The Twist

The Twist is the fifth episode of Survivor: Africa.

Challenges
Reward Challenge: Get Your Goat Forty goats are in a pen. Twenty are marked with the Samburu red and twenty with Boran yellow. The first tribe to get their twenty goats from the starting pen into their destination pens, one hundred yards away, wins.

Reward: Three egg-laying chickens and a rooster

Winner: Samburu

Immunity Challenge: Puzzle of Shields Both tribes will have twenty giant puzzle pieces. First team to complete their puzzle wins.

Winner: Samburu

Night of Day 12
Nervous yet angered after last episode's Tribal Council, Silas felt bitter about the elder Samburu alliance casting their votes against him. That afternoon before the said Tribal Council, the younger Samburus plead the elders to vote against Lindsey because she already had votes. According to SURVIVOR rules, when a Tribal Council is deadlocked, previous votes will be added to the count in order to break the tie. Thus if the elders had voted against Lindsey, she would have remained the most vulnerable member of the younger Samburu members since she was the only one from the group who has votes. Knowing that the audacious plan will not benefit them at all, Frank, Linda and Teresa decided to give votes to every member of the younger alliance, to make sure that they will not survive long, stipulated that the younger alliance will keep eliminating the elders until they all get voted out. Frank then explained: "We are still a tribe divided; we are two tribes in one. They need us. They can't do it alone. We are going to keep fighting."

Day 13
As Day 13 opens, both tribes received the vaguest Tree Mail they received as of yet. Along with a map leading to the same drop-off point where the game began (the same spot where the truck left them in Day 1), the mysterious note told the tribes to select three of their own to go on a quest. Without hesitation, the younger Samburu alliance chose the remaining two members of the elder alliance Frank and Teresa, along with the ringleader of the younger alliance, Silas. Boran on the other hand picked Kelly, Big Tom and Lex.

After initially thought that the unusual meeting was a Reward Challenge, the representatives of both tribes were stunned of what Jeff Probst had in store for them. With Jeff asking the delegates to hand their buffs, he then gave new, fresh buffs of the opposing tribes' color to the sent contestants. Then he shockingly announced that they will be switching tribes. After giving them maps to their new tribes, the still-dumbfounded castaways were forced to head to their new homes.

Along the way to Samburu camp, Lex jokingly complained about their predicament, saying: "We're now part of 'Samboohoo' now." Big Tom also vented his frustrations about the twist: "When Jeff said 'give me your buff,' I almost turned around and bolted. If he gave me the option to run back to camp with no water for two days, or give him the buff, I'd still be trying to run." Upon reaching their camp, they surprised their new teammates about the switch and were welcomed with open arms. Despite this, the new Samburu members found themselves in even more misery when they saw their camp, comparing their old one. With the encampment full of clutter, big mounds of ash coming from their yet poorly maintained bonfire and horrific, muddy water source, Lex fumed: "We were pissed when we got there. It looked like a bunch of lazy people had been running the camp. There was a mound of ash a foot and a half high, they hadn't been taking care of their fire properly, and there was almost no firewood inside the camp. One of my first questions was, where is all the firewood?" Brandon rebutted, "There just isn't much firewood around," Lex and Tom then scoured the camp perimeter for more firewood, much to their dismay, as the remnants of the younger Samburu alliance just kept on slacking. Kelly also showed disgust of how poorly maintained their new campsite was: "We worked really hard and suffered a lot with no food and no water, and to see people out here who do not take it seriously and be stuck with them...its painful!".

On Boran, Frank, Silas and Teresa were also openly welcomed into the gold tribe. Ethan said, "When I first saw them coming up, I thought they were going to try to steal our flag, or just check out our house." Upon arriving, Silas gave them news of the Switch. As shock set in, Ethan continued, "It was a switch. Everything I had worked for, all the bonds I had made, my two closest friends [Lex and Tom], are now gone. I am going to have to start over." As the newest members of Boran inspected the camp and enjoyed their potable water tank.

When he was still a Boran member, Tom reminisced his usual job at his former camp as their resident water hole cleaner (pertaining to their original water hole before winning the potable water tank from a Reward Challenge, and after winning the said Reward, the water hole was reduced into a place for cleaning soiled clothes), for he was complaining about how murky Samburu's water hole was. With the help of Lex, they dug up more crud from the hole. Upon seeing their water hole, Lex disappointingly said: "It's just mud!" After also seeing bugs breeding beneath the dirty water, Tom added: "They keep waiting for a mysterious thing to happen in Africa. Wood is going to fall out of the sky, there is going to be an Artesian water well come into the camp, and even a swimming pool. I feel like we have to get out there and pull the plow."

After switching from Samburu to Boran and with his alliance partners away from him, Silas realized: "I was on the good side, now I'm on the bad side. This twist in the game have really struck a thorn in my side." Felt much happier after escaping the younger Samburu alliance's wrath because of the switch, Frank and Teresa celebrated about their "new life" in the game. Teresa then approached Kim J. about their former situation at Samburu. Silas observed: "Frank and T, this is like rejuvenated their lives. It's like a new opportunity for them." While doing camp chores, the new Boran tribe was visited by a family of elephants, strolling along camp. Frank commented: "Magnificent creatures this close, its unbelievable."

That night in Boran camp, while a passive Silas listening in the distance, Frank and Teresa used the opportunity to diss the younger Samburu tribe members, revealing their immature actions and voting strategy.

Day 14
After waking up for the first time as members of Samburu, Kelly bashed her new tribe with confidence, stating: "This is no Samburu tribe. They're red. I'm still on Boran, so as Lex and so as Tom." As the whole tribe awakens, the red tribe started to scramble for voting strategies. The former Borans thought they were more safe, as Lex, Kelly or Tom did not have previous votes (the only other Boran that has votes was Clarence, who stayed in Boran after the switch). Lindsey confessed to Kim P. and Brandon that she was nervous if they lose an Immunity Challenge. Anticipating two more Tribal Council before the merge, Lindsey feared that their new members might discover that she has previous votes.

The tribes then convened for a Reward Challenge, where they will be competing for live chickens. Initially thinking that his occupation as a rancher will help his new tribe win the challenge, Tom, along with the rest of the twelve remaining survivors found themselves in total panick and chaos (much for the delight of the local tribesmen, who were watching along the sidelines). But when Silas and Clarence used their muscular physique to carry two goats at one time, Boran surged ahead and won the challenge.

Back at Samburu, Lindsey felt uncomfortable about Silas now competing against her in challenges, adding up to her fears that the ex-Borans might know about her past votes. Later, she then got frantic by the upcoming Immunity Challenge and demands her tribe to win it. Brandon irked: "She doesn't think about strategy at all. She just runs her mouth. She is running scared that they are going to vote for her, and doesn't care that Kim and I are trying extra hard from keeping that from happening." A frustrated Brandon then comforted her friend by telling the new members to vote for him, just to remove the onus that Lindsey has votes.

With the Immunity Challenge in mind, Boran contemplated their next decision about whom they should vote off should they lose. Silas and Clarence realized that they may seem the most imposing threats to everyone else. Clarence, knowing how important winning the next Immunity Challenge would be, added, "Silas and I, we have bull's eyes on us, not doubt. We have to make the most of having both of us on the same tribe."

In a strategic move, Ethan proposed to Kim J. and Ethan the idea of not performing the next challenge seriously. Stating that if Boran wins, Samburu will go to Tribal Council, hopefully that the their fomer members find out who among their tribemates has votes. If Boran loses, they can vote off of which between Silas (because Teresa and Frank wanted payback for Linda and Carl's eliminations) and Clarence (who was still walking on eggshells after the canned beans fiasco with Diane back in Day 3). Ethan added: "The Immunity Challenge is a win-win situation. If we win the challenge, great, we don't have to go to Tribal Council. If we lose, I get to vote off my biggest threat."

Day 15
The tribes reconvened with host Jeff Probst, who explained the rules of the Immunity Challenge: each tribe has twenty pieces of a puzzle hanging in the distance. The first tribe to gather the pieces and put the puzzle back together correctly wins Immunity.

As the two tribes scurried to retrieve the puzzle pieces, it became clear which tribe wanted victory. Thinking she needed to win to stay alive, Lindsey of Samburu frantically barked out orders to hurry her tribemates along. Boran's strategy to throw the game became obvious as only Silas hurried to finish, while the rest of his tribemates took their time fitting the puzzle pieces together. Samburu finished first and thus won Immunity, sending Boran to Tribal Council.

With Tribal Council looming, Silas campaigned to keep himself afloat. He entered into numerous talks with Ethan, attempting to shield himself from votes. Trying anything in his power to sway Ethan's vote, Silas first targeted Clarence. "Here's the deal," he said. "I've got Teresa and Frank, and I think I can get them to vote for Clarence." Later, he targeted Frank. Kim J. confronted Silas, inquiring about his strong connection with his former Samburu tribe members. As she uncovered his allegiance to his old group, she added, "He may be a nice guy in real life, but in our tribe I don't buy his schmoozing."

At Tribal Council, though he thought that he had Teresa and Frank's back, Silas was blindsided by them. And with three other votes from the original Borans against him, Silas was eliminated in a 5-1 vote, making the fifth castaway to leave Survivor: Africa.

Voting Confessionals

 * Clarence: "I love you man but I can't trust you."
 * Ethan: Unavailable
 * Frank: Unavailable
 * Kim J.: Unavailable
 * Silas: Unavailable
 * Teresa: Unavailable

Trivia

 * In Day 14, Lindsey confessed a terrible concern: a tick on her bum. With sufficient knowledge about how to remove them (thanks to the travel book they received upon leaving the truck in Day 1 - the same source where Lindsey and Carl's questions came from during their tiebreaker challenge in Day 9), Lex scalded Lindsey's buttocks with hot water to remove it. After suffering excruciating pain, the tick was removed by Tom, and gave Lindsey a butt slap. Coincidentally, the final question at the quiz tiebreaker challenge between Lindsey and Carl during Samburu's first Tribal Council was "True or False: Pouring hot water over a tick will force it to retract." Lindsey was correct, while Carl was eliminated from the game permanently, leaving everyone laughing.
 * This episode marked the show's first game-changing twist, and first tribe switch.

Links

 * CBS episode summary