Logan Saunders recaps the seventeenth episode of Week 8 of Australian Survivor, featuring jam thieves.
Australian Survivor: Annelies and Annedeceit
EPISODE 17
Previously on Aussie Survivor: Two tribes became one, but it was a tribe divided. The four remaining Asagans, Luke, Jericho, Tara, and Sarah, looked to be picked off by the remaining Samatau. While Samatau rest comfortably with their numbers, Asaga wooed their old connections: first Henry then Michelle, then finally Locky. Come Tribal Council, Luke was in Samatau’s sights, but Asaga showed why you should never write off the underdog. They stunned Samatau and changing the game with a massive blindside.
Eleven are left; who will be voted out tonight?
NIGHT 36 – ASYMPTOTE
Petey said everyone was voting against Luke, but Henry pulled off a last second rally against Luke.
Petey, Tessa, and Ziggy try to account for the fifth vote. They think it was Locky. Locky joins them.
TESSA: We’re all pretty sure it was you.
LOCKY: Me?
TESSA: Well, it wasn’t me, obviously.
LOCKY: I know it wasn’t you. It wasn’t me, obviously.
Of course Locky knows Tessa wasn’t the one who did it.
Ziggy glares at Locky.
LOCKY: No idea.
ZIGGY: What the hell?
Anneliese is annoyed because the three are so confused as Locky won’t own up to being the one who flipped.
All five of them gather.
PETEY: I think basic psychology says that if you don’t deny it straight away then I’m pretty sure it was you.
LOCKY: Then believe that and it’s either me or Anneliese or you or anyone else. I can’t say anything else.
He can’t say anything else because then the trust may slip out.
Locky loves seeing the shock and awe.
LOCKY: I just want to be out here creating havoc and keeping everyone on their toes.
Where did this Locky come from?
ANNELIESE: That is next level playing from Locky.
He’s no longer the team player who goes bare-assed to make sure your tribe wins challenges, ladies. Not only does he keep his clothes to himself now, but also his plans.
Intro time.
Ziggy Locky Tessa
Michelle Henry Peter
Sarah Luke
Jericho Tara Anneliese
DAY 37 – ASYMPTOTE
Anneliese missed the memo on the Jarrad vote completely. She is irritated because her one goal was to be in the majority on the Jarrad vote. It makes her more miserable while sitting next to Petey because Locky, her strongest ally since day one, directly lied to her. As if sitting next to Petey wasn’t a miserable experience enough.
Anneliese and Petey contemplate potential moves. Anneliese wants the old Samatau people to stick together with Sarah and Michelle to eliminate Locky.
That might be a bit of a stretch.
Henry is stoked his first big move came through. He brags about holding an idol for thirty-three days now.
He pulls Jericho aside. Remember his fake idol clue from about five rounds ago? Well, Henry tries to play it up some more as he wants Jericho to read the clue to him.
Henry wants Jericho to present his theories on the idol location.
JERICHO: I’ve deforested anything.
Jericho even murders the trees. No form of life is spared.
Henry re-hides the idol in the tree. He calls over Jericho. They read the idol note together.
HENRY: Jericho is the sweetest soul ever. . .I hope he can forgive me for this afterward.
Jericho’s empty jar of cookies may help with the forgiveness.
JERICHO: Henry finds this in ten seconds and I’ve been looking for it for ten days!
JERICHO (to HENRY): You’ve got to keep your jollies intact.
Yes, keep all the jollies intact! I love Aussie-isms.
JERICHO: Henry was always the golden child that was always supposed to get everything. He puts his hand out and he gets gold. I put my hand out and I get dirt.
Anneliese updates Sarah on Locky’s shenanigans and pretending to be the dumb jock. They want him out before he rejoins Samatau.
NIGHT 37 – ASYMPTOTE
Jericho suggests to Luke and Henry they share the jam and sugar from the merge feast secretly.
HENRY: So sweet.
No pun intended.
Luke pours jam all over his beans.
JERICHO: That’s really good beans.
These guys are nothing but trouble.
DAY 38 – ASYMPTOTE
Locky asks Anneliese to bring over the jam.
LUKE: I was like ooooh-weeee, things are gonna get exciting now.
Anneliese brings over the empty jar.
LOCKY: Somebody has literally put their finger in there and licked it clean. . .We know someone has taken it.
Locky asks everyone who went for it. Much like a denied vote against Jarrad, another witch hunt begins.
MICHELLE: Hashtag Jam Gate!
(#JamGate appears on screen.)
LOCKY: Jericho. . .did you eat the jam last night?
JERICHO: Who ate the cookie from the cookie jar?
LUKE: What if he woke up with jam all over his face like “No, bro”.
LOCKY: Did you eat the jam, Tara?
TARA: Yeah, I did.
MICHELLE: Really?
TARA: No. Far out. I didn’t even have any the other day.
Locky said there was enough left for everyone. Tara tells us whoever stole the jam is gonna get voted out.
Yikes. If they get found out, they will really be in a. . .well, in a jam.
Oh, and Jericho was the one who already ate the cookie from the cookie jar. Now like a game of Banjo-Tooie, he also ate the jam from the Jamjar.
Henry and Locky discuss their next move. He was promised top three by Anneliese, but she didn’t vote with them (maybe because she didn’t even know Jarrad was a target). So he wants to knock her and her idol out right away.
SARAH: She would have had the jam for sure.
Not only is she the seventh vote for Jarrad, but now the jam conoisseur.
HENRY: Everyone believes Anneliese did it. I don’t know why.
SARAH: I’d be so surprised if it wasn’t her.
You’ll be less surprised if you have seen any of the previous episodes once you get home.
HENRY: That wasn’t our intention now everyone is on Anneliese. I want to accentuate this and have it on everyone’s minds. It snowballed into a power plan. If this comes off, it is huge for my game.
SARAH: Everyone knows you then why not say, “Yeah, it was me guys?”
Ask Locky.
OTHER THINGS ANNELIESE IS BLAMED FOR
—
The faking of the moon landing.
Tossing the fish into the jungle rather than Sandra or Christa.
Big Momma’s House 3.
The breakup of Brangelina.
Global warming.
Final Threes.
Hiroshima AND Nagasaki.
The first pineapple to be placed on a pizza.
Socks and sandals.
Meanwhile, Ziggy learns Locky was a good liar. She talks to Petey. They conclude Locky is trying really hard to play them. Ziggy is on a quest to find a majority and utilize her Super Idol.
PETEY: I’d rather go down swinging with you two than blindly following Locky.
You two? Isn’t it three? Why is Anneliese not included in this?
Ziggy wonders if she should stick with her original alliance or find a new alliance. She puts on her snakeskin individual talisman.
ANNELIESE: We have a blueprint to eliminate Locky tonight. The only thing stopping it is him winning immunity.
INDIVIDUAL IMMUNITY #2
Michelle is still starving. Henry brings up the jam thief situation. JLP starts laughing in their faces about it.
JLP: I bet you guys worked that one out.
Close, but they were way off.
JLP snags Ziggy’s snakeskin talisman.
It’s a three-part challenge.
1) Toss a ring attached to a rope. Swing it onto a hook. First six move on.
2) Each person will be tethered to a rope. Go through the obstacles and reach the end. First three move on to the final round.
3) Roll balls up a ramp and onto a ledge. Once all three balls stay on the ledge, immunity is theirs.
In other words, no endurance challenge to buy Ziggy more time.
Let’s rip into it.
Petey uses two hands to swing the rope. He is done first. Then Tara. Then Henry.
HENRY: BOOOOOM!
OK The Tick.
Locky is fourth. He coaches Luke to hold it sideways and give it a spin. Luke can’t perfect it.
Tessa is fifth. Luke keeps nicking it. Jericho snags the sixth spot.
REMAINING: LOCKY-PETEY-HENRY-TESSA-TARA-JERICHO
Locky is a big dude to weave through those ropes. Something tells me Tara’s agility will not match Tessa, Locky, Henry, or Jericho.
MICHELLE: Jericho is made for this.
Yes. His life calling.
Henry is flinging himself more than Korey onto the ground above a waterfall.
The final obstacle is a vertical post. Henry is falling over from exhaustion at the vertical post. Locky is second to join him.
Locky passes him and is done. Jericho is third to the post. Henry is eventually done. No one else is at the post yet. Tara is fourth to the post. I take back what I said earlier.
Jericho is third to finish.
REMAINING: LOCKY-HENRY-JERICHO
A bunch o’ dudes trying to throw those balls up.
Locky gets one up. He barely misses with his second. A ball rolls away several feet behind him on the ground. Henry and Jericho answer with one of their own.
Henry lands a second. Jericho knocks one into the other, but both stay on the ramp.
The suspense is killing Ziggy, I’m sure. Henry has all three balls.
Henry wins immunity!
Henry is too tall for JLP.
Anneliese doesn’t feel safe. She is uneasy with her huge plan in the works. She doesn’t want to return to camp with Locky.
ANNELIESE: Tonight is where my game either is made or it dies.
. . .Again.
DAY 38 – ASYMPTOTE
HENRY: It’s one of the best challenges I was apart of.
No kidding. You won it. No bias at all.
Henry recruits his army to go for Anneliese.
LUKE: No one votes for the King of Asaga. You come to my beach then you write my name down. Your game is done.
Locky tells his allies to use his own name as the decoy.
Anneliese joins Locky, Henry, and Michelle’s huddle without warning. Locky tells us he is aware he will be eliminated if Anneliese plays the idol.
Locky and Henry talk privately.
LOCKY: Should I try and get Anneliese to give me her idol? I think she was the one who spearheaded going for me.
HENRY: Exactly, but also, if she gives it to you, we still get rid of her.
What a cruel game.
Locky goes up to Anneliese.
LOCKY: I think it might be me. Nobody is talking to me.
ANNELIESE: I think they know you’re on the other side.
LOCKY: Who? Not even Asaga is talking to me. I don’t know why. It’s not like I am the biggest threat.
ANNELIESE: Nobody is going to tell me.
LOCKY: I think it’s me.
ANNELIESE: If it’s happening, I don’t know about it. I know it’s scary.
LOCKY: At least you’ve got an idol in your bloody pocket.
ANNELIESE: I always said the idol was ours.
LOCKY: Well, would you play it for me?
ANNELIESE: Well, if I think it’s you.
What a game of cat-and-mouse this is. This conversation is best explained by Anneliese.
ANNELIESE: Locky and I are playing this weird game this evening where we both pretend to not know we’re both coming after each other. . .I do my fake side of the conversation. We both know each other is lying. It was a bunch of waste of our time. It’s all rubbish.
Can’t knock Locky for trying.
Anneliese tells Petey and Tessa about the conversation. Tessa informs Anneliese the plan is that everyone is voting against her, and Locky has told them to spread the word it is Locky to see if Anneliese will go back to Locky with the plan.
ANNELIESE: Why wasn’t I told this? Am I going home tonight?
Petey assumes it will be all on Anneliese or be a weird 4-3 split. They realize all they need to do is put their votes on Locky, play the idol, and Locky is guaranteed to go.
Petey and Tessa bring Ziggy in on the plan. Ziggy says she is one hundred percent on board with them.
ZIGGY: However. . .people say they want the best physical threats out. But I am one of those big physical threats. Do I vote out Locky who is a massive physical threat or vote with Locky and keep him as a shield for me?
But Ziggy. . .Locky doesn’t want to shield you.
Ziggy tells Henry and Locky that Anneliese wants to play both sides. Henry is amazed Ziggy wants to still work with them despite the massive target on her back.
Henry fishes for information. Ziggy confirms her power can send Anneliese go home automatically. She tells Locky and Henry that everything will be fine.
ZIGGY: Tonight I have to have a little faith in Locky and Henry. That’s scary.
Yes. Trust two of the people who stole all of the jam, planted a fake idol clue, re-claimed an idol that was already in their pocket, and lied about being a yoga instructor.
Tara is nervous that Ziggy is making this too easy and that they are going for Locky. Luke agrees. Locky is nervous.
LOCKY: If Ziggy doesn’t play her secret advantage, I’m going home.
ZIGGY: I am having so much fun knowing I got the power.
But that fun will not be lasting much longer.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #18
(JOAN)-(ADAM)-(KATE)-(MARK H)-(AIMEE)-(SAMANTHA)-(MARK W)-(JACQUI)-(KENT)-(AK)-(BEN)-(ODETTE)-(JARRAD)
X
(ANNELIESE)-(HENRY)-(JERICHO)-(LOCKY)-(LUKE)-(MICHELLE)-(PETEY)-(SARAH)-(TARA)-(TESSA)-(ZIGGY)
Jarrad does a ceremonial hair flip and sits on the bench. He looks rather happy.
The jam thief discussion arises once more.
LOCKY: Someone was buzzing from that sugar and we didn’t see it, but you went to TOWN on it. Whoever did it.
JLP asks if Locky is hungry. Yeah, Locky is still really hungry. Luke thinks it was hilarious.
JLP: Any idea who the culprit is?
Sarah points a finger at Luke. Jericho doesn’t know.
JERICHO: There is speculation of one name. . .That person may go home because of it.
Tessa talks about being on the wrong side of the numbers because she trusted the wrong people. Thirty-day deja vu.
MICHELLE: The minute you start to feel safe and get a bit confident. . .that is the minute you sit next to Jarrad. Sorry, Jarrad. That was like good work.
At least Jarrad is smiling.
Ziggy says she is voting for someone who is a threat to her.. Henry wants to vote out a flipper.
TARA: Oh. The F-word.
Who hasn’t flipped? Pretty sure both Henry and Tara have.
JLP: Any word about idols?
TARA: Not that I know of. Only what Henry has around his neck.
That’s a talisman, Tara.
Michelle thinks everyone is being sneaky with their idol.
Ziggy says playing an idol too soon is a waste, and says tonight is the right time to make a move.
It’s time to vote.
Anneliese writes down Locky.
Henry writes down Anneliese.
HENRY: You didn’t vote with me last time so you gotta go now. So the plan put in place works you go home, your idol goes home, Ziggy’s power goes, and it’ll taste sweeter than the jam I had last night.
Wow. He rehearsed that gem.
Anneliese plays her idol.
TARA: Oh, what?
ANNELIESE: I feel like I have been set up to take the fall for a few things I haven’t done. I can’t go out like that.
Tara buries her head in her hands. Luke pats Anneliese on the shoulder.
Ziggy plays with her lips. . .plays with her lips some more.
ZIGGY: Uhhhh. . .Jonathan. I’d like to play the Super Idol.
Anneliese grins. So does Jarrad. Michelle is ready to pass out. Tara’s eyes have been shut for a while.
JLP reveals the power.
Anneliese is not impressed like Georges St. Pierre.
LUKE: God daaaaamn. That’s crazy.
Yeah, Jarrad’s smirk is gone.
FIRST VOTE: Anneliese
SECOND VOTE: anneliese
THIRD VOTE: ANNELIESE
FOURTH VOUTE: AnneLEASE
FIFTH VOTE: Anneliese
SIXTH VOTE: Annelise
Considering the votes were read in that order, producers were not expecting Ziggy to play her Super Idol to cancel out Anneliese’s idol, or else it would have been read with maximum suspense.
Tessa and Petey are stunned.
PETEY: It’s just me and you now.
Next Time on Aussie Survivor: Money talks. And someone’s bid could hold the key to half a million dollars. And Ziggy screams in the strangest way possible.
Anneliese laments her perfect idol play.
ZIGGY: I haven’t trusted you from the start so I’m going to take you out.
But couldn’t you wait a bit longer?
LUKE: You were playing a great game all the way up until last Tribal when you wanted to vote out King Kong. Naughty naughty.
***
To quote the Angry Video Game Nerd, “What were they thinking?!”
Anneliese was voted out twice in the span of about six rounds. Hell, both of her eliminations weren’t even close in terms of vote count.
I am surprised Ziggy opted to not only refuse to trust Anneliese when Anneliese clearly had no other option but also waste a very powerful item on somebody who has been proven to be relatively easy to eliminate from this game.
If Ziggy didn’t use her power, Locky goes home. If Ziggy waited, a much bigger antagonist to her game in the form of Henry, Locky, Tara, Jericho, Luke, or Sarah goes home.
I know Ziggy truly believes she can find a shield for challenges, but she is completely unaware that she is perceived as the strongest person in challenges since day one. Except maybe in a head-to-head puzzle matchup with Anneliese.
This game likely would have broken wide open if Locky went home. The centrepiece to tie Henry, Tara, and Michelle altogether wouldn’t exist anymore. And Ziggy appears to have blown this opportunity.
If the folks in the anti-Locky camp were against the Super Idol twist when it was introduced, they certainly will be now.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this move is responsible for giving an Asaga member the game.
.
.
.
And I would be surprised even less if Ziggy is blindsided with an idol in her pocket next round. Ziggy clearly has no idea as to where she stands in this game.
***
Henry has done a hell of a recovery since losing his four closest allies after his decision to mutiny. I know my blog isn’t known for much Henry praise, but this was a perfect round for him. He took out two trinkets and his desired target in one fell swoop. Oh, and he won immunity.
I know Michelle, Luke, and Jericho are going to flip on him soon and use the Samatau underlings to take him out, but hey, at least Henry is trying to use whatever advantage he can get.
***
And where did Locky’s demon personality come from? I feel like making that same wide-eyed look of horror that Josh did in BB19 US a week ago when he realized Paul’s tears were fake.
I like how his lies were unraveled though. Covering up a flipped vote and pin it onto someone else is very tough to do.
***
How is Sarah still playing double agent? Nobody has mentioned her name once recently. Neither with Michelle. Both women hold a hell of a lot of power right now. Henry and Locky are at their mercy and need to build stronger bonds with both women fast.
***
Other than Ziggy, Tara seems to be unaware of what is going on. It doesn’t seem like her opponents are giving her game much credit. I don’t think she is being taken seriously, and when you aren’t taken seriously you are doomed to lose on Survivor. These next few rounds may be tough for Tara to watch.
***
Will Tessa be the last person standing in the minority alliance again then somehow climb back into the majority during a power struggle? If Petey is voted out next, we could see history repeating itself. It would be like if you split Kristie’s epic victory into two distinct parts.
***
Jericho is trying really really really hard to be the first contestant ever to get diabetes on Survivor. Fifteen ice cream cones, a jar of cookies, and now a jar of jam? Eat some vegetables, dude.
***
How irritated will everyone be if Luke says, “I am the king” in every episode all the way to the end and wins? They are going to be kicking themselves thinking, “Man, this guy knew he had it from day one. How didn’t we stop this guy?”
The crazy thing is I don’t see Luke going home for at least two votes, no matter if there is a shakeup or not. There isn’t any single piece of criteria where Luke would be on top of the leaderboard as the target. And right beneath him would be Jericho. Jericho appears to be in a fantastic position.
***
And have you noticed how much more lively everyone has been since they merged? Something tells me we will never see a 35-day pre-merge phase in Survivor ever again.
***
And for the love of god, please let’s not re-hide Anneliese’s idol into the game. Ziggy and Henry’s idols are more than enough for this ten-person dynamic. Hopefully, the auction does not make things spiral out of control. Will something basic like a vote steal come into play?
***
So we bid farewell to Anneliese. The person whose name sounds like the sister of a RHAP podcaster has been voted out for the second time. If only they read her name aloud just like the first time to make her decision to play an idol that much easier.
P.S. It never was your idol, Locky. And remember when Sarah tried helping Anneliese with retrieving the idol? What the hell happened to that Final Two alliance? Sarah couldn’t give less of a s-it about it.
