Hello Survivor fans. It’s Wednesday which means another great Survivor episode. The season has been amazing since the merge and hopefully the action keeps going.
For last week’s polls almost 59% think Erik and Sherri will flip while on the other poll almost 63% loved seeing the scrambling after Malcolm and Eddie announced they had hidden idols. It was a great Survivor moment.
Come back later for the recap and as always discuss below.
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We open up back at camp with everyone celebrating the three amigos. Malcolm is hoping that this will cause the some fractures in the remaining alliance of six. Erik likes having options between sticking with his alliance and jumping to the three amigos.
The next morning Cochran is happy to have experienced the last tribal but Brenda is having a mini meltdown because of the uncertainty of what the three amigos can do combined with the lack of food. You almost want to ask her if she knows she is playing Survivor where things can change really quickly.
Back from commercial everyone is handed $500 for the classic Survivor Auction. I love the Survivor Auction because it shows how people will throw strategy out the window when presented with food or luxury. Take Malcolm who says that he has to consider not buying any food to save his money for an advantage in the tribal and then drops $20 bucks on some beers and pretzels.
Next we have a covered item that goes to Reynold for $180. He has the option to trade for one of two other items but decides to stick with what he but. He wins a slice of pizza but gave up the chance to trade for the rest of the pizza or a rotten cococut. As he is munching down Sherri volunteers to pay $500 for the rest of the pizza and Jeff sells it to her.
Next up is a roasted chicken which Dawn instantly drops $500 on. That is followed by Malcolm dropping the rest of his money on a secret to the game. It is directions to a hidden immunity idol and he only has 60 seconds to read the clue.
The next covered item Brenda bets $100 and Andrea outbids her with $200 which annoys Brenda. Erik outbids her but Andrea drops $280 on Spaghetti dinner with meatballs. She has the option of giving it up for more rice and beans for the tribe. This is the only choice she had since anything else would have effectively ended her game.
Next we have a clue for the next immunity challenge. Why people like Eddie or Reynold don’t immediately drop all their money on it I will never understand but Cochran wins it with $340. The note is sealed and cannot be opened until the next challenge.
Brenda drops $300 on a covered item which ends up being pig’s brain. She remembers she doesn’t eat pork and asks if pig’s brains are healthy for you which Jeff has no clue. She takes a bite anyways.
Next Jeff offers letters from home to anyone for $20. Everyone buys them except Dawn, Malcolm, and Sherri who have no money. The next covered item goes to Eddie for $200. There is a twist as it is a bowl of peanut butter and he can share it with the tribe for 60 seconds. Anything on their bodies can go back with them but what is in the bowl says.
Cochran gets to eat off Sherri’s fingers and when Jeff asks him how often that happens and Cochran answers “More often than you think.”
Back at camp the tribe starts reading their letters from home and the tears start flowing. Brenda has tripled her airtime all season in this episode alone. Cochran feels like an idiot for crying but everyone tells him that it is natural.
Reynold and Malcolm approach Sherri bout jumping ship and she is open to it since they are really strong. They want to target Cochran since if a strategic player goes it can totally turn around the game. Malcolm says he will work on Sherri while Reynold and Eddie work in flipping Erik.
At night Malcolm goes looking for the hidden idol and Andrea and Cochran come walking up to the well forcing Malcolm to stop looking. It becomes a standoff between Malcolm not wanting to search with her there and Andrea refusing to leave. The nest part is that the time shifts to later in the day and they are still standing there. Personally I would have dug with her there and took my chances. Either that or I would have tried to get Andrea to flip especially since her name was thrown out last tribal by her own alliance. Eventually they both walk off with a promise to meet up the next morning for another standoff.
It is time for the immunity challenge which involves each castaway holding onto a rope holding a heavy log. After a certain time interval they will drop down a knot to have less leverage on the rope. Cochran opens his advantage which allows him to move up two knots at any time during the challenge. Even with the advantage Eddie feels he has a chance to win since it is Cochran with the advantage.
Everyone lasts over ten minutes and down to the third knots. Cochran uses his advantage now to move back to the starting point. After 25 minutes everyone makes it to the last knot on the rope. Shortly after Brenda is the first to drop followed by Erik. Remember his last season when he was a challenge beast. What happened to that?
Dawn struggles but makes it out of the round. On the last round everyone is just holding rope with no knots except for Cochran who has a two knot advantage. Sherri, Malcolm, and Andrea drop out. Dawn puts up a fight but let’s go.
Reynold drops leaving it down to Cochran vs. Eddie. Without a knot Eddie loses his rope giving Cochran the immunity. That advantage was huge for him.
Back at camp Malcolm tries to make a final two deal with Sherri and tells her that he has the idol. Sherri agrees but is not certain. She wants to go with them since they are stronger but then thinks that Cochran won but considers that he had an advantage.
Reynold works on Erik who is happy to be gathering information on both sides. He worries about working both sides. He knows that whatever path he takes tonight will determine his path for the rest of the game. Sherri feels that this is her game since she is the swing vote. The problem with her game is that she will never win in the end because she will appear as a coattail rider.
The major alliance claims to split the votes between Malcolm and Reynold and if Malcolm doesn’t play an idol he goes home in the revote.
At tribal Reynold says that he doesn’t see it as an alliance of 6 vs. 3 now that Phillip is gone. This worries Andrea since she knows that she would be a target but states that flipping would be a horrible decision since no one will beat the amigos in challenges even through Cochran one two. Sherri says that it has crossed her mind since she feels like she is on the bottom of the alliance of 6 but Dawn hopes that Sherri doesn’t feel that she is at the bottom. Of course she doesn’t actually tell her that she is not at the bottom.
Malcolm says that it was crazy at camp since people knew that he was searching for the idol. The idols worry Dawn since they have been played so often and in effective ways. Cochran points out that with the alliance splitting the votes it only takes one person to flip right now and if that person stays with the three amigos it is 4-4 going forward.
After the first vote it is a three way tie between Reynold, Malcolm, and Andrea. Since no idols were played Malcolm is voted out in the revote.
I have mixed feelings about Malcolm going home. As a fan it pisses me off because Malcolm has been a great player these last two seasons and it has been awhile since there has been a player I enjoyed watching so much. Of course I am positive that Malcolm will get a third chance to play the game before the series is done. The show needs new stars like Boston Rob and Ozzy and Malcolm feels that void.
From a strategy point of view it made sense to send Malcolm home. I fully understand Sherri not flipping. She will keep being used by someone as a free vote and in the end she is easy to beat for someone like Cochran or Andrea.
Not so much Erik. I truly think Erik should have flipped. It is not going to make it to the end with his alliance unless he goes crazy with a run of immunity wins. I don’t think he cracks the top four with his currant alliance so flipping would have been better especially if he could have worked a final three deal with the two of the other guys.
Next week Reynold seems to put in a strong effect at the immunity challenge and Andrea seems to be trying to target Dawn or Brenda putting an end to the alliance of 6.
