After the tribe swap, both tribes knew that the first Tribal Council would be dangerous, and it was Hielo that would first be testing their luck with the new tribe makeup. Jordan and Claudia had come over to Hielo with Chelsea, but they had only a couple weeks to get to know eachother, and Chelsea had her own history with Hielo, after being voted out in Week 7. Jordan figured that he would have the biggest target on his back. Everyone in the game knew that Jordan and Graham were cousins, and after being split up last week, voting out Jordan (or Claudia for that matter) would definitely be a way to hurt Jordan’s alliance back in Fuego, even as they voted him out of Hielo.

Things may not have been so simple for Bryan or Jonathan however. Bryan had been on Fuego with Jordan and Claudia for 7 weeks, slowly building trust, and it was Bryan who volunteered to leave Fuego – he wasn’t voted out, so where would his allegiances lie tonight? Jonathan was OG Hielo, but through multiple Tribals he had voted against Cait and Silas, attempting to get his friends to work well together – but that had proven very difficult as he had lost Peter and Elliott in back to back weeks.

And what about Hidden Immunity Idols? Cait had been dominant in the Immunity Challenges all season, and had been a leader of a strong alliance since day 1, playing with measured confidence. Was that confidence because she had an idol? Some in the tribe thought that may be the case. And with 3 coming over from Fuego, and Bryan coming over earlier, did anyone bring an idol from Fuego beach? None had been played in the game so far, but with 2 new tribes, anything was possible.

Leaving Hielo beach with the sun setting in the distance, this one felt different. Twists like the ones in Week 7 and Week 11 have the potential to help or harm anyone’s game. Since Hielo lost more challenges up to this point, there was a good chance that the tribe swap would put them in tight positions, but there’s always a chance, a strategy, a way out – and it was feeling like one of those nights that was going shift the future of the game in one way or the other. Let’s get to the vote.

If anyone has a Hidden Immunity Idol, and they want to play it, now would be the time to do so…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Alright, I’ll read the votes. Once the votes have been read, the person voted out will be asked to leave the Tribal Council area immediately.

…

…

…

First Vote…

…

…

Second Vote…

That’s 2 votes Jordan

…

…

Third Vote…

That’s 3 votes Jordan

…

…

…

Fourth Vote…

That’s 3 votes Jordan, 1 vote Cait

…

…

…

Fifth Vote…

That’s 3 votes Jordan, 2 votes Cait

…

…

…

Sixth Vote…

We’re tied, 3 votes Jordan, 3 votes Cait, 1 vote left

…

….

…

…

…

*Opens Parchment*

By a vote of 4-3, the 10th person voted out of Survivor Hamilton: Fire & Ice is…

…

…

…

Cait, you have been voted out of the game. Please bring your torch and say your goodbyes.

And with that, I think we say goodbye to our first dominant player in the game. Sure there have been some exciting votes so far, but Cait has not only been one of the best from a challenge standpoint, but has also been on the right side of 6 Hielo votes in a row, as her alliance orchestrated the eliminations week after week. With a potential 4-3 advantage and talk of an idol, there was always a chance for Cait and the 2 that voted with her, but all those votes this season fractured Hielo, a controversial twist definitely played a role, and it looks like Fuego was able to come in and infiltrate Hielo.

Thank you for the excellent gameplay all season long Cait – you will definitely be missed in the game!

To all those that remain, your next Immunity Question will be posted sometime between Monday morning at 12:01am and Wednesday night at 11:59pm – Easter Sunday off!

Go to Week 12.