Survivor: San Juan del Sur - Episode 4 - Recap and Results - We're a Hot Mess
Recap and results for Survivor: San Juan del Sur - Episode 4 - We're a Hot Mess:
Welcome to the recap and results for Episode 4 of Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water, "We're a Hot Mess"!
Last week's episode featured one of the more satisfying ousters in recent Survivor history, as John Rocker was sent packing after running his mouth one time too many. But was this the right call for the newly-formed alliance of Josh, Baylor, Jaclyn, Alec and Wes? Or was it a call that will come back to haunt them, both strategically and in challenges? It's make or break for Coyopa, as their immunity challenge losing streak has put them in dire straits.
Will Coyopa manage to win immunity tonight? And who will go home? Let's get this show on the road!
Credit: CBS
AFTER TRIBAL COUNCIL
The new majority alliance rationalizes their choice to Dale, implying that losing John Rocker is no real loss to their strength since they weren't winning challenges anyway. Dale understands, and although he doesn't want to defend Rocker, Dale says that John admitted to always having had a short temper. Of course, the response he gets is, "And that's exactly what we don't need!" Baylor, naturally, is thrilled that Rocker is gone, since it's a huge weight off the tribe's shoulders.
However, things have suddenly gotten a bit bleaker over at Hunahpu, as Natalie finds the lost flint! It was apparently in their fire pit, and Drew is BEYOND upset. He feels they made the wrong choice in giving up their fishing gear for a new flint, and argues that he could be providing for the tribe right now with his awesome fishing skills if he had that equipment. However, his tribemates don't exactly buy all his blustering, and actively tell him he needs to stop when he suggests bartering with Jeff Probst to get the fishing gear back. They feel they'll be laughed right out of the arena if they try to barter with Jeff. But Drew thinks a good leader makes the hard decisions no one wants to make.
Credit: CBS
REWARD CHALLENGE
As Coyopa enters the arena, Hunahpu actually applauds when it's revealed that John Rocker has been voted out of the game. When asked how she feels about this, Julie admits that John's ouster was inevitable, given his attitude. Ah well, at least she doesn't seem offended by his elimination, nor does she vow revenge.
But the drama doesn't stop there, as Drew tries to make the trade with Jeff, arguing that since the new flint they received hasn't been struck once, they should be able to trade it back for at least some of the fishing gear. However, Probst essentially taunts them by pretending to consider the offer, essentially telling them they made their bed. But Drew says it was worth a shot, and honestly, he's not wrong.
The reward challenge involves using a grappling hook to retrieve a series of balls, and then using a catapult to launch those balls into five separate baskets of varying size. The reward is either comfort items (blankets, comforters, etc.) or barbecue food (sausages, popcorn, s'mores, etc.). Jon and Jaclyn are chosen to compete.
It's a pretty close challenge, although not until the end, as Jon dominates through most of the event, not only retrieving his balls in short order, but getting four of them into the basket just as quickly. But he has trouble getting his last ball in the fifth and final basket, which has the smallest opening of the five. This gives Jaclyn time to catch up, as she sinks four of her balls and is down to the last basket. But she's unable to make up the difference in time. Jon sinks the final ball and wins reward for Hunahpu, who chooses the comfort items.
HUNAHPU WINS REWARD!
Credit: CBS
Jaclyn is sent to Exile Island, and Drew volunteers to go with her. Jon admits he was planning on sending Drew anyway, since he pulls his weight...at least when he's not napping. I feel like Jon caught himself there in the middle of his praise of Drew, realizing what he was saying in mid-sentence, since Drew is just about the last person on the tribe who pulls his weight.
AFTER THE CHALLENGE
Back at Hunahpu, Jon has mixed feelings about sending Drew with Jaclyn, since Drew is so lazy, Jaclyn will probably have to do all the work. But he's not the only one with problems, as Julie is still reeling from John's elimination, implying he was misunderstood. Ah well, not much you can do about it now except move on and play the best game you can.
Over at Exile Island, Drew gets the hidden immunity idol clue, which adds to his bravado, as he claims that he and Jon are the two strongest people on his tribe and that no one can compete with them. Jaclyn teases him a bit about his alleged lady's man status that Alec told her about, but Drew says in a confessional that while Jaclyn is obviously very attractive, he's not here to mack on his buddy's girl. He's here to "manipulate minds" and win the million. Um...I'm not sure Drew is a subtle enough player to manipulate anybody. Then again, I underestimated Tony last season, and that didn't exactly work out for me. So who knows? Maybe Drew is a savant. I'm just not holding my breath.
Case in point, he's already talking about throwing the next challenge since there are "snakes" in their tribe that need to be eliminated. Dude, just let your team keep winning! Lord knows, if they go to tribal council, your laziness makes you a target! And I'm not even sure how he plans to coordinate throwing this challenge with his tribe, since he only returns from Exile moments before the immunity challenge. And if he throws this without even discussing it with them? Dude is in for a WORLD of bad times.
Over at Hunahpu, Keith searches for the hidden immunity idol, but when he doesn't find it, he assumes this means Jeremy must have it, since he's the only other person on their tribe to have been to Exile Island. Of course, instead of keeping this info to himself, he goes and blabs it to Reed and the girls. Reed quickly relays the news to Jeremy, and suddenly, the fraternity of firefighters is broken, as Jeremy decides Keith is an enemy. SUCH poor play on Keith's part, and I'd argue his head would be on the chopping block, except that Keith decides to go searching again and...
KEITH FINDS THE HIDDEN IMMUNITY IDOL!
So now he realizes he's pretty much burned an innocent man, as Jeremy is proven not to have had the idol in the first place. This is what happens when you play a shortsighted game and blab without thinking about who you're telling what.
Credit: CBS
There's also some similar foolishness going on back at Coyopa, as Alec gets on Baylor's case about her attitude, since she has apparently been getting on his nerves for quite some time (who knew snatching tree mail out of someone's hands would be such a trigger?). In a confessional, he says his father always raised him to work hard, saying that his father never bothered waking up Drew when something needed to get done, since he knew Drew wasn't worth a damn. Harsh. Still, Alec frames his argument as brotherly advice, although Baylor doesn't seem to take it all that well.
Credit: CBS
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
The challenge involves swimming across a platform and up a ladder, retrieving rings one by one, and returning them to the home platform, from which they must shoot the rings onto a stand. As Drew returns, a confessional reveals that he's already thinking of ways to throw the challenge, and whaddya know? This is actually a challenge he can throw singlehandedly.
Credit: CBS
Hunahpu makes quick work of the challenge, recovering their rings in short order. But Drew, as designated thrower, makes an absolute embarrassment of himself. Sure, he scores one ring to keep up appearances, but I think it should be pretty obvious to his tribe that he's throwing this on purpose, with his limp tosses and confused scrambling for scattered rings. It's such an outrageously lousy sabotage that I'm surprised Coyopa doesn't notice too. But they're too busy being overjoyed, because, thanks to Dale's awesome tossing skills, they're able to win the challenge. And who knows? They might have actually been able to win this challenge legitimately, even if Drew hadn't been trying to throw it.
COYOPA WINS IMMUNITY!
In a confessional on the way out, Drew reiterates that there are "snakes" that need to leave his tribe. But I don't think that's the best idea for him.
BACK AT HUNAHPU
So Drew is a moron. He says that while he doesn't think anyone figured out he threw the challenge, he couldn't care less if they did, since "snakes" need to be taken out. He calls himself a "badass" and a "manipulator of this game," despite not having accomplished anything yet. Well, except for annoying his tribe by insisting that Kelley needs to go, ignoring everybody else's suggestions and insisting that the girls are trying to get the guys out. He feels she's a "mastermind" since she's seen every episode of Survivor. While I can understand his point, watching a lot of Survivor doesn't mean he'll be any good at it. Jon has the better argument, actually, suggesting they get rid of Julie since she doesn't have a loved one left in the game, which makes her a potential free agent. Jeremy, meanwhile, wants to get rid of Keith for trying to spread rumors about the hidden immunity idol.
Natalie hears about Drew's plan and relays it to Kelley. They all think it's ridiculous that Drew is implying a woman's alliance to eliminate the guys, since they don't even have the numbers to pull that sort of thing off. Drew continues to disparage the girls, saying that once they get rid of Kelley, those "bitches" won't know what to do. Later, he talks about the plan with Jon within earshot of the other girls, but he doesn't care. Jon tells Drew he's being a jackass. Of course, Drew again notes that he doesn't give a damn. I think I hate this guy.
Credit: CBS
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Missy implies that half her tribe is selfish, while Drew continues to spout his nonsense. Then things get heated when Jeremy calls Keith out for his idol lie. He says he and Keith could have kept this between them if he'd just come to him first. Keith says that isn't how the game works, since one person tells another and then another and so on. But Jeremy makes a great point that there can be sub-alliances in the game, and that alliances aren't a cut and dry thing. Just because you're aligned with one group doesn't mean you can't align with one person specifically. That Keith doesn't see what he did as a betrayal says all we need to know about his understanding of the game, I think.
Of course, not everyone gets left out of the fire, as Drew is called out on his theory that the girls are going to vote out the guys, with even Probst noting that the girls don't have the numbers to make such a move happen. Jon voices his frustration, saying he doesn't even know which name he's supposed to be writing down tonight. I love these sorts of tribal councils, since we've got about four people who could realistically be heading home. Everybody votes, and Probst gathers the results...
JULIE
KELLEY
DREW
KEITH
JULIE
DREW
DREW
DREW
DREW is voted out of SURVIVOR: SAN JUAN DEL SUR!
Credit: CBS
HA! Beautiful result. Drew is stunned, naturally. If he were as good at the game as he thought he was, he'd have known how badly things tend to end for people who throw challenges. But even without the thrown challenge bit, he should have known how crummy things tend to go for people who run their mouths, especially when they provide no reasonable benefit to their tribe. In this case, his theory about the girls alliance became a self-fulfilling prophecy. They didn't have the numbers to counteract a unified vote by the guys, but because he was instrumental in splitting the vote, four votes proved to be enough to send him home. I was a bit surprised, however, that Jon was as shocked by the blindside as he was. Even he seemed to recognize, back at camp, that Drew was rubbing everyone the wrong way. This can't have been THAT big of a shock.
In the exit interview, Drew shows no awareness of his own failings, believing he was voted off because he was such a physical and social threat that he couldn't be allowed to go deeper in the game, as opposed to recognizing he was sent packing because he was pretty much a braying jackass. If he'd kept his mouth shut and just continued to roll with Hunahpu's winning streak, he could have lasted a lot longer than he did. But his attitude would have gotten him axed eventually. Or, at the very least, it would have prevented him from getting the jury votes to win him the million. You can't play a scorched earth game and not expect your torch to get snuffed.
But what did you think of tonight's result? Did Hunahpu make the right call? Sound off in the comments!
Until next week, thank you for reading!