Sitting in My Spy Shack

Sitting in My Spy Shack is the ninth episode of .
==Story==
===Day 25===
Solarrion returned to camp after blindsiding LJ McKanas, and Jefra Bland immediately asked who in the alliance had flipped. Tony Vlachos admitted that he and Woo Hwang had jumped ship for the vote. She asked him why, and he'd told her he had his reasons but couldn't tell her, Kass McQuillen, and Trish Hegarty in advance because they liked LJ too much. Kass asked him if it was a one-time deal, and Tony adamantly insisted it was, prompting Jefra to query whether she had become the bottom rung in the alliance. Spencer Bledsoe joked that any time a "Top Six" was proposed, it fell apart.
===Day 26===
The next morning, Tony ran off to the well to construct a second "spy shack," in the hopes of eavesdropping on any strategy talk that was conducted there. Soon after, Jefra and Trish walked to the well, where Jefra told her that she didn't trust Tony and wanted to get her view on the matter. Trish told her that she believed the alliance was still intact even without LJ, but admitted that Tony was an "Academy Award winning actor." Meanwhile, Tony overheard the conversation from the shrubbery, prompting him to worry about his position in the game.
===Day 27===
At the Reward Challenge, Jeff Probst welcomed in the tribe and revealed the challenge: Rove, Rove, Rove Your Boat. In teams of four, the contestants would navigate a boat out around a buoy, and on the way back, collect eight paddles tied to floating crates. Two members of the team would then use those paddles to solve a word-scramble. The first team to solve the phrase would win the challenge and a trip to , complete with a barbecue lunch of chicken, ribs, potato salad and chocolate chip cookies. The teams were randomly divided: the Orange Team (Kass, Tony, Trish, and Woo) and the Purple Team (Jefra, Jeremiah Wood, Spencer, and Tasha Fox).
As the teams headed into the water, Jefra struggled to get into the boat, forcing Jeremiah to have to lift her in and costing the team time. However, Orange had difficulty getting control of their boat, and the teams were neck-and-neck as they paddled around the buoy, with Purple taking a slight lead. Tasha began untying the first two paddles for Purple, as Woo took on the task for Orange. Tony also helped untie Orange's paddles, allowing them to take the lead. As Jeremiah and Spencer worked on the second set of paddles, Jeremiah accidentally hit Jefra in the head, but she urged him to keep going. Meanwhile, Orange had collected their second set of paddles, but Tony dropped one in the water, forcing him to dive into the water to retrieve it and costing his team time and allowing Purple to catch up. The teams stayed even through the third set of paddles, but Purple paddled past the final crate, forcing them to double back and allowing Orange to regain the lead going to shore and into the word puzzle. Purple recovered quickly, and soon, both teams were working on untying the knots covering the paddles, where both teams, again, ended up even.
Kass and Woo took on the puzzle for Orange, whilst Spencer and Tasha solved it for Purple. Whilst Spencer began solving around the word "Final," Kass sought to use the word "Fight." This prompted Purple to look next door, and noticing the word "fight," began to work towards the same result. Kass thought she'd solved the three word phrase to be "Worth fighting for," and she and Woo started arranging the paddles from scratch. Meanwhile, Spencer noticed their new direction and whispered the solution – "Worth playing for" – to Tasha. Purple quickly solved the phrase to win the challenge and the reward. As they celebrated, Jeremiah apologized to Jefra for headbutting her in the boat, whilst Tony expressed frustration that there was "no Y in fighting." Jefra, Jeremiah, Spencer, and Tasha headed off to their reward, whilst the losing Orange Team returned to camp.
Back at camp, the losing team was dejected. Kass and Tony worried about Jefra being alone with the whole minority alliance on the Reward. Tony, particularly, wanted to strategize and reinforce the alliance, but Trish didn't want to get involved, preferring to investigate a grove of papaya and lemon trees she had discovered near camp. Tony was frustrated by her unwillingness to talk strategy and went Idol-hunting on the beach, but with no success.
Meanwhile, Trish recruited Woo to help her retrieve the new-found fruits. He climbed up into the tree and shook it to knock down some fruit, but on his descent, he grabbed a dead branch that snapped off and sent him plummeting to the ground. Trish ran to his side, but despite a "hurt butt," Woo was unharmed, commenting that he'd "break [his] ass for papayas any day."
At the Reward, the winners of the challenge were led into the caves by a tour guide. They marveled at the beauty of the caves and, particularly, the barbecue meal awaiting them inside. Quickly, however, the conversation turned to strategy as the three in the minority asked Jefra how she felt with her alliance. She told them that she was questioning her place as she hadn't been told about the big move. All four agreed that getting rid of Tony was a big priority, and when Spencer proposed that Jefra work with them, she told them she "needed another rib to think about that one."
Suddenly, the tour guide returned to the table bringing letters from home. Jefra immediately burst into tears before she'd even gotten the chance to read the letter. Once she did, and as the others also grew tearful as they read their letters, Jefra read an excerpt aloud: "Don't let your kind heart be your downfall. Don't be scared to lie although you're not that kind of a person." She concluded that the letter could be a "sign" signalling her to jump ship and join the minority alliance. The group made a Final Four pact, shaking hands, with Jefra reminding Jeremiah that he'd shaken her hand before and she'd hold him to the promise.
===Day 28===
At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff welcomed in Solarrion and took back the Immunity Necklace from Tasha, before revealing the challenge: Hard to Handle. Each contestant was to stand on a narrow, sloped beam, balancing a large ball on a small platform attached to a pole. At periodic intervals, the contestants would move down the beam to a narrower section, and lower their handhold on the pole, both increasing the difficulty of the challenge. The last person standing would win Immunity.
As soon as the challenge began, the wind picked up to test the contestants. Kass made a nice recovery, and Jefra was the first to drop out. Trish and Tony dropped out in quick succession soon after, and Kass dropped her ball too before the three-minute mark. After 10 minutes, the remaining four competitors moved down the beam. Tasha quickly steadied her rolling ball, but Jeremiah was not so lucky, dropping out of the challenge to leave the previous Immunity winners – Spencer, Tasha, and Woo – in the challenge.
After 20 minutes, the wind picked up again, but all three moved down to the final stage of the challenge. Woo fought to keep his ball steady as it skirted the platform, but in doing so, lost his balance and fell out of the challenge. The wind picked up again and Spencer could not recover, dropping his ball. Thus, Tasha won her second consecutive Immunity Challenge.
Returning to camp, the tribe congratulated Tasha on her victory, whilst Tasha revealed in a confessional that her priority was to target Tony, even if it meant going to rocks. Meanwhile, a desperate Tony fled into the jungle looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol with "special powers."
In the shallows, Trish talked to Jefra, asking her why she looked troubled. Jefra told her that she didn't feel safe in the alliance. Kass joined the women in the water for the discussion as Jefra added that she was over Tony's "fakeness" and his lies, concluding, "He's getting on my frickin' nerves." Back in the jungle, Tony continued his hunt for the Idol. He located a tree with large roots that resembled a rocket ship and began digging around the roots. Eventually, he located the special Idol – with the power to be played after the votes were read at Tribal Council – and celebrated gleefully before rushing back to camp to wash up.
Back in the water, Jefra, Kass, and Trish were still discussing Tony. Kass cautioned that getting rid of someone annoying would "screw yourself." But Jefra persisted that she didn't like Tony, and the other women commiserated, but Trish argued that they couldn't take him out, or else they'd give the minority too much power and arguing that they had a better chance of beating Tony or Woo at the end. Tony joined them in the water, and Trish told him that they needed to be able to trust him. He responded defensively, but she explained that people were getting paranoid about him and his "double agent" act. As Woo also joined them, Tony swore on his baby, father, mother, and everybody that he was loyal. Kass told the group that she was certain Spencer had the Hidden Immunity Idol, claiming she had a good read on him. Woo worried that the Idol could mess up their plans.
Later, Jefra pulled Jeremiah aside and told him that she was breaking her promise to vote with the minority, telling him that it was in her best interest in the game to stick with the majority. Jeremiah told her that it was alright, and when the minority alliance later took a dip in the ocean, Jeremiah revealed to them his big secret – that he was a fashion model. Although Spencer laughed about the revelation in a confessional, it prompted him to share a secret of his own. Jeremiah guessed that Spencer had the Hidden Immunity Idol, and he confirmed it. The three then agree to put their votes on Woo because of his challenge prowess.
At Tribal Council, Jeff first welcomed in the jury: Sarah Lacina, Morgan McLeod, and LJ. Firstly, Spencer was asked whether the game was up for grabs, and he said that whilst there had been a brief window of that possibility, but they now knew they were on the outside. Jeremiah agreed, and revealed that they'd talked to Jefra on the Reward, hoping to "upset this game somehow," but added that she'd chosen to turn back to her original alliance. Jeff asked Jefra if she was impressionable, and she commented that she had been bitter about LJ's blindside. Trish interjected that she and Kass had also been left out of the loop, and Jefra continued that she had weighed her options, and had decided that it was better to risk being voted out by her alliance than to go up against Tasha and Spencer at the Final Tribal Council.
Spencer rolled his eyes in disgust, commenting that it was "frustrating," because if you're on the outside of a vote, then you know that you're on the bottom of the alliance. He added that Tony had broken many promises already, and would break more in the future. Tony interjected, asking Spencer to be specific about when he broke his promise – prompting puzzled expressions from Sarah and LJ in the jury. As Tony and Spencer argued about Tony's trustworthiness, Tony concluded, paradoxically, "I didn't break promises. I did it for a reason." Spencer then addressed the rest of the alliance, telling them that if any of them made it to the end with Tony, his vote would go to Tony. Tasha concurred, and Spencer continued, "He's been steering this game, and you haven't."
Woo was asked about Spencer and Tasha's threat to vote for Tony. He told them while it was worrying that Tony had, apparently, three votes in his pocket, he noted that Tony couldn't reach the end without them. Spencer clarified that he wasn't rooting for Tony, but was just rooting for himself, but again pointed out that Tony was angling for the win. Trish countered that their alliance had had a conversation where they'd called Tony out on his double-crossing. Tasha commented that nobody seemed particularly "alarmed," but Trish denied that, saying they'd called him out and he'd told them that he would stop his act. Tony agreed, adding that "timing is everything" for power moves, and noted the need for them to stay solid at this stage in the game.
Jeff asked Woo how the majority was deciding between Jeremiah and Spencer. He said that they'd weighed out the possibilities of who had the Idol, but it would still be a tough vote. Jeremiah, when asked how he could deflect the vote onto Spencer, noted that Spencer was a bigger threat than him. Spencer said that he might be a threat in some areas, but noted that Jeremiah was "one of the most likable guys I've ever met." Tasha weighed in, saying that their minority had decided not to vote for Tony because it had upset him the last time, but they had simply picked someone else. Tony interrupted that he still had his "bag of tricks," which Spencer called him out on.
Jeff then called the vote. Kass and Woo started the proceedings, followed by Jefra and Jeremiah. Spencer then cast his vote for Woo, and Trish, Tony, and Tasha finished the voting. Jeff tallied the results.
When asked if anyone wanted to play a Hidden Immunity Idol, Spencer stood up, telling Woo that he could "steal as many clues as [he wanted]; I got the real thing." As Spencer walked up to Jeff, Tony pulled out his wrapped Idol and brandished it for Spencer to see. Spencer played the Idol for himself and Tony boasted that he'd tricked the "young lad" into not playing his Idol for "Jeremy" – prompting a perplexed Morgan to quietly query, "Who's Jeremy?" Tony, then told the group that it was a fake Idol.
Jeff then read the votes. The first was for Woo, followed by another two for "Woooooooooo." However, the next vote was for Jeremiah. Spencer apologized to him as Jeff read the remaining votes, all for Jeremiah. He brought his torch to Jeff where it was snuffed. He departed Tribal, wishing his tribe good luck, and became the eleventh person eliminated from and the fourth member of the jury. Jeff sent Solarrion back to camp, telling the tribe that whether or not a big move paid off, it was always worth making them.
==Challenges==
<tabber>Reward=Challenge: Rove, Rove, Rove Your BoatThe teams must go out in a boat to retrieve paddles with letters on them. The first team to come back with all the paddles and use them to figure a common Survivor phrase ("Worth playing for"), wins reward.Reward: Trip to , a barbecue lunch, and letters from homeWinners:  (, , , and )|-|Immunity=Challenge: Hard to HandleCastaways must stand on a narrow beam, while balancing a ball on a stick with one hand. At predetermined intervals, they would move further down to a narrower part of the beam, while moving their hand on a lower part of the handle of their stick, making it harder to keep steady. If they drop their ball or fall off their beam, they would be out of the challenge. The last person standing wins.Winner: </tabber>
==Tribal Council==
colspan="2" 	
VotedAgainst	Voter
 	
 	
 	None
colspan="2" 	
===Voting Confessionals===
===Final Words===
===Still in the Running===
								
								
==Trivia==
===Life at Ponderosa===
===Deleted Scenes===
* On Day 26, Jeremiah Wood reveals that he is suffering from backaches. Tasha Fox offers to massage his back to relieve the pain. While Jeremiah claims that the massage somewhat helped, he touts that he does not want to be medically evacuated from the game.
* Deleted confessionals from each castaway were posted on CBS.com:
** I Hadn't Really Thought Things Through: Jefra Bland explains her initial decision to flip to the Aparri Alliance during their lunch reward.
** His Lucky Day: Trish Hegarty talks about Woo Hwang falling from a tree. She explains that both of them were too hungry, and that they desperately looked for new food sources, with the high papaya tree that Woo fell from being one of them.
** It Wasn't Like Me: Jefra confesses that thinking strategy was what made her struggle during the Immunity Challenge.
** They're Piranhas: Tasha analogizes herself, Jeremiah, and Spencer Bledsoe as "fish in an aquarium", with Jefra letting herself be around "piranhas and sharks", referring to the majority Solana Alliance.
** Nobody Trusts Me: Kass McQuillen states that "Chaos Kass" had finished her job, and decides not to make big moves and let the bigger personalities run the game.
===Other===
* With Jeremiah Wood's elimination, Jefra Bland became the last remaining member of the original Solana tribe.
* The boats used during the Reward Challenge still had the original tribe names labelled on them (Aparri for the orange team and Solana for the purple team). Coincidentally, all of the remaining original tribe members of each of the tribes were on those particular teams (with the Brains Spencer Bledsoe and Tasha Fox being on purple and Kass McQuillen being on orange).
* According to her exit interview on Rob Has a Podcast, Jefra found a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol in a plate of cookies on the reward. However, although she and the minority alliance searched for it once getting back to camp, Spencer Bledsoe never told her that he had already found it.
* All castaways who did the puzzle for their team in the Reward Challenge would later return in .
==References==
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Episodes
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Episodes
Category:Survivor: Cagayan
Category:Cagayan Episodes