PREVIOUSLY ON SURVIVOR: Following a blindside, Vanessa knew she was on the bottom of her tribe, and didn’t want to be. She tried to think of different cracks that she could infiltrate and saw that Cirie and Brenda were getting very close, as were Marty and JT. She knew that pitting Brenda and Marty against each other wouldn’t work, so she hoped to pit Cirie against JT. At the Victory camp, everyone was getting along well, but Erik and Taj had talked about going to the end together. “I think I want to go to the end with the most genuine people, and you are that person to me,” Taj said. They knew Cydney was a huge threat, so she would act as a good shield, and they wanted to pull in Dylan and Glenn, knowing they were expected to be on the outs because they weren’t original Survivor players. Joel was having trouble adjusting to the new style of gameplay, and bonded with Alina over this fact, while Nemo felt like an outside as well. Nemo knew that nobody would take him truly seriously, and decided to swim out to a lonely cavern of rocks, only to find an idol waiting right by a tiki torch. He obtained it, and hid it deep in the water where only he had access to it. At the challenge, it was a puzzle off. Five puzzles, which would be solved two at a time, with one person finishing by themselves. Whoever completed the five puzzles first would win. Nemo sat out. It was Joel and Alina first, and they struggled next to Cirie and Marty, who flew through theirs. Glenn and Taj then soared through theirs as they caught up to Abraham and Brenda, who began to struggle. Erik and Alexis kept the momentum going, while Andrea and JT butted heads on their puzzle. Kass and Dylan had the next puzzle, and hit a dead end, allowing for Nadiya and Kirby to catch up. Unfortunately, both pairs struggled, and Dylan was able to figure it out in time, for Cydney to complete her puzzle before Vanessa could even start. The Victory tribe was happy as could be. Kirby and Nadiya knew they may be blamed for the loss, but Vanessa had a plan to get JT and Cirie butting heads. Back at camp, Vanessa mentioned to Kirby and Abe her plan, and hoped that it would be successful, knowing she had an idol as backup. She approached Cirie and played dumb asking her if her and JT had a falling out. Cirie said that she didn’t think so, but Vanessa said that JT was still nervous that they hadn’t patched up their tension from a long time ago. Cirie knew JT was sneaky and had tried to blindside her historically before, so she wasn’t surprised that JT still distrusted her. “I’m sick of playing my game and JT’s game…I wish I could just play my own game,” she said, coming up with a plan. She pulled Nadiya, Andrea, and Brenda aside and asked if maybe getting rid of JT would be a good move. “I think I can sway Vanessa,” Cirie said. Andrea didn’t have a problem with it, seeing as how JT messed up the puzzle. Nadiya didn’t know if they should all split up like this, but Cirie said that JT was already bringing up her name and it made her nervous. At tribal council, JT said that he was happy that the Survivors had all stuck together to get rid of Wanda last week, and this week would be easy again. Abe said that he was worried he would be the target, seeing as how he and Wanda were seen as the ones to blame for trying to split up the group last tribal. Vanessa was also worried that she was on the wrong side of the numbers, and hoped for a glimmer of light, knowing secretly how the night was going to unfold. Cirie said that it was interesting playing with the same people, like Andrea and JT, because some people let the past go and come to play a new game, but some people linger on the past. This made JT get a bit nervous, but he figured she was just trying to bluff the other side. When the votes were revealed, Vanessa, Kirby, and Abe’s votes went to JT. JT and Marty’s votes went to Abe. The next four votes were from Cirie, Brenda, Andrea, and Nadiya, and they were all for JT. JT was shocked, and Cirie smiled, knowing she had gotten out someone she considered her biggest competition. Nadiya still felt uneasy about it, but Vanessa was relieved that her plan worked and her, Kirby, and Abe were able to stick around. Then, a big TWIST was announced, and the tribes found out they would be split up into three tribes of six: Victory, Triumph, and a new tribe: Glory.