Out on a Limb (episode)

This page refers to the 13th episode of . For the challenge of the same name, see Out on a Limb (challenge).
Out on a Limb is the penultimate episode of .
==Story==
===Day 32===
Katie Collins arrives at after drawing the white rock at Tribal Council and greets her mother Tina Wesson, as well as Laura Morett. She fills them in on the manner of her elimination, and the two moms support her decision to take a chance with the rocks. However, Tina worries about competing against her daughter in the upcoming Duel, and tells Katie that she is not opposed to letting Katie win the Duel. Katie counters that they should both just try their hardest.
Meanwhile, back at Kasama, the tribe reels from the drama at Tribal Council. Ciera Eastin and Hayden Moss assure everyone that they still love everyone, and Tyson Apostol applauds the big move and states that he is excited to be a part of it. As Hayden explains that he just fought hard, Tyson turns to Gervase Peterson and tells him, "That's why you don't tell an insane person they're next to go." Later, Monica Culpepper thanks Gervase and Tyson for sticking by her and going to rocks to save her. The five remaining contestants draw a line in the sand, joking about the divide between Gervase, Monica, and Tyson and Ciera and Hayden, with Monica saying they are going to pull Ciera back over to their side, and Ciera saying she is always in the middle.
Monica then approaches her alliance, worried about either Hayden or Ciera having a Hidden Immunity Idol, but Tyson reveals to her and Gervase that he had found it. Despite this, Monica continues to worry about needing to split their votes, until Tyson shuts down the conversation. Gervase and Tyson later deride Monica's ability at the game behind her back, as Monica feels betrayed by Tyson's withholding of the information about the idol.
===Day 33===
The following morning, Hayden finds Ciera in the hammock and the two discuss their way forward in the game. Ciera is feeling relieved after making a big move the night before, despite it not panning out perfectly, and is optimistic about her mother, Laura M., returning from Redemption Island. The two decide their best plan of action is to try to find the Hidden Immunity Idol and to hope to win immunity, whilst also trying to drive a wedge into the majority alliance.
Kasama then heads to Redemption Island Arena, where Tina, Laura M., and Katie enter to fight in the Duel. Host Jeff Probst asks Tina about the internal conflict of having to compete against her daughter to stay in the game, and she answers that it is "by far, the hardest day." She continues that she cannot come to terms with the finality of fighting against Katie, and had decided to just make the decision in the moment.
Jeff then reveals the Duel: Jail Break. Trapped behind a wooden gate, each contestant, using twine and sticks, is to construct a long pole which they would use to retrieve three keys (each further away than the last). Once they had all three keys, they would use them to unlock three locks, open the "jail" door, and step through to safety. The first person to finish would receive a clue to the idol, to share with a member of Kasama, whilst the last to finish would be eliminated from the game and become the fourth member of the jury.
Immediately after the challenge starts, Tina shouts advice to Katie about how to construct her pole. Laura M. is the first to make her pole, and easily retrieves the first key, but only just gets it back through the gate as her pole begins to collapse. Without making any adjustments, she continues to try for her second key, as both Katie and Tina make their way for their first. Tina's pole is too short, but Katie's is strong enough to retrieve her first key. Simultaneously, Laura M. obtains her second key, and makes a few adjustments to her pole before attempting the third. Barely struggling, she retrieves the final key and as Tina finally manages to hook her first key, Laura steps through the gate to win the Duel.
With only mother and daughter remaining, both are neck-and-neck as they reach for their second keys. Tina's pole collapses, but Katie is able to hook hers, but it slips off of her pole, forcing her to retrieve the key by digging it out of the sand with a weak pole. This opens the door for Tina to retrieve her second key, followed by her third, as Katie struggles to dig her key out. As Tina unlocks her locks, she asks Katie if she is okay with her winning and eliminating her from the game, to which her daughter gives meek consent. Telling Katie that she loves her, Tina walks through her gate to survive the Duel.
Katie and Tina embrace as Tina apologizes, and fighting tears, relates the strength of her bond with her daughter. Katie adds that she is proud of the two of them, and says that the experience has been a gift. Katie then burns her buff, becoming the thirteenth person eliminated from and the fourth member of the jury.
Laura M. chooses to give the iol clue to Ciera, asking to walk it over to Ciera herself. As she gives her the clue, she tells her daughter to "find that thing," as Tina turns to Hayden to tell him to win the Immunity Challenge. Laura and Tina, arm-in-arm, then depart the Arena, and Kasama returns to camp.
Back at camp, Ciera shares the Hidden Immunity Idol clue with Hayden: First clues can be pretty vague and make you feel a bit dim. To find the idol, or to win this game, you'll have to go out on a limb. Deducing that the idol must be hidden in a tree, the two seek the Idol, searching in the same tree in which the idol had once been hidden. As Hayden is looking, Monica passes by on her way to the well, catching him in the act and spoiling the search. Hayden comes to the conclusion that Tyson had already found the idol, since he cannot locate it in the obvious hiding places.
Meanwhile, Gervase, Monica, and Tyson discuss the aftermath of the Duel, where Laura M. and Tina had given direct support of the outsiders. Determined to solidify his seat in the Final Three, Gervase then discusses trust with Monica, asking her to rate her opinion of her tribemates. She answers that she trusts Gervase and Tyson a "ten," and Ciera a "five," whilst Hayden is just scrambling. He tells her that he also trusts her to a ten, and she thanks him for his scruples in not flipping on her at the previous vote.
Lying in the shelter, Ciera and Hayden determine that Gervase is not going to flip, so their only option is Monica. Ciera plans to throw the two men under the bus, and tell Monica that they have been trash-talking her behind her back.
===Day 35===
Kasama convenes for the Reward/Immunity Challenge where Jeff takes back the Immunity Necklace from Gervase. He then reveals the challenge: Pulled Up. Starting out in the ocean, each castaway would push a buoy along a rope and through a series of ropes wrapped around a pole. Once reaching the shore, they would untie a bag filled with letter tiles and use them to solve a word puzzle of a "classic Survivor phrase." The first to finish would win immunity, as well as reward in the form of a dinner selected from a menu of steak, lobster, pizza, or a burger.
Early on, Hayden and Tyson push into the lead, with Monica close behind. Although still a distance behind, Gervase manages to stay in front of Ciera, surprising Jeff. Hayden and Tyson simultaneously reach their obstacle, with Tyson edging out a lead as Monica and Gervase reached their obstacle platform. Ciera has only just reached hers by the time that Hayden is already moving on. Monica is next in the water, with Gervase close behind, as Tyson and Hayden reach the shore. Ciera struggles at the obstacle, as Gervase overtakes Monica as they reach the beach and begin to work on untying their puzzle pieces.
Tyson is the first to start on his puzzle as Ciera makes it through her obstacle. Hayden, Monica, and Gervase are close behind on the puzzle. Ciera reaches the beach and begins working on her puzzle as the remaining four began sorting out their letter tiles. As Jeff reminds the castaways that they were looking for a common Survivor phrase, they begin finding possible words. Gervase has formed five out of eight words as Ciera begins to catch up. While many of the castaways circles the same phrase – "you are going to vote..." – Ciera makes a breakthrough in replacing "vote" with "have". As Gervase also reaches the same conclusion, Ciera picks up the pace and in a come-from-behind victory, solves the phrase: "You are going to have to dig deep."
She celebrates by high-fiving her competitors, and Jeff gives her the Immunity Necklace. She is then informed that she can share her dinner reward with one other person, and chooses "Hay-Train" to join her. Ciera and Hayden select their dinners from the menu, and return to camp with the rest of Kasama.
Ciera celebrates her victory at camp (particularly excited for her mother's discovery of the fact), congratulated by her tribemates. As Ciera and Hayden sit down for their reward meal, Tyson talks to Gervase and Monica in the shelter, suggesting that it is better that the three of them missed out on the food because they remained a unit. Monica wonders who would be targeted at the vote, while Ciera and Hayden conspire to pull Monica onto their side in a vote against Gervase by throwing the Gervase and Tyson under the bus.
Later, Ciera pulls Monica aside for a chat on the beach, where she tells her that Tyson had been "talking mad crap" about her behind her back, calling her just another vote and a "puppy on a leash". Monica asks if he is still as rude, and Ciera says that he is still saying such things. Monica asks why Tyson would draw rocks if he really did not care about her, and Ciera argues that it was because he knew he would have been the next on the block if he had voted her out at the revote. As Ciera urges a tearful Monica to vote with her against Gervase, Gervase and Tyson wonder if anything is going on with their ally. Tyson is worried, having seen Ciera smiling after her conversation with Monica, but Gervase is confident that she is not going to sway.
Kasama arrives at Tribal Council, and the jury – Aras Baskauskas, Vytas Baskauskas, Caleb Bankston, and Katie – enter. Seeing his former ally cleaned up, Hayden comments that Katie looked "hot," to which Ciera agrees. First up, Jeff asks Ciera about the division between the alliances. Going into the challenge, she says, it had still been herself and Hayden against the returning players, and that one of them needed to win immunity. Hayden concurs that they are under pressure, being on the bottom, but despite that, there are still things that they can control.
Asked if they had looked for a crack in the three-person alliance, Hayden says that they did not focus on the crack, but rather the truth, emphasizing that Gervase and Tyson are only keeping Monica around because they think that they could beat her at the end. Hayden then accuses Tyson of drawing rocks for this reason, as he cannot beat anyone other than Monica at the end, but Tyson returns that he went to rocks because he knows that he could trust her. Gervase interjects that "one man's perception is another man's reality," pointing out that Ciera and Hayden's views are real to them, but not necessarily accurate. He accuses them of throwing trash at the wall in the hope that something would stick.
Monica admits that Ciera had come to her and told her of "unbecoming things" that her allies had said about her. She says that it hurt to hear such things being said, and thinks that there could be some truth to them. Tyson says that he is not concerned with what Ciera had allegedly said, recounting that when he had asked her who she wanted to go the Final Three with, Ciera wanted take Monica because she could beat her. Tyson adds that Monica knows what kind of character he is, but Hayden interrupts that she knows what kind of character he is to her face. Ciera adds that she wanted to warn Monica, "woman-to-woman," about the people she is playing with, suggesting that Monica would regret her decision to stick with them in hindsight.
Gervase notes that they are only bringing these accusations up now, when they are desperate, rather than when it happened. Hayden says that it was because Tyson is controlling the game, prompting Gervase to exasperatedly refute that Tyson is in control, and then asking who is in control of the minority pair. Ciera and Hayden answer that neither is in control, but before they can elaborate, Gervase escalates into an aggressive accusation that that is the reason they are going home.
Ciera tries to settle the situation, explaining that she played along with Tyson and Gervase's comments because she was in a tight alliance with them, but when she felt controlled at the last Tribal Council, she stood up for herself and drawn rocks. She insists that she is not lying to Monica. Asked how she is feeling, Monica says that she had to "dig deep" in the game, and if people did not respect her, she does not know what else she can do. She added that, "hell yes," was hurt by what Ciera had told her because she likes the people she is playing with, but that her resilience is keeping her going, concluding that bad moral and ethical decisions can come back to bite.
Gervase says that he is concerned by Monica's statement, pointing to Ciera's last minute flip at the last Tribal Council. Hayden agrees that it is necessary to get into someone's head, and turns to Monica, emphasizing that Gervase and Tyson had played stronger games than her, and the pervading opinion of her is that of a lapdog and a pawn, something her family would see. He tells her that this is an opportunity for her to stand up and put her mark on the game, but Tyson counters by asking her if he told her what to do or if they discussed their opinions. Ciera then interjects that she respects her, that her allies do not actually value her opinion, and that she can take the opportunity to make a big move and make it her game. Monica thanks her, and the voting begins.
Hayden casts his vote first, followed by Tyson and Gervase. Ciera votes next, with Monica concluding the proceedings. Jeff tallies the votes and then reads them aloud. The first vote is for Hayden, followed by a vote for Gervase. A second vote for Hayden is followed by another vote against Gervase, tying the tally at 2-2 with one vote remaining. The final vote is for Hayden, making him the sixteenth person voted out of Survivor: Blood vs. Water. He hugs Ciera goodbye and congratulates Gervase and Tyson on their game as he takes his torch to Jeff. After his torch is snuffed, he departs for Redemption Island, waving farewell to his tribe. As Jeff bids the tribe farewell, he reminds them that a wildcard is about to return from Redemption Island.
Hayden arrives at Redemption Island, greeting Laura M. and Tina, who were upset to see him voted out. Hayden tells the mothers about Monica's decision, recounting that Tyson had her on a leash.
==Challenges==
<tabber>Redemption Island Duel=Challenge: Jail BreakLocked in a makeshift jail cell, castaways must use sticks and rope to create a long pole to retrieve three keys. These keys are to be used to unlock three locks. The first two to open all three locks and get through their door stay alive.Winners (in order of finish): and (Laura M. gave Hidden Immunity Idol clue to )|-|Reward/Immunity=Challenge: Pulled UpAt the starting position, the castaways will dive into the water and ride along a buoy. After making it back to shore, the castaways will solve a puzzle of an eight-word Survivor phrase (You are going to have to dig deep).Reward: A picnic lunchWinner:  (reward shared with )</tabber>
==Redemption Island==
colspan="2"	
Competitors	Result(according to finish)
 	Won
 	Won
 	Lost
colspan="2"	
==Tribal Council==
colspan="2" 	
VotedAgainst	Voter
 	
 	
colspan="2" 	
===Voting Confessionals===
Unavailable.
===Still in the Running===
									
									
==Trivia==
* No footage from Day 34 was shown in the episode.
** This was the fifth episode of the season to skip a day, following (Day 12), (Day 15), (Day 20), and (Day 31).
* With the elimination of Katie Collins, Ciera Eastin and Laura Morett are the last pair of loved ones remaining.
* This was the only Tribal Council of the season where a woman did not receive a vote.
* As of this episode, Laura M. wins her sixth duel, and becomes the most successful female on , beating the previous record holder Christine Shields Markoski.
===Episode Title===
* The title of the episode was part of the clue for the Hidden Immunity Idol that Laura Morett gave to Ciera Eastin after she won the duel (To find the idol, or to win this game, you'll have to go out on a limb.).
==References==
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Episodes
2713
Category:Survivor: Blood vs. Water
13