Katie joins her mom and Laura at Redemption and they tell her that she made the only move she could under the circumstances. Meanwhile, back at camp, everyone is really friendly considering how heated that Tribal Council got. If it's sincere, I really appreciate how much these players seem to get that this is only a game and people need to do what they can to stick around. They even joke about how they are on different sides of the line, physically demonstrating it. Then Monica wants to immediately start strategizing about what to do if Hayden or Ciera has the Idol, so Tyson admits he has it just to shut her up.
Redemption Truel. Tina isn't sure she can try to beat her daughter. It's my favorite Brady Bunch-in-the-ghost-town-jail challenge, where they fashion a long pole to retrieve keys to unlock a gate. Laura powers through as usual and comes in first. Katie seems poised to take second, but she runs into problems and Tina comes back and wins -- checking with Katie first to make sure it's okay. Maybe they should have had a talk about how they would handle this before they came to the challenge? Laura gives Ciera the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol.
Hayden and Ciera look for the Idol while Gervase tries to make sure Monica is going to stick with him and Tyson. Meanwhile, Ciera and Hayden decide to try to flip Monica, since without an Idol, whichever one of them wins immunity will stay and the other will go. With Monica, they can vote out either Gervase or Tyson.
The Immunity Challenge involves pushing a buoy along a rope underwater, then grabbing a bag of letter tiles and spelling out a phrase. Tyson and Hayden lead through the water portion. Ciera is terrible. The final phrase is eight words long and everyone struggles, allowing Ciera to catch up. And she actually wins immunity with the phrase, "You are going to have to dig deep." I can't believe she won. Goodbye Hayden. She chooses Hayden to share her food reward. She should have chosen Monica.
After her reward, Ciera talks to Monica and tells her that Tyson is using her and has talked shit behind her back. The sticking point is that Tyson drew rocks to save Monica -- did he do it out of loyalty to Monica or to keep her along as his goat? At Tribal, Gervase and Tyson argue that it was the former and Hayden and Ciera argue that it was the latter. I would argue that it's a little of both. He trusted Monica more than Ciera, but he also thought he had a better chance of beating her. What could be Tyson's downfall is that he was publicly dismissive of how annoying Monica is. What could be Tyson's saving grace is that everyone else was too. So they all try to convince Monica to vote their way. What will she do? She sticks with her alliance and votes out Hayden, although you can tell she really did consider flipping.
Katie wanders into Redemption Island and reveals that drama of Tribal Council that led to them drawing rocks and her being eliminated. Katie asks if they think she should have just voted Hayden off, and Tina and Laura both tell her that she had to take her shot at Tyson. It's true; with the top three so tight, there's really no way Katie could slide in there unless she found the Idol, which wasn't going to happen. Tina interviews that she and Katie can't both go back in the game, and as they lie down to sleep, Tina tells Katie that she's not looking forward to competing, and she's willing to let Katie win. Katie responds that they should both try their hardest, but Tina isn't sure that she can. I guess I'm more competitive than Tina; I think I could easily beat one of my children if called upon. Maybe Tina's just a better person than me. Probably.
The Kasama tribe returns to camp with everyone still kind of dumbstruck over what happened. Hayden says he owes Ciera a hug, and Ciera tells everyone that she still loves them and it was just a game move. Tyson agrees that it was a great move, and he was excited to be part of such a historic Tribal Council, although he guesses that Katie wasn't quite so excited. Hayden says that he had to throw everything he had at the wall and see what stuck, and anyone else would have done the same thing. Hayden interviews that he was trying to flip the script and it kind of worked. Well, it worked in the sense that Hayden didn't go home, but it didn't work in the sense that he's still in the minority. He vows to stick with Ciera until the end.
Tyson tells Gervase that he made the dumbest move of the night when he told Hayden that he was the target. Tyson knows that telling someone they're going home lights a fire under them, and instead, you should give them hope and tell them someone else's name. That is pretty obvious, and just furthers my opinions that if it weren't for Tyson, Gervase would have been voted out long ago.
Monica hugs Gervase and Tyson and says that she can't believe that they stuck with her. Hayden and Ciera stand facing the other three, neatly illustrating the current split on the tribe. Then they all joke around and Monica pulls Ciera over to her side which is a little awkward and uncomfortable (Monica's memoir: "Awkward And Uncomfortable: The Monica Culpepper Story").
Monica interviews that she's worried that Hayden or Ciera has the Idol. She immediately relays that worry to Tyson and Gervase and before she can get her paranoia motor all revved up, Tyson tells her he has the Idol to shut her up. He walks away and Monica is STILL talking to Gervase about potential outcomes and Tyson walks back and tells her it doesn't matter because he has the Idol and she needs to "shut it down." Do you think Tyson watches Scandal? It's hilarious to me that Tyson told Monica the one thing that meant she didn't need to worry, and it took Monica STILL wanted to go through every hypothetical permutation. She can't help herself. Monica interviews that she feels disrespected that Tyson didn't share the Idol news with her earlier. Tyson and Gervase prepare to go to sleep and wish Monica good night. As she walks away, Tyson comments that Monica isn't great at Survivor, but she's really come in handy.
The morning, Ciera interviews that she knew she was fourth in her alliance so she had to make a move, and if she was eliminated, at least she went down fighting instead of just passively accepting fourth place. Ciera also thinks her mom will be coming back from Redemption Island, and then she and Hayden will have the majority. Yeah, if they both survive the Tribal Council, which isn't looking too likely right now. Only one of them can win immunity. Ciera is counting on them finding the Idol, which we know won't happen since Tyson has it. Their backup plan is to try to find the crack in the Tyson/Gervase/Monica alliance and exploit it. Ciera interviews that she has nothing to lose, so she'll try anything.
Redemption Island Truel. Probst sees a storyline in the making and immediately goes after Tina, asking her if she's capable of giving this competition her all if it means sending her daughter home. Tina says she's decided to play her hardest and make the decision on what to do in the moment. That seems like…a terrible idea. Katie should just tell Tina that she wants to earn it, and she doesn't want to get back into the game because her mom let her. I mean, how would she even convince a jury to vote for her if she got back into the game that way? But clearly that didn't happen.
The challenge is one of my favorites: the "tie sticks together and poke them through a gate to reach some keys, then drag the keys back" style that I like to call "The Bradys Get Trapped in the Ghost Town Jail by Thurston Howell." All you '70s babies know what I'm talking about. Anyway, then they use the keys to unlock a gate, which they will walk through to win.
As they start, Tina tells Katie how to fashion her pole, even though it seems pretty self-explanatory. Laura gets her stick put together in like five seconds. Her challenge mojo is kind of freaking me out. Laura gets all three keys back while Katie only has one and Tina has none, so she wins. After getting one key each, Tina and Katie both have to take a break to reinforce their poles. Katie drops her second key in the sand which makes it a lot harder to hook with her pole, even with Laura giving her helpful advice. As Katie struggles, Tina gets all three keys back. While Tina unlocks her locks, she asks Katie if she's okay with this. Katie mumbles that it's fine. She doesn't sound very convincing. Luckily, Tina takes her at her word and walks through the gate, sending Katie home. They hug and Katie tells her not to be sorry as Tina cries.
Probst asks Tina how it feels to win, and Tina says that she was adopted, and Katie was her first blood connection in life. I get what she's saying but it's a little insulting to adoptive families to insinuate that they don't experience pure, true love, at least not like biological families do. I know many adoptive families who would have a problem with that. Katie leaves. Laura gives the clue to Ciera, of course, and tells her to find the Idol. Tina tells Hayden to win immunity. So we know whose side they are on. If I were hoping to rejoin the game, I don't know if I would make my allegiances so obvious.
Once they get back to camp, Ciera and Hayden read the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. They quickly figure out it's in a tree, which doesn't take much figuring, so they head into the jungle and start climbing. I think Hayden is even in the right tree, but of course, there's no Idol to find. Monica walks back to get water while Hayden is in the tree, and he thinks he's busted. Shouldn't they be concerned that no one is spying on them or following them? I mean, think about what happened with Katie was searching. The others know Hayden and Ciera got a clue, and they're just napping back at camp? That should set off some alarms. Hayden doesn't seem concerned about that, but he does seems concerned that he looked where the Idol should be and it's not there.
Monica, Tyson, and Gervase discuss how Tina and Laura are clearly against them. Gervase interviews that he knows that he needs to keep Monica happy in their alliance. So he takes Monica out individually and then goes through everyone left in the game and makes Monica say how much she trusts them on a scale of one to ten. I'm not really sure what this exercise is all about, but Monica says that she trusts Tyson and Gervase ten, Ciera five, and she doesn't really give a number for Hayden. Monica says that she knows the guys could have flipped on her. Monica interviews that Tyson was willing to draw rocks when he could have just voted her out. So Monica is basically in love with the guys, and she thinks that they genuinely like her too. Oh, Monica. You were smart to latch onto those guys, but they are only keeping you around because they think they can beat you.
Hayden and Ciera, realizing they're not going to find the Idol, come up with their backup plan. They decide that there's no way that Gervase will flip, so they have to go after Monica. Hayden tells her to throw the boys under the bus, and Ciera says that she'll say that the boys think Monica is dumb and easily-led, and from what we've seen, they do think that. Hayden feeds her some lines about Monica being Tyson's puppy and he's leading her around on a leash. Hayden interviews that this is their Hail Mary, and they hope Monica sees them as the good guys.
Immunity Challenge! They have to dive into the water and push a buoy along a rope and through an obstacle. Then they untie a bag of letter tiles and use them to form a phrase with a classic Survivor phrase. The winner gets immunity and a food reward involving selecting entrees from a menu.
Hayden and Tyson take a quick lead in the water. Probst starts in immediately heckling Ciera, making fun of her for getting beat by Gervase "and he's no star in the water." Hayden and Tyson keep their lead, with Monica, Gervase, and Ciera behind them, in that order. Hayden and Tyson make it to the puzzle part first, and Monica and Gervase quickly join them while Ciera is still in the water. Probst is psyched to point out that Ciera is "dead last."
So now everyone is working on the phrase, which has eight words. Once Ciera dumps out her tiles, Probst reminds everyone that she is way behind right now. Probst tells them that it's a common Survivor phrase, so everyone is forming words like "you are going to vote." Except they all get stuck there. Gervase is SO CLOSE. He has the first six words right: "You are going to have to" and then he has seven tiles left and can't figure out how to arrange them. Ciera has a flash and figures out the last two words, and fills in her tiles. The phrase is "You are going to have to dig deep," and while I've heard Probst say that before, I wouldn't call it "common." I mean, I get that they can't always use "The tribe has spoken" but come on. Anyway, Ciera has an amazing come-from-behind victory.
She's delighted to have won, and she should be, because it was either her or Hayden going home. She gets to choose one person, and she doesn't even negotiate for more. She chooses Hayden which is a terrible idea. Right? I mean, she doesn't have to choose Monica in order to talk game just yet, but she could at least choose her to try to put cracks in the alliance. Or choose one of the guys, and let Hayden talk to Monica. At least show some semblance of strategic thinking. I don't know why Tyson, Monica, and Gervase look so sad. They still get to vote out Hayden. Maybe they were really hoping to order something from a menu.
Everyone returns to camp and Ciera is thrilled to have won immunity. She even gloats a bit in an interview that you can't count her out and that her mom is probably coming back into the game, and then they'll have "two Moretts to worry about, not just one." I think she meant two Moretts to vote out; once Hayden is inevitably voted out, even if Laura returns, she and Ciera will still be the minority. And they can't BOTH win immunity. It was a great win, but Ciera needs to simmer down a little on how much it's going to affect the ultimate outcome.
Hayden and Ciera enjoy their dinner. Ciera has a burger and Hayden has some pizza. Hayden interviews that he needed to win immunity today and he "laid a big fat egg," so now he has to scramble. As they eat, Tyson, Monica, and Gervase chill in the shelter. They agree to vote Hayden out, and Monica thinks the others will target her. Meanwhile, Hayden tells Ciera to talk to Monica and tell her that the two of them will be voting Gervase because they think Tyson has an Idol, and Monica should join them. Ciera interviews that Monica is an emotional wreck at all times, so Ciera is going to try to play on her emotions and get her to flip.
As the sun sets and it gets closer to Tribal Council time, Monica and Ciera sit on the shore and talk game. Ciera says that Tyson is a villain in this game, and he's been talking shit about Monica behind her back, saying that she's easily led and he can control her, and rolling his eyes behind her back. Monica asks if this is still happening now and wonders how Ciera would explain that Tyson would draw rocks to keep her. Ciera says that Tyson did it because he knew if he had voted Monica out, he was because he would be in a minority.
Monica looks down and starts crying, which I don't think Ciera expected. She expected anger or disbelief, but not tears, and you can tell because suddenly Ciera doesn't know what to say. She just hugs Monica and tells her to think about it. Monica interviews that she came into the game knowing she might have to deceive or mislead but she never wanted to hurt anyone, but now her feelings are hurt. Ciera tells her to vote Gervase out with them. Monica interviews that she's pissed at Tyson and Gervase, and suddenly, she's the swing vote. Tyson is worried about Monica and Ciera talking, since Ciera looked happy afterward. Gervase is sure that Monica will stay solid.
Tribal Council. After everyone sits, the jury enters and Hayden comments to Ciera that Katie looks hot. She does! She cleans up well! Probst wants to know if the division from last tribal still stands. Ciera and Hayden both know they are on the bottom. Hayden launches into his theme for the evening: that Tyson is only keeping Monica around because he thinks he can beat her, and he can't beat anyone else. Tyson says he's keeping her around because he can trust her. Gervase pipes up that people on the bottom will always throw trash at the wall and see what sticks. Monica admits that Ciera told her about some negative things Tyson and Gervase said. Probst wonders if she believes it, and Monica says she might.
Probst asks Tyson if he's worried, and Tyson reveals that Ciera also wanted to take Monica because she thinks she could beat her. Hayden and Ciera keep beating the "Tyson is a trash-talker" drum, and fuel Monica's paranoia and pride by saying that she'll see the truth when she watches the episodes from home, and she'll feel duped. Ciera's tack is, "I just wanted you to know that so you could make an informed decision." That's smart because it lets Monica feel like she has the power. Gervase wonders why they brought it up now and not when the bad things were said, which is tantamount to admitting he said bad things, which might not be his best bet. Tyson has a look like, "You idiot. Shut up shut up shut UP!"
Hayden says that Tyson is controlling his alliance and Gervase starts to lose it a little bit, yelling and trying to get Hayden to admit that he's in control of their alliance, which who cares? Gervase starts yelling, "That's why you guys are going home!" I was wondering why Tyson didn't get Gervase to calm down except the more Gervase looks like a dick, the better chance Tyson has to beat him in the end.
Ciera makes another appeal to Monica's pride and says forcefully that Tyson did say "evil, vicious things." Probst wonders how Monica is doing. Monica says that she's 43 years old and I had to pause for a minute. Monica is only a few years older than me? Do I look that old? I asked my husband how old he thought Monica was, and he said in her early 50s. So it's not just me. Anyway, Monica says she has to dig deep and the things Ciera told her did hurt her, but she's resilient. She's sure that ethical issues will bite people in the ass in the end, so she's thinking that she can beat Gervase and Tyson in the finals because she's played a cleaner game.
Hayden tells Monica that Gervase and Tyson have outplayed her, and the perception is that Monica is Tyson's lapdog. But Hayden thinks that Monica could show Brad and her kids that she's strong and independent and put her stamp on the game by making a big move here. Hayden is making such a smart argument here, the way he's appealing to Monica's family and pride. Tyson asks Monica if he tells her what to do or if they discuss it. Ciera interrupts to say that Monica's being manipulated and Tyson always said that Monica would go along with whatever he said, but Ciera thinks she can make a big move right now and her family would cheer.
So what's the smart move for Monica? Ciera and Hayden made good points, but Monica's family doesn't vote in the finals, so who gives a rat's ass what they think. If Monica sends Gervase and Tyson out, she won't get their vote. And the rest of the jurors probably won't vote Monica over Hayden or Ciera; they've made that pretty clear. I don't think there's any way Monica can win at this point, but I do think her best move is to stick with Tyson and Gervase and then play the ethical game card. There might be enough people burned by Tyson and Gervase that she could pull it off. Maybe. She could hammer home that she tried to stay in the game by winning all those immunities and then cause as little hurt as possible. It just depends on how bitter the jury is.
They vote. Tyson doesn't play his Idol, probably because he knows that Gervase would go home before he would if Monica did flip. The votes are read, and there are three for Hayden and two for Gervase, so Monica stuck with her alliance. Poor Hayden. He really did everything he could. I don't know any other argument he could have made. I don't usually root for people to get another shot on this show but I'd like to see Hayden get another shot if only for the flashes of game brilliance he showed in the last two weeks. And he seems to get that it's just a game, which I always appreciate.