Survivor: San Juan del Sur - Episode 11 and Episode 12 - Recap and Results
Recap and results for Survivor: San Juan del Sur - Episodes 11 and 12 - Kind of Like Cream Cheese / Still Holdin' On:
Welcome to the recap and results for Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water Episode 11 and Episode 12, "Kind of Like Cream Cheese" / "Still Holdin' On"!
It's two hours of Survivor tonight, as we pick up on the fallout from last week's absolutely insane episode, where TWO hidden immunity idols were played. Natalie is now the only person in the game with an idol, having found it at camp with the help of Baylor. Was Natalie's decision to talk Jon into playing his idol a smart move? Will she be able to get him out now? Or should she have struck while the iron was hot? Whose position will improve, and whose will come tumbling down?
In short, who will be voted out tonight?
Let's get this show on the road!
Credit: CBS
AFTER TRIBAL COUNCIL
"All I can do is thank God right now," Jon says, although he should probably be thanking Natalie for telling him to play his idol. And Keith for giving up the plan. Alec is furious that Keith gave their plan away, but Keith says Jon was likely going to play the idol anyway. Jon verifies this by denying that Natalie or Jaclyn had anything to do with him playing the idol, that he was always going to play it at that tribal council. Of course, anyone who actually watched that tribal council would be able to tell that Jon wasn't reading that situation at all, and would have gone home if he hadn't been talked into playing that idol.
Of course, in an amusing twist, we learn that Jon knows good and well he's full of it, but he feels he has to minimize Natalie's involvement in the play in the event he gets in front of the jury. If he gives Natalie credit for keeping him in the game now, she'll be able to use that if she makes it to final tribal council. On the one hand, it's smart that Jon is thinking about how to maximize the perception of his game; on the other hand, it infuriates Jaclyn, who feels she's being marginalized. So yeah...bit of a tightrope walk for Jon, and he's not doing it all that well right now.
REWARD CHALLENGE
It's the classic "questions about your fellow castaways" challenge, where everyone who gets a question right gets to chop the rope of whichever competitor they choose. You get your rope chopped three times, your "skull" is smashed and you're out of the challenge.
The first question is which castaway has a twin. The answer is Jeremy, resulting in everyone but Keith getting the chance to chop. The majority alliance quickly takes out Reed. The second question asks which castaway owns her own tanning business. The answer is Julie, and so everyone gets a chop. Alec and Keith are quickly taken out, leaving us with just Missy, Baylor, Jon, Jaclyn and Natalie. The remaining castaways spend a ton of time strategizing about who they want to win this challenge, going over who's gone on the most rewards and who hasn't.
In a wonderful moment, Probst calls out the alliance for wasting everyone's time, saying if they're just going to decide who wins the challenge anyway, what are they even competing for? He tells them to just tell him who they're picking to win, and they all decide on Missy.
MISSY "WINS" REWARD, I GUESS!
Things quickly turn sour, however, when Missy chooses Baylor and Natalie, which is a big red flag to Jaclyn, since Jon already sacrificed himself to go to Exile Island. She feels this reveals a pecking order, and it gives her pause. Baylor gets defensive, and Reed jumps in to tell her she's being a brat. Now MISSY takes offense because it's her kid, and honestly, I'm with Reed on this one. And can understand Missy's need to defend Baylor, but she coddles her a bit too much and encourages her aloof, entitled behavior. Missy tries to call Reed out, but he doesn't want to hear it, so Missy doesn't bother trying to explain it to him. Her dismissive tone is kind of infuriating though, and I hope it leads to Jaclyn and Jon rebelling against Missy/Baylor, even though it would be a pretty terrible gameplay decision for them, and even though I generally like Natalie and don't want to see her screwed over.
EXILED
So Jon is on Exile Island for what seems like all of an hour before finding the hidden immunity idol, having received a clue that pretty much spells it out for him. The clue makes note of a sideways tree pointing the way, and a spot that's drier twice a day, meaning it's in a hole that can be accessed during low tide. And sure enough, there it is...
JON FINDS THE HIDDEN IMMUNITY IDOL!
He's happy about his luck, and what it means for his and Jaclyn's game, naturally. But Natalie, Missy and Baylor are already thinking of ways to screw them over, as they enjoy their food reward and talk a bunch of trash about Jon/Jaclyn. Natalie and Baylor also reveal to Missy that they found a hidden immunity idol, and I'm kind of surprised she didn't already know. Granted, I think it's kind of silly that Baylor takes as much credit for finding the idol as she does, since it was mostly (i.e., 95%) Natalie. For her part, Natalie says in a confessional that she wants to go to the end with Missy and Baylor, since it would be a surefire win for her, but things aren't so certain back at camp. Reed is disappointed in himself for letting Baylor get a rise out of him, and Jaclyn is still livid that Missy took Natalie instead of her. Jaclyn seems annoyed mainly because Jon willingly went to Exile for them, although I think she's inherently misunderstanding just what Jon did. It's not like he volunteered to go to Exile Island out of the goodness of his heart. He knew an idol would be rehidden, and he wanted the clue. That's all, nothing more. So I don't really think she was owed a spot on the reward, although her anger about this opens up some interesting negotiations, as Reed, Alec, and Keith start sucking up to her in order to get her and Jon's vote. Jaclyn hates the transparency of their approach, but recognizes that she and Jon might have to flip again. If nothing else, she's amused that they've once again found themselves smack in the middle of two alliances.
Missy comes back from reward, looking to assuage Jaclyn's discontent. But she doesn't really get a chance, since Jaclyn is busy being hit on by Alec. Well, maybe that's not the best term to describe it, but there IS some flirting going on. Alec says it doesn't hurt to make Jaclyn feel more comfortable, in much the same way it doesn't hurt to put a little cream cheese on something. Um...sure. For what it's worth, Jaclyn doesn't seem to be paying much mind to her alliance, chilling with Alec and ignoring everyone else. Baylor is uneasy about this, and Natalie thinks it's downright disrespectful to Jon. Eh, I think Jon would understand that Jaclyn is just playing the game, although I could easily see her and Jon taking Alec up on his offer to hit the clubs in downtown Orlando.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
This challenge looks downright impossible. Basically, you have to balance a giant plank and roll six balls, one at a time, into one of six holes at the end of the plank. First person to land all six balls wins immunity.
Of course, it looks hard, but Jon and Keith make it look like cake. It's a far more exciting challenge than I thought it would be. It looks like Jon is about to win, but he can't seal the deal, since landing his final ball would mean knocking out one of his others. It seems like it's all about the order in which you landed your balls on the plank, since putting them in the wrong order could mean having to knock one ball out to get another in. This provides Keith an opening to close the deal.
KEITH WINS IMMUNITY!
Reed is stressed about having to rely on Jon and Jaclyn again, but at this point, there are no better plans.
WINK WINK
So Jaclyn tries to tell Jon about possibly flipping and blindsiding Missy, and he's fed up with being stuck in the middle. He thought all the flip-flopping drama was behind them, and it results in him blowing up at her. She gets defensive and storms off, and although Jon tries to smooth things over, it doesn't exactly work. Reed comes over and tries to propose an alliance, but Jon is still pretty angry about having his name written down. Reed explains he could just as easily go to Missy and work with her, but he doesn't want to, because he likes Jon and Jaclyn better. Just as Jon starts to come around to Reed's plan, Natalie arrives. So Jon quickly changes his tone and pretends to be angry at Reed. But the entire time, Jon is winking at Reed to give him reassurance. It's kind of hilarious, actually, but Reed is encouraged by Jon's signal.
But Jaclyn isn't so encouraged, since Jon goes on to spend a half an hour talking to Missy about strategy after blowing her off for trying to talk strategy with him. Jaclyn can't get over her anger with Jon, and even cries a bit. Reed is now beginning to panic, because Jon and Jaclyn are refusing to speak with each other, and he could end up going home simply because two loved ones can't find a way to get along. I don't blame him for being worried, and while I don't blame Jaclyn for feeling disrespected, I also don't blame Jon for being furious with Jaclyn. This is pretty much the WORST possible time to give him the silent treatment. It's terrible gameplay from someone who, up until now, has been playing a very encouraging, subtle game.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
So we recap the relationship drama at tribal council, as Jaclyn reveals she cried over Jon's outburst, and Jon expresses shock that he caused her such hurt. Alec seems to get a bit offended for being called out for flirting with Jaclyn, while Missy seems bothered that Jaclyn is so hurt about her choosing Natalie for the reward. Basically, this is a collection of people playing emotionally, and it's kind of telling about the volatility of the personalities here. But it's time to get to the vote.
Missy votes Reed, saying he's a rabble-rouser and noting "my child is NOT a brat." Reed votes Missy and says "This is likely the only time I ever write your name down." OOoooo, catty! Probst tallies the votes...
REED
MISSY
REED
REED
REED
REED
REED IS VOTED OUT OF SURVIVOR: SAN JUAN DEL SUR!
Reed notes how happy he was with this experience, and how it's brought he and Josh closer together. He notes that even having his torch snuffed by Jeff Probst was a bit of a dream come true as well. However, Reed's closing speech isn't the big point of interest. Rather, it's the vote totals: Reed was voted out UNANIMOUSLY by the other castaways. Seriously, what happened there?!
Ultimately, I don't know if this was the right move for Jon and Jaclyn, since they're very likely at the bottom of the Missy/Baylor/Natalie alliance, and will be snuffed out the minute it's convenient. However, I can't say for certain it wouldn't have been the same way had they gone with Reed, Keith and Alec. Perhaps Jon realizes this risk, and believes he can win immunity and then protect Jaclyn with the idol, since Top 5 is the last time he'll be able to play it. But it's hard to know for sure.
LIFE AFTER REED
Jon and Jaclyn make up, which hopefully means the end of their ill-timed, emotion-fueled fights. Alec, meanwhile, is still miffed that he was called out for flirting, saying if he wanted to flirt with anybody out here, he'd flirt with them. "But that's something I'd never do!"
Alec approaches Jon and asks if he's next to go, and Jon tells it to him straight: there's no way he'll be able to break up this alliance. For his part, Jon feels he's finally found people he can trust, and he doesn't want to compromise that alliance, particularly since he still believes he's running the game right now. So yeah, I guess he doesn't suspect anything from Natalie and co. And that's pretty telling. Seriously, if anyone is running things right now it's Natalie.
REWARD CHALLENGE #2
So the castaways must balance a ball between a plank and a rolling pin, while balancing on a plank themselves. The reward is a spaghetti dinner, served on a king-sized canopy bed delivered directly to the camp. Almost as soon as the challenge begins, Alec falls out, and he's quickly followed by Keith and Missy. Jon makes an amazing recovery after nearly falling out, but doesn't find himself as lucky the second time around. This leaves it down to Natalie and Jaclyn. Or rather, it did: in the blink of an eye, Jaclyn falls out of the challenge.
NATALIE WINS REWARD!
Natalie selects Jaclyn and Jon to come with her, and picks Alec to go to Exile Island. Naturally, she reveals in a confessional that it's all a ploy to make them trust her more, so they'll never see it coming when she finally gets her revenge for Jeremy. Um, YOU COULD HAVE HAD YOUR REVENGE LAST WEEK BY LETTING HIM GET VOTED OUT! Ahem, sorry. Got a little emotional there.
JUST TRUST ME!
Back at camp, Jon feels a bit awkward about enjoying the reward in front of the other castaways, but Keith, Missy and Baylor quickly take themselves out of the situation by going off to get water. This worries Jaclyn, who fears they might be hatching a plan, but it's not something anyone seriously considers, since it would make no sense for Missy and Baylor to work with Keith and Alec.
While talking about the finer aspects of wine, Jon annoys Natalie with his know-it-all persona. But she indulges his chit-chat in order to make him feel further at ease. And it's a plan that works, as Jon reveals to Natalie that he found the hidden immunity idol. Natalie feels this is information she can use as she begins to formulate her plan for the Jon blindside.
The next morning, Natalie puts the plan into motion, taking Baylor aside and saying Jon needs to be the next to go. She confesses that it doesn't make sense to even allow Jon to get to final three. "If Jon wins, I'll literally kill myself," Natalie glibly declares. Baylor, meanwhile, is a bit torn on voting Jon out, since Jon is so closely allied with her mother. But she's seen Missy get betrayed by men so often in her life, she doesn't want to give Jon the opportunity to be the next guy to screw her over.
Jon quickly picks up on the bad vibes around camp, but kind of shrugs it off. Jaclyn, however, isn't so quick to ignore these signals. She's nervous about Jon's confidence, saying that it's troubling how much he believes they already have it in the bag. She explains that this is how they are in real life though, with Jon getting overly amped up about things without really reading the signals. Jaclyn asks Jon if he really trusts Natalie, and he quickly answers that he does, almost without thinking about it. Yeah, not a good sign.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #2
So the challenge involves taking blocks and placing them in order, one at a time, on a wobbly table. They must do this all while keeping the table balanced evenly with a rope, moving back and forth as they retrieve the blocks from one end of the challenge area, and then place them back on the table on the other end.
It's a back-and-forth affair, as Jon and Keith are neck-and-neck. Keith keeps knocking over his blocks, resulting in his having to start over again. This happens enough times that Jon's lead becomes insurmountable. Just like that, it's over before anyone even has a chance to catch him. As if subconsciously realizing it would have been over for him otherwise, Jon starts crying. He thanks God, having prayed during the challenge itself.
JON WINS IMMUNITY!
Natalie is miffed, since she had no plan B other than voting out Jon. While she's been exhibiting some solid gameplay, this is basically what Natalie gets for telling Jon to play his idol last week. I didn't get her reasoning then, and I don't get it now. If her plan was to get out a guy while both flushing Jon and Keith's idols, leaving her as the only person with an idol in the game, I still don't see why this still couldn't have been accomplished by simply letting Jon be voted out with the idol in his pocket. I said last week that not voting out Jon would put her at risk, because he'd likely just find another one, or win immunity again.
Well guess what?
HE DID BOTH.
So congrats, Nat. You made things way harder for yourself than they needed to be.
ALEC OR KEITH
Back at camp, Jon expresses his happiness at having won immunity, since he was beginning to have doubts about his alliance. But now he chalks it all up to paranoia on his part. Jon suggests splitting the votes between Keith and Alec on the off-chance either one has an idol, and Missy is onboard with it, saying Jon is her guy, and she's with him all the way. Baylor, however, is with Natalie: they're both disappointed that Jon won immunity, since their plan is going down the drain.
Alec tries to guilt trip Baylor, saying she's the only person he's close to who's left in the game. He talks about what the game takes out of you, and the struggle required to stay in. Baylor is surprised by this new, more reflective side of Alec, and says she's glad he isn't going home this week. She essentially tells him Keith is going home without actually telling him Keith is going home, by telling him to just be patient. Keith, for his part, tries to get Natalie to keep him around, pledging his loyalty and telling her she needs to start thinking about who she wants to sit next to at the end. Suddenly, Natalie is intrigued by the possibility of having Keith in her pocket, and feels it wouldn't make sense to vote him out. He'd not only be able to beat Jon in immunity challenges, he'd be loyal to her and help her in her Jon blindside. Natalie tells Baylor about the change in plans, but she's horrified, since she doesn't actually want to get rid of Alec yet. In essence, it's between Baylor's secret guy and Natalie's secret guy. Natalie wants to keep Keith around, but feels it might not be worth the drama it'll cause in her alliance.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #2
While talking strategy and the outcome of the challenges, Missy freaks out after seeing a rat. It's a funny little moment, particularly when Alec notes he's hungry enough he'd eat that rat right now. We then transition to Jon's talk about getting the wine on the reward, recalling how his father (who's dying of brain cancer) taught him how to drink wine. This causes Jon to start tearing up, reflecting how much time he's wasted, since he only became close with his father in the past two or three years. He wishes he could go back and make up for lost time, but he can't, and so he cherishes immunity wins because they're among the final few chances he has to make his father proud.
After Probst notes that, with seven people left, now would be the time for a big move, Natalie agrees that everyone is thinking about winning the million dollars. No matter the alliances involved, everyone is looking out for themselves. A telling response.
Alec votes for Keith (misspelling it as "Kieth") by saying, "Sorry, it's either you or me, brother." We also see one vote for Alec, meaning it's pretty much split, as we expected. Probst collects the votes...
KEITH
ALEC
KEITH
ALEC
KEITH
ALEC
ALEC
ALEC IS VOTED OUT OF SURVIVOR: SAN JUAN DEL SUR!
Jon is STUNNED (mouthing "What the f___?"), and Missy seems just as shocked. I want to say this was a smart move, but I think it would have made more sense for Jaclyn to be targeted. I mean, they have to get her out at some point. Natalie has to realize that voting out Jon does her no favors if Jaclyn still makes final 3, since she'll have at least one GUARANTEED vote on the jury in Jon. That said, I kind of love how Jaclyn's invisibility works both ways.
"Jon's not around? Eh, screw talking to Jaclyn, I'd rather wait for Jon to get back."
"Can't vote out Jon? Eh, screw voting out Jaclyn, I'd rather wait for Jon to be vulnerable again."
Jaclyn is in an amazing position, basically. And Natalie is in a pretty risky position, actually: had she let Jon go home last week, her hands would have been bloodless. But by blindsiding him now, it's very clearly going to be her fault, and that could cost her his vote if she makes it to the end. Hell, the betrayal would likely cost her Jaclyn's too.
The game is as interesting now as it's been all season though, even while some of the gameplay is seriously suspect. For his part, Alec did what he could to stick around, and I'm kind of shocked he lasted as long as he did. In his exit interview, he admits he was pretty lousy in challenges. But he boasts that he lasted longer than Drew, and that's all that matters. Somehow, I figured he'd say something to that effect.
What do you think of tonight's results? Were the right calls made? If not, what do you think the castaways should have done? Sound off in the comments! Until next week, thanks for reading!