Suck It Up Buttercup

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Suck It Up Buttercup
Episode Information
Version	United States
Season	Island of the Idols
Episode Number	6/14 (574)
Original Release	October 30, 2019
Viewership (in Millions)	6.37
Ratings/Share (18-49)	1.2/6
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You"
Next	"I Was Born at Night, but Not Last Night"
Subpages

Suck It Up Buttercup is the sixth episode of Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Story

Day 15

	Noura	“	Tribal went according to plan. Tom went home, but now we're sitting pretty with five Vokai and two Lairo, and you think, "This is so simple. Let's, let's take out, you know, Karishma or Dean"-- but the players I don't trust are actually Jamal and Jack. They're the guys that were gunning for me on my old tribe, and I know I can't work with those guys, and I got to kill them before they kill me.	”

	Dean	“	Noura has a plan. The problem is that Noura is absolutely crazy and I think a little bit delusional. [...] She's just all over the place, so I'd be crazy to work with her, but I've absolutely discovered a crack.	”

	Jamal	“	Old Vokai were all on the same page. We have the majority. We're taking out former Lairo one by one, and then Noura decides to go bonkers by trying to pull together a coalition to come against me. [...] Noura is just so out of tune and so unreliable in this game. She doesn't get it. That's the reason why for me getting Noura out is of the highest priority.	”

	Elaine	“	We're all just smilin' and laughin', jokin' around, but if we lose, stuff's about to start gettin' real serious because we're four-four, y'know, four Vokai and four old Lairo. It's basically a stalemate.	”

	Elaine	“	Us people need to stick together. We's basically going to have to draw rocks, no hard feelings. Aaron, Missy, and Elizabeth-- they are loyal. If we lose and go to Tribal Council, I don't think anybody's going to flip.	”

	Jason	“	They flip at the drop of a hat. They're scrambling; they're fighting for themselves. Aaron said that he would be willing to vote Elaine. Sounds great! I mean it's all good in the hood here. It really is!	”

	Dan	“	We're winning every challenge we go to. New Vokai's tribe's all this, all this, all day. But with Island of the Idols, I think you have to assume the worst, and if Elaine comes back with an idol, that tremendously complicates the next immunity vote if we get to it, makes it very scary.	”

	Rob	“	We got a lot of extra time here on Island of the Idols. Nobody's voting us off, so I'm building the shelter like you've never seen before on Survivor, basically like the mansion of all shelters. [...] I haven't decided yet, but I may corner off one side of the shelter just for Sandra because she snores at night. Hehehe.	”

	Elaine	“	I understood my tribe's reasoning for wanting to sit me out. I'm five-foot-two, a little busted can of biscuit, but that's the story of my life. Everybody underestimates me because of my size, but I have the heart of a lion and am strong like an ox. They underestimate that big time. [...] I'm okay being by myself and rollin' solo, and I'm hopin' gettin' sent to the Island of the Idols is like a game changer!	”

	Rob	“	Immediately, Elaine jumped all over me. "I'll take it! I'll take it, Rob!" "Elaine, I haven't told you what it is yet." "I don't care! I'll take it!" Being that impulsive is a double-edged sword. Yeah, she's seizing the opportunity, but sometimes you maybe want to stick your feet in the water before you jump in.	”

	Elaine	“	I'm not just here for a million dollars even though the million would be pretty sweet, but I'm here for more than that! I just lost my mom three months before I come out here, so I wanted that soul-searching, that lifetime journey everybody talks about. I wanted some of that!	”

	Sandra	“	I love Elaine! She's balls to the wall, and that's how you have to play Survivor, but the easy part is over. Now's the hard part.	”

	Elaine	“	Damn! That sucks because if we go to Tribal Council and it being four-four and I lose my vote, then we're sittin' ducks, so yeah, big stakes, but I like steaks! Yum, yum, yum! Hahaha!	”

	Sandra	“	Elaine-- she won me over. She has the gusto. She has the complete package, and she's daring! [...] She came to play, and if her tribemates don't watch out, she'll be there right at the end, and she could easily take this money.	”

	Jack	“	I do not know much about West Africa at all, but Jamal is a T.A. in college for a West African dance class. Jamal is ten years older than I am. He has so much more experience, so much more wisdom than I do, and so it was really fun to see Jamal make his own drum and teach Kellee West African dance, [...] and it's kind of cool to see him opening up and sharing more.	”

	Jamal	“	Jack is walking by and says, "Oh Jamal, could you use your do-rag to lift the pot?"-- and immediately, I stand up and kind of look at him.	”

	Jack	“	I made a joke. That sucked! I immediately knew that I had said something wrong, and I was very embarrassed to have said it. I just was like, thinking about it makes me sweaty, and I just like, I felt really bad because I felt like I compromised... I feel like Jamal views me in this mature way, and I feel like I just took steps backward.	”

	Jamal	“	It's a little complicated about why this is insulting, and I can understand why someone might think, "What's the big deal? Don't black men wear do-rags?" The problem with it is the image that probably a lot of white America has about black men is the thug, uh, the deadbeat father, right, the leach on social services, which is often unfortunately people wearing do-rags, tattoos, wife-beaters, right? So this whole caricature is so ingrained in our culture and so comfortable for mainstream white America to digest about the black male body that for a sweet, well-intentioned boy like Jack, it flows off the tongue.	”

	Jack	“	Jamal has a way of helping me understand that privilege is to exist. You know, I don't think of myself as the most privileged person, but when the fact of the matter is I am very privileged. Like, I am, and it was very cool to share a human moment with my strongest ally because it brought us together more as friends even though I made this very stupid comment.	”

	Jamal	“	I got to tell you, I don't get a lot of apologies like that. I don't get a lot of people recognizing just how harmful those little moments add up to be, and so Jack's apology to me kind of like made up for a lot of times when I've had to feel so insignificant and let it roll off my shoulders for my own social mobility; so that apology, man-- I'll... I'll remember that for the rest of my life.	”

Day 16

	Elaine	“	There's an advantage waitin' for me at the Immunity Challenge if I can get it, but I'm nervous about it, so I spilled the beans to Elizabeth because she's been to, to the Island of the Idols. She can relate to my predicament. It's not as easy as it sounds because everybody's going to be right there at that one table. Everybody's eyes are going to be right there.	”

	Elaine	“	We ended up losing the challenge, but this block-a-vote is huge! It couldn't have came at a better time. I want to play the hero and ride in on my stallion and jump off and save the day for my peeps!	”

	Jason	“	We do have to go to Tribal Council, so we're having a chicken dinner, and it's funny because right now, Elaine's like one of those chickens that's in the cage up there is waiting to be slaughtered. [...] Unless Elaine has some type of idol, she's going home. Tonight, I'm hoping we get a big bird.	”

	Elizabeth	“	The block-the-vote changes everything. This is the glimmer of hope for the four Lairo here at Vokai 2.0 to survive, but we need to have four numbers to their three; so as long as Elaine and I can convince Missy and Aaron to vote with us, we're going to be fine.	”

	Elaine	“	Who would have thunk it? The little old KY would come through the team, you know what I mean? Like, that's awesome! That's the coolest part to me is that like I get to do this for my peeps, y'know!	”

	Missy	“	Okay, this is crazy! We were basically offering up Elaine as a sacrifice, but because she can save us, now she's our hero!	”

	Aaron	“	What I'm doing is one hundred percent a cover to keep Elaine relaxed. "Hey, we're okay; we're okay." Well, you're not okay.	”

	Aaron	“	Elaine has the block-a-vote, but if I hop in with Vokai, we could still take Elaine out of this game. If I prove my loyalty at this point in time, and I vote the way Vokai wants me to vote, Elaine goes home; I get cemented with these guys. I don't think Tribal Council to Tribal Council. I think three votes from now. I don't want to just make merge. I want to win this game!	”

	Lauren	“	Honestly, I don't know that Elaine has the strategic mind to be able to play us, but like, even if Elaine does have an idol, I know that Missy and Elizabeth would spill the beans.	”

	Elizabeth	“	Tonight is an absolute war between Lairo and Vokai, and Vokai doesn't even know it. We get to decide who goes home. For me it would make sense to take out Lauren because Lauren doesn't shield me. Lauren doesn't really do anything for my game, but honestly there's a reason to vote out every single one of the Vokai.	”

	Missy	“	Dan is a sketchy person in general in Survivor. I see him checking our bags when he thinks no one is watching. I see all of it because I'm watching him because I trust no one at any time. Dan would be a great option to go home, and there is nothing they can do about it.	”

	Elaine	“	All Vokai's in for a rude awakenin', and I think Tommy's the biggest threat. He's got close ties with everybody. It's like, I got him in my, my sights, you know what I mean? [...] But then again, y'know, you got Jason. He's strategic, and I think he's really smart, so I got my moves. I got my moves I want to make.	”

	Aaron	“	Elaine feels that she's in the power position, which is great, but she really doesn't have any power right now. I have control in this game! I can now choose who goes home. I can choose what moves are made now. [...] I've made several promises in this game. Some of those promises I keep, and some of them I haven't. It's the game of Survivor. [...] Somebody's heart's going to get broke. I'm going to have to break somebody's trust and somebody's loyalty. There's a sure vote tonight would be Elaine to get them all on board and show them my trust, or I can stay Lairo-strong. Maybe you end up on the right side of the numbers; maybe you don't. Going into Tribal Council, it's an open game, and this game is going to be very, very live, very live!	”

Challenges

• Reward
• Immunity

Challenge: Heroes End
Six members of each tribe will have to transport a sled loaded with sandbags and one rider down a track and through a series of obstacles. On the way, the rider must retrieve a key, use it to unlock a slingshot, then use the slingshot to knock down three targets. The first tribe to knock down all three targets wins.
Reward: Chickens
Additional Stipulation: The person Vokai chooses to sit out will not observe the challenge, but will instead be sent to the Island of the Idols. (sat out Elaine Stott, who was sent to the Island of the Idols)

Winner: Vokai

Challenge: Cage Against the Machine
Tribes must dig under a bamboo cage, then transport it along an obstacle course while collecting five balls. Once they finish the course, they must then throw the balls into five targets. The first tribe to get a ball in all five targets wins.

Winner: Lairo

Tribal Council

Tribal Council 6: Vokai
Voted Against	Voter (Jason's vote blocked by Elaine)
Jason (4 votes)	Aaron, Elaine, Elizabeth, Missy
Elaine (3 votes)	Dan, Lauren, Tommy
VOTED OUT: Jason Linden

Voting Confessionals

	Tommy	“	(voting against Elaine) You've never made me so scared in my life before.	”

Final Words

	Jason	“	As a fan, it's a crazy way to go out. It's not your typical vote out, it's not your typical blindside. But in the end, it still sucks. This was my dream. Despite my horrible start to this game, I really feel like I had my finger on the pulse and I probably got voted out because I was too big of a threat, which I'm gonna wear like a badge of honor. That's life, man. You can't win em' all.	”

Still in the Running

Ronnie 20th	Molly 19th	Vince 18th	Chelsea 17th	Tom 16th	Jason 15th	Aaron Vokai	Dan Vokai	Dean Lairo	Elaine Vokai
Elizabeth Vokai	Jack Lairo	Jamal Lairo	Janet Lairo	Karishma Lairo	Kellee Lairo	Lauren Vokai	Missy Vokai	Noura Lairo	Tommy Vokai

Trivia

Other

• The name of the Reward Challenge, Heroes End, is a reference to the Judas Priest song of the same name.
• The name of the Immunity Challenge, Cage Against the Machine, is a reference to the American rock band Rage Against the Machine.
• The title of this episode was first said by Elaine Stott at Tribal Council when she was discussing the possibility of an original Lairo member getting voted out, which would've given Vokai an advantage. Rob Mariano says the line again when noted to Sandra Diaz-Twine about Tommy Sheehan's angry reaction towards Aaron Meredith after the votes were read.