Episode Report Card Kim: B | 1 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT End of the Road
By Kim | Season 26 | Episode 11 | Aired on 04.24.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.After Tribal Council, Malcolm explains that he's hoping there will be fractures in the Favorites alliance. And he's not wrong; Erik is already talking about how he's not sure which group he will vote with, and he plans to make his choice at the last minute.
Everyone is hungry and cranky, and then it's time for the Survivor auction. Sherri, Dawn, and Reynold go for food. Malcolm gets a snack and then blows the rest of his money on the chance to look at a clue to a hidden immunity idol. Andrea gives up pasta and wine to get beans and rice for the tribe. Cochran wins the advantage in the next Immunity Challenge. Poor Brenda hems and haws about taking a chance on various covered items and finally jumps at one that turns out to be pig brains. Aw. Anyone with twenty bucks gets a chance to get a letter from home, so Dawn, Sherri, and Malcolm don't get one. Eddie wins a giant jar of peanut butter to share with everyone in the tribe in sixty seconds, and they all dig in like animals.
The bro-lliance tries to recruit Sherri and Erik to their side. Malcolm tries to hunt for the hidden immunity idol, but Andrea busts him and refuses to leave his side so that he can't search.
Immunity Challenge: hold a heavy pole up using a rope, and move your hand down the rope as time goes on, making it more difficult to hold. Cochran's advantage is that he can move his hand two knots up the rope at any time. Dawn is the last female to drop out, and it ends up being Reynold, Eddie, and Cochran. Reynold quickly drops, then Eddie loses it and Cochran wins immunity, almost solely due to the advantage he got in the auction.
Malcolm thinks he has Sherri and possibly Erik, and they're voting for Andrea, which they hope will be four votes, possibly five. The Favorites decide to split their vote with three votes each to Malcolm and Reynold in case Malcolm has an idol. So if Sherri or Erik flips, another Favorite goes home.
It ends up being a three-way tie, with three votes each to Reynold, Malcolm, and Andrea. So Erik and Sherri didn't flip. Now they revote, and Reynold, Malcolm, and Andrea can't vote. The Favorites alliance all vote for Malcolm, and Eddie probably throws one vote to Andrea, so Malcolm goes home. That's a huge move for the Favorites; he was definitely the brains in the bro-lliance. I'm sad to see him go, because he was definitely keeping things interesting. Now it's just going to be boring until the Favorites have to start picking one another off.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!The tribe returns from Tribal Council, still quite stunned at what just happened. Dawn immediately tells the bro-lliance that she's impressed by what they did. Reynold claims that they weren't trying to enact any huge strategy; they just really wanted Phillip gone. Nice try, dude. I'm not buying it. Cochran says he's just glad he never has to say the phrase "Stealth R Us" again, and everyone laughs. Malcolm interviews that he's hoping that the alliance of six will fracture with Phillip gone because otherwise he's screwed. Erik interviews that he's now able to talk to people that Phillip didn't want him talking to, and his goal now is to decide which group to vote with based on what's best for him.
The next morning, day 29, everyone is just sitting around camp, staring off into space. They all agree that they had a miserable night and they're exhausted. Cochran interviews that last night's Tribal Council was astounding, but today, everyone is just hungry and tired. Brenda breaks down crying and Dawn of all people tries to comfort her. Not that Dawn can't comfort people, but it's rare that she's not the one crying. Brenda interviews that losing control of the game has got her scared, and the lack of food is weighing on her heavily (no pun intended). Looks like the majority alliance just got handed a dose of reality, and have figured out that they will eventually have to turn on one another. Then again, I don't know why they're so scared; a crazy scenario like what just played out won't happen again in a billion years.
Later that day, Cochran retrieves tree mail, which consists of nine envelopes. They all know that means it's auction time, and they celebrate. They each get $500, and Malcolm interviews that he's looking forward to winning an advantage in the game, since he needs that more than food right now. But he would really like some food.
Probst welcomes them to the auction, and they all walk in grinning. Probst reminds them that bidding is in $20 increments, and they can't share money or food. The first item up for bid is a cold beer and peanuts and Malcolm quickly wins it for $20, and gets two additional beers and some pretzels. Malcolm walks up and downs the first beer in one go. That seems like a terrible idea, given his lack of food and tolerance. Then again, do you really want to sip it and let it get warm? I guess it depends on how much you like beer. Malcolm interviews that he prepped himself to skip all the food items and save his money for a game advantage and then he bid on the first thing that came up. Oops.