Episode 10- The Ambush
By Car84
Previously on Survivor: Lillian felt good about turning on her former Morgan mates. At the Reward Challenge, Rupert had the sharpest aim, but gave the reward away to Burton. Lillian was chosen by Burton to share a breakfast feast. Burton told Lillian, "We've got to get Rupert off right now." But at the Immunity Challenge, Rupert guaranteed himself three more days. Despite last-minute efforts, Ryan was voted off, becoming the first member of the jury.
The episode starts with a large snake slithering through camp, just mere feet from seven slumbering players. Apart, awake, poking at the fire, is Rupert. He starts a part on-screen, part voice-over monologue with, "Night time is my one bad time." Exactly why he feels this way will take a rather long two consecutive solo minutes of program time.
"If I could go just 39 days and never have to sleep, I would make this beautifully. But night time is killing me. Just gotta make it through another day. And another, and another, and another, and another. At night out here I start thinking about family. That's when I miss my family. I tell Laura (my wife) all my woes and sorrows, all of my triumphs. I tell Laura everything." Conversing with his absent wife and a stormy sky, he continues: "And I want everyone to see I'm the best damn survivor there has ever been. I am it. I know, baby. I shouldn't think that way. I know, I know, I know, I know. I hear you. I hear you."
He refers to the "two people that I truly really care about - Sandra and Christa. They care about me. It's very hard keeping mentally aware of everything that's going on around here. I try to guide everything that goes on around me. I try to direct everyone's actions while keeping myself grounded and aware of what is going on and what I am doing, not settling ever for anything but first.
"And letting everybody here realize that they're finishing in places of honor," he says of his obedient company. "To build them up to be a winner and still lose. It's a hard mental battle."
Morning breaks, as Jon observes Rupert and Christa giggling over a jug of dark-colored liquid. "Honestly, Rupert and Christa are making me sick with their 'baby, baby, beebee, beebee, blah, blah, blah.'" Jon recalls the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and describes Rupert, Christa and Sandra as power-ridden and "are above the law."
Jon and Burton grab an empty water jug and tell the group that they were going off for fifteen or twenty minutes. Jon later describes the foray as a chance to talk strategy with Burton. They agree that their fate as part of a Drake alliance is to finish fourth and fifth. Burton tells Jon that they should approach Tijuana and Darrah and say, "If we can knock Rupert off, we can break this triad deal." Burton knows they need to set up a firm foundation.
Jon runs through his possibilities for us. Plan A is for him to stick with Christa, Rupert, Sandra and Burton. Plan B is for him to bond with Burton, Darrah, Tijuana and Lillian. He concludes he's in a great position with Plan B, describing it as a grand slam. Burton cautions Jon that Rupert would be livid beyond belief if he found out about this new alliance. The only question is how and when to set it up. If it backfires, it could be trouble.
Rupert drinks a canteen of water, hands the empty to Lillian, and proclaims, "I'm gonna need to go fishing." Christa and Sandra leave camp to get lemons. The bases are loaded, and a fat pitch is coming in over the plate. Burton and Jon quickly pull Lillian, Tijuana and Darrah into a meeting.
Asea, Rupert describes how he plans to ambush a shark.
Burton explains to the women that he and Jon know they are doomed by the alliance of Christa, Rupert and Sandra to finish no higher than fourth. This is the time to break that alliance. Jon informed the group that Rupert would go first - Christa if Rupert won immunity. No one is to breathe a word of this!
Part of the plan is to pretend Darrah was the target, and for her to play the resigned sad-sack role until Rupert is Trished away. The vote is almost three days away. There is danger that word will get out. Jon warns the tribe: "We know it. That's it. There's no more talking about it." The five share hugs, kisses, handshakes, and other improvised forms of bonding. Burton observes that the game is about to take a serious, serious change. Darrah confides that she was "down in the dumps," but now she's ready to stay.
Sea mail arrives. Burton pledges to Rupert that he will give him the reward if it was his to give. Rupert is pleased at this expression of unity.
Jeff describes the Reward Challenge as an obstacle course on an old pirate shipwreck. In teams of two, players first scramble up a fish net to a platform. From there, one climbs a cargo net and reels in a bell that is attached to a horizontal pulley. After ringing the bell, the player descends. The second player then climbs the cargo net to ring the bell. Next, each player in turn uses a grappling hook to pull in a rope that is used to swing towards the next platform. There, they climb a ladder to a crow's nest, untie a series of knots, and release a second bell. After ringing the bell, each player slides down a sail to the final platform, where a sandbag and bell clapper are suspended together on a rope. The players untie the anchoring end of the rope to release the payload. The race is over when one player rings a bell. The winning pair moves on to the final round.
The reward is then revealed. The winners get a day of adventure deep-sea fishing. Jeff assures them, "Anything you catch, you keep." Their ride - a luxury catamaran - glides in view of the players. Jeff informs the players (and all of us) of this natural link between spending time on a catamaran and enjoying pizza and beer. He unveils a sample of both. Sandra exclaims, "That's worth it." The players are treated to a nibble and a sip of the reward.
The pairs are drawn randomly. In the run-off rounds, climbing down the slanted cargo net and swinging across to the second platform causes problems for most players. Lillian and Burton defeat the persistent pair of Darrah and Christa. And despite Jon having to retrace part of the course, he and Rupert beat Tijuana and Sandra.
In the final round, the teams had to retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces at each of the first two platforms. At the third platform, the players had to use a cutlass to sever the rope to drop the sandbag and a key. The key unlocks a treasure chest, revealing a puzzle frame. The first pair to complete the puzzle - a Jolly Roger flag - wins reward.
In the final round, both teams open the treasure chest at almost the same instant. In a race to piece together the puzzle, the nimble fingers and quick wits of Burton and Lillian are too much for Jon and Rupert.
The group assembles, with winners Burton and Lillian front and center. Jeff explains that they can keep the reward for themselves or give it up. Lillian says, "I wanna keep this. Sorry guys." Burton looks at the ground and simply says, "Jon." During the celebration, Burton orders Jon to "drink a twelve pack for me."
Returning to camp, Rupert sums up the reward challenge experience as "not as much fun as I had hoped." With Christa standing near him, Rupert chops away at a rather ugly coconut, muttering of "rot and death." Based on how quickly Lillian chose to keep the reward, and Burton's giving of the reward to Jon, Rupert concedes the unimaginable: "I might not be as secure as I am … as I think I am." The breakfast reward was the last thing he will give to Burton "except a vote."
Lillian goes to Rupert and Sandra to mend fences. She apologizes for keeping what she had won, and is told that she deserved the reward and "what's done is done." Still, Lillian agonizes over her decision. "Rupert should go. Rupert would catch fish. I can't catch fish." She gets tearful and explains that she doesn't have the money to go on nice vacations. The moment got the best of her. Jon tries frantically to pull her wits together so she would be decent company on their date.
Burton and Jon discuss their plan to "control everything from here on out." Sandra overhears this conversation, and dutifully reports back to Rupert. Rupert reasons that Jon will be trying to swing Lillian away from them, and he assures Sandra that he will talk with Lillian after the boat ride. "She will tell me" what transpired, he says.
Jon and Lillian board the "Flamenco," and toast "to the final three." Lillian expresses a concern to Jon about "ramifications" of keeping the reward. Lon flatly responds that there are no ramifications. He agrees to fill Lillian in on the plan, and advises her that she will "have to check [her] guilt at the door." Cerveza is served. Upon learning that Lillian isn't much of a beer drinker, Jon eagerly offers to help her. Pizza arrives. Lillian comments that simple things like this make her "very excitable." Jon replies, "I need to date more women like you."
After three-quarters of a beer, Lillian shows Jon a square knot. "I am the scout master!" Jon tells her she's drunk. She denies it. Conversation turns to fishing. Lillian asks, "What happens if I get one?" Jon replies, "Reel it in!"
"We fished the entire time," Jon reports to the others. They explain that the bait was put on the hooks and they just trolled around. They had no fish. Rupert sucked Lillian in right away, talks "final two" talk, and asks what went on with Jon. Based on Lillian's report, he is convinced she's "wholeheartedly" on his side.
The Immunity Challenge is based on a dart game called "Killer." The players have to blow darts from a long blow-gun. To become a killer, the player has to place a dart in their portion of the dart board. Killers then proceed to strike other player's spots, stripping "killer" status, and eventually eliminating them from the game. Portions of the board were marked 3x and 2x for speedier damage.
Of the women, only Sandra manages to have much success. She unintentionally deals Rupert his last "blow" after Jon eliminated Christa, and Rupert sat Darrah down. Burton methodically blows away Tijuana, Sandra, Jon and finally Lillian. Jeff awards the Immunity Cutlass to Burton.
(A snake is shown clamping down on a humongous lizard.) Rupert growls, "The Immunity Challenge pissed the hell out of me." He knows Sandra's hit was a mistake, but Burton's was deliberate.
Jon and Burt talk longingly of their days together as the final two. (The snake continues to make progress on the lizard.) Lillian tells us that this is a game, but she loves Rupert.
Rupert is confident. He meets with his subjects to put the pieces in place to send Darrah packing. He observes that she's already saying her good-byes. Sandra tells us that she doesn't see how Rupert can possibly be eliminated. Worst-case, in Rupert's mind, is a four-four tie, with support from Christa, Sandra and Lillian. (The snake makes more progress, swallowing the lizard.)
At Tribal Council, Ryan comes in shaved and nicely dressed. Jeff asks Sandra if there is anyone in the tribe who was not expendable. She points to Rupert, and says they'd be "ass-out" without him. Does Lillian agree? According to her, "we also have another person who does do fishing." Burton tactfully dismisses Jeff's question on alpha male competition. Sandra and Jon exchange jabs on him being lazy, and her giving him headaches. Saying as little as possible, Darrah concedes she'd be disappointed, but not surprised if she was voted out.
When asked if he'd like to give up his immunity, Burton declines.
In the vote, Rupert said of Darrah, "A Morgan has to go tonight. The other two work harder than you."
The votes are read. Darrah, Darrah, Jon (so much for Rupert's tie scenario), Rupert, "and another, and another, and another, and another" for Rupert. As his torch is snuffed, he says, "I cannot believe that."
Jeff shares no helpful words. The players go home. The snake digests the lizard.
We were reminded that Survivor airs on WEDNESDAY night next week.
Car84 can be contacted by email at car84@survivorskills.com
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