Episode 9
Hindsight is 20/20
Previously on… Survivor…
Olivier tried a gambit to keep her POT alliance alive…
"Olivier, I think you may have doomed us this time," Peter comments.
"No, I think we're just fine," Olivier says. "And here's why."
She pulls out both the idol that Lucian gave to her as well as her extra vote.
"With this, we have four votes, as well as an idol."
The reward challenge was a trip to Marshalls Lounge, which Soi Fon's team won quite easily…
Soi Fon, Peter, Janine, Clove and Hungary all take turns getting showers. When Peter comes out of the shower, he runs around naked for a minute.
"Didn't they do this back in the 70s and 80s?" he jokes as he runs around naked, to laughs from the four girls.
Then it finally came time for the vote, where both alliances pulled out all the stops…
"This advantage states that Soi Fon gets to steal another player's vote. Soi Fon, please choose whose vote you will steal."
"I will steal… Peter's."
…
"I get an extra vote; I choose to use that now."
"Very well then, go ahead and cast your extra vote."
…
"If anyone has a hidden immunity idol, and you would like to play it, now would be the time to do so."
Olivier immediately stands up, and she walks over to Jet.
"Play this on Peter," she says.
After all that, Olivier went home anyway, having failed to crunch all the numbers right. 9 are left. Who will be voted out tonight?
Day 25
Conkalua Tribe
(Ash, Soi Fon, Hungary, Janine, Renji, Clove, Katniss, Peter, Tessa)
"Nice job, guys," Peter tells Soi Fon's alliance.
"Yeah, you outplayed us there," Tessa adds.
"Olivier was too confident," Soi Fon replies. "Had she respected us more, she would have figured out a way to stay in the game."
"Last night, Olivier had the opportunity to at least save herself," Soi Fon says. "She chose to give the idol to Peter, and Peter survived instead of her. It was a poor decision in hindsight, but you know what they say: hindsight is 20/20. Now the goal is to stay strong as an alliance and not allow any cracks."
It doesn't take long for Peter and Tessa to start looking for those cracks.
"Clove, you're not too keen on Soi Fon's alliance, are you?" Peter wonders.
"Of course not," Clove replies. "And I'm not even friends with Katniss either – in fact, I hate her. We're working together out of necessity."
"So, would you be open to forming a voting bloc with us?" Tessa asks.
"Whatever you want to call it, I'm open to doing it with you," Clove says. "If I can get Katniss, that's four."
"But we need one more," Tessa states.
Peter pauses. "I don't think Renji is fully aboard the Soi Fon bandwagon."
"You think you can get Renji?" Clove wonders.
"At this point, hope is all we have."
"If Renji wants to make a big move, this is the time to do so," Peter says. "Renji's at the bottom of that five. Obviously Clove is here to win; if she was just trying to make it farther, she'd go with Soi Fon, but she wants to flip the numbers and come out on top. I respect a player like that."
"Peter sees what I'm trying to do," Clove says. "I want to win, not come in sixth or seventh. If I decide that I'm voting with Soi Fon, perhaps I stay around a bit longer. But if I can find a way to change the numbers, I suddenly have a chance at winning this game."
But Soi Fon is busy trying to reassure her troops.
"At this point, any disloyalty will be punished," Soi Fon states. "You decide to flip on me, you suffer the consequences, and they will be severe. I want absolute loyalty to our alliance of five."
"What about Katniss and Clove?" Hungary asks.
"They were never part of our alliance," Soi Fon answers. "We shall pick them off at will."
"So, who goes first?" Renji wonders. "Do we go after Clove or Katniss now, or do we simply vote Tessa or Peter?"
"I haven't decided that yet," Soi Fon responds. "It will depend on the results of the immunity challenge."
Ash looks puzzled. "Why would we not have a target yet?" he asks. "If we have a target, we know who we have to beat in the challenge."
Soi Fon gets a bit stern. "Fine, then," she says. "Peter."
"Peter," Janine says. "Makes sense to me. He's probably the most likely one to win immunity."
"Everyone sold on the plan?" Soi Fon asks.
"Got it," Renji replies.
"Sure," Ash says.
"Soi Fon is being quite the domineering person out here," Ash says. "She has taken full control of this game. It worries me that she's got so much power. When will she decide to go after me? Luckily, I have the Superidol in case that ever happens, but I'm going to take precaution."
"If everyone sticks to the plan, things should go smoothly from here on out," Soi Fon says. "We've flushed out Olivier's idol, and the only ones left holding idols are us. No reason to worry, unless one of our own betrays us. And I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen."
Meanwhile, Clove talks with Katniss.
"Are we together on this thing?" Clove asks her.
"Hey, I'm willing to work with anyone at this point," Katniss laughs. "Even you."
"Good," Clove says. "Now we have to choose which way to go."
"So it's down to continuing to work with Soi Fon, or going against her?"
"Right."
"I say we continue to work with Soi Fon, then try to find some wiggle room to squeeze into their alliance."
Clove shakes her head. "No. This is our chance to get Soi Fon out."
"But we don't have the numbers! We've just got Tessa and Peter!"
"That's the thing, if we can just get one more, we can flip the game on its head."
"Who are we going to get, then?"
"I say Renji."
"Clove has a great idea, trying to get out Soi Fon while we still have the chance," Katniss says. "However, without the numbers, it's impossible to do anything. We somehow have to hope to flip Renji Abarai."
"I know what I'm doing here," Clove says. "I'm going to get Renji on our side, and we are going to blindside Soi Fon. It's as simple as that."
Day 26
Conkalua Tribe
(Ash, Soi Fon, Hungary, Janine, Renji, Clove, Katniss, Peter, Tessa)
Clove and Katniss go to work on Renji.
"This is your big moment – the moment to make the move that wins you the game," Clove tells Renji.
"And what is that?" Renji asks.
"You blindside Soi Fon."
Renji laughs out loud. "No, that's not going to work. Soi Fon will have my head if I do."
"But if you blindside her, she'll never know."
Renji shakes his head. "I bet she has an idol or something. It'll be impossible to get her out."
"Come on, Renji, this is your big chance!" Katniss breaks in. "You're going to blow it!"
"We'll see," Renji states. "I'll try to get the temperature on Soi Fon, see if she plans on including me in her alliance going forward. If she does, then I stick with her. If not, I go with you guys."
"Okay, but I strongly suggest you join us if you want to finish higher than fifth," Clove states.
"Clove and Katniss are desperately trying to get me as part of their alliance, but I'm already firmly entrenched in Soi Fon's alliance," Renji says. "I don't need them. I can easily stay where I'm at and still get just as far. All I need is to stay in that top 5, then I win a couple immunities, and I'm in the Final Three. It's quite easy, really."
Reward Challenge
(Conkalua)
"Come on in, guys!"
The nine remaining players waltz into the reward challenge area.
"You guys ready to get to today's challenge?"
"Yeah!" Janine shouts.
"For today's challenge, straight outta Panem, you will be split into two teams of four. Three out of four members will be blindfolded, while the other one will call out orders to the blindfolded people to find three bags of puzzle pieces, one for each player. Once you've gotten all three bags of puzzle pieces, you will take off your blindfolds and solve the puzzle. Wanna know what you're playing for?"
"Of course!" Katniss exclaims.
Jet pulls out five boxes of pizza.
"Piping hot pizza," Jet says. "That's for five members. We will hold a schoolyard pick. The one person who does not get picked will automatically join the winning team on their reward. High stakes, and I know it's worth playing for. We'll draw for captains, and then get started."
Soi Fon once again draws a captain's spot, as does Katniss. Soi Fon picks Janine, Katniss picks Peter, Soi Fon picks Renji, Katniss picks Clove, Soi Fon picks Ash, and Katniss picks Tessa.
"We have our two teams!" Jet announces. "Hungary did not get chosen, so she will automatically join the winning team on their reward. The two captains will be the ones barking out orders! Survivors ready? Go!"
Soi Fon and Katniss immediately start calling out orders for their tribe members. Clove goes stumbling way off course, and Katniss has to let the other two go while she guides Clove back into the challenge area.
"This is not as easy as it seems!" Jet shouts.
Soi Fon gets Ash on track, and Ash is able to pick up the first bag of puzzle pieces.
"Remember, you need each one of your players to grab a bag! You can't just have one person grab all three!"
Soi Fon starts guiding Janine, and Janine is a good listener. She grabs her bag easily, and that makes two for Soi Fon's team.
"Soi Fon's team blowing this away! Katniss really having trouble figuring things out!"
Katniss gets frustrated, but she keeps on shouting toward Clove, hoping to get her back on track. But in the meantime, Soi Fon has Renji on course, and he ends up grabbing the third bag of puzzle pieces.
"Off with the blindfolds! Go ahead and start on the puzzle!"
Clove goes off course once more, and Katniss just about gives up. Soi Fon's team has the puzzle put together before much longer, and Katniss's team is put out of its misery.
"One of the biggest blowouts ever! Soi Fon's team… wins reward!"
Soi Fon's team has a mild celebration, being joined by Hungary. Clove throws off her blindfold in utter frustration.
"Congratulations, here are your pizzas. You can carry them back to camp with you, where you may not share with the losers."
Soi Fon and her team grab one pizza each, while the other players simply shake their heads.
"I feel secure with Soi Fon's alliance," Renji says. "She picked me for her team, and in fact our entire team was our alliance. I just need to stick with her the rest of the way."
Reward
(Ash, Soi Fon, Janine, Renji, Hungary)
The winning team along with Hungary begins to devour their pizzas.
"This is the final five right here," Janine states.
"You betcha," Renji replies.
"There's no need to complicate things," Soi Fon adds. "Don't even associate with the other people in this game. It's us five together to the end."
"Agreed!" Hungary exclaims.
"Soi Fon has put me in a good position," Ash says. "However, I've got to be on the lookout for any possible changes, including possibly Renji betraying us. I don't trust him at all, and I'm not sure if he's working with us or secretly against us."
Outside of the reward, Peter and Tessa whisper to each other about their plans.
"We've got to get Renji on our side," Peter tells her.
"Absolutely," Tessa replies. "But how?"
Peter pauses. "We've somehow got to convince him that he's on the bottom of that five, and that he can join our four if he just gets on top of it now."
"Do we wait till Tribal to do that?"
"Tribal might be the only place to do it. Right now Soi Fon's got him tightly under her thumb."
"Our only chance of continuing in this game is to have Renji flip over to our alliance," Tessa says. "If we don't get him, then we're doomed, and going to be Pagonged one by one."
Day 27
Conkalua Tribe
(Ash, Soi Fon, Hungary, Janine, Renji, Clove, Katniss, Peter, Tessa)
Early in the day, Soi Fon sees Tessa approaching Renji, and she walks right over to the two to prevent them from communicating.
"I was just going to ask Renji if he could get us a pineapple," Tessa tells Soi Fon.
"I'm sure," Soi Fon replies. "Look, Renji's in a great place with us. He's not about to flip over to you guys. And you know what the immortal Dan Foley said, 'Flippers never win.'"
"I see," Tessa states sadly.
Renji chuckles. "You can relax, Captain," he tells Soi Fon. "I'm not going over to their alliance, I don't need them."
"I won't say it hasn't crossed my mind to hop on over to the other alliance," Renji says. "However, right now I'm perfectly fine where I'm at, and I'm not changing my position."
"Our only hope was Renji, but it doesn't look good for us swinging him over," Tessa says. "We may need to pull out all the stops at Tribal Council."
Immunity Challenge
(Conkalua)
"Come on in, guys!"
The nine remaining players walk over towards Jet.
"You guys ready to get to today's immunity challenge?"
"Why not," Soi Fon replies.
"First things first, I will take it back. Sit!"
Renji goes crashing embarrassingly to the ground, and the entire tribe has a belly laugh in his expense.
"This never gets old," Jet says, as he rips the Immunity Beads of Subjugation off Renji's neck. "Thank you for that entertainment."
Renji dusts himself off, while the others continue to laugh at him.
"Once again, immunity is back up for grabs. For today's challenge, which has been in many previous Survivors, you will hold on to a staff on your shoulders, with two buckets of water hanging on the ends. These will be quite heavy. Once you drop your staff, you are out of the challenge. Last one remaining, wins immunity, guaranteed 1-in-8 shot at winning this game. Losers, Tribal Council, where someone will become the fifth member of our jury. We'll draw for spots, and then get started."
The tribe all picks up the staffs on their arms at the same time.
"For immunity, this challenge is underway."
About five minutes in, Tessa can take no more, and she drops her staff.
"Tessa, with a pathetic showing! Couldn't even last five minutes!"
Tessa trudges over to the bench, looking downtrodden.
"For this challenge, you've got to dig deep!"
Everyone else stays in the challenge until about the fifteen-minute mark, when Hungary finally drops her pole.
"Hungary is out, and we are down to seven!"
It takes about ten more minutes for the next player to drop.
"Ash really struggling… and that's it! He's out! We're down to six!"
The players continue to hold onto their heavy poles while gutting out the pain. Finally, at about the forty-five minute mark, Clove drops her staff.
"Clove's out! We are down to five!"
At about the one-hour mark, Katniss cannot hold on any longer, and she drops her pole.
"Katniss drops out, leaving us with only four!"
It takes till about the 90-minute mark for the next player to drop.
"Janine cannot take any more, and she's out! We are now down to only three! Soi Fon, Renji and Peter Anderson hanging in there!"
The other players hold strong, and it takes until about the two-hour mark for another one to drop.
"Soi Fon finally gives in and drops her pole! Only Renji and Anderson remain!"
Knowing how important this immunity is, Peter refuses to give in to the pain. Renji also tries holding on as hard as he can, but at about the two-and-a-half hour mark, he finally gives in and drops his staff.
"Renji drops his staff, and that's it! Anderson… wins immunity!"
Anderson throws his staff in celebration, then jumps into the air and pumps his fist. He then walks over to Jet.
"Congratulations, Anderson, this is for you."
Jet puts the Immunity Beads of Subjugation around Peter's neck.
"You are safe from tonight's Tribal Council. As for the rest of you, someone's going home. You've got tonight to figure out who that's gonna be; I'll see you later for Tribal."
Peter pumps his fist again as he walks out with his tribe.
"I have my immunity now," Peter says. "I've just got to figure out a way to swing Renji in our favor."
Conkalua Tribe
(Ash, Soi Fon, Hungary, Janine, Renji, Clove, Katniss, Peter, Tessa)
Although Clove and Katniss, along with Peter and Tessa, want to talk to Renji, Soi Fon has figuratively tethered Renji to her. She will not leave Renji's side for anything.
"How are we supposed to get Renji if Soi Fon won't let us?" Tessa asks Peter.
"Beats me," Peter replies. "I think the only thing left now is to try to make a fake idol."
"Can you do that?" Tessa wonders.
"I'll try my best."
Peter heads off on the beach to try to gather some material together to make a fake idol.
"I never realized how difficult these fake idols are to make," Peter says. "I'm trying to make one to save Tessa's skin, but it's probably not going to work."
Ash and Janine, meanwhile, have a conversation about the Renji situation.
"Do you trust Renji to keep on voting with us?" Janine asks Ash.
"Of course not," Ash replies. "But at this point, we have to count on him."
"Right. We've got to somehow convince Renji that he's not on the bottom, even though he is. Because while he may be with us for this vote, he may count out the numbers next vote and realize that he'd be better off with an alliance of four against our four, than he would finishing fifth."
"So, how do we do that?"
"I'm not really sure, to be honest with you."
"Janine brings up a good point – while Renji may be fine with voting with us tonight, if he realizes he's on the bottom, he's best off jumping ship, but after this vote," Ash says. "So in reality this isn't the vote we have to worry about. It's the next one that's problematic. Because Renji could really screw up everything by voting with the three others remaining, and forcing a purple rock – a rock I don't want to pull."
Tribal Council
(Conkalua)
The tribe walks into the Tribal Council area, then sets aside their torches.
"We now bring in the members of our jury," Jet announces. "Lucian, Erika, Gary, and voted out last Tribal Council, Olivier."
Olivier walks in with a furious look on her face.
"Let's talk about alliances," Jet states. "Clearly last time we were here, one alliance lost and is now on the outs here."
"That would be us," Tessa responds, pointing to herself and Peter.
"So you are the ones who lost in that last vote."
"Exactly. Since then, however, we've joined forces with Clove and Katniss."
"Clove, is that true?"
"Yeah, we don't want to just finish sixth and seventh, which we would if we stayed with Soi Fon's alliance," Clove replies. "So we along with Renji have jumped over to Peter and Tessa's alliance."
"Whoa, whoa!" Renji exclaims. "I haven't jumped at all! You're making assumptions there!"
"It would be the smart idea if you did," Clove responds.
"Agreed," Katniss states. "You really should move over to our side."
Soi Fon steps in. "Renji's not changing sides, no matter what you think. He's staying with us. We are a solid five."
"But out of that five, Renji is fifth!" Tessa exclaims.
"That's just another assumption!" Janine breaks in. "You just want him to think that so you can get him to vote your way."
As the argument heats up, Jet steps in. "Regardless of who is fifth, there is someone who is on the bottom of every alliance. You have to know that."
"We don't have a pecking order here," Ash replies. "We don't consider anyone to be lower than another."
"Renji, do you believe Ash?" Jet asks.
"Yes, I do," Renji responds. "I don't think I'm any lesser than anyone else here in this alliance. I think that we are a solid five, and that immunities will decide who goes further. There's really nothing for me to be concerned about."
Peter then decides to pull out the fake idol that he created.
"I'm changing the game right now," Peter says, pulling a crudely-created facsimile of an idol. "Renji, you vote with us, and I give this to you."
"Nice try," Soi Fon breaks in, "but there's no way that's real."
"Are you sure?" Peter says. "Or maybe it's you who already have an idol?"
Soi Fon backs off, staying silent.
"It's a good offer," Renji states. "We'll see if I decide to take it."
"Please take it," Tessa pleads.
Clove and Katniss look on, hoping to see a crack in Renji's resolve, but Renji remains quiet.
"All right," Jet says. "There is one person here who won't be going home, and that's Peter. He's got individual immunity with those Beads of Subjugation. Everyone else is fair game, and guess what? It is… time to vote. Ash, you're up first."
The Tribal Council theme "Tally the Vote" plays as the tribe goes to vote.
Ash goes to vote.
"You're a great player, and an even better person," Ash says, holding up his vote for Tessa. "Unfortunately, you didn't win immunity, and Peter did, so I have to vote for you tonight."
Clove goes to vote.
Hungary goes to vote.
Janine goes to vote.
Katniss goes to vote.
Peter goes to vote.
"Our only hope is for Renji to jump ship, and blindside you," Peter says, holding up his vote for Soi Fon.
Renji goes to vote.
Soi Fon goes to vote.
Tessa goes to vote.
"I'll go tally the votes," Jet says.
Jet goes over to grab the voting urn, then he returns to his usual spot.
"If anyone has a hidden immunity idol, and you would like to play it, now would be the time to do so."
Peter does not budge, which tips off everyone on Soi Fon's alliance that his idol is a fake.
"Okay. Once the votes are read, the decision is final, and the person voted out will be asked to leave the Tribal Council area immediately. I'll read the votes."
…
…
"Tessa."
…
…
"Soi Fon."
…
…
"Tessa."
…
…
"Soi Fon. We're tied, two votes Tessa, two votes Soi Fon."
…
…
…
"Tessa."
…
…
…
"Soi Fon. We're tied again, three votes Tessa, three votes Soi Fon."
…
…
…
"Tessa."
…
…
…
"Soi Fon. We're tied once more, four votes Tessa, four votes Soi Fon, one vote left."
…
…
…
"Eleventh person voted out of Survivor: Crazy Second Chance, and the fifth member of our jury…"
…
…
…
"Tessa."
Tessa nods her head, then she hugs Peter.
"You need to bring me your torch."
Tessa walks over and picks up her torch, then walks over to Jet.
"Tessa, the tribe has spoken. It's time for you to go."
Tessa salutes Jet, then walks out.
"Well," Jet says, "if this vote proved anything, it's that some alliances are harder to crack than others. But there always are cracks – don't forget that. Grab your torches, head back to camp, good night."
The players head on out of camp with their torches.
"It was a good run," Tessa says. "Unfortunately, my alliance was not big enough to take on the juggernaut that was Soi Fon's alliance. Now the question is: will Soi Fon show me enough for me to vote for her at the Final Tribal Council? Because she still has a lot to prove to me. I don't think there's any question she'll get there at this point, but whether she'll win, that's a whole different thing."
Who voted for whom:
Ash – Tessa
Clove – Soi Fon
Hungary – Tessa
Janine – Tessa
Katniss – Soi Fon
Peter – Soi Fon
Renji – Tessa
Soi Fon – Tessa
Tessa – Soi Fon
Scenes from our next episode:
Clove continues to work on flipping Renji:
"This is your big opportunity," Clove tells him.
"Isn't that what you guys told me the last time?" Renji questions.
While Soi Fon and Hungary think about using their idols:
"When are we going to use these?" Hungary asks.
"This Tribal Council," Soi Fon answers. "So if Renji is stupid enough to forsake our alliance and try to forge a 4-4 tie, both of us pull out our idols, and then our target goes home."
And Ash makes a big reveal:
Ash feels guilty inside about hiding the Superidol, so he finally breaks down and reveals it.
"This is what I bought at the Auction," he tells them.
He holds out Keroberos, the Superidol.
"With this, I can cancel out votes after they've been read."
