As this week’s Survivor kicked off the castaways discussed the problems caused by Dale. Turning to the new challenges that await them the castaways read a tree mail including instructions on arriving at their next obstacle at the headland trail. At this point they found out that a merger has taken place.
The merge proved more exciting to some than to others. The element of the blood vs water twist of this season is putting the pressure on all of them to make this merge work to their advantage.
As the castaways feast on cheese, trail mix, shrimp, lobster and more their spirits soared. The merger helps loved ones come together in this game, which is a relief to some but intimidating to others.
The speed at which they are expected to move since the merge caused some of them to slow down considerably. Jeremy referred to the merge as a milestone but stated that the game officially starts now and that everyone needs to step up their game from here on out. Jeremy angled to get the two couples cooperating with him in a bid to make progress in the game.
Day 17 of the game turns out to be Wes’s birthday, which his own father, Keith, forgets about until he overhears someone else wish him a happy birthday. To make amends Keith brought him a delicious looking crab to eat.
Upon arriving at their new home site Jeremy expressed his desire to speak with John about the direction the game is going in. With four people and eight couples in the game Josh hit on the idea of the couples working together against the singles.
This week Baylor is struggling with the fact that she has to turn her back on people who have helped her make it this far in the game. As the plot thickens everyone is doing their part to look out for themselves and try to ensure that they have a fighting shot at winning the entire season. Jacyln and John were torn about the direction they need to move in to advance in the competition.
One of the biggest struggles on any episode of Survivor is having enough food to sustain everyone. But this week Julie (who was said to be the smallest of all the castaways) was caught hiding all the rest of the trail mix in her bag so she could keep it for herself and her allies. While this may seem like a minor thing to some viewers to the survivors it brings up issues of trust. Jon called her selfish as a result and stated that he couldn’t trust having an alliance with her. So this calculated move on Julie’s part may be enough to get her thrown under the bus by those who previously stuck together with her. The reactions of everyone else made Julie realize that for her the game is starting to take a turn for the worse.
Once Jeff arrived at camp the immunity challenge for the day was explained. Baylor had to give up her tribal immunity from last week. In this round individual immunity was promised to those who earn it.
The immunity challenge for the week involved balancing a small ball on a large disk. Each person had to balance one ball for half an hour before another ball was added in. Jeremy was the first to be eliminated from the challenge as he dropped his ball rather quickly during the first 10minute round of the challenge. This meant Jeremy was one of the ones at risk of going home this week. Missy was the next one to lose the challenge and face the same possible fate as Jeremy.
Jeff announced that round two was going to be the hardest part of this challenge so far. Jackyln was the first one to be eliminated from round two. Natalie then contended with a sudden gust of wind and lost, making her the second to be eliminated from the second round. Josh, Wes, Keith and John were the only ones that remained in the competition at this point. All four made it to the last part of this week’s immunity challenge.
Wes, Keith and John ended up being the final three fighting for immunity this week. John was then quickly eliminated leaving the competition for immunity between Keith and his son Wes. Wes was the one to walk away with immunity for the week.
This leads us to the heart and soul of the show. After the immunity challenge ended the castaways were sent back to camp to await the evening tribal council and their fate when it comes to the future of this game.
Back at camp the tribe cooked up what little food they had and the comment was made that it would be nice to be able to have some trail mix. This was a subtle message to Julie to let her know her fellow contestants were onto the fact that she took the trail mix and wasn’t exactly open minded about sharing it. This made Julie angry and made her admit that she was lost and confused. Missy stated that though she was pissed off at Julie for taking the trail mix herself she knew that if Julie was the one voted off it would cause problems for Missy and her allies.
Josh did state that he felt John was doing a good job at the game. Meanwhile the others plotted to have Jeremy eliminated from the game. They also discussed that one of the reasons they wanted Jeremy to go is that he was determined to get rid of the couples. Their plan was to get to the point where only eight survivors remain and at that point it is pretty much every man for himself.
At the end of this week’s show, Julie caved to the pressure and voluntarily quit the game, sending the others into a frenzy of confusion and wonder.