With his tribe so willing to get rid of him just for the sake of getting rid of him that they threw the challenge, Russell (not to be confused with Ressell) was voted off the island for the first time in Survivor: Redemption Island Episode 3.
Phillip says he’s a little frustrated because his tribemates don’t understand him, not knowing whether he’s a criminal or a school teacher. The rest of the country is on the same page as them.
Stephanie and Krista are sitting ducks now that Russell’s gone. Wanting to convince his tribe he’s got it under control, Ralph shows them the idol. Every single one of them is convinced they have the idol, too.
Phil gets and reads treemail. It’s an invite to Redemption Island. He’d like to go. How about you, Kristina, would you like to go? Ralph and Sarita will also be going, anxious to witness Russell’s elimination.
Matt is standing in the way of Russell’s reentry into the game. He still believes that God cares about the outcome of Survivor. For today’s duel, they will stack a series of blocks on a multilevel platform while avoiding trip wires. The goal is to arrange the blocks so they will fall like dominos and release a ball. Matt is the first to get to the end and give it a try. He falls short and must restack half of his line. Russell tries, and he falls short. Matt tries again to win the duel, and a seemingly emotional Russell is officially out of the game, barring some unforeseen twist. All four people watching this unfold are thrilled.
Ralph’s so confident he’s willing to reveal to Russell and, in turn, Kristina and Phillip, that he has the idol. Russell spills the rest of the tribe’s secrets, hoping to remain in the game through these witnesses. This combined with the fact that they were dumb enough to give Boston Rob momentum may well be enough to shift the tide.
While Phillip and Kristina are off on Redemption, Rob decides now would be a good time to search for the hidden idol. He creates a game hoping to try to get everyone else away from him. Then he takes them to the beach and pretends to be constipated so he can run back to camp and look. The awesome clue that he has told him the idol is somewhere on the island. After about 15 minutes of climbing trees, he finds the idol.
Phillip wants to take control when he returns to camp. His pitch to Kristina is that this will move her from the next one out to maybe the fourth. His plan is to withhold the names until merge. Her plan is to sit back and let him dig his own grave. He tells the others Russell had a meltdown but not much else. Those details will be saved for Rob. Once he gets a guarantee that Kristina will be safe, Phillip tells Rob everything, including names. So much for leverage. And why is he so worried about protecting Kristina?
On day one, both tribes were given a Craftsman tool kit. Today’s challenge will be to test their ability to use those tools. They will go over a balance beam, use a crowbar to open a crate to retrieve a shovel, dig to find an axe, chop through a rope to release two saws, saw through a wall to create planks, use the planks to create a ramp, and untie a hammer to hit three nails and break three tiles. Reward is a BBQ set, with everything they need, including the food. Krista sits out for Zapatera. Ralph is the first to open the crate ahead of Rob. Grant makes up ground against Julie while digging. Ralph retains and extends his lead on the log chopping. Mike and Steve get their planks done well ahead of Phillip and Grant. Stephanie and Sarita finish their planks still with a good lead over Rob and Kristina. Stephanie releases the hammer first to win reward and immunity for Zapatera.
When they return to camp, Phillip takes the opportunity to make a speech that nobody wants to hear.
Kristina’s hope since she dug her own grave is that Phillip dug his quicker. Natalie thinks Kristina is acting weird with her small talk about the idol and the reward clue. Rob’s plan is a 3-2 split vote to get rid of Kristina, with the hopes that everybody stays in line, if for no other reason than that it means he’s in control. He tells Phil they’re going to get rid of Kristina, a sign to him that his earlier agreement to keep her was a lie.
Votes
Phillip
Kristina
Phillip
Kristina
Phillip
Kristina
Kristina
By a vote of 4-3, Kristina has been voted off the island. She played hard way too early, without it making sense to do so.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Redemption Island Episode 5, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.
Nice episode. would’ve love to have seen Kristina and Russell play together, but to good players have left the game