Some maneuvering: Katie tries to get Denise on her side against the men, revealing that Penner has the Idol. Also, most of the Tandang members are sick and tired of Skupin, who they claim he's been eating all of their rice and they're running low.
The Reward Challenge involves teams of three trying to push a giant ball through a mud pit into a giant soccer goal. It's not that interesting visually, as people spend the whole time keeping one another from moving and no one is able to move the ball. They are deadlocked for an hour and then there seems like there might be some movement, but things quickly get deadlocked again. Penner and Skupin negotiate a compromise: Kalabaw wins the reward of sandwiches and other goodies in exchange for giving up all their rice. Penner thinks he can fish for food so they don't need the rice. Somehow they get everyone to agree, though Artis is pretty vocal that he's just going along to be with the group and doesn't think they should take the deal.
At the Reward, the members of the Kalabaw tribe get letters from home along with their giant sandwiches and brownies. Meanwhile, Tandang realizes that the extra rice still won't be enough. But Penner isn't having much luck catching fish for Kalabaw, so neither team is happy with the deal they struck.
At the Immunity Challenge, the tribes use giant slingshots to launch balls into a field, where the other tribemates have to catch them in nets. We've seen this challenge before. As you'd expect, the guys do much of the catching and Probst spends time hectoring Katie some more. With the game tied, Carter asks Jeff Kent to sub in and guard Malcolm, who's been on a scoring tear, but Jeff Kent can't guard him either and Malcolm catches a ball for the winning point.
Kalabaw has a few options: they can vote out Denise because she's an outsider, they can vote out Katie because she's useless, or they can vote out Penner and try to blindside him before he can use the Idol. Jeff Kent and Carter are the swing votes and they seem to really struggle with either sticking to the idea of ditching Penner while they still can or ditching Katie because she's useless. Ultimately, the men stick together and vote out Katie.
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Kalabaw returns from their first Tribal Council on Night 13 and talks about how they don't want to ever go back to Tribal. Katie interviews that she's screwed because she lost Dana to illness and Dawson to elimination, so she's got no alliance left. To add insult to injury, her tribe seems to be voting based on strength and she's at the bottom of that totem pole too.
The morning, the guys are out in the water and Katie and Denise talk strategy. They agree that one of the guys has the Idol and it's probably Penner. Denise points out that it makes sense to wait to eliminate stronger players after the merge, but Katie adds that there's no guarantee of even making it to the merge -- or that there will be a merge -- so they should blindside Penner while they have the chance.
Tandang is discussing their food supplies. Abi points out that they don't have much rice left and shows everyone the mostly empty bag. Pete interviews that Skupin has been eating raw rice, thinking it cooks in your body. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Your stomach is not a cauldron of boiling water; it's full of acid and what doesn't break down will pass into your intestines. And a tiny bit of uncooked rice makes a lot of cooked rice that will fill you more. I would be so pissed. Anyway, Pete adds that Skupin is useless and I'm starting to agree with him. Abi wants to skip breakfast and save their limited rice supply for later, but Skupin pushes for just a cup of rice. Artis interviews that Skupin has eaten them "out of house and home" and now that they have Malcolm, Skupin is expendable.
The tribes report to the Reward Challenge. Probst explains that there is a giant ball in the middle of a mud field and it will be three-on-three, attempting to push the ball into a goal on the other end of the field. The first tribe to get three goals wins Reward, which is a lunch of sandwiches, soups, potato chips and cookies. That sounds great to both tribes. Tandang has to sit out one man and one woman, so they sit out RC and Artis. I guess now that they have Reward Challenges, they're enforcing the rule where no one can sit out two challenges in a row?
Lisa, Skupin and Pete are going up against Penner, Carter and Denise in the first round. They run to the ball and start rolling it around and tackling one another. Lisa does an especially admirable job against Denise, considering that Denise seems much stronger. For a while, it looks like Kalabaw is making some progress, but eventually they get deadlocked in the mud in very uncomfortable positions. For example, Penner is on the ground with his head almost under the ball and Skupin sitting on his back. They are all covered in mud. An hour passes and Penner and Skupin face off on opposing sides of the ball. They're exhausted.
Finally, Penner and Skupin try to negotiate a deal. Penner points out that even if they can somehow end this round, there are two more rounds to go. This was a terribly designed challenge. Did they really think that one team would be able to freely roll that giant ball to the end of the course? How did this pass the testing phase? Anyway, Skupin finally makes a proposal: they'll let Kalabaw win and get the sandwiches in return for the rest of Kalabaw's rice. The people sitting out all protest. Probst asks what Penner would do for food if he gave up their rice. Penner says he has a boat and fishing gear. Probst adds that if they can negotiate a deal and everyone agrees, he's open to it. Penner's team is wary about giving up their rice since guaranteed food is better than potential food.
Artis, in particular, seems very against making a deal. Easy for him to say when he's sitting on the sidelines, though. Skupin thinks it's good strategy to take Kalabaw's food, since it will weaken them for future challenges. Carter wants a guarantee from Penner that he can catch fish and Penner says that he will, given enough time with the boat. You'd think Tandang would want to know how much rice Kalabaw has left, right? That would be like my first question. Skupin says that he and Pete agree to the deal and the people on the sidelines abdicate responsibility, which is a punk move. If you disagree, state it. But don't bow out and then bitch about it later.
Eventually, Probst declares the challenge over once everyone has sort of agreed. Artis is cursing his tribe on the sidelines. Probst finally voices his opinion; that Kalabaw just gave up their food in the hopes that they can catch fish in suboptimal conditions. Kalabaw heads off to claim their reward while Tandang heads back to camp to claim their rice.
A muddy Kalabaw tribe reports to their Reward, which is a spread of sandwiches, brownies, potato chips and other goodies. It does look pretty awesome and they stuff their faces. Carter monotones in an interview that the reward was great; I'm starting to suspect that Carter is not all that bright or at least doesn't have the most dynamic personality. Penner tries to spin their reward as being better than it would be for Tandang, because they have fewer people splitting the food. As if any tribe has ever been able to polish off ALL of the food at a reward. While they eat, Penner spots a stack of letters sitting on a nearby table, and it turns out to be a letter from home for each of the tribe members. So they read them and start crying and it's pretty much the same thing that happens every season, so you probably don't need me to explain it. They each interview that things are rough at camp, so hearing from home helps buck them up. They all agree that this reward is better than the rice they gave up. We'll see if they still feel the same after they are hungry for a few days.
Tandang also returns to camp and Artis is still pissed. He interviews that Skupin is making decisions for their tribe and he sucks, and he's pissed that RC was cheering Skupin on. The rice is delivered from Kalabaw and it's about the same amount that Tandang already had. RC points out that they doubled their rice, but everyone seems fairly down in the dumps. Lisa interviews that it felt like more than a regular loss, because they forfeited. Abi is bitching in the shelter about how stupid their deal was. RC and Malcolm try to put a positive spin on it, but Abi just wants to bitch, bitch, bitch. Abi verifies that they now have two days' worth of rice left and someone (Pete?) suggests that they start eating smaller amount is so that the rice will last longer. Abi chuckles sarcastically that she was getting to that, but she knows people are "huuuuuungry."
I can't really convey her tone every time she speaks. Bitchy is close but doesn't quite cut it. She's also condescending -- the type of person that would bite your head off if you dare contradict her. So no one does, even though she's obviously making all of them miserable. I mean, she's not wrong about the smaller portions, but she's just being such an asshole about it. And if she thought their deal was so dumb, she should have vetoed it. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who don't voice their opinions on a decision when it's being made and then bitch about the outcome. It could be that she's doing it strategically and trying to set up a case to vote out Skupin, but I doubt it, because she would have said so in her interviews and she didn't.
RC walks up to Skupin on the beach and reveals that Artis was cursing Skupin's name during the competition because he thought Skupin was making a bad deal. Skupin is totally oblivious to this and wonders why Artis agreed to it. Skupin has multiple scratches and cuts all over his body; is he the most accident-prone person alive? Probably, because anyone more accident-prone would be dead by now. RC and Skupin discuss how ridiculous it is for their tribemates to complain, since they all had a chance to veto the deal or at least express reluctance, and no one did. RC interviews that Abi, Pete and Artis are really negative, but they do have the numbers to control the tribe, so RC's strategy is to stay out of their way and let Abi blow up and hopefully implode her chances. RC doesn't know that Abi has the Idol, though.
As promised, Penner goes out fishing, but he doesn't have much luck either spearing rays in the shallows or when he goes out diving. Carter and Katie sit on the beach and discuss how hungry they are, and Carter adds that he doesn't think he will last long if they are playing a game of who can starve longer. He doesn't have much meat on his bones. Penner returns with two tiny, tiny fish. I mean, they are smaller than the palm of Katie's hand when whole. They rip then apart and eat them, and they don't taste good either. Penner tries to spin it as "pure protein" but no one's buying it. Katie and Carter immediately go negative, with Carter whining that he's hungry and Katie noting that the rice gave you immediate energy, which they need. Penner interviews that he knows that Carter is hungry, and they need to win the Immunity Challenge today because the numbers are tipping in Tandang's favor. Not to mention, it could save Penner's hide because it seems like his tribe is not happy that he promised them fish and then couldn't deliver.
Both tribes report for the Immunity Challenge. We've seen this challenge before: one tribe member used a giant slingshot to fling balls into a field where the other tribe members try to catch them in giant lacrosse sticks, sort of. People can catch the ball flung by their tribemate or the other tribe's ball; both count as a point. First tribe to five points wins. Tandang needs to sit out one man and one woman again, and Skupin and Malcolm do rock paper scissors to determine that Skupin will be sitting out. Yeah, he could get SERIOUSLY injured in this challenge, so that's probably good. Abi is also sitting out yet again, and Probst makes sure to give her shit about it. Abi claims that it wasn't her choice to sit out; we know nothing about the decision-making process, so I don't know how truthful she's being.
Lisa is launching for Tandang and Denise is launching for Kalabaw. Each person is paired up with someone from the opposing tribe and they have to hold onto poles until the balls are released. Penner earns a point on the first round, but Pete and RC catch both balls in the second round to give Tandang a 2-1 lead. Probst picks on Katie for missing a catch, when RC missed the same ball in the same way and he didn't bring her up. He just hates Katie. Jeff Kent catches the three to give Kalabaw a 4-2 lead. Katie misses one and Probst gives her shit when it was really just a bad toss. Malcolm catches the two and Probst gets a boner for him, and now it's tied 4-4.
Penner realizes that Carter is having no luck guarding Malcolm, so he asks if Carter wants to switch out with Jeff Kent. Carter looks exhausted and quickly agrees. It doesn't matter though, as Malcolm catches the ball and wins Immunity for his tribe. Malcolm is the hero of his tribe! Plus we don't have to see what would probably be a scarily explosive Tribal Council with Tandang.
Back at camp, Kalabaw retreats to lick their metaphorical wounds. Penner thinks they should have just basically tackled Malcolm once it because clear that he was their scorer; what remains unsaid is that Carter wasn't strong enough to do so. Well, it remains unsaid publicly; Jeff Kent does say it in an interview and then also talks about how he's still unsure about his alliance with Penner. Remember, he only gave him the four-fingered handshake, so...
Jeff Kent and Carter talk strategy while everyone else is away from camp. They both like Denise and think Katie is useless. But Jeff Kent points out that they all agreed that they don't want a veteran to win this season, so this might be their only chance to blindside Penner. Carter says that he really wants to vote out Katie, but he will vote out Penner if that's what the group decides to do. Jeff Kent thinks they should stick with their original plan and Carter agrees. Carter interviews that he agrees with Jeff Kent on the one hand, but it might be good to take Penner into a merge because he attracts a spotlight, which would divert attention from Jeff and Carter. Jeff Kent seems pretty set on voting out Penner and advises Carter to keep it secret so that Penner doesn't get wind and play his Idol.
So guess what dummy Carter does? He immediately asks, "Penner, what do you want to do? Katie or Penner? I mean, Katie or Denise?" Whoops. Luckily, Penner doesn't seem to notice the slip-up and argues that Denise gives them a better chance to win challenges. Penner emphasizes that he hates to be disloyal but it's what his gut is telling him. Katie walks up to the conversation and Penner immediately tells her that it's Denise and then leaves. Katie tells Carter and Jeff Kent that she thinks Penner is shady as fuck and that she trusts Denise a lot more than she does Penner. Katie interviews that she knows she's not strong, but she needs to make a play to convince the others that it's their only chance to ditch Penner. Jeff Kent tells her that he's considering it, and then interviews that he's weighing his options carefully. Penner goes back up to check in with his alliance-mates and make sure they're still cool. They tell him they are. Jeff Kent has one final interview where he says the easy play is to vote Katie out, but it might not be their smartest move for reasons stated previously. Plus, Jeff Kent knows that Penner has an Idol.
Kalabaw reports to Tribal Council. Probst immediately asks who thinks they are in trouble, and Denise and Katie raise their hands. Denise says that she's worried being the last to join the tribe. Katie says that she's worried because she doesn't perform well in challenges, but she hopes her tribemates know that she's loyal. Probst ask Penner why he's not even worried about a blindside. Penner says that he didn't want to even put the idea in anyone's head and he wanted everyone to think he wasn't worried. Didn't he just put the idea in people's head? Although what other answer could he have given, I guess.
Jeff Kent tells Probst that they all like one another now, so there are no more easy votes and every vote will have to be a blindside. Probst wants to hear Penner's thoughts on that, and Penner agrees that their tribe has been drama-free, and it's easier to blindside someone than to tell them ahead of time. Penner admits that he wouldn't like it if he got blindsided, but he would appreciate the gameplay and wouldn't take it personally.
Probst asks the most leading question: "Jeff, do you play any other game that's similar to Survivor in terms of strategy?" Why not just ask, "Jeff, are you familiar with the Jeff Kent that was a professional baseball player?" Jeff Kent doesn't take the bait and says that this game sucks because you bond with people and then have to vote them off. Katie speaks up and says that she's going to vote based on loyalty. Penner says that Katie might be speaking specifically to someone on the tribe with those words. He adds that if he's the one getting blindsided, he understands why his tribemates wouldn't tell him ahead of time, because he would do anything he could to convince them to vote off someone else in whatever time he had.
Probst comments that this is great drama, because everyone knows a blindside is coming, but we will shortly find out who it's going to be. Well, it's not that great of a drama; it's either going to be Penner or Katie. They vote for one another and we don't see the other votes until Probst gathers and tallies. Penner chooses not to play his Idol and then Probst starts reading. Katie gets the first vote and Penner gets the second one. He chuckles and looks around. The two votes are both for Katie, and that'll do it. Katie leaves. So will there be a merge week? And if not, will Kalabaw be able to stanch the bleeding and win Immunity?