Survivor 21.09 “Running the Camp” Recap

Did you miss The Merge last week? Catch up with my recap here.

“Running the Camp” begins with Libertad returning to their camp after Alina’s dismissal. As Fabio collects everyone’s torches, NaOnka tells the camera that Tribal Council really shook things up. She thinks Marty went too hard at Jane, but that Jane was great at taking it. Unsurprisingly, NaOnka wouldn’t have taken such an onslaught as well. Chase whispers to Brenda that what Marty said about him aligning with Jane was B.S., and he apologizes to Jane for the way she was treated. Jane confesses that “Mr. Farty,” as she is now calling Marty, is square in her cross-hairs. She knows he can’t beat her mentally and probably can’t physically, so Marty needs to watch out.

On the morning of Day 23, Sash and Marty go for water. Marty asks who voted for him besides Alina, figuring it was Chase. Sash tells him that it was Holly. Marty is satisfied that Chase has at least half a brain. Marty doesn’t think much of his competitors, confiding that he hates playing the game with stupid people. He does know, however, that he has a target on his back, so he needs to come up with a plan. He seeks out Benry and Dan, and tells them that they should spend the time before the next Tribal Council saying that they are voting for NaOnka. This will drive her crazy, and flush out the Hidden Immunity Idol. Then, they can vote for Jane, which would isolate Chase, if they can keep Brenda in the fold. Jane observes (but doesn’t hear) this little pow-wow, and tells the camera that Marty is scrambling everywhere and poisoning their minds. She needs to get rid of Marty immediately. This will have to wait, as it is time for the…

…Reward Challenge. The tribe will be randomly divided into two teams. The teams will then negotiate an obstacle course, collecting three keys along the way. At the end of the course are three locks. When the locks are opened, the team’s flag will arise. First team to raise their flag wins a reward of zip lining and a barbecue. The teams happen to result in men versus women. Chase went unselected, so he will not participate. He will, however, choose one of the teams to win the challenge. If that team does win, he will go on the reward trip with them. Chase chooses the women, and the teams get ready at the start. Survivors ready…go!

The teams crash through large pails of hay, and the women first get Jane up to the key hanging overhead. She frees the first key just as Fabio does the same for the men. The teams are neck and neck as they crawl under a rope obstacle and then try to break through a barricade of sticks. The men break the sticks easily, but it requires Brenda to jump on top of the sticks to crush them. This gives the men the opportunity to jump to a lead by quickly grabbing their second key and moving on to the cargo nets. Jane has problems climbing onto Holly’s back, but Dan has issues negotiating the winding cargo nets. Jane eventually grabs the women’s second key, but the men have completed the cargo nets. Jeff vociferously encourages the women to keep at it as the men have a bit of trouble grabbing the third key. They eventually do secure it, and move onto smashing through two brick walls. Jane lies face-down in the mud, completely exhausted, after the women scurry through the cargo nets, so NaOnka is lifted to get the third key. The men unlock the first two locks as the women try, in vain to smash through the brick walls. The men open the third lock, and release their flag. The Men (except Chase) win Reward!

Purple Kelly begins to cry because she is so hungry, but she comments that it says a lot about Chase that he chose the women. Jeff asks the men if any of them wants to give up his Reward to one of the women, but Marty answers in the negative for the group. The men leave for their Reward, and the women and Chase are sent back to camp.

The men go on their Reward, which consists of numerous close-ups of them individually zip-lining through the jungle. It is not a surprise that Fabio is thoroughly enjoying himself, while Dan is unimpressed. For the first time in a while, Marty is able to forget the game and just be free. He then takes advantage of their feasting on barbecued foods to lay out his plan: everyone talks about voting for NaOnka to flush out her HII, but all vote for Jane to oust her and isolate Chase. It will be important that Sash reassure Brenda that she is safe and should vote with them. Marty just can’t understand why Brenda would throw her lot in with those “cooky” people. Sash confesses that he understands the logic behind Marty’s plan, but he and Brenda are the two brightest minds in the game, so they will decide who will be sent home.

Back at camp, Brenda confides to the camera that Chase is dumb for not choosing the men. The women all say that they want Marty out. Holly tells Chase that Dan and Marty are close, so they will need to get Sash and Brenda on their side to vote out Marty. Chase says that he is just going to have to trust Brenda, as he has in the past, and which NaOnka confirms. Chase tells NaOnka that he and Brenda don’t speak as much as they used to, but NaOnka tells him not to worry, and certainly not to go bother Brenda about how she is going to vote. Of course, Chase then goes immediately to bother Brenda about her vote. Brenda is noncommittal, and tells the camera later that Chase is a worry wart, a little baby who constantly cries, “whaaa whaaa whaaa.” Chase is too paranoid, so much so that NaOnka considers swapping him out of her alliance in favor of someone less annoying.

The next morning (Day 24), Marty receives Tree Mail, which tells the tribe that they will need strength of memory. Jane hopes that the gods they all pray to will keep the “good” in the game, and triumph over evil, a group consisting solely of Marty. Jane knows that she has a target on her back after Marty’s “slander” during the last Tribal Council. She knows the vote will come down to her and Marty, so it is imperative that Marty not win at the…

…Immunity Challenge. There will only be one immunity up for grabs. The players will stand at individual podia while Jeff reads out a sequence of symbols. The players will then repeat that sequence back using a cube with the corresponding symbols on it. The last player left will win Immunity. Jeff reads out the first sequence: ship, musket, anchor, ship’s wheel, musket, ship. Each player successfully shows the ship for the first two symbols, but Jane and NaOnka miss the anchor, and are excused from the Challenge. Dan goes out on the wheel, and is followed by Holly, Sash and Purple Kelly on the musket. The remaining players all show the ship for the final symbol in Round One.

The second sequence is: musket, ship, coins, anchor, dagger, musket, wheel. Everyone gets the musket, but Fabio goes out on the ship. Chase misses the coins, leaving Benry, Marty and Brenda. Benry misses the anchor, leading Jeff to remark that the remaining players are not the best of friends. Marty says that Jeff’s statement is not true, to which Jeff replies that it is based on what he has seen, while winking at Marty. They continue, and Marty and Brenda both get the dagger. When Jeff calls for the next symbol, Brenda immediately flips her cube to the musket, but Marty has trouble. He eventually settles on the wheel, leading Brenda to beam. Jeff asks if she thinks she is right. She answers that she knows she is, and Jeff confirms her confidence. Brenda wins Immunity!

After the Challenge, Fabio asks Benry if he thinks Marty’s plan will work. Benry figures that the sooner they get Jane out the better, so they should just play dumb and follow along. “But I hate playing dumb!” Fabio exclaims. He then confides to the camera that he does like the strategy he is utilizing: “playing it cool, laying low.” Marty approaches Chase and asks if he is going to vote with his head or heart. Chase responds that he is going to vote however he is told to vote, so Marty tells him to vote for NaOnka. For her part, NaOnka is always nervous going into a Tribal Council, but she’s from South Central L.A., so she has intuition as to whether or not she is going home. Chase then runs to Holly to tell her what Marty said, but he thinks that what Marty and the guys are really going to do is say they’re voting for NaOnka, but then vote for Jane. He reassures Holly, however, that he will be voting for Marty.

Marty approaches Brenda and tells her that Sash came up with the plan to flush NaOnka’s HII and then vote out Jane. Brenda agrees with Marty’s plan, but once he leaves, she tells the camera that she and Sash are “running the camp.” She finds her partner and asks what his plan is. Sash says that his plan is whatever Brenda’s plan is (Jizzie Crizzie! Will no one be a leader?!?). Brenda says that she doesn’t like Jane’s group (Jane, Chase, Holly and NaOnka) making demands of her and Sash. Sash thinks he wants to keep Marty around for a few more days because he’s a good cook and always runs to them with any information he has. Brenda recognizes that she and Sash are the swing votes, so it is truly up to them who goes home at the…

…Tribal Council. Alina, looking very nice now all clean (did she get hair extensions at the Ponderosa??), enters and sits in the Jury Box. Jeff mentions that by sheer fate, the Reward Challenge ended up with men versus women in a challenge that relied on a lot of physical strength. The women put up a great effort but came up short. Jane said that it all came down to the fact that they ran into the sticks barrier and just bounced off. Jeff asks Sash if the Reward was a chance to bond with the other guys, and he confirms that it was. It gave them time to strategize, but as Fabio notes, the women had the same opportunity to strategize.

Marty repeats his statement from last Tribal Council that Jane is a threat, but his saying this is actually a compliment. Jeff asks Brenda if she agrees with Marty, and she says that it is true Jane is a threat. Who would someone rather go up against in the Finals: NaOnka the troublemaker or the well-liked Jane? The answer is clear. After Jane confirms that she has a target back, Jeff asks NaOnka if stealing the tribe’s food hurt her at all. She replies that the incident is still talked about because she was stupid enough to do it in the first place. Marty chimes in, saying that her food theft is not trivial. Yes, the tribe may have had other priorities in the last vote, but they all remember what NaOnka did.

NaOnka responds, saying that she’s actually a good samaritan. Further, everything about Marty sucks, including his hair and his walk(?!?). NaOnka continues, bouncing her shoulders up and down, saying that she’s trying to scare Marty, but Marty (like most of the audience at home) has no idea what she’s talking about. She goes on, saying that she has nothing to prove to Marty. The two of them go back and forth at each other for a while, with NaOnka’s speech becoming crazier and crazier. She sounds so nuts, that Fabio starts laughing, saying that he is sick of her nonsense. “This is just who I am,” NaOnka replies. Jeff is utterly speechless. He notices that she keeps going off at Tribal Council, yet she’s still there. Jeff realizes that NaOnka is going to make the Final Three because every other player wants to go up against her. In response, NaOnka can only repeat, “This is who I am.”

It’s time to vote. Jane votes for Marty, saying that Marty is a disgrace for calling himself a “father.” In fact, she wouldn’t let her kids or grandchildren play with his children. Unsurprisingly, Marty votes for Jane. As Marty walks back to his seat, NaOnka flips him off. Jeff gathers the votes, and asks if anyone wants to play an HII. NaOnka does not stir, which bothers Marty. Jeff reads the votes. The fist vote is for Jane, and the second is for Marty. Votes three, four and five are for Jane. Votes six, seven and eight are for Marty. The ninth vote is for Marty. “The tenth person voted out of Survivor Nicaragua and the second member of our Jury…Marty!” Marty brings forward his torch, and as Jeff snuffs it, Marty wishes them all “Good Luck.” With that, he marches off into the Blue Light of Death. Jeff remarks that it is clear the tribe is no longer making decisions as a group, so the game will now get very complicated. Libertad grabs their torches and heads back to camp.

Next time on…Survivor!!

On the next episode, Benry and Holly are shown looking down and exclaiming things like, “Oh my God” and “Words can’t explain….” Benry sums up the mood with, “This is the day from Hell.” Since these shots are of them at camp, I will assume a storm, fire or monkeys destroy their camp and all of their food. I hope there is copious amounts of footage showing monkeys taking their things (preferably NaOnka’s socks) and eating their food. Monkeys are the best. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if winds caused the untended fire to spread and destroy their camp. That would be the first time a fire destroyed the players’ camp, so finally this season would make some Survivor history.

As far as what we’ll see now that Marty is gone, I think a true power struggle will finally commence. With no consensus villain remaining in the game, the players will be forced to start cannibalizing each other. Brenda and Sash think they are in charge, and for the time being at least, I would have to concur. I would look for Brenda to get herself into a position to make a move against Sash and really grab hold of the tribe dynamic.

Odds to Win

Well, they finally got rid of Marty, though I am curious as to why he never asked Sash for the HII back. Did Marty really think he was going to be safe that night? Any time you are certain to get even one vote, you have to figure you are in danger of going home. Why not at least try to make Sash give the HII back? At least Marty was playing the game. I usually have little patience for players that think themselves the end all and be all of Survivor players, but Marty was correct that he was the only one trying to do something in the game. Sash likes to think that he is some sort of mastermind, but he’s just riding Brenda’s coattails at this point. Look at how quickly he deferred to how Brenda wanted to vote! Anyway, not that the tribe’s main target is gone, who will be the focus of the vote? NaOnka is the logical choice, but I think Jeff is on to something: people are going to want to go against her in the Final Three because she is so obnoxious. She’s likely to stick around then. So will it be Fabio? Jane? Sash?? I can’t wait to find out. In the meanwhile, let’s take a look at the Odds.

Brenda: 2-1. There is no reason to remove Brenda from the top spot. She correctly realizes that she and Sash are the current swing votes between two mini-alliances, which she can use to her advantage. Further, she recognizes Chase straying to Jane and Jane’s potential to win the game. I’m not sure she has caught on to Sash, yet, but I don’t think that realization is far off. Throw in an Individual Immunity Challenge win, and Brenda is playing a perfect game so far. I have no reason to think she will falter now.

Sash: 9-2. Sash is a little too cocky for his own good, but, like Brenda, he is in a position of power and seems to know how to wield that power. Moreover, he has an HII and is unlikely to be blindsided because of it. His only concern should be whether he can get to Brenda before she can get to him.

Chase: 12-1. I thought long and hard about who would be in position three, and I have to leave Chase there. This is not because he has done anything spectacular, but once Brenda and Sash oust Jane (which I think is only one or two episodes away), Chase will scurry back to Brenda immediately. Absent a number of Immunity wins, I believe it will be easy to brand Chase an unworthy floater who doesn’t deserve any votes.

Purple Kelly (Kelly S.): 30-1. I had to make Purple Kelly jump up this high because she will likely make it to the Final Three. If she makes it with Brenda and Sash, she has a chance to win because the Jury might be so pissed at the other two that they will give her their votes. Then again, I think Brenda is smart enough to realize this and keep her from the Finals, but if she makes it there, the possibility of a win does exist.

Fabio (Jud): 32-1. It is going to take a string of Individual Immunity wins for Fabio to get to the Final Three, but if he does, those Challenge wins will provide a great argument for him to win. With his vote against Jane, Fabio is now in the wrong side of the tribe, but I don’t believe he is anyone’s target at the moment. This should give Fabio the chance to win those Immunity Challenges. Outside of Brenda, I think I’m rooting for Fabio to win, mostly because he realizes he is playing himself off as stupid, and hates himself for doing it.

NaOnka: 40-1. NaOnka is still a ticking time bomb waiting to go off at any moment (maybe she sets fire to the camp?!?), but I think Jeff may be right: these players are that cynical (see Dan below) they may just take her all the way to the Final Three. If she does make it that far, she has better chance than Purple Kelly to win votes as she has actually contributed to Challenge wins and found one of the HII’s. She will probably self-destruct long before that time, but Brenda and Sash might already be placing NaOnka next to them in the Finals.

Holly: 55-1. I’m moving Holly up mostly because she seems to be a forgotten player, meaning she is now sliding under the radar. This is a bit unbelievable after her first very difficult weeks at the beginning of the game, but Holly has persevered, and is in a stronger position because of it. She finds herself on the majority alliance with Marty gone, and like Fabio, is not of immediate concern to anyone. She might be able to win a few Jury votes if she makes it to the end, so look for Sash and Brenda to cut her at about the Top Six.

Benry: 70-1. Benry is on the wrong side of the tribe now, but thinks himself to be an incredible strategist. He’s exactly the type of player who thinks he’s in control right up to the point where he is on the down side of a unanimous Tribal Council vote. Unlike Sash’s cockiness, Benry’s is unfounded because he actually has no power in the game. I bet either he or Jane will be the next to go.

Jane: 79-1. She accomplished her goal in ousting Marty, but the way the Survivor Gods work, she will likely be the next one voted out so she will have to spend maximum time with Marty at the Ponderosa. Brenda and Sash know exactly how deadly Jane would be in the Final Three, and also know that she can win Immunity Challenges, so they will cut her as soon as possible. They can vote out Jane and still remain in the majority alliance, so I fear Jane isn’t long for the game.

Dan: 750-1. I think Dan now has a chance to make it to the end, which will make me sick because his arrival in the Final Three will be one of the most cynical Survivor games ever played. His entire existence is attributed to the fact other players wanted to use him as a vote and someone easy to beat from the first day of the game. Dan cannot walk. Think about that. He’s completely useless in challenges, yet there he is, one of the final ten players. Unbelieveable.

OK folks, that’s what I’ve got for this week. What did you think of the episode? Are you happy to see Marty go? What did you think of the challenges? (Personally, I thought they were pretty good. That obstacle course was maybe the best of the season so far.) Would you take NaOnka to the Final Three at this point? Please leave your questions, comments and theories below. I’ll be back next week with another recap. Until then, I’m off to take something behind the woodshed and whup its ass.

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