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.
