Survivor Philippines Season 25 Episode 7 Recap: Not the Only Actor On This Island
Oct 31 2012 10:38 pm ET
Kalabaw returned and pointed out that Denise has been through all six tribal councils and has managed to survive. She had to wonder if she was cursed. On the other hand, I think managing to dodge six bullets is amazing. Especially her last two tribal councils where she survived past two core members of Kalabaw. Jeff tried to deflect how Katie voted for Jonathan; he just hoped that they could still be teammates. Jonathan thanked the tribe and hoped there was trust with the other three.
Tandang woke up as Skupin pointed out that he fell into the fire today, he's in new territory. I get it Skupin, you want to get away from the "veteran" stigma you were given, but I don't think this was the best way to beat people over the head with the facts. A boat arrived and the tribes found out that they were merging. The teams had ten minutes to run and grab whatever they could. Lisa tried to make sure she had clothes as Malcolm ran and grabbed his hidden immunity idol and tucked it into his blue bag. The same message (and similar boat) arrived for Kalabaw. Denise hoped she could hop back to Malcolm when she got back.
Both tribes arrived at the same time to a new beach, Penner and Skupin exchanging a veteran's hug. The tribe had some food to celebrate, toasting random food instead of champagne. As the Jeff explained that he sold motorcycles, he just crossed his fingers in hopes that no one knew of his baseball past. Skupin was excited to make it to the merge, claiming he had numbers. Skupin knew that Pete/Abi were in the main Tandang alliance with Skupin/RC being loose cannons. RC, Lisa, and Abi had a conversation that RC should be investigating the old Kalabaw for information because they were one happy family.
We met "unnamed merged tribe" as they started working on their shelter. Lisa, being the nice motherly Christian, decided to hang people's clothes to dry. Little did she know when she unpacked Malcolm's bag, he had the hidden immunity idol. Denise talked to Malcolm about the situation and Malcolm decided to confront Lisa upfront. She admitted that she didn't mean to find the idol. Malcolm decided to work with her and Denise in a loose alliance. He knew he couldn't beat either if the three made it to the finals.
Jonathan asked Lisa about her connection to The Facts of Life and the two had a decent connection being in the acting industry at one point. Jonathan claimed he wouldn't blow her cover. Jonathan then targeted Skupin and explained how the two were targets and should consider working together. Skupin talked to RC about jumping ship; Skupin didn't trust old Tandang. RC decided to take the chance because Abi's delusional nature.
Jeff talked to the men and offered his concept to blindside Jonathan. The old Tandang thought of having a four-four tie for Penner & RC. They then crossed their fingers hoping that neither would win immunity.
The tribe arrived at the hidden immunity challenge and since tribal immunity was done, an individual immunity was the goal. There would be two winners: one male and one female. While this is normally the case for the first individual immunity challenge, this could allow both RC and Penner to win and force everyone to scramble. The challenge was an endurance challenge where each contestant had to hold on to a pole which was attached to a bucket with 25% of their weight; I have to assume it was original weight, unless they were weighed on premises, but not told their weight. The challenge began and there was some instant pressure to hold the weight. The challenge was surprisingly shorter than I expected because five minutes in Skupin was out followed by Pete. Probst spent his time blabbing about survival and winning. I found it unfair that Jeff Kent was using the edges of the wood. Eventually, Lisa and Malcolm were out. RC tried her best to hold on as she dropped out. Abi allowed Denise to win since she wasn't the target this week. At least she was finally safe to sit at tribal without any drama. Artis used all his strength to bring himself all of his line back but by the 15 minute mark, Artis dropped out. At 25 minutes, Jeff tried to offer Carter the win in hopes that it would solidify their alliance; Carter gave him one look as Jeff quit. With Carter and Denise winning Artis was excited to get his four-four voting plan during tribal.
We return to "Dagrayne." What is a Dagrayne? RC felt confident that she was still in a six person majority. Skupin knew that returning players were still targeted. He explained to Jeff about Pete/Abi/Artis and tried to sell his RC/Skupin alliance. Jeff explained that he didn't like veterans in play, mostly Jonathan. Jeff talked to Carter as Jeff slowly explained how the number six worked. Jeff explained the Skupin-talk and considered voting off Penner. Penner walked in and he tried to explain that he was close with them and stayed loyal.
Jonathan had no clue how to work on the other tribe members but tried to angle Pete's elimination. Jeff & Carter then turned to Pete & Abi, still confident about the weird four-four plan. Jeff didn't want to treat the game with disrespect because he knew it would bite him in the behind later.
The tribe arrived and original Tandang grabbed and lit their torches. Jeff pointed out that this was the first time that a whole tribe has survived. It wouldn't be if they decided to keep shuffling tribes for no reason in earlier seasons. Skupin explained that there were fractures, but victories kept the tribe together. RC tried to explain that families can fight, but they stick together either way. Abi explained that RC betrayed her, citing that RC "unburied" the hidden immunity idol. That was Pete. The two continued to bicker, Pete probably still giggling about his handy work. Lisa tried to explain that strength in numbers was important; Jeff wanted point out that a jumper would bring a person in closer to the finals than piggybacking. Pete knew there was animosity for returning players. Probst pointed out the Malcolm/Denise should still be an alliance, but no one really took the bait at all. There were too many issues that Lisa blabbed on about. Did she always talk this much? Pete was convinced that there were only two hidden immunity idols left; he was convinced that Matsing had to use theirs. There would probably be a good Russell needed it to survive longer storyline that Denise/Malcolm could make up. Jeff (Kent) was convinced that everyone was still scrambling.
Abi voted for Penner, RC voted Pete, Artis voted RC, Penner voted Pete, and Pete voted RC. Probst grabbed the idols and asked about the hidden immunity idol; Penner decided to play his idol just in case. Penner had five votes, Pete had two, and RC had four. RC was voted out and she was the first member of the jury. Jeff Kent looked confused as he probably tried to run the numbers.
Pete's Votes - Jonathan, RC
RC's Votes - Artis, Carter, Jeff, Pete
Jonathan's Votes - Malcolm, Denise, Lisa, Skupin, Abi
Of the votes, the thing that confuses me the most is the fact that RC and Skupin didn't have one unified vote. After talking about how they were close, they still split their votes. At least Denise and Malcolm voted the same way. Considering the fact, Lisa also voted with the former Matsing members.
Next Week: Penner felt betrayed and decided to play his own personal game. Didn't this happen with other returners that felt betrayed? I also recall that it didn't bode well for them.
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