Previously on Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New
Everybody’s thinking about the merge, hoping that they’ll make it, but not knowing how much longer they’ll need to wait. In another thrilling Immunity Challenge, Nevala came up short when Peter and James answered their questions incorrectly. Now their 5-player voting block will need to vote on of their own out.

Nobody was going to feel good about today’s vote. With only 5 players remaining, Nevala was about to become the season’s smallest tribe yet, and getting cut this close to the merge was going to be a real bummer for someone! There’s so much luck (or lack thereof) in this game. Peter and James both answered incorrectly during Thursday’s Immunity Challenge, so they are the REASON Nevala is even going to Tribal Council today, but they may not be the ones that paid the price. These 5 players can work to build a strong bond, but if someone bones an Immunity Challenge, all that work goes out the window.

Amanda was clearly the odd player out of a group of 4 close friends that had found themselves lucky(!) to end up on the same team after the Tribe Swap. That being said, she had worked with them on 3 straight votes when she could have attempted to flip the alliance against itself. That may have been impossible, but you don’t know until you try, and there are definitely cracks in the alliance that could be exploited. But in this game it’s really difficult to sway people who have committed to eachother. There’s no beach. But there is web conferencing, and so I take it back there are no excuses!

As I keep repeating, this game will only have one winner, and so it’s very possible that within this group of 4 (Chris, James, Jon, Peter) there is a top a middle and a bottom, and if they lose again we’ll find out who they are. Peter had admittedly taken a step back from strategy and attention to the game. Jon seemingly had kept a low profile all game long, but had built some bonds all over through his time with Nevala. Chris is always going to have some good connections whenever he plays Survivor Hamilton, and James likes to be a wildcard, but 8 weeks into the game, maybe the continued effort was taking a toll.

At this point in the game, with everyone thinking about the merge, it’s important for players to remember whose vote they will need once everyone is placed together on the same beach. Having a tight alliance is good, but who will help you connect with the players on the other teams? For the majority on Nevala, would it be worth keeping Amanda because she can pull in numbers from Kobara or Ulloo, while the 4 player alliance may only continue to insulate itself? These are the types of questions that would need to be answered in the votes before the merge, and then from there, all bets are off!

So Nevala is back at Tribal Council for the 10th time as a team, which is remarkable when you consider that this is the 16th one. While most of the team has only been with Nevala for a third of the game, Jon’s survived all of them – which is a feat in itself! Please watch the Tribal Council video below, and continue on for a reading of the votes.

Before we get to the votes, we should check to see if anyone is planning on using a Hidden Immunity Idol. So what’s the verdict?

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Nope! Another Tribal Council passes without one of these secret Hidden Immunity Idols making an appearance. Let’s see how the votes played out.

First Vote:

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Second Vote:

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Third Vote:

That’s 2 votes for Amanda, and 1 vote for Peter

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Fourth Vote:

That’s 3 votes and that’s enough. By a total vote of 4-1, Amanda is the 15th player voted out of Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New!

I really don’t think there was ever going to be a different outcome this week. When Nevala lost it was highly unlikely that one of the guys was going to flip on the others. The Tribe Swap gave Chris, James, Jon and Peter an immediate majority, and through four Tribal Councils they’ve stuck together as was expected. Amanda was a pleasure to have back in the game, especially because of how much she embraced the social aspect. Nevala was a bit of a step down from all of the conversations that were going on during her time on Kobara (something that Dave brought up when he was voted out) and I think that must have been a bummer for Amanda. It was great to have you in the game Amanda, and I’m sorry that the swap worked out that way!

As for the remaining players…

You are our Top 15, and you’ve made it halfway through the game, which is a huge accomplishment (especially for the original Nevala players). Keep up the great work! Check out this week’s PLAYED! with Meg & Mike for an interview with Amanda.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

MH

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