Previously on Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New
After a wild Top 10 Tribal Council, our 9 remaining players competed in a team Immunity Challenge. Which players won and lost took on extra importance with no one fully able to trust their temporary teammates. When all was said and done, Jordan won his 2nd straight Immunity necklace, joined by Bryan and James with their first win each. With everyone starting to look towards the endgame, how will these players line up for this important vote?

After the Immunity Challenge, 3 players were safe and 6 players were not. Bryan, James and Jordan had to feel great about their guaranteed spots in the final 8, but they each had allies who were in danger of heading to the Jury. In fact, each of the 6 vulnerable players had to feel the heat because players had begun working all sides. At this point in the game there’s no excuse for not at least communicating a little bit with each of the other players, and some of those conversations would be intended to steal pieces away from alliances.

Allow me to do a little breakdown of where the players stand right now – at least on the surface.

The clearest alliance was Chris, James and Jon. They had been working together since they swapped onto Nevala, and that’s obvious to everyone now. The key for each of them now would be to make their own plans because it was unlikely that they’d be able to stay together much longer. Graham had built a good bond with them while on Nevala, and had likely made some promises about later stages of the game that he wouldn’t want to go back on (if possible). Kyle is obviously Chris’ brother, but they haven’t really worked together all game long. Is that strategy, or do they just not trust eachother when it comes to Survivor Hamilton?

April, Bryan and Paul had a good thing going on Ulloo, where they dominated challenges and voted out two rookies. It seems like it would be in their best interest to keep those lines of communication open, but how far would they go together once other options were presented? For April, it was pretty complicated. Graham was her husband, and as such they lived together, loved eachother, and so it was highly unlikely that they would betray one another. But could they remember that it’s a game? Each of them had worked to build their own bonds and partnerships throughout the game so far – would they drop everything and just start working together now?

Kyle had seen ally after ally go home since the merge, but he’s proven that he’s capable of shifting the target off of himself, and able to quickly build bonds. Who did he have his claws into now, and would they be in danger the same way that Chelsea and Sharon were? Bryan had just lost his closest ally David C. at the last Tribal Council, so he’d be eager to find a group to join – and fast.

Jordan had obviously worked with Graham up to this point, even though he lost his cousin first for the 2nd game in a row. This time however, Graham was voted back into the game, and so they’d have a chance to push to the end together. That being said, Graham clearly had other ties in the game as well that would be taking his attention, and potentially his vote. Was it still in Jordan’s best interest to work with Graham now that he was united with April on Tendua? And where would Paul line up? As far as I’m concerned, Paul’s vote is up for grabs and anyone looking to form a majority should pull him in because he’s shown he can be trusted, and trust comes at a premium right about now.

So our 9 players head to Tribal Council, 3 of them wearing Immunity necklaces, with one or more Hidden Immunity Idols supposedly out there in unknown players’ pockets. What would happen now, and who would join Bryan, James and Jordan in the Top 8? Check out our video below to find out:

As usual I’ll also reveal the votes below, but before I do, we need to find out if any player is using a Hidden Immunity Idol…

…

…

…

No. There will be no Hidden Immunity Idol played tonight, meaning that all votes will count. I’ll read the votes…

…

…

…

First Vote:

.

Second Vote:

.

Third Vote:

That’s 2 votes for Paul, and 1 vote for Graham. 

.

Fourth Vote:

We’re tied again. 2 votes for Paul, and 2 votes for Graham. 

.

Fifth Vote:

That’s 3 votes for Paul, and 2 votes for Graham. 

.

Sixth Vote:

We’re tied again! 3 votes for Paul, and 3 votes for Graham.

.

Seventh Vote:

That’s 4 votes for Paul, and 3 votes for Graham.

.

Eighth Vote:

WE’RE TIED AGAIN! That’s 4 votes for Paul, and 4 votes for Graham, and 1 vote left…

…

…

…

Ninth Vote:

By a vote of 5-4, the 9th place player, and 6th member of the Jury is Paul!

This one was definitely a heart-breaker to see two members of my very own wedding party pitted against eachother by powers “outside of their control”, and another nail in the coffin of the potential NOLA alliance that never was… In all honesty, Paul played a much better and more active game then last time around, and I fully commend him for it. He didn’t seem like a likely target, but as Paul brought up himself, he WAS playing the middle. When you do that you’re pretty much guaranteed to lose the trust of one side, and it appears that’s what happened today, whether they really wanted to vote Paul out or not. Well at least Paul gets his evenings back, and I bet he’ll enjoy that too!

As for the rest of you… Monday is the Top 8 Tournament so get some rest. The winner of the tournament will not only win Immunity, but an excellent Reward as well. For now, check out Paul’s delightfully honest PLAYED! with Meg & Mike episode below:

 

MH

Next Episode