Ghost Island Episode 4: Keep Hope Alive

Sometimes it's either laugh or cry

Domenick and Wendell walk back into an absolute disaster situation, having backstabbed Angela and failed to get the Malolos on their side. Their only move now is just hope to pull some people over. The next day, Domenick looks into his bag and is happy to see the legacy advantage, wanting any possible edge he can get at this point.

Cute girls play hard too

The reward challenge is water basketball, aka the Michaela challenge. Chris wins the first point very easily just on the basis of speed. Angela and Laurel then dominate Jenna and Kellyn to score a second point. Malolo get their first point when Sebastian passes it to Brendan. Laurel then beasts it again, and leaves her teammate Libby inches away until she's finally able to get it. Naviti win the food, and have to send someone to Ghost Island. They can't agree, so draw rocks, which Kellyn says is her worst fear. And when she ends up getting the odd rock, she thinks it's fate.

At Ghost Island, Kellyn breaks an urn and has a chance to play the game. Well, they weren't gonna give three duds in a row. The choice is the same as Jacob's: 50/50 odds to either gain an advantage or lose her vote. She decides not to risk it. Right move, in my opinion. Imagine having to go back to your alliance and telling them they now have to draw rocks because you lost your vote.

Chris tries to figure out what happened with the vote, and when Angela tells him she picked up votes, he interprets that as a shot at him. Chris goes to the old Malolos and tells them they can split 3-3 on Domenick and Wendell. Laurel talks to Donathan though and they both agree they like Wendell better than Chris, who they're not comfortable just blindly taking orders from. Domenick talks to Laurel and admits to having the idol, but the confession is worth it if it puts him back on the side with the numbers.

Ok ladies, now let's get in formation

The immunity challenge is to swim out and pull a chest out of the water, push it along a track and then toss balls onto a balance beam. Another challenge Michaela excelled at! Naviti have a hard time of it, taking a while to get their chest, then not putting on the tracks properly. Sebastian hooks his track first time, whereas Naviti don't even have everyone pulling at first. Onto the balance beam part Sebastian and Brendan are doing OK at first, but then start missing shots and knocking others off. Chris and Wendell do a pretty good job at it, and manage to make it competitive. Implausibly, Naviti wins, showing once again you're never out of it.

Oh hey, I'm relevant!

After the loss, Bradley is being cocky and just trying to stonewall the minority. Stephanie cries at thinking her game might be over, and writes "hope" in the sand. The majority debate who to target, with Chelsea saying that knocking out a guy might be unexpected and avoid an idol. Meanwhile, Michael reveals his idol to the rest of the group and says he's gonna make a move with it...maybe even pulling it out at tribal.

Stephanie's prayers are answered

At tribal council, Desiree says it's awkward at camp since they all know where they stand and nobody's budging. Stephanie throws shade at Bradley, who they think is running the show. Michael tells Chelsea and Sebastian they're on the bottom and encourages them to flip and vote the ringleader out. He also reveals the idol and claims he can use it to save TWO people. Dang, pretty believable threat too. But is it enough?

After the vote, Michael says he's playing it on "me and Brendan", before changing to Stephanie. The end result is Brendan going home, making Bradley breathe a huge sigh of relief. The leader encourages his allies to keep pressing as he departs. Valiant effort by Michael, but he made the Malcolm mistake - don't tell people who you're voting for or the others will have no reason to flip. At least it made Bradley squirm though, and I can't wait to see him knocked off his throne.

STAR OF THE WEEK: LAUREL JOHNSON

Laurel has come out of the shadows and announced herself as a player at last. She's building some new bonds and also dominated the reward challenge.