Previously on Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New
After Kobara won their 3rd Immunity Challenge in 4 attempts (my prediction!), the stress of the second vote became a distant memory and the returning players were given some extended time away from Tribal Council. Nevala meanwhile was down 3 players after last week saw David M. and then Wayne voted out, with topics of trust, lying and screenshots dominating the conversation. Can the mongooses finally take a long-needed bite out of the snakes today and get closer to evening the numbers?

As mentioned above, Nevala spent the long weekend stressing about Tribal Council immediately after the tribe had been split on the David M. vote. Lines were drawn on Wednesday, and it was looking like a strong group of 9 was forming. It was no secret that Jon lost his closest ally on the tribe, and that the trio of Sharon, Ruth and Sasha had also found themselves on the wrong side of that vote. So it was looking like they were down 9-4 on the numbers, and it was time to go to work.

Wednesday’s vote had made it clear that Jim had some tight allies, David M. had some as well, and that there was a large group in the middle. April and Ian, at this point in the game, were working with Jim. Ruth and Sasha were working with David M. and Jon, while Sharon at least temporarily was with that group as well. That left Andre, Damien, Dave, Marishka, Shareed, and Wayne in the middle. That entire group sided with Jim on Wednesday, but was it going to be a long term alliance moving forward or a one-and-done vote?

One key takeaway from Wednesday’s split was that some players wanted to play an “honest” game, while others were looking forward to the seedier aspects of Survivor Hamilton – the misdirection and outright deceit. Because the group in the middle had not wanted to commit to either side until the last moment, the losing side did not take the vote very well. Ruth in particular took issue with the way that Wayne had apparently lied about his intentions on the vote, and was appearing to want to take control of the tribe early. Wayne for his part, decided to lay low after the vote, sitting back and letting the strategy go on around him, while hopefully the target placed on him was lessened somewhat.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t a great strategy this time around. He believed that the strong 9 that had voted out David M. would stick together, but meanwhile Ruth went to work to change the trajectory of the tribe. First, she won the Hidden Immunity Idol on Friday, and then at the last second was able to swing 3 votes away from the group of 9. Wayne’s majority dissolved, and in the first true blindside of the season, he was sent home by the tightest of margins with only the required 7 votes. Could Nevala get back to winning and avoid Tribal Council this week? If not, the tribe of “honest players” will continue to crumble and we’re sure honesty vs deceit will continue to be a hot topic.

Meanwhile on Kobara everything was unnaturally quiet. Of course avoiding Tribal Council for over a week would limit the amount of strategizing that needed to occur, but it was bizarre for me NOT to have my phone blowing up with messages from this group of veterans. The only real topic of discussion on the tribe was “who won the Hidden Immunity Idol?” The process of getting advantages was changed from last season to this one, so the paranoia would not take much time to build. Would it likely be someone who consistently performs well in Immunity Challenges? Could it be someone sneaking in out of nowhere on a Friday afternoon to steal away the idol for themselves?

There would be lots of theories out there, but only one person in the game has an idol right now, and only one person (and me and Sandra and my mom) knows who that is. Shall we get to the Immunity Challenge that you’re all here for? All the pressure would be on Nevala to stop their losing streak at 2. Going to too many Tribal Councils in a row makes it really difficult to build tribal unity. Kobara just wants to keep the good times rolling.

With a 2 player lead, Kobara would need to sit out 2 players in this challenge. David C. say out last time and would not be eligible. Opting to take more quality time with their families on this Victoria Day weekend would be Amanda and James. Take a seat, grab some popcorn and enjoy.

Here’s the question:

Some coworkers are arranged on the front steps of an office building. Paula is standing on the middle step, John is 8 steps above her, Sarah is 3 steps below John, and Tom is 6 steps above Sarah. Tom is also 5 steps from the top. How many steps are there? 

I’ll wait until the end to post the answer to the question for dramatic effect, but here’s how the following minutes played out. Remarkably the first handful of responses that came to me were from Nevala. Huzzah! That’s great news right? Well good news is in short supply for Nevala at the moment because the first handful of responses were wrong. I’m sad to report that though they were very fast to respond, Sharon, Sasha, Dave and April answered incorrectly. Poised to take a huge 5-0 lead, Nevala unfortunately stumbled out of the gates into a 0-5 hole which would take a miracle to climb out of.

A minute or so later, the predictable old crew from Kobara strolled in.

Elliott burst on the scene with his second straight 1st place finish. Chris continued to dominate the glass with a 2nd place finish. Kyle was right on his heels again in 3rd place. They were followed by Jordan, Chelsea and Cowin in 4th, 5th and 6th. Jonathan, Paul, Peter and Bryan swooped in next, and by the time Graham answered (5 minutes after the question was posted) Kobara was out to a delightful 11-0 lead. If you can count, they only had 12 players participating. With 5 incorrect answers to kick off the Immunity Challenge, the only way Nevala could win would be Kobara insanely trying to change all of their answers and disqualifying themselves.

That didn’t happen.

A small mercy for Nevala, Shareed and Jim answered correctly for the mongoose crew, but they were followed by David C. who woke up and answered all the way from the future. That closed it out for Kobara at 12-2.

KOBARA WINS THEIR 3RD IMMUNITY IN A ROW!!!

Kobara really has it together. First they waited patiently until someone had an answer they were sure was correct. Then they built a consensus. Once built, Elliott and Chris had obviously just been waiting thumbs over the send button, and Kobara answered one after the other. Probably a handful of extra texts or a phone call to David C. and the challenge was over.

Nevala meanwhile got correct responses out of Shareed, Jim, Marishka, Jon, Ian, Damien, and Andre, and an incorrect one from Ruth. Andre unfortunately then decided to send an incorrect answer, and was thus disqualified. That made the final score 12-6 for Kobara. That’s a tough one for the below players who I’m sure will learn from the experience and wait to answer until the tribe has built a consensus or you’re triply sure the answer is correct.

So once again we’ll see the Nevala Tribe at Tribal Council on Wednesday. If the last two votes are any indication, we can expect twists and turns until the last moments before the moment we step in front of our cameras. Oh and here’s another one Nevala Tribe. Make sure to keep an eye on the website, your email inbox, and our WhatsApp group tomorrow. Because Ruth played her idol on Saturday, there may be another one headed into the game for a lucky someone on your tribe.

See you soon.

Here’s how I answered the question myself correctly on the first try before I posted it for you. I do that so that I can hold myself to the same standards I hold you. Which admittedly aren’t always that high.

Started with Paula. Placed the others above in order, added up the rows and then doubled them, adding Paula back as the middle step. 33 steps.

MH

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