Episode Report Card Kim: B | 30 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Mother, May I?
By Kim | Season 27 | Episode 10 | Aired on 11.20.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.As the only remaining couple, Laura has to listen to Ciera's advice about how to stay in the game. Ciera plans on working with Laura, but tells the cameras that she will ditch Laura if necessary to continue on in the game alone.
Redemption Island Truel. Vytas, Aras and Tina have to use a grappling hook to retrieve three bags, and then use one of the balls in the bags to complete a maze. Tina gets her three bags way ahead of the others and thus has more time in the maze, but it doesn't matter because when she gets the ball to the end, it drops through a hold and she has to start over. Vytas ends up finishing first, so it's between Tina and Aras. After a few more false starts, Tina finishes and Aras is out. He will be the first member of the jury. Vytas gives the clue to Katie, who keeps it now that immunity is individual, I guess. She knows she's next on the chopping block, so why not?
Katie's clue is pretty detailed and she goes on the hunt not knowing that Tyson already has the Hidden Immunity Idol. Tyson's plan is for the four guys to blindside Laura and then Ciera doesn't have to vote for her mom, but they can break up the couple. Little do they know that Ciera is having a hard talk with Laura about how they can't go to the final three together, and she wants Laura to be willing to get voted out so that Ciera can get further in the game.
Immunity Challenge. They have to lean back over the water while holding a rope, increasing the degree of lean at intervals, until they all fall in the water except for one winner, who gets immunity plus food. It comes down to Laura, Tyson and Monica. Laura falls in, and Tyson was really just waiting for her to go, but he pretends like he's really struggling before falling in. Monica wins immunity and reward: hot dogs, cheeseburgers, fries and soda. Monica proposes that instead of taking one person, she will give up eating any food and let everyone else dig in. Probst is down with that, so everyone pigs out. Probst is getting soft in his old age.
After the challenge, Katie and Ciera just lie to one another. Well, Ciera tells the truth about the vote, but then Katie tries to say that she has the Idol. Ciera calls her bluff by saying that she has the Idol and Katie immediately folds and admits she doesn't have it. Ciera takes that information to the guys and suggests that they vote out Katie instead. The guys appear to consider it, but Tyson thinks they should still get rid of Laura because she's part of a couple. Not everyone agrees that Laura is more dangerous than Katie. In the end, Laura is sent back to Redemption Island as everyone, including Ciera, votes her out.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!The tribe returns to camp after voting out Tina and comments on how dark it is, because it's cloudy. Someone says something about "heat lightning" and my brother, the amateur weather guy, would be SO MAD. Every time I say something about heat lightning, he yells at me that there is no such thing and it's just cloud-to-cloud instead of cloud-to-ground. He's very serious about lightning. He might need a hobby. That's not weather-related. Anyway, everyone apologizes to Katie for voting out her mom. Katie interviews that she's feeling defeated because the alliance is very entrenched and if she doesn't figure out something soon, she's doomed.
Laura and Ciera quietly celebrate being the last set of loved ones in the game. Ciera interviews though that being a pair puts a target on their backs. Ciera tells her mom that they should vote out Katie or, if she wins immunity, Monica. Guess there's no women's alliance, then.
Day 23. I always forget that the tribe is named Kasama now. Dumb name. Anyway, Laura exults to Ciera that they are in a great position because they have two votes to sell. I fail to see how that gives them strength. Ciera says that they need to stand down and let Tyson make all the decisions (so everyone knows he's running the show, then) so they aren't seen as strategizing too hard. Ciera interviews that there's been a role reversal and now she's advising her mom on what to do, and she thinks she's a better player than her mom given that she hasn't been voted out despite going to many Tribal Councils. Laura interviews that she is following Ciera's advice, and it's been a great gift to be in this game together and let her daughter shine. Ciera articulates the thesis of this episode in an interview when she says that she loves playing with her mom, but if her mom needs to go so that Ciera can continue, then that's what will happen, because Ciera has a better shot at winning the game than Laura.
So the main thrust of the episode has been established: will Ciera have to jettison Laura in order to stay in the game? Moving right along to the Truel between Aras, Vytas and Tina. Probst explains that they have to use a grappling hook to retrieve three bags, then take a ball out of one of the bags (so why three?) and put the ball through one of those tilting maze tables. The first two to finish will stay; the third will go to the jury. Probst also hopefully reminds them that the winner gets a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol to bestow upon a contestant. (Subtext: PLEASE stop throwing clues in the fire!!!!) Probst asks Tina if she even considered letting Katie switch spots, but and Tina says no -- so with that formality out of the way, let the games begin.