Survivor 19 is in trouble. Despite my earlier prediction that the two tribes were evenly matched and that this should make for an interesting game post-merge, Foa Foa continues to falter leaving this season’s most interesting players vulnerable when the two tribes become one. More on that later…
This week starts off back at Galu camp with Shambo on the outside looking in as she and the others realize that Sham didn’t vote along party lines at last week’s Tribal Council. Her target, the quietly evil Monica, begins the anti-Shambo campaign.
Before long, it’s off to the reward challenge where the players take part in the Survivor Fear Factor challenge. This time the outcasts will compete in a seafood smoothie drinking/eating (it really was a little of both) challenge. Prior to Foa Foa departing for the challenge, Liz tells Russell H. that she is concerned about Ashley’s ability to compete in the challenge. Following their discussion, Russell tells Mick and Jaison that he doesn’t like Liz’s game of getting in other player’s heads…he tells us that he’s the only mind-game player and Liz needs to be stopped. Once again, Foa Foa go in to a challenge fragmented and disjointed.
The game is pretty simple, it’s like seafood roulette – spin the wheel, toss a ball and eat a blended ‘smoothie’ comprised of the ‘food’both players land on a liquid of Jeff’s choice. At this point in the game, some of the players see the disgusting assortment of sea creatures as much-needed protein, while others just see the challenge as a means to an end – the prize is a Survivor BBQ with steaks and other assorted meats.
Here’s how it all went down (well it didn’t all go down…keep reading).
· Shambo vs Jaison chugging a concoction of giant clams, octopus tentacle, sea snails, and some noni juice garnished with fresh seaweed. No problem for either player.
· Battle of the Russells. This time it’s jellyfish and milk (what if you’re lactose?). No problem for either Russell.
· Next it’s Brett versus Mick with a smoothie of sea cucumber and giant clams. Still no issue as both chug their drinks.
· Time for the ladies as Monica takes on Liz over a sea noodle and sea urchin blend. Both girls finish.
· In the final round it’s Dave against Ashley and a cool, refreshing glass of sea slug guts lightly blended with water. Dave taunts Ashley with vomit sounds that induce real vomiting from Ashley and spells another victory for Galu.
Following the challenge Russell S. is once again asked to send one tribe-mate to Foa Foa and he chooses Shambo again. She is stunned and asks, really begs, him to reconsider which he doesn’t. “She’s needs to pay for losing that chicken,” states Russell.
At Foa Foa camp, Shambo decides her only chance to Survive is to befriend her enemies so she shares the clues to the hidden idol with the Foas. They lock in on where they believe the idol must be but it’s not. Sham and co. feel that Ben must have found it and taken it with him when he was voted out. Later we find out that Liz doesn’t completely agree with Shambo’s theory and she confronts Russell about the whereabouts of the idol and accuses him of having it. Russell warns her about accusing him and tells her she is now on the chopping block.
At the Immunity Challenge the teams play a game of Coconut basketball where the idea is to get enough coconuts in your opponents net so that they can no longer hold it up. Despite solid efforts from Russell and Liz to keep their nets aloft, Foa Foa lose again and are forced to vote another member out. At camp there seems to be little agreement on who should go as Russell points at Liz, Liz points at Ashley, Mick is torn between Ashley and Nathalie and Jaison, well, he would like to vote out Ben again.
Ultimately, Ashley is dismissed for her poor performance at the challenges and Foa Foa is down to just five players against Galu’s nine.
If the tribes merge somewhere around the ten player mark, the best Foa Foa can hope for is a tie if they win the remaining immunity challenges. Realistically, they are likely to go in to the merge at a huge disadvantage and scheming for their lives. In the previews for next week’s show the Survivor medics are summoned once again. For Foa Foa’s sake, maybe a Galu member is forced to leave the game and if they win immunity, they can get it down to a 7-5 split. If Shambo makes it to the merge, they can easily align with her to give Russell H. and the Foa Five a shot at the million bucks.
The Scribe has spoken…
