The Amazing Race 21 Episode 11

Natalie & Nadiya foolishly went on this show without learning how to drive stick, and they had to be saved by non-elimination in The Amazing Race 21 Episode 10 as a result.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Trey & Lexi – 9:32AM
Second: Jaymes & James – 9:46AM
Third: Josh & Brent – 10:27AM
Fourth: Natalie & Nadiya – 11:14AM

Teams will now fly to Barcelona, Spain, then catch a train to Loire Valley, France. This serves as an equalizer for all four teams.

The twins have found someone new to hate. Their target du jour is the farmers, who are about three legs behind in finding out that there is an alliance.

This is another self drive leg, except that everybody is just following the leader. The three alliance teams aren’t going to bother thinking, and Josh & Brent are just going to follow suit. The trick up Josh’s sleeve is that he can speak French, and apparently his ankle is fine now as well.

This game of follow the leader is broken up when Natalie & Nadiya are stopped by their speed bump, in which they must lace up a corset. Before they proceed to the speed bump, the twins continue to yell about how the farmers are riding on people’s coattails. As weak a team as they suggest Josh & Brent are, they sure are wasting a lot of energy being afraid of them. Within about three minutes, both teams are following Josh and his language skills.

The detour is a choice between chow or plow. In chow, teams must make the daily meal for a pack of hunting hounds. In plow, teams must use a traditional horse and plow to till a field.

Plow: Jaymes & James, Trey & Lexi
Chow: Josh & Brent, Natalie & Nadiya

Strange that the farmers did not do a farming task, but they they did not want to risk both slots being filled up (only two teams at a time can plow). They agree to go to the dog detour with Trey & Lexi, who give up waiting for them very quickly, then promptly switch detours, so it was a smart move for Josh & Brent to not go there because otherwise they would have had to wait.

During the detour, one of the twins says, “We’ve always been evil. We’ve never been nice.” I noticed.

Of the two detours, the plow one looks a lot easier, albeit a lot more physical. The Beekmans have made up a lot of ground on their side of the detour, though, leaving the twins in last place again.

The road block requires teams to search a subterranean farm for mushrooms, of which they must collect 10 of each specified kind.

Road block (in order of arrival): Lexi, Jaymes, Brent, Natalie

At the back of the pack, Josh & Brent are let down by their navigational skills, giving the twins new hope, as the trailing two teams are now separated by seconds. By the time they are finished, the twins are about 10 minutes ahead. The only hope now is that they make a big mistake, which has been the hope Josh & Brent have had almost every leg since the race started.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Chateau du Chenonceau (the castle of the ladies).

First: Jaymes & James (win a Ford Escape each)
Second: Trey & Lexi
Third: Josh & Brent
Eliminated: Natalie & Nadiya

Having made a critical driving directions error, Natalie & Nadiya have been eliminated. As obnoxious as Natalie & Nadiya are, they were a stronger team, but somehow Josh & Brent yet again skate by.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 21 Episode 12, where we will find out who The Amazing Race 21 winners are, which airs next on CBS.

Survivor: Philippines Episode 12

Jonathan’s unwillingness to pick a side came back to bite him when he was eliminated in Survivor: Philippines Episode 11.

At the reward challenge, they will be paired up with loved ones. It’s been a few whole weeks since they’ve seen them, so now we get to see 5 minutes of crying. The contestants must toss muddy objects at their loved ones, who must then use them to knock over bamboo targets.

Malcolm and his brother Miles win reward, and Miles will be heading to camp for an overnight visit. He also selects Lisa to return to camp with her brother Justice. Jeff tells him to ask for another, so Michael and his son Michael get the honors. No Denise? His explanation is that he needed to reward his allies and keep them close.

Lisa’s brother suggests they vote out Malcolm because he has an idol. Skupin doesn’t have a problem with that, but Lisa is reluctant. She gave him her word. This is Survivor. After talking to her brother, she claims now that she realizes that it is a game. Only a week to go. Better late than never I guess.

Malcolm’s worried that Lisa and Michael are bonding over Jesus. If he’s that worried, he should just tell them he is Jesus. He looks the part.

At the immunity challenge, they will race across a balance beam, retrieve bags from the water with a hook, and make a pole out of the pieces in the bag to drop a flag. The balance beams don’t make a great deal of difference. It’s the bag fishing where Carter and Michael gain a huge lead, while Abi thinks she’s on vacation again. Malcolm’s the fourth person to complete his pole, but he’s the first one to make one good enough to hit the target, scoring immunity in the process.

So what now? Do we go with the thoroughly boring plan to get rid of Abi, or is there an alternate path? Now they’re talking about getting rid of Carter. Still boring. The problem now is that they can’t get rid of Malcolm tonight, and they can’t get rid of him next time either. They only have themselves to blame for this because they let him keep going and going, and now they’re stuck. Same thing happened with Yul, who pretty much won for no other reason than having an idol.

Malcolm sums up the situation: if Abi goes home, it’s because she’s a bitch.

Lisa acknowledges she’d rather sit next to somebody she can beat.

Votes
Carter
Abi
Carter
Carter
Carter

With 4 votes, Carter has been voted off the island.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Philippines Episode 13, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Amazing Race 21 Episode 10

After another plane mishap, Abbie & Ryan deliberately continued to run at the back of the pack in The Amazing Race 21 Episode 9, sticking with the hopeless farmers until the bitter end. After Abbie & Ryan were U-turned and the other half of the double U-turn was wasted so they could not use it, they were eliminated.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Natalie & Nadiya – 2:55AM
Second: Jaymes & James – 5:57AM
Third: Trey & Lexi – 6:38AM
Fourth: Josh & Brent – 9:38AM

Teams must now fly south to Barcelona, Spain, where they will catch an overnight ferry to the island of Mallorca.

As the first team to depart because of their fast forward advantage, Natalie & Nadiya catch the 6:00 flight. Chippendales catch the 7:20 flight, as clearly there are constant flights all day. Trey & Lexi are on the 7:55 flight.

None of this matters because the first boat does not leave until 11:00 at night, equalizing everybody. The top three teams meet up and celebrate their brilliant victory over a team that was several hours behind them.

It’s not long before Josh & Brent are separated from the pack and find themselves back in last. This time they are thrown off by the name of their destination, which happens to be the same name as another place. Luckily for them, this leg will not be about taxis, though. Natalie & Nadiya do not have a competent stick driver, which has sunk many a team in the past.

The road block will require them to return 20 tennis balls in bounds before their bucket is empty.

Road block (in order of arrival): Trey, James, Josh, Nadiya

Trey’s a decent enough tennis player that he can complete this the first time. James only gets 6, but his second attempt is good enough. For whatever reason, Josh volunteers to do the sporty task, despite an injured ankle. This will not end well. After two failed attempts, the twins show up, and he sits on the ground and watches them play. Eventually, he gets up and completes the task on his third attempt, but the twins get it done in two, putting them neck and neck.

One of the twins is worried that Josh & Brent have a map. She informs us they’re super prepared because they’re gay.

The detour is a choice between spin it or bull it. In spin it, teams will repair a giant windmill. In bull it, they must become bulls and run into matadors.

Bull it: Trey & Lexi
Spin it: Jaymes & James (switched from bull it because they found this one instead), Josh & Brent, Natalie & Nadiya

In the bull task, only one player can see, meaning they have to guide the other. As the person unable to see, Lexi nearly completes the task successfully, but on the last part, she slams into the target, injuring her finger. The Chippendales, however, have no problem with their task nor the YMCA construction outfits.

Somehow, Trey & Lexi overtake Jaymes & James on their way to the pit stop, but the real drama comes down to the two trailing teams, who are doing the same task and only minutes apart.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Castell de Bellver, the castle with a lovely view that used to be a prison.

First: Trey & Lexi (win a trip to Mexico)
Second: Jaymes & James
Third: Josh & Brent
Non-eliminated: Natalie & Nadiya

Seemingly done in by not being able to drive stick, Natalie & Nadiya have been saved by non-elimination, while Josh & Brent barely limp through yet again.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 21 Episode 11, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Survivor: Philippines Episode 11

Abi was forced to burn her hidden immunity idol in Survivor: Philippines Episode 10, while her somewhat more stable ally Pete ended up getting eliminated instead of her.

We continue with tears of Abi. The problem with this story is that once you feel even a little bit sorry for her, she opens her mouth again and inserts both feet.

It’s Survivor auction time. Each contestant is given $500. Pancakes, bacon, and orange juice starts them throwing money around quickly. Denise starts with $200, is outbid at $320 by Malcolm, then immediately ups it to $500, so she wins but is out on the very first item. Not allowing Probst to even describe the next item, Michael shouts out $500, which he pays for cheese and wine, despite not being a drinker. Iced coffee and donuts scores a bid of $200 from Malcolm.

Jonathan bids $100 for a covered item, as Abi says she’s going home next anyway, so she doesn’t plan to bid on this stuff. For $100, Jonathan gets a plate of fried chicken and fries, which is easily the best item so far.

Malcolm and Carter get into a bidding war over the next covered item, which Carter wins for $200. He wins a potato with toppings, which he can either eat or trade for a sack of rice and beans for the tribe. Rice and beans is much smarter, and that’s what he takes. Lisa and Carter get into the next bidding war for another covered item. Surely they can’t all be good, but Lisa goes up high enough that Carter can’t outbid her at $320. Her reward: a huge sandwich. The next item is an advantage in the game. Abi only needs to hear those words before promptly spending her $500. Lisa and Carter go at it again for a covered item, and Carter goes to $200 when she runs out. Veal shanks for the entire tribe for 60 seconds of eating, as once again his money goes to help his fellow contestants in addition to himself. Auction over, and everybody leaves happy.

When they return to camp, they’re all smiles and floating. So Abi thinks this would be the appropriate time to tell Jonathan he needs to apologize to her for destroying her at tribal. He tells her she’s too honest and blunt. He’s not wrong. She just says whatever thought comes into her mind without taking time to consider it. Most adults have learned to control this child-like impulse at least by their 20s.

Abi’s advantage that she purchased at the auction is to move directly to the final stage of the immunity challenge. Additionally, she has a fake hidden immunity idol (or at least a fake story about finding one), which she would not need if she didn’t waste the first one by revealing it for no good reason.

The immunity challenge is a ropes course with each one progressively harder. In addition, they will have to answer trivia questions, and if they get any wrong, they will have 5% of their body weight added for each one.

Lisa and Denise get the first question wrong and must carry additional weight. As Denise dominates the first round, Lisa and Penner are lost causes, with Penner narrowly edging her out for the fifth and final spot in the second round.

Denise misses another question, while Skupin and Carter also miss one. In a reversal of fortune, Carter and Jonathan are the top two finishers, rounding out the final round competition with Abi.

Carter answers a second question wrong, so he is saddled with 10% of his body weight, while Jonathan and a fresh Abi are not carrying anything. This round will involve knot untying rather than being tethered to something. Itwill also involve a bit of climbing. Abi is in the lead from the beginning, and Carter’s striking distance is not going to be close enough. Abi wins immunity, as a very annoyed group of onlookers, mostly Denise, expresses frustration.

Everybody else may be complaining, but Malcolm appreciates the convenient excuse to get rid of a real threat in the game rather than just somebody annoying. The alliance of four wants to get rid of Jonathan, though Lisa feels guilty turning on him and Carter. She tells Jonathan that because he was stupid (a good word, albeit not the one she used) and did not agree to an alliance, he’s now the target. His plan is to vote out Denise to eliminate Malcolm’s partner, so he needs one more vote, which would be Michael. If Malcolm’s such a big threat, why not just vote for him?

Back against the wall, Penner tells Lisa and Michael at tribal council that he wants to make an alliance with them. A little late for that, dude.

Abi sticks her tongue out at Denise when she goes to vote, while Jonathan says Denise’s name loud enough so that everybody can hear his vote.

Votes
Denise
Denise (or Denies as Penner writes)
Jonathan
Jonathan
Denise
Jonathan
Jonathan

With 4 votes, Jonathan has been voted off the island. He hugs Carter but states he does not plan to hug anybody else. No need to be like that. You sunk yourself.

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

The Amazing Race 21 Episode 9

In the most anticlimactic episode ever, James & Abba were eliminated in The Amazing Race 21 Episode 8 following their brief reprieve the leg before after losing a passport.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Jaymes & James – 7:32PM
Second: Trey & Lexi – 7:49PM
Third: Natalie & Nadiya – 9:15PM
Fourth: Abbie & Ryan – 5:28AM
Fifth: Josh & Brent – 8:11AM

Teams are given a red, white, and blue flag, which they must figure out is leading them to Amsterdam, The Netherlands (or Holland… where the Dutch live). Jaymes & James figure it out by going online. Trey & Lexi ask their cab driver, who incorrectly identifies their destination as France. That was my initial reaction as well, though I wouldn’t have just assumed the answer to be right, but the stripes on the French flag are horizontal rather than vertical. Lucky for them, the Chippendales tell them the right country, or this could have been the end of their race.

The first and only direct flight arrives at 12:15 the following afternoon, but it only has three seats available, which will now go to Jaymes & James, as Trey & Lexi settle for the 1:05 arrival.

Natalie & Nadiya somehow are told about a plane arriving at 11:30, but the ticket agent refuses to sell to them because there is only a 1 hour connection time in Rome, which could spell disaster. Not having learned from the trailing two teams and their earlier problem that is still plaguing them three legs later, the twins insist, and they receive the tickets after some begging.

After booking their tickets, the twins come up with a plan in the event of a double U-turn. The first team to arrive U-turns Abbie & Ryan, and the second team U-turns the team that already passed (making that second U-turn a waste, aside from preventing Abbie & Ryan from using it). Jaymes doesn’t want to use the U-turn because it’s not like they need to anyway.

Abbie & Ryan will be returning to Frankfurt, where they last almost lost the race. They’re so far behind the other teams that they don’t have a lot of choices, so they’re going to head to Frankfurt and see what they can get of their multiple connecting flights (one arrives at 12:45, the other at 2:05, either one putting them the closest they have been to the rest of the pack since leg 7). When they land, they are denied at check in, but they are able to book a flight that will still keep them well ahead of where when they started the day. The bad news? The aircraft is having mechanical difficulties.

More than 12 hours behind at the start of the leg, Josh & Brent are scheduled for arrival at 4:35PM. When they land without delay, Josh & Brent run into Abbie & Ryan at the airport, putting them again neck and neck for last. They agree to run the leg with them again. If both of the double U-turns are used, this goes from easy win to desperate scramble.

The twins make their connection no problem after an unnecessary and dangerous gamble pays off. This further allows them to know for sure they can take advantage of the fast forward. Their task is to eat 5 herring each within 7 minutes before their floating bus returns to shore. Undeterred by the twins’ early arrival, Jaymes & James will also go for the fast forward, but it’s too late because Natalie & Nadiya finish on their first attempt.

The detour is a choice between back in time or organ grind. In back in time, teams must recreate a Rembrandt painting using live characters. In organ to grind, teams must operate the organ and collect tips.

Organ grind: Jaymes & James, Trey & Lexi
Back in time: Abbie & Ryan, Josh & Brent

Jaymes & James see that it’s getting slow, so they strip down into their Chippendales gear. This generates more interest from men than women, but then a grandma with her grandkids comes up and gives them the balance of what they need to finish.

Never having arrived at the U-turn, Natalie & Nadiya do not get their wish to U-turn Abbie & Ryan. Despite being in second place and hours ahead of them, Jaymes & James U-turn Abbie & Ryan as planned. At least they are doing this as part of the game to take out the stronger team, rather than because they are evil like the twins. Trey & Lexi then use their U-turn on Jaymes & James so that Abbie & Ryan can’t use it. I can’t imagine the producers will let this one go without a rule change.

Abbie & Ryan finish the detour first as expected, putting them in fourth, but they now must complete the other task as well. At least they are stopping this stupid let’s work together nonsense, far too late. Josh & Brent have a debate about what they should do, but for a shot at a million dollars, the answer is obvious.

They glossed over the road block so much that I didn’t even notice there was one. They must use poles to vault across a ditch. The task is so simple that it will not be the savior for Abbie & Ryan. The only potential impact of this challenge is that Josh stumbles in the field and hurts his ankle, which may hinder them in the future.

Road block (in order of arrival): James, Trey, Josh, Ryan

The pit stop for this leg of the race is the house of Rembrandt’s mistress.

First: Natalie & Nadiya (win $5,000 each)
Second: Jaymes & James
Third: Trey & Lexi
Fourth: Josh & Brent
Eliminated: Abbie & Ryan

As much as we can blame bad luck and an unnecessarily aggressive top three, Abbie & Ryan eliminated themselves from the race. Both at the swimming pool and again today, they insisted on staying with a team that was competing with them for the last spot.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 21 Episode 10, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Survivor: Philippines Episode 10

Skupin finally got tired of being told what to do and helped the opposing tribe vote out Artis in Survivor: Philippines Episode 9.

I was expecting a typical Thanksgiving week recap episode, but instead it looks like we’re getting the full treatment tonight.

Abi’s shocked that the people she was trying to screw over didn’t all keep their word.

Each team at the reward challenge will have three drums (one in each circle spread out on the sand) which they must get face up at the same time to score a point. Reward is a spa day with some food. Abi, Carter, Malcolm, and Pete are on the red team; Penner, Denise, Lisa, and Skupin are on the yellow team. Each round is one on one between two competitors. Carter scores a point against Jonathan. After Malcolm forgets to flip his over, Michael ties it 1-1. Abi apparently does not understand the rules because she flips both hers and her opponent’s over, giving Lisa a point. Pete beats Denise to tie it 2-2. In a rematch, it’s Skupin who makes a mistake, giving Malcolm and the red team the win.

Malcolm hopes they don’t talk strategy. He wants to make a final three or final four deal soon, but he doesn’t want it to be anybody who won reward with him. The others agree not to discuss the game.

Upon her return, Abi keeps going on and on about how amazing an experience she just had. Nobody wants to hear it, and being aware of others around them, none of her fellow winners want to talk much about it either. After she’s done rambling without realizing how badly she is coming off (and probably not caring even if she did), she informs them she’s done with the kitchen because she is leaving soon anyway.

Malcolm wants to get a deal done today right before an easy vote. His proposal is himself, Denise, Lisa, and Mike as the final four. Mike’s possible alternative would be Penner and Carter, and Lisa says she trusts Penner more than Malcolm. No surprise considering Malcolm’s hidden idol antics. However, Jonathan declines to enter into an alliance, not until the final six after they get rid of Abi and Peter. This was Mike’s line of thinking earlier as well. It was Malcolm who was pushing for a deal. Immediately after that, Lisa and Michael accept Malcolm’s offer, though neither is comfortable with it.

At the immunity challenge, they will maneuver buoys along ropes. Malcolm, Jonathan, Denise, Michael, and Carter proceed to the second round, which adds a balance beam to the equation. Michael, Carter, and Denise advance to the final round, a water stage. Carter wins immunity.

They come up with a better plan than voting out Pete, which to me seemed foolish seeing as Abi has an idol. They’ll split the votes 3-3. If she does not play the idol to save herself, they vote her out, and she goes home with it.

Pete and Abi hope they can save themselves by convincing somebody that Malcolm is too big a threat to keep around. Lisa says this is a great plan… if she were still in an alliance with them. Carter says he’s in a pretty good spot. Jonathan would like to keep the trust he’s earned from people he realizes have already tried to screw him over. Mike is the only one who at least appears to be considering this.

At tribal council, Abi finds out that nobody likes her. Denise tries to explain why, but Abi does a better job of explaining by continuing to interrupt. Denise just gives up.

Abi plays her idol.

Votes
Abi (does not count)
Abi (does not count)
Abi (does not count)
Pete
Malcolm
Pete
Malcolm
Pete

With 3 votes, Pete has been voted off the island, and now Abi is completely defenseless, though she would make an excellent final three contestant despite their desire for her to go home.

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

The Amazing Race 21 Episode 8

We left off with a cliffhanger in The Amazing Race 21 Episode 7. Having made a bad flight decision, Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent were several hours behind everybody else. But their potential saving grace came when James & Abba lost their belongings, including a passport, the biggest mistake you can make on a show about going around the world.

From last week, we already know the order of placement of the first three teams. It’s just a question of how the other three finish. For James & Abba, though there may be some very slim chance, the phrase needle in a haystack doesn’t even begin to describe the situation they are in.

Back at the swimming pool, Abbie & Ryan continue to watch the hapless Josh & Brent attempt to finish the swimming task. The library closed at 4, so that’s out of the question, forcing them to swim. Now the pool is closing, too, leaving Josh & Brent with a 4 hour penalty. Because the penalty will be assessed later, Abbie & Ryan will utlimately be safe no matter what, even if they continue to waste all night waiting for the other team. The good thing that comes out of this for Ryan is that it changes his character arc, potentially making him likeable to people who otherwise did not like him.

Josh and Abbie perform the road block. Josh easily finishes it, and he pays forward the other team’s waiting by helping Abbie figure out what she was doing wrong before she sat down and cried. Both teams step on the mat at the same time. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had they been in last, though in this case I assume the penalty would have determined the result.

First: Trey & Lexi
Second: Jaymes & James
Third: Natalie & Nadiya
Fourth: Abbie & Ryan
Fifth: Josh & Brent
Non-eliminated: James & Abba

It’s still not over, though. Having exhausted their efforts to find a passport and come up empty, James & Abba have been saved by non-elimination. Of course, they still need to find a passport in order to proceed to the next country.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived. We are not provided with any starting times so that we don’t know just how far apart they are. Josh & Brent have their 4 hour penalty assessed at the start of the leg. We eventually find out that this penalty is still not enough to kick them out of fifth place.

The first two teams are greeted by an hours of operation with an 8AM opening. It seems as if they may well be sticking around Russia for another leg, which should extend James & Abba’s lifeline, if they can ever catch up.

The road block involves calculating the time of day in 5 different Russian cities. The country has 9 time zones, and they must get the answers based on a series of slides.

Road block (in order of arrival): Jaymes, Lexi, Ryan, Brent

After taking the test 11 times, Lexi finally figures out what she and Jaymes are doing wrong, and they finally get it. Natalie & Nadiya have been dying to use their express pass, and they use it now, not even bothering to attempt the road block. Ryan makes the same mistake the first two teams did. He neglects to factor in the fact that Moscow is +4 (as in 4 hours ahead of GMT), but something +6 is just 2 hours ahead of that, not 6 hours. He has figured out that he’s being misled, yet it takes him two dozen attempts to figure out why. Brent gets it on his first try.

The detour is a choice between movers or shakers. In movers, teams must learn and perform a Russian soldier dance. In shakers, teams must identify 7 historic Russian leaders.

Movers: Trey & Lexi, Jaymes & James, Natalie & Nadiya, Abbie & Ryan
Shakers: Josh & Brent

Despite James’ sprained ankle, the Chippendales opt to dance anyway, and they still finish it first, though I don’t imagine that was a smart move if they just hurt him even more for the rest of the race.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Sokolniki Park, and it has come very quickly, far too quickly for anyone’s luck to change. As we watch James & Abba spend the entire leg time trying to find a passport, their lack of hope keeps getting more obvious.

First: Jaymes & James (win a trip to Costa Rica)
Second: Trey & Lexi
Third: Natalie & Nadiya
Fourth: Abbie & Ryan
Fifth: Josh & Brent
Eliminated: James & Abba

After briefly delaying the inevitable, James & Abba have been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 21 Episode 9, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Survivor: Philippines Episode 9

Jeff overplayed, and it cost him the game in Survivor: Philippines Episode 8.

When they get back to camp, Abi’s not happy with Skupin because he voted against her. Penner informs her she should not be happy with him because he’s the one who cast that vote. Of course, he now realizes his vote was the one that caused the end result to not at least be a tie, which is likely to cause him to be the next target. Not that he wasn’t going to be the target regardless.

I don’t know that it will ultimately end up meaning anything, but we get a very lengthy discussion between Jonathan and Lisa about… something that makes her cry. Her dilemma is whether to stick with the bullies or go an alternate route.

They are greeted by a muddy obstacle reward course. The winning team of four will be Survivor ambassadors to a local village, who will share a feast with them. Michael, Artis, Lisa, and Pete (yellow) go against Jonathan, Carter, Denise, and Malcolm (red). Abi is unsurprisingly not wanted by either team. Penner digs up all of his team’s bags, which causes them to be behind at first but pays off when only one person has to do the searching, giving them a huge lead. Once they have four bags, their task is to score 12 baskets. The red team has 10 before yellow even starts. Red team makes it a little interesting by missing again and again, but they finally land the last basket to win reward.

How the teams were split is interesting but not coincidental. It’s all Kalabaw sitting there at the reward, talking about how they need to get Skupin and Lisa on their side.

Why does Abi open her mouth? Now she’s being rude and insulting to Lisa, whose vote she needs to stay in the game. Is acting like this somehow supposed to help her case? I get the sense she just does not care. She just says anything that comes into her mind, and has not yet grown a filter that would allow her to think before speaking, something most people learn at least by their 20s, let alone 32.

At the immunity challenge, they will balance balls on a paddle. The goal is to land 6 balls in the circles on their paddle all at once. Skupin starts off well. Pete’s his only hint of competition. Mike is within striking distance of the win at 5. Pete looks to be making this interesting, but he knock two balls out of their spots, dropping him back out of contention with everybody else. That’s all moot because Skupin had a steady path right toward the immunity necklace, never looking back from the beginning.

Abi wishes she could vote out Mike because she does not like him, but she’s willing to keep him around for the numbers.

Because Abi has the hidden immunity idol, Kalabaw needs to be careful of who they vote for. They figure there’s no way she’d give it to Artis, so that’s who they want to vote for. If Parvati were here, she’d give it to Artis, specifically for that reason.

This will ultimately come down to Lisa and Mike, who have agreed to a final two. Either way, they’re on the bottom, but the fact is they cannot trust Abi, Pete, and Artis no matter what, whereas there’s a chance they may be able to trust the others. Of course, should one of them squeak through into the finals with any of those three, they’re guaranteed a win because nobody likes them.

At tribal council, Abi says she’s not very sure about Lisa at this point. Why would you say that? Despite that, she does not use her idol, nor has she given it to anybody.

Votes
Artis
Jonathan
Artis
Jonathan
Jonathan
Jonathan
Artis
Artis
Artis

With 5 votes, Artis has been voted off the island. Good riddance to this alliance. For whatever reason, Lisa stuck with them, but Skupin was the one to flip.

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