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‘Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers’ (CBS)

QUICK NOTE: XFINITY.com is the place to be for all of your bug-eatin’, back-stabbin’, “Survivor” coverage. During the season we’ll have insightful weekly Power Rankings with Aubry Bracco, exit interviews, and full episode recaps. Follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute updates.

Last Week: The Power Couple Alan should’ve been worrying about was Joe and his idol.

39 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog

Alright, let’s take a closer look at these tribes…

The Levu Tribe – Wearing Blue
Ashley, 26 – Lifeguard
Desiree, 27 – Physical Therapist
Devon, 23 – Surf Instructor
Joe, 34 – Probation Officer

The Soko Tribe – Wearing Yellow
Ali, 24 – Celebrity Assistant
Chrissy, 46 – Financial Analyst
JP, 28 – Firefighter
Roark, 27 – Social Worker
Ryan, 23 – Bellhop

The Yawa Tribe – Wearing Red
Ben, 34 – Marine
Cole, 24 – Wilderness Survival Guide
Jessica, 29 – Nurse Practitioner
Lauren, 35 – Fisherman
Mike, 43 – Urologist

Post-Tribal Shenanigans

Ashley tells Joe that she knew he was crazy, but she didn’t know he was crazy and smart. He admits to being both. Well, they’re at least half right.

Reward Challenge Time: Players will have to slither through the sand, while pushing a ball with their head. From there, one player will have to shoot the balls into a basket. The first tribe to score five shots will win iced coffee and pastries. The second-place tribe just gets iced coffee.

Fun Fact: “Survivor” production iced coffee is my favorite thing.

Another Fun Fact: During this challenge, Jeff Probst made five references to the song I wrote called, “Come On In, Guys.” Did you catch them all?

Sitting Out: Chrissy and Lauren.

Result: Levu takes first place because Desi is amazing at pretending to be a snake. Soko takes third place because Ryan is terrible at pretending to be a snake. He’d push the ball up a hill and then he’d lose it and it’d roll back down. He was like an adorable little Sisyphus.

At Yawa Beach

There’s a really unfortunate incident where Ben’s PTSD is triggered off by the popping sounds made by bamboo in the fire. He takes some time for himself and it seems like his tribe is very supportive.

Lauren is not a fan of Cole’s eating habits, which helps continue her streak of being annoyed by young guys. At least her bias isn’t completely ginger-based.

Also, it’s good for my ego that Cole isn’t friggin’ perfect.

In other news, Mike manages to find the Yawa idol based on what Cole had told him about the Soko clue. He shares this info with Jessica…and hopefully just her.

At Levu Beach

Devon pledges his allegiance to Ashley. He also wants to target Joe because he’s the “strongest player I’ve met here.” Wait, he was on a tribe with Ali and Ryan and never met them? Weird.

At Soko Beach

Roark and Ali are already planning for the post-merge with a potential alliance that includes Desi, Cole, Mike, Jessica, and Ryan. They set a boot list that involves voting out Chrissy first, and JP next. THE ALI-ANCE!

Ryan tells Ali that he’s into this plan, but he tells us that he’d like to keep Chrissy around.

Immunity Challenge Time: The teams will swim out to a boat and retrieve three bags of rice. They’ll return the bags to the shore and open them to find three balls. The first two tribes to get all three balls through a vertical pulley puzzle will win immunity

Sitting Out: Ryan and Mike

Result: Yawa wins first place, Levu takes second, and Chrissy is not great at vertical pulley puzzles.

Pre-Tribal Politicking

Chrissy knows she’s in big trouble, so she approaches Roark about working together. This rubs Roark the wrong way because they had never spoken about strategy before.

Chrissy pitches an all-girl alliance as a way to get Roark in trouble. Interesting… It’s Chrissy’s hope that JP will do whatever she wants if he thinks he’s on the chopping block.

Wait, who’s JP?

Sure enough, a single mention of an all-female alliance is all it takes to get JP on Chrissy’s side.

Meanwhile, Ali wants to work with Roark because she’s much better at challenges.

This leaves us with Ryan as the swing vote.

Tribal Time

The debate starts off with a look at Chrissy’s challenge performance. Roark is upset that Chrissy wouldn’t tag out. Chrissy claims that she tried to.

Roark is also annoyed that Chrissy only started talking strategy with her on the day that she needed her vote.

And in a weird moment, Probst asks Roark if she feels more comfortable or less comfortable since the start of Tribal. She asks if she can be the same level of comfort. Probst allows it.

Voting Time: We’ve got one vote for Chrissy, one vote for Roark, one vote for Chrissy, one vote for Roark, and the fifth person voted out of “Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers” is…Roark.

Verdict: Wow…What is Ryan thinking taking Chrissy’s side over Ali? Does he think Ali is too likable to take to the end? There’s got to be more to that.

Also, I hate to see Roark go so quickly. She seemed to have a ton of potential. But “Survivor” casting is like popcorn, some pop…some don’t.

	Mike – Urine a great position with an idol in your pocket and Jessica on your side. And for that, I’m ranking you number one!
	Chrissy – Your back was against the wall and you orchestrated something to get JP’s vote. Well done. Jessica – This is like you’re third “Survivor” secret and it seems like you’re learning from your mistakes, no matter how hunky they are.
	Ryan – I think you were in a no-win position this week. Losing JP would have been a disaster challenge-wise and there was no way to get Chrissy and Ali to work together.
	Devon – Wanting to get rid of Joe is a good thing, but a two-two tie is not. Your goal now should be getting to the merge, and if Ashley has to go to make that happen, so be it. Lauren – It seems like you’re easily annoyed. I hope you’re not sharing that info with the wrong people. JP – Man, you bought Chrissy’s story hook, line, and sinker.
	Ali – Oh…oh Ali. I have to think Ryan is somehow threatened by you to take Chrissy’s side. Cole – You’ve got to be more aware of how people perceive you, dude.
	Desi, Joe, Ben, Ashley – I can’t give you full credit if you don’t show your work.

Power Rankings Results: Aubry Bracco had Roark in spot 8, I had her in spot 14. The current score is Team Bracco 42, Team Holmes 51.

Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes

Tags: survivor, survivor heroes vs. healers vs. hustlers

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