San Juan Del Sur Episode 6: The Price Of Rice

Dale is taking it hard after seeing his daughter leave. But he's not giving up. He shows Jon his fake idol that he took from the water well...and Jon's initial reaction is that he believes it.

Probst arrives at Hunahpu with the rice, with vultures watching nearby. He scolds them a little for getting into this mess, and tries to get to the bottom of how it happened. Josh is

Hunahpu pay the bill

particularly upset because he was switched onto this tribe into a situation that had little to do with him, and he had been undereating anyway. Jeff explains how bleeding them dry is necessary in order to be fair to the Coyopa tribe, and then proceeds to take all their comfort items. They are left with just a pot and a machete, almost completely starting over.

At the duel, Hunahpu find themselves with another opportunity to win food, with a BBQ being the prize at stake. With no loved one pairs left, Reed ends up taking on Baylor, and the challenge is to make it through an obstacle course collecting bags and recreate a mask whilst blindfolded. Reed's strategy is to take his time examining the mask whereas Baylor values speed. Both of them take a few knocks along the way. Reed puts together his mask with precision, only making one wrong move and quickly correcting himself. Reed wins reward, and starts bawling immediately. He picks Julie to go to Exile Island, but Natalie wants to go instead...she's seeing this as an opportunity to get some info from the other tribe since she already has a bond with Missy. Smart.

Julie starts to break...

The only thing Jeremy can think about as he's eating is that they could've just waited one more day and not made the deal. Alec's commentary is pretty funny as he refers to himself as a "meat collector". So the tribe have full stomachs but are pretty cold and wet in their tarpless shelter. Julie feels it most of all and is almost considering quitting. Jeremy doesn't want that...as long as she's useful to him.

The immunity challenge is to climb a wall, then roll a cube until it's under springs where they can take bags down. The cube rolling is pretty even, but Jon is a much better swinger than Jeremy, who even gets stuck at one point. The final section is a banner puzzle and for once, Coyopa have a pretty big lead. Jon is relishing taking Rocker's title as "Big Jon". Josh and Reed however work through the puzzle quickly, as Jon and Missy get stuck on the fourth piece. Soon Hunahpu have surpassed them and won. Wow, they blew it.

...Whilst Coyopa can't catch one

Keith relaxes back at camp thinking he's safe, but he could be a target if Dale's idol bluff

Plotting Dale's demise

works. Dale makes a deal with Jon that he'll give him the "idol" if he survives the vote. He tells the rest of his alliance this and Missy doesn't buy it. She sets up another split vote so that Keith goes home if an idol is played, and gives the most insincere reaction to Keith's potential doom that I've ever seen.

The crying game

Jon has some options to consider and at tribal council, Dale tries to spin his isolation as an asset. Baylor tries to claim she's more loyal than Dale but even Jaclyn calls bullshit on that. Probst also taps into the mother/daughter bond as it appears that Baylor cries when she senses her mother's sadness. That's like the world's worst ESP.

In the end, Dale's efforts to get Missy out are fruitless as Jon sticks with his original plan. He put up a good fight on the way out, but the superior old guy stayed. So for now Jon and Jaclyn's reign continues but it might be Missy and Baylor that end up with the ultimate power come merge time.

STAR OF THE WEEK: JEREMY COLLINS

Considering how much smack Jeremy talks, I feel like I shouldn't like him as much as I do. But he's a passionate presence on a season full of dull people so for that I'm glad he's still around. I'm backing this guy to come out on top and get the upper hand over Josh.