"Survivor 45" Episode 9 Recap - Totally Austin
"Survivor 45" Episode 9 Recap - Totally Austin
With two idols and the dominant alliance, can this guy be stopped?
Every Wednesday after the “Survivor” episode airs you’ll be able to find a full recap along with individual player grades right here. The next day I’ll have an exit interview with the latest castaway on my YouTube Channel. And…get this…every Monday I’ll be squaring off against “Survivor 44” challenge beast Frannie Marin in the “Survivor” Power Rankings! That too is available on my YouTube Channel.
So, don’t miss a thing. Follow me here, follow me on YouTube, on X, etc…
Last Week: I was sooper sick and Kellie was brutally blindsided. I’m not sure which bothered me more.
39 26 Days, 18 Players, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let's take a look at the tribe as it currently stands...
The Dakuwaqa Tribe (wearing orange)
Austin, 26 - Grad Student
Bruce, 47 - Insurance Agent
Dee, 26 - Entrepreneur
Drew, 23 - Grad Student
Emily, 28 - Investment Analyst
Jake, 26 - Attorney
Julie, 49 - Estate Attorney
Katurah, 35 - Civil Right Attorney
Kendra, 31 - Bartender
Quick Aside: I wrote and illustrated a graphic novel! It’s about professional wrestling (but it’s really about marriage), if you’ve ever enjoyed any of my writing or my “Survivor” press, I’d really love it if you’d check it out. ORDER YOUR COPY HERE!
Post-Tribal Shenanigans
Kendra is really not OK with went down at Tribal Council, as we meet up with her giving a solo toast to Kellie by the sea.
Jake is still blown away that he’s still around. Yeah, you are me both, buddy.
When Bruce tries to get an explanation from Classic Reba, they tell him it’s because Kellie was gunning for him. Well, that is technically correct. And Bruce seems to buy it.
As they go on to further explain things, Bruce learns that Kellie felt like he was holding her down. Which is tough for Bruce to hear because he doesn’t see himself like that. This especially bothers him because he thought he treated Kellie the same way he treats his daughter and he’d hate to be overbearing to her.
I think Bruce might learn a lot of things about himself as he watches this back.
Later on, Kendra decides that she wants Dee to go home next. Kendra sees Dee as the biggest Reba threat. That’s amazing. Austin has 40 idols and is as charming as heck.
Katurah immediately spills that information to Julie who shares it with the Reba Four.
The next morning, Emily floats the idea of voting for Dee to Austin and Drew and it goes over about as well as the final-four fire making challenge at a RHAP event.
Pre-Challenge Fun
A treemail arrives at camp that tells the players that they have to divide into three teams before the challenge. Because there’s such little information to go on, they’re all flustered as they try to figure out what to do.
They come up with Jake, Drew, and Dee, Kendra, Bruce, and Julie, and Austin, Katurah, and Emily.
Julie rightfully freaks out as she’s the odd person out on her team. So, Austin slips an idol into her bag to give her some insurance in case the teams go to their own Tribals.
Immunity Challenge Time: The tribes will retrieve a disc and use it to navigate a ball over a balance beam. They’ll then dig up ropes. The first two tribes to complete this will move on. The two continuing teams will use the ropes to build a bridge. Then, they’ll toss balls onto a structure. The first team to do this will move onto the final round. For the last round, they players will compete individually, holding discs against a structure. The last person standing wins immunity.
The team that makes it to the final stage will also go to the Sanctuary for an afternoon of rotisserie chicken. And the first group to get eliminated will lose their votes at the next Tribal. However, they’ll go on a journey where they’ll have a chance to win it back.
Quick Aside: I hate this twist. So, someone in the dominant alliance can just throw the challenge for people on the bottom and cost them their votes?! What if Julie just takes a seat at the start of the challenge? Then Bruce and Kendra are both screwed.
Result: Austin, Emily, and Katurah are eliminated in the first round. Jake, Drew, and Dee are eliminated in the second round. And in the final round, it comes down to Julie and Bruce again with Bruce winning the rematch.
(OK, my fear of Julie throwing this was way unfounded. Maybe I underestimated the draw of rotisserie chicken.)
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner
Kendra hasn’t eaten poultry in fifteen years, but hunger is hunger, so she chows down. She apologizes to the bird, which should make everything OK spiritually.
Whoa…during the strategy discussion, Kendra floats the idea that Dee and Austin are a couple? Do tell…
However, Julie lets us know that she’ll never vote for Dee, and wants revenge on Jake from a couple of episodes ago. She floats this plan by Bruce and Kendra, and they’re up for it.
The Journey
The trio goes on a little hike and then are told to separate. Oh, please make Austin choose between his vote and a sandwich.
Unfortunately, it’s a timed logic math problem. Austin was able to figure it out. Katurah and Emily were not.
Pre-Tribal Politicking
When everyone returns to camp, Austin tells everyone that he failed. But he eventually fills his alliance in on the truth. This makes Dee giddy (or gid-dee) because she wants to send Kendra home tonight.
This causes some issues with Julie because she really wants Jake to go.
This also concerns Emily because she doesn’t understand why you’d target a non-threat like Kendra at this point.
Tribal Time
Nothing terribly interesting is said other than Bruce seeming to be a little hurt that nobody cheers for him win he wins immunity.
That and Jake practically begging the others to work with him.
Voting Time: Kendra votes for Jake, Jake votes for Kendra, and Austin votes super fast because he’s a secret genius. The rest of the votes are lost to the magic of editing.
JPro tallies and returns. He asks if anyone wants to play an advantage or an idol and…nobody does. We’ve got one vote for Jake, three votes for Kendra, and the tenth person eliminated from “Survivor 45” is…Kendra.
Ooo…somewhere a chicken ghost is laughing…
Wow…Bruce voted for her too.
Verdict: What does it say about how Bruce is feeling about everyone that the idea of using his idol to save someone else wasn’t even floated out there?
Also, are we in for obvious boots until it’s down to Emily and the Reba Four? Does Bruce think he can immunity win his way to the end of this?
Power Rankings Results: Frannie Marin had Kendra in spot eight while I had her in spot five. So, the current score is Team Marin 96, Team Holmes 83.
A: Austin - Building trust with Julie with his idol, winning back his vote, somehow not being a target? Austin is the king.
A-: Drew - Drew’s running the show, but the JT/Stephen parallels are amazing. If I were Drew I’d be very worried that my charismatic buddy might run away with this.
A-: Katurah - I kinda like how Katurah is positioning herself. The Reba Four can’t last forever.
B+: Dee - She got what she wanted and she has a very loyal core around her. Including people who don’t think they can beat her, yet don’t want to vote her out.
B: Bruce - I feel like Bruce really learned a thing or two this week that could help him if he gets to a final Tribal. And the jury does appreciate how well he’s playing.
B-: Emily - Good on Emily for realizing that she might be the odd person out in her alliance. But, she did it in a manner that made Austin and Drew realize that she recognizes this fact.
C+: Julie - You won’t vote out someone who will clearly beat you at final three?
C: Jake - You’re certainly trying. But, Tribal was downright uncomfortable with how much you were begging.
Welp, that’s it! Check out my exit interview with Kendra on YouTube this Monday. And, also don’t miss the next round of the “Survivor” Power Rankings as I square off against Frannie Marin!