Foreshadowing:
Coming off the loss of Kelley, Coyopa isn't looking that strong for this episode. But this is Survivor, so expect odd things to happen.
No Rice, New Rice, Jeff Nice?, Not Nice:
Hunahpu start us off this week, with Jeff showing up with a bag of rice and plans to destroy the tribe's moral. He tells them that a tribe has never needed as much help as this one. He cites the last noteworthy time a tribe needed an influx of rice - the Australian Outback in season 2 - and they didn't need it due to poor rationing, but rather due to a flash flood washing it away from the formerly dry stream bed. Jeff says this will cost them. Their pillows, blankets, tarp, hatchet, hammer, 1 of their 2 pots, and their extra flint. This would leave them with 1 pot, flint, and a machete ... or in other words, nearly square one.
Jeremy hates the idea, but won't tell anyone on his tribe because he doesn't want to cause ripples. He thinks they should wait and see if they can win some food at the next challenge. I respect his silence, but doubt I could do the same if in his place. I'd have to tell someone my thoughts in case I'm not the only one.
Reward, Exile, Bitterness:
The tribes meet at what I call Exile Arena. Hunahpu is surprised to see that Kelley was voted out. I fully understand. With no 'fresh' blood battles remaining to fight for reward after the tribe mix-up (only Keith vs Wes is available, and we already saw that one), Jeff tells each tribe to put up their best competitor. This challenge will be to travel through a small obstacle course - tunnel-like - while blindfolded. They must go through it, both ways, 3 times, each time untying a bag of puzzle pieces at the far end and bringing it back to the start. On any or all these trips they must take time to feel a mask and memorize it purely by feel, then use their puzzle pieces to recreate it back at the start. There are plenty of wrong puzzle pieces, and only the 7 correct ones. Their tribes can see it all, but can't say anything to help them - only words of encouragement.
Coyopa puts up Baylor and Hunahpu puts up Reed. Reed travels the course faster. I suppose Baylor was chosen due to being smaller so the obstacles might be easier (lots of ducking) and she's probably good at puzzles. Reed chooses to examine the mask during each trip. Baylor only feels it on the last trip. Reed, due to faster movements, starts the puzzle first. Baylor is close behind though. The incorrect puzzle pieces are colored red so it is easy for us, and Jeff, to tell if they are right. Reed has 1 red piece early. Baylor has 2 red pieces. Reed has his puzzle almost finished and Baylor is still working on it. Reed puts the last piece in, but stops to check all of the pieces one last time. He feels the red piece and decides it isn't right, so takes it out, and puts a new one in its place. It's the right one. He calls on Jeff, who verifies that Reed is the winner. Baylor wasn't even close.
Baylor is going to Exile. Reed would like to send Julie, but Natalie wants to volunteer. Reed wisely (wisely? we'll see) agrees to send Natalie. Natalie wants to help out Baylor because she was friends with Missy and figures this will help her game to go to Exile with Missy's daughter. They share the idol clue. It's very specific that the symbols on the well are the key. It translates 4 of them. Who cares which ones though, since both have been found.
Oh, and the prize was giant kabobs with lots of meat. Poor Jeremy actually looked upset when they won. Never have I seen someone sulking after winning a fantastic food prize. Would he rather have lost, thus making their rough rice trade seem more worth it? Should have spoken up.
Aces Are Low, or Are They?:
Dale decides to work with his only card - the fake immunity idol he found in episode 1, tied to the lid to the well. He shows it to Jon and says he won't be going home if they lose immunity. Jon is pretty convinced it is real. I can't blame him. It looks legit, it doesn't seem like Dale could have made it, so what else could it be? Jon tells his alliance, who agree that maybe they need to throw some votes at Keith, just in case.
Immunity and Foreshadowing Concluded:
For immunity the tribes will tumble large wooden framed cubes to get them under 3 bags of puzzle pieces. Someone climbs up and spins the bags off of 3 separate metal spirals. Jeremy does the climbing, but one of his bags gets caught and Hunahpu falls behind. Jon's bag swinging technique works much better. Coyopa is actually in the lead. The puzzle is 7 horizontal flags, each one-sided, that need to be placed vertically to form an image. Looks like the first team to start this will win, because you really can't go wrong once you start, so if you start with the lead, you'll finish first. Remember up top where I said to expect odd things to happen? This is that odd thing. Not Coyopa winning - we really expected that. No, the odd thing was Coyopa flubbing such a huge lead and losing. Again.
Overplaying:
Dale decides to raise the stakes, now that they are going to tribal council. Dale tells Jon that he wants to make the merge and will do anything to get there. So if Jon will make sure someone else goes home tonight, anyone other than Dale, Dale will GIVE the idol to Jon. Kudos to Dale here. He has this worthless little trinket which is only good for a souvenir necklace, albeit a fantastically cool one. Jon and Jaclyn talk it over and seriously consider his offer. If they do it, it will probably be Missy who gets blindsided. So again, Jon & Jaclyn are in the driver's seat. Do they choose loyalty, or do they choose power? For now, as a reader, disregard that this idol has very little actual power. Its power is more than nothing though, as Dale is proving right now. My opinion is that Dale overplayed this. If his goal was to make the merge, why trade away his idol? Why not play it last week to give his group 50/50 odds of advancing? Why not play it this week to ensure his safety? Why would he entertain giving it up? I'm playing from my couch, so the answer is obvious to me, but I'd like to think that if I were Jon, I'd see through this ruse and dump all the votes on Dale.
Tribal Jockeying:
At tribal, plenty is discussed, including that they are thinking about a potential merge coming up soon. Technically this could happen since they'll be down to 12 people - a final 3 and a jury of 9, which has happened before. Dale keeps laying it on thick. He says it's tough because someone's loved one is going home tonight, which can only happen if he stays in the game since everyone else left on this team has their loved one in the game either here or on the other tribe (Keith). The voting goes down: Dale votes for Missy, Missy and Baylor vote for Keith, and everyone else votes for Dale. The fake idol has been removed from the game. Watching the season at home, Jon & Jaclyn must be thrilled they didn't fall for that. Or are they?
Next Time On ... Survivor:
In the previews, Missy is seen saying something like "Thanks for keeping me around. Now I'm going to vote you off." This is along with the revelation that we are, indeed, merging. It seems early. We're only 6 episodes in. But they did start with 2 fewer players than they originally intended, so that probably messed with things.
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