The newly merged Dara tribe takes a brief moment to lament the loss of Neal who was pulled from the game due to a nasty infection. The Brains alliance is only down to three members so they have to figure out how to recover while they are being targeted by the rest of their tribe. Aubry notices a certain high school dynamic forming in the tribe. The Jocks (Brawn) and the Pretty People (Beauty) are now isolating the Nerds (Brains), but Aubry foresees a time when the misfits on the Brains tribe will get revenge. She’s looking to start a little trouble to possibly cause a rift in the Brawn and Beauty alliance.

Day 20

Jason reveals a softer side of himself to the rest of the tribe by sharing a story about his daughter who has been diagnosed with autism. He spends most of the money he makes trying to get his daughter assistance with her condition. Although he isn’t using his daughter to his advantage, Cydney notices that by sharing information like that about himself, Jason is becoming a much more difficult opponent. The softer side of Jason makes him seem like someone who would be tough to beat later in the game. Who wouldn’t want to give money to the guy who spends his every dime on therapy and doctor’s bill for his daughter?

In memory of Ice Cream Entrepreneur, Neal who was pulled from the game, the winners of the reward challenge will be given an ice cream feast as their prize. The tribe divides into two teams chosen by Aubry and Julia. Julia picked the two largest and two smallest members of the tribe for her team. (Debbie, Scot, Tai, and Nick) while Aubry chose everyone else (Cydney, Jason, Joe, and Michele). Julia’s strategy pays off and her team makes easy work of the challenge, leaving Aubry’s team way behind. It’s not even close; Julia’s team wins the challenge along with the ice cream waiting for them at camp.The loss was extremely tough for Aubry who has been on quite an emotional rollercoaster this season. She feels responsible for the challenge loss and her misfortune is starting to take a toll on her.

The mobile ice cream parlor awaits the winners of the challenge when they arrive back at camp. Julia, Debbie, Tai and Nick all enjoy their reward while the rest of the tribe watches enviously from just feet away. The winners share stories about their families while they enjoy their ice cream cones and root beer floats. The reward provides the perfect moment for the random assortment of castaways to form bonds with each other. Scot even opens up about wanting to win Survivor so that he can help support his family financially. The next day, Cydney, Tai, Michele and Julia paddle out in the canoe leaving Scot, Jason, and Nick together at camp.The three guys discuss the possibility of the women forming an “All-Girls” alliance. Nick doesn’t think the women’s alliance exists but he agrees with Scot and Jason that they should be targeting either Aubry or Debbie to keep the women from outnumbering the men by too much. When Julia, Michele, Tai, and Cydney get back, Nick immediately pulls Julia to the side to talk strategy. Cydney watches the conversation from the hammock not far away. Julia assures Nick there is no “All-Girls” alliance and Nick relays that message to Scot and Jason. Feeling like Nick is questioning her loyalty to the alliance of seven, Cydney calls Nick out for checking up on her so blatantly. Jason asks Cydney to take a walk with him so he can let her know that Nick was paranoid about the girls aligning. Cydney is fuming but after a while, Jason is able to calm her down.

Individual Immunity Challenge

The individual immunity challenge is a test of endurance and balance. The castaways have to balance on a perch with their hands behind their heads in an uncomfortable position. Seconds into the challenge Tai is already showing signs of discomfort. The sweltering heat beams down on the castaways and makes this challenge even more difficult. After a while, Probst decides to offer the tribe some incentive to step out of the challenge. Before he can even reveal what the incentive is, Julia steps down forfeiting her right to whatever Probst is about to offer. She just wasn’t able to make it long enough for Probst to bring out pizza, brownies, chicken, and hotdogs for the people who agree to step down off the perch. Within seconds, Jason, Scot, Joe and Michele all choose the food instead of the opportunity to stick it out and win individual immunity. Tai, who did not step down, tells Probst he’s staying in the challenge to prevent someone in the Brains alliance from winning. Nick agrees that someone other than a member of the original Brains tribe must win immunity so that either Debbie, Joe, or Aubry will be voted out of the game. Shortly after Nick’s announcement, both Debbie and Aubry step down out of the challenge. With all of the former Brains tribe members out of the challenge, Nick steps down as well. He isn’t the least bit worried that he won’t have immunity at his first tribal council; he’s confident a member of the Brains alliance will be going home. On top of that, he still would’ve had the steep task of beating Cydney in the immunity challenge. It’s very obvious that Cydney was the most comfortable person in the challenge from the very beginning. Being a bodybuilder has given her the endurance needed to remain in the challenge for a very long time. Tai remains in the challenge as well to see how far he can push himself. Cydney looks as cool as a cucumber but Tai is still focused on staying in the challenge as long as possible. Over 40 minutes pass before Cydney can take no more. She steps down and lays on the ground in pain while Tai overcomes the odds and wins individual immunity. As far as Tai is concerned, the plan for the tribal council is set in stone. All the Beauty tribe members will be voting for Debbie and all the Brawn tribe members will be voting for Aubry in case Debbie has a hidden immunity idol.

Blindside

Although Nick is in on the plan to split the votes between Debbie and Aubry, he thinks it could be beneficial to take advantage of Aubry’s weak position. Nick approaches Aubry and tells her the plan is to vote out Debbie. Because he’s confident Aubry will be in the game a few more days, he wants to make sure she is still somebody who might be willing to work with him in the future. Nick arrogantly says that he’s taking advantage of Aubry and she can’t do anything about it. Unfortunately for Nick, his arrogance has bee rubbing Cydney the wrong way and unlike Aubry, SHE might be able to do something about it. Cydney approaches Aubry and Debbie with a plan to turn the tables on Nick. Cydney feels like her best option moving forward in the game is to align with the rest of the women, at least for the upcoming tribal council. She then takes her plan to Michele and Julia. Michele who has been closely aligned with Nick doesn’t know if she should vote with Cydney to get rid of him just yet. Julia pulls Michele to the side and the two women discuss the possible ramifications of voting out Nick. Michele wants to be able to make a move but she hasn’t decided if it’s the right time to do it.

After being pulled from the by the medical team due to his infection, Neal has recovered enough to attend the tribal council as the first member of the jury. Probst asks Debbie what her perspective of the new merge tribe has been. While she was unsure at first, Debbie can see the writing on the wall that the Brawn and Beauty tribes have aligned to target the Brains. Nick agrees with Debbie and announces the plan to split the votes between two of the Brains tribe members, ensuring one of them will be going home. At this point, it’s common knowledge that Scot, Jason, Cydney, Tai, Nick, Michele, and Julia are all working together. Julia says there will be time to make moves later but for the moment, the majority alliance is comfortable targeting the Brains a little while longer. Scot is confident that the seven people he’s aligned with should be able to move forward as a team. When Probst asks Tai about whether or not people have been talking about hidden immunity idols, Tai reveals a little more information than he should. He accidentally blabs about the Super Idol twist in front of the entire tribe. The Super Idol twist is obviously news to Julia who looks genuinely confused. This is the opportunity Debbie and Aubry needed to try to drive a wedge between the majority alliance members. They both assert that Julia being out of the loop when it comes to the Super Idol twist is a sign that she might be the low person on the totem pole in her alliance. Debbie remains hopeful that she will remain in the game one more round but Scot can’t imagine the votes going any other way than what he predicted.

When the votes are tallied, Debbie receives a vote from Nick, and Aubry receives a vote from Scot and Jason each. Oddly enough, Jason receives a vote from Tai of all people. Nick sits in disbelief as Probst reads all the rest of the votes. Cydney’s plan works and Nick is voted out of the game becoming the second member of the jury.