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Probst goes back to Lisa. RC could be up for grabs, Skupin could be up for grabs, and any concern about Malcolm and Denise? Lisa says it’s a huge concern, and it also brings up something Probst hasn’t mentioned - someone on the bottom at Kalabaw could flip over to the Tandang side. So Lisa is going by the Presidential Debate playbook, ignoring Probst’s questions completely and bringing up whatever she wants to talk about.

Pete is asked about hidden immunity idols. He says that he thinks there are two, and that Matsing’s idol is gone. In other words, he’s not at all worried with revealing that Tandang’s idol is in play and that his side has it. Probst points out that he’s a fit young guy who might perform well at challenges – though not really today. Pete thinks he has a huge target on his back. Justified, Abi? “Absolutely.”

Jeff Kent, will there be a blind side? He says there will be, because everyone is scrambling not sure who’s going home.

It’s time to vote. We see five of the votes, which is unusual. Abi votes for Jonathan, while Artis and Pete vote for RC. “I never liked you,” Pete tells RC. What a choad. RC and Jonathan vote for Pete.

Probst goes to “tally” he votes, and there’s some weird animal noise in the jungle that makes everyone turn their heads. But before the count, would anyone like to play their hidden immunity idol? Everyone looks over at Jonathan and Jonathan says “I’ll do it." This is a hidden immunity idol, and any votes against Jonathan will not count.

The votes are… Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan. Obviously, Jonathan was right to play the idol so Probst gets those out of the way. Jonathan is left to reflect on the fact that he's a terrible judge of character and he doesn’t really deserve to stay in this game.

RC. Pete. Jonathan. Jonathan. Oh Probst, you old tease. RC, Pete, RC and the eighth person voted out of Survivor and the first member of the jury is RC. She hugs Michael and gets up to go. Abi and Pete smirk at each other. So long RC, I know quite a few people who will miss you and particularly your leopard print bikini.

So, in the end Jeff Kent decided to vote with the Tandang alliance. It’s too early to tell how this will play out, but I think Jeff Kent’s priority is to remain the swing vote. If all goes according to his plan, Michael and Jonathan are next out, leaving the tribe split Pete-Abi-Artis on one side and Malcolm-Denise-Lisa on the other. Then he has a choice - side with Pete-Abi-Artis knowing that they’d be easy to beat at Tribal Council, but knowing that you’d be in their sights when it’s down to five. Or play one side off against the other by voting off (say) Malcolm, then Pete, and making your bloc of two the swing vote each time.

Looking at the alternative strategy of sticking with the returnees and voting out Pete, Abi and Artis. With eight players left there would probably be three tight pairs of RC-Michael, Denise-Malcolm and Jeff Kent-Carter and two wild cards – Lisa and Jonathan. I think Jeff Kent felt that he would have less opportunity to be the swing vote in that situation, and he chose the option where he’d have more control and would end up in a final three where he could win. It’s easy to think he made the wrong decision by letting the mean people we don’t like get further in the game, but I think he made the right call.

Next time on Survivor, Jonathan has “nothing left to lose, and wages war on everyone”. He even smack-talks Michael: “Maybe you’ll win immunity. Oh you won’t, because I’m winning immunity." What would be great is if he followed up with a z-snap.

We see how the votes went over RC’s boring post-boot interview. Abi, Lisa, Malcolm, Denise and Michael (!) all voted for Jonathan, Pete, Artis, Carter and Jeff Kent voted for RC, leaving Jonathan and RC to vote for Pete. The most surprising thing is that eight castaways concocted a plan to split the vote between two people, and they all voted the way they were supposed to.

Meanwhile, RC talks about how amazing it was to go on Survivor blah blah blah. She says he’s very proud of herself, but I guess the 112th Wellesley hoop-rolling champion will have to find some other success, however she defines it.

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