by Gina Scarpa

 

Last night on Survivor, Matt was feeling pretty close to his breaking point out at Redemption Island and who can blame the guy? He was blindsided twice and has spent the majority of this game alone. Now, he has Mike to keep him company and David arrives soon after. As much as Matt wants out of this game, he feels it's God's will that he stay... so he stays...

 

Back at Murlonio, Phillip is getting aggravated that the former Zapatera members have more rice than the former Ometepe members have. Well, you guys picked them off one by one! Less tribe members equals less mouths to feed. Nobody seemed to mind the separation between the two groups until one side noticed they weren't eating as much as the other.

 

Everyone heads to Redemption Island to watch the duel between Matt, Mike, and David. Using tiles, they have to make a house of cards that reached eight feet high - a challenge we've seen before on the show. Mike gets right to work, stacking those tiles like it's his job, with Matt right behind him. David goes slow and steady because if that tower falls, you're dead in the water. Mike reaches eight feet first but is literally shaking as he tries to balance the last tile. He eventually does it, finishes first, and stays on Redemption Island. Matt finishes second and will also stay, which means that David is out and will become the first member of the jury.

 

When they all arrive back at camp, Andrea discovers that their rice has been contaminated with mold and maggots. Now, if it were me, that'd be enough to turn my stomach for the remaining days out on the beach. These people are starving though, so they sort out the good remaining rice and leave it out on a blanket - Phillip's idea. Now, he did that, feeling that Zapatera will let him share their rice container but he thought wrong.

 

Andrea approached Steve and Julie about it first, who immediately said no. When Phillip stepped in, they said they had to talk to Ralph. Not liking that answer, Phillip threatened to hide their rice the first opportunity he got and Steve called him crazy. SOMEHOW, this translated into a race issue and sets the special agent off. He flips them off, throws around the n-word, threatens them with martial arts, and walks around the camp with a machete.

 

This break from reality will have to wait to continue because there's an immunity challenge to get to. In the first round, players assemble a small puzzle and in the second round, the six who finished first will complete a larger puzzle. Do you see the drool on Rob's face? He is the Rain Man of puzzles. Of course, he finishes first and moves on, along with Andrea, Grant, Steve, Julie, and Ralph. In the second round, Andrea and Steve came close, but Rob's puzzle skills reigned supreme and he got to wear that necklace to tribal council.

 

Before tribal, there was very little talk of who to vote out, except for when Steve approached some members of Ometepe to let them know they were gunning for Phil. Julie, who has had enough of Phillip, decides to take his bathing suit and bury it in the sand where he'll never find it. This is getting out of hand and really immature at this point but good ol' Julie looks damn proud of herself.

 

At tribal, Phillip says that his special agent skills tell him that Steve took his trunks. He lets Probst know that Steve must be a racist because he called him crazy and equates it to how he felt back in 1968 when someone called his father "boy" in a store. Really? We're carrying feelings of anger and resentment for over 40 years because of what some ignorant store owner said back in the day? Steve is clearly upset by the allegations, understandably so. Phillip, he only means you're crazy. That's it.

 

Probst does his best to mediate the situation and does an outstanding job of doing so. He concludes that Phillip heard it one way, interpreted it, and believed that Steve was being racist. Steve meant it a completely different way and race played no part in it. He asks one last question before the votes: Who hid the shorts? Julie proudly raises her hand... and then is promptly voted out of the game. Take your bravado to Redemption Island, lady.

Survivor: Redemption Island airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa

 

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Watch Rtvzone.com's Survivor video recap - This week featured Survivors Sandra Diaz-Twine, Todd Herzog, Yau Man Chan, and Ryan Opray. Hosted by BB8's Evel Dick Donato.