Kolovai returned from their second Tribal Council together. Ciera announced that it had been an interesting night, with Jaclyn having agreed.
The camera zoomed in on an expressionless Kass. "Josh is an absolute idiot", she declared in her confessional. "The only useful thing he's done was flush Ciera's idol", she then added. "The reason I didn't go along with Josh's plan to vote for Ciera is because Ciera knew about the whole damn thing because she told me before Tribal! So clearly, Josh leaked, I'm assuming to Jaclyn as he was nervous about Trish's vote, even though I had told him I would have taken care of Trish... Idiot."
"You girls got me", Hayden mentioned as he got in the shelter to lay down. "We're all still in this together", Ciera remarked, trying to laugh Hayden's comment off as if it wasn't a big deal. Hayden followed by expressing his concern in a confessional.
"First of all, I didn't know Josh was going home. Secondly, I didn't even know Ciera had an idol!", Hayden uttered. "I'm assuming the four girls struck up some sort of deal. Man, I'm really out of the loop", he concluded.
The next morning, Trish awoke to Kass already seated by the fire. Trish walked over and sat by Kass. "I just want to say, that I genuinely apologize for anything I may have said that upset you", Trish remarked. "It's fine", Kass instantaneously replied. "I understand that you were under a lot of emotions, as was I". Trish had given her a light smile, while still looking uneasy.
"Just the act of apologizing to Kass and being NICE to her gives me the chills", Trish remarked in a confessional. "But I'm still here, and so is Kass, so evidently, we must be doing something right".
Later that morning, Jaclyn and Ciera were seated in the shelter alone. "What have I done?", Ciera remarked with irritation in her voice. Jaclyn questioned why she had never told Hayden about her idol, which Ciera admitted she had now regretted. The girls agreed that they still trusted Hayden and wanted to continue working with him, but that they needed to patch things up with Hayden in case he was concerned from last night's Tribal, which he was. "I have some serious cleaning up to do", Ciera privately stated.
At Otuhaka, the tribe awoke early, with excitement looming. "This could be the day Sarah, that our games are turned around", Tony remarked. "I hope so", Sarah replied. Sarah stated that since there were 12 people remaining in the game, they were all expecting a merge, which would hopefully entail something good for her and Tony as they were on the bottom of their tribe.
Meanwhile, Brad called for a "meeting" of his alliance including Vytas, Jeremy, and Natalie. Brad had told them that they were required to stick together and trust each other all the way until the final four. Brad privately explained that the meeting was his way of "apologizing" to Vytas for doubting him, without actually apologizing. Natalie privately stated that Brad's meeting was quite humorous and essentially pointless, but whatever made Brad feel better she was all for in order to keep the alliance strong.
The tribe then got prepared for what they presumed to be a merge after having received an ambiguous tree-mail.
Both tribes headed off to their "reward challenge", or what they expected to be their merge.
The tribes were greeted by Jeff, who had asked everyone how they were doing. Jeff was holding a bag, with everyone looking excited.
"We.. are.. NOT merging", Jeff declared, throwing the bag of brand new buffs behind him. There was an immediate wave of surprise among the All-Stars, as Jeff announced their next reward challenge.
"We were all expecting a merge", Jaclyn declared in a confessional. Tony also appeared disappointed.
Jeff resumed to explain the reward challenge and that the winning tribe would be able to perform a camp raid of the opposing tribe. Otuhaka won their first reward challenge, and had sent Tony and Vytas to the Kolovai camp.
Back at Otuhaka, the tribe celebrated their first reward win, with Keith pointing out that a camp raid would help them acquire fishing gear. Sarah then pointed out that a camp raid this late into the game may be indicative of them not actually merging anytime soon.
Sarah followed by stating in her confessional that this down-time away from Tony was a good chance for her to separate herself from Tony by appealing to members of the majority alliance. Sarah had gone on a walk with Natalie where she expressed her frustrations with Tony and her unwillingness to work with someone that paranoid. Natalie mostly agreed by telling her that the only benefit to keeping Tony in the game for her was that he took the "winners target" off her back but that she could care less. Sarah followed by offering Natalie an alliance, telling her that she would like to work with her and Jeremy and that at the end of the day she (Sarah) could be their extra number over Brad and Vytas.
In a confessional, Natalie stated that Sarah brought up good points but was at the same time dangerous. "Honestly, Sarah is a really smart player and I don't trust her. If anything, I would actually want Sarah out over Tony before the merge but given our track record in the challenges, I don't know. If we are to throw a challenge, this is the time to do so".
At Kolovai, the tribe arrived back to camp along with Tony and Vytas. Tony and Trish held a brief conversation with Trish excited to see him after a few days before Tony and Vytas went to work on raiding the Kolovai camp of supplies the Otuhaka tribe did not have, such as more adequate fishing gear, and a few extra pots.
"I can't pull the same shenanigans I did at the last camp raid against Jeremiah", Tony exclaimed. "So you know what I did? I took my clue to the idol, and placed it in someones bag so that everyone would be able to see it. I don't know whose bag it was, but it was originally Trish's clue so I mean, she should recognize it", Tony uttered in a confessional as he scurried toward the beach from the shelter to re-join the tribe.
A few of the tribe members walked back toward the shelter as Tony and Kass held a brief conversation by the beach. Kass informed him on what had been happening on their tribe and about her mended relationship with Trish. However, Kass worried that her and Trish were next on the pecking order.
"I actually do think that Tony, Trish and I will work together at the merge but I need to concoct some sort of plan in order to keep both Trish and I in this game in the event that we lose again", Kass privately remarked.
As Tony and Vytas prepared to leave, Ciera gave Jaclyn a look of suspicion as Trish flamboyantly waved as Tony and Vytas had walked down the beach back toward their camp. "Trish's actions at the camp raid definitely worry me and it shows that she's obviously going to want to work with Tony at the merge", Ciera concluded, stating that the situation made her more tense but could be enough to get Hayden to trust her again.
Tony and Vytas arrived back at Otuhaka with a couple of raided items. Natalie almost immediately pulled Vytas aside to discuss whether they should throw their next Immunity challenge in order to get rid of Sarah or Tony. Natalie expressed her worries of Sarah as a large merge threat, with Vytas in agreement. However, they both realized that throwing the challenge served as a potentially risky move. They met with Jeremy and Brad to further contemplate their decision.
Vytas brought up the likelihood of either Tony or Sarah possessing an idol which they would be much likelier to flush by properly splitting the vote with more numbers on their side at the merge (Jaclyn/Ciera/Hayden), having privately stated afterwards that he actually wanted to keep Tony in the game as a "shield". However, Jeremy was confident in that they would be able to utilize Keith's vote in order to properly split the vote at their next Tribal Council instead. Brad supported the idea but Natalie was nervous as to whether they truly had Keith on their side as he was an unpredictable player. "Throwing the challenge is a risk move, but a risk move we have to highly consider", Natalie concluded.
Back at Kolovai, Hayden finally met up to discuss the last vote with Jaclyn and Ciera. Hayden had asked what happened at the last Tribal with Jaclyn having explained Josh's entire plan to get Ciera out of the game by convincing them three to split their votes between Trish and Kass. Ciera mentioned that she freaked out after she had seen Josh talking with Hayden right before Tribal and that Hayden may had been in on the plan to oust her. Hayden was confused as to why Ciera thought he would have ever voted her out, when in reality Josh was just filling him in on the plan to "split votes".
"Well, I'm more than glad Josh is out then", Hayden remarked, "but you didn't trust me to not vote for you?". Ciera immediately back-tracked and told Hayden that she did trust him but the entire Josh situation fogged her vision. Jaclyn expressed her concern in a confessional about her and Ciera not being in as great of a position as they were in earlier and that the entire Josh vote they had hidden from Hayden did not make them look good.
Hayden received the following confessional expressing his concerns over Ciera, explaining that despite Ciera having worked with him by the end of Blood vs Water, he knew what kind of player she was, and that she had hidden vital information from him despite them supposedly being 'aligned'. "I don't know whether I can trust Ciera any more", he concluded.
The next morning, Trish arrived with tree-mail reading off that an immunity challenge was looming. She explained her strong desire to win as the tribe headed off to their challenge.
The tribes arrived at their next immunity challenge, with nervous expressions on the faces of some of the Otuhaka members as the majority alliance continued to contemplate whether to throw the challenge. Jeff announced the challenge...
But it was not enough as Otuhaka maintained their win streak by winning yet another immunity challenge, sending Kolovai to yet another Tribal Council.
Natalie expressed that her alliance genuinely attempted to throw the challenge but that "Kolovai sucked so bad that they still couldn't beat us". Jeff sent both tribes back to camp, informing Kolovai that he would see them that night.
Upon return to camp, Kass asked whether she could speak to Hayden alone. The two went into the jungle in order to talk in private, as Trish looked on from the shelter. Kass had told Hayden that she was waiting for them to get the opportunity to talk as she had important news pertaining to her talk with Tony from the camp raid.
"I'm going to use my brief exchange with Tony from the camp raid to fabricate a complete lie where Tony supposedly told me he was aligned with Hayden's old allies, being Brad and Vytas, but that the only way he (Tony) would stick with that alliance after the merge, which would include Hayden, is if we voted Ciera out at our next Tribal Council in order for the Blood vs Water players to not have a majority within the 'alliance'", Kass explained in her confessional. Kass explained the entire ordeal, all made-up to Hayden, who happened to buy it "hook, line, and sinker", according to Kass.
Hayden asked why Ciera could not be included in the 'alliance' at the merge, with Kass having explained to Hayden that Tony was paranoid about a situation where him (Hayden), Brad and Vytas would want to go to the final four with Ciera. Kass proceeded to warn Hayden that Jaclyn was likely to team up with Jeremy and Natalie at the merge, neither of whom had a connection with Hayden.
"This gives me a lot to think about", Hayden exclaimed, stating that he didn't know what he was going to do. "Honestly, I don't trust anyone right now, but this gives me a lot to think about, and it's imperative that I start thinking about what I can do in order to get me further into the merge, and if it means voting Ciera out, I have to consider it".
Meanwhile, Jaclyn and Ciera had spent time in the water. They considered approaching Kass in voting out Trish, but Jaclyn maintained her worry that "Kass and Trish seem awfully close despite them having been at each others throats just days ago", with the girls simultaneously having agreed that Kass and Trish were likely going to vote together. "This means, we need Hayden's vote", Ciera exclaimed.
As it came closer to Tribal, Hayden and Ciera shared a final talk, with Ciera having apologized for the impression Hayden had gotten that she (Ciera) had not trusted him. "Tonight, I'm the swing vote", Hayden claimed to the cameras, "and I have to decide what's better for my game moving forward", as the tribe headed to Tribal Council.
Jeff welcomed Kolovai to their third consecutive Tribal Council visit as a new tribe in a row. "What's wrong with this tribe?", Jeff asked, with Ciera maintaining that there was a lack of trust between majority of the tribe. Kass added on to Ciera's point, claiming that there existed a "lack of trust" due to Ciera.
"I didn't know about the idol, Trish hadn't, and Hayden sure hadn't either, who was supposedly Ciera's closest ally, so if she wants to talk about a 'lack of trust', she needs to take responsibility for that lack of trust", Kass proclaimed. Jaclyn retaliated in defense of Ciera, claiming that all the arguments produced by both Kass and Trish were the reason why the tribe hadn't ever 'gelled'.
"Oh honey you don't want to go there with me", Trish immediately remarked. Jaclyn proceed to point out that Trish had her fair share of tribal conflicts which clouded the tribe morale and sucked the tribe into a negative atmosphere. "So if they want to talk about lack of trust, its their arguments that initiated that lack of trust."
Jeff asked the tribe whether tonights vote was between Jaclyn/Ciera versus Kass/Trish, with the women agreeing. "So that leaves you in the middle, Hayden", Jeff pointed out. Hayden agreed with his position in the middle and that he needed to make a tough choice that night, with Josh's blindside of which he was unaware of having muddied up the vote even further. Kass proceeded to remind Hayden that he hadn't been filled in on the Josh vote because Ciera hadn't trusted him enough to not vote her out. Ciera immediately defended herself and the women had an exchange of words. "Can we vote?", Hayden asked.
Jeff announced that it was time to vote, and the tribe proceeded to vote.
Ciera nodded and stood up. Trish looked relieved. Hayden apologized to Ciera, who said that she had understood. Jaclyn looked disappointed.
Ciera brought up her torch to have it snuffed by Jeff. Ciera wished the tribe luck as she headed off.
Jeff announced that he never knew what to expect with their tribe, and if they didn't get their acts together quick they would stand no chance against Otuhaka.
The tribe grabbed their torches, and headed back to camp.
Next time on SURVIVOR,
Kolovai and Otuhaka finally merge!
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*scene of everyone enjoying the merge feast*
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Certain lies get exposed.
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Tony (confessional): This crazy woman is making up alliances that don't even exist!
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While the swing vote position sees a similar face.
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Kass (confessional): I cannot believe these fools are allowing me to be the swing vote again.
From being a swing vote on Monotapu, to arguably the ring-leader of the nuKolovai alliance of 4 before they all turned on each other, to being doubted for not filling Hayden in on neither the Josh vote nor her idol, to being voted out by the hands of Kass.
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