More Whatnot

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: Lauren splintered the Round Table with the cunning of a cat, Ryan was convinced to play his idol by a spy in a brown hat, and JP was voted out and things of that nature…

39 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog

Alright, let’s take a closer look at the tribe…

The Solewa Tribe – Wearing Purple
Ashley, 26 – Lifeguard
Ben, 34 – Marine*
Chrissy, 46 – Financial Analyst
Devon, 23 – Surf Instructor
Lauren, 35 – Fisherman
Mike, 43 – Urologist
Ryan, 23 – Bellhop

*Has an Immunity Idol

Post-Tribal Shenanigans

We start off with tons of fireworks coming off of Ben’s double agent-ism. Chrissy is sick of being made to look like a fool by someone she used to consider her closest ally. The two battle back and forth with Ben doing a terrible job of explaining himself to a potential future jury member. At one point she even calls him a jerk and swears to get revenge on him.

Yikes.

I think there’s a way to make a move like that and to own it as gameplay. Ben went another route.

Reward Challenge Time

Before we get to the reward…it’s family visit time!

(Notgonnacry…Notgonnacry…Notgonnacry)

First up, Ashley greets her father. At one point Probst points out that “This really is a father/daughter connection.” Well…yeah.

Ryan’s father is out next. And man, it must be hard to see your son looking so skinny. Ryan is beyond excited because they’re both “Survivor” fans and he promised he’d get him to the family visit.

Next up we get to meet Mike’s wife. And…they…are…adorable. Mike claims that they have one of the greatest loves of all time. I won’t debate that.

Whew…no tears yet.

Lauren’s sister comes out next and hugs Probst first! Hilarious! Probst claims this is the first time he’s gotten love in 35 seasons. What about Sarah Dawson?!

Apparently Lauren’s sister is a huge “Survivor” fan and convinced Lauren to go to a casting call. Thank you, Lauren’s sister.

Chrissy’s husband joins us and she just wraps herself around him. She tells Probst that the game has changed her and when she gets home she’s going to focus less on her job and more on her family.

It’s getting dusty in here…

Devon completely breaks down as his mom comes out. And…that’s all I can stand. Devon wins the “Make Gordon Cry Award.” Jerk.

Finally we get to meet Ben’s lovely wife. She tells Jeff that there’s a huge hole in her life with Ben gone.

Ugh…shake it off, Gordon. There’s recappin’ to be done.

Fun Fact: My wife asked who’d I’d want for my family visit. I immediately said, “You, but we’d have to discuss my lies in advance.”

The Challenge: The players and their loved ones will pull rocks out of a bag. If the rocks they pull match, they get to stay. If they pull mismatched rocks, they’re eliminated. The last couple to match rocks wins a barbecue.

Wait…that’s it? Pulling rocks? Was this challenge designed just to anger Jessica Lewis?

Result: Ben and his wife and Chrissy and her husband are the only pairs to advance to the second round where Chrissy and her husband pull off the win. Chrissy decides to invite Ryan, Mike, Ashley, and their loved ones on the reward.

Flipping Burgers and Flipping Alliances?

At the barbecue, Chrissy makes a push to get Ashley to join her side and send Ben packing. And she has a strong case too, as Ben, Devon, and Lauren will probably all beat Ashley at the final Tribal Council.

Idol Hands

Back at camp, Ben fashions himself a very respectable fake idol. It’s not Runaround Bob-level, but it’s a reasonable facsimile.

The three left-behind players go for an idol hunt and Lauren finds one half of the idol. Apparently the second half will be placed in front of her stand at the immunity challenge. She shares this information with Ben and Devon.

Immunity Challenge Time: The players will stand still while pressing discs against a platform. A player is eliminated when their discs fall. The last person standing wins immunity.

This challenge forces you to stay in a really awkward position. In fact…

I’m not proud of that.

In other news, the other half of Lauren’s idol is just a seashell. It won’t be suspicious at all if she picks it up. Shouldn’t it be a medallion or something so it’ll be risky for her to pick it up?

Sure enough, she drops out and pockets the shell. Nobody seems to think twice about it.

Result: It comes down to Ashley and Devon, with Devon agreeing to step down in exchange for a shoulder massage. Ashley wins immunity.

Pre-Tribal Politicking

Uh oh…Ben catches Ashley, Devon, and Lauren throwing his name around the water well. He immediately shakes things up by going to Mike and Ryan and telling them about Lauren’s idol and her voting advantage.

Everything is going smoothly until Ben tries to get Chrissy on board. She’s been burned by Ben twice and isn’t looking forward to seeing the three-quel.

Chrissy won’t commit to the plan, so Mike tells Ashley about Ben’s manuevers. Ashley, of course, shares this with Devon and Lauren.

THEN in a ploy to get Mike to trust her, Lauren gives Mike the shell that makes up half of her immunity idol.

That…uh…that was…brave? Is “brave” the word? Is “insane” better?

Tribal Time

Fun Fact: For some reason the jury is all wearing blue, sleeveless shirts.

To kick things off, Devon says stepping down from the challenge was his way of showing trust to his alliance of Lauren and Ashley.

Ben wonders why he wasn’t included in that list.

Then it gets worse.

Lauren calls out Ben for outing her idol.

Ben calls out Lauren for throwing his name around the well.

Lauren claims that she did not bring her vote advantage to Tribal.

Mike then throws half of Lauren’s idol into the fire.

WHAT THE WHAT?!

Then the whispering starts. Mike and Ryan tell each other to stick to the Lauren vote. Then Devon gets up and tells them to vote for Ben because he’s targeting everyone.

Voting Time: Before the votes are read, Ben plays an idol for himself. We’ve got six votes for Ben and the twelfth person voted out of “Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers” and the fifth member of the jury is…Lauren.

Verdict: What a mess. Devon and Ashley manage to flip the entire tribe and still fail. Meanwhile, Ben is a marked man and I assume they’re going to place a new idol next week.

Great episode.

And all Lauren has to show for it is a string.

	Ryan – I don’t know if anybody gets a good grade in an episode where six of the votes were voided. Ryan, you’re highest on this list because you have the least amount of heat on you.
	Devon – Everybody likes you, but nobody seems threatened by you. You lost tonight, but you still managed to flip everyone back to your side.
	Ashley – Didn’t you learn your lesson about Power Couples earlier this season? After they target Ben, they’re going to come for you and Devon.
	Ben – It’s hard to give you this terrible grade after the way you saved yourself. But, the fact remains that you’re going to need idols or immunity wins to get much further in this game. Mike – That idol toss was classic, buddy. However, I don’t think you can win, unless there’s a final two and you get to the end with…
	Chrissy – I can’t think of a single realistic scenario that results in you winning this game. If you get a second shot, you’ve got to learn how to keep jurors on your side.

Power Rankings Results: Aubry Bracco had Lauren in spot three, I had her in spot two. The current score is Team Bracco 97, Team Holmes 105.

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

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

This entry was posted on December 6, 2017 at 9:02 pm and is filed under RealityTV, survivor, TV News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.