Last Week: Benry completed ten passes to lead La Flor to victory, NaOnka nailed Kelly B. with an illegal chop block, and Marty pulled a quarterback sneak that sent Jimmy Johnson to the showers.
39 Days, 20 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Here are the tribes as they currently stand…
The La Flor Tribe aka The Young Tribe (wearing yellow)
• Alina – 23, Art Student
• Benry – 24, Club Promoter
• Brenda – 27, Paddleboard Company Owner
• Chase – 24, Race Car Jackman/Country Singer
• Fabio – 21, Student
• Kelly B. – 26, Medical Student
• Kelly S. – 20, Nursing Student
• NaOnka – 27, P.E. Teacher
• Sash – 30, Real Estate Broker
The Espada Tribe aka The Older Tribe (wearing blue)
• Dan – 63, Real Estate Executive
• Holly – 44, Swim Coach
• Jane – 56, Dog Trainer
• Jill – 43, E.R. Doctor
• Jimmy T. – 48, Commercial Fisherman
• Marty – 48, Technology Executive
• Tyrone – 42, Fire Captain
• Yve – 41, Homemaker
We meet up with the elders after Tribal Council. The rain is falling and everyone looks miserable. This doesn’t stop Jimmy T. from using some football analogies to explain why they were right to get rid of Jimmy J. It also doesn’t stop him from butchering Tom Petty’s “An American Girl” and annoying the rest of the tribe.
Marty lets us know that all you need to do is give Jimmy T. enough rope and he’ll hang himself. If this is true, I’m taking up a collection right now to buy Jimmy T. enough rope.
Note: Did you know “Survivor” wasn’t going in three-day increments anymore? You learn something new every day.
The following morning, the “Survivor” foreshadowing crew shows how rocky and tumultuous the Nicaraguan sea has become. Surely, rough times are ahead for the seventeen remaining Survivors.
Dan is having a rough time as his sneakers are starting to fall apart. He also says if they get any hungrier they’ll have to eat his foot. Smart strategy as I doubt he could get much slower in challenges.
Meanwhile on “Kid Nation,” (oh wait, that’s La Flor’s camp) NaOnka has made her first smart move of the season and has given Brenda the clue so she can decipher it. Brenda, again proving that my pre-game impression of her was totally off base, figures out the clue and uncovers the idol. NaOnka hides the idol in her sock…which is actually Fabio’s sock. So…maybe the idol is technically his?
NaOnka also threatens to throw Kelly B.’s prosthetic leg into the fire. Jaison Robinson is still bitter that Russell Hantz burned his socks, imagine if Russell had burned his whole leg.
Kelly B. and Alina go looking for the idol on their own. NaOnka knows their search will be fruitless, but decides to mess with them anyways. NaOnka confronts the duo and starts talking trash. Her goal in all of this is apparently to get Kelly B. to quit so she won’t become a member of the jury. She may also be trying to get Kelly B.’s lunch money.
That night we meet up with Espada as they’re having a team meeting. Marty introduces an action item that nominates Tyrone as the team leader at challenges. Shockingly, Jimmy T. has a problem with this.
Quick Aside: Marty’s hair is awesome. It’s like no two hairs go in the same direction.
In a confessional, Jimmy T. tells us how easygoing he is. He then proves how easygoing he is by calling Marty a “preppy, little b—h.”
The following morning we see a very depressing sight as the howler monkeys are calling out…and there’s no Jimmy J. to respond to them. Sad.
Reward and Immunity Challenge: One person from each tribe will be calling out directions while the rest of the tribe is blindfolded. The blindfolded players will have to retrieve 10 items and return them to the tribe’s mat. Once the team has all 10 items, they’ll have to send a pair of blindfolded players out to find a set of keys. Those keys will unlock a chest. First team to unlock their chest and return it to the mat wins immunity and three groups of items from Sears.
Sears: Life. Well Spent.
The Sears items include tools, a tarp, fishing kits, and an XBox 360.
I may have made that last item up.
Medallion of Power Advantage: If the MoP is used, La Flor will start with two items on their mat. La Flor elects to use the mystical power of the MoP.
Dan will sit out for Espada while the two Kellys will sit out for La Flor. (Aww…that’s one Kelly short of my favorite Woody Boyd song.)
Three “Survivor” points for whoever gets that reference.
Note: “Survivor” points have no cash value.
Brenda will be the caller for La Flor, Tyrone will be the caller for Espada.
True to form with all “Survivor” blindfold challenges, there are some spectacular wipeouts. Fabio and Marty in particular find themselves eating Nicaraguan soil.
The challenge starts off, and La Flor jumps out to a huge lead. Tyrone is getting very frustrated as it seems like Jimmy T. isn’t listening to him. Brenda must be doing something right, because the youngsters retrieve all of their items well ahead of Espada. After that, Chase and Sash seem to have little trouble retrieving the keys and their tribe’s chest. La Flor wins immunity and reward. They choose the fishing gear, a tarp, and kitchen supplies.
During the post-game wrap up, Jimmy T. again complains about not being used enough in the challenges. How Tyrone doesn’t stand up and smack him upside the head, I’ll never know.
Back at La Flor, Chase discovers a hidden immunity clue in the tackle box. He decides to share it with Brenda because he trusts her. She obviously trusts him so much that he has no clue that it has already been found. She eventually fesses up and tells Chase that NaOnka has the idol.
Politicking around Espada centers around Jimmy T. vs. Dan. Holly, Tyrone, and Jane both want Dan to go home. They like him, but worry that he’s a weak link in challenges. Jill wants Dan to go home too, but Marty argues that Dan is their swing vote.
Meanwhile, Jimmy T. is making the case that he isn’t getting enough play in the immunity challenges…again. Yve humors him but lets us know that she wouldn’t coddle her kids as much as she just coddled Jimmy T. Oh…mom burn!
That night at Tribal Council, Tyrone tells JPro that he thinks their immunity challenge plan worked out well. Probst immediately calls him on this. Oh…3-time Emmy-winning host burn!
Dan tells us that his knee won’t allow him to perform in the mud. Probst points out that they’re currently in a rainforest. Man, JPro is on fire tonight.
Jimmy T. argues that the tribe should mix things up. Shockingly, his idea of mixing it up involves putting him in charge of an immunity challenge. Marty tells Probst that he isn’t interested in having Jimmy T. lead a challenge.
Holly actually has Jimmy T.’s back and thinks he deserves a chance. Too bad Holly hasn’t been super high on this season’s sanity scale.
Probst asks Jimmy T. if he’s willing to take a non-leadership role. Jimmy T. looks like he’s about to cry, but eventually agrees to fall in line.
Voting Time: Holly votes for Dan (and apologizes for sinking his shoes), Dan votes for Jimmy T., Jimmy T. votes for Dan, Marty votes for Jimmy T., and the rest of the votes are lost to the magic of editing.
Probsty does his tallying thing and returns. Three votes for Dan, four votes for Jimmy T., and the fourth person voted out of “Survivor: Nicaragua” is…Jimmy T.
Verdict: OK, Jimmy T. got onto the show by winning the Sears Put Me on “Survivor” Contest (that’s probably not the official name). So obviously, he’s got to be a big fan of the show. That being said, how did he not know his annoying ways were going to lead to a quick dismissal? And while we’re on this topic, Jimmy T. won that contest because he got his entire town to vote for him. So, he must be a popular guy. Why didn’t that translate into “Survivor”? Or, is it possible his town voted for him because they knew it would get him out of town for a few months?
As far as the show goes, this episode was pretty dull. The “Hurricane NaOnka” we were promised in the preview was barely a tropical depression. And are we ever going to see separate reward challenges again?
Who’s Going to Win? Brenda’s a machine. She has a strong alliance, she has NaOnka and Chase’s full trust, she can decipher immunity clues, she led La Flor to an immunity victory, she looks awesome in a yellow bikini…
Power Rankings Results: Coach and Randy Bailey win another round. They had Jimmy T. in spot sixteen while I had him in spot fifteen. The current score is now Team Dragon Slayer 46, Team Truth Seeker 37.
Follow me on Twitter for breaking “Survivor” news: @gordonholmes
What Do You Think? Would you have voted for Dan or Jimmy T.? Has NaOnka gone too far with her bullying? What affect do you think next week’s tribe swap will have on the game?
Tags: jeff probst, Jimmy Johnson, naonka mixon, survivor, survivor nicaragua
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