Episode 13 -"Hubris” Is the Word"
By Car84
“Hubris” Is the Word
Previously on Survivor: Sandra approached Darrah, pitching a girls’ alliance. At the Reward Challenge, three-person teams competed for an overnight spa reward. Jon, Darrah, and Lillian enjoyed first-class service. Jon continued his lie about his grandma. Lillian sensed that Burton had second thoughts about loyalty to her. A steady aim landed Darrah back-to-back immunity. Darrah and Lillian joined the guys and voted out Christa.
As the final five walks towards camp, Jon pre-empts Sandra with the news that “Christa offered you up all day long,” and that Christa lobbied to switch the vote from Lillian to Sandra. Sandra calmly replies that she can’t complain, then. “I got three more days.”
Aside, Burton is beaming about the most recent blind-side at Tribal Council. “Chalk another one up for Jon and me!” He describes their handiwork as a “beautiful thing.” They’ve done it three times in a row.
Jon confides in us that Sandra has no reason to feel vulnerable. She’s not as much of a threat. Darrah goes next. But Jon wants Sandra to feel vulnerable. “I want her to keep feeling that way.”
At the dawn of Day 34, Sandra tells us, “I know my days are numbered.” She discloses her plan to hide several items from camp: the water cans, a fishing net, the pick-axe, all the knives, the machetes, the fishing spear, the four masks. They’re all going to disappear “little by little.” “I know I’m going down. But they’re gonna feel it more than I am. Yes they are.”
Off foraging for mussels, Lillian, Jon and Burton discuss strategy. Jon refers to an earlier conversation with Lillian, and tells Burton that Darrah is going next. When asked for confirmation, Lillian admits she’s “not real wild about it.” Apart, she tells us, “I thought this is not right. I don’t like this.” She thought the final four would be the mussel crew plus Darrah, and that she would be in the final two with Burton. She concludes that Burton and Jon were betraying Darrah, and that they could just as easily betray her.
Reward Challenge comes rather early in the episode. Jeff calls the challenge “Second Chances,” and describes it as another chance at “some of your favorite challenges.” (Perhaps there was a survey?) The stages, borrowing heavily from the Reward/Immunity Challenge of Episode 7, are as follows:
1) The wrists and ankles of the players are tied to a post. They must untie themselves before they
2) Dig their way under a bamboo fence, taking the ropes along
3) To a compass, where a map gives two end-points for the ropes to be positioned to disclose where to dig for a key (IC, Ep. 2) which
4) Unlocks one side of a jail cell, in which sticks and twine are to be fashioned into a pole that
5) Can be used to retrieve a second key to unlock the other side of the cell, so they can proceed to
6) The firing range, where they use slingshots to break three plates (RC, Ep. 9), to which are attached three bags that contain letters, which
7) Are unscrambled (IC, Ep. 7) to form a famous pirate term.
Jeff gives the players a little history about Old Panama City, and finishes by saying the winner will travel by boat to the ruins of the old city, camp out overnight, and enjoy scrumptious food and desserts. Apparently, the producers are either insisting that someone actually gains weight during this series, or they want to continue to hack off players from previous shows.
Lillian is off to an early lead, with Burton right behind. But the scoutmaster gets frustrated and bogged down figuring out the compass portion of the challenge. Jon pulls into second place. Burton makes steady progress, hitting his first plate as Jon learns his pole is six inches too short. Burton uses three marbles to break three plates. He pulls in his bags of puzzle pieces, and arranges them in a line to read “JOLLY ROGER.” Burton says, “Got it,” steps back, and raises his arms. Jeff asks him to say what the phrase is. The camera shot shows “JOLLY” over “ROGER” – perhaps a post-event shot to cover another misspelling(?). Burton chooses Jon to share the reward.
Along with Jeff, Burton and Jon motor across to Panama City. Burton tells us that he and Jon had a pact that one would take the other if one of them prevailed in the Reward Challenge. Burton says, “We’ve been going on these rewards with people that we don’t like that much.” At the dock, Burton sees a lonely GMC Envoy in the parking lot. Jeff tells him, “I happen to have the keys. They now belong to you.” Jeff manages to get in a commercial for the vehicle, and tells Burton that he’ll find a map to Panama La Vieja inside. So, away they go to the ruins.
En route, Jon tells Burton, “Win, lose, or draw, you’re the only person that I like in this game.” The two arrive at the ruins and find a remarkable spread of food. Burton seems impressed by a large pile of marshmallows. “We’re gonna be eating for about five hours,” he predicts. They toast the girls eating mussels. Burton tells us that the three girls “have all been riding coattails the entire time they’ve been out here.”
At camp, Lillian leads a frank discussion with the other girls, saying she’s uneasy with Burton and Jon. Sandra guesses that, “They’ve promised everyone something different,” and says she’s been slapped by Jon twice already. Lillian spills the beans: “And let me tell you something little one [meaning Darrah], they’re ready to get rid of you.” To that, Darrah replies, “I know. That’s why I want to win immunity.” Lillian continues with, “They’re ready to get rid of you before Sandra. I was fighting for you and said, ‘This is not right – it should be Sandra.’” Lillian seems relieved by being forthright. “I couldn’t lie any more.”
The three agree that one of the guys should go first. Lillian angles in with her trump card. She feels she has no chance of doing better than number three if she sticks with the girls, referring to earlier statements about not wanting to go up against nice Lillian in the final two. Darrah reasons that the only way Lillian could make it beyond number three is to stick with the girls. The guys are too tight. The girls discuss the next vote. Darrah sums up the plan: “If Burton wins immunity, Jon’s gone. Right? If one of us wins immunity, Burton’s gone.” Sandra tells us that she’ll hold off sabotaging the camp.
Amid the ruins, Jon asks Burton if he is worried about the girls strategizing against them. Burton replies that, “Not one of them has had a strategy yet in this game.” Jon cites their intellectual advantage over the girls, and reasons that they can convince one of them to vote their way. Burton tells us that they decided not to mention the car back at camp because that might disadvantage him.
The two decide on whom to target. Lillian is described as not trustworthy, given her reticence to vote out Darrah. Sandra would be approached as a back up. Jon thinks she would be easy to convince again if she were promised top three. Burton tells us that he and Jon have been “running the show” for the last 20 days or so. As the guys hit the sack for the evening, Burton muses, “A lot of people are about to get run over by a bus. But you and I are good.”
On the morning of Day 35, Lillian tells the other girls that she can’t sleep and she hurts all over. She needs to rest her mind. She’s worried that Burton would attack if Jon is sent packing. Darrah tells Sandra that Lillian “stresses out about every little thing.” In a solo, Sandra says she’ll tell Jon she’s on board with whatever plan he has. She promises Lillian that she’ll tell her everything. “The sooner we get rid of those jack-asses, the better.” She’ll continue to mope and sulk as though her days were numbered.
Darrah and Lillian walk to the shore to meet the boat. Darrah insists, “Now we three are sticking together, okay? So don’t go changing your mind.” Lillian assures her she’s solid. They greet the guys, and exchange pleasantries. Burton notes, “They immediately started bashing Sandra.” He stops by to talk with Sandra, who is just lying around under a blanket.
An observant Burton tells us, “The girls seemed to be putting up quite an act.” But, “given enough time, we’re going to catch them in some lies.”
Lillian leaves to soak her feet in the water, inviting Darrah to come along. Burton motions to Jon that he should work on Sandra now. Burton catches Lillian alone and asks, “What are you thinking at this point in the game?” Lillian limply replies she doesn’t know. Burton tells her that he can’t believe the girls weren’t plotting against the guys. Lillian angrily tells him “Sandra is ready to leave!”
Jon gently pressures Sandra, who insists that she’s ready to pack and leave. Jon tells her that she is “more trustable than those two at this point in time for me and Burton. Are you aware of that?” He offers Sandra final three status, and is forced to swear on his grandmother that he’s being truthful. He insists that Sandra swear on her two kids that she’d vote out Darrah (or Lillian as a back-up) next. She does, but insincerely.
At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff asks Darrah to give up the Immunity Idol. “Back to back, it’s been on your … back,” he says, awkwardly. The challenge course is a series of five planks that are locked in an upright position. The keys are attached to floats in plastic tubes. Using their canteens, the players are to dump ocean water into each of the tubes, float the keys, lower the planks, and reach a flag at the end. The first player to return to the starting point with the flag wins immunity.
Darrah has a distinct advantage – her skinny arms reach deep into the tubes. Still, Jon is able to make it into a race, with the two about even after four locks. Darrah retrieves her flag and carefully walks the planks back to victory. Jeff has her swim over to get the cutlass, which she puts on, flashing a huge smile.
Later, Jon observes that Lillian is “shutting down,” and that her actions indicate she can’t be trusted. After Lillian tells him to leave her alone, Jon reports to Burton that, “Lill looked all upset because I think she made a deal with them if D won, that you’re gone. That’s my guess.” Burton discounts the assessment, calling Lillian a basket case, but admits that Lillian “is developing a pretty tight relationship with Darrah that’s making me nervous.” Sandra approaches the guys, saying, “This is not good for business, this chick winning everything.” She proceeds to badmouth Lillian and Darrah, and gains the confidence of Jon and Burton. Burton tells us that he likes how Sandra is so direct, and takes orders well.
Over fish, with Lillian out of ear-shot, the other four agree to vote out Lillian. Aside, Jon excitedly provides fodder for the reunion show: “All three girls are as dumb. There’s no … They share a brain collec… I don’t even think they share a whole brain or obviously they’d figure out, ‘Hey, we can get rid of these guys.’” He mentions other unflattering things, ending with, “They’ve shown that they’re nothing more than followers in this game.”
Off they row to Tribal Council.
Jeff asks Darrah how she’s holding up. She says she’s doing pretty well, though she has lost weight and has little energy. Sandra observes that they’re so tired, they don’t even talk. Jeff asks Jon what he thinks of the three women. A diplomatic Jon calls Lillian “the strongest person here, easily.” Sandra’s “as tough as every single one of us.” He points out that Darrah has won three immunities in a row. Lillian says she never thought she’d make it so far in the game. Jon reveals that, “Tribal Councils scare the crap out of me, man!” On whether he feels bad about blind-siding other players, Burton admits to feeling awful doing it. But you need to do it so you don’t get blind-sided.
Darrah does not transfer immunity. The vote is conducted and tallied: Lillian, Lillian, Burton, Burton (anyone hear a bus?), and (after pausing for dramatic effect, Jeff reveals) Burton.
For the first time in Survivor history, Jeff says, “For the second time, the tribe has spoken.” Rupert, Ryan, and Christa celebrate in the jury box. As Jon tries to make it look like he knew what was happening, Jeff comments that they’ve just pulled off another surprise vote.
Burton’s parting words were critical of Lillian. Oddly, he had no unkind words for Sandra and Darrah.
Car84 can be contacted by email at car84@survivorskills.com
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