Trouble on the horizon…
Thanks to last week’s tribal council, Aubry and Joe found themselves on Scot’s bad side because of their indecisiveness. They tried to salvage the situation by saying that Scot confused them when he said to follow the, “original plan,” but Scot wasn’t buying it. Aubry wasn’t in as much hot water as Joe since she had, in fact, voted out Peter. However, Joe had broken rank by voting to keep Peter, so it was a given that if Gondol lost another immunity challenge, Joe would be the one going home.
Over on Chan Loh, Cydney detected a bulge in Neal’s pocket, and mentioned it to Jason and Nick. When Neal emptied out all his pockets, but the one in question, to show everyone how many crabs he had caught, it pretty much confirmed that he had a hidden immunity idol. Jason lost no time planning Neal’s demise based on this discovery.
It’s merge time…
During this exchange, a boat appeared on Chan Loh’s beach with a note instructing the tribe they only had five minutes to gather their belongings and board the boat heading for Gondol’s beach. Shouting “Ahoy!” to wake up the sleeping Gondol members, the boat landed, and the merge officially went into effect. Everyone flocked to their original Beauty, Brains, and Brawn teammates, relieved that they had a new lease on life in the game.
As the new Dara tribe sat down to enjoy the picnic feast and drink some rum, Nick observed the group dynamic and began gathering information to make his next move. Judging that the Brains would be turned off by the Brawn’s overconfidence, he figured that it would be best to form an alliance with the Brains. The Brains were all too eager to get him and the rest of the Beauty tribe on their side, too, but so was the Brawn tribe. In fact, they were so quick to trust him that on a walk with Jason and Scot, Nick learned that Neal, Tai, and Jason all had hidden immunity idols.
Meanwhile, Debbie approached Tai first, then Nick and Michele about forming an alliance. While Debbie prided herself on a job well done, Aubry and Neal thought that she was coming on too strong and seemed desperate, which wouldn’t help their cause. Nick told Aubry as much, but it seemed like he and Michele would team up with the Brains anyways, since they saw the Brawns as too controlling. Just in case, Nick and Michele sided against the Brains. Neal told Aubry about his hidden immunity idol, and wondered how he could use it to their advantage. Little did he realize that Brawn had already decided to target Aubry because the Brains wouldn’t see it coming, and it might flush out Neal’s hidden immunity idol, too.
Leading up to the vote…
The first individual immunity challenge came down to Nick and Tai, with Nick ultimately winning. Later on, back at camp, Nick said that he and the rest of the Beauty tribe felt like, “the pretty girl who gets to decide whether to go home with the quarterback (Brawn) or the valedictorian (Brains).” Scot and Jason stated multiple times that they felt confident that the plan to blindside Aubry would go smoothly. The Brains went into full strategy mode as they approached Nick and Michele separately to bring them over to their side. But when Nick and Michele met up to discuss the situation, they decided it would be better to stick with Brawn. Michele pointed out that Scot and Jason would not get jury votes, while Nick said Brawn would be easier to manipulate and beat at puzzles.
At this point, another boat showed up on Dara’s beach, this time with Jeff Probst and a doctor. Upon seeing their injuries earlier at the challenge, Probst felt it was necessary to get some of the contestants looked at just in case. Tai, Scot, and Aubry took turns showing off their infections. The doctor felt that they weren’t serious enough for him to pull them out of the game, but that they needed to be observed periodically in order to make sure they didn’t worsen.
Unfortunately, Neal didn’t get the same good news. A nasty looking mark near his knee had the doctor worried that if the infection set into his joints, it would destroy the area within hours and leave him with a lifelong problem. With tears in his eyes, Neal pleaded to be allowed to stay, but the doctor strongly advised against it and said they had to be careful. After saying his goodbyes, he was whisked away to receive medical care before he could take his place as the first member of the jury.
What remains to be seen next week is whether he somehow managed to sneak the hidden immunity idol to Aubry, but more importantly, whether the Brains will survive in a game where they are greatly outnumbered.