Survivor: Caramoan, Episode #12 – Feeling Too Comfortable Can Cause Your Exit to the Game, Again!

Hey There, Readers!

I guess the producers at Survivor decided to take the game up a notch this week (or they realized they were running out of time) because there were two Immunity Challenges and two Castaways voted off during this episode! This meant there was less tribe life seen, but it also gave way to more action, which is always good entertainment. In this episode, both players that left the game became too comfortable in where they stood amongst their tribe mates, and one of them made the mistake of not learning from their past experience on the show. Who was this person? Read on, and you’ll find out!

After the last Tribal Council, Reynold was upset that Malcolm was out of the game, but, he was also very confident about his strength against the other competitors still fighting for the million dollar prize. He confessed that all he had to do was to continue winning Immunity Challenges, and that it would not be that hard because he thought he was the best at them now that Malcolm was gone. Cochran and Andrea must have sensed hat this was what Reynold was thinking, as they were discussing how they knew the next step would be to take Reynold out to prevent him from getting to the Final Three. Tree mail alerted Enil Edam that they wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

At the first Immunity/Reward Challenge, the Castaways had to balance themselves on a floating triangular platform with narrow footholds. The last person standing would gain Immunity from the next.Tribal Council. The Reward portion of this Challenge was that they would earn information about the game which could prove invaluable to the winner.

As the Challenge began, Jeff Probst offered people the opportunity to forfeit in order to snack on some doughnuts and milk. Eddie and Erik felt safe enough in their positions in the game that they jumped off of their platforms and swam over to collect their snack. At the 15 minute mark, the competitors went to the second level on the platform. Jeff Probst offered another treat for people to quit: Hotdogs and soft drinks. Cochran leaped at the chance to eat, giving up on winning Immunity. At the 30 minute mark, the rest of the Castaways moved to the top of the platform. This, along with the wind proved to be the undoing for Dawn and Sherri.  Reynold tried holding on, but after some very close saves, fell into the water.  This left Andrea and Brenda in the Challenge.  The ladies couldn’t agree on a deal for both of them to end the Challenge, and were able to stay balanced and afloat for over three hours! They even came up with a new rule for the competition. They lifted their left leg to see who would be able to stay up the longest. Brenda wobbled, and fell off, leaving Andrea as the winner!

Back at camp, Andrea and Brenda began seriously seeing each other as a threat to winning the game. They both pitched ideas to their alliance members  to blindside the other one, and how the other one was untrustworthy. Andrea also shared  her Reward with her alliance members. It was directions to another Immunity Idol. Erik found the Idol, and gave it to Andrea instead of keeping it for himself. Maybe Erik should have kept it for himself. This set off alarm bells for Cochran, making him suspicious of Erik’s actions.

At,  the first Tribal Council, Jeff Probst introduced Michael, Phillip and Malcolm as the Members of the Jury.  Then he and the Castaways spoke about the Immunity Challenge, and why Brenda and Andrea stayed so long in the Challenge after Reynold was out. Brenda’s excuse was that she didn’t  wanted to win by default. No one believed her. Reynold then reminded his tribe mates that they could use him for whatever purpose, he just wanted to be kept in the game.
After the votes were cast, Jeff announced that it was a 3-2-2-1 Vote to have Reynold leave the game (the other votes went to Eddie, Erik and Sherri in that order).

Back at Enil Edam, the scheming continued, as Andrea and Brenda were continuing to plant seeds of doubt against each other to their alliance. Cochran heard both sides, and decided that Andrea was the more dangerous of the two ladies, since she’s more of an independent thinker than Brenda was. He’s right, and by players thinking for themselves and not always sharing their game-plans with you all the time means they may have plans to eventually get rid of you sooner than later.

At the second Immunity Challenge, the Castaways had to go through an obstacle course and untie several knots on a post to retrieve a key that opened up a chest. This chest held a ladder puzzle where they had to figure out which rung belonged where on the ladder. The first one to finish would win Immunity. Erik blew passed everyone to swiftly win Immunity.

Back at camp, Andrea and Brenda were still trying to convince their alliance to get rid of each other. Andrea knew she should be worried about what could happen at Tribal Council, but she felt that she could trust those in her alliance to get rid of Brenda. Cochran was very unsure of Andrea and her motives, especially since, when she spoke of her plans, they seemed not to include him. He spoke to Erik and told him of his plan to potentially split the Vote and have Andrea go home. Erik said he would think about the plan. I agree with Cochran, again! If your plans don’t include me, then maybe it was time for you to go. Andrea also spoke to Eddie, telling him he would be safe from the Vote. Eddie said it was the first time since he’s been out there that he could breath a sigh of relief at Tribal Council.

At the second Tribal Council, Jeff let in the Jury again, which now included Reynold. Jeff and the Castaways spoke about Eddie being on the outside of the tribe, and about how and when a big move should be made in the game, especially since there were only seven of them left. Brenda said that if no big move was made now, it will eventually be made. They also talked about being lied to in the game. Cochran said he knew he’s been lied to, but at the same time, he’s also done some lying of his own. Andrea also admitted to the same offense, and if she felt paranoid, she would use her Idol to save herself. These words were telling, and maybe Adrea shouldn’t have felt so confident in her alliance, as they voted her out of the game with a Vote of 3-2-2 (Brenda and Eddie got the other votes).

Andrea even had an Idol, and she chose not to use it!  This happened to her the last time she was on the show. She trusted those in her alliance, and they turned on her. When you have an Idol, and you know someone is coming after you, you use the Idol to save yourself, no matter what anyone tells you. It was sad to see her go, since she was such a good player. Only two episodes left, and with six people left in the game, it should prove to be interesting as to who will stay loyal to who, and who will fall by the wayside.

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Caramoan, Episode #10 – Phillip Finally Steps Up and Takes a Bow

Hey, Readers!

This episode of Survivor was one where I shook my head at certain parts due to the ups and downs the Castaways experienced. The situations of certain Castaways changed in an blink of an eye, which also kept effecting how people were going to vote at Tribal Council. Whose star ultimately rose, and whose luck went down the toilet, along with their chance at $1 000 000? Read on and you’ll see.

After Tribal Council, Malcolm, Reynold and Eddie were blindsided by Michael’s exit from the game. Malcolm thought he was the target, but since he was wrong about Stealth-R-Us’ plans, he knew he had to find a way to get on top of the totem pole of Enil Edam sooner than later.

The next morning, Phillip and Cochran were talking about how strong of a player Dawn this time around when a crazed scream could be heard throughout the camp. The scream came from none other than Dawn on a dock by their tribe, becoming hysterical with every moment that past by. Brenda asked what happened to Dawn, and Dawn told her that she had lost her retainer in the water while swimming. Brenda used the fishing gear to fish out Dawn’s retainer for her. Dawn did an 180, going from hysterical to gleeful, grateful to Brenda for her help. Brenda felt sorry for Dawn, confessing that, from this point on, she would try to have Dawn’s back for the remainder of the game.

At the Reward Challenge, the Castaways were split into two teams of five. Each member had to race through an obstacle course, slide into a mud pit to find a bag of balls, then go through a pit of rice. Once this was done by everyone on the team, they had to untie the bags of balls, and then toss them into a basket above their heads. The Reward: a trip to a resort with a smorgasbord of a lunch for them to enjoy for the afternoon. Below are the members of each team:

Purple                  Orange
Phillip                  Malcolm
Erik                       Andrea
Reynold              Sherri
Dawn                    Brenda
Cochran              Eddie

This competition wasn’t even close, mostly due to Sherri’s lack of confidence on the balance beam portion if the obstacle course. Her actions allowed for Team Purple to open up an enormous lead and win the Challenge before Team Orange could finish untying their bags.

While on the Reward, Reynold became even more annoyed by Phillip and his sense of entitlement as Phillip went into the pool at the resort without washing himself off from their Challenge first. Phillip didn’t care about what other people thought, and this bothered Reynold, hoping Phillip would leave the game soon.

When everyone was back at Enil Edam, Dawn was becoming very paranoid about her safety within the tribe. She confided in Phillip and Cochran that she thought Andrea was going to turn on them to go with Malcolm and the Outsiders (Reyonld and Eddie), make her a target, and get her voted out of the tribe. Phillip reassured her, telling her that Andrea wouldn’t do that, and that Dawn was safe. She went on like this for the rest of the day, annoying everyone.

The next morning a new Dawn grace the Enil Edam tribe. Well-rested and more focused, Dawn was back to herself. Stealth-R-Us had a meeting to discuss who would be the next to go out of the Outsiders. Phillip proclaimed that they would split their votes between Malcolm and Reynold, so if an Immunity Idol was used by Malcolm, then their target, Reynold, would be leaving. They also had to make sure one of the seven of them would win the next Immunity Challenge to make sure their plan was successful.

At the Immunity Challenge, each Castaway had to accomplish a series of the following: run along a platform with a ring, put it on a post, jump into the water, pull themselves along the bottom of the platform with a rope, then repeat the run again in order to win Immunity. The Castaways were put into two heats for the first round. Heat #1 had Reynold, Cochran, Dawn, Sherri and Andrea. Heat #2 had Brenda, Malcolm, Eddie and Erik. Phillip made Survivor history by willingly choosing to sit out of the Challenge due to a fear this Challenge made him remember. Reynold and Andrea moved on from Heat#1, while Brenda and Malcolm won Heat #2. In Round 2, the race was between Malcolm and Reynold. Malcolm just couldn’t get his afterburners going, allowing for Reynold to win Immunity.

Back at camp, Stealth-R-Us was worried about the outcome of the Immunity Challenge. They could feel the power shifting away from them, but felt that they could maintain their power if one of them found the Immunity Idol used at the last Tribal Council. Malcolm and his boys had the same idea. Suddenly, it was a scramble to find the Idol all over the jungle. Just as Dawn was asking Malcolm for a hint as to where the Idol could be, Eureka! Malcolm found the Idol hidden within a rock face within the jungle. This took more of the wind out if Stealth-R-Us’ sail, but their fearless leader, Phillip, said they would venture on with their plan to split the Vote, only their new target was Eddie. Poor Eddie was upset, confessing he was probably going to be the next one voted out of the game. I guess only Malcolm knew of the trick he was holding up his sleeve.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst introduced Michael as the first member the Jury, and a silent observer to all of the following Tribal Councils. Jeff Probst and the Castaways then spoke about Malcolm and the Outsiders being the outsiders if the tribe, and about how Eddie was the intended target. Malcolm also let his tribe mates in on the trick he had up his sleeve: his secret Immunity Idol no one knew about. He then gave it to Eddie to keep him safe. Malcolm was forcing Stealth-R-Us (really Phillip) to play a game of chicken. They could all vote Phillip out, or they could call Malcolm and Eddie’s bluff, making them use their Immunity Idols, but it would still ensure that one of the seven of them would be leaving the game. Phillip chose to make Malcolm flinch, telling his operatives to follow through with their plan. He said he didn’t care if he was the one to leave tonight because it would have been due to strategic move, not because everyone wanted him gone.

After Jeff Probst asked if anyone wanted to use their Immunity Idols, Malcolm and Eddie reluctantly gave up their Immunity Idols, giving Phillip some satisfaction. The Vote was 2 for Malcolm, 4 for Eddie and 4 for Phillip to leave the game. Since Eddie and Malcolm were spared because of their Immunity Idols, Phillip was the one chosen to leave the game. I’ll say this about Phillip, he may be a bit eccentric, but he showed a lot of class as he left the Tribal Council area without a word of complaint.

Wow, what an episode! I didn’t see Phillip leaving so early. It was a pretty awesome episode! Now that the power has shifted towards the Outsiders, I wonder how quickly the others will begin to jump ship? Things move quickly in the game of Survivor, and if you are not careful, you can find yourself out of the game. Who knows, maybe the Outsiders will continue to be on the outside by the way this season is going.

If you’ve missed an episode, check out my past Survivor: Caramoan posts to get caught up. You can read my other non-Survivor posts to get a feel for my other interests. Also, check out my Facebook page (you can access it from my blog) for other Reese Speaks tidbits not in my blog, or follow me on Twitter (reesespeaksblog; you can also access it from my blog) to see what I’m up to!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Caramoan, Episode #9 – You Snooze, You Lose!

Hey Readers!

It was another wacky episode of Survivor. This week so many people were jockeying for “Top Dog” status, that trying to keep track of who was with who was quite dizzying. It also showed that those who sat on the sidelines thinking they’re safe, without Immunity, of course, are the most likely to be voted out.

Enil Edam has split into two camps: Stealth R Us vs. the rest of the tribe.  Phillip was celebrating Corinne’s departure, while Reynold and Eddie were trying to figure out how to gain more power in the game. They thought that one way to accomplish this would be to get Andrea on their side.

Phillip shared a special event with Sherri. He inducted her into Stealth R Us as a new “double- agent” and gave her the name Tenacity. Sherri held in her laughter, but accepted Phillip’s wonderful gift. Sherri also thought that if she played along with Phillip, that he would confide in her about decisions, making her a bigger player in the game. I just laughed at this because Sherri just saw how Corinne’s ideas were ignored by Phillip, yet she thinks she has a shot of accomplishing this while being at the bottom of the totem pole. Now I’m not sure who’s more delusional between the two of them (Phillip or Sherri)!

At the Reward Challenge the Castaways were split into two teams of five. One person acted as the defender while the others had to throw balls into the net the defenders were defending. The team that reached four points first won the Reward.  This episode’s prize was a trip to a waterfall that they would have to repel down  beside to reach a picnic lunch set up for them to enjoy.

Here was the breakdown of the teams:

Purple                 Orange
Eddie                   Brenda
Erik                      Andrea
Reynold              Dawn
Cochran              Phillip
Michael (Def.)    Malcolm (Def.)

Sherri was not chosen to be on any team, so she automatically doesn’t get to enjoy the Reward. It was a tight game, but the all-male Purple team won Reward with a score of 4-3.

While the Purple team was enjoying their prize, Michael proposed that the guys should get together and create an alliance. Cochran was unmoved by this suggestion, yet he just smiled and nodded at the idea while he ate his lunch.

Back at Enil Edam, Malcolm was planning to add to his followers by looking at those who were at the bottom within the tribe, these people being Sherri and Dawn. When he spoke to Sherri, he told her that he would take her to Final Six. Sherri wasn’t all that confident in Malcolm’s promises.  Malcolm then turned to Dawn. She wasn’t crazy about Malcolm’s plan, either. Not knowing what else to do, Dawn turned to Andrea and told her what Malcolm was up to. Andrea didn’t like what she was hearing, either.

Malcolm then went to Phillip to spell out his plan to him. Phillip had his own agenda. It was to get rid of Michael as a way to clear any remnants of Corinne being in the game. Malcolm pretended to listen to Phillip’s plan, then walked away.

Andrea and Eddie were getting closer to each other in this episode. Andrea admitted that she liked Eddie, but she also wanted to use him to gain information and and a vote in case she makes it to the Final. Eddie admitted to liking her as well, but was using her to get farther in the game. While they were alone, Andrea asked Eddie if he would go so far as to vote the way she would tell him to vote. Playing along with her, he said he would. It will be interesting to see how far this “showmance” will go with the two of them being on opposite sides of the tribe.

This Immunity Challenge was a simple one: the last Castaway to be holding on to a grate in the water as the tide was coming in would walk away with the Immunity Necklace. Once the water began covering the bottom of their faces, people started dropping like flies out of this competition. This was the order in which they gave up Immunity: Phillip, Sherri, Erik, Dawn, Malcolm, Michael, Eddie, Cochran, Reynold, Andrea, and the winner of Immunity, Brenda! Jeff Probst had to get someone to tell her she had won because she was so calm. It looked as though she fell asleep!

Back at camp, Malcolm started making moves to ensure those he wanted for his uprising would be safe from the Vote at Tribal Council. His target was Andrea, as he thought she was the Machiavelli behind Phillip and Stealth R Us. To cover his tracks, he went to Andrea and Dawn and told them that they should get rid of Reynold. Oh, Malcolm! If you were only more convincing! Andrea knew he was lying about his suggestion, and Dawn didn’t trust him, either. To draw Malcolm out of his lie, Dawn asked to see Reynold’s Immunity Idol. Malcolm agreed as a.sign of good faith. Dawn then went back to Phillip and told him what she had learned. Malcolm then turned to Erik, and told him Dawn was on their side, and that Andrea was their mark.

As Malcolm promised, Reynold showed Dawn his Idol. He also threatened her by saying if he gets screwed by showing his Idol to her, she would feel the repercussions of his leaving until she was gone. Dawn didn’t like being spoken to that way, and wanted to make sure she didn’t go down the way she did the last time she was on the show.

Andrea and Eddie met in the jungle to compare notes. Eddie was trying to get out of her who Stealth R Us was voting for so he could bring it back to the guys. She wouldn’t tell him. Eddie then warns her that if Reynold plays the Idol, that it would be Eddie that was leaving. Eddie told her Malcolm’s plan to get rid if her and she her mind started racing to find a way to move the target off her back.

Andrea went to Cochran and told him what was happening. He wasn’t happy about Andrea wanting to break away from the Favs, but also wanted to keep her in the game. With Dawn joining them they decided that Michael would be their choice to vote out of the game, and to have Reynold think it was him in order to smoke out the Idol. Dawn was also shocked that Malcolm didn’t suspect that she was leaking information of his plans to the other side.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst started off their meeting by with the Castaways by talking about how a Fav, not a Fan, went home after the last Vote. Michael said that he was happy he was still in the game, and that he would love to be of use to any side…yeah, in order to save his butt and not be voted out!

They also spoke about what was happening at camp.Phillip informed everyone of his latest acquisition into Stealth R Us (Sherri). Eddie said he didn’t care because he didn’t want to be anyone’s puppet. Uh, Eddie, you may not have noticed, but you are a puppet for Reynold, Malcolm and Andrea. Too bad he doesn’t see this about his position in the game.

They also spoke about sticking together vs. breaking away from an alliance. Phillip believes a group should stick together for success. Andrea said you should try to flip if the numbers work and if the timing is right. Phillip then warned that if people flip, then they will be flushed out and be sent packing.

Before the Vote was announced, Reynold wanted to use his Idol on himself, but Malcolm convinced Reynold to use the Idol on him instead, just in case they were looking to get Malcolm out. Andrea’s plan worked!  With a 6-3-1 vote, Michael was the one to see his million-dollar dream crash and burn. He gave the finger to those remaining, and left the Tribal Council area. Three votes were cast for Andrea, and one vote, by Malcolm, was cast for Reynold. Oh, Malcolm! Double-dealing!

What sportsmanship, Michael! It’s sucks, but it happens all the time in Survivor. I’m surprised he’s surprised he’s gone since he did nothing to keep himself in the game, and he was Corinne’s ally. We’re one vote closer to knowing who will be the next winner of Survivor. I can’t wait to see what we’re in store for in the next episode. Come back and find out which Castaway is the next to get the ax.

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.