'Survivor: Caramoan': All tied up

Last week on “Survivor: Caramoan,” the newbies on the Gota tribe faced their first tribal council – and instead of booting the unanimously annoying Shamar, half the group teamed up to kill the budding alliance between “the pretty ones” by voting out Allie, whom they’d deemed the brains of the operation.

 

Night 5, Gota camp. Matt was stressed because he knew he’d been the swing vote – and now that everything was out in the open, Reynold was uber-annoyed. “Game on,” he declared. Shamar, meanwhile, was pretty livid himself that Reynold was trying to pit everyone else against him. “I’m strong and you know it,” Shamar said, yelling at everyone. Looks like they really should have sent him packing when they had the chance.

 

Bing: More on “Survivor: Caramoan” | Jeff Probst

 

Day 6, Reynold and his allies Eddie and Hope were still plotting against “the revenge of the nerds.” Shamar eavesdropped, and was still smarting, but Sherri told him to keep his eyes on the prize. They wanted him to be annoying so that he would end up the target – so that the pressure would be off of them. Shamar was falling into some sort of funk. He didn’t want to be the angry black man on “Survivor.” He talked about his anger and depression post-Iraq, and how the island experience was bringing it all back. But Sherri and Laura tried to convince him he’d regret it if he quit – and he’d be letting the tribe down. He told Sherri he admired her loyalty, so he’d stick it out. “I’ll stay and fight for you a few more days.” And that just made Reynold even more determined to kick him out.

At the Bikal camp, the Favorites, too, were quite divided, thanks to Phillip’s shenanigans. He was still doting on himself – “I’m 54, and to do what I do, it’s pretty awesome,” he declared. While the big six were still on his side, they did still think he was pretty odd. “He needs an audience,” Andrea said.

 

Malcolm and Corinne were bonding while hunting for the immunity idol – and then they found it. “I got some power in my back pocket,” Malcolm said. “In a perfect world, I’d have it all to myself, but Corinne knows about it. Our wagons are hitched together because of this idol now.” Andrea and Cochran definitely noticed the bond between them. “I really want Corinne out,” Andrea told Malcolm, and he was down. They recruited Brandon as their sixth. But he didn’t quite trust them. “I think there’s just a bunch of lying going on,” he said, before resorting to his Hantz nuttiness. “If my efforts aren’t good enough for them to keep me around, there’s going to be hell to pay in camp,” he said, threatening to pee in the rice.

 

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Immunity Challenge Time! The tribes had to rescue a chest from a cage in the water, dragging it back to the shore. Inside were track pieces, which would complete the track to be used to drag the chest to the finish line. The challenge would also offer up a reward: “Comfort!” Jeff Probst declared, in the form of chairs, pillows and a tarp.

 

In minutes, everyone was in the water. Laura was slowing Gota down – and everyone had to be in the cage before they could tackle the next step. Favorites took the lead, but both tribes struggled with untying and lifting the chest out of the water. The Fans made quicker work of it, though, stealing the lead and keeping it as they headed to shore. But when they hit the sand, the Favorites had caught up. On the track, it was neck in neck, both tribes keeping up the pace until Favorites got ahead a bit, thanks to slow work by Eddie. Brandon, too, couldn’t make it happen for Favorites, so it was a toss up till the end. But then Brandon managed that last piece, and Favorites took immunity – and reward! 

 

Day 7, Gota. Post-challenge, war broke out once again between Shamar and Reynold, who argued over a pair of goggles that Shamar had apparently brought to the challenge and Reynold swiped. Michael pointed out that the whole goggle thing wasn’t why they’d lost. “How much does [Shamar] have to do for them to finally realize it’s time to vote him out?” Reynold said. Laura, meanwhile, was stressed herself because she’d slowed everyone down during the swimming part of the challenge. She pushed to vote out Hope, or split the votes between Hope and Eddie, to be safe, since Reynold had the idol.

Hope, meanwhile, was trying to work Shamar. He told her he wasn’t voting for her. And that she could throw the vote a different way, by voting for one of her allies. “I tried to give her a hint to try to change her fate, but I don’t know if she’s really going to take heed or not,” Shamar said. Then Hope told Julia that Shamar had spilled the plan – and Julia told everyone else. “Shamar at this point is a complete wild card,” Laura said. So Laura started working Reynold – with her and Julia, and the three of them, they’d have five. “This could be an epic, epic tribal council,” Reynold said. “Hopefully we send Shamar packing tonight. It would be like Christmas!”

Tribal Council Time! When Probst asked about the post-challenge fallout, Shamar said everyone was against him. He told Probst that he’d told Reynold not to talk to him, but Reynold kept talking to him. That’s why he was yelling.

 

Hope, meanwhile, turned on Shamar, saying he’d betrayed his alliance by telling her the plan. Way to be grateful. “He brings a lot of negative energy to the tribe,” Hope said, “and I don’t see that changing.”

“Everyone’s just throwing me under the bus,” Shamar said. “I try to come in smiling, try to make jokes, but everyone’s like, ‘to keep the heat off of me, I’ll just blame it on him.’”

 

Want more “Survivor: Caramoan”? Meet the castaways from season 26.

 

He was definitely feeling ganged up on. But Probst pointed out: “So far, in just a few minutes, you’ve had a beef with Julia, Matt, Hope and Reynold, and I haven’t talked to Sherri or Michael yet.” When Probst asked Sherri to explain it, she said, “once you’ve crossed him, you just can’t go back. And in his mind, they’ve crossed him.”

Eddie and Hope both said they were on the chopping block. Reynold, not so much, since he had the idol. “It’s going to be a poker game until it actually gets played,” he said smugly.

Time to vote! Reynold did not play his immunity idol. Then Probst tallied the votes.

 

First: Shamar. Second:  Hope. Third: Shamar. Fourth: Hope. Fifth: Shamar. Sixth: Hope. Seventh: Eddie. Eighth: Eddie. Ninth: Eddie. A three way tie. Unbelievable. And yet quite expected. So they would have a revote – with Shamar, Eddie and Hope abstaining, and the remaining six voting for only one of those three players.

 

Probst tallied the votes. Again. First: Shamar. Second: Hope. Third: Hope. Fourth: Hope. Fifth: Hope. With four votes, Hope became the second person voted off the Gota tribe, crumbling the alliance of the pretty people.

 

“There are two ways to look at tonight’s tribal council,” Probst said. “One, as a sign of what’s to come: more dysfunction.  Or two, as an opportunity to change your story.”

Hope’s Final Words: “I’m really, really disappointed. I feel like I’m leaving before my time. But this has been a once in a lifetime experience, and I feel really grateful that I had the opportunity.”

"Survivor: Caramoan" airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.