Previously on Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New
After James was sent to the Jury by a 3-2-1 vote, the Final 5 players on Tendua competed for the most important Immunity Challenge of the season. Jon pulled out his 3rd win taking himself off the board for elimination. Bryan won Reward in the option to choose a player to join the Jury, selecting Silas, and Jordan won a late-night surprise Hidden Immunity Idol right when he needed it. With the April, Bryan and Graham as the only options to be voted out, Bryan’s time ran out as he became the 10th member of the Jury (11th if you count Silas!)
It’s been such an exciting game all season long, and with 26 players now on the sidelines, we are finally down to the Final 4. Each of these players had earned their spots in different ways, through challenge wins, social and strategic play, and of course luck. Now, while there would certainly still be some strategy involved, the most important aspect of the game would be the ability to win challenges. The winner of today’s Immunity Challenge would not only earn their spot in the Top 3, but they would get to choose another player to join them, forcing the remaining two to compete in a live “do or die” challenge at tomorrow’s Tribal Council.
April had won the least Immunity Challenges out of these players, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be a tough competitor when everything’s on the line. She also had the benefit of working with Graham (and vice versa), in the same house, to solve many of our recent challenges, which could cut down on the time it takes to submit the answer. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the chances their responses will be correct will increase as we have often seen quick, but incorrect answers from this pair.
The advantage that they did have was the likelihood that if either wins, they will take the other to the Top 3. That means they have a 50% chance of making the Top 3, which would normally mathematically be 25% with 4 players left. This scenario was definitely considered by Jon and Jordan at the last Tribal Council, but ultimately they believed that Bryan would be a bigger threat to win the next 2 challenges than April & Graham. Still the advantage can’t be ignored, even if it could result in a “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation.
Ever since the Tribe Swap, when he alone was left on Nevala after 7 OG Nevalas were voted out, and the others were sent to Kobara and Ulloo – Jon’s been the most consistent challenge performer in the game. He had 3 individual Immunity wins, and outperformed even Bryan throughout the 2nd half of the game. His allies were all gone, but Jon believed that he could “win out” all the way to the finals, even if forced to compete in tomorrow’s tie-breaker head to head.
Jordan hadn’t necessarily been one of the strongest challenge performers of the season, but he was consistent throughout the season, and pulled out 2 Immunity wins since the Merge. His biggest moments however would be the first Hidden Immunity Idol he won, and used, to eliminate Kyle, and the other Hidden Immunity Idol he won just 2 days ago to get him to this point. He was a fighter, as well as last season’s 3rd place finisher. Would he make it to the Top 3 again? And if so, would he be able to make the Final 2 Tribal Council? Let’s find out.
So I specifically made the challenge unique to each player, thinking that it would make it more difficult, but I missed a very easy way to solve for the answers so it was a very short challenge – which sort of sucks for something so important. Here’s what each player needed to answer:
(The total number of letters in the FIRST NAMES of the players you cast your first 5 votes against, re-votes included if applicable) + (The total number of letters in the FIRST NAMES of the players you cast your last 5 votes against) = ???
Each player would have a different answer, and need to go through all the posts to figure out how they voted in each of their first and last 5 Tribal Councils. Or would they? The simplest way to solve this question was ACTUALLY to just go into WhatsApp, scroll to the top, and to the bottom, and there are the answers. If you ALSO used WhatsApp to chat with me about the game – which some players certainly did more than others – uh oh. If you kept your strategies secret from me, using WhatsApp solely for your votes and challenge answers, well this challenge was VERY easy.
Especially recently, Jordan and I have talked a lot about his strategy in the game, because it’s been changing week to week, and essentially he’s been playing his own game, straddling two alliances. Jordan was the last to answer, a full 3 minutes after the 3rd player to respond. Though he was correct, with an answer of 48, Jordan will NOT be winning today’s Immunity Challenge.
Jon was the 3rd to answer, a minute after the 2nd place response. He and I also used WhatsApp to chat throughout the game, though not as much as Jordan and I. Jon answered 50, which was also correct, but because he wasn’t as fast as April and Graham, Jon also did not win Immunity.
Graham and April answered within seconds of eachother, as per usual. They have been in sync in every challenge since the merge, so why would today’s be any different, especially with so much on the line. As was the recent trend, Graham had stopped answering before April and had continued answering just after her. What happened? We’ll never know, but since I brought that fact up at Tribal Council, Graham has answered just after April every time. But timing wasn’t the only important factor. The answer needed to be correct.
So were April or Graham incorrect? Let’s find out.
The winner of Immunity, a spot in the Top 3, and the important decision of who to bring along and who to force into a tie-breaking challenge is…
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April wins Immunity! With her 2nd individual Immunity win in 3 challenges, April once again comes in clutch.
This is a huge victory for April after being forced to vote out her ally Bryan yesterday. Now April has earned the right to decide to stick with Graham, as he said he would with her, or make a different (bigger?) move to differentiate her game from her husband and Survivor Hamilton partner. Who you take is just as important as who you force to compete. The winner of the tie-breaker earns another notch in their belt to sell the Jury, while the player taken along is given a gift. April has earned her kudos, but it remains to be seen who else can add to their story.
Tomorrow we’ll find out what April decides before holding a high-stakes head to head challenge to determine who else joins April and her selection in the Top 3.
Good luck with the all-important decision April!
MH
Survivor Hamilton 