- One tribe considers a risky move, while on Redemption Island it's do or die as Matt and Francesca face off in the first duel to see who earns the right to stay in the game and who exits for good.
- Previously on...: Rob and Russell joined the 16 other castaways and there's a new twist: Redemption Island, where players go when they're voted out and duel to stay in the game. Russell made an alliance with two girls and tried to find the immunity idol, but Ralph found it. Ometepe lost but Rob remained in control and pulled Phillip into his alliance. Rob coerced Kristina into playing her idol even though she didn't need it. Rob orchestrated Matt's ouster, leaving Andrea wondering where she stands while Matt heads to Redemption Island for his duel with Francesca.
Redemption Island: Francesca is shocked to see Matt there, and he's shocked to be there. They're both wondering why he's there instead of Phillip. Matt doesn't even have his things because he was so surprised. They're both now suspicious about and angry with Rob.
Ometepe: Rob thinks the night couldn't have gone any better because Matt's out and Kristina played her idol. Rob lets Phillip in fully on the alliance: Natalie and Ashley, Rob and Grant. Phillip says, "You won't see any flip-flopping here." Rob knows the next morning he's going to need to patch things up with Andrea.
The next morning, Matt and Francesca get Tree Mail that prepares them for their duel on Redemption Island, while the tribes find out that two people from the tribe will go to Redemption Island to watch the duel, based on drawing stones from a bag. David and Steve are the two from Zapatera, and Andrea and Ashley are the choices from Ometepe. Andrea is excited to see Matt.
Rob isn't crazy about the chance that Andrea will talk to Matt.
Redemption Island: In an arena-style setting, the spectators take their seats and Jeff welcomes the two competitors.
The competitors have to use sticks and rope to make a long pole used to retrieve three keys, which open three locks on a door. The first person through stays in the game, and the loser is out for good.
Francesca puts her stick together quickly and gets a key right away. Matt's first attempt breaks his stick. Francesca goes for her second key and gets it before Matt even has one. Matt's stick breaks again as Francesca extends her stick for her third key, but it breaks. Matt finally gets his first key and gets his second key while Francesca aims to fix her stick.
Francesca makes a move for her third key while Matt does the same. Matt's stick is coming up short while Francesca nearly gets hers. Matt gets his third key and races to unlock his locks while Francesca falters. Matt opens his door and stays alive.
Jeff congratulates him and sends Francesca packing, telling her to toss her buff in the first on her way out.
Jeff sends Matt back to Redemption Island to await his next opponent.
Steve thinks what he saw at Redemption Island is a chance to gain an advantage. He considers telling Russell that Francesca won and sent Matt packing.
Ometepe: Andrea and Ashley get back and Ashley says Matt's "pissed." Rob starts to worry that Matt could run the gamut on the Island and get back into the game. He goes to chat with Andrea and apologizes for what happened and says he would've done it another way if he could. He tells her she's still in the alliance. She asks if Phillip an Kristina are going before her, and he says yes. She tells us she still doesn't trust Rob and is "still really pissed."
Zapatera: Steve and David get back and tell Russell that Matt went home. As soon as Russell goes away, Steve tells the rest of the group that he lied to Russell.
Russell, meanwhile, sets out to find the idol again. He's using the clue, but says it's "so vague." Ralph is giddy, telling us he's happy because he's got the idol.
Stephanie, who's searching with Russell, decides they should pretend they have the idol by having her protect her bag. Steve notices how Stephanie is carrying the bag around closely.
We get a close-up view of some disgusting growths on Russell's arm pits. Steve talks to Mike and Ralph about getting rid of Russell sooner than later. They even toss around the idea of throwing the challenge. Steve says there's nothing bigger than getting rid of him.
Julie is worried about throwing a challenge for fear of Ometepe getting on a roll. Steve says they'll decide when they get to the challenge. The signal is one thumb up, meaning they'll throw the challenge.
Immunity challenge: It's the wheel challenge, where three players are strapped to a wheel that other players spin. The two who are strapped in will have their heads go underwater at each turn of the wheel, where they try to collect as much water in their mouths as they can. They'll then spit that water into a bucket. The first team to fill their bucket releases a ball, which starts another player working on a puzzle. The puzzle is a maze and the puzzle maker has to maneuver the ball through the course and out a hole. There's also a reward -- comfort items, including chairs, pillows, blankets and a lantern.
Steve, David, Ralph and Julie seem on board with throwing the challenge, but Julie is uncomfortable with it.
Rob works on Ometepe's puzzle, while David works on his. Jeff notices that while Rob is making progress, "Dave's barely working."
Russell tells us, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think they threw the challenge." He goes on to use a pretty unflattering word to describe his teammates.
Ometepe: Everyone is hunting for the hidden immunity idol clue that must be buried within the luxury items. Nothing can be found until Rob sees Phillip sitting in one of the chairs, which appears to be lopsided. Rob asks Phillip to get up so he can try to fix it and Rob sees the clue woven into the fabric of the chair. He takes the chair behind a bush to "fix" it and pockets the clue.
"How lucky was that?" Rob tells us. "Had Phillip not been so fat that chair wouldn't have been bending as much and I wouldn't have told him to move."
Rob goes to read the clue and it's pretty vague. He doesn't tell anyone about it, "because I want the idol for me."
Zapatera: Ralph admits "it was a thrown challenge." He says they had to do it because Russell has to go. They decide to split the vote between Russell and Stephanie.
Russell is upset because he's certain they threw the challenge. He decided to set out to get one person to split. He sends Stephanie to work on Julie. Stephanie tells Julie they have the idol. Julie says it "makes sense" for her to make a jump.
Stephanie reports back to Russell and is giddy about it being the biggest blindside ever. Russell goes to talk to Julie and assures her that he'll have her back if she makes the move. He tells her to vote for Ralph.
Tribal Council: Ralph says there's a division in the tribe, so being at Tribal Council isn't all bad. Serena says the division was caused mostly by Russell and his legacy, and that he lied immediately about scheming.
Russell goes on to say it felt like "they threw the challenge." Mike admits they "didn't go 100 percent," and that they wanted to win but they have some fat on the tribe that they'd like to trim. Julie says she wants to go into the merge with numbers. Stephanie says Russell would be an asset to everyone later in the game and it was silly to throw the challenge. Steve and David both deny they threw it.
Serena says Russell doesn't do anything around the camp, and Stephanie jumps to his defense again. Russell says all he has right now is hope and says, "It never is what it seems," after going on about how he's been "in trouble" each time he's played the game.
The vote: Ralph writes down "Ressell" while Serena writes Stephanie's name, saying she's "misguided" and "rude." Russell writes down Ralph's name, saying, "This is my game, sucka."
Jeff reads the votes: Russell, Ralph, Stephanie, Russell, Russell, Stephanie, Ralph, Ralph, and ... Julie smiles at Russell and Stephanie, who smile back, but the glee doesn't last. The final vote is for Stephanie, creating a three-way tie. Russell looks upset, Stephanie is annoyed.
The rules state the three people in the tie will not vote and there will be a new vote for only Ralph, Russell or Stephanie.
Russell shakes his head as the new votes are cast.
Jeff gets the votes and reads them: Ralph, Russell, Russell, Russell, and the third person voted out is Russell.
"I'll be back, and be ready," Russell says.
"I'll be ready," Ralph says, smiling widely as Russell leaves. Stephanie turns to Julie and says, "Storm's coming."
Russell's last words (for now): "This is the first time I've ever been voted out. I don't like it at all. I was pissed off, I wanted to bitch-slap every single one of them."
"Right now this is his house," he says, referring to Matt on "Redemption Island." "I'm about to take it from him."
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