Survivor SA: Philippines — “Throw Me a Frickin Bone Here”

Previously on Survivor SA: In a surprise shuffle at Tribal Council, Josie and Annalize were voted out of their tribes but not out of the game. Annalize took Katinka to Luzon beach where they found a new lease on life in the game. Josie took Toni with her to Mindanao where Toni reunited with PK and Tevin. At Visayas, old alliances started to falter as Chane realized that Tom’s behaviour could be a threat to her individual game.

Mindanao lost the immunity challenge. PK made a big move when he brought in Josie and Toni to blindside Tevin.

Eleven are left; who will be voted out tonight?

MINDANAO

DAY 20

Josie feels she is in a much better spot now and has solidified her relationships with PK and Toni.

JOSIE: I feel like today I can officially start playing Survivor.

Unless she goes to Tribal Council -again-. Then she will have absolutely no plays at all.

All three are sitting across from each other. PK is staring off into space. Focusing.

JOSIE: PK, what are you thinking about?

PK: The game. . .if Tom is there, Palesa’s there, and we’ve got Josie and Annalize. . .

TONI: But I would stick with Josie’s buddies–Palesa and Vusi.

For the first time since the three-tribe swap, an entire tribe is fully united heading into a merge.

PK Fire tells us he wants to align accordingly to ensure he is at the top of whatever alliance is established.

LUZON

DAY 20

Werner talks about being the only man on a tribe of women since day 9 (what day number was Ace voted out?).

WERNER: I want to take my girls to the beach and we’re going to do a few stretches. Maybe get our backs loosened.

Why does this sound odd?

WERNER: As a pastor, I definitely draw upon my skills to build relationships with these women. I am the guy who understands women the best in this game. I might make a run for the million at the end with a bunch of women.

He knows EVERYTHING about women? Who does he think he is? Mel Gibson?

We watch Werner leading the women into ‘loosening up their backs’ including a move where everyone sticks their butt out in the air. Um, sure Werner.

Afterward, he jumps into the water alone to go fishing. The rest of the women sit together and talk about ponies, makeup, and boys. . .nah, just kidding.

Jeanne tells Annalize and Kat that Werner will be a great shield for a while. Kat agrees they should take him out at some point.

JEANNE (confessional): When Kat starts talking strategy to me, that warms up my little cynical heart.

We cut to an image of a butterfly fluttering in the sky.

KAT (confessional): I adore Jeanne but Annalize is my mother away from home.

Who knew Jeanne’s behavior has not been very motherly since the start of the game.

Annalize knows she is alive strategically in the game as she privately chats with Kat. Kat says no one has really spoken to her since day one.

Later on, Kat asks Werner what happens if they lose. Werner is scared by her new strongest ally wanting strategic conversations. Both of them want Jeanne eliminated at the next immunity challenge.

VISAYAS

DAY 20

Tom retrieves Tree Mail as he mourns over his current situation. He reads aloud the Tree-Mail to his tribe. Vusi and Palesa both say they are out of food at camp. Maybe Tom can swear at the tribe in an additional four languages the next time they have food to prepare.

LUZON

DAY 20

They conclude it will be that relay which debuted in Millennials vs. Gen X where you slither on your stomach nudging a ball then the next person goes.

JEANNE: It will be impossible to get my boobs anywhere. I don’t have a chance at this.

What the hell? It’s not like disassembling a structure or a cannon and having to do portage for your breasts to advance. It’s all in the lower back and stomach to move yourself, Jeanne. I can’t believe I have to seriously respond to this confessional.

Annalize assumes Mindanao will do really well with today’s challenge, and Tom may struggle.

MINDANAO

DAY 20

Toni proposes they practices. She ends up doing the worm on the sand but without the use of her arms.

PK: She looked absolutely ridiculous. I hope I don’t look bad while doing it.

It’s why you have to practice, PK Fire.

INDIVIDUAL REWARD CHALLENGE #7

DAY 20

Tevin is announced as being voted out.

WERNER: WHAT?!

No time for reactions now. Let’s move on.

For today’s challenge, they’ll be bound together by hand and foot. One at a time, they need to crawl their way through an obstacle course made of sand dragging a bag of puzzle pieces. Once they get to the other side, they will use the pieces to solve a snake puzzle.

The reward: A chocolate feast. A chocolate fountain with chocolate brownies, truffles, real strawberries, milk, marshmallows, and everything else that will upset their stomach.

The tribe that comes in second will get a jar of jelly beans. That sounds less diarrhea-inducing than first place. I’d shoot for second.

Luzon is sitting out Jeanne and Visayas is sitting out Palesa.

Josie, Tom, and Annalize start off in the sand. Tom is flopping like nobody I have ever seen. It really is the worm. He passes it off to Vusi.

Josie eventually gets to PK and takes the bag.

Vusi hands it off to Chane. Man, Visayas is dominating.

PK is looking ridiculous.

NICO: Annalize is eating sand for her tribe!

She needs to use her core more. She passes it to Katinka. She does a freaky somersault immediately. Wow. Impressive.

Chane finishes. Vusi is untying the bags. We get a series of slow-motion shots.

Katinka passes by PK. Werner now has the bag. PK is regretting not practicing. Werner is swiveling his elbows and hips to blitz through. Impressive.

PK gets it to Toni and she does the last leg relatively fast.

Josie, Vusi, and Katinka are doing the puzzle for their respective tribes. Nico points out nobody is coaching Josie.

Tom encourages Vusi without directing what to do until he gets down to two pieces and one is out of place. The other two are catching up.

Visayas wins reward after Vusi does a last second swap! Vusi is a challenge beast!

Katinka solves the puzzle for Luzon and runs back. Vusi has sandy tears of joy.

The tribe everyone thought was gonna do well, Mindanao, finishes last. Considering the stomach pains this reward will trigger, it’s probably for the best.

Jeanne takes the jar of jelly beans as she acknowledges she did nothing in this challenge.

Speaking of nothing, Mindanao slinks away with nothing.

VISAYAS

DAY 20

Jesus Christ. This chocolate reward is absurd. There’s a freakin’ fountain.

VUSI: To the snake!

Their anaconda don’t want none

Unless you got chcocolate fountains hun

They start smothering the strawberries in the chocolate fountain. He is not even chewing his food and is double-dipping those strawberries right next to

CHANE: He proceeds to lick his whole hand. The whole finger. . .he touches my potential brownie with his licked hand.

Tom is just like my dad during meals. This is hilarious.

CHANE: I need to go puke. It’s revolting. I can’t deal with it.

Chane actually pukes in the water from a mixture of the reward and Tom’s table manners. Hilarious. I love Visayas.

LUZON

DAY 20

Annalize is embarrassed by her performance. She doesn’t understand how everyone was able to do it. Jeanne says all of her teeth are sweet teeth.

They sit down to talk about Tevin’s elimination.

ANNALIZE: Josie is the problem. She’s got Vusi. She’s got Palesa.

WERNER: Josie is surprising me. . .this is probably the end of the original Blue Alliance as you know it.

I love how everyone assumes Josie is the problem because every upset happens when her name is supposed to be knocked out. I would have probably made the assumption too if I was Luzon.

MINDANAO

DAY 20

Ms. 8675309 starts going on a rant against PK and Josie.

TONI TUTONE: There was no, uh, no fire.

JOSIE: Toni turned into Teacher Toni.

TONI: Into immunity makes me hungry, guys. We can’t keep coming standing here saying ‘we gots this, we gots this’ I say ‘let’s f–king push through this’. We need to exercise ‘I am worried, ‘I am nervous’ and use that energy.

Josie is not appreciating this rant; PK is visibly regretting his decision to eliminate Tevin on his face.

JOSIE: We just need to eat some coconut–

TONI: We need to light fire under our asses! Where is it?

Josie says it’s all about staying positive when the chips are down.

PK Fire helps put a fire together with Josie and Toni. They keep talking about blow. Perhaps cocaine is the surge of energy they need going into a challenge.

Toni mocks Josie’s light blowing on the fire while she and PK blow hard like Tobias Funke.

TONI: It’s exhausting. Josie blowing on the fire does a hoo-hoo while PK and I do a FLOH-FLOH! to the point, carbon dioxide is missing from our bodies.

It could be a tribe of one if PK and Toni pass out in the fire.

LUZON

DAY 20

Annalize is carving things up on the beach. Werner is enjoying the slowest stretch of days. She proposes that they align together. Werner agrees.

ANNALIZE: I don’t want to say ‘yes, it is gonna be us’ and he doesn’t want to do that either. It’s too early for either of us to make promises.

They are very much on the same page. Both are very frank and honest with each other about how their concerns are for each other’s pre-determined alliances with Mindanao and Luzon. Annalize says they could work together easily for another eight or nine days for now.

Werner praises Annalize’s gameplay in a confessional.

ANNALIZE: If I didn’t have ears, the smile would have gone right around my face.

TRIBAL IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #8

DAY 21

Nico plays ‘catch’ alone with one of the idols.

For today’s challenge, three members of each tribe will start tethered to a rope. On his go, they’ll go one at a time following a rope through an obstacle course. Along the way, they’ll collect a bag of balls. Once they get to the other side, they’ll maneuver one of those balls up a wall filled with holes using a rig WHILST balancing on a balance beam. First two tribes to score three balls in the holes wins tribal immunity.

Yep, we have seen this challenge a countless number of times in the US version since Worlds Apart.

Chane and Annalize are sitting out.

CHANE: You’re looking thin.

ANNALIZE: You’re looking so thin too!

Well, at least they’re having fun on the bench.

The challenge begins. Vusi, Jeanne, and PK are first to go. Jeanne and PK are struggling like hell.

CHANE: I spoke to Vusi and Palesa. They’re very nice. I’ve gotten to know them and they have my back.

Vusi is done. Tom goes next. He’s done. Jeanne somehow outruns to the end before PK. Visayas’ lead is incredible.

ANNALIZE: But he has the idol anyway–

CHANE: No, Palesa has the idol. She got it at Tribal Council.

Speaking of Palesa, she crosses to the end. 3-1-1 lead. Nico has to hold back Tom from running off until they untie.

Visayas now heads to the wall. Katinka and Josie are wasting a huge chunk of time in the hitching posts.

Vusi is first to try and rig up the ball.

Josie crosses. Toni is now running. Katinka is done as Werner attempts to bolt through with it. Toni finishes quickly. Mindanao is second to the wall.

Vusi is in a very awkward crouch. Balance may not be his thing.

CHANE: How is Katinka?

ANNALIZE: Totally harmless.

Werner finishes as Luzon are now at the wall too.

WERNER: Breathe, Katinka. All smiles.

PK loses the ball for Mindanao. Katinka messes up right at the last possible second. Ouch. Tom keeps encouraging Vusi. His arms are shaking.

VISAYAS: 1 LUZON: 0 MINDANAO: 0

PK gets one.

VISAYAS: 1 MINDANAO: 1 LUZON: 0

Katinka kets one.

THREE-WAY TIE

Katinka goes quickly to score a second point. Vusi scores a second point shortly thereafter.

PK’s ball pops out at the last possible second. Toni is uber frustrated from the sidelines.

Katinka is extremely close to scoring. Vusi’s arms can’t stop moving. Sweat is pouring from his face like I’ve never seen before. It is insane.

PK scores a second point! 3-WAY TIE!

Vusi keeps sweating and shivering. I think he is gonna pass out.

VUSI SCORES THE FINAL POINT! VISAYAS WINS THEIR MILLIONTH CHALLENGE IN A ROW! No swap. Win reward. Win immunity. Win reward. Win immunity. Five in a row.

It is intense between PK and Katinka. She has it over the slot. PK attempts to catch up.

Katinka takes her time before putting the ball through.

LUZON WINS IMMUNITY! Mindanao loses their third challenge in a row.

NICO: Luzon wins immunity. It’s smaller though.

JEANNE: Smaller is better.

I don’t ask.

Toni starts crying to Nico that a tribe of two is not a tribe. Ulong may disagree.

MINDANAO

DAY 21

TONI: Vusi is on fire. He has literally won everything for those guys.

Obvious early post-merge boot?

Josie is frustrated and finds the situation bleak.

PK: Werner and Katinka were like ‘blue, blue, blue.’

TONI: Ah, take the blue and shove it up your ass, man.

That is going to be a harsh thing to do with your buff.

PK and Toni go on quite the rant.

PK: If it was blue then they would’ve thrown us a bone.

TONI: Help us out a bit, but now they’re obviously saying ‘blue blue blue’ because we have a Red to get rid of. So to them they’re happy as we’re getting rid of Reds, we’re deleting people, as long as we’re playing the game and they can sit back and have a holiday. But we must play play play again. What about you guys? You don’t forget the Blue either then if you’re such a f–king group of f–ks. Throw a challenge and get rid of your Red. Why must we get rid of our Red?

Best rant of the season other than Tom’s spoon.

Toni keeps going in her confessional not understanding why Luzon wouldn’t throw a challenge to get rid of their Red.

Toni is annoyed that their whole gameplan of switching up the game is out the window because they have to eliminate Josie anyway.

Toni and PK fist-bump over being a strong tribe of two in challenges if they don’t merge next round. PK says it’d be a clash of interests for him and Toni if they eliminate PK.

Josie and Toni sit in a hammock and talk out loud about Toni’s relationship with Werner. She asks Toni about her final gameplay with PK.

JOSIE: Palesa and Vusi are a tight alliance with me. You can use me for a big gameplay.

It’s true. . .or do you split Palesa/Vusi/Josie prior to the merge? Toni considers to squash Blue Loyalty permanently.

Josie is honest with Toni that she is going to write PK’s name down.

TRIBAL COUNCIL #8

(SEAMUS)-(NEIL)-(STACEY)-(ACE)-(MURISCHA)-(MATTHEW’S ANUS)-(TEVIN)

X

(JOSIE)-(PK)-(TONI)

Everyone is angry with all of the Blues.

PK: Given the chance I will eliminate the Blues one by one. . .I am mad they put us into this position.

Toni discourages playing with emotion; PK rolls his eyes. Hell, we could have a three-way vote.

TONI: Revenge voting is going to get you into sh-t, quite frankly. Raw emotion comes first then I take a breath then strategy overruns the emotions.

PK: I think females are more emotionally inclined then men are more rationally inclined. . .I like to think of myself as a real man

TONI: But you were thinking about vengeance. . .vengeance is an emotion.

PK: Vengeance has timing.

Ask Chris Daugherty.

PK says him and Toni have been together since day one and will move forward together and stick to their main strategy.

It’s time to vote after generic conversation. No one’s vote is shown. Please let there be a three-way tie.

Nobody is playing a hidden immunity idol.

FIRST VOTE:

.

.

.

(Josie)

.

.

.

SECOND VOTE:

.

.

.

(PK)

.

.

.

FINAL VOTE:

.

.

.

(Josie)

This is sad. Toni and PK are heartbroken. Toni is legit crying. PK probably feels terrible for losing the immunity challenge. He is tearing up too.

NICO: Make no mistake–nobody owes you anything. How you play this game is up to you.

Man. Nico did the equivalent of slapping them upside the head to get their minds focused.

Next Time on Survivor SA: Toni pep talks PK to not take up vengeance.

Josie is happy with how the way she played the game.

***

All I can say is this: Poor Josie. So close to having her situation drastically improve on Survivor. She was able to escape every elimination possible except for a three-person Tribal Council where the two others had been aligned since the beginning of the game. She had to rely on a complete Mindanao majority self-destruction in order to have survived both TCs since the switch.

Granted Josie’s run was met with as much good luck as bad luck (the tribal swap, everyone willing to go to rocks, PK and Toni getting so bored they turn against Tevin, Luzon opting to go with eliminating Ace rather than her, etc.), it’s still a bummer to see her as the last boot before merge.

I loved seeing the three-tribe format last for this long period of time. Seeing it start out as 5-5-5 and have it go all the way down to 4-4-2 was fantastic. Seeing who you vote out have long term effects rather than banking on an early merge or a switch is something many of us have craved for a long time. I am curious to see how overwhelmed everyone gets by ballooning up to a tribe of ten next round.

Tevin and PK are in an excellent position as they have done the Unintentional Matsing strategy and will be very non-threatening. I can’t see anyone targeting them next round–even if PK isn’t emotionally inclined and is indeed the realest real man we have ever seen.

I anticipate Tom will be our first boot at merge. We have been primed for a Tom exit since about day two or three of this game. Palesa and Vusi have been talking crap about him since before they even knew each other’s names, Chane has spent THREE episodes talking about Tom’s disrespectful eating habits and lack of basic etiquette, and told Annalize that he is a lost cause. If the jury starts next round, Tom needs to thank Vusi for winning the last five challenges and refusing to throw anything pre-merge to give him an extra twelve days in the game.

After that it’s very tough to say if everyone will follow through with Blue and Red lines completely collapsing in on itself.

Toni and Werner are a tight pair.

Katinka likes Werner and Annalize.

Toni and PK are close.

Palesa and Vusi are tight.

Chane and Annalize are tight.

Annalize and Werner see eye-to-eye on things.

Jeanne is off on her own.

Tom is off on his own.

Palesa has an idol everyone knows about.

Werner has two idols which half of the cast knows about.

If I were Palesa and Vusi, I would probably be a little bit happy knowing Josie was out of the game if only to reduce the blatant threat level of a larger alliance heading into merge.

***

Without further ado, let’s do some power rankings for the last ten players remaining in the game.

1) Chane: Relatively few flaws shown in her game thus far and appears to be a tough player to vote out anytime soon.

2) Toni: If you go by what Josie said this episode, she may not come across the best at times, and that could hamper her in a FTC.

3) Annalize: May have betrayed too many people to get to this point.

4) Katinka: When you don’t make strong bonds until day 20, it’s tough to get yourself be taken to day 39 of the game.

5) Palesa: Would you want to plead your case to the jury against her right now? Neither would I. She can be aggressive but respected at the same time. That takes talent.

6) PK: “Nico just snuffed my PK Fire. So this is what it feels like to be Jeff rather than Ness.”

7) Werner: “How did this happen? The pastor is the biggest Ladies Man around. Anyone want to do more downward dogs with me?”

8) Vusi: “So this is what happens when I win the last five pre-merge challenges nearly all by myself.”

9) Jeanne: “Coming up after the break, I conduct my own exit interview! Also, I beat Marthunis.”

10) Tom: “He is licking the spoon! He is double-dipping in the chocolate! He is touching me with his licked hand! He doesn’t even wash his hands when exiting the bathroom! He uses 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner which we all know means you are practically using body wash to condition your hair!”

Alright! Three tribes are coming together as one! I can’t wait to see how much Mindanao and Luzon have been integrated (minus Visayas) and see if anyone can justify keeping Tom as a loyal number and use him for a blindside at the next elimination. If one thing has saved Tom’s life in this game twice now, it is his transparent motives and always possessing an equally transparent ethical core which has allowed players to trust him at key points when his neck was on the line.

And yeah, Jeanne ain’t making it far. She currently has no allies. Tragic.