Tag: Conner

No Australian Survivor tonight – Sun, Oct 2

Silly NRL grand final meaning there’s no Survivor tonight. Instead, if you haven’t already, check out US Survivor online at 9Now.

Does Sue make a big move tomorrow night? Let’s hope she can rustle up some support from Magic Matt and Kristie.
Fingers crossed Adelaide will still have power tomorrow (more rain on the way) and I’ll be recapping as usual.
Meanwhile, here’s Conner’s audition video:

And Nick’s:



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Australian Survivor – Sun, Sept 25

Finally – a real merge – not just a shuffle. The fallout from this is going to be fun.

It’s Day 32 already – the days just fly by when Survivor is on three nights a week.
At yellow, Conner, Kristie and Kate are wasting away. They are going to go nuts and get so sick when they finally get that merge feast.
Everyone heads in to what they think is a challenge and the fans quickly realise the seating indicates it’s the Survivor auction – yay!
There are gasps as blue realise that Phoebe is gone.
The editors play sad music as Kate speaks about how many players their tribe lost and the camera cuts to Conner and Kristie.
JLap starts talking about how hard it’s been, laying down the adjectives and the contestants get restless as some of them twig he’s about to announce the merge. Except Spidey Sam, who says: “What’s going on here?”
Meanwhile, Nick is happily chanting: “Say it! Say it!”
Yes, it’s the merge (the real one) and they are now all competing as individuals, with new black buffs.


They get $500 to spend and can bid in $20 increments. There’s no sharing of money or food, which I know is standard in US Survivor these days but it would have been kind of interesting to let the Aussies do it to see where the alliances lie. Usually with the auction, the people who are playing hard will save all their pennies as the final item is usually an advantage or clue to an idol – or occasionally letters from loved ones. This makes me think Nick and Magic Matt won’t be buying any food and we’ll see who else is in it to win it. Plus with a merge they usually get a feast, so hanging out a few more hours won’t hurt the former blues, who have enjoyed many helpings of Hungry Jack’s and a Samoan feast.

The auction begins
First up is salt and vinegar chips and a cola. El makes first bid but Conner is the only other bidder – poor kid – he must be starving. JLap reveals Conner gets and extra three softies, which go to Kristie and Kate and his old tribemate Sue. Aww, he’s a good kid.
Next is chocolate cake and choc milk. El bids $60 but is immediately outbid by Conner with $440!! That’s his whole stash gone. Fair enough, kid – he knew he didn’t have enough money for a clue so made sure he got some food. That cake is going to make him so crook.
Next it’s the old secret item trick. It’s going to be a bowl of rice. Sam bids $240 (after Nick drives up the price in what looks like a deliberate move). JLap does the old “but do you want it or this other covered item?”. He sticks with the original and it’s nachos and a margherita. But we don’t even see what was under the other hessian cloche.
The following item is also covered and the keen players sense it’s something special. Nick, Brooke, Lee and Sue all place bids. Sue for $220 gets steak and chips.
Up next is a hot bath with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Brooke gets it for $20 and has to hop in in front of everyone.
Next is what they’ve been waiting for: an advantage. El and Lee bid for it. Magic Matt stays quiet, knowing these advantages can come back to bite you.
Kate for $500 buys spag bol and a red wine, so expect to see her topple of the bench.
The final item is covered and Nick outbids Lee for $440. He has won an advantage and he doesn’t look too happy. “I didn’t want this … I didn’t want a big, fat target on my back – that’s what that is.”


Too right, Nick. The advantage holders will open their scrolls back at camp. If I was Nick I’d do it in front of everyone and read it aloud. Lee may get away with doing it secretly as everyone trusts him.

They all return to their new home beach and everyone’s sad to learn they are at the crappy yellow camp, with the comforts of blue camp left behind. Chester the chook has at least made it over. It seems there’s no merge feast so I feel sorry for poor Kristie, who didn’t get anything at the auction.
Everyone gets to work expanding the shelter but really they are dying to cement alliances.
Conner is worried he’ll be targeted and rightly so – Flick wants him gone after his perceived earlier betrayal (because she’s the only one allowed to play the game) and Brooke and El are on board.
Sue lays it out to the camera: “They’re all ra ra ra over there like a university sorority house. Full of their own arrogance.”
Sue warns Kristie and Kate that Conner is in trouble. Conner takes Kylie off for a super casual walk to show her the well and she seems to be on board. I hope she is, as she has’t shown herself to be good at strategy or the social game. Conner is keen to turn Sam back to his alliance, but I don’t know that Sam would break up with his new BFF Lee. Interestingly they aren’t talking about approaching Jenna Louise, a former yellow. Is that because she’s in the pretty girl alliance and we don’t know it?
Really, the old blues should target the unsuspecting Kylie and get that idol out of the game.

Lee reads his advantage in secret – he gets to stop someone from voting at a future tribal council, up until final five – and says he’ll tell his alliance.
Nick, meanwhile, talks about burning his but he just can’t help himself – he unwraps it. It’s an immunity idol clue and it sounds like it’s up a tree. He monkeys all over the place and is immediately spotted by Lee. At least when he knows he’s busted he shows Lee the clue and ropes him in to the search. Lee is suss but plays along. Nick finds it and tells Lee he will also only tell his alliance of six.
Sam finds some pink fabric washed up on the shore and the pretty girl alliance rip it up for friendship bracelets. The core alliance all get one – and Kristie. Way to stir the pot.


I wish we’d seen whose idea that was. Brooke’s?
And, still, no-one seems to be talking to JL. What does this mean?

Immunity challenge time
We don’t even get a welcome from JLap. Sam tells JLap the new tribe name is Fiafia, which is “happy” in Samoan.
The challenge is a Survivor classic: hanging upside down with your arms and legs wrapped around a poll. Girls often do well at this – and those who meditate – I’m guessing El and Kylie. If Kristie had had any food I’d guess her. In Survivor: Panama in 2006, it was won by Terry Deitz at around the 45-minute mark. In 2011, Andrea won the challenge on Redemption Island. The US usually holds this challenge above water for more drama, but this time we just have it above the sand – a cheaper option, no doubt.
Magic Matt is first out, then Sam. They know they’re not in danger. Conner, who knows how much he needs it, goes next. Next are Sue and FLick. Kate and Kristie are doing some awesome full body dangles. El and JL do a deal to drop out together and Lee is next, leaving Nick the last bloke. Kylie is encouraging Nick to hang on to the 60-minute mark and he just makes it.
Kate looks amazingly relaxed and in control and at 75 minutes JLap tells them they can only use one hand.
Poor Kristie is stunned: “I thought you were going to give me food.” (True – this often happens). Poor Kristie is destined to go hungry. She is the next one out – a great effort with no sustenance. Then Kate, who has been so strong, drops. It’s Kylie V upside down Brooke and Kylie makes the mistake of swapping arms, which is not allowed. Brooke wins the necklace.

Back at camp Nick wants Conner out, too, but he wants a vote split in case Conner has an island. He wants five for Conner, four Kate and they know Kylie may flip.
Matt, Sam and Lee go for a wander and Lee is wearing sneakers – so he must have had a second pair that survived the fire – and they chat about Nick’s general untrustworthiness, although, secretly, Matt doesn’t mind him. Lee asks Matt to explain why they need to do a split. Aaargh – come on, Lee! Get with the program. Sam and Lee aren’t happy that this seems to be all Nick’s plan.
Sam is not happy that his old tribemate, Conner, is the target, nor that Kate is the second option. He tells the camera: “He’s a good kid – baby bruvva.”
Sue sends Kate to talk to Kristie while Conner will work on Sam but the old blues have taken a leaf out of the Boston Rob playbook and don’t want to leave Sam alone. Brooke follows them as they try to chat. Kristie is also torn between proving loyalty to former and more recent tribemates because she could be the next target.
They head off to tribal and it seems either Conner or Kate will go home.


Tribal council
JLap chats to the final 13 and no-one says anything much, other than Lee echoing back to JLap that he’s playing based on mateship. Flick pretends she doesn’t know who’s in charge but then JLap brings up the pink wristbands. “Is that the alliance,” asks JLap. Brooke replies: “Definitely not.” JLap notes they must be friendship bands: “Friendship, in Survivor, means alliance.”
JLap tries to get Kate to plead for her life. “I’m not going to get down on my knees and beg,” says Kate. “I’m just going to be my own self.” (Soooo, Kate’s going home, then.)

Time to vote
We see Sue vote for Matt and Flick for Conner. “I’ll count the votes,” says JLap (I read an interview with him today in which he said some fans are upset he does not say “I’ll tally the votes”, Probst style.)
It’s Matt, Nick, Conner, Kylie, Kate, Conner, Kate, Conner, Kate, Conner, Kate, Conner and … it’s Conner.
He gives a gracious speech about everyone being great competitors while inside his heart is breaking. Ah, Conner – you were a likeable lad who made some mistakes along the way that came back to bite you but I wanted you to make it a little further.

Next time: Pretty girl alliance is talking about how awesome they are. Please, please let them come a cropper.
Who voted for whom: JL, Magic Matt, Kylie, Brooke – voted for Kate; Sam (how could you!), Kristie, Flick, Nick, El and Lee voted for Conner; Conner vote for Nick; Kate for Kylie and Sue for Matt. So the underdog alliance couldn’t even agree to vote for the same person!



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Australian Survivor – Mon, Sept 19 – are you Team Phoebe or Team Kristie?

Yellow tribe arrives back at camp after the Craig blindside and everyone quizzes Phoebe about the where and when of the idol.
Kristie – who acted so well earlier – awkwardly lies that she only had an inkling that Phoebe had the idol. Even Conner – dear, sweet Conner – thinks her pants are on fire, and he trusts everyone. Sue is not happy. And that’s what you get when you don’t split the votes, people!
It’s Day 28 at blue tribe camp and everyone seems a bit chirpier. They even get to gaze at a rainbow as they talk about wanting to win yet another challenge.


Over at yellow, Kristie is up a tree trying to fish using Rohan’s dacks as a net. Her plan would work better if she stood in the water. And then we get a whiff of Phoebe – rocking a massive topknot – thinking of turning on ally Kristie, who is “a bit weird”. Uh, no, weird in Survivor is Phillip Sheppard, not Kristy of the expressive eyebrows.
Sue and Coma Kate go for a stroll and Sue has to fill Kate in about Kristie’s “Academy Award-winning performance”, because Kate is one of those always think the best of people types (as you would be, after her experience). Sue has the shits about the havoc Phoebe has wreaked on her alliance. How dare Phoebe play the game when the odds are against her!
(Side note: My, we’re getting a lot of footage of pounding waves tonight – does someone’s camp get washed away later? Or did they run out of wildlife shots?)

Challenge time
And we don’t even get a “Come on in, guys”. Blue team cracks up when they see yellow enter without Craig – that kind of “I’m horrified and shouldn’t laugh but I can’t stop” laughing.
The challenge is a memory test – yay! I wonder if the producers had to drop some of the bigger, more elaborate challenges they had planned because yellow has been decimated. First tribe to five wins.
Blue has to sit out FOUR people: Kylie, Elle, Flick and Lee. Magic Matt and Nick should ace this – plus blue has had a lot more to eat – but at least yellow is in with a chance.
The first round involves memorising five objects (coconut, mortar and pestle, tribal statue-type objects) and Nick wins the round against Conner. Conner just can’t catch a break.
Brooke beats Sue – the first person back to the mat with the correct objects wins, so it’s speed as well as memory. Kate beats Magic Matt – ouch, that’s gonna hurt, Matt. Perhaps you should have eaten the chicken.
Phoebe beats Jenna-Louise so at least it’s not a slaughter of yellow, as in previous challenges. Sam and Kristie both stuff it up and get a do over, but as Kristie sprints back her statue topples off the shelf and does not count.
Nick battles Phoebe and super fast Nick kills it. It’s Kate V Brooke and they have to memorise eight items. And Brooke wins and blue gets a meat and seafood feast. Poor yellow – they are doing it tough.


Yellow gets an awesome feast – it’s much better than what they often get on the US Show, with a mixture of fruit and protein. Perhaps it came from the resort a stone’s throw away? Good one, Samoa.
“Eat now and worry about what happens to the guts later,” says Lee.
Cut to poor little depressed yellow team. There is a chicken wandering around but no talk of eating it.
Kristie is determined to pick up everyone’s spirits and goes snail hunting on the beach so they can have a snack. Luckily they taste pretty good. “They do taste like mussel, says Conner.”
As they nibble their snails and put on brave faces, blue team are trying not to throw up from their pig out. “I’ve got the crab sweats,” gasps Nick, clutching a tree for support. He is sooo going to cop it from his students tomorrow morning. Sam spews in view of everyone – charming.

On Day 29 at blue, Kylie decides it’s time to try and forge alliances and get a girl power thing going. Why would you bring that up in front of El, Kylie – don’t you know how tight she is with Lee? Flick and JL are stunned and there is awkward silence. (More Survivor 101: Nod, smile, say “cool bananas” and then report back to your real alliance.) Kylie is really bad at the social aspects of Survivor, but a gun in the physical stuff.


At yellow Sue mentions she reckons Rohan would be a snake in real life – bit harsh, Sue. The talk turns to lying and Kristie again does a bad “I didn’t know Phoebe had the idol for sure). And then the minute Kristie is gone, to try and save her own skin, Phoebe throws Kristie under the bus completely by saying she knew all along.
And then Phoebe pulls Conner aside and tells him Kristie is basically a crazy person and wanted to vote Conner out earlier. Ouchie! Well, now I’m Team Kristie – do we get the merge tonight so she’ll be safe?

Immunity challenge time
“Welcome back,” says JLap, before launching in to: “Phoebe, you’ve had eight losses.” And then they have to stand there shivering while they get rained on.
The challenge involves paddling a boat, opponents pulling a rope to drag the boat back, and doing a puzzle. The winner gets immunity and a huge, secret advantage. Brooke, JL, Sam and Magic Matt sit out for blue.
Nick makes quick work of the knots and drags the yellow boat back quickly. Kate does well but it’s tough in the slippery conditions and they are wearing reef shoes.
The puzzle has a lot of pieces and, from the sidelines, even Magic Matt concedes it looks tough. “Can Nick keep his title as the Puzzle King?” intones JLap. Nick takes a while to find his mojo but gets the hang of it and blue wins yet again. Poor Kate is devo and seems to start crying. Blue team looks awkwardly over at the team they keep thrashing, wishing they could hand over a participation medal.
JLap reveals the secret power is that blue gets to send a player to observe the yellow tribal. Cool. So, obviously, they’ll send Kylie. Just kidding. I’m guessing Matt because they may not trust Nick enough, although he has sworn revenge on his enemies.

Back at camp Phoebe tells everyone they should write “Kristie” and they seem to agree. She and Kate even fist bump on it, although Kate later tells the camera it’s a case of “keep your enemies closer”. Phoebe tells Conner to pretend to Kristie that he’s voting Sue. Conner, who is a terrible liar and is notorious for saying the wrong thing at tribal. We don’t see the tribe discussing how they are going to handle having an interloper from blue at tribal council, but surely they would have.


Tribal council
Ah, the interloper is Brooke! I wish we’d seen the conversation that led to that. Is JLap going to turn around and say: “Surprise – you’re now part of yellow.”
JLap makes them talk about why they each should not be voted out and then, through his questioning, makes it clear to onlooker Brooke that Phoebe has masterminded a lot of the vote outs. Kristie says she didn’t know for sure Phoebe had an idol and the others all say they don’t believe her but she defends with, correctly, saying she never actually saw it. Then she gives an emotional speech referencing her mini meltdown at the start of the game (guess she means the “someone took my bag” Abi-Maria-esque moment”. Kristie is a goner.
And this is when JLap drops the bomb … “Tonight, one of you will be leaving this tribe but you will not be leaving the game.” He reveals Brooke was told before tribal she had the power to take one person back to blue and there will be no vote. Ooh – twisty.


Brooke says she’s been tossing up between Phoebe (but her gameplay is making her nervous) and Sue. And it’s Sue. So, she took Sue in order to have a sacrificial lamb? Sue looks gutted.
As Phoebe rightly says, it’s not 10 versus 4. And then JLap appears wise by tweaking a Mark Twain saying to cheer them up with: “You need to remember what matters is not the size of the tribe in the fight but the size of the fight in the tribe.”

Next time: We see Kate telling Kristie Phoebe betrayed her and it looks like “game on, mole”.

And: So yet another tribal council where no-one goes home. You can tell the producers really want yellow to finally win a challenge, after which they will do a proper merge. I look forward to seeing the Kristie V Phoebe fallout. Will Conner be Team Phoebe and Kate Team Kristie, or vice versa?



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Australian Survivor – Sun, Sept 18


The way Channel 10 are promoting it the poor ole yellow tribe will be back at tribal council tomorrow night (Sunday). I would say the whole “Phoebe makes a move” thing is a misdirect, but up until now there promos have not tried to trick us at all.
In other Survivor news, I’ve heard a disturbing rumour that Channel 9 is going to air the upcoming season of US Survivor (Millennials V Gen X) – yeah, it IS a silly name) not on GO, as per usual. It will reportedly air on the flagship Nine channel but A WHOLE WEEK AFTER it screens in the US and at about 10.30pm at night. Yesterday I tweeted and posted a query about this on Facebook but Channel 9 has not responded.
I am hoping it’s all a terrible mistake.

It’s day 26 and everyone is looking gaunt, scruffy and exhausted.
At blue everyone is knackered because Firey Kylie did not want to make room in the shelter or something-or-other. It apparently escalated and it looks like no-one got any sleep. She tries to apologise the next morning but it turns into one of those “I’m sorry but it’s actually everyone else’s fault” moments. Oh, Kylie. You’ve upset Magic Matt, which is not good. Strangely we don’t get a to-camera piece from Nick about this. He’s not the narrator this episode.
At yellow Conner is worried about being out of the loop on the Andrew blindside, and whether Kate is still loyal to the core yellow alliance as she flipped to join Phoebe and Kristie (as well as Craig) in the voteout.
They go for a swim and Kate has a little breakdown. With anyone else you’d be worried she was bunging it on but Coma Kate just has that innate honesty about her.


Conner awkwardly pats her arm. They discuss targeting Phoebe next and the everyone – well, everyone who is not Phoebe and Kristie – at least seems cool with it.
Poor Craig is still looking for the hidden immunity idol, which is actually in Phoebe’s bag. Phoebs knows she is still in trouble, so tries buddying up to Conner. Conner, supposedly a huge Survivor fan, outright tells her that he has sworn loyalty to the others but, if she lasts, they could work together in the future. CONNER! You just smile and say yes, then rush back and tell your alliance so they know who aren’t doing deals. And when she asks to be told if she’s being voted out, just say yes. You can lie!

At blue Lee and Spidey Sam continue their bromance, bonding over their ineptitude with a fishing spear. The girls are sunbaking, admiring the view of Lee fishing.
(And here’s a shot for you, Windong


Magic Matt tells Brooke in not so many words she’s a flibbertyjibbet whose head is easily turned. Brooke is not happy and reckons he’s just jealous now he’s not the “man” of the tribe. It could be, or it could be the fact you guys are lying on the beach while there is no firewood and there are jobs to do around camp. Plus Matt is so pasty he could burst into flames if the sunlight touches his skin, so he can’t just loll on the beach.
Brooke starts thinking she needs a new alliance with non-ghost white people, and likes the look of Lee and Army Corporal El.
Things we still need an update on: Kate’s armpit puss and what wild animal has killed those released chickens.

Challenge time
Come on through, says JLap, mixing it up from Jeff’s come on in, guys. Blue team is surprised to see Andrew was voted out.
Kate says yellow, which has been on such as losing streak, is bringing the fire – a whole bonfire. She needs to be on a Brawn tribe with Lee, Kylie and Spidey Sam – she’d fit right in.
The challenge is a variation on the use a catapult to toss a bag challenge, but it’s more of a heptathlon using coloured coconuts. There’s a bit of volleyball action in there, dodgeball and balance beam work. The end section is a giant Connect Four type board – but with five.
Yet again blues are guns at the challenge while scrappy lil Conner tries hardest up against them but falls in the mud a coupla times. But then he doesn’t listen to Sue calling where to place the coconut, so that will cause angst. Yellow should have had Craig throwing rather than defending so they could get more coconuts over the “net”.

Back at yellow camp Conner is devo, blaming himself for the loss. The core alliance decides Phoebe should go home. They don’t even discuss a split. And then Conner goes and tells Phoebe it’s her. Nooooo! He tells the others what he’s done and they all agree it’s unlikely Phoebe has an idol. Why are they so sure? Then they tell Kristie they are all voting for Phoebe and she herself is safe. Kristie tears up a bit – awesome acting job, Kristie! And then she pretends to go and console Phoebe on the beach when actually they are both grinning like maniacs. So, who will the target? Craig’s the obvious threat but they need him for challenges.
They even have a chat about how to spell Phoebe’s name – a conversation which must happen a lot but we don’t really see it. I know they still won’t get it right, though.
Will Phoebe triumph is is this all just a misdirect by the editors and they are splitting the vote after all?
Australian Survivor isn’t sticking to the US rulebook but, let’s say the core – thinking that Phoebe didn’t have an idol – put two votes on Phoebe and two on Kristie, and the girls put two on Sue in turn. If the tie is deadlocked, those voted for can no longer vote. This would leave Craig, Conner and Kate in charge of the vote and they could vote out who they want. If they used the same 2-2-2 strategy and Phoebe played the idol, they could use their greater numbers to vote out Kristie on the revote. Just thinking on the fly here as I watch and type, so I may be wrong. I hope we at least get to see a fire-starter tiebreaker at some stage this season, because they are such fun.


At tribal council
They chat with JLap about how losing sucks and how they all are fairly sure who’s going home, which sucks because they are all friends yadda yadda … No one mentions how Kristie is rocking a side braid and looks like one of the lost children from Mad Max 3 in her brown shapeless outfit.
Craig writes “Pheobe” and so now I kinda hope it’s him the girls target because he cannot spell. We don’t see who the girls vote for – maybe it’s Conner, because he’s had a lot of airtime.
JLap is about to read the votes but Phoebe does the “umm, Jonathon …” and hands over the idol. Craig is a shattered man and Phoebe is grinning with delight – as she should be.
Only one of the four of them spells Phoebe correctly – they all deserve to go. And it’s Craig going home!
Well played, Phoebe and Kristie. Sad to see Craig go, though – he’s been great TV. He gives everyone a hug – even those who voted them out. He tell yellow one of them has to win the whole shebang. Bye, Craig!


Next time: Sue wants Phoebe gone but then we see footage of Phoebe (or Pheb’s, as Sue writes her name – urgh – kill me now over that apostrophe) telling Sue that Kristie knew all along she had an idol. Not cool, Pheb’s. We don’t see footage of yellow losing yet another challenge.

And Craig is calm and philosophical in his final to camera piece: “Bitch stole my idol, but, hey …”



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Australian Survivor – Mon, Sept 5

So, I reckon the ads about Kate and a possible medevac will prove to be a total beat-up. Who’s with me?
Over at his new tribe Nick is trying to do an Ozzy, fishing and crabbing to keep the tribe well fed.
But Brooke is not fooled and thinks he’s a snake. The pretty girl alliance is working on Teigan and seems to have won her over. Urgh. I just wish Teigan would team up with Nick, Matt and Kylie.
Over at yellow Andrew is keen to put newbies Spidey Sam and Conner to use for whatever it is he’s planning – presumably booting out Craig.
Sam must be missing the gym, because he’s doing chin-ups on a tree branch. Save your energy, Sam! They must be feeding them too well. Coma Kate is feeling on the bottom of her tribe (which is true) and decides to reach out to Sam and Conner, also, even though she’s one of these “I don’t like alliances” people. Kate is a naturally fit for them but she’s not strategic enough and Andrew is playing the game hard – as he should.
Nick’s brain is still working overtime and he raises the idea of a split vote with Matt, trying to either vote out Kylie or at the very least flush out the idol and target Teigan.
Magic Matt likes the idea but, as Brooke tells him, Nick is “a sneaky bugger”. They like the idea but want to target Nick instead of Teigan.
Over at yellow, everyone is checking out Kate’s armpit and her gross lump. It would be hard for her, not having a mirror in which to look.

It’s challenge time …
And everyone goes nuts when they realise the winner gets a Hungry Jack’s feast.
For the runner-up, each tribe member gets a Whopper junior.
For yellow, Andrew is sitting out AGAIN. What’s that about?
The challenge involves balancing on a barrel and slowly pulling on a rope to travel about 20 metres. Firey Kylie, as expected, is a gun at the walking on the barrel bit. I bet she days triathlon and Tough Mudder all the time.
After a spate of successes, red is once again sucking at challenges and this time Lee and Kate are looking on helplessly as their teammates dither. Again, they’ve put Lee last as the final element of the challenge involves chucking stuff.
Blue team wins the challenge and Kate and Sue are desperately trying to not let red erode their lead. “And Sue throws it backwards!” yells JLap. Uh oh.
Kat actually lands one of the beanbags – good for her, proving she can do well in a physical challenge! Luckily for yellow, Kate knows how to throw forwards, and she nabs second place for her team.
(Side note: During this, Mr Juz is faffing around on his iPad. “You’re not watching?” I ask. “Nah, I’ll watch them when they eat their hamburgers. That’s the only bit I want to see.” He’s a simple man …”
It looks like there are no vegetarians in this season, as everyone rips into their burgers. Poor reds are stuck with beans and rice and Lee is particularly down about their string of losses. The former professional cricketer is just not used to being around people who suck at some things. And he’s missing his kids. But it’s ok, he soon recovers and is eating rice clad only in his undies, so again all is right with the world.

Immunity challenge
This is a challenge I don’t recall seeing before on Survivor. One member from each tribe is hoisted up above the water. They are anchored by one person at a time holding a rope while standing in the shallows.
Wisely, the teams send up the light girls to be hoisted. Blue team goes through anchors fairly quickly, although Nick does last 25 minutes. They don’t have any bulky, tall guys and must not be allowed to wrap the rope around themselves for support. For yellow, Craig is a total gun, lasting 52 minutes before handing over to Sam.


(Anyone else think Craig probably usually has less body fat but ate more calories than usual in preparation for the Survivor diet?)
Blue loses while the other teams are still on their second (muscular) person.
Just as everyone heads off JLap yells out to Kate he noticed something under her arm. Oh, right, it was totally JLap who spotted it. The medic takes a look at the potential Vesuvius and tells JLap it looks infected. JLap pushes hard for a “yes” to the “could Kate be pulled from the game?”. I’m a bit disappointed we don’t know the name of this doctor, as in their appearances in US Survivor they get much more camera time and become characters in their own right.
And here we go: Kate is lying down and the doc is hovering near the pustule with a large syringe. Aagh! This is worse than that worm crawling out of Jen’s ear last season. Look away!
JLap just looms over her … hold her hand, JLap! He’s wearing latex gloves but his bedside manner leaves something to be desired. Even if she’s used to being prodded from her coma days, no-one wants to be operated on lying on a beach.
For the viewer’s benefit, he says: “You’re going to put a wick inside to help the pus drain out.” Ewww! The doc says she’s fine to continue in the game as long as she heals well.

At the blue beach, Nick is trying to work out how to save his skin and tries to put his vote Kylie or Teigan plan into action. Teigan isn’t feeling the love as much as Nick is, but says she won’t write his name down.
The pretty girl alliance tells Firey Kylie (with the idol) they need to vote out sneaky Nick – they lay it on pretty thick how much they love Kylie. I wish Kylie would just go try to form an alliance with someone – anyone.
Flick tells Magic Matt that Nick needs to go but Matt wants to keep him around to help in challenges even though “I don’t trust him from a bar of soap [sic]”. “Right now, we kind of need the snake,” he says. (And not that he mentions it, but Teigan has a dodgy tatt of some Asian scribble on her neck that looks dreadful.)


At tribal council
Teigan says it’s all puppies and roses at her new tribe, while Nick goes in hard on how good he is at puzzles, and reminds everyone he did well in the physical challenge today (and he gets JLap’s approval for standing against the bigger units of the cast).
Kylie isn’t wearing her idol this time but will she actually play it? Nick pitches that he’s also good to keep around as his nemesis, the yellow tribe, will be gunning for him in the future and he’s a “meat shield”.
Kylie decides to play the idol, because she doesn’t want to go home having sucked at a challenge (hey, Kylie, you weigh less than half of those guys and are about half as tall).
I’m thinking Teigan is going home, as she got a fair bit of camera time tonight. The votes are split between Kylie, Nick and Teigan, so it’s time for a revote, removing Kylie from the mix.
On the revote, JLap only reads votes for Teigan (and we see at the end that every tribe member did indeed vote for her). Nick is going to need to change his undies, but he probably only has one pair. I’m glad he’s still in it as Teigan didn’t seem too fussed about playing the game.
[And we see later that for the first round of voting, pretty girl alliance voted Nick, Teigan and Nick voted Kylie, Kylie and Magic Matt voted Teigan.]

Next time
The tribes are merging from three into two. Yay! We should see some scrambling … and get an update on Kate’s armpit.



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Australian Survivor recap episode 2 – Mon, Aug 22

Post the first tribal council the reds chat about how Des knew he had it coming. In the pitch black pigtails Kristie starts complaining her bag and shirt are missing and she reckons someone’s moved them because she’s an outsider. Uh oh – if you’re paranoid don’t let it show, Kristie. Although I wouldn’t put it past Des to do a Russell and bury belongings in the sand.
Over at blue everyone’s chilled because they have fire, water and shelter and it’s not raining – plus they won the first two challenges. Secret Squirrel Bianca is waiting for the cracks to appear and has noticed the two younger girls are tight and get on with Spidey Sam. She forges an alliance with firefighter Kylie and hopes to draw in old burny hand Conner.


Finally Kristie’s bag turns up and I wish we’d seen from the edit whether it had in fact been there the whole time. Kristie starts to lose it in a lonely spot in the jungle and good on army lady El for trying to calm her down. Is she losing the plot or did her drama teacher “friend” take it to make his position more secure/
Over at yellow Barry with the dreads finally makes the edit, joking about popping out for a croissant. Poor yellow still don’t have fire, so haven’t drunk water. Nick is licking palm fronds for moisture. He sets to with the flint and finally they get some coconut husk on fire, but they don’t even have a supply of tinder nearby to keep it going. The flame splutters out and Nick is devo.


Drama dude Evan *who is telling people he’s an art teacher) is trying to buddy up to ex-cricketer Lee because he thinks he can outwit him, but Lee of the clingy trunks and over-developed torso has twigged to Evan being a wildcard and is keeping him close to keep tabs on him.

Yellow try again to make fire and, finally, it works. Everyone seems to be chowing down at all the tribes – are they not rationing or were the producers generous for the first season?
Finally, 62-year-old Peter the air traffic controller and ex-military guy gets some air time. He did really well with the physical aspect of the challenge in last night’s episode but is now struggling – and tells Bianca so. He reckons he should leave. Nooo, Peter – we don’t even know you! Meanwhile, Flick and fellow young girl decide fit firey Kylie is totes annoying and should go.

Challenge time
JLap and his sinewy arms are back and he gets red to confess they still don’t have fire, when even the dorks at yellow managed it. The challenge involves, um, carrying, smashing, wriggling, knocking stuff over, yadda yadda. It’s an immunity AND a reward challenge, with the winner getting fishing gear. Runner-up gets a fishing line and hooks. Sue and Peter, the two oldest people yet, sit out the challenge. Can we get an update on Conner’s hand? As a qualified doctor, can JLap check if it’s a serious burn?
Super blues are smashing it in the challenge, yet again, and that poor brunette is going to have so many bruises. And again loser yellow manage to overtake the reds, who are again quibbling about how to do things.


Poor reds then have to do the course again with beefcake Lee as the person being carried. Why didn’t they choose someone lighter? Counting on him to smash all the blocks at the end – I guess he was a bowler when he played Big Bash.
Yellow wins thanks to the throwing of Kate, the women who survived a serious car accident years ago. For blue, weedy student Conner is throwing furiously but he can’t outgun Lee’s mighty guns.


Blue is heading to tribal council. Will Peter put his hand up to go home? Conner is worried he’s on the chopping block due to his challenge performance. Spidey Sam and Firey Kylie pow wow and decide Peter needs to go home because he’s not eating or drinking, even though he’s well liked.
But Bianca is worried that will put her on the wrong side of the numbers, so she tells Conner Flick should go. And he promptly tells Flick. Who then wants to get rid of Bianca.
As magician Matt notes, everyone is going nuts with the scrambling.

Tribal council


Come on – they can’t send Pete home before we discover why he’s wearing crimson pants. JLap is in his tribal uniform of checked shirt and chinos. He tries to find a crack in tribe unity but Flick and Kylie don’t bite. So he probes Pete about his illness, which is explained as not wanting to eat. Conner and Brunette Brooke say they could be in danger for their challenge performance, but they’re not. Hopefully Conner sticks around – he’s a sweetie.
Flick and Brooke tell JLap they’d never considered them being close could be perceived as a threat … der, girls! Have you not watched the show? You need a Malcolm and Denise secret alliance not a sorority sisters alliance.
JLap reads the votes and there’s one for Kylie, two for Pete and the rest Bianca.
Farewell, Secret Squirrel – you would have fared better on another tribe.

Next time
Well, we know Pete is still around because we see footage of him. It looks like there is one of those advantage twists where only a few tribe members are given secret info and have to decide whether or not to reveal it (as seen in the Blue Collar, White Collar etc season). These rarely end well.

Fun fact
I googled who on Survivor has started a fire using glasses, and came across this from an interview with fan fave Yau Man: “You don’t just hold your glasses over dry fiber – it would never work since your glasses are concave lenses and cannot focus the sun. the trick is to put a drop of water on the glass – it acts as a very powerful magnifying glass”
There you go – some sciencey learning.



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