Survivor: Cagayan - Episode 7 - Recap and Results - Mad Treasure Hunt
Recap and results for Survivor Cagayan - Episode 7 - Mad Treasure Hunt:
Welcome to the recap and results for Episode 7 of Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty, “Mad Treasure Hunt”!
Follow along as I'll be frequently updating the post with my recap and analysis! Just hit refresh. Also, add your thoughts in the comments or by tapping out how you feel about the episode with the BuzzDial:
http://buzzdial.com/swing-dial/embed/?uid=OSYDUC5G
Credit: CBS
Let's get this show on the road!
AFTER TRIBAL COUNCIL
-Spencer is disappointed in Kass, saying that she goes "wherever her estrogen takes her, not her brain." He tells her he thinks it was a bad move, but Kass responds by saying that Spencer and co. violated the #1 rule in Survivor: you don't cater to the person on top of the alliance, you cater to the person on the bottom. They made her feel as though she was on the bottom of the alliance, and so she flipped. Spencer thinks Kass talking strategy is laughable, and leads to a blow-up at the campfire. Honestly, Kass isn't exactly wrong about the notion that one should cater to the lowest person on the totem pole, but I wish we could have seen a bit more footage last week that would have given her the impression she was lower in the alliance than Morgan, Jeremiah, and Sarah. Because she, Spencer, and Tasha seemed like a solid 3.
-And we find ourselves at the next morning at the newly-named Solarrion tribe, and Morgan and Kass immediately get into it after Morgan is ordered to fetch water. It's basically a high school argument, as Kass feels Morgan has been rude to her (despite admitting the night before that Morgan never talks to her), while Morgan continues to believe that everyone who has a problem with her just hates her because she's cute. I think she and Brice might have been the only people on the Beauty tribe to actually be vain about it. Not that either of them (ESPECIALLY Morgan) don't have cause to be.
Credit: CBS
REWARD CHALLENGE
-Two randomly-chosen teams must make their way through a water-themed obstacle course before dragging a treasure chest across the land-based segment of the obstacle course. Once finished, they must use pieces inside the chest to solve a puzzle.
-The reward is a trip to a Survivor-themed Outback Steakhouse for the winning team, so yeah, HUGE stakes. Also, huge steaks.
-The teams are Woo, Kass, Tasha, Tony, and Trisha vs. LJ, Jefra, Morgan, Spencer, and Jeremiah.
-The obstacle course portions are fairly close, actually, despite a majority of the real brawn in the game being on LJ's team. But it all falls apart for Team Woo at the puzzle section, as LJ pulls ahead and never looks back. He gains a tiny bit of ground as the challenge comes to a close, but it's too little, too late for Woo.
LJ, JEFRA, MORGAN, SPENCER, and JEREMIAH win reward!
-This should create some interesting dynamics, as the best reward challenges often do, as this separates LJ and Jefra from the other members of the alliance, possibly creating a scenario by which the pair is turned. It'll be a hard sell though, particularly if there's a clue to the hidden immunity idol to sow dissension.
Credit: CBS
SOLARRION
-Tony is angry they lost the challenge, but argues "It's better to be pissed off than pissed on." Can't really argue with that, although I'm not sure how urine entered into the equation.
-Kass is unnerved by Tony's assumption that she's officially with their alliance, since she mostly just made the move on her own. "If I made a mistake, so what?" Kass says, which is possibly the most boneheaded thing anyone has said in the game so far. She claims that she's not a flipper, despite having just flipped. She isn't even swayed by Tony's offer to get rid of whoever she wants at the next vote. "As long as it's not me," she responds. Tony is worried about Kass, since he can't read her, although after his attempts to "read" his opponents at last week's tribal council, I'd guess he isn't as good at reading people as he thinks anyway.
OUTBACK SHACK
-Everyone gets loaded on salad, loaded baked potatoes, steak, mini-milkshakes, and s'mores. Spencer pigs out before realizing his hands are messy, so he picks up a napkin...and the clue to the hidden immunity idol falls out. This is actually kind of unfair, if you ask me. Shouldn't it be in a place where any one of the castaways could find it? Like in a bowl of rolls or something? This clue rests entirely on who happened to be sitting in Spencer's seat, and that just means only one person was ever going to find the clue, which doesn't sit right with me.
-Spencer reads the clue and decides that, with tribal council fast approaching, he'll need to find the idol in order to secure his safety.
Credit: CBS
THE IDOL HUNT
-This ends up being one of the most absurd parts of the game. Not because of Woo's "ninja stealth skills," in which he decides to follow Spencer on the assumption he has a clue to the hidden idol, but because of what Spencer does while searching for the idol. It's not necessarily that he doesn't notice Woo there, it's more that, once he notices Woo, he just LEAVES the hidden idol clue on the banks of the pond for Woo to find! Seriously, he doesn't even make a motion to stop Woo! He just leaves the clue folded in his pants, so when Woo goes to return them, the clue falls out. Suddenly, Spencer is chasing after Woo, but it's not like he's going to be able to get the clue back now. How in the HELL could someone so smart be so dumb? Come ON, Spencer!
-Of course, Spencer immediately redeems himself with what comes next. As Woo reveals the clue to the rest of his alliance, Spencer ropes in the rest of his group to help in the search, resulting in what Tony declares a "mad treasure hunt," with even Morgan getting involved (Tony humorously notes that you know this idol is a big deal when Morgan, who might be "a person or a pillow" for as much as she does around camp, is searching for it). Everyone is scrambling, and Woo opts to leave Kass behind to watch over Spencer while he keeps looking. Spencer placates Kass with apologies for his behavior at the last tribal council, all as a means of distracting her...because he's staring right at the idol, but can't pick it up! He waits until Kass looks away, and he finishes subtly digging the idol out, stuffing it in his pants and moseying along.
SPENCER FINDS THE HIDDEN IMMUNITY IDOL!
-Turns out it's not the Super Idol, but just a regular old idol. Still, it's a valuable find, and he did it all with Kass right there. Insane.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
-The challenge involves standing inside a wooden frame and precariously balancing a block between one's head and the top of the frame. It's a classic endurance challenge, and it claims nearly half the field within the first moments, as I imagine a challenge like this is a thousand times harder and more grueling than it looks.
-It ends up coming down to Spencer and Tasha, and it says a lot about the trust in their alliance that neither ever bargains for the win. Spencer looks wobbly nearly all the way through (with Probst humorously commenting that Spencer is "awkward-looking but strong"), while Tasha seems to be the very picture of serenity. However, it's Tasha who falls out of the challenge first -- and suddenly, too. I suppose she just lost her balance. Either that, or she has a brilliant poker face, where pain is concerned.
SPENCER WINS IMMUNITY!
Credit: CBS
-Everything is coming up Spencer! This is huge for Spencer, since he's not only protected himself, but he's now in a position to protect someone else. But the question is whom to play it for? He could even the odds if he plays it right, or he could burn an idol and find himself right back to where he started.
SCRAMBLING AT CAMP
-Tony meets with his alliance, and suggests getting rid of Morgan since she won't be saved in the event that Spencer's alliance has an idol. It's sound strategic reasoning, and it's matched by Spencer's own plan to get rid of Tony. In an insane realization, he decides the only person that can help them figure out who Tony's alliance is voting for is self-professed free agent Kass.
-Spencer approaches Kass about flipping on Tony, and she notes in a confessional that, frankly, it's not a bad idea. Tony is charming, and could be a real jury threat. Meanwhile, Morgan "is a bitch and is going to stay that way," which means she isn't a jury threat in any way. So she seriously weighs her options. This is a unique position for Kass, since she openly notes that she took the likelihood for reconciliation with Spencer and co. into consideration when she made her big move last week. So why keep that potential channel open if you're not going to use it? I'm not sure even Kass knows what she's going to do from one week to the next, and while that makes her an exciting player, I don't know how sound her strategy will ultimately prove to be on any given week. She isn't as charming as similar "anyone else but me" players like Sandra Diaz-Twine, but I'm not really sure she needs to be. She just needs to last, and keep from burning any bridges. If she makes it to the finals by default rather than by betrayal, she might have a chance. But I wouldn't bet on it for Kass.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
-The pre-vote discussion is interesting for how it lays Kass's decision bare: Morgan openly admits she doesn't work hard around camp, and that nobody likes her, meaning she's unlikely to get any jury votes if she's taken to the end. Tony, for his part, starts arguing on Kass's behalf, saying she's in a comfortable position, so why should she flip? Probst, however, notes that Kass is highly unpredictable, so there's no way of knowing she isn't setting Tony and co. up for a fall. For once, I'm at a loss as to what the right move should be. Realistically, Kass is in a solid position, so flipping back to Spencer and co. just puts her at greater risk and further alienates potential jury votes. But her move last week potentially had the same effect, so I'm wondering if it'll even matter whether she flips back or not, since her bed is already made, so to speak.
Everyone votes, and Probst asks if anyone would like to play the idol. Spencer, who apparently hasn't told anyone about his possession of the idol, decides to keep it. The votes are read...
TONY
TONY
TONY
TONY
MORGAN
MORGAN
MORGAN
MORGAN
MORGAN
MORGAN
MORGAN is voted out of SURVIVOR: CAGAYAN!
Credit: CBS
-In her exit interview, Morgan declares she's proud of herself, and couldn't care less what Kass thinks about her. Good for her.
-Ultimately, I think Morgan was the right call for Tony's alliance, since Spencer was never going to use his idol to save her. The only possible error in this call was in eliminating someone who would have made a great "goat" to take to the end. She wouldn't have gotten vote one in front of the jury, and she was in no way a social or challenge threat. If anything, a better move would have been to ax Jeremiah, since he's a physical threat, could possibly charm the jury, and is also someone whom Spencer would have been unlikely to save with the idol.
But all in all, I think Morgan was a solid move, not only for Tony's alliance, but also for Kass. She's already thrown in her lot with them, so it would have made no sense for her to turn now, especially since they'd just end up with a tie vote, and end up going to rocks. Maybe when they're back to an odd number of castaways, like next week, she could rope in a less solid member of Tony's alliance and head back over to Spencer's alliance to change up the game. But that could really paint her as inconsistent and unworthy in front of the jury. While that might end up being an unfair assessment, you don't want to be giving juries on this show any more reasons to be bitter than they're already likely to have.
-So what did you think of tonight's show? Did the right castaway go home? Sound off in the comments! Until next week, thanks for hanging out!