The Case for Trish, the Silence before the Storm!

So I had a little bit of a creative burst lately and I was thinking about adding a second section to this blog. Each week, around Thursday and Friday, I give you guy’s a review of the latest episode of survivor. Now almost every episode, there’s always something that stands out to me. Whether that being a person, an object or trend in the show. Therefore I’ve decided to write a column/casestudy on something that stood out to me in the latest episode. I’ll do this each Sunday as a sort of warm up to the new episode on Wednesday. So sit back, relax, read and enjoy. Share and comment if you like and I’ll see you next time!

Trish has made a remarkable journey so far in Survivor Cagayan. The first half of the season she had troubles finding her ground and connecting with the other people on her tribe. The only person willing to play the game with her and even liking her was Tony. This of course would prove to pay off as the season progresses. But the first days of the season didn’t suggest at all she would become the player, that could possibly take it all that way, she is in the current phase of the game. She was more of a storm rampaging through her tribe, making enemies along the way. Most notably  she didn’t get along with Lindsey, who was part of a majority alliance at the time consisting of her, Cliff, Sarah and Woo. Her only ally was Tony and luckily for Trish, Tony had his bag of tricks or she might have been one of those players would have been gone early, never knowing if she had the skill to be good at this game.

But was it really Tony who deserves all the glory here? It’s tough after all  to see through the Tony show the editors are hanging up. Tony was indeed the one who rallied Woo and Sarah behind their cause of targeting Cliff and Lindsey but even then Trish was the quiet force listening to people like Sarah and feeding their animosity towards Cliff and Lindsey.

The big gamechanger for Trish however was the tribeswap on day 12. The tribeswap added Jefra and more importantly LJ to her tribe. And the addition of LJ, who’s also from Boston, really was a breath a fresh air for Trish and it didn’t take long for Trish to make an alliance with Jefra and LJ. It was also Trish who was the one to reel in Tony by playing on Tony’s desire to take out Cliff. So this really was Trish her first big move by uniting Tony, LJ and Jefra and blindsiding Cliff.

Trish S28E04: “I started this game being very naive but I’m starting to realize I got to start doing what I need to do to get to the top.”

After Cliff was blindsided, Trish turned again into a storm wreaking havoc against Lindsey, basically pushing her to quit. Now even though this wasn’t her classiest move, this was her second action in the game that lead to the exit of a player.

Just after the merge it was again Trish who had a big hand in a gamechanging move. It was Trish who put the seed in Kass her head that they could vote out Sarah if Kass wanted to. Now again a lot of screentime went to Tony flashing his idol around but Trish can’t get enough credits here for the care and subtility she used to handle Kass. She saw a crack in the Aparri alliance and manipulated Kass to make that crack a ravine for Sarah to fall into. From this moment in the game Trish proves to be more and more the quiet force lurking in Tony’s shadow, which is an excellent way to win this game.

Now at the time of episode 8 Trish is sitting in a really good spot. She has an alliance of six where she has a final three deal with LJ and Jefra and another final three deal with Tony and Woo. At that moment there’s no way Trish doesn’t get to the final three and that’s all to her credit because she made that happen. What she didn’t of course counted on was Tony causing a kink in the cable. This was a mistake on her part, even though Tony is not an easy person to read, let alone control. Tony came to her with his plan and she should have acted then and not waited, thinking Tony wouldn’t go through on his plan. If she had made a move then, she would have still been golden for the final three and not have a lot of work to keep her ship afloat.

Luckily in the latest episode she showed skill that really make her a good contender to win this season and is probably the only person who can beat Tony at this point in the game. First of, she had the right reaction to Tony’s betrayal. She could have had an emotional reaction like many lesser players would and turn on Tony. But luckily she realized that she wouldn’t have any better chances flipping on Tony and stayed beside him. Her second job was mending the fracture between Jefra and Tony. Here she proved great social skill. She handled Jefra with great care and understanding because Trish knows Jefra is the kind of player that wants to feel safe. She also did great by calling Tony to the bench and make him apologize and promise to not lie anymore, even though she knows Tony’s words were full of baloney. This resulted in Trish mending her alliance and looking unstoppable for the final 5.

Now what does Trish still have to do to actually win this game?. Well, number  one would be to keep a very close eye on Tony. Tony is a savvy player so I can’t imagine he doesn’t realize Trish is his biggest threat. So if Tony is coming after her sooner or later she should think about making a move before he does. Maybe the episode after next week? She would not only get rid of her biggest threat to win the game. She would also gain a lot of jury votes, if not all, since a lot players are just waiting for someone to deal with Tony. 

Next to Tony she should just continue her social game. She seems to have a connection with everyone and is generally well-liked, which is funny as she doesn’t seem to be liked by the people watching at home. If she does these two things there’s nothing stopping here from taking the title of sole survivor, which is something I would have never guessed at the start of this season. But I guess that’s what makes this an awesome game. See you next time!

S28E10: Sitting in my Spy Shack.

We’re drawing ever nearer to the conclusion of this season. Usually this is the moment in the season where  the majority alliance has become pretty solid and the minority alliance is somewhat admitting defeat already. Also the final three becomes clearer and even the winner is not that unpredictable resulting in a rather boring finish. But not this season. This season has been keeping us on our toes for nine episodes straight including this latest episode which was really exiting even though the eventual result of the tribal was somewhat of a bust. 

We’re down to seven people left and everyone is playing the game whether they’re playing it well or poorly. This season is promising us a thrilling finish with no idea who’ll be the winner or do we?

                                                     

Sitting in my Spy Shack had pretty much everything you want from a survivor episode. First of all it had some of the funniest quotes I’ve ever heard in this game. ‘I’m so sorry for headbutting you.’ and ‘Those papayas are as big as Morgan’s boobs.’ I also haven’t laughed that much at Morgan’s ‘Who’s Jeremy?’ then the  time that Shambo remarked ‘Who’s Eric?’ to Russel in Survivor Samoa.

Next to some chuckles, this episode also had an abundance of strategizing. Nearly everyone (except maybe Woo…)  was playing the game this week, whether doing a good or bad job at it. One of  the people who had a big episode was Trish. Now Trish has been a quiet force throughout the season but she could upset this season. After everyone returned from the tribal where LJ was voted out and people were still trying to wrap their head on what just happened, Trish showed that she’s level-headed and isn’t influenced by emotions when it comes down to strategy. Unlike the former Aparri alliance whom were upset with Kass for her betrayal right after the merge, Trish didn’t have an emotional reaction on Tony’s betrayal. Trish looked past what Tony did and realized that one, she isn’t any better off with Jeremiah, Tash and Spencer. And two, she realized that you need Tony at your good side. The moment Tony’s at your bad side, you could be in trouble really fast. 

Further in the episode Trish also showed tremendous social skills by reeling Jefra back into the flock. The way she handled Jefra and Tony to bring Jefra back to the alliance was really impressive and should be an alarm bell for Tony. Why you ask? Well, as far as I’m concerned Trish is the only person that can keep Tony from winning this game. In one way, Tony might not be such a goat as Trish and the rest think. But in another way Trish is a far greater jury threat then Tony realizes. And there’s where Trish’s challenge lies. She has to prevent Tony viewing her as the jury threat she is. The moment he does, she’s in real trouble.

Now from someone who didn’t have an emotional reaction to someone we can safely say did: Jefra. Now to her credit, she did try to play the game this episode, although she did it poorly. After LJ was voted out, Jefra was clearly upset. LJ was her rock and now she’s in open water with nothing to hold on to. This made her the perfect target to reel in for Spencer, Tash and Jeremiah like I mentioned last week. 

It even seemed like the Survivor  gods themselves wanted her to flip because she won the reward challenge with Spencer, Jeremiah and Tash. Still grinding on Tony for voting out LJ, the three former Aparri members didn’t have to make a hard sell to convince her to come with them. Sadly for them, her flip wasn’t permanent, not even for an entire day. Noticing that Jefra her trust in the alliance was broken, Trish showed some real skill to mend the fences between Jefra and Tony. Reunited with Tony’s alliance, Jefra breaks the news to Jeremiah in a way like she was dumping a boyfriend. This results in a status quo for Jefra with just as much chance to win this game as the start of the episode: nothing.

Next up is Tony. It would be an understatement to say that Tony had a good episode this week. He started this weeks episode with the construction of a second spy shack. And what’s even more surprising then two spy shacks in one season is the fact that it actually works.

But of course Tony has bigger issues then building a spy shack, like dealing with Jefra. After voting of LJ, the trust between Tony and Jefra was broken. Scared that Jefra would flip to the other side, Tony sought protection in the superpowered immunity idol that was still left to be found. Eventually a very hyper Tony (It kinda got weird when he found the idol…) did find it, which kinda feels to me as a conviction for this season. I won’t go over on why I dislike the superpowered TylerPerry idol again, like I did in a previous review (S28E07). But by finding it, I do feel it pushes Tony as the big favorite to win the season. He has a majority alliance and has an idol that makes him indestructible until final four.  Can anyone stop Tony? Other then Tony himself, I don’t see that happening to be honest.

As for the rest of Tony’s alliance, Woo was busy not playing the game as usual. Falling from tree on your ass  is of course more important… I also loved the words Spencer accompanied his vote for Woo. ‘Dude, where’s my car’ pretty much sums up Woo’s gamestyle and I don’t see that changing either.

It’s almost unimaginable but Kass had an even slower episode then Woo. Woo at least fell on his ass but Kass had nothing. Not much is left from the ChoasKass that voted off Sarah. Here’s me hoping that she wreaks some chaos if or when Spencer and Tash are voted out.

This brings us to Spencer and by extension Tash and Jeremiah. I felt like Spencer had a good start at the beginning of the episode. He quickly came to the same conclusion like myself last week that voting out Tony should be the next move. To do this Jefra was the most likely person to approach since she felt betrayed by Tony. Not a lot of convincing was necessary to flip Jefra and they seemed to be in a good spot. It even went better when Tash won immunity limiting the voting options for the other alliance. But that’s when it went south for Spencer and his compatriots. As easily as Jefra flipped, just as easily she flipped back, putting Spencer, Tash and Jeremiah with their backs against the wall. Just like Jeremiah revealed his job as a model (like anyone cared…), Spencer revealed his possession of the idol. The idol being their only way out of their dire predicament, all three decide to switch their vote to Woo although their motivation for doing that remains unclear.

Laughs, excitement, reveals, discoveries. It was all there but the only thing this episode lacked was an epic conclusion. Spencer showed some real tribal council skills by calling Tony out on all his lies and backing him up in a corner. Equally surprising was the lack of realizing how much they’re being played by Tony on the part of Trish, Woo, Kass and Jefra. Although I do believe those four do realize what’s Tony’s all about but they’re hoping to drag him along as a goat in a final three. Although I don’t see that going so well as they think if you ask me. After the votes are cast Spencer decides it’s time to play his idol. Sadly, he doesn’t take the leap and play it for Jeremiah (or Jeremy) but he keeps it for himself. A real shame if you ask me. I know it’s a big risk to take but it seemed pretty obvious, even without the edit, the way they were going to vote. Also saving himself now is just postponing his own  inevitable exit, so why not take the plunge and  try to vote one of Tony’s alliance off and make the mountain he has to scale just a bit smaller. After all, life, just like survivor, is for the one’s who take risks. Sadly, Spencer doesn’t  which means the end for his fashion model buddy as Jeremiah goes home in a 5-3 vote.

As a little addendum I’d like to point your attention to the moment at tribal where Spencer plays his idol and Tony is showed fidgeting with his, apparently oblivious to the rest. This struck me as really odd. Maybe it was just poorly fitted into the episode? Or maybe it’s something that’ll become clear in a future episode? A possible explanation is that Tony showed the idol to scare Spencer into playing his idol for himself as Tony did say that Spencer was about to play his idol for Jeremiah. If this is the case, it’s not shown to the viewer in a clear manner but this is just speculation on my part. I do wonder whom, if not everyone, saw Tony’s idol since he wasn’t being that subtle. This might have some ramifications for next week.

Now, Spencer and Tash have dodged a pagonging before but now their situation looks very grim. Jefra was their best chance to flip someone tot heir side. But with Jefra paddling back, that alliance of five looks tighter then ever. No one from those five have any real reason to flip. I expect Tash hand Spencer to go home next, leaving Tony, Trish, Kass, Jefra and Woo to duke it out until the end. My prediction? Final three: Tony, Woo and Kass. Winner: Tony. Stay tuned for next week. You can find Jeremiah’s Day after and Ponderosa vids below and I’ll see you next time!

S28E09: Bag Of Tricks.

What a season this is turning out to be. With it’s latest episode Bag of Tricks, Survivor Cagayan has well-earned it’s spot in the top 10 of Survivor’s greatest seasons, maybe even top 5. Who’s going to win? Your guess is as good as mine because  yesterday’s tribal has once again turned  this game upside down. But just like the tribal where Sarah was voted out, we have to ask ourselves if we saw a move that was just as smart as it was entertaining?

                                                  

After Morgan was voted off the situation seemed pretty clear. We had an alliance of six against an alliance that was reduced to three members. Therefore a pagonging for Spencer, Jeremiah and Tash seemed inevitable. Spencer did still have his idol but against an alliance of six that’ll just get you a reprieval from execution. But by voting for Tony, the three remnants of the Aparri alliance did put a crack in the alliance of six that would soon become a chasm. The four votes made Tony paranoid and question his position in the game. Of course Tony overreacted to the four votes. If anything he should see it as a compliment for the game he has been playing. Tony’s paranoia is indicative of Tony’s playstyle. He’s a like a hurricane or Tasmanian Devil reacting impulsive, destroying and distrusting everything around him (remind you of someone?). Tony’s reason why they voted for Morgan was equally ridiculous. Their motivation to vote for Morgan wasn’t any less strategic as the reason why the other three voted for Tony.

Scared for his future in the game, Tony searches for a way to get rid of his biggest threat: LJ. After winning a reward challenge with Spencer and Jeremiah, which sends them to a shower, massage and feast, Tony doesn’t wait long to pitch his idea. Having no other option, Spencer and Jeremiah quickly agree with Tony’s plan. For people who put a lot of feathers on Spencers hat for manipulating Tony, I disagree. There’s no proof during the episode that Spencer pushes or manipulates Tony in to voting for LJ. Tony already decided to vote for LJ long before he approached Spencer. All Spencer did was nod and agree with Tony.

Well aware of Tony’s paranoia, his alliance and more specific Trish and LJ try to handle Tony because they know you don’t want Tony in scramble  mode. LJ even wisely stands Tash up to her offer of a strategy proposal. At that point LJ seems to have everything under control with Trish as his second in command and confident that a three-three split vote will keep his alliance safe.. But that’s not the case if Tony has anything to do about it. After the immunity challenge where LJ nearly won and threw Tony’s plan in the bin, Tony approaches Woo and tells him the lie that LJ is gunning for him. As gullible as Woo is, he immediately believes everything Tony is saying and is on board for voting for LJ (Woo is like the Forrest Gump of Survivor Cagayan). Tony is thinking one down and one to go and approaches Trish to feed her the same lie. Now of course Trish is a bit more skeptical then Woo. Trish being very close to LJ is very reluctant to vote for LJ and tries to talk Tony out of it. This brings Trish in a difficult predicament. Trish has a final three agreement with LJ next to her already established final three deal with Tony. Therefore Trish isn’t wrong to want to keep the alliance of six together. Because if they do stick together I can’t imagine a scenario where Trish isn’t in the final three. And even though Trish isn’t favored by the audience, she does seem to be well-liked in the game which gives her a shot at winning the million. With Tony on the warpath she is forced to make a choice earlier then she anticipated.

At tribal Tony pulled out his bag of tricks and showed he also walks the talk. Woo, Spencer Tash and Jeremiah rally behind Tony resulting in a 5-3-1 that blindsides LJ and sends him home. Now the question is: did Tony just play a smart move? I’m inclined to say no. In my opinion Tony put him in potentially grave danger and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tony bites the dust next week. He came from an alliance of six and now only has Woo. He’s up against Jeremiah, Spencer and Tash who aren’t inclined to stick with Tony just because he saved their ass. Then you have Trish who feels betrayed by Tony just like Jefra. And then let’s not forget ChaosKass. She didn’t get a lot of screentime this week but a lot has changed for her aswell.  The big winners seems to be Spencer, Jeremiah hand Tash. If I were them I would approach Jefra and Kass. LJ was Jefra’s rock, without him she’s a floater desperate to hang on to the first person who throws her a buoy. And Kass has proven to be willing to flop in the past and now that her alliance of six has exploded she might do it again.

I feel like the better play for Tony was to wait three more days and vote off LJ next week, although you need big cahones to play the move he did. Now he’s stuck with the three remnants of the Aparri alliance and they have his fate in their hands.  If Tony ever wants to play again, he needs to become less hyper and mature his game. If he can do that he can be one of the best. What this does mean is that we still have no idea how the endgame of this season is shaping up to be. This promises some very exciting tribals in the future and I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see how this season unfolds. Check out the Day after and Ponderosa vids with LJ below and I’ll see you next time.

S28E08: Mad Treasure Hunt.

After last week, everything was set for an exciting sequel to last week’s episode. Sadly, what we got was quite underwhelming. Kass clearly showed that last week was an emotional decision as she’s just floating between two alliances, not knowing how and scared to make a move. And even though Spencer had a good three days finding not only a HII but also winning immunity, he got lackluster. Instead of using his newfound power, he thought short-term and did almost nothing to influence the vote. But if he wants to win, he has to act now because his alliance is dwindling fast. This results in more or less a boring episode with some people, mainly Kass and Spencer, missing opportunities to make moves. Subsequently we get a not so surprising exit of our voluptuous cheerleader. But let’s take an in-depth look before you make your own judgment.

                                                       

After last weeks chaotic tribal there were of course ramifications and some people, if not all, were upset with Kass. Kass being Kass of course, continues her illusion of her move being a proof of great strategic prowess. She even called it a triple win. Really Kass? A triple win? Your move to flip was hardly a win which I’m sure the future will prove. And LJ and Tony wasting their idols can hardly be accounted to you. This understandably rubs some people the wrong way but it was Spencer who voiced his frustration the strongest. Not a smart move if you ask me. I can get that you’re pissed of if one person’s foolish emotional decision runs a bus over your entire game but at that time you have to keep your head cool. Kass is still in a very decisive position, which means you still need her. Me being Spencer I would have taken Kass apart after the vote and had a little one-on-one and asked in a calm manner what her reasoning was behind her vote. She has to feel she’s still welcome and that she can come back if she wants to. All Spencer did with his reaction was push Kass even more to the Solana alliance. So even though Spencer had an all in all good three days, this is the first mistake of the episode for him.

The very next morning it’s Morgan her turn to voice her feelings towards Kass. She does so in a funny but very conceited way (at least she realizes she’s being conceited). Kass, still believing she made a smart move the night before, of course isn’t shy of a confrontation with Morgan and compares her with a 14-year old dog (What?).  Now, while this might give us a few laughs, it doesn’t help the Aparri alliance. Just like Spencer, all Morgan does is push Kass towards the Solana tribe and prequels her own demise.

Luckily the challenge presents an opportunity for everybody to forget their worries, as the reward is a full-fledged dinner at an Outback Steakhouse. It was LJ, Jeremiah, Jefra, Morgan and Spencer who won and I have to say, even from my comfy couch, I still was jealous because those steaks looked really good. Now, what season 20 Heroes vs. Villains learned us about Outback Steakhouses and HII’s on the horizon is that you have to keep a close eye on your napkin and everybody else’s napkin by extension. Luckily for Spencer nobody did as he discovered a clue in his napkin. Now for people who complain about dishonesty here, I must disagree. Everybody is free to sit where they want so whoever gets the clue is still luck of the draw.

Back at camp the five people who lost try to keep their minds of steaks and continue day to day business like strategy. Kass gets offered to pick who goes next after apparently suggesting that Spencer should be targeted. But here she once again proves that she’s playing a muddy game and refuses to commit to either alliance saying she doesn’t want to be the person making the decisions. Really? Then what was all last week about? Either Kass doesn’t know what her next move should be or she is to scared to make it. All she’s doing right now is playing both sides and maybe somebody should remind her how Sarah faired with that strategy.

When Spencer returns from the reward he doesn’t waste a lot of time and even musters through a downpour to go look for the idol. Suspicious no? Maybe Spencer should have a waited for a more opportune moment because what followed was chaos and clearly not what Spencer envisioned. Woo followed Spencer using his ‘special ninja technique’ (sure dude, sure…) and finds him looking for the idol. Trying to play it cool (and failing miserably) Spencer walks of but in doing so he forgets his pants with his clue which Woo finds and basically runs of with it and shares it with his alliance. Why Woo doesn’t keep it for himself is just as much of a mystery to me. Anyways,  It doesn’t take long for word to spread along camp and everybody (except Jefra who apparently isn’t interested in HII’s) starts looking for the HII. All very clumsy on Spencers’s part but by shear luck he managed to stumble on the normal HII, which means the superpowered idol is still out there. So in the end all well that ends well for Spencer.

Spencers fortunes are even getting better when he wins the immunity challenge by balancing a block of wood on his head for over one hour and a half (kudos!). Back at camp the Solana alliance and Kass decide to apply the same strategy the Aparri alliance used last week by  targeting the person who’s least likely to have an idol: Morgan. The Aparri alliance decides to target Tony since he’s a big player and there is no risk of a HII in his possession this time. Now the big question mark of course is Kass. Which way will ChoasKass swing this time is the question on everybody’s lip. I’m not sure Kass knows herself. Spencer approaches Kass to try and sway her and know who they’re voting on. But I feel like he didn’t make a strong enough case because he knew he was already safe. Although, it has to be said, like Tony mentioned before, Kass is very hard to read. At that point I felt like Spencer should have pushed the Solana alliance to vote of Kass. You don’t want to play with someone who could flip at any moment right? In a not so eventful tribal where Morgan basically called Kass ugly in front of everybody, she sealed her fate in a 6-4 vote and becomes the second member of the jury.

So a not so eventful episode with big consequences for the future of the season. Kass has once again sided with Solana. Does that mean she has chosen a side? With Kass we can never be sure of that but it does mean that the Aparri alliance is down to 3 people left. So the risk for a pagonging of the Aparri alliance is definitely in the cards, despite the preview for next week showing fractures within the Solana alliance. Let’s also not forget there’s still a superpowered idol out there which holds the potential to turn this game. I guess we’ll have to wait and see next week. You can find Morgan’s ponderosa vid below but no day after vid, maybe enxt week. I’ll see you next time.

                                          

S28E07: Head Of The Snake

We knew that the first episode after the merge would be interesting as it always is. But boy, did they deliver! Fireworks would be  an understatement for this episode. 2 idols that, even though spectacular, were kinda squandered by LJ and Tony. Betrayal by chaos Kass which didn’t really make sense at all from a strategy-point of view. And the spectacular rise and fall of honest cop Sarah. So I’d say enough to talk about so let’s break it down.

                                                       

‘The best laid plans often end up sprawled out on a murder scene floor’ Prophetic words coming from Kass after the Alexis vote when the Aparri six solidified their alliance. Kass does have a way with words but when it comes to the game of Survivor she still has some work. As a lawyer you would expect her to be rational and know when to keep your mouth shut. Clearly she doesn’t as the very next morning, on a walk at the beach she flat out tells Sarah that she isn’t sure of her loyalty. Sarah, at this point, is the swing vote as she still has connections with her former Brawn tribemates and will play a decisive roll in the upcoming vote. So telling that person that you don’t trust her is a big nono and Kass her first mistake of the episode. 

What follows is the actual merge with a traditional feast, a new tribe with a new name: Solarrion  (F for originality…) and a new super powered idol. This new idol will be playable after the votes are read which makes it almost invincible and a bad, if not horrible twist to the game in my mind. It’s like taking away Superman’s weakness to kryptonite. As long as Superman is weak to kryptonite, you have a chance to defeat him. Same way with the idol, as long as it has to be played before the votes are read, there’s a chance to flush out the idol. With this new idol, that’s not longer possible and I hope it will not ruin this, up and till now, great season when the new idol is eventually found.

When all the merge festivities are done, it’s time for strategy and the battle for Sarah’s vote. At this point Sarah is on top of the world and has all the cards in her hand. But as we saw with Garret, Survivor can be a very ironic game, the moment you think you’re controlling this game is the moment you’re in potentially serious danger. After Tony’s made his pitch to sway Sarah back to his side, it’s Aparri’s turn. And here’s where Sarah overplays her hand when she wants to dictate who to vote for. In doing so she’s pushing Kass into the direction that will ultimately be her own demise. This little disagreement between Kass and Sarah escalates into a full on argument between the two in front of Trish. Knowing she has to diffuse the situation, Tash intervenes in the argument and wisely chooses Sarah’s side because as the brains that’s your best bet now. You don’t want to piss off the swing vote. You let Sarah think she’s the queen for one or two vote and give her anything she wants and  the moment you don’t need her anymore you send her packing. But that’s not how Kass sees it. Kass has an emotional reaction and feels replaced and rejected by her alliance. The argument doesn’t get diffused but put on the backburner as it’s time for the first individual immunity challenge.

In the first individual immunity challenge, that was short but fairly exiting due to strong wind, Woo wins it. Bad news for the Aparri alliance as this further diminishes their options as LJ and Tony have an idol, leaving only Jefra and Trish as viable targets. Now I feel Woo would have been a good target to please both Kass and Sarah. But with him out of the picture that leaves Jefra as Sarah doesn’t want to vote for Trish. Sarah, on the other hand wants to make a big move and vote off Tony. Now this isn’t a horrible idea to me. Even though Tony has an idol, past seasons have proven us that players with idols try to not play them as long as possible. Realizing they have to cater to Sarah’s whim, the Aparri alliance decides to take the leap and vote for Tony. In doing so they do, however, further agitate Kass, who feels like she’s falling out of the group. Noticing this before, Trish approaches Kass with the proposal to vote for Sarah. And after Tony realizes Sarah is feeding him lies, the Solana alliance decides to vote for Sarah hoping for the swingvote to take a dive.

In a nerve wrecking tribal, Tony once again proves he can play ball and already warranted a chance to play this game more then once in the future by playing his idol. In a move of bluffpoker, Tony reveals his idol to scare the Aparri alliance into switching their vote. Tony then puts the deed to the word by playing his idol to cover LJ’s ass. Thinking the aparri alliance is targeting LJ and Tony, LJ returns the favor and plays his idol for Tony. Sadly for the two gentlemen, they wasted their idols as Jeff pulls out the first jefra vote out of his urn. Seeing the Sarah and Jefra votes come out one by one, it seems inevitable that Jefra will be going home. But to everyone’s surprise, including yours truly, the last vote is for Sarah sending her home. Kass turned on her alliance and by doing so she shot this game wide open.

Of course this was a great episode, even though it was rifled with flawed moves: two idols wasted and a bad emotional decision on Kass’s part. But by doing so it does seem we’re heading towards some very entertaining episodes the coming weeks. Is Kass her switch permanent? Nobody has any idols in their possession but at the same a new superpowered idol is still hidden on the island. As of now, this is everyone’s game and to who will be their in the final three is anybody’s bet.

Check out the day after and ponderosa vid from Sarah as well as Lindsey and Alexis which were missing last week. See you next time!