‘Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X’ Episode 10 Recap: “Million Dollar Gamble”

It’s Thanksgiving and I’m thankful for this week’s DOUBLE episode of Survivor. Previously on Survivor Chris, Bret, and Sunday saw Jessica as the biggest threat at Vinaka but the majority of the tribe had already made a decision. Knowing that he was the likely target, Taylor revealed Adam’s secret advantage at tribal. In the end the tribe was unable to look past Taylor’s thievery and voted him out, making Taylor the ninth person to be voted out of Survivor and the second member of the jury.

‘Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X’ Episode 10 Recap

Vinaka Night 25

As the castaways return from tribal, Adam repeatedly apologizes for not telling everyone about Taylor stealing food.  Jay, like Adam, is worried that he is being associated with Taylor’s wrongdoing and digs up the remaining food to earn back some trust.

Ginger Hulk walks off with Bret and tells him that he still wants to get Jess out. Chris hasn’t been able to trust Jessica ever since she blindsided ZZ Top super fan Paul back at the original Gen X tribe.

Day 26

As the sun rises, Hannah and Ken are sitting on the beach talking. Hannah admits to flirting with Ken (he’s mine) but doesn’t think he reciprocates her feelings (becausehehasfeelingsforme).

Zeke and Will are off on a walk together and exchange information. Will wants to shake the stigma that comes with working with Jay and tells Zeke about Jay’s idol. Zeke promises Will that he won’t tell anyone this information, but tells David who subsequently tells the rest of the tribe (oops). Zeke and Ginger Hulk plan to flush out Jay’s idol by making him think he is the next target while actually planning to blindside Jessica.

Reward Challenge

For the Reward challenge, players are divided into two teams of five and must swim out to a raft which they must pull to a platform. Reaching the platform, they must individually climb a ladder, retrieve a key, and slide down a pole. Once all five keys are retrieved, the teams must complete a puzzle in which they must stack four colored blocks with no repeating colors on any side. First team to complete their puzzle will win reward which consists of a “floating pizza restaurant” anchored fifty yards from camp that will serve pizza, chicken wings, and cold beer.

As there are eleven castaways left, someone must sit out and be ineligible for reward. David volunteers to sit out of the challenge because he is a weak swimmer and doesn’t want to bring his team down. The rest of the tribe encourages David to try anyway and not have such a defeatist attitude. Jeff points out the kindness of David’s tribemates and David becomes emotional. David thanks his fellow castaways for their kindness and for helping him overcome his anxiety and fear (THE FEELS).

Rocks are drawn and Jay must sit out of the challenge and is ineligible for reward. Despite being behind the whole challenge, Zeke, Bret, Adam, Hannah, and Sunday manage to sneak past Ken’s team at the puzzle portion of the challenge to win reward.

While half the tribe is on reward, Ken asks David how he is holding up mentally and emotionally back at camp (Of course I’m still shipping these two). David tells Ken he really appreciates the support he’s given him throughout this game. Ken tells David that he and the rest of the tribe really respects how much David has grown and evolved while on the island and says that David can always trust him (UGH I LOVE YOU KEN). David reenergized by Ken’s comments tells Ken and Jessica that the Bret, Sunday, and Ginger Hulk threesome is too big of a threat and must be broken up.

Immunity Challenge

Day 28

For the Immunity Challenge players must stand on a narrow beam while balancing a statue with a long pole. At regular intervals players must move further away from the statue making it harder to hold up. If at any point the statue drops or a player falls off the ledge they are eliminated.

As the challenge kicks off, Daddy Ken remarks that ants are crawling all over his stomach (I suddenly find myself wishing I was an ant). After five minutes, the players move further away from their statues and Hannah and Daddy Ken are eliminated. The remaining players then move to the third portion of their ledges where Adam states that Ken’s ants have now moved onto him (I no longer find myself wishing I was an ant). Sunday, Ginger Hulk, Will, Jay, and Bret quickly fall in succession. The last four remaining, Jessica, Zeke, Adam, and David, move to the last portion of the challenge. A gust of wind knocks Adam out and Jessica soon follows. Zeke and David battle it out for a few more moments before Zeke falls out of the challenge leaving David to win immunity (YASS David’s redemption arc is in full swing).

Back at Vinaka Jay is concerned that he is going to be voted out after losing the challenge. Unbeknownst to Jay, Ginger Hulk, Sunday, and Bret are planning to vote out Jessica. Zeke wants to pit the Gen Xers against each other and tells David about the plan to vote out Jess. David relays this information back to Jess and they plan to vote Ginger Hulk in retaliation. Zeke and Hannah are in the middle of both factions and are unsure of who to vote for.

At Tribal, Jeff asks Jay where he stands in the tribe and Jay admits to feeling on the bottom. Hannah explains that the tribe is separated into “trustclusters” and fangirls when Jeff adopts her terminology.  Jeff asks how confident everybody is that the vote will go their way and every one (aside from Jay) says that they are one hundred percent confident. After some discussion the players vote and Jeff asks if anyone would like to use a hidden immunity idol, to which Jay remains silent. As the votes are read, Ginger Hulk is blindsided by Hannah, Zeke, and Will’s betrayal and becomes the tenth person voted out and the third member of the jury.

Night 28

The castaways return to camp after Ginger Hulk’s blindside and failed attempt to flush of Jay’s idol. Jay chose not to use his idol because no one really brought up his name at tribal.

Bret, feeling blindsided by the last vote, talks to Zeke and tries to solidify their relationship. Bret says that Chris had to go at some point because he was in complete control and could have won the game. Zeke tells Bret that neither he nor Sunday are on the bottom of the tribe and that he would like to enlist them both to take out David at the next tribal (NOOOO).

Day 29

As morning approaches at Vinaka, David is talking to Bret and Sunday alone. David tells the pair that Zeke is the biggest threat in the game, but is unaware that Bret already pledged his allegiance to Zeke the night before. After their conversation, Bret quickly relays all this information back to Zeke and Zeke says that David has an idol and needs to go. Zeke tells Hannah and Adam about David’s idol to recruit them for his crusade. Hannah says she believes Jay and Will are the most dangerous couple, but Zeke says he isn’t being targeted by Jay or Will so he doesn’t care to vote them out at this point (selfish). Hannah feels torn between siding with her long term partner, Zeke, and working with David to whom she shares many similarities with.

Reward Challenge

For the reward challenge, players are divided into three teams of three. Each person will have their feet tied together and their arms bound to their side. In relay race format, each player will slither through the sand until their last teammate reaches a snake themed puzzle. First team to complete their puzzle wins a reward consisting of a helicopter tour over the island and a picnic of fried chicken, cheese, and wine. As there are ten players still in the game players must draw rocks to see who will sit out and automatically partake in the reward. David picks the odd rock and will join the winning team on their picnic (!! Please make some deals while on reward, David).

As the challenge kicks off every team is struggling to wriggle and flop through the sand. Jeff refers to Hannah resembling an elephant seal trying to beach herself (I’m offended). Daddy Ken slithers his team into a large lead and reaches the puzzle first. Ken, Jay, and Will struggle immensely on the puzzle (shocker) allowing the other two teams to catch up. Bret, Zeke, and Sunday make quick work of the snake puzzle and win reward (ugh so much for deal making).

At reward Bret and Zeke share some alone time as Sunday and David leave the table. The two’s bond has deepened over the past couple of days and they begin to discuss their personal lives. Bret opens up to Zeke after a couple beers and reveals that he is also gay (omg amazing). Bret talks about the generational differences for the LGBT community and how millennials are able to be more open with their sexual orientation than his generation. Zeke thanks the pioneers from the Gen X generation (and those before them!) that paved the way for millennials and future generations of LGBT to be able to be open and comfortable with their sexualities.

As the four return from reward, Hannah immediately pulls David aside to talk game with him. She alerts David to Zeke’s plan to vote him out and says that she wants to vote Zeke instead because he is condescending and untrustworthy (yas Hannah).

Immunity Challenge

For the immunity challenge players must untie and work a handle through a maze but cannot see where the maze is heading. Once a player’s handle is through the maze they can open their door and begin to work on a slide puzzle. The first castaway to compete their slide puzzle will win immunity.

The challenge was dubbed a “Survivor blowout” by Jeff as Jay makes quick work of his slide puzzle and wins immunity before anyone else is even out of their maze.

Day 30

David tells Jessica and Ken that they have to vote Zeke because Zeke is coming after him. Ken and Jessica agree because David has protected them before, even going so far as to playing an idol for Jessica in the past. Zeke asks Hannah if she thinks David is the biggest threat in the game to which she hesitates to answer (HANNAH JUST LIE). Zeke notices her hesitation and sets his sights on voting her out instead.

At Tribal no one is confident on how the vote will go. After David answers one of Jeff’s questions, Bret and Zeke taunt him and make fun of him for crying so much (wtf rude). Everyone is whispering right before the vote and Sunday tells Hannah and Adam that they are voting for Ken (IT’S A RUSE). Whispering ensues (I’m having a panic attack) and Jeff asks if they are ready to vote. After Jeff returns with the votes, Adam tells David that Sunday said they are voting for Ken. David plays his idol for Ken (d’aww) but Sunday lied and they really voted for Hannah. The vote is deadlocked at five votes each for Hannah and Zeke and everyone but Hannah and Zeke must revote.  Zeke pressures Jess to switch her vote asking if she is “ready to go to rocks” and promises her that he “realigns with people all the time” (weasel). Jess sticks to her alliance and the votes are tied again. Jeff tells the tribe that if they cannot unanimously agree to send either Hannah or Zeke home, then both Zeke and Hannah will be immune and the rest must draw rocks.  Complete chaos erupts and predictably the tribe cannot unanimously agree between Hannah and Zeke, leaving Will, Bret, Sunday, Adam, David, and Jessica to draw rocks. As the rocks are revealed it is Jessica (NOO) who holds the black rock and is eliminated making her the eleventh person out of Survivor and the fourth member of the jury. Upon leaving Jessica signs over her “legacy advantage” to Daddy Ken. The preview for next week’s episode shows the long awaited loved ones visit and David getting a glimmer of hope from Will who is “ready to play the game hard”. Tune in next Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST for an all-new episode of Survivor.