Survivor: Kaoh Rong - Episode Recap
Episode 6 - Play or Go Home
By Jim Van Nest
March 30, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
So tonight, Julia will re-enter the game with the Gondol tribe and we'll get a little deeper into the post-swap/pre-merge game. Previews suggest that Joe and Peter are finally going to have it out and that Debbie is, once again, masterminding the game! And with that in mind, let's get to it!
We begin at the Gondol camp after Tribal. Tai is so thankful to everyone for keeping him. Peter tells us that it's about time to finally bail on the Brains and move on. He takes this idea to Tai and suggests that it's time to get Joe out of the game. Tai says very little here and just lets Peter keep talking and talking and talking.
We're back from break and I'm sure that over at Gondol, Peter is still talking to Tai. But we're checking in with Chan Loh now. Purple Nick gets some screen time. Debbie just loves him and he's happy to just listen to her. Naturally, he thinks she has a crush on him. I will say this, in the midst of all the self-love, Nick does manage to spit some really good strategy. He mentions that when you get to know people, you need to figure out who they admire and who they need out there and BE that person for them. He says that the person she admires most is herself, so he needs to act just like her and he can fill that role for her.
Debbie tells us that Nick is like really hot and stuff and that as a former part-time model, she's pretty sure he'll end up with a modeling contract after this show. Something of note here is the fact that I absolutely LOVE the fun the producers are having with Debbie and her plethora of jobs. Every time they put her name on the screen, they list a different occupation for her. Classic. Oh yeah, and Tree Mail comes and there will be basketball - so Nick is ready to take on an NBA player. Boom shaka laka!
Probst Sighting!! Before we get to the challenge, Julia is brought in to join the now Anna-less Gondol tribe. Michele and Julia are both pretty bummed to see that Anna is gone. Today's reward challenge is pretty simple. One person will dive into the water and release about 30 buoys that are tied in a net. Then the whole tribe will need to usher these buoys to shore, where the final person will shoot baskets with them. First team to sink 10 baskets wins reward - a Survivor picnic with all kinds of food, and every single person is drooling to get this reward.
The tribes start off and Aubry and Michele are the ones untying and releasing the buoys. Aubry makes quick work of it, while Michele is really struggling to get the knots untied. When she finally releases the buoys, Gondol is comfortably in the lead. With all their buoys on the rack, Scot takes over shooting free throws. He takes a few shots to get the range down and by the time he scores the first shots, Chan Loh has caught up and Nick is shooting alongside Scot. Amazingly enough, Nick takes the lead at 5-3 and it's looking like a major upset. Nick takes the lead at 7-4, but Scot lands two in a row and it's 7-6. Scot finally ties it up at 8-8. Nick has several shots go in and out and Scot takes the lead. From the other team, you hear Cydney say, "Scot, whatcha doin?" trying to psych him out. Scot says "Winning" as #10 drains. Gondol wins immunity and a picnic. As they head back to camp, Michele is super worried that she cost her tribe the victory and she hopes she can turn things around when they get back to camp.
We come back from break to join the Gondol feast. Julia is really glad to re-enter the game on a winning note. She's really worried that with Anna getting the boot, she'll be the next to go. Peter is thrilled to have Julia in the game as she doesn't seem conniving. So, in the water later, he's all about how they need to get rid of Joe. Because they, like, got rid of his island girlfriend and stuff. Julia is thrilled to have some kind of option moving forward. Joe and Aubry are watching this from the beach trying to figure out what the hell Peter is doing. They planned to dump Julia, but at this point, Aubry's thinking that maybe it's time to get rid of Pete instead.
Over at Chan Loh, Nick is taking credit for the loss. He tells us that he's upset that he didn't win. He had the lead and he coughed it up. But at the same time, Michele was really bad in the challenge, too. Even Michele tells us how horrible the day has been. With Anna gone and a poor performance in the challenge, she just needs to use her social skills to get back in the game. She talks to Debbie, who tells her everything she wants to hear. She tells us that Debbie is probably her best option at this point.
After Debbie tells Michele that they should target Kyle, she can't wait to go tell Nick their good fortune. Nick basically brushes her off and tells her that Debbie will say whatever she thinks they want to hear. They're not going with Debbie and she just needs to stick with him. He knows best and all. Michele tells us that she's just gonna nod and wave and stick with Nick until they get to some kind of merge. And Nick is just such a smug douche about everything...like his one season blogging for RHAP makes him SO much smarter than some...gasp...some...GIRL!!! What a dick!
Saved by the commercials. Day 16 dawns at Gondol and Peter is scheming with Scot to take Aubry out. Joe takes note and decides he'll "broach" Peter and straight up ask him if he's trying to get him out. So Joe asks him and he dances around the question. It is one of the worst performances in the history of Survivor. For someone who thinks he's so smart and so in control, Peter is one of the single worst players to ever play this game. And that includes some really bad players. And on that low note, it's time for a...
Probst Sighting!! Today's challenge will have the tribes working as a team to get through a tough obstacle course. Part of the course includes a bunch of blocks on a big net. They'll have to knock the blocks off the net and then stack them all, big blocks on bottom, little blocks on top. Seems easy, right? Yeah, not when Peter's on your team. The Gondol tribe gets to the block stacking first and Peter's genius idea is to stack all of the little blocks first and then start stacking the big ones, lifting the little block stack to add every big block. So basically, working from the middle. Yeah, it makes no sense to me either. Amazingly enough, the tribes are actually neck and neck as they finish...but in the end, the stupidity of the "build from the middle" strategy hamstrings Gondol and Chan Loh wins immunity by one block!
Welcome back to a rousing rendition of, "It's anyone but Peter!" After lamenting the loss, it's time to start strategizing, right? Aubry is worried about voting for Peter as it would give Tai, Scot and Julia the numbers on their tribe. She tells Joe that the argument they had earlier is very bad and he needs to go make amends with Peter so they can keep the numbers. So, Joe does just that and he and Peter talk it out and now Peter is ready to stay with the Brains and take out Julia. Scot approaches Peter and he tells him that he's sticking with the Brains and voting out Julia. Scot knows that Peter is now completely full of shit, but if they refuse to break their numbers, the best option is a tie. Scot, Julia and Tai are set to vote for Peter, for now. If they can get rid of a Brain, they have the numbers and they can run this tribe to the merge.
Julia decides to make a play for Aubry. She and Tai tell Aubry that Peter has been telling Julia that instead of voting out Joe, that Aubry might be the best vote at this point. Aubry knew Pete was targeting Joe, but now that her neck is on the line, that's a different story, right? Scot tells us that he doesn't know what Aubry plans to do, but if they can't get a confirmation from Aubry, they'll have to go with the flow and dump Julia. Meanwhile, Aubry tells Joe she thinks they should flip their vote to get rid of Peter, but he's not having it. He wants to "stick to the plan" and vote Julia. He doesn't like Aubry switching it up right before Tribal; he thinks that's how they get in trouble. She's still on the fence as the group heads to Tribal Council.
Tribal starts with Julia lighting her torch. It continues with her talking about being in a precarious position when she came into this tribe. Everyone discusses whether or not they plan to stick to their old tribal alliances or should they forge ahead with new alliances. Talk turns to whether or not Peter is trustworthy or willing to stay with his alliance. Julia piles on, talking about Peter trying to make a move on others. As Tribal goes on, Peter becomes more and more of a wild card (did I mention that he's possibly the worst player ever?). As they talk, Aubry is whispering with Scot to see if they should vote Julia or Peter. Scot says Peter. Finally, Scot tells Julia, "Julia, original plan." And you can actually see plans being made while they sit at Tribal. And with that, it's time to vote.
We see Julia's vote for Peter. We also see Peter's vote for Julia. We then see Aubry agonizing over her vote until she finally writes Julia. Jeff'll tally the votes. First vote: Peter. Julia. Peter. Julia. Peter. And the sixth person voted out of Survivor: Kaoh Rong is Julia Peter. Damnnnnn, Aubry straight up put a line through Julia and voted off Peter. Ultimately, I think this was the move to make. With a merge looming, you can't have someone like Peter left in the game. He'll flip on you and ruin everything. Sure, they lose a Brains number, but was he really a number if his endgame was to take out the Brains one by one? Not at all. I worry that Aubry's method of dumping Peter may come back to bite her, but the move was the right one. Of that I'm sure.
Next time on Survivor: That's right, kiddies...it's the MERGE!!! And with the merge will come a definite power struggle. We have Debbie thinking she is the puppet master. Kyle and Scot think they'll just start shoving all the geeks in lockers, and Nick somehow thinks the game is his and the Beauties to be won. Yeah, really...he does. No matter what, next week is sure to have plenty of fireworks, so please be sure to come on back and join us for the next episode in what is turning out to be a pretty good little season of Survivor. 'Til then, take care!