Survivor: Cagayan - Episode 6 - Recap and Results - Head of the Snake

Recap and results for Survivor Cagayan - Episode 6 - Head of the Snake:

Welcome to the recap and results for Episode 6 of Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty, “Head of the Snake”!

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Credit: CBS

Let's get this show on the road!

AFTER TRIBAL COUNCIL

-So Spencer is optimistic about the upcoming merge, feeling they have the numbers going into the merge. Both he and Kass believe that they have Final 6 locked down if they can just stay together, but Kass notes this is easier said than done. For her part, Sarah wants to hash out who they're going to target once the merge comes, and Trish seems to be the agreed upon target. Basically, everyone is on the same page.

Credit: CBS

-Well, until the next morning. While talking strategy with Sarah the next morning, Kass indirectly accuses Sarah of not being entirely trustworthy just yet. Her argument is that Sarah hasn't actually betrayed anyone on her old tribe yet, and until she does, her loyalty will always be in question. Kass outright says to Sarah that she and Jeremiah don't have the tribe's complete trust, which...I mean, Kass, I like you. I like you a lot. I have since the first episode. And I think you're a real sleeper to go all the way. But for the love of all things Survivor, why would you ever say that to Sarah? I mean, the woman is willing to side with you! Even if it's just for one vote, don't let her know you suspect her of anything, lest she actually have cause to turn on you! I mean, sure, if you know she's going to turn on you anyway, by all means, call her out. But don't spring that trap before you actually have anything to go on. Plus, why accuse Sarah NOW and not last week, when everyone and their mother was wondering who among the Aparri tribe might actually flip once the merge comes? It's kind of stunning that Sarah's name never came up.

Credit: CBS

MERGE TIME

-So Tony is pretty much loving the game right now. They're at day 17, and the tribe receives tree mail that it's time to head over to the Aparri beach to merge. Both Tony and LJ comment on how fortunate they are to have idols. I'm trying to remember another time in Survivor history where two members of the same alliance have had idols that neither knew about. I'm sure it's happened, but you'd think LJ or Tony would have shown their hand to somebody by now. But they've been completely tight-lipped (which, naturally, is good strategy).

Credit: CBS

-Solana arrives in a rowboat and immediately, things get to brewing: Sarah isn't sure how to react to seeing her old tribe mates; Jefra is shocked to find Alexis gone, feeling she's lost a valuable potential ally; and, most importantly, tree mail reveals that there will be a NEW HIDDEN IMMUNITY IDOL in play one with SPECIAL POWERS. Nobody has any idea what "special powers" mean, but Tony intends to find it, saying he'll spend two-three days searching for it (given how badly idols are hidden in this game, I doubt it).

-Spencer reflects on his luck, saying he went to being at the bottom of the worst tribe in Survivor history, to suddenly being in a strong alliance. Meanwhile, Tony is leery of Sarah, saying that they both swore on their badges to work together. He basically says that if Sarah doesn't flip on Aparri, he's done with her. Fair enough. (And honestly, who'd have thought Sarah would be the one to potentially break that alliance, and not Tony?)

SARAH SANDWICH

-Tony is hoping Sarah will be "the missing link" to his alliance, to give them the numbers. He pulls her aside to work her over, and as she tries to explain where she stands, Tony immediately cuts her off and starts explaining why it's in her best interest to come over to his side. In the confessional, he says he's going to do whatever he can to assure her he's taking her to the end, yet he never actually says he intends to take her to the end. Tony tries to get her to swear on her badge, and she just isn't there yet, acknowledging in a confessional of her own that she's in the perfect spot in the game. She's essentially a "Sarah sandwich" in between two alliances.

-The power is going to Sarah's head. She tries to dictate to the rest of Aparri who she wants to go home, saying it needs to be either Woo or LJ (if he doesn't have an idol, like Jeremiah suspects). However, Jeremiah thinks Jefra should go while Kass suggests Trish, prompting Sarah to completely flip out, taking Aparri to task for not catering to her every whim. In particular, she accuses Kass of bullying her into voting how they want, failing to recognize that the point of an alliance is to work together to reach a consensus agreement. If you're on top of an alliance, then you can dictate who goes and in what order. But Sarah is a swing vote! As Kass notes, nobody in the game should have that kind of power. Seriously, Sarah is a case of an otherwise enjoyable character becoming positively insufferable once she gets a smidgen of influence, threatening in a confessional that she'll simply flip to Solana if she doesn't get her way with Aparri. Kass rightly notes that if a person is dictating terms instead of discussing possibilities, then they're not "a part of the six, they're a part of the 1."

Credit: CBS

-Kass and Sarah get passive-aggressive with each other at the campfire the next morning, with Sarah saying she's sick of people only talking to her for her vote, while Kass feels that it says a lot about a person when they lose their cool. Tasha plays mediator, saying she appreciates the difficult position Sarah is in. Kass reads this as Tasha taking Sarah's side, which is just about the silliest, most childish thing I can think of, since it's clear (to me, at least) that Tasha isn't taking sides so much as she is trying to keep this alliance from falling apart at the seams. There's a huge difference between playing sides and playing mediator, and Tasha is basically doing the latter by giving Sarah a chance to air her grievances. She then gives Tasha that same platform. Seriously, does Kass not recognize that Tasha is trying to handle this internally without all of Solana seeing?

-I think it's telling that Sarah is willing to vote out Tony, as she suggests him as one of the possibilities for the vote. But Kass, for her part, doesn't feel that a person in an alliance should say "I'm absolutely not voting for this person" like Sarah is doing with Trish. Sarah's argument is that Trish isn't a strategizer, which shows how shortsighted Sarah is being; conversely, Kass hasn't really made any kind of convincing argument for why Trish has to go before anybody else. This is an alliance that could go far if they could just get their s*** together. But I'll be surprised if that happens.

Credit: CBS

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

-It's the foothold challenge, as the competitors stand on a platform and try to balance, transitioning from one difficult foothold to another at different intervals. I was totally prepared for this to be one of those long challenges that last the entire day, with bargains being made left and right once it was down to the finalists. But that...didn't happen at all. During the transition to the top level, everyone in the damn challenge falls out except for Tony and Woo. It's a complete anticlimax of a challenge that likely would have been more exciting had it not apparently taken place on the windiest day in the history of Cagayan, as a strong gust is responsible for claiming Morgan and LJ, among others.

-Tony tries to talk to Woo, but thinks better of it and decides to keep focused after Probst suggests that focus is everything in this challenge. Woo, who looks like he's putting all of his concentration into maintaining his balance, eventually holds on longer than Tony, who wishes Woo luck as he slowly falls off the platform.

WOO WINS INDIVIDUAL IMMUNITY!

Credit: CBS

-A big win for Woo, and I'd be surprised if this doesn't put a target on his back. But just from looks alone, I think people will assume he's a threat whether he performs well at challenges or not.

CHAOS KASS

-Sarah throws her weight around in the Aparri alliance, and starts calling herself "The President". It's basically the same verse as the first, with Sarah wanting to get rid of Tony, and getting all pouty when Aparri starts throwing other names around. She tries to see what her options are with Solana, and Tony gives her a good spiel, noting that she's got nobody on Aparri. If she votes out someone from Solana, Aparri will still have the numbers, so they could then dump Sarah and still have the numbers. In essence, they only need her for this one vote. In a confessional, Sarah belligerently notes that she already knows this, but her strategizing doesn't seem to reflect as much. For his part, Tony promises Sarah finally three with himself and Trish, saying she's above LJ, Jefra, and Woo. But Sarah still needs to think it over.

-While all this is going on, Trish approaches Kass, asking whom she'd get rid of from Aparri if she had the chance. When Kass reveals that she'd get rid of Sarah, Trish makes the pitch for her to come over to Solana. Kass mulls it over, saying "Chaos Kass" might come out to play tonight, since she loves the idea that Sarah could end up going home after acting so smug about running the game. While this would be immensely satisfying, since I don't particularly like Sarah, it's actually pretty terrible strategy if Kass is trying to win. At best, she's trading a #3 spot in one alliance for, at best, #4 in another. At worst, she's at the very bottom of the barrel. In essence, if she flipped, she'd be pulling a Cochran from Survivor: South Pacific. But she seems dedicated to blindsiding Sarah, which means she's all-in with Solana.

TRIBAL COUNCIL

-Things start breaking down almost immediately, as Tony reveals he has an idol that he intends to use for his tribe, calling it a "community idol". This prompts Aparri to immediately panic and start whispering about a backup plan. They all agree they're going to vote for "the other one," pretty much revealing that they all intended to vote for Tony. For his part, Tony is absolutely loving this, begging them to bring it on. Solana all agree to stick with their original plan, and it's an all-out strategic free-for-all, with both separate alliances trying to hammer down a plan before it's time to vote.

-So it's time to vote, and after Probst gathers all the votes, he asks if anyone would like to play a hidden immunity idol. Tony approaches Probst as if he intends to play his idol for himself...before revealing that he intends to play it for LJ, saying he wants to see if he's read these people the right way. Then an incredible thing happens...LJ reaches into the bag and says he wants to give Tony some extra protection, and so he plays HIS hidden immunity idol for Tony, stunning absolutely everyone at camp. So both Tony AND LJ are safe, and you've never seen such good acting, as Spencer acts as if this is the downfall of his entire alliance, even though he knew good and damn well that none of their votes were cast against Tony or LJ.

-Probst reads the votes...

JEFRA
SARAH
JEFRA
SARAH
JEFRA
SARAH
JEFRA
SARAH
JEFRA
SARAH

And the first member of the jury is...SARAH

SARAH is voted out of SURVIVOR: CAGAYAN!

Credit: CBS

-She's so completely stunned that she stays in her seat long after Probst has read the result. As if in a fugue state, she goes to get her torch snuffed, and wishes everyone else luck. Spencer is positively livid, as Aparri has deduced that Kass was the one that flipped. He angrily declares, "Kass, with no shot at winning the game." Kass responds, "It's still early." But I kind of have to agree with Spencer. In her exit interview, Sarah is still shocked, saying she was confident that the final vote would read "Jefra," only to be thrown by the result. I share her surprise, although it's kind of her own fault for letting her "swing vote" status go to her head. You need to play it like Sandra Diaz-Twine, where you're a swing vote, but you're not acting like it suddenly means you're on top of the totem pole.

-But let's look at the dynamics of what Kass did. Kass basically violated one of the biggest rules of Survivor: don't let personal feelings get in the way of good strategy. It would have been one thing if she really didn't trust Sarah would stick with their alliance, but it appears, from the edit at least, that this isn't why she flipped. From all appearances, she flipped because she just plain didn't like Sarah. Tasha wasn't far off the mark early in the episode when she noted that Kass and Sarah didn't have to like each other to work together, but apparently that was a prerequisite for Kass, whereas it actually wasn't for Sarah, who ended up remaining true to Aparri. In essence, Aparri would have had the numbers!

But now?

Kass has basically traded a guaranteed final three alliance with Tasha and Spencer for, at best, #4 with Solana. And, at worst, she's at the very bottom of the barrel. Sure, Tony said earlier that LJ was near the bottom of his alliance, but is that going to be true now that LJ has shown his willingness to have Tony's back by playing that idol for him? Kass has pretty much shot herself in the foot by letting her personal feelings dictate how she voted. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up achieving the same result as Cochran's controversial flip in Survivor: South Pacific, where he buys into an alliance's promises and flips, only to end up going home sooner than if he'd just stayed where he was. I still mostly like Kass, but the sting of this flip will affect her for the rest of the game, to where a victory feels virtually impossible.

What do you think? Did Kass make the right move? Sound off in the comments!

GOODNIGHT!