Season 2: Episode 10 (Finale)

After the dust had settled from the previous tribal council only three castaways were left standing. Dennis, Jim, and Mark had done all that they could do! They had each traversed through the game to reach the final tribal council. The usual immunity challenge was replaced by a lunch feast! The three dined on hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, chips, and drinks. The mood was light as no strategy was left to take place. Relief was also in the air as it had been a grueling 24 hours packed with 9 immunity challenges and tribal councils (all of which Dennis and Jim participated in). There was only one task left for the remaining castaways and that was to get their thoughts together for what they would be saying to the jury.

Mark congratulates Dennis on making it this far

Dennis felt that he had made quite a few enemies in the game and that final tribal council would be an uphill battle.  He was not expecting Angela's vote given her threat made right before the previous tribal council.  Dennis just hoped that she wasn't going one step further and rallying the jury to vote for Jim.  He felt that all he could do was to come clean about everything he did in the game and hope that people respected that.

Dennis daydreams about being named sole survivor

Mark felt good about his chances going in.  He thought back and stated that he had to fend for himself for almost all of the game and distanced himself from pulling off blindsides and getting mixed up with hidden immunity idols.  He would leave those things for Dennis the challenge threat and Jim the schemer.  He was counting on Rob's vote but would he get enough others?  If nothing else, Mark was happy for the experience.

Mark isn't fully content yet

Jim knew that final tribal council was the time to tell it like it was.  He figured that Dennis would be the biggest threat to his chances of winning the game and sought out to show what made him different from his long time ally.  He felt it was time to own his game and didn't want to have any regrets about something he thought of saying after it was already too late.

Jim hopes to have a good final tribal performance

The final three came in and took their seats.  They got as comfortable as they could as the jury began processing in.  Danielle, Steve, Rachel, Rob, Amanda, Autumn, Josh, Angela.  In a final and unfortunate twist to the game, Meredith was still recovering from the Shoulder the Load challenge and was unable to attend.  She made it known beforehand who she would be voting for.  Amanda volunteered to cast Meredith's vote for her.

The jury can't wait to have its say

Jeff welcomed all to the final tribal council and allowed each of the final three to make opening statements.

Dennis promoted the fact that he had played both sides in the game and as a result had the most knowledge.  He claimed to know every time which way the vote would be going.  He mentioned that he helped to shape the final 7 and final 5 votes as a result of knowing that immunity idols would be coming out both times.  He said his goal was to be completely honest and hoped that it wouldn't lose him more votes than it would gain.

Dennis explains his game

Mark took the jury through his journey to the end.  He reiterated that he had it pretty easy in the pre merge and talked about how things had evolved into a pairs game.  He noted how he won immunity at final 8 to save himself and also how he was constantly on everyone's radar yet managed to make it through.  He concluded by saying that he spent a lot of time making relationships with his fellow castaways and that he's really enjoyed the experience.

Mark says what's on his mind

Jim remarked on the fact that despite being a returning player, it might as well have been his first time since he had been the first voted out in the previous year.  He talked about how he did all that he could in the early parts of the game in order to not let history repeat itself.  He admitted to using Dennis as a shield post merge knowing that if votes were made against his side, Dennis would be likely to field them.  He stressed that he played a clean game and that he made it clear to everyone where he always stood.

Jim is animated

Now that it was the jury's time to speak, things were about to get very interesting.  Danielle came forward first and said that she only needed one piece of information to base her vote on.  She wanted to know what the favorite animal of each of the final three was.  Jim noted that he didn't really have a favorite animal but went with a tiger to answer the question.  Mark thought that a platypus was the animal that best represented himself.  Dennis admitted to being scared of most animals but liked the peacefulness of a manatee.  Mark tried to throw shade on Dennis by saying that manatees play it safe...just like Dennis did in this game.  The jury ooohed and Dennis shrugged it off thinking that Mark had no idea what he was talking about.

Danielle has first crack at the final three

Steve came forward next and prepared to address the final three. Noting that it only took a little lie to get him out of the game, he wanted to know from Jim and Dennis what they thought the biggest lies they told in the game were. Jim said that he didn’t really think that he lied at all but chalked up his biggest lie to when he agreed to work with Angela at the final four. He thought that in doing this, it was the last step it would take to get to the final three. He didn’t say anything about his idol because in his mind he never was asked about it and never lied; it was just an omission. Dennis said that his biggest lie was telling Amanda that he was on her side when actually he knew that she was about to be idoled out of the game and he was doing nothing to stop it. He said that by positioning himself in the middle, it would force him to have to deceive one side. Steve noted that Mark played a similar game to Steve’s the previous year. Steve noted just floating along was not a winning strategy in the end and wanted to know why Mark should be rewarded by doing that this time. Mark played up his social game and his two immunity wins by saying that though his voting may have been erratic at times, he did what it took to survive all the way to the end.

Steve gets the info he needs

Rachel replaced Steve standing in front of the final three. She wanted to know from each of them what was the one theme that tied together all of the votes they made in the game. Jim said that all of his votes were designed to surprise as few people as possible. By always indicating to everyone else where he stood, he thought that if there were ramifications after any vote he would never be the first target of the spurned people that were left in the game. Dennis answered that what he tried to do was play both sides and evaluate what the best move was before each vote. He knew that this would make him some enemies but with the tradeoff of having the power to influence the game perhaps more than anyone else. Mark said what he did was to outlast everyone else in any way possible. He was willing to vote with anyone he needed a number. Though this landed him in the minority several times, it helped him to build bonds with people that would eventually be on the jury.

Rachel addresses the final three while the jury looks on

Rob was next up and he did not have much to say. He simply stated that his mind was already made up and that he had all the information that he would need. Mark smiled at this news assuming that this meant that Rob would be voting for him!

Rob's decision has been made

Amanda took center stage next and was ready to take her crack at the final three. She first asked Jim if there was any time in the game that he would have voted for Dennis. Jim said that while Dennis was a big factor in his plans, especially to shield him immediately after the merge, if the move had to be done it would. Jim noted that if there was a scenario in which voting Dennis out would make the most sense for his own game he would have done it. Amanda then asked Mark if he was on the jury what he would have based his decision on for whom to vote for. Mark really liked the game he played and said that he would have voted for the person who emulated that best. He would have looked for who worked best with others and who had formed the tightest bonds with all of their fellow castaways. Amanda’s question to Dennis was why he decided to take her out instead of Angela given that they were both strategic threats in the game. Dennis responded by saying that real trust was built with Angela over her idol. He also thought that later on in the game he had a better chance of turning Angela against Josh than turning Amanda against Autumn.

Amanda questions the final three

Autumn got up from her seat and stood before the final three. She immediately ended any drama by saying that she was voting for Mark and that was that. But, she did still want to get to know the final three a little bit better and asked each of them what their favorite ice cream flavors were. Jim offered to buy Autumn an ice cream with his $1,000,000 (minus $999,880) winnings if she changed her vote to him. She entertained the offer and headed back to her spot on the jury.

Ice cream anyone?

Josh’s question came with a catch. He wanted each of the final three to say who they thought played the best game of anyone. The wrinkle was that Josh wanted all three to answer at once and at his count of three. If anyone failed to answer in time, Josh would not vote for them. At three Dennis said Josh, Jim said himself, and Mark also said Jim. Josh laughed as his idea of making everyone answer at once led to not being able to tell who said what. Dennis admired Josh’s game for doing a complete 180 in his second chance and playing very passively and truthfully. He sympathized with Josh because despite this he couldn’t shake the image of being a sneaky player. Jim repeated a lot of what he had already said to explain why he thought he played the best game. Mark was impressed with the chaos that Jim and Dennis brought with them into the merge and thought that overall Jim was a bit more strategic than Dennis and also believed that Jim was more sincere in his offers to work with Mark than Dennis was.

Josh is at the count of two

Angela was the final member of the jury to question the final three. She felt that based on what he said, Jim had made most of his biggest moves before the merge. She wanted to know what he did after the merge. Jim responded by saying that while in the pre merge he felt he needed to be active to survive, post merge it was the opposite. After bringing Dennis to shield him from the vote, he noticed that Saltonstall was itching to vote each other out and sat back and let it happen. Having an idol for protection if he needed it, Jim felt that he really only needed to exert minimum influence to keep himself in the game. He was never out of the loop and due to his passive stance, did not need to be out openly scheming and lying. Angela then called Mark out for voting for himself. She said that that was the ultimate cop out and was the best reflection of Mark as a player in this game. She did the opposite of Autumn and said that she would not be voting for Mark. Finally, Angela wanted to know why Dennis went with Jim and not her. Dennis said that Angela was way too big a final three threat. She was well liked and a good speaker. Pair that with a big idol play and the story of back to back final threes and he knew he had no chance to beat her.

Angela doesn't hold back

Jeff thanked the jury for their questions and allowed everyone to take a minute to digest all of what was said. Once everyone was ready, it was time to vote for the last time! All of the jury went over to the voting booth and cast their ballots for who they thought was the winner of Survivor Branford: Second Chance.

Jeff fetched the urn and prepared to read the votes that would change the life of one of the final three forever. The first piece of parchment he pulled out was a vote for Jim. Following this was a vote for Mark. Dennis needed not be worried that he would be the typical member of the final three that doesn’t receive any votes because Jeff revealed a Dennis vote next tying things up at 1 for everyone. The next vote was for Mark putting him momentarily in the lead. It was short lived as the 5^th vote was for Jim. Once again, Dennis knotted things up with his second vote. The suspense was growing! Jeff showed the next vote to be for Mark. With the urn almost now empty, Dennis received his third vote. It would come down to the last vote! Were we on the verge of a three way tie? Jeff turned around the last vote to show that it was for Mark! That would be enough to crown a new sole survivor. By a count of 4-3-2, Mark was named the winner of Survivor Branford: Second Chance!!!

Indeed a celebration worthy of being named sole survivor

Mark became emotional as he thanked everyone for helping him with his huge accomplishment. He received his prize money and needed to take a breath before he could decide how he would put it to use. As speculated before the game began, Survivor Branford: Second Chance lived up to and exceeded the original Survivor: Branford. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this weekend happen! Hope to see you back for Season 3!

Mark receives his winnings!

Final tribal council voting:

(Amanda casts Meredith's vote)

 

Survivor Branford: Second Chance

Season 2: Episode 9

Angela could not believe what had happened! Her plans had worked perfectly but Jim had flipped the script at the last tribal council. Luckily for her, Josh was sent home and she was spared. Still she couldn’t help but think that it was fine for her to be playing hidden immunity idols at tribal council but when someone had done it against her, they had gone too far. She also was disappointed in Dennis. She had taken him in and provided him with lots of useful information and this was the thanks she got? Angela refused to believe that Dennis felt more loyal to Jim than to her. She realized that she only needed to get through one more tribal council and then all of this wouldn’t matter anymore. There were still plenty of ways to make that happen. But the most sure of those ways would be to win the final immunity challenge.

Angela wonders what happened

The final four assembled at the challenge site where immunity would be on the line for the final time. Dennis handed back the necklace he had owned for the last two tribal councils as Jeff began to explain the challenge. The challenge was called Pile of Tiles. Each castaway would be given five small wooden tiles. Arranging them in a line the long way, each castaway would have to push the two tiles on the end together in order to hold all of the tiles in between. Each round, the castaways would do this and lift the tiles up off of the table. After 30 seconds, the next round would begin with another tile added to each castaway’s stack. The last one left holding their tiles would be guaranteed a spot at the final tribal council!

The challenge is underway!

Being such an important challenge, members of the jury were present to watch how it went down. Each castaway took the time to arrange the tiles to their liking and then lifted them off of the table. Jeff urged the castaways to put everything they had into this challenge and that even a second of distraction could be a million (minus $999,880) dollar mistake. Everyone appeared to be steady but no sooner than Jeff had made his announcement did Dennis lose his tiles. He would have to make it to the final three the hard way!

Dennis drops out leaving three

Round 1 concluded with three castaways still remaining. A sixth tile was added and the stacks were again lifted off of the table. No one in the challenge spoke. It didn’t even look like they were breathing. Midway through the round, the silence was broken by tiles hitting the table. With a disappointed look, Angela had been unable to hold on and was eliminated! Mark and Jim did not let this ruin their concentration as Angela’s elimination did not cause either to lose focus. Jim looked up and told Mark that if he dropped his stack, he would guarantee that the opera singer would be included in the final three. Mark did not take the bait and said that he trusted the necklace a whole lot more than he trusted Jim.

There go Angela's pieces

That was the end of round 2. A seventh tile was added for Mark and Jim to try to manage with. Both lined up their tiles and prepared again for lift off. Mark inched his tiles slowly off the table while Jim did the same. However, Jim wasn’t able to get that far! His tiles would not cooperate and V’d as he lifted the ends. It was hopeless as there was no coming back from this point. Mark had won his second immunity challenge and more importantly was guaranteed a spot in the final three! The jury conversed quietly about this and could only speculate about what was about to go down between the three vulnerable, yet crafty players.

Mark soaks in Amanda's cheers

The Cantwell tribe made their way back to camp from the challenge. Mark could not believe what had happened. He reflected on his journey through the game and how he had been at his lowest low when Rob was voted out at the first tribal council after the merge. Mark knew that each of his tribemates would be seeking him out and hoping that he would not be voting for them. Now with immunity, Mark felt that he could really think about who it was time to get rid of.

Mark is all smiles and into the final three!

Dennis wanted to talk to each of the other three right now but knew of course that he’d have to prioritize. He first went back to Jim. The two had been working together since the very start of the game. Dennis knew that Jim was still unaware of his secret alliance with Angela. He wasn’t sure if that alliance was no more due to his actions at the previous tribal council. All he could hope for was that Angela wouldn’t out him to Jim and watch as they both wrote his name down sending him out just short of the final three. He and Jim had an easy conversation. Both agreed to vote for Angela and try to sway Mark to do the same. Feeling that the heavy lifting was still to come, Dennis set off looking for one of the other two.

Jim can taste the final three

Jim felt that this conversation had went well and as expected. The worst he could expect was a tie. Even then he may not even be the target. Feeling that he knew where two of the votes were going, Jim left his conversation with Dennis and found Mark. Jim’s pitch here was that he had never targeted Mark and always tried to work with him since the merge began but the reason that they had not was all on Mark. Jim noted that he never voted for Mark and could have easily taken him out at the previous tribal council. Turning on the acting, Jim really tried to play up to Mark that if Angela made the final three, her story would be too much for the jury to pass up. She had made a big move with her idol, was a strong social player, and to make the final three a year after having won the game would be a compelling case. Mark and Jim shook on voting Angela out and went to have more conversations.

Mark and Jim think things through

Mark knew that everything Jim had told him was true. He could have himself a relaxing rest of the afternoon if he made his mind up to vote out Angela. But he was too fierce a competitor to rest on his laurels. Mark soon bumped into Angela and the two stepped aside to talk. He asked her who she thought the two of them should target. Angela thought that the correct play was going after Jim. Hearing this instantly told Mark where things stood. Jim and Angela would be voting for each other. He thought she was really working it as she gave him the pitch as to why Jim should be voted out. Noting his “phenomenal game,” Angela listed out reasons why Jim could not go to the final three. She told Mark that he had dragged Dennis through the game, had a huge idol play, and a great story of having gone from worst to first from last year to this year and also overcoming the adversity of losing all four tribal challenges. Mark wouldn’t commit to anything at this time and wanted to have some time to think.

Angela tries to get Mark to see things her way

Angela left this conversation feeling that she had accomplished her goals with Mark. Though she believed some of what she said, the reason she wanted to vote Jim out was that it would be easier for her to beat Dennis. She had leverage over him and could explain to the jury how she saved him and really looked out for him after the merge. Throwing in the bit where he betrayed her would certainly not win Dennis any points. Angela felt that in debating against Jim, he could counteract her idol move and tell a different story than what she had to offer. The two had taken very different paths to this point. Angela found Dennis and couldn’t wait to hear his apologies. Last year’s winner was not as upset with Dennis as she led him to believe. She felt that he was really feeling sorry for what he did and went for it by telling him that all would be forgiven if he voted for Jim at tribal council. Angela concluded by telling Dennis that he wouldn’t have her jury vote if he wasn’t on her side at tribal council and walked away without waiting for a response.

Say you're sorry

Dennis did feel horrible about that and wanted to make it up to Angela. But all this would do was backstab Jim and quite possibly lose his vote. He wandered around and caught up to Mark. The two compared notes and sensed that they were both safe. But now what?

What a dilemma

Just before tribal council, Jim and Angela met up a short distance away from camp. Smiling at each other, they stated the obvious and wished each other luck at the vote. But wait! Why had Dennis gotten off the hook here? The two quickly tried to throw a plan together to vote Dennis out. They certainly didn’t want to leave their fates in wild card Mark’s hands and playing both sides Dennis’ hands! Why not take some bit of power back? The two wrapped up their conversation and made final preparations before tribal council.

Last minute alliance?

Jeff welcomed in the final four to the penultimate tribal council. Three of the four had never been to this point in the game before. Angela remarked at how much of an accomplishment this was and that she knew from experience that the feeling upon reaching the final three was one of great relief. Jim said that he thought he did all that he could both in the challenge and afterward in order to set himself up to advance beyond this point. Dennis stated that he felt that everything that he had built with the others up to this point would help him achieve one of his goals by making it to the final tribal council. Mark noted that he was extremely glad to have immunity because he thought that he might not have been able to hang with the other three if he was forced to scramble and fight for his life. Jeff announced that it was time to vote!

Mark looks skeptical

After tallying the votes, Jeff prepared to read them. With hidden immunity idols having expired, there would be no wrinkles to this tribal council. The first vote was for Jim. A vote for Angela followed. Vote number three also had Angela’s name on it! Dennis knew that he was safe now and felt great sitting in his chair. Angela could only hope that either Mark or Dennis would come through for her and tie the vote up. Jeff unfolded the last vote and turned it around. It was for Angela! Her reign as Survivor Branford champion had come to an end only one step before the final tribal council! Angela packed up her things and grabbed her torch. Her back to back performances in Survivor Branford could be the greatest accomplishment achieved in its history to date. Jim, Dennis, and Mark were left to revel in their position as the final three!

Angela completes the jury

Some took more pleasure than others in making this vote

Next time on Survivor:

·              - Can Jim complete his last place to first place Survivor Branford turnaround?

·                   - Will Dennis be able to roll his story up into one pitch that the jury can’t refuse?

·                    - Would Mark’s improbable run to the final three conclude with being named sole survivor?

Season 2: Episode 8

Jim had survived the previous tribal council and should have been feeling great. But he had issues to handle…specifically hidden immunity idol issues. First was the fact that he was no longer in possession of the idol that he found. Having given it to Dennis for safekeeping, Jim wanted to get it back as soon as possible from him. A more pressing issue though was that there was another idol hidden out there and only Josh knew what the clue said. Because he trusted Dennis more than Josh, Jim would retrieve his idol from his ally a bit later. Josh was noticeably absent during the time between tribal council and the next challenge.

Jim's wrapped up idol

Jim scoured the island and saw Josh looking for the idol. He decided to keep his distance and spy on last year’s 4^th place finisher. Jim wanted to keep Josh in his sights until the next challenge. From the way it looked, Josh hadn’t found the idol yet. But Jim knew it wasn’t out of the possibility for Josh to pretend to look even after being successful.

Friends close, enemies closer

Just a short time later, the final five gathered at the next challenge site. The name of the challenge was Numbers Game. Jeff explained the rules of the challenge. Three stations had been set up. One contained sticks, one contained marbles, and the last had bottles. The castaways were responsible for running from station to station and counting up the number of each item found there. Once a guess was ready to be made, a castaway would run back to Jeff and provide their answer. If their answer was wrong, the castaway would need to revisit at least one station before being allowed to return and make a guess. The first castaway to correctly count each of the three types of objects would win immunity and a guaranteed spot in the final four!

Dennis takes a shot with the bottles

Jeff called go and the Cantwell tribe was off. A majority of the tribe used the same approach and ran to the furthest station to begin counting sticks. The only rule was that no one was allowed to touch any of the items to be counted. As usual, different strategies were clear. Mark wanted to increase his chances of winning as much as possible so to him this meant making as many guesses as possible. He stayed at each station for only a few seconds to get a rough idea of how many of each item there was. Mark wasn’t expecting to be correct on his first try but thought that he could refine his guesses as he went.

How many sticks?

Angela was very confident in her counting ability having won an immunity challenge the previous year by counting all the way from 1 to 100! She had a good feeling that as long as she could get over the running aspect that this challenge provided, she would have a great chance for a guaranteed spot in the final four. Angela quickly counted the number of sticks and bottles but took her time counting the marbles. The tricky element to this station was that the marbles were placed on a rotating disk! It would take patience to be able to correctly identify how many were there.

FLASHBACK: Angela is good with numbers in the original Survivor Branford

After a little bit of time, Jeff had begun getting used to telling each castaway that they were wrong on all three items. It was a frustrating challenge but one that was clearly worth winning. Josh became the first to provide a correct answer with the number of marbles. Dennis then was told he had correctly counted the number of bottles. Jim also figured out how many marbles there were. He knew that this upcoming tribal council was the last time he could use his idol. But he also knew that he had to make an honest effort in this challenge in the unlikely event that Dennis refused to return the idol to him.

Josh shows his frustration after a wrong guess

The challenge continued on and had reached a stalemate of sorts. All five castaways knew the correct number of bottles and marbles. The number of sticks scattered on the ground remained elusive. Everyone felt that they knew the answer give or take 5 sticks. But that would not be good enough here.  

This challenge is making Mark lose his marbles

While some continued to make an honest effort to count the sticks, others were willing to run back and forth to Jeff increasing their answer by one stick at a time until they were right. Just a few minutes later, Dennis hit the lottery! His latest guess was confirmed by Jeff to be correct. The stick station was by far the hardest and Dennis had been lucky enough to be the first one to guess correctly even if he was unable to actually count the number of sticks. But in Survivor Branford: Second Chance, luck is a huge element of the game. With that, Dennis won his second immunity challenge in a row and was now guaranteed a spot in the final four!

Dennis into the final four!

Being able to take comfort in the fact that he was safe, Dennis felt that he had more room to weigh all of his options before the next tribal council. They really were endless. He and Jim had been tight allies since the beginning of the game and Dennis felt he could trust Jim. There was also the under wraps alliance that he had made with Angela. And there was also the hidden immunity idol that Dennis currently owned. Dennis knew that through his possession of the idol and his ability to play both sides, he could probably make anything happen that he wanted to at the next tribal council. He just wanted to take care to minimize any damage he might cause at the vote.

Dennis checks in with Angela

Mark had done a great job at progressing in the game once Rob was voted out. He knew that his best argument at this point was to position himself as a swing vote between what he still figured to be two pretty tight pairs. He talked to Josh and Angela and tried to build as much trust with them as he possibly could. The three of them could only target Jim given that Dennis was immune. They all felt good about this idea and as they disbursed, hoped that Jim wouldn’t be able to piece things together.

"1, 2, 3, vote Jim out!"

Everything for Jim hinged on getting his immunity idol back from Dennis. If Dennis was truly loyal to him, this wouldn’t be a question especially as Dennis was immune himself. But Jim was unable to find Dennis! He figured that he was out doing his due diligence and talking to the other castaways left in the game. Jim had had earlier conversations with Josh and Angela about voting out Mark at this point but felt that those talks weren’t very real. Assuming he got the idol back, Jim figured that he could choose who would be voted out. After thinking, he concluded that Mark was easiest to beat in a final three while Angela was less likely than Josh to win a final four immunity challenge. With that, Jim decided that he would be voting for Josh. With moments to spare, he found Dennis and made a beeline for him to get his idol back.

Where's my idol?

Josh felt secure in his position. He, Angela, and Mark would be voting for Jim. He also knew that there was a chance that Dennis would vote with them given the promising conversations that the two had shared. But Josh wanted to make full use of his time. Having an idol at this tribal council would give him that much more security. Josh remembered the clue that he ripped up and thought that hunting through flower beds would be the most promising thing to do. Taking care to not trample the plants, Josh was very thorough. Just a few minutes before tribal council, Josh returned to camp and announced that he had found the idol and that it was in his bag for safekeeping!

Josh looks for extra insurance!

Cantwell arrived at tribal council and it set in that there were less than half of the starting players left in the game. When Jeff asked who was nervous at this tribal council, Mark and Jim raised their hands. Mark expressed that while he had been able to maneuver to this point, he knew that without a number 1 ally that his time could be up at any point. Jim noted that he had been to every tribal council to this point and it was his goal to participate in the next two as well. Angela admitted that she was nervous but didn’t raise her hand because it would show weakness to the jury. She felt good about her chances of advancing and was really trying hard at this point to focus and not give in to the thoughts of winning back to back seasons. Josh said that he had had his most productive period of the game right before tribal council. He had both set himself up in a good spot for this vote and had plenty of time to seek out the hidden immunity idol. Dennis concluded by saying that he respected the other four players for keeping cool without the promise of immunity. He thought that without the necklace, his stress would be evident. It was time to vote!

Tribal time again

Jeff tallied the votes and returned with the urn. He stated that this was the final time to use any immunity idols and that if anyone wished to play one, now was the time to do so. Mark, Angela, and Dennis all turned to their right as someone stood up! Jim came forward and presented his idol to Jeff! Its authenticity was confirmed and Jim could punch his ticket to the final four.  Josh wondered if his bluff of having found the other hidden immunity idol would have any impact on the vote.

Heads turn...

...and Jim makes his play!

Jim took delight in a successful idol play as the first three votes all came down for him. Josh couldn’t believe it as the fourth vote was shown to be for him. And with the final vote also for Josh, he became the 8^th member of the jury! Josh had turned in solid back to back performances but making the final three would elude him for another year.

Another near miss for Josh

The votes:

They had the numbers...

 

Old tribal lines rule the day

Next time on Survivor:

- It will take a very steady hand to win the final immunity challenge!
- More final three deals and handshakes than sticks, marbles, and bottles combined!
- The jury is completed and the final three is set!