Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 10 recap: Testament

Before Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 10 aired, there were five Davids and five Goliaths left. With even numbers and few advantages, things popped off.

We’ve heard so much about “Goliath strong” in the leadup to tonight’s episode of Survivor: David vs. Goliath. Even though players like Alec and Alison had shown time and time again hints of wanting to flip over, it never came to fruition. Now with 10 players left in the game and a potential 5-5 split possible, someone had to be dynamic in order to prevent a rock draw. With two hours of action, anything could happen.

In the “last time on” recap during the show, we got to see something new; Kara saying sorry as she voted for Angelina. Suddenly, the Davids were becoming the Goliaths, as they praised themselves for being masterminds. It got Angelina raring to go, vowing to vote out either one of the Goliaths who tried to take her out.

Once again, Davie and Nick were out searching for an advantage as soon as light cracked the night sky. They weren’t lucky enough to find a Hidden Immunity Idol, but there was a clue that hinted at yet another nighttime escapade, with Nick needing to find a torch at night on the opposite side of the island.

Davie, Carl, Angelina, Kara and Nick were on the Purple team for the Reward Challenge, with Nick, Mike, Christian, Alison and Gabby on the Orange team. Teams needed to pull themselves forward on a thin rope bridge with rope vines. At the final station, players needed to throw ladder rungs at a rack to secure food wraps and refreshments.

The purple team, with the huge threats taken out, were quick and nimble crossing the bridge, while Alec was just one fast part of a slow, steady team. Even though the purple team got out to a huge lead by getting its five players across first, Nick couldn’t nail the ladder rungs onto the structure. It was only when Alec had a chance to catch up that not only did he catch up, he threw his last two rungs in as many throws. He’s finally shown to be too much of a threat (finally), as Carl mentioned Alec is the reason he hasn’t gone on reward since the merge.

Alison and Alec were quick to play up the notion that they were always willing to make a flip, but the time was never right. Of course, Gabby saw right through that, and even Mike was shooting “C’mon, guys” look at the other two trying to curry favor from the Davids that suddenly have a modicum of power.

Though it was a bit awkward of a meeting, it did present a touching moment; letters from home were hidden under a blanket. Offering a teaser for the Loved One’s visit, it was heartwarming to see these strong players break down due to the comfort of home and those who have your best interests in mind. Still, I would have preferred Christian not saying he accomplished his three Survivor goals.

Meanwhile, Carl was stewing over the fact that he hadn’t gone on reward, so he angled to those at camp that Alec should be the next target to be taken out. The audacity of Carl to suggest to Kara, Alec’s trusted ally, that he’s next to be voted out did not get lost on her, and it set up doubts about where the Davids stood.

With everyone freshly throwing up from the tainted Reward Challenge wraps (seriously, it was vomit city), Nick was more than eager to go on a nighttime hunt for a Hidden Immunity Idol. After stumbling around for what must have been hours, he finally stumbled upon the light that would be shining brightly for his winner chances, as he would secure a Hidden Immunity Idol.

The Immunity Challenge wasn’t too elaborate of a setup, but you don’t need to be elaborate to be grueling. Players hold onto a handle behind their heads while standing on a tiny perch for as long as possible. It was a barnburner when Cydney and Tai Trang battled it out in a test of wills, and that challenge had a temptation quite like in David vs. Goliath; Nick, Angelina and Carl chose to eat a ton of nachos and drink beer and margaritas instead of competing.

Just like in Cambodia, the heat became a major factor in Fiji. Though Mike and Davie were quick to drop, even on the bench players were hiding from the beating sun. Kara dropped out around the two-hour mark, and it became a three-horse race between Christian, Gabby and Alec. Gabby, with the heat beating down and feeling vulnerable about the one challenge she thought she could win, broke down around the three-hour mark when she could go on no longer.

What followed next made this version of the Immunity Challenge even more compelling than in Kaoh Rong. While Alec was in the middle of his own mantra to keep him focused, Christian droned on and on about stories that kept getting cut away, driving Alec insane. At the five-hour mark, Alec pleaded to Christian to drop, saying Christian is safe and he’s not. Christian gave him the good old Han Solo “I know” and won immunity anyway, with Alec dropping down after a symbolic battle of David and Goliath.

The challenge took so long that the 10th-place finisher wasn’t even voted out on Day 27. Day 28 came around, and Alec was upset that he couldn’t stay safe and became a unanimous vote. Gabby was upset about the execution, however, as she was not a fan of Carl including Kara in the conversations about who to vote out, because (rightly) it makes no sense to trust Alec’s strongest ally.

It actually set up a fracture within the Davids, as Carl seemed to steamroll the Davids. Even as everybody discussed the vote, Carl derided Gabby for being emotional and paranoid, which set off Gabby in one of her few emotional moments outside of confessionals or talks with Christian on the show. That divide set up Alec’s play; pitch to Christian to take out The Godfather, Carl.

Though Christian could have viewed it as a way to keep Gabby’s interests in mind, he saw value in keeping Alec around to keep bigger threats ahead of him. People do employ the threat shield strategy often in Survivor, but few are often making the audience aware that they know how much of a threat they are. Does Christian keep a threat in the game, even if it means betraying the trust of the Davids?

We saw a lot of defensive and evasive comments at the first Tribal Council, as players like Carl and Nick defended why they didn’t compete in the challenge while Alec, Alison and Kara were calling others out. Angelina even chimed in to say that it’s cute those three were talking about loyalty in the game when they wanted to throw votes her way. It was an eye-opening tribal look at where players sat in the game.

No amount of Alec saying he could be a meat shield could deny the fact that Christian should not give up the David majority and make himself the least trustworthy player. Alison broke down under Christian’s guiding arm, harkening back to her doctor occupation to state she couldn’t save everyone in the game. She reflected that she may have missed her opportunity to flip early, as it could cost her in the long run.

As the second hour began, we were already at the second Reward Challenge, with players in teams climbing up a ladder to jump the ocean. Once each team reached a ring, they would dive down to retrieve two lines of buoys. Finally, the teams would swim to the end platform so they can shoot five marked buoys into nets.

The winners earned fried chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob, refreshments and cheesecake aboard the Survivor Speedboat. Kara picked Carl, Davie and Mike for the Orange team while Angelina picked Gabby, Nick and Alison for the Purple team. Shockingly, Christian was not chosen to compete.

With Alec, the challenge beast, out of the game, Carl and Davie started to step out as the most athletic players in the game. In fact, Davie was living his best NBA Jam life, as he was really heating up once it came down to the dunk contest. He gave up the BOOMSHAKALAKA with dope dunks, helping to score the most baskets for orange en route to Carl’s first reward victory. Now Angelina has been shut out the longest of anyone in Survivor: David vs. Goliath.

Finally, Carl celebrated with beers once more, and it seems like he has loose lips required to sink the David ship. Before the reward players even made it to the food, he was dictating to Kara that the vote will be for Alison and Gabby, as if she would be okay with voting out the Goliaths just because he says so.

At camp, Christian and Gabby came to the conclusion that with the numbers advantage, they can’t keep Carl in the end if all he’s going to do is take credit for everything. In one episode, Carl solidified the idea of being The Godfather, and now it was enough to start the Davids eating their own.

With everyone back at camp, Carl was reiterating the same plan to everyone, including Christian, and told him to keep Gabby out of it, and to have Angelina let Gabby know, and a thousand other things. All while sitting from his power position in the hammock. It was enough that players on both David and Goliath had enough of Carl and wanted to take him out, with Mike in the middle of both sides where he could potentially win no matter how he votes.

It further solidified Christian and Gabby’s determination to finally flip on the Davids, showing that the tribal lines are finally blurred. She made a good point; how can you have an alliance if you’re going to lie to one of your teammates about what the true plan is? It set up Angelina’s attempt to overtake Gabby’s spot in the David alliance, and it would only become a bigger spot during the Immunity Challenge.

The Immunity Challenge saw players go through a series of obstacles to collect three bundles of word cubes, including collecting the second set by spinning around on a swivel and balancing on a beam for the third set. At the end, players needed to spell out “P-E-R-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E” by removing two of their blocks and using the rest, however, Angelina had to bargain for rice before things got started.

She offered all of the fishing gear, the majority of cook set (minus pot, small pot, knife), parts of the comfort reward and the hammock. Jeff Probst offered up an interesting counter-offer in response to a lowball; one player would sit out of the chance to compete while everyone gets (rationed) rice. Angelina took that opportunity to slowly build up trust and fill out her portfolio for her end-game resume.

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Per usual, the dexterity and balance portions of this Immunity Challenge didn’t matter, as everyone had a reasonably even amount of time to figure out their word puzzle. Carl had one idea to spell out PERCEPTIONS as his word, but for some reason, Jeff Probst argued it’s not the word he had in his mind (the real word). It’s kind of BS; if you can spell the word with the tools available, it should count.

Regardless, Alison saw the perceptive part of his word and got rushing to spell out the correct word. Unfortunately for her, Davie won the Immunity Challenge by being just a bit faster, setting up Alison’s potential downfall and a huge moment of truth ahead of the vote.

Despite Angelina’s sacrifice to bring everyone rice, Carl used it as the opportunity to cook up a rice feast and target Alison, showing his lack of empathy. However, it was fine for Angelina, as she was still angling to take Gabby’s spot in whatever this five group looks to be called. It put Mike right in the middle, although he found it a lot more difficult of a spot. It saw him lying to both sides of this vote, even though Christian saw the potential of it being an acting bit.

For what it’s worth, Gabby and Christian knew that of all the strategic moves left in the game, this one was the flimsiest and needed to be played perfectly. If it went well, then Gabby would take a huge step forward and come out from under her shadow as a strong player capable of making big moves of her own. If not, then she’s heading back to camp with a pissed-off Carl.

While everyone discussed various eggs or gladiator-like allegories at Tribal Council, one takeaway was that Carl mentioned if anyone felt vulnerable they could come to him. He was the only one to feel solid in his alliance while others were worried about if they made a wrong move or if it could be them that’s next. Meanwhile, Angelina was sure to sneak in her sacrifice for rice, so the jury knew what was up.

Despite the self-assurance, Christian and Gabby flipped on the Davids to take out The Godfather, Carl, in a 5-4 vote that will set up the rest of this season. Two full hours of predictable votes that still managed to feel compelling. It’s a testament to the editing, characters and gameplay that keeps Survivor: David vs. Goliath as one of the show’s all-time best seasons.