Especially when you're about to join the other two teams on the beach with Jeff to get a look at what remains of the ever dwindling Brawn Tribe. I don't think anyone was surprised that Alecia was voted out the night before, but I'm gonna miss her spunky attitude. Unfortunately, Scot hates spunk. When Jeff says it's also their last look at the Brawn Tribe the three remaining members look a little concerned. Yep, that's right, it's time for the merge.
With Caleb's unfortunate removal from the game they've had to shift the things for the merge. They were intending on two tribes of seven but with an uneven split production has thrown in a twist. There will be six Blue buffs, six Yellow buffs, and a single Red buff. Whoever draws the Red buff will be heading back to the Brawn beach alone to wait out the next Tribal Council before returning to the game to replace whoever gets voted out. This is not a reward for anyone because they'll miss out on making new connections, and some of these people might not do so well on their own. The upside is that there's no way they'll be voted out at Tribal.
Time to draw for buffs . . . and Julia draws the sole Red buff and finds herself alone on the Red mat. The new teams are Scot, Tai, Anna, Peter, Joe and Aubrey for the Yellow Gondol Tribe, one Brawn, two Beauty, and three Brains. On the other mat we have Cydney, Jason, Debbie, Neal, Michele and Nick for the Blue ChanLo Tribe, two of each of the previous tribes. Jeff sends Julia back to the Brawn beach and then sends the other two tribes off. I guess a few people are going to have to scramble.
Peter is pretty glad to be on the new Gondol tribe because he was sitting at the bottom of the ladder and now he's set up to be in the majority, as long as his previous tribe aligns with him. Tai points out that there are some Mango trees nearby and he just needs a boost to get up and grab fresh mangoes, which is when Scot says he can probably grab a few of those right now. Sounds like something I'd say. Scot's used to being the odd one out having played on five different NBA teams and having to make new alliances so this shouldn't be too hard for him, as long as he trusts the right people.
Immediately Peter starts chatting with Aubry about who to vote out if they lose the challenge and he's ready to throw a Beauty member under the bus. No surprise there and equally no surprise that Aubry 's not too sure she trusts Peter. Obviously it makes sense to stick with your numbers but eventually someone is going to have to go. Whoever goes gets replaced by Julia which only adds to the Beauty numbers so Peter's plan makes sense, but Scot knows that people tend to say one thing and then do another in the game.
At the new ChonLo beach Debbie welcomes everyone to the camp and Debbie feels the need to show Cydney the pull up branch. With three duos this will be an interesting tribe to watch form alignments but I really don't understand why Debbie thinks the Brawn tribe is the powerhouse. Did she miss the part about them losing pretty much every challenge which is the reason there are so few of them left? Someone is not using their supposedly big brain. She was however smart enough to realize that Cydney had to be smart to be built the way she is and she was right, the muscles are Cydney's cover not her strength.
Now Debbie moves over to Jason to continue her machinations and he's on board with the idea of tossing out a Beauty if they lose. Eventually someone is going to notice that Debbie is just as manipulative as Peter but where Peter is more obvious she uses her "mom" vibe to sway people. Hopefully they figure that out before they're all voted out of the tribe. I still think she's crazy, but apparently crazy is working for her.
Back on the Gondol beach Scot is developing a little man-crush on Tai because he's just so adaptable and has such a good spirit. Scot tosses him up a tree and there goes Tai gathering up mangoes. Anna's trying to make a connection with Aubry, then Peter, then Joe, by throwing Tai to the sharks, one tribe member at a time. She even goes so far as to discuss his having an Immunity Idol and everything and she doesn't even know he has it. This could backfire real quick.
Nick thinks he's building his own alliance over at ChonLo but he's unaware of the Brain and Brawn alliance. Then again, Jason is more than happy to align with both sides and make his decisions when he needs to. Somehow the remainder of the Brawn tribe, has managed to find themselves in a position of power.
Day 13 dawns and Julia is all alone at the ToTang encampment. She's dehydrated, alone, paranoid and really has nothing to keep her going. This is a make it or break it point for the youngest person of the season and if this doesn't kill her, which it won't, it'll definitely make her stronger. All she has to do is get out of bed and stop focusing on what's going on without her.
One thing that's going on without her is the Immunity Challenge. In today's challenge two members of each team will have to race out into the water then dive down to untie a net filled with wooden puzzle fish pieces then drag that net back to shore, . . . once it's on shore two other members will have to untie all those fish and hook them onto a pole then carry that pole up the beach to the puzzle platform, . . . which is were the last two members will complete the puzzle. The winners get Immunity and the losers get a night with Jeff tonight at Tribal. As much fun as an evening with Jeff might be, Tribal is not the place to enjoy it.
Scot & Aubry for Gondol and Jason & Nick for ChanLo race into the water and Scot is so far ahead of Aubry that he has to wait for her, which allows Jason & Nick to start first. Eventually Aubry shows up and Scot goes down and unties the first set of knots then moves over to get the second set while Jason is still trying to untie his first set. Not sure what Aubry was up to but it certainly wasn't much. At least Nick was working on a knot. Scot gets the net untied and then singlehandedly starts dragging it back to shore, again way ahead of Aubry who has to swim while Scot is walking in. Those nets weigh about 100 pounds and really drag in the water but Scot just keeps marching along like a machine.
Scot drops the net and Tai & Joe get going on the knots to remove the fish, followed closely by Jason & Nick dropping their net so Michelle & Cydney can get those fish free. Both teams are pretty evenly matched here, with Michelle & Cydney actually making up some time and heading out before Tai & Joe who are right behind them. Even with dropping the pole off Michelle's shoulder, the girls still get to the platform first and Debbie & Neal begin unloading fish. Right on their tail are Peter & Anna as both teams now try to load all their fish on the table so they can complete the puzzle.
Both teams have their best people on the puzzle for a change but Neal & Debbie are just flying through this. They've got both layers of their puzzle done before Peter & Anna can finish the bottom layer and ChanLo has won Immunity. That means that GOndol is heading to Tribal Council and Anna knows that this is going to be between her and Tai as to who is going home tonight. Sucks to be a Beuaty member at the moment, but once someone is voted out Julia gets to rejoin the game so Anna's probably right about who's going home.
Back at camp Anna is trying to come up with an excuse for why they were so slow on that puzzle but in the end Debbie is just a better puzzle person than Peter is. Now Tai is concerned that he may need to play his idol to avoid going home with it in his pocket. Maybe he will because Aubry wants to take out the main provider of the tribe, Tai, but Peter would prefer to take out Anna. Even Joe agrees with Peter and talks it out with Aubry because he wants to play the game smart and she agrees to follow his lead.
Meanwhile, Peter tells Anna and Tai that the plan is to probably take out a Beauty and this gets Tai a little nervous and now he wants to take out Peter. Why Peter? He came to them with the plan as a warning and now Tai is reading this all the wrong way when he should have taken that moment to try and turn Peter on his own group and take out a Brain. Whatever. Tai goes to Scot and Anna and says he has a way to take out Peter and discloses that he has an idol and if he plays it they can remove Peter instead of Anna or Tai. Scot thinks that's a great idea, and Anna loves blindsides so they're both in.
Somebody has revealed a little too much gameplay and to continue that Aubry goes to Scot and says that they're voting out Anna at Tribal. Scot is the only person on either tribe who now knows where both Hidden Immunity Idols are and with the new SuperIdol twist he's in a great position so he goes to Tai and asks him not to use it. Uh oh. Everybody likes Tai and watching Tai and Scot walk through the jungle together is like watching Mutt & Jeff to the extreme, but Tai is still worried that Scot is playing him. Now he has to decide if he plays it for himself, shares it with Anna or just sits on it.
Off to Tribal they go and Anna & Tai finally get their own torches because they've never been to Tribal before. Jeff asks Aubry if the fact that there are three Brains puts them in a power spot and she agrees that it's better to stick with the devils you know. When Jeff talks to Scot, Scot says he's literally alone on an island. Not exactly but we get his point. When Jeff gets to Anna and points out she's not on the bottom but she's also not in power she admits it's likely to be Tai or her going home. Tai agrees and he figures Scot is safe because he's a much bigger asset. With that Anna defends her place on the tribe, which is followed by Tai having to do the same. Anna looks a little downfallen after Tai's speech. When Jeff asks about Idols, Joe says he's pretty sure there aren't any and when Jeff asks Tai, Tai elaborates and says there aren't any. Funny guy.
When Jeff points out that it wouldn't take much for the two Beauty and one Brawn to align and make another group of three to take on the Brain, Aubry agrees but she doesn't see that happening. Anna smiles and hopes that's exactly how it plays out as she gets up to cast her vote.
Jeff gathers the votes and then returns to ask for the Hidden Immunity Idol and both Anna and Scot look to Tai. There's a moment of hesitation and then Tai just looks down and that look of confusion followed by fear on Anna's face is palpable. Even before Jeff reads the votes she's pretty sure how this is going to play out. Jeff reads the votes . . . Peter, Anna, Anna, Anna . . . and finally Anna, who has been voted out of the tribe.
Personally I think it was a terrible move for both Tai and Scot but Anna did say how much she loved blindsides. Maybe a little less now but at least she took it with a smile. In the game of Survivor you need to take being voted out as a compliment that you're viewed as such a threat. It's not great but at least it's something.
In her exit speech Anna took it well even if it hurt to be voted out and now she's a little less keen on those blindsides. There's no Amazing race review for a few weeks but I will be playing catch up on Big Brother Canada in the next day or so, so if anyone is following that feel free to come back soon. Next week Debbie is trying to manipulate a new alliance while Joe is beginning to think that Peter is gunning for him. Joe's probably right and we'll be right there to watch what happens. Later tribemates.