Gettin' to Crunch Time

Gettin' to Crunch Time is the ninth episode of .
==Story==
===Day 21===
===Day 22===
Host Jeff Probst welcomes the Huyopa tribe to the Reward Challenge: Shake It Off. In the challenge, the castaways would be divided into teams of five. One player from each team would square off on a wobbly beam over a pit of mud. The last person standing would win a point for their team, with the first team to a score of five winning an afternoon on a fishing yacht with a feast of sandwiches, cakes, soft drinks, cocktails, and champagne.
The Blue Team consists of Jaclyn Schultz, Jon Misch, Keith Nale, Missy Payne, and Wes Nale. The Yellow Team consists of Alec Christy, Baylor Wilson, Jeremy Collins, Natalie Anderson, and Reed Kelly. As rain begins to fall, the first match-up begins with Reed taking on Wes. Reed makes the first offensive move, but as Wes tries to push back, he loses his balance and both fall off the platform, with Reed taking the winning point for Yellow. Next, Jaclyn and Natalie square off. Despite Jaclyn's "long-ass arms," Natalie scores the point, giving Yellow a 2-0 lead.
Next, Jeremy takes on Jon. Jeremy makes the first move, but Jon pushes back, sending Jeremy off the beam to score Blue's first point. Next, it is between mother and daughter, as Baylor challenges Missy. The two try shaking the beam, rather than physical combat, but once Missy reaches over to pull Baylor off, she loses her balance, allowing Yellow to extend their lead 3-1. Alec and Keith are up next. Alec swats at Keith, but the older firefighter stands back, relaxed and unfazed, before easily slapping Alec into the mud to score for Blue, 2-3.
Starting from the top of the roster, Reed and Wes face off again. Reed catches some mud in his eye, and ultimately, Wes scores the victory to tie up the score at 3-3. Jaclyn and Natalie are up next, and when Jaclyn fails at her offensive attack, once again, Natalie emerges victorious, giving Yellow a 4-3 lead. Jon wins his rematch against Jeremy, after the latter loses his balance lunging at Jon, to even the score 4-4 at the match point. With the game riding on Baylor and Missy, the battle is evenly matched. However, it is ultimately Baylor who wins the point, winning the challenge for the Yellow Team.
Immediately, Natalie asks Jeff if she can give up her place on the reward, and when permitted, gives her spot to Jon. Jeremy follows suit, sacrificing his place for Jaclyn. Jaclyn and Jon are near tears with gratitude as they take a place on the winning platform. Natalie explains, "When somebody shows you that they're loyal to you, I feel like the only thing to do is to show back just some love and respect." The "winning" team are then instructed to send someone to . Rationalizing that Jeremy is already packed to go, they send him away to Exile Islad as the rest of the group disbandes to camp or the yacht. In a confessional, Baylor notes that she hopes that Jeremy would find the Hidden Immunity Idol on Exile Island as it would benefit the whole Fab Five alliance.
Back at camp, Keith, Missy, Natalie, and Wes wash up from the challenge, as Natalie discusses her decision to give up her reward, clarifying that it was designed to solidify her alliance with Jaclyn and Jon. Keith comments that the move would earn Jaclyn and Jon's loyalty to Natalie "for life," as Wes laments that the couple were now firmly in the other alliance. Wes asks Natalie to inform him if he is next on the chopping block, claiming that he does not want to be "hashtag-blindsided." She agrees, commenting that her next target is Reed, but Keith adds that it was clear the opposing alliance would become the final six. However, in a confessional, Keith reveals that the comment was intended to be a subtle play to try to get a heads up in advance of using his idol for himself or Wes.
At Exile Island, Jeremy arrives confident in his play to give up the reward, and hopes that going to Exile Island would yield the idol. He receives the new clue: The path to victory is a rocky one. It's hard climbing the ladder of success. But with immunity in your pocket, you might feel a little bit less stress. Before going to look for the idol, Jeremy washes off in the ocean and spots the reward yacht on the horizon.
On the yacht, Alec, Baylor, Jaclyn, Jon, and Reed feast on sandwiches and watch the dolphins following the boat. The five toast with champagne as Jon explains how wonderful the experience is. Meanwhile, Reed is frustrated to have Jaclyn and Jon on the reward, and is irritated by the transparency of Natalie's play to give up her place. In a confessional, he resolves to wreak havoc at camp in the hopes of saving himself.
===Day 23===
On Night 23, Jeremy struggles to get any sleep at Exile Island, sitting up for half of the wet and thunderous night.
===Day 24===
The next morning, Jeremy is exhausted and heads back out to have another search for the Hidden Immunity Idol. When he fails to find it yet again, he theorizes that Jon could already have found it. He is disturbed by that idea, and frustrated that he had been sent to Exile Island when the idol was already in their alliance.
Back at camp, as Jaclyn and Jon collect water, Jon shares his concerns that Jeremy could deduce that he had the idol. He is further worried about the repercussions in the alliance, commenting, "Either people are going to think [Jeremy's] extremely stupid and is trying to pull off that he couldn't find it, or they're going to think I was lying this whole time."
At the Immunity Challenge, Jeremy returns to his tribe, evidently exhausted after his time on Exile Island. Jeff takes back the Immunity Necklace from Jeremy and then reveals the challenge: The Game is Afoot. Each castaway would unspool a rope to release a bundle of blocks which they would then use to assemble a three-tiered tower, with seven blocks on each tier. The first castaway to place their flag in the center of the tower would win immunity. The challenge contains a twist, however, as all parts of the challenge had to be completed using only one's feet.
Keith is the first to release his bundle of blocks, followed closely by Jon, Missy, Natalie, and Baylor. Reed and Wes catch up soon after, with Jaclyn, Jeremy, and Alec bringing up the rear. Once it gets to the assembly of the tower, however, Reed quickly pulls out into the lead. Jeremy and Keith are keeping close behind, whilst Jon struggles and Missy moved slowly with "no panic." Baylor and Natalie are also moving fast, but Reed maintains his lead, completing his first tier and moving onto his second.
Working on the second layer, Baylor, Keith, Natalie, and Wes are keeping up behind Reed. As Alec is falling out of the challenge, and Jeremy begins his second level, Keith and Reed complete their second tiers. However, Reed knocks over one of his blocks, losing a few others in the process. As Keith takes the lead, Baylor and Natalie begin working on their third layers. Wes begins his third row, but loses several of his blocks, setting him back, and Jeremy begins on his third level.
Reed recovers from his setback, and once again, it is Keith and Reed in the lead, with only a few blocks left. However, as Keith goes to place his final block, he knocks down several blocks, leaving the victory wide open for Reed. As Baylor and Natalie fight to catch up, Reed works to place his final block, but it falls. Natalie loses a number of her blocks, as Reed again struggles to place his final block. Moving methodically, Baylor catches up to Reed and after a narrow battle, she manages to place her final block first to take the lead. She carefully places her flag in the center of her tower, and in doing so, emerges victorious to win immunity.
As Alec and Jeremy commiserate over the difficulty of the challenge, Baylor receives the Immunity Necklace and Huyopa headed back to camp. In a confessional, Jeremy notes his disappointment at losing, but is relieved that the Immunity Necklace had stayed within his alliance.
==Challenges==
<tabber>Reward=
Challenge: Shake It OffThe tribe will divide into two teams. Opponents of the same gender will face off one on one on a wobbly beam over a pit of mud. The goal is to knock the other person off the beam into the mud to score a point for their team. The first team to five points wins reward.Reward: Board a luxury fishing yacht, cruise down the coastline of San Juan del Sur while enjoying sandwiches, pastrami, soft drinks, cocktails and champagne.Winners: (, , , , and ) ( and gave up their reward to and ; exiled )
|-|Immunity=Challenge: The Game is AfootUsing only their feet, castaways must unwind a rope to release blocks that they will use to assemble a three-tiered tower. However, they may use their hands to return fallen blocks to the basket. Once the tower is assembled, they must place a flag in the middle of the tower. The first person to do so wins.Winner: </tabber>
==Tribal Council==
colspan="2" 	
VotedAgainst	Voter
 	
 	
 	
colspan="2" 	
===Voting Confessionals===
Keith and Alec were shown writing Reed's name on the parchment. Natalie was shown writing Keith's name on the parchment.
===Final Words===
===Still in the Running===
								
								
==Trivia==
===Behind the Scenes===
===Life at Ponderosa===
Josh Canfield welcomes Jeremy Collins to Ponderosa. Josh speculates that Reed Kelly voted for Jeremy, but Jeremy erroneously dispels his postulations. Jeremy notes Josh's eagerness to play even at Ponderosa. As the conversation continues, Josh finds irony in the situation, having himself been voted out by the very person who got voted out next. 
The next day, Jeremy wakes up in a better mood than the previous night. He admits that he took notes from past seasons for the last eight years and he regretted giving up his reward. As a juror, Jeremy states he would respect a finalist who would own their game and can look at him in the eye.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1FdqX4zPwU
==References==
Category:Episodes
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Episodes
Category:Survivor: San Juan del Sur
Category:San Juan del Sur Episodes