This time on Survivor… Everything is pretty calm with the Ikabula tribe. Jay is very happy with his big move to get Michaela’s torch stuffed, pretty proud of himself, he is, but Hannah wants revenge. She’s cool about it, she tells everyone she would have voted Michaela with them; the others say they didn’t want her to get her hands dirty. Later, alone with Jay, Hannah tells him that she’s not afraid to get blood on her hands; she wants to know where the votes are headed. Hannah also reminds Jay that they have to trust each other, but like I said – Hannah wants revenge. The next morning, a boat arrives and it’s time for the MERGE! Everyone is excited, Brett is hoping he can still trust Will and Jay, but he’s got Chris waiting for him. At Takali, Adam is thrilled to have made the Merge and he hopes he can stay with the group that has the numbers. So, we’ve got Takali and Ikabula headed for the Vanua camp and the boats meet each other on the way; when Vanua sees, and hears the boats, they rally to the beach to welcome the other tribes. Zeke is also totally thrilled to have made the Merge, but he has no idea what to expect because who knows what kind of connections others have made. Michelle is very happy to be back with Jay and Taylor because those are the relationships she can work with to get to the end. And it’s FEAST time and they have wine! Jay feels very cozy right now. He’s got Taylor and Michelle back, but he also has Will, Hannah, Bret, and Sunday, and oh yeah – he’s got that idol in his back pocket too. Jay fancies himself the kingpin and he’s so happy that no one realizes it….
During the feast, it becomes apparent to Bret that the Millennials have gravitated towards each other and he’s worried about the numbers they have. He and Chris walk off into the jungle talking about their situation. Chris is nervous about the numbers as well; he mentions that he is good with David, and Zeke, and he wants Bret and Sunday to join up with him now. Elsewhere, Zeke has regrouped with his nerd voting block: Adam and Hannah. He feels sooo good about the three of them working together since they collectively have intel from all three of the tribes. Hannah lets the boys know how the whole Michaela vote went down and Zeke correctly guesses that Jay was the mastermind of the plan. Zeke is very threatened by Jay anyway since he’s just so dang charming, even the guys can be pulled in by his tractor beam eyes and sparkling smile. And it’s the potential Bro-lliance that worries Zeke the most… Later, we find out that the merged tribe name is Vinaka, and Adam is less focused on the meal and more focused on finding another Immunity idol because there is almost ALWAYS a new Idol in play after the merge. So, Adam winds up at tree mail and takes a gander up into the canopy of the roof that covers it and guess what! There is a rolled-up piece of parchment up there! There is no Idol, but what Adam has found is a great advantage – He can steal a reward from a person or a group and he can choose who to take with him. Adam feels very honored to a part of this Survivor First and paired with his Idol, Adam now has a lot of perks in this game.
In the middle of the night, Taylor wakes up and has the bright idea to pull a classic Survivor “move” by using one of the mason jars in the feast crates to make himself a secret food stash. And Taylor is not being very stealthy with his plot because Bret wakes up, sees what he’s doing, then decides to go back to bed because HE doesn’t wanna be THAT GUY right now. Adam also wakes up and watches Taylor scamper out of camp with his jar of goodies. Adam is NOT afraid to be “that guy”, though, and he follows Taylor out of camp to do a little late night strategizing. Sure, they are an unlikely pair because of the whole Adam voting out Figgy thing, but he’s hoping to convince Taylor to vote his way. So what does Adam do? He appeals to Taylor’s logic by sharing that Will is Jay’s right hand man right now, but if they get rid of Will, Taylor will be back in that position with Jay. In the moment, Taylor plays it cool, but alone to the camera, he is astounded that Adam thinks they can work together. He has NO intention of working with Adam, but he’s okay with Adam thinking that they are a pair. Back on the beach in the moment, Adam decides to try to build a little trust with Taylor by letting him know about the Reward-Stealing advantage he found. Taylor is happy to have the information, can’t believe Adam is just spilling all this tea so easily, and he can’t wait to blindside him to get a little Survivor revenge… But he still plays it cool with Adam as he buries his secret stash of food and heads back to camp.
The next morning, Sunday, Bret, Ken, and Chris are sitting on a log; Sunday suggests they eat one of the small watermelons for breakfast. Bret says that’s a great idea as long as SOMEONE didn’t eat it in the middle of the night. Ken also noticed that some food was missing and they all agree that those Millennials are a lot tighter than they first thought; they have to get one of them out asap. Do they have the numbers, though? Chris counts it out with Bret and Sunday, with David and Zeke they have five, and with Ken and Jess they have seven. And everyone is pissed at Taylor… Elsewhere, Ken is talking to David, Jess, and Zeke about Taylor and how dangerous he, Jay, Michelle, and Will are together. The four of them agree, definitely, they need to target Taylor. Alone, David thinks it’s soooooo early, even though Taylor is a good vote, it’s still sooo early. Everyone wants to carve their path to the end, people are going to scramble and start to feel unsure; this is where things get crazy. Elsewhere, later in the day, Jay and Taylor are talking about how the Gen Xers are definitely going to target one of them and they are hoping they can flip one of the Gen X people to vote with them. Taylor asks Jay about Will – he says Will is good – then he asks how tight-lipped he can be… Of course, Taylor can trust Jay so Taylor tells him that Adam is gunning for Will, eventually he will point the scope at Jay, and the guys decide to blindside Adam first chance they get as long as they can get Will on board, buuut… Zeke walks into the scene and from a short distance, over hears this part of the conversation. He’s more determined than ever to get his nerd alliance together, which includes Adam, so exits the scene quietly… So, Taylor finds Will and tells him that Adam is targeting him and Will is very determined himself now – to win Immunity.
Come on in, guys! It’s time for Immunity… After Jeff reveals the Immunity necklace, he explains the challenge. It’s a new version of a classic Survivor endurance comp. Players will stand on a narrow perch while both hands are tethered to a bucket of water above them; they must hold onto a bar above their heads last one standing wins Immunity. Once everyone is in place, the challenge begins. Before the first time stamp, Sunday is out, followed by Chris then Bret. At the ten-minute mark, Jay, Ken, and Hannah begin to feel pain of this challenge. Jay drops followed immediately by Zeke and David is starting to show some signs of struggle, but he says he’s good, so does Jessica. Hannah says SHE will tell Jeff the truth – she feels it everywhere. Then Ken’s bucket tips and he joins the others on the bench. Hannah isn’t far behind him. So, it’s down to Taylor, Adam, David, Jess, Michelle, and Will. At the twenty-minute mark, everyone has on their game faces. Michelle is next to fall, followed by Taylor then David and Adam leaving Jess and Will to duke it out to the end. They ask each other how they are doing – they are both doing just fine. lol After one hour, Jessica knows her kids are gonna be damn proud of their mom, Will talks about his mom, and Dave and Adam agree that this could go another hour. At the one hour and thirty-minute time stamp, Jeff drones on about how the Survivors are feeling, then people start to notice Jess’ legs are wobbling and she struggling with her fingers on the bar, Will teeters a little, but Jess is the one to drop. Will wins the first Individual Immunity. And as he helps Jess with her wrist cuffs, he says he knew he needed it… Adam is piiissed…
Back at camp, Jay, Taylor, Michelle, Hannah, and Will are talking and Jay and Taylor are pushing for Adam, even though he’s a Millennial, he was gunning for Will. Michelle isn’t so sure that Adam would even have the numbers to do it so Jay asks Will how he feels – he says it’s uncomfortable, but they gotta vote Adam. Michelle isn’t so sure that this is a good move, it’s personal, not strategic, but the guys seem pretty determined. At the water well, Zeke tells Adam, Jess is there too, that Taylor told Jay about Adam’s plan to vote out Will. Adam isn’t pleased, he knows he was playing too hard, but now he has to sprint and he’s willing to work with anyone on the tribe that will work with him. Zeke thinks they have they have the numbers to put Taylor’s torch under Jeff’s snuffer and later, they talk to Chris, Dave, and Ken about this plan. Idols are brought up and Adam confirms that Jay has an Idol for the rest of the guys. Dave thinks is best to target Michelle, the guys won’t see it coming, they doubt Michelle has an Idol, and it guarantees that one of that group is out of the game. Ken still thinks they should target Taylor and Adam is frustrated. He needs everyone to be on the same page or he just might have to see if he can get Taylor to target someone else. Later, Adam talks with Taylor on the beach. It’s a futile attempt by Adam to convince Taylor that he wants to work with him because Taylor is 100% out for revenge and will not budge. Dave and Hannah watch this conversation from a distance and it makes them both a little nervous about Adam. They were going to save him, buuut… Later, Hannah talks to Adam alone. She urges him to not freak out too much, she’s going to check in with everyone, but stuff like him talking alone with Taylor is going to make everyone second guess their decision to help him stay in the game. After this, Hannah and Zeke talk privately about Adam being a horrible team mate, Zeke says he’s not trustworthy and they definitely need to target him, eventually, buuut… Maybe they should just vote him out now. Before they leave for their date with Jeff, Adam talks to us about how nervous he is; sure, he has his Idol and he could play it, but if he has the numbers on his side, it’s a burned Idol. He has no idea what to do…
Time for Tribal! Jeff asks Dave about differences between the Millennials and the Gen Xers, he says he thinks the Mills eat more aaand Taylor stealing food is brought into the conversation. Everyone knows it was him, he wasn’t shy about it, he doesn’t think he was really stealing anything, his stomach was mess up, but after a quick poll of players, Jeff tells him that EVERYONE is hungry. Taylor admits that he knows, but his stomach was really messed up and after a prompt from Jeff, he says yeah, I was having a medical emergency. Zeke says they were all having medical emergencies that night, some of them are STILL having medical emergencies so where are their banana chips? Jeff can’t believe that Taylor isn’t more concerned since this is a game for a million dollars. Then we bounce to game talk. Adam talks about loyalties and how they can switch when new relationships form. Dave comments that it’s all about trust right now. Jay agrees, trust and loyalty should be hung onto then Jeff brings up blindsides and Michelle comments that sometimes it’s more about who you feel more friendly towards. Chris’ perspective is that it’s 13 people playing a game, it’s not Millennials vs Gen X anymore, but lines will be drawn during this tribal council. Taylor thinks that worrying about anything is useless, especially at this point because there’s nothing you can do to change anything – and he glances directly at Adam, he smiles and Jeff asks what’s up with that? Adam says he’s very nervous, because he’s heard his name, it’s terrifying. Making the merge is a huge accomplishment, this is where the fun begins and it’s time to vote! And Adam does NOT play his Idol… The Votes! Adam, Michelle, Adam, Michelle, Adam, Michelle, Adam, Michelle, Michelle, Michelle, aaand, Michelle – that’s seven, that’s enough, but the total vote count is nine against Michelle.
Next time on Survivor! Taylor plans to put a huge target on Adam’s back by telling people about his Reward-Stealing advantage! Fun! If you love Survivor like me, check out ALL my Survivor blogs for Your Reality Recaps – If you like theAmazing Race and King of the Nerds – check those out too! AAAND… Big Brother 18! I not blogging about Big Brother Over the Top, but I AM watching and chatting in the YRR live feed chatroom as “dolphinpoet”. Be sure to join the Patreon program if you really love what you see here at YRR! Love you all! xoxox
