Previously on Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New
It’s been a week to remember as we finally reached the Tribe Swap over the weekend. With 3 tribes, each mixed up with players from both Kobara and Nevala, our 22 remaining players competed in their first Immunity Challenge as new teams. It was the most eventful challenge of the season, with the margin between winning and losing as small as it’s ever been. When the dust settled, an autocorrect from David C.’s was the only difference, saving Kobara from tribal, and sending the newly formed Ulloo tribe to tonight’s vote.

Since so much of the season so far had been Kobara dominating Nevala, it only makes sense that our initial assessment of the strengths of each new tribe would be based on % of Kobara players vs Nevala players. The veterans had all surely learned many valuable lessons from their 7-1 Immunity Challenge win streak that they would teach their new tribe-mates, while the rookies would still take awhile to adjust to the new techniques. So is it any surprise that Ulloo, with 4 OG Nevalas to 3 OG Kobaras, would lose the first Immunity Challenge after the swap? Actually, yes it was.

Kobara 2.0 seemed to maintain their strong position with 6 players staying on the tribe, with only 2 coming over from Nevala. On Nevala V2, only 2 players originally from Nevala were joined by 5 from Kobara. If that sounds confusing, well, I guess it is. The point is, Ulloo were the underdogs and the other tribes viewed them as such. So when the first Immunity Challenge of phase 2 of Old Meets New came down to one player from each tribe – Jonathan, Andre, and David C. – every single player in the game knew they were only moments from being sent to Tribal Council.

But unfortunately, when all was said and done, it was David C.’s tiny error (a missing “S” in the correct answer) that made all the difference. Ulloo lost the Immunity Challenge not because of an original Nevala, but because of an original Kobara. That David C. had sat out of half of the season’s previous challenges made a little more sense now. Or maybe the mistake was because he had sat out so many challenges, making him a little rusty. Either way, David C. had to feel like he was in danger because of the loss, and also because he found himself at a 3-4 disadvantage after the Tribe Swap.

It was no secret that against all odds, April, Ruth, Sasha, and Shareed had found themselves with a majority over Bryan, David C. and Paul. If this was a simple game, we’d likely see an original Kobara on the chopping block, but that wouldn’t take into account Nevala’s 7 trips to Tribal Council. Since week 2 of our game, April had found herself on the opposite side of the vote from Ruth, Sasha, and Shareed, and that was likely to play a factor tonight. April could effectively be viewed as a swing vote between two alliances, so it would be essential that the other 6 players fought for her vote, or else tried to swing someone else over.

Shareed hadn’t begun the game working with Ruth and Sasha (who HAD started the game as allies), but through circumstance had joined together as part of the Nevala majority that took out most of the “family” alliance over the game’s past few weeks. He would also be a target for the original Kobara players, because if they could swing him over, along with April, then Shareed would help them form a dominant majority over Sasha and Ruth, and it may not matter if anyone had a Hidden Immunity Idol. But would they trust Shareed, or April for that matter?

For Ruth and Sasha, they had to know that the Tribe Swap placed them in a minority that seemed like a majority from the outside. They were in serious danger of losing April’s vote to Kobara, and Shareed’s vote would be in play, so they just had to try and figure out where everyone’s votes were going, and do whatever they could to protect themselves. Rumours were also flying about who won the Hidden Immunity Idol, and if it would be played tonight. When idols are in play, plans go out the window, and the ability to take risks is reduced. So the idea of playing it safe would also be in the minds of whatever majority was forming.

So let’s find out what happened at Ulloo’s first trip to Tribal Council shall we? Here’s the video where you can watch it all go down.

And now… the votes…

here.

we.

go.

If anybody has a Hidden Immunity Idol, now would be the time to play it.

Surely one of Ulloo’s 7 players would use it right?

…

…

…

Nope!

So now let’s get to a reading of the votes.

…

First Vote:

.

Second Vote:

That’s 2 votes for David C.

.

Third Vote:

That’s 2 votes for David C., and 1 vote for Sasha.

.

Fourth Vote:

We’re now at 2 votes for David C., 1 vote for Sasha, and 1 vote for Shareed.

.

Fifth Vote:

We’re tied 2 votes for David C., 2 votes for Shareed, and 1 vote for Sasha.

.

Sixth Vote:

Ok. Now we have 3 votes for Shareed, 2 votes for David C., 1 vote for Sasha, and…

one

vote

left

Seventh Vote:

By a vote of 4-2-1, Shareed has become the 9th player voted out of Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New, and the 8th original Nevala member. Shareed was likely a victim of the short turnaround between the Tribe Swap, the Immunity Challenge, and Tribal Council. He had scrambled as much as he could this week to win the trust of his new tribemates, while at the same time not burning his bridges with Ruth and Sasha. What it appears to have come down to was that while Shareed trusted April and the original Kobara players, they didn’t fully trust him yet.

At such a frantic time in the game, a tenuous 4-3 split, and a Hidden Immunity Idol in play, the majority of the tribe went with the safe decision. While attempting to avoid the impact of the idol, the majority lost a potential ally, and didn’t even manage to flush the idol in the process. Shareed it was super fun to have you in the game. I know that you were looking for a different outcome today, but it appears that the paranoia got the best of your tribemates, and that once again, the “anybody but me” strategy prevails. Looking forward to having you on the Exile Island chat!

For everyone else. Tomorrow’s Immunity Challenge will feature 6 players from each tribe competing in head-head-head battles, so get some rest. Check out tonight’s episode of PLAYED! with Meg & Mike above, as well as bonus videos featuring Kobara 2.0 and Nevala V2 getting to know their new tribemates below.

Kobara 2.0

 

Nevala V2

 

Thanks for watching!

MH