Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance - Episode Recap
Episode 8 - You Call, We'll Haul
By Jim Van Nest
November 12, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
To set up this week, we have a core allia...voting block made up of mostly Bayon. Jeremy, Tasha, Savage, Stephen, Wiglesworth and Kimmi seem to be the hub of this block, with Keith, Joe, Wentworth and Spencer joining forces rather than be seen as dissenters. Ciera and Abi-Maria are clearly on the outs. But, with no real alliances on this season, it's hard to think that this group will stick together. Again, they're not really an alliance, but a group who is voting together...for now.
The previews have been all about big moves and the two focal points of all the ads have been Joe and Stephen. We know that Stephen really wants to get rid of Joe and it looks like he's going to make a move against him this week. But it doesn't look like everyone will be down with this move, so Stephen could be in trouble himself. Either way, with the way alliances and votes have floated in the wind so far this season, about the only thing that's certain is that Probst won't be getting voted out!
We begin tonight's episode the morning after Tribal, day 20. Savage is patting himself on the back for the great plan and execution last night. He also congratulates Jeremy. Savage is worried about Ciera and her "play the game" speech. He and Jeremy decide it's a way to try to get people to rally to take out the guys. We join Ciera and Stephen on the beach discussing the state of the game. She tells Stephen that it's time to make a big move. And you know she's ALL about the big move. She says that if it were up to her, she'd go for Joe. Which is the perfect thing to say to Stephen since he already has a thing for getting rid of Joe. He tells us that he doesn't want to wait around to be run over by the bros. He says it's time to go for someone who is a real threat to win this game.
We come back from the credits to our first Probst sighting! Today's reward challenge will see the tribe broken into teams of six. They'll paddle a boat out to a series of crates. They'll untie them and collect them. Once they have all the crates, they will use them to stack where no colors match on any of the sides. This has part of the challenge they did on Season 1 where Wiglesworth, the river rafting guide, lost the paddling challenge to Gervase, the dude from Philly who can't swim. Kelly is ever so grateful to Jeff for bringing that up. Oh yeah, and they're playing for a trip to the Survivor cafe. Coffee, sandwiches, baked goods and sweets will rule the day at the Survivor Cafe. Worth playing for? Honestly, I say no. But they seem to like it. They'll school yard pick for teams and get started.
The teams are: Green - Wiglesworth, Wentworth, Kimmi, Joe, Keith and Ciera. Pink - Savage, Stephen, Jeremy, Tasha, Spencer and Abi-Maria. Survivors ready? Go! The blue team has trouble getting out of the gate, but ultimately, they get back on track and everything is even as they get to the first crate. Keith gets the first crate for green, while Abi has a hard time getting the first pink crate. Green has their second crate as Spencer takes over getting the crates. Keith and Joe are rock solid getting their crates for green.
Joe secures the fourth crate for green, while Spencer finally gets crate number three for pink. The green team is carrying their last crate to the platform to stack as Spencer gets the fourth crate into the boat. Pink finally catches up and both teams are working on the puzzle. Stephen has taken over the puzzle for pink, but he's wrong and they have to rework it. As you would expect, that's when Keith and Joey Amazing take over and win this challenge for the green team. As we head to break, Stephen does not like Joe going on reward with the girls. That could ruin everything.
We come back from break as the winning tribe gets to the big Survivor Cafe. Kimmi is very excited to go on her first food reward ever on Survivor. And right off the bat, Ciera is ready to play. She starts by trying to explain to everyone what she meant by everyone needs to play the game. She tells them that Stephen, Andrew, Jeremy and Tasha are pretty unbreakable and now might be the time to make a move. Joe tells us that she's right. He knows he's not with them and they could probably be coming for him. She tells the group that Jeremy and Stephen are really smart. Joe echoes this, saying that Stephen really knows numbers and all that.
The problem here is that they're saying this all in front of Kimmi. And Kimmi is the fifth in that unbreakable group. Every word of this will get back and any plans made here will be moot. After all of the talk dies down, Keith has taken interest in the little motorcycle vehicle thing that they were brought to the cafe in. It's a motorcycle that has a carriage type deal behind it. So, he gets on and fires it up. Next thing you know, Keith is driving everyone all over the beach on this thing. That's what rewards are made for, I guess!
And now, we get to check in with the challenge losers. Oh, it's so sad on Bayon beach. Stephen is like really bummed about losing for some reason. He tells the group that he's worried about bonds being made on the reward, which was kinda how he lost in Tocantins. The next thing we see is Stephen telling Jeremy that he doesn't want to waste time with the Cieras and Abis of the world when there are much bigger threats in the game. He tells Jeremy that they should go after Joe. Jeremy tells us that Stephen is stuck on Joe and that while he wanted Joe around as a shield, if he loses the challenge, he might have to go.
Stephen takes the Joe train to Spencer and tries to really Spencer to vote out Joe, if he loses. They agree that he'll never see it coming, although, he actually does see it coming. Either way, if we're to believe what they're showing us, Jeremy and Spencer are down with voting off Joe. Next up on the Joe tour is Tasha. She says she could be okay with voting for Joe. Problem is, Savage overhears this conversation and he doesn't like it. He says he has a great thing with Joe right now and he has no plans on voting him out. He says if he has to go toe to toe with Stephen, he will.
We come back from break on the next day and everyone is back on the beach. Very first thing, Savage takes Joe aside and tells him Stephen is coming for him. He tells Joe that every time strategy talk comes up, it's about getting rid of Joe. Joe tells us that he's not surprised that Stephen's gunning for him, just that it's so soon. Savage promises Joe, on his kids' lives, that he will not write his name down. Meanwhile, Joe tells us that he worries Stephen has the numbers and that if he doesn't win immunity, he's gone. Which is the perfect bridge to a...
Probst sighting! Today's challenge will have everyone balancing a ball on a disc at the end of a rope. At regular intervals, they will grab farther back on the rope, making it harder to balance. Last time this was run was Blood vs Water 2. Jeremy was first out and Keith actually won the challenge. (He's good with balls). And right as the challenge starts, Wentworth and Ciera are out. Next up are Wiglesworth and Jeremy. Abi and Stephen drop out next and there are only six. Savage drops out next and the other five make it to that 10 minute mark, where they all move back farther on the rope.
There is lots of movement on Kimmi's ball, and she makes some great recoveries, but she can't hold on forever. And next out is Tasha. That leaves Keith, Joe and Spencer. All hree of them make it to the next break and they are now back to the farthest part of the rope. Last man standing wins immunity. Joe's ball is on the move, but he steadies it. And just like that, Spencer drops out.
Jeff tells Joe and Keith that if they make another 10 minutes, they'll add a second ball. They both make it to the two balls and there will be no more stops. Joe's balls start getting blown in the wind and he keeps saving them. Just as both of his balls are on the move, Keith loses control of one of his and it rolls off the edge. Joe wins immunity!! As we head to commercial, Joe is so glad he won immunity and now, he's got his sights set on Stephen for coming after him.
We come back from commercial to some sweet baby monkey footage. Looks like Probst knew what was good for him. He thought I didn't notice the lack of adorable baby monkey last week, but I did. This week, baby is hanging with his folks as the tribe congratulates Joe on his big win. Stephen is so frustrated for Joe to have that necklace. He says Jos is his "white whale." Joe and Andrew get together and decide that Stephen has to go. Savage says he'll talk to Jeremy and I think that's a big mistake. Joe, however, plans on using the three girls on the bottom (Ciera, Wentworth and Abi) to his advantage.
We join Joe on the beach with the Kell(e)y's and he tells them that Savage wants Stephen out. Wentworth is stoked at this news. Wiglesworth says nothing. Wentworth tells us that she's so excited to have this possible deal with Joe to save her and the group on the bottom. Joe tells them that he is writing Fishbach tonight. Wentworth goes to lock up Ciera and she is also on board.
Savage takes his conversation to Wiglesworth and Tasha. He says that Stephen has to go. Jeremy joins the conversation and tells us that he wants to take Stephen far into the game, so he's not down for a Stephen vote right now. He also tells the group, which now includes Spencer, that he doesn't want to see the girls get off the hook. He thinks it should be either Wentworth or Ciera. Spencer chimes in that they all know what Stephen is about and what he's trying to do, suggesting that he could be taken out later.
Savage tells them that they make great points and he'll do what the group wants to do. He tells us that he's used to getting his way, but this time it didn't work out for him. So, it looks like he may have swung back to Jeremy. This will leave Joe, Ciera, Wentworth and Abi holding the bag, as it were. We see Tasha talking to Joe about how they don't want to get rid of Stephen just yet. He doesn't agree with it, but he can see the numbers sliding away. He tells Ciera and Wiglesworth, who I guess was on board, though that only gives them five, that it doesn't look good. Wentworth just wants to know if it's her or Ciera. Don't forget, she has an idol, so she can turn the game upside down with it. She is pissed that Joe won't take a stand. The girls talk and are all pissed about the half assed plans. Ciera, Wentworth and Abi decide that whomever they vote for, they're all voting for the same person. Looks like it's either Stephen or Savage.
We get to Tribal and Jeff brings in Kass, who greets the group with the one-finger salute that she got so much crap for last time. Jeff starts with Ciera and she's still irritated that people are trying to save themselves in the game. Wentworth lays it all out, saying that four people are running the game and everyone else is just waiting to be picked off of the ladder on the way up. Jeff suggests that if there are only four people running it, the rest should be able to do something about that. Kelley agrees, saying that you would think so, but no one wants to make a move.
Ciera calls the four out as Jeremy, Savage, Tasha and either Stephen of Joe. Kass nods in approval at the naming of names. Savage explains that there isn't a top four. There are just people who get along better and that a much larger group is making the decisions. Jeff goes back to Ciera and she can't believe that anyone is buying that. In any alliance there's people on the top and people on the bottom. She says that there are some people that are playing and they're playing great. To be able to tell them that they're this big alliance and everyone is equal and actually have other folks believe it, well more power to them. She's frustrated with the people who have doubts or think they're on the bottom but aren't willing to make a move to do something about it. By the way, Kass is absolutely LOVING this.
Jeff goes on to ask Spencer what he thinks about all this, and he agrees that Ciera is probably right, but being returning players, people might be waiting for someone else to start the move. He mentions that there are also idols out there. Jeff wants to stick on idols for a minute. What does Spencer know about the idols? Spencer says that he thinks some people think there might not be idols or that they've been found and are just waiting to be played.
Jeff goes to Savage next and wants to know what he thinks about the "make a big move" comment. He says that he thinks Ciera's place on the bottom is what makes her say this. And if she were in a different place in the game, she wouldn't be so worried about the big move. She comes back, saying all she wants is the people on the bottom to fight for their place in the game and that's not so big. Stephen jumps in right now and says he doesn't think there is a bottom. "He wouldn't," is Ciera's response.
Stephen goes on to explain that because they're returning players and because they've been swapped so much, their alliance isn't really hierarchical. Ciera vehemently disagrees, saying that in any alliance, there's a top and a bottom and the people not in the tight four that aren't making any moves, that's who she's talking to. Jeff then asks Wentworth what will happen tonight. She says that she, Abi and Ciera are on the bottom, so they're the easy vote. She goes on to say that someone actually came to her saying they want to make a big move. She didn't go to them, they came to HER. Jeff asks her why she doesn't just call that person out right now. "Well, what if I'm here tomorrow and I have to work with them?" Joe says that this is like playing a game of chess, but not knowing what piece is what.
And with that, it's time to vote. We see no votes and hear nothing until Spencer votes, saying that he would have tried the same thing is he was in their spot. Luckily, he's not. And other than that, we see and hear nothing. We saw not one name written down. Sounds like it could be anyone tonight. Hey, anyone want to play an idol? "Ya know what, Jeff? I may be on the bottom, but I'm not ready to go home yet." And Wentworth stands up to play her idol. Spencer and Jeremy look excited at this turn of events. Savage and Stephen, on the other hand, look scared to death. I think that tells us all we needed to know about who they ultimately decided to vote against. Jeff confirms the idol and let's read the votes.
And it's a string of Wentworth votes - nine of them in all. So everyone fell in line. Tenth vote - Savage. Eighth person voted out and second member of the jury - Savage. Ciera and Kelley are pumped. Kass is loving life right now. I don't think it's hit her yet that he's gonna come to live with her in about 15 minutes. For now, she's enjoying it, though.
While I absolutely love this move and I think it was the best thing for them to do, I'll say now what I said when Malcolm played all the idols in the Three Amigos Tribal. It really doesn't change anything. If anyone has a brain, they'll regroup WITH the numbers and with the same three people on the bottom of the heap. Of course, this is Survivor, so we know that won't happen.
Next time on Survivor, everyone is looking for the immunity idol, but what they don't know is that it's right in front of them. And at the challenge, Jeff cuts a rope releasing some buoys and tells them the first person to touch their buoy gets an advantage in the game. Very interesting, especially when you consider that Joe can probably win the challenge OR he could probably be the first one to touch his buoy. What will it be?? Guess you'll just have to come back next week to find out. 'Til then, take care everybody!