- Tree mail leaves one tribe member with a tough emotional decision, and one castaway exhausts all efforts to ensure their safety in the game.
- Previously on...: Ometepe has been unstoppable since the merge, winning challenge after challenge and taking out one Zapatera after another. The only rough spot has been Phillip, when his antics proved to be too much. Andrea, too, is a bit on the outs because she's showing too much loyalty to Matt. But Ralph and Steve went home last week, leaving only six Ometepe.
Redemption Island: Ralph joins Mike and Matt and talks about the bad shape Steve is in when Steve shows up. That makes three Zapatera and Matt on Redemption. Matt wonders what the Ometepe members are going to do now. When they realize the jury is going to be dominated by Zapatera, Ralph says he sees daylight. If he can make it to the end, he's golden.
Back at camp: Andrea is excited but Natalie is crying "hormone tears." She explains the next morning that she's emotional because they have to start knocking each other off, then she starts to miss her family and friends. Rob understands her youth is showing through. He says it's critical for him to comfort her, so he does. Rob tells us he's got eight days left and he's got to keep everyone happy. He needs to ensure they don't realize he's "the one that should be going."
Tree mail includes a special message from Sprint. There's a cell phone giving directions to Redemption Island's duel. They have to check videos on the phone, which includes messages from home. Natalie cries when she sees her mom. Rob seems to struggle to muster some tears, but does.
Redemption Island: The duelers get a phone with videos, as well. Matt says he wants to die when he sees his brother, saying he'll do anything he can to win the challenge if it means spending time with his brother.
Matt, Mike, Ralph and Steve arrive for their four-way duel. Jeff tells them that the winner of the duel will get time with their loved one. The players have to break tiles by tossing balls at their tiles from afar. The first to break four tiles wins, and the last to come up short is out of the game.
After the first two rounds, Mike has two tiles broken and everyone else has one. Mike, Matt and Ralph each break another.
Mike wins the duel by breaking his fourth tile. Ralph and Steve both miss. In the next round, Matt breaks his third, as does Ralph. In the end, Matt and Ralph both break their final tiles and Steve is out of the game.
Jeff then gets to the reward. Mike's mom walks out, but Mike has a decision: He can forego his time with his mom and let his two Redemption Island peers, or "give love" to everyone else left in the game.
Mike says the decision is clear in his head. He makes a reference to the Bible and says his only play is to try to make the most good for the most people. Mike wants to let the six Ometepe enjoy time with their loved ones. Jeff says he thought the odds of that happening were "less than zero."
Back at Redemption Island, Ralph says he would've accepted MIke spending time with his mom, but he's pissed off that Mike tried to win votes. Matt says he's glad he didn't win because he couldn't have done that. Mike says it was the right decision and that God led him to it. He insists to us that it wasn't strategic. He apologizes to Ralph and Matt.
Murlonio camp: The players and their loved ones get back to camp and get a tour. It's joyful and emotional for everyone. Natalie cries some more and feels a push from her mom. Phillip says seeing his sister empowered him to continue to "dominate." Rob explains his strategy to his sister (making as many players as possible think they're with him to the end) and reiterates, "All they have to do is talk to each other. But they won't."
Immunity challenge: Rob says the vote will probably go toward Andrea, so she's the only one who can't win.
The players show up and see a massive staircase. The players must put together puzzle steps to make their way to the top. The first one there wins.
Andrea takes an early lead, with Rob and Grant close behind. Running up and down the staircase wears on the players and Jeff says it's about 110 degrees.
Grant takes the lead and it's pretty much him, Andrea and Rob still in the running. But Grant makes some big mistakes that open the door a bit. Rob takes advantage and grabs the lead, but in doing so has some serious endurance issues. His legs start cramping. He's dehydrated. But somehow Rob manages to win immunity and nearly passes out while drinking some water Natalie brings him.
While everyone seems set on Andrea, Phillip again starts up with the antics and tells us his plan all along was to let his craziness work to get him to the end. He also thinks he has arguments that would sway the jury in his favor against Rob if the time comes.
Tribal Council: The biggest takeaway is that everyone feels safe from elimination. When Jeff asks if anyone is nervous, no one raises a hand.
The vote: It's unanimous. With just one vote for Phillip, the rest go to Andrea.
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