Week 3 and yet another episode where nobody leaves the island!!

Episode 6: DAY 13-15

It’s Night 12 and new Vavau arrive back at camp and Sam is freaking out over what just happened. Lucky for Sam he is an asset in challenges! At new Saanapu, Nick is grateful to still be in the game and he sends a spiteful message to his old Vavau mates:

“I’m STILL here. Watch this space!!” [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Vavau. Jennah-Louise (JL) is sneaking a few confessions in and reveals her true feelings about Nick. Craig calls Nick and Tegan dead weight *gasps* and sees Conner and Sam as Christmas presents for the tribe. We then see Sam speak about how the swap was so unexpected in this game, and it just shows he has never watched Survivor in his life!

At Saanapu, Flick is thrilled with the swap. Nick Cesternino is a new person and his aim is to BE HELPFUL. Nick brings out the inner Francesqua (sorry Franny) and confesses he would eat a fern to stay in the game. Tegan starts talking to Brooke and they both realize Nick told them the exact same thing that they can trust him. PLAYA. I’m worried Nick may be trying too hard again. I’m worried he will overplay his cards on this new tribe; he can be quite manic at times. Settle down, boy!

A fern beats a rock! [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Aganoa. Crazy-brows Kristie is feeling comfortable in the game now. She has overcome her initial paranoia and starts to look at big picture. Kristie is aware of the four-strong alliance, and starts planting seeds in Phoebes head. She doesn’t fully trust Phoebe, and for good reason as we all know her one-true is El! I do think Phoebe would keep Kristie over Rohan, but the idol being in play can be a dangerous thing. Though let’s be honest, Rohan probably loses the damn thing in the next couple weeks.

At Vavau, Craig is cloud watching. Someone’s gotta do it!

How cute is Craig? 😉 [Image credit: Network Ten]

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Aganoa take their first look at the new Vavau and Saanapu tribes. Jono tells them about the tribe swap and I’m pretty sure Aganoa are pissed they couldn’t get rid of Kat in a swap. Vavau are also bitter that Nick is still in the game.

Two tribe members run out to collect bags and sticks. Two other members build a pole with said sticks, long enough to retrieve a key. Use the key to open the door. Two more tribe members make fire. First to burn the string and release the tribe flag wins. Kate and JL sit out for Vavau.

Flashback: same challenge with this magic moment. [Image credit: Network Ten]

Magic Matt and Flick build their pole first and go for the slow and steady technique and it pays off; key retrieved! Nick Cesternino starts to make the fire for Saanapu. Andrew and Sue try for the key and are successful. Barry starts on the fire for Vavau. Aganoa struggle for A LONG time trying to retrieve their key. Unfortunately, Kat and El push their key further back on the post, but NEVER give up.

STRETCH. [Image credit: Network Ten]

Saanapu’s teepee fire catches the string first and they win immunity. Meanwhile, Vavau’s fire goes out and Barry looks confused as hell. C’mon Aganoa! They finally get their key. Lee attempts to make fire very quickly. Aganoa are suddenly back in it! And, I’M EXCITED as Big Kev! It looks as if Vavau’s fire is almost there, but it collapses and by the end it’s as if they didn’t even create one in the first place; the ember and tinder completely diminish. Lee has a great fire going and in one of the best comebacks, Aganoa wins immunity!

Rohan and Lee celebrate a little too intimately. [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Vavau, Craig and Barry admit they blew it for the tribe failing to make a decent fire. Knowing she’s on the outs, Kate starts to have a mini freak out as she doesn’t want to stick with majority, but wants to make it look like she is to stay in the game. Kate automatically wants Conner out. Conner knows his heads on the chopping block and openly speaks to the tribe saying he won’t throw anyone under the bus or flip back to Saanapu. This resonates with Kate and she wants to flip her vote to old Bazza instead. Then came the scene I did not see coming, Andrew’s shark face appears and he wants Craig gone; he’s out for blood and power!

Just Keep Swimming. [Image credit: Network Ten]

Although I would be totally on board with this play (because, hello EXCITING), I do think it is a tad early to get Craig out, especially after his attempt to get Sue on side fails.I also feel Sam would jump back to blue given any swap or merge coming up, and Conner would be loyal to Vavau, but if buttons pushed he could again throw everyone under the bus. 

TRIBAL COUNCIL

Vavau attend their first individual tribal council. Kate admits to being blindsided at the last tribal and that she’s now part of the majority. Kate seems like a lovely person, but jeez she gives nothing away at tribal. Jono, don’t even bother next time! Meanwhile, Barry thinks you have to play with your head and not your heart, referring to challenges and not the actual game. Baz came into Survivor with a ‘strategy’ of playing his own individual game with no alliances and just voting by pulling names out of a hat. This was even more evident when we saw Sue’s name pop up in the votes. Baz seems like a top bloke, but he wasn’t meant to play Survivor. He leaves in a 7-1 vote. Bazza-7 Sue-1.

Episode 7: DAY 15-17

Vavau. JL is calling the shots saying Barry was a liability and that Kate is on the bottom of their alliance (both true). Conner and Sam’s strategy in keeping quiet is a great one and they wait for Vavau members to come talk to them first. They know there are cracks in the tribe and it works a treat as they have both Kate and Andrew approach them. Andrew sees the two lads as tools for him to get ahead and vote Craig out.

These guys sitting pretty. [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Saanapu, Nick thinks he’s in a good position. He hasn’t stopped working and gathering food. The rest of the tribe are enjoying the fruits of his labour. Brooke, Flick and Purple Tegan agree to voting Nick out. HI TEGAN, haven’t seen you in 2 weeks! She feels like she’s on top of everything, even Nick.

Now I know we like to see camp life on the US Survivor, but seriously there is SO much on the Australian version and with 3 episodes a week it’s getting a little TOO much. Anyhow, Nick knows Kylie is at the bottom of the tribe and wants to hold her idol. Kylie lets him. I’d be like f*%k that, go find your own to hold! Nick then thinks of a way to flush the idol by splitting the vote, Kylie/Tegan. Let’s just throw Tegan Dietz under the bus :O

At Vavau, Kate shows off her armpit boil. Sam wants to look after her, maybe he sees her as a potential Mrs Webb 😉

REWARD CHALLENGE

Station 1: Three tribe members use rope to barrel walk. Station 2: use 3 barrels and 4 planks to get from one side to the other. Station 3: toss one sandbag on each of the 3 barrels. Reward is a massive Hungry Jacks Burger Banquet for 50 people!! Wowsers!! (For those Americans tuning in Hungry Jacks is the equivalent to Burger King).

I’m with ya Nick!! [Image credit: Network Ten]

El is smashing the barrel walk; can anyone say Sierra Dawn? Conner struggles. Kylie moves quickly on her barrel and the opposite can be said for Kristie who takes the slow and steady approach way too far! I could have taken a 2 hour nap in that time. Saanapu are on the planks first. El decides to Sierra Dawn it again and attempts to barrel walk the whole thing without planks. Aganoa are like, nah! But they can’t figure out how to place the barrels to move forward. Saanapu and Vavau are on a roll. Saanapu are first at the bag toss and it’s not long before they win reward (hello feast!). Lee lands his first for Aganoa. Sue tosses a bag behind her and I can’t help but laugh out loud. Kat lands a bag. Kat almost wins it for Aganoa (see, don’t dismiss this girl over a couple of puzzles!), but Kate lands the last bag for Vavau. Junior Whopper winners!!

DROOLING. [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Saanapu, Flick takes a bite out of a whopper and I see food falling out her mouth. How dare you waste a crumb! It all looks so delicious and now my hubby wants to go buy the Hungry Jacks ‘Survivor Tamer Box’ for dinner…

At Vavau, it’s Junior Whopper time! Sam gains super strength from the Whoppers and rips open a coconut with his bare hands. What was in those burgers?!

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

One person is suspended over the water and one at a time the other members take turn to hold on to the rope. First person to drop lose. Brooke, El and JL are suspended or as Jono calls them ‘dead weight’.

Craig, Rohan and Nick are first to hold the rope. Nick is digging deep against the two big guys and eventually Tegan takes over from Nick after 25 minutes. valiant effort! Jono is impressed with Craig’s one hand stance, and so am I as it has been at least 30 minutes in. Kylie takes over from Tegan after only a few minutes. Kylie starts to slide soon after and Flick takes over. A Saanapu win is slipping away.  After 40 minutes Lee takes over from Rohan. WOW. Matt takes over from Flick at 50 minutes and is their final member; time to pull out some magic! Sam finally takes over Craig after 52 minutes, simply amazing. Matt’s in the water trying to pull the rope back, but loses it. Vavau and Aganoa win immunity.

Craig, you badass. [Image credit: Network Ten]

MEDI-CHECK. Kate’s boil pops up to say hi again. The doc says it’s infected and that it could eliminate her from the game. She drains it and gives Kate antibiotics. Jono commentates on the pus and I love it. Kate is a trooper and goes back to camp and of course something like this happens to the true survivor on the show. One thing I wanted to see was the ACTUAL footage of the boil pus being drained. No chance.

POP. [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Saanapu. Purple Tegan is starting to talk way too much which means you’re going home love. Nick and Tegan try to devise a plan to get Kylie out. Flick, Brooke and Kylie talk about voting out Nick. Brooke tells Kylie she’s SO happy to have her onside; I see right through your lies, Brooke. Ha! Matt tells Flick they need Nick for challenges right now and the last immunity proved it. Tegan did 30-40 seconds compared to Nicks 40 minutes. Nick tells Brooke about the split vote to get Kylie out and that he’ll do whatever they tell him to do. Tegan’s final time on Saanapu beach is spent looking at herself in the goggles. At least she looked pretty for Tribal!

Tribal Council

Tegan thinks Saanapu is AMAZING. Nick wants to fight for team blue and reiterates that he is a physical asset. Jono picks on Tegan saying she tapped out after a few minutes; just rub it in that she sucked… Nick then says Vavau hate him so he would be perfect to keep around as the perfect Meat Shield. Tegan then realises a little too late that she needs to fight for her spot and speaks up. Kylie feeling unsafe plays her idol. The initial vote results in a tie: Kylie-2 Nick-2 Tegan-2. Matt, Brooke, Flick and Kylie re-vote. And in a unanimous vote, Tegan goes home.

Episode 8: DAY 18-20

Post tribal. Magic Matt’s pretty chuffed about being the one who made the call the last two tribals. Brooke confesses she wanted Nick gone, but Matt convinced everyone to vote Tegan. Is Matt pulling the strings? At the moment maybe, but I really do think Brooke is one to watch in coming weeks!

She’s on to you, Matty! [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Saanapu, King Matt sits on his throne and calls himself Charlie, while Brooke and Flick are his angels. Oh dear, Brooke and Flick are no goats, Matty.

Hello, Charlie. [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Aganoa, a chicken tries to hookup with Kristie. Rohan is also now the Fire Master and starting to piss people off with his obsession with the fire. At night we have a good look at hermit crabs crawling past Kristie’s snoring face and it is wonderous. In the morning Lee finds his sneakers with burn holes being too close to the fire. That would absolutely suck. Hopefully someone there has watched Naked and Afraid and can make Lee a new pair of shoes from palm fronds!

At Vavau, JL gets stung by a wasp on her foot. Ouch! She toughs it out because she’s a tough cookie. I probably would have sobbed in the bush somewhere. JL confesses she feels safe in her tribe and thinks she won’t get voted out. Craig and JL know they are in control of their current tribe. Little does she know…

GAME CHANGING ADVANTAGE

Craig gives off an evil glare seeing Nick walk in. Jono won’t tell them what the advantage is until afterward. No fun, Jono!

Race out into water and use stepping poles to transfer one tribe member between two platforms. All tribe members must then swim out and stand on a post for 5 seconds to win. Sue wants to sit out again. Gran, you can’t sit out every challenge! Conner, Andrew and Kat sit out.

Kylie, JL and El are transported on the poles. Saanapu does really well being the least physical team. Kylie gets to platform first. Saanapu are at their post and great thinking from Matt and Nick creating a pillar for the girls. Saanapu win the advantage in the next phase of the game; the merging of two tribes. (Not THE MERGE, Jono. Check your words. Maybe more of a merge-swap).

#FrustratedFishy

They get to choose who from the other tribes join them. They can choose to stay together and pick who joins, or split and form two different tribes and pick from the others. Obviously you would stay strong together and pick the best from the remaining tribes. The Saanapu five stay together and Matt chooses his old bud Sam from Vavau first. Then calls Lee for overall strength, El for challenges and JL to be their first boot. Did anyone notice NO ONE greets JL as she walked over to Saanapu? Wow, major snubbing!

The NEW Saanapu. [Image credit: Network Ten]

Back at Saanapu, a feast is awaiting. Cheers to beer. El is happy to be blue with Lee, and I am happy they are away from Phoebe and Rohan. Flick wants original blue to stick together. Flick, Brooke and Matt make a pact to not vote each other out (which really means nothing). JL feels very out of place and knows she’s the easy vote. Nick and JL take a leisurely walk. In a confessional Nick explains how he created a revenge list and JL was at the top. JL then sets a bomb off bringing up the lie about the immunity clue. Arguments ensue. JL calls Nick bitter, and of course he is, and vice versa. JL would be hell pissed off with 1) the game allowing Nick to stay on, and 2) them choosing her to switch tribes. No one saw any of those twists coming, so it’s only right they are both bitter. But JL asking him why he is bitter is just silly. If anything, blame the game for not sending Nick home in the first place. This was a great explosive scene and shows how paranoia and emotions can affect certain people in this environment.

I’M NOT BITTER. [Image credit: Network Ten]

At Vavau, Kat makes a Worlds Apart reference without even knowing. Touche, Kat! Craig finds and idol clue in his napkin, and boy is he lucky to have kept it hidden. Kat starts talking to everyone and throws her Aganoa buddies under the bus and it’s brilliant to watch. Word gets around that Rohan has the idol and Sue lets Craig know with a “GAME ON MOLE” and I cry in adoration! I heart you, Suzie Q!

El was right though, Kat’s gonna stray like an old cat.

And here the episode ends. A no-tribal, non-elimination episode. It was pretty much a freaking soap opera. Not happy, Jan!

ALL IMAGES USED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE COPYRIGHT NETWORK TEN/ENDEMOL SHINE AND CBS. THIS IS A PERSONAL BLOG AND ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN.

“NEXT TIME ON… AUSTRALIAN SURVIVOR”: Maybe SOMEONE goes home?!

SURVIVOR DANS THOUGHTS

“Yet another great week, and we lost two of the more less visible contestants in Baz & Tegan so honestly no real loss there.

Tribal shuffle was very interesting and well done, but poor Jennah Louise. I think Nick’s treatment of her was very unnecessary and I hope it comes back to bite him in the ass. Last week I had Phoebe and Sam as my stand-outs, and while they are still doing well my new front-runners would have to be Craig and Brooke. Both came out of nowhere this week and have really impressed me.”