It's been ages since I did the last one; I need to finish this up, so here's the last episode before the finale!
Upolu Tribe - Mike, Shambo, Ashley, Kelly, Monica
The Jury - Marisa, Russell S., Yasmin, Russell H.
Coming back from the previous Double Tribal Council, everyone is shaking their heads in disbelief. Kelly and Monica, of course, are overjoyed that their plan worked.
Ashley, however, is feeling a little disgruntled that she wasn't let in on the plan to blindside Russell using the Hidden Immunity Idol. Kelly answers that it was purely strategic, all it was that they only needed two votes to make it work, and telling anyone else was just an added risk. Ashley retorts by saying, "So you mean, you trusted each other but you couldn't trust me?" but Monica insists that it "wasn't like that at all."
Ashley now sees that she is the 3rd string in that alliance, and that Kelly and Monica have the plan to go to the Final 2.
Meanwhile, Shambo now sees that Russell told her the truth last time (at least partially), since Yasmin did go home as he said she would. She goes to talk to the 3 younger women about the Yasmin vote, and Monica makes up a half-hearted lie about worrying that Yasmin had the immunity idol. Shambo quickly realized this made no sense, since the 3 women already knew that Kelly had the idol. So she can see that the all-women alliance no longer includes her.
The survivors arrive at the reward challenge, where they must use a crossbow to hit targets of their color. Kelly emerges victorious, and Jeff reveals that she can take someone else on the reward with her. She chooses Monica. As part of the reward, Kelly also receives a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, which can be used for the last time in the following Tribal Council.
On the reward, Kelly and Monica enjoy a nice lunch, shower, and get to sleep in a bed. After relaxing for a while, they use the opportunity to discuss strategy, and they reaffirm their Final 2 plans. They then discuss the order of who to vote off... and they decide that Shambo is a bigger threat than Mike, who has just been "riding Russell's coattails" the whole game.
Monica then starts to worry about Ashley's loyalty, and concocts a scheme; they will tell Shambo and Mike that everyone is voting for Ashley. Then, while Shambo and Mike vote for Ashley, the rest of them vote for Shambo. Ashley would be unable to flip because Shambo and Mike would both be targetting her.
Meanwhile, back at camp, Mike realizes that without Russell, he will need to use some strategy of his own. First, he goes to Shambo and suggests that they need to stick together to the Final 2, since the 3 younger women are clearly in charge of the game. Shambo easily agrees to this. However, in order for their plan to work, they would need to get one of the 3 younger women to flip on their alliance.
Mike decides to talk to Ashley, who is at camp with them, and questions her about why she thought Kelly took Monica instead of her. Ashley mildly responds "I dunno..." Mike points out that the same thing would probably happen in the Final 3. He tells her that he and Shambo would vote with her to oust Kelly or Monica tonight, and Ashley tells him she'd consider it.
Kelly and Monica return from their reward immediately in time for the Immunity Challenge. Ashley returns her necklace from last time, and the challenge is on. Shambo ends up winning, which means that Kelly and Monica will have to shift their attention to voting off Mike that night.
Firstly, Kelly talks with Ashley and asks if all is good, and if she will vote Mike out tonight. Ashley says probably, but she questions Kelly about if she is more loyal to Monica or her. Kelly responds just by saying "We'll have to see how it goes at the Final 3; anything can happen." This answer does not fully satisfy Ashley.
Kelly then begins to search for the Hidden Immunity Idol with her clue, but finds the clue is too vague this time, and she is unsuccessful.
Monica then proceeds to go with her plan. She goes to Mike and Shambo separately and tells them that the plan has changed, and that everyone is voting Ashley off tonight. Shambo is shocked, but agrees, though Mike is more skeptical.
Shambo meets with Mike later and excitedly tells him the news, but Mike says that he thinks Monica is probably lying. Shambo asks what they should do, and Mike says they should talk to Ashley.
They approach Ashley and tell her the news - that Monica was attempting to get both Mike and Shambo to vote for Ashley. Ashley is stunned by this. Shambo asks if she would vote out Monica, and she doesn't give a definite answer; she says she needs to talk to Monica and Kelly.
Later, Monica tells Ashley that the point was just to divert Mike and Shambo's votes, but then Ashley responds with, "But why did you need to divert their votes on to me?" Monica insists that there never was any harm intended, and that they are still voting for Mike.
The show then cuts directly to Tribal Council. Jeff picks up the votes and starts to read them:
1st vote - Mike
2nd vote - Mike
3rd vote - Monica
4th vote - Monica
Last vote, and 16th person voted off of Survivor: Samoa and 5th member of the jury...
...
...
Monica!
Revealed votes:
Mike -> Monica
Shambo -> Monica
Ashley -> Monica
Kelly -> Mike
Monica -> Mike
We are now down to the Final Four!
Ashley Trainer, the 22-year-old spa saleswoman from Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Kelly Sharbaugh, the 25-year-old hairstylist from Los Angeles, California.
Mike Borassi, the 62-year-old personal chef from Marina Del Rey, California.
And Shannon "Shambo" Waters, the 45-year-old saleswoman from Renton, Washington.
Which one of these four survivors will win the million dollar prize? Post your comments, if you like. I'll try to post the finale up soon. :)
