survivor tocantins: joe dowdle is out of the game

joe dowdle became the latest castaway out of the island in survivor tocantins: the brazilian highlands. joe is a real estate agent from austin, texas and was a member of the jalapao tribe.

the episode also featured the merge between the jalapao and the timbira tribes. a small feast was prepared for the merge, which prompted them to get a new tribe name and wear the new buff. the tribe color is now green. they all decided to the new tribe name, forza.

the merged tribe will now stay at the old timbira camp. when the old jalapao came over, they saw that they had a better shelter and they have to improve it. sensing that they are in trouble due to tyhe numbers, the jalapao boys worked around camp.

new alliances are also being formed after the merge. coach has approached jt to watch each other's backs and they are joined by stephen, debbie, tyson and erin. they are plotting to vote out brandon since they think brendan is manipulative and they think he has the immunity idol.

joe and erin, who were the last to go to the exile island, checked out the tree mail idol to check if the idol is still there. they found the compartment empty and they knew that either sierra or brendan has it, since they are the only other 2 timbira members who has been to exile island.

but joe has another problem of his own. he has infected his wound which was just below his left knee. it has been swollen and red and he has been limping around camp. many castaways has noticed this and are thinking of voting him off.

at the immunity challenge, tribal immunity idol is no longer at play and they are now playing for individual immunity. this week's challenge is a simple one. each castaway will cling on the pole and they must stay on the pole as long as they can. last person on his or her pole wins immunity.

the challenged seems to be simple but it proved to be very hard. at the start of the challenge, stephen and joe immediately struggled. less than 5 minutes in the challenge, stephen bailed out and joe followed soon. jeff noticed joe's wound and asked him if it was okay. then several other castaways struggled. taj, brendan and erin fell off their pole consecutively. jt also was struggling and fell off after about 20 minutes. only 4 castaways are left, all former timbira members. coach was the next one to fall, followed soon by sierra.

the challenge is now between tyson and debbie. both are struggling. debbie's arms are already shaking and tyson is holding on the pole by his toes. but soon after, debbie can hold on no longer and released her hold. tyson wins the first individual immunity of the season.

jeff asked the castaways to leave but asked joe to be left behind so that the medical team can look at his wound. the doctor told him that it was infected and the doctor feared that the infection is too close to his bone and it might worsen if he stays and played on. worst case is he might lose his leg.

back at camp, plotting begins, with the old timbira tribe meeting near the camp fire. coach and tyson are making brendan and sierra think that they are voting for jt so that they would not have a clue that they are voting for brandon. when coach told jt about this, jt feared for his life. if brandon plays the immunity idol, he might be in danger. so he and stephen asked tyson to split the vote between brendan and sierra.

stephen also asked taj if she was willing to vote for brendan and explained to her the whole set up. they are also wondering why brendan are not making signs of who they would vote since they had the exile island cross tribal alliance already. so taj said that she is willing to do it. so everything seems to be in place and it looks like either brendan or sierra is going home.

but jeff showed up at the camp. he said that joe is not with him and the medical team already decided that he cannot continue on in the game. he is now being lifted via helicopter to be treated and he will be fine. taj asked jeff to say to him that they all love joe and they miss him. jeff informed them that there will be no tribal council anymore.

tyson was crushed because his plan to eliminate the strong player brendan has been destroyed. anything can happen in the next three days and things will definitely change. in the preview, the so called exile island alliance was showing plotting against coach and coach is doing the same against brendan. i think either coach or brendan will go home next week.

what is unclear right now is that, will joe still participate as a jury member or not? hope he still continue as a jury member, just as what they did in a previous season. bruce was pulled out of the game due to stomach aches and he still continued to join the jury in survivor panama: the exile island.

image is from: tv.yahoo.com/show/42547/photos/10

survivor tocantins: spencer eliminated

spencer duhm, the youngest survivor castaway ever at 19, was the 5th person voted off the show after he was eliminated unanimously by the jalapao tribe. spencer is a student from lakeland, florida.

the episode started with taj and stephen working together to find the hidden immunity idol at the jalapao tribe. unknown to their tribemates, they have a secret alliance with brendan and sierra of the timbira tribe, which was formed at the exile island. they got the hidden immunity idol at the tree mail, which completes the plan of taj and brendan.

at timbira, sierra got a chance to talk to brendan privately. she said that taj has talked about the alliance while they were in exile and she is willing to join. this made their plan btter since sierra was really on it.

the reward challenge was a very unique one. a tribemate will sit tied to a spinning platform. on jeff's signal, another tribemate would race to that platform, get the rope attached to it and pull it, allowing the platform to spin. when it stops spinning, the tribemate on the platform would stand up, untie himself and try to finish a bbalance beam. if he falls, he will start all over again. first tribe to get 3 points wins reward. the reward is a chance to drink coffee and eat pastries at a cafe.

timbira got to an early lead, 1 - 0 by scoring the first point. but jalapao proved their determination and scored the next three points through great efforts from spencer, sydney and jt. only taj failed to deliver on the jalapao side. jalapao wins immunity and decided to send brendan back to exile island. brendan then chose stephen to go with him, since stephen is also part of their secret alliance.

at the reward, jalapao enjoyed the coffee and pastries and used clean bathroom. but what made it better was they received letters from home. most of them got emotional, especially the girls. jt almost cried after reading his letter. this gave them mental edge over the other team.

at exile island, brendan and stephen got to know each other better. they are the only ones that has not talked personally among the four allies. stephen als revealed to brendan that they already found the idol at the jalapao tribe and it was with stephen. this made brendan happy since their plan is very much on track. stephen was still not convinced if he will go with the alliance or not but he is trying it out.

at the immunity challenge, 2 members of the tribe will release a ball from a large slingshot and their 4 other tribemates would try to catch them using handheld nets. each successful catch would merit a point for the tribe. first team to get 5 points wins the challenge. jt immediately went to work and gave jalapao a 2-0 lead. brendan then got 2 catches, tying the game. then jt got one again. this time, he bumped his mouth on the handle of his net, thus losing half of his front tooth. jeff pointed out that it was the first point scored in survivor history while losing a tooth. jt then again got a catch. then coming from behind, tyson scored 3 more points for timbira, and timbira won immunity.

jt was very disappointed at spencer since he was almost useless at this challenge. jt wants him out of the game. sensing that she is a candidate to be sent home, taj had a n impulsive outburst; going at joe and defending herself. but at tribal council, it was stephen's weak performance that mattered and jalapao sent spencer home via a 5 - 1 vote. spencer's vote went to taj.

at the end, jeff pointed out that jalapao has lost its 2nd straight member and more importantly, they have lost momentum.they need to win to get back in the game.

spencer was really disappointed being voted off this early. he knew that he can do better than what he has shown in the 15 days he spent on the island. he is openly gay but decided to hide it to his tribe. spencer is now rumored to be dating survivor china's winner, todd herzog.

survivor tocantins: candace is the 2nd person voted off

in the second episode of survivor tocantins, lawyer candace smith of the timbira tribe was voted out of survivor tocantins. she lasted 6 days in the island and was voted unanimously by her tribemates, 7 - 1 with her vote going to sierra.

there was no reward challenge again in this episode. the challenge was a combined reward and immunity. in this challenge, each tribe will send out 3 players at a time (composition of which will be said by jeff) to play a game soirt of basketball. a ball will be released and they will try to gain possession and shoot the ball on their goal. the other team will try to stop them in what ever way they can. it is a very physical game.

having momentum on their side after winning the first challenge, timbira gained the upperhand by getting the first 2 points of the game. but jalapao came back and gained the next 2 points tying up the game. the last point was gained by jalapao. jalapao wins immunity! in addition, they also get fishing gear as a reward.

also part of winning is they can send a member of timbira to the exile island. they choise to send brendan. in a twist, brendan need to choose a member of jalapao to go with him. he chose taj to go with him. upon arrival at the exile island, each of them needs to choose an urn, one contains a clue to the location of the hidden immunity idol. taj chose first and it was the empty one so brendan got the clue. he decided to keep it to himself. there was also an option that he can switch tribes if he wants to.

when he returned to taj, taj convinced him to show her the clue and she will help him find it. he showed it to taj and they both decided that the idol was in their respective camp. taj was a little bit uneasy because the revelation that she is a wife of a football star might make her a target in her tribe. brendan also decided to remain in his tribe.

back at timbira, the vote was between sierra and candace. sierra was the one they voted at the start of the game when they were asked to vote for someone that would not join them in the trek. sierra was woried because she has not found the idol and she was in danger. on the other hand, coach was rooting for candace to go because of her bossy attitude. coach has already assured sierra that it will be candace that would go but she still feels uneasy.

at tribal council, it was coach's rallying to vote off candace that triumph and candace was voted out. candacewas really surprised and it was a complete blindside, at their first tribal council.

14 are left, who would be voted off next?