show, and I’m sure he (like scores of other players) played it up a little. And at least he aspired to highlight the more positive parts of his personality, rather than guys like Russell, or countless others.
Thanks to anyone who’s read the recap. I need to get even more active on Twitter in order to “spread the word.” Please help out any way you can…
A couple things that occurred to me after I posted my recap:
1. I think Dale actually found the hidden immunity idol but there’s no indication that it is one this season. I guess they’re trying to switch it up a little. Surprised I totally forgot to write about that.
2. More surprised I failed to mention Julie’s near boob shot when she was hoisted up the third section of the wall. I’m sure we’ll get a couple of those later in the season.
3. And I should have realized that once one of the Twinnies is out, the other twin’s odds would increase greatly. Now that Natalie is a “free agent,” her odds are probably about 25/1. I still don’t think she can win, but the weight’s off her shoulders for a while because people think she’s harmless.
I guess that’s it, aside from apologizing for all the typos. Funny what one finds when the column is actually posted…
Have a great week. Gotta watch TAR and Utopia tonight…
Fish