If you need to catch up on Survivor: Redemption Island, read last week’s recap here.
The episode begins on Night 13 at Redemption Island. Krista wakes up Matt. She confesses that she is excited to meet him because he has such a positive attitude. They both think that God put them there on RI. Though they share a common faith, Krista is going to give Matt a run for his money. For his part, Matt realizes she’s a firecracker and means business.
The next morning at Zapatera, Steve finds it surprising that he received votes at the last Tribal Council. Stephanie tells him that the vote was nothing personal, but she just doesn’t think he’s a strong competitor. She confides to the camera that it is going to be hard to suck it up and be nice to these punks, but she has to do it to stay alive. Steve confesses though he thought he was giving it his all, he’s going to have to dig deeper. He tells Stephanie that it was another bad move she made voting for him. Steve continues in his confessional, saying that Stephanie is tying a rope around her neck. If they go back to Tribal Council, she’s out.
Over at Ometepe, Ashley and Natalie want another beach and spa day. This is evidently consists of them pulling out their armpit hair. Meanwhile, Phillip checks on the fire every 20 minutes. Ashely and Natalie’s lack of work really annoys Phillip. He requests that the girls check on the fire, but they completely dismiss him, saying he was dictating to them. Phillip tells the camera that if he goes to RI before the girls, there is something wrong with the game. It’s like he’s their red-headed stepchild. He concludes by saying that the girls need to go. The pageant is over.
Tree Mail arrives at RI with Krista’s luxury item: a Bible. The pair pray about the Duel. Matt says they’ve been struggling because they don’t have a faith community around them, and as a result, he has anxiety that this could be his last day. The pair head to the Arena where Andrea and Natalie for Ometepe, and Julie and Mike for Zapatera meet them. For this Duel, the pair will throw a grappling hook to grab three bags with a ball inside. Once they have snagged all three bags, they must use one ball and roll it through a table maze. The players take positions on their platforms and Jeff starts the Duel. Krista gets her first bag on her first throw, while Matt gets his first bag on his second throw. The two alternate grabbing bags, with Krista going three-for-three throws, and Matt three-for-four. Krista takes a lead in the maze, which extends when Matt has to start over after his ball drops through a hole in the maze. Krista gets by a tough part in the maze, as does Matt. Matt catches up, and the two are neck and neck. Matt takes the lead. Krista drops her ball, giving Matt the opportunity to complete the maze. “Matt stays alive!” announces Jeff.
Jeff asks Krista how she feels. She replies that she is emotional because her game is now over. Krista asks Jeff if she can give Matt something. Jeff obliges, and she hands Matt her Bible. Krista explains that he’s a strong believer and it may be a reason he’s doing so well. She drops her buff in the fire as she leaves the Arena. In her final confession, Krista says that it was God’s will that she’s done. Clearly moved by Krista’s gesture, Matt says the Bible breathes life into him. Jeff says Matt’s seized the moment again. Andrea confides that her image of Matt changed because he bonded so quickly with Krista, when she thought she and Matt had formed a tight bond. Due to his prowess and likability, he’s dangerous.
Zapatera, Day 15. Sarita’s tooth is bothering her, and is possibly infected. Julie thinks Sarita is a drama queen-princess. Ralph says she’s dumb for cleaning her teeth with a dirty stick. David tells Stephanie that she needs to figure out a way to oust Sarita because if he is left without the other five, he’ll kill himself. Stephanie is going sit and think about how to suck up to people she hates.
At Ometepe’s camp, Phillip says storm clouds are gathering so wood needs to be stockpiled. He’s frustrated with Natalie and Ashley. They’re not giving him one iota of credit for all of the work he’s doing. Rob asks Grant what could Phillip expect from 19 or 20-yr old girls. Phillip announces to the tribe that he’s taking the next day off. The guys and Andrea pull their weight, but Ashley and Natalie are useless. Ashley gets snippy and rather passive-aggressive. Ashley confesses that Phillip is mental and needs to be diagnosed. Rob decides that he needs to take Phillip aside so they can keep the team together. Rob doesn’t want the girls to work and create for themselves reasons for them to receive votes in the Final Tribal Council.
Back at Zapatera, Stephanie asks to talk to Steve, and apologizes for voting for him. Steve confides that either she’s trying to play the game or was sincere. He’s going to keep the door open with Stephanie. She continues with Steve and says she wants to vote for Sarita. Steve replies that Stephanie is indeed stronger all around than Sarita. Stephanie hopes that she will have an opportunity to show off her strength at the next…
…Immunity Challenge. Jeff asks Mike if there is any tension between the tribes. Mike responds that he thinks it’s going to be a good Challenge today. Phillip agrees, and that the gorilla and lion are ready for the fight! For the Challenge, two members of each tribe will use a catapult to launch balls toward other players. For each ball caught, from either catapult, the tribe scores a point. First tribe to five points wins Immunity and Reward: a picnic lunch atop a mountain overlooking a harbor. Sarita sits out without much deliberation.
Stephanie and David launch for Zapatera, while Natalie and Phillip launch for Ometepe. The catchers are paired: Grant v. Mike, Rob v. Steve, Julie v. Andrea, Ashley v. Ralph. “Survivors ready…Go!” Immediately, Natalie launches her first ball short, and right to Grant who catches it easily. Clearly acting out on a strategy likely designed by Rob who must have performed in this type of Challenge during one of his previous three seasons, Natalie shoots another right to Grant who catches it for Ometepe’s point number two. Mike tries to hold Grant back by grabbing his shirt on the third shot, but Natalie (Phillip never does anything more than cheering on his team) goes short again to Grant for number three. Ometepe is up 3-0, as Zapatera is utterly awful in trying to catch the balls launched by David and Stephanie. On the fourth shot, Mike is successful…in completely ripping off Grant’s shirt, but he does prevent Gran from catching the ball. Rob, however, grabs the ball launched by Zapatera, scoring a fourth point for Ometepe. The fifth launch leads to Rob and Grant just missing. The subsequent launch lands easily in Grant’s basket. Ometepe wins Immunity and Reward! On the way out, Steve says the decision of who goes home is vital because he needs a winning team. Will it be Sarita or Stephanie?
Ometepe enjoys their picnic at the foot of the second largest Jesus statue in the world. (Note: it was kind of weird to have the Survivors so near civilization, no?). Rob immediately spies the Hidden Immunity Idol clue, but he decides to let someone else find it. That someone else is Grant, who grabs it, pockets it, and makes an excuse for he and Rob to get up from the table to read it. They use the statue to hide their reading of the clue, but Phillip busts them. Rob tells him that all the clue says is that the HII is back at camp. Phillip confesses that he thinks he’s in a secret alliance with Rob and Grant called “Team Stealth” or something like that. He doesn’t appreciate their shadiness, though. They shouldn’t try to pull one over on him. He could dwell on the negativity of his “alliance” turning on him, but he’s just going to smile and kick a little ass when the time comes.
Over at Zapatera, the tribe returns from their loss at the Challenge. David confesses that Tribal Council will be interesting as Sarita is more like the Tribe Mom than a member of the tribe. Sarita recognizes that David and Stephanie are trying to get her out, but she’s not going to campaign for herself. Stephanie tells Julie that if the tribes will now be even, they can’t sit Sarita out. Julie replies that the guys like her, but Sarita is more trustworthy. Stephanie confesses that her tribe will lose every remaining Challenge if they vote her out. David pulls the guys over and says their only thought must be winning Challenges. Julie comes over and says Stephanie is stronger, but Sarita can be trusted. David fundamentally disagrees. Mike confides that Stephanie has more fight in her than Sarita, so he’s not opposed to keeping her around after…
…Tribal Council. Jeff asks David to take him back to the thrown Challenge. Is that a big regret now? David replies that obviously they are paying the price now. They could still have the momentum if they never threw that Challenge. “Ralph, you got destroyed in Challenge,” Jeff states. Ralph responds that if he was shooting, he could have done better. Jeff asks Sarita why she sat out. Sarita begins to answer, but Stephanie chimes in that Sarita was quaking in her boots when they found out the Challenge was going to be physical. Sarita responds that she didn’t want to be the reason they lost. Jeff pounces: Sarita was happy to sit out so she wouldn’t be the goat? David agrees. Sarita says she would have been good in the Challenge, but Stephanie calls BS. She’s never heard anyone complain as much as Sarita. Sarita heartily disagrees with such a characterization. Jeff asks Steve if any part of him thinks Stephanie’s spunk is worth keeping around? Yes, Steve answers, but Sarita is trustworthy. Steve continues that Sarita is a bit of an uptown girl that hasn’t adapted. David thinks he’s hearing negatives about Sarita. They shouldn’t be worried about trust right now, just winning.
With that, it is time to vote. Sarita votes for Stephanie and vice versa. David, too, votes for Sarita. Jeff grabs the ballots and begins to count them. The first vote is for Sarita, and the second is for Stephanie. Vote Three is for Sarita, and Vote Four is for Stephanie. Vote Five for Stephanie gives Stephanie an unwanted 3-2 lead. Jeff reads the final vote: “The sixth person voted out of Survivor: Redemption Island…Stephanie!” As Stephanie has her torch snuffed, David is beside himself with bewilderment. Jeff tells the tribe that they went with someone they could trust instead of someone strong in Challenges. They will find out soon enough if they made the right choice.
Next Time On…Survivor!
One of the difficult aspects of Survivor is the mental fatigue. This is made clear by quick cuts of many players complaining about others and freaking out.
As I said last week, this wasn’t one of the most dramatic or surprising episodes (except for maybe the utter dominance of Ometepe in the Immunity Challenge), but that’s fine — not every episode can be fantastic. Further, Matt’s Duel win was completely predictable, and so it came to pass. Next week, with Zapatera now needing to cannibalize their alliance if they go to Tribal Council, and Ometepe’s ongoing Phillip/Ashely problem, it should be a better episode than this week. And I’m going to make a prediction: Matt will lose the Duel to Stephanie next week. Five wins in a row just seems too difficult, even for Matt. Now, I certainly won’t be surprised if Matt wins again, but I think Stephanie is so determined to come back, that I think she might be able to pull it off. Of course, this all depends on what the actual Duel is, but look for Stephanie to eek out a win. (You can all laugh heartily at me when Matt wins next week. I give you permission.)
Odds to Win
Krista losing the Duel was not a surprise. Neither was Stephanie’s ouster once Zapatera lost the Challenge. So how do these and the continuing war between Phillip and Ashley effect the Odds? Let’s take a look:
Mike: 5-1. The continued losses by Zapatera are obviously not helping Mike’s chances. Regardless of how the tribes go into The Merge, I have to imagine Mike will be the first target of Rob and his alliance, especially after Mike ripped Grant’s shirt! Mike really needs numbers to protect him so Zapatera needs to move it into high gear next week.
Grant: 11-2. Every time Ometepe wins, Grant’s chances improve. that sounds obvious, but what I mean is that if he can go into The Merge even with Zapatera or with an advantage in numbers, Grant should make it to the end. Rob will be the first target of Zapatera and possibly Andrea. This keeps the spotlight off of Grant and gives him the opportunity to band together other possible alliances. The only question is whether Grant can thrive without Rob. Will he be unable to lead his own way through the game?
Julie: 8-1. Julie is playing a great game right now. She’s performing well in Challenges, and allowing herself to not get in the way in the social aspect of the game. Sticking with her alliance and voting out Stephanie was a smart move for Julie, if not for her tribe. If it’s possible, at this point in the game, players should do what they can to avoid rocking the boat. There will be plenty of time to stab your alliance in the back after The Merge.
Steve: 13-1. Zapatera is on a losing streak, which is bad. Steve is being called out for not performing well in Challenges, which is worse. Steve’s social skills (being ambivalent about whom to vote out and slamming Sarita while trying to “support” her) is the worst. I don’t think Steve will be the first target of Ometepe after The Merge, but if he doesn’t improve his attitude and game play, Steve isn’t long for this game.
Andrea: 16-1. If Ometepe can win at least one more Challenge, I think Andrea will be able to shoot up this Odds board. She seems to have weathered the initial distrust Rob had of her and Matt, and has proven herself a hard worker. Phillip and Ashley are likely bigger targets on her tribe at the moment. Further, if she does make The Merge, she will be the most important player in the game as she has a reason to turn on Ometepe, but also reasons to stay. My only concern for her, at this point, is that if Ometepe loses before The Merge, Rob might still try to target her because he knows he can manipulate the others.
Rob: 17-1. Rob is dominating this game in every way possible. He’s gotten his tribe back on even footing with Zapatera. He is able to calm all of the nerves on his tribe, and he has everyone on Ometepe eating out of his hand. Rob is playing a perfect game so far, and he’s holding an HII. If he can get to The Merge with a numerical advantage, Rob might be unstoppable.
Ralph: 20-1. I said it last week, and I have to say it again, “There was very little Ralph this episode.” This is a good thing for Ralph, especially after his rather braggadocios start to the season. The longer he can stay under the radar, the better. Plus he has an HII, as well. He just needs to continue to keep his attitude in check. And keep growing that beard, Ralph. It’s incredible.
Natalie: 30-1. My attitude toward Natalie is starting to change. Starting. I was totally wrong that she’s more annoying than Ashley, and she performed exceptionally during the Challenge. With Rob’s protection, Natalie is going to get far. She needs to make some affirmative move though to prove she deserves to win.
Ashley: 47-1. Ugh. Just ugh. Go away Ashley. Please. I know Phillip isn’t a great tribemate, but you’re playing a terrible social game now. Rob won’t be able to protect you forever.
Matt: 52-1. Another Duel, another win. I know above I predicted he would lose next week, but there really is no reason to think he won’t keep winning. If he makes it back into the game proper at The Merge with even numbered tribes, Matt will be in the cat-bird seat. I’ll be honest, I’m rooting for that situation because it will make great TV.
David: 65-1. It began last week, and continued this week. David started letting his ego get in the way of good game play. He just couldn’t sit still long enough to play smartly. This was the problem with him never watching a season of the show before going on. Now, he’s turned on his alliance and is left dangling in the wind. If Zapatera loses another Challenge, I still imagine Sarita will be the next to go, but his alliance must be suspicious of David now.
Stephanie: 80-1. She tried her best, but Stephanie sealed her fate when she signed on with Russell. If she wins the Duel next week, I won’t be surprised, but maybe three wins in a row? I’m not so sure. Plus, if she makes it back into the game, I don’t see her scheming ways playing very well with other players. I just don’t see Stephanie making it to the end.
Phillip: 400-1. Like Ashley, I see Phillip moving into the “take him to the end because he won’t garner any votes” category. But can Phillip really win? Really?
Sarita: 600-1. So sweet, but just not cut out for this game. She took herself out of the Challenge, and then didn’t have a good reason for so doing. Her whole tribe is wary of her lack of physical prowess, and she might have a tooth infection. I just don’t see how Sarita survives to The Merge, and I think she has no shot at winning an RI Duel.
Alright, that’s it for this week. Not a fantastic episode, but promising to be better next week. What did you think of the episode? Was Zapatera right for getting rid of Stephanie instead of Sarita? Was David smart for going out on a limb in trying to get rid of Sarita? Is there anything that can stop Rob? Please leave your questions, comments and theories below. I’ll be back next week with another recap. Until then, I’m off to play Arafat and make the peace.
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