SURVIVOR: BLOOD VS WATER 2 – 10/29/14

Off to Exile Arena we go and Hunahpu gets the first look at the new Coyopa tribe, minus Kelley. Natalie and Julie seemed the most shocked that one of their old buddies is gone. Not surprisingly, Dale is sitting there looking like a drugged hippie as Jeff welcomes everyone in.

He explains the challenge and it looks like it should be fun. One player from each tribe will maneuver through an obstacle – blindfolded – to a station where there’s a mask. They have to untie some bags containing puzzle pieces, and then, using only their hands, study the mask. They then head back through the obstacle, and then rebuild the mask from memory, using the pieces. There’s only 7 pieces to place, but there are red “dummy” pieces to make it tougher. The winning tribe will get a Survivor BBQ, which makes everyone happy except Jeremy, who predicted they could have had a feast if they didn’t make “The Trade.” Or maybe he’s just pissed they had to give everything back…

And since the tribe swap screwed up all the Loved Ones matchups, the tribes can put up anyone they want, “your strongest competitor,” is what Jeff tells them. So…it’s Reed against Baylor… Huh? Okay, once again, maybe I’m over-thinking it, or maybe I’m not giving them enough credit, or maybe Hunahpu is just pissed at Reed for making The Trade, or maybe Baylor is really a puzzle genius who can slip through obstacles really fast. We’ll see…

When the challenge begins, we see two different methods being used. Reed goes the traditional route by getting through the obstacle, untying a bag, studying the mask, and then heading back. Baylor’s approach is to get to the bags and untie one and immediately return to the start, without checking the mask. Not sure if she’s trying to put extra pressure on Reed as Jeff calls the play-by-play, because you know Reed must be thinking something’s up when he’s flying through the obstacle but Baylor keeps getting back faster.

When both players have all 3 bags back, they’re virtually tied, but we’ll see if Reed’s added time studying the mask pays off. Initially, it seems that Reed is doing better, as he’s not messing around with any of the dummy pieces, while Baylor wastes a bit of time on a couple red ones. Reed looks to be making good progress until he places one red piece, but soon corrects himself and swaps it out for the correct piece, which is the final piece! Reed wins the challenge for Hunahpu! And he spins around and tells Jeremy to stop “whining like a bitch” and “cheer the f**k up!” Okay, actually, he didn’t say those things, he broke down and cried like a little baby, but you gotta give him some slack. He’s hungwy…

And now Baylor’s crying because she let her tribe down, or maybe because she’s dizzy from smacking her head on the obstacle over and over again… Either way, she’s hungry too…so shut the f**k up, Reed…

Now, the truth is about to hit the fan because Baylor’s going to Exile Island and Reed has to pick someone to go with her. I think it’d be awesome to send Jeremy because he’s being such a d**k, but you can see that Reed is putting a lot of thought into this. Does he turn on his original Hunahpu alliance and send one of them, or does he send one of the “new” Hunahpus, or does he maybe send Josh, so no one is too upset. To make it tougher, whoever he does send will probably not get to enjoy the BBQ… Let’s watch!

He picks Julie, and gives some stupid rationale about her “showing John Rocker how tough she is,” or something like that, and you can tell she’s clearly miffed. She wants that damn BBQ! Suddenly, Natalie chimes up and says that she was going to volunteer. So why didn’t you speak up, woman!? Now you make Reed look bad, Julie’s already pissed, and Reed still has to make a decision who’s going. Thankfully, he redeems himself to Julie (maybe!) and says,

“If Natalie wants to go so bad, I’m not gonna stop her…”

And off to see the Wizard go Natalie and Baylor…

And momma Missy is good with this, since she knows she’s tight with Natalie, so that can only mean good things for her baby, Baylor…

Coyopa (Day 14), with Keith at the pond trying his hand at fishing, unsuccessfully, we see Jon, Jaclyn and Missy taking a stroll nearby. Jon tells Missy about Dale’s “idol” and everyone is a little annoyed there’s a wrinkle in their plan. Odd how no one questions why he wouldn’t have played it last Tribal, or given it to Kelley, or how did he get any clues since HE NEVER WENT TO EXILE ISLAND, but such are the mysteries of life. And so because of this wrinkle, Keith is now next up to go home. Sucks to be you, Keith…

Over at Exile Island – once the girls find it! – the clue is opened and Baylor immediately shares it with Natalie. Natalie knows that she can be solid with Baylor since she’s solid with Missy, and who knows what the future holds after the merge? Could it be a power alliance of Natalie, Jeremy, Julie, Missy, Baylor and whoever else is available? Natalie tells Baylor to go find the idol at her camp (sorry, John already got it, but maybe there’s a new one?). Either way, Natalie is happy to forego the BBQ for long-term security.

Back at Hunahpu, Josh is, “So happy for Reed for pulling it out…”

Oh myyy…

Oh wait, he meant…the challenge. I get it now. Sorry…my bad…

Josh is super proud of his man for winning the challenge, and everyone is so happy they’re going to eat, and Jeremy is still pissed off. First, because Reed and Josh are being so obvious with their affection for each other (not gay bashing, I’m sure, on Jeremy’s part, but within the confines of the game it’s not a good move to be that “open” with your affections for another); and secondly because even though they’re enjoying this BBQ, they could have been enjoying this BBQ UNDER THEIR FRIGGIN’ TARP WHILE EATING ON A HAMMOCK if the “brainiacs” hadn’t decided to give everything away. Just makes me wonder why we never saw Jeremy speak up about not wanting to make The Trade. Sure, he tells us he’s pissed off and it was a bad move, but did he ever say anything to his tribe…?

And then the rains came…

And the temperature dropped…

And Julie looks uncomfortable… Really uncomfortable.

So uncomfortable she’s debating whether she should quit the game. Really, Julie?! Boob jokes and Rocker jokes aside, THIS IS WHAT SURVIVOR IS ALL ABOUT! You get wet; you’re hungry as f**k, you get destroyed by bugs and the sun. What did you think this was gonna be like. The only person more upset with Julie than me is Jeremy, who’s watching an ally possibly leave, which really messes with his game. But…he’s okay if she’s goes, as long as it’s before him. Because all he needs to do is make the merge, and then he can “make some magic happen…” Again, his boasts remind me of Tony… Could be good for him…

Next morning (Day 15), Julie’s still a mess and Jeremy is trying to console her. Trying to keep her strong. Trying to keep her in the game. For him. She’s giving it her all, but she knows that she can jump ship at any time, which is not a good thing to be admitting when you’re weak. At least Alec has the right perspective,

“Bitch, this is Survivor! You signed up for this s**t! Go home!”

Off to the Immunity Challenge where it involves the tribes scaling a wall, pushing a giant wooden cube, retrieving some bags, and then assembling a flag. Hunahpu sits out Julie because she’s the hottest woman left on the beach (I guess…).

Hunahpu takes an early lead but Jon catches up and passes Jeremy on the first bag. Hunahpu is proving slightly better at rolling the cube and they reach the second area first. However, Jeremy pulls a boner and gets his bag tangled in the coil. Jon quickly gets bag #2 and they even get bag #3 before Jeremy untangles his bag. Jon and Missy begin assembling the flag as Hunahpu eventually reaches area #3 and Wes retrieves this one. Jon and Missy are doing well as they place 3 sections before Reed and Josh even get their first. But something is wrong with #4 for Jon, and then the next piece is wrong, and then the next one too. Their lead has slipped away as Josh and Reed have all those years of watching Survivor to thank, and are now breezing through this challenge. They’ve passed Jon/Missy and they’ve found their groove. 4…5…6…7…and Josh places the final piece. Hunahpu wins again!

Jeff hands the Immunity Idol to them and asks Coyopa how it feels to be such big losers. Dale tries to speak for the tribe by saying that losing the challenge doesn’t hurt, “sending someone’s loved one home” is what hurts, but he’s clearly trying to back-up his “I have an idol” plan, but he’s also clearly grasping at straws. I wonder when they’ll see through his charade…

Strangely, I think Coyopa is too dumb to see through his charade, and they may actually try to send Keith home. Little do they know he’s got an idol, so this may actually end up getting a little bit interesting. Unless someone pulls another boneheaded move at Tribal and reaffirms this tribe is cursed…