Reward Challenge: Each contestant is reunited with a loved one in perhaps the most emotional reunion I've ever seen on this show. The Survivor has to toss a muddy cloth to his or her loved one, who then has to toss it at five pins on platforms and knock them off. Malcolm and his brother win, which means that Malcolm's brother gets to come back to camp and spend the night. He gets to pick another person to bring a loved one back, and he chooses Lisa because she's been having such a hard time out there. Then he asks for another and gets it, and allows Skupin to bring his son. I can't believe he didn't pick Denise. I guess he figures he's going to be in the finals against her so he doesn't need her jury vote and he wants to solidify his final-four alliance.
Lisa's brother helps her to remember how she felt when the game started: that she's there to play a game and betrayal and lying in the game doesn't mean she's a bad person. This leads Lisa and Skupin to come up with the idea of blindsiding Malcolm and taking out his Idol. Lisa and Skupin also have a little prayer circle with their family members.
Immunity Challenge: walk on a log over water to a platform and then use a grappling hook to fish out three bags of sticks and rope. Swim to the beach and tie together the sticks to make one long stick, which you have to use to poke a target, raising a flag. Everyone but Abi and Denise get close, but Malcolm ultimately wins. Guess God's plan didn't involve Lisa or Skupin executing their blindside successfully. Or else he's busy.
Since Malcolm can't be voted out, everyone has to figure out a Plan B. Malcolm and Skupin discuss how they don't want to vote out Carter, but he's a challenge threat. Then Abi goes off on a rant at camp and annoys everyone further, and they start to think about voting her out even though it doesn't make sense strategically.
At Tribal Council, Abi continues her lie that she has a Hidden Immunity Idol and no one seems to believe it. Regardless, they vote out Carter because they can't risk him going on an immunity run and screwing up their final four alliance.
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The tribe returns from voting out Penner. Abi interviews that she knows now that Malcolm, Denise, Lisa and Skupin have a four-person alliance, so either she or Carter is going and she also knows that they all like Carter and have issues with her for being "too honest." First of all, she should have figured out those two facts about six days ago; and second of all, it's interesting that with all the complaints they made against Abi, being "too honest" is what she took away since it's the least objectionable thing they said. Anyway, Abi approaches Carter to find out how he feels about being on the outside of the power alliance and Carter doesn't seem to want to talk about it; he points out that -- if she has an Immunity Idol like she claims -- she shouldn't be worried. Abi says she does have an Idol and interviews that she has to keep up this charade, because it's all she has left. This just shows how terrible she is at strategy; she actually has a really strong position. She should go up to Malcolm and Denise and argue that they should take her instead of Lisa and Skupin, because they can beat her in the finals and they might not be able to beat Lisa and Skupin in a jury vote. That's a much stronger argument than, "I have a secret and possibly fictional Idol."
Malcolm checks in with Lisa, who says she's feeling dizzy and confused after Tribal. Malcolm points out that was Penner's intent; he wanted to make Lisa doubt herself and her decisions. Lisa interviews that she thinks Malcolm is playing a brilliant game and she knows that going to the end with Malcolm and Denise isn't her best move, but she also feels that betraying their trust goes against who she is as a person.
After the credits, we hop right into the Reward Challenge. Probst doesn't waste any time before announcing that they will be competing in this challenge with a loved one. Everyone starts crying and freaking out. Probst brings out Skupin's son first and Skupin loses it, hugging him and crying, "Let me see you! Let me see you! My number one!" I'm hoping he means that this is his firstborn, and not his favorite child. Skupin says that his son is the best human being he knows and he's encouraged Skupin to return to the show for twelve years. , Carter gets to hug his mom, who is very young and fit looking. Also, either Carter is a giant or she is a miniature person and I never thought of Carter as super tall. Denise is reunited with her "man" (husband? Boyfriend?), and she climbs him like a monkey. Aw, they really love each other (and he calls her a "tight, tiny little package" so I'm guessing their sex life is good too... and well, she is a sex therapist) and he just carries her around like a child.
Lisa has the most emotional reunion with her baby brother, Justice. She goes into full-on Claire Danes ugly cry mode and ends up just hanging from his neck, unable to support her own weight. Probst comments that it's the "most powerful" loved one reunion he's ever seen. She finally gathers her shit together and it's time for Abi to be reunited with her mom who only speaks Portuguese, so Abi has to translate for her. Abi isn't as emotional as some of the others, but her mom is adorable. Probst pretends like he's all done and then brings out Malcolm's brother, who's a Hurley-like goofball. He acts kind of weird, but I think he's just overwhelmed and emotional about the whole experience.
So now to the actual challenge. Each Survivor tosses a muddy bag to his or her loved one, who then tosses it, trying to knock over pins on a platform. The winner gets to have his or her loved one spend the night at camp.
Skupin's son and Malcolm's brother have the best natural throwing motion. Lisa's brother goes with a two-hand overhand throw that seems to be working. Poor Abi's mom can't catch the bags -- it's unclear if Abi's giving her bad throws or if she's just not good at catching. Carter's mom is also really good at this game. Skupin and his son get into a good rhythm where the son is throwing and then turning and catching all in one motion, often catching with one hand. It comes down to Carter, Skupin and Malcolm, and Malcolm and his brother win. Malcolm's brother (Miles) runs and jumps on Malcolm in a victory celebration and totally knocks him down.
Well, it wouldn't be a loved-ones reunion if Probst didn't force the winner to make some tough choices and this is no different. Malcolm has to choose one other person to join him and he says that he can't look any of them in the eye. He eventually chooses Lisa, because she's been struggling so much lately. Probst has to prompt him to ask for another and then grants it. Why not just let him start with two? He chooses Skupin and his son. Carter, Abi and Denise have to say goodbye. Skupin feels like he has to give out compliments as the loved one leaves and he promises to take care of Denise, saying that Carter is "a heckuva guy." No compliments for Abi, but her mom wouldn't understand him anyway. Malcolm interviews that he had to make a quick decision and he wanted to reward Lisa and Skupin for sticking with their alliance and hopefully earn their gratitude going forward.
The tribe returns to their camp plus the three loved ones. Lisa interviews that she's always been really close with Justice even though he's twenty years younger than her. Malcolm's brother makes tons of jokes and Malcolm interviews that his brother is a sweet knucklehead who's a clown, but him running his mouth will cost Malcolm. That's what they showed in the preview, but I don't get how Miles's actions cost Malcolm anything. I was expecting Miles to insult someone or otherwise hurt Malcolm's game. Skupin Junior climbs a tree to try to hack down some coconuts and manages to skin both arms, so he's a chip off the old block.
Lisa and Justice go for a swim and some game talk. Lisa fills him in on her current alliance and how she doesn't want Malcolm to go to the final three because he'll probably win. She tells Justice about her attempted blindside of Malcolm and finding Malcolm's Idol. Lisa admits that she's made mistakes and she's finding it difficult to "play the game" by being disloyal and lying, even though she felt strongly about her ability to play the game in the beginning.
Lisa and Justice meet up with Skupin and Junior on the beach. Skupin explains that Malcolm has an Idol, but he can only play it at the two Tribal Councils and since they have two non-alliance members left, he probably won't play it. Justice suggests that they blindside Malcolm, and Skupin says that he knows Carter would join him and Lisa to do that. Lisa isn't so sure, since her last attempt at a blindside went so horribly wrong. Lisa interviews that she's still having a hard time separating her real-world self and actions from game self and actions. In other words, if she lies and betrays in the game, does that make her a bad person in the real world? It's a question many have struggled with, but most people seem able to lie and betray until they are lied to and betrayed and then they get bitter.
Justice sits down with Lisa and asks her to explain why it doesn't make sense to take out Malcolm now, since they could. Lisa says she gave Malcolm her word and she doesn't want to go against her values to go back on her word. Justice points out that, after Lisa tried to oust Malcolm before, Malcolm understood it was a game and forgave her, so he understands that this is a game and respects gameplay. Lisa interviews that Justice knows who she is and having him basically give her permission to play the game how she needs to was extremely helpful.
Skupin and Junior join Lisa and Justice to watch the sunset. Lisa says that Justice has given her fresh perspective and told her to blindside Malcolm, and Skupin says he's all in. Lisa interviews that she's playing the game by the rules of the game and hopefully she will win. They don't discuss what they're going to do if Malcolm wins immunity, at least that we see.
The morning, Lisa and Justice and Skupin and Junior have a prayer circle and they ask for God's will to be done in the game, whatever that may be. I like that Lisa is like, "I don't know what you want God, because I can't and I'm just going to trust in you." It doesn't really fit in with my understanding of God, but I like it a lot better than, "God, please help me win." The non-prayers are making breakfast and Malcolm mutters that he didn't think about the fact that Lisa and Skupin and their loved ones would bond over Jesus. Abi points out that they need to worry about winning Immunity now. Well, Malcolm doesn't since he has an Idol. Malcolm interviews that Lisa was at rock-bottom emotionally and now he's worried that her brother snapped her back to her senses and got her thinking about who she should take to the finals, because the answer is going to be "Not Malcolm."
The prayer circle jokes that they don't know what Jesus would look like on Survivor, and Skupin cracks that he'd probably look like Malcolm. I think Malcolm would have to spend a lot more time in the sun to look like Middle Eastern Jew, but what do I know? Lisa interviews that she doesn't think God picks sides, but He has a plan and they just have to trust in it. The loved ones prepare to leave and give up various clothing items for the Survivors to wear.
Immunity Challenge. Probst welcomes everyone and explains the task: walk across a bamboo bridge over water to a platform and then use a grappling hook to fish out three bags. Swim to shore with the bags and use a rope and the sticks inside the bag to fashion a pole. Use the pole to poke a target and drop a flag. First one to drop a flag wins immunity. We've seen similar challenges before, as far as the "tying together rope and sticks to make a pole" business. It's all very "the Bradys try to escape from the jail cell in a ghost town on the way to the Grand Canyon."
They take off and everyone gets to the platform except for Denise, who struggles on the bridge. Carter is the first to get all three bags, and then Skupin and Lisa swim for shore. Malcolm is not far behind and Denise is right behind him. Abi finally gets her third bag, but she takes her own sweet time getting her bag settled before getting into the water. Probst starts yelling at her, wondering what she's doing. I'm wondering the same thing. Is she doing this to try to sell the idea that she has an Idol and thus is not worried? Or is she really just this bad at challenges?
Everyone finally gets to the phase of creating a long stick and trying to poke a target. Lisa tries first and fails. Carter and Skupin both fail, although Carter is really close. Malcolm makes his first attempt and it's long enough but he can't quite hit the target. Carter is also making an attempt, but the very end of his stick is flopping around. Malcolm finally gets his stick straight and pokes the target, dropping a flag and winning immunity. That's Malcolm's first individual immunity win. I don't know if he wasn't trying before or if others were trying harder. Lisa interviews that she's really bummed because she was really ready to blindside Malcolm and now she can't.
After the challenge, Malcolm relaxes. He interviews that he hasn't been able to relax like this -- physically and mentally -- in a long time. He doesn't have to worry about people wandering off in pairs and whispering in the jungle. He's safe tonight and because of his HII, he's safe time too. So he's automatically in the final four. He giggles with glee at his situation, but it comes off as charming and not gloating. It's like he can't even believe it himself and all of his hard work is finally paying off.
Lisa and Skupin talk about how their plan didn't work out, so God loves Malcolm. Okay, they don't say that, but kind of? No, they really say that God must have a bigger plan for them that they can't see. Skupin interrupts Lisa to point out a giant ant. Maybe that's God's plan? That ants will take over the earth? Anyway, Skupin asks if Lisa would rather vote out Abi or Carter and she doesn't answer. I need to take a moment to talk about Lisa's eyebrows. She has two sets. Like four eyebrows total. I think what happened if she got eyebrows tattooed on? But now her real eyebrows are growing in? It's very disconcerting, especially in HD.
Skupin and Malcolm talk and Skupin says he doesn't want to vote out Carter. Malcolm says that he doesn't either and it comes down to earning peace in camp versus getting rid of a threat. Malcolm points out that Carter has won immunity twice and he almost won a third today. Carter wanders up to them and asks if he's interrupting; Skupin and Malcolm admit that they're talking about Carter and whether or not to vote him out. Skupin says that the only reason against Carter is that he's a threat; every other reason points to Abi. Carter kind of whines that they should keep him out of respect for him and the game, and Skupin says it's under discussion. Carter shakes their hands and leaves, and then interviews that everyone has been talking about keeping people in who deserve to be there and he deserves it more than Abi. He really needs to come up with a better argument than that. I don't know what his argument for staying would be; I guess he could go with the "why reward Abi for her shenanigans" tack, and then say that they can vote him out round unless he wins immunity. And then it's God's will or something.
The tribe sits around camp and waits for Skupin to cook them some beans. Denise brings up voting and says that Lisa hasn't gotten any votes so far. Neither have Skupin and Carter. Abi pipes up that everyone wrote down her name, which isn't what they were talking about, but they weren't paying enough attention to her so she had to butt in. Lisa says that only three of them voted for Abi and admits that she was one of the three. Abi thought she and Lisa were close, and Lisa says that they were and she's also close to Denise, but at some point she may have to write down Denise's name too. Abi thinks Lisa is now prioritizing the million dollars over her word.
Denise asks wearily if they can just drop it. There's a really easy way to drop it; don't engage with Abi. She's already shown that there's no reasoning with her. You've never going to convince her that you're right and she's wrong. If she brings up shit like this, just say, "That's your opinion. I'm done discussing it." And repeat. Instead, Abi now goes off on a tangent about how it's easy for Denise to drop the subject because she's in the seat of power and she's being hypocritical (how exactly?). I mean, Abi isn't wrong about Denise not wanting to discuss it because it doesn't affect her. I just don't get who Abi is putting on this show for. The cameras? Then again, I'm trying to assign a rational reason to an irrational person. Abi then crows that she's going to have to play her Idol and no one responds because no one believes her.
Malcolm's like, "WELLLLPPP" and gets up to leave. He interviews that everyone has wanted to get rid of Abi from day one and he compares her to a Dementor from Harry Potter. Aw, Malcolm's a bit of a nerd. I love that. Carter tells Lisa that he's sorry Abi was so awful to her and Lisa says she's just done with Abi now, and Abi can glare at her all she wants. Carter interviews that he doesn't know if Abi's problem is cultural and then Denise interviews that it's not cultural, because Abi is just an awful person to be around and that's her personality.
Meanwhile, Abi grabs her bag and then heads into the jungle to pretend she's retrieving her Hidden Immunity Idol. I don't know why she's pretending to keep it hidden. Wouldn't she just put it in her bag? It's not like it's a secret that she "has" one. She goes REALLY far into the jungle too and she retrieves something. It kind of looks like her original clue, but she ripped that up so who knows what it is. Abi interviews that if you tell a lie long enough, everyone believes it. That's not true at all, ironically. But it explains a lot about who Abi chooses to be. Malcolm interviews that they all think Abi's Idol threat is a joke, but they have to consider it when determining their vote. Malcolm concludes that he's considering making a terrible strategic decision to get rid of Abi because she's a bitch. I normally hate when women are called bitches, but honestly? Abi totally is a bitch.
Tribal Council. Probst asks Malcolm if he felt safe even without winning immunity and Malcolm says that he trusts his alliance, but he's glad to have immunity just the same. After a recap of who's in the final four alliance, Probst realizes that Abi and Carter are on the outs and asks Carter how that feels. Carter brings up how everyone has talked a good game about keeping good people around and getting rid of bad people, and he thinks he's one of the good people and deserves a chance to fight another day. Skupin says that he clicks with Carter and even considering voting him out is almost like voting off his own child. Probst asks if Lisa would rather sit to someone she likes or someone she can beat and Lisa answers honestly that she'd rather sit to someone she can beat. She knows that doesn't sound noble, but she also believes in keeping it simple. Carter is none too happy with that response.
Probst asks Abi if she's surprised to hear that she might not be voted out tonight. Abi just starts yammering about her Idol again. Denise says that no one has seen this Idol (she doesn't say "so-called Idol" but she might as well) and Malcolm points out that when Abi had an Idol before, she used it as leverage and she hasn't done that this time. Abi babbles some nonsense about how she has to protect herself.
Probst asks Denise how she's getting on with Abi and Denise says carefully that there's still tension, but things have improved. Probst wonders if that means Denise might be able to admit that Abi deserves to go to the end and Denise is like NOPE! Probst, always trying to get Abi to be a likable person for some reason, tries to get Abi to admit that she's brought this all on herself, but Abi still thinks she's an innocent angel. Denise admits that she doesn't think Abi can win this game, because she doesn't have a good balance between social, strategic and physical, and that's what juries look for. Oh, Denise. That's not what most juries care about. They care about themselves.
Time to vote! Once Probst has the votes, he calls for a Hidden Immunity Idol and Abi just blink blink blinks. The first vote is for Carter. The second vote is for Abi and all of the rest of the votes are for Carter. It was a good strategic move, but it sucks for him. And honestly, I just thought of this: would you want to keep Abi around knowing that everyone wants to take her to the end? Or at least everyone but Denise? Wouldn't you be worried that the temptation to keep her around and bust up the alliance would be too great? At least with Carter, no one would want to take him to the end because he hasn't pissed anyone off. I don't know if that will come back to bite anyone in the ass or not.
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