Episode Report Card Sara M: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT A Monica Seed
By Sara M | Season 19 | Episode 13 | Aired on 12.10.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.It's two Tribal Councils for the price of one tonight, as the contestants head almost directly into a bowling immunity challenge that Shambo nearly wins until she chokes at the very end and hands it to Jaison. She's just happy that Dave Ball did not win it, and is ready to take Li'l Russell at his word that Dave Ball will be next and he only voted John out last week to protect her. Monica decides to actually start playing this game and suggests to Li'l Russell that he does not want to bring Shambo to the end and should take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of her tonight. Li'l Russell appears to agree to do that, only for everyone to vote for Dave Ball instead and he is out. Then there's the next immunity challenge, which is won by Brett who has also apparently realized that he's playing for a million dollars. Monica realizes she's next in line to go and gets aggressive, trying to convince the others that Li'l Russell is sneaky and dangerous and they need to get rid of him before her. To Li'l Russell, she reveals that Jaison told her that he's actually a millionaire and that Jaison is planning to get rid of Li'l Russell on Day 36 when he is no longer able to play his idol. This sends Li'l Russell running around camp threatening people left and right while Mick and Jaison consider their options because it's pretty obvious that Li'l Russell is going to take Shambo and Natalie to the end and not either of them. At Tribal Council, Li'l Russell puts on a big show and wears his immunity idol around his neck while Monica awesomely says that he only got this far in the game because of those idols (and because the producers basically put them out in the open for Li'l Russell to find) and she's happy to be the only person thus far to ruffle his feathers. In the end, it's not enough, as Li'l Russell's alliance sticks with him and vote Monica out. And as ruffled as his feathers may have been, it wasn't enough to make him play his idol, either.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!On Night 30, Aiga return from Tribal Council. Shambo interviews that she's shocked that John went out. Li'l Russell swoops in immediately and says John was trying to get rid of Shambo and he knew that Shambo promised John she'd never vote him out, so he went ahead and got rid of John without telling Shambo because it was in her best interests to look like an idiot at Tribal Council. "Don't go crazy or nothin'," he warns her. She agrees not to, and Li'l Russell interviews that she believed everything he said and it's all good.
Apparently nothing cool happened on Day 31, because when we return from the commercial break it's suddenly Day 32. Jaison hangs out with Brett and Monica on the beach and they start talking strategy. Monica does a nice job here, saying that if Mick or Li'l Russell make it to the end then they'll probably win the million dollars. Jaison agrees and claims that he and Li'l Russell were both making "major decisions" behind the scenes but everyone thinks it's only been Li'l Russell. He wonders if that will hurt him in front of the jury, and Monica and Brett are happy to tell him that it would and he should do something about it, like vote Li'l Russell out. But Jaison's plan seems to be to wait until the last vote before the Final 3, at which point Li'l Russell won't be able to use his immunity idol. Which means that Jaison is basically pinning his hopes on Li'l Russell not winning the immunity challenge. Does Jaison really think that he could win an immunity challenge that Li'l Russell couldn't? Awesomely, Jaison tells Monica and Brett that Li'l Russell doesn't need the million dollar prize because he told Mick he's a millionaire. Monica's like: 8-O. And then: "hmmm!" Brett and his crazy hair interview that he's hoping the Foa Foa alliance is about to crack.
With that, it's time for the Reward Challenge. Oh, wait. "No reward challenge," Probst says as the tribe arrives. Instead, they're playing for immunity. Um, what? No. Unacceptable. If the immunity challenge is this early then that means 50 minutes of show will be pre-Tribal Council scheming. Ugh. Faces fall at the news, but Li'l Russell says he's happy to have an immunity challenge instead of a reward. Meanwhile, Jaison came to the challenge wearing the immunity necklace so obviously they knew something like this was going to happen. The Immunity Chant plays as Probst takes his sweet time removing the necklace from around Jaison's neck. Then he explains the challenge: it's time for Survivor bowling! Shambo is thrilled about this because she probably thinks she's awesome at bowling. Which means we can look forward to some serious bowling suckitude from her. The Survivor bowling alley only has two lanes, so each contestant will go head-to-head against someone else. Whoever knocks the most pins down moves on to the next round.