Merge:
The big news on this episode is the merge. Each team received tree-mail instructing them to pack up all their stuff and follow a map to meet at a hilltop location. Everyone assumed merge. Everyone is quick to forget Thailand, where the tribes moved in together, but had not actually merged. Everyone is lucky, because this is a real merge, complete with merge feast, new green buffs, and a note specifically telling them they have merged.
They decide on a new tribe name. #Huyopa. I'm not just inserting the hashtag (#) to be clever or try to get my blog trending. They actually painted the # on the new flag. Twitter sure has become important in the television world.
The job begins. How do you make sure you're in the majority in this new tribe? The edit shows this as a battle between Jeremy and Josh. Jeremy is rallying his troops together: Jeremy, Julie, Natalie, Jon, Jaclyn, Missy, Baylor. His premise is that Josh and Reed are good at this game and need to be taken out. Josh works on his troops: Josh, Reed, Alec, Wes, Keith. Note this makes it 7-5. Josh needs more people, and decides that his best bet is to encourage a couple to join him. His logic is that couples should stick together (which conveniently excludes is new arch-rival Jeremy). He talks to Baylor, his old ally, and she seems on-board. Baylor talks to her mom, Missy, who tells Baylor that they're already in an alliance with Jeremy, they have the numbers, and that Josh is just running scared. Baylor is told to just smile, agree with people, but go with the current numbers.
Josh isn't dumb. He sees Missy and Baylor interacting and can tell that Missy is running the show. This is a key reason why discussions like this need to happen in private. Josh didn't need to hear what was being said to know that things weren't good. So Josh starts lobbying Jon to join them. Same pitch - couples are the way to go, and if Jeremy gets his way you'll be the next couple split up. Jon is keeping his options open and tells Jaclyn of this possibility. Which way will they go? We'll find out a little later, because I've gone way out of chronological order here.
Trail Mix-up:
After the merge feast, the teams are instructed to head to the old Coyopa camp. This is only because Hunahpu gave up everything they had for more rice, otherwise they would have likely gone back to Hunahpu. They grabbed any left over feast food they could, along with bowls, the grill, and probably a few kitchen sinks. Julie saved some of the trail-mix, while others were saving various other extra food. Wait 1-2 days. Julie is rationing her trail-mix, wisely. Julie isn't sharing it with anyone, or letting anyone know she still has some, unwisely. As the remaining food is consumed, people start wondering where all that trail-mix ended up since they remember more of it existing than what has been consumed so far. While Julie is off sunbathing, they search her bags and find her stash. They are grumpy about it. They take it and eat it themselves. I'm not even sure if they're technically allowed to do this. Supposedly players can't take personal items from other player (this includes clothing and hidden immunity idols). Maybe this doesn't count because the food wasn't intended to be a personal item - it just happened to be in her possession in her bag. Julie returns and can feel the tension immediately. She's pretty sure she knows why, but nobody confronts her about it directly. After the immunity challenge, Alec is the first to bring it up by loudly asking, to nobody in particular, where all the trail mix is. Alec prides himself in doing what nobody else will, just like his brother Drew. We all remember how well that worked for Drew.
Immunity:
Rewind again. Immunity challenge. Balance a ball on a round disk. The disk is held up by 2 ropes. The players hold the ropes for about 3 feet away. After 10 minutes, everyone left has to move back and hold the ropes from about 6 feel away - much harder to control. At the 25 minute mark, all who remain will have to add a second ball. That's the last phase of the challenge. To add difficulty, it's a windy day and the wind plays a huge role (or in this case, maybe it's a roll?).
Jeremy figured he'd do great at challenges. He's upset that he's the first one out. Most make it to round 2. Round 2 knocks out most of the competitors. We're left with Jon, Wes, Keith, and Josh for the final round. Josh drops out as Jeremy grins. Jon drops out next. Wind is gusty. Wes and Keith battling for the win. Wes drops next and Keith wins immunity.
Pre-Tribal Drama, Guest Starring Jeff Probst:
Missy is encouraging Julie to hang in there. Julie isn't happy right now. She feels like she is on the outside of all social groups. Missy says they need her vote, so she needs to stick around a little while longer. Maybe not the best pep-talk in the history of pep-talks. Certainly, where Survivor is concerned and lies are fair play, Missy could have done better.
Julie is missing. They saw her pack her personal bag and wander off into the woods. Next thing we see is Jeff Probst walking in to have a conversation with Julie. Julie is obviously not happy, and thinking of quitting. Her reasons? She feels alone. People are always judging her on her appearance, her boobs, etc. She's on a tribe where so many people have their loved ones, but John was voted out days ago. I always love Jeff in these situations. He has a way of putting things into perspective, like this time, or of putting the fear of shame into the person, like some other times (Purple Kelly, Naonka, Colton the 2nd time). His perspective this time: Children go off to summer camp for longer than a season of Survivor. Their parents let their children go to summer camp. They all survive just fine, so why can't Julie tough it out and get past this? Her answer ...
Winners Never Quit:
Julie is quitting. Jeff confirms it. Jeff goes to tell the rest of the cast the news. The bad news is that they have a quitter and he notes this is especially bad for anyone who had an alliance with Julie. The good news is twofold. 1) Everyone there is now 1 step closer to winning $1 million. 2) There is no tribal council tonight. This is likely due to the couple that couldn't start the season. If they had 2 extra people available, they would have made them go to tribal council anyway.
Fallout:
Jeremy is upset - what else is new. Julie was part of his alliance. I think he forgets that 1 person is just that - 1 person. He had a 7-5 advantage which is now 6-5, so no damage has been done.
Josh is relieved. That's 1 less person opposed to him and now he gets a few days to figure out where to go from here.
Keith had immunity. This really sucks for him since he didn't really get the benefit from it. Will they allow him to keep immunity for the next vote? I can't remember any precedent for this situation - Immunity challenge already held but a quitter before they arrive at tribal council. My guess is that he will have to give it up. My hope is that in this instance they will allow him to keep it. They could set this up to be allowable under this circumstance when there are 10+ people after the quit so there will still be plenty of people eligible for the vote after a 2nd person wins immunity at the next challenge. And they could add that if Keith wins immunity again, it just means that nobody else is immune, so he still has incentive to compete to prevent an opponent from being immune.
The previews give us some excitement too. There is a possible battle of the sexes, meaning we may have very different alliances about to form. Jon and Jaclyn are arguing over which group to side with. Jaclyn says she doesn't like the boys anymore. The previews are often meant to be deceiving, and this one is no different. If it's men vs. women, that would be 7-4, so not liking the boys wouldn't matter as Jon switching sides would still leave it 6-5. We'll have to wait to see what happens.
Excuses:
Julie says she doesn't want people to judge her. We don't know what this was like for her to live through. Only she knows how tough this was on her. She was the one missing her loved one for 3 weeks without any communication.
Wow. Where do I start. First, she's right when she said she'll be dealing with a lot of backlash about this. I'm here to help pile-on. There's no way I'm leaving this untouched.
Her excuses:
Hunger: From all accounts, Hunahpu (her original and mix-ed up tribe) ate way more than the other tribe did. Recently they even won a food reward. They also just had the merge feast 2 days ago and she saved energy-dense food from that to eat over the next few days. She's also the smallest person out there this season, maybe rivaled by Baylor, so should need less food than the rest of them.
Heat: First, everyone else has dealt with the same heat she did. Second, SHE'S A TANNING SALON OWNER. Ok, having never gone to a tanning salon, maybe heat isn't involved, but when you think of tanning you think of sun and summer and heat.
Near dehydration: Again, everyone else has dealt with this like she has. Again, she's the smallest person out there so likely would need less water. Not to mention that they have fire, they have a water supply, and nobody else has been complaining of a lack of water.
Missing loved one: Every season of Survivor, sans this one and the original Blood vs Water, have showcased people living for up to 39 days without their loved one. Natalie, arguably, has a far better case here than Julie does. Natalie lost her loved on on day 3 but has spent her whole life with Nadiya. Julie complains that she has spent 3 weeks with no communication. I'm a nit-picker. Julie quit on day 18 (less than 3 weeks) and saw John at Reward challenges #1,2,3 and Immunity challenges #1,2,3.
Quitting Survivor is a slap in the face to thousands of people who would love to take your place. Out of respect for the game and for all those fans, anyone pondering quitting should suck it up and figure out how to make the best of their situation.
Shamless Plug:
If the Survivor produces needed to have someone named Julie on this season, maybe they should have thought about casting my sister Julie and I. Odds are damn good that we wouldn't have quit. I probably wouldn't have generated quite the amount of buzz and headlines that John Rocker did, but I also would have lasted longer than John Rocker.
When casting for future seasons, save someone like John Rocker for a season without loved ones. We don't need another tag-along diva who's used to the high life and doesn't need the money. Actually, how about some equality. Why not recruit (although I hate recruiting for this - it just lowers my chances) a female celebrity and/or athlete? You've tried it before (Ashley Massaro, Taj George), but you've done it far more with men (John Rocker, Jeff Kent, Cliff Robinson, Jimmy J, Gary Hogenboom). I know - you could cast me on the same season as Alicia Keys. Just a thought.
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