Episode 5

Great excitement filled the Branford air.  Soon Metacomet and Totoket would be no more.  Since the merge tribe would be located at the Metacomet tribe camp, Larry, Angela, and Meredith began getting their things in order and making final preparations before venturing into the unknown.  Down 5-3 in numbers, the group couldn't count on success by being passive.  Larry felt that he identified with Steve and sought to pull him in.  Angela and Meredith, who had made a final three deal, also singled out Metacomet tribe members that they would talk to.  Angela thought talking to Josh would be a good idea while Meredith wanted to see where Amanda was at in the game.  The group of three headed to their new home.

Metacomet was also anxiously awaiting their new guests.  They quickly huddled and Amanda went over the plan of "stick to tribal lines and this is the final five."  But it was not as it appeared.  Josh who was still leery of Amanda and Dennis looked to grab Steve and jump over to the Totoket side for a vote.  Amanda, Dennis, and Diana were not blinded by the notion of tribal lines either.  They kept in the back of their minds that it would be possible to cut a former tribe mate and still enjoy a numbers advantage.  If Steve or Josh stepped out of line, they could be dealt with.

Steve will toast to a merge

Soon the former members of Totoket arrived and pleasantries were exchanged.  A huge merge feast of hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, tossed salad, and various drinks awaited.  Since both hidden immunity idols were in the possession of castaways, there would be none of the usual shenanigans of hidden clues to disrupt the feast.  It was an enjoyable experience for all.  New black buffs were handed around the group.  Over drinks, the merged tribe settled on the name "Sangria" with no opposition.

Part of the merge feast!

Shortly after the conclusion of the feast, the new Sangria tribe was due to compete in their first individual immunity challenge.  The name of the challenge was "Mathsketball."  Each of the eight castaways would stand at the starting line.  They would then race out and grab a ball in the field, return it to the starting line, and go back for another.  Once a castaway had retrieved three balls, the objective was to shoot two of the three balls into a bucket from 15 feet away.  Once successful, the castaway would race to the other end of the course to complete a difficult mental math problem.  The first to come up with the correct answer would win individual immunity!

Sangria about to have its first individual immunity challenge

Survivors ready...go!

The challenge began with a flurry!  Josh jumped out to a quick lead followed by Dennis and Steve.  Everyone collected their first ball and returned for a second.  Midway through, Steve slipped and took a hard fall costing him valuable time!  Larry could not help but let out a mirthful laugh as he picked up his second ball.

Steve is in PAIN!

Josh and Dennis were the first to begin shooting.  However, neither of them could land a ball in the bucket and had to run out to retrieve their misses.  This allowed most of the rest of the tribe to catch up and begin shooting.  Amanda was the first to get a ball in as she used a bounce shot.  After many more misses, Josh scored his first ball.  Not long after, Josh made his second!  He was off to the final part of the challenge!

Who's been practicing their carnival games?

Josh is about to sink his second shot

Showing his mental acumen, Josh made short work of the math problem and won the first individual immunity challenge of Survivor: Branford!  He received polite applause from the rest of the tribe.

Looks good on him

Once the Sangria tribe returned from the challenge, the strategy talk began in earnest.  The old Metacomet four gathered together and weighed their options.  Amanda quickly laid out her plan.  The best way for them to advance through the game was to eliminate the biggest threats right away.  And by threats she meant Steve and Larry.  Thinking that it would be harder to get Steve out later in the game as the numbers dwindled, the group decided to take care of him first.  They looked to get Angela and Meredith on board with this to build trust.  They figured that the former Totoket girls would have no reason to argue this decision.  Then someone would just tell Steve to vote Larry and let Larry vote as he pleased.

Dennis and Josh go for a walk

However, immunity was only the first part of Josh's plan for the day.  After the earlier discussion with his alliance, he managed to pull aside Steve and asked him if he realized how much trouble he was in.  Steve got wide eyed and said that he had no idea.  Josh explained to Steve how close he was to being voted out during the Christine vote.  He told Steve that he would be on the bottom if the original Metacomet tribe members made it to the final five.  But it wouldn't even get to that point because Steve was on the chopping block for tonight.  Incredulous, Steve asked why.  Josh told him that Amanda, Dennis, and Diana were looking to work with Meredith and Angela for the next vote.  Steve asked why they weren't targeting Larry.  Between the two of them, Josh said lowering his voice to a whisper, Steve was thought to be much smarter and a way bigger threat.  Now very worried, Steve asked Josh what he could do to get out of this situation.  As Josh turned to walk away his simply told Steve "I'll take care of you."

Angela and Meredith had a very busy afternoon due to two specific conversations.  Amanda and Dennis reached them first.  They broke the news that neither of them would be voted out if they just followed the plan that was about to be laid out to them.  Meredith and Angela did a lot of listening as they learned that Steve was most likely about to be voted out.  After they were left to themselves they had to agree that it sounded like a pretty good plan if they could trust it.  But what reason would Amanda have to come and lie to them if she already had the numbers Meredith thought.  Unless she needed to recruit because she didn't trust someone that had been on her side...

Enter Josh.  He explained Plan B to them.  He said that he made Steve aware of the plot to vote him out and that the two of them were instead targeting someone else:  Amanda.  Josh told them how much power she had been gaining and just how convincing she could be in her arguments.  He let spill the beans about how she essentially ran the show at Metacomet.  If they were in and could get Larry on board, Josh told them that the biggest blindside so far could be only a short time away.

One of the new, beautiful Sangria buffs

Diana asked Amanda why they were looking to get Angela and Meredith involved rather than just stick to their five.  She said that it was all part of a larger plan.  Get them on board and earn their trust.  Then with Steve out, Josh would be next.  Their three plus the two of them gave a clear numbers advantage which Josh would not be able to overcome.  And the true beauty of thinking two moves ahead would be that Josh would be under the assumption that Larry was to be voted out next and not question a thing.  Then once that was done, their five could send Larry home.  And then their core would have a 3-2 numbers advantage over Meredith and Angela!  This was the first step in a journey to the final three.

Diana hopes the plan works

Dennis added that he was getting bad vibes about tonight and would be bringing his hidden immunity idol just in case.  He'd know when the time came if he wanted to play it and who it would be used on.

Realizing how pivotal this vote was and that they had found themselves stuck in the middle, Angela and Meredith debated what to do.  They thought for a long time about trust, threats, who they'd be better positioned to advance in the game with, and Larry.  Though they weren't extremely loyal to him based on his past actions, they knew they needed him this time.  He was clearly nervous about the vote and was looking for anything to keep it off of him.  So assuming that he'd go for their plan they just had to decide; take out Steve and stay the course or blindside Amanda and break the game wide open.

Meredith and Larry go through their options

As Sangria made their way to tribal council, nothing seemed settled yet.  The Metacomet four simply nodded at each other.  Immediately after, Josh turned to Steve and mouthed "Amanda."  And the former Totoket brought up the rear in whispers about which way to go.

It was a full house at tribal council.  Dennis kicked things off by saying that it has been a seamless transition and that everyone has been getting along great.  Tonight such a bold statement would not fly.  When asked if Dennis’s statement was true, Angela did not answer at first.  She quietly said “not really.”  As she began to explain herself, her voice got louder and she spoke faster.  She said that there has been quite a lot of scheming and that any of a hundred different things could happen at tribal council.  She admitted that her going home was one of the hundred.  Amanda said that it was fun to be able to play with new players.  Diana may or may not have added “if only temporarily” to the end of the statement.  Amanda then was asked about how the vote would turn out.  She said that "someone would be surprised."  Josh sat very relaxed with the immunity necklace around his neck.  He gave almost no information up except for the fact that he was not going anywhere.  Steve was hoping to stick around long enough to get to experience the loved ones visit.  He said that it was almost as if his girlfriend was at tribal council watching the whole thing.  Meredith said that she had been approached by familiar and unfamiliar people alike and her decision tonight would go a long way towards determining the rest of the game.  Larry just wanted some Sangria and to get this over with.

Josh listens attentively at tribal

It was time to vote.  One by one the castaways took the path down to go cast their vote.  Luckily there were extra pieces of parchment available as Josh ripped his in half as he tried to grab a piece out from underneath the urn.  After a fit of giggles, it was back to business.  The votes were tallied and brought back to the waiting castaways.  As it was time to read the votes Dennis stood up!  He had basically proved his earlier statement wrong by deciding that he needed extra protection tonight.  His alliance didn’t seem thrilled that he was playing his hidden immunity idol on himself as they perceived none of them to be in danger.  His idol was confirmed as being real and any votes cast for Dennis would not count!

Dennis plays his idol under Diana's watchful glare!

When the first vote came for Amanda, Dennis immediately hung his head.  After another Amanda vote, she knew that something was wrong.  She expected 6 Steve votes, a Larry vote, and a random vote (from Larry).  A couple of votes for Steve followed which evened things up at 2-2.  Amanda and Steve each received a third vote.  The next vote was pivotal.   It was slowly opened to reveal Amanda’s name!  With the final vote against her, Amanda became the 5th person voted out of Survivor: Branford!

5 on 3

Diana and Dennis could only look stunned at the blindside.  But somewhere in the back of their minds they had to think that there was no way that this unlikely group of five that had ousted their ally could last…could it?

Dennis, Diana, and Amanda can't believe what is happening

Amanda:  the day after

Next time on Survivor:
-       Dennis and Diana scramble!
-       A challenge exposes tribal dynamics in the harshest way
-       Tribal council leaves more than one head being scratched!