We've Got Some Housecleaning to Do

We've Got Some Housecleaning to Do is the third episode of Survivor: Japan - Civil War.

Previously on Survivor...
After the Ashikaga tribe returned from tribal council, Patton confronted Jasmine about the botched coup d'état. When Jasmine confirmed that she had switched her vote to Shannon, ensuring that Beth went home instead of Lawrence, Patton decided to get rid of her next. Meanwhile, Kyle, Landon, and Hannah agreed to form a final three alliance.

Kamakura won the reward challenge the next day, but all of the men on the tribe except Patrick got into an argument over Tyler's laziness around camp, which reached its apex when John states his belief that Tyler didn't have a "real job". Donna exploited the situation by forming a women's alliance with Katie and Reyna. She also aligned with Dave and Chuck, but said in a confessional that she had no intentions of honoring the latter agreement.

At Ashikaga, Jasmine and Kyle got into the argument over the latter's bar fight stories, causing Jasmine to come across to her tribe as self-righteous. Patton talked to Lawrence about possibly getting rid of Jasmine should Ashikaga lose the next immunity challenge, which Lawrence considered.

The next day, at Kamakura, John grew annoyed with Patrick's constant chattering and yelled at him and Tyler. His short temper led Tyler to consider voting him out in the near future. Meanwhile, Donna pulled Lisa into her alliance. Emma found out and remained wary of Donna.

A storm hit Ashikaga, nearly causing the tribe's machete to drift away from camp. Landon, however, went into the storm and retrieved it. Jasmine further reinforced her newfound bad reputation by yelling at Patton for his perceived dismissive attitude toward Landon.

The immunity challenge, highlighted by an intense round between John and Landon that had to be redone twice due to unnecessary roughness, was won by Kamakura. The tribe debated between voting out the athletic, yet volatile Jasmine, or the weaker and untrustworthy Patton. At tribal council, Jasmine continued to malign her tribemates, which sealed her fate as she was blindsided in a 7-3 vote.

Challenges
Reward/Individual Immunity Challenge: Three members of each tribe will hold a pole across their shoulders. The rest of the tribe will add buckets filled with twenty pounds of water to one of the opposing tribe's poles. When somebody holding the load drops the pole, he or she is out. The last person standing wins immunity for his or her tribe. (Note: The last person standing for the losing tribe wins individual immunity. If more than one person from the winning tribe is still standing, whoever is holding more weight wins individual immunity.)

Ashikaga
The Ashikaga tribe returns to camp in silence.

"black"

- Jasmine's gone, so now Phoebe and Shannon won't even think about turning on me. They know now what will happen if they try to mess up my plans. Now, with Jasmine out of the way, I can focus on getting rid of Lawrence.

"Lawrence: I know we've gotten off to a bad start. But it's never too late for us to turn the tides. I think that with Jasmine's attitude out of the picture, we'll be closer as a tribe, and that will help us in challenges. It may not have been the most conventional decision I could have made, but I have my reasons."

"black"

- After Lawrence did nothing to save Jasmine, who we need for challenges, I lost a ton of respect for him. As soon as Patton's out of the picture, he'll be the next to go. He's the weakest person on this tribe, and he ain't a good leader. It's a simple as that.

Meanwhile, Kyle pulls Landon and Hannah aside.

Kyle: Guys, I think we've just made a huge mistake.

Hannah: We should have stuck to the original plan and voted out Patton?

Kyle: Exactly. Not only is Jasmine better in challenges than Patton is, but she isn't nearly as much of a strategic threat. Patton's the only threat we're really facing right now.

Landon: So he's next?

Kyle: He would be, except for the fact that Lawrence is mismanaging the tribe and isn't any good at challenges. We need to focus more on keeping the tribe strong, so he'll have to go next. No more voting out established challenge assets. At least, not in this stage of the game.

"black"

- I'm beginning to really want Patton gone because he reminds me of Russell Hantz with a mustache, but he's more useful to us in challenges than Lawrence is. If Lawrence goes home next, the tribe should be a lot better off in challenges.

Kamakura
Patrick and Emma, who have both mostly stayed out of the strategy game for the first six days, share observations they've made while swimming in the ocean.

Emma: Donna's got a women's alliance.

Patrick: Really?

Emma: Yeah, she's allied with all the women in the tribe except for me. She hasn't offered me a place yet. You know about any other alliances?

Patrick: I know Chuck and Dave are in an alliance, but they're also allied with Donna. Tyler and John aren't really involved in strategy at this point.

Emma: Donna's made alliance with Chuck and Dave, too? Well, if she has two votes, I guess that makes it a lot easier for her to play both sides.

Patrick: If Donna asks you to join her alliance, do you think you'll do it?

Emma: The guys don't get along well enough to all work together, so I may have no choice if I want to get far in this game. But I can probably vouch for you to go last.

Patrick: You'll do that?

Emma: With luck, I may even be able to convince Donna to get rid of one of the women before you.

Patrick: Thanks! You're probably my closest friend on this tribe.

Emma and Patrick hug.

"kamikura"

- I told Patrick that I'm leaning towards aligning with the women, but the truth is, I'd probably be the lowest on the totem pole in that alliance. If Donna asks me to join, I'll be the last one to join, and probably the first to go once the men are all out of the game, so aligning with the women will probably only be a short-term arrangement. Patrick's pretty non-threatening as a player, so I may be able to take him to the end.

Meanwhile, Donna goes looking for the hidden immunity idol. After spending about an hour searching through trees and under rocks, she fails to find it, walking right past the idol's hiding place on one occasion.

"kamikura"

- I've looked everywhere I thought I could find the hidden idol, but it's nowhere to be found! This is starting to get on my nerves. I wonder if somebody else beat me to it.

She soon hears voices nearby, and goes off to investigate. She spots Chuck and Dave discussing strategy, and decides to listen in.

Chuck: You're the brains of the operation. Who do you want gone first?

Dave: I think we need to start with whoever's doing the least amount of work. That means Tyler first, then Emma. I know they're helpful to us in challenges, but we can afford to lose some muscle. We'll be just fine without them. Especially Tyler. We didn't even need him to win immunity yesterday.

"kamikura"

- Chuck seems to be a man of his word, which makes him an ideal ally, but I get the feeling he hasn't seen much of the show. I don't think he really knows his way around the strategy game.

"kamikura"

- Good thing I've got a friend and ally on this tribe like Dave. Otherwise, I'd probably be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I don't really know what I'm doing other than challenges and providing for the tribe.

Ashikaga
Hannah and Landon go to collect tree mail.

Hannah: You're thinking about something.

Landon: How did you know?

Hannah: I've learned how to read people's facial expressions. I can normally tell what mood they're in. I get the feeling that you're not thinking about strategy right now, or even the game.

Landon: You're right; I'm not. If you must know, I'm thinking about why I left Seattle. Not a day goes by when I don't think about that.

Hannah: Why'd you leave Seattle?

"black"

- Going into this game, I wanted to divulge as little information about the more...unpleasant aspects of my past as possible. But Hannah seems to genuinely care, and if my social game is any good, I'll need to form some relationships. Opening up about stuff like this is a good way to do that.

Landon: When I was fifteen, I got my girlfriend pregnant. We panicked because we knew our parents would kill us if they found out, so we did what any selfish fourteen-year-old couple with a kid on the way would do; we cobbled together some money to pay for an abortion.

Hannah: My god, Landon...

Landon: I was a very different person back then. I would never do such a thing now. But anyway, my dad soon caught wind of it and kicked me out. Apparently her dad also found out; he threatened to kill me if I ever came close to her again. Soon enough, I found myself living with a junkie friend of mine and coped with my misery by experimenting with pretty much every illegal drug I could get my hands on; Xanax, meth, heroin, you name it. I'm extremely lucky I never went to reform school.

Hannah: How'd you get clean?

Landon: I heard some stories about people getting clean, so I tried it and it worked. I decided to become straight edge; meaning no drinking, smoking, drugs, or sleeping around, and realized that a big city like Seattle came with too many temptations, so I hitchhiked to my uncle's place and moved in with him.

"black"

- I really wasn't expecting Landon to tell me all that. It sounded like a ton of dark secrets, so the fact that he's opened up about that is a good indication that he really trusts me.

Landon and Hannah arrive at the tree mail box and discover a note. After returning to camp and reading it, the tribe leaves for a more inland challenge area.

"black"

- We've lost three straight challenges up to this point. They've had their fun. Now it's our turn.

Reward/Individual Immunity Challenge
"Jeff Probst: Come on in, guys!"

In single file, members of both tribes enter the inland challenge arena, which is a clearing in the middle of a forest.

"Jeff Probst: Kamakura, get your first look at the new Ashikaga tribe. Jasmine was voted out at last night's tribal council."

John smirks upon hearing the news, believing that the challenges just got easier since one of Ashikaga's strongest women was eliminated.

"Jeff Probst: Here's how today's reward challenge is going to work: three members of each tribe will hold a pole across their shoulders. The others will add buckets filled with twenty pounds of water to the pole of the opposing holder of their choice. When a holder drops the pole, he or she is out of the game. The last tribe still shouldering weight wins reward. In addition, the last person holding a pole for both tribes will win individual immunity at tonight's tribal council. If the winning tribe has more than one holder still standing at the end, whoever is holding more weight wins individual immunity."

Some of the castaways give Jeff confused looks. The longtime host of the show quickly explains the situation.

"Jeff Probst: Tonight, both tribes are going to tribal council. Do you want to know what you're playing for?"

The castaways somewhat nervously respond in the affirmative.

"Jeff Probst: The winner of today's reward challenge will win hot dogs and soft drinks to be enjoyed at the other tribe's tribal council. In addition, the winner of today's reward challenge will attend tribal council first tonight. Worth playing for?"

The castaways again respond in the affirmative.

Jeff Probst: Kamakura, you have two extra members. You must sit two people out. Who are they going to be?

Donna: Katie and Reyna will sit this one out, Jeff.

Jeff Probst: Katie, Reyna, take a spot on the bench. I'll give you all a minute to strategize.

Holding the Weight for Ashikaga: Hannah, Landon, and Patton.

Holding the Weight for Kamakura: Dave, Emma, and John.

"Jeff Probst: For reward and individual immunity! Survivor's ready...go!"

Ashikaga chooses to spread the weight around evenly, while Kamakura chooses to target one person at a time. After one round, Patton is already holding 100 pounds, while Landon and Hannah are only holding their pole. Dave and John are holding 40 pounds each for Kamakura, while Emma's holding 20. During the second round, Patton drops his load shortly after it reaches 180 pounds, eliminating him from the game. Landon is given 20 pounds. At the end of the round, Dave and John are holding 80 pounds each, while Emma is holding 40. John takes the opportunity to taunt Landon.

John: Looks like you're next. The hot dogs are ours.

Landon: Don't be so sure about that. You're already struggling.

John: I can hold up. Not so sure about you after a couple of rounds. That dumb blonde over there probably can't hold too much either.

Landon: Don't talk about her like that!

John: If you don't want me talking about your girlfriend, why don't you just drop your weight and come shut me up right now!

Landon: Go screw yourself.

John: Whoa there! You kiss your mom with that mouth?

Landon gives John a deadly look, as if considering dropping his weight and punching him in the face, but ultimately does nothing. Shortly after this exchange, another 100 pounds are added to his pole, increasing his total to 120. John and Dave receive another 40 pounds, bringing their totals to 120 each. Emma is given another 20 pounds, bringing her up to 60.

Landon receives four buckets given to Ashikaga by Kamakura in the fourth round, bringing him up to 200 pounds, which he soon drops.

John: I told you so.

Landon: (bleep) you.

Hannah receives her first 20 pounds for Ashikaga, as she is the only person on Ashikaga still standing, which effectively gives her individual immunity.

John receives another 20 pounds, but before another 20 can be added, he drops his pole, eliminating him from the competition. Landon laughs out loud at this. Dave receives 60 pounds, bringing his total up to 180, while Emma gets another 20, bringing her total up to 10. Dave struggles to hold onto his weight.

Shortly before the fifth round starts, Dave drops out at 180 pounds, ensuring that Emma wins individual immunity for Kamakura. Emma receives another 100 pounds, bringing her up to 180. Hannah receives all five buckets, bringing her up to 120, but soon drops her load.

"Jeff Probst: Kamakura wins reward!"

Trivia
The title of this episode was spoken by Donna.

The challenge in this episode was used in Survivor: The Australian Outback, Survivor: Pearl Islands, Survivor: Tocantins, and Survivor: South Pacific.