Survivor Nicaragua Episode 14 Recap: Oh, How The Mighty Are Falling

The latest installment of Survivor Nicaragua was a lot of fun indeed. After last week when NaOnka and Purple Kelly threw in the towel, leaving the game as quitters and opening the door to the million a little wider for their teammates, the seven who were left immediately began scrambling to shore up shaky alliances. It was three against three, with Chase, Jane, and Holly on one side while Dan, Benry, and Fabio comprised the opposing force. Sash was in the middle; his allegiance up for grabs.

Both alliances were courting Sash almost as soon as they returned from the tribal council where the girls dropped out. He knew he was in a powerful position and he let it be known that his vote was for sale. He wasn’t at all concerned about the prospect of being voted out because he has an immunity idol in his pocket. He had a great time entertaining offers from the two alliances. His initial decision was to stick with Chase, who he’s been somewhat aligned with since the beginning anyway.

Then Chase did something that put the plan in jeopardy. He won the reward challenge, which was to slide through a mud pit, get three balls onto a barrel and then three sandbags onto another. He got there first but then he slipped up when Probst told him he could take two people with him. He chose Holly and Jane. Holly was a no-brainer; she gave up the last one to get the tribe food and supplies. Jane? He should have chosen Sash. It just looked bad for him not to take Sash when his alliance needed Sash’s support to overpower the others.

Chase realized his faux pas almost immediately but there was little he could do to rectify the situation. Both Jane and Holly told him he’d screwed up. While they were enjoying hot food, hot showers, relaxing massages, and soft beds for the night, they were also plotting how to smooth things over with Sash when they got back to camp. Chase’s moment of stupidity in not bringing him along seemed for the time being like an insurmountable obstacle.

Back at camp, Sash instantly went to work trying to get Benry, Fabio, and Dan to tell him their game play. The three of them were well aware that they need him to stay together until the finals but their own foundation proved to be less than solid when Sash started poking around. Not only did they not trust Sash to share their thoughts with him but they told him so! Dan called him out immediately. So they did some fist bumping and hinted at a new alliance but nothing was settled. Except that they decided to eat the one remaining chicken.

Which set Jane off as soon as she returned the next day with Holly and Chase. The chicken was like a pet to her and she mourned its passing with tears and a solitary vigil on the beach before she made a cross out of its little trimmings that were left over and erected a tiny monument to its life with a heart put together from seashells. It was a touching inclusion in the episode, but also a little out there, if you get the drift.

Then it was back to business. The immunity challenge was played and Sash walked away with the coveted necklace. He was the first one to put together a puzzle of fake gold pieces. This put him in a very advantageous position. Not only did he have individual immunity, he also has an idol and he’s still a swing vote for whatever direction he chose to pursue. This he decided not long after the walk back to camp.

The Benry/Fabio/Dan alliance was shakier than anybody first thought. As soon as Sash won the necklace the three of them seemed to throw in the towel and started plotting against each other. A plan was hatched to tell Fabio that they were voting off Holly while everyone else would vote for him. Sounds neat, huh?

It wasn’t. Sash saw the crack in the trio of guys as the weakness that convinced him to go with Chase, Holly and Jane. After all, he and Chase figured they stood a better chance at defeating the two ladies in individual immunity challenges at the end than if they stayed with Benry and Fabio. So, the deal was sealed and it was finally four against three.

And the plan to jettison Fabio? Nobody stopped to get Jane, Holly, Chase, or Sash’s approval on the design. These four saw Benry as the biggest physical threat and with two votes Fabio, one vote Holly, and four votes Benry, the decision was made final with Jeff Probst presiding. Benry’s torch was snuffed, Fabio was gleaming (evidently he forgot that his boys told him to vote for Holly) and the new alliance felt secure.

Only nobody knows that Chase has NaOnka’s immunity idol. Maybe he’s not as airheaded as he sometimes acts. And Sash still has his as well. And both idols’ powers expire when it gets down to the final four. Pretty close now, hmmm?

For next week, the reward challenge is said to be enough food for four of the remaining six to keep going until the end. Probst drops a bomb with the announcement that the two who don’t win the reward will be “taken off and executed.” Holly looked instantly panicked by this turn of events.

Oh, how the mighty are falling as this season winds down. There are only two episodes left. Nobody wants to miss seeing how this one shakes out.

Favorite quote of the week: Jane – “They didn’t have to kill her (the chicken.) If I hadn’t gone on the reward I was gonna take her off in the woods and let her run for her life!”