Category: survivor gabon

Ken’s overplaying of the game in the belief that he’s the mastermind came back to bite him again in Survivor: Gabon Episode 13, as his closest ally Crystal was voted out. That brings us down to a final five of Susie Smith, Matty Whitmore, Ken Hoang, Sugar Kiper, and Bob Crowley. One of them will be the Survivor: Gabon winner.

Susie has been, well, on the show and stuff. Aside from flipping and taking out Marcus, there’s not much to say about her. Matty’s been on the wrong side pretty much the whole way but somehow has survived in spite of that. At the beginning of the season, I was having trouble deciding whether Sugar was just an airhead or whether she was great at this game (that whole Ace thing didn’t help her any), and I’d have to say at this point that it’s the latter. Ken has played a strong game. Too strong. His last two strategic moves burned him, and his problem has been that he thinks he’s so great at this game, which has led to one too many bad aggressive moves. For the most part, Bob had a pretty lackluster run the first couple months, but he’s coming on strong toward the end both in terms of his ability to strategize and also as a physical threat.

Survivor finale delayed by 60 Minutes/football overrun? That’s new.

Ken’s not happy that he was completely in the dark, or that Bob made up a deal in his head that sounded similar to the deal they made together.

Sugar wants to be in the final three with Bob and Matty. As bad plans go, that’s a good one. Susie should get minimal votes, and Bob stands the chance of getting a lot of votes. Sugar manages to convince Ken that she’s still with him.

The immunity challenge is as complicated as it usually is at this stage. First they need to dig a hole big enough to get under a wall. Susie is the first through the wall. How did? How? Ken and Bob are behind her, followed by Matty and then Sugar. From there they’ll walk on some planks to get through an elevated maze. If they fall off, they have to go back to the start. Matty is the first to fall. Susie figures out the maze, and Sugar and Ken just follow her (this was a dumb idea). Bob finishes next then Matty. Then they will have to open a series of knots to open a gate. Opening the gate takes them inside the maze of Gabonese huts. There are 25 of them, three of which have puzzle pieces. They need three bags to start. Matty gets the first bag. He retains his lead and is first to two. Sugar overtakes him and is the first to start her puzzle, followed by Bob, Matty, Ken, but not Susie. We’ve seen in the past that puzzles are between Ken and Bob, with Bob having an edge. Bob wins immunity for his fifth straight challenge.

Ken still thinks he’s the mastermind, and he plans to just sit around and chill. The first thing he needs to buy himself with his earnings is a clue.

Matty doesn’t let Susie in on the plan. He tells her to just trust her gut.

Matty promises Sugar final two, and they want to get rid of both Ken and Susie.

At tribal council, Bob’s wins come up. For some reason, Matty builds Bob up in front of the jury and tries to make him sound like Superman. Susie, meanwhile, says she has no strategy other than to do as she’s told.

Ken brings up how Bob is trying to back out of the deal, and Bob doesn’t hold back, bringing up the blindside idea.

Votes
Ken
Susie
Ken
Ken

With 3 votes, Ken has been voted out, to the delight of the jury. Kenny had control of this game, but he overdid the master manipulator role, making aggressive moves where they were not needed. Ken goes out with one of the classier exits we’ve seen and doesn’t appear to hold any hard feelings.

And then there were four. Susie believes she’s a goner if she doesn’t win immunity, but she tells Matty she’d vote Bob if she were to win.

It’s time for the final immunity challenge (yes, we’re back to a final three again, which I never particularly cared for, since one person’s usually a throw away). Each player will have 200 wooden tiles that they will use to build a house of cards 10 feet tall. Isn’t there supposed to be like an endurance competition? 9 minutes in, Sugar’s house collapses, and everybody’s back at or near square one. She drops again at 6.5 feet, and Susie loses hers for a second time as well. Bob follows, putting Matty a bit ahead of everybody, though his strategy of building a solid foundation first may pay off in the long run. Bob’s collapses again, and he’s pretty much out. Now it’s a race between the other three to see who can be highest at 30 minutes, since they don’t need 10 feet if that time mark is passed. When Susie gets to 8 feet, she sits on her lead because she doesn’t want to risk anything. Matty and Sugar are trying to catch her about a foot behind, but they are unable to. Susie wins immunity. If there were no time limit, Matty probably would have won.

The final three plans have been dashed by underestimating Susie. The smart thing here is to get rid of Bob, as it was before. He’s a likeable guy, and there’s too much risk that there will be a lot of those “winning challenges matters” people on the jury.

Matty tells Bob he’s got to vote him out, and Sugar says she’s got to vote him out as well. Susie takes a different approach. She wants to get rid of Sugar, so she asks Bob if he thinks he would get a lot of jury votes. He refuses to cooperate. He also doesn’t want to answer whether she would have been voted out if he or Sugar won immunity. At least make an effort to come up with reasonable answers that may sway her vote.

As if Bob didn’t notice he’s in trouble, Susie keeps mentioning how she won again and again and again and again, apparently without realizing how it sounds.

Sugar’s got another bad plan. She’s thinking of forcing a tie, in which case she risks a huge jury threat getting through. Bob hopes the tiebreaker would be making fire.

Matty makes it obvious he’s voting for Bob because he can’t stab Sugar after she gave him the idol. Bob says that he thinks people like Matty, so he’d rather go up against Sugar and Susie in the end. It all comes down to Sugar, who has to decide between a brother figure and a father figure.

Votes
Bob
Bob
Matty
Matty

With two votes each, there is a tie. Because there are only four people left, it’s a firemaking tiebreaker. Bob is first to get fire, but it doesn’t last. He manages to revive it, though, and Matty’s still out of this. Bob wins. Matty has been eliminated.

Sugar’s played a better game than Bob, but it’s dumb moves like this that make me question her.

Susie says it’s important that she succeed just in trying. She’s become very confident and comfortable despite the rough start.

Bob doesn’t think he outwitted or outplayed the jury but that he did follow through on his original plan of just being himself and using his survival skills and personality.

Sugar plays up her gameplay, which was mostly impressive.

Charlie asks why they should be voted for in this new assessment, which would be a stark contrast from when they were voted so lowly in the tribal rankings previously. Susie’s response is that she’s trying. Sugar’s response is that they don’t necessarily have to vote for her, but it would be nice. Then he asks Bob about the intimate cuddling and spooning.

Crystal calls Susie a coattail rider. Then she tells Bob that Sugar controlled him. His response is that he, too, was riding coattails. She wants to know why Sugar voted her out, and Sugar’s response is because of how badly she treats people (is Sugar trying to throw the game away with these answers?).

Susie tells Ken she deserves to win because she’s an underdog. Sugar tells Ken she backstabbed him because he was a bigger threat than Susie. Now it’s time to revisit the deal. Bob repeats that Ken was trying to turn, but what Ken wanted was an admission that he should have given up the idol and been voted out just so he could keep his word to someone who was plotting against him.

Corinne will only vote for Susie if she agrees to have her vocal chords removed. Corinne doesn’t like one dimensional Bob and wants him to be a bitch like she is. She wants convincing that he doesn’t like Sugar. His response is about the laughing over the fake idol with Randy. Now she’s got a comment for Sugar, and it’s perhaps the most heartless jury comment ever, whether much of it is true or not. “You’re an unemployed, uneducated leech on society, and the only thing I would vote to give you is a handful of antidepressants so that no one else has to be subjected to your constant crying any more. And maybe if you got some, then it would seem a little more sincere when you are crying about your dead father.” Sugar flips her the bird, and we move on from there.

Marcus takes the opportunity to whine about how Susie turned on him (so he couldn’t turn on her). He considers it a moral problem for a mother and child educator to do that. Sugar agrees that she would put money toward lung cancer if she wins. Marcus wants to know why Bob never stepped forward. Bob gives a poor answer that the occasion never came up. He did make a couple good moves, but he doesn’t care to dwell on them apparently.

Randy wants to know why Susie feels sorry for him. He also wants to know why Sugar laughed uncontrollably. Since he asks if she was trying to make a jackass out of him, she’s got an easy answer that he already did that himself.

Matty asks Susie to bad mouth the other two. She didn’t like how Sugar humiliated Randy and how Bob got mad at her for winning immunity. Sugar tells Matty that she broke Kenny’s heart and let him down, which she apologizes for. His question for Bob is why the two people on either side are more deserving. Bob answers that he doesn’t think they are.

These answers are rather horrible. Then again, many of the questions were subpar anyway.

Votes
Bob
Susie
Susie
Susie
Bob
Bob
Bob

This band of misfits somehow almost gave Susie the win, but ultimately the Survivor: Gabon winner is Bob. Sugar, who played a better game than anybody on the jury, did not receive any votes. Of course, she threw away the game in Bob’s favor at the previous vote.

When asked what would have happened if Matty made the final three instead, 5 people say they would have voted for him. Uh, what did he do?

In addition to his $1 million prize, Bob also won the viewers’ vote ahead of Sugar and Matty, which gives him an extra $100,000.

While people continue to talk about Survivor’s ratings not being what they once were (what is?), it’s still a top 20 show and obviously will be back. Survivor: Tocantins premieres February 12.

Knowing he was one of the next to go, Bob came up with a somewhat harebrained scheme as a last ditch effort in Survivor: Gabon Episode 12. He and Corinne convinced Ken and Crystal that they found a long lost immunity idol and that they needed to be together as a foursome to the finals. The plan was going great… until Ken decided he’s the greatest player ever and that he must be in control of every decision no matter how ridiculous. He had Crystal vote Corinne, and Corinne didn’t play the idol, so she went home. Still, for Bob, he’s managed to split that alliance of 5 right down the middle because of Ken’s idiocy, which gives renewed life to Bob’s game, though it does put Ken’s and Crystal’s games in jeopardy.

Despite the fact that he was a dumbass last week, Ken still believes he’s calling the shots and is the mastermind. Matty knows who’s at fault and doesn’t believe a word Ken’s saying. Crystal realizes it was dumb of her to vote for Corinne.

Sugar continues to side with Crystal and Ken, regardless of the fact they just flipped on her.

Ken goes to Bob to ask if he lied to them. The logical thing to do here is say Corinne didn’t play the idol because she trusted them. Instead, Bob admits to lying and then takes it one step further… he agrees to give him immunity if he wins it.

Reward is a visit to a gorilla sanctuary. The challenge is to run through a muddy swamp, untie a ball, and run back to make a basket with it. Matty gets off to an early lead. Ken and Bob are behind him. The women may as well just sit down. From the beginning, Matty never looks back from his lead, but he loses it in the end to Bob after taking too many shots. Bob decides to share the reward with Crystal and Ken. He’s putting all his eggs in this same basket. Susie is going to Exile.

Ken and Bob discuss their original agreement. Ken brings up that he wants Bob to give him immunity if he wins it not necessarily right away but only when Ken feels he’s in danger. Bob foolishly seems to be willing to put himself on the hook to give away his individual immunity for the entire game.

Susie takes the comfort because she knows Sugar has the idol already.

Back at camp, Matty tells Sugar that he wants Ken and Crystal gone, and she responds that he’d better win immunity because otherwise he’s a goner.

Crystal tells Matty he’s a liar. It’s not entirely clear why she believes that or why she’s yelling (as usual). Sugar goes to Matty to tell him that Ken and Crystal aren’t good people for kicking him when he’s down. She tells him she wants to get Bob on their side along with Susie to take out Crystal.

The immunity challenge is to study a Gabonese mask and recreate the features of it on a blank mask after crawling through an obstacle course… while blindfolded. Matty’s off to an early lead. Crystal is completely hopeless and getting nowhere fast. Matty gets all three bags before he begins. The others are going one bag at a time. Matty has to make a fourth trip back to review the mask. Bob is the first to finish but is incorrect. Susie’s now wandering around aimlessly off the course. Ken is also incorrect. Bob wins immunity. Ken now hopes Bob will live up to his promise.

There’s a reason Ken wants Bob to live up to his promise. If he’s stupid enough to hand over the immunity idol to Ken, Ken plans to turn back around and vote him out. He tells Bob he’s nervous because the others are going to blindside him. Crystal tells Sugar the plan. Then Ken gets back to tell them that Bob will only hand over immunity if they all tell him they’re voting for him.

So now Sugar’s got some talking to Bob to do. She still wants to take them out. He doesn’t trust her, but he doesn’t not trust her either. When she gets back, she tells the others she told Bob that she’s voting for Ken. After asking Matty to let her do the thinking, they gotta get Susie onboard. Sugar is hoping that she will vote the same way that Matty’s voting.

Bob says that, since he doesn’t think Ken’s going home, he’s not giving him the necklace. Ah, but it gets even more interesting. Sugar obviously doesn’t need the idol (though this is Survivor and anything’s possible), so as added insurance, she gives it to Matty. The vote will go her way now. The jury’s happy with this move.

Votes
Matty (does not count)
Matty (does not count)
Crystal
Crystal
Crystal

By a vote of 3-0, Crystal has been voted off the island. Well played, and Ken realizes he’s all alone.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Gabon episode 14 Say Goodbye to Gabon, where we will find out who the Survivor: Gabon winner is, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Apparently not content with the 20 minute recap at the beginning of next week’s finale, they decided to run a recap episode last week as well. When we last left off in Survivor: Gabon Episode 10, Randy got voted out after playing Bob’s fake idol.

Bob’s pissed off because they thought the joke was funnier than it really was and kept laughing and laughing. He might want to consider not letting the majority know he’s this upset, though.

Corinne is having trouble being around people she doesn’t like. She says she’s a nice person to people she likes. And apparently a complete bitch to those she doesn’t like.

Ken says that Bob has no idea what’s going on in the game and is stupid. Seems to be working okay for him thus far.

In the reward challenge, they will divide into two teams of three to gather puzzle pieces, running across a muddy swamp tied together. The first team to solve this will go to the final round to solve a slide puzzle. Reward is video messages from home along with pizza, beer, and brownies. Because today is all about love, nobody is going to Exile. Aw. Isn’t that special? They draw rocks. Crystal and Susie are captains. Susie wins rock, paper, scissors and picks Matty. Crystal chooses Sugar (huh?). Matty picks Kenny. Sugar picks Bob. Corinne is not chosen. Fairly amusing outcome, and it’s not like she’d contribute to solving the puzzle anyway, even if she’s somewhat okay at the physical aspect. Crystal’s finally showing that she’s something of an athlete, dragging her first pick Sugar. Matty is stuck with Susie and Ken, both of whom are dragging initially. Crystal’s strong initial performance doesn’t last, though, and the other team passes them on the last half. This is where it becomes apparent she’s a 200-400 meter champion, not a distance runner. Matty’s team retains the lead on the second trip across. It’s still anybody’s game when we get to the puzzle, and Bob, Sugar, and Crystal pull ahead to win. The bad news for the other two is that they have to know they can’t beat Bob in part two, and he not suprisingly wins reward easily. This makes Ken want him gone.

Bob gets a surprise. His wife is there in person to meet him after he wins reward. She thinks he smells good. Now that’s love. He gets to take her back to camp to see the others. Behind them are the family members from the rest of the tribe. For some reason, they fell for Probst’s obvious lie about their family members not being there, which we’ve known is not true for like 8 years now.

Ken says that Crystal and Sugar trust him 100%, that he is fully responsible for personally taking out five people, and that everybody loves him and will vote for him in the end. Sugar spreads some of her dad’s ashes. An emotional Matty proposes to his girlfriend.

Corinne and Bob aren’t looking to get on the majority. Instead, their plan is to merely blindside Matty. The others plan to vote out Bob and then Corinne. As a second part of his plan, Bob’s going to make another fake idol, with a story that nobody checked the bottle that went into the ocean when they all got rid of the other idol.

Immunity is Q&A and ball tossing to hit a target. For each correct question, they get a ball.

Gorillas were first discovered in Gabon. True or false?
True. Corinne and Sugar are right.

A male elephant is called a bull. A female is called a mare, a doe, or a cow?
A cow. Sugar, Susie, Corinne, and Bob are correct.

The Gabonese viper is poisonous but is considered virtually harmless. True or false?
False. It is deadly. Sugar, Bob, Ken, Crystal, and Matty are right.

The elephant’s trunk has three purposes: nose, arm, and mouth. True or false?
False. It is the nose and arm but not the mouth. Ken, Matty, Sugar, Corinne, and Bob are right.

Ken’s first shot is 6 away from the center. Matty gets 4 away. Sugar is not close enough. Susie’s only chance is not enough, and she’s out. Corinne also misses Matty’s mark. Bob takes the lead. Crystal’s only shot is not enough, and she’s next out. Ken’s next shot is not close enough, and he’s eliminated. Matty’s eliminated. Sugar’s close but not close enough to Bob. Corinne misses her next shot. Bob improves, 1 away from dead center. Good luck beating that. Sugar misses. Corinne is out. Bob’s next toss is not any closer. Sugar’s not close enough on her final toss, and Bob wins immunity. So I guess the target now is Corinne, but Bob still hopes to blindside Matty.

Corinne needs to get one person alone to tell the fake idol story to. She picks Ken. He seems to buy the story without question and is thinking of taking out Matty. For some reason, Corinne then says maybe they should take out Crystal instead, but Ken comes back with just getting Crystal to join them as a fourth. When their talks are done, Bob gets busy making his second fake idol, which again is quite impressive. Then he shows it to Crystal, who is fooled by it.

Not so fast with the plan, though. Ken doesn’t want to play this smart. He wants to play it half way, also flushing out the idol. He tells Crystal that, regardless of what the plan is, she needs to vote for Corinne, who will be playing the idol (even though she’s got final four assurances from them). Crystal’s not 100% sure that the idol is actually real, considering we saw Bob’s handiwork last time, and she’s not so sure she wants to see Corinne go home over Matty.

Ultimately, this is win-win for Bob. If Matty goes home, they get rid of a physical threat, and he’s in the majority. If Corinne goes home, it will mean Ken was enough of a dumbass to vote against his group while intentionally ensuring he did not have the majority of the votes, thereby destroying that group and turning them against each other.

Corinne does not play her fake idol.

Votes
Matty
Corinne
Corinne
Corinne
Matty
Matty
Corinne

By a vote of 4-3, Corinne has been voted out. The fact he received 3 votes will not be lost on Matty. Ken made perhaps his first really stupid move so far, but Bob made quite the genius move that may well save him next time.

As for Corinne, she hopes everybody but Bob and Ken have miserable lives. Leaving on the same positive note she’s stayed on this whole season I see.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Gabon episode 12 The Good Things in Life Aren’t Easy, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Following the merge in Survivor: Gabon Episode 9, Sugar had to pick a side to swing to. She opted to side with liars over obnoxious people and voted out Charlie, who was targeted because Ken wanted revenge (or something lame along those lines).

Randy’s starting to realize that making everybody angry with him may well be working to make himself a target. Granted, he also realizes that the closer they get to the finals, the more appealing it may be to keep himself or Crystal around (I’d say Corinne, too, but for some reason there are jury members who like her).

Corinne, Bob, and Randy are the only ones who Sugar has not told about having the immunity idol. So who does Bob pick to tell he’s got a fake idol? Sugar, of course, who has apparently offered him no reason to do so.

Corinne still thinks that everybody else is stupid. Has she looked around and noticed that her alliance is the one getting beat?

Randy’s plan? He’ll continue to be his same charming self. Oh, and like Corinne, he hates everybody, too.

Now that the Kota 6 sucks as bad as the Sovereign 6 did, Randy and Corinne want to offer the finals to a new person: Matty. As if they have that kind of power.

Contestants head to the Survivor auction. Beer and peanuts is the first item up for grabs. Sugar and Randy get in a bidding war, and Randy takes it for $180. She says she was just trying to screw him over by raising the price. Ken and Randy get in a bidding war over a covered item. Ken pays $340 for a piece of paper. He has the choice between sending himself or someone else to Exile. The good news is that if he sends them, he takes all their money, so it wasn’t completely moronic to pay that much for something covered. He sends Bob. Once again Randy and Ken get into a bidding war over a covered item. Sugar jumps in at the last minute and goes $340. Chocolate and peanutbutter. Worth it. And unlike Jenna and Heidi, she didn’t even have to strip. Randy is outbid by Susie, who pays $340 for a hot bath. Randy and Ken go at it again, but Matty jumps in eventually and pays $400 for a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda. Susie decides her $340 bath is too hot and hops out. Ken and Randy again, and Randy gets the covered spaghetti, garlic bread, and wine for $280. Without hesitation, Corinne bids all $500 for an advantage at the next immunity challenge.

Jeff offers something covered for the tribe for the first $20, and Randy buys the chocolate chip cookies. Randy questions if he can have them all for himself, a foolish statement. Jeff repeats: for the tribe. Sugar declines. Then Randy lets the others know he’s the boss and offers Corinne two. Corinne takes one and a half. Randy gives the other half to Matty. He offers to Sugar again, who accepts… then promptly gives her cookie to Matty. As for Randy? He’s left with an empty tray, and so he can play the martyr, he declines the half a cookie Corinne offers him. The Survivor auction is over. Randy promises to be an asshat to Sugar, as if he weren’t before.

When they get back to camp, Matty thanks Sugar for the cookie. Randy lets him know the cookie was from him, not from Sugar. Then he lets everybody know he’s not playing with half a deck.

Bob decides to go for the clue over comfort. Again he doesn’t realize that somebody else must have found the idol by now. He gets a clue that doesn’t help him any, so he decides to just go see the sights instead.

The plan is to get rid of Randy. Matty says Bob should go next because Randy and Corinne aren’t going to win anything.

Randy has a plan. He’s going to be mean and nasty to everybody. Yeah, that’s apparently something new in his mind. Here’s the catch. He wants Bob to give him the idol. He gets the feeling Bob probably found the immunity idol (yet nobody found it the first 8 times there). They hope to get revenge on Susie for wisely turning on them. Matty asks Randy to stop being a putz, but when he gets a no, he decides that Randy indeed does need to go home.

Part one of the immunity challenge is to cross balance beams with bags of puzzle pieces. The first two people across must arrange the blocks like dominos to raise a flag while avoiding trip ropes. Corinne’s advantage is to sit out for the first stage of the challenge. She is automatically part of the final round. Matty is first across. Ken is behind him, with Bob and Susie next. Matty has his second bag, followed by Ken, and presumably those two will be in the finals. Matty moves on. Susie gets her second bag. Ken moves on to the final against Matty and Corinne. Matty’s off to an early lead. Ken knocks over his pieces and has to start over. Matty’s done first but hesitates. Ken is the first one to try, but he only manages to knock over a few blocks and must try again. Matty goes back and is ready to try, with both Ken and Corinne deciding shortly after to go for it. Matty is close but comes up short. Corinne also comes up short. Ken wins immunity.

Bob tells Sugar he doesn’t have the idol. She suggests he should vote against Randy to save face. Then she decides Bob should give the hidden idol to Randy because she wants a laugh. Corinne approaches him, and he says he did find the idol. As agreed, he’ll give the fake idol to Randy. Looks like an idol to him. Looks like an idol to me, too.

The cookie issue comes up again in tribal council. Not just comes up but becomes the entire focus of the tribal council. Not quite as petty as two cherries, but petty nonetheless. Randy says he will not be okay with leaving (and no doubt will be bitter…er) if it’s him tonight.

Although the outcome is a foregone conclusion, the voting speeches prove entertaining. Sugar says Randy is a disgusting, old, hot headed, chauvanistic, alcoholic bigot who needs to grow up before he dies alone. Randy says his vote is not strategy but entirely personal, which is always the wrong kind of vote. Crystal is more loudly obnoxious than usual, so loud in fact that everybody can hear her. Unlike Sugar’s diatribe, she’s not saying it with a smile on her face. Somebody needs some anger management.

Randy plays his fake idol. The others can barely contain themselves from laughing.

Votes
Randy
Randy
Susie
Susie
Susie
Randy
Randy

By a vote of 4-3, Randy has been voted off the island. For some reason, Bob gave Randy a fake idol, but then didn’t vote against him. The bridge is a little too burned for him to not vote with the majority here.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Gabon episode 11, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Well, that didn’t take long. Ace Gordon, who was recently voted off the island in Survivor: Gabon, was arrested in Naples, FL yesterday on charges of disorderly intoxication, obstruction of an officer, and resisting arrest without violence.

Staff members at Sway Lounge said he struck a woman in the bar before being asked to leave. Then, he reached toward a deputy’s face “in an aggressive manner,” whatever that means. The bar’s manager later indicated that he had an incident with a woman, but that it was actually the man she was with who he slapped.

Reports suggest that he repeatedly told the deputies that he was famous.

Source: Naple Daily News and Collier County Sheriff via Reality Blurred

The merge at 10 did not happen in Survivor: Gabon Episode 8. Instead, the tribes were shuffled (again). After her tribe spent time letting her know she was sixth of a six person alliance, Susie flipped and helped vote out Marcus.

Bob knows he’s gone if they don’t merge. Over on Fang, Matty’s not any more confident in his position in the game, and to add insult to injury, they can’t even get fire going to eat rice.

Corinne says that as long as Marcus, Charlie, and herself are intact, she doesn’t care who goes home. Well, then Jeff’s got bad news for her. She says he didn’t deserve to leave the game. On the other side of the coin, there’s Matty, grinning from ear to ear when he sees Marcus is toast.

Treemail’s a slingshot. That hardly looks merge related. The challenge is golf Survivor style (using slingshots). Corinne will sit out for Fang. Kota scores on the first hole. Fang ties it by scoring on the second hole. On the tiebreaking uphill hole, Fang scores again, thanks to Matty and no thanks to Randy’s control freakness, to win reward. In celebration of their win, Randy continues to argue with Matty that he didn’t do (the winning shot) right. Bob will be going to Exile, so at least it’s not Sugar for a change. Reward is a visit to a local tribe for a feast and dancing.

Matty tells his tribe he was stoked to see Marcus gone. Not that it matters because they aren’t going to accept him regardless. As for Corinne and Charlie, they’re still shocked by what happened, and not sure what to do next.

Despite the fact that we’ve seen others go to Exile 8 times already, Bob decides he’s got a prayer of finding the hidden idol and chooses that over comfort. He has no luck, but he makes himself a fairly convincing fake idol (at least it’s better than the stick with a face Ozzy made).

Randy’s hoping for merge so he can see Crystal and puke. At the immunity challenge, Jeff tells them they’ve merged. The first challenge for individual immunity is to make a fire high enough to burn through a rope. They’re given flint, steel, and fire making supplies. Susie is the first to get a flame. Matty cuts his hand but isn’t getting anywhere. Sugar gets fire. But it ultimately doesn’t matter because this is a complete blowout. Although Sugar’s competitive, Susie retains her lead to win immunity. Nobody else was even involved in this sad competition.

They’ll be returning to the jinxed Fang camp as one new tribe.

Randy’s voting for Crystal no matter what. So Charlie readily agrees to this. He’s comfortable that he’s got a solid foursome with Corinne, himself, Randy, and Bob (yeah, Bob’s part of their alliance again). They hope to swing Sugar. Upon approaching her, she says she can’t live with Randy any more. They assure her they’ll get rid of Randy next. Corinne has convinced herself that Sugar is on their side “because she’s such a moron.”

The other side wants to get rid of Charlie or Corinne. Corinne’s odious personality may be problematic for her, but Ken wants revenge on Charlie for costing him a hidden immunity idol (silly logic for voting someone out, but it’ll work I suppose). They agree to take out Charlie and leave the annoying chick in. They know they also need Sugar. Ken approaches her and tries to convince her Charlie’s the brains behind Kota. He also promises she can get rid of whoever she wants next. Only he actually would probably honor this agreement, whereas Corinne would stab her in the back.

Sugar’s issue is this: she doesn’t trust anybody. Ken’s already lied to her once, and Randy and Corinne are putzes.

Randy tells Jeff that the reason he was being a dumbass at the challenge is because Matty only would have made his shot 9 times out of 10, whereas his own personal shot was flawless. Then Crystal asks Randy why he hates her. He responds that her and GC made life hell at the beginning. Charlie suggests that both of them may consider processing what comes out of their mouths first. Randy believes that Ken’s grown up and is not the little kid he saw at the start.

Votes
Crystal
Crystal
Crystal
Crystal
Charlie
Charlie
Charlie
Charlie
Charlie

By a vote of 5-4, Charlie has been voted off the island. I wonder who Kota will add to their ever changing final alliance this time.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Gabon episode 10 Nothing Tastes Better than Five Hundred Dollars, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Two people were voted out in Survivor: Gabon Episode 7 because, well, I’m not real sure why. Anyway, following the prior week in which he was in complete control of his tribe, Ace got the boot, an indication he overplayed his hand. This made his already jokeworthy tribe a bigger joke than it previously had been. Then, Kota followed by also voting out one of its stronger members, Dan, apparently because the core alliance felt threatened by him, though they never said that in so many words.

The Kota 6 try to make an alliance to the end. Until Corinne and Marcus get bitter about Susie and let her know she’s not really with them, so she may as well just flip and make it 5-5.

Because Ken told her some ridiculous lies that she should have seen right through, Sugar has decided she trusts Ken a lot more than she trusts Ace. Matty, the lone vote to keep Ace, is just hoping for a merge.

Corinne says she’s highly annoyed with Susie. As if we needed to hear it again to notice. She also says she’s an extremely vindictive person. Here’s hoping the looks last because the personality is not exactly resembling that of someone with a full deck.

Tribes get treemail that makes them think it’s time to merge, which historically does happen at 10. When they arrive at the feast, they see a box that tells them not to open it until everybody’s done eating.

While they’re eating, they see a clue to a hidden immunity idol. Oh no. Another one? Not this again. Remember when Survivor was just a group of strangers competing for one and only one idol? Everyone agrees that they don’t need an idol, and they decide to set it free in the ocean. Randy finds the idol and puts it on the table, saying that whoever wants it can have it. They eventually go with the original plan of just throwing it in the ocean. Yeah, they’ll probably just bury half a dozen more of them anyway.

Then it’s time to open the box. Each tribe member grabs a stone. It’s a(nother) tribal shuffle. They have just divided themselves into two new tribes. Odd numbers are Fang; even numbers are Kota. Expect the unexpected. At least nobody stuck their foot in their mouth while at the beach, although it’s safe to say some people did so previously.

New new Kota: Bob, Marcus, Susie, Crystal, Ken
New new Fang: Randy, Charlie, Corinne, Matty, Sugar

Old new Kota is up 3-2 in both of the new tribes, but Susie could easily take Marcus out of there, which would be a huge pre-merge move.

It turns out that Crystal is the cousin of one of Marcus’ best friends. Great, preexisting relationships with the potential to influence the game. It’s like Big Brother.

The plan on Fang is to get rid of Matty, who already knows that Randy can’t be trusted. Thanks to Matty, Sugar has realized sooner than I would have expected that Crystal and Ken duped her. Matty asks her to make sure they keep each other informed if they hear the other’s going home. If they stick with this plan, they could use the idol successfully, as the plan of the other three is to tell each one they’re going to be voted out.

Corinne makes it clear she has no intention of accepting the new Fang tribe.

Immunity is an endurance challenge. The first tribe to lose all their members goes to tribal council. Survivors will stand with their arms out supporting poles. After 1 second, Crystal is out (surely this is a new record). Sugar drops after 10 seconds. Susie drops next. Randy and Corinne follow. Ken is out next. Marcus is next, leaving Bob to defend Kota. Charlie is out, which leaves Matty to face off against Bob. Matty’s cockiness nearly costs him, but he holds on to win the challenge for Fang (a seemingly cursed tribe that’s lost half a dozen times in a row).

I’d rather see the drama of Matty and Sugar using the hidden idol effectively, but seeing whether Susie’s stupid enough to trust Marcus should be good as well.

Marcus wants to see Ken go home, and he tells Crystal that he’d rather have her in the Kota 6 than Susie. She’s not happy that he wants to take out her number one ally with this plan, while he gets to keep all his allies. Then Marcus sweet talks Susie into believing he wants to take her to the final three. Ken and Crystal know they also need Susie on their side, so Crystal tells her that she needs to join them or finish sixth.

Bob says he regrets his last vote, as they got rid of a strong team member believing a merge was around the corner. Both Dan and Ace would have performed well in the last challenge, although since tribe selection was dumb luck, there’s no guarantee which side they would have ended up on.

Votes
Marcus
Ken
Ken
Marcus
Marcus

By a vote of 3-2, Marcus has been voted off the island and is the first member of the jury. While Susie’s place in the game may still be uncertain, this was her only logical move, as her alleged allies made it blatantly obvious they were going to turn on her. Unbeknownst to her, this puts her right smack in the middle of five people who at some point will be going after each other, once they get rid of the other side presumably, a power position that makes her the safest person there at this time.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Gabon episode 9 The Brains Behind Everything, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Ace outwitted his tribe in what looked like a one-sided battle of wits, Sugar proved to be as unpredictable as it gets, and ultimately Kelly was voted out in Survivor: Gabon Episode 6.

Crystal trips over the rice, knocking over “just a little bit” (aka most of what they have left from the looks of it). Not good for the tribe that’s already falling apart to begin with. Ken doesn’t like that Matty and Ace seem to be turning on her, but it’s not like this tribe would be any better without those two.

Dan is paranoid about how close Charlie, Marcus, and Corinne are (with good reason). He approaches them about it, and while they act supportive, they tell us he’s insecure and needs to get over it.

The challenge is a game of keep away. Each tribe will compete with a breakable ball against one person from the other tribe, who must break the ball. Reward is a helicopter ride and a picnic. Charlie and Corinne sit out for Kota. Randy gets aggressive and scores a point for Kota. After a hard fought battle, Bob scores another point for Kota. In the other ring, Sugar looked as if she was trying to get a tan or something, giving Bob all the time in the world. Dan is the next to score, and Kota wins reward, extending Fang’s losing streak to 6. Sugar will be going to Exile for the fifth time in a row. Matty’s tired of her anyway.

Matty goes back to camp and lets his tribe know he’s tired Sugar. Then he tells Ace he wants to get rid of Sugar. Ace, however, would rather get rid of Crystal, since they have control of the idol if they keep Sugar.

On the other side of the tribe, Ken and Crystal want to blindside Ace and get Sugar to vote with them.

As they’re eating lunch, aware that the other tribe’s probably almost out of food, Kota gets letters from home, too.

As for Sugar, she’s living the life over on Exile, also not concerned about food. She says she’s using Ace, too, and she’s with him because he’s the strongest player currently, which he’s proved is true.

When they arrive at the immunity challenge, Jeff tells them each team will vote someone out, though individual immunity is up for grabs. They may be competing against the opposite tribe, or they may be competing against their teammates. It’s not a merge. Just a silly twist. As if that’s not enough, another twist will be revealed after the challenge is over. This is a log roll challenge. Dan goes against Ace, and Ace moves on. Charlie squares off against Crystal, and Charlie moves on. Marcus takes on Matty in the next round, and Marcus moves on. Randy beats fellow tribe member Susie to proceed to the next round. Ken takes on Sugar, and Sugar beats him. Bob tells us he’s a log roll champion, and he beats Corinne. In the first semifinal match, Ace barely beats Charlie. Marcus beats Randy to go to the finals. Sugar beats Bob in a close match, and she moves on. Sugar, Ace, and Marcus all get on the log at the same time for the final match. Sugar is out first. Ace falls, and Marcus wins individual immunity. He will also assign immunity to one member of the other tribe. He gives it to Sugar, in hopes of taking out a more powerful player.

Ken goes to Sugar to tell her that everybody thinks she’s useless and needs to be voted out. Half of this is true, but the untrue part is way over the top (and obvious). Sugar agrees to blindside Ace.

Ace gives some validity to the lies, though. He asks Sugar if he can borrow the idol in case they try to double cross. Uh, they only have two votes. Unless he doesn’t trust Matty, in which case he’s in trouble regardless. This is a big risk for Ace to take, and an unnecessary one that really doesn’t make much sense.

The rice argument comes up again at tribal council. Crystal, who wanted to play the martyr and go without rice, is now complaining that nobody saved her any rice (which she told them repeatedly she didn’t want any since she spilled so much). Sugar suggests that this is all so petty and is why they’re not winning because they can’t get past this sort of stuff.

Votes
Ace
Crystal
Ace
Crystal
Ace

An unexpected vote for sure, but Ace played himself right out of this game. Having gotten rid of their de facto leader, though, this tribe of misfits surely can’t think they’re any better off than they were before.

The good news for Fang is that Kota’s being forced to vote out one of their own for a change.

Dan’s worried he’s the next to go, with good reason, despite his one asset of physical strength.

Somehow, former Fang member Randy has replaced Bob as a final four member, alongside Marcus, Charlie, and Corinne. Of course, this assumes that Bob was ever more than a fifth to begin with, but ultimately anyone trusting Randy’s word deserves what they get, so this move will come back to bite them sooner or later.

Corinne tells Susie that they’re targeting Dan. Susie’s response to her is that she had planned to vote her out. Corinne has decided that she hates Susie’s guts and wants to stab her in the face. She says that Susie is crazy. Pot, meet kettle.

At tribal council, Susie says she’s stronger than Corinne, which may well be true.

Votes
Susie
Dan
Dan
Susie
Dan
Susie
Dan

Dan has been eliminated in a vote that appears to balance out the Fang vote in terms of both stupidity and also getting rid of someone who’s been a big contributor in challenges. Kota, however, can afford to make stupid decisions like this more than Fang can. With that in mind, with merge coming up soon, this may be a good time to get rid of someone like Dan.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Gabon episode 8 Apple in the Garden of Eden, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.