Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X - Episode Recap
Episode 3 - Your Job Is Recon
By Jim Van Nest, Gen X-er
October 6, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Instead, Michelle and Jay made a game-saving play by pulling in Michaela, Will and Hannah to send professional YouTuber, gamer and my winner pick (Mari) home as the first boot from the Millennial tribe. For Michelle and Jay (as well as the lucky couple), this was a huge move. For the rest of the tribe, I have to wonder what the hell they were thinking. You simply can't let a power couple develop. Like Zeke said last week, you only get one vote per customer. With a couple, they have two and that just shouldn't be allowed to happen. But this is the Millennial tribe, and they seem to have no desire to follow typical Survivor conventions, so my old Gen X ass will just have to sit back and see how it plays out.
Speaking of old Gen X asses, we also saw tribe leader Paul fall out with a nice combination of heat exhaustion and dehydration. A quickie visit from Dr. Joe ruled out a heart attack, and Paul was left in the game. The pecking order of this tribe, however, has become so transparent that the three people on the bottom (Ken, David and CeCe) have started making plans to turn this tribe upside down. CeCe seems to think she has Lucy pulled in, which leaves them one vote shy of a tie...so this little counter-alliance could possibly gain some ground.
Previews suggest that Hannah is going to have a rough go of it back in camp as she completely blindsided her alliance of Zeke and Adam. Meanwhile, a super duper twist has players drawing what looks like rocks out of a bag. Could we have a tribe swap? Maybe an addition of a third tribe? Some sort of meeting between tribes? Who knows? I guess I'll have to shut up now and find out!
We begin tonight's episode at the Millennial camp right after Tribal. As promised, Zeke and Adam are PISSED! Hannah comes to Adam and Zeke to try to explain herself. They really don't want to hear it from her. She explains that she didn't want to be on the wrong side of the numbers. She continues to push the point, and they continue to tell her to go away and they'll talk later. Finally, Hannah goes away and Adam and Zeke try to regroup. "It's you and me on Dumbass Island," Adam says. He has been looking forward to playing this game forever and to have the first Tribal go like that is rough. He does vow to get back to the top of the alliance, while Hannah tells us that she really wants to work with them as she doesn't care for the people in her alliance.
The morning of Day 8 dawns at the Gen X tribe. CeCe, David and Ken are confirming that they're together and on the bottom. David tells us that he has no plans to give up, though. Meanwhile, Paul is feeling amazing after his episode yesterday. He feels so good that he thinks he'll go fishing. He tells us about how much he fishes at home, but he comes up empty handed. Ken tells us that Paul continues to talk about how much he can do, and yet he never comes through. Paul actually offers the tribe nothing; meanwhile, he's on the bottom.
We join the Millennial tribe as Adam goes to get Treemail. We see a close-up of the orange coconut idol, but Adam doesn't see it. They are told that they will draw rocks, and the four people that draw orange rocks will be sent to join four people from Gen X to gather intel or other info. Will tells us that he would love to mingle with the other tribe. And just like that, he grabs one of the orange rocks. Also grabbing orange are Taylor, Jay and Figgy. That's right; the entire Tri-force will be leaving camp with Will. Taylor is stoked that his alliance is going together, not seeming to realize that four people are leaving five behind - four people who are against him and Michelle, who knows she isn't his #2 or #3. This could be catastrophic to his game, but he's too damn dumb to see it. As they head out, Jay is interested to see what Gen X is all about, but he's worried about Taylor and Figgy showing off their couple-ness.
We see CeCe, Chris, Paul and David mix up as the foursome from Gen X. Chris is really excited to be part of this. He plans to be very quiet and gather info. As they introduce themselves, they find their way to a nice picnic lunch. David starts the talk by asking who went home. They tell him Mari went and she had no idea it was coming. As Paul is holding court with everyone, David has decided he really needs to make some relationships with the Millennials. While some people go swimming, David and CeCe sit back with Taylor and Figgy. They let Taylor and Figgy know that Paul is the leader of the tribe. David also lets Taylor know that if the tribes swap, he'll be happy to flip on the Gen X-ers. So, he's pretty well laid it all on the table. Unfortunately, he probably shared that info with the wrong bro.
We come back from break as the Gen X-ers return. They give us some info, including the fact that the Millennials are calling Ken "Kendoll." He doesn't really care for that, as people have made the Ken and Barbie joke his whole life. He doesn't find it funny at all. We see some shots of Ken out fishing again. Of course he brings in a nice bounty. He goes on to tell us that he cannot stand that Paul is one of those "leaders" who says they can do everything but actually does nothing. We see him taking Jessica aside telling her just that. He tells her there's a lot of talk and he's actually accomplished nothing. He tells her that she and Sunday are so humble, while he's all about the rock star and everything is about him. Jessica tells us that she can't make a move on Paul as she's committed to an alliance with Paul and the four others. She tells us that she is all about staying in the game until she can get her #legacyadvantage.
Back over at Millennial island, Taylor is just stoked to be in the position they're in. They feel totally in charge of the game and decide that Zeke is next to go. Adam is still blown away that they've given power to Taylor and Figgy. Adam goes to Michaela and Hannah and tells them that they have to see that the foursome of Taylor, Figgy, Jay and Michelle are totally locked in as a group. All they have to do is gather the rest of the tribe and they can take over the game. Michaela tells us that she still doesn't like Figgy and that Adam has some good points, but she's in the power alliance right now and isn't sure she wants to give it up.
Day 10 brings us to another Probst Sighting! Looks like today is an obstacle course, knock blocks off a table kinda day. They'll carry heavy bags filled with sand and coconuts over several obstacles. Once they're all the way through, they'll separate the bags from the coconuts. They'll then use the bags to knock the blocks off the table. Once all the blocks are off the table, two more people will have to use those blocks to reassemble the puzzle. They'll also be playing for reward today. It's a huge pile of comfort. Hammocks, chairs, blankets, pillows, etc. Definitely worth playing for.
The tribes are even through the first obstacle and they're neck and neck crossing the balance beam with these 40 pound bags. There seems to be a different strategy on both sides with the balance beam. Taylor is carrying several bags because he can handle the beam. CeCe decides to take the beam instead of handing off and she takes forever to get across. All of the Millennials are across the beam, while the Gen X tribe still has a couple bags and a couple people to get across the beam. Finally, Chris takes over grabbing all the bags and Gen X can start separating bags from coconuts. Jay has a huge lead on the blocks, but Ken is trying to bring Gen X back.
Jay is down to two blocks and finally clears the table. Zeke and Michelle are the people on the puzzle. Meanwhile, Ken clears his table as well and David and Sunday take on the puzzle. Zeke is killing it on the puzzle and at the end of the day, their lead was too big to overcome and the Millennials Win Immunity! Before Jeff hands over the reward, Jay asks if they can trade the comfort for some fishing gear. Jeff says that it's a possibility, but he doesn't think the comfort is enough and the Gen X tribe has to agree to it. After a conference, Gen X decides to deny the Millennials a fishing kit. The talk in my living room was that this was a huge opportunity missed. We would have been happy to let them have a fishing kit. The price is simple. We want the Immunity Idol. Give up immunity and you can have your fishing gear. As we head to break, Michaela tells us that she understands why they wouldn't want to make the kids stronger. Also, Chris is pretty sure CeCe needs to go. She completely cost the challenge and that's enough for her to get the vote.
Back from commercials and the Gen X tribe is pretty dejected. Paul wants CeCe gone as well. But, he's worried that something else could happen. Bret, Chris and Sunday talk about how painful it was to watch that challenge. Sunday tells us that she is totally on board with CeCe as the boot. It fits her alliance and makes the tribe stronger. CeCe tells us that no one is talking to her, so she's worried that she's the one to go.
David decides to put the target on Paul tonight. David has his idol with him as they head to Tribal and he wants to make a move on Paul real bad. Paul, meanwhile, tidies things up with Jessica and Sunday. Jessica suggests that she is worried about the guys getting together. Paul lets her know that if the guys were to ever come to him with that plan, he'd let her know. "Girls, you're on your own." Wha, wha, what??? He actually told her that she was on the bottom of the six. So naturally, Jessica and Sunday take it to Lucy and they decide that maybe Paul needs to go. All they need to do is get the three bottom dwellers on board and Paul is a done deal. Jessica tells us that she has these two options going into Tribal, but she's not sure which way to go. She's worried about alienating Chris and Bret from her alliance. Honestly, the move here is to stick with the alliance, boot CeCe and keep the Paul vote in your pocket for next time.
We get to Tribal and Jeff asks about the summit between tribes. David enjoyed the summit and enjoyed meeting the new people. Jeff asks him why he seems to be so much calmer his time around. He isn't really calmer, but he's starting to get used to things. CeCe starts to talk about feeling on the bottom of the group. They discuss the alliance in the tribe and Chris says that's way too early to be talking who is five and six in the alliance. They need to stick together and take care of business to make the tribe strong.
Jeff kind of pounds on them for the way they lost the challenge today. The Millennials worked as a team and they were all individuals. He compared the efficiency of the Millennials win to things like when they text, they'll say "U" where the Gen X people will type "you." Ken agrees that there's something to efficiency, but there's also something to the beauty of language and that moving too fast can cause you to start losing that beauty. There's some jokes about vinyl vs digital and then Jeff brings it back. Jessica says that the vote tonight is about the best way for the tribe to move forward and win challenges because it'll take more than six to win a challenge. And with that, it is time to vote.
We see David's vote for Paul. We see Paul's vote for CeCe. And that is it. Jeff goes to tally the votes and then asks if anyone would like to play an idol. He fidgets around a lot, but David decides to stay pat and hold onto his idol. First vote, Paul. CeCe. Paul. CeCe. Paul. CeCe. Paul. Thi rd person voted out of the tribe...Paul. He is dumbfounded. So is Chris. So is Bret. And there you have it. Huge shake up on this tribe and all because Paul was an idiot and let the girls know that his bond with the guys was stronger than his bond with them. Not a chance they would have turned on him without that discussion. And the beauty of it is, they cut off the head of the snake and David was able to keep his idol. Excellent episode for David indeed.
Next time on Survivor: Tensions are high now at the Gen X tribe. We also see some scenes from a super physical water challenge. And we see Zeke talking about how huge the Gen X guys are. Michaela mentions tatas coming out...so the CBS blur patrol needs to be ready to roll next week. Thanks for joining me again this week, kids...we'll be back to do this all again next week. Til then, take care!