Cops-R-Us (episode)

Cops-R-Us is the second episode of .
==Story==
===Night 6===
Luzon returned from Tribal Council after blindsiding Garrett Adelstein. Now on the bottom of his tribe, Spencer Bledsoe asked what would have happened if Garrett hadn't forced the "open forum." Tasha Fox told him it would have been J'Tia Taylor going home, but she changed her vote after Garrett revealed that she wasn't in his alliance. Tasha later approached J'Tia and Kass McQuillen about solidifying a female alliance, and planning to vote Spencer out next if they lost again, with Kass seeking assurance that Tasha wouldn't turn on her down the line.
At Aparri, Tony Vlachos awoke in the middle of the night and sat down by the fire. When Sarah Lacina joined him, he revealed to her that, true to her original instincts, he was a police officer of thirteen years. He asked how she knew, and she told him she could "just tell." The two agreed to a Finals alliance, dubbed "Cops-R-Us" by Tony, who then lied to Sarah about a conversation he'd overheard between Cliff Robinson and Lindsey Ogle, claiming they were targeting Sarah because she was "too smart." They agreed, "on my badge," to stick together.
In the middle of the night, a storm blew in, bringing torrential rain and rough winds. As Trish Hegarty fought to keep the fire for Aparri alive, the tribe huddled under the shelter, hoping for sunlight in the morning.
===Day 7===
The following morning, the storm still raged with rain and high winds bearing down on the contestants. At Aparri, Tony and Sarah worked to fortify the shelter and the tribe tried to rehydrate drinking the water dripping through the roof. Although Woo Hwang looked for the bright side, the tribe huddled together under shelter, licking their wounds – particularly Lindsey, who complained that it was "the most ridiculous situation I've ever put myself through – and I just wish I hadn't." Sarah, however, was unsympathetic in light of Tony's lie the previous night and she pulled him aside to clarify the story. He lied that the original plan had been to vote out Trish, but despite Lindsey claiming she liked Sarah, Cliff had told her that they had to get rid of Sarah because of her smarts. They reconfirmed their "Cops-R-Us" alliance, with Sarah wholeheartedly trusting Tony, but Tony noting in a confessional that he didn't trust anyone.
Meanwhile, at Solana, Jefra Bland struggled to cope with the constant rain and despite some optimism from Alexis Maxwell, her spirits were not lifted. As LJ McKanas, Jeremiah Wood, and Brice Johnston worked to repair the shelter in the storm, Alexis, Jefra, and Morgan McLeod did not contribute to the efforts, frustrating LJ. However, he took advantage of the tribe's sedentariness and distraction to follow his hunch that Morgan had been looking for a Hidden Immunity Idol when the tribe had arrived at camp on Day 1. In the midst of the storm, he waded out to the rocky outcrop and after searching in the rock wall, found the Idol weighted to the seabed floor. He decided to keep it a secret, and headed back to camp.
===Day 8===
At Luzon, Kass and Spencer retrieved Tree Mail for the day's Immunity Challenge. Tasha read the mail to the tribe, which informed them that part of the challenge would involve a maze, as well as throwing buckets of water to one another, with the reward being a "drier shelter." J'Tia suggested the tribe cook up some rice, and the others agreed. However, Tasha encouraged the tribe to practice for the challenge instead, but Kass preferred "interior decorating" and Spencer claimed he needed to hydrate. This frustrated Tasha, who threatened Spencer, "You should really want to practice this. You should really want us to practice." Eventually, the tribe came around and practiced throwing sea water to each other using coconut bowls.
At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff welcomed Aparri and Solana, who got their first look at the new Luzon, minus Garrett. The tribes were shocked by the news – particularly Jeremiah. Jeff then revealed the challenge: Mazed and Confused. Four members of each tribe would compete, lining up on small platforms. The person closest to the oceans would scoop water into a bucket and then throw that bucket, containing the water, to the second person, who would pass it to the third. The third person would then toss the water to the last person in line who would then fill another bucket on the end of a teeter-totter. Once enough water had filled the bucket, a ball would be released. Two members of the tribe would then use the ball to solve a large, vertical rotating maze. The first two tribes to finish would win Immunity. In addition, the first tribe to finish would receive Reward in the form of comfort and shelter (including a tarp, blankets, pillows, a mosquito net and a hammock). The second tribe to finish would also receive Reward in the form of a tarp. To even the tribes, Lindsey and Tony sat out for Aparri, whilst Alexis and Jefra sat out for Solana.
Once again, Luzon got off to a slow start, struggling to efficiently pass the bucket and the water, despite their practice. With LJ collecting the water, and passing it to Jeremiah, Brice, and finally, Morgan, Solana pulled out to the early lead. Aparri, with Trish gathering water for Sarah, Woo, and Cliff, were close behind. With very little of the water collected by Spencer making its way through Tasha and J'Tia to Kass, Luzon fell further behind with bad communication and simple mistakes costing them time.
Solana was the first to release their ball, and Jeremiah and LJ set to work on the maze. Aparri was close behind, with Cliff and Woo taking on the maze. Aparri pulled into the lead on the maze as Luzon finally filled their bucket to release their ball. As Kass and Spencer started the maze, Cliff and Woo successfully completed the maze to win Immunity and the larger reward for Aparri. Kass and Spencer worked well together, making up a lot of ground on the maze as Jeremiah and LJ struggled. With Solana growing more frustrated, Luzon kept its cool and managed to win their first Immunity Challenge. The four celebrated wildly, jumping, hugging, and crying with joy and relief. Meanwhile, Solana was dejected as they faced their first Tribal Council. Aparri and Luzon received their Immunity Idols and their rewards, and the tribes headed back to camp.
Aparri reached their beach and eagerly unpacked their reward. As they set about fortifying their shelter, Tony again sought the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, hoping to keep the information solely in his possession. He found it in the hammock and successfully kept it a secret. Later, as Sarah tested the hammock, Lindsey jokingly hoped she'd "fall on her ass." Sure enough, the hammock slipped off the tree and Sarah fell to the ground, to the laughter of the tribe.
Meanwhile, at Solana, nobody was laughing. LJ apologized for not getting the maze done, and as the group was gathered casually asked if anybody wanted to volunteer to be voted out in order to make it a simple afternoon. Sure enough, nobody volunteered, but a four-strong alliance of Alexis, Jefra, Jeremiah, and LJ planned to target Brice, due to his being a game threat down the line.
However, Brice believed Jeremiah to be on side with himself and Morgan, and planned to target Alexis. Brice pulled Jeremiah aside and asked him if LJ had said anything, to which he responded that Brice was indeed the target. Jeremiah agreed to vote with Brice against Alexis. Brice and Morgan planned to pull in Jefra as their fourth vote. When Morgan approached her later, Jefra asked why they didn't just take out LJ instead of Alexis. Morgan claimed they needed him for the challenges, and told Jefra that Jeremiah would talk to her and fill her in more. Jefra asked when Morgan had talked to Jeremiah, and she revealed that it had been a few days in the making.
Jefra then went to Jeremiah, asking him about his alleged alliance with Morgan and Brice. Jeremiah succinctly denied it, assuring her he was sticking with the four to vote for Brice. Alexis then approached them, proposing they split the vote on Morgan and Brice to guard against an Idol, confident that there was no danger in diluting their vote. They filled LJ in on the plan, and he agreed.
Before the tribe departed for the evening, Brice again urged Jeremiah to vote for Alexis, but in a confessional, Jeremiah revealed he was still on the fence, cautious about hurting feelings and damaging his own trustworthiness.
Solana arrived at Tribal Council and collected their torches. Jeff started the proceedings by asking Morgan about the "beauty" label. She said they all had "good-looking faces" and she liked being under that banner. Brice agreed, saying he considered himself beautiful and elaborated on a "butterfly effect" in his life: "I'm out of the caterpillar and be a beautiful butterfly... I feel like I'm at the butterfly stage of my life."
Asked about the first few days in the game, Jefra said the early days had been "one big party," until the storm arrived. She added that on top of the weather, their challenge loss had changed the dynamics of the tribe, commenting that she hadn't been aware of any strategy talk until that afternoon. Brice said he'd sensed the paranoia at camp, but countered that there were clear "formations" in the tribe, pointing to Jeremiah and LJ, and Alexis and Jefra as pairs forming a four-person team that excluded himself and Morgan. He added that he was concerned because some people hadn't talked any strategy with him, and accused Alexis of gunning for him.
When asked if he was voting for Alexis, Brice continued that he felt everybody needed to pitch in at camp. When his comment trailed off, Jeff asked, "Dot dot dot?". Brice pointedly responded with emphasis, "Dot dot dot "Hmm!". Alexis countered that it was feasible that Brice could use her work ethic as "ammo" to get her out.
On the topic of the Hidden Immunity Idol, Brice commented that it was "the talk of the town" that Morgan might have the Idol, given she'd arrived at camp first. Morgan said she was concerned by the suspicions that she had an Idol, but was confident about the vote: "I think I know where it's going if everything goes the way we planned it today." However, she did acknowledge that betrayals could happen.
Jeff turned to Jeremiah, asking him about how he thought the vote would play out. After a deep breath, he answered that he knew where it was going, and it was going to hurt somebody's feelings.
The vote was called, with Morgan casting the first vote for Alexis. Jefra and Alexis followed, with Alexis casting her vote for "Cousin Brice." Brice voted next, followed by LJ who cast his vote for Morgan. Jeremiah concluded the proceedings and Jeff tallied the votes.
Nobody chose to play a Hidden Immunity Idol, and Jeff read the votes. The first was for Alexis, followed by one vote each for Brice and Morgan to even the vote 1-1-1. The next vote was for Alexis, followed by another for Brice to bring the tally to 2-2-1, with one vote left. The last vote was for Morgan, forcing a three-way tie.
A revote commenced, with Alexis, Brice, and Morgan ineligible to vote. LJ, Jefra, and Jeremiah cast their votes, and once again Jeff tallied and read the result. The first two votes came up for Brice, eliminating him from the game. He collected his torch and took it to Jeff, becoming the third person voted out of . He left Tribal Council without a word, and Jeff sent Solana back to camp, asking them how quickly they'd recover from their loss.
==Challenges==
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Mazed and ConfusedStanding in a line, one player will use a bucket to retrieve water from the ocean. They will toss the water to their next tribemate, who will repeat this until the water reaches the last tribemate, who will then walk up a balance beam and pour the remaining water into a bucket. Once that last bucket is full, it will release a ball. Two players will put the ball in the center of a spinning vertical maze, and use two ropes to rotate the maze until the ball drops out of the maze. The first two tribes to finish win.Reward: Comfort and shelter, in the form of a tarp, blankets, pillows, mosquito net, and hammock (1st place). Shelter, in the form of a tarp (2nd place).Winners (in order of finish):  and 
==Tribal Council==
<tabber>First Vote={| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; font-size:8pt; line-height:18px;" align="center"
! colspan="2" 
|-
! VotedAgainst
! Voter
|-
| 
| 
|-
| 
| 
|-
| 
| 
|-
! colspan="2" 
|}|-|Revote={| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; font-size:8pt; line-height:18px;" align="center"
! colspan="2" 
|-
! VotedAgainst
! Voter
|-
| 
| 
|-
| 
| None
|- 
| 
| None
|-
! colspan="2" 
|}</tabber>
===Voting Confessionals===
<tabber>First vote=
Morgan was shown writing Alexis's name on the parchment. Alexis was shown writing Brice's name on the parchment. LJ was shown writing Morgan's name on the parchment.
|-|Revote=
No revote confessionals were aired in the episode.
</tabber>
===Final Words===
===Still in the Running===
								
								
==Trivia==
===Deleted Scenes===
* A deleted scene posted on CBS.com revealed some further dynamics of the Solana tribe. On Day 7, after the rain had subsided, Jefra Bland alleviated boredom by recruiting the tribe into a game of . The tribe invited Brice Johnston to play with them, but Brice was preoccupied by camp chores and in confessionals, showed his frustration with his tribe's work ethic and his disdain for the "down on the farm" pastime. Eventually, but reluctantly, Brice joined in the game.
* Deleted confessionals from each castaway were posted on CBS.com
**What Draws Me to Cliff: Woo Hwang talked about his friendship with Cliff Robinson, saying that he had a natural bond with athletes due to a similar work ethic and mindset, but also noted his excitement at being on a tribe with a superstar who he had watched play basketball as a kid.
**None of Us Got Sleep: On Day 7, after 24 hours - and counting - of rain, Alexis Maxwell discussed the difficulties of weathering the storm, including a lack of sleep and strong winds damaging the shelter. However, she emphasized that it was only Day 7 and she "still [had] some fight."
**This Weather Beats You Up: Tony Vlachos noted that the weather was more difficult to deal with than the people, and detailed his many efforts to maintain and protect the tribe's fire throughout the storm.
**Just Keep On Pushing: Jefra Bland talked about the difficulty of riding out the rough storms on Days 7 and 8. She noted that whilst her spirits had sunk during the weather, she'd picked herself up and was determined to keep going.
**We're Trying Our Best: As he worked on boiling water, Jeremiah Wood talked about Solana's plans after the storm, namely getting a chance to finally cook some rice and get themselves fed and re-hydrated.
**You Just Have to Keep Fighting: Cliff discussed Aparri's challenge performance, pointing to their poise and drive, even after a rocky start throwing the water in the buckets.
**The Size of the Fight in the Dog: Kass McQuillen talked about the "morale booster" of Luzon finally winning Immunity, pointing to her teamwork with Spencer Bledsoe on the maze. She added, "It's not about the size of the dog. It's about the size of the fight in the dog."
**I'm Really Glad the Brains Won: Sarah Lacina attributed the tribe's challenge success to their calm, but competitive, determination. She also noted her happiness that Luzon had won a challenge because it meant that Aparri was the only complete tribe remaining and her intent for the Aparri tribe to stick together until the Final Six.
**A Stellar Performance: Woo talked about the learning curve of the challenge with both the water-throwing and the maze puzzle, particularly noting his good communication with Cliff.
**It Made Everyone's Day: Cliff discussed the Aparri tribe's excitement after winning the comfort and shelter reward at the challenge. He added that the tribe had had difficulty sleeping through the long, wet and restless nights and were hoping to finally get rest.
===Other===
* This episode marked the first time a three-way tie occurred with six castaways. This is also the first time where the tie happened between two females and one male.
* This episode is the fourth time a three-way tie has happened, following in , , and .
* The season was filmed mid-July 2013, the time when Typhoon Soulik (known in the Philippines as Typhoon Isang) was close to Cagayan, which explains the strong rain and winds that raged throughout the first half of the episode.
* The combined Reward/Immunity Challenge, Mazed and Confused, was named after the song "".http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/news/1002894/
* This episode marked the first time that the first three castaways voted out of a season were male.
* All three Hidden Immunity Idols have been found at this point, with LJ being the third male to find an idol this season.
* The music featured in the scene where Luzon practices for the challenge was an excerpt of "" by Johann Strauss II.
* This episode marks the only time Luzon wins a challenge.
==References==
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Episodes
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Episodes
Category:Cagayan Episodes
Category:Survivor: Cagayan