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Hello good people and welcome back to the Box Office Prophets Survivor 35 recap. I said last week that it seems like the show is starting to pick up, but then was a bit let down by the mostly predictable result as Desi just became the next Healer to go down. Also during the episode, Lauren found a sweet advantage and Ryan found an idol and despite those cool happenings, the episode itself was a bit of a letdown. I've never been a fan of Pagongings - they're ridiculously boring. And despite their best efforts, it certainly seems like we're deep in the belly of another Pagonging.

Previews for tonight's episode center a bit on Ryan and him telling everyone he has an idol. Ben and Devon will compare notes and maybe, just maybe, the show will take a turn and the Healers might get a reprieve. Something else to keep an eye on is the emergence of Lauren as a player this season and we'll see if she continues her growth into a legitimate threat.

But enough of the preamble, let's get to the episode. The show begins at the dawning of Day 22. Mike starts off telling us that once again, he didn't know who was going home last night. He knows he's in a bad spot and it's time to start making moves to find some sort of crack in the big alliances. He starts by telling Ryan about how Cole was taking food and stuff. Mike figures it's time to break from the Healers. Lauren and Ben are patting each other on the back for the successful extra vote play. So far, no one else knows about it and they're goal is to get down to the final 7, then work out a plan to get to the end. Ryan and Devon are also talking about final 7. Devon is worried about what happens when they get there, but Ryan tells him about the "idol in his pants." Devon is stoked! They have that kind of trust, so they're the only ones who will know about this idol. Ryan tells us that he wants Devon to depend on him in the game as a way to help propel him to the finals. I don't know, I think Devon might be a little smarter than you think.

We return from the credits to...what? A Probst Sighting? Yes, please. Today's reward challenge will have 2 teams swimming out to a tall ladder. They'll climb and then jump off the ladder and retrieve a key under the water. There are 3 keys, once your team has them all, you'll unlock a box of balls and the other 2 people will shoot 5 baskets. First team to sink all 5 baskets wins reward. They'll be taken to a yacht and feast on sandwiches and chocolate cake. They'll also enjoy some adult beverages. Worth playing for? Oh yeah! The tribes are broken up like this: Ben, Devon, Ashley, Ryan and Lauren against Chrissy, Cole, JP, Joe and Mike. Of note is that Ashley is a beast in the water. And JP is a beast at everything. He jumps off the ladder, stays under water all the way to the key and finally comes up with his key in hand. Are you kidding me? As is the case this season, the beginning portion of the challenges is almost a wash as it comes down to the basket shooting. And, to my surprise, Joe is money with a basketball. He makes quick work of the 5 baskets and Joe, Cole, JP, Chrissy and Dr. Mike win reward!! They are whisked right off to their reward and as we head to break, Joe is less excited about the food and more excited about the chance to change his fortunes in this game.

We come back from break to enjoy the winners’ victory. Their yacht is escorted around by a small school of dolphins and that's pretty cool. Chrissy is thrilled to be there so she can control the conversation. Cole is thrilled to be there so he can get fed to win the next immunity challenge. Joe digs into the chocolate cake and starts cutting it into pieces to he can search for an immunity idol clue. He searches the entire yacht and there is nothing there. As they sit with their full bellies, the boat starts to pass camp. With no prompting from the players at all, the boat sounds the horn to get everyone's attention. 4 of the losing team run out to moon the yacht and there was much rejoicing.

We segue way into the folks at camp and Ryan has decided to tell Ben that he has an idol in his pants. He really enjoys having something in his pants, it would seem. Ben is pretty happy to find out that Cole doesn't have an idol. Ben promises not to tell anyone what he knows now. Also, let's not forget that Devon and Ryan agreed not to tell anyone. Joe is a bit bummed that no one in the 7 seems to realize that 7 people can't all make it to the end. No one wants to make a move, so he is just sitting around under the sign now digging for an idol that's not there. He tells us that his plan at this point is to get under people's skin and try to be the person they keep because he has no shot at winning. That's an interesting play. Hmmm, I wonder if it can work. It's worked for people before, like The Specialist. The problem there is that he had no idea that he was doing it. Joe is going to TRY to do it.

The rest of the group talk about Joe and Mike is pretty impressed with his work ethic trying to stay in the game. As Joe walks up, they all stop talking. Joe lets them know they don't have to stop talking just because he walked up. For some reason, this angers Chrissy and Ashley and they let him know they can do what they want and people get talked about all the time. Joe puts his plan into action by suggesting that Ashley, of all people, really shouldn't say anything as she's in line to be taken to the end as a goat. Button - pushed. This infuriates Ashley and she lets him and us know how horrible he is and what a bully he is. Chrissy chimes in telling him she doesn't know why he would say stuff like that. He tells her that he doesn't care what she thinks. Button - pushed. So much so that Chrissy gets up and leaves the shelter area. He lets them all know that he's not there to hang out, he's not there to make friends and he has no respect for Ashley's game. Ashley lets us know that she will do everything she can to make sure the Roundtable (I guess that's what the alliance is called now) sends Joe home over Cole at the next Tribal.

Day 24 at camp has Ben and Devon getting away to chat. Ben wants someone to join him and Lauren. He's worried about Ryan's idol now. They start to talk about life after the 7. They agree they want to go to the end together. To cement this deal, Ben tells Devon that Ryan has an idol. Devon plays this off SO well. You'd never think that Devon already knew this information. He tells us that Ryan's been lying to him about the idol and no one else knowing. He tells us that now that he knows he can't trust Ryan, he's ready to move forward in the game with Ben. They shake on it and talk about how this game is about to be fun! Just a quick mention here, again, that Devon has a lot more going on upstairs than his Spicoli accent would suggest. In his pre-game press, he talked about how he was going to play up his "surfer bro" side to make people think he's not that smart. And it's working perfectly on these people. Everyone is bringing him info. He is becoming the hub of this game while doing nothing to provoke this. At the end of it all, his hands will be clean because everyone comes to him and not the other way around. If he can make it, he has a great chance to win this game.

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