Military-Grade Arsenal

**Military-Grade Arsenal** is the eighth episode of *Survivor 41.*

## Story

After Voce's unanimous vote off, the rest of Viakana returns to camp in a decent mood, with no one reeling from the results of the vote. Both groups forming on the tribe feel relieved that the plan worked out as they wished, and that they were able to avoid full-out war for at least a round. Abraham celebrates with Genie, Xander, and Liana in the jungle over his stolen idol, as they now have hope they can make a move with Voce's idol and Genie's Vote Steal if it comes down to it. Meanwhile, Danny sits around the fire with JD, Evvie, and Sydney while the others are out in the jungle or getting into the shelter. The four discuss how they have to be ready to pull their votes together and make a move as a unit before it's too late.

At the Reward Challenge the next morning, the teams are split down gender lines by pure chance, with Genie sitting out and being ineligible for Reward. While on the sit-out bench, however, Genie finds a clue to the Viakana idol without being noticed. In the end, the women's team of Erika, Evvie, Liana, Sara, and Sydney edges out the men on the puzzle, winning the reward of a spa day. At the spa, the five women relax, being treated to showers, massages, and facials while being fed refreshing sandwiches and cocktails. While game talk is low on the trip, Erika does bring up the idea of making an all-women's alliance with the five of them and Genie, since they would hold a majority. The other women agree to it, although no one else seems sure it would work out. They instead focus on having fun and recharging, putting the game aside for an afternoon.

Back at camp, the men and Genie get to work enhancing the shelter and searching for more food at their new camp. While most of the others are out gathering bamboo, Brad and Genie are left behind while cooking rice for the group. The two who had a Final 2 deal back on Ua reconnect, talking about how they want to look out for each other no matter what. They go as far as to talk about the tribe dynamics and realize they could very well be stuck in the middle between both sides, as they have connections to people in both groups. Unsure of what to do, they promise to share as much with each other as they can. Meanwhile, out collecting bamboo, the other four guys lightly discuss the possibility of a women's alliance forming on the Reward. No one seems to take it seriously besides Danny, who is rather worried on a strategic level about leaving in too many women for too long.

The Immunity Challenge the next day is grueling, lasting for well over three hours. Sydney, Danny, and Xander all last to three hours, but in the end Sydney is able to beat out the guys and claim the solitary necklace for herself. After the challenge, camp erupts with strategizing, as the mad dash to draw a line in the sand seems to be on. The alliance Danny has been starting to pull together materializes solidly, as he gets together JD, Sara, Sydney, Brad, and Evvie on the beach. The six agree to work together, thinking that the original Yase trio of Xander, Liana, and Abraham pose a large threat, especially now that Abraham has publicly stolen Voce's idol. They think it would be best to try to get rid of Abraham before he can use his idol to break up their group, but are worried he could still idol one of them out. Thus, they begun discussing plans to split a vote, agreeing that they need to try to swing Erika and Genie to vote how they want so they can comfortably split the votes 4-4. The group agrees that Abraham should be their primary target, while Erika can be a secondary target since she is a free agent they do not trust.

Meanwhile, Xander, Liana, and Abraham quickly realize they're on the bottom of the tribe, and they begin working hard to pull together a majority group, aiming to get Genie, Erika, Sydney, and Brad to join them to form a seven. However, Sydney and Brad are evasive, having agreed to pledge their allegiance to Danny's side for now, not wanting to rely on their relationship with Xander to get forward. Erika is down for whatever that allows her to survive, while Genie promises she will work with the three. However, JD and Brad talk to Genie and tell her that the vote isn't going the way of the Yase's. They tell her that there's a plan to split the vote, and that she should put her vote onto Erika. JD mentions that Erika is the backup vote, and once he leaves, Genie presses Brad over who the focal target is. While Brad never says Abraham's name, his avoidance of her questions makes it clear to Genie that the other side is trying to blindside Abraham while he expects them to go for Xander or Liana.

Nervous about choosing a side, having crucial information of how the whole round is going, Genie decides she must stick with Abraham, Liana, and Xander as she feels like she wouldn't be on the bottom with them. She tells them that she thinks that the other group is splitting their votes between Abraham and Erika, so Abraham should play his idol tonight to save himself. Abraham believes her, and the four discuss who to target when Abraham plays his idol, as their four votes would be enough to send out whoever they want. Xander, Abraham, and Liana all agree that they see JD as a dangerous player who is one of the key pillars to Danny's alliance while not a big enough threat to be a shield for them. They try to get Genie to vote for JD with them, but Genie is noncommittal, as she has a relationship with JD from Ua. Confused about what to do, Genie ultimately decides to follow what Brad and JD told her in order to keep in the other side's good graces. She feels comfortable voting Erika, as they have little personal relationship and is perceived as a shifty, cunning player. In the end, this decision by Genie spells doom for Erika's game. At Tribal Council, Abraham plays his idol, cancelling four votes against him, and Erika is sent out as the secondary target in a 4-3-0 vote.

## Challenges

* Reward
* Immunity

**Challenge:** *Puzzle Paranoia*

Each team has ten floating puzzle pieces, and one at a time a member will race out to unclip a puzzle piece and get it inside the puzzle frame. Once all ten pieces are inside the puzzle frame, the tribe will start to assemble the puzzle, matching the corresponding images on each side of every puzzle piece. The first tribe to correctly assemble the puzzle wins.

**Reward:** Trip to the *Survivor* spa

**Winners:** Erika Casupanan, Evvie Jagoda, Liana Wallace, Sara Wilson, and Sydney Segal

**Immunity Challenge:** *Get a Grip*

The eleven castaways must hang on to a pole for as long as possible using grooves in the pole and rope coils around it to help. When they're on the ground, they're out of the challenge. The last one left wins.

**Winner:** Sydney Segal

## Voting Confessionals

*Genie's vote was not shown during her confessional.*

## Next Time on Survivor...

With the much-discussed line in the sand officially drawn...

...those left on the wrong side try to claw their way up...

...and a twist provides the perfect opening for more chaos.

## Trivia

The episode title was said by Danny McCray when describing how it was important to take out Eric Abraham early because he and his allies probably had a large pool of advantages from visiting the Summit.