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Previously on Survivor, Gabby made a run for Christian and got herself voted out for her trouble. Presumably, she cried afterward. Then again, she cries when it rains and when Weezer’s Africa plays on the radio.

Her ouster was really engineered by Mike White, who suggested that they split votes between her and Christian. This idea was received like it was something no one else could ever have considered, which is ridiculous since it only made sense. Several people knew that Christian had an Immunity Idol.

Anyway, we’ve got just two weeks left of the show, but at least it’s fairly interesting toward the end. There are a few good players – Mike White, Davie, and Nick, who really, REALLY need to do something about the Christian problem. He’s going to win the game if he’s up for Sole Survivor.

Along with those four, we also have Kara, who has played an under-the-radar game, Alison, who isn’t nearly as great at Survivor as everyone else seems to think she is, and Angelina, who isn’t nearly as great at Survivor as SHE seems to think she is.

Let’s see if everyone can rally to get rid of Christian. If they do, we’re sure we can look forward to seeing him on a future all-stars season.

Back at camp, everyone congratulates Christian on a well-played idol, but Nick is bummed that he’s still around. He makes a fake Immunity Idol and hides in hopes that someone will find it. Please let it be Angelina, please let it be Angelina.

But wait. He decides to further his evil plot by hiding it under a raft and then FINDING it while everyone is sitting with him. Theoretically, everyone will think he’s found the replacement idol. Presumably, Christian will see right through his stupid ruse.

“No one’s gonna be looking for the idol except me!” he says.

Mike White immediately goes and tells Kara and Davie what just happened. Davie immediately smells a rat. Hallelujah. He figures that Nick just pulled out the same idol he already has and showed it to everyone.

Okay, the four guys are really working at cross purposes and it’s kind of fun. He snoops around the area, looking in the obvious spots. He starts feeling depressed about being unable to find it. SO… his next approach is to take out Nick. He confabs with Christian, and the two of them agree – that if Nick has two idols – he’s got to go.

PROBST! Reward time will send Survivors via helicopter to the Mala Mala Beach Club for delicious food (duh). It’s every person for him- or herself here.

The beginning of the challenge involves unraveling a rope maze. Davie gets his easily, and then starts hopping over and under obstacles. Next up is a beanbag toss to knock a pyramid completely off a platform. One of the tricks here is that you’ve got to have enough rope to retrieve your beanbags once you run out. This is a problem for both Angelina and Kara, leaving Davie and Nick to battle each other with just one block left on their pyramid. Davie wins.

Now he obviously has to choose someone to join him, and if he’s smart, it’ll be Nick. And it is. Interestingly, he is able to justify it by saying he is repaying him for the family reward. Then, Jeff asks if anyone wants to plead their case. Angelina reminds him that she got them rice. I mean, Yale University and all!

He chooses Kara. You can pinpoint the exact moment Angelina’s heart breaks.

“It could be a million dollar mistake,” Angelina snipes.

Right.

She bitches to the other remaining players. I mean, how could Davie do that to her? Christian can barely keep his eyes from rolling back in his head while she talks about how unfair it is. For some reason Angelina equates her sitting out one challenge for rice with Jose Andres feeding an entire country after a hurricane. I wish we were kidding.

Davie says that he wants to keep his frenemies close (Nick) and his friends closer (Kara). He’s hoping to get some time alone with Kara during the challenge to talk through plans. He intends to treat Nick amazingly well, and then slit his throat at Tribal Council. He tells Kara that Nick may have two idols. Kara is completely onboard with the plan to get rid of Nick.

Back at camp, she knows she has to chat with Alison to pull her into their alliance. Alison agrees, but she also goes to Mike and tells him exactly what is going on. Mike feels like this breaks the game wide open. He’s conflicted, though, because he’s been bonded to Nick for quite some time.

Daybreak, and Davie is still determined to find an idol. He wanders around and as always, it’s super easy to find. BUT it’s just a clue that tells him to go to the spot of the merge feast, which is where he’ll find an advantage. He waits until it’s raining and heads over to the feast area.

He actually finds an idol that is GUARANTEED good for the next Tribal Council. He can risk his vote to smash an urn and extend his idol’s power for up to two more votes. This is a huge risk. Davie really does go through all the potential mathematical permutations in his head. Eventually, he puts his faith in God. He prays for a sign, and hopes the fire will point toward an urn. It points the other way, so he hangs onto his idol for the next vote – he can either play it for himself or for Christian as needed.

Probst again. Obviously, this Immunity Challenge is crucial. It’s the one where they have to balance a ball on a disk while also balancing on a narrow perch. The disk can’t touch their body.

After one round, everyone is safe. Now, they’ll all add a second ball to balance on the disk. With two balls, it’s much more difficult, and Kara and Angelina fall off. Then, Davie and Christian fall.

Alison, Nick, and Mike are still competing. Mike is shaky, but suddenly Nick loses control, leaving Goliaths Mike and Alison to duke it out to the end!

Round three, and they have to balance one, two, three! Yes, three lovely balls! By the way, Probst makes a number of super immature balls references. We won’t dignify them by repeating them. Even though Mike’s balls are moving (!), Alison’s fall. Mike wins immunity. He has much to think about, too, as he has a hugely impactful vote tonight.

After the challenge, Kara is amused that everyone wants to eliminate Alison. Mike wants to make a big impact on the game, though. He believes (correctly) that Christian is the person to vote out tonight. He tries to argue the point with Alison, Kara, and Nick, but none of them seem to be convinced.

Playing straight into Davie’s hands, Nick tells him that he really only does have one idol. Since Nick was truthful with Davie, he now wants to target Alison.

Mike decides to go to Christian and tell him that Davie is gunning for him. Instead of convincing Nick to swap over to Christian, it instead sends him toward Davie.

For once, this is really not an “It’s Anyone But…” situation.

And it’s Tribal Council time. Gabby actually smiles huge at everyone. Nick talks about how hard everyone is playing, while Probst tries to talk strategy, which is the same conversation he’s had a million times before. Trust? Lies? So many!

Davie says it’s a “mind frenzy” and that the game has to be played tribal to tribal. The game is fluid. You know why he, Davie, Christian, and Nick are doing so well? They see the game as ever changing and adapt from day to day.

Christian does note that the record for votes received by a player who makes it to the end is 19. Christian is currently at 15. He uses this as an argument about his vulnerability and someone that you’d want to take to the end, but it likely proves how much of a threat he is.

It’s voting time. Will anyone play an idol? Davie, obviously. He plays it for himself. Nick plays his… fake one, trying to get a read on the tribe. He plays his real one for himself after looking everyone in the eye.

So… two votes Alison, two votes Christian. AND… it’s Christian. Mike White, everyone! Our Amazing Race/Napoleon Dynamite friend has really brought the big game the last two episodes.

If they’re smart, they get rid of him next.