Survivor Worlds Apart - Episode 2 Recap
It Will Be My Revenge
By Jim Van Nest, Survivor Analyst
March 5, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Previously on Survivor, three tribes reached new beaches (well, to them anyway, not us). White Collar chose to deceive, Blue Collar fought over shelter and ate scorpions while a love triangle (well, in coconut vendor Vince's eyes anyway) has formed for the No Collars. Also, there was a sweet challenge with actual strategic decisions built into it. No Collar dominated and Blue Collar came in second; sending White Collar to Tribal. Despite absolutely tanking the puzzle portion of the challenge, Yahoo! exec Shirin was not even an option for the vote as it came down to admitted liar and corporate bully So and tough-as-nails idol-finder Carolyn. In a slight upset, Tyler and Max stuck with the weaker challenge players and voted out the untrustworthy So Kim. There are arguments to be made on either side of this decision. I'm going to stick with it being a good one as So was a chaos Kass type ready to eat the tribe from within.
Promised for tonight's episode is White Collar getting their No Collar on and running around the beach nude. And Nina's going to melt down over at No Collar over feeling left out. Is it because she's deaf? Older? Or both? Whatever the reason, the fact that Blue Collar wasn't even in the preview suggests that we won't see them at Tribal this episode. And with that, the episode is getting ready to start.
We begin at Blue Collar the day after Tribal. And right off the bat, Dan has lost his underwear. So, he's walking around with a shirt diaper. Lindsey doesn't buy it. She thinks it's Dan's way of trying to be funny and/or memorable. She says it doesn't really matter; she's just biding time 'til they go to Tribal and she can send his ass home.
We come back from break to the White Collars. They're finally getting fire on Day 4. Max tells us they've been really struggling to get the simplest of things done. While they've been struggling with camp life, they do have a great beach. Max then takes the opportunity to drop trou in homage to Richard Hatch. He tells us it's a great way to get time alone to think. Shirin can totally relate to Max, so she joins him going bottomless. Tyler is completely embarrassed by this. Joaquin seems to be a little disgusted by it. I mean, they're four days into this game. No showers. Nude Survivor does not even sound remotely fun to be a part of.
We finally check in with the No Collars. Hali and Nina are gathering wood. Hali tells us she's been trying to get to know Nina better, but it's really hard to have a conversation. We see many attempts at conversations where Nina just doesn't hear what they're saying. And here we go; Hali and Jenn are now naked in the ocean. Meanwhile, Nina is upset that she wasn't invited to swim with them. She confronts them when they get back and Jenn isn't really having any of it. She tells Nina she doesn't even try to be included. Jenn tells us that they're probably gonna have to baby Nina a little bit.
Nina talks to Will about how left out she feels. I have to say this has nothing to do with her hearing. It's about her age. A couple young 20s girls decide to go skinny dipping in the ocean...they just don't think to ask the 50-year-old lady to go with them. They just don't. As far as Survivor drama goes, this barely makes a blip on the radar. I'm assuming it'll mean something down the road, but right now it's time to move on.
We come back from break to the Blue Collar tribe. Mike apparently never sits still, so he's driving everyone else to work hard, too. But they do take some time to play coconut basketball. Mike tells us it's frustrating to him to see people not working as hard as he does. He is not making friends. Boston Rod is done with Mike and says he's painting a huge target on his back.
Over at No Collar, Joe is back with a bag full of crabs. Vince is still on the hunt. Nina comes out to join him and he tells her about how his hard work goes unnoticed, while everything Joe does is major. He wants some acknowledgement. I'm pretty sure this dude is the neediest player in the history of Survivor. Vince decides to confront Joe in front of everyone, asking him to acknowledge that he steamrolls everything on the tribe. Joe tells us that he doesn't totally know what's going on with Vince, but he is pretty well done with him.
We then see Nina making a pact with Vince, saying she's with him and Will all the way. She says the others judged her based on her deafness from the beginning. I thought I covered that a couple paragraphs ago. Anyway, Joe and the younger girls are really getting worried about Vince and what he may do. Joe warns the girls not to underestimate Vince. Joe thinks he's smarter than he comes across. Jenn worries that Vince will do something to destroy the tribe.
We come back from break to a Probst sighting and right off the bat, I can't help but notice they have some sort of basketball thing set up. This is perfect for how Blue Collar has been spending their days. This challenge will have people diving into the water to grab buoys. They'll maneuver them along a rope through a course and then have to shoot baskets with five balls. First two tribes to finish win immunity and reward.
First place reward is a massive fishing kit. Second place is a smaller fishing set. Blue and No Collar need to sit someone out. Surprisingly, Dan wants to play and Kelly sits out for the Blues. Nina sits for the Nos. The first round is Vince, Dan and Tyler. Surprisingly, Dan makes it to the end first to start the second round for Blue Collar. Through the challenge, No Collar leads by a little bit while White Collar trails by just a little. Will really slows down the NO Collars and Lindsey passes him to take the lead. Will has gotten so tangled that Joaquin takes off for White Collar, leaving No Collar in the dust. Joe is just chomping at the bit to get in the water. Finally, Joe gets to play.
White Collar is done and shooting baskets. Joaquin sinks the first shot. Two for Joaquin. Joe finally gets to the end to start shooting. Blue Collar scores. Joaquin scores #3 and #4. Sierra sinks #3 for Blues. Vince cannot sink a shot to save his life and Joaquin finishes it off or White Collar! And before No Collar can even sink a shot, Blue Collar finishes it off. Joaquin and Sierra put on a clinic for Survivor basketball. Good show. On the way to break, Vince tells us that it'll get crazy between him and Joe.
We come back from break and I have no idea what we're playing. The way Will tanked the challenge, he should be the one to go. They're all bummed to have lost and no one really wants to go to Tribal. Vince and Nina are talking about how out of it Will seems. They say his exhaustion is worrisome. Remarkably, though, Vince is talking about taking out a power player in Joe. He worries that they won't win challenges, but Nina feels they should stick together - probably because she'll be the first to go, otherwise. Joe, Will and Jenn are talking and she suggests that they should vote out Vince. Joe suggests that they should probably keep the team strong and keep Vince, even though he doesn't want to.
As they talk, they figure that Nina knows she is on bottom and will be looking for an idol. Joe suggests they split the vote, just in case and then on the revote, they vote out Nina. Everyone agrees but Will tells us that he's not down with that. He can relate to Nina and doesn't want to vote her out. So he goes to Vince to tell him of the plan. He tells Vince that if the three of them vote together, they'll control the tribe. Talk turns to taking out Joe. Vince really wants to do it, but he feels it will kill the tribe and he seems to have his sights set on Jenn. I mean, after all, she refused to go steady after the first day, so she must be gone. It's as if Brandon Hantz grew two feet and started wearing feathers in his hair.
Will does his best to tell Vince that they're together. He then goes to Nina to tell her the plan is to vote out Jenn. Nina, though, is worried about Will's health. She tells him that Vince is concerned about Will's health costing them the challenge. So, all of a sudden, Will is pissed at Vince. Um, way to go Nina, you just failed at the first rule of Survivor. "If someone asks you if you're a God, you say yes." If someone tells you, Tthis is who we're voting for. Just vote for Jenn and we're all good," and you turn around and suggest someone in your alliance wants to turn on someone else in the alliance...well, you deserve what you're gonna get. Although, it's likely that Vince will pay the price tonight. One way or another, Will is the swing here and hasn't decided what he's going to do.
Fire represents life in this game. When you're fire's gone, so are you. Jeff asks Nina about the divisions in the tribe. She says that Hali, Jenn and Joe have branched off. She feels left out by the younger people. He asks Jenn about this. She says she's never been around a deaf person before and she has compassion. But this is a game and everyone has something to deal with. Jeff asks Vince where he stands. He says that he's kind of in the middle and he's just trying to be the glue. Joe tells us that the person that needs to go home will go home.
Jenn says that it would be stupid to deny that she gets along with Joe and Hali. She says that anyone out there can see it. But right now, it's about keeping the tribe strong so they don't keep losing. They need to get rid of the weak link in challenges. Jeff asks Will if he feels some pressure based on his performance in the challenge. Will says that water is the black man's kryptonite and it got him today. He says that he talked to Nina and Vince about going three against three, but he doesn't know who to trust and if you trust wrong, your flame's gone. Vince has been playing with his gut so far and that he feels that he has a solid grasp on where people are at. Jenn is worried about being on the chopping block but it's still fun. She feels like she's still watching Probst on TV. And with that, it's time to vote.
We see Nina's vote for Jenn and Hali's vote for Vincealot. Joe votes for Nina. So the split is in effect, as long as Will sticks to the plan. And something tells me he might. Jeff will tally the votes. First vote: Jenn. Vince. Nina. Jenn. Vince. And Vince. #blindside. Vince is shocked. Joe is shocked. The ladies are shocked. Only Will knew it was coming. And THAT'S how you do it. Well played, Will. Well played. I'm not sure it's great for your long term game, but it was great for the beginning of the show. And, since Vince was legitimately one of the creepier people in the history of Survivor, I think we'll all be better off with this vote. So far, I'm okay with the first two votes. Well done, cast!
Next time on Survivor: the No Collars are out enjoying the surf, while Mike's slave driver attitude is pissing off his entire tribe. Uh oh, that doesn't bode well for my winner pick, does it?
So, after two weeks, I'm enjoying the season. A little more weird and a little more nudity than I think is really needed but overall, the season is living up to the preseason hype. Keep your eyeballs peeled for Ben Willoughby's Power Rankings next week and I'll see y'all on Thursday with the Episode 3 recap. Like the article, hate it, just want to chit chat? Hit me up on Twitter: @vannestjc! 'Til next week, take care!