Head of the Snake

Head of the Snake is the sixth episode of .
==Story==
===Day 16===
After voting out Alexis Maxwell, Aparri returned to camp in good spirits with a six-strong alliance anticipating a merge. While Spencer Bledsoe reveled in the numbers during a confessional, Sarah Lacina asked the tribe who they wanted to target at the first merge vote. Kass McQuillen suggested targeting Trish Hegarty, and the group solidified their alliance to the Final Six.
===Day 17===
The next morning, Kass and Sarah took a walk along the beach and discussed the alliance. Kass told Sarah she was confident in the alliance, and only thought that Sarah or Jeremiah Wood had the potential to flip to the Solana alliance. Sarah emphasized that she wouldn't flip, which Kass said she believed, but Sarah still took offense to the remark. Sarah continued, theorizing that the alliance's demise would only be due to distrust amongst them. The two women shook hands to assure each other they were firm in the alliance, but Kass revealed in a confessional that she was still suspicious of Sarah's loyalties.
At Solana, Tony Vlachos noted his love for his new tribe as he and Woo Hwang retrieved Tree Mail. Tony read it to the tribe, inviting them to pack up their belongings and head to the Aparri beach. The tribe gathered for a group hug, further solidifying their bond. Before the tribe left, LJ McKanas and Tony retrieved their buried Hidden Immunity Idols.
Back at Aparri, Morgan McLeod read the Tree Mail notifying the tribe to tidy up for incoming visitors. Although Spencer speculated that it could be a Fake Merge, the tribe was excited for the next development in the game and planned to pagong the opposing tribe.
Arriving by catamaran, the old Solana tribe arrived at the Aparri beach, bearing the merge feast. The eleven castaways hugged each other in greeting as Jefra Bland realized her ally, and potential swing vote, Alexis had been voted out. Morgan read out the note officially welcoming the tribes to the merge, which also informed the tribe that Hidden Immunity Idols were still in play – as was another Idol with "different powers," piquing the interest of the entire tribe. LJ joked that the special power was to send you home and Tony jested that he didn't want that Idol. The tribe then received their new black Buffs, and suggested the name "Solarri" (a portmanteau of Aparri and Solana), which later became "Solarrion" (further incorporating Luzon), and the tribe sat down for the feast.
Over the course of the feast, Trish asked about Alexis' boot and Jeremiah told the group that she'd turned on him, so they'd voted her out. Meanwhile, Tony worried that he needed his former ally Sarah to rejoin them or else their alliance was doomed.
===Day 18===
The next morning, Trish taught a Pilates lesson on the beach to Kass, Morgan, and Tasha Fox. As LJ, Tony, and Woo watched from a distance, planning a fishing trip, Tony asked who they thought was "the head of the snake," and they all agreed that the Brains as a group were leading the opposing alliance. Tony told them he'd try to swing Sarah back to their side, and the other emphatically encouraged his success.
Tony then pulled Sarah aside to ask where she stood. She told him she was "floating" and Tony proposed a Final Four deal with the original Brawn tribe, and placed her above Woo for a Final Three deal. Sarah agreed that it sounded good, but when Tony asked her to swear on her badge that she was in on the plan to take out either Spencer or Kass, she told him she'd have to think it over first.
Later in the day, Sarah pulled Jeremiah and Kass aside to fill them in, and argued that LJ did not have an Idol and suggested they vote him out if he lost Immunity. However, Kass thought he might have an Idol, a view shared by Jeremiah who argued that he didn't have the Beauty Idol, so the next likely option was LJ. Jeremiah continued, suggesting Jefra was the better target, but Sarah insisted that the vote had to be for either LJ or Woo. Jeremiah and Kass countered that LJ might have the Idol, and if Woo won Immunity, suggested Trish. Again, Sarah called it a "terrible idea" and proposed Tony as the back-up vote for Woo, insisting that they take out one of the men as Trish was not strategic and was hooked to Tony, and Jefra was not a threat. The argument persisted, with Sarah saying she felt bullied, that she'd never agreed to vote Trish first, and threatened them that Tony had told her that she could decide the vote if she flipped to Solana. Kass was riled up by Sarah's accusations and threats, and in a confessional, revealed her continuing distrust of the cop.
===Day 19===
As LJ and Tony went fishing, a passive aggressive fight broke out between Kass and Sarah at the campfire as Tasha and Trish looked on. As Trish noted the cracks in the rival alliance, Tasha later sat down with Kass and Sarah to try to mediate the dispute. Sarah told Tasha that they'd been feuding because they couldn't agree on the vote, with Sarah again emphasizing that targeting Trish was a terrible plan because she wasn't strategic. As Tasha tried to smooth things out between the two women, her agreement with Sarah's rationales rubbed Kass the wrong way, and she and Sarah continued to feud.
At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff Probst took back the Immunity Idol and unveiled the Immunity Necklace. He then revealed the challenge: Bermuda Triangle. Each contestant would balance on triangular-shaped platform floating in the ocean, with only small footholds on the side of the platform to stand on. At periodic intervals, the contestants would move up to the next foothold, making balancing more difficult. The last person standing would win Immunity.
All the contestants took their places and gained their balance. After fifteen minutes, they moved up to the second foothold. Although everyone maintained their balance, the pain and discomfort was beginning to show with LJ, who bent hunched over his knees, and Tony, who commented on the lack of fun in the challenge.
After a total 29 minutes, everybody was still in the game, and were instructed to move up to the final narrow platform at peak of the triangle. As the wind picked up as the contestants moved, they began dropping like flies with Spencer, Kass, LJ, Sarah, Jefra, Tasha, Trish, and Jeremiah falling out in quick succession. Leaving only three standing - Morgan, Tony, and Woo – the challenge continued as the wind blustered across the water. Morgan then fell in, leaving only Tony and Woo. The two fought hard to keep their balance, with a couple of close saves by Tony, but in the end, he couldn't maintain it and fell off as he congratulated Woo. With that, Woo won the Immunity Necklace and was safe at the vote. The Solarrion tribe then headed back to camp.
Back at the beach, Woo was congratulated for his challenge success, whilst Sarah decided to stick with the new Aparri tribe for the vote as they were less of a challenge threat down the line. The Aparri alliance then met in the shallows to discuss the vote, where Spencer and Tasha pushed for Jefra, but Sarah, confident that none of the opposing alliance had an Idol, was determined to target strategic and physical threat Tony or LJ. Meanwhile, the new Solana alliance looked on, debating how to counter the majority. Recognizing that Sarah had been put on a pedestal by the opposing alliance, Tony insisted he'd do the same and pull her back to them, though Woo and Trish were doubtful. However, Trish proposed approaching Kass, who she had a good relationship with and who she had seen fighting with Sarah. However, Tony wanted to talk to Sarah first, and worried that Kass would play Trish if she tried that alternative. Back in the water, the Aparri alliance decided to put their votes on Tony, when Sarah guaranteed that he didn't have an Idol.
Tony pulled Sarah aside to try to bring her back on his side, but Sarah didn't want to give him a straight answer, saying she still needed to think about it. Tony tried to insist that once the other alliance had the numbers, Sarah was worth nothing to them, and offered to vote out whoever she wanted. Despite this, Sarah told him that she would make her decision at Tribal. Tony revealed in a confessional that he was confident that Sarah was not going to side with them, and planned to play the Idol.
Meanwhile, back at camp, Trish talked to Kass in the shelter, noting that she'd initially thought Kass was at the top of the other alliance, but Kass returned that she'd "been replaced." Trish observed that Kass would be the first out once they started eating their own, and asked her if she had any interest in joining them. Kass didn't think they could pull it together in time, but Trish asked her who she wanted out. Kass told her she'd want Sarah gone, and Trish told her they would take her out if Kass switched sides. Trish then went to LJ and Tony, telling them to vote for Sarah in light of her conversation with Kass. The three of them agreed to vote for Sarah, and Trish went back to Kass to confirm that there would be five votes on Sarah and the door was open for her to join them to send her home, promising that they'd take care of her. Solarrion then departed for Tribal Council.
At Tribal Council, Jeff first asked LJ about the mood of the new merged tribe. He said he felt as though he was in "the hottest seat in town right now," anticipating that he could be going home in the "best worst compliment you could ever get." Tasha agreed that this was the stage of the game where the biggest threats were targets, so he was right to worry.
Tony was asked about the dynamics of the tribe in light of the original and switched tribes. Tony observed that "you don't move forward with an alliance of numbers; you move forward with an alliance of comfort." Tony added that he was worried he could also be a target of the vote, but he still had "a little fire" in him. Kass agreed the LJ and Tony had a right to be worried, saying she'd feel the same if she was a strong male in the minority.
LJ was asked about Idols, and he proposed that since no Idols had yet been seen it could be "a big Survivor joke," but Tony revealed that there were Idols and told the tribe that he had an Idol. Spencer challenged him to show it, and Tony obliged, revealing his Hidden Immunity Idol to the Solarrion tribe whilst also noting that he wasn't necessarily going to play it for himself. 
The Aparri alliance began discussing what to do, with Spencer asking Tasha if they should vote for "the other one" and the message was passed around. Meanwhile, the Solana alliance told each other to "keep the same." Commenting that he loved it when a vote was "this alive," Jeff called the vote.
Trish voted first, followed by Woo, Jefra and LJ. Tasha, Tony, and Spencer voted next, with Morgan, Jeremiah, Sarah, and finally Kass concluding the proceedings. Jeff then tallied the votes.
Jeff asked if anybody wished to play a Hidden Immunity Idol and Tony asked if Jeff would validate his Idol. Jeff told him that it was a Hidden Immunity Idol, and Tony chose to play it on LJ. As Jeff began his spiel about the votes, LJ interrupted him to reveal that he wanted to "cover Tony's ass as well," revealing his own Hidden Immunity Idol and playing it for Tony. As the Solana alliance grinned and clapped, the Aparri alliance glanced about in horror.
However, the first vote came up for Jefra and instantly, Solana's faces dropped, and it was Aparri's turn to grin smugly. This was followed by a vote for Sarah. As Jefra grew increasingly teary, the votes switched back and forth – one for Jefra, one for Sarah – to culminate in a 5-5 tie with one vote remaining.
The final vote came up for Sarah and the Solana alliance exploded into applause as the Aparri alliance were shocked. As Sarah collected her torch, she asked the tribe who flipped and Tasha deduced that Spencer deduced that Kass had jumped ship. Sarah's torch was snuffed and she departed Tribal Council, becoming the eighth person eliminated from and the first member of the jury. Jefra leaned over to thank Kass, and the rest of the alliance echoed the gratitude. Meanwhile, a frustrated Spencer commented, "Kass: zero chance of winning the game," to which Kass observed, "There's a long way to go." Jeff then sent Solarrion back to camp, predicting a "wild finish."
==Challenges==
Immunity Challenge: Bermuda TrianglesThe castaways would stand on slanted slats on a podium over the water. At regular intervals, they would move up to a higher set of slats, making it harder to balance. After 30 minutes, the castaways would move to the top of the podium, where the last person left standing wins immunity.Winner: 
==Tribal Council==
colspan="2" 	
VotedAgainst	Voter
 	
 	
 	None
 	None
colspan="2" 	
===Voting Confessionals===
No voting confessionals were aired in the episode.
===Final Words===
===Still in the Running===
								
								
==Trivia==
===Deleted Scenes===
* Trish teaches Pilates to her tribemates. Sarah says the practicing yoga makes sense no matter how asinine it comes across to the audience.
* Woo talks about how different challenges it is to watch challenges on television to actually participating in one. 
* New People Are Characters: Spencer describes the Solana members: Tony is a "big and loud New Yorker"; Trish is a crazy person with crazy histories and an annoying laugh but is fun to have around; LJ is a horse trainer from Boston, he doesn't really know who LJ is; Jefra is a "southern nice girl"; Woo is a "nice guy", but he is one of the biggest threats in the game, because he is athletic, social, and observant.
* 22 Eyes & 22 Hands: Tony says he did not enjoy the merge feast as he was preoccupied from searching for a possible Hidden Immunity Idol or clue hidden somewhere during the feast.
===Other===
*This episode was voted as the greatest Survivor episode of all time in the "Top 25 Greatest Episodes of all time" poll by Survivor Oz in 2015.
*This is the first time a male, Woo Hwang, won the Sea Legs Challenge.
*This is the only Tribal Council at which two Hidden Immunity Idols are played, and neither negates a vote.
*This is the only post-merge episode this season in which no member of the original Brain tribe wins individual immunity.
==References==
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Episodes
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Episodes
Category:Survivor: Cagayan
Category:Cagayan Episodes