Tonight on Survivor Redemption Island we’ll have our first duel for a return to the game! Things jump right over to the island where we see Matt arrive at his new camp and expressing shock over his sudden departure from Ometepe at the hands of Boston Rob, but of course he’s ready to get his revenge. We’ll soon know if he gets that chance.
Over at Zapatera Steve and David are selected at random to go and observe the duel between Francesca and Matt over at Redemption Island. Ometepe sends Andrea and Ashley as their representatives which of course makes Rob nervous (what doesn’t?!).
The duel features the two eliminated castaways making a reaching pole from sticks and rope to snag a set of keys. Francesca gets an early lead reaching the keys while Matt can’t even get his makeshift stick to hold together. After a little work Matt catches up and they’re both tied at 2 of their 3 keys. Finally Matt gets all 3 keys, removes the locks, and survives the first Redemption challenge while Francesca is sent home.
Hilariously, when Steve and David get back to Zapatera’s camp they tell Russell that Matt was eliminated and Francesca stay. Perhaps they don’t consider this lie could easily be exposed in a few days if Russell gets sent to watch the next Redemption duel. They do let most the rest of the tribe know the truth.
When Russell’s trio continues to come up empty on their Immunity Idol search they decide to make their own fake Idol. Stephanie tries her hardest to make it appears as though she’s guarding something important, but I don’t think the others are buying it. Well, Ralph for sure isn’t since he has the real one!
It’s Survivor challenge time and Zapatera is pondering throwing the battle for a chance to eliminate Russell. Holy cow, this challenge is sadistic! Someone is tied to a water wheel and gets shoved under water, grabs a mouthful, comes back up, and spits it in a basin to fill their tube first. I’m a swimmer, but there’s still no way I’d be that guy. Sure enough, Zapatera falls behind quickly and David makes it even worse. In no time at all Rob gets the win, a first for Ometepe.
Rob’s luck is on a run because back at camp, amidst their prizes, he finds the next Immunity Idol clue and he’s keeping this secret to himself.
Tribal Council featuring Zapatera for the first time and it’s a heated discussion. Russell calls out his teammates for throwing the challenge. Stephanie proves she can be Russell’s pitbull with her voiced frustrations and snipes at the rest of the tribe. She won’t be making any friends tonight!
The vote reveal is an exciting one when it comes down to a three-way tie between Ralph, Russell, and Stephanie. Russell’s plan to eliminate Ralph on the first pass failed. A second round of voting is held for everyone but R, R, and S where they can only vote for one of those three. Sure enough, Russell gets eliminated and becomes the third person voted out of Survivor Redemption Island.
Next week Russell will face off against Matt in the next Redemption Island. Will he return to the game, or is Russell finished?
