'Survivor: Caramoan' – The Tribes Swap And Matt Walks

March 21st, 2013 3:32pm EDT

the newly formed Gota Tribe during the sixth episode of SURVIVOR Last week on, Survivor: Brandon blew a gasket, his tribe forfeited immunity, and voted Brandon out of the game. Reynold found a second Hidden Immunity Idol (HII).
After Brandon left, the Bikal tribe worried that Brandon’s actions had given the Gota tribe an advantage, and a renewed hope. Phillip felt Brandon’s word had damaged his own game play. Corinne was angered that no one jumped in to defend either she or Phillip from Brandon’s rants. Phillip gave the group a pep talk, and told them that they’re still the better team, and will win the game, but in private, decided that Corinne is next to go, as she’s only out for herself. Cochran interviewed that having Brandon in the group was like living in a certified asylum; with Brandon gone, they’re just left with Phillip.
The Gota tribe is delighted when treemail invites them to a Reward Challenge – they’re hungry! But there must have been more instructions given to the tribes, as they both show up for the challenge with their bags. Jeff Probst welcomes them, and then asks how Brandon’s meltdown affected the tribes. Michael says it was good to finally feel something good together. Matt admits that they were envious of the Favorites, and it was good to find out that they had their own difficulties to contend with. He adds that he particularly felt sorry for Phillip, who’s been accused of being “the crazy one” when Brandon’s actions of destroying the camp’s food showed who the true crazy was.
Phillip says that the Faves are doing so much better now, with peace and harmony. Probst asks if both tribes feel good, with their tribal unity, and then proceeds to shake things up – it’s egg smacking time!
Yes, there’ll be some swapping going on. There are two bowls from which each tribe picks an egg, so there won’t be too enormous a shuffle. Everyone grabs an egg and breaks it open, splattering themselves with wet paint. The new Gota tribe is Eddie, Reynold, Andrea, Malcolm, Sherri, Erik and Brenda. The new Bikal tribe consists of Corinne, Michael, Matt, Dawn, Phillip, Cochran, and Julia. As Cochran says, “the game just started anew.”
Everyone seems to be happy with the swap, and they are even happier when Jeff says they’ll each be given another bag of rice, and a new flint. He sends them off to mingle with their new tribe in their new homes.
Now on Gota, Reynold is relieved; the tension of his old group was wearing him out. And Eddie’s delighted, because he feels they’ve got all the good people. Typically, he interviews that he’s “ecstatic. We’re a young, good looking tribe.” Reynold is quick to tell Malcolm and Erik that he and Eddie have been Sherri’s targets since Day One, and they are on board if they want her voted out. Erik’s leery of Reynold’s used car salesman style pitch.
Meanwhile, Sherri’s girl talking with Andrea and Brenda, giving them the lowdown on Eddie and Reynold. Andrea feels like Sherri’s loose lips have given away far too much about the dynamics of the Fans tribe. Good for the Faves, but not a wise move on Sherri’s part for future game play. It’s becoming clear that the groups may have been switched around, but the Faves’ loyalty remains to each other.
Andrea and Malcolm have a sneaky talk, and she fills him in on Reynold’s having had and played a HII already. They are confident that the three Fans are divided, so numbers are still heavily in their favor. Andrea says she had a dream that Malcolm had found an idol, but he lies, and says he doesn’t.
On Bikal, Matt, Julia and Michael are the newcomers. Corinne would be happy to align with gay Michael, but knows that the others in the Faves alliance will not be flipping. Phillip, in his ‘at home’ pink undies, chats up Julia, hinting that he can take her to the merge, if she sides with him. Julia is skeptical, but plays it cool.
He then tells Corinne that he’s already working on flipping Julia. Corinne is not impressed – they have the numbers already. She wonders if the USA is in such a mess because of ‘federal agents’ like Phillip. She rushes off to tell Dawn about Phillip’s latest antics. Dawn is predictably appalled. Corinne cracks that Phillip needs “a warm glass of shut up.”
Day 16 – and the Immunity Challenge. Probst outlines the game; two members of each tribe will race to roll a large crate to the foot of a platform. Then the next two race out, until all six crates are gathered. They will then use the crates to build a staircase that spells “Fans vs. Favorites.” The winning tribe wins immunity.
It’s a rout. Gota takes the lead, with their superior muscle power. Bikal lacks not only in muscle, but in attitude. Phillip is exhausted from the hard labor, and he and Julia spend too much time arguing strategy, while Gota romps through the placement of the crates. Probst can’t believe how far behind Bikal is. “Bikal appears to be on some sort of medication they are moving so slow!” And he adds, “Gota wins immunity! That was pathetic. Domination by Gota.”
With their tails between their legs, Bikal heads for home. Phillip gives what starts as a pep talk, but degenerates into admitting that the better team won. Corinne interviews that Phillip’s apparent leadership is based on the rest of them not confronting him. She’s not at all impressed on his speech. “On a scale of, like, 1 to on-an-airplane-next-to-a-baby annoying, he is on-the-airplane-next-to-the-baby annoying and the baby has diarrhea.”
Matt asks Phillip who will be the next to go. Phillip says, “the girl,” which is apparently enough for Matt, who basically asks to be part of Phillip’s alliance. When Michael joins them, Phillip says that ‘the girl’ – by whom he means Julia – has to go because she got flustered during the challenge, which lost them the game.
Phillip then says he’s still operating “Stealth R Us.” He won’t tell them who the members are (um … all of the Faves, maybe?) but it’s still a force to be reckoned with. Those members have been given names, because that’s how he operates. If they want to be members, they’ll have to undergo a test. They will probably be told by someone on his tribe to do something, and unless he tells them differently, they should do it. Once he sees that they’ve completed their first task, they can join the other six members of Stealth R Us. And he says they have t shirts and everything! (I want one with The Roxinator on the back!)
Matt interviews that it was hard for him to keep a straight face through Phillip’s words, but if Phillip is a ticket to get him further in the game, he’ll play along.
Julia finds Matt and Michael gathering tinder, and asks them whom they’ll be voting for. Michael dithers that they’re waiting to hear from the others. Julia hopes for a best case scenario, where one of the Faves wants to get rid of one of their own. Julia would like to vote for Dawn. Matt interviews that he’ll be writing Julia’s name down, and that as long as it’s not him going home, he’s fine.
Cochran and Corinne have a chat with Matt and Michael, and it’s pretty clear that a) the two are friends and b) neither has an idol. Cochran would be fine with getting rid of Julia, but it’s never good to have an outspoken duo in the running. Matt’s so desperate, he couldn’t possibly have an idol. So he’s okay with either Julia or Matt being voted off the island.
Tribal Council. Jeff immediately asks Matt how it feels to be on a tribe with Favorites. Matt says he was a big fan of Cochran, Phillip, Dawn and Corinne, so he was super stoked to play with them. Julia admits that the Faves still have the numbers, but she has hope. Michael says that he’s 100% sure that one of them will be going home that night.
Corinne tells Probst that she always likes playing with gay tribe members, but she also likes all three of the Fans – there are at least three people she’d like to replace in her own alliance! She says tonight’s decision isn’t actually fair, and that it is very hard for her.
Phillip looks daggers at Corinne, and then tells Jeff that his priorities in a player are loyalty, an ability to win challenges, and a willingness to do whatever he asks them to do at the merge. Corinne admits that her main fear is that one of the Fans has a HII. Matt again denies having an idol. Cochran is worried about winning challenges; in the event of a merge, he has no illusions about being asked to join “The Bold and The Beautiful” on the other tribe.
Julia votes for Dawn. Matt and Michael vote for Julia. Everyone else votes for Matt. No HII are played, as there aren’t any on this tribe. And Matt becomes the 7th person voted out of Fans vs. Favorites.
Probst notes that, based on the night’s votes, Julia and Michael are in trouble. They will have to win immunity challenges to stay in the game.
Matt’s exit interview: “You know, I came into this game, knowing that my social game would be my strong point. I got along with everybody, no one thought, “oh this guy is crazy or too gnarly because he had a beard and tattoos.” Everyone accepted me for who I was. I played to win. I put all the cards out onto the table, and I got voted out. But I really don’t regret anything.”
Next time on, Survivor: Phillip talks the talk, but can’t walk the walk, while Malcolm’s game is just getting started. “I can’t wait to see the look on some people’s faces when I take control of this game in just a few short days. God, I can’t wait!”

Photo Credits: Monty Brinton/CBS

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