Bought Myself A Spot At Merge

**Bought Myself A Spot At Merge** is the fifth episode of *Survivor: New Zealand*.

## Summary

### Tauranga

The Tauranga tribe gets back to camp after tribal council and Ishmael and Simon are still left shocked at the vote. Simon asks Zahara why she would flip, demanding to know her reasoning for it. Zahara says that Dionisia was almost responsible for her going until the evacuation/ejection, so she wasn’t going to work with her and pretend it was all fine. Simon is pissed and tells Zahara that she just messed up and that move makes her look really flip floppy now. Zahara chuckles and says that if she’s flip floppy then she doesn’t even know what Simon would be, and she walks off to talk with the other three.

### Dunedin

In the morning, everyone on the tribe has woken up and Nolan is getting firewood for the tribe to keep it stocked. Nolan is carrying two arms full of wood and drops some, so he tells Curtis to pick up what he drops and bring it to camp. Curtis says that he could ask him instead of tell him. Nolan rolls his eyes and once again tells Curtis to do it as they arrive at camp. The two begin bickering at camp with the girls having to break it up so they don’t have to listen to their arguing anymore. Hamza is in the shelter watching, hiding the smile on his face.

While Curtis is storming off to forget about what happened with Nolan, Isaac and Kandi run after him and catch up with him. Curtis asks them if he’s in the wrong for just standing up for himself and not being told what to do. Isaac says that he isn’t in the wrong but he can’t be doing stuff like this with Hamza at camp since he can try to use that against him. Curtis says that he wants Nolan out anyway so he doesn’t care, and Kandi says that it’s smarter if they stay united for at least the first vote so the Dunedin’s don’t gain leverage.

While Nolan is still tending to the fire and mumbling to himself, Hamza walks over and begins to help by moving the firewood he wanted moved. Nolan thanks him and Hamza chuckles saying he didn’t think that was too hard of a task which makes Nolan laugh. Nolan says he doesn’t get why Curtis has to be so difficult about everything and Hamza says that Curtis is just the type of person to take his anger out on others. Hamza says he gets the vibe that Curtis was unpopular and relates Nolan and Winston to popular kids and feels he has to hate them.

Kasey and Shelby are tanning on the beach and talking about what went down at camp. Kasey says that the whole situation could be really bad for them if Curtis and Nolan decide to target each other. Shelby agrees and says that they have to try to convince Nolan to wait one more round, and Kandi has to do the same with Curtis. Kasey agrees and says they can talk to Kandi about it if they lose the challenge.

### Tauranga

Waking up the morning after tribal, Zahara gets out of the shelter to see Claudia and Jasmine cooking breakfast. She walks over and the three begin talking, with Claudia thanking her again for saving her at tribal council. Zahara says that she needed to stand up for herself in the game and it was a no-brainer for her that she wanted to work with Claudia and Jasmine more than Dionisia. Jasmine says that Yafu will be interested to see what happens next since the next person on Simon’s list is Ishmael, his only ally left.

Simon is sitting on the beach alone to get away from everyone, and Ishmael comes up to him and sits next to him. Simon asks him what he wants and Ishmael says he needs to ask him something. Simon sighs and asks what it is, and Ishmael asks him if he’s sticking to his strategy and voting for him if they go to tribal. Simon thinks for a second and frowns as he says that he’ll be sticking to the strategy. Ishmael nods and walks off without saying a word, and Simon sighs again.

Ishmael then approaches Winston who is fixing the roof of the shelter. Ishmael begins to help him with the shelter and asks if he’s completely down for the count if they go to tribal again. Winston shrugs and says that he hasn’t planned for the next tribal yet but he doesn’t think its a guarantee that Ishmael goes, especially since the tribe needs strength. Ishmael nods and says he’s glad to hear that since he thinks he could benefit the tribe if he sticks around, and Winston agrees.

### Immunity Challenge

***DUNEDIN***

***TAURANGA***

Dunedin and Tauranga arrive at the beach. Dunedin getting your first look at the new Tauranga tribe, Dionisia voted off at the last tribal council. The original Tauranga members look shocked and Hamza smirks towards Zahara who's smiling.

Jeff explains that the challenge today will be played individually because this round is a double tribal council. The challenge is a simple test of endurance and peoples minds, as they will have to hang onto a pole with small foot holes for as long as possible. The person from each tribe who lasts the longest still on the pole will win immunity.

Survivors ready? GO! In the end, Nolan wins immunity for Dunedin and Winston wins immunity for Tauranga! The two are stoked they won while Ishmael looks defeated for coming so close, and Curtis is visibly upset which Hamza notices.

### Dunedin

The Dunedin tribe gets back to camp after the challenge and everyone splits off into groups very quickly due to the tension of the double tribal and who won immunity. Curtis, Isaac and Kandi talk together and Curtis says that they have to figure out how to keep him safe. Kandi sighs and says she can try to take care of it and they’ll have to vote Hamza. Curtis asks why they can’t vote Kasey or Shelby to split up the trio, and Isaac says that Curtis shouldn’t try playing with fire with the position he’s in.

Hamza and Nolan are filling up canteens at the water well and Hamza says he thinks it was good that Nolan won immunity. Nolan asks if he thinks he needed it, and Hamza says he doesn’t know if he needed it but it was good to have just in case since Curtis has been trying pretty hard to take him out. Nolan scoffs and says that he’s sick of Curtis and is ready for him to finally go, and Hamza agrees.

Hamza and Nolan head over to Kasey and Shelby to talk about the vote. Nolan says that he really wants to vote for Curtis this round and get him out of here once and for all. Shelby asks what happened this time, and Nolan explains how Curtis campaigned to Hamza and the others about voting Nolan out. Hamza confirms this and says that he’s so pissed off after the challenge now because his plan didn’t work. The girls look at each other and agree to the plan.

Shelby approaches Kandi and Kasey and says she has a question for Kandi. Shelby asks her if Curtis has been campaigning to take out Nolan before he won immunity. Kandi sighs and says that he did mention to her and Isaac that he wanted Nolan out. Kasey looks surprised and Shelby sighs, saying Hamza was right. Kandi looks confused and asks what Hamza has to do with it, and Shelby says that Hamza told her Curtis campaigned to him too. Kandi says that as far as she knows Curtis never talked to Hamza about it and Kasey and Shelby look at each other.

### Tauranga

The Tauranga tribe returns to camp and everyone congratulates WInston on his immunity win, but everyone is already thinking about what to do for the vote. Simon quietly announces to the tribe that he will be sticking to his strategy and voting for Ishmael, and everybody ignores Simon’s announcements and goes into their own conversations.

Ishmael and Zahara are going for a walk and Ishmael asks if he’s a dead man walking since he was close to Dionisia. Zahara says that she has never had an issue with Ishmael specifically, just his alliance which was run by Dionisia, and she would rather see Simon go over him. Ishmael says he’s glad to hear that, and Zahara says she doesn’t have a ton of control but she will try to keep Ishmael safe. Ishmael thanks her and the two go their separate ways.

Ishmael and Winston go out on the boat together to talk and catch some fish. Ishmael congratulates Winston again on immunity and Winston thanks him, apologizing for beating him in the challenge and they laugh. Ishmael asks how he thinks the vote will go and Winston says he still has to talk to some people but he’s going to be pushing for Simon to go, and Ishmael thanks him and that he owes him big time.

Claudia, Jasmine, Winston and Zahara are at camp together having a meeting for the first time about who should be voted out. Claudia says that she finds Ishmael to be a bigger threat since Simon will never have power in the game, but she’ll vote for either one. Winston says that he would prefer Simon be voted out since Ishmael could help them finally win a challenge and have an easier road to merge, and Zahara says she agrees. Claudia asks Jasmine what she thinks, and Jasmine begins to pray while the others look at her awkwardly.

### Tribal Council 1

Curtis, Hamza, Isaac, Kandi, Kasey, Nolan and Shelby arrive at tribal council. Jeff asks Shelby how the swap has been for her and how her new tribe is, and she says that she's really happy with the swap and other than the few arguments that still break out it's been going well. Jeff asks who the arguments are between and she says Curtis and Nolan. Jeff asks Curtis why these are still ongoing and Curtis says that he doesn't appreciate how Nolan speaks to him sometimes and has to stand his ground, which causes Nolan to chuckle. Jeff asks Hamza if he's happy to hear about this as the only original Dunedin, and he says it's great for him because he's in a very vulnerable position being with all new people. Kandi asks him if that's why he tried exploiting that by telling people Curtis told him to vote Nolan. Hamza ignores Kandi and continues talking, but Curtis chimes in and says that he never talked to Hamza about voting for Nolan, and Nolan tells them to stop lying. Kasey and Shelby look at each other and Hamza glares at Kandi.

Everyone casts their votes. Jeff asks if anybody has an idol to use and nobody stands.

Jeff reads the votes.

First vote...

Hamza.

*(Hamza keeps a straight face.)*

Hamza.

Hamza. That's three votes Hamza.

*(Hamza glances over at Nolan.)*

Curtis.

*(Curtis rolls his eyes.)*

Curtis.

Fourth person voted out of Survivor: New Zealand...

Hamza (5-2)

Hamza chuckles and stands up saying it was worth a shot. He says wishes Nolan good luck as he grabs his torch and promptly brings it up to Jeff. Hamza gets his torch snuffed and as it's getting snuffed he looks over at Kandi and says he's impressed. He waves toward everyone then walks out without saying another word.

### Tribal Council 2

Claudia, Ishmael, Jasmine, Simon, Winston and Zahara arrive at tribal council. Jeff congratulates Winston on his immunity win and asks if he thinks he needed it, and he says he isn't sure if he did but it's always good to have just in case. Jeff then brings up the last vote and how Ishmael looked very shocked at it and asks how he's feeling now. He says that he's very worried because he was left out of the last vote and his only ally left is voting for him so he has to hope the tribe spares him. Jeff asks Simon if Ishmael is referring to him, and Simon sighs and says he is since he has to stick to his strategy and Ishmael is next on the list. Jeff asks Zahara how Simon's strategy plays into everything and Zahara says that Simon's strategy is weirdly effective because it has worked at 2 out of 3 tribals so far and if she didn't flip last round it would've worked at 3 out of 3, so it's not to be underestimated. Jeff ask Claudia if everyone knows the vote is between Ishmael and Simon or if there's a different name out there, and she says as far as she knows it's just between those two.

Everyone casts their votes. Jeff asks if anybody has an idol to use and nobody stands.

Jeff reads the votes.

First vote...

Ishmael.

*(Ishmael chuckles.)*

Simon. That's one vote Ishmael, one vote Simon.

Simon.

*(Simon sighs and nods.)*

Simon.

Fifth person voted out of Survivor: New Zealand...

Simon (5-1)

Simon sighs again with his head toward the ground and slowly gets up to grab his torch. Ishmael gets up and tries to hug Simon, but Simon just brushes past him and brings his torch up to Jeff silently. Jeff snuffs his torch and Simon walks out without saying a word or even looking back at the tribe, and everyone looks awkward about the whole thing.

 Ishmael (1 vote)