Survivor Nicaragua keeps plodding along with very little to get overly excited about – the players aren’t very interesting and the strategic game play is nothing compared to what we saw over the last two/three seasons with the likes of Russell and the Heroes vs Villains season. That’s part of the problem in doing those ‘All-Star’ seasons featuring the best-of-the-best – when you return to a new/regular cast, the die-hards, like me, have a hard time getting into the characters.
That said, there were a few notable moments in Episode 6.
At first, we get more of poor Dan complaining about the bad weather and overall poor living conditions. He hints that it might be time for him to go home (I agree). Over at the new La Flor, Marty and Jill try to figure out how to break the younger players’ alliance while Brenda develops a plan to eliminate the two-headed snake while flushing out Marty’s idol.
The Immunity/Reward challenge ends up being an individual immunity challenge with a twist. The tribes compete against themselves with each tribe having a winner who received immunity. Each tribe will also go to Tribal Council and vote someone out of the game. The winners from each tribe compete in a head-to-head challenge for tribal reward – a feast of kabobs to be enjoyed while watching the other tribe’s Tribal Council. Worth playing for…sure!
Somehow, Holly wins for Espada (maybe she is the secret weapon/fly under the radar player who could become dangerous later in the game) while Jill wins for La Flor – which puts a temporary wrench in Brenda’s plan to split votes between Jill and Marty later at Tribal. In the finals, Jill continues La Flors strong play and wins the reward for her tribe. Holly is devastated.
At La Flor, it is clear that Brenda is calling the shots. Realizing her plan to flush out the idol is compromised, she instead plans to have the tribe split their votes between Kelly B (an original La Flor outsider) and Marty. Meanwhile, Marty attempts to win over La Flor’s weakest link (at least mentally) by wooing Fabio/Jud with a story about being a chess grandmaster. Fabio takes the bait (after all, Marty is good with numbers, right?) and Marty tries to turn the tide at La Flor.
At La Flor’s tribal council, Brenda attempts to make Marty uncomfortable by saying he offered the younger players former Espada member Jane as the sacrificial lamb. Marty denies and makes faces at Jane, but it’s clear Brenda is the puppet master. For some reason, Marty decides to hold on to his idol and it almost costs him as the votes are perfectly split down the middle between Marty and Kelly B. Based on the rules of Survivor, the tribe must recast their votes, with Marty and Kelly B sitting out. Again, I was surprised to see Kelly B voted out of the game as this was the perfect opportunity to get the scamming Marty, and his idol, out of the game. Nevertheless, La Flor sacrifice one of their own.
As the La Flor tribe settle in for their kabob feast, Estrada take their positions at tribal. The tribe lays it all out on the table saying it comes down to Danny vs. Yve for who’s going home. Yve tries to save her neck by sharing the fact that Danny all but asked to go home earlier in the day, but it’s too-little-too-late for Yve as she’s sent packing.
With 13 players left in the game – 8 original La Flor and 5 original Espada – it’s clear that Brenda is running point for her tribe. While the new Espada continues to struggle with the elements and themselves, she is thinking two or three steps ahead. So to is Marty, ultimately the only legitimate threat from the older players. If Marty continues to work on Fabio, he has a chance to turn the game. If Fabio stays loyal to his original alliance, a Brenda NaOnka battle looms on the horizon following a merge.
The Scribe Has Spoken…
