The ChallengeAs they got to the challenge area, Katie, Mick and Aras were happy to see that Jenna, Dreamz and Greg, their “allies” from the other side, had made it through another cycle. Katie and Jenna being at the front of the line had a chance to exchange a few words without others hearing.
Katie: “Glad to see ya!”
Jenna: “We’re fine. How about you?”
Katier: “Tough to tell but I think we’re OK.”
Jenna: “Funny that they let us talk this time, isn’t it”
Katie: “We figured that since all their twists including One World have failed to produce a cross-tribal alliance, this is their best chance!”
Jenna: “Good for us! See you at the merge!”
Only after that did they hear Jeff saying: “Come on in guys!”
For the television audience, he added: “The Nachos getting their first look at the new Doritos: Chase and Sophie voted out at the last Tribal Council.”
None of the Nachos were surprised but the editors would be able to insert a shocked look from a few of the Nachos. Reality? Burnett himself always called it unscripted drama for a reason.
Jeff went on: “This challenge is for both reward and immunity and here’s how it works: Soccer is the most popular sport in Greece and since we are right in the middle of the Euro 2012, we will be playing with a soccer ball. Don’t worry, we won’t embarass you by making you play a game mostly because our American audience can’t stand soccer. What you will have to do is to designate 2 women and 2 men on each side to kick the ball as far as they can. We will add the distance of each kick and the tribe with the most distance wins. Want to know what you are playing for?”
“Yes” said everyone except Greg who said: “We know: The third reward is always a tarp.”
Jeff gave Greg the look but then he smiled, knowing that editing would have the final say and could erase Greg’s remark.
So, unphased, one-take-Jeff went on: “A tarp: Something that will dramatically improve your shelter and make life easier.”
Greg wasn’t deterred either so he added: “Give us a fully-stocked bar. Now that will improve our shelter!”
The tribes were given time to decide the order of kickers. Only the order because Jeff told each tribe who would be competing, something the audience wouldn’t see.
The first one to kick the ball for the Doritos was Natalie and she had a good hit, the ball winding up 47 yards down the field.
Then came Katie for the Nachos, a selection that had been imposed by Jeff who remembered Palau. Indeed, Katie whiffed, getting the ball to roll only 6 yards.
Becky, who had played soccer when she was young, took a long run at the ball and got it to travel 48 yards.
Kelly was next and she was still a great challenge player. She kicked the ball 51 yards down the field, putting the Nachos back in it.
The guys were up next and Dreamz didn’t let his tribe down, the ball stopping on the 48 yard mark.
Aras tried to duplicate that kick and did well even if his ball stopped after 46 yards.
Greg was the last to kick for the Doritos and he pictured Jeff’s face on that ball, sending it 52 yards across the grounds.
The last hope for the Nachos was Earl and he needed something like 90 yards to win it. But Earl still had a problem with his knee and his ball traveled only 11 yards.
Jeff raised his arms and yelled: “Doritos win Immunity and Reward!”
He handed the immunity idol to Greg and told them to pick up their tarp and head back to camp to set it up.
Jeff then turned to the Nachos, happy to say: “All you get out of this is a date with me at Tribal Council. Head back to camp and decide which two players will be going home.”
Doritos Camp
For once, the tribe could relax so they quickly threw the tarp over their shelter and made their way to the beach.
Natalie had a confessional: “Wow, our tribe finally won! I'm safe for sure. This was starting to feel a lot like Samoa, losing one challenge after the other and while Samoa turned out alright, I’d rather have it easier this time around. Now I have 3 days to get into the main alliance. I hope it isn’t too late.”
Day 9
The Nachos weren’t in their usual good mood but no one was panicking either.
Mike had the first confessional: “Hells bells, our tribe lost. Thought for sure we had that in the bag. Nachos lost and I'm bummin'. I dont want to get voted out. My name hasn't come up. This game is a lot of fun and I'm really enjoying it. Now if I could just figure out how to win and who to trust.”
Chris: “I really haven’t been able to weasel my way into the tribe’s main alliance. No one trusts me because they all saw me running the show in Vanuatu. It’s tough when no one gives you a chance. The alliance was set on day 1 and I just didn’t happen to be there when it formed. That’s the game sometimes.”
Aras : “My alliance wants to eliminate Chris and Kelly but we all saw that Kelly was a good competitor. Neleh has done nothing up to now so I think I’ll try to change the vote her way.
Ian also had a confessional: “The more I play the game, the more I feel like I'm losing control of my alliance. It's so frustrating to know that even with all the things I've been doing to try and gain control, the more I feel like I can't trust my alliance. It's still early into the game, though. I know things can still change. I just hope I end up on the right side of the numbers at the merge.”
The camera showed us Mike, Ian, Aras, Danni, Earl, Katie and Mick talking about their options. They had the numbers to decide the outcome but somehow they couldn’t agree. They knew Sandra would vote with them because she really didn’t care who would go but they couldn’t decide between the other 3.
As the tribe started heading off to meet Jeff, we heard Mike’s voice: “Well, off to tribal I suppose. I am not too worried. I mean, I don't think I'm 100% safe, but I don't expect to be voted out. Well, really, who ever does? Let me say it this way, I HOPE I won't be voted out. I won't be going into tribal cocky unless I have immunity. So right now, I am worried, but remain optimistic that I won't get voted out. I think that there is deadweight on this tribe. I'm hoping that we've managed to steer the votes to others....Neleh and Chris. That's what I'm hoping.”
Tribal Council
Jeff greeted the tribe to its first Council, told them to take a torch, to light it and then take their seat.
He started by saying: “Things were going so well for this tribe but then you got kicked in the ass today! What happened?”
The tribe wanted to say that the outcome of the challenge had been decided in advance but they knew it was pointless so Earl simply said: “It wasn’t our day.”
Jeff turned to Earl and pointedly said: “You were really bad today. Worried that it can cost you the game?”
Earl: “I only received 1 vote the whole time I was in Fiji but I was always worried. The same goes here but I have people that I trust.”
Jeff: “Will this vote be about keeping the tribe strong or be about keeping an alliance strong?”
Katie: “It’s always about the alliance, Jeff. I mean, I stepped up today because it was my turn to compete and I was terrible but that isn’t what the game is about. Survivor is about trust, not about kicking a ball.”
Jeff saw an opening: “Trust is fine and everything but if you keep coming back here, it won’t matter who you trust because there will be no one left to trust.”
Chris saw what Jeff was doing but he had given up: “It’s useless Jeff. They made up their minds and they still have the advantage over the Doritos. Katie should be voted out but they like her.”
So, it’s you that’s going?” Jeff could hardly contain his joy, knowing he would finally get to snuff Chris’ torch.
“Pretty much,” answered Chris. “The only question is whether Kelly, Neleh or Sandra will be joining me.”
Jeff turned to Sandra: “Is that true?”
Sandra grimaced and simply stated: “Chris doesn’t know sh*t. He’s been out of the loop since day 1. All I’ll say is that it won’t be me.”
Jeff gave Neleh and Kelly a chance to defend themselves but the only thing Kelly could offer was her performance in the last challenge.
Jeff decided it was time to vote so we saw the Survivors heading to the voting booth:
The camera showed us Neleh voting against Chris and Kelly.
We saw that Chris voted against Mick and Mike.
The third vote revealed was Kelly voting for Neleh and Chris: “Chris: I never figured out how you made it to the end your first time; you had to have worked some kind of voodoo on those women.”
Jeff read the votes:
Neleh and Chris
Mick and Mike
Neleh and Chris
Kelly and Chris.
Mick and Aras
Chris and Kelly
Neleh and Chris
Chris and Kelly
Kelly and Chris
Neleh and Chris.
Neleh and Kelly
“Chris, you have to bring me your torch…Chris, the tribe has spoken. Now, for the second elimination, we have a tie between Neleh and Kelly so we will have a revote…”
Viewers at home turned to the clock, realizing the hour was almost over so how could they show the...
To Be Continued…