Logan Saunders recaps the tenth episode of Week 5 of Australian Survivor which has some of the players screaming for ice cream.
Australian Survivor: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For More Vertical Challenges
EPISODE 10
Previously on Australian Survivor: A shock tribe swap turned the game on its head as two members of each tribe switched places. Tara and Anneliese were voted out of Samatau while Ben and Henry volunteered to leave Asaga.
At Samatau, Henry set about creating new connections as two of the game’s greatest players came together for the first time. At Asaga, Jacqui was exposed after losing her closest ally in Henry. And she was right to be worried as old rival Luke recruited the newcomers into his alliance. And at Tribal, Luke used his new numbers to powerful effect.
Sixteen are left; who will be voted out tonight?
Luke plays out the exact way he wanted. Luke is humble in a confessional.
LUKE: I beat you. Even if I get voted off next week, I beat ya! I beat ya Jacqui! Sh**! Henry, you left her out to dry! I can’t wait to see Henry’s face because I voted off your one little closest alliance. I’m taking over, baby!
Luke starts mocking Henry by sticking out his tongue and putting on devil horns–since when is Henry Gene Simmons?
Michelle is excited because they have started chipping away at Henry’s alliance.
MICHELLE: There were high fives all around! . ..Odette and Kent are FILTHY.
Filthy? Or dirty? Too dirty to clean their act up? If they aren’t here to high five, then they aren’t here to partyyyyyy.
Kent is sad to lose Jacqui.
KENT: I thought the result was going to be different.
ANNELIESE: Yeah. I’m sorry then.
If Kent got his desired result, he was planning on running around in his Adelaide speedo. Thank god the result was different.
They prepare to eat and Kent rejects a meal. He slinks back to the shelter alone.
KENT: I feel like I am dead man walking.
If only you had a fire-breathing dragon in your corner to tear down the wall between you and the rest of the tribe.
Intro time.
Ziggy Locky Jarrad
Tessa Peter AK
Ben Henry
Michelle Sarah Luke
Kent Odette
Jericho Tara Anneliese DAY 23
Tara is throwing twigs onto a fire with Anneliese. Anneliese is excited because she dodged an easy bullet.
ANNELIESE: You can’t get rid of us that easy.
Unless you’re on a tribe that rhymes with BAMATAU.
Kent is catatonic by the fire as everyone is throwing twigs. He feels like the plague because nobody is talking to him. Kent thinks everyone is underestimating him and that he is not a threat.
KENT: I’ll just sit around being miserable.
That’ll make you pleasant enough for people to work with you again.
When Kent walks away, Sarah and Michelle tell Tara and Anneliese about how Kent is typically loud and will shout at night time.
Wait, he shouts at night time? Where is this footage?
MICHELLE: I work with children. Kent is behaving like one of them. If the kids start to lose or stop winning the race, they sit themselves down and say, “I don’t wanna play anymore” and that’s what Kent and Odette are doing.
Kent–The Dickhead Child.
MICHELLE: Kent and I do not get on. We all know that.
I don’t know about that–
MICHELLE: I’m going to the well.
KENT: You? Are you getting water?
MICHELLE: Yeah! I just said that!
We cut back to a confessional.
MICHELLE: He has voiced to everyone that he doesn’t get on with me.
I don’t know about that–
KENT (to LUKE while sitting in the shelter): I suppose I shouldn’t complain. She did get up.
Michelle says it isn’t going to affect her.
MICHELLE: If he’s going to mope around camp and be filthy Jacqui is gone, that’s fine. Perfect. This is Survivor. Play hard or go home.
Man, Michelle has been owning everybody for the past couple of rounds.
Kent’s strategy of finding the biggest dickhead may have come back to bite him. He chose a dickhead so big that it bolted for another tribe. He should have chosen a slightly smaller dickhead.
DAY 23
No strategy talk as everyone watches the sunrise on the beach as Locky snorkels. Ben admits to struggling with group social situations. He is twenty years old and this is the longest he has been away from home. He is introverted.
Ben tells Jarrad that nobody has been a dick to him on Samatau.
BEN: On Asaga, I felt like the pipsqueak who got wedgied in high school.
If the camp had lockers for each person’s shoes, Jericho and Luke would’ve shoved him in.
Ben is looking for his board shorts. They all help him with his search.
BEN: Oh. I’m wearing them.
It’s like Ned Flanders who wonders why his kids don’t want to go to church with him, and he gets upset until he realizes it’s a Saturday.
Ben and Jarrad strategize at the water well. Ben says he is not #AsagaStrong. Jarrad says it would have been easy to split the vote between him and Henry, but says the true plan is to pull him into a majority with him, Ziggy, AK, Petey, Jarrad, and Tessa.
Ben says he has trusted Henry for a while but is willing to eliminate him to save his own neck.
JARRAD: What do you reckon the chances of him having an idol are?
BEN: I don’t think he does.
It’s probably for the best for Ben’s game that Henry goes. He trusts him and doesn’t believe he has an idol–a lethal combination.
Henry feels his stock in the tribe is going up and forming lots of connections.
HENRY: Winning!
OK, Charlie Sheen. Is this 2011?
Everyone predicts Tara will be voted off.
HENRY: With Jacqui and Kent on the other side, my alliances will take me to the end…coming face-to-face with Asaga will be interesting. I’ll give them a wink or a nod to indicate I’m still with them. #AsagaStrong. I’m coming. I’ve got an idol. I’ve got alliances. I’ll be sitting there winning this game.
REWARD CHALLENGE #8
Samatau walks in. Then Asaga. Locky grins. Tessa grins. Henry’s expression is like a zombie. I swear everyone always reacts stunned to each Tribal Council.
JLP asks Henry if he is surprised.
HENRY: I thought it would be easy picking to knock off the two that came from Samatau. I wouldn’t mind being there seeing how it all went down.
JLP asks Tara if she is a true Asagan. She says she is. Locky tells JLP he has the biggest smile on his face while he has the biggest smile on his face.
Jericho wants pizza or chicken; Tessa wants ice cream.
For today’s challenge, half of the tribe will push a very heavy cart containing puzzle pieces. Once you get to the end of the course, two people will pull on a rope lifting the first piece of a puzzle. The last two tribemates lift the pieces inside the cart to complete the puzzle. The first tribe to get their puzzle right wins reward.
Winning tribe gets an afternoon at the Survivor Ice Cream Parlour. There will even be a banana flavoured ice cream, marshmallow and sprinkle toppings.
It is eight versus eight so nobody sits out.
JLP: Kent, you’re sitting out for medical reasons.
That has never happened before when tribes are even. I am curious what the medical reason could be.
In the official Survivor rules, a tribe member was ejected from the game if they missed one challenge. Ever since Missy in Survivor: San Juan Del Sur, this rule seems to be ignored.
Somebody on Asaga gets to participate in two roles. This seems like an unfair advantage because their strongest member can be used to a higher degree than, say, Locky on Samatau.
Locky and Ziggy have a pep talk before pushing the cart.
LOCKY: They’re going to struggle with the pushing so we just take our time and dominate like we always do, okay Zigg?
Dude is confident.
ROUND 1 PUSHING
—
Ziggy & Locky vs. Jericho & Luke
Locky and Ziggy are slaughtering them on the pushing.
JLP: The square wheels make it even harder!
*Camera cuts to wheels that aren’t square*
Jarrad and Petey join the pushing. Michelle and Tara eventually join in with Asaga.
Tessa, AK, Ben, and Henry have a lead with the pieces. JLP says it is a big lead, but I estimate it being no more than three minutes. The course isn’t as big as you would think it is.
JLP: Ben is slowly working on the rope.
AK (examining the pieces): What’s all this sh**?
And the lead is gone.
AK and Tessa put the puzzle together for Samatau while Henry and Ben hold up the ropes. Sarah and Anneliese are quickly catching up as Jericho and Odette hold up the puzzle (yes, Jericho is the one who doubled up).
Henry is shouting at AK as to which pieces should go up. Dude likes winning more ice cream than winning immunity challenges.
JLP says the vertical puzzle will weigh 100 kilograms when completed. That’s heavy. Samatau has two pieces left, but neither fit at the end. Locky now advises AK. Sarah and Anneliese are flying through this puzzle. AK trips over the edge of the mat. Hilarious.
Sarah and Anneliese complete the puzzle. It’s over. Asaga wins another reward. They apologize to Tessa for taking her ice cream.
Who is the child now, Michelle?
TESSA: There will be ice cream at home.
BEN: You don’t come on Survivor to eat, Jonathan.
JLP: That’s the attitude right there!
As Samatau walks away, Henry gives his thoughts on Jacqui going home.
HENRY: They got rid of Jacqui, my biggest ally. I can’t believe how silly these people are. I set up a game and I leave and they just don’t know how to play anymore. My game just turned a bit ugly.
Yeah? I can’t believe a tribe would knock out the closest ally of the leader of their tribe who outright abandoned them three days ago, and begin to unite against him. SOOOOOO STUPID!
DAY 23
JERICHO: There as much sugar in this ice cream as the cookies I had!
EVERYONE ELSE: What?
Nah, just kidding.
SARAH: This reward is like something out of a movie.
What popular movies involves a bunch of smelly and filthy people eating ice cream at the edge of Samoa?
Kent looks like a grandpa finding an excuse to take his grandkids out for ice cream when secretly he is the one who wants ice cream the most. There are lollies too! Sarah is shoving a bunch of whipped cream in his mouth.
Jericho’s body has a big spasm from all of the sugar. He goes to make seconds. He is putting EVERY TOPPING on there. Not just a topping but another ice cream cone on top of ice cream into an ice cream cone.
JERICHO: I think if Survivor was about who could eat as much ice cream, I would be sole survivor in that sense.
I don’t know if “survivor” would be the right word.
Jericho admits he is lactose intolerant at home. He is going to suffer tonight. Right after he says this he takes the biggest bite out of the cone.
Sarah puts a bunch of whipped cream into Jericho’s mouth.
JERICHO: All I know is right now I feel good.
Live in the present, Jericho!
Jericho has had fifteen ice cream cones. He goes for more.
MICHELLE: Jericho! You’re literally gonna be sick!
Michelle is surrounded by people that remind her of her kids at work.
Sarah asks Anneliese if it felt good to beat AK at a puzzle. She is happy because AK talks up his puzzle game. Amidst everyone being amazed by Jericho’s attempt at an ice cream overdose, Anneliese finds an idol clue in her ice cream cone. The note says in front of the ice cream parlour is a palm tree that contains the next idol clue.
She has to completely wander off as everyone can notice her going through a tree. They see her pulling at husks. This isn’t subtle at all. Jericho probably has too much of a stomach ache to chase after her. Just let her collect those husks and hope there is no ulterior motive.
DAY 23
Henry is still stunned by Jacqui’s elimination. He is frustrated because he spent twenty days building an alliance and cementing a majority.
It’s like when you left there was a new tribal dynamic and they all started playing their own game given the new situation at hand.
Henry thinks it was Luke, Jericho, Michelle and the two Samatau who made the majority. He is really underestimating Sarah. I think Henry misread the whole tribe before he left and didn’t give them enough credit.
BEN: If I go back there, it might be a bit dicey.
AK: You were on the side with Kent and Jacqui.
BEN: I was? Yes.
Uhhhh, that’s not how I remember it.
AK: Was Henry on that side too with Kent and Jacqui?
BEN: Yes.
AK: That’s huge.
I don’t recall you being in that position, Ben.
You know what’s hilarious? Ben is now the one with majority alliances on both tribes, and he wasn’t even trying to make it his master plan.
DAY 23
Everyone has hunger fatigue as everyone lays on the sand from having too much ice cream. They are all lying about like it is the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Sarah compares it to being sleepy after eating pizza on Christmas.
Anneliese meanwhile finds the clue in the tree. The clue tells her the idol will be hidden at the next immunity challenge.
I guess this clue is not really a new Asaga idol to break general Survivor format since it is a random idol hidden at the challenge.
Anneliese wants to nourish her relationship with Sarah and work with her to the end. She approaches Sarah. They agree to be each other’s girl.
SARAH (not sounding really excited): I’m really excited.
Sarah loves being calm.
Anneliese informs her about the idol clue. Sarah is happy because she does not want to go with a majority that is controlled by Luke and Jericho. She doesn’t see it as Asaga versus Samatau anymore. Her and Anneliese see a path forming.
SARAH: I’ve got the power.
Once again, Sarah is in the middle where everyone is trusting her. She has been a master at this for twenty-three days.
DAY 23
Longest day 23 ever. Tessa quotes Vanilla Ice. Oddly enough, Vanilla Ice is going to be in the Okanagan in less than a month.
Locky and Henry are STILL talking about Jacqui’s elimination. Henry starts freestyle drawing in the sand with a stick. It turns out to be a trivia game show on the beach. He wants to be more popular than Ben.
We learn there was an Aussie rowing team that was dubbed “The Awesome Foursome”. Ben thought the Awesome Foursome was from swimming. I can hear the casual fans at home calling Ben a dumbass for not knowing the Awesome Foursome. I thought this was Jacqui, Henry, Samantha, and Mark W after the season was over.
AK: Henry is quite the rooster…He is a healthier version of me which makes me jealous. He is doing a good job at charming people.
Tessa and Ziggy give confessionals that Henry is charming, and this raises red flags for Tessa because she finds herself liking him a lot.
Petey answers a question about Vampire Weekend.
AK: The positive that came out of it is that everyone realizes Henry is too smooth.
Henry’s stock is falling rather than rising.
DAY 24
Sarah says she will walk Anneliese to the end of the beach to find dry material for the fire. Everyone buys it. This is, of course, an excuse to talk about the idol at the upcoming immunity challenge. They walk into the jungle and sit down with a lack of energy.
SARAH: I just want to say I am really excited about this. Like, I’m really excited.
Sarah doesn’t know what that word means.
They read that the only way to obtain the idol is if they do not volunteer for the puzzle.
ANNELIESE: I think it’s a bit suss if I stop doing the puzzle.
Anneliese delegates the task of claiming the idol to an ally that she has known for 48 hours. Yikes. Sarah and Anneliese both did the reward puzzle, but sadly Anneliese’s stronger puzzle solving abilities has come back to bite her.
Anneliese is freaking out. We have a commercial break.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #10
Anneliese repeats she is freaking out.
JLP teases everyone about the muggy heat. Jericho goes on a five-minute shalingual–shaquarry–er, soliloquy as he goes on and on and on about the ice cream.
Henry talks about his position with Ben on the chopping block.
JLP applauds Anneliese for completing the puzzle yesterday. Anneliese is nervous about how high the stakes are.
JLP asks for immunity back.
AK: You can come to me, mate.
JLP is forced to walk over to grab it from AK’s clutches.
In this challenge, six members will work together to slide discs through a rope course high above their head. Then they must roll the discs up a ramp and into a barrel. Once they are in the barrel, they will push them into a chute which releases a key which will unlock a box of puzzle pieces.
They will then use the puzzle pieces to solve a flat circular puzzle which creates an image. First tribe to finish wins immunity.
Asaga discusses who will do the puzzle.
ANNELIESE: You’ll go on in the puzzle with me.
KENT: You’re the boss. I am quite good at puzzles usually but I dudded the first one.
Dudded may be an understatement…presuming I know what “dudded” means.
Puzzle will be Henry and AK vs. Kent and Anneliese. The camera pans to the idol as Anneliese walks by it.
Luke starts throwing people onto his shoulder to move the discs. Ziggy is on Locky’s shoulders while Jarrad is on Ben’s shoulders. Sarah is on Luke’s shoulders–they are the only standing pair for Asaga.
JLP: Ben proving to be very strong for his tribe!
Yay, JLP praises Ben. It only took him 23 days.
Sarah is struggling with feeding the discs. Jericho is now on Tara’s shoulders.
KENT: Tara?!
ANNELIESE: Yeah, Tara is a strong girl.
Yes, Tara gains her superpowers from her sparkles.
Tara nearly collapses because Jericho is too heavy. His junk nearly hits her face on the way down. Jericho boosts Michelle, but that dude is short.
Samatau is done with the ropes. Locky is now rolling the discs into the barrel. Asaga is about one-third of the way through the ropes. Locky has only one disc left to roll. He gets it. Anneliese is not impressed.
The third stage is feeding the discs into the chute. Locky pushes enough through to release the key for the puzzles.
JLP: Locky is the here for this tribe in the challenge.
Sarah and Jericho are still feeding discs through.
ANNELIESE: Never give up guys! You’re doing well!
As AK and Henry begin on the puzzle.
For a season where the past seventeen challenges have been really close, it is odd to see a blowout.
Asaga is ready to finish stage one but there are still five discs at the beginning of the challenge. Sarah shoots a look at Anneliese.
The puzzle is almost done. Sarah and Odette bicker. Sarah orders Luke to move.
Samatau wins immunity. Anneliese pouts on a box like one of Michelle’s daycare kids and snags the idol. She walks over to her tribe.
ANNELIESE: Don’t stress out guys. That was ours to lose.
No kidding.
Henry walks over and hands a note to Jericho as he hugs him.
HENRY: I miss you so much, bro.
JERICHO: Yeah, me too.
What the hell?
JLP taunts AK by forcing him to walk over to grab the idol. Away they go with immunity. What a shift in the tide. Their first numbers advantage since day 5.
Michelle expects her name to come up again at Tribal Council. She thought it was the hardest challenge ever.
DAY 24
Luke brags to us that he wasn’t responsible for losing the challenge.
LUKE: I don’t mind Tribal Council. I actually like going there. I’m safe as houses, baby. I ain’t going nowhere.
Too bad the counter-alliance just found an idol. Your house is as safe as American houses in The Big Short.
Sarah abandons her plans to make crunchy risotto by joining Anneliese. She never saw Anneliese claiming the idol as she and Anneliese unwrap it together.
SARAH: This is your idol. You found it. I don’t want it.
Sarah is playing this right as they got the idol.
Kent is alone on the beach and comments Michelle being an easy target because she is lazy at camp and awful at challenges. Remember your participation in the reward challenge, Kent?
KENT: I am not going to campaign for votes. I’m going to open my little shop and people can come into my shop. I’m not going to ask them to vote; I’m going to tell them a story. I’m going to sit down on the beach and hopefully they come…Not a lot of customers today. I thought I might get a queue going, but no.
So far the strategy works out well.
Tara asks others if Kent asked to be left alone. They say no. Therefore she blatantly goes over to Kent.
TARA: We need to keep strength so I’m looking at Michelle.
KENT: I’m going to vote Michelle.
What happened to the story?
Kent expands that Michelle blames others when they lose, and Tara sees Michelle doing nothing. They seek a majority. Tara knows Kent and Odette will be on her side.
Tara approaches Anneliese. She wants to vote out Michelle and will pull in Sarah afterwards. Anneliese doesn’t think Sarah will join them if they eliminate Michelle.
Tara is annoyed because Samatau kept losing four times in a row due to eliminating Adam and Tarzan as the first two boots. She wants to go with her head rather than heart. Tara asks Luke to vote out Michelle.
LUKE: That’ll be tough.
Luke mocks Tara in a confessional.
LUKE: You just came here; you don’t call the shots. I like you trying, but I can’t let you have a crack.
Luke insists to Michelle that she will be safe despite her name being thrown around again.
LUKE: Getting rid of that alliance is not the real Asaga. The real Asaga is whoever is Asaga with me; I am the real Asaga. If you want to jump on my train, then you’re the real Asaga.
It’s like an Aussie version of To Tell The Truth, but nobody is an imposter–they are all the real Asaga.
Michelle and Sarah are annoyed that Kent and Odette are targeting Michelle yet again.
MICHELLE: How they think they’re gonna scramble? They’ve become very very quiet, they’re very sheepish. If our six stay strong, we’ve got this in the bag.
Anneliese does not reveal the conversation with Tara. Michelle and Sarah decide to throw a vote or two Odette’s way.
MICHELLE: I’m not stressed. Unless Tara flips…Jesus…Without sounding cocky, if I was Tara and Anneliese, I’d do exactly what I’d tell them to. You’ve been here for five minutes. Just follow orders for a little while and allow us to trust you.
It does sound cocky, but I do get what she means.
MICHELLE: I’ve been trying to get him out since the first day. He is past his expiry date by twenty-two days.
To a college student, Kent would still be fresh for consumption.
Sarah joins Kent on the beach. She tells us Kent is a unique body because he is tall, heavy, and strong–a combination which nobody else has.
She says to Kent it is him or Odette.
KENT: How I see it sitting in my office is it’s me or Michelle.
Sarah is upright that breaking away from Michelle will be tough.
Sarah interrogates Kent about his numbers against Michelle. He rats out Tara and by extension Anneliese. Sarah says she might join to eliminate Michelle in order to oust Luke and Jericho.
SARAH: It is an opportunity to flip sides again and stick with a new alliance.
But do you want to be that person, Sarah? Just look at Henry and re-evaluate your position.
Kent thinks the three maybes will be in his favour.
KENT: Either I am completely wrong and I have to eat humble pie, or I am completely right per usual.
Per usual? So we’re just not acknowledging Jacqui anymore, eh?
MICHELLE: Simple plan–Girls vote Kent. Four votes there. Luke and Jericho vote Odette. Two votes there. Simple simple simple. If it gets screwed up and I go home tonight, I will be livid.
Not as livid as Amanda Kimmel, I would assume.
It’s hilarious how badly Michelle wants to outlast Kent in this game. She may care more about that than the cash prize and the title of Sole Survivor at the end.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #11
(JOAN)-(ADAM)-(KATE)-(MARK H)-(AIMEE)-(SAMANTHA)-(MARK W)-(JACQUI)
X
(ANNELIESE)-(JERICHO)-(KENT)-(LUKE)-(MICHELLE)-(ODETTE)-(SARAH)-(TARA)
JLP jokes about the blowout. Jericho says their ability to be vertically challenged screwed them. JLP compares their performance to quicksand as Luke was the only pillar of strength.
Luke is proud they didn’t quit. Michelle repeats it was the toughest challenge ever. Anneliese acknowledges the physical challenges will be impossible to be competitive but is happy they work together.
JLP asks if a player’s personality can influence who they vote for. Michelle says that tribe gets along is more important than challenge strength. Odette obviously disagrees. Oh yeah, there’s an Odette.
Tara doesn’t think there is conflict. JLP turns to Luke to confirm if that is indeed true. Jericho jumps in to say Michelle and Kent do not get along well. Apparently, they yell at each other in challenges.
MICHELLE: In the real world, some people do not have twenty-four real friends. So to come out here and expect to be best friends all twenty-four people is just not realistic.
KENT: I’m just a grumpy old man. My tolerance is pretty low at parts, and Michelle should be fantastic on a Saturday night but twenty-four hours a day she has some things that grate me. I find Michelle will wheel out pointing out people’s weaknesses.
JLP: Is she pulling her weight?
KENT: One would think not. Luke and Jericho are tireless, I’m average on the scale, and Michelle is below average.
MICHELLE: I’m a bit confused where Kent contributes around camp…Where do you think you contribute the most?
KENT: I put together the floorboards.
MICHELLE: That was two weeks ago.
KENT: I maintain them.
Kent says Michelle brought a knife to a gunfight. This could get interesting fast. Jericho brought a machete to this fight, too.
JLP admits the power dynamic always shifts on Asaga. Michelle confirms it has always shifted.
Alas, we vote. Odette writes down Michelle in silence.
MICHELLE (voting KENT): This moment is long overdue.
Anneliese and Sarah smirk at each other when JLP asks if anybody wants to play the idol.
FIRST VOTE: KENT
SECOND VOTE: KENT
THIRD VOTE: MICHELLE *
FORUTH VOTE: Michelle
FIFTH VOTE: ODET
SIXTH VOTE: KENT
SEVENTH VOTE: KENT
That’s enough. Luke is smiling like a madman as Kent’s torch is snuffed. He is significantly taller than JLP.
They nickname him Bear.
LUKE: Don’t poke the bear!
And that is it.
Next Time on Australian Survivor: The most powerful tool Survivor has ever seen is about to enter the game.
My god.
Kent loved the game. No regrets.
SARAH: It’s just about furthering my game, furthering the best thing for my game play.
Kent would love Henry or Luke to win the game.
TARA: I tried my best today to get some numbers, but I couldn’t so I have to stick to my alliance.
Kent says his three kids and his mom assumed it would only take three days before everyone would hate him, but instead it took twenty-four. Expectations were exceeded.
***
For a moment I felt bad for Kent that he only made it to 16th place, but then I realized he still got to experience Survivor for 24 days. You got to love the hyperextended nature of Australian Survivor.
Kent took one of the most passive approaches to being on the bottom that I have ever seen. This isn’t like one of those endgame situations where a player accepts they are done because the only way they will be kept until day 39 is if at least one or two other players remaining are complete idiots. Kent had options here, and Michelle was far more active in terms of making sure the numbers were on her side.
Kent was a fun character to have around this season. He started out as coming as close as you possibly can to being eliminated at the first Tribal Council (His wife and kids were mistaken–only half the tribe couldn’t stand him on day three). He found himself as a crucial third wheel to Jacqui and Henry to guarantee his safety for nearly three weeks. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep Henry from bolting to the other tribe and was left for dead along with Jacqui. Jacqui being the first target bought him two extra days, but he chose to sit on the beach while Tara and Anneliese didn’t know who they were gonna go with on their new tribe. I wish Kent talked to them more.
We also saw Kent make another big mistake. Sarah suggested that they break up Luke or Jericho, or eliminate Odette. Kent refused to do any of that and was stubborn to the point that he was only willing to vote Michelle. Michelle may have been right: Kent was somewhat pouting in the corner because he didn’t get his way. If Kent had truly cooled down from the Jacqui vote, he would’ve said “Oh, it’s Odette or me? And you need my strength in challenges? Okay, let’s eliminate Odette” or “This is your last chance to split up Luke and Jericho so let’s do that tonight!”
But no. Kent didn’t want to do any of that. Michelle was his only target, and he was going to sit on the beach until he had his way. If you are on the absolute bottom, stubbornness is the worst trait you want to possess in Survivor. You have to adapt or you’ll be voted out of the tribe.
This episode really marks how much stronger than Samatau is than Asaga. Yes, Asaga won reward but I think there are relatively few types of challenges where I see Asaga beating Samatau. They’ll need Anneliese on every puzzle to do so. The immunity challenge wasn’t even close. Asaga has Michelle, Tara, and Kent who are all weak for various reasons. Jericho wasn’t exactly their strongest member at the start of the season, but we are at that point where Jericho has had to step up more in challenges… Hopefully, there isn’t another “stack these blocks as high as you can to win immunity” type of challenge.
Production will be looking to mix up the tribes soon.
***
And why in the world is Henry surprised that Jacqui was voted out? Henry and Jacqui were centre stage on Asaga once Samantha was voted out. They were playing more defense than offense until Henry bolted.
Henry has now lost his #1 and #2 ally in back-to-back rounds. I am stunned Henry called the rest of his former tribe idiots for doing so. Buddy, you weren’t planning on taking any of those people to the Final Three, so why should they keep any of you?
These two reactions from Henry tell me the following:
- a) He has not given his opponents enough credit for possessing the ability to perceive what is going on around them;
- b) There are fifteen other people playing this game just as hard
The trivia scene was a strong indicator of this. His goal was to discreetly charm the new tribe to keep him over Ben, but everyone knew what he was trying to do.
I can guarantee you Henry is watching this season back at home and thinking: “Wow, there were twenty-three other people with their own goals and series of observations in this game”. He’d probably be a fun person to talk to after this season is over.
Henry is very lucky to be on a tribe that has won consecutive immunity challenges and shows no signs of losing anytime soon.
Ben is in the position that Henry assumed he was going to be when he agreed to bolt. Good job, Ben.
We have no explanation yet as to the piece of paper Henry handed to Jericho, and I am as shocked as you are that another hidden immunity idol was added into the game and has already been claimed. If Samatau’s idol find has gone unaired, that means we have three idols currently in play. Yikes.
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P.S. Sala wonders if Asaga voted out the right person at Tribal Council.
