The Stakes Have Been Raised
In this, the premiere of the 34th season of Survivor, they brought back players that they believe made moves significant enough to change the game - and no one believes that more than the players themselves.
Tony - bald, beefy cop that won his season in Cagayan - is the first to tell us how great he is - he created the spy shack, he found the special idol (I don't remember that) he voted out his closest ally, "And just when you think you've seen it all, you ain't seen nothing yet."
Malcolm - I always think of him as the poor man's Ozzy, or maybe Ozzy-lite - he tells us he made some big splashy moves in Caramoan (that was the second time he played) and he's there to uphold his reputation and keep making big moves.
Sandra - the only two-time winner - she is there to do what she knows how to do, make it to day 39 and not get voted out. "The queen stays queen, everyone else - adios."
Cirie - she says she's a bona fide "ex"-couch potato that saw this game and loved it. She's the gangster with a smile, the sheep in wolves clothing. She convinced the ice cream boy to give up his immunity idol then voted him out. This will be here fourth time playing and her next step is to win.
Debbie - the original Jill of all trades - you name it, Debbie's done it, and better than you. Anyone who saw her last season knows she has the body of a gymnast (remember the pull ups in the tree?) and the tenacity of a giant squid (What?) She's there to go for broke (and she brings the absolutely delightful crazy that makes the show fun to watch.)
But the absolutely best thing in the opening sequence was Jeff giving the tag line, "39 days, 20 people, 1 survivor!" While standing on the side of the bow of a rusted out shipwreck in the middle of the ocean - You go, Jeff Probst!
So we open with them all on a boat surrounded with a ton of supplies - Jeff explains the premise of the season and I'm sure they all think everything Jeff says is about them - they are embracing the Game Changers title for sure. Jeff asks JT if it matters that there are a handful of winners (JT, Tony and Sandra have all won) he said he's glad he's not the only winner there but he doesn't think it matters... also that Sandra's not going to be the only two time winner after this is over. (Oh ho! Big words from the country boy.)
Jeff asks Cirie if they should even bother if JT is right - "Who says JT is right?" (Exactly)
Yay, Zeke is back. He's geeking out as a fan-boy on the boat but he's also there to prove that he does belong.
Mana Tribe: Aubry (curly hair, glasses - brains tribe), Michaela (she was a Millennial beast in challenges and voted out when she showed how smart she was), Sandra (our returning two time winner), Ciera (voted her own mother out of the game), Hali (no-collar tribe, young, did not change the game but obviously answered the phone), Malcolm (Ozzy-lite), Caleb (had to be med-evac'd due to heat stroke), Troyzan (long haired old guy from man vs woman season), Jeff (from Australia, dimples) and Tony (spy-shack cop former winner).
Nuku Tribe: Debbie (done it all crazy lady), Tai (chicken whisperer), JT (country boy former winner), Sierra (blond... none of us really remembered her until they showed her in her previous season with the weird grown out blond eyebrows - oh yeah!), Zeke (the moustache), Ozzy (he is made for the physical game, but the mental side, not so much - oh, and he's looking rough), Sarah (also a cop who was able to sniff out Tony when they played before and he voted her out), Cirie (four times really?), Brad Culpepper (ex-football player and not the sharpest tool in the shed), Andrea (this is her third go around, she's young and pretty but a showmance is not in her game plan this time.)
Jeff tells them this is how they started the very first season of Survivor, on his go they will have to release the rafts off the side of the boat and they have two minutes to gather as much of the supplies on the boat they can before heading for shore. BUT there was also a twist - there was a ring floating just off the side of the boat - beneath that ring were two colour coded set of ropes - the first team to dive down and untie the ropes would release a massive tool kit for their tribe. Immediately everyone thinks Ozzy will go for it so they don't bother - and they're right. Ozzy dives in to start on the ropes and the other team doesn't do anything until way later, Caleb gives it a shot but too little too late, Nuku gets the toolkit... and the chickens - Tai makes sure to send the chicken crate over which landed upside down on top of him - but they saved the chickens... and Tai was alright too.
-The other thing that happened in the early scramble on the boat was that Andrea uncovered a secret advantage clue that was just sitting on the deck underneath something and she didn't even see it - she had a couple opportunities to notice it, but she even stepped over it once (sigh, she's my girl). It was blond Sierra-eyebrows that finally saw the clue and stuffed it down the back of her pants.
Mana Tribe - they get to their camp by climbing down a rocky staircase to their beach, yikes - and everyone says hello and hugs - they get to work as well, gathering bamboo and sizing everyone up. Michaela tells us her strategy is to cozy up to everyone and try to hide her natural facial expressions because it's hard for her to lie (she asks Troyzan if that's his real name - maybe she plans to act not so smart this time too?)
-Next thing you know, Tony says, "you guys do nice nice, I'm looking for the idol" and he runs off into the jungle hooting and hollerin'. Everyone just stands around going, is he serious? Sandra, "we're just going to vote him off first." No one follows him and Tony can't believe it, he thought for sure everyone would follow him... nope. Finally they send Sandra and Caleb just to check up on him - they don't look for an idol, just pick up some bamboo and head back.
Goats! They show us some goats running around the island as they take us to:
Nuku Tribe - they get to camp and it's hugs all around. Zeke is trying to control the fanboy and make this game his b*tch - he wants to bathe in the blood of his enemies, he wants to change the game, that's why he loves Survivor (all with a huge smile on his face - that's why we love Zeke.)
- They see the goats and Tai says they'll never be able to catch them, they're too fast. Culpepper says in order to kill a goat, they'd have to kill Tai (and that's probably the truth.)
-Sierra-eyebrows takes this time to open her secret advantage and we find out this is another Legacy Advantage which says it guarantees her immunity but she can only use it when there are 13 people left in the game or 6 people left in the game. (Huh, that's pretty specific) and if she is voted out before that point, she must will it to someone else still in the game.
-Ozzy apparently still has a grudge against Cirie - they played together in fans vs favourites and she voted him off. (Huh, I have no recollection of that, but apparently he does and he's gunning for her.)
-Cirie knows it, she tries to diffuse the situation, asking him if they are okay and he assures her they have a clean slate, but then the next time he's talking to people he's again setting Cirie up as the big threat they need to take out. (He speak with forked-tongue.)
-Tai takes Cirie aside to clean out the chicken crate and awkwardly warns her that he has a vibe from Ozzy that there are unresolved issues between them... so she knows, all is not well in Ozzy-ville.
Mana Tribe - Tony again, volunteering to fill people's water bottles goes off by himself to the watering hole and decides he's going to dig himself a spy-bunker, but digging a shallow hole 5 ft from the watering hole and covering himself with leaves?? (What the good-golly is he talking about? That is ridiculous.) He actually starts trying to dig himself this bunker when Troyzan comes to check up on him and sees the hole he's been digging. He doesn't confront him about it but he does go and tell Malcolm - who thinks Tony must have a clue and was digging for an idol. He tells Hali who tells all the girls and Ciera thinks she's an expert at playing with former winners - she proposes to Malcolm, Hali, Jeff, Michaela, and Aubry that Tony is looking for idols and he's very close with Caleb so they should look at voting those two off. This backfires big time with everyone thinking that the only person throwing names out right now is Ciera, so maybe she should go.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #1
They have to paddle a raft out to a platform then one person has to swim out to retrieve a set of keys, then they all have to swim, climb, jump through a series of obstacles to make it back to the beach. Once there, they have to dig up two bags of puzzle pieces, then use the keys to unlock a chest with a third bag of puzzle pieces and finally two tribe members must assemble a ships wheel puzzle - when completed, they use it to raise their flag and win Immunity!
The Immunity idol is a miniature old diving bell/helmet. They will also get fire in the form of flint.
Jeff tells them another twist this season is in the event of a tie, there will be no re-vote, they will have an open discussion to try and come to a unanimous decision, if one person isn't chosen then the two tied players will be safe and everyone else will have to draw rocks.
Off they go and Ozzy is still the swimming beast - he makes it look easy. They put Hali against him swimming for the keys and from there Mana was behind but not by much... they catch up at the puzzle but Zeke and Cirie were able to get the ship wheel together before Ciera and Sandra (making this the second time Ciera lost at this puzzle since she did it in a previous season).
NUKU Wins Immunity!
Mana - back at camp, even though Tony is a snake, they feel like they have to keep the tribe strong - the group around the water hole - Tony, Aubry, Malcolm, Caleb and Varner think the "weakest threat" is Ciera and that's how they want to vote. Sandra saunters up and when asked what she thinks, she gives the classic Sandra answer, "I'm going to do what y'all want." They tell her Ciera is the only one throwing names out there and then, speak of the devil, Ciera comes up the path. They quickly scramble and agree to tell her it's Michaela tonight (uh oh, they better hope Michaela doesn't hear that...) but of course, Michaela asks who she (Ciera) thinks is going home and freaks out a bit when they tell her it's her. Michaela tells the camera she reacted like she shouldn't have, she is trying not to show them how big Michaela can be, "but you can't contain greatness." (I love Michaela, I can't help it.)
-Unfortunately this 'hot streak' of Michaela's does not sit well with the rest of the tribe and there is talk of maybe switching that Ciera vote to the scary and unpredictable Michaela. (Her mouth gets her in trouble every time, and that's the fun of Michaela.)
TRIBAL COUNCIL #1
It was a very uneventful tribal - they are still feeling each other out, figuring out if these people are like the people they saw on TV or if they're different in person.
-Michaela knows that she is not playing with people who want to be her friend. She hopes the first vote in a season called Game Changers is not just the easiest vote. (Oh, challenge accepted?)
-Jeff points out that the easy vote would likely be Sandra, the two-time winner. She says she is actually the perfect person to go to the end with, because who is going to vote for her to win a million dollars again? (Good point.)
-Hali says the vote has two components - a challenge weakness they are worried about and some talk that went around, "loose lips sink ships."
-Ciera is worried about the loose lips comment, is she in the majority?
-Michaela says she'd be surprised if she got out of there without one vote against her (which is a clue for Ciera that she expects to have one vote.)
Time to Vote:
Ciera votes Michaela
Michaela votesMCiera
No one plays a hidden immunity idol.
Votes:
Michaela - 1
M Ciera - 1
Ciera - 2, 3, 4, 5... and it's CIERA, the first person voted out of Survivor Game Changers. That means that Hardeep G., Cindy M., and Sharon R. get their pool $ back. Congrats... I guess.
Mana - Day 4
- Next morning Tony wants to start making some moves and he talks to Aubry first to get an alliance going. They talk about getting an alliance of five together including Malcolm, Caleb and Sandra - to Tony these are all big threats and he wants to keep them around as his shield.
-Tony then talks to Sandra and they agree the only way a winner is going to win again is if they have three winners at the end - she's up for playing with Tony at this point so they can protect each other.
-She is still going to play as she always has, as long as it's not me, I don't care... and she thinks there is also no end to the damage she and Tony can do together.
Nuku - Day 4
-Tai is taking charge of the chickens, he wants to name them and is even asking JT not to take all the corn off the cobs so the chickens can have more food. JT scolds him, the chickens do not get to eat better than the rest of them... but then we see Tai spitting out most of his corn for the chickens. (Whatever, let Tai feed his portion to the chickens, you'll be much happier eating fat chickens later.)
Mana - Night 4
-Tony is manic and can't settle down to sleep - he's going to finish his spy bunker in the middle of the night.
-Troy is awake and pulls Sandra off to talk (well isn't that convenient) - they head straight to where Tony is digging his pit forcing him to army crawl over the bank that is right by the trail (um, why not make that your hideout - this bunker idea is so stupid.) The "talk" that Troy and Sandra have is so strange, I totally think this was staged but anyway, Troy says something about Tony and then he pops up from his hiding place and confronts them, "What are you guys doing?" They both lie to him and he, being super-cop, knows they're lying... Sandra didn't do anything wrong and hates being interrogated by the po-po - Tony needs to go home.
Nuku - Day 5
-Cirie is paranoid that Ozzy is coming for her so she's trying to make some other connections - she talks to cop-Sarah at the watering hole who tells her she won't vote for her unless it's to win - but then Sarah tells the camera her word is not her bond this time around, she's going to play like a criminal and see where that gets her (sorry Cirie, she is not your friend.)
- Cirie then talks to Zeke and he loves her - she is the mystical player to him and he tells her they are solid - but then he tells the camera it's too early to align with anyone and again, sorry Cirie, if they come for you, don't count on Zeke.
-Finally, Cirie decides to gift Debbie with some wisdom, which is the totally wrong approach to take with Debbie - Cirie tells her she looks like she's talking to everyone - Debbie, because I am. Cirie, okay but you look like you're scrambling - Debbie, that's alright because I'm not. (Oh my godupus, just shut it and listen for a second lady.) Debbie is Debbie, she can't even pretend to politely listen, she is using her military intelligence training and it will take a lot to outwit her. Cirie keeps trying, bless her heart, saying she thinks they should target one of the guys if they have to go to Tribal - Debbie tells her they are all good - but her BS detector was going off (sadly, Cirie has found no friends.)
Mana - Day 5
-Sandra is turning the tables on Tony - she starts with Hali, telling her that Tony has an alliance of five but she doesn't like what he's been saying, he's not the boss. Hali is in, if Tony has an alliance and she's not in it, she will definitely go with Sandra.
Sandra tells the camera, "You know that saying 'You're only the king until the queen arrives', well I'm here." (You gotta love Sandra too.)
-Then Sandra with Hali in tow is talking to Troyzan, they only need two more to take out Tony's remaining four (Tony, Caleb, Malcolm and Aubry.) Sandra talks to Varner and he doesn't like knowing he wasn't in Tony's top five alliance, so he's with her.
-Troyzan talks to Michaela to bring her into the fold and there you have it - Varner tells the camera, "Sandra put together an alliance of five in 15 minutes, that's scary." (It is, she really is built for this game.)
Mana - Day 6
-Tony's talking to Aubry saying something's brewing he can feel it. He tells Aubry he is not playing with Sandra after she lied to him about her talk with Troyzan. Paranoid Tony is in full force, he tells Aubry they have to find a new fifth... but then he just talks to Malcolm and Caleb... who agree that they have to stop Sandra from amassing an army but I don't hear any ideas on how to stop her.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #2
Ozzy looked really special with is pigtail braids.
Six members of each tribe will raise out into the ocean, across a balance beam and out to a cage in the water. They will have to climb the cage, jump in and then untie a huge snake tethered under the water. Once they have it untied, they will have to boost it over and out of the cage, climb back out of the cage, carry it across the balance beam and up on the beach (no easy feat, this thing was really long and big and heavy- over 400lbs.) Once they get the snake to it's cradle on shore, the remaining three tribe members will untie three numbered tiles from inside the snake and one person will use the numbers to open a combination lock, that will release a series of rings which they must then toss onto a line of oars that will flip up when rung to spell IMMUNITY. First person to spell the word (get a ring on every oar) wins immunity and a fishing kit including a raft with paddles back at camp.
Nuku has to sit someone out and Cirie volunteers (probably a smart idea.)
Off they go and Nuku with Ozzy leading the charge remains in the lead through the snake portion of the proceedings. Mana has Varner not helping with the snake, he doesn't help untie, he isn't strong enough to get it over the cage though he does try to use his body weight to drag it over... not very successfully. Mana runs into more trouble trying to get across the balance beam with Hali falling off and then Troyzan they drop the snake in the water - this gave Nuku a huge lead. Nuku is throwing their rings before Mana even gets the snake to the beach. But, as often happens, Malcolm is able to get them back into it with the ring toss - they tie it up with two rings/letters left and Michaela wants him to sub her in but he refuses and JT for NUKU is able to pull it out and win Immunity again.
Mana - back at camp Michaela is fuming, she hates to lose and she felt under-utilized in the challenge. To sit back while other weaker players lose the challenge for them again really p*ssed her off. Other players are making choices for the group and for now she's got to just deal with it... or does she.
-Tony finally leaves the group so they can talk - and Sandra right away says, "everyone will be happier once Tony is gone." Troyzan agrees, he never stops. Varner, Hali, Michaela are all in but they think they will have to split the votes in case Tony found an idol - and I guess it's split between Tony and Aubry because they want to bring Caleb and Malcolm over to their side.
-They approach Caleb and propose that they take this opportunity to take Tony out, he's too much of a threat, what if he starts racking up idols like he did on his season... then Tony walks up on them and asks who they are thinking for the vote tonight and Sandra tells him Aubry (what did she do?) Tony tells us he's going to do whatever he has to do to stay but if Aubry is voted out, Sandra takes control of the game.
-Tony has his sites set on taking Sandra out, Caleb agrees with him - he would much rather side with Tony and use him as a shield than to be used to take Tony out. Tony thinks they can get Michaela to vote with them and their angle - to appeal to Michaela's desire to win challenges by convincing her that Sandra is the weakest link causing them to lose.
-Caleb talks to Michaela and Varner and they do agree that Tony is the much stronger player to have in challenges... Varner says having the two returning winners going at each other is... Christmas - and the icing on the cake is that they get to choose which on goes home.
TRIBAL COUNCIL # 2
Back to back losses is not how they want to start - they are angry they lost the challenge and they need to stay strong to battle back - this is Tony's opening argument.
-Malcolm agrees they have to keep the physically strong players at this point.
-Michaela agrees that it doesn't make sense to send strong physical players home right now and she is there because she is a physically strong player.
-Sandra pipes up that this talk makes her scared, that maybe they are talking about her going home... but then they have also put the strong physical players in the right positions so far and they have still lost. (Yeah!)
-Jeff asks Troyzan how the tribe will be different if the vote goes how he thinks it will go and Troyzan says, "the tribe will be at least 50% less paranoid." (He might as well have said, "we are voting out Tony.") He went off about having to worry about people sneaking off at 4am... and Tony says he doesn't know what he's talking about, Tony's the one who caught Troyzan sneaking off talking to Sandra at 4am.
-Sandra jumps in, saying it was a 2 minute conversation about crates but to Tony everything is paranoia - I don't play like that I'm calm (and then a huge bug landed in her hair and she jumped up screaming... ha! The timing was hilarious, sure you're calm... but I would have done the same thing - that was a huge flying insect.)
-Anyway- Tony goes on to give an impassioned speech about his perceived lying ways and how he has changed this time around, he's not scamming anybody - he has more respect for this group of people because they are a different caliber of player. (I rolled my eyes at that one.) Varner, Caleb and Malcolm endorse Tony, saying they believe him.
When asked what they are going to do in the vote tonight, Varner says, "we are a round hole and it's time to get rid of our square peg."
Jeff asks Tony what he thinks of that and Sandra interjects, "He hopes he's not the square peg." Hahaha. And with that, it's...
Time to Vote:
Sandra votes Aubry - but tells the camera Aubry, you're not going home but I still have to cast this vote just in case.
No one plays a hidden idol.
Votes:
Aubry - 1
Tony - 1
Aubry - 2
Tony - 2, 3, 4, 5... and it's TONY voted out. He taunts them all, "Sheep being led to the slaughter. Good job Sandra."
She yells back, "That's what you get for plotting against me. And the queen stays queen." (Oh Sandra, don't show the ugly side to the rest of your team, they can still turn on you.)
Tony tells them all they are suckers for letting this happen.
As Tony walks down the dark path Sandra calls out again, "Bye Tony! Say hi to Ciera for me." (Oh man, she's the worst... and the best.) Oh, and with Tony leaving that also takes Shane B., Bob L., and Monica S. out of the pool.
Next week: It's only been six days but they are switching up the tribes already - changing the game. There will be an immunity idol hidden in a challenge and it looks like they may catch a goat - but will anyone kill it and/or eat it?
Tony's final thoughts: He knew he was the most vicious player out there and he would have a target on his back but he tried to overcome it (uh yeah, spy bunker anyone.) Then he blames Sandra for poisoning everyone against him - whatever, can't say I'm sorry to see Tony go, not my favourite player by far.
But it was a good beginning to this season. Lots of jockeying going on already and I think the show itself is going to be doing a lot of game changing to keep it unpredictable - should be fun.
OH yeah, and I will be out of town next Wednesday so the recap will be delayed by a few days. Try to contain the disappointment :)
Coleen
In this, the premiere of the 34th season of Survivor, they brought back players that they believe made moves significant enough to change the game - and no one believes that more than the players themselves.
Tony - bald, beefy cop that won his season in Cagayan - is the first to tell us how great he is - he created the spy shack, he found the special idol (I don't remember that) he voted out his closest ally, "And just when you think you've seen it all, you ain't seen nothing yet."
Malcolm - I always think of him as the poor man's Ozzy, or maybe Ozzy-lite - he tells us he made some big splashy moves in Caramoan (that was the second time he played) and he's there to uphold his reputation and keep making big moves.
Sandra - the only two-time winner - she is there to do what she knows how to do, make it to day 39 and not get voted out. "The queen stays queen, everyone else - adios."
Cirie - she says she's a bona fide "ex"-couch potato that saw this game and loved it. She's the gangster with a smile, the sheep in wolves clothing. She convinced the ice cream boy to give up his immunity idol then voted him out. This will be here fourth time playing and her next step is to win.
Debbie - the original Jill of all trades - you name it, Debbie's done it, and better than you. Anyone who saw her last season knows she has the body of a gymnast (remember the pull ups in the tree?) and the tenacity of a giant squid (What?) She's there to go for broke (and she brings the absolutely delightful crazy that makes the show fun to watch.)
But the absolutely best thing in the opening sequence was Jeff giving the tag line, "39 days, 20 people, 1 survivor!" While standing on the side of the bow of a rusted out shipwreck in the middle of the ocean - You go, Jeff Probst!
So we open with them all on a boat surrounded with a ton of supplies - Jeff explains the premise of the season and I'm sure they all think everything Jeff says is about them - they are embracing the Game Changers title for sure. Jeff asks JT if it matters that there are a handful of winners (JT, Tony and Sandra have all won) he said he's glad he's not the only winner there but he doesn't think it matters... also that Sandra's not going to be the only two time winner after this is over. (Oh ho! Big words from the country boy.)
Jeff asks Cirie if they should even bother if JT is right - "Who says JT is right?" (Exactly)
Yay, Zeke is back. He's geeking out as a fan-boy on the boat but he's also there to prove that he does belong.
Mana Tribe: Aubry (curly hair, glasses - brains tribe), Michaela (she was a Millennial beast in challenges and voted out when she showed how smart she was), Sandra (our returning two time winner), Ciera (voted her own mother out of the game), Hali (no-collar tribe, young, did not change the game but obviously answered the phone), Malcolm (Ozzy-lite), Caleb (had to be med-evac'd due to heat stroke), Troyzan (long haired old guy from man vs woman season), Jeff (from Australia, dimples) and Tony (spy-shack cop former winner).
Nuku Tribe: Debbie (done it all crazy lady), Tai (chicken whisperer), JT (country boy former winner), Sierra (blond... none of us really remembered her until they showed her in her previous season with the weird grown out blond eyebrows - oh yeah!), Zeke (the moustache), Ozzy (he is made for the physical game, but the mental side, not so much - oh, and he's looking rough), Sarah (also a cop who was able to sniff out Tony when they played before and he voted her out), Cirie (four times really?), Brad Culpepper (ex-football player and not the sharpest tool in the shed), Andrea (this is her third go around, she's young and pretty but a showmance is not in her game plan this time.)
Jeff tells them this is how they started the very first season of Survivor, on his go they will have to release the rafts off the side of the boat and they have two minutes to gather as much of the supplies on the boat they can before heading for shore. BUT there was also a twist - there was a ring floating just off the side of the boat - beneath that ring were two colour coded set of ropes - the first team to dive down and untie the ropes would release a massive tool kit for their tribe. Immediately everyone thinks Ozzy will go for it so they don't bother - and they're right. Ozzy dives in to start on the ropes and the other team doesn't do anything until way later, Caleb gives it a shot but too little too late, Nuku gets the toolkit... and the chickens - Tai makes sure to send the chicken crate over which landed upside down on top of him - but they saved the chickens... and Tai was alright too.
-The other thing that happened in the early scramble on the boat was that Andrea uncovered a secret advantage clue that was just sitting on the deck underneath something and she didn't even see it - she had a couple opportunities to notice it, but she even stepped over it once (sigh, she's my girl). It was blond Sierra-eyebrows that finally saw the clue and stuffed it down the back of her pants.
Mana Tribe - they get to their camp by climbing down a rocky staircase to their beach, yikes - and everyone says hello and hugs - they get to work as well, gathering bamboo and sizing everyone up. Michaela tells us her strategy is to cozy up to everyone and try to hide her natural facial expressions because it's hard for her to lie (she asks Troyzan if that's his real name - maybe she plans to act not so smart this time too?)
-Next thing you know, Tony says, "you guys do nice nice, I'm looking for the idol" and he runs off into the jungle hooting and hollerin'. Everyone just stands around going, is he serious? Sandra, "we're just going to vote him off first." No one follows him and Tony can't believe it, he thought for sure everyone would follow him... nope. Finally they send Sandra and Caleb just to check up on him - they don't look for an idol, just pick up some bamboo and head back.
Goats! They show us some goats running around the island as they take us to:
Nuku Tribe - they get to camp and it's hugs all around. Zeke is trying to control the fanboy and make this game his b*tch - he wants to bathe in the blood of his enemies, he wants to change the game, that's why he loves Survivor (all with a huge smile on his face - that's why we love Zeke.)
- They see the goats and Tai says they'll never be able to catch them, they're too fast. Culpepper says in order to kill a goat, they'd have to kill Tai (and that's probably the truth.)
-Sierra-eyebrows takes this time to open her secret advantage and we find out this is another Legacy Advantage which says it guarantees her immunity but she can only use it when there are 13 people left in the game or 6 people left in the game. (Huh, that's pretty specific) and if she is voted out before that point, she must will it to someone else still in the game.
-Ozzy apparently still has a grudge against Cirie - they played together in fans vs favourites and she voted him off. (Huh, I have no recollection of that, but apparently he does and he's gunning for her.)
-Cirie knows it, she tries to diffuse the situation, asking him if they are okay and he assures her they have a clean slate, but then the next time he's talking to people he's again setting Cirie up as the big threat they need to take out. (He speak with forked-tongue.)
-Tai takes Cirie aside to clean out the chicken crate and awkwardly warns her that he has a vibe from Ozzy that there are unresolved issues between them... so she knows, all is not well in Ozzy-ville.
Mana Tribe - Tony again, volunteering to fill people's water bottles goes off by himself to the watering hole and decides he's going to dig himself a spy-bunker, but digging a shallow hole 5 ft from the watering hole and covering himself with leaves?? (What the good-golly is he talking about? That is ridiculous.) He actually starts trying to dig himself this bunker when Troyzan comes to check up on him and sees the hole he's been digging. He doesn't confront him about it but he does go and tell Malcolm - who thinks Tony must have a clue and was digging for an idol. He tells Hali who tells all the girls and Ciera thinks she's an expert at playing with former winners - she proposes to Malcolm, Hali, Jeff, Michaela, and Aubry that Tony is looking for idols and he's very close with Caleb so they should look at voting those two off. This backfires big time with everyone thinking that the only person throwing names out right now is Ciera, so maybe she should go.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #1
They have to paddle a raft out to a platform then one person has to swim out to retrieve a set of keys, then they all have to swim, climb, jump through a series of obstacles to make it back to the beach. Once there, they have to dig up two bags of puzzle pieces, then use the keys to unlock a chest with a third bag of puzzle pieces and finally two tribe members must assemble a ships wheel puzzle - when completed, they use it to raise their flag and win Immunity!
The Immunity idol is a miniature old diving bell/helmet. They will also get fire in the form of flint.
Jeff tells them another twist this season is in the event of a tie, there will be no re-vote, they will have an open discussion to try and come to a unanimous decision, if one person isn't chosen then the two tied players will be safe and everyone else will have to draw rocks.
Off they go and Ozzy is still the swimming beast - he makes it look easy. They put Hali against him swimming for the keys and from there Mana was behind but not by much... they catch up at the puzzle but Zeke and Cirie were able to get the ship wheel together before Ciera and Sandra (making this the second time Ciera lost at this puzzle since she did it in a previous season).
NUKU Wins Immunity!
Mana - back at camp, even though Tony is a snake, they feel like they have to keep the tribe strong - the group around the water hole - Tony, Aubry, Malcolm, Caleb and Varner think the "weakest threat" is Ciera and that's how they want to vote. Sandra saunters up and when asked what she thinks, she gives the classic Sandra answer, "I'm going to do what y'all want." They tell her Ciera is the only one throwing names out there and then, speak of the devil, Ciera comes up the path. They quickly scramble and agree to tell her it's Michaela tonight (uh oh, they better hope Michaela doesn't hear that...) but of course, Michaela asks who she (Ciera) thinks is going home and freaks out a bit when they tell her it's her. Michaela tells the camera she reacted like she shouldn't have, she is trying not to show them how big Michaela can be, "but you can't contain greatness." (I love Michaela, I can't help it.)
-Unfortunately this 'hot streak' of Michaela's does not sit well with the rest of the tribe and there is talk of maybe switching that Ciera vote to the scary and unpredictable Michaela. (Her mouth gets her in trouble every time, and that's the fun of Michaela.)
TRIBAL COUNCIL #1
It was a very uneventful tribal - they are still feeling each other out, figuring out if these people are like the people they saw on TV or if they're different in person.
-Michaela knows that she is not playing with people who want to be her friend. She hopes the first vote in a season called Game Changers is not just the easiest vote. (Oh, challenge accepted?)
-Jeff points out that the easy vote would likely be Sandra, the two-time winner. She says she is actually the perfect person to go to the end with, because who is going to vote for her to win a million dollars again? (Good point.)
-Hali says the vote has two components - a challenge weakness they are worried about and some talk that went around, "loose lips sink ships."
-Ciera is worried about the loose lips comment, is she in the majority?
-Michaela says she'd be surprised if she got out of there without one vote against her (which is a clue for Ciera that she expects to have one vote.)
Time to Vote:
Ciera votes Michaela
Michaela votes
No one plays a hidden immunity idol.
Votes:
Michaela - 1
Ciera - 2, 3, 4, 5... and it's CIERA, the first person voted out of Survivor Game Changers. That means that Hardeep G., Cindy M., and Sharon R. get their pool $ back. Congrats... I guess.
Mana - Day 4
- Next morning Tony wants to start making some moves and he talks to Aubry first to get an alliance going. They talk about getting an alliance of five together including Malcolm, Caleb and Sandra - to Tony these are all big threats and he wants to keep them around as his shield.
-Tony then talks to Sandra and they agree the only way a winner is going to win again is if they have three winners at the end - she's up for playing with Tony at this point so they can protect each other.
-She is still going to play as she always has, as long as it's not me, I don't care... and she thinks there is also no end to the damage she and Tony can do together.
Nuku - Day 4
-Tai is taking charge of the chickens, he wants to name them and is even asking JT not to take all the corn off the cobs so the chickens can have more food. JT scolds him, the chickens do not get to eat better than the rest of them... but then we see Tai spitting out most of his corn for the chickens. (Whatever, let Tai feed his portion to the chickens, you'll be much happier eating fat chickens later.)
Mana - Night 4
-Tony is manic and can't settle down to sleep - he's going to finish his spy bunker in the middle of the night.
-Troy is awake and pulls Sandra off to talk (well isn't that convenient) - they head straight to where Tony is digging his pit forcing him to army crawl over the bank that is right by the trail (um, why not make that your hideout - this bunker idea is so stupid.) The "talk" that Troy and Sandra have is so strange, I totally think this was staged but anyway, Troy says something about Tony and then he pops up from his hiding place and confronts them, "What are you guys doing?" They both lie to him and he, being super-cop, knows they're lying... Sandra didn't do anything wrong and hates being interrogated by the po-po - Tony needs to go home.
Nuku - Day 5
-Cirie is paranoid that Ozzy is coming for her so she's trying to make some other connections - she talks to cop-Sarah at the watering hole who tells her she won't vote for her unless it's to win - but then Sarah tells the camera her word is not her bond this time around, she's going to play like a criminal and see where that gets her (sorry Cirie, she is not your friend.)
- Cirie then talks to Zeke and he loves her - she is the mystical player to him and he tells her they are solid - but then he tells the camera it's too early to align with anyone and again, sorry Cirie, if they come for you, don't count on Zeke.
-Finally, Cirie decides to gift Debbie with some wisdom, which is the totally wrong approach to take with Debbie - Cirie tells her she looks like she's talking to everyone - Debbie, because I am. Cirie, okay but you look like you're scrambling - Debbie, that's alright because I'm not. (Oh my godupus, just shut it and listen for a second lady.) Debbie is Debbie, she can't even pretend to politely listen, she is using her military intelligence training and it will take a lot to outwit her. Cirie keeps trying, bless her heart, saying she thinks they should target one of the guys if they have to go to Tribal - Debbie tells her they are all good - but her BS detector was going off (sadly, Cirie has found no friends.)
Mana - Day 5
-Sandra is turning the tables on Tony - she starts with Hali, telling her that Tony has an alliance of five but she doesn't like what he's been saying, he's not the boss. Hali is in, if Tony has an alliance and she's not in it, she will definitely go with Sandra.
Sandra tells the camera, "You know that saying 'You're only the king until the queen arrives', well I'm here." (You gotta love Sandra too.)
-Then Sandra with Hali in tow is talking to Troyzan, they only need two more to take out Tony's remaining four (Tony, Caleb, Malcolm and Aubry.) Sandra talks to Varner and he doesn't like knowing he wasn't in Tony's top five alliance, so he's with her.
-Troyzan talks to Michaela to bring her into the fold and there you have it - Varner tells the camera, "Sandra put together an alliance of five in 15 minutes, that's scary." (It is, she really is built for this game.)
Mana - Day 6
-Tony's talking to Aubry saying something's brewing he can feel it. He tells Aubry he is not playing with Sandra after she lied to him about her talk with Troyzan. Paranoid Tony is in full force, he tells Aubry they have to find a new fifth... but then he just talks to Malcolm and Caleb... who agree that they have to stop Sandra from amassing an army but I don't hear any ideas on how to stop her.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #2
Ozzy looked really special with is pigtail braids.
Six members of each tribe will raise out into the ocean, across a balance beam and out to a cage in the water. They will have to climb the cage, jump in and then untie a huge snake tethered under the water. Once they have it untied, they will have to boost it over and out of the cage, climb back out of the cage, carry it across the balance beam and up on the beach (no easy feat, this thing was really long and big and heavy- over 400lbs.) Once they get the snake to it's cradle on shore, the remaining three tribe members will untie three numbered tiles from inside the snake and one person will use the numbers to open a combination lock, that will release a series of rings which they must then toss onto a line of oars that will flip up when rung to spell IMMUNITY. First person to spell the word (get a ring on every oar) wins immunity and a fishing kit including a raft with paddles back at camp.
Nuku has to sit someone out and Cirie volunteers (probably a smart idea.)
Off they go and Nuku with Ozzy leading the charge remains in the lead through the snake portion of the proceedings. Mana has Varner not helping with the snake, he doesn't help untie, he isn't strong enough to get it over the cage though he does try to use his body weight to drag it over... not very successfully. Mana runs into more trouble trying to get across the balance beam with Hali falling off and then Troyzan they drop the snake in the water - this gave Nuku a huge lead. Nuku is throwing their rings before Mana even gets the snake to the beach. But, as often happens, Malcolm is able to get them back into it with the ring toss - they tie it up with two rings/letters left and Michaela wants him to sub her in but he refuses and JT for NUKU is able to pull it out and win Immunity again.
Mana - back at camp Michaela is fuming, she hates to lose and she felt under-utilized in the challenge. To sit back while other weaker players lose the challenge for them again really p*ssed her off. Other players are making choices for the group and for now she's got to just deal with it... or does she.
-Tony finally leaves the group so they can talk - and Sandra right away says, "everyone will be happier once Tony is gone." Troyzan agrees, he never stops. Varner, Hali, Michaela are all in but they think they will have to split the votes in case Tony found an idol - and I guess it's split between Tony and Aubry because they want to bring Caleb and Malcolm over to their side.
-They approach Caleb and propose that they take this opportunity to take Tony out, he's too much of a threat, what if he starts racking up idols like he did on his season... then Tony walks up on them and asks who they are thinking for the vote tonight and Sandra tells him Aubry (what did she do?) Tony tells us he's going to do whatever he has to do to stay but if Aubry is voted out, Sandra takes control of the game.
-Tony has his sites set on taking Sandra out, Caleb agrees with him - he would much rather side with Tony and use him as a shield than to be used to take Tony out. Tony thinks they can get Michaela to vote with them and their angle - to appeal to Michaela's desire to win challenges by convincing her that Sandra is the weakest link causing them to lose.
-Caleb talks to Michaela and Varner and they do agree that Tony is the much stronger player to have in challenges... Varner says having the two returning winners going at each other is... Christmas - and the icing on the cake is that they get to choose which on goes home.
TRIBAL COUNCIL # 2
Back to back losses is not how they want to start - they are angry they lost the challenge and they need to stay strong to battle back - this is Tony's opening argument.
-Malcolm agrees they have to keep the physically strong players at this point.
-Michaela agrees that it doesn't make sense to send strong physical players home right now and she is there because she is a physically strong player.
-Sandra pipes up that this talk makes her scared, that maybe they are talking about her going home... but then they have also put the strong physical players in the right positions so far and they have still lost. (Yeah!)
-Jeff asks Troyzan how the tribe will be different if the vote goes how he thinks it will go and Troyzan says, "the tribe will be at least 50% less paranoid." (He might as well have said, "we are voting out Tony.") He went off about having to worry about people sneaking off at 4am... and Tony says he doesn't know what he's talking about, Tony's the one who caught Troyzan sneaking off talking to Sandra at 4am.
-Sandra jumps in, saying it was a 2 minute conversation about crates but to Tony everything is paranoia - I don't play like that I'm calm (and then a huge bug landed in her hair and she jumped up screaming... ha! The timing was hilarious, sure you're calm... but I would have done the same thing - that was a huge flying insect.)
-Anyway- Tony goes on to give an impassioned speech about his perceived lying ways and how he has changed this time around, he's not scamming anybody - he has more respect for this group of people because they are a different caliber of player. (I rolled my eyes at that one.) Varner, Caleb and Malcolm endorse Tony, saying they believe him.
When asked what they are going to do in the vote tonight, Varner says, "we are a round hole and it's time to get rid of our square peg."
Jeff asks Tony what he thinks of that and Sandra interjects, "He hopes he's not the square peg." Hahaha. And with that, it's...
Time to Vote:
Sandra votes Aubry - but tells the camera Aubry, you're not going home but I still have to cast this vote just in case.
No one plays a hidden idol.
Votes:
Aubry - 1
Tony - 1
Aubry - 2
Tony - 2, 3, 4, 5... and it's TONY voted out. He taunts them all, "Sheep being led to the slaughter. Good job Sandra."
She yells back, "That's what you get for plotting against me. And the queen stays queen." (Oh Sandra, don't show the ugly side to the rest of your team, they can still turn on you.)
Tony tells them all they are suckers for letting this happen.
As Tony walks down the dark path Sandra calls out again, "Bye Tony! Say hi to Ciera for me." (Oh man, she's the worst... and the best.) Oh, and with Tony leaving that also takes Shane B., Bob L., and Monica S. out of the pool.
Next week: It's only been six days but they are switching up the tribes already - changing the game. There will be an immunity idol hidden in a challenge and it looks like they may catch a goat - but will anyone kill it and/or eat it?
Tony's final thoughts: He knew he was the most vicious player out there and he would have a target on his back but he tried to overcome it (uh yeah, spy bunker anyone.) Then he blames Sandra for poisoning everyone against him - whatever, can't say I'm sorry to see Tony go, not my favourite player by far.
But it was a good beginning to this season. Lots of jockeying going on already and I think the show itself is going to be doing a lot of game changing to keep it unpredictable - should be fun.
OH yeah, and I will be out of town next Wednesday so the recap will be delayed by a few days. Try to contain the disappointment :)
Coleen
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