It was a turbulent week on the Survivor island, and we’re not just talking about the tornado evacuation! After a tense tribal council, the Jabedi tribe sent home Natalie Cole over Lyrsa Torres by just one vote.
In Wednesday’s all-new episode of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, the three new tribes formed in the CBS reality show’s tribal twist last week continued to determine their dynamic as the “dominant” players found themselves playing alongside the “underdogs.”
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There was extra complication added to the Jabeni, Vuku and Tiva tribes’ games when a strong storm forced them to evacuate from the island, coming back to ruined camps all around.
While they pieced together the ruin in order to have some kind of home, the three tribes still had the reward challenge to contend with, which featured giant slingshots and the promise of four egg-laying hens and a rooster for the first winning tribe and eggs for the second place winner. Vuku ended up walking away with the first place prize, while Jabeni took second place.
Prior to the immunity challenge, Vuku member Kara Kay worked hard to convince fellow David Elizabeth Olson on her tribe to turn against Alec Merlino, whose wild card vote in last week’s tribal aligned him with the Goliaths. But Elizabeth wasn’t convinced, finding Alec more trustworthy than Kara.
On the Tiva side of the island, former David Gabby Pascuzzi was feeling on the outs while her ally Christian Hubicki was palling around with Goliaths John Hennigan and Dan Rengering. Despite Dan’s feeling that Gabby would be the first to go in a tribal challenge this week, he still sought out a second idol to ensure there would be no blindside. And shockingly enough, he found one — or at least the instructions on how to retrieve a hidden idol in the tribal circle without being seen.
Strategy was far from the mind of the Jabeni tribe, as Natalie’s abrasive personality and inability to make friends with either Davids or Goliaths continued to paint a massive target on her back.
“I’m voting for Natalie, because I can’t stand her,” former David Lyrsa Torres said. “Outside of the game, maybe she’s an adorable lady. But inside the game, she’s not.”
The Jabenis lost the immunity challenge by a very narrow margin, and while some seemed content to send Natalie home, Lyrsa was nervous that Natalie’s Goliath alliance would send her home instead.
Lyrsa was right that the alliance was targeting either her or fellow David Nick Wilson, but the alliance wasn’t as loyal to Natalie as the publishing CEO might have thought. Angelina Keeley ended up being the pivot vote, and she was struggling with how to play her cards right strategically and socially.
In the end, after a lively tribal council in which Natalie defended her tactics and Angelina tried to play peacekeeper, Natalie was voted out 4-3.
“You could make a preacher cuss,” Nick said, summing up the group’s feelings before the new Jabedi tribe headed back to camp.
Survivor airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
Photo credit: CBS
