Survivor 20 week 4 post game

It’s Survivor week 4 and things are about to get bumpy. Coach is in tears, Rob is in charge, two individual immunity idols have surfaced and may have doomed one hero and one villain, and JT continues to mess up the heroes’ alliances because he can’t make up mind between good and evil. In the end a very powerful social player has been removed from the board. You won’t have to search high and low for some spoilers are directly ahead.

The villains are back from their first tribal and Coach is still stung by Sandra criticisms so much so he is in tears. Tyson his former partner in their season tries to lend an ear but the further they talk the more Coach breaks down and starts crying. Coach is in full-blown martyr mode comparing himself to King Arthur. Last week it was Martin Luther King; man is this guy full of himself. Tyson tells Coach he is here to help and says he’ll coach him up if needed. Coach is puzzled by it, by Tyson tells him correctly he needs to knock off the outlandish stories because no one is buying it and do his Ti Chi somewhere private. Coach is at a breaking point and wants to quit and go home because he claims he is the only honorable person out there. Morning comes and he’s still feeling sorry for himself and goes off by himself. Tyson tells the villains that Coach wants to quit that causes everyone to be stunned and Rob to take action. He seeks out Coach and tells him in a one on one talk he needs to man up. Coach says he feels like he’s on the outside of the group. Rob swears that he is not and tells Coach he must trust him. Coach is finally persuaded to calm down and he resolves to prove himself in next challenge.

It’s challenge time and the heroes and villains are competing for luxury items to help around camp. Villains have chosen things to build a better camp and the Heroes are more concerned with catching fish and preparing meals. The challenge involves both teams sliding in some grease and grabbing a ball off a string and making a basket with it, the first team to four wins. Coach is up first and proves he is back in the game by defeating Tom. The villains are off to a good start as Russell easily defeats Cirie for a 2-0 lead. Courtney finally gets in on challenge for the villains but is beaten by Candice to put it at 2-1. Jerri is up next and proves she’s got more game than Amanda in a very close match to give the Villains a 3-1 lead and they appear to closing in on a victory but James is up next vs. Sandra and routs her to put it at 3-2. Rupert is up next in match I think is a mismatch verses Danielle. I expect her to win easily but Rupert surprises me in another close match and evens thing up 3-3. The final match will be Colby vs. Tyson. It’s close as both men narrowly miss shots but Tyson finally sinks his to give the villains another win. Another loss for the heroes and both teams don’t know that all hell is about to break loose at both camps.

Back at the villains' camp, the group is unpacking their winning when Russell unsheaths a knife and a piece of paper falls out in front of everybody. Rob picks it up and reads the directions to a hidden personal immunity idol. This is a curveball no one is prepared for the immunity idol clue has been placed in where everybody can finds it and knows it exists. Rob and Sandra lead the group in the decision to not look for it. This does not set well with Russell, if there is a hidden immunity idol to be found he wants it especially if he knows where it is. As they rebuild the shelter, Russell excuses himself to go look for it. Rob and the group can’t believe it and agree that idol or no idol Russell has doomed himself, and they will get rid of him. Rob sends Sandra to trail Russell and confirms to me that his main alliance is with her. Sandra confirms that Russell is looking for the idol and reports back. It appears that Russell does not find it though.

Meanwhile chaos erupts at the heroes’ camp as the same clue to a hidden immunity idol is found in the coffee grounds that the heroes won last week. This sends everyone scrambling especially Tom and Colby since they are on the outs with group. As everyone looks along the beach for the hidden idol Tom figures out where the idol is and digs for it quickly underneath a tree but right in front of James and Amanda. He tries to put the idol in his sock but Amanda notices that he has it. She reports back to JT that Tom has found it and they try to decide what to do. Tom tells Colby they now have some leverage with the group since he has an idol and hopes to broker a deal to save both of them.

The immunity challenge is up next, I won’t spend much time on it but to say the teams attempt to finish the challenge from last season that was halted. Rob and Tom guide their blindfolded members though a tight race and Rob proves again to be a strong leader and narrowly beats Tom. Heroes are headed for tribal again and the scrambling starts with Candice and Cirie discussing the plan to flush the idol out. Candice explains they must force a tie vote 3 to 3 to cause Tom to play the idol to save himself and they get Colby taken out. If Tom doesn’t play the idol, it is tie and they revote without Tom and Colby and they vote 4 to 2 in favor of Tom to get rid of him. Candice is a very sound player and this is what worries JT he wants to take out Candice. JT just can’t make up his mind of which way to go in this game of good and evil that is causing all of the heroes’ problems. As JT discusses his fears of Candice with Amanda, Tom walks up and states his case that Candice and Cirie can’t be trusted. He advocates that he and Colby are straight shooter and more trustworthy than the two girls. Tom slowly gets traction with the pair as he says the team will be stronger for challenges with him and Colby than without one. He ever offers to give the pair the idol, as a show of faith but doesn’t. James walks up and wants to know what is going on, JT says flatly that he doesn’t trust Candice. The whole group agrees she cannot be trusted. James states that he just wants to win. The four agree that is what is best and new alliance is born between the four. Amanda is wary because Tom was trying to oust her but agrees.

Amanda tells Cirie the new plan to get rid of Candice. Cirie is dumbfounded and points out that Tom didn’t give them the idol and they were the exact people who were trying to oust Amanda and now she is saving them. Cirie is also trying to save her main partner Candice and tells Amanda this is the dumbest move ever. Amanda usually a sharp player now looks like a lost little kid from her reaction. She begins to rethink the agreement. James walks up on this conversation, as does Rupert, Cirie goes right at James pointing out that Candice saved Amanda in the Stephanie vote. James says things aren’t set yet and Rupert who is as usual is clueless to this part of the game play agrees that Cirie is right they must target the stronger players. However JT is observing all of this go down from a far and now heads back to Tom to discuss.

JT tells Tom that Cirie is in control of the group now and the puppet master and that he better bring his idol and prepare to use it since JT has no control of the group and Amanda has been swayed back to the original alliance. Colby walks up and is given the bad news and realizes he is on the chopping block now. Frustrated he says aloud that Cirie should be the one going home tonight. Tom says that they have three votes between them and they can all go to Cirie. A plan is hatched to oust Cirie If Tom plays the idol all his votes are thrown out and the vote is 3 to 3 between Cirie and Colby, they just need JT to flip his vote and she goes home. JT knows where everyone is voting and has the power to control the game back in hand. He doesn’t know what to do; he’s seen the powerful social player Cirie in action and realizes she will come for him eventually. He wants to stick with the plan and write down Colby to not upset everyone but also wants to keep the good guys in the game.

It’s tribal time; Probst goes right after the heroes and questions their putting alliances ahead of keeping strong players like Stephanie this early. They have now lost 3 of 4 immunity challenges. Probst questions Tom and Colby on what is going on with alliances and why strong members are being sent home. Tom says Stephanie was lost the numbers game early and Colby agrees that alliances are ruling the game early. JT is questioned on this and he agrees that it is way to early to be sending home physically strong players and when questioned on how he is making his decision he says he is going with people that aren’t getting nervous and sticking to the plan. The clueless Rupert defends making the wrong choices strength wise in favor of keeping his word. Probst challenges him on the intelligence of keeping your word over keeping the team strong. Rupert stand his ground as Probst tells him he is the reason they are back here again because of his voting logic. There is a lot of talk of trust and James says he wants all of the craziness to stop and just win and that the social game is a distraction. Colby counters he wouldn’t be saying that if his name was the one on the chopping block. Cirie is questioned on whether she is worried about going home and she says she is always worried but Tom says he doesn’t believe her. JT is questioned on whether is concerned that he is going home and comes out and says no he is not because he trusts the people he is in an alliance with because if he didn’t he would be gone already. The question is what alliance are you in JT? It’s voting time and we will have an anwser.

After collecting the vote Jeff prepares to read them, but Tom stops him and plays the idol. All votes for Tom will not count now and the second highest vote getter with now go. Things seem to be falling into place as the first three votes are for Tom, and Candice and Rupert look very happy. Two straight votes come in for Colby and it does not look good for him but then a vote for Cirie comes in. It’s 2 to 1 Colby. Another vote for Cirie and it’s tied. The final vote comes in and it’s Cirie who is going home. JT has flipped again and taken her out.

So a very powerful social player has been taken out while the team remains physically stronger. This could help the heroes at the next challenge that they must win or be too far down in numbers to the villains. However, JT has now flipped voting 3 times and fractured the tribe. He was smart to take out Cirie but can anyone trust him? Candice has lost her main ally and is in trouble on the outs with everyone else, which she will try to get in with Colby and Tom to save herself next week. Amanda is also in trouble since JT has lied to her about voting. Who can she trust besides Rupert? Tom has targeted her so she can’t feel comfortable with him. JT went behind her back. James is likely still holding a grudge over a past season’s double crosses. Amanda is a very strong cunning social player who has reached two finals but now appears to put her faith in the wrong people. How can she survive with people knowing she can work with Parvati if she is there at a merge? More importantly why aren’t people targeting JT? He has fractured the team beyond repair and if I were with the remaining heroes I would jettison him next to stabilize the team. The Heroes don’t seem to have what it takes at this point. Next week will decide if they are still in this game because it is a must win situation.