Survivor SA Panama Summary
Episode 7 After a quick recap of events in the previous episode we are taken to Day 15 at the Aguila campsite.
Day 14 Nico believes his tribe is a strong one and that is why Danielle had to go, he is waiting for the merge so he can start competing for individual immunity. Vanessa explains why they changed their vote from Nico, it also involved being 4-strong when reaching the merge, if they kept Danielle they could have been at a disadvantage because they were not sure which way Danielle would sway. Brigitte wishes she could have voted for Nico, he irritates her with his constant speaking and adding nothing meaningful. Vanessa agrees he is odd, but she finds him entertaining. Nico thinks Brigitte is there to gather some limelight.
At Rana, the tribe members disuss where they stand with each other: Jacinda admits she feels no emotional bond with anyone on her tribe, they just share a common goal. Zayn has no alliances. Lezel has dual alliances: one with Gareth and Jacinda and another with Zayn and Gareth. She is playing both sides, and doesn’t think she is seen as very threatening and she is happy with things the way they are developing. Gareth thinks Zayn wants to play the game differently if they get to the merger and he worries that Zayn's attitude could make sticking together difficult.
Reward Challenge Mark welcomes everyone to the challenge and Rana get their first look at the new Aguila tribe, without Danielle.
The challenge imitates an old game that pirates used to play in order to hone their skills and prepare for battle. It is called “The Stick”, each round has one champion from Rana and Aguila. They must step up and wait for the opportunity to reach forward and grab the stick. The stick is shot into the air and the first person to cleanly grab the stick wins that round.
A tribe must win 3 rounds to win reward. The reward is a braai, complete with mielies, potato salad, boerewors and steak waiting at their island when they return.
Round1: Lezel vs Mzi with Lezel winning and grabbing the stick from Mzi.
Round 2: Jacinda vs Brigitte with Brigitte easily winning the stick.
Round 3: Zayn vs. Vanessa where Zayn has the stick first.
Round 4: Gareth vs. Nico. Gareth and Nico grab the stick together, but Gareth manages to pull it from Nico.
Rana win reward, and head back to their island to enjoy their first reward. They are ecstatic with the food waiting for them.
At Aguila Mzi has found an injured pelican. The tribe catch the pelican, pluck it and plan to roast it. Vanessa is keen to try the pelican as she is so hungry and she is getting used to doing things she never thought she would do.
It is raining at Rana and they have leaks in their shelter. Zayn explains how nobody else except those taking part could understand how difficult this experience is, he really didn’t think they would have to “survive” this much.
Day 16 At Aguila, Brigitte explains how Mzi is indispensable, he catches the fish, manages to make the fire when the wood is too wet, he is a huge asset to their tribe. Mzi manages to catch another pelican, while Mzi fishes Brigitte asks him how to prepare the pelican, he explains what Nico must do, but the girls think that everything is so difficult with Nico they will probably do it themselves. Nico does pluck the pelicans feathers though. Mzi is worried about his tribe, they get upset about small things and he thinks this will affect their performance at the challenge that is coming up. He jokes that he needs to pull a “Dr. Phil” with his tribe.
Immunity Challenge Mark welcomes the tribes to their latest immunity challenge where they will be playing The Mast. He explains that the weather in Panama is incredibly unpredictable, in days gone by when sailing ships were hit by sudden storms it was important that crews pulled the sails before they were torn. The same principle will be used in The Mast, each tribe is on their own platform where they will hang onto a bar that is supporting their tribe’s full weight. To begin the challenge Mark will chop the rope supporting the platform. The first tribe that lets go of their bar will fall into the water below and the remaining tribe will win immunity.
Rana slips first and continues to struggle throughout the challenge, they pull their platform back and then recover a number of times. Zayn struggles while Aguila stays focused and fixed in place. Rana isn’t managing to hold their own weight with Zayn struggling the most, he is putting the whole tribe in jeopardy. Jacinda and Lezel try to encourage Zayn by giving him advice, Nico looks on at Rana calmly, while Brigitte tries to taunt them to help them loose focus.
Finally after 30 minutes Aguila starts to show some strain. Rana hangs on and Nico falls into the water first – after approximately 45 minutes, Rana wins immunity.
Aguila is very upset about their loss. Brigitte blames Nico entirely because she was watching him and he wasn’t holding his own weight. He would be hanging on with one hand, resting the other and then swapping hands, she thinks she was probably holding his weight along with hers.
Rana returns to their island, Zayn admits he is in awe of the rest of his tribes, he knows they shouldn’t have won with him being so heavy and them being much lighter. Lezel thinks them avoiding tribal council is great as it gives them the numbers advantage when they merge. Zayn believes this has cemented their tribe together and will make separating them impossible after the merge.
Nico is going to vote for Brigitte, he discusses it with Mzi. Mzi thinks girl power should take its toll today, and he hopes he is left standing after Vanessa and Brigitte have decided what they want to do. He realises it means he will need to take a secondary role to secure his position. Vanessa has had Nico explaining that he saved her with the first vote when Sam was voted off and Sam and Brigitte were trying to have her voted off, he hopes she will stick by him. Brigitte asks Mzi what Nico has said to him. Brigitte becomes irritated when Mzi indicates that Nico is talking about voting her off. She doesn’t feel threatened, but if she is voted off she will enjoy the chocolate mousse she will have after leaving the island. Vanessa says you can never know what will happen until you get to tribal council and she’ll wait and see.
Tribal Council For a full Tribal Council transcript visit
TC Transcripts Episode 7. Voting: Brigitte – Nico
Nico – Brigitte, Mzi, Vanessa
Nico’s closing words "Aguila having one tribe member short, it looks like Rana has the upper hand, the psychological hand as well and I think they are going to pick them off like daisies. If I have to bump into them in the street, I’ll say, “Hi”, go for a little coffee maybe, but I most certainly wouldn’t look them up in the yellow pages.”
Next week: Nico’s words at Tribal Council give his tribe some food for thought. The tribes raid each others camps. The castaways have a new beginning.