PREVIOUSLY ON SURVIVOR: With Richard at the Edge again, Natalie and Vecepia knew that they were in hot water. Vecepia had overheard a conversation with Chris Underwood and Todd about Chris having an idol. Vecepia told Natalie about the idol, and Natalie decided to show Vecepia HER idol, showing her that their game was far from over. “We just need one of us to win immunity, and the other play the idol,” Natalie said. The other 7 contestants celebrated getting Richard out, while JT was a bit worried. “The thing is,” JT said to Tina and Earl, “there are three of us, whereas Mike, Todd, Jenna, and Chris may be a unit of four.” “We have Mike on our side,” Tina assured him. JT still felt like it may be a good opportunity to use Natalie and Vecepia to get out a heavy hitter like Chris or Todd, and Earl see that too. At the challenge, the contestants had to play a version of shuffleboard. Whoever got their puck closest to the X would win. Vecepia was up first, sinking her puck pretty close to the X. Earl was next and overshot it, as did Mike. JT was next and knocked Vecepia’s out of the way, knocking his closer to the X. Natalie missed the X, as did Underwood. Tina was next, and shot it too short, whereas Todd was able to hit his puck directly on the X. Last up was Jenna, who hit JT’s puck. JT’s puck then knocked Todd’s out of range, landing on the X and giving JT the win. Back at camp, JT was happy with his win. The group of seven decided to split votes on Natalie and Vecepia, with the previous four Vlachos members voting Natalie and the previous Lacina members voting Vecepia. Vecepia could sense that the tribe was going to split the votes, and knew she had to protect herself. “What if I convinced JT, Tina, and Earl to vote for Underwood instead of me,” Vecepia said, “if he plays the idol, we can flush it out, and if he doesn’t play it, then he goes home.” Natalie loved the idea, but didn’t know who to put votes on. “Do we vote for Chris?” Natalie asked. Vecepia said that they had to throw votes on somebody who probably didn’t have an idol, being either Jenna or Todd. “Jenna is the most likely not to have an idol,” Vecepia said, “but Todd is the bigger threat.” Vecepia put her plan into motion and talked to Earl. “Listen,” Vecepia said, “Natalie and I are no threat to anyone’s game, and I know Chris Underwood has an idol.” Earl was surprised, but kept listening. “If you vote Underwood and he doesn’t play it, he goes home. If he plays it, you flush it out and Natalie still goes home,” Vecepia said, not giving away the fact that Natalie had an idol. Earl told JT and Tina that Underwood had an idol, and they could put their votes on him rather than Vecepia. “Vecepia doesn’t have loyalties to anyone like that group of four does,” JT said, agreeing with the idea. “I just hope they don’t pull a fast one on us,” Tina said, but Earl said “Natalie doesn’t have an idol, so as long as Mike, Todd, Underwood, and Jenna all vote Natalie, then she’ll go home if Chris doesn’t play the idol.” Tina felt confident in that. The plan was to let the Vlachos members still vote Natalie, and the three of them would vote with Natalie and Vecepia for Chris, and either Chris or Natalie would go depending on an idol play. At tribal council, Mike said that it was clearly a 7-2 majority, and that unless Vecepia and Natalie both had idols, they’d be going home. Todd said it was tough to see anyone go, as they were all close, but everyone was a threat. After the votes were cast, Vecepia crossed her fingers, hoping her plan had worked. Before the votes were read, Natalie stood up to play her idol. This surprised Tina, Earl, and JT, and JT nodded at Tina, hinting her to play hers. Chris Underwood was debating playing his idol, and ultimately decided to, “You know, I have a feeling Vecepia will get the votes, but I’m just playing this to be safe.” Tina struggled with playing hers, but ultimately let fate decide. No votes for Natalie or Chris would count. The first four votes all came for Natalie, which were from Mike, Underwood, Todd, and Jenna. The next three votes were for Chris, which didn’t count, much to the surprise of the Vlachos tribe, and those votes were from JT, Earl, and Tina. “Glad I played it,” Chris said. The last two votes were from Natalie and Vecepia, and Earl asked “did you vote Chris, Vecepia?” The final two votes were for…TODD. Todd had been blindsided and couldn’t believe it. Vecepia’s plan worked perfectly, getting Natalie the majority votes, having Chris play his idol as well, and putting votes on the next most threatening player, Todd, without getting a single vote herself. Todd said “well played,” and Natalie and Vecepia high fives. “You fooled me,” Earl told Vecepia, but Vecepia said “I’ve got your back, I just couldn’t tell you everything just in case.” Tina was happy she still had control of both her idols, and Chris was upset, knowing that Earl, JT, and Tina were willing to vote him out. Todd made his way to the Edge of Extinction, much to the surprise of everyone else.
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