Category: survivor cagayan

How the heck did we end up here? Trish’s elimination in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 12 brought us down to the final four: Spencer Bledsoe, Tony Vlachos, Kassandra “Kass” McQuillen, and Yung “Woo” Hwang.

Strangely enough, two of the final four come from the Brains tribe, the most inept, incompetent, and frankly dumb tribe quite possibly in the history of Survivor. They turned things around after the tribe shuffle merely by sticking together, unlike the Beauties.

Even though I’m not sure he’s done much, Spencer has been insightful and has come a long way despite always being at the bottom of the totem pole. Tony and Kass have played similar games, making big, stupid moves that did not make any sense. They both seemed more interested in making good TV than playing strategically, but nonetheless they get points for controlling the game. Then there’s Woo. What, he’s still here?

Tony’s not particularly torn up about Trish’s exit, which he voted for along with everybody else. Though he liked her, he has no desire to take her to the end.

Not content with merely having voted out Trish, Kass is still going on about how she hates her.

For everybody wondering about the loved ones visit, it happens now. A boat randomly approaches them while they’re hanging around at camp.

Kass defends her game. She played like a man. So she’s not a bitch.

For the immunity challenge, they will stand on a pole high above the ocean and use a bucket to retrieve water and fill a chute, then they will head to shore to complete a puzzle. Kass is out of it right away and seems completely hopeless. Tony leads throughout and fills his chute first. Spencer is second. Who really thinks Tony is going to beat Spencer on a puzzle? Woo is not far behind them. Eventually, Kass figures out the first part of the challenge. And then, somehow, she finishes the puzzle first and wins immunity.

Kass plans to send Spencer home.

When they get back, Spencer pulls Tony aside to warn him that this year it’s a final two, not a final three. This is where being a super fan comes in handy. He’ll be happy with a fire making tie. Woo’s not so sure what will happen if there’s a tie. He thinks maybe they will have to draw rocks… or fight.

At Tribal Council, Spencer makes a further plea. He promises to take Tony to the end if he has the choice, and he asks the jury to not vote for him if he does not honor that promise. For some reason, Kass then tells Tony she has a better chance against Woo than she does against him.

Tony finally acknowledges that his stupid special idol is now dead, not that it mattered.

Votes
Spencer
Woo
Spencer
Spencer

With 3 votes, Spencer has been voted off the island. Great, now we’re stuck with two unlikeable people and one invisible one.

Woo and Kass agree to take each other to the final two.

The final immunity challenge is a large maze of turnstyles in which they will collect medallions then solve a cog puzzle. Kass takes the lead while Tony and Woo follow each other the wrong way. They keep following each other as she extends her lead. As Kass runs into the same dead end Tony and Woo did, Woo takes the lead, a bit ahead of Tony, who finally separated from him and went the wrong way. Kass is way behind, but she was a lot further behind during the last challenge. Though Kass gives him a run for his money in what Probst says is probably the closest finish ever, Woo wins immunity.

Tony tells Woo that he should take him because that would be the loyal thing to do. If he were Woo, though, he wouldn’t buy it and would rather take his chances with Kass. Woo’s dilemma is that he thinks Kass will be easier to beat, but he wants to keep his integrity, which would mean keeping his word to Tony.

Jeff asks Woo what Tony and Kass said to him at camp. Woo asks if they could just skip this and get to the vote.

Vote
Kass

With 1 vote, Kass has been voted off the island. I’m not sure that Woo has much chance against either of them, but bringing someone who you think will beat you because they are your ally is dumb. His rationalization for it is that the jury would respect it, and he also wants a more honorable win by beating someone better, as he would in a martial arts tournament.

Sarah gives Tony a hard time for breaking his promise. Then she asks Woo who he would vote for if she were in his spot, and he says he would vote for her.

Jefra continues the whining about how Tony blindsided her.

Morgan changes the story by being complimentary about how he was able to get people to follow him, and she also respects Woo for his decision last night.

Jeremiah goes right back to the original theme, calling Tony pathetic for lying on his wife and child.

Tony claims to Tasha that everybody else was coming after him first, which is why he turned on them, with the exception of Trish, who would have remained loyal to him to the end.

Though Tasha was calm, LJ is, like the others, upset by Tony.

Kass does not get the answer she was looking for when Woo tells her she did not deserve to sit there next to him.

Woo tells Trish that it was his idea to get rid of her. Then she proceeds to tear into Tony. She makes a big deal about him swearing on his father’s grave. Have you ever seen Survivor before? He says it was worth it.

Spencer says that Woo is like a dog, and Tony is his master. Then he makes a pitch to the jury why they should vote for Tony.

The jury’s decision is pretty clear cut, more than it usually is. Do they vote for someone out of respect for how he played the game, or do they make a bitter vote because they got beat?

Votes
Tony
Woo
Tony
Tony
Tony
Tony

The Survivor: Cagayan winner is Tony. It might have been interesting if he were up against someone who had done more, but Woo was just too under the radar to have won.

There was a glimmer of hope these idiots would stop doing what’s best for Tony’s game in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 11, but it was short-lived as Tasha was sent home.

The reward challenge will be to dive into a pit of mud and see how much of that mud they can transport into a bucket. Reward is a pizza. Tony’s bucket is overflowing with mud at the end of the challenge, and nobody desires to bother weighing it to see whether he really won. He invites Trish to join him to eat pizza.

Tony has to burn both of his idols tonight, but he says he still has until the final four. Surely nobody is going to buy that. I don’t think they would rig the show that much, right? Of course, without the idiotic super power idol, he would have had no choice but to burn one of them last time, but he pretty much does not need to flush either of them until he is actually voted out. He can just keep them as souvenirs if he wants.

Woo told Tony that Kass was planning to flip. Tony tells Kass this. Kass then tells Woo. Woo denies it. She tells Tony. Tony gets upset and starts making animal noises, which is a new one. So now Kass is talking about turning on Tony. Oh, this again. This is all silly.

For the immunity challenge, they will untangle ropes, unlock ladder rungs, build a ladder and staircase, and solve a slide puzzle. Tony is the first to release his key and start on the ladder. Trish and Kass are behind him, followed by Spencer and Woo. Tony retains his lead building the ladder, and he is the first to complete the stairs as well. The only one who looks moderately competitive is Spencer, who would seem to have good odds to win on the slide puzzle. Tony just seems to be randomly sliding pieces around with no strategy or attempt to even think. Spencer wins immunity.

Immediately after the challenge, Trish attacks Kass because she was listening to her conversation with Woo and Spencer earlier. Great, now we get to listen to her mouth for a while.

Now that Tony’s been busted by Kass blabbing his “secrets”, Woo says he wants to get rid of Trish. You know, maybe.

Before the vote, Tony pulls out both of his idols. Then he plays his non-special idol (for himself, not his closest ally) because he is making an over the top effort to make a scene.

Votes
Trish
Kass
Trish
Trish

With 3 votes, Trish has been voted off the island. Even Tony voted for her.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Cagayan Episode 13, where we will find out who the Survivor: Cagayan winner is, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Tony screwed over yet another stupid alliance member in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 10 and voted out Jefra.

Kass is pissed off, but Trish seems to be a dumbass still willing to blindly continue following Tony. The next morning, things get worse. Kass overhears her name from Tony’s big mouth, and she assumes he is calling her names. Spencer is completely happy to let this misunderstanding continue, although Tony is telling the truth for a change. Eventually, she says she will vote for him, and he threatens her that she will go home thanks to his special idol if she does. The sad thing about this is that his threat is actually true because he has ridiculous and stupid power in this game. Thanks a lot, Jeff Probst.

At the reward challenge, they will throw sandbags at each other’s walls, then race to rebuild those walls. Reward is to be ambassadors of goodwill at a local elementary school. Woo, Spencer, and Kass (purple) are against Tasha, Trish, and Tony (orange). The purple team is the first to knock down the opposing wall, but their lead is a slim two pieces. Spencer quickly falls apart on the puzzle, but then when it seems like Tasha is going to run away with it, he comes from behind to win as she stands there without any more progress.

During the reward, Kass doesn’t seem to care who is there. She’s going to make a deal with anyone, even Tony’s closest ally Woo. Granted, I think it’s easier to talk some sense into Woo than Trish. Spencer is willing to play along, but the best they can get from Woo is that he is willing to consider it. Eventually, Woo says he’s in. When he gets back to camp, Woo tells Tony nothing, but his story that Tasha is Spencer’s target is so far fetched that Tony has trouble buying it.

Their immunity challenge will be to run around and count the number of items at six stations. The more numbers they can remember at once, the less running they will have to do. It’s completely unclear who is winning or losing here because no indication is provided how many numbers are correct for each player. A hint would help make this somewhat interesting. After about half an hour, Spencer wins immunity.

The plan is to split the votes between Trish and Tony. Of course, Kass is not satisfied with this plan. Like Tony, she wants to make big moves in this game. Not necessarily smart or good moves, just something to keep the spotlight on her, which is why she hates Tony so much because he is the dominant force in the game, by hook or by it being rigged. So she talks to Woo about voting for Tasha instead.

Tony does not play his idol, nor does he need to because he can play the other one after the votes are read, which is stupid. If Kass is dumb enough to not try to get rid of him, however, it really doesn’t matter because he could coast through the rest of the game even if his idol did not have any special powers.

Votes
Tasha
Tony
Trish
Tash
Tasha

With 3 votes, Tasha has been voted off the island.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Cagayan Episode 12, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Spencer used his idol on himself in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 9, which was expected by the rest of the tribe, as they voted out Jeremiah instead.

Their first task for the night is the Survivor auction. Popcorn, candy, and soda gets a $80 bid from Trish. Jefra bids $100 for a covered item: quesadilla, guacamole, salsa, and a margarita. Kass bids $20 for the next covered item, which she passes up for another covered item, a steak sandwich and iced tea. Trish buys another covered item for $60, but it’s a bowl of rice and glass of water. Woo buys ribs and a beer for $40 somehow unopposed.

Tony, Spencer, and Tasha acknowledge they’re not bidding because they are waiting for an advantage. Tony yells out $500 before Probst can even finish his sentence. Spencer joins him for a shot at drawing rocks for the advantage, while Tasha bows out. Tony draws the black rock, which gives him an advantage in the game, as if he needs one considering he has the ridiculous and stupid idol he already has. And now the auction is over. Tasha should have drawn rocks.

Having decided before the auction that he wanted to forgo everything else, Tony is bitter at his alliance once the auction is over because they forced him to sacrifice on his own. Anyway, what’s his advantage? A clue to another hidden immunity idol. Oh, now this is just plain pathetic.

Tasha seems to want to form an all female alliance. Spencer sees them talking and spreads this as far as he knows baseless information to Tony, knowing that he is the season’s most paranoid player, who plays hard but not necessarily intelligently.

Unsurprisingly, Tony has received a blatantly obvious clue to the idol, and he ends up finding it. This one he shows to his alliance.

For the immunity challenge, they will dig up bags from the sand then use the balls inside on a table maze. Tony is the first to dig up all the bags, but it doesn’t help him much. Tasha is the first to the maze. She has two balls in before anybody else even gets to the table. Woo eventually catches her at three balls. Jefra, Trish, and Kass are completely pitiful and are out of it. Woo makes things interesting, but Tasha wins immunity again.

Though Tasha has no actual agreement with the women, she hopes that mere paranoia can drive the vote. They can’t get rid of her, and the alternative of Spencer would reduce the female-male ratio down to 4-2. So Tony wants to blindside Jefra. Once again, Tony will not be telling his alliance of this plan. Rather, he is going to use the other side plus Woo to decide the vote. These people are idiots and deserve what they get.

Not trusting Tony, Spencer goes to search for the (already found) idol anyway. This is not lost on the rest of the tribe.

At Tribal Council, Tony says that Spencer told him that Jefra plans to blindside him. He takes out his idol, but it’s just for show.

Votes
Spencer
Jefra
Spencer
Jefra
Spencer
Jefra
Jefra

With 4 votes, Jefra has been voted off the island. I bet that final four that lasted for about five minutes of last week’s episode is looking pretty good now.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Cagayan Episode 11, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

LJ was blindsided by Tony and the opposing alliance in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 8 because, well, I don’t really know why.

For some reason, Trish still trusts Tony, even though she had no idea how he was going to vote last week.

Speaking of Tony’s inability to be trusted, he builds a spy shack by the water hole. The first thing he learns from this is the obvious that Jefra does not trust him any more.

For the reward challenge, they will race out on the water to collect paddles then use them to solve a word puzzle. Reward is a barbeque in a cave. Kass, Trish, Tony, and Woo (orange) are against Tasha, Spencer, Jeremiah, and Jefra (purple). The purple team seems to be better at paddling, but they are not so good at retrieving paddles. When Tony drops a paddle, it allows the purple team to catch back up, but they fall behind again. After wasting time trying to steal the answer from the other team, Spencer finally thinks for himself and comes up with the obvious puzzle solution, “worth playing for”.

Tony’s paranoia returns. And I thought it was gone when he was not panicking for about three minutes. He considers the results of the reward challenge dangerous because Jefra’s going to a reward with the three people from the other side. This time, his concern is warranted. It does not take much for her to begin plotting his demise along with the others. She takes it a step further and makes a final four deal with them.

At the immunity challenge, they will balance on a beam while holding a ball on a platform. This is supposedly an endurance challenge, but the wind could make it short-lived. Jefra, Tony, Trish, and Kass all fall within three minutes. After 10 minutes, they move to another round on a narrower beam and also move their hands down on their poles. Jeremiah falls. The remaining three move to the third and final round. Woo falls. Spencer outlasted Tasha last time they faced off, but this time Tasha wins immunity.

Nobody else seems particularly concerned, but Tony knows he made an unnecessary stupid big move way too early. He knows now he needs to find the idol, and he does indeed find the special idol, which he must use for himself and can play after the votes have been read. Lame. I’m okay with idols that require some thought and add an element to the game, but this is just… lame. It’s not like it was any harder to find than a normal idol either.

Remember Jefra’s final four deal? Yeah, that’s over already.

Jeremiah reveals a secret that he’s a model. For some reason, he felt that was an important secret or for that matter something that would surprise anybody. Spencer then reveals something that actually matters, telling Jeremiah and Tasha about his idol.

Spencer plays his hidden immunity idol.

Votes
Woo
Woo
Woo
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah

With 5 votes, Jeremiah has been voted off the island, as they correctly predicted who had an idol.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Cagayan Episode 10, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Morgan was voted off the island in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 7 because she was dead weight. Yeah, let’s not worry about getting rid of a threat. Let’s go after the wannabe princess who can neither win anything nor strategize.

Tony is trying to create a reason to get rid of LJ. He does not have any actual reason, so his plan is to put words in his mouth and pretend he is going after Woo.

For the reward challenge, they will toss sandbags through a tunnel then bounce them into baskets. Reward is a trip to a spa. Jeremiah releases his bags almost immediately to take a lead, which he retains through the tunnel. Tony continues this success on the trampoline, winning reward for himself, Jeremiah, and Spencer before anybody else even makes one basket.

Before Tony can start talking about LJ, LJ does the talking. Unlike Tony, LJ is actually telling the truth about Tony’s paranoia. Despite it being apparent that doing so is stupid, LJ still says he trusts Tony. While LJ chats back at camp, Tony tells Spencer and Jeremiah that he does not want to get rid of them yet.

Tasha invites LJ to discuss strategy. He’s not willing to talk, but he is willing to listen… until he’s not. LJ is too afraid of Tony getting suspicious, so he refuses to even go take a walk to meet her elsewhere.

The immunity challenge is one of memory in which they will repeat colored patterns. Trish is the first one out. Woo is next. Both in the first round, which consists of four colors. This is pitiful. Jefra, Kass, Spencer, and Jeremiah make it through several colors in the next round before all being knocked out. Tony and LJ are out on the next color, and Tasha wins immunity.

LJ’s plan is to split the vote 3 votes for Jeremiah and 3 votes for Spencer.

Meanwhile, Tony’s target is still LJ. In his warped mind, he seems to have convinced himself that LJ really did suggest getting rid of Woo. Woo believes Tony’s story right away. Trish is not sure who to believe, but she does not want to break up the alliance just yet, nor does Kass.

Votes
LJ
LJ
LJ
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Spencer
LJ
LJ

With 5 votes, LJ has been voted off the island. The reality for Tony’s alliance is that he did not need them to support his delusion. The other tribe all voted with him.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Cagayan Episode 9, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

In the second most interesting Tribal Council I saw last week (sorry, Kass, but Shane and Marian make for better TV than you do), Kass inexplicably flipped on her alliance in which she was toward the top of the totem pole, helping a bunch of strangers get rid of Sarah in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 6 instead.

The drama has not ended yet. Spencer is particularly bitter, but the reality is that he’s right that Kass has been playing like an idiot the whole game. Meanwhile, Morgan thinks Kass is just a bitter, ugly old lady.

For the reward challenge, they will go through a series of obstacles, untie and drag a chest, and bring it up a wall where they will solve a puzzle. Reward is a trip to a Survivor Outback Steakhouse. The purple team is up the wall first with a bit of a lead, but they lose it on the puzzle. Spencer, Jeremiah, Morgan, and Jefra win reward.

Nobody really trusts Kass, but they are willing to use her for a vote for now. Tony’s concerned that he cannot tell whether she is lying or not.

At the reward, a piece of paper falls out of Spencer’s napkin that he had been ignoring throughout the meal. Of course, this paper is a clue to the hidden immunity idol. He disappears right when they get back to camp, so Woo follows him because it’s just too obvious that something is up. They bump into each other, and Woo picks up Spencer’s pants. Out falls the clue, which Woo grabs and proceeds to run. Woo returns to camp and recruits some help, and Spencer does the same.

Eventually, everybody is looking for the idol. Despite the drama, Spencer is still the one to find it. He finds it right in front of Kass, but she does not notice. After reading the instructions, he realizes he just found a normal idol, not the one with special hidden powers.

For the immunity challenge, they will balance on their toes with a block wedged between their head and a board. Kass lasts a few seconds. Jeremiah and Trish follow. This is going pretty quickly for an endurance competition. Tony follows. The others have lasted 25 minutes now. Morgan drops. Woo is next. Jefra follows. Then LJ. That leaves Tasha and Spencer. They keep going and going. For an hour and a half. Though Tasha seems largely unphased as her opponent struggles, Spencer wins immunity.

Kass wants to get rid of Tasha, who is actually a threat. Tony would rather get rid of Morgan because she’s dead weight.

The only hope the other side has is that Kass will flip yet again. So they will not be doing a revenge vote but instead will target Tony. Of course, considering Spencer’s hidden idol, they could still get rid of anybody regardless of how the majority votes, as long as they can predict the target. I doubt anybody logical would think Morgan is the target, however, because voting Morgan out is just dumb. I guess that would be par for the course for this season. These people do the dumbest thing every time.

At Tribal Council, Morgan acknowledges that she doesn’t do anything. She never does anything in real life either.

Votes
Tony
Tony
Tony
Tony
Morgan
Morgan
Morgan
Morgan
Morgan
Morgan

With 6 votes, Morgan has been voted off the island. I don’t think anybody will miss her, but I don’t understand the concept of getting rid of a non-physical, non-strategic, non-liked player who is the perfect person to ride further in the game because she can’t get any votes, win anything, or think for herself.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Cagayan Episode 8, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

First Lindsey quit in Survivor: Cagayan Episode 5 because Trish is a lunatic, then Alexis proved to be out of her depth as the Beauty tribe imploded and almost made the Brains look smart by comparison.

When they return to camp, they discuss being the top six. Kass is overly honest in her opinion, telling Sarah that she is worried about her and Jeremiah. She will not trust her until she takes out a former tribemate. Well, then, how about she just gets rid of you instead?

They receive treemail telling them about the visiting each other on the same island. They’re counting their chickens already, but nobody used the word merge. Upon arrival, however, they do indeed read that word. They name their new tribe Solarrion, a combination of the two previous tribe names.

Tony realizes his tribe is outnumbered. His only hope is getting Sarah back onboard. Yeah, the one who is not part of his top five that he was shouting about last week. He no longer has any intention of taking her to the top, and I’m not sure he ever did.

Sarah’s under the impression she’s in the best possible position. Oh sure, for this week. In either situation, she’s on the bottom. Despite the fact that Sarah is in power for now, Kass insists on arguing with her about how to vote. Why does it matter so much? Do what she wants. As long as it’s not you. Later, Tasha steps in to be the mediator, but rather than just taking a deep breath, Kass still refuses to shut the hell up.

Their first individual immunity challenge is one of endurance. They will balance on platforms in the water. Everybody survives the first 15 minutes on the first set of footholds before climbing higher. Then another 15 minutes at the next set of footholds before moving to the top of the structure. This one seems like it will be a lot easier on the feet, though it is very narrow. Spencer, Kass, LJ, Sarah, Jefra, Tasha, Trish, and Jeremiah all fall on or shortly after the transition to the top. Morgan gets blown off next, and then there were two, likely among the top targets. Tony falls. Woo wins immunity. He was Sarah’s main target.

Despite Kass, Sarah wants to remain on that side because she considers them weaker. She wants Tony out, and she guarantees he does not have an idol (he does). Rather than just lie to him, she tells him she has to think about it and will decide at Tribal Council.

Trish approaches Kass, who tells her she would get rid of Sarah given the choice. That will make Sarah their vote.

Tony’s no longer keeping it secret. He does indeed have an idol, and he pulls one out at Tribal Council. This promptly leads to talk about how they’re voting for “the other one”.

After the vote, Tony passes his idol to LJ. LJ, in turn, wants to cover Tony, turning in a second hidden immunity idol.

Votes
Jefra
Sarah
Jefra
Sarah
Jefra
Sarah
Jefra
Sarah
Jefra
Sarah
Sarah

With 6 votes, Sarah has been voted off the island. Everybody knows Kass flipped. It’s not even a question. She just pissed off 4 people to please a bunch of people she does not know. It’s not even like she was on the bottom of her alliance or anything that made sense. She was in the dominant sub-alliance of her alliance, and despite their utter incompetence, the Brains actually had a chance at taking control of this game, though she had no prayer of beating Spencer. In the end, Kass was right. She went about it the wrong way, but the vote for Jefra was so completely unexpected by the other side that they just blew two idols with neither hitting its target.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Cagayan Episode 7, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.