Keys to Survivor San Juan del Sur Episode 8

I'd like to start by saying this entry was written over two evenings, in bed, after midnight.  The original draft was mostly typed with my eyes closed.  As such, who knows what sort of errors, mispellings (did you get that one?), unsound logic, or genius may be represented below.

 

Some of the time I would have spent on this normally over the weekend was lost to watching the movie: Interstellar.  It's pretty good science fiction.  I don't generally follow other people's movie recommendations, but if you're the sort of person who does, I'd recommend it as a good story.  Just know going into it that you're looking at a 3 hour commitment.

 

Back to my recap and thoughts.  Read at your own risk ... and entertainment.

Reward Challenge:

The divide into 2 teams by school-yard pick.  We don't see the pick happen, but here is the result.
Wes, Keith, Reed, Jeremy, Natalie vs. Josh, Jaclyn, Baylor, Jon, Alec.  Missy is not selected for a team so can't win reward.  The challenge is to put heavy puzzle pieces onto a platform, slide it along a track, unload, repeat until all 11 pieces are moved, then use the pieces to solve a pyramid puzzle.  Once solved, have someone climb the pyramid to release a lever to allow the team to hoist something to the top and release a flag.  This should just be a race to assemble the pyramid since the last step could only affect the outcome if it were neck and neck.

 

The team with a little more brawn, Wes/Keith/Reed/Jeremy/Natalie, are the winners.  They have to select someone to go to exile and choose Jon, giving the reason that he is strong and will survive there just fine.

Reward:

The prize for winning was to go to an all-you-care-to-eat taco bar with beer, iced tea and margaritas.  Wes eats too much too fast and feels a little ill.  A few people ask if they should be talking strategy as is often done on reward challenges, but nobody seems in the mood.  Jeremy and Natalie don't really want to work with Wes, Keith, and Reed, and the feeling is mutual.

Strategy and Fallout:

While Jon is at Exile and others are at reward, nobody talks to Jaclyn at all and she feels lie nobody actually wants her, they just want Jon.  This is made worse once the reward winners return.  Wes, Keith, and Alec act like Survivor is a bachelor pad.  They emit odors, spit, and talk down to the girls quite often.  Alec leads the way, saying to their faces that he doesn't think Baylor or Jaclyn will keep the fire going - only Natalie (or was it Missy? I can't remember) probably can.  Keith adds to it by pushing Baylor to help collect firewood because she's too lazy laying around otherwise.  Missy isn't a fan of his behavior, but she's more level-headed in this game than her daughter.  Alec continues by making Baylor throw away his fix scraps.

 

As for strategy, Josh tries to pull Baylor back to his side by telling her again that he pulled her along, saved her once for sure, and that she owes him.  She doesn't appreciate this line of reasoning, comparing it to blackmail.  Josh should probably focus more on Jaclyn, the perpetual swing vote.

 

Immunity Challenge:

This week's challenge is to memorize symbols that Jeff holds up, then repeat them back to him.  Round "1" is 4 symbols and we lose a few people.  Round "2" is 7, and this one settles it.  It comes down to Josh and Jeremy, the two current biggest targets by the opposing sides. Jeremy wins! Josh is in trouble if he either doesn't have the numbers or can't swing them.

Note that I put the round numbers in quotes.  I don't believe this was the actual 1st and 2nd round.  As has happened in the past, somebody dropped out during this alleged first round by showing a symbol that Jeff had not shown anybody yet.  It seems way too unlikely for someone to make that sort of mistake.  It also results in them ramping up too fast, in my opinion.  How many rounds were there?  Who knows, but I bet it was at least 4.

Swinging Around:

Jon is back from Exile.  He had found a new idol while there.  The clues led him to the rocks by the water during low tide.  He climbed the big rock and found the idol under a small rock up on a wide ledge on the ocean side.  He is back to camp for only seconds before he whispers to Jaclyn that he found the idol.  Maybe nobody heard him, but you can bet if it were me, I would have waited until later when that info could have been passed in full privacy.

Jon wants to go with Josh to vote out Jeremy. Jaclyn doesn't like how Alec, Wes, and Keith are acting. They are disgusting men and they don't show any respect for her.  They seem split. It's 5 vs 4 with Jon & Jaclyn in the middle once again.

Tribal Council:

Jon & Jaclyn are outwardly the swing votes.  Jeff asks them about this.  On one hand they don't like it, but on the other they get to decide their own fate in the game recently.  Will they side with Jeremy and get rid of Josh, or side with Josh and get rid of one of Jeremy's gang (remember that Jeremy has immunity, so they would have to vote for someone else in that alliance).  The ended up deciding to get rid of Josh in a 6-5 vote.  Josh is also named the 1st person on the jury.

 

Next Time On ... Survivor:

Previews for next week show Reed looking through people's bags and finding a clue to a hidden idol in Keith's bag, then he tells people on the other side about it to divert attention away from himself.

What If:

My 2-cents is that Jon and Jaclyn should get rid of Jeremy next, while teaming with Alec, Keith, and Wes, who will be more than happy to gain the numbers again.  Here's where it gets fun.  They will plan to take Alec to the end because he is annoying and nobody will vote for him.  It's not a guarantee, but he's the best candidate for that sort of plan.  The genius part is that even if Alec scores immunity near the end, who cares - they have a 2-person voting block, and they would want him in the finals anyway.  After the next few votes against Jeremy's alliance, they could turn against the annoying guys under the true premise that they are annoying.  There are arguably better Survivor strategists in the Jeremy alliance, making them even more valuable targets.  This would put Jon & Jaclyn in control of the game rather than always being in the middle.  I consider it a much better winning strategy. Will it happen? We'll start finding out this Wednesday.