Week Nine

Kichagani Tribe

After having to vote out Graham last week, Kichagani is sorely lacking in the speed and strengths departments. Their teamwork also took a hit, but it had to be done to take away some of the power from Cowin. The other people in the tribe minus Jill had seen Cowin as a long term strategic threat and to limit his control they voted out his main ally. But now it was time to focus on keeping their tribe as strong as possible. Athleticism was a problem now. The tribe had Cowin, Kyle and Scott who were all very athletic but the rest of the tribe consisted of people who were better at the mental challenges. Chelsea never felt more comfortable than in her new alliance with Scott, Kyle, Mandy and Micah. The five of them were the ones who voted for Graham. Jill and Cowin knew it was time to scramble. Maybe they wouldn’t be voted out next, but the odds were that they would be, so they needed to infiltrate that alliance somehow.

Margolo Tribe

German and Elliott were as happy as can be after successfully voting out Greg from their tribe. They had gained Steve and Tyla’s votes, which also means that they must have also gained a vote from either Beckie, Jord or Nathalie. And since Jord and Nathalie had come over together from Breema, it was most likely that Beckie had stuck with Elliott instead of making a new alliance. So things were quite comfortable for the five of them, and just like in Kichagani, things were getting very scary for the other two. Nathalie has been close outside of the game with Beckie for a long time, so she planned on using that relationship to gain a third into their group. Jord knew that he has been pretty good in the challenges so far, and also that he is a likeable guy, so he needed to use those facts to keep himself around. He may be out of luck when it comes to making a new alliance.

The Harteema Gang

Chris knew that Harteema was going to win last weeks challenge even before he knew what it was. He had a lot of confidence in his close friends Dirks, Tyler and Silas. The four of them were beginning the make the other four in the tribe a little nervous. Trotman had been perfect in the last challenge so he knew he was safe, but he wanted some assurance from Silas that he would not be screwed over. Dirks had made a plan with Hinton to go all the way, but that was before the switch, so Hinton was worried that their alliance would not save him. Lauren trusted Tyler to make the best decisions for the tribe, but wanted him to keep her posted on what needed to be done. Cait had made an agreement with Pitman much earlier, but was not sure how much longer it would be valid for. Harteema had problems that needed to be sorted out before they went to tribal council.

Immunity Challenge

This challenge is a puzzle challenge that needs to be done one piece at a time. Each tribe will start with one piece already placed in the frame and then a pile of pieces fifty feet away. The tribe will get in a line and toss one piece down the line from the pile to the frame. If the piece does not fit the first piece, it must be tossed back to the pile and another piece must be chosen and tossed towards the frame. The people in the line must stay in specific spaces chosen, and must not move closer to any of the other people in the line. Once the second piece fits, all the people in the line will all shift one space towards the puzzle frame, and the last person must run to the pile and become the first person. The challenge is over when one person completes their puzzle.

The attribute weightings are as follows:
Speed: 10%
Strength: 0%
Problem-Solving: 40%
Strategizing: 20%
Teamwork: 30%

Because Harteema has one extra member they get to choose one person to sit out. They choose Trotman to sit out the challenge. And now all the people from the three tribes are in their lines, and the challenge starts!

Kyle is able to describe his piece and get the second piece passed down the line, and Kichagani is the first tribe to have their second piece in place. Margolo is right behind them with their second piece. Harteema falls behind early as Chris’ second piece does not fit the first and must be passed back. As the challenge progresses, Kichagani and Margolo are neck and neck while Harteema continues to fall behind. And soon, Kichagani and Margolo have nine pieces in place and their tenth and last pieces are being tossed down the line. Jill and German are down at the end of the line waiting for their pieces. They get their pieces at almost the exact same time, but Jill is the first to angle hers correctly in place and complete her team’s puzzle.

So Kichagani WINS IMMUNITY. This also means that Margolo and Harteema must go to Tribal Council this week.

Keys to Victory (defeat):

Kichagani Tribe: This week, Kichagani skills were perfect for a challenge like this. While all the people in the tribe did a good job, the tribe was led by Jill, Kyle and Mandy. There wasn’t a weak link, and that is why Kichagani won, even though it was very close.

Margolo Tribe: They just barely lost, but the tribe can’t really blame it on German. He was very good in the challenge, but not perfect. The only person who was better than German for Margolo was Jord, as he was perfectly suited for this challenge. Steve and Nathalie were also very good, and did not hold their team back. Elliott was a little worse than he would have liked, but it was only because he was trying to rush his teammates. Beckie and Tyla were the weak links. While they both were great at teamwork, they struggled with explaining what pieces needed to be passed, and held their team back.

The Harteema Gang: Lauren killed this challenge. No one was better than Lauren out of all the tribes, and it was just too bad that the rest of her tribe wasn’t as good as her. Dirks and Silas were also quite good, and Tyler was alright, but Cait, Chris and Hinton really held the team back. They struggled putting all the aspects together, and did not do a good job. Trotman wouldn’t have helped that much, but he would have been better than the three of them in this specific challenge.

So because I posted this a day late, you will have an extra day to vote. So here are the people who need to vote by Thursday night at 11:59pm.

Margolo Tribe:
Elliott
German
Steve
Tyla
Beckie
Nathalie
Jord

Harteema Gang:
Silas
Trotman
Tyler
Lauren
Dirks
Hinton
Chris
Cait