Surviving Guatemala, Episode 4: “Get Outta My Jungle”

So the previews for this episode have indicated there is going to be some sort of tribal shuffle – which would come rather early if true. We could spend time speculating about this, but why bother? The fourth episode is here and we can find out right now!

As we return to Guatemla, it’s Day 9, and it’s hot. Very hot. Triple-digit-every day hot. Even the monkeys can’t get up any energy to do anything but lie around, and as it happens, the Nakum tribe is doing pretty much the same thing.

Margaret makes the brilliant observation to Brandon that it’s hot – and even worse by the fire! Whoa. Who’d a thunk it? She tells us that they are all wiped out. If that wasn’t enough, the mosquitoes are terrible too. We see several tribe members talk about – and swat at – the bugs. We also get to see some pretty nasty bug-bitten legs, arms, and backs. Lovely.

Brandon joins the chorus by telling us how horrible it is and how all they can do is lie around. But, he notes, at least they’re on top. Who knows how bad the other tribe is in the same conditions and being on the losing end so often.

Cut immediately to Yaxha, where Gary is using a bowl to catch minnows. Rafe explains that they put some corn meal in the bottom of the bowl and let the minnows swarm. Then they pull it out really fast and a couple minnows remain each time. I’m thinking it would be more productive to find a way to slap a cover on the bowl really quickly before pulling it up, but Rafe is the “finely tuned fishing machine,” so who am I to judge? You know, it occurs to me that if they can catch minnows this way, one of Lydia’s skills just became a lot less useful.

As the whole tribe is at the lake, Stephenie looks out and sees a huge crocodile. It appears to be coming their way and then – snap! – it takes a bite out of something in the lake. This puts the tribe members a bit on edge, and at one point a fish nibbles on Jamie’s toes and he jumps. Heh.

With that, we head immediately to the reward challenge. Probst notes that they have already endured “arguably the toughest Survivor ever.” So they’ve earned a little relief. Today they’re going to get a break from challenges and instead get a chance to learn what their tribemates think of them and, at the same time, learn a bit about the other tribe. They will be asked a series of questions about their tribemates and write answers on paper. They will then reveal the answers all at once (no secret ballots here). Probst notes that they should keep in mind that their answers “will have a direct effect” on their tribemates. Hmmmmm.

So let’s begin the questions. First: Which tribe member is most in need of some nourishment? They cannot vote for themselves. Yaxha is almost unanimous for Jamie. Nakum has almost everybody voting for Danni. Now we find out what Probst meant by that “direct effect” comment, as both Jamie and Danni are called to the front for an apple each.

Second question: Which tribe member is the smelliest? Yaxha has three for Jamie and four for Gary. Nakum has four for Bobby Jon. So Gary and Bobby Jon come forward and are each shown a “bush shower” with five gallons of fresh water. They each jump in and lather up. When Gary returns, his whole team smells him.

Next question: Which man and which woman most deserve a picnic afternoon atop an ancient Mayan pyramid, returning to their camp later this afternoon? Gosh, I wonder what the people with the most votes will get for this one. Yaxha votes for Gary and Amy. Nakum votes for Margaret and Judd. Judd thanks them while Amy looks almost overcome with emotion as all four go up to Probst. Amy appears to think this is some sort of bait-and-switch, and she’s going to get stuck eating a tarantula. Nope. Probst unveils a basket full of food! There is chicken, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies, and iced tea. They are told to eat it all – they are not allowed to bring any back.

Now less two people each, the next question asks which of the remaining tribe members has the most tribe pride. Uh oh. I think I see what’s coming. Yaxha has three votes for Brian, two for Stephenie. Nakum has Cindy with four votes.

Probst says that since Brian has the most Yaxha tribe pride, it’s only fitting he remain a Yaxha member. Stephenie immediately sees what’s about to happen and says, “Oh my God.” Yup. He is told to stand on the Yaxha mat while Jamie, Rafe, Lydia, and Stephenie are told to drop their buffs – they are now part of Nakum.

Cindy joins her new Nakum tribe members. But because there is one extra Nakum, one of them will stay with the tribe. They draw buffs randomly to decide, with one being Nakum yellow. Danni picks Yaxha blue, but Brooke gets the yellow one. So Bobby Jon, Blake, and Brandon head to Yaxha. Gary and Amy will return to Yaxha later, as Judd and Margaret return to Nakum – all of them will face a bit of a surprise.

Speaking of Judd, Margaret, Gary, and Amy, they are on top of the pyramid enjoying their food and the view. They start talking about each other, with Margaret knowing that Amy is a police officer, for example. And what about Gary, he’s an ex-football player, right? No, he says he’s a landscaper. He notes that Danni said something about that too and claims not to understand it. Judd says she thought he looked familiar. Gary continues to deny, saying he wishes he was. In a hilarious confessional, Amy mentions what happened and says who knows – watch him be retired and a multimillionaire. “I’ll kill him. I’ll freaking kill him.”

The bulk of new Yaxha returns (or arrives for the first time, for most of them) to camp. There is wine and a big bowl of fruit awaiting them, which causes much celebration. Brian immediately tries to get in good with his new tribemates, telling them how he wants to work with them and win with them and how other people have been tired but he hasn’t, etc. Meanwhile, he’s voicing over the fact that there are four of them and three original Yaxha, so if it becomes a numbers game, they could easily pick old Yaxha members off one by one.