Episode 1
"I threw coconuts at Skupin's head.... That was a mistake" -Abi
Weird pseudo-twist into challenge- contestants scavenge supplies off a boat as usual, but there's a smaller boat farther off with a big ol' bag of rice on it. Whoever gets there first wins the rice for their team and at that point the scavenging ends.
Spencer Bledsoe sucks at diving off of things
The challenge comes down to a swim-off between Joe, Wigles, and Woo. Woo wins it for Ta Keo.
Terry tells Spencer that his kids are big Spencer fans, and they agree to work together
Maybe an hour or two into the game and Spencer Bledsoe already has a sunburn worse than most peopel on day 39
Abi loses her bag- Vytas talks shit about her behind her back over her lowkey freakout
Keith spits in his first confessional
Jeremy goes straight to work making allies- Tasha, Savage, Joe and Keith (he explains he wanted Savage and Joe as they're physical threats to use as shields and Keith and tasha as they're generally pretty loyal). I will refer to their alliance as Collinsville.
Vytas goes to his old ways, trying to charm himself into the women's good graces. It rubs Shirin the wrong way, though.
Basically in an anti-Vytas move, believing he has too many connections, Shirin pulls together Varner and Spencer.
"A train will only go as fast as it's conductor will take it, and she's hittin' the gasWHATJUSTBITMYASS??" -Varner, in reference to Shirin/the thing that just bit his ass
Abi finds her missing bracelet inside Peih-Gee's bag. In classic Abi fashion she gets pissed, but manages to keep it lowkey.
Fishy goes on an unsuccessful quick idol hunt. Kimmi realizes this and tells the others.
Main division in Ta Keo is shelter workers (Deitz, Woo, Spencer, Vytas, Wigles) vs beach walkers (Wentworth, Abi, Shirin). PG and Varner are pretty much in the middle, and PG throws out Abi's name for a first boot
Wentworth goes on a "sneaky sneaky" idol hunt and finds the CLUE to the idol, which is actually hidden at the challenge
Vytas tries teaching Shirin yoga and it annoys Wentworth
Vytas & friends plan to target Abi
Wentworth manages to snag the idol undetected as Bayon wins immunity. They head to tribal immediately after the challenge, leaving no room for strategy talk
Varner and PG end up siding with the beach walkers (and also Spencer), making Vytas the first boot
Favorites: Spencer, Kass, Vytas (RIP), Jeremy
Episode 2
varner explains he voted with the New Schoolers as a wake-up call to the Old Schoolers, and to actually set up a boot for the Shirin/Spencer/Wentworth alliance as they're playing the game too hard
Varner talks to Terry about how he actually wants Shirin or Spencer out
Right in the middle of talking about how to build a good fire between Spencer and PG, Abi buts in mid sentence and makes pointed question towards PG (who didn't even vote against Abi). Spencer discusses how much of a liability Abi is.
After Abi buts in on a conversation between Varner, Woo, and Terry, Varner realizes he actually wants to keep her around as a goat
Savage opens up to Bayon, telling a very emotional story about how he met his wife
Jeremy's wife, Val, is pregnant. He chooses to keep this a secret, seeing as if people knew that now, he'd be seen as a bigger FTC threat. While Jeremy goes off alone (as he was emotionally affected by Savage's story) Fishbach speculates that he's looking for the idol. That rubs Savage the wrong way.
PG shit talks Abi to Shirin in the dark, but Abi overhears it and confronts them. PG and Abi fight.
PG goes back to the shelter with the New Schoolers alliance and they laugh it over. Abi sees this and is hurt, as she she feels her allies don't have her back anymore.
Terry sees this and thinks it's wrong to treat Abi that way. He comforts her and they end up forming an unlikely alliance.
Shirin (and to a lesser extent Spencer) more or less loses immunity for Ta Keo in the challenge portion
PG would like to see Abi go, but is going to go with whoever the majority wants (who, thanks to Varner's campaigning and Abi's betrayal, is Spencer or Shirin). Wentworth is willing to relunctantly flip on them.
"You fuck with me, you're dead" -Abi
Shirincer tries getting Woo on their side, but as Shirin hasn't even really talked to Woo beforehand, he lets them know he's not having it
Shirincer both plead their case at tribal, and Ta Keo settles upon voting Shirin out
Favorites: Spencer, Jeremy, Varner, Terry, Joe
Episode 3
Spencer, grateful to have stayed, promises all his tribemates that he's going to change his ways and turn the strategy down a notch
*TRIBE SWAP INTO 3 TRIBES INSTEAD OF 2*
NEW TA KEO: Keith, Joe, Ciera, Terry, Wentworth, Kass (4 Bayon, 2 Ta Keo)
NEW BAYON: Spencer, Kimmi, Monica, Jeremy, Wigles, Fishbach (4 Bayon, 2 Ta Keo)
ANGKOR: Savage, Tasha, Abi, Peih-Gee, Varner, Woo (2 Bayon, 4 Ta Keo)
Woo strongly urges the former Ta Keo over at Angkor to stick together; PG and Varner embrace this, Abi seems quiet
Wentworth pretty much throws Terry under the bus, saying he was looking for an idol a lot (although, no one on New Ta Keo thinks they'll be losing a challenge with how stacked they are)
Spence tries taking a much more personal and emotional strategy on New Bayon, even opening up to Jeremy about a personal story about his girlfriend
Tasha tells Abi and Varner that if they work together with her and Savage, that they'll officially be taken in by Bayon post-merge. Abi seems to consider this but Varner sees it as bullshit.\
The former Bayon members on New Bayon want to find the idol so their majority is solidified. They all collectively look for it, and Jeremy finds the clue.
Jeremy snags the idol at the challenge as Ta Keo and Bayon win immuntiy
Seconds after losing the challenge, Varner tries mouthing some words over to Wigles. Tasha sees this, jumps in front of him with her arms in the air and says "we got a rat".
When asked my Probst about this, Varner gets pissed at publically calls out Savage and Tasha for making deals with him and then PG directly after. Woo actually gets offended by this, saying Varner didn't make a deal with him (despite agreeing to stay together earlier that same day???)
Savage makes the case to PG and Woo that he's a large physical asset and Varner doesn't pull his weight around camp, in challenges, or as an ally. Woo and PG consider voting Varner out, since they'd still have majority with Abi.
Meanwhile, Abi has already agreed to vote for Varner with Tasha.
Abi tells PG and Woo straight-out that she knows she's on the bottom with old Ta Keo, she's voting with Savage and Tasha regardless. This is the final straw for PG, who goes to Savage and Tasha with the possibility of just voting Abi off.
Savage tells Abi about this, and their target switches to PG. Since this saves his ass, varner also jumps on this train.
Woo and Peih-Gee are blindsided as PG is voted out over Abi 4-2
Favorites: Spencer, Jeremy, Varner, Terry, Joe
Episode 4
Tasha tells Woo he's safe over Varner next vote
Abi gets pissy with Tasha for her talking to Woo after he voted for Abi
Jeremy keeps his idol a secret, and tries befriending Fishbach further, knowing he's a Bayon outsider and a possible swing vote
In a twist reward challenge, only one person from each tribe actually competes. Savage lands a victory for Angkor and Terry beats Jeremy for second place.
Kass makes a little birthday good luck charm for Wentworth, who initially thought she was making a fake idol. Kass goes on to discuss how she is really trying to turn her game around and embrace change this season.
Spencer throws Wigles under the bus in case they go to tribal
Monica doesn't really trust him though, and wants to keep women around in case of a possible women's alliance down the road
Bayon and Ta Keo once again win immunity
Abi has fully turned on Ta Keo, leaving Woo and Varner on the chopping block
Tasha and Savage want varner, Abi wants Woo
Varner publically makes a personal case to every person on the tribe at tribal to save him over Woo
Abi, Savage and Tasha all come to a consensus and vote out Varner
Favorites: Varner (RIP), Spencer, Jeremy, Terry, Joe
Episode 5
"He's in a better place" -Savage in reference to Varner
Monica and Kimmi slightly bicker over clam hunting (Monica wanting less to prevent depletion)
Kass, Wentworth, Ciera, Keith, and Joe all form a final 5 alliance while Terry is out fishing
Spencer and Jeremy bond further in a cute little fishing trip
Woo tells a heartflet story about his mother and her heart complications (even crying about it in confessional) and Abi thinks he's using it for sympathy
Tasha debates keeping Woo or Abi around, since Abi is annoying and a time bomb
Fishbach manages to score for Angkor during the immunity challenge, resulting in a win for Angkor and Ta Keo
Monica, Fishbach, and Jeremy more or less agree to vote Wigles, but secretly Monica still wants to keep the idea of a girls alliance on the table
Monica brings this up to Kimmi, who thinks Monica is super sneaky. Kimmi talks to Fishbach and Jeremy about voting Monica out.
In the end, Bayon decides they just can't trust Monica and she's voted out
Favorites: Jeremy, Spencer, Terry, Joe
Episode 6
Probst visits Ta Keo in the middle of the night with news for Terry- his son has been hospitalized and it's serious enough that he's going to pull himself from the game
*TRIBE DISSOLVE*
NEW TA KEO: Kass, Woo, Savage, Spencer, Abi, Ciera, Wiglesworth
NEW BAYON: Joe, Keith, Wentworth, Jeremy, Kimmi, Fishbach, Tasha
Oil Up, Joe
Abi, Woo, and Savage team up with Kass and Ciera and plan to vote off Spencer in the event of a loss
Ciera, though, isn't ok with Savage's plan to tell Spencer the vote is Ciera
The obvious Bayon vote would be Wentworth, but, since Joe alligned with her on Ta Keo, he wants to keep her around somehow
Joe goes to Tasha and Fishvach with the possibility of voting Kimmi off (mainly due to not being helpful in challenges) but Fishbach and Tasha don't really like it
Fishbach rats Joe out to Jeremy, and wants Joe out next. Jeremy shuts it down though, as Jeremy needs him as a shield
In the classic food eating challenge, it came down to Tasha vs Kass, with Tasha pulling a win for Bayon
Ciera decides to start campaigning for Woo instead of Spencer. Kass is relunctant but goes with it.
Kass tells Spencer Savage's plan to get rid of him. Spence joins the vote Woo train.
Kass, after much debate, ends up siding with Spencer, Ciera, and Abi and voting Woo out
Favorites: Terry (RIP), Jeremy, Spencer, Joe, Kass
Episode 7
Savage has to sort of grovel at his tribemates feet and make amends. He promises Spencer he won't go after him post-merge.
*MERGE*
Jeremy and Savage set about gaining their majority; they have themselves, Fishbach, Tasha, Kimmi, and Wiglesworth. They decide to go to work and get Joe solidified.
The other alliance of course consisting of Wentworth, Kass, Ciera, Keith, and Joe (the mid-Ta Keo final 5). Spencer, Abi, and potentially Joe are swing votes
Knowing they're both swing votes, Spencer talks to Joe and tries getting them to stick together
Kass fishes for info with Tasha. Tasha gets deffensive and they bicker.
Kass calls out Tasha in front of everyone back at camp. Ciera jumps in, hoping to take advantage of chaos, and tells a lie that hints Savage was coming after Jeremy
Joe wins immunity
Kass is more or less the leader of the opposing alliance, but Savage would rather have Ciera go. The majority agrees on Kass.
Keith is willing to flip on Kass as she stirs things up
Collinsville (including Keith, Joe, and Spencer who have joined the majority) agrees to split the vote 5-4 and send Kass home
The Witches Coven alliance (Ciera, Abi, Wentworth, Kass) realize they're going to split the vote, and try to get Spencer to flip to their side and blindside Tasha
In the end, the Witches Coven's plan blows up (Wentworth actually voted for Kass, Spencer voted for Ciera as part of the split plan, and Ciera voted for......Savage?) and Kass is voted out
Favorites: Kass (RIP), Spencer, Jeremy, Ciera
Episode 8
Savage wants to continue to keep Collinsville solid and pick off Wentworth and Abi and etc
Ciera knows she's in the minority and tries swaying Fishbach over, who she knows wants to make big moves. After losing to the Wonder Boy in Tocantins, Fishy seriously considers flipping on Joe
Ciera, over reward, really tries to sway people (Keith, Kimmi, Joe, Wigles) to her side over reward. Joe actually cnsiders it, while Keith rides the little motorcycle cart around the beach (You call, i'll haul)
Fishy gets paranoid over Joe being with Ciera and Wentworth on reward, and for the 20th time this season, talks to Jeremy about getting Joe out. This time, Jeremy actually considers it. Fishman then takes it to Spencer and Tasha seperately. They seem down for it (Spence more than Tasha)
Savage sees this campaigning to get Joe out and gets pissed, as he wants to stay loyal to Joe. He rats out Fishmeister to Joe. Savage also promises on his kids' lives never to vote for Joe.
Joe wins immunity in a showdown with Keith
Savage and Joe decide to go ahead and target Fishbilly tonight. Joe wants to pull in the minority girls (Wentworth, Ciera, Abi) to accomplish this
Jeremy knows Fishler is loyal to him, so he doesn't want him to go. He steers the Collinsville target back onto Wentworth. Savage concedes and agrees to vote Wentworth
Tasha tells Joe the Fisherino plan is done for, so Joe lets the Witches Coven know aswell.
Kass flips the players off as she walks in as the first member of the jury
Ciera and Wentworth publically call out Jeremy, Savage, Tasha, and Joe/Fishman as controlling the game
Wentworth finally plays her idol, negating a whopping 8 votes and majorly blindsiding Savage out of the game
"You made it to the jury!" -Abi to Savage as he walks off. He retorts with a middle finger
Favorites: Spencer, Jeremy, Wentworth, Joe
Episode 9
Kimmi officially names the Witches Coven alliance
Collinsville goes on a hunt for the merge idol (some together, others like Joe look alone)
Abi finds Joe idol hunting and tells Wentworth about it
A schoolyard pick for the reward challenge results in Abi not being picked and forced to sit out
Keith releases an embaressed spit after his team was blown away in the reward challenge
Ciera uses her reward win to throw Jeremy's name out again, calling him out as the leader and trying to get people to flip on him
While the others are on reward, though, Jeremy finds the merge idol clue. It says he has to follow a path at night time.
He manages to sneak off and officialy get his second idol
Fishbach talks about how close Joe and Wigles have gotten. Fishbot 9000 wants to make big moves this season so he goes to work with the Witches. They talk about targeting Wigles.
During the immunity endyrance challenge, Probst tempts the players to give up immunity for an advantage in the game. Spencer and FishBlart the Mall Cop both go for it, with Fishly winning the advantage.
Joe once again wins immunity
Kimmi and Tasha want to split the vote between Wentworth and Ciera, sending home Wentworth
The Fish Prince of Bel-Air's advantage is revealed to be the ability to steal one vote at one tribal
Fishmonger talks to Spencer and Jeremy about joining the Wigles blindside. Spence and Jeremy do somewhat consider it, but seem hesitant (Spence is worried that the Witches can't be trusted and Jeremy wants to make sure Collinsville is solid)
Spencer and Jeremy actually DO end up taking this opportunity though, and Wiglesworth is voted out
Favorites: Jeremy, Spencer, Joe, Wentworth
Episode 10
Jeremy does damage control with Tasha and the others. He also talks in confessional about how he could go with either bloc now if he wants
Very heavy storms plague the camp, making it tough to strategize and basically live.
"People ask me if Survivor is fun. HELL NO, Survivor ain't fun!" -Keith
In typical Ciera fashion, over reward, she talks to her fellow winners (Joe, Spence, Abi, Tasha) about making a big move, this time blindsiding Stephen.
Meanwhile, the people back at camp talk about how big of a physical threat Joe is. Wentworth sees this as an opportunity to get attention off the Witches Coven.
Fishbach is really getting beaten down and taking the constant rain pretty badly, even apparently getting bad stomach pains; sobs into camera many times
Probst introduces a twist to this immunity challenge- production will have a construction crew build the Survivors a brand new, waterproof shelter, if 5 people sit out of the challenge (this is chosen by rock reveals, meaning no one knows who else chose to compete or sit until they all reveal). Literally everyone except Joe and Keith chose to sit out.
For the 4th time this season, Joe wins immunity
Fish-Fish wants to take out Ciera this round (but still work with Wentworth and maybe Abi in the future)
Joe talks to the Witches Coven and they agree to take out Fish Hegarty (who Abi respectfully refers to as "Poopy Pants")
Tasha wants to vote out Ciera and absorb the Witches Coven other members into HER voting bloc. She talks about this to Spencer, but Spencer wants Fishiana gone.
Jeremy, knowing Lil' Fish is fiercely loyal to him, campaigns to keep him around, despite Spencer's hard campaigning for The Fishinator
Jeremy, in a big reveal, actually plays one of his idols on Stephen.
It turns out to be a good play, as Spencer, Tasha, and Keith joined forces with the Witches Coven + Joe to vote Fishy Fisherson out. With Phish safe and Ciera and Wentworth's backu plan one vote short, Jeremy, Stephen, Kimmi's votes for Ciera send her home.
Episode 10 (part 2)
Jeremy tells Spencer he'd do the same thing to him as he did to Stephen, but Spencer doesn't realyl trust him and thinks about the possibility of jumping ship
Fisher's feet are getting really gross and swolen and cut and stuff, in addition to Fishra being hurt that, for once, he was in the dark
During the reward challenge, Wentworth finds the clue to the new idol
Fishbitch wins reward, and takes Jeremy and Tasha along with him. This sends a message to Spencer that they're closer than Spencer can get, and further pushes him to flip
Wentworth's clue reveals the idol is literally hidden under the shelter. She can't get it right now as it's dark and people are sleeping there.
To build trust, Fishmon reveals what his advantage is to Tasha and Jeremy over reward. They agree to target Joe (if he ever loses immunity)
Everyone back at camp talks about how obviously tight Jeremy, FishhBish, and Tasha are. Spencer joins them in planning another Stephen vote.
Abi voices concern that if Stevey Fishington uses his advantage, she's gone, and asks Joe to let her win immunity. Joe of course immediately shuts that down. Abi doesn't trust Joe or Spencer.
Wentworth manages to get under the shelter and grab the idol while everyone is out fishing and whatnot
Spencer wins immunity
Stephen's group (Tasha, Jeremy, etc) plan to take advantage of Joe's vulnerability and vote him out finally. If Joe asks who the vote is, they're telling him Abi.
Wentworth still wants to blindside Stephen, however, and her and Spencer tell Joe about how he's being targeted.
Abi gets super paranoid and untrusting of Joe, and considers going with either side
Fishbach and Jeremy think Joe could have an idol and want to split the vote between Abi and Joe. Stephen even wants to use his advantage to be sure.
Fishbach uses his advantage and steals the vote of Joe. Fishy votes for Abi and makes Joe vote for himself.
But, unfortunately for The Little Fish that Couldn't, his advantage was wasted and he was blindsided.
Because the voting was a bit complex this episode, here is how everyone voted:
For Abi: Kimmi, Tasha, Fish
For Joe: Jeremy, Joe
For Fish: Spencer, Abi, Keith, Kelley
Favorites: Wentworth, Jeremy, Spencer, Ciera (RIP), Joe
Episode 11
Kimmi realizes she's like never in the loop and tries taking matters into her own hands. She approaches Tasha and Wentworth about forming a women alliance. She wants to target Joe first.
*FAMILY VISIT* (including a pregnant Val Collins, Dale Wentworth, Joe and his dad finally having their lifelong dream of reaching the loved ones visit, and Spencer finally telling Marcella he loves her. Unfortunately, Wes Nale does not grace the island again.)
Kelley wins, and shares reward with Keith, Abi, Kimmi, and Joe.
Spencer, somewhat hurt by Kelley not picking him in reward, forms a f3 pact with Tasha and Jeremy
Tasha could go either way though, and go with the women alliance idea OR Spenceremy
Immunity will go to both a man and a women
Wentworth wins female immunity, Keith wins male immunity due to Joe collapsing and passing out on the spot. His blood sugar hit really low.
Joe knows his head is on the chopping block and throws out Abi's name to Jeremy
Jeremy isn't really down for it, as he wants to take the opportunity to get Joe out, but talks to his f3 and Tasha reveals the Women alliance idea.
This women alliance idea spooks Spenceremy and they now actually want Abi out.
However, Tasha kept them feeling safe enough that Joe got every vote except his own for Abi and Keith's for Tasha (for whatever reason), ending Joey Amazing's Cambodia experience
Favorites: Joe (RIP), Jeremy, Spencer, Tasha, Wentworth
Episode 12
Jeremy and Spencer go to work completely solidfiying Kimmi and Tasha's votes for the majority
Keith wins reward, and takes along Wentworth and Spencer. When asked why he chose Spencer, he rambled incoherently and forgot what Tasha's name was for a bit
Now that Joe is gone, people think Keith is the new physical threat. Back at camp, they plan to vote him out. Jeremy is still secretly kinda worried about a women's alliance though.
Keith, Wentworth, and Spencer form a f3 deal over reward. Spencer says he isn't really locked into any alliance, and he'd like to take Abi and Keith to finals ideally. This new f3 wants to target Tasha, and then Jeremy. They want to use Abi to claim majority.
Tasha talks with Jeremy about maybe targeting Abi instead of Keith, as Tasha doesn't want to work with someone as unpredictable and volatile as Abi. Jeremy likes this idea since it's one less girl to worry about in the possible alliance
At the immunity challenge, Spencer wins immunity and Tasha nearly drowns
Spencer seems to be the deciding vote between the (as referred to by Spencer) goats (Wentworth, Keith, Abi) and the big guns (Jeremy, Tasha, Kimmi)
Favorites: Jeremy, Spencer, Tasha
Episode 13
Kimmi comes to Wentworth to try and make a move- Kimmi wants to get Spencer, Jeremy, and Tasha to split the vote between Wentworth and Keith, then actually join Keith and Wentworth in blindsiding Spencer or Jeremy
Spencer wins immunity
Spencer gets very suspicious of Kimmi, and starts kinda getting wind of her plan
Jeremy trusts Kimmi though, and talks to Kimmi to try and solidify her. Kimmi puts on a pretty convincing offended act to hide the plan.
Spence and Jeremy bicker a bit, as Spencer strongly believes Kimmi can't be trusted and Jeremy really wants to split the vote
Spencer publically calls out the situation at tribal, forcing Kimmi's hand, even threatening to go to rocks. He also whispers to Wentworth "you're good"
Wentworth decides to play it safe in all of the confusion and plays her idol. This scares Jeremy enough into also playing HIS idol. As the vote was 3v3, this dual idol play results in, for the first time, NO votes being valid, forcing a new vote (NOT a revote).
On this new vote, another tie is forced between Tasha and Kimmi. That means that Keith, Kelley, Jeremy, and Spencer MUST come to a complete consensus on who to send home. If they do not, they WOULD draw rocks, except because of Spence's immunity and Jeremy + Kelley's idols, Keith would automatically go home.
Keith nearly voluntarily lets Kimmi stay, but Wentworth convinces him to stay. They come to a consensus, as Spencer and Jeremy refuse to budge, sending Kimmi out of the game.
Wentworth wins immunity
Wentworth makes a fake idol and gives it to Keith to try and create paranoia in the threesome
To cover his ass a bit, Jeremy convinces Keith and Kelley to target Spencer
To preserve his integrity, Keith does not reveal his fake idol, and the threesome stick together and vote out Keith
Jeremy wins final immunity
Wentworth makes a last ditch plea to Jeremy to take out Spencer. Jeremy actually considers letting them go to fire.
Spencer borderline threatens Tasha and Jeremy by saying that if Wentworth makes finals, she's getting his vote and he'll campiagn for her to win
Whether due to Spencer's jury threat or just thinking his chance is better against him, Jeremy stays with Spence and Tasha and Wentworth is voted out
Jeremy finally reveals that Val is currently pregnant with another child at FTC
With a GREAT game played all season and sub-par FTC performances by Spencer and Tasha (who was basically ignored), Jeremy wins Survivor: Cambodia by a unanimous vote
Closing thoughts: Easily a top 5 season, probably even top 3 for me. GREAT cast (with a few exceptions. Seriously, how did Woo and Wentworth get in over Shane and T-Bird???), very heavily strategic (but not to the absolute point of having zero charm), and one of my favorite and one of the best winners Survivor has seen. The theme was definitely strongly embraced, a lot of people turned their game around this season. Some for the better (Terry, Wentworth, Abi) and some for worse (Shirin, Wiglesworth, Peih-Gee), and even one of the best tribal councils of all time. Overall just a fucking amazing season.
So happy that you like and respect Wentworth now but I noticed an error in your recap. Queen Wentworth actually negated 9 votes, a Survivor record...not 8.
