Episode 3 Chat

Welcome to the conversation about episode 3 of season 46 of survivor!

“Wackadoodles Win”

Feel free to head down to the comments, that is where the fun is, the play by plays, the astute observations, and of course the friendships are happening.

I’ll be watching the show with the NY time zone tonight and I’ll be taking quick notes which will display here. Then I watch it a second time, streaming it so I can pause it and get down precise details where I notice them.

The updated and edited episode notes are already finished! Enjoy!!

Sometime over the weekend 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!!

 

Here are the pictures to remind us of who everyone is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

♡

And here is a reminder of the previews we were shown at the end of the last episode:

• Three Nami (orange) tribe members are in the water, fishing. Two are in the boat and Hunter is in the water. Venus’s voice sounds over the scene which slowly shifts from the fishing scene to a close up of her eyes: “People think Hunter is a really sweet dude, I can see right through that facade.”
• Nami(orange) is shown succeeding at a water task in a new challenge.
• A boat carrying an unfamiliar person heads towards shore.
• The Siga (green) tribe sits together as Ben says, “Oh my god, this is out of control!”
• Bhanu, wearing a cozy looking pink fisherman sweater, cries pathetically, “I need some help, Kenzie!” In a different setting, dressed the same, he describes her: “Kenzie is like this mermaid dragon!” He punctuates it by moving his hand in a gesture of cat claws.

Links to past discussions:

• BACK TO MAIN PAGE.
• Episose 1 “This is Where Legends are Made”
• Episode 2 “Scorpio Energy”

Hi everyone!

First we have recaps from past happenings in Survivorland:

• Siga(green) tribe is gathered around their firepit while Ben creates a fire for them. They all cheer.
• At Nami(orange), in the dark of night, Randen bonds with Venus by telling her that he has found the idol but has not completed it yet. Flashback to him digging up the locked box. Venus cheers with Randen while her voice over tells us that all of a sudden she has a rock solid alliance with Randen. She says she feels pumped.
• Yanu(purple)’s Kenzie creates the fake idol while voice over explains that she woke up with the idea to trick Jess into feeling secure with it, so she wouldn’t play her shot in the dark. Then we see Q pushing Jess into accepting the fake idol as a symbol of solidarity from him. Voice over has him telling us that he has Kenzie on one side and Jess on the other side so he knows that someone he wants to go will go home tonight.
• Tribal council: Jeff talks with Bhanu about being very forthcoming about who he is tight with. Jeff says, “How about Jess?” Bhanu frowns. Jess looks surprised, in her calm way, and she looks back at Q who shrugs and ducks his head. After voting, Jess plays the fake idol for herself. Kenzie smiles proudly. Jeff announces that it is not a hidden immunity idol. Surprised, Jess looks back at Q, gently smacks his leg, and they laugh together. Bhanu is perplexed. Jess is voted out. Bhanu buries his face in his hands, “I feel like a fool!” Jess’s torch is snuffed. “The tribe has spoken.” Carrying their torches along the beach, the four ramaining Yanu(purple) walk home.

Night 5

Back at camp, Yanu(purple) hang up their bags and talk about tribal: Bhanu says he felt naive, (having been left out of the plotting and drama).

• Bhanu: “Where did she get the idol from?”
• Tiffany: “We just snipped it off of D.J.’s (Jelinsky) water bottle.”

Bhanu asks them various questions, forcing them to explain what they did to Jess to trick her into a sense of safety so that she wouldn’t play her shot in the dark. (Later in the episode he will remember all this and worry – correctly – they are now doing the same to him.) Eventually, the other three gave Bhanu a bunch of counsel about how he needs to be careful to not accidentally blurt things out at tribal, that tribal is not a safe place to explain everything you know, that the game continues and you must keep secrets and maybe even lie to Jeff! Bhanu cannot accept this, LIE to JEFF? Bhanu hates that he is expected to lie, he is an honest person who generally cannot lie.

• Q: “Let’s just say that idol was real! She wrote your name down, you’d be gone!”
• Bhanu: “Wait, SHE wrote my name down?” Bhanu becomes confused as to why Jess voted for him, because he thought they were friends (in spite of all the things he said to and about her at tribal.)
• Everyone: “No SHE wrote your name down, WE all voted for Jess!” “And she voted for you, that’s why we gave her that fake idol.”
• Bhanu, privately: “I’m so glad that I’m still on the island, NAMASTE to that! But I could be the next person going home because Kenzie, Q, and Tiffany are pulling all their master tricks. They played it in such a way that Jess plays the fake hidden immunity idol rather than the Shot in the Dark, and she writes a name, and guess whose name she wrote. Jess said that I’m her best friend, and she wrote my name.”
• Q: “That’s why it is so critical at tribal, we got to watch what we say and when we say things.”
• Kenzie: “You can totally lie to Jeff.”
• Tiffany: “Or just keep quiet. If you can’t lie, then just say nothing.”
• Bhanu, privately: “They said I don’t have to give honest answers, I can just tell him any kind of crap, but I’m not an actor, I can’t do that.”

Opening credits

Day 6

Morning dawns at a beautiful, rugged beach near Yanu (purple).  Four people dressed in purple lay in the dry, swept dirt, sheltered only by a rocky outcropping, bugs crawling nearby (and probably bugs are crawling on them too):

• Furthest away, Bhanu lays on his side, head covered, facing away from us.
• Against his back, Kenzie lays on her back, face covered, both hands snugged in each others shirt sleeves, knees bent.
• Beside her stretches Tiffany, laying on her back, head covered, arms crossed, hands tucked in shirt-sleeves, legs outstretched, ankles crossed.
• Shoulder to shoulder with her and closest to us, Q lays on his back, head covered, hands in pockets, ankles crossed.

In a voice over, Kenzie tells us how their tribe is probably going down in Survivor history as one of the roughest starts of the new era. She reminds us that they haven’t won anything, they still don’t have a fire, they’re getting rained on, the shelter has holes in it… then she describes how they found the rock wall overhang they were sleeping under last night.

People get up and walk away from their bed. Bhanu remains there, thoughtfully squatting. Kenzie asks what is wrong, he tells her he didn’t sleep, that’s all. Privately he tells us, “It was raining all night, I didn’t sleep a wink, and I’m paranoid because those three, all three of them are in a tight alliance, and if we don’t win the next immunity challenge, I’ll be going home. They have so many tricks in their hat to pull, all three are masterminds.” He is wearing a lovely faded pinkish fisherman sweater, it looks great on him with his purple buff in his hair. Have you guys noticed that I tend to have a soft spot for the underdog? Now that Bhanu is the underdog, I’m team Bhanu!

Bhanu begins to hunt for an idol again, he doesn’t know that Tiffany already has found it. He is whiney and feeling hopeless. It kinda looks to me like, as he searches he is only going through the motions to describe to the cameraman how hard he works to find the idol. Then he approaches Kenzie and asks her to help him stay, asks her if she will allign with him. He seems to be crying. She tells him that she is open to hearing plans, he says he doesn’t want to throw any names out there, he just wants to work with her. He begs her. She says, “Do you see how that’s kind of hard for me to work with though?” Then privately, “Bhanu is not playing, is what Bhanu is doing wrong. He doesn’t have a strategic bone in his sweet little body.” Kenzie summarizes things well. “He loves the game, he loves to watch it,” she continues, “but it’s different to play it.”  To Bhanu, she says, “Loyalty is very important in regular life and Survivor, but you also have to come up with some plan for people to be able to work with.”

Bhanu privately describes his perception of Kenzie: “Always sweet Kenzie, how she portrays herself. She’s like this mermaid…dragon. Mermaid up until here, but she’s hiding under the rocks. She’s like a very beautiful, sweet, kind mermaid. But when you look behind the rock, it’s a BIIIG dragon tail. That’s Kenzie. I asked her if I could work with her, and she said, ya I can work with you, but you have to come up with the plan, and then we’ll work on it. Mermaid. Dragon. Remember that.”

Q offers Bhanu coconut water, Bhanu declines, but they talk strategy together. Q says that he is willing to figure out how to work with him, because he can see that Bhanu is a loyal player. He can coach him “like Rob coached Philip”. Q assures him that anyone can win.

• Bhanu: “I can’t win.”
• Q: “Anyone can win!”
• Bhanu: “I’m a whackadoodle.”
• Q: “Whackadoodles win!”
• Bhanu, aside: “That’s a really good talk, however…” He doesn’t want to trust Q, he suspects the girls might be using Q to play the same kind of games that they played on Jess, to create a sense of non-urgency so a Shot in the Dark will not be played. Yet, he also wants to trust Q, cuz it’s nice to be liked. Ahhh! He is SO stressed out! He is bug eyed over it all, he’s gonna get a stress headache!

Four days ago

Lovely underwater ocean scene, then cliff shore. Team Siga (green) agrees to go on an idol hunt together. Moriah points out that you’re part way looking for an idol, and the other part looking for clumps underneath peoples clothes. Jem is very close to the clue to the idol. Jem found it! she grabs it and tucks it in her jean shorts, with Charlie (Charlie: “I guarantee you, if anyone finds that idol, they’re gonna keep it to themselves… and I hope that person will be me!”) standing practically right next to her! Helpful note for future players: Great idea to wear denim shorts that aren’t too snug, because bulges don’t show as easily. That night after everyone is asleep, Jem sneaks away and goes back to where she found the idol to dig below as directed. She feels the box. She feels that it is locked, and she is somehow able to read the note in the dark. She takes the box with her, and tries to hide the spot where she had been digging. She then hides the box under some sticks, not very well, in my opinion. By light of day, I think that will show up to people, depends where it is I guess.

 

Day 6 continues

Nami (orange) tribe. Soda says, “What you building now, Hunter?” Hunter is chopping bamboo to make a bed, then he ties rope to the frame he built, and weaves narrow sticks through the rope to make a rough mattress. Liz observes that he doesnt have to talk much strategy right now because he is strong and everyone wants to keep him around.  Liz thinks he merely loves the adventure of it all and just wants to be there.

Hunter, in private: “I love that people think I’m just here to help the tribe. I’m a very intelligent individual and I don’t want people to know that. I want to keep that inside. When I was growing up I was always good at school. I graduated college early. I had direct admissions into medical school. I had a full-ride scholarship. But as I was getting set up to go to medical school, I got the opportunity to substitute teach for my sister in my hometown. I had just seen Survivor. I fell in love with it. And I said, “I want to build a challenge for the kids before I go off to medical school. It’ll be my last big thing to plan before I go.” But being in the classroom and being with the kids day in and day out and having kids come to me and say, “I really enjoyed that.” I was like, “Wow. This just feels right.” And so I changed from the full-ride scholarship to medical school. My parents lost their minds, but I came back and I chose to teach. I also don’t think I want to advertise that, “Hey, I build challenges in my back yard.” In fact, his house, garage, and yard are filled with many familiar looking puzzle pieces that we might have already seen on Survivor in the past.

Venus: Hunter is, well we see it every season, you know? There’s always that one big buff guy who says, ‘I’m the provider, you can’t vote me out!’ and as a person, I think Hunter’s like, a really sweet dude, but also I can see right through that facade.” She attempts to get Randen on board with what she sees: “Tevin and Hunter are running this game.” Randen doesn’t see it. “I can’t see your persepective unless you provide your perspective, so I’m asking you to.” She tries to find the words but all she can really do is repeat things like, “My perspective is I’m not blind. If you just look around, who has the greatest link with as many people?”

Day 7

Tevin, Nami (orange) tribe, weaves dry reeds into some sort of basket. Randen enters the area. Tevin asks how he is, Randen says not good. Voice over, Randen: “The weather was terrible last night, so we all decided to sleep in the shelter we built. In the middle of the night I felt, like a sharp sensation, like a it was like a zap. And I realized that I was limp on my right side.” To Tevin, He says, “Dude, I don’t have a sense like, I can’t grip anything with my right arm.” Soda walks up, asks if she can join in this private conversation, Hunter walks into the area behind her, on his way to somewhere else. Soda asks what happened, Hunter comes up to listen too, Tevin puts his hand on Randens shoulder. Randen continues, “All right, so, uh, this morning I got up and I noticed that I had, like, a tingly feeling, a prickle, like a prckly feeling in my leg and on my arm, from here (points to between shoulder and neck) from here to my fingers. I was swinging my arms, trying to stretch, figure it’s just bad sleeping, you know, but, I can’t grip with my right hand. So, immediately, I’m scared, you know, because I know we have a challenge and I really never wanted to sit out a challenge. I’m gonna have medical take a look at it.” In private to us: “I’ve never experienced something like this, ever. This is my worst nightmare. I need my arms.” Medical arrives, AKA Dr. Will. Close up of Randen’s hand, which looks a bit swollen. We watch parts of the examination. One side of his hand is numb, the other side he doesn’t feel at all. Randen, to us: “Out here, everyone has to pull their own weight, so something like this, it can be a liability.” People might decide he is no longer useful. Dr. Will: “Our kind of working diagnosis at the moment is you’ve got a trapped nerve, maybe lower down in the arm. It could potentially be in the neck. It’s really hard to tell at the moment.” Dr. believes it is sensible to not participate in the next challenge so that “we can keep a close eye on you and see what direction things move in.” Randen accepts this without big emotions. Randen tells us that he is the kind of guy who likes to face things head on. He just wants to heal so he can compete. “I hope that today when I rest that it gets better, because the tribe game is teamwork, and now I’m kind of a liability.”

 

Day 7 – Immunity Challenge and Reward

Such amazing looking smooth, blue water as we circle round the upcoming challenge, which looks like part of it takes place in the water. I see a sandy beach the colour of beige, and lush green vegetation beyond that. Just gorgeous! I have never been out of Canada, except a couple years in Michigan when my husband was in graduate school, and one short weekend at a conference, oh, and a choir tour through some northern states. But I’ve never seen water like that or experienced a place like that. I happily travel vicariously through shows like Survivor, because the expert camera work and quality editing really lends itself to admiring the place where these lovable people are competing.

 

The three tribes join Jeff on the beautiful beach, Yanu(purple) filing in last. Liz carries the larger idol while Jem holds the smaller one, apparantly named Frodo. “Nami(orange) and Siga(green) get their first look at the new Yanu(purple) tribe. Jess voted out at the last Tribal Council.” The expected reactions happen. Tevin is the only person I heard say anything: “I told y’all.”

 

The Challenge:

Sitting out (not allowed to sit out in back-to-back challenges, so Liz and Moriah must participate):

• Siga(green): Maria and Jem
• Nami(orange): Randen and Soda. (Soda asks Venus if she’d like to sit out, and Venus firmly responds, “I’m gonna compete.”)

Swim out to a platform floating in the ocean. The tribes are all on their platforms, and there is an arial shot so I can kind of estimate the distance between each part of the challenge. I’d say it’s about a 30 foot swim to the blocks, thn a 40 foot swim to the barrels, then a 20 foot swim then walk to the ramp nets.

Leap off a platform into the ocean

• Nami(orange) four are the first all in the water
• Seconds after, all of Siga(green) is in the water
• Moments later, all of Yanu(purple) is in the water

Arrival at crates platforms:

• Siga(green) first to reach crate platform
• Yanu(purple) second to reach crate platform
• Nami(orange) last to reach crate platform

Climb up and over a stack of crates sticking out of water. Siga(green)’s Tim and Yanu(purple)’s Bhanu climb the crates neck in neck, but Tim jumps off first. Nami(orange) hasn’t had anyone jump off the top crate yet before the other two teams have already finished

• Siga(green) first to finish climbing and jumping off crates, they do it in this order: Tim, Ben, Charlie, Jem
• Yanu(purple) second to finish climbing and jumping off crates, they do it in this order: Bhanu, Q, Tiffany, Kenzie
• Unexpectedly, Nami(orange) is last to finish climbing and jumping off crates, they do it in this order: Liz, Venus, Tevin, Hunter

Work together to get over a rolling barrel, which is in the water, but rather high to reach. Nami(orange) reaches their barrel after the first of both of the other tribes have already made it over. Siga(green) is finished before Nami(orange) gets even one player over. The two leading tribes started with getting their biggest players over, then that player could help pull people from the other side. The lagging tribe ended with their strongest player.

• Siga(green) in this order: Tim, Ben, Moriah, Charlie
• Yanu(purple) in this order: Q, Kenzie, Bhanu, Tiffany
• Nami(orange) in this order: Liz, Venus, Tevin, Hunter

Climb up a net ramp, in water, jump off the higher end. The Siga(green) was already digging up their bags out of the sand before Nami(orange) reached this part of the challenge.

• Siga(green) first over in this order I think: Charlie, Tim, Moriah, Ben
• Yanu(purple) second over in this order I think: Bhanu, Tiffany, Q, Kenzie
• Nami(orange) last over, in this order I think: Liz, Hunter, Venus, Tevin

When the beach is reached, sandbags must be digged up. Q and Kenzie could only walk up to the beach while Bhanu and Tiffany waited for them at the mat, unable to dig. As Yanu(purple) starts digging, you can see Nami(orange) reaching the ramp net.

• Siga(green) has their sandbags first.
• Yanu(purple) has their sandbags second.
• Nami(orange) of course has their last, because they were WAY last to reach the beach.

Attempt to land each sandbag on one of 5 platforms, sticking up at various heights spanning from I’d estimate 10 to 20 feet above the person tossing.

• All bags tossed so far have missed, so all is tied when Nami(orange) starts tossing
• Hunter of Nami(orange) lands the first bag of all tribes with his first toss
• Hunter follows up with the second and third and fourth bags for of Nami(orange)
• Tiffany lands Yanu(purple)’s first bag.
• Hunter lands the last bag for Nami (orange). They win first place!
• Charlie lands the first bag for Siga (green), efforts for second place are now tied, one one
• Charlie lands the second bag for Siga (green)
• After a lot of misses, Q lands a second bag for Yanu(purple)
• Siga(green) gets a third bag up there from Charlie
• Q tosses, misses and knocks one off for Yanu(purple)
• Tiffany lands another second bag for Yanu(purple)
• Charlie lands a fourth bag for Siga(green)
• Tiffany lands the third one for Yanu(purple)
• Q of Yanu(purple) ties it up, four four
• Charlie wins with a final toss and land for Siga(green)

Phew! How exciting! So close! The first 2 tribes to finish win immunity!

• First tribe to finish, Nami(orange), also wins the large reward: A massive Survivor toolkit and a large tarp.
• Second tribe to finish, Siga(green), also wins the small reward: A smaller toolkit and a smaller tarp.

Yanu(purple) flops to the ground, clearly discouraged. Kenzie says, “We were so close!”  Tim of Siga(green) says to them: “Head up, Yanu. Sorry, hang in there, guys.”

Jeff hands the bigger idol to Venus, of Nami(orange), who turns away from Soda to hand it to Hunter who stands behind Liz.

Jeff hands Frodo, the smaller idol, to Maria (of Siga(green) who turns and gives it to Charlie.

Jeff: “Before I send you out of here, we have a journey scheduled for you today. Nami, you’re in charge of who goes. You’re gonna choose one person from your tribe, one person from Siga, and one person from Yanu.” They discuss it and choose Liz, who gets to choose the other 2 players. She chooses Ben of Siga(green) and Bhanu of Yanu(purple). They leave right away in a boat, and will return back to their camps before Tribal. Jeff keeps Yanu(purple)’s flint. Seven days already without flint.

Of the remaining players, the winning two teams leave first, having been assured that their rewards will be waiting for them back at camp.

Tiffany tells us that Bhanu is “absolutely, 100%, unequivocally” the worst person to go on this journey, she says that because he can’t keep his mouth shut, he will tell them too much information about them, and she hopes that he does not win an advantage. As Brent said in the comments, this journey probably won’t help Bhanu in the game at all. But as it plays out, we see that this journey becomes something that is very good for his emotions.

 

Oh, those rocky islands! So rugged and beautiful! Day 7 continues as we watch Yanu (purple) return home from the challenge. Kenzie: “All right, who brought the bad karma?” Tiffany and Kenzie joke together about all the things that Bhanu will tell their rivals about them. They wonder what is wrong with them, there must be a cosmic curse on them. Meanwhile,Q believes that HE is the bad karma Kenzie mentioned. He feeels horrible because he believes that he let his team down. He says that he is a former division athlete and he is trained to come through at times like this. He remembers a dissappointing time when at a high school sports event, he (a local sports star) fumbled and the other team won. He says this is his lowest moment in the game. he says its not about practise its about execution. Q offers to be voted out instead of Bhanu. Tiffany will suffer none of that nonesense, she won’t vote him out. Tiffany’s plan remains to vote Bhanu and hope he doesn’t come back to camp with an idol in his pocket.

 

Moving our attention to the trio on the journey, we see that all 3 are riding in the same boat towards what looks like the same sand bar where the first journey took place. As they walk over the soft sand towards a lone table, Liz tells us she is quite curious about what is going on there at the Yanu(purple) tribe. Ben opens things up by telling Bhanu that he has seen his heart in the challenges and he likes how he plays the game. Bhanu cries as he listens to Ben, and Liz nods in agreement with everything Ben says, because it is kind and encouraging, and clearly Bhanu needs to hear it. Bhanu tells them that he has been praying about his situation, praying for a miracle.

They pause to read the directions: Each player will pull a rock out of the bag. The player who gets the white rock cannot compete and will head straight back to their camp, nothing lost, nothing gained. The players who get the blue rocks will each walk down seperate paths to complete a puzzle alone within a short time limit. If they fail, they lose their vote at their next Tribal, but if they succeed, they get an extra vote at their next Tribal.

Liz looks at Bhanu and asks: “Bhanu, are you guys OK?” He cries, and let’s it all out: Bhanu: “Tonight will be my last Tribal” Liz asks if she can hug him, Ben hugs him too. Ben: “You still have a shot in the dark, and you might win an advantage here.” When Bhanu tells them that Tif and Q are tight, they acknowledge that they can see that. “Kenzie is the mastermind, Kenzie is running the show.” He goes on and on, to eager ears. He needs to talk to someone who feels safe, and they both are kind to him, so they feel safe to him. Everything Kenzie and Tiffany joked about is happening, just as they feared. Ben and Liz listen kindly, and Bhanu eventually calms down. On one hand, listening to a person who is suffering can be so encourging and uplifting to the sad person, but in this case, it not only feels helpful to Bhanu, but Liz and Ben are thrilled to hear everything he has to say about his tribe. Later to their own tribes they gloat a little and kind of laugh about how they got so much gossip (which they share) and didn’t have any expectation to share anything about their own tribes, which is a win!

Bhanu finishes with a statement that feels rehearsed when he says it to them, and then later in the episode he says it again to Jeff: “I came not to win a million dollars but to win a million hearts.” Liz and Ben chuckle gently and immediately hug him and tell him that they give him their hearts.

• Blue rock: Ben, Bhanu
• White rock: Liz, who, after hugging them goodbye, leaves the beach to head back to her camp.
• Each man walks his solitary pathway and reaches his puzzle. They read their directions, then turn over their timers and get to work. The puzzle is several blocks that need to be arranged into a perfect cube.
• Ben misses that he hasn’t been able to listen to vanHalen for a week. Wishes his hero Nicholas Cage could come and inspire him.
• Bhanu is just frustrated by the puzzle and terrified about his status in the game, he panics and cries.
• Both men run out of time before they can create their perfect cube, so both men lose their vote at their next Tribals.

 

Ben arrives home to Siga(green) tribe tying their new tarp to the top of their shelter. They are pretty pumped about it. Nami(orange) tribe welcomes Liz home. At Siga(green) tribe, Ben sings: “I’ve got some gossip! At Nami(orange) tribe, Liz coaxes: “Gather round, friends, I’ve got tales to tell!” They both spill all, and their tribes react with awww’s and compassion for Bhanu, and thrills at learning everything they learned. Ben tells a pretend story about the challenge, and lies that he doesn’t yet know how he did. When Bhanu returns home to the Yanu(purple) tribe, everyone acts happy to see him.  He is sad, and when Tiffany asks why he is sad, he tells the truth about how he didn’t win an advantage. And then, he lied to them! He told them he drew the white rock! Kenzie privately moans: “of course we lose another thing and give something to the other tribes!” Tiffany asks what he told them and he said he told them that he is on the block, and then again, he lied! Implied that he didn’t overshare, way to go Bhanu! But then, when Bhanu and Q are alone he tells the truth that he didn’t want to tell in front of the ladies.

Strategically, Q has come up with a different plan than Tiffany and Kenzie want. He shares with Bhanu how he wants to get rid of the threat (Kenzie) and help the loyal liability learn to become an asset. He tells us: “A threat can never be used to our favour.” Q tells Bhanu that he wants Bhanu to stay in this game and for Kenzie to go home and he assures Bhanu that he thinks that he can get Tiffany to vote with them for Kenzie to go. Later, Q tells Tiffany: “Bhanu will always vote the way we tell him. Bhanu will play the game that we want him to play. Kenzie is going to play Survivor. We can’t control what Kenzie will do, she will make friends and do her thing so that she can win Survivor.” While Tiffany tells Q that what he says makes sense, she remains unconvinced, because she also believes that Kenzie is on her side. Tiffany maintains that it has to be Bhanu tonight.

 

Venus, Liz and Randen of Nami(orange) tribe, sit on the beach and talk about the challenge, while the other members of the tribe are out gathering wood. Suddenly, Jeff and Dr. Will approach. The whole tribe arrives at the beach to sit around Randen, arms around his shoulders.

• Jeff: “It’s about your arm, I’m not gonna lie, it’s not good news. You know, before and after every challenge, we always check, medical comes in and gives you a look. And Will’s been monitering it. After today’s challenge, he did a lot more work and research and consulted a colleague about your injury. Why don’t you share what you learned?”
• Dr. Will: “So, Randen, when you first had this injury, we were concerned initially that it was a pinched nerve. And it could be anywhere from the neck right down to the arm. We thought it was because of sleeping on the hard bamboo floor and it was lower down the radial, what we call the radial nerve.”
• Jeff: “And the radial nerve, that’s what allows you to grip and move and..”
• Dr. Will: “That’s right. And we thought that your radial nerve wasn’t working properly. Essentially, you put it to sleep by sleeping on a hard bamboo floor, and that’s why your wrist is not working. The thing that’s been concerning me has been this worsening pain and tenderness in your neck. When I consulted my colleague who’s a neurosurgeon, her big concern was this could be a bulging disc in your neck, which presses on the nerve, and that’s, I’m afraid, a very different beast. The radial nerve problem gets better by itself, but a disc pressing on the nerve here may need surgery.
• Jeff: “And the obvious problem is that Will can’t do that with the kind of assessment he can do out here, you need an MRI. And so, Randen, for those reasons, out of just being very cautious about your health, we are pulling you from the game.”

Randen acknowledges that he has a life to live and does not want to risk paralysis of any kind, and though disappointed, he bravely accepts his fate. He is a calm, level-headed man. I would have liked to see him stick around a lot longer so we could all get to know him better.

“The time I spent here, I got to know these amazing people. You know, every day was a gift. Nobody in my family history has ever done anything like this. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and I cherish all of you. One of you guys better win a million dollars and keep the Nami legacy going, winning. I love all of you guys, honestly.”

The MRI is scheduled for him in the morning. The tribe hugs and says goodbye, the three men walk away, down the beach.

Venus: “My closest ally is going home with an advantage in his pocket. The one person I could really trust is going home and I am all alone again, at the bottom of my tribe, but I know that in Survivor you cannot predict anything.”

 

We hear Bhanu sobbing as the camera focuses on Yanu(purple) tribe. Tiffany finds him crying and tells him that she has not decided to write his name down. It feels like she is about to tell him that she has changed her mind about the strategy she will follow, when Jeff walks up and the conversation stops. “I know I am interupting, I know you have a lot going on. but I have news that’s gonna impact tonight…” Everyone gathers. Jeff tells them about Randen’s fate and that “One person’s loss is another person’s gain, no tribal council tonight, nobody going home from this tribe.”

• Bhanu: “My prayers have been answered! I’m not going home tonight!” Bhanu tells Jeff the million hearts speech anyway, and that Jeff inspires him. Jeff does not react with a hug and a heart, instead he says, “you might want to work on your guru’s…”
• Bhanu, privately: “I’ve been praying all day and guess what? I’m still in the game, baby!”
• Jeff asks Q what this news offers this tribe? A second chance for someone, Q answers.
• Tiffany says that she was really struggling, cuz they’ve been losing people left and right and she does not want any one else from their tribe to go home.
• Jeff: For you it is a victory, for Randen, he was sad.
• Kenzie: “Ya it was our first win.”
• Jeff says, “This could be the first positive turning point for Yanu.
• Q tells us privately that Kenzie got lucky, she has no idea how close she came to going home, but he is happy that the four of them can stay together.

End of show, as Petals said it the comments, “This is the point when they (CBS) change the format & switch-up teams.”

It’s a nice group, though a few people are annoying, some can be mean, and Bhanu’s extreme emotions (from how he expresses anger, to his frequent weeping) freaks me out. He is emotionally unstable. Its difficult for me to root for this underdog.

What will the next episode bring us? I hope you are as excited to find out as I am!

 

Scenes from the next episode:

• Siga(green)’s Tim and Charlie poke around in a hole, while Moriah bends over them and watches. “We found something, it’s mysterious,” Moriah says, “our brains melted.”
• In Nami(orange) tribe, Hunter listens as Soda says to him: “We’re all vibing because I love everyone.” Meanwhile, Tevin, shown with a huge frown on his face, privately says: “She is manipulating… Soda got to go-da.”
• Bhanu, of Yanu(purple), is feeling bad again: “I said something wrong.” Tiffany reacts with horrified shock when she hears what he has to say. (probly about what he said to the others on his journey.) Tiffany announces later to Kenzie (who is gasping, mouth wide open), “Bhanu needs to go!” Bhanu stands under some leaves, with his hands on both sides of his chin, looking panicked. Kenzie frustratedly exclaims, “Aaaah!”

 

Final words from Randen:

“I am appreciative for those who looked out for me and pulled me from the game, knowing that it could have been a spinal injury. But the worst fear did not happen, and, you know, my hand works now. So I’m very thankful that I’m healthy. Sometimes there’s things that are just out of your control and I got to experience a place I’ve never been before. I just want to play again, I learned my lesson. I’m sleeping on sand.”

Boy, I’m sad he’s gone. I liked him.

 

 

Tally of advantages and disadvantages…who has what?