Our Time to Shine

Our Time to Shine is the fourth episode of.

Day 8
Solana returned to camp after voting out Brice Johnston “emotionally paralysed” from the experience. Frustrated with the way the vote had panned out, Morgan McLeod asked Jeremiah Wood, in front of the whole tribe, why he’d changed his vote and betrayed her. He claimed he’d just stuck with his first alliance (with Alexis Maxwell, Jefra Bland and LJ McKanas). Later, Morgan apologised to Alexis for writing her name down, and told her, Jefra and LJ that Jeremiah had come to her and Brice wanting to vote out LJ, but they’d talked him down since they needed the muscle for challenges. This served to make Alexis suspicious of Jeremiah’s loyalties. "solana"

- Tribal did not go as planned. I’m just pretty mad and frustrated. Jeremiah’s just a little coward and he just chickened out. He came to us and then all of a sudden, he jumped ship. So, I mean, it’s a huge possibility that I’m the next to go. But I guess I just gotta save myself.

"solana"

- Morgan confronted me in front of everybody, y’know, and my heart sunk. She was asking me what changed my mind, y’know, right in front of everybody. Y’know, which is... That’s fine. That’s Survivor, y’know? It was a major decision for me tonight and it’s a nerve-wracking decision. We’ll see if I made a bonehead play or not.

"solana"

- I’m sceptical about what Morgan’s putting out there – that Jeremiah was the one that was trying to plan to get me out. But the way she says it sounds a little bit realistic. So I gotta keep my eyes open for him. Jeremiah... I don’t know, I think he put a big target on his back at this point.

Day 9
The next morning, Luzon awoke to Tree Mail informing them of an impending Reward Challenge. Recognizing that the challenge would involve blindfolds, the tribe set to work practicing, using their Buffs as blindfolds. J'Tia Taylor was particularly eager to succeed in the challenge, knowing that it was her fault the tribe was struggling. "luzon"

- This is an important challenge. Like, we’re trying to build on our winning streak. We’re trying to show that we are actually a tribe that can play the game. Honestly, I thought I was going home last time. I thought I was going home the time before that. So I dumped the rice out. I mean, I’m the reason why we’re hungry. I really want to help them win some food because I put us in this food situation, so I’m gonna be busting ass in this challenge.

At the Reward Challenge, Jeff Probst welcomed in Aparri and Luzon, who got their first glimpse of the new Solana, minus Brice. Jeff then revealed the challenge: ‘’Haulin' Oats’’. One person from each tribe, standing on a high platform, would act as a “caller” and direct two blindfolded tribesmates, tied together, through an obstacle course to collect a five items including hay bales, fish traps and grain sacks. After collecting each item, they would return to the caller’s platform, load the item onto a bench and hoist it to the top of the platform with the aid of the fourth tribe member, also blindfolded. Once all five items were collected, the blind pair would collect the tribe flag from the end of the course and bring it back to the platform. The first two tribes to get the flag to the caller would win reward. The first tribe to finish would win three egg-laying chickens and a rooster, whilst the second tribe to finish would receive a dozen eggs. To even the tribes, Sarah Lacina and Woo Hwang sat out for Aparri, and Morgan sat out for Solana.

With Tasha Fox calling, Luzon was quick off the mark with Kass McQuillen and Spencer Bledsoe retrieving the first fish trap. Solana, with Alexis calling and Jefra and LJ retrieving, were close behind. Aparri, however, dived in the deep end with Cliff Robinson directing Lindsey Ogle and Tony Vlachos to the most remote item first. Although Luzon had the early lead, J’Tia dropped didn’t pull the rope when Tasha instructed her to, causing the trap to fall from their bench and allowing Solana, with Jeremiah at the pulley, to take the lead.

As Aparri finally reached their first item, Luzon got their trap to Tasha and headed back out into the field. Aparri got back to Cliff’s platform as Solana retrieved their second trap, with Trish Hegarty on the pulley, only for LJ to walk straight into a pole just below waist height. Luzon retrieved their second item whilst Solana began work on their third, and Aparri on their second (with Lindsey taking a blow to the stomach).

Whilst a minor collision between Aparri and Luzon occurred on the field, Solana maintained their lead, retrieving their third item, with the only upsets being continued blows to LJ’s privates. With Luzon collecting their third item, Spencer also took some bad blows. The order was maintained, with Solana leading against Luzon, then Aparri, with an item’s difference between each tribe. On their fifth items, Solana and Luzon evened up, though more rough encounters for Spencer and Kass (who fell straight over a barrel) and another mishap at the pulley once again allowed Solana to eke a lead.

With Solana and Luzon heading for their flags whilst Aparri still tracked down their fifth and final item, the challenge looked set. LJ and Jefra easily retrieved their flag and hoisted it to Alexis to win the challenge for Solana. Luzon was not far behind (despite a few more hard hits), though as Aparri started for their flag, Luzon suffered another mistake with the pulley. As J’Tia struggled to reposition the flag on the bench, Tony and Lindsey retrieved Aparri’s flag (and despite a harsh blow sending Lindsey to the ground) returned to their platform before Luzon could recover from the error and J’Tia’s growing panic. Aparri easily hoisted their flag to Cliff, placing second in the challenge in a come-from-behind victory. Spencer was visibly furious, throwing his Buff on the ground, calling the defeat “a huge letdown.”

Solana arrived back to camp with their chickens and set up the hutch. Jeremiah opened the bag of chicken feed and discovered a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, which he read to the entire tribe. In a confessional, LJ noted his relief that he’d already found the Idol, preventing a situation where it had to be “shared” by the group. Meanwhile, Alexis wondered how the eggs were produced, asking if they needed “the rooster to get it on with one of the hens” or if they were asexual. The tribe pondered the quandary, with Jefra speculating that they needed a heat lamp before LJ pointed out that the women on the tribe had eggs too, and that the rooster had to fertilize them to produce chicks. "solana"

- The Reward Challenge – that was a fun one. It picked up the group a little bit. It kinda brought us back to the fact that we’re out here to win, we’re out here to compete and we can win. Jeremiah reaches in the bag and he’s found a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol and unfortunately everybody’s standing there. The clue was so precise. Thank God I have it because it would have been found today and it would have been a group Idol and it would have been a huge problem.

"solana"

- There’s been some talk about how this egg-chicken process works, but I really think everyone’s just pretending to know and they don’t know.

"solana"

- Nobody knows how a chicken is born. I just... I don’t understand! (laughs) I can’t even believe that some of the stuff comes out of people’s mouths. We have the stereotypical beauty tribe and it’s just so unfortunate. We all know the egg came first, ‘cause dinosaurs had eggs and they were before the chickens, so...

Seeking some immediate food, the tribe chose to kill one of the chickens. Jeremiah twisted the chicken’s head off, but the bird continued to run around headless, startling and scaring the rest of the beauties. Jefra asked Jeremiah if he’d done it before, but in a confessional, he revealed that he’d never dealt with chickens in his life, despite growing up in the country, and he considered that his actions were helping to ingratiate him to his tribe. Morgan, however, was still dismissive of him. "solana"

- It’s kinda tough ‘cause after Tribal, y’know, I gotta do my Southern charm and kinda stay just a little bit on their good side. Y’know, I’m just trying to stay above and trying to do as much as I can. I earned some major man points today. I may have been raised in the country, but I don’t know anything about damn chickens. I’m a model, y’know?

"solana"

- Jeremiah killed the chicken and that’s cool. I get to eat it now. I appreciate it, I’ll say thanks. But at the end of the day, I still don’t like Jeremiah at all. I think he’s dumb as rocks and, y’know, he’s a big fat liar. I don’t really understand why he’s on this tribe. I don’t think he’s that beautiful and we’re supposed to be the beautiful tribe.

At Aparri, Cliff and Lindsey playfully bantered about impending blindsides whilst Sarah looked on, wondering about their alliance and Tony’s lie that they were out to get her. She approached Woo about targeting Cliff if they lost the next challenge, and he said he was on board, claiming that Cliff’s fortune meant he didn’t need the prize and that it was their “time to shine.” They “pounded” on their agreement as Tony approached them. As Woo departed, he assured Tony that they were “right,” but a suspicious Tony asked Sarah what was going on. She assured him that she’d locked down Woo’s vote against Cliff, giving them, with Trish, a four-strong majority over Cliff and Lindsey. However, Tony made it clear that he didn’t trust Woo, but “swore” on his badge that he wouldn’t betray Sarah and the “Cops R Us” alliance. "aparri"

- Cliff and Lindsey were so tight. They want to get rid of me. Tony overheard them and told me, so you mess with me, I’ll mess with you way worse. And so, I just... I wanna get Cliff out. Woo surprised me that he would flip on Cliff. He just has this lackadaisical demeanour about him. Woo wants to win bad enough. I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. It’s a vibe, but I think we’re solid.

"aparri"

- I look up to Cliff in a big way. He’s a basketball superstar I’ve been idolising for a long time. But it would be nice for one of us to achieve that million dollars success – other than Cliff. I’m just trying to affiliate myself with the majority and when the opportunity is presented to me, I gotta take it.

"aparri"

- I saw Woo and Sarah whispering something and I say, you know what, what’s going on? So I go up to them and they look like this: (mimes wide eyes) Like a deer in the headlights as soon as I walked up. So I pulled Sarah to the side. I said, “Sarah, what’s going on?” A few days ago, I went to Sarah and I fed her some kind of lie telling her that I heard Cliff and Lindsey talking about her. And I think from that moment on, I think I changed the game by having her on my side. So I believe now that she’s part of my alliance. As far as Sarah’s concerned, Woo’s on her side which means he’s also on my side. So I believe we’re in an alliance of four right now against Cliff and Lindsey. She had me swear on my badge, which... That doesn’t mean anything to me, swearing on my badge. ‘Cause I’m here to lie, cheat and steal. I’m here to drag people’s dreams through the mud to fulfil mine. That’s what I’m here for. Whatever I have to do, I’m gonna do. It’s as simple as that.

Day 11
Aparri received Tree Mail for the Immunity challenge, which told them the challenge would involve “sinking the shot.” The tribe deduced that a basketball-like challenge was up Cliff’s alley. However, not everything was going Cliff’s way as Sarah approached Trish about throwing the challenge in order to force Cliff out, before a merge or swap. Although hesitant, Trish agreed to throw the challenge. When Sarah approached Woo about the same idea, he explicitly stated his reluctance to do so for fear of losing the numbers "aparri"

- We have an Immunity Challenge today and it might be basketball, so I’m sure everybody’s gonna expect me to be able to make a basket ‘cause I did play basketball. Y’know, eighteen years in the NBA, I was in the Top Ten of any player to ever play in the NBA in games played. I played more games than Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. So hopefully it’s a walk in the park.

"aparri"

- I always said I would never throw a challenge because it doesn’t work out. However, we cannot risk merging into two tribes and having Cliff still here. I know it sounds stupid, like, why get rid of numbers? But he’s not our number. That’s why. It’s him and Lindsey. I heard Cliff wants me out and so I’m screwed if Cliff is still here.

"aparri"

- Throwing a challenge is not smart. Some of these guys might want to, but Cliff and I – we’ve been extremely close and I can just picture it now. Shooting baskets! Look at this jump shot! Look at this undeniable! Alongside with my buddy Cliff. But that’s not how the majority of my core alliance feels, so what do I do? Oh, man!

At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff first took back the Idols before revealing the challenge: Octopus' Garden. Four tribe members would compete, taking turns to dive down and untie a buoy – each one being deeper than the last. Once all five were collected, they would shoot the buoys into a basket in the water. The first two tribes to sink all five buoys would win Immunity. To even the tribes, Lindsey and Tony sat out for Aparri, whilst Alexis sat out for Solana.

LJ was the first to retrieve a buoy for Solana, and was followed closely by Woo for Aparri. J’Tia, however, struggle to retrieve the first buoy for Luzon and had to return empty-handed as Jefra propelled Solana further into the lead with a second buoy. Meanwhile, Sarah didn’t release her buoy at the first opportunity, attempting to throw the challenge. She retrieved her buoy on her second dive as Tasha retrieved Luzon’s first buoy and Morgan released the third for Solana.

Next up for Aparri, Trish also came up empty after her first dive in an attempt to throw the challenge as Kass also struggled, and returned empty-handed for Luzon. Spencer tagged in, and Jeremiah released Solana’s fourth buoy. Trish came up empty again and returned to Aparri’s platform with no buoy. With Spencer returning Luzon’s second buoy, LJ dove for Solana’s last and Cliff tagged in for Aparri’s third. Tasha struggled with Luzon’s third buoy and returned without it, sending Spencer in to finish the job as Cliff also retrieved the third buoy, putting Aparri and Luzon in equal last.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah and Morgan took on shooting Solana’s buoys, with Jeremiah easily sinking them in the basket. Spencer pulled ahead with Luzon’s fourth buoy, and swam down for the third time in a row to get the last one. As Woo returned with Aparri’s fourth buoy, Spencer came back with Luzon’s fifth and final fifteen-foot-deep buoy, allowing them to start shooting. Meanwhile, Jeremiah had sunk four buoys for Solana and easily landed the fifth, winning the challenge for Solana.

Tasha started shooting for Luzon, but missed, and their biggest problem became apparent as J’Tia proved unable to effectively throw the missed buoy back to Spencer and Tasha at the platform. Meanwhile, Woo retrieved Aparri’s last buoy and Spencer sunk Luzon’s first shot. As Cliff (and Woo) started shooting for Aparri, Spencer sunk a second buoy for Luzon. Cliff began to catch up easily, however, as J’Tia’s incompetence in getting the buoys back to the platform – even pushing them further out to sea – cost Luzon significant time and visibly angered Spencer. Cliff easily pulled Aparri into the lead, and despite a third basket for Spencer, Aparri sunk the final basket, winning Immunity and sending Luzon back to Tribal Council. "aparri"

- Dude, we tried so hard to blow that challenge. Seriously, green tribe, I tried to help you out, but that team sucks! They deserve to lose after that! It’s all I can say.

Back at camp, Spencer stated his disappointment, though claimed it wasn’t directed at any one person. Kass and Tasha, however, congratulated him on his single-handed performance at the challenge. He pleaded his case to the two women as a challenge asset, and boot the liability in J’Tia, hoping to dodge the vote that would otherwise be against him. Kass and Tasha agreed with him that it was a smart decision. Later, when Kass and Tasha discussed it in private, again, they agreed that it was a better choice to keep Spencer over J’Tia but didn’t want to tell him, for certain, that he was safe as a buffer against a scorned or suspicious J’Tia. "luzon"

- I do feel a bit gypped that I have to go to Tribal Council when I’m doing very well in the challenges and it’s really my team that’s doing poorly in the challenges. The worst part about being on this tribe is the girls have succeeded in putting themselves in a power position. The problem is, by doing that, they’ve run the tribe into the ground. J’Tia keeps messing up in challenges. It’s beyond frustrating. So history’s definitely not in my favor. I don’t know if they’re just patting my back on the way out the door or if they’re actually trying to bring me back into the fold.

"luzon"

- I’m happy with our decision. Get rid of J’Tia. It makes sense. I mean, if we have another challenge, we have a strong guy with us as opposed to someone we know has a propensity for failure.

When J’Tia, Kass and Tasha spoke later, they claimed not to trust Spencer and J’Tia emphasized that she was loyal to them, saying, “You guys have gone to bat for me and whatever – we get mixed up – however, I got you two.” J’Tia’s assurance got to Tasha, who began doubting the decision to keep Spencer. When she talked to Kass about it, the attorney was baffled, comparing Tasha to a pendulum and wanting them to simply make their decision. "luzon"

- My big thing for me right now is I’m loyal. But let’s be honest. On Day 6, I threw the rice in the fire. So, like, I’ve been holding on by the fingernails. Y’know, I’m like the cat on the poster: “Oh, hang in there!” That’s me. So my best bet now is to hope my alliance sticks.

"luzon"

- Initially my thoughts were to vote J’Tia out. But I believe J’Tia is a loyal person and you never know. Jeff could throw a curveball. In this game where you need a loyal person, that is something to consider.

"luzon"

- The interesting thing about Tasha is she’s like a pendulum. I mean, it’s gonna be over here one minute, over here... It might change again before Tribal five times. Tasha can’t stop thinking about it. To me, just make a decision and live with it. But that’s my life. I mean, I have to make decisions for people and live with them all the time. So am I the hatchet man for J’Tia or Spencer? I can live with either decision. Either one’s the same gamble to me because I can’t predict what’s gonna happen tomorrow.

At Tribal Council, Jeff began with the silent treatment, before asking J’Tia how she fit into the group with respect to responsibility for challenge losses. She said it was difficult for her because she usually “rose to the top” in high-pressure circumstances, and that she had physicality, but swimming was not a strength. Tasha countered that the challenge that day was not the only time J’Tia had been weak in challenges, saying they had to find “the most minimal role” for her as damage control.

J’Tia, however, returned that Tasha was saying she’d been “the weakest in challenges [...] not the weak link – and that’s a big difference,” and pointed to Survivor not solely being “outplay” but also “outwit.” Jeff countered that they also had to “outlast” which was something none of the tribe looked poised to do. Tasha agreed that the dilemma was to choose between the challenge strength of someone who had betrayed her (in Spencer) and proven loyalty (in J’Tia).

Asked about the rice incident, Kass thought of J’Tia’s actions as an “emotional response, not as a sign of disloyalty.” She added that J’Tia was a hot-head who had made some bad decisions, but cautioned that she herself could make a bad decision that night at Tribal. Spencer argued that “unpredictability is just as dangerous as disloyalty at time,” and assured his tribe that he would be loyal. J’Tia called him on having gone back on promises before and as the two debated, Tasha turned to Kass, whispering, “What do you want to do?” Jeff asked if they were aware that Kass and Tasha were talking, and they knew. J’Tia said she’s seen them whispering, but hoped they’d stick to the plan. Spencer said that, as a viewer, he’d love the drama but that in the moment as a player, it was “pretty scary.” Kass agreed, saying that at home she’d be shouting at the screen for them to avoid doing something stupid, but asked, “But what is stupid? That is the question right now.”

Given the floor, Spencer argued that, as a superfan, it would devastating to go out this way and would do anything to avoid it. Meanwhile, Kass and Tasha continued to exchange glances and whispers, prompting a shocked Jeff to interject, “Tasha’s not even listening! [...] It’s happening right now!”  Spencer assured them that he would be loyal, and was just asking for a chance.

The vote was called and Kass voted first, followed by Spencer who voted for J’Tia. J’Tia returned the favor with a vote for Spencer. Tasha was the last to cast her vote, before Jeff tallied the results.

Nobody played a Hidden Immunity Idol, and Jeff read the votes. The first was for J’Tia, followed by one for Spencer. However, the next two votes were also for J’Tia, sending her home. As she took her torch to Jeff, she wished her tribe luck and Spencer breathed a sigh of relief, hugging Tasha. Jeff snuffed J’Tia’s torch and she became the fourth person eliminated from. Spencer assured his remaining tribe that they’d made the right decision, “I’m with you, one hundred percent.” Jeff sent Luzon back to camp, hoping that the new tribe configuration would offer them stability.

Reward
Challenge: Haulin' Oats

One member of each tribe would act as a caller while two other blindfolded tribe members would navigate the course to retrieve five items and a flag, eventually working with a third blindfolded tribemate to hoist the items up to the caller's platform. The first two tribes to get all its items to the top of their platform win.

Reward: Chickens and a rooster for the first tribe; Twelve eggs for the second tribe.

Winners (in order of finish): and

Immunity
Challenge: Octopus' Garden

One member from each tribe at a time will dive to a buoy in the water. They will dive down to a series of buoys submerged at different levels. The first buoy would be 1 meter underwater, the second 2, and so on. Once all the buoys have been brought back to the platform, they will shoot the buoys into a basket out in the ocean. The first two tribes to get all their buoys in the basket win immunity.

Winners (in order of finish):  and

Voting Confessionals
"luzon"

- I’ve never been this nervous in my life. I know that it’s either you or me, so it’s really no decision. "luzon"

- I’ve been living on borrowed time since I spilled that rice. Hope it’s you and not me.

Final Words
"luzon"

- I’m not surprised they voted me out. I threw almost all of their rice away and was weak in the challenges, so yeah, those were two really good reasons to vote me out. What can you say? I feel two ways about it. I wish them the best of luck and half of me hopes they starve. But so is life. You live and learn, you make mistakes, you grow. I’m just gonna grow outside the game.

Deleted Scenes

 * A deleted scene posted on CBS.com reveals the Luzon tribe reading the treemail for the immunity challenge. After realizing what the challenge would be, Tasha took J'Tia to the sea, to try to teach her how to dive.

Other

 * No footage from Day 10 was shown.
 * This was the third episode of the season to skip a day, following Hot Girl With a Grudge (Part 1) (Day 2) and Hot Girl With a Grudge (Part 2) (Day 5).
 * The name of the reward challenge, Haulin' Oats, is a play on, a music duo.
 * J'Tia became the first woman voted out of.
 * J'Tia is the first person this season to be unanimously voted out without having to go to a re-vote.
 * This is the first episode of Cagayan that featured separate reward and immunity challenges.
 * J'Tia Taylor had the most confessionals this episode, with four.
 * Jefra Bland, Lindsey Ogle and Trish Hegarty had no confessionals this episode.
 * This was the second consecutive episode in which Lindsey did not give a confessional.
 * This was the second episode, overall, in which Jefra did not give a confessional.
 * This is the third time a tribe attempting to throw an immunity challenge failed to do so. The first being Zhan hu and then Fang.
 * J'Tia Taylor compared herself to "the cat from the poster" in a confessional. This is a reference to the iconic motivational poster, .