Survivor Worlds Apart - Episode 7 Recap
The Line Will Be Drawn Tonight
By Jim Van Nest, Survivor Analyst
April 2, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This week promises the merge and just in time for someone like Shirin. My guess is this could be super bad for a guy like Rodney who just lost his bro and hasn't been making many friends out there so far.
We start tonight's show at the Escameca camp and, as expected, Rodney is pissed! Tyler admires the blindside, but now finds himself on the bottom of the alliance. Mike decides to try to talk to Rodney and do some damage control. Mike tries to explain his vote saying that everyone saw Rod getting reeled in by Joaquin. Rodney says that he was playing Joaquin the whole time to get information for the Blues to use to go farther in the game. He even dead lies to the camera telling us that he feels so disrespected by this and that he never would have gone with Joaq over the Blues. It's one thing to lie to the other players, but it's really sketchy to even lie to us. It would suggest that he's lying to himself. Either way, he vows revenge on everybody.
The next morning over at Nagarote, Tree Mail suggests the tribes should bring their flags and rely on their numbers, and also says they'll be eating today. Shirin and Carolyn feel that the merge is coming. Kelly suggests that the red stay together come merge time. Jenn doesn't believe it, but Kelly confirms she's with them. She tells us that she is deep undercover and has every intention of rejoining her Blue Collar tribe when they merge.
The tribes come together for a...wait a minute? No Probst Sighting? Looks like the merge is upon us. Rodney is blown away by it and says he needs to change the way he's thinking. Tyler is ecstatic for the merge, as his game was pretty well blown if the tribes stayed separate for one more vote. As it is, he has just been given new life. They open the box waiting for them and it's time for the merge feast. Dan is REALLY excited about the food. Shirin asks about Joaquin and says that she thought he and Rodney would bond. Mike confirmed that was the reason he was voted out. Carolyn tells us that it's bad news to be a pair in this game. As soon as people see you as a couple, they're breaking that couple apart. She tells us that her closest bond is with Tyler, as she's shared the idol with him, and that if she can help it, no one will know that they're a team.
We come back from break as the now merged tribe returns to Escameca beach. But when they get there, everything is gone! The shelter, everything! So everyone gets to work building a new camp. Kelly is thrilled to be back with her Blue Collar buds. Mike and Kelly are very close. As Carolyn mentioned, that's not a good thing. Mike tells us that he feels like they're five strong, but he's not convinced that it will work out that way.
Jenn tells us that she knew Kelly would go back to the Blues. Hali and Jenn discuss whether or not they can put up with Shirin. They agree that they can. They want to keep their Red Collars and pull in the trio of Whites in Tyler, Shirin and Carolyn. We join them in conversation asking Joe what happened with the vote. He told them he thought he was done, but that the rest of the tribe was worried about Joaquin and Rodney. Jenn asks him if Rodney's smart, and the look on Joe's face is priceless. I mean, we all know the truth. Now they all know the truth.
And on cue, we join Rodeny talking up Will as they're gathering bamboo. Rodney hatches this plan where he'll pull in Will, Kelly and Caroline (who is Caroline?) and they'll stick with the Blue Collars until they're down to seven, then the four will split off and take out the three people who screwed him over. Will basically says to just tell him who to vote for. Ya know why? Because the first rule of Survivor says, "If someone asks you if you're a God, you say 'Yes!'"
The next scene we get is Rodney, along with Will, pitching his idea to Carolyn and Kelly. He's so pissed about Joaquin getting voted out. He tells Carolyn that if she liked Joaquin, she may as well like him. He's got the plan down. Carolyn tells us that he went to her right off the bat and she's not sure that she trusts him at all, but she does like that there's talk of her being in a final four. We see her talking to Tyler and discussing how they have to play it cool on how tight they are. He tells her that's why Joaq got voted out, so he knows they'll target him. He says he wants to pull Rodney back in and Carolyn tells him that Rodney already talked to her. She lays out Rod's plan to Tyler. She would prefer to work with the Red Collars and Shirin while Tyler wants to stick with the Blues. She tells us that she's not sure which way they'll go, but she feels that they are in a good spot to help determine the course of the game.
We come back from break and Jenn is headed out to the beach and Dan is coming out of the water having just been stung by a jellyfish. She tells him to go put some hot water on it. He tells her that he peed on it, but she tells him that really doesn't work and he needs to get hot water on it. She tells him that she's gonna take a dip and it better have hot water on it when she gets back.
Dan heads back to camp to get some hot water and joins the discussion on what the new tribe name should be. Mike is suggesting #Merica. He stresses not A-Merica, just Merica. Now, had he gone all the way to Murica...THEN I'd have been impressed. Anyway, since the new tribe is made up of Red, White and Blue, he thinks it's perfect. Hali, as a future defense attorney loves the idea. Shirin is embarrassed by and hates the name "'Merica." She calls it the worst tribe name in Survivor history. I'll disagree with that. First off, there was Murlonio. Dumb. Second, how many times have the people just combined the names of their former tribes? That's the worst. Unoriginal and no creativity all rolled into one. Again, I would have preferred it with a U, but I'll take Merica.
Later on, we join Mike and Rodney talking. Mike tells him that IF Joe doesn't win immunity, he has to go. Rodney is down with that, but reminds Mike that if he wouldn't have screwed him over on the last vote, Joe would already be gone. Rodney tells us that he's fine to ride with Mike right now, but he'll eventually take him out. Mike tells us that he needs numbers right now, so he's prepared to play nice with Rodney for the time being.
Twenty-nine minutes into the episode, we get our first Probst Sighting!! First, he unveils the individual immunity necklace. Today's challenge is one of my favorites. Survivors will hang on to a big poll, and the last one hanging on wins. It's a test of wills. As they start off, Jeff tells them that this is a classic and that a man has won it three times and a woman has won it three times. Dan only lasts a couple minutes. Will only lasts about a minute longer. Tyler lasts a couple minutes longer and then just jumps down.
Sierra, Shirin, Mike and Hali are starting to struggle. Kelly's having issues as well. Sierra, Shirin and Kelly all drop out consecutively. Only six people remain at this point. The challenge is 25 minutes in, and Rodney s having a rough time. Joe moves for the first time, according to Probst. Rodney asks Carolyn if she has this. She says that she does. Before Rodney can drop, Mike all of a sudden falls off. Then Rodney drops out.
Joe, Jenn, Hali and Carolyn are the only ones left. "Owww." In the middle of the challenge, Jenn gets stung by something. Where was she stung? Um, we could say her inner thigh. But that's not entirely accurate. Let's just say that the area that was stung would need to be blurred. That work? She can't believe it, but she fights through it. And Hali starts to struggle and finally drops.
Clouds are showing up overhead and the rain starts to fall. Carolyn doesn't even look like she's hurting right now. It's crazy. Jenn is starting to drop on the pole a little, while Joe is also hanging tough. Fifty-five minutes in, Carolyn's feet start to slip a little and her body is in a different position now. Jenn drops to the final foot hold and she finally loses her grip about an hour into the challenge. Joe is starting to show signs that he's struggling, while Carolyn is back to being solid. As I type that, she readjusts down a foothold. Carolyn is now down on the bottom foothold, while Joe is still pretty close to the top.
And just like that, Carolyn loses her footing and drops out of the challenge. Joe wins the first individual immunity - and, by the way, saves his own ass. Nice work, Joe! Jenn is pumped that Joe won immunity. Her plan is still to get the No Collars and White Collars together to take out the Blue Collars.
The tribe comes back to camp and Mike tells us about the challenge and about how his plans got all screwed up. Mike tells us that he wants to change the plan to voting out either Jenn or Hail. He and Dan decide on Jenn. He tells Mike that to keep Rodney, they have to bend to what he wants. Mike tells Will to write down Hali. He tells us that if he sees someone write down Hali, he'll know that Will can be trusted. Will tells us that he's not sure he wants to go that way. But he's having a tough time with seeing who's loyal to who.
Carolyn and Kelly are talking and Carolyn says she doesn't know what the plan is, although the two of them decide that Jenn and Hali need to be split up. We join Hali, Shirin and Jenn discussing how they want to get rid of Blue Collars, and they want to start with Kelly. Shirin is really scared of the Blue Collar five as they keep voting together, even though they hate each other. She's leaning more toward joining the No Collars to break that group up.
The next conversation we see is Mike talking to Tyler. Tyler tells Mike that he's going to have trouble trusting him. He says that if he's going to be with them, he needs to be let into the loop. If he's not, he'll look for someone who will let him in. Mike tells him how much he really wants to play with him, and Tyler again says "that's sweet," but you have to look at it from his point of view. Mike needs his vote, so of course he's going to say that. Tyler tells us he doesn't know what he's going to do yet, but he's glad he has options.
Hali talks to Tyler and tells him that they very much want to join with the Whites and break up the Blue Collar alliance. Tyler tells her that he was really burned by the Blue Collars and he can't trust them, but that he also doesn't know the No Collars. She tells him the plan is to vote Kelly. Tyler lays it down that he and Carolyn are the swings. They'll either vote Jenn with the Blues or he'll vote Kelly with the Nos. We join Jenn and Hali and Jenn tells her that they need to know who the Blues are targetting. And she tells Hali that she has an idol. So, if she can find out who the Blues are gonna vote for, she'll play it to guarantee they win this vote.
At Tribal Council, Jeff asks Will what kind of electricity was at camp after the challenge. He says that Jeff could be going home tonight - that's how crazy it was. Kelly says that everyone was strategizing and it's gonna be crazy. Joe agrees with Jeff that everyone seems to realize this is a game and there will be no hard feelings. He says they all have a knife and it's stab or be stabbed. Will says that his vote tonight will show where his loyalty lies.
Jeff breaks down the numbers of each tribe and asks if the White Collars could be the swing votes. Tyler says that he was approached by several people and that while they're all laughing right now, an ice pick will be taken right down the center of the this tribe tonight. Carolyn agrees that after tonight a line will be drawn and you have to hope you're on the right side of it, because you probably won't be able to go back after this. Jeff asks Shirin if she had discussions today. She says that people have come up to her but she won't believe anything until she sees the vote. She also makes sure to mention that she does not consider herself to be a swing vote.
Jenn says it's pretty scary that the only person safe is Joe. She says there is chaos, but there is an underlying idea out there and she hopes it's her idea that wins out. Rodney talks about idols and that he doesn't know that anyone has one. Jenn says that she doesn't know what's gonna happen. She is not sure who to trust, she just hopes that it comes out her side. Dan agrees with everyone else that there will be a line drawn tonight, but he says it'll be with a chainsaw. And with that, it's time to vote.
They show us no votes tonight. The only thing we really see is Tyler seeming to be deciding as he is at the urn. If anyone would like to play a hidden idol, now is the time to do so. "Jeff." It's Jenn. She tells him she doesn't want to go home tonight. This is a hidden immunity idol, so any votes cast for Jenn won't count.
Jeff will read the votes. First vote: Hali. Then it's a string of seven votes for Jenn - none of which will count. The final four votes are for...duh duh duh....Kelly! And Kelly is the seventh person voted out of Survivor Worlds Apart. Jeff tells the tribe that they used the words knife, ice pick and chainsaw to describe the vote tonight. He says that judging by their reactions, it's more like a bomb.
Okay, there have been some good idol plays in the past, but this one has to be one of the best. Talk about reading a situation perfectly. I've been impressed all along with the way Jenn is playing this game and now I'm REALLY impressed. There's a lot more to the surfer girl than these people think. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that she has some serious work to do, though. She doesn't want her idol play to be a waste like the Malcolm double idol play a couple seasons ago. Sure it was great TV, but it did nothing to improve his place in the game. The votes came down tonight eight against four. Sure, Will voted for Hali, but he was with the Blue Collars. So Kelly is gone and that's pretty cool, but it's still a 7-4 split right now. And the group of four doesn't have an idol anymore. So while I applaud the play tonight, the real work will start the moment they get back to camp.
Next time on Survivor: Rodney's ready to start dishing out blame to Mike. He wants to make a power move and it looks like Mike is the target. But really, it's idol paranoia gone crazy at camp as Mike is spying on Joe looking for an idol. Who knows what will happen in this crazy season of Survivor. I know I'm on the edge of my seat, and I hope you are as well. Until next week, please be sure to check out Ben Willoughby's Power Rankings and as always...reach out to me on Twitter @vannestjc. I'd love to hear what you think of the season so far! Take care!