Survivor San Juan Del Sur Recap
Episode 9
Gettin' to Crunch Time
By Kim Hollis and David Mumpower
November 20, 2014
The losers (and Saint Natalie) return to camp. Keith correctly notes that Jon has sworn complete allegiance to Natalie after this turn of events. Moments later in a camera monologue, Jon confirms the veracity of this statement. Wes is confident that one of Reed, his father or himself is next to go. He calmly requests that Natalie let him know if he is the one to go that night. This is deftly done, as Keith knows that he can play his idol to mess up the opposition if they are honest (but foolish) as requested.
“I just don’t want to get hashtag-blindsided.” – Wes with the Survivor quote of the season
As expected, a funny edit occurs where mud-clad Jeremy doggedly searches for an idol. Meanwhile, everyone on the yacht looks straight out of a wine commercial. Jon and Jaclyn sip champagne and exchange I Love Yous while Alec and Reed watch on in horror. They had wanted to talk strategy with people who may be willing to cut a deal. Instead, they’re stuck with another couple’s romantic memory of a lifetime. At least they aren’t caked in mud like poor Jeremy, who has no idea that two players who are not him have idols.
Probst sighting part deux! The first thing that happens is that Probst quizzes Jeremy on the difficulty of Exile Island. The firefighter plays up the difficulty of it in a similar way to what we mentioned about Natalie earlier. They both need to be careful not to play this card too emphatically. It’s dangerous on Survivor to point out that a couple of people owe you if you are around for the final vote.
The challenge today is clever. It’s the usual assembling of a puzzle using your hands and feet that we have seen several times before. The trick this time is that people cannot use their hands. It’s all feet. Poor Jon has giant football player feet. He struggles the entire time. He simply does not have the grace required to achieve this task. Big feet are a huge disadvantage.
The players who do the best are Reed, Baylor and Natalie. Reed looks like he is going to win. Unfortunately, he accidentally knocks down two puzzle pieces while trying to finish the last one. That opens the door for Baylor to get the win while her mother cheers her on loudly in the background. They may annoy the crap out of us, but Baylor will never tell a therapist that her mother never supported her.
It’s time to play It’s Anyone but a Boy. We presume that Reed is the likeliest target, but there is a solid reason to eliminate any of the dudes in the outnumbered alliance. Wes is a physical threat who has annoyed the women. Alec has been offensive more often than not. Keith has been condescending to Missy and Baylor, behavior we fully support since they totally deserve it. And Reed may be the smartest player remaining in that group. The more interesting targets would be Natalie and Jeremy, both of whom just traded comfort in order to curry favor with other members of the power alliance.
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