When everyone arrives at the Redemption Island Arena Hayden discovers that Kat was the one voted out. When she arrives, she calls Hayden down for a much needed hug. The poor girl looks likes she's falling apart and that's not going to go well going into a challenge. When Hayden says that his relationship is more important than the game Jeff calls him on it and gives him the chance to switch places with Kat. Well now you're on the spot boy. When Kat says she would switch Hayden asks her who has the better shot of going all the way and she knows he would so she keeps her place in the challenge. Interesting how Hayden turned that around.
Today's challenge is another puzzle. Untie your knotted machete, cut down your bag, get your puzzle pieces and assemble the flaming puzzle. No, seriously, it was a giant flame. They were all pretty quick untying their machete and chopping away at the rope but John was out in front, followed by Kat and then Laura but Laura moves ahead when Kat struggles with getting her bag open. John is still way ahead as Kat begins to catch up, so much so that John is now safe and Laura is pulling ahead of Kat . . . and she has it. This was a really quick challenge, it's taken me longer to write about it than it did for them to complete it (or maybe I just write slow). Kat is officially out of the game. She's obviously hit her wall because she has been getting a lot more insecure this season, to the point she's afraid Hayden will break up with her because she lost. I think he's got a little more character than that. He comes down again and gives her another hug and Jeff sends her on her way after tossing her buff. John gives the immunity clue to Monica and as with every other clue she walks down and tosses it in the fire alongside Kat's buff. Burn, baby, burn.
Day 17 at Tadhana and Hayden begins to feel responsible for Kat being gone because he convinced her into not switching. On the upside he can now play his game instead of their game. No longer having to worry about how his decisions will affect his loved one. Aras takes this moment to go off and have some solo meditation overlooking the ocean and I'm thinking that this is not his best idea. This allows Tyson to pitch the idea of tossing out Aras before the merge and everyone seems to be on board with that, especially as he's voiced his intent of merging with his brother to be a stronger pair. That target is getting a target all its own.
Over at Galang, Tina is taking a liking to Vytas to the point she'd be okay with him dating Katie. Of course he'd have to work at it because Katie's not so easily wooed, but Tina thinks it's about time she had some grandbabies around. Vytas thinks women love a bad boy but more than that they really love a reformed bad boy. He's right, they usually do but the drawback to his game is that the girls know he's a threat and not being part of their alliance is definitely going to work against him. With the upcoming Immunity challenge Vytas realizes he's the only guy on a tribe with a woman in her 50s and two others in their 40s and he's a little concerned. The girls decide that if they lose at the challenge they'll vote out Vytas.
On to the Immunity Challenge . . . Four members chained together must make their way through an obstacle course, collecting bags of puzzle pieces along the way, the puzzle pieces eventually become bolos that they need to toss at a rack to be the first team to get three points and win. Since Tadhana has one extra member they have Cierra sit this one out.
First they need to unhook from the coils at either end and then devise a walking strategy that will allow them to get to their bags of puzzle pieces, Tadhana starts out strong in front again and manages to grab their first set of puzzle pieces without much interaction with the other tribe, but as they are heading for their second set there's a big cluster of bodies under the mesh as both tribes are trying to get to their last set of bags while intentionally slowing down the other tribe. Nice work.
Eventually both tribes are through the course and Tina has the pieces out for Galang and is assembling her bolos while Tyson is just behind her. They're so close that Tyson gets his bolos together first and begins aiming for the rack. Tyson lands his first bolo, but misses his second. Tina gets her first shot as well but then Tyson scores again There are a few missed shots then Tina scores again but it's neck and neck as they keep missing until Tyson gets his third one and the win . . . Immunity and reward, all you can eat fried chicken. Tadhana started the season unable to win anything and now they can't lose. Unfortunately I can't say the same for Vytas because it looks like he's going to Redemption Island.
Tadhana gets back to camp to enjoy their fried chicken buffet. They've got all that delicious looking fried chicken, corn on the cob, drinks, and other items and Tyson is digging in. Some of them are just devouring the food while others have slowed down a bit. Since switching over to Tadhana Tyson has convinced them to eat plenty of rice to stay strong and when a three time veteran tells you something that makes sense you do it. He has the same strategy with the buffet like a one man wrecking ball for food. Mmmmmm!
Galang on the other hand decide to come clean with Vytas. More to the point LauraB does. She doesn't want to blindside him and as the odd man out and she feels it's only right to tell him so there's no surprises at council. What game is she playing again? He takes it well when she tells him the tribe's decision. The rest of her alliance isn't so keen on her reveal because she opened her mouth without talking to her alliance first. That's a good sign for Vytas and now it's all in the hands of the women he's been trying to build a relationship with. When you're on the edge of a cliff in a high wind you grab what you can and hold on. Tina tells Vytas that they may decide to vote LauraB instead and he's crossing his fingers.
One way or the other somebody's going home and it's not likely to be pretty. It's Survivor 101 to trust your alliance and apparently LauraB's alliance is no longer sure she can be trusted. She's kind of a loose cannon even within her alliance.
At council Jeff gets right to it and asks LauraB what happened when their tribe got back to camp. When she tells him she told Vytas he seemed surprised. It's pretty much a given that you don't tell someone they're going home right before council. It kinda kills the drama. Oh sure, over 27 seasons it's happened before but it's still unusual. So now it's the back and forth of who trusts who. Eventually the conversation turns over to the bond between the brothers and the women still don't seem sure how to vote. When Jeff asks LauraB how she thinks Rupert would feel about her gameplay, she thinks he'd be proud of how she's come out of her shell. Maybe, but he wouldn't have told Vytas he was heading out.
Time to vote. There's no hidden immunity idol, nobody's even bothered to look for one this season, so Jeff gets right to it. There's a vote for LauraB and she expected that one from Vytas, then there's a vote for Vytas from LauraB. No surprises yet. Then another one for LauraB, and then another. Laura, like Kat, obviously opened her mouth when she should have kept it shut.
As Jeff reminds the rest of the tribe after LauraB is sent packing, "every time you open your mouth you risk saying something that will get you voted out." LauraB can't believe they voted her out and now she's bitter against the girls. Whatever. She screwed up and then she refused to take ownership of that screwup, that's the way it goes. Sayonara sister.
Next week looks like the final Redemption Island challenge as the winner is back in the game and the brothers have made it to the merge. Good for the brothers, not so good for the others. See you all next week.
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