Episode 12 Chat

Welcome to the conversation about episode 12 of season 46 of survivor!

“Mama Bear”

The write up of this episode has now been completed. Enjoy!

Though I am based in the Mountain time zone, I’ll be watching the show with the NY/Toronto time zone tonight, typing quick notes which will display at the bottom of this post.

Did you miss something and want to see it written out? Or maybe you can’t view the show this season for some reason, but you still wonder what is going on? Don’t worry, I’ve got you. On Thursday and Friday, and sometimes on Saturday too I’ll spend many hours streaming and pausing the episode, and looking for deleted scenes online, so that I can write out some of the juiciest details for us to enjoy again:

• Who all was present for that conversation?
• What exactly was said by whom?
• How did the individual players perform in the challenges?
• Who voted for whom?
• What were the final words of the person voted out?
• What details were in the previews of the next episode?

On Sunday I will watch the show a third time, just for fun, with my late-watching Survivor pals. So, if YOU are also a late watcher, please don’t hesitate to add your comments to the conversation! The more the merrier!!

• BACK TO MAIN PAGE
• LINK to Episode 1 “This is Where the Legends are Made” Days 1-3
• LINK to Episode 2 “Scorpio Energy” Days 4-5
• LINK to Episode 3 “Wackadoodles Win” Days 6-7
• LINK to Episode 4 “Don’t Touch the Oven” Days 8-9
• LINK to Episode 5 “Tiki Man” Days 10-11
• LINK to Episode 6 “Cancel Christmas” The Big Merge
• LINK to “Episode Several” Days 13 & 14
• LINK to Episode 8 “Hide ‘n Seek” Days 15 & 16
• LINK to Episode 9 “Spicy Jeff” Day 17
• LINK to Episode 10 “Run The Red Light” Day 18 & 19
• LINK to Episode 11 “My Messy, Sweet Little Friend”

Scenes from tonight’s episode, shown at the end of episode 11:

• Q: “Q skirt! Q skirt!” Maria wears a Q skirt. Q to camera, with a crazy look in his eye: “I’ve been calm, but I need the storm!”
• Maria and Charlie sit alone on the end of the upsidedown boat, looking out over the water. Shadows of trees reach the water, suggesting that this is an early morning conversation. Maria: “I feel like I got a good friend.” Charlie: “I love her to death, but I have to vote her out.”
• Kenzie makes a hand symbol of the letter Q to Ben and mouths “Q!” Ben to Charlie: “This is gonna be my favourite blindside of the season.”
• Maria lays on her back in the shelter, a bright green sweater serves to cushion the log acting as a pillow. Her eyes are closed, and both hands are palm down on her ribs. “Something died in me today.” She is sobbing. Maria to camera: “It’s gonna light a fire under me.” A tear slides down the side of her face.

Survivor Fans Ready? Let’s GOOOO!

Previously on….Survivor:

• Venus finds a package containing her Hidden Immunity Idol under a rock: “I have the Idol in my hand!” Walking excitedly: “I am trippin’!”
• After the reward challenge, Jeff invites Maria to choose one more person to join herself and Ben for a pizza party. Maria: “For me, it’s more like who is physically falling apart right now?” Maria: “Liz and Q, rock/paper/scissors.” Kenzie’s mouth drops open. Q’s paper covers Liz’s rock. Jeff calls Q to Maria’s side. Liz: “That’s fucked up.”
• Q races down a path in the bright sunlight, over top Kenzie says to Charlie: “The girls are doing Q…and we, like, need your vote.” Charlie: “Yeah, I know, I’m, like…I know.” Charlie, alone to camera: “My head is going in 22 different directions.”
• Venus tosses some firewood beside the firepit. Overtop, Maria says to Charlie: “So it’s Venus, right?” Charlie: “Ahhh, yeah.” Charlie frowns. Charlie, alone to camera: “And I’ve been playing this game with Maria since day one. But at some point, you have to start thinking about your own game.”
• Tribal Council. Venus: “It’s one thing to decide who you’re gonna take with on a reward, but to start off by saying, ‘you know, I really want to choose someone who is physically weak,’ and then put on this farce — it kind of felt cruel.” Maria looks up at Jeff and smiles a small smile. Charlie writes down the word, ‘Venus.’ Ben writes down the word, ‘Kensey.’ Jeff says, “12th person voted out, the 5th member of our Jury: Venus.” Charlie nods with a serious face. Maria smiles and looks from Charlie to Jeff. Jeff extiguishes Venus’s torch: “The Tribe has spoken.”
• Venus’s last words: “I was gonna play the idol, but, unfortunately, I’m going home with it.”
• The tribe of six walks along the dark beach, lit torches held high, and makes their way back to camp.

Nuinui, Night 21, returning to camp:

Kenzie leans her unlit torch agains the others. Overtop, Q: “I butchered Venus’s name.” Charlie: “I was like, who the hell wrote that?” Q: “I don’t know what I was thinking, VENISE.” Q, privately to camera: “Tribal went exactly as it should. They say you can see Venus from Earth, but we don’t see Venus no more in this camp. Venus thought that she could rally the troops and send me packing? Psshhhh! You can cancel Christmas, girl. That would never happen.” laughs.

• Kenzie: “Who the heck voted for Kenzie? Was that Venus?”
• Ben: “I’m gonna clear this up right now.”
• Kenzie: “Was it you?”
• Ben: “I’m gonna blow my game up.”Long pause. Ben: “I drew a blank.”
• Charlie: “You actually wrote the wrong name?”
• Liz puts her hand on her hip, trying to understand.
• Kenzie: “You wrote MY name?”
• Ben: “Yeah, I want, that’s why I wanted to talk to you right now.” Maria stands beside him, starting down in front of him, either listening carefully or thinking about something else.
• Liz: “Oh, yeah, y’all need to talk.”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Ben, alone to camera: “Yo, for real, not lying, I was not supposed to write Kenzie’s name down. I was supposed to write Venus’ name down. And I just had a slip of the brain.”
• Kenzie to Ben: “You literally told me you would never write my name, and then, like, did?”
• Ben: “Dude, I–“
• Kenzie: “Like, that’s like, a big blunder, you know?” She laughs, not sure whether he meant to or not, but hoping not.
• Ben, alone to camera: “I’m at this point in the game where I haven’t been sleeping and I feel like I’m losing my mind. Kenzie has helped me with my night terrors. I genuinely blanked. And you know what? I just didn’t want there to be any tension at camp.”
• Ben to Kenzie: “You’ve been so good to me, and I’m like, I can’t sit here and have you be, like, thinking about that all night.”
• Kenzie, alone to camera, wearing Charlies beautiful dark green fisherman sweater: “What do you mean it was an accident, Ben? How does that happen? It’s not like it’s Kenzie and Kelsey. It’s VENUS and Kenzie. Like, how did that happen? Either you’re telling a really dumb lie, or you’re telling a really dumb truth, and I’m just gonna …. I’m not gonna harp on it.”
• Ben: “Is that you’re first vote?”
• Kenzie: “Yeah, that’s my first vote. Yeah, from my island bestie, you jerk.”
• Ben: “It’s okay. I have three.” (votes cast against him.) They laugh.

On the dark shore, Maria sits alone on the upsidedown boat, crying.

• Liz approaches her, “Hey, I want to chat with you real quick.”
• Maria: “I’m really upset right now, Liz.”
• Surprized, Liz: “Oh my gawd! Why?” She crouches in front of Maria to look in her face.
• Q approaches and sits behind Maria, bent over to hear her.
• Maria: “Because she, like, dragged my character through the mud!”
• Liz: “Oh my gaaawd!”
• Maria: “To say it was an act and a farce.”
• Q: “Ooh.” Q puts an arm around her, protectively.
• Maria: “Like, do you know how hard that was to make that choice?”
• Charlie approaches and reaches his hand out to pat her shoulder.
• Liz: “I know.”
• Q: “Yeah.”
• Maria: “She got under my skin so bad tonight, and I’m pissed at myself for reacting. I feel like that just killed me!”
• Liz: “Aw, no! I don’t think you had much of a reaction.”
• Q: “No.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “At Tribal tonight, Venus came out of the gates slinging. I felt like she really attacked my character. You know, and it just got to me.”
• Charlie has moved to behind Maria on the other side of Q. He has his arms around her too.
• Q: “She go home.”
• Charlie: “And Venus just got sent to the jury, by almost a unanimous vote.” Charlie begins to laugh: “Except Ben, apparently, voted for the wrong name, which I have never heard of in my life!”
• Maria, alone to camera: “But now, finally, Venus is gone. We’re at final six, and this is the time to just, like, go for it.”

All are on the beach, Maria seems to be feeling a little better, so it’s a little later than the previous part of the conversation.

• Charlie: “What up, final siiiiiix!” (cheering, whooping)
• Maria, alone to camera: “At this point, I’ve had two wins, and a blindside, and I’ve been on the right side of every single vote. I know I’m a force to be reckoned with, so, if they’re not trying to get me out, then that’s their mistake.”

04:43 Opening Credits

Nuinui Night 21

All are sleeping under and around the shelter. I see 4 around the fire and 2 under the leanto. Ben, Kenzie and Liz are most recognizable, and they are around the fire. Suddenly the fire makes a loud sound and Ben jars awake, frightened. He says he can’t find his bottle. He begins to cry. Kenzie wakes up to comfort him, and Q hangs around too, stirring the fire.

• Ben, alone to camera: “It’s getting way harder for me to sleep. It’s very obvious how weak I am these last couple of days. I’m waking up in the middle of the night. The first time I had a panic attack, it was very mental. You know, you’re disoriented, you’re in the jungle, you don’t know what’s going on. Now the part that bothers me, and it freaks me out, is my body has a mind of its own.”
• Ben lays under a blanket near the fire, beside Kenzie. We don’t hear her respond, but this is what he says to her: “Wow, I’m, like, cold no matter how hot it is. I’m, like, worried about my health more than anything else. I don’t think I’ve had night terrors in, like, twelve years.”
• Ben, alone to camera: “I had an experience camping when I was 18 that traumatized me. I woke up screaming, irrationally, you know, thinking about college, thinking that I’m gonna die. And it was very similar anxieties to what I’ve been going through in this game.”
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “Ben’s panic attacks have gotten, like, more frequent, and they’ve gotten progressively worse.
• Ben and Kenzie walk close together, down a path. Ben: “I just don’t know where this burst of fear comes from.”
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “So, every night, I just hold his hand, and we breath together, and if he needs to talk it out and laugh, we do that. If he needs to just, like, walk aorund, like, I go with him to do that because Ben can’t help that he has anxiety attacks. But what I can do is be there for someone who needs someone. And I don’t care that he literally wrote my name down.”
• Kenzie to Ben, as they walk around in the dark: “It’s just a game.”
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “I could never let someone go through something so scary, alone. That’s not who I am.”
• Kenzie to Ben, during their walk in the dark: “Do you want a hug?”
• Ben, puts his arm around Kenzie’s shoulder: “We’re rockin’ it.”
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “Time will pass, and the sun will shine, and blue skies coming, but just be with him through the storm, you know?”

Nuinui Day 22, Sunrise

All six gather to watch the beautiful sunrise. Left to right, Ben, Kenzie, Maria and Q sit on the upside down boat, side by side. Charlie and Liz walk up to them and ask them to scooch over to make room for them on the upside down boat too. Charlie squeezes in beside Q, and Liz doesn’t care that there isn’t space for her too, because she has an announcement to make: She acheived a wonderful BM. Everyone cheers. She jokes that she lost five pounds. Later she almost dances as she crows how good she feels now. She says she is ready to play now. She feels like she is in the game now.

Kenzie and Charlie joke with Ben as the three of them walk down a path together.

• Kenzie: “Just so we’re clear, my name is not anyone else’s name.”
• Ben smiles and puts his arm around her shoulders: “Yeah.”
• Behind them, Charlie adds: “And by the way, don’t accidentally write Charlie, either.”
• Kenzie: “Yeah.”
• Ben: “I’m never gonna live that down…”
• Charlie: “No, you’re not.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “Even though the game is so, so different with only six people, my game plan is the same: Options.”
• Charlie to Kenzie and Ben: “It’s like, Ben, what are you doing? It’s like, this is our squad!” Laughing, all three laughing.
• Ben: “I know!”
• Charlie: “And you’re, what?”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “And right now, I’ve given myself two pathways on this next vote. I’ve worked really hard to plant this idea with Ben, with Kenzie, with Liz, that we can take out Maria and Q.”
• Filling his water bottle with a ladle at the well, Ben tells Charlie and Kenzie: “I will say there is only one bonus to me being a total idiot last night.”
• Kenzie: “What?”
• Ben: “Is that I think Maria and Q might think that’s, like, a wedge.”
• Kenzie: “Between us?”
• Charlie: “True.”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “At the same time, I could stick with Maria and Q, who trust me completely, but part of me is, like, what if I just do what I set out to do with Maria? That’d be awesome! So, I have to really think about what’s best for my game, and, it’s just such a dilemma at this point. And it’s a different dilemma than anything I’ve faced this game, you know, I’ve voted out people who I’ve really liked, but no one like Maria who I played the whole game with, and who I consider to be my best friend out here. But I can’t be waffling back and forth. Now is the time where I have to be laser-focused on getting to the end, and  I have to make a decision.”
• In the background to this last bit of Charlie’s, you see him approaching Q and Maria at the campfire, sitting beside Maria. You see Maria laughing as she gives him something, and you see him just, really enjoying their great relationship, yet sitting there, thoughtfully considering.

Commercials Break 10:33

Day 22 Reward Challenge

• First players run about 15 feet to a raised bamboo grid. Each grid is about a foot off the ground, 3 squares wide, and 18 squares long. Players must high-step through that grid.
• Next, players run about 15 feet to a ladder bridge. 5 steps up, then a horizontal ladder that is about 11 rungs long, then 5 steps down. In front of each ladder bridge is a post with a string attached to it. Players stop first at that post, untie a bag from the post, but the bag stays attached to a long rope that is woven through and twisted around the ladder bridge. Players must pull the bag along the rope, while climbing and balancing their bodies across the ladder bridge. On the far side of the bridge there is another post which holds the other end of the rope. At this point, players can untie their bags from the rope.
• Next, players will carry their bags with them as they crawl through the dry sand underneath another bamboo structure, this one more lines than grids, but approximately the same size as the first structure.
• Finally, players will reach their mazes at the end of the course: It’s an octogon shaped surface, approximately 3 feet across, with raised walls inside which form the maze. There are several holes in the bottom of the maze, which provide the traps the ball might fall through, causing the player to begin again. To move the ball through the maze, players hold onto two handles which each pull a string up or down. The two strings are attached to two spots on the maze, and the maze tips accordingly.

The reward will be Chinese takeout in the cute little white boxes, to be enjoyed at “The Sanctuary, Where Good Things Happen.”

Left to right, after the draw for spots, this is where everyone stands: Purple:Q, Orange:Maria, Green:Kenzie, Red:Ben, Blue:Charlie, Yellow:Liz.

• Though the camera loves Q, so tall and strong, during the high-step grid, it is Charlie who completes this part first. Maria finshes 5 steps behind him, I can’t see the order of anyone else’s finish.
• As players approach the ladder bridge, we can see that even though Kenzie was shown having a tough time with the high stepping, it was Liz who finished that part last.
• Jeff summarizes the next bit well: “You’re moving that bag along the rope, and you’re moving your body across the ladder bridge. Wherever that rope goes, your bag goes. Wherever the bridge goes, your body goes.”
• Everyone is pretty even on the ladder bridges, though Maria is in the lead and finishes this part first.
• First Maria then Q crawl under the bamboo obstacle, and in that order, they are the first two to reach the maze. Charlie joins them soon.
• It isn’t long before everyone is working on the maze. Even though Maria is soon near the end of the maze, it is a tough one, and balls fall through frequently, forcing players to start again.
• In the end, Charlie completes the maze first and wins reward.

Jeff asks Kenzie what letters from home would mean to her. Kenzie always phrases things so well, here is what she says: “I know there are people here with kids, and everyone here loves somebody. Um, my fiance moved our wedding–it was supposed to be yesterday–for this, so it would just be really nice to hear from him, but I, Charlie, don’t, like–it’s–I’m not gonna hold it against you if you don’t choose me, I just…I’m just thinking about it, you know?”

• Jeff tells Charlie to choose one person to go with him, and he chooses Liz. When told to choose a second person, he chooses Kenzie.
• Charlie reveals that when he saw it was a food reward, he decided to bring the people who didn’t eat pizza. But when Jeff added to the reward letters from home, Charlies choices suddenly mattered a lot more to people.
• Maria is upset, she cries, she cannot look at Charlie as the three lucky ones leave the challenge grounds and head to The Sanctuary. She reveals later that she understands why Charlie didn’t choose her, they had agreed early on to never bring each other on any rewards they might win, because it would make it too obvious that they are working together. Still, the letters from home are the one thing she was really looking forward to.
• Jeff asks Maria to speak about it: “I just wanted to see, I just want to see those letters so bad, Jeff. I understand his decision, I would never wish that decision on him, it’s just, it’s breaking my heart in three.”

Commercials Break 21:47

Sanctuary, Day 22

The Sanctuary is shady and, as promised, there are several white take-out containers full of chineese food, from which they each heap portions into their small bowls. There are also jugs of cold drinks like soda, and insulated glasses of tea….and everything is so clean! Everything is clean, that is, except the players.

• Liz, alone to the camera: “I haven’t had a reward in almost ten days, and there’s been so many feelings, feelings I didn’t even know that I had inside me when I don’t get picked. And, today, I’m picked! More than eating, it feels like yes Liz, you are doing something right in the game,, you’re working with people that wanna work with you and that feels just as delicious as this beef dish tastes.”
• Kenzie and Liz tell each other that they feel so lucky now, that they didn’t get to eat the pizza. This food is way better, and there will also be those love letters!
• Charlie, alone to camera: “Not choosing Maria was the hardest decision I’ve made the entire game. But I knew that we were gonna be okay. She is truly a selfless, caring, just stand-up person.”
• Flashback to Charlie and Maria talking near the beginning. Charlie: “I told you, like, my favourite players are Macolm and Denise.” Maria: “Yeah, she’s kind of like that strong mom.”
• Charlie continues to camera: “We’ve been saying we’re Malcolm and Denise, and we’ve built such a tight bond over the course of this whole season. And one reward challenge, even if it’s for love, was not gonna break that bond.”
• There is easy chatter while they eat. Kenzie thinks Maria will understand, and Charlie agrees. I’m glad that these three got to enjoy this reward together. They enjoy each other in a wholesome, friendly way. It’s nice to see.

Meanwhile, back at the camp…

• Maria cries. She lays on her back, next to the firepit and sniffles, eyes closed. “I think the hardest thing … is I can … “
• Ben, laying next to her, looks over at her: “Let it out, take your time.”
• Maria, sobbing: “I can picture them s-sending their…writing their messages.”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Maria, gasping between sobs: “Working so hard on these letters …. to get them to me …”
• Maria, alone to camera: “I understand, but, having my three boys at home and not having a way to communicate with them..” sniffs.
• Maria to Ben: “Something died in me … today….it’s really hard….that killed me.”
• Maria to camera: “I feel like I just got robbed, it just got taken from me. This one would have meant …” (She sounds an awful lot like Liz did when Q didn’t choose to take her along to the reward that represented her relationship with her daughter.) Maria shakes her head: “I would have given up every reward for this one.”
• On the beach, a solitary tear slides down Maria’s face, as she lays on her back there now, eyes closed.
• Maria to camera: “It hurts, it’s very painful, but, like, I’ve been in positions before where I’ve been broken down, and all I can think of is, like, you keep some bear cubs from mama bear, like, I’m coming. It’s gonna really light a fire under me.”
• Ruh-Roah, better watch out, everybody else! She is sitting upright now, and her face looks determined!

At the Sanctuary.

Charlie gets the honour of handing out the letters to Liz, Kenzie and himself. One envelope each, with their names on them. All their letters are in that envelope. Kenzie says that hers is so thick.

Liz, alone: “I remember coming into the game thinking, Liz, you really don’t want your letters, because you’re gonna have to show this emotional side of yourself. But when the letter is right there in your face, that’s all you can think about, and so to remind yourself of home and why I came out here in the first place and who I left behind. And it feels like motivation. I see my daughter’s letter, and I see her little drawing.” She laughs and holds it up, it’s a unicorn fish surrounded by hearts. Very cute. “She’s the whole reason I’m out here. She dared me to apply. And it just, it reminds me that there are people in this game who are not rooting for you, but there are people that ARE.”

• On a blue page, Liz holds up her daughter’s letter. The picture she drew takes up the bottom half of the sheet. Here are some words I can see in the top half: “I hope you……is going. I hope you are doing….Think about every ….day. Kiss the moon every night. I did not know what to write so I wrote this. Read this card as much as you want. To Mommy. From Chelsea.” And honestly, that is such a cute whale that she drew!
• As she speaks, we see clips of Liz reading her letters and crying into her napkin. Charlie and Kenzie, too, weep as they read their letters, all three read their letters quietly to themselves, but a private conversation to the camera operator serves as a summarizing voice over.

Kenzie to camera: “I have no idea what’s going on with my parents. I have no idea what’s going on with my business. I have no idea what’s going on with my fiance. And, so, getting to, like, hear that they’re okay – there’s no words to describe how much it means out here. I was supposed to get married, literally yesterday, but my fiance, when I got the first call for Survivor, immediately moved our wedding because he just believed in me! It’s amazing that I have -” Kenzie pauses to cry.

• On a pink page, Kenzie’s fingers cover some of the words of this letter: “If you…thinking of you…sending strength and positing…and at the salon will always…and your forever alliance. No matter….you could never let us down.  If you are having the time of your life, living you…of going on Survivor, know that has always been my wish for you and nothing could make me happier than knowing you are soaking in every last drop of this incredible experience. You have been such an … to me and I know you will be to …. home so soon, and I will be waiting…rest of our serendipitous love story….life. Can’t wait to give you a big sqeeze…I just love you, ♡Jackson”
• A photo is shown of Kenzie and Jackson. Kenzie’s hair and makeup is done up in a pretty non-Survivor way, Jackson has shoulder length, wavy dark hair, brown eyes, a shadow beard, and a soft and gentle face. Kenzie covers part of her face by holding up her engagement ring, and her nails are painted green, blue, green, blue, green. They look well-suited.
• Kenzie continues, alone to camera: “It’s just so amazing to have a support system that allows me to learn, to go, to do this. You know, like, I’m used to being in charge, I’m used to, like, controlling everything, and I’m used to being, like, a perfectionist, and relinquishing that control was a big lesson for me to even come out here. I’ve been self-employed since I was 17. I started my career at 15 years old.”
• A photo is shown of Kenzie back when she was a 15-17 year old starting out in her career. She stands in an uncluttered, white salon, wearing a dark army green T shirt, both her arms are up in the air doing something to the top of her hair. She wears many bracelets, and there aren’t any visible tattoos yet. Her trademark smile is huge, her hair is reddish brown with a few pink dreadlocks near the front.
• Kenzie continues, alone to camera: “Like, just because I thought I was the only person I could ever count on. But hearing that my family can handle everything – like, it’s allowing me to take a BREAK, and, like, I don’t have to be perfect all the time. I don’t have to be in charge all the time. Like, I CAN lean on other people.”

Charlie, alone to camera: “Every single letter, every single one, makes me cry and laugh and just get that one little taste of home that I NEED to drive me through.”

• Charlie holds up a green page, and what he reads makes him laugh-cry. “She has a bunch of Taylor Swift quotes.” He says out loud to the others. In fact, it is a densely written letter from his girlfriend, Judy, seemingly full of helpful mottos, which is a little hard for me to make out, but I’ll try: “Dear Charlie, ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡(a long row of hearts with words I can not decipher at the end of the row) Hi!! This is very surreal to be writing you a loved one letter for Survivor. I’ll get the … out of the way…1/ I miss you A LOT! I think you’ll probably…texts from me when you get back …would enjoy my meaningless updates like you) 2/ I hope you are having so much fun! I’m sure LOVE…(like, I don’t know, the no food, sleeping in the rain sort), but…I…hope…you’re having the time of your life…I feel obligated to give you some advice or words of … they might be … I actually …. what you’re up to at the moment. 1/ Always be true to yourself and trust your gut….you are so kind, smart, thoughtful, and you have a great sense of other peoples feelings. That’s what makes you … person, but also a great survivor player. Never lose sight of that! 2/ “It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot” – Top Gun 2. Even when it feels like the cards are stacked against you, and other people have the upper hand, you are in charge of your outcome! Remember your strengths and use them! 3/ “If a man talks sh.t, the I owe him nothing, I don’t regret it … caus he had it coming” – TayTay I Did Something Bad”… a Taylor lyric (smiley face) if someone shows you their true colours, don’t be afraid to …. your gut. Revenge … why I could … Sometimes strength  in the game comes after being knocked down over and over again. Especially when you have … with you. Again, I’m … some of this doesn’t apply, but I hope the Taylor and Top Gun references at best brought a smile to your face….Regardless of what happens, I am endlessly proud of you… makes me so happy that you get to live your dream … you beyond belief and I can’t wait to see you … stay safe, no rock climbing …. you x 1,000,000 …♡  (sketch of a happy face with long hair), an arrow points to it from these words: me patiently waiting for you to return (but actually I’m quite impatient.)”
• Charlie continues, alone to camara: “Getting to hear from Judy, my girlfriend, I get to see what she’s thinking about this whole, crazy experience. I miss her so much, and think about her every day.”
• A picture is shown of Judy in a white, strapless dress, shoulder-length, with a big, happy, calm smile and wavy strawberry blonde hair reaching down just past her shoulders. She stands beside Charlie, who is in a grey suit jacket, waring a light blue-almost white dress shirt with no tie. They stand outside at dusk, in front of a marina with a large white gazebo in the background with a red roof and a spire on top. They look classy, young, and happy.

Charlie at the Sanctuary: “I always thought they were being all dramatic with letters,–”

• Kenzie: “No!”
• Charlie: “But, my gawd…”

Charlie continues to camera: “But if I remember one thing, it’s that my sister, my Dad, my Mom, my girlfriend Judy, they all told me to play to win.”

• Charlie holds up a pink page, a letter from his father: Dear (Mark, scratched out) Charlie, Let’s get the emotional stuff out of the way. You are an amazing person — compassionate, thoughtful, positive, open, funny and smart. I am so proud of the person you have become through the growing up time. More than that, I am proud that you are putting yourself out there and taking risks. I know that you are bringing all of yourself to the game. Whatever your situation, whatever you are facing, remember the things that got you through your toughest times and overcome! Here is some help:  “Stay a live, whatever may occur.” ; “what are your legs” “What are they going to do” ;  “How fast are you going to run” ; “We have no time…no time” ; “There is no tomorrow” ; “Stay on target” ; “Don’t think” ; “This is the only face I got” ; “If you don’t run, you can’t win” ; “Dragon Slayer!!!”  and finally: I BELIEVE IN THE THREE EAGLES! and I believe in you! Love, (another scratched out word that I cannot figure out) Dad!”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “That might be what I needed to push me to make the right decision for Charlie. Because if I’m going to play to win, I’m going to be betraying Maria, who I’ve played the whole game with. And those reminders to play to win are gonna fuel me to the end of the game”

Commercials Break 29:04

Sanctuary, Day 22

The well-fed trio have to lean back, to give their bodies room for all the food and gas that is being processed right now. They begin to talk strategy.

• Kenzie: “This was the reward to win, Charlie, that’s such a bucket list thing.”
• Liz: “I know, I feel so special!”
• Kenzie and Liz: “Thanks Charlie!” They’ve been thanking him throughout.
• Liz, alone to camera: “Charlie’s choices to go on this reward, it couldn’t have been set up any better. This is a chance for the three of us to actually talk strategy without looking suspicious. So while it would pain me to not go Q yet again, I do know Maria is a bigger threat.”
• Kenzie to trio: “Someone just needs to beat Maria tomorrow.”
• Liz: “We have to get her before Q, right?”
• Kenzie: “Yeah.” nods.
• Liz: “I mean, as much as that makes me gag.”
• Charlie: “Yeah.”
• Liz: “She’s so good!”
• Kenzie: “Oh, she’s good at everything. And she made the fire last night! I was like, oh, no, you can make fire too?”
• Liz: “She’s unstoppable.”
• Kenzie: “I know.”
• Charlie, dishing out more food for himself: “We have the squad to do it. Our band of goons.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “This is by far the hardest reward decision of the season.  All I can say is thank goodness Maria was not here because I am cooking something up that I don’t want Maria to sniff out of the kitchen. And that is a blindside of Maria at the next vote. I know Ben is solid, so the key ingredients in this little recipe are Kenzie and Liz, so, I wanted to cement that relationship today.

Laying in a beautiful crocheted hammock, Kenzie’s head beside Charlie’s feet and Charlie’s head beside Kenzie’s feet, they talk togehter, there is a cookie waiting on Kenzie’s leg.

• Kenzie: “I wonder what they’re doing back at camp.”
• Charlie: “They’ll probably look for the idol, but I don’t think it exists, personally.”
• Kenzie: “Yeah. Well, let’s hope not.”

Nuinui Day 22

Maria and Q energetically hunt for the Hidden Immunity Idol. With flourish and drama, Q announces that he has found it. He considers whether or not to tell Maria about his find, and decides he wants to share it with her. He wants her to know about it, and he want her to know that if needs be, he will use it on her if she seems to be the one in danger between the two of them. He figures that in trade for this offer, she will protect him. “If I have someone who is willing to play this for me, then I definitely want to keep him around. So maybe that’s my best move now.”

Maria and Q sit together in the shelter, in front of the cold firepit. I do not see Ben anywhere, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t in that pile of blankets behind them.

• Maria: “I think it’s imperative Liz goes next.”
• Q: “Yep. We just have to make sure Charlie don’t pull a fast one with those girls.”
• Maria, shaking her head: “I don’t think he would. I’m not worried about Charlie doing anything with them…..but….would Charlie need to go before them?”
• Q: “It would make….it would be safe.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “This is the first time that I’ve actually voiced out loud to anybody that I’m considering voting Charlie out. It’s a very hard decision, because not only has he been my number one since day three, but I have so much trust in him.”
• Maria to Q: “Charlie is so loveable, he’lll beat any of us.”
• Q: “That’s what I’m saying.”
• Maria: “He goes to Final Three, he wins. Against anybody. Charlie will win, hands down.”
• Q: “Yep.”
• Maria: “I think that’s the path, Q. I honestly do.”
• Q: “Charlie don’t win, get rid of Charlie.”
• Maria: “Yep.”
• Q: “Which I’m down to do, if you mean it.”
• Maria: “I’m down to do it, too.”
• The happy trio return right at that point, with loud, enthusiastic greetings, hugs all around. I still don’t see Ben. He wasn’t anywhere around when they were idol hunting, either.
• Maria, alone to camera: “It’s a very hard conversation to have, but it’s also a reality. He’s a threat.”

So, Charlie is after Maria, and Maria is after Charlie. Maria has access to an idol, Charlie does not. Charlie also does not know that she has access to an idol.

Maria and Charlie sit together, alone on the end of the upsidedown boat.

• Maria: “I knew why you picked who you picked.” Charlie puts his arm around her and she leans into the hug.
• Charlie: “Thank you.”
• Maria: “It was just sad.”
• Charlie: “And, I mean, I know…it was so sad, ’cause I know how badly you wanted to read those letters.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “I adore Charlie so much, and Charlie and I have walked this journey together with so much compassion and genuine care for one another. And we’ve really formed, like, a friendship that will go way beyond this game.”
• Charlie: “Just so, like, grateful to, like, have you in my life, period, so….” Maria smiles and puts an arm around him.
• Maria: “Thank you for saying that.”
• Charlie: “So just, I just really want to thank you for everything.” She lays her head on his shoulder.

It feels like they are saying goodbye to each other, parting as friends before the big fight.

• Maria, alone to camera: “So it’s hard to switch from that security, that comfort, and that camaraderie to…it’s MY game now. Like, it HAS to be my game, there aren’t many options anymore for us to be a pair.”
• Maria: “Was there any strategy talk? Were there any pitches to you?”
• Charlie: “There were. It was much of the same….”
• Maria: “Which was..?”
• Charlie: “Like, get Q out of the game.
• Maria: “Okay.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “Marai’s my number one ally. I love her to death, but I’ve set up this blindside. I feel so many different emotions. And honestly, it almost feels like guilt. It pulls on just every single fibre of me.”
• Maria: “I think that was really important, strategically, is to keep…”
• Charlie: “Yeah, keep them from, like…”
• Maria: “Yeah.”
• Charlie: “…talking to too many people, and…”
• Maria: “Yeah, yeah.”
• Charlie: “The other thing was, I was like… I do not want them back here looking for idols.”
• Maria: “Oh, yeah.”

Maria does not tell Charlie that she and Q were looking for a Hidden Immunity Idol, or that Q found one and offered to use it on her if needed.

• Charlie, alone to camera: “I don’t think Maria is considering blindsiding me.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “I don’t know. Would he ever do it to me?”
• Charlie: “I was hoping you-you would find it….”
• Maria: “Well, I tried to go look….”
• Charlie: “I was like, I hope that’s what Maria gets to do while I’m gone…”
• Maria: “Well, I tried, I tried…”
• Charlie: “…is , like, find the idol.”
• Maria: “It took me a while.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “Or did we really have plans to go to the end together? Am I breaking his heart and messing up our plans?”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “I think she’s dead serious about taking me to the final three.”
• Maria: “If anything, I feel like I got a good friend out of this thing. You know, whatever happens, I feel like…”
• Charlie: “Whatever happens, Maria. Always.”
• Maria: “You are such a good person.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “The two best buds, Malcolm and Denise, can’t go to the end, and I want Malcolm to take this one.”
• Maria: “Hopefully we get to keep in touch and be in each other’s lives.”
• Charlie: “Oh my gawd, yeah. Oh my gawd! I know it, I leterally KNOW it!”
• Maria, alone to camera: “At the end of the day, Charlie and I will be wonderful friends after this game.”
• Maria: “I want them to meet Uncle Charlie.”
• Charlie: “And, uh…yes! Yes!”
• Maria, alone to camera: “But right now, he’s standing in my way.”

Commercials Break 36:35

Day 23 – Immunity Challenge, on the water.

Jeff stands alone on the last, and largest of a series of colourful, floating platforms and waits while a boat motors towards him, carrying the players. Once they disembark, we can see that all are in swimsuits and ready to play. Left to right, they stand Kenzie, Maria, Liz, Charlie, Ben and Q.  Jeff takes back the Immunity Necklace from Maria. Jeff describes the challenge, and ends with the phrase “dolphin puzzle.” Lizz makes a dolphin sound, and Ben leans over to look at her while he laughs with her.

There are five parts to this water obstacle course.

1. Stand at the start, two players to a platform, and wait to jump into the water and swim to the next one.
2. Climb up a ladder to the top of a tall platform and then jump off it, into the water. Each of these platforms serves two players.
3. Swim to the next platform, in the middle of which is a large square hole with a net on top. Players must cross the net. Each platform serves two players, so the movements of an opponent could affect their own ability to cross. Once they reach the end, they jump off into the water to swim to the next one.
4. Players climb up onto the a platform and cross a 20 or so foot long balance beam to get to the other side. Each balance beam floats independent of the other players. If a player falls off, they’ll just swim back to the start of this one and try again. At the end, there is a second platform. Once they reach it, they’ll jump into the water.
5. Swim to the final platform, where all six players will work side by side, about ten feet apart from each other, each solving their own puzzle of a dolphin.

The first player to solve and complete the dolphin puzzle wins immunity. They draw for spots, and this order of standing matters because each pair will possibly share platforms for parts of the obstacle course.

1. On the first platform is Liz, then Q. On the second platform is Maria, then Charlie. On the third platfrom is Charlie, then Kenzie.
2. The first three up the first platform are Maria, Charlie, then Q. The order they jump off are: Maria, Charlie, Q, Ben, Kenzie, then Liz.
3. The first person on this platform is Charlie. Maria and Ben will have to contend with the netting at the same time. Q and Charlie are faster than their platform partners, so all four of them get to do the nets alone.
4. Charlie is the first person up the next platform, with Q right behind him, Ben and Maria not far behind them. Charlie falls off his beam after two steps. Ben falls after three steps. Maria makes it straight across on her first try, so she is in the lead now. Liz falls, Q falls. Everyone falls. It takes the rest a while to compete this part, but Ben is the second to make it across.
5. Eventually everyone joins Maria at the puzzle, and for a while Ben is in the lead for solving it. Soon Maria blasts past him, and Q stops even trying as he stands back to admire Maria at work.

Maria wins Individual Immunity for the third time. She and Q hug. Jeff says that with this immunity, she will definitely be in the finale. What does this mean to her? Maria: “You know, I think yesterday I hit rock bottom, to not get that love from home. And so, I thought to myself-” (sniffles) “I was either gonna be fueled by love or I was gonna be fueled by the fierce determination that got me here.” Charlie and Q stand next to each other, both with their heads down, nodding as she speaks. “And so, this win, to me, is just-” Charlie and Q raise their heads and look at her at almost the exact moment as each other. “proving to myself that I have that determination, even in the absense of love from home.”

Q will absolutely play his idol tonight, so it will be one of the others who goes home tonight. Probably Charlie, unfortunately. Charlie tells the camera that since Maria can no longer go home tonight, he thinks that Q’s torch will finally get snuffed tonight, that Q won’t be a smoke screen tonight. But Charlie doesn’t know that Q has a Hidden Immunity Idol and he will probably play it tonight.

Commercials Break 44:38

There are twenty minutes left in this episode. I cannot understand how they are gonna drag it out, it is clear to me that one of two things will happen:

1. Ben, Charlie, Kenzie and Liz will vote Q. Maria and Q will vote Charlie. Q will play his idol and nix all their votes. Charlie will go. OR…
2. Maria will persuade Ben, Kenzie and Liz to vote Charlie with herself and Q. Charlie votes Q. Q does not need to play his idol because he only will get one vote, he will save it for the next Tribal council which is the final night he can use it, and he will make it to final four.

So, Charlie will be running around, avoiding Q and telling Maria that it’s Q, Maria will be running around telling everyone that it’s Charlie, at Tribal Council everyone will work their magic, making Charlie feel safe, and out he will go. I don’t see how this can fill 20 minutes of air time and not be boring. I’m yawning in bored anticipation as the next segment begins.

Nuinui Day 23

The order I see them walk back to camp, spread out by 5-10 feet per person, is Kenzie, Charlie, Q, Liz, Maria touching her necklace. Again, Ben is nowhere around, maybe he is ahead of Kenzie by 30 feet, because when everyone enters the shelter and congratulates Maria on being a challenge beast, Ben is part of it.

• Kenzie, alone to camera: “Maria is the biggest threat out here. Maria can’t keep winning everything, but she DOES! So it’s frustrating. So we can’t get her out. But I don’t want to go any further with Q.”
• Ben to Liz and Kenzie, who is wearing his black leather vest: “I think we’re all good for tonight.”
• Kenzie makes the Q symbol with her fingers, and mouths: “Q”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Liz: “Yep, yep, yep.”
• Kenzie: “We are, right?”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “I have wanted Q out of my game for a hot minute now, and it’s just not been happening. So I am ready to take down King Q! Like, I want him out of here!”

Charlie and Ben sit alone near the cold firepit. Ben mouths: “Q?” Charlie shrugs and mouths: “I think so.” Someone must be nearby. Ben nods. Ben mouths and nods to someone else: “Q?”

• Ben, alone to camera: “I think every time hs been the time to take out Q, but especially this time, ’cause there’s only two votes left. And the only reason Q keeps avoiding getting voted is ’cause Maria’s convincing us all to use him as a number, which is really, oh, they’re an alliance. How did we not put two and two together?”
• Ben, Liz and Kenzie sit in the shelter together, passing mango fruit back and forth between Ben and Kenzie, cuz Liz who cannot eat that.
• Kenzie: “We’re, like, the four court jesters taking down the king.”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Kenzie: “Finally.” Liz smiles a smirk smile at them. She is clearly happy about this.
• Ben, alone to camera: “Maria and Q think they’ve been running the show for a bit, but now everybody’s trying to come together as one to take down the king and queen.”
• Charlie and Ben sit alone in the sun, on the upsidedown boat.
• Ben: “This is gonna be my favourite blindside of the season.”
• Charlie: “Yeah, this one’s really good.”

Maria sits in the sun, on the sand, and Q groans as he drops down next to her.

• Maria: “What’s the tea?”
• Q: “So, thinking about this…I’m locked in with you till the end. Promise you. But….”
• Maria: “You’re gonna take out Charlie.”
• Q: “We have to. He’s vulnerable now, we got to take the shot when we can. It’s Survivor. The safe move is never the best move.”
• Maria: “The safe move is never the best move.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “I know it’s time to get out Charlie. But now, I’m removing my number one and trusting in my number two.”
• Maria: “I know you’re right, Q. I know he’s a threat, and I knew this day was gonna come.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “If everybody wants to bash me for taking Q further in this game, that’s their perogative, but … it’s Charlie tonight.”

Q sits alone on the upsidedown boat, and Kenzie plops down beside him.

• Kenzie: “So what are we gonna do?”
• Q: “We gotta go Charlie.”
• Kenzie: “Charlie?” Liz sits down on the other side of Q.
• Q: “We gotta stick together, Liz.”
• Liz looks away from him, as she answers: “I’m with ya.”
• Q: “We’re gonna have three on Charlie.”
• Liz: “Sounds good to me.” Q gets up to walk away.
• Liz, alone to camera: “Q comes up with this plan of getting Charlie out, but, Q, you know dang well I don’t want to work with you! Ever since Maria and him have teamed up and he thinks he’s back on top, he’s just been so ridiculously confident.”
• Kenzie and Liz are left alone together on the upsidedown boat.
• Kenzie: “But, you know what? I’ve been ready to get Q out.”
• Liz: “I’ve been ready to get Q out, too.”
• Kenzie: “For a loong time.”
• Liz: “Yes.”
• Liz, alone to camera: “Tonight is finally the night Q is going home. See ya later, brother!”
• Kenzie: “What are we gonna say to Maria?”
• Liz: “I’m just gonna play stupid.”
• Kenzie, nodding: “Yeah.”

In the shelter, the three remaining women gather together for a whispered conversation.

• Liz: “Q just told us it was Charlie.”
• Maria stays silent for a moment, stroking her chin like there’s a beard there: “What do you all think about that?”
• Kenzie: “I mean, I’m fine with that.”
• Liz: “He is kind of the one to beat. Everybody loves Charlie.”
• Maria: “Everybody.”
• Liz: Yeah, I love Charlie.”
• Maria: “If Charlie gets to the end, he wins, hands down.”
• Kenzie: “Yeah, like, look at him.”
• Maria: “Everybody here, he’ll beat everybody.”
• Kenzie: “Yeah.”
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “Maria thinks Liz and I are gonna vote Charlie, but we’re just bamboozling Maria and Q.”
• Maria: “I knew this day would come. We both knew it would come, you know?” K&L: “MmmHmmm”
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “And I’m just eating it up, because Q feels comfortable. So Q is not gonna see this blindside coming as long as Maria doesn’t find out.”

Maria lays back with an exhultant smile on her face as she watches Q build a fire. She and Q really to believe they have this game in the bag, Q is back in control telling everyone what to do, and Maria, his loyal sidekick since he invited her into the Six Alliance after the merge, is basking in putting him back up there. I find myself convinced of this too, because even if they do all vote Q, all Q has to do is play his idol and their votes are moot. Charlie goes home anyway. I usually side with the underdog, and Q and Maria are NOT the underdog, they are SO dang cocky!

Charlie, strategically covering all of his bases, inadvertently begins to create a new smokescreen which will hopefully trick Maria and Q.

• Charlie to Ben: “If we take out Q tonight, and leave Maria out of the vote, she’s not gonna be with us tomorrow. Yeah, it kinda weakens her, but if she wins immunity tomorrow, which right now, looks–“
• Ben: “Looks possible.”
• Charlie: “Very possible. What happens to us? We have to make sure that we can survive tomorrow.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “We need to get Q tonight, but we need to be careful how we do it, because if we leave Maria in the dark, then we go into final five, all of a sudden, Maria can team up with Liz and Kenzie and vote out either Ben or me.”
• Charlie: “So the way I see it, we have to bring Maria into the Q vote, which, I think she’s be cool with it.”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Charlie: “I’d have to talk to her, but I think that makes us the most safe.”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “This is why I never close any door on any relationship to work on, ’cause guess what?”
• Charlie to Maria: “I just wanted to talk to you.”
• Maria: “Yeah.”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “Maria thinks I’m still her number one ally. That’s the key of my game, is making sure that every side that I’ve been working with, I can still work with.”
• Charlie: “Would you consider voting Q out tonight?”
• Maria: “Mmm-hmm! Yeah.”
• Charlie: “I think it’s the right call.” Maria looks him in the eye and nods.
• Maria, alone to camera: “Charlie approaches me and says, tonight’s the night we’re gonna get rid of Q. And so I nod and say that I think that’s a good idea. What I really feel is, please don’t look me in the eye.” She laughs hard. “I feel so embarrassed, don’t look at me like that! I mean, what I really feel is, I think tonight is Charlie’s night to go.”
• Maria: “Okay, so….you think we can get everyone to write Q’s name down?”
• Charlie: “Yeah.”
• Maria, alone to camera: “I think the conversation about getting rid of Q is really just to appease Charlie and to just distract him from any other thoughts. But in reality, Kenzie and Liz and Q and I are gonna be the ones that make the decision. So there’s nothing Charlie can do at this point.”

If Charlie persuades Maria that he thinks everyone else is voting Q, Maria will assume that everyone is using Q as the smokescreen again, to trick Charlie into feeling comfortable, while they all do what she and Q told them to do. She will still believe that Q is safe enough to save his idol for later. And if she believes it, Q will sense that from her and he will believe it too. It’s actually best that Charlie is the one who talks to her about this, because it will feed into her belief that he is being tricked.

• Q stands on the beach as Maria approaches him.
• Maria: “You feeling okay?”
• Q: “I think, if what they tell me is true.”
• Maria, nodding: “Yeah. I think you’re fine. You may get a vote, but I don’t think you’re going home.”
• Q: “Thank you.”
• Maria: “You’ll be here tomorrow.”
• Q: “Yep.”
• Q, alone to camera: “Right now, I feel confident that I have Maria, Liz and Kenzie on board to working with me to blindside Charlie.” There’s a short clip of Maria and Q being obnoxious about the Q-skirt. The two of them are having a ball, but the ones watching them look annoyed and pissed off by their behaviour. “After tonight’s vote, and when Charlie goes home, it is safe to say that I’ve regained control. I don’t see how it can go wrong! But, here’s what I know: the Q-skirt is holding an idol.  Can you believe it? Nobody knows about the idol besides Maria, so, this thing is powerful. And if I feel any spooks or dooks, I’m playing the idol for myself. Period.”

The last scene before they head to Tribal is Maria confirming with Charlie that it is still Q. She does not warn him or attempt to prepare him that it will be him, she intends to blindside him even though she knows that he has neither won nor found any advantages. Charlie cheers with Maria that they will be in the Final Five tomorrow. Alone to the camera, Maria bemoans how hard it is to vote out her person: “This is the right choice for me, because at the end of this game, only one of us can win.”

• Might the cocky confidence Q and Maria have right now be their down fall and blind them to the danger Q is in?
• Will Liz, Kenzie and Ben be succesful in tricking Maria into thinking that they will vote with her against Charlie?
• Will Q feel comfortable enough during Tribal Council to not play his idol?

The order they are walking along the beach to Tribal Council is: Maria, Charlie, Liz, Ben, Kenzie and Q. When hiking, or in a convoy, a person who knows the way is in front of the line, and another experienced person brings up the rear. The people they are responsible for, or in control of, are in the middle. So, if Liz, Kenzie and Ben are already acting their “playing stupid” roles now, this positioning plays into it. Just as taking the front and the rear show that Maria and Q think that they are in control of the tribe.

Maria: “So, it’s going to be a sad Tribal Council for me. I’m going to see my best friend in this game walk out the door tonight, and so it’s gonna be very bittersweet, and I hope I get a hug.” She laughs pretty hard.

Being a cruel person is no reason not to win Survivor, everyone has a right to succeed in life, no matter what they are like. It’s just interesting to me that she does not think that she is cruel.

Commercials Break 52:02

Tribal Council.

As they enter, the jury has the attention of the camera. Tevin looks down at Hunter, who is watching the players enter. Venus sits proudly and looks knowingly towards Soda and Hunter. Soda watches the players as they enter and whispers: “Who’s got the necklace on?” She watches closely: “Ooooh, Maria!” She turns and smiles…either at Jeff or a camera. As they enter, some of the players seem kinda hyper:

• Liz: “Yo, yo, you! Let’s light it up!”
• Ben: “Jeff, we have a show for you tonight!” Liz punctuates his words with cheering type sounds, and keeps doing it.
• Kenzie looks over at the jury and smiles happily at them, tries to make eye contact. They all frown back at her, except Venus, who smiles a big grin.

The order they are sitting in, left to right, is: Charlie, Ben, Maria, Q, Liz, Kenzie.

• Jeff: “All right, let’s start witht he reward challenge, Charlie, where you won the reward, and much like Maria, you had a big decision to make. It was Chines takeout–“
• Charlie: “Jeff, it was the classic bait and switch is what it was. I THOUGHT it was Chinese takeout. And then you go, And loved one letters.”
• Jeff: “So I said, I’m gonna sweeten the deal and probably complicate your decision.” Laughing.
• Charlie: “Yeah, a little bit, you think? I mean…”
• Jeff: “So you seemed to base it based on who had received an earlier reward. That seemed like a very simple approach, but Maria was clearly emotionally upset at missing out.”
• Charlie: “Yeah, you know, we talked about it and had some big long hugs, and I was just impressed with all three of the people who didn’t go on the reward, who were just very selfless in saying, No, you three go. You know, we’ll-we’ll talk to our loved ones soon. So, it just showed how close we are out here. Even though everyone’s thinking of their loved ones, we’re forming bonds here, too.”
• Jeff: “Kenzie, what was the love like for you? Because you shared that you moved your wedding to come play Survivor.”
• Kenzie: “It’s indescribable, like, how much that meant to me. I told Charlie, like, this is a day that I will never, ever forget. Like, hearing from home filled me up so much with just enough gas, like, left in the tank to get me through to the end of this game, because we are this really, weird, dysfunctional family, the six of us. Like, Q and Ben are like my brothers who don’t speak and they, like, pick on me all the time. Maria’s like our aunt who cooks everything. You’re like our cynical grandma who’s, like, losing it, but we love her.” Laughs. “Charlie’s like our dependable dog.” Laughs. In jury, Soda’s mouth drops open and she covers her face with her hands. “Like we have made, like, this family here, but it’s not the same as hearing from the people you love so much at home.”
• Jeff: “All right, now let’s talk about the Immunity Challenge. Maria wins again, third time,” Camera switches to the jury, the people Maria couldn’t beat, so she voted them out: Hunter and Tiffany.  “Which puts you just one shy of an elite group of women who have won four immunity challenges, and that’s in seasons that have 39 days. But when I asked you about today’s win, you said it was the drive from not getting the love.”
• Maria: “Yeah. You know, just to be super clear, like, there were no hard feelings for Charlie’s decision. Like, I knew exactly why he chose who he chose, because they needed to eat. It doesn’t mean that, like, my heart wasn’t broken. And then I went back to camp and I cried the whole rest of the afternoon. But, what I said to myself was, I either let this knock me down and take the wind out of my sails or I’m gonna channel this into this fierce determination to win the challenge today.”
• Jeff: “All right, so you look at the jury. That’s five blindsides. They’re essential in the game. They’re essential in the game. It’s the mark of great Survivor gameplay, and you have to play that way. You cannot let the person who’s going home smell that they’re going home, because there’s so many ways they could disrupt the game. But Charlie, when it gets down to fewer numbers, does it get easier to blindside or more difficult?”
• Charlie: “I think, with fewer people, every vote matters so much more. People are thinking about different criteria for who they’re voting out. Are they good at challenges? Are they good at making fire? Are they someone the whole jury’s going to vote for? You know, do you want them around camp the last couple days? And since one vote holds so much power, it’s much more delicate, because if you tell the wrong person the wrong plan or the wrong name, it is so easy for them to flip the game on its head.”
• Jeff: “Maria, it’s interesting to me, in that list of criteria, “alliances” was not mentioned. We’ve seen seasons where alliances go all the way to the end, and that’s your final three. We’ve also seen seasons where there’s a point where people pivot and say, I got to make my move.”
• Maria: “I mean, I think alliances are important, but I think, like he said, it’s also important to think about who’s still here tomorrow. And who’s going to be on the jury. People are really starting to think more about who could I sit next to, more so than, like, are we sticking with alliances? Are alliances shifting? You know, it’s-it’s really hard to know.”
• Jeff: “Kenzie, that’s two people in a row that have basically said, I don’t know about alliances.”
• Kenzie: “I mean, I don’t know about alliances, because, not that Ben and I have been an “alliance” per se…” They both laugh. “but he wrote my name down and told me it was an accident!”
• Ben, bending over laughing: “It really was!”
• Kenzie: “An accident!”
• Ben: “Wait, hold up, listen.”
• Kenzie: “Have you ever heard of that?”
• Jeff, laughing: “No.”
• Ben: “So I was drunk off the pizza, right?”
• Jeff: “I can’t wait to hear this.”
• Ben: “We had –“
• Kenzie: “There wasn’t even alcohol there!”
• Ben: “We-we had, like, six pizzas–“
• Jeff: “To be clear, you had SODA.”
• Ben: “No alcohol, yeah.”
• Kenzie: “Yeah! I also know how to spell Venus. It’s a planet, Ben, it doesn’t start with a K.”
• Venus frowns.
• Ben: “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
• Kenzie: “I’m just saying, if we’re gonna talk about alliances, I think it’s kind of a wash after that.”
• Jeff: “I gotta say, Ben, I watch a lot of police interrogation videos,”
• Ben: “Yeah.”
• Jeff: “and if I’m imagining you in that room with the camera, and you say, I was drunk on pizza, I don’t think you’re getting out of that room!” Laughing.
• Ben: “Oh, definitely not, Jeff.”
• Kenzie: “I still held his hand after he wrote my name down, but-“
• Ben: “She’s like my Survivor sister, so if anything, this is just some teasing, hopefully.”
• Kenzie bursts out laughing: “Hopef–!”
• Jeff: “Q, what’s your take on alliances? Because Charlie didn’t mention them, and Maria said, look, maybe, but there’s only six of us, and we’re trying to get to the end. Does that mean that maybe alliances are over unless they’re convenient?”
• Q: “I wouldn’t say it’s over, Jeff. I think it’s plans in place with a group of people that see for this vote, it makes sense. For next vote, it might not make sense, but I understand that a vote will be made tonight based off a group that agreed.”
• Jeff: “How about you, Liz? Agree with that?”
• Liz: “Yeah. Everyone since the Hunter vote, has voted together. And so, maybe I’m naive. I mean, I think there are more power couples that are together than, like, true alliances, but we’re all thinking about that final Tribal Council. And, based on Charlie’s criteria, I’m not gonna win any immunity challenge, I’m terrible at fire, and I’m not in an alliance, so…don’t vote for me!!” Laughs.
• Jeff: “Charlie, it’s interesting hearing Liz say, the last few votes have been a group of people voting together, except for the one. Sooner or later, you’re the one.”
• Charlie: “Yeah, lightning’s gonna strike, and we’re all sitting here, and tonight we might get—” He makes a buzzing sound. “Zapped, and…” Maria looks meaningful over at Liz and nods. Liz nods back and quickly looks away.”…um, this is a group of hardened Survivor players now, this isn’t day one Survivor. So, everyone’s getting freaking good at this game. So it’s hard to tell where the lightnigh’s gonna hit.”

It’s time to vote, and this time they show us the votes AS THE PLAYERS CAST THEM!

• Charlie votes Q-Skirt “I hope I gotcha!”
• Kenzie votes Q
• Liz votes Quintavius “Boy, I have been trying to get you out for a long time.”
• Ben votes Q-nise “It’s been a fun ride.”
• Q votes Charlie
• Maria votes Charlie “It’s been an honour and a pleasure working with you. I love you so much, but I have to think about myself as we’re moving into an individual game. I can’t wait for the boys to meet Uncle Charlie.” Later, when the votes are read, and a second vote is read for Charlie, Charlie flinches when he sees that Maria had tried to blindside him.

Q does NOT play his idol!!!

Unbelievable!!!!

Unbelievable!!!

Both Maria and Q are dissappointed and blindsided. Q hugs no one as he gets up, Maria stares straight ahead. Charlie tries to look at her, she will not.

Earlier, I had laid out TWO possibilities for tonight’s Tribal, but I hadn’t considered the third one: That Q would be the FOURTH person IN A ROW to choose to NOT play his Hidden Immunity Idol on the night when everyone is voting him out.

He is out!!! I did not like him very much, but he was something else to watch in action, and I was certain he was gonna win!

Jeff says: “Time for you to go.” Q says: “Appreciate it, Boss.” As he walks away, Liz calls: “Good game, Buddy.” Once he is in the darkness of the bridge, he turns partly back, waves with his whole arm and says, “See y’all now!” A classy departure.

Soda says, “Wow!” Kenzie and Liz smile at each other. Maria stares straight ahead, face expressionless.

Jeff: “Congratulations on making it to the Final Five! Over the next three days, you’ll compete in two Immunity Challenges, we’ll have two Tribal Councils, one Fire-making Showdown. For the three who survive, you will get a chance to face your jury, plead your case about why you deserve the title of Sole Survivor and the million dollars that goes with it.

Commercials Break 1:03:48

Scenes from the final episode:

• The five sit on a the upsidedown boat to watch the sunrise together. “Final Five!” (might be Liz) They all cheer. They sit with Maria and Charlie sitting on the ground in the middle of the boat, in the foreground. Ben sits on the boat, between Maria and the water. Liz perches on the edge of the boat, between Charlie and the woods. Kenzie sits crosslegged, behind and between Charlie and Maria.
• Kenzie, alone to camera: “I’m at final five. I’m like a, secret little cute assassin!”
• The five walk in a low motion line up along the beach: Charlie, Ben, Maria, Kenzie, Liz.
• Maria, alone to camera: “It’s do-or-die. Like, this is the time to just go for it.”
• Ben, alone to camera: “It’s such a vibe. It’s like, electric, almost.”
• It’s a challenge. Players are crawling through an unframed net tunnel, through mud. Charlie just got free, Maria is almost free. Ben, Kenzie and Liz are still stuck inside like worms in a cocoon. Over top, Jeff says: “This could be worth a million dollars, right here!” Charlie sloshes through the mud towards a pail and picks it up.
• Liz uses both her hands to pull her cheeks down in a frown: “Holy hot dog on a stick, this is crazy!”
• Charlie, alone to camera: “I’m so close. I want to win this freaking game.”

Q’s final words, which make me like him more:

“They blindsided me, with an idol in my pocket. But I’m happy about the game that I played. I played hard, but I came up short, and it happens in life sometimes. Oh, and, Emily, get ready baby. We going to Applebee’s, and we’re getting that appetizer platter, and we gonna share it, and what you don’t eat, I will.” He laughs.