Sorry to be so pokey with this.... here goes! Show begins post-tribal council; the Kim Spradlin exit. Awwww. So sad we all were (or at least some of us were). Michelle begins the show with a confessional about being frustrated that by offering to let Jeremy use her 50/50 coin if he needed it, she had let the cat out of the bag to the tribe that she had this advantage. It's not a secret anymore. AND, once again she was on the wrong side of the vote. "I WANT to play a big game but it feels like I took a butter knife to a gun fight." Like that line, Michelle. She and Jeremy talk: "Everyone said it was YOU." she tells him. Then we get a confessional from him: "It's the third tribal in a row that everyone wanted ME. " Michelle wanted to know why they didn't tell HER. Jeremy didn't know but he chose to give her back her advantage. "This is the penultimate of the war and it's gonna get ugly." he tells us. Next morning, we get some Denise: "I'm done dealing with things as they are." she says. Somehow (?) she comes up with paint and gives herself a couple of paint tattoos (she also painted them on a board; did those words actually go on her wrist? I'm not sure). On one wrist she writes the word "Endure"; on the other "Let Go" (if there was enough paint, she should have written "Queenslayer" on her forehead!) "Whichever way it goes; they are both okay." Sidenote: Somehow I missed the significance of this the first time I watched. Recall at the end, we thought it seemed odd for Denise to be seemingly giving up. But if we watch that end game moment remembering this one... it might make a bit more sense. Jeremy and Tony talk - the comic relief moment! They argue over whether two weeks are ten days (Tony... ha ha!) or fourteen days (Jeremy). A Tony confessional: "He's a fireman. I'm a cop. There is always a little rivalry. But I trust Jeremy and want to keep him around." Tony and Sarah ... the Cops R Us alliance is alive and well! Six years in the making. Sarah tells us that in her mind, final three will be her, Tony and Ben. But they need Jeremy. Problem is - Ben wants Jeremy gone. So Sarah decides to convince Ben to do what they need him to do (vote Nick) but in a way that makes him think it's his idea (that's always difficult but also the best strategy to use in Survivor) I'm sorry Ben, but you made that much too easy for them. I don't think you ever figured out they were playing you. Immunity Challenge: Race out with a ball. Toss it into an overhead trap, catch it on the other side. Once you have two balls through, dig under a bar. Once through, solve a slide puzzle. This is for immunity and two fire tokens. This was a pretty fun one to watch. Jeremy was first to get both balls. Sarah next. Everyone manages to get the pair except Michelle, who struggles and never gets both. Even tiny Denise was successful! Jeremy was first to get to the puzzle, but the rest all catch up... except Michelle. So Michelle is out of it completely while the rest of the tribe are on the puzzle. Probst makes a special point to let us know how much Tony struggled with a slide puzzle on his Cagayan season: "Wow, this time he actually seems to know what he's doing! And his brain is only racing at a hundred and FIFTY miles a minute!" In the end, it is Nick (of course, since he was called out early as the target) who gets the win. Back at Camp... ... (completely bogus) congrats for Nick all around - but none are happy about it. Now they need a new plan now. Sarah suggests Denise. Ben doesn't want to do that so instead he works on building some distrust between Jeremy and Michelle. He tries to convince Jeremy to get her advantage back so that they can vote Michelle. Jeremy is not buying any of it. He thinks that Ben is too close to Denise for a move like that. "She's a smokescreen. I don't know who they ultimately want but it's not Denise." Nick agrees. Ben also tries to convince Michelle that Jeremy will ask her for the 50/50 coin again. I guess it never occurred to Ben that Michelle and Jeremy might talk (duh!). And figure out what he was up to. The two of them decide they should try to blindside Ben. Jeremy tries to convince Tony. Tony tells him he's down with that - but really he's not. A decision is made by Tony that he, Nick and Denise will vote Jeremy. Sarah and Ben will vote Michelle. They know that Jeremy and Michelle are voting Ben. So if all goes well it will be Jeremy leaving. Nick... seems a bit unsure which way he will go. We shall see when we get to... ...Tribal Council Random questions from Jeff: He calls out Michelle on the trouble she had with the challenge while the jury watches: "Thanks for pointing that out, asshat - oh, sorry, I meant "Jeff". They talk about how much more personal this season is: they know each other; they respect each other; they consider each other friends; some have had intercourse; etc. No whispering amongst them. No private conversations resulting in more private conversations (maybe they all remember how pissed Denise got LAST tribal!) Just normal talk before the vote. No chaos. An advantage that must be played. Everyone seems calm. And.... The vote happens: Michelle gets up to play her advantage. She has to think long and hard about who to play it for - herself or Jeremy. In the end, she plays it for herself. She flips the coin and it lands on "safe". No votes for Michelle will count! Michelle (does not count), Michelle (does not count), Ben, Jeremy, Ben, Jeremy, and... Jeremy. Sadly, he becomes the fifteenth voted out and the next to join the E of E crowd. Jeremy bequeaths his two fire tokens to Michelle and goes on his way. Our second post-tribal moment, with Ben gushing over FINALLY getting Jeremy out. From Tony: "Tribal worked out exactly as planned. This whole game I've been on the right side of the vote. Michelle.. she has been on the wrong side every time. Usually, you'd call that a "goat" and you'd WANT to go to the end with them. But NOT on the Super Bowl of Survivor." Tony and Ben feel that they should take out Nick since he is so good at puzzles. But they both feel that Michelle should go first. Cue... a conversation between Nick and Michelle. She is annoyed with him for not sticking by Jeremy. "We are at the bottom now: me first, than you. Where do you see us going from here, asswipe?" As she rants, we get a confessional from Nick where he tells us that he didn't really want to work with Jeremy. And he really doesn't want to work with Ben. Michelle: "We are on the bottom and Nick is too blind to see it. But I do my best work when my back is against the wall. Not as good as Spencer, of course, who's the king of BATW. They haven't seen this yet but the "Sassy girl from New Jersey is here for a fight!" Next morning, Michelle is mad. "I've been more mad here than I've been in an entire year of my life!" While she calmly takes on a painting project, I guess for the fun of it (suddenly paint becomes a focal point of this game!) she talks to Sarah. She tells her the cop she knows she's next. "I know I'm on the bottom. When you aren't "in" with anyone the only way to go is "out". Sarah makes an attempt to deny this, but.. come on, Sarah! Michelle might be a "goat" but one thing she is NOT is dumb. She sees the writing in the sand... she knows. Michelle does try to convince Sarah that no one is beating Tony. No one. Sarah takes this conversation straight to Tony and Ben. Edge of Extinction... ... where we find our outcasts eating their tiny spoonful of rice. Jeremy is already feeling drained and defeated after only a few hours. Yul comes with a note: an advantage is sitting on a "throne of stone". Everyone bolts out! They all run to different places. Wendell seems to be on the right track - he runs up the mountain - but he goes too far up. Natalie knew right where to go and finds it easily. From Tyson: "Natalie is the Queen of Extinction. I'm in constant awe watching her. I sure hope she buys me an advantage from that giant pile of tokens she has." Natalie decides read the note to everyone. It is a disadvantage to be put on one player at the next challenge. You must sell it (by sundown!) to anyone still in the game and they can use it against anyone they want. She can charge whatever price she wants. Back at Camp Natalie has given this advantage to Nick. It will cost him eight (!) fire tokens though. He only has six. He talks to Michelle who agrees to help him. She gives him her two. And while she is still a little upset with him over his betrayal of Jeremy, he really is her only option. Now.. who to give this disadvantage to? Second Immunity Challenge For this challenge, they will stack blocks on a beam while attempting to avoid trip obstacles. First to knock them down like dominos will win immunity and two fire tokens. Also, this is the LAST day the fire tokens can be spent! Probst then informs Ben that he has been given a disadvantage for this challenge. He will have thirty percent more blocks and beam than the rest, if I heard that correctly (you did). He chuckles at his misfortune. "I've yet to earn a token. I've yet to get any kind of advantage. I guess I'm not making any friends this season." We now know that Nick gave the disadvantage to Ben. Okay, the race is on. This turns out to be a good challenge for Michelle (although it's close all around). A few drops here and there. From Ben. From Michelle. In the end, it is .... Michelle who pulls out the win! She is happy and dancy... and completely understood that she needed to win this one. "No claps!" she says with disaappointment as she goes up to receive the necklace. Not wanting to look like poor sports, the tribe all... reluctantly clap. Ben tries to get intel from Jeff on who disadvantaged him. Sorry, Ben. This is classified info. Back at Camp... Denise decides that she needs to play the role of "dejected player, assuming her neck is on the block". She tells the tribe that she knows it's her and wants to make a deal. "Let's go ahead and have some rice. Then I will use my fire tokens to gets you guys more rice before I go." She is wanting Michelle and Nick to think Nick is safe so they won't worry about scrambling. But truthfully, the alliance of Tony, Ben, Sarah and Denise plan to vote Nick out. What thespian skills! Ben also tries to sell it to Michelle and Nick. A Nick confessional: "TThis worked out perfectly. Ben got the disadvantage. Michelle won. I'm in the best position I've been in. I am SO glad that saything this on camera NEVER comes back to haunt a player. Every time someone says how comfortable they are in the game, tribal council goes exactly as they wanted it to!" He and Michelle talk to Tony about switching to Ben, using the theory that Ben knows how to make fire well: "He shouldn't have been in that final four fire making challenge. That is where he won his season." Tony considers this then decides he needs to get into his Spy Nest (yippee!) to see if he can get some go intel on what others are thinking. He hears a conversation where Denise tries to make a final three deal with Sarah and Ben. "Well then, Denise has to go. If you don't want ME in the finals than YOU have to go." He talks to Michelle and Nick. They decide on Denise. Tony talks to Sarah. She seems to also be considering Denise (cut to a shot of a red herring flopping on the beach). But Nick might be a better choice. Mistakes are not allowed this season! Tribal Council Again, a pretty calm TC. No whispering or anything. A discussion about the value of fire tokens. Another concerning return players. Denise makes that "Endure and Let Go" speech: done with the cat and mouse; done with the scrambling. Wants to stay but okay to go and hopes if it IS her, she'll be able to battle her way back in. Vote happens. Nick, Denise, Denise, Nick, Nick, Nick.... Nick is voted out and heads to the Edge of Extinction. So next week the show will begin with the EOE "Battle Back" into the game. Who will it be? Natalie (as seems to be strongly hinted)? Tyson (via Natalie's gift advantage?) Will it be a physical challenge? A multi-level one that will require strength, brains and endurance? Natalie with so many tokens chooses to buy three advantages (the limit allowed). She has an idol that she bought last time. And with the leftover tokens she bought some peanut butter which she shared with Tyson. And she also bought an idol for Tyson. That was nice of her. Let's hope this doesn't come back to bite her! We will see what happens next week!
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