Survivor: San Juan Del Sur – Episode 9 – Recap And Results – Getting To Crunch Time, Recap and results for Survivor: San Juan del Sur – Episode 9 – Getting to Crunch Time:
Welcome to the recap and results for Survivor: San Juan del Sur — Blood vs. Water Episode 9, “Getting to Crunch Time”!
On last week’s episode, Josh got the boot and became the first member of the jury. On the one hand, it seems like Jeremy came out on top in his feud with Josh, but did he really? He’s still a major threat in this game, and Reed is probably going to be looking for revenge. The target is still very much on Jeremy’s back, and he’ll have to do some major maneuvering to maintain hold on his (tenuous) position of power. Can he do it? Or will the tide turn against him?
Who will be voted out tonight?
AFTER TRIBAL COUNCIL
After tribal, some of the castaways are comforting Reed and making sure he’s alright. Reed isn’t sure who he can turn to right now though. Jon is every bit as confused about what to do next, since he admits he led the rival alliance on. He notes that the reason he ultimately decided to side with Jeremy was Jaclyn telling him how disrespected she felt by Keith and co. For his part, Keith intends on getting back at Jon and Jaclyn, saying they’ve been lying to him for a while now. He declares, “It’s getting to crunch time now.” Hey now, it’s your own fault, Keith. You can’t be lousy to people and then expect them to vote with you.
REWARD CHALLENGE
The reward is a sandwich picnic, and the challenge involves a series of one-on-one match-ups in which two competitors must balance on a beam over a mud pit. First person to knock their opponent into the mud scores a point for their team. First team to five points wins reward. The tribes are divided…
Yellow team: Alec, Baylor, Reed, Jeremy, Natalie
Blue team: Jon, Jaclyn, Wes, Missy, Keith
The first matchup is Reed vs. Wes. Both men fall off the beam at virtually the same time, but Wes hits the mud first, so Reed wins. This gives the yellow team the lead, which is widened when Natalie defeats Jaclyn. Jon scores for blue team by defeating Jeremy, but Baylor keeps yellow team’s lead by defeating her mother, Missy. Keith gets the blue team another point by defeating Alec, and Wes adds another point by defeating Reed in a rematch after Reed gets mud in his eye. However, yellow team regains its lead when Natalie defeats Jaclyn in another rematch. Jon ties it up by defeating Jeremy once again, leaving it all down to a mother/daughter face-off. Ultimately, Baylor defeats her mother once again, securing reward for the Yellow team.
ALEC, BAYLOR, REED, JEREMY and NATALIE WIN REWARD!
However, in a pretty big surprise, both Natalie and Jeremy give up their reward to Jon and Jaclyn, leaving the pair fighting back tears. Natalie says it’s a show of trust, since Jon and Jaclyn proved themselves at tribal council. Baylor and the other reward winners choose Jeremy to go to Exile Island, as Baylor rationalizes in a confessional that it would be better for their alliance if Jeremy found the hidden immunity idol out there. This could be some pretty smart play, since it shores up Jeremy and Natalie’s partnership with Jon and Jaclyn. But it could also end up biting them, since this was a bit too obvious on Jeremy and Natalie’s part. This makes it seem like they have a secret final four deal with Jon and Jaclyn, which could send the other castaways scrambling to break that alliance up, whereas they wouldn’t have been targets had they not given up the reward. But this is all a bunch of conjecture right now, so I suppose we’ll see where it goes.
THE AFTERMATH
Natalie talks about her rationale behind giving up the reward, which is pretty much the same explanation she gave at the challenge. Keith, meanwhile, begins speculating about how he and Wes can get further in the game, proposing using the idol to protect them when the time comes. Over at Exile Island, Jeremy is eager to find the idol for his alliance, saying that he trusts Jon and Jaclyn, and noting that giving up his reward is the least he can do to pay them back for their loyalty. As if on cue, the yacht on which the sandwich picnic is taking place comes passing by, as if teasing Jeremy.
On the yacht, Jon and Jaclyn are in ecstasy, eating and kissing and telling one another how much they love each other, and it’s all making Reed sick. Jon and Jaclyn weren’t supposed to be on this reward, but everyone is so eager to kiss up to them that it’s making the alliances really transparent. And he’s right. If these people were smart, they wouldn’t let a power couple like Jon and Jaclyn make it much farther. But I think the possibility of blindsiding them is out the window. They have too much leverage in the game between Jon’s immunity idol and the inside deal they have with Jeremy and Natalie. And it’s not like Missy and Baylor are going to team up with Keith and Wes to make that blindside happen.
IDOLATRY
The next day at Exile, Jeremy feels like he’s been “hit by a train”. He hardly got any sleep, and generally feels “lethargic”. This hampers his search for the hidden immunity idol, and actually makes it to the spot where it was. When he doesn’t find it, he theorizes that Jon might have found it already. While he thinks this would be a good thing, he wishes Jon would have just told him so he didn’t have to spend two days on Exile feeling miserable.
Frankly, if Jon and Jaclyn are looking to make a final four pact, I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just tell Jeremy they have the idol. Of course, there’s a certain sense in keeping it secret, since a hidden immunity idol brings expectations along with it. Jeremy might expect Jon to protect him with the idol if he doesn’t win immunity. So Jon is probably right to keep it hidden from Jeremy…as long as he actually does keep it hidden, and Jeremy doesn’t find out. At the very least, Jon should keep it a secret until it’s too late for Jeremy to do anything about it. Then again, there’s no guarantee Jeremy would even be spiteful about Jon keeping it a secret in the first place. Jeremy knows this game inside and out, since he’s a big fan of the show. I would hope Jeremy, of all people, would understand why Jon didn’t feel like sharing the information.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
The challenge is a Survivor first. And entire puzzle in which the castaways can only use their feet. Basically, castaways must untie a rope that releases a series of blocks. They then must use those blocks to form a tower that is arrayed in a very specific order, finishing by placing a flag in a small hole at the center.
I’ve never seen a challenge on this show that has ever looked quite this difficult, since the more blocks you stack, the likelier it is you’re going to drop a block and knock the whole tower over. This would seem to favor people with smaller, dainty feet, as evidenced by Baylor having such a great run in this challenge. However, Reed gives her a run for her money as it gets down to the wire, with Reed finishing his tower and moving to place the flag just as Baylor is doing the same. But it’s Baylor who impressively maneuvers through the tower, plants the flag, and wins immunity.
Probst puts the necklace on Baylor while Jeremy, in a confessional, states that he would have had a better shot if Exile Island hadn’t sapped so much of his strength. However, in what could be a prophetic soundbite, he states that he’s cool as long as someone in their alliance won immunity. Famous last words?SCRAMBLIN’ MAN
Reed is scrambling to save himself. He notices Keith has the hidden immunity idol note in his bag, and he immediately takes this information to Missy and Baylor, saying that Keith has an idol and he needs to be taken out. Keith discovers someone has stolen the clue from his bag, and flips out despite not being two episodes removed from the tribe going through Julie’s bag and stealing her trail mix. Jon and Jaclyn hear that Keith has the idol, and are incredulous.
Meanwhile, Jeremy is convinced Jon has an idol himself, and wants to catch him in a lie by trying to get him to confess to finding the idol. Jon plays innocent and says he doesn’t have it, and then notes in a confessional that sending Jeremy to Exile was a mistake. So Jon goes to Missy and reveals that he has the idol, in order to get Jeremy out. Missy is a bit leery about the plan, since she’s been aligned with Jeremy and Natalie since the start. She feels a better way to do it is to flush out Keith’s idol, saying, “If we rock the boat too hard, one of us is going to fall out.” It’s a solid plan on Missy’s part, although Jeremy might be the better target just for the challenge threat he presents, and his backstory, which would probably make him an appealing vote for the jury.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Jeremy recaps why he and Natalie gave up their reward for Jon and Jaclyn. Probst asks if this complicates the game, and Jaclyn notes that it only makes it clearer that Jeremy and Natalie are with her and Jon as much as she and Jon are with them. Reed points out that Jeremy and Natalie’s move was “self-serving while being selfless.” Probst asks how Exile Island was for Jeremy, and he notes that it kicked his butt and left him without strength. Missy concurs, saying Jeremy wasn’t his usual self when he came back. Probst then asks if idol talk has come up at all, since no one has played one yet. Missy feels the game can turn on a dime, and Jon is “very confident” that someone has an idol.
Jaclyn speaks up and says that, of the four people in the other alliance, Alec and Reed have been forthcoming and talkative, but Keith and Wes have been reserved. Thus, she feels either Wes or Keith have the idol. Wes argues that Jaclyn never once came to him, but Jon sticks up for Jaclyn by saying it wasn’t Jaclyn’s job to come to him if Wes and his alliance wanted her vote. Probst breaks up the argument by noting that Reed must be thrilled that attention has been taken away from him, which is a kind of crummy thing to do, since it reminds everyone they need to put their attention back on Reed. Jeremy sticks up for Jon’s behavior, saying he would back someone who looked out for his wife. For her part, Natalie hopes her alliance sticks with their plan, and doesn’t allow themselves to be distracted from their long-term goals, since people will say anything to stay in this game.
We get to the vote, and it looks to be split pretty evenly between Keith and Reed. Probst tallies the votes, and no one plays an idol…
KEITH
REED
KEITH
REED
REED
JEREMY
JEREMY
JEREMY
JEREMY
JEREMY
JEREMY HAS BEEN VOTED OFF OF SURVIVOR: SAN JUAN DEL SUR!
Natalie immediately turns to Missy and says, “What the f***, Missy?” Missy has no response. Jeremy is the second member of our jury. In his exit interview, Jeremy admits they pulled a fast one on him. He said if he knew they would have been like this, he would have taken that reward. “Apparently, I had no alliance. A good guy lost,” he says. “A good guy lost this time.” Oh, I wouldn’t worry, Jeremy. I’ll be SHOCKED if you don’t get brought back sometime down the line.
Even though I could see it coming, I was still utterly floored by this blindside, since Jeremy was my pick to win the whole thing. However, this was a smart move for…well, for somebody. It all depends on who takes the heat for this blindside. Does Missy catch the backlash? If so, it hurts her chances in front of the jury. But if Jon and Jaclyn take the heat, then this could end up torpedoing what has been a pretty great game for them so far. This moment could have MASSIVE repercussions, especially if Natalie decides to bail on Missy/Baylor/Jon/Jaclyn and link up with Wes, Keith, Alec and Reed. Suddenly, the power in the tribe would shift significantly, and could change the entire game.
One big rule of Survivor is that you should usually go through with it when you have a knife to your enemy’s throat (like they had with Jeremy tonight). But a corollary of that rule is that you should only strike when a rival alliance can’t really do anything about it in the aftermath. There are too many numbers still in the game that can turn the tide against the Missy/Baylor/Jon/Jaclyn foursome, and that could be bad news.
But what do you think? Was this the right move for Missy/Baylor/Jon/Jaclyn? Or was it a massive miscalculation? Sound off in the comments! Until next week, thanks for reading!
