Episode 4

Much like Totoket’s last visit to tribal council, Metacomet was brought together from their first experience.  The group felt that it was refreshing to have gotten it out of the way and clearly seen where they stood.  The alliance of four felt comfortable and Steve having voted with them felt that he was solidly in the group even if that was not really the case.  Considering that the game was on the brink of merging tribes, Metacomet knew how important the next challenge was.  With a win, they would enjoy a 5-3 numbers advantage and have the ability to pick off the remaining Totoket members one by one.  But a loss would even the numbers at 4-4 and leave the game wide open.

Amanda will soon trade her smile for her game face

Totoket arrived at the challenge before Metacomet and eagerly awaited to see who had been voted out.  Metacomet walked single file into the challenge lead by Amanda.  Totoket leaned to the side to see that she was followed by Dennis, Josh, Steve, and Diana.  Seeing Christine gone came as a surprise to Totoket.  At this they realized that the tribal dynamics were quite different.  Metacomet opted to make a traditional first boot from their tribe while Totoket had taken out a potential big threat right away.  Noting the differences in approach, Meredith rubbed her chin and thought about how this would impact post-merge strategy.

Today’s challenge was called “Lit Up.”  One at a time, members from each tribe would dive into the ocean from the 25 foot rock outcropping.  The castaway would then swim to one end of the course and pick up a match.  It was their goal to make it to the other side of the course without wetting the match so that it could light.  Once the match was struck, the castaway would climb out of the water and it would be the next person’s turn to go.  If the match failed to light, the castaway must return to the beginning and retrieve another match and try again.  The first tribe to light all four of their matches would win immunity!  Dennis smacked his head at hearing that this was a pretty tough swimming challenge and his tribe just voted out their strongest swimmer.  All of Totoket realized this too and stood up a little straighter.  Metacomet chose to sit out Steve who until the first challenge of Survivor: Branford had not been swimming in years.

Dennis and Larry started the challenge off and were evenly matched.  Both guys set the strategy for the rest of the challenge by holding the match way above their head and using one arm and both legs to swim.  At seeing this, Steve laughed from the sitout bench and said that his thought would have been to put the match between his teeth.  The leadoff swimmers were both successful at preserving their match and made it back out of the water at the same time.  This set up Josh to hit the water next followed by Angela a couple of seconds later.  Josh held his own but Angela really struggled.  Battling a fear of water, the professional daredevil moved very slowly which enabled Metacomet to increase their lead even more.  Angela was observed to cry out for Josh to come back and help her as she perceived herself to be drowning.  

Angela and Josh give it their all

Josh successfully got his dry match to the other end and Diana was next to take the plunge with Angela still in the water.  Despite her struggles, Angela was able to keep her match dry over the entire swim.  Meredith followed Angela with a lot of time to make up.  Both Diana and Meredith took a slow but steady approach ensuring the wellbeing of their matches.  If Diana got her match wet, Totoket would suddenly be in the lead.  A mistake by Meredith and the challenge was practically over.  Diana was successful which sent Metacomet’s final member into the water.  

Diana is able to maintain Metacomet's lead

Amanda steadily brought her tribe closer and closer to victory.  Meredith had no issues and completed her leg to send Nicholas into the water like a man possessed.  He began to make up time on Amanda but the course was not big enough for him to complete Totoket’s comeback.  As Amanda climbed out of the water, Metacomet’s celebration was quite muted due to exhaustion.  Totoket barely could express their disappointment due to the fatigue they also felt.

The challenge exhausted some Metacomet members more than others

The outcome of the challenge was quite disappointing for Totoket.  Primed for an opportunity to even the numbers, it was a big letdown to realize that whichever three of them made the merge would face an uphill climb.  Each of them had their own worries about being voted out.

Meredith thought she overheard Larry and Nicholas talking about connections that she might have on the other side.  She knew that for Totoket to have any chance post-merge they would need to be a unified group.  If she was perceived as being someone who might not stay true it was very possible that she could be going home tonight.  She had the idol in her pocket but did not want to use it unless she was absolutely sure that the votes were coming her way.

Meredith does some thinking

Nicholas was sure that he was head and shoulders above the rest of his tribe when it came to challenge performance.  Knowing that what kept him so safe during the tribal part of the game was about to make him a huge threat in an individual game, he grew worried. All he felt he could fall back on was his loyalty to Totoket since Day 1 and the promise that he would stay loyal after the merge.

Nicholas is worried about his challenge intensity

Angela felt horrible about her challenge performance. Even though the rest of Totoket was already aware of her less than average swimming abilities, today’s challenge went even worse than she could have imagined.  Despite her acclimation into the tribe since the first vote, she could not help but have flashbacks to the time when she thought her game was over at the tribal council when Melissa was voted out.

Larry knew that he was the emotional leader of the tribe.  Recalling the mantra that nice guys finish last, he was startled to realize that all he had been was nice since the beginning.  He knew that it was a bit foolish for his tribe to start thinking about jury threats but this was the group that voted Jim out first after all.  Though against his character, he gave thought to the idea that he might want to be a little bit mean in the lead up to tribal council to dispel these notions.

Nicholas and Larry went off to look for the hidden immunity idol.  Angela was about to join them but Meredith called her back.  She said that the two of them needed to stick together and that they could have the opportunity to turn the game on its head.  Angela didn’t understand so Meredith showed her the idol that she had found a while back.  Angela could not play it cool when she saw this.  Seizing the moment, she proposed a final three deal to Meredith.  Meredith was ok with that and they could not help but begin to think about how to make it unscathed through the entire Metacomet tribe after the merge.  The first step was figuring out who they wanted to have join them.

Angela and Meredith talk

Nicholas and Larry returned to camp without having found anything.  Angela immediately found who she was looking for and asked him if he wanted to make the merge.  Of course he nodded.  She told him who she and Meredith were voting for and that he could book his ticket to the final 8 quite easily by just going along with them.  After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, he nodded again.

But the two guys would not go down without a fight.  Minutes before tribal council they got together and debated who they would go after.  Nicholas wanted to vote Angela but Larry wanted Meredith gone.  After going over everything three times they still couldn’t come to an agreement.  They decided to see how things went at tribal council and make up their minds then and there.

At tribal council, Totoket was reminded of the fact that they would go into the merge down in numbers and that this was often a hit to all of their chances to win the game.  Larry chimed in that positivity could make all the difference.  In a comical scene, each tribe member voiced their worries about why they may be the next to go.  Talk turned to the Metacomet tribe who were soon to be Totoket’s tribemates.  Meredith thought it was quite clear that Amanda and Dennis had something going.  Angela guessed that Josh was in a comfortable position in the game.  The group agreed that it was tough to place where Steve was and called him a wild card.  They also acknowledged that Diana could be flying under the radar and before anyone knew it be in the final five.  While the speculation was fun, the reality was that only three of them would be around to see if their impressions and predictions were accurate.

Totoket endures a tense tribal council

When it came time to read the votes, Meredith’s hands did not even come uncrossed from her lap.  The idol would not make an appearance tonight.  The first vote came for Angela who squirmed in her seat.  Unbelievably, the second vote was for Meredith!  The guys never got on the same page!  The third vote was for Nicholas leaving three castaways with a vote and one to go.  The final vote came…Nicholas!  

Nicholas is stunned

With that, Nicholas became the 4th person to be voted out of Survivor: Branford!  

 The ladies are on the same page...

...while the guys are not

He wished his tribe luck and strolled off.  Larry apologized to the girls for going against his word.  The last three remaining Totoket members put it behind them and exchanged glances knowing what it would take to avoid becoming 7th, 6th, and 5th place.

Nicholas is sent packing

Next time on Survivor:

-       A merge ushers in the second half of the game!

-       The individual game leads to blurred (tribal) lines

-       The next tribal council sets the tone for the rest of the season!