Survivor: Game Changers Episode 6 Recap: Me and My Pony

Tonight’s Survivor: Game Changers was an episode full of firsts and new takes on old twists, but ultimately, one player did go home.

Survivor: Game Changers went for a slightly quieter approach this week, if by quieter you mean there weren’t massive fights. Still, plenty of things went down. Spoilers follow. Let’s recap Survivor: Game Changers episode 6.

Night 13 for Nuku basically saw Aubry talk up eliminating J.T. as a good play to her tribemates, but also, in a confessional, say that she needed to learn from Sandra. But that wasn’t the only Night 13 we saw. Over on Mana, Tai finally went hunting for the idol he’d found a clue for earlier. He poured water over the boards on the water well, revealing the Mana anchor … and his digging spot for an idol. As he said himself, it was his second in three days.

But after that, it was straight to the morning of Day 14. No one seemed particularly surprised by J.T.’s elimination, just disappointed. Jeff Probst took the immunity idols and then told everyone to discard their buffs.

Surprise! The game is back to two tribes … except Debbie did not get a buff. Here’s our new distributions:

Mana: Troyzan, Michaela, Sierra, Hali, Aubry, Cirie, Brad

Nuku: Tai, Jeff, Zeke, Andrea, Sandra, Sarah, Ozzy

Probst then went back to Debbie, telling her she was going to take a trip to Exile Island. It bought her three more days in the game, since she wouldn’t return until the next Tribal Council. She mentioned she went off with a pony as a kid.

New Mana started with the standard hugs and handshakes, and Brad confessed that he knew he was in trouble. His first stop on the Brad Makes an Alliance Tour was Troyzan, the other man on his tribe.

Then, new Nuku opened a bit more somberly, with Jeff and Sandra knowing they were in trouble. But names started floating around. Zeke started plotting to take Sandra down with pretty much everyone except the two of them. The plan? Feed Sandra and Jeff Tai’s name. Tai, though, even without knowing, went looking for a second idol. He tried the same “wet the well walls” trick, and it paid off. He found a second idol.

But Wait, There’s More

Debbie’s visit to Exile turned out to be three days on a yacht, including food, alcohol, blankets, and a visit from John Cochran, winner of Survivor: Caramoan. Basically, he got to provide Survivor wisdom, and yeah, he actually pointed out that the fight with Brad was not a good thing.

But he also came with an advantage, and she broke down then. There were tears, there was a long hug, and then she had to make a choice between a fake hidden immunity idol kit, an extra vote, or a tribal challenge advantage. She chose the extra vote, naming the episode: “Vote Early, Vote Often.”

Zeke started building a bond with Jeff on Nuku and started to feed him the false Tai story. It seemed like Jeff bought it for the most part. Next, Jeff went to Sandra. She was more suspicious than he.

Duking it Out

Out in the water for the immunity challenge, players had to go over monkey bars with a rope to balance on below, then place heavy barrel-shaped puzzle pieces onto a sled and drag it on a track to the beach. Then, players had to solve the puzzle to win.

Mana grabbed the early lead in the more physical part of the challenge, but Nuku began catching up by the sled part of the challenge. On the beach, players had to use logs to smooth the path. Troyzan took a hard fall while helping pull the sled.

Sarah, Cirie, and Aubry took the puzzling reins for Mana. Sandra, Zeke, and Ozzy did the honors, but it was too late. Mana won immunity and apparently finished the puzzle far faster than anyone expected, since a Probst voiceover told us it was a Survivor record.

The defeated Nuku was very quiet indeed. However, Sandra started talking up Tai’s name, pointing out the Kaoh Rong connection between Aubry, Tai, and Debbie (should Debbie arrive on Nuku). She talked to Ozzy, Sarah, Andrea, and Zeke. However, they weren’t swayed … much.

The problem came when Tai saw everyone else talking except him. He told Jeff about the Sandra plan in front of Ozzy, and then that started to spread, even to Sandra, who hatched a plan.

Talking it Out

Debbie got to sit in on the Tribal Council, but she didn’t participate. The talk started with the idea of threats.

Sandra, as she planned, began to say she was going home. Then Tai started talking, pointing out that he’d become a threat, all on his own, and admitted he was paranoid. Sarah said she’d heard names and added that “some of us are still open.”

Sandra offered to work with Tai, and he whispered a name in her ear, then Jeff’s. She mouthed “Ozzy,” and then Tai said aloud that he wanted Ozzy home. Everyone started whispering to plan to take out Tai except Tai, even as he spoke.

Zeke verbally turned on Tai, and then Jeff asked for a vote. Tai didn’t play either of his idols. It didn’t end up mattering, though. Nuku voted Sandra out, and Probst told her that she’d lasted 94 days before her torch was snuffed. Tai snagged two votes.

Next: Survivor Goes to The Legend of Zelda

Survivor: Game Changers continues next week with Debbie on Nuku, and the Queen of Survivor at Ponderosa.