Logan Saunders recaps episode 6 of Survivor NZ: Thailand ahead of episode 7.
SURVIVOR NZ: THAILAND Episode 6: THIS GAME HAS PIZZAZZ”
Previously on Survivor NZ: Two tribes were formed and alliances were forged. Within the five and outside the tribes. And in a secret partnership that runs deeper than the game. After falling out with his Khangkhaw tribemates, Dylan’s days in the game seemed numbered but his prayers were answered. They may be two new tribes but the members of old Khangkhaw hold the majority in both. After losing the immunity challenge, outnumbered, Eve, Liam, and JT decided to attack knowing they had a secret weapon. But the plan was a BUST.
Thirteen are left; who will be voted out tonight?
KHANGKHAW
Eve openly tells the whole tribe that she never expected them to vote out Liam. She starts crying in front of everybody talking about Liam.
Brad says the trust with Tess, Lisa, and Tara is huge right now. He dodged a bullet by avoiding the vote against Eve.
EVE (to EVERYONE): I’m not good with the drama and the trust.
Hence why Khangkhaw is up 8-5.
CHANI
ARUN
DAVE
RENEE
DYLAN
JOSH
ADAM
MATT
KHANGKHAW
TARA
JT
EVE
TESS
BRAD
LISA
DAY 16
CHANI
Dylan loves his current position. No kidding.
DYLAN: If a Chani goes, there’s only five original Chinese.
The good ol’ Chinese tribe on Survivor. I thought we’d see Jackie Chan and Yao Ming before a couple dudes named Josh and Dave.
Josh and Matt are fishing on a raft.
KHANGKHAW
DAY 16
Eve and JT wish they held onto their idol. Hindsight is Barbara Walters.
CHANI
DAY 16
Adam starts walking around like he’s Jeff Jarrett. What the hell? He talks about how badly he wants Dylan to be eliminated because he thinks he’s up to no good.
Dylan rats out the Khangkhaw dynamics to Arun and Dave.
Arun and Dave chat privately. Neither of them trust Dylan but see his value as a swing vote. For now.
ARUN: Once we detonate the bomb bro, it’s gonna it’s gonna–
DAVE: Has to happen.
Yeah, let’s detonate the Khangkhaw bomb, bro.
TRIBAL REWARD CHALLENGE #6
DAY 16
Arun tells Chisholm that JT and Eve are in trouble. Eve confirms the vulnerability.
Let’s rip into a reward challenge!
Four tribe members will swim out to a raft to retrieve puzzle planks then need to be untied. The planks will need to be used to build a bridge across a pontoon. The other two tribe members must then complete a puzzle.
For reward: IT’S BACK! PIZZA HUT PIZZA! Dave collapses to the ground. Hawaiian, Meat Lovers, Cheese Lovers, and Chisholm’s personal favourite pepperoni.
CHISHOLM: A wee whiff of this!
Chisholm is in full on Kiwi Mode.
LISA: Every Friday night I have pizza with my family.
TARA: It reminds you of family.
Pizza Hut: Reminding us of family. . .except orphans.
Renee is sitting out.
Tess, Brad, Tara, and Eve swim for Khangkhaw.
Adam, Matt, Josh, and Arun swim for Chani.
Everyone notes how fast Brad is swimming. Eve is second there. Wow. Her swimming has improved.
Both tribes bring their planks to the pontoon simultaneously. It’s a dead heat. Chani transports their planks first. Khangkhaw’s deficit is minimal.
Dave has slight hesitation before laying down a piece. Wow, Khangkhaw is still untying planks. What the hell happened? Chani has a six plank lead. Dylan barks out orders as he has a complete stranglehold on bridge building. It’s done.
Everyone is across as Adam slowed the group down. Dylan and Dave are working on the giant slide puzzle.
Lisa and JT are wasting heaps and heaps of time.
CHISHOLM: Just a reminder you’re playing for Pizza Hut pizza!
CHISHOLM: Pizza Hut up for grabs! Do not give up!
He sure loves Pizza Hut.
Lisa and JT are across the bridge but cannot agree on any pieces to move on the slide puzzle.
Dylan and Dave finish the puzzle. Adam hugs Chisholm before his own tribe.
Adam wants to eat pretty bad, Terry.
CHISHOLM: I think these will be the best tasting pizzas you’ve ever had.
Until we get Jim’s Pizza or Top Choice or Panago in the mix.
ADAM: Brad said don’t lose immunity.
Huh.
CHANI
DAY 16
They all freak out over pizza. At this point it is more of a show about pizza than it is about Survivor.
DAVE: If I could eat one thing for the rest of the time here, this would be it.
Jesus. I think Matt might name his first child Pizza too. Chisholm will name his dog Pepperoni as well.
Adam lets out an enormous belch. Keep it classy, buddy.
On that note, we switch.
KHANGKHAW
DAY 16
TESS: Who wants pizza? This is better than pizza.
JT brings out Tree Mail for the Outpost. Maybe the Outpost will have pizza. Tara is gonna go to Outpost.
CHANI
DAY 16
Arun rigs the sticks for Outpost with Renee and Dave. Renee wins the stick pull by “chance”. Josh is suspicious.
OUTPOST
DAY 16
It’s a memory challenge today. Chisholm will show them a series of colours then they have to repeat it back to him one at a time.
CHISHOLM: The reward is a doozy; you get to ransack two items from the opposition’s camp.
If only the pizzas were still around.
ROUND 1
LIME GREEN
WHITE
ORANGE
Both survive the first round.
Round 2 has four colours. They survive. Round 3 has five colours. They survive again. Round 4 has six colours. They survive once more. Round 5 has seven colours. Round 6 has eight colours. Round 7 has nine colours. We get to a point where Renee guesses blue. Tara has lime green.
CHISHOLM: You think you’re right?
TARA: I think I’m wrong.
CHISHOLM: You’re right. . .about that.
Ah, Trolling Chisholm.
Renee has complete control over the raid. It’s all on her. She is going to raid ’em right now.
KHANGKHAW
DAY 16
Tess sees Tara in tears on the boat as Renee is with her. Khangkhaw knows it can’t be good.
Tara reveals the reward. Lisa, Brad, and Tess are relieved because they thought it was a tribe swap.
TESS: Don’t worry! It’s good news!
Yeah, Tess strikes me as a minimalist.
Renee steals the tarp and coffee.
CHANI
DAY 16
Renee gets to be the biggest hero in all of New Zealand. There is even a wolf pack cheer. Dylan loves that he has a tarp and they don’t.
ARUN: This feels like a mattress!
Yes, the tarp is a mattress. It’s probably better if it’s over your head.
ADAM: If it’s Dylan, I’m just too excited. I’m so excited I can’t hold it in.
Yes, Adam will piss himself as he casts his vote. I wouldn’t want to open that urn.
ADAM: Dylan has nothing on me; Dylan’s social game is nothing. He’s got nothing on mine. Please. Dylan can’t socialize. . .with this stick I’m holding. If I say he’s gone, he’s gone.
JOSH: He’s goneburger.
Goneburger? The hell is that? Is it better than Pizza Hut?
Josh was told by Brad that Eve played an idol. He relays this info to Adam who reacts in an exceedingly douchey manner.
Josh talks to Dave about what happens if Dylan plays an idol, and wants to use Renee as a backup plan for a vote.
DAVE: I don’t think we have to.
Or want to. . .or ever would in this scenario.
Dave is amazed by how naive Josh and his high school BFF are.
Renee, Arun, and Dave chat about this in the shelter.
RENEE: Adam is just thinking “I hate Dylan, I want him gone.” They’re not thinking “F–k, we need him”.
Renee, Arun, and Dave draw the conclusion I assume they would: Throw the immunity challenge to eliminate a Khangkhaw member.
ARUN: The game is starting.
Something tells me this will be the pattern all the way to merge.
TRIBAL IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #6
CHISHOLM: Does anybody want to say to Khangkhaw how good that pizza was?
ADAM: Sorry. It was the best thing I ever had.
What about if there was a watermelon-flavored pizza crust?
CHISHOLM: Once again immunity is back. . .on . . .the table.
Using six ropes, tribes will work together to balance a disc. One by one they’ll place a block on that disc as they walk across a balance beam. The stacked blocks should spell IMMUNITY. First tribe to spell it wins immunity.
Let’s see if they break this challenge as quickly as they did in Survivor 35 and 36.
Adam is sitting out as he reclines on a chair.
Survivors ready. . .Go!
Tess has the fourth block but topples it before she can move it.
Arun coaches Dave and Dylan. Renee intentionally places the blocks unevenly. Dave pulls it really tight. It topples.
Eve directs Dave to put the block under his arm and how to walk. Oh well. It tips once more.
Chani and Khangkhaw repeatedly tip over. Eve has the final block and returns to the starting position.
KHANGKHAW WINS IMMUNITY (BUT IN A WAY ALSO DOESN’T!)
Matt is gutted, mate. Old Mate Idol goes home with Eve.
Dave hates throwing immunity challenges, but it’s for the greater good, mate.
CHANI
DAY 17
JOSH: So close but I don’t know what it is.
It was like a game of Wie is de Mol was at work. Dave apologizes to the whole tribe for messing up with the rope and with placing the final block before it tipped over.
Josh observed that multiple players had no coordination.
JOSH: Dave’s muscles are just for looks. . .the vote is against Dylan cause he’s a dangerous player and no one trusts him.
Matt and Josh are at the water well with Dylan. Dylan proposes they stay true to Khangkhaw and vote against Arun. Matt and Josh instantly agree (or snap-call as Domenick from Ghost Island would say).
Adam wishes to stick with his Khangkhaw Boys but is sketched out if old Chani will vote against Dylan. He hopes Old Chani’s insecurities will oust Dylan.
ARUN: We’re gonna use Dylan and take down a big fella like Josh.
DAVE: Dylan has a little bit of power, but not really cause I know he has nobody on the other side.
Adam and Renee are laughing about eliminating Dylan. Josh pulls Arun aside to solidify the Outpost alliance and tells Arun that Dylan is targeting him.
Arun trusts Old Khangkhaw want him in the merge, but knows he’d be out as soon as the alliance has to eat each other. We even get an Outpost flashback to their alliance being formed.
Shortly before Tribal Council, Arun and Dylan both want Matt to go out. Dave tries his damnedest to deflect the vote. He is stressed by how much they want Matt to be eliminated.
Dave, Arun, and Renee second-guess themselves. If they vote out Dylan then they’ll have targets on their backs. Renee is the one who knocks sense into them to eliminate Josh because Dylan is too desperate and will have no one they can flip back to.
ARUN: They kill us now or they kill us later.
Survivor is like a horror film. As I recall it’s a horror film.
Matt pulls Dylan aside.
MATT: Did they try to chat you?
No, Old Chani is just going along with whatever the hell The Tight Five told them to do tonight. They give less of a f–k about Dylan than you do.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #6
(YOS)-(KARLA)-(FRANKY)-(KAYSHA)-(LIAM)
X
(ARUN)-(DAVE)-(DYLAN)-(JOSH)-(JT)-(JOSH)-(RENEE)
MATT: I was really gutted we lost today.
CHISHOLM: Do you really think the whole tribe gave it 100 percent today?
DYLAN: I’m confident we did. Today just wasn’t our challenge today.
RENEE: Who wants to go to Tribal Council? No one.
Chisholm knows who threw it but everybody is holding their cards close.
Josh believes what he has heard.
Dylan says he is feeling safer than his previous trip to TC.
Tribal lines are discussed as well as trust. The trust shall be tested tonight.
Chisholm wants somebody to plead for their case with 250k up for grabs.
CHISHOLM: All I hear is silence. . .all I hear is a massive blindside. Nobody has anything else to say? Amazing.
MATT: The vote will do the talking.
It’s time to vote.
JOSH votes RENEE.
ADAM votes DYLAN and laughs as he casts his vote.
Matt and Dylan both close their eyes in unison when Chisholm asks for any hidden immunity idols. I don’t know why.
FIRST VOTE: DYLAN
SECOND VOTE: DYLAN
THIRD VOTE: Renee
FOURTH VOTE: JOSH
FIFTH VOTE: Josh
Matt’s jaw drops. Josh is twitching a bit.
SIXTH VOTE: JOSH
Matt can’t close his jaw.
FINAL VOTE: Josh
MATT: Wow.
Josh silently brings his torch to Chisholm. The Michael Jefferson Clone is gone.
Next Time on Survivor NZ: Trust is tested. An unexpected Survivor New Zealand first and a shock shakes up Khangkhaw.
Hmmmmmmmmmm. What the hell is gonna happen?
JOSH: This was the most deceptive behavior I have seen in my life. . .it’s tough to take.
Chani slowly rallying against Khangkhaw in the battle of wits as I thought they would.
***
Arun, Dave, and Renee have a very smooth operation going. These three should try working together to the end. All have different perspectives but as a unit can be very deceptive and trick all of their enemies. I feel bad for JT since he is sequestered alone with Eve on Khangkhaw, and may underestimate this dynamic at a merge.
Speaking of JT and Eve, they are crossing their fingers that Khangkhaw doesn’t retaliate by throwing immunity next round. Chisholm may have to change the rules to “Winning tribe goes to TC” or both tribes will be keen to throw it.
If I was Josh, Matt, and Adam, I don’t know why I would be surprised that Old Chani merely snagged Dylan and voted one of my members out. That was such an obvious move when the advantage is currently 8-5, and Dylan is the only person who could ever flip. Even with the high school buddy connection, the best Matt could have done for Dave is just not make him the first target and vice versa.
It’s good to see Tess didn’t suffer any concussions this week.
My commentary is a bit thin this episode since the only ways I could watch this particular episode of Survivor NZ had really really crappy quality and would pause for thirty seconds at a time. It depressed me.
Eve is improving her swimming abilities. Good for her.
I love how whoever organizes a stick draw for the Outpost always tries to rig it and whoever is around them suspects the organizer of rigging it. As if Outpost didn’t draw enough suspicion.
I wonder if losing Josh will make Adam’s attitude change for the better or if it’s going to trigger him to be a complete a-hole to everyone around him.
I want pizza now.
We have two alliances of six currently in play. Adam and Matt are being held hostage on Chani while JT and Eve are being held hostage on Khangkhaw. All four are hoping to win challenges to get to the merge. I feel bad for whoever can’t dodge what will presumably be the last Tribal Council before a merge. That is going to be a terrible feeling to know you were -this- close to having your position in the game improve drastically.
Hopefully, a 6-5 merge doesn’t result in a 6-0 endgame. The tribal lines shouldn’t be -that- rigid once we hit merge. Hopefully.
Did I mention I want pizza?
***
I don’t think there was much Josh could do to avoid being eliminated. Adam doesn’t have a good social game and Matt has a secret alliance with Dave. Yeah, you were pretty much doomed the second you pulled that blue buff, mate. I am sure you were gutted.
P.S. Sala wonders if Chani made the right decision in voting Josh out.
