I'm Not Saying It Scares Me, But It Scares Me

This is the 2nd episode of Survivor: Marianas

Challenges
Reward Challenge: Do a Barrel Roll

''Tribes must race out on a course and retrieve four barrels and 3 planks of wood. Once back, they must use the barrels and planks to travel across a marked area without touching the ground. If they touch the ground, they will have to start over again.''

Reward: ''A fishing kit complete with rods, bait, rope and hooks for the first tribe to finish. A handline and bait for the second tribe to finish'' Winners: Sarigan (1st) and Luta (2nd)

Immunity Challenge: Wreck Savers

''In pairs, tribe mates must race into the water and recover a crate underwater. After they pull the crate to shore, the next pair can go. After all of the tribe’s crates are pulled to shore, one tribe mate uses a club to smash all the crates and retrieves the weights inside to raise a flag.''

Winners: Tinian and Luta

Night 3
The Sarigan tribe returns from Tribal Council. At camp, Taj questions Carmen and Rayya for their decision to send Christian home. Carmen defends herself, saying all she wants is tribal unity. Taj rolls his eyes and retreats into the shelter. Brett retires soon after, leaving the three women at the campfire laughing and joking about Christian's elimination. "sarigan"

- Tribal unity, tribal unity. It's all she ever talks about. Please girl, take a breather

Day 4
At Luta, Noemi confronts David about having the idol while they collect firewood. David denies having the idol and shares instead that he meditates in the morning. Noemi thinks for a bit as David heads to the beach to do yoga, asking Noemi to tell the tribe to leave him alone. "luta"

- Being a counselor, I can tell a truth from a lie, and I’m pretty confident David is telling the truth.

Meanwhile, at camp, Charlotte and Ali make plans to convince David he is being voted out while instead voting for Isaac. Ali argues that they should just blindside him, while Charlotte disagrees, pointing out that David is a big physical help to Tinian. "luta"

- Hopefully we can get that idol out of play without wasting votes and voting David out. He’s a big strong dude we need on our team.

At the Tinian camp, Skye and Margot talk about alliances. While no formal ones have been made, Margot asks Skye about joining her and Max. Bringing her aside, Margot explains in detail her relationship with Max and asks if Skye would "like a piece of the action". "tinian"

- Skye is exactly who we want on our side. She’s fit, she’s smart and she gets along with everyone.

"tinian"

- I’m a little worried that Margot and Max have created an “alliance” for the sole purpose of alienating Zac, Ryan and Madeleine, the three strongest members on our tribe. We've been gelling well and to split up our tribe now would be a shame.

In the water, Madeleine and Ryan deduce who went home last tribal council. They decide Brett, who they saw perform poorly at the challenge, was the most likely to go home.

At the Reward Challenge, Jeff brings in the Sarigan tribe to a waiting Tinian and Luta, revealing that Christian has been voted off. There are shocked faces on both tribes, specifically from Madeleine and Ryan. As the tribes get ready for the challenge, Max sits out for Tinian while Isaac sits out for Luta. During the challenge, Tinian is able to gather all their materials quickly and starts trying to cross the gap. Sarigan and Luta finish gathering their barrels and planks at roughly the same time and then both set off across the area at the same time. Taj quickly finds a way to cross the area using only two barrels and a single plank. This strategy propels them to first and allows Sarigan to win their first challenge.

The two remaining tribes switch to Sarigan’s method and in a race to the finish, Luta narrowly beats out Tinian, winning the hand line. Back at the Sarigan camp, Taj is celebrated for figuring out the method to win Reward. "sarigan"

- I originally said we would have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning challenges. Turns out I was wrong

At Tinian, Zac talks to Ryan and Madeleine and expresses his worry that they might be going to Tribal Council next. Ryan tries to calm him, but Zac grows even more worried and goes off to search for the idol. "tinian"

- Zac’s hallucinating. He’s one of the fittest dudes on the tribe. He’s not going to be going home anytime soon.

Trying a variety of places, Zac eventually finds it in the roots of a large tree. "tinian"

- I definitely feel safer with this in my pocket. Time to vote out some suckers.

Day 5
At the Sarigan camp, Carmen and Rayya chat while tending the fire. They discuss the other two tribes, making note that while Ryan, Madeleine and Zac do most of the work in challenges, they looked separated from the other three Tinian members. "sarigan"

- A tribal divide is a bad thing for that tribe, but a good thing for the other tribes. It’s what I’ve been saying. Tribal unity is key.

While Carmen and Rayya are talking, Brett takes Ellie aside and asks her if she thinks he is going home next. "sarigan"

- Brett comes and asks me if I think he is going to be voted out. I honestly don’t know. Taj is out for his blood, so probably. I’m not going to tell him that though.

At Luta, the tribe decided to play a game of makeshift baseball with a coconut and a bamboo rod. Even though not all of the tribe could hit the ball, all of them found it was a great chance to relax and forget the game. "luta"

- I hated gym class. I hated it. I’m an artist for god’s sake. The game today was nice for the simple reason of forgetting about the competition.

However, at the Tinian tribe, tensions rise as Zac confronted Margot and Max about how close the two of them are getting. This leads to a confrontation between the two at the campfire. Skye can be seen retreating into the forest while Ryan and Madeleine walk down to the beach. Margot stays and watches from the tent and occasionally backs Max up. "tinian"

- Zac cannot leave Max alone. First it was laughing at him, now it's confronting him about our relationship. It's like dude, take a chill pill.

"tinian"

- Margot and Max are getting awfully buddy-buddy. I’m not saying it scares me, but it scares me.

Alone collecting shellfish, Zac complains to Madeleine and explains that the closeness between Margot and Max may signify a budding alliance. Like Ryan, Madeleine tries to calm Zac and tries to alleviate his concern by suggesting to form an alliance. "tinian"

- Zac is like a little kid having nightmares about monsters under the bed. In order to get him to shut up, you check under the bed. It's the same with Zac, in order to shut him up, you have to tell him a lie.

As Zac gleefully agrees, he brings a pot full of clams back to camp, leaving Madeleine, who is seen shaking her head at him.

Day 6
In the morning, Zac, Ryan and Madeleine agree to work together. "tinian"

- We’re the strongest members in this tribe. Hopefully, by working together, we can send Margot and Max home.

Margot sees them talking and tells Max, who worries that he may have dropped to the minority. They agree there isn’t much for them to do but work hard in the challenges and hope they don’t go to tribal. Margot suggests Max train with Skye, who goes jogging each morning, though Max declines and says that his brain will get him through. "tinian"

- I really fear I’m at the bottom of the pack now. If Madeleine, Ryan and Zac are now together against me, I have Margot and Skye, and I don’t know if I can trust Skye, so that’s three versus two with a swing vote. I really hope we can continue to do okay in immunity challenges.

The tribes meet for the immunity challenge. Skye sits out for Tinian while Karina sits out for Luta. The teams start out even, each pair pulling out their crate at the same time. By the second round, Tinian and Sarigan pull ahead substantially, with Luta falling behind. During the third round, Brett struggles to pull up the crate despite Taj’s help, allowing Luta to pull in front of them. At the final round, Rayya and Carmen fight to keep up to Tinian and Luta, but come in third, landing Sarigan in Tribal Council for the second time in a row.

At the Tinian camp, all agree Brett would be voted out due to his poor showing at the challenge, though Max pointed out something behind the scenes at camp may lead to another person going home instead.

Tribal Council
Jeff: Carmen, how are you feeling about Sarigan tribe? You so far are the only tribe to sit in tribal council.

Carmen: You know, I really hoped that Christian was the one holding us back. Apparently it's either someone else or our tribe is just bad in general.

Jeff: Ellie, what are your thoughts on camp life? You have won at least one challenge, meaning you do have fishing supplies.

Ellie: You know, our spirits were lifted when we not only didn't come in third, we came in first. We really thought that that signified the end of our troubles. Then we end up here and it's a giant punch in the gut.

Jeff: Taj, do you agree that sitting here is a "punch in the gut", as Ellie would call it?

Taj: Not really. I personally feel that Tribal Council was expected and we should consider expecting it until a certain person is off this tribe.

Brett: You can say my name, I'm right here.

Taj: I can, but I won't.

Jeff: Rayya, agree with Taj's accusation that Brett is holding the tribe back?

Rayya: I do agree. The one time we won a challenge was when all Brett did was walk across the plank. The other two times we lost, he was the one who screwed us over.

Jeff: You've heard what each other has had to say, let's start the vote.

Voting Confessionals
"sarigan"

- You're like a plague, bringing our tribe down.

"sarigan"

- I know I'm going home. You still deserve a vote against your name though.

Final Words
"sarigan"

- I saw this coming. I'm lucky that I survived the first tribal council but Taj has made sure I sure as hell didn't survive the second.

Next Time on Survivor...

 * After losing two members, Sarigan is at a disadvantage. Will Brett's elimination be Sarigan's last downfall, or will they continue to stumble?
 * At Luta, tensions rise as people wonder who has the idol.

Author's Notes

 * The episode title was spoken by Zac.