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Last Week: Deshawn and Danny wanted to throw the challenge, but Naseer threw too well. While JD lost a vote and then lost the vote.
39 26 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor Blog
Alright, let’s take a look at the tribes as they currently stand…
The Luvu Tribe (wearing blue)
- Danny, 33 – Former NFL Player
- Deshawn, 26 – Medical Student
- Erika, 31 – Communications Manager
- Heather, 52 – Stay-at-home Mother
- Naseer, 36 – Sales Manager
- Sydney, 25 – Law Student
The Ua Tribe (wearing green)
- Genie, 46 – Grocery Clerk
- Ricard, 31 – Flight Attendant
- Shan, 34 – Pastor
The Yase Tribe (wearing yellow)
- Evvie, 28 – PhD Student
- Liana, 20 – College Student
- Tiffany, 47 – Teacher
- Xander, 20 – App Developer
Broccoli and Such
Alright, buckle up because this is a lot for an opening segment…
The morning after the big JD blindside, Ua is all, “Can you believe we made it ten days?” I totally can, that didn’t use to be a huge accomplishment. Anywho, Genie swears her allegiance to Shan and Ricard.
Later on, Genie finds the Beware Advantage that went back into play when Brad was eliminated. She promptly runs to find Shan and Ricard (Shicard?) to tell them what’s up.
The trio decides that the best plan is to put it back and only retrieve it if the other tribes have clearly located their Beware Advantages. Sounds good.
Buuut…the second Genie goes off for a little swim, Shan is all “Yoink!” and takes it for herself.
“Hmm Hmm Hmmmm…Hmm Hmm Hmmmm.”
She also gives her extra vote to Ricard, because she won’t be able to vote as long as her broccoli cry goes unanswered.
Aaaand, in a stroke of genius, Ricard tells Genie that they should say the broccoli line anyways just to see if anyone responds.
She of course loves this idea.
“Hmm Hmm Hmmmm…Hmm Hmm Hmmmm.”
At Luvu Beach
We meet up with Sydney who’s doing quite a good job catching some fish. Apparently, she’s “a mermaid.” Figuratively, I’m assuming.
Meanwhile, Deshawn and Danny discuss throwing the challenge again. And now their concerns aren’t totally Erika-centric. They’re very worried that the men are getting picked off on both of the tribes. So, if a fella was voted off last night, they need to make their move.
They loop Naseer into this plan because apparently that dude is Ozzy Lusth and Joey “Amazing” Anglim rolled into one. Buuut…Naseer is against throwing challenges.
Naseer, they’re finally letting you into their clique. I’d be flexible.
At Yase Beach
Evvie is buddying up to Xander, but her real core alliance is with Tiffany and Liana. But, we already knew this. However, because she’s trying to stay close with Xander, it’s rubbing the rest of her alliance the wrong way.
She eventually convinces Xander to tell Tiffany and Liana about his idol (that they totally already know about). However, he’s only comfortable telling Tiffany.
He explains that he found the idol earlier that day, but when he shows her the note, she realizes that he’d already said the phrase that pays at two immunity challenges. So, clearly he’s lying about when he found it.
Oh Xander, you’re so pretty.
Reward and Immunity Challenge Time: The teams will go up and over a net ramp, release a key, use the key to free a machete, and use the machete to liberate a bunch of sandbags. The first two tribes to hit two targets with a slingshot will win immunity. Also, the first tribe will receive a big tarp while the second tribe will get a slightly smaller tarp. The losing tribe will go to Tribal and forfeit their flint.
Before things get underway, Shan says something about broccoli, Xander says something about butterflies, and NASEER says something about goats on AstroTurf!
It is on!
Quick Aside: The way the info was shared, all of Ua, Yase, and whoever Deshawn told on Luvu now knows where the idols are.
Another Quick Aside: How freaked out are Evvie, Tiffany, and Liana now that Xander has a functioning idol?
Sitting Out: Deshawn, Heather, and Erika for Luvu and Tiffany for Yase.
Result: Yase takes first, Luvu takes second, and Probst takes Ua’s flint.
Yet Another Quick Aside: Ricard had a very near miss with the slingshot. Kudos to him for not saying “Money” while it was in the air.
Before they’re sent on their merry way, Yase gets to send two people on a journey. One from Ua and the other from either Yase or Luvu. They choose Shan and Liana.
Quite a day Shan is having.
Shan and Liana’s Excellent Adventure
Shan is very excited to work with Liana, but they both appreciate that people might think they’d be drawn to each other. So, they agree to play it cool. And by cool I mean they give each other all the dirt about tribe dynamics and advantages. Like all the dirt.
And, Shan tells Liana that if she gets voted out, not to trust Ricard. Ouch…poor Shicard.
There’s also a touching moment where they bond over Shan telling Liana about her mother who recently passed away.
When it’s time to split up, Shan agrees to not risk her vote so Liana can have an advantage to work with.
Sure enough, they’re met with the same prisoner’s dilemma, however it’s not for an extra vote. Liana receives the “Knowledge Is Power” advantage. The way this works is; she can ask one player, one time if they have an advantage or an idol. If they have an advantage or an idol, they have to give it to her. If they don’t, then Liana’s advantage is gone.
Yikes…I mean…yikes. Especially now that the idols are so publicized. This advantage is more destructive than a Draw 10 card in Uno. Maybe the most powerful advantage we’ve seen since the Tyler Perry idol?
Pre-Tribal Politicking
Hilariously, both Genie and Ricard are pretending to target Shan when both of them are desperate to work with her. What a rockstar.
When Shan returns, she listens to pitches from both sides, but she decides that she wants her extra vote back from Ricard just in case. As you’d imagine, this sets off all kinds of alarms for Ricard and he ultimately doesn’t give it back to her.
And honestly, I can’t say that I blame him. She’s not going to use the vote tonight, so why would she need it so desperately?
Tribal Time
The pitch is pretty obvious as it’s the strategist vs. the loyal soldier. And weirdly, if Ricard wanted to blow things up, he knows where all of Shan’s bodies are buried especially regarding the Beware Advantage. But, that’d probably just encourage her to play her idol.
Voting Time: No votes are shown.
JPro tallies and returns, he asks if anyone wants to play an idol or an advantage and…nobody does. Alright, we’ve got one vote for Genie, one vote for Ricard, and the sixth person voted out of “Survivor 41” is…Genie.
Verdict: Welp…that was an entertaining route to a very obvious vote. But, can we please have less excessive advantage island and more tribe dynamics and reward challenges?
Power Ranking Results: Michele Fitzgerald had Genie in spot eleven. I had her in spot twelve. So, the current score is Team Fitzgerald 42, Team Holmes 44.
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Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @GordonHolmes