Survivor: Cagayan - Episode 2 - Recap and Results - Cops-R-Us
Survivor Cagayan Recap - Episode 2 - Cops-R-Us:
Welcome to the recap and results for Episode 2 of Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty, “Cops-R-Us”! Will the Brains be able to bound back? Or are they doomed to continue dropping like flies?
Credit: CBS
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AFTER TRIBAL
-Spencer is understandably miffed that Garrett essentially blew up his game, being so incompetent at Survivor that his tribe would rather pick a woman who destroyed all their race than keep him another day. Of course, everyone is still pissed about the rice, but Tasha sees more value in an all-girl alliance. However, I'm not entirely sure if that's really an optimal approach right now, playing with someone as volatile as J'Tia. Kass thinks J'Tia has been kowtowed by their decision to keep her around, but I really don't see that being the case. Basically, the only benefit to keeping her around is if you're already thinking of the endgame, taking someone who won't get any votes.
-So Tony reverses his inexplicably ridiculous lie last week, and admits he's been a cop for thirteen years. Seriously, why the hell would he have lied in the first place? I've never understood the whole "gotta keep my job a secret" strategy that's become so prevalent on Survivor. 90% of jobs on Survivor won't get you into trouble. Basically, as long as you're not already rich, you should be good. What I'm mostly saying is, you really shouldn't lie if you don't absolutely have to.
-Tony tries to rope Sarah into a Cops R' Us alliance, and I don't know if I can take another contestant as delusional as Phillip Sheppard. But Tony is already laying it on really thick, making up stories about rumors around camp to try to convince her that Trish needs to be the next to go. Dude, you're playing too hard, too early!
-Meanwhile, the Beauty tribe is made absolutely miserable by all the rain. Hell, I would be too. Rain is fun when you have the promise of comfort to allow yourself to enjoy it. Rain pattering against your windowsill can be calming and pleasant. And it can be fun to dash through the rain when you're only a few yards from being indoors. On an island with a ramshackle shelter? Not so much.
Credit: CBS
TRIBE LIFE
-Some people are taking the rain better than others though. Over on the Brawn tribe, Woo thinks the rain is awesome. But he's pretty much the only one, as Lindsey is miserable, and so is everyone else. But the chaos gives Sarah and Tony an opportunity to sneak away and talk strategy, making a Blue Bloods handshake commitment to one another. But over on the Beauty tribe, Jefra is falling to pieces, even breaking down and crying from the harsh conditions. This leads to LJ and Brice having to work on the shelter, which annoys LJ to no end, since he feels the women don't do anything around camp except prove the stereotype about beauty to be true.
Credit: CBS
-While sitting around and contemplating his next move, LJ smartly intuits that Morgan must have gotten a clue to the hidden immunity idol on the first day, and decides to go looking for it. However, he doesn't exactly do this inconspicuously, so I'm wondering if anyone else is going to call him out on it. Then again, it doesn't really matter if they do or if they don't, since he finds it with almost no trouble, thanks to the clarity of the water in which it's hidden. You'd think that by hiding the hidden immunity idols underwater, they'd be harder to find, but that hasn't really been the case this season, has it? That's kind of disappointing, in my opinion. When the hidden idols were first introduced, I didn't have a problem with them because they took skill to find. You usually needed more than just one clue/no clues. And it took longer than the twenty minutes it's apparently taking everyone to find them this season. But I suppose the real value in the idol isn't in how long it takes to find one, but rather how it's used -- if it's used at all. Garrett's elimination proves that finding an idol doesn't necessarily mean it'll get used.
Credit: CBS
IMMUNITY/REWARD CHALLENGE
-Interestingly, the tree mail isn't a riddle. It basically tells them exactly what the challenge is going to be. It's one of those "filling buckets and tossing water" challenges, but with a maze aspect. Luckily, knowing ahead of time allows the tribe to begin practicing, and the Brains badly need to rehearse this challenge. Except nobody but Tasha seems to want to. Kass would rather decorate the shelter, and J'Tia would rather ask about how much rice they should cook and when they're going to get to eat it. This tribe is INFURIATING. But it's not all for naught, as Spencer joins in by practicing, and this brings Kass and J'Tia over to give it their own shot. Spencer and Tasha are really the only ones thinking strategy, as Spencer feels he has to manage his emotions as the last guy in the tribe, while Tasha wonders exactly where her tribes priorities lie.
-The reward is comfort in the form of fortifications for the shelter, with the first place tribe getting the best stuff while the second place tribe still gets useful equipment.
-Beauty immediately tears through the water portion of the challenge, which requires them to fill buckets with water, toss that water to other tribe members, and then fill a bucket to release a ball which will then be guided by two tribemates through a maze. Brawn isn't far behind, however. Yet it's STILL looking awful for the Brains, who fall WAY behind. They're barely at the maze by the time Cliff and Woo (this season's ultimate bromance) secures victory for the Brawn tribe.
BRAWN TRIBE wins Immunity/Reward!
-But then, suddenly, an amazing thing happens: the Brain tribe makes up ground as the Beauty tribe lags behind. Spencer and Kass are able to complete the maze, guiding the metal ball through to the bucket, and securing immunity and second-place reward!
BRAINS TRIBE comes in second place!
BEAUTY TRIBE is going to Tribal Council!
-J'Tia breaks down in tears while Spencer looks about as stoked to have pulled it out as any tribe winner has ever looked. Meanwhile, the Beauty tribe looks fed up with this world and everyone in it. Not me, though. This should provide an interesting look into where the politics within the Beauty tribe stand, as I imagine it's LJ vs. Morgan. And I'd wager she has the numbers.
Back at Camp
-Tony finds another idol clue in the reward supplies, and takes possession of it to keep anyone else from finding it. I can't believe no one else in the tribe has thought to look in the reward supplies for an idol. You would think if these people had seen Survivor before, they'd know it's in there.
-Over at the Beauty tribe, LJ decides to target Brice, which is not only surprising, it seems like a terrible idea. I mean, yeah, it's smart to target someone who's as keenly strategic as Brice, but it smacks of "thinking of the endgame too soon." I think Brice has more use than any of the women in the tribe, especially Morgan, who's far more aggressively strategic than Brice. She tries to rope Jefra into her alliance with Jeremiah and Brice, while Brice works over Jeremiah to get rid of Alexis. Jefra confronts Jeremiah about this, as she's horrified by the prospect of having to vote for Alexis, and it doesn't take him long to realize that this essentially makes him the swing vote between the faction voting for Alexis and the faction voting for Brice. I think the smart play is getting rid of Alexis, but that would then pit Jeremiah against LJ, and I think LJ could be a useful ally to Jeremiah, since his Brawn will make him the de facto target of the other tribe once we get a shuffle/merge, meaning Jeremiah can continue to fly under the radar. I have no idea what Jeremiah should do.
-Alexis then presents the prospect of a tie to flush-out the idol, with the girls voting for Brice and the guys voting for Alexis, with the added option of forcing a three-way tie by including Morgan in that vote tally. This will prompt a revote in which Brice and Morgan, if neither has an idol, will be unprotected. LJ plays it smart by keeping his idol possession a secret. Although you could argue that he could use the idol to solidify one concrete, solid ally or two, I really think it exposes and endangers him far more than it would help, since he'd be in for a blindside.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
-The big takeaway here is that everyone is demoralized from the rain and the loss and the paranoia. Jefra shows a certain naivete about the game that makes me wonder if she's ever watched this show before, since she genuinely believes that no one has talked strategy prior to losing the challenge. Brice, who is afraid that he and Morgan are on the outside of a four-person alliance, openly outs Alexis as someone he doesn't trust, saying she's the only one who hasn't tried to talk with him, although Alexis defends herself from those accusations, saying she actually loves Brice. Morgan, meanwhile, is worried that everyone thinks she has an idol, but has trust in the voting pattern the tribe agreed upon. This is a really vague tribal council, as it's become increasingly difficult to read any of these people through the editing. Of course, that makes for an interesting vote-reading, since it's hard to know which way it'll go.
-It's time for the vote, and LJ (who votes for Morgan) doesn't play the idol. Time for the votes...
Alexis
Brice
Morgan
Alexis
Brice
Morgan
IT'S A THREE-WAY TIE!
-So Alexis, Morgan, and Brice won't vote. The remaining tribe members revote and the tally is...
Brice
Brice
BRICE is voted off of SURVIVOR: CAGAYAN!
Credit: CBS
-That's a shame. I'll miss Brice from a pure entertainment standpoint, although I can see why they ditched him, given that he gave off schemer vibes. Granted, I don't see how he was any more dangerous than Morgan, who's been scamming the tribe since day one, but I think certain people (coughJeremiahcough) have blinders on, where she's concerned.
-In his exit interview, Brice throws Jeremiah under the bus, saying he's surprised Jeremiah even knew how to spell his name. Brice feels the tribe just wanted to get rid of its cutest, most fashionable member, which...man, I kind of miss Brice already.
So what do you think of this week's result? Did the Beauty tribe get rid of the right person? Sound off in the comments! Until next week, thanks for reading!