SURVIVOR: SECOND CHANCE – 9/30/15

Previously on Survivor… Probst reminds us of how we/they got here and that Abi’s drama bracelet is going to get more press than hidden immunity idols this season. Also, there’s a definitive line between Old School and New School on Ta Keo, and Varner is in the middle…

At Bayon, Alpha Males vs. Stephen (ouch) is the story of the day, yet it didn’t stop them from winning immunity. Wentworth, however, found immunity gold, and Ta Keo was quickly sent to Tribal. Varner, once again, was in the middle of deciding which side to play, and chose New School, leaving Terri, Kelly and Woo looking at a 6 vs. 3 alliance.

Day 4, Ta Keo uses the flint they received at Tribal (not Peih-Gee’s!) to start a fire so the tribe begins the task of Now What? With the tension palpable, Wentworth announces she’ll go collect wood – I don’t know about you, sweetheart, but you can make wood just by walking around camp – and heads off to look at/read her idol, which has been tucked away since she found it. She finds a clearing to read it and confesses she just wants to do everything she wasn’t able to do last time, which includes burying her idol nearby, and I’m starting to wonder if someone is going to find it in the shallow hole she just dug. Please, God, please don’t let Kelley go home because of some stupid gameplay…

Later, Varner, Spencer, Shirin and Kelley are off together deciding who should go next. Varner offers that it’s got to be “one of the 3” (Old Schoolers, and How did Woo get in that group, BTW?) but he then confesses he’s playing the New Schoolers a bit because Spencer and Shirin and playing the game WAY too hard. If he gets his way, one of them will be going home at the tribe shake-up, and it now seems that all that playing dumb last week was just a ruse. Varner’s here to play…

And proves that next scene where he’s walking with Terry, telling him that he didn’t vote out Abi because “she’s easy.” (Yeah, he called that one…). No really, she’s a slut… But he wants Terry to know that last night’s vote was a wake-up call to the Old Schoolers that they need to bring it hard, or go home. And even reveals his plan to vote out Spencer or Shirin next, which is all that Terry needs to hear to feel reinvigorated, since he felt like he was headed for the gallows the night before.

Over at Bayon, Joe is doing everything he can to provide comfort, amusement, sustenance, and ammunition for his tribemates. He’s making hammocks, he’s catching fish, he’s playing Survivor MacGyver, according to Fishbach. But, Stephen warns that Joe is simply making it easier on his tribe before they slit his neck, but frankly, I’m not sure Stephen can even tell which the sharp edge of a machete is. I’d love to see Stephen in a real life or death situation, and watch him crap his pants.

Or more likely, what would end up in his pants is Abi, who is spinning downward into a sad state of Survivor paranoia. Not only can she not participate in a conversation without becoming a psychobitch, she even chooses to become said bitch by interrupting others’ conversations, for the mere joy of being a psychobitch. Spencer is particularly bothered by her behavior, because he has to trust her for his alliance. But Varner sees her as just the opposite: the perfect person to take with him, and it’s exactly what I hoped wouldn’t happen. Taking cancer to the end. I hate that gameplay.

It’s Day 5 at Bayon and Savage is opening up to his tribe about how he met his wife. It’s a wonderfully warm tale of how two people can fall in love, and the impact of missing his wife is taking a toll on Savage and others in the tribe. Even Kass is revealing the soft side that was missing from her first go-round, and promises to make a change in how she plays this time.

Jeremy steps away because the story hits him deep, as he confesses that his wife, Val, is pregnant, and he really wants to be with her right now. Of course, back at camp, Jeremy’s departure is noticed, and naturally, Fishbach announces that Jeremy may be out looking for an idol. This makes Savage come to Jeremy’s defense, in a confessional, stating that while Jeremy may have only needed some private time to deal with the emotions of the story he just heard, but then also approaches Jeremy to alert him to the accusations being hurled by Fishbach. Which, to Savage, is just indicative of who Fishbach is. Someone without “morals, values, loyalty, dignity…courage.” Ouch, you can’t put it much plainer than that. Savage no le gusta El Pescador!

How’s that next podcast gonna go, Mr. Fishy…?

At Bayon, Abi is feeling left out and alone, and the only thing that’ll fix that, is fighting with someone. Because you know that some people would rather fight than just be alone, because fighting feels more comfortable? Well, that’s Abi. To be fair, Peih-Gee was talking s**t about Abi to Shirin, which Abi overheard, and confronts her about it. So while the two of them bicker about bracelets and votes and conversations, Shirin slinks away, because you know she doesn’t like it when Mommy and Mommy fight.

Peih-Gee gets to the point where she tells Abi she can still work with her, based on numbers, but Abi is more comfortable fighting, and won’t let it go. Eventually, Peih-Gee goes back to camp to talk more s**t about PsychoBitch, which elicits laughter from the group, especially Shirin, that can be heard by Abi, who’s even more hurt because she wanted to embrace Shirin, based on the drama she went through last season.

Eventually, Abi is off by herself, with those in her alliance laughing at her, and Terry notices how wrong that is. He takes some time to go sit with Abi, and in the process, reveals his plan to take out Spencer or Shirin, to which Abi is up for, as long as it’ll take her farther. Somehow, through all this drama, a little alliance has formed, and Terry can thank Varner for lighting a fire under his ass to start playing the game.

Next morning, Abi approaches Varner, who confirms what Terry told her last night. Spencer and Shirin had better watch out. Team Trainwreck is coming into the station!