Brad's got a new strategy for Tadhana -- keep around those who have a loved one on the other tribe, so that they can merge and be powerful. And Caleb is the only one left who doesn't have a loved one on the other team.
At the Redemption truel, Candice says she was sad to see John join her on Redemption Island, since she wanted someone that she hated to show up so that she and Marissa could work together to beat that person. She mentions Brad as someone she hates and Monica goes after her, saying that Brad wasn't the only one who voted for John to leave. Candice gets fired up, but John calmly says that Brad called the shots on every vote and his tribe might think about knocking the king off his throne.
And then they finally get to the truel, which involves threading a key along a rope, unlocking a bag and putting together a complicated puzzle. John wins, leaving Candice and Marissa to fight for second place. Marissa falls apart emotionally and Candice calmly takes advantage, sweeping into second place. Marissa goes home. John (upon Candice's advice) gives the clue to the Idol to Monica and Monica tosses it in the fire. Although Brad doesn't help by repeating, "Walk it down and put it in the fire" when that's what she was going to do anyway.
Tyson's shoulder still hurts, but he admits that he's also milking it to get out of working at camp. He and Gervase also sneak off into the jungle and steal coconuts without telling their tribemates, and almost get busted.
The Immunity Challenge involves rowing out around a flag and then rowing back as team members jump off and untie crates anchored to the bottom and pulling those crates into the boat. Tadhana leads in the water, but after getting the last crate, their boat tips and some crates fall out, which allows Galang to take the lead. Then they have to build a staircase out of the crates, which Tadhana finishes seconds before Galang. The final phase is finishing a puzzle that will release a key. Laura M and Tyson compete for Galang, while Ciera and Vytas compete for Tadhana. Laura M and Tyson finish their puzzle first and Tyson unlocks the padlock and raises their flag, so Galang wins yet again.
After the challenge, Brad goes to the girls and says that they should vote out Caleb. Then he joins up with the guys and they all agree to vote out Ciera because she was useless in the challenge again. It's a really short strategic section, which must mean that Tribal will be a doozy.
And it kind of is. Brad admits that it would be great to get rid of someone who doesn't have a loved one on the other tribe, if only so he doesn’t have to take shit at the Redemption Island truel. Caleb realizes that he's in Brad's sights, so he just comes right out and says that he knows Brad was campaigning against him today, and he's going to write Brad's name down. He invites the two women to join him and tells the guys to do whatever. Vytas can't believe Caleb is really doing this. Brad promises he's not writing Caleb's name down, but Caleb says that doesn't change his vote. No one else commits, but it would be great if they got rid of Brad, wouldn't it?
The vote ends up being a tie, with Caleb and the girls voting for Brad and all of the other dudes voting for Ciera. That means they have to revote, with Brad and Ciera abstaining. Will Hayden and/or Vytas switch their votes? Hayden starts and stops his vote-writing like three times, undecided on his best move. Hayden did vote for Ciera, but everyone else voted for Brad (ooh, Vytas, you sneaky devil) so now he has to go to Redemption Island with John and Candice, who hate him. Ouch. Brad assures everyone that he's not mad at them as he leaves, already plotting his return. That was a great game move, but these guys are screwed at challenges now. They had better pray for a merge soon.
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John shows up at Redemption Island and is greeted by Candice and Marissa. Candice thinks John was too trusting of people, and while she loves that trait in him, it was his downfall in the game.
Meanwhile, back at Tadhana, they are all happy with their "epic blindside." Brad takes full credit for it, claiming that he reeled John in from day one and earned his trust. Brad interviews that in any other season their alliance of five guys would have stayed strong until the end. He adds that his main reason for getting rid of John was because he doesn't have a loved one in the regular game, and Brad is hoping that after the merge, the couples can bond together and form a super-alliance. That sounds great, except what if your loved one has an alliance with someone who's partnered with someone on the outs? For example, Monica is aligned with Tina, but Brad's not aligned with Katie. What then? Rock paper scissors? Brad makes an edited version of that speech to the others, which makes Caleb realize that he's in trouble, since Brad now wants to get rid of people without a loved one in the game.
Redemption Island Truel. The two tribes enter first and sit in the bleachers. Then Candice, Marissa and John walk in. Candice flips Brad the bird as she walks by him. When Probst asks, Candice says that she was upset that John showed up on Redemption Island last night, and that she and Marissa were hoping it would be someone they could hate and team up against, like Brad. And then, weirdly, credits. That was a strange spot to go to a break on, but I guess they're hoping people will come back after the commercials to see how Brad responds?
Brad just stares at Candice and doesn't say anything. Probst wonders what Monica thinks about everyone hating her husband. Monica points out that all of the votes were nearly unanimous, so she doesn't see why Brad is taking the heat. Candice pipes up that Brad is shushing the women on his tribe and not letting them have a say. On the one hand, he probably is. But on the other hand, why do they need Brad's permission? Why didn't one of them try to make a counter alliance? Brad, Monica and Candice all start yelling and John finally pipes up and says that Brad never hushed him, but all of the elimination votes were Brad's ideas and he's shady. Brad admits that John made a bad decision in trusting him.
Probst has heard enough; it's time for the truel. They have to pull a key along a rope, unlock a bag and then solve a puzzle. Marissa and John get their puzzle bags free first, with Candice not far behind. The puzzle is long blocks that form a cube. John assembles his in place and Marissa tries to do the same. Candice tries to match up the smaller pieces to make longer pieces first, and then assemble them. Which strategy will prove best? Probst notes that Candice is always calm, "unless she's yelling at Culpepper." I would have loved if she'd said, "Brad or Monica? Because there are two Culpeppers here, Jeff." Instead she just says, "You cut my baby, I cut you." Look, I get that Candice has emerged as a badass, but she could maybe take it down a notch. It also annoys me when Probst makes editorial commentary during challenges. Play-by-play is fine, but I feel like his editorial comments may affect the outcome if he gets in someone's head.
John is nearly finished and Brad whispers to Hayden, "I can get John to like me again," and then points out a piece that John has wrong. Yes, I'm sure he won't see through that at all, and also completely forgive you for voting him out, because you helped him in a challenge he was already winning. Doofus. John finishes and takes first place.
So now it's down to Candice and Marissa. Candice seems to have a slight lead and Marissa is falling apart mentally. Gervase advises Marissa to look at John's finished puzzle for help, but Marissa doesn't think it will help. Probst keeps harping on the fact that Marissa is losing it and Candice is winning, which can't help Marissa' mental state. Candice completes the puzzle and takes second place, so Marissa is going home. She starts crying. Gervase says that his niece impressed him and he's proud of her. Gervase doesn't seem all that broken up. I don't know how close they are; I think the producers just really wanted Gervase back so they let him bring this niece he doesn't seem to know all that well.
So who is John going to give the clue to now? Candice suggests that they give it to Monica. Note that she doesn't tell him, "Give it to Monica." She suggests, "Let's give it to Monica." Probst asks if Candice always tells John what to do and John says she tries to, but he doesn't always listen. Candice laughs, "Jeff. That's what husbands and wives do." She's not wrong. I tell my husband what to do all the time, and he laughs at me and does whatever the fuck he wants, and vice versa. But ultimately we work together to get shit done, because we are a team. That's marriage. So shut up, Probst. If Candice had won and John had made a suggestion, I would bet a million dollars that Probst wouldn't have made that shitty comment.
John says he's giving the clue to Monica, since having a clue means being a target and it's nothing personal. As soon as Monica gets it, she tries to rip it but can't and then tries to explain why she's not interested in the clue. But before she can really do anything, Brad starts saying, "Walk it down and put it in the fire" repeatedly, talking over her. She was already going to, dude! Relax! You don't need to control every aspect of the game on both tribes. Monica tosses the clue in the fire and Probst can't believe it. Candice snarks, "Doing what she's told." Which is true, but again, Candice could relax too. Then again, she's got nothing to lose and she wants to get under Brad's skin so that he might implode, I guess. Probst excuses everyone and they all head out.
Back at Redemption Island, John and Candice are having a great time without a third there to ruin their fun. They fish together and hang out on the beach. They both agree that as long as one of them gets back into the game, it's all good.
Arriving back at camp, Monica tells the rest of Galang that she thinks the loved ones are making the "ultimate sacrifice." I'm not sure what her line of thought is here; does she think that the people voted out are happy to be voted out? Someone (Tina?) points out that the evictees are naturally going to be angry and bitter. Monica paints a picture where Brad is starting the fire, catching fish, and otherwise making things easy for his tribe. That may be true, but that doesn't mean he's not also bullying them into voting his way. Gervase reminds Monica that she knows Brad as her husband, and doesn't know how he's playing the game. Gervase is willing to recognize that part of Brad's gameplay might be deception, and that's okay because that's part of the game, but it does make people mad. Gervase also says kudos like ten times in a minute; I had a boss who used to say kudos all the time except that she pronounced it "Q-doze" and it drove me bananas.
Tadhana sits around eating rice and talking about how ridiculous Candice was at the truel. Hit a little close to home, guys? Brad interviews that Caleb is unconnected, so no one would yell at Brad if Caleb went home. Plus, remember Brad's new theory that they want to get rid of people who don't have a loved one still in the game. This despite the fact that he justified getting rid of John because he DIDN'T have a loved one in the game.
Brad goes out fishing, and this gives Vytas, Caleb and Hayden time to talk about him. Hayden can't believe that Brad backstabbed John like that, but also thinks they need to keep Brad so that they have someone to take the heat, post-merge. Caleb interviews that one of the girls is going home tonight if they lose.
There really is nothing interesting going on at Galang now that Colton is gone. So this week's Galang segment is devoted to Tyson taking it easy at camp because he hurt his shoulder. And also, Tyson and Gervase have taken to sneaking off and drinking coconuts secretly. Their big scheme is that they cut them open differently every time so that no one notices. Is there a limit on coconuts? Do they only get a certain number of coconuts? I think Gervase and Tyson are just really bored. Anyway, sometime later, Monica and Laura Rupert find the empty coconuts, but Monica suggests that the crabs have been eating them. So their cover hasn't been blown. I hope this pays off in the future or else why did I just spend five minutes watching that? Well, here's something. Tyson says he hopes to work with Gervase after the merge, since neither of them has a loved one left in the game and he thinks Aras and Vytas will be a huge danger together.
Immunity Challenge. This one has like a hundred stages. Stage one: paddle out in a boat, dive down and untie crates that are anchored to the ocean floor and put the crates in your boat. Stage two: bring the crates back to shore. Stage three: make a staircase with the crates. Stage four: Climb the staircase as a tribe. Stage five: Solve a puzzle that will give you a combination. Stage six: use the combination to unlock a flag-raising mechanism. Stage seven: Raise the flag and win. Stage eight: Gloat, probably.
Galang is sitting out Tina and Kat even though Tyson only has one arm that is useful. Probst can't believe it! Once the boats are in the water, Tadhana takes a quick lead, since rowing a boat is like, the one thing that they do well as a team. It's too bad for them that there are no challenges that are just rowing. The women do a great job untying the crates for Galang, while Brad does most of the untying for his tribe. Probst completely ignores Rupert Laura's amazing job of untying crates because he'd rather focus on Monica and Brad's contributions, so that he can say that the Culpeppers are dominating the challenge. Then, as Brad is trying to load their last crate into the boat, it tips and they lose some crates into the water, and their lead evaporates.
Both tribes get back and start building a staircase. Gervase seems to take the lead on Galang, while Hayden of all people calls the shots for Tadhana, who finishes seconds ahead of their opponents. Now Tyson and Laura M are completing a puzzle against Vytas and Ciera. Laura and Tyson complete their puzzle quickly. Ciera tries to take charge of her puzzle, but I don't know if she's just terrible or what and they struggle. Laura and Tyson do the combination and get their key, and then Tyson raises the flag so that Galang wins again. Laura M has mixed emotions because she wants her tribe to win, but she doesn't want her win to mean her daughter goes home. Well, that's the way it works this season. Make peace with it.
One thing about Galang's immunity run: on any other season, it would be really, really boring if one team lost all of the time. But it's different this season because, first of all, the person who gets voted out affects both tribes. And second, there's no guarantee and, in fact, it's unlikely that the lesser tribe will get Pagong-ed after the merge, due to the pre-existing relationships. So it doesn't matter if Galang goes into the merge with a majority, since alliances will probably be re-scrambled at that point. I kind of can't wait for the merge.
Tadhana returns to camp, moping. Hayden interviews that they are a bigger, stronger tribe and yet they got beat by "a one-armed dude and three moms." Maybe you should stop discounting the moms, then? Or recognize that brute strength doesn't always win challenges?
Ciera explains that they have a post-challenge routine. The guys go "get water," which is code for strategize on which girl to ditch, and the girls "make rice," which is code for do nothing as usual. I'm really frustrated with the women of this tribe just sitting around and passively accepting what the men decide. Could at least one of them try to make some sort of move? Even if it's, "Let the guys make all the decisions and thus take all the heat, post-merge?" or "Try to be a goat and get hauled to the finals"? Something!
Anyway, Brad changes it up and stays behind with Ciera and Katie when the other guys go to get water. He tells them that he wants to vote out Caleb and he figures they would be voting for him anyway. Ciera and Katie stay quiet and let Brad chatter on about how they should get rid of Caleb now and then if they lose again, it'll be "nut-cutting time." I don't even know what that means, but it sounds painful. Ciera pretends to go along with what Brad says until Vytas comes back and asks Brad if he's joining them or what, and Brad reluctantly follows his alliance into the woods.
Before Brad joins them the three guys agree that Ciera was useless again in a puzzle challenge, so they might as well send her home. Caleb interviews that when Brad didn't show up to their he-man strategy sesh, he wondered what Brad might be cooking up with the girls, and worried that Brad was planning to vote against him. Brad finally shows up and asks what they all think, because he's got the girls convinced they are voting out Caleb. The guys tell him it's Ciera and Brad says he's in.
And that's it for strategy? There's a lot of time left. That means we're in for a crazy Tribal Council. As we see the tribe members grab their torches, Brad interviews that he thought about getting rid of Caleb, but he wants a stronger tribe so that means getting rid of Ciera, even if it means taking heat from Laura M at the Redemption Island truel.
Tribal Council. Once everyone is seated, Probst asks Brad if this is going how he imagined and Brad says it's obviously not, but he notes that they lost two challenges with puzzles, when they had a lead going into the puzzle and the common denominator is Ciera. Probst basically says to Ciera, "Do you realize that you're worthless and your tribe should get rid of you?" He would never say that to a dude. Never. Anyway, Ciera handles it well by joking that maybe she's not as good at puzzles as she thought, but she's not going to give up on the game; instead she's going to figure out how she can benefit her tribe in other ways.
Then Probst wants to talk about how everyone on Redemption Island hates him. Brad says that the evicted people are talking false shit about him, and no one on the other tribe knows that it's not true. Probst gets from that somehow that Brad wants to vote out someone without a loved one, so no one gets mad at him. I feel like something in there was edited, because Brad HAS expressed that opinion, but he didn't just now. Anyway, Brad thinks for a while and then agrees, which was SO DUMB. Just say that it makes sense in theory, but in reality, he wants to keep his tribe strong, because a light just went on in Caleb's eyes.
Probst asks how Caleb feels about that statement. Caleb says that he's obviously "the low man on the totem pole" (Brad denies it) and that he doesn't mind being the goat (i.e. the person the girls were told was going home), but now he's starting to feel like the calf being led to slaughter. Caleb also accuses Brad of campaigning against him. All of the balls that Brad was juggling -- trying to keep his alliance happy, trying to convince the girls to vote how he told them, trying to stay in the game himself -- are all tumbling down right now.
Probst asks Hayden what he thinks and Hayden says that their alliance has some cracks, and once trust is lost, it's tough to regain it. Probst asks Caleb what they would have to do to regain his trust since Probst points out that Caleb is an important player since he doesn't have a partner left, and could go any way he wants with his vote. Caleb sacks up and says that he trusts Vytas and Hayden, but he doesn't want Ciera to go home, so he's going to write Brad's name down and he thinks the girls will vote with him, which makes three votes for Brad. So now the other guys need to decide what they want to do. Caleb! Making moves! Stirring shit up! You see, Colton? That is how you effectively make moves within your tribe.
Ciera is gobsmacked. Brad tells Caleb that he's not writing his name down, and Caleb says that's fine. Vytas asks Caleb if he's really writing Brad's name down and Caleb says that he is, but everyone else can do what they want. Caleb adds that they've been letting Brad run things and they keep losing challenges, so maybe they need to change things up. Brad just looks dumbfounded -- emphasis on the dumb -- and doesn't even speak up in his own defense. And then it's time to vote.
Probst reads the votes and it's a 3-3 tie between Brad and Ciera. So now Brad and Ciera can't vote, and the rest of them have to vote again and can ONLY vote for Brad or Ciera. What Probst doesn't get into is that if there's another tie, then everyone EXCEPT Brad and Ciera has to draw a rock and whoever gets the purple one goes home. Thus the name Purple Rock of Doom or PROD. Nobody wants that, and it will probably go a long way toward getting someone to switch his or her vote.
So they all vote again. Hayden does not know what to do. He starts to write Ciera's name, then crosses it out, then writes some more, then crosses it out and then stands there, unsure. Finally everyone has voted and Probst is ready to read the votes. This time, Brad has four votes, so he's out. Vytas changed his vote to Brad. Thank God for Vytas.
As Brad leaves, he tells Caleb like a million times, "I'm not mad at you." I don't think Caleb was all that worried about you being mad at him. Brad promises everyone that he will try to get back in. I don't think they want that, either. Although I would guess that the guys would rather have Brad back than John.
Over the credits, we see Brad arrive at Redemption Island with Candice and John. He says that he's waving the white flag, but they are half asleep and also hate Brad, so this should be interesting.
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