Welcome back to Survivor! Let’s get down to it.  The reward challenge this week includes a reward of serving as Survivor ambassadors, bringing much-needed supplies to a school in Fiji, and a fried chicken feast. But, there’s only going to be three teams of two. Someone will be left out.

After drawing to figure out captains, Kellyn and Sebastian, Wendell and Domenick, and Donathan and Laurel are the teams competing. Angela was left out, and she doesn’t seem super happy about it. The challenge itself deals with spools and stairs. A lot of stairs. “I can hear the breathing from here!” Jeff Probst says.

The challenge itself really is pretty cool. Each team has a “machine,” where they need to drop spools, and time them so that their partner can retrieve it before it hits the ground. There’s no stopping. At the end, five spools are in play, which means everyone’s exhausted. Sebastian and Kellyn are the first team out, and Laurel misses her spool by mere seconds later. Wendell and Dom win the award, and honestly, I had no doubt that’d happen.

They get to choose someone to come with, and they choose Laurel. They’re both on the same page on who to send to Ghost Island, too — Sebastian, or as they know him, “The Pirate.” Donathan is pissed that they chose Laurel, and wants to prove that he’s not someone they should mess with.

Ghost Island

Back on Ghost Island, Sebastian smashes his urn and is told to follow the fire. “The odds have improved. Three of these hold power. Risk your vote to play,” his scroll says. He chooses to play. He find a key and is a winner — it’s a steal a vote that allows for an extra vote, and was poorly played by Kellyn this season. “She didn’t use it correctly,” Sebastian says. “The fact I have two votes is tremendous!”

Laurel, Wendell, and Dom arrive on a boat filled with toys and school supplies, and everyone goes nuts. POOL NOODLES FOR EVERYONE. Dom thinks it’s a good group to have at this reward. “We’ve come a long way together,” Laurel says. She tells them she’s with them till the end, top three.

When they return, Donathan says that he’d vote for Dom over Wendell in the top three. Wendell says it’s good incentive for Dom to put him on the jury. Yikes. Donathan’s whole thing is trying to pen the two against each other. Dom thinks Donathan is getting ready to make his big move with stuff like this, and thinks he’s going to ruin everyone’s game.

The Immunity Challenge

It’s time for the Immunity Challenge. Contestants will grab planks to build a bridge and cross it. Then, climbing. Then, puzzle. “Survivor is full of do or die moments,” Probst says. And this is one of them. Planks need to be put in one at a time, and it’s way more difficult than you might assume as they go in a particular order.

Angela and Donathan are having extreme difficulty on the bridge, while Sebastian and Wendell are already at the puzzle. Angela is dead last, but let’s be honest here — Angela’s no threat. She’s probably safe tonight.

Jeff Probst states how the puzzle is simple, but because they’re so tired and far into the game, it’s suddenly hard. I’m sure that makes the Survivor castaways just feel great about themselves and their own capabilities. Angela’s still on the bridge, by the way. If I were Angela, I’d probably be crying due to frustration.

It’s Laurel who wins individual immunity tonight. Wendell gets very sad about it, since he had his puzzle done before her, but didn’t call it. So, Laurel wins. That’s how they work it out on Survivor. He’s happy that Laurel won, but is still very visibly pissed. Kellyn, however, thinks it’s the perfect time to vote out Wendell. And since it’s only 8:35 right now, it’s safe to say that some shit goes down in Tribal Council.

Laurel wants to get Wendell out, but also feels bad based on everything that happened at the challenge. But, she’s likely targeting Kellyn. She’s likable, has friends on jury, and isn’t bad at challenges. Donathan hears the plan, and still thinks he’s being blindsided. Dom thinks Donathan is “going bonkers” (my favorite term) and self-imploding.

While Wendell has a real idol, he’s also been working on a fake idol — and is looking for paperwork to make it seem more legit. Donathan sees an exchange happen where Dom puts something in Wendell’s bag, thinks it’s weird, and a tense exchange takes place. He tells Dom that if she uses an idol on Kellyn tonight, he’ll “just flip.”

 

Tribal Council

It’s time for Tribal Council, and Jeff Probst is all like, “I know this is so hard, you guys” before retreating to his hotel that probably has a sauna. Probst reflects on Wendell’s Immunity Challenge, saying he’s never seen something like that. Wendell says he’s not as sharp as he was on day one. He’s proud of Laurel, but wants to be wearing that necklace himself.

Dom talks about how Donathan got a little weird y going to be her tonight, but a paranoid Donathan says that when he’s working with people, he needs information. Kellyn talks about how it’s probably going to be her going home tonight, but Donathan interrupts after seeing some undercover chatting and is like, no. It’s me. Remember when Donathan was all like, “I’m just here for the experience” back in like, episode one?

Nobody plays an idol tonight. Domenick, Donathan, and Kellyn all get votes first. At the end, it’s tied between Kellyn and Donathan. So, it’s one of them tonight. The remaining Survivor castaways revote. Donathan gets one vote and grabs his bag, but — he’s not going anywhere. Kellyn is out tonight.

The good news is, she’s all smiles and isn’t a sore loser. “It’s truly been a pleasure from the bottom of my heart,” she says. Final six, y’all.