Survivor: Tahitian Islands

Loved One Visit

The final eight castaways amble into camp. Avril and Brendon set their immunity necklaces on a branch near the shelter. Deep into the night, Avril wakes up and slowly climbs out of bed, carefully so she doesn't wake up anybody else. She debates over waking up James, but ultimately decides against it. She walks around the campsite to look for an idol, but can't find a thing. She sees a funky dead tree that could have an idol, so she breaks it apart and searches all around it. She looks under it and near it and can't find what she's looking for. It's been a while now and she wants to make it back to the shelter before any other castaways wake up.
She walks back to the shelter and as she sees Michael start to sit up with his eyes closed, she dives back into the spot on the shelter where she used to be laying down in. The shelter made a few cracking noises, before crashing to the ground and collapsing with the castaways still in it. The other six castaways all wake up right away from the startling noise. However, nobody is sure what caused the trembling collapse, except for Avril. They all get out and work on rebuilding a new better shelter.
~
"Come on in guys!" hollers Jeff, from a distance. The castaways each walk in. "James, you all have been out here for twenty one days, are you missing home and the luxuries of it?" Joey tears up. He knows exactly what's to come.
James replies with, "Well of course, but I've been fighting and I would like to go back home and see my friends and family, but I've come such a long way from the start and I can't give up now."
"That is exactly why we're doing what we're doing for you all today. Come on in Ian!"
James's brother, Ian, runs in and gives James a large hug. "How've you been all this time?" asks Ian.
"It's been the best experience of my life!" he responds, tears in his eyes.
"Alright Ian, take a seat on the bleachers," announces Jeff.
"Dwayne, it's clearly been a roller coaster of a game for you. Come on in, Rocky!" yells Jeff Probst. Dwayne's father, Rocky, runs onto the beach, tears in his eyes. He hugs his son and pats him on the back, proud. Dwayne cannot find his words, shocked at the sense of family.
"Alright Dwayne, that's it. Rocky, go and take a seat on the bleachers."
"Lilly, I think it's time for us to bring in your loved one. Come on in, Tina!"
"What!" yells Lilly, breathless. Tina races in and gives Lilly a big hug. "Everybody is great!" she exclaims, "Mom, Dad, all of your friends, we're all so proud of you!" Lilly wipes away a tear and Tina waves as she takes her spot on the bleachers.
"Taylor, you're next. Let's bring in your mom, Andrea!" says Jeff. Andrea prances on the beach, shocked at how scrawny and dirty Taylor has been. "You're a mess, darling!" she declared. Taylor shook her head and laughed. She gave her mother one last squeeze before she took a spot on the bleachers.
"Brendon, you seem to be missing home a bit, too. Let's bring in your wife. Come on in Sarah!" yells Jeff. Brendon's wife ran in and the two began to hug and kiss, relieved to see one another. Sarah does a small finger wave bye and walks over to the bleachers. Brendon cannot take his eyes of the stunning woman.
"Avril," starts Jeff, "let's give you a taste of home. Come on in Michelle!" Avril's sister darts across the hot sand to give the less than one hundred pound Avril a warm embrace.
"You're new single, Head Above Water, is a big hit," says Michelle. "We're all so proud of you back home." Avril wiped away a tear from her eye as Michelle walked over to the bleachers.
"Joey, you've had to wait for this since day one. I think it's time that we give you a small bit of what it's like back home. Let's bring in your sister. Come on in, Nicole!" Joey finds his footing and holds his arms open for a hug. His sister runs in and hugs him with a pat on the back.
"We love you," she exclaims. "Don't give up! We're all super proud of you!"
"Michael, last but not least, let's bring in your wife, the other Nicole. Come on in Nicole!" Michael's wife shot across the beach and welcomed Michael with a romantic cuddle. She wiped dirt off his face with her thumb and took her seat on the bleachers.
"Okay. Now that you all have your loved ones here, switch spots with them all," announced Probst. The sixteen seem hesitant at first, but then they all adjust to fit what he had just said. "As you may have assumed, you all will not be competing," says Jeff, gesturing to the castaways on the bleachers. "Instead, your loved ones will have to win the reward for you! For this challenge, each castaway's loved one will be given a bucket with holes in the bottom. On my go, you will each run to the shore and collect as much water as possible, before running back to fill up your tank. When your tank in full enough, your flag will raise. First castaway's loved one to fill up the tank and raise their flag will win reward." The loved ones cheered. "The winner, and their loved one will be taken to a nearby resort, where they will enjoy an ancient tribal ritual, followed by and American barbecue. Loved ones ready, go!" yells Probst.
Right from the start, Ian, James' brother is dominating the challenge. He can run swifter than anybody else out there. With Joey's sister, Nicole, right behind him, Ian is confident he can win. In just two trips from the shore and back, Ian's flag raises and he wins reward. James springs up and sprints in with his hands flying around in the air. The two brothers put their arms around one another.
"Congratulations! You two have won reward!" announces Jeff. James gives Ian a high five. However, now you have a choice. You may either go through with the reward you originally won, or you can say your goodbyes to Ian, while everybody else will get to embark on the reward without you, while you go back to camp, alone."
James' heart drops and he feels a wave of stress take over his body. He turns to Ian, and gives him a big hug, the last squeeze he'll get out of his brother before saying, "I feel it in my gut that I should let everybody else embark on this amazing opportunity. I've decided that I'll go to camp alone and everybody else can go on the reward. The castaways all run in from the bleachers to hug their exhausted loved ones. "Everybody except for James and Ian, the boat to pick you up will arrive shortly. James, I've got nothing for you. Head back to camp. James and Ian each exchange one final brother hug before parting ways.
~
James arrives at camp and the first thing he notices is a blue scroll by the shelter. He opens it and reads aloud: "Set fire to me! Red is well. Orange is canopy. Yellow is shelter. Green is tribe flag. Blue is ocean. Purple is rocks." He notices the detailed blue patterns across the scroll and absentmindedly throws it into the fire pit, where it is set ablaze. The flame glows of fluorescent green and he soon realizes the mistake he made. He tried to remember back on what green had said. He then quickly reached into the fire, almost burning his hand, to grab the remains of the note. He could faintly see a "gre...s...ibe fl..." Hus mind rushed to any possible combinations. "Green is I-B-E-F-L," he says to himself. He soon realized that this was pointing out that the note had "Green is tribe flag," previously written on it. He ran to the tribe flag and noticed another blue scroll, dangling off the side. He unwinded the scroll to find that it had "RED" written upon it in big red letters. He remembers that red meant well so the buried the scroll in the sand and ran to the well. What he found at the well would change his whole game. Wrapped in parchment laid a hidden immunity necklace. He screams "Yes!" though nobody can hear him for miles and places the necklace into his pocket. He then runs to take a nap in the shelter before anybody else arrives at camp.
~
"Come on in guys!" yells Jeff, aloof. "First thing's first, Avril and Brendon, I'm taking it back." The two previous winners walk to Jeff and hand them their necklaces. "Immunity is back up for grabs. For this challenge, you must all attempt to hold on to a wooden unforgiving pole. If you fall off of the pole and hit the sand, you are out. Last man standing wins individual immunity and is guaranteed a spot in the final seven." The survivors get themselves perched stop of their poles. The hot sun beats down on the castaways. A few minutes pass by and the dedicated celebrities aren't budging. Dwayne feels it hard to hold all of his weight and he knows that he won't be able to beat the younger castaways and he drops. Taylor and Lilly follow, a few minutes later.
After fifteen minutes of the challenge, Jeff walks around with a peanut butter chocolate pie. "If anybody would like to drop to eat this pie, they must tell me and then remove themselves from the challenge," he announces. Brendon waves, "me," and leaps off of his wooden pole onto the bit sand. A few moments later, James decides to join him. "Yeah, me too," he says before climbing down off of his pole. The only castaways who are still in the challenge loare now Avril, Joey, and Michael. Avril's hands become cramped so she shakes them out one by one and loses her balance. She falls and is now out of the challenge too. "Joey and Michael are the only two left," says Jeff.
"'Ey Joey, if you drop out now then I promise I won't vote you out," says Michael. Joey doesn't say anything back. "Well, if you're going to be that way about it," shrugs Michael, just before jumping down on the sand.
"Joey has won individual immunity and is guaranteed a spot in the final seven!" proclaims Jeff.
Joey walks over to Jeff, who pats him on the back and puts the immunity necklace around his neck. Michael gives Joey a hug and the eight walk back to camp.
~
"So how was the barbecue?" asks James.
"It was awesome," starts Dwayne. "Thank you so much, by the way."
"Oh, no problem. I had the best nap ever," he laughs.
"Oh I bet!" replies Dwayne.
Right away, everybody meets in the woods while James changes washes his clothes in the ocean. When James gets back to the shelter, he is shocked to see that everybody has left him.
Meanwhile, in the woods, Taylor brings up the idea of voting out James. "You guys, he totally wasn't there for the bonding experience and I just feel that we are all tighter because of it while he is kind of on the outs," she suggests. Brendon, Dwayne, and Lilly decide to keep their mouths shut while the original members of the Taiarapu tribe discuss a vote. "Well, he did make a massive sacrifice for us and it would be like a double whammy to vote him out. I not know I would just feel bad," says Avril, with a shrug.
"Well then who else would we vote out, Avril? You? Me? One of us? James is our only choice unless you want to flip on your friends!" Taylor snaps. Avril nods, knowing what she should just go with it to be in the majority, even if James is her closest ally. Joey, however, was flabbergasted at the idea of voting out James, who he thought had been with him from the start. Taylor knows that her main target is Michael, who she believes had flipped on her by voting out Beyoncé, but she can't say that because he is with her.
After that conversation, Joey meets up with James to sort out a plan for them. "James, I need to talk to you," says Joey as the two walk onto the beach together. They lay down in the sand, with their backs up to the sun, to discuss a plan. "James, they're going for you," he confesses.
"What do you mean? Who is going for me?'" asks James, astonished.
"Well, everybody. They were planning to vote you out because they didn't feel you were close to them, after the reward," Joey nods.
"That's so annoying. The reason they went on that reward was because of me!" says James, rolling his eyes.
"Yep, I think you're on thin ice tonight. You don't happen to have an idol, right?" asks Joey.
"Um, yeah," nods James.
"Wait so, you like have a hidden idol?" questions Joey.
"Yep, I found it while everybody else was on the reward and I haven't told anybody yet," replies James.
"Oh my gosh, this is perfect! If you play it on yourself and don't tell anybody else about it, we are totally in control!" grins Joey.
"Yes! I think my ideal target would be Michael or Dwayne because they are both physical threats, but also Avril because I thought she'd come to me when she heard my name," says James.
"Everybody is voting you, so if we're torn then we can vote separately and have a revote," suggests Joey.
"I have an idea!" announces James, disregarding what Joey just said. "If I vote somebody we want out, and you vote me, then they would never suspect you flipping and that puts you and I both in a power position!"
"I think that sounds good," says Joey. "So I'll vote you and who will you vote?"
"I'm not sure yet," says James, "I think I'll decide at tribal council between the three names I told you."
"Okay! Sounds good," says Joey, giving James a high five.
~
The final eight walk into tribal council, eager to get to the vote. "Now bringing in the jury, Rachel and David voted out at the last tribal council. Michael, I'll start with you. You were very close to winning immunity but you had to give up. Was that a million dollar mistake?" asks Jeff.
"I don't think so, but we'll see, I guess," replies Michael.
"Brendon, how about you? You totally just gave up for food. Is that going to influence the vote?" questions Jeff Probst.
"I hope not but I'm always expecting the worst. It definitely could sway the vote one way but I hope everything goes as planned," nods Brendon.
"Lilly, you clearly played a large roll in the last tribal council. Now that we're back to one group, would that make you any more or less of a target?" asks Jeff.
"Well, to be honest, I haven't really thought on it much. All night I have sort of had a plan and I'm sticking to that," shrugs Lilly.
"Taylor, it's five against three: five original Taiarapu castaways and three original Māhina castaways. The easy move would just be to vote off a Māhina castaway. What's your opinion on that?" asks Jeff.
"That kind of outlook on the game would be too simple. Survivor is a very complex game and that's why it's so hard to win. I'm sure that anybody's original tribe will not influence this vote, and honestly, pink and yellow are dead. We're all blue with Moorea and we're all one unit."
"Joey, would you agree with that?" questions Jeff.
"Yes, one hundred percent. There really is no division between us based on tribal lines," he nods.
"Well, with that, it is time to vote. Brendon, you're up." One by one, each of the castaways vote.
"If anybody has a hidden immunity idol and you would like to play it, now would be the time to do so." James stands up and hands his idol to Jeff.
"This is for me," he says. Taylor tries to keep a straight face as her heart drops.
"This is a hidden immunity idol. Any votes for James will not count. I'll read the votes. Person voted out will be asked to leave the tribal council area immediately. First vote, James, does not count." James claps his hands and laughs. "James, does not count. James, does not count. James, does not count."
"Wow," James mouths, ecstatic.
"James, does not count. James, does not count. James, does not count. Thirteenth person voted out of Survivor Tahitian Island and sixth member of our jury, Dwayne. Dwayne, you need to bring me your torch." Taylor's jaw drops. Joey grins at James from behind. Dwayne grabs his torch and places it infront of Jeff. Jeff snuffs his torch. "Dwayne, the tribe has spoken. It's time for you to go."
"Bye guys, good luck," waves Dwayne, thankful for his survivor experience.
"You clearly just voted out physical and social threat, whether you meant to or not, and you all have a lot of explaining to do. Head back to camp. Goodnight."