Back at camp, Anela is confused why Chappies gave him safety at Tribal Council. He clearly doesn’t see the bigger picture.
Upon returning from Tribal, Chappies and Tyson have it out about their respective levels of disrespect. There’s obviously no love lost between the two. Tyson’s main objective now is to get rid of Chappies.
Reward Challenge
It’s the Loved Ones challenge this week.
Each player stands on a narrow beam, holding a pole above their head, balancing a statue on the pole. A Survivor classic. It comes down to Chappies and Tyson, with Chappies outlasting Tyson, securing yet another challenge win.
Chappies’ reward is something different. He gets to pick two players to compete against him in the next Immunity Challenge; the other three will not be able to compete. He chooses Santoni and Anela. I really don’t like this. It’s not as bad as many of the twists seen on Australian Survivor this season, but it’s still not great. Every player should have the chance to compete for immunity. There are only a few things that I think should remain untouched in Survivor. Keeping your vote, competing for a immunity, getting to vote as a juror.
As for the loved ones, all the players get to spend time with their loved ones. I don’t like that. Part of winning the Loved Ones challenge is the forced choice of who gets to accompany you on the reward. It adds drama and can draw lines in the sand for where alliances stand.
Reward
Kiran proves his smarts once again. He knows that at a reward like this, there should be something extra to be found. At the Outsurance logo, he finds an idol. The funny part is that he gets Nicole’s brother to give him a boost up to reach it. Her brother could play a part in her game ending. They’re at the final six, all but assuring Kiran will be playing that idol at Tribal Council.
Immunity Challenge
The three players toss a grappling hook to snag a ring. The ring releases a bag containing a ball. They navigate ball through a maze board. Nico also announces that Immunity Island is no more. Once again, challenge beast Chappies wins immunity.
Pre-Tribal
With Chappies immune, the clear target shifts to Santoni. But Kiran suggests a different plan, in blindsiding Nicole instead. Nicole is a much stronger challenge threat than Santoni. If Nicole goes out now, that leaves one less challenge their alliance needs to win. Anela isn’t so sure, however. He doesn’t want to risk alienating jury members by blindsiding Nicole.
Anela talks to Nicole about switching the vote to Kiran. They think Kiran will play the idol for Tyson, leaving himself vulnerable. Given how strong of a player Kiran is, this might be the time to take down a big threat. Anela brings Chappies and Santoni into the fold as well.
Santoni offers a plan of splitting their votes between Kiran and Tyson, leading to a 2-2-2 split along with Nicole. Whether Kiran plays his idol for himself or Tyson, they vote out the other on the re-vote. But Anela doesn’t like that his plan was being taken over by Santoni. He wanted Kiran out, but wanted all the credit.
So what does Anela do? He makes the obvious choice to tell Kiran. Wait, what? Yes, Anela tells Kiran that there was a plan, led by Anela, to blindside Kiran. Not five minutes prior, Anela was telling us that he’s good at Survivor. This type of decision-making proves the exact opposite. Tribal Council should be interesting…
Tribal Council
Kiran airs all the dirty laundry. He reveals their original plan to blindside Nicole. Anela tries to defend himself, saying the Nicole plan would be a bad move for his game, and he wanted to make a move for himself. Okay, fair enough. But that’s not the problem. Anela telling Kiran was the mistake and the poor decision. Kiran can say he respects Anela all he wants for owning up to his mistakes. But that doesn’t mean he views the trail of decisions any differently.
Kiran plays his idol for himself, followed by Nicole playing her Fire Idol. Kiran’s idol negates one vote, with Santoni and Tyson receiving three and two votes, respectively. Because the dumb Fire Idol exists, those two compete in a fire-making challenge to determine who goes out. Both Santoni and Tyson get big flames going, and it’s truly a neck-and-neck challenge. But Tyson’s flame breaks through the string first, saving himself and sending Santoni to the jury.
I do not like the Fire Idol. Whoever receives the most votes should be eliminated. I don’t know what else to say. I’m glad the production team is open to trying new ideas and twists, but I think – and hope – that once is enough for the Fire Idol.
