We open with the recap of the last few days and at the last Tribal we once again get to say goodbye to J'Tia. Finally a smart decision from the Brains. Back at their camp Spencer is a happy camper in his tribe of three. He jokes that they could be the "final three," all they have to do is get rid of two other tribes between them. Not very realistic but it's a good attitude.
Morning TreeMail invites them to a probable food challenge, but it's a lot more than that. Time for a little mix and match as Brain, Beauty & Brawn are no more. As I suspected it's still too early for a full merge and there will be two tribes moving forward. This will be a game changer for just about everyone.
The new tribes are . . . the Aparri Tribe; Spencer, Kass, Tasha, Jeremiah, Sarah, Alexis & Morgan . . . and the Solana Tribe; LJ, Jefra, Woo, Cliff, Tony, Lindsey & Trish.
One person will hold onto a pole while two members from the other tribe try to remove them and drag them across the arena to score a point. First tribe to two points, wins reward; Breakfast on the beach with coffee and donuts.
First round, Jefra and Trish start in on Tasha while Sarah and Morgan are on Lindsey. Lindsey is off the post, them she's back on then she's off again and digging into the sand. They had to drag her all the way across but they managed it.
Second round, Spencer and Jeremiah try to remove Cliff while LJ and Tony (I think) go after Alexis who is easy to get off the post and drag across in no time for the point.
Final round and Lindsey and Jefra are trying to get Sarah off the post, while Spencer and Jeremiah are once again on Cliff. The girls are trying to lift Sarah across the arena, and Spencer finally unlocks Cliff but it's too late. The Solana Tribe wins the reward.
Returning to camp, LJ finds out that Trish is also from Boston and that gives him a connection. Cliff notices that connection and intends to keep an eye on both of them.
Over at the Aparri tribe, Alexis is looking for a new alliance and approaches the Brains, who managed to stay together. Spencer notes how easy it should be to play these Beauty members against each other. Jeremiah decides to side with the Brains as well which leaves Morgan and Sarah on the bottom.
Back at Solana, Trish and Jefra are chatting about who's aligned with who while they make a water run. That's good for LJ and Jefra, as long as she and Trish realize Cliff is stalking them through the jungle. Paranoid much?
Time for the Immunity Challenge. Jeff gets rid of the little brother Idol and keeps mama, or dad, or whatever. Jeff's not really sure. The challenge has tribes move a log through two walls and a maze and then use the log to bang a gong at the far end. Losing tribe goes to Tribal Council and somebody gets to go home.
They all need to remain holding onto the log and then need to use the log to smash through both walls before getting to the maze. Solana is in the lead but Aparri is close behind and catches up by the maze. Lots of mistakes made during the maze by both tribes, but Aparri is through the maze only seconds ahead and wins immunity. Finally Brains use theirs and avoid Tribal.
Tony is amazed "How did that happen?" This is the first time anyone from the Brawn Tribe has been to tribal council. Tony thought the challenge was made for the Brawn tribe but apparently not. Now he's targeting LJ.
The Solana Tribe is not happy and they're looking for who to blame. Cliff is willing to give the Aparri tribe credit but he's thinking the same as Tony. Not exactly the best time to get rid of strength, especially when you just lost a strength challenge. On the beach Trish let's LJ know she's targeting Cliff, but they shouldn't be seen talking. Trish would rather keep LJ than Cliff but it's all a numbers game. LJ better keep that idol handy.
Trish and Tony have a chat to get rid of Cliff but Tony's not really on board with that. He tells her he'd rather get rid of LJ first. Decisions, decisions. When Cliff approaches Tony he tells him what Trish is thinking and now Cliff is firm on his decision to vote out LJ and then Trish. Three against four is not the time to sit on that idol. Time for Tribal.
Those without torches get them, light them and set them aside. Jeff asks who's in charge. LJ says he feels like he's selling his home and just wants to know who's buying it. Cliff starts talking about emotions and numbers and Jeff turns it over to Woo to see how he feels and Woo also mentions numbers. Trish says it's definitely about numbers but also who you can trust. Jefra and LJ, as Jeff points out, have nothing to lose. Lindsey says her five does not include Jefra or LJ.
Time to vote. LJ had better play his idol, but for some reason he doesn't. Jeff starts the count . . . LJ, Cliff, LJ, Cliff, LJ, Cliff, and finally Cliff. Well that was interesting. Now that's how a blindside is done. Woo and Lindsey look totally amazed, even moreso than Cliff who takes it well.
Next week Lindsey and Trish lose it on each other to the point that Jeff comes in for a little one on one time with Lindsey. I hate when that happens but when you throw a bunch of. Alphas together occasionally someone's gonna crack.
Hope everyone is enjoying the reviews. Feel free to leave a comment. See you all back here on Sunday for my Amazing Race review, and be sure to check out the video reviews of TAR that Wayne and I have been posting on our other page (right after this one). Later.