by Gina Scarpa

 

Tonight, on Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains, Coach had a tough time dealing with the aftermath of the last tribal council, in which Sandra called him out for being lazy. The game is taking its toll on him mentally and he breaks down in front of Tyson, crying that he wants to leave the game. Tyson relays the conversation to the other members of the tribe the next morning and Boston Rob convinces Coach to get it together and stay.

 

Before the reward challenge takes place, each tribe receives a Sears catalog for their camp which means that they'll get to select two things that they need/want in the event that they win. The heroes will play for a complete bait and tackle box and fishing gear, while the villains go for an extensive tool kit and ropes and tarp... cause Lord knows their shelter needs some help!

 

The reward challenge looked like a lot of fun. Tribe members would face off, run to something that resembled a Slip N' Slide (loved that thing growing up) and grab a numbered ball, which they had to then throw into a hoop. The first tribe to 4 points won the catalog items for their camp. The teams are pretty even until Tyson faced off against Colby. It took them both several tries but Tyson managed to get his ball in the hoop and win it for the villains. Not gonna lie. Sometimes I forget Tyson is still in the game. He's so quiet compared to the cocky, v-neck shirt wearing, strategizer that he was in Tocantins.

 

Back at the camps, both tribes receive notes that let them know that the hidden immunity idol is near their beach somewhere. Brilliant move by Survivor. Now that information is out in the open and it's up to the tribes and the individual player what they want to do from here. The villains make a pact that nobody will go look for it or they're a "marked man" (ooh, big words) but of course, Russell goes off anyway to try to scramble for it. The heroes all go running at once for it and Tom snatches it up, but not before Amanda spots him.

 

Tonight's immunity challenge is the only one in the history of Survivor to never be completed and it's from Russell's season, Samoa. Blindfolded, team members would roll a team member in a giant ball through a course. The member in the ball can see and calls out directions until they reach a puzzle board, where the remaining blindfolded members wait for instructions to move a ball through a course to the exit. Rob calls out for the villains and Tom calls out for the heroes. Smart choices for both tribes. (Courtney and Sandra sit out and if there was a million dollar prize for hardly ever competing in anything, they'd hands down win.) The villains get off to a nice lead after bumping the heroes off the course. At the puzzle, it's neck and neck but challenge master Rob leads his villains to yet another victory.

 

At the heroes' camp, the target is clearly placed on Tom's back. He has the idol, he's in an alliance with Colby, and they are not part of the majority. Tom makes a bold move by approaching JT and Amanda, offering them the idol, and making a case for himself to stay. JT, Tom, and James talk about getting rid of Candace, who scrambles and doesn't add much physical strength to the tribe. These people need to win if they're going to have any shot when the merge happens.

 

When Cirie catches wind of the plan to oust Candace, she freaks and tries to convince Amanda to go back to the original plan and vote Tom. Seeing what a strong strategist Cirie is, JT switches his focus to getting her out, which is smart on his part. Believe you me, if he doesn't take her out, she WILL take him out. Her reasons for wanting to get rid of Tom are the exact same reasons she'd use to take JT out later: he's charismatic, athletic, and already won this game before.

 

At tribal, Probst finally does what I've been waiting for him to do for years: call out people who vote out strong players early on because they're a threat to win the million. I mean, you need to actually make it to the merge, get the numbers on your side, and overcome many obstacles to even make it to that final tribal council. Why in the world would you even be thinking about that in the very beginning? Probst and Rupert go at it, with Jeff calling him part of the problem. You're always going to end up at tribal if you vote out your strong players.

 

Right before the votes are read, Tom plays the idol (go Tom!) and the three votes against him don't count. Colby gets two votes, but it's Cirie's three votes that take her out of the game.

 

Side note: Can you imagine an alliance of James, Colby, JT, and Tom? I mean... could they even be stopped?

 

Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains airs Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

For more Survivor links, visit SirLinksALot.net