Survivor Samoa Episode 14

When Survivor Samoa Episode 14 began, relationships between the contestants took center stage. Russell, being Russell, complained about Shambo's hair. He mentioned how he would get rid of her if he didn't need her.

In the reward challenge, the Survivors were divided up into two teams. The winning team would go to a local village for a feast, and would get the chance to have a good night's sleep on a mattress. Captains were drawn to choose teams, and Natalie and Russell picked rocks to become the captains. Russell, Jaison and Shambo were playing on the yellow team against Natalie, Brett, and Mick.

The challenge was to grab one rope from a tangled web of ropes. Coconuts were suspended from these ropes. As the Survivors chose ropes, coconuts would fall. The first team to drop 100 coconuts would lose.

Natalie and Brett have been talking about their Christian beliefs. During the challenge, they prayed for guidance and help. During the prayer, Russell whispered to Shambo that the two had to be broken up. The score was close; 77 to 81, and Russell had to draw. He pulled no coconuts out. Brett chose the last rope and 23 coconuts fell, pushing them over 100. Shambo, Russell and Jaison were able to go on a reward.

While Shambo, Russell and Jaison were on the reward challenge, they were able to eat pork, seafood, and other foods, while watching the local villagers put on a show. They were also able to dance with the locals. Jaison spoke to Russell about strategic moves; he mentioned that he wanted to get to the final three with him, and of course Russell agreed. At night, they discussed their alliances, and what might be going on with Natalie, Mick, and Brett. They planned to vote out either Mick or Brett next.

Back at camp, the remaining Survivors decided to go to the beach and take a little time off to enjoy themselves. They gathered up snails and ate them on the beach.

During the immunity challenge, the Survivors had to count the number of items in six different stations. They would use these numbers to solve a combination lock; that would allow them to break a tile for the win. Number tiles were provided for them to record the number of objects at a station, they didn't have to remember them all. Some of the objects, like pigs and crabs, were moving. Other stations, like fish, were stationary. Mick and Jaison counted all the stations first, Russell finished counting, then Brett and Mick. Jaison had to recount. Brett counted all of the stations accurately, and won immunity.

After Brett won immunity, Jaison and Russell started talking about getting rid of Shambo. Shambo noticed that Jaison had talked to Russell quickly, and walked away when Shambo approached them; that made her nervous, but Russell calmed her fears, telling her that they were planning on voting out Mick. Russell spoke to Mick about getting rid of Shambo, and that surprised him, because he thought that he and Shambo were tight. Russell told Shambo that he had to throw him off the trail by telling him that they were voting off Shambo, but she wasn't comfortable with that idea.

Although this was the last night to play the hidden immunity idol, Russell decided that he wanted to keep it as a souvenir. Since they voted out Shambo, he really didn't need to use it.

Russell and Jaison's plan to vote out Shambo might not have been in their best interest. One of the reasons that they mentioned for voting her out was that she performed poorly in the challenges, isn't that what you want in the end, when people that perform well in challenges are your biggest threat? Because she angered almost everyone in the jury and was a traitor to her tribe, she would not perform well in the final jury vote; isn't that who you would want to take to the end? Although Russell has been playing this game for the most part like a genius, it seems like he made a move based on his personal dislike of Shambo, rather than the best strategic move.