Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen Xers - Episode Recap
Episode 11 - About To Have a Rumble
By Jim Van Nest, Gen Xer
December 6, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
In case we're all still full from Thanksgiving, let's reset things, shall we? The first two post merge boots were pretty simple and straight. Michelle and Taylor were easily dispatched and little was lost from the game. Last week, however, things got interesting. We started with the Gen X alliance fracturing as Chris and Jessica targeted each other for elimination. Leaving his Oklahoma hero behind, Zeke flipped on Chris and took Hannah and Adam with him.
And in the second hour, the newly formed Zeke and David alliance also fractured as they both decided to claim Bret and Sunday as their own. However, with two rewards shared, Zeke and Bret have formed their own very strong bond, with Bret secretly coming out to Zeke. This bond was strong enough to bring Bret and Sunday on board with Zeke, Jay and Will. While Zeke was locking in Bret and Sunday, David was busy locking in Hannah and Adam and joining with Jessica and Ken. Thus, we were set up for a classic Survivor showdown.
They didn't disappoint. The votes came up tied and after a revote and a failed negotiation, no one wanted to break the tie. So, for the third time in Survivor history, the Tribal Council came down to a rock draw. With Ken, Jay, Hannah and Zeke immune from the draw, poor Gen X Jessica was sent home by virtue of a black rock.
This sends us back to camp with Zeke's five-person alliance intact, but not so super close. And David's very close alliance will come back to camp one person down, but with a tighter bond. Tonight promises the family visit and possibly the culmination of Adam's reward stealer advantage. Will he actually be stupid enough to steal someone's loved one visit? If so, I have a feeling we'll be saying good bye to Adam tonight. If not, it really could be anyone. Let's get to it, shall we?
We begin tonight's episode as the tribe gets back to camp. Everyone's still a little freaked out, especially Hannah. She feels terrible for Jessica to have to go home because she refused to switch her vote to Hannah. David is bummed because he burned his idol at Tribal and lost, so he's unsafe and down in the numbers. Zeke is feeling awesome after the Tribal. He lets Jay, Will and Bret know how much he appreciated them sticking by him. They make their final give deal that evening. The plan is to take them all out one by one. The interesting thing here is that they're making a final five deal with only four of them...Sunday is nowhere to be found.
We come back from the abbreviated credits to Day 31. Ken receives his Legacy Advantage from Jessica. He is so happy to have this as he's looking for a way to better life for himself and his daughter. And right off the bat, it's time for a...
Probst sighting!! He wastes no time - it's time for some love. Out comes Sunday's husband, Jeff. Next up, Bret's dad, Don. Jay's sister, Melanie is next. Next we meet Hannah's mom, Liz. Adam's brother Evan is next out. Right off the bat, Adam gets the news that his mom is doing okay despite the stage 4 lung cancer. Adam also tells his brother that he has an advantage in the game to steal a reward, but that he can't and won't use it. He just can't take their love from them. David's dad, Doug is the next one out. Ken's brother William is next out. He comes out and Hannah says, "They're both so handsome." Zeke replies, "I know." Zeke's dad, Sam is the next one out. And last, but not least, we get Will's mom, Irene. Okay, everyone has had a small bit of love and we've shed enough tears to float away. Let's get to the challenge.
They'll be attached to a rope that is wrapped around a bunch of obstacles. First one through to their love will get to bring their loved one back to camp for a good, old-fashioned barbecue. Ken gets out to an early lead, with Jay right behind. Zeke and Hannah are next in line. Poor Sunday and Will are already out of this thing. Jay is the first under the obstacle with Zeke and Ken right behind. Hannah and David are also on the final obstacle. Adam is completely stuck and out of it. Right now, it looks like Jay's to lose. And despite amazing effort from Ken and Zeke, Jay wins reward!
Now comes the fun. Who will he take with him? And how many will Jeff let him pick? First up, he is given the option to choose anyone. Jay says that he promised someone at the very beginning of the game, so he chooses Will. And as a second choice, he picks Sunday and her husband. Finally, Jeff lets him choose one more. He tells everyone that he loves them, but "This guy could have done it and he didn't." So he chooses Adam and his brother. Everyone else will head back to camp, but the others don't get to participate in the barbecue or get even a last hug.
We come back from break to a Survivor loved ones BBQ. Jay tells us that as soon as Adam said he wouldn't use his reward that he respected it and had to choose him. Adam and Evan go off to talk about Mom. Apparently, things are not going so well for her. She's having bad reactions to some of her medications. They've taken her off the treatments and she's been doing much better. Evan tells us that the whole family loves the Survivor and that Mom says she's getting her strength knowing Adam's out there. After that talk, Adam and Evan take Jay and Melanie aside to let him know how much they appreciate being chosen. He is so appreciative that he hands over his advantage to Jay - no strings attached. So now it's Jay's problem to bear. How nice of him.
We come back to camp and David points out a meeting on the beach between four of Zeke's alliance - all but Will. David points it out to Will. Will tells us that seeing his mom has made him feel like he needs to play the game a little more. So he suggests to David that he thinks Zeke is dangerous. David tells him to use him for this vote. Will says he doesn't want to use someone, he wants to work with someone. He tells us that he doesn't want to be dragged to the end as a goat and it's time he makes a move. He and David and Adam lock this in, and it seems as though Zeke could be getting the boot tonight. And with that, it's time for a...
Probst Sighting!! Today's challenge will have them holding two handles to apply tension on a steel bar. If the tension loosens, the bar will fall and they'll be out. Last one holding their bar wins immunity and a one in eight shot at a million dollars. Right off the bat, David drops his bar and he's out. Hannah is the next one out. Will and Bret are the next ones out. Sunday also drops out and a few minutes later, Zeke drops. Jay, Adam and Ken are the last remaining players. At this point, Jeff tells them they've been out there for four minutes. Whoa - that's crazy. Jay and Ken are slipping a little and finally Ken loses it. Jay has almost lost it, while Adam is looking super solid. And just like that, Jay drops out and Adam. Wins. Immunity! You can't tell me that there wasn't some sort of mom-mojo going on there. Well done, Adam. As we head to break, Will tells us that this is his time to make a move.
We come back from commercial to play, "It's Anyone But Zeke." Everyone congratulates Adam and he is loving life! David locks it in with Hannah and Adam - just vote Zeke. Is Will going to stick with that plan? They don't know. Ultimately, they don't have a choice but to hope so. Zeke, however, feels that something is wrong. He says the other four are WAY too calm to be on the bottom. He thinks David has found another idol and that explains the calmness. He talks with his people and they decide that Ken should be the target.
Will takes Ken aside to have a talk. Ken tells us he has to get to know someone before he gets in a bond with them. As they talk, Will finally tells Ken that Zeke's crew will be writing Ken's name down tonight. And like that, an alliance is born. Or is it? Ken goes right back to camp and grabs Jay to ask him what's going on. He completely blows up the plan by letting Jay know that Will isn't with them anymore. The next thing we see is a powwow of Jay, Will, Ken, Zeke and Bret where it all gets hashed out. Ken has basically blown up Will's game.
As Ken leaves and Sunday joins, Will tries to explain that he never gets any credit for anything they do. Jay tells him that they've been together since day one and he'll vote however Will wants him to. After a long while, they agree that their five is together again and Ken is the target. Zeke is still worried about the phantom idol David doesn't have so he wonders if they shouldn't vote for Hannah instead.
Back up at camp, Ken tells everyone what happened, so they know their four is screwed again. As they try to decide who's getting the vote, they seem to have it narrowed down to either Ken or Hannah...somehow David will wiggle out of the vote again. You just have to wonder if Adam will pick up on the right cues and play his idol to save his alliance. As we head to Tribal, Will tells us that he is in the middle and no matter what anyone thinks or wants; he will control the vote tonight. He has a huge chip on his shoulder about this and if he keeps mouthing off, he's gonna find himself Cesternino'd out of this game.
We get to Tribal and Jeff begins with David and asks him if anything has changed. David says that there are two sides vying for one swing vote. Will admits that his plan was to flip on Zeke, but Ken revealed it to everyone, so now it's out in the open. Sunday says something about how she can understand how Will feels and how he wants to have more of an effect like the big kids, and that's why he was susceptible to suggestion. Will jumps in to say that he wasn't being lured in, but that he actually initiated the conversation and this is exactly what he's talking about. It's a shame that he has to have himself in the middle like this to be taken seriously out there.
Zeke tells Will that he has always wanted to play with him and that he was protecting him. Adam jumps in to point out that Zeke was all about what he's done for Will. Jay jumps in to say that he has never looked down on Will or taken credit for any of the moves they made together. They took out Michaela together. *Tweet* Flag on the play. Let's go to the tape, "Jay, did you do this?" "Yeah, I did it." I'm gonna have to call BS on that. Anyway, David says that Will feels like he has to have something on his resume. And that if he goes with them right now, his name will be all over this. Hannah starts to mumble something and Jay just tells Will to vote with his gut. Will admits that Jay is the only one to show him any respect. And right there, Will ain't flipping. He'll stick with Zeke and then he'll pay for it later. Ugh.
Jeff goes to tally the votes. Hannah says she thinks she's going home. Adam says, "It's you?" She says, "I think so." Jeff asks if anyone would like to play an idol. Adam stands up and pulls the idol out of his pants and announces to the group that he's playing it for Hannah. WHOA!!! First vote: Hannah. Hannah. Hannah. Hannah. Then: Zeke. Zeke and the 12th person voted out of Survivor: Zeke. Whoa, wait a minute - that was only four votes for Hannah. Does that mean Will actually stuck with David's side?? That would be CRAZY! We'll have to wait for the next time on... In the meantime, you have to like the play by Adam. We're late enough in the game that gaining a serious ally like Hannah can be huge coming to the end. David, Ken, Hannah and Adam are easily the tightest four in the game - and when you're that tight, it will be hard to break them up.
Next time on Survivor: Will is still fighting to take control of the game. We see him telling Jay and Adam they need to take David out. But Adam has other plans. We see him talking to Bret about how Will is just going to keep bouncing back and forth. Should be interesting. Now, let's check the votes: BOOM - Will votes for Zeke! So, the idol play was not needed. Zeke was already going home regardless of the play. However, all anyone saw was Adam guess right and save the day. A vote that could have had Will's name all over it instead has Adam's. Can't wait to see how this plays out next week. 'Til then, take care!