The hunt for idols is over… for now…

Neal decided to take control of his fate and began searching for the hidden immunity idol. After coming across a distinct-looking tree, he found the clue, then the padlocked box, followed by the key to the lock, and finally the idol itself. Unless there was more than one idol buried at each camp, all of this season’s hidden immunity idols have officially been found by someone from every tribe.

Drop your buffs…

The three most dreaded/delightful words to contestants/viewers have once again switched up the game. Originally, the swap was intended to create two tribes with seven members each. However, Caleb’s medical emergency last week, which caused him to leave the game, resulted in an odd number of players. To remedy this, two tribes of six would form. The odd man out would go back to the Brawn beach and join the team that lost the next immunity challenge.

Unfortunately, Julia drew the red buff and was forced to survive the next few days on her own until she could rejoin the game. In what little footage they showed of her, she really struggled. Dehydrated, lonely, and paranoid about all she was missing out on, Julia slept most of the days away when she wasn’t working on starting a fire.

New tribe dynamics…

The new Chan Loh tribe consisted of Neal, Debbie, Jason, Cydney, Nick, and Michele, or two Brains, two Brawn, and two Beauties – a pretty even split. Debbie lost no time reaching out to the former Brawn members to get them to side with her and Neal. Nick, believing himself to be the most intelligent and manipulative person in the game (his words), did the same so they could join himself and Michele. Although Jason and Cydney did not commit to anyone, they were relieved to finally be in a position of power after all the losses they suffered during the first part of the game.

The new Gondol tribe consisted of Scot, Peter, Joe, Aubry, Tai, and Anna - or one Brawn, three Brains, and two Beauties. Peter immediately ran the numbers and figured the best thing for the Brains and their new ally Scot would be to vote out either Tai or Anna if they lost the upcoming challenge. This way when Julia returned to the game, there wouldn’t be three Beauties on the team. Realizing they had a 50/50 chance of staying, Tai and Anna definitely put themselves out there. Everyone instantly took to Tai thanks to his contributions around camp. Anna took a different approach and badmouthed Tai, especially the way he snuck around camp those first few days looking for the hidden immunity idol. She even suggested to the others that she thought he might already have it.

Scrambling before tribal council…

The teams were pretty evenly matched throughout the challenge, but the puzzle proved too hard for Gondol, so Chan Loh emerged victorious. Back at camp, Peter told Aubry and Joe that they should vote out Anna because she’s a smart and attractive player, meaning she could easily manipulate her way to the top if left unchecked. Aubry didn’t want to go along with the plan, but Joe convinced her that it was the smartest choice. When Peter began rubbing Tai the wrong way though, Tai decided that he, Anna, and Scot should take out Peter instead. Tai also showed Anna and Scot his hidden immunity idol to prove that the plan was possible if they all pulled together.

Scot, on the other hand, began thinking ahead: he was there when Jason found the hidden immunity idol back at the Brawn camp, and now Tai had showed him his own idol. Therefore, if these two idols were combined to form the coveted “Super Idol,” then the game could be turned on its head.

With this in mind, Scot convinced Tai to save the idol for later in the game since Tai wasn’t in any danger of going home. Tai was relieved to hear this, but he also didn’t want to be one of those players to get voted out of the game with a hidden immunity idol in his pocket.

The blindside…

At tribal council, Aubry confirmed to Probst that the Brains would stick together since they are “the devils we know.” This prompted Tai and Anna to plead their cases for why one should stay over the other. Peter, having learned nothing from the last tribal council he attended, said he was confident that he was in the majority and in a position of power.

Luckily for him, he was right. The doubt on Tai’s face was obvious when it came time to decide whether he should use the idol, but in the end he didn’t. A very shocked Anna was unanimously voted out instead.