Survivor MacGyver

Survivor MacGyver
Episode Information
Version	United States
Season	Cambodia
Episode Number	2/15 (458)
Original Release	September 30, 2015
Viewership (in Millions)	9.42
Ratings/Share (18-49)	2.4/9
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Second Chance"
Next	"We Got a Rat"
Subpages

Survivor MacGyver is the second episode of Survivor: Cambodia.

Story

Day 4

At Ta Keo, Kelly Wiglesworth is not happy to have found out she was on the bottom and hopes her alliance will get their act together. Kelley Wentworth wants to find some time alone to read the note with her Hidden Immunity Idol since she hasn't had time to look at it. She looks at it then buries it in the woods so no one knows who has it. Spencer Bledsoe, Shirin Oskooi, and the other two in the alliance talk about who they need to target next.

Jeff Varner wants Spencer and Shirin out even though they're in his alliance because he thinks they're playing too hard. He tells Terry Deitz they can get Abi-Maria Gomes out later since she's low hanging fruit. He tells Terry he wants to target Shirin and Spencer. Terry was upset after Tribal Council but feels better after his talk with Jeff. Over at Bayon, Joe Anglim makes a hammock. He's trying to make himself seem like less of a threat. He makes several hammocks.

Stephen Fishbach says Joe is like Survivor MacGyver and is always building things. Kass McQuillen says Joe is good at island life. Stephen says Joe is one person you should keep until the merge then slit his neck. Abi-Maria tells Spencer that she's not done even though she got four votes at Tribal Council. Spencer talks to Peih-Gee Law about building a chimney and Abi-Maria acts crazy with her. Spencer thinks Abi-Maria is cancer for tribe and alliance. Jeff says she's like a Brazilian soap opera.

She asks what they're whispering about. Jeff knows everyone hates Abi-Maria and thinks she's great to take to Final Three.

Day 5

The next day at Bayon, Kass thinks she has a much better tribe than the last time she played. She also says she didn't play with enough feelings last time and will try to be a real person. Jeremy Collins walks away after Andrew tells a story about his wife to the entire tribe. Jeremy says his wife Val is pregnant and he wants to be home seeing his baby grow.

Jeremy says he knows they will come after him because he's a physical threat and is worried the pregnancy will make him a bigger threat at the end. Because he walked away, Stephen wonders if he's looking for idols. Andrew Savage thinks that Jeremy was affected by his story and wanted a moment alone but says Stephen can't see that and is just playing the game. Andrew goes and tells Jeremy that Stephen told everyone Jeremy was looking for an idol.

Jeremy is annoyed which is what Andrew wanted because he wants Stephen out. Shirin and Peih-Gee talk about Abi-Maria, and Abi-Maria overhears and comes to confront them. Abi starts a fight with Peih-Gee who says she heard her talking bad about her and telling people she stole her bracelet. Then Abi-Maria starts going off about people voting for her. Peih-Gee tells Abi she can work with anyone, but Peih-Gee was a bit upset to be caught talking about her.

Abi-Maria is upset and says people she thought were aligned with her are now laughing with Peih-Gee about her. Abi-Maria goes off to cry and says she feels alone. Terry doesn't think it's nice that Abi-Maria was getting laughed at. He says she's an emotional train wreck but shouldn't be treated like that. He goes to talk to her. Abi-Maria says she's open to any alliance like that. Terry says he would have her back if she wants to side with him. Abi-Maria says yes since he's the only one that came to talk to her.

Day 6

At Ta Keo, Jeff Varner tells Abi-Maria he's ready to work with her and says her voice is music to her hears. Then he tells her he wants to go after Shirin and Spencer, the people who turned their backs on her. She's pleased and shakes on it with him. Abi-Maria says her old alliance will regret turning on her.

In the Immunity Challenge. They have to race across obstacles and complete a puzzle to win. They are also playing for reward – a Survivor tool kit. They will also get materials to build with to make the shelter better. Bayon sits out Ciera Eastin since they have one extra. They have a rope to help and Bayon gets over faster. The teams are on the second wall which is taller and steeper. They have to wait for everyone before they move on.

The third is bigger and steeper. People are getting skinned up and taking hard tumbles. Now they have to use the rope to tie them together to pull a crate to get the puzzle pieces. The tribes are neck and neck. The crate is very heavy and the obstacles are up and down. Bayon gets their pieces and two starts on the puzzle. Kass and Kimmi Kappenberg are working for Bayon. Kelley Wentworth and Peih-Gee are doing on the other team. Spencer subs in for Kimmi. Shirin and Spencer are now on the puzzle.

Both teams are screaming and panicking. Spencer is making progress with Shirin as they swap things around. Joe is moving around as he gets an idea. Spencer and Shirin finish and Jeff Probst says it's not right. Joe has it done and Jeff says Bayon got it right. That means Ta Keo is going to Tribal Council tonight. Jeff sends Bayon off with the reward and the immunity idol. Jeff Varner is happy that Spencer and Shirin lost the challenge so it will make it easier for him to send one of them home tonight.

Spencer tells the tribe he's sorry he didn't get the puzzle and they tell him he's okay. Spencer is confident though and thinks he has control of the game. Jeff Varner wants to eliminate Spencer because he says he's the smartest guy he's met and says Shirin is equally as smart and very persuasive. Peih-Gee says she will vote with the numbers even though she'd really like Abi-Maria to go home. Jeff Varner tells Kelley Wentworth that Abi-Maria is upset with Shirin. Jeff Varner asks Kelley Wentworth if she's with them on this.

Kelley Wentworth doesn't really like her new alliance but has to go where the numbers are so she's not a target. Abi-Maria and Shirin walk and Shirin is confident she's not a target but wants to talk to Abi-Maria and make sure she's okay. Shirin tells her she is sorry about not standing up for her. Abi-Maria says she wishes she had and says when she gives her word to an alliance she's loyal. She says none of them came but Terry did and spent two hours with her.

Abi-Maria tells Shirin they left her all alone. Shirin reminds her she voted with her. Abi-Maria says they made a fool of her. Abi-Maria tells her that the other alliance is targeting Shirin and Spencer. Shirin asks if Abi-Maria is with them but Abi-Maria says no. Shirin goes to talk to Spencer and tells him what Abi-Maria said. Spencer is stunned. Shirin goes to talk to Woo Hwang and says the old school group will keep him to the merge then pick him up as soon as he doesn't win individual immunity.

Woo is annoyed with what she's telling him. He tells Spencer and Shirin this is the first time they're coming to him. Shirin doesn't want to vote for Spencer. Shirin offers to make Woo any deal he wants. He says it boggles his mind that this is the first time she would come to talk to them and says no way. Spencer is upset and says he feels like he has no move to vote other than screwing over Shirin, the one person he wanted to play with, and he cries.

They head to Tribal Council and Jeff asks about the vibe of the tribe. Jeff says the challenge sucked the life out of him. Spencer says there's some amnesia about how much this game kicks your ass. Shirin says she had a rough time the first time around and she's seeing that now. She says there was some fighting and people lost trust in her and she thinks she's on the bottom. Kelley says there was a disagreement between Abi-Maria and Peih-Gee.

Abi-Maria says Peih-Gee and Shirin were talking about her even though they were in an alliance. She says Terry came to her. Jeff reminds Shirin that was what she said about Mike in her season. Shirin says she should have fixed it with Abi-Maria. Terry says he was at the bottom a couple of days ago and says he went to Abi and they made a connection. Spencer says he can be a target for talking strategy and not enough personal. Jeff says they are right to be concerned.

Spencer tells Jeff Varner, Kelly Wiglesworth, Kelley Wentworth, Abi-Maria, and Woo there will be a change and he will connect with people and form better relationships. Jeff says what Spencer and Shirin are going through now is just like their former seasons. Jeff asks what that says about second chances and the ability to change. Shirin says change is hard and you can't do it overnight. She says she made some clear mistakes and if she goes home tonight, it's on her.

Shirin votes for Spencer and Spencer votes for Shirin but whispers he knows she's voting against him too and he has nothing bad to say about her. No idols are played, and Woo votes against Shirin, making Shirin the second person eliminated from Survivor: Cambodia. She whispers to Spencer to give them hell.

Spencer thanks the others and says he meant everything he said. Jeff says if you don't change, history is destined to repeat itself.

Challenges

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Yank Yer Hank
Tribe members would have to climb across three A-frames, each being taller than the previous one, while carrying coils of rope. They will then use the ropes to pull a heavy crate across a wooden frame. Two tribe members would then have to use the puzzle pieces inside the crate to solve a puzzle.The tribes could change solvers, but they must stay at only two at a time. The first tribe to finish the puzzle wins.
Reward: A fully-stocked tool kit.
Winner: Bayon

Tribal Council

Tribal Council 2: Ta Keo
Voted Against	Voter
Shirin (5 votes)	Jeff, Kelly, Peih-Gee, Spencer, Woo
Spencer (4 votes)	Abi-Maria, Kelley, Shirin, Terry
VOTED OUT: Shirin Oskooi

Voting Confessionals

Shirin was shown writing Spencer's name down on the parchment.

	Spencer	“	(voting for Shirin) I know you're writing my name down, too. I don't have a bad thing to say about you.	”

Final Words

	Shirin	“	Ugh… I feel like I didn't really get to seize my second chance. I struggled to change in a lot of key ways to make this game work for me. I was in a totally fine position until I went crazy and blew up my game. I had an awesome opening act and then… killed myself.	”

Still in the Running

Vytas 20th	Shirin 19th	Abi-Maria Ta Keo	Andrew Bayon	Ciera Bayon	Jeff Ta Keo	Jeremy Bayon	Joe Bayon	Kass Bayon	Keith Bayon
Kelley Ta Keo	Kelly Ta Keo	Kimmi Bayon	Monica Bayon	Peih-Gee Ta Keo	Spencer Ta Keo	Stephen Bayon	Tasha Bayon	Terry Ta Keo	Woo Ta Keo

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• In an interview, Jeff Probst reveals that Entertainment Weekly columnist Dalton Ross picked the location of the Hidden Immunity Idol for this episode's Reward/Immunity Challenge. The idol would have been hidden on the corner of the top of the third A-frame in the challenge.
  • However, the idol was not hidden because no one from the Bayon tribe found the clue to the idol.

Other

• As of this episode, every single season that has aired comprising entirely of returning players has had one tribe attend the first two Tribal Councils.
• This episode marks the second time in her Survivor career that Ciera Eastin has been the first member of her tribe to sit out a challenge.

Episode Title

• The title was said by Stephen Fishbach in reference to Joe Anglim being able to craft anything in a similar fashion to MacGyver, a show that ran for seven seasons on the ABC network.
  • However, this was not the first time this phrase was said in Survivor history. Jill Behm said it, referencing Jane Bright being able to get fire in the Survivor: Nicaragua episode, "Young at Heart".