‘Survivor: Kaoh Rong’ (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: Aubry and Tai debated following your heart or your mind, while Scot left with an idol in his hand…
39 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let’s take a look at the tribe as it currently stands…
The Dara Tribe (wearing black)
Aubry – 29, Social Media Marketer
Cydney – 23, Body Builder
Jason – 31, Bounty Hunter
Joseph – 72, Former FBI Agent
Julia – 19, Student
Michele – 24, Bartender
Tai – 51, Gardener
Quick Aside: When Tai uses his extra vote, he totally has to act like Mark the Chicken is casting it, right?
We start things off back at camp after last week’s a-maze-ing Tribal wher Joe is very impressed with Tai’s move. So, somebody woke Joe up and told him about it?
Jason is also impressed with the move, but he isn’t happy about it. He lets Cydney know that he’s willing to shake things up. Cause…what other choice does he have?
Julia is frustrated because playing both sides has finally bit her. She’s worried that her and Michele have gone down a few notches. Wait…who the heck is Michele?
So, it looks like Cydney, Joe, Aubry, and Tai are now the dominant alliance.
Tai tries to talk with Jason the next morning. He tells him that he was worried Scot and Jason were going to cut him loose. Tai then confesses that he was worried that Jason would harm Mark the Chicken as a form of revenge.
Don’t put that into the universe, Tai.
Reward Challenge Time: The players will be tethered to a partner and race through obstacles while collecting rings. The first team to throw all of their rings onto a swinging hook will win a helicopter ride to a picnic.
Joe and Tai, Julia and Aubry, and Michele and Cydney are the pairs as chosen by a random drawing. Jason doesn’t get to play. I hate that. Let him bet on the winner or don’t hold challenges like this with an odd number of players left.
We start off and Michele and Cydney jump out to a early lead. They’re the first to get to the ring tossing portion. Eventually all of the teams get there.
Fun Fact: I did a tethered challenge in the Philippines. It helps to hold hands.
It comes down to Cydchele vs. JoeTai with one last ring… and Cydney hits the last shot to win it for her duo.
Probst lets Cydchele pick someone to join them. They choose Aubry.
We meet up with the ladies on their chopper ride and they’re having a good ol’ time. They arrive at an island and do a little chicken dance before going to town on some fried chicken.
Later, Michele makes some moves to try to distance herself from Julia. It seems like Cydney and Aubry trust her a lot more than Julia.
As soon as Michele goes away, Aubry and Cydney start talking strategy. Cydney doesn’t think they can beat Tai, so she wants to go to the end with Joe or Michele.
At Dara Beach, Julia and Jason are trying to figure out how to save themselves. Aww…Jason’s gotta be regretting all of that Tribal bragging now.
They come to the conclusion that Cydney is their best bet. They tell her that they will be writing down Tai’s name with Michele. So, he’ll either play the idol and Julia or Jason will go home or he won’t and the idol and Tai will be gone. That’s actually a pretty solid plan.
Immunity Challenge Time: The players will run into the water and climb over obstacles. When they get to a raft they’ll have to memorize numbers and symbols. They’ll race back to the beach and use the numbers to open a lock and retrieve a key that opens a chest that contains puzzle pieces. First person to complete their word-scramble puzzle wins immunity.
The Survivors are ready…and they go.
Jason jumps out to a big lead. Everyone meets him on the raft and they all stand and study.
Cydney is the first to head back and everyone quickly follows her.
They all get back to the beach and start working on the lock.
Michele smartly starts writing her numbers in the sand.
Julia and Jason each try a key. Jason’s is wrong, Julia’s is right!
Michele takes a turn…and her key is right too. Everyone else has to head back to the raft.
Well…everyone except for Joe who literally quits.
Julia and Michele go to work on the puzzle…and Michele is able to unscramble the word “blindsided.” Michele wins immunity. That was impressive.
Politicking around camp has Aubry and Co. debating between Julia and Jason. Cydney wants Jason gone because he did so well in the first part of the water challenge. However, Aubry points out that Julia did very well with balance and memorizing.
Aubry doesn’t think Jason can win at final three, but Julia totally could. Well, she’s not wrong.
The alliance (and Michele) decide to target Julia. Michele isn’t thrilled with this.
Michele wants to know who she should say they’re targeting when Jason and Julia ask. Cydney says she should act like they’re targeting Tai. This sets of Tai’s chickeny-sense. (Ya know…like if Spider-Man was a chicken. Moving on…)
Later on, Julia tells Michele that they should target Tai to flush his idol while Jason makes a similar pitch to Cydney.
Michele and Cydney won’t commit to which side they’re leaning toward.
That night at Tribal Council, Julia thinks the game is at a crucial point and Michele is the only person who is safe.
Jason says you have to weigh all your options because someone is always on the bottom of an alliance.
Tai reminds everyone that he has an idol and an advantage. He also thinks that turning on his alliance is jumping on a sinking ship. Oh…I like that.
Jason points out that Tai has flipped on two different alliances. Touche.
Michele knows that you have to make a move to be respected and that you have to follow your intuition.
Cyndey is open to a big move.
Tai is not comfortable with how Tribal is going. If you’re comfortable at Tribal, you’re not doing it right.
Voting Time: Jason votes for Tai, Aubry votes for Julia, and the rest of the votes are secret.
When JPro goes off to tally, Tai asks Aubry if he should play his idol. She says she thinks he’s safe.
Probst returns and asks if anyone wants to play an idol…and…nobody does.
We’ve got one vote for Tai, one vote for Julia, one vote for Tai, three votes for Julia, and the twelfth person eliminated from “Survivor: Kaôh Rōng is…Julia.
Verdict: I made fun of Michele earlier in this recap, but she had a reallllly strong episode. Well done.
Otherwise, tons of twists and turns led to an unsurprising vote. This season rocks.
Who’s Going to Win? Well, Joe’s got the resume with his big moves and immunity wins…wait…the opposite of that. Aubry’s gonna win.
Power Rankings Results: Shirin had Julia in spot seven, I had her in spot six. The current score is Team Shirin 97, Team Gordon 94.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: jeff probst, survivor, survivor kaoh rong
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