The tribes convene for what they believed to be the merge. However, after they drop their buffs, Jeff Probst informs them that this would not be a regular merge. Instead, the final twelve would have to earn their merge, until which they will be without a tribe and vulnerable to be voted out at the next Tribal Council. The remaining castaways draw rocks to be divided into two teams of five, with two people sitting out and having their fate put in the hands of the winning team. The teams are divided as follows:
Reward/Immunity Challenge:Keep Digging Divided into two teams of five, each team must dig up a large ball partially submerged in sand, then roll it through an obstacle course. At two points along the course, one member must climb atop the ball to retrieve two sets of keys. At the end of the course, the teams must use the ball to help scale a tower, then use the keys to unlock a word puzzle at the top level. The first team to go solve their word puzzle wins. Reward: Merge feast Additional Stipulation: The winning team will not have to compete in the first individual Immunity Challenge. In addition, they must choose between the two people who sat out the challenge on whom to invite to the reward and who to send to Exile Island. Further, the exiled player will be given the choice to use the Hourglass advantage to reverse the results of the challenge, transferring immunity to themselves and the members of the losing team, rendering the winning team vulnerable. Winners: Blue Team (Danny McCray, Deshawn Radden, Evvie Jagoda, Ricard Foyé, and Sydney Segal) (shared with Naseer Muttalif, exiled Erika Casupanan)
This is the second non-recap/non-finale episode to have no elimination at the end of the episode, after "Call the Whambulence!", though this is the first non-recap/non-finale episode to not have a Tribal Council or an elimination.
This episode marks the earliest time the tribes have merged, on Day 12. This would be tied the next season in "You Can't Hide on Survivor".
The answer to this week's Survivor GWG puzzle is "Can I have your jacket?", a paraphrased version of the line said by Angelina Keeley ("Is there any way I could have your jacket?") when she asked for Natalie Cole's jacket following the latter's elimination in "Jackets and Eggs" in Survivor: David vs. Goliath. The puzzle was on top of the hut where the merge feast was held.
