Survivor: Samoa Episode 8 Recap
Galu Member Erik Cardona Blindsided at Merge Tribal Council
Nov 5, 2009
In the action-packed Episode 8 of Survivor Samoa, titled “All Hell Breaks Loose,” the tribes merged with twelve members remaining, for the first time in Survivor history. Two castaways won Immunity at the first individual challenge, and at Tribal Council, a hidden Immunity Idol was played while another castaway was blindsided. Find out how it all went down below.
ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS
Down to Four
After voting out Liz, Foa Foa was down to four people. They knew they had to divide and conquer the Galu tribe once the merge came. Mick planned to try to bring Laura into the Foa Foa alliance and Russell had several plans, all of which would “stir ‘em up.”
Laura and Shambo Argue
Laura returned from Foa Foa where there was tension between her and Shambo. Laura’s canteen was missing, and she got into an argument with Shambo about it. Shambo called Laura, Monica, and Kelly 90210 and compared them to the popular girls in high school who excluded her.
Treemail Arrives at Foa Foa
The tribe received treemail and hoped that this challenge would finally be the turning point for them. Russell took his Immunity Idol in case there was a merge. As the tribes arrived on the beach, they found a treasure chest which contained a note, a tribe flag, and new tribe buffs. The blue tribe celebrated on the beach with a large feast.
After the feast, tribe members went off together and started to talk. This was all part of the plan, according to Russell.
The Merge: New Tribe ‘Aiga’
The merged tribe went to Galu’s old camp where the former Galu members showed Foa Foa around. Natalie called Galu’s camp the Hilton because there were blankets and pillows. As Laura showed Natalie around, Natalie was looking for cracks in the old Galu alliance. Meanwhile, Brett came up with the tribe name ‘Aiga,’ which is Samoan for extended family.
Later, Russell showed Laura the Hidden Immunity Idol and told her he’d give it to her at Top 7 if she got him there. He then tried to give her some rules, including that one of the first people to go had to be one of Galu’s guys. Laura refused the deal, saying that either Shambo or a Foa Foa member had to go. Feeling dejected, Russell went and made the same play to Monica. Even after she accepted, Russell went to John and gave him the same pitch. He suggested that Laura should go first to break up the women’s alliance.
Russell then tried to connect with Shambo and use her dislike of Laura to his advantage. Before the Immunity Challenge, a plan was set in place to eliminate Laura.
Immunity Challenge: T-Ball
In a game of Survivor T-ball, each castaway had to swing a bat and hit a ball onto a course. The man and woman with the highest score each won individual Immunity.
For the men, Dave scored 3, Russell scored 4, Mick scored 2, and John scored 5, winning the challenge. Monica scored 2, Kelly scored 3, and Laura scored a 4, winning the challenge for the women and putting an end to Russell and Shambo’s plot to vote her out at Tribal Council.
All Hell Breaks Loose
With Laura immune, Russell focused his attention on Monica, but Shambo said that Laura and Erik would never go for it. Laura confessed to Erik that Russell had showed the hidden Immunity Idol to her. Erik wanted to vote out Jaison and thought that Russell would feel vulnerable enough to play the Idol. The plan was to flush out Russell’s idol, but John wanted Monica to go instead in order to weaken Laura. Erik eventually came around to the idea. Dave, however, wasn’t having it. He wanted to get rid of all the Foa Foa members first.
Erik became the spokesperson for John’s plan to oust Monica. He told the three other Foa Foa members to vote out Monica and let Russell play the idol. But Jaison told the tribe to vote for Erik just to screw up the plan. Then Natalie went to Laura and Kelly to get Erik voted out since he wanted to vote off Monica, their other ally. Eventually, word got spread around to the rest of the Aiga members to vote out Erik.
Russell admitted that this was the first time he didn’t know anything about the vote. He claimed that the former Galu members could be trying to make him comfortable so he doesn’t use the idol. Before leaving for Tribal Council, Erik also collected his idol and said he’d use it if he had to.
Aiga Tribal Council
Erik very honestly said that Foa Foa offered nothing to Galu and should be voted off. Jaison took Erik’s comments personally and fired back. Russell reiterated that Foa Foa was still in the game and he would do everything in his power to stay in the game.
As Jeff was about to read the votes, Russell played his Idol to secure his position in the game. Any votes cast for Russell would be nullified.
When the votes were read, it was Erik Cardona, the 28 year-old bartender from Ontario, California, who became the ninth person to leave Survivor: Samoa. Erik also became the first member of the jury.
When to Watch
Survivor: Samoa airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS. For more information on the new season, see the show’s official Web site at CBS.com.
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