Episode 8

The peaceful Branford conditions foreshadowed the calm before the storm that the game was about to see.  With the elimination of Dennis, the unlikely alliance of five that had formed at the merge would now be forced to turn on each other.  Meredith and Angela were established as a solid pair and had been working closely with Josh for the last three votes.  Steve and Larry were another tight twosome who felt they may have been on the outside looking in.  Since Angela and Meredith were near inseparable, the guys thought that Josh would be their best bet at progressing further in the game.

Larry wants Josh's help

Final five was also an important point in the game because it would be the last time at which someone could play a hidden immunity idol.  Meredith had found her idol toward the beginning of the game and expertly maneuvered her way through so that she would not even have to consider playing it.  Josh had only found his idol after Diana was voted out.  Winning immunity at the last challenge insured that it would be able to stay in his pocket until the upcoming tribal council.  Unless either of them was to make an all-time blunder, both would be guaranteed a spot in the final four!  It would be interesting to see what would happen if Josh or Meredith were to win the next immunity challenge.

Meredith knows she's sitting pretty

The final five arrived at the immunity challenge and some couldn’t believe that this was all that was left of the original 12 players.  But everyone would need to focus if they were to win the most important immunity challenge yet.

Each castaway would need to run to four different stations which were spread out across the island.  The first was near the rock wall at which Dennis found his idol.  The second was close to where Josh found his idol at the southern end.  The third location was at the beach.  And the final location was a spot only a short walk away from tribal council.  At each station, there would be four bags tied to a nearby post.  Each castaway would need to race to one station at a time, untie their bag and drop it back off at the starting point.  Once a castaway had gathered all of their bags, they would have to open them up and arrange the numbered tiles inside from 1 to 100.  The first to accomplish this would be guaranteed a spot in the final four!

Steve strategizes before the challenge

When the challenge began, the castaways scattered.  Meredith headed for the rock wall.  Angela went to the beach.  Both Steve and Larry went to the tribal council area.  And Josh revisited the area at which he found his idol.  Through the first bag, things were fairly even.  The guys started to slow down because they began to all go to the same station at the same time.  Jockeying for position to find their bags and untie them began to cost all three of them valuable time. 

Steve and Larry are knot joking around

Meredith and Angela had the good luck of always arriving at a station which was empty.  Meredith began to struggle with the knots and fell a little bit behind.  Her strategy of jogging to conserve energy for the final part of the challenge also began to put her in a hole. 

Meredith begins to untie

At every station, Angela tore through the knots like they weren’t even there.  Even though she will admit that she is not the fastest runner, she began to build a sizable lead.  By the time she got back with her fourth bag, she couldn’t believe that she was the first to retrieve them all.  Not only that but no one else was within sight.  This was her challenge to lose.  Angela’s confidence began to swell knowing how large her lead was and knowing how good with numbers she was.

Angela gets to work

Angela began to tear her bags open and order the tiles on the ground.  She had probably placed close to 25 of them before Josh arrived with his final bag.  Steve and Larry were not far behind.  Under such extreme circumstances and pressure, even a simple task like this could seem incredibly hard.  As Meredith returned and began it was noted that all of the castaways took the same approach in designing a 10 by 10 grid in which to place their numbers.

Josh tries to make up time

As time passed, Angela crept ever closer to her first immunity win.  She was holding her opponents off.  Larry might have been the fastest overall at placing his numbers but Angela’s head start in addition to the fact that he had accidentally placed the number 81 in between 17 and 19 were too much for him to overcome.  None of the others were able to make much more progress than getting halfway through as Angela placed her final number.  There would be no nerves from her at the next tribal council!  Angela had won individual immunity and would be guaranteed a spot in the final four!

Challenge beast

With Angela’s immunity win, it was guaranteed that either Steve or Larry would be the next to be voted out unless there was a major hidden immunity idol blunder by Josh or Meredith.  Not everyone knew this though.  Josh never told anyone about the idol that he had.  And neither Larry nor Steve knew about Meredith’s idol.  Things were about to get interesting.

Winning immunity very much emboldened Angela.  She began to think of more creative strategies now that she knew she was safe.  One idea that she kept coming back to was a blindside of Josh.  It made sense to her for a lot of reasons.  Josh was both a strong social and strategic player.  He pulled the strings on the biggest move of the game when Amanda was voted out.  He also had two immunity wins to his name.  She knew that Josh had built quite the resume.  Now that he didn’t have the necklace, targeting him would be a hard thing to pass up.

Angela shows off immunity and explains her plan

Angela talked this over with Meredith.  They bay area hippie couldn’t think of any counterarguments to Angela’s points.  She herself was safe since she would be playing her idol.  It was the time to take a risk in voting Josh out.  A final four with the two of them plus Larry and Steve seemed manageable.  Both Angela and Meredith believed that it was possible to get Steve and Larry to turn on each other.  It was hard to not get excited about the final three.

Steve and Larry were both in the mindset of trying to break Angela and Meredith apart.  They knew Angela was safe so it went without saying that they would attempt to vote Meredith out with Josh’s help.  But before they could put this into motion, they were joined in conversation by Meredith and Angela.  Angela took the lead in explaining that it made all the sense in the world to vote out Josh.  Whereas the four of them thought now would be the time to begin turning on each other, they were happy to delay this to achieve an even bigger outcome.

Steve and Larry think things through

Josh knew what was going on.  He was sure that he and Angela would turn on each other at some point.  He had to give her credit for making a move that he would have made himself.  But his hidden immunity idol was the big secret that he was letting no one in on.  While he pretended to be resigned to his fate he really was trying to figure out if Larry or Steve should be voted out.  He was fairly sure that he would receive four votes.  Since none of them would count, Josh’s vote would essentially determine who would be sent home.  He thought about this all the way to tribal council. 

The final five shares a laugh

At tribal council, the hot topic was hidden immunity idols.  Neither Josh nor Meredith admitted to having one.  Larry boldly stated that there were no idols in the game.  Steve was not worried either because Dennis had been voted out with the last idol left.  Steve might have been the only one to still think that Dennis possessed a real idol.  It was pointed out that despite coming into the merge with a 5-3 deficit, the former Totoket tribe now stood in the majority.  This was a source of pride for Angela, Meredith, and Larry but was more of a coincidence than a concerted effort to play along tribal lines.  Angela expressed disbelief in her dominant immunity win but said that for the first time she was completely relaxed at tribal council.  In a light moment, she was accused of taking performance enhancing drugs that morning which contributed to her win.  Things turned serious again and after a few closing remarks, it was time to vote.

The usual fear is gone

Not surprisingly, right before the votes were read Meredith stood up and played her idol.  But to the disbelief of the rest of the tribe, Josh followed suit and played his idol!  What the other four figured to be a sure thing was anything but now.

One idol...

...two idols

The first three votes were read and they were all for Josh.  Angela bemoaned the fact that her plan would have worked perfectly.  The fourth vote came for Steve making him the only person to that point with any votes.  The final vote was almost as much of a shock as Josh playing an idol.  It was for Larry!  Somehow, there had been a tie with Steve and Larry receiving one vote each!

Larry makes a strategic play...

...to negate Josh's vote...

 ...whose idol negated Angela's plan.

Josh, Angela, and Meredith would have no opportunity to confer upon whether Steve or Larry should be voted out in the revote.  The two guys were given the opportunity to plead their case.  Steve explained to the group how he had Larry were basically the same.  Same moves, same abilities, same personalities.  He urged the group to just do what they felt was best.  Larry agreed but said the one key differentiator was that he had voted for Steve to save himself!  Whether he knew or not why he did this, it was a brilliant move!  Steve couldn’t believe this and said “you voted for me you b------?”  Larry couldn’t suppress his smile as the other three prepared to revote.

Larry tries to convince Sangria to keep him

In a unanimous revote, the other three all noted that Larry was stronger than Steve in challenges.  Despite his best efforts to save himself, Larry became the 8^th person voted out of Survivor: Branford!  Being a true class act, he wished everyone luck and maintained his positive attitude even after his torch was snuffed.  The final four was only one step away from making it to the final tribal council.  But it would be the biggest step that many of them had ever taken.

Thanks for showing your vote!

Good game Larry

Next time on Survivor:

-          After two episodes of passiveness, Josh is once again playing hard!

-          It will take a steady hand to win the season’s final immunity challenge!

-          A final four tribal council for the ages!

Episode 7

Once tribal council had ended, each of the remaining six castaways went their own way.  Many of them had a lot to think about.

Dennis had run out of defenses.  His former alliance was gone and his immunity necklace was only temporary.  Now was the time for the ace up his sleeve.  Just in case of a situation like this came to be, he had made his own fake hidden immunity idol!  He found it in his bag and thought how best to leverage it.  Of course he would look for the real one but this could be just what he needed to buy himself more time in the game.  But would anyone believe it?

Angela was wondering how she got three votes.  It was clear that Diana and Dennis voted for her but she didn’t know that Larry was the other.  She knew that either Steve or Larry was the guilty party but didn’t know which.  She wanted to find that out.  In her eyes, the dissenter may have just given Dennis a reprieve at the next tribal council.

Angela tries to put the pieces together

Josh was still pondering his move.  He knew that whomever he wanted gone at the last tribal council would have their torch put out.  But he couldn’t help but continue to think about whether or not it was the right move to switch back to voting for Diana when he had just created a plan to take Angela out.  He sat down to get some rest and as luck would have it, a clue to a hidden immunity idol was cleverly hidden right next to him!  This clue had gone into play once Dennis had played his immunity idol two tribal councils ago.  Josh read the clue and was off.  It suggested looking atop a high ledge near a familiar basketball hoop-shaped landmark a short walk away from camp.  Josh found where he was going in the dark and began to search.  He needed some extra height so he began to climb up the structure.  After sweeping the area out of his sight with his hand for a minute, he found the wrapped up idol!  Not literally five minutes after he found the clue, Josh now had a hidden immunity idol!  His position, already a good one, just got a little better.

Josh's idol!

 Soon after, the Sangria tribe retired for the night hoping to be able to tough out the difficult Branford conditions and wildlife.

The tribe awoke to an early morning immunity challenge!  This challenge was called “Squared Off” and was another Survivor classic.  Each castaway would be positioned on a square on a lifesized game board.  One at a time each person would move to an adjacent square and mark the one that they had just stepped off of.  Marked squares could not be stepped on.  Once a castaway ran out of squares to move to, they were eliminated.  The last one standing would win immunity!

Steve assesses the gameboard

Meredith won the draw and made the first move.  She marked the square she stepped off of with an X and moved forward.  She was followed by Larry, Steve, Dennis, Angela, and Josh.  After a few moves it appeared that the most popular strategy was to make a beeline for the center of the board.  Only Josh began to move laterally.  

Early stages of the challenge

Several moves later, the situation appeared hopeless for Larry, Steve, and Meredith.  They had more or less boxed themselves in and could easily see the number of limited moves they had left.  Larry made his last move and was out.  Then Steve ran out of room and was eliminated.  Meredith quickly followed.  

Things tighten up

At this point, Dennis, Angela, and Josh were all walled in to their current spots on the board.  With a scan of the board, the writing was literally on the ground for Dennis and Angela.  Neither would be able to outlast Josh.  Dennis took his fate silently while Angela bristled at the fact that the challenge must be finished out rather than just hand Josh the necklace right then.  

Angela knows it doesn't look good

Just a couple of minutes later, Angela made her last move and was out of the challenge.  Josh had won his second individual immunity challenge!  This outcome wasn’t the worst news for the Sangria tribe as the objective had been to play keep away from Dennis.

Josh was riding high after returning to camp.  Combining his immunity necklace with the immunity idol he had found the night before, he knew that he was guaranteed a spot in the final four!  After all, immunity idols were only good up through the final five so unless unusually arrogant, he would be playing the idol at that tribal council.  As a result of this security, he decided to be very passive in the lead up to the next tribal council.  He’d listen to what others were thinking but he was quite comfortable letting others get blood on their hands this time.

Josh takes it easy and does work around camp

Dennis knew that he needed to go idol hunting right now.  He decided to check the beach and do some digging.  After putting in some serious labor, he found nothing.  He then decided to go check the rock wall that he knew so well.  He thought that since he found his first idol here, it wasn’t unreasonable that another could be hiding in the expansive structure.  After some more time, he was still empty handed.  He decided that strategizing now took precedent over the search.  While he was looking, he did make up his mind about his fake idol.  He would not say anything about it until tribal council.

Dennis searches in vain

The duo of Angela and Meredith got together to talk.  Angela was still a bit miffed about what happened at the last tribal council.  However, she had been no closer to figuring out whether it was Larry or Steve who was the one who cast a vote against her.  In talking through things with Meredith, they decided that it would be too big a risk to guess who it was and potentially vote out a loyal ally.  Cooler heads prevailed and Angela came to the conclusion that Dennis should be voted out at this time.  He did have several friends on the jury.  With him gone she along with Meredith and Josh would have the numbers advantage on Larry and Steve.  Their shenanigans would soon be a thing of the past. 

Larry and Steve were also talking.  They knew that it was easiest to get rid of Dennis next.  Since Josh was immune and Meredith was not viewed as a huge threat, their only other option would be to target Angela.  Steve was able to deduce that Larry voted for Angela at the last tribal council.  But this was only because he was not in the know about Josh and Steve flipping at the last moment.  The two were unlikely allies and had no problems with each other.  As they came across Josh, they noticed he was unusually passive.  Steve asked Josh what the plan was.  Josh simply said that Dennis was the target.

Larry and Steve check with Josh

Dennis was smart enough to know he was squarely on the chopping block but was having little success maneuvering.  He was getting shut down by everyone he approached.  Josh bluntly told him that there was nothing he could do.  He hoped Dennis would respect his honesty.  Then Meredith half heartedly told him that she would be interested in voting out Larry or Steve but only if Dennis could get the numbers.  Angela told Dennis that she didn’t want to vote him out over some of the others but it would be best for her game going forward.  Larry claimed to not know what was going on and said he would be open to ideas if Dennis if he had them.  Steve simply went the other way whenever Dennis got within shouting distance. 

Minutes before tribal council, Angela, Meredith, Steve, and Larry got together.  They were all able to agree that Dennis would have to be voted out next.  Larry relayed to the group that Josh was also in on this.  They agreed on playing nice this time and then at final five they could begin the backstabbing.  Every person in the group of four had the same idea.  “I have one solid ally and we’re against the other two.  We need Josh to come with us on the next vote.”

Last minute discussions

At tribal council, Josh opened up the discussion with some general strategy talk.  He humored himself by talking about techniques to flush out hidden immunity idols and noted that this was the last time it would make sense to split votes.  Dennis interjected and asked Josh what he was planning to do with his winnings as sole survivor.  He went on to say that Josh was clearly running the game.  His plan was to create as much uncertainty in the rest of the tribe as possible.  Meredith quickly defused that statement by saying that Dennis was out of the loop and was only trying to stir up trouble.  Steve, not able to hold it back, asked Dennis what he was planning to do with his 6^th place winnings.  Dennis smiled.  Larry noted that this wasn’t one happy family but for one day they could agree on the fact that Dennis was going home.  He commended Dennis for making it this far.  Angela said that she felt a little less scared than usual but would not be relaxed until after the vote.  She asked Dennis if he was voting for her.  He said yes because she was used to it and would be the least offended.

Survivor: Branford's 7th tribal council

But he also said yes because at that moment he pulled out the wrappings from his immunity idol earlier in the game now containing his fake immunity idol.  He put it around his neck and said that it was time for Sangria to come up with a new plan.  That plan being to vote alongside him for Angela.  

A fake idol!

Josh instantly told the tribe not to believe that this was a real idol.  But he couldn’t be quite as convincing as he would have liked without revealing the fact that he had recently found an idol himself.  Meredith despite having an idol of her own and knowing that what Dennis claimed to be an idol didn’t look like one said nothing.  Larry, Steve, and Angela mentally threw their plans out the window.  It was time to vote.

He's not buying what Dennis is selling

Nor is she

The votes were tallied and it was time to play any immunity idols.  Josh did not play his real idol.  Meredith did not play her real idol.  Dennis couldn’t play his fake idol without suffering embarrassment.  The first vote came down for Angela.  "Here we go again" she thought.  Then Dennis received a vote.  And then Larry.  Dennis had a glimmer of hope!  The fourth vote was for Anglea giving her two.  Dennis then got a second vote himself.  As it was announced “the 7^th person voted out of Survivor: Branford…” Angela smiled a disappointed smile and uncrossed her legs preparing to stand up.  But then she gasped as that last vote was for Dennis.  He became the 6^th place finisher!

The nonbelievers

Dennis only managed to convince Steve

Angela tries to hedge herself

The group had dodged that bit of trickery despite his best efforts.  For better or worse they had managed to do what they set out since the merge started.  But now there were no more clear enemies.  What would lie in store for the Final 5?

Game over for Dennis

Next time on Survivor:

-          The castaways lace up their running shoes!

-          Those left begin to think about the Final 3.

-          It is the last tribal council to play hidden immunity idols!  

Episode 6

It was not in the nature of either Dennis or Diana to explode on their tribe from swiftly sending them from the top to the bottom in one decisive vote.  They played it off, saying it was a good move to vote Amanda out.  They had seen how quickly the game changes and thought there were enough indecisive people left in the game that they were not ready to settle for 7th and 6th place.  Diana pointed out how everyone targeted Amanda because she was perceived as the most powerful person in the game.  Why couldn't the same argument be made this time around to oust Josh?  He had swung Angela and Meredith to his side and took Steve along with him.  He had also shown his challenge strength in winning the first individual immunity challenge.  Dennis agreed with this and figured that at the moment he was the next target.  Winning the next immunity challenge was his top priority.  He was holding out hope that he could swing the former Totoket tribe to his and Diana's side saying that “Everyone knows you can never trust Josh or Steve.”

"Everyone knows you can never trust Josh or Steve."

On the other side of the vote, Meredith was quick to acknowledge the tough decision that she just made but confessed that she couldn't fully trust Amanda.  She had no regrets about the vote.  Steve was surprised at the fact that Josh had more sway than Amanda when it came to winning the votes of Angela and Meredith.  He felt indebted to Josh since Amanda and her alliance did indeed target him. But he was not quite resting on his laurels.  He was sure that the Dennis and Diana would not be the next two people voted out of the Sangria tribe.

Meredith thinks she did the right thing last tribal

In what seemed like no time, the next individual immunity challenge was about to begin.  The challenge was called "Shell Game" and it was an old Survivor classic.  Each castaway would be given a questionnaire to fill out anonymously with the questions being about their fellow castaways.  Then once the results were tallied the group would again answer the questions this time trying to predict what the tribe said as a whole.  Each time a castaway got a question right, they were able to chop one of the other castaways three dangling shells to the ground.  The last castaway with a shell remaining would win immunity and was guaranteed a spot in the final 6!

Dennis and Diana knew that there was little they could do if the rest of tribe acted unified.  The two could be quickly eliminated and have no shot at immunity if that was the case.  Not yet resigned to their fate, they found private spots to fill out their questionnaires along with the rest of the tribe.

The group finished answering their questions and the results were tallied.  It was time to get this challenge going!

Sangria prepares to answer the first question

The first question asked was "Who is most likely to be blindsided?"  The correct answer was Steve.  He laughed because he knew that it would have already happened if not for Josh's help at the last tribal council.  Showing self awareness, Steve answered himself.  Larry, Josh, Dennis, and Meredith also answered correctly.  It was as if Dennis and Diana's dreams had come true.  For no good reason, the rest of the tribe began attacking themselves!  Larry gave a chop to one of Steve's shells.  Steve paid Larry back.  Josh chopped Meredith who then chopped Larry.  Dennis gave one of Josh's shells a chop.

Meredith goes after Larry

After Round 1:  

Angela, Dennis, Diana:  3 shells

Josh, Meredith, Steve:  2 shells

Larry:  1 shell

The second question was "Who is easiest to beat in the final three?"  The group's majority was Larry.  Again, the person who was the correct answer guessed themself.  Larry shrugged as he was told he answered right.  In addition to himself, Josh and Angela were also correct.  Larry decided to welcome Angela to the game with a chop.  Josh, realizing what was going on gave Dennis a chop.  Angela followed suit by chopping one of Diana's shells.

Larry chops Angela

After Round 2:

Angela, Dennis, Diana, Josh, Meredith, Steve:  2 shells

Larry:  1 shell

The next question was "Who is playing the hardest?"  Larry, Josh, Dennis, Steve, and Diana all answered correctly:  Josh.  The infighting continued among the group of five.  Larry chopped Meredith.  Josh gave Angela a hit.  Dennis seized his opportunity and eliminated Angela from the game.  The carnage continued as Steve delivered the final below to Larry, sending him to the bench. Diana swooped in and eliminated Meredith.

Josh targets Angela!

Angela is a sad panda

After Round 3:

Dennis, Diana, Josh, Steve:  2 shells

Angela, Larry, Meredith:  OUT

Round 4 posed the question of "Who would you most like to be stranded with?"  The correct answer was Angela.  Hearing that turned her frown upside down from the sidelines.  Only Josh and Dennis answered correctly.  Josh decided to use his chop on one of Dennis's two remaining shells.  Dennis returned the favor and reduced Josh's shell count to 1.

Dennis sticks it to Josh

After Round 4:

Diana, Steve:  2 shells

Dennis, Josh:  1 shell

Angela, Larry, Meredith:  OUT

The next question was "Who is the most honest?"  Only Diana was correct this time as she answered Dennis.  Most would argue that she made the correct decision in her spot as she decided to eliminate Josh from the game.

Diana sends Josh packing

After Round 5:

Diana, Steve:  2 shells

Dennis: 1 shell

Angela, Josh, Larry, Meredith:  OUT

The final three

The 6th question was "Who is the biggest underdog?"  All three remaining players answered correctly by saying Meredith!  Dennis walked over to Steve's shells and gave him a chop.  Steve, blinded by fury, was set to chop Dennis's last shell.  But Dennis, knowing that Steve was a logical person when not incensed and also acting out of self preservation, quickly yelled out that if Steve went through with his move then Diana automatically wins due to it being her turn next.  Steve snapped out of it and chopped one of Diana's two shells.  Diana, now angry at both Dennis and Steve wanted to eliminate them both.  But she saw reason and took Steve out of the game.  Improbably, Dennis and Diana were the last two left in the challenge!

Wait!

Steve nearly blew it

After Round 6:

Dennis, Diana:  1 shell

Angela, Josh, Larry, Meredith, Steve:  OUT

Question 7 was "Who mistakenly thinks they're running the game?"  Dennis and Diana thought for a bit.  Diana answered Larry.  Dennis answered Steve.  The correct answer was Steve!  Dennis had won immunity!  He made the final chop and was awarded the immunity necklace.  Everyone who had been standing on the sidelines looked around as to say "How did that happen!?"

Dennis is victorious

After the challenge, the weight that was on Dennis had now transferred onto Diana’s shoulders.  While happy for Dennis, she thought that the necklace would have looked even better on her.  She thought about whether she should have taken Dennis out at the challenge and left it between her and Steve.  But there was no time for second thoughts.  She had to do what she could to stay in the game.  She liked the idea of trying to bring the former Totoket to her side this time in order to get rid of Josh.

The majority five of Sangria was disappointed that Dennis had immunity as he was their clear target.  Luckily they still had some room for error.  Diana was the fallback option.  But before they could make that happen, they needed to restore their unity as the last challenge broke it apart.  Steve and Larry pretty much laughed it off.  Josh was mainly targeted by Dennis and Diana which he was able to understand.  But Angela and Meredith took the most exception to how the game went.  Both had bones to pick with Larry and Josh.  Larry explained that it was “just for fun” and didn’t know what he was doing.  He was the easiest to beat in the final three after all.  That explanation was so bad that it actually made sense to them.  

Larry charms his way out of a predicament

But Josh had some explaining to do.  All he was willing to say on the subject was that he had his reasons and wanted to keep up appearances.  When pressed he explained that he did not want to make it look that the three of them were as close as they were.  Josh assured Angela and Meredith that they would be the final three.  While not completely satisfied with that explanation, Angela and Meredith did not force the issue.  They did come away feeling a little less trust for Josh.  But Angela was still convinced that their five would stick together for the next couple of votes.

Don't get on her bad side

 After Diana finished talking with Dennis, she set out to find Angela and Meredith.  Before she could reach them she was intercepted by Josh.  Diana asked him if she was next to go.  Josh said it was assumed to be the case but there may still be time to change things.  He told Diana that he began to get worried about Angela.  She was clearly one of the most likeable people left and was a solid jury threat.  He also noted the connection between her and Meredith and thought that it needed to be severed.  He thought but didn’t say that with Angela out of the way Meredith would have nowhere to turn and he could have complete control over her.  Diana started to put the numbers together.  If Josh was true to his word, this might actually work.  Dennis would definitely side with this plan and Josh knew that Steve would listen to him.  He also thought he could convince Larry that Angela was mad enough at him to threaten his life in the game.  Diana could not help but get a little excited at this change in direction.  She completely forgot of her original intention to talk to Angela and Meredith.

Josh has a message for his opposition

 Slowly this plan began to come together.  Diana told Dennis about her conversation with Josh.  He knew that he was safe, but getting his main ally one step closer with him was a huge gain.  He supported this.  Josh pulled Steve aside and let him know about the plot to blindside Angela.  Though he couldn’t quite understand the rationale for the move, he trusted Josh and was willing to go along.  Steve in turn talked to Larry about the plan.  The two had formed a close bond that couldn’t be understood by the rest of the tribe.  Steve took his hand at taking a page out of Josh’s book and tried to embellish things a bit to Larry.  He told him that Angela was furious at him for his role in the immunity challenge.  Steve said that Angela was planning to stick to the original plan and vote out Diana next.  But once that was done, Larry was squarely in her crosshairs.  Larry came to the conclusion himself that it would be beneficial to nip that in the bud right now.  Steve told him that this plan had the support of Josh, Diana, Dennis, and himself.  It was all but done.

Minutes before tribal council Josh began to have second thoughts about his plan.  The notion of turning so quickly on Angela had him “spooked.”  Thinking long term, he came to the conclusion that this move was a huge risk and would possibly put his game in jeopardy.  He knew that if he were to pull this move off, he would have burned multiple bridges and be left only with Steve as a true ally.  He confessed his misgivings to Steve.  Unfortunately Steve began to panic too.  His misinterpreted Josh’s doubts as Diana and Dennis scheming to try something else.  Namely, vote him out.  He managed to find Diana at the last second.  She assured him that she was voting for Angela and that he had nothing to worry about.  As the darkness set in, Steve couldn’t quite tell if Diana was looking him in the eye or not…

What will Steve do?

 Sangria arrived at tribal council and took their seats.  Dennis couldn’t downplay how big of an immunity win this was.  For the first time he voiced how surprised he was that everyone didn’t just target Diana and himself when chopping the shells.  This caused grumbles among some of the others.  Larry was asked if the course for the rest of the game was set at the last tribal council.  He said that it was, but sometimes you had to go a different route to arrive at the intended destination.  Meredith didn’t know what to make of that comment.  From Day 1 he had been a little “out there.”  She knew that she was part of a 5-2 numbers advantage.  Larry could do whatever he wanted and it would make no difference.  Angela expressed her usual feelings of fear at tribal council.  This caught Josh’s attention.  He said that only Diana should be feeling fear.  Angela said that she had no concrete reason to be so nervous (Josh felt relieved that his plan wasn’t exposed) but something about sitting around the fire just got her unsettled.  Diana noted that she was most likely to go and made a half-hearted attempt at convincing Dennis to give her the necklace.  He politely declined.  She then said that all hope wasn’t lost yet and if she went out, she was going down swinging.  Steve wrapped things up by saying that he knew what was going on, then knew the new thing that was going on, and now doesn’t know what is going on at all.  On that note, it was time to begin what was sure to be a chaotic next few minutes.

The final 7 talk at tribal

 The votes were tallied and about to be read.  If anyone had a hidden immunity idol and wished to use it, now was the time.  Meredith felt comfortable enough to not even consider it.  The first four votes were alternated between Diana and Angela.  Angela became terrified.  She wondered if her fear somehow translated to receiving votes and almost every tribal council she had been to.  Two more votes later, nothing had been decided.  Angela and Diana were deadlocked at three votes apiece.  

One of them is about to go

The last vote was slowly and agonizingly opened.  Two sighs were audibly heard.  One came from Diana and one from Angela.  One was relief, the other was disappointment.  Diana appeared heartbroken as her torch was extinguished.  She became the 6th person voted out of Survivor: Branford!

Regret

Confidence

Mischievousness

Confusion

Angela wondered what had happened.  Meredith shifted uncomfortably.  Dennis wondered if he had been played.  Josh was unsure of his decision.  Larry and Steve stared straight ahead.  And there was still another four tribal councils to go…

Diana is crushed

Next time on Survivor:
-       A new idol enters the game and Dennis looks to refill his bag of tricks!
-       The castaways are pushed to their mental limits in a fight for immunity
-       No matter how much it appears so, tribal council is never straightforward