Bag of Tricks

Bag of Tricks is the eighth episode of .
==Story==
===Day 22===
Solarrion returns from Tribal Council after voting out Morgan McLeod and Tony Vlachos immediately confronts the minority alliance of Jeremiah Wood, Spencer Bledsoe, and Tasha Fox for throwing their votes against him. Spencer tells him that it was because he was a threat, but Tony counters that they had voted out Morgan because she was not "worthy" of playing the game. Tasha reasons that they knew their votes were inconsequential, but Tony, still agitated, argues that they could have joined the majority and voted with them against Morgan. In response, Spencer and Tasha, despite conceding that they would have been happy to vote Morgan, argue that it was a "two-way street." In a confessional, Tony continues to elaborate on his growing paranoia, noting that he thought he might have to get rid of one of his own alliance members before they can make a move against him.
===Day 23===
In the morning, LJ McKanas and Trish Hegarty discussed Tony's blow-up the previous night, worrying that his anxiety might push him into "scramble mode." Later, Tony took a walk with LJ where he manipulated LJ into saying that he was okay with blindsiding Woo Hwang, after Tony claimed he was worried the latter had found a Hidden Immunity Idol.
===Day 24===
The next day, Kass McQuillen and Tasha returned to camp with Tree Mail that informed them of a Reward Challenge which would earn the winners a spa day, which particularly excited Jefra Bland. Immediately, Tony was determined to win the challenge in order to counter any strategy talk that might develop at the reward itself.
At the Reward Challenge, Jeff Probst welcomed in Solarrion and explained the challenge: Supertramp. The contestants would be divided into three teams of three. First, one member of the team would throw a ball, connected to a rope, through a high hoop to hook the hoop and release twenty sandbags. A member of the team would then attempt to throw each sandbag through a long net tunnel. Once all the sandbags were in the tunnel, the entire team would work the sandbags through to the end, where one team member would bounce the sandbags off a trampoline and into one of five nets on the ground. The first team to land a sandbag in each of the nets would win reward in the form of a spa day including a shower with soap and shampoo, a massage and a lunch comprising chicken wraps, spring rolls, and tropical cocktails.
The randomly divided teams were Jefra, LJ, and Trish (Orange Team), Kass, Tasha, and Woo (Purple Team), and Jeremiah, Spencer, and Tony (Green Team). LJ, Tasha, and Jeremiah were the first to attempt the hoop-hooking. On his second throw, Jeremiah released the Green Team's sandbags, putting them in the lead, and Jeremiah then took on the task of throwing the bags into the tunnel. Meanwhile, Tasha tagged out to let Woo try hooking the hoop for Purple as LJ released the Orange Team's sandbags, and began throwing them into the tunnel. Woo, shortly thereafter, released the Purple Team's sandbags to put them back in the game.
Green were the first to get all of their sandbags into the tunnel and the team began working them out the other end by bouncing them and pushing their fingers through the coarse net to nudge them along. Woo made up some ground for the Purple Team as he quickly got the hang of throwing the bags into the tunnel, but LJ, not missing a single throw, maintained Orange's position.
As the Orange Team gained on them, the Green Team retrieved all of their sandbags and Tony began bouncing them into the nets, landing three in a row before Orange had even caught up. Jefra started the bouncing for Orange as Purple retrieved their sandbags. As LJ took over from Jefra, and Woo stepped up to the trampoline, Tony landed the last two sandbags to win the challenge for the Green Team before either of the other teams had scored once. Jeremiah, Spencer, and Tony headed off for their reward as the rest of the tribe returned to camp.
Back at camp, Woo was disappointed about losing the challenge, but was glad Tony was on the reward with Spencer and Jeremiah, expecting him to keep tabs on the minority. Jefra shared Woo's optimism about the strength of the Solana Alliance, but LJ took her and Trish out in the canoe and told them that Tony was paranoid about Woo having an Idol. He told them that Tony had suggested they take out Woo immediately, but he'd sought to calm him down, citing that they had three easy votes ahead of them (Tasha, Jeremiah, and Spencer), and in confessionals, elaborated that he was still loyal to Tony and to the Six. Trish and Jefra agreed that they had to flush the minority because they'd win if they made it to the Final Tribal Council. Trish continued that she'd "put out Tony's fire," and the three reiterated their allegiance to the Six.
At the Spa Reward, Spencer was optimistic that the time alone might give him a chance to better his game. As the three enjoyed their food and then took turns in the shower, Tony started a strategy discussion with Spencer and Jeremiah, telling them that it was never as easy as them being the next three to go. From the shower, Jeremiah asked Tony if he was comfortable in the game, but Tony denied it and told them that he would approach them when the time came. Spencer asked if the time would come when they were still around, promising them as "pawns" for Tony. As the three then enjoyed a foot massage, Tony told them that he was worried he was being viewed as a threat by his own alliance and told them he'd protect them through the next vote as he needed them down the line, and the two agreed to work with. However, Jeremiah and Spencer both revealed in confessionals that they doubted Tony's true intentions.
===Day 25===
The next morning, as LJ and Tony worked to start the fire and discussed the spa reward, Tasha considered approaching LJ about a new alliance. Later, as they lay alone in the shelter, she asked him if he was "willing to talk." He told her he was "willing to listen," and Tasha told him she had a proposition for him and asked him to meet her discreetly away from camp. However, LJ remained in the shelter, not wanting his absence to fuel Tony's paranoia. Meanwhile, Tasha waited for him down the beach, but when he stood her up, she expressed her frustration in a confessional.
Later, the tribe received Tree Mail for the Immunity Challenge. Tony, still paranoid that LJ might turn on him, hoped that someone else would win the challenge, and he could work to get out his biggest threat that night. Solarrion then departed for the challenge.
At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff took back the Immunity Necklace from Spencer, and then revealed the challenge: Living Color. In a memory challenge, the contestants would be shown a sequence of colored tiles, and would have to repeat the sequence back. An incorrect answer would expel them from the challenge until only one remained, who would win Immunity.
The first sequence was: Yellow, Blue, Red, Green. All contestants correctly answered the first tile, but on the second tile, Trish incorrectly answered Red, eliminating her from the challenge. Woo followed her on the next tile where he incorrectly answered Green. The remaining seven contestants correctly finished the sequence.
The second sequence was: Red, Green, Purple, Black, Blue, Green, Blue. All seven castaways correctly answered the first five tiles. However, on the sixth tile, Jefra, Kass, and Spencer answered Yellow, whilst Jeremiah answered Red, eliminating them from the challenge. This left three: LJ, Tasha, and Tony. For the last color of the sequence all three gave different answers: Tony answered yellow, LJ answered Red and Tasha answered Blue. Tony thought he was wrong, and thought the answer had been Red. Jeff confirmed it and he took a spot on the bench. Both LJ and Tasha both said they were confident that their answer was correct, but the answer was blue, meaning that Tasha won Immunity, pleasing Tony and was glad LJ didn't win. As the tribe headed back to the beach, LJ considered splitting the vote between Jeremiah and Spencer.
Back at camp, Tasha, relieved to have Immunity, was congratulated by her tribe. Meanwhile, LJ shared his plan to split the vote with the rest of his alliance to counter an Idol. He noted that the plan was foolproof unless someone flipped, and Trish was confident that nobody would. Jefra proposed that the girls vote for Jeremiah and the boys vote for Spencer and the alliance agreed. Tony, however, was determined to put his plan for an LJ blindside in motion.
Later, Tony approached Woo and told him that LJ wanted to blindside him. A stunned Woo told Tony he was down with whatever needed to be done to keep him in the game. Tony then went to Spencer to call him to action, telling them that LJ was targeting Woo and going back on his promise. He told Spencer to pass on the message to Jeremiah and Tasha, and get them all to vote for LJ. Spencer passed the details onto Jeremiah, who was eager for the move.
Tony continued his scheme by approaching Trish, asking her what had happened back at camp whilst he was at the spa reward. She told him that LJ had said that Tony was thinking about blindsiding Woo, but Tony denied it, lying that it had been the other way around. Trish was skeptical, saying that LJ didn't think blindsiding Woo was a good move, but Tony argued that LJ knew that the three Brawn were tight and he was trying to break them up. Tony proposed that she join him and Woo, and the minority alliance, in voting out LJ, but a suspicious Trish wanted to keep the alliance together until the Final Six. Later, Trish told Kass that Tony was getting dangerously paranoid, but the two were confident that the alliance would stick together as it didn't make sense for someone to jump ship. Meanwhile, Spencer and Jeremiah were suspicious that Tony might be playing them, as Tony reconsidered his plan in light of Trish's trepidation.
At Tribal Council, Jeff first welcomed in the jury: Sarah Lacina and Morgan. He then asked Jeremiah if he, Spencer and Tasha were still in trouble. He answered that the majority alliance were strong, and that he and Spencer were expecting the worst. Asked if she had any empathy for the three on the bottom, given she'd put them there, Kass countered that "it's the game, Jeff, and from here on out, people may start making moves like I made. You can't play this game and not get a little dirty." Tony added that it could be confusing, but they'd all signed up for a game where they could be deceived. He then lifted up his bag, telling the tribe that that was why he'd "brought [his] bag of tricks today." When Jeff asked him what was in said bag, Tony said they might find out that night.
Asked if that was what she wanted to hear, Tasha said that such unpredictability was why she was glad she had Immunity as "alliances appear really tight, but the longer you can stay in it, the more you might see fractures in 'tight' alliances," emphasizing her statement with air confessionals. LJ was asked about Tasha's use of air confessionals, but LJ countered that she had just gotten a "reality check" and was blindly hopeful of a crack in the majority. He added that he was "vaguely approached" by the minority, but argued that there was no need to stir trouble in the "watertight" group.
Jeff continued, asking LJ if his line of work had any bearing on loyalty. The horse trainer said that it was a huge part of his occupation, but it was "very difficult to find" and he considered that he had a "pretty good gauge" for loyalty. Tony, was asked the same question. He maintained his construction worker cover, and claimed that trust was a part of his day-to-day life as well, citing missing tools as evidence. Kass added that loyalty was important back home, but countered that she'd "checked [her] life at the door" and that selfishness was essential to advancing in Survivor, and the balance between a player and a person was difficult to find.
Woo was asked when the time would come when it was time to get rid of threats within the alliance. He said that while paranoia was growing, it made sense to "go with the flow" and ride the alliance until the minority were gone. Spencer said he didn't know who was on the bottom of the opposing alliance, but stated that someone definitely was and that the people championing the strength of the alliance could be those people. Trish felt that the "" alliance would become dysfunctional quickly, as something would eventually "have to break." Asked when it could happen, Trish said it could happen that very night, but that that would surprise her. However, she added that she was always surprised at Tribal, which made it both fun and sickening at the same time.
Jeff then called the vote. Woo voted first, followed by LJ, Trish, and Jefra. Spencer then cast his vote for LJ, and was followed by Jeremiah, Kass, Tasha, and, finally, Tony. Jeff then tallied the votes.
Nobody chose to play a Hidden Immunity Idol, and Jeff then read the votes. The first vote was for LJ, followed by another two for him. The next three votes then came up for Jeremiah, tying the tally at 3-3. The next vote was for Spencer, to bring the tally to 3-3-1. When a fourth vote for LJ was then read, confusion began to spread through the majority alliance and excitement through the jury. When the final vote was also for "El Jay," Spencer fist-pumped in excitement. LJ collected his torch, commenting, "Well played." Jeff snuffed his torch, and LJ became the tenth person eliminated from and the third member of the jury. As he departed, Jefra turned to Tony to ask him if he'd flipped and Jeff sent Solarrion back to camp, reminding them that it was an individual game.
==Challenges==
<tabber>Reward=
Challenge: SupertrampThe castaways will be divided in three teams. One member of the team must throw a rope with a hook in a box with sandbags at the top of a platform and pull the hook to drop twenty sandbags. Then another team member must toss the sandbags to another who must throw them in a net tube. When all the sandbags are inside the net tube, all the members of the team must maneuver the sandbags through the tube. Then one member must toss the sandbags in a trampoline to reach five net baskets. The first team to put one sandbag on each basket, wins reward.Reward: A trip to a spa with lunchWinners:  (, , and )
|-|Immunity=Challenge: Living ColorJeff would reveal a cycle of colored tiles to the castaways. Once the cycle is complete, the castaways would recite the pattern back by placing colored tiles in a chute. If they are incorrect, they would be eliminated. The last castaway standing wins immunity.Winner:  </tabber>
==Tribal Council==
colspan="2" 	
VotedAgainst	Voter
 	
 	
 	
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===Voting Confessionals===
===Final Words===
===Still in the Running===
								
								
==Trivia==
===Secret Scenes===
===Other===
* The Reward Challenge, Supertramp, was postponed three times due to changing weather before finally being played in this episode.http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/news/1002894/
* The Immunity Challenge, Living Color, was filmed at the site of 's Redemption Island Arena.http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/news/1002894/
* Tasha's immunity win was the first time an African-American female won individual immunity since Jolanda Jones in .
** Tasha's immunity win was the first for an African-American female post-merge since Vecepia Towery in .
* The end of this episode marks the first time that there were more Brains left than at least one of the other starting tribes, as there are only 2 Beauty castaways left.
* At the end of this episode, Jefra is the only remaining castaway to not switch tribes in the swap.
* The name of the Reward Challenge, Supertramp, references the English rock band of the and their .
* The name of the Immunity Challenge, Living Color, references the American rock band, .
==References==
Category:Episodes
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
2808
Category:Survivor: Cagayan
08