Surviving Guatemala, Episode 6: “This Would Be the ‘Outwit’ Part”

Last week, Bobby Jon and Danni turned on blabber-mouth Blake. The week before, Judd turned on Brooke. There’s lots of turning going on, all of it among original Nakum members. Let’s see if it continues to play out that way.

We begin at Yaxha camp, day 15, as Brandon is trying to figure out what the heck happened such that Blake was voted out when their group had a majority. He asks Bobby Jon if he has any regrets about the vote. Bobby Jon has some but it was at the stage in the game where he had to do what he had to do. Ah, well, that explains it. He liked him, but he was rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.

Brian and Gary tend to a meal while Brian says Nakum is going to be “totally shocked” to see the result of the vote. Yup. Brian tells us the vote was like a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for himself, Gary, and Amy. Now they’re even, and they need to knock out original Nakum members one by one.

At current Nakum, the monkeys are resting – and so are the tribe members. Jamie and Judd share their annoyance with jungle noises and mosquitoes. They are all as covered as possible, with long sleeves and bandanas and the like.

But that’s not the only thing annoying Rafe – he’s upset with Margaret’s negative energy, which she’s had since Brooke was voted off. He says the other six get along really well, but she’s fading out. Judd thinks she’s miserable because she got stuck with him. And, well, he’s pretty much right. She tells us the tribal mix-up put her at the bottom of the food chain. She’s not giving up, but she’s sure Judd is just waiting for her to be voted off.

With that, we cut to the tribes arriving at the reward challenge. When Nakum sees that Blake was voted off, Stephenie is smiling while Margaret is shocked. Judd is kind of chuckling too.

Um, wait. I thought this was the reward challenge, but they brought the immunity idol. Host Jeff Probst takes it and says it doesn’t play a part. He’ll explain in a minute, so we’ll have to wait to find out what’s going on.

The challenge is explained first. Two members from each tribe will face off on a large rectangular field with a few trees in it. They will start on opposite sides of a gigantic ball and will push the ball against each other. The object is to maneuver the ball over their goal line (hey – getting the ball over the goal line is something Gary should be good at!). First they’ll put up two women, then two men, then one of each. First tribe to score three goals wins reward. OK, so it is a reward challenge. And they’re playing for barbeque – a grill, hot dogs, hamburgers, cold beer, the works.

The bad news is that both tribes are going to Tribal Council tonight. That sound you heard was the other shoe dropping. The winning tribe also wins the right to compete in another challenge immediately following the big ball challenge – for individual immunity. That person will also sit in on the other tribe’s Tribal Council.

Lydia sits out for Nakum. After a random draw for the women, Stephenie and Cindy take on Amy and Danni in the first round.

And they’re off! They run to the ball with Stephenie and Cindy getting a push first, but then Danni shoves right back. Unfortunately for her, the ball is pushed into a bad position and she is squeezed into a tree. Amy and Danni jump around the tree and turn defense into offense. They keep their momentum and Yaxha scores the first point.

For the second round, Brandon and Bobby Jon square off against Judd and Jamie. When Probst gives the signal, both teams run for the ball and slam into it. In fact, Brandon hits it so hard he bounces backwards! Each side pushes back and forth, but Bobby Jon and Brandon get a run for Yaxha until Brandon is practically knocked over. He finally falls as Nakum scores.

At this point, Jamie lets out a victory yell and Bobby Jon gets in his face with a yell of his own. Bobby Jon is yelling something, but I have no idea what – and I replayed it half a dozen times. As far as I can tell, he’s saying, “Ookalaa! Ook la laa!” They bump bellies while they’re screaming at each other and Jamie pushes away while Bobby Jon continues to rant nonsensically. Gary and Brian look on, bewildered.

Now it’s time for a guy and a girl from each team. It’s Judd and Stephenie vs. Gary and Amy. Judd and Stephenie get to the ball first and take the advantage – until Stephenie is wedged up against the tree. Ouch. She gets around and they push back. Amy moves to counter them but takes a tumble and screams in pain. Gary does his best to keep defending while Amy gets up and hobbles back into action – still obviously in a lot of pain. She has to give up and Nakum scores. Gary helps her to the sideline.

Unfortunately, the next round is women again – and Yaxha only has two women. Probst asks if she’s ready – she says not really, but she’s going to do it. So it’s Amy and Danni vs. Margaret and Cindy. Even as Margaret and Cindy have an advantage, Danni and Amy take the early lead. They use that to squeeze Nakum into a tree and roll straight into the goal! Amy screams – but not in pain, in triumph!