After Brooke’s elimination in the previous episode, it’s looking bleak for Keeley and Jackson, the remaining members of the Kaput alliance. All they can hope for is that the so-called Underdogs start to cannibalise each other, paving a way for them to survive and make it to the final two.
Initially, it seems like that might be what’s happening. As the final tribal approaches, the Underdogs are thinking about pitching their case to the jury. After weeks of resume and big moves talk, Loz and Sally, especially, are realising they need something significant to hang their hats on. If they stick with the numbers and pick off Keeley and Jackson, will they have anything to claim in front of a jury hungry for big-time gameplay?
Before anything can be settled, there is an immunity challenge to get to, and it’s another balance-orientated showdown. This time, the wind proves to be the biggest factor, knocking down blocks with no care for who it impacts. In the end, it’s Jackson who stacks his blocks first, claiming his first immunity necklace of the season and guaranteeing his spot in the final four.
With Jackson safe, Keeley is in major trouble. Everyone knows she’s a threat and has the type of resume others dream of. Her game has been so impressive that she was effectively considered an honorary returnee. So, while Jackson might want her around as his sole ally, for Caleb, Loz, and Sally, it doesn’t make a great deal of sense to keep Keeley in the game.
Caleb is the most steadfast when it comes to taking out Killer Keeley. He’s on a high after taking out all four returnees, and now he wants the next best thing. For him, the plan is simple: dump all three votes on Keeley and send her to the jury. However, it’s not so simple for Sally and Loz. Caleb is a much more vocal player, and he has public credit for being the catalyst in the Mark vote-off. So he at least has something to pitch to a jury.
For Loz, she worries that she’ll be seen as a follower. And so, is now the time to make a move she can claim as her own? She chats with Sally and floats the idea of blindsiding Caleb. It’s a little out of nowhere, especially given how close Loz and Caleb have got recently, but it’s probably the only blindside on the table that Loz could actually claim.
Loz takes the idea to Jackson and Keeley, and they’re keen, especially if it keeps Keeley’s name off the chopping block. Loz pitches it to Keeley and Sally as a women’s alliance, with the hope being all three ladies in the final three. But, as Keeley says, it’s a little too late, and it’s hard to buy such a plan at this stage of the game.
Instead, Jackson and Keeley let Caleb know that Loz is throwing Caleb’s name around. Caleb then brings this up to Loz, and for a moment, it seems the cannibalisation is happening. With Loz now a potential target, Jackson and Keeley celebrate the breakdown of the underdogs, but both acknowledge there is still a strong chance Keeley ends up being voted out.
Sally, meanwhile, is looking for a big move of her own. She has half an idol, which Keeley and Jackson mistakenly believe Caleb has, and she’s desperate for the other half. Keeley snagged the other half from Brookie’s trackies, but she’s keeping schtum about it. Still, she lets it be known that she’d love it if someone put those two halves together and saved her.
As tribal looms, Sally realizes she’s in the swing position. She’s spent every day of the game with Keeley, from their original Barren tribe to Redemption to the swap and so on. Even though they haven’t always worked together, there is an emotional connection, and she can’t deny the powerful narrative of both of them sitting together at the end. But is it time to put emotion aside and think logically?
At tribal, Caleb pulls Sally to the side to check if she’s still sticking with the Keeley plan. A panicked Loz also gets up to see what’s happening. Amidst all this, Keeley realises there is only one person they could be talking about, as Jackson is wearing the necklace. She makes a quip about needing an idol, and that’s when Sally reveals her half idol and how much she’d love to find its mate.
Keeley then pulls Sally aside for a chat, tells her she has the other half, and asks if she can have the full idol. Sally counters, suggesting Keeley give her her half and she’ll play the idol for Keeley. Of course, this turns out to be a bluff. It’s the move Sally previously wanted to make on Brooke but failed to pull off. But here, she succeeds, getting Keeley to hand over her half, then making a showy performance of NOT playing the idol, thereby sealing Keeley’s fate.
Loz cops two votes from Keeley and Jackson, but the Underdogs stick together, sending Keeley to the jury with three votes. And so we lose another major player just before the end, making it anyone’s game heading into the last episodes.
As for Keeley, she proved to be one of the best newbie players in recent times and has surely guaranteed a callback in the next returnee season. As for where it went wrong, it seems she and Brooke made the same mistake and paid the price. Both had the chance to force a rock draw when they had the safety of the immunity necklace, but instead they flipped on an ally (Brooke on Simon, Keeley on Brooke), leaving themselves as the biggest target in the game.
And so, we’re down to the final four: Caleb, Jackson, Loz, and Sally. Not the final group I was expecting a few weeks ago, I’ll say that! Will the Underdogs ride it to the end? Or can Jackson make a run to the final tribal as the last Kaput standing?
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