Posts Tagged ‘Survivor’

Talk about a “who knew?” moment. People revealed this morning that it was none other than Survivor host Jeff Probst who officiated The Office star Jenna Fischer’s wedding.

Probst and Fischer have known each other as far back as the 1990s, around the time Probst was ordained as a minister into the Universal Life Church. Fischer called on her friend’s officiating powers to perform the ceremony as she wed writer Lee Kirk on July 3.

The Survivor host even made a special visit to help his pal out. He’s currently in Nicaragua filming the CBS reality show’s 21st season, so he made a quick 24-hour jaunt up to Malibu to lend a hand at the nuptials.

This isn’t Probst’s first go around at a wedding either. People reports that not only has he performed the ceremonies at multiple friends’ weddings, but he also presided over his parents’ vow renewal for their 35th anniversary.

Night 21 at camp is a late, quiet night. After Joe’s medical leave, the Survivor’s are a bit down.  Coach brightens the mood with a warm and fuzzy campfire story.  He tells the cameras, “I just wanted to share a piece of my life with them. I wanted to show them that no matter how bad it gets…there’s always something that’s going to make it much worse.”  Coach’s story: “There are three people in the world that know this story.” (this turns out to be false per Jeff Probst’s blog) Coach tells the story about when he was kayaking in the Amazon and was captured by indigenous people, tortured, beaten, tied up, felt that death was coming, etc, etc finally escaping on his own and kayaking to safety.

The tribe’s mood is not lightened and by the look on everyone’s faces – no one is buying Coach’s fable, but no one can think of anything to say either. It’s quiet.  Brendan sums up this Coach moment, “Honestly, like, Coach is either the new coming of Jacques Cousteau or he’s ya know basically the biggest fraud that is in this game.”

In the a.m. Coach is in the water doing his Samurai poses.  This is the first time the former Jalapao sees Coach’s warrior moves.  Brendan asks Coach about the origins of the poses. Coach responds, “It’s called Chong Ran, and it’s an ancient Tibetan…if you do a Google search on it, you won’t find it. It’s only passed down verbally. You have to go there as a monastery to study it.”  Next Coach makes his first reference this show to being the “Dragon Slayer.”

Erinn and JT talk while fishing. Erinn confesses she likes JT’s tribe more than her own and realizes she has room to play with alliances and votes. She’s coming from a tribe where her only alliance mate was medevaced home into a group that’s low in numbers that could use an extra person on their side. 

The reward challenge has the Survivors split into teams of three and each team has eight ceramic tiles. One person from each team takes turns throwing metal balls at the opposing teams’ tiles. The last team to have all tiles broken wins a white water rafting trip, lunch, and the responsibility of choosing someone to go to Exile – alone.  The teams: Black Team – Debbie, Brendan and JT; The Red Team – Tyson, Taj and Coach; and the White Team – Sierra, Erinn and Stephen.  It’s a close game until Erinn knocks out the last tile for the Red team kicking them out of the game!  Only White or Black could win.  The game remains tight when both Brendan and Erinn chip only some of their targeted tiles. So the game is still neck and neck.  Brendan is up to throw again and finishes the job! The Black team wins. They choose Stephen to go to Exile.  As Stephen is leaving Coach whispers “Be the wizard. Be the wizard Stephen.” (I just roll my eyes).

On Exile – Stephen is given all the clues, but was already aware of where the Hidden Immunity Idol was. He was hoping there would be a third Idol thrown into the game, but there isn’t.  He struggles to make fire – a lot.  He knows that fire = food = survival, which is enough motivation for him to spark a flame! He compares it to having his first child – he’s so proud of himself.

On the reward – JT, Debbie and Brendan really enjoy the rafting adventure. At their picnic Brendan outlines some of his strategy ideas to JT. In the confessional camera Brendan admits that even if JT wins the million dollars, if Brendan is in the finals with JT he would feel like he won as well. (This concept doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense to me. Isn’t the point of being on Survivor to win the million?).

The next morning Brendan discusses with Sierra about not voting out JT but bringing him into their alliance.  Later Brendan and Taj discuss the same thing and Taj is on board.

The Individual Immunity Challenge is next.  Each Survivor is attached to a rope, which is threaded through an obstacle course. The first three Survivors to make it through the obstacles moves onto an larger obstacle course still attached to the rope of course. The game begins and there are clear front-runners and clear losers.  In the front – JT, Tyson, and Debbie.  In the back – Taj and Stephen.  The first three to complete the course and move on are: Brendan, Tyson and JT.  The final obstacle course is three stories tall with all men neck in neck once again.  But ultimately it is Tyson who wins the second individual immunity challenge in a row. 

Back at camp the team congratulates Stephen on his first fire while on Exile. The conversation quickly turns to the vote that night. Tyson advises they spilt their votes, four for Brendan and three for Sierra.  This alliance is Taj, Stephen, JT, Debbie and Taj.  Brendan evokes the Exile secret alliance with added member JT planning the votes for Coach (the two alliances have three over lapping members – Stephen, JT and Taj) – so tonight’s vote will be interesting to see which way those three Survivors go.  And in the final confessional before Tribal Council Coach refers to himself as the “chosen one” and in a quick reality check – refers to himself as “Coach Wade.”

Tribal Council – Jeff asks Taj who tells the best campfire stories and she brings up Coach’s captured in the Amazon story. He elaborates on the details he left out and mentions he’s been in about eight life and death situations so far.  This gets a sarcastic smile from the host and the whole tribe.  Next the hidden immunity idol is brought up. And Taj out right confesses that she does not have it. Next Jeff straight forwardly asks Erinn if she has it, she says no. Jeff asks Stephen, he says no. The Jeff asks Brendan who says yes, he does have an idol.  And now they vote. Once the votes are read Brendan is blindsided meaning that everyone went with how Coach wanted it to go. This scares me.

Until next time…

After Tribal Council the Jalapao tribe reflects on the tension as the number of contestants dwindles down.  Joe confesses he feels like the odd man out now that buddy Sydney was voted out. He says, “It’s not fun to loose and it’s not fun to vote people you like home.”  Jalapao is down to 4, which is not good with the looming tribal merge. Jalapao will have the lesser amount of tribe members and it’s likely Timbira will pick them off one by one.

Coming back from the commercial break – dramatic, epic movie music booms from the TV and the camera focuses on a Samaria soldier preparing for war. Standing in the water at sunrise stretching his arms wide in a power stance to re-center his chi…the camera pulls back…oh wait, its just Coach being Coach. (groan) Coach comes back to the beach with a new attitude and gives his teammates a quick message even winning over nemesis Erinn.

At Jalapao, Joe’s leg is not good. He injured it a couple of challenges ago, not too badly, but being in the elements day and night, bugs have gotten into it, dirt, and no band aids in the Brazilian outback. Now the area below his knee is very red and VERY swollen. But Joe insists it’s getting better and doesn’t complain. What a trooper!

Treemail hints at a challenge and the promise of a feast.  Everyone’s excited.  All Survivors head to where the clue describes and they end up together – merged!  The infamous merge has finally occurred. They are asked to come up with a new name and a flag.  While discussing the tribe name Sierra randomly asks how the other tribe decided their last votes.  The former Jalapao tribe is reluctant to reveal too much information and ultimately the conversation is steered into another direction. The Survivors decide on the name “Forza” which Coach says means “strength” in Portuguese (strength is actually “força”, but close enough, right?) The Survivors head to their new camp, the former Timbira camp and immediately makeover the shelter – it’s not water proof or large enough.

Coach and JT fish. Coach states for about the 5th time this episode, that JT’s a “warrior” and that’s why they’re kindred spirits. They bond while fishing though.  JT says, “It’s not even been 15 minutes and Coach is ready to talk about the game.  And…it was perfect.  I couldn’t wait to talk to him about the game.”  Coach and JT discuss who might have the Immunity Idol. 

JT admits his new plan, “I’m just here to make sure everyone hates each other.”

The first night as a combined tribe everyone is off plotting under the dark cover of night.  Tyson talks to Coach about an alliance – Tyson, Coach, JT, Stephen, and Debbie. Coach says, “It’s time to go for the jugular.  Brendan is the head of the dragon, and when you want to defeat an Army, you cut off the head of the dragon.  For him to go out as the first person from the merge…yeah I love it, that’s awesome.” I note this quote for future reference.  Tyson also talks to Stephen about the alliance and about voting Brendan out (who was part of the secret alliance with Stephen, Brendan, Taj and Sierra).

Day 20 – Tyson and JT talk while fishing.  They agree that Brendan needs to go next. At camp Taj admits she’s a little nervous about her secret alliance because Brendan and Sierra haven’t made a move or said anything that hints that the alliance is still good.  Brendan later confesses that it’s a good thing they haven’t said or done anything to hint at the alliance because that will help protect its secrecy.  Tyson and Debbie discuss strategy.  Brendan walks over while they’re talking and Tyson quickly asks him what he thinks about voting Joe out. Tyson plays it like he’s going along with whatever Brendan wants not giving away his new allegiance to Coach, JT, Stephen and Debbie.  Tyson’s proud to out scheme Brendan.

Erinn and Joe look for the Immunity Idol based on what Erinn learned the one time at Exile. They go to the right place, but the Idol isn’t there. They assume Brendan or Sierra have it.

The first Individual Immunity challenge has each Survivor clinging to a pole. It’s as easy as that.  First out is Stephen, but Joe really struggles (that hurt leg isn’t helping). Then Joe falls and Jeff notices his leg for the first time.  Next Taj, Erinn and Brendan all fall at the same time.  Debbie and Tyson are the last two and Tyson is the first winner of Individual Immunity.  While the Survivors are heading away from the challenge Jeff asks Joe to stay behind so medical can take a look at his leg.

At camp the plotting continues. Gathered under an umbrella the tribe talks about the challenge.  JT leaves followed by Stephen. The group quickly discusses a new person to vote out – JT because they see Joe now as weak and beatable and want to keep him.  Stephen and JT talk and Stephen admits he knows he can get to the final 4 with his original alliance, but he’ll align with JT if he promises to turn on Taj, Brendan and Sierra.  Tyson interrupts to ask them about dinner. Then about who to vote out (the dinner conversation was just a rouge to get away from the other team mates).  Brendan is not totally unaware that a surprise vote-out might come his way and, in a smart move, decides to take the Immunity Idol to Tribal Council tonight, just in case. Coach and JT talk and Coach tells JT that the group discussed voting him out. Then Coach calls JT a “warrior” again for the millionth time.

JT and Stephen discuss a new tactic – splitting the votes – just in case Brendan does play his Idol. Word quickly spreads through the alliance of Coach, Tyson, Debbie, JT and Stephen.  Remember the whole “dragon” analogy Coach brought up earlier? Here’s why I mentioned it. While talking to the cameras Coach takes credit for the “split vote” idea and then calls himself the “dragon slayer” because of the votes against Brendan who is the supposed “head of the dragon”. 

Everyone is banking on going to Tribal Council when Jeff, in the pouring rain, pays a visit to the Forza camp. He shares the news that Joe is out. His leg is too infected. No Tribal Council. Now there’s a new anxiety at camp.  Tyson sums it up, “The main thing with getting the plan to work was keeping everyone quiet long enough to vote him (Brendan) off so he didn’t use an Idol if he had it.  Now, I dunno how much is going to leak or what’s going to happen…” And Coach says, “The dragon slayer has to wait to another day to taste blood.” (shaking my head)

Joe’s goodbye is smart, he knows his leg is bad, but he’s sad he has to leave the game this way.

Day 13 Jalapao – Taj and Stephen get more water and take a side trip to the treemail to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol. The last Exile clue hinted it would be in that area and after searching for about a minute, she finds it and immediately hands it to Stephen because she has no pockets (a downside to wearing a dress for the first episode).  Stephen says, “But you know, as long as it’s in my possession I’m going to try to keep it in my possession.  … it is mine. I’m the one who’s wearing the idol around my neck.”

Day 13 Timbira – The tribe heads to the water except Sierra and Brendan who are left at the camp to discuss their secret alliance with Taj and Stephen from Jalapao.  Brendan tells Sierra he has the Hidden Immunity Idol.  Sierra is proud of herself and feels she’s aligned with the right person and no longer feels like a “looser.” I’m skeptical though that the alliance will make it all the way through the game.

Challenge 1 is a reward challenge.  Played in rounds, one tribe member is spun on a wheel pulled by another tribe mate. After being spun and flung that team member stands and walks across a balance beam for a point. If they fall they start over. The team with the most points after 4 rounds wins a café style lunch and a modern toilet break for the afternoon. However, with the twist on Exile this season that means one member of the winning tribe won’t enjoy the potty or yummy food.  Round one and two make the game tied. Round 3 is won by JT of Jalapao and the final round is won by Sydney for Jalapao. Jalapao chooses Brendan for Exile and he chooses Stephen to go with him seeming to favor Taj. Timbira mate Tyson says that he’s suspicious of Brendan’s relationships with the other tribe.

At the Charmin Café for the reward the Jalapao team enjoys coffee, pastries and…a surprise! Letters from home! Everyone cries including the guys.

At Timbira they decide Stephen is next to be voted out.  And despite ridiculous attempts at weather prediction, Coach says he felt the wind change and based on the way the clouds look he thinks a storm is coming but will pass Timbira camp. But it doesn’t and we get this great quote from Erinn, “Coach is kind of a jack ###. I think Coach really truly wants to be this like Survivor Man.” Coach is definitely something else, that’s for sure.

At Exile the boys bond.  Now everyone is on the same page –Taj and Stephen from Timbira and Brendan and Sierra from Jalapao are in a 4 way, cross tribe, secret alliance and each pair has their own Hidden Immunity Idol. Stephen confesses he doesn’t 100% trust Brendan and he’ll keep the 4 way alliance in the back of his mind but can’t put all faith into someone he doesn’t fully trust or know.

Day 15 Jalapao – Sydney and Spencer discuss relationships. Sydney asks if there are any girls back home for Spencer. Spencer tells the world (well just the TV audience and camera guy) that he’s gay.

Challenge 2 is an Immunity challenge. Two members of each tribe sling shot a ball into a coarse where the other tribe mates are waiting to catch it with handheld nets. It doesn’t matter what color ball the Survivors catch, each ball is 1 point and the first tribe to 5 points wins.  JT catches the first ball scoring for Jalapao. Next, JT scores again. Joe makes an honorable dive but misses and hurts his knee a little too.  Ball three is caught by Brendan. JT just misses. One point for Timbira.  Ball four is again caught by Brendan. JT gets ball 5 but his net handle catches his chin and breaks off a tooth. Jeff holds on to it for safe keeping (it’s just half a tooth).  JT also scores a 4th point for Jalapao.  Tyson scores the 3rd point for Timbira. JT is obviously frustrated with Spencer saying “Come on Spence let’s do this.” Tyson again scores for Timbira tying the game.  JT shouts at Spencer telling him to stop the other team from scoring, “that would be nice.” Tyson scores the winning point and Timbira wins immunity. JT is frustrated and says, “I don’t wanna send anyone home, but it’s gotta be Spencer.”

At Jalapao after the challenge some of the team gathers in the water to discuss who is to be voted out. Taj is mad and doesn’t care what others think of her mood. She confronts Joe on why he’s never come to her as an ally. Joe later says to Stephen and JT, “She’s next” and Stephen is torn. JT and Joe talk about voting Spencer out due to his performance in this last challenge. Spencer walks up to the water and over hears the end of JT’s conversation.

At tribal council Jeff brings up the feeling a Survivor gets when they know their head is on the chopping block. Spencer talks about coming back to camp after the challenge and how tense it was with JT. He’s very honest is an adult normal, non confrontational or blaming way that’s rarely seen in these moments on the show. I’m impressed with the open and well handled conversation. Next the conversation of the Hidden Immunity Idol comes up and Joe states he hasn’t heard Taj say that she DOESN’T have it and how that affects the team’s trust and how they deal with her.  With probing from both Jeff and Joe, Taj says “I do not have the idol.” She’s banking on the fact that literally, the Idol is not in her possession that Stephen still has it, but the other tribe mates don’t know this yet. 

I wonder if Jeff Propst knows about the secret alliance. Once the votes are cast and counted it’s Spencer who is the 5th person voted off Survivor Tocantins (pronounced ‘token’ ‘cheese’ as I like to say it).

After Tribal Council at Timbira camp Erinn launches into a speech about not trusting Candace from the beginning but hung around with her just to “see what she was up to.” Erinn’s tribe mates don’t buy her “save my butt” monologue. Coach says to the confessional cameras, “Not only did she align herself with the wrong person, but she has completely insulted all of our intelligences when we came back tonight…And she’s made her bed and she’s going to have to lay in it.”

Timbira – day seven – Erinn admits her association with Candace was a bit more than she wanted and now she feels like she’s “fighting for her life.”  At breakfast Jerry opts out of the bean meal because they’re irritating his stomach. He also didn’t eat dinner, which raises some red flags amongst his tribe. 

The first challenge – a reward challenge – has one person from each tribe calling directions to the other members to navigate them through a maze while tied together in twos and blind folded. The teams must find their designated buckets, fill them first with water then with corn then get back through the maze to a dumping station to empty their buckets into a container that, when full, will raise a flag. The first team to lift both the water and corn flags wins blankets, pillows, a tarp and other comfy items.  Joe is the caller for Jalapao and Debbie for Timbira. Timbira struggles throughout the entire challenge, never coming close to Jalapao’s lead.  Jalapao works extremely well together, taking it slow and steady and winning the race in the end. Jalapao chooses Brendan from Timbira to go to Exile and Brendan chooses a member from Jalapao to join him and again chooses Taj.

When Timbira returns to camp they discuss their failure.  Coach lectures on how they need to turn things around (without proposing any solutions). Next we see Coach and Tyson by the water.  Coach mentions that Erinn and Sierra panic during the challenges.  Tyson tells the camera his analysis of Coach, “He’s not always the best at what he’s coaching but he thinks he knows the most.”

At Exile, Taj chooses the urn with the clue this time and shows Brendan the next hint after reading it herself in private.  That night Taj and Brendan make a plan – realizing their alliance might becoming obvious, they decide that if Brendan is picked for Exile again he’ll choose a different Jalapao member to go with him and if Taj is chosen for Exile she’ll choose a different member of Timbira to go with her. This also creates a four-person alliance for the merge that no one else knows about. 

Challenge Two – Immunity challenge – has each team lifting and hauling large cubes that they have to align to spell out their tribe’s name. This also creates a large stair case that all team members must climb to win immunity.  Both teams are even in the beginning, but one thing is very clear, Jerry’s hurting.  Timbira gains a bit of a lead with Erinn directing her team where to place the blocks. Some team members hesitate which makes Erinn stop her directing.  Jalapao catches up. It’s neck and neck until the very end when…Jalapao climbs to the top of their blocks and claims their third victory in a row. Timbira is off to Tribal Council again. Jerry is overheard saying “I’m though. I’m finished.”

At Timbira camp it’s clear that Jerry’s struggling and Erinn grabs the opportunity to point it out to everyone to try and save herself from being voted out.  Some tribe mates are torn by the idea of voting Jerry out.  Tyson tries to give Jerry a pep talk. Jerry asks if anyone is talking about voting him out. Tyson replies, “No, but look as strong as you can and don’t say anything to anybody.”  Brendan goes to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol considering the new clue he and Taj received. He looks around the Tree Mail area, looking up and down, pushing the statue over, looking around its base, under its skirt and …voila – the Immunity Idol is there and is now in Brendan’s hands!  At dinner, Jerry doesn’t heed Tyson’s advice and discusses his health status with the group. 

At Tribal Council they discuss the issue of needing a leader. Jerry nominates Brendan as a possible leader. But host Jeff Probst, being oh so good at understanding group dynamics, calls on Coach to counter Brendan’s nomination. (I think Jeff knows exactly what he’s doing here, knowing that Coach will, of course, want to be the leader and create even more drama).  After Coach gives his “I should be leader” speech, Jeff calls on Erinn who says, “I think that’s a role that Coach is used to, it’s a role that he would love to be in but its something that Brendan does better.”  Then it’s time to vote.  And once they are counted…Jerry is the third person voted out of Survivor: Tocantins.  Jerry, I hope you’re doing well and that you went straight to the doctor after the votes were read.

On night three the Jalapao tribe reflects on the difficulties of their first tribal council. Day four inspires some to look for sustenance other than veggies.  Some Survivors experiment with huge worms, things with 18 legs and other bugs that turn out to be very, very chewy. 

At Timbira, Sierra reflects on how it felt to be the first with votes cast against her and mentions the clue to the hidden immunity idol. Now, I don’t know what compels contestants to do this, but whoever has the Hidden Immunity Idol or the clue to the Idol feels as if they have to tell someone else about it. Sierra reveals to Brendan that she has the clue and recruits him to help find it.  And he helps – by digging, and digging, and digging. Debbie finds them and Sierra comes up with a bonfire pit lie to cover their butts.  When Debbie mentions the beach bonfire to the tribe we get the first glimpse of the “not so pretty side” of Candace who says “I just don’t think it makes that much sense. I probably won’t go.  I’d rather sit around here and talk crap.”  The next morning Candace and Coach have a heated discussion about making food and outspoken Candace and egotistical Coach continue to argue throughout the morning. 

Back at Jalapao camp a conversation leads to the revelation that contestant Taj is married to Eddie George (who everyone knows except tribe mate Stephen ). 

The first and only challenge of the episode is a water basketball game and the prize is immunity and fishing gear. Also, the winning team picks the first person to pay a visit to Exile.  First, it starts pouring rain, then the lightening comes making me wonder if the Survivors should even be competing in a water event. But they do and here’s the rules – three team members from each tribe race through the water to get a basketball and work together to get up to the basket and make a shot.

The catch, three team members from the opposing tribe will try and stop the others from making those shots in any violent manner they so choose (including holding people under water, holding onto their bikini tops, pushing, shoving, tackling at the knees and other injury provoking activities).  Timbira takes the lead when both Candace and Brendan make baskets. 

But Jalapao poses a challenge when Sydney scores, then JT makes a shot and finally Stephen makes the winning basket. Jalapao wins immunity and reward.  They send Brendan to Exile but wait, there’s more. Jeff reveals that Brendan gets to choose someone from the winning tribe to go with him to Exile and he chooses Taj.

Tribe Timbira is sent back to camp to think about their upcoming Tribal Council. 

Tribe Jalapao puts their new fishing gear to work right away.  And JT and Stephen bond during a fishing excursion.

On Exile, Brendan and Taj each choose an urn.  Brendan’s has two notes in it which he must read in private. A trend that’s immuring this season is people not understanding these clues.  Brendan doesn’t understand the following statement about his clue “But in tribal homelands is the thing that you seek.” (Meaning the idol is back at camp). And Brendan won’t understand “tribal homelands” until he finally reads the clue to Taj who makes is clear that the idol is at camp.  Brendan is also given the option to switch tribes, which he does not.  The two Survivors bond during their time at Exile. 

When Brendan returns to camp he lies saying that Taj’s urn had the clue, that she went for a walk and didn’t mention if she found anything or not when she returned. Brendan also mentions that Taj seems to be on the outs with her tribe and that this could be useful information later in the game. 

At Timbira they discuss who they want to vote out and Candace brings up how Coach failed physically at the challenge. Next Coach, Tyson and Debbie discuss how Candace is being negative.  Everyone thought they’d vote for Sierra, but people seem to be getting tired of outspoken Candace.  And Coach confesses, “The girls think we’re still voting for Sierra but for me the obvious choice is Candace because she’s just cancer on the tribe.”  Candace and Erinn discuss the possible people who could be voted out and Candace says “Listen, I’m gunna tell ya right now, it ain’t you or me, they know what we’re worth.” 

At Tribal Council Jeff recaps how Sierra felt when she was the first person with votes cast against her.  And trust is brought up as a major issue. We finally hear Survivor Jerry say more than 5 words in a row as well.  Once the votes are counted, Candace, almost unanimously, is the 2nd person voted out of Survivor and an important lesson is learned – do not be the outspoken person on Survivor because you’ll be the first two people voted out of the game!

Thursday February 12 started the 18th season of CBS’s Survivor.  The 16 new contestants take a flatbed truck into the middle of the Brazilian desert where reliable host Jeff Probst announces that on one side of the truck sits team Timbira and on the other side is team Jalapao.

The Two Tribes:

Timbira Tribe – Coach (Benjamin Wade from MO, soccer coach), Candace (attorney from OH), Tyson (cyclist from Utah), Brendan (entrepreneur from NY), Debbie (Debra Beebee a principal from AL), Sierra (model from CA), Jerry (Army Sergeant from SC) and Erinn (hairstylist from WI).

Jalapao Tribe – Sandy (bus driver from KY), Carolina (bartender from CA), JT (rancher from AL), Joe (real estate agent from TX), Taj (former pop star from TN), Sydney (another model from NC), Stephen (consultant from NY) and Spencer (the youngest on the show is a student from FL).

The Survivors have one minute to collect as much stuff off the truck as possible. Each team makes their own pile but one team forgets a key item – water. With temperatures already past 100 degrees Jeff announces they must carry their supplies on a 4 hour trek to camp.  All team members must do this except one. The first vote-out of the game happens now and is based solely on first impressions. Jalapao votes for Sandy due to her age. Team Timbira vote Sierra seemingly because she’s the weakest (she later confesses she has strep and is on antibiotics).  Next, Jeff fills everyone in on the fact that these contestants aren’t actually voted out and will receive a helicopter ride to camp. 

Once the outcasts arrive at their sites there’s a message stating they can either start building shelter for their team and try to convince them they aren’t as worthless as they appear OR they can use a clue and start their hunt for the immunity idol hidden some where nearby. Sierra builds camp and is highly successful, getting most of it together before dark and before her team arrives.  Sandy decides to look out for number 1 and hunts for the idol, but doesn’t understand the phrasing of the clue. The words that confuse her…”Ten paces” and “single palm tree.” Sandy doesn’t know what a “pace” is and searches for the idol near trees that look nothing like Palm Trees.

Once Jalapao arrive at camp they express their let down at no shelter.  Tribe Timbira is thrilled at Sierra’s hard work to get most of the camp set up.  The next day, Survivor Tyson decides to shed his undies and help collect water from the river.  He later confesses to the camera “I’m probably not the stereotypical Mormon.”

Challenge number one is a reward and immunity challenge.  Six Survivors race across sand hills into the water to retrieve a raft with puzzle planks on it.  Once all six members are at the raft they can untie it and bring it to the shore where the two remaining teammates will assemble the planks to create steps.  Once assembled everyone must climb to the top and any two people can come together to finish a table maze, which will release a flag to win.  The two outcasts, Sandy and Sierra, take control and lead their individual teams in solving the staircase puzzle.  Sandy and teammate Taj of Jalapao finish their staircase first giving them a substantial lead over Timbira.  But when Timbira finishes their staircase the other team still hasn’t finished their table maze and in the end Erinn and Brendan speed through their table maze and Timbira wins the first challenge.

At camp the Jalapao tribe talks about their upcoming tribal council. The most obvious person to vote for is Sandy, but some teammates realize her contributions to the days challenge and are already tired of another tribe mate, Carolina and her overly vocal views on every single aspect of camp life.  At tribal council, Sandy in singled out, but the spotlight moves to Carolina too.  Once the votes are cast it is the overly opinionated Carolina who is the first to be voted out of Survivor Tocantins.

This first episode didn’t reveal a lot about the personalities for this season, it was more down to business than usual. But I have a feeling more and more will be revealed pretty quickly this season. So until next time…

The final five – Matty, Susie, Kenny, Sugar and Bob – are back at camp after Tribal Council.  Kenny is annoyed about not being told the plan to save Matty with Sugar’s hidden Immunity Idol and vote out Crystal. Kenny seems convinced he was going but Bob says that’s why he didn’t give Kenny the immunity necklace, knowing Crystal was going home.

Sugar and Bob discuss their voting plans – next is either Kenny or Susie.  Sugar goes for a walk with Kenny, playing along with their alliance and says, “if Bob looses, then he’s gone but if Bob wins…then Sue’s gone, right?” Kenny replies, “He won’t win, I’ll make sure of it.”  The walk with Sugar reassures him of their alliance. He even asks if there is a blindside for him coming and Sugar says no.

The treemail has costumes and makeup so each Survivor can dress up in their own warrior gear.  They arrive at the first challenge in costume. The challenge – dig under a wall, make their way across planks in an elevated maze, untie knots, enter a regular maze interspersed with huts, collect bags of puzzle pieces from 3 huts then assemble the puzzle. Complicated enough? In a long race, Bob wins immunity and his 5th straight challenge.

Kenny is thinking highly of himself and confesses he can take it easy for the rest of the day.  Matty fills Kenny in on the latest plans – Sugar will tell Susie everyone is voting for her, but not until later in the day so Susie doesn’t start to scramble to save herself. Kenny seems paranoid and Matty reassuringly states he’s not the type of guy to blindside Kenny.  Next Susie asks Matty if Kenny is “working him” – a.k.a. scrambling for votes. Matty tells Susie he doesn’t know the plan for that night, but Susie is suspicious saying she usually knows something by now but no one is talking to her. 

Matty and Sugar make a solid pact NOT to write each other’s names no matter what and agree Susie should be next.  Sugar has reservations and thinks it might need to be Kenny because if he stays he has time to influence either Bob or Matty into voting with him and not Sugar.

At Tribal Council – Matty expresses his admiration for Bob. And Jeff refers to Kenny for opinions about the frustration with Bob’s every win. Kenny says he’s repaired some damage and bonds are stronger now. Jeff mentions the Bob and Kenny “Immunity Necklace” deal during the last game. Kenny, again, calls out Bob for seemingly breaking that deal. Bob bites back saying that as soon as he agreed to give Kenny the necklace Kenny went back to camp and tried to get everyone to vote Bob out, knowing he’d be vulnerable. Kenny explains his side but says, “I feel safe tonight…” – sealing his fate.  Once the votes are read, Kenny is the next voted off Survivor: Gabon.

The next day, Matty reads the treemail that has Susie, Bob, Matty and Sugar on the trail of remembrance. They go to Exile and visit a torch representing each voted off Survivor. Once done, they compete in their final immunity challenge.

The final challenge is building a house of cards that has to be 10 feet tall and made of wooden tiles. Each Survivor approaches the challenge differently, some going for height others for stability. After 30 minutes, it is Susie who has another surprising win and a guaranteed spot in the final 3.  Everyone thought Bob would win and had planned to vote out Susie, but with her assured spot, Bob (and teammates) accept their fate and know its Bob’s time to go.

At camp the thought of Bob not being in the final three causes emotional reactions in Sugar. She thinks about causing a tie between Bob and Matty who would compete in a tie breaker for the final 3rd spot and another shot at $1 million.  Sugar hints at this to Bob who promptly goes into the jungle to practice his fire making skills incase that’s the challenge.

At Tribal Council – Sugar sobs about feeling torn because she either votes for Bob, a father figure, or Matty, a brother figure.  The votes are cast and it’s a tie. Matty and Bob go one on one in a fire making challenge.  Bob has fire first, but it burns out. Matty continues to try to be the first to get fire. Bob’s practice in the jungle earlier pays off and lands him a spot in the final three. Matty smiles and is off to join the jury.

On the final day at camp Survivors get a breakfast feast. When they finish, Bob leads the bunch in a final farewell to Nobag by burning their hut.

The Final Tribal Council – as is customary in Survivor, the final three plead their case and the jury asks any remaining questions to help determine who is worthy of the one million dollars.  Susie begins by explaining her reasons for being on the show –she wanted to show her son and her students that no matter what you try for the things you want. Bob states that he simply outlasted his fellow jury members and thanks them for being a part of the biggest adventure of his life. Sugar states she played the game and should be rewarded for her strategies.  Then it’s the jury’s turn, most are not positive comments or questions. Corinne states the comment heard ‘round Survivor land saying, “You are an unemployed, uneducated leech on society. And the only thing I would vote to give you is a handful of anti-depressants so that no one else has to be subjected to your constant crying anymore. And maybe if you get some, then it would seem a little more sincere when you are crying about your dead father.” 

Ouch!  Kenny brings up again that Bob didn’t fulfill his promise. Randy scolds Sugar for her laughter when playing the fake hidden Immunity Idol. With that we cut to the live show and find out that 3 votes were cast for Susie, 0 votes for Sugar and the winning 4 votes were cast for Survivor: Gabon’s winner Robert “Bob” Crowley.  Bob also wins the Sprint Player of the Season award voted on by the viewers and putting an extra $100,000 in Bob’s bank account.

Survivor: Gabon Week 10: Nothing Tastes Better than 500 Dollars

At camp after Tribal Council, it’s obvious which alliance is making the decisions – Kenny and Crystal, who have plotted and executed three consecutive blind sides.

Bob and Sugar go into the jungle. He tells her about Exile and searching for the Hidden Immunity Idol. He admits to making a fake idol. 

The treemail hints at the Survivor auction. Each Survivor gets $500. Kenny buys the power to send himself or someone else to Exile and take their money, he chooses Bob. A clue for the next immunity challenge is won by Corinne for $500! Jeff auctions a covered object he says is for the whole team. Randy wins it – it’s enough cookies for everyone.  Sugar refuses hers, and says it’s for Matty, but Randy tells her it’s not for her to decide. Randy offers her one again and she takes it but hands it to Matty.

Back at camp Randy’s mad.  He, Corinne and Matty pow wow about what to do to out number the other alliance. 

Bob’s on Exile and frustrated about not being able to find the hidden immunity idol.

At camp, Matty talks to his original alliance – Sugar, Kenny, Crystal and Suzie about voting out Bob because keeping Randy could be beneficial in the end.

The next day Randy tells Corinne he’s crashing and burning and making everyone miserable so the old Fang tribe votes for him that night.  He’s hoping Bob will give him the Hidden Immunity Idol and the person with the second most votes goes home. Randy doesn’t know about the fake idol.

Randy’s plan is put into action. Picking on people and rude comments make Matty finally say, “Oh my god, don’t do this, dude.”  And says that “Randy has sealed his fate.”  Randy brings the cookie incident up and when Suzie comments he curses at her yelling “Shut up.”  Everyone is freaking out and Randy loves it.

At the Immunity challenge – the Survivors race across beams with puzzle pieces, the first three to finish move on.  Next, setting up the puzzle blocks on a plank while avoiding trip wires that’ll mess everything up. The blocks have to fall like dominos to raise a flag and win immunity. Corinne’s clue from the auction says she can go immediately to the setting up the puzzle blocks round.  Joining her are Matty and Kenny.  In the puzzle block round Kenny knocks a trip wire.  Matty avoids doing the same.  Kenny’s the first to see if his blocks fall properly – they don’t.  Next all three try and Corinne’s stops short, Matty’s stops and Kenny wins immunity.

At camp, Sugar convinces Bob that Randy would fall for the fake idol. Bob rationalizes that it does buy him more time on Survivor. Corinne tells Bob that in order to save their alliance he’s got to give the “idol” to Randy. And Bob does, confident in the alliance with Sugar.

Tribal Council – After the vote but before they’re counted Randy plays the hidden immunity idol and Jeff tells him it’s not an actual idol. Corinne and Randy are both surprised.  And in a gross display of disrespect Sugar bursts out laughing hysterically.  Randy is the next person voted out and the 3rd member of the jury.

Week 11 was a wrap up show.

Week 12 – The Good Things in Life Aren’t Easy

After Tribal Council, Bob scolds Sugar for her obvious laughing fit regarding Randy.  Good for Bob.  Sugar and Corinne argue about playing the game and talking about people behind their back.

The first challenge has the Nobag tribe divide into two teams to race through the swap and grab puzzle pieces to be arranged and raise a flag. Those who raise the flag compete against each other to complete another puzzle. They win messages from loved ones and a pizza and beer lunch. Before the challenge Jeff shows the Survivors clips from the loved ones messages. Corinne sits out the challenge.

The teams are Crystal, Sugar, Bob and Suzie, Matty and Kenny. Crystal shows her Olympic strength by practically dragging Sugar through the swap.  But Suzie, Matty and Kenny take the lead and are at the puzzle first.  Bob, Crystal and Sugar finally get to the puzzle and take the win so they head to the sliding puzzle.  Quickly, Bob finishes and wins. 

At his lunch Bob starts his message and is surprised when wife Peggy is there in person! Bob brings her to camp.  He whistles and the rest of the Survivor’s loved ones come in: Kenny’s sister, Crystal’s husband, Matty’s girlfriend, Corinne’s brother and Sugar’s sister.  Kenny takes his sister for a walk and explains “Every body loves me and if I make the final three I’ll win this thing.”  Sugar’s sister brought some of their father’s ashes to let a little bit of him stay in Africa. Matty tells his girlfriend he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, gets down on one knee and proposes with a necklace he made.  She says “yes!”

Treemail – Bob and Corinne go to get it and discuss blindsiding Matty.  And Matty, Susie, Crystal, Sugar and Kenny decide its time for Bob to go.  But Bob has a plan.  The immunity necklace that Marcus and Randy threw into the water was put in Marcus’ pocket, hid at camp and Bob knew where it was. Marcus didn’t have it when voted out so Bob took it.  At least, that’s the story Bob’s going to tell the other alliance.  Plan “Fake Hidden Immunity Idol Part 2” is set in motion by Bob and Corinne.

They tell Kenny the fake idol story and he considers jumping alliances.  They talk about voting out Matty and recruiting Crystal.  Leary Kenny talks to Crystal and decide that Kenny will vote Matty but Crystal will still vote Corinne with their original alliance. That way if Corinne doesn’t play the idol (or it turns out to be fake) she goes home and if she does play it then Matty goes home.  Kenny says that if this plan works than he’ll be the biggest strategist in Survivor history.  Crystal is conflicted thinking this may be the only chance to take Matty out – possibly messing up Kenny’s plan.

Tribal Council – Survivor is defined as knowing when to trust and when to cut your ties. Once the votes are in, Jeff asks for any immunity idols and Corinne sits still, not playing what she knows is fake.  The votes are read and Corinne is voted out. Their plan didn’t work. She’s the 12th Survivor out and the 4th member of the Jury.  Bob knows his time is up next week.

Survivor Week 8 – The Apple in the Garden of Eden

At Fang’s camp Sugar realizes her true alliance is with Kenny with Ace gone. Crystal offers Matty a clean slate. The tribe bans together to keep the Immunity idol secret and decide to “start over.”

Treemail hints at a merge, feast and beach party. Everyone is hugging and starving when they arrive at the feast. On the table there’s a clue, which is read out loud. It’s for an immunity idol and a hunt begins. They find it quickly and decide to set it afloat so no one will have it.

Randy declared himself King of Gabon and Marcus is his Prince saying that he got ten people to throw away an idol, so he must have some pull within the group. After they are done eating they choose numbered rocks and SPLIT into two new tribes – no merge. The new Kota tribe – Crystal, Bob, Ken, Susie, and Marcus and Fang is – Matty, Randy, Sugar, Charlie, and Corinne. The Kota six is evenly split and stick the original plan.

Fang starts plotting immediately and plans to vote out Sugar with a blind side. Matty tells Sugar what really happened with the vote for Ace in which she got duped by Crystal and Ken.

At Kota Susie is the swing vote and Marcus talks to her about it where she says she could switch her alliance at any time.

It is time for the first challenge, which is for immunity. With arms outstretched the Survivors are to use the tops of their hands to hold up polls, the slightest move and the polls drop. The last person out gets immunity for their whole team. It becomes a show down between Matty and Bob – Matty wins immunity for the new Fang and the new Kota is off to tribal council.

Kota once at camp starts the plotting. Marcus talks to Crystal about voting out her alliance mate Ken. Crystal sees through Marcus’ nice guy routine. Marcus and Susie talk about voting out Ken first also. Crystal fills Ken in on the inside scoop. Crystal and Susie discuss Marcus and his scheming. Susie is the decision maker essentially and both alliances want her.

At Tribal Council Ken calls out Marcus on his calculating. And they discuss whether keeping the tribe physically strong is part of the plan. Once the votes are cast the first member of the jury is Marcus – the 9th person voted out of Survivor Gabon.

Survivor Week 9 – The Brains Behind Everything At Kota, Kenny’s ego grows with the two blindsides he’s orchestrated and Bob starts thinking strategy.

At Fang, they are out of food and everyone is wondering about the merge. Unknowing about the previous Tribal Council, Corinne says, “The Kota alliance from the get go was me, Charlie and Marcus. As long as that’s intact, I don’t really care who goes home.”

The first challenge is a slingshot golf tournament. Winners receive a Gabonese village trip for a ceremony, meal and sleep over. When teams arrive at the challenge Ken and Corinne argue about who “deserves” to stay and/or go. Once the game starts Kota’s Bob and Fang’s Matty compete in a tight game. It is Kota’s Kenny who sinks the first ball and scores the first game point.

The second hole is back and forth and Matty ties the game with a point for Fang. The third hole is neck and neck too. Randy nags Matty about his shot, but Matty remains calm and sinks the ball. Fang wins, but Randy is angry no one listened to him. Fang chooses Bob for Exile.

While on reward, Charlie and Corinne discuss Marcus being gone and not having anyone else to turn to now.

At Kota, Ken gets three fish and feels good about his place within the tribe and game. On Exile, Bob continues to search for the idol but makes a fake hoping to throw people off if they see he has it. He says, “It’s sort of like when you’re holding up a bank. You don’t necessarily need a gun, but if they think you’ve got a gun, they might leave you alone.”

At the second challenge Jeff reveals it is time to merge and hands out new buffs. This challenge is simple, make a fire and burn a rope, first person to do so wins the coveted individual immunity necklace. Surprisingly, Susie wins by a landslide. The new tribe heads to Kota’s camp to come up with a new name and sign.

Once there they find food and enjoy a quick meal before talking shop. Randy talks with Charlie insisting Crystal be voted out. Charlie states the alliances are Randy, Charlie, Corinne and Bob against Matty, Ken, Susie and Crystal. Charlie and Corinne try to convince Sugar to vote Crystal first then Randy. In another mastermind scheme, Ken persuades Crystal, Susie and Matty to blindside Charlie and attempts to persuade Sugar.

Eventually, the team comes together to create a new name. Ken suggests “Nobag” which is Gabon backwards. The tribe likes it and puts it on their flag.

Tribal Council – Crystal and Randy argue. Charlie hassles Randy for not thinking before he speaks. Once it’s time to vote, we see that Sugar sides with Ken and Charlie becomes the 10th person voted out of Survivor Gabon and the second member of the jury joining former alliance buddy Marcus and leaving Corinne with the hated Randy and the underdog Bob.