Post by Amanda Kimmel on Jun 15, 2011 12:07:09 GMT -5
Four seasons of epic blindsides, surprises, badassery, challenge runs, social play, boobs, and insanity have all led to this. In season five, twenty-two veterans duked it out in the most intense battle of wits the world has ever seen. In a struggle for power and prestige, these All-Stars would face some of the toughest challenges yet and deal with one of the most complicated games they’ve ever seen.
The twenty-two selected were as follows:
From Survivor: Tonga [S1]:
From Survivor: Namibia [S2]:
From Survivor: Malaysia [S3]:
From Survivor: Manchuria [S4]:
Episode One: “Some Like It Dirty”
The twenty-two castaways were secluded for transport to an undisclosed location. They were allowed to socialize on a mysterious boat, and everything instantly blew out of proportion. Everyone had their own agenda with their own friends and enemies. Darrah immediately wanted to have control, and teamed up with Erinn and the two began flirting, which annoyed many of their colleagues; Darrah even expressed disgust at the measures Erinn took to take advantage of men and considered severing her ties in order to further herself. Many people expressed interest in killing Darrah immediately, while others wanted to take out threats early. Many expressed rekindling prior alliances, but Brendan was unsure if he could still trust Kim, though he agreed to work with her and Erinn, but privately stated that he wanted them to do the dirty work and for him to be seen as the “nice guy.” Bob Dawg did not want Danielle to beat him in the finals again but agreed to team up for a second go. Danielle wanted to utilize the same strategy that won her Manchuria, but was careful not to make too many side alliances immediately. Candice and Colleen both immediately knew they had to work together or else they’d be targeted; Colleen also decided to play UTR so the big guns could take each other out. Several people, including his former ally Brett, also expressed annoyances with Rob’s suddenly erratic demeanor, though some people, namely three winners in Sierra, Candice, and Danielle, expressed working with him. Russell confessed that his angel shtick was over, and that he was ready to do whatever it took to win, but several people thought he was shady although they did not know that he had feigned obliviousness in Manchuria. Alina continued to lay low like she had in Malaysia, but multiple people considered aligning with her knowing that she was loyal, namely Fabio, Candice, Jimmy, and side-alliance puppeteer Danielle. Rob became suspicious when Darrah wanted to target Erinn, and he thought it was a ploy to start a war with Jimmy, who had butted heads with Darrah. Sierra told Jimmy that Darrah was after him, and Darrah found out about it and confronted Sierra, who was still high from the night before the game. Russell told Erinn that Sierra thought Erinn was targeting herself, although he did not understand Sierra’s mumblings about Erinn and Darrah’s alliance having crumbled and took things out of context. He told Erinn this, and Erinn found him hard to follow. Brett and Lex decided to potentially align, though neither completely trusted the other given their real-life interactions; Brett distrusted Sierra due to her rambling and even more confused state than in Namibia, and wanted to vote her out early. Rupert also felt annoyed by Sierra’s weird demeanor, and suspected that she may have wanted to take him out. Russell talked with Brett, but figured that Brett knew that Russell’s act in Manchuria had been a complete farce and that Brett would be gunning for him, so he had to get rid of Brett first. Toddy laid low for the most part, but tried to strike an alliance with Danielle but felt a distant vibe from her, so he concocted a plan for himself and Alina, the two quietest, to align with Erinn and Darrah, the two loudest. Many Survivors also speculated about twists, knowing that Redemption Island would potentially be in play, and that there could also be another MedEvac twist.
The castaways were eventually marooned on a mysterious beach, where they were met by Amanda. Amanda announced that before she got to the particulars, there would be a challenge to decide who was on which tribe, and that there would be three tribes of seven. One All-Star would leave the game before it truly started, even though a huge mess of alliances and plots already existed. The castaways were stymied, and angered upon seeing the huge puzzle boards in front of them. After a tough competition, Fabio lost because of his inability to read directions, and left the game immediately.
Episode Two: “Sanity Will Return Tomorrow”
The three tribes were determined as the following:
Fēngbào: Brett, Colleen, Austin, Russell, Kim, Darrah, Jenna
Verraad: Lex, Toddy, Sierra, Candice, Rupert, Alina, Jimmy
Auha: Bob Dawg, Erinn, DDanielle, Brendan, Dan, Hunter, Rob
Amanda also recapped the twists the players would be facing, and announced that there would be one from each season: Tonga’s Survivor Shop, Namibia’s kidnappings, Malaysia’s Redemption Island, and Manchuria’s Karma Wars. The castaways were completely stunned and overwhelmed, but were immediately sent to their tribe camps. At Verraad, which was comprised of four Malaysia All-Stars, Candice and Lex both expressed extreme displeasure with their tribe, and kindled a makeshift alliance with the two of them, Rupert and Jimmy, and although Candice did not completely trust Lex after what he pulled in Malaysia, she knew he was her best option. Rupert befriended Alina and the two agreed to work secretly together, but this did not work because Alina found out that he was among those who wanted her out. Alina and Toddy, close friends outside the game, thus knew they had to align. Toddy wanted to team up with Sierra to take out big threat Candice, but Alina called Sierra a “headcase” and didn’t want to align with her. She feigned obliviousness to Lex, hoping to bring him in, but did not know that Lex and Candice had aligned. At Auha, the tribe couldn’t celebrate for long, as they immediately erupted into an argument about whether their buff color was orange or yellow, with Bob Dawg and Erinn’s brewing feud annoying some people. Danielle initially wanted to align with Erinn, but backed off when Bob Dawg and her did not get along. The duo of Danielle and Bob Dawg aligned with Rob on the side and wanted to bring in Brendan to continue the alliance that made the final three in Manchuria. Danielle wanted to target Hunter, but Bob Dawg wanted to align with him to take out Erinn. Bob Dawg did not fully trust Danielle since she beat him in Manchuria and he did not want to lose to her again. Hunter also approached Rob about an alliance, and Rob knew that he was the swing vote, although he said that Dan was the least trustworthy guy there. Fēngbào, meanwhile, was extremely annoyed by Darrah and Colleen wanted her gone ASAP. Brett and Colleen teamed up, while Kim was annoyed at the prospect of being on a tribe with her nemesis Russell again, but knew the two would vote for Darrah together. When Russell offered her an alliance that could potentially include Brendan and Dan somewhere down the line, she accepted, but knew she could not keep it for the long term. At the immunity challenge, Verraad destroyed Auha and Fēngbào; the only member of Fēngbào to not throw their match was Kim. Rob and Rupert, two people Darrah thought were her allies, destroyed her in the challenge, and she shouted explicit insults at Rob after the duel. Verraad kidnapped Jenna, so she was exempt from the vote; Jenna also got a clue to a mysterious item and a chance to defect to Verraad. Jenna adamantly refused to defect and could not find the item. Back at Fēngbào, Darrah aimed to target Colleen, and outright told everyone that Colleen was going to go. Russell, Austin, and Kim pretended to go along with it, and Darrah informed Brett that Colleen was a goner. Darrah told Kim that Colleen would go first, then Jenna, then Brett. However, everyone, including Kim, who leaked the ‘hitlist,’ was annoyed with Darrah’s constant flirting, vulgar comments, arrogance, blind state of control, delusional narcissism, and desire to run shit. They all decided to vote her out, and at Tribal Council, Darrah’s egocentric nature got her blindsided 5-1, sending her to Redemption Island in a fiery state of rage.
Episode Three: “Sorry Everyone for the Inconvenience”
Fēngbào celebrated that Darrah was gone, although they knew she’d be fighting hard at Redemption but knew that the chances of her returning after her poor performance in the challenge was nearly impossible. They knew that they’d have to win the next challenge, but some were curious if there would be frequent, random tribe swaps like in Manchuria. At Verraad, Sierra wondered if they should throw the challenge to get rid of Alina, though Candice knew that if Verraad lost, Sierra would be gone. Jimmy, however, did not care for his alliance with the Malaysian group, but thought of Toddy, Candice, and Sierra as “annoying” and Alina as “useless.” At the immunity challenge, Erinn, also known as Tara the Terrible, made a startling announcement that she was, in fact, a man, which caused jaw-dropping reactions from almost the entire cast. Auha proceeded to lose the challenge, and Rob volunteered to be kidnapped and went to Verraad. He kept saying he hated his tribe, but struggled with whether or not defecting would be beneficial to him. He knew he was a swing vote at Auha, but knew that he’d be fourth at best with either side and wanted to get in a more beneficial alliance, but did not know if Verraad would present that opportunity. Ultimately, he decided it would, and he decided to defect to Verraad, although Jimmy was causing trouble and trying to betray his own alliance and get rid of Candice, who Rob saw as an ally. Back at Auha, the tribe was a complete mess, even without knowing that Rob had changed to Verraad. Although Hunter felt safe, he had no idea who to vote out, since Brendan, Bob Dawg, and Erinn’s names had all come up and the targets had constantly been shifting; Brendan wanted Erinn gone, but Danielle wanted to blindside Brendan, her former ally, before he could blindside her and Bob Dawg. Although Bob Dawg originally wanted Erinn out, Danielle convinced him otherwise and that Brendan had to go since he was not with them this time. Hunter also felt paranoid that Danielle could go after him and felt extremely skeptical of siding with her and Bob Dawg. However, Danielle changed her mind upon realizing that even with “her” revelation, Erinn was still a bigger threat than Brendan. Bob Dawg became wary that Danielle thought she was in control, but was going to vote with her anyway. Danielle, however, was originally right to not trust Brendan, as he informed Erinn that Bob Dawg was the real target and that he would be voting for “her.” This paranoia prompted Bob Dawg to stick with the plan to vote out Brendan, but at Tribal Council, Bob Dawg did not see a blindside coming, and was sent to Redemption by a vote of 4-2, leaving his ally Danielle alone and in a bind.
Episode Four: “Don’t Compare Me to Bananas”
After seeing her ally Bob Dawg voted out, Danielle immediately knew that she’d need to be kidnapped so she could defect and escape the ship that would sink around her. She wanted to be kidnapped badly, and would try to volunteer under the premise of everyone knowing that she would be defecting. She said she’d prefer Verraad. Although, at Verraad, a war between Sierra and Candice was brewing, as the two prior winners wanted each other gone badly. Jimmy was a potential swing vote, as he had made promises to both camps, and with Rob’s decision to defect, this played a role although Sierra thought that he’d just be kidnapped again. Lex and Rupert began to work on Alina, but did not know of her allegiance to Toddy and did not realize that she, like Jimmy and Rob, was essentially a swing vote. Rob seemed to know this, but felt uneasy being a swing vote that would have to vote for either Sierra or Candice, two people he thought would be potential allies. At Redemption Island, Bob Dawg was victorious over Darrah, sending her to pre-jury, although she told him to watch out for Erinn since she could no longer be trusted. Bob Dawg already knew this, and promised to take her down for Darrah. Fēngbào, without a Darrah to worry about, began to unite and there was little to no drama amongst its members. When they won the immunity challenge and kidnapped Jimmy, all hell broke loose at Verraad with Rob ending up being in a complete bind, unsure of which of his allies to vote for. Paranoid that he could be the target since he was new to the tribe, he made promises to both sides and thought of himself as a backstabber no matter what, but neither side was aware of this. Although Toddy thought about targeting Lex, he realized he couldn’t since Lex had done most of the work in the challenge and that Candice, although known for being a challenge whore, was not giving it her all now. Back at Auha, the tribe, challenge leader Hunter in particular, was disappointed in that Brendan had done nothing at the challenge and that he was generally being a jerk to people. Hunter was completely embarrassed that he had misspelled his tribe’s name on their shelter flag and hoped he didn’t get eliminated because of his own idiocy. At their Tribal Council, Brendan self-voted, and was ruthlessly removed on the spot. After Prediction Writer Natalie slammed a rock on his head, she injected him with a serum and threw him face-first in the river; he was never to be heard from again. At Verraad, although his allies Rupert and Candice were sure that Sierra was doomed, Lex was growing increasingly paranoid as the day went on that Rob and Alina would not be voting with them, and rumors began to circulate that Todd and Alina were even closer than they let on. Sierra, thinking she was in trouble, bought a nullifier to be safe and planned on cancelling Lex’s vote. Candice, becoming wary that Rob might not be with her, put pressure on Rob to admit who he was siding with, but he said that he was voting for Sierra. He also said that Alina and Toddy were voting for Candice. Toddy got word of it and was extremely unhappy, knowing that he could no longer trust Rob. Candice and Lex reacted immediately, and although they thought it was likely a waste, they visited the Survivor Shop together to strengthen their vote. At Tribal Council, Toddy struggled with deciding on who to vote, given that he was not sure if he could keep an alliance with two people that ran their mouths like motorboats (Rob and Sierra). Using what they got from the shop, Lex was able to circumvent Sierra’s nullifier by doubling his vote, Candice nullified Sierra’s vote, and Rob nullified Candice’s vote. The vote ended 3-2 with Rob, Toddy, and Alina voting for Candice and Lex and Rupert voting for Sierra. Candice, betrayed, was sent to Redemption Island, cursing Rob out for backstabbing her and yelling at Todd for judging her challenge performance when he had sat out.
Episode Five: “The Bubble Gum Tribe”
Verraad was a complete mess after their Tribal Council, and Rob was extremely shaky and felt that he had made a bad decision to betray Candice. Toddy did not trust Rob, and Sierra was angry that he had been playing both sides and did not want to align with him. Rob’s attitude caused a bunch of people at Verraad to consider throwing the challenge to kill him, but Lex knew that he could potentially be gone next as he was in a minority. At Fēngbào, after Jimmy had given her the clue, Kim realized that she was becoming very well-liked and that would make her a threat, so she decided to lay low Each of the three tribes received mail that they could send up to three people to Redemption to watch the impending duel between Bob Dawg and Candice. At the duel, Candice called out Rob for being a dumbass and he said that one should separate the game from reality, which Candice thought was BS and told Rob that “killing himself” was the only way out. Rob disagreed and started insulting Candice, though she shot him down. Candice also argued with Jimmy, who had just returned from Fēngbào, because he thought his kidnapping had played an integral part in her “blindside,” and she made him look like an idiot. Amanda told Rob that she thought true friends would not lie to each other, and, having taken some sort of offense to this, Sierra started spouting nonsense and threatened to quit for no apparent reason. She made good on it and left the game completely, leaving everyone stunned. To many people’s surprises, Bob Dawg beat Candice in the Redemption Duel, sending her to pre-jury along with Sierra. With two winners down, Danielle feared that she was next, and requested that the other tribes kidnap her should Auha lose the challenge. When Auha did indeed lose immunity, Verraad kidnapped Danielle; she defected, giving the clue to Lex to kindle a possible alliance to save her from the sinking ship she was on. However, at Fēngbào, Kim was able to correctly identify the item the producers were looking for, and she was awarded a one-use individual immunity that could be given to anyone before Tribal Council in any round through the final six. The Fēngbào tribe bonded further, with Jenna comparing them to being sweet like bubble gum, while Verraad continued to be a nuclear disaster with alliance implosions and Rob becoming increasingly paranoid that he was a dead man walking due to him voting for Candice, when in reality it was his attitude that angered everyone else. At Auha, Dan, Hunter, and Erinn prepared for Tribal, and Dan knew that he was gone even though Erinn had told him she was voting for Hunter. Knowing that was his only shot, Dan voted for Hunter, but it was Dan that was voted out 2-1 and sent to Redemption to face Bob Dawg.
Episode Six: “Stuffed Crust”
On Day 11, the tribes were (not) surprised that a tribe swap was in store, reducing the tribes to two:
Fēngbào: Alina, Brett, Colleen, Erinn, Hunter, Kim, Russell, Todd
Verraad: Austin, Danielle, Jenna, Jimmy, Lex, Rob, Rupert
The tribes were sent back to their beaches, and things seemed a bit calm initially. Being the last two from Auha, Erinn and Hunter knew they had to stick together, and weighed two options: Join the original Fēngbào team of Brett, Colleen, Kim, and Russell, or partner up with Todd and Alina, who were aligned coming over from Verraad. They figured the latter was in their best interest, and both sides hoped that if Fēngbào lost the challenge that one person from the other side would be kidnapped to force a 4-3 vote. At Redemption, Dan threw the challenge since his heart wasn’t in it, and Bob Dawg moved on yet again. Fēngbào won immunity and stuffed crust pizza later that day and kidnapped Rob, sending the rest of new Verraad to Tribal Council. At Fēngbào, Rob shared his clue with Todd, but was approached by Kim as he mulled it over. Kim said that she had found the single-use individual immunity and that there was no point in him looking for it, but Kim regretted it and Rob was unsure if he could trust her since he thought he was aligned with Austin, Jimmy, and Jenna at the new Verraad. At Verraad, Jimmy started pitting people against each other, and threw Danielle under the bus in order to get Rupert to vote her out, and he threw Rupert under the bus in order to get Danielle to vote him out. Rob, over at Fēngbào, expected that Rupert would be voted out. Jimmy thought he was sitting pretty and that Danielle would be sent packing, but in reality Jimmy was the target because he was trying too hard to cause drama and failing miserably at it. Lex convinced Austin and Jenna that Jimmy was tight with Rob and Danielle, which wasn’t true, and that Jimmy needed to go since he was the link. The entire tribe voted Jimmy out and sent him to Redemption Island, with Rupert spending a nullifier to shut The Wizard up once and for all.
Episode Seven: “Eye of the Tiger”
Verraad returned to camp, hoping to together win the next challenge. Two distinct factions were forming at Fēngbào, and both knew that rewards would be the key to victory. When Amanda announced at the challenge that both tribes would be going to Tribal Council, things immediately went crazy. Lex won immunity for Verraad with blazing speed, while Brett came out on top for Fēngbào. Each got to kidnap someone from the other tribe, and that person would attend the other tribe’s Tribal Council instead of their own. Lex chose Alina, and Brett chose Rob. At Verraad’s camp, Danielle suggested that either Austin or Jenna be the target, because they were weaker in challenges, but Lex and Rupert figured that Danielle had a tendency to run shit, and, pretty much knowing that Bob Dawg had defeated Dan and Jimmy at Redemption Island (he had), they knew that they’d have to pit the two allies against each other. They informed Jenna and Austin of this, and the plan was set in motion; out of paranoia, Austin purchased a vote nullifier and chose to use it on Danielle, sending her to Redemption to face her ally Bob Dawg by a vote of 5 to 0.
At Fēngbào, the two factions immediately warred, and with Alina gone, Toddy felt paranoid, so he decided to pull a trick on the other side. He tried to set Kim up by saying to Russell that she was going after him, and to Kim that Russell wanted revenge for her constantly targeting him in Manchuria so she’d target him. However, Kim and Russell had already talked about voting for Toddy, and when Russell told Kim that Toddy was starting crap, they absolutely knew that they had to gun for him; Colleen and Brett agreed to this. Kim faked targeting Russell, although she was in a final four alliance with him, and told Russell everything. Toddy had thought that Russell would align on his Tonga alliance bandwagon because Kim was betraying him and with his double vote, and given how Russell had lied that he was on board, Toddy felt confident that Kim was a goner. Kim, however, informed her allies that she had purchased a Hidden Immunity Idol from the shop the day before and wasn’t afraid to use it. The plan was set, and when Kim pulled the Idol out at Tribal Council, Toddy’s plan blew up in his face and he was blindsided with 5 votes from the original Fēngbào team, including from Russell, and sent to Redemption, leaving Hunter and Erinn in shock.
Episode Eight: “Ten Trillion Hours”
Upon returning to Fēngbào, Alina was devastated to see that her close ally Toddy had been voted out. She vowed revenge however possible, but did not trust anyone on her tribe enough to get it. She expressed interest in aligning with Rob on Verraad, but everyone on both tribes expressed annoyance with Rob’s constant whining about Deep Points, alliances, challenges, and everything, and Brett, Colleen, Lex, and Rupert expressed interest in voting him out as soon as possible, although they were on separate tribes. Verraad did indeed lose the mentally exhausting challenge, and Fēngbào kidnapped Austin in hopes that this would lead to Rob’s boot. Fēngbào was wiped out, but Russell, Kim, and Brett chatted it up late into the night. Brett, however, snuck off to buy a Hidden Immunity Idol, which he’d keep to himself. At Redemption, Bob Dawg “seized the moment” and won decisively, but Danielle and Toddy were both unable to complete the puzzle. At Verraad, Lex and Rupert talked and decided that getting rid of the weaker player Jenna, although she had no enemies and was, according to Lex The Bastard, “the sweetest girl there is,” Rob was better in challenges and would make himself a target in a merge situation. They regretted voting Danielle out and admitted that they should have thought about challenge strength the week prior. A bonus Deep Point puzzle challenge accessible at any time made matters worse for Rob, and he constantly updated Lex on every little thing that was not going his way. This annoyed Lex, and Rupert by association, so the two talked again and decided that the moral thing to do would be to take Rob out and thus gain the trust of everyone annoyed with him on Fēngbào, since they figured that many people there had not been able to put up with him in the two rounds he’d been kidnapped. Feeling paranoid since Rupert and Lex weren’t talking strategy with him, Rob brought a triple vote with him to Tribal Council, knowing that he’d have to use it to save himself and force a tie if he was indeed the target. However, Lex and Rupert’s change of heart and sympathy for the hug-loving Jenna was cut short by a self-vote, and Jenna was sent packing to the Losers’ Lodge immediately by a 4-2 vote not in her favor. This also allowed Danielle and Toddy, who were unable to complete the Tetravex puzzle at Redemption, to have another shot to come back in the game.
Episode Nine: “One Last Betrayal”
Back at Verraad, things got even more hectic when Lex’s ploy to take Rob out failed, and he constantly whined that he was a goner. Lex and Rupert knew that Rob was in a tight spot, but were curious about Austin’s loyalty come the merge. At Fēngbào, the tribe received instructions to send one of their members to Verraad permanently, and that said person would have a one-round immunity. The tribe argued for an hour over who should be the one, with every person volunteering to go. Eventually, they drew straws, and it was Hunter who went back to Verraad with Austin. At Redemption, Danielle drubbed Tonga’s challenge whore Toddy, sending him to the Losers’ Lodge. At the immunity challenge, Fēngbào managed to pull out yet another win since Hunter had little interest in doing the challenge for his new tribe. Austin was randomly selected to be kidnapped again, and this left Lex and Rupert in a position to get rid of Rob. However, Hunter aligned with Rob to potentially vote out Rupert because Rupert would go to Colleen. Rob, paranoid, bought a 2x nullifier, and Rupert bought one because he thought that Rob would go for him. After pressure, Lex mulled over that Rupert would be more loyal to Colleen than to him given what had happened in Malaysia. Lex determined that Rupert could not be trusted, and that he may have to be a sacrificial lamb. At Tribal Council, Lex’s vote was the only one to not be nullified, and it was for Rupert out of revenge for Malaysia. Rupert went to Redemption Island to face the Manchurian duo of Bob Dawg and Danielle.
Episode Ten: “Friend Chicken”
The castaways gathered at Redemption Island for the final time to watch a duel between the last three standing. Bob Dawg once again seized the moment, and was able to re-enter the game. Him and Erinn immediately got into a spat, and two sides had already developed: The original Fēngbào, comprised of Colleen, Brett, Kim, Russell, and Austin, and an anti-alliance led by Erinn and consisting of Lex, Alina, Hunter, and Rob. Colleen was fuming that her ally Rupert had been voted out, and she chewed Lex out for discarding him. Lex knew that he had done the right thing, and kindled a secret alliance with Brett to play both sides and make the end with Alina. Lex also purchased a Hidden Immunity for himself, and Alina was able to secure the fourth and final one available, and nobody suspected that she would have it. At the immunity challenge, Rob lasted for hours and won, throwing a wrench in Colleen’s plan to avenge Candice’s demise early in the season. The anti-Fēngbào troupe, led by Lex since Bob Dawg could play both sides instead of him, decided that, instead of using Bob Dawg to take out one of Fēngbào, they’d kill him since Erinn didn’t like him. Bob Dawg, annoyed that Erinn was, in fact, a man, sided with the Fēngbàos to kill her. The vote imploded with multiple nullifiers flying around, and Russell and Rob both nullified their own votes to avoid taking sides. Bob Dawg was sent to the jury by a vote of 6-5, with a clear 5-5 alliance split left.
Episode Eleven: “Neon a Challenge Knight”
Erinn and Lex came back in full control of the anti-Fēngbào alliance, although Kim and some members of the original Fēngbào thought that Rob was the mastermind. Erinn’s allies [not Lex] thought Brett was being an obsessive control freak like he had been in Namibia, but he confessed that he was not and was focused on making the end with Lex and jury goat Alina, whom nobody, including Brett, knew had a Hidden Immunity Idol. Kim, however, was strongly suspicious that Brett and Lex were working together, and did not trust either of them. Hunter approached two members of the Fēngbào alliance for side deals – Brett and Austin – to help better secure his position with them. Erinn’s alliance found out that Brett had a Hidden Immunity Idol, and he became paranoid that someone else knew. He asked Kim if she had told anyone, but she couldn’t completely remember. At the immunity challenge, Lex edged out Russell for the win, allowing him to remain safe while playing both sides. Kim pulled out her individual immunity necklace that she’d found from the kidnapping clues and was safe as well. At camp, the two sides waged war and many people bought items to be used at the Shop, though Kim and Hunter each discovered that the Shop was out of Hidden Immunity Idols, and nobody knew who had the fourth. Erinn planned to make Brett paranoid to coax his Hidden Immunity Idol out, but was unaware that Lex had told him and Colleen what Erinn was planning. Brett and Austin also compared notes and found out that Hunter had offered them both the same deal, so they schemed with their group to target him and avoid the possibility of HBIC Erinn playing a Hidden Immunity Idol, since Hunter would be the least likely target. Thus, Colleen checked Hunter’s stash with her auction reward and found out that he had just purchased a 2x nullifier. Brett and Lex schemed together that Colleen was to get the boot and thought to undermine Brett’s Fēngbào alliance so they could control the numbers for the rest of the game. As she had plenty of points, Kim bought a double and triple vote to use together, stealing Brett’s thunder. Paranoid that she was the target, Colleen sent Kim her own triple vote for safekeeping. Brett and Austin, fully aware that he was playing them both, decided to play Hunter back and tell him different stories. Brett, not wanting Hunter to go and partially trusting him, told the truth and that Hunter needed to use what he had, and Austin lied that Hunter hadn’t been mentioned. Hunter was unsure of who to trust, but was extremely paranoid that they were trying to coax rewards out of him or trying to backstab him. Kim and Colleen also knew that they couldn’t trust Brett long-term and would have to blindside him eventually, given that he lied to Austin about not having a Hidden Immunity Idol. When Brett loaned Kim his HII for safekeeping, Kim and Colleen talked about blindsiding Brett while he was a sitting duck, even though it would put them at a numbers disadvantage. When informed that Hunter had purchased a triple vote out of paranoia, they decided that while Brett would be a threat, Hunter was packing heat and needed to go. Kim returned Colleen’s items for use at Tribal. In a Tribal Council where a record nine rewards were played – four triple votes, two double votes, two 2x nullifiers, and a 1x nullifier – Hunter’s paranoia came to fruition and he was sent to the jury by a 10-7 vote.
Episode Twelve: “Charitably Sadistic”
Rob and Erinn were desperate to get someone to flop, since they badly needed Austin or Russell to defect to their side. People however, knew that Erinn and Russell were somewhat close given Erinn’s running of her mouth before, and the Fēngbào troupe plotted to get rid of her. When the immunity challenge revealed that two people would be going to the jury and two would win immunity, everyone knew this could be the chance to make a move. Russell and Lex came out on top with stories about a paintball deathmatch game and an Agatha Christie spoof, respectively, and were awarded immunity. Back at camp, the Fēngbào group knew that now would be a good time to blindside Brett, and Kim went to Lex to tell him of the plan, although she didn’t fully trust him. Kim wanted to ensure that none of the other Fēngbàos would betray her, since she had promised to take them all to the end. Lex, however, told Brett that he couldn’t trust Kim, and, when Kim told Brett, as his friend, that he had to go, he and Lex decided to plot a huge blindside. Brett purchased a 6x vote, giddy that he was going to pull off the move that he hadn’t been able to in Namibia. While the Fēngbào team plotted to take out Brett alongside Erinn as planned, they told the anti-Fēngbào alliance to vote for Brett, while Lex wanted them to take out Kim. He convinced Rob to join him and Brett in gunning for Kim, but nobody else budged. At Tribal Council, sparks flew everywhere when Austin summoned Bob Dawg to vote to help get Erinn gone, and Kim and Brett both played 6x votes to get their way. However, Brett played his Hidden Immunity Idol – and Alina fruitlessly played hers – and Erinn and Kim were sent to the jury, the latter one stunned at how she’d been blindsided, but humble enough to admit that Lex and Brett had just pulled off something brilliant.
Episode Thirteen: “Getting Cold Feet”
Upon returning to camp, Colleen immediately fingered Brett and Lex as collectively masterminding Kim’s blindside, and told everyone that they were working together and were a tight alliance. Rob began to waver that working with them was in his best interest. When Lex won immunity yet again, thus giving him extra shop points for a three-challenge streak, the target settled immediately on Brett. Lex used his extra points to his advantage and recognized that the biggest challenge threat to him and Brett was, in fact, Russell, and that he needed a 6x vote in order to pull it off. Rob decided that working with Brett and Lex would guarantee him third, and jumped on the Fēngbào bandwagon to get Brett gone for no apparent reason, not realizing that he would be fourth with such a group; Brett, however, convinced Rob that using the tiebreaker to not save himself [Rob] would be a bad idea. At Tribal Council, with Alina voting alongside Brett and Lex but being nullified by Colleen, the vote tied 6 to 6 between Brett and Russell, and it went to a tiebreaker because Rob chose not to use his power. Brett came out on top, sending an angry Russell to the jury.
Episode Fourteen: “Shut Up”
Brett and Lex were furious that Rob had betrayed them, and he continued to talk about what had happened, aggravating them further. Lex outright called Rob a moron and wished to plot his demise. After winning immunity for the fourth straight time, Lex knew that he was safe, but he again knew that he and Brett would need to pack rewards to get their way. He bought one for himself and sent it to Brett, allowing Brett to 6x his vote yet again. The duo told Rob that Colleen was the target to ease his paranoia, but Rob got more paranoid by the minute and continually asked them if the target was still Colleen. This prompted Lex to change the target to Rob so he wouldn’t have to deal with the running of the mouth anymore. Brett and Lex did not tell this to Rob, which only made him MORE paranoid. While Rob was crying, Austin tried to plant a seed into Brett’s mind to betray Lex later on, but Brett informed Lex immediately. The two both recognized the possibility of them betraying each other, but despite everyone else voting for Brett at Tribal Council, the 6x vote and desire to keep their pact was decisive enough to shut Rob up for good and send him to the jury with a vote of 6 to 4.
Episode Fifteen: “Morals and Ethics”
Colleen and Austin were angry that none of their attempts to get rid of Brett had been successful, and, figuring that Lex had the remaining Hidden Immunity Idol, knew that they’d have to find a way out of it. However, the points were all in Brett and Lex’s corner, as was the challenge. Brett narrowly edged out Lex to win immunity, thus forcing Colleen to target Alina. Lex figured it would happen, so he showed Alina his Hidden Immunity Idol and told her that Colleen would be going after her. Alina agreed to the plan, as she did not like Colleen and fondly recalled trying multiple times to vote her out in Malaysia. Colleen became increasingly angry knowing her days were numbered. At Tribal Council, Colleen insulted the jury due to her foul mood and knowledge of her exit, which increased the resentment against her. Lex played his idol even though no votes were cast against him, and in the final round for reward use, Brett, Lex, and Alina obliterated any chance Colleen had of surviving and sent her to the jury by a vote of 4 to 1.
Episode Sixteen: “The Beginning”
Austin felt like a sitting duck upon returning to camp, and with rewards completely out of the picture, he knew that he was vulnerable and that the only way out was to team with Alina to vote out whichever of Brett and Lex didn’t win immunity. However, his sentiments towards Alina were of disgust, as he had seen her as “lazy” and “worthless,” and based on that he campaigned to Brett and Lex to take the “more deserving man” to the final three. Brett won immunity based on a tiebreaker over Austin, and this caused Brett and Lex to recognize Austin as a more legitimate challenge threat. Knowing that the final immunity challenge would be something insane, they did not want to risk it. Lex informed Alina that Austin would be voting for her, so it would be best for her to vote with him once again. She agreed. Offended that a “slacker” had beat him, Austin was sent to the jury by a vote of 3-1. On his way out, he promised that he’d make Alina’s bed at the jury house and that he’d vote for her if Lex or Brett took her to the finals.
Brett and Lex rejoiced that they had made the final three together. Both had mixed feelings about the final two situation, but they knew that a bitter jury would vote for Alina to spite them and that they both wanted to see their promises through. The final challenge came around and everyone struggled with it immensely. After six long hours, Brett managed to reach the finish and won a spot in the final two. His decision was somewhat easy, as Alina became the final member of the jury, thus propelling a dominant alliance to the final two and ensuring the series’ first male winner.
The final two were treated to a tiki bar with dancers, mixed drinks, and stuffed crust pizza. The boys had fun relishing on how they outfoxed everyone just like they had come into the game wishing and, while reminiscing of some of their favorite moments, mocking the potentiality of just how bitter a couple certain members of the original Fēngbào alliance would be. Despite knowing that the Final Tribal Council would start in a few hours, Lex overindulged in the adult beverages and walked into Tribal intoxicated. The final two had noticed that Colleen had been removed from the jury due to an argument with Amanda when she had come to brief the jury on acceptable questions, and that if there were a tie, Rob would be the one to break it given his auction prize.
In their opening statements, Lex and Brett each outlined their loyalty to each other as well as prowess with the use of rewards and that they had a fun ride to the end. Lex admitted that being labeled “The Bastard” made his life rather difficult and that he had to scramble to avoid his name written down, which it never had been despite his paranoia. He also managed to get both sides to trust him come the merge, and that once Kim was blindsided, he and Brett were able to grasp a firm control over everyone else, but that Brett only made it so far because Lex was there to support him. Brett highlighted that he had to vote to keep himself and Lex alive and that if he would lose to anyone, it would be Lex – a sentiment which Lex shared.
Rob was the first juror to ask questions. Rob said that he would have stuck with Lex had Brett left in the tiebreaker, but that Lex was a deceptive liar. He also called Brett fake and that he did not appreciate any insults behind his back, and that his vote was leaning toward voting for Lex since Lex’s point hoarding and information is what propelled Brett to the finals. Rob asked Lex about honesty, and Lex said that he did indeed want Rob in the final three with him and that he only told Rob two lies, regarding when Jenna and Colleen went out. When Rob pressured Lex, Lex admitted that he did not trust Rob fully until the merge, hence why he voted for Rob the round Jenna self-voted out.
An angry Hunter was second. In an epic, fiery entrance, he broke his sunglasses and glared at the final two, then began asking a barrage of questions. Lex complimented Kim and Russell’s games and said that their boots helped propel him to the finals, and that Hunter had been dealt a really bad hand and ended up screwed. Lex also repeated that Brett could not have made the finals without him.
Bob Dawg was third. He asked the final two some sort of cryptic question about a dog named Polly and a parrot named Rex, which the bastard and control freak enjoyed. Lex somewhat mockingly dedicated his answer to the fidgety Austin and assumed that Bob Dawg knew who he was voting for. Brett craved a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, mentioned LOST to make Lex jealous, and concluded that Bob Dawg was doing it to test their brainpower.
Russell made a brief statement that, despite both Lex and Brett playing stellarly and taking advantage of the excessive rewards, he knew who he would be voting for and that he wouldn’t bother either of the final two with needless questions. He sat back down.
Kim went fifth, and she was angry. She accused the final two of using each other to the extreme and that, after the merge, neither of them thought for themselves, they merely used what the other had said as means to get what they wanted. She suggested that they get married because they were a lovely couple. She also accused Brett of being annoying by bragging about his prior accomplishments, yet he did nothing without the help of Lex and was heartless for relentlessly blindsiding her despite her telling him that she would be writing his name down. She had wanted him to extend her the same courtesy, and was fuming that he hadn’t. She attacked Lex’s social game and said that he indeed lived up to his label of “The Bastard” and that the only reason he lasted as long as he had was because he went on an immunity streak, thus protecting him from the vote and earning him more rewards. She also attacked him for using Alina despite rarely even speaking to her, and was angry that he’d never given him the drunk “happy birthday” he promised her. Lex defended himself by saying he won “Most social” in Majority Rules and that he only didn’t talk to her much because they were never really on the same side. He also continually tried to talk to Alina, but she was so quiet and hardly responded that he stopped bothering with it until she came to him asking for life advice.
Erinn kept things simple. S/he asked Lex what his ideal boot order after the merge was, and he said that the actual boot order worked well enough to get him to the finals and that he wouldn’t change it. She asked Brett to compare him/her to a song and how the lyrics represent his/her gameplay. Brett could not come up a song, which left Erinn disappointed.
A very impatient Austin asked whether or not players’ titles fit them this season. Brett said that, out of the jury, only Austin’s fit well, while Lex argued that multiple people’s titles fit them – himself, Bob Dawg, Alina, Russell, Colleen, and Austin. Austin also asked the final two if they had to make any apologies, and neither felt that anything they did warranted one.
Due to Brett’s lack of answers, the only vote he earned was Russell’s. Lex was crowned the Ultimate Survivor with votes from the other six jury members and was awarded the “million-dollar” prize.
Ten people were named to the Ultimate Game for their showings in their seasons and in All-Stars. They were Lex, Brett, DDanielle, Bob Dawg, Kim, Russell, Erinn, Hunter, Austin, and Candice.
Any issues... just point them out, and I'll fix it for ya.
The twenty-two selected were as follows:
From Survivor: Tonga [S1]:
- Jenna Morasca, Sole Survivor, The Comeback Kid
- Hunter Ellis, Second Place, The Manipulator
- Erinn Lobdell, Fifth Place, The Sex Symbol
- Toddy Herzog, Eighth Place, The Physical Dominator
From Survivor: Namibia [S2]:
- Sierra Reed, Sole Survivor, The Loudmouth
- Fabio Birza, Second Place, The All-Rounder
- Austin Carty-Gonzalez, Third Place, The Chameleon
- Rob Mariano, Fourth Place, The Robfather
- Brett Clouser, Seventh Place, The Control Freak
- Jimmy Johnson, Eighth Place, The Wizard
- Darrah Johnson, Twelfth Place, The Flirt
From Survivor: Malaysia [S3]:
- Candice Cody, Sole Survivor, The Prowess
- Rupert Boneham, Second Place, The Flip-Flopper
- Alina Wilson, Fourth Place, The Ninja
- Colleen Haskell, Sixth Place, The Diva
- Lex van den Berghe, Ninth Place, The Bastard
From Survivor: Manchuria [S4]:
- DDanielle DDiLorenzo, Sole Survivor, The Boobs
- Bobby “Bob Dawg” Mason, Second Place, The Comedian
- Brendan Synnott, Third Place, The Glue
- Russell Hantz, Fifth Place, The Actor
- Kim Powers, Seventh Place, The Chaser
- Dan Kay, Ninth Place, The ‘Big Threat’
Episode One: “Some Like It Dirty”
Elimination Challenge: Survivors would have to dig for bags of puzzle pieces in two predetermined spots, then assemble a puzzle. They would then grab a buff which would assign them to a tribe, and the last person to complete it would leave the game immediately.
The twenty-two castaways were secluded for transport to an undisclosed location. They were allowed to socialize on a mysterious boat, and everything instantly blew out of proportion. Everyone had their own agenda with their own friends and enemies. Darrah immediately wanted to have control, and teamed up with Erinn and the two began flirting, which annoyed many of their colleagues; Darrah even expressed disgust at the measures Erinn took to take advantage of men and considered severing her ties in order to further herself. Many people expressed interest in killing Darrah immediately, while others wanted to take out threats early. Many expressed rekindling prior alliances, but Brendan was unsure if he could still trust Kim, though he agreed to work with her and Erinn, but privately stated that he wanted them to do the dirty work and for him to be seen as the “nice guy.” Bob Dawg did not want Danielle to beat him in the finals again but agreed to team up for a second go. Danielle wanted to utilize the same strategy that won her Manchuria, but was careful not to make too many side alliances immediately. Candice and Colleen both immediately knew they had to work together or else they’d be targeted; Colleen also decided to play UTR so the big guns could take each other out. Several people, including his former ally Brett, also expressed annoyances with Rob’s suddenly erratic demeanor, though some people, namely three winners in Sierra, Candice, and Danielle, expressed working with him. Russell confessed that his angel shtick was over, and that he was ready to do whatever it took to win, but several people thought he was shady although they did not know that he had feigned obliviousness in Manchuria. Alina continued to lay low like she had in Malaysia, but multiple people considered aligning with her knowing that she was loyal, namely Fabio, Candice, Jimmy, and side-alliance puppeteer Danielle. Rob became suspicious when Darrah wanted to target Erinn, and he thought it was a ploy to start a war with Jimmy, who had butted heads with Darrah. Sierra told Jimmy that Darrah was after him, and Darrah found out about it and confronted Sierra, who was still high from the night before the game. Russell told Erinn that Sierra thought Erinn was targeting herself, although he did not understand Sierra’s mumblings about Erinn and Darrah’s alliance having crumbled and took things out of context. He told Erinn this, and Erinn found him hard to follow. Brett and Lex decided to potentially align, though neither completely trusted the other given their real-life interactions; Brett distrusted Sierra due to her rambling and even more confused state than in Namibia, and wanted to vote her out early. Rupert also felt annoyed by Sierra’s weird demeanor, and suspected that she may have wanted to take him out. Russell talked with Brett, but figured that Brett knew that Russell’s act in Manchuria had been a complete farce and that Brett would be gunning for him, so he had to get rid of Brett first. Toddy laid low for the most part, but tried to strike an alliance with Danielle but felt a distant vibe from her, so he concocted a plan for himself and Alina, the two quietest, to align with Erinn and Darrah, the two loudest. Many Survivors also speculated about twists, knowing that Redemption Island would potentially be in play, and that there could also be another MedEvac twist.
The castaways were eventually marooned on a mysterious beach, where they were met by Amanda. Amanda announced that before she got to the particulars, there would be a challenge to decide who was on which tribe, and that there would be three tribes of seven. One All-Star would leave the game before it truly started, even though a huge mess of alliances and plots already existed. The castaways were stymied, and angered upon seeing the huge puzzle boards in front of them. After a tough competition, Fabio lost because of his inability to read directions, and left the game immediately.
Episode Two: “Sanity Will Return Tomorrow”
Immunity Challenge: One member from each of the three tribes would square off in an all-out brawl on top of a platform above the water. The two people who stay on the longest win points for their tribe, and two tribes would win immunity. This challenge is based on the first challenge of Survivor: Tonga.
The three tribes were determined as the following:
Fēngbào: Brett, Colleen, Austin, Russell, Kim, Darrah, Jenna
Verraad: Lex, Toddy, Sierra, Candice, Rupert, Alina, Jimmy
Auha: Bob Dawg, Erinn, DDanielle, Brendan, Dan, Hunter, Rob
Amanda also recapped the twists the players would be facing, and announced that there would be one from each season: Tonga’s Survivor Shop, Namibia’s kidnappings, Malaysia’s Redemption Island, and Manchuria’s Karma Wars. The castaways were completely stunned and overwhelmed, but were immediately sent to their tribe camps. At Verraad, which was comprised of four Malaysia All-Stars, Candice and Lex both expressed extreme displeasure with their tribe, and kindled a makeshift alliance with the two of them, Rupert and Jimmy, and although Candice did not completely trust Lex after what he pulled in Malaysia, she knew he was her best option. Rupert befriended Alina and the two agreed to work secretly together, but this did not work because Alina found out that he was among those who wanted her out. Alina and Toddy, close friends outside the game, thus knew they had to align. Toddy wanted to team up with Sierra to take out big threat Candice, but Alina called Sierra a “headcase” and didn’t want to align with her. She feigned obliviousness to Lex, hoping to bring him in, but did not know that Lex and Candice had aligned. At Auha, the tribe couldn’t celebrate for long, as they immediately erupted into an argument about whether their buff color was orange or yellow, with Bob Dawg and Erinn’s brewing feud annoying some people. Danielle initially wanted to align with Erinn, but backed off when Bob Dawg and her did not get along. The duo of Danielle and Bob Dawg aligned with Rob on the side and wanted to bring in Brendan to continue the alliance that made the final three in Manchuria. Danielle wanted to target Hunter, but Bob Dawg wanted to align with him to take out Erinn. Bob Dawg did not fully trust Danielle since she beat him in Manchuria and he did not want to lose to her again. Hunter also approached Rob about an alliance, and Rob knew that he was the swing vote, although he said that Dan was the least trustworthy guy there. Fēngbào, meanwhile, was extremely annoyed by Darrah and Colleen wanted her gone ASAP. Brett and Colleen teamed up, while Kim was annoyed at the prospect of being on a tribe with her nemesis Russell again, but knew the two would vote for Darrah together. When Russell offered her an alliance that could potentially include Brendan and Dan somewhere down the line, she accepted, but knew she could not keep it for the long term. At the immunity challenge, Verraad destroyed Auha and Fēngbào; the only member of Fēngbào to not throw their match was Kim. Rob and Rupert, two people Darrah thought were her allies, destroyed her in the challenge, and she shouted explicit insults at Rob after the duel. Verraad kidnapped Jenna, so she was exempt from the vote; Jenna also got a clue to a mysterious item and a chance to defect to Verraad. Jenna adamantly refused to defect and could not find the item. Back at Fēngbào, Darrah aimed to target Colleen, and outright told everyone that Colleen was going to go. Russell, Austin, and Kim pretended to go along with it, and Darrah informed Brett that Colleen was a goner. Darrah told Kim that Colleen would go first, then Jenna, then Brett. However, everyone, including Kim, who leaked the ‘hitlist,’ was annoyed with Darrah’s constant flirting, vulgar comments, arrogance, blind state of control, delusional narcissism, and desire to run shit. They all decided to vote her out, and at Tribal Council, Darrah’s egocentric nature got her blindsided 5-1, sending her to Redemption Island in a fiery state of rage.
Episode Three: “Sorry Everyone for the Inconvenience”
Immunity Challenge: Tribes would endure collectively on a platform, taking a weight added at increasing intervals for as long as possible. The two tribes that would last the longest would win immunity. This challenge was used previously in Survivor: Manchuria.
Fēngbào celebrated that Darrah was gone, although they knew she’d be fighting hard at Redemption but knew that the chances of her returning after her poor performance in the challenge was nearly impossible. They knew that they’d have to win the next challenge, but some were curious if there would be frequent, random tribe swaps like in Manchuria. At Verraad, Sierra wondered if they should throw the challenge to get rid of Alina, though Candice knew that if Verraad lost, Sierra would be gone. Jimmy, however, did not care for his alliance with the Malaysian group, but thought of Toddy, Candice, and Sierra as “annoying” and Alina as “useless.” At the immunity challenge, Erinn, also known as Tara the Terrible, made a startling announcement that she was, in fact, a man, which caused jaw-dropping reactions from almost the entire cast. Auha proceeded to lose the challenge, and Rob volunteered to be kidnapped and went to Verraad. He kept saying he hated his tribe, but struggled with whether or not defecting would be beneficial to him. He knew he was a swing vote at Auha, but knew that he’d be fourth at best with either side and wanted to get in a more beneficial alliance, but did not know if Verraad would present that opportunity. Ultimately, he decided it would, and he decided to defect to Verraad, although Jimmy was causing trouble and trying to betray his own alliance and get rid of Candice, who Rob saw as an ally. Back at Auha, the tribe was a complete mess, even without knowing that Rob had changed to Verraad. Although Hunter felt safe, he had no idea who to vote out, since Brendan, Bob Dawg, and Erinn’s names had all come up and the targets had constantly been shifting; Brendan wanted Erinn gone, but Danielle wanted to blindside Brendan, her former ally, before he could blindside her and Bob Dawg. Although Bob Dawg originally wanted Erinn out, Danielle convinced him otherwise and that Brendan had to go since he was not with them this time. Hunter also felt paranoid that Danielle could go after him and felt extremely skeptical of siding with her and Bob Dawg. However, Danielle changed her mind upon realizing that even with “her” revelation, Erinn was still a bigger threat than Brendan. Bob Dawg became wary that Danielle thought she was in control, but was going to vote with her anyway. Danielle, however, was originally right to not trust Brendan, as he informed Erinn that Bob Dawg was the real target and that he would be voting for “her.” This paranoia prompted Bob Dawg to stick with the plan to vote out Brendan, but at Tribal Council, Bob Dawg did not see a blindside coming, and was sent to Redemption by a vote of 4-2, leaving his ally Danielle alone and in a bind.
Episode Four: “Don’t Compare Me to Bananas”
Redemption Island Duel: Bob Dawg and Darrah would swing a club to break down a wall. The first of the two to destroy the wall and grab a flag would win the duel and stay alive. This challenge is similar to part of a challenge in Survivor: Malaysia.
Immunity Challenge: Castaways would design a shelter which would be evaluated by Amanda, Erik, and a local designer and architect. The one tribe that the four judges thought built the best shelter overall would win immunity, and the other two would attend Tribal Council. This challenge was used in Survivor: Namibia and Survivor: Manchuria.
After seeing her ally Bob Dawg voted out, Danielle immediately knew that she’d need to be kidnapped so she could defect and escape the ship that would sink around her. She wanted to be kidnapped badly, and would try to volunteer under the premise of everyone knowing that she would be defecting. She said she’d prefer Verraad. Although, at Verraad, a war between Sierra and Candice was brewing, as the two prior winners wanted each other gone badly. Jimmy was a potential swing vote, as he had made promises to both camps, and with Rob’s decision to defect, this played a role although Sierra thought that he’d just be kidnapped again. Lex and Rupert began to work on Alina, but did not know of her allegiance to Toddy and did not realize that she, like Jimmy and Rob, was essentially a swing vote. Rob seemed to know this, but felt uneasy being a swing vote that would have to vote for either Sierra or Candice, two people he thought would be potential allies. At Redemption Island, Bob Dawg was victorious over Darrah, sending her to pre-jury, although she told him to watch out for Erinn since she could no longer be trusted. Bob Dawg already knew this, and promised to take her down for Darrah. Fēngbào, without a Darrah to worry about, began to unite and there was little to no drama amongst its members. When they won the immunity challenge and kidnapped Jimmy, all hell broke loose at Verraad with Rob ending up being in a complete bind, unsure of which of his allies to vote for. Paranoid that he could be the target since he was new to the tribe, he made promises to both sides and thought of himself as a backstabber no matter what, but neither side was aware of this. Although Toddy thought about targeting Lex, he realized he couldn’t since Lex had done most of the work in the challenge and that Candice, although known for being a challenge whore, was not giving it her all now. Back at Auha, the tribe, challenge leader Hunter in particular, was disappointed in that Brendan had done nothing at the challenge and that he was generally being a jerk to people. Hunter was completely embarrassed that he had misspelled his tribe’s name on their shelter flag and hoped he didn’t get eliminated because of his own idiocy. At their Tribal Council, Brendan self-voted, and was ruthlessly removed on the spot. After Prediction Writer Natalie slammed a rock on his head, she injected him with a serum and threw him face-first in the river; he was never to be heard from again. At Verraad, although his allies Rupert and Candice were sure that Sierra was doomed, Lex was growing increasingly paranoid as the day went on that Rob and Alina would not be voting with them, and rumors began to circulate that Todd and Alina were even closer than they let on. Sierra, thinking she was in trouble, bought a nullifier to be safe and planned on cancelling Lex’s vote. Candice, becoming wary that Rob might not be with her, put pressure on Rob to admit who he was siding with, but he said that he was voting for Sierra. He also said that Alina and Toddy were voting for Candice. Toddy got word of it and was extremely unhappy, knowing that he could no longer trust Rob. Candice and Lex reacted immediately, and although they thought it was likely a waste, they visited the Survivor Shop together to strengthen their vote. At Tribal Council, Toddy struggled with deciding on who to vote, given that he was not sure if he could keep an alliance with two people that ran their mouths like motorboats (Rob and Sierra). Using what they got from the shop, Lex was able to circumvent Sierra’s nullifier by doubling his vote, Candice nullified Sierra’s vote, and Rob nullified Candice’s vote. The vote ended 3-2 with Rob, Toddy, and Alina voting for Candice and Lex and Rupert voting for Sierra. Candice, betrayed, was sent to Redemption Island, cursing Rob out for backstabbing her and yelling at Todd for judging her challenge performance when he had sat out.
Episode Five: “The Bubble Gum Tribe”
Redemption Island Duel: Bob Dawg and Candice would hold a flag and run around the island for 250 yards. The first to finish would stay alive. This is based on a challenge in Survivor: Tonga.
Immunity Challenge: Similar to the challenge at Redemption, each tribe would run with their flag for 2000 yards and the first two to finish would win immunity. This was from Survivor: Tonga.
Verraad was a complete mess after their Tribal Council, and Rob was extremely shaky and felt that he had made a bad decision to betray Candice. Toddy did not trust Rob, and Sierra was angry that he had been playing both sides and did not want to align with him. Rob’s attitude caused a bunch of people at Verraad to consider throwing the challenge to kill him, but Lex knew that he could potentially be gone next as he was in a minority. At Fēngbào, after Jimmy had given her the clue, Kim realized that she was becoming very well-liked and that would make her a threat, so she decided to lay low Each of the three tribes received mail that they could send up to three people to Redemption to watch the impending duel between Bob Dawg and Candice. At the duel, Candice called out Rob for being a dumbass and he said that one should separate the game from reality, which Candice thought was BS and told Rob that “killing himself” was the only way out. Rob disagreed and started insulting Candice, though she shot him down. Candice also argued with Jimmy, who had just returned from Fēngbào, because he thought his kidnapping had played an integral part in her “blindside,” and she made him look like an idiot. Amanda told Rob that she thought true friends would not lie to each other, and, having taken some sort of offense to this, Sierra started spouting nonsense and threatened to quit for no apparent reason. She made good on it and left the game completely, leaving everyone stunned. To many people’s surprises, Bob Dawg beat Candice in the Redemption Duel, sending her to pre-jury along with Sierra. With two winners down, Danielle feared that she was next, and requested that the other tribes kidnap her should Auha lose the challenge. When Auha did indeed lose immunity, Verraad kidnapped Danielle; she defected, giving the clue to Lex to kindle a possible alliance to save her from the sinking ship she was on. However, at Fēngbào, Kim was able to correctly identify the item the producers were looking for, and she was awarded a one-use individual immunity that could be given to anyone before Tribal Council in any round through the final six. The Fēngbào tribe bonded further, with Jenna comparing them to being sweet like bubble gum, while Verraad continued to be a nuclear disaster with alliance implosions and Rob becoming increasingly paranoid that he was a dead man walking due to him voting for Candice, when in reality it was his attitude that angered everyone else. At Auha, Dan, Hunter, and Erinn prepared for Tribal, and Dan knew that he was gone even though Erinn had told him she was voting for Hunter. Knowing that was his only shot, Dan voted for Hunter, but it was Dan that was voted out 2-1 and sent to Redemption to face Bob Dawg.
Episode Six: “Stuffed Crust”
Redemption Island Duel: Bob Dawg and Dan would pinpoint locations on a map , and the one that got five first would stay alive. This is based on the elimination challenge in Survivor: Namibia.
Immunity Challenge: One individual from each tribe would face off against someone from the other tribe in one of seven duels. The first to win four would win immunity. This challenge was previously used in both Survivor: Namibia and Survivor: Manchuria.
On Day 11, the tribes were (not) surprised that a tribe swap was in store, reducing the tribes to two:
Fēngbào: Alina, Brett, Colleen, Erinn, Hunter, Kim, Russell, Todd
Verraad: Austin, Danielle, Jenna, Jimmy, Lex, Rob, Rupert
The tribes were sent back to their beaches, and things seemed a bit calm initially. Being the last two from Auha, Erinn and Hunter knew they had to stick together, and weighed two options: Join the original Fēngbào team of Brett, Colleen, Kim, and Russell, or partner up with Todd and Alina, who were aligned coming over from Verraad. They figured the latter was in their best interest, and both sides hoped that if Fēngbào lost the challenge that one person from the other side would be kidnapped to force a 4-3 vote. At Redemption, Dan threw the challenge since his heart wasn’t in it, and Bob Dawg moved on yet again. Fēngbào won immunity and stuffed crust pizza later that day and kidnapped Rob, sending the rest of new Verraad to Tribal Council. At Fēngbào, Rob shared his clue with Todd, but was approached by Kim as he mulled it over. Kim said that she had found the single-use individual immunity and that there was no point in him looking for it, but Kim regretted it and Rob was unsure if he could trust her since he thought he was aligned with Austin, Jimmy, and Jenna at the new Verraad. At Verraad, Jimmy started pitting people against each other, and threw Danielle under the bus in order to get Rupert to vote her out, and he threw Rupert under the bus in order to get Danielle to vote him out. Rob, over at Fēngbào, expected that Rupert would be voted out. Jimmy thought he was sitting pretty and that Danielle would be sent packing, but in reality Jimmy was the target because he was trying too hard to cause drama and failing miserably at it. Lex convinced Austin and Jenna that Jimmy was tight with Rob and Danielle, which wasn’t true, and that Jimmy needed to go since he was the link. The entire tribe voted Jimmy out and sent him to Redemption Island, with Rupert spending a nullifier to shut The Wizard up once and for all.
Episode Seven: “Eye of the Tiger”
Immunity Challenge: Survivors would compete as individuals putting together a very difficult puzzle of images of Amanda and Erik. The person to do it the fastest on each tribe, as well as at Redemption, would win immunity. A similar puzzle appeared Survivor: Namibia.
Verraad returned to camp, hoping to together win the next challenge. Two distinct factions were forming at Fēngbào, and both knew that rewards would be the key to victory. When Amanda announced at the challenge that both tribes would be going to Tribal Council, things immediately went crazy. Lex won immunity for Verraad with blazing speed, while Brett came out on top for Fēngbào. Each got to kidnap someone from the other tribe, and that person would attend the other tribe’s Tribal Council instead of their own. Lex chose Alina, and Brett chose Rob. At Verraad’s camp, Danielle suggested that either Austin or Jenna be the target, because they were weaker in challenges, but Lex and Rupert figured that Danielle had a tendency to run shit, and, pretty much knowing that Bob Dawg had defeated Dan and Jimmy at Redemption Island (he had), they knew that they’d have to pit the two allies against each other. They informed Jenna and Austin of this, and the plan was set in motion; out of paranoia, Austin purchased a vote nullifier and chose to use it on Danielle, sending her to Redemption to face her ally Bob Dawg by a vote of 5 to 0.
At Fēngbào, the two factions immediately warred, and with Alina gone, Toddy felt paranoid, so he decided to pull a trick on the other side. He tried to set Kim up by saying to Russell that she was going after him, and to Kim that Russell wanted revenge for her constantly targeting him in Manchuria so she’d target him. However, Kim and Russell had already talked about voting for Toddy, and when Russell told Kim that Toddy was starting crap, they absolutely knew that they had to gun for him; Colleen and Brett agreed to this. Kim faked targeting Russell, although she was in a final four alliance with him, and told Russell everything. Toddy had thought that Russell would align on his Tonga alliance bandwagon because Kim was betraying him and with his double vote, and given how Russell had lied that he was on board, Toddy felt confident that Kim was a goner. Kim, however, informed her allies that she had purchased a Hidden Immunity Idol from the shop the day before and wasn’t afraid to use it. The plan was set, and when Kim pulled the Idol out at Tribal Council, Toddy’s plan blew up in his face and he was blindsided with 5 votes from the original Fēngbào team, including from Russell, and sent to Redemption, leaving Hunter and Erinn in shock.
Episode Eight: “Ten Trillion Hours”
Redemption Island Duel: Bob Dawg, Toddy, and Danielle would compete in a Tetravex brainteaser, aligning numbers against each other. The first two to complete it would win.
Immunity Challenge: Both tribes would force their way through a series of brainteasers and puzzles, along with an archery test. The first tribe to reach the end of the maze would win immunity.
Upon returning to Fēngbào, Alina was devastated to see that her close ally Toddy had been voted out. She vowed revenge however possible, but did not trust anyone on her tribe enough to get it. She expressed interest in aligning with Rob on Verraad, but everyone on both tribes expressed annoyance with Rob’s constant whining about Deep Points, alliances, challenges, and everything, and Brett, Colleen, Lex, and Rupert expressed interest in voting him out as soon as possible, although they were on separate tribes. Verraad did indeed lose the mentally exhausting challenge, and Fēngbào kidnapped Austin in hopes that this would lead to Rob’s boot. Fēngbào was wiped out, but Russell, Kim, and Brett chatted it up late into the night. Brett, however, snuck off to buy a Hidden Immunity Idol, which he’d keep to himself. At Redemption, Bob Dawg “seized the moment” and won decisively, but Danielle and Toddy were both unable to complete the puzzle. At Verraad, Lex and Rupert talked and decided that getting rid of the weaker player Jenna, although she had no enemies and was, according to Lex The Bastard, “the sweetest girl there is,” Rob was better in challenges and would make himself a target in a merge situation. They regretted voting Danielle out and admitted that they should have thought about challenge strength the week prior. A bonus Deep Point puzzle challenge accessible at any time made matters worse for Rob, and he constantly updated Lex on every little thing that was not going his way. This annoyed Lex, and Rupert by association, so the two talked again and decided that the moral thing to do would be to take Rob out and thus gain the trust of everyone annoyed with him on Fēngbào, since they figured that many people there had not been able to put up with him in the two rounds he’d been kidnapped. Feeling paranoid since Rupert and Lex weren’t talking strategy with him, Rob brought a triple vote with him to Tribal Council, knowing that he’d have to use it to save himself and force a tie if he was indeed the target. However, Lex and Rupert’s change of heart and sympathy for the hug-loving Jenna was cut short by a self-vote, and Jenna was sent packing to the Losers’ Lodge immediately by a 4-2 vote not in her favor. This also allowed Danielle and Toddy, who were unable to complete the Tetravex puzzle at Redemption, to have another shot to come back in the game.
Episode Nine: “One Last Betrayal”
Redemption Island Duel: Toddy and Danielle would dig into the ground looking for golden items. The one who found the most would win. This is similar to a portion of the final immunity challenge in Survivor: Malaysia.
Immunity Challenge: The tribes would each be stationed on one camp of a battleground and would try to sneak into the other camp to take a jewel from the other tribe. The tribe who took the most jewels after a set time period would win. This classic challenge appeared in Survivor: Namibia and Survivor: Malaysia, and a similar challenge also appeared in Survivor: Manchuria.
Back at Verraad, things got even more hectic when Lex’s ploy to take Rob out failed, and he constantly whined that he was a goner. Lex and Rupert knew that Rob was in a tight spot, but were curious about Austin’s loyalty come the merge. At Fēngbào, the tribe received instructions to send one of their members to Verraad permanently, and that said person would have a one-round immunity. The tribe argued for an hour over who should be the one, with every person volunteering to go. Eventually, they drew straws, and it was Hunter who went back to Verraad with Austin. At Redemption, Danielle drubbed Tonga’s challenge whore Toddy, sending him to the Losers’ Lodge. At the immunity challenge, Fēngbào managed to pull out yet another win since Hunter had little interest in doing the challenge for his new tribe. Austin was randomly selected to be kidnapped again, and this left Lex and Rupert in a position to get rid of Rob. However, Hunter aligned with Rob to potentially vote out Rupert because Rupert would go to Colleen. Rob, paranoid, bought a 2x nullifier, and Rupert bought one because he thought that Rob would go for him. After pressure, Lex mulled over that Rupert would be more loyal to Colleen than to him given what had happened in Malaysia. Lex determined that Rupert could not be trusted, and that he may have to be a sacrificial lamb. At Tribal Council, Lex’s vote was the only one to not be nullified, and it was for Rupert out of revenge for Malaysia. Rupert went to Redemption Island to face the Manchurian duo of Bob Dawg and Danielle.
Episode Ten: “Friend Chicken”
Redemption Island Duel: Rupert, Bob Dawg, and Danielle stack coins once a minute, then begin removing them when they think they had enough. If their tower collapsed, they would lose. The person who stacked and unstacked the most coins would re-enter the game. This challenge appeared in Survivor: Manchuria as an immunity challenge.
Immunity Challenge: Castaways would compete in a straight-up endurance, with pressure increasing by the minute. The last person standing would win individual immunity. This challenge first appeared in Survivor: Namibia.
The castaways gathered at Redemption Island for the final time to watch a duel between the last three standing. Bob Dawg once again seized the moment, and was able to re-enter the game. Him and Erinn immediately got into a spat, and two sides had already developed: The original Fēngbào, comprised of Colleen, Brett, Kim, Russell, and Austin, and an anti-alliance led by Erinn and consisting of Lex, Alina, Hunter, and Rob. Colleen was fuming that her ally Rupert had been voted out, and she chewed Lex out for discarding him. Lex knew that he had done the right thing, and kindled a secret alliance with Brett to play both sides and make the end with Alina. Lex also purchased a Hidden Immunity for himself, and Alina was able to secure the fourth and final one available, and nobody suspected that she would have it. At the immunity challenge, Rob lasted for hours and won, throwing a wrench in Colleen’s plan to avenge Candice’s demise early in the season. The anti-Fēngbào troupe, led by Lex since Bob Dawg could play both sides instead of him, decided that, instead of using Bob Dawg to take out one of Fēngbào, they’d kill him since Erinn didn’t like him. Bob Dawg, annoyed that Erinn was, in fact, a man, sided with the Fēngbàos to kill her. The vote imploded with multiple nullifiers flying around, and Russell and Rob both nullified their own votes to avoid taking sides. Bob Dawg was sent to the jury by a vote of 6-5, with a clear 5-5 alliance split left.
Episode Eleven: “Neon a Challenge Knight”
Reward Challenge: Survivor Auction:
1. 25% off coupon – KIM for $320
2. Mystery item [find out someone’s rewards and Shop points] – COLLEEN for $560
3. Medallion of Power [good for three challenges] – BRETT for $740
4. Bob the rock – RUSSELL for $700
5. Vote checker [check someone else’s vote, good 4 rounds] – ERINN for $540
6. Tiebreaker [can even be used for the winner, but not F4] – ROB for $1000
7. Sunglasses – HUNTER for $740
*COLLEEN gave $440 to KIM*
8. 6 free shop points awarded immediately – KIM for $1020
9. Mystery item #2 [let one jury member vote for a round] – AUSTIN for $1000
Immunity Challenge: Castaways would stack plates for 30 minutes, then smash each other’s for another 30 minutes. The person with the most plates after this would win immunity. A version of this challenge was first used in Survivor: Malaysia.
Erinn and Lex came back in full control of the anti-Fēngbào alliance, although Kim and some members of the original Fēngbào thought that Rob was the mastermind. Erinn’s allies [not Lex] thought Brett was being an obsessive control freak like he had been in Namibia, but he confessed that he was not and was focused on making the end with Lex and jury goat Alina, whom nobody, including Brett, knew had a Hidden Immunity Idol. Kim, however, was strongly suspicious that Brett and Lex were working together, and did not trust either of them. Hunter approached two members of the Fēngbào alliance for side deals – Brett and Austin – to help better secure his position with them. Erinn’s alliance found out that Brett had a Hidden Immunity Idol, and he became paranoid that someone else knew. He asked Kim if she had told anyone, but she couldn’t completely remember. At the immunity challenge, Lex edged out Russell for the win, allowing him to remain safe while playing both sides. Kim pulled out her individual immunity necklace that she’d found from the kidnapping clues and was safe as well. At camp, the two sides waged war and many people bought items to be used at the Shop, though Kim and Hunter each discovered that the Shop was out of Hidden Immunity Idols, and nobody knew who had the fourth. Erinn planned to make Brett paranoid to coax his Hidden Immunity Idol out, but was unaware that Lex had told him and Colleen what Erinn was planning. Brett and Austin also compared notes and found out that Hunter had offered them both the same deal, so they schemed with their group to target him and avoid the possibility of HBIC Erinn playing a Hidden Immunity Idol, since Hunter would be the least likely target. Thus, Colleen checked Hunter’s stash with her auction reward and found out that he had just purchased a 2x nullifier. Brett and Lex schemed together that Colleen was to get the boot and thought to undermine Brett’s Fēngbào alliance so they could control the numbers for the rest of the game. As she had plenty of points, Kim bought a double and triple vote to use together, stealing Brett’s thunder. Paranoid that she was the target, Colleen sent Kim her own triple vote for safekeeping. Brett and Austin, fully aware that he was playing them both, decided to play Hunter back and tell him different stories. Brett, not wanting Hunter to go and partially trusting him, told the truth and that Hunter needed to use what he had, and Austin lied that Hunter hadn’t been mentioned. Hunter was unsure of who to trust, but was extremely paranoid that they were trying to coax rewards out of him or trying to backstab him. Kim and Colleen also knew that they couldn’t trust Brett long-term and would have to blindside him eventually, given that he lied to Austin about not having a Hidden Immunity Idol. When Brett loaned Kim his HII for safekeeping, Kim and Colleen talked about blindsiding Brett while he was a sitting duck, even though it would put them at a numbers disadvantage. When informed that Hunter had purchased a triple vote out of paranoia, they decided that while Brett would be a threat, Hunter was packing heat and needed to go. Kim returned Colleen’s items for use at Tribal. In a Tribal Council where a record nine rewards were played – four triple votes, two double votes, two 2x nullifiers, and a 1x nullifier – Hunter’s paranoia came to fruition and he was sent to the jury by a 10-7 vote.
Episode Twelve: “Charitably Sadistic”
Immunity Challenge: Castaways would write stories about the game until this point, or the prior season they were in. Three judges would name two winners out of all of the submissions. This challenge was previously used in Survivor: Malaysia and Survivor: Manchuria.
Rob and Erinn were desperate to get someone to flop, since they badly needed Austin or Russell to defect to their side. People however, knew that Erinn and Russell were somewhat close given Erinn’s running of her mouth before, and the Fēngbào troupe plotted to get rid of her. When the immunity challenge revealed that two people would be going to the jury and two would win immunity, everyone knew this could be the chance to make a move. Russell and Lex came out on top with stories about a paintball deathmatch game and an Agatha Christie spoof, respectively, and were awarded immunity. Back at camp, the Fēngbào group knew that now would be a good time to blindside Brett, and Kim went to Lex to tell him of the plan, although she didn’t fully trust him. Kim wanted to ensure that none of the other Fēngbàos would betray her, since she had promised to take them all to the end. Lex, however, told Brett that he couldn’t trust Kim, and, when Kim told Brett, as his friend, that he had to go, he and Lex decided to plot a huge blindside. Brett purchased a 6x vote, giddy that he was going to pull off the move that he hadn’t been able to in Namibia. While the Fēngbào team plotted to take out Brett alongside Erinn as planned, they told the anti-Fēngbào alliance to vote for Brett, while Lex wanted them to take out Kim. He convinced Rob to join him and Brett in gunning for Kim, but nobody else budged. At Tribal Council, sparks flew everywhere when Austin summoned Bob Dawg to vote to help get Erinn gone, and Kim and Brett both played 6x votes to get their way. However, Brett played his Hidden Immunity Idol – and Alina fruitlessly played hers – and Erinn and Kim were sent to the jury, the latter one stunned at how she’d been blindsided, but humble enough to admit that Lex and Brett had just pulled off something brilliant.
Episode Thirteen: “Getting Cold Feet”
Immunity Challenge: Majority Rules. Castaways would answer questions about each other with who they thought the majority would say. Three incorrect answers, and someone would be eliminated. This challenge had been used in some form in Tonga, Namibia, and Malaysia.
Upon returning to camp, Colleen immediately fingered Brett and Lex as collectively masterminding Kim’s blindside, and told everyone that they were working together and were a tight alliance. Rob began to waver that working with them was in his best interest. When Lex won immunity yet again, thus giving him extra shop points for a three-challenge streak, the target settled immediately on Brett. Lex used his extra points to his advantage and recognized that the biggest challenge threat to him and Brett was, in fact, Russell, and that he needed a 6x vote in order to pull it off. Rob decided that working with Brett and Lex would guarantee him third, and jumped on the Fēngbào bandwagon to get Brett gone for no apparent reason, not realizing that he would be fourth with such a group; Brett, however, convinced Rob that using the tiebreaker to not save himself [Rob] would be a bad idea. At Tribal Council, with Alina voting alongside Brett and Lex but being nullified by Colleen, the vote tied 6 to 6 between Brett and Russell, and it went to a tiebreaker because Rob chose not to use his power. Brett came out on top, sending an angry Russell to the jury.
Episode Fourteen: “Shut Up”
Immunity Challenge: Castaways would be tested on their Survivor knowledge by answering questions worth increasing values as they chained more correct answers. Contestants would lose points they did not bank, and the person with the most points would win. This challenge was from Survivor: Malaysia.
Brett and Lex were furious that Rob had betrayed them, and he continued to talk about what had happened, aggravating them further. Lex outright called Rob a moron and wished to plot his demise. After winning immunity for the fourth straight time, Lex knew that he was safe, but he again knew that he and Brett would need to pack rewards to get their way. He bought one for himself and sent it to Brett, allowing Brett to 6x his vote yet again. The duo told Rob that Colleen was the target to ease his paranoia, but Rob got more paranoid by the minute and continually asked them if the target was still Colleen. This prompted Lex to change the target to Rob so he wouldn’t have to deal with the running of the mouth anymore. Brett and Lex did not tell this to Rob, which only made him MORE paranoid. While Rob was crying, Austin tried to plant a seed into Brett’s mind to betray Lex later on, but Brett informed Lex immediately. The two both recognized the possibility of them betraying each other, but despite everyone else voting for Brett at Tribal Council, the 6x vote and desire to keep their pact was decisive enough to shut Rob up for good and send him to the jury with a vote of 6 to 4.
Episode Fifteen: “Morals and Ethics”
Immunity Challenge: Castaways would create their own Survivor game and complete casting for it. Three judges, including Amanda and Erik, would determine which game was the best and award that person immunity. This appeared as a Tribal immunity in Survivor: Malaysia
Colleen and Austin were angry that none of their attempts to get rid of Brett had been successful, and, figuring that Lex had the remaining Hidden Immunity Idol, knew that they’d have to find a way out of it. However, the points were all in Brett and Lex’s corner, as was the challenge. Brett narrowly edged out Lex to win immunity, thus forcing Colleen to target Alina. Lex figured it would happen, so he showed Alina his Hidden Immunity Idol and told her that Colleen would be going after her. Alina agreed to the plan, as she did not like Colleen and fondly recalled trying multiple times to vote her out in Malaysia. Colleen became increasingly angry knowing her days were numbered. At Tribal Council, Colleen insulted the jury due to her foul mood and knowledge of her exit, which increased the resentment against her. Lex played his idol even though no votes were cast against him, and in the final round for reward use, Brett, Lex, and Alina obliterated any chance Colleen had of surviving and sent her to the jury by a vote of 4 to 1.
Episode Sixteen: “The Beginning”
Immunity Challenge: The final four would partake in a quiz about the events of the game, as well as prior seasons. This challenge had been the penultimate immunity in every season through this point.
Austin felt like a sitting duck upon returning to camp, and with rewards completely out of the picture, he knew that he was vulnerable and that the only way out was to team with Alina to vote out whichever of Brett and Lex didn’t win immunity. However, his sentiments towards Alina were of disgust, as he had seen her as “lazy” and “worthless,” and based on that he campaigned to Brett and Lex to take the “more deserving man” to the final three. Brett won immunity based on a tiebreaker over Austin, and this caused Brett and Lex to recognize Austin as a more legitimate challenge threat. Knowing that the final immunity challenge would be something insane, they did not want to risk it. Lex informed Alina that Austin would be voting for her, so it would be best for her to vote with him once again. She agreed. Offended that a “slacker” had beat him, Austin was sent to the jury by a vote of 3-1. On his way out, he promised that he’d make Alina’s bed at the jury house and that he’d vote for her if Lex or Brett took her to the finals.
Immunity Challenge: In a challenge called “The Beginning,” the final three would run through an extensive obstacle course with sets themed at the various locations from the series. They would have to complete puzzles of various kinds, repeat the season’s first Deep Point challenge, and list the entire series’ boot order. The person who finished first would win immunity and enter the final two.
Brett and Lex rejoiced that they had made the final three together. Both had mixed feelings about the final two situation, but they knew that a bitter jury would vote for Alina to spite them and that they both wanted to see their promises through. The final challenge came around and everyone struggled with it immensely. After six long hours, Brett managed to reach the finish and won a spot in the final two. His decision was somewhat easy, as Alina became the final member of the jury, thus propelling a dominant alliance to the final two and ensuring the series’ first male winner.
The final two were treated to a tiki bar with dancers, mixed drinks, and stuffed crust pizza. The boys had fun relishing on how they outfoxed everyone just like they had come into the game wishing and, while reminiscing of some of their favorite moments, mocking the potentiality of just how bitter a couple certain members of the original Fēngbào alliance would be. Despite knowing that the Final Tribal Council would start in a few hours, Lex overindulged in the adult beverages and walked into Tribal intoxicated. The final two had noticed that Colleen had been removed from the jury due to an argument with Amanda when she had come to brief the jury on acceptable questions, and that if there were a tie, Rob would be the one to break it given his auction prize.
In their opening statements, Lex and Brett each outlined their loyalty to each other as well as prowess with the use of rewards and that they had a fun ride to the end. Lex admitted that being labeled “The Bastard” made his life rather difficult and that he had to scramble to avoid his name written down, which it never had been despite his paranoia. He also managed to get both sides to trust him come the merge, and that once Kim was blindsided, he and Brett were able to grasp a firm control over everyone else, but that Brett only made it so far because Lex was there to support him. Brett highlighted that he had to vote to keep himself and Lex alive and that if he would lose to anyone, it would be Lex – a sentiment which Lex shared.
Rob was the first juror to ask questions. Rob said that he would have stuck with Lex had Brett left in the tiebreaker, but that Lex was a deceptive liar. He also called Brett fake and that he did not appreciate any insults behind his back, and that his vote was leaning toward voting for Lex since Lex’s point hoarding and information is what propelled Brett to the finals. Rob asked Lex about honesty, and Lex said that he did indeed want Rob in the final three with him and that he only told Rob two lies, regarding when Jenna and Colleen went out. When Rob pressured Lex, Lex admitted that he did not trust Rob fully until the merge, hence why he voted for Rob the round Jenna self-voted out.
An angry Hunter was second. In an epic, fiery entrance, he broke his sunglasses and glared at the final two, then began asking a barrage of questions. Lex complimented Kim and Russell’s games and said that their boots helped propel him to the finals, and that Hunter had been dealt a really bad hand and ended up screwed. Lex also repeated that Brett could not have made the finals without him.
Bob Dawg was third. He asked the final two some sort of cryptic question about a dog named Polly and a parrot named Rex, which the bastard and control freak enjoyed. Lex somewhat mockingly dedicated his answer to the fidgety Austin and assumed that Bob Dawg knew who he was voting for. Brett craved a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, mentioned LOST to make Lex jealous, and concluded that Bob Dawg was doing it to test their brainpower.
Russell made a brief statement that, despite both Lex and Brett playing stellarly and taking advantage of the excessive rewards, he knew who he would be voting for and that he wouldn’t bother either of the final two with needless questions. He sat back down.
Kim went fifth, and she was angry. She accused the final two of using each other to the extreme and that, after the merge, neither of them thought for themselves, they merely used what the other had said as means to get what they wanted. She suggested that they get married because they were a lovely couple. She also accused Brett of being annoying by bragging about his prior accomplishments, yet he did nothing without the help of Lex and was heartless for relentlessly blindsiding her despite her telling him that she would be writing his name down. She had wanted him to extend her the same courtesy, and was fuming that he hadn’t. She attacked Lex’s social game and said that he indeed lived up to his label of “The Bastard” and that the only reason he lasted as long as he had was because he went on an immunity streak, thus protecting him from the vote and earning him more rewards. She also attacked him for using Alina despite rarely even speaking to her, and was angry that he’d never given him the drunk “happy birthday” he promised her. Lex defended himself by saying he won “Most social” in Majority Rules and that he only didn’t talk to her much because they were never really on the same side. He also continually tried to talk to Alina, but she was so quiet and hardly responded that he stopped bothering with it until she came to him asking for life advice.
Erinn kept things simple. S/he asked Lex what his ideal boot order after the merge was, and he said that the actual boot order worked well enough to get him to the finals and that he wouldn’t change it. She asked Brett to compare him/her to a song and how the lyrics represent his/her gameplay. Brett could not come up a song, which left Erinn disappointed.
A very impatient Austin asked whether or not players’ titles fit them this season. Brett said that, out of the jury, only Austin’s fit well, while Lex argued that multiple people’s titles fit them – himself, Bob Dawg, Alina, Russell, Colleen, and Austin. Austin also asked the final two if they had to make any apologies, and neither felt that anything they did warranted one.
Due to Brett’s lack of answers, the only vote he earned was Russell’s. Lex was crowned the Ultimate Survivor with votes from the other six jury members and was awarded the “million-dollar” prize.
Ten people were named to the Ultimate Game for their showings in their seasons and in All-Stars. They were Lex, Brett, DDanielle, Bob Dawg, Kim, Russell, Erinn, Hunter, Austin, and Candice.
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