In the wake of Genevieve’s big move, the Lavo tribe is feeling the tension as Teeny’s clearly on the bottom, Rome’s pissed about them not telling him his name was even out there, and Genevieve has to play damage control between them all. But she’s quickly assumed the best position in the tribe, having working alliances across the board. She gave Sol a lifeline, told Rome when he was being targeted, and now tells Teeny they’re a solid duo who can pick which guy goes home next if they lose again. Nobody saw her coming, but she’s here to play and playing well.
The next morning brings a reward challenge with a new twist: all remaining players are randomly assigned to two seven-person teams for one challenge only. The winners will get a “Survivor Social Hour” which is basically a budget Mergatory feast featuring cornhole and bland hotdogs without any condiments or sides. It’s incredibly unimpressive as a viewer, and the cast doesn’t seem to be wowed either. Should’ve just done a swap, but god forbid there be less than three tribes with limited dynamics I guess.
Caroline, Kyle, Sue, Tiyana, Rachel, Sam, and Teeny pull off the win, sending the other team back to their original camps to stew all afternoon. And once the winners sit down with their food, information starts spreading as production intended. Teeny reveals they’re on the bottom and need help at the merge, Sam dispels more rumors of his showmance with Sierra running the tables on Gata, and Tiyana, for some reason, decides it’s the perfect time to throw Gabe under the bus… right in front of three other Tuku members including Gabe’s number one, Sue. Once the feast is over and everyone begins to chill, Caroline steps up and builds bonds with Rachel and Teeny, hoping for some form of a girls’ alliance come the merge.
Back at Lavo, Rome starts scrambling with Teeny away, hoping to solidify a relationship with Sol by revealing that Genevieve doesn’t see him as a long-term option, just a temporary number. Plus, he spills the beans about Teeny’s amulet, which Sol didn’t know about. Sol wakes up and realizes he’s not as safe as he thought. Feeling humbled by Rome’s info dump, he talks with Genevieve to clear the air. She got busted, but she’s quick to spin the situation against Rome, framing him as a sloppy, chaotic player who’s lying to all sides to boost his position. She wanted to work with Rome, but if he’s going to sell her out so soon after the last vote, he might need to go next. When Teeny returns, it’s music to their ears when Rome is obviously sliding down to the bottom to take their place.
Over on Gata, Andy, Sierra, and Anika struggle with their fishing gear as Sam and Rachel return to camp. Turns out the chickens are mostly useless dead weight so far, but the info they gained at the Social Hour was enlightening. Sam relays most of the information to the others, leaving out the part where Sam and Sierra got clocked as a power couple until he can confide in Sierra alone. As expected, Sierra’s pissed at the impending targets on their backs, and suddenly the Breadwinners has some actual appeal to it. She’s in the middle between the guys and the gals, so her vote would be the one to decide it.
On Tuku, Sue and Caroline beeline it to Gabe and throw Tiyana under the same bus she threw Gabe under, throwing the entire tribe for a loop. Gabe’s frustrated, Tiyana thinks she just played like a boss, and Sue and Caroline once again prove why they’re the real power players on Tuku, no matter how visible Gabe’s game is to the other tribes. But Caroline steps up again and wants Tuku to avoid a nuclear meltdown at the merge, so she asks Tiyana to come clean and apologize to Gabe. But when she attempts her apology, it falls on deaf ears as she mostly lies by omission, swearing she only told a couple of people about Gabe’s idol play when so much more was said to so many more people. Crisis: not averted.
At the immunity challenge, Gata brings in their three chickens and negotiates a trade for 18 eggs, wanting the immediate food with no maintenance as opposed to the bothersome pets that won’t be killed for food and aren’t making eggs anyway. But the Gatas end up with egg on their face when they lose immunity and their flint, meaning no cooking those eggs for the next couple days. And there’s already someone to blame: Andy, who struggled with the challenge and couldn’t figure out how to saw a rope. The few seconds spent on that disaster cost them the comeback win by a hair, but Andy’s confident about the relationships he’s built since the first Tribal. He might’ve been on the bottom at one point, but he might’ve clawed his way to safety after all.
As the pre-Tribal scramble begins, the dynamics become clear: it’s Anika or Andy going home. Anika can’t vote, but Andy’s such an easy target that she might not need to vote tonight. But Andy’s not floating around without a plan, and it boils down to collecting and spinning more of his precious data. Going to the women, he asks to be a free agent vote for any mastermind plans they’re cooking up, hoping to bait them into throwing a decoy name out. They play along, Sam’s name is brought up, and Andy gets exactly what he was looking for.
Does this actually mean anything though? Nope! For as much as Andy loves his sneaky plan, he’s got no actual power here. Sam and Sierra have the final say, and the debate offers solid logic for both options. Andy blew the challenge, so he deserves the boot hands down, but Anika’s been more annoying to live with and won’t work with them like Andy would. Anika is better for Sierra’s game, while Andy is better for Sam’s. But Sierra makes a good point: Sam has to play his idol tonight, and if Andy sticks around knowing Sam hid that from him all along, it would be way more awkward to deal with any drama Anika would cause.
But in a surprising twist, Sam holds onto his idol when the time comes, hinting at another option he figured out. Keep Andy… but pretend he never had the idol so he doesn’t have to hurt any feelings. He gets a solid ally, a dead idol he can bluff with at the merge if need be, and he sends his rival home in one move. Anika is shocked beyond belief, her jaw hanging on the floor as she confronts the trio who sent her packing. In a pre-merge of brutal blindsides, we just hit another level of brutal as Anika leaves in tears, refusing to wish her tribe even a bit of luck for the future.
Speaking of the future, Earn the Merge awaits! We’ve got a fairly even split of tribes, each divided with top dogs looking to expand their power and underdogs looking to claim some of their own. In a season of ever-shifting dynamics, will this be the end of Sam and Sierra’s fauxmance power couple? Will Tiyana’s anti-Gabe campaign spell his doom or hers? Will Rachel abandon the tribe that just left her out of the loop in favor of Caroline’s offer? Will Rome get on even more nerves at the merge? So many questions to answer, and hopefully next week’s merge can keep the blindside train on the rails with another banger episode.
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