PREVIOUSLY ON SURVIVOR: Kelley, having flipped on her alliance, awaited lots of fireworks back at camp. Sarah and Wendell decided to play it cool, but Shan was very upset, and told Kelley off. “I can’t believe you would betray this alliance for people that definitely don’t have your back,” she said. Lauren returned from exile and found out what happened, and consoled Kelley. “Wherever you go, I go,” Lauren said, “So I stand by you and will defend your decision.” Lauren then showed Kelley her idol, and the two celebrated knowing that this could really further them in the game.
The other alliance, meanwhile, celebrated their big move. Kenny was happy he pulled it off, and told Crystal that now they had to hold up their end of the deal. “I told them that we’d go to final four with them,” Kenny said, to which Crystal seemed a bit uneasy and nervous, but agreed. “At this point, if we can knock out Shan, Wendell, and Sarah, then we can deal with all of that later,” she said.
The next morning, Kelley tried to reconcile with Shan and told her that it was surely to prevent going to rocks and did propose that they still try to work together. “We play two similar games,” Kelley said, “And I would hate to be going for one another when we can look out for each other instead.” Shan said that it would be too difficult to put her 100% trust in Kelley again, but did agree that they were both threats now and would have to look out for one another in some capacity. The two hugged it out, hoping to put the blindside behind them. Sarah and Wendell, however, knew they had to do something to shift the momentum back to them. “Between the three of us,” Sarah said, “They’re definitely going to go for us before Shan.” Wendell suggested maybe approaching Kenny about working with them. “Of everyone, I think Kenny would be willing to flip,” Wendell said, “he’s the only dude on that side, and if we could put the fear of a women’s alliance in his head, maybe he’ll flip.”
At the immunity challenge, the contestants had to build a card house and place a flag in the middle using only their feet. “This was a challenge Ricard won on our season,” Shan said, “So I would like to honor him by hopefully winning this and standing up for his blindside.” The contestants started, and immediately, Wendell, Crystal, Christine, and Sarah struggled. Lauren, Hali, and Jenn were making quick time and Shan was falling out of it. It came down to Lauren and Jenn, and Jenn accidentally knocked down her tower, giving the win to Lauren who put the flag in and secured her safety.
Back at camp, Lauren and Kelley celebrated. Wendell and Sarah tried to enact their plan to talk to Kenny. Pulling him aside, Sarah said, “You’re the only guy on that side and when we talked to Kelley, she hinted at some sort of women’s alliance.” Kenny acted surprised, but during confessional, started laughing saying “I’m the one who got Kelley to flip, it’s hilarious that Sarah and Wendell think that I’m the one on the outs of this ‘women’s alliance.’” Kenny told Sarah and Wendell he’d consider voting Wentworth. “She’s a flip flopper,” Wendell said. Meanwhile, Kenny talked to his alliance of Wentworth, Lauren, and Crystal and told them that Wendell and Sarah were trying to target Wentworth. “I’m not surprised,” she said. “Honestly, I’d love to just split votes on the two of them and get one of them out.”
Kenny approached Christine, Hali, and Jenn and asked them what they thought of splitting the votes between Wendell and Sarah. Christine was down, but Hali was a bit worried. “Shan is the one who came after Wentworth right after the challenge,” Hali said. “If we want to keep the majority of 7, we need to have Wentworth’s trust.” Kenny didn’t want to let on that Kelley and him were working too closely together, so Kenny suggested Hali talking to Kelley. When Hali talked to Kelley, Kelley said that she would rather go after Sarah or Wendell, much to Hali’s surprise. “If Kelley is down with getting rid of one of the two winners and not Shan, then I guess that’s a good plan,” Hali said. Meanwhile, Wendell and Sarah told Shan the plan to vote out Wentworth. “I think we have Kenny and Crystal’s votes, so even if they split, we’re good,” Sarah said. Shan knew she had told Wentworth she’d look out for her but also knew that Wentworth was the right boot.
At tribal council, Shan knew she could be in trouble. “My biggest ally went home last week,” she said, “I hope they see this as an opportunity to see me as weaker rather than stronger.” Wendell said that it was definitely going to be an interesting vote. “Having Kelley flip,” Wendell said, “There’s no telling if she’ll join back up with us or flip again.” Kelley interjected saying, “But you, Sarah, and Shan never even came to me with a name, so how do I even know who to vote for?” Shan did lean over and whisper Jenn’s name into Kelley’s ear, though Kelley wasn’t necessarily convinced. “It’s a real interesting game of who to trust and when,” Kelley said. After the votes, nobody stood to play an idol. The first three votes, from Shan, Wendell, and Sarah, went to Kelley Wentworth. Wentworth nodded, knowing her original alliance was down on voting her out. “So you whispering Jenn in my ear means absolutely nothing,” Kelley said. The next votes from Christine, Jenn, and Hali were for Wendell while Lauren, Wentworth, and Crystal voted for Sarah. This left Kenny as the last remaining vote, and sticking to his alliance’s plan to split the vote, he voted for Sarah, ending her Survivor journey once again. Sarah gave props to her allies, and told Shan and Wendell, “go win it.”
20th- Chris Hammons (Millennials vs. Gen X)
19th- Malcolm Freberg (Philippines, Caramoan, Game Changers)
18th- Rick Devens (Edge of Extinction)
17th- Domenick Abbate (Ghost Island)
16th- Denise Stapley (Philippines, Winners at War)
15th- Tony Vlachos (Cagayan, Game Changers, Winners at War)
14th- David Wright (Millennials vs. Gen X, Edge of Extinction)
13th- Bret LaBelle (Millennials vs. Gen X)
JURY
12th- Stacey Powell (South Pacific)
11th- Ricard Foyé (41)
10th- Sarah Lacina (Cagayan, Game Changers, Winners at War)
MERGED TRIBE: DUALITY
Kelley Wentworth (San Juan del Sur, Cambodia, Edge of Extinction)
Jenn Brown (Worlds Apart)
Wendell Holland (Ghost Island, Winners at War)
Crystal Cox (Gabon)
Hali Ford (Worlds Apart, Game Changers)
Shantel Smith (41)
Ken Hoang (Gabon)
Christine Shields-Markoski (South Pacific)
Lauren O’Connell (Edge of Extinction)
Random.org says that KENNY wins immunity. Vote off not one, but TWO other players.