Jeff (or me, whoever you want to say is host) announces to the castaways that their first challenge will be reward. As long as you complete the challenge before the last person you stay in the game. The field is split to two heats, one for women and one for men. The last person to finish the challenge or the last person remaining on the course when all others finish is eliminated and immediately sent to Redemption Island. They will await two more competitors before the first Redemption Island "duel."
The challenge is designed to test physical and mental strengths as it involves two physical components and one puzzle to build. The women go first onto the challenge course. Everyone scrambles and a few are left in the dust. Nine of the women make it through leaving Sophie and Sandra to fight for their Survivor lives. In a very close race, Sandra edges out Sophie, effectively sending her to Redemption Island.
The men begin the challenge course. A tight race ensues between several of the men. Before long only Richard and Tom remain on the course. Tom has a lead on Richard going into the final stage. Richard catches up and its neck and neck to the finish. The Samburus cheer on Richard as they don't want to begin the game down in numbers (a tribe of 11 versus a tribe of 9). Tom tries to block out their cheers, but Richard manages to finish the last stage first.
Jeff directs Sophie and Tom towards Redemption Island and they say goodbye to their almost tribes. Jeff then tells Pagong and Samburu that the game has just begun and to expect another surprise before the end of the first tribal council.
Over at the Pagong tribe camp, the tribe immediately begins to fracture before they can even finish building their camp. An alliance or somewhat cohesive group forms between Aras, Vecepia, Natalie W and JT, but Vecepia secretly decides to keep her alliance options open. She strategizes with Denise and Todd as well. Denise and Todd have their own group forming with Danni and Ethan. Boston Rob and Parvati soon learn that their tribe has split into two factions and they are the first two targets. While both sides court Boston Rob as a potential vote to gain a majority, Parvati goes idol hunting. Danni keeps a close eye on her to make sure she does not get an idol. Meanwhile, Boston Rob starts leaning towards aligning with Aras/Vecepia/Natalie W/JT to take out Parvati.
At the Samburu camp, camp building is a breeze and the tribe has a fire by the end of the day. The tribe unofficially decides to postpone strategizing until the next day so they can get everything together. Tony, however, has other plans and starts gaming fast. His first target being Kim. Kim is quick to realize that he is after her. Majority of the tribe are obviously annoyed by Tony's frantic gameplay. Kim is able to pull together a majority alliance with Jenna, Earl, Fabio, Sandra, and Tina. Richard, Yul, and Natalie A refrain from strategizing and wish to let Tony derail his game on his own.
Day 2 on Pagong's camp finds Parvati continuing her search for an idol knowing she is most likely the first boot. Danni catches up to her and the two women search all over the jungle areas of their camp. Parvati turns her back for a second and Danni finds and snatches up the hidden immunity idol. Parvati sees where Danni had dug up and deduces she found an idol. She asks Danni about it, who doesn't want to say yes. Parvati works on Danni to at least keep her around for one vote or more, as she is a number pre-merge and an easy target at the merge. Danni considers her offer. Danni goes to Ethan and Todd about switching things up. Natalie W over hears this and relays to Aras and Vecepia that Parvati may have swayed the others.
Over at Samburu, the tribe is about done with Tony and Kim plays on every complaint to rally her allies. Natalie A and Yul, on the other hand, begin to wonder if keeping Tony around could benefit them as he will always be a target they can hide behind. They decide to talk to Tina about this and she seems to agree with their argument.
On Day 3, the tribes arrive at their first tribal challenge. Jeff reveals that this challenge is for reward and that both tribes will be voting someone out tonight. The winning tribe will sit in on the other tribes entire tribal council and vote. The tribe will also win valuable fishing gear.
After an extremely close go at the challenge, Pagong wins and Jeff hands over their fishing gear. He sends them back to their camps to prepare for tribal council.
At Pagong, Aras and Natalie W talk to Denise and Todd about the vote, and they swear it is definitely Rob tonight because Parvati may have found the idol (as of now only Parvati knows that Danni has their camp's idol). Aras relays this to JT who seems on board with it. Parvati talkes with Danni and Rob about the vote. Rob feels uneasy about Aras scrambling. The women agree. Denise and Todd talk with Ethan and while they agree it would be smart to take out a threat like Rob or Parvati, they need to keep their tribe strong early in the game. They lament that their vote is up in the air. Rob walks over to them and Parvati continues to work on Danni. Aras and JT discuss the vote and Natalie W and Vecepia head over to Danni and Parvati before they head out to vote.
At Samburu, Tony realizes the tribe is turning on him and he scrambles. He talks with Tina, Sandra, and Yul about the vote, but they don't seem interested. Kim talkes with Jenna, Earl, Fabio, Tina, and Sandra before they head out to tribal and they are all on board to vote out Tony. Kim, in a confessional, expresses her concerns going into the vote as she is unsure where Natalie A and Yul stand. Both are great at swaying votes. Tony leaves for Tribal looking visibly concerned and defeated.
Samburu enters tribal council first and lights their torches. Pagong comes in moments later and they sit down where the jury would sit. Samburu discusses the vote and how Tony has completely gone off the rails with his gameplay. They're worried he could hurt the tribe moving forward. With that, Jeff begins the voting. All ten put in their votes and Jeff gets the urn. He reveals the vote:
TONY ... TONY ... KIM ...
...
KIM ... TONY ... TONY ...
...
KIM .... KIM ...
we have a tie. Four votes Tony. Four votes Kim. Two votes left.
...
...KIM. He pulls out the last vote and says: "First person voted out of Survivor: Winners (?): KIM.
"Six votes that's enough." Kim, looking shocked, grabs her torch and heads over to Jeff. Tony has a huge smirk on his face. Pagong looks on in shock as well. Jeff snuffs Kim's torch and she heads out to Redemption Island. Samburu leaves and Pagong lights their torches and sits down.
Jeff and Pagong discuss how Parvati and Rob were immediately targeted. Parvati explains that the tribe immediately shut them out of strategy talks. Natalie W talks about how they need to form a more cohesive group to go against Samburu, assuming Tony has rallied a major alliance. Aras and Rob discuss fears of Tony-led Samburu alliance. Jeff begins the voting. They all vote and return. Jeff brings the urn back and reveals the votes.
PARVATI... PARVATI... BOSTON ROB...
...
PARVATI... NATALIE W... NATALIE W...
...
NATALIE W... "We have a tie. 3 votes Parvati and 3 votes Natalie W. Three votes left."
...
NATALIE W... "Second person voted out of Survivor: Winners (?): NATALIE W."
Natalie W, completely blindsided, grabs her torch and heads over to Jeff. He snuffs her torch and she heads out to Redemption Island.
Kim and Natalie W arrive at the Redemption Island camp and are greeted and comforted by Sophie and Tom.
---
Voting Results:
SAMBURU
Earl - TONY
Fabio - TONY
Jenna - TONY
Kim - TONY
Natalie A - KIM
Richard - KIM
Sandra - KIM
Tina - KIM
Tony - KIM
Yul - KIM
PAGONG
Aras - PARVATI
Boston Rob - NATALIE W
Danni - NATALIE W
Denise - NATALIE W
Ethan - NATALIE W
JT - BOSTON ROB
Natalie W - PARVATI
Parvati - NATALIE W
Todd - NATALIE W
Vecepia - PARVATI
Next time on Survivor: a double-elimination Redemption Island duel awaits and Tony's success at tribal quickly goes to his head.
Thanks to everyone who has read this far. lol
Episode 2 will be up tomorrow.
