In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
So it turns out that not only is almost everyone on Espada crazy, but everyone on La Flor is, too! Hooray! Over at the old people tribe, Holly decides that the tribe's snail dinner is poisonous, and so she grabs the bucket of food and throws it away, thus royally pissing everyone off. She overhears Dan the Mafia Guy calling her crazy and decides the best course of action would be to steal his $1600 shoes, fill them with sand and put them in the water. Then she starts to feel bad about what she did, so, being remorseful and insane, she admits what she did to Dan (while stroking his knees) and apologizes sincerely. Look for him to retaliate by giving her a pair of cement shoes. Meanwhile, things aren't much better at La Flor, as Naonka loses a sock and decides that someone must have stolen it, so she just steals a pair from Jud (who the opening credits are now calling Fabio, which is amazing). When he dares to look at her, she gets way too defensive about it and is so unpleasant that Jud just lets her have the socks. Also, Naonka really, really hates Kelly B. for no other fact than that she's missing a leg. Charming!
Espada smartly decide to use the decent advantage the Medallion of Power gives them at the Reward/Immunity challenge and win it, while La Flor sits out Naonka, who thinks Kelly B. will show how bad at physical challenges she is and thus should be voted off. Kelly B. does very well in the challenge because, again, she's a freaking triathlete. Back at camp, Espada find an immunity idol clue in their fishing gear reward and are able to decipher it, thanks to one of the picture clues being of a "yardarm" and Jimmy T. being a fisherman who knows his boats. It is only Jill, though, who figures out the final clue (despite suffering from the imagined effects of snail poisoning, even!), which she then tells Marty, thus letting him find the idol and seemingly locking herself in an alliance with one of the few non-insane people on her tribe.
At La Flor, alliances are being set up for the vote. Shannon, Jud, Benry, Alina, Kelly B. and Chase are on one side, while Sash's all-minority alliance with Naonka and Brenda (which, really, might not be such a good idea, seeing as how the minorities are in the minority on the tribe) as well as Purple Kelly are on the other. Shannon seems to be all set, but then he decides his alliance should vote for Brenda, even knowing that Chase likes her. Chase struggles to choose between his alliances, and Alina overhears him discussing their alliance's plan to vote Brenda out -- with Brenda. She then tells Shannon about this, and so, at Tribal Council, Shannon decides to lay all of his cards out on the table. Unfortunately for him, those cards all say he's insane and a giant asshole, as he calls out Chase for being a liar and then says Sash is gay and New York is full of gay people. Jud tries to get Shannon to chill out and stop shooting himself and his alliance in the foot, but Shannon doesn't listen to him. And so, what was probably going to be a 5-5 tie between Shannon and Brenda becomes a 7-3 vote against him.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!A Wendy-less Espada returns to camp. Holly decides that she is now "on the outs" with her tribe since she made an alliance with the person they just voted off. Although this wouldn't have been a problem for her if she hadn't broadcast that fact. And I still don't think it's a problem for her even now. But she reminds them all of it once again by saying that her decision to vote Wendy out was "for the team" because she "really liked Wendy." "I would like to show these people that I can really kick their ass on Survivor," she says. Well, she's certainly going to show them that they should have voted her out instead of Wendy.
Jud's name has been changed to Fabio in the opening credits. That's amazing.
The morning, Marty complains about how hard it is to sleep in their crappy shelter. Suddenly, Jimmy Johnson takes control of the tribe and assigns people to various tasks that will improve their shelter. Jimmy T. bristles at this, although I'm not exactly sure what he's objecting to, since he's impossible to understand. He says something about wanting to go fishing, but Tyrone cuts him off and tells him to let Jimmy Johnson finish speaking. "I amaffhjappghh," Jimmy T. says. "That's a great idea. That's a great idea," Tyrone responds with the greatest sarcastic look on his face. Tyrone may well be awesome. Jimmy T. complains in an interview that no one is listening to him. He wanders away from the group towards the beach to show his displeasure with Jimmy Johnson. Marty, on the other hand, claims that he's pleased to see Jimmy Johnson taking a leadership position because it just puts the heat on him and takes it off Marty.
Over at La Flor, Purple Kelly says she's never gone this long without showering or brushing her teeth. "I have," Jud says. No, I don't care what the opening credits call him. I'm not typing out "Fabio." NaOnka and Sash (again, also not his real name. We need to stop humoring these people and their stupid nicknames for themselves. You know that no one calls him "Sash" in real life) talk on the beach. "Sash" says he's feeling really good about the tribe and how strong their guys are, adding that NaOnka is strong, too. "Why does everybody think I'm strong?" she says. Um, because you're a PE teacher? Also, being considered strong is a good thing here. What is her problem? NaOnka interviews that she really likes Sash. Sash tells her that he's half-black and wants to try to form a "minority alliance." NaOnka readily agrees to this. They hope to get Brenda involved soon. Sash interviews that the minorities "have a bond that no one else can share." Okay, but how is Kelly B. not a minority? She doesn't have a leg. Or are we only talking about racial minorities? Are they excluding Kelly B. from their exclusive club? And if so, does that make Kelly B. a minority among the minorities?
Sash thinks the three of them will be able to "dominate the game." Yeah, the problem with a minority alliance is that the word "minority" indicates that there are fewer of you than there are of others. In a game where you need the majority of people on your side to move forward, that might be an issue. NaOnka actually asks Sash what he thinks about Kelly B., and Sash calls her a "big threat." NaOnka says she's just waiting for Kelly B.'s leg to fall off in a challenge so she'll have a reason to vote her out. I almost want to see that happen just to hear NaOnka's voting confessional: "I'm voting for you because your leg fell off. Bitch." Like, that would possibly seal her fate as one of the most horrible people in reality show history. She then interviews that Kelly B. is a "charity case," because she "doesn't have 100% of the body." Oh my god, does NaOnka have any idea how she comes off? How can she ever go back to her job as a PE teacher? Surely she's going to encounter students with handicaps and now they all know how she really feels about them. Hell, how can NaOnka ever go out in public, now that we all know what a shitty person she is? I almost want to have my leg amputated just so I can get a prosthetic and beat NaOnka over the head with it.
Jill helps herself to a snack of snails. Holly watches and interviews that she wasn't sure if snails were okay to eat, and once she saw Jill's eyes supposedly rolling to the back of her head, she decided that she was on House instead of Survivor and that the snails were, in fact, poisonous. Meanwhile, the editors are sure to include a shot of Jill looking perfectly sane and clearly not under the influence of any fictitious snail poisoning. Jill kindly (or is friendliness just a symptom of snail poisoning???) offers Holly some snails, and that's when Holly realizes that the snails must be some sort of parasite that takes over the human brain and tries to trick other humans into eating snails and thus becoming new host bodies for the alien snail parasite takeover of the world. She refuses to eat them. Jill rolls her eyes, and that's the final straw for Holly. For the good of the tribe, she grabs the pot of snails and walks away, saying "if you honestly think that you can eat these things, you guys are stupid." "Are you losin' it? Are you having a meltdown?" asks Jimmy T., although that might just be his mouth doing the bidding of the snail parasite that has taken over his brain. He interviews that Holly seems like a "very nice person," but that's she's "off the deep end." I will remind you that Jimmy T. doesn't exactly seem like the paragon of mental stability himself. So if he's wondering about Holly's sanity, then she must be absolutely batshit. Jill also interviews that Holly's "mental state is not that good." Awesomely, Jill is an ER doctor, and so probably knows more about the safety of eating snails than Holly, the swim coach from South Dakota.
Jill regales her tribe with the story of Holly vs. the Snails, ending with Holly dumping their food. "Wooooow. Throwing away food. That's ... that's crazy," Tyrone says. The Mafia Guy, whose name turns out to be Dan, says Holly is "crazy as shit." Oops! Holly was standing nearby and heard him! She decides that she needs to turn this around and prove to her tribe that she isn't crazy by acting rational and sane. Oh wait, I'm sorry -- I mean, she decides to "get back" at Dan in a way that she believes is the "best way to handle the situation": stealing his dress shoes, filling them with sand, and dumping them in the ocean. Isn't that basically what she did to the snails? I guess dumping things in the ocean is Holly's go-to. "I'm not gonna sit back anymore and let them rub things in my face. I've been too nice up to this point," she says. How is secretly fucking someone over going to send him any kind of message other than "you should keep a better eye on your shoes, as apparently you lost them?" If he doesn't know that his shoes were even damaged or why, there's really no lesson for him to learn. Also, I love how Holly's definition of "too nice" is stabbing her only ally in the back and trashing everyone's lunch.
After the break, we're still at Espada, as it is infinitely more interesting than whatever's going on at La Flor. Dan can't find his alligator shoes, which he should have known better than to bring on this show in the first place. He knows they aren't simply lost, though, because he put them in his bag, so the only way they'd be gone now is if someone took them out and hid them. The tribe looks around for them anyway, but come up short. Dan, who claims to be a "real estate executive" when he's clearly a Mafia don, interviews that his shoes are gone. Also, they cost $1600. Good luck convincing people you need the money if you make it to the end, Dan. Jimmy T. finally says what everyone is thinking: the shoes were taken by one of them. Meanwhile, Holly sits there looking guilty as fuck.
She walks out on the beach alone and reflects on what happened, saying that the game is "turning [her] into someone [she's] not." I have a feeling that we're seeing a fairly accurate portrayal of Holly, though. She decides it's time for a tribe meeting. Dan lies down in the shelter, and Holly suddenly steps forward and puts her hands on his knees and hovers over him. The expression of shock and fear on his face at this point is pretty freaking amazing. But she's not trying to kill him. Instead, she confesses to stealing his shoes and throwing them in the ocean. Dan smiles somewhat and puts his hand over his face, probably trying to keep himself from reaching out and throttling her. "She stole my shoes? She stole my shoes! She stole 'em!" he interviews, still unable to believe it. He says he was "born and raised in Brooklyn," and if Holly was a guy he would've knocked her the fuck out for this.
Jill tries to make lemonade out of lemons, saying it's "good" that Holly told the truth. Tyrone, meanwhile, just sits there shaking his head in wonderful disdain. "Holly keeps getting stranger and stranger. And every time she speaks, it becomes more evident that she's crazy. So I'ma keep one eye on her, and one eye on my shoes," he says. It's official: Tyrone is amazing. I love him. Don't go crazy, please, Tyrone. Holly says that she wants to be about "honesty and integrity" in this game, and that she's going to play that way "100%" from here on out. "I accept that," Jimmy T. says. I would, too. Until the Tribal Council, where I'd vote her ass out so fast. Dan pipes up that Jimmy T. might be able to accept that, implying that he does not. He interviews that he's not about to forgive Holly. In fact, he's probably going to fill her shoes with cement and throw her in ocean. While she's wearing them.
Just in case you though the insanity was only limited to the old people, we head over to La Flor, where NaOnka is unable to locate one of her socks. She decides there's no possibly way that she lost it and thus someone in her tribe must have stolen it. She calls them all bitches and vows that this game is "gonna get real dirty." She then grabs someone else's socks and puts them on. She makes sure to hike them up, too, so everyone can know what a great tribemate she is. Meanwhile, Jud whines that he can't find his spare pair of socks. "Nay's wearing them, dummy," either Shannon or Ben says. You know, with all the shit NaOnka's been talking about Kelly B., I'm surprised she just didn't take one of her socks. And it's not like it would make a difference to her.
Jud says he's angry about this. He approaches NaOnka slowly, obviously trying to summon up the courage to confront her about the fact that what she did to him was totally wrong and she should be ashamed of herself. He doesn't even get a chance to speak before NaOnka is yelling at him for looking at her wrong. Confused, Jud tries to defend himself, but only gets about five words out before NaOnka is attacking him again for "raising [his] voice" at her. "I can get loud, too!" she Sandras. Except that when Sandra said stuff like that, it was awesome and only made me love her more. When NaOnka says it, I want her to die. Jud reacts appropriately with a double face-palm, which is pretty much all you can really do at this point.
Jud interviews that he was planning on approaching NaOnka calmly and asking if it's possible that she maybe took his socks by accident, but obviously never got the chance to do that. In her interview, NaOnka says she doesn't know why, but she doesn't like anything about Jud. Great. Sometimes I don't like people, too. But I'm an adult, so I still treat them and their possessions with respect, especially if we have to live or work together. Usually. Although even then, I'm sure if winning a million dollars was contingent upon me sucking it up and pretending to like someone, I would. Especially if I know millions of people are watching and judging me and my behavior. NaOnka says she doesn't want to sound like a "B-I-T-C-H," but Jud is stupid. And while Jud is certainly no rocket scientist, I think NaOnka has shown us that she's even stupider and a lot meaner, which is worse.
The crazy over at Espada is so much more entertaining, so let's go back to that, shall we? Holly pulls Jimmy Johnson aside and says she's having a "hard time" and doesn't think she can continue in this game, which is much harder mentally than she thought it would be. Jimmy Johnson says she can surely make it through at least one more day. Holly says she doesn't think she can. And then she starts crying and stuff. Jimmy Johnson, of course, compares this to one of his players wanting to quit the team (except for the crying part, I assume) and quotes Vince Lombardi just to remind us that Jimmy Johnson, like Lombardi, is a football coach. NEVER FORGET. "We need you. We really do need you," Jimmy Johnson tells Holly, which is probably exactly what she wanted to hear. She decides to stay in the game for the good of her team, and hopes that her "emotional meltdown" helps her in this game instead of hurting. She doesn't know which it will be. I can guess.
Time for the challenge! This time, we're playing for both a reward and immunity. La Flor arrives with their now-standard cheesiness, this time "marching" in and stomping on the mat and saying "La Flor!" in unison. They don't seem surprised to see Wendy gone from Espada. Probst ignores La Flor's lameness (while secretly envying it, I'm sure) and explains the challenge: four tribe members must crawl through some mud to a bale of hay and find a ball in it, which they will then give to another tribemate. Once all balls have been located, the remaining tribemates must toss them to each other using only a wooden "shield" to both throw and catch the balls, ultimately throwing them into a barrel. The first tribe to get all balls in their barrel wins immunity and reward, which is a choice between a waterproof tarp and fishing gear.
And since we're still trying to make this Medallion of Power thing happen, Probst says that if Espada chooses to play it this time, they'll start the game with one of the four balls already in the barrel. Which means that's one less ball they have to go through the mud to find and one less that has to be tossed back and forth into a barrel. It also means they can sit one player out. Of course, they elect to use it. That means it goes to La Flor, and Jane hands the Medallion off to NaOnka, who looks personally offended that she's been made to hold something and quickly gives it to Alina. And just when you think NaOnka can't be any more useless and horrible, she volunteers to sit this challenge out. Espada, meanwhile, chooses to sit Dan out. Not really sure why they selected him and not, say, one of the women. Maybe he lost all of his physical strength when his alligator shoes were taken away?
Probst makes a big deal out of putting a ball in Espada's barrel and then starts the challenge. Jimmy Johnson and Brenda get through the mud at about the same time, and Jimmy Johnson gets the ball first. Suck on that, cheerleader! Jane and Purple Kelly are . Jane struggles to find her ball, and Espada loses a lot of time. Holly makes some up by executing a perfect dive into the mud pit, only to also get stuck looking for the ball. Meanwhile, Kelly B. is the final person to go for La Flor, and she makes it through the mud no problem. Probst reminds us that she has an artificial leg, but, again -- she's done triathlons. It's pretty safe to say that sliding through some mud isn't going to keep her down. Anyone who thought it would (NAONKA) is a moron. Kelly B. ends up getting her ball before Holly gets hers, which means that La Flor starts the ball-toss segment of the challenge before Esapda, despite Espada having 25% less to do. Chase throws the first ball to Sash as Holly finally emerges with Espada's final ball. Sash throws to Jud, who throws to Ben, who tosses it in the barrel. It looks like La Flor will have no problem winning another challenge. Then Tyrone drops the ball after a wonky toss from Jimmy T. while Ben gets a second ball in the barrel and La Flor's win seems pretty much certain.
But then! Tyone manages to catch a ball that bounces off of Jimmy T.'s shield and get it in the barrel. Meanwhile, Ben's third ball misses. And Tyrone manages to get a second ball in. Now Espada only has one more ball to La Flor's two. Ben misses again. And again. Tyrone, on the other hand, gets their third and final ball in the barrel. Old people win! "That's what I call kicking ass," Marty says. Enh, that's what I call having a huge advantage and still only being able to win because of the other tribe's mistakes. Probst gives the idol to Dan and asks if they want the tarp or fishing gear. I guess it isn't raining very much in Nicaragua, as they instantly choose the fishing gear. I just hope for their sake that they don't catch any fish that Holly deems poisonous. During the slo-mo walk of shame, Sash says they thought they were going to beat Espada in every challenge, but they didn't.
After the break, La Flor is so boring that we follow Espada back to camp. Holly's bipolar disorder has brought her back to a manic phase, and she's thrilled to win and so happy she didn't quit. Jimmy Johnson says that while Holly appears to be doing well right now, he knows from experience that once someone gets that low, it's easy for them to get that low again. Thank you for your wisdom, Jimmy Johnson. None of us non-football coaches could have figured that one out. Back in the actual game, the tribe looks through their new fishing supplies. And, of course, there's a clue to the immunity idol. This time, it has two clues, unlike the one La Flor got. As it turns out, however, Espada is able to decipher the first clue thanks to Jimmy T., who recognizes a picture of a yardarm. to that, it says " - (picture of arm)," so they know it's supposed to say "yard." They probably didn't even need to know that, as the "easier" version of the clue show three footprints, a.k.a. three feet, a.k.a. one yard.
The last clue, a picture of a man standing to a tree, is a sticking point. They assume they're looking for a tree that looks like a man, and everyone goes out and digs to random trees. But then Jill makes the connection that man = male, and so tree male = treemail. If I ever go on this show, I'm just going to dig up the entire treemail area. There's always an idol buried near there. What Jill does with the information is fascinating: she calmly strolls up to Marty and tells him the final clue is treemail. "Go get it," she says, patting him on the arm and walking off. She interviews that she thinks Marty is a smart guy and a good ally (which he is, if only because he's one of the only people in the tribe who isn't insane), and so telling him about the idol was a good way to earn his trust.
Marty starts digging around treemail. Dan wanders over too, as he was standing to Marty when Jill told him. Marty says that it looks like he, Jill, and Dan are now in some kind of alliance, which he's okay with. After digging for like three seconds, Dan takes off. Jill, meanwhile, has become impatient with how long it's taking Marty to do her bidding and decides to join him before everyone else figures out where the idol is. She instantly spots it lying in the dirt and points it out to Marty, who grabs it and says "the idol, Jill, I got it! I got the idol, baby! I got the first -- we got the idol." Jill says yes - they both got the idol. I mean, basically, Jill figured the clue out and found the idol. All Marty did was pick it up. And now he's acting like he got it himself? In the interview, he graciously admits that he wouldn't have found the idol without Jill's help with the clue. Now, he says, they just have to figure out how to make it work. Sounds like he's planning on sticking with her.
La Flor returns to camp, defeated and terrible. Jud says they should chalk their loss up to the Medallion, which is probably true. Chase says the girls did a great job crawling through the mud, especially Kelly B. NaOnka interviews that she sat out today's challenge to test Kelly B. and see how she would perform under physical conditions or even if she'd beg off and refuse to do them. Clearly, she expected Kelly B. to fail that test. And clearly, she didn't. So now NaOnka looks even less essential than before. She says she was "very proud of" Kelly B., and "she's just awesome" before turning back into NaOnka again and adding that she still doesn't like her. Meanwhile, Kelly B. recommends to Alina that they not vote NaOnka out because no one likes her and she's awful at everything, so they should keep her for an easy boot later. Alina says she'd rather get rid of Brenda tonight instead, citing that her obvious bond with Chase makes her a big threat.
Shannon asks Jud who they should vote out. Jud says NaOnka, obviously. Meanwhile, she's walking around in the background, still wearing Jud's socks. Shannon and Chase are cool with getting rid of her, but then Kelly B. says they're "being a little emotional" and she'd rather vote Brenda out. Shannon interviews that he agrees with Kelly B. and Alina that Chase's bond with Brenda is a concern. So he talks to Chase about it, saying that he knows Chase likes Brenda, but she is in a minority alliance right now and probably only being this friendly with Chase because she needs him to get further in the game. Shannon says they need to stay a "strong tribe" and not "lose to some old asses." Chase is not happy about this. He interviews that he prayed to God for someone in this game he could trust, and he really thought that person was Brenda. It probably helps that she has very trustworthy qualities such as being very attractive with a great body. But now the person he stupidly allied with wants him to vote out the person he thinks he can trust.
Meanwhile, NaOnka works on Brenda, saying that Shannon is obviously the ringleader of his alliance and has been going around talking to everyone. Except, the girls point out, NaOnka and Brenda. They're both happy to try to get rid of him. Second on NaOnka's list is, of course, Jud. She says that she doesn't like him and he doesn't like her, but that doesn't mean it's best to vote him out so soon. Shannon, she says, is a much bigger threat. NaOnka then tells Brenda about Sash's minority alliance idea. Brenda laughs at this, but then says that sounds fine to her. Honestly, when I first saw this episode, I didn't catch the part where Sash said he's half-black and assumed that when he counted himself as a minority, it was because he's gay. But as we'll see later on, he believes he's very much straight. Brenda's feeling great in an interview, saying people are just putting themselves on her side without her having to do anything. Right now, she thinks she can get an alliance together with Sash, NaOnka, Anonymous Kelly, and Chase. Which is great and all, except that she needs six for a majority. Oh, and also the other alliance wants her ass out of there. Brenda and NaOnka talk about Brenda's convenient friendship with Chase, with Brenda saying it's too bad that Chase isn't "stronger" mentally. So, basically, the girl that Chase thinks was sent to him by god for him to trust thinks he's nice and all, but stupid and wimpy. Way to achieve minion status, Chase.
Chase immediately takes a walk with Brenda and tells her what's up: Shannon, Alina, Ben, Jud, and Kelly B. are in an alliance and Brenda is their target. Brenda's face suggests that she's suddenly finding this game a bit more difficult than she thought. Chase interviews that he likes Shannon and all, but he feels like there's something "not quite right" about him. Yeah, he wants to vote your girlfriend off the island. Brenda says if Shannon is the one calling all the shots here, why doesn't Chase just get rid of him? Chase doesn't really know what to say to that, because he's stupid. Meanwhile, in Brenda's desire to give Chase a strong argument, she's raised her voice enough for Alina to overhear while sitting in the shelter. So Alina now knows that Brenda knows she's in danger and who Brenda considers to be in her alliance. And yet, Brenda still thinks that she's doing an awesome job in this game, interviewing how great it was for her that Chase just up and told her what the other alliance was planning. She thinks Chase will side with her tonight, which means the votes will be tied. Alina springs into action, telling Shannon all about what she heard and that Chase is no longer on their side. "This sucks, man. Nothing is as it seems," Jud says, finally starting to sort of grasp one aspect of this show. Shannon says that his alliance went from six to he has no idea. He just has to hope that Chase keeps his word.
La Flor arrive at Tribal. Probst starts off with Shannon, asking him if this was more or less difficult than he expected. Shannon says that of course it's much worse, especially since he's never gone camping before. And then he segues into how hard it is to trust certain people, saying that some people promised him their word only for him to find out later that they were lying. And just in case he didn't make it obvious enough who he's talking about, he says that "he" had better hope "his girlfriend" doesn't get voted out tonight, or else he'll be the to go. "Wow," Probst says, not sarcastically, either. Chase speaks up, saying that Shannon is talking about him and the girlfriend in question is Brenda. Naturally, the producers sat Chase and Shannon to each other tonight with Brenda sitting between them in the front. Chase says that Brenda is not his girlfriend; he's just felt like, since day one, he could trust her in this game. Her and Ben, he says, probably because Ben is pretty close to "Brenda" and Chase is a moron. If there was a Brandon on this tribe, Chase would trust him implicitly too, I suspect.
Shannon speaks up, saying he thought Chase was his ally, but Chase lied to him. He claims that he wouldn't be this upset with Chase if Chase had just told him the truth. Yeah, except that if Chase told Shannon that, then Shannon would have some warning and might be able to find a way to get Chase voted out. Does Shannon think he's on friendship island? I'm confused. Chase says he's been in between two alliances this whole time. Way to pull a Holly and tell everyone that you can't be trusted, idiot. He says he really didn't know who to vote for tonight, but now that Shannon's opened his mouth, he's definitely going to side with Brenda. Shannon accuses him of having none of the integrity and honesty he claimed he possessed. Probst finally gets a chance to speak up, saying that after 21 seasons on this show, he's never had an opening question "open up that much whoop-ass." And it really wasn't that much whoop-ass really. Kind of disappointing.
Shannon can't be stopped, though, and he says that he just wants everyone to know how upset he is with Chase for lying to him. Jud timidly raises his hand and waits for Probst to call on him, which he does. That was kind of adorable. Jud kindly warns Shannon not to "get so aggressive" with people and make enemies. "That's not smart, man," he says. Jud saying that Shannon isn't being smart is like Jimmy T. saying that Holly is crazy. Shannon fails to see how he's doing anything wrong, saying he knows that Chase is trying to vote him out, so he's an enemy already. Probst then turns to Brenda, who has been sitting there innocently this entire time, and asks how she feels about all this. Brenda says it just shows that Shannon is weak and can't be trusted. Chase agrees with her, saying no one trusts Shannon. Shannon then goes to each member of his alliance and asks if they trust him. The stupid ones (Kelly B. and Jud) say they do and therefore will be the to go when Shannon is voted out. Ben and Alina mostly stay quiet and hope no one remembers who they are.
Probst says that regardless of whether or not Shannon is honest and can be trusted, he must see why confronting tribemates right before a vote can be a bad idea. Shannon does not see that. "You're pretty much digging your own grave," Sash says. It's kind of funny how Shannon is being so insane and destroying himself so much that the people who want to vote him out are advising him to cool it. Shannon's response to that is to ask Sash if he's gay. Various tribe members react by being embarrassed for Shannon. Not Brenda, though, who smiles because she knows for sure that with that, she has won. I mean, even NaOnka is sitting there shaking her head like "what is your problem? That was wrong." AND SHE SAID KELLY B. WASN'T 100% OF A PERSON.
Probst has to put a hand over his mouth to hide his obvious delight at what is sure to catapult this season into awesomeness. Sash claims he's straight by saying he's had more beautiful girlfriends than Shannon. Well, Shannon's been married since he was like 19, so, yeah, probably. Sash says he doubts that Shannon would go over well with pretty girls in the big city of New York. "New York's full of a bunch of gay people," Shannon says. Even Probst can't believe he's hearing this. "New York is full of gay people?" he asks. Shannon says there are a lot of gay people in New York, and many more than there are in Louisiana. Jud again begs Shannon to shut up. "We're on the same team for the two, three weeks," he says. For this, Probst tells him to get his head out of "the trees," saying "this is a tribe completely divided, and if experience means anything, it's gonna be tough sailing for you guys." Which is why Jud would prefer it if they stopped fighting and making it even worse than it is.
Probst asks Alina if she thinks she can trust someone after just six days. Alina says it's "foolish" to trust someone, adding that she thought she could trust Chase. So I guess she's foolish, then? She says that people are saying they can't trust Shannon, but he hasn't lied to her thus far in this game, and Chase has. Probst then turns to Ben, whoever he is, and asks if he's surprised that trust would become an issue this soon. Of course he is, because he's clearly never watched this show before. Probst asks Brenda why she thinks she's a target. She says she's guessing it's because Shannon wants to take out a strong girl, although she doesn't see herself as that. Shannon then decides to call out the rest of his allies, saying that he wasn't the only one who wanted her out, and they originally wanted NaOnka to go home first but then decided that Brenda was "the bigger threat to the other girls that were in our alliance."
Probst asks NaOnka if she's surprised to hear her name. NaOnka says she thinks she was a target because she didn't do the challenge, as opposed to the fact that she's an awful person and impossible to get along with. She says she really thought they were going to win today because they were "tight like a unit." Probst points out that they clearly aren't tight at all, and if she thinks they are, then she can join Jud up in the trees. Of course: "Oh, I don't wanna be in that tree." "So you don't like Fabio?" Probst asks. "Nope," NaOnka says, seemingly proud of her inability to keep her feelings to herself. Probst asks why, and she says that Jud has "something smart to say" to everything she says, and she thinks he treats her like she's dumb. "I'm not afraid to say how I feel about Fabio. Fabio: I don't like you," she says, punctuating that with a head toss. Meanwhile, Fabio is just sitting there with no idea what her problem is. He says she's had this attitude with him the entire game so far, and he's having a tough time keeping his cool and basically being the bigger person. "He don't try hard enough," NaOnka says, as if she's made any effort whatsoever. Jud throws up his hands at this point, because there really is nothing he can say.
Probst asks NaOnka if she's "complicated." "ME?" she squeaks; "no! Am I?" No one responds because having any kind of interaction with NaOnka is way too much effort. And, by the way, she's right -- she isn't complicated. In fact, she's pretty simple. She's incredibly insecure and feels threatened by everything and everyone, and that fear and jealousy manifests itself in attacking others and being overly defensive and basically making her problems into everyone else's. "Can we vote?" Jud pleads. "Can we?" NaOnka demands. No, they cannot. Probst is not ready. He asks Kelly B. why she's voting for who she's voting for tonight. Kelly B. says she wants to unify their tribe. That's what everyone always says. Boring! Probst allows them to vote.
Jud votes for Brenda, saying "I guess this is still our game plan? I don't really know." Clueless until the end, our Jud. Brenda votes for Shannon, saying it was either him or her. Shannon votes for Brenda. Sash votes for Shannon, saying "you should've known better than to have messed with the biggest bachelor in New York." He can tell me he's straight and a ladies man all he wants, but I'm really not buying it. I wouldn't express those feelings in the middle of a Tribal Council in a game for a million dollars, though.
Probst returns with the urn. Shannon and Brenda are tied at three votes each, but then the rest of the votes go to Shannon. No one seems particularly sorry to see him go. I'm not, either.
You can read more from Sara Morrison at L.A.me, follow her on Twitter, or you can email her at saramorrison@gmail.com.
Discuss this episode in our forums, relive the best moments of last season, and see what our vlogger thinks Survivor: Manhattan will be like below!
Want to immediately access TWoP content no matter where you are online? Download the free TWoP toolbar for your web browser. Already have a customized toolbar? Then just add our free toolbar app to get updated on our content as soon it's published.