Survivor Caramoan Episode 6 Discussion and Recap *Updated with Poll*

While you are sitting around hoping that the Top 8 idols don’t ruin the McCarthy/Lennon songbook come on in and talk some Survivor.It is looking like we will get a tribe swap this week which should add some drama to the proceedings.

And for last weeks blog over 83% of those who voted thought it was a smart decision to forfeit the challenge to send Brandon home and just over 93% liked the added commentary on the recaps so I will continue to add some of my own personal insights and thoughts into the recaps. If I start becoming annoying just let me know.

Come back later tonight for my recap and like always feel free to discuss.

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After last week’s blow up from Brandon it’s time to see what this week brings us. We get a small recap of the season so far before getting to the new episode. I still think the decision to forfeit the challenge was the correct one all things considered but we will see how it plays out.

We open up at the Favorite’s tribe with everyone talking about Brandon’s reactions and the fact that it could give the fans a little hope. Corinne and Phillip are upset that no one stepped up to defend them against Brandon.

Phillip says that they will just need to be the stronger team and one of the favorites will win the season but he ends by saying the first opportunity he gets Corinne is gone.

Over with the fans they open tree mail and it looks like it is time for the reward challenge. Reynold talks about not being able to make an alliance with his tribe so he just needs to last until there is a shift in the game. Naturally this will lead right into a tribal swap.

Michael and Matt say that it was good to have the attention of them but Matt is sorry they had to deal with Brandon and lost their food since the fans thought it was one happy tribe with the favorites.  Phillip says he is happy he doesn’t have to worry about Brandon and can sleep in peace now that he is gone.

Jeff gets everyone to say that they are happy with where their tribes are before letting them know they will be switched up.  Everyone gets an egg to smash to reveal which tribe they are on.  And I must now learn the actual tribe names.

And somehow the new Gota tribe is stacked with Eddie, Reynold, Sherri, Malcolm, Erik, Brenda, and Andrea. The new Bikal tribe is Phillip, Corinne, Michael, Matt, Cochran, Dawn, and Julia.

This just doesn’t seem fair at all. The new Bikal all seem reluctant to say what they are actually thinking but Brenda freely admits that the new Gota is a strong tribe and has all the strength. Each tribe gets another bag of rice and a new flint for the remainder of the game.

There is no challenge as each tribe heads back to their camps. Reynold is ecstatic with his new tribe and his new chance in the game.

At Gota the new tribe mates are celebrating their strength. Eddie briefly comments that there are five faves to three fans but since he doesn’t see them going to tribal it shouldn’t matter. Eddie and Reynold quickly throw Sherri under the bus as not being aligned with them and says that they are really open to voting her out. This strikes Erik the wrong way as he sees Reynold as a used car salesman trying to say only the right things to gain favor.

Sherri for her part doesn’t hold her feelings back as she tells Andrea and Brenda all about her dislike for Reynold. She says that Eddie is nice when not with Reynold and advocates for Reynold to go first. She also says that Reynold used his immunity but knows he has been searching for another one.

At Bikal Corinne says that if she never played before she would flip to the fans as she likes Michael but she won’t because she is confident none of the faves will flip and it makes more sense to stay the course. Of course she has never played with Phillip who immediate starts working on Julia.

With all the love Phillip has for Boston Rob my first thought is that he is looking for his version of “Natalie”, a young and naïve female to take to the end for an easy victory. For her part Julia actually sees the game Phillip is playing and knows it is smart to stay in his good graces to get further in the game.

Back at Gota Malcolm and Andrea are sharing the information they got from the fans. They agree that it is the perfect scernio for them as they will hopefully win but if not can easily split votes to get rid of a fan in case of the idol. Malcolm also lies about having the idol to Andrea.

Phillip tells Corinne about his conversation with Julia which upsets Corinne since they had the numbers and didn’t need to get someone to flip. She approaches Dawn about how she feels about Phillip and her anger about Phillip trying to work with Julia. She makes a good point that approaching any of the fans is not needed at this point and is thinking of just ridding the game of Phillip. I understand approaching Julia but Phillip should have kept it quiet for now rather than letting Corinne know.

And now we are off to the immunity challenge. Two team members at a time run out to gather large blocks and bring them back. Once all blocks are back they must arrange the blocks to spell out Fans vs. Favorites.

Eddie and Erik use their strength to get an early lead on Phillip and Julia. Malcolm and Andrea head out and are almost back as Michael and Dawn try to make up some time. With two blocks back Reynold and Brenda fly through the field. Erik and Sherri are out and back as Cochran and Phillip are struggling. Malcolm and Eddie pass them and for some reason Phillip runs out again rather than switching,

Gota get all six crates back and are working as Matt and Dawn head out for the last crate. Gota is working on the puzzle aspect of the challenge as Bikal gets the last one back and start. Gota has three in place as Malcolm is leading the tribe while Bikal are arguing how to get started.

In a landslide Gota finishes before Bikal really gets started on the puzzle. Phillip is frustrated with how the challenge went he seems to be blaming Corinne but says that the faves need to stick together for now. He also spouts something about being a strong man by holding still but it kind of sounded like nonsense to me so I wasn’t going to rewind to figure out what he was talking about. On the bright side he wasn’t talking about waffles.

Back at the beach Phillip is giving a speech about how everyone gave 100% effort and everyone should have their heads held high. He says that they will win next time. Corrine is annoyed with Phillip thinking he is the ringleader since everyone lets him do his crazy things but she knows she needs him because of how important having numbers are.

Matt approaches Phillip to see what is up and Phillip says the girl has to go. He says Julia got flustered at the challenge and if they want to win that cannot happen. He then proceeds to tell Matt and Michael about Stealth-R-Us and how everyone has code names. He says that they must earn his trust and if anyone approaches them to do something they should do it unless they are told otherwise by him.

As I am rolling my eyes Matt talks about how he was ready to laugh at Phillip but is smart enough to listen to Phillip until he gets to the merge.

Matt, Michael, and Julia talk about voting together and she volunteers voting out Dawn. Matt agrees with her but says he will write down Julia and that as long as it is not him he doesn’t care.

Cochran sees how close Matt and Michael are and is thinking about splitting those to up. Phillip still wants Julia gone to keep strength in the tribe. Corinne wants to get rid of her as she feels Julia is boring and hasn’t said two words to her but she fears Matt or Michael may have an idol.

And we are off to tribal. We start with Matt staying that he was a fan of all the favorites and was happy with the tribe. Julia says that fans only have three so it is mostly likely one of them going home which Michael agrees that it is 100% a fan going tonight.

Corinne continues her habit of saying more then she needs to say when she says that she would like to replace people in her alliance with Matt and Michael but is dedicated to her alliance. Phillip says he is looking for loyalty, trustworthy and can compete in challenges when deciding who to vote out. He also says that he wants people who will do what he says when they reach the merge.

Corinne says it looks great when you are up 4-3 in numbers but you have to be afraid of the hidden idol because it could take you down in numbers. Corinne says that she can’t give up who they are voting for since it could give the fans an open door.

Matt tries to convince everyone that he doesn’t have an idol but Corinne points out that in the game of Survivor there are always doubts and you just never know. Phillip says the vote will depend on who they think may have the idol.

Cochran finishes off by saying that you need to build trust with the people they are with now since they have no clue what the other tribe is doing. He calls the other tribe the Bold and the Beautiful tribe and says that he thinks he would have a tough time penetrating back into that group if they build a strong alliance.

With that all said it is time to vote. Julia votes for Dawn while Matt votes for Julia and Michael vote for Julia to try to safe their own hides. After the votes are read the favorites decided to vote out Matt with their four votes. I kind of feel sorry for him since he was done in by a twist in the game but sometimes that is how the cookie crumbles.

I still think Gota will sweep the rest of the challenges until the merge. They are just too strong and both Malcolm and Erik have shown in their previous seasons that they can do puzzles. I can’t see a challenge that would benefit Bikal but you just never know what will happen in Survivor.

Next week Phillip looks to be having trouble with the challenge and Malcolm looks to be starting to play some strategy. Of course previews can be deceiving and it could lead to his undoing in the game. I’ll see you next week to see how it all plays out.