‘Survivor 44’ Episode 6 Recap: Yam Yam vs. Josh — Who Came out on Top?
It’s the episode of Survivor 44 we’ve all been dreading — the “mergatory.” That’s right; Survivor producers are sticking with the “new era” “earn the merge” concept in season 44, meaning that Tika, Soka, and Ratu are now living on one beach, but they aren’t technically merged. We’ll get further into this concept in our recap, but let’s just hope that the Survivor 44 cast somehow makes this awful twist somewhat bearable in episode 6.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Survivor 44 Episode 6, “Survivor With a Capitol S.”]
The ‘Survivor 44’ cast drops their buffs in episode 6
As fans recall from Survivor 44 Episode 5, Matthew Grinstead-Mayle decided to pull himself from the game. So, the Tika tribe, which currently consists of Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho, Carolyn Wiger, and Josh Wilder, celebrate not having to go to Tribal Council in Survivor 44 Episode 6. And Josh longs for the day he’s not stuck on an island with Yam Yam and Carolyn. Thankfully for him, the Survivor gods soon grant him his wish.
Tree mail informs the three tribes to drop their buffs (but doesn’t give them new ones). And a boat brings the former Soka and Tika castaways to Ratu’s beach. Before they can arrive, Carson reveals to Brandon Cottom, Kane Fritzler, and Lauren Harpe that he got an immunity idol from his journey in episode 4. But, as he tells them, it no longer has power. Afterward, Lauren comes clean about her extra vote.
And in a confessional, Carson shares that Matthew previously told him that Jaime Lynn Ruiz has an idol (what the aspiring astronaut doesn’t know is that it’s fake). As Carson is reminiscing about the advantages in the game, the Survivor editors do us a solid and remind us who has idols at this point in the season.
Finally, the boats arrive at Ratu’s beach, and everyone celebrates (while Jaime continues to boast about how she is the “MVP” of Survivor 44 — we’re sure that won’t come back to bite her in the butt). Josh immediately warns his former Soka peeps not to trust Carolyn and Yam Yam. And he continues to stand by his lie that he has Soka’s immunity idol when talking to Brandon. So the game is still going at full speed.
Hilariously enough, Josh informs Jaime that the idol is fake, but she doesn’t believe him. Jaime runs and tells Frannie Marin and Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt this information, and they agree that Josh needs to leave.
Yam Yam later fears that he’s in danger since Josh is still holding onto his grudge against him. Plus, Yam Yam feels like he no longer has Carolyn and Carson Garrett in his corner (even though Carolyn is anxious to reunite with Carson and get the Tika gang back together). But Matt Blankinship confesses to Yam Yam that the plan is to get Josh out, which eases his worries.
At night in Survivor 44 Episode 6, Carson, Carolyn, and Yam Yam (aka the “Three Stooges”) make a plan to continue working together. But they agree they must keep it on the down low so the other castaways don’t target them. Meanwhile, Matt and Frannie exchange pillow talk and commit to downplaying their connection.
Jeff Probst splits the unmerged castaways into 2 teams
At the Immunity Challenge in Survivor 44 Episode 6, host Jeff Probst divides the 12 remaining castaways into two teams. They will then have to dig up a boulder, push it through obstacles, collect a key, climb up a large ramp, unlock puzzle pieces, and build the tree puzzle. The winning group earns immunity, the merge buff, and a large meal.
The two groups are:
- Purple: Carson, Matt, Jaime, Frannie, Brandon, and Carolyn
- Orange: Heidi, Lauren, Josh, Yam Yam, Kane, and Danny
Although Orange gets to the puzzle first, they, unfortunately, don’t have Carson on their team. He seals the win for Purple (since he 3D-printed the puzzle back at home and practiced), which means someone from Orange will get voted out at the next Tribal Council in Survivor 44 Episode 6. And Purple tearfully accept their (bada**) black merge buffs and their bountiful feast.
Who doesn’t make the merge in ‘Survivor 44’ Episode 6?
While Purple enjoys their reward, the six losers return to camp in Survivor 44 Episode 6. And it’s immediately clear that this upcoming Tribal Council will be a battle between Yam Yam and Josh. However, Kane’s name also comes up at the merge feast. They worry that Josh has an idol, even though Carolyn informs them it’s fake.
Once Josh hears that Kane’s name has been thrown out, he runs to Yam Yam and tries to squash their beef. But Yam Yam wants the “gratification” of writing Josh’s name down and saying “Bye, baby” (Yam Yam is a gift we must treasure). Meanwhile, Carson spills the beans to Kane and lets him know that the former Soka members threw out his name at the feast. So Kane starts spiraling, and he starts to campaign for Yam Yam to leave.
Entering Tribal Council, we are one big ball of confusion regarding who will leave. And Probst’s questions and the castaways’ answers certainly don’t help. It’s not until Probst reads the votes that everything becomes clear.
In a 7-3-1 vote, Josh is eliminated from the game and does not make the merge. As a fun fact, Josh is technically the first man voted out of Survivor 44 since both Bruce Perreault and Matthew were medevacs.
And at the end of Survivor 44 Episode 6, we learn that Josh, Brandon, and Kane voted for Yam Yam. Meanwhile, Carolyn wrote Kane’s name down, and everyone else (except Matt, who didn’t have a vote) voted for Josh.
New episodes of Survivor 44 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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