Season 2: Episode 5

Right after tribal council had ended and before Rachel’s snuffed torch stopped smoking, Dennis and Jim were off.  They knew that they had one last chance to find the hidden immunity idol before the merge.  They were working against the clock as the merge feast was set to take place in less than an hour.  The two of them quickly made their way across the island to the location that they believed the hidden immunity idol to be.

And they're off!

Once there, both Dennis and Jim explored separate areas in hopes of finding the treasure.  The search was long.  Jim began looking at areas that Dennis had already been just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.  Dennis did the same.  At this point they were bonded as a pretty tight twosome and felt that having the idol was crucial to their long term prospects in the game.  Yes, it would be great to find the idol but both were hoping that the other didn’t find it first.

Dennis hopes there's an idol back there

After quite a bit of time and with maybe only 15 minutes until the merge was set to take place, Jim was combing through the area in which Angela had found Saltonstall’s idol.  The Mattabesset idol would not be able to be seen from any kind of a distance due to Josh’s contributions.  On a whim, Jim peered into a couple of cracks and was hit with a rush.  He had found the deeply buried Mattabesset idol!  Sensing that there was no good in hiding this information from Dennis, Jim told his partner that he had the idol.

Jim holds out his find

The two now felt a sense of game on and excitedly made their way back to camp to gather their things before the merge.

Rejuvination

Jim and Dennis headed over to the Saltonstall camp to find that two seats were graciously left open for them.  After exchanging pleasantries and settling in, the merge feast was told to be only minutes away.  During the brief period of rest and true to their intentions, Rob and Mark were the first to talk to Dennis and Jim.  The former Saltonstall tribe members pretty much laid it all out there that clear pairs had formed and that two of them were working together.  Jim and Dennis were conditioned to say yes to any offers they received and asked Rob and Mark if they thought they could get one more person to give them a majority.  With perfect timing, Josh joined the conversation.  Jim noticed that this could be an easy sell as a guys alliance against the three girls.  Handshakes went around but no one new if they could be taken to the bank.

Those on the bottom look to make a move

After everyone gathered back at camp, the merge feast was presented to the new tribe!  It consisted of chicken, salad, watermelon, green beans, asparagus, and drinks both alcoholic and non.  Mark found the bag with the new merge buffs and handed them out to the group.  The buffs were a sharp red.  The tribe then talked about what the new name of the group would be.  After some deliberation, the group picked the name “Cantwell” in a fitting tribute to the man behind the camera.

A new tribe is born!

With that, the first individual immunity challenge was ready to get underway.  The challenge was called “Change Game” and would be run in two parts.  In part one, all eight castaways would dig through the sand looking for one of three coins.  The first three to find a coin would move on to the final round.  In the final round, those three people would be asked a difficult math question.  To answer, each of the three would have to sort through a bag of change they would be given and lay out the correct amount of coins (in value) that corresponded to the answer of the math question.  The first to be correct would win individual immunity!

The big dig

Jeff called go and sand was flying through the air immediately.  Rob especially attacked the sand as if there was no tomorrow.  Josh threw his sand into places where others were digging.  Jim was most concerned with not letting the imprint of the idol show through his shorts as he was digging.  While many would have thought that round one would be over quickly, the search proved quite hard.  Angela asked if bigger coins could have been used for this part of the challenge.  Just as the energy of the group began to wane, Mark let out a joyful cry as he found the first of the three coins.  He was through to the final round of the challenge!  Now knowing that this was not an impossible task after all, the group dug with renewed vigor.  Dennis systematically made his way up and down the search area in rows.  Autumn was content to dig a hole as deep as humanly possible.  Just then, Rob let the group know that he had found the second coin and went to stand next to Mark!  Only one coin remained!  Amanda, always a fierce challenge competitor, was not to be denied as she found the third coin and took her place in the final round of the challenge!

Rob is $0.25 richer

While the five eliminated Cantwell members watched, Mark, Rob, and Amanda readied themselves for another race.  With a bag full of coins, the three were ready to do some quick mental math and take home the immunity necklace.  Once the long and complicated question was asked, the sound of coins hitting pavement filled the air.  Amanda talked to herself to try to figure out the answer while Mark wrote on the ground with his finger.  Rob seemed unsettled on his answer as he was constantly shifting his coins from one pile to another.  Finally, Amanda said that she had the answer.  Mark and Rob were required to stop while Jeff verified that Amanda had laid out the proper amount of change.  Jeff announced that Amanda was wrong!  The challenge was back on!  After just a minute, Amanda called time again.  Again she was wrong!

The finalists count out their coins

With the tension building, Mark now called time.  Jeff walked over to Mark and counted out how much change Mark had put forward.  Jeff announced that Mark was right!  The opera singer had won the first individual immunity challenge and now had a 1 in 7 chance to win the $1,000,000 (minus $999,880) prize!

Wear it proudly Mark

Amanda was disgusted that she hadn’t won the challenge.  On top of it, Mark had!  The person she wanted to take out most!  She originally wanted to keep her former tribe together but the sneakiness of Mark and Rob was really getting to her.  Knowing that Jim and Dennis were expendable at any time, she had set her eyes on knocking out the Rob/Mark pair.  Her top choice was Mark, so now Rob was her target.  Her closest ally Autumn was on board with this plan.  Amanda then went to Josh and Angela and asked if they were fine going after Rob.  They were but Angela questioned why not take out Jim or Dennis.  Amanda felt that those guys were desperate and could be trusted while Mark and Rob were sketchier.  Also, Mark and Rob had been with them since the beginning and knew the tribe dynamics better.  With those two gone, the secret of how tight a foursome Amanda, Autumn, Angela, and Josh would be better guarded.

Amanda sees where Josh and Angela are at

Right after this conversation, Josh met up with Rob and Mark.  Josh told them that he didn’t know what was going on.  Mark asked Josh if he was interested in sticking with the guys and targeting one of the girls.  That was not in Josh’s best interest and told them that things had changed and that everyone was on board with staying Saltonstall strong.  Josh promised Rob that he would not vote for him and that their best chance was to put Dennis’ name down.  Once Josh left, Rob and Mark felt they had no chance but to remain loyal to their original tribe.  Without the numbers to target one of their own, they felt that it was Dennis that was bound to be sent home.

Josh in his spy shack

Only a little while later, everyone not named Rob or Mark found themselves in a circle.  Amanda reiterated to everyone that she wanted Mark out but since he was immune, it would have to be Rob.  Jim was ready to go along with this since it spared him at tribal and also put Mark in the positon of being in the most trouble at the next tribal council.  He thought that either he could ride this wave and last two tribals or attempt to pick up Mark’s vote after he lost his tightest ally.  It sounded win win for him.  After making sure that he and Dennis were on the same page, Jim wanted to see if talking to Rob or Mark one more time would yield anything.

A quartet of power players

Once Dennis had some free time, he located Angela.  The two had developed a close bond in a short time and were interested in looking out for each other.  Dennis was already well set up with Jim but wanted to have options in case something unexpected happened later on.  Angela thought it was inevitable that she and Josh could not coexist with Amanda and Autumn for the rest of the game.  Knowing that she would need others in that event, she made Dennis an offer to join her and Josh in an alliance.  Dennis gave Angela his word that they were solid.  As the conversation ended, both were feeling pretty good about their secret alliance.

No one else knows about this conversation!

Rob had bad vibes and was able to fit in one last conversation with Amanda before tribal council.  He wanted to corroborate Josh’s story that Saltonstall was sticking together.  She told him that this was the plan and that Dennis was the target.  Though this matched Josh’s story, it did not ease Rob’s worries at all.  Amanda knew that she had control over Autumn’s vote and that she had enough sway to get the vote off of Rob and onto Dennis.  She did think back to earlier in the game when she toyed with the idea of working with Rob and Mark instead of Josh and Angela.  It did make sense in some ways!  And even if she couldn’t make up her mind now, voting out Dennis would provide more time to figure the situation out without rocking the boat too much.  She looked for a place to do some thinking alone in the last few minutes before tribal council.

Rob's scramble face

It was a packed house at tribal council tonight.  General sentiments were that everyone had a sense of what was going on but were just confused enough to still feel a little nervous.  Mark was happy to have immunity and said that he was lucky because the last challenge really played to his strengths.  Dennis told Jeff that he didn’t feel good after going into the merge down numbers.  He knew that voting for him or Jim was an easy sell to the former Saltonstall members.  Jim felt a bit of the same but liked having a bigger group.  After having survived tribal councils of only three and four people, he felt his odds here were good.  Angela was at her first tribal council since she was crowned the sole survivor the previous year.  She already could tell that this year the game was so much more dynamic and unpredictable.  Going all the way this time would be a much bigger accomplishment she thought.  Josh didn’t say a lot but was thinking plenty.  He was going to stick to his promise to Rob and not vote for him.  He knew that it was possible that this could land him on the wrong side of the numbers but thought that the points he would earn with Rob were worth the risk.  With that, it was time to vote!

Are a couple of people missing from tribal council?

Found them, nevermind

Voting took more time than usual as there were eight votes cast and several mulled their decisions over at the voting table.  Once done, Jeff returned with the votes and offered anyone with an immunity idol the chance to play it.  Neither Angela nor Jim thought this was a necessary action this time.  That time having come and gone, Jeff opened the urn.  He unfolded the first piece of parchment and showed the Cantwell tribe one vote for Dennis.  The second vote was for Rob.  The two traded votes again leaving two votes for Dennis and two for Rob.  Dennis was not any bit relived yet as his recognized Jim’s handwriting as well as his own on the votes for Rob.  The fifth vote added another to Dennis’ tally.  The sixth vote leveled things again, Rob with three votes and Dennis with three votes.  Jeff waited an extra beat before revealing the seventh vote.  It was for Rob!  The decisive final vote was shown to be for Rob as well!  By a 5-3 vote, Rob became the first Saltonstall member voted out and the fifth member of the jury!  With that, the Cantwell tribe had removed quite possibly the biggest challenge threat left in the game.  Mark saw his closest ally’s torch snuffed and wondered if it was symbolic of his own game.

Autumn is on the right side of the numbers

Rob is set to drink his sorrows away

Next time on Survivor:
-       One castaway plants a spy in a rival alliance!
-       Someone does not hold back their true feelings for their supposed allies!
-       Fireworks go off after tribal council!