Sitting in My Spy Shack

Sitting in My Spy Shack is the tenth episode of.

After the blindside of her ally LJ McKanas, Jefra Bland considered flipping to the minority alliance. However, following intervention from Trish Hegarty, she ultimately chose to stick with her majority, and Jeremiah Wood was voted out when Spencer Bledsoe chose to play his Hidden Immunity Idol on himself.

Day 25
Solarrion returned to camp after blindsiding LJ McKanas, and Jefra Bland immediately asked who in the alliance had flipped. Tony Vlachos admitted that he and Woo Hwang had jumped ship for the vote. She asked him why, and he’d told her he had his reasons but couldn’t tell her, Kass McQuillen and Trish Hegarty in advance because they liked LJ too much. Kass asked him if it was a one-time deal, and Tony adamantly insisted it was, prompting Jefra to query whether she had become the bottom rung in the alliance. Spencer Bledsoe joked that any time a “Top Six” was proposed, it fell apart. "solarrion"

- Tony completely bamboozled LJ. At first, I felt like, oh, I wish I kinda knew. But immediately, I understood why he didn’t tell me. He was afraid the plan might get destroyed, so I wasn’t mad. I still trust Tony and Tony still trusts me.

"solarrion"

- I like to plan around what I think people are going to do. Tony’s not so predictable. Tony likes big moves and I’m not going to complain about it ‘cause it benefited me. But he could do the exact same thing later and I can’t always count on him. The sooner we make a move against Tony, the better. I’m very tight with Jeremiah and Tasha. Now it’s a matter of finding out which stragglers we need to take along to make moves with.

Day 26
The next morning, Tony ran off to the well to construct a second “spy shack,” in the hopes of eavesdropping on any strategy talk that was conducted there. Soon after, Jefra and Trish to a walk to the well where Jefra told her that she didn’t trust Tony and wanted to get her view on the matter. Trish told her that she believed the alliance was still intact even without LJ, but admitted that Tony was an “Academy Award winning actor.” Meanwhile, Tony overheard the conversation from the shrubbery, prompting him to worry about his position in the game. "solarrion"

- Right now, my red flag is raised because I blindsided LJ. I’m in trouble, so I’m gonna have to do something to get myself out of it. Most people, including myself, we go all the way to the water well ‘cause it’s a bit further away from camp where people can’t hear you and that’s where they talk strategy. So I started working on some blueprints to make a nice little shack around the water well. The water well is here, there’s a tree there and I put some bushes and some shrubs and some broken branches where I can hide right in there and I’m within five feet away. That’s where I’ll be the most patient: when I’m sitting in my spy shack. While I was doing my surveillance, I did hear Jefra and Trish talking and Trish said that Tony’s going to win an Academy Award for his acting skills. Right now, in the game, I trust Trish, I trust Woo, I trust Kass. That’s pretty much it. I don’t really trust Jefra anymore because she doesn’t trust me and if she doesn’t trust me, I’m not gonna trust her. So now I’m in trouble.

Day 27
At the Reward Challenge, Jeff Probst welcomed in the tribe and revealed the challenge: Rove, Rove, Rove Your Boat. In teams of four, the contestants would navigate a boat out around a buoy, and on the way back, collect eight paddles tied to floating crates. Two members of the team would then use those paddles to solve a word-scramble. The first team to solve the phrase would win the challenge and a trip to Callao Cave, complete with a barbecue lunch of chicken, ribs, potato salad and chocolate chip cookies. The teams were randomly divided: the Orange Team (Kass, Tony, Trish and Woo) and the Purple Team (Jefra, Jeremiah Wood, Spencer and Tasha Fox).

As the teams headed into the water, Jefra struggled to get into the boat, forcing Jeremiah to have to lift her in and costing the team time. However, Orange had difficulty getting control of their boat, and the teams were neck-and-neck as they paddled around the buoy, with Purple taking a slight lead. Tasha began untying the first two paddles for Purple, as Woo took on the task for Orange. Tony also helped untie Orange’s paddles, allowing them to take the lead. As Jeremiah and Spencer worked on the second set of paddles, Jeremiah accidentally hit Jefra in the head, but she urged him to keep going. Meanwhile, Orange had collected their second set of paddles, but Tony dropped one in the water, forcing him to dive into the water to retrieve it and costing his team time and allowing Purple to catch up. The teams stayed even through the third set of paddles, but Purple paddled past the final crate, forcing them to double back and allowing Orange to regain the lead going to shore and into the word puzzle. Purple recovered quickly, and soon, both teams were working on untying the knots covering the paddles, where both teams, again, ended up even.

Kass and Woo took on the puzzle for Orange, whilst Spencer and Tasha solved it for Purple. Whilst Spencer began solving around the word “Final,” Kass sought to use the word “Fight.” This prompted Purple to look next door, and noticing the word “fight,” began to work towards the same result. Kass thought she’d solved the three word phrase to be “Worth fighting for,” and she and Woo started arranging the paddles from scratch. Meanwhile, Spencer noticed their new direction and whispered the solution – “Worth playing for” – to Tasha. Purple quickly solved the phrase to win the challenge and the reward. As they celebrated, Jeremiah apologized to Jefra for headbutting her in the boat, whilst Tony expressed frustration that there was “no Y in fighting.” Jefra, Jeremiah, Spencer and Tasha headed off to their reward, whilst the losing Orange Team returned to camp. "solarrion"

- We lost today’s challenge and the first thing that comes to my mind is we’re in trouble. Tony’s in trouble too, but we’re all in trouble now. There’s four people: Spencer, Tash, Jeremiah, Jefra – Jefra that doesn’t believe in me anymore; that doesn’t believe that she’s in an alliance anymore. That’s a problem. Bad things are going to happen.

Back at camp, the losing team was dejected. Kass and Tony worried about Jefra being alone with the whole minority alliance on the Reward. Tony, particularly, wanted to strategize and reinforce the alliance, but Trish didn’t want to get involved, preferring to investigate a grove of papaya and lemon trees she had discovered near camp. Tony was frustrated by her unwillingness to talk strategy and went Idol-hunting on the beach, but with no success. "solarrion"

- I’m just tired of it. Tired of losing. But if I want a million dollars, I need to stick with this five. Woo, Tony, Trish and Jefra. From my point of view, Tony felt threatened and got rid of LJ. I’m not offended by someone making a move. Tony’s annoying, but my philosophy: keep the annoying people to get rid of the threats. If Spencer loses Immunity, Spencer needs to go.

"solarrion"

- I’m telling Trish I’m trying to talk strategy, I’m trying to do something to enlighten them on what’s going on; how crucial this was today. I mean, this can be the beginning of our demise. And she’s saying, “Where’s the limes and the papayas?” So Tony has to go strategise by himself as usual. And I just need a few minutes to myself, I’m gonna go look for the Idol. As far as the Idol that’s hiding in the riverbank, it’s very possible that Spencer, Tash or Jeremiah have it. But when we had a merge, it said hidden near camp is an Idol with special powers. That’s all I know about it. Let me find that Idol. I’ll be Super Tony. Tony’ll be in trouble no more.

Meanwhile, Trish recruited Woo to help her retrieve the new-found fruits. He climbed up into the tree and shook it to knock down some fruit, but on his descent, he grabbed a dead branch that snapped off and sent him plummeting to the ground. Trish ran to his side, but despite a “hurt butt,” Woo was unharmed, commenting that he’d “break [his] ass for papayas any day.” "solarrion"

- I’m just, boom, jerking this papaya tree. Shaking, shaking, shaking, boom! And I get at least seven monster papayas. That branch that I had in my right hand was a dead branch that I didn’t realise and from there, I was trying to pull a Sylvester Stallone, like, Cliffhanger – swing my left hand and as soon as I swing it, it snaps and I’m like, “Oooohhhhh...” (mimes falling) Boom! If Spencer, Jeremiah, Jefra and Tasha – wow – these guys are on an epic reward and I’m thinking, oh man, this is exactly what I didn’t not want to happen. But, y’know, I was very lucky to come out of it okay and we got some fresh papaya and some limes, so, y’know, I’m pumped.

At the Reward, the winners of the challenge were led into the caves by a tour guide. They marveled at the beauty of the caves and, particularly, the barbeque meal awaiting them inside. Quickly, however, the conversation turned to strategy as the three in the minority asked Jefra how she felt with her alliance. She told them that she was questioning her place as she hadn’t been told about the big move. All four agreed that getting rid of Tony was a big priority, and when Spencer proposed that Jefra work with them, she told them she “needed another rib to think about that one.” "solarrion"

- The Reward was really, really cool. The caves had a scale about them that was just epic. There’s no other way to describe it.

"solarrion"

- Although the cave was magnificent, even more magnificent was the table of food! It felt like your hometown barbeque.

"solarrion"

- I was on the Reward with no distractions with my core alliance, Jeremiah and Tasha, and Jefra who we need to pull in. It was just perfect because I need Jefra to feel good about us and our four.

Suddenly, the tour guide returned to the table bringing letters from home. Jefra immediately burst into tears before she’d even gotten the chance to read the letter. Once she did, and as the others also grew tearful as they read their letters, Jefra read an excerpt aloud: “Don’t let your kind heart be your downfall. Don’t be scared to lie although you’re not that kind of a person.” She concluded that the letter could be a “sign” signalling her to jump ship and join the minority alliance. The group made a Final Four pact, shaking hands, with Jefra reminding Jeremiah that he’d shaken her hand before and she’d hold him to the promise. "solarrion"

- Before I could even get the letter from home in my hands, I was already squalling and screaming. It was exactly what I needed. My mother’s words hit home for me so hard and... (tearfully) Y’know, as much as you don’t want to break down; as much as you don’t want to cry out here, sometimes it’s your only option. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and there’s not a doubt in my mind that I won the Reward Challenge because I needed to hear exactly what my mom was telling me.

Day 28
At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff welcomed in Solarrion and took back the Immunity Necklace from Tasha, before revealing the challenge: Hard to Handle. Each contestant was to stand on a narrow, sloped beam, balancing a large ball on a small platform attached to a pole. At periodic intervals, the contestants would move down the beam to a narrower section, and lower their handhold on the pole, both increasing the difficulty of the challenge. The last person standing would win Immunity.

As soon as the challenge began, the wind picked up to test the contestants. Kass made a nice recovery, and Jefra was the first to drop out. Trish and Tony dropped out in quick succession soon after, and Kass dropped her ball too before the three-minute mark. After 10 minutes, the remaining four competitors moved down the beam. Tasha quickly steadied her rolling ball, but Jeremiah was not so lucky, dropping out of the challenge to leave the previous Immunity winners – Spencer, Tasha and Woo – in the challenge.

After 20 minutes, the wind picked up again, but all three moved down to the final stage of the challenge. Woo fought to keep his ball steady as it skirted the platform, but in doing so, lost his balance and fell out of the challenge. The wind picked up again and Spencer could not recover, dropping his ball. Thus, Tasha won her second consecutive Immunity challenge. "solarrion"

- I don’t feel safe with Tony. The rest of the alliance believes anything the man says, like he’s Jesus or something. I am more trusting of Tash, Jeremiah and Spencer at this point and it could be my opportunity to get rid of Tony now versus having to get rid of Tony later.

Returning to camp, the tribe congratulated Tasha on her victory, whilst Tasha revealed in a confessional that her priority was to target Tony, even if it meant going to rocks. Meanwhile, a desperate Tony fled into the jungle looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol with “special powers.” "solarrion"

- As of now, the plan is for Spencer, Jeremiah, myself and Jefra to blindside Tony. The problem is it could be four and four and we may have to do a revote and go to rocks. But we feel like the most important person to vote out at this point in the game is Tony.

"solarrion"

- No necklace for Tony once again. So today, I’m not chopping down no wood, I’m not making a fire, I’m not boiling water. I’m on a mission. I need an Immunity Idol. In the past seasons of Survivor, it’s always something iconic. Something... Some landmark. So I figured there’s a crazy-looking tree behind Tree Mail. I checked that when I first came here. I’m gonna check that again. I’m looking for that special Idol. And you know what? I’m gonna find it.

In the shallows, Trish talked to Jefra, asking her why she looked troubled. Jefra told her that she didn’t feel safe in the alliance. Kass joined the women in the water for the discussion as Jefra added that she was over Tony’s “fakeness” and his lies, concluding, “He’s getting on my frickin’ nerves.” Back in the jungle, Tony continued his hunt for the Idol. He located a tree with large roots that resembled a rocket ship and began digging around the roots. Eventually, he located the special Idol – with the power to be played after the votes were read at Tribal Council – and celebrated gleefully before rushing back to camp to wash up. "solarrion"

- We get back to camp and I noticed something was wrong with Jefra. She wears her heart on her sleeve and she was, like, almost looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"solarrion"

- So I went to the crazy-looking tree by Tree Mail. Nothing is there. So I say, y’know what? Let me just walk the path in case something pops out. I run into a tree. It looked like a rocket ship! It had, like, these big roots like... I’ve never seen anything like it! I said, I gotta start looking here. So I start digging, I start scratching. And then I felt something! So I took a piece of stick and I start digging, I start digging, I start digging! I said, “Oh please, please let this be it!” I almost passed out. I was just so happy. And then when I opened it, it’s the special Idol. Oh! This special Idol that I found today is priceless. After you see the votes, you can use it? Everybody’s eyes say, “Bing!” You know how powerful that is? I’ma show you how powerful that is.

Back in the water, Jefra, Kass and Trish were still discussing Tony. Kass cautioned that getting rid of someone annoying would “screw yourself.” But Jefra persisted that she didn’t like Tony, and the other women commiserated, but Trish argued that they couldn’t take him out, or else they’d give the minority too much power and arguing that they had a better chance of beating Tony or Woo at the end. Tony joined them in the water, and Trish told him that they needed to be able to trust him. He responded defensively, but she explained that people were getting paranoid about him and his “double agent” act. As Woo also joined them, Tony swore on his baby, father, mother and everybody that he was loyal. Kass told the group that she was certain Spencer had the Hidden Immunity Idol, claiming she had a good read on him. Woo worried that the Idol could mess up their plans. "solarrion"

- So I was questioning Tony’s integrity and he admitted double agents isn’t going to work and Jefra needed to hear that I was calling him out. And that’s why I did what I did. But I think she’s pretty loyal. I don’t think she’ll flip.

"solarrion"

- Y’know, Tasha’s safe tonight so for us to get rid of Spencer would be a no-brainer considering he’s good with the Jury plus he’s very capable of winning challenges. Jeremiah, on the other hand, is one of those athletes that threatens our chances as well. But there’s one thing that we don’t have a hundred percent certainty on and that’s who has a Hidden Immunity Idol.

Later, Jefra pulled Jeremiah aside and told him that she was breaking her promise to vote with the minority, telling him that it was in her best interest in the game to stick with the majority. Jeremiah told her that it was alright, and when the minority alliance later took a dip in the ocean, Jeremiah revealed to them his big secret – that he was a fashion model. Although Spencer laughed about the revelation in a confessional, it prompted him to share a secret of his own. Jeremiah guessed that Spencer had the Hidden Immunity Idol, and he confirmed it. The three then agree to put their votes on Woo because of his challenge prowess. "solarrion"

- I seen Jefra was in the water with her old alliance – everybody but me, Spencer and Tash – and I just knew something was up. I did put a little bit of trust in her, y’know, she shook my hand, she promises us and all that. I guess they got the better of her.

"solarrion"

- So Jeremiah realises there’s a real possibility that one of us is going home tonight, so he decided to let the cat out of the bag and say that he’s a fashion model! It doesn’t surprise me that Jeremiah thinks him being a fashion model was this big deal, top secret thing that he can’t tell people. Y’know, that’s what you’d expect from the Beauty tribe and so I decided to return the favour. I told Tasha and Jeremiah about my Idol because now is the time to go for it, roll the dice, take a chance. If it works out, it’s another shot. Y’know, the game is not over. I could play this thing for me, I could play it for Jeremiah, I could keep it. But if I use it wrong, I could be kicking myself for the rest of my life.

At Tribal Council, Jeff first welcomed in the Jury: Sarah Lacina, Morgan McLeod and LJ. Firstly, Spencer was asked whether the game was up for grabs, and he said that whilst there had been a brief window of that possibility, but they now knew they were on the outside. Jeremiah agreed, and revealed that they’d talked to Jefra on the Reward, hoping to “upset this game somehow,” but added that she’d chosen to turn back to her original alliance. Jeff asked Jefra if she was impressionable, and she commented that she had been bitter about LJ’s blindside. Trish interjected that she and Kass had also been left out of the loop, and Jefra continued that she had weighed her options, and had decided that it was better to risk being voted out by her alliance than to go up against Tasha and Spencer at the Final Tribal Council.

Spencer rolled his eyes in disgust, commenting that it was “frustrating,” because if you’re on the outside of a vote, then you ‘’know’’ that you’re on the bottom of the alliance. He added that Tony had broken many promises already, and would break more in the future. Tony interjected, asking Spencer to be specific about when he broke his promise – prompting puzzled expressions from Sarah and LJ in the Jury. As Tony and Spencer argued about Tony’s trustworthiness, Tony concluded, paradoxically, “I didn’t break promises. I did it for a reason.” Spencer then addressed the rest of the alliance, telling them that if any of them made it to the end with Tony, his vote would go to Tony. Tasha concurred, and Spencer continued, “He’s been steering this game, and you haven’t.”

Woo was asked about Spencer and Tasha’s threat to vote for Tony. He told them while it was worrying that Tony had, apparently, three votes in his pocket, he noted that Tony couldn’t reach the end without them. Spencer clarified that he wasn’t rooting for Tony, but was just rooting for himself, but again pointed out that Tony was angling for the win. Trish countered that their alliance had had a conversation where they’d called Tony out on his double-crossing. Tasha commented that nobody seemed particularly “alarmed,” but Trish denied that, saying they’d called him out and he’d told them that he would stop his act. Tony agreed, adding that “timing is everything” for power moves, and noted the need for them to stay solid at this stage in the game.

Jeff asked Woo how the majority was deciding between Jeremiah and Spencer. He said that they’d weighed out the possibilities of who had the Idol, but it would still be a tough vote. Jeremiah, when asked how he could deflect the vote onto Spencer, noted that Spencer was a bigger threat than him. Spencer said that he might be a threat in some areas, but noted that Jeremiah was “one of the most likable guys I’ve ever met.” Tasha weighed in, saying that their minority had decided not to vote for Tony because it had upset him the last time, but they had simply picked someone else. Tony interrupted that he still had his “bag of tricks,” which Spencer called him out on.

Jeff then called the vote. Kass and Woo started the proceedings, followed by Jefra and Jeremiah. Spencer then cast his vote for Woo, and Trish, Tony and Tasha finished the voting. Jeff tallied the results. "solarrion"

- (mockingly, in a surfer accent) Bro, this vote is a real bummer, dude. Man...

When asked if anyone wanted to play a Hidden Immunity Idol, Spencer stood up, telling Woo that he could “steal as many clues as [he wanted]; I got the real thing.” As Spencer walked up to Jeff, Tony pulled out his wrapped Idol and brandished it for Spencer to see. Spencer played the Idol for himself and Tony boasted that he’d tricked the “young lad” into not playing his Idol for “Jeremy” – prompting a perplexed Morgan to quietly query, “Who’s Jeremy?” Tony, then told the group that it was a fake Idol.

Jeff then read the votes. The first was for Woo, followed by another two for “Woooooooooo.” However, the next vote was for Jeremiah. Spencer apologized to him as Jeff read the remaining votes, all for Jeremiah. He brought his torch to Jeff where it was snuffed. He departed Tribal, wishing his tribe good luck, and became the eleventh person eliminated from and the fourth member of the Jury. Jeff sent Solarrion back to camp, telling the tribe that whether or not a big move paid off, it was always worth making them. "solarrion"

- Some odd reason, I guess they just pin-pointed me and, y’know, Spencer did what he had to do to save himself, y’know. I thought I could win a million dollars. I felt like I played a great game, felt like I came into it, I could’ve gone all the way. One of them things, man. Thirty-four years I’ve never done anything like this. I’m glad I had the chance to be able to come out her and compete and do the best I can.

Reward
Challenge: Rove, Rove, Rove Your Boat

The teams has to go out in a boat to retrieve paddles with letters on them. The first team to come back with all the paddles and use them to figure a common Survivor phrase ("Worth playing for"), wins.

Reward: Trip to, a barbecue lunch, and letters from home

Winners: Jefra Bland, Jeremiah Wood, Spencer Bledsoe, and Tasha Fox

Immunity
Challenge: Hard to Handle

The castaways must stand on an angled balance beam while balancing a ball. At regular intervals, they would move further down the beam, making it harder to keep steady. The last person standing wins.

Winner: Tasha Fox

Deleted Scenes

 * On Day 26, Jeremiah revealed to be suffering from backaches. Tasha offered to massage his back to relieve the pain. While Jeremiah claimed the massage somewhat helped, he touted he didn't want to be medically evacuated from the game.
 * Deleted confessionals from each castaway were posted on CBS.com:
 * I Hadn't Really Thought Things Through: Jefra explained her initial decision to flip to Jeremiah, Spencer, and Tasha during their lunch reward.
 * His Lucky Day: Trish told about Woo falling from a tree. She explained that both of them were too hungry, they desperately looked for new food sources, with the high papaya tree Woo fell from being one of them.
 * It Wasn't Like Me: Jefra confessed that thinking strategy was what made her struggle at the Immunity Challenge.
 * They're Piranhas: Tasha analogized herself, Spencer, and Jeremiah as "fish in an aquarium", with Jefra letting herself be around "piranhas and sharks", referring to the majority Solana alliance.
 * Nobody Trusts Me: Kass stated that "Chaos Kass" had finished her job, and decided not to make big moves and let the bigger personalities run the game.

Other

 * With Jeremiah Wood's elimination, Jefra Bland became the last remaining member of the original Solana tribe.
 * The boats used during the Reward Challenge still had the original tribe names labelled on them (Aparri for the Orange Team and Solana for the Purple Team), and coincidentally all of the remaining original tribe members of each of the tribes left on the game were on those particular teams (with the Brains Spencer Bledsoe and Tasha Fox being on the Purple Team and Kass McQuillen being on the Orange Team).
 * Spencer Bledsoe and Tony Vlachos had the most confessionals this episode, with five each.
 * This was the second episode in which Spencer had the most confessionals, following Mad Treasure Hunt.
 * This was the fourth episode in which Tony had the most confessionals, following Cops-R-Us, We Found Our Zombies and Bag of Tricks.
 * This was the fourth episode of the season in which every remaining castaway gave a confessional, following Hot Girl With a Grudge (Part 1), We Found Our Zombies and Bag of Tricks.
 * Woo Hwang compared his tree-climbing to the 1993 action film Cliffhanger, in which plays a mountain climber embroiled in a heist.
 * According to her exit interview on Rob Has a Podcast, Jefra Bland found a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol in a plate of cookies on the Reward. However, although she and the minority alliance searched for it once getting back to camp, Spencer Bledsoe never told her that he'd already found it.

Episode Title

 * The title of the episode was said by Tony Vlachos about the "spy shack" that he built near the water hole.