Previously on Survivor: The New Solana tribe won the immunity challenge. At Tribal Council, Alexis was voted the girl most likely to flip after the merge. She was sent home.
The New Aparri returns to their camp. Jeremiah calls them the Top Six. That makes Spencer happy, since he wants to go into the merge (whenever that happens) with a solid advantage in numbers. Kass is less optimistic than Spencer. She calls her tribe the “Alleged” Final Six. Anything can happen, she warns us.
The Alleged Final Six celebrate by holding a midnight strategy session, deciding to vote out Trish at the first opportunity.
The next day Sarah is still stinging because Alexis thought she might flip. It’s akin to calling her a liar, Sarah decides, and she needs to know that her tribe mates trust her. She shakes hands with Kass, thereby pledging to stick with them. Kass, however, isn’t completely buying Sarah’s handshake. All she has with Sarah right now is faith. Kass don’t work on faith. She likes hard evidence.
At the New Solana, Tony is having the time of his life. He loves all his tribe mates. Unfortunately for him, the Tree-Mail orders them to pack up their belongings. They’re moving to the Aparri campsite. LJ is smart enough to do the numbers — they have five to Aparri’s six. He’s worried. Tony runs and gets his hidden idol. He’s ready to use it to help any of his team mates.
The Tree-Mail at Aparri instructs them to clean up their camp. When the Solana folk arrive, Sarah likens it to meeting old school friends. Jefra is unhappy that Alexis is gone. They were close, and Jefra was hoping to swing her over to Solana. I guess Aparri was smart to get rid of her.
Along with Solana comes gifts from the production. A feast, new buffs, and a note: There is another idol hidden near the camp. An idol is special powers. That mystery is left unsolved for now.
They come up with the new tribe name. It is “Solarri,” created by joining “Solana” and “Aparri.” I guess nobody cares about “Luzon.”
The next day, Trish leads all the women in a yoga session. The men of Old Solana sit by the fire and being to conspire. They are trying to figure out who is in charge of the Old Aparri tribe. They figure that the Brains are the core alliance — but which one of the brains is the actual brain? Tony is hoping to get information from Sarah — his link to the tribe, due to their Cops-R-Us connection.
But, as we remember, Sarah figured out that her alliance with Tony is over. He’s started dating other castaways, and has moved in with a new family. He has to woo her back. He tries to sell her on an Aparri Four: Sarah, Tony, Trish, and Woo. But, he says, she must swear on her badge.
Sarah hedges. She says she wants to mull it over. Really, she wants to revel in her power as the swing vote. Tony leaves her with this thought: He wants to break up the Brains, but he doesn’t care who goes. She can decide that.
Sarah then talks to Kass and Jeremiah. They are worried about idols. Sarah swears that Tony doesn’t have one, but they aren’t so sure. Jeremiah is also pretty sure that LJ has one. Therefore, Kass thinks the best target is Trish. Sarah, however, wants to vote out Woo.
This disagreement makes Kass suspicious of Sarah’s loyalty. Sarah isn’t working for the Final Six. She’s putting herself first, and throwing her weight around. Sarah gets upset that Kass is holding out for Trish and calls her a bully.
In the morning, they are still arguing. A fact which does not get past Trish. She’s delighted to see this crack in the Old Aparri tribe. Tasha tries to mediate between Sarah and Kass, reminding them that they have to stick together. She points out to Sarah that she is sitting in the pivotal spot.
“I know,” Sarah says. “This is going to decide the fate of five people in the game.”
“No,” Tasha points out. “It’s going to decide your fate.”
All this mediation and reasoned argument only makes Kass suspicious of Tasha. She thinks Tasha is siding with Sarah, and, ipso facto, is not for Kass any more.
The Immunity Challenge takes place. It’s the first individual immunity. The players have to balance on a floating wooden pyramid, with two foothold slats, and one tiny slat at the top. For fifteen minutes, they must balance on the first slat. Only their feet can touch the platform. Everyone lasts fifteen minutes, then they all move up to the higher slat.
All the players survive the second level for fifteen minutes. Now they must balance on the very top slat. It looks to be maybe four inches wide. Suddenly, everyone is falling right and left into the water. Spencer is first, followed by Kass, LJ, Sarah, Jefra, Tasha, and Trish. Morgan is the next to go, leaving Woo and Tony to fight.
Tony is surprisingly good at this, but Woo has martial arts training and some kind of surfer socks. He manages to outlast Tony by a few seconds. Jeff puts the Immunity Necklace (a beautiful delicate thing that looks to be made of carved sandalwood) around Woo’s neck.
Afterwards, the Final Six hold a meeting in the water. Spencer thinks Jefra should be their target. Sarah thinks LJ or Tony is a better choice, since they are the biggest threats.
From the beach, the Top Five (or Old Solana, or is it MIddle-Aged Solana? Let’s call it Tony’s Crew) watch. They think Sarah is calling the shots. Tony decides he can win Sarah back by putting her on a pedestal. Trish, on the other hand, has a more devious plan. She wants to try and swing Kass.
Tony pulls Sarah aside and promises her the final three spot. It will be her, Trish, and Tony. He points out that she has nobody on the other tribe. Again, Sarah wants to mull things over. (Privately, she realizes that Tony is the biggest threat in the game.)
Tony decides to bring his idol to council. The last thing he wants to do is to go home with the idol in his pocket.
Meanwhile, Trish is whispering through the side of her mouth to Kass. “Tell me who you would vote for,” she asks. Kass whispers back, “Sarah.” Trish takes that little nugget back to Tony’s Crew. Kass interviews that she’s now in the driver’s seat and that she enjoys the chaos. She calls herself Chaos Kass.
At Tribal Council, LJ admits that he feels like he’s in the hot seat. He says it’s flattering that people want to vote him out. Tasha says she’s looking to take out the biggest threats, and that LJ should be worried.
Tony tells Jeff that old alliances are shifting. He think people should go with the people they like, rather than sticking to old tribes. Kass notes that, if she were a big strong male on the minority team, she would definitely be concerned.
Jeff asks about the hidden immunity idols. LJ, pretending that he doesn’t have an idol, says he thinks the idols are just a joke being played on them by the producers. Tony can’t stand it any more, so he declares that he has one. He pulls it out and puts it around his neck. “Look at their faces!” he crows, proud of his moment.
Jeff calls for the vote. When he asks if anyone wants to play a hidden immunity idol, Tony walks over and asks Jeff to validate his. Jeff does…. and Tony gives it to his big friend, LJ! Jaws gape.
LJ then pulls out his hidden immunity idol and gives it to Tony — to cover his ass. This is so alpha male of them. It’s like a cop buddy movie!
The votes are read. The first one is for Sarah. So, Tony’s Crew is following Kass’s lead. The next vote is for… Jefra! Ha! The idols were flushed out! The question now is whether Kass voted with her alliance, or flipped over to Tony’s Crew.
The final vote is for Sarah. #chaoskass!
“Kass…” Spender sighs, disappointed. Kass is triumphant, though. I suspect she has some plan — other than just jumping ship. I hope so, anyway. It’s not a terrible idea to get rid of a swing voter. And Jefra is so grateful that she’d probably do anything Kass wants for the rest of the game.
But if all Kass is doing is jumping to Tony’s Crew, she’s in for a rude awakening. That strategy rarely works out.
Sarah seems more amused than anything by her elimination. The next week madcap hijinks as the players scrabble to find the mysterious new Idol of Special Powers!
What do you think the special powers will be? Did Kass make a dumb move, or a brilliant one? Who the hell is Jefra, anyway? Answer in the comments!
