Ghost Island Episode 12: Too Soon Or Too Late?

There's still some confusion about how tribal went down, but they eventually figure out Kellyn had the extra vote and she admits to it. So now Laurel doesn't trust Kellyn since she voted for her (but I don't think she really did anyway).

The reward challenge is to carry a sandbag through obstacles and then throw it on a table. The reward? Time with a loved one! We meet Wendell's dad, Kellyn's brother, Donathan's aunt, Angela's daughter, Chelsea's sister, Laurel's brother, Sebastian's sister and Domenick's wife. Even Probst gets choked up when Angela talks about her military service getting in the way of her family.

You can tell who wears the pants in the Abbate household

Onto the challenge, Wendell runs over the beams the fastest and takes the lead, with Donathan and Angela last. Sebastian gets under the log first (despite going the wrong way) and has a huge lead. Domenick eventually joins him, but Sebastian gets the win. He picks Domenick, Wendell and Donathan to join him on reward. Probst then tells him he can send somebody to Ghost Island to get an advantage, but whoever goes gives up seeing their loved one. Sebastian decides to pass, but Wendell takes up the chance.

Wendell gets a hand

At Ghost Island, we see what Wendell wins: Malcolm's challenge advantage from Philippines, giving him two tries at the next immunity challenge. I would say the bigger advantage is knowing what the challenge is though and getting to practice. On reward, Domenick is willing to pledge in front of Donathan and Sebastian's loved ones that he is committed to getting to the end with them. It might not be mutual though, as Donathan recognizes them as big threats.

Back at camp, Kellyn is starting to resent that the boys are getting everything good and that they ruined somebody else's loved ones visit. She then helps unite the girls together and says that with Donathan, they can strike against the top dogs. Oh God, you just know Laurel is gonna fuck this up somehow.

Let's go girls!

The immunity challenge is - as expected - the one Malcolm choked in: keeping your ball balanced on wood using handles. Kellyn is out first, and then Angela fails to get hers back up in time after adding more. Wendell drops his, resets, and drops again. Curse not reversed! Sebastian is out, then Chelsea...leaving it down to Domenick and Donathan. Donathan's falls, meaning Domenick gets the necklace back.

Naviti strong is OVER

Domenick and Wendell want to vote out Chelsea as she's the biggest challenge threat. The girls are after Wendell, but want to keep it quiet in case he has an idol. Wendell gets bad vibes from Laurel, and she's a little conflicted. She knows she wouldn't beat Wendell or Domenick at the end, but doesn't feel like she would even get there if she flips now.

Donathan "stick to the plan" Nale

At tribal council, Donathan declares that he has found an opening and got Naviti to turn on eachother. This is...not what they agreed, and now everybody is nervous. Domenick mentions the people left out of the reward could be a possible alliance. Kellyn says the family visit woke her up a bit, as Chelsea compares the game to bumper cars.

After the votes are cast, we wait to see if Wendell plays his idol or not. He chooses not to, which surprised me a little. Turned out to be the right call, as Chelsea goes home. The edit didn't give Chelsea much love, but she grew on me a lot and I unironically liked her by the end. Bad move by Donathan and Laurel if you ask me. Will they get another shot at Wendell or Domenick now?

STAR OF THE WEEK: WENDELL HOLLAND

Sacrificing his reward for the advantage shows that Wendell's head is truly in the game. Thanks to his headstart in forming those connections, he managed to stop the plot to vote him out and hold onto his idol, so overall it was a good week for him.