Millennials Vs Gen X Episode 8: Instant Gratification

Yay, we get to leave this hellhole!

We pick up on Ikabula, where Hannah is hoping for some revenge in the aftermath of Michaela's blindside. They see a boat pull up and are surprisingly unfazed, but the celebrations start once they read the note that tells them to start packing for the merge. Bret is stoked that he went from being on the verge of voted out to having brand new life in the game, and is still unsure if he's going to stay with Jay or see what Chris has going. Adam is also excited for the merge, since the gameplay standard rises.

The merge brings together new people, but also reunites old bonds. Chris and Bret touch base and worry about the Millennials being closer than they expected. Zeke, Adam and Hannah are also back together and now Zeke is worried about Jay being a power player. I knew this would happen! Should've kept Michaela as a shield, bro.

The Jay charm doesn't sway Zeke

Know who your friends are

Since they have a new tribe, Adam decides to look around to see if he can find a new idol. He finds something tucked away in treemail at least - an advantage that gives him the ability to steal somebody's reward. That's a pretty crappy advantage. At night, Taylor decides to steal some food and put it in a jar, and is caught by Bret. Adam slinks off to talk with him privately about voting out Will, since that would help him get Jay back. Adam wants to make an ally of Taylor and even tells him about his advantage. Taylor is not interested in that though and still has it out for Adam for voting out Figgy.

News of Taylor's hoarding is making it around camp, and Bret is pushing to vote him out next. Taylor lets Jay know that Adam is going after Will, which makes Jay realize he needs to go after him. Luckily Zeke hears it, and is able to form a counter plan.

He sure schooled them

The immunity challenge is to hold both hands (yep, both) in the air, fastened to a bar. If the bar drops, a bucket of water gets tipped on you. Sunday is out first, then Chris and Bret shortly after. Jay and Zeke also drop...well, it feels like anyone can win this. Hannah puts in an impressive effort but she goes out as well, and David somehow makes it to the last four. With Adam gone, Jessica and Will are the last two, and both of them hang in there for a while. The spectators notice Jessica struggling first, and she does indeed give way to give Will the win. A hard-fought victory that makes both of them overcome with emotion.

When even Hannah is telling you to calm down...

Will is deadset on taking Adam out, even though Michelle thinks it would be smarter to do some Gen X'ers first. Zeke fills in Adam that his name is out there, but promises to rally a majority that can get him to stay. But David and Ken can't agree on who to vote out either, with Ken wanting Taylor and David wanting Michelle. Then David and Hannah get a little nervous when they see Adam going back to Taylor. What are you doing, dude?

It's not long into tribal council before David and Bret decide to call out Taylor for stealing food, but Taylor's defence is that it was a "medical emergency". Taylor clearly doesn't seem worried about getting voted out, but Adam knows better, and gets even more nervous when Taylor looks at him whilst answering a question about the target.

The big question after the vote is whether Adam will play the idol or not, and he decides to chance it. He starts getting tense when he sees 4 votes for himself and 4 votes for Michelle, but the rest of the votes send the missionary out. I thought she was playing an underrated UTR game, but maybe it was too good.

Well, Taylor's revenge is gonna have to wait, as Will and Jay realize they're not the kingpins any more. They've got to do some work to re-draw the lines, but with 12 people still in the game and an idol on their hands, there's plenty of time for that to happen.

STAR OF THE WEEK: HANNAH SHAPIRO

I'm giving it to Hannah this week because she benefitted the most from the merge, getting back into the majority and getting one over on the people who blindsided her. She also did well to reign in Adam and managed to finally make it though a tribal council without hyperventilating.