Previously on Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New
After a surprising Immunity Challenge loss in the first week, Kobara went on to win two Immunity Challenges in a row, giving them some much needed time away from Tribal Council. On the other Tribe, Nevala was getting a crash course on Survivor Hamilton with their first really tough vote on Wednesday, an Immunity loss on Thursday, someone secretly winning a Hidden Immunity Idol on Friday, and having to deal with this upcoming vote.

When Nevala visited Tribal Council for their 2nd time on Wednesday, the tribe was undergoing their first division. The first votes on Ross had been super easy; but after watching Silas go home in a huge vote on Kobara, Nevala started looking inwards at their own biggest targets. It had been clear at the time that Jim, the father of, well me, had allies on both tribes, had the family connection, and was super competitive. David M. had also indicated that he had a number of close friends on the other side, and had begun working to pull people over to his side.

Once those two became the biggest targets on Nevala, it was up to the rest of the tribe to pick sides. Jim had clearly been working with April and Ian from the beginning, just as David M. was close friends with Jon. It was the other 9 players on Nevala that could decide to go either way. And it was the people in the middle that didn’t appear to commit either way until the very end that took the heat once the votes were read.

David M. went home by a vote of 9-5, but there were people in the group of 5 (now 4) that were none too pleased with the result. Jon saw his closest ally on the tribe go home. Sharon had specifically been hoping that her high school connections with Damien and Wayne would align them in the early portion of the game. Ruth and Sasha had been trying all week to talk strategy with players like Dave, Shareed, and Marishka, but they were keeping their cards close to their chests. Still, the minority thought they had pulled in numbers, were shocked to see David M. go home, and now needed to regroup.

Nevala had really been hoping for a better result on Thursday’s Immunity Challenge. They definitely improved their performance over Monday’s disaster, getting more organized, and putting up a really good fight. The problem was that Kobara was becoming a fine-tuned machine, and as you can see below, is consistently getting out of the gate faster with their results. Near the end of these challenges, Kobara is typically only waiting on one or two players who are lagging behind, while most of Nevala still hasn’t answered yet.

Well if they can’t win Immunity, a Reward Challenge came at the perfect time. There were 4 people that felt on the bottom after the last vote, and a Hidden Immunity Idol could be just what they needed to get back on top. Obviously no one could be sure who won the idol, as the results were kept secret, but that didn’t mean everyone wasn’t talking about it for the past 48 hours. This power in the game, when used correctly, can completely shift the trajectory of a tribe. The questions are, WILL it be used correctly, and will it’s use even be necessary?

Check out the video below to watch our live Tribal Council. Trust me; this one was very eventful.

Now let’s get onto the votes shall we. We know that someone secretly won a Hidden Immunity Idol yesterday, so would it be played today before the votes are read?

…

…

…

And Ruth stood up, and pulled something out of her bag.

That IS a Hidden Immunity Idol, and so it was Ruth that had won the Idol on Friday! She got a boost right when she needed it, because Ruth knew she was part of the minority last vote, and that some votes would be coming her way at today’s Tribal Council. But would she be playing the idol for herself?

“I’m giving my idol to Jon.”

Well that’s a curve ball! Ruth must know something that we don’t, and at this critical juncture, using an idol on anyone but yourself is super risky. Will it pay off? Only time will tell. Because of Ruth’s decision, any votes cast against Jon will not count. Let’s get get to the votes.

here

we

go

First vote:

Second vote:

That’s 2 votes for Wayne. 

Third vote:

That’s 3 votes Wayne.

Fourth vote:

We’re now at 4 votes against Wayne.

Fifth vote: 

That’s 4 votes Wayne, and 1 vote Ruth. 

Sixth vote:

4 votes Wayne, 2 votes Ruth. 

Seventh vote:

That’s 4 votes Wayne and 3 votes Ruth.

Eighth vote:

We’re tied. 4 votes Wayne, 4 votes Ruth. 

Ninth vote:

That’s 4 votes Wayne, 4 votes Ruth, and 1 vote Sharon. 

Tenth vote:

We’re now at 4 votes Wayne, 4 votes Ruth, and 2 votes Sharon. 

Eleventh vote:

That’s 5 votes Wayne, 4 votes Ruth and 2 votes Sharon. 

Twelfth vote:

That’s 6 votes against Wayne, and in this case that’s enough. So by a total vote of 7-4-2, the 4th person voted out of Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New is…

What a Tribal Council! We had our first Hidden Immunity Idol played by Ruth. Obviously it didn’t end up having an impact on the result, but just knowing it was out there created lots of paranoia on Nevala (and Kobara too!) and we may have felt an impact on the vote. Rightly or wrongly, Wayne was the first player on Nevala to be labelled a “liar”, and as we said on the Silas vote: once someone becomes a target for a reason like that, people are likely to jump all over it. “Anyone but me” is a great strategy in Survivor Hamilton, and it looks like some folks who voted with Wayne against David M. decided to change tactics this week.

The Nevala Tribe is open for business! Fundamentally, 7 people voted against Wayne, and 5 other people voted WITH Wayne. Will those people be able to shift gears as quickly as the minority from the last vote did? The bottom rose to the top on this vote, and it will be interesting to see if if can happen again, or if trust on this tribe is truly a diminishing commodity.

Happy Victoria Day weekend everybody. Our next Immunity Challenge is scheduled for Monday. Our wonderful exit interview with Wayne on PLAYED! with Meg & Mike is below:

 

MH

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