Episode 5, Angie and Willard Gone-ski

Koror wins Reward and Ibrehem is awarded Immunity by vote of Koror. Angie and Willard are voted off at a joint Tribal Council where Koror is able to hear Jeff Probst talk with Ulong.

After the recap of last episode, Gregg and Jenn are shown as snuggle-bunnies. Coby seems really put off by them. He says something like "they aren't fooling anyone." Although Coby has probably changed his mind since then - see Alliances below. Also on Koror, Tom is very critical of Willard saying that he (Willard) may not be strong enough to help win challenges but he could certainly put wood on the fire which he hasn't been doing. Over at Ulong a storm blows in at night and the Survivors try to go to their cave but get lost on the way. They end up having a miserable sleepless night.

Reward Challenge
Competition: shipwreck sake bottles
Reward: beef stew at Tribal Council in front of the loser and listening in on Jeff Probst talking with the losing tribe.
Sits out: Janu, Caryn, Katie and Williard

Another water/underwater challenge. A number of big white empty sake bottles are tied to an old World War Two shipwreck so that they are floating but underwater (if that makes sense). Each tribe is on a platform with a raft some distance away from the shipwreck. The rafts are on a rope and pulley system connected to the wreck. One member from a tribe goes on the raft and the rest of the tribe pulls on the rope to take him/her to the wreck and the sake bottles. The Survivor on the raft then dives down to retrieve a sake bottle. The Survivor is then returned to the rest of the tribe by the raft-pulley system and another Survivor goes to get a bottle. First tribe to six bottles wins reward.

Here's the rough order of competitors:
Stephenie - Jennifer, they finished about even.
Angie - Gregg, Ulong slight lead.
Ibrehem - Coby, Koror big lead, 3 bottles to 2. Ibrehem dove three times without getting a bottle and returned empty handed.
Bobby Jon - Tom, Koror still up by one with a 4-3 lead.
James, Stephenie - Ian, Ulong evens it up at 5-5 as Ian has trouble.
Ian redeems himself by taking two turns in a row (which is allowed after everyone has gone once) and scoring the winning sixth bottle.

Koror wins Reward.

At Ulong everyone blames Ibrehem (left) for the loss, even Ibrehem himself. (I don't think it was all his fault. After he lost their slight lead they regained a tie and then lost the challenge.) Bobby Jon says that he likes Ibrehem but it would be fair to vote for him at Tribal Council. Stephenie is at a loss (again), she's not used to losing and just hopes for a merger. At Koror they're all happy, of course. Ian so much so that he sings a made-up song about not having to go clamming (he rhymes 'bay' and 'today'). Gregg secretly talks to Coby about a "soft alliance", see Alliances below.

Immunity Challenge
Competition: no immunity challenge this week.

Koror at Tribal Council (first time)
(paraphrased)
Probst: What's the relationship, leadership and friendship situation?
Katie: Tom's a leader in challenges and Ian is a leader in gathering food.
Probst: Tom did you intend to be a leader?
Tom: No I came here to be just a forty year old father. I give 110% and do my best.
Probst: Coby you seem to be very social.
Coby: Yes I'm friendly and get along with everyone. If that hurts me so be it.
Probst: Gregg what about friendships?
Gregg: Good friends: Tom and Ian, Coby and Janu, Willard and Caryn, and Katie loves everyone. I'm good friends with Jennifer.
Probst: Willard how are you perceived?
Willard: I'm perceived as physically weak, which isn't good.
Probst: Gregg what about trust?
Gregg: Trust starts to kick in now that we're at Tribal Council. Trust will be tested.

Time to vote:
In a landslide Willard is voted off, five votes for him shown to Katie's one vote.

As Willard walks away from Tribal Council he says "stay strong, stick to the plan, finish them off." Koror then get to eat their stew as Jeff Probst talks with Ulong.

Ulong at Tribal Council (fifth straight time)
(paraphrased)
Probst: You brought everything with you why?
Bobby Jon: We don't know what to expect. Maybe a merge?
Probst: Well, there will be no merge tonight. Angie why are you hiding your face?
Angie: It's so frustrating to keep losing. We needed this win for morale reasons as much as for the food. I can't look over at Koror. I don't even know who they voted off.
Stephenie: It makes me sick, one mistake cost us reward. I can't look over at Koror either.
James: I'm disappointed too.
Ibrehem: I lost us the reward challenge but you look at this collectively. We win and lose as a tribe.

Before they vote Jeff Probst surprises everyone by announcing that Koror will get to vote to give Immunity to one member of Ulong. Ibrehem is awarded Immunity. The Immunity votes: Angie 1, Stephenie 2, Bobby Jon 2, Ibrehem 3. Koror leaves so they don't get to see Ulong vote.

Time to vote:
It's a tie! Angie and Bobby Jon each have 2 votes (James also got one vote). Now James, Stephenie and Ibrehem will vote for Angie or Bobby Jon.

Angie is voted off with two votes shown.

Alliances
The Soft Alliance is between Gregg (left) / Jennifer and Coby (right) / Janu. Gregg approached Coby about this after the Reward challenge. The target of the Soft Alliance is Tom and Ian who Gregg says have a strong father-son relationship. Gregg then in a private confessional tells us (the viewers) that this gives him flexibility to go with whoever has the numbers. So be careful Coby!

Heroes & Villains
Stephenie (left) is my favorite on Ulong and maybe my favorite overall. James is a jerk. Bobby Jon and Ibrehem may have some muscle but they're not athletes. They suck in competitions and they're boring too. On Koror I'm rooting for Coby and Janu, although I don't see much hope for them at this point. I also like Ian but not Tom or Gregg.

Official Episode Title: The Best and Worst Reward Ever

Won Reward: Koror
(beef stew, biscuits and root beer, plus hearing Probst talk with Ulong)

Immunity: Ibrehem
(voted Immunity by Koror)

Voted Off: Angie and Willard

Note: next week's show is also on Wednesday night.

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