'Survivor: Kaôh Rōng' (CBS)
Quick Note: We’re going to be bringing you all kinds of “Survivor” fun this season including episode recaps, exit interviews, and Power Rankings with Shirin Oskooi. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news and info.
Watch Full Episodes of ‘Survivor: Kaôh Rōng’
Last Week: The Beauty tribe committed poultry-cide, the Brawn’s v-idol signs stabilized, and the Brains performed a Liz-botomy.
39 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let’s take a look at the tribes as they currently stand.
The Chanloh Tribe – Brains (wearing blue)
Aubry – 29, Social Media Marketer
Debbie – 49, Chemist
Joseph – 72, Former FBI Agent
Neal – 38, Ice Cream Entrepreneur
Peter – 34, ER Doctor
The Gondol Tribe – Beauty (wearing yellow)
Anna – 26, Pro Poker Player
Caleb – 28, Army Veteran
Julia – 19, Student
Michele – 24, Bartender
Nick – 30, Personal Trainer
Tai – 51, Gardener
The Totang Tribe – Brawn (wearing orange)
Alecia – 24, Real Estate Agent
Cydney – 23, Body Builder
Jason – 31, Bounty Hunter
Scot – 40, Former NBA Champion
Things kick off at Brainy Beach where Peter is trying to keep his cool. Debbie approaches him and tells him that she couldn’t have let him go.
As soon as she leaves, he promises to take them out one-by-one after the tribe swap. Eyes on the prize, Peter. Revenge won’t get you far.
And with that…we’re off to a reward challenge. Before the credits and the commercial? Oh…that’s not a good sign.
Reward Challenge Time: Players will race through a series of obstacles and under a log. They’ll then dig up three bags of balls. After that, they’ll have to roll the balls up into a series of six targets. The winning tribe will receive a kitchen set. The second-place tribe will receive spices.
Anna and Julia will sit for Beauty, Neal will sit for Brains.
The Brawns are the first ones to the digging pit. They’re followed by the Brains and eventually Beauty.
The Brawns find their first two bags quickly. Brains and Beauty each find one as well.
CUT TO: Forty-five minutes later and they’re still digging. Holy cow.
Quick Aside: I’ve done a lot of things in the nine “Survivor” challenges I’ve participated in, and nothing is as exhausting as digging. And the climate I was doing it in wasn’t nearly as hot as Cambodia.
No kitchen gear is worth this. Well, maybe a Foreman Grill.
The Brains find their second and third bags and they move on.
Fun Fact: During a test challenge in Nicaragua, it took so long to find a bag of puzzle pieces that the producers were worried they’d forgotten to place them.
The Brains win the challenge easily.
The Beauties find their bags and Caleb goes to work.
As they’re doing this, Deb is starting to fade. Joe worries that she has heat exhaustion.
Probst calls in medical and we GO TO COMMERCIAL?! YOU MONSTERS!
We come back and medical is tending to Debbie. They pour cold water on her in an attempt to bring her body temperature down. Thankfully, this makes her feel better. She’ll stay in the game.
Meanwhile, the other tribes are still going at it. Alecia tries to cheer her tribe on and Scot and Jason promptly tell her to shut up. Oy…
The Brawns eventually find their third bag and start for the targets. But, it’s too late. The Beauties win second place. Such an effort for some salt.
Caleb is zonked, medical rushes over to his side and pours water over him as well. They also use a lighting reflector to fan him. He looks really bad.
Oh man, now Cydney is in bad shape. She’s shaking and crying. This is really hard to watch.
Probst calls in the entire crew to help out, and for once the world gets to see how many people are really out there during a challenge.
An oxygen mask is put on Caleb and it’s hard to tell if he’s even breathing. This is just brutal.
And then…ANOTHER COMMERCIAL! My heart hates this episode. Be OK, Beast Mode! Be OK, Cydney!
We come back and Caleb is finally responding to Probst, but he still looks terrible. They start to give him fluids intravenously.
Medical makes the call to bring the chopper in to evacuate Caleb. Cydney seems to be coming around with Jason nursing her back to health.
Probst addresses Caleb and tells him that the doctors have decided to pull him from the game. Heartbreaking.
Jeff shares the bad news with the Beauty tribe and they are a mess. I might be a mess too.
As we head to commercial, we’re told that Caleb recovered 100% and hopes to play again. God speed, Beast Mode.
Back at Brainy Beach, Debbie says she didn’t want them to call medical in because she didn’t want to look weak in front of her daughters. Aww… So many emotions this episode.
Over at Brawny Beach, Alecia confronts Scot and Jason about what they said to her during the challenge. She asks Scot how he’d treat a teammate during an NBA game, and he makes the point that NBA players are the best in the world and he’s a former world champion. So…is Scot claiming to be one of the best diggers in the world?
Alecia says that she hopes there’s a split so she can get away from them. Scot assures her that she’ll go home if they go to Tribal.
Hilariously, Cydney is off on the side recovering from her near-death experience.
Immunity Challenge Time: Two tribe members will race into the jungle and retrieve puzzle pieces, then two other members will go into the water to retrieve puzzle pieces. First two tribes to complete their puzzles will win immunity.
Tai will sit for Beauty, Joe will sit for Brains.
Julia and Anna, Cydney and Alecia, and Peter and Debbie rush off into the woods. They’re all pretty even until the Brains forget a piece and fall way behind.
Scot and Jason and Michele and Nick head into the water. They’re eventually joined by Neal and Aubry.
The Beauties are the first back, they’re followed by the Brawns.
Anna and Julia and Cydney and Alecia start working on their puzzles.
Finally, Debbie and Neal start the puzzle for the Brains. Peter tags in and he and Neal finish the puzzle quickly to claim immunity.
Nick swaps in for Anna and he and Julia figure out the puzzle to win immunity. Uh-oh, Alecia.
Probst asks the Brawns how it feels to lose again, and Alecia responds that she tried. Cydney quickly corrects her, pointing out that they tried.
JPro asks what the odds of Alecia surviving the vote are and the others say she’s a goner. Probst offers an immediate Tribal, but Alecia won’t accept it.
CUT TO: Tribal Council.
Probst asks Scot, Alecia, and Jason if their minds have changed. Unfortunately for Alecia, it seems like they haven’t.
Jeff tells Alecia that he thinks she’s a goner, but he’s rooting for her. Can Probst rooting count for three votes?
Voting Time: Scot votes for Alecia, while saying they were trying to help her. The rest are secret.
Probst tallies and returns. We’ve got one vote for Alecia, one vote for Scot, one vote for Alecia, and the fifth person eliminated from “Survivor: Kaôh Rōng is…Alecia.
Verdict: That was just brutal. Poor Caleb. He was a lot of fun to watch.
And Alecia…uh…Alecia. Not surprising.
Hopefully next week’s tribe swap lets us finally see some of those Beauties go to Tribal.
Was the Challenge Too Intense? I went back and watched the challenge, and it didn’t seem that much different than many other “Survivor” challenges. They’ve done strenuous events under extreme heat before. “Tocantins” immediately comes to mind. And, those challenges are vigorously tested by John Kirhoffer’s Dream Team assistants.
Who’s Going to Win? I don’t care. I just hope everyone literally survives.
Power Rankings Results: Shirin had Caleb in spot four, I had him in spot eight. We both had Alecia in spot fifteen. The current score is now Team Shirin 39, Team Gordon 38.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: survivor, survivor kaoh rong
More Whatnot 