With Chrissy and Coach sent to Ponderosa in a doubly deadly double elimination twist, we’ve reached the final eleven, and now all eyes are on Rick Devens all over again, just like his Edge of Extinction days. His fake idol grab was flashy for sure and won’t hurt his chances with this jury, but such a bold, in-your-face move has only put a big target on his back as he’s knee deep in lies and burning people left and right. He will tell Emily the truth through (I’m sure she won’t leak this key information, right?), bringing her into the fold and unintentionally shredding her trust in him. He just bombed their entire alliance for no reason when they had a good position, and now she might be collateral damage.
But the rise of Rick with such a boneheaded move is great news for the likes of Cirie, Ozzy, and Rizo, who need huge targets in front of them. Stephenie, Jonathan, and Joe are on the outside after their alliance lost two numbers, but Steph is enraged and ready to fight back, cutting any throat she has to. And for someone like Aubry, who was already on the bottom and struggling to find allies, being attached to a sinking ship like Rick might be an albatross around her neck. So, looking for new relationships, she approaches Jonathan to be her surprise ride or die, swearing this is finally where her game heats up after promising the same thing every week since the swap with nothing to show for it.
And with all this shuffling going down, Cirie is in the middle of everything. She’s got alliances with almost the entire tribe now, giving her options galore and all the power in the world if she plays it right. Contrast that to Rick, who’s still at odds with Joe and refuses to believe any of what he’s selling. Joe wasn’t going to vote Rick and Aubry last night until the idol grab? Yeah, I don’t believe it either. Rick’s streak of losing allies isn’t over yet, because Christian and Emily are open to working with Jonathan instead if Devens already has one foot out the door. The guy doesn’t see the vision with how crafty Christian plays this game, but Christian offers him his Shot in the Dark as a sign of trust… and Jonathan wants to capitalize on what Ozzy didn’t: taking Christian’s die and backstabbing when he’s defenseless.
Christian assesses the overall situation, though. Jonathan and company aren’t exactly receptive at first glance, so that alliance might not pay off. But while everyone says Christian is the middle man, Christian calls it like it is: Ozzy is the true middle man, and his idol only makes him that much more powerful and cocky. Everyone should be down to take him out when he least expects it, right? Approaching Cirie with a plan to blindside him or Jonathan tonight royally backfires though. You don’t just go to the queen of the island and ask her to cut her loyal number one, who might just bring her to the end against all odds. You just don’t. And Cirie spins everything against Christian, warning Ozzy and Jonathan about the plan to set up an epic downfall for the David-turned-Goliath.
But nothing is guaranteed until the necklace is around someone’s neck, and this week’s challenge comes with a twist. Rice negotiation is back (RIP Angelina, gone too soon to see this day </3), but instead of forcing people to sit out for food, Jeff will compete in the challenge against four of the remaining players. If they can outlast the host himself, the rice is theirs. But if just one person in that four (Ozzy, Joe, Tiffany, and Jonathan) drops before him, no rice at all. And we can all thank Jimmy Fallon for this idea. Cool, I guess? Better than whatever Billie Eilish and Zac Brown were serving with their inclusions, at least. Up against four certified challenge beasts, Jeff doesn’t stand a chance, and the players get their rice as expected. After a battle of the beasts at the end, Joe wins this challenge for the second time in his career, beating out Ozzy without breaking much of a sweat.
With Joe’s win comes another twist: he has to send one person on a Journey. By the decree of rock-paper-scissors between eager Journey-goers because Joe doesn’t want to actually make a choice, Christian’s heading out to face the unknown, a prospect that terrifies Ozzy. If the king of the nerds gets some power, he could ruin this entire plan Cirie’s cooking up. Speaking of Cirie’s cooking, she’s down to cook a ton of rice to celebrate the new care package, and Emily starts bickering about rationing it. But just like you don’t tell the camp queen to vote out her number one, you don’t tell the queen how to cook the rice. “Take several seats,” she says. And if Emily keeps it up, one of those seats will be on the jury bench.
The rice rejuvenates the tribe and sparks an afternoon scramble with Rick in the crosshairs. But Jonathan’s done with Christian. He’s been throwing names out, might have an advantage, and may even give up his Shot in the Dark. Put Rick’s name out to flush the idol, but in reality, put the majority on Christian. Easy… as long as whatever Christian gets from his Journey doesn’t sink the plan. Waiting for him out at sea is the return of the Rachel LaMont Memorial Journey. His reward if he finishes the jigsaw puzzle in time? Jimmy Fallon’s new advantage, called One in the Urn, allowing him to cast an extra vote before Tribal. If he loses, though, he gets to take the walk of shame back to camp and read a letter of bad news to the entire tribe. Pretty tame all things considered. Now, you’d think puzzle god Christian Hubicki would destroy this puzzle in record time, given his track record. However, the time limit is just too strict to overcome, so the walk of shame it is! Rachel LaMont, Christian is not.
So… what’s the bad news he has to take back to camp? What kind of fresh hell has Jimmy Fallon unleashed upon us this week? Well, turns out Christian will still get to vote. So that’s nice. Unfortunately he can only vote for one person: himself. And because he’s forced to write his own name down, he can’t play his Shot in the Dark and hands it to Jonathan as a last resort. So the sharks start circling. Rick expects the votes might go on to Christian after all, and Emily is annoyed with both of them, so she goes to Cirie and Tiffany, looking for new alliances, by pitching Ozzy’s name to Cirie and Tiffany, two of Ozzy’s allies. Something something don’t ask the queen to… You know the drill by now.
Now Emily’s name is on the block. Tiffany wants her flip-flopping head on a stake. Cirie’s already fed up with Emily’s rice debates. Ozzy’s threatened by the new plan and has no issues with it. But Rizo pushes back, reminding everyone that Christian is a bigger threat and that he already has a guaranteed vote against him. So why make a personal vote over the strategic one? Between Rick, Christian, and Emily, the Cila nerd trio is finally taking a hit tonight. After lashing out at Jimmy Fallon in and out of the voting booth to Jeff’s utter shock, Christian becomes the first player in 50 seasons to literally vote themselves out. The votes were split with Rick and Ozzy, but it just wasn’t enough to dissuade the tribe from pouncing on the weakened target.
And so ends the story of the season’s biggest narrator, who leaves with a bigger legacy and a bigger family waiting for him back home. Not as much of a dignified, clean exit as last time given the Jimmy Fallon of it all (not that trusting Cirie wasn’t his true downfall here, Fallon be damned), but with Mr. Beast set to arrive with a Mr. Beast Super Beware Advantage at next week’s auction… Yeah, Christian got off easy compared to what might go down next Wednesday. So what’s in that case of his? A big bribe to eliminate yourself? A super idol with super risks attached? Aubry’s game that we still haven’t seen despite yet another wake-up call for her? After multiple people have been twist-screwed already, I seriously pray it’s the third option.
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