Getting the Band Back Together

**Getting the Band Back Together** is the 7th episode of *Survivor: Ecuador*.

## Story

### Night 17

The Cuevita tribe returns from their dramatic Tribal Council feeling pretty harmonious and relieved. Enrique has a small smile on his face as he sets down his torch.

Mitzi can be seen chatting with Mellorie in hushed tones by the fire as most of the tribe gets ready for bed.

Everett goes for a walk along the riverbank to look at the moon and stars with a relieved grin on his face, breathing easier after Tribal Council.

### Day 18

On the morning of Day 18, Kara can be seen getting up first for the Charca tribe, looking rather focused on something as she gets up and stretches on the riverbank.

Kara pulls Peter aside later on in the day, and the two of them go for a walk in the jungle. Martina watches them go with a curious look.

Kara and Peter can be seen walking down a path in the jungle. She asks him how things are going, and he says they are fine, then asks why she brought him out here. She says she wants to float the idea of an all Charca alliance past him. He says he is definitely hesitant just because of Erron, and Kara says she understands but hopes he will think about it.

Meanwhile, back by the fire, Kenji and Lauwanda can be seen sitting and talking. Kenji brings up that he felt a little offended that Lauwanda made him apologize about their contribution to losing Reward a couple days back.

Lauwanda says she is sorry he feels that way but didn't intend to do it, and doesn't quite understand what he means. Annoyed, Kenji says not to worry about it and gets up and leaves. Lauwanda looks worried as he walks away.

On the Cuevita tribe, everyone can be seen relaxing. Mitzi, Mellorie, and Orlia lay out on the riverbank, soaking in the sun with smiles on their faces.

The three ladies discuss the night before, agreeing that they would all still be open to possibly working together in the future despite voting out Emanuelle.

Back at the center of camp, Enrique and Veldt can be seen working together to build a makeshift chair out of bamboo since they are bored. Veldt tries to sit in it, and it breaks, sending him tumbling to the ground, where he laughs.

Enrique can be seen laughing as he extends a hand and helps Veldt to his feet. The two guys collect the broken pieces of bamboo, still chuckling.

Later on in the day, everyone gathers around the fire for a dinner of rice and some plantains Everett found in the jungle. As everyone digs in and cracks jokes, Kinti can be seen grinning as she shovels rice into her mouth.

### Day 19

The two tribes walk to a section of the riverbank for their Reward Challenge. Many people on Charca are shocked to see Emanuelle has been voted off; Zachary grins happily, while Lauwanda's mouth is agape.

Su explains the challenge then. Four castaways must swim out to a deep part of the river and dive down to untie knots and release balls with letters on them trapped under a net. They must gather them and bring them to the three people on the riverbank, who will use the balls to spell the phrase "Find Your Inner Strength". The first tribe to spell out the message will win Reward. The first tribe to finish will win a portable shower, soap, and shampoo! This excites everyone the most out of any reward yet, as everyone misses their showers, and then the challenge begins.

 Won

**Highlights:**

* Both tribes get out to quick start, neck and neck as they swim to where their balls are held down by the nets underwater.
* Charca gains a slight lead on gathering the balls as they are able to untie their net quicker than Cuevita.
* Charca has about a ten second lead on Cuevita coming into the phrase unscramble, but this lead quickly begins to evaporate once Cuevita gets to puzzling. Peter leads Charca, but Lauwanda and Kenji struggle to grasp what he is saying.
* Orlia and Mellorie work quickly, figuring out the phase first for Cuevita. Enrique places the final letter, H, for Strength, while Charca is still lost, winning Reward for Cuevita!

The Cuevita tribe celebrates their win happily, elated to get a shower to use in camp. Mellorie high fives Orlia vigorously, beaming.

The Charca tribe returns to camp a little demoralized. Martina frowns as she sits down in the shelter, tired out from swimming in the challenge.

Lauwanda looks upset after the challenge, crossing her arms and staring into the fire.

Lauwanda walks over to Kenji and tells him that she thinks they should apologize to the tribe again. Kenji rolls his eyes and tells her that apologies aren't going to do anything, and embarrassing themselves is a waste of time. Lauwanda says she still thinks it's the right thing to do, but Kenji walks away, telling her to just keep her guilt to herself.

Kara watches the exchange between Lauwanda and Kenji from nearby, unnoticed. She smiles as she dashes away to avoid detection.

Kara walks over to where Erron is sitting by the fire alone, and fills him in on her plan to reunite the Charcas that could work if they do things right. Erron smiles at this and tells Kara she is a genius.

The scene transitions to the Cuevita camp, where the tribe is excited to have their shower, shampoo, and soap. Veldt and Enrique find a good tree to hang the shower from while everyone else gathers as much water as they can to fill up the portable shower.

Orlia sprints to the river, filling up their biggest pot with water and lugging it back to where Veldt and Enrique have hung up the shower. The two guys laugh as she happily hands it to them, bouncing up and down in excitement for a shower.

Once everyone has collected water for the shower and everything is ready, they discuss who should go first. They end up playing a game of chance, picking seven different rocks off the ground and picking one out. The first person who gets to go is Kinti, and she does a little dance and shoos everyone away, eager to get into her shower. Everyone leaves, laughing, as Kinti strips down and hops into her shower, smiling.

Mitzi is the last one to get to take her shower, and she makes the cameras go away before she takes hers. She drains every last drop out of the shower before finishing, getting out with a sigh.

Once everyone is clean and dried off, everyone gathers around the fire for another dinner of rice and jokes. Everett smiles happily as everyone laughs at one of his jokes.

### Day 20

**Highlights:**

* In the first round, Erron and Martina try to rip off Orlia, while Everett and Kinti try to pull off Lauwanda. Orlia puts up a good fight, but Kinti and Everett are able to rip of Lauwanda pretty easily, allowing Cuevita to take a 1-0 lead in the challenge.
* For the second round, Kara and Zachary try to take down Mellorie, and Mitzi and Veldt try to take down Peter. Both put up a good fight, but Peter plain weighs more than Mellorie, and Kara and Zachary are a stronger duo. They are able to drag Mellorie across the line while the Cuevitas have Peter halfway to the finish line, tying the game.
* For the final round, Erron and Kara must pull off Enrique, while Kinti and Veldt must pull off Kenji. Kenji tries to put up a fight but is easily overpowered, while Enrique is impossible to tear off the pole. Kenji flops around, but is easily pulled across the line before Enrique even is taken off of the pole, giving Cuevita the win!

Cuevita celebrates wildly at having won. Enrique and Everett hug each other, and Enrique can be seen beaming.

Charca returns to camp after the challenge. Zachary groans as he sets down his bag with a frown on his face.

Kara looks determined once she returns to camp, walking over to Erron, Peter, and Lauwanda and unabashedly pulling them all off into the jungle. Martina watches them go with a scoff, saying "I guess that's the type of game we're playing tonight."

In the jungle, Kara tells the four of them that she understands they don't get along, but that they need to put their differences aside and work together for once, because there is a chance now for the Charcas to take the numbers at the merge. Erron turns to Peter and Lauwanda, and apologizes for being rude, but says they have to see this is the smartest decision.

Lauwanda and Peter both say they appreciate their pitch and their apologies, and say they'll think about it hard. As they walk back to camp, Kara shakes her head and tells Erron they've done their best.

As Lauwanda and Peter return to camp, Kenji walks up to them and asks what the heck is going on. Lauwanda says Kara and Erron were just making their pitch to them, but Kenji says it seems really sketchy and he hopes they're still with him, Martina, and Zachary tonight. Peter assures him they are, but Lauwanda looks annoyed.

As Lauwanda and Peter walk away, Kenji shakes his head. Martina walks over to him and tells him he just needs to breathe, and Kenji shrugs her hand off of his shoulder and goes to the riverbank to get some space.

As everyone gathers their things to leave for Tribal Council, Peter and Lauwanda can be seen appearing from the jungle where they have made their final decision. Peter looks focused as he grabs his torch and his bag.

Once the Charca tribe has arrived at Tribal Council, Su begins to question them on the state of the game. Su says that after the last Tribal Council, it is clear that things are not going strictly by tribal lines. Zachary laughs and says Su is right, and that he's loving it, making everyone chuckle. Su then asks the Charcas why they would give up numbers. Kara admits she thinks it's foolish, and she still wants to keep the Charcas together tonight. Kenji fires back, saying it's more foolish to keep in someone so strong like Erron or Kara when the merge is right around the corner. Erron says that at least he's helpful in challenges, which makes Kenji turn beet red. Kenji snaps that it isn't all about challenges. Su asks if their continual losses have been a sore point, and the tribe agrees. Martina says she's been disappointed with some members of the tribe. Lauwanda says she knows she is one of the reasons, but she owns up to it and hopes people can see she is trying her hardest. Kenji says he thinks challenges aren't important at this stage of the game, and asks to vote. Su grants his wish, and Kenji is the first to vote.

After Zachary returns to his stool, the last to vote, Su asks if anyone wants to play an idol. No one moves, so he begins to read the votes. The Cuevitas have stuck together, putting their votes on Erron for being a threat and for being disliked by swings Lauwanda and Peter. However, the Charcas have united, putting their four votes together onto Kenji for being dramatic and scheming. The Cuevitas are shocked to be left behind and also to see that Kenji is the one the Charcas have deemed the one they want gone the most. Kenji rolls his eyes and tells everyone they are all liars and that they are playing stupid games if they thought voting him off right before the merge was smart. Erron tells him to just accept he's gone, and Kenji flips him off before bringing his torch to Su. It is snuffed, and Kenji marches out angrily without another word.

## Challenges

* Reward
* Immunity

**Reward Challenge:** *Scrambled Balls*
Four castaways must swim out to a deep part of the river and dive down to untie knots and release balls with letters on them trapped under a net. They must gather them and bring them to the three people on the riverbank, who will use the balls to spell the phrase "Find Your Inner Strength". The first tribe to spell out the message will win Reward.

**Reward:** Portable shower, soap, and shampoo

**Winner:** Cuevita

**Immunity Challenge:** *Kicking and Screaming*
In three rounds, one person from each tribe will hold onto a pole while two others from the opposing tribe, one woman and one man, try to rip them off and carry them across the sand to the finish line. Some people will have to compete twice. The first tribe to get the competing castaway across the line scores a point; the first tribe to win two rounds wins Immunity.

**Winner:** Cuevita
## Tribal Council

### Voting Confessionals

*Erron and Kenji's votes were not shown during their voting confessionals.*

### Next Time On *Survivor*...

Charca reels after their Tribal Council...

...and the game is shaken up as the tribes merge!

## Trivia

* The episode title was said by Erron Latif when talking about how getting the Charcas to all vote together would be like getting a broken up band back together.