We open tonight's episode right after last week's tribal, it's nighttime at Galang and Vytas is very thankful that he wasn't the one voted out. He's preaching the honest and straight up game to the rest of his alliance because he knows that's what the women want to hear but that's not his endgame. Once Aras and he merge all bets are off, and we all know that's coming.
Over at Redemption Island, LauraB is less than impressed to have been voted out and she makes it known to LauraM and John. I'm not really sure they care since they probably weren't keen on it when it happened to them either. What really gets me though is why she's surprised. Rather than blindside Vytas she went ahead and blindsided her alliance. It was a dumb move and she paid the price. Morning treemail informs them that they're on their way to the final duel. Whoever wins re-enters the game and the other two get to go home for good.
The tribes take their spots in the stands and are informed that this will be the final duel as John, LauraB and LauraM enter the arena. Ciera has mixed feelings about her mom getting back in because she's concerned for her game. The duel itself is an endurance challenge . . . climb up to the top and hang on to a pole as long as you can until the other two drop. The pole is notched about every two feet, but it's not much of a notch.
John was struggling right from the start but he managed to recover, only to slide pretty quickly to the bottom and off. Sorry John. LauraM is locked in while LauraB has also slid down to the bottom. Eventually, even though LauraM had started to slide, LauraB hit the ground first. LauraM will be re-entering the game and it's not really a surprise because this particular challenge was pretty nicely geared for her abilities. LauraB gets a little farewell chat, then John gets his and then as their buffs are burning they're both heading home.
As soon as LauraB and John are gone Jeff informs the tribes that they have merged. LauraM gets to hand out the new buffs but when she gets the hidden immunity clue she does the same as all the others and drops it into the fire. No sense adding an extra target on your back after showing how strong you are in a challenge.
The merged tribe returns to camp to find a chest filled with food and drink, Hayden realizes that a lot of alliances hinge on Ciera who could break the five person alliance into three pairs. Ciera takes her mom aside to say that her being back in the game puts her alliances at risk and asks her not to play hard. I'm not sure that's something her mom could actually do.
Tyson realizes that he now really needs to start looking for that hidden immunity idol. Thankfully he had gotten information from the others when he switched tribes and had worked out exactly where it was. He'd walked past the same tree dozens of times but this was the first time he actually realized it was the right tree and with a little bit of poking around . . . Surprise! He mentions that he's never had an idol before and he's never won so he's hoping that now the odds are in his favour.
Meanwhile Aras and Vytas are debating who they need to vote out and even though Aras wants to keep Tyson, Vytas thinks he's a threat. They both agree that LauraM may need to go but I'm pretty sure she's already aware that she's on someone's radar. The brothers figure that as long as they play smart they can make it to the end and nobody could beat them in final three but I doubt they're both going to make it to final three. Vytas might, but Aras already has a pretty big target.
The first night at the merged camp has Monica and Tyson discussing that they need to vote out Aras but she keeps questioning his decisions. He knows he needs to keep her close, for now, but sometimes she's a little too close . . . and Tyson is getting a little tired of how she keeps repeating things back to him. Apparently she learned nothing from Kat who also talked way too much in a game where it's better to listen.
Day 20 and it's time for the first individual immunity challenge. It's a memory challenge "Jeff Says" . . . he shows a series of pictures then the players need to repeat them back to him. It's simple enough if you have a good memory, the trick is to create a story with the images . . . but don't get too detailed or you'll forget your own story.
Round One: Barrel, Crate, Cannon, Ship, Compass, Lantern.
Everyone stays, Monica is the first out, Caleb & Katie are next out, then the rest stay, then Tyson & Tina are out, finally Hayden goes out. (I'm pretty sure that was the order.)
Round Two: Barrel, Lantern, Cannon, Lantern, Compass, Barrel, Cannon.
Everyone stays, LauraM first out, then Ciera is out, then everyone stays, then Gervase is out, Aras & Vytas stay, then Aras is out.
Vytas wins immunity. Maybe the rest of them will finally realize its time to vote out Aras. Then again, probably not. Vytas didn't feel he needed to beat anyone else but he really wanted to beat his brother Aras and he did.
Now it's back to camp where Aras intends to vote out LauraM, but Tyson doesn't look to impressed with that plan. The alternate side to that was to have the others vote Ciera in case LauraM had an idol. Tyson and Gervase of course have their own game plan in motion to vote out Aras. This should make for an interesting tribal.
Speaking of which, there are 11 people at tribal, 6 of which are blood relations. Jeff is more than happy to point that out along with the tradition of returning players, such as LauraM, being voted out at the next tribal. Gee, thanks for pointing that one out Jeff. LauraM is now in the position of relying on her daughter rather than the other way around and Ciera finds it a little weird. There's a little more back and forth as usual but eventually it's time to vote.
It looks like the votes could be all over the place tonight, Katie votes for Ciera, Gervase votes for Aras, Aras votes for LauraM, and on it goes. Jeff calls for the Hidden Immunity Idol but nobody plays one. So far the only one around is the one Tyson found and he's not too worried tonight. Time for the count . . . 2 Laura, 2 Ciera, 2 Aras, another Aras, another Aras, and yet another Aras . . . and as he says, well played. Instead of going home though he gets to restart Redemption Island. This could still be interesting and Aras could still make it to final three, unless they vote out Vytas at tribal.
Next week looks like things are starting to get ugly for Vytas, and I don't just mean at the food challenge. See you here next week and be sure to check out my Amazing Race recap on Sunday evening/ Monday morning to see which team gets eliminated next. I'm pretty sure I can't write that one on the fly as there are too many location names to note. Ciao for now.