Operation Thunder Dome

Operation Thunder Dome
Episode Information
Version	United States
Season	Caramoan
Episode Number	6/15 (389)
Original Release	March 20, 2013
Viewership (in Millions)	9.79
Ratings/Share (18-49)	2.6/8
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Persona Non Grata"
Next	"Tubby Lunchbox"
Subpages

Operation Thunder Dome is the sixth episode of Survivor: Caramoan.

Story

“	A shake-up with the Tribes creates chaos and new alliances. Meanwhile, the game is thrown off-balance when one Tribe's change results in a strength disparity between Gota and Bikal.	”
—Episode Synopsis

Day 14

At the challenge, the castaways are surprised by a tribal swap. With a smashing of paint-filled eggs, the new Gota became Andrea, Brenda, Eddie, Erik, Malcolm, Reynold, and Sherri. The new Bikal was Cochran, Corinne, Dawn, Julia, Matt, Michael, and Phillip. Both tribes had a favorites majority. The new tribes did not partake in a challenge but instead returned to their campsites.

Cochran Bikal	Corinne Bikal	Dawn Bikal	Julia Bikal	Matt Bikal	Michael Bikal	Phillip Bikal
Andrea Gota	Brenda Gota	Eddie Gota	Erik Gota	Malcolm Gota	Reynold Gota	Sherri Gota

At the new Gota, Eddie and Reynold told Erik and Malcolm that Sherri had been gunning for them from Day 1 and they would be happy to join the Favorites in voting her out. Meanwhile, Sherri told her side of the story to Andrea and Brenda. Andrea and Malcolm later shared notes about the factions within the former Gota. Over at the new Bikal, Phillip approached Julia about flipping to the Favorites after the tribal merge. Corinne and Dawn were not happy that Phillip was talking about possible alliances with Julia because they were already in an alliance with him.

Day 16

The Immunity Challenge was thoroughly dominated by Gota. With Brandon gone, Phillip and Corinne wanted to turn their attention to voting the other out, but they were stuck with each other, as they had to keep the Favorites alliance in the majority. Phillip told Matt and Michael that he was voting for Julia and that they could join the Stealth R Us alliance if they followed one of his orders sometime in the future. Matt and Michael told Julia that they would join her in voting for Dawn, but were really going to vote for Julia. The Favorites discussed voting out Julia or Matt, who was suggested to be a target by Cochran to break up his alliance with Michael. When the voting came at Tribal Council, the Favorites decided to vote out Matt, and he was sent home by a vote of 4-2-1.

Challenges

Immunity Challenge: Crate Outdoors
Each tribe sends two members at a time out to a field scattered with crates. Once all six crates were returned, they would be used to build a staircase that spelled "Fans vs. Favorites". The whole tribe then had to climb the staircase. The first tribe to climb to the top of the staircase after it is finished wins.
Winner: Gota

Tribal Council

Tribal Council 6: Bikal
Voted Against	Voter
Matt (4 votes)	Cochran, Corinne, Dawn, Phillip
Julia (2 votes)	Matt, Michael
Dawn (1 vote)	Julia
VOTED OUT: Matt Bischoff

Voting Confessionals

Julia was shown writing Dawn's name on the parchment.

	Matt	“	(voting against Julia) My vote is for you, Julia. I hope it's you and not me tonight.	”

	Michael	“	(voting against Julia) Darling, you know I think you're great. I'm just trying to live to see one more day.	”

Final Words

	Matt	“	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's crazy or too gnarly 'cause you got a beard and tattoos." Everyone accepted me for who I was. I played to win. I put all the cards out on the table, and I got voted out, but I really don't regret anything.	”

Still in the Running

Francesca 20th	Allie 19th	Hope 18th	Shamar 17th	Laura 16th	Brandon 15th	Matt 14th	Andrea Gota	Brenda Gota	Cochran Bikal
Corinne Bikal	Dawn Bikal	Eddie Gota	Erik Gota	Julia Bikal	Malcolm Gota	Michael Bikal	Phillip Bikal	Reynold Gota	Sherri Gota